The Muse Has Returned!

Welcome back!

Oh yeah, I was the one who was gone. But hey, what's 8 or 9 months between friends?

So, what have I been up to? (Rude way to start a conversation, focusing on me. But you can tell me what you've been up to in the comment section. Even if you're new here, tell me what you've been up to. It's only fair. I really care! I mean it.)

At the risk of this sounding like a Christmas letter, here's what happened since my last post, in a nutshell.

1) Work. Going pretty well, I guess. Made payroll every week and I played a lot of golf. If that doesn't qualify as a pretty good year then your standards are way too high.

2) Family. The missus hasn't left me and seems less likely to do so with every passing year. Next anniversary is no. 38. She gets better looking with every passing day. I feel pretty smart about that because; apparently not everybody gets a trophy wife with the first shot.

Kids are good. Both are out of the nest and have bought houses, so the risk of having them come back seems pretty small at this point. The oldest one; the musician/artist/craftsman with his mother's classic good looks, married a sweetheart and they should be producing grandkids pretty soon. The younger one; the war hero with his fathers wit and dashing good looks is amazingly unattached. His aunt keeps saying, "So what's wrong with that one?" But I applaud his high standards.

3) Health. (Important for a man who plans on you making him your president in 12 more years.) Good, thanks for asking. I got rid of a thyroid that decided to run its own show. I humored my good wife by getting checked for sleep apnea. I now sleep with scuba gear on my head, which apparently hasn't diminished my sexiness. My daily need for a nap is gone, I stay up an hour or two longer and, for the first time in my life, I'm going to the gym. I'm so damn healthy its scary.

I still follow the Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man diet. As long as Lipitor keeps doing its job, that is. There was the matter of the triglycerides being in the 400 range, which the doctor said in and of itself won't kill you. He suggested I booze it a little less as an experiment. I did him one better and teetotaled for a month, which brought in down into the 150s or so. I said, "Doc, now we know how to bring it down if it ever becomes necessary. Until then I'll drink like I want." Bearing in mind that moderate drinking is better than either being an alcoholic or a teetotaler, he said he couldn't fault my logic.

Remind me to share my list of favorite adult beverages sometime. Until then, let me recommend Campari and orange juice for breakfast. Seriously, its like a pink grapefruit, but better!

4) Recreation. I accomplished my goal for my golf game this year. First, I finally got new sticks. Son #1 got me and son #2 about 35% off on Taylormade clubs due to working in the industrial design firm that did all the design work that's made Taylormade the top selling brand.

These clubs confirmed my long held belief that its 95% swing/5% equipment. In other words, it made the game more pleasurable but it's still not too difficult to hit bad shots. Also, let me tell you, Movable Weight Technology is 99% marketing. I've got my R7 set for a full draw and I haven't yet "said goodbye to the right side of the golf course".

Getting the thyroid out though, has cured my slice.

Second goal, getting my handicap up where it belongs. Nicklaus renovated our course, the Scarlet at Ohio State University, and my old 10 is now a 14. There's about 400% more (and deeper) sand than before, plus the greens have more complexities than a bipolar schizophrenic with ADD. Next year though, its coming down.

I turn 55 in a few months which means I'm a 'senior' in the amateur golf world. Now I only have to get my butt kicked by guys older than me. It always helps to narrow the field.

OK, updates over. Now for the politics.

Rudy- I still like him though I no longer love him. I thought he addressed the abortion issue head-on in a way that satisfied this evangelical. I think he'd handle the immigration problem as well as anyone, despite the position he held as NYC mayor. I really, really, really wish he'd tackle the 2nd Amend (right to arm bears) soon, as forthrightly and intelligently as he did abortion, because he can't be as stupid on it as he was when mayor.

Positive- I'm as confident as its humanly possible to be, that he's the one we want to conduct the War On Terror (call it whatever the hell you want). I also drool with pleasure at the thought of him going after the saboteurs at State/CIA/Pentagon. You remember how quick we got the hostages back from Iran when Reagan got elected? That's how quick the leakers to the NYT/WP would find other hobbies.

Negative- I already mentioned gun control. The other thing that drove me to distraction was his synchophantic answer to the global warming question at the Iowa debate the other day. All of a sudden he and all the rest (besides Fred) are climatologists? Sheesh!

Romney- I find it hard to imagine that America will elect someone who looks like Ronald Reagan and Max Headroom's lovechild.

Look, I'll vote for him if I have to but 1) I still think unless the Democrat has a major meltdown, he's only barely electable, and 2) the more Hugh Hewitt (of whom I'm a big fan) fawns over him the more I dislike him. Hugh, buddy, back off. You're baring your ass and you can't see it.

Fred- I'm liking him more as the debates proceed, and I love all the Fred Thompson Facts on www.imao.us, but with no executive experience, he's a crap shoot.

McCain- Sorry Powerline, even if I could forget McCain-Feingold, the gang of 14, his maverick tonedeafness on immigration, etc, etc, etc, he became dead to me the moment he used "swiftboat" as a perjorative verb.

If I haven't said this before- The "Swifties" are owed a debt greater than America could ever repay, for telling the truth about the service of Vietnam veterans and about John F. Kerry. (Why that man isn't in Leavenworth for his traitorious acts is a dark stain on the soul of America.)
The "Swifties" and the former POWs who took on the common mission to dispel the myths and lies that have attached themselve to Vietnam veterans are the best examples of American manhood alive today.

For McCain to disparage these men is unforgivable to me. At least in a political sense.

Huckabee- What a phony, empty-suited idiot. He gives televangelists a bad name. That he is soaring in the polls makes me despair for what passes for the right- (nonbraindead) side of the political spectrum. If you want to see what it would be like if Pat Robertson were Pres, vote for Huckabee.

Ron Paul- I guess if he wasn't real someone would have to invent him. Kind of like the way rock and roll always needs someone to be the most avant garde, e.g. Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson. A vacuum that needs filled.

Until next time-

Thatttttttttt's all folks. I promise it'll not be so long for the next post.