Random Thoughts for the Week of May 28, 2012

Take a moment now and think of any family member who has served in the military and thank them for it, particularly those who sacrificed their lives in order that I could write all this shit that I couldn’t under other regimes in the world today.  Thank you, current and former soldiers!

• The Republican Party is fractured, disorganized and lacks a cohesive long-term strategy for our country.  It’s going to kill them in every election, not just for the Presidency this fall.  But you know the one thing I can’t understand?  Why do they let Sarah Palin get so much press?  Seriously!  Here’s a Republican who no longer holds public office and could be demonstrated as one of the major reasons they lost the 2008 election!  Not to mention her obvious lack of knowledge or experience at national and international politics/issues.  There’s even a movie highlighting how inept she was in the campaign AND a TV show on HBO that is obviously mocking her and emulating how ineffective a Vice President she would have been.  And yet time and time again she’s quoted in national media for her perspectives.  They’re just as worthless and powerless as Donald Trump’s opinions.  Even still, the only other Republican getting more press time is Mitt Romney.  They need to rein her in and get her off the media radar.  You didn’t see anyone asking Al Gore or John Edwards or Hillary Clinton or John Kerrey their opinions after they lost.  They graciously stepped out of the spotlight so that the focus can be on the strongest members of their party.  The Republicans are killing themselves even more than their actual elected officials by letting that idiot issue press releases, and the liberal media and Democratic party are happy to milk them for all they’re worth.  Please, shut her up.  Oh, and Donald Trump too, while you’re at it.
• Heard an interesting interview that puts the bulk of the blame of our nation’s problems on the Republican Party and their hardline stance to oppose everything that comes out of the Obama White House.  Such a hard stance is a guarantee to get nothing done, and that’s exactly what this Congress has achieved in the past 2 years: NOTHING.  Now, the Democrats have their share of blame too.  It’s not like they didn’t unify to oppose any of the Bush White House initiatives; they sure as hell did.  So, basically what we have is a Congress that measures their effectiveness and success by party wins and seat count, not with actually doing something to help the American people.  They can dance around the media all the want touting their plans and policies and how they’ll help people, but in truth they’re doing what they’re doing to ensure their party wins, not us.  Fuck you, Congress. 
• I did employee evaluations last week.  If I were to evaluate the performance of Congress, they’d all be fired.  The President too.  I hope we’re moved back to Omaha in time for me to vote.  It’s the only evaluation tool I have for those fuckos.
• SpaceX is in space!  EXCITING! I’ll admit I watched the Dragon capsule docking with the ISS on Friday.  It was about as exciting to watch as 2001 and the first Star Trek film, watching the ship move slowly … slowly …. slowly … silently and without tension forever until finally … BAM, docking confirmed!  I threw my hands up in triumph in spite of myself.  And why not?  It’s a big moment in space history and the beginning of the shift to the private sector.  Hell yeah I was excited!
• There was a time when I thought I’d never move back into the neighborhood I grew up in.  Now, as Mindi and I look at homes in Omaha, I find myself very open to this idea.  I still think it’d be a little strange for Alex to grow up in the same neighborhood and his dad and uncle.  Maybe it wouldn’t be.  Maybe it’d be more like what folks who stay in small towns experience.  I know if Tom and I had grown up in Eufaula, we probably wouldn’t think it was weird to grow up the same place as Dad.  Hard to say.  I guess for me I like to experience new things, so going back to the old neighborhood isn’t as new as moving into a completely different neighborhood.  Even still, it will be new and different because I’m new and different.  Hmm.  Definitely going to keep an open mind.
• Having never been a part of an adoption process, I’m still stunned to see that it can take years to get an adoption approved.  Even when folks are trying to adopt from countries with severe over-population and high poverty like Haiti and China.  I think it’d be pretty easy to quickly evaluate and determine if a petitioning family is truly prepared and doing it for the right reasons.  So, why the delay?  If a family is willing to raise a child, why not give them the child?  There must be a 1000 things that happen in an adoption process I don’t see, because there are too many good families out there wanting kids and having to wait what I think is an insanely long time to get one.  Weird.
• I remember living in low-income housing in Chicago the summer of 1996 and hearing gun shots ring out when the Bulls won the NBA Championship that year.  Thankfully, no one was hurt.  But some idiot thought it was a good idea to bring a gun to the Oklahoma City game last week and then shoot it off in celebration.  When we do background checks on individuals who want to buy a gun, do we do an intelligence test?  Seriously.  That person is a waste of natural resources if he couldn’t think it through (with the small amount of mental energy needed) enough to realize that it is a bad idea to 1) bring a gun out in public, 2) fire the gun in public.  God, I hope he doesn’t have children.
• You know, with some much attention on the NFL bounty program I don’t understand why MLB officials will so quickly ignore what happened in the Red Sox-Rays game last week.  The pitcher missed the batter twice before finally hitting him.  And I’m sorry I don’t care who you are but in the majors you don’t narrowly miss a batter twice and then hit him and try to convince me it wasn’t intentional.  Fuck yeah he meant to do it, and I guarantee you the coaches and the owners encouraged it because of the badmouthing he’d done to Fenway Park earlier that week.  Please.  One little slip and that guy is eating out of a tube for the rest of his life.  It’s just a game and they’re just words.  Fuck you for bad sportsmanship.  I hereby give the 2012 Boston Red Sox my first ever Offseason Lawrence Phillips Award for being the fucknuts they are.
• Not sure if my math is right or not, but I’d say at least 25% of the Detroit Lions’ past two draft classes have been arrested in the past few months.  Hmm.
• Donald Driver won “Dancing with the Stars.”  I’m not sure which thing I’m more ashamed of: that I actually watched the finals and saw him win or that I’m mentioning it here in this blog.  Congrats, Donald, for winning, I guess.
• So, the NFL is going to have a Pro Bowl again next year.  The players have “promised” to play harder.  Right.
• I enjoyed watching “Hatfields and McCoys” this weekend and am looking forward to the rest of the show.  I don’t know anything about the real people, so it’s an interesting subject.  Of course, after 6 hours of that, all I can hear in my head is West Virginian accents.  Ugh.
• I loved the battle of King’s Landing on “Game of Thrones!”  Arguably one of my favorite scenes of the series so far, the episode written by Martin himself was an excellent adaptation that fit well into the show.  I figured they’d have to change the battle a lot to make it work (and affordable) on TV, and Martin’s adaptations were spot on.  The special effect of the wildfire surpassed my expectations.  I also like the increased use of Bronn on the show (a credit to good casting there, I think).  Even still, with all that, my favorite part is watching Mindi react to the show. 
• The trailer for “Les Miserables” movie with Hugh Jackman looks amazing.  The visuals alone will make up for any deficiencies in the music, which I don’t expect any.  Having never heard Russell Crowe sing, I’ll just have to accept that he’s been in a band for a long time and hope for the best.  Should be an amazing movie for any fan of the musical.
• Quite possibly the worst idea for a “reality” show is Teen Mom.  Please.  Say what you will, producers, whether you intended to or not you’ve glorified teen pregnancy and those teenage mothers.  Notice how we’re caring more about their social lives and their looks than how they’re kids are doing?  It’s just sad.
• I give “Men in Black 3” a solid meh.  Didn’t get the heart racing but had some fun moments.  I don’t know if they give awards for actors pretending to be other actors, but Josh Brolin knocks it out of the park impersonating a young Tommy Lee Jones Agent K.  It’s scary good.  To be honest, I loved the MIB cartoon so much it’s hard for me to like the movies in comparison.

ALEXANDER UPDATE

• Well, I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t the best of coaches this past weekend.  I think in the deepest places of my mind, if not also on this blog, I was convinced that Alex would join us at some point that weekend.  Well, it’s Thursday morning and the little guy is still firmly entrenched inside mommy.  Rather than being cool and supportive and patient, I was a grouch, a spoilsport and at times not a pleasant person to be around this weekend.  Mindi stayed strong the whole time, showing patience that I never could, accepting things for what they are.  I’ve read in countless places how I’m supposed to be the pillar of sanity and patience in this process.  I promise to do better this week and remember the medically trained staff have determined our due date to be this Sunday.
• We have another appointment tomorrow morning but they’ve pretty much said they’ll induce next week if it comes to it.  Good thing since mom and dad are set to arrive next week too.
• I did learn this week that I can calm Mindi down just by rubbing her arm the right way.
• Thanks to everyone who has called, texted or been thinking about us and little Alex this weekend.  Your friendship is greatly appreciated!