The first rule...

Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns

How can these guys mess up the first rule so horribly?

"Real-life fight clubs are the male version of the girls who cut themselves," he said. "All day long these guys think they're the captains of the universe, technical wizards. They're brilliant but empty.

"They want to feel differently. They want to get hit, they want to feel something real."

I don't know if it's the same as chicks cutting themselves. I can say that delivering and receiving a beating (though we take care to avoid injuries like broken bones and don't strike to the head) can be good fun, and a good release of stress.

My BS alarm starts ringing when people talk about "feel[ing] something real." Seriously, WFT is that all about?

15 starters, 22 lettermen, looking tough...

Those of us who lived at 4319 44th Street have fond memories of the Richard Linklater film, "Dazed and Confused". The Criterion Collection, a high-end DVD retailer that creates special editions of what it considers to be "important" or "significant" films, has given our favorite film the super-duper Special Edition treatment.

You can find the review here.

You best believe I will be finding my way to a Best Buy to purchase this soon....

The best thing Josh Cheshire ever did...

...was to point out the existence of this:

http://www.fm949sd.com/listen/index.cfm

The Dustup on Capitol Hill

No one may care about this, but it's been pissing me off all day.

I've seen some disasters in my time, but this one just takes the cake. Having worked there (and acknowledging that it could be considered that I have a law enforcement bias now), the reaction to the "raid" on Congressman Jefferson's office is downright embarrassing.

Never mind that the Congressman has apparently been recorded on tape accepting a $100,000 bribe, never mind that $90,000 of that was found in his freezer, and never mind that he refused to comply with a subpoena for documents in his office, the House GOP in its increasingly diminished wisdom thinks that the real problem is that the FBI removed documents from a House office building with a search warrant.

Basically, they are arguing that the Constitution created a safe zone in the Capitol and in the House Office Buildings to commit crimes if they so wish. Under their logic, a Congressman can accept bribes in his office and law enforcement can't try to wiretap it. Under their logic, a Congressman can sell drugs out of his office, and law enforcement can't do anything about it. Under their logic, a Congressman can keep evidence of a murder in his office and law enforcement can do nothing about it.

Maintaining separation of powers and upholding the perogatives of Congress are important, but not at the expense of putting yourself above the law, which is where they are saying they are.

Honestly, I could not be more embarrassed to have thought these people were leaders of any sort.

People who can't pump their own gas should be kicked in the head...

This article should be from the Onion. But it's not. It's genuine, and it makes me believe that NewJersey should be de-populated and then repopulated with people who aren't IDIOTS. God, I hate New Jersey.

Heard on the cell phone voice mail...

... you know your friends are in trouble when they leave you voice mails referencing a golden tee score of 49 over.

that's some bad medicine right there.

And I understand caleb was nowhere to be seen at that particular time and place.

Just when you thought it was safe...

..to go back into the gene pool....Yup, we just found out that Manda's pregnant, too. She's due December 27th. It's still early (not quite 7 weeks) but since the doctor was worried about an ectopic pregnancy, we did an ultrasound, and got to see the heart beating.

That'll make three Malt Shop Logic babies in one year. It's just baby crazy lately. My brother's got a new daughter, plus one of Manda's friends (who will remain nameless on this blog) is due in October.

As The Duke used to say, "Fortune passes everywhere."

Of Medicines and Miracles....

Some who read this blog know that my love, Cherie, was transferred to New York for her job this past winter, and has been living alone in a townhome in Connecticut while I finish up obligations here in Virginia. She has handled that situation with strength and grace, and I love her for that.

But there's something else I would like to share with you that has only increased my love for her in recent weeks.

Cherie, as some of you know, suffers from a pituitary adenoma. In laymen's terms, that's a tumor on the pituitary gland that sits between the brain's lobes. Such tumors cause excess hormone secretion. Cherie's tumor is on the part of the gland that regulates the hormone "prolactin". So, it's called a "prolactinoma".

Like its name sounds, prolactin tells the body when to (or not) engage in reproductive functions like lactation, ovulation, etc. Tumor growth results in excess prolactin release. Normal serum prolactin levels for non-pregnant women are 15-20 nanograms per milliliter. When diagnosed, Cherie's was 250 ng/mL. So, prolactinomas interfere with reproductive functions, and untreated, obstruct the optic nerve, cause blindness, and then cause death.

Cherie has been on several drugs to control the tumor's growth -- including Dostinex. Dostinex proved to be unusually beneficial, shrinking Cherie's tumor even more than doctors predicted or expected. We found this out the hard way 4 years ago, when Cherie, supposedly unable to ovulate, got pregnant but miscarried shortly thereafter. Dostinex, like other such drugs, carries nasty, potentially fatal side effects. It significantly raises its takers' risks of strokes and heart attacks, and it disrupts speech centers, causes memory loss, disorientation, dizziness, etc.

So, about a year ago, we decided to research the possibility of reducing or eliminating Cherie's Dostinex consumption. While doing some research, I was thrilled to discover literature suggesting she might be able to stop taking Dostinex. In a new study, it was found to have caused permanent "near-remission" in 61% of mature adult patients who had been receiving long-term treatment. When I say "near-remission," I mean that the study reported that long-term patients taken off the drug experienced minor tumor growth, but then their tumors stopped growing.

With Cherie's tumor, this meant that if successful, her tumor would grow enough to cause abnormally high prolactin levels, but not high enough to obstruct the optic nerve or worse. After consulting with her doctors, we took Cherie off of Dostinex. Her endocrinologist told us, "When you want to become pregnant, come back, and we'll put you back on it to see if you'll ovulate." We re-confirmed with him (given our past experience) that yes, this time, without medicine, her prolactin level should be high enough to preclude ovulation. Her side effects began to disappear, and all was well.

In November of 2005, Cherie had her prolactin level tested, and it came back at 56 ng/mL, more than twice the upper end of the normal range. Her doctors assured us that they thought the tumor was near the end of its growth, but to come back in late March/early April for another test. So, a couple of weeks ago, Cherie returned for another test. Her prolactin level came back at 214 ng/mL. The doctors, surprised, ran a battery of tests. I went with Cherie to hear the results.

Dr. Julia Auerbach, her primary care provider, smiled and said, "Well, we know why your prolactin level is elevated. You're pregnant!" After recovering from the initial shock, we said, "But, her prolactin level was supposed to preclude ovulation. How did this happen?" The doctor gave us a look and said, "Some times the human body does things we just can't explain." So, that was a few weeks ago. We now know that we are expecting a daughter -- already named Audrey Katherine after one of my grandmothers and Cherie's mom -- on approximately September 21st.

She is now 20 weeks along, and according to our most recent doc visit on Tuesday, she is 100% healthy and developing just as she should be. Cherie and I hadn't thought to do things quite this way -- we were going to get engaged this summer and married in Sept/Oct 2007 -- but it would seem that someone up there has a different plan for us. Cherie and I are experiencing the full range of emotions one might expect, but most of all we are excited and looking forward to bringing a new life into the world. Can you believe it -- I am going to be a father. How about that. Oh, and I apologize for not being in touch much lately -- but life has been a little crazy :-)

I Pity the Fool

Who watches this show.

Of course, I will probably tune in at least once.