Streams of Consciousness

I haven't been writing much lately, on my blog, or anywhere else for that matter. However, I have continued to regularly read blogs, particularly political blogs, and my two favorite "personal" blogs: Sean's and Jaq's . I'm not sure if friendship is the right word, but I have developed a certain bond with the authors of various blogs. This is why, when I read Jaq's post yesterday about the passing of Quinn, I felt the emotion of getting "that phone call" in the middle of the night. It took me a day to compose my thoughts and leave him a comment, trying not to seem incincere or frivolous. In any case, my deepest prayers are offered to him and his family, as I once again have my own life thrown into perspective through the unfair experience of someone else. Reading through the comments left on Jaq's blog, it strikes me to think of how many people his son has touched with his courage and suffering. There are many different theories regar...

After a six month hiatus, I'm going to make an effort to rejoin the blogosphere.....stay tuned, if you dare.

One advantage of not having a large blog following is that I don't worry about disappointing people when I go two weeks without posting. I don't think I would have the mental stamina to maintain a site like kottke , even if I were as talented. Heck, I have trouble just keeping up reading blogs. Nevertheless, I enjoy blogging, mostly because it gives me a way to think critically about my own life and thoughts. It is a tool to help me achieve self-awareness, if nothing else. Some present thoughts: Saturday, I ran my longest race ever at the Hospital Hill run in downtown Kansas City. It was a 12K (a little over 7 miles for non-metric people such as myself.) It was definitely the furthest I've ever run at one time in my life. I think my previous record was 5 miles. My time was not all that great (about 88 minutes), but my goal was to finish without walking, and that I accomplished. The course had some hills, but hill don't bother me too much when I run. Y...

This meme came my way via Sean....and I thank him for choosing me... For three that might happen by Streams of Consiousness, I'd like Sharon, Melissa and Uncle Todd to pick five and answer. Feel free to answer on your own blog, or in the comments to this post, or not at all... interact, by Sean Meade: I'm it: If I could be... The task is to complete five of the sentence beginnings from the following list: If I could be a musician... If I could be a farmer... If I could be a psychologist... If I could be a lawyer... If I could be a missionary... If I could be a gardener... If I could be a painter... If I could be an architect... If I could be a doctor... If I could be a linguist... If I could be a writer... If I could be a professor... If I could be an athlete... If I could be a justice on any court in the world... If I could be a world famous blogger... If I could be married to any current world politician... If I could be a scientist... If I could be an actor... If I could be...

We shipped Dominic off to Grandma Alice's and PapPap Jim's this weekend, giving Sharon and I a long awaited break (though, it is Saturday night now, and it doesn't seem right not having him around! I miss the little bugger!) Last night, Sharon and I ate at Chipotles Mexican grill. Neither of us had ever eaten there, even though it is somewhat famous here in K.C. I liked it. It reminded me of Pancheros in Iowa City. I had excellent grilled steak tacos, and Sharon had a good burrito. After dinner, and a detour to Borders to get a WSJ, we headed over to the AMC 24 to watch the movie Crash . A nice night out for Sharon and I, who hadn't had such a date for a long time! We got back home to our house post midnight, where the air conditioning is on the fritz. Read some, and worked on the WSJ crossword puzzle. Slept in this morning (nice!) until about 10:30. Woke up with sore heel and foot. I think my gout was acting up. I had a pretty good week of workouts. I'm not sure wh...

Jerod and I attended a lecture by Brookings Institution fellow Michael O'Hanlon last night at Park University in Parkville, MO. The lecture was part of the Jerzy Hauptmann Distinguished Guest Lecture series. As a Park University M.B.A. alum, I received an invitation to the 13th annual lecture in the series. I like going to events like this, especially since I was interested in the content of this particular lecture, of which the title was the title of this post. Dr. O'Hanlon described himself as a Sam Nunn Democrat at the beginning of the lecture. It's always difficult to prevent political feeling from entering into objective analysis, and I don't know how you measure the "objectiveness" of analysis, but I feel that most Brookings scholars are at least "fair", and Dr. O'Hanlon was no exception. His analysis of the doctrine of preemption was focused on the effectiveness of the doctrine, as opposed to any moral righteousness or implications of the...

Those that are shocked by Newsweek's retraction of its story covering interrogation techniques have had their head stuck in the sand for the past couple of years. This retraction is simply the latest in the slow, agonizing decline of the American news media which lost its credibility with me long ago. Newsweek messed up badly, and they are digging themselves a bigger hole by their handling of the situation. This being said, what is truly sad is fact that the story is believable in the first place. In fact, it is not clear whether the incident with the Koran actually happened or not. Sadly, it is not too far of a stretch to believe that it probably did happen. Their are substantiated stories of the use of sexual techniques to interrogate prisoners, including the smearing of fake menstrual blood on Muslim detainees. Given this fact, it is not too hard to imagine that a Koran would be flushed in a toilet. Add to this the prisoner abuse episodes, and it is no wonder that people can ...

Jaq nails this one squarely. For what it is worth, I weigh-in in his comments section. Byzantium's Shores: Meditations on Nearly Anything

These are a few of the names that are at the top of our list for our new baby, scheduled to arrive circa. July 23. Sharon created the attached survey so that we could gather naming opinions. I invite all that happen by Streams of Consciousness to take a moment to vote, or leave additional suggestions in the comments of this post. Thanks!! Isaac, Dante, Garrett??

Halliburton had more U.S. taxpayer money tossed its way in the form of bonuses awarded by the Army. Anyone that does not see a potential serious conflict of interest is simply avoiding the obvious. I understand that many economic sectors depend upon the misfortune of others. For example, the health care sector depends upon people being sick. The defense sector is no different. Businesses spring up and succeed when they can demonstrate a way to help unfortunate people or alleviate unfortunate situations. This noble aspect of capitalism very often results in efficient, creative and bureaucracy-minimizing solutions to problems. The problem with Halliburton is not solely the fact that it is making money in Iraq. The problem is that it's former CEO, who still has a financial interest in the company, is in a position to make the decisions that would create the pain & suffering that Halliburton subsequently gets hired to alleviate. I'm not accusing the Vice President of creating ...

I read about half of an interview with John McCain in the most recent issue of Men's Journal . I plan to read the whole thing, but I ran out of time today. In any case, the article got me to thinking about Senator McCain, and reinforced my current position to not support him as presidential candidate if he so chooses to run. Of course, a lot could happen between now and 2008. In 2000, I was a strong McCain supporter. At that time, I agreed with the majority of the issues that McCain publicly campaigned for and against; issues and positions that went against the main current of his Republican party. Primarily, I liked his strong stand against cronyism and the extreme religious right fanatics. (sidebar here: Those who know me know that I have nothing against religion or religious people. However, those that use religion to get rich, preach hatred or spread division have no place in politics, in my humble opinion.) I also liked his war record and his demeanor. I still like John McC...

Late last year, a coffee shop opened for business along my route to work. I knew of its opening because one of Sharon's scrapbook buddies happens to be the owner, along with her husband. Since I first stepped into The Friendly Bean for a hot cappaccino on a cold December day, I've become somewhat of a regular. I like good coffee. I like nice people. I like a cozy atmosphere. The Friendly Bean combines these qualities with distinction. John and Linda have become friends of mine, along with the other employees that round out The Friendly Bean team. The Friendly Bean has added music and other entertainment to its offerings. Linda is a great storyteller! To my disappointment, I haven't been able to make it to a musical show yet. Linda has also talked of a book discussion club, of which I would be first in line to sign up as a participant. The Friendly Bean is a quaint coffeeshop that was literally transformed. It used to be a BBQ restaurant, and judging from the pictures in the...

I originally compiled a list of activities at the beginning of last year (2004) that I wanted to do during the year. Some I got accomplished; others, I did not find the time. I've been carrying around the list in my planner ever since, and the list has become somewhat of a rolling to-do list. I've added a few to the list since it was first compiled, but I haven't taken any away. This is sort of a scaled-down version of my Things I Want To Do Before I Die list , although that is more a list of goals, whereas this is more a list of activities. Of course, goals can be in the form of activities (e.g. climb a mountain), and activities can be goals (e.g. I bought a house). Still, these activities are on a smaller scale, and most are reucrring, meaning I like to do them on a continuing basis. I've italicized the activities that I've actually done this year so far: Visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Visit Powell Gardens in Kansas City Visi...

I know Sean and Jaq will appreciate this, along with countless others that have never had the pleasure of wading through Streams of Consciousness: This past weekend my five-year-old son Dominic watched Star Wars in its entirety. It took us two days and endless Q & A, but by Sunday evening, Dominic was ready to learn the ways of The Force. I'm proud, and a little surprised, at how well he grasped some of the themes of the movie. I was a little older when Star Wars first bursted onto the scene, and I don't remember understanding or caring about any theme of dark vs. light, good vs. evil, redemption, etc. At that point, I simply enjoyed stuff flying through space and blowing apart. I believe this was the first full length non-animated film that Dominic ever watched from beginning to end. He is already asking questions that are explored in the rest of the films, so I can't wait to show them to him. Unfortunately, he became a little scared of the sand creatures a few night...

Yesterday was a sad day in our household. Spot, our pet snake of 1.5 days, was found dead, sprawled out in the driveway, halfway inside of a crack. We were brave and did not shed a single tear. It appears that someone (Melissa?) tried to free Spot out of his bucket-home. When I arrived home from work yesterday, the bucket was tipped over in the grass, but Spot was in the middle of the driveway. At that time, it still appeared that he had some life left in him. However, when Sharon and Dominic got home about an hour later, they gave him the "kick" test, and he had by that time quite clearly "kicked the bucket." I asked Dominic if he would like to bury him, and he declined. So, now Spot lays lifeless in the middle of our driveway, drying out like a worm. I anticipate one of the growing number of cats in our neighborhood to eventually make off with Spot. We can only hope.

I haven't been able to post much lately. That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about things. Some quick reflections and factoids from my currently busy life: Sharon and I watched The Village on Saturday, after having it in our possession from the movie store for about 2 months. Thankfully, we have the deal where no late fees are charged. I thought the movie was entertaining--I know it got bad reviews for the most part. Sharon and I both feel like we are getting sick--mostly sore throats. That stinks! The weather in KC has been downright lowsy. I'm trying to put together a camping trip with grandma Judy and pap-pap Giz over the memorial day weekend. I'd like to be able to use their pop-up camper, if we can get it working. It hasn't been used in over a decade. What's with all the hoopla over Laura Bush's jokes? Big deal! Although I'm inclined to impulsively distrust anything the Bush administration proposes, I liked the id...

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ann Coulter on the cover of Time this past week. I promptly threw the magazine directly in the trash can. I've been disappointed with Time over the past year anyway, and putting Agonizing Ann on the cover cemented my decision to avoid the magazine in the future. Why not just put Michael Savage or Michael Moore on the cover? I don't mind seeing controversial figures on the cover of time, or even evil figures. However, when controversial figures that are controversial in such an annoying manner as Coulter begin to make the cover of national magazines----ugh!! There is nothing interesting about someone who is obnoxious for the simple purpose of gaining and maintaining recognition. Good riddance to Time magazine in my household!

Yahoo! News - German Cardinal Becomes Pope Benedict XVI Some quick thoughts: I'm glad and a little surprised that the new Pope is not an Italian. This being said, I'm not that concerned about the ethnicity of the Pope. Most countries would like to see one of their own elected. However, the reasoning is usually nostalgiac, and not concerning much thought to the purpose of the office. For example, many wished for an African or South American Pope. Whie I am certainly not opposed to either of these, my opinion is that the ethnicity of the pope should be toward the bottom of the list of "qualities" for choosing someone to lead the church. Of course, an African or South American Pope could energize the population of those continents, and grow the church. At the same time, "growth" is not necessarily what the church needs. I know a little bit about Cardinal Ratzinger from reading Pope John Paul II's biography. The key word here is "littl...

I've never been able to keep military rank straight, and after reviewing this entry from Answers.com, I understand why. It's confusing! The different armed forces have different terminology, not to mention the different terminology used from country to country, or from era to era. I've read my share of military fiction, and I still can't keep straight who ranks above who in a military chain of command. About all I know for sure is a general is at the top and a private is at the bottom. Anyway, I think this "cheat sheet" from Answers.com will help me out. I'm currently reading Heller's Catch-22, and I'm having a difficult time with the various military ranks of the characters.

In the Kansas City area, one of the most conspicuous signs of spring are the beautiful white blooms of the decorative Bradford and Cleveland Pear trees. Many yards have one or several of these trees. Our yard is home to two of these trees. They truly are a bright and beautiful sign of God's creative beauty. The problem is, THEY STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN. Man, I feel like I need to wear an oxygen mask when I get too near them. Why can't they smell like lilacs or roses? Of all the hideous smells of the natural world, most of which emanate from the human body, the smell of a blooming decorative pear tree ranks toward the top of the list.