Filler Entry 10/22/06

Got the blahs lately. Wondering how the Dems are gonna wrestle defeat from the jaws of success in the next couple weeks. It seems inevitable. In the real world, the bad guys are almost always more zealous, and better funded and organized (Bono excepted).

On the plus side, The Man Cub grows more personality every day. The baby doctor warned us a long time ago that some kids develop verbally first, some physically. Our young padawan has staked out a third course, wherein he is in no hurry to do either. And I’m glad. Let him be an inarticulate rugrat as long as he can. He’s fucking cuter than shit right now. These days are fleeting.

He’s sleeping eight hours a night now too, but those eight hours end startlingly reliably at 4 a.m. Every single morning. We’re on a drivetime DJ sleep schedule without the accompanying financial remuneration or faceless fame. It’s a goddamn good thing he’s still as cute as he is at 4 a.m.

Being married to a College Professsor has its own special challenges too, especially as it relates to procuring reliable child care. Every few months, everybody’s school schedule completely changes, our lives are capriciously upended by forces outside of my control, and we end up playing Baby Sitter Roulette again. It takes a toll.

Bruce Springsteen recently released an “upgraded” (meaning a few extra tunes are included this time) version of his last (admittedly great) CD, “The Seeger Sessions.” This ‘Upgraded Edition CD’ shit really pisses me off. If you have more songs, put them on the first time, or release a proper EP later on. Don’t force fans to have to buy the bulk of the same songs twice to get a few new ones — that’s just pure hucksterism. I shrugged it off as the actions of blatant media whores when Mariah Carey and others of her pop ilk began doing the same in the last few years. But it’s discouraging to see Springsteen following suit. Were it not for iTunes, it would be a ripping-off the fan base of the first order. (The new songs kick total ass, too. Thank god, again, for iTunes!)

Saw “Flags of Our Fathers” today, hoping for a patriotic boost. Not from this film. It’s fairly even-handed (for a major Hollywood production) but is more about the machinery of propaganda than World War II heroism. The guy playing Ira Hayes, Adam Beach, was especially good, but overall the film left a sad taste in my mouth. Whether (director) Eastwood did it on purpose or not, it’s impossible not to equate the futility of the slaughter we witness on Iwo Jima island with the young American lives currently being wasted overseas every day, not to mention the depresssingly similar PR machines giddily selling the war to the home front in both cases. So very sad.

Further, I’ve been too depressed to read Salome’s manuscript yet, and my recovering-Catholic guilt is having its way with me. Sorry Salome. I hope to pull my head out soon.

We did catch John Prine in the big city nearby, The Missus and me, the other night. He was awfully swell, but he too touched on themes of war and made it a bittersweet experience for me. This war shit, coupled with sleep deprivation, is getting to be more than I can deal with.

And my favorite person at The Home Office is leaving this week for greener pastures. Believe me when I tell you, my work situation is going to be soooo screwed when she’s gone…

I guess it’s safe to say I’ve been in a funk lately, and I torture my wife (and the dog!) with that stuff, not my blog. So I haven’t abandoned the damned thing, I just don’t write about personal stuff, and it’s all been about personal stuff lately.

But these things pass. Thanks for dropping by. I hope to have a happier (at least peppier) outlook to report soon.