Grazing Rites

Better Know A(n Electoral) District: Victoria

Yesterday’s post went off so well I immediately received another request for a BKAD, I was planning on making my bottom-up bailout alternative proposal today but then I remembered how Harper is trying to time this election such that everyone is paying attention to the antics south of the border; time to take care of home first. So I present a semi-in-depth look at the race in Victoria.

The candidates are:

John Cooper (Christian Heritage Party of Canada) 
Jack McClintock (Conservative Party of Canada) 
Anne Park Shannon (Liberal Party of Canada) 
Adam Saab (Green Party of Canada) 
Denise Savoie (New Democratic Party)

I will immediately dismiss the Christian Heritage Party solely because they are not running candidates nation-wide. And if that isn’t reason enough, how does “separation of church and state” sound?

First some history: the district was established in 1924; a Liberal won in 2004 by 2,305 votes, Denise Savoie won in 2006 by 6,783 votes.

Let’s take a look at the candidates.

Jack McClintock (Conservative)
No Wikipedia page, will the trend of this meaning not a serious candidate continue? He’s a police officer who took one year of university and dropped out – not an auspicious beginning but that’s exactly what his bio starts with. He has some decent things to say about health care but his top issue is “Representation in Government” which he says “members of the opposition are outside the decision-making arena, and are unable to influence government policy and action in any constructive way.” This is what I would call the Emerson Doctrine – essentially saying that anyone not in the government party is useless – I’m sure many dictators would agree with this philosophy. I suppose he doesn’t know what private members bills are or understand that the current government is a minority and has to get MPs from the opposition to support whatever bills they want to pass. This to me shows a limited understanding of government – not something you want in an MP. As for the rest of his platform they are just brief statements that barely outline his beliefs and give no specifics whatsoever – they don’t even qualify as mission statements. Think “the children are our future” type clichés.

Anne Park Shannon (Liberal)
Again with no Wikipedia page. Apparently she has experience as a bureaucrat and as much as that word has a negative connotation to it when it comes to serving in government it is definitely an asset when you understand the apparatus that supports you organizationally. Her policy section is divided into 2 categories: “Arts and Culture” and “Early Education and Childcare”. Frankly if she thinks “Arts and Culture” is one of the top two biggest issues facing Canada today she is not my candidate. Childcare is an important issue but I would put something like, oh say the entire future of the planet (read: the environment) above “Arts and Culture”. What do her policy stances boil down to? She’s upset at the Conservatives for cutting funding to the arts and she blames Jack Layton for no Childcare. That’s right; she thinks the NDP is to blame for no Childcare. She may understand the nuts-and-bolts of government but her view of the larger picture is that of an abstract piece. (Like how I got that art reference there? Don’t expect much more of that).

Adam Saab (Green)
No Wikipedia page. He graduated UBC this year. His primary issue is Arts and Culture. What is it with this riding? Doesn’t anyone know or care that we are, for example, in a war right now? His website is a sparse collection of links. Clearly not a serious candidate but if he somehow wins, I will announce my candidacy for public office as I am clearly more qualified than he is.

Denise Savoie (NDP)
Her background is a teacher and apparently she joined a coalition to make the city more bicycle-friendly. Sigh. She is currently the NDP’s Intergovernmental Affairs Critic, Post-Secondary Education Critic, Literacy Critic and Human Resources Deputy Critic (for Training). Her primary issues currently are homelessness, environmental protection, child care, and health care. On health care she wants more nurses and plans to fight privatization both of which I agree with her on.

Conclusion
Geez, I dunno, I guess I have to give this one to the NDP candidate. She beats the only other person with relevant experience, the Liberal, both in relevant experience and her platform. This riding has a sorry selection of candidates I must say and while I would probably vote NDP I wouldn’t exactly be skipping on my way to the polls.

Let me take a different approach. You pick the issue that matters to you most; I’ll tell you who you should vote for: If you think Arts & Culture is the most important, pivotal issue in this election you should vote Liberal or Green - however I feel the need to point out that you are also an idiot. If you think the environment is the most important issue vote Green or NDP. If you think the personal ambition of your MP is the most important thing (although I can’t really see this mattering to anyone but the candidate, his family, and his staff), vote Conservative. If Health Care, Child Care, and Homelessness are your key issues then vote NDP.

Good night and good luck.

Better Know A(n Electoral) District: New Westminster – Coquitlam

I have a Political Science Honours degree, a family, and I would like to think I’m generally seen as a pretty responsible and informed guy. As such during an election cycle it is not uncommon for people to ask my opinion on whom to vote for. They’re not so much asking me to tell them how to vote but rather to help them identify their priorities and inform them about the candidates, parties, and policy platforms that suit their interests and beliefs. In this particular election, as I’ve mentioned before, there’s no single party that has my complete support. In this election I feel none of the leaders are perfect and no party platform has a clear lead against the others so I feel this election we must look at the local candidates to make informed decisions and thus I humbly offer my research and analytical services.

I’ve put it off for awhile but someone who regularly requests my input had asked about this district so I’d best be getting to it since advance polls open this week. So I present a semi-in-depth look at the race in New Westminster-Coquitlam.

The candidates are:

Dawn Black (New Democratic Party)
Lewis C. Dahlby (Libertarian Party of Canada)
Michelle Hassen (Liberal Party of Canada)
Yonah Martin (Conservative Party of Canada)
Marshall Smith (Green Party of Canada)
Roland Verrier (Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada)

I will immediately dismiss the Libertarian and Marxist-Leninist Parties solely because they are not running candidates nation-wide.

First some history: the district was established in 2003; a Conservative won in 2004 by 113 votes, Dawn Black won in 2006 by 9,928 votes.

Let’s take a look at the candidates.

Yonah Martin (Conservative)
She claims the Liberals are “just interested in cutting taxes for large corporations” which as far as I can tell is not only untrue but completely nonsensical, particularly when the Conservative party keeps drawing attention to the Liberal Carbon Tax which would be levied on corporations. She also wants to “develop northern resources” which to me reads like offshore drilling and strip mining and yet somehow at the same time she wants to “deal with climate change in the north” and “protect the northern environment”. For one this contradicts a goal of developing resources and for another it showcases a remarkable misunderstanding of climate change. You can’t just “deal with” climate change, a vague proposition to begin with, in a single area. As well why is she advocating so much for the north when she doesn’t represent that area? This is also illustrated by some of her other areas of focus like crime which I don’t believe is a significant issue in the riding. Two areas I can get behind are environmental protection against flooding and senate reform. But the lack of depth of her policy positions and contradictory claims make anything she says somewhat suspect in my opinion. Her background, for those of you interested in such things, is teaching for 20 years and heavy involvement in the Korean community.

Michelle Hassen (Liberal)
She doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page so I largely had to rely on her website for information. I’m pleased to see she puts Health Care at the top of her agenda but her policy stance is thin and vague – frankly she reminds me of Sarah Palin both in appearance and lack of depth. Overall her website lacks specifics and wisdom – she puts up a tiny paragraph or two on issues she thinks are important but is painfully vague and lacking in specifics. Frankly all this leads me to believe that the Liberal Party, and perhaps the candidate herself, don’t think she has a serious shot at winning. The one glimmer of hope is that she seems committed to ongoing Afghanistan involvement.

Marshall Smith (Green)
No Wikipedia entry for this person either. He’s a blogger disguised as a candidate! His website is just posts of him writing about stuff, no organization, no policy section. My first impression was the he seemed a little young and I tried to put that aside but it’s clear he’s not a serious candidate. His position on Afghanistan, which took some digging to find, makes the frustrating mistake of thinking it’s just like Iraq. That said he may be a serious contender in a future election. But if this guy wins and Sarah Palin becomes VP I’m announcing my candidacy for…something.

Dawn Black (NDP)
Finally someone with experience! She’s a champion for women’s issues; specifically fighting violence against women, protecting a woman’s right to choose, and she proposed anti-stalking legislation that was adopted by Parliament. She is currently the NDP Defense critic. All this I got from her Wikipedia file but it says clear things to me that frankly make me wish I could vote for her. A quick glance at her website only reinforces this, she has two separate tabs for issues – separated into local and national. To give you a sample her immigration stance is that low-wage workers don’t help the economy but we need to make recertification easier for people like nurses and remove filing fees for refugees and victims of abuse. Appropriate, detailed, and shows a depth of understanding of multiple sides of a problem and strong yet agreeable and practical moral conviction. And her introduction of private members bills proves that she’s not just some quite line-towing backbencher – she gets things done and has a mind of her own. It sounds like a slogan but she seems to me someone who will actually stand up for her constituents and the things she believes in.

Conclusion
In case I was unclear, VOTE DAWN BLACK, NDP in the New Westminster – Coquitlam riding. Even if you don’t agree with everything she says she seems to be the only serious, qualified candidate who actually gets things done. It’s a no-brainer!

Is it possible to be allergic to Cheez Whiz?

Sorry for no post yesterday, I was pretty sick and spent most of the day sleeping and then when I did try to post my internet crapped out. Stupid Shaw.

Anyways, there was some good news on my sick day, it turns out my awesome partner was able to score some Canucks tickets for next Wednesday through her work.

Although it’s a preseason game it is against Calgary and I think we are either in or very near to The Molson Zone, assuming it still exists. So, yea, thinking about wearing a helmet and some padding to the game. And if anything happens to me at the game I want to say now for the record that Burton is my son’s Godfather, I want Calvin to get my old hockey cards, and Jon can have my PDA.

So I catch an ad today in which Steven Harper says “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”.

Why is he parroting John McCain? I mean, it’s not like that phrase has worked out so well for McCain. The latest poll has Obama up by 9 with 83% of Americans thinking the country is on the wrong track.

Now the thing is, I actually agree with Harper on this one – the fundamentals of our economy ARE strong, although I attribute that to a strong central bank, enforced regulation, and the Canadian culture.

But why on Earth, with Obama’s popularity in Canada somewhere near 80% would a man running for office want to copy, verbatim, something McCain said that got him in trouble?

At the very least you’d think Harper would add a line about how we’re different from Americans with regards to our economy but no, he just comes off as McCain for Canada.

I admit I’m concerned about a Conservative majority and many polls I’ve seen seem to validate that concern but what would be worse is if they get it without trying. That would only further embolden them, it would convince them they’re on the right path and that Canadians won’t hold them accountable for, for example, making a mockery of global environmental initiatives, conferences, and agreements.

Plus there’s the conservative candidate who lost his real estate license for serious ethics breaches and the Agriculture minister of all people who decided it was a good idea to make fun of the people who died or got sick from recent meat contamination.

But who is going to save us?

The NDP are having even more serious problems on account of their failing to vet their candidates appropriately.

The Greens are gaining ground with more detailed policy prescriptions and getting in the leadership debate plus their MP, although I would argue he’s a gimmick until he’s actually elected while running as a Green. But as much progress as the Greens are making, they aren’t going to form the next government.

The Liberals have been making some progress lately but as far as I’m concerned most of that is to due the people who lost the bid for leader. Credit to Dion for mobilizing his former rivals so well and quickly but the best Liberal stuff I’m hearing lately is coming from Bob Rae or Ujjal Dosanjh.

And the thing is the election is pretty much up for grabs. Remember, Obama has 80% support in Canada – the first person or party to, slickly of course, associate themselves with Obama can win this thing.

Here’s one way to do it. As I mentioned before, bring Afghanistan back to the table. But in order to effectively talk about the future of Afghanistan you have to acknowledge that a change in leadership south of the border will have a significant impact on that situation. Commit yourself to assisting with Obama’s efforts to refocus on Afghanistan once he’s elected and pulls American troops put of Iraq and you’re home.

It’s pretty much a race. First to do it wins largely because the second they do it they can point the finger at the other two major parties and say they’ve been playing politics while Canadians are dying in a deteriorating situation. All you need is a sentence and if something prevents you from saying it, leak it through anonymous backchannels. Just saying “While my opponents have been attacking everyone else I’ve been developing a comprehensive strategy to work with an Obama administration for success in Afghanistan to ensure the Canadian lives lost in that conflict have not been in vain and secure North America and the world against the threats of the twenty-first century while promoting peace and the stability needed for the rebuilding of Afghanistan into a sustainable ally and trading partner”. Boom, you get the Conservatives who want more military spending, the Greens with the environmental nod of sustainability and agreement with a big part of their plan, and the NDP who lean left and probably all love Obama.

Section 8 of the Bush Administration’s bailout proposal contains just 32 words.

“Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

This is the government equivalent of typing IDDQD into Doom.

With less than 4 months left in the Bush presidency and Paulson having repeatedly stated that he is leaving his job at that time this section HAS to be given greater scrutiny. It’s been mentioned on The Huffington Post and Countdown with Keith Olbermann but it really needs to be a deal breaker in Congress.

Here’s exactly how I see it playing out if this slips through like The Patriot Act did. The government bails out select companies spending $700 Billion taxpayer dollars (although really a loan from the Chinese but let’s put that dimension aside for now); if Paulson has his way it’s free money. 4 months later Paulson leaves his position and pursues work in the private sector. One of these companies he just gave a huge give of free money to hires him, gives him a do-nothing job with a fancy title, obscene pay, and perks that would make Jack Harkness blush and Richard Branson jealous. Thanks to Section 8, his conflict of interest cannot be brought into question – in fact pretty much nothing can be brought into question.

Paulson already has ties to Goldman-Sachs, one of the potential beneficiaries of the bailout.

On the campaign front McCain is talking out of both sides of his mouth; one moment saying he doesn’t want one person to have too much power and the next speaking in support of that which gives Paulson nearly limitless power, and by extension of that the executive branch.

Ever give 2 weeks notice at a job you didn’t like? Remember that sense of freedom? Somewhere in the back of your mind you probably thought of doing something absolutely crazy on your last day. What were they going to do, fire you?

Ever wonder if Bush feels this way?

Helping the rich, advancing the interests of his friends, business partners, and campaign supporters are old songs he plays often. Transferring more and more power to the executive, well, that’s just Bush’s thing. So isn’t it reasonable to suspect that he and his buddy Paulson are going to do that only worse, to unprecedented levels, on their way out? Help their friends and themselves and screw the country and global financial markets and grab a limitless get out of jail free card along the way? Seems more than just likely to happen, it’s what Bush has been doing for 7 years now.

Here’s more on Section 8: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/dirty-secret-of-the-bailo_n_128294.html

As I was leaving the house today I noticed the Dow had tumbled 200 points on word that the democrats were going to make sure the bailout was not a blank cheque. Really? What financial professional EXPECTED it to be without any conditions? Why should this come to a surprise to anybody and frankly, why would the market see this as a bad thing? Wanting something for nothing is what got us into this mess – a more responsible and engaged government oversight can only help stabilize things at this point.

And I don’t mean McCain responding to the financial crisis by trying to fire the head of the SEC which even the President doesn’t have the power to do, or on the next day wanting to fire the head of the FEC – the Federal Election Commission.

The other day I heard someone on CNN say that it was a cultural issue, at first I thought she was crazy but as she made her argument it started to make more and more sense. She said traditionally bankers were seen as very cautious but over the last little while, she didn’t give a time frame but I’d suggest 7 to 8 years or so, this caution has been replaced with a culture of wanting something for nothing. The instant gratification culture she called it, although you could just as easily call it the debt culture.

Spendthrifts want what they want and they want it now and if it means going into debt they don’t care – this is what we would call an irresponsible spender. Now society is made up of all sorts of people and I’m not out to say these people are wrong, some manage to juggle their various credit card and other debts and somehow make it work but I think we can all agree that we wouldn’t want our financial institutions behaving this way. Thankfully Canadian banks are much more pragmatic, due partly no doubt to a strong central bank and logical enforced regulation. But south of the border with republicans like Bush and McCain deregulating everything paved the way for this cultural shift in the American banking community.

Plus the example set by CEOs who only look at the next quarter, and if they fail getting a huge severance package, trickled down to the lower levels so that it ended up being that in many cases only the customer would be seriously considering the next 30 years not just the next 3 months. But that wasn’t the standard many of us grew up with, the trustworthy, stable, cautious banks didn’t seem to take unnecessary risks and so many people were unaware of the change – they just saw low interest rates not knowing that they weren’t stable or as affordable as they seemed because the banks hadn’t lied to them or misled them before to such a degree. But removing the laws that kept the banks responsible allowed these firms to behave like criminals of the previous decade but without the direct consequences. And so now, thanks to republican deregulation, it’s the taxpayers that have to face the consequences and this new irresponsible market is surprised that someone in government actually wants to hold people accountable not just for the mess but for the funds that should with a little luck get us out of it?

If the American taxpayer were just to had over money without conditions it would just further feed into the culture of irresponsibility in the financial sector that brought us to the brink in the first place. So rather than panic and sell your stocks because the generous government might just be forced into behaving responsibly why not ride it out and take this development as a good sign that we’re not just addressing the current shortfalls but the fundamental problems and the culture that brought us here? Am I the only person who sees the democrats growing a backbone on this thing as good? Responsibility isn’t just a word to grown at; it’s the path to financial success, independence, and stability so let’s try embracing it because just feeding your desires without a thought of tomorrow doesn’t seem to be working.

It’s economics that gave us the phrase “there’s no free lunch”, it would be nice if the economists and investment bankers would remember it.

Note: Delayed post. These issues have since been addressed but since I didn’t have time to write anything today and this was ready to go I figured it’d buy me time.

I used to have more free time, free will, time to relax, and days off.

I haven’t had a real day off since well before the end of fair, 3 weeks at least. It was my own stupid fault I guess. I decided to spend a bunch of time with the kid first weekend I had off. Well actually that’s not entirely true, I got stuck watching him on my own early in the morning the first day I had off after fair. Couldn’t really sleep in despite my body screaming for rest, I wasn’t given a choice or much notice. So instead of resenting the situation I found myself in I tried to turn it into a positive making it a special weekend for the little guy. I knew my friend Jon was coming next weekend and I wouldn’t be around as much then so I figured it would balance out.

You see, Jon’s in town so very rarely that there’s an accepted convention that when he’s around I clear my schedule and try to make time to hang out with him because it doesn’t happen all that often.

Well apparently something changed because that’s no longer the accepted convention. This time I had to make time to spend more time with the person I live with, the person I see every day and could spend time with reasonably easily most weekends with a little help from grandparents but, for some reason I never discovered, wanting to spend time with my friend that I often have to go half a year without talking to was no longer given the priority clearance it used to receive. To me it’s not a question of priorities, it’s just simple math, economics if you will, trading something in relative abundance for something else in short supply.

But that’s not all, I also had to give up a huge chunk of another day because that was the magic day the friend of my partner decided to buy furniture and needed my partner to transport it. Except they showed up an hour later than planned, took longer than planned, and in the end didn’t need the help! I nearly lost a job because of this (although it worked out in the end), to say nothing of the precious rare time with my best friend. And when I seemed to express some dismay about this, prior to it happening, I was left feeling sorely in the wrong.

Then on the third day I had to not see my friend because the person I live with just had to see a movie with their sister on that exact day. They got the movie times wrong so it took them 5 hours to see the movie, they tell me they sent me a text informing me of the delay but I’m still waiting to receive it.

So to recap I had to give up time with a friend I’m lucky to see once in 6 months one day for spending time with the person I live with every day, one day for the person I live with to NOT help people who can’t be on time to save their lives, and one day to see a movie. Any one of these things wouldn’t have been a big deal, but all three back-to-back-to-back left me a little depressed.

NDP View: Shhhh!
Finding a clear stance on the NDP website is a lost cause, even searching the word gets you nothing straightforward in the first two pages of results and how many voters will even put that much effort into it? Clearly Layton is either backing away from or keeping quiet his plan to end Canadian involvement in the Afghanistan mission, although other candidates have mentioned it as one of the four pillars of the NDP platform. And yet he attended Obama’s official nomination at the DNC. Square that circle if you can.

Liberal View: Out by 2011
Dion claims Harper followed his lead by announcing a firm deadline of 2011 for the Afghanistan mission.

Conservative View: Not a key issue
Afghanistan does not appear on the “Key Issues” page. Clearly a war is not a key issue to the conservatives. The conservative website lacks a search feature so I guess our quest for information, guidance, or leadership ends there.

Green View: Afghanistan is actually important!
I can’t believe I’m saying this but the Green Party seems to be the only party with any depth of understanding of the issue (indeed the only party who sees it as an important issue at all) and the only party with a detailed plan. For the full plan go here: http://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/visiongreen/partfive#_Toc180047658 but essentially they want to shift the organizational structure from NATO to the UN by February 2009 with a corresponding troop drawdown and support the Poppies For Medicine initiative that wants to convert poppy harvest from the drug trade to lifesaving medicines.

Conclusion: Greens. No, Really
I can’t believe this but the Greens seem to be the only party willing to be leaders on this issue. You know, this minor issue of war. The have a depth of understanding and analysis that acknowledges the multiple sides, forces, and issues involved. It respects the Afghans while realistically facing the mistakes that have been made and has a plan for the future that understands the organizational structure and challenges. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like they’re commitment to withdrawal of troops but versus the one-dimensional commitments of the NDP, Conservatives, and Liberals the Green position actually seems dynamic enough to respond to the realities on the ground.

I don’t want to sound like a jerk here but I am truly, deeply shocked at this revelation. I have sorely underestimated the Green Party and I sincerely apologize for that. I was operating under an old paradigm for the party and frankly had less faith in the Canadian will for progress and change than I should have. I’ve been so caught up in the Obama phenomenon and placed so much of my faith and hope for the future in that campaign I completely failed to notice a fundamental shift in the politics at home. I can’t wait for the debate; May is going to clean up on this issue if she isn’t shouted down.

If you give a damn about Afghanistan, the war, our troops, or the future of international relations you owe it to yourself and your country to give the Greens’ position a serious look. If the war and our military is your issue the Greens are the only people taking you seriously.

So the Grazing Rites scorecard for this election so far is NDP 1, Green 1, everyone 0. Stay tuned.

The other night Keith Olbermann was criticizing Sarah Palin for suffering from SAD and taking steps to manage her illness. As someone who suffers from this to a limited extent I can’t say I agree with him. She took steps to deal with the issue and used her own money to make it happen, frankly that’s one of the most responsible things she’s ever done.

I’m defending Sarah Palin – stand by for the Rapture.

Today I was a little over half way to work when I noticed I was feeling a little weird; negative thoughts kept cropping up in my mind and then I realized it was the first overcast day in quite some time. I could literally feel the SAD kicking in, which is very strange. It probably didn’t help that I was watching the Torchwood episode A Day In The Death which is, suffice to say a little depressing and not just a bit morbid.

It’s like a bit of a midlife crisis really. The first, easiest escape would seem to be buying something to distract/please yourself but thankfully my no gifts for myself rule for the month of my birth prevents that – I’m often surprised seeing how my own rules protect me sometimes.

Anyways I put those thoughts aside and went on about my day. Then in the afternoon I heard that West Jet had dropped their egregious fuel surcharges that nearly doubled the cost of many flights along with other service fees AND they were having a 40% off seat sale. I could take my family to Edmonton for a mini-break for less than $800 total…but then I realized my partner didn’t have as many vacation days left as I thought and other things reminded me of why that just wouldn’t work. It’s not like I’m upset about it, I still have Vegas to look forward to. I even priced out how much it would cost for her to join us in Vegas for a few days, less than $400 but for only a couple days it’s not a very efficient use of money.

I really should just stick to one vacation at a time.

Although I can’t help but wonder if I could convince Jon to go to Orlando for his birthday for a week for nearly the exact same amount we’re paying for Vegas (around $600)…temperatures range from 11°C to 22°C in February which is much colder than September to be sure but gets much less rainfall than it does in September…

Just a thought.

Monday: Dow drops 504 points. Tuesday: Regains 141 points. Today: dropped 449 points. So for the first 3 days of the week the net is down 812 points.

You probably won’t see that number as it would scare the crap out of people and things would only get worse. So why am I throwing it out there? Well for one I’m curious, secondly I like to know what’s going on, and thirdly one can’t help but think of Rule of Acquisition #167 “Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit”.

In ideal terms that would mean it might be a good time to buy a stock at an all-time low, then wait for January and watch it skyrocket. Unfortunately I have neither the experience nor access to do so much less the disposable income and willingness to risk what I have.

In fact it’s exactly those things that have insulated me from the problem as I invest very conservatively. As Hanok said, “only a fool would risk losing what he has”, which is ironic because he was arguing with a Ferengi at the time! Whatever, as Walt Whitman said, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself; I am large, I contain multitudes.”

But I do think the ideal time to buy American currency may be on the horizon. I watched the currency market carefully today. From 9am to 11am the Canadian dollar fell slowly, then starting at 11am it took off and finished well above where it started the day (all times EST).

I left instructions with my financial advisor (my son calls her “nana”) that when the purchasing price of US currency hits 1.0357 Canadian or lower to start buying.

That’s right, if things go as I predict then I’m getting back into currency speculation. For one thing I need US money for my trip to Vegas in November but if we hit parity or better prior to November 4th I might just buy some purely for speculation’s sake because I believe three things…
1) Things are going to get worse before they get better, just look at who’s in the White House
2) Obama is going to win on November 4th
3) Once Obama wins, or perhaps not until he’s sworn in or shortly thereafter, many more people are going to seriously look at everything he’s said he’ll do and all of his plans and they, like I, will see that they’re smart, innovative, and likely to be highly effective. Investor confidence will be bolstered domestically and abroad and the American economy and dollar will begin a significant recovery
I believe in Obama enough to put some money on it. And if you buy when things are cheap and just wait for a return to normalcy or even better days and then sell well, that’s the basics of making a profit in any market.

Let’s take a look at some specific plans I have faith in.

Obama wants to make a commitment to new, green, renewable energy sources. A pillar of that plan is wind energy. He plans to put American steelworkers back to work for a decade creating an assload of windmills and all the while offer retraining in new more sustainable industries for those workers. That one plan alone could be enough to put the economy back on track – the steel industry pretty much held up the American economy once, it can do so again. Plus the retraining means that once the big production push is over those workers will still be competitive in a global economy and some will remain in the industry to maintain those windmills, build replacements, and if the technology is compelling enough perhaps have some serious exports to green-leaning nations like Canada.

Obama wants to give a $4,000 a year tuition credit to students who serve their communities – I believe this will result in higher productivity and a more motivated, educated, and experienced workforce.

Obama wants healthcare for pretty much everyone – a healthy worker is a productive worker and preventative affordable healthcare will save money in the long run as early care is generally much cheaper and more effective than emergency care once a disease or injury goes untreated.

There you have it, 3 strong pillars to create, support, and maintain a swift, strong, sustainable economic recovery.

Wants so wrong about wanting to make a few bucks off of it?

It won’t be my first adventure in currency speculation either. Back when Bill Clinton was facing impeachment the then incredibly strong and resilient American dollar was on a rare decline. I looked into the articles of impeachment and had paid close attention to Bill since his run for the White House began and I knew it wouldn’t stick. I also knew that once the verdict was in the American dollar would jump slightly. I was still in school at the time so clearly my means were modest but just by buying when confidence was low and then selling shortly after the acquittal I made something like $150 which I then used to take my friends to the fair, with the help of my employee discount. $150 just for moving money around for a month.

And here’s the safety as I see it. What if the impossible happens and McCain wins? As I (and many others) see it he’s waging a defensive war on the economy. What that means is he can’t really win on a weak dollar, so the recovery has to begin BEFORE the election in order for him to win and if that’s the case then you just sell in November instead of January or February and still make a profit.

It’s not fool-proof and I haven’t committed to anything yet beyond my Vegas walking around money ($500 - $700) but rest assured I’ll be thinking long and hard about it once that threshold of 1.0357 has been reached (enough to buy $700 American for less than $725 Canadian). And if we hit parity it’s nearly a foregone conclusion I’ll be buying some assuming I have funds available. If things go down as I hope perhaps I can earn enough to take the family on vacation or something, packages to Mexico in late January seem quite reasonable these days.

Oh, wait, aren’t we supposed to be in economic turmoil?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150293866586

I’m just saying…

So I’m on the TripAdvisor forums today and there are two threads getting a lot of attention talking about how concerns over the economy are causing people to delay or cancel their trips to Las Vegas. I had this to say…

“My girlfriend can’t afford a vacation this year (either time or money) but I can so I’m going with a couple friends from the navy. I work hard and invest conservatively so I have no problem paying for the trip - actually pre-paid flight and accommodations last month.

The day before we booked we were actually joking about how we’re not going to have fun but to bolster the US economy - we’re not going for our own enjoyment, it’s a sacrifice we’re making for the global economy.

I’m not a gambler and not very extravagant either, we’re staying at the Stratosphere to cut down on costs. Of course my friend just went and dropped a grand on a new digital camcorder to document the trip but the navy pays well so more power to him.

Actually, I look at it this way - when dividends are small it’s the time to spend. Inflation will make your money worth less in the future than it is today so spend it now while you can get more bang for your buck; then when the markets recover go back to safe investing to keep you ahead of inflation. If everyone operated that way the economy would be much more stable - save when times are good and spend when times are bad. It’s counter-intuitive I know but if you have no debt and have some savings it’s the way to go. Hey, if all you people delaying or cancelling your trips means I don’t have to wait as long for stuff and can maybe score some discounts because not as many people are there I don’t mind a bit!”

“When someone asks you about me, and they will, would you tell them I said… ‘I do this not for myself but for you.’ I know, I know - enigmatic, provocative. They’ll understand. Well, goodbye to you all. Many thanks.” -Quinn ‘Death Wish’ (VOY)

Ridiculously Expensive ($150+)
1 TB+ SATA Hard Drive
Camcorder
HDTV (at least 26’’)
Laptop
Rock Band (Wii)
Trip to…just about anywhere

Reasonable ($25-$150)
Dress Pants Size 32×30 (no blue please)
Dress Shirt Size 15 33/34 (no button down collars please)
DVDs (see below)
Flat-Front (unpleated) Khakis Size 32×30 (no blue please)
Playhouse / TheatreSports Tickets
Red Steel (Wii)
Rockport Dress Shoes (size 8 Wide)
Scene It
Sweater (V neck, no stripes)
WiiMote
WiiPlay

Ridiculously Inexpensive (Under $25)
American Gift Card Sent to New Voyages in My Name (http://www.newvoyages.com)
Babysitting
Black Dress Socks (Gold Toe and/or Macgregor brand)
Fancy Earbuds
James Darren – This One’s From The Heart CD
Jockey Briefs (medium)
Obama pennant
Pet Shop Boys – PopArt CDs
Pet Shop Boys: It Couldn’t Happen Here (The Pet Shop Boys Film)
Slim camera case of Sony Cybershot
Wii Points

Don’t forget Gift Receipts, just in case

DVDs
24 (Season 6)
Blue Harvest
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Clerks 1 & 2
Doctor Who (2005 and after - region 1)
Hustle (TV series)
Sarah Jane Adventures
Sex & the City (Seasons 4 and 6 Part Two)
Star Trek: The Animated Series
The Big Bang Theory
The West Wing (All Seasons)
Torchwood

Please Do NOT Buy

Anything with a stripe across the chest
Fragrance
Full screen DVDs (except TV shows of course)
Hats
Jeans
Star Trek Books (have them all)
Ties (don’t wear them, have tons)
T-Shirts (have more than I can store)

So I got a tip last night on a lead for a good job for the upcoming federal election, today that tip blew up in my face but it’s too late, the ball’s rolling now. Tonight I plan to apply in person for the riding in which I live. I’m awesome, have an awesome resume, awesome experience, and awesome references so they should at least let me hold the door for people.

As I’m polishing (after dusting off) the old resume an e-mail comes in from where I worked the last municipal election, they want me back – I’m happy to oblige and with a little luck, bring my friends.

Then I see a headline about how the NDP are reserving ridings for women and minorities in the next provincial election. I remember hearing about this awhile back when they made the decision but now they’re giving those ridings an extra $5,000 each. 15 ridings will be for women and 5 for minorities or people with disabilities.

Now I’m all for equal opportunity but this is affirmative action. Why can’t the voters in those ridings get the best applicants regardless of gender, race, or mobility? Why aren’t the NDP doing everything they can to win this election? Does it really empower someone to say to them, you’re not the best candidate but because you’re a woman/minority/disabled-person not only do you get to run but we’ll give you extra money for the campaign? Personally it would make me feel unworthy and I’d drag that self-doubt all through the campaign. I wouldn’t be a person or even a candidate; I’d be a symbol and a half-hearted, misguided, self-defeating symbol at that.

I’m tired of the provincial liberals but if the NDP aren’t going to do all they can to end their reign of terror what hope is there? This is institutionalized discrimination that in my opinion undercuts exactly what it attempts to accomplish.

Don’t agree? Picture this:

20 Sarah Palins.

Last night I was getting ready for bed when I noticed something that made me rather sad, my blue AE golf shirt had developed a hole; right in the middle of the chest. Its days were officially over.

So what, it’s just a shirt, right?

No, it’s not just any shirt.

It’s a shirt I bought back in my GS days to match a couple Supervisors working under me. It was great fun. We’d walk the grounds in our blue shirts that didn’t look like any uniform item and people would wonder what department we worked for. We posed for some great pictures that year, pictures I submitted to go along with an article I wrote for The Province just last year. So the last time I was in the newspaper I was wearing that shirt.

I wore that shirt to the one and only time I got dragooned into participating in the corporate golf tournament (my long game would make anyone consider resigning in disgrace), I came in dead last but I got some compliments on the shirt and a great picture.

I wore that shirt in Orlando, a trip that resulted in some fantastic photos particularly the one of my girlfriend and me in front of the Universal sign which more-or-less matched the colour of my shirt.

I’m wearing that shirt is 3 of my all-time favorite pictures. I was planning on wearing it in Vegas in November.

Good night sweet shirt, we will never look upon your light again.

Let’s face facts; the leadership pool for the top job in the nation is a crap shoot this time around.

Harper is an automaton who refuses to face the press and seems to think the phrase ‘freedom of information’ is a curse while making a mockery of environmental policy. Dion’s a bit of a bumbling idiot only selected due to a bizarre, outdated, and overly complex nominating process at the convention. Layton seems to be against whatever the government is for, leading to positions that I can’t support like leaving Afghanistan – I understand he’s opposition and he’s doing a much better job of it than the official opposition but he comes off as purely reactionary and little else. May had a questionable rise to leadership in her party and the fact is they won’t be forming a government anytime soon. It’s mathematically impossible for the Bloc to form the government so I won’t even bother discussing them.

They’re not completely without merit mind you, just not enough merit to warrant your vote at present.

Harper hasn’t driven us into a Bush-like ditch but he’s had a minority government and in such a situation the power of the executive is extremely curtailed; if the best thing we can say about him is what he hasn’t done, then he doesn’t deserve your vote. Dion could be another Chrétien I suppose, and I’m not sure how to feel about that but again, not a good reason to vote for or against someone. Layton could be a good leader he just needs to grow a consistent backbone – yes, the NDP has traditionally been strong and vocal critics of the government but he needs to acknowledge some areas where he agrees with others because if the NDP did somehow form a government (Obama endorsement?) it will be a minority and he will need to work with others. May needs to gain credibility and notoriety; yes she was the leader when the Greens got their first MP but given that it was a party switch rather than winning an actual election that’s not a proper accomplishment, it’s a gimmick. And if the Bloc wants to form a government they need to grow a pair and dare to run candidates outside of Quebec and they need more comprehensive and dynamic policy for the nation as a whole, which is redundant to say is never going to happen – not without a major party overhaul.

So in conclusion, the Prime Minister and potential Prime Ministers at this point don’t deserve your vote and their cult of personality or lack of same should really have no bearing on how you vote. Unless there’s one of those game-changers you need to look at your local representatives and the issues you care about. Don’t vote for a Prime Minister or strategically, vote for your MP or issues that matter to you.

With the McCain campaign imploding south of us (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c) and Pakistan looking likely to stabilize I think we can really, honestly, and truly vote our conscience this year. Wouldn’t that be nice? Voting for something or someone close to your life rather than voting against someone or something you fear?

While I was very tempted to discuss the latest in the Palin saga, like how Republicans tried and failed to pull the lead investigator into the ethics probe on TrooperGate that’s exactly what Stephen Harper wants. That’s right, he’s timed this election to take his last stab at a majority while we’re all paying attention to US politics.

It’s not going to work on me, and I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t work on you.

So in my first installment, let’s take a look at Child Care policy stances. Before I continue I should add two caveats. 1) The election was just called so not all parties are as ready as others with policies. 2) I only took somewhat cursory glances at the big 4 parties’ websites – further digging may have given better, more detailed results. Rest assured I’m confident I’ll revisit this issue before General Election Day.

Conservative View
They think giving families $100 a month makes child care affordable. This is the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on a severed arm. It may help a little but it’s really just a drop in the bucket. In my specific situation it pays for about 12%. And that’s just what they’re doing now – they seem to have no plans to do more if elected.

NDP View
They understand that $100 barely does anything, they want to make child care as available as Health Care; which is to say equal levels of equality regardless of location or economic class.

Liberal View
No policy found. This doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist but if you have to dig that much for it, is it really a priority?

Green View
No policy found. This doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist but if you have to dig that much for it, is it really a priority?

Conclusion
On this issue at this time, I see the NDP having not only the superior policy but better understanding of the issue and the economics involved. For more on their stance, go here: http://www.ndp.ca/page/6750

I moved about a year and a half ago, I didn’t even know what federal electoral district I was now in. Well the writ officially dropped today so I found out as I was applying to work in the election. It turns out I’m in Vancouver South.

Prior to this discovery I had no idea which party to vote for. I was unimpressed with the Liberals overall but I disagreed with the NDP on a few key issues. No party was drawing me in so it was going to come down to the individual candidates.

Anyways, I live in Ujjal Dosanjh’s riding so case closed. It’s not just his former provincial NDP status, or even the fact that I thought he was a great Premier (the first ever to participate in the gay pride parade), or the fact that I’ve met the man several times and had chances to discuss some issues and found him to be intelligent, well reasoned, and selfless. I agree with his policies and during the leadership race he supported Bob Rae as I did, so a vote for Ujjal is not entirely a vote for Dion.

I’m not yet clear on whether or not I’ll donate to his campaign as there is still much to consider on that front but I know who I’m voting for.

The other day they released the teaser for Blood & Fire - they didn’t make it easy to find so go here to get it. It’s fantastic. Washes away the bad taste OGAM left in my mouth. They say the first episode will be out by Halloween and the second part a couple months later. Enemy: Starfleet is due out next year and The Child goes into production this October.

So excited.

The special effects are damn near perfect. And this may be an odd thing to say but the sound is fantastic. The new Spock seems pretty good, Chekov’s fun to watch Cawley’s Kirk doesn’t seem to have matured much but that’s okay with me. It’s less than for 4 minutes though so it’s hard to judge fairly.

After World Enough And Time raised the bar so high I’m frankly much more excited about this upcoming episode(s) than the new movie.

I was looking at my air miles the other day and saw that there were a few cool things I could get. I now have enough points for either a wiimote or new luggage. The only problem with that is that I don’t like to get myself things during September because my birthday falls in the third week and I’ve had enough problems with gift giving over the years I don’t want to make it any harder on anyone.

I was previously thinking about using my air miles to get $50 off a car rental but it seems that the companies that works for are generally a lot more expensive to begin with so I don’t really see the point in that.

Alternatively I suppose I could use the points for gift cards for essentials when grey mode begins in a month or so.

I guess I’ll have some time to think about what I want to do. I mentioned it on facebook and people seemed quick to provide alternatives to using my points at all.

I was watching The Last Of The Time Lords on my way in to work today and something occurred to me. What if it was Lucy that took The Master’s ring? What if that was part of some fall-back plan they had for him to escape capture? Or perhaps Lucy wanted the power of a Timelord for herself.

Interesting possibilities, no? Who needs The Rani?

I had an incredibly weird dream last night. It went beyond weird in its all-encompassing reality to the point of being more than a dream; it was some kind of experience. I essentially lived out 3 years in the life of someone else. And I completely believed I was that person, no memory of my life was available to me as I was experiencing it and even my personality was incredibly different – for the bulk of the dream I WAS someone else. I’ve had a few lucid dreams in the past where I realized I was dreaming and took control, had some fun – this was the complete opposite of that. The only comparison is ‘The Inner Light’, if it weren’t for that episode of The Next Generation I would have had no way to understand what had happened, no point of reference. I’ll do my best to retell the story here.

* * *

Dramatis Personae

The Main Character – I was not referred to by name during the entire dream
Aria Ruahn – The shut-In
Betty – The girlfriend
Todd – Betty’s athletic older brother

Act I

It was the summer of 1904 and I lived in a mid-size community for the time. I was a senior in High School, having just graduated with decent but not top grades but the community didn’t overly value scholastic accomplishment and neither did I. I had no specific plans for the future and was just going to enjoy the summer with my girlfriend Betty and worry about life choices in the fall. There were several local businesses I knew I could easily get a job at so I wasn’t concerned, I was generally well liked and well known within the community but by no means the most popular guy in school or elsewhere.

Not far from where I lived was an old house where a girl my age lived. She never attended school, no one even knew her name, and they just called her the shut-in. Her parents had died several years earlier and left her a large enough inheritance to live off of comfortably for the foreseeable future. She was only ever seen buying the essentials in a cross between a headscarf and burqa only ever in black or brown. As a result many people believe she was a Muslim.

Not long after her parents had died people would discover notes with cryptic statements in various personal spaces around town. Notes would appear in a locker, on a pillow in someone’s bed at home, in their nightstand, etc. People generally attributed them to the shut in but no one really knew for sure. The notes would have deeply personal observations about people that generally made them angry but without proof they only directed a general loathing towards the girl and the house she lived in, but no one dared do anything without proof. People would talk about these notes but only in the most general of terms, no one ever shared a note they received with another person and I never understood why. I had heard the stories but didn’t really care either way; I was busy living my life.

My girlfriend, Betty, was a nondescript blonde girl, perfect to people’s expectations, and the sweetheart of the town. I was a proper gentleman, never going beyond holding her hand – we had fun together but there was almost no emotional connection. It was almost as if we were together because people just expected it and we were pretty friendly so we were happy to oblige their unspoken expectations. Her brother, Todd, was the quintessential jock, quarterback of the football team and all that but he and I got along well. I played sports and kept myself fit so we had much in common although I never took it quite as seriously as he did, we always had something to talk about though.

One day I was walking to the library to return a book I had borrowed during the school year and had forgotten about. Walking down the street on a bright but not uncomfortably hot summer day I noticed a small bit of paper sticking out of the book. I stopped walking and opened the book to the page with the paper. It seemed it was my turn to be the recipient of a mysterious note. I opened the paper and read it.

“Your inner strength is greater then your outer strength, and greater than you know”

I didn’t see what the big fuss was about, it was an aphorism, and the message wasn’t overly upsetting. I wondered why people bothered keeping the content of these notes such a big secret.

Then I remembered that the book hadn’t left my bedroom in a month and that note was definitely not there before. Someone had snuck into my room and put the note in the book. Someone had broken in, violated my privacy. Snuck around the house where my mother, father, and little sister slept. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. That’s it, I thought, this has to stop. Then I realized where I was, only half a block from the mysterious house where the mysterious girl lived.

I stormed up to the house full of purpose and righteous indignation. The door wasn’t locked although it stuck a bit, I pushed a little harder than I needed to in order to open it, venting some of my anger on the door, and it swung open and banged against the wall to which it was attached. Dust stirred but I didn’t care, I dropped the library book just to the left of the door, stirring more dust and continued to storm into the house looking for the person who invaded the home of my family.

There was a form sitting cross-legged in the middle of a large room just inside from the foyer. There was very little in the way of furniture about. A small table was all there was in the foyer. In the large living room there was a couch pushed back to a far wall and a couple upholstered chairs pushed up on either side of the adjacent walls and a longer table pushed up against the wall opposite the wall with the couch. There was not artificial lighting as I approached, only the natural light of the sun the poked through the dirty windows. I realized under normal circumstances the scene would be depressing but I was too angry to care.

As I approached I got a better look at the form sitting in the middle of the room, it was the girl everyone said lived here, I had seen her in the general store a couple of times but never really gotten a good look at her, partly due to my disinterest and partly due to the clothes she wore. A few more steps passed, I could see that her hair was red. A few more steps and I began to see why she covered or hid her face in public, she had an unattractive face, the proportions didn’t seem right – her nose was too big, the overall shape of her head seemed somewhat unnatural.

So that’s why she was a shut-in, so what, I have a legitimate grievance here, I kept my ire up and persisted to walk right next to her, holding the note in my hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded, looking down at her, she looked at me with big eyes. I wasn’t going to feel sympathy for this girl, she had crossed a line. “This has got to stop” I said.

She slowly got up. There was a fluid efficiency to her movement, she didn’t stand so much as glide upwards. She just stood there and stared at me. I could see nothing but perceptive innocence in her eyes. I didn’t say anything. We stay that way for awhile, just stared at each other. Eventually we kissed. She whispered her name in my ear, it was unusual, Aria Ruahn, and I knew that it was a gift. No one else knew her name, and there was power in a name. To name a thing is to begin to understand it and since to all the other people of the town she didn’t want to be known she never told them her name.

Act II

I spent the night and the next day we spoke of her ability to see people’s true nature without even talking. How confronting those truths made everyone mad but I was the first to accept mine. Over the course of the evening I had somehow forgotten her name and was embarrassed but I screwed up the courage to ask her and she told me her name once more.

“Was my note the first one that didn’t say anything bad?” I asked.

“No” she said “some of them were like yours, but others weren’t. The reactions were always the same though, they all got mad but they were all true”. She began to cry. “All I did was hold up a mirror, give them a glimpse into themselves – sometimes it was strength but sometimes it was weakness. I thought it was a gift.”

“It was” I said.

“Only to you” she replied as she touched my cheek “everyone else saw themselves and ran away from it, the abusers and the heroes – the mothers and the monsters, they all resented me for it”

“Then why did you continue?” I asked.

She kissed me. I guess that was my answer.

I stayed with her, in her home, for 3 years. I forgot about the outside world, my pervious life, and never bothered to break things off formally with Betty – in the wake of such self-awareness, love, and acceptance it just didn’t seem important.

Act III

She still never left that old house, except to get the essentials of life and always covered. She was afraid she wouldn’t be accepted, either for her looks or what she had done. She stopped writing notes for anyone but me. They weren’t always great, although most were positive, but she found the dark parts of me as well and we looked at them together and it was okay.

On the third anniversary of my stumbling into her house and her world it was a beautiful day outside, exactly as it had been 3 years prior. I convinced her it was time to leave the house, to go outside and live a little. It had been 3 years since she’d left a note for anyone and as far as I was concerned she was beautiful.

We went outside, passing that old library book still on the floor where I had left it with 3 years of dust collected upon it. We walked down to the lake with a small wooden dock. We had a picnic in the sun, the lake was deserted and we were happy to have it to ourselves for her first day out. Then we went swimming.

Not long into swimming, while underwater I felt pressure on my head, pushing me down. I fought as hard as I could but 3 years without sports or working out my muscles had atrophied. The hand on my head was joined by another hand in a fist, punching me just below the water, slamming my body into the wooden dock over and over. I felt a rib break; I saw blood in the water. I struggled and struggled but eventually lost consciousness.

In the summer of 1907, I died.

Epilogue

Suddenly I was no longer the main character of the story; I was sitting in a movie theatre in the late 80s / early 90s watching a movie with my sister. The story was the movie and after the protagonist drowned, the movie carried on…

He lost consciousness and Todd had suddenly realized he had gone too far. Defending your sister’s honour was one thing but he didn’t really want to kill anyone. Not that he would have cared if his former friend died, he just didn’t want to go to prison. He pulled the limp form out of the water. He pulled back on one of his eyes, saw that he was breathing. He’d savagely beaten the jerk that had mistreated his little sister but not killed him, more or less what he’d come to do. He called for help and eventually it came, when they arrived he said he’d come up to the lake to go swimming and seen his old friend floating in the water, the victim of some assault. Everyone believed him, there had been no witness and no one would even consider that the local hero could be the villain.

The person I had been had complete memory loss; he had forgotten absolutely everything that had happened to him before being pulled from the water. His first memory was of Todd pulling him to safety, calling for help, and medical people saying he was lucky to have such a good friend.

His face had been badly damaged due to being pounded underwater against the dock, so bad that he required reconstructive surgery but the technology and medical knowledge of the 1900s had mixed results – his face is left more mangled than Aria’s. He could not longer completely close his mouth and would perpetually drool. He could talk and feed himself but beyond that was unable to provide for or care for himself. He was remanded to the care of a medical institution although he couldn’t completely comprehend what that meant. He can’t even remember his own name. Every day he asked if his friend Todd was coming to visit. Todd never did.

The girl went back to the house, returning to the solitary life of a shut in but never again wrote a note for anyone.

The credits of the movie begin to roll as Bon Jovi’s Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore begins to play. My sister and I leave the theatre to an overcast day; I break down and begin to cry on the street.

* * *

Tears pooling on my nose causes me to wake back in reality. I’d been crying in my sleep. I couldn’t stop. I had a good cry and waited for the memories to fade. Some details did, like people’s names but most of it stayed. Even now, hours later, I could draw you a floor plan of Aria’s home. I could, if I had the artistic talent, draw the foyer and living room of her home, as well as the local gas station (that didn’t even appear in the dream, but since they guy in my dream knew it, I know), the street where Aria lived, the lake where I died, Todd’s face, the face of my character once I was no longer him (as I saw him in the movie). I could tell you what Betty and my little sister looked like, my mom and dad, our pets, the school. It was easily the most vivid dream I’ve had in nearly a decade. I woke up feeling rested, rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to face the day but it took some time for the details of my real life to come back. My girlfriend, my son, my home, my job.

And the only thing I could hold on to for the first few minutes to make any sense out of anything was The Inner Light. I knew I was fine, but something very strange had just happened. Who knew my heart and/or subconscious could tell such a beautiful story and completely made up on its own? It doesn’t even vaguely remind me of anything I ever heard much less seen or experienced. It was as if I had lived 3 years as someone completely outside my frame of reference. And the only message I find myself left with, beyond the cliché “live each day to the fullest” is that maybe my inner strength is greater than my outer strength, and greater than I know and that knowing yourself could be the ultimate accomplishment and reward…and perhaps that can be true for everyone.

Either that or perhaps this fair really has been the hardest and my sanity is slipping.

Either way, I’ll never criticize The Inner Light again.