The soul has greater need of the ideal than the real for it is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Update

Madonna's millions safe in divorce deal: experts (AFP)

Thank God!

I was so worried.

Damn my good fortune!

I've been renewed to teach next semester.

I've been offered a pretty good horse at a reasonable price.

I've found an apt I love in a location I adore, for a price I couldn't pass up.

I've got a free fully equipped studio at my disposal.

I have regularly scheduled human contact.

(that may sound odd, but for me it's perfectly normal)

I just got a raise and a quasi-promotion at my full time job.

It makes me question my desire to move elsewhere and start over.

Dammit!

The new place has a lot of catching up to do.

A Sunnier day

After the strangeness of yesterday I'm so glad to wake to a brighter day today. Not that I was particularly gray yesterday, I wasn't, it just took an odd turn early on. I got a lot done though, I was pretty happy about that.

But last night I was reading before I went to bed and I found something I love. Thomas Friedman has taken my feelings about George Bush's America scooped them right out of me and put them in words way better than I could ever have imagined in his latest book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded"

I can't really decide if I totally agree with this guy or not. He made some good points in "The World is Flat." the first book of his that I read, a few years ago. But I thought some of his positions fell flat. I'm not very far into this one, so I haven't even begun to form an opinion about it but I wanted to share my favorite passage, it sums up exactly what's wrong today and shows us what we are vs. what we need to be.

"Because a place where birds don't fly is a place where people didn't mix, ideas don't get sparked, friendships don't get forged, stereotypes don't get broken, collaboration doesn't happen, trust doesn't get built, and freedom doesn't ring. That is not the kind of place we want America to be. That is not the kind of place we can afford America to be. An America living in a defensive crouch cannot fully tap the vast rivers of idealism, innovation, volunteerism, and philanthropy that still flow through our nation. And it cannot play the vital role it has long played for the rest of the world-as a beacon of hope and the country that can always be counted on to lead the world in response to whatever is the most important challenge of the day. We need that America-and we need to be that America -more than ever today."

Wow, that about sums it up for me. I've known there is something wrong for a long time, yet I've not been able to put my finger on it. I read that last night and thought, oh my God! This guy has put into words exactly what I've been having a problem with. George Bush's America is a closed-minded fearful isolationist bullying little world in which the crazy rule. Perhaps that's why the dissenters have been so quiet these past few years, no one to talk to. The point I think they missed is that this is exactly when they need to be their most vocal.

And though I haven't linked to his blog a for awhile, today's post reminded me why I started reading him in the first place. Here's a link to Bamboonation where Prince Gomolvilas sums up the need for Proposition 8 in California, and what it's really about.

Thanks for the reminder Prince.