Common Sense for the 21st Century

Taking My Tea Sweetened

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:50:00 +0000

(I really didn't want to use "Nothing Could Be Finer ..." or "Going to Carolina in My Mind ...")

Well, to all those who found this site randomly or via Google searches wondering whatever happened to me since the Broncos laid me off, I've sat on some news for a little while, but now I'll share it with those who don't already know -- I'm headed to the Carolina Panthers, taking my scribblings and sometimes scatterbrained thoughts to Panthers.com.

I'm not sure anyone in such a front-office position as mine has moved to another NFL team so quickly after being laid off by one. It was the result of fortuitous timing, some wonderful references from people in Denver (whom I cannot thank profusely enough) and a growing understanding that seizing an opportunity from another franchise was clearly the right thing to do.

Uprooting oneself when there is so much going on in the personal side of life is not exactly the easiest thing, but this is the way of life in the NFL and in professional sports in general. In that respect, a writer on a Web site isn't much different than a player or coach. The difference between this move and the others is the presence of things and people near and dear to me in the place I leave, but I'll be back in Denver as often as the schedule allows.

There is, of course, much that is near and dear to me in North Carolina and the surrounding areas, and that's what will help make this move work. The family roots have grown in Tar Heel soil since before the United States of America was an idea on an 18th Century cocktail napkin. Barbecue is more than just a food to us; it's an heirloom. A series of novels could be written chronicling discussions of ACC basketball among my parents, my brother and myself. And, most importantly, throughout my lifetime of travels, I've regarded every return to the Old North State as a return home.

Will Blythe wrote in To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever that his father compared the rest of the world to North Carolina and "found it lacking." I reckon the old man had a point. So I head to a place I love, and to a team that I've had in the back of my mind since it was born.

A month after the NFL confirmed the Panthers' arrival as the league's 29th team, I received a Panthers T-shirt as a Christmas gift, almost as though someone knew that someday, a few moves up the chessboard of life, the chats noir of Charlotte would be my team.

And, of course, there's the sweet iced tea.

Mental Illness on Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:53:00 +0000

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation."
-- Thoreau

Few lives of modern fiction are more desperate than that of Jon Arbuckle, feline caretaker, perpetual bachelor and bon vivant of plaid sportcoats, disco moves and anything else long since consigned to the cultural dustbin.

Were he the focus of Jim Davis' comic strip-turned-cash machine, the cartoonist would have been instutionalized at least once for every million dollars he ended up making by turning Garfield into that blandest of worldwide enterprises.

But even through the mediocre morass of the daily strip, Davis' subversive, dark streak shone through in Jon's terminal dweebism. What this needed was an intrepid element to bring this to light -- which is the blessing of Garfield Minus Garfield.

The premise is exactly what its name suggests -- take the eponymous, overfed cat out of the strip and leave Jon alone with his thoughts.

The result? Desolate, psychotic majesty that not only provides an illumination upon a mild bout of mental illness, but occasionally offers an eerie reflection of some of my darkest moments since being laid off on March 19.

In my previous existence, I'm sure it would have elicited a chuckle or two. In my current life -- one which revolves around waiting for phone calls and coming to grips with the notion that the most fascinating, engrossing days of my working life just might be in the past -- Jon's delusional, schizophrenic existence hits home, eliciting guffaws that confused my girlfriend, who couldn't believe that her encouragement couldn't bring a smile to my face, but a wicked mutation of a bland comic strip could.

Karloff? Sidekick?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:42:00 +0000

Hazel Court was Boris Karloff's sidekick, in a manner of speaking, which is all the incentive I need to provide this link:

A Recurring Theme ...

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:03:00 +0000

Why is it that whenever my life hits a crisis or unwanted change, I end up putting this song on repeat play, whether it's on a CD player nine springs ago or an iPod today?

It's got to be something more than the "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" garbage.

Because It Isn't All That Common....

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:55:00 +0000

One day shy of one month has passed since I was laid off, and I've dawdled enough ... time to actually start a blog and stick to it.

The only question is ... what does one use as the subhead?

I opted for a JavaScript-based rotation of quotes, which you see above. Before I settled upon this safe solution -- which I cobbled together two years ago, during another attempt at a blog -- I tossed a few other possibilities about my increasingly addled brain.

On my former blog, I opted for simplistic snark: "Blogging since 2006." Here on the Web domain I own, I tossed about a few possibilities:

"Because I can only nap so much."

"I told myself I would write daily, but writing my e-mail address and phone number in on-line job applications doesn't count."

"It's either this or watching TV, and there's nothing on."

"Because I only feel like searching for the meaning of life in the confines of my basement."

Not great, I know. But it's 3:54 a.m. and I just spent the last two hours making the code for this blog fit come reasonably close to fitting in the template of this Web site.

Good morning, and vaya con Dios.