Lindsey Graham-- Keepin it real in the Carolinas.

Saul Goode proudly presents this week's King of Keepin it Real:

Senator Lindsey Graham (R) South Carolina

Alright, so he looks like Montgomery Burns in this picture but the dude is a player. He's a classy player. I've tried to follow the confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor over the last couple weeks on NPR (Yes, NPR. All you Fox Newsers can eat my shorts ;)). Other than yawning a lot and wishing she'd give a straight answer to a straight question (that's the way all appointees pretty much since Bork have handled themselves in the hearings), I was struck with how classy, how judicious, and how discerning Senator Graham was through the course of the hearings. He asked good, probing questions, including direct questions about her "wise latina" statements and other controversial things she's said. The thing is, unlike other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee (Jeff Sessions in particular), he demonstrated a sincere desire to understand Sotomayor and her judicial philosophy. Where Sessions was just being straight up antagonistic and engaging in political grandstanding, Graham was actually engaging in a dialogue with Sotomayor. He was able to put all the political bullcrap aside and get to the heart of who Sotomayor is, why she should or shouldn't be appointed, and how she would judge as a member of the Court. He was thoughtful and honest in his questioning which was so refreshing after hearing Sessions blow a lot of meaningless partisan smoke.

Graham ended up voting for her confirmation today-- the only Republican on the Committee with enough sense and wisdom to do so. The ultra-conservatives for months had been trying to paint Sotomayor as an "activist" who would "legislate from the bench" and a whole lot of other unfounded propaganda. Graham was the only Republican on the committee who was able to see through all the partisan bullcrap and see that Sotomayor is eminently qualified and would judge wisely and "from the mainstream" as he put it even if she would reach different conclusions and decisions than he would.

I always like to see politicians who aren't afraid to break free from the ridiculous Washington partisanship when they feel compelled to do so. Graham did today with his vote for Sotomayor and he hasn't been afraid to do so in the past on issues like immigration, detainee interrogations, and the gang of 14. And it's true that he may have done it for purely political reasons. But that's impossible to know for sure and from listening to him through this whole thing, he seems pretty sincere in his opinion. To me at least. And that's all you can really go on. Although I can't know anything for sure, he certainly seems to me to be KEEPIN IT REAL. So right on, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Bringing up politics is always risky business and I of course don't expect everyone to agree with my being down with Senator Graham and what he did today. And I don't mean to be makin a bigger deal of it than it is-- after all it's just one measley little confirmation vote. I guess I was hurtin in my quest to find something to write about on the blog. Maybe I got desperate. Maybe I'm just tired of this stupid foot hurting and I'm looking for anything to get my mind off that fact that I'm WORTHLESS these days. Who knows.

I'd love to hear what anyone may have to say whether you agree with my ramblings or not. I don't have all the answers and I don't claim to be a well-informed authority on all things political though I do make an effort to keep up with stuff. My feelings on Sotomayor are pretty consistent with Senator Graham's-- I don't agree with her on everything but she's got judicial SKILLZ and that can't be argued about. So, WORD to all my g's who might be wasting their time reading the ramblings of your very own Saul Goode. Har har.

Hip hoppin on the harmed hoof and this week's king of keepin it real--J.L. Chamberlain

I busted my foot up about three weeks ago playin basketball. Went up for an effortless windmill finger roll but came down funny and strained some tendons or something but at least it's not broken. I was afraid it was on account of it's swelling up so much in one little spot on top of the foot that it looked like a little golf ball was growing out the top. But it isn't broken so ya know, saul goode.

Yet it ticks me right off. Due to the said injury, my high-profile career at Garlock Custom Contracting as Plumbah Numbah One is on hiatus. I'm tryin to keep my bad self busy with books, applyin to the honors college at ASU, hassling my mother, etc. but it's hard not to get bored when most everything you like to do involves being on your feet or using your feet in some way. What's more is I was goin to the gym 4+ times a week to get my Bodypump on, I was shreddin the trails on my bike, heck I was even RUNNING. Needless to say, I was gettin into tip top shape.

And now here I am three weeks later havin to sit around all day to let this blasted foot heal. A fine kettle of fish. I'm gettin a little impatient. I have to wear this funky boot that only reinforces my status as a fashion disaster. I was hopin I'd get one of those sweet Robocop-style walking boots but no, I get the Nephite wooden sandal. I try not to wear it to social type stuff cuz when I do all I get is hounded by folks. Not that I'm bitter or mad about it-- that's just what happens when you're wearin a funky boot. When I see some dude with a nice shoe on one foot and a funky boot on the other, the automatic first thing I say to him is "My man, what happened to the foot?" He then has to rehash the same story he's told to hundreds of people already that day. It begins to wear on a brother.

It makes me walk with a pretty noticeable hitch in my stride so I feel like a true gangsta. All I need is a soundtrack to my life consisting of a bit of Mary J. Blige, Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony, maybe a little Chuck D and Flava Flav...

But anyway, I've been able to read a thoroughly dope book since I've been takin it easy here. It's a biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain called In The Hands of Providence: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the American Civil War. If you've ever seen the equally dope movie, Gettysburg, you know Colonel Chamberlain as the hero of Little Round Top. The guy was a phenom. Grew up on a farm in Maine, went to Bowdoin College, was gonna be a minister then decided to be a professor of Literature and Language there at Bowdoin. The Civil War breaks out and he figures he'll give up his chalkboard for a musket and becomes a soldier. After generally whooping butt in the war including being awarded the Medal of Honor for his and the Twentieth Maine's stand on Little Round Top at Gettysburg (they pretty much singlehandedly saved the Union Army from getting totally annihilated), getting wounded 6 times, and being chosen to have the honor of formally receiving the Confederate's full and unconditional surrender at Appomatox, he went on to serve four terms as Governor of Maine and for years after that served as President of Bowdoin College. I mean, the guy DID IT ALL-- Academics, soldiering, politicking, back to Academics-- all while maintaining a great marriage and family. A true renaissance man.

This might not sound all that cool or interesting to some, but I love reading history and learning about historical figures like Chamberlain. I'm always amazed at the ordinary people who've come before us who were just goin on about their business, not assuming anything, keepin it real, but who when called upon, stepped on up, rose to the occasion they were called to, and made such a huge difference in the world. It's so cool to learn about em and what they had to say and to see what we can learn from em.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone at all reads this besides my daimies the Garners and Liz Lagerstedt, but blogging is cool if not for any other reason than just having a place to express yourself. Even if nobody reads this thing at all, it's worth it to simply be able to sound off about stuff. Kinda like a diary except it's public.

There's post #2. Hip hoppin around on the harmed hoof and my man JLC-- this week's King of Keepin it Real.

Paul's a blogger baby.

I've seen some blogs out there and I figured "Hey Paul, you're a nerd. It's about time you jumped on this thing." And my foot is in disrepair these days so I'm just chillin and takin it easy a lot lately so jumpin into the blogging world seems to make sense. We'll see how this thing goes.

I don't even know what's legal in the blogging world as far as what you post or what you say or whatever so this'll be an adventure. I guess at some point I'll get into some of my deep and profound musings on life, love, cereal flavors, philosophy, politics, what it means being a white 23 yr. old young pipsqueak of a man in today's world, and all that stuff. But maybe this could be a good thing. It's just hard for me to take myself seriously in the blogging world because:

#1. I don't have a bunch of cute little babies to post pictures of.

#2. I'm not all that clever.

#3. I'm not all that gushy with my thoughts and feelings and I don't enjoy broadcasting myself to anyone much less the whole friggin internet.

#4. I don't take myself seriously enough to really think that people actually give a rat's behind for what I have to say.

#5. I'm not all that techy or computer savy. It took me a month to figure out facebook.

#6. It's a girl thing. I really don't know of one dude my age who keeps a blog.

and the list goes on. Nevertheless, I'M DOIN THIS THING.

"Keepin it real": The title of my blog and, really, a way of life. Keepin it real, as far as I'm concerned, is all about keepin perspective, realizing that life's not a party but an adventure, bein who you are but not takin yourself too seriously, rollin with the punches and havin fun whenever you can, all while goin confidently in the direction you choose. KEEPIN IT REAL. BECAUSE THERE AIN'T NO RUST ON THE HAPPINESS BUS.

Well, that's an introduction. The more I think about it, this could really be fun.