Product of a sleepless night

I have a slight problem...I revere words, to the point that when I get a phrase stuck in my head, I can't get it out until it's just right. Those are the times I have to step back and remove it from my head so I can work on something else.

So I took a few minutes and jotted this down. It's not my best effort, but one of my fastest. I don't ususally share unfinished work, but everything else is out there right now, so here it is for your perusal.


I've seen too many summer sunrises.
Stayed awake and watched until the dawn
laid her blazing fingerprint across
the ever-receding horizon.

Spikes of Orange, casts of yellow,
emanating from the glowing orb
making its daily trek into the world,
while wisps of cloud cover refract
random hints of hesitant reds -
A performance before an awe-struck audience.

Shades tints and hues
all become more brilliant
when viewed from the wrong side
through a lens without the shade of slumber.
Vibrant and resonant
when seen through dozens of individual prisms
as gravity pulls them, one by one,
from troubled eyes.

Amazing how a force of Nature so commanding
can be so fleeting,
returning each morning,
with no visible mark to prove its existance,
yet leave an indelible impression on
mind, heart, emotion,
soul.

Rule Number One:

If you're going to cover a song, don't just sing it. Make it different. Make it your own.

A group called DHT covered Roxette's
"Listen to your Heart"and if you listen to the unplugged version, I swear it sounds like the original.

It's a good song, but come on!

PS- On a side note, can you believe the original was out 16
years ago? Where were YOU when you heard that song? Swaying
at the senior prom? Daydreaming of Danny in math class?
Sittig in the backseat as Mom and Dad drove you to school?

The Corporation

Through a series of events that started with being there for someone who needed to vent, and ending with unanswered messages (that I kind of hope that by procrastinating my bedtime a little more through blogging will be answered eventually), I missed what promised to be some killer music in a local venue tonight. However, I saw a rather decent documentary: The Corporation.

Warning! This movie is not for the sleepy or the uninvolved. It's 2 hours and 25 minutes of why corporations are what they are and what they do to the ecological, social, and moral fabric of our society. A disembodied voice that could be HAL's sister carries you from segment to segment in this massive undertaking. The writers provide the history of how corporations came to be these legal entities with all the rights of a person (piggybacking the intentions of the 14th Amendment), then tick through a series of mental health criteria and how they apply to monster corporations. It's amazing, but corporate entities fit each one of the WHO's criteria for a psychopath!

All in all, a very good (yet waaaaaay too long) film. One that definitely makes you think, even if you don't want to.

Seacrest...OUT!

I thought news was the ultimate in reality T-V.

I was wrong. A local news station in Virginia is taking it to a whole new level.

The FOX affiliate in Roanoke borrowed a page from the American Idol playbook to select their next employee. Basically, five well-qualified people are competing for one job, and the viewers get to decide who gets it.

Now, I know that TV is one of those businesses where connecting with people is key, but am I the only one who thinks this is going a little too far?

Voting ended tonight. We'll see who wins.

Physiological corollary? Or bad timing?

Note to self - have more fun!

It's been a few weeks since our Sunday crowd has been out for libations, and I can tell. After two beers tonight, I'm feeling happily buzzed. Not so much that my motor skills are overly impaired (I'm fully aware that ANY alcohol slows you down) but enough that a third would have put me over the edge. It's an interesting place to be, and a place I need to return from before I go to sleep.

That leaves me three options: DAB (Dial While Buzzed), EWB (email while buzzed) or BIB (blog while buzzed). I think I'll take (3), since it is the most retractable of the options.

It's been a while since I've felt this detached off just two beers. So why is it that when I *want* a few beers to help me get away, that never happens, but when I'm figuring, "Two beers, big dinner....no worries" it hits me like a half ton of bricks (I reserve the TON of bricks metaphor for a later date). Thursday night, I had hard liquor with dinner - one martini, because it sounded yummy. I didn't want to want to crawl away and hide until I got to the club. So I started drinking the Yuengling. But one strong drink and two beers later...nothing. Friday night - three Coronas and two tacos...nothing. Tonight..two Amber Bocks...and boom - tingly lips and detached emotions. When I least expect? When I least need? When I least want? Who knows what the correlation is there. I just know it's craziness. Sheer craziness.

There's a lot more I could say right now...about the weird dreams I've had or what I want to go do right now. Instead, I'm going to go get a glass of water and some carbs and head to bed. G'night all.

Jumping Ship

What is it with me and politics lately...there's not even an
election, or any other way for me to make a difference.

It appears Members of the President's own Party are turning
against him publicly. In an unprecedented move, A Republican
delivered the Democratic Radio response today.
The Subject? Presidential advisor Karl Rove and his
alledged role in leaking the name of a covert CIA agent.
Roy Johnson is a Former CIA analyst and a registered
Republican.

Read more at this link

An Incomplete Opinion

Now that the sun is setting and the temps are back in the 90s, I can think clearly again.

A friend called me this afternoon and asked me for my opinion on the Supreme Court nomination. I was surprised, and flattered that someone would want my opinion. I also thought it worth blogging.

It's been nearly 48 hours since President Bush named his nominee. I may be a courtwatcher, but I don't keep track of appellate judges, so I wasn't overly familiar with John G. Roberts. So I've done some reading up on this gentleman and his opinions.

I've come to the conclusion that it's too early to have an opinion.

In his legal career, Roberts has argued a variety of positions, some favorable, some not, some even in front of the Supreme Court. However, in his confirmation hearings for his current position, he made such statements as "Roe v. Wade is the law of the land" and that he was bound to uphold it, and that his arguments were on behalf of his clients, rather than a reflection of his own opinion. Therefore, we have no read on what this man is going to do now that he could potentially be SETTING the law of the land. So I will withhold full judgment until I hear what comes out of his mouth during his confirmation hearings.

However, I do have a few things I'm not happy about:

1: I'm not happy that W nominated a WASP male. Women and Latinos have seen their voices diminished again, even though both population groups are growing (see Census2000)

2: Since he was nominated by W, he will likely be more conservative than I want him to be.

3: This conservative has already ruled on cases that will likely come before the Supreme Court, so he will have to recuse himself in those decisions.

However, I won't visit the sins of the father on the son, if you will. I'll wait to see what he says for himself before I make up my mind, but he is starting out behind the eight ball.

(Pardon the lack of links - blogged via email)

One digit too many....

Triple digit temeraptures sap my brain.

I sat down here with the complete intent of writing a well-thought out, cohesive blog entry. I can't get two lines out without my mind wandering. I even closed out the IM screen to get this down, but the ideas are gone. Out the window into the oppressive heat.

Then again, it may be the crappy work schedule too.

Time to go run one more errand before I melt. I'll try again later.

And the answer is...

Judge John G. Roberts of the DC Court of Appeals.

His record on that court should come as no surprise.

Read it for yourself. Judge for yourself. Because that's the beauty of this country...even if you don't agree, you have the freedom and the right to do so.

Although, in my sordid, twisted mind, this is why I watched CBS' coverage of the announcement.

This just in....

Stay tuned for more tonight at 9.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush has made his decision
about whom he plans to nominate to take Sandra Day O'Connor's
place on the Supreme Court and will announce his pick to the
nation in a prime-time address Tuesday night.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Bush
administration was asking television outlets to broadcast the
speech live across the country. Bush's spokesman would not
identify the president's choice. But there was intense
speculation Tuesday that it would be Judge Edith Clement of
the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Ya think???

Note to record execs: This is what happens when you put all
your eggs in one basket...that basket gets full, but the rest
of your Tupperware stays in the closet.

Despite blockbusters from 50 CENT, MARIAH CAREY and COLDPLAY,
album sales have dropped 7.6 percent compared with the same
period last year. "Everybody involved in the music industry
is concerned, because there's a problem and it doesn't seem
like it's being fixed," Daniel Field, manager of AUDIOSLAVE
and WEEZER, told Rolling Stone. "You walk into a record store
and you can just feel it." While several managers and label
executives cite drastic layoffs and illegal downloads as part
of the problem, others take solace in recent growth areas
such as ring tones and legit digital downloads.

(Thanks Rolling Stone)

I (heart) Target

I still can't believe it. Target, that wonderful combination of affordability and quality...that bastion of homemaking with flair and financial savvy...has outdone themselves.

I bought wine at Target.

For those of you in larger areas, that may be a no-brainer, but for me, that is simply a wonderful thing. An entire aisle of appellations...from Beaujolais to Chardonnay. Bottle after bottle of grape goodness, where Little Penguin canoodles corks with that contradiction of colors, Red Bicyclette, and so forth.

I left with an item called a wine cube: two bottles of a syrah blend, for the price I'd usually pay for ONE bottle at Total Wine. The quality remains to be seen, but then again, doesn't it always?

Now, if only I could get some Two Buck Chuck around here, I'd be ecstatic! (Hint, hint, TraderJoe's!)

Rumor mill grinds to a halt

Well, that's that. Washington's favorite guessing game of the moment is coming to an end: The Chief is staying.

The game wasn't without its drama. A main character who chooses to remain silent only fueld the flames...and when he was hospitalized with a fever earlier this week, we all thought that was it - he would throw in the towel and head into retirement.

Wrong answer. Thanks for playing - we have some great parting gifts.

I'm torn on how I feel about this. If he leaves now, there's a greater chance for the composition of the Court to remain as it stands now rather than heading farther right (but I've already talked about that). On the other hand, I hate to see Bush get TWO spots on the court.

I wonder why he's holding out though. He was nominated by a Republican (Nixon) and elevated to Chief by another Republican (Reagan). He's served on that court longer than I've been alive, and already holds the record for longest serving Chief Justice, beating out a man who died in office in 1910. (If you want to know more, here's the Wikipedia article)

At least there is one silver lining to this cloud - I won't miss the hubbub surrounding his announcement. I'm a media junkie, and I was on vacation when Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement. I found out by text message. Same with Valerie Plame...text message on vacation.

Next question: how long will it take the muckrakers inside the Beltway to find new grist for their rumor mill?

The Down Side to Vacation

Vacation is a wonderful thing....until you come back.

I took 10 days off from work. A great opportunity to recharge my batteries, and thank goodness. When I returned, not only had I missed details on two of the big news stories I had been following - the Supreme Court and the Valerie Plame leak - I had more than 8,000 emails (or is it a collective noun not needing an "s"...who knows...) to read and delete, had a week's worth of developments to catch up on, and here's the kicker - discovered the deadline on a project I'm responsible for had been moved up two weeks to a few days from now, and no one had the courtesy to call and tell me. Talk about being blindsided! So I'll disappear for yet a few more days. Back later!

"That's for me to know and you to find out"

That's what one of the most powerful men in the nation had to say to rumors of his retirement.

Yep - word both on the Internet and in print (albeit from the same man who outed a covert CIA operative) has it that Chief Justice William Rehnquist is preparing to retire. Not "sometime soon" or "eventually" or "someday" but right now. As in at the end of the G-8 summit as soon as the President is in a position to accept his resignation (read: back on American terra firma).

This on the heels of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement Friday to care for her ailing husband. Man, go on vacation and the world turns upside down!

I knew we were in trouble in November. There was no way the High Court would remain in tact through the next four years. W would, at some point in his term, have the opportunity to leave his mark on the social fabric of our nation long after he leaves office through the justice he appointed to the Supreme Court.

Then again, this article on blogcritics provides an interesting perspective on the prospect for a conservative court....the same idea Nvak set forth in his column. Right now, it's a balance that's the best we can hope for.