Don't yell at me for this one...

It's late and I'm tired and I have not much to say. But I was reading about the Libby trial today (I've kept an eye on it, not exactly devoted - one has to pick and choose their political obsessions).

But it did get me thinking: Is Scooter the highest ranking government official with a silly nickname in our country's history? Granted, Martin Van Buren was called "Old Kinderhook" & Nixon was called "Tricky Dick" but noone referred to them by those names. From what I know, people really call him "Scooter" to his face.

I never judge a person by their name, as 99 times out of a 100 they did not choose that name (except in the case of my dear friend who decided in college he wanted to be called "Animal." So his friends immediately began referring to him as "Kitten.") It's just something I thought about today.

The Best in the World

Tonight I went with a friend to see Jerry Douglas at BB King's in midtown. I'd almost forgotton what live music was like. The crowd was as I expected: a little older, grayer, paunchier. Blugrass nerds.

It was wonderful watching someone who is without a doubt the best at what he does in the entire world. I know that music appreciation is subjective but the people who know the dobro who say Jerry is not the best are few and very far in between. I am in awe of what he does.

The stage was filled with players so dedicated to their instruments that they didn't have to sing. A night of extremely talented musicians in midtown.

Quotes of the week

"Mummy, I don't like bacon. Because I Love Bacon."

Tell Daddy what bird you saw.
"Daddy, I saw a peckwooder."

"Mummy, I have a son called Roy Lauritsen and he will be 6 1/2 on his birthday in July."

The End is Near

Some people say that we will know Amageddon is here when we see the mark of the beast (666).

I say it is when CNN devotes its entire prime time lineup, a full three hours, to the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

This country is going to hell in a handbasket quicker than even I thought.

On another note, there is one person who is very happy Ms. Smith has expired: Crazy diaper wearing astronaut lady, who will finally be shoved off the front page tomorrow.

An email I sent to a bunch of folks

Note: This post was edited for tiny bits of accuracy by Andy.

Here's an email I sent to a bunch of people today. They have already responded to the tune of 400 pounds in about 5 hours! I'm very impressed,

Dear Everyone,

I want to tell you about my wife's nephew, Andy Lindesey (who is
actually older than Sarah, one of the quirks of her lovely family).

Nearly three years ago, Andy was on his way to work in London on his
Vespa scooter when he was involved in an accident. The gas tank on his vespa
exploded and he was trapped. The ensuing fire raged. Still alive
when he was finally rescued, he was flown to a Burn Hospital where they fully
expected him to die. But Andy would not, even though he received 3rd
degree burns over 75% of his body, he lost one of his arms below the
elbow, and lost a leg through the knee. The only reason he survived at
all was because he was an extremely fit athlete. Andy would also give
major credit to his doctors, to which I agree.

Since that awful day, he has had 30 operations, several of them
lifesaving. They have done repeated skin harvesting (because he has so
few areas unburned, they have to go back to the same places and
harvest new skin for him), a procedure to reconstruct his forehead
from a piece of muscle in his back, they took a piece of tissue from
under his armpit to build him a new nose, a collapsed lung It goes on
and on, and will continue to for some time. And through it all, Andy
has been the same person we have always known. He and his wonderful
wife Susie are an inspiration. How do I know this?

Andy is going to run the 2007 London Marathon.

Let that sink in for a minute.

And he will be running for the Burned Children's Club, to
help children who have suffered like he has.

Think about what it would take for you to get into shape to take on a
challenge such as this. Then think about doing it with a prosthetic
leg (above the knee, which is much more difficult to run with), every
inch of skin on your body that is extremely susceptible to horrific
blisters, and eyes that don't close properly and as a result, his tear
ducts don't work properly. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Did I
mention that he will be swallowing a pill that is actually a computer
that will monitor all of his core functions during the race? He's not
messing around. He will run it and he will finish it. I know him.

He so inspired his doctors that several of them have committed to
running with him. Personally I think they want to keep an eye on this
crazy bugger! http://www.justgiving.com/Bruces

He doesn't want any sympathy. Never has.

He needs our cold hard American money! It's very simple. Just go to
this web site and use your Mastercard or Visa (isn't the Internet
great! You can donate in your underwear), but you must remember that
you will be giving in pounds, not dollars. 50 pounds is about 90
dollars these days. This is a proper secure web site for any financial
transaction. You will notice that they supposedly have reached their
goal. Well, they are British (Andy is actually from New Zealand but
has been living in Britain for many years), which means they are
unfailingly polite and they didn't ask for enough. We must give more.
I beg of you to help.

I just read an article about how Americans don't give enough to
charity. Let's prove them wrong. Even if it is only 10 pounds.

http://www.justgiving.com/Bruces

I cannot urge you enough to take the 3 minutes to do this for Andy. He
is such an amazing guy and he is about to do something that is beyond
the scope of my comprehension. He is taking what would destroy most
of us and simply turning it on its head.
http://www.justgiving.com/Bruces


Thank you for reading this note. If you want to get in touch with
him, he absolutely loves hearing from folks, even Americans! His
address is:
andy_susan@hotmail.com

Regards,
Chris Swartout

Those of you on this list who have run a marathon know exactly what
training for it is like, so I fully expect you to donate to Andy!
http://www.justgiving.com/Bruces And I will be checking the donations
page to see who has been naughty & nice!! And if you want to pass
this email along to anyone, please do. Thank you all.

Holy Shit - 2 weeks!

I heard from two diffferent people today that they read this tiniest sliver of the internets, so I guess I should keep my pathetic little work ethic going.

I am happy report that Grace was invited to the cockpit of a Jet Blue plane at the end of a recent flight to Florida. It is my unshaking belief that a brief experience like this is more important than watching all the episodes of Scooby Doo (especially the ones wih Scrappy Doo). Got to keep that in mind. Call us TV snobs, but 2 year old kids have no use for the box. Baby Einstein would be better called "Baby Sitter." It's a liberal way to allow yourself to plant your kid infront of a tv. (and I'm a liberal). Of course, Sarah is the one who leads the way. For someone who was unsure of her abilities as a parent, I am in awe of her choices and patience with Grace every single day. So when she says no tv, I am in complete agreement.

In other news, hypocrite dad started a new job (in the TV industry - but hey it's cable where the shows are better) this week and so far so good. The folks here are very family minded and don't look askance when one rushes home to see the children before bedtime. It's a good omen.

Those of you who check in, thank you. I'l try to post more often with better stories and more frequent updates.