it's cold, but I like where i'm living.

11:21PM - Writer's Block: Guarding the Terrorists

I think that it'd be most difficult to have to be a part of holding them in prison since they've been charged with no crimes, and often are unable to even know the charges/evidence that would be used against them. Hmm, so, yes, either that *or* the hardest thing might be knowing that despite nearly half a century of propaganda, the only people in Cuba holding prisoners without charges are Americans.

12:26PM - A trip to Montgomery

So, yes, I'll be in Alabama from 3/9 until 3/15. If anyone would like to get together while I'm in town either write me here or call me at 513-824-1578. Yes, Jason and Robin, I didn't get to see either of you the last time that I was in town, so I'm gonna be looking for you this time :-P

--alan

12:52PM - You might've heard a little something about the weather system that just moved through my area.

Even though I've been living here for a little over a year, I'm still excited every time it snows.
I thought that I'd just post a few pictures.



( More here )

3:16PM - Inauguration

I'm leaving for DC at 1:45a. So if any of you will be there, give me a call at 513-824-1578

11:07PM - It's really fucking cold outside right now

6:54PM

12:49PM - Our house!

( Pictures of the aforementioned house. )

12:10PM - Suburbs, shootouts, schools, and houses.

So, it's merely stating the obvious for me to say that I'm not one to often post with details of my life.I appreciate that others do and I quite enjoy knowing some of what's going on in the lives of people who I never get to see anymore. And though it's rare, today I had the urge to let you all know a bit of what's been going on with me lately.

I moved into an apartment in Fairfield, OH last year after living in an attic (that I found on craigslist) for three months. Since I'd only lived in Ohio for a few months, I didn't know very much about the various neighborhoods and suburbs, so I had to rely on crime statistics to help me make my decision. Fairfield had a fairly low crime rate and it seemed like a nice quiet area when I was here briefly on behalf of Working America.

I was wrong.

Fairfield, itself isn't so bad overall (if you call a Waspy conservative suburb "not so bad"), but apparently I picked the one undesirable apartment complex in Fairfield. How undesirable? Well over the course of a year we've had flooding of the master bedroom's closet, a gas leak, our air conditioner broke in May and wasn't repaired until August, our heater requires a weekly goat sacrifice in order for it to work, and (this one's the best)some people decided to have a little gun battle on the grounds of our apt complex (this is in a suburb that had a total of two murders from 1999 until 2004). Yes, so you can surely imagine why I've been looking forward to moving out of Fairfield when my lease is up at the end of the month.

Over the past year I've had time to learn a lot more about the various parts of Cincinnati and I'd been narrowing down the list of neighborhoods and suburbs that I'm considering. It's been a bit more difficult than I'd thought. I mean, if I were alone then I'd be happy with a little loft apartment downtown, but, alas, I am not alone, so downtown and it's lofts never made their way onto my list of considerations. Ok, well, my plan had initially been to enroll Maynard and Christian into one of Cincinnati's good magnet school programs, and if that had happened then I would've been able to live anywhere in Hamilton county. I was really happy with this plan because I would've been able to live in Clifton (a funky little neighborhood in the center of town that has it's own neat little independent theatre, among other things.)

It wasn't to be.

Cincinnati magnet schools are first-come-first-serve when it comes to kindergarten and first grade and you have to live in Hamilton county to apply (my current apartment is literally like 2 miles outside of Hamilton county). This didn't seem like a problem at first, as for the past few years the magnet school enrollment date had been in February; but this year they decided to move it up to November (yes, this was Cincinnati public schools just trying to be the bane of my relocation plans). So, this little development obviously made my plans much more complicated. I could either limit my search to one of the 5ish public school districts in town that are good or I could look into enrolling them in one of two good private schools (I would've had to get financial aid for the private schools, as the yearly tuition for two children would come to somewhere around $32,000 per year, and let's just say that I don't have an extra 32 grand lying around anywhere. Maybe I should run for Governor).

So, I've been checking craigslist and the local paper daily for townhouse and house listings (as I've tired of having people hold what sounds like wrestling matches on my ceiling). After having little luck finding places that I was really happy with I finally signed a lease this morning for a little house in the neighborhood of Wyoming! Ok, I know that Wyoming means little to anyone reading this (well there's Cheney's home state of Wyoming, but that's obviously a different Wyoming.) This Wyoming has a school district that was rated as the best in the entire state, so I'm obviously ridiculously happy to have found a house there. Heh, it's mostly a neighborhood of larger Victorian houses, but there's also one hidden-away culdesac of smaller houses that were less obscenely priced. Also, I'm so excited that I'll finally have my own house. It's going to feel so very different living living in an apartment complex. It even has a large back yard with a swing set, slide, and a tree house that was built by the owner! So, yes, this has been entirely too long, but I'm really excited and wanted to share. I think a celebration is in order tonight!

9:36PM - wow

Obama won Ohio!!!!!!!!!

11:15PM - a brief stop in montgomery

I'm going to be in Montgomery from next Tuesday (the 24th) until July 3rd. There are several of you that I'd like to see, and if you return the sentiment then call my cell: 513-824-1578.

11:04PM - An update on my radio program!

So I'd previously posted here about the fact that I was to be starting my own radio pogram. Well after about a month, it's finally about to materialize.

A brief reminder: The show (White Rose Radio) will be a weekly one hour program that will focus on social, political, and economic issues that aren't covered in the major corporate media. The program will be broadcast live on Tuesdays from 11p to noon. It can also be streamed from this site : http://live.waifstream.com:8000/broadband.m3u

It's a daunting task that I an taking very seriously, but I'm also ecstatic about having this opportunity.

oh, yes, and Scott, I'm sorry that I didn't respond to your earlier post, but I would absolutely welcome any contribution that you'd want to make to the show! You can e-mail me about it at AMarlow1@yahoo.com or call me at 513-824-1578

9:51PM - requesting a small favor

So it looks as though I'm going to be getting my own weekly radio show. I'm going to generally focus on ideas that don't get much coverage on American media (the cruelty of carnivorism, the unquestioned premise of american/corporate superiority, The innocence project and general issues of our injustice system, etc). Since I'm in a state that will be a cruicial swing state, I'll also welcome any progressive candidate (or their surrogates), though I have no interest in having a "headline news" sort of program. So yes, the favor... I have no clue what I should name this show and the station (which I will post later) requires a name.. heh, so yes, any ideas?

3:12AM

"The reputation you develop for intellectual and ethical integrity will be your greatest asset or your worst enemy. You will be judged by your judgment. ... There is no victory, no advantage, no fee, no favor, which is worth even a blemish on your reputation for intellect and integrity. ... Dents to [your] reputation are irreparable."--VF

10:52AM - A few pictures taken yesterday from around my neighborhood.

So yes, I decided to post a few more pictures.
( Here )

8:52PM - I hate winter

Yes, this is my first winter and I've already had enough winter for my entire life. I'm sick of being thrilled that it's going to be warm if the temperature happens to climb to the low 30s. Anyway, after my last post Robin mentioned that she'd never seen any pictures of my boys before, so I thought that I'd post a few. I'm terribly tired now, so I'll come back to label them later.
( Christian )

3:26PM - Hopefully it stays away for good this time.

So I'm just emerging from the midst of a terrible sickness. It was really bad for a while and then it let up just long enough for me to take a trip to Cleveland (Cleveland, TN; not OH). Anyway, I just thought that I'd post a few recent pictures that were taken just outside of my apt. I also threw in a couple of my new vehicular purchase. ( Pictures )

10:13PM

I am so proud of Alabama tonight!!!

4:32PM

89% Mike Gravel
84% Dennis Kucinich
75% Chris Dodd
73% Barack Obama
72% John Edwards
71% Hillary Clinton
70% Bill Richardson
69% Joe Biden
38% Ron Paul
30% Rudy Giuliani
29% John McCain
27% Mike Huckabee
25% Tom Tancredo
19% Mitt Romney
16% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

7:10PM - i feel like such a dork...

I feel as giddy and anxious about the iowa caucus as I felt about Christmas as a child.
Also, for any concerned, Cspan is covering the democratic caucus and cspan-2 will be covering the republican one. Both of these channels can be streamed for free at cspan.org

2:49PM - visit to montgomery

I'll be in Montgomery from pre-dawn on Christmas morning until Thursday around 5pm. So, if any of you out there might want to visit during that time, just give me a call at 205-218-7200 during that time or 513-889-2620 before monday morning.