Letter to a friend. 2 days from the election...

Since I've not written on my blog in months, you'd hardly know that the world is turning on its ear. Not from my perspective anyway. The financial market is in crisis, Tampa Bay nearly won the world series and lost to a team that hasn't won the WS since the year I was born. We're currently 2 days from what I think will be the defining moment in the next 50 years. Barack Obama looks like he is going to win the presidency of the United States, and I could not be more pleased. I have been tortured and torn these past 8 years by a president who in word agrees with what I hold dear, and in action defies it at every opportunity. I am horrified by the path we have taken and while I know that John McCain is not George W, I am convinced that his presidency would look far too similar to the current president's for me to ethically vote for him.

I have been spending my precious few moments of free time lately answering questions from friends and relatives regarding Obama's policies, his faith and his qualifications. Despite the fact that christians, and even pro-life christians like Sarah and myself are sprouting Obama signs in their yards, my parents along with many of my acquaintances are still having a great amount of trouble understanding my position on this election. I wish I had done a better job of staying on my blog, and by now my readers would understand my position, but I haven't and you'll have to settle for this.

Today, I wrote a coworker who is deeply effected by abortion, and cannot come to terms with voting pro-choice. It cannot change her vote. I know it can't. But it can explain my position I hope...

For your reading pleasure, my letter to Alma:

Good morning Alma,

I am just fine with the fact that you can't vote for Obama. It's your vote, and it's precious. I'd be happy to leave it at that, but after reading your comment that you can't understand how I could vote the way I do, I don't want you to see me as heartless or unfeeling. I am wrecked by this issue along with many others that divide our country. I'll do my best to answer the born alive issue, and my reasons for voting Obama 08.

The "Born alive" issue is a complex one. It is made to seem simple and black and white by people who are interested in making it a "one-two punch" against Barack Obama. I've heard it said that no christian can in good conscience vote for Obama. Rick Warren, who wrote the best selling book "The purpose-driven life" said at his church earlier this year that "If they (pro-lifers) think that life begins at conception, then that means that there are 40 million Americans who are not here [because they were aborted] that could have voted. They would call that a holocaust and for them it would be like if I'm Jewish and a Holocaust denier is running for office. I don't care how right he is on everything else, it's a deal breaker for me. I'm not going to vote for a Holocaust denier."

What Rick is saying is that like you, the issue is so strong that it's a deal breaker for him. I won't contest that, because it's how strongly you feel about the issue. It's how strongly Rick feels about it too... along with the vast majority of pro-life Americans. The problem I have with that quote is when Mr. Warren says "I don't care how right he is on everything else". For me, I do care. George W. Bush agrees with me on abortion, but has been wrong on almost everything else. He's disrupted entire countries, upended governments, sent countless soldiers to war and die based on shifty information and baseless claims. He's led his party and our nation in adopting policy that will give the government rights to monitor, detain and prosecute whoever they wish by simply naming them an "enemy combatant." He's spent billions of dollars in military spending to private companies like Haliburton who's last CEO was Dick Cheney. Oil, Military and big tax cuts for the rich... and all in the name of God. It doesn't matter what Bush's stance on abortion is on paper, abortion is still legal after his 8 years, and he's gotten so much more that he wanted.

John McCain is a hero. A US war hero. He loves his country, and while he's been involved in a few scandals over the years (the Keating 5 for example) I think he's an honorable man. He is not George W. Bush, but I don't think that he's going to change the way the country has been operating these past 8 years. I can't disagree as much as I do with Bush, and still vote for a man who is very likely to follow in our current president's footsteps.

As for Barack voting in the Illinois State senate on SB-1082:

On Obama's website, Barack points out that at the time he "voted against a bill containing language designed to protect infants who were "born alive" such legislation was on the books as Illinois State Law." It was already law. What the bill was proposing was that during abortions, a 2nd doctor should be present in the room to save the baby's life if something should go wrong with the abortion and the baby be born alive. Illinois already requires physicians to save the child's life if they're born during the procedure. He voted "present" regarding the bill that required the second physician in the room to step in if they thought the infant had a chance of surviving the abortion. The penalty for doctors who failed to save the child who wasn't successfully aborted was a class 3 felony.

Republicans Bill Sponsor and Rick Winkle, who proposed and supported the "born alive" bill disagree with the accusation that Obama supports infanticide. They both stated in interviews that no one who voted against the measure, republican or democrat did it because they support killing infants.

The Chicago Tribune reported:

“Obama said that had he been in the US Senate two years ago, he would have voted for the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, even though he voted against a state version of the proposal. The federal version was approved; the state version was not. Both measures required that if a fetus survived an abortion procedure, it must be considered a person. Backers argued it was necessary to protect a fetus if it showed signs of life after being separated from its mother…the difference between the state and federal versions, Obama explained, was that the state measure lacked the federal language clarifying that the act would not be used to undermine Roe vs. Wade.” [Chicago Tribune, 10/4/04]

Obama was just one of many state senators that would have supported the Federal version of this bill (which passed) but didn't support the state level version (which didn't) which would have had much different applications.

I DO care how much Obama has right. He's wrong on abortion, plain and simple, and he'll be no friend to the pro-life movement. But we as pro-lifers need to make the decisions that will slow and eventually stop abortion. Not rely on a law to do the very "human" things that need to be done to support pregnant teens. We need to set up programs through our local churches to help these girls care for their babies after they're born. Do you know how many pro-life organizations there are in the US alone that help pregnant women make the decision to keep their babies? Over 3,000. But there are only a handful of organizations that help young mothers once they've had those babies. We need to change our hearts.

In closing, please know that I hold you in the highest regard, and respect you very much. I am happy you're voting, even though it will counterbalance my own. I know that you've prayerfully considered what to do, and that you're voting on principal, which is ultimately important. You obviously love your country and fellow man, and I am proud to know you.

Be blessed on Tuesday. I'm proud to be your fellow citizen.

James

Funny picture I found online...

First Adult Cayman shirt!!!

Here are some pics sent to me from the girl who purchased the first "Cayman" adult shirt! Very cool to see my stuff out there...

I'll be sure to post any pics I get here when they come in...

Hint, hint Tammy... :)

Shoes are finished!

This is the 100th anniversary of Converse this year, and here's my tribute.

They is finished I declare!

Jim VanHorn

I didn't mention it on the exact day, but Jim VanHorn passed away a year ago April 22nd.

I was a wreck this year. I hope it hurts less next year.

I listened to alot of ACDC and that made it better...

For those of you who knew him, please join me in remembering our brave and loyal friend.

Turning the lights on

So I decided to give my blog a brighter look. It's minimalistic, but clean.

Things are going well. I leave tomorrow evening for Chicago! I can't wait to see my precious wife and son. I've missed them so.

I've definitely used the time to focus and create. I'm very excited about where the clothing line seems to be headed. I finished the shoes, and I'll have pics up soon.

Work's been decent. I'm still uncomfortable with my current situation, but who knows? Everything could change in one decision by the right person. So I'm praying for that to happen. If the right person decides to move me to a different job, it could happen immediately. That's how it seems to work around here. Stall, stall, stall... change now.

Kiah's growing in leaps and bounds. His phone conversations are starting to make sense. (Alot of talk about trains and fish and kitties) He now says "I love you" clear as a bell when saying goodbye!

Well, I best get back to what I was doing...

Peace

Sorry

The pics aren't showing up in the post below... my apologies.

I am attaching them here in hopes you will see them.

Dumb blogger.

New shoes

My Converse All-Stars are announcing their retirement today... They've seen alot in the past two and a half years, and while they were my first pair of Chuck Taylors... they will not be my last. Case in point, I've already purchased their replacements. As before, I will be coloring on my shoes, but this time I have been encouraged to send pictures to Converse, and see if they'll use the design. This sounds very exciting to me and I have determined to do so. While the last design I used on my shoes was sparadic and haphazard, this time I am putting a great deal of thought and planning into what I want them to look like. I've begun work on one of them, and here's what I have so far... The "Fire Circle" is a design I've been using throughout my work, and you can actually purchase several articles of clothing with it off my cafepress.com webstore. The design itself began as a tattoo idea for the upper center of my back, and based on my growing love for the design, it may still become that. In some ways, I feel the circle still needs some perfecting, but the imperfect qualities it has have grown on me... I may not change them at all. Hmmm... Anyway. I still have a week before I see Sarah and Kiah again. I've been missing them terribly these last two weeks. Three weeks is too long. I have determined that now. I've been able to be very productive, but screw productivity! I miss my family! I would much rather have one of our hectic "can't get a thing done because Kiah won't stop being clingy and breaking stuff when he's not being clingy" days than these incredibly productive lonely ones... our bed seems like a mattress without her... Work's been good, but frustrating. We're still hurtling toward a cliff this summer, and nothing's been done on the management side to slow our hurtle... :) I hope I'm wrong... but I don't think I am. Well, that's it for now. Love and peace to you all. P.S. Feel free to stop by HollyCross and have a look around. We appreciate your support!

Rooftop thoughts and high brow tomfoolery.

So Sarah and Kiah are in Chicago for a few weeks, and I've got some time on my hands. And it won't wash off.

I cleaned a disgusting window in our upstairs bedroom/apartmentish room which has a small roof below it. So now, my super clean window allows me access to the roof, on which I have placed a folding chair, and I now have a lovely place to sit in the evening and look out over the fields. It's really quite relaxing, and I enjoy my little fortress of solitude. Well, it's not particularly solitary, as Ezra realized he can throw tennis balls at me while I sit, but when he's not harassing me, it's very "solitudary."

I watched the Lady in the Water the other day, and couldn't have been more impressed. I'm an M. Night fan (except for Signs which was a total piece of crap) but I had heard that the Lady in the Water was supposed to be a flop.

It was touching, funny, suspenseful and refreshing... everything I had hoped, and nothing I disliked. Totally ownable.

I met with my HR manager this week to discuss my recent issues at work, and I think things are really going to improve. He and I have a great repoire, and I enjoy talking with him a great deal. They've decided to add to my title here, and give me responsibility over the public areas of the hotel in addition to the rooms. I've already been assuming responsibility over them for awhile now, but they finally decided to make it official, and back me. Up till now, I've just had my housekeepers clean whatever I saw was dirty, and other people "didn't have time for."

I hope to have another location or two added to our department shortly, and a pay raise for the added responsibilities is in the works. I hope it's big. We'll see.

For my birthday, I got the money for a Nintendo DS, which I have found to be highly enjoyable. Being such a flitabout person, I find portable gaming systems to be so much more enjoyable than a TV bound one. Although, the Nintendo Wii is a fantastic idea, and Sarah and I hope to have one someday.

I purchased a game called Trauma Center: Under the Knife, where you operate on people who have been infected by a Bio-terrorism virus that adapts and changes. The DS has two screens, and the bottom one is a touch screen that uses a stylus. In Trauma Center, you use your stylus to scalpel, stitch and suction your way to greatness. It's a blast!

I also got Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which is a fantastically well designed, well drawn mystery puzzle game. It's deep and engrossing, challenging but fun. The in game videos are beautiful and keep the game interesting, and the music is repetative but pleasant. I beat it in a week, but you can save your favorite puzzles to do again, and new puzzles are available for download weekly.

Well, that's it for now. I'll keep you posted on new developments. I'm creating a Cayman t-shirt tonight for a friend of Kristen's! My first adult design for sale! Very exciting.

Adios!

6 months of silence...

Yeah, so as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted...

It's been a crazy last few months. Lack of broadband, and excess of thought requiring tasks have led to a profound amount of silence on my blog. It's amazing how much of my writing stems from random thoughts, and the wish to inflict them on my family and friends on a whim. Remove the ease of jumping on the computer and shooting off a rant/thought/ramble, and you get 6 months of silence.

I've missed it though. Especially the responses and conversation with friends that writing here spawns. Reading over the past few years here, I see conversations with friends we've lost to death and distance. And friends we haven't lost at all.

The moves, the jobs, the pains and joys... it's been a great couple years, and I've been honored to spend it with such fine people.

I don't know where to begin if I am to update you on my life now. Suffice it to say that I have moved back to my "hometown" as it were, and I am still working in hotels. I am working for the best hotel in the area, as I wouldn't have it any other way, and while the road has been a bumpy one, I am happy that we have done this move. I miss my mountains, and the sunshine, but being near family has been as priceless as advertised. Sarah and I are both looking forward to building our own life in our own home, but have enjoyed the closeness and hospitality that my family has provided by letting us stay with them until we find our feet.

I have recently solidified a past dream of mine, one that involves drawing designs on clothing. I have made several half-hearted attempts in the past to see it to fruition, but I have a really good feeling about this time. I am planning to begin an actual clothing line under the moniker "Hollycross", which is a previous design of mine which first appeared on this blog.

My first work under the label was this onesie, made for a wonderful little girl, born to dear friends of ours. I have named the pattern "Cayman" after her, and I have been pleased to see it very well received. I have been taking orders via email, and hope to soon have a website up and running where I can begin to fill orders as well. I must find a good way to produce what is needed, before I get in over my head... but it's great to see a demand.

Once I know more, I'll fill you in. Again, it's good to be back in the blogosphere... I missed you.