By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jul 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET  Week two with the iPhone. I like it.
If this were The Bachelor, the iPhone would get another rose. And proceed to week 3.
But not before showing some highlight clips from the prior week. And not flattering ones.
The time I was alone with my iPhone and asked if it had ever stayed charged long enough to see what dusk looked like.
The time I typed “i” inadvertently instead of “o” 5 times, said s…omething really loud. Just a single word, really. And then substituted another word that didn’t have an “i” or “o.”
And, finally, sarcastically joking with a friend about several mishaps —in front of the iPhone.
But then we rounded out the week with a sweet highlight where I called tech services and later took it into a local Verizon store complaining about the ringer sign being frozen on screen. Then the Verizon person showed me I had put the case on upside down.
We all had a nice laugh.
But I’m giving a rose because there’s something about this iPhone. It did not have me at hello. Or even at Siri’s first clever response. Just seems like the kind of phone you can be with for long periods of time and not need to say anything. And even though I get frustrated with it sometimes, I can’t stay mad at the iPhone. I just can’t!
And it helps that it’s kinda cool. I need that. We compliment each other well. I can’t decide if we are more like Claire and Phil Dunphy or Jay and Gloria from Modern Family.
Hard to say. The important thing, though, is that it just works.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Jul 24, 2012 at 4:00 PM ET The Politics of Laughter
The Future of Hipsters [comic]
Brilliant. [picture]
Doctor’s strike [comic]
What would you do when handed the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy? [picture]
Time well spent. [picture]
Roomba vs. Vacuum [Kids are Dumb]
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jul 24, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET “I know it is going to be a good day when….(fill in the blank with what the tip odf is for you). Me?
It’s when driving to work I nail lip-synching Mos Def’s “Know That” from the album Black on Both Sides. And when I nail both Mos Def’s AND Talib Kweli’s part –like I did this morning….well, step aside son.
Anything is possible for me.
There is nothing I can’t lip-sync.
That is until I get …to the office and am waiting at the elevator. Then I start to question the correlation between my illest hip-hop impersonations and having a successful day at work. But I smile to myself because I know deep down if free styling hip-hop is required, I won’t have any trouble taking down the other 4 guys on the elevator with brief cases.
I “Know That!” It’s going to be a good day!
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET My version of George Washington’s cherry tree (I cannot tell a lie) story.
If you live long enough in a city you find pieces of yourself –your life–that catch you off guard and bring back a flood of memories.
That happened to me tonight when I went to an to a new ATM off Frankfort Ave. As I looked up I saw a door (see picture) that I recognized. I knew instantly it was a door from a defining moment in my life, when my honesty and character was put to the test.
I was 16 years old and was out one night with my closest high school friend, who I’ll leave nameless. We were discussing sneaking into a movie. A couple left through the door attached to the theater and my friend grabbed the handle and held it open for me.
“C’mon, Johnny! C’mon!! Quick!”
I almost impulsively rushed in. But didn’t. I hesitated just long enough for guilt to seep in and catch my self up….and muster the confidence to whisper bravely “Let’s just go inside and pay.”
I know…that wasn’t as brave a declaration as I’d hoped ….but it spoke volumes about the kind of person I was. My friend didn’t have the money and said we weren’t old enough to get in anyway. He held the door open a few more seconds urging me to sneak in. But I didn’t.
And we left.
And I hadn’t seen that door to the old Crescent Art (porn) theater since that night 33 years ago. The night my character–OK, a small piece of my character–was put to the test. And I passed. By refusing to sneak into a blue movie house without paying.
What a guy, huh? Made me wonder if George Washington felt this way when he’d tell people the cherry tree story. Yeah, of course he did!
Read the rest of…
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Being Good While Doing Bad
By RP Staff, on Mon Jul 23, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET 
OK, this one’s too easy for a contest.
Instead, we will challenge you to a more important question.
With his new hat, is The RP setting a new fashion trend? Or is this a major fashion FAIL?
Please comment below
By RP Staff, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET Since The RP has been very outspoken on the subject of his support for marriage equality. we at The Recovering Politician, in the interests of fairness, hereby provide the counter-argument:
h/t Danielle MacDonald
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET Facebook advertising and paying for colonoscopies.
As I watch Facebook succumb to ad creep I am reminded of a ridiculous joke I suggested a couple of months ago to a friend as we discussed the need for, ahem!, colonoscopies and how to pay for them.
My idea was a simple, All-American pro-Capitalism approach. I thought of the most obvious solution that everyone else seemed to be missing.
Look, some people rent out their cars for ad space. We have ads in the most intimate public spaces, including restroom stalls. And don’t forget the human sandwich boards.
The solution was so simple, a child could have thought of it. Why not allow us to contract through our insurance providers to rent out our colons as advertising space?
Duh!!
When doctors are doing a scope they will see advertising campaigns specifically targeted to them. Ads for new medical equipment, new pharmaceutical medication, trips abroad, Mercedes Benzes and subscriptions to Cigar Aficionado. With the new advertising revenue derived from colon ads, we will be able for every American to be able to financially cover all the needed medical procedures involving their colon.
Health improves. Our health care system is more financially solvent. And doctors get interesting and relevant information about new marketplace opportunities while snaking through our colons looking for the presence of unusual new growths.
It’s a classic win, win, win.
And reminded me of the new spate of ads we are all subjected to now on Facebook. We are all being treated like doctors now, in an odd sort of way. I guess. There is always a silver lining if you look hard enough.
And also, if you look hard enough, there is another advertisement that just appeared. ; )
By RP Staff, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET So says Fishbowl DC:
Now that congressional candidate-turned political pundit Krystal Ball has a regular spot co-anchoring MSNBC’s “The Cycle,” we’ve been able to take a closer look at her. And while we may be overshooting here, we’re ready to say Ball looks very much like the beautiful Dutchess of Cambridge herself, Kate Middleton.
“Ha! Very flattering,” Middleton Ball told us. “I’ll take being compared to her any day!”
She told us we’re not the first to compare her to Middleton but that she is “more commonly” compared to a young Demi Moore. “Both are extremely flattering and a bit of a stretch,” she said.
If you’re wondering where she got the curious name, a 2011 WaPoprofile on Ball notes that her father, a physicist, wrote his doctoral dissertation on crystals.
OK, You decide. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET Are you feeling shallow today?
Did your boss seem dismissive of you?
Are you not getting the kind of respect at home you feel you deserve?
Next time you feel a personal slight, actual or anticipated, stop yourself. Straighten your back. Look the person in the eyes and repeat this quote–soberly and with conviction.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
Pause. And then add,
“Oh yeah. That’s Carl Gustave Jung. Since you appear confused.”
Shuts ’em up every time. And they will not take you for being shallow or inconsequential again.
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