Beer in Pa.

Sunday Inquirer article today talks about possibly overhauling the PA state liquor laws to allow more stores to sell 6-packs. Arguing for the change in law is the convenience store Sheetz (we don’t have Sheetz in Philly but Kim and Ben heartily attest to its awesomeness). On the other side is the Malt Liquor Distributors Assoc., which argues, “If Sheetz can sell beer, so can Wal-Mart and Costco and all the other big chains…You tell me what will happen to small businesses that try to compete with those giants.”

BUNK. The state lets Wegmans — decidedly more a Goliath than a David — sell 6-packs, because Wegmans has enough money to enclose entire restaurants in their supermarkets, so they qualify for restaurant licenses, whereas the smaller Sheetz only qualifies for an eatery license. Even getting eatery licenses requires building seating areas, ruling out most corner stores.

All these people are arguing about how changing the law will put certain distributors out of business. But where is the concern for the arcaneness and retardation of the law itself. There’s so many entrenched interests trying to protect their share of the pie that we’ve dispensed with reasonableness.

GO SHEETZ!

What Friends Are For

Congratulations to Jill and Scott who just got their nuptials on in Hawaii. As much as I’m chagrined to miss an opportunity to don my blue suit (now featuring green sweater), throw down like 15 whiskeys, and grind with the Colby crowd to Rihanna, I think running off to a beautiful spot, just you and the person you love, is the way to do it.

And Jill was nice enough to take time out of her busy schedule of marrying and birding to send me this supremely thoughtful e-card:

Sounds about right.

Hosannah

job job job job job job job job JOB JOB!
job job job job job job job job JOB JOB!

It feels kinda like this:

 

Phew.

Sorry it’s been so quiet up in this piece lately. I fell off the wagon for a bit there with blogging. Except really, extensive blogging is the key sign that I’m off the wagon, and not blogging, i.e. being productive in real space instead of in cyberspace, is a sign that I’m on the right track. But maybe you all appreciated a little hiatus from the cacophony? (BTW: Cacophony hiatus = awesome fucking bandname.)

Oh so much has happened lo this past fortnight:

1. Obama wins NC and loses Indiana, but only by 2%!!! I was nervous after his MTP appearance in which I thought he came across slightly sickly. And of course the Jeremiah Wright uproar had everyone flipping their shit. I was all cussing Liz Hasselbeck when she and Whoopi got into it over Wright on The View. (Okay so maybe I haven’t been as busy as I lead on.) But O weathered it and is right where he needs to be, picking up more and more delegates, both regular and super. I was encouraged and a little moved that there’s still excitement over Obama in the heartland. Bodes well.

2. Jeremiah Wright came and went during my blogslumber. I kind of love Rev. Wright and his ”prophetic tradition.” While mastering the studies theological I got down with Cone and the liberation theologians. More on Wright and how I dig him so at a time TBA.

3. The Phillies are doing great. They’re second in the NL East right now but actually have the same number of wins as Florida, who’s played fewer games. I went to a Phillies game last week for Dollar Dog night with Judy, Mikey B, and Eileen and we had some AWESOME seats. The field was like, right there. 

The whole team is really stepping up during these last few series — even Bruntlett, Jenkins, and Feliz, all of whom I was dogging for a while, are banging it out. Plus Victorino’s back in action. If only J Rol’s ankle would heal and the $10 million baby would get out of his slump. Although, Howard’s doing about the same as he was last year at this time, so as Sarge said, he’s got ‘em right where he wants ‘em. They play SF tonight and my boy Cole Hamells is pitching.

4. The Flyers are on tonight too, going up against the Penguins in the first match for the Division title. I usually don’t get into hockey, possibly residual angst from when I got checked in the face by my cousin Timmy when I was going after the little orange ball in a vicious street hockey matchup in like 1986. Also, I’m always all “where’s the puck?” But the Flyers got a chance to go for the Stanley Cup, so I’ll have to summon all my “Blades of Steel” excitement. (Remember choosing the players’ weight? I liked making the goalie really stocky.)

5. Tlantz went and snatched up a domain name — check out www.thebrainstormblog.net, and you’ll come right back here. That’s “.NET”.  Can you say BONA FIDE!?!
       5a. Buying the domain name means that now we can have text in different colors!!!!! This changes eveverything.

I think that catches everyone up. Let’s never go this long without talking again, okay? Okay.

Now What?

This is the worst. Hillary won PA by about 9.4%. And so we’ll go on and on to North Carolina and Indiana in this never-ending charade of pointlessness.  Hillary will have more time to hammer his electability problem and the Repubes are just getting started. Behold, the infinite wisdom of the NC GOP.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

I love Earth Day. I wish I was out planting trees or gazing at scenery or sabotaging French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Instead I’m at work, being not very sustainable at all.

The WSJ has a nice article basically mocking companies and Madison Avenue advertising firms (with whom I now have intimate acquaintance) for pushing Pollyanaish pseudo-environmental schemes. It says,

activists fear that something gets lost in the pop-environmentalism this once-a-year celebration has come to epitomize: bold action. They fret that a flood of well-meaning but inadequate gestures gives people a false sense of progress, lulling them into complacency just when the world needs more environmental action and less talk.

Big time. Wal-Mart, for example, is pushing Earth Month, proving irrefutably that they’re the most sustainable and responsible multinational corporation ever. If every single person in America buys a bag of Sun Chips, Wal-Mart tells us, then enough renewable energy credits would be purchased to power half a million homes for a day. With incentives like that, who needs conservation?

Not to be too cynical, some people are taking Earth Day seriously. The EPA has Earth Day events and tips for sustainable living. And E is probably gardening and composting enough for all of us.

PA Votes

(Are those horses wearing iPods?)

It’s April 22. Here’s how the latest polls shape up.

Suffolk University Poll:
Clinton 52%
Obama 42%

Zogby Poll:
Clinton 48%
Obama 42%

Quinnipiac Poll:
Clinton 51%
Obama 44%

Strategic Visions Poll:
Clinton 48%
Obama 41%

We shall see.

why i love nyc

Policemen on horses just rode by my front window.

420

420. I can’t say it any better than Caps and the spliff-flicking alien. I remember that dude from last year. Indelibly linked to 420 in my mind. Happy chillin.

Deep in the Heart of Philly

Went to the Phillies game last night to see them lose to the Mets. It’s cool though. Like Jeff said, baseball games are 20% game, 80% ambiance. And what ambiance it was. The Mets are of course our hated rivals. I actually saw some kids wearing Mets hats on the subway en route to the game and sort of scared myself because I was thinking they were little bastards. I can see how people get swept up in sectarian violence.

The Phillies didn’t play their best but did have a nice eighth inning rally that included two base hits and then a homer by Dobbs. The crowd went hog-wild. I’m kind of hoarse today. This girl right in front of me was one of those obnoxious antagonistic Mets fans in a Reyes jersey, who no doubt heard me say repeatedly, “these people got a lot of nerve coming down here rooting on the Mets.” The guys behind us were far worse. Phrases like “REYES SUCKS COCK” and “YOU JENNY CRAIG FUCKING METS FAN BITCH.” Masters of subtlety, they were. Also precious was when the crowd booed Reyes for not having serious head injury from sliding into second. I was extra aware of the coarseness of our phans whenever I glanced over at Texan and Astros fan Stephan, experiencing his first Phillies game. In his words, baseball games in Texas are “a little more laid back.” I’ll bet.

YES. YES. YES.

The final democratic debate before Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary went down Wednesday night. So I’m a day late. I’m also a dollar short, if it’s any consolation.

Overall, I’d say that ABC did a superb job in squandering the opportunity to have a Constitution-focused debate and instead administered a pop-news media circus. Hillary did a superb job of capitalizing on all the played-out attacks on Obama and served up her own skewed propagandistic version of facts. Obama did a superb job of not losing his cool, telling Hillary to fuck off, and bitchslapping Charlie Gibson and Geoge Stephanopoulos.

Right off the bat came a question about Obama’s guns-and-God gaffe. On that topic, I think he could have spun it better by saying that he was trying to unite the party by proving that rich liberal San Francisco democrats and working-class upstate PA democrats share the same disillusionment, that their seeming differences belie greater similarities. To bring two extremes of the democratic party into conversation isn’t the worst idea. I think the real issue with Obama’s SF statements were that Obama has this tendency to tell people how they feel. In over-explaining the bitterness, Obama switches from listening to explaining (a disastrous move, as any good Levinas reader realizes). In these moments, Obama borders too often on putting words in people’s mouths. It’s going to continue to get him in trouble.

In reaction, Hillary pounced. She channeled John Edwards: “I am the granddaughter of a factory worker from Scranton who went to work in the Scranton lace mills when he was 11 years old, worked his entire life there, mostly six-day weeks.” She also dropped that her grandfather attended Court Street Methodist Church. Pregnant pause. Enter the subliminal comparison between good old white person John Wesley style Methodism with Obama’s radical African Methodist Episcopal church.

Charlie Gibson took the cue and went for the Reverend Wright jugular. Obama was all, “I’ve discussed this extensively.” In other words, where the fuck have you been Charlie Gibson? Charlie insisted on FoxNewsifying the issue, and George Stephanopoulos asked the worst question of perhaps the last 14 months: “do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?” Ahhh ABC, you make CNN look good. Hillary again thought she could get a few more miles out of the issue and said she’d have left the church, something about 9/11, and then said “you get to choose your pastor.” Actually though, I’ll bet a lot of people would disagree with that. Many churchgoers are committed to their congregations, regardless of pastor. And does anyone else see the irony in Hillary exhorting someone to up and leave a less-than-perfect relationship? Damn — BURN.

And, whatever happened to the Hillary who spoke with Bill at the Loretta Scott King memorial service at the New Birth Missionary Baptist megachurch outside Atlanta. Granted, that was back in February ‘06, before Hillary announced. I remember it vividly because I was home from work with a bad cold, all hopped up on Theraflu, and I stumbled upon coverage of the entire funeral. It was incredibly moving — civil rights leaders, the King family, Bush 41, George W., Carter, Bill and Hillary all spoke. Joseph Lowery, former leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, got mad props for speaking to truth to power in saying,

We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there.
But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here.
Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds.
For war billions more, but no more for the poor.

Hillary and Bill applauded their hearts out, trying line up alongside the civil right luminaries to sure up black bonafides. Hillary’s singing a different tune now.

And then came the questions about Weather Underground’s William Ayers. Honestly, ABC? Hillary was in lock-step with the idiocy, attacking Obama for serving on a board with Ayers. She jumped the shark when she criticized Obama for remaining on that board even after 9/11. She mentioned 9/11 a total of five times, apparently thinking five was the magic number to effectively instill fear in voters. Obama was understandably irritated and struck back by saying that Bill Clinton pardoned the Weather Underground dudes. Hillary’s got this real problem with calling the kettle black. Does she really want to go down this path? Does she not realize that is the same bullshit detractors have been spewing at her for 16 years? Remember criticism of her college thesis on Saul Alinsky, the radical organizer?

Then came the lowpoint of the night, the question about Obama and the American flag. The questioner said, “I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I’m not questioning your patriotism, but…” What does that mean? Does he believe in the flag? The man’s running for President for christ’s sake. I just about threw my beer at the tv. Obama looked ready to do the same. He kept his cool though, annoyed at these recurring “manufactured issues.” Amen.

The last 45 minutes or so of the debate focused on some of the issues they should have been talking about all along. Obama had a good response on guns, on setting the mission for Iraq instead of following the generals, and on social security. Hillary was okay on these points too. Honestly, by this point in the debate Charlie Gibson and George Staphanopoulos had already pooped in the punchbowl with their inane line of questioning. And Hillary’s game-playing may have ruined her chances with me forever.

Obama, on the other hand, was convincing in saying he’d put an end to those games. I’ll be helping him out in Pennsylvania.

A Beautiful Thing

Down, 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth, and then out of nowhere Snelling leads off by knocking one out of the park, then Utley got hit with a pitch (which he totally leaned into), Burrell hit a two-run homer, Jenkins got to first on a passed ball, then stole second, and then Feliz drove him home. A questionable call at home plate, and the Phillies win it!

Thursday Night (Pre-Phillies)

1. Matt Yglesias has a Gallup poll of Americans’ most favorable and most detested foreign countries. We hate Iran the most, apparently, with North Korea coming in as second most detestable.

2. Colin Powell is being none too quiet these days about his opinion that we should draw down troops. He claims to have not yet decided about who to go with in November, but I wonder. He praised Obama’s handling of the Rev. Wright business. The more I think about it, I don’t want Biden to be Obama’s VP, because I like Biden for Secretary of State, or even in his current position, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I watched him run the Iraq hearings, and he was, as always, the voice of sanity. I still heart him. Meaning Obama is free to choose whomever he wants as VP. Could it be Powell? Could he? Would he?

3. Lantz wants to post about biofuels, the price of oil, and food shortages, but had not the time. But it looks like Brit PM Gordon Brown has similar concerns. I think it goes something like, we’re growing fuel instead of food, and this makes less food. They’ll apparently discuss the situation at the IMF and World Bank meetings this weekend in Washington. (Read, get your protesting shoes on.)

4. I actually did catch some of John McCain on The View today, most notably him saying we should increase the army by giving incentives to join. Makes ya wonder why McCain has yet to sign off on the new GI Bill. These vets are definitely wondering.

5. Spiked’s review of the new book Ribbon Culture explains “the relentless rise of awareness-raising ribbons – kitsch fashion items that express the wearer’s fear of disease or empathy with victims – reveals about our morbid, narcissistic society.” Looks interesant.

6. New Kids are back!! Yep, NKOTB in the April 14 edition of People. Well they’re on pp.122-124 of the 126-page People. About their comeback, Joey McIntyre said, “We’re going to go into a room far, far away, lock the door, and we’re not going to come out until we had it as good as it used to be.” (I was more of a Donny girl myself — he was the motorcycle guy in a moped band.)

7. It’s been sports, sports, and more sports lately. The Flyers and the Sixers are both in the playoffs; Kansas won the men’s NCAA championship and Tennessee took the women’s; and I was even briefly into the LPGA this past weekend, mostly because I like their trouser shorts and polo shirts. And last but not least, I missed several opportunities to brag about the Phillies kicking the Mets’s asses over the last few days. First there was the veritable home run derby at Great American Ballpark on Monday against the Reds (Rollins and Jenkins both had solo homers and Burrell had two!). Then there were all those glorious wins against the Mets. Yeah STREAK. Alas, the Phils lost yesterday, ending a 9-game winning streak against the Mets. But they have a chance for vindication tonight. Come one Eaton.

Morning

Sweeney: hey dude
Lantz: hey.
you at work?
Sweeney: not yet
these three old jehovah’s witnesses ladies were just talking to me for like 5 minutes
and i gave them money
i think one was rosa parks
i’m pretty sure of it
Lantz: haha
Sweeney: i missed john mccain on the view
Lantz: they sure come around there a lot
Sweeney: YEAH
well i told them my name once and they keep coming back because they think i’m
interested
and now i gave them money so they’re gonna be around more
Lantz: i was just gonna say that
Lantz: they’re all talking about you
Lantz: you’re in their database
Sweeney: i need to move
Lantz: you’re nuts
Sweeney: i can’t like close the door in their faces
Lantz: yes you can
its your house
Sweeney: i swear, ROSA PARKS
but older
Lantz: ok, i can see how you can’t slam the door in rosa parks’ face
Sweeney: that can be your campaign slogan
for governor of ny
and i’ll be communications director
Lantz: what does it mean?
Sweeney: it’s provocative
“you can’t slam the door in rosa parks’s face”
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE
but then we would really be for moderation

New Tagline

Just heard on Bill Maher’s show:

“That’s what’s so great about the internet. It allows pompous blowhards to connect with other pompous blowhards in a vast circle-jerk of pomposity.”

Saturday Morning

Politics and the goings-on of the world in general have fallen off my radar as of late. Let’s say the Brainstorm’s sonar is getting renovated. A fitting comparison since out of the blue they up and redid the WordPress mainpage. Everything’s in different spots and there’s new coloring! (Wait, seriously, where’s the “post” button?) Why was I not consulted? As I said when my mom rearranged the furniture when I was a youngen, “You changed everything up!”

But I shall feel like a bad citizen no longer. Behold:

1. Ben Smith has his Democratic VP predictions, with pros and cons of each.

2. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of MLK’s assassination. Perhaps most surprising was McCain’s audacious appearance at the Lorraine motel in Memphis, site of King’s untimely demise. McCain had some serious making-up to do after voting against MLK Day as a national holiday 25 years ago.

3. The Clintons released their tax returns. They apparently made $109 million since 2000, of which they paid $33 million in taxes. About a third.

4. Hey, that dog’s only got two legs!!! Faith, who’s missing her front two legs, inspires WaPo readers, especially TLantz.

5. On the dog front, lolcats is old news, but loldogs?!? Ihasahotdog changes everything. For the better.

6. Just when I thought the presidential race was at a nadir, with not much going on other than Obama bowling and flirting with ladies in Pa, I got into a cab Thursday night with AFG/ZPH and a block from our destination, the cab driver, an African immigrant with a thick accent, turns around and begs us — I’m talking implores us — to vote for Hillary! I was like, wait, really? You? His argument was something like “please, the lady will change things for the whole world! Conditions for the women will be better! We need her experience.” About Obama, he said “now is not the time! Ladies first!” I was stunned. A just about had a throw-down right there in the cab. Ever since I’ve been wondering if Hillary’s paid off a bunch of Philly cabbies.

But speaking of the Hill effect in the city of brotherly love, I’ve been seeing probably equal amounts of Hillary and Obama campaign materials lately. Maybe that’s because I spend a lot of time in the Gayborhood, and for some reason the gay boys love their Hillary. It’s like she’s Kathy Griffin or something. I asked one (gay) friend what’s the deal with the boys and Hillary, and his response was “I don’t know, she’s a dumb bitch.” I guess I haven’t quite backtested my data adequately.

7. Last but not least, The Phillies got their second win last night and got another game today at 1:00 against the Reds. That is to say, against Ken Griffey. Oooh — BURN. Last night’s game was right on, with Kendrick proving his worth in only giving up a few, and those mostly to a spotty infield. I’m not yet warmed up to this Feliz. And Victorino, when you gonna step it up buddy?

Okay, off to get a new license and browse for bikes, then, tonight, I’m super excited to see “Eleven Minutes,” the documentary about PR’s Jay McCarroll!!!! I heart him. It’s playing at the Philadelphia Film Festival. I’ll let you know.

SF, CA

So San Francisco was the expected magical rainbow land of happiness. I was only there for a few short days for muchas muchas matrimonias de Claudia y Ryan. Congratulations guys! The wedding was F-U-N (BAILE!), plus I got to visit Redwood City (best temperature in the world, accd. to Scott), Point Bonita Lighthouse (eat your heart out TLantz), and of course the Haight, the Castro, etc. (excuse me sir, can you direct me toward the counterculture?). San Francisco excels at many things, having cool neighborhoods that necessitate articles being first among them. I kept walking around singing Belle and Sebastian — “San Francisco’s calling us, the Giants and Mets will play…we hung about the Tenderloin, and tenderly you tell about the saddest book you ever read….” etc. Most importantly, it was the perfect setting for reunionizing with E-Rock, Prof. J-Bo, Lo-lo, and Mr. and Mrs. Here-Come-the-Smaps.

The fun and the extreme breathtaking beautifulness almost make up for having my coveted assortment of Aveda moisturizers and facewash confiscated by the airport goons (who told me, “you don’t like it? Vote Buch out of office.” HA!) and then losing my wallet and having to make a special trip to the SFPD to file a police report so I could catch a plane home. Not that being stuck in SF would have been the worst. I could have gotten a job at Soul Patch, I’m sure. I’m nothing if not qualified for Soul Patch.

Before all this excitement went down, I was sitting in the Philly airport at 5:00 am Thursday morning and decided to liveblog my boredom away. Having no computer handy, I started taking notes on some scrap paper, which I will now transcribe to blog format. And, no, I don’t think copying handwritten notes to blog days after the fact ruins the integrity of the liveblog medium.

Keep in mind, this is all from last Thursday, en route out there:

5:25 AM EST: this is the worst coffee I’ve ever had. why is there no starbucks in this section of the airport? what the fuck good is a global economy if i can’t purchase a perfectly familiar Americano just when I need it most?

5:27 AM EST: scan boarding area for hot girls. hey now…i likey. cute haircut. oh, wait, it’s a boy. possibly prepubescent. moving on.

5:28 AM EST: commence judging of fellow passengers. focus in on one middle-aged perfectly preppy couple. woman in smart pants and pashmina. are those still in? no matter, she seems to be more in the know than i. guy wearing pressed chinos, wingtips, blue striped tie, navy blazer. what’s with people who dress fancily to fly? is it specifically to fly or do they dress that way regardless of circumstances? i love/hate those people.

5:55 AM EST: boarding! first-class people first. bitches. they’ll get theirs.

6:05 AM EST: i’m on board and the preppy suit guy is sitting next to me! oh the luck! he said “hi” as he sat down. he’s not so bad i guess.

6:07 AM EST: suit guy is reading some health policy book. tlantz would be jealous.

6:23 AM EST: rolling around the tarmac. the fucking “head rest” is way too high to accomodate my head. if only i could rest my head comfortably to this side or that against a padded support like suit guy is doing. the world is like built for tall people. fucking prejudice.

6:32 AM EST: what’s that noise?!?

6:37 AM EST: TAKEOFF! i say my customary hail mary.

6:45 AM EST: cruising altitude reached. safe for now. i take out my John Adams book and start reading. i’m on p. 132 and want to get to the first set of pictures before falling asleep.

6:52 AM EST: motherfucking “august rush” is the movie? are they for real? even keri russell couldn’t save that shit. i love her. remember “felicity?”

7:23 AM EST: YESSSSSS… complimentary cookie. score.

7:31 AM EST: wow, the smallpox vaccine was introduced to the american colonies in the early 18th century by one of cotton mather’s slaves, named onesimus, who brought the practice from africa. also, abigail adams uses the word “puke” in a letter to john.

7:45 AM EST: will suit guy be weirded out if i take off my bra? it’s digging into my skin. i think i can do it discretely…

9:01 AM CST: napped for a while, now baby in front crying. where is ipod? ahh, play “music quiz” for a while.

9:15 AM CST: “30 rock” on tv!! i saw this one but still. the one where jenna goes on a diet where she eats nothing but paper.

9:22 AM CST: hahahaha…soooo funny…tina fey so amazing…trying to hold in laughter…suit guy staring…

9:34 AM CST: suit guy just went to b-room. how are his chinos and white shirt not wrinkled? and why is he highlighting so furiously in his health policy book? his wife, across the aisle, is highlighting furiously too. it must be their “thing.”

9:15 AM PST: ahhh, he’s a chiropractor i think. going to a conference. that explains it.

9:51 AM PST: we’re heeeeeeere. yay.

There, now it’s like you were with me for the lamest most boring leg of my trip. It got way better after touchdown.

…and I’ll Cry if I Want To

I’m back from San Fran with a vengeance just in time to see the Phillies blow their home opener in the 9th. And the season of bellyaching over the Phillies on the blog has officially begun. Better get used to it. At least until around May when the Phils find their swagger. But for now … fuckin ay.

It was a gloomy day at Citizen’s Bank Park but things were off to a good start with a lead-off double by my main man Jimmy Rollins. It don’t get no better than Rollins. Then closer-cum-starter Brett Myers gave up four runs in the fifth. Utley, Rollins, even Ruiz came through to tie it up at 6-6 by the 7th, but then Flash Gordon, pictured above, shellshocked, took the mound in the 9th and gave up five runs, helped by two errors in the infield. The stupid Nationals took it at 11-6. So much for the ‘08 bullpen. Happy fucking birthday.

Oh yeah it’s my b-day today. Thanks to everyone who came through with the happy birthdays. Emily, thanks especially for the incredibly thoughtful e-card:

More tomorrow on some San Francisco impressions (like I told TLantz, it’s like the whole city’s in a good mood). Right now I’m still overcoming jetlag and the Phillies’ loss.

Hey Hey

Spring is sprung and he is risen. Allelujah. Scroll down as much as you want and you won’t find a giddier mood. And not just because Pluto’s entering retrograde.

The old Brainstorm has been quiet because I’ve been busy as a mofo with work ($), Easter, other work ($$), and now getting ready to go to San Francisco for muchas muchas celebrationes matrimonias (-$$$). HOLLAAAAAA. My Chiquita Claudita is getting married out there and it’s gonna be mad fiesta time all weekend. I’ve been looking forward to it for months.

THEN, I get back here and it’s my birthday (MAS celebrationes) AND, on my very date of birth, the Phillies play their HOME OPENER!!!!1! How perfect. On their March calendar my birthday glows Phillies-red as the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. I’m trying to get some tickets but they’re reserving them for the season ticket holders, which I find discriminatory. McFaddens on the third base line during the game will do if I can convince some people to skip out on work. (Red Alert: calling all cars.)

And then, to back it up a notch, Easter just passed and I’ll warn you up front it’s my FAVORITE holiday. It’s definitely the breeziest of all. Everything becomes clear again at Easter time. The winter is over and sunny pastel sweetness takes over. Oddly enough, Easter makes me appreciate the ground in a new way. Maybe it’s because of the tulips, or a subconscious memory of an Easter egg hunt (or just the picture of the one at the end of “Steel Magnolias”), or that over this past weekend I smelled the foul smell of fresh thawed earth for the first time this season. Down in that cold, putrid ground, something lives and will flourish. Braving the darkness pays out big time with the fullness of life. What was dead no longer is.

Yeah, my spiritheologicality is most awake(ned) at Easter. On Sunday morning before my day really began I finished The Great Divorce by Clive Staples Lewis. It’s an allegory of physically traveling between Earth and Heaven. It’s about making decisions in real time that eviscerate the distinction of time, precipitously writing the future and retroactively determining the past; and about accepting the ability to shake off everything but the unshakable, so you can follow the joy-emanating solid people deep into the mountains of perfection and come to see the face of God. Um, sign me up? I’ve been thinking on it for days. I wrote a half a post about it in a hurry on Sunday but couldn’t finish up for taking off for ham-and-candy-town. Maybe I’ll go back and retrofit it down in the April 23 spot below. Don’t judge.

So I’m sorry for all the exuberance up there but, honestly, no textbox toolbar or (X)HTML code could offer enough character alteration options to adequately represent my elated state of mind.

Okay I’m officially beyond tired. More tomorrow.

Richardson Endorses Obama

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is on CNN as I type endorsing Obama. Richardson, out of the race long enough to grow a beard and for people to possibly forget that we were talking about him getting the number 2 spot on Hillary’s ticket back in the fall, said that he was swayed by Obama’s speech on race and thinks Obama alone can unite the country.

Will this turn the tide for Hispanic voters?

Also, Biden, you’re up. Who’s it gonna be?