Farewell to June!

This month just seems to have flown by, hasn't it? Well, maybe not for you, since every day you're waiting with bated breath for my next post (of which you only received four for the month), so it might have dragged a little. For me, though, it's gone quickly- ironically, decreasing my available blog time, thus making all of your months longer. It's a vicious cycle...

Well, my week was much like my month, going by very quickly. Honestly, Wednesday it felt like I no sooner got to work than it was time to leave. That's a very rare feeling that a work day passes before you know it, isn't it? Not all of us can be Jen Shylanski and love every moment of every day! ;)

Speaking of passing things, I received back my module grades from June. I passed two out of the three I took, thus bringing me up to a grand total of five advanced modules completed (each of which give me an additional awesome three bucks a paycheck!) The one I failed, New Accounts, has been a thorn in my side since April, but I have every confidence I'll defeat it next month.

In the pop culture category, Shelly and I watched Fiddler on the Roof last weekend. As musicals go, it was good. Unlike Rent, of which we sat through twenty minutes before the DVD player mercifully malfunctioned, the song writers actually went through the effort of making the lyrics clever and, more importantly, rhyming.

We've now reached a brief interlude in our Blockbuster queue. Shelly's picked all of the recent rentals we've seen, and now we're at a point where several of the next few are my choices! I'm tingling with excitement as I anticipate tonight's classic, Chased by Dinosaurs! Something tells me that, despite all my forbearance with musical after musical, I will be watching that one quite alone.

Also this week, I read a short novel entitled The Last Great Auk, which finished the joy-sapping job that Pursuit of Happiness began last month. One might argue that I shouldn't have gone into it expecting a happy ending, since the book's about a species of bird that went extinct over 160 years ago. I was kind of hoping for an M. Night Shyamalan-style twist at the end, even though that probably would have meant that readers could have figured it out by about page five. Either that, or maybe a Michael Crichton ending in which the bird wakes up in a labratory, magically resurrected by way of its DNA.

In entertainment news, Shelly and I visited Jason and Erika last night. Charlotte was asleep by our arrival and we never heard a peep out of her the whole evening. I suspected foul play, but was so grateful for a quiet evening with the new parents that I didn't make an issue of it.

We had a good time. In a rare turn of events, Erika was in the mood to play a game, so Jason brought out Scene-It. Three hours later, an exhausted Chris claimed victory, having endured endless travails, such as clips from Steel Magnolias, Buzz cards that inevitably set me back three spaces, and a furious spouse who accused me of foiling her win by distracting her. We should have known better than to play without Ashley Kuda, since no Scene-It game lasts more than 20 minutes with her participating.

In a short aside here, I read with interest this angst-ridden article about the recently concluded Supreme Court term. Especially egregious, in an article rife with distortions and hyperbole, is this passage:

And if conservatives claim to believe the president is owed deference on his
court appointees, they will be -- I choose this word deliberately -- lying. In
2005 conservatives had no problem blocking Bush's appointment of Harriet Miers
because they could not count on her to be a strong voice for their legal causes.
They revealed that their view of judicial battles is not about principle but
power. When they went after Miers, conservatives lost the deference argument.

Libs like E. J Dionne just love to have it both ways. One of their main critiques of the Bush Administration is that President Bush just offers up jobs to cronies that don’t have the experience or expertise to adequately perform them. The name of Michael Brown comes to mind.

In the example of Harriet Miers, she was a smart woman who had done well for herself in life, but she had never shown much of a desire or aptitude for the Supreme Court, and there were scads of conservative legal scholars who were more qualified for the position. If she’d been confirmed, Dionne would probably be first on the ‘cronyism’ bandwagon, but since Alito got the nod instead, he tries to use the incident as a reason conservative nominees shouldn’t be confirmed!

Not to run this subject into the ground here, but the ‘conservative’ position on judges has always been that, if judges are legally competant, have stellar credentials, haven’t done anything criminal or handed down any obviously ludicrious decisions, they should be confirmed regardless of whether the Senate approves of their particular judicial philosophy. Clinton got Ginsburg and Breyer through a Republican Senate, despite their liberal Constitutional views. If Bush gets another chance to put someone on the court, Democratic Senators owe him the same courtesy.

Ok, that aside wasn't so short, but cut me a little slack. When's the last time you had to sit through any political thoughts from me??

Well, gotta go. Just FYI, July might be a bad month for blogs, as Shelly and I will be out of town every weekend after next. But I'll do my best to keep up. Hope everyone's doing alright.

Oh, and use the 'comment' feature from time to time, people! That's why it's there!

Another Rip-Roarin' Rental

After the snooze-fest at the Notary Public class yesterday (I passed the twenty-question test at the end, thus clearing me to become a "Public Official of North Carolina"), Shelly and I settled in for a typical wild and crazy Friday night- feeding large quantities of geese, eating left-overs, and watching a Blockbuster video. Sad as that might sound, its just perfect for the two of us, and I for one thoroughly enjoy such quiet nights.

Anyway, the wheels came off the cart to a degree after the conclusion of said video, The Life of David Gale. We did our best to avoid this, since we both went into it realizing the movie was anti-capital punishment (an issue we disagree on), but were unable to avoid the inevitable conflagration.

My major problem with the movie centered on the scene in which Gale, a philosophy professor at a university (the secular world's version of a saint), squares off in a televised debate against the pro-death-penalty governor of Texas. Inevitably, Hollywood is unable to resist making the conservative position consist of easily-debunked premises, one line slogans, and appeals to the Bible (which don't count, in liberals' minds, since not everyone believes the Bible). The one point the governor makes that Gale can't reply to is that there's been no one put to death that's ever been proved innocent after the fact, a fact that stands in real life to this day. The rest of the movie involves Gale's attempt to negate that fact, not to give anything away.

The movie lets stand Gale's other points: 1. The death penalty doesn't deter murderers, 2. 'Eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind', 3. Most Christian denominations also oppose the death penalty. If you'll indulge me?

1. True, most criminals currently don't take the fact that they might be executed into account when they commit a crime. But the answer to that doesn't mean the penalty should be abolished. At this point, even if convicted and sentenced to death, it can take 10+ years before the sentence is carried out; how often does an event over a decade in the future deter anyone from doing things now? The 'sentence' for eating fast food three meals a day is likely to be carried out sooner than that of murder, yet that doesn't stop people from doing it! If appeals were limited, and sentences carried out immediately after their rejection, and criminals might very well think twice about what they're doing!

2. Actually, no- it leaves the entire world with a single eye each! (Much like a certain Italian greyhound we all know and love!) Which would be entirely fitting considering it wasn't the victim who commenced this rampant eye-gouging in the first place!

3. What Christians oppose and what the Bible demands aren't always the same. The Bible in the Old Testament is pretty clear in its capital punishment stance. And Jesus' teachings of forgiveness in the New Testament largely pertain to personal relations, not those between the government and its citizens. Also, despite being sentenced to death himself, Jesus never comes out and condemns the sentence itself (which, if it were truly unjust, one might expect him to, considering he was executed in one of the most barbaric ways imaginable). In fact, (getting a little into Christian doctrine here), God's very plan of salvation required Jesus' death; it would have been rather difficult for Him to die for our sins without capital punishment!

Anyway, enough about that. The story's good enough, and Kate Winslet, rejuvenated somehow from her decrepit appearance at the end of Titanic, has apparently come to regret throwing the diamond necklace in the ocean, as now she has to pay the bills working as a reporter. Anyway, go ahead and watch it, and bask in the knowledge that articulate, wry, intelligence ex-professors are probably pretty representative of your average death-row inmate, and thus deserve a few more decades of appeals. Or, what the heck, just go ahead and set 'em free- just don't do it again, you rascals!

Something's Rotten in Denmark...

...Chris is posting twice in one week! (Ten points to anyone who digs up the citation of that rather obscure reference).

Anyway, not a whole lot to report here tonight, besides that Jason and Erika just left, and that the blood pouring from my ears due to Charlotte's wailing has subsided to a trickle. Contrary to the administrations of her parents, the little tyke only finally seemed to settle down when plopped in front of the television for an hour of So You Think You Can Dance. If/when Chris does any begetting, "TV as babysitter" will be a simple fact of life. Either that or "Shelly's friends as babysitters", whichever works better.

In other news, I just listened in on a humorous conversation between Shelly and her mother. Seems that the newly installed carpet is three different shades of color! Shelly's amused comparison of this surely-overblown claim with the highly-exaggerated fault finding in the new granite counter tops apparently led to "shouting", hence Shelly's subsequent request to "stop shouting in my ear!" My next trip to Concord will undoubtedly feature this as a major plot point.

It did my heart good to go visit Jen's blog tonight, and see the pictures of the Baltimorean Inner Harbor... sigh. The submarine I never actually got to tour, the U.S.S Constellation, the Aquarium (apparently one of those places overrun with 'under-chaperoned' children, and hence not mentioned); makes one's heart ache for seldom visited locales in the general vicinity of one's former home!

I actually have the day 'off' tomorrow, so I can go attend a class to become a Notary Public, which, if I understand things correctly, endows me with the God-like power to use a stamp to emboss important-looking documents. All of my colleagues have attempted to damp my enthusiasm, one even going so far as to report falling asleep during the course of the class. Well, that may be so, but I doubt I'll get any sleep tonight, so great is my excitement!

Also today, I received my yearly evaluation, which SECU does every summer. My supervisor Denise, angel in human form she is, didn't give me anything below an "above average", and used words such as "thorough", "accurate", "professional", and "efficient" in regards to me, and actually said I'm a "joy" to have as a coworker. No, I haven't bribed or blackmailed her in any way. Yes, it's a mystery to me too.

Alright, all, Shelly calls! I'm actually doing this from her computer tonight, so no pictures. No, that's cruel; let me see if I can find one on her computer... Ok, here's one of me, petting a sting ray, shortly before its reputation was forever besmirched by its relatives' unfortunate encounter with Steve Irwin. Enjoy!

(Insert heartfelt, obligatory apology for delinquency here)

Anyway, jumping right into the last two weeks. Last weekend Shelly and I traveled down to Concord to celebrate Shelly's mother's birthday. After a late arrival Friday night, we had a full day on Saturday, going to the park--

-- where the triple digit heat nearly felled the three of us, though Mary's vehicle thermometer stubbornly insisted on a relatively balmy outside temperature of 84°.

Following the pilgrimage to Frank Liske park, we went out to Concord Mills mall. Being still without cash or debit resources, I was deemed useless to the shopping expedition and abandoned in the bookstore, where I happily passed the time while the two ladies browsed. After a near eternity, rivaling Tom Hanks' island stay in Cast Away, they returned to collect me, at which point I employed my rarely-used American Express card and purchased a book.

Later that same evening we were supposed to host the Kuda clan, and they showed up right on the dot at their appointed time of 7 P.M. Just kidding- the hamburgers were attracting scavengers by the time they made an appearance! ;)

We all had a great time. Julius regaled us with stories of his Discount Tire woes, and we passed the night watching recaps of the Republican and Democrat presidential candidate debates. I manned the grill, one of those big, stainless steal jobs that hadn't been used before. My stewardship was impeccable aside from one unfortunate incident with a hot dog and the set of tongs. Contrary to all expectations, there was no playing of Pictionary.

Here are a few other pictures of the affair:

Sunday we had lunch with Shelly's father and then came on home, reaching Chapel Hill by 5:30 P.M. And then it was off to the races for another week.

Not insignificantly, my sister Danielle had her fourth and (according to her) final child. Despite a desire to dub him "Oliver", my sister caved in to the relentless negative reaction that name garnered from the rest of the family. I, for one, liked it. She ended up naming him "Matthew Spencer"; I tried to broker a compromise with the name of "Oliver Spencer", but my mildly groggy sister, in a stunning display of frankness, advised me to "think about what you're saying!" By all reports, little Ollie is doing well even now, a week and a half after his birth.

And thus we reach this weekend, when once again the sanctity of my apartment was breached by a marauding twosome, this time one from Charlotte. Here at the invitation of my wife, this duo swept in Friday night, keeping us up until the wee hours of the morning and inhabiting the office, which was rendered unusable for the remainder of the weekend and off limits to the lone male resident of the domicile. Whisking Shelly away for much of the day Saturday (during which time, judging from the receipts I just tabulated, a great deal of moolah was also whisked from my bank account), they returned late in the afternoon, at which point they added yet another member to their band before departing in the dark of night for White Collar Crime, a club in Raleigh. Here is a picture of the group, right before the commencement of their debauchery:

Misty and Lerissa came into town, for any who failed to interpret that last paragraph, or who don't know what they look like. All jokes aside, it was great having them here, and they're welcome back whenever they want.

Just an aside here, Shelly and I watched several episodes of Man Vs. Wild this afternoon. I think the guy who does this show, Bear Gyrlls, deserves every penny he makes, probably one of the few people on TV that do. If you've never seen it, check it out on the Discovery Channel sometime.

Alright, everyone, Shelly's informed me that she's bored, so I need to wrap this up and go attend to her. It's not like she had any entertainment at all this past weekend... oh, wait! Hey! :)

A Parental Incursion

My parents came to visit us this past weekend. They arrived Friday night at about 6:30 PM, having stopped to visit Brenda, their tireless real estate agent, on the way down. Shortly after they pulled in, we whisked them away to Macaroni Grill in celebration of Mother's Day (but not before taking them to feed the (latest count: 44) geese; there's nothing like a shore full of crap to whet one's appetite).

We paid a high price for the dinner, in the form of a lost debit card. Fortunately, I discovered its absence the next day and, being a savvy, Credit Union employee, knew by heart the number to the weekend phone center. After being informed by the Macaroni Grill that they did not have the astrayed card (despite my knowing that they did), I cancelled it and resigned myself back into the cash-based society for the next week while I wait for a replacement.

The above incident occurred at the Raleigh Farmers Market, while I was waiting in line for the ATM. If you think that this led us to spending less money, you've obviously forgotten the fact that Shelly possesses a card as well. Unfortunately, the loss of my card was no obstacle to the rapid depletion of our checking account, as we walked out of there Saturday with two trays of Begonias, two hanging baskets of a miscellaneous flower that neither Shelly nor I can recall the name of now (Mom? Help?), one loaf of jalapeno cheddar bread (which did not survive the 25 minute ride home), a jar of salsa (which tonight proved to consist primarily of salt), and an 'Egyptian star flower' (or so Shelly says). The load was made that much heavier by the knowledge that, eventually, I was going to have to plant all of it.

Since my parents missed out on the Saturday excursion (being out looking at houses), they wanted to go to the Farmer's Market again on Sunday. Since gazing upon row after row of corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash could never, ever get old, we went ahead and obliged them. Dad felt most of the pain this time as Mom loaded up every available cubic centimeter of the car with hostas- I actually thought I was going to have to give up my seat on the ride back, but we worked out a straddling/cradling type arrangement that allowed me to avoid an awfully long walk.

After the Farmer's Market redux, we travelled to Southpoint Mall. Mom and Dad treated us to a pizza lunch, and the ladies visited three shops: Bath & Body Works, Swarovski, and William Sonoma. Dad and I got to take in three separate and distinct benches during these visitations, eagerly awaiting our own chance to browse stores more to our liking. But fate intervened. Brenda called, asking us to come see a house, so we departed the mall with a three-zero deficit to the girls.

The house we went to see was really nice. It made me wish Shelly and I were on the hunt. It had lots of space, great interior colors, over an acre of land, and a large, detached garage. Shelly would like to point out that there were power lines running through the backyard and that the neighborhood itself was kind of shabby, but I felt I could have lived with those things. I'd just somehow have to accept that my kids wouldn't be able to fly kites in our backyard...sigh.

On to better news. Shelly got an A- in Appellate Advocacy! What's that, you ask? I haven't the faintest idea. But the important thing is, she got an A in it, thus boosting her GPA! On the heels of this good news, she was told by one of the attorneys today that she can stay with the firm as long as she wants! Originally, she was going to just be there for six weeks, but now she's been invited to stay all of July too! Be proud of her, folks- I know that I am!

Shelly celebrated her good fortunate today by losing her car key at the gas station :). I had to drive 10 miles up I-40 to rescue her, which I gladly did. It's nice to have a damsel in distress now and again!

In other news, we watched Hannibal Rising last night. I rather liked it! A light-hearted, wholesome film suited for the whole family, sure to being a tear to your eye! Watch it with the kids, in the dark!

Well, that's all for the night. Except, of course, for wishing my mother-in-law Mary Bibb a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!