Lame Ripoff

I have been convinced for years that THEY are monitoring my thoughts and using all the great ideas I never have the resources to set in motion. It normally hasn't bothered me because, again, I didn't have the resources to pull it off anyhow.
The ideas are always nearly identical to mine and are always successful. So I take it as affirmation of my ability to be a fabulously wealthy entrepreneur at some point. It's that first million that is holding me back. Once I have that, the sky is the limit.

BUT THIS ONE ANNOYS ME. It doesn't annoy me because I was ready to make money off of it. I didn't even ever plan to make money off this one. This one was for me and my friends. If any of you have ever had the chance to darken the lanes of a bowling alley in my company, you have probably had the honor and privilege of participating in the greatness that is Kendall Bowling. What the name lacks in panache, the game more than makes up for in unnecessary intricacy and arbitrary rules. Without getting into such minutia I will say this; the basic premise is to get the highest score possible without getting a strike or spare (either of which will eliminate you from the game) or a gutter ball (which subtracts points from your score). It is not as easy as it sounds. Most rounds end with only one person NOT knocking down all the pins.

Nobody has ever not had a blast playing this game. And with good reason, it is brilliant.

But now, the corporate big wigs are trying to profit from it. And like corporate big wigs always do, they have dumbed it down and sucked all the brilliance out of it for their own gain. GutterBowling IS NOT great. It is lame. It is sold as something that requires no skill. It lies. a skilled bowler can win this game every time. They just turned it into (with all due respect) white trash golf. Where's the chance? Where's the capreciousness? WHERE'S THE KENDALLNESS?

Whatever.

SPORK

Apparently one of our SBA executives had an idea to have sporks instead of spoons AND forks in the student lounge. And the reason given was to possibly save money while continuing to meet the needs of the students.

ALRIGHT, LISTEN. This is not logical. If I need a utensil, I need a utensil. Rarely, if ever, does anyone use both a spoon and a fork at the same time (unless it is a soup and salad meal). Therefore, they will be getting a spoon or fork or spork. The same amount of utensils will be used. The only way this plan works to save money is the rare occasion someone is eating soup and salad. But the frustration of trying to get a proper amount of ruffage on those tiny little prongs of a spork and likewise having the soup leak through the same useless prongs will lead to nobody using any utensils. As a slob of an individual with little regard to manners and etiquette, I have no problem with this idea. SBA, all the way.

Empty

WARNING - MORE PERSONAL THAN USUAL.

I am surrounded by emptiness this morning. I am sitting alone in a large living room. The silence is hard to wear this morning, kinda like my belt on Christmas Eve. What a feast. But the feast turned to a gluttony of consumerism. And now I sit alone in the vomitorium. Too much?

But seriously. I have been wondering why I haven't felt Christmassy. I had chalked it up to stress and fatigue and a million other things. But I haven't felt that sense of overwhelming joy even one time this season.

Don't misunderstand. I have enjoyed spending so much time in Bmt with the girls. Great food. Good times. Good service on Christmas Eve. And there weren't even any major blowups. So that success should be acknowledged.

And yet I sit, surrounded by empty boxes, shreds of shiney paper and plastic package carcuses. I guess the lesson I must learn yet again this year - Exceess can lead to emptiness. Next year I promises to keep it simple in an attempt to keep it pure.

My '82 Berlinetta

Today all over this country young men and women are being trusted for the first time by various governmental entities with the ability to traverse the treacherous blacktop trails of this great land. In 1991, when I received my "hardship" license, these kids weren't even conceived. I am old enough to wait the lifetime it takes to get to drive TWICE.
My first was a 1982 Camero Berlinetta. The thing would fishtail on dry roads. It didn't have a CD player for the first year. Which wasn't all that uncommon back then. When I finally got my CD player and installed it, the first CD I blared was...C&C Music Factory. I was just a squirrel... Actually, I don't think I even knew what that line meant. Ah, the innocence. Anyhow, here's a pic. It's actually an '83 but almost identical and for sale for only $899.

As Yakov Smirnoff says

WHAT A COUNTRY!
I am one of the people who admits to race being a factor in my vote. Not the only factor, or even a major factor - but a factor nonetheless. And I thought about whether, with all that will be said, to say anything in this format or not.
But I do want to express the feeling of gratitude and grace that came upon me this morning.
Not last night as I listened to an amazing American calling for a united country to move forward after losing a hard fought campaign - although that was a phenomenal speech that almost made me tear up.
Not as I watched tears stream down the weathered faces of those who fought for the right to go to the same schools as my parents - although that brought many thoughts of my grandfather's character and the past that I come from, both positive and negative.
Not as I listened to out next president take time to talk about his daughters' new puppy. That just reminded me of Sugar Bear running down the hall screaming "Mommy" when Jade barked at him at my 4th grade birthday party.
It was this morning. It was the next day and the normalcy of it all. Peaceful transfer of power. That is democracy. That is freedom.
And I am extatic that my children live in a world where a PTA mom from Alaska can be the vice-presidential nominee.
And I am amazed that the past two democratic presidents have come from non-political families - single parent homes at that - while the past two republican presidents came from (the same) political families and old money. Maybe that is why I am leaning more towards the democratic party these days. I need some idealism. And they seem to live theirs out at proof.

Nothing wrong with a little hope and change

I voted. It didn't take long. Now to study for my last final as a 2L.

First mention by Texas Lawyer

http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2008/11/baylor-team-wins-national-competition.html