5 Things on a Friday: The As For Football College Football Show

Happy Friday, everybody!  Let’s go.

5 Things on a Friday: My Personal Hypocrisy

It’s been a tough two weeks.  

I’m a relatively liberal guy, but I have a lot of conservative friends and a few super-conservative friends, and we live in an age where things are not going as I would personally prefer.  It’s not just that my side lost.  As a Bloomberg fan, the truth is more that my side opted not to run, only to have the nightmare scenario play out regardless.  I hit a personal nadir just this past weekend, however, when a friend asked if I was still in favor of gun control now that we have a guy in the White House with whom I so violently disagree.  This struck me as a strange question.  
What am I supposed to do, start a bloody revolution?  Against whom?  

I know the mayor of my town and many of the police.  I support my local politicians, agree with a wide plurality of our state and local laws, and generally like living where I live.

I finally went through and pruned my Facebook feed.  I didn’t unfriend anyone, but I did unfollow more than two dozen, and it’s made me a better person.  If those folks want to message me, that’s fine.  We can grab a beer and talk shop, or whatever.  I’m not saying that I hate anyone or that I never want to see them again.  Actually, it’s quite the opposite.  These past two weeks have made me angry all too often, and that’s not good for anyone.  I will agree that all politics are personal, but they are also always local as well.  I therefore want to live my own life in my own way, and I humbly suggest that this is a good way forward in an otherwise divided nation.  I am in hopes that my own home State of Connecticut can opt out of as much National Level Fascist Bullshit (NLFB) as possible.  I guess we’ll see how that goes.  David Frum was not too keen on this idea in his piece in the Atlantic this week.

I talk politics on this blog quite a bit, but more and more, I’m realizing that it’s a mistake to engage on the open platforms of broadband social media.  Granted, sometimes I can’t help it.  If you come HERE, however... This is my blog, and you’re going to get my opinions.  You don’t have to trust me or my sources, but please, take your distrust as an invitation to go elsewhere.  

I'm not on a crusade, and I'm not looking to convince you.  Read at your own risk.

5 Things on a Friday: Catering to Your Personal Dystopia

Happy Friday, folks.

Not much witty banter this week, but if you’re wondering, I’m almost through with the first re-write of my memoir, tentatively titled Swim, Bike, Run, Live, Love, Repeat: A Story about Swimming, Family, & Belonging.

So yeah, that’s a mouthful.  Probably not a great sign for the rest of the book.

My buddy Chris, the poor bastard, has had to read every chapter of this fantastic literary masterpiece over the course of the past few months--and often discuss what he just read over the phone immediately afterwards.  I like to check his reading comprehension!  Heh.  No seriously, he's been a HUGE help.  He was my roommate Yearling (sophomore) year at the Academy, but I'll bet if he knew then what he was getting himself into way back when...

Eh.  What can you do?

My daughter Hannah's been enjoying the project more than anyone, and she's been a pretty good test-reader, too.  In that respect, I feel at least partially vindicated.  My kids are often my best target audience.  The whole thing still feels like a vanity project, but if it's a vanity project that my kids are enjoying, then it's gotta be worth something.  Right?

5 Things on a Friday: Calling It Quits

What a week, am I right?  Wow!  Britain exits the EU, LeBron brings a title to Cleveland of all places, and Las Vegas is getting a hockey team thanks to a 1967 USMA grad who ended his introductory press conference with “Beat Navy!”

Oh by the way, this is the last “5 Things on a Friday” for a while, maybe forever.  Let’s get to it, shall we?

Sunday Odds & Ends...

PHOTO GALLEY: #ArmyWestPoint v Penn State, 10/3/15 http://t.co/DzKuEogTtu #ArmyFootball #ARMYvsPSU #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/Fpr9ZWdvmB

— Pat Tewey Photos (@p2ephotos) October 4, 2015

These are really terrific.

5 Things on a Friday: Failing to Find Common Ground

It’s a lot of politics this week, and I feel like I ought to apologize for it.  If you’re like me, your Facebook feed is a constant source of frustration because of all the politically motivated B.S. and overwhelmingly negative vibes.  Twitter doesn’t bother me so much because I’m not friends with those folks, but truly, my desire to know that my buddy is a Ben Carson supporter is extremely limited.  I mean, it’s fine on its face, but let’s don’t pretend that I am about to support Carson or that I care that you want me to.  We may be friends, but we also live in our own separate realities.  We each have our own issues around the kitchen table.  I’m personally trying to vote my own interests here, and I especially don’t give a shit about other people’s various dogmas.  I’ve been struggling with faith for a while now—which is to say that I wish that I had some—but regardless of what I may or may not believe, I still have to live according to my conscience.  I see the world a certain way.  You don’t have to see it my way, but it would be wrong to assume that I’m better than you are at listening to others with an open mind.