Small World!

Phil brought up this fun topic, which brought back two nice memories for me . . . the "small world phenomenon. Go check out his take on it, then come back here!

My two small world stories, both from the trip I took with 4 friends in the summer of '94 after taking the bar exam:

(1) Our youth hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland had a bar in the basement (it's the infamous Balmer's). We were there socializing one night and a guy walked past my friend Amy, immediately catching her attention. Turns out, they went to school together back in Houston, from elementary through high school. The guy was working in Bern and happened to choose that night to go to Balmer's to hear some American accents that would remind him of home.

(2) Our adorable hotel (more like little apartment rooms built into a hill) on the island of Ios, Greece hosted drinks on its patio each night to encourage the guests to meet each other and hang out (you may be sensing a theme). A guy at one night's social hour looked incredibly familiar to me, but I could not place him. We started talking and realized we had studied for the bar exam every day for several weeks that summer, at tables in the Rice Business School Library that were right next to each other.

********************************

In yet another example of how the world is becoming smaller, I will actually meet "Jenn from the blog" this weekend in Chicago, in real life! I will be there with my friend G from college, and I did struggle a bit with how exactly to explain to him, a "non-blogger", that we would be meeting someone this weekend who I consider a friend, but have never seen or talked to "live." He seems to understand, and we're looking forward to hanging out with Jenn!

Remember when Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative"?

I don't think the Texas GOP is trying to sell that brand anymore, as evidenced by their platform.

I literally had chills while reading it.

Crickets

Either you guys really disagree with my last post, or you are off barbequeing.

What have I been up to? Mainly, organizing for Obama and swimming, swimming, oh so hard through the mass of work I have to do (at my paying job). Next weekend, I will travel to Chicago to see my beloved Cubs take on the White Sox at the enemy's park . . . I am sure the series will be scintillating, given that the Cubs swept them this weekend at Wrigley Field. Also, will attend Taste of Chicago and various other fun things.

I need to work out 2x per day this week (and thereafter). Please encourage me!

Thinking about what is important

Like so many others, I was shocked and saddened by the death of Tim Russert. A talented and likeable guy, his life ended unexpectedly when he was at the top of his game. He was too young to go and both those who knew him and those who didn't are pained by his loss. Tim Russert's news colleagues and political friends have mourned publicly, in tributes on the Today show and Meet the Press and many other news vehicles. For hour upon hour, they have cried, laughed and otherwise remembered Tim Russert and what he meant in their lives. It seemed appropriate, until . . .

I saw these pictures, and others, of the Iowa floods. My perspective tilted. I had not realized how severe the flooding was. I had not realized how many homes were displaced, literally and figuratively. And I started to wonder: why we aren't hearing more about the Iowa floods? Why aren't people doing more to help those affected by the Iowa floods? Why are we not hearing hour upon hour of coverage of the Iowa floods?

I also wondered why we are not using Tim Russert's death as an opportunity to prevent others from losing their fathers and sons from heart disease at a ridiculously young age? This article is one of the first I have seen that focuses on the health issue. But overall, not a lot has been said about that.

Life is for the living, as they say. I certainly realize the importance of mourning and have done enough of that here regarding the loss of my own father. But the public airwaves are for the public's benefit, aren't they? And isn't the greatest public benefit one that looks forward . . . to flood relief and health hearts?

Just my two cents.

Happy Father's Day

Here is a nice story about a father's secret, and his daughter's Father's Day gift to make it all right.



Happy Father's Day, Dad.

I've been thinking about buying an Apple laptop

the next time I need a laptop and this story makes me want to do that even more.

In short: Girl's Apple laptop is stolen. Girl uses Apple technology to track down the guys who stole her laptop. Cool!

Overheard at the White House gate

as I walked by on Sunday afternoon:

"Is George home? Can I help him pack?"

--From a very funny (and smart) citizen, talking to one of the guards.

Please do not put your feet on the wall.

I arrived early today for a conference at the federal courthouse in Oklahoma City. While I waited for my meeting to begin, I explored a bit, having stumbled upon an "attorneys' lounge." I was curious about what would find in the lounge. In addition to a comfortable-looking leather couch, a conference table and a telephone, there was this:



I should add that the cab driver who took me to the courthouse, a 20- or 30-something guy, is of the opinion that the current President of our country is "doing a pretty good job."

To the person from Korea

who arrived at this blog as a result of a search for the phrase "why Bush won": many of us in the U.S. are still wondering exactly that.