Hope for Change; Change for Hope?

First, I'm not sure how many read this (if any at all), but I apologize if anyone out there does read it because my posts have been few and far between.

Second on the agenda: The Republican and Democratic Primaries of earlier today.
Its official that John McCain is now the Republican nominee. Personally I couldn't be happier for the man. I believe that he follows both his gut and his morals not those of anyone else, especially not special interest groups (asshole NYTimes). With that being said though, I have given a lot of thought to whether or not I would want him as my President. It is not that I would be unsatisfied with him in office, as I believe he is capable, qualified, and certainly has shown a love for his and our country, but his age and some of his policies bother me. Nevertheless, I am happy that the only man capable of saving the Republican party (fuck Newt Gingrich and Ann Coulter) will have the opportunity to do so, even if it is coming at least four years too late.

Of more interest to me is the Democratic Race. I have become a full-blown "Obamican," usually more drawn to the Republican party (probably due to my fiscally conservative views), but this time around I can only stand in awe of the movement that is "Obamania." The man is galvanizing, revitalizing, and more than anything he has an aura to him that I think has been lacking from American politics since Kennedy. I know that it is cliche to evoke JFK/RFK, but I am a firm believer in each generation having it's own heroic leader, and I am willing to believe that Obama is ours. Hillary has neither his presence, tact, nor balls (literally and philosophically speaking). Hillary's fear mongering tactics in her advertisements compared to the messages of hope and change from Obama present the exact problem with the US today.

Partisan Politics (and that can be used within Parties as well) tear apart our system and until the emergence of Obama and McCain, two dynamic characters, I was beginning to think that the US Golden Age was over.
Perhaps now there is hope for a change. Perhaps the world can survive in this globablized time with not one but many superpowers, and with a little luck and a great leader, the US can continue being one of them.

Around the Corner

I now live with three entirely different gentlemen than I ever have in the past. The first, and I'd say most recognizable of the group is an Investment Banking Prodigy, with a prep school past, and a slight predisposition to making offerings to the God of Silver Bullets (dardies). The second is a hopeful journalist, with a focus on the Middle East. Beirut in Beirut, nothing better. The third is the wild card of the group, even though he is the most "middle road," a St. Louis boy, just back from Spain, and prepared for his second semester junior year... And then there is me. I am an enigma. I'll say it again, an E-nigma. PERIOD.

How do you explain me? I'm a senior...I graduate in January '09. I'm an East Asian Studies Major...but neither asian nor particularly interested in the continent (my hero: Churchill) The saying goes "Good from afar, far from good." I've spent the last three years looking for a girlfriend. What do I get from my best sources, "There aren't any worth it... right now."

How do We go through life this way? My classes (08, 08.5, 09) worry about the minor details way too much. We as a class (I hope my fellow '08 and '08.5ers read this) are too great to worry about the little things. Social standing, the "Who's who?" doesn't matter. What matters is that I could find anyone within a group of ten that I care about.

I read a bunch of blogs. Most self-centered but some stray from the personal stories. Some fall into the realm of the political, some are from soldiers in Iraq, I read Ron Liebowitz's, other student's, etc. I don't claim to be omniscient, nor should anyone for that matter. I simply wish people would lose the ego and/or the shell. People are worth the time to know. Reputations precede too many of us. Just go ahead and take the chance of meeting someone "weird."

I'm always coming back home to you

So its been a long time, I shouldn't of left you.

Those two lines are my two favorite rap lines of all time, the first coming from Atmosphere's "Seven's Travels," and the second is Slick Rick in "Children's Story." I think those two rappers fulfill what I contend to be the qualities necessary to be considered "good," whatever that means.

Rap & Hip Hop today are too often centered on Sex, Drugs, "Poppin' Bitches," and Slinging Crack. To understand you only need to google "Puff Daddy" and "Name Changes," or youtube "Akon" and "Teen Girl." Materialism at its tamest times and dangerous thuggery at its worst. Slick Rick and Atmosphere tell stories and change up their message from song to song. Is it so much to ask for that to be more widespread?

Side note: Slick Rick is serving a 15-20 term in a federal penitentiary for drug charges, so while I don't condone his practices, love what he preaches!

If you're unaware, this is my second blog, my first being from my time in China last semester, which was met with decent success, but I want this one to be more stream of consciousness and less about keeping my parents and friends up to date with what I'm up to.

On that I'll leave you with one last thought for this, my first post of the new year. Even though I really want to vote for Obama, if John McCain is the Republican nominee, I'm going to have a very hard time voting against him. Is it just me or is Obama trying a little too hard to capitalize simply on his public speaking ability, whereas I can actually name the policies I agree with McCain on, I don't know what Obama stands for. We should really clear that up.

I'm going to link my facebook page, if you're buying any consumer goods do it through my Lemonade Stand please (you get a discount and I get paid), I'll link my last blog, and I want readers, I want to be a Web Star.