Belated Valentine

Before it gets any further away, I wanted to lay out my proposal for changing Valentine's Day to a general day of love. Romantic love used to have a rough time, back in the day of good St. Valentine. But today romantic love is overexposed, overextended in terms of what it gets you, and over exploited in terms of the jewelry advertisers--no, a heart-shaped ruby necklace is NOT the best way to let her know you love her!! Okay, so I guess romantic love is still having a rough time, just a different rough time.

But so is love in general. All the above overs of romantic love have disillusioned too many not only about romantic love, but about love in general. In our fast-paced lives, sometimes we don't even realize we love someone until it is too late.

Valentine's Day gives us an opportunity to let the people in our lives whom we care about know that we do. Even if it is just a grade school card or online greeting, make sure you take a moment, at least once a year, to express the love you have inside.

Book of Rules

The other night, I had some time to kill before going to see 'The Good Woman of Setzuan'. I debated going to get a drink, but then realized I could go to the library, and so I skipped off there. I couldn't remember any of the things I wanted to look up, except for Bill Maher (his HBO show being one thing that makes me consider getting premium cable now and again). They had his latest book, 'New Rules' so I checked that out and headed for the theatre. In the play, The Book of Rules plays an important part, at least in terms of whether or not it needs to be thrown out.

So, it seems clear that we are always questioning what the rules should be, and always feeling the ones we have aren't quite working.

Thus, I was disappointed that Bill Maher's book was more of a laundry list of items, some more serious than others (at least, I hope so!) than an actual proposal for what we should be doing, rules-wise.

The funny thing is, though, with most of the religions I know something about, the rules are more or less the same essential rules we need to have to live together:

• respect yourself and act honorably
• focus on what and who you are, not what and who others are, or have
• you get back what you put out
• use your powers for good
  
• don't judge others; you can't know what it is to be them
• treat others as you want to be treated
• emphasize the positive
  
• eliminate the negative
• be helpful and generous to others
• don't bogart the good stuff
  

Maybe it isn't the rules that are a problem. Maybe it is a lack of commitment, especially by those telling us to follow them, that is the problem.

Why don't we commit to following them? It could be the way they are presented, since they tend to be couched in religious dogma rather than in practical reality. Or just a lack of "what's in it for me" which is key, even if we don't want to admit it.

I don't follow the rules because I fear going to hell or getting caught. I follow the rules because they are Important for any society to work, and I cannot survive without my society.

And because they just feel right to me.

Half-staff

I was on the bus to work this morning when I saw the first flag at half-staff on some random high rise in downtown Seattle. My first thought was to wonder if it was for the Seahawks. Instead, it was for Coretta Scott King, whose funeral was today in Georgia.

By happenstance, I saw part of it at lunch. I'd gone to A Burger Place on the Ave and, when I saw Jimmy Carter speaking, I took a seat by the big tv in the back rather than one by the windows in the front.

It was unlike any funeral I've seen, with the eulogizers getting standing ovations when they were introduced, and when they finished. The speeches of the former presidents--Carter, Bush Sr., and Clinton--were mixed with humor and praise, intelligence and perspective, and showed the world that they all share beyond partisan politics. I waited nervously to hear W speak, but I guess he had earlier on.

I was pleased that the speakers, not only the ones I saw then but the clips I saw on the news tonight, were not afraid to speak the truth--about the inequalities that still exist in our society and were so sharply shown with the Gulf Coast hurricanes of last year. I applauded loudly when a speaker mentioned the illegal wire tapping that the Kings had endured. How appropriate that they, in their eulogies for this dedicated fighter for justice and equality, stepped forward to carry on the fight.; and how great it was that W had to sit and take it.

Seahawks Superbowl

I've not really paid attention to the Superbowl since I lived at home and would watch football games with my father. But since my local team actually made it to the Superbowl, I watched this year's game.

It reminded me a lot of watching the Vikings when I was growing up--frustrating, and likely bad, calls by the refs, and us beating ourselves more than the other team did. We won the coin toss, we got the first score (although it should have been a touchdown and not just a field goal), and made a great return on an interception, but we had penalties, those questionable calls, and just couldn't score points when we had the chance to.

It was an exciting game at least, and we have a good team that had a great season. Go Hawks!