A Political Zoo, Pt 1

I have been deliberately keeping a neutral (i.e. non-vocal) position on the goings-ons of late in D.C. and around the country. Honestly, the matter of amnesty is a hot topic, and I need a job...and I have been thinking that perhaps the better side of wisdom would suggest that I not share my views with the world on a hot topic, while looking for work.

But my blog isn't that popular.

And anyone that wouldn't hire me for my opinions is probably someone I would rather not work for...my opinions aren't too radical...

So, here it goes; to begin with...I cannot believe the complete imbecilic behavior of the so-called leaders of the Republican party in D.C., the President himself included.

Honestly...I don't understand this. Liberals might laugh at my confusion...you see, I do believe we're at war, and generally I do believe we should have attacked Iraq, and that we are currently doing the only thing we can do given the situation that confronts us. In otherwords, I believe that the Republican leadership, and especially the President, have the nation's welfare in mind with regard to our international policy in the Middle East. In fact, Bush's low poll rating is almost enough to confirm his good intentions--what politician would adopt such a self-destructive stance if he were not convinced that the stance were more important than the political goldmine of popular opinion?

Which is why I am profoundly confused by their enormous inability to deal with a very real, very close threat to national security and the general welfare of the United States, namely the problem of millions of illegal immigrants currently taxing the system supported by legal residents of America, and the essentially unrestricted passage of millions more over our "borders". How can they allow this to stand? How can we not even call for basic enforcement of the laws that exist currently?

These are the questions that plague me as I listen to the "debate"...but above it all, I wonder HOW can Republican leadership, and particularly the PRESIDENT support rewarding lawbreakers with the object of their crime?

I am in awe.

And that sense of awe has only deepened as I have seen these leaders hold to this ridiculous position when the majority of every political demographic thinks this is a bad idea. Politicians aren't even behaving like regular, spineless politicians with regard to this issue. For some reason, this incredibly bad idea is one that the President and the Republican leadership is willing to alienate the little support they still have over.

Insanity.

Fortunately, the people managed to be heard...which is important, especially in a Democratic Republic. Now, I am just in shock that this bad idea was ever a viable option for Republicans, preaching security and Conservative values. We need to gut the leadership and start over...but more on that later.

My friend Phil

Phil Wright is a man of the highest order. He's been my friend from childhood...which is saying something, since we haven't lived near one another since I was 11. That didn't prevent him from flying across the country to be at my wedding nearly 10 years later. I could say many things about why he's a great guy--reasons you should all try to move to Virginia and get to know him better...though that might be creepy...so nevermind that...

But right now, I want to highlight the latest reason for thinking highly of Phil; he's currently using his much deserved Summer break doing ministry in Argentina. And you can read about it here.

Phil...our prayers are with you. Thanks for being the man you are.

The Time of His Life

Last night my son was treated to a trip to Disneyland. Sheri & I were unfortunately unable to take him, but his babysitter took him for the evening. When we got home, they were back, safe and sound (thank goodness; I had to give my first "If anything happens to him, I'll kill you" speech to the driver and even to our sweet babysitter) and the boy had, of course, gone straight to bed after watching a parade, riding Winnie-the-Pooh, Smallworld, and Buzz Lightyear, and I believe even getting to see some fireworks.

Well, this morning, we woke up early to take Sheri to work and Aiden was still very tired as he pry-ed his eyes open...but the first words he said were "POOH! AGAIN! POOOH!!!"

I told Sheri that likely the worst thing that might come from letting him go last night would be that he would want to go again and we would be unable to accommodate him because we no longer have passes.

I was, as usual, completely correct.

Welcome to the New Isle

I promised a while back that I would be updating my look here at the Isle (its been that gray/red template for a long time) but of course, almost immediately I became so busy that it was essentially impossible to do all that I wanted--updating your blog means losing all the cool stuff you put on it if you don't take the time to transfer it over.

Well, today I had the time (Sheri was catching up on sleep before we leave for the aquarium), so I have done as I promised. Welcome to the newly updated, refreshingly new Isle. Hope you like.

I need a tropical vacation!

We're taking Aiden to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific today. He loves to stare at the fish, the seals, the turtles, the "SHARK!", etc. I enjoy myself too--I have always loved aquariums; especially the shark exhibits. We travelled to Monterrey Bay when Aiden was about 5 or 6 months old because they had managed to keep a Great White in their tank for about a year (its gone now). It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen--that shark is literally built for killing. There were other sharks in the tank, lemon sharks, hammerheads, etc., but the White was unlike an of the others. Where they were formed with graceful curves and delicate arcs, the White was sturdy and streamlined; like a stealth bomber in the water, designed for one thing: speedy killing. It was amazing. But I digress...

We're taking Aiden to the aquarium. And apart from the pleasure of seeing the wonders of the ocean in safety and convenience, there is one other sensation I always have when we visit the aquarium; namely, a certain amount of discontent and a longing to travel.

You see, every year about this time, the fact that I have lived nearly half my life in the tropics flares up with the regularity of a California wildfire. And I miss the tropics; I miss the rain, the smell of the earth, the warm oceans...I miss a lot of things. And when we visit the aquarium in Long Beach, oddly I get transferred out of the industrial city, back to a tower on a building that overlooked a lake named Calirya. From the tower, uncreatively referred to as the Crow's Nest, you could see all the outlining valleys, the enormous green hill behind the building, where caribou (Philippine oxen) would be grazing.

Sunsets from the Crow's Nest were pretty much the best in the world.

I miss the tropics...I'm glad we're going to the aquarium today.

What's Super about Superman?

Since I have invested in the comic books, I figure to justify them I should offer reflections inspired by this enjoyable study.

Superman, it seems, cannot really suffer a loss or even face a challenge too great for him to overcome. Apart from his attachment to Lois and his vulnerability to Kryptonite, there is basically nothing greater than Krypton's last son.

So, why do we care about his struggles? We would get tired of watching a cheater win--if there's no challenge then where's the conflict that makes success amazing? We wouldn't find it amazing if there was a man who devoted his life to saving ants. So why is Superman amazing?

Surly at least one answer has to be that Superman is amazing, not because of his abilities, but because he wants to inspire us to be better than we are, and that cannot be brought about because of his powers. If there is anything history teaches us, its that power doesn't equal reform. No, that comes only through personal choice, and those choices are dependent on each individual's decision to want to be better than they are.

So, to be a super-human--an alien actually--with powers that could easily rule the world, and instead of devoting your time to the gathering of more power, to choose to be an example of what good could exist if people would choose to live differently (one might even say, to adopt a lifestyle alien to humanity...hmm, there's a concept); surely that's amazing. Ultimately, Superman's message is that there is a personal choice to be made, and if we want to, we could actually choose to embrace goodness and truth and beauty, to the betterment of all men, and most certainly to the betterment of ourselves.

Something interesting about this idea is that, since Superman was, in fact, created by men, Superman tells us something about ourselves. In Kill Bill 2, Bill offers the Bride this insight; that Superman's critque of humanity is his alter-ego, Clark Kent, who is "mild mannered" and rather weak and pathetic. This might have merit...though there are arguments for the virtues of Clark Kent; Clark plays by the rules, is a good, kind, polite man who does what he can within the realm of his abilities.

Still, if the created persona suggests more about the creator than the creation (which seems likely) then our hero, Superman, suggests that we believe that the greatest being we might ever meet could not save us unless we choose to change the lives we lead. Of course this doesn't mean that we can "save ourselves"; we still need Superman to show us the way. But even the Man of Steel cannot solve the problems of humanity--at least, not without destroying the freedom of humanity; the best he can do is show us the need we have for the kind of self-lessness that he exhibits through his service to underserving humanity. It remains for us to choose to respond in kind, instead of always waiting, hoping to look up in the sky, and see...

Superman!

Barnes & Noble

One of the gifts from my classes this past year were gift cards to Barnes & Noble, a fantastic gift for the teacher of your "read'n & book stuff" class. Combined with the 20% discount card I had for being an educator, I had somewhere around $65 free dollars to spend on one of the things I can never have enough of.

It was truly fortuitous, because I had just been deciding that the next time I get to splurge in a book store, I would be investing in a genre severely lacking on my personal bookshelves: Comic Books/Graphic Novels.

Sheri & I have been making our way through Smallville (we're now in season 5...still enjoying ourselves, though there are some roll your eyes moments), and I got to sit in on the Heroes & Saviors meta-Torrey last semester at Biola. The result of all of this is that I am on a serious Super-hero kick, and at a certain point you can only go for so long like that before you need to invest in the medium of Super-heroes; namely, comic books.

So here is my current library, including acquisitions both new and old (the only one missing is my copy of The Long Halloween, which was the casualty of theft-I lent it to a co-worker who had his car stolen, and I didn't have the heart to make him replace it...although sometimes I wish I did, cause its $20...oh well).


Kingdom Come, Mark Waid & Alex Ross

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley

World Without a Superman, Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonsen, Roger Stern, (among others)

The Death of Superman, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonsen, Roger Stern, Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummet, (among others)

Superman For Tomorrow, Volumes 1&2, Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee, Scott Williams

Superman/Batman: Supergirl, Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner, Peter Streigerwald

Superman/Batman: Absolute Power, Jeph Loeb, Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino

Superman Birthright: The Origin of the Man of Steel, Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan

On my list of things still waiting to get, or replace as the case may be, are the Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale and Bob Kane Batman series, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, & Catwoman: When in Rome.

Needless to say...I am one happy summer-free teacher.

"My time flies...

...but we'll fly farther"

We woke up early, and went with some friends and my grandparents to the church, where we had communion. We went to breakfast afterwards...and then went our separate ways. We got dressed, met back up & took some pictures, re-entered the church and said some things. We left the church and had a party under the stars, with Chinese lanterns shining golden in the now dark night sky. We left the party, drove to a hotel and fell asleep very different from the way we'd woken up.

Four years ago today, we were married.

It was a great day.