30.8.06

siouxs! and i went for a run together last night for the first time in over a year. it was only about a mile, but it felt good. due to jack's probable dairy allergy, siouxs! had been unable to eat cheese and such while still breastfeeding the boy, so i've been cooking without dairy for a few weeks. i've been drinking less on the whole, not by design exactly, but i just have. i'm going to bed earlier on a regular basis than has been my custom in the past. i've lost fifteen pounds since he was born.

this upswing in healthy behavior is all pretty well attributable to jack. i want to be healthy enough to play with him. i want to be able to run around with him for hours, or walk around with him on my shoulders all over the zoo. he loves being outside, and i want it to stay that way. oh, i do love my video games, but i don't want jack to be a playstation zombie, so i rarely play anymore, if only not to set a bad example.

i do love that boy so. how is it that he makes me feel simultaneously old and young?

22.8.06

am i the only one who didn't really care who killed jonbenet ramsey the first go round? am i the only one who thinks that her "killer" is just some nut job that the republikkkans paid to take the fall, and therefore, some of the public attention away from, let's say, the war we're losing in iraq? ok, perhaps i am the only one. i am a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but still...

i also just found out this morning that pat buchanan is a special correspondant or something for the freaking today show. he seemed to be promoting his newest book, which is a primer on reasons we should fear all muslims. my feelings on the traditional media are so cynical these days that his appearance really doesn't surprise me that much. nonetheless, i had hoped that there was some backlash from the right leaning spin that was so powerful in the immediately post 9-11 landscape.

oh, right. today show:nbc = general electric. i guess they might have an interest in painting the war in a positive light.

no one, not even mrs buchanan, should have to see that man before 8 am, though.

15.8.06

yesterday on the radio, i heard a walgreens commercial. it's a paraphrase at best, but here's what i heard, more or less.

"understanding your pharmacist's advice isn't always easy, but if you don't speak english, it can be even harder. that's why at walgreens, we are capable of printing instructions sheets in fourteen languages. if the walgreens you're at doesn't have someone who speaks your language, they'll call a walgreens that does. that's our way of serving you better."

at no point did they stop speaking english, or even mention the name of another language that might clue non-english speakers in to what they were talking about. if you at least said "spanish," one might think that enough people would hear that and know to at least ask.

idiocy knows no bounds. donde esta la gente inteligente?

8.8.06

there's nothing i like better than a little poetic justice come to life. the delay ballot deal is priceless. they're just going to give up, and i guess find some other way to fight dirty. the attack ads should be funny, if ntohing else, because what alternative will they offer to the evil baby killing liberal who is the other name on the ballot? "paid for by the texas nick lampson is a jerk comittee"

2.8.06

so i went golfing for the third time in my life on sunday. in case you haven't been outside lately, most of the u.s. is going through a heat wave. st louis is no exception. it was 100 on sunday, and my fellow crooked-stick luggers and i probably sweated at least a half gallon each.

i've decided i enjoy playing golf, even though i am against it as a means to class distinction. i find sixty acre country clubs to be disgusting. i think people who want to live beside golf courses should have to build on the fairway and consider their swimming pools to be water hazards. i think that millions of illegal immigrants who work minimum wage (or less) jobs at country clubs should be allowed to run down elitist sons-of-bitches with high powered mowers. golf is fine, it's just the sense of entitlement that so often goes with it that makes me ill.

fortunately, dear readers, we went to tower tee par 3 course. this is the people's golf.

1.8.06

proof that repulikkkans only love their rich neighbors...
let me start by saying that we had it a lot better than most, as we had our power back up and running seven hours after it went off.

(wednesday) the storm itself was freaky. the (cliche) sky was green, and when i went on the porch, the wind changed directions 180 degrees four times in two minutes. the followup storm that was supposed to be thursday night didn't arrive until mid-day friday, and i was making deliveries in the worst part of it.

work was a joke. we had to scramble to rent a generator to keep our ac working and our wine uncooked. the generator we found was basically an old big rig engine without the extras like steering and brakes. i shouldn't complain, as it did the job, but i'm even more deaf that i was before i stood within a quarter mile of it. after that was done, we still made some deliveries, but mostly just sat around talking about what we should have for lunch.

(thursday) thoguh our power was on, a non-electric entertainment source is suggested. begin 1491 piece jigsaw puzzle of butterflies.

(thursday/friday) after trying to drive with traffic lights out all over town, i'm going to need an operation to remove the murder from my heart ( called a cydectomy).

(saturday) washington avenue music fest could have been better, but enough places had power to make it interesting for a few afternoon hours, and it was refreshingly nice out. skip and krowbar got a much improved temperature for the outing, as their power stayed off until yesterday.

also, really starting to hate those butterflies.

(sunday) fast eddies bon air. six beers, steak kabob, chicken wing kabob, pork kabob, french fries, and half a dozen boiled shrimp: $25. enough said.

peace is made with at least the purple butterfly.

all in all, quite an experience. i don't know if anyone died from the heat, but overall, not as awful as it might have been. a four/five day reminder of what life was like 100 years ago.