So, here's an interesting article from the Washington Post, on driving while high on reefer. Evidently there's no breathalyzer equivalent for pot; to determine how much THC is roaming around in a person, you have to do a blood test. I would like to modestly propose some additions to the standard field sobriety tests that might help police officers decide if a person is too high to drive without having to resort to a blood... Read more →
I've been stewing over this article from the New York Times for a whole damn week. Go ahead and read it; it's short. I'll wait. Here's the gist: When elders -- Boomers in particular, but also Gen-Xers -- use social media, they become stupid and childish. Or, maybe it's that they remain stupid and childish, like the young people who use social media. Apparently we are supposed to be wise and serious, as opposed to... Read more →
When I was 10 or so, Pop took my sister and me to a baseball game. Somewhere in the middle of the game, I had to go to the bathroom. When I came back out of the ladies room, I got turned around and went the wrong way, so instead of heading back to my seat, I found myself walking in a deserted part of the stadium. Out of nowhere, a gang of four or... Read more →
I've only been to one presidential inauguration, that of John F. Kennedy. I was nine years old. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president, so all of us Catlicks were beyond thrilled. (In my Catlick school classroom were two portraits: the Pope and John F. Kennedy.) The only thing I remember about that day is that it was freezing cold. I don't remember the parade; I don't remember seeing the presidential motorcade. I just remember... Read more →
When I saw this photo on my Facebook feed, I got very depressed. Then when I saw this picture, I got more depressed. That lake in front of my house is actually a yard and two intersecting streets. I thought, "Well, that's that. At least we have flood insurance." I wondered if we would be able to salvage any of the furniture -- maybe the TV sets and the stuff in the kitchen cabinets. If... Read more →
This could be interesting. Image from Weather.com, with my annotation Sandy is battering Eastern Florida even as I type. This morning many of the models were sending the storm past the mid-Atlantic and up into New England. Now? More and more of them show the storm hitting hard right my backyard, late Sunday and all day Monday. In fact, the Weather Channel guy on NBC Nightly News showed the two most likely scenarios. One of... Read more →
Since I last updated, I have continued this absurd fixation with taking care of myself. I have walked every single day -- one day I even got off the subway one stop early and took the longer walk up the hill to my office. I also started walking to the subway after work instead of catching the work shuttle. I know! I have also lost a smidgeon more weight. So now that it actually seems... Read more →
Every time I try to articulate my feelings about the movement to outlaw abortion, I can't do it. I get too angry, absolutely torqued up, completely livid. Yes, Representative Akin and his ilk are dangerously misinformed about rape. Even though his party has had the vapors over his "mis-speaking" and want him to withdraw from the race, they still want to outlaw abortion, in all cases -- rape, incest, health of the woman -- doesn't... Read more →
It's raining today. Not a big thunderstorm or a brief shower, but a steady, gray rain -- sometimes light, sometimes heavier -- but always rain, soaking everything. It seems right, after yesterday's tragedy. It would be wrong, somehow, to have a bright, sunshiney day today. The police have defused the first tripwire in the shooter's booby trapped apartment. The living mourn their dead; the wounded begin to heal, if they can, both physically and psychically.... Read more →
Well, Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! For us, today was pretty much like any other Sunday. We haven't really done much for Easter in the past several years. Since SonnyeBoy grew up, we haven't done the usual stuff like dying Easter eggs and assembling baskets and nibbling the ears off chocolate bunnies; because neither of us is particularly religious, we don't go to church. Instead, we went to lunch. I had a taste... Read more →