Change For A Nickel

Currently in Oakland, CA staying in a Quality (free) Inn near the airport for work. Because nothing says class like a mediocre hotel chain near the Oakland airport. Fine dining abounds. Let’s see, there’s a Denny’s, a Burger King, a Jack in the Box (aka Jack in the Crack) and some crappy looking Chinese restaurant about a block from the hotel. My boss and I just drove a couple of miles down the freeway and the only thing we could find was a KFC/A&W, another Denny’s and some Mexican chain fast food restaurant. We ended up eating at the Mexican restaurant. Thank God I stopped at the (ghetto) grocery store which is also down the street and picked up some beer! It’s nice to see the beer and wine section was being guarded by a dedicated security guard. I can’t wait to see what the continenntal breakfast holds for me tomorrow. I’m sure it will be lavish!!

In case you didn’t realize it, February 5th is my birthday.  The only thing I want for my birthday is for this war to end in Iraq and for the Bears to win the Super Bowl.  You know, simple stuff!  Anyway, it is also that time of decade when I must renew my driver’s license.  I can always count on the state to remember my birthday every four years.  If punching another notch in my 40th decade weren’t bad enough I actually had to go to the DMV this morning to get my license renewed.  Nothing strikes more fear in the hearts of men than the prospect of spending hours on end at the DMV.  This time I was all set.  Had my cellphone which has an MP3 player and plenty of games.  I also had a brand new magazine!  Only thing I didn’t have was food.  I was kind of regretting that because I was sure this excursion would take me through lunch!  But I was ready as I would ever be to face what I call the Fifth Circle of Hell.

When I arrived I had to step back outside the door to make sure I was in the right place.  There was nary a soul in the place!  I also had to get my plate sticker renewed and I was zipping from one line to the next in record time!  And the agents at the counter were slightly less hateful than I remember.  It was absolutely amazing!  The gods had once again smiled on me.  With the Super Bowl being the day before my birthday I think lady luck is on my side!  Maybe I should cash in my bonds and put my money into something that is a bit more predictable like next Sunday’s game?!  Just kidding.

Go Bears!!!

It’s Sunday morning and once again my damn cat woke me up. Funny how his (Casper) alarm is set to 7:00AM on the weekends. So I’m watching the news and one of the stories is about a bunch of (crazy crack head ass) Bears fans who have been camped out at Soldier Field all weekend waiting for the box office to open in the HOPE they will score tickets to a reportedly sold out game. I think I’m as much a Bears fan as the next guy but this whole camping out thing in below freezing weather for days on end just boggles my mind. So these über fans are waiting in the cold for the privilege of watching the Bears today in the cold and snow. If this is the definition of a true fan then you can put me in the colum of fair weather fan, literally! The only time I would even Think about it is if a stadium were selling tickets to the Second Coming and even then I would look for it on pay per view first!

GOOOOOOO

BEARS!!!!!

While at ‘The Target’ I accidentally purchased kids toilet paper.  So now I have to look at cutesy little puppies and their paw prints every day!  Then I began to think.  Wouldn’t it be a great novelty to have GW Bush TP?!  But with so much animosity toward our decider and chief I figured someone has thought of this grand idea already.  Indeed, I am once again behind the eight ball and my fortune is put on hold until I come up with a truly ingenious and original idea to make my millions.  I fear I won’t live long enough for that gem of an idea to strike me.  So if you have been looking to wipe your ass with the visage of Dubya himself then look no further.

Hey gang, I just noticed a new feature that my content provider has made available. You can now preview links to sites without actually clicking on them. Simply hover your mouse over a link and a pop-up box will show you a preview of the link. Pretty cool! Try it here.

There are also other features that I have been taking advantage of on WordPress including the Flick photo feed. You can see my latest photos there.

The RSS feed is my favorite because now you can see current headlins where I’m getting all my left wing tree hugger news. Just page down on the right.

It’s 4am and I’m thanking God I woke up. I just had the most surreal dream EVER. The craziness all started when I was trying to get to my apartment which was in a high rise building. There were four elevators but the first two I got on did not have a button for my floor. I jumped on the third elevator and it didn’t have a button for my floor either. Unfortunately I didn’t get off before the door closed. There was another man on the elevator. It shot up like a rocket then started moving sideways. At one point we were traveling along a river. It appeared to be somewhere in Asia with sunken statues in the water. Suddenly I was in my apartment but there was a strange man sitting in my living room watching TV. I believe he was former military or a secret agent. He wouldn’t say. He began telling me that there was something wrong with my military records. Apparently I was still in the service.

Now here is where it just get’s plain fucked up! His girlfriend was also there. She was a full size muppet with one eye like a cyclops. She made dinner and everything was candy or sweet on top of sweet. There were leaks of some blue substance like fabric softener in the bathroom and the cats were balanced on the shower curtain rod and wouldn’t come down. Another woman walked in that was about 3 feet tall with a head shaped like a trapezoid. Another man walked in who reminded me of Hagrid from Harry Potter but very scary looking. No one would leave and I couldn’t find the elevator to leave. The last person to enter was a cute normal looking guy. While I was talking to him he opened his mouth and the whole thing was made of metal. Like steel teeth and tongue! There was also a separate dream where I was talking to my dad on the phone and watching a man across the street blow human full color images of famous people with cigar smoke. Then I woke up!

I don’t know what other people normally dream but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that is NOT my normal type of dream! It scared the crap out of me. I thought I had gone insane! Usually I dream about boring stuff, me flying or on the Starship Enterprise with captain Piccard. It is often said that dreams can be induced by what you consumed prior to sleep. So I’ve narrowed it down to some chocolates my friend Rob brought back from his last trip to Europe or 2 glasses of Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon (2005). Either way, I’m not touching either any time soon! If I keep dreaming like that I will check myself into a mental institution!

Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction.

There is a connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq
We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.
“Mission accomplished!”
Iraq can be maintained with 50,000 troops.
The war will cost $50 Billion dollars
We will be treated as liberators
Military offensive in Falujah will reduce sectarian violence.
An increase of 20,000 troops in Iraq will lead to victory.

The joint chiefs of Staff, generals on the ground in Iraq, retired generals and the Iraq Study Group have all said that any military action should be accompanied with political (diplomatic) action with Iraq’s neighbors. This President has refused to listen to these experts. Instead he is sending more naval ships to the region as a show of force to Iran and Syria. This administration has been wrong on so many counts about the justifications for going to war and the strategy for wining. Why should we believe this time will be any different?

When I was but a wee sprout I remember seeing the commercials for Dreamgirls when it was on tour in Chicago.  I wanted to see Jennifer Holliday and Sheryl Lee Ralph dancing and singing in those sequined dresses so bad!  Alas, it was not to be.  A poor black girl from the West Side of Chicago didn’t have a chance.  But thanks to the movie adaptation of the Broadway hit I finally got my wish on celluloid!

I saw the show about a week ago and was amazed!  Everyone was fabulous.  Eddie was singing and shaking, Jamie’s acting was great.  Ya’ll know I love me some Beyoncè (Bootylicious!!)!  But it was Ms. Jennifer Hudson who dominated the screen with those pipes!  When she sang the show stopping piece “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” that made Jennifer Holiday famous in every gay bar in America, I cried like a baby.  Then I saw her sing the empowering ballad “I am Changing” last night on David Letterman live and knew she was the real deal.  Ms. Holiday, watch out!  The Jennifer Hudson train is coming through!  If you haven’t seen Dreamgirls then “I am telling you…” go see it.  You won’t be disappointed.

I think this is military awareness week for me. Earlier this week I read an article about a former member of the Joint Chiefs who has come out as saying he believes gay men and women should be allowed to openly serve in the military. As a former Marine who happens to be gay, this type of candor would have been welcome news while I was on active duty. I served prior to the famous Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue (DADT) policy.  At that time the military was actively rooting out gays from their ranks. I even saw them bounce one kid from my own unit for allegedly being gay.

However, I am skeptical of former generals who are coming out now against the DADT policy during this (quagmire) war. I was interviewed about 13 years ago for a college documentary that focused on gays in the military and one of their findings (not surprisingly) was that the policy that governs removal of gay men and women becomes more lax during times of war. This evidence is corroborated by the military’s own data which they have been keeping since World War II. Proof of this fact continues today with the Iraq war. There have been fewer people being discharged from the service because they are gay or lesbian. So while I welcome the (ret) General’s comments I am skeptical of the motives behind the comments.

The reasons for the DADT policy are proven wrong every day by the scores of active duty LGBT members that serve with no incident. They are increasingly out to members within their unit and serve honorably and professionally. It is long over due for an end to this policy but not at a time when the military is simply looking for canon fodder to perpetuate this illegal and immoral war.

Here is a special commentary by Keith Olbermann on the subject of sacrifice.  I love Mr. Olbermann’s commentaries because they are in depth and to the point.  Unfortunately, his show can be a little on the fluff side. 

Can you tell I found a new toy with video on my page??