the middle

Hey,
Don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out,
Or looked down on.
Just try your best,
Try everything you can.
And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away.

it is a day worth mentioning. the president of the u.s. is planning on addressing the youth of america. it has created quite a bit of a stir. some parents don't want their children listening to what he has to say without their own filters available. sounds like fear to me.

no matter what the day has come and will go. his speech will come and it will go. from what i've heard he is attempting to engage americans at a young age with a sense of commitment and responsibility for each other. just what he is trying to do with health care and insurance reform at the adult level.

there is a pervading sense of "us" and "them" from two very distinct camps in our nation. maybe this is our generations' task. to address the very dark and distinct line of demarkation that separates our ideas and forge a much grander and more welcoming "center". one that will attract the folks on either side who don't ascribe to radical thinking, but are more interested in pragmatics and sensible common ground.

this is another step in the path that our leader is taking to take us to this common ground he spoke of during his campaign. not everyone will agree... ever. there will be dissenters. change doesn't come easily. but it does happen and it is my job- my duty actually, and my privelige- to support his efforts and do what it takes to give his vision for america the opportunity to have the chance to come to life.

i look forward to your speech today, mr. president.


today's sound choice is jimmy eats world with "the middle"

wake up everybody

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

i had such a smooth as silk experience yesterday. i went to work, i watched the inauguration, i networked with a couple of colleagues outside the office, i met with a potential collaborator and discussed the possibility of new funding streams for recovery support, i proofed a flyer, i taught a dui class, and i overate some garlic hummus using pita.

of course this is a snippet of what is a typical day. nothing extraordinary really. i have grown accustomed to my life and my routine. i like most of what i do, and i don't have much time in the day to notice any dissatisfaction, which gives me comfort.

but i realize that i am going to have to change gears soon, if i am to fulfill a promise i have made to myself. i think that improvements in the way our little denver colorado world work could positively affect the lives of my fellow denverites. at least some of them. and i no longer have the luxury of complaining. i have changed my stance on complaining and i did that when i cast my vote. i am thankful that i no longer automatically feel helpless or that things are out of my hands. and with that change comes the reality that if i believe things could be better, i need to work for that.

so, i don't think my schedule will part like the red sea and make room for more effort, but i do think i need to start shifting my awareness to make room for stepping up the community service. as many of my readers know, i have been blessed to have doorways appear which i only have had to step through and like a light switch, my world has shifted and i have been able to shake hands with change. this is part of who i have become and i can't claim it as a talent. but it is part of the blessing bestowed and i must work with it.

be the change you want in the world... this may seem outrageous and old-fashioned, but for me, it seems the only next right move.

what a great and inspirational day our nation had yesterday. but i believe it is time to wake up. maybe i follow edith childs' lead. one voice. one mind. one effort can change a campaign, a city, a direction, and a destination. or at least the tone of any of those.

But during the campaign, "the little woman," Councilwoman Edith Childs, made an in-the-flesh appearance with her favorite presidential candidate. Dressed in a purple suit with her trademark hat, "a church hat" as Obama often refers to it, Childs joined Obama on stage at a town hall here to lead the crowd in her own rendition of "Fired Up! Ready to Go!"

"Fired Up! Ready to Go! Fired Up! Ready to Go!" Childs chanted in a singsong. (Obama's delivery usually has a little more punch.) Childs added a twist to her call this time, getting the crowd to repeat after her, "Obama! Obama! Obama!" and "Will be! Will be! Will be!" followed by "Our next! Our next! Our next!" and finally "Pres-ah-dent! Pres-ah-dent! Pres-ah-dent!"

Obama doubled over with laughter as Childs lead the crowd in the chant and hugged her after she finished.

today's sound choice is harold melvin and the blue notes doing "wake up everybody"

dawning of the age

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

1-20-2009

no doubt about it, this will be a day that will go down in history. probably the first of at least 4 years that will do just that, really. it's such an emotional thing for me- this inauguration. not mania-type emotional, more like a proud relative watching someone they know doing really well for themselves.

i am so happy that there is a rumbling in the streets that resembles hope. it's fairly tactile really. i can feel the energy, i can hear the low roar of excitement that is emanating from almost anywhere i turn.

my belief is that this is destined to be a decade to remember for america, if not the world. and i also firmly believe that this is destiny and is a little eerie. i'm along for the ride for sure, and i intend to take picture once in awhile, too.

children, teens, young adults, blacks, whites, natives, latinos, asians, professionals, blue collars, retired citizens, rural folks, and urban wizards, all holding a single intention in their hearts. amazing in and of itself, but more so when realized its due to the motivation and inspiration from one singular life force.

way to go america... way to go... or should i say here we go...

ps- please don't think i am expecting too much. i honestly hope i'm not that naive. but what i am working on here is hoping for too much. it's been so long since i've had the luxury of hoping too much. and i am indulging as much as i can.

today's sound choice is the 5th dimension with "aquarius/let the sunshine in" from the musical "Hair"

movement

photocredit: yahoo

last night i watched, as almost all of my fellow countrypersons did, as our national posture shifted slightly. i witnessed via several senses, the repositioning of our demeanor, our intention, and our buy-in. i'm covered in goose bumps and thrilled to the core. i almost feel awestruck. and for this jaded monkey, that alone is a momentous accomplishment worthy of its own overture.

as i sat transfixed on the telly and scoured the myriad faces in millennium park, in harlem, in times square, and at moorehouse, i was engulfed with the sobering truth that this was not my moment or my leader at all. this is someone much much more. more than a national leader. this may very well be a world leader.


today's song choice lee dorsey's "yes we can"

Allen Toussaint - Yes We Can Can

Now is the time

Now is the time for all good men
To get together with one another
Iron out our problems
And iron out our quarrels
And try to live as brothers
And try to find a piece within
Without stepping on one another
And do respect the women of the world
Just remember you all have mothers
Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give
I know we can make it
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we

it's not easy

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside me
Yeah, inside me
Inside of me

sometimes i get the idea that i think that i won't have to do quite a lot of work to help get this country back into a position that is palatable. i wonder if i think that someone is going to do my share for me. i wonder if i am thinking the kansas superhero candidate is somehow going to save me from a fate worse than death. actually i know i think this sometimes.

but reality bites. bites butt. in reality, i am aware that our nation has been so paralyzed by the bold and audacious moves that our short sighted leaders have taken, that we have forgotten how to be interactive and we have not wanted to deal with anything that might present itself as challenging. we have wanted everything easy, and our leaders have dismantled systems and broken off liberties and eagerly created an environment to deaden our abilities to be free thinkers. some of the hardest work for americans in the coming years may be remembering that we have a stake in all this which requires more than just phoning in or texting our opinions, and we have responsibility for what happens next. and then trying to agree on what direction things should move and how best to make that happen goes hand in hand.

more than anything, i am hoping this election (and hopefully change of leadership) will bring about a return to integrity, personal accountability, and the idea that we are all working in the same direction and we can count on each other. we look out for each other and depend on each other, whether we have or have not.

today's song choice: superman remix by five for fighting

strike a pose

photo courtesy of kodiakkonfidential

Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war.
John McCain

so much posturing going on in politics this year. what with gustav blowing through the gulf region and the republican vp nominee having more skeletons in her closet than elvira. if this posturing weren't such an affront to the future of so many people by way of this election, it would indeed be enjoyable. it actually mimics a mad tv sketch in many ways.

our beloved dems are little or no better. as bill mahr stated, the obvious missing presence of self-confessed adulterer john edwards from the dem convention displayed the same "out of sight, out of mind" policy that infects both political parties.

give 'em something pleasing to look at, and tell 'em what they want to hear. the truth is relative anyway, and transitory.

bleakly, i must add that i buy into this philosophy, too. the packaging matters if you want my attention. if things look better, they seem better, even if only temporarily. i don't always think about content, especially if the wrapping is really appealling.

has anyone mentioned the colorado minister who announced on the air that he was praying for rain on august 28th in denver to drown out festival obama? i wonder if he felt god was answering his prayers with the timing and appearance of gustav....or maybe he knows that the less that party is seen, the better they look.

Look around everywhere you turn is heartache. It's everywhere that you go (look around)
You try everything you can to escape The pain of life that you know (life that you know)
When all else fails and you long to be Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It's called a convention floor, and here's what it's for, so strike a pose

a new day

there is change afoot.

the things about life that have always seemed natural have shifted somehow. i now find myself comfortable in public and social situations which just a year or so ago would have numbed me out. i can have an uncomfortable feeling and find the patience to sit through it, or let it play out, without ruining my day or sending me to an isolated position. of course this has not always been the case.

neither have i spent a day listening to two separate and seemingly disconnected speeches by two men of african american descent in two separate cities before today. yet having experienced this today, i am finding that the category of men i consider leaders and the places i garner my information and my inspiration have expanded into new areas and grown. this is completely heartwarming for me.

i spent yesterday morning listening to robert e fullilove discuss his impressions of the migration of the hiv virus in america and its correlation to the continual displacement of the brown skinned citizens in america. it helped me realize just how very little i understand and need to learn in order to be effective in the work that i am doing.

and then of course, in my hometown, was the speech to beat this year, by the one and only mr. obama. his words brought tears to several of my viewing companions. this, i simply believe, can be attributed to the "audacity of hope" that he wrote about and that emanates from him and is as infectious as radioactivity. just the reality of a brown-skinned man making an nomination acceptance speech for the presidency of the u.s. is monumental. not so much if one is, let's say, under 40. but to those of us over 40, i believe this is more than just a notation in the history books. it signifies part of our lives coming full circle. it is not a declaration of uncomfortability. it is more the recognition of a metamorphosis. it is also the passing of the gauntlet and the turning of the tide. a new dawn. a new day. a new age. a new life.

today i am heading back to that hometown, feeling changed. big time changed represented by these two experiences in these separate arenas.

and i'm feelin good.

another day in gotham

i am home again. it has been so hot here i feel as if i'm melting sometimes. i have a swamp cooler, but don't have the funds to run it. i have actively trying to cut expenses, all the while trying to find trust that i will survive. i know i will.

i worked a party last night for a woman's 40th birthday. she used to be a party planner. she is not working right now. she gave a sweet speech for her lifetime of girlfriends in the room about the effect each had on her life.

she didn't tip.

i saw an ad for mccain on tv last night and they were running a photo of obama while the voiceover asks who should we hold responsible for the prices at the pump? it really annoyed me. i guess that's part of living in colorado.