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Here’s a random mess of thoughts from my mind. Proceed with caution.

Poll, not pole: My site has been visited 96 times since I posted the Republic vs Democracy question, but only 10 people have done anything with the poll, which closes at the end of the day. There are probably several double hits in that number (maybe even triple?), so we’ll say maybe 50 unique visitors in the past week, making it a fifth who have an opinion on the matter. I think it is an accurate representation of how people:

1. Don’t have a basic knowledge of government
2. Don’t care about government
3. Think government is stewpud.

And I think all three reasons are why we let the government do pretty much whatever it wants with very little accountability.
Anyway, once the results are tallied, I’ll post my opinion. Dave made a very informed comment, so if you have any questions read it.

Tasteless: I surprised Paula with a trip to the outlet malls on Saturday; apparently we overpaid Countrywide and got a check in the mail, so it was a guilt free shopping day for her and stress free one for me. I like those days. Melissa, having been abandoned by her entire family for the weekend, volunteered to take Lydia so major thanks and kudos to her.
Before we left the shopping smorgasbord, I decided to grab a snack at this place called Harry and David for the drive home. I decided on some Wasabi Peas. They were delicious and hot, which was exactly what I was going for; unfortunately there were some negative side effects.
First, they were addicting so I overindulged, which in part led to the second and more damning (literally, not just looking for a reason to curse) consequence: My taste buds are done. Seriously. Sunday I had absolutely no taste – coffee cake for breakfast, bread, apricot chicken, spearmint gum – none of it did a thing. Monday, same story different day; yesterday I began to get a little taste back at the tip and very back of my tongue. Everything is tasteless. I feel like Kramer in the Seinfeld episode with the Mackinaw peaches after he spends time in the fumigated apartment. An excellent diet tool, yes; a miserable existence, for sure.

Harvard: It was the Nerf’s birthday last week, so happy birthday. Speaking of which, he was accepted to Harvard Law School for the Fall 2008 semester, which is pretty awesome. I believe he’s going to try and defer a year to save up some money but that is quite the accomplishment. I’d venture to say not too many kids from Wyoming have ever gone to Harvard Law, but he will. This is a big deal and since no one else has let the world know, I figured I would.

What up, Holmes?: Disclaimer: In no way do I hold a candle – nay, not even a match – to Natalie’s blog-sleuthing skills. In fact (I’ll probably have my site shutdown for revealing this, but such is the price of freedom) she was recently contacted by the Pentagon because she found Osama bin Laden via her blog surfing. Apparently he has a Facebook page also. But I digress…
Anyway, I stumbled onto a college friend’s blog via the Ames'. Averi and I had a ton of classes together (we were both in the grueling College of Communications) and I really got a kick out of her – very witty and sarcastic, so naturally we got along. This site is a real treasure trove of dry – like vacuum sealed – humor and I make sure to check it out. Well, low and behold there are a ton of links to other people in these classes that I hadn’t thought about, much less heard about, in three or four years. So I was checking some of them out and found that many are private. And I gotta ask why...

Do I know you?: Seriously, this is the INTERNET. If you don’t want people to be in your business, why are you posting anything on it at all? It's like celebrities being upset when people photograph them. Just don’t be dumb with the info you put there. Like your address, or where you work or your social security number. Seriously people, if you only want family and close friends to know what’s going on, that’s why Al Gore invented email. I have Google Analytics on tracking traffic on my site and I get hits all the time from cities I have no friends or family in. And these people aren’t the one and done ones either.
So, taking a chapter from Brother Obama, I am going to have the audacity to hope that we, as bloggers, can change. As a token of good will, I’m going to give a shout out to frequent visitors whose names I do not know:

Colorado: I know the Sucher’s are in Littleton, but to you strangers in Englewood, Johnstown and Denver, may this blog only enhance your Rocky Mountain high.
Illinois (Chicago-area): Do not let the windiness of your fair city keep you away. PS – I love your hotdogs.
Kansas (Topeka): I really don’t know anything about Topeka. But if ignorance is bliss, I definitely love you.
Minnesota: May your visits continue to be as numerous as your lakes.
New York: From the capitol to the Big Apple, would I go private on you? Fuggedaboudit
Texas: Your state takes forever to drive across! But it does not change my affections for you.
Wyoming (Cheyenne/Warren AFB): I saw Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at Frontier Days in 97. And it's the state of my youth. Cowboy up.
O, Canada: There will be no security checks for you on this blog, my friends of the true north, strong and free.

There are many other anonymous readers scattered across this great land, from sea to shining sea, and may you all feel welcome and safe in the knowledge Cyber Commorancy will never go private.
But if you steal my identity or try and hurt my family, I will hunt you down and inflict pain upon you until you wish your were at the receiving end of my Winchester 12-gauge.

Quick Poll

Hey all. Just a quick post as I'm looking for some feedback.

It's election time (as you likely know unless you live in a cave or spend all your time watching 'The Hills' and have had your IQ reduced to that of a gnat) and as such I've decided to ask my three readers a political question:

"Would you prefer to live in a Democracy or a Republic?"

The poll is in the upper left hand corner of this blog. If you have additional comments regarding why you answered the way you did, leave them. The polls close on 5/1.

I know this was short, but I gotta go. 'The Hills' is about to come on and I want to know if there's any fallout from Heidi showing up at GOA when Lauren was there. I agree with Spencer - I refuse to feel bad for Heidi and I don't want to hear about her trips to clubs... especially ones that involve Lauren.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

Episode VII
A New Jedi

With the Emperor and his minions having been destroyed, a season of peace has come and with it, the rise of the New Republic; still, an undercurrent stirs. As the Jedi try and keep this evil subdued, it becomes apparent the need for a new Jedi Master - one that will vanquish the Dark Side once and for all...

Who is this new Jedi...

...Sworn to destroy all who pledge allegiance to the Dark Side?

She is Lydi-won-Kanobi...

And she is very powerful.

"I pity da fool who chooses the Dark Side!"

More than what? A feeling...

I looked out this morning and the sun was gone - especially since switching from EST to EDT here in the ATL. This Monday was an exceptionally sunless morning as Lydia let out some cries around 4:40, 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, so I hopped in the shower to start my day.

I've given up listening to FM radio here in Atlanta ever since 99x disappeared to make room for Q100. Even before then, my listening to the FM dial in the morning had become a thing of the past after one of the popular morning shows had their token gay/lesbian personality talking about her amazing date that ended at 4am. Thanks, but no...

Well, this morning I was listening to the news for my traffic reports and wasn't too impressed; same story different day and who needs that on a Monday? Fortunately, I’d grabbed my cd's from Paula's car on Saturday and rifled through them and put one in. A smile found its way onto my lips and I lost myself in a familiar song, I closed my eyes and I slipped away.

If I’ve paraphrased Papa Burgundy once, I’ve paraphrased him a million times – if you don’t think this classic rock song is the greatest classic rock song ever, will fight you. That’s no lie. Why is it the greatest ever? So many songs have come and gone, the notes they fade as the years go by; yet still I recalled as I drove on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky…

In a tribute to this song that has set my day off on a good note, in spite of a pre-5AM awakening, I give you - performed by Sacred Heart’s very own air band, Cool Cats, (Turk on vocals, Ted on lead guitar, Delivery Guy on drums, Janitor on bass) in one of the greatest renditions ever – More Than A Feeling.

Se délecter.

Scrubs : Les Perroquets Sauvages : The End
Uploaded by Pylou59

Lyrics | More Than A Feeling lyrics

Ramblings...and Round 2

Not much has been going on the past couple weeks - work on the house has slowed a bit, not that for a lack of things to do but more to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor for a week or two. I have a list of things to get done by the end of the month before Nerf, Lindz and Beckett get here, but it's fairly minor. I did purchase a pair of nice shovels at The Home Depot so I can start to clean the exterior as the weather is shaping up. Good times; chance to work on the farmer's tan.

Last Saturday only a couple hours was spent on the house, after which Paula gave her blessing for me to participate in frivolous guy-time activities. I went over to Greg's where we started up Nitemare Symfony, currently doing shows throughout Europe as we build up a fan-base to get us stateside. That's right - we're rockers now, with over 50,000 fans from Stockholm to Rome. I'm on the drums, Greg on the guitar. We are looking for some vocals and a bass guitarist, so if anyone is interested, let Greg or I know so we can have you come audition during our next jam session. Seriously, we jammed for probably 5 hours, with a couple hours in the middle for a Chick-Fil-A run and screening of Anchorman. Basically, it was awesome.

Speaking of Paula, it was our anniversary this week - Round 2 of a lot of rounds. So far we're both still standing, so that's good. We managed to pick up a house, a daughter, some frequent flyer miles and a couple pounds this second half of this year of marriage, so we were pretty busy. But busy is good; keeps Paula out of mischief. She can really wear me out sometimes - forgetting to do the little things, wasting time gaming and forcing me to go to scary movies - so being busy has slowed her down a bit. She goes to bed at a decent hour now, not staying up till all hours of the night gaming online with teenagers and 40 year old men living with their mothers. Sometimes it's like there are two kids I'm trying to raise and I wonder if she’ll ever help me clean up after dinner. But I love her anyway, and she makes me laugh, so it's cool.

But, moving back to Earth from Bizarro World…

I’ve known I wanted to put a post up in commemoration of two years as The Roberts Family, but I haven’t really known what to say. I reviewed last year’s anniversary post and it was pretty good. I could have probably reposted it, changed a couple things and it would have worked for this year. But that’s sorta weak. And I’m not one to be sensitive, or rather put the sensitivity I may have on display for the world. It’s a conundrum.

As I’ve been thinking about our marriage, it’s led me down some interesting trails of thought – not only about our marriage but relationships in general. Reflecting on why I love Paula and what makes our marriage work, I can’t help but chuckle at the uniqueness of it. A perfect example is how Paula was cool with me being gone from 3pm to 12 am hanging out with Greg; there are a lot of wives who would not have let that happen, or at least not without making their husband feel like the world’s worst. It’s like how we go to the movies theater together but buy tickets for different movies once we get there. She’ll go and watch Becoming Jane while I check out Live Free Or Die Hard.

I'm a big-picture kind of guy - I can see things from a large, long-range view and work from that vantage point to accomplish a task. The little details, however, I am not good at. Not at all. If I can't set up the bill pay online so it's automatic, there will definitely be months where we get a double bill. Finding things around the house is hard for me - not because I have a bad memory, but the thing is usually small and I just miss it.
Conversely, Paula is detail-oriented. She is uber-organized and our house is always spotless; everything has a place and everything in its place; lists abound. People tease her about it (myself included) but make no mistake - if there's something that needs to be done that has a lot of moving parts, Paula gets the phone call. It's not a glamorous talent but is one that our household could go without. Now that Paula's learning Quicken, we'll never get our phone disconnected because I forgot to pay it (it happened - twice) and we are going to save over $600 a year in car insurance because she's so good at the details. When it comes to matters on the home front, I can honestly say I have no worries

As I was reflecting on our differences I was surprised how many things we differ on. I thought we had a ton in common – and we do; the list is easily as long of things we have in common – but there is a lot we are different on, or the one has a strength that is the other's weak point. It ends up being quite a complimentary pairing:

Paula: Details/Current needs
Logan: Big Picture/Long term needs

Paula: Organized
Logan: Scattered

Paula: Little
Logan: Big

Paula: Academic/Studious
Logan: Carefree/Relaxed

Paula: Woman
Logan: Man

Paula: Sensitive
Logan: If I have to be

Paula: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Logan: Band of Brothers

Paula: Brown
Logan: White

As you can see, the balance is uncanny.
In previous relationships, I was always doing 'sweet' things - writing flowery prose, elaborate gifts, driving hundreds (even thousands) of miles for the other half of the relationship. I don't do that now - I don't think I've ever written a poem or the like for Paula. And it doesn't have anything to do with my affections for her, because I love her far more then anyone else - look at the lengths I went to even be in a position to date her (quit job, ended relationship, moved to different state, etc...)
The reason I did those things before was because I was putting everything I could into the relationship and it wasn't enough, so I had to put more in to sustain it. In every one of those relationships, my emotional bank account became overdrawn and the relationship would crumble and end.

I never feel like I have to give more than I can with Paula; sure, there’s times when more is required of me (or vice versa) and we have to dig into some emotional savings, but it’s the exception, not the rule. It’s an incredible and reassuring feeling to know your best is enough for your other half – whether in business, friendship or marriage, the principal remains the same – and that your shortcomings will be accounted for and forgiven as long as you keep trying. If one person is always making all the effort to keep the relationship together, or one is making constant demands with little return, the relationship will crumble and end.

Anyway, this became a lot longer than I thought it would be; still, I have the whole internet, so why not? Just thought the world should know my wife is awesome, let’s me be me while keeping me heading to a better version – Logan 2.0 – and that’s why I love her.