johnny and lola

No answers, just lots of questions.

2008-03-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

Oh, I almost forgot why I started with Vermicious Knids. Lola found the real America.

Our Bedford-style suburb doesn't count. It's a bubble of million dollar shacks and luxury cars driven by teenagers. Now that Romney's out, the signs are all for Obama and Hillary.

But lo, last Friday, Lola was making an emergency Lightning McQueen run. Long story. But this took her to Target.

On a Friday night.

Oh yeah.

As she navigated the overweight mother/daughter pairs buying care packages for the troops - and Dr. Phil DVDs, she came upon the mack daddy. The large-ish woman (note: you don't have to be overweight to be considered a typical American overseas, but it helps) who was eating from the Fritos bag that she was in the process of purchasing and yelling at the cashier about the fact that the sticker said $1.98, but it rang up for $1.99 spewing out chunks of fried corn goodness onto the poor cashier.

It's good to be home.

Ok, but seriously: I suppose everywhere is like this, but I do feel that the US has become much more segregated than when I was younger. The racial segregation is still there (which it largely isn't in the UK), but the economic segregation has become much more blatant. (The UK doesn't have so much of that, though it, of course, exists, in the UK it's more about where you went to school, who you know, what your accent is. You can buy your way up, but not as much as in the US.)

Is it really that way, or am I just in a different part of the economic pile and am seeing it more?

Also had a thought this morning: given the weakening dollar and the loss of face around the world and the looming economic turmoil - are we leaving the 1950's and entering the 1960's and (more to the point) the 1970's? Are we at the twilight of the American century? Do empires fall faster now that everything seems to have accellerated?

No answers, just lots of questions.

Vermicious knids

2008-03-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Willy Wonka, the original is on, and I suppose it's troubling that I consider that to be a better Easter Eve movie than The Ten Commandments. Still, Gene Wilder is so good in that role.

Tomorrow's the younger's second birthday. I can't believe only two years have passed, but there you go.

I was noticing that we've gotten away from talking about American ways. So, here are a few observations:

Palo Alto/Menlo Park Parents Club is a newsletter to which Lola subscribes. Women (primarily) write in to ask questions of the community. The person who send the question then compiles the answers and send the summary to the listserve. It has been quite helpful for some things, but mainly for keeping Lola's sociology training current. Here are a couple of my favorites:

The woman who was checking to see what to do after catching her husband masturbating in the shower.
The 50 responses to the question of what to do with overripe bananas. (Ranging from "Banana pudding" to "Throw them out."

I had a certain amount of surprise on my part that almost no one in my office knew what the NCAA tournament was. That being said, they're mainly not from the US.

However, their not knowing about it is more surprising given that everywhere seemed to be offering NCAA tournament contests (hippie radio stations, supermarkets, libraries, convents).

Someone asked me when I was going to stop wearing button-down shirts to the office. So, I'm gonna start wearing sleeveless t-shirts. Show off the tattoo.

I feel like there's more, but can't think of it. Tomorrow is Easter, happy easter everyone.

Superheroes

2008-03-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

At dinner last night, Cole started telling us about his new superhero - PooMan. PooMan throws (you guessed it) Poo at bad guys. His secret identity is John Robot Fighty.

Dad was proud. Mom giggled, but didn't really get it.

Nose meet grindstone

2008-03-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it appears that today is my last day before reentering the world of people who get paid to go to meetings and write emails and spend a lot of time getting other people to do their jobs.

Good thing I'm going in with a good attitude.

And, while I try to avoid studying for a little while longer (knowing that my time allotment for studying is going to be creamed in a few short hours), I sit down to write what I've learned during my most extended period of unemployment since I was 15.

1) I'm kind of a prick. (Actually, I knew that before, so strike that.)

2) My wife and my boys kick ass. (I kind of knew that before, but the little guys are becoming more fully formed every day, so I couldn't really know it before then. And Lola and I have never gone through anything like this before, so you never really know how great someone is until chips are down.)

3) I'm not sure I'm an entrepreneur. I am still working on some ideas, but I think I'm the kind of guy who requires a big idea to go off and start a company. I think an entrepreneur is someone who gets their charge from running the company, not from bringing anything in particular to life. If you need the idea, you're human, not an entrepreneur.

4) I'm really not funny. (Shhh, don't tell anyone.)

5) Someone said to always remove a piece of jewelry before leaving the house (I think it was Ugly Betty). I think that I need to do that with my speech - i.e., always stop one sentence short of what I was going to say. Those last sentences have a tendency of undoing a lot of good.

6) 5 miles is not that long to run every other day. The trick is to keep it up when I have to be in the office.

7) Finding a job is tough.

8) I know a lot of people. Many of them are friends. Many of them are acquaintances.In American English, we don't really differentiate (everyone is a "friend", some people graduate to "buddy", nobody is a "mate"). Where language does not make a distinction, life does. I'd like to thank my friends who may be reading this post.

This post is interrupted by a call from Lola from the car as she returns from a playdate. Quote: "Cole, put that window back up. I don't want it down because you're naked." Apparently, there was water at the park.

Interestingly, I'm realising that (in addition to still spelling many words in the British tradition) I haven't, I think, ever written about work stuff. I have to say, much of my days are taken up reading about the industry and general trends, but I haven't bothered to write about what's happening in the world of online business. I think that's good. If I find the time, I may start a new blog separate from this to discuss.

I'll also probably comment on working amongst Americans again here. Heck, I've got a commute again (at least a drive myself to work commute). I haven't had one of those in 6 years! Of course that does impact my ability to drink after work. Or during. Hopefully, I won't need it as much in this job.

A last question here: is anyone reading this blog? If so, any requests? Anything in particular you'd care for Lola and/or I to comment on?

After the hiatus

2008-03-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll try and keep this short, because - even though it's been forever since the last update - I'm supposed to be studying. And given update number 2, I'll have less time for it going forward. So, here, in no particular order, are the updates:

1) For those wondering how the boys are, I offer you some film evidence:
a) The elder

(thanks Conor for the link)
b) The younger

2) Johnny is employed again. No start date yet, pending a background check. Most importantly, I will be able to continue my MBA uninterrupted.

3) While I was happy for Hillary to do well last Tuesday (because I was concerned with the level of arrogance starting to come from the Obama campaign), I am now thoroughly aggravated with her again. Mainly, because it appears that she believes that her "victories" is a justification for the tactics that she's been employing, rather than understanding that her "losses" (which outnumber her victories) is a repudiation of those tactics. And for those of you who don't like Obama, let me offer the following:
a) If Obama were to suggest that Hillary should be the Vice President (which would be more rational, given that he has more delegates), would you consider that to be straight talk, or an effort to marginalize her?
b) Since you were so up in arms about the Obama advisor making comments to the Canadian government about Nafta, how do you feel about Hillary's campaign making a major noise about it (Hillary herself denouncing it), only to have her campaign do the same thing a week later?

So, I'm happy for a tight race because it brings out people and makes everyone focus on the issues, but I really think that a Hillary Clinton administration would be as divisive as a John McCain one, if not more so. And to be honest, the devisiveness (the just plain anger) is the biggest change I've seen in America since we left. And not for the better. The only thing I can think is that some people are just tired of having been on the losing side (as democrats) of this ungracious, bitter, feud and don't want to see the rules changed when its time for their team to take over.

Oh, I also think that Florida should just be counted (I'm not sure that HC's campaign abided by the rules of not campaigning - she just happened to be down there the night of the election?), but it was the Republican governor who moved the dates. Besides, the delegates don't change the distance to the nomination.

Argh. Lots more, but Statistics and Accounting are calling.

Bendy straw poll

2008-02-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

So, Cole comes home from school today and is watching TV with Lola. The Patomac primary results were coming in and Cole said, "I like Barack Obama." He then proceeded to relate who all of the other kids in his class liked. Apparently, the teacher asked the kids which candidate they liked.

All the girls liked Hillary. All the boys liked Obama.

"What about the other candidates," Lola asked. "Did anyone mention McCain, or Huckabee, or Ron Paul?" (Ron Paul because she likes to be fair.)

"John McCain."

"Who liked John McCain?"

"Teacher."

And no, we shant be taking him out of the school because of that.

Et tu Princess Bride?

2008-02-06T23:41:00.000-08:00

A moment on a Saturday morning. The boys waking up as I sit and watch the news. Lola is going to take a shower, so the boys come and sit on my lap. Griffin strangely cuddly.

Not wanting to subject them to yet another day of primary news, I look for something to keep them in my lap (books are a momentary distraction, as Griffin tends to tear the pages out). I find the Princess Bride, near the end.

Harmless. Or so I think.

The next day as the four of us sit down with Lola's parents to have lunch, Cole looks at me and says, "Daddy, prepare to die."

Damn that Inigo Montoya.

Though the look on Lola's mother's face was quite amusing.

Just some thoughts before I go (to sleep)

2008-02-04T23:36:00.001-08:00

Well, this was intended to be more of a "real" posting, but I got caught up watching United 93. Like you, I am surprised that I haven't seen it before. But there you go. (I do think, still, that it was shot down and they revised the records once they realised that people on the ground had phone recordings of them going after the hijakers. Given the confusion of that day, it would be understandable, but Bush's White House couldn't let any shades of gray enter the conversation.)

But anyway . . .

So, I don't think that the Democratic candidate will be decided tomorrow (Super Tuesday), but the Republican will be. Given his performance in telling people unpopular truths, I was ok with John McCain (and relative to the other Republicans, I still am), but then Lola hipped me to this site where it compares candidates positions on Global Poverty. Frankly, it doesn't look like those issues have even occurred to him or anyone in his campaign. And if you don't deal with them, then you're creating a strong likelihood that we'll be fighting this war (on terror?) forever.

I should also amend my earlier comment that I wouldn't vote for Hillary even if she was the Democratic nominee. From a position standpoint, I agree with many of her stands. My disagreements are in the margins (and more closely aligned with Obama's stated positions.) So, if shes the candidate, I will vote for her.

Now, brother Mike says he intends to write in and tell me why Barak is" not, in fact, a diety." I have never said that he was. I do say that Hillary's "experience" will lead her down the path of "fighting the last war" (in this I am not being literal). By that I mean, I believe that her experience is that she can only get things done by operating in contrast to someone else. Bill struggled mightily for the first 2 years of his presidency (Gays in the military was a dumb first thing to take on. If Health Care was so central, why not start with that? If you fail, you've at least failed greatly.) It wasn't until he was met with a Republican congress that the image of President Clinton started to coalesce.

And while I really did like Bill Clinton as president, I can also distinguish between historical and purposeful. The peace and prosperity during his 8 years were not really the result of any policy. Rather, it was the interregnum after the fall of the Soviet Union and before China's muscle flexing. And it was the result of low oil prices and the rise of the internet. None of these things had anything to do with Bill.

That being said, he didn't screw it up.

Anyway, Hillary's not my first choice for reasons I've said before. Obama is because, whatever faults he may have (oh, and the latest is that Hillary's more electable because all her dirty secrets are out, unlike Obama), he has shown, I think, the ability to raise the tone of the national discourse, to get more people involved in the process and to challenge people to be more than millionaires.

Finally, some observations:

Lola's been keeping track of the Palo Alto sign wars. First came the Obama signs, usually on corner lots. (Some Romney, no McCain, but I've seen at least 1 Ron Paul.) Then Friday, a slew of Hiliary signs, usually clumped (at nicer looking houses). Then Monday, the Obama signs came back to surround the Hillary signs (literally, you'll see an Obama sign after almost every Clinton sign.)

We went to go see David Mamet's "Speed the Plow" in the city on Saturday (Christmas present). We dropped of the boys and went to the farmer's market first. The farmer's market was not packed (because it was raining pretty nastily), but there were dozens of Obama supporters out (mainly young, High School-looking), passing out pins and bumper stickers.

So, we took a couple of pins and went walking toward the theater.

Literally, people were stopping in the streets and we heard them saying to each other "Look, they're supporting Obama." At the restaurant, at the next table the woman turned around and asked us what our thinking was (her husband's voting for Obama, her daughter works for Hillary, she's undecided.)

I suppose I shouldn't have worn the button on my zipper.

Anyway, the point is, tomorrow will be very exciting. And, for the first time that I can recall, people actually seem to care.

For that, we should be grateful to Hillary and Barak.

If it keeps up like this, I may be able to take all those maple leaf patches off my jackets the next time I go to Europe.

PS - "Speed the Plow" was excellent, if short.

What's so funny 'bout peace, love and Lenny Kravitz

2008-01-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

On a non-political note (ok, quick aside, I have to say, for the first time, I'm actually proud that I went to American University: Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Obama took place there (luckily, they've since re-named the pace, it's no longer the Adnan Koshoggi center), I suppose in part because JFK gave a somewhat famous speech there.)

But I digress . . .

I was reading the NYTimes yesterday (overpaid liberal that I am) and was reading an article written by Lenny Kravitz in which he wrote about his favorite new music artists and it hit me - again, the fundamental question is: how to choose?

We are living in a world of ubiquity. The constraints of the past have mainly been narrowed down to one: can you pay for it? If you have the money, you can get almost anything you want. Now comes the question: what do you want?

You can't google for it: that just helps you find things that already exist. You have to have it recommended to you. But who should you listen to?

I had a debate the other week with Lola's former bosses (used to run a jury consulting firm, now write the ethics column for Money magazine and who- in their spare time - review movies for the local paper) about the value of "experts". Does one require an expert to find something of value? What does an "expert" know about wine or art or food, really? Doesn't it depend on us as to whether or not we'll like it? I mean, sure, I liked "3:10 to Yuma" (ok, I loved it), but I also watch "The Last Dragon" whenever I get the chance. Is there anyone in the world who can tell me that they both have the same intrinsic value? It's more that they both have an appeal to me.

Would I recommend "3:10 to Yuma" to everyone? I don't know. What I loved about it was the underlying premise that (and here I quote another movie that I saw on the airplane) "the only force more powerful than a son's need to be adored by his father, is a father's need to be adored by his son." That's a message for me. Would a 20 year old get that? Doubtful. Does that make the movie better or worse? The movie is a vehicle of value only in that it connects with its audience. So, for me the value was there. The 20 year old may just have enjoyed the shooting. It's about the viewer not about the view.

So, what's my point?

My point is this: watch the web. It's coming (I'm sure some would say with Last.FM, Pandora, Yelp and even Delver (yes, there are dozens more) that it's here.) But the thing is this: right now, the democratization of reviews allows for a greater "wisdom of the crowds" view - which in theory gives a more balanced view of the product. But it's all still focused on the product, as if a restaurant were a stable thing. Will I like the restaurant is a better question, but still only part of it. Will I like this restaurant if I take a date there after a scary movie when it's raining outside? Now that's a question that I'd like the answer to.

(Of course the date would be Lola.)

But now we get into the question of identity (identities) on the web and in the world. Which is more than I can spend time on right now, as I'm supposed to be studying.

Elections and economy

2008-01-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

Quick note on the democrats and then on to the republicans. If you haven't read them, you should look at the comments on the last post. I think Cindy has some very relevant points. However:
(1) in my viewing of the debates, I saw Barack being provoked and rising to the bait (note: Clinton's campaign even said that they though that Bill was was taking Barack "off message").
(2) I did not find Obama's wife's email compelling. I saw it being mentioned on the news in snippets and thought it would be informative for people to see the whole thing.
(3) I don't believe that Hillary stayed in the Senate because she made a commitment to the people of New York. I believe that she saw an unassailable lead by George Bush and decided to wait until the water was warmer (knowing that Chaney wouldn't be a contender for President.)
(4) The criticism of Barack's absenteeism is fair, but New York is falling apart as well (it's a national problem at this stage) and they've been left with one Senator as well.

As for Conor's comment. Will an idealist get eaten up by Washington? Actually, if he wins, I think it will send shockwaves through the Congress. If Hillary wins, it tells them that the voters can be convinced by means that they're familiar with. If Obama wins, it will scare the bejesus out of them, because 1 there are more people voting and 2 they're not voting out of fear or for name recognition.

Finally, I want to say this: one of the president's toughest jobs will be to restore America's place in the world. The mere election of Obama will go a long way to shaking some fundamentally held assumptions about America in the world. (And no, the election of Hillary will not.) It will fight the idea of a racist, fearful, inward people. The election of a woman is fairly well precedented event. The election of a minority is less so.

Now I've kind of been ignoring the republicans, because I am hoping they're unelectable. However, I just want to say: I find it funny that Romney is touting his economic knowledge after he told the people of Michigan that their automotive jobs will come back if he's president. If that's true, I guess we'll be moving back to Europe sooner than we thought.

I did want to go back to talking about something other than the elections, but that I think will have to wait for the next post.

Who needs enemies?

2008-01-24T23:24:00.000-08:00

So, a short word about the current state of the presidential campaign. I have to say that the Republican hate machine against Hillary put me in her corner a while back (though I have to admit the t-shirt with the eye, the heart, the picture of Hillary, the tree and the trebel cleff ("I love country music") was crude by clever) . I mean, you can tell something about the people who hate them.

But the last few weeks have really turned me off her. As you may or may not know, I was a Joe Biden supporter. I like Joe's understanding of International affairs and his view on the economy. But that's no longer a choice. So, as I look at the options before me, I consider: Obama, Clinton, Edwards (even Kucinic has left the stage, taking his hot wife away in his UFO).

Let's start with Edwards. As much as I liked his performance at the last debate ("How do these personal attacks help children or people without insurance?") and admire his passion - I have concerns about his ability to get anything done. He seems to have the impression that being "right" is enough. But - anarchist that I am - know enough to know that having the masses on your side may get you elected, but won't get laws passed.

Obama has risen in my estimation. He has shown intellect and passion and a desire (if not quite yet the proven ability - see next) to unite people. If people honestly believe that the country is in a hole after Bush's eight years of foreign and fiscal policy, do they think that we can get out of it through incremental measures? Can we get out the way we got in? Not to buy into the "Change" crap, but honestly, the world is different than 1992. The economy is different. International relationships are different. Interpersonal relationships are different. But politics isn't.

Except that I think Obama has the desire to tackle things differently. Not in a man of la mancha way, but in a profound and pragmatic way. Obama has the ability (which I think Edwards lacks) to convince everyone that his policies are winners. Since Americans love and follow a winner, I think he has the ability to change the way laws get made and to change the relationship between the government and the governed.

Except that now there's Hillary. Dragging down anyone who dares to get in her way. Where was she four years ago? If she's got 35 years of experience and Bush is so awful, why did she wait until 2008 to run? Now she's baiting Obama, forcing him down the path of politics as usual.

And maybe that's gonna happen anyway. Maybe when he got to be president, the overwhelming ugliness of bi-partisan behavior would kill all the dreams of better. Maybe Bill and Hillary think that they're saving us from ourselves. They certainly got creamed by the Republicans for the first two years of Bill's presidency.

But if you kill the dreams, you never have a chance of being better.

So, no. I can't support Hillary. The ugliness of her reaction when she lost Iowa. The arrogance of her tears (crying for the stupidity of people who didn't vote for her, couldn't they just see what was best for them). The ugliness of her lust for power. The pure Karl Rove-edness of South Carolina. (I'm putting Michelle Obama's letter below for those who haven't seen it.) You can't fix America's problems by being a liberal Bush. You've got to find a new way.

If she wins the nomination, I'm not sure that I could vote in November.

Or maybe I'll vote for Ralph Nader. Maybe it'll be time for a write in.

End Post
----------------------------
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: What we didn't expect
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:53:07 -0500
From: Michelle Obama
Reply-To: info@barackobama.com
To: Lola

Lola --

This Campaign Relies on You In the past week or two, another candidate's spouse has been getting an awful lot of attention.

We knew getting into this race that Barack would be competing with Senator Clinton and President Clinton at the same time.

We expected that Bill Clinton would tout his record from the nineties and talk about Hillary's role in his past success. That's a fair approach and a challenge we are prepared to face.

What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record.

Barack Obama isn't relying on a former President of the United States to campaign for him.

He's relying on us -- you, me, and hundreds of thousands of people like us who are giving whatever they can afford to support this movement.

Please stand up in the face of these new attacks. Make your first online donation of $50 today and own a piece of this campaign:

*https://donate.barackobama.com/relyingonyou*

Barack's unwavering opposition to the war in Iraq, his outspoken support of women's rights, and his call for leadership that will transform our party and our country have all been mischaracterized in the past two weeks.

We've seen disingenuous attacks and smear tactics turn people off from the political process for too long, and enough is enough.

It's time for a change. It's time for a new kind of leadership and a new kind of politics in our party and in our country.

And while Senator Clinton has a former president in her corner, I'll put my faith in a movement of a whole lot of people who are ready for change.

South Carolina votes in 48 hours, and more than 20 states will make their voices heard in less than two weeks on February 5th. Now is the time for all of us to step up and take personal responsibility for making change happen.

Please make your first online donation of $50 now:

*https://donate.barackobama.com/relyingonyou*

Thank you,

Michelle

Donate

Paid for by Obama for America

Let it be resolved

2007-12-31T13:35:00.001-08:00

Ok, here I go. It's tradition, and I'm a traditional guy: the annual things-about-myself-that-I-don't-like-but-couldn't-be-bothered-to-deal-with list. Also known as new years resolutions.

Before I go into this, let me just say that there will be a few things that are not on my list that used to be there in years past. Number one is to spend more time with my family. While I don't think you can spend too much time with your family (well, I don't know your family), I think that I managed to pick my spots well in the first half of the year (taking the days off for the boys birthdays) and of course have had amazing quality time in the second half. I hope it won't be back on my list next year, but we'll have to wait and see.

With that disclaimer, here's my 2008 resolutions.

1) Be brief. I have tended to not exercise any economy around my word use. Dostoyevsky and Dickens were at least being paid by the word. With no such excuse, pithiness is my watch word for 2008. So, in my spoken and written word, I resolve to switch from Melville to Hemingway.

2) Listen more, talk less. I feel like I used to be a better listener. I remember once telling someone that "If you listen, people will tell you exactly what you want to know." Somewhere, I lost that lesson. Plus, I have to remember, when someone asks how you are, they don't really want an answer. (Somewhere in all of this, I became German. At least in that respect.)

3) End with the end in mind. In the coming year, when I find a story or joke going horribly bad, I resolve to end it. I have found that it never pays to power through to the end. However embarrassing it might be to abruptly end a story that's gone off the rails, trust me finishing it is worse.

4) Relax. Ok, it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to keep this one. But in the absence of actually taking it easy (on myself or just in general), I'll try and maintain my sense of context. There was a fantastic article in the Economist last year that compared America's poorest with Africa's richest. I want to send it to everyone I ever hear whining about how hard their life is. We're living in the Jetson's people, quit telling me you're tired after a day of pushing the button on and off all day.

5) Be nicer to other people. Hmm. Ok, tomorrow I'll retract the last sentiment from #4. I'll also work on developing more patience for people who have different work ethics. Of course, I can't forgive everyone. Without any bitterness, what's left?

6) Focus. So, I've started by putting myself on a schedule (which includes exercise, so there won't be a get in shape resolution either), but I have to keep my activity list down to four things: finding a job, doing my schoolwork, starting a business (see, #7) and my family. Looks like the novel will have to wait another year.

7) Stop talking and start chalking (aka, do more). There are always a million reasons not to do something, and only one reason to do them: because if you don't, you'll never know how they turn out. Since I've gotten tired of watching businesses launch with ideas that I've had usually a while ago, I've decided to make a go of one.

Ok, I think that's more than enough. Happy 2008 to everyone. I've got to get back to work.

Hearts and minds

2007-12-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

I think my last post may have been a bit opaque when I said that we must stop fighting the war to win it. By that I meant, as war is redefined, winning must be redefined as well. I hate the expression "hearts and minds" (sorry Jesse) reminds me of Red Dawn. But, conceptually, I think it's on the right track.

Fundamentally, we face a situation that internationalization was bound to lead to: different morality codes coming face to face. (Funny, I was actually just thinking about that as a key aspect of international business that doesn't seem to ever come up.) But I don't think that an end to the war (if not the hostilities) requires that we understand each other. I think that it first requires that we accept that different morality codes exist, and that we can't rely on "human nature" because what we think is human nature is actually how we've been socialized.

Torn

2007-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Somehow it seems to keep coming up. The war. And the difference between the war and the soldiers.

I know I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, it is a full-scale military conflict and my country is involved. But it seems like WWII was much more pervasive, affected everyone's life. I guess that's partially to do with the sense of invulnerability that Pearl Harbor had stripped America of and not knowing whether the war would be coming to your door. In that, the two wars should be similar. Not since the Civil War was the threat of the war being waged on American soil more real.

But since it's a neoguerre - as opposed to a paleoguerre - it all feels really remote. And while I'd love to take credit for such high-chocolate words as neoguerre and paleoguerre - it's Umberto Eco from whom I steal them and who has set me off on this war riff.

The paper had a review of a collection of his essays. I have to admit, it was pure chance that led me to read the article - the paper on the table in the coffee house was left open to that page. The reviewer was chiding Eco for his overly academic take on the world. They wanted to rally around him, the voice of rational liberalism to shut Anne Coulter the fuck up. But, no. Mr. Eco is too removed from reality. Eco speaks of a neoguerre - such as the war on terror- in which the wars are fought against an ill-defined enemy in an undefined arena and without knowable goals, as ones from which we are far removed. A reality TV show being produced by several governments in concert. The reviewer then feels the need to step in and say that the growing list of suicides due to PTSD (I'll come back to this in a minute), the amputations and the death make it clear that this is not a TV show for the ones in harms way. And there's a growing sense from the public that the neoguerre, unlike the paleoguerre of a WWII, is actually one from which we cannot remain isolated. If there is no definition of victory, it cannot end. If there is no defined battlefield, then everyone is a combatant.

And so the only way to win is to stop fighting.

But to those guys who are actually in Iraq or Afghanistan, what is the right thing to do? There's a lot of news recently about the large amount of suicides of returning soldiers. I haven't heard a lot of theories about why this is (although the remediation which the government proposes is to improve counselling). I don't think it's the problem of Vietnam in which returning soldiers were blamed for their part in the war. In which they wondered what they went through it all for. (Although, its probably a little bit of the latter.) No, I think it's probably more that these kids by and large are going from video games to real war, and the difference is a little shocking. The world is messy, but the demands of our entertainment industry have convinced people that it's not.

So, I'm in a Starbucks and they ask if I want to buy a pound of coffee to be sent to the troops in Iraq. And I'm torn. I know it seems stupid, but don't the small things you do show whether you're for something or against something. But I'm not against the guys having a cup of coffee. Most of them are just kids. But then, if you make it easier for them (sending cell phones as some highschool students have organized, so that they can call their families easier), are you prolonging the war? If there are no soldiers, is there a war?

And then my nephew enlists. My mom doesn't understand why I'm not surprised. If I were him, I would probably be tempted to do the same. For or against, the Iraq war is the defining event for his generation. On the front lines or leading the protests, just not on the sidelines. Now, for him, I don't think he's considered the drudgery. Most importantly, I don't think he's considered that he's gonna have to take orders for a long time from people who are not nearly as bright as he is. I know it seems silly to think in these terms, but you can't convince an 18-year-old about the dangers, because, they're right: life is dangerous and what's a long life worth if you don't do anything with it? Nor can you even tell them about losing a limb. How can someone relate to that? When you're 18, you figure it's either not going to happen to you, or it will be - in some way - cool.

So, no. I don't want him to go. I want him to go to college and to put all of his energy toward finding a way to change to American definition of war, of terror and of patriotism. But most of all, I don't want him to do nothing.

So, I'm torn. I think the war is a mess. I think that international politics are more complicated then they have ever been because we have a greater interdependency, we have a greater knowledge of each other, but we have less understanding. We also have a sense, as cultures begin to intermingle, that we are losing something. Nothing on this earth dies easy. And the cultures which are going away are fighting for their lives right now - fundamental religions, isolationism, untrammelled free markets. Things will be messy for a while. Maybe our whole lives. But there seems to be a social homeostasis which works as well. It's just the perspective we need is beyond the number of years we have.

Oh, and in the end, I didn't buy the coffee. But that could be because I'm cheap.

Snapshots

2007-12-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of snapshots for you:

Cole's schoolmate comes up to him (and Lola) and says "My name is Miguel and I can speak English and Spanish."

Cole then replies, "Well, I can speak English and London."

**************
Bicycle store down the street has a truck parked out front in which it has a big poster sitting in the back. Seems to change every day, or at least every time we pass. Today's read: "Learn to backpeddle like a Bush appointee."

Word for the day

2007-12-07T16:52:00.001-08:00

So, the elder learned the word "Spelunking" today. The context was the half hour that the three of us spent inside a cave made out of a comforter.

I just wanted to remember. Not sure how long it'll be when I'll have the time to go searching for Becky and Injun Joe with the boys.

This is the good stuff.

Microphobias

2007-12-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

So, my mother says to me this morning while we're getting the boys dressed, "You know the boys have a toy with a magnet in the bottom?" Stupidly, because I'm thinking of her as my mom and not as a victim of American media, I think that she's found a piece and is trying to figure out where it goes.

"Yeah, we have two. The little ducks that go on top of the music box."

"Well, I only mention it because you know if one of the boys swallows a couple of magnets they could constrict on either side of the intestines and kill them."

Seriously?

So, I said, "Don't worry, given the size of the ducks, he'd choke on it before it got anywhere near his intenstines."

She was then the unfortunate recipient of one of my "This is what's wrong with America" tirades - specifically, the overinflated fear of things that have such a remote possibility of ever happening.

And just in case she thought I was exaggerating, the morning news show had a piece on "How to protect yourself against a gunman in the mall" (I'm NOT making this up.) You know, given the shootings in Omaha. (By the way, it was amusing to hear Wolff Blitzer apologize for mistakenly calling it Obama, rather than Omaha.)

But in the end, I suppose, it doesn't really matter if the odds of it are 50,000:1 if you're the one.

Good night, I think I'm suffering from narcolepsy.

And once again, around the bases

2007-12-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

So, I got a nudge that my blog updates weren't particularly frequent enough. So, here's one long one to make up for the lack of quantity. At least that's my intention. I'm writing while the boys are napping (as soon as I write those words, the elder comes storming around the corner, apparently 3 minutes counts as a nap in his world), but if they wake, then this will be yet another short one.

So, let me start with Mr. Mom. Lola has gone back to London for a few days. Which leaves me jet-lagged and gaining an ever-increasing appreciation of Lola. I should say, that mom's come to visit and she's been a great help. But, that being said, she agrees that the boys are particularly enervating.

Hell, she's asleep on the couch right now.

I think the big thing is that the younger has no off switch. With the elder, you can at least turn on the telly and he'll be distracted. Not so with the microdynamo. Telly, books, dinosaurs, doesn't matter, he'll be back at you in 2 minutes. So, there's no pause. All day. Except for these couple of hours of nap, and after bedtime. But by then, you're wrecked.

Anyway, it's feeding in to my end of year strategy confusion on the job search front. I mean, how much effort should I be expending now, knowing that if it doesn't get actioned in the next few days it will fall into a black hole and I'll be worse off than if I just waited.

But that's sort of a tactical question. My larger strategic questions with regard to the job front are still at play. The school of thought that tells me to just take a job (either because of the kids or because of school) has a certain appeal. Although, the reality is, I've seen people make tactical decisions about their jobs and then never be able to recover from them. If I have not given up being able to do something, then . . .

See, this is the sort of thing. Got completely sidetracked. I'll post this and come back soon. (perhaps shorter and more often is the answer) I've yet to hit on the presidential race.

Thoughts between quizzes

2007-11-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

I'm currently engaged in getting ready for my next week of business school. This quarter it requires doing a set of quizzes for MacroEconomics between sessions. After tanking the first two, I did ok on the third, and am now partaking of a mental sorbet of sorts, by sorting out a blog entry. As such, this may be a bit scattered again.

Now that a disclaimer has been disclaimed, away we go . . .

The job search continues, I am well aware of the doldrums that can hit one as the search stretches out. Still, it doesn't help and maintaining a positive frame of mind has always been Lola's job. Now that we're headed into holiday season, I expect everything to dry up for the rest of the year, which will give me more time to get my act together. Because, I think, the major hurdle in my search so far is (wait for it) - I don't really know what I want.

Which is probably why Joe Jackson's "You can't get what you want (till you know what you want)" has been on continuous play inside my head. Followed in my Sylvia Plath dance mix by "(I can't get no) Satisfaction". [And those of you who read the last blog post will have just heard the sound of the penny dropping.]

Of course my general ambiguity has not been helped by the fact that I haven't yet shown up to an interview with any clue as to what job the company had in mind when the called me. In the case of my interview with Google, it was almost comic in that each of the 500 people that interviewed me asked if I understood what the job was that I was there for.

"No, actually, they said I was coming in as a general fit."

"Oh. Umm, well, ok. Let's move on."

Lurvly. So, I finally pulled aside the HR lady and said, "Am I supposed to know what the job is?"

"No, we just want to see if you could fit somewhere."

"Oh. Umm, well, ok. Let's move on."

But they really were nice at Google. Really. Could be because there were no men. Honestly, I interviewed only with women.

Ok, so I'm kinda screwed.

But they were really nice.

In contrast to my other interviews (and, I suppose, my life), I only had one comment go slightly awry. The trick question came with the fifth person who said, "What's wrong with Google Checkout adoption rates?" So, I said, "PayPal." Where I was trying to be pithy, she thought I was being a smartass. Oh well.

They were nice though.

-----------

Lola took the boys in for jabs last week. Interestingly, the eldest is thirty something percentile for height and weight. The younger is 75th percentile for weight and 83rd for height. No wonder people ask if they are twins.

More interestingly, the pediatrician had a theory for the sudden upswing in autism. Essentially, his theory was the quirky behaviour has become much acceptable in society and so quirky people are finding each other and breeding more, with each generation getting a little more quirky until it manifests as full-fledge autism.

In other words, the Internet bubble has not only created millionaires and heroes out of geeks, it's allowing them to get laid. This is causing problems for the general gene pool.

Now, some of that may not be completely off, but I might put it in slightly a different way. Much in the same way that Athanasius Kircher is said to have been the last man to know everything because the sum of human knowledge has become to great and we are all driven to specialisation, it could be that autism, in a sense, is a genetic version of this. It may be that we need to become so specialised in our thinking that the particular traits of autism are required to advance human knowledge to the next level

Still, I like the idea that geeks are getting laid now. Would've been better if that had been the case when I was in high school. But still, one has to pull for the square pegs.

-------------------

Ok. That's it for this edition. I must get to studying. I'm flying out on Thursday to London and I have much to do before then.

Apres le deluge

2007-11-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

and by that, I mean, I haven't written in a while, so this will be a lot of randomness.

First, by proximity in time and degree of randomness, I think that my time in Europe has made me better with change. By "change" I mean coins. I mean, coins don't really mean anything here and so you wind up having a million of them. But as I found myself giving relatively exact change (20.26 for a 15.16 charge), I realised that I have a better respect for coins. Of course now I'm collecting a set of odd looks from merchants.

Second, just returned home yesterday from a week in DC. Lola and I finished sorting out the chaff from the wheat with regards to what we put into storage 6 years ago. We made a nice donation to the goodwill. And now the remainder is on a truck headed toward us.

At least I hope so. More on that story if it develops.

Four things from that trip:

1) We won't be travelling with the boys for a little while. Like a year. I walked most of the way to DC because the little guy insisted on roaming the aisles. We took Virgin America which was great, and the staff were great. Most of the fellow passengers were great as well. One guy who was a reject from Pimp My Ride tried to take a tone with me ("You better watch your kid man") so I kicked his ass to show the boys how to deal with that sort of nonsense.

All in all, the boys were great, but it's frankly exhausting to get them through security, on board, entertained and off the plane again.

2) Was odd to be back in DC. Good to see everyone, but odd being back.

3) The boys loved Holloween. The big guy ran up to everyone's door and got a good haul. Didn't really care about the candy. Just liked yelling "Trick or Treat!"

4) We all got a flu/cold thing somewhere along the way.

And because of the last, I'm gonna hit the sack rather than go into my discourses on America as an EU with a common infrastructure, the continued travails of the job hunt, Joe Jackson meets the the Rolling Stones, etc.

But a last observation: saw a guy with a Prius in the driveway using a leaf blower in front of his house.

London

2007-10-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

So, I went back for a week. Wrote this on the tube one day.

It's the little things. You know, like tyhe light switches on the outside of the toilets. Calling them toilets. The jokes sbout Bush that are not powered by bile, but rather a benign contempt. The "excuse me" that doesn't come across as at all. Polite. The black people. Sports that the whole country cares about - if only for a moment. The tube. The pubs (though the Newspaper said that 25percent of Britons drink too much - only 25?). The buildings that are older than your grandparents. The bacon roll that is older than your grandparents. The rugby that suprises, the football that disappoints. This earth, this realm, this England.

Funny to be at a place in my life where I'm not feeling any difference between here and America. It's as if I went to bed one night and walked out of.a different door in the morning. I suppose that will change. And that I will change. But that's the thing about change, you usually don't feel it while it's happening. If your lucky, you just notice it one day. Usually, someone else points it out.

A side story

2007-10-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

No time to catch up, so I'll have to fill in with a German joke.

It's great to have something to fall back on.

At dinner the other night, my friend Don was telling us about being in Cannes with two Germans. The Germans spoke no French, and the waiter spoke no German. So the conversation was in English.

After dinner, they were thinking about dessert, and so asked the waiter.

"Do you have ice cream?"

"Yes. We do."

"What flavors?"

"Chocolate and Vanilla"

"Do you have strawberry?"

"I will go check." Waiter leaves.

10 minutes go by.

Waiter returns. "Yes. We do have strawberry."

"Good." (Pause) "I'll have chocolate."

And no, he wasn't joking.

More on the job search

2007-10-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry, had to cut the last one short and have not been able to get back to writing. But Lola is out eating Sushi with some friends who are in from London and the boys are asleep. And I, well . . . I should be studying, but this is a good excuse not to, and it's better than watching the end of "I, Robot", "I, Spy" or whetever's on the really crappy cable that they have in Palo Alto.

So, where was I?

First, let me go into the differences in the job markets. I did spend some time in London looking around. Partly to see if there was some killer opportunity which would make it make sense to stay there. But mainly to get into the habit of looking for a job. Still, with the lead times, there was little to no chance that anything would pan out, so it was really just a chance to make sure my suits still fit.

For anyone who's reading this who doesn't know, job lead times in Europe are massively longer than in the US, mainly due to notice periods. In the UK, which is the most "free market" of the major European markets has a 3 month standard notice period. Even if you talk that down, most employers expect at least 6 weeks to get someone in the job.

Ironically, this doesn't seem to add more urgency to the process.

But, of course, one thing I hadn't considered was that all of the interviews in London got my name into the system. So, thanks to the power of SpinVox, I've gotten several messages from recruiters in London. So, I'm spending almost as much time talking with recruiters over there as I am people here. Mainly, I'm giving them the names of people I know in London who are looking and/or getting them to refer me to their offices here.

The irony, of course, is that the work of companies going international seems to be focusing out of London.

The other difference of course is the dress code. Not so much with the suit/tie. So far, I've been massively overdressed (as in, the other guy is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.) But I figure it's better to err on the side of caution. Of course, it may just be a big beacon that says, "This guy's a prick!" But I think it's professional (at least it was in the UK.)

Ok, it's late, so I'll just put up a list of the companies I've talked to so far as a poll. More soon.

The Quest for Fire . . .

2007-10-03T19:54:00.001-07:00

or the quest after being fired. Whatever you want to call it.

So, I mentioned that we were doing a blog to my brother, and now I feel more obligated to keep it up. Hopefully, that will mean more regular updates. Provided, of course, that I have something to say. But I decided the other day when I wrote a treatise in response to a linkedIn question (http://www.linkedin.com/answers/career-education/career-development/CAR_CRD/105768-141052?browseIdx=2&sik=1191466664704&goback=%2Eama) that maybe I should be writing on the blog more.

Everyone needs an outlet.

So, the job search. It's turned into a bit of an existential exercise. Seriously. If we had stayed in London, it would have been about maximizing cash, but probably not much in our lives would have changed much. But since we've moved and are isolated from our routines, such as they were, I'm forced to deal with some of the fundamental questions:

1) Is my career path more important than time with my family right now? [Before you jump on the righteousness bandwagon, consider that I'm thinking of this in the long-term. Will I be able to provide more opportunities for everyone down the road, will I be able to spend more time with them in the coming years if I make the right job decision now?]

2) What is it I want to be doing with my days? [Since I jump into whatever it is that I do, I'd love for it to be something that I really care about.]

3) How do I balance my degree work?

4) What is it that I'm really good at?

5) What is it that I'm really bad at that I think I'm really good at.

6) Am I ready to start wearing khakis again?

Ok, gotta go get dinner. I'll come back to this anon. And yes, I'll try and get Lola to post again.

And what comes next?

2007-10-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, gosh, where to begin. Not that I think anyone is reading this, I'm just hoping that I'll remember to come back to this someday and check out what it was like coming back.

Usually, it's been the grocery stores where America really hits me in the gut (no pun intended). Of course, my first trip out of the country was to Soviet Russia, so the idea of there actually being food in a grocery store was stunning. Now, it's more of the idea of size and wait.

Now there are a couple of big grocery stores in London, but one of them is Whole Foods, so that doesn't really count as it's just an American import. By and large, though, they're just smaller. Or at least they feel that way.

Then there's the expiration dates. In the UK, things pretty much expired while you were walking home with them. Here they last forever. They need to, since they come in jumbotron sizes. But, one must wonder what kind of preservatives are involved. Maybe Americans die pre-embalmed. Then again, Americans have a pretty good life expectancy, so can't really complain.

Finally, there's the schizophrenia. Forgive me if I've previously mentioned this, but I'm somewhat flummoxed by the preponderance, the emphasis, on organic on the one hand. And on pre-fab, fat injected, deep fried, unnaturally colored. I wonder how Hostess is doing, but then I see that Wonder Bread (best known for it's putty-like qualities) is making a comeback.

Ok, that's it for now. I suppose next I should talk about the actual job search.

Apathy

2007-09-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

So when we first got to California, we met some people who talked about how much they loved the Bay Area. One of the things they love about it is that, they found, there was no bigotry compared to other places they'd lived. Races, sexes, orientations are all free to peacefully coexist.

Except Republicans.

Apparently, political conservatives are verbally flagellated in the Bay Area for expressing their opinions. Which I have a problem with. If everyone is shouting and no one is listening, nothing will change.

I read the NYTimes yesterday, found this article and really enjoyed the (usually) intelligent comments. Though, I have to say, almost everyone seems to have missed that Fred Thompson didn't mention WWII, the WashingtonPost did. Still, the idea that any country fights wars for any reason other than its own interest is not only laughable, it's dangerous. The president is elected to create the best world for the people who elect him (or her - though I agree with Conor, I don't think America's ready for a woman president). If the way to do that is to play policeman for the world, then so be it. But the idea of sending the people who elected you to fight for someone else's liberty makes you unpredictable.

Unpredictable makes people weaker than you nervous. Which makes them seek to protect themselves proactively. And people die, and people get rich.

Ah, well, Bretton Woods are dark and deep and I have miles to read before I sleep.

Pardon the Interruption

2007-09-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

So, we didn't have any internet access for a few days because we located a house and scrambled as quick as our little legs would carry us to get into it. Not that staying with Endorra and Maurice wasn't great, but it had been more than 3 days and the fish were starting to smell.

But we're here now, in sunny Palo Alto. Weather report yesterday (and I quote): "Autumn's not due until the end of the week, but we may be seeing some rain before then!" As opposed to the rush for any patch of land in London when the sun was shining, as each spot of grass became Pale Hill as the fishbelly complexion of a nation is brought out for a tanning.

Ah, but here in California everyone is a distinct shade of something or another. There's a odd sense of health here. At first I was thrown by the runners and cyclists and the 15 brands of Oreos. But my sense of bewonderment reached new heights when I saw Diet Coke Extra - it's Diet Coke with vitamins.

Seriously.

Ok, that's it for tonight. We'll be back soon.

Ahh, California.

2007-09-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a desperate search to flee my folks' place and get on with our San Francisco adventure. Craigslist hasn't yet delivered our place. But this listing certainly made me realize what sort of adventure we're in for ...

The large one bedroom apartment downstairs from us is opening and we would like to find a family with a small child with whom to make a community. We have a 2 ½ year old girl and would love for her to have someone to play with as well as someone for us to build community with.

It is not our place, but the landlord has said we could find someone. He has been generous enough not to raise the rent for some time. It would likely rent for at least $1600 otherwise.

It is old Victorian with high ceilings, a huge living room, and a big sunny garden complete with fruit trees and a playhouse.

We are a homebirth midwife and a psychotherapist/electrician. We value open communication, eating organic, not having a tv and having fun!

Although, I have to admit, I like the idea of a psychotherapist/electrician - I guess he can only change lightbulbs if they really want to change. Besides, at this point, I think we both need psychotherapy and some rewiring.

Americana

2007-09-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

Seven years since we became Johnny and Lola at a ranch up in Sonoma. Since we're now returned to the scene of the crime, we decided to take a ride up. This time with kids.

The place is exactly the same, though since we arrived at the exact moment that the previous evening's catering truck was yanking down the electricity cable, we didn't stay long. Besides, getting in and out of the car is more of a production these days.

So, we drove around a little, then headed out for a little taste of Americana (the kind not experienced by me since the oyster shucking festival in Leonardtown, Maryland) at a little place I like to call - Train Town.

That's right, "the largest scale train in the Americas," the sign proudly declaims. Made me think that there's a small German city that has a TrainStadt that kicks this place's ass. Still, happy to be there - as were the boys.

First we took a ride around in the scale train (3":1' in case you were wondering), across bridges and through tunnels (50 kids screaming in a dark tunnel is America to me). Stopped at the petting zoo - big hit. And then came back around to ride a small roller coaster and get a corn dog. All that was missing was the three-legged dog. (In case you're wondering, it was not missing from the Oyster Shucking festival.)

A quick trip into a real train car (with a Donkey Kong jr machine in it) and then we were back into the parking lot. And at this point - I paused.

Across the street was a large "Pro-life" billboard. Right in front of it was an SUV with a bumper sticker that read "impeach Bush."

It's a big country. There are lots of opinions. The only question is: how many of them count?

Can't get away from the Irish or Dick Van Dyke

2007-09-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

I have a theory that the Irish always show up first amongst immigrants and set up bar. This theory came to me in Osh, Kyrgyzstan where I saw O'Malley's pub. I mean, seriously, Osh? You just can't get away from the Irish.

It came back to me yesterday when we were looking for a flat. One of the units was being repaired and the workman was from Dublin (oh, ye know Ireland?), Cork (oh, you've been to Cork?), Youghal (oh, you know people from Youghal?), outside of Youghal (pronounced y'all).

But I have to admit, there's something comforting about the accent.

We're still struggling with hearing American accents and thinking, "Wow, there are a lot of Americans here." The American accent (and of course I'm generalizing here, ignoring the Southern, Boston and New York accents) is not particularly melodious. Sadly, possessed of one myself, I have to admit that it does sound like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

But at least it's usually saying something nice.

And so, long live the Irish. Because they have an accent that's easy on the ears and they usually are saying something nice. (Of course they're probably being sarcastic, but we've entered the no irony zone, so I can no longer recognize it.)

But our oldest, he's now between accents. He's started pronouncing water with an emphasis on the "er" so that Americans can understand him. But if he gets angry (he's 3, he does that a lot), he reverts to an English accent. "I will not!" Sounding like Harry Potter.

At least his accent is somewhat posh. My English accent still sounds like Dike Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Though people in California get offended when you call them "gov'nor". But heck, they elected Herr Schwarzeneiger twice, they can't get too embarrassed by him.

Going big time

2007-09-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's our first press mention. http://www.arrivalslimited.com/lifetoday.html (Look at Monday 4 September.)

Ok, it's our friend Sarah, but we'll take it. Now at least there's a chance that someone besides Conor is reading this. (Hi Conor, hang out for the next post - it's about the Irish.)

Not knowing what to think

2007-09-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, Fred Thompson throws his hat in the ring 3 days after we move back to the US.

I used to tell people that SARS broke out right after I left China, the ruble crashed soon after I left Russia, I was in Berlin instead of DC on September 11 and in Hamburg instead of London on July 7.

And now this . . . But I'm not saying how I feel about the rebirth of Reagan.

I mean heck, I was a big fan of his when he played Knox Pooley on Wiseguy. [Disclaimer: I looked up the name of his character. However, I do recall that he played a white supremacist who wasn't really racist but just touted the policy to get power.] But seriously, this guy?

I mean I sat out most of the Bush administration in the more liberal countries of England and China. I don't think I could take Knox Pooley leadership for this country in the state that it's in right now. We need less Bush "common sense" and more Thomas Paine Common Sense.

At least that's my sense of it.

The common courtesy of a reach around

2007-09-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, despite that title, this is not going to be dirty.

The thing is, Americans are nice. I mean, even here, where people aren't as just plain friendly as in the midwest, they are so light years beyond the English in terms of what my momma used to call "common courtesy" it's quite refreshing.

I'm sure it will be annoying in a few weeks. If for no other reason than they're really not less inept than the service industry in the UK, they just feel bad about it.

And of course there's the children.

I have to say, between the English pretending that you don't have children and the Chinese habit of walking away with your child to take photos with them (you know, before the nose gets too big), I'd have to vote for the American randomly saying nice things about your kids. [If you've been to America with your kids and no one has told you how beautiful or well-behaved they are, I'd worry.]

Again, enjoyable . . . for now.

Thank god for the vaguaries of language

2007-09-05T00:16:00.000-07:00

So, we went out to see a friend from London on our first day in the US. She introduced us to her brother and sister-in-law. Great folks, great time. But, our 3 year old did watch "Chicken Little" while there.

Not a big deal, except that I've never seen it, and our little boy is who he is.

So, this morning he asks me who Chicken Little's friend is - the pig. First, I try to cover, "Hamm" I say. "No, daddy, that's the pig from toy story." So, then I just make it up (he's 3, for Pete's sake) - and I say "Oinker". So, as he's pretending to be Chicken Little he starts calling me Oinker. To the point that he's shouting it out on the playground.

Except when he says it, it sounds like "Wanker".

So, I'm suddenly glad to be in America where no one knows what that means.

Leaving on a jet plane . . .

2007-09-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

We're sitting in the first class lounge with economy tickets in our pockets about to return to America after nearly 6 years away.

It's been a whirlwind of a month, packing up our lives, saying goodbyes and generally taking last advantage of London.

The lounge is reminding us of how different life is about to be: people drinking champagne at 8 in the morning, red-soled shoes that cost a bajillion dollars worn on the 11 hour flight, languages that we can't identify being spoken around us, destinations of Kiev, Bucharest and Dubai being called as we wait.

As the whirlwind dies down, and the caffein kicks in, we are increasingly excited about the adventures to come. We hope to use this space to share our ups and downs of reentry to America. A lot has changed since the last time we lived in America, both with us and - from what we have seen from a distance - America itself. We'll let you know how we get on.

johnny and lola

2007-04-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

As we endeavor to keep in touch with friends and family near and mostly far, we have launched this blog to share stories, thoughts and photos. We hope to use this space to share some travel pictures from years past as well as pictures of our boys. We hope you enjoy!

johnny and lola