Tick Tock

I've been getting around a bit more the last few days.  It's warmed up a bit and I have been more disposed to walk around and hit the hardware store, grocery store, etc.  You know, just like normal living people do. 

I've also really been enjoying my Kindle.  It's nice to be able to carry a selection of books in my coat pocket.  Reading and I have had a life-long love affair and this is the best relationship aid for that I've ever seen.

I went and got registered for a new round of cardiac rehab today.  It's within walking distance from my place, which is really convenient.  It's not exactly the Lakeview Athletic Club, but it's more exclusive.  Maybe I'll stop wheezing halfway up a flight of stairs.

Not Your Father's Boystown

I went out for dinner last night, about 9.  I had some really good Thai at a place called Taste of Asia.  Really good food.  After, I'm walking down Broadway, thinking I might stop in at one of the local bars to have a couple of drinks.  I hadn't been out on NYE for decades, so I figured I'd just have a couple of beers and do some people-watching.

It was a much younger crowd.  Like, the bulk of the people out were the age I was when I first lived there 25 years ago.  It was depressing.

I know there are older people in my neighborhood.  I guess they were all staying in or had plans at the more expensive hotels and clubs and such.  People who planned in advance.  People who had other people to spend the evening with.

So.  Even on the last day of the year, I'm not quite in synch with the rest of the crowd.

Please, God.  Let 2011 be a step in the right direction.

Resolved

WHEREAS, your faithful blogger has had the worst year of his life; and

WHEREAS, in two days, the year 2010 will finally, thankfully, be dead and buried; and

WHEREAS, this shit gotta stop.

RESOLVED,

In the year 2011, your faithful blogger shall finish his casebook, finish his novel, eat healthier, start living his life more on schedule, learn to relax more, ponder less, and be more connected to the world at large.  Maybe even get a fucking job.

Feel free to begin placing odds on how soon I crap out on these goals.  Sous Chef suggests setting up a pool.

Tote that barge

I have a confession to make.  Being a lawyer can sometimes be tedious.  It can be even more tedious when you aren't getting paid to do the work.  But, at least research and writing can keep the circuits sharp and clean.  Wouldn't want to forget what it is I get paid to do.

I used to think that doing professional association work was a good way to network.  And for some, I suppose it is.  I know a lot of lawyers in my field and they know me.  I like many of them, respect nearly all of them.  But I have never gotten a client or an engagement out of it.  It's never gotten me a job. 

Feh.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Post-Christmas

Well, the brisket came out well.  The weather cooperated so it didn't take an extra 5 hours to get it done.  I made a killer sauce to go with it.  The kids were a lot of fun.  Wife was civil.  For the most part.

I got my Kindle.  It's great for reading on public transportation.  Lightweight, and it carries a big library.  I love it already.  Oddly enough, they've cleaned up my part of town in the last couple decades.  No hookers, no dealers, not even more than a couple of homeless drunks.

Fortunately, they live far enough away that the trip home took almost the whole evening.  By the time I got home, there was only a couple of hours left to notice that I was all alone on Christmas.

Why Believe in God

Ricky Gervais is currently getting alot of media attention for his discussion of why he is an atheist.  It's printed as an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal and getting big hits on YouTube.

One has to admit, the humanist view he expresses, that there is no God because science purports to prove He doesn't exist, or at least that no omnipotent, immortal, entity that may or may not be vaguely anthropomorphic does exist, has a certain persuasive feel.  A similar view was taken by Bertrand Russell a generation or two ago, and the argument is no less refutable now than it was then.

However, it strikes me that not being able to prove God exists, even being able to prove the near-impossibility of a God-type deity existing is no more proof that God doesn't exist.  It comes down to a question of faith either way.  The humanist approach places its ultimate faith in Man and the spiritual approach places its faith in God. 

As it happens, science, at least theoretical physics, is getting closer to proving the that God and science are intertwined, inexorably.  Higgs Boson, or the God particle, is coming closer and closer to being discovered every day.  This brings us ever closer to finding a Unified Theory of everything.  Will we find that everything includes that undefinable bit in back of it all that can neither be explained or explained away?  And is that undefinable the God that the spiritualists, myself included, believe in.

Working up That Holiday Cheer

I am beginning to get some sense of holiday spirit.  I was wondering how this was goiing to play out, with me hitting the bricks three weeks before Christmas.    And I know it's going to be tough taking a train home from the house on Christmas night.  I was thinking about this last night as I was drifting off to sleep.

I flashed on a Christmas 26 years ago.  I was taking the Clark Street bus down from Evanston, where I had jumped off the Metra train from Wife's parent's house.  I hopped off at Clark and Deming and the only person on the street was a hooker.  It was really, really cold and she was looking for a chance to get inside for a while.  I could have had my bells rung for about $20.

But I wasn't up for it.  I was in love, I was cheap, and I wasn't comfortable with the idea of paying for sex.  Of course, I became more comfortable over the years, which is one of the reasons I am where I am today.

So that's why I was wondering whether or not this Christmas was going to do it for me.  I think I'll still be bummed out riding that bus.  But I will have a good time all day before then.  And I'm not going to cut a deal with the hooker.