The Heart is a Bloom

20 years ago today, on December 31, 2008, the number one song was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison. "Rain Man" was the big movie of the year. "The Cosby Show" was the number one TV show.

20 years ago today I was 17, in the middle of my senior year of high school and it was an unforgettable New Year's Eve. Before you imagine the party scene at Wyatt's house in "Weird Science," you should know that my school was a small, highly conservative, private school, so New Year's Eve was pretty low key. Because my school was so small, we teenagers didn't pay much attention to grade level (senior, sophomore, etc.) for sports or social activities.

That New Year's Eve 20 years ago several of us got together at Jason's house to watch a movie (VHS no doubt, as 1988 was the also the year Sony conceded defeat of its Betamax video). The movie was "Full Metal Jacket" kind of an odd pick in hindsight, not sure who picked it, but I didn't pay that much attention to the movie. I ended up sitting on the couch next to Casey Twidwell. Casey was younger than I was but we had known each other for a few years by then, and had been at many group activities together. We were friends and always had fun. Something was different that night though and we stayed right next to each other the whole night. Halfway through the movie most of the kids left to go somewhere, and I can't recall now where they went, but Casey and I stayed put even though I don't think either one of us was watching the movie by then, we were talking and laughing and having a good time being together.

An interesting parallel from that night to something that happened recently was that a severe fog rolled in that night. I can't recall how this part worked out, but I got to drive Casey home. In that thick fog, a driver needed to be cautious and drive pretty slowly. I drove even slower. I got up the courage on that drive home to tell Casey how I felt that evening and that I was interested in being more than just friends. We left it at that when I dropped her off, early in the morning on January 1, 1989. Within days we were talking for hours on the phone and then "going together" and have been together ever since.

Our life together began 20 years ago tonight.

Someday At Christmas

When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth

I Must Be An Acrobat To Talk Like This And Act Like That

Last week ABC News aired an interview with George W. Bush, an interview that focused entirely on Bush's faith in God and its impact on his governance. I found it interesting and informative. During Bush's first presidential campaign and into his first term, I thought he talked well about his faith, tending to speak of grace not a dogma of exclusion. It has also seemed to me that his positions on immigration, foreign aid, and AIDS have been consistent with his expressed views of grace and faith. Of course, I find some decisions of war and torture to be wholly inconsistent with these same views.

Freed from the constraints of another election, I think we're hearing some candid answers from Bush. And to be honest, as frustrated as I am with Bush about some pretty big things, I am in tune with his views of faith. The juicy excerpts below (edited for easier reading), and the entire interview HERE.

(Voiceover) To the sympathetic, he's a man of deep and abiding faith. To his detractors, he's a man whose leadership has been blinded by that faith, leading the nation dangerously off course. What there is no question about is that his faith has played a central role in his presidency and his life since the mid 1980's.

CYNTHIA MCFADDEN
So do you believe that God actually intervenes in human affairs?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH
I'm not so presumptuous as to kind of be God. In other words, it's one I get asked all the time, well if you're religious, therefore you must think that you were picked out of all the people on the face of the earth to become president. I just can't go there. I'm not that confident in knowing the Almighty to be able to say, yeah, God wanted me of all the other people. My relationship is on a personal basis, trying to become as closer to the Almighty as I possibly can get. And I've got a lot of problems I mean, I've got, you know, ego. I've got anxieties and all the things that prevent me from being closer to the Almighty. So I don't analyze my relationship with the good lord in terms of, well, you know, God has plucked you out or God wants you to do this.

I know this. I know that the call is to better understand and live out your life according to the will of God.

MCFADDEN
Does God talk to you at all? People of faith throughout the ages have wondered about this. How do they know when it's their own ego, when it's their own desires and when it's actually God's will?

BUSH
I guess that's one of the universal questions. I think one way you make sure it's not your ego is you stay in the bible, at least that's what I have found. And I'm still learning. The bible is an amazing book.

MCFADDEN
Is it literally true, the bible?

BUSH
You know, probably not... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it.

MCFADDEN
So you can read the bible and not take it literally? I mean you can - it's not inconsistent to love the bible and to also believe in evolution say?

BUSH
Well, I think you can have both... I think that the world - the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an Almighty. And I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there's evolution.

MCFADDEN
Do you believe that when you pray to God that that's the same God that a Muslim prays to?

BUSH
I do. I do.

MCFADDEN
So the leader of the Taliban is praying to the same God...

BUSH
No, I'm not sure he's praying to a God. I think anybody who murders innocent people to achieve their objective is not a religious person. They may think they're religious and they may play like they're religious. But I don't think they are religious...

MCFADDEN
I want to focus for a moment on your decision to go into Iraq, because an awful lot of people believe that you did this based upon your faith. Was that part of the decision?

BUSH
No, I did it based upon the need to protect the American people from harm. You can't look at the decision to go into Iraq apart from, you know, what happened on September the 11th. It was not a religious decision.

MCFADDEN
There are so many people who are comforted to have a strongly believing Christian in the White House. Some people feel excluded by it though.

BUSH
Probably do. Yeah, I'm sure they do. I'm sure people say, well, Bush must feel that I'm inferior because he believes in Christ and I don't... I'm sure people say George Bush is a Christian therefore he can't possibly relate to me or he doesn't like me or he thinks I'm condemned and I'm sorry that's the case because that's not the way I feel.

Human Rights Day

Today, December 10, 2008, is Human Rights Day. It also happens to be the 60th Anniversary of the first Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Justice. Fairness. Equality.

No doubt you agree that every person deserves each of these fundamental rights. But how deeply do we believe? Are we simply, "Those people deserve justice, fairness and equality, and doggone it I hope they get it!"

No doubt we think we personally and the United States are strict observers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What about this one: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" or "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal" or "As soon as a person is legally entitled, he or she has the right to marry and have a family"?

Is violence acceptable justice?

Is willingly sustaining an economic system that relies on paying below subsistence wages or exploits workers morally any different than "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude"?

Today is a good day to contemplate China, Darfur, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and others. It's also a good day to consider whether we consider the person next door our equal and the person across town and the person across the world. How do I behave if I truly believe they are my equal, if I love them as much as I love myself?

Will we revolt against our own culture? Will we join a true Human Rights revolution?

My Favorite Artists of 2008

My favorite artist of 2008, for the 21st year in a row, is U2. But that’s a blog, or a book, in itself. My attempt here is to discuss a few musicians from 2008.

Music Artist of 2008

My pick for Music Artist of 2008 is Katy Perry. Katy released her first album in June 2008, and has already scored 3 huge hits from that album. Prior to 2008 she published some songs on MySpace and got one of those songs on the soundtrack for “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” So to go from that to a Billboard Top Ten album in the first week of release is a serious “blast” into music.

To sell a lot of albums off of one hit is obviously quite an accomplishment. “Ur So Gay” was a nice hit for her(Madonna apparently called it one of her favorites this year). A song best described as “either horribly homophobic, a sly piece of social commentary or, possibly, both.” I just hear a savvy, sarcastic girl fed up with her emo boyfriend.

You don’t eat meat
And drive electrical cars
You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art

It was much more impressive, however, when Katy followed that with her smash hit from the same album “I Kissed a Girl.” Provocative, indeed, maybe even homophobic in the sense of frat boy lipstick lesbian fantasies, but an irresistible beat, strong hook and alluring lyrics that couldn’t be ignored.



A very strong debut and perhaps enough to qualify as one of the most influential artists of 2008. But Katy’s status in 2008 was cemented, in my opinion, by her third hit within months: “Hot N Cold.”



Comeback Artist of 2008

Britney Spears. Admit it, after the head shaving incident, the loss of the custody of her kids, attacking the paparazzi with her umbrella, and an involuntary psych commitment, you never expected to see her anywhere but “Celebrity Rehab” or TMZ. So it’s quite a comeback for Britney to score a number 1 hit in October with “Womanizer” (her first number 1 since “Baby One More Time”).



All this talk of pop music, you’d think it was what I listened to most. I listen most to music that might be called “acoustic rock” from artists like John Mayer, Matt Nathanson or Jason Mraz. Or rock from artists like Kings of Leon, Coldplay or The Killers.

Artist I listened to the Most in 2008

Thanks to Pandora.com, Amos Lee is the artist I listened to most (outside of U2, of course). I find Amos a steady performer that produces consistently authentic music. Just thumb through the playlist on his MySpace page and you’ll hear the sound I’ve heard most this year.

Country Artist of 2008

Darius Rucker. You may know him as Hootie, but this is no joke. Darius Rucker has a 2008 Top Ten country hit, the first black artist since Charlie Pride in 1983 - “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” It’s as bad as you think.



Next up: Albums of 2008