Happy Birthday, Boobie

I first saw Will when his mother showed me a picture of a little tan-skinned boy with curly hair sitting on Santa Claus' lap. She told me the boy was her son. I said "congratulations!" because I didn't know what to say.

Within a couple of months I was dating the boy's mother. That was January '95. Boobie, her affectionate name for him then (and sometime's now when the moment feels right), would turn 3-years-old that month. Today he turns 18.

I've always thought I was lucky to get in good with him at such a young age. Had I met him at 7 or 8 or 9, it's possible he would have never liked me. His mom said once that he was basically an adult at age 10. And I think that's true.

Around that time he watched Pokemon a lot-- a show about a boy roughly the same age who traveled independently with his Pokebal. Ash went from tournament to tournament with his ball and his pets fighting more experienced trainers. I can see now how he felt connected to that show.

At 18, Will is smarter than his stronger friends and stronger than his smarter friends. If he even has smarter friends. He's confident, but quiet around people he doesn't know. He sings songs loud and off-key when he chooses to sing. But he hasn't been uncool for years. He never smiles in pictures.

Before his Grandpa Bud died, when Will was 12 or 13 or so, we had gone over for dinner. I think this was near the time that became a weekly event. Bud had a camcorder, and as soon as Will walked in the door Bud asked Will to stand still because he wanted to take his picture.

Will stopped right in front of the camera, and simply looked in. He didn't pose, as most would do. He didn't avert his eyes or talk to others-- he just stood there and let his Great-Grandpa videotape him. Bud had pulled his eye away from the view-finder for a moment to look at him, perhaps a little taken aback by his great-grandson's lack of shyness, his lack of goofiness. Then he took took the camera back, and the two stared honestly at each other for a minute before turning his attention to others.

Today is Will's birthday, and he is over at a friend's house. In the fall he is moving to Columbia to start college. He's played varsity football, and he's beaten Kickapoo. His G.P.A. is good. His A.C.T. score was more than enough.

We're here if you need us, Will. We're not going anywhere.

Remember MLK

Today I was lucky enough to tune in to Imus in the Morning and hear Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. That Imus. Yes.

If you have never actually heard the speech in full, you really should take a couple of minutes to hear the actual audio clip.

I found it on a Web site devoted to American Rhetoric. The site ranked MLK's speech No. 1 out of the 100 top speeches, many of which it has clips for. Check it out.

Left and right

I found this infographic when stumbling on Stumble Upon, and I have to admit I'm fascinated with it.

It compares generalizations about conservatives and liberals in a seemingly consistent, if not totally objective, ways. A lot of it appeared to be based on objective data, but I didn't see the sources.

For example, the conservative parent tends to be more strict, more religious, and produces a more disciplined child, a more self-reliant adult.

The liberal parent tends to be more nurturing, more empathetic, and produces a more reflective child, a more fulfilled adult.

Liberals favor equality. Conservatives prefer freedom. Liberals tend to be urban; conservatives are more rural. Individuals on the left might be attracted to careers like science, teaching, media (I thought that was interesting). Those on the right might prefer to become a police officer, in the military, or in sales.

I can't decide how much I agree with it, but I like it because I think authors were being honest and non-judgmental. So often, any examination of the left or right thinking comes with such obvious bias that you can only agree with the view if you fall on the side being promoted.

The graphic comes from a fabulous Web site that appears to have roots in England (it has an English version), and so I think perhaps the authors' distance from the American political system offers some good insight. In fact, it has a lot of cool charts on all sorts of interesting topics. But, I am getting side-tracked.

Lately, I've been feeling that politics has become so divided that it seems almost impossible to have an honest discussion with anyone about any important civic topic without worrying I'd be saddled with one label or another. Both have negative connotations by the way.

Be honest, If I told you I was a conservative, would you roll your eyes? If I told you I was liberal, would you be disappointed?

According to a recent Gallup poll, in 2009 49.0 percent of Americans saw themselves as Democrats or leaned Democratic. Gallup found that 40.7 percent of Americans identified themselves as Republicans or leaned Republican. The Dem number is down from 2008, and the Reps number is up. In 2003 the two parties were separated by one tenth of one percent.

I didn't see any numbers for bleading-heart commie v. bible-thumping nutjobs. I'd like to think they have about 5 percent each. At most.