Today is the very last day of March, as I realized earlier this morning, which means that today is my very last chance to sustain my streak of posting at least once each month since May of 2007. Of course, I began 2008 as ambitiously as ever, with even loftier goals for myself, hoping to post to either one of my blogs at least once each day, but that quickly faded. So what happened? In a word, life. In another, love.
After so many years of living almost exclusively in my head — long and lonely commutes, brutal brain-draining work, and little time in between to barely breathe let alone heal — my wife and I gave birth to Sawyer, our bouncing baby boy. Abby was so in tune with her body and our baby during the pregnancy that even I was able to move into my own. It was a time to be, not think, and it worked wonders for me. I have never felt so alive.
Naturally, blogging has taken a backseat here — those first two months are killer — while I do occasionally post on Sawyer’s blog, I have hardly been standing still. I continue to work with this notion of doing from the being place, not the thinking place, and have begun to see an incredible shift in my life. Surprisingly, my dreams and aspirations haven’t changed, but my approach to them has, and now the idea of dwelling in and writing more about a “world of me” now seems wholly uninteresting, even to me!
Long story short, this post marks a turning point, not the first and certainly not the last, but definitely a sea change. What was once a blog all about me will soon become less declarative and more inclusive. I may be the beginning, but the story will no longer end with me — I want to open doors not shut them with my old “here’s how I see it and you should too” attitude.
In that spirit, I would like to close with an excellent new track from Beckett and Taylor, one of whom I have written about before, called “World of Me” — it truly is the perfect bridge between these two worlds:
Come play with me. The more I think about it, that might just be my new tagline…
Watch this brilliant ‘videologblog’ from The Colbert Report writers:
As you might expect, it effortlessly and effectively mocks the absurd claims of the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers — which is of course a thinly veiled front for the Big Media corporations like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX / News Corporation, Time Warner, Sony, MGM, and Time Warner, among others — and their demand that writers give up all rights and residuals for works presented online.
And don’t miss this one from The Daily Show writers:
Writers, represented by the Writers Guild of America, are simply asking to be compensated when their work is shown online (supported by advertising) or sold by the download, but Big Media has the audacity to assert that there is no additional revenue created by either one. Meanwhile, Viacom brags to Wall Street that their online businesses bring in $500,000,000 per year as it continues to pursue a $1,000,000,000 lawsuit against YouTube. Do they really think we aren’t paying attention? Or worse, that we don’t care?
Clearly, if these clips are any indication, writers can and will get along just fine without their employers. In fact, it becomes much more likely that some of them will build an audience outside of the Big Media confines, especially with those of us who sympathize with their cause, likely the very same audience of the shows Big Media pushed off the air.
And of course, I love to see my generation turn our talents loose on such ridiculously wealthy and needlessly evil incumbents. We are far more powerful than either side realizes, and these tests only make us stronger.
Speaking of which, for my next post: why I am cancelling my Facebook account and you should too — hint: Facebook is even more evil than Big Media (and that’s not even half of it).
Yes, I posed him that way, and no it wasn’t easy, and no I certainly don’t expect that Woggy Wigglebutt will be either, but I do know that the fun has just begun!
Until recently, I had a sense that everything would just fall into place with him, that while he wouldn’t necessarily bend to my will, he would intuitively know where I wanted him to be. I can’t think of anything more foolish now. Or more preposterous.
My role as his father is to provide a balance of space and support, so that he can be himself in the moment and become a man over time — without undue interference, but not without the intimacy of my experience. It’s my greatest challenge to date, but also an incredible opportunity to put in place so many of the lessons I have learned in my 34 years on earth.
I am humbled by the beauty and serenity of birth, and awed by the strength of my beautifully balanced wife, Abby. I knew from the moment we met that we would make adorable babies together, and while it hasn’t always been easy, this is most definitely both where I belong and where I always have longed to be. I am very fortunate to have such wonderful and powerful alignment in my life.
Yes, my life has been hectic as of late, as I am often fond of saying, but it is so unbelievably full of excitement and great expectations. I will soon be able to hold my child in my arms, and watch him discover his world and himself for the very first time. I can’t wait to share it all with you, and even him when he gets old enough.
As always, more soon. Please understand if updates are few and far between for the next few weeks.
I wanted to share a few of the more powerful words and images created in the light of Al Gore’s incredible achievement, and humbly add a thought or two of my own.
First, Josh Marshall:
There are several layers of irony and poetic justice wrapped into this honor. The first is that the greatest step for world peace would simply have been for Gore not to have had the presidency stolen from him in November 2000. By every just measure, Gore won the presidency in 2000 only to have George W. Bush steal it from him with the critical assistance of the US Supreme Court. It’s worth taking a few moments today to consider where the country and world would be without that original sin of this corrupt presidency.
And yet this is a fitting bookend, with Gore receiving this accolade while the sitting president grows daily an object of greater disapproval, disapprobation and collective shame. And let’s not discount another benefit: watching the rump of the American right detail the liberal bias of the Nobel Committee and at this point I guess the entire world. Fox News vs. the world.
And not to forget what this award is about even more than Gore. If half of what we think we know about global warming is true, people will look back fifty years from now on the claims that “War on Terror” was the defining challenge of this century and see it as a very sick, sad joke — which rather sums up the Bush presidency.
In spite of what the Republican right wants us to believe, this herculean effort was never about personal glory for Al Gore. It is a selfless act, born of a deep commitment to the truth, and a dedication to the health and well-being of all on Earth. But since they cannot fight the facts, which as Stephen Colbert once said “have a well-known liberal bias,” they must counter with outright slander and the most personal of smears…
Speaking of which, along with the great Media Bloodhound, I too was appalled to see the New York Times give prominent placement to such worthless garbage. Contrast that with the simple and understated treatment on the Apple website:
Al has put his heart and soul, and much of life during the past several years, into alerting and educating us all on the climate crisis. We are bursting with pride for Al and this historic recognition of his global contributions.
Yes, Gore is a member of the Apple Board of Directors (he’s on Google’s Board as well), but he’s also an American icon now recognized for his efforts by the global community, and that feat alone is worthy of acknowledgment. But we can’t give him too much glory, or else some people (even make-believe ones like Fake Steve Jobs) will look to Al for even more…
Now it is time. You must run. Not because you want to run, but precisely because you don’t want to run. That, Al, is your strongest point. You don’t want it. You don’t need it. You dare now to be yourself. No artificiality, no stiffness, no falseness. You are who you are. And we need you. We, your fellow Americans. We need you. Now more than ever. Our nation’s soul, hurt by this foolish war, cries out to you. We’ve been wounded by an administration so obsessed with so-called “terrorists” that they don’t notice the earth’s temperature rising at an alarming rate — nearly a tenth of a degree in just the last ten years. So blinded by fear of Iran that they don’t see the snowcap receding on Mt. Kilimanjaro, and icebergs melting and breaking apart in Antarctica. For nearly eight years we have suffered under this madness. This must end.
I don’t often admit it, but I voted for Bush in 2000. I was warned repeatedly by a close friend, but the overwhelming media bias against Gore (especially at the local level in Ohio — the Columbus Dispatch was ruthlessly brutal) had me so thoroughly snowed that I pulled the lever for Bush instead. I still recall a distinct sorrow and shame for my decision at that very moment, knowing in my heart that I was making a grave mistake (obviously that regret remains with me to this day, and even voting against him in 2004 brought little relief). Luckily, there is a silver lining, as Andrew Sloat so eloquently reminds us of the beauty in the 22nd Amendment…
Clearly, these two men and their causes will forever be linked, and their fortunes intertwined. We know now the many differences and the immense gulf between them. Look no further than these two images for confirmation…
Here is Al Gore. He is consumed with his life’s work, immersed in his passion, actively at play in his mind, and truly unencumbered by his modest office:
On the other hand, here is George W. Bush. He is an empty suit in an empty office, seen here casually bullshitting with Nouri al-Maliki on the phone, obviously fidgeting as his imagined power to wish away an inconvenient truth proves ineffective yet again. It always seems that he is consciously trying to look the part of President, all the while mistaking ceremony for reality:
Clearly one man is a leader, the other is a farce. History will not be kind to Bush, nor should it be, but that is the least of our worries now. And no, this is not about the election in 2000, it is about the future of America and the fate of the world. We must find a way to move forward, together, and only one person can do it.
So please, Al, run. Run for President of the United States in 2008. And don’t take any shit from anyone when you do. Stand tall. Stand proud. You were right then and you are right now.
The problem with America, ruthlessly laid bare by Jim Kunstler:
The people I know complain endlessly about how stupid President George W. Bush is, and how badly he has lied to the public about this or that. But a casual observer from Mars would have to conclude that President Bush perfectly represents a nation that shows such a thoroughgoing incapacity for thought, and such an aversion to the truth about its own behavior. A people so hopelessly unwilling to get its act together deserves to suffer.
And the solution to our woes, masterfully diagnosed by Prince Campbell:
Most people fail to grasp this but our emotions are stronger than our minds. And until you get your emotions under control (especially in stressful situations) your brain can’t work.
My favorite contrarian sets it up and my favorite soothsayer knocks it down. All I have to do it pull it all together…
Speaking of which, I truly believe that America is more than ready for someone or something to cut through the bullshit and call it like it is. We may be shocked by the truth, but at least it’s real; more importantly, it will even feel real after nearly seven years of Bush’s stifling delusions of grandeur.