A Day in the Life of Chaos

I think the true measure of a man or of a woman for that matter is what they do with the entirety of their life.  No snapshot in time is good enough.  Only looking back at what they did, how they gave, how they treated others is it truly possible to pass judgement. As sparks fly in American presidential politics I think it is important to look back at our past presidents within living memory and consider what kind of men they were.  I think if anything is a true measure of the person it occurs in the post presidential years.  These are the years when these men whom reached the pinnacle of their own egos and power have to find a new voice and a new role.  They have spent their lives climbing in office and suddenly they can go no further.  They reached the zenith of ambition. I am not ashamed in the least at my liberal leanings and perhaps the error of my entire premise is that I approach it from a liberal perspective.  Liberals tend to focus on the we not the me and on humanity as a

This past weekend my niece gave birth.  She produced a tiny creature of six pounds nine ounces that gurgled and scowled like all babies do when they greet the cold reality of the world.  When I looked at the wrinkled face I couldn't help but remember my theory that we go out of life the same way we come in.  Her face looked like the wrinkled scowling face of an old person.  She wore diapers and a nurse had to wash her.  She won't eat solid foods.  Someone will carry her around and pay for her needs.  Why is the expected for an infant yet indignity for the old? Welcome to the world of parenthood I thought as I stood on one side of the hospital room looking at my niece laying in her bed.  Around her sat friends and relatives excited about the new arrival.  One girl her age held the baby for a few moments before squirming away confused on what to do.  As joyous as it all seemed there is a dark side to this story.  You see, my niece is sixteen years old.  With a person so young n

Sometimes I think that the rings of a tree are the perfect metaphor for our lives.  When you look at a tree from the outside the only thing we notice is how fat or skinny it is.  How short or how tall.  Sadly as humans we are not Sequoias spanning the ages and when our tree is cut and ceases to live we find the story of its growth between each ring.  Some are pitifully narrow while others are wide signifying a lot of growth during one year of it's life.  I think if I was a tree a close analysis would find one short period spanning a single year from 1987 to 1988 where there was enormous growth. I lived in Vienna, Austria during this time attending a foreign study program. After extensive research into foreign study possibilities I had decided on the Institute of European Studies.  It seemed the perfect opportunity to combine living in Europe with cultural awakening, the forbidden cloak of Eastern European Communism and just being independent, far away from home.  Eager to pursue

They say when you learn to ride a bicycle you never forget.  While technically this is true, there are times when I truly wish it was not. I like to think of myself as a 44 year old man in reasonably good condition.  I mean I have pudge but it isn't excessive.  I am energetic and I like to take long walks.  Wait, that almost sounds like a personal add on Match.com.   I most certainly am not an Adonis but in truth I never was.  Ahh  Adoinis... that symbol of all that it is to be a man.  Sheltered by Aphrodite as a young man he represents virility and strength.  Beauty and grace.  He also has a nice pecker that in the case of the Roman version pictured was not hacked off by Pope Pius IX when he set about removing all depictions of the male member in the Vatican and covering them with a fig leaf..  Over Christmas my father and son convinced me to go on a mountain bike ride with them.  Columbia, SC is blessed with a beautiful mountain bike trail park and it seemed like a good idea.