November 2006 destination: Sedona, Arizona

The picture (courtesy of www.visitsedona.com) simply doesn't do justice for this place. I went there in December 2000 with my parents and sister, one day after Christmas when the temperature was a very snowy and frigid 15 degrees in Chicago. When we got there, it was a cool, clear 60 degrees under deep blue skies.

I suppose that such weather typifies Sedona at this time of year, because that's how it remained the entire duration of our stay. It is a place of mythical beauty that can be found nowhere else in the world. I'm talking about an artsy town of roughly 11,000 people that is surrounded by sheer red-rock buttes of varying shades and layers. These are cliffs whose tone and radiance changes with the sunlight and, viewed from the center of town, create the illusion of a giant painted backdrop.

Sedona is about two hours north of Phoenix, less than an hour south of Flagstaff, and just under three hours south of the Grand Canyon. It holds a decided edge over southern Arizona both in terms of climate and scenery, with cooler summers and awe-inspiring colored rocks instead of sagebrush-covered brown hills. You can take a guided tour into the back country here, where you'll observe the best of Red Rock territory, replete with ancient Indian ruins, canyons, and distant snowcapped mountain peaks. If you stay in town, there's no shortage of spectacular art galleries, healing spas, specialty shops, and restaurants. When we were there, my parents pointed out that the celebrity sitting at the table beside ours at a Mexican eatery was none other than Ted Danson. Our waitress confirmed this when she took his credit card. I was honored.

Famous people aside, though, Sedona is irrefutably one of the greatest destinations in the American Southwest. It's much more laid-back and relaxing than sprawling cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, or Los Angeles. It's got a quirky yet vibrant culture that typically wouldn't be found in a town of its size in the high desert. And there are a plethora of surrounding attractions in the extremely unlikely event that you get bored with the place -- Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Petrified Rocks, or the Hoover Dam, just to name a few. Much more probable, though, is that you'll get hooked on this place as I did -- even if you don't happen to run into Ted Danson, which would, admittedly, be a shame.

And I'm back...

Hopefully everyone's holiday was as enjoyable as my own. I had a chance to return to Chicagoland and see all the relatives, as well as several family friends whom I hadn't encountered for many months. Here was my itinerary for the long weekend:

• Thursday, of course, was Turkey Day (I hate when people call it that, but for the sake of variety, I'm breaking with my own principle). We had it at my parents' house. With 18-20 people in attendance and several large dogs running around the house, it was a bit chaotic, but a good time nonetheless. I have to be honest and say that it was the first time in recent memory that I was genuinely stuffed after eating. That usually doesn't happen to me.
• On Friday, we went to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook your food right in front of you. The chef was amazing. He basically managed to make a musical performance out of his cooking utensils and juggled an egg in the air before cracking it onto the grill perfectly using the edge of his spatula. Plus, the food was awesome. Then we saw the movie Deja Vu starring Denzel Washington. I enjoyed it. Four out of five stars.
• On Saturday, we were in the city to see the play Leaving Iowa at the Royal George Theatre. This, too, was enjoyable; it played on Iowa's stereotypes (not negative ones, as I was half expecting) and had a good message to it. This was preceded by dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant in Lincoln Park, where the food was amazing, and followed by a visit to Chicago's own Goose Island Brewing Company, where my father and I sampled some yummy beer and purchased a growler to add to my collection.
• On Sunday, I drove home and pondered what had happened to the four-day weekend. On the plus side, Elmer the cat was very grateful to see me when I arrived.

Friends, I am back.

Happy Thanksgiving

Because it's Thanksgiving week, this will likely be the last post until at least Saturday or Sunday. I know how disappointing this news will be to some. You'll have to come up with your own complaints, tirades, unprovoked outbursts, and bits of wisdom in lieu of mine. I hope this spoils no one's holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Life's frustrations and struggles

As some already know, my current job leaves a bit to be desired. There's little opportunity for advancement (not that I would want to be promoted at this company), and the position has nothing to do with anything I studied in college. I'm grateful to have a full-time job with benefits, of course, but this one can be charitably described as a "stepping stone" on the way to something better.

The most frustrating part is discovering what that is. I once firmly believed that each person is endowed with a specific purpose to fulfill during his or her time in this world. Looking back on the past year, however, I've begun to question that premise. With the 6.6 billion people living in the world at this very moment, can it really be true that each one of them has a destiny?

I'd like to say "yes," but I don't know. I also don't know whether my current situation is a consequence of past decisions I made (or failed to make), or whether this is simply where I'm meant to be right now. It's logical to believe that life's achievements hinge mainly -- if not entirely -- on the choices we make and the initiative we take, but if that's true, then some people (perhaps myself included) may be at a disadvantage. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not as ambitious or competitive as many I've encountered over the years.

And I often feel as though I'd do better in both those categories if I had someone consistently there to push me along. That's another source of tremendous frustration. I've never been in a serious relationship, and finding one now seems like an almost insurmountable challenge at times. I've observed many close friends whose lives are much fuller because of the relationships they have with their significant others. I ask myself: Why can I not accomplish the same? Maybe I'm not trying hard enough. Maybe it's a compatibility issue. I have no idea.

What I do know is that my blog posts are not ordinarily so somber. For that I apologize, friends. This space is my outlet and, like everyone else, my life has its ups and downs.

Christmas in October?

There are at least two local radio stations I know of that are already playing exclusively Christmas music. If I'm not mistaken, they started doing so just a few days after Halloween.

Now, I enjoy these tunes as much as anyone else. They raise my spirits during a time of the year when daylight has faded entirely by 5 pm and I find myself driving home from work in complete darkness. They also remind me of where I was and what I was doing at Christmas in years past, because these are the songs that typically can only be heard during that particular season.

Or at least that's the way it used to be. When radio stations no longer even wait until Thanksgiving to break out "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" or "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," it cheapens these songs, and, in my opinion, the season they represent. Isn't it true that years ago, you wouldn't hear a single Christmas song until Thanksgiving Day, and certainly wouldn't hear them continually until perhaps Christmas Eve? Now we've got "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" stuck in our heads just days after we finished carving pumpkins. By the time New Year's Eve rolls around, I don't want to hear another holiday song for at least a year.

Do the radio stations do this because they have good reason to believe it's what their listeners want to hear? Or do they do it simply because they're owned by broadcasting companies that tell them to?

O Fair Wisconsin, what has become of you?

A decidedly dark spot in Tuesday's elections was Wisconsin, a state I long admired for representing the best of Midwestern sensibility. For most of its history, it could easily be called one of the most progressive, fair-minded states in the country.

Its 150-year-old ban on the death penalty is the oldest such ban in the world. When the Republican Party was established there in the 1850s, Wisconsin led the nation against slavery and for women's suffrage. Until recently, it was one of the few places in the Midwest where gays could feel welcome: In 1982, a Republican governor (almost unbelievable now) made Wisconsin the first state to add sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination statutes. Plus, we can't forget about Wisconsin's famous politicians -- Robert LaFollette, Tommy Thompson, and Russ Feingold, to name a few -- and famously clean, open government, at times in stark contrast its southern neighbor. (Yes, there was Joe McCarthy, but compared against Wisconsin's history as a whole, he seems a mere hiccup.)

Hopefully one day Nov. 7, 2006, will be described the same way. On that day, Wisconsin's voters did a hatchet job on their state's proud progressive history by, on a single ballot, approving a sweeping ban on same-sex unions and an advisory referendum calling for reinstatement of the death penalty. How could this happen in Wisconsin, one of the very few states left with an (until now) untainted reputation for fairness and progress?

I don't know. Sadly, Wisconsin has fallen prey to the same trend witnessed in so many states across America: its Assembly hijacked by a group of self-serving, dishonest extremists, its citizens driven by fear over rationality, and its faith communities transformed into places that preach judgment over compassion. If there is a single spot in the United States that epitomizes how much harm can be done by this combination of factors, it is Wisconsin.

If there's any solace to be taken in all of this, it's that the death penalty there almost certainly will not be resurrected despite Tuesday's vote: Opposition to it among newly elected officials is high. Still, the knowledge that Wisconsin voters desire to roll their state backward 150 years is enough to make me vomit. And the idea that people so callously disregarded Wisconsin's reputation for justice is reprehensible.

Robert "Fighting Bob" LaFollette, former Republican governor of Wisconsin and a founder of the Progressive Movement, is doubtlessly rolling in his grave this week. I don't blame him. Shame on you, Wisconsin.

Initial thoughts on the election

Before Tuesday, I knew Democrats would pick up numerous seats in the House and Senate, but almost certainly not enough to gain control of both. The former, of course, seemed a better look than the latter: Ousting established incumbent senators in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Montana was a tall order. This was particularly true given Republicans' aggressive eleventh-hour campaigning and polls that showed them catching up. The Democrats sweeping the GOP out of control in both chambers of Congress was hard to envision, even in 2006. It's clear that the Party of Ideas handed over this one on a silver plate; in recent years, those "ideas" have gone from bad to worse. But I'm not sold on the Democrats, either. Until they agree on something and take principled (not political) stances, it's hard to say what can be accomplished between now and 2008.

Anyway, let me talk about Iowa first:

• Chet Culver romped Jim Nussle in the Iowa gubernatorial race. Good. Nussle would have been terrible for this state. I'll leave it at that.
• Democratic challenger Dave Loebsack, a political-science professor at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, ousted Republican incumbent Jim Leach in the race for Iowa's second congressional district. That's amazing. Leach was a 30-year, 15-term veteran of Congress, and a very moderate one at that. By all accounts, he's a very decent man. This race simply epitomized the anti-incumbent climate that has defined 2006 politically.
• Democrats took full control of the Iowa Legislature, which presently is evenly divided between parties. This will end any talk of gay marriage bans or reinstatement of the death penalty. It'll encourage talk of boosting the cigarette tax, smoking bans, and minimum wage.
• Gov. Tom Vilsack, whose term expires in January, announced that he is running for president, clearly emboldened by his party's success this week. He'd have better luck if his name was known anywhere outside the Midwest. Maybe it's good that he's getting such an early start. He would give new meaning to the expression "dark horse candidate."

More to come on Tuesday's elections; there's too much to cover in one post.

Bush's missed opportunity (again)

My blood boils just a little bit each time I see a headline about George W. Bush's expeditions across the country (on the taxpayers' tab) to stump for GOP candidates who are trailing in the polls.

Remember way back in the day when this man campaigned on the premise of being a "uniter" rather than a "divider"? Obviously that commitment was abandoned long ago, but still, he had the perfect opportunity in this election year to reach out across the aisle and embrace a bipartisan approach to addressing the nation's problems (which, dare I say, are even greater in number than the number of Republican incumbents who are about to be ousted). He could have spent the past several weeks encouraging compromise on the differences between Republicans and Democrats, all for the sake of achieving shared goals as Americans. He could have acknowledged the gravity of America's challenges and the fact that there are members of both major political parties who have good ideas about how to address them. That would have been presidential.

Instead, he and his sidekicks have spent this time doing nothing but bashing the opposition while explicitly asserting that a vote for anyone other than a Republican candidate is unacceptable; that a Democratic Congress would unequivocally spell this nation's doom; and that his opponents would just steal our money and invite terrorists to attack America. His fear-mongering rhetoric has reinforced the country's already hostile and polarized political dialogue. Unfortunately, Democrats have responded not with a positive or unifying message to counter this; they've responded with divisive rhetoric of their own.

Maybe Bush has already convinced himself that he isn't capable of working with those who disagree. Or perhaps he's simply too arrogant to be willing. Either way, his message on the campaign trail this fall has not been presidential. It's been pathetic.

Kerry's speaking gaffe

This week at a campaign rally in California, John Kerry inadvertantly implied that lazy and uneducated people are the ones who "get stuck in Iraq." Of course, it's fairly clear -- especially taken in context -- that this isn't what he meant. Nonetheless, it has highlighted some interesting points about this campaign season. Chiefly:

• What an abysmal campaigner John Kerry is. In 2004, he gave the GOP limitless ammunition with his misspoken lines and reluctance to hit back when attacked. In 2006, he isn't even on the ballot but still makes an inviting target for the same reasons. The Democrats would have been wise long ago to play down Kerry's involvement in the midterm elections.
• The utter disarray that is the Democratic Party. They'll pick up several seats in the House and Senate next week if they don't win control of either or both. But this is because of how terrible the Republicans are, not because the Democrats have any semblance of unity or continuity in message. Seriously, they couldn't even agree this week on whether Kerry should apologize for his remarks. That's pretty horrendous. They are unified in nothing and ambiguous in everything. I've often heard that while "the Republicans are the party of bad ideas, the Democrats are the party of no ideas." How true.
• The utter disgrace that is the Republican Party. I had to laugh when I heard George W. Bush blast John Kerry for "insulting" our troops. Maybe Bush could claim greater respect and honor for the troops if he hadn't used lie after lie to put them in harm's way in the first place; or, at the very least, if he would agree on a plan to pull them out of this disaster rather than leaving them over there to die. If there is any "insult" to the troops, that is it -- not some ill-conceived remark made by a senator who isn't even running in this election.
• The dire need for an alternative, independent media. The mainstream media, of course, have trumpeted this as though it's genuinely an issue that should affect the outcome of next week's vote. Apparently Kerry's poorly delivered jab at Bush trumps (or sells headlines better than) non-issues like health care, the economy, the environment, or the mounting death toll in Iraq.