SWITZERLAND FORUM

[Emeritus]

Sorry. Sometimes the real world intrudes. People keep appointing me to offices that I don't want and to committees I have no interest in. I guess that it is because I'm retired and they think that I have nothing else to do. It makes me wonder if I made a mistake by taking early retirement - but not for long. I'm concerned about our New England friends like PAO and Glenda. I haven't seen anything of them.

[cklaurence]

I think it's more an electricity problem than anything (I hope), Em. My Emily was right in the strike zone in NJ and my whole dad's family was in NYC and LI and (knock wood) they all seem to be fine, save for ripped up trees. Craig's dad and sister's cars were crushed by a tree--a neighbor's tree no less! They have huge properties, like a couple of acres--so how strong was that wind?

Meanwhile, they are stranded there and I am here with their goofy dog and darling kitty. Obie is a little old man now (the kat). I remember when we caught him. He was a wild kitten and she was still in high school. Oh, but Maverick! He never grew out of puppyhood, and he drives us nuts. He's half beagle and howls all the time and has no sense of what's serious. He doesn't leave my poor Princess alone for a minute. It was a week on Monday and they were supposed to have picked them up then. Now it's a waiting game.

I was so active politically that I never had time to get involved with community affairs, save for when my kids were younger and I was on the Parks and Recreation Board and things like that. Now, it's hard enough to find time to focus on my writing, and the older I get the less time there is in a day. It's so important to keep active, though--don't you think? I'm so afraid if I don't keep my mind young and active, I'll just wither up and die...

[Emeritus]

My idea of recreation is to study. I've been that way all my life. I've spent the last four years studying theology, which served to convince me that I don't know much. Now I'm taking the Great Courses studies on philosophy, which I just love. There have been a lot of amazingly brilliant people who have taken up the challenges of philosophy. I still work with graduate students at the local college. I play the piano, badly. I support the symphony society with my time as well as money. I don't lack for stimulation. My problem is that as I grow older I find myself more unwilling to get out of my routine. I even resent telephone calls that interrupt my concentration when I'm studying. I try to remember to be more flexible, but that is increasing hard to do. I will probably become the cranky old man of the neighborhood.

[cklaurence]

I think it's just normal that we don't like our routine interrupted as we grow older. I tend to become more and more of a recluse--or is it that I treasure my time alone more? I'm not sure. It's not that I don't love the time I have with dear friends, my kids and family members, it's just that I like things more an more on my time and in my way; whereas, others prefer them in their way--and when I was younger it was like, "no problem, whatever is easiest for you... Now it's more, what'ever is easiest for me! I've changed a lot in the last five or six years--that I know. I think we start to close in on ourselves as we get older, for whatever reason.

[Emeritus]

There is also the thing that the longer that I live alone the more accustomed I become to having things my own way. I'm not sure that is healthy. When Sarah was around we had agreed upon limits and it helped to keep me centered. Now I don't have anybody to tell me that I'm wrong. I don't want to become The Emperor Who Had No Clothes because nobody will bring me down to earth.

[Emeritus]

I think that today is the Dolphins best chance to make a big move. If they win they will be at 5-3 and a serious contender with half of the season still to play.

[cklaurence]

Without a doubt, Em. Indianapolis is the first real team the Dolphins have played since Houston--or at least serious contender. I'm watching now. Luck has all the time in the world to throw the ball and poor Tannehill is rushing for his life every time he gets the ball. He doesn't have an ounce of protection. It's really sad. I don't understand why we can't ever protect our QB. It is always the same. Receivers and protection. Our defense is just giving Luck way too much room. It's the second half and unless we adjust NOW, we're going to lose and find ourselves back at square one...

[cklaurence]

Sadly, I called the game today with my Fins. To me it was clear that the defense just hadn't been tested. There is no question as to why Luck shredded it to bits--they were all busy looking for a runner to stop, lol. He had all the time in the world, every single time. He could have changed his clothes and then thrown the ball--it was that bad! I don't know if you got that game, but really--for a rookie to amass nearly (or did he finally go over) 500 yards in passing--it does not take a genius to figure out that he is not working against one of the league's class defenses! I was pretty damn sick throughout the game--really.

Hope your boys have a better week than mine...

[Emeritus]

Sometimes a team just lays an egg. The Texans did that against the Packers. It doesn't mean that they are a bad team. It just means that they weren't ready. What counts is how the respond. The Texans came out the next week and embarrassed the Ravens. Sometimes teams just need a check.

[Emeritus]

I erased my blogging history and now I can't get on Facebook. I really don't know how I'm going to get back.

[Emeritus]

After jumping through hoops, I'm back on Facebook. I still can't blog at Fox Sports, but that's not major. This site can't seem to remember me, because I have to log on every time.

[cklaurence]

Don't you know your password, Em? There must be some way to find it. I have a sheet of paper with all my passwords written down and hidden in my ______ .

You'd think that facebook would have a contact address or number through which you could get assistance--or even like "if you forgot your password" like they have at (it seems) every place you sign in for everything...

Barring that, what about starting a new page? I'd be honored to be your first friend...

[cklaurence]

Ooops. Never mind all my good advice, lol. While I was typing it, you were typing to tell me you were already back on facebook. Sorry about Faux sports, though. I haven't been there in years--since shortly after I formed Switzerland, I believe. The only place I blog is here, with you. It's like "Switzerland," Starring C.K. and Emeritus, with occasional visits by Try Thinking, Baglady, Dredwak, and a variety of characters from this forum's glorious past.

See what happens when you get to be 65, Em? The mind starts to go...

[Emeritus]

Mine left in the second act.

[cklaurence]

Well, there's enough of it left to keep me busy talking here.

We can savor our win and hope the Country heals and comes together over the next four years to work at getting some serious work done--both parties together. Realistically, however, I'm afraid it will be more of the same. A part of me half-hoped Romney would be elected so people would see what hogwash the Tea Party was all about and how shallow Romney really is--but then if they couldn't figure that out during the race, they wouldn't have figured it out during his Presidency either...

Back to football. This Sunday I believe we face the Titans here at home. Up till today, I had 5 people fighting for my 4 seats. Today, my good friend and football companion for years said she doesn't want to come if son Josh is going to be there because she can't handle is nasty attitude anymore. My brother sent me an email saying basically, "Fuck the Fins and forget about me Sunday." Josh said he'd speak to his girlfriend tonight and let me know some time tomorrow as to whether they'd be coming. It's not that there aren't a shitload of people I can get to replace them, it's just that the last thing I need to be doing a couple of days prior to a game is playing musical chairs.

So how's life treating you, Em?

[Emeritus]

My life is humdrum, but satisfactory. I'm a little apprehensive about the Texans chances against the Bears in Chicago. They have only played twice before and the Texans won both games, but I expect the Bears to be tough at home. It will be the featured Sunday night game. Sadly, our local Democratic congressman lost, so I'm disappointed. He carried the towns, but lost all of the votes in the sticks - the Bubba vote. I read that almost all of the candidates nominated by the Tea Party lost, but that they still control the platform of the Republican party.

[cklaurence]

How is it that they still control the platform if the candidates can't carry the vote? It seems to me it would be time to move on--or is that just wishful thinking?

I have faith in your Texans, Em. Da Bears just aren't that good and your Texans are. Meanwhile, I'd like to see Atlanta beaten already. It's hard to think of Atlanta as 8-0, but once a team goes 8-0, I start to worry about just how far they can go...

Dolphins are at home on Sunday, so it would be nice if the weather stays a nice as it has been this past week, but it looks like it's going to be heating up daily so that by game day the heat will be on. Good for the team, miserable for me; but I'm a team player, so I go and deal with the heat and cheer for my team regardless.

[Emeritus]

The Tea Party intimidates the Republican politicians. There aren't enough of them to win elections, but there are enough to win in the primaries and defeat party members who don't toe the line. In a way, it is good for the Democrats, because the independents don't care for radicals of any stripe.

[cklaurence]

That's quite true, Em. Did you follow fivethirtyeight.com by any chance? Well, they are 100% over the past five presidential elections. Amazing, but true. Almost to the percentage point once again this time.

It took my feeble Florida nearly a week to finally get the ballots counted--doesn't get weirder than that, but I'm proud to say I live in a blue State. Feeble, but blue nonetheless. The I-4 Corridor and my Miami-Dade County (nearly all Hispanic) pulled our pathetically redneck state through thankfully, amen.

[Emeritus]

That's an interesting point, ck. No state is monolithic, not even one like Texas that consistently goes Republican. All of the big cities here are controlled by the Democrats, as well as many of the mid-sized towns. The rural areas are solidly Republican, except for the Rio Grand area which is heavily Hispanic. If the demographics trend continues, the Republicans will eventually lose the state. Since it is the only Red state with a lot of electoral votes, that will be bad news for them.

Speaking of Hispanics, the sermon that I heard today was based on the ancient Jewish injunction to treat aliens equitably. I don't remember all of the scriptures cited, but they were all from the first few books. I wonder how many who profess to be religious remember that? Well, it's time for me to see if I can pull the Texans through. Good night.

[cklaurence]

All the scriptures from the Old Testament seem to be wise, Em. Even as an atheist I try to live my life by them. My parents had me read the Testaments, Old and New, but I've always been most comfortable with the Old. Neither teaches hatred, so it's difficult for me to understand where all this "evil" comes from that the Tea Party followers are touting all this hatred over. I find it terribly frightening whenever anyone cloaks his or herself in the Lord's name to preach hate for any reason. I think I told you I just lost a friend (my doing) who I quite inadvertently learned is a Tea Party Republican. She had hidden her politics from me to the point I thought she was an Obama Democrat and the night before the election I learned she was not only a Republican, but a Tea Party Republican and it pretty nearly broke my heart. I let her know I found this out, and her response was, "If you had asked me at any time, I would have told you."

Can you imagine, being practically joined at the hip and she had me and a group of other women thinking she believed as we did throughout this entire election cycle? That's what scares me most. I can deal with those who are open about their politics, but how much more insidious can someone be than to completely hide their politics from their closest friends???

Well, enough for friends betraying me--how 'bout them Dolphins? Talk about a passionless performance! I so wanted to be proven wrong about my instincts this year. Although I've been calling the Talking Heads "morons" for their ridiculous over-bloated analyses of Philbin's coaching and the team's capabilities, secretly I wanted to have to eat my words. No eating to do this year. I didn't, though, expect a horrifically heartless performance like the one the Fins put in yesterday! The came onto the field for practice looking like they didn't want to be there and played the entire game with the same attitude. It was not just depressing; it was disgusting. For fans like me, it was just plain painful. I pay for four tickets week after week (AND a parking pass) and to watch a team that appears to have been pushed out of the tunnel against their will--one and all--and that's just wrong!

Jeesh. I couldn't even watch sports' news last night or this morning. How'd your Texans make out yesterday?

[Emeritus]

The Texans and the Bears played a brutal, throwback game in the cold and rain in Chicago. If you love defense, it was a classic game. The Texans scored the only touchdown and won it 13-6. They are now tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the NFL lead at 8-1. I have no idea what happened to the Dolphins, who got blown out by an inferior team. Unfortunately, that happens to very young teams. Only experience brings consistency.

[cklaurence]

No Em, the Dolphins loss to the inferior Titans was not just a rookie learning error, it was the error of a coach that listened to too many of the kudos for his 'mellow methods,' and lost sight of all the things his team needed (including heart, passion and motivation to win each week). Football players need a fire in their belly. They went onto the field Sunday with NOTHING--no fire, no desire and from what I could see, no will to do anything but get off the field and go home.

Congratulations on your Texans though. They are keeping up the hard work and it looks as though if they continue on the path they've set, you'll certainly be looking at some post season fun!

[Emeritus]

This is what I've talked about before:

Warning of a demographic apocalypse for the GOP was Texas Senator-elect Ted Cruz who told The New Yorker, “If Republicans do not do better in the Hispanic community, in a few short years Republicans will no longer be the majority party in our state.” And since New York and California supply such a huge and utterly dependable source of electoral votes for the Democrats, if Texas joined them in going Democratic in presidential races, which hasn't happened since 1976, then, Cruz said, “The Republican Party would cease to exist.”

[cklaurence]

Yes, I believe it was Bill O'Reilly who made the same shocking discovery (not just for Texas) recently. I suppose it has its good and its bad points. Hispanics have traditionally, when allowed to vote, brought in the worst scum to rule their roosts--and from what I've seen of the Hispanic candidates here in Miami, well...let's say, the more things change--the more they stay the same. What is it, genetics? I know I sound like a bigot, but I'm not. You'd be surprised as well, at how many of them who come up the ranks politically, come up as Republicans--and the worst right wing creeps of all. How about in Texas--any different?

My publisher arrives tonight and the rest of this week is devoted to Book Fair activities. Friday Saturday and Sunday I will be at the Fair all day every day smiling and signing books to purchasers. Hopefully I'll sell all one hundred my publisher is bringing. That will satisfy me just fine. We're giving a special price as we always do for events and signings, so that should make it easier. My old publisher didn't like dropping the prices, which was stupid. My hardcover sold for 26.95, which was overpriced to my way of thinking to begin with--more than a Robert Parker novel. They had delusions of grandeur--I didn't. I think 16.95 is way too much for my paperback and 8.99 too much for my Kindle as well. That's why I'm considering going Indie. We'll see how the Fair goes and then I've got some hard decisions to make. I've been talking with some top tier authors, all who have left big publishing houses and gone Indie, who say they are making more now than ever before. Something to consider.

[Emeritus]

I've been reading about the lunatic petitions to secede from the USA. I thought that question was settled in the 1860's. Now there's a counter petition from Austin, TX to secede from Texas should that happen. LOL. Did you know that Austin's motto is "Keep Austin Weird?" Austin is so liberal that the conservatives call it "The People's Republic of Austin."

[cklaurence]

I had heard that Austin was really liberal--that's a good thing!

I'm watching the Dolphins now--making Buffalo look like an all pro team... giving me an upset stomach . Really, This grows so tiresome...

I'm going to be at the Book Fair for the net couple of days. Don't know if I'll be blogging much, but I'll try. Depends on how much steam I'll have left at the end of the days. I know I'm exhausted today, but we've been running around mostly today...

[Emeritus]

Just take care of yourself, ck.

[Emeritus]

Whew! The Texans nearly gave me a stroke! On thing that came out of it is that Matt Schaub can still do it. His 527 yards passing was second only to Norm Van Brocklin's record set in 1951.

[Emeritus]

Hello?