America 2012

     The choices for this year’s president were difficult as both sides provided extreme options on major issues.  At the end of the day, WE as a NATION elected President Obama to a second term.  While I can tell you that I did not vote for Obama, I can say that I’m not entirely disappointed with some of the things that he brings to the white house.  I am however disappointed in the way our Americans are treating each other. 

      What has been hard to digest is the mindset behind a lot of today’s voters. Not what they are voting for necessarily, but the vehemence in which they have voiced opinions.   Earlier in the week I was slightly enraged by an article that was written and implied that anyone who voted for Romney and claimed to have a favorable position on Gay marriage was a hypocritical and indecent human being.   While I do stand for equality, there were many other issues on the table that I am concerned about in addition to this one topic.  The point of the article made it seem that unless you had gay marriage as your #1 issue, you were wrong.  I quickly pointed out to the author of the article, the irony of defending someone’s individual rights and then taking exception on other individuals (who already agree with the issue), but have different priorities.   The intolerance of accepting someone’s reasons to vote is contrary to what they are preaching.  It was also interesting to see the same people (more than one) who gave praise to this article and then posted a “who should you vote for” poll that was based on an array of issues which could be weighted based on importance.  That would imply that there was more than one issue to vote on, I suppose J

      If this election has done anything, I hope it has made obvious to the 2 major parties that America is more down the middle of the road than the options they are given come election time. 50/50 would suggest that.  It’s time for the representatives of this nation to listen to Americans and stop playing the game of getting their party elected.  Let’s start working together, get this country on track and stop making it a battle between two extreme options.  This election was not the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees, but it certainly had the same feel to it.  The political banter between the two parties, false stories, items taken out of context, etc, should not have an impact on voters.  People need to be smarter and not influenced by anything other than the facts, but that's not the world we live in.  Politicians shouldn't be trying to "trick" the public, they should be trying to help us. In all honesty, we shouldn't be forced into two options. Yes, we can vote for other candidates, but there will never be an independent that wins unless there are some major changes in the system.

      I don’t care if your vote is against what I want, but know the issues and how it affects your life.  If you preach respect, then respect others rights to vote for something that you don’t agree with without telling them they’re idiots. There are some pretty wonderful people with completely different perspectives.  It would be interesting to see how the country would vote strictly on the issues.  Much like the tests you can take online which address the issues and then tell you which candidates you should be voting for. Instead of pulling the lever for a candidate, you pull it for issues and the right candidates would be selected.  Wouldn’t that be an objective way to pick the best candidates? Isn’t that our real goal?   We have that technology available to us.  Oh and BTW....When is the last time your vote changed based on a negative add or lawn sign? 

For those of you claiming you “won” the election, I have news for you.  You haven’t won anything and you’re NOT on a different team.  We are all Americans living under the same roof.   As a friend stated earlier, we still have issues that need sorting out and a divided America.  The goal should not be to gloat over winning an election, but to work TOGETHER to get this nation back to where it’s capable of being.  In some respects, I think we have moved forward, but not without moving back in other areas.  God Bless America and all that we’re capable of. 

 (BTW I wasn't going to post this given the sensative nature of the topic, but I had typed it out last week and found it on my computer so here it is.  No comments for this one! )

A Genuine Thank You

So I turned 31 today and unlike last years “excitement” of flipping that 2 over to a 3, there really isn’t much hoopla about turning “30+1” J. Despite having to work today around coworkers who didn’t realize it was birthday, I ended up having a pretty good day!  The craziness at work that I have been experiencing lately decided to ease up for a day and allowed me to reflect on all the birthday wishes that I received. I read every single birthday message that was sent today and sincerely appreciate each and everyone’s efforts to wish me a good day. With each message received, a memory of all of the wonderful people I’ve met in my life and good times shared with them was brought back to me.  I have been receiving Facebook messages, emails, phone calls and text messages from the moment I got up this morning to just a few minutes ago. I also got to spend some time with Liz and her parents as they hosted us for a wonderful dinner and evening.    With all that, there was no way that I was going to have anything less than a wonderful day!

Thinking back, I can remember birthdays in the past being about all the huge parties, presents and cake!  I can tell you with certainty that everyone’s positive messages and efforts to reach out to me today were just as, if not more impactful. From the common faces to the blasts from the past, you all made a difference!    Thanks again to EVERYONE for your thoughtfulness and for providing a reason to be excited about turning one year older.  You’re all wonderful and I’m lucky to have you in my life!

A shout out to music

Today was one of those mornings where I was confronted by the notorious Mr. Monday after a holiday weekend.  When I arrived at work, I was feeling very lethargic and it just seemed like I was never going to be able to get motivated for the day.  At that time, I elected to put on some music to see if it could jump start my morning.  Instead of using my desktop speakers, I chose headphones with the thought process that I would be able to fully absorb the music that was playing.  For some reason, putting the headphones worked twofold in that the music was absorbed clearly and the earphones seemed to keep the music trapped up in thereJ. Seriously, big time party going on between the ears.   Within a few minutes, I began to feel rejuvenated and ready for the day and then began to be really productive.  The tone was set for the day and it didn’t matter that it was Monday and I had a lot to do, I was ready and nothing was going to stop me or put me in a bad mood.

It always amazes me how inspiring music can be and what it actually does for us as humans and how important it is in our lives.  It doesn’t appear that music affects any other living animal like it does with humans.  Trust me, I’ve tried playing all kinds of music for Miles (my dog) and he has never once done anything inspiredJ.  The emotions that it can create are unreal. Can you image watching a movie without the soundtrack?  How about driving without your favorite tunes or working out to silence?   I think a lot of us take these things for granted, but I’m truly thankful for music of all kinds.  As my mother says, there’s a song for everything….I’m pretty sure she’s right…she’s my mom J

I know there are some people who don’t see music as a necessity and might not approve of budgeting for schools or the community. They simply don’t see the value in it, but they’re missing the big picture and probably haven’t thought about its effects past the classroom. Not only does music come into play for so many areas in our lives, but it also helps people to develop mentally.  For all that music has done for us, we all should be grateful and understand that it’s just as valuable as any other course in school and in some cases, even more so.  After all, it is the universal language J