NOT a manpurse!

Ok, I have to take a few minutes to clear something up about the briefcase I want.  Several whom have commented or spoken with me about it have referred to it as a “man purse”.  I think the reason some are characterizing it as such is because it is a very nice, high quality item, made from leather, and is bag-ish in nature.  However, I think the difference between a “man purse” and a backpack/briefcase is all in how it is used.  Is the guy carrying his lunch and work papers to the office using a man purse?  The college kid with a backpack with his books… is that a man purse?  The guy using a backpack or briefcase as his carryon luggage on the plane, is that a man purse? 

 To me, a man purse is something you take with you everywhere.  If you go out to eat, you take it.  The movies?  Grab your bag.  To the mall.. take the man purse.  Also, they would tend to be smaller… something along the lines of the satchel that the same leather company that makes my bag also offers.  In fact, they themselves all but refer to the satchel as a man purse and spend the first part of the web page defending the satchel’s masculinity.

 So anyway, all you nay-sayers…  consider my offense at the coolest and most awesomely masculine bag ever created being labeled a “man purse” fully expressed!

The clock is ticking

6 months from now, the leaves will be changing and I will be singing about the glories of fall.  I’ll be talking about watching football and smoking ribs on the Big Green Egg and how fall is my favorite season.  And I’ll mean it.  Really, I will.

But, fall is my favorite “long” period of time here.  Coming some day soon will be my favorite short period of time that occurs every year.  It is a great example of why I love living here in Columbus so much.

A month ago, we had a foot and a half of snow on the ground with sub-zero windchills.  Today it is windy and almost warm.  My favorite time will be in another week or so when the daffodils start to bloom.  I’m not sure who does it…   but every single median or flowerbed ANYWHERE around here will just explode with daffodils.  All along the interstates.  Parking lots.  Side streets.  They’ll be all over the place.  The sun will be warm and brilliant.  The birds will be chirping and chasing each other and me and the boys will play dodgeball in the backyard.  The daffodils only last for a few weeks.  But I simply love it when they bloom.  It puts me in the best mood.  I’ll try to take some pics for you guys when they start to bloom.

Choose Your Own Adventure

 Remember those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books we used to read when we were kids?  I decided to write my own little set up for one.  Don’t know why, but I felt compelled.

Confession

I don’t consider myself materialistic.  Really, I don’t.  I’m sure that even the most materialistic person in the world would probably say that about themselves… but I think I’ve got enough grounds to claim it.  I don’t get caught up in clothes.  My car is pretty old and getting a bit junky.  I don’t have to have the latest and greatest.  Sure, I like my nerd toys, but it isn’t like I’m buying something new every 2 weeks or anything. 

Here lately though, I must confess, I’ve been dying for a purely materialistic purchase.

From the archives — Thanksgiving ‘07

I was home sick yesterday and spent a little while going back through our home movie archives.  I found these from Thanksgiving of ‘07 and thought I’d share them.  I thought they were pretty cute:

It’s a BLIZZARD!!!

Seriously… we had a boatload of snow this weekend. Final tally, according to the news was 20.5″. At our house, it was probably closer to 16″. Still an awful lot of snow for this Georgia boy and his Texan wife. Read on for a multimedia extravaganza recap of the event:

Probably the last of its kind

Sadly, this will probably be my last quasi-political post for a while.  I might bring the topic up again in November, depending on how things shake out.

It seems unlikely that Ron Paul will become the Republican nominee for president.  Which confirms what I’ve suspected for quite some time:  I’m no longer a republican.  Nor am I a democrat.  I guess I’m a paleo-republican.  I’m what republicans used to be before they decided to pander to the religious right and before they decided to use terrorism as a goad to get you to vote for them.

 Nevertheless, today is a good day.

Today, for the first time in my life, I voted for a candidate that I actively supported.  I didn’t vote for the lesser of two evils.  I voted for the right person.  Not only that, but because I now have a political identity, of sorts, I was able to identify several other candidates that I actually felt good voting for. 

What now?  What do we do since our next president will either involve us in countless wars and military commitments or domestic welfare programs that will hasten our coming financial demise?  What do I want for my sons?  Do I want them drafted into the military or paying 50% taxes for the largesse of the current administration?

Neither option is appealing.  My hope is that Ron Paul has started something that will last longer than this presidential campaign and even longer than the next president’s term in office.  My hope is that he’s re-awoken the true conservatives in the nation and people are beginning to realize that the republican party no longer represents true conservativism.  My hope is that the republican party will be forced to re-evaluate itself after the coming democratic victory and it will return to its true roots.  If it refuses to do so, I believe it will eventually die.  Hopefully, it will be replaced by a true conservative party, such as the libretarian or constitution party.  If not, I fear we may move towards a de facto one-party system where the democrats dominate.  The only silver lining there is that our economy won’t long survive that sort of leadership.

So, my short term feelings on the country are quite grim.  I expect things to get worse.  But, maybe enough people have started to pay attention that we will be able to work our way out of it.  One way or the other, I voted my heart today, and it felt great.