Sunday Morning Musings
As I sit here at my computer(s) watching Stage 2 of the Tour de France and reading news RSS feeds, my eyes burning slightly from lack of sleep and lack of blinking, I see that Sarah Palin and Michael Jackson’s names are all over the place for pretty much the same reason. Michael Jackson died in real life. Sarah Palin just died in her political life. Personally, I don’t expect her to gain any political traction nationally after quitting half-way through just her first term as governor of Alaska. Many bloggers and political media spinmeisters have speculated on the most likely reasons for her decision and hastily disorganized press conference. The only question in my mind is exactly how bizarre will her reason turn out be. Perhaps Sarah Palin will create some sort of national organization promoting abstinence sex education, because we definitely need more of that (in her family).
Lance Armstrong is competing in this year’s Tour de France at the age of 37. That’s OLD in cycling years, and there’s very little chance, given the extremely high talent level of the rest of his team, that he will be in a position to win the race. So why is Lance racing? His Nike advert implies that he’s doing it to bring more attention to cancer research. Call me cynical, but I think it’s just another case of a formerly retired athlete needing to be back in the action and at the center of attention. I think he might also be thumbing his nose at the French race officials and all of the people who believe he doped or otherwise cheated his way to 7 Tour de France wins. Whatever his reasons, I respect his return to the sport he obviously loves.
I enjoy the 4th of July if for no other reason than my neighborhood sounds like a war zone with illegal fireworks going off every hour or so from the 1st through the 4th. The 5th of July usually brings peace and tranquility with it as most people seem to have expended their arsenal. I half expect to hear a few random pops of firecrackers because it’s still the weekend, and the smart kids will have squirreled away a pack or two.
My sleep situation appears to be improving. I slept for a couple of hours early this morning, forcing myself out of bed at 5:30AM. I won’t let myself lie back down until 2:30-3:00PM so as to simulate this coming week’s 1st shift sleep allowance. Despite my desire to sleep 8 straight hours this afternoon, I rather expect to be only capable of sleeping a couple of hours at a time.
