Indiana & Vermont, Thinking of You All

What a great weekend! Yesterday we ventured down to Grange, Indiana to hang out with Stacy's Dad and his wife Linda. Awesome people, always good to see them. The trip was decent from the word go. We decided to avoid the interstates as much as possible and opted to check out M-60 and M-62. Really fantastic scenery, when driving through, you are taking a look at a long slice of Michigan agriculture, and the smells were ranging from rotten to sickeningly sweet. Was a true sensory over load. We decided to go putt-putting (which I have not done in years), Stacy managed a hole-in-one, as did Linda. Then we took Sage to see "Monster House." I'd say it was a good movie, but I would be bluffing (I fell asleep, heh). I would have been just as content to stick around their place and chit-chat. Good times.

On a side note, Sage's Uncle Craig and Aunt Cathy who are currently trekking the Appalachian Trail sent her a really nice chapter book that arrived today. They are currently in Vermont and we wish them the best of luck! Not many people dare to set aside 6 months of their lives and walk the entire 2000+ miles of trail from beginning to end, then again, not many people are like our Craig & Cathy. Cheers! (for more info on their adventure, you can read their trail journal / blog at the link I have posted, truly awesome!)

Dave & Sage

Subject matter has been a little gloomy around here of late. Thought I would lighten the mood for at least a post. Here is Sage the other day steering me around for a piggy-back ride. I sure love being Sage's Dad!

My Struggle With Inherent Negativity

Where to start? I've been having a really difficult time processing world events recently. With everything going on in the Middle East, I find myself getting sucked into watching CNN, and that is not good. I have so much pent up anxiety over the way things are right now. Maybe it is this history course I am finishing up. I really don't know.

It seems all that is ever reported on, is negative. Whether it is something that happened within the last 10 minutes, or 300 years ago. There exists no difference in presentation. There is just so much negativity. As I begin to internalize these thoughts, it occurs to me that I too am also guilty of spreading negative thoughts through this Blog. Often, I have nothing worth saying, unless it is something that I take such issue with that I am all fired up and motivated to extrapolate on. This hypocrisy is starting to eat at me. Yet, I find myself justifying it.

In a conversation with a fellow student, not too long ago, I said a few things that were not so flattering in regards to ... the United States. This individual really took offense to these remarks and returned fire with an observation focused on Americans general inability to "feel satisfied." She is convinced that we are all a bunch of complainers, and that were we to spend any amount of time living in a situation less optimal than our present, or a Third World country, that we would finally understand how good we have it here, today, as Americans.

I tried to explain to her that there was a difference between complaining and being desirous of social change that had the potential to improve the quality of so many peoples lives. I mentioned that this sort of idealistic wishfulness is not unlike holding a dream for the future. I reminded her that people in our history such as Martin Luther King Jr. "had a dream." They spent a great deal of time and effort pointing out what was wrong with, or broken in our culture. Do we refer to people like this now as "complainers?"

The thing is, I don't have anything to say that is going to change anyone's outlook on life. I am surprised anyone even reads this Blog to be honest. Yet I feel compelled to give these thoughts a shot at seeing the light of day. I used to think that writing about my misgivings was therapeutic, but now it is making me feel so conflicted. Is it worth it, to speak ones mind, even if it is dealing with unpleasant concepts? Or is it an exercise in kicking dead horses? I for one cannot answer this. I do know that by keeping a record of how we think and feel now, can help others in the future gain insight into our contemporary, but beyond that, /shrug.

I suppose if we were to all be brutally honest with ourselves, we would bury our egos and embrace the knowledge that we are all cliche artists scurrying along within the collective. I need to consider these concepts more before commenting further.

"Wandering the Ether" R.I.P. ?

It appears as if I may have a dilemma on my hands. Here it is folks: yesterday I wanted to post to my Blog from a computer other than my own. Being the lazy Googlite that I am, I fired up Google and just typed in "Wandering the Ether." This is what I saw: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Wandering+the+Ether

Oh no, this cannot be. So I visit the site: (Even though I despise Geocities and their wretched pop-ups and sidebar ads) http://www.geocities.com/joechummer/

Sigh. Apparantly this fellow has been using the name "Wandering the Ether" for his website since 2004. Here is my dilemma. From a moral standpoint, I am torn as to whether or not I should change the name of my Blog based on the fact that there seems to have been no activity at his site since April 2005, or 16 months ago. From a legal standpoint, it is troubling me that on the Google link page, it is referred to as copywritten.

What is the standard protocol in these type of situations? Are proprietary usage rights based on activity? Or date of inception? Is it even possible to copywrite the name of a Geocities homepage? I really, really, do not want to have to change the name of my Blog. I spent a very long time conjuring up something that was of sufficient personal resonance.

If you can answer any of these questions, or help me out with deciding what to do... please comment here, send me an e-mail, or give me a call. Would appreciate advice on this matter.

Men Who Mother

Had a very funny conversation with a random stranger yesterday. Was picking Sage up from her morning camp at the Harris Nature Center, and as I entered the classroom I could hear this boisterous woman yammering on about "men who didn't work" and asking Joe (Sage's counselor) what is up with all the men she has been seeing picking their children up from camp...

As I approached Joe to grab the clipboard and sign Sage out, she latched onto me. "You! You're a man! Tell me, what are you doing here? Whe