Namby-Pamby Prose

A reader left this link in my comments, stating that this is the “October Surprise” that will guarantee George Allen’s victory over Jim Webb in the hotly contested Virginia senate race, and may be just the thing to assure continued Republican control of the senate:
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashaw.htm
I take issue with out of context quotations of fictional works.   [...]

The Birds

Once upon a time, I had no phobias.  In general, phobias seemed self-indulgent and bizarre to my unaffected mind.  “Irrational fears?  Those are dumb.”  Anyone so arrogant as to judge others’ fears certainly deserved sudden onset of Ornithophobia.
For the first 25 years of my life, birds simply were.  I noticed the pretty ones, I fed [...]

Uncle Jimmy

He wasn’t my uncle, he was my mom’s.  When he smiled, he looked exactly like I remember my grandfather.  He walked like Grampa, so much so that when he walked into the funeral home for Grandpa’s visitation, my heart lept, and for a split second I forgot where I was and that Grandpa was dead.  [...]

People in the streets

I spent Columbus day weekend in Boston, and twice in one day I was moved to tears by people just walking the streets.
We were walking through Cambridge looking for two things that should be very simple to find in Cambridge:  an MIT sweatshirt, and a Dunkin’ Donuts.  The MIT Coop was closed for the Columbus Day Holiday [...]

Jesus and “the gay race”

I just got back from a neighborhood block party thrown in honor of a Jewish harvest type festival I’ve never heard of.  Delightful booth building tradition, succahs, I think they’re called.   Honestly, I didn’t get a whole lot of background, so riled was I by the conversation I overheard on the walk up. Anyway, many neighbors [...]

My subjective reality, part 2

My discussion with the first of my Peace Corps couplings brought me to a rather ugly realization:  I was not single for more than a month of my time in Zimbabwe because I was afraid to go through those months alone.  I had been single for most of my life leading up to that experience, but [...]

My subjective reality

I saw some old friends from Peace Corps this weekend, one of whom I hadn’t seen since he left Zimbabwe.  We also happened to be “a couple” for a few months during training.  We made great friends, and terrible anything else.
I was nervous about seeing him, even though six years had passed since all the [...]

October Surprise

As mentioned in my comments, this has been a good week for haters of Republicans, haters of all politicians, and lovers of Schadenfreude alike. 
Bob Woodward’s book, Mark Foley’s Folly, the National Intelligence estimate–this is gold!  I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Karl Rove, I’m talking to you.
UPDATE!
Nevermind, Karl.  I’ve got NAMBLA on [...]

people google the funniest things

In my stats recent search engine hits to this blog:
“paper boner”–seriously.  What does that even mean?
“weatherman on heroin” (and any number of variations–there are a remarkable number of people looking for blog entries on weathermen who overdose on heroin.  I wonder if it’s the heroin weathermen googling themselves or the junkie weatherman groupies.)
“girls who drink [...]

“The N-word”

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post writes it out in his most recent column. 
Now someone needs to ask Allen face to face.  Might I suggest the following wording:  “Senator Allen, please tell us about the most recent time you  used the word “nigger.”  I love behavioral based interviewing.