The fact that nobody understands you doesn't make you an artist.

I came across this picture today and was struck by how much it says about our country. I have no idea what's going on in the heads of those four people. I'd like to think that, if nothing else, they feel a mutual respect for one another. Maybe not; maybe if we put them under truth serum we'd find out there's nothing but total disdain. But there they are, standing side by side and smiling warmly for the cameras. That's called civility, the willingness to act courteously even when doing so runs counter to natural instinct.
That picture makes me proud, proud to be a part of a country where a transition from one administration to another takes place with order and civility. Yes, the recent campaign too often brought sniping, personal attacks and misrepresentations. But when it's all over, two antagonists stand together with their wives and smile for the cameras. Why? Because it's good for the country.
Doing so has to be tougher for one of those men than the other - the one who was the target of some pretty harsh criticism.
Thank you, Mr. President.

Pam and I were both out and about today, and the traffic in our part of town is a mess. Many people have no compunction about driving into an intersection even though they know they won't get through it while the light is green, but will instead block the intersection after the light has turned red.
Pam said she saw a man so furious with the people who were doing so that he rolled down his window, stuck his head out and screamed a string of profanities at them.
The good news is that he won't be asked to pose for a picture with those drivers.

I took Steve & Michelle to the airport today for their flights to Grand Rapids. That's where we used to live. That's where they've had 40" of snow so far (!) this month, as compared to the monthly average of 18". And they've had a whopping 6.75 hours of sun in December. That's 3.5% of the possible sunshine, making it the cloudiest December on record.
Can you imagine how grumpy I'd be?! Marybeth (my sect.) would have shot me to put us both out of our misery.

Steve sent me this link a couple of days ago. Be sure to note the ages of the artists.
"Picture a President"

In case you missed it (I did) here is the most popular YouTube video of the year:
Pork & Beans, by Weezer

Back to the list bit from one of last week's posts:

Best Sports Moment of 2008

1. Michael Phelp's performance at the Beijing Olympics
2. (Your nominations?)

We have a LOT of dessert goodies left over from our family gathering last Saturday night. I feel an obligation to do what I can to help with that situation, so I'm going to go get the pan of homemade carrot cake and go from there. If I'm not back tomorrow night it's because I couldn't bend over to get the laptop.