Well hey...

I have a lot to catch up on, and I've come to terms with the reality that it won't happen anytime soon. (Although I do plan to get brief reviews out there for the latest netflix and in-theater movies.) I recently finished the Playmakers mini-series...post to come on that.

Fall has begun. Monday nights is recuperating from Mondays. Tuesdays is Men's Accountability Group. Wednesday is Home Fellowship Group. Thursday is my first free evening of the week, if it happens to be un-scheduled to some other random commitment. That means laundry or clean-up or something here in the place...after a good, un-rushed workout. Friday is a good workout then chinese and a pass-out from exhaustion. Here we go again. The goal is not to be burnt-out by mid-spring.

So I'll lead worship on Wednesdays and Sundays. At least my comfort level on the guitar will continue to elevate. Also, I'll do the Sunday lesson for the High School group. Public speaking skills, baby.

We're off and running. Hopefully le blog will survive.

Not tripping

Just across the street and down the block from the PATH trains to the city, there's a bar on the corner, and like most Hoboken joints it has plenty of outside seating so that patrons can enjoy the views that Hoboken has to offer (namely attractive people of the opposite sex). I think its called Hobson's. Anyway, they did some construction work on the sidewalk in front of this bar last winter, and as a result, there's about a 2-foot wide slab of concrete that is angled up just a few inches to make a smooth connection between the lower slab on one side and the higher slab on the other. Not really noticeable to the naked eye, especially if the naked eye is checking out all the patrons of the bar as it walks by.

Now, if you're walking towards the trains, you'll usually step right over without even noticing the decline. But as the trains empty at the end of the working day, the majority of the crowd streams past this bar walking towards the incline.

What's the significance? The incline makes people trip, regularly and mercilessly. Walking home at night, I almost always make it a point to watch the people in front of me, and almost never do I see everyone smoothly sail over this undulation.

I've never seen anybody actually trip and fall, its just enough of a change in the slope to make you catch your foot for a second and start forward with the other foot a little too fast in order to compensate. A forced shuffle, if you will.

Here's the kicker. I heard two guys on the PATH train once, talking about this part of the sidewalk. They were, in fact, on their way to Hobson's, and the one was describing to the other how they would wait to get the table right in front of this sidewalk abnormality, so that they could watch people trip over it again and again. Well...at first I thought it was just one twisted guy showing his friend some low-ball entertainment. Its not. Its a malaise, I tell you. Tonight, for the umpteenth time, I walked past this spot, and sure enough, the table right there was filled with a group of guys (different guys), all watching in gleeful anticipation as the crowd from the train approached. They may even have been taking bets on who would trip, I'm not sure.

You can tell, though. The people at this table are not there to simply people watch. They are there for the clear purpose of people-tripping watch. They sadistically enjoy it.

I'm not saying I'm better than them. I might find some bit of amusement in it myself some day (doubt it). But I do love the feeling of looking the group right in the collective eyes, and firmly planting my foot on the incline and walking over it like it wasn't there. I may be their sole cognizant disappointer.

I'll probably never know.

Shout out

Yo Jimbo - this shameless Lileks link is for you (Another Linked Title). Read the second half (starts with "But I did want") - the bit on the NYT's Sunday Mag. Its a frighteningly accurate description of almost everyone I meet here. Also why I had to force myself to stop reading it as well. I like words too.

The Sunday Times is the weekly sermon: let us reinforce your world view, your sense of belonging to the Thinking Class, the Special Ones. Let the Red Staters spend Sunday morning in itchy church clothes at Perkins, dumping syrup all over their pancakes and yelling at little Lurleen not to pour salt down her baby brother’s jumper; you’re in your elegant spare little apartment with a cup of coffee (frothed on top; sprinkle of nutmeg) and a pastry from that wonderful place around the corner (okay, it’s an Au Bon Pain – hell, they’re all Bon Pain now) and there’s some light jazz on the radio. Morning jazz, if you had to give the genre a name. Anyway, it’s a sunny fall morning – well, noonish. Now comes the capstone moment when you lay the slab of the Times in your lap and begin the autopsy of the week...

Vera Drake

Click on the title to go to the trailer...due to release in October. See if you can figure out what this movie is about from watching the trailer. Think about it.

Still stumped? Go here.

What a sad state of affairs our world is.

Losing

Well I really didn't expect to get caught up on all the blogging I need to get caught up on while I was on vacation. And I lived up to that expectation. Or lack thereof. Whatever. Movie reviews, Netflix reviews, site updates, general stuff. Oh well. I'm not making any promises as retail enters its hellacious fall season and I still haven't been able to find my way out of the industry.

I don't really have much to say for the vacation wrap-up. I guess I'm at a loss for words. A lot to think about, a whole, whole lot, but not much to say. Basically nothing went according to plan, but then there was never really a plan, so there you have it. Yosemite kind of came and went, and then I had Friday and decided to fly out that night (this morning, mainly). Got into JFK around 7am this morn and took the AirTrain to Penn Station then the Path to a cab to my door. Spent the day unpacking, on the computer, and putting together the lesson for tomorrow.

Went by Cregan & Mindi's to review what I had put together with Cregan, then off to Joel's for poker with Joel, Peter, Iain, Darrin, and myself. I held my own for a while, and then Peter took me out in two fell swoops which occurred in the space of about 30 minutes. The first major blow to my stack was when Darrin dealt a "5 card draw, deuces, traces, and one-eyed-faces." Lots of wilds, but you can only have so many great hands, all the same. I held 2 aces, a 2, and a 3. Basically 4 aces. Peter had 3 queens and a pair of 3s. Basically 5 queens. Mind numbing. As if that wasn't enough, I ended up going all in against Peter at the end of my night on the Texas Hold-em that Iain called with 7's wild. I was sitting pretty on a club flush with the 7 in my hand. Peter had the Queen. We all weren't sure how to call it, so he and I played one more hand, winner take all (I had to buy more chips, how convenient for him).

Nobody will miss a rent payment over what we're playing with, but it isn't pocket change either. Its enough to have a good time and take it seriously but not be irresponsible with our money. It still feels like a punch in the gut to lose like that, though.

Well, hopefully I'll catch up soon. Maybe not. Either way, something will happen. Or not.

Quickly now

Just a brief update.

Monday I headed to Empire State Mine with grandma (mom's mom) for a couple tours. Interesting stuff - will elaborate when we return to normal blogging status and can post some pictures. Then I went for a run along a canal on the side of the mountain they live on - pretty cool area. Then MNF, which didn't really matter except for overall season points, since I had already won the week.

Tuesday Robbie was supposed to drive up and spend the day with the gramps so that I could head for Tahoe with the car. Car trouble. Gramps drove me down to Sacto and I spent the day with the fam, ended up reading Monday's WSJ special section on football, which had some interesting articles (also more later). A run, then dinner with the fam. Devotions, early bed.

Today I *was* going to get a ride to Enterprise so I could rent some wheels and head for Tahoe/Nevada/Yosemite over the next couple days, but we decided to do a family trip to Yosemite, which is just as well. No Tahoe/Nevada, but I get some more time with the family. I may even get to Tahoe on Friday, who knows. Doubt it.

I think the next couple days will be good for me. Lord willing I'll have pictures from the top of Half Dome.

Right now, I'm in the computer lab at the local Community College, where my bro takes some classes. He's actually at a starbux somewhere studying with a pal, but I came here to find fast free net access and upload the current bunch of pix to imagestation. I forgot how much I need broadband. I feel like a heroin addict must after deprivation. I don't want to leave.

I'm sitting in the language lab and trying to look like a student. I think my lame attempt at facial hair is helping the facade.

After we get back from the park on Thurs or Fri, my plans will depend on how much time I have left. I need to throw this Sunday's high school lesson on powerpoint and get it to Cregan by Friday, and Saturday is the high school reunion, which I have to book out of straight to the airport for my red-eye back to the East side. I'm only halfway through the vaykay and I feel like its almost over. Its going fast enough, that's for sure.

I like being home. I like the people, I like the girls, I like driving like a New Yorker here (nobody uses their horns, which is strange for a change), I like the food, I like the laid-back atmosphere. I like the fact that I can find free high-speed net access, no questions asked. If I'm ever a spy living in Northern California and I need a discreet place to come and do my dastardly deeds without being noticed, I know where to go. I like it here.

Probably no more blogging until I'm home on Sunday, at the earliest, but who knows. Pix will start to appear then, or soon thereafter, that I promise, as much as it is within my ability.

Cheers.

Rest for the weary

First blog post from California. Boo yah.

We're live in Nevada City, CA. Staying with the grandparents for a couple nights. Let's recap:

Snuck out of work Friday afternoon and caught the train to JFK. Very easy commute, that one. I no longer consider JFK the most inconvenient airport (LGA takes #1). Hopped a Jetblue flight direct to Sacto. First time flying cross states direct. I never want to have a connection again, ever. It was the best. Get on once, get off once, voila. Also, Jetblue rules. Service was some of the best I've ever seen on a plane, and you have Direct TV in your face, which makes 5 hours seem a lot shorter, especially when the better half of it is the Yanks-Sox game.

Home with the fam. Woke up on Saturday and read the local paper. Then hit Fry's (think Best Buy on steroids) with my brother on our way here to Nevada City. We went to the whatever-annual Draft Horse Classic which apparently is a big deal around here. Lots of horses, and by horses I mean whales with legs. These things were various versions of Clydesdales, Shires, Percherons, Belgians. Saw a cool lumberjack expedition, and then, inspired by the massive size of the horses, I stuffed myself with a giant chili cheese dog and a basket of fried shrimp and fries. Went to the show/competition, which was essentially all of the horses dolled up and running around and some guy judging all of them. How he determined 1st thru 6th place for the various "classes" was never revealed. I think it had something to do with how they pranced. Or maybe how shiny the wagons they pulled were. Who knows.

Went to the grandparent's church this morning. Its nice to see other churches but it reminds me how blessed I am with mine, that's for sure. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest person in the sanctuary. Rainy afternoon.

Watched as much football as I could manage today, and only missed 3 games in the pool which was good enough to win the week (everyone picked Philly tomorrow and I'm a game ahead, so I win), tho Cinci-Miami was a nail-biter that would have given the week to the guy who had the Dolphins. Whew. I missed Carolina, but I still stand by my Chiefs pick - only 2 people in the pool took the Panthers. How the Broncos only imagined to get 6 points is beyond me, and the whole pool picked the Packers, so no love lost there. If I had bet against Brett, they would have won. I probably won't see many games for the rest of the season (youth group / evening service) so it was good to stock up. Here's to Cinci for breaking the curse.

Tomorrow I plan to go for a nice long run (as long as I can, above 3500 feet), read a lot, have a burger for lunch, and hopefully find a net-cafe where I can upload my pictures from the weekend. Sadly, the gramps, just like the fam at home, have dial-up. Alas, no pictures on-line yet. Tuesday Robbie will come up to hang with the gramps for the day and I'll take the car to see a bit of Tahoe, then back to Sacto. The whole week is kind of up in the air. I'm too lazy to really plan anything.

I don't think I'll ever relate to my family in the way in which I desire too. I don't think that's a prayer that God plans to answer for me. And I don't say that to blame Him, I know its my fault. But I'm tired of failing in my attempts to put their interests ahead of mine and consider them better than myself, and at no time are my failures more evident than when I come home.

What a day.

I need a drink.

Fast week

Friday I fly home for a little longer than a week's vacation. So Thursday night is packing, Wednesday night is youth ministry leadership planning work with Cregan, tomorrow night is men's accountability with the guys, and tonight was MCM til just now, and...well how about that, I'm out of nights. I wonder when I'm going to clean up around here, sort thru the paperwork, and pay the bills? I'm just going to have to get out of work on the early side on Thurs, I guess.

That said, there probably won't be a great deal of blogging this week. Probably not a great deal while on vacation, either. I'm ashamed to admit my family's deep, dark secret: they still use dial-up. They really haven't discovered the multitudinous marvels of net-life, yet, so they don't need the direct IV drip connection that people at my age require. I will be doing my best to take lots and lots of pictures, however, so there is that to look forward too, when I get around to posting them.

I like how I'm talking like there's actually an audience out there that is reading this blather en mass.

Weekend wrap-up: work late on Friday and barely squeeze in a workout afterwards. Saturday was comp time then gym, then the Q with Kath to work on the big youth ministry planning project that Cregan and I hope to wrap up on Wednesday. The big concern here has been how we're going to present all the info to the leaders without coming off like tyrants, getting everyone to take ownership. Its become apparent that only God's grace is going to allow for that. Grace, please. PLEASE.

Saturday eve was the going-away party for Grace

and then afterwards I headed over to Steven's point to snap a few pix of the light.

This is by no means the best shot of the light, but its one of the best ones I got with the flag at half-mast in the foreground, and I like the idea, at least. Tough to get right without a tripod. Earlier in the day I had thought about heading down there but I'm not really up for that. Not yet, anyway.

Sunday was morning service then a picnic with the youth group in Central Park. Perfect day. Lots of soccer. Home, shower, evening service, laundry.

Totally blew it in the first week of the football pool. Absolute stinkology. The Jets??? Where did they come from? And how did Baltimore evaporate in the off-season? Apparently Detroit picked up their steam. Wow. I took Indy for the opener and they really should have won that game. Picked the Pats every single game last season, why I got off that horse I'll never know - a momentary lapse of sanity.

I have a trainee at work now so she'll keep me plenty busy when I'm not trying to get everything else done, on top of which we are still in market, so, until I type again, adieu...

Why we are at war

Today is the day that all the Bush-bashing, anti-war, raving lunatic liberals have to sit at home and be silent. Today is the day we remember. Much of our ability to recall is based on external images - words, pictures, sounds that trigger an emotional response to a latent memory. Sadly, much of the industry that controls our words, pictures, and sounds, is part of the vast minority that must sit in silence today, because the very nature of this day trumps any argument they will ever be able to make.

Go here, open it in a new window and wait for it to load. Its worth the wait, to remind yourself. Be warned, it may be hard for you to watch. You won't find anything like this on the news media today, but you should. I hope someday in the not-too-distant future, someone does a decent documentary of the actual events of the day. Our posterity will need it.

Lileks' piece from '03 is also pretty powerful.

Glenn Reynolds states it simply.

3 years ago this morning, Americans like you and me had to decide between being burned alive or jumping to their deaths. This week the 1,000th American hero died in the Middle East on the continuing quest to ensure that our Enemy can never do this to us again.



God bless America.

3 years later

I walk out of the gym tonight and check my cell phone for the time. Sure enough, 9:11.

Tomorrow night the lights will be on again. Time rolls on.

Spent the 4-day work week in market.



All week long. Next week too. Buying the Spring line. What a weird way to spend a couple weeks. I don't like the show-rooms. That's all I'll say about it right now.



That's what Hoboken looked like on my way to work on Wednesday.



Coming back from Thursday's appointment, I walked between the back side of MSG and the Post Office that sits across 8th Ave. Hadn't seen this during the convention, but its pretty cool - a foot-bridge temporarily erected from the Post Office building that led over 8th Ave. and straight into the Garden. The media was housed in the P.O. building during the convention, and this way they didn't even have to go outside to walk right into the convention. Smart thinking.

Some of the cooler stuff I found this week:

A CNN article on trolling for the college vote. The picture is from the event that I met Dave Barry at. And, what's more, the article mentions GCC.

Go here to watch the speeches from the conventions.

I-pod wrappers for you uber-trendites...

Elsewares. Cool artsy stuff at more modest prices than you'd normally find in the city. Good gift ideas.

Communists for Kerry.

Funniest Mac ad parody I've seen yet.

Rain

So I wake up to the pleasant sound of rain on the roof. I love living in a roof-top unit, you can hear the rain. Normal routine, shower, brush teeth, etc.. As I'm toweling off I notice a gash on the bottom of my right pinkie toe, right where the toe meets the foot. Its deep. Maybe I tore it open on my run last night or something? Who knows.

Decide I want to wear a shirt that needed ironing. Pull out iron and ironing board, iron shirt, unplug iron and put the board back in the closet, when I notice that there's water coming off one of the pipes that comes from the ceiling (its our utility closet, the water heater and whatnot are in there). Yeeeeeeah, we've got a leak. Pull all the junk out of the closet, put a bucket under the leak. As I'm positioning the bucket, I realize the burning sensation in my leg is the still-hot iron that I had set on the floor. Right leg is officially falling apart, check.

So I finally get ready to go and head for the door. No umbrella. Left it at work yesterday. Not an umbrella to be found in the place. Put on my rain jacket and head downstairs. Decide to check garage for umbrellas. Garage is flooding. Call roommate (again) with updated damage report. Head out door. I'm standing under the awning and the rain is pouring and there's no way on God's wet earth I'm gonna get a cab. I call C&M and decide to head over there to borrow an umbrella. Start running in rain, come around corner, and there's a girl walking toward me in ankle-deep water, holding her shoes in her hand. Take off shoes/socks, roll up pants, wade down block. When I got there, Cregan was leaving to drive downtown to pick up their nanny, so I had a ride. This was the first thing that went right since I woke up to the sound of rain, pretty much.

Thanks to the flooding, most of the intersections were knee-to-waist deep by the time we started driving, so traffic basically wasn't moving. Spent a solid hour in the car, without going more than a mile. When I got to the train station, it was apparent that the buses had been shut down, because the trains were packed to the gills.

About 2 hours after I set out, I finally got to work. They're saying tomorrow is going to be worse. Great.

Nothing

That's what I did this weekend. If you define nothing as:

Friday afternoon I hit the gym, that evening a few of us went to house-warming party for a dude who just moved to Hoboken. We didn't stay long (the party lacked AC), and then we went to Black Bear for dinner. I still wasn't in the mood to eat/drink after my Thursday night/early Friday morning adventure. I was not suffering from a hangover, mind you, I was just thrown off kilter by being out that long. Saturday was sleep in, computer, gym, Q, home. Sunday was sleep in, computer, gym, Q, evening service, some guitar time with James, then Willie McBride's with a few of the gang for pool and drinks. Today was sleep in, computer, gym, Q, home. Worked on the guitar stuff some more on the deck while the sun went down.

Basically I rested, which was what needed to be done this weekend. Everything starts up again now. Home Fellowship Group on Wednesdays, youth group on Sundays and all the other misc. related events, and work kicks up straight thru January. Summer is over.

I had a good summer. The fastest one yet.

Yes, you are.

Pictures from the floor

Well, sadly, I didn't take my camera with me much of anywhere this week, for fear I might leave it in a bar, or on a train, or...hmm...in a cab?

Anyway, though I've not yet obtained pix of DB, I still hold high hopes. In the meantime, here's a few I snapped with my phone on the day I got to head onto the floor of the convention.



Jason Sehorn, up close and impersonal.



Brec and I with our fashionable floor passes.



The SS guy who had to stay and watch the empty row (just in front of his knees), presumably in case the protesters who had been dragged out suddenly materialized and began protesting some more. They treated it like a crime-scene for the remainder of the time I was there.



This will give you a very blurry idea of the scuffle that took place. You can make out the signs still held aloft near the top, also the SS guy in the suit rushing in and the press guy holding his camera aloft for a shot.



Average street corner in midtown during the convention. Note the presence of about 10 cops to one civilian.

RNC wrap-up

Well, NYC has returned to its purely democratic state of stupidity. Last night, as I walked the block from my office door to the subway station, there were cops leaning up against my building, almost shoulder to shoulder, had to be more than 200 of them, just on that block, just on that side of the street. Ditto for the other side. More cops than citizens. This morning, I emerge from the same subway stop to walk the same block in the reverse direction. Not a cop to be seen. Their barriers still lined the sidewalks, but without their guardians, were rather like train tracks long abandoned - infrastructure that once served a vital purpose but now had no more need.

I guess the boys in blue ran home as soon as things ended last night. I don't blame them. Good job, fellas.

Saw some mild protesting in Union Square on the way to the party last night, but that was about the sum total - I did a fairly good job of avoiding it otherwise (excluding the riot on the floor). Trains and buses seemed to run pretty much on schedule, and weren't over-crowded, so not much to speak of there. Walking around midtown in the daytime was a nightmare, but for some weird reason foot-traffic seemed to actually be moving more smoothly during the rush hours. Traffic was bad for those in cars, with all the street closures, but I didn't have to deal much with that. Last night they had a direct path from underneath MSG all the way to the tarmac at LGA, completely closed off to civilian traffic. Only for a couple hours, but man...that is cool. Also there was only one train under MSG during the time that he spoke, and it was empty save for Secret Service members ready to take it straight to Jersey in a hurry.

The party platform was a lot more conservative than expected, but I'm ok with it. One of those err-on-the-safe-side type deals. The speakers were about what I'm sure they were planned to be - Giuliani for the swingers, Ahnold for the glitz and glam, Zell-on-wheels to take the gloves off, Cheney to set the stage, and the man took it. His speech was ok. Not great, not terrible. What it was planned to be - steady freddy.

The real convention was held in the 100's of flesh-pressing events, day and night, during the week. I did my best to make it to as much of this as possible but you can only see so much. Had a blast, would love to do it again. Didn't end up volunteering a lick, really. No free polo shirt for me.

I talked to Dave, and I talked to Rebecca.

That's a successful convention in my book.

RNC Update: he got game

Ok, so I just *finished* with the explanation/apology for the lack of actual convention coverage in exchange for socialite reporting, and I'm back at it. Well, expect another apology.

Today was, again, odd. Work in the morn, then off to CK to work the line. Took off for an extended lunch break to get the interview completed. An Aussie firm working on voter behavior - a quick C-note. Back to CK to finish Jan and Feb (what little part I actually had in it), then back to the offices, where I caught up on bleat, OJ, and some mildly heated email debate with Kath on politics and mores at large.

Then it was off to the 50's in upper midtown for a Cuban dinner at a very official Cuban restaurant - Brec's idea. It was the same foursome, her, Grace, Cisco, and I. I tried not to have to much to eat as I knew what lay ahead. An evening at Pressure (aka Bowlmore Lanes) on University just south of Union Square. Pretty subdued until the prez's speech, and then pretty subdued after that. A College Republicans scene mainly. CR didn't nearly fill up the very cool club, so it was a bit weird. I chatted up the bouncer at the VIP lounge a few times, so I had the in there (it was empty all night) but no one worthy of accompanying me ever showed up. Made for a strike-out evening, except for...

Rebecca.

She was a knock-out waitress that made eyes with me a couple times early in the evening, and what eyes they were. Probably from the islands South of Asia but I guess I'll never know. I finally asked her to get me another drink, and that was about all of the conversation we made early on. But then, just before we were going to leave, I resolved to talk to her or die trying. I headed back into the lounge area that she was working and waited. And there she was, and then we talked.

Cash money.

I laid a line on her at the end of the overall encounter, and she politely informed me that she had a boyfriend. I realized I had forgotten the safety line - the self-depreciating "a girl like you must be spoken for...". Ah well. My game is rusty, so I forgive me. We even chatted for a bit after the boyfriend bomb.

If I could do it all over again, I would, the same way, ten times in a row.

A few things

First, an apology for my lack of actual convention coverage. An explanation, if you will: I've been enjoying all of the social benefits that such conventions have to offer. Most of these take place, for some odd reason, which I have not, nor care to, figure out, at the same time that the convention itself (at least in the IPF speaking form) takes place. Perhaps the speakers are so bad that they want us to preoccupy ourselves with inebriation instead of actually hearing the IPF's speak. I'm not sure.

Regardless, I have provided you with little, OK, no, objective perspective. Ah, well. Here it is: Guliani's speech ruled. Everyone else (so far) was about par for what I expected of them, even Ahnold - Medicine Square Godden (HT Lileks). Guliani defined why I am voting for Bush.

Secondly, and far more importantly, I have just successfully resisted temptation. This doesn't often happen in my life so its worthy of first point (though somehow it still got second - blame the editors). Right now (temptation swells again within me even as I type)...right now there is yet another party, this one at Jay Z's 40/40 club, which I have wanted to grace for some number of days. My friends are there and they have called me to inform me that the scene is, in fact, bouncing.

And I sit here, and I know that I will not go tonight, and I will probably die without ever stepping foot on its Italian marble floors.

I will go to bed, presently, and although I will not sleep directly, I will wake tomorrow morning somewhat more rested than if I had caught the midnight bus into the city to rock until the break of dawn.

I'm in market all day tomorrow - we'll be buying Calvin Klein's spring line. I'll slip out at lunch for my interview, and later spend the evening watching the acceptance speech at Pressure. That will make up for my restraint this evening. That will be my deferred gratification.

Sometimes I really don't understand why deferred gratification is such an epic goal. At the end of the day, we're all going to die really soon. When I'm choking (not wheezing) my last few breaths, I certainly don't hope I'm thinking of my bloody office and the misery I've experienced at its hands. I hope I'm thinking of the joys I experienced.

I thought of this tonight on my walk home from the gym: my chief end is to glorify God *and* ENJOY Him forever. When I'm dead, I suppose that's all I'll be doing - enjoying Him. But am I doing that now?

Would I be enjoying it more by living up tonight, and hating life tomorrow?

Am I growing old now, that I choose the responsible choice?

Is this "enjoying" Him?

Do I even know how to?

RNC Update

Today has been...odd. I came here for an hour or so then left for the Hilton at 53rd and 6th to find CR's booth in the Big Freakin Republican Marketplace that they had turned a full half of the 2nd floor into. Hopped back on a train to work, where I crammed a little more in before walking over to the garden for the Republican Youth Convention. Going behind the police cordons was pretty cool. There was nobody but you and cops on that side, the rest of the public was forced to watch and envy from the plebeian side of the street. Much security (they made me drink my bottled water in front of them, and goodness knows I seriously considered falling on the ground in convulsions afterward, just as a mild joke).

And then I was on the main floor of the convention.

Basically it was a long succession of Important Political Figures that were all apparently there to introduce the next IPF who was also there to introduce the one after them and so on and so forth. The Bush sisters participated, also Jason Sehorn and his knockout wife (more like honorable IPFs, I suppose), and then Ari Fleischer, which was cool.

The White House Chief of Staff spoke, and about 15 seconds into his schpeel, a whole row of kids directly across the aisle from us started blowing whistles and waving anti-bush signs and jumping on their chairs and screaming. How they snuck in I have literally no idea. Anyway, the response from the room full of a few thousand of the most patriotic Republican youngsters on the planet was pretty much unanimous and instantaneous - a "4 more years" chant began to drown them out and kids basically swarmed them. I pulled Brec back because it was fast going fisticuffs. I resisted the Very Strong Urge to jump in the fray. The press absolutely smothered them in about 5 seconds flat. The Secret Service showed up a second later, and in about 2 minutes, it was completely over, the only evidence that anything had happened was the, oh, 60 Secret Service men milling around the empty row looking for explosives. Pretty wild. Good times.

Some more people introduced some more people on stage, and then I went and got Jason's autograph while he and his wife were giving interviews off to the side. Then it was back to work, where I'm pretending to not be sleeping. Or something.

Also, if you're in Pittsburgh, look for me on the news there tonight being interviewed about the mini-riot. I think channel 4 - the guy started interviewing us after the fray. We told him we were Grovers so we might have a chance of getting on.

Tonight is a Young Repub's event at Jay Z's place, the 40-40 club, but it doesn't start until midnight, so I think I'm going to have a reprieve from the drinking-free-booze-until-the-next-morning bit and go to the gym instead. I want to have enough energy to successfully hit on some young conservative ladies tomorrow at Pressure, the club where we're watching the acceptance speech. And by young conservative ladies I do NOT mean members of the Republican Youth Majority, which, in addition to being communist, I am aware is also pro-choice and pro-environment and pro-many other things, which an enthusiastic young Iranian girl was glad to inform me of last night, at which point I was finished talking to her.

Also tomorrow I'm planning to do a paid interview at lunch time with an Aussie media firm regarding my views on voting. Cha ching. I have it on moderate (as opposed to good) authority that the interviewer is a knockout. That is to say that a girl told me this.

Dave's dead on article about the CR event we met at can be found here.

take a deep breath...

O.K. so now I know what Brec has been dealing with.

I've been housing her friend Cisco for 2 nights now. He's a nice kid. A genuine conservative at heart. A pleasant soul. And he's a dolt.

He left his camera in the cab we took home from the city tonight. That camera had a picture of the both of us with the Governor of Maryland, pretending that we were the most important 2 votes he would ever get. Much, much more importantly, that camera had the pictures of Dave Barry and I, also Dave Barry and Brec, and now that miserable camera is forever lost to wherever that Nigerian taxi driver sees fit to sell it to - little does that bugger know that I'd gladly pay him twice whatever he'll get for it, if only for that one picture of Dave and I.

Agony.

And I'm trying not to feel to bad because I'm not the one who's actually lost a camera.

Sigh.

Well, Brec, in all her wonderfulness, had a professional photographer snap a couple of our whole group with DB in the middle, so Lord willing I'll still be able to provide proof of my favorite night ever.

Bah. Tonight I took off around 5 (ridiculously early) and had a full 4-course meal with Grace, Brec, and Cisco (who showed up around course 3). I highly recommend Amanda's, especially for a date. Quality. Then I caught a mini-nap before showering and heading back into the city with the 3 accompli via ferry.

The party was...odd. We got out of there before being corralled into any further volunteer work, but damn, I wish I had the pictures. Now I'm home and ready to crash for a few hours before the office looms again.

Tomorrow I hope to see the inside of the garden, albeit briefly.