the middle of everything matters
I didn’t grow up in a traditionally religious household, but I did grow up in what I always felt was a fairly spiritual one, in so much as that “balance” and “harmony” were pretty core concepts. It wasn’t explicitly stated or anything (no crystals, no auras, nothing like that), but when I look back on it, it seems obvious. My parents loved a different thing about each season, each part of the day, and each part of their lives. They didn’t complain about being old, and they ignore what I thought because I was young. My dad read books about taoism and eastern religions, and my mom preached moderation so strongly, that once, after tirelessly nagging me to read a book for about two weeks one summer, actually made me stop and go outside when I got hooked on this as a little kid. It was all about moderation.
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pattern
Uh oh — it happened again. This time it’s 15th century Italy. “AAAAAYYEE, HOW MUCHA DO YOU EXPECTA ME TO PAY FORRA HORSE-A?”
I should never work for the State Department.
rubio
Ricky Rubio is might be coming to the U.S., to play for the Timberwolves. He’s 20, makes cool flashy passes, and plays in Spain — I think just from basketball stereotypes, that’s probably enough for you to guess what he sucks at. But think again!
“He’s gotten bigger and he plays outstanding defense, and because he’s a pass-first guard he’s going to be liked by everybody who plays with him,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said last year.
Ten bucks says Rubio plays really crappy defense.
it’s the economy and i’m stupid
How’s the economy doing? (ed. — didn’t you just tell us the other day?) Well, the only thing this analysis is totally sure of is that I’m an idiot.
The auto industry. This has been the Obama administration’s clearest example of success. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) and Chrysler Group all are back on their feet and regaining some of the market share they lost.
All three made money in the first quarter, the first time all were in the black at the same time since 2004. And employment at auto plants and dealerships is up 100,000 since hitting a low point during the government-funded bankruptcies at GM and Chrysler in 2009.
So, basically the exact opposite of what I predicted. Oops. I didn’t think I was being especially ideological when I decided bailing out GM (and especially Chrysler) was a bad idea, and maybe I wasn’t — maybe, like a lot of people, I just don’t know what I’m talking about. I dunno, what’s the better excuse, that I was blinded by my almost religious belief in moral hazard, or that I’m just ig’nant?
Then again, it’s not like we ended up just cutting them a check and walking away; management got swept out, labor relationships were changed, etc., etc., and so forth — can I turn this into me somehow being right yet? No? How about now?
it kind of looks like an alligator that is going to EAT US
I can already hear my theoretical future kids yelling at me… “BUT YOU AND MOM GOT TO GO TO EXPENSIVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS!!!” So far my best planned response is “well, they obviously didn’t work, because we don’t make anywhere near enough money to send you there ourselves”, but I feel like that’s probably just going to irritate them even more. At that point, I go to the well of “hey, did you hear about what happened in Sudan today? Boy, good thing you don’t live there, eh?”
And then they’ll apply to CostCo Law School.
weak
LeBron isn’t making rooting against him any less fun:
Left threadbare, all James could do was deploy his defense mechanisms.
“All the people that were rooting me on to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before,” James said. “They have the same personal problems they had to today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want with me and my family and be happy with that.”
Yes, James could leave in his Bentley or Rolls Royce or Maybach or whatever vehicle he chose to drive. He could, indeed, go home to his mansion where his personal chef might have a five-star meal waiting. Then off to his plush bed with 1,500-thread-count sheets. In a few days, it’ll be off on a private jet for a needed vacation.
The vast majority of those who toasted his defeat will wake up and go to work on Monday morning.
OUCH, LEBRON, YOU GOT ME. I HAVE A JOB. Seriously, those are our options? Idolize him, or…” f*** you, you’re poor”. Who is giving this man PR cues, Charlie Sheen?
Anyways, biggest surprise to me about Miami this season; it doesn’t appear that LeBron is interested, or knows how, to get any better than he already is. It’s why he still has no post game, still has an inconsistent — dare I say Sullivan-esque – jump shot, and expects his teammates to carry him to a world of photo-ops and championship parades. For all of Kobe Bryant’s faults as a basketball player and a teammate, (and there are many) no one will ever look back at his accomplishments, or his famous defeats, and wonder how good he could have been if he had really wanted it.
I know LeBron is only 26, but really, the guy randomly turns into Lamar Odom 2.0 at this point, even in the biggest moments. I’m not convinced that’s something you grow out of when you turn 27. Maybe Wade can beat it into his head this summer during the lockout, before he (Wade, I mean) hits 30 and completely falls apart physically.
miami
I like Dan LeBetard, but if Simmons’ gets called out for homerism, LeBetard should be put on display in the town square.
The questions? The doubt? Those won’t be going anywhere for the moment. It happened in a split second, what may or may not have been an offensive foul, happened in less time than it took you to get this far in this sentence. So fickle, this game. So cruel. So fun. Unless you are at the epicenter of it – feeling all alone with your talent, which is substantive, but also with your burden, which is just as large.
That was definitely an offensive foul, but thanks for the faux-uncertainty.
Against Boston and Chicago, James and his friends could take the point guard away and short-circuit the entire offense. But Miami has been a step late as a more-versatile Dallas calmly swings the ball around the perimeter.
I know, right? I mean, whose arm should they break? So many tough coaching decisions.
Honestly, I’m surprised just how badly I’m rooting for Dallas in this series. Every nice pass the Heat make, or amazing Wade block, just seems to be countered by yet another stupid flop (J.J. Barea does this constantly too, but he’s three feet tall and about 10% as good as Wade), referee bitch-out without consequences, or something douchey and villainous like this. So no, there would be absolutely nothing redeeming in my mind about this glorified AAU team hoisting the trophy. It’s not helping that Dallas is coming across as extremely likable — did you see the halftime bit on Tyson Chandler? Guy spent half his life growing up on a farm and the other half in Compton. No wonder he’s so cool.
UPDATE : Tommy Craggs from Deadspin on what’ll happen if I get what I want :
“It’s going to be awful. We’re going to turn LeBron into a national sermon on the wages of narcissism. We’re going to edit these finals into a highlight reel of Humility dunking all over Ego. We’re going to be a country of Joe Liebermans, all freaking summer long. If there is a reason to root against the Mavs, this is it.”
This is 100% true, and extremely unfortunate. However, the reaction is going to be completely ridiculous and insufferable either way — that was guaranteed as soon as Miami made the Finals (thanks, Chicago). If they win, we’ll have to be lectured about what champions the Heat are, how much “adversity” they overcame, and how James and Wade “finally learned to co-exist for the good of the team”. This is going to get over-analyzed and over-moralized no matter which of the two outcomes occurs, except in one of them, these two high visibility d-bags don’t get their crappiest tendencies legitimized.
(… and yes, I understand that Jason Kidd beating his wife is 1,000 times worse than overstating your relevance to the game of basketball, but Kidd getting a trophy isn’t a threat to justify domestic abuse in our minds. But if LeBron wins the next two games, he could go 0-for-35 and we’d still be subjected to tales of his newfound “heart” for years to come, regardless of how ridiculous they are.)
by the way, ortiz is back
Not that I’m totally paying attention to baseball yet, but I did notice :
Ortiz said he did not flip his bat Wednesday so he could avoid being on the “national news.”
“I don’t want to have you guys asking me the same questions. I got almost 370 bombs in the big leagues and everybody wants to make a big deal because I bat-flip one of them. (Expletive) that (expletive), man. If I have to make that video on my (expletive), let’s see how many bat flips I got on this (expletive). Good night.”
That’s right, David Ortiz is awesome again. I like the guy a lot, so this makes me happy. Yes, he’s probably on whatever rejuvenation drug/supplement/pilates routine/etc. that everyone else who looks old and done and miraculously comes back is on, but since this is baseball, I’m willing to simply ignore it and put on Red Sox tinted glasses. Papi is cool, Papi is hitting home runs, good for him.
The only sad thing here is how Ortiz has — naturally, and understandably — become so jaded with the mean-spirited, completely un-fun Boston (and national) sports media. But note that it’s just crappy quote-hunting reporters who get the nasty version of Ortiz — he’s still a happy dude.
I always felt it worthwhile to hold onto Ortiz through what seemed very likely to be the new normal of .260 batting averages and 25 home run seasons, simply out of a sense of — admittedly irrational — gratitude for his history of postseason heroics and generally lovable nature. I stand by that argument, but fortunately, that’s not a decision that has to be made at this point, because the guy is belting home runs and batting well over .300 during the part of the season he usually sucks.
Anyways, wake me up in late July.
sad face
The NY Times explores the politician sad-face. 
“I deeply, deeply regret having to talk about this.”
My toy
So, I bought an iPad. I only know a few people who own them, but everyone seems to be pretty happy with them, and more importantly, I don’t own a laptop, and don’t feel like getting one. And who wants to come home in the summer and read the Internet in the basement when you could be sitting outside in the hammock?
At any rate, as Vice President of Creative Accounting at AIG, I obviously received a huge quarterly bonus a few weeks ago, so I decided to give half of it to The Human Fund and spend the rest of it on gratuitous consumer electronics, as my generation tends to do. First reaction? This thing is awesome. It’s almost frighteningly well designed. I’m writing this entry in the WordPress app with this imaginary keyboard, and I’m actually not really having any trouble, despite having owned this thing for all of three days. The integration with our other Apple stuff is phenomenally smooth, it’s easy to carry around, and the form factor is great for reading and browsing. It’s definitely a luxury device, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a totally awesome, useful luxury device, and it absolutely is.
Look, I’ll take a picture right now.
I just did that right now, and it took me like, five seconds. Damn. Okay, how about a movie?
Geez, this thing is great. And by saying that, I don’t mean to upset the motorola zoom people or people who hate Apple or anything like that. I’m just saying I like my new toy.
A lot.