Conflict Resolution Takes One Step Back, One Hundred Steps Forward.

In lieu of speeches and formal apologies, the Prez, Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley will sit down together tonight to share a brew and put all the bad blood behind them.

If you weren't aware, Henry Louis Gates, prominent scholar and professor at Harvard was arrested by Sgt Crowley at his (Gates') home in Cambridge for "Homeowning While Black." Gates (who, all political correctness out the window here, probably loved the experience*) was incensed, demand apologies from just about everyone. Crowley refused to admit that he did anything wrong. Someone decides that the President should get involved. Oh boy... this can't end well.

But in a stroke of brilliance, BHO invited the two fellahs down for a beer. According to Joe Sixpack, Gates ordered a Red Stripe, Crowley a Blue Moon, and in an effort to impress nobody, Barry wants himself a Bud Light.

I suppose that this is where you expect me to get all uppity about the most powerful man in the world having a Bud Light, but hey: let the man pick his own beer.

What I want to know is why this isn't how all conflict resolution and diplomacy goes.

Honestly, I feel like the Bay of Pigs would be remembered as a silly prank, JFK and Kruschev laughing their butts off while Kissinger does his best Nikita impression.

Henry VIII would have resolved his conflict with Clement VII with a simple "my bad, man..." (At which point Thomas More would have made the obligatory "Bros before Hos" comment.)

Suddenly, as the Irish say, I have a great thirst.

*The man is a professor on race relations. Don't even begin to tell me that this story won't be included in every lecture for the next 10 years, a major book, and a few speeches.

For Posterity's Sake (July 27, 2009)

Schedule is still a bit on the fritz, so here's another "since we left off" update in lieu of the more disciplined weekly variety.

• Spent a great weekend in Philly. I think C$ summed it up best: "About #&$%ing time." No kidding.

Actually, my brain is mush and that's all I can think to write now. I'm sure there are other significant things that happened since the last update, but I can't think of them and I'm going to bed.

Let's expect better blogging after the move.

New Music: Black Joe Louis, Evan Watson, Susan Tedeschi

Haven't done this in a while, but today I heard Black Joe Louis and the Honeybears on WTMD and I couldn't NOT write about them. This is music that you hope to catch on the oldies station, because it's just SO GOOD, but recently even the oldies stations have seemed to move on. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears sound like James Brown doing a collaboration with Earth Wind and Fire and the Ides of March. Listen to Sugarfoot and be amazed. Then be very thankful that music like this is still being created and not just lying around in piles of old records.

Next is Evan Watson. The man (kid) plays the blues, not quite like Ralph Macchio in Crossroads, but still pretty good. Less shred, more lead. The vocals sound like John Mayer, if John Mayer weren't such a weenie. Fun Fact: Evan's dad teaches at the increasingly anachronistic all male Wabash College. I remember getting literature from them my senior year of high school and being amazed, gobsmacked even, that such a place still existed.

Finally, Susan Tedeschi. If you saw the sprawling, enthralling Beatles-trip-turned-into-a-movie "Across the Universe" then you know about Dana Fuchs. Susan Tedeschi is very much the same sort of Janis Joplin-esque soulful rockin' chick. Maybe even a little more rockin'. Well worth a listen.

If you heard of these artists like, a year ago, man, before they got all popular, go soak your head, you hipster scum. I don't care, and neither should you.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."

- Theodore Roosevelt

For Posterity's Sake (July 14, 2009)

So, I kind of flaked out. Here are some highlights of the last month, relatively in chronoligical order.

• Went on retreat in Malvern, PA. It was just what I needed.
• Was in a conversation with someone who used the term "baby-mama" in a non-ironic way.
• Finished up the baseball season. Can't wait until next year.
• Started eating wheat again. I don't have celiac's, but wheat (gluten) put an unpleasant rumbly in my tumbly. After all this time of not eating wheat, I wondered if maybe it was caused by something else (like stress or an unrelated illness) and I ventured out with a bagel one fateful morning. It was DELICIOUS. I'm being careful and not just gorging myself on bread and pasta, but so far, so good.
• Attended a funeral that was, by my reckoning, at least 15 years early.
• Went to the HCST production of "Bye Bye, Birdie." They did a good job, but it was disappointing because I was originally told that they would be doing "Fiddler on the Roof" this year.
• I had to decline to comment when a reporter called the office looking for an inside scoop. I felt so official.

Other stuff happened too. Hopefully I won't fall behind like this again.

There's a Dorney Park in Holland?

"Life is not what it's supposed to be. It's what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference. " -Virginia Satir

I have no idea who Virginia Satir is. Go ahead and google her name if you want, but I don't really care. The more important thing is what she is saying here.

Ken from CAPS once told me:

Everyone imagines that their life is going to be Disneyworld. For some people, it is. For most of us, however, life ends up being Dorney Park. If you spend all your time noticing that you aren't in Disneyworld, complaining about the inadequacies of Dorney, you'll miss out on how much fun you could be having.

Last weekend on retreat up in Malvern, Fr. Joe made a similar point:

Imagine you've dreamed your whole life of going to Rome. You go to the library and check out all the travel guides. You watch Gladiator and Roman Holiday constantly. You take Italian classes. Finally, you save up your money, make the arrangements, and get on the plane.

Finally, the plane lands, and you step out, and you're in Holland. HOLLAND? But you wanted to go to Rome! You wanted to see the Forum, Michaelangelo, St. Peter's! You spent your whole life preparing for Rome, and now you're in Holland. You can get mad all you want, but there are no more flights available, and you've spent all your money.

What do you do now? Do you gripe and moan and show everyone you meet your useless travel books and tell them your sad story? Or do you take the time to realize how beautiful the tulips are, the quaint charm of the windmills, and the magnificence of Durer and Rembrandt?

So, this is what life is. At the risk of this post being a series of quotes, "You can't always get what you want." Yet, somehow, we do seem to get what we need. I, for my part, am finished griping about Disneyworld and Rome. All that's been able to accomplish is getting me kicked out of Dorney.

Here's hoping my hand stamp hasn't rubbed off.

P.S. According to Fr. Joe, God saw that everybody was going to Holland, so he decided he'd go there too. And that's the story of the Incarnation.

The Conscience

I know I didn't post an FPS yesterday. For the zero people who care, it's been a week that I still am in the process of digesting so expect a double post next week.

In the meantime, I've already shared this with a number of people, but I really want to share it with as many people as possible. At work I've been transcribing the video that was taken at a recent event here in Baltimore on Conscience Issues for Medical Professionals. The first talk, given by Janet Smith is really, really good. Not only is it good, it really speaks directly to me in a lot of ways, and I think that there are a lot of people who could really benefit from it.

While the talk is nominally directed at Medical Professionals, I find that it is probably much more beneficial to young Catholic adults, both married and single, especially all those who are at a point of change or discernment. Don't skip it if you aren't young and at an axial point of your life, however. It's really good no matter what.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Why is that we’ve decided that reading “People” every week is absolutely necessary for my life, but reading the catechism well,“That would be super-hyper-Catholic and I’m not ready to be a super-hyper-Catholic yet!”

We hear this phrase all the time—“you’ve got your opinion, I’ve got mine. Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?” But a conscience is different: when we talk about the conscience, we’re talking about the voice of God. It’s not about what I think, it’s about what God thinks. It’s not what I want, it’s what God wants.

Here's the video. The talk by Dr. Smith is the first 8 videos in the playlist.

It's a full length talk, not just a youtube clip, so set some time aside. Invite someone to watch it with you. Pass it on. If you ask very nicely, I might share the full text of the talk with you.