Blogging My Life

 Turner Classic Movies is showing Casablanca this morning. Was there ever more on-screen chemistry than between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman? But here's what gets me about this movie, the way everyone in Ricks Cafe Americain smokes all the time, and the way they start a drink at one table, take two sips while talking to someone, then leave that table to go to the bar to talk to someone else and order a different drink and take two sips, then leave the bar, go to another table and order yet another drink. Now, I consider myself an experienced drunkard (which makes me, like Rick, a "citizen of the world") but I could only aspire to that kind of drinking! And, fuck me, I want to start smoking again every time I watch Casablanca . Seriously, if the getting of cancer was ever made to look sexier than in this movie, I've never seen it.

  For those who don't know, I moved from Seattle Washington where I've lived for the past thirty years, to Indianapolis Indiana, the city of my birth and where I grew up. The thing is, I've known a few things since I was in junior high, one is that Indianapolis Indiana is not my home. I knew it instinctively. I knew it like one knows if they're gay or straight. It was something that was obvious to me, like one plus one equals two. So when I got out of the Army in 1986 I stayed in Alaska for a few years, even got married up there. But when I decided to go to college my first wife and I moved to Seattle and I completely fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. It's liberal. It's accepting. The vibe is just completely opposite the conservative, overly religious, repressive atmosphere that is Indiana. Washington is green the year round. Indiana is brown and dead once autumn is over and that lasts until springtime. Do you like the desert? If you live in Seattle all y...

Russian athletes, particularly NHL players, who refuse to speak out publicly and loudly against President Putin and his war of choice against Ukraine, should be deported immediately. I am speaking directly to athletes like the NHL’s Alex Ovechkin whose mealy-mouthed “no war” comments are so milquetoast they are meaningless at best.

  Twenty five years ago, Buffy the Vampire Slayer , the greatest ever television show ever made, EVER, debuted on the WB network. I confess that I didn’t get on the Buffy bandwagon until around season three, but once on, there was no going back. And once my ex-wife, Jessica, and I got together we started hosting our friend Rob who came over every Tuesday for Buffy, then Buffy and Angel. We’d order pizza from Piecora’s (my favorite pizza place back home in Seattle) and settle in for two hours of fun. Those were good times, I miss those times. Anyway, I have all seven seasons of the show on DVD (plus they’re on Amazon Prime Video) and it’s become a Halloween tradition of mine to watch the various Halloween episodes that night, but, every five years or so I’ll actually watch them all again, seasons one through seven. So, in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary, I’ve just started season one and it’s kinda like falling in love all over again.  I know that over the years it’s come ...

 I started this blog in 2004 mostly as an outlet for my political rants but also just to talk about my life. But, as so often happens, life got busy and complicated and painful and I only wrote in fits and starts for several years. Frankly I'm surprised Google/Blogger didn't just delete it so someone else could have the title 'Blogging My Life.' But they didn't and I'm glad because now that I'm disabled and have some time on my hands, I've discovered that writing a journal has helped me work out in my mind some of the issues I deal with. I have Ankylosing's Spondylitis, which is an autoimmune disease that causes fusing of the spine and other joints as well as intensely painful inflammation elsewhere in the body. And I have peripheral neuropathy in my right leg as a result of a parachuting accident while in the army. I'm constantly in a good deal of pain and this chronic pain has caused me to lose many things: an active lifestyle, job, wife, among...

   I was walking home from the library this evening, the uneven city sidewalk pavement always gives me trouble. When you walk with a cane you’re frequently looking down to make sure you don’t fall. It makes me feel older than I am, but I’ve felt that way for a long time.  The shadows of the bare trees grew longer as the sun sank lower behind buildings and the air got colder, but the sky was still clear blue. The city where I live has some very nice parks and I stopped to watch a man who was playing fetch with his dog. I don’t know the breed, medium size with black and white markings.  I’ve always been a ‘dog person.’ My ex-wife and I were drawn to the boxer breed and during the course of our time together we had two. Sophie, who was Jessica’s dog, developed hip dysplasia and had to be put down when she was about eleven years old. We mourned like we had lost a child, and in a way we had. After a few years we got Maggie as a puppy and she was definitely my dog. “A boy ...

I’m writing this in order to work out why the film, Let the Right One In, has affected me so much. I kinda/sorta watched it a few years ago, but not really. I didn’t really pay attention to it, I think I may have been put off by the subtitles. But I watched it a few nights ago, really watched it, and was, quite literally, moved to tears. I was so affected I read everything I could find about the movie on Wikipedia, ordered the book on Amazon, and then watched the American remake, Let Me In, on the same night. I was up until the early morning hours just thinking about it. I watched it again for a second time in three nights, and, again, I was up till the wee hours just thinking about it. I had not experienced such feelings from a movie in a very long time. What is it about this story that so touched me that I’m completely obsessed with it? I think it's that the movie, and then the book, (that’s the order I experienced) is just such a wonderfully told love story. Initially, the sto...

What does the word 'awesome' mean? Dictionary.com defines the word to mean: “inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration or fear.” People always gloss over the FEAR part of the definition. The word 'awe' used to mean 'terror!' Something that is truly awesome is something that makes one feel small and naked and insignificant and afraid in the face of the vastness of the universe. Something that is awesome is something that elicits feelings of fear and terror. Today something that should probably be described as simply good is described as awesome. Here is a short list of things that are NOT awesome: Me. You. Anything you and I have ever done, including reproducing. Anything you and I are likely ever to do. Anyone you and I know, unless of course you just happened to be friends with J. Robert Oppenheimer. He helped create the atomic bomb, something that definitely is awesome. Here is a short list of things that ARE awesome: If there is a ...

So, I just went outside to get my newspaper off the lawn (if you're not subscribing to your local paper, you're wrong. But more about that later), and the way it feels outside right now is very strange. Its humid, almost muggy outside. It's the end of summer but still seventy degrees. At the same time I could still smell the acrid smoke and see it in the air. All this despite it having rained at some point last night. I guess that's what is strange, that its still so smoky out despite the rain. The rain is supposed to clean the air, but evidently we didn't get enough rain to do the job, so its muggy out AND still smoky at the same time. It was just strange.

Well, I'm sure that by now, what small readership I had has dwindled down to nothing. I have ceased to be relevant. I am so tired now-days when I get home from work that I just don't want to do anything but have a drink and "veg" on the couch. My job with Banctec is actually quite stressful. There is a lot of pressure to complete a certain number of jobs per day. In my case, I'm supposed to complete four jobs per day. It doesn't sound difficult, but I cover an area that extends from Everett, WA to Olympia, over to the Eastside, Bellevue, Kirkland and all the way to Maple Valley. Also, there is the issue of parts. Where are they being delivered? When will they arrive? Finally, there is the issue of, do I know what the hell I'm doing? I have recieved hands-on training on some of the printers I service, but there are still quite a few printers where I have no fucking clue what I'm doing and I have to call the Banctec help desk to get walked through how to...

I don't think there's any comment I could make that would add to Ms. Wolf's eloquent essay on just how far gone our country is toward facism. Our Democracy is being taken from us, right under our noses, and we don't notice because we've stopped learning history. Just read the essay.

So, Jessica, my mother and I went on vacation together for a week last week and we all had an excelent time. We spent three days on the Olympic Peninsula and two days at Ocean Shores, Washington. The Peninsula is really beautiful. We went to the Hoh Rainforest, which is the only temperate rainforest on the North American continent, and hiked around there for a whole day. It would seem that the term "lush" was invented to describe this place as there was moss growing everywhere. Everywhere one looks it looks soft enough to lay down and take a nap! On our last day on the peninsula, we went to some hot springs and just soaked and relaxed for a few hours. Ocean Shores is very "touristie" but still cool. We rented a moped and had lots of fun cruising around on the beach. We also went to the Quinault Casino and spent way too much money, but it was fun. I never understood how people could get addicted to gambling, but now I do. When you're playing the slots, there is t...

So, I know its been a long time, and a month ago I said I would catch everyone up on what's been going on with me, so here it is! First, I have a new job. I work for a company called BancTec doing contract warranty service on Dell laptops and desktops. I replace hardware in the systems and then troubleshoot to make sure they work. As with any job, there are good things and bad things. The good part is the actual taking-it-apart-and-putting-it-together. I was so scared of laptops at first because they are so small and intricate, and I have to confess that in my first week, I actually did break a machine. I got it apart and then couldn't get it back together. Even though I had passed all my certification tests, I got so nervous I just couldn't make it work! But after a while, it got easier and easier, to the point where now I'm not scared of laptops anymore. They're kinda like puzzles and now it's fun. Desktops are no big deal. Every once in a while I come across ...

I know its been a very long time since my last post, and I'm sure sure that all my loyal readers are just waiting with anticipation to hear what is going on in my life. I promise I'll post soon and catch everyone up to date.

The above video was shot at approximately 4:00AM this past Sunday night. Jessica and I were awakened by the sound of rain in our bathroom for the second time in a year. The moldy, discolored part of the ceiling is from where the ceiling was repaired last year when that section of the ceiling came crashing down, but, as you can see, the leaky roof hasn't been repaired and I'm concerned that it will happen again. We will be moving soon and after we do, I will publish the address of this building as a warning to others to not move in to this building.

Well, the New Year is underway, and while it's still way too early to be able to tell how things are going to go, I am confident that this will be a good year. Perhaps it has something to do with the current political climate, you know, theDems being mostly in charge and stuff, but I have the feeling that there will be a lot to like this year. In other news, our bathroom ceiling is about to fall in, again. The roof on our apartment building is flat and when it rains a large pool gathers and then leaks in through our bathroom ceiling. We've got mold spots bigger than silver dollars! I took pictures of the ceiling and sent them along with our rent but we've heard nothing back from our land-lady. The other night it was practically raining in our bathroom so I suppose we'd better actually give her a call. Jessica and I went to the New Year's Eve party at the Space Needle this year and it was cool. Since Jess and I moved in together on January 1st, we like to say that th...

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd better take a moment to wish you, my thousands of loyal readers, a very happy holiday. My job with the Sonics continues to go well although it has really screwed up my sleep schedule! The games go until late and then I'm there even later, and sometimes I don't get home until 11pm or later. The problem is I'm not one of those folks who can just come home and go to bed just 'cause it's late. I have to wind down a bit before I go to bed, which means I'm up til 1 or 2 am. Oh well, it's a fun job. Like I said, I just wanted to wish every one "Happy Holidays!"

Jessica and I went to the big "Hooray For Us" party at the Sheraton last night to help celebrate the ass-whoopin' that we handed to the Republicans. It was very cool to finaly be able to celebrate, and with several hundred of my closest friends no less. There was the general feeling that perhaps now things might start to get better. Anyhoo, we didn't stick around for long. We had a drink and said 'hi' to all my friends with the Washington State Democrats, we listened to the speeches and then we left. I just wish I had a better camera in my phone, I would have taken more pictures. As it is, I only got this one crappy picture of Jim McDermot being interviewed after his speech.

I'm going to try something. I've created a new blog called Blogging Politics From The Left , and from now on all my political rants will go there. This is just an experiment that may not last, but I encourage you to check it out and bookmark it if you like it. It occured to me that this blog was choked with politics, and I wanted to separate my personal blog and use it for actualy blogging my life. So I will continue to post observations from work and my own personal things here, and will post my political observations on the new blog, Blogging Politics From the Left .