Welcome Baby Reese!!!

I'd like to introduce everyone to the lovely Reese, my beautiful, perfect niece. She is currently enjoying her first week of life, after making her entrance into the world on January 12th. She, along with her mother, older sister, and father are doing just fine--even though Dad threw up a couple times in the delivery room. And no, she is not named after a certain Legally Blonde star. Rather, her namesake is my inspiration and late stepfather, Sonny Reese, who we lost to cancer in May of 2004. Reese's birth marks a joyous beginning for a family that has suffered much in the last few years. She makes Sonny's legacy even more of a blessing to all those who knew him and to all those who will get to watch her grow up.

MLK Jr. Day

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! [...]
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning--"my country 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride; from every mountain side, let freedom ring"--and if America is to be a great nation, this must come true.

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968

The Chicken Dance

"The chicken is one of very few birds / That never can fly / But even with his head chopped off / He’ll still give it a hell of a try / How beautiful is that"

- Mugison
(from “The Chicken Song”)

This week, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, so I can relate.

Right-Wing Remark

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains in critical condition, having suffered a severe stroke. He's currently coming out of a drug-induced coma, and doctors will determine how much brain damage he has suffered once he is no longer sedated. I fully relate to these heartwrenching circumstances, having gone through it with my father and my stepfather in the past two years.

However, Religious Right activist and broadcaster Pat Robertson apparently feels that Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for withdrawing Israeli settlers in Gaza. He said in relation to the leader's health crisis: "You read the Bible: This is my land, and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he's going to carve it up and give it away, God says no, this is mine."

So He decides to smite you with a stroke?

Just a clarification--not all Christians think like this. The White House evidently doesn't either. They replied that the statements were "wholly inappropriate and offensive."

And for further clarification, Robertson is also the same guy who rambled on television about U.S. agents assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "because it's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

And, in case you forgot, Robertson once signed a letter that described feminism as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practise witchcraft and become lesbians".

He later said he didn't read the letter completely before signing.

So, anyone up for watching the 700 Club tonight?

More Winter Park Pics

Tifferrific Ski Fun

So I just had the pleasure of spending a week with eight of my college cohorts in Winter Park, CO. Unfortunately, my days of being a superstar snowboarder were cut tragically short after a freak accident on the slopes. The injury sustained is a little too much to be writing about on my blog, but I will answer any personal inquiries and give you all the gory details. Needless to say, I spent much of the week eating Advil and carrying around ice packs. We had a few other mishaps as well: Natalie missed her flight; Liz’s skis got stolen; Logan broke his camera; Mara and Davis got altitude sickness.

But the fact that we all had the time of our lives is a testament to our good-time survival skills. Nothing kept us down. Doctor Marc even made it up to spend New Year’s weekend with me and my group. He successfully survived meeting and/or being interrogated by some of my closest friends, so I think he’s a keeper. If anyone gets this group’s approval, they’ve got to be special.

All in all, it was the best New Year’s of my life, and I’m thinking if it’s any indication, 2006 might be a good one.