I want You: Plural not Possessive

Last Friday night didn't go quite as expected and I've learned a lesson I ought to have long ago. My words are a weapon and their biggest victim is myself. I pop off all the time. I'm quite unafraid to write or say certain things and this usually works only to make me out to be a bigger ass hole than I need to be. I think I've said it before and I'm going to say it again. "When the only tool you have is a hammer, to you, the whole world is a nail." I think I often use my writing specifically to do a job better done sometimes another way.

It's summer time, which means it's time for grody, sweaty sex and movies. This isn't that kind of webpage so for now I will just stick with movies. I don't know what happened to this video and why it looks so trippy but I actually like it. Otherwise it's just 4 Frenchmen standing awkwardly while a bunch of Liberal Hippies cheer them on. Please enjoy.

Ed. Note: Apparently the video uploaded in a very normal and boring fashion; the trippy and much cooler version on my computer was never seen. I continue to apologize that your life is not mine.

The Mgmt.

These are the kinds of things that happen

It's Cinco De Drinko so a good portion of my readers won't be reading this until the weekend most likely but I just got back from a workout and I'm tearing myself up at the seams over another eventful trip. I skipped the Rec yesterday SPECIFICALLY to avoid the Jersey Chasers who had shown up to "Git seen" by the football team. We just finished Spring Ball last weekend so that means all the guys are free to hang out after school now but still have instructions to lift from coaches. Year in and year out it is like the Salmon spawning, these dudes show up and the girls do too. Im old enough to remember when this was actually exciting..you know back when I was younger than everyone. But now these hooers are my little brothers age and not nearly as appealing. The signs are just a bit too obvious for me. A girl with a regular bra on and not a sports bra..tryin' to git seen. A girl whose shorts look like what the Showtime Lakers wore...tryin' to git seen. And of course, a full face of makeup to workout is someone deperately, tryin' to get seen.

He had a "Magic" "Johnson" Double entendres abound!

Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a fan of the hooers. I just don't do skeezer. I made this choice unfortunately at an age when I didn't even know what sex was and so didn't quite understand the implications this would have on me. Needless to say I am now mortally bound to stick with the decision because I have some romantic attachment to the image I saw for myself then and I do my best to live up to this antiquated idea no matter what. So today I went at a time before any ballers may be in attendance and got down to business. I saw the She-Aries and we chit chatted about the Lupe Fiasco show this weekend and then I was on my way. It feels so good to be tired from exertion again. Sitting in a hospital bed for so long robbed me of that joy and it's taken quite a while to come back to form. I went to get some water and someone walked up next to me. As I stood, I looked, and facing me is this brunette. I'm indifferent to what I see and so I turn to go about my business and what do I notice..? A red bra strap that matches her red gym top.

Now I am an admitted self saboteur when it comes to women so this shouldn't surprise any of you but my first thought was actually, "Fuck, I wonder how long I have before these dudes show up." The Jersey Chasers have some sort of intelligence network and often show up BEFORE the guys do which is scary in itself but I was enjoying my lift and didn't need to see 50 extra people start milling around breathing up all my air. It was just funny to me that she coordinated the bra and top. Had the two been mismatched I would just have assumed she'd forgotten her job bra or perhaps not cared, but this shit was premeditated and thusly an annoyance. So as I get back into my lift I realize she is an aberration, perhaps she thought the meet was yesterday or perhaps she was hoping to see a particularly committed fellow who came two days in a row. Either way, my fears were for naught because the swell never came.

He is a complete dork and even he gets girls.

I went back to see the She-Aries at her desk to sign up for a bike in between sets. Lo and behold look who is behind me? Yea red straps. Now I've noticed she of course wearing my personal favorite, yoga pants, and doing well in them; but I already find her presence annoying so it's really not as persuasive as it might have been. On a scale of Gwyneth Paltrow to Kim Kardashian she was probably Jessica Alba. (nice but only from certain angles) Nice as that thing was, I was happy to finish the rest of my work out without incident. That is until I went upstairs to stretch out.

Stretching and ab's always come last for me because I like to take my time. The mats were mostly taken up so I just found an empty part of the carpet, threw down my towel and went in on some medicine ball pikes. That was not very much fun. I usually try to just lift weights and not fuck around to much when I'm at the gym. It's a habit that made working in a gym bearable when I had a long distance relationship. So even now I just find it rude when people are on cell phones or playing around or best of all, trynna git seen. Go to the bars for all that! Anyways I'm done with the pikes laying on the ground feeling the pain while waiting for the gain and I see this chick on the mat across from me who must be a D-cup, but what caught my eye was the fact she was looking at me too. I was embarrassed because if you are like me, then picturing all of my 6'4" doing that pike then crumpling to the floor in an exhausted huff doesn't seem to graceful. I finish my ab's then get to stretching and now find myself looking over at the Busty Blonde. If it's not clear by now I want to make it so now, I am mistakenly living my life by trying to hold on to childish naiveté. I understand that every girl that smiles isn't a hooer and I could in theory just take it as a compliment. Buuut I don't.

This girl had some sort of creepy perma-smile which was nice but still...scary. I was done so I walked down stairs to get changed and walk home. This story ends as such. Somehow she made it to the locker room before I did, and so when I rounded the corner there staring me in the face was this perma-smile. Look am I a fan of above average sized breasts? Yes of course. Do I love a watermelon shaped ass just as much as the next guy? Well what was your first clue? My point is there is some physical reflex I have, that instead of allowing me to go up to these women obviously looking to be talked to, I make sure to walk as far and as fast away from them as I can. This chick with the tit's was especially troublesome to explain to myself when I asked "Why didn't you talk to her" mainly because there was no real reason. I'm just not into that sort of thing. And what thing is that you ask? Being happy. That's what. Some people meet me and have a hard time believing I don't drink or smoke, others have an even harder time finding out I can count the number of people I've slept with on one hand. And I'm talking honest disbelief, people think I'm lying to them. I imagine if they saw the neurotic physco-babble I just spewed they might find it easier to believe.

So yes, tonight, instead of motor boating the night away, I will instead hang out with my friends like always, maybe even catch up on some Hulu. I remember joking with my ex all the time in a self deprecating way and just saying, "Who is gonna bone me?" In some ways it's quite true that no one is, but it's really only true because even the ones who are trying, aren't going to be successful with the way I look at things. I think the next time I see either of these two girls I will approach them and see how it goes, not so much because I want to, but because I've no reason not to.... This sounds like no fun at all.

We love these hoe's.

These Nights are haunting Me

Step aside Kim! Last night I was lucky enough to see Little Dragon perform live at Mississippi Studios. Shouts to my girl Ari and her backpack! Anyway, it was a show like most. The opener, Audie Darling was a great singer, her tempo was a tad slow for a room full of adults at 9pm on a Monday but her songs were good, and she had real talent. The interim was good, with an older crowd there weren’t the same antics of bum rushing the front that go on at other shows. Had Patrick been there I’m sure he’d have been upset we didn’t get in a fight. The lead singer actually caught my eye a few years ago when I saw her face in a blog post. She has freckles and looks a lot like Lucy Liu's foreign cousin which I suppose she is? Yukimi's mom is American and her dad is Japanese. The soulful voice she sings with though belies her tiny stature. She absolutely sings the brakes off of any song she does and without a hint of accent. Xenophobic as it may be when someone is playing your heart strings like that, it helps if it's in a tune you recognize. I went in thinking she would do a great job, but by nights end she had completely wound me up. I felt UNDER prepared for the dance show she put on. Just watch the video of their performance for Wink live and try to imagine yourself at the show somehow NOT transfixed by it all? Yes that indeed is a photo of 75% of the band playing the drums all at once.

I appear to have quite the affinity for Swedish Rock #NoABBA. I don’t mean rock like the Beatles or the Stones but Rock like the Rock n Roll hall of fame. Rock as in the coolest shit we got going right now. For the most part people call it Indie Rock because the shows are frequented by Tom’s wearing Indie kids but in reality this stuff is Synth driven, electro pop with a grown and sexy twist to it. I could never be a music critic or even a music reporter because the way genres continue to grow and intermesh makes things hard to accurately describe. Anyway, the Swedes really know how to bang a drum and so there are many acts that I enjoy. Yukimi and her fine ass as well as Lykke Li, Miike Snow, and of course Peter Bjorn & John all hail from the great music Mecca surrounding Stockholm. Just typing that list leaves me a little speechless. I feel like that lineup would murder West Coast rappers as far as quality and relevance right now. The band played great and I had a lot of fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been out in Portland and I won’t soon forget the trip.

I hope everyone enjoys the first post for today which should appear below. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while so this month is my chance to debut my involvement. I have been neglecting my new job so I need to get on that and turn in some work =( But don't fret, I will be doing a post here EVERY WEEK for the rest of the year. Thats right, starting today we will have a New post each week so you can count on steady updates.

We are already half way through the 4th month of 2010!! This year is flying by and I don’t have much to say about it. It hasn’t been a great year yet, and hopefully for you it hasn’t been a horrible one either. I can't wait to see where we end up next.

Blinking Pigs

The less I say, the more they Like me

I was at the gym today playing basketball. It's been a long time since I've said those words. I could do an entire post on the emotions I feel when people ask me if I do indeed play, "the basketball", as one guy put it while I was at the local Costco a few weeks back. But no. Not here, not now. Rather what I found interesting was my demeanor while sitting on the couch catching up on 'Parks and Rec'.

In my lukewarm, semi sleepy, achy muscle, state of mind, I felt like I was at some sort of equilibrium. I don't know how to describe it but basically I could just tell I was at just the right amount of awake to be both mentally sharp, but not overly talkative. It is weird to say but I almost felt better than normal? I imagine it is what Jay-Z often feels like. Un-rushed because there isn't anyone who won't wait for him, completely in control because he has been for so long, and unworried because both he and his wife are rich in their own right. It's a great feeling, one I want to feel on a more regular basis. This is more than just swagger, and is exactly what they mean when they say comfortable in your own skin. I'm a super skittish person. Like embarrassingly so. One of my favorite scenes in any movie is the scene where that famous line in Apocalypse Now is uttered. As Lt.Col. Bill Kilgore squats in the Vietnamese mud, gunfire and smoke emanate from behind him and he makes the famous statement. A mortar appears to explode just a few feet behind him and it's as if he is deaf to it. To say he doesn't flinch doesn't do it justice. It is as if it didn't even happen, or better yet he knows exactly that it happened, but doesn't care. That mindset it what I'm after. It feels perfect.

Imagine the funniest thing you've ever said. You probably weren't trying to be funny. This is because your lack of effort allowed you to really nail that deadpan or emphasize the timing naturally. I think for me when I wake up I'm too wired and too attentive. There's an episode of House that fittingly enough is titles, Ignorance is bliss. Esteban Powell plays a man of prodigious intelligence who literally drugs himself to reduce his IQ. For him, life as a super genius was hard because he was so much smarter than everyone else. He literally was sketching a Toroidal helicon plasma device on a napkin once they started treatment to bring his IQ back to normal. Now I don't say all this to say I'm a super genius, or that when I go into rural areas, people talk about me as one of those, "big city" learn-ed types. What I do mean is that on a daily basis my normal disposition is geared towards getting through the day's travails as quickly as possible. I don't really take time to scan and survey all situations, I definitely rush most things, and often I wish it could be otherwise. I guess efficiency for me is measured in the number of tasks completed and not so much in the quality of what I do. This here blog is the first time I've ever attempted anything with a conscious outlook of doing everything well down to the last detail. What I think the point for me personally comes down to is, at that moment the edge was taken off. I wasn't "scanning on all channels", there was no high alert, no need to alarm. If you know me personally you know I don't shy away from fights or conflict. Kinda. I enjoy arguing and conflict because the level of agitation implicit in those situations just brings people up to where my mind already is. A famous hockey player once said that "when I get into fights on the ice, my blood pressure doesn't go up." That makes sense to me. I've always felt my "calling" if there is such a thing, was to fight for a cause, like the rights of those who are less fortunate than I. I try to stay honest, I try to gain knowledge, and I was born looking for a fight. I don't think anyone who has seen me either all the way pissed off, or just at my best arguing a point would have trouble envisioning me as some sort of civil liberties lawyer. I'm not saying that's what I want to do with my life, but I've heard the complaint more than once, that I don't know how to drop a subject, or let something go...Which is exactly what the poor, and under represented need on their side right. =)

I am also fairly patient considering this disposition of mine. I find that I am either completely impatient, or too patient. As always there is little moderation in my life but this is an important point. I don't lose my patience just because I am pissed. I actually gain more I think? That day on the couch I figure there was a certain amount of adrenaline in my blood from the workout, seratonin and dopamine were hard at work, and endorphins probably were in abundance as well. So basically I was on my natural high in a way that even my beloved fentanyl couldn't provide. But was it the perfect mix of chemicals in my brain that made me cool out, or is that a persona of mine that is there but I only see at times? I don't think Jay-Z learned to be cool over night, I imagine he has always had that much cool in him, but the circumstances around him allow for it to be his everyday and not just his sometimes.

All I can say is that when I wake up everyday I assume that extra level of gusto I seem to have for things is just my cross to bear. I was made this one so that hopefully I can oneday fight on behalf of those who are unable, even if that just means my and my friends. We all have some natural talents and I see this as mine. What makes it interesting is that this state I was in wasn't a reduction of that skill, if anything it was enhanced because I was more calm and able to think slowly or more accurately, more effortlessly. The last thing Kilgore says after his remarks fully embodies the tone of this feeling I had. He says simply, "Someday this war will be over."

Ghost Post #2

Mike Mcfly back up in the building. 3 more tidbits to get you through your day. Lets Gooo!!

1) Before this story gets any more stale I'll go ahead and give my 2 cents. On Jay Leno's new/old show, Sarah Palin decided to do stand up comedy...and Failed. Sarah Palin is an idiot. Not a surprising conclusion for me to come to I know but that fact is even more depressing when you think about all the people who work with and for her, that help make the machine go! Who in their self respecting, right-mind could help that shit show progress? Its to the point now where on the show during her interview, she was asked about the notes she had written on her hand and simply said, "They were things that are important to America."

WHAT THE FUCK!!! Yes energy policy is important but not SO important you could memorize that shit? Are you serious. And no one ever calls her out on it. When she does get called out she's being attacked for being a woman or a patriot. What a mind fuck. It also doesn't help that NO major news sites carried the story. Major left wing blogs like the Daily Kos and Huffington's post's both spoke about it but that wasn't unforseen. Goddammit America, just once lets pretend we're not completely corrupt.

2) Kanye Breast, not only is her name absolutely perfect but it seems the twitterverse is rife with women who aren't ashamed to share their sexual desires. In this case a love of titties and mexican is a prerequisite. This blogs title and this post should answer those two questions straight away. I mean fawning over that cum receptacle he likes to call Kimberly K (let him be angry!), and naming his blog after a damn burrito pretty much make him a shoe in right? I can't personally say whether or not he's endowed, but he is for damn sure a Nerd. Thats a fact jack!! It's my new favorite game to see how many women I can find that describe in part or in totality, this blogs creator, then tweet them and try and get them to contact him. Lets all join the campaign..We know his game is weak. HAHA (yes that was me, and I was also the one who came up with the whale or waif comment and I'm quite proud.)

3) The hottest couple in the game right now, in my opinion, are Zach Galifianakis and Fiona Apple. You can see here he's got the proper amount of emotional detachment to keep Fiona interested while she's just hot enough to keep him from completely tuning her out when she speaks. There wasn't chemistry like this in the Notebook. I have no idea whether or not they're really together and this video is actually from 2008, so the trail has probably gone cold by now if there even was one. But that won't stop me from wishing this would happen. I'm tired of sterile celebrity couples. They only come in two types anyway. The boring normalish ones like Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, who publicly are as bland as corn starch, or the crazy outlandish ones like Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards, where you're just counting down the days until one tries to kill the other. There's really no other type and if they don't fit the type one of them just isn't that famous. I just thought of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow as a good argument against this but I don't know the last time Gwen was in a movie besides Iron Man? So Zach, Fiona...Get busy.

Ghost Post #1

Don't worry, we got ya' covered. While JT-Rex is making a pit stop he's asked me to fill in and try to put up some of the things he's come across while adding a bit of different flavor in the interim. You can find me Here.

I must say it's a weird request, so often we are focused on the Artistic vision we have for our own ideas that branching out and doing crossover work (if you can call this work) is an alien feeling almost. Needless to say I will try and keep with the Traditions here at the WB&C.

1) First of all we've had many discussions about the end of the world. We agree that the scene in Armageddon where Steve Buscemi is parked on top of the Nuke, waiting for the meteor to collide with Earth is by far the funniest shit you could do with the end of civilization that close at hand. Any way he wouldn't allow me to do this without at least one Nasa mention, and they contend that the 8.8 earthquake in Chile may or may not have shifted earths axis 8 cm or for those of you who only speak English...3 inches or so. 'T-Rex is pissed because some scientists are out there and they don't think it's significant at all. However, if he thinks he's right...then it's best to just let him think he is right. (TRUST ME) He'll even tell you he's got no way of knowing, but your fearless leader will argue to the ends of the earth that the days are now shorter and the Apocalypse is now upon us quicker and quicker with each passing day.

2) Sarah Morrison is a Silverlake area socialite who also was formerly Steve Aoki's main squeeze. Her tweet linked here and pictured below describe a man not unlike this blogs creator. He's not keen on some world famous DJ's sloppy seconds, but I told him, "if the shoe fits, then break that shit innn!" Not to mention if she was good enough for A.O., then whats your problem? I don't think he has any plans of contacting her, but we should make a concerted effort to pass his name along. I mean look at what she's asking for. Great shoes, ambition, no alcohol...thats a rare set of exact matches right? If this dude gets a random facebook message from her, lord knows what he'd say?! I cannot wait for the day I get a text talking about, "WTF! How did this chick find me!" not that it'd be hard to guess. From what I hear this blog is fairly un-interactive so he's sure to assume it was me...and he'll be right most likely. Lets make this happen!

3) Lastly but not leastly I want to leave you with the song that brought us into familiarity. When he saw this video posted on my blog apparently he knew then, that we had enough in common to strike up a conversation. I'm Mikey McFly your Ghost Poster signing off until next time. Please follow me @ http://twitter.com/MikeyMcFly

Fantastic Advice

I’ve been interested to see what other people think is important for the future. In a time when so little ahead of us is certain, the best we can do, is try to enjoy today. The future is not guaranteed to arrive, and I find that little or nothing many people do is geared towards seeing it anyway. So the disconnect seems to be we are living a life today, trying to build a better tomorrow, and like trying to stand with one foot in two separate boats, slowly but surely the gap between now and later has widened to a point that makes our balance tenuous. There are some who plow ahead and hope that when they pop up at some later date, they will be where they want to be. As far as I’m concerned I feel many people choose instead to mortgage what’s to come, and instead indulge themselves today.

Here’s the rub… I don’t know what anything is, where anything comes from, or why anything happens. So what am doing trying to make plans? If anything, my transplant taught me that just because you follow conventional wisdom, doesn’t mean you won’t end up having some Raven Simone sized wrench thrown in your plans. This doesn’t mean that plans are useless. It just means specifying your planning only narrows the range of scenarios in which that plan will be of any use. I don’t know if I made it clear enough in my introductory post, but I have no misconception that what I say is right, or even appropriate. But to read some of the words uttered with what I’m sure is a confidence near my own or more, it can be scary to see how far off we can be with our predictions.

In 1943, Thomas Watson the Chairman of IBM said, “I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers” Considering I myself own 3, its tough to say he knew what he was talking about. But I am certain he wasn’t being brash, or trying to make some sort of grand proclamation. I think he really just thought that. 1943!!!! James Dean was already 12 and World War II was nearly over. At the guy who ran a computer company didn’t think he could sell more than 5 computers!!! Lord Kelvin in 1897 said that “Radio has no future.” Now just think, its 1897…the simple fact you even HAVE a radio is a miracle. So to say it exists but will die out is ridiculous by today’s standard. However the readership of this blog and others like it are unique. We are the first generation to grow up with operating systems, and experience technology evolving before our eyes. Our parents never had to do software updates on their phones. When new technology came out, it was like going from a Game Boy to the app store on an iPhone. Surely they have the same purpose, but to say they are even close to the same device is just absurd.

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - The Editor in Charge of Business Books for Prentice Hall, 1957

This last quote is specifically interesting because 1957 was a year in which many of our parents were already born. I have two friends who work in the debt consolidation field, a multibillion dollar a year industry. Surely data processing is a large part of their jobs and like the quotes before it, this one takes a technology that is designed to make life easier and eschews it as garbage. What must Mr. Ford have felt like with that silly Model-T I wonder? However there are two things I take away from all this.

1) This sort of dismissal still happens today.

2) There is some truth to what these quotes are saying.

You have to understand the question asked of these quotee’s to know what I mean. When Lord Kelvin says radio has no future. He didn’t mean radio was useless. It’s just that in the world he lived in, there wasn’t a use for a radio. There was no 1xtra, no Clear Channel, no FCC, and certainly no Rick Dee’s. So no, radio was a horse without a jockey at that point. Ironically we are once again at a point in which the popular sentiment is that radio is dead, and the advent of satellite broadcast seems to make the more of reality that it was even then when Lord Kelvin said it. I’m sure at the time, all these quotes seemed like perfectly reasonable things to say. The problem is that there is no way to know what the future holds. When Twitter was founded in 2006 I remember thinking it had no practical application and that it was mostly useless. Little did I know it would turn out to be a social phenomenon that transcended everyday life for millions of Americans. So yes I was right, as of now the company still makes only marginal profits. The estimate is that it brings in about $1.6 Million dollars a year. Split between its roughly 80 employees and considering Jimmy Fallon himself has over 2.7 Million followers, the profit ratio is anemic at best.

[Also consider that Kim Kardashian could conceivably make $3.65 million in Ad revenue this year simply by tweeting once a day. Based on her $10,000/tweet deal with ad.ly]

You can't be Serious!!

However I was also quite wrong. This cultural phenomena has absolutely changed American culture and though it didn’t have a purpose in 2006, in 4 short years it has found a niche, a use, and most of all a following. So yes the radio didn’t have a future. But only in the sense that as things stood, there was no way it could work.

What I wonder now then is what do we devoutly believe today will never happen that actually will? I think it would be easy to try and make a prediction that would surely never come true, so instead what is a prediction that will definitely come to fruition, though now it seems impossible?

The Patrick Bateman School of Nonchalance

In my haste I forgot to engage in even minor formalities during the first post. The only people reading this blog so far are people I've actually spoken to and know. Should this ever change, then for the uninitiated, this is where you should become familiar with me and what this is all about. First off, I like rules. Not in a pedantic, "the world depends on order" sort of way, but in a "this party is more fun if we're all dancing to the same song" way. This blog will not be a single subject affair. I hope to touch on everything and offer my opinion to matters big and small. I'm not anonymous and I don't intend to be mysterious but who I am and the functional adult person you may know overlap quite a bit, but not completely. So many people ask me about JT-Rex and what it means. I have so many names to so many people. Some see me as 1844, some see me as Mr. Roberts' son, and others see me and say, "bad news is headed this way", (sometimes I mean for that to happen). Regardless of that, JT-Rex writes these works; it's from that P.O.V. I focus my ideas.
I’m toying with the idea of including things like running gags that I do. For instance I kind of want to do a "Things I'd tweet" segment, but I could also just tweet them. So that seems dumb at the moment. I also stole an idea from Philip DeFranco and thought to have a sponsor or mascot for the week. Something funny or interesting that I use as a theme for posts during that time period i.e.: Patrick Bateman and his school. It's an irony but he fits in here I think...are my ideas are actually getting worse as I say them or is it just me? As you can see these ideas are not well formed but I will be toying with format, color, and layout for a while until I get it to the point where I am the LEAST upset by it.
I may be the first person to devote TWO posts to administrative matters but if I didn't I wouldn't be happy or comfortable going forward.
All the great things in life have some oral history, set of rules, or tradition that precedes you; and it is through those the story of any institution is told. So what you have in this is my voice. It is not a daily blog. I’d be lying to us both if I said I would update this daily. Little of what I do is interesting to me so why should I think it would be interesting to you? Consider this a first person trip through my life.
My first post was a bit over done. However it was more me reassuring myself than anything else. I suppose just the fact that I used blogspot and not some, from scratch website proves that I don’t really care about making THE most indelible mark possible, not to mention I have neither the urge nor the incentive to make mine the GREATEST blog ever. Besides who would want that? How embarrassing...


In conclusion be on the lookout for my first official post in the coming days. 2009 has 19 days left in it and to be honest a year that started with such high hopes is coming to an end I couldn't have predicted given a thousand tries. I tend to be adversarial in my writing, daring the subject or audience to prove my point wrong. And I suspect that in my next post your stance may differ from my own, which is fine...because we both know whom I'm talking to.