The Bostonian Abroad

As horrific and unbelievable as the shootings in Arizona have been, I have to say, sadly, that nothing could have prevented them. "What??!!" you say? Rachel Maddow seems to make a connection between his drug use and the shootings. She also seems to make a link between his troubles at Pima CC and the shootings, indicating that these were warning signs that could have or should have been used to keep him from buying a gun and ammo. I hate to sound so callous, but I have to quote Sex and the City: "Coulda, woulda, shoulda!" Look, the JLL's of the world are always going to be out there. Sure, we need to try and get to them and either lock them away or drug them silly before they get to hurting others, but in the end, it is an impossible task to get them all. The reactionism on the TV now shows a hue and cry for new laws: Ban guns! Ban large ammo clips! Lock nutcases away!! We can't ban guns in this country. We just can't. To do it w...

Okay, so it has been nine weeks since I broke my tibia and fibula when I went down on my motorcycle, and my foot got twisted up as the bike spun out on a poorly paved lot where I was working. How am I doing? First, I'll talk about how I'm doing physically. If you have watched the above video, then you know I'm healing well -- in fact, better than I had anticipated or was led to believe. The orthopaedist originally told me that I would not be able to bear weight on my right leg until February first, but when I went to see him at the end of December, he shocked me by saying I was cleared to bear weight and even transition out of the crutches and the boot I've been forced to use since November. When I got home from the doctor's office later that evening, I was so excited to be able to bear weight that I dispensed with my crutches altogether and started walking around my kitchen, utterly amazed that I could in fact "walk" again, albeit, limpingly. Then realit...