About The American Dream

"Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth...
- James Truslow Adams 1931 -

(Photo of million dollar property in Malibu.)

When we think of achieving the American Dream, we often think of those who have accumulated material goods - as the dream is often embodied by home ownership or fancy cars or fashion. We might think of those who have risen the career ladder to prominence in a company or business. The American Dream is that of freedom of choice and abundance regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or class. It often challenges the "aristocratic norms" of the rest of the world whereby only the rich or well-connected are granted access to luxury.

I did a search and approximately 77,000 euros is the same as $100,000 US dollars. I wanted to use this figure to see if the American Dream of home ownership is attainable in other parts of the world. Are we as spoiled as I think we are? Or should I say, am I as spoiled as I think I am? Could I buy a house roughly the same as mine elsewhere?

My ancestry is French / Belgian and Slavic. So I wanted to see if I could buy a home today for about 77,000 euros that would compare to my home here in the states.  I started off in Kosovo and Montenegro. Kosovo was a bust. Montenegro netted some interesting sites. And just for the record - renting had a lot more options. However, back to the search.

There was one place that sort of intrigued me. It was right on the water and had a view of the Adriatic sea. Who wouldn't enjoy that? Located in Risan, it has one floor with two bedrooms, bathroom and open plan living room/kitchen leading on to large terrace with storage room. The ad says "good opportunity to enhance with a second level and enough space to accommodate a swimming pool on 500 m2 of land." But there are no interior pictures. However... it was interesting to look at.

It's not the 3 bedroom 2 bath I have now. It's also missing a 2 car garage. And... the square footage is 85 square meters. In short... it's about 914 square feet - about the size of the first house we lived in when we got married. I'm not a fan of that small of space. However, the land around it more than makes up for that. Not enough to buy it.

Then I made the trip, as it were, to France, the options were more abundant thoughout the French countryside. Prices ranged from 55,000 euros on up to whatever your heart would want to pay. However, it was very difficult to find a detached residence with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that didn't require a serious amount of renovations (at least on the website I was looking at) to bring them up to the standards of which I have been accustomed.  (And now I'm sounding snooty, snobby or American?)

All things considered, America is a newer, more modern country.  Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world have a deep rich history dating back thousands of years.  We have the Native Americans, whose history we have pretty much obliterated, and that's about it. The reason I bring this up is when I look at other countries and their homes, they take pride in the fact that a residence may be a couple of hundred years old.  Our entire country is only a few hundred years old. Their idea of a fixer-upper is definitely not what Americans would equate with a fixer-upper. 

The oldest house I could find for sale (at this time) is a 1720 Cape Cod style home for $1.25 mil. (Gasp!) And then again, it's been refurbished through the years to add a second bathroom, central heat and air conditioning, etc. So... it's not "original" though it's apparently kept much of it's original "charm" and character.

In looking at this house, I have to ask... why do we modernize and aim for "luxury?"  Why do we keep upgrading and changing things? I'm sure part of it is "comfort." We want to be warm. We want to have indoor plumbing, electricity and all those things that make the universe in which we live a better place to be. But when I compare this little house Cape Cod style house to the truly historic homes in foreign lands that don't have the central heat and air, have one bathroom and have kitchens that make my counter space look like it's enough room to cook for a squadron of soldiers, I have to wonder why things are the way they are both for myself and for others.

The American Dream... a quest for growth, prosperity and freedom... and in ways that are really hard to define - definitively American.

Political Advertising and Other Woes

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching; corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21 1864

This morning on the way into work, I heard Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way."  I was instantly transported back to the Clinton election campaign and became somewhat nauseous. It's not because of Clinton himself, though I'm not a fan nor supporter, but because he took a good song and ruined it for me.  I hate it when good songs are used for whatever purpose and then become associated with something else that have negative connotations in my life.

Because of this song, I began thinking about this Presidential election and politics in general.  I'm not as knowledgable about politics as I should be - probably because my stomach churns when I think about the muck and the mire that makes up the election process.

One of the biggest problems that irks me is the PAC/ SuperPAC campaign spending / donation process. I don't quite understand how all of that works. I read up on wikipedia to get an idea and I'm still confused to be quite honest. However, something caught my eye and made me heartsick.

As of February 2012, according to Center for Responsive Politics, 313 groups organized as Super PACs had received $98,650,993 and spent $46,191,479. This means early in the 2012 election cycle, PACs had already greatly exceeded total receipts of 2008. The leading Super PAC on its own raised more money than the combined total spent by the top 9 PACS in the 2008 cycle.[72]

The 2012 figures don't include funds raised by State level PACs nor funds raised by national level non-profit groups that pool "soft-funds". Spending by non-profits, also called 527 organizations, exceeded $500 million in the 2010 election cycle with the two largest organizations being the Republican Governors Association $131,873,954 and the Democratic Governors Association $64,708,253 [73] Spending by the 527 organizations for the 2012 is expected to be double and much will be derived from donors kept hidden from voters.[74]

I understand to run an election campaign, it takes money; however, wouldn't it be a refreshing change to see someone do it without spending millions of dollars on television ads - there are all sorts of new media ideas out there that aren't as costly? It makes me sick because all of that money is being wasted on blue sky - which is what advertising is. And why all the bashing? Why not tout what you can do, your accomplishments and all of that? Just once I would like to see a positive campaign run by a politician. 

Most people do not like negative political ad campaigns. And frankly, most people are so sick of political ads by the time  the election comes they don't want to see another one.  And the cost of these ads is astronomical - especially in tightly contested states.  By election day, Romney and Obama campaigns and other independent groups will have spent about $1.1 billion on television advertising in 2012,  with $750 million already allocated in the handful of states likely to determine the outcome of the contest — Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin according to Kantar-Campaign Media Analysis Group estimates. Florida tops the list, with more than $150 million spent by both sides so far. Is that not assinine? (Thank you Yahoo for that info.)  

There are many different ways to get your message out to people that spending that kind of money isn't as "vital" as it used to be. These politicians need to find a campaign strategist that is able to think out of the box and use new media as well as traditional branding to cut costs and put out a more positive message. 

I think people are smarter than the political machine gives them credit for. I think most decide early on who they are voting for and only a tiny slice of the pie is actually up for grabs.  The politicians would be better served focusing on the debates, their credibility and what they really have to offer than wasting millions of dollars on an uncertain number of votes.  

Your vote matters... if you don't vote - you have no say in anything that happens. You don't even have the right to sit and bitch about how this country is being run.  On election day, get out and vote. Many people have given their lives so you can cast your ballot. I'll be there at the polls. Will you?

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. "

John F. Kennedy

The Edge of Space

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. 

Bruce Lee 

Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier and today Felix Baumgartner wants to be the first to break it with the human body, limited by nothing more than the suit he wears to protect himself from the biting cold on his way back to earth from the edge of space. 

I am writing this as Felix is on the assent into space and is about 34,000 feet in altitude. The concern at this point is the jet stream - winds that can clock over a hundred miles an hour.  The jet stream flows across this tiny blue planet until about 45,000 feet. 

Since he's up in the jet stream, you might be wondering if Felix is sharing jet space with planes at cruising altitude, but alas... no. This is a good thing.  I would hate to think Felix would be the victim of a fly by hit and run.  The FAA has placed a no-fly zone in place for today's launch. 

I'm hoping the rest of this goes well... after all, Felix has dared to cross limits that man hasn't crossed before. Maybe if we all did something like this once in a while, the world would be a much better place. 

If you are interested in watching the rest of launch, the hang time and the fall from the edge of space, here's the link for you.  Take care... 

Felix Baumgartner

PS.... if you missed it... it was pretty awesome. He made the jump from over 24 miles above Roswell, NM (where all things Extra-Terrestrial seem to occur) and broke at least one record, if not more, in doing so.  A pretty darned good day. I wonder what's next on his to-do list. 

Rockin' the Veggies!

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” - Albert Einstein -

My youngest daughter is seventeen - you might remember seventeen, the age at which all things are possible.  She's working out what she wants to do in the future and figuring out who she is. She's really quite amazing and watching her go through this process is quite eye opening and I wonder if my parents took the amount of time I spend studying her studying me.

One of the things she has done is decided "enough is enough" and started improving her diet and getting in shape.  She is working out and has gone vegan, eating no meat / animal products and is working really hard to go raw vegan. 

As a result of her dietary changes, I have had to learn a lot about veganism and vegetarianism and other isms I didn't know a thing about .  So before I go further, lemme give you the short version.

-------------------------------------------------

Ovo-vegetarianism includes eggs but not dairy products and  Lacto-vegetarianism includes dairy products but not eggs.

Ovo-lacto vegetarianism (or lacto-ovo vegetarianism) includes animal/dairy products such as eggs, milk, and honey. (This is the most common type of vegetarianism in the USA.)

Veganism excludes all animal flesh and animal products, including milk, honey, and eggs.

Raw veganism includes only fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. Vegetables can only be cooked up to a certain temperature.

Fruitarianism permits only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.

Sattvic diet (also known as yogic diet), a plant based diet which may also include dairy (not eggs) and honey, but excludes anything from the onion or leek family, red lentils, durian fruit, mushrooms, blue cheeses, fermented foods or sauces, alcoholic drinks and often also excludes coffee, black or green tea, chocolate, nutmeg or any other type of stimulant such as excess sharp spices.

Buddhist vegetarianism (also known as su vegetarianism) excludes all animal products as well as vegetables in the allium family (which have the characteristic aroma of onion and garlic): onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, chives, or shallots.

Jain vegetarianism includes dairy but excludes eggs and honey, as well as root vegetables.

-------------------------------------------------

Wow...  that's a lot to learn, but even more to practice. Like I said, she's vegan and going raw vegan, but not completely there yet.  Like I said, I'm proud of her. Through the working out and eating right, she's lost a bunch of weight and is gettting in shape. Her goal is to eventually run a marathon. I can't say I'll ever run a marathon, and honestly, I don't want to. But I do want to run in the Susan G. Komen 5K next year. She's just one of the inspirations I have for doing so.

My mother had breast cancer and has been cancer free for more than five years now. It had spread to her lymph nodes and she had to have some of those removed.  Fortunately, it hadn't gotten bad enough that she would have had to have a mastectomy. She and several other people I know are other inspirations to make the run. I have to do my fair share of getting back into shape, but there's no reason why I can't ... except for excuses. Lots of excuses.

As I look further into vegetarianism and getting back into shape myself, I may decide to modify my diet.  I don't think I'll ever go vegan. I have to face it - I'm a Texan and I love a good steak. However, I believe I can morph more that direction and definitely eat more of a natural / vegetarian lifestyle and less of a processed foods lifestyle and make it work.

More on that as I make the change for the better... and again... I just have to say - I'm really, really proud of youngest. Rock on, girlie!!!

Literary Censorship: (Bleep) It All

"There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance."

-Goethe

  

I was reading a news story earlier today about things that are going to be "banned" in various parts of the United States. These items ranged from hugging (cooties?) to milk (because we all know that will kill you), to bake sales and sweet treats (obviously we can no longer have fundraisers that contribute to the obesity epidemic) and the banning of a certain book for students in an advanced placement English class in California. (California? Land of the Liberal?)

The book in question was "The Bastard out of Carolina" written by Dorothy Allison and adapted into a film in 1996.  I haven't read it, nor have I seen the film, and cannot say one way or the other if a book about an illegitimate teen pregnancy, abusive relationship(s), rape and dysfuncational families should be read by teenagers in school because I don't know "how" it was written. (I only read the synopsis.) I can't say I'm thrilled about the idea of my daughters reading it as "required reading," but then again, I have to wonder if my parents were keen on me reading books from the non-exclusive once banned book list below.

• The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (one of the all time favorite books of censors)
• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
• To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
• The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
• 1984, by George Orwell
• Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
• Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• Animal Farm, by George Orwell
• As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
• A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
• All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren
• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
• A Separate Peace, by John Knowles  

Most of these books I read in junior high or high school and learned much about writing from them. I also learned much about how the authors saw the world and I expanded not only my vocabulary, but my point of view. This is not to say that all of these books should be read by one so young. I didn't realize that one of my favorite books, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, wasn't meant to be a young adult book until the other day.

"I wrote 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Huck Finn' for adults exclusively, and it always distressed me when I find that boys and girls have been allowed access to them. The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again be washed clean." - Mark Twain -

I do believe that Mr. Twain has a valid point. The things we read and the things we see cannot be unread or unseen. Where is the point of demarcation between censorship and the "protection" our youth? I do not have the answer, nor does anyone else. It's subjective.

I also cannot say that any of the books I have read as a child warped me beyond measure or maladjusted my thinking, but maybe I am one of the fortunate ones. But in considering this thought, shouldn't there be books that realign or adjust our thinking?

I want to bring up two cases in point: "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.

According to the American Library Association, as recently as 2010, a parent requested her daughter not be required to read Anne Frank's diary aloud. Initially, in a Virginia school district, it was reported that officials decided to stop assigning a version of Anne Frank’s diary, due to the complaint that the book includes sexual material and homosexual themes. "The director of instruction announced the edition published on the fiftieth anniversary of Frank’s death in a concentration camp will not be used in the future despite the fact the school system did not follow its own policy for handling complaints." As a result, the gates of Hades opened and those remarks set of a rush of criticism online and brought international attention to the 7,600-student school system in Virginia. The ALA reported, "The superintendent said, however, that the book will remain a part of English classes, although it may be taught at a different grade level."

I don't really give a rat's tail if there is sexual material or if there are homosexual themes in Anne Frank's diary. What I do care about is this diary is an unfiltered view of the horrors of World War 2 and Nazi Germany. As they say, if we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Who better to learn it from than one who lived through the nightmare?

The ALA also reported Harper Challenged at North County High School in Glen Burnie, Md. in 2010 by a small group of parents who circulated a petition to have "Brave New World" removed from use by county schools over concerns about explicit sexual content. The 1932 novel depicts a dystopian future where science and technology have run amok resulting in a morally bankrupt society. (Tell me this doesn't sound at all familiar.)  Retained on the list of approved materials that Seattle, Wash. high school teachers may use in their language arts curriculum (2011). A parent had complained that the book has a “high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today’s contemporary multicultural society.

I actually found the arguments against "Brave New World" somewhat amusing. This book has been challenged since 1932 when it was banned in Ireland.  Other challenges on this book in the 1980's led to this book being removed from classrooms in Miller, MO in1980 because it makes promiscuous sex "look like fun." and  in Oklahoma in 1988 because of "the book's language and moral content."  Other complaints were characters showing "contempt for religion, marriage and family" in 2000 and in 2003 another complaint showed parents objected to "adult themes of sexuality,drugs and suicide" that appeared in the novel.

In today's "politically correct" society, I chuckle because the complaints are NOT about the contempt of family values, but of "racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans, etc..." rounding out with the statemnt that there is no literary value relevant to "today's contemporary multicultural society.

If they are pissed because of racially offensive language, then we might as well wipe out a LOT of American literature that used the N word (or other words), even though it was "acceptable" once upon a time. In fact, why don't we just sterilize everything before it goes to print so as to eliminate any possible words that could elicit any kind of response from someone. Today, if someone reads a text that has the word "nigger" in it, it will evoke an emotional response and I think from a historical perspective, that is something that needs to be kept in play.

No literary value?

Who or what determines literary value?

Huxley's work is genius. If you look at the fact it was written in 1931 and brilliantly depicts a dehumanized life in a futuristic totalitarian state, which is not too unsimilar to today's times, I can see why someone would want you to think that there is no literary value to this novel.  There are eerie prophetic moments where he describes genetic engineering and biological / technological advancements that take man away from nature. Isn't that what is going on?  Huxley was a man before his time - much like Jules Verne. Maybe these people are hiding their fear of the prophecy coming to pass behind their politically correct outrage over words written 80 years ago that no one has ever really complained about to the American Library Association.

The one thing of which I am certain: I will never condone the burning or the outright banning of books.  There are many books I will never read for many different reasons; however, to tell an author his point of view has no validity, his muse is mistaken and his writing has no worth is wrong. Sometimes we have to remember that people can be trusted with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values and our children are people too.

Olympic Dreams

"I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel.

At just the right moment, I light the match."

Mia Hamm (American football player, 2004 Summer Olympics)

When I was a little girl, I would watch the Olympic games and dream of the day I would be gliding across the ice leaping and spinning; or swinging through the air from one bar to another and back again. For weeks after the Olympics, I would rollerskate and pretend I was Dorothy Hamill or Katarina Witt and sometimes I would get up the nerve to do handstands and cartwheels across the yard and pretend I was Nadia Comaneci or Mary Lou Retton, though by that age puberty had started to set in and I knew I would never be a gymnast.

What is it about the Olympics that stirs the fires of desire in our hearts? I find myself watching the games broadcast from London and I still think, "I can do that." But while the mind is agile and willing, the body protests while getting out of bed in the morning.

My knees have turned into Rice Krispies and sing out, "Snap! Crackle! Pop!" with the coming of the new day. My back wants to bow to the morning sun and balks at the idea of straightening and my eyes find it difficult to focus on what was once plainly in front of them. The Olympics are for the young. However, there are those Olympians who manage to fight age and tell it to "F-Off." 

Lorna Johnstone was the oldest female Olympian who competed in the equestrian event of dressage for Great Britain in the 1956, 1968 and 1972 Games, when her event came five days after her 70th birthday.  But more in more recent years,swimming sensation Dara Torres cannot go unrecognized. At 41 years old, more than twice the age of some of her competition, she qualified for three events in the 2008 Beijing Games and won three silver medals. She swam in five Olympics, and won medals in all of them (four gold, four silver, four bronze). She set the U.S. record in the 50-meter freestyle at age 15, and at age 40. She failed to quality for the London Games, at age 45, by 0.09 seconds.

There are many others who have won Olympic gold past the normal "prime" age of Olympic glory, but I like to think that we all have it in us. The question is: are we going to go for the gold or are we going to stay stagnant and never delve deep to see what's really in us? 

 I, for one, think it's time to break out the Nikes and "go for it." 

Scrapbooking and Other Adventures

"Scrapbooking fills my days - not to mention my living room, bedroom and closets!"

 ~Author Unknown~

I have decided that scrapbooking is quite the adventure. I had never done one in my entire life and I decided to make one for my eldest daughter's graduation present a couple of weeks ago. If I knew how much work (and expense) was involved, I would have not procrastinated and started on it a few months earlier. However, my youngest was a lifesaver and the two of us both put in about 62 hours each over the course of a week and a half and got it done on time. Wow.


Since the day we gave Eldest her scrapbook, it has sat all by its lonesome and I have wondered really what the purpose was of doing such a hefty endeavor. I mean, I'm positive she appreciated it. But other than sentimentality, is there really a purpose of such a gift. I wonder if the time and energy might not have been better spent than on a gift that spent laying about a month on darling hubby's desk and then left laying under a plastic bag with an old banana peel on top of her dresser. 


With that said, I wouldn't trade the TIME spent with youngest working on the book for anything. And to think I'm contemplating doing another one for youngest in just a few short months. Oy!