Down Goes the Devil

Making another run for #1, Wake pulled off a fantastic win over Duke last night. If you missed the game, you missed one of the most exciting basketball battles so far this year. Wake came out strong, leading Duke at the half and for most of the second, before Duke started to pull up.

And then there were seconds left on the clock and Duke was down by two. Duke goes in for a three point shot (we held our breath) and missed. The rebound came straight towards Johnson, one of our guards, who just stood there. I swear he wasn't paying attention. He totally missed the opportunity and Duke snagged the rebound and put it in to tie us, 68-68.

Our ball, with just seconds left on the clock. Johnson redeems himself with a shot that just slid in (we held our breath). 0.8 seconds left and it's over. Won by 2 points and Duke goes down from the podium.

Our boys played fast and strong and, while Virginia Tech did hand us our first loss last week, I think we rebounded nicely. If we keep playing like this, we're sure to be first seed in the tourney.

Maybe this is the year.

Praise Song

I watched the inauguration on an airport TV, with twenty of us huddled around, straining to listen to the din and speeches over the tinny airport speaker. Until one lady found CNBC on her blackberry and put it on speaker and then we craned our ears to the small phone, eyes glued to the TV. And then we boarded the plane and hurried to find the channels on our personal TVs to watch the parade and the show of emotion between the Obamas.

What we didn't see, perhaps because we were distracted by our flight delay, was the inaugural poem by Elizabeth Alexander. So I found it the transcript online and I really like the poem, or praise song. As I found out last night, as I watched Elizabeth on the Colbert Report, a praise song is a west African form of celebration. What I like is that, while it is clearly celebrating the inauguration and the historic event of it, it really can be applied to many situations in which there was struggle and achievement.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Little Baby B

This weekend I jaunted up to Connecticut to see Elizabeth, my college roommate. She is among the gaggle of friends who have lately decided to take the baby plunge and I wanted to see her in all her pregnant glory.

There were two parts of the visit that were amazing to me: first, that there was this little person growing inside of Elizabeth. Yeah, we've all learned about the "Miracle of Life" and from what little experience I've had with it, it truly is a miracle and a wonder that these two people - these two cells - come together to form a whole new human being. But that was somewhat abstract to me until I actually saw Elizabeth's belly and felt that whole new human being inside. To think that this little person - whom I felt hiccup and kick and move - will one day be running and climbing things and interacting with people is truly amazing.

The second part was seeing Elizabeth in a whole new way. This is my college roommate, the person I shared a life with for two years, with whom I had balloon swordfights, picked out the perfect frat party outfit, ate together at The Pit - and now she's all grown up and a mother. To see that transformation was really special.

Thank you to Elizabeth, Chris and Lilly for hosting me this weekend and allowing me to be a part of such a special time in your lives! No, I'm not getting any ideas, but I feel so blessed to be a part of something much bigger than anyone.

Believe

The rankings just came out today and, according to both polls, Wake Forest is ranked the number one team in the nation for basketball! We are the only unbeaten basketball team right now, and I hope that remains true through this week, although we do have two tough games coming up - Virgina Tech and Duke. We're a passionate team, though, and with this little boost, I hope we can give them both a good fight.

This is a great testament to the basketball program at Wake and the spirit of this young team. I've always been proud to be a Demon Deacon, but this week, I'm just glowing!

Let's go Deacons!

Long live whitey

As inauguration day draws nearer, we're hearing reports of how the Secret Service and the government are preparing for the big day - primarily against any kind of attempt on the life of our President-elect. While I'm sure such measures are always taken on Inauguration Day, this time it's even more important as this will be our very first black President.

The fear is that white supremacists will be looking to prevent Obama from taking office. Ever since election night, there has been a spike of chatter among these groups and while no formal plan seems to yet exist to assassinate Obama, who knows what may be lurking under the radar?

I find it absolutely amazing that white supremacy still exists in this country. Sure, I know that there is racism and prejudice, but at such a level where you are planning to fly the American flag upside down on Inauguration Day seems like a scene from the 1950s. Do these people really exist? And how could they live in our society, work in our businesses and hold these beliefs? The mainstream America seems to be past extreme hatred and racism, so how can you live in this American culture and still hold on to a such terrible and antiquidated belief system?

Reminds me of an old Tupac song:

I see no changes all I see is racist faces
misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it takes to make this one better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain't ready, to see a black President...

I think we are ready. And maybe having a black President will cause these fringe groups to see the truth about us as an American people and a human race. I really hope that, if this presidency does nothing else, it eliminates whatever racism that exists in this country that I just fail to comprehend.

How 'bout them Deacons?

Sunday night was the big game between Wake Forest and UNC-Carolina. And, what a game! It was close the entire time, with Wake staying ahead pretty much the whole time, pulling out a 3-point win! It was exhilirating to watch Wake play and to put all those critics' noise to rest about Carolina being the best team in the nation. With a record of 0-2 in the ACC, it looks like Carolina may have been hyped up a bit.

Of course, anything can happen at any game.

But it's nice to be able to gloat a bit. Wake has always been strong in basektball, but this year proves to be exciting with a talented team. And with no Seniors on the team, we know these boys will be around for a few more years.

Go Deacs!

Pay to play

I know, I know. I'm obsessed with Zimbabwe. I can't explain the fixation I have with the country and Mugabe's dicatatorship. And I realize that, by getting my information from American news sources, I may not be considering all sides of the story.

But I also believe that America has a free press and, because of that, I trust the information that I get from it. Zimbabwe's press, however, is not free. And now they are charging exorbinantly high prices for foreign journalists to work in the country. You wouldn't charge people to report if you had nothing to hide.

This, from CNN.com:

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- The Zimbabwean government has announced restrictive licensing fees for foreign journalists working in the country, demanding they pay an annual fee of $4,000 to practice journalism.

In addition foreign media groups must pay $10,000 for the application and $20,000 for accreditation, payable only in foreign currency, the government-controlled Media and Information Commission said Wednesday. An administration fee of $2,000 is necessary for the permit.

Zimbabwe has some of the harshest conditions for journalists in the world. Several foreign and local journalists have been arrested in Zimbabwe for lack of accreditation since a media law was passed in 2002.

Most Western media organizations including CNN are banned from Zimbabwe. Those that do still operate there including Reuters, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al Jazeera would have to pay the fee if they wanted to report from the country.

Zimbabwean government spokesman George Charamba said the fee was being introduced because foreign media organizations were "reducing local reporters to mere runners."

The new fees do not apply to journalists working for Zimbabwean organizations...

When we visited the Newseum last month, there was this great wall mural that depicted how free the press was in each country of the world. Those countries that had a completely free press were also democracies and developed countries (US, Canada, Western Europe, etc). Those who had somewhat free presses were developing countries without any major world issues going on (Russia, Brazil, etc). Those that had no free press were those countries and geographies riddled with strife (much of Africa, China, Middle East).

I haven't studied this issue so I can't say there is a causation. But the correlation seems pretty clear. That speaks volumes for the power of the pen, the power of free thought and dissent, and the power of knowledge.

A pot of gold

The weather yesterday was sunny and warm, a balmy 55 degrees in January. And then, around 4:00pm, a very ominous looking cloud system started to creep over the sky. By 4:30pm, it was raining hard and by 6:00pm it was hailing.

But there was a break between the hard rain and the hail, and as I was driving home (travelling east, into the storm system), the sun peeked out for a small while. And there, to my right, was a fully formed rainbow. A few minutes later, another fully formed rainbow appeared, right above it. A double bow.

What I find funny is that we know exactly how rainbows are formed...refraction of light from the water particles. But even though we know this, it's a spectacle that still catches us by surprise and causes us to be happy. It's still a very magical scene, maybe because it doesn't happen that often, and it's easy to see why people once believed it was the work of pointy-eared leprechauns who planted a pot of gold at the end.

But maybe the rainbow, itself, is the pot of gold. What a beautiful surprise at the end of the day.

Holidays on Ice, Part 2

Happy New Year!

It's crazy to think that another year has started...where has the time gone? But I'm excited about this new year - a fresh start for new convictions and new ideas. Both politically and personally, I'm interested to see where 2009 will bring us.

We started off the New Year by applying for the Darwin awards. Scott and I jaunted up to Galena, IL with Abby and Nathan and spent the week being pulled and whipped around in a saucer sled by a six-wheeler. There were a few crashings into trees and thorns, a few flings into the lake (which were frozen solid, fortunately) and a few tumbles (no cracked bones, fortunately). As always, a lot of fun, although it was so, so cold. I never knew my sinuses could hurt from the cold.

So here's to safe journeys and safer activities in the future...and to a happy and health New Year!