Today is November 7. I've been on vacation since November 1, which means that I've completely coincidentally not shaved even once this month.That's convenient for reasons both personal and communal.
As to the latter, the Movember movement enters its 15th year of (hair)raising awareness of men's cancer health issues. Most readers know of Movember's call to hairy arms this time of year, asking men to grow facial topiary to raise money for research and awareness of men's cancer issues. My father died of cancer, as did his sister, and both of my grandfathers survived prostate cancer. I'll either live into my 90s, or die from cancer before I turn 70. It's not an academic matter to me and the community of men impacted every day by this fucking disease.
What's convenient, in this case, is the fact that I have an excuse to grow a mustache, now that I'm a week into November with the beginnings of one (as pictured, badly).
On a more immediate note, by the time you read this post, one of my closest professional friends will likely be right in the middle of a double mastectomy/reconstructive surgical procedure. Her name is Heather. She's 40, the mother of two young boys, and as competitive as the day is long. She'll learn tomorrow after her surgery whether she needs 12 weeks of chemotherapy to rid her of that fucking thing, or 28. I mentioned here (or on Twitter, hard to remember) that I'd recently participated in a flash mob. The occasion was the sales team she leads breaking into song and dance to show them how much they cared for her and supported her. They're #heatherstrong for her, because she's that for them all the time.You don't know her, but you'd like her. And you know lots of people like her, some of them right her in Gheorgheland.
For Heather, and for Shlara, and for millions of others, I'm going to look stupid as hell this month. Fuck you if you think that's funny. And fuck cancer.
Silence here despite how much we obviously agree with Rob's sentiment. Everyone must be voting.
ReplyDeletethe disney magical express driver who took us to the airport made a chris christie mooseknuckle joke. my new hero.
ReplyDeleteEff cancer indeed. I exercised the franchise this morning (and that isn't a euphemism).
ReplyDeleteChristie has made zero appearances on behalf of the Republican candidate. That’s. Or good or bad. It’s just tragically sad. He has destroyed the Republican Party in the state. New mayor is an ex-Goldman Sachs guy who can’t wait to raise taxes now that he has his fortune. That worked great w/ Corzine.
ReplyDeleteMayor/governor whatever. Who needs to read their comments before posting anyway?
ReplyDeleteRoy Halladay died in a plane crash today???
ReplyDeleteApparently. He just got his pilot's license. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteDear Virginia,
ReplyDeleteCome on now. Do the right thing today.
With love,
Whitney
Work constraints are preventing me from voting. What’s the upside from complaining to my boss about it?
ReplyDeleteEternal gratitude from my across-the-street neighbor, depending on how you vote.
ReplyDeletei have never voted for a winner in an election. ever. including that debacle in college. a lot of wasted votes for the green party, and then tossed one to hillary clinton to avoid catastrophe. but today has got to be the day i pick a winner, right?
ReplyDeleteAnother big win for Government Sachs in NJ. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteBecause Christie's lieutenant would've been better?
ReplyDeleteZman - it's cool to know an elected official, but do you really think he has strong moral fiber? He was the drunk guy commandeering the mike at the pool club late nights. Unimpressive.
ReplyDeleteMurphy wants to raise taxes and make community colleges free. Maybe he'll be better than the former governor who was a Trump supplicant, or the former governor who had anonymous gay sex at rest stops, or the former governor who bankrupted a trading firm after illegally moving client funds into the company's prop trading account, or the former governor who kowtowed to Dubya and said the air at Ground Zero was fine.
ReplyDeleteDo you think I voted for that guy? The guy who jumps into the pool wearing a Captain America suit and rollerblades is not the guy I want making decisions with my tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteHey, they can't all be as great as Brendan Byrn or Jim Florio.
ReplyDeletethe trumpites got their asses kicked in the old dominion. big day for virginia dems, up and down the ballot. an openly transgender woman defeated a virulent racist/homophobe incumbent in a state house race. massive rejection of trump/bannonism. good day for america.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Zman! That's terrible for the ball bearings of one's rollerblade wheels. Poor decisionmaking.
ReplyDeleteIs the phrase "openly transgender" redundant? I mean in a literal sense.
ReplyDeleteNice post Rob. Sending good vibes to your friend Heather. Friday is my 7-Year “cancer-versary” and I know I’m one of the lucky people.
ReplyDeleteRob, Fox News has a different takeaway from the Virginia gubernatorial result:
ReplyDeleteVirginia voters shared Gillespie's view on Confederate statues: Fox News Voter Analysis
Helpful.
Sixers are fascinating this year:
ReplyDelete1) two recent top picks look like disasters right now (Fultz, Okafor)
2) its top four 3-pt shooters are averaging 41% or higher from beyond the arc.
3) Simmons is averaging 18/10/8/2 per game.
4) Embiid is averaging 21/10/4 per game.
5) They are tied for 3rd place (w/ the Knicks!) in the Eastern conference.
AAPL over $900 B!
ReplyDeletemy niece is dating a very good (three-star recruit) defensive back on her jacksonville-area school's team. he committed to minnesota recently, despite never having been there. he's headed there in december for a visit. my sister texted me yesterday to ask what he should expect in terms of weather. i fear i may have given the kid pause about his decision. pj fleck might be mad at me.
ReplyDeleteI watched a good chunk of the 30 for 30 on Ric Flair last night. Tree-mendous. He was a terrible husband and father and a total drunk, but an amazing showman. I didn’t love the way the doc was put together in many ways, but the old footage and stories were amazing. And it was amazing to see Hulk Hogan say Ric Flair was 10x a better wrestler than him. Very humble (and truthful) of him to pay props to the Nature Boy.
ReplyDeleteI was exhausted last night so I didn’t stay up for the Flair doc. I want to be able to lock in & rewind the stories and footage. I can’t wait to watch.
ReplyDeleteMaine's governor Paul LePage seems like the kind of leader we can all get behind
ReplyDeleteand shove off the peak of Mount Katahdin.
i was told there'd be teejfiller
ReplyDeletetoo much goatation at work today
ReplyDeleteJosh Gordon clearly took cliche lessons from Crash Davis:
ReplyDelete"I'm here to help the team win," he said. "That's my first priority. Being the best football player I can be -- that comes first and foremost. Anything else after that I have no control over. I'm here to help this team win and do that the best way I know now. That's being the best wide receiver."
and
"I'm just trying to be as transparent and as honest as I can be, in a professional way," he said. "And in that platform [GQ], that's the way in which it was conveyed. Trying to do the best I can to control that narrative. For me it's beneficial to get out in front of it and let the rest take its natural course."
Amazon already has access to my wallet via prime but I'm drawing the line at access to my house to deliver packages. Amazon key sounds like a really bad idea.
ReplyDeleteAmazonkey rhymes with donkey
ReplyDeleteAnd honkey, which are the only people who'd even consider that idea.
ReplyDeleteMy step kid turns 16 today. What the fuck?
ReplyDeleteFeel you, Mark. My daughter is going to DMV to get her license next week. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how ADHD this group is...starts with fuck cancer, goes quickly to Chris Christie, dives into voting (dave, get with the program son...), takes a stroll through VA politics, gives a shout out to the Nature Boy - whooeewww!!!, and ends up at the DMV. Not surprising for this crowd. And i love it.
ReplyDelete