There and back again

Finals are done, bags are packed and I've had a lovely Christmas with the family back in colorful Colorado. There is much to blog about from the class trip to Dublin (oh the fun of wandering the streets after a night at the pub!) to the mad rush to finish the two final papers for classes (shush, don't tell the prof's they were completed 30 minutes before the deadline and turned in on the first draft). There are pictures to be uploaded, videos to be made into movies and good times to be retold. But for now, I'm in my favorite airport - DIA (Denver International) and enjoying playing on my fancy new Toshiba laptop. (How's that for product placement?) The only thing missing is a gingerbread latte from Starbucks, but I'm afraid I'm all starbucksed out - never thought I'd say that! So instead I will soak up the last clear blue skies I'll see for a while and wait for my plane to board to bring me back to the emerald isle of rolling green hills and rain.

Mother Fucker I'm cold! And other fun stories...

Ok.. yes, I admit having lived both in Russian and Ukraine (even though I was in Ukraine in the spring/summer months) I have been colder than I am now, but not far off. While I was in England I realized why Colorado winters are so wonderful - no humidity. Its fabulous. Oh sure, we have snow but is the dry powdery stuff that with a few minutes of sun melts quickly. In England and now Ireland I'm confronted again with the cold and wet weather that seeps insidiously into your skin. No - not even into your skin... into your bones. Making any thoughts of warmness to come seem like crazy imaginings of a fantasy land that doesn't really exist. Where am I that I'm so cold I've decided to blog about it? In my class' private little attic office. It has all the modern conveniences - computer, printer, kettle, phone, even (as I so proudly informed my Sri Lankan classmate) - Lights! And yes, there is a heater as well. Wait, let me turn it on now. DOH! The dial is broken!! Of course, we can have high speed internet but no old-school water heater thingy. Ah... technology. Perhaps I'll just watch a youtube video of a roaring flame and psycho-semantically warm myself.

But its not all so bad, don't think I've been freezing this entire time. In actuality I love the weather here. (Yes, I'm a freak, we should have established this already.) I like the cloudy grey days and the drizzly rain. Although I'm not a fan of being caught in the heavy rainfall in a pair of jeans and a fleece that both get so soaked through I feel like I just went on one of those theme park log rides. But again, I do enjoy living in Europe and all its eccentricities. For instance, this morning I woke up to my radio alarm, set to the only station I can usually hear clearly, that is the classical music station, to hear that today is the 450th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's ascension to the throne. Huh. Fascinating. They threw it out there in between the weather report (you guessed it - more rain!) and the name of the next Baroque era song, in honor of good old Lizzy. And that so far has been all the learning I've done today, so I should stop playing around on the internet and get back to reading for classes.

Strangely, now I've bitched about it, I'm finding I've warmed up a bit. Nice.

What does it mean to be an American? – revisited

After graduating from Arvada West high school and the Humanities program I thought I’d never again revisit those awful seminars we endured for three years. But lately I find myself unable to stop from thinking about one in particular we did at the end of our sophomore year – What does it mean to be American?

I don’t know if tonight I have more answers than I did then, all those years ago now, but I do have a lot of thoughts I’d like to share. So in the true Humanities seminar style I will first give my brief statement followed by various quotations to back me up. It’s not going to be a full 20-pager here, I’m out of practice on that.

Responsibility vs. Big Government vs. On Your Own vs. Doing It Yourself

As I slowly wind down watching the final presidential debate* I’m left wondering about the state of America. Not its economy. Nor its health care or education. Mostly about its soul. Being now in Northern Ireland and speaking constantly of the deep-seated divisions here I think to myself – “well, we don’t have that problem back home!” Then I watch the final debate and I begin to see (possibly for the first time clearly) just how divided we are. I’m not just talking about the candidates or their parties… federalist or big government, here or there. I’m talking about the ideas they embody as they reach out to citizens around the world – not just the country there, don’t forget about us folk abroad! – and try to gain the support of like-minded voters. Before I launch into my opinions on the debate itself (which are many) I’d first like to discuss the idea of America.

Although I choose to live abroad for extended periods of time that does not mean I do not love my country. Like every place on this planet there are things I don’t like about the US but there are also things that I admire. One of the major issues I have is the rule of exceptionalism. I have no problem believe that we have uniqueness. My problem comes when that sense of uniqueness drives us to seeing all others as inferior. Or believing that we have all the answers and it is our sacred duty to push those answers on others (even and especially when they don’t want them). I have no problem in believing that we are a great country. I have a problem in believing that we have no faults. We may be great in principle but we have certainly been terrible in practice. And yes, there has always been exceptionalism in America starting from the very ideals upon which it was built. I’ve heard all to tales of how scores of people came to our shores for new life of their own choosing (that is unless they were black or native); also how you can make of yourself whatever you can (unless you are poor or a woman); and that we as a nation come together in times of crisis (unless you are Japanese in 1941 or Arab/Arab-looking in 2001).

Yet through all this mixed bag of history there is a redeeming quality. It is the one thing Pandora captured back in the box, which the founding fathers opened up again when they realized they could take their fate into their own hands with a declaration. It pushed suffragettes to continue fighting through insurmountable social conditions; it kept Martin Luther King, Jr. going through the constant and seemingly fruitless struggles for equality. That quality is Hope. Hope is the one thing that cannot be defeated even in the most horrendous circumstances. And now it is making a comeback in American life. After years of being afraid of what will happen next, we will revisit our tradition of looking forward rather than back and taking our future back in our hands. [Warning: Approaching Cheesy-ville via Dogma Lane, get off now if you wish to stop at Cynical Alley.]

This is not to say that we should never look back (we know what happens when we forget) and it’s not to say we shouldn’t take our lessons from the past. But just as we forged ahead with a new kind of country two centuries ago, we should forge ahead again and continue to perfect that union. We may never reach our goal but we should never stop trying to be better than ourselves, to reach out beyond our limitations and discover what can be grasped there. It must be said that Hope is not an exclusively American quality; every person on this earth has hope inside them. Our special claim holds Hope as one of the founding principles of the nation and so engrained in the minds and spirits of Americans that it can even be called an Audacious Hope.

Looking back it seems I’ve gotten away from the debate and have digressed (or perhaps progressed) along to more philosophical themes. Whatever I’ve said or left unsaid I know at least this much to be true. For me, to be an American, whether I’m in Derry or Denver, is to be hopeful. To believe that I, as one tiny part in this larger universe can make a difference in the world around me. And for perhaps the first time, I feel hopeful now for my country. I believe that we can learn from our mistakes and start to show our exceptionalism in a good light, not by excluding others from our little club, but by engaging all around to join in. It’s a good feeling and one that I’ve seen spring up from all over. Not just within the US. People from around the world are looking to America again not with fear in their eyes, but with Hope that now we’ll see our potential and live up to all the expectations of greatness. That we can once again reach out to help those in need; without preconditions or arrogance. Tomorrow that hope will be fulfilled or not. But the great thing about Hope is that it can’t be beaten for long. Sooner or later it’ll rise again and it will keep rising.

For now though, this hopeful one must rest in order to rise again. So I will leave you with some quotes to further pound my point into you as well as some new additions to the seminar repertoire – videos!


“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” Thomas Jefferson

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” Thomas Jefferson

“America is therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World's History shall reveal itself.” Georg W. Hegel

“What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do something about them.” Henry Ford II


"When life itself is lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender ones dreams--this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be." Man of La Mancha

“America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses.” Woodrow Wilson

“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Alexis de Tocqueville

“The American Indian Movement is then, the Warriors Class of this century, who are bound to the bond of the Drum, who vote with their bodies instead of their mouths ... THEIR BUSINESS IS HOPE.” AIM website

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

"They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail

“Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.” Shawshank Redemption

*Note: this blog was begun after the 2nd debate; it took me a full day to watch it all due to computer issues as well as distractions such as classes and eating.

**Note: first few quotes are in regards more to my thoughts on the debate than on this entry.

Now that's what you call Ironic

Very brief blog as I'm too frustrated now to even type coherently. Long story short is this - my 4 year old computer has been acting crazy lately, so I bought a new Dell to bring with me to Ireland. The Dell was shipped out to me just in time before I left but was broken. Subsequent fixing of that machine has resulted in my needing a whole new Dell (at their cost, of course). I'm still using my old Toshiba (which I will say has served me well and I probably should have just gotten another Toshiba, but hindsight... blah blah). Now however I'm running out of space on my hard drive (another long, techy story I'll not get into now) and the computer keeps telling me to delete stuff so I have space. I waited and waited (because there was really nothing I could delete) and now that I'm ready to make some sacrifices and delete shit, I can't because there is not enough space to actually delete it!!

That's irony at its best.

Taking the Cliched Bite - Part 3 (finally)

The weekend was much more chill as I gave up the whirlwind tour of New York and Julia and I got to spend more time together as we made our way down to Brighton beach and the little Russia there. First we had a great brunch and chat with her friends at a cute little cafe. This quintessential "Friends" moment was another bit of icing on the cake of my full New York experience. But we could not linger, there were adventures to be had elsewhere. My intention – to see the beach and ocean. Our mission – to go and practice our rusty Russian language skills. Overall we probably had as much success as the last famously declared “Mission Accomplished” in that we came, we saw but we definitely didn’t conquer. However we had a great time wandering the stores looking at all the Russian goodies such as cakes and cookies, sausage, beer and siirok (cheesecake things I die for). I did manage to have a brief encounter no-pycckii (in Russian) with a store clerk as I tried on a dress that was definitely too small for me, but we deft fingers and no awkwardness on her part, she came into my dressing room and zipped me up. After I had pried myself from the suffocating garment she asked me if I was going to buy it and I could only shake my head no, wondering how she could think I would subject myself to that ordeal more than once.

We wandered the boardwalk then for a while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Brighton beach. It wasn’t the cleanest of beaches that’s for sure, but there was an ocean and that was good for me. (After all, I have traveled 40 minutes one-way just to see a beach in the dark in Galveston. Yes, I’m crazy and obsessed, what can I say?) A sight I wasn’t expecting was a little crab wandering the shore. I side-stepped him quickly hoping to not accidentally run into more of his friends when we happened upon another marine friend, a jellyfish. Julia assured me it was dead before she then played out her dreams of being a doctor and started to dissect it with a nearby shell. It didn’t scream at the first or second cut, so I trusted that it was really dead. After a while we meandered back to the train and headed off home for a relaxing evening of dinner and a movie with Saul.

Sunday was my last day in New York but that didn’t slow us down! This time all three of us went to Manhattan to check out the Salvador Dali exhibit at the MoMA. I must say, his paintings I do enjoy but the films he did were a little freaky even for a nutcase like me. I would have enjoyed the exhibit better I think if the place hadn’t been so packed with people but it was still a great experience and we managed to catch our breath in the sculpture garden. Then we went back to Brooklyn where I indulged on my last meal of real Mexican food for the foreseeable future. (Mexican cuisine has not yet caught on around the world as it should.) And learning my mistake from coming into town, I searched for and found a private car service (not a whole freaking 12-person bus!) to take me back to Newark Airport. So we said our goodbyes and thanking my wonderful hosts I got into a beautiful black town car just like Ugly Betty and sped off into the night. That is, I sped off until we hit Manhattan and then we stopped… and waited… and waited… I now understand why everyone in movies will get out of the taxi and just start running for dear life. It’s ridiculous. I was sure I’d never make my flight and then would have to turn around and return to Brooklyn to beg for a few nights more stay on their couch. But all was well and the minute we got through the tunnel on the Jersey side it all cleared up. Another scare came when the stupid company I used wouldn’t accept my credit card and again I was imagining the horror of missing a flight and having to spend a night and day in the airport but in the end the card was taken, I got checked in and past security in the nick of time. To wait some more. As my flight was delayed due to mechanical issues. An hour after the scheduled departure we were finally off the ground and I was on my way to Ireland.. at last.

Taking the Cliched Bite - Part 2

I took the L train (don’t I sound like a New Yorker already?) down to Union Square where I exited and began my adventures in Manhattan. It didn’t take long to see why the city has so much to offer. Not two minutes out of the subway station and I see on one corner of Union Square a yoga demonstration and on the other corner a tv show filming (I think I heard it was for Law and Order, but could be wrong on that). Meandering along the main road I was able to get in touch with an old friend from high school and plan out lunch with him. Then I finally found Little Italy (stuck right in the middle of Chinatown, or rather co-opted by Chinatown). I took some pictures and wandered the streets looking at all the goodies on display from cannolis to – no kidding – fried oreos. (I’m pretty sure that one didn’t come over on the boat!) Having satisfied one quarter of my heritage and paid homage to my grandmother by for once doing what she suggested, I made my way back up north to meet Brian.

We had lunch at a little riverside joint on the Hudson with nice views and a brisk fall breeze. Like with Julia, Brian and I tried to work out when exactly it was that we met last and I’m sad to say it had been much too long ago. Now, I can’t take all the blame for that as Brian is one of the most globe-trotting-est people I know! Just this summer he ended up in China helping out after the massive earth quake and getting photo ops with the cutest pandas.

But enough about him, this in My blog and though I don’t have amazing pictures of pandas like this, I do have some other awesome tales. Like……. The Naked Cowboy!!!

That’s right, I got to see the legendary (if you live in New York or watch the Today show as often as I do) Naked Cowboy who “stands around Times Square all day playing the guitar in his underwear”. Oh yeah… my trip to New York is complete. And he wasn’t the only naked man I saw that weekend but we’ll get to that later. Let’s just take things one at a time.

After lunch and couple of beers with Brian I wandered my way over to Central Park, trying to match up in my mind the locations of dozens of movies and tv shows I’ve seen that take place here to park as I walked through it. (Most of them didn’t match but that just leaves more fun for next time!) Then I almost, kind of, felt like I got lost in the Rambling (or called something like that) part of the park and envisioned being mugged as the sun faded into the skyline, but that overdone stereotype left my mind as I left the part (well ahead of sunset anyways) and I made my way back to Brooklyn in time for dinner.

Friday was another day on the town and the highlight of the trip as far as I was concerned because this was the day I would head over to the Today Show studio as well as take a tour of the United Nations. I first found my way to Rockefeller Plaza, but as it was my ‘vacation’ I didn’t get up and moving early enough to actually catch the taping let alone be right in front of the with a sign saying something like “I [heart] the Today Show” or what not. So I’m afraid, Matt, Meredith, Anne and Al, you’ll have to wait for another occasion to give me my 15 seconds of fame. Ah well. I did enjoy all the fabulous architecture around the plaza though so all was not lost.

But this trip was Not all fun and games as I had an errand to run which took me to Time’s Square area. I must say that Time's Square during the day is rather.... blah. I mean really, its a Huge intersection of god knows how many streets and its not even a square at all, more triangular, bordered by towering buildings all around. However, I did enjoy that area better later that night. After the rather laborious project of exchanging my money I managed to walk around quite a bit and explore. (That is actually when I saw the Naked Cowboy.) I went on a mission to see all the big sites, literally. The Empire State building, Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building. Then I made my way to the East River and the UN. Since I can remember I have been fascinated with this organization. Just the thought of trying (if not always succeeded so well) of bringing together all the countries of the world in one place has been an inspiration to me in my studying and career aspirations. Until that moment the closest I’d ever gotten to the General Assembly hall was a book my dad brought back from one of his trips to New York several years ago. And now here I was about to see it all in person! As I took my fill of pictures of the iconic buildings I noticed a protest happening just across the street from the UN. If I remember correctly (yes, this is a hazard of not blogging sooner), it was in support of an Iranian town that was being threatened by the government because of their demands for greater freedoms. It was a cold and windy day; their commitment to the cause was displayed in their passionate stamina. As for me, I needed a different stamina.

After going through the security ‘tent’ reminiscent of the DNC in Denver this year (which will be blogged about too… someday) I finally found the line to buy tickets for the hourly tours. As I waited in line for about the same length of time the tour itself would take, I occupied myself by re-reading Equus in preparation to view that night’s performance at the Broadhurst Theater. Finally we were off and moving with tickets paid and security badges in place. I won’t go through and describe the whole tour but I will say that although they didn’t allow you to see much, it was thrilling enough for me to be in the General Assembly hall. After the short-ish tour we went to the main attraction – the gift shop, of course, where I bought and posted (because they have their own United Nations Post Office in the building!) some postcards and also got myself the little treat of a bookmark.

Finally to round off the day of treats, after a brief respite at Julia’s I went back into the city to watch Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths in Equus. I’m glad I read the play over again, but you don’t necessarily need to do that to enjoy their performances. It was beautifully done and though a lot has been made of a stark naked Daniel Radcliffe (and despite all the jokes that that was the only reason I was going to see the play), I must say that his nudity did not attract all my attention during that scene (no offense Dan, you are looking very fine!). I say not all my attention because of course there was some attention given to him but in terms of the context of the scene itself I wasn’t looking at his… er hmm… ‘equipment’ but at his face and the response to the other nude on stage – the love interest. There was definitely a surge of electricity and sexual tension in the air and I must say that it was one of the best parts of the play, seconded only to the portrayal of the crime that landed Daniel’s character in the nut house in the first place. All in all, I Highly recommend this as a must-see if you have the time and inclination to visit Broadway.

As I mentioned above Time's Square isn't all that fabulous by day (at least for me) but by night.... its a another story. With all those monolithic buildings lit up and more pedestrians out and about (or maybe it was the same amount, but just looked like more in all the fluorescent lighting) and the billboards flashing desperately to get their message out, I was at once impressed and slightly horrified at all the advertising for this and that. True, much of it was for plays or tv shows but also just the rampant consumerism (which is a tale for another day) was rather shocking. And as lovely, in one sense, as it was to see all the lights it was also almost assaulting to the eyes to take it all in. Perhaps that's why so many people who come to New York stay, they become hypnotized by all the lights. As for me, I did manage to leave the city but I took one message along with me....

That does it for this installment of the adventures in NYC. Stay tuned to the next and final part and finally some tales from beyond the sea.

Taking the Cliched Bite - Part 1

At long last! Weeks in the coming.... days in the writing.... and here we are with my Tales from New York!! Part 1.

That's right. I decided after being encouraged by Mike (read - hounded) to publish my 4-day trip to the east coast in sequels. I was simply being too detailed in the writing, in order to give you the best picture of my travels, to just jot down a few notes and be done with it. Always with my readers in mind (all 3 of them), I thought it would do best to stop delaying the fun and finally publish Something - Anything. So think of it as the old school radio serials and enjoy the excitement and suspense as I finish up the next segment of the journey. With that in mind... Let us begin...

It was a dark and stormy night, the car had broken down on the highway where a lone lunatic with a hook for a hand...... wait - wrong story! Begin again.



New York City has inspired many a movie maker, song writer and author. After all this hype, how can you avoid wondering one thing - is New York really all that great? I decided it was about time I found out.

My last trip abroad took me to D.C. upon leaving and entering the U.S. to visit my good friend, Mike. This time I went a different route out to Europe, I went up to New England before coming to Ireland. It seemed only fitting to leave from the very place that many Irish ended up in the last century. All that was missing was a really gnarly fight between Leo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. Alas, I had to content myself with watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the plane ride from the new world to the old. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

First, I must admit something. I love to fly. I do. I know, most people would confess that they hate it, but I feel that loving to fly is somehow looked down upon. Like - how could you be Crazy enough to enjoy sitting in a giant metal contraption speeding along at hundreds of miles per hour thousands of feet above the earth?! But I do. I love especially the takeoff and landing. I try to feel just when the tires leave the ground or make contact with it (obviously the latter is easier as it's usually accompanied by a large jolt followed by the flaps on the wings spread frantically trying to slow down).

Anyways, as I was enjoying the lift off and the passing scenery I was reflecting on how Colorado from the air looks like a patchwork quilt. With all the fields and farms of differing greens and browns. Some square-shaped, some circular. It is beautiful. Then we began my second favorite part of flying - going through the clouds. They were especially fluffy and brilliantly white that day. I imagine that is what its like to travel through cotton candy. Climbing above the clouds we started our cruising and then the clouds looked more solid than before. Like they were actually stage sets suspended from the sky by invisible strings. At that point the beauty of flying was also suspended by the realization I'd be stuck in an airplane (the not-so-fun part of flying, unless you get business or first class of course) for the next several hours with little hope of moving about as I always try to get a window seat and my access to movement was blocked by the two men in the seats next to me. So I settled in for a nice long nap...

After a while I woke up to a nice little mid-flight meal. That's right!! An airline that actually still feeds its passengers - and without charging for it! Who could they be?! Continental Airlines. It was my first time flying with them and I was very impressed. Nice seats, good (and free!) food. Plus they had the great luxury for me of just making one stop from Denver to Belfast.

And so it was I found myself in Newark Liberty Airport, completely on the other side of New York from my friends Julia and Saul, with whom I'd be staying, but hey, I'm sure it won't be too much trouble to get to them. And hour's drive and one hundred plus dollars later.. I got to Julia's apartment in Brooklyn. (I made the mistake beforehand of booking a Super Shuttle ride to Brooklyn - note to self - they only work in Manhattan, but the don't really tell you that online. They will take you to Brooklyn but you'll get a whole van to yourself and pay well for it!) The driver was very nice, he was from Uruguay of all places. He had me sit in the front seat to get a good look at the scenery as we cruised along and then got in a horrendous (but probably normal traffic jam) around the Holland Tunnel. He pointed out to me the Statue of Liberty (the only view I got of it on this trip) and some other highlights of Manhattan, like Chinatown and Little Italy. At this point I noticed that there are no real rules of traffic in the City. It actually reminded me of Russia where people would make lanes wherever they felt like and move freely even when all else around them was a complete standstill. At least in Russia they didn't pretend to have lanes by painting lines on the roads, unlike New York where you would think some semblance of order would reign. But no, its all part of the fun!

That night, after eventually finding the apartment in Brooklyn, Julia and I had a nice Thai dinner at a place nearby to catch up on the years that have passed between meetings. I met her husband Saul for the first time later that night when he returned from a music rehearsal. Then the next day, Thursday, she and Saul went off to work as usual as I planned my first day out in New York. I decided to try and find Little Italy again, but this time by foot.....

Come back next time (whenever that may be) for the next segment!

Only what you need to survive....

Damn Mel Brooks. Oh, you heard me right. Once in junior high school I had to write a paper on the Spanish Inquisition. Tough stuff, you know? Horrendous torture and murder on a mass level. Nothing at all to laugh about. Unless you are Mel Brooks. The entire time I was typing about the persecution of Jews in Spain and beyond I kept hearing his catchy little tune of "the inquisition.. let's begin.. the inquisition.. what a sin!" (or something to that effect). And please, let's not even mention the synchronized swimming nuns!

Anyways.. good ol' Mel has done it again. As I prepared for the move to Ireland by packing up and storing and repacking and giving away a lot (for me, its a lot, for normal human kind its a drop in a very large bucket of crap) all my stuff, I kept hearing the voice of a wise man (possibly the great Yogurt himself) saying.. "bring Only what you Need to Survive."

In the end, I did alright. Too good in fact. Towards the end of the process I started leaving a trail of crumbs behind like I was Theseus trying to work my way back to the beginning. I not only left a towel and a washcloth behind at my house but also my razor (which I desperately needed as I was starting to look more like the Minotaur than a Greek heroine) but also I left behind.. somewhere.. my brand-spanking-new adapter plug that I had Just bought expressly for the purpose of coming to the UK. Ah well. Luckily one of my new flatmates was kind enough to lend me one of her's for the time being.

So now, here I am in Ireland and although I don't have my 'industrial strength hair dryer' I feel equally lost without my myriad of books and dvds to keep me company as I await the beginning of classes. At least I'll always have Mel...

Check out the video for some good cheap laughs.

Ever have one of these days?

I'm having one of those weeks where nothing seems to go right the first time around. But don't despair, I still have tomorrow and Monday to figure it all out before classes begin. No problem. (Maybe.)


Blogs of fun stories from New York Extravaganza and Irish days to come!!

Always connected

After months of slow progress (more slow than progress) and a hectic last couple of days I’m finally here. No, haven’t made it to Ireland. In fact I’m still in Denver, at the airport waiting for my flight to Newark and my stopover in New York for a few days. First, let me say that I love free wi-fi. Second, I do sometimes long for the days when you all you had at the airport to entertain yourself for hours was a book, tape deck (with one cassette tape that would play over and Over) and a deck of cards. For one thing, they were a hell of a lot lighter than even your superslim laptops. Also, it was a simpler form of entertainment. Anyone who knows me will know I’m no technophobe, but even as a moderate technophile I think now and again our desire for fast, better, fancier outstrips our good old imagination and ingenuity. Having said all that – would I give up my chance to check my bank account right before I board the plane or to chat more time with my friends? Probably not. Will I stay connected throughout the next 5 hours of flying and waiting in airports? Definitely not. Now its time to disconnect get back to a physical book and the world outside the web.

Our March into the Future

I interrupt this tediously slow retelling of the last few months of last year to tell a story only hours old. (I feel like Lucille Ball in the chocolate factory episode when all the chocolates were coming down the conveyor belt too fast for her to catch them all and it was just disastrously funny, however instead of chocolates it is stories that are piling up to profound proportions.) Anyways, through luck of luck I was able to get a ticket to see Obama speak tonight at Mile High @ Invesco Field (Colorado native joke, nevermind). As the excitement of the whole experience wears off and I suddenly realize just how tired my legs are from standing and walking at a snails pace in lines and crowds for well over three hours I just have a few thoughts before I go to my sweet repose.

America is a pretty amazing place. I know, I know, we got our problems - Boy! do we have problems. And for all my criticism and cynicism about the government and more often the culture, I can say without doubt that we do have something special here. It is that something special that does bring us back from the brink every time we get too far out of hand. It is that something that lead the founding fathers (and mothers, don't forget - Abigail Adams wasn't just a pretty face!) to stand up amidst a sea of troubles, against all odds and by opposing end them to start something new. That is what I felt in the crowd tonight. It was the common bond of something new, untried (at least in the past eight years that is). Barack said tonight that this election was never about him, it was always about us. Scoff if you will.... go ahead, I'll give you the time to scoff...... done? Ok, scoff if you will, but its true; as anyone in that stadium tonight would tell you.

I must confess there were a few tears glistening from my eyes. It was not Barack that got the waterworks running, it was the stories of everyday folk like you and me. One woman in particular, Teresa Asenap from New Mexico, talked about how her grandparents pushed hard for her education and then she realized in third grade that her grandmother was illiterate. Now Teresa has a doctorate in education. Where else could such a story be told? It is the hope and promise that makes us as a country great. Not our military or our economy, but the idea so ingrained that we sometimes forget it, that regardless of your past you can become any and everything you want to be. That's what America was founded upon and that's what it always comes back to.

As the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville put it, "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." It is now the time to repair ourselves and to return once again to the idea that our past does not dictate our future. The last eight years can be put behind us and the business of restoring the US in all things can begin anew, with Barack as our leader.

Wonders of technology

It used to take a camcorder (remember those? you can't make phone calls on them..) and some serious tech knowledge to be able to create a video clip, let alone spread it to a mass audience. Not so anymore my friends! Now an eight year old - literally - can become a producer, director and actor all in one afternoon! Ahhh.. the possibilities. Here is one of the best homegrown videos I've seen this election year and though its not endorsed by any particular candidate it certainly sends a message that all politicians should be honestly supporting. Here it is folks - America of the future. (Hopefully.)

Check out the video courtesy of MoveOn.org and also look at others posted there. There is some really fun, creative stuff!! Who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to bust out the ol' camcorder yourself and get cracking on your new film making career!

Ode to my heroes

This one entry has gone through more face lifts than Michael Jackson (sorry, easy burn, too easy). At first it was titled "Home Sweet Arvada" and purely about my father's return to local politics. Then as time went on and February rolled around (quite unexpectedly fast I might add), it grew to incorporate the story of my first caucus experience and was then titled "Doing My Democratic Part". Finally June came and the focus then returned back to my father just in time for Father's Day... now that's also past and here we are back to more national level celebrations for the 4th of July. [At this moment of course its now the eve of August and I still have not published this one simple post. So I'm going to sit here in my curtained room (trying to hide from the sun and its 90 degree heat!) and not leaving my chair until this entry is finished and posted.]

.....Four hours later.....

Ok, so the "sitting at my desk until its done" idea didn't work so well. Now I'm at Folsom Street Coffee in Boulder trying to finish what I've started. I'll include what I originally began this blog with (on the third or fourth revision)...

As the Democratic presidential primaries are now over (Go Obama!), [long... long over now] I'm at last writing about some newsworthy local politics. After being out of the game for 8 years, my dad decided to throw his hat back in the ring. Mixed metaphors aside, he ran for Arvada City Council for District 4. On November 6, 2007 the people of Arvada voted him in, knocking out the incumbent, John Malito. As quoted in the November 8th edition of the Arvada Press, my father had this to say of the results: "I think the people wanted change. The two incumbents both lost so people clearly want change." His win was not only a result of people wanting change but also of good friends willing to stand on street corners for hours on end.. braving rain, sun and the occasional run-in with the cops. (You know you who are out there - give 'em hell!)

And now to finish the story... the last time my dad ran for office I was 8 or 9 years old. I don't remember much but hours on end of envelope stuffing and sealing (we did it the good ol' fashioned way - child labor. Boy, how my little hands were tired!) But seriously, it was rather exciting, all in all. My favorite part was waiting up late on the election day for the results to come in. One of the few occassions when I got to hang out with the adults until past midnight! This time around it was not quite as exciting to wait for the results, since the lure of hanging out with adults has lost a bit of its luster (being one myself takes much of the awe out of it, of course now I was also allowed to drink with them and that was fun). That doesn't mean we weren't all pumped and ready to celebrate (or console each other, as the case may be)! There were other big changes in our gathering that night, such as our eyes weren't clued to the tv for the count but rather my dad would go back to his laptop every few minutes, reload a web page (oh, what wonders we have these days!) and then announced the count to the folks gathered in his house. It was fairly clear from early on that he was in the lead and that trend continued until about 90% of the vote was counted and the "Final Unofficial" information was loaded onto the city's website.

And so it is that my dad is now recieving the weekly agendas in big yellow envelopes on the front porch again (another fond memory from childhood, fonder still because I didn't have to read the thick folders inside!) and going to the Monday night council meetings - as seen on local cable Channel 8, if you're in Arvada. I believe it is my father's strong sense of community service (he is in at least a dozen different committees at any given time, a character trait I would emulate at DU with my dozen or so campus organization memberships) and his inescapable pull towards politics that sparked in me the fascination with political issues, though my slant is more internationally focused.

Thus we finally come to the day of the Colorado Caucus. It was not only my first time attending a causus, but it was the first time I've really actively followed a single candidate (then nominee) through the primary process. This I'm sure is true for many out there as this year seems to be the year of regeneration in the political processes of our country. Anyways, I went to support the one person I thought would be the best choice and that is... can you guess? John McCain. JUST KIDDING!! Before you start throwing stones at me, look at the top of my blog, on the right, do you see it? Its Obama that I am behind all the way.

Back to the caucus, as anyone else in Colorado can attest to, it was chaos! About five times the number of people who came to previous caucus' showed up this year and we were crammed into schools, churches, community centers for hours on end until two things were clear - 1) most of us didn't know what was going on but more importantly 2) Obama is Colorado's choice! It was exciting to really feel a part of the political process, if a little exhausting at the same time. I was so excited I even signed on to be an alternate delegate for Obama at the county convention in the weeks following the caucus. That was a little less chaotic but much bigger than the district meeting. Now, I'm just glad that's all said and done and I'm very glad that not only is Obama the candidate, but also that the Democratic National Convention is being held in Denver this year and happening before I leave for Ireland! I'm definitely going to volunteer for that and I hope to meet Barack in the process but I'm afraid I'll freeze-up and act like a loony if I get within 100 yards of him. We'll just have to find ou t in August!

Father and daughter then...
(couldn't find the original council swearing-in ceremony picture, but that's for the best, I distinctly remember an early 90's bad hairdo and wardrobe mishap on my part. Not sure about the theme here, but I do think the pink cowboy hat works! Wonder if I still have that somewhere.)

And now...
as you can see I no longer need a chair to stand next to him, although that's probably not a bad idea still.

Surprise - Its your birthday

Okay, okay, so my stories have not 'flooded' forth as I had predicted last month. But now I certainly have ample time on my hands (another story to be told later) so let's just start with a trickle...

Picture it: October of last year. Fall is in full swing in Colorado, meaning 80° one day and freezing with snow the next. My best friend's birthday rolls around he'll be turning twenty.....somethingth (let's just keep the ugly numbers out of the picture for now). I'm feeling the itch of travel all over me, I mean for goodness sake - I haven't been out of my home state since the previous April and that was merely to Seattle! So I decide its now time to go out and take a little trip to D.C. again.

After getting, Stacy, my friend's girlfriend on board for the surprise I booked my standby ticket with another friend's help. Luckily I did get in on the Friday night as planned by barely making it on to the last flight for the night. Stacy, in her infinite wisdom, managed to get out of the house long enough to pick me up at the airport by picking a fight and then storming out supposedly in search of ice cream. At this point it was after 11pm so Mike in his own brand of wisdom decided to let Stacy go and head to bed himself. After an hour and a half of Stacy being gone, she returned, not with ice cream but with me!

But before we could surprise Mike with the last minute change-up, we first had to awaken him. I left that task to Stacy and as he rubbed away the confusion of seeing me standing in his living room, the surprise visit was complete. He and I stayed up talking for a few hours more that night, just catching up and then we both hit the sack as we had a very busy weekend ahead of ourselves.

There's nothing quite like protesting human rights abuses at foreign embassies bright and early on a Saturday morning for kicking off the weekend right. We went to the Chinese and Indian embassies in support of the monks of Burma and demanding that those governments with close ties to the military Junta in Myanmar use their influence to help end the atrocities occurring there.

It was amazing to be part of a movement like that, to feel the strength of all those gathered around you who feel strongly about bringing justice and peace to a country thousands of miles away. As we marched from embassy to embassy it felt like we were part of something greater than ourselves. Whether or not real change comes about because of our actions that day (as we have seen since then it hasn't), at least we did not sit idly by and say nothing. We made our voice heard for one moment and maybe those inside the buildings will easily forget us, but we will not forget and we will be back to fight against future injustice.

After such an adrenaline-filled morning Mike and I spent the rest of the day milling about Alexandria chatting and having coffee in our usual tradition. Sunday was no less excited as he managed to persuade me (didn't take that much persuasion actually) to get out on the ol' Potomac and do a little two-man/woman kayaking. It was my first and hopefully not last time to kayak as I enjoyed it greatly.

Of course we didn't hit any rapids and the few big rocks that were in our way were easy to navigate around [insert metaphor about life and navigating around rocks here...]

And finally a goodbye dinner at a pizza joint in Georgetown rounded off my visit. Then I was driven back to the airport to return to Denver and my life here. A quick trip but a good one. And hopefully a birthday surprise Mike enjoyed. After all you only turn twenty-somethingth once!

Happy 27th Birthday Buddy!
(oops, the numbers slipped in after all)

Feast or Famine

As some of my regular readers (dwidled much as they have I'm sure) can tell, I haven't been very good about updating my blog lately. At first I thought this neglect was due to a lack of stories, then I realized that was not so. It was precipitated by a lack of time and/or laziness. The stories themselves have been piling up for ages now... and soon, like the flooding in the midwest, shall break forth from my pen, I mean keyboard. So, stay tuned, my loyal and few.. there shall be tales to tell. Now is the feast and if you've made it through the famine you shall be richly rewarded!!

And they lived happily ever after...