Losing Vocabulary

Words come and go just like everything else. "Groovy" thankfully lost favor before I could speak and "keen" seems like a bad blip from the 80's.

As with anyone, I have my own word preferences. I'm sure there are words and phrases I use way too much and there are others that I should be using more, and some that I never want to use. But even though I know these groups of words are out there, I don't have nor could I ever really develop a comprehensive list. I do know "malfunction" bothers me after Justin and Janet's application of that to boob flashing. And this weekend I add one word to the list.

The other night, a friend told a very entertaining story where over and over again, he was described as "adorable". It's really his story and not mine so I won't go into it here. It was a good story, but I don't know if I can ever use the word in a non-sarcastic fashion ever again. It was probably unintentional, but he's pretty much ruined that word for me.

Turtles Disappearing.

Somehow, I never got around to blogging about the leatherback sea turtles. Several months ago 11 turtles were outfitted with very fancy GPS units and through the magic of computer animation raced from their breeding grounds off the beaches of Central America to their feeding grounds off the Galapagos.

Naturally, this provided a betting opportunity. So the turtle I backed didn't do so hot in the race, but through all of this we raised a little money for the turtle cause and raised some awareness.

Anyway, the latest update is that my turtle has been missing and hasn't transmitted any information for over 100 days. In fact 4 of the 11 turtles have not been heard from for some time. That saddens me. I was looking forward to backing Drexelina again next year.

No more OJ

This morning I flipped on the TV and saw a former American Idol trying to be all cool in his latest video on VH1. I'm not sure why, but the show is a lot more interesting than any of the musical careers that come out of it. I couldn't change the channel quick enough.

I thought I'd check out the news and flipped to those news channels that sit around 56-60. Each and everyone of these channels was showing the Las Vegas courtroom where O.J. was to be arraigned. An arraignment? Does the media understand how unimportant that is? Oh Oh. I'm worried that the media isn't tired of feeding us this fodder yet. Here we go again.

I was out of the country when OJ went from being former football star and car rental pitchman to social pariah and the one that got away. Unlike countless millions, I was not watching Game 2 of the NBA finals were pre-empted by that white Ford Bronco. I was not sitting on the 405 when traffic went to a standstill. And I can honestly, say I didn't pay much attention through the trial either.

I didn't care then and I don't care now. I don't get why anybody thinks anything this guy does is worthy of being in the news.

Next sports scandal

I saw an article earlier suggesting that by it's very nature, sports in general and in particular football require actions that push the boundaries of the rules. Patriot's coach, Belichick, and his interpretation of the rules is just a product of this competitive game.

Anybody see anything wrong with that?

1. This is the same sort of rule "interpretation" that gets Paris Hilton and Junior think of as their entitlement. Somehow, and it probably starts from the very top with Junior, we've all become a nation of lawbreakers.

2. This is the white guy getting the soft peddle instead of the Bonds treatment. I honestly think we'd have a different story if it was a coach of color. The media colors things a certain way. As much as I have always disliked Vick, I do think he got railroaded a bit in the end. He didn't hurt the integrity of his profession as this latest scoundrel has

This is one of those willful, I'm going to disregard the rules thing because it's going to help ME win. He should personally be fined and suspended and it probably makes sense to take some draft picks. I hate that sports TV and sports radio will be covering this story ad nauseum in the next few weeks. Especially, since most of them will say the wrong thing.

Spin on the Hill

This week Junior has been going around asking people not to pre-judge the Iraq progress reports. Sort of a funny comment from a guy who's been spinning this report for weeks already. Also sadly ironic as this guy couldn't wait for the Hans Blix report back in the day. Or rather he wouldn't wait for the report because he knew it would show that he was completely and utterly wrong in every regards as to Iraq.

General P seems like a decent guy with a good education. And he'll be able to sit in front of Congress and say with 30,000 more troops, in general people in Iraq are a little safer. We would hope so. Yes, that security means something, but it still misses the point. There are no political answers. And as long as there aren't any political solutions, security will never have a chance. The US can't solve this problem. But if people get dazzled by the starts and stripes on his shoulders, Junior is going to take credit for the "surge" working even though not all that much has been accomplished.

In the meantime, US soldiers continue to die. Also outside the mainstream media, they'll tell you as many as a million Iraqis may now be dead as a result of the violence the US commits and the civil war the US created. And that doesn't count the refugees all over the place.

9/11. We will never foget. Do something nice for someone else today.

In your dreams

The last several nights I've woken up after bad dreams about an ability to answer emails. I'll be at my desk starting on a response and I'll realize that I don't have the facts or I don't know enough detail to answer and somehow that panics me enough so that I wake up. I think there may just be too much going on at work these days. I'm also thinking I feel bad for people who live through this all the time and not just certain business seasons.