Wednesday, February 27, 2008
COYS
Brilliant!!!! Tottenham beats Chelsea in the Carling Cup Final to win a slot in the UEFA Cup for next season! COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!! Unbelievable, now let's win the UEFA Cup this season and march on to the Champions League!!!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
BARACK
I am so disgusted by the outright fear of the black man I hear coming from the conservatives. Today, I heard more than once "it's the American Idol election," or "he has no experience...what has he (Obama) accomplished?"
Are you kidding me? What has he accomplished? He has come from nothing to be a United States Senator! Usually the person saying "what has he accomplished?" is some talking head who spouts the same unoriginal, mindles rhetoric as everyone else in their party. More than likely the person spewing this idiocy has not accomplished anything near what Senator Obama has.
This simplistic line of thinking also does a lot to absolutely de-value the entire voting process. It's very elitist to think that people are all blindly voting for Barack because he is likable. Why do you think that? Just because your guy is getting beat? They want to tell you that all the black people are blindly turning out to vote just because of Obama. Isn't that OK? They are turning out because they know Barack has their interests at heart, very much like women are voting for Hillary because she has women's issues at heart.
Also, look at voter turnout in these primaries. Some state primaries are drawing more voters than the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections. Obama has "accomplished" something that no politician since JFK and RFK have done, he has ignited the spirit and interest of young voters, who, like it or not, are usually more in tune to social issues than older voters.
Why does the media do this? I think the shift we are seeing, the "change" mantra, goes across the board with anyone who is part of the movement. This world has gotten so unbearably malevolent, and not only are Obama voters sick of the same vitriol in D.C, they, we, are sick of it across the board. It's why we prefer The Daily Show to Fox News, it's why we want Barack in the White House, and it's even why McCain is leading the Republicans. We're sick of the bullshit, frankly and simply. It's time for a change.
Are you kidding me? What has he accomplished? He has come from nothing to be a United States Senator! Usually the person saying "what has he accomplished?" is some talking head who spouts the same unoriginal, mindles rhetoric as everyone else in their party. More than likely the person spewing this idiocy has not accomplished anything near what Senator Obama has.
This simplistic line of thinking also does a lot to absolutely de-value the entire voting process. It's very elitist to think that people are all blindly voting for Barack because he is likable. Why do you think that? Just because your guy is getting beat? They want to tell you that all the black people are blindly turning out to vote just because of Obama. Isn't that OK? They are turning out because they know Barack has their interests at heart, very much like women are voting for Hillary because she has women's issues at heart.
Also, look at voter turnout in these primaries. Some state primaries are drawing more voters than the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections. Obama has "accomplished" something that no politician since JFK and RFK have done, he has ignited the spirit and interest of young voters, who, like it or not, are usually more in tune to social issues than older voters.
Why does the media do this? I think the shift we are seeing, the "change" mantra, goes across the board with anyone who is part of the movement. This world has gotten so unbearably malevolent, and not only are Obama voters sick of the same vitriol in D.C, they, we, are sick of it across the board. It's why we prefer The Daily Show to Fox News, it's why we want Barack in the White House, and it's even why McCain is leading the Republicans. We're sick of the bullshit, frankly and simply. It's time for a change.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Pavlik vs. Taylor
I was hammered the last time Kelly Pavlik and Jermaine Taylor battled. Boxing is maybe the greatest drunken spectator sport in the world. All I remember is having 400 down on Taylor because Pavlik was still a relative nobody outside of boxing circles...far from a household name at the very least.
As Taylor came out, and got the early knockdown on the Ohio State color-wearing Pavlik, I kept puffing my macanudo, slamming Miller Lite, and talking shit about the color of Pavlik's skin. "Knock that white mother fucker out!" Yeah...I am also a caucasian, but there are few words that accurately describe the hatred I feel towards someone once I see them wearing the scarlet and gray (I mean, look at those shorts, he has the damn Ohio State logo on that shit!).
In all honestly though, watching HBO's "Countdown to Pavlik vs. Taylor II," Kelly seems like the more likable guy of the two. I can absolutely identify with his Mom not being able to watch him fight, since my Mom could never even watch her kids play sports because she got too nervous. Imagine if I had dudes throwing punches at my face!?!?!?! Anyways, Pavlik is far from technically brilliant, he's a fighter, and if the old cliche is styles make fights, we saw it in September, and we'll see it even more Saturday night now that Taylor knows exactly what's in store for him. Taylor has nothing to gain by taking the air out of the arena and fighting Pavlik conservatively, and I don't think Pavlik will let him.
Hopefully for everyone viewing, it doesn't turn into a jab-fest with few chances taken by the fighters. I can't imagine Taylor will do that though, he has too much to gain, and really nothing to lose. This is a career-making, career-sustaining fight for Taylor, and he can't sit back and let the fight come to him like he did after he knocked down Pavlik in September. Pavlik's Buckeye arrogance can get the best of him, and I think it will. Taylor will win this fight because frankly, I think it's an even fight, but Taylor's back is against the wall, and I love fighters in that position.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Impromptu Loneliness
I am sitting here blogging and listening to Dashboard Confessional, Saturday night, alone, after just getting done playing FIFA 08 on-line on PS3. This Saturday evening marks the official end of what may be the worst week of my 28 years worth of weeks. I started a new job Monday, which is a big step for me especially considering my past experience with "new" jobs. It's not that I can't hold down a job, I've been at a job that a lot of people can't do for eight years, but I can't get past it, I can't leave the safety net. I have started and lasted less than 3 days and 4 separate jobs in the past 4 or 5 years...This one was going to be different.
Anyways, Monday was good at work, and it was a 10 hour day. I came home and made dinner for Kristin, had some music on while doing so, made some phone calls to people and let them know work was awesome (because they all rightfully expect me to fall on my face again). Tuesday, I woke up, showered, and listened to Opie and Anthony on the way to my first client. I got to his apartment, and it was squeller. Piss, body order, trash, and just overall filth encompassed the entire room. My mission? To motivate this 35 year old mildly retarded adult male to clean this mountain of filth. After getting through my gag reflex, I sat with my head out the window of his living room while he watched "Biggest Loser" being re-run on TV, ignoring my prompts to get going with cleaning. It was an honor to this fella that one of the contestants on that show (the 435 pounder) weighed more than he did. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
I soldiered through that to the point that after the show, I said, "I'll wait outside dude, put some deodorant on in case you see some girls when we're out." The other part of the job is to introduce the client into the community, and essentially run errands with him while making sure he maintains common human decency and doesn't drool on himself, or even worse, others.
It being my second day on the job, I still had no established schedule for today, Tuesday, so I spent six and a half hours with this disaster, and had no clue what I was to do, and when I was to be done doing it. (NOTE -- A good way to lose new hires would be to give them absolutely no guidance and direction on their first two days on the job). We went to see Rambo just to spend two hours, and it summed up my emotions at the time -- just the desire to run around with shoe polish on my face, gunning down any fucking thing that had an ounce of human life in it. In the mood I was in, Rambo mellowed me out somehow. I got rid of the tub of goo, and proceeded to my final client, and got through the day still fairly alright.
Something stung me though, and it is the cause of any consternation and self-doubt that I have in my life, and I have no idea what the hell it is. I did it at Frito Lay when I started there, I did it with DiVal, and Univera. A switch flips, and it feels like it's in the stomach. I can't go on with the job, and it drives me insane. I worked through the day Wednesday, a little sick but I was giving this one a chance, and then I got the call from my Mom that my Uncle died in Maryland. He was given six months to live, and he made it less than one month. I lost it, right there in front of a 17 year old mildly retarded kid who really is a mess, but he can't help it. He has a good heart, he's a nice kid, but he's dealing with being a teenager AND being dually-diagnosed? I can't imagine, I just can't I left work as soon as I could, and I wasn't going back Thursday. I handled it like a man, at least moreso than I have with my previous job failures, in that I talked to as many managers and supervisors as I could, and they are going to keep me on in a part-time capacity to work with the kids. Working with the kids truly is incredible, but still, with it now being Saturday, I don't know what the final straw was, because the first two days of work went fine.
The news of my Unlce Richard dying came down on me like the heaviest weight I have ever felt. I knew he was terminal, but with the melancholy I was feeling, on an overcast February Wednesday in Buffalo, it all came to be too much.
I turned it into a much larger drama then it needed to be to. TK's took me back, mostly in the same capacity where i left them, and I can still work the amazing job I was working with the kids. But I contemplated this world with my life not in it. I stared at the clock for almost 3 straight days, I was oblivious and dis-interested in any and everything. I obsessed on whether or not I would ever be able to keep down a job, and at 28 years old, I thought I was sentenced, I guess, to a life of joblessness and despair. I cried harder and more frequently than I have in my entire life. Time really does heal all wounds though, and I am good now. Friday's routine got me back into a sense of normalcy, and though I woke up this morning with a mild feeling of "what's this life for and what the fuck am I going to do with my life?," that only lasted until I turned over and saw Kristin. It's better...for now. I will now leave you with more JoPo in Vegas:
Anyways, Monday was good at work, and it was a 10 hour day. I came home and made dinner for Kristin, had some music on while doing so, made some phone calls to people and let them know work was awesome (because they all rightfully expect me to fall on my face again). Tuesday, I woke up, showered, and listened to Opie and Anthony on the way to my first client. I got to his apartment, and it was squeller. Piss, body order, trash, and just overall filth encompassed the entire room. My mission? To motivate this 35 year old mildly retarded adult male to clean this mountain of filth. After getting through my gag reflex, I sat with my head out the window of his living room while he watched "Biggest Loser" being re-run on TV, ignoring my prompts to get going with cleaning. It was an honor to this fella that one of the contestants on that show (the 435 pounder) weighed more than he did. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
I soldiered through that to the point that after the show, I said, "I'll wait outside dude, put some deodorant on in case you see some girls when we're out." The other part of the job is to introduce the client into the community, and essentially run errands with him while making sure he maintains common human decency and doesn't drool on himself, or even worse, others.
It being my second day on the job, I still had no established schedule for today, Tuesday, so I spent six and a half hours with this disaster, and had no clue what I was to do, and when I was to be done doing it. (NOTE -- A good way to lose new hires would be to give them absolutely no guidance and direction on their first two days on the job). We went to see Rambo just to spend two hours, and it summed up my emotions at the time -- just the desire to run around with shoe polish on my face, gunning down any fucking thing that had an ounce of human life in it. In the mood I was in, Rambo mellowed me out somehow. I got rid of the tub of goo, and proceeded to my final client, and got through the day still fairly alright.
Something stung me though, and it is the cause of any consternation and self-doubt that I have in my life, and I have no idea what the hell it is. I did it at Frito Lay when I started there, I did it with DiVal, and Univera. A switch flips, and it feels like it's in the stomach. I can't go on with the job, and it drives me insane. I worked through the day Wednesday, a little sick but I was giving this one a chance, and then I got the call from my Mom that my Uncle died in Maryland. He was given six months to live, and he made it less than one month. I lost it, right there in front of a 17 year old mildly retarded kid who really is a mess, but he can't help it. He has a good heart, he's a nice kid, but he's dealing with being a teenager AND being dually-diagnosed? I can't imagine, I just can't I left work as soon as I could, and I wasn't going back Thursday. I handled it like a man, at least moreso than I have with my previous job failures, in that I talked to as many managers and supervisors as I could, and they are going to keep me on in a part-time capacity to work with the kids. Working with the kids truly is incredible, but still, with it now being Saturday, I don't know what the final straw was, because the first two days of work went fine.
The news of my Unlce Richard dying came down on me like the heaviest weight I have ever felt. I knew he was terminal, but with the melancholy I was feeling, on an overcast February Wednesday in Buffalo, it all came to be too much.
I turned it into a much larger drama then it needed to be to. TK's took me back, mostly in the same capacity where i left them, and I can still work the amazing job I was working with the kids. But I contemplated this world with my life not in it. I stared at the clock for almost 3 straight days, I was oblivious and dis-interested in any and everything. I obsessed on whether or not I would ever be able to keep down a job, and at 28 years old, I thought I was sentenced, I guess, to a life of joblessness and despair. I cried harder and more frequently than I have in my entire life. Time really does heal all wounds though, and I am good now. Friday's routine got me back into a sense of normalcy, and though I woke up this morning with a mild feeling of "what's this life for and what the fuck am I going to do with my life?," that only lasted until I turned over and saw Kristin. It's better...for now. I will now leave you with more JoPo in Vegas:
hey
I feel inspired to write -- we'll see how long this lasts. The blog is titles how it is because Amos Lee's song by that title is the most incredible song I think ever recorded. I'll be back....I'll leave you with some wonderful Vegas love from passed out JoPo
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)