Apologies. Apologies already.

I haven’t been keeping up with the blog for a couple weeks, for a couple reasons:

1.) I’ve been focusing on getting better as quickly as I can, and getting back to work.

2.) Nobody wants to hear any more about doctors or pills or pain or gawdawful hospital experiences. And I’m tired of talking about it.

So, that chapter behind me, let’s look around, aiight?

What’s new in the world?

Election 2016

This is what we are faced with. These are our choices. A crazy ol’ white dude, a career politician, who advocates for blowing up the whole system, giving away free health care, free tuition and 12 weeks of vacation for everybody every year. Or a crazy, slightly less ol’ white lady who is smart, savvy and has a decided, unavoidable, measurable sleaziness factor.

And on the other side … whew. Two youngish Latino lawmakers, one from Texas, one from Florida, both of whom have been branded liars, one of whom none of his co-workers likes even a bit, the other who doesn’t stick around long enough to vote. A neurosurgeon who, in the debates, acts lobotomized. Various governors. Some ball o’ fire named Bush. And Donald freakin’ Trump.

These are our choices.

The Super Bowl

Luke and I watched practically the whole thing. For a game without any discernible offense, it was entertaining enough.

And then Cam Newton got all pouty, and all hell started breaking loose around Peyton Manning, and we were once again faced with this truth: Don’t make sports figures your role models. Don’t be fooled into thinking they’re regular guys. They grew up and now live in a different world than the rest of us, with bigger temptations and fewer checks on those temptations. They have different rules. They are rarely what they seem.

Even the best of them. Especially, sometimes, the best of them.

Justice Scalia

It makes sense, of course, that Republicans would want to drag their feet on any Supreme Court nominee that President Barack Obama puts before them in the Senate. That’s Rule 1 in any Republican’s playbook: Whatever Obama wants, don’t give it to him.

Peace on Earth? Forget it. Bomb the bastards.

We may never see a simpler example of how governing in 2016 has been hijacked by politicians — to be fair, they’re on both sides of the aisle — who are more interested in their dogma and getting re-elected than doing their jobs. Compromise is a bad word. And it shouldn’t be.

Obama, to his discredit, has not been able to bring the sides together. But at this point, I’m not sure anyone can.

All-Star Game

Last weekend, the NBA held its All-Star Game, in Toronto. On Sunday, the score at halftime was 92-90.

Like all All-Star games, it’s important to remember that these are exhibitions. They’re not really games, any more than the dunk contest or the home run derby is a real sporting event. So there’s no use in getting worked up about it. If you feel the need to watch, for whatever reason, eat your popcorn and know that an All-Star game is no more a game than popcorn is a meal.

The Grammys

Man, Kendrick Lamar seemed angry. I didn’t quite get what it was all about, though, so I went online to see what he was saying. These lyrics stand out to me:

Once upon a time, I go to church and talk to God
Now I’m thinking to myself
Hollow tips is all I got
Now I’m drinking by myself
At the end of Section Park
Caught you when you walk besides your house
You threw your briefcase all on the couch
I plan on creeping through your damn door and blowing out
Every piece of your brain
‘Til your spine drip to your arm
Cut off the engine then sped off in a wraith

Man. That’s scary strong. Earlier in the piece, Lamar referenced Trayvon Martin and the pain that caused in the black community. But, obviously, Lamar’s piece goes well beyond that; the struggles he mentions started long before Martin’s death and have continued through Ferguson, through Baltimore, through South Carolina. The Atlantic has a good review.

As a white man in America, I can’t possibly feel that anger, that fear, that frustration. I can’t feel that oppression. So I can’t fully understand it. But many people in this nation can and do. Everybody should recognize that.

Powerful.