Monday, November 30, 2015

I am a Little Divided

"do I stay or run away and leave it all behind..."

I am not a real celebrity whore.  I've met celebrities before, they are regular people; often shorter than I am and unspectacular but for what they have done.  That being said Dave Grohl is one guy I would truly be "geeked" to meet and probably would be speechless if I could.

How many people can say they have had as much effect on music over such an extended period of time.  I would say his collective success with both Nirvana and the Foo Fighters put him in the Paul McCartney level of stardom.  It is rare that one individual finds so much success with multiple groups and as an singular artist over an extended career.  When you consider his prowess on the guitar, the drums, as a vocalist, a writer, and a wicked funny actor in all of his videos you realize how rare it is the air he occupies among rock icons.  He has accomplished this with much aloofness and for that I admire him.

Even though we think of Grohl as a Seattle grunge dude from his work as the front man for the Foo Fighters and the drummer for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, he actually grew up right here in good old NOVA (that's Northern Virginia to anyone not from the area).  Specifically, he attended Annandale High just inside the Beltway.  In the late 80's while still a teen, Grohl began playing and touring with the DC Punk band, Scream.  While with Scream he met and befriended Buzz Osborne with the Melvin's.  Osborne would later introduce Grohl to Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic with Nirvana. Grohl would then join Cobain and Novoselic for that famous Nevermind album recorded in spring, 1991.

I did see the Foo Fighters in concert once with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Unfortunately I did not get to meet Dave Grohl but pound for pound it was the best concert I have ever seen!

Anyway, I got my satellite radio back the other day and heard this song and thought about today's post or really the intro as I always like something to segue from you know!  :)

Oh right, good news; I got my satellite radio back!  You might have read how I lost it here.  But the Beaumont's got a new car last week.  Shannon will be driving the new car,of course, leaving Ryan with the older newer car, which in fact has my beloved XM radio.  The new car doesn't have satellite radio (yet) but it does have the requisite USB port and Shannon has agree just to play XM radio and all her downloaded tunes through her phone whilst in her new car - she is so good to me!

So with that in mind perhaps I should give you a little update on life

Shannon - Nothing really new here, our relationship can still be defined as somewhere between platonically ambivalent to asexually irritating.  Over the holidays she always seems a little friendlier and it seems as if we are on the verge of a breakthrough but then I'm reminded that she tends to like to wear me as her faux husband accessory on special occasions and at certain times of the year.  And once the special occasion is over gladly puts me back in the drawer for next year.

Work has been stressful for her over the past year.  Her new job is a challenge.  It seems this time with more money she has gained a degree of personal financial responsibility.  Although she still does find a way to spend it all.  At least now it's been for new vehicles and house upgrades rather than expensive vacations.


She is, of course, as gorgeous as ever.  She looks better in her 40's than she did in her 20's.  That's not *ullshit either because I'm not writing this just to have sex with her, she ain't reading this you know!


Gone with the Wind is always on over Thanksgiving and the family watched as we always do.  She really is like Scarlett.  As one of my favorite songs goes "like Scarlet O'Hara loved no one but wanted them all...."


Shannon will never divorce me because she knows she has it good, it just galls her to admit it.  Just like Scarlett is too proud to need Rhett, Shannon will always hold onto her ambivalence like a protective shield.


Oh well, I guess I'm just happily gullible like Rhett.  As Rhette says -


Why? Maybe it's because I've always had a weakness for lost causes, once they're really lost. Or maybe, maybe I'm ashamed of myself. Who knows? 


Like Scarlett Shannon might reply - "marriage, fun? Fiddle-dee-dee. Fun for men you mean." 


One thing I have been thinking about for probably over a year is writing a post in Sandee's voice.  As you may know I've written many posts from Shannon's perspective.  It has been surprisingly easy and what I think would be fairly accurate if I do say so myself.  The odd thing is, is that as easy as it has been to write in Shannon's voice, every time I try to conceive of a post in Sandee's voice I just can't. I even have the song for the lyric title picked out (I May Hate Myself in the Morning by Lee Ann Womack), but Sandee's words never seem to course through me and through my fingers and onto the keyboard.  I'm not sure why.  Sure I've know Shannon for 20 years and Sandee for just over three. But I do know Sandee and we are so much more similar than Shannon and I are, at least on the outside.  The fact that Shannon's voice comes so easily to me and Sandee's does not worries me. Perhaps I am not so dissimilar to the cranky, curmudgeonly, future Leona Helmsley/Martha Stewart/Miranda Priestly I live with.  Or maybe that is me too?



Sandee - I still speak with Sandee often, either texting or e-mailing a few times a week.  I've not seen her in just over a month.  Her husband has actually been traveling a lot recently.  It would be convenient to be together but I know she needs and wants more.  She really needs to be rid of her husband.  She doesn't need someone making it easier to stay with him and that is just what I've become.  I would love to make a jump, I think we could be great together.  Then again, I was never good at taking the obvious path.

I'm going to really try to write that post in Sandee's voice.  And I'm sure there will be more Sandee posts in the future.  We still have to see Mockingjay part II to finish out the series together.


Work - Wow, work has been crazy and the biggest reason why I can't really blog anymore.  The good thing is that I'm never bored.  In fact, I don't really find myself missing blogging and the stuff I have to do for work is really more fascinating and that's a good thing.  I don't see that changing soon which is why I will continue to decelerate on the blog until my eventual and inevitable denouement.  But who wants to read a blog about work, I don't think a blog about the Fascinating Hospitality Adventures of a Work-a-holic Gone Bad is going to sell anytime soon!


Ashley Madison - Which brings us to Ashley, that gal that got us here in the first place. The last I wrote about her was a pretty bad time.  A smart guy would have logged on one more time and then deleted his profile.  In fact I did log on one more time back in September with a real good intention of shutting the whole thing down.  I hesitated.


Often it's when you hesitate that things happen. 


You see to get interest in AM you have to stay active.  When you are active you get hits when ladies are looking because you are in that all important (logged on within last 7 days) pool.


It just so happens that the day I logged on to Ashley Madison for what I expected to be the second to last time, I got a wink from a certain local lady.  I logged on and took a look at her.  She seemed pretty cool.  I was interested.  OMG, she sent a picture pass key?  No lady ever does that.  Hey, she's pretty cute.  You know what, I have just 5 more credits.  Maybe I should fire up one last message with those last credits just for old times sake.


So I wrote to her.


Next day I log on and sure enough she has responded!


I click to read the message and then...


DAMN!  Even though you can always respond to a lady who has responded to you free of charge (so to speak if you don't click "priority message"), apparently once you have run out of credits you can't then respond.  Crap, what a rip-off!


So of course in my disdain for this overly capitalistic procedure I deleted my account!


If you believe that, you believe Donald Trump is going to be able to negotiate trade agreements with Mexico!


So, once more I anted up to old Ashley Madison to see what Sunny had written to me.

And that seems like an excellent place to stop for today.


"it's times like these you learn to live again
it's times like these you give and give again...."



Oh hey, one more thing.  Be careful with that crazy kookie Ashley Madison gang.  

I got this just today:

At Ashley Madison, your discretion is our #1 priority. If you ever run into any discretionary problems please contact our customer support department at 1-866-742-2218 and we will work with you to find a solution. Our personal representatives have years of experience helping our customers keep their Ashley Madison use entirely private.

Your payment in the amount of $19.99 for the Member Initiated Contact has been confirmed and your account has been updated. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service by replying to this email or by sending an email to customerservice@ashleymadison.com.

This feature will give you access to read and respond to unsolicited member initiated communication for 30 days. To change or cancel your subscription go to your Credit History. See our Terms for full details.

Seems like for the very affordable price of $19.99/year I can conveniently respond (free of any per unit charge) to all the online hosts, hookers, and Russian brides I want!  What a bargain!  Shame on me for going back in and deleting but you know I'd never know a good deal if it hit me in the face. But I guess you can't blame a Married Dating site for trying, God bless them!  :)

Saturday, November 21, 2015

You're Working for the Clampdown

Getting posts out these days is really hard.  I have been incredibly busy at work.  Often that is bad but the projects I'm working on are fascinating and I'm enjoying being a part of so many new things.  So the days go by and the time I had spent in the past blogging gets eaten away but work related thought, how inefficient of me!


But there are constants in life and I still love sports, humor, and politics and Sandee continues to be a dear friend and confidant, and sometimes other.  I can only hope she feels likewise of me.  As we have meandered through these opening debates Sandee and I have started a new tradition of live blogging to one another (so to speak) about what we hear.



So here is the Ryan/Sandee commentary from the last witty Republican debate:


Ryan - Why isn't anybody talking about building a wall on ***** St!  Have you seen the hookers and crack heads down there.

Sandee - LOL! Best idea ever!

Ryan - Why aren't these RINO's talking about the guy talking to himself and peeing on the side of the road off **** St!  He needs to be deported to Baltimore!

Sandee - You're nuts

Ryan - And get off the back of small business owners and let the free market open more strip clubs and liquor stores.

Sandee - They are taking Facebook questions, ask them!

Ryan - Put more money in the private sector?  Has Rand Paul ever been to the Budweiser skybox at the Verizon Center?  If wings and beer will pay down the deficit great, but I think most of that excess profit goes to perks and golden parachutes.  The only trickle down is at the urinal!

Sandee - You are such as smart guy.. Can't wait to hear you say these guys have converted you.

Ryan - OMG, I think I actually saw Rand Paul get a hard on talking about taxes and fiscal policy.

Sandee - LOL, is that an good image for you!  :)

Ryan - Oh yeah, will you monetize me baby!  Or do you want to be on the Gold Standard!

Sandee - you know I'm a golden girl!

Ryan - Oh Jeb is like a salted caramel rice cake, it promises to satisfy your Bush yearnings but you take a bite and you just have to say BLECH!

Sandee - LOL, agreed on Jeb.  Generic W just isn't satisfying.

Ryan - Oh snap Marco who cares about deficit spending when you get to bomb 3rd world countries!  And it's great for Fox ratings, all good!

Ryan - Oh come on Ted, no sugar subsidies???  Is your platform really going to be taking candy from the baby!

Ryan - I need my chocolate

Sandee - Your spinning now Ryan Ted isn't taking candy from any babies, you and the lame-stream Liberal media.  Vote for Marco then!  He's super sweet!  I don't think you need any chocolate, sir... You are hyper enough!

Ryan - Well I'd love to spin sugar into Cotton candy but Ted ain't gonna let me write that off as a deductible!

Ryan - Donald, I like my Chinese currency manipulation; otherwise my next I Phone upgrade will be totally higher and that would be a total bummer!  :)

Sandee - You always get me laughing during my debates & then I can't take them seriously, lol.


Ryan - That's the point!  How can you listen and take seriously a guy with a Flock of Seagulls haircut trying to talk about deporting 5 million people who do things nobody else wants to!!!

Sandee - Oh please, you know you'd love to see his wife be First Lady!

Ryan - OMG, I didn't see the Khardashians in the Republican Facebook word cloud!

Sandee - Hahahahahasss, stop! LOL

Ryan - Thinking on it now, I could be convenced to vote for Ivanka and Ivana as 2nd and 3rd lady.

Sandee - Are you saying they look better than Mother Hillary.

Ryan - She's not the worst looking lady in the world.  I said I would vote for her, I didn't say I'd poke her on social media!  :)

Sandee - wow, you went there!  :)

Ryan - You know I think I heard this debate once in the locker room in high school before a basketball game.  "dude, let's go over there and totally kick the s*it out of those a holes...., they are douch bags, we can kick their ass any f**kin' day of the week..!"

Sandee - LOL, yeah I think you're slap happy :)

Ryan - So for real Marco keeps doing better, I guess cream does rise to the top.

Sandee - Oh and he's some sweet sexy latin cream!

Ryan - You know I'm 1/8 Spanish, does that make me dolce de leche enough for you!

Sandee - Oh yeah!  But dolce would make you Italian and that's too liberal!

Ryan - There you go correcting details on me again, you fact checker you!

Ryan - Hey did you know the average American can only listen to Ted Cruz for 4 seconds before they start gagging!

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/study-average-american-can-stand-four-seconds-of-ted-cruz

Sandee - Then don't look, just listen; you Dems are mean!

Ryan - Yeah I've heard Hillary can be a real pistol!

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/clinton-compiles-mental-list-of-people-to-destroy

Ryan - I get all my news from the Borwitz Report and the Daily Show!

Sandee - She needs to add her name to her own list.  Hey you should be writing for these "news" reports, SERIOUSLY! Maybe I'll secretly send in some of your material.  Big $$ for you!

Ryan - You'll hate me for this one, but more bad news for Jeb!

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/george-w-bush-enjoying-new-status-as-smarter-bush

Sandee - Shame on you.  Now I feel dirty for laughing at my Georgie!

Ryan - Well just try not to feel too much worser.  See me and W has a soft spot in your heart because we give you so many opportunistical moments to correct our Englishese!  :)

Sandee - That you do!  :)

Ryan - I better say good night!  So good night

Sandee - nitey night, sleep tight and dream big free market dreams....

Ryan - will do





And BTW,

Vive la France!

My sincere hope is that the events in Paris and the bombing of the Russian plane on the Sinai are a tipping point for the world.  As with 9/11 there is a common denominator here to rally around.  I hope we don't lose focus on petty things.  I am encouraged that Europe, America, and Russia are talking; that Iran seems to be staying on the sideline (knowing how terrible these recent actions are).  I hope we do what is necessary to eradicate the evil in the Middle East not because we need cheap oil but because it is the right thing to do for the good people within that area.  And then I hope we get the hell out and don't go looking for the next fight.