a social commentary

like most of the people i know, i spent the majority of the day today watching football....or in my case kind of watching football, and kind of reading, with a little work and laundry thrown in.  i also spent about 45 minutes with my pop talking over the republican primary, and the current pitiful state of our government.....which is always fun for me, but also very frustrating.  even someone like my dad, whose opinion and intelligence i respect, cant look at the "big picture" because of how our system works......as a retired person, his future is tied primarily to social security.....with the hit everyone has taken in their retirement funds, most retired people can't afford to live without their social security income....so no matter where he might stand on other issues, he has to vote for whomever is going to continue funding for social security......and who can blame him???  its a large catch 22 for our system right now....whatever ONE overriding concern you have, is the way you vote....and then you just keep your fingers crossed that whoever is promising you whatever it is you need, does what they say.....now you know i could go on for days about my OPINIONS of this current race - but i won't....at least not today.  but i find it utterly fascinating that EVERYONE knows by now who is going to the SUPERBOWL, but more than half the people i know have no idea who is still in the primary race.....i think they should start doing a political show on ESPN, or doing a TOP 10 things you need to know that will actually affect your FUTURE on SportsCenter!  By tomorrow morning, every young person will have read a tweet or fb post about the kicker who choked for the ravens, and the punt returner that choked for the 49ers.....but i bet none of them will have read about mitt romney's plan for the economy or newts foreign policy or rick santorums social agenda....OR give a shit that cumulatively the candidates have spent 47 MILLION DOLLARS on basically attack ads to discredit each other....when one of them will have to actually RUN FOR PRESIDENT!!  i dont know whether its the obscene amount of money wasted when my dad is worried about the future of social security....or the fact that they are spending that money making each other LOOK BAD, so no one will have ANY confidence in whoever actually gets the nomination.....its just so STUPID!!!

 

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. John Wooden

do you know what i find HORRIFYING.....that the number one thing "TRENDING" on twitter right now is "i'm going to the EM EFFING SUPERBOWL".....awesome!!  we are so seriously screwed up....and the funniest part is i'm a huge sports FAN!!  i love the games, i love the hype, i love to watch ....i love love love it....but not to the iconic level that it's been raised to.  its a GAME!!  these are just physically gifted people whose job is to compete, yes....but basically its ENTERTAINMENT!!  Billy Cundiff is going to come under more scrutiny for MISSING  a FIELD GOAL than newt gingrich for ETHICS VIOLATIONS!!  aren't we SMARTER than this????  i'd like to think so....

josh's latest craze is movie making....every day he dresses up in some form of camoflauge and goes outside in the woods to shoot nerf war videos.....its super interesting to watch.....he has a plot and actors and props....the whole 9.  it cracks me up....but i love that he is expressing his creativity in a new way....i find it impressive because it shows follow thru....and commitment - something i hope he continues to have throughout his life....because i think that so many kids today spend so much time in front of a different version of "reality".....not only are there movies, and tv, but phones and online gaming - we can literally spend every second of everyday watching or participating in activities in a completely "virtual" space.  and because that virtual space seems real...it creates a disconnect to what IS actually happening.  its a weird thought, but relationships are only "real" if they are "facebook official"....and what is happening right now is only significant if it "trends" on twitter.....i feel like i live on MARS!  at least Josh's alternate reality is one that he is CREATING.....so he knows its not real!!  which is going to be an important lesson at some point in his life, i'm sure.  and at the very least he is learning how to blend into his surroundings :)

do i have a point to all of this today?  not really....more of an observation.  if we live in the here and now, moment to moment, then the fact that the kicker choked during a football game IS more significant than the upcoming political election....at least at the time it happens.  and since we live in a society DEFINED by its IMPATIENCE, what is happening RIGHT NOW is all that really matters.......a primary on Jan 31....too far off - not to mention an actual election in NOVEMBER!!  the world could end by then, right???  does it matter that our kids spend 70 million hours with their faces stuck in little electronic boxes that "trend" their reality???  i just dont know what the answers are....or even if there ARE any answers.....so i guess rather than obsess about it, i'll just go on appreciating Josh's creativity in whatever form it takes....and hoping someone gets their head out of their ass long enough to make sure my dad keeps his social security!!  because the only reality that actually exists is for each one of us is the one we believe in at the moment.....

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.  ~John Quincy Adams

ONE CAN ONLY HOPE :)