Charles Stricklin

A blog buddy of mine popped the question and will be marrying his childhood sweetheart.

Congratulations Mark & Sarah!

Let start a meme!

1. Name at least one movie that is widely regarded as bad, but you think doesn’t deserve its bad reputation:
   I’ll give you three, and oddly, two of them star Bruce Willis:
   1. Hudson Hawk (1991)
   2. The Fifth Element (1998)
   3. Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
2. Name at least one movie that is widely regarded as very good, but you think doesn’t deserve its accolades:
   1. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
3. Name an actor or director who should have their Oscar(s) stripped from them:
   Easy: Michael Moore
4. Name an actor who should have won an Oscar, but for some reason hasn’t yet:
   Gary Sinise

Currently, the Powerball jackpot stands at a record $340 million.

Hmmm… what would I do if I were to win?

1. Yeah, I’d quit my job.
2. $34 million to my church. (If they’d accept it, being gains from gambling.)
3. I’d hire an accountant, an auditor to watch the accountant, and a lawyer.
4. I figure anywhere from 25% to 50% will be lost to taxes. So, I’d disregard $170 million.
5. I’d put half the remainder in a savings account and begin to draw interest.
6. I’d invest half of that remainder in the stock market.
7. I’d spend the remaining $34 million dollars thusly:
   • Move to North Carolina.
   • Buy acres and acres of land.
   • Hire an architect.
   • Have him design and oversee the construction of my dream home.
   • Buy a huge new home for my sister and brother-in-law.
   • Buy a yacht.
   • Take my mother on a cruise/trip anywhere in the world she wants to go.
   • Build her a home anywhere she wants, complete with security system, handicapped amenities and staff, to clean up after her and P.C. (her cat).
   • Wavefront Guided IntraLASIK.
   • Cosmetic dentistry.
   • Hire a chef to help me lose weight without making food taste like cardboard, and teach me how to cook.
   • Hire Stacy, Clinton and Nick to re-do my “style”.
   • Buy a Power Mac G5 with all the trimmings.
   • Buy a maroon Saturn Vue, again with all the trimmings.
   • Go back to college to get my Masters in American History (or Political Science, I’m not sure which), then my Doctorate.
   • Hire a matchmaker.
   • Fall in love.
   • Have kids.
   • Learn to play golf.
   • Be active in my new, local church.
   • Donate to the occasional charity, relief effort and/or political campaign.

You might notice that I’ve left my nephew out of the disbursal. I’d certainly be willing to provide a safety net for him, but he’s an young, single adult and still has his entire life ahead of him. If he wanted to go to college, I’d help, but it’d be contingent on his grades. Then, maybe when he’s older I’d be more generous. He’d certainly be included in my will.

In all, this hypothetical question is really asking, “What would you do with your life if money was no object?” I’d like to think that I’d balance the remainder of my life between indulging my fantasies, appreciating family and giving back to society.

No worries, though, I seldom, if ever, play the lottery. I agree with the adage that the “lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.”

This evening, I enjoyed baked ravoli at Buca di Beppo, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Here are some photos…

This weekend I watched a fascinating DVD titled The Privileged Planet which refutes the Copernican principle (sometimes called the principle of mediocrity) by arguing that the Earth’s seemingly insignificance compared to the universe as a whole in actuality is a compelling argument that our planet’s existence is exceedingly rare and suggests the universe was expressly created with us in mind; that instead of demoting Earth, it actually promoted Earth.

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As an example of the weird way my mind works sometimes, while watching a few moments of a television show on the book of Revelations and the concept of the Rapture, I actually catch myself thinking, “Maybe we shouldn’t allow Christians to be airline pilots.”