RIP Scalia, 1936-2016

Couldn't you have hung on until next January? That would have been much better. None of us get to choose the time of our departure, I guess. My wife and I were at a yoga class (the second one I have ever attended - the things we do to please our spouse for Valentine's Day), and just before we started I glanced at my phone and saw that Antonin Scalia had died. I have to admit I was rocked pretty hard by this one.

For one, Scalia made law school bearable. Whether you agreed with him or not (and I often did), his decisions were a joy to read. You don't hear that much when referring to the writing in Supreme Court decisions. But Scalia possessed both a razor mind and a razor pen. And he was by far the most powerful Justice on the Supreme Court for decades, because Scalia got two votes whereas the other Justices just got one vote. (I am, of course, referring to Clarence Thomas, who almost always voted with Scalia and would often just sign on to Scalia's decisions vs. writing his own).

ABOVE: What is Clarence "yeah, what he said" Thomas going to do now that Scalia is gone? Think for himself?

On a more serious note, I'm not sure what to think of the Republican Senate standoff with Obama on appointing Scalia's replacement. This rhetoric of "let the people decide" (as in, wait until after the election so the people can weigh in on the direction of the replacement) is crap. That is not in the Constitution, as Scalia himself would probably point out. And the people did weigh in. Obama was re-elected.

I think what should happen is that Obama fulfills his Constitutional duty and nominates someone, and the Republicans in the Senate give him or her their due hearing and then most likely vote them down. Drag it out until the election, and then let the next president pick someone. That seems better than refusing to even hold a hearing without even having a nominee yet. At least go through the motions. This holdout could be worse for the Republicans in an election year than just having some contentious hearings and then voting "no."

Do I think the Democrats would do the same thing if it were reversed? Of course. In fact, both Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid have statements exactly to that effect from back in the waning days of George W. Bush's presidency. I wouldn't agree with them doing it either (and you know if this were the democrats doing this, talk radio-world would be raising a sh*tstorm about the dems circumventing the Constitution, etc.)

Our Founders certainly intended for the president to nominate someone and then for the Senate to advise the president on that nominee and then consent or not. I don't think they meant "advise and consent" to mean "No. It doesn't matter who you nominate. We'll just leave the seat vacant for a year."

Anyway, Scalia was quite simply one of the greatest minds we have ever had on the Court. A giant. I leave you with the ever quotable Antonin Scalia...

“Never compromise your principles, unless of course your principles are Adolf Hitler’s, in which case you would be well advised to compromise them as much as you can.”

“More important than your obligation to follow your conscience, or at least prior to it, is your obligation to form your conscience correctly.”

“A Constitution is not meant to facilitate change. It is meant to impede change, to make it difficult to change.”

“This Court, however, concludes that this limitation would prevent the rest of the Act from working as well as hoped. So it rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere. We should start calling this law SCOTUScare.”

“A man who has made no enemies is probably not a very good man.”

"A Bill of Rights that means what the majority wants it to mean is worthless."

"That’s the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that. The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn’t say other things."

"You’re looking at me as though I’m weird. My God! Are you so out of touch with most of America, most of which believes in the devil? I mean, Jesus Christ believed in the devil! It’s in the Gospels! You travel in circles that are so, so removed from mainstream America that you are appalled that anybody would believe in the devil! Most of mankind has believed in the devil, for all of history. Many more intelligent people than you or me have believed in the devil."

"To pursue the concept of racial entitlement–even for the most admirable and benign of purposes–is to reinforce and preserve for future mischief the way of thinking that produced race slavery, race privilege and race hatred. In the eyes of government, we are just one race here. It is American."

"Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct."

"Bear in mind that brains and learning, like muscle and physical skill, are articles of commerce. They are bought and sold. You can hire them by the year or by the hour. The only thing in the world not for sale is character."

"God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools…and He has not been disappointed. Devout Christians are destined to be regarded as fools in modern society. We are fools for Christ’s sake. We must pray for courage to endure the scorn of the sophisticated world. If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world."

"If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

40

I recently turned 40. Since that is generally considered the approximate halfway point until oblivion, I guess it is a big deal. People treat it that way, anyway. At least it is a time to reflect both on what has transpired and on what may come.

First of all, I am so glad that my teen years were the 80's and early 90's. I know that people who experienced the 60's feel privileged, but I feel that way about the 80's. Great music, wonderful excess, Reagan optimism, Atari 2600. My students get jealous. The 80's have a certain cool factor these days, again, akin to when I was growing up in the 80's and everyone loved the 60's. So many of my students tell me that they wished they could have grown up in that decade, perhaps I've got an extra spring in my step when I cover it in class, I don't know. I'm surprised at how much my students know about the 80's. I've got a fun activity I do one day in class where, after they have read the chapter but before I cover it, I give each student ten blank notecards. I tell them they have to capture the "essence" of the 80's by making ten flashcards. They can include politics, pop culture, economics, world events, technology...just capture the decade picking ten things to discuss. As they are making them, I play my 80's mix on the ipod, just to get them in the mood. These kids love Tears For Fears, 80's Michael Jackson, The Cars. All of it. (For me, Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" captures the decade more than any other song...it should be the 1980's anthem). Year after year it is a favorite activity, and I am always so impressed with their knowledge of a decade that passed before they were born. I get a lot of John Hughes movies, video games, Reaganomics, SDI, when MTV was cool, etc. When I want to go to my happy place, I think about summers in the mid-80's.

I have been blessed with wonderful family, both the one I was born into and the one that I have made for myself. To start with the former. Being someone a bit obsessed with the past (it is my profession, afterall), I regret not having the chance to speak with my grandparents and ask them about their experiences. I never really knew my Dad's parents, they died when I was small. I do remember my Mom's parents, especially her father. Wonderful memories, but I was too young (elementary and middle school) when they died to have really gotten to know them on adult terms. It's a shame. Something that I would highly recommend doing is preserving the memories of your loved ones. A few years back, I conducted, recorded and transcribed detailed interviews with my father, mother and uncle. Fantastic, and 30 years from now I am sure my kids will love reading them if they are anything like I am about the past.

My three brothers (one is deceased) and sister have been my favorite people. They are all about ten years older than me (they're all half, both of my parents were married before), so growing up they were really the people I looked up to the most. My brothers, well two of the three anyway, were models that I used to try to emulate, impress and just be around as much as I could. (I also have fond memories of my other brother too, as many troubles as he had, I remember him playing with me a lot and taking me places. He had serious problems, but underneath it all, he was great and I had a lot of fun with him). But honestly, my closest relationship through most of my life has always been my sister. She was a big part of my growing up (she had a lot of time to spend with me, because she was always getting in trouble and was always grounded). She is still the person I can talk the most openly with, I think. One of my biggest consistent regrets is that I see them once or twice a year instead of once or twice a week. (I get annoyed sometimes with how my wife talks to her mother and brother 500 times a day on the phone, but part of that too, I suspect, is jealousy. I am close with my siblings and parents, but we don't talk nearly as much nowadays as I would like, and in my more reasonable moments, I see that is a special thing that my wife can communicate daily with her mom and brother). I have also been blessed with wonderful parents. Being one now, I know how tough it is sometimes, and I've only just begun. They made mistakes, as I have and will continue to do, but not many. What impressed me the most was that even though they had their own stresses in life and possibly rough patches in the marriage, they never let that bleed over into my experience growing up with them. That is a skill I am more and more impressed with as time goes on.

Marriage is tough sometimes. I think that many of my natural tendencies lend themselves more to bachelorhood, sometimes. I can be a solitary creature at times. But there is no person on the planet I would rather go through life with than my wife. She is beautiful and still amazes me consistently. But I've got to say, and she would agree because we have talked about it, my true love in life is my daughter, DDI. I feel like I have failed at certain things in life (like a law career), but I know I am an excellent father and I work hard at that every day of my life. That sounds so cliche, I know, but she is the world to me (and she knows it and like most kids do, takes advantage of that when she can). I am excited about my new daughter, DDII, and I anticipate developing a unique and special relationship with her as well. Right now she is just a really cute thing that makes sounds and sleeps, but I can't wait to see her develop her personality and to be a part of that.

They say you can't pick your family, but you do pick your friends. Friends are a second family that we create for ourselves. One of my best friends, a wise Greek, who often regales me with life truths because that is what those Mediterranean types do, once told me that as time goes by and you get older, you only take a handful of friends along with you into old age. And those are the ones who are your true friends. You pick up friends through each stage of life (youth, high school, college, grad school, working life). You develop bonds and meet great people at each stage, but the Greek, as usual, is right. Look at who you still talk to, say, a decade removed from that time. Those are the ones that matter. Then two decades removed. Those are the ones that really matter. Two of my closest friends are coming in from out of town to celebrate my recent birthday with me, I cannot wait to see them and I can say that I have chosen wisely the ones I want to take with me to the end.

We've all got our interests. When I said that some of my tendencies might be more suited to bachelorhood, it is probably because I get more obsessive than most about my interests. Sh*t, look at these ridiculous Record Guides that I write for a blog that three people read. I mean, who does that? I do. It is a source of exasperation for my long suffering wife that I can sit down for hours on end and analyze the works of Men At Work and be completely content. Music, movies and history...obsessions I have always had. It is just something I've always done, I can remember days of my youth where I would be perfectly content to lie down in front of the speaker of the stereo and listen to record after record after record. By myself for hours and it was heaven. I remember when going to rock concerts was a life event. Nowadays it is not as big of a deal, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss that feeling sometimes, that going to see Springsteen was the most significant thing in the world. I can still watch "Jaws" for the 1,039th time and get a thrill. And I am a collector. If there is a band that I get into, it becomes imperative that I track down every record they made. I can become very agitated and stressed if I do not own the complete works of whomever. As frustrated as she gets, I will be forever grateful to my wife for her patience and indulgence. I know that it/I can often verge on the ridiculous.

Finally, a word or two for those who have passed. Longtime readers here know that I enjoy writing obituaries. It is not really a morbid thing, I just find it fascinating to try and capture a life in a few paragraphs. It's funny, my father, who reads GNABB regularly but only occasionally comments, recently told me that he wants me to compose his obituary when the time comes. It'll be an honor, but I found that funny, because he especially enjoys my obits here for some reason. Hopefully I won't have to write that one for awhile yet. I view it as a way to honor the person, honor the accomplishments and to say how they have enriched my life. Be it an artist or famous person whom I never knew personally yet still had a connection with through their work, or someone whom I did know on a personal level. Even pets. So goodbye once a again to Cliff, Maurice, Bunny, Toby, and the many others, both personal and artistic, who have enriched my 40 years.

Thanks for reading and letting me remember the last 40 years. In a recent post on his blog, ANCIANT made a comment about blogs being self indulgent and tools for forcing your silly opinions on others (I'm paraphrasing, as usual he writes it better, as that is his profession). I agree with him, I often feel somewhat ridiculous that I think my opinion matters so much that I can write six years and counting worth of posts and anyone would care. And perhaps this post is the ultimate self-indulgence. But I have loved having this forum over the last six years. Honestly, other than allowing me to write about sh*t that I find interesting, which is a true joy, the main blessing of this blog has been allowing me to keep in touch with friends. I appreciate everyone who still comes around, either regularly or occasionally. ANCIANT and JMW (who talked me into starting GNABB, I wonder if he regrets?) especially have been regular and loyal readers and commenters. I do love the comments, my hope with every post is to start a conversation. I am like a little kid, I check back all the time to see if someone has commented or tried to continue the conversation, either agreeing or disagreeing with me. It's like a child who doesn't get what he wanted for Christmas when I check and it says "no comments." What the f*ck! This is important stuff!! All of it!!! That is what I really see this place as, a place for conversation, debate and exchange of ideas. So I am puzzled when a Grateful Dead record guide is met by the sound of crickets. (I'm joking. I am self-aware. I know my record guides are absurd, but I can't help myself). But I do value and love the comments and conversations we have here occasionally. It is one of the main reasons I keep doing it, I can have regular conversations with dear friends on the East and West Coast, as well as everyone else who drops in here and there. Plus the self indulgence. There is always that.

"When you put your hand into a bunch of goo..."

Happy Memorial Day. For this day that we remember those who have sacrificed so much for this country, here's one of the great movie speeches of all time. I couldn't find the actual film clip, but here is the audio at least (and that is most important anyway) of the opening scene of "Patton," where George C. Scott gives a performance for the ages. Even with just the audio, it is a riveting performance. Worth your five or six minutes.

Clint Eastwood is America

Did you see Clint Eastwood’s surreal 12 minutes of performance art in the guise of a speech on Thursday night at the Republican convention? If not, go here to see it all. I laughed, I stared at the TV with disbelief, I cringed, I said “yes!” and I wondered what the hell he was talking about…all within his 12 minutes of glorious crash and burn. Clint riffed, he let his mind wander and seemingly talked about whatever crossed his mind at the time. It was a dangerous and not altogether smart thing for the RNC to do. In a tightly scripted and controlled convention that had gone very well up to that point (so scripted that Ron Paul was not allowed to speak because he refused to let them vet his speech ahead of time), you’re gonna let Dirty Harry loose on the night Romney needs to try to win over more voters? It was not Clint’s finest hour. He rambled, seemed confused at times, and was pretty crude and unnecessarily disrespectful of our current president. But again, what did you think was going to happen? My understanding is that he was supposed to speak for about five minutes and had given his remarks to the RNC ahead of time. But once onstage he tossed his planned speech aside and just improvised for twice as long as he was given. Are you going to yank Philo Beddoe?

I think Republican leaders were so excited to get some star power on the conservative side of the Hollywood ledger that they didn’t quite understand what they were getting into with Clint. Had they never seen “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly”? “Every Which Way But Loose”? This dude does his own thing. He does not follow institutional rules. That is his whole persona! He is less a straight conservative than a libertarian. For a party that clings to traditional social values, why would they invite a prime time speaker who within this last year in an interview said about gay marriage: “I don’t give a sh*t about who wants to get married to anybody else. Why not?” Or a guy with seven children from five different women? Didn't conservative leaders criticize him for doing the voiceover on a Super Bowl commercial that seemed to praise Obama's auto bailout?

All you need to do is to look at his remarkable career as an actor and director to see that you cannot pin any neat and tidy ideology on this guy. He supports gay marriage and is known as a bit of an environmentalist, yet he also is a fiscal conservative. Who knows what he thinks about foreign policy? Could you tell what he felt about Afghanistan from his speech? I couldn’t. You could take what he said about it either way.

ABOVE: The chair doesn't have a chance

In an excellent article by film critic Carrie Rickey here, she points out that by looking at his filmography, Clint reveals a complex and rather ambivalent view of America. Not your typical convention speaker.

Take a look at his early Westerns with Sergio Leone and his own directorial debut, the bloodthirsty, revenge fantasy “High Plains Drifter.” He is in one sense the ultimate American archetype. Loner, ruthlessly self-sufficient, man of few words (read: not dithering European powers) but one of devastating action (America). His Man With No Name is who we’d like to be, a man with a set of ethics, but also ruthlessly efficient in getting what he wants. Consider “High Plains Drifter” through a 9/11 lens. He was done wrong and almost beaten to death, but he returns and reigns hell fire on his attackers with relish. What Clint’s character was able to do there is what we wish we could do after 9/11 in regards to those who attacked us and aided them. Many of his characters represent a certain strength (albeit flawed), that we collectively feel we have lost as a nation and as a people. Clint gave us a confidence through film like Reagan did through politics and leadership (whether you like Reagan’s policies or not).

He's been attacked from both sides throughout his career. As Rickey points out, in Nixon’s America when his early Dirty Harry films came out, Clint was called “fascist” by Lefties. (I don’t see it, the Dirty Harry films were expressing the angry, conservative backlash of too much mushy Great Society coddling. A vigilante fantasy, yes…fascist, not quite). But later, his films take a much more ambivalent look at the violence that he used to dispense so effortlessly. Conservatives may roar with approval as Dirty Harry blows away scumbags on the streets of San Francisco with his .44 Magnum (“the most powerful handgun in the world…now, you gotta ask yourself, do ya feel lucky? Well do ya? Punk?”), but they weren’t so comfortable with his dark ruminations on the consequences of righteous violence in “Unforgiven.” Red blooded patriots of the heartland were not comfortable at all with his brilliant and sympathetic look from the Japanese perspective in one of his finest films, “Letters From Iwo Jima.”

To quote Rickey: “The first half of Eastwood’s career he played men who shot first and thought about it later. The second half of his career, he’s largely devoted himself to exploring the consequences of that gunplay. Is that Republican? Is that Democrat? I think it’s American.”

Clint Eastwood did embarrass himself somewhat Thursday night. But that is American too. We stumble and make mistakes. And those mistakes are magnified because of who we are on the world stage. (If France makes a fool of itself, it doesn’t really matter, does it?) But Clint is also one of our finest popular film artists, both as an actor who personifies so much of our complexity, but also as a director who chooses to explore these complexities. He can be crude, yet explore issues thoughtfully and deeply. He is independent. He cannot be controlled or told what to do. I’d like to think that he planned it all along. “Yeah, I’ll give them (the RNC) a five minute speech to look at. But once I get up there, I’m going to do what I want. I’m Clint Eastwood.” Dumb move by the RNC. They should have known. Clint cannot be controlled or vetted. He cannot be contained, and he will do what he wants to do. He’ll try to be thoughtful and do the right thing as he gets his way, but things get complicated sometimes. Sometimes you gotta break things along the way. That’s Clint. That’s America.

Day 8: Promises, Promises

Today/tonight's post will be a bit short. Just got back from school giving my National Honors Society speech. Very tired. It went well, I got the laughs where I had hoped and got a warm reception. It was a fun ceremony.

Since tonight is the last night of the regular NBA season, tomorrow I hope to have my NBA Playoff predictions. It has been an uncommonly interesting regular season, so I have high hopes for the playoffs. Analysis to come. I also owe a belated recap of this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. I know you are all waiting breathlessly for that.

I will leave you with cuteness...



And here is a crawfish...

Day 7: Honors

I have been chosen by the students at the school where I work to give the key note address at this year’s induction ceremony for the National Honors Society. I was quite honored. What do you say to these kids? “Congratulations for being smarter than everybody else”? I think I’ve got a good speech written that I will deliver tomorrow night. It is full of sage advice, humorous asides and lots of Thomas Jefferson. I structured the speech around their core principles of scholarship, leadership, community service and character, and then discussed how Jefferson embodied each of those qualities through different actions taken during his presidency, and then how they can apply those lessons to their own lives. I don’t even like Jefferson that much, but he seems to work since he is so malleable a historical figure. As I say in my speech, Jefferson is claimed as a hero to both the Right and the Left, and they are both correct.

Many of my AP students will be inducted, so that will be cool. Which reminds me of my own experiences as an AP U.S. History student at my old high school. Where I teach now, you can get into an AP class if you request it. But back in my day, you had to be recommended by your previous year’s teacher. My 10th grade history teacher refused to recommend me for AP, which really pissed me off. I had to figure out a way to circumvent her. I had to figure out a way to impress the venerable, Nixonesque (in a good way) AP U.S. teacher, J.G. I noticed that he often sat at lunch at a table with another teacher whom I would chat with from time to time, but who I knew wasn’t that bright. That was my opening. I joined them for lunch one day and struck up some debate regarding Vietnam with not-so-bright teacher. J.G. was impressed and asked me if I was signed up for his AP class. The plan worked like clockwork. “No, but I am very interested.” He informed the school office that I would be joining his AP class the next year, regardless of what my 10th grade history teacher thought.

I’m not sure whether I like the old way of needing a recommendation or allowing students in based on their professed interest. I can say that I do have some students in my current AP classes who should probably be in the regular level classes (mostly due to work ethic.) Perhaps if there had been a filter to determine whether they could (or would) really do the work they would have been in a better spot for them. But at the same time, when you have a situation like mine, where a student is self-motivated to push themselves and for whatever reason the person making the decision does not see it, then perhaps they should be given the chance.

Programming Note

Hello loyal reader(s) of GNABB. I am very excited to announce that a new list is on the horizon. I can tell by all of the comments that you have really enjoyed the Top 30 Guitarists, but this next list will move into the realm of politics and history. Due to my teaching assignment this last year of AP U.S. History, I have really enjoyed diving into presidential history. Presidential Ranking is not a new thing, but it still stirs up controversy and discussion whenever a new list is released. So right now I am compiling for your reading pleasure Dez's Presidential Rankings, and I will reveal my Rankings shortly. I've already got the bottom Quartile all worked out and in order. So I will wrap up the Guitarists list with a whisper over the next week and then we can dive into the presidents...

Happy Anniversary

Two years of GNABB and 287 posts strong. I would like to thank my loyal 4 or 5 readers for sticking with us. More to come soon, I promise. I thought about linking to some of my favorite posts of the last two years or so, but why look back. You can expect more razor sharp political commentating, revelatory music and film reviews, tearjerking obituaries and general blogging goodness. I will hit you soon with my Oscar predictions.

Looking Back

Did we just live through the Aughts? What do you call 2000-2009? I've seen some lists lately proclaiming "The 50 Best Albums of the Aughts" and so forth. How come the first time I hear the official title for the decade is after it is already over?

My good friend JW wrote a thoughtful essay about what the last decade has meant to him and how his life changed over those ten years at his blog. Excellent piece of writing, check it out here at A Special Way of Being Afraid, entitled "Thoughts on a Decade." He inspired me to look back and do the same for my last ten years. And funny enough, I was ringing in 2000 in that same Houston apartment where JW discusses starting his decade. What a relief it was to find that our computers all didn’t come to life and hunt us down like Terminators, or whatever the Y2K thing was all about. Remember that scare? Why did we need faux nightmare scenarios when a year and a half later we would have a real one?

I started The Aughts in the midst of law school at the University of Texas at Austin. I had reluctantly but somewhat hopefully left a career in teaching in the search for more fulfillment and money. Well, mainly money. If fulfillment followed, all the better. Law school was fantastic. I lived within walking distance from the UT campus in Austin. Saw and met my hero Colin Hay at a small show, saw Jeff Beck, CSNY, Springsteen, U2, Moby and Tenacious D all while living in Austin. It was not too difficult other than around finals time. I loved being a law student. Lawyer? Not so much. I will say that studying for and taking the Texas Bar Exam was the most difficult thing I have ever done. Imagine spending about three months in almost total isolation, save your cat and the squirrels that hang out on the UT campus where you study. Those are some bold, desensitized squirrels. They ate peanuts out of my hand as I lectured them on the finer points of Adverse Possession and Estate Taxation. They are now very educated squirrels.

2001 was a tough year for two reasons. One is shared by all of us. I was sleeping. The phone rang. My friend Brian told me to turn on the TV, some dumbass flew into the World Trade Center. I turned on the TV in time to catch the immediate aftermath of the second plane. I watched the Pentagon get hit live. I watched as the media learned about the Pennsylvania plane. I watched both towers fall live. I watched as the media could not locate the President of the United States. Then I had to go to class. Most were cancelled, except for Payment Systems. If we don’t learn about Payment Systems on 9/11, then the terrorists win. Unless you lived in NYC or DC, you experienced 9/11 through the television.

Months later, I lost my brother Rick. To be honest, we had been expecting his demise for at least a decade due to both his mental illness and the choices that he made, but it still hits you hard when it happens. I remember mostly him laughing and smiling. I also remember a conversation I had with him one of the last times I ever saw him. He fully anticipated his fate, and was quite philosophical about it. And he always played cars with me when I was little. RIP Rick.

I have always despised math and numbers. So it makes sense that the first job I took out of law school was as a property tax attorney in San Antonio. Although I did it for about a year and a half, I still have no clue about how property taxes work. I met a girl, we dated, we broke up, we got back together, we moved in together, we got engaged, we got disengaged, and I never saw her again. All within one year. I was able to pawn the engagement ring for about 1/3 of what I paid for it. But that was a start, because I needed the money to move back to the place I always call home, Houston. Everywhere else is a place to live, but Houston is always where I feel most grounded. My old stomping grounds, you know?

After a long lost weekend (well, several lost months) I was able to find employment at a Houston law firm. Thus started the most fun two years of my life. The legal work that I did at this time was so easy it was hardly work at all. But I was able to travel to all corners of Texas, all paid for by our clients. I met some new friends that are still amongst my closest friends, and I reconnected with some old friends who I thought were gone for good. I played poker two or three nights a week, got paid lots of money to do very little, traveled everywhere all expenses paid, went to Mexico a lot with some fun and shady associates. I basically did what some people do in college, but got paid. Also bungie jumped and skydived within the same year.

At one particular deposition I saw this beautiful attorney who I had to meet. I think it was her long, dark hair that first caught my attention. Always looking out for my clients’ interests, I spent most of the deposition hitting on her. Or at least trying to talk to her. I came up with some excuse to get her to go to dinner with me and some other attorney friends before she returned to San Antonio. Once she pulled out that Star Trek credit card to pay for her meal, I was hooked. To have the stones to whip out a Star Trek credit card at a table full of lawyers and just not give a shit? Gorgeous attorney chick with a serious geek side as well? Nothing hotter. After dinner, I called my friend Willis and told him that I just met my future wife. Seriously. Ask him.

Fast forward: a year of long distance dating and weekend trips between SA and Houston, and I decide to make her my bride. She made more money than I did, so it made sense that I move to SA. Good thing. The law firm that I worked for in Houston folded six months after I left. I had nothing to do with it.

I then worked for one of the best law firms in SA and hated it. I distinctly remember a trip to Phoenix for a week with my boss for a big case. The best attorney I have ever come across. In Phoenix I had to keep him entertained, so we went to many bars and strip clubs during the evenings to pass the time. Late one evening, he had a drunken but serious conversation with me. “Dez, you are a good lawyer and you are really smart. But to be a great lawyer, you need to be an asshole. Nothing comes before your work. Not family, not anything. Will you promise me something, Dez? Will you try to be more of an asshole?” Sure thing, boss. Soon after that firm and I parted ways, I had a long period of soul searching and unemployment (my wife was amazing to stay with me during that period). Then I did some more legal work and still hated it.

My aunt shot herself in the head at the end of ’07. That was a shock, since she had always proclaimed to despise guns. She was a fellow music obsessive, but from a different era. With no children of her own, her nieces and nephews were special to her. She always dealt with children better than adults anyway. I think she viewed us as her co-conspirators. Then we grew up. She left behind a “final” mix CD to be played. A woman after my own heart. I’d do that. So we played some of the tunes at her funeral. The capper? Frankie's "My Way." Hell yeah. I remember Christmases decades gone with the most affection. RIP Bunny.

Finally, I returned to the profession that I had left in the late 90’s. I am a teacher of History and love it. Had a fantastic honeymoon road trip in California, went to Maui over the summer. Listened to lots of Iz. Now we have a baby girl coming in two months.

So, what conclusions to draw from this last decade, the tumultuous Aughts? Professionally, I am back to where I was before. Great detour, though. Lost some important people in pretty unnatural ways. Overall, though, I had a lot of fun these last ten years. Fun and some intense, trying times. But my lovely wife and I are excited about the little adventure that is supposed to pop out around the 1st of March. Here's hoping for some killer Teens.

The New Look

My old friend JMW complained recently that the black background with white writing hurt his eyes. In order to help my elderly readers, I decided to shake things up a little bit and change the backgrounds and general colors. Don't worry, it is the same quality content that you've come to expect from GNABB, just a new look. Do you like it or would you prefer I go back to the old look?

Inaugural Address

Welcome friends, countrymen, and accidental visitors. As the subtitle of this Blog boldly suggests, I plan on covering a variety topics here. You will probably see more music, movies and politics than anything else...but everything under or beyond the sun is fair game. And I love a lively discussion and spirited debate, so please feel free to add your two cents regarding anything that grabs your interest. My ideal is that we have ongoing discussions flourishing under several posts at any given time. Also, feel free to make suggestions, because while this Blog is not a democracy, I do listen to good advice. I've been a devoted commentator on other Blogs, but this is my first attempt to start my own.

I have to thank five friends in particular for inspiring me to finally start my own Blog. They get tired of me commenting all over their Blogs, so the chorus of "do your own!" finally brought me to this place. Willis and 8-Ball EZ-Eze (that is his real name, by the way) both have now-deceased Blogs, but they were the first Blogs that I ever got involved with, and it was their creativity and energy that first got me interested in the Blogworld. Three Blogs currently run by friends of mine and that are better than mine are: A Special Way of Being Afraid , A New Career In a New Town and Violently Arousing . You should visit all three of them (and see how I shamelessly rip them off format-wise.)

Finally, what's with the name of this Blog? Glad you asked. My favorite movie of all time is "Jaws". Seen it about 200,000 times, can quote the entire film to you, I am still afraid of the ocean because of it...the name is a slight bastardization of the immortal line spoken by Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) to Quint (Robert Shaw) in this great scene...


If Quint isn't the baddest ass of all bad asses in the movies...more soon, my friends.