In Search of Nirvana

So I’m sitting here wondering what to do. The house could certainly use some cleaning. For that matter some major renovation wouldn’t exactly be out of order. I could start a new fish decoy… I have a walleye blank that I cut last winter. The new pipes for the scoot are supposed to arrive tomorrow, but that’s tomorrow. The dog needs a bath, but I’m just not up for the battle. I know! I’ll go on line and see if anyone is blogging about motorcycles.

Yep, there are a few, but it seems that most aren’t any more diligent about keeping up with their blogs than I am. I even ran across a few that ride 1600 Kaw’s. Having read some of their posts, I’ve come to several completely useless conclusions; here’s one.

Food plays a major roll in many rider’s lives. I know we all eat (the staff of life and such), but I’m talking destinations here. “Oh, sure, the harbor was beautiful, but how about that shrimp cocktail!”, or “Yeah, the place was quaint but nothing can compare to the broasted chicken!” Oh, the thrill of finding the perfect dive to titillate the palate and then to share it with your riding companions! Talk about bragging rights. It should be noted that to earn the greatest number of points for your gastronomical discovery, the eatery should be: a) practically impossible to find, b) decorated in some elaborate and often eclectic way, c) owned and operated by people of obscure ethnicity. To find a place located miles from some unheard of town, decorated with trophy game heads in a room reminiscent of a French Quarter brothel and operated by Buddhist monks serving an exquisite Mediterranean fish chowder would be Nirvana.

Here is a blogger who approaches Nirvana. Please understand that the attainment of this lofty goal is elusive. Take a minute to check it out. http://noclasseak.blogspot.com

This nonsense seems to have wasted enough of an otherwise perfectly good Sunday, so I suppose I’ll pick up a piece of wood and see if I can whittle the rest of the day into a fish decoy.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Politics. Just the mention of it makes my head hurt, but our good friend Ned* got me to ruminating about what I wrote, what I should have written and what I should have kept to myself. So, with a bottle of Tylenol at my side and more time on my hands than common sense, I will ramble on at greater length. (I would like to think of these musings as observations, but I’m sure that would get me accused of being partisan.)

First, let me label myself. Incidentally, labeling is considered to be the bane of all that is good and right in America. I enjoy labels because they tend to irritate people who take themselves too seriously. But I digress. I am a (a flourish of trumpets would be appropriate here) Temporal Conservative Pragmatist. Darn… that was a letdown wasn’t it? For those needing an explanation this means that I currently align myself more with the conservatives than the liberals, but recognize that as a practical matter I must temper my beliefs with what can actually be accomplished within the framework of the World Community. “But wait,” I heard someone say, “That’s a Moderate!” Oh.

Having gotten that out the way, and in an effort to demonstrate my lack of partisanship, I will now identify 3 things I like about the Republican leadership and 3 things I like about the Democratic leadership, proving conclusively my Temporal Conservative Pragmatic bent. A drum roll, please.

Republican Leadership:
1. Doesn’t allow polls to govern policy.
2. Takes a strong stance on National Defense.
3. Includes non-partisan leadership in policy execution.

Democratic Leadership:
1.
2.
3.

I need to give a little more thought to this and get back to you soon.

*For those interested (Ned), I did respond to the comments left on the Nov. 15th entry.