Scary

Just saw this on the 5:00 news. A National Guard unit from Frederick, MD is being deployed to Iraq and the father of one of the soldiers was interviewed by a reporter. The father said about his son "he's doing his duty for his community, his country and his faith". His faith? I had to rewind the DVR twice to make sure I heard it right. Duty to his faith to fight in Iraq. That is so fucked up.

Still here.

Yep, I'm still here. Sorry for the lack of posts lately - I've been much busier than usual. Mother's Day, my anniversary, work - I'm barely keeping up with everything. I've got a ton to write about, so check back in a couple of days.

It keeps getting better

Just got to Dallas and found out my flight home to DC has been cancelled. No apologies, no explanations. I now have to wait 6 hours for the next flight home. Fun, eh?

All by myself

So, I'm here at the Austin airport and going through security, I realized I lost my cell phone. Either some very gifted pickpocket got a hold of it while I was in check-in line, or it fell out of my pocket on my ride to the airport (stupid cargo shorts). It's weird how much I panicked when I realized I didn't have my phone. I don't really need it between now and the time I get home. And I can obviously use my laptop to communicate with folks in the meantime. But the loss of ability to immediately contact anyone is a little scary, I suddenly feel very, very alone.

Blind Dates

True story:

Which God Are You?

Just saw this on Andrew Sullivan's site. I'm Buddha!

Which God or Goddess are you like? Your Result: Budha   You are Budha. You are a very peaceful person, you love all who love you. You are a cheerful personality, and you have a great sense of humor. Congratulations!! You are Budha!!
Jesus
The Christian God
Goddess Bast
God Zeus
Goddess Sekhemet
You are your own God or Goddess
Satan
Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz

Thoughts in a hotel suite

So, I'm sitting here in my suite in Austin, watching TV and eating room-service, and a thought just occurred to me - Julie Louis Dreyfus is 10x hotter now than she was in her Seinfeld days. That's it, carry on!

On the road again

I'm in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, on my way to Austin for work. 2nd time in a month. And I'm headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2 weeks. Yee Haw.

He's still alive?

I'm sitting here watching the Warriors-Mavs game (great series, Golden State!), and who do I see on the Mavs bench? Old ass Kevin Willis!! I had no idea he was alive, much less still in the NBA. Dude was born in 1962!

DWB

In today's Washington Post, columnist Eugene Robinson wrote about the latest study on the instances of minorities being pulled over by the police, i.e., Driving While Black (or brown) - DWB. A reader responded to him today by asking,

what's the big deal? If you're not hiding anything, who cares?

My response to that is here:

The big deal is that a lifetime of people crossing the street when they see you coming, of women on elevators clutching their persons when you get on, of salespeople following your around a store, of people questioning why you're living in a certain neighborhood, of assuming you're in college because of a sports scholarship, these things add up to an incredible feeling of helplessness, anger and frustration. 17 years later I still remember my 1st experience of DWB. I was driving to the Outer Banks right after finals my fourth year in college, with my (white) girlfriend. We were on I-64, moving along with traffic, when a Virgnia State Trooper pulled up alongside us, gave us a long, hard stare, passed us on the left, pulled over on the side of the highway -- and once we passed him came back onto the road behind us and pulled me over. Said I was tailgating the car in front of me. The closest car to me was a good 25 yards ahead. Here we are in 2007, and every time I think about it, I still start shaking with anger.

To quote Jay-Z - "Son, do you know why I'm stopping you for? Because I'm young and I'm black and my hat’s real low? Do I look like a mind-reader, sir? I don't know."

May 1, 2007

May 1, 2003