Africa

I desperately want to go to Africa. My client does a lot of work rescuing AIDS orphans in West Africa. I just want to go hold those babies and help take care of them. In working with my client, I realized that I really know next to nothing about Africa. So I'm trying to learn anything I can about it. Particularly anything dealing with the wars and general political unrest. I went to a mock refugee camp that Doctors Without Borders set up in Dallas, and one of the really interesting parts was learning about refugee camps v. IDP camps. (Refugee camps consist of people who fled their homes and crossed borders, while IDP camps are filled with internally displaced people from that country.) From what I understand, a refugee camp would be preferable to an IDP camp because there are more advocates for refugees. But refugee camps are still horrible.

I'm going to throw out book recommendations for the two books above. The first is What is the What by Dave Eggers. It's an autobiography (as translated to Eggers) of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. It's extremely well written. The other book is more difficult to read, but also very well written. A Long Way Gone is written by Ishmael Beah, a child soldier from Sierra Leone. If you're at all interested in this book, watch the clip below.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

For various reasons, I missed the DNC this week. So this morning I've been watching it on iTunes. Next week I'll watch the RNC. I know who I'm voting for, but I still want to see what both sides have to say.

All politics aside, you should watch Obama's nomination acceptance speech if you haven't already ... just for its style. The speechwriters did an excellent job, and it was so evenly delivered. I have so much admiration and respect for speechwriters. On the one hand, they have to take very complex ideas and events, such as entering into war, and boil them down to their most basic elements so that nothing is above anyone's head. And at the very same time, they have to take the most basic of ideas, such as the belief that no child should have to go hungry and good schools should not be out of any child's reach, and elevate them so that we realize just how serious our problems are. I love the idea that one really powerful sentence, worded just the right way, can create a 180% shift in someone's thinking.

I frequently wish I could sit in on one of my mom's high school English classes, because she's a fantastic teacher and she uses real life examples for her students. I'm sure she'll be able to use speeches from both conventions in her classes. I love watching old West Wing episodes with her because she's one of the few people I know who will get really excited about the dialogue. (If you want to see an interesting vignette about speechwriting, you should watch the West Wing season 4 DVD extra called "The Letter of the Word." I really can't say enough about my love for that show. And if you want to know my favorite speech from that show, I'm pretty sure it's the one from the season 4 opener. "The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels ..." If that line sounds familiar, it's also from Tom Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech for Philadelphia. Just fyi.)

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about the convention and speechwriting. (Except to say watch the speech here ...)

A Wink and a Smile

#1 - I love this song -- especially the Harry Connick, Jr. version.
#2 - I'm trying to launch a grassroots campaign to bring back winking. Amy and Cale have been very supportive of my efforts, and I think we're ready to go mainstream and take it to the masses. (wink)
#3 - For as long as I can remember (or at least since 2003), Magpie and I have wanted to open up a surf/t-shirt shop. And the first t-shirt on our list would feature Mr. Peanut. The tagline would say "Have you seen my monocle?" It will be a best seller.

I miss my friend.

I'll Be Seeing You

Pretty sure the best part of my day was hearing from this friend ... he's finally leaving the sandbox (for the third time) and is coming home. Safe travels, Captain Tyrone!!! See you soon.

You Are On Our Side

Just got back from a great youth retreat at Sky Ranch. Thank you to my friend (and fantastic intern) Natalie for introducing me to the vocal stylings of Bethany Dillon. Last night we watched this video, and I loved it. Something about this song made me cry throughout its entirety. Very pretty.

Jump Around

Clearly I missed one of the best parts of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics ... how in the world did I not know that you could medal in TRAMPOLINES!?

Genius. Every time I watch the trampoline competition I know I'll never stop laughing. It's just so wonderful! I don't know how they do it, and I think those gymnasts are amazing. I wonder if they all have mini tramps in their rooms at home. Just like I wonder if there are a lot of swimmers who own waterbeds. Probably not ... but maybe. Just maybe.