Social Media is the New Karaoke

Well, hello there.

It's been just a few weeks and ten years since I started this blog, and it's about 4 years since l last posted.

I'm awesome.

I glanced at my previous post and in it I was belatedly (belatedly?  Is that even a word?  Apparently, as I did not get the squiggle underneath it...) announcing the birth of my youngest child (at the time) Ava, who is now--as of this writing--five.  Again, I'm awesome.

I'm imagining most of you know about my current situation, so I'll just briefly go through re-introductions.

Me?  I'm a 36 year old vegetarian Quaker ordained Minister with Universal Life Church, father of 4 (two girls, two boys) husband to 1, and a teacher of many, many grades (currently 4th).  Oh, and I have a beard.

I have been wanting to write a blog for awhile, after being inspired by my awesome wife, (www.theconsciousdoer.com) but I was stuck by the issue of starting.  I just couldn't see what I would write about.

But then I realized that I should write about something that takes up what is probably too much of my life, Social Media.

Backstory:  When I was in college and for a few years afterward, I was really into karaoke.  Like, at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, every week for 7+ years.  I'm not even joking or exaggerating.  It was awesome.  The group that I went with was this amazing amalgam of really different people; there were university professors, college students, working folk, and a couple of people who defy categorization, although you could count the number of teeth in their head on one hand.  Side note:  In all of the karaoke places I've been to--of which there are many--it is those people, the ones who don't look like they belong there, who invariably offer up some of the damn finest singers of the evening.  I mean, you look at these people and you just kind of shake your head, and then they get up there and your jaw drops.

Or, perhaps it's just me that does the judging beforehand only to be eating my words (thoughts) later.

Anyway, it was this incredibly tight knit group of people that we really grew to trust and cherish over the years.  When I went on a 3-4 week road trip/vacation one summer, it was karaoke that I missed the most.  When the woman that ran karaoke got married, we all were invited and--of course--sang karaoke at the wedding reception.  (I sang "Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra.  Sinatra was my jam.  Well, Sinatra and Sir Mix-a-lot. )

I would sit and talk about the beauty of karaoke with some of my friends while we were waiting for our turns.  It was this mixture of people that you couldn't find anywhere else.  I mean, you can go places and find a wider variety of people contained within the same building or in the same area, but the people are not mixing, they're not getting to know each other.  And that is what happened at karaoke.  Really different people got to know each other and got to see what they had in common and that the differences--which were sometimes obvious (remember the teeth?)--just didn't matter so much.  Not to come off as a hopeless sap, but it was a thing of beauty.

And this is what Social Media has become for me.  FB, in particular, has been this opportunity to participate in this mixing of a wide variety of people on a regular basis.  We have people who cover the spectrum of politics, religion, economic status, education, and where they are in life.  This, to be totally clear, is why I ask my questions.  I get such a kick out of seeing people from all of the different parts of my life meeting each other (albeit virtually) and discussing and bouncing ideas back and forth.  It's cool to see people making connections over something sad that has happened, or supporting someone that they likely would never have the chance to meet in real life.  I love to see the vast, vast array of experiences coming together to answer some ridiculous and silly questions, (and, perhaps, the occasional thought-provoking ones.)  I love to see how someone I went to elementary school with knows someone I went to college with because they worked together for a summer 5 years ago.  (Altogether now, "It's a small world after all....")

So, this is why when I'm driving down the road and I hear a segment on NPR that makes me pause, it also makes me think, "Hey, I wonder what Facebook will have to say about that."  Or when i'm reading and I see a particularly interesting passage, I can't wait to type it in to see what connections might come of it.

Yes, this might be a bit sappy, but I truly, truly enjoy the relationships that have been forged through this approach to Facebook.  It's been fascinating seeing all of my friends interact with each other (and me), but it's also been really encouraging and inspiring.

Which is why we should all get together and sing some karaoke.

Awkward turtle...

....ahem....uh, hi.

So, uh...I guess it's been...well, a while. Right? Yeah.

So, hmmm...well, let's see. What's new, right? Well...um...I have a beard now. Oh, and we moved. Oh, and we have a new baby girl named Ava.

So, I guess you could say things have changed....a bit.

In fact, things are SO new, that I don't have a clue where to start. But, I am. Starting, that is. So, here goes.

It's summer time. Bibi and I have created a schedule where I work in the mornings, and she works in the afternoons. It's been great. We got a Friends of the Zoo pass, which has enabled us to visit the zoo whenever we want to, which is GREAT. (I recommend it, if you have the means.)

Oh, all right. I'll talk about our little biter, Ava.

Back in December...well, a year and a half ago, December, we found out we were expecting. We agreed to try the whole "homebirth" thing again, and it was awesome. Our midwife was amazing, and she was exactly who we needed to have.

I feel so scattered...it's almost like i haven't posted in a while.

So, I'm skipping ahead, past the whole "moving while extremely pregnant" thing to the end. Or, at least, near the end. Because Grace was two weeks early (as you recall, we found out she was breech at just over two weeks before her due date, and this led to a c-section at the hospital. As opposed to a c-section at home? Apparently I like to state the obvious.) we were somewhat expecting Ava to be early, too. Bibi's due date was August 18, 2009, and we just sort of started expecting things to happen, oh, about the last week in July. (Or a little before that.) I went back to work at the school around August 11th, still expecting this little bundle to appear any day now. The school year started August 17th, and I had basically fully expected to miss the first two weeks of school. When labor day rolled around, and we were still getting NOTHING, we were kind of flabbergasted.

We were not at all expecting that we would wait three and a half FULL weeks past the due date, to September 11th, 2009. Wild, no?

So, around 1AM, September 11th, Bibi's water broke. When we looked at the fluid, it looked like it was kind of dark. Like there was meconium in the water. We freaked. We immediately called our midwife, and she told us that that was not a good sign, and that we needed to clarify how dark. To us, it was pretty dark. So, she told us we needed to get to the hospital immediately. Like, five minutes ago. We called my in-laws, they came over to get Gracie and our dog, and Bibi, my mother-in-law, and I went to the hospital. We checked in (kind of) and were taken to triage, where they inspected Bibi a little more closely. Turns out, it wasn't that dark, and they were not too worried about it.

So, we high tailed it out of there (a little eensy bit against medical advice) and started for home. We had just started walking toward the car, when the contractions hit full tilt. Bibi was unable to talk through them. I called our midwife. She told us she would meet us at home.

We got home around 6am, and Ava was born at 9:45 that morning. Tho whole process took just less than 8 hours. Sheesh. My heart beats fast just thinking about it, and it was almost ten months ago.

So, my beautiful little girl is amazing, and the love of my life. (Just like Gracie, and Bibi.)

Here's a picture...

Out of the Blue Update...

Hey ya'll.

So, about a year ago, I made myself the ad hoc director of Morale at my place of employment. I started sending out e-mails, about one a day, that just told people what the day was going to be like. It was silly, it was funny, it was pretty much me.

This year I kept it up, but expanded it to the whole school. I've gotten some pretty positive feedback, but in looking back at the year, I realize that I do not have all of them, and that made me kind of sad, because it's some of my best writing since college. So, I have put all of the e-mails that I DO have saved on a new blog, viewable by everyone. I will update it every weekday when I send one to my coworkers.

If you're interested, here is the address:

www.thedecidersblog.blogspot.com

Thanks, and enjoy.

Tommy

Yes, we did!

So, back in November I began a post that was supposed to explain why I was so excited about President Obama winning.

It didn't take.

Long story short, I feel responsible for the deaths of all of our soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, as I voted for President Bush. And, as I can see now that the war in Iraq is unjust, it seemed that the only thing that I could do was to put forth as much effort as I could to achieve this day.

(No, I don't claim responsibility for Obama's win; that belongs to all of us.)

So. Now that we have a president who will work diligently towards removing us from Iraq, I can feel somewhat better. I don't think that this absolves me of my culpability, but it does do something to aliviate the heavy feeling in my gut.

So...Happy Obama Day. And, God bless ALL of us. (NOT just the USA.)

Tommy

7 Things

My friend the mechanic asked me to do this, so I thought I would give it a try. The idea, apparently, is to make a list of 7 random things that people may, or may not, know about me.

I don't know if there are that many things that the 1 or 2 readers of this blog don't already know about me, but, like I said, I'm going to give it a try.

1.) I am completely color-blind. This effects a lot of things you wouldn't think about. The obvious ones, like putting together outfits, and pointing someone out in a crowd ("That guy in the blue shirt" is always met with a blank stare). However, nighttime driving is always and adventure. If I'm driving with Bibi, it's not unusual to hear me interrupt her mid-sentence with, "Red or yellow?" This is always in reference to the flashing stoplight that we are approaching. Another one, one that I don't even think Bibi knows about is our toothbrushes. Mine is a blue one, and Bibi's is pink. I can't tell which one is which without comparing them, which has led to more than a couple close calls.

2.) My appreciation of Frank Sinatra began Thanksgiving my Junior or Senior year in high school. I was watching a PBS special with my Uncle Steve at my Aunt Anne's annual Chilli dinner. It was about Sinatra's Duets CD, which was the first one I ever bought. I know have something like 20 CDs, and three albums. He still swings.

3.) I am anal-retentive beyond any comprehension by the casual observer. My CD's are still (mostly) alphabetized by genre (although since I don't really listen to CD's anymore I don't know how accurate they REALLY are), my records are alphabetized, my DVD's are alphabetized with a separate section for the tv shows, and my clothes are organized in such a way that I put all clothes that have been recently washed behind the clothes that havnen't been worn, so that I don't wear things more frequently. (It doesn't always work out that way, as I have one or two shirts that I almost never wear, and one or two that I love and therefore wear more often.) However, as I was telling Bibi a few days ago, my system on the iPod has gotten much more relaxed. For about two years now it has been my mission to "shuffle" manually all of the songs that I have rated 4 or 5 stars. (That's roughly 4, 596 songs.) Up until last May, I was on track to doing that. (Which meant a ridiculous amount of work and discipline in listening to the iPod; I couldn't necessarily listen to what song came up, if I had listened to a song on the same album, or by the same artist within the previous 9 songs. I know. Anal, no?) Anyway, last May Bibi's computer, the one with iTunes on it, broke down. Things kept on track for a while, but then the lack of "updates" made it so that the iPod kept stalling out on me. I have now been listening to any old artist of song that I want to for about two weeks and it's surprisingly freeing. (Mainly Bob Dylan and the Who, although Townes Van Zant and Jeffrey Foucault were in the mix for a couple of days last week.)

So, I'm getting better.

4. Bibi and I LOVE 7th Heaven. It's on from 5-7 Monday through Friday, and we make it a special point to watch at least one of those episodes. We really get into it. Cheesy as all heck, but darn it, that's good television. (I even tried whisper-talking like they do on the show, but I'm just too loud.)

5.) I am cutting down on coffee. At one time, a couple of years ago, I was up to two pots a day. About a month ago, I realized that the 12 cups a day might NOT be the most healthy choice I could make. So, I have cut down one cup every week, and I am now to around three cups a day. And, I am drinking lots of water while at work, which is awesome. (Coffee intake CAN be related to cold sores, and the one I have right now didn't even fully develop, which is awesome.)

6.) When Tim Russert died last May I took it really hard. Bibi and I watch Meet the Press and This Weekend with George Stephanopolous every weekend, and so Tim Russert dying really was like losing a friend. It was horribly cheesy, but I told Bibi sometime that weekend (he died on a Friday) that we had invited him into our home every week for almost two years, and it was going to be a strange and difficult process. What can I say, we like our political discussions.

7.) My marble project. Three weeks ago I began Grace's marble jar. I counted out the number of Saturdays between then and when Gracie turns 18, (864 of 'em) and placed that many glass stones in a big jar. Each Saturday before I go to bed, I take on out, recognizing that I will never get that Saturday back. It's been a really special reminder that the time I have with my little girl is finite, and that I need to make the best of what I have with her. Yesterday, I told Bibi that I wanted to change the project a little. I am going to be keeping all of those stones, and I'm going to give them to Grace on her 18th birthday, as a present; a reminder of all of those days that we had together for when she goes to college.

All right, that's all. I guess I'm supposed to tag some people, but I honestly don't know who all reads this, or if they have a blog or not. So...uh, if you are reading this, and if you have a blog, leave me a comment saying so, and then go do this too. (It was surprisingly hard and fun.)

All right, Happy Monday everyone!

Tommy

The Magic of Christmas

Yesterday was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As a long standing personal tradition, it was also the day that marks the beginning of the Christmas season for me: I start listening to nothing but Christmas music, I put up my Christmas tree, and in general start thinking about what I should be doing to get ready for Christmas as far as presents for family and friends.

This is all quite new to my wife, as she was raised Sikh, and Christmas was not a part of her tradition.

This year has been somewhat different than usual. I am almost done with my Christmas shopping, for one thing, and I started listening to some Christmas music about a week or so ago. (It was a huge change for me, believe that...) However, I just wasn't quite feeling up to putting up the tree and the decorations. Until, that is, I woke up yesterday morning, to find a layer of beautiful white snow blanketing the ground. Then, I was pretty much ready to go.

So, after breakfast yesterday morning with the in-laws (which consisted of chocolate, coconut, and pumpkin pie!!) and a quick game of Taboo, Bibi, Grace and I headed back to our house to get started. Grace fell asleep along the way, and so Bibi and I made the multiple trips down to the basement to bring up our tree, ornaments, stockings, lights, and various other necessities. I put on the Christmas Music playlist on random, Bibi warmed up some hot cocoa, and we got out a plate of fudge cookies to munch on. Leo, tired from playing with his girlfriend Molly, fell fast asleep on his bed.

The tree went up quickly, the lights were strung up without difficulty, and the ornaments looked beautiful as the went on, one-by-one. We cleared off a prominent place for my Nativity Scene, and it was around this time that little Gracie awoke from her mid-day slumber. She came out of her room, and immediately wanted to be cuddled by Bibi. However, after a little mama-time, Gracie soon realized that there was something different in our living room. She spent the next four hours or so laughing and giggling and "oohing" and "ahing" at our tree. She was standing on the couch, reaching over the arm pointing to various ornaments, and blowing kisses to the gingerbread men. At one point, Bibi turned to me and said, "You know, they say that that children bring out the Magic of Christmas." And, even though this isn't Grace's first Christmas "technically", it really kind of is.

However, the best part for me was when I was putting our dinner in the oven, and Bibi was carrying Grace around the kitchen, telling her what all I was doing. Grace's attention was drawn to the Nativity Scene, and in particular the baby Jesus. Bibi started describing how Christmas-time is when we celebrate Jesus' soul coming to earth, and how this was a wonderful thing for all of humanity. Grace's reaction to the baby Jesus was priceless. She started cooing, and laughing her sweet little laugh, and all she wanted to do was hold the little baby Jesus figure. Her eyes got really big, and she just kept making this unbelievably magical sounds, as she marveled at the little statue in her hands.

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

(Sorry, that was cheesy.)

Thanks for stopping by...

Tommy

This is God's country!

Or is it?


Gotta be honest...in reading the Bible a couple of times (something like 7 or 8 times, actually) I've yet to see the verse where God, or Jesus, or David, or Paul, or John, or...well, really anyone come to think of it, says anything at all about blessing or choosing or electing America as the chosen country.

There is this really strange parasitic/symbiotic relationship between evangelical Christians and the Republican party that really gets under my skin. You see, in reading the Bible, I did notice many times where God, Jesus, Paul, etc. talk about the whole world being God's chosen. So, while I understand the Republican party focusing more on this country and "our" interests, I do not understand the stance taken up by many Christians that America is God's country. It just doesn't click for me. I think that God has used America, to be sure; but just because God used a donkey to talk to Balaam doesn't mean that the donkey is the new chosen people, you know what I'm saying?

I think, actually, what is happening is much worse than a mere misunderstanding of theology. (As if that would be no big deal.) I think that by perpetuating this idea that America is a Christian country, and that our focus should be on God first and America second, we separate that which God has put together; i.e. the world as a whole.

I read a book a few months ago about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. In it, Desmond Tutu talks about how we actually harm ourselves when we de-humanize or denigrate others. And, I think by putting Americans above others, which is an act of dehumanizing or devalueing, we as Christians actually diminish a huge blessing that God wants us to have. We are a brotherhood of humanity. God made everyone on this planet, not just the white ones, or the ones who have already accepted Jesus in their hearts. Because we are all connected, and because of the bond we all have through God's presence, when we say that others aren't as important as we are, becuase of their geographical and national boundaries, we are actually mocking God, and that's never a good idea.

So, when the Republican party talks about how we as Americans should be putting America first, that makes sense, because that very well may be their goal. But when Christians start talking about that, regardless of political affiliation, I think that they may be missing something.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by...

Tommy