Now and Again

Happy belated New Year!

Yes, it has been a while, old friend. Many things have happened since we last talked. Let's see...

Penn State won a thrilling Orange Bowl against Florida State. It's hard to imagine a more exciting game. And I always thought Scott Norwood was the world's worst kicker.

I attended this year's March For Life this past Monday. It's always good to see all the young people there in force. I plan to write a longer piece on abotion soon (i.e. sometime this year) but if you want to read a reasonable take from a pro-choice woman, read Megan McArdle (aka Jane Galt) from Asymmetrical Information. While she and I disagree in as much as she wants to keep abortion legal and I do not, she is one of the few people I have read that while advocating it's legality also recognizes that abortion itself is not something to be proud of and something we should actively discourage. She writes, "I want abortion to be legal, but I am in favour of stigmatising it."

I made one resolution this year. To lose 100 pounds. Yes, I am that fat. More, in fact. I have lost weight before and have even kept it off for a number of years. But this year I set a very large goal for myself that while hard is reasonable and possible to achieve. Losing 100 pounds requires about 2 pounds per week or about a 1000 calorie daily deficit that with proper eating and exercise should be safely within my abilities. As of today I am down 11 pounds. Wish me luck.

I went loco and bought myself a digital camera. It's a Nikon D200. It's wonderful. And it's very expensive. I'll just have to forgo all discretionary spending for the next 6-12 months. But that's okay. I'll have very pretty pictures to comfort me. My previous camera was a Nikon N80. I love that little camera but never really took too many pictures because of the hassle of film and development. Hopefully my skills will improve in time and I'll share some of my pictures.

Kris Benson is now an Oriole. That means Anna Benson is now an Oriole wife. Oh my. But if that means that the, um, gregarious Mrs. Benson is the most controversial thing about the Orioles this year, I say welcome aboard.