Real Joe

Not much time to write tonight. I’m a bit of a techie here at the World Round, solving computer problems, posting to the weblog, snapping photos. I’ve been getting lots of kudos for the website. No one’s ever put up pre-event photos or kept a weblog for a World Cup Trials before. So it’s a bit of a head-trip. As soon as I introduce myself, I get a “Ah, you’re the famous Griff Wigley doing the web site. Fantastic!”

I’m heading to Duluth this morning, as the Big Event is this weekend. I expect to post to the weblog while I’m gone but might have to save up the posts till I get back.

We would often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives which produced them. – Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Bingo. Story of my life as the designated good kid in my screwed-up family. Not as true any more, but anytime I do something even remotely charitable, there’s still a small, reflexive “I wonder who’ll notice me, be impressed with me” thought that shoots through my brain.

A subscriber points to an item in WSJ’s James Taranto’s OpinionJournal earlier this week.

Colbert King’s Better Half

It’s fairly common for commentators to adopt a breathless tone as they report entirely unremarkable facts. Rarely, however, do they actually say they’re breathless, as the Washington Post’s Colbert King does:

Guess how many reports of violence against women were made to the D.C. police in 2000. I’m talking about domestic violence, sexual assaults, desperate calls for civil protection orders. Ready? More than 22,500. That’s right. Violence against women made up about 50 percent of all reported violent crimes to the D.C. police in that year. If those numbers take your breath away, they should.

Well, if about 50% of all reported violent crimes are against women, guess what percentage are against men? That’s right, about 50%! Help, we can’t breathe!

Well, Taranto’s being more than a little disingenuous, methinks. The other 50% of violent crimes don’t necessarily compute to crimes against men, for example, car-jackings, convenience store robberies, drug-related violence, etc. And you could probably add violence against children into the mix. So I’d agree with King.

Well, my colon’s good to go, clean as a whistle. But, dang, I missed the whole thing. The sedative they gave me knocked me out completely — a little disappointing, as I was interested in the TV show with a little narrative from the doc: “And if you notice around this bend, you’ll see numerous… “ A fellow racquetball player drove me home, I had a quick bite to eat, and after a four-hour nap, I was feeling pretty perky.

So, fellow geezers, go forth and do likewise. And if you need additional encouragement, read this piece: My Body, My Prison, My Dreams. It ain’t pretty.

I’ve got a 10 am colonoscopy appointment today… part of the deal I made with my wife (“I will if you will”).

I’ve been telling quite a few guys I know that I’m having it done… part of my public service duty, I figure. I’ve not heard any real horror stories. Mainly, everyone warns me about the nasty stuff that you have drink the day before and day of the exam. It’s true, the stuff is a bit nasty… not so much the taste to the tongue but the strange sensation as you gulp it down. And yeah, the trots are nasty, but they don’t burn like usual diarrhea and I’ve not had any stomach cramps.

I’ll be judicious with the details upon my return.

If a mobile scan unit pulled up to a local discount store, would I get one? After reading this NY Times article: Cheaper Body Scans Spread, Despite Doubts, I’m not sure. I’m interested in staying healthy and the idea that a body scan could catch something that’s currently undetected is appealing… why else would I be getting the C job today?

But unlike a colonoscopy, the jury is still out on body scans. I think I’ll wait for the research.

Bullying, Girl-Style in the LA Times (reprinted in the StarTribune) and now a “why the media mania?” article by Ellen Goodman in the Boston Globe.

Goodman wonders: When Rachel Simmons, author of ”Odd Girl Out,” told Oprah that being shunned was ”meaner” than getting hit, I wanted a time out. Wasn’t Columbine worse than a cruel instant message?

Huh? I never thought of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as bullies. By many accounts, they were the bullied. But Goodman’s implication that physical punches are worse than verbal slams and social ostracization is off the mark. They all have a range of severity.

An inspiring chronicle of a mother’s journey of self-discovery as she moves from grief to pride in her gay son.

My wife and I watched the gut-wrenching movie Boys Don’t Cry over the weekend. And then this story titled About a Boy Who Isn’t falls in my lap. I wonder if M’s parents will ever get to where are proud of their transgendered child? Could I?

I grabbed the wigley.us domain name a month or so ago at the suggestion of one of my sons. (Thx CW). We now have a Wigley family site on our town’s community webserver. I helped my daughter get her school blog up last week and over the weekend, helped my wife get her weblog up on her recent dealings with her

tinnitus and acoustic neuroma. Will the boys be next?

In Japan, death from overwork (“karoshi”) continues to rise. A culture of high-achievement matched with a culture of consumption. It’s what ails us, too.