Olympic Gold or Convention Gaffs?

I am an Olympics fan. Reluctant, unexpected, but there it is.
The beauty of the venues, the athletes, the music - not so much the commentary - is mesmerizing. What a wonderful way to let the worries of the day melt away as the competitors take to the field, track, sand, asphalt, water, whatever, and do mind and body bending things.
What grace and style. What determination and concentration. How can a mere mortal understand the dedication that comes to a two minute routine?
Contrast this spectacle to the ones to come in Denver and Minneapolis. The gaffs, the hot air, the rhetoric, the confetti and balloons...Do these folks dedicate their lives and bodies and brains to the race for the gold the same way Olympians do? Maybe if they did, we would be in better shape as a country and a world.
What new records will be broken, boundaries crossed?
I will watch, but I'm not sure I'll stay away or as engaged as I have been in the past two weeks.
Hey, maybe we should have them switch places - Olympians at conventions, politicians at the games? We wouldn't fall asleep

I'm Back....and I'm Not Batman

Can't believe I haven't logged a word since April.
A lot has happened since then, good and bad. Bittersweet. That's my favorite word for life. Double-edged sword, best and worst of times at once. You know.
My favorite movie of the summer - yes, Batman, the Dark Knight. Single-edged sword? Dark and night? Not bloody likely. What a wonderful study of two sides, two faces, two-ness.
The whole movie plays with opposites, likenesses, illusion, masks. I've seen it twice, and we're going again this week.
Not only is it a good summer action movie, but it is a deeply woven tale of the challenges of being. Imagine finding such stuff in comics. But, as my husband always points out, comics have always dealt with the tough stuff, because they can "coat" it in color and bubbles.
Aren't all of our "heroes" cloaked somehow? The problem, and the challenge, comes when they stand in the light.
My latest disappointment? The uncloakingof John Edwards. Damn. I thought we had something there - a Harvey Dent for the country. I am sorry, but I believe if you can't honor your marriage vows, what else can you not honor? It raises questions, concerns, bumps on your skin...
I know no one is "clean." Not even Batman. Superman maybe. How about Commissioner Gordon? Alfred? Elizabeth Edwards?
Being "clean" has been achieved - usually, I believe, by unsung folks who live quite, loving lives. You probably know one or two. And while we can't see the masks or the things done in the dark night, we can celebrate the things we see in the light. We can hold them up, acknowledge them, envy them. Learn from them.

The Times They Are

It's the end of another semester here, and folks are looking forward to their futures with dread, excitement, anticipation, fear...
It's so different from when I was ready to graduate. GET A JOB - a job. Now it's - what kind of job do I want - there are so many more choices and options, even in rough economic times.
Yet, many students act as if they have no where to go.
What is wrong, people?! It is so true - youth is wasted. If this were MY time, I'd be:
Teaching English as a second language in China or Mexico or....
Working on a cruise ship as activities coordinator or...
Freelancing my way across country, computer and camera and atlas at my side or...
Looking into graduate school in a totally different field than the one I just spent the last four years exploring or...
Traveling as a nanny or...
Joining the Peace Corps, City Year, VOA...
And still my students, many, not all, sit and sulk and opine about their limited futures.
Limited? Haven't they checked the Internet lately?
The world is truly theirs, in so many shapes and sizes and locations.
Get out there (okay, that is an ad, but it's true).
Face the brave new world bravely and confidently. And know that I am extremely jealous!

Let it snow

This is the first winter in a long time that Michigan has enjoyed what most natives crave - winter sports. Courtesy of Mother Nature, snowmobilers, snowboarders, skiers, skaters, fisher people and others have been having the time of their life.
Even when the snow does disappear, it returns almost immediately. Just when I think I can rake up a few of those left-over leaves, the white hides them securely once again. And I am glad.
I'm really getting to enjoy it, actually. The crisp, beautiful white. The brisk cold. The ice-sheathed trees. The animal tracks. It is winter and we are getting the most out of it.
I can also remember the seasons where there was no snow, no winter sports, sad-eyed recreation dealers, muddy, dirty ground. Even the air seemed stale and bitter.
This is much better, even when I have to drive in it. The snow is cleansing, life-altering. It's the norm for a northern state, and a bonus foot or two this season, global warming or not.
I pity the folks who see green or brown all year round. The change of seasons is more than a reminder of time passing. It is an invigorating, energizing, engaging message of fortitude.
It is Michigan in winter, again.

And the Oscar goes to....

Who cares?
At least that what the ratings showed this year for the 80th annual Academy Awards.
Even with Jon Stewart, "Juno," Cate Blanchett in two categories, the Red Dress parade on the red carpet, George Clooney (oh, my stars!), fewer people tuned into this year's Oscars than any in recorded history!
Wow....that says a lot. It says a lot about movies, people, the ceremony itself, traditions....
When the Oscars were in their prime, there were only really three broadcast TV stations (just imagine!). There were only about a hundred or so movies released a year (in the USA), versus more than 400 in the last few years. The proliferation of VHS/DVD was not like it is today. Folks respected the votes and opinions of experts. Awards meant something.
Today, top-rated films include animated movies, foreign films, horror films, teen humor. What is the "Best" in those contexts?
The world is in on the Oscars - note the award-winners for acting - all from countries other than the USA.
Times have changed. Perhaps everything should be the world's best versus the nation's or even the continent's.
Perhaps, like the Golden Globes, or, horrors, the MTV Movie Awards, there needs to be more sub-categories, such as horror, musicals, love stories...
Or maybe it's just time to look at box office and see where the money is, the butts in seats votes.
That's the way other things are prized and praised, sort of like TV ratings, best-sellers in music and books.
Where were the "top" actors, such as Denzel, Will(s), the guys from Superbad?
Check out the top DVD rentals each week - you won't find a Cohen Brothers movie on it.
Let those who know better figure out how to give Oscar back his shine. I'm settling back with my popcorn to watch "The Game Plan," and yes, "Michael Clayton" (you go, George!).

I'm back.....

It's been almost nine months (Now THAT'S scary).
Since then, I've lost my mother and turned 50.
What's that about life stresses....
Oh,well, I'm still here. And I feel the need to write, the skill I've had all my life, the skill I've based my career on. The skill I know like the inside of my favorite pj's.
My mom died - myocardial infarction - heart- Thank goodness it hadn't really given her a problem until now, in her 85-86 year.
What a wonderful, wonderful woman. I hope I told her that enough.
She inspired me in everything I did, from the music I listened to and sang to the material I wrote.
Still, she gave me room when she saw I was headed down a path that was different from the rest of the family: first to get a job off the family farm, first to go to college, first to date a boy nobody knew, first to live away...
She was always there. I tell folks, the greatest gift she gave me was freedom. She encouraged me to choose my own path and then stepped aside to let me follow it.
In recent years, the path brought me right back to her. I wanted to spend more time, stroke her hands, rub her feet, look into her lovely, bright eyes and tell her how much I loved her and appreciated her.
What I liked most about all of that was she accepted it with such humility. I don't think she realized how great she was, what an inspiration of a good woman, wife and mother, friend and neighbor, citizen and Christian.
Mom, on my 50th birthday, when I normally give you a call and tell you thanks for having me, I write my love instead, on the vastness of the World Wide Web, for all to hear and see, for maybe, eternity.
Forever, your daughter, Joanne