Monday, November 26, 2007

Giving Thanks


The family asked me to say grace over Thanksgiving dinner. Knowing my spiritual beliefs don't really include a god-concept that makes sense of prayer, this was rather surprising. So, this was all I had...

"Genocide - it ain't always such a bad thing."

Who knows? Maybe god was talking through me.

Upon reflection, I realize that I am not the only one in the family who has to practice tolerance and patience, kindness and forgiveness during our family get-togethers!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Outside the Box


A great friend of mine lives his life in a truly authentic fashion - perceiving the world through his own set of whacky lenses.

He was rambling last night about a hole in the roof of his '89 Honda...a hole that he spoke about repairing two years ago...a hole I just assumed he'd fixed some time over the course of the past 730 days or so.

I was wrong.

The thing leaked on him again yesterday and his solution to having a puddle form in the floorboard of his car was a unique one.

Most of us would stop a leaking roof by fixing the hole in the roof.

Not this guy.

"I don't mind getting dripped on," he admits. "But I have to wear these damned goofy-looking shoes with the holes in them." He lifts up one foot for all of us to see. He is wearing Crocs. "I have to wear these stupid fucking things because they're the only shoes that don't aggravate my bunions. And the hole in the roof of the car sits just above and in front of my nose. So the water drips down on my feet and gets 'em wet. I can't be walking around in this cold weather with wet feet. So I just drilled a hole in the floor of the car where that water hits. Worked perfectly. It's keeping my feet dry."

He solved the leak by drilling another hole.

Crazy old dude is one of my mentors. Maybe some day I can think like that.
Friggin' genius.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Like Billy Idol - I'm Just Dancing with Myself

Well, okay. I guess I am just talking to myself here. The only comment I received about Barack's studmuffin status came from...ME.

Depressing.

The friggin Iowa caucus is just over a month away. And, once again, it looks like we are going to get the kind of leadership we deserve. Entrenched politicians indebted to PACs and lobbyists. Fuck it. I'll do what I can and I'll can what I can't.

If you don't wanna get onboard the Audacity of Hope bandwagon, I hope you have at least thought through the whole scenario as clearly, critically and intelligently as possible. Right now, Obama still has a better chance of beating any of the Repug candidates than does Hillary - if you look at the polls. She just can't get enough "Reagan Dems" and independent voters on her side...and it is my belief that she never will.

And even if she somehow manged to win the White House, no clear-thinking person believes a) She will bring about the kind of somewhat radical change that Obama would at least try to, or that b) She would be able to bridge the divisiveness and vitrol that exists in Washington - and throughout the nation. (This isn't a nation of red states and blue states, said Obama, this is the United States.) We have serious issues - internationally and domestically - that are going to require someone who is able to get more than 52% of the people to rally behind them. That ain't Hillary. Obama might be able to do that.

That said, I am hopping on the Obama bus - literally - one of these Saturdays in the next month to head to Iowa and canvas for Barack. His voters tend to be younger and less experienced (but more educated) than Hillary's. Therefore, the big concern is they don't realize that on Jan. 3, it isn't just a matter of going to a booth and pulling a lever. They may have to spend many hours engaged in debtes and discussions:

On caucus night, Iowans gather by party preference to elect delegates to the 99 county conventions. Democratic candidates must receive at least 15 percent of the votes in that precinct to move on to the county convention. If a candidate receives less than 15 percent of the votes, supporters of non-viable candidates have the option to join a viable candidate group, join another non-viable candidate group to become viable, join other groups to form an uncommitted group or chose to go nowhere and not be counted. Non-viable groups have up to 30 minutes to realign, if they fail to do so in that time, they can ask the for more time, which is voted on by the caucus as a whole. If the caucus refuses, re-alignment is done and delegates are awarded.

So, the Obama camp really needs volunteers to devote a Saturday to hopping onboard a bus and spending 4 hours walking around telling people why they should vote for Barack and explaining the process...in the hope that they will actually follow-through on caucus day.

All aboard the Audacity of Hope bus...all yea who still dare to hope for something better.

OUT