Not sure why I’m even noting this, but it did catch my eye. Among the «5,000 most common names according to the 2000 US Census», Frank has a more common surname than I do. Our names: Lester (his) is 709th, down 111 places, 16 occurrences per 100,000 names. Mine, Pollock, is 1,420th, up 20 places, 9 occurrences per 100,000 names....
The Bigots' Last Hurrah
It’s a great title for a great «column». Frank Rich of the New York Times sums up very thoroughly and very presciently the status of one of America’s favorite Culture War battlegrounds/sports grounds in which people like us are kicked around like political footballs (cartoon at left is from 2004, Steve Kelley of the New Orleans Times-Picayune). Rich, who has...
Germans Join UN Racism Conference Boycott
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that Germany will join the U.S., Israel and other countries in a «boycott» of the upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism after “a draft declaration circulated earlier this year made Israel responsible for the entire Middle East conflict, while human rights violations in Muslim countries were largely ignored.” Preparations for the conference have...
Tennessee Spring
I’m a little nervous about stormy weather here in Middle Tennessee, because this is, of course, tornado country. But nonetheless, the past 24 hours of weather have been kind of beautiful, spring rain without depressingly torrential downpours, followed by periods of clouds interspersed with clear sky. Tonight was particularly wonderful, with a little rain followed by a peaceful clouded/clear melange...
Doggoneit, an Anniversary
I’m reading, and enjoying, a new book:«Dog On It». I usually confine my mystery reading to James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux books, but I made an exception for this one, because the twist is that it’s told from the private eye’s dog’s perspective. Chet is a police dog helping his buddy find a missing girl. It appears to be the...
New Pics on Flickr!
Finally posted some «new pics on Flickr» of the boys. Whatta buncha beagles!
Nothing to See Here
News in this neck of the woods is pretty mundane: More beagle escapes (fifth, I think), necessitating the expenditure and labor of putting up a new chain link fence to isolate half of the backyard. Application almost complete for Vanderbilt’s special ed master’s program. Storm front moved through today; several thousand people just south of us without power, high winds,...
East Bound and Down
One week from tonight, we will have begun our journey out of California … for the third, and hopefully last, time. We’ll be on our way to Nashville, Tennessee, to take up a new, and hopefully less stressful way of life. Frank starts a new job with Vanderbilt University on 15 Dec. I will start the Tennessee teacher certification process...
In One Lifetime
28-Aug-1963: ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the...
Disappointment and Hope
I see I haven’t posted much since John Edwards, my ostensible choice for the nomination, was dethroned in the usual way … by horniness. So that post below? Well, ignore that. I still believe in the message; but as so often in life, the message is great, the man disappointing. Yeah, I’m on board with Yes, We Can. Because, not...
New Pics on Flickr!
Finally posted some «new pics on Flickr» of the boys. Whatta buncha beagles! | Read more »
Wednesday
This pic pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the weather this week. It actually got hotter after I took this picture; it was 114 degrees later in the afternoon. God, living in the valley is hell.
Rarin' to Go
Gavin Newsom, the man who presided over our first civil union ceremony when he was still a San Francisco supervisor, wants to get a jump on gay marriages «the evening of 16 June», instead of waiting for the next morning: ‘San Francisco officials have asked the state for permission to begin marrying same-sex couples a little earlier than scheduled, on...
We Can. And We Do.
«Daryl Cagle, MSNBC» Every once in awhile, every great once in awhile, I … sort of like the «state of California»: ‘The California Supreme Court struck a historic but possibly short-lived blow for gay rights Thursday, overturning a state law that allowed only opposite-sex couples to marry. In a 4-3 ruling that elicited passionate responses on both sides of the...
Happy New Year
As the sun sets on what was a truly nasty year for us, we wish you a much more wonderful 2008!
'Baptized in Blood'
I’m not sure why I’ve been leaning towards supporting John Edwards this primary season. Perhaps its his populism and anti-corporatism (although I’m realistic about his chances to actually do anything about it once in office). Or perhaps it’s because it’s refreshing to hear reasonable, quiet, calm, realistic talk during times of international crisis (as opposed to the … garbage we’ve...
Visceral
A very moving, and very sad, slideshow of the «Benazir Bhutto assassination» has been posted at the New York Times. A horrible end to a horrible year. The «complete collection of photos» is available for viewing (and purchase) at Getty Images. Meanwhile, her 19-year-old son, «Bilawal» is purportedly named her successor. What a huge burden to place on a teenager’s...
The Beast's 50 Most Loathsome
The only end-of-the-year list I ever pay any attention to (and agree completely with) is the list of the 50 most loathsome people produced by «Buffalo Beast», which features The Boy Emperor firmly in spot el numero uno, up from el numero tres in 2005 and 2006: ‘Is it a civil rights milestone to have a retarded [emperor]? Maybe it...
Merry Christmas 2007
Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
Done. Finally. Done.
Well, the big day finally went off without a hitch. My ‘diseased’ gall bladder (as the surgeon termed it) was removed in a quick, relatively painless, and easy operation this afternoon. I’m already back home and in my own bed and ready to get on with life. What’s really amazing is how quick and smooth and easy a cholocystectomy is...
Countdown to the Carving
A couple of hours from now, I head to the «hospital», where the «surgeon» will perform a «laparoscopic cholocystectomy« and thereby rid me of one of my internal problems. The worst part pre-operatively speaking is going without food and water after midnight. Since the procedure isn’t until 1 p.m., that’ s a long, long time for me to be without...
My Tale of Medical Woe (Along With Some Weird Metaphorical Stuff)
About that previous entry … well, cancel that. My surgery was cancelled by the anesthesiologist, who is concerned that my high blood pressue could cause me to stroke out or have a heart attack on the table. He cancelled the surgery a mere 12 hours before it was supposed to start. Chalk up yet another reason to hate California (I...
36 Hours
36 hours from now, my cholocystectomy should be finished and I should be floating on a cloud of anesthetic and pain killer. Can’t happen soon enough for me. There’s a 10-mm stone in there and I’ve been on a fat-free diet for two months. I’ll keep most of the diet, but hopefully lose all the nausea and occasional pain I’ve...
Snorg!
Frank and I can relate (he’s the dog heading for the floor to get away from his snoring husband).
Big, Dirty Bathtub
What was originally described on local radio as a spill amounting to just “140 gallons of bunker oil” following the ramming of the Bay Bridge by a container ship last week rapidly turned into 58,000 gallons of oil spilled into San Francisco Bay, which will have «long-lasting effects»: ‘A major oil spill is making San Francisco Bay look like a...
Rock and Roll
Just felt my … fourth (? yeah, fourth) … California earthquake. «A 5.6 which was reportedly on the Calaveras Fault five miles from Alum Rock, near San Jose» (Link no longer active. —Ed.). Frank and I were sitting on the couch with Fergus, who was … well, cleaning himself in a delicate spot, shall we say … and we felt...
Fresh Start
The principal called this morning as I was getting ready for yet another doctor’s appointment and asked if I were still available. We arranged an interview for 13:00. The interview last about 30 minutes or so and then he went and called a couple of my references, which were very positive (he said). He offered the job to me on...
About My Disgust …
Since we moved to Brentwood just last 24-Jul (was it just 10 short months ago?!), the following has happened, in no particular chronological order: •My dog has been poisoned and died; •My partner has been viciously attacked by a police dog while standing lawfully in the middle of our living room (eight stitches, by the way; more on this later...
Disgust
There comes, in pretty much every town I’ve lived in, an extended moment, usually early on, where I truly detest the people in the town. I’m currently in the midst of one of those moments with Brentwood. I’ll get over it. Maybe.
Poison
It’s looking like Bayley was the victim of «rat poison»: ‘Rat poison was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists still don’t know how it got there, state officials said Friday. The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill rats in some countries, state...
Bayley Beagle Comes Home
Sad moments today: Bayley Murphey Beagle came home for the last time. I picked up his cremains at 11:30 this morning. Whoever did the work did a very nice job (except that they spelled his name, “Bailey” as usual). There is a paw print in plaster, and the cremains are in a very nice cedar box. I put it in...
Ouch
While cleaning up and pruning the dead hedges that we lost to hard freezes this winter, a piece of branch flew off and hit me right in the eyeball. My vision got cloudy and I’ve got a very red eye. David ran me to the «eye doctor», which is just a couple of blocks away, and Dr. Ong was able...
A Sad Goodbye, A Joyful Hello
Not only was Bayley’s passing painful, but I was also in the middle of the last two weeks of the quarter, getting ready for and in the middle of finals, as well as the evaluations for our school becoming a California Distinguished School (which we did accomplish), a very intense time. And now comes this weekend’s news that a massive...
"How low can we stoop …?"
‘Today, perhaps more than ever before, we face the task of determining what America truly is. So much of where we find ourselves now shows what we have failed to learn from mistakes of the past. Zealots, whose dream of Imperial America has led us to the brink of moral and economic bankruptcy, continue to spin the plates and deny reality. Stuck in Iraq, American kids in uniform have become our version of Israel’s “facts on the ground.”’
Future Beagles
It’s been just over a week since Bayley left us. My heart still aches, but I’m pretty resigned. Dogs get old. And when they get old, their parts wear out. His kidneys were gone. I wish it weren’t true and that he was lying here on the couch next to me as usual, but he’s not. I’ve been through the...
Postscript
I received a call this evening from a nurse at the emergency hospital where we took Bayley when he had his seizure last week, the start of our horrifying ordeal. Seems his blood work revealed no evidence of bacterial infection. Which means that his kidneys failed from old age, most likely, according to the nurse and the vet. I feel...
Farewell, Pookus.
Bayley Murphey Beagle 20-Aug-1994 — 2-Mar-2007 Dear Bayley Murphey, Thank you for being such a wonderful and good dog, a loving companion, for keeping us sane, for loving us unconditionally, for being such an incredibly important part of our lives for 12-and-a-half years. Thank you for putting up with all the picture-taking, ear rubbing, nail clipping, bathing, teefs-brushing and hugs...
Farewell, Pookus.
Bayley Murphey Beagle 20-Aug-1994 — 2-Mar-2007 Dear Bayley Murphey, Thank you for being such a wonderful and good dog, a loving companion, for keeping us sane, for loving us unconditionally, for being such an incredibly important part of our lives for 12-and-a-half years. Thank you for putting up with all the picture-taking, ear rubbing, nail clipping, bathing, teefs-brushing and hugs...
R.I.P.
It is with tremendous sorrow that Frank and I (and Unca David) must tell you that our beloved beagle, Bayley Murphey, passed away this evening, at 5:35 p.m. PST, Friday, 2-March-07, age 12 years and 6 months. Bayley had been slowing down considerably in the last six months, but we chalked that up to advancing age and didn’t think much...
One-Track Mind
Says the Guardian: The Boy Emperor has a «one-track mind»: ‘George Bush is a man of conviction and clearly a hard man to change. When reality confronts his plans he does not alter them but instead alters his understanding of reality. … he stands with a tight band of followers, both deluded and determined, understanding each setback not as a...
Farewell, Sweet Molly
Since I wasn’t posting during the last few months, I missed noting the saddest day of the year, which made me weep. Molly Ivins is no longer with us. The Nation collected a beautiful «salute to Molly Ivins»: ‘The country was founded by dissenters, and if as a doubter of divine authority Molly inherits the skepticism of Tom Paine, as...
Back on the Chain Gang
I’ve decided to start posting political rants again. I don’t know why. I guess I’m bored.
Life in Brentwood. Yes, Indeedy.
I started a new teaching assignment last week: 60 sixth graders in two classes. They’re an energetic, fun, and talented group and I like them all very much. I’m happy to have the job and finally feel up to being an actual teacher in charge. It’s had its rough moments, of course, behavior-wise; this is a talky group and they...
Overheard in Baghdad
«This joke» is, according to the IraqSlogger website (the new endeavor by illustrious former CNN-er Eason Jordan), making the rounds in Baghdad: ‘A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Suddenly a man knocks on his window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, “What’s going on?” “Terrorists down the road have kidnapped [the Boy Emperor]...
Contrails in the Moonlight
While soaking my weary joints in the hot tub tonight, there was a beautiful, round full moon directly overhead. As I lay steeping in the 103-degree heat, clouds of steam swirled up into the sky and the last leaves on the tree in the front yard fingered out the light from the streetlamp; it was very movie-esque. Looking back up...
2006 Dying
The last dying rays of 2006 in Brentwood. Happy new year, everyone!
Birthdays: Another Chalked Up
How I felt on my 43rd birthday last week: Credit: «PBF Comics». Fabulous, really twisted stuff there.
Right to Arm Bear Militias
The wingnuts are gonna love «this»: ‘In a case that could shape firearms laws nationwide, attorneys for the District of Columbia argued Thursday that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies only to militias, not individuals. The city defended as constitutional its long-standing ban on handguns, a law that some gun opponents have advocated elsewhere. Civil liberties groups and...