johnvano.com

Sleepy-eyed View

Since my highly demanding life and other aspiring aspirations have kinda sorta kept me from blogging, maybe I ought to catch you up on all things I think.

Let's start with the story out of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, where the issue of parents' rights is at stake.

There are a lot of variables to consider in this episode involving a 13-year-old boy with Stage 2B Hodgkin's lymphoma and his mother's initial refusal to treat him with chemotherapy. The doctor involved in the treatment reported that he had upwards of an 80 to 90 percent chance of survival with treatment and less than five percent without. I'll give the doctor the benefit of the doubt, and suggest that he is well-meaning in reporting the mother to the authorities on the grounds of child neglect, but that doesn't give society the right to force people to do what they object to doing--particularly with their minor children.

I had the same view during the Elian Gonzalez story, that even if we felt collectively that the boy's father would return Elian to Cuba as a ward of the state, it was his right to do so. These are private issues of conscience and should not be group-thought toward solution. When we call out the dogs on something that appears to be a matter of life and death we invariably unravel lesser concerns, that are tied to the same rights. We can not whittle down a parent's right to make informed decisions about the welfare, education, and development of their children--even if most people agree on the substance of that decision. We are losing these rights in our country, and it's time it stopped.

Get Over Yourself, Toilet Paper!

I'm a guy who prides himself on buying quality products at the best price per unit... Stop chuckling! You know what I mean... If 20 ounces of "PLUP" is 8.9 cents per ounce but I can get 32 ounces of "PLUP plus conditioner" for 8.2 cents an ounce... I'm taking the bargain!

But toilet paper gets me every time. I can't stand toilet paper math! Have you seen the equations on the outside of the package? Six double rolls = 12 rolls! Seriously? I don't care how much you stuff the tube, it's still one tube... When my hand is rolling layers, it's not factoring in the thickness... a roll is a roll is a roll.

Oh, and watch out for the sheet rule. Today I was almost gypped on my sheets... I could have bought the same quantity of rolls but ended up with 200 sheets to the wind compared to the other brand. Whew!

** This post is stressing me out... I'm shivering from the cool air in here, yet my forehead is perspiring from toilet paper math!!

Well, Duh

I know he's only been in the country for seven years, and he didn't know a stitch of English when he moved here, but this line is pretty funny even considering that ESL handicap...

"Well, if you think about it, if nothing changes things will continue to be the way they are."

-- Seattle Mariners hit machine Ichiro Suzuki, commenting on the distressing state of his team, prompting the firing of his manager on Thursday.

Pick Your Poison

Today is "Super Tuesday"--the day in which 20 states go to the polls to choose their representative for the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. If you live in one of these states--as I do--then you have an important choice to make. Who will you choose to lead America?

I don't know about you... but this is my dream ticket:

johnvano.com Round-Up

I want to thank all those who submitted their feedback, and their "touching tributes" on the last post. After that, I feel like I should have my number retired or something... But I am most grateful for those of you who held your tongue, following your mother's advice that, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all..."

It looks like I'll need to do a Minnesota post soon for Micah, although it has been 22 years since I moved away from my childhood home, so the memories are blurred at the edges and in black and white. Perhaps I'll do a "Memories of Childhood" post and hit some Minnesota stuff in there while not alienating the rest of my readers in the process.

More reflections:

• I need to work on my pecs.
• Our attorney general is apparently getting his news from this site--that should scare you.
• "Man Trip" got two favorable mentions against one ambivalent response--so it will stay.
• Also, "American Idol" got two thumbs down--that's about 29% of the comments. Which is pretty close to the percentage of TV sets not tuned to the show each week. Sorry you two, I gotta complete my commitment to bring the reviews--at least through this season.

...And the novel, you ask? I actually worked on it TWICE last week! Yes! Here's the boring facts: I had written about 50 pages consisting of 9 chapters. Then I started editing because I wrote chapter 1-2 about 9 months before starting 3-9. The newer stuff was much better and far different than the first--so I had to fix some things. I spent a while on that. Then when I was just about to begin chapter 10, I realized I just didn't like chapter 1 and 2, so wrote them over ENTIRELY from scratch.

What's johnvano.com to You?

What is it that draws you day-in-and-day-out or just once-a-month-in-and-once-a-month-out to my prodigious mumblings on johnvano.com?

• Is it the satire?
• The random ruminations from my day?
• The family photos?
• The travel recaps?
• Is it to see a frustrated novelist divert his writing time into a useless blog?
• The growing legend that is "Man Trip?"
• Or do you come for the scarily correct "American Idol" predictions?
• Do you visit for social change?
• Are you a stalker?
• Have you not laughed until you've come here?
• Is it my non-award-winning photography?
  
• Are you hoping to see some sort of growth in my person-ness?
• Do I inspire you?
• Are my pecs your private obsession?
  
• Are you visiting for the book and movie reviews--which have been missing for awhile?
• Do you get tips on what to read from my book log on the right?
• Maybe sports are your thing, and you enjoy the collective consciousness of fandom on these pages?

Whatever it is, I'd love to know. Actually, I think I might throw in a little more of the serious (or even the historical) on these pages soon. If you like it, let me know. And if everyone says that they just have to have more of the "fake stories"--well, I'll write some more of those, too.