Overflowing With Thanksgiving Day Gratitude

I'm grateful as hell. Sure, all's not right with the world (is it ever?) and there's more suffering in nearby quarters than we've seen in a long time but not enough to stem the abundance of gratitude I am feeling.

Let's start with the obvious---Barack Obama's presidential victory gives our nation and the world cause for serious optimism. It's so much more than a racial thing, although that's a story that will resonate through future centuries. President-Elect Obama is showing a commitment to excellence and balance in the choices he is making. This is a leader dedicated to finding exceptional people and demanding the highest level of competence based upon service to the citizenry. This mostly non-partisan approach is so rare and refreshing, it will be interesting to see how much push-back he receives and how he deals with it.

Other things for which I am deeply grateful: My wife. My parents. My children. My job. My fingers. My health. My friends. The health of my wife, parents, children and friends. Our freedom from strife. Our new dog (cute and friendly as can be, and best of all, nearly house broken). And much more.

I'm grateful for the chance to work in a supportive environment with folks who share my passion for all of my pursuits, musically and professionally and especially for those endeavors which involve benefit to our community. I am profoundly thankful that I was raised in a supportive, functional household that encouraged positive thinking, expected its members to work hard and to appreciate the fruits of their labors. The example set by my parents has led to a deeply satisfying life for me and I feel that I have achieved some success in passing those values along to my children.

I am grateful to live in a place where a support network exists even for those who experience considerable suffering, and happy that I am able to contribute to parts of that network more and more as time goes by.

I think it's time to pick up my favorite guitar (and I'm thankful to have several beauties that I love) and play a few songs of thanks. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you are able to find things in your lives for which your gratitude is abiding and real.

Updating My Technology

These days, anything old school has a cool factor. I must admit, I like it that way. Of course, this is just a matter of sticking a new label on nostalgia. Think of all the terms we use to describe old stuff in a positive way. Like retro and vintage (as opposed to old-fashioned and passe). When newly used, these terms seem to make folks feel that they are the first ones to recycle old ideas.

Is it our desire to be creative and hip that moves us to feel that by applying new terms to old things, we are doing something unique? It shouldn't. After all, people have been aping old behaviors and trends since, well, since humans were apes. (Note to Sarah P---this actually did happen).

When it comes to technology though, old school stuff just doesn't cut it. If you don't keep your technological gadgets at least somewhat current, they become useless, functionally obsolete. Especially computers, with cell phones and tv's close behind.

What makes me think of this is the new Dell computer the FedEx guy delivered to me yesterday. I'm about to try setting it up, but before launching into that frustrating but ultimately rewarding effort (that's what I'm predicting anyway, being a total technology klutz), I thought I should post one last blog entry on this outdated piece of machinery.

Too many knowledgeable friends have assured me that this old processor is too slow and needs to be put out to pasture. Here I imagine a lovely green field with miles of freshly painted fence surrounding hundreds of computers in an untended herd a la Far Side which I still miss.

The new computer holds the promise of breakneck speed plus the allure of a 24 inch high definition widescreen, unencumbered by any of those pesky old cables that are soooo 2006. Still, part of me feels unfaithful to this keyboard, monitor and processor which, for the most part, served me very well. Sure, there were times when things didn't go quite right, and I generally felt like it was more its fault than mine, but overall, she served me well and I know I will miss her, with a mourning period that will last right up to the point the new Dell and I have established a solid working relationship. Figure a week.

Shaping Up For The Shedd

Motivation is good. But getting motivated is tricky business. This is especially true for things that are optional. Take, for example, the act of rehearsing songs you've played hundreds of times.

I now have musical motivation. It's right there on the calendar: January 31, 2009. It's listed in the local newspaper each week. Advertisements and posters are showing up with my picture. My upcoming show at The Shedd Performing Arts Institute is a big deal and I am determined to be at the top of my game. Can't let the home folks down, gotta give 'em their moneys worth. This motivation is real and powerful. And it makes me happy.

Even when my motivation slides, I still play guitar every day, at least for a little while. But now I'm sharpening my chops. I have summoned a higher level of concentration and I plan to nurture it passionately for the next couple of months. When my musical concentration kicks in, good things happen.

New song ideas keep popping into my head and old songs seem to possess a new energy. Ever notice how artists sometimes vary the musical arrangements of their old songs, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse? My old songs are morphing a bit these days and I'm determined to let this happen spontaneously, hoping that the changes will add depth and nuance. The audience will decide and I do not wish to let them down.

Sometimes I regret that my day job and other commitments interfere with my music. But mostly I'm grateful that I have the freedom to live the way I do and that music, even though it isn't my sole career, still occupies a huge and important part of my life. On January 31, I will have the opportunity to show folks in my hometown what I'm musically all about these days. I can't wait.

The Audacity of Hope: Sometimes It Pays Off

The world yelped with glee, then breathed a collective celebratory sigh of relief. Barack won, McCain gave a wonderfully statesman-like concession speech and for the first time in most folks memory, we are newly invigorated with hope and the promise that change is coming.

So often our hopes and dreams have not come true. For the past eight years, not only have they not come true, they have been stomped upon and crushed against the concrete like a dirty, spent-to-the-filter cigarette butt.

We must not be naive about the prospects for meaningful change. As Barack said, our path is long and the road will be steep. But last night, as the champagne corks flew, hope took new life.

When I told my parents that this was the most important election of my life, they said it was the most important election of their lives too, and they are in their eighties, old enough to remember The Great Depression well. Old enough to have fought, and for my dad to witness death over the skies of Germany, in World War Two.

Obama's story, his message and his charisma resonated with people of all ages and backgrounds (ok, not ALL, looking at the list of red states it's obvious which parts of our country can't shed their blinders) igniting a worldwide celebration. Let us savor the moment, recognize that occasionally our greatest hopes are realized and be prepared to do our part because, as Barack says so eloquently, progress and change cannot be achieved without sacrifice.

Nov 4---The World Is Watching Us

Friends are good, right? Not tag-a-long friends or users, but real friends. Our current president, by all accounts a social frat-like guy, has shown surprising indifference to our nation's friends and allies. And that has cost us.

November 4 is a day the world will remember for a long time. We will send a message to the world with our ballots. That message will be one of two things: either we care about our international friends and want to resume our rightful place as a beacon of hope for the free world, or that we really are indifferent to our relationships with our so-called allies.

There is, of course, so much more one could talk about. The wars, the economy, the environment, the transference of wealth and power from the public to the corporate arena, the shrinkage of the middle class, the stacking of the Supreme Court, etc.

When I attend memorial services, something which tends to happen more frequently as we get older, this is when folks talk openly about things that matter most. To most people, nothing matters more than friends, family, the bonds of love between them and how we choose to spend our precious time on earth.

It is the same with nations which are, after all, just large groups of people with whom we have more in common than we generally care to acknowledge. So as the world watches us today, let us not disappoint. Seldom does an election offer such a stark contrast between competing world views.

As a lifetime student of politics, a political science major, a brother of a well-known political writer who immersed us both in the world of politics since childhood, I am struck by how important this election has become. To me, it is by far the most important election of my lifetime. This will either be the saddest or the happiest election day of my life. Soon we will know.