playing hardball

last week i was asked to run for public office.

this isn't the setup to a joke.

a friend called me to say that a municipal public official was not running for re-election and to his knowledge there was no one running for that seat and that i'd be the perfect candidate.

said aloud, the idea sounds perfectly ridiculous. the last campaign of any sort that i was involved in was my victory for vice-president...of the eighth grade. and while i voted in every election, i never followed the day-to-day workings of government until He Who Must Not Be Named was heading out of office in washington.

so why me? i'm the square peg. the fifth wheel. i'm a cartoon geek. a sports guy. i've spent my adult life more worried about busting the phillies than filibustering.

but when i think about it, it makes sense. in a year where Change was more ubiquitous than ryan seacrest, why not go after someone who has a working knowledge of the area, but is still enough of an outsider to not be jaded by the local view.

(admittedly, i do feel a bit like i'm being obama'd...the statement "he's black, he's young and he's smart" has reportedly been uttered more than once. i'm flattered that people feel that way about me, but it also feels like an artificial construct and i'm not comfortable being mini-me.)

the reasons to run are numerous, though few of them seem to be good. perks like a bigger paycheck (always attractive...even more when you're surrounded by debt) and increased attention (though the latter might be more of a liability than an asset). the experience and adventure of running for and holding public office. more importantly, there's also the satisfaction of knowing i could help a community. though it seems harder to find that love without a prior connection to the community. or will that love come by acclamation?

then there are the other questions...can i really enact change through policy? or is it better spurred through the grass roots? where is the line between acknowledging supporters and being beholden to interests? can i walk that line? what about my current career aspirations? would they be on hold? would holding public office help enhance those opportunities

all of these things are continually running through my mind. soon i will need to make my final decision. i have come to the fork in the road. let's hope i go the right way.

random thoughts for a tuesday

i began my day by wondering if anyone in the government actually pays their taxes. i ended it by wondering exactly how large the world of underground hip-hop really is. afterward i wondered if there was a connection. maybe it's another offshoot of having a black president. after all, doesn't congress need to try and prove some "street cred" to get in good with the White House?

we'll see if incidences of snitching in the government decrease...

winter in southern california rocks even more than i remember it.

thank you, global warming.

remember being a kid and going to the dentist? you jumped in the chair, the person with the white coat and surgical mask did their business all about you teeth and gums, you got a new toothbrush and case of floss and were sent on your merry way without any knowledge of the details that ...all while (hopefully) missing a bit of school time in the process.

well i took a visit to my local dental professional for the first time in...uh...let's just say awhile. and now that i apparently have to check off the box that says "respectable adult", i get to handle all of the details myself. suddenly a trip to the dentist resembled a trip to the mechanic much more than i ever knew.

see here? you're gonna need a new inlay for your flux capacitor. you wanna get that done today?

few people are happier to see super bowl week end than the people who work at 24-hour sports networks.

let the countdown begin to the opening weekend of The Tournament...truly the greatest sporting days of the year.

as usual, this year's super bowl was flooded with all sorts of new movie trailers. it's become even more evident that hollywood has stopped trying. transformers 2, star trek, fast & furious...haven't we seen these in some form before? by the way, here's a tip... destroying g.i. joe doesn't mean you've made a new movie. it just means you've rehashed an old favorite with a crappy storyline.

there are plenty of people out there with fresh new ideas. perhaps they don't always come screen ready, but that's why you pay writers, isn't it? of all the things we do in this country, our entertainment industry traditionally has been second to none. but with the litany of remakes, adapations and copycat films nowadays, we're apparently outsourcing freshness and creativity as well.

now you know...and knowing is half the battle!

why are british girls so good at sounding like black american soul singers? i'm not complaining. actually, i think it's kinda hot.

i'm looking at you, alice russell.

a friend of mine made a valid observation. what's happened to the nfl's bad guys? ray lewis is doing ballet and lawrence taylor is going to appear on dancing with the stars (following in the footsteps of that lovable villain, warren sapp).

rae carruth sits unimpressed.