in the yellow

I can not post any pictures of the awful, no-good, snow storm that has walloped the DC metro area, because, I am not there. (Suckers).

I retreated to California on Wednesday (the 16th) right before the first of the snow fell (an apparently it has not stopped yet). Thus, solidifying my outrageous claims that I have this unreasonable deal with Mother Nature. I can't go into details.

I do have this sad, sad picture though:

As you can see, it details the weather across the US on the 19th of December, around noon. I am in the yellow :)

They were alone and they were ashamed...

Often, I venture to the movies alone. I liberated myself a few years ago, and have gone solo to movie theaters on a regular basis ever since. My favorite place to watch movies is a little theater in Shirlington. There's no real good reason I love that place so much. It doesn't have stadium seating, the theaters are small, and the screens are low, it's pretty old, and the audiences are sparse. But hey, I do like to put my feet on the backs of the seats in front of me, and usually the audience consists only of a few housewives, a few elderly couples, and me. [Insert here predicted comments about a.) how I can't wait to be a housewife or 1/2 of an elderly couple and b.) how I don't have a "real job" and thus go to the movies in the middle of the day]

Friday, I had some time in the late afternoon and decided to go astray to a theater I never go to. It's inside a mall; I thought shopping and perhaps I would take in a matinee.

There should be no question what I wanted to see: Disney's new animated film "The Princess and the Frog". I thirsted for the feel good, high moral, musical cartoon.

At 1:22pm on Friday afternoon I walked into the theater and found a different scene then which I am accustomed: there were a bunch of moms and kids and then, the best shock of all.. peppered through out the seats were fellow solo movie-goers, but they were men! Now, mind you, this theater/mall is situated among various government agencies and many large, national, non-profit organizations. At least three of the men were still in suits. One of them was wearing some pretty thuggish street clothes and had a pierced ear or at least he should have. But mostly, they were middle aged business men sneaking out in the middle of their lunch breaks to watch "The Princess & the Frog". They were alone and they were ashamed.

I couldn't get over it. I mean, sure, it makes sense- when else would they be able to go watch that movie? Like any self-respecting straight man with out kids, they were forced to sneak around to watch the new Disney movie. How would they ever explain this to their girlfriends? What would their dude friends say? Really, there is no other way for them. This was their only opportunity.

But, their secret is not so secret anymore: I know, and now you know. The thing is: it's OK. As a matter of fact, I am proud of them... both for going and for keeping it a secret.

Time Change

I have many things to report on... but this conversation happened today, and I needed to get it out there; to shout it aloud, to inspire the world to feel with me. Maybe change the Presidents mind about this whole... ordeal.

[This chat has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit this screen and edited for content]

Friend: We get an extra hour...or recapture the one stolen from us this spring

me: Yay! i take back the f bomb

X: its all yours

me: so now at six it will be five?

no!

it gets darker earlier

F again

and they shouldn't have waited so long to do this

i don't like that they pushed it to Nov

X: yes but it will be lighter when we get up.

me: not for me, the noon sun is pretty much the same no matter what time of year.

As you can read, I am maybe one of the least effected people out there... but this time change business is still alarming to me. Not because it messes with my light, but because it speaks to something greater: we (and by "we" I am referring to not only man kind, but in particular myself and NASA) haven't figured out the true calendar yet.

Ok, here is the deal: a calendar measures time and the laps of time dependent on the moon, stars, space, God, etc. Back in the day everyone thought they could figure out the calendar. The Aztecs started it and the Jews pretty much finished it. At some point everyone just threw in the towel and agreed that we were just close enough.

We add a day every four years, we have an extra day every other month, except for July & August when we have two consecutive months of 31, we mess with the time twice a year so it all evens out (though I realize that step it just a luxury of light and harvest, in a perfect world the time would fix it on its own.)

Also, there must be some tie in with global warming. I am not sure how, but it is in there somewhere. Right? It has to be. It gets hotter at noon, in the summer. It must get hotter during some grand calendar cycle.

Ok, anyway, if we can figure out how to get to the moon, we should be able to figure out how the tides roll in and how to have a perfect calendar.

Bush & Bono should be BFF's

Bono is first and foremost a rock star. He parades around on stage and people pay good money for it. He also parades around as a humanitarian and people buy it.

I got irritated all over again at the gross mis-use of human resources at the U2 concert last night... naturally that made me think of the Bush Administration. I will get to Bush in a moment, first allow me to slander the U2 concert.

The production itself cost a reported $40 million and takes the crew three days to break down, transport, and set up again. Tickets to the show are anywhere from $50 to $250 a ticket. The stadium I went to holds about 90,000 people. That means in just three shows the production costs are taken care of. There are 45 stops scheduled with a possible third leg being added. Millions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of staff hours and even more time sacrificed by concert go-ers.

45 times they will pack stadiums across Europe & North America. Stadiums full of talented, blessed people from the richest countries in the world. 45 times people will choose to give their time to watching a man sing. 45 times Bono will shove his political and social agenda to crowds of people. I am sure his intentions are pure; he thinks that he is sharing a message. I am also certain much more could be done.

I could not help but to think of what we could have been doing instead with our time, talents and money. Now, I'm a firm advocate for leisure. I don't think there is anything wrong with going to a concert. But collectively, there might be. Especially when a man is such a fake propionate of change in Africa. He was playing to his audience. The same people who are the lawmakers of the free Nation. The show was very focused on saving Africa. Choose one or the other; a gluttonous music love fest or a humanitarian political rally. Hell, why doesn't he combine the two with an ACTUAL effort made (instead of just talking about it) and then give the people a concert as a thank you.

At one (shameful) moment Bono asked the crowd to "send love and good energy" to a political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma (who by the way, spent her entire Nobel Peace prize money directly on setting up a a trust in her country). So, Bono doesn't even have the guts to use the word "prayer". Come on, we are all Christian and you are toting free speech and you're too afraid to ask your American audience to pray... no, no, that is too much to ask... can we please just send some vibes to her? Ack.

Bono did thank one person, who has actually changed Africa. George W. Bush is a lot of things. A hero to Africa is just one.

President Bush's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) was initiated in 2003. At the time just 50,000 Africans were on anti-retroviral drugs. By 2007, 1.3 million Africans were on medication, much of it paid for by the Bush administration.

His administration pumped $18bn into fighting HIV/Aids, much of it in Africa

He backed cancelling $34bn worth of debt for 27 African states

He launched initiative that has halved Malaria in 15 African countries

He led the condemnation of Sudan's record in Darfur as genocide

He pressed for north-south peace deal in Sudan

He backed Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia to battle Islamists.

{Stats Found here.}

Bush fought war after war in Africa... and won many of the battles. It wasn't a modern war like the one waged in Iraq. It was a calm rebellion. It was a war fought with change and money. Bush has saved millions of lives in Africa. Bono has helped... a little bit.

Two-Fer

I am going to share with you two useful tools that you can use throughout your life... or at least for the next six months to five years.

The first is something my friends and I developed. The second is something Google developed. One may argue that though google has a sophisticated and universal tool, my tool is way more useful.

My Tool #1: Personalized Buyer Guide

This blog rarely goes too personal, but I liked this concept enough to share it with you.

When you make a big purchase it usually comes with an owners manual or a buyers guide. Something that helps you get the most out of your investment. People should be no different. During a road trip, while forced to spend unacceptable amounts of time together, some friends and I developed a concept: a "Dating Buyers Guide".

I urge you to discover the things about yourself, and go ahead and share them with people. Create a personalized manual on how to manage being with you successfully. Who wouldn't find something like this useful? There a couple people right now who I would love to know how to deal with.

Here is the start of mine, basically some pointers on how to deal with me.

1. Be bold.

2. Must be able to draw out and facilitate my tender side.

3. Be a tad dependent upon me.

4. Don't be afraid to put me in my place (when necessary).

5. One of the most effective way to show your love for me is through gifts.

If you know me, feel free to add to my list - insight is always helpful.

Googles Tool #2: Google Reader

My love for google reader is far reaching. Google Reader is only going to work if you have gmail. So, for those with out gmail, stop reading and feel sorry for yourself.

When I was a kid my grandma subscribed to Readers Digest. I would read it. I mean, what a great concept; someone else would scour all these print publications and pick the best articles and then you got to read the best of the best. Now imagine that, only personalized and modernized, and the people are reading through the internet for you, and they are your friends who know you best. Sounds great right? It is.

Let me break it down: You find stuff online and you share it with your friends on google reader. They read stuff online and share it with you on Google Reader. You also can get news feeds specific to your interests posted regularly with out having to check various media web sites. Another bonus, you can add blogs to your reader and every time there is a new post, it shows up in your reader.

So, I log on each day to find various blog posts, new stories, interesting articles, and silly sports stats shared with me by my fellow google reader friends, all in one spot.

____

There you are, two shiny new virtual gifts that will make your life better if you choose to use them. Enjoy!

I Still Love You. Love, New York.

Zipping across this island of Manhattan in a two seat convertible, three of us enjoyed a quick jaunt into Brooklyn. (That's right three of us. A tight fit; totally fine.) I wanted to check out what that borough had to offer. It was a pleasant day in Brooklyn. The sun was shining. The air was mellow.

As we left behind all that wasn't what I had hoped Brooklyn to be, we found ourselves on the expressway back to Manna-hata. The sun had dipped below the famous skyline and the sky was a powerful orange.

Note: It turns out that NY as a whole doesn't love me... just Manhattan.

And I am ok with that. It is discretionary. It is a more narrow, deep love.

Oh No!

7:02 PM on September 9th, 2009.... I just realized my pants are on backwards & they have been since I dressed my 28 year old self this morning, approximately 10 hours ago.

(It's important for the readers to know I am not perfect)

P.S. Four minutes later... I haven't turned them around yet. (Don't know if I will). Haha.