lundi, juillet 24, 2006

Proust Questionnaire

My brother-in-law updated his Proust Questionnaire responses, which inspired me to do the same.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Harm to my wife or my daughter.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT STATE OF MIND?
An exhausted contentment.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE OCCUPATION(WAY OF SPENDING TIME)?
Tie: playing golf with people I love; reading in bed next to Mrs. Duf.

WHAT HISTORICAL FIGURE DO YOU MOST IDENTIFY WITH?
I don’t know if I identify with any historical figures. I don’t know any people who made history by getting married, having a child and ascending to middle management. Not that I’m unhappy, it’s just that I consider myself a bit like the “well behaved women” of bumper sticker fame – guys like me don’t really make history. If I must pick someone, I’ll go with fiction and say Rodion Roskolnikov from “Crime and Punishment” And yes, I recognize that could be somewhat disturbing, but what I mean is that I can see a beauty in desperate action to address a grievous wrong, and still more beauty in finding oneself unable to bear the guilt of my crime.

WHICH LIVING PERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
My wife.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FICTIONAL HERO?
Elinor Dashwood from “Sense and Sensibility” shares the spotlight with Atticus Finch from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Paul” from Willa Cather’s sublime “Paul’s Case.”

WHO ARE YOUR REAL-LIFE HEROES?
People who speak when others are silent; people who act when others are inert; people who sacrifice their popularity and their security for the sake of integrity and saying or doing what’s right.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST TREASURED POSSESSION?
A copy of Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” that my mother gave me.

WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU HAPPIEST?
I have never been happier than I am right now.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST OBVIOUS CHARACTERISTIC?
That would be the belly.

WHAT IS THE TRAIT YOU MOST DEPLORE IN YOURSELF?
Wanting to please everyone; and sometimes, therefore, pleasing no one.

WHAT IS THE TRAIT YOU MOST DEPLORE IN OTHERS?
Lack of humility.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?
Items for my home.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JOURNEY?
Down our dirt and gravel driveway to a view of home and my wonderful wife and ward.

WHAT DO YOU MOST DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE?
That would be the belly.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST OVER-RATED VIRTUE?
Thrift.

ON WHAT OCCASION DO YOU LIE?
I never lie.

WHICH WORDS OR PHRASES DO YOU MOST OVER-USE?
I overuse anecdotes and analogies.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I’d like to be six (6) inches taller and ___ pounds lighter.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Getting promoted to Vice President.

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?
The island of Manhattan – Upper East Side, thanks.

WHAT IS THE QUALITY YOU MOST ADMIRE IN A MAN?
Intelligence, kindness.

WHAT IS THE QUALITY YOU MOST ADMIRE IN A WOMAN?
Intelligence, kindness.

WHAT IS IT YOU MOST DISLIKE?
Pettiness, meanness.

WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST IN YOUR FRIENDS?
The ability pick up like we spoke yesterday, even if too much time has gone by.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE?
I’d like to die after playing a full round of golf and shooting my age. I’d like to be struck by lightening or something, but mainly feel no pain, right after sinking the putt that clinched my score. I’d like to die after I’ve had a chance to see my daughter as a true adult – a woman of 50 or more.

IF YOU WERE TO DIE AND COME BACK AS A PERSON OR AN ANIMAL, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE?
A whale (not because of the tummy, just becasue whale's are really nice and stuff)

IF YOU COULD CHOOSE AN OBJECT TO COME BACK AS, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?Tiger’s Wood’s golf glove.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO (WORDS YOU LIVE BY OR THAT MEAN A LOT TO YOU)?Tread lightly.

WHO HAS BEEN THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON YOU?
My mother, my brother, my wife, and some teachers along the way: Mr. Umansky, Ms. Jimenez, Professor Reid-Gold, Professor Marshall.

lundi, juillet 17, 2006

She's Just a Victim of the Ghetto?

Recently, we were driving home to Saint Paul, Minnesota, after gymnastics class in Oakdale, Minnesota. We worked our way west on Larpenteur Avenue, past Phalen Lake toward our house near Como Lake. We take the slow route so that we can enjoy the journey and a little bit of the splendor that is summer in St. Paul. We could very easily take I-94 West to I-35E north to Larpenteur or Wheelock or Maryland. Doing so would take at least 15 minutes off the trip, but then we’d miss so many wonderful things:

The two Asian girls, neither more than six, zipping along on one of those super tiny motorcycles (that go faster than they should), no parent in sight, no helmets.

The man, walking around the lake with his monkey.

The classic cars, TinyE is obsessed with classic cars these days. She’s also fond of saying “that’s not a car, it’s a convertible.”

Therefore, we take the scenic route. And so recently, just as we approached Rice Street, as we made our way down a gently sloping hill under the shade of a few mature oak trees, my daughter said without a trace of irony – she’s only four and doesn’t do irony - “Daddy, we should go on a vacation.”

And I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm, “oh honey, I’m sure you could use a break from it all, you absolutely must be exhausted.”

But my daughter doesn’t do sarcasm either, and she’s not one to be out done, so, without pausing, she deftly tapped me on the chest with her rhetorical sword, being kind enough to leave the “touché” unsaid –

“Yes,” she said “sometimes it’s too much in St. Paul.”


I’m exploring vacation options now.

Any ideas? I'm leaning toward San Diego.

mardi, juillet 11, 2006

Freedom Isn't Free

It's usually the same (general) kind of car, and the same kind of driver. There is always a Bush Cheney sticker somewhere else on the sedan or mini-van. Then, there is a sticker of an American flag with the slogan underneath:

Freedom isn't free.

And, I'll admit, I get the sticker, but I don't really get it.

To me, what it means is that freedom comes at a price.

Am I a genius or what? Man, when I commece to decipherin'!

To establish our "democracy" we had to win independence from England. People died in that effort. Therefore, winning our freedom was not free.

But I suppose that what those who apply the sticker mean is that the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm I, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (among others) weren't free either. They had costs associated with them.

People paid a price for freedom for women, for African-Americans. People suffer and die in the effort to win freedom for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender Americans.

Many immigrate to America in search of freedom. Many pay a profound price in the effort, never tasting the freedom they seek.


But what I don't get is why the stickers are coming out now.

It is widely acknowledged that our "freedom" was not under attack from Saddam Hussein's regime. And, in fact, our freedom has been attacked liberally by the Bush administration in the form of the USA Patriot Act, the attacks on prisioner and detainee rights, in the invasions of privacy, in attacks on the press, in the disregard for voting rights, in appeals to patriotism and religion, and in the form of government secrecy.

Freedom isn't free.

Do those who apply the sticker argue that we, as Americans, are obligated to spread freedom around the world much as an evangelical Christian is obligated to proselytize? Is the argument that the costs we pay in the name of Iraqi freedom (and, proponents would argue, freedom in the Middle East) are costs we are obligated to pay?

Behind all that is the assumption that "democracy" in Iraq or the Middle East will result in "freedom" for citizens there.

My argument is - not necessarily. The people will elect officials who will establish a system of government that more closely resembles a theocracy. Once elected the theocratic leaders will set about attacking personal freedoms. In the Middle East, they will dictate dress and hair styles. They will restrict women, both in appearance an in potential; they will limit speech and the press. They will limit expression and the arts. And yes, there is the potential that they will not be subjected to torture and incarceration like they were under the despotic rule of Hussein, but this notion that they will be free is far from guaranteed.

So, when I see those stickers, I always wonder the same things:

Freedom isn't free - it requires diligence and awareness; it requires thoughtfulness, care.

Freedom isn't free - but must it be so expensive?

Freedom isn't free - and what are you doing about the erosion of freedoms here?

Freedom isn't free - but sometimes its pursuit is dumb.

Freedom isn't free - and you can't make people free, they have to want freedom.

Freedom isn't free - and if someone asks you to die in the name of freedom, think twice.

Freedom isn't free... [add your own reply]...

mercredi, juillet 05, 2006

Unlike Elvis Costello, Who's Aim is True, George Bush's Aim Is More Like that of a North Korean Missile

This morning, I listened to NPR as I was preparing for work after four (4) blissful days of vacation. I was fascinated by the news from North Korea that they are testing missiles with a range sufficient to hit targets in the U.S.

The tests did not go well, but…they are testing. Seven missiles tested to be exact.

North Korea is testing, in part, as a result of failed U.S. diplomacy.

This is quintessential Bush. Our priorities are a complete mess.

If Bush was a catcher for the Washington Nationals (what other team would he play for?) he’d squat down somewhere in the outfield and cry foul whenever the umpire didn’t catch the ball for him. The team would be 60 games out of first place, and he’d call our attention to the fluke single he hit four games ago (Mission Accomplished!). Whenever the press asked him what he planned to do in order to catch the first-place Mets, he’d talk about how the real enemy is the Kansas City Royals*.

We’re in Iraq (no WMD, no imminent threat, no link to Al Qaeda, on-going insurgency, recent moral failures) while Osama bin Laden enjoys a robust box office from somewhere in Afghanistan.

We do nothing while significant chunks of the earth’s ice melts away, destroying species and threatening cities and (gulp) industries.

Yep, okay, sure…global warming is a liberal hoax.

Millions don’t have healthcare, while the Republican Congress debates immigration – news flash, the undocumented workers have been here for years, and we need them. And of course, the sound and the fury come to signify nothing at all and surprise, surprise, no action is taken by the Republican leadership. But everything’s not lost because the base signed on for more hate – come November lots of Christians will remember how Frist and the boys stood up to oppose another minority group. But this time, it’s not our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, it’s (“dirty”) (the dirty is silent – most of the time) "furrenners."

Science is dead. And not just stem cell research, but computer science and also engineering. Our schools are increasingly outperformed by more rigorous foreign educational systems and our congressional and legislative leadership have stepped aside to allow Bill and Melinda Gates to lead our return to form. Our captains of industry preach immigration reform in order to keep on hand the talent they need to develop the next generation of processors. In all its free time, Congress and legislatures debate (every other year) Constitutional Amendments to protect the flag at the expense of our civil liberties.

The same civil liberties which we claim to value for Iraqis are constantly under attack here – and by the same champions of democracy for everyone else.

Go ahead Uncle Sam, look at my financial records. I bought a CD. I bought a taco. I invested in another social-justice fund. Read all about it. Read my phone bill. Take my picture while I walk down the street. Whatever, just don’t leave the flag unprotected. Gosh I feel so safe.

Yep, I describe the feeling as safe**.

That is, until I think about our tendency to talk about Iran while a madman in North Korea - a madman, who, until…oh…about 2000, had suspended missile testing - thumbs his nose at us.



*For my readers who are not baseball fans, the Kansas City Royals play in another league and (except as of late) pose a threat to no team.
**I'm being sarcastic.