Friday, February 29, 2008

I'm sitting in Psychobabble Coffee Shop in Los Feliz. It's a pretty popular little joint, lots of space for the writers and students who populate it's tables. That's something that I find particularly admirable about Los Angeles. Being a writer s not a questionable profession. As evidenced by the WGA strike, it's a economically impactful position, not just for people who can't bring themselves to do something else. As such, it carries at least an aknowledged level of respect. You can be a writer in Los Angeles and people don't automatically roll their eyes and say, "What else?"

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I actually left this whole post until today, not intentionally but when I eventually made it home I found myself more distracted by beer, steak and Jack Daniels on ice with a couple dashes of bitters. Distracting stuff, that.

This morning I woke up fairly early and got to work. Last October I went down to San Diego to visit my dad and a good friend. During the visit the handle to open my tailgate was broken. I haven't really needed it very often of late but recently I've been needing to drop the tail a bit more so this morning I took my little tool set and I got about disassembling the backside of the gate so I could see what I'd need to fix it.

There's something mildly romantic to the act of fixing your own truck on a cold, misty morning. I remember my dad doing the same so many times. Still, there's a less cheery side to the whole deal: the only reason I'm fixing my own vehicle is because I can't afford to pay someone else to do it. It was the same with Dad.

But I like it. And this is one of the easier jobs you can do, I'm happy not to be laying underneath anything this time.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Ah yes, this.

Today for lunch I went to the pub. I had two Bass and a pulled pork po' boy sandwich, which was basically the best thing I could have possibly tasted today. I'm actually quite tempted to head out to the store and pick up a few more beers for home, and still might though I really don't need them. I ate pizza for dinner. I can feel my love handles revving up like sprinters after popping that infamous air bubble into the artery.

Actually, all I want to do right now is watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles but Direct TV keeps fucking out on us.

Like a good political junkie, I watched the debates between Clinton and Obama in Ohio yesterday. I thought Clinton did well early on, she was especially strong during the portion on health care which is her baby and therefor undoubtedly her strongest subject. Obama on the other hand didn't do much damage but he gave no ground. What was best done on Obama's part was his ability to deflect criticism and attacks in an almost Aikido like manner diffusing their force and redirecting it every so pleasantly back at their originator. Unless something particulary suprising or nefarious happens, I think this campaign is pretty much over for Clinton. The question will be how much longer she refuses to accept it, and that will likely be right up until the DNC. McCain will be using all of this time to land as many punches on Obama as he can while his defenses are concentrated on his party-rival. The O is a resilient guy but he'll be taking it from both ends for a couple weeks and that's bound to leave him bruised come the general election.