Amnesia: What Every Two-Year-Old Knows

One of my friends is about to turn 25, and the other night we were discussing our 20s, characterizing the decade as one of restlessness and confusion. I told her, "Dude, we have license to fuck up so badly in our 20s, but we've got to work it out." That is to say, my 20s have been all about trying on different lives to see if they fit, which has meant a few very unflattering outfits. However, I've come to the conclusion that if one refuses to move through the pain of losing or disillusionment, he or she may never feel anything but the pain. Like pain is a permanent attachment--or a permanent attachment to pain.

Staying with the analogy of trying things on, I've had a few lives that felt fashionable for a while (being a student in Italy, interning with famous editors at Random House, working for magazines in San Francisco, embarking on a year-long yoga adventure) and others that busted at the seams (moving in with a badly behaved CEO in London, slaving for a hedge fund in Manhattan). Maybe spontaneously combusted at the seams would be a better description of the latter. Anyway, without these “fittings,” if you will, how would I ever know what I want to put into motion?

Which leads me to the question: What if we considered our failures as mere diagnostic testing? What if the past meant nothing to us except the wisdom and sensibilities we've gained from having gone through it all? (By the way, all of these lives have culminated with the one I have today, living as a mostly blissed out mommy who works with writing students at a small liberal arts college.)

The reason I'm pondering these questions: I watched a totally fascinating documentary tonight called “Unknown White Male.” It's about a man called Doug Bruce who mysteriously developed amnesia early one morning in New York City. He woke up on the subway on March 7, 2003 and did not recognize his surroundings. He had no recollection of what he was doing or who he was. He soon realized he was wearing a backpack, but all it contained was a vile of clear liquid (later identified as medication for a dog), a travel guide to South America and two sets of keys. Since he didn't have any clue who he was, he went to a nearby police station for help. The police noticed his English accent and concluded that he must be English, which, at the time, meant nothing to Doug. After five days in the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Brooklyn, Doug called a phone number scrawled on a scrap of paper he found in the travel guide. He reached a woman who recognized his voice. She told Doug over the phone, “I know who you are. You have a great life, and I'll be there to pick you up in half an hour."

Doug soon found out he had been a successful stock broker who had retired at age 30 to pursue his passion for photography. He owned a large, sparse loft in Manhattan, three cockatoos and two dogs. He spent the next several years meeting family and friends for the first time and creating a new version of himself amidst the relics of his forgotten past. He soon concluded that he did not care if his memory came back and later grew to fear its return.

What excited me about this documentary was watching Doug experience the joys of life for the first time with an adult mind. New York was a new and exhilarating place. He wept the first time he saw the ocean. He fell in love for the first time--the all-consuming and devoted kind. His photography was suddenly elevated to a new level of artistic depth. It was as if he was only left with the sensory faculty of his past--almost like muscle memory of living without ego or cynicism (i.e., what we all enjoyed as small children).

As the mother of two-year-old Landen, I am constantly in the presence of this lack of inhibition (for which I am forever grateful). Before dinner tonight, Landen and I were walking along Seneca Lake and the moon was full and bright. He pointed to it excitedly and ran down the bank toward the lake shore. He stopped on a hill, reached up and grunted--thinking he could somehow grasp the moon in his little hands, fingers spread out like stars. He then stood there with his back to me for a while, his head tilted upward and still. The lake reflected the moonlight like sparks on the water and the moon floated above it, a giant pearl in the purple sky.

This moment reminded me that every moment is original. As every two-year-old knows, our origins lie in this moment and then the next...

Friday Political Rant

I was browsing through the NY Times yesterday and came across an interesting if disturbing article on the current food crisis. This particular article drew a connection between global warming and a shortage of rice. Fair enough. But what is more interesting is the following tidbit, tucked away in the article, far from the headline:

“The global agricultural crisis is threatening to become political, pitting the United States and other developed countries against the developing world over the need for affordable food versus the need for renewable energy. Many poorer nations worry that subsidies from rich countries to support biofuels, which turn food, like corn, into fuel, are pushing up the price of staples.”

Again, this is a completely fair point. Subsidies for biofuel, in particular corn-based ethanol are one of the worst ideas I’ve ever come across. (Beet ethanol is perhaps another matter). But honestly: would the Times have us believe that biofuel subsidies are the only ones that pit the developing world against the rich countries? I can’t imagine ANY agricultural subsidies in the, EU or Japan are very popular among the world’s poor.

Unfortunately, they are currently very popular among American politicians, especially Democrats. It’s all too easy to see why. Nothing gets votes like the promise of subsidies for you and higher tariffs for your foreign competitors. When you consider that Iowa is among the greatest beneficiaries of agricultural subsidies, then it becomes obvious why virtually every presidential candidate this year has spoken favorably of such subsidies, usually well bashing NAFTA and/or immigrants. Brazilian beet-farmers, on the other hand, can’t caucus in Iowa. Even Ox-Fam is mostly run by Brits.

I often wonder why this issue doesn’t get more press. Isn’t this as important as who is bitter, whose pastor said what, etc, etc? If one believes, as I do, that agricultural subsidies and tariffs contribute to the appalling gap between rich and poor countries, then one ought to demand better of our politicians and our press.

The contrast between the three major candidates could hardly be greater. Both Obama and Clinton have campaigned against free-trade, and both would undoubtedly continue the subsidies that pit the haves against the have-nots. (They will, of course, do this out of altruistic concern for the well-being of American farmers!) You can’t really blame them for it. As I said before, virtually every major candidate promised more biofuel subsidies while campaigning in Iowa. The one exception was Senator John McCain of Arizona, who told Iowans bluntly that he did not and would not support such subsidies. Anyone who truly cares about closing the global wealth gap ought to keep this in mind in November.

Beginning to See the Light

Well, like many people with brains in their heads, I was annoyed with this week's debate, and I fumed a bit yesterday as I read accounts of the moderators taking queues from Sean Hannity. I fumed a bit more today as I read details of how Nash McCabe (parodied wonderfully on yesterday's Daily Show) was not a randomly chosen PA voter, but in fact someone interviewed by the NY Times last week about the fact that she couldn't vote for Obama because he didn't wear a flag pin. Still, yesterday evening and this morning I found three wonderful reasons to look past the fuming to something more.

1. I saw posts about Obama's reaction to the whole thing, and how it has included adopting Jay-Z's brush the dirt off your shoulders move. I may just be a dork, but this strikes me as hilarious and incredibly cool. They're coming after you in ridiculous ways so what do you do? Shrug, brush the dirt off ya shoulders, and keep moving on. He won't be derailed, or distracted.
2. Distractions brings me to the second item, last night's Colbert Report. I hope a zillion other people saw it, because Colbert had an amazing night last night. Guests on his show included both Clinton, Obama and John Edwards, who delivered the "EdWORDs" in place of Steven Colbert's nightly "the Word" commentary. It was an action packed half hour, and I'm sure there are some good clips either up or going up on Comedy Central's website as we speak.
3. Finally, I discovered this morning, via Andrew Sullivan's blog, that my favorite election commentators of the season, the guys who brought you the "Be Brave America" You Tube video in response to the 3a.m. ad, have returned. Their latest video is below. Enjoy!
   

... one final note: the title of this post also happens to be the title of an amazing song by the Velvet Underground. If you're not familiar with it, you should check it out!

Love: Is it Wrong or Wright?

I'm going to label this post as a continuation of a theme that I find remarkably important, one that was stirred up quite a bit by last night's farcical debate on ABC. If you watched it, I'm sorry, because I caused my roommate to sit through it with me, and neither one of us enjoyed it one bit. Come to learn today apparently 9 out of 10 questions were written by Sean Hannity who was hidden beneath the moderator desk operating an Avenue Q-style puppet of George Stephanoplis. For more developed coverage of this mockery of what a debate is supposed to be about, visit Daily Kos or any other progressive blog. Take your pick!

Still, I was struck this morning by one piece of the picture, and that is an analysis of the Jeremiah Wright portion of the evening. A few weeks back I posted a quote I found on Andrew Sullivan's blog where Hillary Clinton's pastor lauded Pastor Wright as an important figure whose good works are done a disservice by sound bite politics. Today, Daily Kos highlights the military service that Obama mentioned last night in the debate. You can read their whole post here, but I was struck by the following:

"Who loves America? Jeremiah Wright loved it enough that while Dick Cheney was getting his string of five deferments, Wright voluntarily gave up his student deferment, left college and joined the United States Marine Corps. Wright was valedictorian of his class in Corpsman School. When asked about the sacrifices he'd made, Wright said he was inspired by the words of John Kennedy that he should 'ask what he could do for his country.' "

I hope that before this whole election season is over we see more people stand up and speak out for the sad smear that is being made of someone who seems like a pretty remarkable leader in his community.

Pictures Popping up in Other Places!

I just discovered a photo I took in DC has shown up over at Purple State (a political blog offering "notes from beyond the red/blue state divide) and in the midst of a very interesting entry, no less! I'm really pleased by this, and thought I would just make note of the article. Ahh... internets, how cool are you, you crafty crafty tubes.

Democrats tied in PA (and why that's bad for Obama)

The article offers a fascinating discussion of how the Clinton camp has managed expectations so that disappointing outcomes in previous primaries end up looking like victories or comebacks for Hillary. In all honesty, I think what they describe is spot on, and perhaps more a good place for the Obama camp to focus moving forward, ie: an opportunity more than it's a problem really.

Now, since I'm already blogging about delightful things appearing on Purple State's blog, I might as well toss in this video they put up yesterday:

Stuff _______ Like(s)

Wowzers, it's funny when an idea takes off, huh? Like the bizarre and growing world of lolcats, lolruses, lolpresidents, and all manner of other lolcreatures before it, the new-fangled phenomena of Stuff ____ Like(s) is, apparently, the new black.

As the big daddy blog that started it all, Stuff While People Like burst into so many of our lives earlier this year, documenting the obsessions of white folks with entries on hilarious topics such as "Knowing What's Best for Poor People," "Kitchen Gadgets," and "The Idea of Soccer." The precision of their wit was remarkable, and the accuracy of their commentary hit home in that way that makes you go... hmm, then laugh out loud. Still, a good phenomena can't help but be co-opted in this internet age, hence I have learned in the last week of two new sub-sites that use the same mold (and the same layout) to talk about Stuff _____ Like(s). They are:

Stuff Hill People Like
This is the first sub-site I heard about, through a friend on Facebook, and it provides a nice case study in how these phenomena can spin off into oddness. The Hill People version is either one of two things:

a. it's a niche thing, that is hilarious to the hill people, and who cares what anybody else thinks
b. it attempts to make the eccentricities of the hill available and funny to people beyond it.

Even as someone who lived in DC for awhile, and is quite a political junkie (although I recognize there's a difference between being a political junkie and part of the crowd up on the hill) I think it fails at this second one. One strength here, is that since the "Hill People" in question are, in fact a crowd, this page can use an angle SWPL often does, discussing how you can use knowledge of what white people (or hill people) like to make conversation with them.

Our second example is, perhaps more interesting.

Stuff Nobody Likes

The banner atop this blog displays some obvious choices for things nobody likes (Hitler, Cold Sores, Taxes), but their impressive list of posts displays an eclectic eye for choosing a mixture of the obvious, the absurd, and occasionally very pointed topics. I literally just got wind of this site today, so I'll be flipping around a bit later to read more and develop a more informed opinion, but so far it seems like it could make for some good fun.

In the end... I have a feeling that before the end of the summer we will have seen dozens of new Stuff ________ Like(s) sites pop up for niche groups (Stuff Hindus Like, Stuff Furries Like, Stuff Your Mom Likes) as well as new angles (Stuff White People Cringe At, Stuff Bill Clinton Licks, Stuff Aliens Probe)... but maybe it will all fizzle out leaving SWPL to continue their stream of hilarity.

Update:

Check out an interesting take on Stuff White People Like over at Stamford Talk.

The Welcoming Continues!

Welcome, Heidita to the bizarro world of The Best Way. What better welcome could there be than a round-up of randomness:

• A fun and fascinating interview with Stephen Colbert as he visits my home town, the City of Brotherly Love.
• Wonkette documents Hillary being eaten alive by a bitter bitter flag.
• How odd is it when politicians attack the others for saying stuff they, themselves, said a couple years ago?
• And, finally, from the clever plans foiled department: Yankee Stadium construction crews uncover a Red Sox uniform that one construction worker had buried within the depths of the new building. The worker had hoped the David Ortiz jersey might curse the Yankees... interesting.
  

Political Nonsense of the Day

I thought I would write my first post in response to the able commentary by my good friend and colleague, the aptly named Mr. Bitterness.

Now, I tend to follow politics pretty closely. Not as compulsively, absurdly close as I did in January, but more than I probably should. Right now the only thing driving the news cycle is Bittergate: the uproar surrounding Obama’s explanation as to why some voters feel, well, bitter. Now, I don’t think those comments were terribly well-advised, and coming from a rural background myself, I can see why some people would resent them, coming as they do from a Harvard-educated, cosmopolitan law professor. What I cannot understand is why they’ve caused such widespread hoopla. Whatever problems we have in the States, a lack of issues for presidential candidates to address is not one of them. And in the hierarchy of issues, this one is slightly above how much John Edwards paid for a haircut.

I am reminded once again of why sound bite culture is so depressing. Rather than actually talking about things, we get dragged down into discussing, say, what McCain meant by the now famous “100 years” comment. Is this really any way to pick a president?

Excuse the rant: perhaps I’m just bitter.

Celebrating 300 with a soundtrack!

Probably almost 20 years ago... long before I had a blog... long before I had a radio show (man I wish I still had one)... long before I was even 4 feet tall, my brother and I started an adventure by sitting on the edge of our beds and recording songs off the radio to create a mixtape.

The first of our mixtape adventures were titled Total Silliness and I think there was a follow-up, Total Silliness II. Someday I'll uncover these tapes somewhere in my mom's house. In the years that followed, I have created untold numbers of music mixes for friends. In college I had a show that basically created a weekly mixtape over the air on the campus radio station. Now, in celebration of The Best Way's 300th post, I bring you a mix, presented in a new format:

http://ice9.muxtape.com/

The website Muxtape.com allows people to create mixes by uploading mp3s. Once they're up, anyone can listen to them (that means you!)... and if you like the music, you can hop over to Amazon.com and buy at least some of it on mp3 (or CD, if you like). The link above should take you to a page that looks like a tracklist... but if you click on any song it should start playing. As of when I'm posting, in my experience, muxtapes tend to play best on either a mac or on internet explorer, not on firefox. I hate to say that, as I love Firefox, and it's what I'm using to post right now... but it's true.

Announcement: SOMETHING NEW

Red Handed, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

The Best Way To Have a Good Idea is about to turn 300... 300 posts, that is. I've had the blog up for a little over a year and a half (start was in August/September 06) and I feel like I've recently hit a bit of a stride in terms of posting content at least every few days... often multiple times a day. Still, I've had the feeling like it could be something more dynamic, more fun, even more random than what I alone can generate. For awhile now I've considered taking the step I'm about to describe so...

Today, in the 299th post ever, after a weekend marked by theft, running, driving, and omelets on-the-go, I want to mark the beginning of something special and NEW (and exciting) in the world of this blog!

That new thing is the introduction of the first two official non-John contributors to the blog. I'm pleased to officially add SenorChomp and Teknojo (you may know them by different names) to our contributing crew of randomness seekers, oddness posters, lovers of the strange, the unusual, the beautiful, the sublime. The exact nature of when, what, and how they'll be posting is still to be determined... but what I can say is this:

Other contributors are welcome. I've thought through some people to invite, but if you would like to be a part of the action. If you have ideas that could be part of the "lots," then drop me a line. You can start by commenting on this post, if you don't have other means to contact me and we can take it from there. This is a completely new idea, and may snowball into other bigger changes down the line... but for now, that's what I've got.

So, while I wanted to use this picture along side a post about someone being caught "red handed" I think it works in this regard:

I look into the future of The Best Way and I see more randomness, more voices, more interesting stuff and hopefully more readers, more fun, and a more dynamic conversation!

Here here! 300, here we come!

UPDATE:

VeniceJazz aka DJ Copernicus, a founding member of Silent K and former co-host and master of the bait-and-switch at Live Sex on the Radio... will also join the team, occasionally contributing his random reflections, tidbits, and the hilarity he finds on the internets. He'll do this whenever, of course, he has free time, which is next-to-never, but that's cool.

Out of Touch

I saw a bit about this posted on Americablog, and I couldn't resist posting about it myself. So, recently Obama talked about how people in many parts of the US, Pennsylvania, Indiana, etc. are bitter about economic conditions and the fact that politicians don't seem interested in doing much to help them out. It seems like a pretty straightforward idea, and not something even all that unusual, unless you're looking to sink your teeth in, I guess. Anyway, Clinton and McCain have both attacked Obama for these statements, saying that he's out of touch. CNN covered their responses below. Then, below that you can see Obama's response, which is yet another spot of brilliance in responding to somewhat ridiculous attacks.



Here's what Obama had to say:

DC Weekend Fully Documented

Orange Wall Cherry Blossoms, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So I've completed my project to edit and upload all the pictures I really like from my recent visit to Washington DC. This is one of my favorites, and one out of the last batch, which went up on Flickr this evening.

You can check out the whole set as a slideshow here.

The picture above was snapped out front of a pet shop in Georgetown, and I loved the combination of the cherry blossoms and the brilliant orange wall. The combination made me think of Japanese paintings, and I'm very pleased with how this picture came out.

This last handful had a bunch of favorites so I'll toss up a few more in the next day or two.

I'm pleased by completing this goal... maybe I can start following through on other slightly more ambitious art/photo projects!