I just ran across this today, probably the most shocking thing I’ve seen in awhile:

Wow. As this is a observation in media and world politics I don’t want to focus on the candidates here but rather what I see as the bigger issue.  A year or so ago I came across these folks, they want to deliver computers and wifi to third world countries “so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning.” Information is power. That premise here is that knowledge is power, whomever controls that knowledge has the power. This wasn’t a local new broadcast, this was an Al Jeezera report. The same Al Jeezera that is the Middle East’s CNN* a major player in how US perception is formed in that region. This is perhaps the greatest strength or our country, information available in all forms to anyone at anytime. It is extremely alarming to me that these people exist, but perhaps even scarier that others are basing their opinions of our country on such individuals through the lens of television.

I’m totally doing a gp post because my wife did yesterday (www.mermaidgardenparty.com)  and it got me thinking.  My guilty pleasure is clothes.  Yeah, totally being a girl here but I really, really like sartorial statements, it’s my crack.  I’m the guy that notices things, little things, brogueing, peaked lapels, darted pants, double vents, spread and cutaway collars, surgeon sleeves… It’s terrible.  When I used to work at Neimans other employees would purposefully avoid me if they were wearing certain articles, not because I would comment, but because they knew I would notice!  (I know this because they told me so)  So, as the nights grow longer and my dog takes shorter and shorter bathroom breaks I start pulling out my v-neck sweaters.

No, thats not me (I don’t wear button-down collars, too American)  These kinds of sweaters are one of my favorite things about chilly weather, really one of my favorite things period!  It’s also well to note here that outside of Christmas and drinking hot lattes cold weather brings little to no joy to my life.  There are a few requirements to the sweaters I choose of course, material (cashmere or merino), cut (slim please) and color (I actually perfer louder colors, deep purples and spring greens, as these really pop under a coat)  These things are also brilliant under suits and blazers and keep you extremely confortable in the colder months!  So as I checked weatherbug this morning and found we were going to have a rather chill day I was more than excited to throw one of these on.  I think on the way home I’ll grab a latte…

Well, a Chihuahua actually.  His name is Chico.  He belongs to (my wife) us and when I say “belongs to us” I mean he lets us room and board in his house, as long as we pick up after him.  Mostly this isn’t a bad deal, we open doors for him and serve him breakfast and dinner (he’s picky about mealtimes) and make sure to casually mention the terms “walk,” “toy” and “eat.”  But, when it’s bad, it’s bad.  The latest fiasco surrounds his litter box, yes, believe it or not, yes.  We live on the third floor of our condo complex, which isn’t a problem for my wife and I but seems to plague our little dog.  He’s quite lazy and when he needs to use the facilities he waits til the last minute, the very last minute, us being on the third floor quickly compounds the issue and “problems” become quite evident.  So for us a litter box really is the only answer.  Without going into too much detail (just ask me later) we live in what’s affectionately referred to by my wife and I as Oceania (see 1984), headed by a group that calls themselves the condominium association.  The condo association only job it seems is to thoughtfully reminds us of necessary life skills and questions to life’s conundrums.  Things such as “Oh, did the association remind you to…”  or “Well I didn’t know that was allowed here, I’ll have to check on it”  or my favorite “Of Course you talked to so and so before…”  Yes, it’s like that, so after a year and a half of having our doggie box on our third floor balcony we were asked to remove it.  This prompted us to search for a less conspicuous privy for the senor.  Normal people would go to Wal-Mart, grab a plastic tub, and rest assured they had done their job as a pet owner.  We tried that, and maybe here is where our pup gets his, perhaps, caprice?  Enter the Booda Dome (no i’m not making that up, google it).  Yes, we couldn’t resist, I mean could you?  I’ll post updates on how his highness is adapting to indoor plumbing in the future.

This blog is coming to you from the fifty-yard line on the Ram’s home field.  Those of you that know me know I don’t really* like football so what gives?  Well, each year this is where we hold the Joyce Meyer Women’s Conference, and since I work for JMM, here I am.  The stadium is actually rocking out to Hillsong on the stage behind me right now, I’m back here because this is where the wifi/AC is.  The way everything is setup basically cuts the dome in half, crowd at one end, stage in the middle with a huge curtain behind it, and completely empty on the other side (except for me, a crane and some semi trailers)  So I’m literally sitting on the field blogging, yeah, ironic. It’s weird back here because I’m completely removed from the event by being here.  Sure, I can hear it, but very little else.  I can’t see anything and no one in the stands would know I’m back here.  I can’t help but compare this to the way Christians can be removed from the world around us.  Not that I would be the Christian, but the crowd on the other side of the curtain would.  There’s an amazing event happening in there, lives are being changed, songs are being sung and there is community. On the other side of the curtain, well, nobody knows I’m here.  With the VP debate in town last night and with twitter going crazy with politico-posts I sit back and wonder how we’re stepping on the other side of the curtain.  Politics are not the answer, in fact the answer is as simple as stepping on the other side of the curtain, stepping out of the faith-community and understanding that the dome is round, not semi-circle.

I’m all about cheap thrills, well, kinda.  I get bored fairly easily, it’s also hard to find free things to do that keep my attention, and with the impending recession… Because of this, hmm, frugality,  Cara and I often find ourselves planning trips to Borders just to read magazines, and since there’s a Borders within a block of our condo, it happens often.  Normally I scout out the indie and mac mags and Cara stocks up on photoshop and graphic designer pubs.  I happened to pick up JPG magazine and was blown away by one particular image taken in Afghanistan.

Pride by Joshua Thompson

Here’s the caption that went along with the picture:

“My favorite photograph from Afghanistan. This father traveled 8 hours by mule to bring his mentally retarded son to us for a checkup. While many people look down upon the mentally retarded in this country and some family members are ashamed, when I asked if I could take their photo the father immediately stood up, putting his hand on his sons head and his chest swell with pride. This moment made me miss my family more so than any other during my time away.”

Yeah, I got emotional.  Sometimes it’s so easy for me to lose perspective (not talking emotions here).  I know that politics are important, I know that this wall street craziness is probably going to be quite uncomfortable, but it’s not what’s really important in my life.  It’s so easy for me to get comfortable with stuff, not just comfortable but dependent.  (Don’t ask Cara how many times I explained* how we needed to update to the 3G iPhones)  But that’s not what defines me.  It’s really easy to look at my life and immediately compare it to everyone else’s, where we live, what we drive, how we eat…. the list could go on.  Sorry to be a bit more serious then normal, this just spoke to me when I needed to hear it.

It seems as if it’s almost here.  Just on the edge of what you can feel, smell and experience, and already I miss summer!  Actually autumn is one of my favorite seasons, well the beginning of autumn at least.  I love that the weather is the comfortable 68 degrees jacket optional bliss.  This also brings us to the start of my wife’s Halloween decorating extravaganza (which you can see here http://mermaidgardenparty.blogspot.com/, shortly) it is her favorite holiday.  Well, favorite in the sense of ownership.  She continues to give me a hard time because my favorite holiday is Christmas.. Just like everyone* else.  So, for her, even though Christmas is a close runner-up, Halloween makes the cut.  I however still love Christmas.  When we started talking about why we loved these holidays it got interesting.

For me a holiday is the sum of it’s parts.  Sure, I like presents at Christmas time, brauts on fourth of July, and those little candy hearts (which I buy an entire bag of) on valentine’s day, but that’s only a picture.  The reason why some things stand out to me is the entirety of the experience.  When I think of Halloween there’s only a handful of things that come to mind, namely costumes and candy.   There aren’t any particular smells, at least nothing that I directly associate to Halloween and not autumn.  My family has never really cooked anything special around Halloween nor do we set aside time to spend with one another.  There isn’t much to pull from my Halloween folder other than a yearly pilgrimage to the pumpkin farm.

But when you mention Christmas!  I think you could write books on the smells of Christmas: nutmeg, cinnamon, Douglass fir, eggnog, turkey (thanksgiving too)  and peppermint.  There’s all the decor as well, entire rooms destined to house trees and presents, garlands and wreaths elsewhere throughout the house and lights on every gutter.  Then of course there’s the family and the extended family, and the food, and the time off… While Cara has Halloween I can’t wait until I start walking on the crisp leaves and apple cider that bring about my favorite time of the year.