Once again, I exercised my Constitutional right and civic responsibility and voted absentee today! I am not sure if I am going to be able to get to vote on Election Day, so since I was across the street getting my new tabs for my van, I decided to vote today! I am glad I did. I was the only one there, and had to search out a poll worker to help me vote. The signs are clearly marked and when I got to the place I was supposed to be, there was no one there. It was only about 4:10 PM, so I knew I had another twenty minutes before City Hall closed. They were not exactly ADA compliant, (Americans with Disabilities Act), but I imagine they will be on Election Day. Since I was the only one there, they bent over backwards to make sure my experience was a good one. I was done in less than ten minutes. I am guessing many people will not have that same experience come Election Day! Having voted absentee before, I knew what to expect and it lived up to my expectations. I had to mention my sister, Tammy Patrick, and her involvement in the Voter Registration work she has done all over the country. It fell on deaf ears as the poll worker was focused on getting me voted. I am positive not all of the polling places around the country will be like the one I voted at today.
My mother likes to tell a story about riding along when Tammy was the Federal Compliance Officer for Maricopa County in Arizona and had to take a voting machine to an Indian reservation the evening before the election, and pick it up again at the end of the day. It is a great story about how our indigenous people had never voted before in their own country. It is a great story about Tammy's dogged commitment to seeing everyone who is entitled to vote gets to vote. There I go, wandering from my point again. As my longtime readers know, I have a tendency to do that. Let me get back to my original point of this post. I want to get this done today before it goes out to my subscribed blog readers, so let me wrap up this post. We have all been told ad nauseam every election cycle to make sure we vote. I cannot end this with doing the same thing and stressing to every one of you to make sure you vote on or before November 4th! The midterm elections are always a low voter turnout. We need to change that trend! I cannot encourage you enough to do your civic responsibility and make sure you exercise your constitutional right and vote! Here is visual proof I voted today:
If my nose is not large enough for you now, you can always click on the image and make it larger! As always, I look forward to your comments. Later, Mike
The world is full of very creative and artistic people. Once again, one of my favorite television shows, 60 Minutes, did a piece on one of them tonight. Bob Simon's piece on Conductor Gustavo Dudamel shows what he is doing to give elementary students an opportunity to learn how to play an instrument in an orchestra. As this piece shows, and many experts will tell you, it is all about opportunity.
You can view the piece by clicking here if it doesn't show up on this video:
As anyone who has anything to do with schools these days knows, funding is being cut in many areas, especially the arts. Often times, entire programs are being cut. My youngest brother is also doing something about it in elementary schools in Southern California. I will write about his program in another post.
Studies show how important involvement in school is for young people. I believe this video shows how this opportunity improves a young person's confidence, self-esteem and personal responsibility. Plus, it teaches them an entirely new set of skills. I cannot say it enough times, "It is all about opportunity."
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
P.S. I am sorry I have missed a few weeks. I just spent another thirty-eight days in the hospital. I am still a little weak, but I am back!
Once again, my post just fell in my lap. A friend sent me this video the other day of keynote speaker Kimberly Alyn. It is a three-minute, high-energy flurry of her ideas of what we ought to be doing to make a difference in the world today. She makes a great point about personal responsibility and we are the ones in charge of our own destiny.
I find her energy contagious! If you like the video, you can learn more about her at her two websites by clicking here and here. Her other videos are full of good material as well. But, in my mind, they do not compare to this:
What do you think? Is she right? I think she hits it out of the park! Do you find yourself in any one of her "Up Time" situations? I certainly do. I believe we can all learn from her quick, little lesson.
Eight years ago today everyone in the United States claimed everything changed and it will never be the same. I don't believe it anymore. We have all heard the phrase, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
A friend posted this video a few days ago, and I saw it on my Facebook Home Page. Twelve-year-old Severn Suzuki gave this speech at a United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. What I find amazing about it is, it could be given today and nothing has changed in seventeen years!
Check it out:
Young people can often put things in such a simple perspective you cannot argue with them. I believe Severn did just that! How can one argue with her points?
She has grown up to be an environmental activist, speaker, television host and author. According to Wikipedia, " ... she has spoken around the world about environmental issues, urging listeners to define their values, act with the future in mind, and take individual responsibility." You can read more about her by clicking here.
Listening to her reminded me of young, Dalton Sherman, whom I wrote about in my October 1, 2008 post. You can read that post and watch his speech by clicking here.
Like Dalton, Severn found her passion at an early age. Now, she's almost thirty and is making her passion her career. I can certainly relate! It is great fun to watch young people develop into adults. I love it!
There are two things going on here:
1. The content of Severn's speech 2. Finding your passion
Yes folks, the State Fair is winding down on Labor Day, NFL preseason games are about done, and once again many of us will be watching football games on one or more levels. Whether it's the little kids in the park and rec leagues, middle school and junior varsity during the week, high school on Friday nights, college on Saturdays, or the NFL on Sundays and Monday nights, it's time to crank it up again.
I love watching football on all levels; although over the past several years, I have seen a decline in good sportsmanship and an increase in showboating, dancing in the end zones and just a general decline in decent behavior by players on all levels.
The younger children see their idols making all kinds of efforts to show off and put themselves above team. I think they forget they wouldn't have scored that touchdown or made that sack or interception without the assistance of their teammates. They are role models for the youth who are watching — whether or not they want that responsibility. I think it's very sad to see this trend.
Anyway, a friend sent me this video the other day, and, although it's not a football video, I think it's a great tribute as to why you shouldn't show off when you are an athlete. I believe you should let your actions on the field do your talking. Then after the game, win or lose, line up and shake the hands of your opponents. See if you agree with me about showing off after you watch this video:
What an idiot!
I don't condone fighting, and I despise this type of macho activity, but I think it makes my point about letting your actions do your talking for you.
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know my last post discussed the myths about school shooters. Today, I want to address another very important issue, one I've addressed earlier. And, that is the myths surrounding boys. As I stated in my December 29th post, young people need to feel connected to at least one adult.
I quoted Michael Resnick, PhD, the assistant director at the University of Minnesota's Adolescent Health Program when he stated, "Young people need to be connected to at least one caring, competent adult. The good news is, it doesn't necessarily have to be their mom or dad. But, it is essential for young people to feel a connection to a responsible adult."
Much has been written about the "lost boys" of today, and it should be! Millions of boys are in trouble and need help. Mentoring programs like The Rising Son are helping boys become men. The myth I want to address is we are losing the battle. That simply isn't true! I'm sure you'll agree with me after reading this article from time.com entitled The Myth About Boys.
The article originally appeared in the August 6th edition of TIME magazine. David Von Drehle writes an excellent piece about the good and the bad news of the situation. It's well worth your read. Two quotes shouted out to me from Margaret Anderson, a pediatric nurse in Nashville, a member of the faculty at Vanderbilt University and the staff nurse at a camp for boys called Falling Creek Camp in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
As Von Drehle writes, Anderson told him, "Whether it's urban kids who can't go outside because it's too dangerous or the over-scheduled, over-parented kids at the other end of the spectrum — I'm worried that boys have lost the chance to play and to explore," Our society takes a dim view of idle time and casts a skeptical eye on free play — play driven by a boy's curiosity rather than the league schedule or the folks at Nintendo. But listen to Anderson as she lists the virtues of letting boys run themselves occasionally. "When no one's looming over them, they begin making choices of their own," she says. "They discover consequences and learn to take responsibility for themselves and their emotions. They start learning self-discipline, self-confidence, team building. If we don't let kids work through their own problems, we get a generation of whiners." I believe that's why mentoring is so important to boys. When boys get stuck or simply need someone to talk to, they can talk to a mentor. Are you someone a young boy, or girl, can talk to? If you are, GREAT! How so? If not, why?
I'd like to know your answers. Please feel free to leave your comments. Thanks.
