Mid-Life Something (Boredom, Perhaps?..)

Well, the whiskey has petered out. Now, mind you, I still enjoy it (there is some mixed in cola sitting next to me as I type), but there really isn't anything hard-to-find around here anymore because, well, I already bought it during my last obsessionary period. While I continue to cherish the friends I've made while enthusing over the bibulous lubricant, the hunt has ended because the herd is depleted.

Plus, I'm almost a year already in-house! There is no longer the goosebump-raising thrill when I turn into MY driveway.

Soooooo, I'm bored. What's the next 'thing'? Well, I bought a motorcycle last weekend. Like me, it's an 'oldie-but-goodie': a 1982 Honda 900C Custom. 'Thing' is, I haven't been on one for almost (okay, maybe "more than") 40 years. My last motorized, 2-wheel jaunt, best as I remember, was on my brother's 50cc Benelli down the farm path while growing up -- c. 1968! This one is capable of, well, more than 145mph! (Being from the immediate, post-Carter era, however, the speedometer only goes up to 85, thankfully! lol)

Frankly, it's a great bike, and I paid cash! No monthly payment, no high-cost insurance indemnifying a lienholder. And, I'm registered for a Motorcyle Safety Foundation course (which will substitute for state written and driving-course exam) next month. Despite the fact that the machine scares me right now, I WILL master it! And, then, I will have a ball! 

If only I can ever get it home from the dealer...?

He's No Lincoln

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed), 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

It strikes me that the Obama Administration is pretty much invested in "all of the people all of the time". It's a losing investment.

Just Thinking...

(Sorry about the off-the-ether time, folks! I've been scratching for cash and paying it to buy a motorcycle. It's a mid-life crisis, you know.)

In 2004, a little-known state senator, who had accomplished little as a legislator, running for a U.S. Senate seat he was expected (and did) win handily, electrified a national convention with a keynote speech -- and was elected president four years later.

Newly-minted Sen. Scott Brown HAS accomplished something -- defeated a state-wide, generations-long political juggernaut (almost reminds one of Sarah Palin, huh?) and made Massachusetts a two-party state again -- and won a place in the U.S. Senate. Ironic, isn't it, that he may spell out the term limit of his other-party precursor.

Meanwhile, President Obama and the Obaminations promise not to let Brown's election deter them from their appointed destiny of lurching the American economy and society leftward -- even against most Americans' will! Kinda gives you an idea of how dangerous Jimmy Carter might have been had he KNOWN he was only getting a single term, doesn't it?

Lost NFL Weekend

I was an NFL 'beat writer' for four years. What does that mean? Well, it means from 1997 (in Memphis) to 2001 preseason, I covered for my local, daily newspaper every Tennessee Titans home game except one (Christmas season in '97 vs. Steelers -- I went to Vegas), and from playoffs 1999 (Music City Miracle thru Super Bowl) through preseason 2001, I reported every game, home AND away (except a Monday night in D.C.). For whatever it's worth, there are fewer full-time NFL writers than NFL players. Not paid as well, though. I left the business when asked to accept lower status and less pay for my then-significant, but part-time work.

Additionally, I've been a Titans season ticket holder before, during, and after all that. My name, literally, is emblazoned on an LP Field wall as an original PSL holder.

All of which is to say, beyond spending 25 years being paid to write about sports, I have a vested interest in the NFL. Which is why this weekend was so odd: in three playoff games so far, I wanted 5 of the 6 teams to lose. With only tonight's Arizona-Green Bay yet to start, I've spent less than an hour watching pro football during its supposed elite post-season.

Although I'm no particular fan of the Cincinnati Bengals -- beyond being an admirer of their all-time, all-NFL founder, Paul Brown (for whom, interesting, another division team is named) -- I really wanted to see them beat the Jets, whom I loathe. Not sure why, really, except that I though Eric Mangini got too much credit there, despite getting fired, just like I think Bill Belichek gets too much credit in Foxboro (and nationally -- read that, 'from Peter King', when he's not canonizing Brett Favre!) for being astute enough to hire hyper-competent coordinating assistants. And, I don't like Rex Ryan, as often is the case with the offspring of colorful characters. Father Buddy Ryan was eccentric and irascible. Son Rex, rubbing off the same routine, is tiresome. Additionally, he used to be with the Ravens.

I don't like Baltimore because they were whiny and chippy during the Brian Billick years spent in the same division I covered with the Titans. Those two teams really didn't like each other, but often had to -- and did, usually originating in Baltimore -- invent reasons for it. Ray Lewis is going to the Hall of Fame instead of jail, where he belongs. Billick will forever be recognized as a Super Bowl-winning coach despite the Ravens never being as good as the team's talent beyond that single year.

Re New England, see above re Belichek, the cheater (I mean, really -- does ANYONE believe he didn't know his operative was filming the other team, and that it was against the rules?). Once you're proven to be a liar and a cheat, the rest of your accomplishments come into question. I didn't make that rule, by the way -- it's called the 'Judeo-Christian ethic'.

As for Dallas and Philly -- do I really have to explain why either of these teams rub me the wrong way? For Dallas, let's just remind them that the owner doesn't REALLY matter to anyone except himself, okay? And the Eagles? Well, aside of Rush being largely correct about McNabb -- and being drummed out of league ownership for it even though a racial epithet-spewing celebrity pop singer (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/280525) is part-owner of the Dolphins -- how do we gloss over the fact that being a successful NFL coach apparently is more important (and we're OKAY with that!) to Andy Reid than being a dad, whose sons (plural!) are imprisoned for being violent drug users and dealers? I'd even grant that Reid seems like a really nice guy. Lousy fathers often are -- it frequently goes hand-in-hand. Doesn't make his priorities stand out in the pantheon of right-thinking, though.

Looking ahead to the Arizona-Green Bay matchup later, I have a definite preference, but no animosity toward either team. I'm a huge fan of Kurt Warner, despite his having ruined my sport-writing apogee by beating my Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. He's every bit as good -- as both a player and a person -- as his reputation says. His opponents can vouch for the former; his teammates frequently vouch for the latter. Warner is a Hall-of-Famer whether or not he is ever enshrined in Canton!

"Speaking Stupid All the Time"

That's how Power Line's Scott Johnson puts Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's inept articulation.

And, is anyone else tired of the non-apology apology (who would question the sincerity: he only waited to get he got called out a year-and-half later?) which basically regrets that we listeners are too stupid to understand the superior thinking so eloquently misstated? I mean, really -- isn't a more apt description of Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinking stupid all the time?!

I've hinted before that I'm embarrassed that the two chambers of our national legislature are headed by individuals who'd fit right in with mid-level county commissioners back home.

What Do People Expect?

I suppose this NY Times treatise about men who regret becoming homeowners is supposed to garner sympathy and some sort of androgynous bonding, but it simply struck me that these men bought a house with unrealistic expectations or just to check off a life-experience box:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/garden/07men.html?ref=garden

Anyway, I bought my first house after 35 years of adulthood last year, too. It's a 'rambler' -- it has waaayy more room, both inside and outside, than I need living by myself. And, it's tying up much of the money which was either savings or discretionary, spendable cash just a year ago. I'm having a hard time affording a motorcycle-buying,  mid-life crisis, for Heaven's sake!

All that said, I don't regret being here for a minute. I've missed having space, trees, wildlife, and my own dirt since leaving the farm on which I grew up two months out of college. I've adopted seemingly ALL of the erstwhile neighborhood stray cats -- there are five of 'em (only one moved in with me) asleep around the house as I write this -- and we're not the least bit crowded. I spent an hour this morning in the crawl space under the house insulating water pipes against the cold -- and feel good about it!

In short, I think the premise of this story is all wrong, although it's certainly PC: the problem with these homeowners wasn't that they are young, professional men, it's that they are too unfocused, too unrooted, or too self-centered to value anything that doesn't put money in their pockets, or social viability into their schedules. And, it's true they probably don't need to be homeowners. But it isn't because the American Dream has lost its luster or value, but rather because some Americans can't see beyond the scope of their own horizons, and find stewardship of anything that will last longer than they do stultifying.

The First Duty of a President

It remains to be seen if President Obama has yet internalized this fact, but it is increasingly obvious to the rest of us that the primary thing Americans demand from their chief executive is that he protect the country. And, if he fails to do it, no combination of other 'achievements' will make up for it.

The fact that Obama, despite his previous campaign rhetoric, has left in place many of the Bush-era intelligence and security protocols hints that he gets it. The treatment of the Christmas-Day, would-be undie bomber as a character in "Grand Theft Airliner" doesn't.