Stop—in the name of all that’s holy—using Barack Obama’s last name to begin new words?

Obamanation instead of abomination.

Obamapologists for Obama apologists.

It’s worse than the whole “TomCat,” “Bennifer” thing we had going a while back which blissfully seems to have run its course.

I don’t like him either, but enough already.

Youngest son came through heart surgery well. All are relieved.

At least, not anymore.  Not blogs.  Not like I used to.  I think this might be the first time that I really just don’t have the time, over an extended length of time, to read blogs.

Not even my faves.  OK, I still keep up with Veaj.  But that’s about it.

Not that I don’t open your sites.  I do.  Every morning I go to my own blog and open all my frequent reads links.  Every one.  Then, during the day, I try to go through them.  But it just doesn’t happen at all.  Indexed sometimes.  KJ.  OverThinker, Diary of Why.  Amber, sometimes.  But not on any consistent basis.

And I was actually hoping to start interviewing again.  I did these recorded phone interviews with people that were really fun.  Of course, I had the time then to go through the recording and improve the sound quality piece by piece.  I really didn’t like my job then.  I’m in a new one now which takes up way more time. 

So that’s my story.  I write when the mood strikes me.  I read rarely.

I miss it.  Finding new blogs for you to read was something that I really, really enjoyed. I hope to be able to once again.

I’m just tired.  Really, really tired.

Damn You, The Wire!

It’s sort of sad that I can truthfully say that the show is just as good the second time around.

I did that for a while with ThirtySomething.  It played on USA, or whatever that Chicago-based channel was, every night at 11pm.  They’d go through the entire series, pilot to series ender, and then start over.  I watched the whole series in college about 4 times.  I still count as one of my favorite episodes of any TV show the one where Gary dies (sorry if that was a spoiler).  The whole series really had great closure in the episodes that followed Gary’s death.  Michael leaving the ad firm, Miles begging him to stay.  The fight for control.  Now that I’m the ThirtySomething, I’d like to watch that series again.  When I was watching last, I was about 22.  Life is a little different 16 years later.  I think I’d appreciate it more.

Our live-in help quit this morning because, she said, I wasn’t nice to her.  I thought I was nice enough.  I tried to say good morning and good evening every day.  If she had stayed longer than 3 weeks, she’d learn I was a little grumpy in the morning.  I go back and forth, however.  On the one hand, she’s a person who deserves respect, she takes care of my children when my wife can’t, etc.  On the other hand, she’s an employee and not a member of the family.  So while she deserves common courtesy, anything above that is voluntary.

Thoughts, Internet?

Where was I?  Oh yes, tired.

All I want to do is go to sleep.

And I played tennis last night and lost badly.  So let’s just say that I’m ready for this week to end.

My son is in my bed right now.  He came in a few minutes ago, while I was watching The Wire on my iMac.  He climbed on the couch at the foot of the bed, and went right over onto the bed, curling up next to my wife.

My wife really doesn’t like it that he comes into bed every night.  He wakes her up with his flailing around.  He eventually ends up sleeping across the bed, with his feet on me and his head on her hip.  She can’t sleep and it makes her cranky.  So she often asks me why I let it happen, night after night.

See, here’s the thing.  My son is going through this phase where he has bad dreams.  Monsters and witches are mean to him.  He wakes up screaming for us.  I go in and calm him down, telling him that he’s OK, and that his brother and sisters are OK too.  I do that once or twice early in the evening, and then around 11pm-12am, he comes in.

Why do I let this happen?

Here’s this little boy, the cutest thing ever, who knows with a child’s certainty, deep down all the way to his soul, with no doubt whatsoever, that his daddy can make the monsters go away.

My G-d, how could I possibly keep him out?

Nothing in my life has ever been as fulfilling as comforting him.  Nothing has even come close.

I just finished Mark Steyn’s book, “America Alone.”

Please go buy it.

In fact, I feel so strongly about how good this book is that I’ll buy it for you.  If you want to read a truly incredible book, and you’re willing to give me your address (you can email it directly to hank.lnu at that mail site that google runs) then I’ll send you a copy.

Autographed, if you want it.

Of course, it’ll be my autograph, but still.

I’ve barely time to do anything.  I’m up at 4:45am because I have to catch a 5:34am train because I have 7:30am meetings.  Then I work all day.  I get home around 9pm.  I haven’t slept well, haven’t seen my kids in days.  I’m arguing with the wife, mainly because of the no-sleep and no-kids things make me grouchy.  And I’m underpaid (though I’m perfectly willing to admit that in today’s economy I’m lucky to have a job and also that everyone feels that they’re underpaid).  

And I’m just so damn tired.

So why am I up at 11:15pm instead of asleep?  Because I’m stupid.  I’m into this new TV show, The Wire.  Best show on television.  Up there with the Sopranos.  Funny how two of the best shows ever on television are about the same thing: the Baltimore police department.  The Wire is.  And the other is Homicide: Life on the Street.  That was an awesome show.  Andre Braugher was one of the best actors on TV, ever.  There was this one scene I remember, where he goes into the box (the interview room) with a guy who was really stupid, but innocent.  And the detectives knew he was innocent.  But the Brass wanted a confession.  So Andre goes into the box and intellectually maneuvers this guy into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit.  The scene was awe inspiring.

But I digress.

Why are people so surprised that I’m right wing?  I was talking to some people today who were harshing on the President, and asked me essentially what I hated most about the guy.  I said that I was the wrong person to ask because I’m in the 26% who still likes him.  They all looked at me like I had two heads.  Anyone who knows me at all knows that I’m completely conservative.  Big Ann Coulter fan.  Michelle Malkin.  Jonah Goldberg.  Mark Steyn.  Daniel Pipes.  Jay Nordlinger.  Basically the entire National Review.  They’re right and everyone else is wrong.  Dangerously wrong.  And slightly delusional.  Wrong and delusional are fine if you’re talking about baseball, and how you actually like the Yankees and not the Red Sox.  That’s wrong and delusional.  But wrong and delusional when you’re talking about people who want to kill my kids is not something I can ever take lightly.  Or excuse.  Or usually even stay silent about.

But I digress again.

This was really going to be a short post about me being tired and unhappy.  How did I get onto that other crap?

Can someone please give me suggestions on how to make myself happier?  And nothing about better living through modern chemistry.  I need some activities that will take my mind away from money troubles, from tiredness, feeling underappreciated, all that crap.

How about it, my dear Reader?  Any suggestions?  And if it’s location based, remember that I’m in the City.  The Big Apple.  The City that Never Sleeps.

Ah, yes, the original point.

Good night.

[Hey, I'm in the suburbs.  I can sleep a little.]

When do you hold the door

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

At what point in the hall must a person be before you hold the door
for them?

It’s a LONG hallway.

Sometimes you just know when someone is going to love something.  You feel it, when you know a person well enough.  Like I knew that she would love the fact that every morning there are whole families of snails on my front walkway, I know she’ll love this: lion cub hugs.

Enjoy.

Tennis Anyone?

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

Game ended before it started, but the backboard was a fearsome
opponent on this summer day.

Happy Vernal Equinox everyone.