My Continuing Legal Education

I attended a continuing legal education course this evening.  Attendance at these courses is required in order to remain an attorney in good standing in the State of New York.... As a result, these classes tend to be less about actual learning and instead, really serve as a three hour block of time for my fellow attorneys to figure out a way to appear interested in the lecture being given...

As such, the majority of attendies spend their time in a frenetic email orgy  on their black berries, which they sometimes coyly hide in their laps while others simply do not give a fuck and keep them in plain sight.  Or some like the gentleman I saw this evening have two blackberries and two cell phones sitting in front of them during the lecture... i can only imagine by the end of the three hour session, he was in full messaging lather unable to discern between the real world and the world at his finger tips...

Meanwhile, other attendees do listen.  However, these individuals are not really there to learn and instead spend their time trying to fomulate the most convoluted "gotcha" style question in order to prove that they are mentally superior to the panel giving the lecture.  This type of attendee acts in this manner because they are simply reliving their law school years where they spent their time sitting in the front of the class engaging the professor in hours of non-sensical legal discussion about whether or not a binding contract is created when a party to said contract after saying the word "accept" was immediately run over by a pack of wild dogs and killed... Meanwhile, the rest of us (myself included) sat in the back of the class hoping that either the professor or this piece of shit would have an anorysm or simply pass out from talking too much. I also wanted to drive a pencil through both of their skulls...

And the third group of attendees kind of listens to the lecture... kind of doodles... maybe checks the baseball score.. thinks about dinner... maybe a beer.. writes... stares off in space... sleeps.. or basically watches the clock like we are in detention on a friday afternoon.

Not sure exactly what the NY Bar is hoping to achieve by all of this but I am pretty sure its not working.

Thankfully, this evening was relatively painless since the extensive question cocksmokery was kept to a minimum this evening, and I was able to sit quietly and write this entry while everyone else around me tapped away on their blackberries creating an impromptu legal drum circle... and, they served light refreshments.

Training

So as I wrote a long time ago, I am running the NYC marathon this november 2nd and with the recent events in my life, my finishing this marathon is going to happen even if I have to crawl across the entire sucker...  

Thankfully that does not appear to be necessary since even though my right knee has continuously reminded me that it doesn't like to run marathons anymore, so far the training has been going ok.  I finished a 15 miler two weeks ago and have my sights set on an 18 miler this weekend.  I am definitely not as fast as I used to be but I think thats just what happens when you are a 30 year old runner who has run since he was 4 years old.  (Yeah my parents used to race me Kentucky Derby style, i wonder if they ever made side bets?)

And so, I have a little less than two months before the big day and I feel like with my added motivation of keeping my promise, this marathon doesn't stand a chance.  Plus, it's New York City the craziest marathon in the world.  

So i will keep you posted on my training in the next couple of months... but i am locked and ready to kick some ass...

Politics

From my liberal perspective, I like many others have considered the last 8 years to be a total failure in terms of our current president.  Yes, he dealt with 9/11 and yes, it was time to act on terrorism... but what he forgot was that he led a country that needed him.   A country who was falling apart internally while he attempted to protect us through wars in an area of the world that was simply waiting for us to declare war so that they could justify their next 1000 terrorist actions.  

And so now as we are on the precipous of the most important election of my lifetime, my friends find it necessary to discuss with me on a daily basis who will win this election, how they cannot believe McCain has supporters, and how crazy it is that he may be the next President.

How did they all just forget about the last 8 years?  I mean seriously we just let a clown run our country for four years and then, when we knew he was a fucken disaster, we re-elected his sorry ass.  (Yes, I know that the Dem's candidates were weak but still, they also had  a pulse right?) 

So how it is a surprise that a man that is 2-3 years pre-death and who has changed most of his principles in order to get in favor with the Republican Party i.e. the party of the douchebag running this shit show, is now neck and neck with the Democratic candidate?  

It's not.. that's the point.   We live in a country of forgivers and believers (in Jesus).  

And that is why I cannot deal with my friends that keep bringing up the current race and react on a daily basis like the apocalypse is upon us.  (We are already living in the era of the death of the US)...Especially since in New York City, this conversation/debate is completely futile because frankly, my friends and I are not deciding this election because our votes don't matter.  New York City and the State of New York are not going to decide this sucker... 

Therefore, I cannot deal with their daily attacks of shock and awe.  Instead, I think the best policy and the only policy we can have as meaningless contributors to the Electoral College is to hope for the best and hope that history does not repeat itself.   Of course, I also hope for the best when in terms of winning the lottery or actually making a career out of the words I write on this blog so sadly, I think that I like the Democratic Party may be screwed.... but then again, stranger things have happened....

So go out in vote this november for the candidate that won't continue the last 8 years... And if that doesn't happen, let's all just get a compound in Canada... although we probably cannot afford it since the dollar sucks.... thank you Mr. President.

Unleash the Beast

Life is not fair... and even though, we may think that tragedy will never touch us personally, inevitably,  it will.  

For me, tragedy and the unfairness of life struck me on July 22, 2008 when the love of my life passed away after a heroic battle with cancer.  Long ago, I wrote about a friend being sick and that I could not wait till that friend kicked the bug and won...  At the time, I did not want to make to specific since I knew the the people that needed to know, knew and the randoms who stumble on this site, did not need to...  Sadly, unfairly, and tragically, we lost that battle.  A person who loved me unconditionally (which if you read this mother fucker seems to be near impossible) and who I just wanted to hold at the end of each day is now gone...

SMK-- you are my heart, my soul, my existence and I will make you proud.. 

and I am left to to figure out what happens next... 

And so here is what happens next... this space... this time... these words become my attack on the world.. life and everything that I endure on a daily basis... the struggle all of us face is to live life as best we can.. because I refuse to forget her and not live my life as best as I can... 

So consider this notice as once again, I begin again...