Al
Trish
Allaire
Hello, readers!
I’ve decided to spruce up the joint in honor of the arrival of 2 new authors to True Sailing Is Dead. You can now see who’s writing what right at the top of each post. There are also 3 columns now instead of 2, which means you won’t have to scroll all the way down to find all that cool info I used to make you search really hard to find.
[He of course realizes the great irony that there are only a handful of you out there who actually have been here before and would give a damn about any of this....and he smiles at his own insignificance! You know what they say...fake it til you make it....which I guess will have to be my plan.]
Anyway, I’ve already welcomed one old friend to the blog, and now that her hectic schedule permits, it’s time to welcome another. I’ve actually known Trish longer than anyone it seems. She and I date back to the EARLY ’80’s! Which is funny, because that’s the ‘early ’80’s’ equivalent of the ‘late ’50’s’…which puts a major bummer on my evening, thank you very much.
She’s sharp, funny, and a wonderful writer. Hope to hear lots from her in the weeks and months ahead.
Oh, while I have you here, some along the line have asked me what the hell “True Sailing Is Dead” means and I guess this is a good opportunity to answer that question. It’s a lyric from the Doors’ song “Horse Latitudes”…which is a really creepy track off the Strange Days album. I use the word “song” loosely, because there’s no music in the thing…just poetry read over odd banging of bottles on trash cans and screaming. Anyway, “horse latitudes” itself refers to some area in the ocean where the currents got so low that sailing was impossible…so to lighten the load, sailors used to hurl their horses overboard. While they were still alive.
I thought that the term captured the dread and desolation I myself felt on November 5 of 2008…the first day of the blog. It wouldn’t be like it was before. I’d need to get moving. True sailing was dead….and I wanted to let everyone know.
So there it is. Welcome to the blog, enjoy the new look, and read all about what Trish and Allaire have to say because I can get pretty monotonous after awhile…at least according to my wife.
Thanks as always for visiting.
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I like the new look of the site, though I do 95% of the reading here through Google Reader (don’t tell prospective advertisers!).
I share your despair, especially from where we’re heading from a financial / fiscal standpoint. Maybe because thats the stuff to which I’m closest professionally. Or maybe because I have half a brain in my body and can see how and why this spending path we’re on (and have been on for decades) is unsustainable.
Throwing horses overboard is PRECISELY what we as a country will have to do at some point. Be it Social Security or Medicare in the “unfunded liability” column or even, god-forbid, actually making all our debt payments. One or more of these won’t get all the money they think they’re gonna get.
Its a mathematical certainty.
The kids are running the candy store. And the customers are used to getting their candy 75% off. Or free. Its our right, they say. “Its not fair- other people have candy. I should get candy too.”
You think we’re in pain now, just wait until an adult has to step in, take over, and impose fiscal discipline.
Boy, are the kids (and fat customers) gonna be pissed.
The new layout looks amazing…and thank you for that incredibly flattering welcome (*blushes*). I count myself fortunate to be in such intelligent, articulate company. Not to mention, we all look damn good for our age.
Read an interesting thing the other day. Health care may be a “right”…but that doesn’t mean that you have a right to it for free. What it really means is that the government doesn’t have the right to make a law denying you health care. Which of course is reasonable. But that’s not the same thing as laws which support free enterprise which may or may not end up with you having enough money at the end of the day to afford it. Lots of personal decisions people make that result in their not having enough money for the things they want. Did they prepare? Educate themselves? Train for a career? The more we expand the ’safety’ net, the more bad behavior is incentivized….and then we’re done as a society. The backlash has been heartening though, hasn’t it? If we can make gains in 2010, and keep the socialists away from government in the meantime (go Blue dogs!)…then we might have averted a disaster. But the conservatives need to take back the Republican party for this to mean anything.
Thanks for reading, Rob, wherever it happens! Hope you enjoyed your birthday.