Top 5 annoyances about power outage

In hindsight, now that the power has been back on in our Northern Virginia townhouse for a couple of days after last Friday's devastating storm, I must say that the 100-plus degree heat wasn't the worst thing about being without electricity and air conditioning. Oh, believe me, sleeping on sheets that are hot to the touch is no fun. But it was the unexpected things that nearly broke me after three days without power during the summer's meanest heat wave. Here's what I will have the harshest memories about relating to the blackout of 2012.

1. My neighbor running a gas-powered generator 10 feet from our open windows. The noise was deafening. He was the only one in our townhouse community who had the nerve to run a generator in a tight, multi-family building area. We walked through the single-family area of our subdivision and saw generators placed on the far edge of one-acre lots where the noise wouldn't impact neighbors so severely, but not a single condo or townhouse owner, other than our next door neighbor, had a generator. Most condo/townhouse people had enough courtesy and commonsense to not blow out their neighbors' ear drums with the constant roar of a portable generator, which sounds similar to one of those large, industrial lawn mowers. To add insult to injury, our neighbor bought a window air conditioner so that he could close up his house and not deal with his own noise and polluting fumes.

2. People driving through intersections that had dark traffic lights without even slowing down was fairly common. When traffic lights are out, we are taught to treat intersections as four-way stops. However, in Northern Virginia, powerless traffic lights seem to mean something very different to half the drivers who I saw. In fact, I nearly got rear-ended several times by people who I guess wanted me to blow through the intersections.

3. Paying $60 for a cooler that probably didn't cost half of that pre-blackout. Yup, good old capitalism was rearing its ugly head all around the D.C. region. A hotel in College Park, Md., not exactly a garden spot, was charging $500 for a room. Gas stations were hiking up prices 50 cents and more. The grocery store that was supposed to be giving out free bags of ice, according to radio reports, was actually charging $2.00.

4. I will admit it, I missed my gadgets, my Internet connection, my ability to play electric guitar to relieve stress. Couldn't watch a ball game on television. There was only one radio news station with 24/7 coverage and I had to listen to it through a 1980s battery-powered boom box that I fortunately had buried in a closet years ago. I will never listen to that station or boom box again. Never want to hear another commercial or incompetent reporting.

5. Viewing people in less clothing than they would/should normally wear. I will leave it at that.


Overall, I give the people of Northern Virginia a C-minus in dealing with this crisis. The level of courtesy and pulling together was lower than I expected. This isn't an overly friendly area to begin with, but as a native New Yorker, I was kind of hoping that an emergency would bring out the best in people. While New Yorkers are often known for their rudeness, they do seem to be at their best when the "s" hits the fan in snow storms and other emergencies. I saw little evidence of that here, however.

Thousands are still without power on this Fourth of July. I feel for them. I am grateful that mere annoyances were the toughest things I had to deal with, but I am also disappointed by the every-person-for-him-or-herself attitude displayed by so many Virginians this week. Maybe more than being a reflection of a geographic area, it's a sign of the times we live in.

My musical journey in 12 minutes

Trying to squeeze 38 years of photos and audio into one 12-minute video is tough. Fortunately, there were big gaps in my amateur music career, otherwise the task would have been far more difficult. Still, a lot of material was left out of this video -- many good tunes.

This mini movie contains recordings of practice sessions and gigs -- my musical journey, sort of speak. The quality of the sound and images varies. Some of the songs were actually recorded on cassette tape. Remember that? To document this segment of my life, I felt it was important to include the clams as well as the gems, high- and low-production quality.

I have chosen to convert everything to black and white. It's an art thing -- a personal preference. Plus, it makes us all look more like bad asses instead of middle class geeks from the suburbs. There is no narration. In varying degrees, I perform on every song you hear. There are some images, like one of my father, that certainly turn back the hands of time.

This video serves as a personal reminder to me that music was an integral part of my life and hopefully can continue to be in the coming years, although that is getting tougher for various reasons. While I never seriously aspired to be a professional or had the talent to do anything more with music, we all have those "what if" moments in our lives when garage band morphs into rock stardom. Looking back, knowing what I know now, maybe it would have been wise to try to turn a passion into a career. The attempt, regardless of how unrealistic, is often more important than succeeding or failing. Of course, that would have meant taking music lessons, and for anyone who knows me, I am not a lessons guy when it comes to creative endeavors.

I am also reminded that I have had the good fortune of playing with many talented folks -- some very cool guys and gals. We all shared a common interest and made the most of it when we got together. Some of the musicians in this video were only passing ships, while others have become long-time friends. Maybe that's the best part of this musical journey -- the relationships.

It's not clear what is next for me, musically speaking. I am not sure when the last waltz will occur or when the music will die. Lots of classic rockers are, well, fading away or are transitioning to shuffleboard as a past-time. Others are busy with work and family, caring for elderly parents, or just lost the desire to make noise. The bad economy has apparently cut into the number of Baby Boomers looking to jam, too. Many are simply worried about surviving. I can relate. So, before too much more time passes, I am posting this video in order to boost my own spirits and to give anyone who might be interested a little view into what has been a fun hobby for a lot of years. With any luck, maybe I will "get in with the right sort of fellas" and fire up the Fender one more time. It has to be easier on the joints and the ego than playing softball.

A one-game comeback

Remember when we could soar?

Oh, perhaps not like an Olympic athlete or a falcon above the Blue Ridge.

But in our minds and ambitions. In our hobbies and our past-times. We were young lions. Climbing, running, jumping. Doing whatever was required on the playground or the office.

After a mere two decades away from playing any sort of competitive sport that didn't require a golf cart, I recently joined my company's softball team. Despite a chronically ailing shoulder and 20 pounds of extra weight, somehow I thought I could walk out onto the diamond and perform at a reasonable level at age 54.

Yes, 54. Isn't that the new 44? That's what I keep hearing.

The mind does play cruel tricks on our bodies at times. It markets things that we know in our hearts aren't true.

First the good news. I went 2-for-3 with the bat. Both hits were lined sharply. I scored two runs and had two assists and one put-out playing second base and shortstop in my first game out of softball/baseball retirement.

Now the bad news.

I was standing on first base. The next hitter came to the plate and blasted the ball into the gap in left center. There was no way I could legitimately stop at second without looking like a lazy, lame ass. I had to take third base. However, third base looked as far away as the moon to me as I made the turn. I had already slightly pulled a hamstring running out my hit to first base.

I made it to third. There was no throw to challenge me.

When he next hitter came up, he popped out to deep center on the first pitch. "First pitch" being the key phrase.

Tag up you say?

No way. I was still gasping for air from the run from first to third, and their was no way my hamstring was going to cooperate with another burst. OK, maybe not a burst. More like a pathetic meandering down the line. But you get my drift. I needed more recovery time.

I waited for the next batter to get a convincing hit that would allow a more leisurely stroll to home plate. Thankfully, that hit came and we didn't leave a potential run on third base.

After the game, the pain in my already-injured left shoulder was tear-jerkingly awful. But the worse was yet to come.

The next morning, a new injury appeared. A left knee swelled up. Can't recall what I did to cause the swelling other than to think that I could just go running around the baseball field like Father Time had stopped in the mid 1980s. Heck, I don't even think I stretched.

My arms were sore -- forearms, wrist, hands, fingernails. You name it.

My hamstring tightened.

My eyelids and hair hurt.

It took a week to feel better.

My comeback lasted one game. I hung up my No. 2 jersey and if I join any softball teams in the future, it will be in the 50-and-over league where you don't feel compelled to take the extra base or turn two in the field as a gorilla is steamrolling his way into you.

Playing with folks 20-30 years younger than myself, even though I held my own, is a prescription for aches, pains and humiliation that I no longer can get rid of with just a Tylenol or two.

Playing sports that require sprinting, diving, running into base runners trying to jar the ball loose from my glove is not a good way to spend a Wednesday evening when the pain for the next week makes putting on my socks a major challenge.

However, I am glad I tried it and didn't totally embarrass myself. But a man must know his limitations. And all the muscle memory in the world isn't going to make that run from first to third feel any shorter.

I feel lucky I did no long-term damage in my brief comeback.

Playing guitar, taking long hikes, learning new tricks related to work and career -- those are all still viable endeavors that old dogs can do fairly well. I am grateful for still being able to do those things.

Having a grapefruit-size sphere whizzing towards my head as my glove-hand reflexes can't match my enthusiasm may sound like a blast, but I think I will leave that sort of fun for folks with muscles that don't object so loudly.

I no longer want to soar.

I want to glide.

There is a subtle but noble difference.

No shame in teleprompters

Bruce Springsteen's use of a teleprompter on his current tour has apparently outraged some people.


As long as it doesn't negatively impact his performance, I am not sure why anyone would care if Springsteen occasionally glanced at a teleprompter to remind himself of certain song lyrics. It's not like he's standing in front of a music stand, glued to cheat sheets all night. And he's certainly not the first aging performer to use a teleprompter.


Do you think any of these critics could memorize the words to 50 or more songs from a catalogue of hundreds of tunes, then perform flawlessly on a stage in front of 30,000 fans, and do it at 60 years old with a million things swirling around them? I know I couldn't. I've been modestly playing and singing the same songs for over 35 years and still forget a chord change or one of the lines on a verse from time to time. Memorizing new songs has become nearly impossible. Heck, I can't remember where I placed the laundry basket on some days. That doesn't mean I am ready for the glue factory.


Few have ever accused Springsteen of mailing it in at a live performance. The E. Street Band plays extremely long sets with a high degree of energy and passion. That is the band's trademark. A teleprompter on stage isn't going to change that.


So why all the sour notes from some purists who think performers shouldn't use certain technologies on stage?


Maybe it has to do with our desire for authenticity in a world where using technology to cut corners or fool the audience is becoming the norm. Or maybe it's because we don't want to accept that the aging process does limit us in some ways. Sort of hits a nerve related to our own diminished abilities.


Classical musicians perform with sheet music in front of them. TV anchors certainly don't memorize their scripts. President Obama uses a teleprompter to deliver some powerful, thoughtful speeches. In my mind, the use of a teleprompter is not a deal-breaker. In fact, if used correctly, it can enhance a performance or a message. It's a communications tool, nothing more or less.


As long as Springsteen is actually singing the songs and not lip-syncing or relying on over-the-top digital effects, I have no problem if he utilizes a prompter. In a day and age of processed vocals and "musicians" who can't really play an instrument, I think implying that Springsteen is short-changing the audience is ridiculous. Even with a teleprompter, the integrity of his performances far exceeds that of many entertainers half his age. Springsteen is fit, still near the top of his game, and certainly not embarrassing himself on stage.


Until the day comes when he can no longer strum his Telecaster or he begins falling off stages, the "boss" is still the boss. He still connects with the audience and makes people feel very good.

'Luck' a tragic mistake for HBO

I am a fan of HBO. Most of the programming is marked by a level of quality that commercial television has not been able to match. Shows on the premium channel tend to be more realistic. The writing is sharper. The sets are more elaborate and historically accurate when appropriate. There is a progressive, even educational quality to HBO shows that you won't find on free networks. The documentaries exceed what you might see on PBS.


HBO is not afraid to push the envelope. Mature, cutting-edge subject matter should be able to be crafted and aired without pressures from sponsors or the censorship police. Because HBO makes its money from subscribers and not advertisers, there is a lot of creative and editorial freedom that is evident in the shows and documentaries that it produces. 


All of that came crashing down recently with a show called Luck. The drama series is nearing the end of its first season. It has high-profile actors like Dustin Hoffman. The theme centers on horse racing and the corruption that surrounds it. The show was renewed for a second season and was in the middle of production when HBO suddenly announced today that it is canceling the program.


Three horses have died during the filming of Luck. Opinions vary on what actually caused their deaths, but there is no denying that the horses were tied to the production of the HBO show.


I am glad that HBO pulled the show off the air as a result of the pressure from PETA and other animal rights organizations that helped bring the horse deaths to light. I am not pleased, however, that HBO embarked on a show that became all too realistic, where the putting down of these animals carelessly mimicked the fictional storyline. In addition, HBO did not come clean soon enough about the tragedies. If not for PETA, the show would have gone on and more horses might have died.


I only watched one episode of Luck, long before it was known that horses were actually dying in real life and not just fictionally on screen. Despite HBO promoting the heck out of the show and some critics claiming it was one of the best dramas HBO has ever produced, I found Luck gave me a bad vibe and fell far short of what attracted me to shows like The Sopranos or The Wire. Along with it being virtually impossible to follow and a tad boring, Luck had an intangible air to it that was unsettling to me, and I don't mean in an artful way. Something just felt wrong about the whole concept. As a result, I gave up on the show early on.


Of course, three dead horses connected to a now canceled HBO show doesn't even begin to address the real problem of the horse-racing industry, which in my opinion is no better than illegal dog fighting. Whether legal or not, profiting from these atrocities is an outrage.


HBO did the right thing in canceling Luck and probably lost millions of dollars in doing so, but might have lost millions more from people like me who would have canceled their subscriptions if the show wasn't nixed. Unfortunately, the chronic gamblers and business entities who support the horse racing industry have no such motivation to shut down that so-called sport.

Tough times for most majors

The Washington Post is reporting some interesting unemployment numbers today. Specifically, the statistics pertain to recent college graduates with various majors who are unemployed. Here's a sample:

• Liberal Arts: 9.4 percent unemployed.
• Computer and Math: 8.2 percent
• Business: 7.4 percent
• Journalism: 7.3 percent

I included liberal arts because I have a B.A. degree from a private liberal arts college. I listed journalism because it was my profession for nearly 30 years. Compared with what I perceived as being more desirable majors in this struggling economy, liberal arts and journalism grads aren't that worse off. Of course, everything is relative and none of these percentages are very good. All four majors are hovering right around the national unemployment rate, which was announced today to be 8.3 percent. Click here to read about the latest figures. It's another good news, bad news report.

GOP clown car rolls on

That's Samuel Wurzelbacher, left, standing next to former presidential candidate Herman Cain. Wurzelbacher won the Republican nomination in his Ohio congressional district on Tuesday night. Cain might have won the presidential nomination if he didn't have a pile of lady-friend skeletons in his closet, which led to his dropping out of the 2012 race. The two of them standing together seems unlikely, yet so right.


You might remember Wurzelbacher from the 2008 presidential campaign when he was dubbed "Joe the Plumber." He became a favorite of Sarah Palin's and others trying to attach themselves to middle America, apple pie and the struggle of the working class versus the big, bad government.


I am not familiar enough with Wurzelbacher's campaign to comment extensively on his primary win last night. However, anyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Cain, and who is in the good graces of people like Palin, raises suspicions that the sappiest of Americans have once again gravitated towards the candidate with virtually no qualifications and perhaps a questionable IQ.


This was once a fairly heavy political blog. In recent months, the GOP presidential primary has made me all too aware of the fact that politics can be hazardous to my mental health -- particularly Republican politics, which now peddles nothing but absurd lies and champions the goal of turning back the clock on a whole host of social, scientific and educational topics. From Virginia, with its new abortion laws, to Ohio, with Joe the Plumber, what is the point in following this clown car around? If my  fellow citizens are going to keep electing people who not only cling to their Bibles and guns but also embrace a false notion of what it means to be American, who are we bloggers to try to reason with them?


This is no longer my fight. I'll vote and give my opinion on occasion, but the political battle must now be waged by younger people, and by women and others who are losing their rights every time Republicans take over a state house or gain a majority in Congress. This is a fight for the unions, the teachers and doctors to take on with greater gusto than the Baby Boomers alone can muster. I don't have as much skin in the game as people who will still be around in 40 or 50 years or folks whose professions have been stripped to the bone by right-wing governors and misguided, union-busting legislation. So out of self preservation, my political comments here will probably be few and far between in the coming months. Yes, I know the prime political season is upon us, but trying to make sense of this theater of the absurd could land me in the insane asylum. Instead, I will write about other things -- subjects that don't make my blood boil with each keystroke -- because it is clear to me now that we are in a place in our history where we are no longer willing to listen to each other or have intelligent, let alone constructive, disagreements.


Where I see measured and smart progress under President Obama, others see something very different, very ugly that I simply can't understand, let alone agree with. Where I see self-serving, dark hearts in Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum, others see plain-speaking patriots. Rather than try to explain this Mars vs. Venus political contrast, I am choosing a different path for this blog, but not without a few more parting words. Maybe more than a few.


No matter who wins the GOP presidential primary, about half of Americans will vote for the Republican candidate in the general election. That means half the people walking around America support things like going to war with Iran, cutting off unemployment benefits and getting rid of health-care reform, even though most people don't truly understand the ramifications of any of those actions. It's astonishing to me that people can actually vote against policies and laws created to protect them and their loved ones, but that's where we are at now. We live in a partisan society so dumbed down by talk radio and entertainers posing as journalists, so drawn in by snake oil salesmen and bumper sticker merchants, that a guy like Mitt Romney can be a leading candidate for the White House. Despite years of fighting a fruitless war in Iraq started by another intellectually challenged and obscenely wealthy Republican, Americans right of center are once again showing signs of doubling down on hawkish and heartless stupidity.


I can't figure out Americans anymore. I can't make excuses for us to my friends from overseas. We have lost our way. I know it; the world knows it. Doesn't mean we can't reclaim our status, but it's going to be a heavy lift in the current political climate. Are we still better off than a lot of countries? Absolutely. Yet, the gap is closing. More and more Americans are retiring to foreign lands, partly for economic reasons, and partly because the quality of life here has been degraded in the last couple of decades. It's gotten that way because the political system seems to only work for one group now -- the ultra rich. For most everyone else, life has become a struggle to varying degrees.


Even if voters come to their senses and elect Obama in a landslide, 40-plus percent of the public will still favor what the privileged conservatives are peddling. The new brand of conservatism preaches that anyone who supports higher education is a "snob" and that forcing transvaginal ultrasounds upon women seeking abortions is a right of the state. And it doesn't stop there.


I used to think it was my civic duty to be an informed voter and to not just blindly punch the ballot next to an R or D. That was when politics was an arena for serious ideas from serious candidates. I bounced back and forth, from left to right, prioritizing whatever was important in any particular election year and voting for the best man or woman to address those concerns. Nowadays, however, the Republican party has moved into such an absurd, uninformed and manipulative territory on essentially every issue, that I can't even view it as a legitimate alternative to the Democratic Party. Everyone I vote for, by default, will now have to have a D in front of their names whether I like them or not. I don't care if it's an election for county dog catcher, I am voting Democrat because Republicans have forced me into that corner. I don't like not having choices, but such is the state of our political system and a party that used to be far more concerned about the middle class than it is now.


Regardless of how I prioritize what is important, the corrupt Republican Party has nothing left to offer me. Right across the board, from the economy to the environment, from energy and defense to the arts, the GOP doesn't have a progressive idea on its plate. Not a single thoughtful approach to solving problems or creating new, smart opportunities in a changing world. Time and time again, the Republicans answer is to move backwards, to put our clean air and water in jeopardy in order to earn a few extra bucks today (the Hell with tomorrow), to pad the portfolios of the the one percent, to use clever twists of words ("job creators" being one of the biggest hoaxes in recent years) to form trickle-down illusions that all too easily fool the people who long for opportunities or a return to America's prosperous past.


These Kool-Aid drinking "dittoheads"  think a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico will solve all our energy and employment problems. They never consider for a second what might happen to the economy if something seriously went wrong with that pipeline. They don't credit Democrats for wanting to take a careful approach to such a risky endeavor, for holding out for a better, safer deal. They want to plunge ahead, just like they did in attacking Iraq, without any discussion of consequences or honest studying of the evidence. They are the new Republicans -- completely ignorant of history, science and general facts -- and proud of it. These Republicans shoot first and ask questions later. They have short attention spans. They cut taxes on the wealthy and take on two wars, and then blame someone else for the national debt. They actually think the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico had a happy ending. Remember, it wasn't the Republicans who forced BP into paying millions in damages. If the GOP had it's way, BP would have escaped with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and people in that region would have been suffering more than they already have.


Yet, I am not sure Gulf residents appreciate the fact that it was Democrats who forced the big oil company to be accountable. There is such a short-sighted, right-wing mindset in that part of the country that people can't see who is actually on their side and who isn't. In the South, being conservative doesn't mean conserving the environment, unfortunately. Instead, conservatism now means preserving weak regulations and flawed thinking that are often detrimental to the folks who are actually fighting against the people who want to help them.


This is depressing stuff. None of these right-wing clowns should ever get a sniff of being in public office -- not with their current values and lack of vision. I can accept a small minority of mindless extremists living amongst us. However, this is no small minority that is backing lunatic after lunatic. In fact, most of the South and entire mid-section of the country, particularly rural areas where education isn't always a priority, is falling into the traps set by the right at an alarming rate.


I understand hard times and desperation. I've experienced both. I don't, however, get why people think fighting more wars and giving greater tax breaks to the wealthy are solutions to problems in their specific lives, especially when these policies have never worked before. What is the connection between invading Iran or cutting Social Security and helping a family make ends meet in Iowa? If you're unemployed in Virginia, does it help you in some way for your political leaders in Richmond to focus exclusively on taking away women's rights? Wouldn't it be better to elect people who are at least trying to unearth innovative ways to allow you to keep your home or create a climate that will help you find work instead of voting for politicians whose main agenda has to do with contraception?


Explain this to me, seriously. What is it that attracts you voters on the far right to politicians who have no intention of doing anything other than fighting social wars that were decided a very long time ago while today's problems go unattended? Why were some of you so high on Cain? Is it because he was a successful businessman and you think he can do for the country what he did for the pizza business? Is that the only qualification you require, because there are a lot of successful business people in America, and I don't consider many of them qualified to handle the wide range of issues a president needs to command. Or maybe you just liked Cain's style and inability to speak proper English. Perhaps some people want to feel intellectually on par with their leaders and don't require them to know much about international affairs or anything else.


Personally, I want my president to be far smarter and more articulate than I am. It gives me confidence in the president when he at least appears to be well versed on complicated and crucial issues. If he can craft his own speech, great. If he can actually read the words, even better. Am I just being a "snob" for expecting these things from the leader of the free world?


It's also reassuring that the guy with his hand on the button is a calm, measured person who doesn't think that negotiation is some sissy-like approach to dealing with dangerous countries, yet is also willing to take a well-calculated shot when the enemy is in his crosshairs. It is alarming to me to hear the GOP candidates talking about attacking Iran without a single intelligence fact about the situation at their disposal. It undermines the efforts our current president and the agencies responsible for making sure the Iranian situation doesn't spiral out of control. Yet, these candidates want us to believe they are wrapped in red, white and blue. Oh really? How many of them have had to go to Andrews Air Force Base and watch the caskets of fallen soldiers being carted away? Would they be so macho if their kids were in the line of fire?


These candidates are a joke and should be considered walking insults to anyone who truly cares about this country.


Why would anyone with a daughter, regardless of where they live, support comments and positions that come from the likes of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (the anti-abortion, invasive ultrasound guy) or Limbaugh (the radio talk show host who likes calling women sluts)? Still, these guys have their fans. McDonnell is said to be in contention for a vice presidential nod from whomever wins the GOP primary. Limbaugh, while losing sponsors after his latest tirade against women, doesn't appear to be losing his audience.


As I said earlier, following politics these days isn't what it used to be and could lead to feelings of utter despair if you are the kind of person who wants to believe we all live in a fair and just country, where our neighbors aren't eager to send our kids to war or take Medicare away from grandma. As voters, we should demand one thing of both parties -- that they work together for all Americans, not just lobbyists and the richest of the rich.


Unfortunately, the divide-conquer-and-deceive mentality is more in fashion nowadays than the collaborative, honest approach, which means nothing of any great significance will get done to improve most of our lives anytime soon.


Most likely there are people within your own family or on your own block who want to build massive walls along the border of Mexico, regardless of how much it costs, how bad it will be for the environment or how ineffective it will become (ladders and tunnels will easily defeat the wall). Dopey ideas rarely lead to positive results. Weak ideas are often appealing to those in search of a quick solution to a difficult problem. I have empathy for those who are negatively impacted by illegal immigration, but I have no tolerance for paying billions of dollars for some half-baked solution that is cartoonish in concept. Are we now incapable of coming up with a smarter solution than a massive wall? With all the technology available to us, a wall is the answer conservatives offer with such zeal and confidence? Should we also go back to horse and buggy in order to deal with rising gasoline prices?


The people in our personal lives who embrace these shallow ideas are most likely decent folks, I am sure, but they have taken the bait offered by not-so-decent politicians. The red meat that the right-wingers throw to our loved ones and other acquaintances is mighty tempting and doesn't require much thinking, but it is fill with false promises and plays to their emotions more than their minds. I am not sure it's worth losing friendships over modest political differences, but the more people move to the right, the more distant I feel from them because this is no longer just about politics.


There are people sharing office cubicles with you who think Cain, Palin and Joe the Plumber possess the intellectual chops to navigate us through complicated times. Some people actually consider the lack of intelligence and limited perspective in some politicians as an asset. Yup, in the modern Tea Party/Republican universe, being idiotic and reactionary scores you points with a large portion of the electorate. It's these people whom I steer clear of in my daily life as much as I can. There is no debating any of this with them. No matter what, they are going to support Sarah, Herman, Rick, and yes, even Joe. So whether I encounter these rabid, new conservatives at a party or in the office, my position is to avoid political discussions at all costs.


I can hear the drums beating already. "Run Joe, run ..." all the way to the White House. You know what, as absurd as that sounds, it's very possible it could happen. We could be looking at a President Joe the Plumber in 2016. Perhaps even worse, we could see President Santorum in 2012 if fair-minded but apathetic people don't vote because they think that Obama has the election in the bag. Look, as disappointing as Obama has been in being slow to address the economy and certain progressive causes, he's been a pretty good president so far, and the economy is getting better. He's worthy of a second term.


As bad as the current GOP crop of candidates is, don't rely on your neighbors, friends or family members to make the right choice in November. Get out and vote or else the whole country will begin operating like Virginia has since Republicans came into power this year.


In the meantime, I backing away from blogging about politics for a bit. I don't need to see or hear anything more from Republicans to know that I am no longer interested in whatever they have to sell. Watching the clown car is no longer entertaining to me.

Getting a lift from the blues

I discovered a new musician who I actually like -- a rarity for me in recent years. His name is Gary Clark Jr. He was one of the blues' performers who played at the White House last week. PBS aired the performance on Monday night.  If you like old school blues mixed with a dash of rock 'n' roll, I suggest checking this guy out.

Click here to watch a short video from his White House gig.


Clark reminds me of a mix of Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King. Gritty vocals and some nasty guitar licks shape his sound. He's not overly produced or supported by computerized gadgets, light shows or an army of backup singers. Just a pure sound -- sometimes similar to Chuck Berry, other times Buddy Guy. He also seems to play nice with other types of musicians, which is sometimes a challenge for performers used to staying within their comfort zones.


I found it interesting that Clark uses Epiphone guitars -- the lower-end of the Gibson line. I wondered if that was a statement of his modesty, a good personality trait for any blues player who wants to keep it real. I am sure he can afford a nice Gibson guitar if he wanted one. Then again, there have been some blues players throughout history who have played wonderful guitar licks on instruments that consisted of little more than a block of wood and some rusty strings.


While Clark may upgrade his guitar collection at some point, I hope commercial success doesn't eventually change his music. The world needs more music that comes from the heart and less that is digitally tailored and packaged exclusively for money. It was good to see a new, young musician with the chops and desire to carry on the tradition of the blues. Gives me hope that music will eventually return to what it once was in America.


As a side note, I am glad we finally have a president who, along with being intelligent and a respected writer and speaker, is also cool. Genuinely cool. Not fake-politician-cool. You could tell President Obama was into the blues performances, so much so that he took the microphone and sang a couple bars on the final tune of the night.

A profound commercial message

While the Super Bowl gets all of the attention for commercials, this Chipotle-sponsored message that aired during the Grammy's last night absolutely blew me away in terms of substance and creativity. Willie Nelson, a long-time opponent of factory farming, performed the soundtrack, a song called "The Scientist" by Coldplay. Nelson's stripped-down version and creaky vocals were a perfect match for the animated video.

The short film is titled "Back to the Start," and taps into feelings that have been growing inside of some, albeit not enough, people in recent years. We have lost our way during our quest for more of everything -- faster and cheaper food, slicker technologies and greater profits. Whether it is factory farming producing cheap, poor-quality food here and overseas, or hundreds of thousands of Chinese assembling our iPads under horrible working conditions, we have paid an enormous price for so-called modernization. Most people choose to close their eyes to this stuff, which is why the Willie Nelson commercial was so important. It broadens the spectrum of awareness. Forces us in an inspirational way to ponder something most of us rarely ever think about.

I fear we are at the point of no return when it comes to all kinds of technologies and modern methods of doing things. In some ways, technology and other advancements have improved our lives. But who wouldn't go back to a time when a tomato actually tasted like a tomato? Who hasn't felt the urge to rip the cellphone out of some obnoxious person's hand while in line at the coffee shop? Who wouldn't support doctors returning to the days when they made house calls instead of patients having to be herded through some HMO facility's sterile environment?

Many things that exist today in the name of progress have done nothing but make us more vulnerable to illness and have reduced our ability to relate to each other. Making comments on Facebook is not relating to each other. Holding a door for a stranger or making small talk with the person in front of you on line are much better for the soul than tweeting a moronic comment about stubbing your toe while cutting someone off in the adjacent lane. Learning an instrument is better than relying on a computer to hit all the right notes for you. It is more human. In its imperfection, it is perfect and far more enriching. A song, like a tomato, doesn't have to be artificially void of flaws in order for it to do what it was intended to do in the best possible manner.

The Grammy's were kind of interesting last night. I was glad to hear the Foo Fighters actually recorded their last album in their garage with a tape recorder -- not a professional studio with all the digital wonders that often make musicians sound better than they are. I was glad Adele, with her no-nonsense approach to music, was a big winner. And I was glad to see the Chipotle/Willie Nelson short film.

I am just not sure that we can ever go back to the start. That saddens and alarms me just a little more with each passing day. But maybe, through messaging like the Back to the Start film, we can rethink some of the things we currently accept as progressive and expose them for what they really are -- just another way for another company to turn a buck, even if it's not the right thing to do for people, animals, our culture or the planet as a whole. Before you bite into that next McDonald's burger or turn on that iPhone, maybe it would be good to know what went into bringing those things to market.

Click here for information about Willie Nelson and Neil Young's efforts with Farm Aid.

Letting go might be the answer

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
 --E. M. Forster


In the last three years alone, I can point to numerous examples of people arriving at places in their lives that were totally unexpected. The recession drove people like me -- former newspaper journalists -- out of a dying occupation. Some got out while the getting was good, taking buyouts and other incentive packages from large media companies like Gannett Inc. Thousands of others became layoff victims through no fault of their own. Very few of us had any plans related to what we would do next. As the recession dragged on, the anxiety increased.


Some of us are getting by, and some aren't. A rare few are doing better than ever. Many are in limbo, piecing together some sort of existence through odd jobs, freelance work or contract positions. I know of people who are glad to be out of the newspaper business, which was always a hard life with late hours and other tough demands. However, no matter how bad those hours were, and no matter how much we knew the constant pressure from deadlines and dysfunctional newsrooms were horrible for our health, there are probably very few of us who would have left that world on our own. A paycheck and familiar skill set that provide some sort of comfort aren't easy to walk away from, especially with double-digit unemployment and age discrimination running rampant throughout our society.


The paths in and out of our careers take a significant toll on our mindsets as well as our bank accounts. Yet, there are worse things than losing jobs or starting over in new fields at half the pay. I believe our lives are altered in ways that we can't even imagine, influenced by big and small events. There is almost always something new to contend with or celebrate.


Some events are tragic. Suddenly we're alone in the world because of the loss of parents or a sibling or a spouse. Or perhaps we lose our ability to walk because of disease. Or our faith is shattered by one too many personal setbacks. Where those losses take us seems somewhat dependent on our resiliency, but there is also a randomness to it that has nothing to do with our character or ability to get back on that proverbial horse.


There is also a vague feeling that there are clues all around us as to what we should do, where to go next, how to survive and maybe eventually thrive. Why some people find those clues while others resign themselves to living out their lives in a dark corner is a mystery. It's not simply a matter of tough-mindedness that determines who rebounds and who doesn't. Life isn't a basketball game. You can't always will yourself to victory or happiness, regardless of what some successful people claim. I certainly don't feel particularly tough, yet I've come back from a number of personal setbacks -- setbacks so severe that it felt a lot easier to give up than to get up. I suppose most people have been at the crossroads at some point in their lives.


Where you land, how you cope with your new realities appears to be predetermined to some degree. You can potentially pave the way to that new place by getting an education or knowing the right people or seeking counseling or spiritual guidance, but that doesn't mean you will get to where you are meant to be. Something else is often at work. Something outside of ourselves. The fortunate ones do seem to get to that place,  but I believe most of us fall a bit short, which is why we probably need more than one lifetime to complete our journeys. Of all the people I know, there is only one or two, who if pressed, could say they are truly at peace and in a place where they belong. Loving your career or your family doesn't necessarily mean you're in balance. Acceptance of the other stuff -- the not-so-obvious things that challenge us all -- is what completes the circle. To get to that place, it seems voluntary or involuntary sacrifice is often required.


Even when we're not willing to let go, it seems that something comes along to force us to abandon our plans in order for us to move closer to our true destinations. The cosmic script must be followed or we begin to feel disorientated or frustrated. But how do we find that script? Is the final chapter always a happy one? How do we know when a wrong choice or bad luck is nothing more than that? How do we know if that choice was truly ours?


I guess if we knew that our lives were predetermined we could all relax a bit. Whether you get cancer or not may be somewhat influenced by lifestyle, but perhaps not as much as we think. What state we live in or profession we pursue isn't so much a choice as it is a process of following the clues that either are forced upon us or that gently sweep into our lives in a way that often seem like pure luck or bad misfortune, but are neither.


In hard times, we tend to look for answers to profound questions. We want to escape the pain. We want things (the economy, job market, our standard of living) to return to pre-2008 levels, even though most economists are now saying things will never be the same. We want one more conversation with a brother, sister or friend suddenly lost in an accident, even though we know that's not possible. We need to let go so that we can continue our journeys, yet is there anything more difficult than true acceptance or bold change?


The last three years have been harder than the previous three decades for many Americans. Some experts in the mental health or social services fields say that our collective spirit has been broken by job losses, wars and an inability to pull together even on issues we should all be in agreement on. Perhaps the harder we try to extricate ourselves from the traps we've gotten entangled in, the more the traps tighten. Maybe the way out of this mess is to let go, to put aside our preconceived notions and to allow things to flow or play out in a more natural way.