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Friday, February 02, 2007

Best Man, Toast to the Bride and Groom

My own best man, Jimmy, got married tonight and I was his best man. I have been so busy this week--with the bachelor party last weekend and the family reunion / baby shower my mother threw for us--that I was only able to sit down and write the toast this morning. I wasn't sure how it would be received, but it ended up with lots of laughs and compliments. So here it is:

I have been married to my wife Helen for 12 years and Jimmy was my best man.

It's ironic that I am married, that Jimmy was my best man AND that I am his today--when you consider the story he told Helen the first time he met her.

Back when we were both still school kids in Lakeland, Jimmy's parents let him go surfing in Cocoa beach with me. It was pretty cold that weekend, so to convince Jimmy to go, I told him that after I'd surfed a while, we could take turns using my wet-suit. Once we were at the beach, I came out of the water bragging about my surfing skills and Jimmy asked if he could use my wetsuit. I said, "take the surfboard, but leave the wetsuit .It's too cold!!"

I'm pretty sure the only reason Jimmy was my friend for a while after that was because I had a car and a surfboard.

All the years I've known Jimmy, I've never known him to get angry. I always had a hot and unpredictable temper. Whenever I would lash out at Jimmy, he would just laugh at me.

There is only one thing I can say about Jimmy's bachelor party last weekend--well, something just before the party. I asked Jimmy if I had ever made him really mad. He couldn't think of any time I had. He said it takes a lot to make him mad. That's when I decided to do my best to thoroughly embarrass him that night.

Jimmy is an honest, patient and kind man. He's generous and thoughtful too. Once, when he flew all the way to Maryland to help me move into my new house--in the middle of the move, when he learned I wasn't a whiskey drinker, he quickly produced a flask to calm my nerves. This very moment, I'm getting started on my second annual gift bottle of whiskey from Jimmy.

Jimmy and Rene, we all know you love life and you love each other. you love the food and the drink. You love to travel, to be around good people and to listen to good music. My greatest hope for you both is that you will always love each other as much as the other good things in life.

Take care of each other and no matter how rough things might get for you--actually, Rene, no matter how angry Jimmy might make you in the coming years, just laugh at him!

To the bride and groom!!

Tune in to imagebuoy for pictures from the wedding, soon.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Official Google Blog: The Debate over Net Neutrality

Google has some clear words on this Net Neutrality issue. I'm with them on this, but I'm not convinced yet on how big an issue this is--who knows what the future holds. If the PTB get what they want and use it the way some of us fear they will then it's really bad news:

Official Google Blog: The Debate over Net Neutrality

Boing Boing: DIY Impeachment

Found this via Boing Boing

Evidently, we can initiate the impeachment of W. Bush ourselves--without having to first convince enough of those weasels in Congress to roll that ball! You better believe I'm in:

Jodin Morey says:

Impeach Bush yourself! This is much more than just a petition.

There's a little known and rarely used clause of the in the rules for the House of Representatives which sets forth the various ways in which a president can be impeached. Only the House Judiciary Committee puts together the Articles of Impeachment, but before that happens, someone has to initiate the process.

That's where we come in. In addition to the State-by-State method, one of the ways to get impeachment going is for individual citizens like you and me to submit a memorial. ImpeachforPeace.org has created a new memorial based on one which was successful in impeaching a federal official in the past. You can find it on their website as a PDF.

You can initiate the impeachment process yourself by downloading the memorial, filling in the relevant information in the blanks (your name, state, etc.), and sending it in.

More information on the precedent for submitting an impeachment memorial, and the House Rules on this procedure, can also be found at the above address.

If you have any doubts that Bush has committed crimes warranting impeachment, read this page.

If you're concerned that impeachment might not be the best strategy at this point, read the bottom of this page.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Is washing one's hands overrated?

So, I've been disgusted with something ever since my company moved to an office with a large, shared restroom. We weren't here more than a couple of weeks when, while I sat in one of the private stalls "taking care of business," one of my colleagues comes in, urinates, flushes and walks right out without washing his hands!

Initially this freaks me out. I almost decide that I totally dislike a person when I discover something like this--it's such a basic thing that we all should do. Sometimes though, as I think about it, I realize that I don't know whether other acquaintances wash at the appropriate times or not. Ignorance, on my part, is. . .almost. . .bliss. Other times, I think about the actual consequences. I think of the point of actually washing my hands regularly--not just to clean up after my own mess, but to be wary of others' messes. So, in that light, it probably makes no difference what other people do with their hands. I should keep my hands clean and out of my eyes, mouth and other orifices unless I know very well that I've just washed.

It's still gross.