swimming in the flood

it's cold outside. jeeze. colder than when it snowed.

so for all you sports fans who voted for the tagline of change and hope (myself included in that sports fans reference), you have probably woken up to the harsh reality that change is not coming and hope is dead on the vine.

one of my favorite political writers right now is matt taibbi. he writes mostly with rolling stone. i posted a link to his article a while back about goldman sachs when eviscerated the financial institution.

well he's back. and this time he aim is directly on the obama administration. the obama big sellout. i highly recommend you read it and try your best to understand the back room dealings that are going on here. we'll never know for certain how many of these deals happen, but when one is exposed, familiarize yourself with it. get to know it. and remember it. they think we don't have a memory.

for the next election, we need to make our voice heard. we will not stand for the republican or democrat parties any longer. they're day in the sun is done. vote 3rd party all the way. even if it's the most ridiculous 3rd party there is. how can it be more futile than what we have?

this is a call

well it's not snowing anymore. i'm sure most of you guessed that.

i have been super busy this week. i'll have to catch everybody up later in the week.

i ate some righteous hummus today. very swell.

snow in houston

i cannot believe it. there is snow everywhere. not enough to make you stay in all day, but snow nonetheless. it's beautiful. i made one snowball and my hand almost froze off.

heroes and villains

lyrics

the song

my hero

i don't care what anyone says (and i'm not exactly who this vague force of evil i'm referring to is, but i'm sure it's out there (how's that for paranoia?)) but the foo fighters song "my hero" is one kick-ass, full-on, bitchin' rock and roll tune.

i saw the foo fighters do a vh1 storytellers. it's probably the only music-type show vh1 has done in six or seven years, but it was good. i have mad respect for dave grohl. i don't necessarily love the foo fighters, but for that guy to come from being the drummer of the most adored band of the early '90s and putting out that first album of his took major, major balls. and it was pretty good. it wasn't great, but it was pretty good. i liked it enough to buy it, the last foo fighters album i bought, but still. the guy has personality and is always saying something interesting or funny when i see or read about him. gotta love that.

breathe

"every day, i die again and again, i'm reborn."

"there's nothing you have that i need. i can breathe."

- both from bono.

age brings wisdom. supposedly. but for the most, i think it does. christmas is a great time of year. but man, i see so many people killing themselves, not enjoying the spirit. the lights. the music. the shiny stuff. it's beautiful. there's nothing at best buy or some jewelry store that you need. like jeff tweedy said, "the best life never leaves your lungs." don't get too high. don't get too low. that's how to live life. i wish i knew that ten years ago.

there's a lot going on in the world, but i want everyone who reads this to think and pray for jessie maker. she had her foot amputated. i pray for healing and strength for her. she is most beloved and is an amazing woman. i have no doubt she will overcome this and be up again taking care of those around her.

moods for moderns

food stamps now help one in eight americans and help to feed one in four children. read that again. one in eight americans and one in four children. that is amazing. i sit here and read that and think, there's no way that's right. but it is. one in four children. 25% of the children in this country are fed with the assistance of food stamps. we're hearing a lot of talk about a "recovery," but each time i hear that i think about what i see and hear everyday. i don't think we're grasping how deep this problem is going because a) we're not paying enough attention and b) we still think things can continue the way they always have since i've been alive (30 years): debt will spur growth. that is not sustainable. it is not logical.

we're lucky. most of you/us reading this are in a state that, while not immune to this great recession, has weathered it better than most. there are entire states out there that are hurting. and while the story about tiger woods wife beating up his back window with a golf club might be fun and entertaining, the truth is:

1. we're sending more troops to afghanistan, where we've now been for almost nine years; longer than our involvement in WWII
2. we have 17% total unemployment, which includes people who have given up looking for work and part-time employees who would rather be working full-time
3. we have an imploding national debt that will start to eat into our everyday lives as we grow older
4. we have a political system that is engrained in the status quo
5. for those with jobs, we have stagnant wages with price increases in food, power, medical and retirement fees

we need to pay attention. we need to hold those in charge accountable. start writing your senators. start writing your reps. start writing the president. we've got huge problems and we're patching holes while the boat is sinking.

we're marching towards zombie capitalism.

and the glitter is gone

michael moore's open letter to president obama.

it actually inspired me to write one to him as well. click the link on the bottom of the letter to write to him or someone who reads for him or to him. who knows. it just felt good writing and telling someone what a mistake it is to send more troops to afghanistan.

nice

a shot in the arm

man. i needed this past break. it felt so good not to go anywhere or spend all night studying. wednesday, my buddy and i went and rampaged this ping-pong table. that was incredible. ping-pongs wars ensued. thursday was nothing but food covered in gravy, which is the way it was intended to be. and friday we saw my friend's little boys and played with them. and saturday and sunday, we took it easy. so nice.

does anyone really believe that if you listen to a repetitive phrase, or several repetitive phrases while you sleep, that you can actually memorize them in your sleep? i wonder. it's actually called "hypnopaedia" which translates to sleep teaching.

greatest avclub inventory ever. 17 peculiar beach boys songs! i have them all. my favorite on the list is probably johnny carson. that is a brilliant album.

great article by niall ferguson regarding the possible debt implosion and how the great superpowers have fallen because of it.

be thankful you have a job right now. seriously.

end the fed

i can't believe i missed this:

ron paul in houston, part 1.

ron paul in houston, part 2.

middle of the road

so i took time out of my life last night to watch the texans play on monday night football. my wife and i got some hamburgers, some chips and some beers. she watched about half of the game. i watched about 3/4. we made a bet on the game too. she doesn't like to do money bets, because it all comes from the same pot. so we made a dinner bet. whoever lost would have to cook dinner for the other person. the dinner doesn't have to be 4 star michelin, but it has to have thought, planning and preparedness.

i bet on the texans to win. so what should i cook? i'm thinking some sort of pork dish maybe. like a pecan crusted pork loin. or maybe something more exotic, like buffalo or maybe something from the sea, like scallops or chilean sea bass. i have to do it before 30 days have passed, so i have time to think and prepare and plan.

i should also think about not betting on the texans next game or ever again.

i'll be waking up early tomorrow to take BEC, another portion of the CPA test. if i fail this one, i think i might have to take drastic measures in my studying habits. like tape myself reading the material and listening to it while i'm sleeping. or take stuff to the inside of my eyelids. i don't know.

whatupwiththat

i watched a bit of snl on saturday night. mostly, i don't think the skits are very funny, but every once in a while, you'll get a good show. this one was hit and miss, but this skit in particular is still making me laugh and i'm not sure exactly why. it's not that original or witty, but it's catchy and man i want those dance moves.

what up with that?


ooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeee!

it's got to be the glasses

the motown sound. we know it. we grew up with it. and the consensus is marvin gaye. he was the maestro. and you won't get an argument from me. the man was soul personified. he wrote and produced his shit. he ached every note and believed every pause and silent fixture.

but that's not the whole story. david ruffin. if you listen to david ruffin's vocals with the temptations, you'll hear a man with tread on his voice. a man who didn't force nothing. double negative. i love those.

i wish it would rain. i'm losing you. my girl. the man couldn't control his urges, but what man can? his demons destroyed him. but sadly, that's what made his performance so great. he was desparate. every note was the last.

when i started writing this i was listening to i'm losing you. but now, the cd player has shifted and admiral halsey, uncle albert is playing. what a great song. the perfect paul song. it means nothing, but man is it gorgeous. the melody is so sweet. the melody is perfect and so are the harmonies. i wish brian wilson had decided to get out of bed and do his little tunes. i'm sure he would have made songs so seemingly insignificant, but yet, so deep in their brief existence.

i take BEC on wednesday. i wish i was smarter.

this guy is probably a total douche, but i'm digging this first song off his solo album.

singalong/junk

i didn't pass the audit section of the cpa test. am i bummed? yes. but, i know i can do it. i have confidence and faith in myself. the worst part is that it was probably one of the easiest sections. it's only going to get harder. that is daunting. but if you ask out 100 women, two will say yes and one will be easy. that's the approach i have to take. i'll keep taking the exam and keep studying and eventually, i'll pass.

all four sections.

eventually.

jeeze.

my city was gone

i just made out big time on a used cd website. i bought six albums and used a promotional code to save $13.00. ultimately, i got six albums for next to nothing. they are:

the pretenders- learning how to crawl
lou reed- coney island baby
elvis costello- armed forces
talking heads- talking heads '77
marshall crenshaw- marshall crenshaw
paul mccartney- band on the run

this is a great day in america.

head full of doubt, road full of promise

reality sucks. the reality of cheeseburgers and football and beer is great. but the reality of this economy sucks. you might notice the dow jones ticking up every day and say, "well there's some good news." but really? step back. no, really. get up and step back. now, ask yourself: what is this good news based on? why is the dow jones going up? do you in your everyday life see anything changing?

i do. i see more houses for sale. i see more foreclosures. i see more empty commercial real estate. and i hear about more people i know losing their jobs. is that what drives up the dow jones? evidently.

most people out there believe it's going to get worse.

here are the 15 biggest congressional recipients of wall street campaign cash.

the china-america relationship is more like a booty-call relationship to me.

here is the 2008 acfe report to the nation on occupational fraud and abuse.

"i bless the rains down in africa."

africa

i was making toto jokes all day today. so much so, that people stopped talking to me because everything that came out of my mouth was about toto. so i'm driving home from the gym tonight and what do i hear on the radio?

"i bless the rains down in africa!"

oh yeah! you never hear that song on the radio. toto you made my night.

in other news, it is being reported that robot insurance is on the raise....

would you believe

vacation is over. work is back. traffic is back. getting up early is back. i miss the bags of chips. i miss watching gilmore girls. i miss bike rides. i miss the complete lack of direction i woke up with every day. ahhh.

vacation was incredible. actually my wife and i took off for about four days and just got away. i had a big party last year for my birthday, lots of people, lots of drinks. no more. i don't want a party like that again. it's weak. it's lame. this was special. thursday we went to new bruenfels and my wife made reservations at this amazing bed and breakfast. i sound totally gay sounding that, but whatever, it was freakin' sweet. we went to wurstfest the whole night. we drank. we ate. we sang. we danced. she bought me an astros hat that lights up. it's the greatest hat ever. and we got a caricature made. apparently the guy who drew it had something against asians because we look totally asian.

the next day we went to fredericksburg and went to several wineries with my dad and his wife. seeing my dad was great. we tasted a lot of wines and hung out. he also gave me this carving of a bear for my birthday. i couldn't even bring to describe how awesome it is. my great uncle made it. i have a buffalo he made too.

saturday was my real birthday and we went to enchanted rock and climbed that sucker. we took along lunch and ate lunch on the side of the rock. once we got to the top, we took pictures and walked around. there's a lot of room on the top. my wife saw this little patch of vegetation and bent down to take a picture of it. when she did, she sat on a cactus and i had to pull about 30 needles out of her pants and her thigh. she dropped her pants so i could get the ones in her leg. it was an enchanted rock trip i'll never forget.

sunday. we woke up. came home. drove in the rain. the whole way. vacations. they all have to end.

now i'm studying. i take the BEC section of the CPA test the wednesday before thanksgiving.

man i had a blast though. i wish we were back in fredericksburg drinking wine and looking at tourist crap.