Category Archives: My Life

My Life

May 2nd, there may be some onion here…

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Hmmmm…just made a pot of coffee and have a History channel show on called “Nostradamus 2012″ running in the background and that kind of fits with something I read in the Washington Post this morning. In an article called “Faith Without Religion”, Martha Woodruff attempts to define what her faith is to her and how she came to hold those views; trying to get discussion going on what faith is and how other people practice theirs. What was striking to me is in the comments that were published in response to the article and points out one of problems that I’ve written about in earlier posts: that the ability to listen to new ideas that are dissimilar to our own and talk about them rationally has disappeared in today’s society.

The two poles of the discourse were represented (although the defenders of organized religions outnumbered the non-believers by nearly 10-1) and were predictable with the atheists positing that any belief in an invisible super-being was delusional and the believers predictably arguing that they have the “correct” answers and beating her over the head with citations from the Bible. What really struck me was that most of the comments were there to try to convince the writer where she was wrong, not to have a rational conversation on what they have in common. Now, I’ll admit here that I grew up in a faith that I thought had some really great principles to live by and has partially shaped who I am today, but the idea of an all-powerful, invisible, super being that controls everything is just too juvenile to me, especially with what we know of how the Bible came to be and the superstitious nature of the times when it originated. Do we still believe in the medicine of that time?

Oh, the connection between the Nostradamus show and the discussion? Well…in the show they are taking all of the obscure and murky writings of Nostradamus and devoting two hours to speculation and interpretation; taking it seriously as science when it’s just a lot of bunk. Similar to what has been done with the Bible and faith. Just my opinion…no death threats please…

My Life

May 1st

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Well…it’s Saturday and I’ve gotten all of the things I wanted to do done…but the goals were not too ambitious so I should probably stop feeling good about it. I do have at least one musing that I need to pass on; this came from a conversation I had with a friend of mine (thanks C)…and it’s about an observation that I made a month or so ago. That was one of the first times that I walked into a bar (you can substitute a coffee shop or any other place that contain women as part of the population) and not one head turned to look at me. Not one. I’m no great shakes in the looks department but I’ve had my share of attention in my day. It made me want to jump up and down like an idiot just to see if it was a convention of blind people…no such luck since it appeared that other people were being observed. Even the completely average looking guy that walked in behind me got at least a couple of women to look at him. But he was in his 20′s so that may have made a difference, or maybe not, I don’t know. I do know that it has started to happen to some of my younger friends, too, I wonder if it is contagious? Is there a vaccine?

So, I guess my next move is to figure out how to use my newfound invisibility for the public good…like some kind of superhero….
I’ll keep you updated as this disease develops…;-)

My Life

April 30th

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Well…nothing really earth-shattering today, it has been a good day so far…worked out for the 5th day in a row and took a long bike ride this morning. The bike is working so well I was grinning like an idiot all through the ride and put in about 15 miles; the weather was so nice even at 10:30 that it was hard to come home. Will probably go out again for a leisure ride with no sprints to just look around and take some of the paths that are less traveled.

I know I promised that the onion will start to be peeled but it’s still rattling around in my head and I can’t make sense of how I want to present it. I probably should just make it free form and write about what pops into my head. Might be making it more work than it has to be. So, again, I promise more tomorrow.

My Life

April 29th No Onion skin today

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Well…Another night out that was fun but lost at pool again…felt like crap when I got up this morning but was okay by lunch and the bike ride. I was going to start the process of “peeling back the onion” today but I’m just not in the mood and there is nothing striking that is popping into my head. I think it will be somewhat like the next novel that I’m thinking of writing that has a working title of “Sledding on the Refrigerator Door and Other Stories of Life” that is going to chronicle life growing up in the poor, odd family that is mine. Don’t really know yet but the neat thing is, I get to choose.

My Life

April 28th

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Hmmm…it was a nice night last night with the Wings winning and I got my bike back from the shop…thank you Village bike for re-cabling it and only charging 15 bucks…took the first 10 mile run this morning and it may need just a little more adjustment but I was grinning. The Steely Dan was perfect for a cool, crisp, and extremely bright morning. Oh, you are going to hear a lot about the Dan over time…it’s my favorite group and Donald and Walter (Fagen and Becker) speak to me like no other band. Their stories of losers, love, loss, and old guys and young women (think Babylon Sisters or Hey Nineteen) resonate with me as one who considers himself at the fringes of society living a life that not many 56 year olds live. More on the old guy, young women thing later…but I have to thank G for her jumping in with both feet a few times that have caused the people around us to stare.

Well…I have to warn you that this is the space that I will be peeling back the layers of what it is to be an old guy with a young one trapped inside, and I am still not sure of how much to share but maybe I’ll just think if it would embarrass my kids, I probably won’t share it.

On that note, the plans for tonight are the same as any Wednesday…out to Ada to play pool with Tom and try to not drink too much.

My Life

April 27th

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Feel like crap today, as you know, it was Monday night out with G last night and we went overboard as usual. Just wanted to let you know since I’m going to stop here and go work out for an hour to get the toxins out…more later.

Okay…I’m back…it’s a few hours later and I feel much better…got the bike back and it only cost 15 bucks so I am pretty happy. Took it for a short test drive and it shifts great! So, tomorrow I get back on the fitness program…I miss the exercise.

Do have to go out to see the Wings game since the crappy dish doesn’t have Versus…go to hell NHL.

My Life

Monday, April 26th

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Well…this is the first, or really the second or third episode of what I want to have as daily entry of things that happen in my life. You’ll be able to tell by the titles which will all be dates to start but may have sub-titles if there is a theme that I think is important. Or maybe not important; that’s up to you to decide.

Had to take the bike in today to get the shifter fixed…oh, you should know, there will we quite a few entries about the bike since it is one of the things that bring me joy in this life…I used to call it “the Corvette” but now I really don’t know if that truly fits anymore. Tried the new bike carrier so I didn’t have to ride it over to Village Bike stuck in one gear; I know it’s only about a half-mile but had to see if the weird shape of the thing would fit on the carrier. It’s a Motobecane 400ds with full suspension, disc brakes and 24 speeds (when they work) and it makes me grin every time I get on it. I was kind of in shock when they gave me the estimate of how much it would be to fix, since I am used to getting estimates to get the Mazda fixed and we all know that even something small on a car has the potential to get into 4 figures. This time it was a pleasant surprise…no more than 30 bucks to re-cable and adjust the shifter! I had to stop myself from grinning like an idiot when I heard that ( to keep the price from going up) and the tech thought it was no big deal. Hope to get it back Tuesday and get out for at least 10 and maybe 20 miles; but it will probably rain….that would be my luck or lack of it.

Oh, I do need to fill you in on yesterday…went out to watch the wings game with C and T at Vinny’s but with a stop at Peppino’s downtown to see K and K. It ended up being a long day but fun, too, and I was really good…only had two shots of BV and had much luck at Keno. Won 32 bucks which paid my tab and left 8 bucks in my pocket…it IS kind of nice to get paid to drink. If you’ve looked at the other post for today, you’ve seen that the Wings REALLY stunk up the place in Sunday’s game but we have one more try Tuesday but game 7′s scare the crap out of me…one lucky bounce can ruin your season.

Hmmm….oh, since this is Monday, going out with G to LC to have a few and catch up, hope the Keno luck holds up and can get through another night with no money out of pocket….oh, no money out of pocket anyway! It’s G’s turn to buy….talk to you tomorrow…;-)) There may even be some introspection and musings on what it means to be the old guy with young friends…but you’ll have to come back to find out…

My Life

Great Wings game!

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Well…it was a late night but worth it to stay up to watch the Wings….well…I gave up and went to bed with the score tied 1-1 and about 10 mins left in the game….in bed for about a minute and the phone beeps…I know that if it was G, Pavel had scored a goal. By the time I walked out of the bedroom to look at the phone, the Wings had scored two and put the game out of reach. Hank did his thing and scored and empty-netter to make it 4-1…yay! A 3-2 lead in the series now and we may be able close this out Sunday aft. Taking another day off drinking Sat to get ready…needed to give the liver a rest after 4 days in a row earlier in the week. Will probably go out somewhere to watch the game….maybe OT. Go Wings!!

My Life

Not the best Thursday

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Well…this has not been the best thursday…after having too much to drink last night, and feeling like crap today, the bike finally stopped shifting completely. Damn…can’t get it fixed until Tuesday, so I think I’ll probably go nuts without riding. Let’s hope that it will rain every day until then or snow, I’ll take either. Well…not snow, Michigan winter is too long as it is..

No politics today but there was something about Ed Rendell that I wanted to write about but I forgot what it was…maybe tomorrow.

My Life

Another Fun Wednesday

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Well…another fun Wednesday with Tom (oh, he promised me he wouldn’t sue me if I used his name) and I won at pool! Two weeks in a row but that doesn’t offset the three weeks he whipped me. I don’t feel bad that I lifted two more Red Wings glasses since one of them was Stevie Y that G needed to have. And Tom, I did stop and get more whiskey so I can have a couple of Mans while I sit here bored tonight. It has been a long week with the Wings in the playoffs…out three nights in a row and I need to take Thurs off to rest…I am getting old after all….