Just a Cigar

What Kelli got me for our anniversary, by the way, were two cigars. I'd never had the Natural (http://www.naturalcigars.com) brand before. They're Nicaraguan.

I had some psych reading to do tonight. Nothing like wrapping up the chapter on Freud while puffing away on a stogie.

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That quote "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" is attributed to Freud, even in the text, but I don't know. It doesn't sound right. It never shows up with a footnote or anything, and it just doesn't jibe with anything else the man said. Even the language sounds too modern to have originated from German-born Siggy.

And besides, a cigar would never be just a cigar to Freud. No way Jose.

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Another saying that bugs me is attributed to Yogi Berra (though I believe I've heard it attributed to another baseball curmudgeon, like Whitey Herzog): "It's deja vu all over again."

That one got unearthed a few years ago, got popular, and of course, got misused. I've seen it many times used in such a way that it indicated the author/speaker did not realize that it was a redundancy joke. I cringe every time.

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And man, what a smoke this Natural was! I've had periodic flirtations with cigars (Freud would love THAT little bit of association!), so it was certainly nice of Kelli to hit a shop and get me a pair.

The ones that I've paid good money for have ranged from very good to awful. I've had some expensive ones that weren't nearly as good as, say, a 99 cent "Black and Mild" from the drug store.

But this Natural wasn't messing around... it's better than anything I've ever had, and I've had quite a few. First it's got a natural (of course) but not overwhelming sweetness. I'm told there's coffee blended with the tobacco. I cannot taste it, but instead just get this smooth, rich, even taste from start to finish. This cigar does not "turn" and get coppery 3/4 of the way through like a lot do. It burns slowly, has a smooth draw and kind of lets you down easy when you're nearly done. I've gotta say that it was quite fabulous.

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House stuff... ugh. Kelli's employer has informed her that, despite the fact that others do it, she will not be allowed to work fewer than 40 hours and/or telecommute while attending her own grad classes this fall. Seems that her team can't take the loss of 10 hours a week of productivity from one person. I'm not being sarcastic when I relay that.

Another challenge... we've tossed around a couple of potential solutions, which I won't go into yet. We're not overly daunted though.

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Into the Jung chapter now. Man, early psychology was pretty wacky. Jung had been an heir apparent to Freud's legacy when he began to reject some of the old man's ideas for his own. Their parting was not pretty.

Jung went on to dwell extensively on ESP and the like, as well as to chalk up a lot of what you and I might call instinct to "the collective unconscious." At this point his theories take on a very Joseph Campbell tone as he talks about the repetition of themes and symbols among primitive peoples across the globe.

Like Freud, it seems that he's considered to have hit upon some salient points, but some of the building blocks of his theories are questioned or discounted altogether.

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Buddy Bell takes over the Royals and suddenly they're invincible. They just swept the bloody Yankees IN NEW YORK, then beat Texas 2-1 tonight during what seemed to be a good game (I don't have the luxury of just sitting down to take in a game much at this point).

Test 'em all for steroids!

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Speaking of which, Nike has unceremoniously ended their nine-year relationship with once-juicin' Jason Giambi.

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THEBOY asked me today where God is. I tried to go with a pretty standard parent answer, but to embellish it a bit. He asked if God is in the sky, and I said yes, but he's everywhere. He's in the flowers we got Mama last weekend, and he's in the sound of his sister's laughter.

And THEBOY said, "But the sky is BIG, right? So he can just be in the sky."

Who am I to argue?

I guess he didn't care for my Robert Frost spin...

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Bedtime approaches. I hope I don't dream about staircases, playing children, losing teeth or umbrellas, as Freud would associate those with sex.

No, I'd just prefer to dream about SEX.

(Okay, that was too easy...)

Good night.