The Last Ephor

Things I wish I knew when I was younger: * The only think in life you ever really, truly control is yourself. * Most of it doesn’t matter. Most of the things that drive you crazy, keep you awake at night and make you angry don't matter. Very few things matter. Focus on them and you'll be happier. * Bitterness and holding on to past hurt is the most destructive force in the universe. Nothing, but nothing, is more damaging to a person than that. It's cancer. Get rid of it. * Good enough is good enough but perfect is a pain in the ass * People who follow every fashion trend are generally idiots. The more seriously they take fashion the dumber they are. They're dwelling on one of the least interesting, least important things in life. * Work is a means to an end. There is a point of diminishing returns for work that comes up pretty quickly. * The quickest and simplest way to wreck any relationship is to listen to gossip. The worst way to spend your time is...

I was reminiscing about childhood Halloween costumes yesterday. My Mom was a really good costume maker when I was a kid. Nobody bought costumes because they were expensive or just terrible. If you were unfortunate enough to get one with a mask it was made out of the world's thinnest plastic and had razor sharp edges. The eye and mouth holes were always too small and you couldn't breathe in the damn thing. The result would be many Batmen and Supermen running around with a mask atop their head rather than over their face. Some would pull it down after ringing the bell but no way you could run around in those things on. You'd be in for serious injury. One year I wanted to be the grim reaper. That required a long black robe with a pointed hood, a scythe (made by Dad in the wood shop in the basement) and face paint to look like a skeleton. A week from Halloween I was ready to go. My Mom did a fitting (so I wouldn't be tripping over the robe) and a trial run on the...

"You American haters bore me to tears, Ms. Barham. I've dealt with Europeans all my life. I know all about us parvenus from the States who come over here and race around your old Cathedral towns with our cameras and Coca-cola bottles... Brawl in your pubs, paw at your women, and act like we own the world. We over-tip, we talk too loud, we think we can buy anything with a Hershey bar. I've had Germans and Italians tell me how politically ingenuous we are, and perhaps so. But we haven't managed a Hitler or a Mussolini yet. I've had Frenchmen call me a savage because I only took half an hour for lunch. Hell, Ms. Barham, the only reason the French take two hours for lunch is because the service in their restaurants is lousy. The most tedious lot are you British. We crass Americans didn't introduce war into your little island. This war, Ms. Barham to which we Americans are so insensitive, is the result of 2,000 years of European greed, barbarism, superstition, and s...

There's been some talk about gun rights and restrictions on DL. Mike W. and another Dana arguing pro and JadeGold against. Gun control advocates usually say they simply favor "reasonable" restrictions. They want to keep the guns from people who are either incapable of handling them properly (children, mentally ill) or criminals. Frankly, I don't know of anyone who opposes such restrictions. The problem is that JadeGold believes DC's restrictions fall into the zone of "reasonable". They are tantamount to a total ban. No handguns permits have been issued in 30 years. Long guns may be kept in the home provided they are locked and unloaded. They may not be carried in public either. There are no gun stores in DC and zoning laws prohibit them from even existing. This is a de facto if not de jure ban. I made the argument that putting those same restrictions on blogging would be considered a ban on free speech and not "reasonable" restricti...

Guildenstern: All your life you live so close to truth it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye. And when something nudges it into outline, it's like being ambushed by a grotesque. Very true. Sometimes that truth is something you just don't remember because it's been out of you line of sight for so long. When I was a yute , we went to church in the next town over from our. (I never got a straight answer as to why we didn't go to the one closest to home). We'll call my church Our Lady of Perpetual Weirdness. It even looked like a 70's church. The sketch doesn't do it justice. It was built in the mid 1950's but wow is it ugly. The interior is indescribably bad. Poor layout with numerous chokepoints, high ceilings in the center but low over the rear pews (like a big cone) that guaranteed the head would go up and leave us freezing year round. Dark stone walls with thick mortar, stained glass that looked like it was made from broken be...

anywhere except New York City . I used to ride my bike when I was in NYC. Then one time I rode at night. In the rain. After I had a few beers. Needless to say that didn't go well. My bike riding days drew to a close shortly after that. The video link shows how harrowing the ride can be even in fair weather. The rider starts off in Central Park and eventually heads south on Broadway through Times Square.

Whispers in the Loggia talks about The (Ash) Capital of the World . Truly, if you've not seen this phenomenon it can be striking. I used to work two stops from St. Pats and it was the natural choice for ashes as they are a well oiled machine. They have multiple concurrent streams of clergy administering ashes. The tone of the line was always interesting. The further to the end of the line you were, the more jovial and relaxed things were. The closer to the front you were, the more somber and reverent. I worked in Gotham for a few years and it was very common to have an office full of people wearing ashes. Then I moved to Charlotte. There was a tiny chapel in the center of the city call it the Trinity Church of Charlotte. (Couldn't remember the name but after Googling, it's St. Peter's !) I went to get ashes at lunchtime. It was a quick affair as I went late (for lunch). I got back to my office and the woman I worked with is looking at my head like she wants...

If the man had half a brain, he'd tell her forget it, you don't get anything then. Ungrateful brat.