Prognostication

So Edwards, who I liked because of his union position and his potential to have a good working relationship with Congress, is out of the race. I think Obama has a sincere desire to do good things for the middle class but might try to do too much at once and get off on the wrong foot with Congress, and Clinton has the machinery to get things running smoothly, although she's likely to show the same bias to the connected and well-to-do that was a hallmark of her husband's administration. I'm leaning towards Obama, but would put my money on Clinton if I were a betting man.

Giuliani has imploded, Romney is staying just this side of competent, and McCain is on an upswing. Huckabee is not going much farther, and most likely won't survive Super Tuesday. Maybe he'll stay in the race for the sole purpose of winning some delegates that he can pledge to his favorite. Two scenarios scare me. McCain getting nominated is frightening because I know there are Democrats that will vote for him. Romney is a little less scary because I don't think he'll hold his own in the general election, but if he does, and somehow gets elected president, he will probably go down in history as the next Herbert Hoover. That is, if Romney is elected, his plans for the economy will probably just exacerbate the problem.

The possibility that either party might actually have to go all the way to the convention to select a nominee is getting slimmer. I, for one, would find that fascinating. It's something no one in my generation can even recall. Sitting in front of the television until all hours, on a hot summer night, waiting for the 137th ballot. Hearing the roll call of the states' delegations as they declare for one or another candidate. Maybe a dark horse? Did somebody say "Al Gore?" The rumor mills and the smoke-filled back rooms. "I heard Mayor Bloomberg was on a train from NYC to St. Paul." As bad as it is for "democracy," the history buff in me gets a chill just thinking about it.

Anyway, it's not likely to happen. After next Tuesday, I'm thinking it will be McCain versus Clinton. A long, bitter and dirty general campaign. A late night/early morning wait for returns. Some surprises (McCain gets Michigan and Ohio, but Clinton actually pulls some of the Solid South back to the Democratic Party). Then, in all likelihood, a one-term presidency for whoever wins. George Bush has made such a mess of things that Solomon himself couldn't straighten it out in four years, and whoever "wins" this election is going to pay for that.

I am resplendent in divergence

I am pretty sure that there was not another straight man at the gym today whose iPod shuffled from "Hot Rockin'" by Judas Priest to "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club. I laughed out loud and the woman on the stationary bike next to the elliptical machine I was on gave me a funny look.

Judas Priest is (obviously) great workout music. The Point of Entry album is also great pop music. I got really snobby about "heavy metal" when I was in high school, because I was a highly evolved Mod who listened to post-punk and not that knuckle-dragging Neanderthal music made by big-haired loonies in make-up and denim. GobShiteWankerBollocks!!

Now that I go back and listen to it, a lot of that stuff -- especially the English metal like Iron Maiden and Motorhead -- was great music. Those bands were paying more attention to the songs than they get credit for.

Nancy Boy

I have a confession. I like lattes. In particular, I like Starbucks' lattes. I like other places' lattes, too. I used to go down the street from where I lived and get them at a place called Java Jo's, and they were excellent. I'm not that picky. In fact, I think I proved I was a latte slut when I actually drank (and enjoyed) a Dunkin Donuts latte. It's the steamed milk. I can't resist foamy drinks.

My ex-girlfriend from many years back was an espresso fiend. She was the first person I ever met that made her own espresso, in one of those stove-top pots. But she would "steam" her milk by putting it in a small saucepan on the stove and whisking it with a wire whisk. Not quite a latte, but still, it was foamy milk. I wasn't a big coffee fan at the time. That probably had something to do with all the reefer I was smoking. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to drink something to wake yourself up when you just smoked yourself off to la-la land, right?

Then, she got a fancy espresso making machine. I think I might have even gotten it for her as a present. But the thing made horrible espresso. It was more like drip-percolated coffee. However, the little nozzle attachment did a wonderful job steaming milk. So the espresso maker became a fancy milk steamer, and she kept making espresso in the stove-top pot.

I got attached to coffee after I gave up the cheeba. My favorite cup of coffee is the one I make every morning in my stove-top percolator. It isn't an espresso maker, but a regular coffee pot. It's like the toy coffee pot I had with my GI Joe mess-kit. And I use half-and-half in my morning coffee. But later in the day, if I'm feeling naughty, I go to the Starbucks in the student center and get a Tall or a Grande. Then I mince back to my office and giggle like a schoolgirl while I try not to get foamy milk on my upper lip.