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My secret technique for being the smartest guy in the room First, find an event being held in a very small room with poor ventilation. Next, get there early before anyone else arrives.
You’ll automatically be the “Smartest Guy in the Room (or Gal)” Note: Tomorrow I will disclose my secret technique for being the dumbest guy in the room Is my bank in trouble and trying to tell me something I just made a deposit at my bank and noticed the sign above the teller
Or am I just reading too much into this? Regardless, there seems to be an opening in the Louisville market that will be here “The day after tomorrow…and all of next week.” Granted, not a great sounding tag line but the opening seems to be there. Hag sameach, happy Pesach, and how appropriate that the Supreme Court hearings on same-sex marriage will begin on the first day of Passover! Sure, most of us think of Passover in terms of biblical history, the one time a year we open the Manischewitz, or trying to find appetizing uses for matzoh (there are some great recipes online for chocolate-toffee-covered versions . . . ). However, Passover is also a celebration of a pivotal moment in history (the Jews escaping from persecution in Egypt), just as the Supreme Court case is a pivotal moment in the history of gay rights, and of the freedom of gay couples to have the same legal recognition as heterosexual couples. I see some personal links between the events, as well. As a card-carrying Jewish mother, I like to joke that I’m secretly longing for a gay son (so he’ll go shopping with me, and he’ll never replace me with another woman). Plus Jews have lots in common with gay people, in that we’re often reduced to stereotypes and have experienced group discrimination – it makes sense that so many of us support marriage equality. (In fact, our synagogue performed same-sex ceremonies before they even considered interfaith marriages!) Plus the connection between gay rights and being Jewish is what got me to The Recovering Politician in the first place. Last summer, I was researching ways to publicize my album of Chanukah comedy songs, and I came across an article about Chanukah music by Jonathan Miller. I wrote to him out of the blue, never expecting to get a response, but not only did he reply, he invited me to contribute to the site’s discussion of last year’s Chick-Fil-A controversy. I wrote about some of the same reasons, why Jewish mothers support gay rights, including a song about being a liberal Jewish mother, and joked that I should do a weekly song. Jonathan said Sure, I thought, Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?, and 8 months and 40 songs later, I’m still finding plenty of inspiration in current events. So since a big part of the Passover Seder is to express gratitude, I’d like to officially thank you, Jonathan and The Recovering Politician, for launching a whole new creative venture and for providing a sane, civil community for discussion and sharing opinions. Toda raba! About once or twice a year I go through a full service car wash
The first time I knew they existed I was a small boy with my mom and she explained what was going on as I watched on with wonder from the lobby area. I much prefer the self-service car washes because you don’t have to get out of your car and wait 10–15 min in a wait area. I am in the waiting area now and have watched two grown men (one about 60 and the other mid 40s) stand with their back to the rest of us pretending to watch the car wash process with the wonder of a small boy
I suspect instead it is a defense mechanism to the awkward waiting room. What do you talk about to fellow customers? So instead we pretend to watch the washing process like we did as children But I am different. I don’t have the need to pretend to be busy so I don’t have to make conversation. Oh, wait a minute. A new customer just sat down next to me. I need to walk outside and pretend like I am making a phone call. Time for some shameless promotion for some close friends of mine: Nancy and Phil Hoffman’s creative parenting skills have now resulted in a second son achieving national artistic fame. Son #1, Scott, is “Babydaddy,” the multi-instrumentalist and bacup vocalist for the internationally-acclaimed glam-rock band Scissor Sisters. Now, Son #2, Ben Hoffman, has launched a new program on Comedy Central, “The Ben Show,” previewed here by Rich Copley of the Lexington Herald-Leader. Here’s a sort-0f-NSFW video that shows off Ben’s humor, as well as some truths about growing up Jewish in Lexington, Kentucky:
Almost there , almost there. But forgetting “there” is only an idea and not a location—it is only a guidepost and figment of our imagination that keeps us moving. What if we woke up this morning and instead of “closer” to our dreams, we had “arrived”? Me?
Which is why, I suppose, our reach should always exceed our grasp. But not by too much. As long as we are living, we are merely “in transit” —at times forward; at times backwards; and often just sideways or adrift. And at other times we simply standstill In this journey oflife we “arrive” not at a final destination –but the moment we realize that life is an endless journey –with maps, and GPS-es and Sherpas and guideposts And, as the sign in the mall says, “You are here” –now. But not for long. And we try, for today, not to run in place or swim against the tide But hopefully to float toward our destiny –which we know when we are doing because it feels like flying. Hating on Duke basketball dominates even when the Blue Devils are hardly the most dominant team in this year’s NCAA tournament. What gives? Originally aired on HuffPostLive, March 22, 2013 Hosted by: Mike Sacks Guests: Rep. Brad Miller @RepBradMiller (Washington, DC) Retired Congressman from North Carolina Donald Wine @blazindw (Washington, DC) Headline Monitor; Lawyer; Advisory Board Member to the WunderGlo Foundation Ian Williams (Positano, Italy) Writer Jonathan Miller @RecoveringPol (Lexington, KY) Former Kentucky State Treasurer Patrick Hruby @patrick_hruby (Washington, DC) Contributor to Sportsonearth.com With all this new Pope buzz and the chatter about the theological and political implications, someone is finally turning to a more practical and more interesting topic. A good friend asked me (tongue in cheek) if women become priests, do I think they would make female cardinals wear brown? That’s a great question. Although this issue will be decided in the Vatican it has far reaching implications that could include trademark infringement accusations right here in Louisville, KY with UPS if the Catholic Church ever tries to use the tag line “Brown Deliver”
At least that is my best off-the-cuff answer . That is also tongue-in-cheek. ; ) I just went through Chik-fil-A drive through in my hometown in Louisville. Mainly because it’s after 9pm and most their clientele are home for the night —praying with one another, talking about heterosexuality, and getting ready for bed. At least that’s the media stereotype we have in my mind I figure that between 9-10pm each night the city’s liberal and hypocritical underbelly slithers through the Chik-fil-A drive-thru wearing sunglasses and masking their real voice as they order. And not making eye contact as they ask for extra ketchup for the Waffle Fries before careening out of the parking lot before one of their liberal brethren recognizes them and turns them into the local Whole Food Market. But the food is so good at Chik-fil-A, otherwise idealistic Ashley Judd Democrats (it is Kentucky) are, at least during a weak moment (between 9-10pm Mon-Sat, but not Sun) willing to risk everything they stand for to munch on a Spicy Chicken Sandwich or toasted Chicken Salad Sandwich. Is that really so wrong? Of course it is!
Shame. Shame. I know your name! John Y Brown III! You Daniel in the Lion’s Den! Or Chik-Fil-A’s double drive-thru line. But at least I had the decency NOT to park and eat in Chik-fil-A parking lot. I clandestinely drove across the street and parked in the Taco Bell parking lot where I noticed two other cars parked with Chik-Fil-A bags on the dashboard with incognito drivers wolfing down a chicken pot pie. But then I saw something truly shocking. It was, if true, reminiscent of the moment when Sen Joe McCarthy was castigated by the Army Colonel and General Counsel, “At long last, sir, have you no sense of decency?” Only worse because it was more brazen and nakedly hypocritical. It was a high profile and celebrated local republican operative, whose name I’ll leave anonymous for now (or someone who looks just like him) wearing dark sunglasses in a corner booth eating a Bacon Club Chalupa inside Taco Bell. As he chewed blissfully he simultaneously belied his party’s rigid policy position on immigration, symbolically anyway. “What a sanctimonious hypocrite!” I thought to myself. Sure,I was outraged and wanted to lash out at this blatant policy hypocrisy. But I thought to myself, maybe –just maybe—all this hyper partisanship had gone a step too far. Instead I asked myself what would Democratic Patron Saint US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan do if he were alive and found himself in this identical situation? Easy. He was discreetly walk inside Taco Bell and quietly offer his political nemesis his now empty Chick-Fil-A bag to disguise the rest of his Taco Bell order. But Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a better man than I am. I left the scene and am posting the entire episode on the Recovering Politician blog! For sake of our children and our children’s children’s future. Or something like that. As Grover Norquist taught us, “Bipartisanship is another name for date rape.” Or, I would add, an unreported partisan breach involving a Taco Bell Bacon Club Chalupa or Chik-fil-A Charbroiled Chicken Wrap.
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