Runnin’ down the dream

Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 11:19 pm (Writing by Ear)
Tags: , , , , ,

How can I not join millions of other bloggers and rave about that awesome game? Could only have been better if it had been a Steelers victory.  But so sweet on so many levels:

  • The Patriots blow it — ha! Cheaters apparently really never win — ’nuff said about this 18-1 team
  • Eli Manning wins the big one the year after his big brother does (imagine how their PARENTS feel?)
  • The Giants defense is amazing — and if there’s one thing every Steelers fan appreciates, it’s great DEE-fense.
  • The Giants win as underdogs, after winning all their playoff games on the road, just as the Steelers did 2 years ago
  • Belichick does not equal Chuck Noll’s record 4 coaching wins
  • Brady does not join Bradshaw and Montana with 4 SB wins
  • Belichick shows a huge lack of class (big surprise) by leaving the field before the game ended
  • Plaxico demonstrates humility and grace in his first, teary post-game interview — qualities that certainly weren’t part of his persona during his Steelers years
  • Ben has a funny commercial for American Idol
  • Tom Petty gives a great half-time show

Actually, that last point was going to be the topic of this post — before the game turned out so well. The most humorous aspect — when they let people storm the field as soon as the band started (surprising, because what if someone had tripped and been trampled?) And then you see that none of the stage-rushers was even alive when the songs Petty was belting out were hits. What, these kids learned the songs from their parents?

I couldn’t help but think how great it would have been if the field had been stormed by middle-agers like me…likely would have been a slower storm, but we’d have gotten to the stage eventually. At least it would have seemed realistic (but likely a lot less eye candy for the cameras). Too funny.

It reminded me of Mike’s and my experience last summer when we saw Huey Lewis in concert. I had forgotten how many hits he had — there were at least 10 songs everyone knew all the words to. But it was definitely an older crowd out there under the stars at Seven Springs reliving the ’80s and their youth. Huey still sounds great, by the way.

Ditto Petty & Co. I was impressed by how good they looked, spiffy in their suits, stars all the way. So refreshing after so much grunge, as was hearing their always unique sound. It’s hilarious that after the Janet Jackson debacle, the NFL has stuck with boomer-friendly rockers…Paul McCartney, the Stones, Prince, and now Tom Petty. And the halftime shows have never been better.

So, congrats to Petty and the Heartbreakers for a great show, and to Manning and the Giants for an even better one. Way to go runnin’ down the dream.

Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.
                                                                          ~ George Will

Leave a Comment

Free money? Keep it!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 5:10 pm (Writing by Ear)
Tags: , ,

So far, I haven’t run across anyone eager to get their hands on the government’s proposed economy-stimulating rebates of $300, $600, $1200, or more. It’s hard for a non-economist like me to see how distributing money the government doesn’t have, increasing the national debt in the process, is going to improve the economy.

The whole concept is bizarre: On the one hand, financial advisors are constantly telling us to reduce our debt, save more, spend less, think ahead for our retirement, live within or below our means…in general to be frugal, mindful consumers. Now we have the government in effect saying, “Hey, here’s some free money, go out and spend, spend, spend!”

It’s like giving alcohol to alcoholics or drugs to abusers. Clearly politicians are counting on Americans’ addiction to frivolous, “feel-good” purchases, living beyond our means, buying today, and paying (or not paying) tomorrow. They’re counting on there being not many people like Mike and me, who plan to put the money toward current debt without incurring any new.

And does anyone really believe this is free money? That we, as a nation and as individuals, won’t be paying for it for years to come? I was always told the government “needs” my hard-earned tax dollars to keep the country running — that’s why I, as a self-employed person, dutifully write out my check to the U.S. Treasury every quarter — an act that would surely result in a nationwide tax revolt if every citizen had to do this, instead of the government insidiously taking our money from every paycheck before we’ve even seen it.

Now they’re OK with giving it back? They didn’t need it in the first place? Why, you’d think the need to cover health insurance and other benefits for all those illegal aliens alone would necessitate keeping the money in-house.

Somebody who understands all this, please explain it to me. (Oh, and please include an explanation of why people who’ve never paid federal taxes in the first place are getting money back too.)

Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today. 
                                                     ~ Herman Wouk

4 Comments

Wanderlust

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 12:13 pm (Writing by Ear)
Tags: , ,

i-am-here.jpgThese boots were clearly not made for walkin’. Except for a stint at college 2 hours away (I transferred back to Pittsburgh sophomore year), I’ve mostly been within 20 minutes of the house I grew up in. Now, living about an hour east of there (the Google Earth map you see is accurate), I still miss “home.” Yes, folks, all those people who criticize Pittsburghers as being “too provincial” are right. I was in college before I had even been to the South Hills — about 45 minutes away (but with a bridge and a tunnel between us in the North Hills). I know many fellow ‘Burghers who consider that length of drive in any direction from where they live to be “All that way? Over there? How do you even get there?”

Even with that legacy holding me here, I always wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else — another city, another state, maybe even another country. Global warming notwithstanding, I think increasingly of moving farther south to escape 3 months or more of winter drudgery every year.

Not being very well traveled, I get my inspiration from TV. Being a house junkie (I’ve owned 5 so far), I love the HGTV show “House Hunters” because it shows housing options in cities across the U.S., and there’s even an international version. It’s fascinating to see what it’s like (and how much it costs) to live in Savannah or Minneapolis or Boston or Mobile, not to mention Mexico or the Caribbean or Tuscany or Paris. Who knew that in Italy (or maybe it was Spain), people don’t have mortgages and instead save up to buy their homes outright? Can you imagine saving $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 to buy your house? Of course, a tiny apartment in the heart of Paris will run you a cool million or more. In Mexico, you can get a charming colonial (1800s) row house in the heart of a blossoming artist community for $150,000.

Who knows if this “research” will result in a move elsewhere someday. Too many variables in that decision, one Mike and I will make together and only after a lot of soul searching. 

In the meantime, dreaming is free and quite a pleasant distraction from arctic wind chills, boring work assignments, and endless fixer-upper chores. Wanna come? I hear you can get a great 2 BR condo with water views in St. Maarten for $200K.

I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering. 
                                                                ~ Steven Wright

Leave a Comment

« Older entries Newer entries »