Bono says a fraction of the $700b could eradicate global poverty & disease, but he's still gonna punch the air

an early draft of the McPalin obit . . .

This afternoon I received an email from this guy - Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy center and a former speech writer for W - who today wrote an early draft of the McCain-Palin Campaign obituary that you can read here. Essentially, Wehner concludes that the only way McCain can win is if Obama "badly slips up in the last five weeks" or if McCain gets "an assist from outside events." Wow. You gotta give it to 'em. This guy is keeping it real. Talk about your "no spin zone." If you read the essay carefully, you can almost hear the tone of resignation in this guy's voice. He seems to be conceding the election - and this guy is a GOP election insider - as he notes with particular sadness the enormity of Palin's public display of incompetence and the disastrous/disturbing decisions made last week by McCain and his "America First" campaign directors.

It's one thing to read this analysis on HuffPo and Daily Kos, but when the GOP insiders start writing this stuff, it echoes a little louder.

Hey Barack, thanks for running a campaign that has many of us actually excited, even inspired, about the possibilities of a more perfect Union. Thanks for not putting us in the position that we must sit around for the next 5 weeks and hope for a McCain implosion. Thanks for giving us something positive to hope for . . . to vote for . . . to argue for. You know, it was Mother Teresa who, it is reported, was once asked if she would come out and join a march against war. She said, "No. I will not march against war, but if you have a march for peace, I will be there." We'll be there on Nov. 4, voting for change and for possibility. (yes we can)

must see TV

On the bike ride to lunch I passed this billboard.

Now, my friends (as the Senator from Arizona would say) this is must see TV. Danny Bonaduce v. Todd Bridges? This event will make television history. Oct. 18, 7pm on Nashville's own Country Music Television (which begs the question, why is Tiffany wrestling but not Wynonna?).

more Belmont buzz

This nice guy raised a good question on the bike ride in this morning (not as good as Ivy's below, but still one worth thinking about). Why not let Nader and Barr get into the mix? Perhaps one of these "fringe candidates" will show up tonight in Oxford. I hear there may be an empty lectern.

the Earthman

So, on the bike ride in this morning, Ivy asks, "Daddy, why did the Earthman make it so windy today?" To which I replied, "Good question. " We rode in windy silence for a little while, and then I asked, "What about the Earthwoman? What does she do?" To which Ivy replied matter-of-factly, "She makes it rain." "Oh, right," said I. Then I had to ask, "Do they have any children?" "Of course, Dad. Harriet and Amanda." "Right, thanks Ivy."

(About the obvious safety violation . . . Most days they do wear those helmets they are holding. I swear they do.)

Belmont is buzzing . . .

The bike ride in takes us right through the heart of Belmont University, site of the 2nd 1st Presidential Debate. It appeared to be buzzing this afternoon with local news guys "reporting live." I guess only time (and polls) will tell whether McCain shows up on 10/7. I hope he does because I really want a picture with Chuck Todd.

potential, or Josh the acorn

On Monday's ride home, we stopped on the Peabody side of campus and had what Ivy referred to as an Easter egg hunt. Although the "eggs" were actually nuts, it didn't really matter. The squirrels kids had fun, and as we continued the ride toward home, I recalled hearing or reading this little gem:

Hidden deep inside each acorn lies the potential for a thousand forests.

Whoa. Pretty big thought, isn't it? And then I started thinking about how much greater and infinite is the potential that lies inside each one of us. I mean, if one acorn can produce 1000 forests, how much more is one person capable of creating? But then I started getting a little freaked out, because I'm about to turn 34, and, let's be honest, I haven't exactly set the world on fire (yet). Maybe I could and certainly I should be accomplishing so much more, right? After all, that guy who started Facebook? He's 24. The Google guys? They just turned 35, and they had no doubt started on their world-changing contributions while still in their 20s.

This sorta warped comparative analysis could go on and on and on and on, and would wind up resulting in me spending a few hundred (thousand) dollars working with a therapist. But I don't think this acorn analogy has to be a stressful idea. What a bummer if this thought only resulted in more anxiety or guilt or fear. Who needs more negative vibes?

So, refusing to give up on this acorn thing and promising myself that I would be more gentle with myself (as Austin Powers might put it), I began to reconsider the potential of an acorn, and the fact that an acorn just "is." I mean, it's a pretty laid-back approach that the acorn takes to its forest creating activities. Seriously, it just is. An acorn. And with time and care and good soil and plenty of water (and no kids running around collecting it as if it contained a bunch of jelly beans or maybe even a shiny quarter), the processes of the universe might produce a tree. Perhaps a forest.

Keeping it real, let's admit that the future for this little acorn is uncertain. Luck will be required, and timing will be everything. But the potential is there. And meanwhile, all it has to be is what it was meant to be. An acorn.

And perhaps that is all any of us need to be. Today, with care and gentleness, I am contemplating my potential and resting in this idea that all I have to be is Josh. Josh the acorn.

doppelgänger

On the bike ride home today I saw this concert poster for ol' Bright Eyes, and I immediately thought to myself, "Oberst looks a lot like someone I've seen about 500 times . . . now who could it be? . . . Oh yeah, the creepy brother in Wedding Crashers - Todd Cleary." A little weird, isn't it?

chimes

Song of the wind

chimes relying on the wind (gentle or ferocious) invisible force, yet visible presence animating the branches, the leaves, the grass dancing to the music.

Yes in the movement of the chimes

the invisible is given a primal, tonal voice. Yet the music once created is never repeated.

Patterns of sound are fleeting, changing.

Impermanent. Reliant. Connected.

kids say the scariest darn things

On the bike ride in yesterday morning Ivy and Eden were munching on some cookies (breakfast of champions), and I hear Ivy say, "Dad, I want to eat some of Eden's cookies, but that will make me fat. And I don't want to be fat."

Folks, she is 4 years old.

If you are in the Nashville area, come out a week from tonight for the "Fashion for EveryBODY" event supporting the Eating Disorders Coalition of TN or bid online at the silent auction.

it's all about the Jacksons

So, I'm on the bike ride in a couple of days ago, and what do I find? A slightly folded twenty lying on the pavement up next to the curb.

It was particularly sweet b/c I had just realized that I had left home without my wallet - and I actually needed a little cash for lunch and postage on a package I needed to mail.

And then, about a quarter of a mile down the road, I found two dimes. That's what I'm talkin' about. $20.20, baby.

I have heard it said that we live in a universe of abundance, and finding $20.20 first thing in the morning is pretty good proof. According to Shelli, it's also a pretty coincidental, omen-like message suggesting I go on a vision quest or something. You know 20/20 vision and all that.

So, I'll be keeping my eyes and my ears and my mind open for more discoveries on my morning bike ride in . . . and, on this blog, I'll be sharing what I find.