After Junior Seau's suicide in May, coupled with the investigation into the Saints bounty program I made a decision to leave the NFL behind. It was not done easily, it was the one sport that I actually followed. Additionally, it was a binding sport. Binding meaning that it made it easier to deal with family and find connections with people in everyday life. Who hasn't stood in the elevator one Monday or Tuesday and bullshitted about the games over the weekend or the night before. It was an easy access to camaraderie. Even if it was a fake 30 seconds. However, with Seau's suicide and the suicides of Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, I had to question the meaning behind my support. Was I supporting something that was detrimental to the men who played?

With that doubt in my head it was hard to get excited about draft picks and free agent moves. Mini-camps and signings went on and to me they might as well have happened on Mercury or Pluto. However, as we enter the middle of August it is getting harder and harder to ignore. The highlights from the preseason games are the lead on the nightly sportscast and, living in the New York area, football Jesus is on the back page every morning. So with these little tastes, I begin to feel like a junkie. I pass by the news and feel how easy it would be to slide right back in.

A long way to a question, but the one I have is this. Does my enjoyment of the NFL and the games mean that I provide tacit support for a system that causes former players to kill themselves?

Jack Dempsey

Destroyer -- A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point

I run 4 to 5 times a week for a weekly average of between 25 and 30 miles. I am also in the gym for yoga and/or strength training at least 4 days a week. I recently tried Fitocracy. It is a web/iphone/android app that makes entering and tracking the information easy. I am not too fond of the gamifying aspects of the app, but I have to admit that, by making my previous bests available, I am not nearly as complacent in the workouts.

"Let us look at these explanations of parapraxes more closely."

Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis -- Sigmund Freud

I am ashamed to admit it, but I had avoided John Rechy because I figured I couldn't identify with an LGBT author writing about the LGBT experience. A friend loaned me The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez and I got hooked. I have started reading some of his other works and am captured by his ability and skill.

Girls -- Lust for Life

editor marks

Hard to pick just one album as a favorite. I have narrowed it to three though.

Dusty Springfield -- Dusty in Memphis
Talking Heads -- Remain in Light
Miles Davis -- Bitches Brew

When I was setting up my account, the old Who song Whiskey Man was playing and it just seemed right at the time. I also freely admit that I do like a good scotch (Glenlivet) or bourbon (Angel's Envy) once in a while.

Standing at the water's edge  Praying for the waves to cast you away Fading the stain of our kisses Eroding the edges of our caresses Erasing the marks of our passion The river will run dry  The sea will boil The sun will dim Yet you remain Our kisses, our caresses, our passion They will stand unweathered Monuments to a failed love...

Added 07 May 2012 | Category Love Poems | Votes 2 | Avg Score 4.5 | Views 283 | 2 Comments