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It's been awhile. I'll try to be better. Read Courtroom 302.

Couldn't have said it better myself

Found this gem from a chicagotribune.com article re: John Cusack's blogging on the Huffington Post. Also, please check out John Cusack's tribute to Joe Strummer. RIP Joe. "Oh mi corazon"

R.I.P. Murphy

Murphy, our family's cat over the past 15 years, passed away today. He was crushed under the wheel of my mother's car. She was terribly shaken up by it and she felt like she was a bad person for doing it. Fact is, poor Murph was just too old to move that quickly, and part of me wants to believe that he just didn't feel like moving out of the way. Poor little buddy.

I saw Murph last night when visiting my folks. Man, he was gettin' up there. Not much more than skin and bones and old matted fur. He had his characteristic growl-meow and still would come up to you, but it was getting hard for him.

I feel awful about the whole ordeal, but I feel especially for my mom. After she crushed him, she had to see what had happened. She called Joel who called me. I was immediately sickened. Thank God I was in my car, about two blocks from the office, because I had to just sit there and take a breather. My next thought was to get up there before John or anyone else saw what happened. My poor mother. I asked her to run out there to put a box over Murph, but she couldn't. She couldn't subject herself to seeing him again. My mother does not handle death and mutilation well, I suppose. I then raced up there to beat John. If my mother wasn't going to hide "the situation," then I didn't want John to discover what had happened by seeing a crushed cat on the driveway.

As Ash and I drove up to my parent's driveway, we steeled ourselves for what we were about to see. Ash and I gave ourselves assurances that we would be able to handle what we saw. I warned her to look away as we climbed over the driveway. Too late. Nothing. John had beaten us home. He had already grabbed Murphy, wrapped him in his favorite blanket, and taken him to the vet for disposal. The driveway had been sprayed down. A heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Do Cats go to heaven (or heaven-like place?) I don't know. I suppose why not. What does it hurt, right? All I know is that I'm doing pretty okay considering the circumstances, and the only way I can figure that feeling out is that I know that Murphy is much better off.

Murph, I'll miss you little buddy. You were a cat who would fetch bouncy balls. When I came home from college, you would sneak into my room at night and sleep on my head. You could kick the ass of most cats, and as recently as a month ago, you kicked the ass of my 50-pound dog, Lola. You were a constant source of comfort, sleepiness, laziness and goodness over the last many years. Thank you buddy. I'll always miss you.

first entry in all-time putdowns for molen

1. Molen is a homo (sorry, inside joke y'all)

Slideshow of Pet Rescue Efforts in New Orleans

I think my favorite slide might be #13 (housing pets with inmates at correctional facilities and allowing the inmates to care for them). Not sure if any of you saw my previous post to a chicagotribune.com slideshow re: abandoned pets, but it's good to see that a massive effort was undertaken to rescue those animals that were not allowed to be evacuated.

columbus day (or random musings from someone who doesn't have to go to work today)

dia de cristobal colon in espana? Sipping coffee, web surfing, dog asleep on bed, morning light filtering through -- man it's perfect. Just the right mindset to clearly remember and celebrate christopher columbus, right? right. Too bad it's about to be shattered with the tasks of domesticity: dishes, yard work, laundry, dog walking, house cleaning. If I get enough done, maybe I can allow myself some CD shopping. Need (yes, NEED) to pick up the following: My Morning Jacket's "Z," Ladytron's "Witching Hour," Low's "The Great Destroyer," and The Go! Team's "Thunder, Lightning, Strike."

Why need? I dunno. I've been digging the latest Franz Ferdinand (but in a mindless, thoughtless way). The Yves Montand album is great in a "Hey, I need cool French Jazz music for that hip dinner party I want to throw" way. The Antony and the Johnson's album might take me another month or so to really dig (how is it that I can predict that I will eventually like an album?). And, those Belle and Sebastian albums are more for the vault than for the front room.

Ahh yes, music vault. Need to keep idea for creating music room in basement of house so that I can comfortably *listen* to music. I've been hearing without listening way too much lately. Maybe it's the cacophony of daily life that makes me tune shit out. I swear, when I'm talking to a judge or a jury, I don't even listen to what I say. Fuck, need to cut that out.

It's been fun the last couple of weekends. I've essentially ignored yard work and spent the free time watching football or reading books. My gut's gotten a bit bigger as a result, but I'm a bit more relaxed. Shit, I'm about to become a fat, lazy person.

damnit! friggin' DAs don't have the day off and they want to strike deals. Gotta run to the jail to speak with my client. There goes part of the afternoon.

thank you christoper columbus. asshole.

Interesting Theory on the Rove/Plame/Miller saga

Just a post of another webpage's post of a blogger's theory on what's happening. Interesting nonetheless. And, if true, I want to grow up to be like Patrick Fitzgerald.

How Bush cronyism can adversely affect the average citizen

Fuck. When will the American people decide that enough is enough and throw out the modern day robber barons? Political patronage is one thing, but giving these no-bid contracts to rebuild the southeast is another. Simple political patronage, like giving a major campaign contributor an ambassadorship to Madagascar can't really fuck up the lives of the average citizen, but giving away millions of dollars to corporate contributors without oversight is an invitation to corruption. It is an abdication of leadership. Maybe "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" can become the latter day version of "I'm not a crook." Goddamnit.

If you like Jim Jarmusch

Found this little nugget at McSweeney's. Thought it mildly amusing.

another reason why I get fed up with cops

Pretty self-explanatory. Maybe one day I'll get into the other bogus charges I see on a regular basis.