The Sublime Roundabout

There is a trend that NPR wrote a story on this morning about the trend recently for restaurants to look like factories. Here's a link: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/29/483306505/why-does-every-new-restaurant-look-like-a-factory Now, I want to make something clear: I don't like dining in the "french ballroom" that the article mentions. I don't like pretense, and I also feel that the "ambiance" of a place shouldn't detract from the experience. So on some level, I do like the simplicity and relative cleanliness of the industrial chic. But I also want the ambiance of a place to add to the experience. I worked in a factory for a few years while my wife was in grad school in Michigan. Interestingly the break/dining area there was more like a corporate boardroom/atrium than a factory floor. Point is, I know what a factory looks like, and while these eateries are definitely not exactly that, it's close enough that it's bothersome

I know that many people don't like President Obama, for any number of reasons. Some of these reasons are more appropriate than others, and I'm not ignorant of his issues. I have some problems with him myself. But when I see things like this, I'm reminded of why I voted for him in the first place: He's so very good at expressing ideas that I feel and identify with. For the first time, I have felt like a president has really been a representative of what is important to me. Now, he hasn't been as effective as I had hoped, and there's any number of reasons for that. I feel that a truly strong leader could have unified some of the schisms that exist in our political system and affected change more effectively. But the cards have been stacked against him. Overall, I'd give him a B+ - good, but not exceptional. Again, I don't necessarily blame him for this - I believe he did the best he could, given the circumstances, and I don't believe anyone else co

Read this article this morning: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/27/opinions/trump-not-causing-gop-exodus-obeidallah/index.html It's a rather fascinating insight into the dissolution of the Republican Party. Here's a couple of quotes I found particularly interesting: Trump didn't persuade the GOP base to embrace his extreme and at times bigoted views -- he didn't have to. Those views match up well with what the rank and file of today's Republican Party already believes. ... Win or lose, Trump will come and go -- but his views truly represent a solid majority of today's Republican Party. The bigger question for Republicans like Rep. Love, Romney, Paulson, and others is: do they try to change the GOP from within or is time for them to find a new political party? I don't have any idea what I would do if I were a Republican, but I am sure that I would feel increasingly that the Republican Party didn't represent my views. This was a conclusion that I came

So I read through Trump's speech. You can find a good link to it here: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/22/483100251/fact-check-trumps-speech-on-clinton-annotated It's a fairly good review, and the notes added provide context and fact-checking, which is helpful. But here's my real beef with the speech - Mr. Trump, in what's being touted as his "most presidential speech to date", sounds like an idiot. He does all the time anyway, and perhaps that's part of his everyman appeal. But it's not something I want in my commander in chief. Politics aside, substance aside, I want a president who is articulate, whose command of the English language sounds like someone I can trust, rather than someone I might expect to find working on a ditch digging crew somewhere. And I don't mean to sound elitist, but a ditch digger is not going to run for president, just the same as a president should use more polished, refined, and intelligent speech. Yes, this is a big

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while You might miss it. - Ferris Bueller

So, I was casting about Netflix searching for something interesting. I came across an Adam Sandler flick called "Spanglish" and thought I would give it a try. Thing is, I liked some of Sandler's early stuff - Happy Gilmore, for example, was silly and fun - but some of his later stuff has been too raunchy and not worth it. I did like Anger Management, and 50 First Dates was cute (if a little sappy). So I wasn't sure what to expect. Whatever it was, it was not what I got. I found myself weeping for almost the entire movie. Now, to be sure, I am prone to crying during movies. And commercials. And songs on the radio. And greeting cards. I know. I'm a bit overemotional. I get it. But this... I don't know. Something about Sandler's portrayal really struck a chord with me. It was like I was watching my own life, and it wasn't all rosy. Like the scene where the mom (played by a beautiful Tea Leoni) buys a bunch of new clothes for her daughter, but th

Everyone dies. It's what they do. What good does caring do anyone? It's a paraphrase from Sherlock the BBC series. I've been watching it (again) whilst waiting on planes and other modes of transportation. It's delightfully well written and acted and I find myself fully immersed in the programs. I also, incidentally, like that they're so long - it makes time for a story arc to fully develop and for characters to grow and change. Travelling the world does things for your perspective, whether it's the conversations you have with other brave travelers (because let's be honest, traveling is a brave thing - not in the sense of having to avoid dangers, because we mostly live in a fairly safe world, but rather in the sense of leaving one's comfort zone and getting out into the world; the farther away from home you travel, the more brave one must become) (although, with the advent of jet travel, some of that bravery is mitigated by the speed at which one tra

The tears run freely Unchecked down my cheeks Like the remnants of a wave Crashed upon rocks Worn smooth by countless years Of battering The rocks do not weep for themselves But for the relentless sea And it is impossible to say Which will end first The battering  Or the weeping

The shore welcomes the waves As they roll in Only to rush back out With a sound that is Very much like a sigh