Campfyre Stories

Barack Obama’s election to the office of President of the United States is historic for reasons beyond the color of his skin.  If you listen to the reporters and the pundits, you’ll hear them claim that Obama is the first "post-boomer" president, but it didn’t occur to me until today what that really means.  The generation after the Boomers is Generation X.  Barack Obama is the first GenX president.

And I started thinking about what that means.  Among my generation, there is a very strong feeling of jaded optimism.  We want the world to change, we hope the world can change, but a lot of us have given up on seeing that happen.  We’re the last generation that strongly remembers the Cold War; we’re the generation that saw the introduction of a fatal disease (AIDS) and received comprehensive sex education because of it; we watched in wonder as the Iron Curtain came down, only to learn that there was another, just as scary enemy in the middle east.  We’ve never been without televised politics.  We’ve never been without rock and roll.  We were taught that you get a job and stay there until you retire, but almost as soon as we entered the workforce, we learned that wasn’t the case.  We watched movies and read books and heard stories about the people in the 1960’s who tried to change the world, and we watched that generation become consumed with greed and money, often at the expense of people less fortunate than them.

By the time Barack Obama started school, it was desegregated.  He can’t remember where he was when Kennedy was shot because he was only 2 years old when it happened.  He’s of mixed races, so he comes from a background that bridges the racial divide between the white concept of the world and the black concept of the world.

Where most of us are jaded, he has made every attempt to spark hope in the people who need it most, at a time when we need it most, and he has rallied the world back on our side, at least for now.

He represents the best of what our generation has to offer.

But not only the best of our generation.  He has his indiscretions, but he’s fully admitted to those things that in previous times would have killed a campaign.  Whereas Bill Clinton claimed to have tried marijuana, but not inhaled, Obama told the world about his cocaine use.  I think that many of us forgive him for that, not necessarily because we have done similar things, but because he came out and TOLD US, in fact, without our even asking the question.

It’s that upfront admittance to not being perfect that does elicit a guarded optimism from me.  I don’t think that any president is going to "fix the world" or save it, or in any way come close to that, but it does say to me that this is someone who hasn’t (yet) been spoiled by the political system, who hasn’t allowed the disappointments our generation has been through to lessen his idealism.

There is a song that spoke to me recently, moreso than a song has spoken to me in a long time.

Me and all my friends, we’re all misunderstood.
They say we stand for nothing, there’s no way we ever could.
Now we see everything that’s going wrong with the world and those who lead it,
We just think we don’t have the means to rise above and beat it.
So we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change.
One day our generation is going to rule the population,
Till then we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change.
~John Mayer

And I really feel that.  My mother was disappointed and found it somewhat depressing a sentiment, but I think that Generation X has really been ground down.  What little hope we’ve had has often been dashed, so we learned to stay guarded and to keep jaded and to hope behind a veil of apathy that someday things will be different.

Do I really think that things are going to be different?  Sure, but I don’t know how, and I don’t know that it will be for the better.  What I do know is that beyond a regime change, we are seeing the beginning of a generational shift in the political makeup of the country.  We’re a generation with a different agenda and with vastly different baggage, and I think it’s time we had our chance to see if maybe we can do better than the generation that came before us.

Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but at least we have a chance to try.

So Princess sent me a news story yesterday about how a mail carrier in my city caught a baby that fell from a window.  There was no picture, but I wondered…

So I went to the website for the local paper and found a longer article with a picture and HOLY CRAP, DUDE, THAT’S MY MAIL CARRIER!

I think it’s pretty cool.

I saw this article today on 10 ways to go green for $50 or less.  While they are excellent ideas, not all of them are very practical and many could be expanded to encompass more people.  For example, #5, taking an electric shuttle.  This isn’t something that’s available in all areas, or even to most people, but taking public transportation once a week would offset gas costs and cut down on emissions.  Sure, it’s not as environmentally-friendly, but it’s a green option that could be integrated into one’s schedule.

Now, I’m all about reusable shopping bags and killing junk mail and e-cycling, but it seems to me that they left off one of the easiest things to integrate into your daily life, and something that many people take for granted.  Travel mugs.

Those who know me in real life know that I am NEVER without my mug.  I put a carabiner on my purse and a keyring around the handle of my mug so that when it’s not in use, I can clip it to my bag and go about my business.

The thing is, pretty much everyone has at least one travel mug already, but few people think to bring it with them.  I can’t understand why something so simple, and frankly, money-saving, would be so difficult to make a point to carry.  Not only am I avoiding the waste of the disposable cups, but most places charge me for the smallest size or give me some kind of discount for bringing my own mug.

My office recently stopped providing disposable hot cups, opting instead for ceramic mugs, which they ask anyone who is using one to wash when they’re finished.  This has led to a large number of people bringing their travel mugs to work, but it astounds me how many of them leave their cups on their desks and come in in the morning with a disposable cup of coffee from Starbucks (or Stewart’s or Dunkin’ Donuts or whatever).  Time and time again they say "Yeah, I really should carry it with me, but…"  and there is nothing past but except an implied "I don’t."

This is something that everyone can do with a minimal effort.

I was talking to a woman this weekend and she complimented me on my carrying a travel mug.  "That’s a really smart idea.  You’re so green," she said.  And I explained my rig to carry it as well as how it saves me money.  "You’ve inspired me!" she said.  I hope I really did, because it’s an amazingly simple thing to do, especially when you consider that we were at a rest stop on the Thruway when we had this conversation.  Both of us were, you know, traveling. 

It’s interesting, the more I think about it, the more I can’t wrap my brain around the difficulty of actually carrying a travel mug.  I mean, those of us with kids know that we bring bottles and sippy cups almost everywhere we take the kids.  The question here that we should be asking is "Why do we STOP?"  I even sometimes refer to my travel mug as my "sippy cup".  Considering how accident-prone and clumsy I am, it behooves me to have a lid on my cup, and it has spared me some serious messes.

So let’s start with ourselves.  Start carrying the mug and asking that it be used for coffee instead of the paper or styrofoam cup.  Every time.  If you can’t remember to bring it in with you, make a point to pour your disposable cup of coffee into your travel mug and at least drink out of it.  You’ll also start to notice how many cups you’re wasting.  Then, once that’s been ingrained, move to the kids.  Buy them their own travel mugs and add it to the "we’re leaving checklist."

"Did you pee?  Do you have your jacket?  Your mug?"

Let’s teach THEM to always have it with them.  The younger they are, the closer they are to remember always having their favorite sippy cup, and if they already have a sippy cup, make graduation from that move to their own "grown-up" travel mug.  "Just like Mommy and Daddy have!"

As easy as it is to not take a bag for small purchases, you often have to tell the clerk ahead of time, or hand the bag back (which I do).  As beneficial as it is, to the earth and your wallet, to buy reusable shopping bags, it takes an effort, both in initial investment and in remembering each time you go shopping.  Travel mugs take the minimal effort.  There is no rejection to the business, there is no pretension to the act, there is actually less effort, since you don’t have trash to deal with when you’re finished.

Make a small difference…  other people will notice.

Well there it is, the end of the Edwards campaign.  It’s surprising considering that the pundits were starting to validate him after the demographics of South Carolina, despite his loss and considering his repeated statement of intention to stick it out until the convention.

But what REALLY burns me is that I have been a registered Republican since I turned 18 for one reason and one reason only, because that is the primary I want to vote in.  The *only* reason that I switched parties was because there was a specific candidate who I supported.  Now, not only is there not a specific candidate who I actively support, I don’t even get to vote in the primary I want to!

And, frankly, I’m not sure which part is worse.

(Apologies to Kermit the Frog.)

Not only easier, but cheaper and healthier, too.

People are amazed when I tell them that not only do I not own a car, it’s by choice, I’ve been without one for nearly 8 years now and I don’t particularly want one.  There’s a certain measure of sympathy that people give me when they first learn of it and I have to actively convince them that it’s not a burden to me.

The first question they ask, almost without fail, is "How do you do your grocery shopping?" and the answer is simple, I take a cab home and the driver helps me carry my groceries to the door.  The next question they ask is about laundry, but I live less than a block from the laundromat.

Most people assume that, because I don’t have a car, everything is less convenient for me, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  I’ve made life decisions that make it easier for me to live without a car.  Things like proximity to bus lines, laundromat, shopping, etc. are key to making this type of lifestyle work.

My transportation costs are less than anyone else I know.  Except for the rare occasions that I rent a car, my monthly transportation costs are less than $100.  Annually, including car rental and whatever bus or train trips I take, probably I spend between $1500 - $1800.  I don’t have to pay for gas, maintenance, insurance, etc.  As a result I never have to rely on credit to "get through".

It’s interesting to me.  The whole Climate Change/Global Warming argument consists of a question of whether or not humans are the cause of the climate shift that is occurring the world over.  There is evidence that the current climate change started around the time of the Industrial Revolution, but no proof that it was the cause.  It’s possible that it may have been a coincidence.

Ok, I’ll accept that.  But why does the lack of proof of human-driven climate change preclude the benefit to everyone of being more green in their daily lives?  There is this assumptive arrogance that we somehow deserve to have everything we want the moment we desire it and it is causing our society to become something less than it really ought to be.

People buy on credit to the point of being drastically in debt.  Even our government is guilty of this, and it’s not for the good of society or for the good of greater than ourselves, it’s a selfish instant gratification that we’re after.  This is fleeting, so we crave it over and over and over again until we are addicted to STUFF.  To buying.  To "free money" that winds up being way more expensive in the long run than we ever really realize.

I look at the current economy, where the value of our dollar is falling, where credit card debt is eating people alive, where people are losing their homes because they took the lenders up on a deal that really was too good to be true and I can’t help but wonder how much of this could have been avoided by being more green in our daily lives.

I shop biweekly for groceries and I spend around $125 each time.  This is to feed 2 people and 3 cats and it seems exorbitant to me.  One thing I’ve noticed is that most of that cost is from fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and soy meat-substitutes.  Eating healthy is more expensive than eating crap foods.  This is actually something that’s been getting a lot of media attention lately as they’re starting to make the connection between cheap junk foods, poverty and obesity.  I rarely "cook" prepackaged foods, preferring to cook real food and have a real meal.  I think that pancakes taste better when I make them from scratch than when I use pancake mix.  I think that macaroni and cheese is sublime when it’s made with a mix of cheeses and simmered on the stove, but I find that colors that do not occur in nature turn my stomach when they turn up on my plate.

And, you know, even if I buy less food and spend more money, I find that it lasts me as long as I need it to.  My meals are planned out, not to the day, but for the two weeks and if, for some reason we don’t want whatever is left, I can create something from the ingredients I have in the house.  I can get ideas for new food creations from the packaged, processed foods, but I don’t have to deal with the sodium content or the excess packaging and, you know what?  Mine tastes BETTER, even if it takes a little longer to make.

Every workday I walk 2.5 miles.  Every single workday.  Why?  Because I have to.  Because in the morning my bus drops me almost a half mile from my building and in the afternoon I have to walk just over 2 miles to catch the bus home.  I don’t belong to a gym (that I never go to), I don’t have exercise machines (collecting dust), I just walk because I have to, and I do it without complaint.  In the rain, in the snow, in the wind, in the cold, it doesn’t matter.  I made a choice to not own a car and with that comes a requirement to walk.

People sometimes gasp when I tell them, with my rosy red cheeks and slight pant to my breath, that I walked 2 miles in the snow.  it’s inconceivable to so many people to walk that far, especially every day, but after sitting at a desk for 8, 9, 10 hours and about to sit on a bus for another hour, it’s actually quite a nice break.  Even Spawn who is, self-admittedly, one of the laziest people on the planet suggested that we walk a good distance toward our destination when we went out this weekend and it becomes simply part of going out.

People with children, I think, often underestimate their children’s capabilities.  Susie can’t or shouldn’t walk to or from school and Johnny couldn’t possibly take a bus across town to see his friend.  But they really can, and SHOULD, because it gives them independence and sets them up for a healthy life as they get older.  This idea that we must drive our children everywhere and rearrange our schedules to suit their whims and desires simply reinforces the entitlements that our entire society is about to see come crashing down around them in the form of a recession.

You see, you can’t disconnect the economic issues from the environment.  They are intrinsically entwined.  The availability of money leads us to consume in wasteful manners and to assume that we have every right to do these things because we can afford it.  But we can’t really afford it.

I’m hoping that the impending recession and the falling dollar and rising gas prices and bursting housing bubble will cause people to wake up a little to their actions instead of continuing the automaton borrowing cycle.  I hope that people will start carpooling in greater numbers or start using public transportation.  I hope that people will realize that 3 blocks isn’t too far to walk and that the kids don’t actually need a ride to the mall, when the bus runs right past their house.

Because, really, the biggest problem is that so often we can’t see past our personal bubbles, and so often we can’t get past our own entitlement.  I don’t want to see people hurt.  I don’t want to see people fail.  At the same time, I can’t help but think that all these people in severe credit card debt, all these people looking for something for nothing, all these people who think that it’s their RIGHT to do whatever they want with no repercussions, all those people set themselves up for a fall.  And right now they’re all teetering on the brink of personal economic collapse, while the rest of us hold our breaths to see what the bigger picture will bring.

But in the meantime, the greener I am, the greener I see people around me acting, the more money we save and the healthier we are and the less of an impact that we make on the whole world around us.  I just can’t seem to see any way in which that is a bad thing.  I think that a lot of people would wind up being personally benefiting from taking a broader view and doing things to benefit more than just themselves.  I just don’t know how to make that sort of thing happen.

Until then, I am trying to set a good example.

They keep saying "This is the most important election of your life," and they’re not wrong.

Candidates are telling us that they are a catalyst for "Change" and that they are giving us "Hope".  They want to reclaim their respective parties and get back to the roots of what they used to mean.

And how gullible are we?  How badly do we want to no longer live in FEAR of unnamed enemies and untold dangers?

We may get record high voter turnout this year, but that honestly concerns me, since I don’t think that people are actually voting for the candidate who best represents them.  This is all about image and charisma and style and that’s not the criteria we should be using this time around.

I’m going to tell you a couple of truths and let you in on some things that are, but shouldn’t be secrets.

EVERY election is the most important election of your life.  If you get it wrong, you’ll be screwed for 4 years.  If you get it right, then maybe things will be good for 4 years, but EVERY election is the most important one.  This is the most important election SO FAR.  2012 will become the most important election, then 2016.  Once it’s done, it’s done and, immediately, the next election is the most important election of your life.

That said, there’s only one way to get it "right" and that isn’t just to vote, and certainly not for someone who is attractive or who plucks your heartstrings when s/he speaks.  You should vote for the person who is going to make YOUR life better.  What does that mean?  I don’t know.  I don’t know you the way you know yourself and the things that would make my life better, or my child’s life better may not be the same as the answers you have.

If you’re not going to go out there and learn about the person you think you like, I’d rather you stay home on primary and election days.  Really.  Because this is the most important election of your life…  so far…  and I’d prefer that you know who and what you’re voting for instead of pretending that these people are movie stars and their vote counts are on par with box office receipts, that their delegates are going to garner them an Oscar instead of the highest office in the COUNTRY.

We get change NO MATTER WHAT.  It doesn’t matter who wins this election, we will get change.  Not just from whatever administration we wind up having, but from the entire world.  Living a life that is unchanging and static isn’t really possible.  You can try, but you will fail and you’ll wind up being bitter and angry because you can’t stop the rest of the world from changing around you.

Any single candidate who gets elected will be a different person than the president we have now.  He (or she) will make different decisions and have different perspectives and different priorities.  Things will change whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican.  Nothing stays the same…  The candidates who are promising change are making the emptiest promise (though the easiest to keep) that can possibly be make.  Change is a given, so what are you REALLY going to do for me?

And what about hope?  Do you need a politician to give you hope, really?  If you don’t have hope and you believe that the process is so broken that it cannot be salvaged, then you shouldn’t be supporting an establishment candidate.  You shouldn’t be supporting a career politician.  You should be working to make a real change in how the process works, whether it’s supporting a third-party candidate or pushing legislative change or constitutional amendment. 

Hope is fleeting.  What do you hope for?  What is it that you wish for and anticipate and, tell me, because few people can, is the person (whoever that may be) that you’re rallying around going to give you what YOU want?  It all comes down to getting informed.

Let’s say that one candidate has inspired you to believe in the election process again.  That’s wonderful!  Now go and find out EXACTLY what that candidate believes in…  and compare it to what the other candidates believe in.  Then you can decide who actually represents you.  You simply cannot vote for someone based on celebrity or charisma and think that you are somehow participating in the political process.  You’re not.  You are, in fact, making it worse if you don’t take the time to vote your principles.

We’re all caught up in the glamour and the feuds and the Hollywoodization of the entire political sphere.  McCain and Romney are lashing out at each other in attack ads.  Obama and Clinton are fighting about race politics.  THIS DOESN’T MATTER, PEOPLE.  This is the same pablum as Anna Nicole Smith’s death and Paris Hilton’s jail stint and Brittany Spears’ hospitalization.  It’s completely meaningless and only serves as a distraction from the things that are actually important to YOUR daily life.

These are the questions you should be asking, in regards to every candidate:

What are the issues that are important to me, and do any of the candidates agree with me on all of them?

Do I care about the legacy that my generation is leaving to successive generations?  What needs to be done to make the world a better place for them?

We’re entering a recession, what do the candidates intend to do to strengthen the dollar?

The entire world is in flux right now.  Should we be monitoring activities overseas?  If so, to what degree?  Where should the focus lie, in the US or abroad?  In what proportions?  Which candidates are best equipped to implement the policies and changes both in and out of the country?

It doesn’t matter who you support if you can’t articulate WHY.  It doesn’t even matter *that* you support someone if the only reasons are because they have charmed you or appeal to you aesthetically.

Look, we all need to accept that we should be voting for the best possible candidate.  We all should be trying to choose someone who represents what we believe most strongly in.  Buzz words are meaningless.  Constitution or Change or Hope or Ready or whatever…  none of these mean a thing in real terms. 

Look at the voting records.  Look at the work that each person has done outside of politics.  Look at the speeches and the debates and really listen to what’s being said.  Listen to the criticisms that other people have and find out if they’re valid concerns.  Determine if the negatives are spun in the sense of "Well what s/he meant when s/he said that was…" because spin generally doesn’t equal belief.

Stop.  Think.  Get informed.

Because this is the most important election of your life…  until next time.  And this change will last forever…  until it’s undone in 4 years.

The 2008 Presidential Matching Quiz.

And the top *viable* candidate is the one that I’ve thrown my support behind.

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Outside, it’s a beautiful spring day.  Sunny, 50ish degrees.  Oh…  wait…  it’s early JANUARY!  Tomorrow is supposed to be 62!!!  Of course, I had to oversleep *last* Thursday and walk in bitter wind and cold, but SIXTY-TWO in January, in the Northeast?  There is something not right about that.

Meanwhile, on the left coast, the winds are so high that they’re closing down the bridges because of safety concerns.  Apparently, it’s so bad that vehicles were literally being blown over!  They’re also getting snow in a number of places and much of the state is without power.

Meanwhile, in the Nevada desert: there was a massive flood, which then FROZE.

I looked at the national temperature map and it looked reversed…  like the east was getting the typical weather of the west and vice-versa, but I have to admit, it kind of scares me.  For all the denials of "global warming", you really can’t deny the fact that the climate is changing, and in very bizarre ways.  As much as I appreciate a few days of warm, spring-like weather, probably enough to melt the accumulation of snow, I also know that January is not supposed to be like this.  I also know that the desert is not supposed to flood, then freeze.  I mean, seriously. 

I don’t know that there’s really any answer to it.  Even if it is a human-caused problem, fixing it is going to take a whole lot longer than the next couple of winters, for sure.  Not that I’m not going to enjoy the "thaw", but at the same time, it’s tempered by concern for the longer-term prospects.

I met a man today who said that it seemed like no one was interested in politics anymore.  My immediate reply was "Well, we DO exist," and from there we had one of the best political discussions that I’ve had in a very long time.

It wasn’t about who we liked or didn’t like, it wasn’t about where we stand on any issue at hand; it was about researching candidates, the superficiality of the mainstream press, how far too few people are interested in history and the ramifications of past actions on the present…  and the future.

We stood in the cold for at least a half hour just talking about all the things that we both often think, but don’t have enough people to discuss it with.  We talked about all the candidates - pros and cons.  We talked about the economy and delved deep into how it affects peoples’ perception of the political sphere.  We talked about history repeating itself and what lessons we believe "the administration" (not necessarily THIS ONE, but ALL the administrations) have taken away from past actions and decisions.  We talked about partisan politics and the phenomenon of opposing branches (in the majority of terms) causing a stagnation of change under the guise of checks and balances.  We talked about the frog in boiling water.  We talked and talked and talked and both got more and more excited as the other spoke because we both had FINALLY found someone willing to, not debate, but really DISCUSS the country, and the world around us.

He’s a good 15 years older than me and has had a much different life experience than I, but we both came away from it feeling refreshed and relieved.  There was no argument because there was nothing to argue about.  Neither one of us had an agenda that we felt we needed to push on the other.  We were simply sharing our views on the world.  I wasn’t expecting that someone who spent almost 20 years in the USAF would see quite as eye-to-eye as someone raised by traveling street musicians as we did, but whatever path we each had taken, it led us to close to the same assessment of the world we live in.

Both of us found our jaws dropping when the other would make a point that hadn’t yet been considered.  We danced around everything that could possibly fall under the umbrella of "politics" and, if you’re really up on politics, it’s not hard to see that it touches almost every aspect of (our) society.  We pointed out interesting tidbits that the other might not know and I do believe we were both enriched for it.

I often feel isolated, especially at work.  I know that I’m perceived as "weird" because, try as I might, I don’t fit well into categories.  I don’t usually allow myself to discuss politics at work because you never know what negatives that could bring from peers or superiors, especially in the corporate environment where I work, but something made me let that particular wall come down and I feel a little less isolated now. 

How is it that we have gotten to the point of complaicent discomfort in our long-distance travel?  That we not only accept, but EXPECT for travel to be unpleasant and we pay through the nose for it?

This article, once again, hammered that point home to me.  Millions of people fly every year to visit family, friends, or just for a vacation, but they also wait forever in lines where they are suspected and inspected in ways that don’t even actually increase the security of the flights.

Which brings me to my point, when almost every technologically-advanced country in the world, except us, already has a high-speed rail option, which is comparable on short (3 hour) journeys to air travel and significantly more comfortable for the even longer trips.  Within the US, however, high-speed rail is only a theory, maybe in the so-called planning stages.

Further, people have been convinced that people wouldn’t use HSR *even if it were available*.  Except that more and more people are UP IN ARMS about their treatment by the airlines.  Even those trips that would be a little longer would be shorter trips than the ones that are delayed overnight where one *might* get a motel room, but probably not.

People have been convinced that the reason the railroads haven’t been successful is because they can’t compete, but they can’t compete because they’re not capable of long-distance travel that takes less time than it takes to drive.  There are plenty of people who would rather not fly, for whatever reason, but simply cannot take the train several thousand miles because of time investment.  With HSR, this would be less of an issue.

How have we, as a nation, come to the point where we will stand in ridiculous lines, take our shoes off, be subject to random searches, not be allowed to take water or toothpaste or whatever on board with you, while studies have shown that these measures don’t prevent terror-related activities?  And not only do we do this, but we pay ridiculous amounts of money for the priviledge to do so.

Where’s my damn bullet train?  There are places I’d like to go and people I’d like to see, but I’m unwilling to go through all the hassle for the sheer amount of money.  I’d rather keep closer to the ground and not travel with the same level of comfort as a Greyhound Bus.  I want my bullet train!