Attention, all the folks who walk/jog/bicycle at night, who also:

1. Wear all dark, non-reflective clothing
2. Do not wear lights
3. Have no interest in being seen by others whatsoever

I need to understand what’s going on, here. Specifically, when you’re doing your thing in the quiet, unlit sections of the road running through Interlaken Park, often in the middle of a downpour. Are you being hazed in your effort to join the local ‘Warriors of Darkness’ guild? Ninja, please. I understand that by the time I ride up, your Supernatural Night Vision has long since kicked in, allowing you to see All Things in their natural beauty, untouched by the harsh intrusions of Man’s cold, soulless beams – the problem is, I CAN’T SEE YOU, because I’m using lights to see things (and to be seen) at night (when it’s dark), until I’m right about to put my front tire up your butt. Bonus points for those also jamming out on their iPods, thus eliminating any possibility of hearing my approach.

My hope is that you will either change your stealthy ways, or at the very least, write your contact information on your arm for ease of identification by the authorities after they find your body several dozen feet off the road, having being unceremoniously placed there by the front bumper of one of the many idiot tween drivers who plow through that section of the park, high on dog tranqs or whatever it is the kids are doing these days. I’d call them out here as well, but they’re too busy destroying the English language on Facebook to read some old person’s blog.

NEXT TIME ON “STRANGE BUT HARMLESS”: Top 5 Methods For Extricating Those Kids From Your Lawn

It’s that time of year when the Dancing on the Valentine benefit begins taking over my (and Joriel’s, and Jenny’s) life. This afternoon the three of us put our heads together to finish the press release, notify the Croc about the confirmed bands, and update the site with the link to purchase tickets as well as all the aforementioned info. That evening, Joriel continued to perform website labors while I began the social media blitz with all things Duran Duran.

It’s a lot of fun, really, and we get to help kick Leukemia’s ass, meet beautiful people, hear amazing bands do spectacular covers – and when I keep all that in mind, the use of time feels perfectly justified. Jenny’s offered to pay me in the past, but really, if I charged what I’m worth for the time I spend, all proceeds would go to me rather than to fund the sort of cancer research that saved Jenny’s life. Good enough.

I *have* promised myself that I’m going to simplify this year’s photo booth/project/video in such a way that it doesn’t take me 10+ MONTHS to finish the post-work. And I definitely want to rent a ringflash to make it all extra-glam. Stay tuned…

What an amazing night! Let’s hope he respects us in the morning, and makes good on all that pillow talk…

I had an email conversation with some friends back east in Virginia (which Obama carried, thank you very much). It was suggested that, essentially, we had avoided a corrupt dictatorship in favor of an empty hope. My reply, which I’ve been mulling on ever since: cynicism is not wisdom, any more than hope is a plan – but that these substitutes allow us to cope when we’re down and out until we can think of a better way.

Despite all the hype, I truly believe in the essence of the man that is Barack Obama and the leader that he seeks to be. I feel we have lost our way as a nation, despite all our enormous accomplishments. Obama is not the answer to our problems – rather, he is the question, made manifest: “What if?”

What if we try diplomacy first, and bombing second? What if justice is served via wisdom rather than fear? What if we treat affordable health care as a right rather than a privilege? What if those with more than they need helped those with less?

What if we could recreate a sense of civic duty as Americans that could drive us to work harder, better, together, for the good of the country first, and our endless pursuit of junk and distraction a distant second?

I have no illusions that the days ahead are going to be anything but challenging, and the president can’t really make us do these things any more than he can fly. But he can use sound judgment, he can choose wise counsel, he can learn from and be honest about his mistakes, and thus inspire the people who he represents to make manifest the country they would very much like to be citizens of but feel distant from. The United States of America is Us, like it or not – blaming “the government” or the “__ Party” for our collective woes is a game we no longer have to play. We can stop right now, and instead, ask, what can I do to make things better? How can I get involved in a way that I can affect positive change? What resources are available to me that could be used to help?

We’ve elected a president who agrees with this idea – that it’s time to earn that citizenship to the greatest nation on Earth, via the thoughtful application of varying degrees of blood, sweat and tears, rather than continuing on as little more than a brooding, dissatisfied customer.

Call this all empty rhetoric if you wish, and seek your inspiration and answers elsewhere. Life is for living, and this is Now, and I have chosen to embrace what I feel is real, rather than continue to mumble cynically from the sidelines for my own edification. It serves no purpose that I can see to act as if we were not in the world, outside of it, somehow maintaining our disinterest and absence of control over its fate while judging its inhabitants as ignorant and apathetic.

Done. Moving on.