Prep or pre-op?

In preparation for the launch of karmiclandfill.com I did a bit of research. What's cooler than cool? Who cares? What's harder than rock? The Diamond!

Coming home to a bulldog

or "Meditations on picking a Derby winner"

We always bet on the Triple Crown races. The build up to the Derby is FUN FUN FUN! Poker is all the rage now but I think the biggest fun is betting on the ponies. We pour over stats and reviews of the horses and pretend to comprehend and then throw some money down on a cleverly named horse, or a jockey or trainer whose name we vaguely remember from last year.

SOOO . . . Who do we like this year? My dad is hooked on the favorite, "Big Brown", who drew the far outside post. He's named after UPS (what can brown do for you?) I think he'll be remembered for being full of "big brown", if you'll pardon the euphimism. Hillary likes the only filly, "Eight Belles", so does my mom. Aunt Carol likes "Colonel John" probably because of his military background. Miki's for "Adriano", to be ridden by Edgar Prado. The longshot, "Big Truck" gets Greg(g)'s bet. Jimmy's playing a 1,10 with a 20 exacta. The #14 horse is Monba. Whose got heart? I like #8 Visionaire. I'll take him to win it and I'll play an exacta with Visionaire, Cool Coal Man, and Monba.



I'll take one bulldog over a stable and a half of top thoroughbreds any day.

Yes he can?

. . .if they let him

Right now the most vicious attacks being levied against Obama are not coming from the right or from the Clinton campaign but from the African American preacher Jerimia Wright. White, middle class voters in PA and Ohio were key to Hillary's victories. Seems like Ohio, PA and Wright see only the things they hate and fear personified in Barack Obama. For the 2 rust belt states he's Obama the powerful black man and for Wright he's Obama the powerful white man. Obama is both. Obama is both black and white and he is becoming confounded by the fact that he appeals to the best in all of us yet is bringing out the worst in a very few of us.

St. Pat's

So creeping in on St. Pat's. Still finding it next to impossible to keep up with writing in this thing. You see, I really tried to be a writer and failed with the book I wrote and have been a real sissy about the writing process since. Distractions come too easy and frustration even easier. Weak, I know.

On my mind;

• Angus had knee surgery so we're doing bulldog rehab
• PITT hoops, the lads will go deep into the NCAA's
• website redesign
• new series of paintings

Quick Picks

Hillary v. McCain in November with Hillary Clinton getting the win. Right now I couldn't be happier with it.

I thought the handles seemed small

or Is choosing a brush the same as choosing a President?

I bought a paint brush made by Z¡bra have been using it for the past week. Usually I like Wooster brushes, Allpro's are ok and everything else is prety much garbage. This Z¡bra however has REALLY smooth bristles and loads like crazy. I can't seem to get a decent grip on the thing though and I just found out why. http://www.enjoyzibra.com/ Apparently this company was founded by women, to design products for women. Maybe I'm overthinking things but whenever I think about voting for Hillary I get the same feeling as when I pick up a Z¡bra brush. It works well and performs like I want it too but just feels funny. This is that stupid, "I want to vote for I candidate I'd like to have a beer with." idea that led the suckers to vote for W. Twice. (hurts to write that)

Presently, I've been thinking about the future as a means of improving my past.

or (a preemtive strike against the oncoming tide of new year's resolutions.)

a recap from last year . . .Friday, January 5, 2007 . . . including progress updates.

New Year's Resolutions
Topic: Resolutions

I figure if I post these online I'll be more likely to stick to them. I'm open to suggestions anyone might have. I'll post my progress monthly.

ART
• finish all the projects already started. FAILED

• focus on one new project at a time then finish it before starting another. FAILED

• heavily promote myself and the art. FAILED

• line up a gallery show for the fall. FAILED

• finish at least 2 paintings a month. FAILED


PHYSICAL
• improve diet. FAILED

• exercise 5 times a week. FAILED

• drop 30 lbs to go from a 27.9 bmi to 23.7, or 200 to 170 lbs. FAILED


FINANCIAL
• start a career already. FAILED

• pay down debt. SUCCEEDED

• Assess retirement savings and adjust accordingly. SUCCEEDED


SPIRITUAL
• More Sabbath . . . and LOUDER. SUCCEEDED

• Return to Dagobah and complete my Jedi training with Master Yoda. FAILED




As you can see I have a lot of work to do. I'll make more progress this year if I can be more honest with myself and stick to the bloody plan already. I'm already feeling better about the whole thing. Right. Let's get started.