The Bosque

Of the year, of course. :)

At this time last year, I lived on the 7th floor of a high-rise apartment building in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood with my fiance and worked for an insurance company. I was making decent money and new friends through PhillyBlog. The Bosque was humming along, and I enjoyed exploring my still-new neighborhood. And I thought I was happy.

Then, 6 days into the new year, a diagnosis unleashed a flurry of events...a hurricane triggered by a butterfly's wings. My entire life began to change...and so did I. My life out East seems like forever ago.

Of course, I carry it with me: the lessons I learned, the places I saw, the people I met, the battles I endured, the mistakes I made, the successes I achieved, and the city and friends I grew to love.

And now, here I am back in the city where I grew up, moving in a new direction: furthering my education, re-establishing old friendships, making new friends, changing careers, falling in love with St. Louis again and falling madly in love with the woman of my dreams. Well, I've already fallen in love with her, but you know what I mean. :)

As much as part of it sucked, I'd go through 2005 20 times over if it meant being where I'm at now. I have never been this happy in my entire life.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Well, they did...seriously...from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: South Carolina's game plan of keeping Brad Smith in check worked great -- for a half, anyway.

Then, the Missouri quarterback broke loose, as he has done so often in his career, rushing for three touchdowns -- including a 1-yarder in the final minutes -- and passing for another to rally the Tigers for a 38-31 victory over the Gamecocks in the Independence Bowl on Friday.

The last red candle represents kuumba, and is lit along with the 5 previously-lit candles.



Kuumba (creativity): We must make things better for the future peeps than they were for us.

See, Wolf...they're tree-huggers too! They even use green candles!

...live a better life through achieving the following goals:

--Lose 60 pounds by December 31, 2006: Safe weight loss is a pound a week, so 60 in 52 weeks is fairly reasonable. And easy to achieve if I am dedicated to it.

--Walk 30 minutes a day 5 days a week: I was doing so well on this until I moved home. I can do well again.

--Earn all A's in my classes, with no more than 2 A-'s: April got one A- and one B+ during her Masters work. I'm going to top that because I want that Graduate of Distinction honor when I graduate...and because I'm a shithead. :)

--Make a pilgrimage to Philadelphia: I miss Philly terribly, and I need to get there for at least a few days. I miss cheesesteaks, Chelten Ave. and my old 'hood, the 12% grade hills in East Falls, Yuengling and my friends.

--Buy April the ring of her dreams: More on this Monday. :)

That should do it...challenging, but not overwhelming. If I don't succeed, I'm retarded.

The next green candle represents nia, and is lit today, along with the other 4 previously-lit candles.



Nia (purpose): If we want to reclaim our awesomeness from the days of wayback, we must live to make our peeps and our hoods kick ass.

I dunno...that seems a bit insulting. I don't think blacks ever lost their "traditional greatness," as Dr. Karenga calls it. To me, that's something that you can't take away.

The next red candle represents ujamaa, and is lit today, along with the other 3 candles.



Ujamaa (cooperative economics): We should start our own businesses, make paper off them and share the wealth with our peeps.

(Instead of giving it to the Asians and Arabs...and Whitey.)

Very interesting article...from MSNBC: Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare.

But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation.

And he didn’t even tell his parents.

Hassan’s dangerous adventure winds down with the 101st Airborne delivering the Fort Lauderdale teen to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which had been on the lookout for him and promises to see him back to the United States this weekend.

I want to believe that the kid means well, but part of me thinks he's just being a typical 16-year old.

The green candle on the far right represents ujima, and is lit today, along with the black and the far left red candle.



Ujima (collective work and responsibility): We have to help each other out in taking care of our community and our issues.

Dr. Karenga is apparently a fan of Marxism, but don't fall for that trap!

Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow night to address posts from the past couple of days.

On Sunday, a Xmas card was relayed to me via Lauren (Tim's gf)...it was from an old acquaintance of mine. I was romantically interested in her when I was in college (fall 1995), but it wound up going nowhere. Did I mention that she was close friends with my ex-gf Felicia? Did I also mention that I was romantically involved for a short time with another of Felicia's close friends? That's another story for another day, but I will say that these interests of mine were after I split up with Felicia...I've never cheated on a gf to this day.

Then Rhoda showed up here yesterday...she hasn't been on the board since before we split up.

So I'm wondering...which ex-girlfriend or blast from my past is going to show up next? My money is on Mimi...we split amicably, and she is familiar with the Sycamoreland website.

Though it could make things incredibly weird for me if all my ex's start showing up. Bruce, you can have 'em, since you're such a ladies man. :)

The red candle on the far left represents kujichagulia, and is lit today, along with the black candle.



Kujichagulia (self-determination): We say who we are and are charting our own course...not Whitey, not Rev. Al Sharpton.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (registration may be required): A 50-year-old Milwaukee man suffered "severe head trauma" and is in critical condition today after he was dragged from his car and beaten by a group of 15 young men last night, police said. It is unclear if the man will survive, a police spokeswoman said.

A Milwaukee police official earlier today incorrectly characterized the victim's injuries as minor, said department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz.

If I had been in this situation, I hope that I would have had the good sense to run the motherfuckers over and get the hell away from there as quickly as possible.

A three-fer today...I know...y'all can barely contain yourselves...

This has been big news in St. Louis since Raymond Burke became head of the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis. His predecessor, Justin Rigali, is now in Philadelphia. And during the past month, shit has really hit the fan.

From MSNBC: At least 1,500 people attended Christmas Eve Mass presided by an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest, despite warnings from the archbishop that participating would be a mortal sin.

The Rev. Marek Bozek left his previous parish without his bishop’s permission and was hired by St. Stanislaus Kostka Church earlier this month. As a result, Bozek and the six-member lay board were excommunicated last week by Archbishop Raymond Burke for committing an act of schism.

Though the Archbishop is right in what he's done (and is supported by Rome), I think it's bullshit. I was tempted to go to Midnight Mass at St. Stanislaus as a show of support. Incidentally, my confirmation name is Stanislaus.

The board at St. Stanislaus will probably never win this, but I'll still pull for them. And it only makes the Catholic Church look worse than it already is.

Of all the presents I got for Xmas, this is my favorite:



April made Holly at a Build-a-Bear Workshop (They're based here in St. Louis). And if the bunny isn't cute enough, look at the clothes April bought for it.

Selma and Molly are quite happy with their new sister:

What...you thought we wouldn't celebrate Kwanzaa because I broke up with Rhoda? Pshaw! :)

The kinara contains 7 candles--3 reds, on the left; one black, in the middle; and 3 greens, on the right. The black candle represents umoja, and is lit today.



Umoja (unity): Keeping the peeps together from the micro to the macro. No, white people should not be afraid...this isn't LA 1992.

Merry Christmas, motherfuckers! :)

So far, I've had a good Xmas...I got a digital camera from the 'rents and an accessory kit from my brother. Plus I bought myself the iPod and external HD last week. And I still have presents from April and her family to open.

But I don't know if any of them can top the fact that we can take showers in our house again.

We've only been able to take baths for the past 2 months because we thought that the pipe connected to the shower was leaking, and needed to be replaced. At least, that's what a plumber told us when we first noticed the problem.

A friend of Tim's came over to look at it yesterday--he does plumbing, and was going to fix it for a reasonable price. But it turns out that the pipe was merely loose and perfectly fine. A few turns with a pipe wrench solved the entire problem.

Fortunately, my parents only lost $130--the cost of the first plumber. And I can't wait to hop in the shower...do you know what a pain in the ass it is to take a bath when you're big like me?

..."It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas?"

I've come to the conclusion that if you can't glean some sort of goodness from either--even if you're an atheist or agnostic, you are either mentally handicapped or a sociopath.

Discuss by clicking the link above.

From MSNBC: Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials to order domestic wiretaps when he worked for the Reagan Justice Department, documents released Friday show.

He advocated a step-by-step approach to strengthening the hand of officials in a 1984 memo to the solicitor general. The strategy is similar to the one that Alito espoused for rolling back abortion rights at the margins.

I'm indifferent towards Alito, but given the flap over domestic spying the last 2 weeks, this could be a problem for him.

I'm driving home from school tonight, which is 9 miles from my house along one fairly continuous street. About 3 miles into my drive, I hear an ambulance and a moment later, I see it about 3 or 4 blocks behind me. I figured he'd catch up to me eventually.

He did...about 2 miles from my house.

This ambulance had lights and siren going. Traffic was light, so it's not like it was being blocked. But it was behind me for 4 miles.

The ambulance belonged to the company that Tim works for, so I called him to see if it was him. It wasn't, but he told me who the driver probably was...and then told me that his company only allows ambulances to drive 5 mph over the limit in the city and 7 mph on the highway.

You've got to be kidding me. I can understand being cautious and all, but what if you have a patient that is close to death? Yeah...I don't see the rule being enforced at that point. But you never know.

I just hope I never need that company's services...unless my brother is driving the rig. :lol:

...with SEPTA. From WNBC-TV, New York: A judge Wednesday ordered leaders of New York's striking transit union brought before him and threatened to jail them for criminal contempt as millions of commuters trudged through Day 2 of the bus and subway walkout.

The strike by the 33,000-member Transport Workers Union is illegal under a New York state law that bars public employees from walking out.

...from me!

I've heard various stories over the past 15 years: nativity scenes in front of city halls being forced down by protestors, no religious Xmas songs sung in public schools, "holiday tree," "Happy holidays," etc.

I do not believe that prayer or religious symbols should be allowed in public schools or buildings. However, Christmas to me is a different story.

The way I see it, the birth of Jesus Christ will always be tied to Christmas. It is unmovable at this point, though it is said to have actually occurred during the summer. But the birth of Jesus and the menorah are just as important to Christmas as the Christmas tree (originated by pagans, IIRC) and candy canes. Jesus can be looked at much like Santa Claus, and can also be viewed in a historical context, which should soothe any non-Christians.

And there's nothing wrong with saying "Merry Christmas"...unless you're being an asshole, and know that the person to whom you are wishing it does not celebrate Christmas. After all, Christmas is way more secular than it is religious...and it's a national holiday in this country.

Can we just lay off the PC bullshit for a minute and just enjoy the season?

There hasn't been much attention paid to it, but Canada is holding elections on January 23rd. The liberal government, mired in a sponsorship scandal, currently has a minority government, and polls suggest that the liberals will be in the same boat again after the elections.

Our relations with Canada have been tense over the past few years, due to skirmishes over softwood and of course, the Iraq invasion. A member of former PM Jean Chretien's government called President Bush a moron at one point. One of current PM Paul Martin's goals upon taking office in 2003 was to improve relations with the US, but the tensions are still obvious. Recently, US Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins gave a speech at the Canadian Club that irked Martin. To sum up Wilkins' speech: "Paul Martin, quit picking on the US to win this election."

I'm surprised that this election hasn't gotten more attention here...the US is usually very focused on the elections of certain countries, including Canada. But we didn't give a shit when they had elections last year, either. In fact, we really haven't given a shit about Canadian elections since Chretien became PM in 1993, ending the Conservatives' 9-year reign.

But we should give a shit. They are our neighbor, our biggest trading partner, and as the 2003 Blackout showed, we are incredibly interconnected with them. We certainly have our differences, but the Canadians are very much like us. And many things that we do here in the States directly or indirectly affect them, moreso than any other country except for maybe Mexico.

Having said that, I don't see things changing too drastically until either the Democrats regain control in the States or Canadians vote for the Conservatives. But I'd like to see things smoothed over a bit...we can't afford to be too pissed at the Canadians...and vice versa.

I received this Xmas webcard from the University of Missouri-St. Louis Alumni Association today (Flash required)...it's a bit "busy," but very cool.

UMSL takes a beating from some folks...it's the 3rd largest university in the state of Missouri, but it's essentially a commuter college. But I enjoyed going there...I got a great education for a very reasonable rate. It's not Harvard, but I'd put it up against any school in the St. Louis area, public or private, and put it up against the more highly-regarded state schools in this country.

From MSNBC: President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States — without getting search warrants — following the Sept. 11 attacks, The New York Times reports.

Like this hasn't already been going on for years...

I work near a Mills mall (St. Louis Mills), and try to get up there a few days a week during lunch to get some walking in. Yesterday I was up there, and decided to hit the restroom. I walked into one, and saw that a guy was changing his son's diaper at the changing station. No big deal...this is 2005 after all.

He also happened to have a daughter with him that appeared to be 3 or 4 years old. And the changing station is next to the sinks, across from the urinals.

At first, I walked towards a urinal, and was going to try and be quick about it. But as I got closer to a urinal, I just felt too weird about it. I left and walked to another bathroom.

To be clear, I had no problem with this situation. If I were by myself with my two kids, I would have done the same thing. But to be a bystander was just weird. Would it have been okay for me to do my business? Should I have waited outside until he was done? Or did I do the right thing by going to another restroom?

I think any choice would have been fine, really. But I'm almost certain that if the situation were reversed (woman with son in a women's bathroom and I'm a woman walking in), the first option would have been a no-brainer.

Some will say that Richard Pryor was crass and a button-pusher. Some will say he was incredibly funny. But then are those--many comedians and myself included--who think he was a comic god. And though his thoughts and words from 30 years ago are tame compared to some of today's comedians, they're still brilliant now...and better than most of what's currently out there.

Pryor died Saturday morning of an apparent heart attack. He had been battling MS for several years.

Rest in peace...

April's on the case today.

...someone rips you off.

So Sunday morning I was sitting at my kitchen table reading the paper & talking to Syc on my cell phone when my land line rang. It was my bank. There was some unusual activity on my debit card that they wanted to verify. I hung up with Syc and got the scoop.

Steve from Syntex wanted to know if I had done any shopping at Walmart that morning...in Canada. Um, HELL NO! Apparently someone had gotten ahold of my debit card number and created a new card. All transactions were getting approved because an actual card had been presented. That morning the asshole was quite busy for an hour and a half:

* $109.74 at OLCO for automotive repairs
* $1049.85 at a Walmart in Nova Scotia
* $68.73 at ESSO for gas and misc. crap
Total = $1228.32

Steve said that he would put a hold on my checking account until Monday morning. Now here's the real kicker. I had to go to my bank this morning to cancel my debit card, get a new one issued and sign some forms saying I was not the purchasing party. Lori in credit card services said that Steve really was not able to freeze my account (only my bank could do that). She went ahead and did it...but not before she noticed some additional charges that had gone through this morning:

* $292.64 at Pharmaprix (apparently a pharmacy)
* $370.73 again at Pharmaprix
* $24.67 at the same Walmart
* $1006.81 AGAIN at that same Walmart
* $26.42 at Couche..some upscale novelty store
* $3.34 and $3.33 for random phone charges (a dating chat line)
Total = $1727.94

For a grand total of $2956.26!!!!!!

Lori said that everything had been frozen as of now. If they tried to use the card again it would be denied. All of this will probably go through my checking account and throw me in the negative - only then can it be reversed (they have to order copies of all receipts to prove it wasn't me). My bank has be great...they are going to watch my account and reverse all charges as soon as they hit. Lori said it could take up to two months to totally straighten things out.

Merry Fucking Christmas. :?

Wolf's handling biz on the following 2 Manifestos

THE Pope is set to abolish the concept of Limbo, overturning a belief held by Roman Catholics since the Middle Ages.

Abolishing Limbo??

Limbo, in case you had some idea that it merely meant "a region or condition of oblivion or neglect" or a party game involving a stick held lower and lower that you have to dance under backwards while drunk, is the place where the Catholic Church says the souls of good pagans who lived before the Resurrection and unbaptized children are confined.to await the rapture and redemption promised to all believers.

It's a bizarre piece of doctrine that Church is focusing on, I think. They could revamp the rules on things like contraception or actually deal with the recent scandals involving the clergy, but no ... they're messing with basic pieces of doctrine relating to the geography of Heaven and Hell that have been unchanged for centuries, all in the interest of seeming "friendlier?"

What's next? Shutting down Hell completely in some sort of Ecumentical Emminent Domain and expanding the boundaries of Heaven so that everyone gets a seat at the Right Hand of the Father, along with a two-car garage?

Consistency has served the Catholic Church very well for the last 2000 years. They shouldn't start screwing with what works now. Didn't they learn anything from New Coke? Everybody else did.

In this case, it's about someone else (my mom) shopping FOR me. While I find shopping, particularly Christmas Shopping, frustrating in and of itself, I'm particularly feeling for my mom this year. This year, she's just not able to get out and do stuff. Usually she would go over to the mall herself, but she's fallen a couple of times this year, and she's fearful of that happening again.

So she stays home.

Any attempts to enourage more activity on her part result in her becoming angry and frustrated.

It is easier to deal with her when she is not angry and frustrated.

So, she sits.

I'm not helping her shopping situation any, because I just plain don't know what I want for Christmas this year. There's like 300 things on my amazon wish list, mostly games, which my sister will probably choose from. Most years there is some awesomely cool thing that I really want in a reasonable price range.

I have reached the age where there are no reasonable price ranges. I don't just want an iPod. I want the one with the 60GB memory and video playback capability. Or things are at the total other end of the spectrum. Cheap crap that I'll play with briefly, or some book I'll read once and that's it.

There aren't any spectacularly necessary DVDs this year that I haven't already bought.

I tried to help things along and found a really cool jacket in the LL Bean catalog. It's one of those jacket-systems ... liner and shell are wearable separately or together, and the colors were just absolutely right ... dark red, black, and grey. Totally sharp.

I want this coat.

I don't usually get that turned on about coats. I have a leather jacket, and a couple "wacker jackets" ... ambulance crew coats ... three season jackets with fleece collars, just the thing for staying warm on an ambulance call. These plus a burgundy trench coat from London Fog (my version of a pimpin' coat) pretty much take care of any social situation.

But I totally want this coat.

My mother is excited, because she will be getting me an excellent piece of clothing that I will be able to wear for many years, and her shopping dilemma is resolved.

This is great!

Except for one thing. I run into this every year with LL Bean. My sister often wants things from there. I think she got one of her Christmas gifts in April because of the length of the backorder. LL Bean never has sufficient stock to meet the demand. Ever. Well, hardly ever.

My mom calls to order the jacket. What a surprise. It's out of stock. They are not going to restock. My size is available in one of the less attractive colors. Nope. I do not wish to substitute.

So no coat.

*sigh*

I am getting my "fallback" position, though.

Moosehide slippers. I've wanted them for years, but I won't pay $50 for a pair of slippers. Consequently I end up spending around $25 each year to replace last year's slippers. The Bean moosehide slippers are reputed to wear like iron. Or at least like moosehide. I'm looking foward to these.

Of course, they're on backorder, but due to ship sometime next week.

When I get them in February, I'll let you know what they're like.

...and in reality, it still is. From the BBC: A mysterious epidemic, which has been discovered in homosexual men, is causing increasing concern in the United States.

The unknown condition, which consists of two separate diseases - a form of pneumonia and skin cancer, has been found in 180 patients in 15 states since last July.

From the Chicago Tribune (subscription may be required): A Southwest Airlines plane landing in a snowstorm at Midway Airport skidded off a runway, broke through a steel barrier and smashed into traffic on Central Avenue, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring at least 11 people, officials said.

I'm curious to see if this will lead to any serious changes at Midway...someone is bound to call for it to be shut down or for a surrounding neighborhood to be bought out for more space...or something similar.

It's been cold here this week...the high temperature today was 24. And there's a storm on the way...3-5 inches possible. Not a big storm, but it's supposed to start overnight and continue all day tomorrow. Normally, I love snow...the Manifestos will show my history of snow excitement.

But I have class on Thursday nights. And because of the schedule of the program, missing a class could throw everything off and result in class on another night, class during a break week, or cramming everything from tomorrow night into another class night. This class is only 7 weeks long.

We'll see...it's the disadvantage to accelerated courses.

Went to the hockey game tonight...details to follow.

Tonight, my study team met for the first time. Granted, we've got 18 months to go, but it looks like we're gonna work together pretty well. Everyone did some work before coming tonight, so we weren't sitting around clueless. Everyone contributed to the discussions and no one felt left out, from what I could gather.

Of course, I'm not naive. We've got a long road ahead, and I'm sure we're going to clash at various points along the way. But part of the meeting involved writing our team's constitution, which I think will go a long way in preventing many problems. And we're all adults. And we all want to get our degrees, and know that we have to work together in part to get them.

*holds his nose* Here goes...

Usually, I'm awful about sending out Xmas cards...I must have like 5 or 6 boxes of them sitting out in the garage. I've sent some out in years past, but not as many as I'd like. Last year, I was so-so...I sent some to friends in St. Louis, but that was about it.

This year, I'm prepared though. I've wrote out a list of everyone that's getting one. And I bought new cards. And I got address labels for myself, so I don't have to keep re-writing my address. And I've set a deadline--they are to be mailed no later than this coming Wednesday.

If I don't have your snail mail address, it would be wise to send it to me by this Tuesday, December 6th. Wolf and Bruce, your cards are already ready to go, and I should be able to send them off tomorrow.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have more cards to work on...

During downtime at work a while back, I was able to compose several Manifestos in one day due to extensive computer issues.

I tried to send them from my work e-mail to my home e-mail. I had written each in a separate Word file, so I attached them and sent them off. When I got home later that night, I noticed that I had not received them. I thought that maybe I had deleted them by accident--I don't have my work e-mail address listed in my address book (even now), and anything not in my address book goes to the trash folder. I usually look through the trash folder once or twice a night, but maybe I forgot to do so that night.

I resent them again the next day, and this time, I checked my home e-mail shortly after sending them off. Nothing. I waited about a half-hour...still nothing. My suspicion was that our work e-mail is set up to block anything with attachments from being sent outside the company.

I asked my boss about it an hour later--yes, the company uses software to control the internet and e-mail. No attachments are allowed on outside mail. And even when I send some Manifestos or e-mail via a regular e-mail message, they're blocked by the software due to "sensitive" words. Just yesterday, I tried to look up a work-related item on Google, and Google is apparently now blocked by our software.

My department takes a hardline stance on internet and e-mail use, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. But I can't help but wonder if folks go overboard with it...sometimes, it seems to do more harm than good.

From the BBC: A judge in the US state of Texas has agreed to allow President George W Bush to postpone jury service - on the grounds he is busy running the country.

Mr Bush was listed as number 286 on a list of 600 prospective jurors called to appear at a court on Monday.

That would have been funny if he actually did serve on the jury.

Tonight, I began my Masters classes at Fontbonne.

It's good to be back in school. I didn't feel out of place or out of touch at all...it was almost like I picked up where I left off 7 years ago. There are 17 of us--only 4 of us are guys, and I am the sole white male. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel like I've missed a beat...it's like my undergrad days in the social work department at UMSL. :)

Part of the program involves a weekly study group...you and 3 or 4 others meet on another day of the week to do projects, review coursework, etc. And the same team meets for the entire program--18 months. April got lucky...she is friends with the members of her team. It's hard to figure people out after only a few hours around them, but I think I'm in a good group. Our first meeting is Monday...we'll see...

It's gonna be tough to be in class for 4 hours after working an 8-hour day, but no one said this was gonna be easy. I want this Masters degree, and I'm gonna work hard for it. I enjoy reading the texts, and I think I'll get a lot out of the classes. Hopefully, time will fly and before you know it, it'll be June 2007.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a nice bed across the room with my name on it...