I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the loss in Southern Asia (and surrounding areas). As of today, 76,000 people are dead and they believe that the number is certain to go up in the coming days as they reach remote islands with poor or no communication networks.

When I localize these numbers, the sheer volume of the loss comes into focus, but does not become anymore fathomable.

The Tsunami took the equivalent of my entire hometown and half again…

I offer my prayers to the survivors, the displaced, and the families of those lost - though they seem so insufficient.

I swear to God… Internet Access has become water for me (which raises a very important question: Can Jesus walk on Internet access?)

I am holed up in my second favorite coffee shop, here in Cleveland. I’d like to give a shout out to Case Western Reserve University for providing free Wi-Fi for all Arabica customers.

I just got back from the land of my forefathers. It was shockingly cold for the south. But nothing like the 14 inches of snow my brother and I faced when we returned home. There was so much snow that we couldn’t get into our house without a little digging.

Last semester left me so brain dead, that I haven’t caught up on the movies I wanted to see or the books I wanted to read. I have, thanks to Qusiesoo (I’d give you a link, but this talented writer has thus far resisted my entreaties that she begin a blog), caught up on nearly the entire second season of the West Wing.

I survived 30 (now on the other side, I can face the famished 8 with impunity). I want to thank all the folks that came out. Friends from every city I have ever lived in came into DC to celebrate. It was fabulous.

(I have always appreciated the shuffle feature on music devices, but combining that feature with the mobility of the iPod is just awesome. Who knew Ani Difranco could seamlessly flow into Jay Lib?)

From The Birds comes this belly-achingly funny video of a Honda robot prototype that can “run” at 3Km an hour.

(I haven’t been right since…)

Ok… I gotta lot of catching up to do.

Over and out.

Let me first come out and say publicly - I am for science.

But this sounds like a bad idea.

“As any field geologist knows, in order to understand the object you’re looking at, you have to reach out and give it a tap with your hammer,” said mission co-investigator Donald Yeomans, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the mission is being managed. “In this case, we’re going to smack it with an 800-pound impactor.”

The “it”, in this case, is a comet.

“There’s a betting pool within the science team as to what exactly will happen,” said Yeomans. “Most of the money is going on the idea that comets formed from agglomerating dirty chunks of water ice. Under that theory, we’d expect to see a large crater about the size of the Rose Bowl Stadium (in Pasadena, California).”

Has anyone made a bet that something unforseen and catastrophic will occur? This sounds too much like some kids putting a halfstick in a tree trunk to “see what happens”.

I do give a pound [1] to the NASA scientist that named the spaceship that will fire the rocket. NASA named it Deep Impact.

=-=-=-=-=
[1] To hit fists with your home dawgs (courtesy of Urban Dictionary)

That is all. No seriously. That’s it.

On Wednesday, I turn thirty. I have to spell it out. I haven’t come to grips with the three. It looks too much like a hungry 8, mouth open, waiting to devour me.

I have never really cared about my age. I once had to console a friend as she cried on her front steps, her birthday party rocking in the distant background. I remember thinking, “Good lord kiddo - we are so young.” Something about reaching a quarter century struck a nerve with her. I didn’t understand.

Billy Collins, upon hearing that a favorite singer of his had died, wondered whether one might feel a faint sensation as one passed over the exact midpoint of one’s life…

When you think back on your life, what do you remember? I have more memories of me reflecting on my life than I have of my actual life (can reflection and living be separated?). Every year, it becomes more difficult to recollect the sadness in her eyes as she told me it was over. But I can remember every detail of the following weeks as I struggled to understand. I am still convinced that Pink Floyd wrote “Coming Back To Life” in anticipation of that moment in my life.

When I graduated from college, my first boss turned thirty sometime during my first year at the office. He was married. He played golf. He was a VP. They were trying to have a baby. I remember thinking this is what thirty looks like...

It’s windy tonight. I love how weather makes a memory better. It was raining the last time I suffered a break up. The words we used that night have slipped my memory. But not the rain. I remember wanting to revel in it. But revel isn’t the word I am looking for… it’s too merry. I want a name when I lose…

My mom told me today that thirty didn’t phase her. It was thirty 1, when she found herself sitting at the kitchen table of our house, feeling like her life was over. 2 kids - a house… it was too much. She still has 1 kid. The other one a man now.

So this is what thirty looks like…? I thought I was supposed to have so many things:

A car

A house

A wife

A kid (or 2)

A career

But here I stand - armed only with this worn coat and a half pack of smokes.

And so much to look forward to.

Ok… this is important. Please go here and vote for “Grey Dog” coffee. If you have been there, you know how amazing it is. If you haven’t, call me and i’ll take you. If you don’t live here, it would be where you spent all your time if you did live here.

The link above goes straight to the actual vote page. So just go and click the radio button next to Grey Dog and then casually hit submit. It’s that easy.

Please go and vote. Your voice matters. Kerry lost. We can’t lose again.

That is all.

I have always wanted a dog. When I moved to Manhattan, I resigned myself to at least 3 more years without one. The apartments are small, I reasoned, and it costs more to have a dog in New York than it does to raise a child in many parts of the country.

I was surprised to find, however, that this doesn’t stop most folks from having one anyway. I happen to live in the land of little dogs (AKA - the West Village). Dogs here are like cats, or worse, rats. This is the land of Chihuahua’s and Daschunds.

In New York, dogs are considered people. They go into stores. They go into banks. They go into coffee shops. I am sure right now, there is a dog dining somewhere in Midtown at a restaturant I will never be able to afford in my life time. There was a terrier ahead of me in line at the coffee shop this morning. His owner had a latte. He ordered a biscuit (yes… the coffee shop actaully serves dog biscuits).

And these dogs have nicer gear than I do (which isn’t hard I suppose). I was reading my paper the other day when a beautiful Marmaduke of a dog stopped to sniff my shoes (god help him). The dog was rocking a J Crew rollneck (I checked the tag).

“Nice sweater,” I said.

The man breifly looked at his own sweater, and hand to chest said “why… thank you”

“I meant the dog,” I said.

“oh.”

But alas, that was more than any ordinary bottle of shampoo could promise…

I just downloaded my 24 hour copyright exam.

over… and out.

An Alabama judge has emblazoned his robe with the 10 Commandments.

Further comment unnecessary.

Until he gets called a “cad” on his own blog.

According to the Washington Post, The new head of the Cleveland Clinic wants the McDonald’s in the lobby of the hospital, known the world over for its heart care, to shut its doors. I gotta say - I was thrilled to find that Mickey D’s when my dad was in the hospital and I was so hungry his hospital food started looking apetizing.

I am “preparing” for my copyright exam. And by “preparing” I mean I have no idea what this test is going to be like so I am aimlessly perusing my notes.

But it got me thinking. One of the remedies for copyright infringment is impoundment of the infringing material. According to Big Red Book I am reading, these items evenually get “destroyed”. And by destroyed I mean Mrs. Cop is getting a really authentic looking Kate Spade / Gucci / Fendi bag for the holidays.

I was in my favorite coffee shop the other day when this stunning song came on. One of those songs that suddenly thrusts you into a moment of pure cinema in the midst of your humdrum day. I felt like I was in a music video or a movie. No. I felt like I was watching a video or movie that I was in.

The plot was a familiar one - all heartbreak and loss. The scene where the guy and the girl break up and the camera follows the guy as he returns to his empty daily routine and tries to forget her. There is no dialogue - only a montage of him at home, work, bars, walking the streets, sitting on his firescape looking regretfully at the moon as this beautiful but sad melody plays in the background.

That was the feeling I had - there in the coffee shop. Oddly, I didn’t actually hear any of the lyrics. My reaction was based solely on the music. There was singing to be sure but I couldn’t tell you what was being said.

Looking up the words to the song tonight I wasn’t surprised to read the following:

And if I really thought I could
I’d give up your ghost for good
but I’m not sure it isn’t you
that keeps my ghost from leaving too

But I don’t miss you half as much
As who you made me think I was
When I could see myself the way you do
And I could almost see myself in you

Either my subconscious actually processed the lyrics without my knowledge or the music was so beautifully crafted that it conveyed the underying meaning sans words. I don’t know which idea is better.

Full lyrics follow.
=-=-=-=-=-=

Trampoline

The floor will have its way it seems
It fights me like a trampoline
It won’t let me on the ground
So this time I’m not coming down

I’ve been talking in my sleep
You once kissed me not to hear me speak
And loved me just so brutally
To have the bitter life wrung out of me

And this time I’m not coming down
This time I’m not coming down

Trampoline

The whole platoon is over fed
And we’re in this thing over our head
My mind has never been so clear
But I stutter like an auctioneer

As the night has come alive with dreams
That hoot and holler spit and scream
Everyone of them is sick with lust
But everyone of them will out live us

And this time I’m not coming down
This time I’m not coming down

Trampoline

And if I really thought I could
I’d give up your ghost for good
But I’m not sure it isn’t you
That keeps my ghost from leaving too

But I don’t miss you half as much
As who you made me think I was
When I could see myself the way you do
And I could almost see myself in you

And this time I’m not coming down
This time I’m not coming down

Trampoline

two quick thoughts, inspired by a listening of doc watson’s wabash cannonball:

(1) law schools ought to organize music “class”. remember back in elementary school when every other day you’d get together with your friends and just go sing some songs for an hour? maybe even get to play a tamborine or — if it were a special day — the drums? wabash cannonball is one of the songs we’d sing. my musical talent is still as undeveloped as it was when i’s 8, but i’m sure people have progressed, making the possibility for wild rides into the musical unknown likely. anyway, it’d be a morale booster, and esp. nice around this time of year.

(2) based on an unscientific survey, i posit that the more “folsky” and “down-home” a type of music is, the more likely it is for the following feature to be present in songs: The inclusion of multiple artists, in addition to the main artist, who are referenced by name and allowed to play a part of the song on their own. For ex, in Wabash Cannonball, doc watson says, “Get ‘em, Earl”, as Earl Scruggs is allowed to do a little solo on the fiddle. Cf. Hip-hop, which is also a “folsky” and “down-home” type of music and does the exact same thing.

“Oh a newspaper!” she says as she reaches for the newspaper on the bench next to me.

“Actually, that’s mine, but please help yourself.”

She picks it up and starts to walk away. I hesitate, not wanting to confront the old woman. But this is my big study break for the day. I call after the woman.

“Miss, I thought you were going to sit down. I haven’t finished the paper yet.”

She looks back at me slightly annoyed and slowly comes back to the bench, paper in hand. She sets the paper down and begins rifling through the sections.

“Well, you don’t read the business section do you? I’ll just take that. I have to execute some stock transactions. I don’t buy the Monday paper.”

Not the business section question… It’s my favorite section. What..? A black man only reads the sports and police blotter?

“Actually - I do. But I should be done in a minute, if you want to wait a moment.”

She opens the art section.

“You don’t want the crossword right? Can I rip it out?”

The Monday Times crossword? You can’t ask a stranger for the crossword. Those are fighting words in some parts of the United States. My grandmother would have ripped you a new one if you asked for her Times Crossword. Plus… Monday is the only one I can finish.

“Sure.”

Rip!

Good God that was an imprecise rip woman! That was the crossword and half of the Metropolitan Diary… I look forward to those slice of life stories.

“Do you think you could read the business section now. I have to be somewhere.”

“Umm… Ma’am I’m sorry… I… No.”

“Oh. Well I suppose that’s ok then. I can look up the quotes on my computer anyway.”

If you are in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, stop by Madame X. My brother is DJing from 8pm - 1am (no cover). Jon spins soul/rock/rare grooves/hip-hop. Extra emphasis on soul. Think Nina Simone, New Birth, Friends of Distinction. And he’s not afraid to reach into the crate and mix Mos Def into Led Zepplin and Zepplin into the Roots… and you’ll be wondering where one ended and the next began. You can see some of Jon’s previous setlists here.

Madame X is a lovely little low key lounge on Houston between Thompson and La Guardia. I love this place because I can actually hold a conversation (and I must say the music is quite good).

So I was at this great coffee shop and the menu advertised a sandwich with “local turkey”. Local Turkey… what is that? Manhattan Turkey? I suppose it revolves around the definition of local, but it reminded me of city chicken. I didn’t eat.

This Grip-n-Flip kitchen utensil seems to be really well thought out… I think I might have to buy me one.

This is a classic example of this administration’s priorities. When Newsweek asked for comment on the fact that there was an outstanding warrant out for Mr. Kerik’s arrest, sources close to Kerik and the White House said:

“[T]he arrest warrant was not the reason Kerik withdrew. The immediate cause was the nanny problem…”

Right… and the real reason you changed the cloture rules was because of political witch hunts by Democrats… not because Mr. DeLay is shady.

Administration to America: Play with us and you don’t have to play by the rules.

Looking for Michael Oliver? Not sure if I am the right one? Check the list below and see of anything strikes a bell…If you are looking for me, leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you.

For an explanation of what this is, see this.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Schools I have attended:
Church of the Saviour Nursery School, Noble Elementary, Monticello Middle School, Cleveland Heights High School, Amherst College, New York University School of Law, Oxford

Places I have lived:
Cleveland Heights OH, Amherst MA, Washington DC, Arlington VA, Baltimore MD, New York, NY Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Mount Vernon, Hampden, Ballston, Greenwich Village, West Village, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Cobble Hill

Places I have worked:
Eddie Bauer, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Advertising.com, Catalyst, The Big Hunt, Pillsbury Winthrop, Alston & Bird, Brennan Center

Jobs I have had:
Bartender, Waiter, Sales Clerk, PR, Public Relations, Web Developer, VP of Technology, Director of Business Development, Director Internet Marketing, Teacher, Attorney, Lawyer, Intern

People I know (or have known):
Beth Spencer (Bono), Quy Tieu, Mandy Taft, Katie Meyer, Corinna Cosentino, Maya Holtz, Robyn Hill, Justin Horton, Eugene Preston, Amy Wynne, Jesse Saginor, Josh Folph, Luke O’Brien, Ben Beckman, Katie Schantz, Jessica Schantz, Jen Barnett, Brennan Travis, Jon Oliver, Paul Rieckhoff, Todd Darden, Todd Sutler, Rich Morrisroe, Josh Baru, Anne Penner, Jason Gill, Dan Quiles, Dave Simms, Megan Howell, Jarid Smith, Dan Fernandez, Scott Varho, Kaidi Fullerton, Molly Lyons, Mary Whittle, Jess Green, Jen Blum, Bryan Luke, Peter Grossi, Lea Lortie, Sharon Schneiderman, Erin Craft, Professor E. Patrick Johnson, Glenn Whiting, Jennifer Welsh, Jack Macleod, Kamer Davis, Mark Blafkin, Cabe Franklin, John Ferber, Scott Ferber, Stephen Root, Bill Harris, Mary Kay Lemay, Michael Rosenbaum, Colin Sellar, Chris Small, Tim Boucher, Bret Holmes, Doug Atwell, Adam Hill, Oliver Carter, Susie Kurkowski, Rachel Natelson, Ariel Tesher, Lesley Coben, Sarah Trombley, Janelle Filson, Peter Hartley, Meredith Johnston, Craig Winters, Leon Kirkland, Sujan Trivedi, Kafui Bediako, Andrew Warshawer, Dave Hoffman, Jason Sanjana, Tyler Ulrich, Adam Fagin, Charles Dart, Lana Maier, Leon Kirkland, Toby Freund, Sheila Griffin, Lynh Nguyen, Dagmara Lauk, Doug Marcks, Tony Bonner, Erin Plasteras, Rachel Shamash, Matt Murphy, Alison Fleming, Stephane Levy, To Be Continued…

Places I have frequented:
The Big Hunt (DC), The Fox & Hounds (DC), Starbucks (Dupont Circle - DC), Bedrock Billiards (DC), Mick O’Shea’s (Baltimore), Shade Bar (NYC), Arabica (Coventry - Cleveland Heights), Daddy-O (NYC), The Dove (NYC), The Grey Dog (NYC), Bocca Lupo (Brooklyn), Floyd (Brooklyn), Last Exit (Brooklyn)

Things I do or did:
Soccer, Goal keeper, Goalie, captain, Orchestra, Bass, Poetry, Chess, Resident Counselor, RC, Volleyball, photography,

Things/places I have been affiliated with:
Drew House, James, Stearns, Garman, D’Agostino, Furman, Vanderbilt,

People I am looking for:
Adam Fagin, Brennan Travis, Jen Barnett

I am looking for a lost friend. We bartended together in DC. He went off to New York to get an MFA at Pratt. Last I heard, he had moved to LA to be with his girlfriend as she finished her last year of law school at UCLA. I don’t have a phone number for him - his email address no longer works (it was an AOL address… who can blame him for abandoning it).

I turned to Google… but no luck. I found a complete history of his ultimate frisbee heroics (they called him “Mad Dog”?) at Oberlin College in the late 90s. But nothing current. I can’t for the life of me pull his girlfriend’s (are they even still together?) last name out of this fog of a brain. I thought perhaps they married (damn… that would have been a hell of a party) but a search turned up no woman with her first name and my friend’s last name (who am I kidding she was too cool to take his name even if they did get married).

I searched various combinations of their names and schools and degrees. Nothing

And this got me thinking…

Wouldn’t it be cool if we all had a single page on the internet filled with the miscellany of our lives. A litany of the places and people we have known. It need not be in alphabetical order, or chronological. The only requirement is that it would have to include all of the important connections in your life. I guess I am thinking of something akin to personal meta-data.

With Google, anyone who knew you could then type in your name or nickname and a few of the people you knew or places you lived and find you again. The page would need to be maintained, kind of like a resume (but easier and more fun). This would solve the knowledge gap problem. I don’t know where my friend works or lives. But I know where he once worked and lived and where he went to school. If he had such a page, my search:

“Adam Fagin” + Big Hunt + Anne + Pratt

(I still can’t remember his girlfriend’s last name) would produce my friend’s page (which would presumably be up to date) and I could contact him from there. Similarly, a college friend of his could search for :

“Adam Fagin” + Mad Dog + Ultimate Frisbee + Oberlin

and come across the same page. Our knowledge of Adam would be completely different - and neither of us would need to know what he was up to now as long as we had some experience with him in the past.

I think I am going to make me one of those pages.

According to the title of this Washington Post article, “Kerik Apologizes After Withdrawing As Homeland Security Nominee”

He should have apologized for being nominated.

Oh, ok, whew…for a minute there I thought America was going to have a director of homeland security with a G.E.D. and a “trademark shaven head” (for other — more substantive — criticisms, see the guardian and nytimes) … but, happily, the US has been spared such humiliation (for now).

These 5 songs are doing it for me on this rainy day…

“Do what you gotta do” - Nina Simone
“Angels” - Joe Henry
“Jesus Etc.” - Wilco
“Sodade” - Cesaria Evora
“Le Moulin” - Yann Tiersen (Amelie Soundtrack)

If you are on campus… stop by the library and give Lana a hug… she just got her *ass kicked* in ping pong and looks a little mopey…

S dot Carter is going to man the helm at Def Jam?

via jono

I am real… real fired up about this movie

“Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (formerly of Pantera and as of last night Damageplan) was gunned down while on stage at a concert last night. Apparently the assailant jumped on stage and shot him 6 times at point blank range.

You know what I love about my friend Sujan beside the fact that he is one of the funniest people I know… he is a literal treasure trove of useless information… Just ask him anything and he’ll have more info than you can possibly use.

me: hey… I need another name for the devil…
sujan: devil names
sujan: lucifer
sujan: satan
sujan: bright son of the morning star
sujan: azazel
sujan: beelzebub
me: yes! I was looking for the morning star one… couldn’t remember it.
me: nice
me: thank you
sujan: cross mythologies if you want
me: nah… it’s all good
sujan: alternately, the coyote, the trickster, loki
me: hahahaha
sujan: shiva destroyer of worlds
me: whoa…
sujan: quetzalcoatl, the pale-skinned avenger of the eastern seas
me: you made that last one up…
sujan: no dude, the aztecs
me: jesus…
sujan: i love that shit
me: yeah… I know

2 new additions to the NYU fam…

I present to you LawLush and The Revolution is Not a Dinner Party.

Update: make that three