Change: A strange word...
I did something today that may have been a "first in my life" after years and years of going through the motions.
Since... 1998 or 1999 I have subscribed to Newsweek... but today was the first day that I ever read one front-to-back. Every page (except the ads.)
Every word.
Part of it was that I met Scarrie out for lunch at Cafe Lou Lou's, and knowing I needed to be early to beat the lunch crowd because she was going to be late, I took in this weeks edition to pass the time.
It started out as kinda a game... I generally jump right to the quotes page, and sometimes skim the letters and op-ed pieces, but knowing I had the time, I settled in on page one with a nice cup of tea.
By the time she had shown up, I was just getting into the gist of the whole magazine: How Obama Won. After lunch I read a little more in the car.
When I got back to work, I actually sat in the car and read the last 1/3 of the magazine because I was so fascinated by the prose.
It was a little "pro-Obama" but it made me think, and my opinion boils down to this: I'm glad Obama won.
I can't call myself an Obama man, because I simply don't know him. I learned this lesson with Bush in 2000. I wasn't a big fan of Gore, even though I was admittedly a Clinton supporter. Even though he turned out to be a lying horndog douchebag, Clinton was good for the country and globe on whole. (yes, yes, in MY opinion) But I wasn't so sure about Gore, and at least figured Bush would have the experience of his father and many advisors, not to mention he had a pretty good narrative (at that time) of having reformed his party-boy ways into becoming something half-resembling a changed, better man.
Called that one wrong. The last time I was glad Bush was president was the day of the attacks; when I thought to myself, "these guys just don't know what a scorned Texan will do." And I was all about Afganistan. Then came Iraq, and a huge, global "WTF?!" I was done with Bush the day I came home from work ready to play video games into the wee hours with Serpico, who was in town just for that purpose, only to get a "Dear Dave" letter that his reserve unit had been called up and he was going to Iraq.
Sure, it's what had to be done at the time, but that was only because Bush got us into that pickle to begin with.
Chapelle (and to her credit, Scarrie) called it best with "Yeah, Bush knew Iraq has WMD because he has the reciept!" The problem is, where are the WMD now? Syria? Iran? Who the f knows... they're SOMEWHERE, but countless lives, dollars, and suffering later, we still have no resolution on Iraq. But I digress, back to Obama.
I'm glad Obama won because it displays a willingness on the part of the (majority of the) country as a whole to learn from the mistakes of the past. A willingness to at least embrace the notion of change and betterment.
I can wholeheartedly respect and support an entity, be it an individual, a collective group/team, or even a nation, that gets behind the notion of "hey, you know what... we kinda suck... we HAVE to get better, we HAVE to improve, we HAVE to change things up."
And that's why I'm glad Obama won. As someone who is all about continual self improvement, I'm glad to know I'm surrounded by a majority of people who are willing to embrace change, even if it's painful at first, for the overall betterment of themselves and society.
And I don't want to "just hope" that things will improve, I want to do my part to help make it happen. I guess I just need to think about what that means, and what I can do.
In the interim, I'm just happy with how things are right now.
Muzak: Cameo vs. Depeche Mode = Strange Word A little slow to get started, but once it hits, it really pops... and it's the first mashup from Miss Cyberpink!
Since... 1998 or 1999 I have subscribed to Newsweek... but today was the first day that I ever read one front-to-back. Every page (except the ads.)
Every word.
Part of it was that I met Scarrie out for lunch at Cafe Lou Lou's, and knowing I needed to be early to beat the lunch crowd because she was going to be late, I took in this weeks edition to pass the time.
It started out as kinda a game... I generally jump right to the quotes page, and sometimes skim the letters and op-ed pieces, but knowing I had the time, I settled in on page one with a nice cup of tea.
By the time she had shown up, I was just getting into the gist of the whole magazine: How Obama Won. After lunch I read a little more in the car.
When I got back to work, I actually sat in the car and read the last 1/3 of the magazine because I was so fascinated by the prose.
It was a little "pro-Obama" but it made me think, and my opinion boils down to this: I'm glad Obama won.
I can't call myself an Obama man, because I simply don't know him. I learned this lesson with Bush in 2000. I wasn't a big fan of Gore, even though I was admittedly a Clinton supporter. Even though he turned out to be a lying horndog douchebag, Clinton was good for the country and globe on whole. (yes, yes, in MY opinion) But I wasn't so sure about Gore, and at least figured Bush would have the experience of his father and many advisors, not to mention he had a pretty good narrative (at that time) of having reformed his party-boy ways into becoming something half-resembling a changed, better man.
Called that one wrong. The last time I was glad Bush was president was the day of the attacks; when I thought to myself, "these guys just don't know what a scorned Texan will do." And I was all about Afganistan. Then came Iraq, and a huge, global "WTF?!" I was done with Bush the day I came home from work ready to play video games into the wee hours with Serpico, who was in town just for that purpose, only to get a "Dear Dave" letter that his reserve unit had been called up and he was going to Iraq.
Sure, it's what had to be done at the time, but that was only because Bush got us into that pickle to begin with.
Chapelle (and to her credit, Scarrie) called it best with "Yeah, Bush knew Iraq has WMD because he has the reciept!" The problem is, where are the WMD now? Syria? Iran? Who the f knows... they're SOMEWHERE, but countless lives, dollars, and suffering later, we still have no resolution on Iraq. But I digress, back to Obama.
I'm glad Obama won because it displays a willingness on the part of the (majority of the) country as a whole to learn from the mistakes of the past. A willingness to at least embrace the notion of change and betterment.
I can wholeheartedly respect and support an entity, be it an individual, a collective group/team, or even a nation, that gets behind the notion of "hey, you know what... we kinda suck... we HAVE to get better, we HAVE to improve, we HAVE to change things up."
And that's why I'm glad Obama won. As someone who is all about continual self improvement, I'm glad to know I'm surrounded by a majority of people who are willing to embrace change, even if it's painful at first, for the overall betterment of themselves and society.
And I don't want to "just hope" that things will improve, I want to do my part to help make it happen. I guess I just need to think about what that means, and what I can do.
In the interim, I'm just happy with how things are right now.
Muzak: Cameo vs. Depeche Mode = Strange Word A little slow to get started, but once it hits, it really pops... and it's the first mashup from Miss Cyberpink!