I must have writer's block. I've been working intermittently on a short story, but otherwise I just have nothing when it comes to blogging. I've even tried to do Google searches to find topics to blog about, but it hasn't worked. I do have a 10 Fun Facts post almost complete, but I started it a week ago (I usually write those things in one sitting).
In any case, this edition of Notes is just going to be a random list of thoughts and blurbs, and will no doubt reflect the cynical and crusty mood I am in at the moment.
I'm using Netflix now, and I have to say there's not as much variety on there as I'd hoped. But hey, at least my daughter can watch Bieber and trash my man cave.
How come Pat Robertson, or some other hypocritical douchebag evangelical, hasn't blamed right-wing sins for the hurricane that is now threatening the Republican National Convention?
There is a local politician in my little northern Kentucky town named Cathy Flaig. She runs for minor offices of some type in every election but always loses. Despite that, she is an active member of the Tea Party and the Republican Party in this region, and was even voted "Citizen of the Year" this year for our, evidently, conservative little town. She's one of our delegates to the Republican National Convention (or an alternate, or something). In any case, she has erected a homemade billboard on the side of the road here in town that is addressed to "Mr. Obama" and basically accuses him of crimes against capitalism or some ridiculous shit. Anyway, my only point in saying all of this is to say that every time I drive past it, I lay on my horn and flip the bird. Hate these Tea Party fuckers.
I watched Brokeback Mountain last night on Netflix. I had wanted to see it ever since my sister gushed over it incessantly after it came out. It was a good movie, very emotionally moving and well-acted, but I sure wish someone had been watching it with me to enjoy all my snide gay jokes. Also, I had to read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia after it was over in order to understand the final series of scenes. I didn't get the whole shirt thing at first.
I've been using my electronic cigarette for over a month now - it's been 6 weeks, actually. I did smoke on one occasion a few weeks ago. I was hanging out with my sister and both my e-cig batteries died, so I ended up bumming a few of her boyfriend's menthols. But that has been the only slip-up, and would not have happened if not for bad planning on my part.
I went fishing with my brother-in-law last week and caught about ten fish. We fished in a golf course pond at his private club. It was nice to fish and actually catch something. That hadn't happened in a long, long time. Lake Cumberland, where I typically have done my past fishing, is an awful place to fish, in terms of actually catching anything.
Most people in my circle of friends and acquaintances seem to support Lance Armstrong, in light of his lifetime ban this week. I think I'm the only person who thinks he's a cheater. I mean, I really don't care one way or the other - professional cycling doesn't interest me in the least - but I've always tended to believe that he did it. Maybe that's borne from my cynicism about doping in sports in general, but it is what it is.
McGwire and Sosa broke amazing records in baseball and everyone marveled at the progress modern athletes were making. Then it came out that they were cheaters. Them and everyone else in baseball.
Now Armstrong does basically the same thing: he wins race after race after race, and seems to be superhuman and unlike anyone ever in the sport before. Then fifty gazillion people accuse him of doping, and even though he never fails a drug test, the number of eye witness reports against him is so overwhelming that it's hard to believe they're ALL lying. Former trainers, teammates, coaches, associates - all have testified under oath against him.
What motivation could all of these people have to create such an enormous web of deceit? Professional jealousy can't be the explanation in all these cases, because not all the people who have accused him have been competitors. This is simply a classic case of "where there's smoke, there's fire." I think he did it, and furthermore, I think the only reason SO many people are on his side is because he's a cancer survivor and has a very well-respected and high-profile cancer foundation. (By the way, steroids have long been linked to testicular cancer. Just sayin'.)
Pretty bummed about Neil Armstrong dying. Wouldn't have expected to feel that way, so it kind of came as a shock to me. It was like a little piece of my childhood dying, I guess. I wasn't alive when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, but Neil Armstrong was a national hero when I was growing up. His name was always said with a certain sense of awe: after all, not many people can say they hold a unique place in all of human history. But Armstrong did, and so I guess that's why I was shaken a bit by news of his death. I even cried a little, after reading my sister's lovely tribute. I feel very strongly that America, as a country, has lost its collective vision, and with Armstrong's death, the living symbol of one of America's greatest visions is now also gone. It's a sad day.
Pretty sick of hearing about gun violence. Sorry Second Amendment Whores, guns do kill people, and fuck you for spinning it otherwise. I'm not saying all your precious guns should be banned, but if you are man enough to wield a gun, at least be man enough to own the fact that guns are responsible for a small town's worth of American deaths every single year - and that's not even counting gun-related injuries or suicides. Own it, and stop hiding behind your twisted interpretation of the Second Amendment and your fancy little catch phrases and memes.
Saw a quote going around Facebook and Twitter this week, purported to be from Morgan Freeman (although that wasn't true), that said something to the effect of: "People who are against gay marriage aren't homophobic. They aren't scared of gay people. They're just assholes." Couldn't agree more.
Okay, Bieber's documentary is ending on Netflix, and I can't think of anything else to say to piss people off, so peace, we outta here.
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