Were You Waiting For Me?

Probably not.

Haven't written in a few days. First of all, my modem died. I thought my cat (Skinny) had chewed through the cord. Skinny loves chewing rubber and he has already destroyed numerous phone chords and eaten rubber bands which I then find sticking out of his poop. And yes, I try to discourage this habit but until Skinny is willing to surrender to his addiction, there is not much I can do.

Turned out though that while Skinny had chewed up the modem chord, that's not the problem. The modem died and now am waiting for a new one. I won't bore you with the usual story of pressing numerous buttons and yelling at automated voices before finally persuading Verizon that I needed an actual human being to solve my problem. Supposedly the modem will be here tomorrow.

I've got a lot to say but haven't organized my thoughts and plus I'm at work so I really should be doing something else so I guess I'll just spurt out what's been running through my mind the past few days.

For starters, I technically should not be working today (Rosh Hashanah) but I'm not one of those Jews who doesn't step foot in temple for years and then pulls out the Jew card on high holy days. My Dad will be upset that I worked today (I know, this is work?) but I don't recall him ever taking high holy days off.

I need to get over not liking Bryan Ferry simply because when I was in high school my mother had a fling with a sleazy married Iranian cab driver who sort of looked like a Middle Eastern version of Bryan Ferry. I know, this begs for more information and there is some good stuff in this that maybe one day I'll get around to posting. BTW, this came up recently because a friend didn't understand why I didn't love Ferry's version of "Sympathy for the Devil." That won't change, still think that version sounds like a bad lounge singer at the Derby.

I'm thinking of quitting group therapy. I've been going for over five years (I think) and to be honest I don't put much into it and don't get much out of it and don't feel connected to any of it. It served a purpose and at times was helpful but to keep going when I am really not that invested in it is not doing me or anyone else in there any favors.

This Norman Hsu story gets funnier and funnier. Faithful readers (all three of you) know I don't delve into politics too often but this is too juicy. The latest is where Hsu got his money. He got $40 million fom Joel Rosenman, one of the founders of Woodstock who went on to become a big investment fund guy. And what was the money for? Manufacturing apparel in China, of course. The Woodstock generation at its best.

I'm getting more turned off by professional football. It might be just that I'm getting older and naturally losing interest in it but I think it has more to do with a general cynicism towards professional sports. The latest incident to turn my stomach being the Patriots trying to steal the Jets defensive signals (like they needed to in order to win in the first place). I know the rules of life--"if you are not cheating you are not trying" and "it's only a crime if you get caught." That said, at some point it becomes a matter of class and the spirit of competition. I play softball and the other week and arguement broke out on the field about a play. A runner on third base used this distraction to run home. Truthfully, while one could say "heads up play." I thought it was cheap and not in the spirit. Play had stopped but since no one had officially called time, etc. Personally, I don't know if I would've done that if I were on third base. I'm not passing judgement. Technically the guy did the right thing but I didn't care for it.

Product placement is everywhere and we all know it. However when it starts showing up in novels I get worried. Jason Starr's latest book drops brand names the way a pigeon drops bombs on a statue. I know writers use brand names to describe their characters, etc. But when I read "Banana Republic" four times on two pages, I smell a rat. It is distracting to me, much the way it distracts me on Rescue Me when two characters keep mentioning a sports drink over and over again.

Those are today's ramblings. Go discuss.