Thursday, August 11, 2005

Unleaded, "Play it Again Sam" & Mydol:

Thought for the Day:
He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.
Cicero Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)

The Early Bird:
Well, they changed my pain medicine again so of course I spent from 4:00am until around 6:00 throwing-up. Which is not anyone’s (well, unless you’re a teenage girl with poor body image) idea of a great way to greet the day.

Now, if you add to that fact the announcement my loving bride made which was to the effect of “I have a bad case of PMS, just stay the fuck out of my way until further notice” you get a feel for how my day is progressing.

On Free Time:
Recently something unusual happened. Both my loving and pretty bride and I had free time together. This happens about once a quarter, so it is often looked forward to. We had about 4 hours to kill, so we did what the leader of this great land suggested all Americans do at the out-break of this “War on Terror” we find ourselves in, we went shopping. Now being a guy, shopping is not high on my to-do list unless it involves; classic cars, bass boats, firearms and/or escort services.

So we did what all healthy couples do when faced with a decision about where to go shopping; we played paper, scissors, stone, and after a few heated moments we were able to reach a compromise. We went antique shopping.

Now neither of us are big antique people, we both grew-up using most of the items on display at antique shops and museums. Her growing up in an un-heated cabin in the UP and my up-bringing with an enlightened Amish sect. In four hours we managed to hit seven shops. However it should be noted: we spent 3 of those hours in one shop that specialized in vintage woman’s clothing.

If you think normal clothes shopping with your wife sucks, you should give this special treat from hell a go. I find it to be somewhat repulsive to try on numerous out of style clothes that smell of dust and moth balls that were owned by people who are now most likely dead. Its creepy, plane and simple. And here is the kicker, after playing dress-up that long; she didn’t buy anything, nope not one thing.

I being a man, made an impulse/revenge purchase at the very next store. One of those must have kind of things, that when you drag home your like “what the hell was I thinking?” However, now I think I like it. I bought 253 pieces of sheet music from the 20’s and 30’s for $20.00. Now I know you’re asking yourself; “Is JQP a fan of popular music from the jazz age?” or perhaps “Is he a musician as well as a scholar?” Well, I like jazz, but dear reader I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Ask anyone who is around when I get my bagpipes out.

I bought them because I am a man of vision and an artist. The cover art on a lot of this stuff is kick ass. I love stuff from the Art Deco period. So I am going to frame the best pieces and give them as gifts etc. That’s why I got them. Because some of it is way cool, and shit how can you go wrong for 20 bucks?

No-Love Thursday:
I find myself double booked tonight. I have dinner plans (which is code-word for drinking and bitching about our lives/relationships/jobs) with my spiritual guide the Monsignor. However, you the avid reader know that today is the weekly meeting of the “No-Love Thursday Mutual Aid Society & Support Group for Lost Boys of all Ages”. On the plus side “dinner” starts at 5:30 and the meeting starts at 4:00 and they are both located at the same place (need I say it, at my favorite bar).

However, since life is subject to change at a moments notice, who knows where I will end up. In all truth going home and reading a good book sounds just as rewarding. The sweet and sour Mrs. JQP, will not be available for some time this evening, she has a concert with six heavy metal bands which will keep her busy hanging with her peer group well into the wee’ hours.

Texas Tea:
While attending a luncheon with Pastor Bob yesterday, he made a good point. Both of us being able to recall the Oil Crisis of the 70’s, he brought up the subject of speed limits. If you who are old enough remember the big reason for the double nickel (55 miles per hour) speed limit was for fuel efficacy. He thought is odd that many states have continued to increase the speed limits in some states as high as 75 mph, while in the midst of the highest reported costs per barrel of oil. I guess the 80’s with its ethos of Greed, Consumption, and Entitlement, also changed how we in the US drive.

We manage our natural resources just about as well as we manage our personal debit. Case in point, my wife’s Hummer (yes, she has one, and yes, it is a company car) gets gallons to the mile vs. miles to the gallon. SUV’s are as big as RVs of a generation ago (and why is it, the biggest SUVs on the road always seem to be driven by 98 pound blond soccer moms, who on a good day couldn’t park straight in a Hyundai?). The 70's, remember having to turn off lights and all that fun stuff that goes along with conversation of energy.

Well, who benefits? Odd, it seems the same “ruling class” who share a love of oil and home addresses located in Texas or the Arabian Peninsula. It makes me wish I would have thrown more of my 401k into oil companies, record profits for the 6th quarter in a row, and I mean profits in the sum of billions.

The moral angle must be that nothing wrong with “Fighting to bring Freedom to Iraq”, as long as there is a sizeable profit to be made. I bet those folks in Chad or the Sudan, wish they would hit oil when digging mass graves for victims of genocide.

Look what we did for Kuwait, that bastion of liberty, in which 70% of the population can not vote in the one party, one candidate “elections”.

Your Bill for the Day:
"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." --From Twelfth Night (II, v, 156-159)
(One everyone knows)

Quote of the Day:
Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but is sure to repent of every ill-judged outlay.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, dramatist, novelist, poet, & scientist (1749 - 1832)

I remain, riding the Roller Coaster that is Life:

JQP esq.