Laughter

This is a topic I don't often write about, but what I love about getting my kids and grandkids together is how much laughter fills my house. Most of the time it's a quiet place, just me and the cat, who never smiles, let alone laughs.

Today's menu of castle-building, snacking, joking and jumping let to lots of laughs. It was great.

Tonight, a rainy night, it's good to be home.

I've often noted how easily and frequently young people smile and laugh. Old people, by contrast, often scowl or look worried. Our bodies hurt -- that's part of the problem. When I watch young people I don't know, I envy their apparent light-heartedness.

When I'm with the ones I know, I am much more likely to smile and laugh than when alone or with other elders.

I think I have a good sense of humor; when with others, I like to joke. But I'm rarely amused when alone. Then, it seems, only worries come to visit.

Tonight I am not alone. And I am smiling.

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Sore Loser

Mitt Romney is in the news tonight blaming his loss to Obama on "gifts" Obama gave minorities. What a sad end to what seemed otherwise to be a fairly honorable campaign. I've often posted, in the context of sports, how kids learn how to lose gracefully and to win gracefully. Kids never get a microphone to complain about their losses.

But billionaires do.

America is lucky to have avoided a victory by this sore loser.

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Meaningless Scandals

The massive media blitz about the David Petraeus sex scandal reminds us all of what happened in Bill Clinton's second term. On one hand, bad things were done. On the other, is investigating every little detail of these unfortunate events really the most important thing for us to be concentrating on?

It is now my belief that our economy and jobs are what really matters -- the fiscal cliff. Instead, we appear to be poised to be moving toward a sideshow. What a tragedy.

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One Day in Time

Every now and again it strikes me that since each of us is made up of such specific stuff, which is special and unique in so many ways, why can't we just all just accept the beauty of our fellow human beings and get on with the process of living and dying, and get rid of all of the strife, the violence, and the killing of each other's dreams?

I know this sounds hopelessly naive.

But I'm having one of those days. One of those days I've always had since I was young. A bit of free time opens up, time slows down, my mind begins to wander, and I revisit thoughts that have recurred over and over throughout my lifetime.

At moments like this one, everything stands out crisp and shiny, as if sunlight beams played the role of yellow highlighters in a book you were studying for class.

Human by human. We proceed through this life knowing people. They come and go. Some are kind to us and others rip us off. Some we become intimate with; most not. But when you sit back and think about them, peoples' voices and expressions and gestures return to you, even of at times you cannot recall their names.

I should personalize all of this. Today I took my car into the mechanic's shop for a tuneup. I walked back through the Mission to my house, and then later retraced the route to pick it up.

Along the way I passed many people, men and women, young and old, mainly Latino, but also some white, black or Asian. I spoke to no one and no one spoke to me. None of us know anything whatsoever about one another.

From appearances, who are any of us to draw conclusions or issue judgements?

I know in the eyes of anyone who may have noticed me today that I am an elderly white man, who now walks slightly bent, not quite as erect as even a few years back, a little uncertain at corners, worried about traffic, and ever so slightly disoriented as to where I am.

This is largely the product of living alone for too long, without a partner, or anyone to help me navigate through life. Although I think I am still strong, self-sufficient, and competent, I also know the pressures of life are getting to me, and self-doubt has crept into my world to an extent I never knew until now.

I have become cautious in the city.

Naturally, I wonder which struggles lie behind all of those other faces as we pass one another like ships in the dark sea. Are they like me? What are the stories that none of them ever will tell?

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When Your Kids Grow Up, You have To Too

Walked with my high school senior to a nearby cafe this morning, bought him a latte, and left him with my laptop to write an essay about Obamacare.

You never can tell what types of subjects will interest your child, no matter how well you think you know him.

My son has become intrigued by policy issues, government and economics this fall, partly due to an excellent course by an excellent teacher.

Thus, there he was, on a sunny day off from school, due to it being a federal holiday, quite contented to be doing research and writing a fairly long essay.

I returned home and when he showed up a couple hours later, he asked if I would like to read what he had written.

You bet!

I'm well-informed enough about the Affordable Health Care Act to have a few opinions. What surprised me about his essay, researched and written so quickly, was how he seemed to have captured all of the essentials of this exceedingly complex and controversial piece of legislation so succinctly and accurately.

He also gave a nod to the main Republican criticisms of the Act, noting their logic and essential simplicity, as opposed to the complexity of the system now in place.

Frankly, as a journalist, what he did and how quickly he did it, at his young age, stunned me. I didn't see this side of him coming -- a young man able to intellectually digest and analyze complex information about a public policy question so impressively.

Maybe he is ready for college!

Parents often underestimate their kids during transition moments. Lately, I've wondered how ready he is for the next stage of life he is about to enter.

Today, I realized my doubts are probably more about my ability to let him go, than his to move on.

As a long-time college professor myself, the paper he wrote today in my class wouldn't only be an A in high school, but an A in college as well.

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Competition

Watching my daughter play defense tonight, as our weather suddenly turned into the local version of freezing (wind chill in the low 50s, probably), I continued to appreciate what a competitor she is.

Several times she made clean tackles, using her size and strength to send opponents to the ground. In one case, the girl on the ground tried to kick her repeatedly -- an illegal move.

The referee didn't see it, but her teammates did.

One of her friends said afterward, "That made me so angry."

"Did she actually kick your legs?" I asked Julia.

"I have no idea," she answered. "I didn't feel a thing."

This girl has bruises up and down her legs, from soccer.

But as all competitive athletes know, after a physical game like today's, none of that matters.

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Why Obama Won

What I am about to write will not be startling to anyone who monitors the responsible national media, but it may come to a shock to those caught up in the echo chamber of the radical right.

Despite a lousy economy, which normally dooms an incumbent President, Obama won largely because Americans as a whole like him and trust him.

Part of the reason they like and trust him is he is bi-racial. Never forget he is the first non-white President.

Romney, meanwhile, looks, sounds and acts like every other President before Obama. We are, as a people, just tired of that same-old. (That's why I didn't run. :) I don't look right.)

This is not trivial. This is a diverse nation, teeming with people of all races, nationalities, sexual orientations, religions, lifestyles, and hopes for the future.

The Republican Party and its ticket were completely oriented to the past. They looked like the past. They talked from the past.

It's not that minorities and women and gay people or those of us who sympathize with those demographic segments want to vote for people who look or act like them -- far from it.

We just don't want to vote for people who don't get what this is all about.

White men, in fact, have a major positive role in this new coalition, but not if they are the type who tacitly support those idiots who tolerate or rationalize rape, racism, or are so poorly educated they don't know a socialist from a centrist.

Obama won because he is the most appropriate leader for the U.S., circa 2012.

This is an electorate trending toward same sex marriage, legalizing pot (personally, I'm ambivalent on that one), and embracing diversity.

We do not have romantic notions of how hard it will be to build a new America, one that reflects and celebrates our many origins and orientations. We know there is a tribal instinct where people of one stripe tend to hang together.

But we also know our future depends on getting along with one another and recognizing our common humanity.

Finally, we know that climate change is real, and we were grateful the President mentioned it last night, now he has been re-elected.

This, not "socialism," is the great common threat we face. Obama may now be able to do something about that. I hope so. That is the one of the main reasons he got my vote, which I cast on behalf of my 11 children and grandchildren.

Let's get moving on climate change, Mr. President!

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