What's Age Got to Do With It? Not a Thing

I've been off-line for a while for a variety of reasons: work, travel, computer issues, etc.  In other words, the common everyday challenges and time drains of modern life.  It's no surprise that most of us feel as though we don't have time to stop and smell the roses--we don't.

In Robin McGraw's latest, What's Age Got to Do With It, she encourages the reader--who she most likely expects to be a woman in the throes of middle age--to do more than stop and smell the roses. She expects them to wear make-up, take time for themselves, care about fashion and fitness. Because after all as the cover photo clearly demonstrates, this approach has worked for her and at fifty-five she looks fantastic. The book's sub-title, Living Your Happiest & Healthiest Life, is an ambitious proposition for any book-- to say the least--and unfortunately one she and the publisher should have avoided with this one. The book is not ambitious and it is doubtful that anyone will be living their happiest and healthiest life simply by following Robin's advice.

"What's Age Got to Do With It?", is largely a re-hash of many common sense advice columns written over the past decade. Eat right--check, exercise regularly--check, understand that your body changes as you age--check. Get the picture. In other words, this book really is nothing new or earth shattering. Of course, most self-help books cover the same ground time and time again. There is nothing wrong with this approach since most people buy self-help tips from people they can relate to in some way, shape or form. 

Many people are familiar with Robin McGraw thanks largely to her husband Dr. Phil McGraw's daily talk show and her frequent appearances on it. Like many people who come into our lives via television or other media outlets, it is easy for many to feel that she is someone they know, understand and respect. So if you like Robin McGraw, you may find something in this book that is worth the cover price. However, if you're not a fan, you can save your money and read a few back issues of magazines like More, Self or Women's Health and get the same advice from equally if not more qualified sources.

What America really voted for

So the Republicans, the Democrats and the media have all been repeating that American voters went to the polls last November and voted for "Change".  Now they are all whining, some more than others, about what kind of change we are getting from President Obama's Administration.

•  The Republicans want us to believe that President Obama is just like George Bush. 
  
• The Democrats want us to believe that President Obama is just like them.
  
• The media want us to believe that President Obama is just like every other politician so we shouldn't expect more. 
  

Their minds are fixed and they want us to be fixed in our judgments as well.  After all, the President has been in office for 50 days now so of course we know how the next four years will turn out; right?  Excuse me while I scream....AIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!   Okay, I feel better now. 

Do you see what is happening after only the first 50 days?  Everyone is re-writing the playbook, telling us what we voted for and despite our protests--as seen on Facebook, LinkedIn, Huffington Post, Jack Cafferty, ABC, NBC, CBS and yes even on FOX (sorry I can't bring myself to provide a link to this one)--they haven't a clue that "Change" is not at the heart of what we voted for!  On November 4, Americans went to the polls in droves to vote for HOPE!  We had spent nearly the entire 8 years of the Bush Administration mired in fear.  The last 6 months of his Administration we had fear and despair...we listened to John McCain and heard more of the same.  Americans said boldly that we wanted something different, we wanted a change but not just change for the sake of change.  We wanted HOPE!  

Hope that we could be better.  Hope that we could do better.  Hope that we could be the United States of America that the world respected and that we as her citizens could be proud to claim. Now I know some people will be offended by the previous sentence about Americans being proud to claim our country--I remember very well the nonsense that was generated by a deliberate misunderstanding of Michelle Obama's statement about pride--so let me clarify that by proud I am using the term according to its definition to mean uplifted.  So to put it plainly, it is a spiritual uplift to dream of an America that truly represents the equality and freedom dreamt of in our Declaration of Independence. 

How do American's reclaim the truth of our vote?  Well first I suggest ignoring the pundits and the media who are nattering on and on about "not the change we voted for" because they are idiotic and wrong.  Then write, email and call our representatives and the media out on this lie.  And finally...talk, share, discuss and scream every time you see any of these groups trying to steal the truth of our vote.   Maybe if enough people shout loud enough and long enough...the Republicans, Democrats and media will get the message!

Enough Whining Already

I am a liberal...a bleeding heart liberal.  So excuse me when I say, "enough whining already". President Barack Obama has been in office for a whooping 30 days as of yesterday and if I hear one more person say, "this isn't the change I voted for", I am going to start screaming.  For Pete's sake, it's been 30 days and people are already writing off his Administration.  

We, liberals and progressives and the media, keep beating each other up, claiming that no one spoke up about the abuses of the past 8 years.  But our apathy has been going on for the past two, nearly three, decades.  Think about it. 

When was the last time that the American people got up in arms about anything? When was the last time that the media, mainstream and alternative, really put some effort into a story that touched the American psyche?  We've been too busy living the Reagan/1980's view of life--it's all about "me"drama that keeps us too focused on what we have and what we want to have to look too hard at what is really going on.  

I'm as guilty as the next used to be called a "yuppie" although I can't think of a comparable label right now American. I have most of the toys of my generation--luxury car--check, upscale condo--check, designer clothes--check (very funny since fashion isn't my thing).  So I'm not putting anyone down by saying we are apathetic because I don't get out there and protest in the streets either.  

 

I just wonder if all of our bluster about the change we were expecting from President Obama is more about us than him.  He said in his inaugural address and in his campaign--the change is about us--so why are we expecting the effort to be all about him.  Have I been disappointed in some of the things that have happened over the past 30 days; sure?  But I'm just as disappointed in myself and my fellow citizens as I am in the Administration.  In fact, I'm more disappointed in us because we are the ones not trying...not our new President.  

For these tough times

I just finished the latest book from Max Lucado, For These Tough Times, which endeavors to explain how and why when life gets tough we can keep our focus on God.  Now I've been a fan of Mr. Lucado's--let's just call him Max, for several years, thanks in large part to his simple clear writing style which helps people, like me, understand sometimes difficult spiritual concepts like the ones this book focuses on; Is God still for us?  Does He still have our interests at heart? Does He still care?

To answer these questions and more, Max Lucado uses metaphors, imagery and scriptural text to help explain not who God is but rather how we might increase our understanding of Him.  At a time when it can seem as though God is silent, Max encourages his reader to understand that silence doesn't equal abandonment. 

For These Tough Times is not a perfect book but it doesn't strive to be perfect.  Max doesn't pretend to have all the answers and the book should be a starting point or a continuation resource for those, like me who want to understand more about how God works.  The book is brief and perhaps too ambitious in its scope to meet everyone's expectations but if you are already a fan of Max Lucado's this book is a great addition to your library.  If you're not a fan or are not familiar with his work, the book is a great introduction to an author who has a wonderful gift for writing about the Christianity I know.  One filled with love and compassion not fire and brimstone. 

New Year Change

18 days to go until President-Elect Barack Obama becomes President Obama.  With all of the year-end specials, I'm embedding a little Smilebox creation to document the Road to Change or as I like to refer to it...the day I saw the future Prez...yippee!  I know I'm such a geek sometimes. 

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Unseen

Reading is my passion or at least one of them. So when the opportunity to review new books presented itself, I jumped at the idea. The deal is simple...the publisher sends me a book, I read it and write an honest assessment of what I think. I get a free book and the publisher gets a review.  Some books I'll like, some I'll love and some I will probably hate. So here goes:

Imagine an undercover culture of people who keep themselves apart from humanity. They work off the grid not because they have to but because they want or need to live their lives unseen. Then imagine what would happen if one member of this sub-culture discovered others who shared his compulsion to watch the lives of others not out of any perversion but rather in a quest for a connection with a subconscious memory or feeling of happier times.

Most of us have had the opportunity to "people watch" at the mall, the beach, in school, even as we drive from one place to another. It is a harmless pastime that can help to pass a few minutes or hours of inactivity and keep boredom at bay. In T.L. Hines' novel, The Unseen, the harmless pastime is a way of life that the author's hero, Lucas.

Lucas is a young man raised to be separate. When he is not washing dishes to add money to his getaway stashes, Lucas spends his days and nights living in abandoned buildings, eating leftovers and forgotten lunches from office break rooms and watching strangers. His code of ethics is simple. He watches until he feels a connection with someone, some hint that the person is aware of him. Once a connection is felt, he creates a history, a present and sometimes a future for his subject. He doesn't interact and he never goes into their private homes to watch them behind closed doors. An orphan in more ways than one, a chance encounter changes the game and moves Lucas from life on the periphery to the types of connections he never imagined. And isn't really sure he wants. 

As the basis for a novel, the story of Lucas as he discovers  a group of people with a similar compulsion to watch, it would have been more than enough to create a compelling read. Unfortunately, T.L. Hines doesn't have enough confidence in his original premise and before the end of the novel has thrown in so many unbelievable coincidences and random plot twists as to leave me feeling as if I had read not one book but at least three and none of them very good.

The biggest problem with The Unseen is that T.L. Hines doesn't know what type of book he wants to write. After setting up a fairly intriguing character in the loner Lucas, Hines introduces Donavan as the conduit for Lucas to learn of the Creep Club. The club is a group of people driven like Lucas to watch the lives of others but unlike him they also need to record and share what they see. Within days of his first encounter with Donavan, Lucas has broken his cardinal rule and is watching people in their homes. Unfortunately what he sees is a couple planning a murder and unlike the rest of the Creep Club members, Lucas wants to get involved and save the intended victim. Again, the novel could have been saved at this point if Hines had followed this story thread to a somewhat logical conclusion. Unfortunately he decides to add a government conspiracy, genetic engineering, mind control and the kitchen sink to the story instead. The result...one great big muddled mess.

So there you have it my first review. Would I recommend this book? No...not unless you're someone who enjoys reading a story that really does have everything but the kitchen sink.

Why God Why?

Today I received a pass along email from my sister. It was from a friend of hers whose sister has been missing since 1985. The sister, a 15 year old, disappeared on the way home from school and hasn't been seen since. Twenty-three years! Since I'm really close to both my sisters and even close to my brothers, I can't imagine not knowing where one of them is for 23 years. I can't imagine or understand God allowing that kind of pain for that length of time. Where is the joy cometh in the morning? Where is HE?

Lisa, my sister's friend, must have asked the same questions but I can't speak for her so it's only a guess. As I watched her video, http://www.youtube.com/user/MissingMySister I couldn't help but wonder how we keep walking in faith when God seems so distant and the world just plain cruel. Anyone want to take a shot at that one?

I don't think asking "Why" of God is a bad thing. I don't think it means I am less of a Christian but there are many people who do. These are the people who will say, "God works in mysterious ways" and expect you not to cry. I will cry and rail against God even while I love Him. It's my right as a flawed but trying to be faithful child. I want Lisa to find her sister. I want her 23 years of uncertainty to be over. I want her to know that God hasn't forgotten her. But all I know of Lisa is that she wants to find her sister.