Well, college football. Both Oklahoma teams won and the No. 1 ranked Ohio State lost as did the No. 5 ranked Nebraska so that OU, ranked No. 7, is likely to move up. Just like old times, the second team played almost all the fourth quarter in OU’s 52-0 shellacking of Iowa State. It’ll be all the talk around the watercooler on Monday, no doubt.

In politics, another Tea Party whack job is outed, this time in Florida where a guy with a legit chance to win a congressional race turns out to be a part of the Outlaws Motorcycle gang — and since the bikers are indicted for a RICO conspiracy of murder and drugs it’s correct to call them a gang. The politician uses them for “security” for his political events. In whacko polling news, it looks like a majority of voters polled by Gallup thinks it’s possible for the feds to cut the deficit, cut taxes and not cut Social Security or Medicare. Well, we can go to the moon, can’t we?

None of the rest of you are likely to have known Justice Marian Opala, who died last week, but I knew him and he was a little short guy from Poland and a legal genius. A skirt chaser, he was only about 5 feet tall and loved to drop Latin legal phrases into his opinions. He was in the Resistance and fought the Nazis as a child and then came to America. A very interesting guy.

Closer to home, photographer Tom Lee died at age 53. He was the guy who hauled a church from Nova Scotia to Paseo and turned it into a gallery and photo studio. He also made his home in a converted church in Norman, where he lived with his wife, Mary Katherine. She was a college classmate of mine and although there’s no relation, her maiden name was Long and we always joked that we were cousins. Tom was the quad everyone saw going around in a wheelchair around Paseo and was a longtime pres. of the artist group and arts fest. Big loss to the community in my opinion.

I’m not fond of the idea that guys I know younger than me are dying. I’m maudlin enough as it is.

I’m so close to being at the end of my law practice that I can taste it. I’ll be in court for my own bankruptcy this month, I think. If I owe you money, just tell me and I’ll add you to the list of folks who will get stiffed. It’ll help with your taxes, I’m told. Be glad when that’s done, too.

Looks like the start of 2011 will be a fresh start for me. I’ll be on Social Security disability, have my debts washed out by the bankruptcy and be done with the practice of law. Maybe I’ll be another divorced misogynist hanging around the coffee shop dispensing faux philosophy, but at least I won’t be the bitter drunk at the end of the bar. Since I’m starting to have more good days than bad days, I hope that maybe by early next year I’ll be pain free and off the Lortabs completely and I’d welcome that. This seems to me to be such a wonderful opportunity to shape a new life for myself. My aspiration is to do some volunteer work for AA and maybe also for cancer support groups. I don’t know what else, but I’m capable of just about anything. I’d still like to see Paris someday, but I may have to settle for something closer if I’m going to travel. Look for a blue 1994 Ford Ranger at an inconvenient time near you.

Get off my lawn, you whippersnappers!

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