My Son, The President

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a political statement. Just food for thought…

Four years ago, after Obama was elected as President, one of my teen sons asked me, “Dad, was it illegal for black people to be President before Obama?” I was floored. The fact that it occurred to him that perhaps there was a law prohibiting minorities from ascending to the highest office was both sad and frightening.

It’s not as if there wasn’t a precedence for that type of law in our nation’s history. But to think that my teenage son saw Obama’s election as the changing of law was/is rather profound. My response to him was, “No, it was not illegal. The possibility existed, but now it has become reality.”

I’ve taken this as a chance to build confidence in all of my children. I let them know that most of the limitations we face are those we’ve placed on ourselves. This is why I’m continually reinforcing the fact that with focus, dedication and hard work, they can indeed be anything they are meant to be… including President.

Once A Day

Hello everyone!

If you would be so kind, please take a moment to vote for the agency I work for, Children’s Institute, Inc. in LA Photo Party’s contest for free services:

LINK TO VOTE FOR CII! http://www.laphotoparty.com/nonprofit/index.php?p=26

I didn’t realize it at first, but we are allowed to vote ONCE PER DAY/PER EMAIL! So when tomorrow rolls around, you can vote again! We currently have 359 votes and are in a close second place. Your vote means that the children and families we serve get to enjoy the photobooth and other great services at the Holiday Festival this year! It only takes less than 2 minutes out of your day to vote! Remember, you MUST “confirm” your vote in the follow up email for it to count. Thank you so much!!

Now GO VOTE!!

Random Dove Thought: Virtual Loss

I was talking to a friend the other day about how human emotions can be so completely unpredictable and surprising. We react to situations, circumstances and people based on what we hope for, desire or even secretly covet in our hearts. What strikes me as odd is the fact that we have these “real” emotions for things that we shouldn’t really have any attachment to. This thought process begged the question:

How can you miss something that you never had?

I’ve never been a millionaire. Maybe it’ll happen one day. But I can’t very well say that I miss being wealthy when I’ve never had excess discretionary funds. And I won’t go around griping about the crap that I can’t buy because it’s too expensive. But I still feel the emotion of wanting more or feeling like it’s a memory of a season that has passed. Where does that come from?? I don’t know. But it’s not the only scenario. There are people I’ve met online that I’ve never seen face-to-face. We talk frequently. I’ve seen pictures. I may have even heard their voice on Skype or a YouTube video. But no hugs or handshakes have ever been exchanged between us. Yet, I’d still miss them if they suddenly disappeared or stopped corresponding with me. So where is that emotion birthed from?

I still ponder this question from time to time. I would never want to live in a world devoid of emotion. Love, Joy, Peace, Fear, Anxiety, Compassion, Sympathy, Anger and Worry are necessary, right? Maybe. But they sure have a way of affecting our actions in ways we may not have thought possible. I’ve long since given up trying to figure out emotions and the seeming disservice they play in our decision making. Regardless of what I think I know, it doesn’t stop me from missing that person. Although the emotions are real, the key is staying in enough control not to ever act foolishly upon them.

 

Crazy Tired

My tired eyes are sure to let people know at work that I didn’t sleep well last night.

It seems my brain, which is usually quite friendly toward me, was desperately trying to solve some bizarre, irrational issue that made absolutely no sense and the mental activity was keeping me up. Basically, my thoughts were full of illogical ponderings of how long it would take to process a request for information from my brain concerning such things as “24 people who want crunch” and “impatient animals”.

Yeah, crazy talk.

I know it.

I literally had to spend a good 15 minutes shouting down these thoughts in my head in an almost vain attempt to eradicate them completely. By the time I finally fell asleep, I was thoroughly exhausted and deeply frustrated. This was the second night I’ve had to do this. I’m not sure what’s causing it. But it’s definitely driving me up the wall. *sigh* I hope tonight is better. Maybe I need to occupy my thoughts with something more specific. Books I’ve read? Movies I’ve seen? Images of my wife? 😛 I definitely need to give my brain better material with which to formulate some awesome, rather than exhausting, dreams.

The Sniff Test and other Male Fashion Incidentals

Almost every morning when I get to work, a group of us congregate in the employee lounge as we concoct our morning potion. For some it’s coffee. For others it’s hot chocolate or tea. The conversations range from current events to family dynamics and are typically entertaining for all involved. However, I’m one of only a small handful of men in this particular office, so the conversations can sometimes take on a gender slant.

When this happens, I’m always amazed at how very different men and women are when it comes to certain discussion topics. For instance, this morning one of my female co-workers brought in a skirt (I’d tell you the color, style and cut but that would require me caring about that kind of stuff ) that she couldn’t fit and thought perhaps she could give it to one of our other female co-workers who might be able to fit in it. The conversation then turned and went into clothing sizes, body types, return policies, teen vs. adult fashion preferences, etc. I always tease them that they lose me when they start discussing clothes.

Women can go on and on about what article of clothing fit or didn’t fit and why. How many times who wore what when. And the reasonable price to pay for genuine vs. knock-offs. It’s all Greek to me. The extent of my interest in clothing is whether or not something is clean and/or ironed. I perfected the Sniff Test my first year of college. I get by having a limited amount of slacks with a small selection of button-up and polo shirts, supplemented by the occasional sweater for the colder months. About the only other thing that changes daily is the tie I might wear. I have a nice selection of gifted/inherited (because what man would ever need to buy…) ties that round out my work wardrobe.

So when the conversation shifts into clothing, that’s my cue to nod, smile, return quietly to my desk and ponder the practicality of a lint roller or that weird little fan thingamajig that people use to remove sweater fuzz.