Blepharospasm

For the last two weeks I have had an eye twitch. More precisely, it is a lower-eyelid muscle spasm. Luckily for me, it has a name and reasonable remedy. Blepharospasms are most frequently attributed to stress and a lack of sleep, both of which I hope to correct over the next two weeks.

I have had wickedness thrust upon me.

I forgot the best part about the last month... Wicked. My mother watched the kids while R and I spent the better part of an afternoon and evening out on the town, in Hollywood. We ate at a shabu shabu restaurant (my fingers are still tired) and went to see Wicked. I have a greater appreciation of storymakers who can see stories within stories and multiple perspectives when none appear to exist.

In response to the question posed by the musical: "Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?" I have had this wickedness thrust upon me.

Post Script - The cast was amazing. When Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty sang together, their voices sounded as one.

Post Post Script - At one point in the production, Fiyero slipped and nearly fell into the orchestra pit, letting slip an expletive. The audience erupted in laughter and cheers which sent the cast into disaster management mode. Both Glinda and Elphaba worked hard to contain their laughter, but eventually succombed, and recovered within thirty seconds via Elphaba's (as Snagglepuss would say... ) exit, stage left.

What happens in the middle

It has been a long time since I last posted. I apologize. With the launch of my facebook campaign for President and other miscellaneous items, I have had little time to submit material to the blogosphere. So one must wonder, what happens inbetween posts?

In the last month, I cooked the thanksgiving meal for nine people, finished all of the preparations for the semester, stained, finished, and installed a new front door, replaced our sliding glass rear door with a winged french door, trimmed-out both doors, wrote two final exams, graded 90 papers, went to Disneyland, remodeled my kitchen, planted the major plants of our front yard, harvested some carrots, played co-host to my mother's visit, played Dad quite a bit, and tried to conduct class as if everything were normal. It seems like there was more, but I can't remember that far back.

Obviously the most prominent was the kitchen, of which I am most impressed. We bought cabinets and appliances on Wednesday and Thursday and started the demolition on Friday night around 6pm. My good friend did a couple hours of demo work and left around 8:30pm. I worked until around 3:30am, then showered and went to sleep. I was up around 7am to help with the kids, back to work at 8am, out the door to take advantage of the free bulk disposal service provided by the city. I made two trips in a borrowed truck. I finished installing the cabinets and counter tops with the help of the same good friend. We finished around 6pm so the we could eat some dinner. I was back to finish the plumbing around 8:30pm. Around 9:45pm I realized that I didn't have all of the necessary pieces, and all of the stores were closed. I tried to finish what I could. (It turns out later that I did have the right pieces to finish the kitchen drain.) I don't shop on Sunday, so the kitchen had to wait until Monday after work. On my way home from work, I bought all of the necessary pieces and had everything except the range hooked up by 9pm. I called a friend to help with the gas line and it was all completed by 5pm on Tuesday. Had I had some guts and an all night hardware store, I think that I could have had it all done by Saturday night. I only really got frustrated with the lack of pieces, a small leak that promptly went away, and the incompatibility of our old gas line with new hookups. After retelling the story, I never want to do that again. Alas, knowing me, I probably will.

Yesterday we received a box from Justin's Nut Butter. While the company may be favoring a highly pragmatic description of their products and services, I can't get over the sophomoric references that are requisite to be made. Having said that, I think I need to stop.

SNL skit

I love it when politicians come out of their shell and act like real people, you know, down to earth. This video needs a SNL makeover to be perfect, but it a great first draft. I love it when she acknowledges that "even this may invite criticism" at 2:29. And of course this is the land of opportunity (at 2:51), for everyone except that turkey.

Standing up for standing up

Mitt Romney's op-ed in the NY Times today was a refreshing take on yet another bailout. Given that Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows for businesses to shed unprofitable contracts, reorganize, and take a moment to think about who is leading their companies, why couldn't we stall a banking bailout bill? I mean it's not like Congress and the companies have done a bad job with the $350bn that we appropriated. Now where did they put it...? Oh yeah, Paulson has refused to tell Congress exactly where it has all gone. That after urging Congress into a very quick authorization of a plan to buy troubled assets from banks and then reversing his position on its viability. Now the bureaucracy has $350bn available to buy stocks in financial companies that couldn't keep themselves afloat. Now that is one sweet deal for someone. Too bad it isn't the general public.

Rumor Control / Confirmation of Your Worst Fear

I have decided after a few long weeks of deliberation, introspection, analysis, and stumping that I am going to run for president of the United States of America in 2012.

I have prepared a list of reasons why I should be our next commander in chief. They are...

1) I will be 35 years old in time for the election, making me eligible.
2) In a democracy, everyone should have a chance at making a difference, so I want mine. If I am bad, you can vote me out.
3) I have a giant brain that is in need of a new problem to solve, no seriously.
4) I am willing to bring in the most knowledgeable and experienced of my friends to help me run this great country (not unlike all other former presidents).
5) I am willing to campaign for the next 3.9 years so that you don't miss election commercials. You can expect some good ones!
6) I promise to provide laughter and hilarity throughout the campaign and my term in office. If not from me, it will come from Saturday Night Live.
7) I have a lot in common with other former presidents.
7a) Like Kennedy and Obama, I have little executive experience
7b) Like Wilson, I am a Professor of Political Science. (Wilson was one of the founders of Public Administration as a discipline.)
7c) Like John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Garfield, and Eisenhower, I am a forehead exhibitionist. Isn't it time for another bald president?
8) I am able to work with all parties, social groups, and economic levels in moving forward. Just check out my campaign pictures!








































I want you to help me! You can join the Facebook group "Tucker for President 2012" and support my cause. I don't want your money, just your enthusiasm.

Whirlwind

With all of the grading, painting, and election work, it has been along time since I posted. I have a major announcement coming in the next few days that I thought I would have ready by last Wednesday. Expect something good in the next few days/hours.

Until then, some updates...

I found out that I burn approximately 1200 calories each day from my 20 mile bike commute. Unfortunately, I have chosen to replace each of those calories on a unit for unit basis with saturated fat, dextrose, or high fructose corn syrup*. If I could ever overcome these three addictions, I might return to my pre-marriage weight of 168.

Between grading and preparing for classes, I repainted the house. We chose a color combination that simply didn't suit the house or our style. It looked as if it belonged on any beach in Latin America or the Mediterranean. Instead of repainting the entire house, I repainted the trim. This means that I have painted every wall and ceiling inside and outside of the house except for both bathrooms and the kitchen. Those are scheduled to be remodeled within the coming year, so I'll be painting them then.

Replacement windows are scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. Guess who will be installing them.

My garden has been a success on many accounts. We have tomatoes, basil, rosemary, a couple of cucumbers, a zucchini, and the start of peas. Wednesday I harvested all of my radishes and planted parilla leaves, spinach, and swiss chard.

And last of all, I made good on a promise I made to R. when we bought the house; we bought a Volvo. I seriously hope that she forgets about the promise that I made about getting a dog.


* I saw an advertisement for corn syrup the other day. They made the point that the caloric value was equivalent to both honey and beet sugar. How far have we come to have ads for ingredients?