Slice of Life

Insanity and Holmes

More proof that a six-figure education does indeed pay dividends years down the road, a good buddy of mine came up with an idea for a new blog that he and I currently co-own and operate.  Insanity Plates is a blog dedicated to all the doucebags on the roadways who think that shelling out $50-100 to their local DMV's on an annual basis to announce what tools they are to the driving world via their vanity plates is a good idea.  The blog is off and running like you wouldn't believe, so don't be surprised if you see my friend and I on Oprah in the near future, getting real with Larry King, and doing Dave Letterman's Top 10 list one night.  And wearing dualing pink ties, of course.

Don't worry, we won't forget the little people when we make it big.

Insanityplates.blogspot.com

New Letters, New Rants

At Letters to TJ you can read Love Life and Father's Day and at Things I Think you can read Irresponsible and Exclusivity.  People offended by F-bombs need not apply.

Perspective

My friend Martin has been posting some brilliant work on his blog, Black Attic Arts.  I particularly enjoy this piece, although I'm anxiously awaiting some new work that creatively deflies our current commander in chief.

Los Angeles wedding summary:  overcast, cool, golf, running, beach, gin, mazel tov.

Papa's Got A Brand New Blog

I've got a new blog:  Things I Think but do Not Say.  Think of it as my personal online journal, although much more brutally honest and profane than this one.  Basically it is an exercise to help me write more on a daily basis and write honestly and from the heart.  It's password protected, so if I know you or you've been reading this blog for a while, drop me an e-mail and I'll give you the key.  Feel free to use it as your own space to bitch and gripe about whatever is on your mind, too.

Blogroll Update

It's been a long time comin' but I've updated my blogroll with some longtime readers of the Slice who happen to be old friends from my high school days.  One of the best parts about having this blog is not only the new people it has connected me with all over the world but some of the old connections it has reestablished, oftentimes through a simple google search.  Incredibly, I have dinner plans tonight with one of the bloggers listed below, a dear friend whom I would spend hours with battling Tetris at the bowling alley (where I had my first cigarettes), indoor garage ball (where we made my brother cry on a daily basis), and my favorite, milk crate tackling outside the meat shop (where I almost pissed my pants the first time I ever witnessed this event).  With that being said, I am pleased to introduce you to:

Black Attic Arts:  Original artwork from my good friend Martin, an art teacher in Providence, Rhode Island who was one of my closest friends growing up in Hickville, Small State.  The stories are endless, many of which I hope to recount tonight over dinner and coctails.  If he continues to grow a beard and paint renditions of Premier Bush like this, my next visit with him will be at Guantanomo Bay.

Urban Renewal:  New to the blogosphere and rocking out topics from personal health to politics, meet my friend Chloe, a phenomenal trumpet player back in the day, too.  So inspired by her blogwork and zest for life that the Wife and I have decided to name our baby "Chloe Summer" if it is a girl, in honor of one of the Sunshine Town's finest.  Not really, but I hope she'll be happy we'd name our daughter Chloe nonetheless.  With respect to the baby news, the Wife and I have officially opted not to find out the sex of our baby, or, as my younger brother aptly puts it, "see if you have a carrot or not."  In talking to people who kept things a surprise versus those who found out the sex of their kids, there is a marked contrast between people who did it the old fashioned way and those that wanted to get a head start on getting the "right" clothes and color schemes for their newborns.  Good stuff.

Happy reading.

The Pursuit of Life

Our favorite Aussie living in a Canuck's world Kat poses and interesting question today about chasing dreams, financial stability and balance in life.  I've posted my response and surely could have gone on forever, but I've never enjoyed my marriage and my life as much as I have in the past year, and I happen to be making significantly less than what I used to.  The funny thing is, there are some that look down on my decision to make a career change, but the fact remains that I've never been richer.

If you haven't added Kat to your blogroll you should do so, she's a good egg who gets it.

Hydrating Myself Out of a Funk

Pure defunkification going on here this afternoon, pure, unabated defunkification.  Must have eaten a piece of dog shit at dinner last night, because I haven't been feeling well today.  Hit me like a ton of bricks after lunch.  Achy neck, sore shoulders, weak hands, just an overall weakness and funk I have not been hit with in quite some time (primarily because I don't get sick).  So I'm sitting there, hearing the Man yap in my ear, "Go home.  Pussy.  Go home, get in bed, rack out for a few hours then chill tonight.  Forget work, forget about yoga class this evening.  Face it.  It's hump day and I gotcha.  Game.  Set.  Match.  I am the Man, afterall, I know you think you can't let me keep you down forever, I know you think you have big nuts with that move you pulled on me at the Honda dealership last week (amazing how many people give me an 'in' by not getting the extended warranty on an automobile, fools!) but you've lost today.  Shut your computer down, put your tail between your legs, and call it a day."

The Man almost got me, too.  The Wife encouraged me to go home when my e-mails started sounding like excerpts from our wedding vows:  "oh...I love you...even in weakness...even in sickness."  But then I decided to pound some water.  One cup at a time.  See if I could hydrate myself out of this funk, push on through so to speak.  I remembered back to the good ol' days of football practice, when a long day in the classroom would just pound the piss out of me and there I would be at practice, my helmet serving as my own cranial oven, shaking, sore, oh how weak and funkified I was!  One cup of water led to another.  And another.  And another.  A few deep burps later and a head roll here or there and I started turning the corner.  A PowerPoint presentation finished.  Four site visits scheduled with prospective donors.  So really, you see, Man, you think you have an 'in' with me, but one of these days you will see that I've gotcha right where I wantcha.  You think the first of many upcoming mortgage payments will get me down, but you don't realize that this is all one tiny step leading up to tax day at my computer desk, plugging in TurboTax and laughing at the green numbers adding up when it is time to deduct mortgage interest.  Keep 'em coming, Man, I'm gonna be here for a long time and there is nothing I enjoy more than knocking your dick in the dirt.

Stinky Pee Pee with Dr. Slice

When I check out the visitor stats and referring sites and domains to this blog (I know who you are!) I am continually blown away by how many people come across this site by googling the following phrase:

asparagus piss

I haven't even read whatever post it was I wrote about asparagus piss back in the day, but it was pretty lame as I remember it:  "Hey, yeah, had a nice meal with my lady last night, ate some asparagus and couldn't believe how badly my piss smelled the next day when I took a leak, always amazes me how badly asparagus piss smells, I guess there is a high concentration of some vitamin in asparagus or something, but I love asparagus just find it kind of funny in a gross way how bad my pee pee smells, he he."

As much as I'd like people to find inspiration and direction from visiting this blog and reading those posts that touch my visitors from within, I'm afraid this humble space is nothing more than a gateway into the world of the inner workings of a certain vegetable on the human urinary tract.

Great Stuff

My homey and long-time Bel Biv Devoe lover Matt at Seize the Means has a high quality piece on alternative pictures for "The Idea Stealing Boss."  Yahoo definitely should have gone with this guy as the Idea Stealing Boss:

Or these guys:

Good Friend, Goodbye

The blogosphere has taken a major hit today, as I recently learned in a farewell post that this blogger will be closing her doors.  I have known the author for over 8 years now, which is almost impossible to believe, and I credit her for not only getting me through law school but being a creative voice of reason and honesty in my life during times where I was confused and torn between decisions with which I was faced.  She epitomizes the traits of courage and openness in a world that conditions us to take only the safest, known courses and not to venture into the unknown.  If you've shared in any part of her journey via her blog, I know that like me, you will miss it dearly.

Cheers and best wishes to a dear friend who simply gets it.