In Response

I'm not going to comment on the State of the Union, it won't do me any good. However I have a response to the Democratic response. I understand...that it became standard...for politicians to...speak in broken statements. Bill Clinton brought this cadence to prominence and he did it with such enthusiasm and gravitas in turns that he did it well. Heck, the guy never needed a segue.

Now I'm sure that Gov. Tim Kaine is a great guy. Heck, he's a Democrat who won Virginia. If you told me he could part the Chesapeake a la Moses, I wouldn't question you much. But the man has no Elvis. A response which should have been passionate, discussing what's going right and what's wrong that we can fix, the subject matter lends itself to emotional embellishment. We are the party of silver-tounged trial lawyers. Instead we get Skippy, who sounds just like that guy in the driver's ed filmstrips explaining how the left turn is your friend. The content was there, and there is no reason the entire party shouldn't have been crying "Preach on, brother."

I'm disappointed. But not nearly as disappointed as I am in the apparent disconnect between the Executive branch perception and reality. I think Skippy is disappointed too, and all I can tell him is to preach it, brother. Let people know how you feel. It's the only chance we've got.

Lost and Found

After college, my group of friends pretty much scattered to the winds. I've stayed close to some of them - Keith, Charlie, Justin when he was around - but others, people I really loved, got lost.

The last time I saw Kendall was Justin's funeral, and then it was sort of a fluke that we found him. After that weekend we knew where he was for a couple of months but then he disappeared again. Tonight, however, Keith ran into the father of a guy we knew, and the guy knew where we could find Kendall.

Kendall was a wild man when we knew him. Now he's married with a baby on the way. The absolute last thing I would have expected. But then again, Keith is married with a baby. I guess it goes to show that you never can tell.

I called Kendall and realized just how much I miss him and everyone else. It has been so long - we now measure things in years instead of months or seasons - but I am so unbelievably happy that he wasn't lost for good. So happy that I feel like crying.

Another good friend of ours, Kirk, is getting married in June. I'm looking forward to the wedding, if for no other reason that it will get everyone together again. I like the friends I have now, but there are very few people that I feel like are just an extension of who I am. It'll be great to have that feeling back, if only for a weekend this summer.

Oral Fixations

My boss, whom I absolutely adore, eats paper. Sitting in his office, in the middle of a conversation, he tears off a strip of post-it note, rolls it like a joint, rips off half, and tucks it in his lip. It's more than a little disconcerting.

I can't tell what vice he's substituting for. He's commonly seen pestering his secretary to quit smoking so I don't think its that. I can't see him toking up or taking a dip. I'm guessing that he grew up chewing on grass/hay.

All I know is that if he spits out paperclips I'll be impressed.

Text Messaging

K: i love you and im having fun and i miss him

L: I know. Me too.

End of the Christmas Season

Even though my tree has been down for over three weeks now, today was the last day of Christmas for me. After a month delay (it was a busy month), I finally gave my last present today and it just so happened that it was the one I was most excited about giving so it was like Christmas all over again.

I love giving surprise gifts. If you pay attention to people around you, often they will mention something they really want - either something they wouldn't get for themselves, something they can't find, something they lost that they wished they hadn't. The key to getting a great gift is to listen, and when someone mentions something like that, keep it in mind.

A dear friend of mine mentioned way back in September that he was looking for a specific book - it was only in print for about a year in the late 70s, he'd only ever seen one copy but it wasn't for sale, and if I ever came across one I was to let him know. Three weeks after that conversation, after much searching, I found a copy and bought it. I've been holding on to it ever since.

Though it may sound really corny, the look on his face opening it was the best thing for me. Most people expect gifts they receive to be generic, as if they could be given to any other friend. I like seeing the reaction when someone is surprised by something thoughtful that in a million years they wouldn't have expected to get or really expected you even to remember.

I appreciate gifts other people give me, but I like giving gifts like this even more. Too bad inspiration doesn't strike more often.

Everyday Concerns

Do you have any idea the weird thoughts that sometime go through my head? Like today. Here I am, sitting and being a productive member of the legal profession, and out of the blue it occurs to me that I couldn't go skiing this weekend if I wanted to because three years ago I lent my goggles to an ex-boyfriend who never gave them back. Never mind that it's 70 degrees and flat here. Never mind that I don't have time to hop a plane and go someplace snowy this weekend. I still have to be worried that I don't have snow goggles in case I might need them.

This Just In

Today I sat down and, really for the first time, answered the old "desert island" question.

If I were stuck on a desert island and could only have one creature comfort from home, what would it be? Turns out I may be marooned but not crunchy - I would take a razor so I could shave my legs.

Probably more than you wanted to know.

Ruining the Effect

Weakness: being told "You know, you're beautiful when you're mad." On me, it does precisely what it is designed to do, and I smile.

Dammit.

From Experience

Each day I learn something new. Today it was that there is no graceful way to eat crab claws at a nice restaurant. Halfway through I unconditionally surrendered and called myself finished.

Nervous Energy

The jitters you may have about talking to your boss about being paid more lettuce for your work certainly do go away after you wait for him to get off a two-hour series of ten-minute phone calls.

Let's hope they don't come back once he's done.