When the shot below was plastered largely across the top of the main MSNBC news page shortly into the first quarter, I couldn’t help but grin. 
I hope everyone is doing well despite the “6 more weeks of winter” predicted earlier this week; it looks like things around the armpit of Abilene are going to be rainy and crap-like overall for at least another week…but as I don’t get out too often anymore, it’s no biggie.
So in between looking for work and trying to get the unemployment pay situation sorted out (it FINALLY got completed, yay!), I’ve been keeping busy on a few other fronts as well. For one, I’ve gotten off of my ass to try to get a website going to pimp myself out as a freelancer; I won’t be sharing any specific information about it here of course, but interested parties are more than welcome to privately inquire. I’ve also spent a bit of time catching up on blogs kept by old friends…wonderful folks whom I variously met online around the time I initially started blogging 5 years ago. Catching up on their blogs after all this time really got me to thinking about the fact that blogging just isn’t seemingly as “hot” now as it once was, and I find that to be rather sad. Then again, I’m also reminded of a statement made a few weeks ago by a younger member of the IRC channel, #psychopomposity, that Sweetie and I maintain: in brief, he said that his attention span is so brief that he rarely reads anything that requires more than a couple of minutes to take in and digest and that he much prefers YouTube. (I have my own very serious thoughts about the mental decay that communication technologies and subsequent media overload in general is inflicting upon today’s youth, but I’ll refrain from that tangent for now). Sure enough though, in doing a simple news search about blogging, the trend seems real worldwide (for examples, see here and here).
I salute my friends who continue to blog, and I also assure you that I do not intend to quit; I may get busier than usual from time to time, but I’m here to stay!
Muchos apologies for no recent posts, I just haven’t felt much up to writing over the past week or so while tending to other things…
I’m still without a job and have no immediate prospects; I would much prefer that places turning me down do so in a personalized manner (either a brief email, even one just saying “NO”, or a phone call), but such niceties do not appear to enter into professional behaviour in these days of employment driven strictly by those who hire.
I did get an interesting email inquiry today from a European recruiter: he was curious as to whether I’d consider a position with a well-funded company in France, and I said yes. Who knows what may or may not come of it, but I’m ready for just about anything at this point.
The powerful mare Zenyatta came in second only to Serena Williams (who many of y’all already know I consider to be an extraordinary bitch) in the 2009 Female Athlete of the Year voting conducted by the Associated Press. Filly Rachel Alexandra came in seventh.
Methinks that, next time, the AP is likely going to include a clause explicitly stating “humans only” for valid candidates, and I hope that they do: the thought of Zenyatta placing behind a moron like Serena is downright embarrassing!
I was incredibly disappointed last night to hear that the amazing Zenyatta lost out on being voted Horse of the Year at the annual Eclipse Awards to Rachel Alexandra…who is likewise a good little gal but, well, is simply not good enough in my estimation and that of countless others. An unfortunate mix of politics in the racing world no doubt led to this decision, but I’d rather dwell upon Zenyatta’s amazing victory against the big boys in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic (no other female had ever raced against and dominated in this prestigious event). Though her edgy racing style, in which she is often known to casually sit back in dead last until frighteningly close to the end, can be frustrating, it is also what electrifies her victories. Click here for an extended video introduction to Zenyatta prior to the race.
With already legendary quarterback Brett Favre at the helm, the Minnesota Vikings pounded the crap out of the oft-overrated Dallas Cowboys (who along with their rabid fans erroneously endorse themselves as “America’s Team”) this afternoon for a final score of 34-3. It appears that the ever-anemic skills of Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (who has been with the Cowboys since 2003 yet many act like is a freshly-drafted rookie and thus make excuses for his inept, lackluster play on that false basis) resulted in 1 interception, 2 lost fumbles, and 6 sacks (-42 yards). Oh yeah…as you can tell from the score, he didn’t manage any touchdowns, either.
All lameness blatantly exhibited by Tony aside, belligerent Dallas linebacker Keith Brooking got in a snit when Brett completed a fourth touchdown pass to wrap up the final score, going so far as to charge the Vikings sideline and spout out rude nonsense to the coaches there. He carried the same venom in his post-game press conference statements, claiming that the last touchdown was against the ways of the NFL (only he didn’t use such wording…doesn’t seem like such a bright fellow to begin with, if you catch my general drift).
Yahoo! Sports writer Chris Chase put Keith squarely in his place, however, with the following remarks in Shutdown Corner:
Brooking needs to relax and listen to his own words.
He’s right. This is the NFL, not high school or college. The Dallas Cowboys don’t get sympathy. Throwing that pass may not have been the greatest sportsmanship, but it also wasn’t an affront to decency. If Brooking didn’t want Minnesota to score then maybe he and his 10 teammates on the field should have done something about it.
Just because the Cowboys quit doesn’t mean the Vikings needed to also.
…no, I did NOT get an offer regarding that job I interviewed for just after Christmas.
Truth be told, I’m pretty fucking devastated; never in my entire life have I felt so utterly useless and relegated to the seemingly huge refuse pile of folks whose lives are no longer worth the cost of air it takes to fill their lungs for existence; then again, murderers and rapists are even better off than I am right now, as they have access to free food, shelter, and medical care. I think I’ll use that piece of paper that ultimately took me a total of 9.5 years to earn and which declares me to be a Ph.D. to wipe my ass with the next time I need to take a dump.
Sweetie woke up early the other morning and snapped this photo of me and the babies (the little one, Stormy, is to the left…while our extremely large senior child Penny is to the right) the other morning as I soundly slept. 
<RaeMack> wow, applying for unemployment really makes one feel completely ass-raped and worthless
<RaeMack> quite degrading
<RaeMack> i don’t see how ANYONE thinks people want to do this with no other choice!
- Myself (chatting this evening on #psychopomposity)
