Tags
Books, Chuck Grassley, Jeff Sessions, John McEnroe, Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson, prose, Rafael Nadal, retreats, Roger Federer, Sonia Sotomayor, weather
It doesn’t happen that often, but today, after running through well over one hundred blogs, I’ve still seen nothing to awakens an idea in my magnificent brain to write about. The last one, a snotty little offering from our dearest friend Randal, at that oh so smarmy Frenchy sounded blog l’ennui melodieux, well, it gave me the idea.
If you go over, and go you should, you’ll find a nice little post that says and means essentially nothing, but is a pleasant enough stringing of words, much like poetry, that can mean what you want it to. I shrugged, and thought, well why the hell not. I can string with the best of them.
I once upon a time thought Randal was just “too deep” for me, but then, he reads my blog, so that killed that idea. I finally realized he was just putting it over on us with his fancy words. And hey, nobody can claim Randal ain’t read, cuz he is. I think it’s like having your cranium shook a bit each day or two, knocks the dust down and all those synapses snap back into place, and you’re ready once more for molecular physics. Quarks anyone?
There seems to be no abatement in the Michael Jackson phenom, and that’s starting to be a problem in the meadow. The Contrarian is threatening to write off forever whole networks if they don’t stop, and no amount of explaining that “THEY DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK” seems to sink in. I just threw in this comment, cuz then I can list MJ as a tag and up my readership some more. I have 5,000 hits on Sunday. They are really tracking everything I say these days about MJ and Depp, Johnny that is. Wow, now I can add him too. Those are the search leaders these days, and you know how much time I spend talking about either of them.
I am pained a good deal looking around at the sky. I keep figuring that something is about to happen, given that the temperature more closely resembles like late September than freakin’ July. I mean we are looking at a high of 73 tomorrow. The garden simply groans in confusion. You can hear it if you listen carefully. It’s various components don’t know whether to set fruit or just give up in disgust. We’re about to see I guess how strong the drive to reproduce is.
I have been watching the Sonia Sotomayor hearings a bit today. The judge seems to be holding her own quite well, as the idiot likes of Sessions and a few others look foolish by comparison. I understand that Sessions some years ago was appointed to a federal judgeship but was not confirmed. I think he’s a mean spirited guy, but then most Republicans are these days. Our own Chuckie cheese Grassley says he’s “troubled” by her empathy statements. But oddly, he wasn’t troubled when Alito said much the same during his confirmation hearings. Grassley, agrees that he’s being a bit inconsistent. Hard to toe the Republican line when your past keeps contradicting you.
I usually watch Wimbledon every year. I like tennis, though I loathe John McEnroe. But if I turn down the sound I can handle it. Which brings to mind, why do we reward idiot nasty people with long term “commentator” contracts? Anyway, I didn’t watch this year because my dog in the race, Rafael Nadal, was out with an injury. Isn’t that a perfectly lovely name? Rafael? Ahhh, just sublime. Anyway, Federer, Roger has both a pedantic name and a brow ridge akin to Neanderthal origins. Rafael, has as they say a “body to die for.”
I do tend to choose my favorites in that disgustingly superficial way. I’m not ashamed of it. I mean isn’t that obvious? Johnny Depp is beyond gorgeous. I have been known to root for some not so gorgeous types. I was a real fan of Johnny McKenzie of the Boston Bruins a few dozen years ago. And he was how can you say it nicely? Dog butt ugly comes to mind, but don’t quote me.
God and me are doin’ find. Thanks for asking. I’m getting the chance to join that education program at my church after all. They insist that they have scholarships and so I’m blessed indeed. I’m reading a new book, another to review. Hopefully, unless I come across another “must have” I’ll read a few of my own collection and then enjoy some from our church library. Now we do have a selection that makes the average biblical study nut like me just salivate. I can hardly wait.
I was over at FranIAm’s blog yesterday, and she was just back from a retreat. I’m, embarrassed to say how long its been since I’ve been on any kind of one. We have a retreat center that is closer to me than my church, so I really am going to do that soon. She’s another blog that should be visited regularly. I do, but don’t always comment.
Speaking of which, it sure would be nice if that feature, commenting, were available within the reader, without bringing up the page. Easier for me at least. Oh and hit that Westminster button now and again if you have the time. I got a whopping 8 points so far. Need 50 for a book! lol…okay here’s hoping for Christmas? I guess I should have thrown in a recipe to be complete, but hey, we can’t have everything.
So Randal, I know it’s not as elegant as yours, but did I do this streaming bouncing off the wall prose okay? It’s the best I can do on short notice. Have a superb day folks.
Existential Ennui 
//The garden simply groans ….//
Well, then quit telling it Corn-y jokes! I hadda say that!
Everybody thinks they are a comic here. I’m sure that Randal has some avant gard intellectual high brow snide pseudo-funny remark as well.
I hope ya got bit by a million mosquitos!
Why do I suddenly feel like Kevin Kline’s character in A Fish Called Wanda. And hey, aimless pinball bouncing sure beats subjecting you dear folks to crappy verse. 😉
You talkin bout me willis? And I think you were the KK character in A Fish Called Wanda. 😉
Hey, just thought I ‘d let you know I added you to my blogroll when I “remodeled” today. I’m a little shallow for some of your topics, but I like what you have to say even if I don’t understand it. Ha. BTW I can take McEnroe, but usually hate the guy that calls the All Star game, so we’ll see if I can stand to watch it tonight. I probably will seeing as how Joe Mauer is my Rafael.
Nancy, I’ll try to do the same when I do my next housekeeping here! You’re not too shallow, perhaps just not interested in all the things I am. That’s what makes individuals. I’d not expect anyone else to like all my weird topics!
I agree I like Sonia Sotomayor , during the questions she seems to be able to keep herself from being pulled down into the muck.
Vicki
The Contrarian said that watching Foxy and MSNBC was like watching two different hearings. In one, she was “horrid” and in the other, the second coming. LOL…I thought she was doing just fine.
Interesting; like having a conversation with you. I’m not wordy enough and keep thinking of the book you recommended yesterday. It turns out that prof did not recommend that one, but “God: The Biography.” Don’t know that I’d read that.
Jan, that one is superb too! Mompriest mentioned it and has the author as Miles I believe. It’s wonderful, especially on Job. Read the comments under the Evolution of God to get his full name. I recommend it highly.
“There seems to be no abatement in the Michael Jackson phenom.”
How could there be? There are so many strange issues brought up by this situation, it’s hard to know where to start.
What I find intriguing about the whole situation is the status of the poor kids. As a lawyer, who has seen how family law has been so changed in my lifetime, it’s fascinating to see that the whole question of custody seems to turn on the contractual arrangements. Debbie Rowe is typically referred to as the “birth mother,” though when she stopped being the “mother” is not clear to me.
From media accounts she seems to be quite monstrous, with no interest in her children. But she is still their mother, and as far as I know she’s never had her parental rights terminated.
Nevertheless, the consensus seems to be that she contractually relinquished them. And that they pass by will, like the other chattels and real goods of the estate. And this is accepted by all as normal.
Jackson died with three children. Two were by a mother whom he married, but the children apparently have no physical relationship to him or his family. A third, as far as I can tell, is of entirely unknown parentage. It appears, despite the marriage, that these children were brought into the world deliberately to be without a mother. Because Jackson loves kids. He wanted kids of his own, but for whatever reason was incapable of having a genuine relationship with a woman who would be their mother beyond the very beginning stages of motherhood, conception and birth.
This case seems to epitomize our new attitudes toward birth, children, family. First, money talks, and the very rich can arrange things as they like.
Second, what matters is what the adults want, not what children need. I don’t doubt that Jackson loved his kids, and that his kids loved him. But his needs came first.
Third, the sense of the natural family dissolves. This is odd in a culture so deeply enamored (and rightly) by the beauty and order of nature, by the organic–except for ourselves. The old horror of “baby selling” has given way to the economics of “surrogacy.” Indeed, serial marrriage and divorce can be manipulated to make even legal surrogacy superflous–pre-nups and custody agreements can do the trick under the veil of a real marriage.
So, don’t get me wrong. I’ve always been a fan of the music, and I’ve never been convinced that the child molestation charges were credible. Jackson was a victim himself, whose childhood was stolen because he became, much too young, a marketable commodity. How can he be entirely blamed if he spent his adulthood trying to get that childhood back, and if, treated the way he was, he ended up treating his own kids as commodities? But what sort of cycle is he (are we) continuing?
I don’t know much about the issue of his kids. It does seem a mess, and hard to see how a woman nearly in her 80’s can be a “mother”. Don’t know a thing about Rowe, other than I’ve heard she tried to take then when he was on trial and took more money to disist.
I don’t know at “our” attitudes have changed. Money makes a lot of things possible in the world, and this has always been true it seems to me.
I guess I’m more compelled by evidence as to what produces good and happy adults, more than the configuration of the family unit. Facts are facts and we don’t have that many “nuclear” families as the norm today. Yet studies show that love and attention produce the best results regardless of the sex or number of parents. I do think that kids need role models of missing “parents” to be fully healthy, but other than that, I think love and nurture are more valuable than vagina and penis being in the same household.
Certainly courts were never prepared for all the possibilties on the table today. I share you issues with surragacy and people “changing’ their minds, tearing families apart years after the fact. I don’t know the answer.
I agree that I loved his music, thought he was a victim, wasn’t sure but thought the molestation charges were somewhat likely true, and wonder what kind of weird life these kids will get. Grandad is a nut case to me at least. I don’t have an answer. I guess it would be nice if they were given to one of the more stable brothers in the family. I think one is an auto mechanic now. That sounds like someone who has walked away from this weird family to live a real life. I doubt they will follow my suggestion! lol.