I expected Tuesday to be boring and I was prepared for that, even looking forward to some “alone time” to do those personal hygiene, shine shoes, pick up the clothes on the bedroom floor type duties that we all have.
Again, I went and got myself a simple meal and bought some new DVDs: Sin City, Vanity Fair and The Machinist.
After eating a sandwhich and puttering, I went to the grocery for a week’s worth of stuff and rather overbought, if you know what I mean. I saw pretty things I wanted to eat right then and they are almost certain to go bad in the fridge before I get to them, but bachelors always hope they will fix themselves decent meals right up until they run out and grab fast food death in our deathmobiles.
Late, emailing my sister in S.C. and listening to the soft jazz of KGOU, getting ready to do the quiet things one does to prepare for bed, I got a call from the lovely Juliet asking me if I’d like to get a spot of tea. Veddy British, actually.
We talked until well after Starbucks closed, sharing heartfelt sentiment and crass business advice and little personal jokes (as in the way she can’t stop using the word “actually”).
Tuesday must not be all that boring because I’m just now coming to work at noon on Wednesday.
I’d best beware my heart with the lovely Juliet, I think.
Can Pres. Bush Be Serious?
President Bush today defended his choice of Harriet Miers as his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court by telling conservatives that he “knows her heart.” Really? He knows the heart of a 60-year-old unmarried Dallas corporate lawyer? She’s been described as his “work wife”. Is he serious? I smell bullshit and, having abundant experience with bullshit, I’m quite sure I know that smell.
To liberal critics of his choice, President Bush had the unmitigated gall to call her the “most qualified” choice available in the entire country. I’m queasy and can taste the puke in the back of my mouth at hearing that. It’s so wrong on so many levels. Considering her record (her official bio is on this blog), I only personally know about 100 lawyers more qualified. In fact, I wonder if the ABA will rate her as qualified according to their standards. I would be shocked by her nomination to the TEXAS Supreme Court, were I Texan and that had been proposed, much less the nation’s highest court.
Karl Rove must be too busy with his own legal troubles in the Valerie Plame Affair to ride herd over Bush or the president has truly lost his intellectually undisciplined mind. Even as a joke, that isn’t funny.
Calendar Note
My regularly scheduled Thursday OCAM rooftop appearance will be cancelled this week in order to help my son Jack pick out clothes from the closet of the generous Doug Parr. Many of you know that Jack got out of the French Quarter after Katrina with only the clothes on his back. I’ve contributed about 1/3 of my own wardrobe, but I’m his father. Doug’s offer to share his terrific wardrobe with Jack (although Pat G. I think, has something to do with this) is a kindness that marks him once again as one of Oklahoma City’s most genuinely wonderful guys. RE: earlier about Bush; Doug would make a far better choice to the U.S. Sup. Ct., but since he has a brain, I suppose he’s disqualified as far as Bush is concerned.
Rant
The cold front is coming into town as I write. Most of the folks I know are dead ready for the end of the warm weather and are welcoming this fall cool down. Fine and well. I’m less happy by far. I’ve had to put up the top on the Miata. I know quite well that we will still have some fine days ahead, but I also know that this cold front is the grandfather of others to follow and that in the last week of February and the first two weeks of March these same friends are going to be begging for the weather we had yesterday, not realizing that they’ve wished it away. As Will Rogers once said: “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Owning a ragtop means watching the weather like a farmer, always on the lookout for rain, wind and cold. Soon enough we’ll be bundling up and uncomfortable in our bulky sweaters and coats and gloves and hats, freezing in the out of doors and burning in the indoors. I prefer our seasons to the always “perfect” San Diego weather. I look forward to the fall foilage and the spring blooms. However, the older I get, the more I dislike the cold and freezing winds out of the north.
I suppose part of my “gripe”, my rant, has to do with clothes. Do you put up the summer clothes and get out the winter woolens? Too early. Do you dress for the warm afternoons or the chill evenings? Carry a sweater? Good shoes or shoes that can stand rain and slush? A hat is a daylong commitment — once it’s on your head, your hair will never be right for the rest of the day — but it isn’t something you can wear all day at the office and in court or church or such.
I know. Children starving in the Sudan and American G.I.s dying in Iraq and I’m worried about my clothing choices. Does anyone wish to express surprise that I’m vain? I thought not.