Amazing but true, folks: I’m taking a quick pre-surgery trip to San Diego and I’m happy to report I – and my ever-expanding belly bubble – made it through airport security without being “examined!” And a big hooray for that!

OK, I took precautions: a baggy t-shirt covered by a ratty jacket, strict Victorian-standard corseting, and of course the trick all men of a certain belly size use to impress others with their physique, a serious sucking in of the gut.

Maybe none of it mattered, maybe it was just that the crowd pining to get to the Other Side was large and the TSA agents wanted to get  rid of us. Whatever, it was nice not to have to go through the “what is that? Ewwww… pull DOWN the shirt sir!” routine again.

Now, to the beach! (Shirt on, of course.)

Funny thing about confidence: you don’t really know you’ve lost it until you start getting it back. Without an inner voice constantly whispering a “you can do it” nag, a hypercautious agony aunt takes over and plunges you into a fog of jitters. Auntie has excuses for everything. “No, no, no!” she hisses. “Be careful!” “Oh, you really shouldn’t go out tonight. You’re not quite recovered you know!” “Of course you shouldn’t feel guilty about not taking that bike ride! Look at what you’ve been through!” Eventually this irritating scold owns you so completely you cringe at the risks involved with everything. “Be careful of that tea now, it’s hot!” “Don’t trip on that step!”

Unless you had the misfortune to be raised wary (or had a very difficult childhood, the same thing), auntie’s isn’t the default human condition. Continue Reading »

I don’t send out political screeds. This is my first and hopefully my last. But I feel strongly about this election, so strongly I’m risking alienating a lot of people here. Please, consider what I’ve written. Send it out to the world. Link to this page. Send it to friends and relatives and strangers. Cut it, edit it, reword it. Post it on blogs, squeeze it into comments. Send it back to those rumor-mongering eMails. Whatever you can do. Thanks. –Ed

No free passes this election

Recently a friend told me he’s voting “none of the above” for President. My blood boiled. I’ve heard others planning to do the same, write in somebody irrelevant or just skip voting altogether. My blood boils and my head spins. What are they thinking?

Does anyone really think this country would be the disaster it is today if the election had been different in 2000? That we’d be in the same financial, military, and moral mess? Continue Reading »

I know, I know… Post anything about religion or politics and I’m likely to lose half of my 50 or so readers. Oh, well. Life’s tough, it’s getting tougher for everybody, and I’m heading into surgery again (more tomorrow), so what the hell? I need a diversion. Read or not, your choice. There’ll likely be something political here sooner or later, then I’ll lose the other half of you. Que sera sera, as Doris used to sing.

Dear God, Can We Talk?

Actually, can I talk and you just listen? I know it’s not your usual M.O. – truth is, that’s what I want to chat about, all this talking you’re doing – so maybe you could just channel your Good-Cop side and grant an indulgence?

… … ??? …

I’ll take that as a yes. Thanks, God. I’ll be quick. Continue Reading »