Standing in the way of progress today is....

...the American political process.

After one-on-one with Obama, McConnell vows to slow White House agenda

So it seems that the only way we can get things done is to be completely obstructionist.  I've always been a staunch liberal, and I'm sure that has come across and oozed from every political post that I've ever put up here, but when it comes to Congress simply stonewalling, and halting progress, it doesn't matter who is in charge in the houses of Congress or who is presiding in the White House, partisan politics only hurt the American people.  If you switch the name Obama with Bush, and switch McConnell with either Reid or Pelosi, it would have been the same story for the previous administration.

The ultimate goal of congress seems to be to bring the wheels of progress to a grinding halt.  They are not properly representing their constituency and they are not earning their paychecks by simply being obstructionist.  The only thing that both parties seem to agree on is that we need to spend more money to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  So far the two campaigns have cost 1.06 TRILLION  dollars, which nets out to about 7500 bucks per taxpayer(link), and while the Iraqi campaign seems to be winding down, it doesn't seem like we're ever going to stabilize Afghanistan. 

Meanwhile, we have never fully emerged from this recession, and the jobless claims have been less than encouraging.  During the Bush administration, I remember reading calls from Republican members of congress and pundits to support the president or be branded a traitor.  Now that Obama is facing this same struggle, some of these same voices are urging anyone with a conservative voice to stonewall the president, giving no more chance for the "liberal agenda" to be brought to fruition.  With the emergence of the Teabaggers as a veritable voicebox, and a force for fringe militant conservatives, there have even been calls for the assassination of key democratic figures, for doing little more than arguing their opinions on Capitol Hill.

How about we reassess our priorities a bit and see things less as conservative versus liberal and instead look at the problems that the face the American people right now, and moving on in this relatively new century.

Why my daughter and wife are so awesome

I rarely talk directly about my family for a couple reasons:

1.)  My wife, Amy, hates when i do.

and

2.) As the frequent comments I get in Japanese(which I delete because they always include spam links) prove, anyone can read this blog, and my private life is private...unless you're friends with me on Facebook.

Today, however, I'm going to break that rule a bit, with my wife's blessing.  My wife gets precious little time these days to simply sit at the computer and just bullshit around on the internet.  When she does, it tends to be catching up on the past several weeks of Facebook friends' updates and links, and visiting a few choice sites that she loves.  Among these sites are Postsecret, Cake Wrecks, and IHeartFaces.  All of these sites are really cool, and I highly suggest checking them out.

Anyhow, Amy decided while browsing IHeartFaces the other day, she decided to enter the weekly photo contest.  Last week's subject was "Faces & Flowers," and Amy thought that we had the perfect picture:

So she submitted it for the weekly contest, because...well, why not?  It's an adorable picture of our daughter, which we thought perfectly fit the category.  And guess what?  Among all of the entries by professional photographers, and retouched beautiful works, they picked Amy's shot as the winner for the week, which I thought was awesome.  And she was first place out of 646 entries!!  Amy told me to put it up on my blog because...because she doesn't have a blog.

In addition to giving Amy kudos, I also wanted to plug this website too, because they always have such amazing photographers, doing unbelievable things with the medium, so here's their button that you can click!





Ok...back to work, and we'll be back to my regular tactless snark as of my next entry...

Comic Sans: Why, Vincent Connare? Why?

It recently occurred to me that Comic Sans is possibility one of the worst inventions of the late 20th century.  I've never been a fan, and usually skip it when considering a font for anything I've needed processed in print.  In fact, many times, I've been tempted to remove the font from my computer altogether, but I always relent, seemingly thinking that at some point I might need this goofy font for some reason.  I'm finally ready to admit that I've been delusional on that front.

As the title of this blog suggests, this insult to adult humanity was created in 1994 by some douche named Vincent Connare.  Before you track down his address and throw stones through his windows, it has to be noted that Connare isn't a TOTAL hack; he is also responsible for the quite respectable Trebuchet font.  As awful as Comic Sans is, I can't entirely fault its creator.  People create and attempt to market crazy shit every day, but it's up to discerning companies not to put into circulation a font that is so clearly clownshoes¹, so damn you Microsoft for putting something so clearly ridiculous into circulation!

So...why am I picking on this harmless font when there are jackasses like Rand Paul and Newt Gingrich out there making grand ridiculous accusations and poisoning the minds of impressionable people of our country?  I guess it's easier.  And I had a girlfriend in college who changed all of the fonts on her computer to this disgusting display of text, and she was a nutjob...that should have been my first clue!  Just look at it!

The blog almost writes itself, and it's the end of a REALLY long couple of weeks, so I decided to lob a softball rather than trying to throw some real heat.  Honestly, though, there are groups out there who are dedicated to the pursuit of banning this pariah of the font world.

http://bancomicsans.com/main/
You can read more here!


^{1 See, Sara!  You CAN use it in a sentence...Clownshoes: a definition}

New Title...same blunt delivery!

Dear inconsistent reader,

You may (or probably not) have noticed that I have changed the title of this blog.  While I’m proud of what I accomplished with the Monkeyhouse, it has come to my attention that I have a rare quality of being able to bypass the “I shouldn’t say that…” filter within my brain.  I have been told that it is one of best and worst traits that I have, but I’ve chosen to embrace it, while understanding that my mouth has a habit of writing checks that my ass can’t cash.  It is a careful balance in the pursuit to avoid ass-kickings.

I suppose that it is also a new service that I can offer.  Could I make a business out of this?  Hmm...[insert dream sequence here]

Have some news you’d rather not give yourself?  Need to tell a coworker that they smell?  Need someone so state the unspoken obvious?  Then go to Friend Without Tact.  He’ll walk into a situation and say what everyone else is keeping to themselves!  Why?  Because he can’t help himself!

[shaking myself out of it]

Seriously, though, I think it speaks in a lot of ways to who I am, and what I’m constantly struggling with, hence the name change.  Thanks to Amy, Kyle and Sara for pointing it out and making the less-blunt suggestion!  :)

Celebrities and privacy

I was reading my newsfeeds this morning, and came across a headline that bugged me.  Now, these days A LOT of headlines bother me, but this one seemed to just smack of hypocrisy:

Private drama plagues Oscar winner Sandra Bullock (AP)

Now this headline just got me angry, because once the media got involved in this story, about rumors of Bullock's husband, Jesse James potential infidelities, it was no longer a private drama.  Instead it's splashed on the pages of every rag and tabloid from here to Taiwan(to be fair, the Taiwanese are more fans of Renee Zellweger...not sure why...).  I know that celebrities are out there for the world to see, and that they make their money by being seen and recognized, and admired for their talent and their glamour, but at some point, we just have to say enough is enough.

I am immeasurably tired of the Tiger Woods story.  Yeah, I get it, he was unfaithful...A LOT, but how does that affect my life?  Unless you know anyone directly involved(i.e. Woods, his wife, and the 15 whores Edit: women of questionable integrity that he was banging), you don't have any stake in this story.  If Tiger Woods was just some guy who played at the local country club, or, hell, the local garbage man for that matter, no one other than family and friends would give a crap what he did in/out of his marriage.  The only reason this became a big deal was the media attention that this story garnered.  I'm perfectly willing to admit that I sometimes get sucked up into the tabloid journalism...You know, EVERY story about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and those wastes of oxygen from Jersey Shore, but from the very beginning, the Tiger story didn't really matter to me.  I see all these sponsors dropping him, and fans crucifying him for his extramarital activities.  While I don't condone his cheating, his actions don't affect my impression of him as a golfer...he's still going to go out at the Masters and show why he's one of the best Golfers to ever pick up a driver.

Ultimately, he's a celebrity, and I expect celebrities to do stupid, selfish, destructive things to themselves and the people around them.  I've seen way too many entitled celebs get themselves into so many different, ridiculous situations, that when I hear that Tiger had 15+ mistresses, I can hardly raise an eyebrow in surprise.

In closing, Hey Media...leave these poor people struggling with life to their own private lives.  It is hard enough to navigate the world without a dozen cameras in your face when you go to Nobu for dinner!  Let's try  to get back some of that common decency that we've lost, and leave these people to pick up the pieces of their lives!

When an Independent is truly an Independent

HOLY SHITBALLS!

Now that the smoke has cleared on the furor over Scott Brown's defeat of Martha Coakley, and Brown has reported to work, it appears that the collective groan from Democrats worldwide may have been a bit premature. 

Brown crossed the aisle to vote with the Democrats on the jobs bill and fend off the Republicans that were falling over themselves to filibuster the bill into submission.  Said Brown,

"I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I will vote for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work,”

While I disagree with many of his other political positions, I have to say that his first major splash in Congress showed that he has the courage of his convictions, which I can definitely respect.

He finished by bringing some reason to the table: “Brown offered a final denunciation of the GOP before the vote: ‘My friends on the other side of the aisle are looking for ways not to vote for this," he said, accusing them of putting "partisanship ahead of people.’"

Wow...didn't think I'd be saying this, especially so soon, but way to go Scott Brown!

Forget mellow, I'm officially apathetic!

Two days ago, the future of the Obama Healthcare initiative took a huge hit when, in an upset, Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley and gave Ted Kennedy's senate seat back to the Republicans.  Listening to the pundits talk you'd think that this one election made Obama a lame duck a year into his 4-year term, and you know what?  I DON'T CARE!  I want to.  I want to be that guy who was passionate about the Dem's cause going into the last election...the guy who railed against McCain and Palin and the rampant conservative short bus that is Fox News.  I just can't do it anymore, because they may be right.

It's been a year with control of the White House, and both houses of Congress, and they've gotten NOTHING accomplished.  I've lost faith, I've lost patience, and I'm losing interest.  These people are being paid to REPRESENT us.  As far as I can tell they're all representing covering their asses, and little else.  The Dems are arguing among themselves as to the language of the healthcare plan, while Obama just continually begs them to send him a bill he can sign, and the Republicans(a group which now officially includes Joe Lieberman), are doing nothing but trying to gum up the works in order that the bill that gets produced has absolutely no teeth to it!

We're not doing much to recover from the laughing stock that we became during the last presidency.  We have no credibility among the other countries of the world, our debt to China is growing, nearly 20 percent of our workforce is unemployed or underemployed, the economy has not been stimulated, and no one seems to care to monitor those jackass banks and financial institutions that our tax money bailed out.

And all I care about is that I'm tired...or rather exhausted.  I can blame my infant daughter only so much, because it's not just lack of sleep.  I'm tired of my lackluster job, tired of my complete and total lack of ambition, tired of being so cranky when I get home that I snap at people(sorry Amy), and tired of not feeling that passion anymore for the things in the world that really bug me. 

I need a shockabuku...anyone want to help?