June 24, 2009 at 9:31 am (Politics)
Tags: Cold Civil War, Conservatives, Identity Politics, Liberals, Politics
We Americans need to take a couple steps back and breathe. We are letting identity politics fray our national fabric, and the resulting tattered garment is not long for this global wardrobe. The terms ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are used far more often as pejorative terms for ‘the other side’ than they are to denote real differences in political philosophy. We’ve become more about damning the opposition — who, by the way, are our own brethren — than we have about creating and maintaining a stable and equitable solution to that upon which we disagree.
One only has to take a look at the comments section of a political story in any online news publication to see the festering cesspool of name calling, barbed attacks, red herrings, and straw men that dominate our discourse. A story involving our nation, our states, or their leaders is no longer examined for its content. Instead, the motives and bias of the media are scrutinized, followed by the reasons for the attention the piece receives, and then blame is attributed to the other side of the political spectrum for the popularity or cover-up of the original event. This happens on both ’sides’ — and I use that term because there no longer appears to be a recognized middle ground – and all we’re left with is a deeper rift between us.
If a term must be coined for this era of American politics and discourse, I deem it the Cold Civil War. Much like the U.S. and the U.S.S.R in the latter half of the 20th century, we have built up massive arsenals (ours with divisive rhetoric instead of ICBMs) and seem on the brink of an incident ensuring our mutual destruction. Much like the Union and Confederacy in the 1860s, we are segregated only somewhat by location but remain brothers locked in an unfortunate struggle that undermines what used to be our common goal.
Liberals and Conservatives alike: Heed this warning and realize that we need not be polarized by the fringe elements of our ideologies who seek only to divide us further for their own gain. Realize that we have more in common and less that divides us; that a crack in a sidewalk does not a chasm make. We may have a long journey ahead and little faith in our leadership to guide us correctly, but we need not be enemies simply because our intended routes differ. We must talk but not yell, and listen instead of simply waiting for our turn to speak. Blame and finger pointing must be traded in for willingness to accept the onus of the job that lies ahead. We are, after all, brothers.
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May 25, 2009 at 9:27 am (Dog, Nature, Solitude, Travel, Vacation)
Tags: Canoe Trip, Memorial Day
This weekend was our annual canoe trip near Appomattox, Va. This year’s participants were myself, my brothers Cory and Bret, my Dad, my Uncle Jim and cousin Jason, Dad’s friends Keith and Bill, and Bill’s friend Nick. And a three-legged canoeing chocolate lab named Charlie!
Charlie the Three-Legged Canoeing Dog
We had a good time Friday through Sunday, with the only casualty being Cory’s flip-over on Saturday. Then Sunday afternoon, I headed back to Charlotte. I was so exhausted that I had to stop halfway back and take a nap in my car.
Me at the end of the Tie River float
I had a lot of quiet alone time while floating down the rivers (James and Tie). It was nice to sit back and enjoy nature, to feel tiny and unimportant again. To let my petty problems dissolve and reconnect with the outdoors. I’ll post some more pics when I get the waterproof cameras developed.
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May 4, 2009 at 9:19 am (Charlotte, Friends, Golf, Janice, Lupus, Sunshine, Weather)
Tags: bicycle, Charlotte, farmers market, Golf, Lupus Walk, Quail Hollow Championshop, Sean O'Hair, Sunshine, Weather
Well, Charlotte’s PGA Tour stop, the Quail Hollow nee Wachovia Championship, has blown in and back out of town. We had a great time attending the event. I personally went on Wednesday for the Pro-Am, as well as for Friday and Saturday’s tournament rounds. Sean O’Hair took home the trophy, amazingly without making a single putt over ten feet!
View from the 17th tee on Wednesday
This is the 6th year I’ve attended at least one round. It kind of marks an unofficial end of spring and beginning of summer. Charlotte didn’t really get a spring this year, anyway. We had an incredibly cold and dreary start to the year, with February, March, and most of April well below average weather-wise. And then suddenly, it heated up and we’re in the 80s almost every day.
Saturday was Charlotte’s Lupus Walk. Janice and I attended, along with our friend Diana and her daughter Avery. We got registered and ready to go, and then a thunderstorm promptly shut us down. Janice and I still had a nice meal outside in a covered patio, though.
This was before the storms, of course!
With summer here, it’s time for outdoor activities to increase even more. I got a little sun this week, so I don’t feel so pasty. Janice and I are getting a new bicycle this week, so I want to take advantage of that and start getting some wheeled exercise. I’ll have to find some good routes that let me avoid traffic. I grew up in the country and I’m not a fan of driving on city streets. The farmer’s market is starting to kick into high gear, so that’s a fun weekend activity. Our garden needed about half of the plants re-done since we had so many frigid nights in March and April, but it’s coming along nicely now. And there are some fun outdoor events every week to attend.
All in all, this should be a great summer!
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April 17, 2009 at 8:12 am (Blacksburg, Sunshine, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech Massacre, Weather)
Tags: Blacksburg, Sunshine, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech Massacre, Weather
This has been a long, crappy week. Weather aside (which has remained sub-par), there’s been health issues, terrible family news, and my predictably ill-suited reactions to them. Now’s a great time for a sunny commitment-free weekend. Farmer’s market, gardening, grilling, driving range, come on down! You’re the next contestants on The Weekend Is Right!
BTW, yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of the Virginia Tech Massacre, but I didn’t really have anything insightful to share here. I have completely disconnected myself from Blacksburg now, and I really don’t know what to make of it. I have no bonds with and very few memories of that place at this time. I wonder how long it will last.
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March 31, 2009 at 8:01 am (Charlotte, Weather)
Tags: Charlotte, Spring, Weather
Once again, the forecasters (or as Andy calls them, ‘weatherguessers’) have backed off their previous prediction of the thermometer hitting the magical 70 degree mark today. In the last 20 days, we have broken that ceiling but twice, with highs of 71 and 73. During that time, the historical daily average has risen 5 degrees, from 63 to 68. So 70 really isn’t that much to ask, is it? According to the statistics at wunderground.com, here are the last 20 days in Charlotte WRT the historical daily average, followed by their sun level:
-3, Cloudy
-16, Rainy
-21, Rainy
-14, Rainy
-13, Rainy
-1, Cloudy
+2, Cloudy
+8, Rainy
-5, Mostly Sunny
-9, Mostly Sunny
0, Sunny
+5, Sunny
-2, Mostly Cloudy
-15, Rainy
-5, Rainy
-4, Rainy
-6, Rainy
-6, Cloudy
-2, Mostly Sunny
0, Mostly Sunny (today, projected)
So that’s 25% 10 degrees or more below average, 50% below average within 10 degrees, and 25% at or above average. Fewer than 33% of the days have featured the sun, and of those, only 1 was a warmer than average day. And the net loss of relative temperature is 107 degrees Fahrenheit. March, you can suck it!
Bring on April! I promise I’ll post about happier things when we start getting some good weather.
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March 23, 2009 at 9:54 am (Blacksburg, Budget, Charlotte, Friends, Golf, Sports, Virginia Tech, Weather)
Tags: alcohol, Blacksburg, Charlotte, Golf, NCAA tournament, Quail Hollow Championship, Wachovia Championship
With the typical extended weekend of NCAA Tournament debauchery over as of Sunday morning, I noticed that it is 40 days until the Wachovia nee Quail Hollow Championship begins here in Charlotte. Since that’s a nice round number with a significance of biblical proportions, I dedided to go on a 40-days-and-40-nights prohibition from the sauce. So until Friday, May 1, I’m going dry! I already had to cut down drastically on intake at bars due to the financial situation, but now I’m just cutting it all out. The weather’s getting nicer, and there’s really nothing between now and then worth drinking to. Wish me luck…I’ve done these kinds of things before, sometimes to easy success and sometimes not.
In other news, I finally have some relief on my own personal mortgage crisis! The realtor I’d been using to try to sell my place in Blacksburg got a signed lease by 2 VT students which begins on June 1. So that’s a huge financial burden lifted! Hooray!
I’m in 2nd place in my NCAA pool thus far. Pretty happy with that. We’ll see what happens…
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March 16, 2009 at 7:57 am (Charlotte, Sunshine, Weather)
Tags: Charlotte, Sunshine, Weather
Helios, where art thou chariot, streaking across the sky?
Tonatiuh, come forth and bless us with your radiance!
Ra, did your barge pull an Exxon Valdez?
In other words, where in the hell is the freaking sun?
Have you seen this gaseous ball?
Today at noon, we enter the second half of March. The average temperature in Charlotte is supposed to be in the mid 60s this time of year. The sun, if that is its real name, should be warming our soil and thawing our souls by now. Instead, anxious flowerbuds dangle from trees’ twigs, awaiting solar radition signalling the appropriate time to bloom. Yet they remain mired in purgatory, with each day seemingly darker and colder than the last. I hate cold and dark. I actually moved here to escape it. And yet it follows me, like a sock tied around a frightened cat’s tail in the cruelest of pranks.
I’m not a religious man, but I am ready to invoke whatever spirit or being is necessary to get some solar action going in this mo-fo. Don’t make me move to Costa Rica, dammit, because I will!
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March 4, 2009 at 9:41 am (Charlotte, Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sleeping, Sunshine, Weather)
Tags: Anxiety, Charlotte, Depression, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sleeping, Sunshine, Weather
Please be warned: I’m going to sound awful whiny at first, but will end on a positive note.
Well, today is the 17th day out of the last 18 where the daily high temperature will not have reached the historical average high for Charlotte. This pretty much marks the yearly low point of my mood. While I believe my depression to be in complete remission, I am still vulnerable to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It strikes me between mid-January and generally peaks around the end of February. SAD symptoms read like a laundry list of the Jan-Feb changes noticeable in me:
- A change in appetite, especially a craving for sweet or starchy foods
- Weight gain
- A drop in energy level
- Fatigue
- A tendency to oversleep
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability and anxiety
- Increased sensitivity to social rejection
- Avoidance of social situations and a loss of interest in the activities you used to enjoy
Yeah, that is Winter Sean. But he good news is, beginning tomorrow and heading into this weekend, we’re heading back to the 70s! Not the disco and cocaine 70s, but the outside swinging golf clubs with short sleeves 70s! One of the few benefits of being so down in the dumps early in the year is the euphoric high (some might call it a mania) that I get once I break out of my icy casing in the Spring. And of course down here in Charlotte, Spring comes much earlier. So let’s reverse that symptom list and see what I can look forward to beginning very soon:
- A balanced appetite
- Weight loss
- A sharp rise in energy level
- General enthusiasm
- Awakening reliably
- Better concentration
- Even temperament
- Increased enthusiasm for social interaction
- Enjoyment of social situations and a return of interest in the activities you used to enjoy
Even in a down mood, I feel better knowing that’s on the way!
If it seems like my posts lately have been dominated by weather and mood, it’s an accurate reflection of what preoccupies me this time of year. I wish it didn’t, but I can only work with what I have. I can pretty much guarantee I won’t be so gloomy in the coming weeks and months.
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February 28, 2009 at 5:45 pm (Sports)
Tags: basketball, Duke
I hate the Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team. I hate them as much as I could possibly hate anything. If you like them, I think you are a terrible person. If I found out Mother Theresa rooted for Duke when she was alive, I would find her grave and urinate on it.
The refereeing advantage that Duke enjoys is one of the most obvious and wretched things in the history of organized sports. I am too angry to continue with this post.
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