Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy

You may have noticed I haven't been around much lately. Chess has been almost completely out of my life for the first time in many years. Its gotten me through many hard times. Through many good times too for that matter. It filled the gaps in time when fluff and boredom take hold. Times when the pulse of work slowed to a grueling tick. Times when monotony sucks imagination into a time warp. It cultivated friendships when nothing else was in common and brought many strange adventures, most of which I have tried to share with you. Their are some best kept to ones own memory, however. But as of late life has taken some new turns. As Yogi Berra likes to say "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Well I now have a fork, some chopsticks and a knife that says Usinger Sausage on it.

Speaking of utensils, The Biggest Loser is one of the greatest shows ever. Guess who's going to Bobs book signing in Tuscon?



Also, I have been willingly thrust into a world of deafness. Ive met someone who is completely deaf in one ear and coincidentally (if your into that kind of thing) has a dog that can hear nothing except its own internal cravings to taunt cats and urinate in inappropriate places. Ive also met someone who speaks sign language and has a deaf sibling. This has led me to read a book entitled "Deafness" by David Wright. Needless to say deafness is not the world most people think it is. Its a testament to our humanity really. The deaf aren't angry or bitter or anything like that. They just simply live their life in a slightly different way from the hearing. They have some advantages, like sleeping, and drawbacks, like only being able to be engaged in one conversation at a time. What is to be learned from all of this? People who wear ipod headphones in one ear look silly. Talking to animals is more for our benefit than it is theirs. Think about that for a minute if you have animals. And the Spanish did a lot more good than we give them credit for during their tenure as world super power.

Politics are heating up and this is one the best political adds of all time.



Following politics is great but engaging in it with other people is usually pretty obnoxious. So Ill keep this part short. The problems ignored for many decades have finally been dug up during this administration. They are not all solved nor will they be for a long time, but we can no longer sweep them under the rug while wearing the veil of political correctness or being blindly smitten by partisan leaders. Lets find someone who will solve these issues one at a time instead of someone who ignores them all or tries to tackle them all at once.

But mostly I haven't been hooking up with underage girls.



More on my recent travels in the desert and beyond soon. I wish chess was more appealing right now. But the Gods have a preoccupation with wrapping wishes in a suitable coating of irony so be careful what you wish for.