Proud to be an American

One of my deep, dark secrets is that whenever that Lee Greenwood anthem "Proud to be an American" plays, I cry. Embarrassing, I know, but true. It's a response that started in childhood and I just can't seem to get control over it. The thing about this is that I've never considered myself much of a patriot. In fact, I have often been embarrassed by America. When I lived in London, my favorite activity was American spotting across long distances, only needing a few items of clothing and raucus physical gestures to identify my fellow countrymen.

Well, today, as I watched the inauguration and listened to the Canadian commentary, I feel patriotic and must declare that I am proud to be an American. I haven't always been sold on Obama's campaign of hope (in the early days of the Dems campaign, I gave money to Hillary) but today I am more than glad that we have this new president who genuinely strives to be inclusive, who acknowledges that hope and prosperity require hard work, who can give (as his daughter said) "a pretty good speech."

So here's to a new era of responsibility, integrity, and motivation. Good riddance, old Georgie.

God bless America. And I mean that with every bit of hope I can muster.

I think I'm turning Canadian

I really think so. Last night, I went to the neighborhood bar in order to watch the World Jr. Hockey championship game. I sighed when the Swedish team scored. I cheered when Canada won (for the fifth time!) I drank my beer. I don't watch sports. I certainly don't go to bars to watch sports. And now I'm watching a Jr. world championship? Who even knew there was such a thing?

I got sucked into the competition over the weekend when we went to the same bar to hear a band. During one of their breaks, everyone watched the semi-final game between Canada and Russia. It was an amazing game, with Canada scoring a tie-making point in the last five seconds of regular play. Then a no-scoring overtime and a shoot-out. Canada scored two points to Russia's zero.

After that, I had to watch the final. The gold-medal game was much less interesting. Canada dominated throughout with a final score of 5 to 1. Canada was pretty agressive and their players spent a lot of time in the penalty box. Which led to many Swedish power plays. Will and I were thinking this sounds like some sort of sexual manoeuver. It definitely sounds more exciting than a Canadian power play.

So, I guess I watch hockey now. And not just any hockey, Junior hockey. Winter is long up here in the cold, cold north.

"Are you coming or going?": Liminality in the Lobby

This morning, reading a NYT piece about how NY building owners are fancying up their lobbies to entice new residents, I came across this sentence:


"Not quite public, but not quite private either, the lobby occupies a liminal state in one’s home life, and with that ambiguity comes a set of priorities that can shift and, oftentimes, conflict."


I think I wrote that paper in grad school.