Monthly Archives: November 2012

The day after (the day after)

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Jubilant first family after victory declared.

Phew! We managed to make it through another “silly season.” For the uninitiated, silly season is that period—one that occurs every four years—when a host of surrogates of the well-connected perform a kabuki dance called “running for president.”  

We begin with a crowded field initially, whittling it down to two front-running candidates and a host of others that are lucky to garner one percent of the total vote, combined. These would be the host of third parties, also known as a losing proposition in America without something like instant-runoff voting in place. Continue reading →

Framing things

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Building things is not something I’m a natural at. It’s not an intuitive trait or ability of mine. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say I’m probably a three. I might be a bit harsh, but I’m certainly not a 6 or 7.

When I tackle a project, it always seems to take me longer than I planned; or longer than the length of time that a skilled craftsman would accomplish the task in. Continue reading →

Making trades

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Governor Christie and President Obama meeting with New Jersey residents.

Compromise isn’t our natural inclination. Sometimes we’d rather dig our heels in and insist on our position. If those around us won’t play along with us, well, we’ll just take our ball and go home. Too often that’s the place we find ourselves in if we’re not willing to bend towards our foes, or even people we consider friends, including family members.

I love a pitched political battle as well as anyone. In sports, I was a fierce competitor. I hated to lose and sometimes, I let my competitive fires burn a little too hot. Some of that competitiveness unfortunately carried over into my personal life, singeing those around me. Continue reading →