Comments made under your breath are best kept to yourself

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

OK, so I had a long-ass day at work yesterday. Got into the office before 7:30am, left around 7:15pm. That makes for almost 12 hours (more if you include the commute), and one tired Brian. I leave work & decide to stop by the liquor store on my way home to pick up a bottle of - big shocker - vodka for the weekend. I swing into the parking lot and slot myself into the first open parking spot at what was probably a faster-than-normal speed, but absolutely under control. No squealing tires, no thundering music.

As I swung in three people were walking from the adjacent grocery store to their car. I know it was a woman in her late 20's to early 30's, her elementary school-aged daughter, and one other person. As I exit my car & walk past them, I hear the mother saying "that's somebody who's driving way too fast & just has to get to the liquor store". She said it in such a tone that the comment was made to someone in her party, but obviously said loud enough for me to overhear, and I'm sure was intended.

I almost turned around & popped off back at her, but just did my thing & ignored the snide remark. Yes, she & her pack were walking in the parking lot. But they had not even reached the row of cars as I swung into the row & hit my mark. Like I said: no squealing tires or stunt driving on my behalf in the lot, let alone a near car-human impact w/a member of her party, or anyone else for that matter.

As I heard her comment, I had the urge to turn around & advise her to shut the fuck up, and keep her suppositions on why I was in a hurry, commentary on my driving and what I was doing to her fat fucking self. But being tired as I was, I passed.

I had a similar experience a couple of months ago at a Target store near me. My mom is in town visiting, and we pick up a few things at Target. To paint the picture: this Target has two tiers of checkout registers. A register in the second tier, closest to the entry/exit doors, is open, so my mom & I pass a family checking out at a register in the first tier. The matron of this crew left their cart right in the middle of the checkout aisle, so as my mom passes the cart to reach our checkout register, she accidentally bumps an unwieldy item (mop or broom handle) sticking outta the cart, and the cart nudges the other woman.

Well, the other woman starts making smart comments about not having the courtesy to say "excuse me". And not just one comment, but she goes on. And on. Again, these comments were made to the others in her party, but clearly meant for us to overhear. In this instance, I didn't keep my mouth shut, and let the woman know that such contact wouldn't occur if she could keep her goddamn cart outta the middle of the aisle. The woman tries to shoot back at me about manners, and I let her know she was outta line, needs to watch her shit, and keep her mouth shut when she's not mindful of her space, and hindering others. Let me note that this was a fairly large woman, and it would've been comically correct for me to note that her skill of being mindful of large objects in small spaces, and proximity to others, should be well-practiced based on her girth, but I didn't go there.

Now that I think if of it, I've had a third incident in the past year or so like this. I stop by the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, and therefore am carrying one of handheld baskets, if anything. I'm making my way w/purpose through the aisles, i.e. walking faster than most other shoppers, passing people as I get my stuff. One mindless, unaware twit left her cart in the middle of an aisle, in everyone's way. She's scanning the pickles or olives, something in the condiment aisle, oblivious to those I just passed who are kinda eyeing her impatiently, wishing they could get around her cart (had she positioned it to one side of the aisle), and those behind her thinking the very same thing.

As I approach I nudge the nose of her cart to one side to facilitate my progress. Mind you, when I moved her cart slightly, it did not touch her, the display shelves, or any other shopper. And what do I hear? "Well excuse you." Being focused on getting my shit & getting the fuck outta Dodge, I said nothing & kept walking. In hindsight, I should said something to the effect "if you don't leave your fucking cart in the middle of the aisle I don't have to move it". Or, more civilly, "no, excuse YOU".

So, my advice is this: refrain from making the under-your-breath-but-meant-to-be-heard comments to yourself, especially when you're in the wrong, as all three of these people or groups were. First, you look like an ass for talking smack to someone else when you're clearly in the wrong. Second, the person/people you smart off to may not be as nice as I am. I only talked back to one person, but know I would have been (or was) justified to bring verbal smack-down on all three. What's more, in the era of fly-off-the-handle, split-second reactions of some people (see: road rage), someone may decide to physically bring the smack down & pop you in the fucking mouth, if not worse. The farthest I'll ever go is verbally confront someone, but many others lack this degree of self-control.

I was raised w/a high degree of civility, manners, and politeness. If I absent-mindedly leave my cart in the aisle while shopping at any store, and it subsequently blocks another shopper, I say "excuse me", and apologize. Not a flowery, exaggerated apology; short, but sincere none the less. I don't blame the other person for my mistake. When did that kinda common courtesy go out of style? Instead, we say "excuse you", and blame the other person, the one being hindered? What. The. Fuck.

In closing: please watch your carts (and your personal selves) when navigating public space. And if you block another person, apologize, then get on with your life. But keep your mouth shut. If you really feel the need to open your piehole, speak directly to someone, don't pull the chickenshit maneuvers as I've described above. If you're adult enough to make a comment about another manners or behavior (or lack thereof), be adult enough to speak directly with or to the person that you think has offended you, don't pull the under-your-breath discreet-yet-directly-obvious bullshit. Fair warning: if you try this tactic on me I'll call you on it, in a heartbeat, and might do the same even if witnessing it third party.

Bear with me...

...as I try to figure out the layout, e.g. color of fonts, links, size of text, etc. on Blogger over the next few days. One of these days I will unfuck myself.

Off the bat I find myself with one outstanding question: why is it that the app itself is called "Blogger", but my URL is "blogspot". Which is it for fucks's sake?!

From the Top (Saturday, June 13, 2009)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

K, so this is another stream-of-consciousness blog post from yours truly. I have nothing in particular to rail on, just a mess of stuff bouncing around my head.

First off, it's really fuckin' annoying when I'm trying to listen to my MySpace playlist as background for blogging, and the goddam player pauses for no apparent reason. Yes, I know my POS PC is getting low on virtual memory, and that my bandwidth is as fast and consistent as George W. Bush's stream of coherent thought & speech, but for fuck's sake, c'mon! Fuck it, I'll listen to iTunes as I write...

Second, I've been watching the NBA Finals, and no matter how many people sing the paeans of Kobe Bryant, he ain't MJ. Yes, his performance in Game 1 was some Michael-esque, but allowing O-town to get so close in Game 2, and win Game 3 just wasn't something Jordan woulda done. I recognize that the Bulls didn't sweep Finals series, and that they lost games along the way, but not when they seemed so close. And rarely did they look so apathetic & unprepared as LAL did in Game 3. And let's remember it took LAL OT to win game 4. Let me also point out that Kobe & Michael were both mentored by Phil Jackson, so it's not the coaching, it's the players & performance. Kobe is one of the top five players in the NBA today, but a challenger to the Jordan Legacy or title of Greatest of All Time/Greatest to Ever Play the Game? Puh-leeze; get that shit outta here.

Third, I was on Facebook earlier tonight, and saw a person in my friends list cast a vote on the performance of Barack Obama, and they disapproved. They said (to paraphrase): a "change" for the worse, how can that be good? Well, the person who posted this is none too bright, and attempting to counter their stupidity is futile. But let me point out that the havoc wrought on our country has taken place over eight years. Do you realistically expect BHO to turn things around in 6 months?

I think I can safely say that the consumer confidence index is higher now than it has been in quite some time. I'm not gonna get into Presidential approval ratings, as I believe the number that disapprove of Obama is vastly higher than the number that approved of Dubya in his waning days. And that would be since what, 9/11? And let's be real, Bush & Shotgun Dick had a whole second term to shit all over the Constitution in their pursuance of info from detainees of the War on Terror. They also had ample time to fist the rights to privacy of Americans by interception & monitoring of communications among regular citizens. I'm not gonna even get into the economic clusterfuck they lubed up through the typical Republican path of deregulation.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think that either party is perfect. Yeah, I've voted Dem since the first election for which I was eligible, but neither party gives We the People all that we deserve. But take a look at the US economy & international standing at the end of the last eight-year Democratic reign, and the last eight-year Republican reign, and tell me: where were we as a country better off? If you look at the overwhelming majority of votes in the popular vote from last November, and the number of reds that voted blue, that should tell you a little something about the communal state of mind at the end of the last Bush's rule. My last political comment for the night is that after George H.W. Bush's four-year run, and Dubya's eight-year debacle, would we dare be so foolish as to vote for Jeb Bush down the line? God I hope not.

I was heartened to hear that President Obama declare June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. We're all Americans, and more importantly, human beings. We all want to love & be loved, have families, the opportunity be happy, succeed and prosper, and find peace. And this should not by one iota be affected by sexual orientation (race, religion, or any other factor). So, big props to Barack Obama for making his proclamation. We have many Anglo holidays, celebrate other religous or sectarian holidays, recognize other ethnos-related days or months, it's high time this happened too. If you strip away economic status, gender, marital status, wash away the color of skin, ignore the respective alter worshipped, or choice of partner, we're all the same. And it's wasy past-due that all are treated as such, from marital rights or civil unions to equality when it comes to health insurance and the ability to get it, the opportunity to adopt a child, etc. And if you're one of the narrow-minded few that has a problem w/this, you need to straight up unfuck yourself. Now.

Allrightythen, well that's my soapbox, and I'm stepping off it. Time to pour another drink, and find some trash TV to watch. Hopefully, at this time eight weeks in the future I won't be blogging & drinking, but swimming in my own pool & drinking.

Live right, and be happy. Peace out.

Holy Shit! (and an explanation)

I made a similar statement about an hour or so (two?) ago, but just to recap: you see a large number of new blog entries w/today's date: June 19. What I've done is copied & pasted all my blog entries from my old MySpace profile into Blogger. The subject or title of each post is the original title of the MS blog entry, and the original date of entry.

I must admit: as adept as I am at keyboard shortcuts to copy & paste, and switching quickly between active windows, my fingers are fuckin' tired! So, I'm done for now, but hopefully being active on Blogger will inspire me to write more, write w/more skill & thought, and more frequently. If you have constructive criticism or feedback on what I can do better, please let me know!

Huh? (Sunday, June 07, 2009)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

At what point did we become so disconnected that it caused us to advertise & promote ourselves so shamelessly? Does this whole thing reek of begging for connection & community? When did we become so full of ourselves; when did we start taking ourselves so seriously that we think that everyone/anyone (pLEase) would really care what the fuck we're doing or thinking at any one given moment?

I'm a hypocrite as I play the same game, but yet, it begs the question. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, et al, what purpose do they serve? As individuals in this world that are trying ever moreso to distance ourselves from one another, we are, at the same time, looking desperately for the aforementioned community, and connection to others. Sometimes the connections make sense: employees of the same corporation or business, alumnus of the same alma mater, inhabitants of the same city state. But sometimes the connections are quite random, borderline senseless.

So why do we do this? As I pose the question to everyone else, I pose it to myself as well. And personally, I'm not 100% sure what the answer is. What I do know is that I'm beyond fed up with the self-aggrandizement, self-promotion, and false sense of self-importance that seems to permeate the virtual worlds we live in and semi-consciously subsidize and substantiate. Maybe not "beyond fed up" as in "I just threw up in my mouth", but I'm questioning why, to what end, and what are we trying to compensate for.

What's New? (Saturday, May 30, 2009)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Yeah, it's been a while since I've published a blog entry. I guess it's only been three months since the last, tho it seems longer than that. I don't have any excuses to offer, nor do I feel compelled to offer any, but still, I kinda ask myself why?

Well, I've been busy looking for my first house to buy. Up 'til now I've been a renter. But the confluence of conditions: low interest rates + first-time home buyer's tax credit + solidification of personal sitch = the right time. I've spent the past five, six weekend w/my realtor looking at houses in the Seminole/Largo area of Pinellas county. I've found a couple places that meet all my criteria - even bid on one - but haven't reached the point of scheduling a closing date. Like everything else, I think it'll happen when the time is right. When I find the right place, it'll feel right, and it'll happen as it's s'posed to. But I find that, per my typically impatient self, the longer the search goes on, the more I'm ready to have the right option come clear to me, and finish up, seal the deal. All in due time, I tell myself.

I don't really consider myself a fanboy of any one particular type of technology, be it hardware or software. But since Christmas, I admit I've become a big fan of Apple products, or an admirer at the least. I got an iPod Nano 4G 8GB as a Christmas present, and have become totally infatuated. The form factor & functionality of the iPod that really sucked me in. The spin & click wheel is simply great. The games that Apple included w/my iPod Nano, and the accelerometer, are fucking fantastic.The coupling of iPod w/iTunes has impressed me; the ability to add music & album art, create playlists, etc. is damn easy. The sound quality, the style, the feel of the iPod...it has become my second most important piece of gadgetry, behind only my cell phone. And that's only cuz my iPod doesn't get Gmail, take or make cell phone calls, or send text messages. Which leads me to the iPhone. An advanced iPod-like device that does all that.

A co-worker of mine has the second gen iPhone, and while I own a Samsung Instinct & use Sprint, I can see, nay feel, the allure of the iPhone. With the way Apple builds hardware, developed the OS of the iPhone, and the content available from the App Store, I'm about ready to jump ship, even after 7+ happy, satisfied, years w/Sprint. Samsung & the other cell phone makers just can't come close. I'll be interested to see if Samsung comes out w/a Google Android based celly later this year, and compare it to the iPhone, but right now...

The same co-worker has an iMac on his desk, and after playing around for a little, I'm pretty damn sure that my next computer purchase will be a MacBook. I have a Windows XP desktop at home, which I'm using now, and use an XP Pro laptop courtesy of work, but fuck, Apple did it right when it comes to Mac desktop/laptop hardware, and the latest OS (I believe it's OS X). As much as I've tried to resist the siren song of Steve Jobs & Co, the temptation that is Apple, I may not be able to hold out much longer, I may become a total convert.

On a sports front, I've been kinda sorta intrigued by the NBA post-season this year. I haven't watched much, up until the respective conference finals (CLE Cavs vs. ORL Magic, LA Lakers vs. DEN Nuggets). The one thing I find missing though, is the tour de force of personality & talent that was the incomparable Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant & LeBron James are arguably the two best players in the NBA right now. But as good as they are, and I'll give them their due, they aren't Michael, especially come playoff time.

Once the Bulls made their first NBA Finals in '91, there was a feel to each game from there on out in which Michael was a participant. You knew there was a better than average chance the Bulls would win. From the pregame on, you could give the Bulls 3:2 odds they'd come out on top. Granted, the Bulls never swept a post-season (I don't think a team ever has, tho I could be wrong). But each game that MJ's Bulls played, there was a very real sensation of "oh shit, here it comes...", and sure enough, the surreal basketball deity incarnate that was Michael Jordan, would come calling. There was a palpable feel of MJ exerting his will upon a game, and twisting the outcome in his team's favor. Just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Pricks, er, Knicks of the Eastern Conference, or the Utah Jazz. Whenever MJ was on the floor, you knew the Bulls had at least an even chance of coming out on top. And more often than not, they did. And the beauty was that, it wasn't always MJ that took & made the winning shot. Steve Kerr took & made a shot that won a title, as did John Paxson. But, you just felt the MJ juju infecting every Bull, and you knew that somehow, someway, the ultimate victor was gonna wear black, red, and white. Witness the fact that pre-WAS Wizards, the last six full seasons that Michael Jordan played in the NBA, Chicago won the title.

But neither Kobe nor LBJ give you that kinda feel. Each game they play, or, their teams play, it's always up in the air. I never get that feeling of inevitability or certainty that the Lakers or Cavs, respectively, will win, if for no other reason other than they will it to be so. There's always a feeling of victory being tenuous at best, certainly not certain, a given. With Michael, beyond '91, there was never a question about the outcome of a series. Never. The more "stars" we see in the NBA, the more it proves that MJ was the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), and indeed came from an era of pro basketball (Magic, Bird, MJ) that will never be equaled.

On a personal front, it's been demostrated time & again that time is finite, and thou shalt not waste it. If you find yourself in a situation that's less than perfect, then you best do whatever is required to change it. Whether it's a job you're unhappy with, a partner/significant other or living sitch, whatever. None of these things are permanent, and life is too fuckin' short to settle for something less than what you absolutely want w/100% of your heart & soul. If you're unfulfilled, unchallenged, or underpaid in your job, hit up the want ads & go look for another. If your partner in life is less than what you want & what you need, ditch 'em. While being civil & as kind as possible of course. If your home is less than ideal, move, or improve! We have very few years on Earth, far too few to suffer being less than totally happy. And, don't be afraid of the foreign or new, of being alone or blazing a trail heretofore unknown. If we as a People only stuck to the familiar & comfortable, where would we be? Every now & then, you gotta say "what the fuck"...

I think that's all I have to say for now. Enjoy life, believe in yourself, and strive for nothing less than the best yo!

IMO (In My Opinion) (Friday, February 20, 2009)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Per usual, all that follows is the viewpoint of one man, an intelligent yet somewhat twisted, "different" one at that. But I'm bored & written in a while, so I figure WTF, let's see what comes out...take it or leave it, agree or disagree, IIWII (It Is What It Is).

Vodka
I don't know a lot about vodka. I know that I like it, I know that I can drink a fuckload of it & not be too hungover. I also think I know that originally it was made from potatoes, in Russia. But I've noticed that some of the best vodkas (at least "best" in my book) are not made from potatoes. Grey Goose is made in France, distilled from wheat. Belvedere is made in Poland, distilled from rye. Tonight I tried Ciroc, which is made in France, distilled from grapes. Level is made in Sweden, and distilled from wheat. All these are among my favorite vodkas. Open my freezer, and peekaboo - you'll more likely than not see one of the above. But I note that vodka has strayed from its original roots - none of these are Russian, nor are they potato based. All that is fine by me, just seems a bit odd.

Matchbox Twenty
MB20 has gotta be one of the most underrated bands of the modern era. Music is so totally subjective - what I like makes you grind your teeth, and what you like makes your neighbor throw up in his/her mouth or try to swallow his/her tongue. For every band that makes it big, there have to be a few hundred thousand, or a few million fans to buy the CD's, download (legally or illegally) the MP3's, see the shows. But it seems like MB20 doesn't get much airplay. Maybe it's that their genre of poprock isn't the most popular nowadays. But if you give a listen, their music is actually pretty damn good. The music itself (harmonies, supporting melodies & lines, and lead riffs) are pretty good, and the lyrics are thought-provoking & sometimes soul-stirring if you pay attention. What's more, each of the four albums is very listenable from start to finish, while skipping nary a track. I can't say that about many other bands. Fuck, I can't make any of the three statements - let alone all three - about many other bands. Matchbox Twenty definitely qualifies as one of my "stranded" bands, i.e. if I was stranded on or going to a deserted isle & could take the entire discography of one band, who would it be? MB20 would be a strong contender, along w/Oasis. For head banging, I highly recommend Disturbed. I'm also a big fan of Godsmack & Breaking Benjamin, but for every-track-of-every-album, only Oasis & Matchbox Twenty really fit the bill. I think my iPod Nano (my X-mas '08 toy) contains every single Matchbox song, almost every Oasis tune, and most of Disturbed & BB, and a good bit of Godsmack. But still...all I can say is that if you haven't listed to Matchbox Twenty, do so.

The current state of affairs
Fugly to say the least. The Dow is at the lowest level that I can remember. Unemployment is going up like a meth addict's heartrate, and shows no signs of slowing down. More states have budget deficits (in the billions of dollars) than Joan Rivers has had facelifts. Can it possibly get any worse? Unfortunately, I think it can, and will. I think we're in for a looong fuckin' haul. If the US economy doesn't totally crash & burn, reach SHTF, zombies-in-the-streets DEFCON 1 level by the end of this calendar year, it'll be a miracle. Don't get me wrong, I'm still hopeful. I have more hope now than I did at this time last year, or eight months ago. I'll come right out & say that I have total faith in President Obama (DAMN does that feel good to say, and have a nice ring BTW...) than I ever did in Dubya to turn this ship around. As he, among so many others, has said, we need patience.

From Confucius: a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Rome wasn't built in a day. It took 18 months or more for us to reach crisis level (and we have not seen the worst yet), it will take an equal amount of time if not longer for us to pull out. I'm not sure if the TARP & recently signed economic stimulus packages will have the desired effects. I sure as fuck hope so. But I'm not looking at drastic, and immediate impact. It'll take us a couple years to pull outta this nosedive. But I think it'll happen, it's a matter of (to abuse another cliche) weather the storm. But man, if there ever was a second Great Depression, we're looking it right in face, smelling it's warm, fetid, rancid breath upon our cheeks. I count my blessing cuz for now (**knock wood, rub lucky rabbit's foot, yada yada**) I have a job, I have a house (granted I'm renting). I'm not foolish enough to think I can't become a casualty, but I'm hoping not, and as much as I'm not a religious person, I say a prayer for all those getting highjacked by this fucking mess. And I wish a plague, the pox, upon those that have helped get us here. A'ight, there's my soapbox, and I'm stepping off it. For now heh heh.

Dogs
I wish I could be more like my dogs. The live in the moment. They don't worry about yesterday, or tomorrow. The live - and love - life for what it is right now. They can be totally happy w/a single thing like a marrow bone. They'll chew happily for hours, being totally engrossed in something so singularly simple. I've said it before & I'll say it again: nothing washes away or remedies the shittiest of days as coming home to two smiling faces & wagging tails. My dogs are my best friends. They've stuck by me through the worst of times, and shared the best. Dogs aren't our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.

OK, so that's it. I'm outta thoughts for now. To quote the Matchbox Twenty Song "Let's See How Far We've Come":
But I believe the world is burning to the ground,
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out,
Let's see how far we've come
(Let's see how far we've come)
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come
(Let's see how far we've come)

Be good to yourselves, and each other. Take a moment to appreciate the world around you/us as it is, for better or worse, and make the most of it, cuz it won't be the same tomorrow.

(Friday, January 23, 2009)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

I'm not in the mood to come up w/something either thoughtful or witty for the subject of this entry, so sue me. I don't really have a salient point to make at this moment in time, but wanna write just cuz I enjoy doing so.

For one thing, really cold beer is good, really cold weather is not. A friend of mine said that 98% of the time Florida weather is like a hairy dude's sweaty armpit. While that's probably true from May through September heat & humidity-wise, I can only be thankful that Florida doesn't smell like that (unless you're near someone watering their lawn w/reclaimed water, but that's another subject). But I gotta say that I much prefer heat to cold. I've said it before, but it's worth saying again: I choose shorts instead of ski pants, tank tops instead of parkas, Teva's instead of snowshoes. If it's not raining, yet the weather is not conducive to me driving around w/the sunroof open, it's way too fuckin' cold for me. I know it's all relative, as most of my family & best friends live where the high temp's have not broken freezing for most of the past week, and the low's have dipped below zero. But for heat misers like myself, waking up to 30 or below is not fun. I actually had to turn on the heat in my house for most of the past week! The good news is that 70 is right around the corner - like this weekend!

I think that sometimes simpler is better. Take pizza for example. I think that sausage & mushroom is far better than goat cheese & truffles as far as toppings go. A nice "plain" beer like Stella Artois or Sam Adam's is preferable to a flavored beer. To qualify this, Sammy does make a good cherry wheat, but I can only drink one or two. Pete's Wicked makes a strawberry blond that's a'ight, but the same limit holds true. While in the liquor store today I saw blueberry flavored beer, among some others. And I'm not talking about malt liquors like the flavored Smirnoff Ice, these were beers. By & large the same holds true for vodka. Give me an unflavored Grey Goose or Level on the rocks - very hard to beat. During the same shopping trip I was perusing the vodkas, and saw one brand that had the following flavored vodka: coffee, chocolate, pomegranate, and tomato. Tomato flavored vodka?! If you want tomato w/your vodka just make a damn Bloody Mary! Don't get me wrong, Grey Goose make a very nice orange flavored vodka that's great on the rocks, but this is starting to go too far. Raspberry-vanilla, cherry, pear, espresso? Zoiks. The same goes w/cheeseburgers. I love a nice bacon cheeseburger, but ground chuck or ground sirloin is fine by me. I've read many stories about restaurants that make $100 burgers, made from ground Kobe beef & some other exotic cuts, and topped w/truffles. I guess it's the novelty, perceived exclusivity, or want to be so drastically different that motivates people/companies/restaurants to try shit like this. But if something like a quality vodka or culinary concept is exceptional in & of itself, why fuck with it?

On a political note, Barack Obama assumed the Presidency this week. I had to work on Tuesday & like an idiot I set my DVR to record the wrong channel, so I missed his inauguration. But no matter, I'm glad to kick off what I hope is a profitable eight years for everyone in the US & the world. Lots of work to be done, lots of wounds to heal & ground to make up. It won't be easy, and it won't happen right away, but I believe better days are to come. I was happy to hear that President Obama basically wiped out or negated all the executive decisions regarding interrogation techniques/practices & detention policies made by the Bush administration over the past 7+ years. Hopefully we as a country will maintain a more principled approach to prosecution of our enemies, adhering to our Consitution & conventions and/or principles of war & treatment of prisoners of war that we have signed off on & championed in years past. Last Sunday's St. Petersburg Times had a piece in the Op-Ed section about Bushism's, one of which was (paraphrasing): "I'll be long gone before someone smart enough ever figures out what happened in this Oval Office." Some may find that funny, but I think it a bit scary: pondering all of what happened in the GWB White House that We the People have no clue about.

On an economic note, as much as I wish I didn't have to work (c'mon PowerBall! C'mon Florida Lottery!), I'm kinda glad I'm not retiring anytime soon. The reason for this was the "statement of account" that I got when checking my 401K this week. Every single fund that I've invested is down (obviously). I think my account value has dropped something like 57%, if not more. I've been contributing to a stock purchase plan as another investment vehicle, and I've taken a bath there too. I think my hit was about the same as the 401K - 50%+ loss. This isn't shocking w/what the market has done, but the feeling was different when I saw my own money (or lack thereof). I understand the figures: something like $23 trillion of value gained since 2004 or so has been lost in the past year. But it's kinda like hearing about someone w/cancer: you empathize & feel for the stricken & their family, but it feels different when it happens to someone you know, or yourself. So anyway, I hope that for everyone's sake the US & global economies start to rebound this year, or at least pull out of the freefall, and hopefully we'll all be in a better spot one year from now. At least I have a good 25 years to turn my own sitch around. God knows I might need all of that time, not so LOL.

I gotta figure out what to do w/the weekend. No football to keep me busy now that the Super Bowl contestants have been determined. BTW, how about that - the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl? Whoulda thunk it? That reduces by one the number of teams that have never played in a SB. I hope AZ wins, but if PITT triumphs I won't be too disappointed. Now I'm just counting the days til Formula One starts, and pitchers & catchers report.

So that's it for now. Have a bitchin' weekend, and make the most of your days. Peace...

I'll take things that make you think "WTF" for $100 Alex ()

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

OK, so I as much as I love the subject line of this blog entry, I cannot take credit for it. A friend of mine at work said that earlier this week, and it made me laugh out loud. As I heard/read a couple of things that made me think "what the fuck?", I thought his phrase was apropos this bloggage.

Woman Sued for Rescue Effort in Car Crash
Yeah, if you haven't heard of this, you gotta check it out. ABC News story

This truly makes me wonder what our world is coming to. You witness a car accident & try to aid those involved, and end up getting sued for your efforts? To quote cite the article directly

Peter Keane, a dean emeritus and professor of law at Golden Gate Law School, said the impact of the court ruling will "be a bad one" and have repercussions in about a dozen other states that have Good Samaritan laws.

Good Samaritans Will Now 'Hesitate'

He said the ruling will force ordinary people to be "reflective" before coming to the aid of a person in an emergency.

I'd have to say that I'll be more than "reflective" if I'm ever in this situation. I mean fuck, how ungrateful can one person be? This leaves the same rotten taste in my mouth as the woman that sued McDonald's for getting burned by hot coffee, or the burglar that breaks into a house & sues the owner (potential victim) for slipping on the floor. The linked story, and the other examples, leave me thinking WTF?
Here's another beauty:

Where'd the bailout money go? Shhhh, it's a secret
Bailout moneys go where?

So We the People have involuntarily donated what, $700 billion to banks & other financial institutions, but they either 1) have no idea where the money has gone or 2) just out & out refuse to disclose how they've spent the money.
I've heard through various sources that the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) does not require accounting from the recipients of my, er, "our" money, that it was not built-in by the authors of the legislation. I guess there's no sense of responsibility or accountability on the parts of the recipients to answer to those that lent the money, where it's being spent. If they weren't forced to account for the moneys, or disclose how/where the funds have been spent, they won't do it voluntarily.

Related to TARP, I heard over & over that the gov't feels that the taxpayers won't lose money on the TARP loans to the banks & financial institutions. So I guess then, that when the econonomy turns around, the banks & mortgage companies rid themselves of bad loans & start to make money again, that we'll all get a check for the profit or interest on the money lent, correct? Somehow I doubt it. But if the gov't says the taxpayers won't lose the money lent, how are we gonna get it back? I wish the "B" in my name stood for Bank instead of Brian.

It seems to me like accountability & responsibility are qualities that are in short supply today. I see it through events that touch me personally, and events that touch us all nationally (such as the TARP clusterfuck). I don't know when it became so easy to shirk responsibility for one's actions, but it's easier than getting a no-money-down loan four or five years ago.

I'm not sure where I stand spiritually, but I do know that eventually we all pay the piper. God, Karma, Fate & Destiny, The Powers That Be eventually send us all a bill for our actions marked "due upon receipt". No matter how much we seem to get away scott-free at the moment, eventually it will catch up, and come due, with interest. That's kinda the reason I wrote my last - albeit brief - blog entry.

Individually or as a collective, we all will eventually face the consequences of our actions. What goes around will surely come back around. As we do, so it will be done unto us. To come clean, I shirked a lot of responsibility for a number of years in different ways. But sure enough, it all caught up to me. No matter how far or how fast I ran, it all came back to me. I've taken care of business, and taken steps to atone for my misdeeds, and I feel so much better for it. I'm not perfect & will admit my shortcomings & my mistakes, just so I don't come off as high & mighty, or holier than thou. I firmly believe that it was the right thing for me to do, and I wish I saw more of that around me.

I see this lack of personal accountability everywhere around me. The US has exercised horrible energy policies for many years. We have gluttonized natural resources for decades, and turned a blind eye to pollution. And now we as a World are facing climate change at an alarming pace that threatens to drastically, irrevocably change the world we live in. There are a few voices in the US taking responsibility & trying to foster change. But so much I hear the blame shifted to emerging nations like China & India for the accelerating energy crises & pollution problems. When do we stop looking out, and start looking in, and make changes internally. Actions speak louder than words, but as a "world leader", I don't think the US has done much to lead by example in distancing ourselves from our addiction to or dependence on oil, or our habit of gross pollution & ruination of the environment.

I see similar patterns when it comes to politics & the US's global reputation, or attitudes of others towards the US. In so many cases we have made very shoddy, questionable decisions in the realm of foreign policy. Yet we wonder why so much of the world hates us, why they despise us, demonstrate against us, and attack us. Do We ever stop to think that maybe there's some cause related to the effect? I've seen so much "woe is me" in the US in response to how we as a country are treated by many other countries, regions, religious or ethnic sects, yet I don't see an equal amount of soul-searching for what we (our country or gov't) may have done to evoke such a response.

As I've grown older I've gotten better about taking responsibility for my actions. It should not have taken me 37 years to do this, but I've always been a late bloomer. But as I look inward more & more, examining the events & circumstances in my life, and being more nakedly, brutally honest about how I got where I did, I shift less (more like zero) blame to other people, places, or things, and look myself square in the eye. I wish there was a way to change the general dispostion & mindset of our country, I really do. As cliche as it is, each journey of a thousand miles start with a single step. The Butterfly Effect.
So, as much as I see wrong w/the country & world we all live in, I do what I can each day to make a difference. Regarding the environment, I drive as little as possible, and I recycle all that I can. I don't have much interaction w/foreigners & don't travel much outside the US, but I still try to conduct myself as I would want the rest of the world to view me as a person, and American, and a world citizen. Think Globally, Act Locally.

Alright, so to wrap up the heavy shit, I urge you to think before you act. Be sure that what you give is what you'll get. Paybacks are truly Hell, and as much as you think that you're getting away w/something at this or that moment, rest assured it'll come back around to you. Every action has an equal & opposite reaction. Be sure that as much as you think you may be getting away w/something grand at this moment, it'll come back to you threefold. I don't think we can totally escape the consequences of our actions. Maybe we slink out relatively free in the now, but it'll come back & catch up with interest in the future.

To try & end on a high note, I'm thankful for the three-day holiday weekend. I'm thankful that I live in FL, and am not suffering through sub-zero temperatures. I'm thankful that I have my family, my dogs, my health, and a good job. I'm thankful that I finished the ginormous ass-kicking project before Christmas. The project took over a year, but I learned a lot, and am very satisfied w/the end result. It was a ton of hours, a lot of headache, a lot of heartburn, but I know that my little role made a difference, and I know that the right people took notice of what I did, and appreciate my efforts. I'm also thankful that I have a bunch of Stella Artois in the fridge. Speaking of which...

Payback, Karma, etc. (Saturday, January 17, 2009 )

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Just a few thoughts that center around the aforementioned subject:

Paybacks are Hell.

Karma can be a bitch with a really nasty attitude.

Every action has an equal & opposite reaction.

As you do unto others, be prepared from them to do unto you.

What goes around comes around.

If you give it, you damn well better be able to take it.

If you start, you best be able to finish.


Fair Warning Has Been Given.

rummaging 'round relationship relics (Monday, November 24, 2008)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

I gotta say that this blog post is very different for me. I usually don't get into dating, relationships, topics of that ilk. I run on & on about emotional issues but not relationship-type emotional issues. This is kinda new, to put this side of myself out there. Maybe a bit scary, but also cathartic. Anyway, on we go...

For some reason, as of late, I've been thinking about my past relationships. I don't know what brought this on, cuz I'm not prone to dwelling on the past. I try to take lessons from past experiences & apply them going forward so as to either repeat successes or avoid failures. But by & large, the past is the past; what's done is done ya know? Today & tomorrow are where I focus.

But anyway, in thinking about past relationships, I realize that there's one person w/whom I wish I could have a do-over. There's one person w/whom I had a relationship that didn't end badly; I didn't screw her nor did she screw me. Neither of us had character flaws that made us incompatible, nothing major about one that made the other nuckin' futs. There was no cheating, lying, or other deception. No drastic differences in life goals or wants that made being together impractical.

These are good things, but in sum it lends itself to leaving me asking "why", wondering what I could've done differently (if anything), or what would've made the relationship last beyond mere months. It's kinda hard to put my finger on why the relationship ended. I guess I chalk it up to bad timing in our respective lives. I can't help but wonder what would've happened had we met at a different place & time, some other stage in life.

Of all the women I've dated or been exclusive with, all but one had something that doomed us as a couple. Character flaws or show-stoppers like a lack of integrity or honesty, drastically different oulooks on life, life goals, or other personal issues. In some instances it was my outlook on life or goals, or personal issues, that spelled D-U-N, done. In some cases either myself or my partner subjugated parts of ourselves for the supposed good of the other, but in the end that doesn't work either, just not healthy. But there's this one instance in which none of that occurred, nor was it relevant or applicable. So it's this one person & experience that leaves me asking "what if", or "why".

I've had some relationships end, and immediately thereafter left me asking those questions. But in time I found the answers, and the reasons were clear. Those I'm totally comfortable with, due to some event that brought closure, or the eventual realization that we just didn't go well together. In the end both parties are/were better off not being together. But not this one; I have none of that here.

So whattya do w/this? Just accept it, make peace w/it, and move on? If I abide by tenet of living for today & tomorrow, I guess that's the best approach. Unless Superman comes to life & flies around the Earth fast enough to rewind time, I can't change what was. Sometimes I've had such startling cases of deja vu, that I really wonder if we're not reborn. I don't think we're reborn as cats, or squirrels, or whatever, but I've had to seriously wonder if we're reborn into the same life, w/another chance, until we "get it right". That's how vivid, how real, and in some moments how startlingly real the deja vu has been - that I'd swear I've been "here" and "done that" before (wherever the "here" and whatever the "that" are). But I digress, not getting into religion or spiritual stuff, not this post anyway.

Life is funky, and I s'pose the possibility exists that our paths will meet again, and who knows, maybe we get another shot. I've lived long enough & seen enough to believe that anything is possible. But if not, I guess I resign myself to accepting what was not then, and what IS now. I can't say I'm haunted exactly, but this one has me flummoxed.

I believe strongly in Karma, and to some degree fate & destiny. I think that we're given options along the road of life, but by & large I think there's a path we're kinda meant to follow, and events we're meant to experience, for better or worse. Living by that precept (and accpeting the past for what it is), I should just stop thinking about it, and her, and move along. Mostly I do, and have. But this recent promotion of her memory into my conscious from sub-conscious mind got me on the topic, hence this post.

So anyway, that's that. I think I've thought enough for now, and said what I had to say. It's a picture-perfect November day here in FL, and my mental alarm is going, my mental to-do list is scrolling. Next up: pour a cocktail & cook some fowl over fire. In layman's terms: drink & grill. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday everyone!

A turn of conscience: Brian’s PSA (Sunday, November 23, 2008)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Malaise, discontent, call it what you will; something just ain't right within, and with the world. Actually, I feel all right w/myself, moreso than I have for a while. Aside from a few things that are self-correctable, I feel like a world beater right now.

But, I've been thinking a lot more lately than I usually do, which is saying something. I think that a few things are missing from the world we live in, namely Respect, Honor, and Strength. These are tenets or principles that very few seem to live by, or for, today. I'm talking about Respect for the world we live in: our planet, the environment, and each other as individual, sentient beings. Respect for someone else even though that might live differently than you do, practice a different religion, whatever. Honor in doing right, living right, being an honorable or admirable person. Honoring your partner, your family, yourself. The Strength to do right, Live Right. Emotional, mental, intellectual, spiritual strength. There seems to be a dearth of any of the three - let alone all three - characteristics in the world I live in.

Since when did we take The World for granted? When did we lose all respect for all things great & small? When did we lose all regard for the environment, and the planet we inhabit? When did the drive for or pursuit of material wealth surpass everything else in priority or importance? It saddens me, nay sickens me. I DVR'd a show on HDNet the other night about the coral reefs, and how mankind is impacting them. Coral reefs are, in & of themselves, amazing entities. When you realize how much we as humans depend on reefs for so many things, for so many reasons, you realize how valuable they are, and how important it is to minimize our impact on them, and make sure that coral reefs are living, breathing, sustainable resources. The same goes for the rain forest, the polar icecaps. At what point does respect for what we as the human race have been given (and what we should feel obliged to pass on to our children & grandchildren) outweigh our need for material profit?

This nation was founded in large part on the need for individuality. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion. The word "freedom" comes up over & over when talking about the good ol' You Ess of Aay. So when did we stop respecting each other's right to be an individual? To marry whoever you or I want, to live life as we see fit?

Following is a definition of Honor:

a. Principled uprightness of character; personal integrity.

b. A code of integrity, dignity, and pride

If you're the least bit in-tune w/the here & now society, I think you'll see & recognize the seemingly total absence of honor. It's nearly embarrassing to admit the lack of communal code of integrity or principled uprightness that is pervasive in the world today. It seems the socially acceptable code of conduct is to lie, cheat, and steal, and say "fuck the lot" if it's all for personal benefit. The dissolution of social & governmental conscience and concern for one another is, to me, reprehensible. Increasingly scarce is concern for personal & professional or corporate reputation, honor for or of personal relationships. There are so many blatant examples of dishonesty for the sole sake of personal gain, it's overwhelming. Pork barrel spending in the government, sheer & utter disregard for public good by corporate America, in addition to an absence of honor as evinced by individuals in their personal lives each day. How many people honor their country, their partner, their mother and/or father, themselves each day?

When most people hear the word "strength" they think of physical strength. To me, that's the last application of the word that comes to mind. I think of mental strength, intestinal fortitude, strength of character. In my book, Strength is the willingness to Live Right, stand up for the under-privileged, the less fortunate, the balls to do what's right, even thought it's not easy, and probably not popular. The belief in the need to evince the two aforementioned characteristics.

Three of my favorite movies are "300", "Gladiator", and "V for Vendetta". My affection for these movies is the theme woven throughout. In one way or another, all three deal with issues of Respect, Honor, and Strength. Doing what's right & standing on principle, with total disregard for what the consequences might be. I know of only one other person who likes, nay, loves, "V" as I do. And most see "300" and "Gladiator" as blood-soaked, gore-filled flicks. But IMHO those people miss the true point of the movie, and the main characters depicted therein.

I know I'm not perfect - far from it as a matter of fact. I try to be the best person I can/could be. Hopefully I'm better today I was yesterday, and better yet tomorrow. As of late I take to heart "RaSH": Respect (and) Strength, Honor, and ARK ((see my previous blog entries)). I ask of you who read this - or challenge you - to live with those three concepts in mind every day. Your world, my world, Our World, will be better because of it.

On a closing note, one thing about MySpace is that it allows members to see how many blog views are received on a daily or weekly basis - the numbers, but not the who. My group of MySpace friends is pretty small, yet larger than my "real life" circle of close friends. This being said, I note that there are more hits or views of my blog than people I know, especially "real" or individual people-friends. I'm intrigued to know who reads my blog. So if you feel like it, please drop me a message via MySpace, if for no other reason than shits & grins, and to satisfy my curiosity. This is purely to satisfy my own interest; no need to post a public comment unless you're so inclined. It goes w/out saying that I won't post or reveal private messages. Privacy is most obviously maintained by way of Respect & Honor...

Nirvana & lithium ()

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Part I
For the record I'm not in a state of the former, nor am I under the influence of the latter. Just happens to be the artist & song on the rock music-on-demand station I just flipped on. Music-on-demand via cable TV is kinda cool. No commercials, and it takes less effort than putting together an MP3 playlist or finding a CD I can listen to from start to finish. And I can output the music through my Bose speakers & get it loud enough to be highly satisfying.

weather
It is fucking cold in Florida. Well, today was better, but we're still 10-15 degrees below normal. I know, I know, I know, I'm whining. Weather is all relative. On work days I get up to let the dogs out & have coffee on the porch, and fire up my cell phone to check email (yes, I check email before 7am, so sue me), and the second thing I do is open the weather widget. I have a few different cities set: Largo, St. Louis, Columbus, Lynchburg, VA and Grinnell, IA so I can check weather in the cities where my family & friends are. Every other location in my weather widget had sub-freezing temps this morning, and I think Grinnell took the prize at 12. So yeah, the 40's each morning this week wasn't bad when compared to the homes of most people I know. But god-damn did it feel cold to me! I was even wearing warm-up pants, a fleece pull-over (zipped all the way up), and socks, so it's not like I wasn't kinda sorta dressed for the weather. The bad thing is that I don't know where else I can move (as in farther south) where I can ever totally escape sub-60 degree temps. Antigua maybe? Hmmmm, that's an idea! I guess there's a part of me that enjoys feeling a bit of chill in the air, but I enjoy it for all of ten minutes, and then I'm well over it. The only good thing about the chill is that I can wear jeans & some bitchin' long-sleeve shirts I have that I usually don't.

The general state Of affairs
This week the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) dropped below 8000 for the first time in forever. Can things get any worse? I'm afraid they can, and they will. How much worse? Nobody really knows. Pondering the thought of how much worse the economy can get is kinda like wandering into the deep corners of your psyche where your darkest fears reside: you just don't wanna go there. But it's fugly to say the least. Unemployment up, consumer spending down. National debt: up. Consumer confidence: down. Wall Street had to be put on life support, now the Big Three automakers need a crash cart, STAT. WTF has happened to this county, the state of business, and all of us? 16 months ago the market was booming, things seemed very rosy. Since then we've been on a steady course of crash & burn. I don't have any answers, all I know is that we all need to pull together to get our collective shit together & right the ship. Part of me wonders why the gov't doesn't enlist the help of some of the more exceptional financial minds like Warren Buffet, maybe Mark Mobius. Doing things the same way over & over, yet expecting different results, is just damn foolish. We need revolution, not evolution.

Sports
I hate to say it, but my zeal for professional sports seems to be waning. The NFL has lost some of its zip, some of its appeal to me. The Tennessee Titans are 10-0, BFD. The 'Jersey Giants are steamrolling almost everyone in their path. The Detroit Lions suck ass, as usual. There are a few interesting stories like the turmoil in Dallas, the emergence of Matt Ryan (the rookie QB in ATL), but nothing terribly interesting. I used to watch almost any game that was on TV, just cuz it was professional football. But not this year. I can barely sit through an entire Bucs game. Part of it is that the Bucs offense is well, offensive. Putrid, pathetic, weak, unimaginative, and totally unthreatening. Maybe I'm going through the onset of adult ADD, I dunno. But the league is different this year. There's not hated villain to root against (the New England Patriots), no sorry lot to root against (i.e. to go winless, like last year's Miami Dolphins. WAIT, we still have the winless Lions...) no incredibly good teams tearing it (each other, and everyone else) up.

I lost my interest in & love for the NBA once Michael Jordan left the Bulls after the second three-peat. The pro hoops game just hasn't been the same since. LeBron James is an amazing talent, but I fear that he doesn't have the same drive to win that MJ did, and I think eventually LBJ will be driven by money & individualistic glory & fame the way so many budding stars in the post-MJ era are/have been. Chris Paul & the New Orleans Hornets piqued my curiosity last year, and they might again this year come post-season, but no single player nor teams rivets my attention the way the Bulls did. No team drives me to watch regular season games from opening jump to the final horn, and I doubt any will again.

I think the only two sports that really take me away are baseball & Formula One racing. I think it's the relative purity of baseball, the strategy, the way the game has remained relatively the same over the past years, and the absolute emphasis on the team play concept that captures me. I don't know what it is about F1...well, I kinda do. I'm a bit of a speed freak. I drive an absolutely regular, un-outstanding car, but I love to go fast whenever I can. I love to drive the twisty-turnies. I live to find the apex of a corner & see myself taking it in text-book fasion: brake early, hit the apex, accelerate out. Even if traffic disallows the practice, I love the theory of it. I have an inner Speed Racer.

Misc.
The great ass-kicking project I've been working on at work is finally... the end is in sight; we will achieve the desired, expected result, end-game. By this time next month I should be 99% d-u-n, stick a fork in it, at the finish. Granted there will be some post-implementation dust-settling to do, but the hardest part will be over. And I cannot say how good that will feel! It's been nearly a year - on second thought, more than a year? - since I kinda sorta took over, and it's high time we get this thing put to bed. It's been a ton of work, a lot of hours, some 15+ hour days, working weekends, nights, etc. but to see it all come to fruition will be incredibly satisfying. Especially since I took on so many new responsibilities in this project & did things I've never ever done before, to see it all come together feels good. I'm sure it matters not to you, but it was most definitely a team effort, and I wouldn't be looking forward to The End if it wasn't for people from Cali to FL to India to make it happen. But it goes w/out saying that once this thing is done, come sometime early '09, I'm due for a week of vacation - downtime spent sleeping in, vegging in the house w/the dogs, working out, chillaxing at the beach, and generally doing nothing.

Well, I think that's it for now. Stay warm, be cool, enjoy Thanksgiving, and all the best throughout the holiday season. Cheers!

Guy Fawkes Day approacheth (Sunday, November 02, 2008)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

V for Vendetta is one of those movies I can watch over & over, and never tire of. I highly recommend it. At this moment it's the only recording I rue deleting from my DVR. Makes me long to hear Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

For more on Guy Fawkes, read away...

Things that make ya go "hmmm" (political) (Tuesday, October 28, 2008)

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here.

Sent to me via email, the article is here.

Republican elected officials endorsing Obama

• Former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson^[21]
• Former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee^[22]
• Former Minnesota Senator David Durenberger^[23]
• Former Virginia Governor Linwood Holton, father-in-law of current Governor Tim Kaine (D-VA)^[24]
• Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach^[25]
• Former South Dakota Senator Larry Pressler^[26]
• Former Connecticut Governor and Senator Lowell Weicker^[27]
• Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld^[28]
• Mayor Lou Thieblemont of Camp Hill, Penn. Thieblemont switched his party registration from Republican to Democrat so that he could vote for Obama in the Pennsylvania primary.^[29]
• Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor Jim Whitaker endorsed Obama and delivered a speech on the second day of the2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Other national Republican figures endorsing Obama

• Ken Adelman, former diplomat and member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board^[30]
• Former publisher of National Review, Wick Allison^[31][32]
• Jack Antaramian, Florida real estate developer and Bush fundraiser^[33]
• William Donaldson, former Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission under George W. Bush (2003-05)^[34]
• Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of former President Richard Nixon, granddaughter-in law of Dwight D. Eisenhower^[35]
• Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower and president of the Eisenhower Institute.^[36][35][37]
• Charles Fried, former U.S. Solicitor General and former McCain advisor.^[38]
• C.C. Goldwater, granddaughter of former Arizona Senator and Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater(endorsing Barack Obama on behalf of herself, her sibling, and some of her cousins)^[39]
• Lilibet Hagel, wife of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)^[40][41]
• Rita E. Hauser, Former White House intelligence advisor for George W. Bush^[25]
• Actor and former Bush supporter Dennis Hopper^[42]
• Larry Hunter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation and Chief Economist for the Free Enterprise Fund, former Reagan policy advisor^[43]
• Rear Admiral John Hutson, USN (ret.), former Judge Advocate General of the Navy and the current dean and president ofFranklin Pierce Law Center.^[44][45]
• Legal scholar Douglas Kmiec^[46]
• Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush from 2003-2006. Author of controversial book, What Happened.^[47]
• Tricia Mosley, former staffer to Senator Strom Thurmond^[48]
• Paul O'Neill, United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2001-02 under George W. Bush^[49]
• Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.^[15]
• David Ruder, Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission under President Ronald Reagan ^[50]
• Frank Schaeffer, pro-life advocate and the son of evangelist Francis Schaeffer.^[51]
• Radio Host Michael Smerconish^[52]

Support for Obama from writers affiliated with conservatism

• Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University.^[53]
• Christopher Buckley, author, son of legendary conservative William F. Buckley, Jr.^[54]
• Francis Fukuyama, author, key figure in the rise of neoconservatism and loosely affiliated with conservatism.^[55]
• Christopher Hitchens, author and essayist loosely affiliated with neo-conservative foreign policy.^[56]
• Dorothy King, archeologist and conservative blogger.^[57][58]
• Andrew Sullivan, commentator loosely affiliated with conservatism.^[59]
• Jeffrey Hart, senior editor of National Review magazine.

The Economist on "The Rise of the Obamacons" and their influence:

The biggest brigade in the Obamacon army consists of libertarians, furious with Mr Bush's big-government conservatism, worried about his commitment to an open-ended "war on terror", and disgusted by his cavalier way with civil rights.

For many conservatives, Mr. Obama embodies qualities that their party has abandoned: pragmatism, competence and respect for the head rather than the heart. Mr. Obama's calm and collected response to the turmoil on Wall Street contrasted sharply with Mr McCain's grandstanding.

How much do these Obamacons matter? More than Mr McCain would like to think. The Obamacons are manifestations of a deeper turmoil in the Republican rank-and-file, as the old coalition of small-government activists, social conservatives and business Republicans falls apart. They also influence opinion.

The more tantalising question is whether the rise of the Obamacons signals a lasting political realignment.

If the Republican Party continues to think that the problem lies with the rats, rather than the seaworthiness of the ship, then the Obamacons are here to stay.

So I just gotta ask, if all these people are endorsing Obama, many of whom are conservative ideologues, and some like Powell & McClellan actual former members of the Bush regime, why aren't you? BTW, rhetorical question here...