Tides

A lot of things going on in my life and the world at large. Some are only ripples in a global sense, but tsunami in personal terms. Others are globally-explicit rogue waves that could dissipate harmlessly or end up crashing against our shores. And then there are the waves being generated nationally from the inside by the derelicts running the wave pool in Washington. Ebbing and waning, low and high tides across the board.

Personally, things are good – the birds are disappearing leaving me with few photography subjects, and I don’t know when I’ll have time to make it down to the shore to catch the migrating shorebirds before they leave. But aside from that, life is going well for the most part. We just got a new kitten (well, we’re renting with the option to buy, I guess), and she’s adorable:

The dogs are not quite sure what to make of her, with Miles mostly ignoring her and Oakley playing nursemaid most of the time. Miko, on the other hand, is not happy with the visitor/possible new addition. Still, she is pretty darn cute, and seems to have taken to us pretty quickly.

One of the only things I can really complain about is that I feel disconnected from my friends lately. I’ve seen almost no one, and even when I do get together for things like poker, I feel almost like I’ve missed everything. Heck, I didn’t even know that my best friend’s wife was pregnant until she was 5 months along – that kind of hurt. Most of it is my own fault – I’ve bailed on countless parties, get-togethers and other things, left early from places because my wife was sick and I wanted to get back, being too busy to actually get together. But it’s come back to bite me in the ass, and now it seems like I never get to see anyone – and I have a reputation for being fairly unreliable for invites. So, from here on out, I vow to be more reliable and social, and to actually reply to emails within 24 hours. Okay, 72.

One of my friends let it known the other day about how he was getting a divorce – and I have to tell you it was a shock. I’ve had friends divorce before (strangely, very few) but this was a shock to the system. I wish him luck and happiness, but it makes me appreciate my wife a little more, even with the struggles we’ve overcome in our marriage. Good luck, man, and there’s a Chimay with your name on it out there when you’re ready.

And last but not least, we have the global arena, that circus of Napoleonic rulers with more bluster and mispronunciations than brains. In this corner, we’ve got Kim Jong Il, ruler of N. Korea firing off nuclear weapons – in an effort to get America to talk to him. Isn’t that kind of like beating up a girls boyfriend in order to get her to notice you? Of all of the crazy rulers out there, this guy frightens me the most. Quadafi? Eunech. Chavez? Loco, but relatively harmless because people KNOW he’s nuts. Khomani – strangely, I see him as the most sane of the bunch, just not willing to sit back and take Bush’s shit when he knows it to be ridiculous. I don’t see him doing anything stupid, but more likely to just sit back while others rip into Bush’s regime, and smile the whole time. But “Dear Leader” is a whole other story. This guy’s touch with reality is somewhat between “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” – on a good day he might only be eccentric – on a bad day, delusional, misanthropic and schizophrenic. For him to have access to a nuclear bomb is more than a little frightening – not that he can hit us directly, but a guy like that is capable of all sorts of things that have no basis in reality. *shudder*

Of course, we have our own delusional leaders – we call them Republicans. From George “Iraq is going fine, the economy is strong and I am Batman” Bush to Dennis “What lurid emails?” Haskert, there is a collective political Alzheimer’s going on with the leaders of this country. Mark Foley is going to be the straw that breaks their back, and they have no one else to blame – he’s everything that the Republicans have been accusing the Democrats of being, and they’ve known about it for at least 2 years. As for Foley, himself: SHUT THE F#&K UP. I don’t care that you went into rehab – that isn’t curing you of sending innappropriate (to say the least) messages to 16-year old boys. Take responsibility for your own psychoses, and pay the piper. It’s funny, because I am a registered Republican, although I don’t recognize this party any longer. If I had my drothers, I swear I would register as a Whig (only because the Green Party and Libertarian candidates of late have been as scary as the Republican and Democrats).

Okay, end rant. Exit stage left. Get to work…