Blast From the Past

I've often wondered what happened to my friend Jim Loftus. We worked together on the '88 campaign - he stayed in it through the Kerry campaign - I settled in New York. He's now in Bulgaria, wrote a script and made a film - "Trade Routes." You really never do know where life will lead you.

I'm Outraged, Therefore I Am

From my dad...for anyone that wonders where it comes from, I come by it honestly:

“,,,the slaughter of the innocent marches unabated: subway riders, bodega owners, cab drivers, babies; in laundromats, at cash machines, on elevators, in hallways…This numbness, this near narcoleptic state can diminish the human condition to the level of combat infantrymen, who, in protracted campaigns, can eat their battlefield rations seated on the bodies of the fallen, friend and foe alike. A society that loses its sense of outrage is doomed to extinction."

-- Judge Edwin Torres, New York State Supreme Court, Twelfth Judicial District

What Would Buffy Do?

I'm not sure which pisses me off more. That my employer has decided to use sand paper instead of toilet paper for its employee restrooms...
or that gasoline prices are once again above $3 a gallon - without benefit of hurricane, war or famine. Wait a minute. Never mind. Scratch that. No contest - it's the toilet paper. Hands down.

What Else I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

Dropped my car off for body work to the front and rear due to my March 6 accident. Worked. Watched basketball. Flirted for the first time since Kevin died. At least I think I was flirting. Flew to Virginia. Had a belated St. Pat's outing with my sisters and mom at the Auld Shebeen in Fairfax. Watched Georgetown play amazing basketball to knock off UNC and make it into the Final Four. (I have Gtown going all the way this year in my pool - so they can't get past Ohio State.) Read George Will's column today about our national infatuation with anger. Thought it might be an endorsement of outrage when I saw the headline but realized quickly that it isn't. Anger and outrage are two very different emotions. Anger is about the self. Outrage is about something outside of self. Hence "out"- rage.

Update, 3/30/07: I had UNC in my pool - Gtown and Florida all the way in my sister's pool.

Luck of the Irish

Apologies are the least airlines can do. What a mess -- my flight last night to DC was cancelled -- which is understandable give the six or more inches of snow and ice that fell yesterday. But there was no way to make new reservations online since I had booked it through Expedia. And the shuttle's customer service number was busy - for the past 48 hours. So I tried to get out this morning - no luck.

The day wasn't a total loss though. I had a nice dinner at Canterbury Ales in Huntington - an English pub on this high holy day - sshhh - don't tell my sister Colleen. No Irish music - but great corned beef. And they make a mean snakebite (hard cider and Harp). So while it wasn't the St. Pat's Day I'd hoped for, it was a nice one. Erin go bragh.

Say It Ain't So Bob

So let me get this straight - the Justice Department say the FBI has abused the Patriot Act. And that's news. Thousands have been saying it for years -- and that's NOT news. Sigh.

Huntington's Finest

Kevin would have loved this idea.

My Favorite Question

I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating. Growing up in my house, I was often asked by my dad - Is It Good for the Jews?

In his first time back at his computer since he got sick, he alerted me to the article and sent me the following email:

"My only problem with the article is that the expression 'IIGFTJ" should always be used with the word "BUT," so the expression should be "BUT...IS IT GOOD FOR THE JEWS." Adding the word BUT gives the phrase a whole new meaning, I hope you'll agree. It makes it so much more, well, Jewish. It means the Jew doesn't want it all, doesn't covet the other persons gain, but only wants to make sure he will not suffer the almost sure to occur unintended consequences of the act. And those IC's are always there, no matter what, which all good lawyers guard against whenever formulating new law or public policy.

That's why the question must be asked everytime a new law or regulation or statement of public policy is enacted. The question is not who is HELPED by these well intentioned pronouncements, but who due to no one's fault is HURT. Here, someone is always at fault: he's the guy who didn't catch the problem and fix it at its inception. But by then it's too late.

So try to read the article even though you are as busy as you are. But especially note the paragraphs reading ---

"Yet as Professor Charles Small of Yale University reports, “Increasingly, Jewish communities around the world feel under threat,” and there are some Jews in this country who share this feeling, not because they are themselves threatened (although that does occasionally happen), but because they fear – in the spirit of Sinclair Lewis’s “It Can’t Happen Here” or Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America” – that what is happening elsewhere may soon happen here."

How does a guy from New York do a NYT's article, using one of my favorite lines for his title and quote from the two books I've been telling everyone they must read NOW? Coincidence, I guess.

love dad"

Welcome back Dad. love el queeno

Nothing Linear About Grief

When my friend Judy told me about Joan Didion's play adaption of her incredible memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking," my first thoughts were negative. After reading her backstory in Sunday's NYT though I have reconsidered my decision not to see the play.

Also reminded me to find a story my mom mentioned to me that she'd heard on NPR concerning the grieving process and the latest research (to date the only empirical research) about it. There's a connection here somewhere - I just know it.

Another Banner Day

Heading to work, I cannot avoid a woman who decides to take a left turn in front of me -- nor could the poor schnook avoid hitting me from behind. So I got it coming and going this morning. No one was hurt. I was at first upset - having gonr through the hassle of this just a few months ago. Now I'm pissed. Neither feeling changes what happened. I was sitting at my desk yesterday and said out loud - I need the bad luck streak to end. It feels like I'm dealing with on sad sack story after another. But then I realized, who the hell isn't? And the key to life to finding a way to laugh about it and move on. It sucks - but it's not the end of the world. Just takes me a little while to get there.

Update 3/10/07: Picked up the accident report yesterday. The woman who took the left in front of me claims she had a green arrow. Which would mean I had to have gone through a red light to hit her. She lied to the police - she told me it was yellow, I told her that didn't mean she should speed up. Which might have pissed her off enough to lie - or maybe she's just a liar. But now I know it's going to become a big frigging mess. Will keep you posted

Say Amen Somebody

Haven't had a chance to post in a while. My dad was in the hospital all week. He came home Friday. Seems to be doing better every day. Trying to do what I can to help.

The events of the past week brought me to one conclusion: I will vote for the presidential candidate that one, offers some concrete plan to overhaul the healthcare system in this country. And as an added bonus, my mythical candidate would put an end to gas companies that reap billions in profits on the backs of the middle class in this country. But I digress.

So driving down the New Jersey Turnpike at 75 miles an hour (no, the irony isn't lost on me) , I nominate David Walker, the nation's chief accountant, for president. At least he's talking about what needs to be talked about.