ROCKET SURGERY

Tips With Job

2012-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

These are the times that try men's...soles.

(Props to Paste for sharing The Generationals with the musically-discerning among us.)

Tips With Job

2012-01-06T20:59:00.001-08:00

I know I struggled a little bit A.) cutting my contraption and B.) getting the cord inside my contraption but it's actually pretty easy.
(Special thanks to Paste for turning me on to Class Actress.)

Brother Joel tells me that when it comes to facebook - resistance is futile.

2012-01-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ever watch Star Trek The Next Generation?

2012-01-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like a young Wesley Crusher when it comes to Facebook (The Game) - and that's it up to me to save the Federation from itself. This commercial for that episode is hilarious (to me) if viewed through that lens. (Please also note a young Ashley Judd making her television debut)

"High tech nightmare"

They are just so odd...

2011-12-28T06:24:00.001-08:00

hail!

2011-12-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to the Mountain Tates for a toaster that makes bread fun again.

(i tried to work "bread ex field" in here somewhere but it just felt forced)

...

2011-12-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

My first year out of college I spent Christmas Eve in Proctorsville, VT and per the suggestion of my brother John - who was once no stranger to solo Christmas Eves before the advent of Lisa - I went and had Chinese food for dinner. It's a tradition I've kept alive for the past decade thanks in large part to the guests we always have at the hotel over Christmas. It must be a tradition in the Chinese-American subculture to come to Killington, Vermont for Christmas and to cook up a storm and party like Wok-stars (a-thank you). The same group - in the row of non-smoking double queens - always fixes me a plate and so here I am...tradition alive and well. Stunned, perhaps, this is my third time spending CE at a hotel with what were once total strangers but are now familiar acquaintances...stunned but thankful.
My stomach may be full...but there is room in this inn.

2011-12-21T13:13:00.001-08:00

Gingrich gets a few more points with me

Occupy wall street in the micro

2011-12-21T10:53:00.001-08:00

I am one of the 4%...on ebay at least.Ebay is, in some ways, it's own little economy. Buyers and Sellers peddling and competing with their own little paypal currency.

Participation in this economy is entirely voluntary and your success either in finding the best deal or in getting the best yield for your selling efforts is solely dependent on the individual.About a year ago I began to sell on Ebay in earnest. (I'd go on craigslist looking for bargains and then I'd go on Ebay and flip the item for a profit. Recently I've become a "coupon magnate" selling mass quantities of coupons.) Whenever I sold an item this past year, just like the rest of Ebay, I was charged 5% of the sale price. Or I was taxed, if you will.But just like any ideal economy there are rewards for hard work. I began to pride myself on my accuracy of description, prompt return of emails, dispute resolution, speediness of delivery (as well as quality of packaging materials) and I also began adding a personalized, hand-written note in each sale.

This week I was rewarded by being labeled both a power seller and a top-rated seller. Classifications determined by a calculus that includes factors from both buyers and from Ebay itself and classifications I can stand to lose. Buyers have rated me as above average in every category with Ebay concurring - and Ebay acknowledges that I bring in above-average revenue for them without any unnecessary work on their behalf.

So now I pay only 4% in seller fees and I am "taxed" less than about 96% of the Ebay population.

This was no accident and while I don't equate my ability to flip a cell phone on Ebay to some grander economic achievement - the lesson for me is quite clear: There are winners and losers in this American economy of ours and at times we will all be both. But what this economy is most certainly not designed for is spectators. You cannot sex up or intellectualize laziness. It all comes down to staying up and waking up that extra minute.

2011-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah, or go to a different Chinese joint next time

Obadiah Tom Tate, second row - peering

2011-12-20T17:54:00.001-08:00

2011-12-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

"Or we can return to the road we once knew and which has served us well: a road where individuals acting freely and with little restraint are able to pursue fortune and prosperity as they see fit, a road where the government's role is not to shape the marketplace but to help prepare its citizens to prosper from it.

In short, we must choose between the straight line promised by the statists and the jagged line of economic freedom. The straight line of gradual and controlled growth is what the statists promise but can never deliver. The jagged line offers no guarantees but has a powerful record of delivering the most prosperity and the most opportunity to the most people. We cannot possibly know in advance what freedom promises for 312 million individuals. But unless we are willing to explore the jagged line of freedom, we will be stuck with the straight line. And the straight line, it turns out, is a flat line."

- Jeb Bush

(from this WSJ article)

Little something for my brothers to watch when given the chance...

2011-12-17T13:32:00.000-08:00

2011-12-16T12:52:00.003-08:00

my mind used to race...

2011-12-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

...now it just hands out the cups of gatorade

Rutland-20111124-00044.jpg

2011-11-24T06:32:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving at the hospital: Sitting, alone, at a large table while complete strangers are the only people I see...top 40 piped in over the speakers and the smell of Pine Sol.

Hearty helping of perspective.

Jesusing

2011-11-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

Listen, I like Tim Tebow. In addition to being one heaven of an athlete I really do appreciate the outspoken and joyful profession of his faith - in venues where I'm sure vice and temptation must seem to reign.

But c'mon, kid.

I guess when he is seen praying, as conspicuously as possible, that he is praying for safety? victory? ethiopia?

Is it wrong for some players to mock him for praying? Yes.
Am I surprised considering how easy he made it for them? Not at all.

If the opposing team were to see the opposing quarterback make a public spectacle like Tebow does - wouldn't a good percentage of the players assume that he is praying that they will lose? In order that, what, the glory go to God? And when he's been sacked, I think their response is easily understood. (but not justified)

Tim Tebow is a young, young man who endures pressures that would've broken me in the first week...and he must feel he has to please so many people. He was drafted first round, got a major paycheck, took over the top job on a team in a major media market and, kudos to him, he wants to reassure his brothers and sisters in Christ that he is still on our team. But the way he does it is wrong and it's more about him and the cult of support surrounding him than it is about actually praying for whatever it is he's praying for.

If he's praying for shelter from the pitfalls and temptation(s) that being a star NFL quarterback brings to him - the money, the accolades and fame, the women, the potential injury. Then we need to pray for him to be rescued from his job.
Better to pluck it out.

But as Jesus said in Matthew:

When you pray, you are not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their full reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

I like the kid, I really do. But I was more embarrassed by him than offended by others...who gave him his reward in full.

Childrens' Bulletin Art

2011-11-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

From The Archives

2011-11-22T09:09:00.001-08:00

I must've been sick?

Thank you Tara.

Easily the funniest thing I've seen in quite a while

2011-11-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

2011-11-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

He was caught with his pants down.
A pilot who accidentally locked himself in the bathroom of his LaGuardia-bound plane caused a terror scare last night when a helpful passenger with an accent tried to come to his rescue by banging on the cockpit door.
The embarrassing comedy of errors began when the captain of a Chatauqua Airlines flight from Asheville, N.C., decided to take a bathroom break before landing.
But when he tried to get out of the men’s room, the door jammed, trapping him in the tight quarters.
Desperate to get out and land the plane — which was in a holding pattern above the airport — he pounded his fists on the door to attract attention.
A well-intentioned passenger sitting in the front row heard his thumping and hurried over to help.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/17/pilot-locked-in-bathroom-causes-terror-scare-on-new-york-bound-plane/#ixzz1dyDRfKeK

...

2011-11-01T18:57:00.001-07:00

"It may be a sign of our times that everyone seems to be talking openly about sex but we seem embarrassed to talk about love."
- Thomas Sowell
- JBT

2011-10-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

When the roads were washed out, and we were without power, I slept on a couch in the main lobby so our stranded guests could hail me if they needed help with anything - not that there was much I could do for any of them except commiserate. That and put on a sleeping-in-discomfort show that Choice Hotels International cared that much about them.

It was late-August hot in that lobby and I woke frequently, stretching my arms into the black vacancy above me and feeling numbly for a Jeep-charged cellphone now run out of power. Sweating. Sweet Moses, the heat.

I walked out one night - 2AMish -, through the lot, past the pool, around the picnic tables and out onto route 4. Just a few sounds...some crickets in the Green Mtn National Forest, Mendon brook below me somewhere - still simmering down, and some plane drifting slowly above me, although I may have imagined its hum.

Down and stretched out my arms - laid my cheek on the cool asphalt. Really, not a care in the world napping in the middle of a highway. Let the constellations have the view for once.

Hobo Removal

2011-10-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

My brother Josh's (decidedly better) blog can be reached here!

And away...

2011-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

..We go
- JBT

Look Ma, I made a video!

2011-10-26T14:16:00.001-07:00

Occupie In The Sky

2011-10-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

Just one of those short and sweet wikipedia articles that are ultimately pointless but make me feel so illuminated nonetheless.

2011-10-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Mark Steyn writes a very sound article on the Occupy Wall Street abomination.

I often tell people, when they ask me why I'm not on facebook anymore, that if Facebook were a physical location I would never go there - And this manicured mob in Manhattan is, to my mind, a physical manifestation of a facebook fan page. It's a place for rampant and poorly-aimed whining - hoarse, cyclic, aimless argumentation throttled to ever-increasing volume - endless chances for photo-ops and hook-ups - and this constant perpetuation of the facebook cult of "me". Occupy Wall Street is pointless, effete and nauseatingly self-indulgent. It's un-American.

I usually spend these coming weeks dreading the arrival of snow here in the northeast, but oh how I hope it dumps here and soon. "Like".

The unoccupied occupiers.

2011-10-11T13:15:00.001-07:00

A parasite in skinny jeans and a $40 haircut complains to its host about its life of limited consequence and considerable largesse...a life lubricated by the economic machine it feverishly seeks to disrupt. Facebook stati* and twitter feeds, tapped out masterfully on an iphone bought for $200 with a new two-year agreement. $115 times 24 = $2760.00 + the $200 for the phone = $3000 (with a peace symbol phone protector and car charger for the vw). Parasite can't afford health insurance, and wants it for free. Couldn't fit any more plastic in its wallet anyhow. Subway sandwich card, gym membership card, mastercard.
Parasites.
Redeem some cans, eat oatmeal, trim the fat and be still - when being busy doesn't benefit you somehow.
I fear for the Republic.
*("statuses" should be shortened to "stati")

2011-10-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

A Facebook update resulted in the arrest of a Texas man who allegedly beat up his wife for not "liking" his status.

2011-10-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

MY LETTER TO THE EDITOR THAT WAS PUBLISHED:

AND THE ONE THAT WASN'T:

Recent controversey has arisen from Ben & Jerry's announcement of their new flavor "Shweddy Balls" (taken from a skit on Saturday Night Live) with some conservative groups like One Million Moms calling for a boycott. “The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive,” the group posted on its website. “Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.”
I find myself in agreement with this group and others but also appreciate Ben & Jerry's constant efforts to improve upon and add to their brand stable. I'm sure the flavor's name is a calculated one meant to appeal to a unique niche (thirty-something professionals with disposable income and good senses of humor) that could be replied upon to purchase their product. I propose, then, a lateral name change for the flavor to something like "More Cowbell" which would hail from what was A.) a funnier skit and would B.) allude to the dairy product in it's very name. In fact, they could be cutesy and call it Moooo-re Cowbell disenfranchising and offending no one while improving upon an earlier idea.

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

Words are to diamonds as Facebook is to Debeers - And the market is flooded and the value is cheapened.

2011-10-04T06:11:00.001-07:00

Do you think you could pass the 1869 Harvard Entrance Exam?

I, as it happens, could not.

Redskins/Cowboys

2011-09-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

"Don't calm me down. Let me go," Landry said. "Untame this beast, man. It's been a while."

On...

2011-09-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

...like donkey kong

-- JBT

2011-09-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

2011-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Please send Taco Bell.

Sincerely-

Job

-- JBT

I informed Mayowa that the first version did not "move my soul". This was his answer to that.

2011-08-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

2011-08-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

2011-08-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

People always asking
Why I just stay at home
They say dont you know?
It's not good for man to be alone

But you'd be the same
(and doubled-over)
If ya had to pass a heart stone

but thanks, ya'll, for stopping by
and checking up on me
for bringing me the paper
and some groceries

but i think you all had better move along
and please dont call me on the phone

I just need...i need to be alone
it's the only way
To pass a heart stone

A heart stone

2011-08-13T04:54:00.000-07:00

Mayowa

2011-08-12T21:11:00.001-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to my newest friend. This is Mayowa and he is a Nigerian scammer...a Nigerian scammer that I have been scambaiting for a while. While Mayowa is busy trying to shoplift thousands of dollars via Western Union from unsuspecting Americans he will also be spending much of this week trying to convince me of his earnestness - by first practicing and then performing and recording his version of my country western ballad Heart Stone. Stand by for more.

Full disclosure...

2011-08-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

I recently fell victim to a rash of incurable hubris. When a young Jonathan Peck gave me some sass earlier this summer I informed him I was going to take him to the proverbial woodshed that was my former place of employ (where I was a junior executive at Jamar Corp) and current Battlefield Live lasertag arena. Even though I had, to some degree, home field advantage - J.P. set about the business of humiliating me in the very garage bay I had once worked so dutifully in...84 to 42 was the final score.

That's the fullest disclosure you will get concerning my sad loss. But as we left the bay, with it's stacked cardboard boxes and thick smoke, I swore I would return to make it right.

Truth is, Jamar corp did very few jobs right the first time. It was only fitting.

WARNING: while this clip is highly interesting and amusing it does contain some graphic language. Click with caution.

2011-08-10T07:37:00.001-07:00

2011-08-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Looka lika mushroom cloud, buddy

-- JBT

2011-07-30T16:30:00.001-07:00

I wish our government had 4 branches: The executive, legislative, judicial and Charles Krauthammer. Every time I read or hear this man's genius I am humbled by his ability to think so clearly and articulate those thoughts even more clearly still. I've been a bit wary of the tea party since it's, um, inception? and while I agree with them on almost every issue I'm just wired to not like gadflies and especially not when the stakes are so high.

2011-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Imagine you’re in a burning office building. Obama’s plan for getting out alive: “Okay, you guys break up into different groups and come up with a series of proposals about how we get out of the building. I will then negotiate with each of you separately and then together, and then separately. Then I’ll get on Skype and tell the world what I think of your respective plans and criticize you for their lack of seriousness. I will insist that we have balanced approach of applying both water to the fire and opening the windows, which some say will only provide more oxygen for the flames. But my base says window-opening is essential. Oh and I will blame all of the gasoline I threw around on the lower floors of this building on the guy who moved out two years ago. And I will veto any plan that requires we have a new plan should we get stuck on another floor. And, did I mention this mess was created by the former tenant and….ahhh what’s that smell? - Jonah Goldberg in a piece from National Review Online.

I love interesting people...

2011-07-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Josiah Harlan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...and Josiah Harlan, my friends, is one of them...

T.he I.nformation M.inister

2011-07-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

I wish that every person I "hadn't seen in years" simply moved to the next town over and we could do Subway for lunch but since that would be a logistical nightmare they sent my old buddy and co-worker Tim Howard as their delegate.

I asked Tim if I could see every item he had in his pockets:

I then asked Tim that if we were being robbed but the thief let him keep one item from his pockets what would it be. He said, with no hesitation, it'd be his phone. So he "could call the cops right after to go get the rest of his stuff back."

Ah. So it's not your most prized possession, I asked.

No, he said.

"Everybody gotta wear clothes. And if you don't, you'll get arrested"- Mr. T

2011-07-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

I think this video is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I've taken the initiative of transcribing what Mr. T says about each model for your reading pleasure (although I'm a little confused about what he says when he's wrapping up Jeff's portion - which is a shame, because that's the most priceless part). I just can't believe how earnest they all are and that, within our own living memory, this was viewed by people who didn't think it was funny - in the least.

Xena and Zena with their exciting walk to the grocery store. Here’s Xena and Zena from San Bernadina. Thank you – Xena and Zena

And here’s Marta – our Subway sweetheart taking the A train to fashion in this graffiti-inspired creation. With her mustard socks and her ketchup sash – she’s a real hot dog.

Jeff – who’s the hippest cat in town? Ain’t no doubt when Jeff’s around. With pants pegged tight and hair and suspenders - he’s the 80’s nod to 50’s splendor. Stay cool, Jeff.

Athena- with her English bowler hat and Japanese kimono - Athena combines the very best of east and west with more than a dash of American-style know how … whether she’s fixing her bike or primping for the prom she’s a living United Nations…but there’s no need to vote on this outfit. Thank you, Athena.

All dressed up with no place to go; no sweat says Kelly, I’ll just run around the block a few times – and she probably won’t be running alone in this versatile outfit. Perfect for stopping traffic and starting…who knows what.

Manny – all the breaks been going well for Manny. He’s wearing the B boy look. B for breaking and boy do that look tough.

And here’s Janine, cool as a peppermint ice cream in her pink ensemble and flossy white pumps. Stir up every breeze, Janine, it’s getting hot in here.

America's coming oil boom--Arthur Herman - NYPOST.com

2011-07-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

America's coming oil boom--Arthur Herman - NYPOST.com

Iranian Pastor Sentenced to Death Could Be Executed if He Doesn’t Recant, Says Verdict - FoxNews.com

2011-07-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

Iranian Pastor Sentenced to Death Could Be Executed if He Doesn’t Recant, Says Verdict - FoxNews.com

I love interesting people...

2011-07-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Edith Bouvier Beale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...and Edith Bouvier Beale, my friends, is one of them...

From The Archives

2011-07-14T08:24:00.001-07:00

While it's not Bush's "This sucker could go down" you have to enjoy the junkyard dog diplomacy of "don't call my bluff"

2011-07-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Obama warns Cantor: 'Don't call my bluff' in debt-limit talks - TheHill.com

...

2011-07-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dusk and a dark bluegray sky with clouds and framed pines pinned to it like pieces of felt and I take the on ramp up onto the freeway, gathering speed before slipping into the stream of red lights and I can see inside the various autos all the various human forms - like fingers feeling in the dark - hurtling pressing and fleeing onward...a thousand different destinations.

And mine is to be next to you.

2011-07-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

The days feel turbulent and while I am not satisfied with myself or my country and its culture I find my fascination with America is best and most easily summed up by saying simply: There's nowhere else I'd rather live.

And I really want to see how we play out.

Barack Obama is a run-out-the-clock situation...

2011-07-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

...and swords about his hours and days spent on the links should be beaten into plowshares of thanksgiving. This administration is a calamity, Obama could screw up a cup of coffee and any moment this man spends putting and not presiding is a gift to the American people and our future generations.
If I have to read another conservative pundit's frothing-at-the-mouth article about the amount of time Obama spends golfing I'm going to simply lose it. Dude. Shhhh.

Let the man golf.

Fore!, more years.

2011-07-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

Irv Gordon from East Patchogue, New York, and his 1966 Volvo P1800, have completed over 2.9 million miles together. If you're after an arbitrary comparison to offer some perspective, that's around six round-trips to the moon, or over 116 circumnavigations of Earth.

The Albino Pepsi

2011-06-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

I wish my man cave was better lit because I totally popped open and began chugging an Albino Pepsi without realizing it this afternoon...possibly setting in motion the apocalypse but at the very least losing an interesting ebay auction.

2011-06-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

I like to fancy myself a minimalist of sorts but in truth I guess I'm not. I'm pretty well stocked, wired and - in truth - laden. And I don't like this about me. Sentimental objects aside, I can pretty quickly sum up the possessions I have that are important to me...creature comforts, entertainment items, apparel, types of food and cooking utensils. But the number of other items I possess that are in orbit of those is immense...and unacceptable.

So this is the summer, my friends, of using it up and wearing it out. Making it do, or doing without. I want to eat every bit of food I have on hand and I want to use up all the little hotel soaps I greedily collect. I want to sort through, sell and throw away my junk drawer(s).

And that, my friends, is the motivated truth.

2011-06-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

2011-06-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

2011-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Pawlenty it is...

2011-06-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

I'm still holding out hope that either Bush or Paul Ryan will enter the race, but in the event that neither does I'm firmly convinced that the GOP is sitting on a rare gem in Tim Pawlenty. It's so much more than that he can beat Obama. He just makes such cool, calm sense.

But I'm already exhausted with this race so I'm going to down-periscope while the palinesque chaff gets blown away. Gonna be a fun cycle.

"I'm not running for comedian- in-chief, or entertainer-in-chief. If people want that, they should go to the ball park or Broadway play or a Las Vegas show. ... Being strong is not the same as being loud. ... So, if you want the clown-in-chief, vote for somebody else. That's not me."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/12/pawlenty-on-being-vanilla-if-want-clown-in-chief-vote-for-somebody-else/#ixzz1P2bJvrGW

2011-06-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

2011-05-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

Whoa...

2011-05-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

2011-05-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

2011-05-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

The good reverend Harley Baker says...

2011-05-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

"The world did not end yesterday. But I pray it ends in you today."

-- JBT

Many people have told me...

2011-05-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

...that they didn't think I could sink any lower.

But here I am.

-- JBT

Ladies and gentlemen...

2011-05-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

...the rare desert tortoise

-- JBT

Stranger...

2011-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

...in a strange land

-- JBT

2011-05-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

2nd place on the test....

2011-05-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

...means you are the 1st loser and the buyer of donuts.

-- JBT

Jobasol

2011-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

I only nick myself when I shave in a rush

So I slow it down...with a mug and brush

-- JBT

...

2011-05-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

2011-05-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

-- JBT

...

2011-05-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Brother Harley Baker says making satan shake his head and say "foiled again" is our full time job.

Are you on the clock?, he wants to know.

-- JBT

EE Jolly*

2011-05-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

And I bought a bike off craigslist second day in China Lake from a retired air force guy.

Endless mojave vistas.
Make the best of it, the vets always tell me.

*erik estrada jolly...for patrolling california highways? Get it?

-- JBT

From this week's Sunday Rutland Herald...

2011-04-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

I don't usually find I have much to learn from political cartoons but their ease-of-reading and the chance they provide for the occasional laconic wit guarantees I will dutifully read them. And this one caught my eye and not just because it runs so contrary to my own politics...perhaps you can tell me why?

2011-03-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

A midnight visit to the store, passing by an 18+ kid stocking shelves and being rung out by a rugged looking 60- woman...all to the tune of "One headlight"...transports me back to a time when I and mine owned the song, a soundtrack to our drama(s) and added texture to our narrative(s). Self-centered is not to be confused with feeling unique and I sure do like the little moments of being reminded of how cool my narrative can be when viewed through the lens of who I am blessed to know.

From the Archives...(CSJ)

2011-03-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Lucy Oakley

2011-02-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

-- JBT

I am living the strangest existence...

2011-02-26T23:37:00.000-08:00

The Caliphate in the Room

2011-02-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

Living a pair of centuries away from the American revolution in an admitted haze of blessings I don't really feel a kinship with the swelling ranks of protesters in the Middle East and North Africa...it is more that of admiration and perhaps even a little bit of vicarious thrill.

I'm rooting for them.

But even as, with every nightly newscast, oppression seems to have fresh plates forced upon it for the spinning - I do feel a growing sense of unease. As the reliable ever-defender of GWB I find myself ticking off the names of countries almost daily...Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Jordan with a pleased voice. All of them so suddenly, so forcefully and with such a congruence of vision and passion – like the colonies. And while I can't stop commending them either with my lips or in my heart the ensuing vacuum will be equally forceful, sudden and perhaps congruent.

I pray this is about emerging...and not, rather, merging.

Like a Middle Eastern (or North African more accurately) dictator, my grip on power quickly loosens...

2011-02-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a common refrain of mine for many seasons that I'd rather be cool than nice - because you can fake being nice, but you can't fake being cool.
...Unless you read Time Magazine that is and can benefit from their unlocking and demystifying of one of cool's most important vehicles: The pose.
...For the record, however, "The Job" is both organic and patented.

I am prone to exuberance...

2011-02-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

...when it comes to my politics and sports teams but this was an interesting bit out of Florida courtesy of ESPN.com. The Orioles had to move their batting practice because they were damaging so many cars with their excess of home runs.

Disappointment runs deep in Oriole's nation but little things like this.

Little things like this.

Can you fear me now

2011-02-22T21:23:00.001-08:00

Study out today reveals that cell phone use affects the brain. Now ive had a cell phone for nearly a decade - and while most know im not the most enthusiastic phone conversationalist - ive had enough phone conversations to know that the brain affects cell phone use...

2011-02-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

-- JBT

And from the great cover's department we have Weezer with "The Weight"...

2011-02-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

I've always maintained they say "Take a load off Fanny"

Blood Meridian

2011-02-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

"...and one in the armor of a Spanish conquistador, the breastplate and pauldrons deeply dented with old blows of mace or sabre done in another country by men whose very bones were dust and many with their braids spliced up with the hair of other beasts until they trailed upon the ground and their horses' ears and tails worked with bits of brightly colored cloth and one whose horse's whole head was painted crimson red and all the horsemen's faces gaudy and grotesque with daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious, all howling in a barbarous tongue and riding down upon then like a horde from a hell more horrible yet than the brimstone land of Christian reckoning, screeching and yammering and clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing where the eye wanders and the lip jerks and drools..."

CM

From the archives...

2011-02-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

2011-01-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

I find a certain odd and large amount of satisfaction in assigning myself experimental tasks. I find that once dedicating myself I am usually able to execute - but that I rarely consider pursuing something more noble. For instance: I once spent a year without sleeping in a bed and took an entire August off from spending money. I opted out of coffee for a May and only rode my bike during a September. February is a good month for such projects (as it is the shortest one) and I feel the need to experiment once again.

The best I've ever felt was the day in October when I left Fort Leonard Wood for home. Not just because I was trading the restraints of Naval training for the gentle slopes of the Green Mountains but also because I was in the best shape I've probably ever been in. No small amount of that was courtesy, I believe, of broccoli. They fed our unit a steady diet of "Protein and Green" (except for Tuesday and Thursday) and while it took some getting used to - the positive physical effects were undeniable. So this February, armed with some multi-vitamins, I am going to make broccoli the singular focus of every meal I eat. That's 84 meals.

I love me a good challenge.

Updates to follow.

A little sweet to the sour of a lost season

2011-01-31T13:59:00.001-08:00

2011-01-29T20:23:00.001-08:00

An informative article about how a country (such as Egypt) can shut down the internet inside its borders.

And what does your body odor say about you?

...

2011-01-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

I dream of and, in truth, anticipate the day Vermont can claim it's own NFL football team. I resent that we are co-opted into supporting a team from Boston that calls itself the "New England" Patriots when the ranks of both the team and her fans are filled with mouth-breathing flatlanders. I know we're a small tribe here in these Green Mountains but we are a proud people and if Green Bay, Wisconsin can claim a team I don't know what's keeping Burlington from pulling the trigger.

While, make no mistake, I will die a Redskins fan - I would still welcome such an advent in Vermont and as such I have taken the time to compile a list of possible name for the squad:

1. The Two Hour Delays

Hey Josh...

2011-01-25T06:45:00.001-08:00

...Paul Ryan is doing the Republican response tonight. He'll break it all down for ya.

Breathtaking

2011-01-20T11:33:00.001-08:00

I am so pleased with the GOP's proposed cuts this morning and it's an interesting read when itemized. I truly feel that a private sector renaissance could be upon us.