The Sentinel Tree -- an impromptu poem

I sit alone underneath a single small lonely sentinel tree,
A silent vision of you sweeping through my mind, as it slowly wanders free.
I watch the stars creep across the ever-darkening velvet night sky.
Reliving passionate images of my eternal love as each quickly stumble by.

I remember the long countless walks we cheerfully took together,
I think of the times strolling hand in hand, never mind the weather,
Joined at the hip, two become one, forever bound to each other,
My soul mate and I, my best friend and wife, my everlasting lover.

Time has relentlessly marched on, slowly leaving us in its wake,
The two of us huddled fearfully, sharing our triumphs and our mistakes.
Love is the single memory that ultimately survives our eventual death,
A joyous life that two share until expiring they gasp out their last breath.

The sentinel tree grows cautiously bigger, a mighty forest it does portend,
It withstands nature's cruel uncertainty, like our love lasting until the final end.

Blog Groupies

Ok I have a question for everyone, "How do you get blog groupies?" Some blogs that I have seen have this almost cult following that hinge on every utterance of the author of the site; practically drooling over the most nondescript things. Does it take time to build up a fanbase? Do you need to advertise? Maybe its just the style of writing that causes all the comments to be made. Does that mean I have to actually blog every day? Or do I have to go to other people's blogs and leave comments on them? Whoa this blog thing could turn into a lot of work. I am not sure I am ready for that kind of committment. Maybe I could just blog date instead, you know just post every now and then. Maybe be seen at the big blog gatherings. Oh well I guess I should be used to anonyminity by now...

Drafted

Well I have always known I was somewhat of a geek, but I now know that I am a geek in soooo many different ways. Ok, I know I read obsessively and play on the computer a little too much. Yes, I am a card carrying Mensa member and also pay my dues for the USCF. But now I have also discovered that I am a football geek. I actually planned my whole weekend around watching the NFL draft on ESPN. I sat glued to my TV for over 4 hours salivating over the newbie players on all the NFL teams. Most people can barely name the starting quarterback for their football team (San Francisco now has 4 quaterbacks-rooking Alex Smith, Tim Rattay, Ken Dorsey, and third stringer Brandon Dorman), and here I am watching and screaming when a team makes a bad pick (what were you thinking Detroit picking another wide receiver in the first round)

The Ultimate Post!

Being a history major, I have noticed quite a few generalizations that are made comparing our present day with past epochs. One of the more interesting comparisons - at least in my mind- is the comparison of the United States to the Roman Empire. Both of them grew out of the ashes of a previous world spanning Empire, the Romans built on the Greeks and the US arose out of Great Britain. Both of them introduced new concepts and ideals, and strangely enough the Romans and the Unites States do share quite a few similiarities. Each claimed to be a democracy, but were in fact confederated republics. Each nation gave birth to great leaders that left there mark on history. Both empires became havens for intellectual and artistic thought. And quite remarkably, as each's population grew, they gave birth to mass entertainments that became spectator sports unrivaled in any other era. The spectre of gladiator games arose in both hegemonies, becoming competitive spectacles of unimagined glory that have left there marks throughout history. Why do I bring this up? Because tomorrow brings one of the best of the pure arena sports of the modern age. Saturday heralds the arrival of the 52nd showing of one of my all-time favorite sporting events: The Ultimate Fighting Championship! The UFC started as an underground tribute to martial art blood tournaments, (think Jean Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport) However, throughout the years it has morphed into a highly competitive, highly controlled, mano y mano contest pitting the best mixed martial artists against one another. (Can you tell I am a fan?) Hopefully, the pay per view will be well worth the price, as I am having my usual crowd of compatriots come over and we will all being rooting for our favorites including my wife who generally favors the 'non-hairy back, six-pack ab, pretty boy' fighter and grimaces anytime blood spews forth from an injured athlete. With the beer flowing, lounging on my leather couches around the television, its hard not to think of the arena in the glory days of Rome with satiated citizens swilling wine and eating grapes as they rooted for their favorite gladiators.

No, no don't make me go to Oz.

Ok I admit it, I hate the wind. Not gentle breezes or a little gust on a hot summer day, no I hate this durn blasted won't stop wind storm we have been having for the last decade or so. Yeah I have allergies, but they are not too bad, or at least they aren't when its normal weather outside. But having a frickin' wind blowing off and on, over the course of the last month is just freaking insane! Ok, I was a little mystified to see all the rain that has been going on since the beginning of the year, but I didn't think the apocalypse was coming. You know, this has got to be some big plot of the paint companies. Somehow they are controlling the weather. It's the only reason that I can think of for getting everyone's house sandblasted like they are. Please make it stop! The pulsing of my sinuses in my head is in direct counterpoint to the ringing of the wind chimes outside of our door. I'm not hearing voices in my head I just have the beginnings of an orchestra. Wind, wind go away, don't come back some other day!

Passive or agressive?

Ok I noticed something wierd today whilst over at my Mom's house visiting with my family. I was a little tired out after a trip to the Meadows Mall to get sized for the tux for my youngest sister's wedding (I am walking my sister down the aisle in leiu of my father who passed away recently). As I was listening to the conversations going on around me, I started noticing the posturing that was going on between individuals, the attempts that people where making to improve there pecking order in the family hierarchy. The thing that struck me as odd was the fact that my agressive siblings were trying to dominate the less agressive ones as usual. What hit me was that it wasn't a matter of agressiveness that held sway, but call it the determination of the individual. Passiveness does not equate to weakness. I started to think about this as it pertained to all of my relationships, not just my family ones. I also tried to analyze my wife's relationships and fell into a conundrum. Do agressive people view all passiveness as weakness? How do they handle a strong willed person who is not agressive and not passive? How do two passive individuals interact? What about a threesome of passive people? I am a passive person, does this color all my friendships? How do my friends see me? What about my dealings with the opposite sex? Are males more interested in status because of their natural agressiveness? Is agressiveness a byproduct of ego? Do passive people view passiveness as a desirable trait? Do agressive people view agressiveness as a desirable trait? Why am I asking so many questions? Is my family just screwed up or is everyone like this?