Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Sean Murphy's LiveJournal:

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Friday, May 22nd, 2009
8:37 am	For quite a while, I have said only half jokingly that I seem to be living other people's lives. Working in sales, traveling extensively, holding some high-profile positions, and operating in communities that are more far-flung than local, life certainly looks nothing like anticipated 10 or so years ago. One problem, so to speak, with living other people's lives is that it definitely brings those other people to mind while it's going on and it's hard to not think on- depending how you look at it- what has been lost or at least what is different. This past week in the lovely, artsy, slightly quirky, mid-size Texas town of Austin has certainly been such an occasion. It would be easy to dwell on what is different and regard it as lost, but upon deeper reflection, the real difference, the real "loss", essentially comes down to the relationship with God. So we're not really dealing with loss, but certainly with a different way of relating than 15, 10, or 5 years ago. More to the point, different ways of communicating- different ways of expressing and most certainly different ways and tools for listening. It is not always easy for such a linguistically predisposed (8 syllables in those 2 words!) person like myself to listen well for things said but not spoken. But just as this highly unlikely life has made for fantastic opportunities, so too does it come with this as a new challenge... and yet another new opportunity. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
3:56 pm	President Bush has threatened to veto a defense appropriation bill being debated by the Senate IF the Senate includes an amendment which would RESTORE the CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED right of habeus corpus. WTF?!?!? Please, please, please, help me to know that I'm not the only person outraged by the fact that Bush would use ANY reason to veto the restoration of a constitutional right! Current Mood: enraged (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, September 14th, 2007
11:01 am	Almost forgot... One other thing- In the course of his speech, Bush actually gave us a reminder of the regard he holds for the working class in our country. On Labor Day, instead of participating in anything acknowledging American labor, Bush went to Iraq. (Comment on this)
9:12 am	Reactions to Troop Surge speeches, etc. Bush started his speech last night warning about those forces who are threatening to topple the Iraqi government. Anyone else see the irony? One of Bush's main rationalizations for staying in Iraq is that local leaders in Al-Anbar(sp?) province have started cooperating with US forces against Al Qaeda forces who alienated the tribal leaders because of vicious acts against local residents. If the situation was the same as now, except that either Saddam Hussein or forces from Iran or Russia or wherever were in our place in Iraq, would the tribal leaders be cooperating with them? In other words, does the cooperation have anything to do with our presence other than the fact that US forces just HAPPEN to be military forces present there? The recommendation of General Patraeus(sp?) accepted & advocated by Bush is to reduce troops in Iraq back to pre-surge levels by next summer. So troop levels about 9 months from now will be the same as troop levels about 9 months ago. Is this really considered progress? Bush cited progress by saying essentially that people in Iraq no longer (or less so) fear violent death by beheading, etc. Yet later in the speech he talked about the cooperative tribal leader who was killed yesterday. Finally, in a response Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee drew a distinction between Iraq & Vietnam the following way: Iraq is a theological war; Vietnam was a geographical or geo-political war. But the reason the US went into Vietnam- and certainly the reason we stayed- was because of a war of ideologies: western democracy vs. communism. To the (large!) extent that a "theological" war is equivalent to an ideological war, then Iraq is still similar to Vietnam. From (several) things I've seen recently, Huckabee seems to be a very nice, upbeat, and- unlike Bush- articulate guy, but statements like this have been negating such positives IMHO. *sigh* Wake me up when September ends. Current Mood: cynical (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 13th, 2007
8:16 am	And today's sign of the apocalypse Mitt Romney won the Republican "Straw Poll" in Iowa this past weekend. No big surprise. Finishers 2, 3, and 4? Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, & Tom Tancredo. What do these three candidates have in common? They were the 3 who raised their hands at the first Republican presidential debate in response to the question "Raise your hand if you do not believe in evolution." Current Mood: pessimistic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
8:13 am	With thanks to Auggie Smith Saw comedian Auggie Smith with Mark & Caitlin last night. Good time, and wanted to pass on this particular nugget that had me applauding. "Some liberals have been comparing Bush to Hitler. That's ridiculous- Hitler was an EXCELLENT public speaker." Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Friday, April 20th, 2007
9:18 am	Democratic candidates on- Partial-birth Abortion So I've started to do some comparison work on the Democratic presidential candidates to decide who I want to support next year. With the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban on partial-birth/intact dilation & extraction abortion, I figured that abortion would be a good issue to start with. My approach is to look at statements from their official campaign websites & their official campaign email messages. I figure that's the most undiluted, most direct statement we can find from the candidates themselves. My bias: I view abortion as- at BEST- a necessary evil. Symptomatic of a fallen world, both evil and sometimes necessary. Therefore, I'm looking for a candidate who will respect the nuances of the debate, not absolutist positions. On the particular issue of partial-birth abortion, there seems to be general agreement in the medical community, if not full consensus, that the procedure is RARELY necessary & that there are other fully sufficient alternatives. So my general take on the Supreme Court decision is that it is reasonable, but that if future research shows that the procedure is a medical necessity or other sufficiently alternative methods are banned, than the decision would need to be overturned. So, the candidate whose website treated the issue with the most nuance & intelligence: Dennis Kucinich Suprised me too. The ones who really rubbed me the wrong way were Hillary Clinton &, unfortunately, John Edwards. (On most other issues, I think I'm an Edwards man so far.) They focused on the near-absolute right to abortion as their objection to the decision. Bill Richardson & Barak Obama treated the issue well, focusing on the sticky issue of government dealing with limitations to what procedures are open to doctors & patients. The most intriguing response I found was that Chris Dodd. His website contained no statement. Nothing on the issue. And maybe that's the most prudent response here. Not terribly informative, but maybe it indicates that he's willing to accept the decision on a highly uncertain issue as sufficiently reasonable? My overall rating on the candidates' response to the issue of partial-birth abortion & the Court's decision: BEST- Dennis Kucinich GOOD- Bill Richardson, Barak Obama POOR- Hillary Clinton, John Edwards WILD CARD- Chris Dodd Current Mood: Analytical (Comment on this)
Friday, March 30th, 2007
12:24 pm	Why I won't vote for Giuliani So I was listening to a few minutes of Rush Limbaugh the other day, (Yes, I do occassionally flip on Rush Limbaugh. I think it's irresponsible to not try to understand how those with whom you disagree think... or at least what such people say) and I heard a radio ad from the Rudy Guiliani for President campaign. In the midst of all other things he said, Giuliani declared himself to be an adherent of supply-side economic policies. Economically, I therefore fear that a Giuliani presidency would be more of the same that we have now- playing fields tilted in favor of the rich, making it easier for the rich to get even richer while keeping it hard- or becoming even harder- for the poor, working poor, and working classes to progress. Thus far, Edwards, of all people, looks like a very attractive candidate, especially in terms of economics. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
12:09 pm	No more crack before bed Bizarre dream last night. Anyone have insight into any potential "meanings" herein? So after blowing a pretty important kickoff, Randall Cunningham nails a line-drive extra point kick to send a game into overtime. (At this point, the game must be football, and Randall Cunningham is a pro quarterback, not a kicker.) In the ensuing break before overtime, the coach (my dad) decides that in addition to Megan (a former player of mine, one of the best midfield lacrosse players in Cincinnati), Anne, my best man Mark, and our friend Jen will start & I will be on the bench, but ready to go in after 2 minutes or so if needed. (With all this, the game in question is women's lacrosse. Not sure where Randall Cunningham went.) Insights? Questions? Guesses as what someone slipped into my drink? (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 7th, 2006
10:02 am	Snow driving In honor of the first snowfall of the year, please allow me to post a few friendly notes to my fellow drivers. If your car has trouble, especially going up a hill- no problem, it happens- please turn on your hazard blinkers so that we can see you as we approach. If your car is NOT having trouble, DO NOT stop on the hill & turn on your blinkers to "protect" the car ahead that is having trouble. This forces the rest of us to stop twice & pass cars twice. Pull OFF the road & go help or move along. Front-wheel drive is now standard on most models of cars. If you have chosen to buy a car with rear-wheel drive, do not subject the rest of us to your limitations. In particular, if you drive a Jaguar with the license plate BOSSY 2 U, take your other car- because we know you have one- that likely has front-wheel drive, or is a suburban-tank SUV with 4-wheel drive. If your car demonstrates the traction of a BB on ice, DON'T TAKE THE HILLY ROUTE. It is not, in fact, necessary, to leave 6 car lengths between you and the car ahead, especially when traveling 20 mph. And then braking hard at the first sign of brake lights ahead of you. Remember that you have a responsibility to also not endanger the car behind you. And for those of you who drive Toyota Corollas, I don't care if the limitations inherently reside in your car or in your driving. You suck. All of you. Current Mood: bitchy (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 20th, 2006
1:49 pm	World Games: Day 5 Ireland vs. Wales Barring a loss plus a HUGE win by Scotland over Hong Kong, Ireland already had the Red Division championship, so this was to be a day for getting a lead, building it, then getting everyone some playing time and some rest. Good, steady play all day long helped Ireland do just that as we steadily, methodically ran our game up to a 12-4 victory. Significant playing time for me today. I would have spent most of the second half in goal, but just as I was about to go in, head coach Richie Moran realized I hadn't taken any shifts at long-stick midfield. I had a couple of uneventful runs then played the 4th quarter in goal. 1 save on 3 shots- the one save was a beauty, and the 2 goals were off defensive breakdowns that left me in tough situations. The best play came on a missed pass that stayed in-bounds behind the goal. I went back to play it & came up with a couple of Welshmen in my face. Somehow, I managed to tiptoe (literally) along the endline to stay in bounds & break away into the corner. As I got some separation to turn & head upfield, a wrap check came from behind me straight across my facemask. Perfect! I thought, trusting that such a blatant slash to the head would surely draw a penalty flag. After dodging another attackman near the restraining line, I got to about midfield & made a poor clearing pass to a defenseman upfield, partly from a push from behind as I passed. The pass was picked off by Wales and the whistle promptly blew, not for the blatant slash to the head (a 1-minute extra man penalty), but for the (comparatively minor) push from behind. Whatever, it worked & it was cool. So Ireland clinched the Red Division title outright & will face Australia the next day- in the mainstage stadium!- for the chance to play in the medal round. Let's hope it goes better than the play-in game against Sweden at the last European Championships! Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
12:39 am	World Games: Day 4 Ireland vs. Scotland The big game- the Red Division championship. Undefeated Ireland against undefeated Scotland. For Scotland, there was also pride on the line, after losing 6-5 to Ireland the previous year in a contentious Celtic Cup match. Ireland is a thoroughly retooled team since then, with Scotland being mostly the same, save for stud goalie Matt Russell. You might remember Matt Russell as the starting goalie for Navy in the 2004 national championship game until he separated his shoulder sometime in the 3rd quarter. (For the record, he didn't come out until the 4th quarter.) Scotland struck first, followed by 4 straight Irish goals in the 1st quarter. The teams traded goals in the 2nd & 3rd quarters, but the advantage on number of shots was definitely in favor of Ireland. Matt Russell was making his impression felt, but the sheer number meant that some were inevitably finding their way in. Conditioning helped Ireland pull away in the 4th, and we were able to celebrate a 15-9 victory. I only played a couple of shifts at long-stick midfield that day, with very little playing time after confusion on 2 straight man-down series. I tried to ask a simple question of the defensive coach who instead tried to launch into a long explanation of the entire thing that didn't answer my question anyway. Trying to press my question rather than listening (to something that wasn't helping) didn't go over well & I didn't really see the field again. So I wasn't in the mood to celebrate much afterwards, but a good dinner & some time away at Anne's hotel helped me get refocused to go forward & finish out the round robin against Wales on Tuesday. Current Mood: moody (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006
11:08 pm	World Games: Day 3 Bye day Spent a very nice evening out with mom & dad, Brian & Jessica, and Anne & her mom last night. Right after finishing a good dinner at a Scottish bar they broke out... the karaoke. Oh yeah! Sunday was our day off. Nice timing- in the middle of the round-robin & between our 2 toughest games. In the afternoon, most everyone from the team watched the USA vs. Canada game. Very surprising! Canada actually controlled the tempo most of the day & it was a hard-fought, close battle all the way through. Canada scored with less than a minute to tie the game at 12-12, then USA brought it down & Jay Jalbert fired in a shot from downtown with about 3 seconds to go give USA the win. Overall, it was really a victory for Canada- they never play USA this close in the round-robin, but I think they gave 'em a big scare. Otherwise, spent a very nice evening with Anne at her very nice new hotel (one without construction, dark parking garages & bugs), then came back to start focusing on Scotland. (Comment on this)
7:25 am	World Games: Day 2 Ireland vs. Italy One of our 2 toughest games in the Red Division. Italy was a mostly-unknown coming in, but had a couple of talented guys, including at least one MLL (pro) player. They had given Scotland fits the day before, taking them to overtime, before running out of steam & losing. Turns out Ireland has some surprising depth, or at least really good conditioning. The game was very close in the first quarter & stayed close to halftime, with Ireland up 6-5. Then the blue-collar Boys in Green steadily turned on the pressure, controlling the tempo, wearing them down & pulling away. After a 6-5 halftime, the final score was something of a surprise: 15-6, Ireland improving to 2-0. No real playing time to speak of. A couple of long-stick midfield shifts at the very end of the game, but I never really ended up near the ball. No biggie- we gotta do what we gotta do & I'm there to relieve Pat (starting goalie) or the D-men if need be. Afterwards, enjoyed a wonderful, if long, dinner with the family, Anne, Anne's mom, & Jessica (up with Brian for the weekend). Just as we were finishing up dinner, the Scottish bar we were in broke out... the karaoke. Yeah, Brian & I each did 2 songs before everyone agreed that we'd been there too long & we called it a night. Next up, our bye day, conveniently placed between our 2 toughest games! Current Mood: chipper (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 18th, 2006
10:07 pm	World Games: Day 1 Ireland vs. Hong Kong Hong Kong has improved tremendously since the last World Games. They even added 2 freakishly large Ohio State grads to their roster who tried their damnedest to get some things going for Hong Kong, but without much success. Ireland, however, was just as dominant as in 2002 & jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Hong Kong pulled things together for 3 goals in the 2nd quarter, but could only manage 1 more all game as Ireland steadily pumped goals in for a 19-4 win to start the 2006 World Games. I got nearly a half of playing time, going in for most of the 2nd quarter and the entire 4th. Shortly after going in, Hong Kong scored their 2nd goal of the game on me on a great bounce shot to the top corner that I got a tiny piece of. Their 2nd goal of the quarter was a similar shot that stayed low. I was pretty well on it, but it snuck through the tiniest of openings I had left between my legs after glancing off my stick. Frustrating, no doubt. I got a couple of saves in the 4th quarter to sort of even things out (for my own personal stats), but my personal highlight came shortly after entering in the 2nd quarter. Hong Kong threw a bad clear down into our defensive corner. I ran out to scoop it up & looked up to face a quickly-closing double team coming to crush me in the corner. In rolling away from the first attackman (one of those BIG guys), I saw a third coming from my side. I managed a dancing S-shaped dodge out of the corner from these guys, then got pushed down from behind by the last guy. I instinctively held my stick out toward the end line so as to lose the ball out of play, but after hitting the ground I discovered that the ball had magically stayed in my crosse. (Hooray for goalie pockets!) I looked up to see my trusty D-man Ryan "Shockey" Licht running in to help & made the pass to him from my knees. I wish I could have seen it- it had to have looked cool. Interestingly, the whistle blew right at that point & immediately the refs called a water time-out (it's been in the 90s w/ high humidity here) & upon coming out I discovered that the whistle was NOT for the push from behind with possession (a 30-second penalty) but for Ireland being offside. All that work... but whatever- Ireland starts 1-0! Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 13th, 2006
1:06 pm	World Games: Prologue Internet access at Cornell University was sketchy (does anyone else find that ironic?), so I haven't had much opportunity to post. Most days at Cornell, we had 2-a-day practices on astroturf in a stadium (translation- HOT!) but gradually made a lot of progress. On Sunday, we played a club team in Sackett's Harbor, NY at the 1812 Shootout Tournament. Standout player of the day was... me! I played 2-and-a-half quarters in goal, probably a bit more than intended when the starter took a hard one off the bone in his forearm & had a nasty welt. I just played a straight-up good game, attacked the ball, had my angles, & it paid off. Among the saves were 2- count them TWO- shaft saves. Normally, a goalie will make 2, maybe 3, shaft saves per YEAR. It was unfrickin' believable. Didn't play so hot in the practices before & after, & I was so occupied with communication during the Tuesday scrimmage that I didn't make the saves well either. Tuesday we played a thrown-together club team that borrowed a few of our guys. Miscommunication in the weeks leading up to the game hampered their turnout, but they had some very good players. Wednesday was a long travel day, and was the only rainy day so far. Here's praying that the weather continues to hold. Opening ceremonies are tonight, and that means I'll get to see Anne & my parents again! :-) Current Mood: optimistic (Comment on this)
Friday, July 7th, 2006
12:29 am	World Games: Enroute to training camp It's been 4 years (...it's already been FOUR YEARS?!?), so it's time for the Lacrosse World Championships once again. Same me, same team (Ireland), but this time, I'm on the official roster, and I'm due to play. I will do my best to add updates here like I did 4 years ago in Australia. Between wedding planning, physical training, & breaking away from the store, prepping for the trip was tough & I got a late start today. Due to a convoluted series of things, I ended up renting a car that I'll drop off in Syracuse tomorrow before our training camp starts at Cornell. With such a long, important trip, I took a very long time to pack, making SURE that I didn't forget anything... except for stuff to trade, but I was already very late enough leaving town, so I was aware of that one. Backups in Cincy made things tricky, but eventually got through & made the lovely, if long, trek through southern Ohio into West Virginia. Cincy to Ithaca, New York by way of Morgantown, West Virginia? Yeah, not the most direct, but one of my teammates lives here & picking him up breaks up the drive & gives me a companion, but lessens the logistical hassle of extra cars at Cornell. So I'm here for a very short night before another 6-7 hour drive tomorrow followed by check-in & practice. Already late, already tired, big stuff coming. Good night! Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:21 am	Toto!!!!!! Awesome July 4th! Everyone knows that I'm a Toto nut. Have been for roughly 12 years now. I have owned all but one (obscure) album that they have produced, at some point or another in my life. To the best of my (limited) knowledge, in that 12 year period they have never played a concert closer to Cincy than Las Vegas. But on July 4th, they played IN Cincinnati (well, Blue Ash) and it was FREE!!!! Anne went with me, & we picked up Mark & Caitlin on the way, all of whom humored me very well. I had a great time. It was really neat to get some concrete images of the band to go along with the music that has moved me for years. They opened with my 2 favorites from their new album, and in between played a mix of their old stuff, about half being their bigger hits and half the obscure stuff that only more thorough fans like me would know. For whatever reason, they were without piano player, singer, and main songwriter David Paich, which was a shame. The "new guy" who joined them for their most recent album filled in well on keyboards, but his singing was very mechanical, lacking the great soul he displayed on the album- especially when he was filling in for David Paich's vocals. Unfortunately, with the crowd being (understandably) older, it never really got jumping, and the venue wasn't the most conducive (with about 90% of the people there for the fireworks, regardless of who the band was). But it was a great personal thrill, and a great pick-me-up from the stress that had been the store and will be the World Games. Current Mood: enthralled (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 1st, 2006
2:57 pm	A-ha! Finally! Trouble logging on for a while there- couldn't remember a new password. Last weekend, I achieved what will be- save for an incredibly unlikely scenario later this month or an even more unlikely scenario 4 years from now- the pinnacle of my lacrosse career. Team Ireland played Team USA. It was a scrimmage game in Philadelphia to prepare for the World Games. Results were pretty much as expected: 27-2, USA. I was pleased that USA crushed us primarily through respectful, disciplined team play and didn't rub it in to the extent that a 27-2 win could be. We played with our full squad (National Team plus the representative club team) so I didn't see a whole lot of time. After practicing all spring as short-stick midfield, I got the call to go in at long-stick midfield. Played quite well. Ireland won MAYBE one face off the entire game. And USA moved early on damn-near EVERY face-off the entire game. My first shift, I was at least able to come in from the wing to cut off the faceoff man for USA from driving straight to goal. I was rewarded by a teammate sliding (unnecessarily) who planted a pretty solid hit on ME and knocked me down. Oh well, I had done my job right. Next face off, similar story, but didn't get hit. Once again ended up guarding multi-year pro Roy Colsey & keeping him him in check. One other later shift, almost the same thing. On my final shift of the game, I ended up playing in the crease where I helped my teammate D-pole set things up right. I then proceeded to be late switching coverage to one of the attackmen on the crease, but I recovered JUST in time to prevent my new man from shooting & to drive him back out of shooting range. That was pretty much it. A 3-day trip of a thousand miles for about that much playing time, but it also helped show how much Ireland still has to gel as a team- and that was without almost all of our Ireland-based players. Work has made it tough, but with this last week until training camp, I'll be hitting the training really, really hard. Camp starts July 7th; World Games start July 13th! Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
11:55 pm	CLOP, DON'T READ THIS UNTIL I CALL YOU!!! Announcing the engagement of Anne Christine Marquett of Cincinnati (formerly Chicago) to Sean Michael Murphy of Cincinnati. The proposal was made & accepted on Sunday, June 11th just before sunset on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Special thanks to Mark & Caitlin Jeanmougin for their assistance & for photographing the event. No date has yet been set, but will most likely be in January of 2007, otherwise no earlier than July of 2007 (probably circa November). Location has also not been firmly set, but current leanings are to Cincinnati, at St. Bartholomew Church in Finneytown. Suggestions for reception halls, service music, & reception music now being accepted. (By the way, the proposal was made & accepted at the place where Anne & Sean first met almost 6 years ago. Cincinnatians should get it.) Current Mood: loved (1 Comment |Comment on this)