All in Random Stuff

So Larry and I are on a conference call at 2:30 today, and within about 5 minutes, the sky turns pitch black... like nighttime. Crazy.

Just want to take this chance to welcome our new reader from the Boathouse. :)

PS... I'm a hurracane now, although I'm spelled wrong. Its "ie."

(CNN) -- Florida emergency officials ordered visitors out of the middle and lower Keys Wednesday as newly declared Hurricane Charley rushed in from the Caribbean and Tropical Storm Bonnie approached the Florida Panhandle from the Gulf of Mexico.
At 2 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center declared Charley a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph, just over the hurricane threshold.

.Definition of serendipity:

Its 7:40AM and you've conceded that you won't find a spot on the right side of the streat after 20 post gym minutes of aimlessly traversing the Upper East Side.  So, accepting the fact that you'll now have to take the car over to Queens, because you won't be getting home early enough for Early Bird garage specials, you drive home, only to find a spot two doors down from your apartment.

Faaaantastic.

I have been so overwhelmed at work, its ridiculous. When you work in an environment where things just need to get done, yet there isn't generally a lot of strict assignment as to who is supposed to get them done, you tend to get the short end of the stick if you are the type of person who won't let balls drop. Some people are fine to walk out before questions are answered, things are taken care of, etc. I'm not one of those people.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad to have Jeff the Intern around, that's for sure. Its like having a tree chipper in my office. Stuff comes in that I don't have time for and I just shove it to his side and listen to that immediate "neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr" sound as he works. Good stuff.

Lately, I've been quite the flake when it comes to these sorts of things. Pursuing stuff, then pulling back. Being indecisive. Rethinking stuff from the past, and contradicting myself as well. One person I'll knock for being too aggressive and someone else I'll knock for their own passiveness. What's going on here? What am I even looking for?

It definitely reinforces the notion that the search for others is really a search for self, because the times in my life where I've been most clear about what I've wanted, are also the times in which I experienced the most personal clarity. In the last six months, personal clarity has been muddied by potential moves, a floundering book, new work responsibility, monitoring programs, family stuff, etc... and thus I've been rather flakey to people personally. Its not an excuse. I'm just pointing out the causal relationship, or what seems to be the cause.

At most issue is what level of commitment, and just really participation I want from someone else. First off, I'm generally not someone who has a lot of free time in general, so its easy to say I just want someone informal, casual, etc. But, to be honest, now I think that sometimes casual stuff takes more time than serious stuff, because casual stuff always seems to imply more than one person. Its a mirage that casual is easier, I think, because that never seems to be the case. Plus, you need to spend that much more time convincing someone you're not just using them, because they are not backstopped by some formal relationship.

Also at issue is how I want the other person reacting to me. On one hand, I think it would be hard for me to deal with the pressure of someone pursuing me hard, asking for all sorts of time. On the other hand, I do feel like I deserve someone who at least asks. Aren't I good enough to create a need in someone else to see me all the time? Who wants someone that acts as if they can take you or leave you? Sure, that's convenient from a life management perspective, because you know you can cancel on them, move them around, etc... but is love the kind of thing you want to be so convenient? I think its a lot like getting median venture capital GPs. If you're going to be in it, you want top quartile, otherwise its not worth it.

Part of it has to do with the idea of chemistry vs. criteria. I'd be interested if people had comments here. Think of it the spectrum as, on one end, you meet someone and before you know it, you're smooching away and lots of things are happening. You're laughing and being cute, and as far as you can tell, you've really hit it off with someone, without really knowing a lot of the details of someone's life. On the other hand, you meet someone and really invest the time to get to know them before anything happens. You learn to appreciate what kind of a person they are, if you share the same values, etc, before you discern whether or not you have a match. Which one is more true? Does chemistry exist, or is it just lust based on perception that may not actually be truth? Or, is getting the details of someone's life a cold, logical way to arrive at something that should be based on gut feeling and emotion? Do you fall for someone with your heart or with your head?

Oh, and I just learned there is a Blog spellcheck. Nice... now you'll all think I'm smaart.

Lastly... here's the last GM Softball news:

Miracle Motors Down, but Not Out, After Skid Reaches Three

After eight games, General Motors was sitting pretty at 6-2, only a game out of first place. After a 2-10 season, the team started looking at the standings, and counting down to the playoffs.
Three heartbreaking losses later, capped off by a 6-4 loss last night to Metro 53, GM should be completely out of the hunt. However, the Northern Division has completely collapsed over the past four weeks, and GM finds itself with a glimmer of hope. Four teams have clinched the six playoff spots, and another six teams are vying for the last two. For GM to get in, the Law Sox need to lose at least two of their last four games, which will be mostly rainout makeups. In addition, two of White Case, Oz Capital, and the Clinchers have to lose their final games.
Of course, for all this to work out GM needs to actually win its final game and stop the second half slump. After scoring a total of seven runs in its last two games, one thing that will have to happen is for the bats to wake up. Mike D'Annunzio scored the team's first run again early on, but the offense would slow to a crawl until late. Ted Feury kept GM in the game, holding Metro to four in five, and John Cross notched a scoreless sixth. Strong defense by third baseman Mark Attanasio and Gold Glove first baseman John Stevens also helped. GM got a step closer when Charlie O'Donnell scored in the fifth on an Alexis Kramer sac fly, making it 4-3. In the sixth, Sam Pollotta launched a huge RBI triple to tie the game up, but that would be the end of the GM scoring. Metro 53 pushed two runs across the board, one on a monster blast to left center, which was that Metro hitter's second time going yard.
In their last at bat, GM failed to replicate its early season last inning heroics, and failed to score. They will attempt to finish the season strong on 8/19, and all they can do in the meantime is hope for the misfortune of others.

OK... so PS, I just went to go post this and it had timed out, and I almost thought I lost the whole thing. I would have been REALLY pissed and probably never blogged again. You guys came really close to losing me.

"A cache of recently obtained information -- including hundreds of photos, drawings and written documents -- indicates that al Qaeda operatives have undertaken meticulous preparations to case the five specific buildings." - WSJ

I'm sorry, but if I see ANYONE of ANY ETHNICITY taking hundreds of photos of the Citigroup building, I think I might stop to ask them what they're up to.  Its just like the story about the terrorists being at the WTC a day or two before with a GPS finder.  This is the kind of suspicious stuff that people need to be asking about.

Anonymity...     we think it exists, but it definately doesn't, not on the internet anyway.  Like, for example, if you leave anonymous posts on a blog from far off places like Denver or Fordham...  people will find out.  Its just a matter of technological knowhow.  :)

We know you're watching...

Its apparent to me that my life has become my own personal crusade... to weed out idiots, assholes, and the inconsiderate. The world, or at least this city, has run let these people run amuck. Amuck, I tell you! People who aren't doing the right thing, mostly in the realm of treating their fellow human beings with decency and respect, need to be stopped, or at least told off. When this guy parked across two spaces in front of my apartment, to save a spot for his other car, I said something to him. "Its hard enough to park in this city without people like you doing shit like that. That's a bush league move, dude." He just stared at me. The people on the stoop next to me looked at me like I had two heads--but I shouldn't be the one to be made to feel like I'm taking the world too seriously. We need to put a stop to all this--to speak out when wrong is done. Its like that movie where Chris Rock runs for president. You need to just turn around and say, "That ain't right!" Otherwise, all of these people will just gone on doing the same insensitive, selfish things over and over again. We need to collectively put our foot down as a society. No more laughing at someone when they drop a fly ball in kickball. No more saving spots, or even worse, going headfirst into one from behind while someone else is pulling in. And, when you makeout with someone, you owe them an explanation if you decide you don't want to anymore. Ignoring phonecalls is bush league and so is stalling. Stop the insanity!

So the last softball game went much better... In fact, it nearly went perfectly. We won 16-1 in a mercy rule shortened five innings, and the only run they scored was on the last play of the game, where the next runner they tried to send home got cut down at the plate by yours truly. :)

Anyway... Its 3AM on July 5th, and I'm eating an apple w/peanut butter. (Skippy Super Chunk) I've been spending more and more time, as I did tonight, with people I've met kayaking. I think what I like about spending time with these people is that it expands your social horizon--challenging you to mesh with people you would otherwise have no social connection to. I mean, when I go to ILPA conferences or Fordham Young Alumni events, there are certain shared sets of circumstances that give you something to work with--social training wheels so to speak. Here, there's nothing of the sort, and the extent to which I know zero of the lives of the people around me overwhelms me (in a good way, I think).

As I was driving home, there was a car in front of me whose license plate said, "Howyedoin".

I think pretty good.