A return......

I recently thought about this blog and the fact that I haven't posted anything on it in ages. I hope to change that soon. I have many thoughts swirling around in my head that I will be expanding upon shortly. Stay tuned.

~D

The End Of an Era.....

Months ago, Andre Agassi announced that this year's US Open was to be the last tournament of his career. On Sunday, he was defeated.

I'm not usually the type of person who gets all sentimental when an athlete retires. Today was different.

After following Andre's career for nearly 20 years, I found it quite difficult to not get a bit choked up as he bid farewell to the New York crowd and walked off court for the final time.

As a young boy I remember waking up early in the summertime so that I could watch his matches at Wimbledon -- a tournament that many naysayers claimed he could never win. I remember watching him win his first Grand Slam title at that same tournament in 1992 -- those same naysayers now applauding and cheering him on. In college I remember staying up until 5:30 in the morning to watch his classic 2000 Australian Open semifinal match against Pete Sampras, still my favorite of all their epic duels. Most of all, I remember shaking my head and smiling in amazement every time I watched him hit one of his trademark baseline winners. No matter how many times I watched him do it, the reaction was always the same.

Thank you for the memories Andre, and for all that you've done for the game. The world of tennis will never be the same without you.

All Is Not Lost.....

The following essay was written by Youssef Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for The New York Times and energy editor of the Wall Street Journal. He is also a Muslim. Some of you might have seen this or heard about it, but I felt like posting it anyhow. I can only hope that his sentiments are growing among the Muslim communities of the world.


Arab Majority May Not Stay Forever Silent

By YOUSSEF IBRAHIM
July 17, 2006

Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that seventh-century Islam is not fit for 21st-century challenges. That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics, and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.

And yes, we, the silent Arab majority, do not believe that writers, secular or otherwise, should be killed or banned for expressing their views. Or that the rest of our creative elite - from moviemakers to playwrights, actors, painters, sculptors, and fashion models - should be vetted by Neanderthal Muslim imams who have never read a book in their dim, miserable lives.

Nor do we believe that little men with head wraps and disheveled beards can run amok in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq making decisions on our behalf, dragging us to war whenever they please, confiscating our rights to be adults, and flogging us for not praying five times a day or even for not believing in God.

More important, we are not silent any longer.

Rarely have I seen such an uprising, indeed an intifada, against those little turbaned, bearded men across the Muslim landscape as the one that took place last week. The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, received a resounding "no" to pulling 350 million Arabs into a war with Israel on his clerical coattails.

The collective "nyet" was spoken by presidents, emirs, and kings at the highest level of government in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, and at the Arab League's meeting of 22 foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But it was even louder from pundits and ordinary people.

Perhaps the most remarkable and unexpected reaction came from Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said bluntly and publicly that Hezbollah's decision to cross the Lebanese border, attack Israel, and kidnap its soldiers has left the Shiite group on its own to face Israel. The unspoken message here was, "We hope they blow you away."

The Arab League put it succinctly in its final communique in Cairo, declaring that "behavior undertaken by some groups [read: Hezbollah and Hamas] in apparent safeguarding of Arab interests does in fact harm those interests, allowing Israel and other parties from outside the Arab world [read: Iran] to wreck havoc with the security and safety of all Arab countries."

As for Hezbollah and its few supporters, who have pushed for an emergency Arab summit meeting, the response could not have been a bigger slap in the face. Take a listen:

* Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya, possibly the most influential Arab opinion-maker today, was categorical yesterday: "We have lost most of our causes and the largest portions of our lands following fiery speeches and empty promises of struggle coupled with hallucinating, drug-induced political fantasies." As for joining Hezbollah in its quest, his answer was basically, "you broke it, you own it."

* Tariq Alhomayed, editor in chief of the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, stuck the dagger in deeper: "Mr. Nasrallah bombastically announced he consulted no one when he decided to attack Israel, nor did he measure Lebanon's need for security, prosperity, and the safety of its people. He said he needs no one's help but God's to fight the fight." Mr. Alhomayed's punch line was, in so many words: Go with God, Sheik Nasrallah, but count the rest of us out.

Several other Arab pundits, not necessarily coordinating their commentary, noted that today Sheik Nasrallah has been reduced to Osama bin Laden status, a fugitive from Israeli justice, sending out his tapes from unknown locations to, invariably, Al-Jazeera, the prime purveyor of Mr. bin Laden's communications.

All in all, it seems that when Israel decided to go to war against the priestly mafia of Hamas and Hezbollah, it opened a whole new chapter in the Greater Middle East discourse. And Israel is finding, to its surprise, that a vast, not-so-silent majority of Arabs agrees that enough is enough. To be sure, beneath the hostility toward Sheik Nasrallah in Sunni Muslim states lies the deep and bitter heritage of a 14-century Sunni-Shiite divide, propelled to greater heights now by fears of an ascendant Shiite "arc of menace" rising out of Iran and peddled in the Sunni world by Syria.

The sooner this is settled the better.


......Amen Brother.

Back In The Saddle.....

Greetings all, I know it's been awhile since my last post to this blog, but my world has become exponentially more busy in the last month and a half. In my last post, I lamented about upcoming job interviews and other general issues regarding employment. To make a long story short, I ended up accepting a position with a mortgage company here in Indy. It's been going alright so far, although lately I've been discovering that the potential of the company is not quite as great as it first seemed. I had worked a bit in the mortgage/loan industry before, so I had a basic knowledge of how everything worked, but I definitely had to brush up on some things. In addition to the new job, I'm still doing free-lance delivery work at night, so needless to say my days are divided into two main categories: Daytime work & nighttime work. I'd be lying if said it hasn't been stressful, but I've found a somewhat decent balance between the two, and still manage to get between 4-6 hrs of sleep a night. Every day is a new challenge however, and even though my first thought each morning is "Son of a bitch, it can't be 9am already," I like the challenge of trying to master a new field. It remains to be seen how long a career like this will hold my interest (I'm a classic Gemini in that sense), but for the most part I'm enjoying the roller-coaster ride this industry can be.

In other news, I have recently returned from a week-long vacation in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. The trip was great, and perfectly timed as well. I drove down with my girlfriend Kelly, and we stayed at a gorgeous beach house (or "sound house" as she likes to call it) in the small town of Salvo. We shared the house with several others, including her sister, niece, nephew, and several of her co-workers and their kids. There were 16 people in total, but in the expansive house we had, you sometimes forgot who was all there. It was nice not being on a schedule and having the freedom to get up whenever and do whatever for pretty much the entire week. We slept in late (well I did anyway), spent time on the beach, explored the various towns on the island, consumed many, many ounces of alcohol, and just generally took it easy. The only negative (if you can really consider it a negative) was that I had no cell phone signal on the remote islands. Normally, this would probably be a blessing while on vacation, but being that I had started my new job almost a month-to-the-day before we left, I had wanted to be able to keep in contact with the office and work on deals while out of town. Perhaps higher powers were trying to tell me something.....namely to slow down and just relax for a week. I probably should have taken that as a sign, but it's sometimes difficult for me to just put things aside and cut myself off. As a result, I spent a good deal of time worrying about things back home, and fiending for computer and telephone access. All that aside, still a great week and great memories for sure.

This recent trip made me realize a few things. Number one, I love road trips. Sure, flying is quicker (and depending on where you're going, possibly cheaper with gas prices as they are), but to me, there is something wondrous about driving to a faraway place, particularly when you have a good traveling partner. I love the sense of adventure. I love driving through the night, listening to CDs or the radio (quite possibly why I've stayed with my night job as long as I have). I love the faint glow of distant neon lights when approaching a new city. I love stopping for gas in strange, unfamiliar locations (as a side note, there is a picture in the liner notes of Wilco's Summerteeth album that I always think of when getting gas at night; MC will know what I'm talking about). I love watching the sun rise over the mountains. I love the smell of diesel fumes at truck stops, it just smells like traveling. I love looking at maps and following the progress of the trip. I love checking into a hotel late at night. I love the smell of hotels. I love browsing over the brochure stand by the front desk, looking at all of the cheesy tourist attractions. I love having a beer at a new bar or restaurant and observing the people there. I love being in a new location and just taking it all in. It makes me feel very alive.

The second thing this trip made me realize is that I am becoming extremely restless here in Indiana. I've been researching other locations to live lately, and traveling to a different part of the country has amplified my desire even more. I've always said that I want to be debt-free before I move, and I'm getting there, but I have a lot more traveling and scouting yet to do. I'm strongly considering Portland, OR. I have family there and have visited that area, but that was a long time ago. I'm curious to see how I would feel about it now that I'm older. Another area that intrigues me is New Mexico. I've been there too, but again, I was much younger and was there only briefly. For whatever reason, I've always been drawn to the West. I have no idea why, it just seems like the direction I should go. Perhaps another road trip is in order soon. Until then, I've still got my nightly "adventures" to keep me pacified.

I'd like you to tell me about a time when.....

I hate job interviews. I know this statement is somewhat universal, but I really hate job interviews. I loathe them. You don't know them, they don't know you. You have to sit there, grinning a fake plastic grin, smiling and nodding (like some retarded foreign cousin, as David Cross would say), while trying to come up with stellar answers to the interviewer's inane questions: "If you were an animal, what animal would you most like to be?" "What color best describes you as a person?" I swear those are two questions that I have actually been asked before. Interviews always reek of cheap insincerity in my opinion, and I always feel like some sort of a fraud when I participate in them. I have taken part in enough of them over the last five years or so that the feeling of nervousness is all-but-gone. I've refined my approach over the years, and I've gotten to the point where I try to emit a "let's get down to brass tacks-cut-to-the-chase-no BS" vibe: "Here is what I can bring to your organization, what can you do for me?" "Let's not waste each other's time." I have found that this approach works well.

Over the next two days I will have the opportunity to test my approach yet again; not once, not twice, but three separate times over the next 48 hours. Why am I looking for a career change, you ask? Hmm, tough to say. I don't really dislike my current job (on-demand courier), I just feel like it might be time for a change. I guess I am looking for something a bit more "career-oriented" as opposed to the freelance type of work I do now. And benefits. Benefits would be good. While working on my car the other day, I learned how quickly one might be in need of medical insurance. Luckily, it was only a minor injury and required no immediate medical care. But what if it had? The situation could have gotten very expensive very quickly. Makes you think. In addition to all of that, I suppose I do feel a bit unsettled with my current source of employment. It's just not what I pictured myself doing at this point in life. I often find it interesting when I tell people what I do, especially if it's someone that I've known for a long time, but haven't seen for a while.
THEM: "So, what are you doing these days?"
ME: "I work for a courier company."
THEM: "Oh.....well, good for you."
They usually sound disappointed or confused by the fact that I'm not a lawyer or a banker or something more prestigious.
THEM: "Didn't you go to college?"
ME: "Yes."
THEM (not sure what to say): "Oh.....cool."

The truth is that I've never really known what I wanted to do. I've had a few different jobs in a few different industries, but never really been happy with any of them. So I keep looking. Life is too long to settle for something that you hate. I remember coming out of college with my expectations of how the working world would be. I had images in my head similar to a Microsoft/HP/IBM commercial: Young, vibrant, well-dressed people working together in some futuristic office building, brainstorming, solving problems, creating things, attending meetings, catching planes, enjoying life, smiling, mattering. It all seemed like a wonderful world to be a part of. Of course, real life is a bit different than the commercials will have you believe. I wonder if the people in those commercials had to interview for the jobs they had? If they did, I'll bet no one asked them what animal they would most like to be.

First Impressions.....and illegal immigration.

Not to get overly-political right off-the-bat, but I posted the following thoughts on another chatboard recently, and I have gotten quite a bit of positive feedback on what I wrote. Those of you who choose to read what I write on here will quickly discover that I am a conservative. I do not consider myself a republican, necessarily, as I feel that the difference between Republicans & Democrats is about the same as the difference between Diet Coke & Diet Pepsi. Anyhow, here is the repost:

"Although I don't agree with everything the previous poster said, he makes some great points. I'm sick of these ILLEGAL aliens (they are not undocumented workers. Undocumented would be if I left my ID badge at home when I went to work.) demanding the world for free. They are illegal, plain and simple. It would be like me sneaking into a movie theater through the back door and then demanding free popcorn and soda, in addition to demanding that I have a say as to what films the theater shows in the future. This has gotten to the point of silly folks. I'm all for immigration, America was founded on it. But we need LEGAL immigration. The illegals are sucking our medical, welfare, and educational systems dry. America cannot continue to pander to these people or to corrupt leaders such as Presidente Fox. We cannot allow him to keep exporting his poverty problems to us. We need to take a look at Mexico's immigration policies and implement some of their ideas. Mexico has armed guards along their southern border for goodness sake, they treat foreign immigrants worse than animals in a lot of cases.....where is their tolerance? And finally, to all of those who are in favor of this illegal invasion, I have this to say:

Please, please stop with all the PC, BS lines about how "They all come here to work." That is a flat-out lie. If they all come here to work, then why, according to the dept of justice stats, is 27% of the US prison population made up of them? Can you answer that for me? Also, they don't "Do the jobs that Americans won't do." They, more accurately, do the jobs that Americans won't do for such low wages. And please stop with the childish rebuttal that if you're against illegal immigration, then you must be a racist. This idea shows nothing but the weakness and lack of depth of your argument. I know quite a few Mexicans and many of them are good, decent, hard-working people. If I were in their shoes I would want to come here too. But there needs to be some control and order to it. America cannot continue to be the world's welfare state."

~D

A Ghost Is Born.

This is my new blog. Seems everyone has one these days, so I figured, what the hell...let's do it. I'll be posting the usual stuff: Opinions, annoyances, observations, and general meditations on life. Feel free to add input whenever and wherever you'd like.