World Cup Fever

I was all set to write up a short, angry post about the World Cup and how moving to 48 teams has ruined all my Christmases forever.  Germany dispatches Curacao 7-1, and that's that -- mediocrity reigns.  But then Spain immediately shits the bed against (checks internet again) Cape Verde in a scoreless tie and here we are.  And despite losses, Iraq, Haiti, and Jordan have all put in worthy performances

So what the hell do I know?

And America and South Korea (my two teams, basically) are off to fantastic starts.

Update:  Congo just tied Portugal.  What even is football?

Disclosure Day: Wut I Thunk (Minor Spoilers!)

Spielberg has admitted this is his spiritual successor to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Which is great, because I'll take sci-fi speculative Spielberg over dreary historically "accurate" Spielberg any day.  Throw in some of Christopher Nolan's Inception as well.  As for the meat of the film, the first half is a colossal bore.  It's a first contact story and really doesn't need the depth of explanation provided (reminiscent, of all things, of Ghostbusters and the Keymaster needing to find the Gatekeeper).  And we all already know about Roswell, New Mexico!  Americans love the conspiracy shit, they really don't need it spelled out for them!  But the film eventually hits its stride, things fall into place, and I'd say it sticks the landing pretty well.  Another problem though: the corporate bad guys are appropriately well armed and, well, bad.  But even they seem to silently admit at the end that a decades-long coverup wasn't worth it given that the alternative is peace on Earth, forever.  Ultimately, it's peak Spielberg both for better and for worse.

Three animatronic cardinals out of five!

The Living Is Easy

I'd say for the last ten years my primary reading has been fiction, with some forays into history.  I'm trying to read more poetry these days though, like when I was a much younger man.  In the past year I've re-read Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin, both very much worth my time.  (I'd forgotten how damn funny Plath is, biography be damned.)  I came upon this poem -- "Places with Terrible Wi-Fi" -- and had to buy the book by J. Estanislao Lopez.  Along with new stuff, I've got plans to reconnect with T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson before the summer ends.

And things are good.  I'm going down to North Carolina in August to check out houses.  I'm thinking the US men make it out of the group stage then get crushed (typical, really, and not all that bad for a Football / Basketball county).  It's hot and humid.  Ultimately, I'm just excited to be leaving Frederick.  Some charms, but mostly boring and filled with rednecks.  And while I realize I'm moving to the South, at least I'll have good beaches down there to visit.

Not All Experiments Succeed

America is facing a pretty essential question right now -- What happens when a Democracy has a critical mass of folks (roughly one-third) who are too dumb to act and / or vote in their own self interest?  Who will vote for somebody hurtling towards dementia with his only goal being to loot the US treasury for himself and his family?

Granted, even Socrates knew this could be an issue.

Brotherly Love, City of

Greetings from Philadelphia, in particular the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood!

Why am I in the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood, your might ask?  It's a long story!

My Dad, who passed almost three years ago, was a scientist with the Department of Agriculture.  He got sent around the world (Africa and Asia mostly) to help local farmers and scientists grow more food using advanced (or in some cases, quite primitive but effective) agricultural techniques.  He met many fellow scientists along the way, and developed many friendships.

So in the 1980's, he helped with getting visa sponsorship for an Indian colleague and his wife (a medical doctor).  It's a complicated story, and one that almost didn't work out, but in the end my Dad helped these two very accomplished people and their daughter settle in the United States.  They had been reaching out to my Dad for years, but due to his hearing being shot and his dementia, he wasn't great about keeping in touch with friends.

In any event me and my sister and my nephew drove up to Philly yesterday for lunch with these very wonderful people (and their daughter and her husband, and assorted grandchildren).

So that's how I ended up outside of an organic Italian restaurant crying, when these folks told me and my sister how the memory of my dad was a blessing for their entire family.

People are complicated.  My dad could be so stern and withdrawn on meeting him, and you might never realize how damn funny he was after a beer and getting to know somebody, anybody, a little bit.

I miss you Dad.  We had such a great time celebrating you yesterday but I have a feeling you already knew that.

Healed!

Worth documenting?  I had some minor surgery yesterday to remove some skin tabs from my armpits.  Kind of embarrassing!  Anyhow, things went fine.  A few hours after I got home the topical wore off though, and He-Man James turned into a baby searching for the aspirin bottle.  Anyhow, I'm trying to be more forward-thinking when it comes to my health, and not putting off (especially easy) encounters with the doctor like this one.

An Educated Populace and Freedom of the Press!

It's 2026 and major news outlets (even the so-called liberal ones!) still breathlessly report Trump statements as if they were facts and / or factual.

It's almost charming at this point.

The Big Move

It's been two and a half years since my Dad passed.  Believe it or not, we're still dealing with some paperwork issues regarding his finances.  This is a good thing, actually, since he had his money in trust that kept most of it quite safe beyond expected taxes.

So lo and behold, here's me at 51 having my own trust written up.  So much adulting, it hurts.  But it would be crazy now to die without one.

So that's probably my primary task right now, along with some related things.  I'm moving from Maryland to North Carolina, likely in early Fall.  I guess it's best to sell your house in the summer?  Like I said, this is all new to me.  I'm getting things done on my house now (needed a new water heater, a Level Two EV charger, a leaky toilet that's hopefully easy to fix) to get it ready.  In addition to much lower taxes in North Carolina (I know, I know, nice things require tax dollars, usually) I'm basically going to be "flipping" my own house (does that make sense?).  Housing prices are much cheaper down there, and what's a modest three bedroom in Maryland can buy a lot more down south.  And really, I'm only looking for a two or three bedroom with a small yard.  Point is, even with modest expectations of sale price I'll be making a decent amount of money moving into roughly the same type and size of house.

I've got my nephew's graduation coming up, then some pet-sitting in July, and in August I think I'll make my physical trip to North Carolina to choose a place.  (It's amazing how much you can do online these days, of course).

I'm excited!  I wish the wheels were turning a bit faster but in the meantime I've been writing and looking into what it would take to start a tutoring business in my new home state.  I'm qualified to substitute teach down there (like here in Frederick, the standards are quite low) so I'll probably do some of that to get a start.

I'm reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, and it's nuts.  I'm looking up two or three words every page due to what must have been his deep knowledge of Latin and Greek.  I'm in book three now, and things are clicking into place -- this series is insane.  It's starts off gritty dark fantasy and then, transforms.  The main character is a torturer and executioner with a philosophical streak and a sex addiction.  Not a bad way to spend the spring and early summer!

Sleepytime Chingu

Even this magnificent beast needs his beauty rest.

Moms Are The Best. Dads Too, Usually.

I had an unexpectedly great Mother's Day, believe it or not.  My sister (herself a great mom) had a brunch at home with some of her amazing female mom friends.  It was all very pleasant.  I drank one beer.  I got to watch the Orioles actually win a game.

My own mom died when I seventeen, of cancer.  It was the month before I graduated from high school.  It was 32 years ago.

I look at that number "32" and I swear someone must be trying to play a trick on me.

Anyhow, best wishes to all the moms, and dads, and kids, and orphans out there.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Republicans are allowed to gerrymander as they please.  Democrats are not.

Any Democrat worth his or her salt must now realize a) there is no "going back" to the way things were before Trump and b) to follow rules that the GOP no longer abides by is to capitulate and appease.