All in commentary
Was it adventure, optimism, oppression or depression that caused them to board those boats? Their individual stories are lost, but those were my people, those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.
I stand on my assertion that the single biggest threat to our country is our own inability to respectfully disagree with each other. We've lost something fundamental to who we are as a nation, and we won't move forward until we get it back.
read more...
Tonight, only the nerds would be at their computers, watching their networks die in Y2K chaos. The rest of us would be showering in champagne.
read more...
Neither of us spoke the other’s language, but she held my hand the way they do when they’re saying something important and they want you to get it.
read more...
The sun is melting me into the deck. I feel remote, dreamy, relaxed and free - I could be perfectly content riding this boat all day.
after poking and stabbing at various buttons on the dash with no discernible difference in the cabin temperature, Dad finally pulled to the side of the road, took off his gloves, activated a touch-screen and spent the next few minutes muttering in frustration at the bewildering array of arrows, plus signs, minus signs and icons available.
Abruptly we pulled to the curb, and Matthew began to talk to a bunch of men sitting in lawn chairs under a tree: robed, Ray-Ban-ed, exaggerated cool. I was taken aback when Matthew announced that these men would change our money, and it suddenly seemed that the transaction was urgent.
We, the USA, are not just a member of the world community, we are a leader. Leadership is a tough position to be in because it demands that we occasionally insert ourselves into other people’s issues. Some will welcome our involvement and others will resent it.
I had some time to kill on a quiet Saturday morning in Des Moines, and so I went for a wander in our state capitol building. I practically had the place to myself. The security guys were bored and the woman at the info booth kept smiling at me in a challenging way, “Ask me anything. Go ahead. Make my day”.
we all have some prejudices we carry around - some stereotypes that we buy into - and someday, maybe unintentionally, we’ll let one out. We’ll expose ourselves for who we are, and we’ll be embarrassed. I hope that when it is my turn to be in that position, that there is some grace for me.
I’m 49 years old and I think I can still count on one hand the number of times in my whole working life that I’ve called in sick. Good health is a blessing. I’m very thankful and very aware that it could all change tomorrow.
A surprisingly cool evening after a warm week.
Windows open to let the house breathe.
To bed with gentle breezes and the sounds of tranquility:
I wish that those on the right would stop asking me to be more judgmental than I already am, because I don't think that's a part of my Christian calling. And I wish those on the left would stop beating me over the head with the word “tolerance”, when they clearly have something to learn about the word, themselves.
to the ethnic hair police, let me ask this: when did it become taboo to experiment with elements of another culture that we find interesting?
I start every morning with a cup of coffee, a check outside to be sure the sun is going to live up to it’s daily obligation, and a look at the news. When I say I “look at the news” I mostly scan the CNN.com headlines and rant to myself, “that’s not news”, “that’s not news”
