ND Football Goes Green... And Not in the Usual Way

There are times when my alma mater gets me down, like when they forget the Catholic legacy of supporting social justice and side with conservatives too much. But there are also times when I absolutely love the place. This is one of those times.

For the first time in history, ND football will be carbon neutral for a game. The school really seems to be taking things seriously in not only greening the function of the university, but in ensuring that the students are going to be learning how to be green in their daily lives as well.

Knowing the ND student body, I'm sure there are many who are bristling over the need for green tech and attitudes as a "liberal issue." But seeing the university taking it seriously will hopefully open some eyes and minds and move things on the right path toward a greener society.

Post-Election Ponderings and Thoughts

Some ruminations on the election of Barack Obama last night. Don't expect too much structure... this is just going to be some bullet points. I'm a little too emotional right now to be very coherent.

• I actually got a little bit misty watching Obama's victory speech today (I can't stay up too late, or else I'm useless at work). Seeing the faces of hope in the audience, and the power of his words as he talked about how hard we all worked to get him into the White House, and most importantly how hard we're all going to HAVE to work to make our country truly great again were so inspiring.
  
  
• I watched Jesse Jackson weeping openly as he heard the good news. Can you imagine having worked on something for basically your whole life, having seen the lowest points of it, and then to have this happen? The culmination of his dreams is here, and like him or not, you can't deny the power of the feeling that this sort of event would have on him. Amazing.
  
  
• McCain's concession speech was elegant, and a return to the McCain of old, the one I used to like before he got caught up in election politics. I especially liked his recall of President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to the White House, as Roosevelt is one of my personal heroes.
  
  
• Listening to the McCain supporters booing the mention of Obama early on in the speech (and Biden later on) disgusted me. And I got the impression that it disgusted McCain, too. But I was touched by the applause at the mention of how far our country has come in the election of an African-American president.
  
  
• I said over ten years ago that our first African-American president was going to be a conservative. I didn't think Americans were progressive enough at the time to vote for a liberal candidate when race came into it. I'm so glad and proud that I was wrong on this one.
  
  
• But to continue on that last thought, it's interesting to me just how many people I know don't think of Barack Obama as African-American, nor of ANY minority. To me, he's simply an American. And it catches me off-guard when people talk about that issue... as if my brain is saying "oh, yeah... he is African-American." In saying this, I'm trying very hard not to seem to be trying to strip him of his proud heritage, as he should be proud. I guess that what I'm saying is that I don't see his heritage as having played any role in whether or not I supported him. I did, and that's that.
  
  
• Reading reports from around the world about this election, it's clear that the world had almost given up on the American people. I don't get to travel internationally as much as I'd like, but spending a night in a Scottish pub talking to folks who were hesitant to discuss politics with me almost five years ago, I got to see how much those folks appreciated seeing that not all Americans are hateful, insular, greedy, fearful, and cynical, as our national policies for the past eight years have been. And now I get that same feeling from other places that I'm reading about. It's a new day for not only America, but the whole world.
  
  
• My third grade teacher, Mrs. Rhoda Massanari, talked to us a lot about her personal experiences and participation in the American South during the Civil Rights struggle. That passion and optimism about Americans stuck with me over all these years, and has given me a certain impression about how to make change happen in the world. I can credit her with much of my ability to look at what seems like a hopeless task and take it on, as I've done with my bike commuting and other issues. And I see that same passion in the supporters of Barack Obama. You have to do these things in small steps, but not in steps that go backward. You may go off to one side for a while, but eventually your path will lead to its goal. Thanks, Mrs. Massanari.
  
  
• Pundits are picking out the problems that the McCain campaign had and some of the errors it made. But as McCain himself pointed out, this election was not about politics. It was about unity and positive change. And the candidate who was and always has been about unity and positive change won the day. That's really all you need to know.
  
  
• Exactly four years ago, I was chatting with my friend Shane about my first child coming into the world. I looked at the recent Ohio vote to ban gay marriage and was bemoaning the world that Duncan was being brought into. Duncan turns four today, and I think that's he just recieved the greatest birthday present a little boy can imagine: hope. He doesn't understand, naturally, but he will someday. I bought a newspaper on the day he was born, for him to be able to look at when he gets older. I'll buy one for him today, too. Because this is going to be a day that I want him to remember.
  

Get Started Being Green!

Many people would love to be green, but other than changing their incandescent light bulbs for CFL bulbs they have no idea where to begin. Well, the folks at New American Dream have an answer for you: the C³ campaign.

Each month, another challenge is suggested by the folks at New American Dream for you to try out - they've done things like getting bottled water out of your life, stop driving for one day a week, sign up to reduce your junk mail, etc.

This month the challenge is to bring your own reusable bags to the store instead of using paper or plastic bags from the store!

Great program. Click the link below to get started! It's free to join in the fun.

Inspiring Words - BE A REBEL

I subscribe to a few mailing lists from different folks I admire, many of them fitness and motivation mavens. Vince Palko is one, and I wanted to share this message with you because it struck a chord in me. He hits a lot of areas in this message, but still, I think the point is clear. Read for yourself.

"Your job is not to make friends with everyone in your class or kiss up to your teacher.

"Your job is to learn as much as you can and then go out into the world, and test what you've learned against the realities of life."

Those were the words spoken to my oldest daughter when I found out she has never gotten one yellow card, red card, or black card for any bad behavior our last parent teacher conference.

I soft peddled the approach a bit but you get the gist of my message to her.

This might shock you that I think this way.

Yet, you have to be willing to take risks and step outside the boundaries a bit in order to reach your true potential.

And Sophia is petrified of how others will view her when she gets slapped with a yellow card. I speak from a lifetime of experience. Fear keeps her in line. Yet, at the same time, it is who she is.

So I will use this as a point to my email and let her be for now. Trusting her self-awareness will serve her as mine has done me.

I'm reminded of something way back when in art.

In graphic design class, my gay professor (not that theres anything wrong with being gay) always told us, sometimes you have to break the rules. Design is heavy on rules and formulas that you may or may not know. "When you do so," he'd say, "thats when the artwork pops from the background your mundane competition who follows all the rules."

Its the same with life.

Yet, if our school system is rewarding this get in a single file line and stay there... like emotionless robots ... this is very bad for this here thing called LIFE.

I have to watch what I say because I come from a family of teachers (Yes, more people pleasing). And teachers are about the worst paid professionals on the planet. Who wants to teach a class full of monkeys jumping off the wall. I know, I know.

However, this robotic-like behavior reminds me of being in Germany back in the late nighties and going to a bank to deposit a check for cash. Everyone stood in a single file line and never once crossed over the yellow painted box signifying the person speaking with the tellers space.

No one so much as stood out of line or dared put their shoe laces over that yellow
line.

Those Krauts are awesome fine tuners and great engineers but horrible original thinkers and creators.

Those words written at the top of this email often get repeated to myself in the mirror from time to time.

Instead of fighting the fact I have always been a people pleaser. I have adopted a new approach. I've found it to be apart of my success system and you can use it as well -- if you tend to be one of us.

In football, I never wanted to be the weakest link in the chain and let others on the team down with anything that resembled sub par performance. So, I played like I had hot coals in my drawers. And pinned my ears back trying to make every tackle. And more times than not, I did.

Today, projects get done a lot faster when I know someone is depending on me to accomplish them by a certain date.

My health becomes paramount knowing my family is depending on me to support them for a loooong time.

Yes, your health is important to you too. And if you play around with this a bit you will see that if you go with the flow of your essence you can make the people pleaser in you into a positive.

The interesting thing is by observing myself and others in people pleasing modes, I've learned to forgive myself and others when I recognize it.

So if your health immediately becomes more important because your family is depending on YOU. Go with that thought and see where it takes you.

I've long said that everyone loves the rebel, until they have to face them in person. Then, suddenly, they're an outcast.

Here's the reason for this: no one likes to see anyone else not following the rules that they feel compelled to follow. It shows their cowardice and lack of self-determination. When the rebel in question isn't right in front of them, it's easy to distance yourself from their situation. And to see that rebel succeed by not following the same rules as you? What could POSSIBLY be worse??

I put myself into a lot of situations where I'm that rebel - biking instead of driving, wearing kilts as normal clothes, etc. Obviously, there are practical reasons for these things, such as saving money on gas, or being more comfortable. But the other side of that is that I have learned that being a rebel in one thing leads to having a freer mind. The more you stop thinking of society's rules as absolute, the more you're going to succeed.

The greatest question a man can ask himself is "WHY?" And if you can't get a good answer (and that good answer is never "because everyone else is doing it"), then that rule can be thrown out. Question yourself in all things, it's the best way to succeed.

Best National Anthem Ever

This is almost enough to make me want to be a Red Sox fan.

If you've ever stood near me at a sporting event, you know that I'm a connoisseur of singing the the National Anthem of the US. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to have a live singer or singers performing the Star Spangled Banner, or ANY country's anthem, you should sing it in a way that allows the crowd to sing along. Not everyone has operatic voices, nor the ability to hold a note for ten minutes.

And it's not a song that you should be experimenting with bizarrely styled ad-libbing of the notes, either. It's a song that means a great deal to our country and its citizens. No matter whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, pro- or anti-war, etc., you can sing the anthem and it means something to you. America is a place of which to be very proud, as is just about every country for different reasons (yet, for some reason, the same reason when you get right down to it).

I have been known to heckle singers who play around with it and make it impossible to sing along - they have no business leading the crowd in singing a patriotic song. It's not meant to be a performance, it's participatory. You SING ALONG.

I also have no time for people who stand there and look around at everyone else, or talk, or just don't even try to sing during the anthem. We sing the anthem to honor our home. Get on the stick and be proud of where you live.

That being said, here is possibly the GREATEST singing of the Star Spangled Banner that I've ever experienced. And I wasn't even there. The description of the clip on YouTube reads:

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges..here is one who sang and when he got nervous the Fenway Faithful helped him out

And help him out they do. Simply fantastic.