rage, art...sangria!

Yesterday a brief visit to DC started with an epic war demonstration...



then Adams Morgan,


then,

Sangria!


Today we went to the Jasper Johns opening, and I got yelled at for taking pictures of his work, so you'll have to deal with these...

DuBuffet

Picasso

trunks

I've been Saved!

headache is...

putting a wedding album together.

Oh Yeah!

I got a new camera!

It's on!

Why I would vote for Obama in 08'

Barack Obama is just a regular guy. His full name is a bit creepy: Barrack Hussein Obama. Think about it, you cannot say it without the sound "Iraq," the familliar name "Hussein" and the eerily similar name, "Osama." He is a junior senator from Illinois and is most likely to run for president in 2008 (on January 16th he took the first step toward launching a Presidential campaign, by forming an exploratory committee. A formal declaration is expected on February 10th). I am currently reading his (#1 New York Times bestselling) book The Audacity of Hope, and am simply amazed at his writing capacity. Much of politics is often boring and unattainable to many Americans, but with Obama, this is not the case. He makes all efforts to unravel and demystify all the ambiguities and impossibilities that politics has served to muck up. He seems genuinely interested in putting politics back to the level of the people, rather than pushing it further out into intangible obscurities.
To say that I have been quite interested in the man recently would be an understatement (I will try not to spend too much time ranting and raving on him here, but please forgive me ahead of time if I do). I can't help but be drawn in by such a hopeful and enigmatic personality so close to the White House. And so, without going on any more about it, I have decided to make a quick list of why I would vote for Barack Obama and by doing so, listing values I believe are important as a Presidential candidate in 2008.
1. He is intelligent. He attended Harvard law school, graduated magna cum laude. We need an intelligent president in the White House.
2. He is logical. Law school inevitably involves philosophical inquiry, debate and the appeal to reason. We need a logical president more than ever.
3. He is a natural leader. Obama has strong oratory skill that has already captivated many; clearly this is an essential characteristic as a presidential hopeful (in fact, this may be all that matters to many voters). His writing skills are of note here as well. Most presidents write books after being president, not 2 books before ever running! This is an older practice that has seemingly gone out of style or importance in modern times, but don't you think it's important that a president is a good writer? How else can he convince the people of his values and vision? (I guess that's what speech writers are for, but what a cope out!)
4. He has a strong reverence for the best president we’ve ever had, Thomas Jefferson, who of course, was also a brilliant and talented writer.
5. He makes decisions based on evidence rather than decisions based on intuition alone. Most likely another byproduct of Law school. Obama never voted in favor of the Iraq war, remarking in 2002 that, "I'm not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."
6. He’s young, optimistic and inexperienced. Some say this is a deficiency but I think it's precisely what we need! Obama brings a fresh perpective and is unafraid at debunking the mysteries of politics. A youthful optimist would be embraced after two terms with a dogmatic bullhead. He has a podcast where he exlplains "issues affecting Illinois, the nation and the U.S. Senate" in a way that makes sense to the people. How many other politicians take time to do that?
Given the current political climate, we all know a clear change is gonna come. Many like to say you have to choose between the "lesser of two evils" and perhaps that's true, but this time around it really doesn't look that bad. I guess after two terms with a president who doesn't even listen to "the people" of his democractic government, everyone else looks great.

Watch Obama's message yesterday on forming the exploratory committee here.

up there where there's nothing to do.

Movie Review: Little Children

Little Children is a new movie, currently showing at the NARO, based on a book by Tom Perrota and adapted to the screen by Todd Field. It is a drama, but also a thriller of sorts, following compellingly banal lives, that all somehow become interwoven by the end (a feature reminiscent of a P.T. Anderson film). The begining of the movie seems comical, but then the plot twists come and everything that you know the characters shouldn't do, they do. It's the kind of movie that is intriguing in all ways; the subtleties are profound (for those watching close) and the metaphors and symbollism are put on show for all to interpret, as they will. The acting is good and the character development sufficient. The movie is a bit long (130 mins) and while you do "feel that" it isn't neccessarily a bad thing. At parts disturbing, I would consider "Little Children" a great, tragic drama. It was well done, and despite a few overworked truisms you walk away feeling satisfied with the whole.
A-

stillness speaks

Religion

The video above is a 48 minute piece on religion in the modern world. It is hosted by the author of, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins. He is a self proclaimed Atheist and an Evolutionary Biologist at Oxford university so, of course, he assumes a strong self serving position in the video. However, I found the video interesting and maybe you will to.
No doubt a controversial matter, religion ultimately resides within the individual and is not always to be contested. As many of you might know, I have long been interested in the subjects of religion, psychology and philosophy. I have intentionally lost the fervor, in recent years, of asserting and arguing any strong religious position, for I found it to be rather unrewarding and without purpose. Suffice to say that, currently, I "do not confirm nor deny" the existence of God, but am not in any way pompous, stagnant or imposing in such a position. It is precisely the dogmatic proselytizing and self righteousness that I find disdainful in much of organized religion. Virtue is in the doing; meaning simply that, goodness lies in living a moral life. I do not feel the need to be replenished of sins, "Saved" or accept "Jesus Christ as my personal savior." To me, much of these actions serve only to persecute and isolate others, which I find repulsive and altogether uneccessary.
(All apologies for the irony of my own rant, sorry.)

"I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged."

-Thomas Jefferson, 1816, in a letter to Mrs. H. Harrison Smith

resolute resolves

I made a list on a napkin of general resolutions resembling New Year's Resolutions. I make this distinction because the chances of me keeping specific goals for an entire year is unlikely and more of a set up for failure. To me, true New Year's resolutions are more specific, measurable, results-oriented and perhaps urgent in need (quitting smoking, cutting back on the coke, losing 25 lbs in 6 months, etc.) However, the napkin shown serves to represent a quick list of some general things for me to practice/keep in mind throughout the year. There are other things not listed here, but will remain in my mind; some of the thoughts listed may not make sense to you, but they make sense to me, and in this case, that is all that matters. I am merely sharing.
I read 40 pages in a new book and only spent about an 20 minutes on the Internet this evening, so I am off to a good start.

2007 starts today!

Last night Rachel and I attended a swanky New Year's party (our first, really). It was held by a gentleman who is very rich and enjoys spending his money (to put it mildly). According to reports this gentlemen (who I believe goes by the moniker James Ramsey) attained his fortune by inventing a sort of instant drug screen (that you can learn all about on the products website, which is strikingly similiar (exactly, actually) in design to another popular website (is that even legal?!) Rachel's friend's friend's friend is dating the man, and got us on the list for this extravagant extravaganza. I guess he throws these huge New Year's parties downtown every year. This year, the theme was "New Years Casino" and there is a website for the shingdig here, with all the details (none of which were spared). Basically, you walk in, get a bucket full of chips to gamble with and a list of the activities for the evening (caricatures, entertainers, etc) and then you start drinking, eating and gambling.

They even had a room for kids to play video games on projection screens!

There were six bars completely constructed in ice!

Blue Man Stomp

From 11pm-2am they had a limo service for the guests. We left at around 1:30 and we never made it to our hopeful second destination. Happy New Year.