There is a lot to be said - for not having anything to say.
Maybe my brain is just tapped out today. That is certainly possible. Maybe I'm just not in the "writing zone". That is also a fair possibility. In all reality, right now I may not even be able to tell you what zip code the "writing zone" is in.That's how bad it can get.
In a perfect world, I like to write every 2 or 3 or 4 days. That is certainly dependent upon "life" and time and schedules and all the stuff we all wrestle on a daily basis. It's not a rigid schedule, and I don't live any die by whether I write anything earth-shattering or not. I remind myself that I can always do like most major media writers and pen something on Sarah Palin - oh wait, I've tried that a few times already - or some other noteworthy (or not-so-noteworthy) personality in the news.
Creativity finds us in strange times and places. It doesn't care to arrive at times that are convenient. It is opportunistic and happens when you least expect it. There goes a writing schedule - out the window, into the stillness of the night.
Much as we all struggle with the push and pull of our worlds, I should probably just acknowledge this struggle unto it's own, like any other - and just "let go". It is "being" - it is the "Zen of writing". It is "as it is". It can't be forced, because when it is, it pushes back at you with even more force. As I always try to remind myself, the universe will provide ... and when we let life happen, good things prevail upon us.
Just when we all thought that Tina Fey was going to get a bit of a break ...
... when we all thought that perhaps Governor Palin's Warhol-ian "15 minutes of fame" had already gone into overtime ...
... she reappears to endorse none other than Governor Rick Perry of Texas in his run for re-election in 2010.
First questions first: why do the media continue to attend to her? Is anyone seriously listening to any of this?
I never thought I would say that phrase ... "Football Bracketology". Sounds good. A college football national championship - football bracketology - ahhh gives me the warm fuzzies, just like I get when we're looking at the college basketball brackets in March.
A few posts ago, I proposed a structure for a college football national championship. Let's call it "December Delirium" after college basketball's "March Madness". College football, a great thing as it is now, would only improve for the better. Better for the fans, better for the coaches, better for the student-athletes, and better for TV and the sponsors.
So what would December Delirium have looked like for the 2008-2009 season?
What a great film. And what a bygone era.
Kodachrome. If you've ever shot 35 mm slide film, you've probably used it. In all of my days as a photographer, I have gone through plenty of rolls of it. As Simon and Garfunkel noted, it has beautiful colors ... "just don't take my Kodachrome away ".
As of December 20, 2007, there is but one remaining location in the world that develops the slide film - that being Dwayne's Photo in metropolitan Parsons, Kansas. The last stock of Kodachrome 64 was produced in March, 2007. At this point in time, fresh Kodachrome no longer exists. It's hard to believe, and sad but true.
So what would cause a company like Kodak to drop one of it's most popular products?
Here's an assignment similar to what I would have received in a high school History class:
Compare and contrast the following, with special relevance to foreign policy in the United States.
- The reminder by former President Bush (in his last national address) that we haven't had a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in the seven years post-9/11 ... and ...
- President Obama signing-off on the official closure of Guantanamo Bay within the next year.
Let's start with the first item. Simple question: how many attacks had we had on U.S. soil PRIOR to 9/11? The largest one in recent times was by a home-grown American in Oklahoma City ... but I think we'd be hard-pressed to find many entries on this list in the first place. So, let's all thank former President Bush for his attention to Homeland Security (otherwise known as civilians detained for indeterminate durations ... and wiretapping). We survived seven years ... much like we'd done before 9/11.
[Note 1/24/09: specifc statistics have been brought to my attention - see below. Please note the underlying "big picture" concept related to this]
This was all part of what was termed the "Bush Doctrine" .
That's about the only way I can describe today's events: Simply Moving.
There was no way that I was going to miss it. Sure, some of it was simply looking forward to the end of the eight years of the Bush administration. We all know people that were counting down the minutes once Obama won the election.
But it was about far more than that. This was a day for the ages. Put aside the cliches - it truly was a historic moment. Within it, there were many shades of bygone eras. There was the uplifting singing of Aretha Franklin, and the elegant John Williams composition performed by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill. Pure emotion through music - at it's finest. And simply watching Yo-Yo Ma, playing and smiling all the while, was a sight and sound to behold.
Then, the moment we'd all waited for ... the swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama. There was a little stumble on the oath of office - the political prognosticators on TV were reporting that Chief Justice John Roberts had in fact jumbled the order of the wording (funny how Obama had not voted for him - coincidence?) - but that was the only slight to the day.
When we look back in time at Obama's rise to the Presidency, I have no doubt we will remember his tremendous oratory skills. Today's inaugural address was no different. The focus wasn't on him - it was placed squarely on the citizens of the United States. It was placed on renewing our place in the global village. And, better yet, it was focused on a reminder to all of us - that this country has the roots of greatness firmly entrenched in the Constitution and in the hard work and inventive nature of our citizens, in good times and in bad.
Reverend Joseph Lowery's benediction was another work of art.
This morning I awoke to thoughts of time. Time is an amazing continuum. Moment by moment, we see the effects of this. We all get older, but hopefully we all get wiser as well. Unlike anything else we experience, time (and the passing of it) is simply hard to describe. It is very definitive, yet surreal.
This continuum is all the more apparent today - in many ways, a monumental day in the history of the United States.
Why so?
Let's look at "yesterday" - or eight years of yesterdays that will soon come to an end. Today is no better day to write about the legacy of President George W. Bush as he comes to the end of his second term in office. Front and center, we are left with the "Bush Doctrine". We are told that the country has not seen any terrorist attacks since 9/11 (under Bush's watch) yet how many did we see on U.S. soil before 9/11?
But it would not be appropriate to dive into "legacy" today. No sir ... there are more important issues at hand.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.