Bliadhna mhath ùr!

"There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper" - Camille Paglia

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

This guy deserves to be read, and not just his blog

Angsty Emo Outrage and Ducks

Why I surf on Christmas day

For a quiet day, a moment of Marie

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

Another of my generation.  We hold up pretty well, don't we?  I mean, you should see me in a Speedo.

Our very own national Twilight Zone. #TCOT #CreepyTrue pic.twitter.com/eRJmFmT16g
— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) December 19, 2013

"Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it." - Epictetus

— Catholic Thinker (@ThinkerCatholic) December 17, 2013

This is invaluable

The Tweetable Guide To Media Myths And Left-wing Violence

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

What can I say?  Were the same generation and besides, while she's no Marie Osmond, she's always been a cutie.

Surfing Daytona Beach FL. Montage

Yes, we know

Nice surfing the past few days, enough to keep my mind off of anything else, but I'm not exercising beyond that and I'm eating too much.  It's football season at the neighborhood's bar and my caloric count is creeping up with my weight.  Can't have that.

Also, a conspicuous absence of Marie the past two days has harshed my mellow some.

My off-the-books carpentry work is over, save for a few finish pieces, but I'm hopeful that some of the neighbors will have some work for me soon.

Yes, it's another exciting post.  Next time, an essay on Daytona Beach surfing.  How's that?

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

The left thinks they are making history by telling already poor people to walk out on their source of income. Amazing.

— Eric (@eriContrarian) December 5, 2013

Far out!  I found a rolled bomber in a drawer and smoked the willy outta that thing.  Then, miraculously, Marie came on TV.  Is she real or an illusion?  It doesn't matter.  Oh, Marie.  My Marie....

Humid with 1 foot waves; the sea all gray and forbidding.  Even with a 3/2 wetsuit, it seems cold.  So, as I'm waiting for an order of cabinet hinges to arrive in the mail, I have neither surfing or monkey carpentry to keep me busy.  That, and I think I'm coming down with a cold.  Yep, Thanksgiving really nailed me.

That, and I couldn't find Marie Osmond on TV today.  How much misery can one man endure?!!!!!!!

Actually, I could use a quiet day, maybe with a nap, too.  The non-stop excitement is getting to me.

"Despite" or "Because of"?

Smith & Wesson reported record sales of $588 million for the fiscal year ending April 30, up 43 percent over 2012, according to a June press release. President James Debney credited 'innovative new products' and 'robust consumer demand.' The results come despite a push by President Barack Obama and some state legislators for gun-control measures.

My disquieting lust for Marie Osmond is becoming disturbing.  I can't watch these weight loss commercials any more.

Of course

The President honors...

JFK



Neil Armstrong



Rosa Parks



Bill Clinton



I'm sensing a theme here....

Replace "Despite" with "Because of" and it'll make more sense. Americans hate to be forced or otherwise coerced.

New survey: Despite Michelle Obama, Americans are eating less healthy

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

Despair. It's our only hope.

— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) November 28, 2013

Call me Daytona Dave

Cold air, around 62 degrees, but the water is warmer and the skies sunny, despite the massive storm that seems to be affecting the rest of the eastern coast.  So, Thanksgiving Eve surf time all day long, or until I do myself an injury.  Ah, paradise.

Tomorrow is a dangerous day, as our Thanksgivings used to be my favorite occasion each year, as the members of my wife's family, the ones whom I could stand, would always come to visit and bring with them gallons of Beaujolais and a larder of foodstuffs.  I will fall into a form of despair, as I do annually.  However, I do have some ways to limit the potential damage.

Mainly, I make a feast for myself that is time and energy consuming to prepare, a meal that I eat slowly and in gradual courses, and that I temper by staying away from the public and not viewing anything like parades or football games.  I have well-worn copies on Endless Summer I and II that I watch only on Thanksgiving and that seem to lessen the potential for wandering, suicidal thoughts.

It also helps to be in sunny Florida where autumn is not what it is in New England.

Then, on Friday, I exercise all day long: surf, bike, run, and eat only protein.  By Saturday, I'll be back to normal.

MT Put MAIG gun grabber Mike Bloomberg in his place and Retweet. pic.twitter.com/HRVhUnm4lC #nj2as #PJNET #tcot #ccot #2a
— 2ANow (@2ANow) November 25, 2013

No, because that would require the ability to form a coherent thought

Obama: I'm not a particularly ideological person

This is the kind of stuff that my former students involve themselves with as the common aspects of academic pursuit are now "boring"

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

“The academic community is more likely to suffer from mass delusions than the general public.” —John Dos Passos http://t.co/SPhwnUi0eW

— The Paris Review (@parisreview) November 19, 2013

President Derp

But perhaps the president’s most astonishing statement involved an insouciant confession of ignorance. Returning to a common but under-appreciated motif of his presidency, Obama remarked: “What we’re also discovering is that insurance is complicated to buy.”

What deficiency of Obama’s education and of the education of those who surround him accounts for administration officials not knowing what is perfectly well-known to most ordinary Americans? 

This discovery that purchasing health insurance is complex is just the most recent of the rather stunning lessons that Obama professes to have learned on the job about how the world really works.

I suspect he'll spend the next three years either in the bathroom or on the golf course

Mrs. Obama also said that the president of the United States "sings all the time." She continued, "Oh, yes, he’s in the bathroom all the time just singing."

Terrified Obama Trapped Inside Healthcare.gov Website

Yeah, well....

I don’t recall Oprah objecting when Bush was routinely shouted down. Did she deplore Al Gore calling the Bush team “digital brownshirts”? Or maybe John Glenn invoking the Nazis (“It’s the old Hitler business”) to talk about her president? Nor do I remember her weighing in on Linda Ronstadt’s claim that the Bush administration was “a new bunch of Hitlers.” Harry Belafonte and Julian Bond both routinely labeled their conservative opponents as little more than Nazis or KKK racists. Nor did Oprah note that “there’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs” when Barbra Streisand compared Bush to Hermann Goering. Was she worried when Alfred A. Knopf published a novel about musing how to kill Bush? Or by a prize-winning docudrama film imagining the killing of Bush? What was her reaction a New York play, “I’m Gonna Kill the President,” was produced? Did Oprah once give a similar BBC interview about the office of the president and disrespect shown it in 2004 when a guest columnist in the Guardian, Charles Brooker, wrote: “On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod’s law dictates he’ll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr. — where are you now that we need you?”

But, but, but commies are our friends - Liberals

“For 50 years, Dallas has done its best to avoid coming to terms with the one event that made it famous: the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963,” writes James McAuley in today’s New York Times. He goes on to describe JFK-era Dallas as a right-wing “city of hate.” And thus McAuley, “a Marshall scholar studying history at the University of Oxford,” becomes the latest liberal to do his best to avoid coming to terms with the one fact that everyone must remember about JFK’s murder: Lee Harvey Oswald was a Castro-loving Commie.

I think Obama should wear a football jersey at his next press conference.  It did a world of good for Rob Ford.

This Week's Steyn

So, if I follow correctly, the smartest president ever is not smart enough to ensure that his website works; he’s not smart enough to inquire of others as to whether his website works; he’s not smart enough to check that his website works before he goes out and tells people what a great website experience they’re in for. But he is smart enough to know that he’s not stupid enough to go around bragging about how well it works if he’d already been informed that it doesn’t work. So he’s smart enough to know that if he’d known what he didn’t know he’d know enough not to let it be known that he knew nothing. The country’s in the very best of hands.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

Hey, all.  I got busy doing some cash-only carpentry work for a person in this gated community.  We had to do it on the sly as I'm unlicensed and operating without a work permit, but it was just a simple repair to a patio deck with a slight change in shape.

Yes, I can work with wood.  It's one of my few talents.  Three generations of carpenters proceed me and my dad was always sure I knew how to use tools.  I used to enjoy working on small projects for my wife, all those many years ago; another life, really, and one that I often miss.

Anyway, it was fun to spend a few days sawing and hammering.  Well, the wood was mostly pre-cut and I use a nail gun and drill nowadays, but still.  It was particularly nice to be handed $500 in cash when the job was done, too.  Nothing for the tax man or Crazy Barry.

I ran in a local 5K on Veterans' Day, meeting a few of the local old Marines, all of whom gather at a local restaurant for breakfast once a month, so that will provide some socialization.

Speaking of which, my summer fling wants to visit around Christmas.  I've been getting comfortable here, meeting the local old boys, doing some neighborly work, and being blissfully ignored by the local surfing youngsters.  Complicated middle-aged woman in need of servicing might mess up this harmony. Then again, southern California and a trip across the U.S. might beckon.

Man, these are really first-world problems, aren't' they?

It's the birthday of a noble institution

Whenever the politicians and diplomats get in a jam and don't know what to do to save their careers and access to political power, they call in the Marines to die or be maimed, then relegated to a corner of history once the elites are safe again.  If you think that's cynical, you're right.  It's also accurate.

Rudyard Kipling, when writing about the similar lot of the common British soldier, or "Tommy", composed the following verse:

It's Tommy this, and Tommy that, 
And chuck him out the brute, 
But it's 'Savior of his Country,' 
When the guns begin to shoot!

Or, apparently, when it begins to rain.

Here's to 238 years of honor, duty, and faithfulness.  Even though these values are misunderstood and sometimes ridiculed by the New York Times/National Public Radio/university faculty crowd, and made cartoonish by Hollywood puzzlewits, they are practiced and borne on a great deal of real blood.

"Staying out of trouble."

At 107, nation's oldest veteran enjoys limelight

Okay, is it weird that I find Marie Osmond hot?  I mean, she's doing a weight loss commercial, for God's sake.  I never found her attractive, even when she and I were young.  So weird.  It's this living in Florida, I tell ya.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I voted by absentee already but, as my state had no big contests, it was only for some local politicians who are innocuous.  One of my guys lost, but that was no big deal as I think he was rather indifferent about the whole process.

You might be wondering about why, since I have embraced the nomadic lifestyle, I still maintain residence for myself and on what it is based.  In the US, one still must have a fixed address or else it is impossible to get a driver's license or vehicle registration and the IRS gets a little curious about you.  Since I receive a pension on which I am taxed by both my nation and my state, the forms must originate from somewhere.  I have a post office box but, when an address is required, I use a service that provides such; it's akin to the Mailboxes, Etc. that dot the landscape.  So, since I still pay tax to that state and property tax to the local government [Sadhu, the Surf Truck is taxed], I feel the desire to participate in local politics, at least as a voter.

It is not easy to live like a gypsy in the US; even less so as creeping and intrusive regulations seek to limit small points of freedom.  To do so in my small way means that I'm probably violating a whole stack of laws that I don't even know about.  Well, and the one that I do know about, but I'm damned if I'm going to travel the backwaters of our country by myself and not have some form of traditional American equalizer at my side.

However, I am planning on relocating to a state that doesn't have income tax, as I need to tighten the budget yet again.  I may have to find some seasonal employment, too, other than house-sitting, and may do so here in sunny Florida as folks are starting to hire in anticipation of the coming "snowbird" season.  Hmmm, a little extra coin along with pension and a nice, rent-free house sounds pretty good right now.  Especially since the water is dang cold in the mornings and the coffee isn't.

Charges For What? Inadvertant Scaring Of The Preternaturally Timid? Embarassing Over-reactive Law Enforcement? Identifying Beta Culture?

Central Connecticut State University Locked Down After Campus Shooter “Scare” That Could’ve Been a Halloween Costume; Campus Police Chief Says There Was No Real Threat to Anyone, Charges Likely

It required two S.W.A.T teams to address an unarmed student in a Halloween costume?  This is how unarmed people who are not breaking any laws wind up getting shot by the police.

Oh, this is a great idea: Union wants TSA agents to be armed.  Couldn't they just borrow either the Environmental Protection Agency or Department of Education's S.W.A.T teams?  [Yes, they both have them.]

Update: Oh, the "suspect" is black.  Now I get it, especially on a campus where 74% of the student body is white and only 9% are black.

I want to be on the editorial board of Nein Quarterly

Arranging my books by those that expanded my mind, those that widened my worldview, and those that forever reduced my potential earnings.

— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) November 5, 2013

Of course not. Is there another question?

Does Hillary Clinton’s Enthusiasm for Profit Extend Beyond Her Own Earnings?

Philosophy = dialectic. Linguistics = diacritic. Twitter = die alone.
— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) November 4, 2013

Cooler temps this morning in both air and water.  Without question, we are into the full wetsuit season. Ah, well, it just makes that post-surf cup of coffee all the better.  In fact, as I used to have a satisfyingly hot mug of hot white chocolate on those cool October mornings in Huntington Beach, I may introduce that to my Daytona schedule.

It's been awhile since I've written about either surfing or life.  The former is easier to discuss than the latter, so we'll limit the post to that.

The waves have been running to about 4 feet consistently during the day, which is just right for me.  The locals aren't threatened by an old man and, in fact, have been getting chatty with me in the mornings.  I've found a bar at which to hang out for sports viewing.  As it is convivial and not part of some chain that promotes either sports nerdiness or cleavage, it's particularly nice.

I've re-established my daily exercise routine and lost the weight I'd gained.  I still can't crack the plateau I've been on since the summer, but it's no big deal.  To do so, I would probably have to trim aspects of my diet and do a complete elimination of carbs, alcohol, diet soda, and other staples of my American diet.  Until my meals are limited either by a hospital or a nursing home, or a coma, I'll still sneak away from the macrobiotic life from time to time.

For example, this afternoon, I'm on my bike over to the bar to watch whatever game is on the big, giant TV, especially as the waves are below two feet today.  Yep, that's my life now.  I wouldn't have it any other way, either.

From this week's Steyn

“Four out of five Americans have little or no trust in their government to do anything right,” says chief political analyst Gloria Borger. “And now Obama probably feels the same way.” Our hearts go out to him, poor wee disillusioned thing. We are assured by the headline writers that the president was “unaware” of Obamacare’s website defects, and the NSA spying, and the IRS targeting of his political enemies, and the Justice Department bugging the Associated Press, and pretty much anything else you ask him about. But, as he put it, “nobody’s madder than me” at this shadowy rogue entity called the “Government of the United States” that’s running around pulling all this stuff. And, once he finds out who’s running this Government of the United States rogue entity, he’s gonna come down as hard on him as he did on that videomaker in California; he’s gonna send round the National Park Service SWAT team to teach that punk a lesson he won’t forget.

My insurance is paid by the university as part of my retirement; I ante up about 40% of it with a reasonable deductible.  When the employer mandate kicks in next year, I'm going to lose it all and have to sign up for this mess.  Without drama, it will mean the end of the transient surf life, which is too bad.  I more or less figured age/health would be what limited me, not some stupid ill-designed government program.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

Trick or Treat

Apparently, Barry is now radioactive.

I miss the old days. Back when America didn't listen to the rest of the world.

— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) October 26, 2013

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

It was a good day. Somewhere far, far away. Long ago.

— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) October 24, 2013

The theme of our current government seems to be "Let's change things to save money in such a way that costs money and alienates people" Brilliant!

U.S. Marines turn up noses at Obama’s new ‘girly’ hats

Hmmm, I'm beginning to sense a pattern

None of this is a surprise to any of us from the academic world.  Our faculty lounges are full of fey pseudo-intellectuals like Barry.  They have all the answers and can't ever get any of them to work. When they realize it, they disengage.

Obamacare and the absentee presidency

Obama Chewing Gum as Syria Burns

Obama disassociates from reality

Yuck, rain and junky surf.  Maybe this afternoon.  Besides, my house sitting job includes a TV with full access to all sorts of services.  Just what I want, to sit in a recliner all day.

Nice session this morning with the air and the water just right.  I need to find a place to get some coffee after the morning session as my body temp sinks considerably after some time in the surf.  I suppose I could bring my venerable and dented Thermos, but the less I take, the less I worry about; especially since I lost my prescription goggles last month in Jersey.

I'm not going to go back for an afternoon session as I fell into a physical lassitude the past three weeks and am starting to feel the morning session.  Tomorrow morning, however....

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

LOVE IT! Yale Study Finds Tea Partiers Know More About Science Than Liberals, Researcher Shocked… http://t.co/Bg7Lfw9CJq via @sharethis

— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) October 17, 2013

Settled into the new quarters today.  A nice three bedroom in a gated community, of which I was given a tour by the "security representative" who also photocopied my driver's license, took my photo [front and both sides], and introduced me to the staff at the gate.  I probably should have shaved.

Turns out one of the guards is a surfer and he gave me some pointers as to which areas are worth it.  "You'll probably not be hassled by the locals.  They don't bother with older guys.  Still, it's not bad form to introduce yourself to them; tell 'em you're just going to mess around some."

Turns out a reasonable beach is just a bike's ride away, so I spent part of this afternoon bolting on the board carrier to the cruiser, especially as I want to give the truck a rest, and checking out the neighborhood.  I'll hit the waves tomorrow, as long as the weather holds.

Perhaps I was a little rash. It looks like I'm living in the only nice part of town.

Here's my village.



Here's the house.  Yes, this will work.

Now, where's the beach and how are the waves?

Muggy and in the '80's, watching a drunk fellow vomit into the gutter.  Ah, so this is Daytona Beach.  Yeah, this isn't going to work.  Maybe after I get to see my quarters for the season and put the AR-7 together, a weapon I don't think I can legally own or operate in this state, I'll feel better.

A meal and a nap would be good, too.

Wow, this place is a mess.  However, if I were a customer in search of tattoos or "ape-hangers" for my motorcycle, this would be Mecca.  I want to drive on the beach at least once, but there is so much trash there that I would fear for my tires.  Also, judging from some of the characters hanging out, I'm not going to let go of any of my stuff.  I felt safer surfing in Haiti.

Another wild night, now staying at a Howard Johnson's [those are still around, apparently] in St. Augustine until tomorrow when I can take up residence in the vacation home in which I'm house-sitting. Having never been in Daytona Beach before, I asked the community manager what the neighborhood was like and he said, "Not bad, as long as you aren't out after dark."  Swell.

Break time before I get white line fever.  Well, the KOA in Gaffney was maybe the worst thirty bucks I ever spent, but it probably had more to do with my mood than with Gaffney.

Driving again in the middle of the night, now only hours from Daytona.  I'm at the intersection of Interstates 26 and 95 in the parking lot of an Econo Lodge.  Traffic is still light, but I'm wondering about just taking a nap now and seeing how the rest of the day progresses.  My goal is to be at Gene's Steak House in Daytona in time for a big lunch [12 oz filet mignon with a caesar salad that has been introduced to a portion of the Jack I bought in Lynchburg], but that means I would have to leave here no later than 9:30, when the traffic may be at its highest.  Then again, I'm getting tired of being a wimp about traffic and may just go for broke.  The nice thing about driving in one's bedroom is that any convenient parking lot or scenic pull-off will do.

Then again, Savannah is only a couple of hours away, and I've always wanted to see it.

Man, I love the gypsy life, especially since I received an e-mail from my former university alerting me to the new concern on campus this semester.  Namely, National Coming Out Day is rapidly approaching and all faculty are to have some element of recognition built into their lesson plans.  Good luck with that, friends and former colleagues.  I'm not sure how one builds "coming out" into their lesson plans in Chemistry or Physics.

Nowadays, I just have to worry about my one dicky tire, which must have picked something that's given it a slow leak, the fact that I have to find a place to stay until Tuesday, when I can enter my house sitting assignment, and that I rather got used to the occasional trim offered by my last hostess.

If you find that too frank, just think of it as my "coming out".

Time for some roadin'.

Whenever you feel that you are too judgmental, just remember that you are surrounded by idiots.

— Eastwood (@Eagle_Vision) October 11, 2013

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

I'm traveling from 2 a.m. until 8 a.m. this weekend in order to avoid the Columbus Day traffic.  I've also plotted a course that takes me away from and around any tourist centers.  I had wanted to check the beaches along Interstate 95, but I think I'll wait until the trip back to do so.  The country is in an ugly mood, based on the conversations that I hear in the truck stops, Waffle Houses, and diners where I take my breaks.  That, coupled with traveling at night and through places that are remote and unfamiliar, has made this seem a rather dark journey.  The other problem is that I've already gained five pounds and my exercise schedule has completely disintegrated.

Also, I always want to eat the waffle at the Waffle House.

And, truckers are massing for their assault on D.C.   God, I love America.  I may put on my old fatigue shirt today; it's the tropical issue with the slanted pockets, just to feel a part of that martial spirit.



Next stop, the campgrounds in Gaffney, S.C. at $30 a night for a pickup truck?!

“I’d kill for a Nobel peace prize!” Steven Wright

— marty edwards (@slowdoghdfc) October 11, 2013

Sleeping in the cap again at a truck stop near Lynchburg, Virginia.  Bonus: with my feet on a case of newly purchased Jack Daniels.  It smells like surf wax and whisky.  Life is great.

I intended on taking a leisurely drive and stopping by Gettysburg on the way, as I haven't been there since I was a kid.  But, with the National Park Service morphing into some sort of sturmabteilung, I didn't want to get arrested for turning some loud-mouthed badge bully's sidearm into a suppository. So, it is a stop in Hagerstown, Maryland, home of the fattest people I've ever seen, for the night.  As the big treat, I'm staying in some sort of hotel by the highway where the desk clerk dug my guitar case.

I didn't have the heart to tell him it was filled with philosophy monographs.

Good night, New World, from the future. It's dark here.

— Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) October 9, 2013

I went north to get my mail, of which there was too much and a lot of it related to mandated regulations of one sort or another.  I'm glad my retirement benefits include at least a portion of health insurance, as I want to avoid that huge FUBAR that now joins the US Postal Office and Amtrak as a government-run enterprise designed not to make money, but to funnel revenue to the unions and the politicians' special buddies.

I also had Sadhu given the once-over, as we are about to engage in our adventure down Interstate 95 to Daytona Beach.  Leaving in the early morning...or mid-morning...or mid-afternoon...I don't know.  Who am I, Nostradamus?

Obama has ordered http://t.co/VxPRdo1ibM #shutdown, but ordered the website that posts new photos of him daily to stay updated.

— Rep. Steve Stockman (@ReElectStockman) October 7, 2013

That's for dang sure

Democracy and liberty are barely on speaking terms in modern America.

I'm already looking at Panama

9% Have Considered Quitting Their U.S. Citizenship

Not naked = Not a streaker

Just some attention whore who needs some cheeseburgers.

Here's Fred Couples Watching A Woman Streak At The Presidents Cup

When you have to hype your assault in order to make even more money, you're in Hell

In Case You Forgot, Madonna Was Raped

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

I still don't know whether to take the bus or drive to NYC tomorrow.  I know, another first world problem.  Probably cheaper to drive, even with the parking and the fact that I've surrendered to the idea of staying overnight, regardless of the cost.

North Atlantic surf season is just beginning to pick up and I'll be staying here through October until the big move to Daytona Beach for the winter.  I'm looking forward to the new surroundings as well as the long trip down Interstate 95 and sleeping in the truck again.  I miss the self-contained simplicity of it.

It May Just Be Me, But Islam Doesn't Look Too Attractive A Religion

Yes, Next Question

Are rom-coms worse than porn?

First World Problems

Yeah, some minimum wage guy didn't make your burrito the way you like. Your life is a great tragedy.

On earth, we use the word “burrito” to describe a tortilla filled with things you eat. Pretty simple stuff, and I’m surprised you at least got that part right. My burrito was, in fact, filled with food. In this, you and I agree and are friends. But this is also where my lifelong hatred begins for you and anyone else whose brain has been repeatedly scrubbed with the same mixture of bleach and Pop Rocks as yours has. Because that should have killed you, but left you around long enough to do what you did to me today.

This is from a "comedy" site.  I weep for our culture.

This Did Wonders For My Fantasy Life

Model Punches Topless Protester During Paris Fashion Week

Although, to be honest, when I first saw the video, I thought she had punched a 12-year-old boy.  Or that Beeber creature. [Yeah, I know I didn't spell it right.]

And Also What The Media Hasn't Bothered To Tell Us Until Now

10 things Obamacare won’t tell you

Yeah, That Really Describes Hillary Clinton

“You and Debbie Stabenow are two of the record 20 women to serve in the US Senate right now,” Page asks. “Do you think women govern differently than men do?”“With women I will say this,” Heitkamp said in response. “I think we measure our success on results not whether or not we get our picture in the newspaper,” she said with a chuckle.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

I have to go to New York City to see my publisher on Monday and I'm not sure whether to make it a day trip or an overnight.  An overnight would be hugely expensive, as midtown hotel rates are now over $300.  Even my university club, which has guest rooms, is creeping closer to that figure.  While a day trip would mean considerable savings, all I would have time to do is go to a meeting and grab something to eat on the bus back.

Then again, an overnight would not only permit some time for browsing in shops and bookstores, but also allow me to enjoy Sebastian's martinis at the club bar, eat a mess of steak, and roll gently into the elevator to my room; all without having to leave the club's comfort.  Hmmmmm....

Well, this is a thinker.

I was worried that I would get seduced by the settled life, comfortable in this nice house with its beer fridge, friendly and companionable cat [I call him Killer Joe, which is far better than his slave name of, God help me, Pussywillow], the ocean and its waves a mere block away, and the house's owner, the mother of some former students whom I have known for twenty years, coming down from her house in Maine for some casual sex from time to time.  Really, this is heavenly; especially since the weather in September has been sublime.

In fact, save for my morning and afternoon sessions in the surf, I've all but given up on exercise.  I haven't been for a run for almost two weeks and the standard and rather old-fashioned calisthenics I used to do have fallen away as well.  I've been eating dessert every night and, last night, when my blood sugar must have dropped, I ate two discs of cookie dough.  Dear Lord....

But the mornings are getting colder, even if the water temperature isn't yet, but I'm wearing the spring wetsuit.  It means that my morning surf session will be surrendered soon as both the air and water will continue to cool.  I can start running in the morning and keep planning on the winter move to Daytona Beach for three months in a studio apartment about two miles from reasonable waves.

Before then, I have to get up to my former town to check my post office box and meet a dental appointment.  I also have to see my editor at the academic press in New York as I've written a couple of book reviews that can easily be placed in the few remaining literary journals.  That's next week, though.  Today, I feel like taking a tremendous nap.

I better get out of here soon.  Oh, look.  Hoda and Kathie Lee are on....

Keep walking

DEMS WALK OUT BEFORE PARENTS OF BENGHAZI VICTIMS TESTIFY

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

This is the cover of this week's Time magazine in all of its international editions:



This is the cover of the US-only edition for the same week:

Staffers at State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. held their own private ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the first anniversary of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya after finding out the agency would not be organizing a formal, official memorial service.

To officially acknowledge their deaths would be to officially acknowledge the distopic leadership that lead to them.  That would make at least one president look like he didn't know what he was doing and another wannebe president look like she didn't care.  We can't have that, can we?

I learned a long time ago, and rather first hand, that a government will use anyone it can and discard them when convenient.  Even the ultimate sacrifice for one's country will be ignored if it means some authoritarian figure might have their access to power and its trappings limited.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

I decided to mark the end of summer by staging my own, limited version of Endless Summer.  Instead of being filmed riding waves around the world, I was on my own as I rode waves up and down the coast of New Jersey.  Not the same, I know, but I'm on a fixed income it's the best I could do.

Actually, I wasn't entirely alone.  The only surfing friend I have joined my for five of the days, which was a good idea since the buddy system was recommended by the conditions at some of the beaches that still show the ravages of last year's hurricane.  While there were a few calm days, most were more than fine and the rides were satisfying.  Jersey in the fall is the best.

Now the friend is gone and it's raining.  The sea is flat and I've got muscle strain, a pulled groan and hamstring, blisters, sore triceps, and a flattened nose from where a wave kicked my board into my face. In other words, all is nominal.

I took the truck to the local Ford dealer for a once over this morning.  It was in good shape for its age, which means we will shortly be readying for the Florida adventure.  Something about being on the road again is rather calming.

VDH

Instead, Obama relied on his rhetoric and talked loosely, sloppily and inconsistently from crisis to crisis, the only common denominator being that he always took the path of least resistance and thus did nothing concretely to match his cadences. Usually to the degree he made a decision, he made things worse with empty, first-person bombast.

Currently on a surfing safari up and down the Jersey coastline and I left as much as I could back at the borrowed house, including the computer machine.

Rule 5 Friday: Why I surf

I'm picturing Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld sticking a daisy in the barrel of John Kerry's M-16 @KurtSchlichter

— Being Monitored (@marklindesr) September 5, 2013

McCain: "We know who the bad guys are, right?" Kerry: "For the most part."

— jimgeraghty (@jimgeraghty) September 3, 2013