There was a weird moment for me this week when I walked out onto my front driveway and noticed the block was like a scene from the 1959 movie “On the Beach”. There was absolutely no one around. No mowers, hedge trimmers or leaf blowers; the roofers had all done their jobs and the gutter hangers had also moved on. The grown ups were at work and the children were at school. A couple of dozen homes, tens of thousands of square feet of residential housing filled with flat screens and Posturpedic mattresses and there likely wasn’t more than half a dozen live souls on the block, and all of us elderly and invalid and rarely out of the house. I hate it when my sense of alienation and isolation turns out to be true and not just some bullshit I’m telling myself. I went inside, got dressed and went to Beverly’s for a bite to eat, some coffee and some light banter with not-so-good-looking waitresses, but I didn’t care because they were at least breathing. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

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I’ve resigned myself to the notion that the GOP will register tremendous numbers of victories next week. All the pollsters who are worth the name have come to a consensus that Republicans will gain about 50-55 seats in the House of Representatives, far more than the 39 they need to get a majority. The GOP is not likely to get a majority in the Senate, but are likely to gain 6-8 new seats.
this should be good

The Republicans don’t seem to be able to do much wrong when about-to-be Speaker John Boehner feels free to campaign for the nutball who dresses in Nazi SS uniforms. My consolation is this: I look forward to watching the meltdowns. Being in Congress isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. There’s constituents who need help with the bureaucracy. You’ve got to raise about $100,000 a day in campaign money. You are expected to attend subcommittee hearings and vote based on expertise you gain in the area. As a former journalist I can tell you absolutely that there are very few things more boring than fundraising dinners and subcommittee hearings. Not just that, but also winning an argument in Congress isn’t the same as blustering and waving a copy of the Constitution and out-yelling someone at a dinner table. The congressman you’re talking to is likely to have their own copy of the Constitution and may even believe that God is on his side, just like you. Incumbents, unlike candidates, are likely to find themselves being on camera most all the time and you can’t just burst into screaming meltdown profanity without seeing yourself on the evening news. Having seen government budgets, let me assure you that there are no line items that say “waste” or “mismanagement”. Keeping that campaign promise to sweep away such things just isn’t the magic wave a wand easy thing to do one might think. You might campaign on eliminating the Department of Education, but someone in Congress is likely to remind you that you’d be voting to cut Pell Grants and Student Loans and Aid to Special Education and that such cuts just maybe won’t be quite as popular back home as they were just a few days ago. Anyway, if I can get through Tuesday without cutting someone’s wrists, it ought to be interesting to watch next year.

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I watched the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. I know it made the wingers scream to have the former Cat Stevens there, but there was something wonderfully nostalgic about hearing him singing “Peace Train” on the Mall and the Ozzie Osborne contrapuntal made me laugh. I haven’t had a chance to read the spin, but I thought Stewart and Colbert took down the “media” and its pundits fairly effectively.

* * *

Congratulations to OSU, OU beat Colorado and can you believe Texas lost to BAYLOR?

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Get off my lawn!

This week’s Republican wingnuttery is provided by a congressional candidate in Texas who says the Republicans must win because the alternative is Armed Insurrection. I can’t make this stuff up. He’s not the first, mind you. Sharron Angle in Nevada rather famously (infamously?) discussed “2d Amendment remedies” in the absence of government that pleases the extreme right wing. See, if angry white southern males are in control, it’s democracy; if blacks, Hispanics, Asians, women and/or poor people win, then it’s voter fraud/Socialist/Communist/Progressive/New Black Panther Party/ACORN tyranny. So, that’s the reason why we have to have fully automatic AR-15 assault rifles. Otherwise, how can we kill all you Libtards? You have the freedom to vote for extreme right Republicans but otherwise it’s democracy at the point of a gun. Very constitutional, don’t you know.

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I hate it that I have another death to report in my life. This time, it’s Tom Alder who shot himself last weekend. This one is pretty close to the bone. He was a lawyer who left the law, a recovering alcoholic and obviously a fellow sufferer of depression. It wasn’t all that surprising in the sense that he’d tried drinking antifreeze a couple of times the past two years. He leaves a daughter and grandchild and I know for a fact that he adored them both.

So, I’ve been thinking about heaven. I have this notion of all my buddies going over on a Wednesday to DNA Oz’s double wide on the outskirts of town for a little get-together. I think it has to be Wednesday because I am not all that sure about the whole Friday vs. Sunday shabbat thing. Anyway, we all take a break from choir practice and get together and then what? There aren’t any mysteries. There aren’t any problems. No obstacles to overcome. What do you talk about? Did you get an A ticket so you could get into meet Jesus and Buddha or do you have a D ticket and a Mozart live concert was the best you could do this time? Did you really tell St. Paul he was a misogynist old queer? Wow. Woulda liked to be there for that one. I’m not personally so sure how heavenly it will be if there are no adventures in heaven and how can there be adventures if there are no mysteries and your heel never strikes a rock? Heaven is worse than Falls Creek because there’s no sneaking behind the bushes and snogging some gurl from Dew-rant.

* * *

Oklahoma plays Missouri tonight and OSU plays Nebraska this afternoon. Should be a couple of good games, but I’m very jumpy about the state’s teams’ chances. OU isn’t at its best on the road and the Pokes have a dismal record against the Huskers. I’d like to see the state teams be undefeated going into the Bedlam game and I’ll be cheering on both of ‘em. Update: Big 12 South slagged; OU, OSU and TX lose.

* * *

I’m treating Sinatra for fleas and that means keeping him inside. I hoped he wouldn’t get too bent out of shape since the weather hasn’t been that good, but he’s completely pissed. He did watch a little of the movie last night with me, but apparently he’s no fan of Harry Potter. He was far more interested in my Hideaway Big Country pizza.

* * *

Speaking of the weather not being all that good, the rainy cold is making my right side feel like it’s on fire. It’s Ghouls Gone Wild parade of the 1000 Flaming Skeletons tonight, but I just don’t see me standing out in the cold for a couple of hours, as much fun as the parade and afterparties have been in the past.

* * *

Get off my lawn!

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Well, college football. Both Oklahoma teams won and the No. 1 ranked Ohio State lost as did the No. 5 ranked Nebraska so that OU, ranked No. 7, is likely to move up. Just like old times, the second team played almost all the fourth quarter in OU’s 52-0 shellacking of Iowa State. It’ll be all the talk around the watercooler on Monday, no doubt.

In politics, another Tea Party whack job is outed, this time in Florida where a guy with a legit chance to win a congressional race turns out to be a part of the Outlaws Motorcycle gang — and since the bikers are indicted for a RICO conspiracy of murder and drugs it’s correct to call them a gang. The politician uses them for “security” for his political events. In whacko polling news, it looks like a majority of voters polled by Gallup thinks it’s possible for the feds to cut the deficit, cut taxes and not cut Social Security or Medicare. Well, we can go to the moon, can’t we?

None of the rest of you are likely to have known Justice Marian Opala, who died last week, but I knew him and he was a little short guy from Poland and a legal genius. A skirt chaser, he was only about 5 feet tall and loved to drop Latin legal phrases into his opinions. He was in the Resistance and fought the Nazis as a child and then came to America. A very interesting guy.

Closer to home, photographer Tom Lee died at age 53. He was the guy who hauled a church from Nova Scotia to Paseo and turned it into a gallery and photo studio. He also made his home in a converted church in Norman, where he lived with his wife, Mary Katherine. She was a college classmate of mine and although there’s no relation, her maiden name was Long and we always joked that we were cousins. Tom was the quad everyone saw going around in a wheelchair around Paseo and was a longtime pres. of the artist group and arts fest. Big loss to the community in my opinion.

I’m not fond of the idea that guys I know younger than me are dying. I’m maudlin enough as it is.

I’m so close to being at the end of my law practice that I can taste it. I’ll be in court for my own bankruptcy this month, I think. If I owe you money, just tell me and I’ll add you to the list of folks who will get stiffed. It’ll help with your taxes, I’m told. Be glad when that’s done, too.

Looks like the start of 2011 will be a fresh start for me. I’ll be on Social Security disability, have my debts washed out by the bankruptcy and be done with the practice of law. Maybe I’ll be another divorced misogynist hanging around the coffee shop dispensing faux philosophy, but at least I won’t be the bitter drunk at the end of the bar. Since I’m starting to have more good days than bad days, I hope that maybe by early next year I’ll be pain free and off the Lortabs completely and I’d welcome that. This seems to me to be such a wonderful opportunity to shape a new life for myself. My aspiration is to do some volunteer work for AA and maybe also for cancer support groups. I don’t know what else, but I’m capable of just about anything. I’d still like to see Paris someday, but I may have to settle for something closer if I’m going to travel. Look for a blue 1994 Ford Ranger at an inconvenient time near you.

Get off my lawn, you whippersnappers!

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I spend my mornings these days out on my back patio and I’m often rewarded with the extended song of a mockingbird along with the cooler but sunny days. Recently, some pruning I did on the rose bush paid off with these buds, further enhancing the beauty in my back yard that greets me as I drink my morning coffee and watch Sinatra playing predator in the still tall and still green grass. Every morning, I count my blessings and try to express my gratitude for the abundance in my life.

Politics confuses and confounds me still. I read that the Republicans are somewhat likely to pick up more than 50 seats in the House of Representatives and anywhere upwards of six U.S. Senate seats. Meanwhile, their candidates just get more whacky. Today’s news is that a GOP candidate in Ohio has an unusual hobby: he likes to dress up as a Nazi and is interested in the military history of a WWII Nazi unit that was singled out for the war crime of murdering 700 Ukrainian Jews while in Russia. His especial hero in this unit? Why, a medic by the name of Josef Mengele, of course. Yes, THAT Dr. Mengele, the Dr. Death of the camps who fled to Argentina. In Arizona, state Republican legislative leaders are endorsing Sen. Harry Reid over Sharron Angle because she was an “ineffective” legislator. Also, she went “all in” on the whole “commies are polluting our precious bodily fluids with flouride in our water” John Birch conspiracy theory. Don’t forget that Christine O’Donnell is not a witch and Rand Paul doesn’t really propose a $2,000 Medicare deductible, the videotapes nonwithstanding. Since I gave up on understanding politics this year, it’s really become a lot more entertaining.

Plazafest and MestaFesta this weekend on top of football game days. What a great time of the year!

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I do a lot of whining on this blog. I do it to get it off my chest and so I don’t have to do it face to face with my friends and associates. But, my whole world isn’t filled with lament and craptacular events. Sometimes, I have good days and good things happen and all is well with my world.

Yesterday was one of those days. I pampered the hell out of myself Thursday. I spent money I didn’t really have to do things that I’d put off for too long.

Number one on this list was getting a haircut.

I’d worn my hair somewhat long before, but when I started dating the lovely Juliet, my hair grew out at her insistence. By the way, the lovely Juliet has moved to the Seattle/Olympia, Washington, area to pursue a college degree in photography. We’ll miss her. Juliet was a good influence in my life in many ways and I’ll always be grateful for the fact that because of her I can list “professional male model” on my resume. She opened a door for a lot of fun in my life.

So my hair stayed pretty long even after Juliet moved on to greener pastures and younger men and when I became ill this year, it was longer than usual because I was about 6 weeks out from a haircut and in need of another when I went into the hospital. One thing and another, a surgery here and there and by yesterday, I’d not had my hair cut for more than six months. It was very long. Here’s a “before” picture:

It took a long time for that hair to dry when I washed it and it generally was in my face, tickling my ears and looking like crap almost all the time. I posted before that I’d seen some “crazy man” movies and The Aviator made me feel that I was starting to look (and act) like Howard Hughes. I haven’t felt much like getting out over the past few months and one just get used to how you look when you’re mostly alone and there’s no one to tell you how bad your hair is. So, I tried to make an appointment with my long-time stylist, DariaDoesMyHair, but she’s gone legit and taken a real job. I hate change, but what’s a guy to do.

So, I’m on Twitter and one of my Tweeps led me to follow @Trichology salon and it’s up on North May just north of the Barnes and Nobles on Memorial and reading the Tweets, it seemed like a fun place and you could book an appointment online and I gave ‘em a shot. After some initial confusion about just what day and when my appointment was to be, I went in yesterday at 4 p.m. to have my hair attended by one of their stars, a woman named Ashley Buie. She’s a tall drink of water, by the way. In all events, after about 3/4ths of an hour, here’s how I look:

Wow. What a difference a day makes, huh? I don’t think I’ve had my hair this short in a coon’s age. So far, I like it, but I haven’t had to struggle with it yet, other than the ordinary itches guys have along their collar line after a cut. Sure did lower my ears, though. Anyway, be prepared for a shock if you see me this weekend because I don’t look like the same guy at all.

The haircut wasn’t my only pampering. I also got my fingernails did. I wouldn’t ordinarily mention cutting my fingernails, but I had to get my best watch a new battery and went to B.C. Clark’s at Penn Square Mall to get that errand done. It was going to take a few minutes because I was back in line, so I decided to go for a manicure there at the mall. First thing off the bat, I see BookEmDano out for his mall walk. Haven’t seen Danny for awhile and he’s lost some weight and we were glad to catch up a little. Neither one of us has won the lottery yet. So, I went on for my manicure at this place next to Dillard’s on the upper floor. Best darn manicure I’ve ever had. Totally worth it. Wax and hand massage with fragrant oils and buffed out and relaxing music. I’ve been to a bunch of the little shops around my house — there are about four of them within walking distance of my house — and this one was the same price and MUCH better treatment and ambiance than I’d received in my past experiences. I will go back. They earned a loyal customer. Thanks, Tami!

I topped off my day with dinner out. Went for a Gyros platter at Zorba’s around the corner from the house. I don’t much like eating alone, but it’s my lot in life nowadays and I ate my tabouli and pita bread and yogurt dressing happily since it had never been frozen or microwaved, which would have been my fate otherwise.

On my way home, I had to drop by Walgreen’s to get some shaving razors and they had the widescreen DVD of The Watchmen, the graphic novel filmed and out last year as I recall. It was just $4, so I took a flyer so I’d have something new to watch once I got home and I’d enjoyed the movie for what it is when I went to see it in first run.

When I got home, some Swiss gnome had broken into my home and like the tooth fairy left some cash. In fact, left just about the right amount of cash to cover my day of pampering.

I postponed my movie experience to watch a little of the black shirted Okla. State Cowboys game. A nail-biting finish FTW!

All of this under clear skies and with cool to warm moderate temperatures that could make a guy love Fall best of all.

See, a whole post without a single whine. It was a great day, I’m grateful for it and I enjoyed every minute.

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