Banning Smoking in Houston-area bars

September 2, 2006 will be the third anniversary of my last drag on a cigarette. It took me 7 attempts to finally quit. I haven't missed it. In fact, on occasion, I've been that bane in every smoker's ear, that tiny tear in the paper near the filter, that tireless wind that snuffs any attempt to bring fire to tobacco. Yes, I have been the annoying ex-smoker, whose words fouls the air like the stench of a cold ashtray, chiding fact after emphysemic fact about the perils and poisons of the pack-a-day puff.

Lately, I've worked to hold my tongue. Smoking is a personal choice, true. However, today, being this is my platform--since I don't have any readers anyway--and I'm not addressing anyone specifically, so as not make a lecture--I'm going off. Besides, the City of Houston has made it topical. So, maybe if I put this in here on the web, I won't repeat it to the those who don't want to hear it. I can direct people here if they want to know more.

Working in asbestos litigation, showed me what happens to people who spend a lifetime smoking. Specifically, one plaintiff, who developed peripheral occluded arterial disease, which meant that he couldn't walk more than 30 feet from his house. When he retired 12 years ago, he got in bed and stayed there. He has not been anywhere, other than the doctor's office, since then. He claimed to have smoked 3 packs a day for about 50 years and was still smoking. His doctors told him stopping smoking could improve his condition, but he wouldn't listen. He also has been diagnosed with emphysema and heart disease, both directly linked to his smoking. He's a typical story in the health care morass of asbestos litigation (asbestos symptoms and symptoms related to tobacco use are painfully similar under the x-ray inspection required by the courts).

Of course, you don't have to maintain the habit--buying cigarettes and lighters, obsessively--for your doctor to consider you a smoker. If you've ever spent time breathing in a smoky bar then you are a passive smoker. Studies show that 40,000+ people die each year from it. That aside, if you are a non-smoker wishing to remain one, then going out to a bar can be a difficult experience, maybe even as annoying as listening to someone lecture someone else on smoking. It can make you nauseous, gasping for air and leaves an unpleasant smell on your clothes. It's the part of smoking that, as a smoker, I never got, but it can be really bothersome for those who seek to avoid it. Since I'm still young and like to go out for a beer, I've long dreamed of a place to sit smokelessly and enjoy a cold one. When I've visited New York and Austin, I've always appreciated the ban.

And, it looks like Houston may follow in the footsteps of other major cities. I hope it happens.

Grigori Perelman and the Poincare Conjecture

Seems, this is the buzz of the day. I know, it sounds like a Robert Ludlum book, but it's really something more important than a buzz on any day.

Apparently, Grigori Perelman solved a so-called geometrization conjecture, and by way of that, the Poincare Conjecture, which states, "Every simply connected closed (i.e. compact and without boundary) 3-manifold is homeomorphic to a 3-sphere."

So what does that mean? Well, I means that if you have a looped object in 3-dimensional space, it can be shrunk to a single point just as would a sphere. I think it's a confusing concept, because it's counter-counter-intuitive.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it honestly--and I'm not the only one--but I hope to have a better understanding of all things matematicas by this time next year.

Wanna feel old...

...well, then, go--in your 31st year--to a college campus tour, as part of your over all attempt to make a significant career change. Watch, as people 1/2 your age; joke, lament, scorn, deplore, suffer and attempt to deceive, those who are twice your age, on the subject of on-campus, freshman apartment furnishing.

Then, taunt, the attractive, young, female tour guide as she inquires, "Graduate or undergraduate?" as to your status as a future student, with the remark,"all of the above!"--not just with enthusiasm--but, like you don't want to say, "Bitch."

Then, observe, as an 18-year-old kid, hiding behind fadish sunglass, smokes cigarettes, sporting a Goodwill-flannel fashion sense, lingers at the far back of the tour group, while his mother interrogates the guide at the opposite end of the tour.

Then, smirk, as the gratuitously-positive guide, interrupts his off-the-cuff, yet over-practiced monologue, to address each alleged acquaintance in the passing corridors.

Then, pause, as concerned parents rationalize--before an admissions officer--their agitated-yet-apologetic prototype's high school class ranking, while the beaming patron, trumpets his own occupation as his progeny's predestination.

Then, depart, with the determination of the school's overall academic-thematic focus, your own relative admission status, an exhaltation at the dating and signing of your resignation letter, and the chide that your determination to realize these academic aspirations withstands the temptations of convenient credit and youthful, receptive co-eds.

OK Go

An additional post today, because I haven't offered much lately.

I really dig this band, OK Go. I think the video for their song, "A Million Ways" is hilarious. Enjoy!

The Journey to Marathon (First in a Series)

I'm training to run the Houston Marathon in Janaury--my first. Since April, I've been involved in the Bayou City Road Runners, a Houston-area running club. Basically, we do training runs and races, together--which helps you stay focused--and happy hours--which helps you maintain an appropriate BAC. The photo on the right shows several of us at Valhalla after our 6.7 mile Wednesday run. The decision to run a marathon is somewhat influenced by virtue of being in the group.

A marathon takes it's name from a Greek myth, that a Athenian soldier, Pheidippides, ran 26 miles from Athens to Marathon to announce the defeat of the Persian Army. He died shortly after delivering the message. (Don't freak out, Mom, the guy just didn't train right.)

The International Amateur Athletic Federation fixed the length of a marathon at 42.195 km or 26 miles 385 yards. That is the same distance as used by the 1908 London Olympics, which extended the length of the race to afford the Royal Family a better view of the race.

I wonder how many Royals have run a marathon?

Since I've started down this path, I've felt better and happier than ever before in my life. Regular cardiovascular exercise releases atleast two kinds of naturally-occurring chemicals into your body. One chemical causes physical relaxation, the other produces an anti-depressant-like substance.
I can't stress enough, the value of a red wine--with a velvety finish--after a rigorous run. (This vineyard's cabernet is a good example.) It's probably my favorite training incentive.

Legalspeak - A Rant

A friend of mine recently asked me to direct any "Funny Legal Notices" to them, for their preparation of an article, presumably addressing the ridiculous, self-aggrandizing nature of legal writing. At first, I wondered if I could uncover a missive emailed, by a colleague or fellow legal-conscript, in a moment of shared levity, on the extremes to which this industry goes to re-define it's sense of necessity.

Then my mouth emitted a watery "ribbit," as my tongue attempted to flit forward from my mouth. I blinked my eyes and thought, "Gee, it's warm in here."

From a financial eon ago, a banal memory mashed forward from the TV-laden morass, of standing in my apartment staring, blankly, at Citigroup Mastercard's legal notice in imperceptibly-sized print. Though written in English, the author's words read as though never meant for the then-present juxtaposition, with thriced-defined APRs, quadruple-assigned liabilities, and quintuple-conditioned fees. About as quick as you can utter,"Reply on defendant's motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative, compel and continue," another memory upended from the haze. This one, of a group of people laughing at the pretentious, impractical nature of the following legal notice, recently adopted by their company to attach to all outgoing emails.

The information in this e-mail, and any files transmitted with it, is intended for the exclusive use of the recipient(s) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary or privileged information. If you are not an intended recipient, you have received this transmission in error and any use, review, dissemination, distribution, printing or copying of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately of the erroneous transmission by reply e-mail, immediately delete this e-mail and all electronic copies of it from your system and destroy any hard copies of it that you may have made. Thank you.

That group's, recalled my own guffaw, initially ruminating the metaphysics of such a statement. The punchline: Who would author such a thing, and, in the name of all things, why bother?

But, don't ask me, now. I'll probably give some legal rationale on the necessity. Ribbit. Slurp-smack.

Happy Birthday, Keri!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Keri. That's her on the right in the pic, along with our cousin, Max, and myself.

When I emailed her I starting a blog, she responded,"Good, I'll have something to read when I want to go to sleep." I guess, you can tell from that statement that she has a pretty good sense of humor. Well, from that and her haircut.

Of course, I'm just kidding. In fact, if there is anyone with fashion sense in our family, it's probably my sister. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she made a career of it someday.

Keri: I think I speak for your whole family when I say, we are all proud of you for your foray into the Chicagoan underground, for the changes in yourself you have worked for recently and for being someone steeped in the "Keri-ness" (that's your name + "ness," in case you haven't seen You, Me & Dupree, yet.) I hope you have an incredible birthday!

Only 152 days left in the year!

Okay, so 152 is not a few. Here are a few interesting facts about August 1.

527 - Justinian I became Byzantine Emperor. That's a picture of him on the right.

1774 - The element oxygen was discovered by Joseph Priestly and Carl Wilhelm Scheele.

I wonder what we did before oxygen?

1941 - The first Jeep is produced. Does anyone know why they call it a "Jeep?"

1942 - A year later, the first Jerry Garcia was produced. I'm not sure when the first Cherry Garcia was produced.

1957 - NORAD is formed.

1961 - Six Flags Over Texas opens.

1973 - Tempestt Bledsoe was born. I wonder what we did before the Cosby Show?