2 May 2009 Night

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Gonna put the earlier excitement to the side for now. Plenty of other fireworks to prepare for!

The newscasters continue to call the election a non-event without saying as much, trying to keep some semblance of fairness, not wanting to call the obvious and potentially dissuade some voters. The candidates themselves are on late-night multi-state rallies, though I doubt they're actually campaigning for themselves at this point. More likely they're working to get support further down the local ballots for their parties.

Did you notice how nNeither candidate is speaking about GodlessGate? Sen. Lee simply ignores any who ask him anything related to it. And to Rep. Johnson's credit, he hasn't stooped to any cheesy, blatant symbolic attempts to quell voter fears. No family priest standing in the background during his stumping. No crucifix lapel pin. No little turns of phrase, like 'With God as my witness' or whatnot. He simply denies being an athiest, and moves on.

Of course, the news networks aren't letting go of it so easily. Tonight there's an hour-long special CNN's putting on about the subject. Hard-hitting looks at our nation and the role of religion within. Could America handle an athiest president? Not to be outdone, MSNBC is broadening the topic, asking the question of whether we could handle a religious-yet-non-Christian president.

Worthwhile discussions. Too bad they're going to be heavily sensationalized to the point of pointlessness.

What's of note this evening is coming from an unlikely source. Tell me you guys saw what happened on Fox News tonight. Please, please tell me you saw it.

So you know they're beside themselves trying to figure out who to support, a potential athiest or a progressive. Instead, seems they're focusing on Sen. Lee's past in an attempt to dredge up equally damaging connections. They keep coming back to this friend-of-a-friend type who alleges Lee apparently had connections to the Communist party. Claims of secret societies, powerful overseas friends, Illuminati references, and it keeps getting worse.

Yet Fox News really seems to think it's on to something because they brought this guy in for an interview. Guy (or maybe Lady) is hidden in darkness with their voice pitch-adjusted. Claims Lee is a part of an underground pro-Communism organization which has been working for decades to destabilize capitalist America's economy, which thus accounts for the current economic crisis.

I mean, that's ALMOST plausible. But it's at this point that the interviewed starts interrupting the interverers, voice raising higher and higher in pitch and speed as he/she tries to alert the public to the threat that is everywhere and is just hours away from having the ability to make their move and hide your children and the horsemen are saddling up and the Passion is starting...

At this point Fox cut away to a newscaster who apologized for the scene, but closed out with a somewhat loaded "and yet, who can really say?"

And yet indeed.

But...

You know what?

A part of me almost wishes the crazy guy were right.

What if we had a president who tried, from within, to break the wonderfully impressive bonds of checks and balances our Constitution puts on power? Don't get me wrong. I'm no anarchist and think it'd be a bad thing for all involved, but...

...but how would it go down? How COULD it go down? What changes would take place? How would we suffer, and yet could there actually be something good to come out once the dust settled?

Don't take me too seriously here. I guess I'm just bored and want a little drama. And if society as a whole is as bored as I am...how much resistance would actually be put up, you know?

An interesting but pointless line of thought. Tomorrow we celebrate the continuation of our Democratic process, and we shall continue this continuation for centuries to come, I do sincerely hope.

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2 May 2009 post-tournament

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TOURNAMENT REPORT.

Let's just start off by saying...I'll need to keep practicing. Lemme explain.

So I started on hole 2, which meant I got to finish on hole 1, the one I aced recently. GOOD OMEN. Anyway, the guy I'm paired with isn't bad, but he's obviously in it for the fun and exercise. I knew I'd have to keep myself motivated by keeping an eye on the leaderboard.

So I'm playing lights-out for me. After my first nine holes, I'm six under. Only bit of excitement was hole four, with The Tree. I drove...and my disc ever-so-slightly skipped off the side of the tree, barely being redirected. If anything though, it knocked me into a better lie for the putt, and I ended up birdie-ing the hole.

I headed into the second half knowing I was in 4th place, 2 behind third and very much in the battle to place in the prize money.

Heading into hole 12, I'm tied for 3rd at seven under. So I stepped onto the tee box, threw my drive...and watched it gracefully curve out of sight, to the right, down the banking into the river.

Uhm.

I can only be thankful for the recent nice weather. The river was low, and the disc landed on the bed just to the side of the water itself. I threw out and saved par, but dropped to fourth.

The last of the excitement was on Hole 1, my final hole. First place hadn't finished yet, but was at ten under. Second place hadn't finished either and was at nine under. I was tied for third at eight under, with the other guy having finished already. So, a hole-in-one would force a playoff...with me involved...for first place. I could still win this! I had never really played the local pros much, but I didn't figure I'd have a chance of beating the best in the area...regardless, I took a deep breath, stepped up, and threw.

The release felt good. It was on target. Curving perfectly. But suddenly it dipped a little lower, and clanged off the front of the cage. Thud, straight to the ground, inches from the target basket.

I stood there, on the teebox, for 2 minutes (so I'm told) staring down the damned target.

So I holed out my gimme birdie, and finished nine under. Turned to the leader board. There was still a chance...

...First place birdied their final hole, ending up eleven under. Second place BOGEYED, finishing eight under, giving me sole possession of second!

So now I'm $250 richer, I have my $75 PDGA fees payed, and I'm entered into any pro tourneys for the next year.

I DEFINITELY need to keep practicing!

Okay, let me catch my breath, and we'll get prepared for the election in a little bit.

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2 May 2009

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Tournament day! OHGODSONERVOUS. So let's talk about something else this morning.

Election Eve!

(If I ramble, I'm sorry, I've got to get rid of these jitters somehow...maybe I can type them out.)

Some polls of note:

Avg. Poll of Polls nationally of likely voters:
Sen. Lee - 57%
Rep. Johnson - 30%
Undecided - 10%

Also of note: a poll on how likely the polled are to vote.
Already voted: 5%
Undecided: 16%
Likely: 36%
Unlikely: 43%

Let's look at these numbers. First off, Sen. Lee's set up for an easy victory, barring any more surprises...which is not out of the question. More on that in a bit. Still, even if all the undecideds swung Johnson's way, he'd still lose in an unprecedented fashion.

It also seems Lee's "get over it or stay home" speech is indeed having an effect on the electorate. If ALL of the undecided voters, and ALL of the likely voters showed up, then there would be a turnout percentage that would be bested only by post-1968 presidential elections.

That ain't happenin'. Let's say half of the undecideds show, and 35 of the 36% of likelies show. That'd be a 48% turnout (including the 5% who have already voted via early voting)...the lowest since before 1960, close only to the 49% put up by the '96 elections. And even that's a generous assumption, I'd say.

In other words, there are indeed people who will be 'staying home,' or at least are considering doing just that. I'd be interested to see how those who are planning on abstaining split via party lines, but I try to avoid getting into party politics here.

I did mention, however, a potential for more surprises. There's not much, but there is definitely an undercurrent of rumbling as to the timing of GodlessGate. How was it dug up. Who dug it up. Why was it released now. Some people claim that Sen. Lee has people 'in the background,' associations with unspecified groups who are surprisingly good at intel and research. This smacks of tinfoil-hat truthery, something I avoid at all costs, but conspiracy theories don't usually get any notable airtime.

So why am I not more concerned about this? Simple. I think the news networks are looking for some way to stir up drama in an election that seems all but decided...as if things weren't exciting enough on their own, if you ask me.

Regardless, more tonight!

And yeah, a post-tournament report too.

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1 May 2009

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T-minus two days until, if the polls are any indication, the largest landslide in recent election history.

My take? It just keeps getting stranger.

On the campaign trail today in South Carolina, Senator Lee spoke up about GodlessGate (yes, I hate that phrase too, though I have some respect for the catchy alliteration).

It was an amazing speech, say that while our pasts were a part of who we are, we should be judged by what kind of person we have become because of our pasts, not simply on the past itself. Of course, whether you believe the sincerity of the statement, versus a well-tailored turn-of-phrase to win votes depends largely on who you were gonna vote for in the first place, I'm guessing.

Next, however, came the quote that will be seen in newspapers for days to come, and perhaps in textbooks for decades to come.

"If you are listening to me now because of what has recently come out regarding my respected opponent, do not vote for me. Let me make this perfectly clear. If you are leaning towards me because you fear Rep. Johnson is an athiest, I do not want your vote. I do not consider this a shortcoming of his, and I do not want to capitalize from it. I would rather you simply stay home on Election Day." His trademark staccato delivery drove home his emphasis.

Brilliance. Think about it. For a decent part of the electorate, athiesm is irrelevant, if not even a positive. However, trends show a large part of this group was already leaning towards Sen. Lee. But gains were made in two more ways. One, he earns a lot of trust and respect for (seemingly?) refusing to take advantage of his opponent's misfortune (we'll deal with the parenthetical here more in a minute). Plus, he has likely disillusioned a large portion of the voting base from even showing up...people who originally would have voted for Rep. Johnson, and perhaps still would have if they found themselves in the voting booth.

Also, have you noticed how he's brushed aside any questions regarding his religious affiliation?

"My religion is between God and me," he says before moving on. Which is again rather well-crafted...it implies a Christian belief without saying anything definite, thus doing nothing to outright alienate anybody.

What do I think? Well, as I've said before, I believe he speaks with a clarity, an intelligence, and an honesty I haven't seen before in such a prominent politician. Actions do speak louder than words, but I believe he means every word he says...and that's all we really have to go on at this point, isn't it? That's the whole point of the runup to election day, after all.

So I guess I'm saying, we'll see.

Found out from work today I don't need to worry about wasting gas coming in any more. So I made a few purchases with my employee discount for the last time, and bid the store a not-so-fond farewell.

Not gonna mess with jobhunting until after the election. Should have just enough saved up to last for a little while, and if I can pull off a win in the tournament tomorrow, maybe I can even splurge on one of those higher-quality frozen pizzas.

Least I'll be home for the election coverage.

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30 April 2009

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Three days before the election, and everything's gone haywire. I'm assuming most of you've heard the news, so here's my take on it all.

Representative Johnson spoke out earlier today on the rumors, and to everyone's surprise confirmed them. He freely admitted to associating with the athiest group during a period of time he referred to as "a lost, confused, and frustrated part of my life." Quickly he added, "I have since found a more solid spiritual foothold," yet refused to apologize for his past, saying that "they helped me immensely when I most needed it in my life."

"If anything," he continued, "my faith in God is strengthened; the power of His creation shines even through the work done by those who see life differently."

The organization in question calls itself The World As It Is. Their purpose, according to the newscast, is to "assist those who are in need, or who have lost their direction or purpose, with no membership card needed." Apparently they're not some activist or policy-pushing organization.

In an ideal world, perhaps even in another country, this would have been a masterful move. Rep. Johnson managed to reinforce his current religious standing while doing little, if anything, to alienate the atheist community. He even made a brilliant comparison to how government should work. The PROBLEM is that far too many people hear the 'a' word and instantly are repulsed.

The man-on-the-street interviews, especially in the Southeast, confirmed this. Snap polling trends are confirming this. No matter how rapidly things may be changing, it seems we are not yet ready for even an ex-athiest commander-in-chief.

Perhaps we feel more comfortable knowing that even the guy or lady who leads us believes they, too, are judged by a higher power.

Perhaps...perhaps... that's not as unfair as it feels like it should be? I don't know. It's a difficult question.

I find it interesting that Senator Lee and his people continue to refuse comment, especially the part that the word is he will be issuing a statement in support of Rep. Johnson tomorrow.

In personal news, just found out today I'll be amongst the gainfully employed for all of one more week.

Ship's going under and nobody's listening for the SOS.

Whatever. More time to focus on my game. Tournament is in two days. Threw another 7-under today. Scored my second hole-in-one on the course! Was GORGEOUS. If I could get an ace in the tournament as well...nah. Too much to hope for, yah?

Now the course is a fairly difficult one, but not the most absurd I've seen. The first hole is a standard straightaway warmup hole, no obstacles beyond a tree or two to make sure you can't throw in a totally straight line. Other holes of note are #4, #12, and the final hole, #18.

Number 4 is the hole with The Tree. It's a narrow 'fairway,' so to speak. Both sides of the path leading to the hole closely guarded by forest-like conditions. And about 100 feet in front of the teebox is a huge, old tree daring anyone to try to throw around it. In it are numerous chips and scars where players have fallen victim to the ancient and imposing menace.

Number 12 has a stream flowing along the right side of it from teebox to hole. This is bad because my drive curves that way a little bit. If the wind is blowing that day, and/or it rains a lot the night before and makes the stream deeper and faster, it could be trouble.

And finally, hole #18. The breathtaking one. On one end is the teebox. On the other end is the hole. Okay, yeah, that's pretty standard. But in between the two is a 25-foot-deep valley filled with kudzu. It's beautiful, and it's a great finish. Just make damn sure you clear that valley.

You'll never see that disc again otherwise.

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29 April 2009

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Uhm, wow.


Yesterday, the disc hit the tree. Today, the excrement hit the fan. And spread EVERYWHERE. Now, see, that's usually just an expression. A figure of speech, A non-literal descriptor.

If only.

What is it about public restrooms that makes it okay for your inner crazy to come out? And what is the fascination with feces as an artistic medium?

At work, I'm at the end of my break, and looking to relieve myself. I opened the door, and could immediately smell that something was out of place. Out of place, as in, not in the toilet where it belonged.

The door to the far stall stood slightly ajar. A strip of discarded toilet paper peaked out from the threshhold, terminating beyond my line of sight, as if trying to drag itself away from the impact crater, from ground zero.

Curiosity overcame common sense, and I pushed the door open and peeked in.

I have few regrets in life. There was that one girl, and there was that one bet...well, now I have three regrets in life.

It got worse, though. I stepped back out and mentioned to the manager that we should probably give the janitorial crew a heads-up.

"Why's that?"

"It's...well, you should probably see for yourself."

Few minutes later, my boss finds the ability to speak again.:

"Yeah, uhm, I'm gonna need you to grab a mop and some paper towels. You'll probably want gloves too."

I was a little bit stunned at this. "Look, I know it's pretty bad, but we're about to close, can't we leave this for the guys who are paid and trained to deal with this?"

"We don't have a janitorial crew any more."

"What? Why not?"

"Can't afford 'em. Just do this for me, and I'll give you the day off tomorrow, alright?"

"Offer's tempting, but I need the hours. Maybe someone el..."

"No, look, you're not coming in tomorrow either way. We don't have the hours to give, I gotta cut back."

"You realize I'm already only getting 25 horus a week as it--"

"Yes I KNOW how many hours you're getting, I write your schedule re--"

"Look, [bossnameX], I like eating, and I like being able to eat, but that's a habit I'll have to give up if I get any fewer hours."

"Stop. You're one of the few people I can rely on here, which is why you're getting hours at all. Now clean up that mess or you won't be getting any."

How do I argue against that? I DO have SOME savings, but it's only at emergency-use levels. I need this paycheck. I have a four-year college degree, years of reliable work experience, and I'm cleaning up a shitty stall, but I still need this paycheck. I take things as they come, and I hold up my responsibility, but never have I come so close to just walking away as I did today. I'm not tens of thousands of dollars in debt for this.

Listen. If you don't want details of the crime scene, skip to the next paragraph. Still with me? Imagine someone opened a can of baby-food-type strained peas. Make that 10 cans. Splattered it all over the floor. Took tapdancing lessons in the resulting pile. Wrote satanic verse in a long-dead tongue on the walls praising our dark lord who inhibits the lowest of the seven abysses within the darkest of all unholy hells. The smell reeked of the fetid breath of Be'elthezeth, Dark Emperor of Hatred and Misgivings.

It wasn't fun.

On the other hand, least I know why [X]'s been so on-edge lately. Just how bad are we doing financially as a company, anyway?

*sigh*

Took my frustrations out on the course. Drove farther than ever. Putts were short and sweet. Spat on The Tree as I walked past. Scored a 7-under, my best ever on the course. Three more days until I make a little progress in some aspect of my life.

Those are just my personal fireworks. Of more import are the rumors that suddenly started flying about Representative Johnson. Some major news network is hinting that they've come across documentation linking Johnson to a prominent athiest organization a few decades ago. The talking heads can't get enough of it, but the two candidates don't seem to be making a big deal of it...yet, anyway. Johnson's spokespeople are giving the expected denials, while Senator Lee's people are, somewhat surprisingly, refusing to comment on it. With only 4 days to go to the election, could this stick?

Should this matter?

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28 April 2009

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Damn tree. Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn tree. I knew this would happen, I just knew it. I was so worried, but with the tournament so close, I thought, it'll be fine.

I was wrong.

So, the discs you use. They change with age. Develop a few dings and chips that can change the disc, both in the way it feels in-hand and in its flight characteristics. You get used to discs as they age though. And I was used to these discs. I thought about buying some practice discs, but then I'd get used to those instead of these, and really, again, three days wouldn't make much difference.

But say you're teeing off. Say you fling straight into a tree. Say your favorite driver splits in half.

Bet you wish you hadn't used that disc now, don'cha?

Finished 2-under, which is a miracle with how pissed I was. Three days away, and I need to break in my new driver.

Sent out a few job applications today after searching the local Craigslist. In between obvious scams, not-so-obvious scams, half-scams, and potential scams, there were one or two positions that seemed interesting. Wish I could be more optimistic about this...wonder how much of the pessimism bleeds into the cover letter and out onto the recruiter's screen.

How do you win in this environment, really? I've gotta get out of retail, but you have to have somewhere TO go in the first place, yeah?

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I like to browse the missed connections. Sure, a part of me has a small hope of finding myself referred to there. But more, the thought of random voices calling out, fighting against the shyness that kept them from speaking up in the first place, or lashing out against the circumstances that made it impossible...it's artistic, in a way. Maybe I'm just being a flighty romantic. I dunno. But a part of you can't help but hope that, despite the incredible odds, the effort there doesn't go to waste.

Not that I've ever tried it personally.

No, really, I promise.

I can't complain, I mean, I feed and clothe myself, I pay rent, and I'm insured. The feeling that your only contribution to society is your rent and tax money, though, well, sucks. And that suckage spills out into everything, sticking to it and mucking it up like oil.

Maybe there's something to this green movement after all.

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27 April 2009

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Work was work. Won't bother boring you with that. Manager seemed a little more on edge than usual...then again, hard to tell the difference sometimes.

You know what's a good omen? I know what's a good omen. This is a good omen:

Immediately drove to the course where the tournament will be held for some practice, as I said I would. I did some warm-up on the practice basket; wasn't quite as rusty as I feared I would be. I mean, admittedly, it's only been about 6 months since I played seriously, but still. I don't like slacking off that much.

So I step up to the first hold tee box. Swing my arm around, loosen up my shoulder. Step forward, and fling.

Ching, drop, done, next hole. My first hole in one on the course. Not my first one ever, mind you, but I've only scored them on recreational courses, ones that cater more towards the casual player. And on the more difficult courses, I've clanged off the chains or the basket once or twice, but never had one drop in properly for the ace.

The rest of the round was decent; not my best round overall, but the 5-under was among my best scores for the course. Still, I'm pumped. Psyched. Ready to FLING. It'll be on five days from now.

Fell asleep watching TV after practice. Must have rolled over onto the remote, because I woke up to some talking head haranguing me for thinking about voting for that guy in these troubled, terror-laden times. Of course, two channels away is someone equally aghast that anyone could possibly be considering the competition, leading us to certain war, famine, and bankruptcy. Look, is it just me, or are the cable networks trying to convince me that we've reached some damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don't breaking point? It's like all of a sudden, all the grey from the world has disappeared. There is no grey. What do you get when you mix black and white? You get sent to the stocks, that's what, for your heretic views.

I like parts of both guys, to be honest. Yeah, I know, crazy talk, the Inquisition would hunt me down for such blasphemy. But I think it's about time we had a little more unabashed intelligence and eloquence running the country. It helps that the guy himself speaks about the importance of being receptive to the other sides' views, of turning Washington away from a us-versus-them mentality back into a helping-our-country's-people mentality. I like believing such a thing is still possible.

Ultimately though, I feel like we can't go wrong either way. Representative Johson, Senator Lee...Whoever wins gets my support, because I'm tired of the hatred and bickering, the pessimism and pissing and moaning. And after all...with our system of checks, balances, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies, how much damage can one guy really do in four years? Seriously, how much damage?

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