Saturday, September 30, 2006

Sleepy Head

I

have a presentation on haiku today, and with the start of school and all, I didn't reallyhave that much time to prepare--we won't mention the fact that i had all summer. In any event, I was up until 4AM getting ready and I am beat. Hopefully, a nice brick shower will wake me up before I go-go.

As for being sluggish--Sammy, Goober--I too like the cooler weather, but I get sluggish because a 50-year-old body does not respond well to a sudden change in temperature. The cool brsk autumn air feels great on the face, but the chill causes other portionsof the body to function a little slower, much like a cold engine. It takes just a little bit longer to warm up. My internal parts are hot and ready to rumble like you youngins.

Speaking of sluggish: I teach literature and fancy myself an expert on words, so this is a bit embarrassing, but as I stared at the word, "sluggish" just now through these sleep-deprived eyes, it just struck me. Sluggish = having or manifesting the characteristics of a slug... I am like one of those slimey things that leave a shiney trail in its wake. *shiver*

Okay, that woke me up... Have a great weekend guys.

And, Go Bruins!

Friday, September 29, 2006

Albeit embarrassing...

S

ome readers have said they wanted to see the video.

The video in question is from a month ago--no, Gokingsgo, I am not on TV a lot, just the one time. It is about the sexual assault in the area around the Vienna train station, away from which I live a brisk seven minute walk. As said in the previous post, after seeing the brief interview, I realized that I need to work on my speech--pronuncation, clarity... gawd, even grammar. I occasionally criticize others for not articulating, or not completing their sentences, but placed on the spot with a microphone pointed at me and a camera in my face--literally--I performed no better. And if that wasn't bad enough, I need to get a new hair stylist. *sigh*

So here it is folks. Watch it at your own risk. The O-man takes no responsibility for health issues arising from viewing this news piece. You should be in good health. Pregnant women and those who have had recent surgery or injury; those with high blood pressure, heart conditions, neck or back problems; and those with any impairment or condition that would prevent normal viewing, should not watch. Of course, you must be at least 48" tall.

Update: Apparently I can't show a Xanga video on Blogger. Oh well. If you wanna see it, you're gonna have to open a site on Xanga... :-(

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

If you gotta go, just go

I

was reading how msbLiss's little girl is almost potty trained. She mentioned that sometimes she'll ask her daughter if she needs to pee, but even though she says no, she ends up peeing. Well, ALL kids say they don't have to go to the potty if you ask them directly. Poop and pee are "bad" things so they will deny it everytime. Even I'll deny it.

Drinking at our local wateringhole
M: You've had four beers already. Don't you have to use the restroom?
Me: Of course not! I'm a man. I can hold it.
M: But you've had four beers!
Me: I'm sitting down, so it hasn't gravitated yet...

But of course, when we stand up to leave, it all rushes downstream and I HAVE to go before we leave the building. I can't even hold for the 7 minute drive home.

On TV

I was on TV because of bad news in our area. But my brother was interviewed as one of the artists contributing to an exhibit celebrating LA's birthday. Being the ham that he is--it runs in the family--he posted it on Youtube. If you can't tell, he's not the female and he's not the black guy being interviewed. He's standing in front of his "work of art", a low-rider rickshaw, a piece that fuses an abstract, distant Asian image with a concrete, close-at-hand Latino reality. Check it out if you have the time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvunjGlQIN0

Monday, September 25, 2006

The Flow of the Advancing River...

I

can't believe it's been a month since I ve' written something. I mean, it's been so long that I didn't realize that the edit box have completely change! It looks so unfamiliar to me. And what's videos? I can now add video's? Hmmmm. Should I put up the video of our moment on channel 4? Just kidding. I'm too embarrassed to put it up, even though I did download it for myself. :)

Well, much has happened since the end of august. The grandkids went Back to Japan and the new semester started. I had no time to catch my breath, going from a couple of ten-year-olds to a bunch of twenty-or-sos. Often something occurs and I think, "Gee, that would make an interesting Xanga entry", then I go back to work or watch another drama... and it disappears into the recesses of my mind, unfortunately. Oh well.

Unfortunately, something not so welcome occurred this weekend--My grandfather passed on. I hadn't seen him in a few years, but I had heard he was doing well and was quite active. But this summer he apparently suffered an attack of pneumonia and that is the kiss of death for many of the elderly, and my grandfather was 84. He is, I'm sure, in a better place, since my grandmother passed three years ago. I wish I had stayed in contact with him more regularly--not just by Christmas cards--but it seems that these thoughts always come too late for me.