Tidbits

Not much new to write about the last couple of weeks, but I don't want to get in the habit of not writing. So, here it is. Be glad you don't have to pay for this stuff.

Last week, we drove up to Orlando to see my cousin, his wife and their baby (though he's not much of a baby anymore). We were going to hang out and watch the Cowboys beat the Colts, but their schedule changed, so Julie and I ended up making a spur of the moment trip to Disneyworld. I don't suggest driving to Miami, spending 8 hours at Disneyworld, then trying to drive back to Miami in the same day. Makes for a very long day. But we did.

I had been to Disneyworld once before at the age of 13 (plus a couple of trips to Disneyland). It's a lot different than I remember it. For one thing, it is a lot smaller when you are an adult. And the rides don't seem as cool when you can easily spot the "magic." I guess that is why they have built some of the other parks...to keep the adults entertained. (What? You thought is was for the money?) I also have to wonder, if Disneyworld is the happiest place on earth, why did I hear so many kids crying? It's a fun place, but you take a small child, pump 'em full of sugar and take them around a park for 8 hours plus, you tend to have a few melt downs. But it was a fun day and I was glad to see my cousin.

This weekend, we drove south of Miami to Key West for Thanksgiving. It's almost midnight Thanksgiving day and I write this sitting beneath a palm tree in a sleeveless shirt listening to the breeze in the leaves. Aren't you jealous? Paradise sure has it's perks. We'll be here for a couple of days then head back to Miami.

This is one of the best football days in a while. The Cowboys easily won their game and UM finally won a game. Just might even go to a bowl game. It might be a completely meaningless game, but it will be a bowl game nonetheless. Probably won't save Larry Coker's job, but now he has a job for another month or so.

Since this is a pretty random post, I'll end it in the famous words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Election Day: Part II

Today was a gloomy day. I'm disappointed by the results of the election (although we did manage to elect a Republican Governor).

It is a gloomy day becuase a member of the University of Miami Football team was killed late yesterday afternoon. This is a very tragic event. I am sad for the family of the Bryan Pata. But his death made me realize something else yesterday.

[Sidebar: People have been calling the local sports talk shows talking about how bad they feel and how terrible this is. I think this is terrible and my thoughts go out to the guy's family, friends and teammates. But I am not grieving today. I did not know him personally. Unfortunately, many young African American men are shot every day. There is probably at least one University of Miami student who dies for some reason each year. But no one calls the talk shows and talks about how sad they are. People need to put this in perspective: you may be a fan, but unless you knew the kid, you have no idea how much grief his death has caused and you need to get a better hold of reality if this is affecting you as much as you say it is on the radio. Recognize it for the tragedy it is and be mindful of the people it really affects, but get over yourself.
On another note, he was killed in an apartment complex that is less than half a mile from where we lived through law school. We actually looked at an apartment in the complex where he was shot (or across the street...I haven't seen the actual complex on TV yet, but recognize the address). It was not a bad neighborhood. It is a decent neighborhood and we never felt unsafe in three years. Knowing that, I hope people don't turn this into another story about the thugs at UM. I don't know the facts yet, but I know the kid was not in a place he shouldn't have been]

What I realized is this: elections do affect us, but not as much as we might think. On an individual level, an election is meaningless when something like this happens. In the middle of the election night coverage, they news showed shots of friends and family of this guy gathered around, shocked and grieving. Meanwhile, people at various political rallies cheered and celebrated (or commiserated depending on outcomes), clueless to one family's tragedy. I'm sure this played out in various forms all across the country yesterday as people lost loved ones, lost jobs, got divorced, etc. Whether you are happy or sad about the election, please take a moment to be grateful for the things and people you have, regardless of whether your candidate won. There will always be another election, but we are blessed if we get one more day with our loved ones.

Election Day: Part I

Yesterday was, of course, election day. This astounds me because Florida elected a governor in yesterday's election. This fact is probably not amazing to most people, or even interesting for that matter. The reason it is interesting to me is because Julie and I lived in Florida when Jeb Bush was reelected to his second term as Florida governor. That means that yesterday was the second gubernatorial election we have witnessed. That means we have been in Miami for four years. That is just so hard for me to beleive. Time really does fly. Fortunately, yesterday's election went much smoother than the first election we witnessed here. When we moved here, we got here just in time for the primary election. This was the first statewide election in Florida since the 2000 presidential debacle. That first election was not much better. Many places were using the touch screen booths for the first time. On that primary day, many of the machines malfunctioned and the election generally went poorly. After 2000, the result was unacceptable to many here and Jeb Bush ended up removing the Supervisor of Elections for Broward county (a substantial move since the SE is locally elected and locally elected officials can be removed by the Governor only under special circumstances).

But four years later, things went smoothly and there were few, if any, reports of voting problems here. See, people in Florida CAN vote.

'Tis the Season...to Market

I walked into Publix this morning and found them setting up a huge Christmas display. At the time, the employee was stacking boxes of candy canes in a pyramid/Christmas tree shape. The display was also full of lights, paper plates and everything else you need to throw the first Christmas party of the year this weekend. There were other Christmas displays in the store and they had just put out the individual Christmas cards.

Not that any of this surprises me. We saw Christmas decorations at Bombay Company at least two weeks ago. The Toys R Us "Big Toy Book" was in the newspaper Sunday. I saw a credit card commercial this morning with a Bing Crosby Christmas song in the background. I'm actually surprised that Publix is putting this stuff out today rather than yesterday.

For years, people have been complaining about how commercial Christmas has become. (The truly ironic thing is that much of this complaint comes from Christians, yet some of the first Christmas ads I saw this year were from Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention's bookstore.) People make fun of, and lament, the fact that stores start promoting Christmas before Halloween is even over. Actually, what really surprises me is the restraint many retailers have shown this year regarding when Christmas is brought out. At least to my perception, I have seen very little mention of Christmas, so far.

Of course, the cynic/skeptic in me realizes that this has nothing to do with respect for Christmas. It may be respect for the dollars spent by people who complain about Christmas being promoted to early, but I really think it is another phenomenon. I have seen reports that this year saw record amounts of money spent on Halloween decorations, etc. and that this is a trend that has been going on for a while. While it won't reach the level of Christmas, I think retailers have realized they can get as much mileage out of Halloween as they do the other second tier holidays like Valentine's Day and Independence Day. So they don't bring out the Christmas stuff so early so they don't distract people from Halloween sales.

It's a pretty smart strategy, if you ask me. Most retail establisments make or break their year on holiday shopping. If they promote Halloween, they can stretch the holiday season into October, which they've been trying to do for years, but they do it without making people weary of Christmas.

As for me, I'll wait a little while longer before really getting into Christmas.

Until then, have a happy Fall and great Thanksgiving!