While I don't condone apathy, I am loathe to accept the new way or seek the new answer. I withstand the urge to get bowled over by the next zeitgeist, or to become obsessed with the phenom or phenomena of the moment. Such attachments reveal a deep-seated lack of self-determination. Let your dreams breathe quietly and let them be your own.

World Cup O' Soup

I just read an article about how the US soccer team should get more respect, both at home and on the world stage. The author argued that soccer has deep ties in the US, there are leagues and tournaments all over the country. Our team is ranked 14th in the world. Who knew, right? That's probably higher than the rankings of our literacy or infant mortality rates. We're number 14!
Of course there may be a core reason the US soccer team is not taken seriously. Unlike everyone else in the world, we call the sport "soccer." Say, for instance, the US played in a world baseball tournament and their opponent was, perhaps, Ghana. Now consider the possibility that baseball was not called "baseball" in Ghana and was instead called, "track." My guess is that no one would expect the Ghanian "track" batters to be hitting many home runs.

*****

Perhaps the US can't take Ghana in futbol, but I pretty sure we could beat them in NASCAR, professional wrestling and snowmobiling. Snowmobiling for sure.

Sea of Denial

June Gloom: Day Twentysomething.

There is only day and night, otherwise time is at a standstill. White skies then dark skies. Each night I tell myself that I will wake up to blue skies. I am living in a sea of denial. Sea of Denial. This may sound like a mixed metaphor, but it isn't. Cloud of denial. Cloak of denial. Fog of denial. Now I've gone too far.

Go Viral!

T-shirt of the Week
(first in a series)

First they came...

First they came for the fascists, but I said nothing because I was not a fascist.

Then they came for the profiteers, the greedy venture capitalists and the fat bankers, but I said nothing because I was not one of them.

Then they came for the careless polluters, the toxin producers and the callous land rapers, but I said nothing because I was not one of them.

Then they came for the racists, the scapegoaters and the hate mongers, but I said nothing because I was not one them.

Then I realized that all the assholes were gone.

Notes on Third Grade.

Notes on Third Grade


I grew up in Riverside California, a sunny burg east of Los Angeles known for smog and navel oranges. St. Francis de Sales elementary school was exactly twelve blocks from my house. It was part of a typical Catholic parish, the church, the school and the rectory - all conjoined by a beige stucco exterior - wrapped around one city block. In the center of the block was a paved parking lot that doubled as the school playground. The third-grade classroom was fairly close to the main attraction, three doors down a faux-stone hallway from the arched church entrance. The first graders were allowed closest proximity to the church by virtue of their shorter legs. These six-year-olds didn’t have to go to mass though, apparently their minds still waffled in a pre-age-of-reason haze. By third grade our eight-year-old souls had a moral compass and first communion to boot. Original sin, mortal sin and multiplication tables were all at the core of our being....

Reyn Spoonerisms

Spain Ruler
Pain Sooner
Sane Pooner





Here as SABD we aren't afraid to admit mistakes. These don't work. But either does half the stuff in the world today . See: Vista OS, Gulf Oil Rig, Mars Lander, Ronco products, Hubble Telescope, World Peace.

June Gloom - Fog hangs low

The situation is certainly bleak in Laguna Beach. Care packages keep arriving from distant locales - Seattle, London, some place in Nova Scotia. They send Vitamin D, full spectrum lights and Ziggy comics. Hang in there babe. July is just a fortnight away. The sun will come out tomorrow bet your soggy morning it will.

The Galloping Grammarian

A simple sentence to remember the usage of "less" and "fewer." Remember, "less" refers to a sized quantity and "fewer" refers to a numbered quantity. Here is the sentence:

There are fewer horses and less manure.

If you can't remember it, trying saying "there are less horses and fewer manure." That phrase elicits a big ouch from the Galloping Grammarian...We put the you in usage.

White on Rice

I've never understood the expression, "I'm on you like white on rice." Rice is white (except when it isn't). White rice is white through and through. I know this because I am an experienced rice cutter (an occupation with an extremely slight learning curve and little or no cultural, economic or gastronomic value). Folks never seem to say "I am on you like black on tar" or "red on blood' or "green on forest" - and you can't see the forest for the trees.

While I am on the subject, I do approve of the saying "It's on like Donkey Kong." Donkey Kong by it's very nature can be on or off. There has to be an "on" switch. I also like the loooong diphthongy vowel sounds - giving a bit of length to the pleasingly retro expression. So there you have it. This is my new blog. It's on like Donkey Kong.