I recently came across this brilliantly written blog from a very funny articulate and bitter blogger from here in Ann Arbor:
joblessinannarbor.blogspot.com

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As I write this I am 30,000 ft. in the air winging my way towards San Diego for a business trip. Lack of connectivity and lack of desire to work on work-related items has given me some rare quiet computer time. I think I’ll take advantage of it by coming back home to Daddyo, my domain home for the past 14 years.

Those who follow Daddyo with regularity must by this point think that either I must have died, that I have abandoned Daddyo altogether or what turns out to be the real reason - that I suck as a blogger. Yes, it’s been a long, long while since I’ve posted here and there are a myriad of reasons which can all be summed up by saying I’ve been very busy: planning for my wedding this summer, raising a teenage boy, going to school part-time and working full-time takes up a lot of time, and when I do have a down moment or two, the guitars in the living room tend to be the winner.

There are many things to write about and I think I’ll start by tackling the most complex issue I can think of – how I feel about the Prez…

President Obama, I love you. President Obama you are a weenie democratic sellout. President Obama you are in waaaay over your head. President Obama I still have hope. President Obama, you disappoint me beyond words. All these things are true, and if you were to live in the Rinpoche McGowan household, you might hear any or all of these opinions uttered within any given 24 hour period.

I am a lifelong avowed leftist who, for my complete adult life, has been looking for signs of anything that resembles a sense of vision and a spine from the Democratic Party. And I, like many others, drank the Obama Hope Kool-Aid. Not that that’s a bad thing, when it comes to national politics, I think so many of us wanted to feel something other than the anger and hopelessness we’d felt throughout the truly disastrous Bush II years. I think we all hoped that Obama could rise above the cynicism and special interest rule that defines Washington D.C. Yeah, I decided to look straight ahead with rose colored glasses and thought that perhaps one man could make a difference. I was naïve and I was wrong. And yet I’m not giving up on President Obama. I’ll give him a second chance. And truth be told, I think if he continues to screw up like he has, I’ll likely give him a third chance and a fourth too.

Despite the fact that his lack of executive experience continually shows through, despite the fact that he keeps backing off all the promises he’s made to the gay community, despite the fact that Guantanamo Bay is open and shows no signs of closing, despite the fact the anti-war candidate is leading us through two wars, I still want to believe in Obama. I want to hold on to the idea of hope. Naïve? Yes. Totally cynical? Thankfully no.

When it comes to leading social change here at home, In my book there have only been two great American Presidents in the last century, FDR and LBJ. Those two men had the force of will and political savvy to lead sweeping progressive legislation through an often hostile Congress. So far BHO is not even worthy of having a three-initial moniker, but I’m hoping in time he will.

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My baby is not only all grown-up, but true to her declaration uttered when she was a mere ten-year-old, Sasha is now a Freshman Acting Major at NYU.

It is oh-so-strange not to be with my daughter on her birthday, but the fact that she celebrated with dear friends at the beloved Serendipity makes a happy dad.

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It's been a long time since I've posted here on Daddyo. Brother John will tell you it's because I am spending my time on Facebook instead. (Dare I mention that Brother John has not posted to his blog since last November?), But while Facebook is a big distraction, that's not the reason for the hiatus.. After keeping this blog moving along for eight years now, I just decided to take a little break. But now I'm back. For those of you who are new to daddyo, hi, my name is Scrappy, what is yours? To my regular readers (and both of you know who you are), hold on to your hats, I'm planning on posting here on a regular basis again.

One of those aforementioned regular readers is my dear friend Ed. Ed is not only a great friend, but a prolific poster of comments here on daddyo as well. Just yesterday I read the first entry on Ed's very own blog, The Edroom. Reading through his words, I thought to myself, "this is cool, I should start writing a blog myself." So spurred on by Ed, the musical boy genius, I'm back.

As to today's post title, it dawned on me that in March, Daddyo.com turned 13! That's right, my domain has reached its difficult pubescent years. Expect some awkward and self-conscious posts from the now teenager. Oh, and I'm also thinking of having Daddyo try growing one of those wispy teenage mustaches.

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I get why people enjoy and use Twitter, Twitter just never held any interest for me. Maybe now that His Holiness, The Dalai Lama is now using Twitter, I just may give it a try. How cool would it be to know that HH is heading out for a cup of tea with some other monks over in Dharamsala. Maybe we'll learn that HH can kick butt in MariovKart.

Just as I have been slow to get Twitter, I was also slow to get Facebook. I had a Facebook account for two years and had not done anything with it until my older Brother, John suggested that we use it as a way to stay in touch. Well that was all I needed, and now Facebook is part of my daily routine. Perhaps it can be the same with Twitter. Say I'm having a hard day and need some support because my shenpa is causing me to act out. I'll just twitter HH and see what HH thinks. Say I need a little support that day, just send out that info on Twitter, and then HH and the rest of my posse can do some Matri for me. I like that idea.

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After a period of silence, I'm back with this video posting.

I don't even know what to say about this clip that Caleb shared. It's stunning and terrifying at the same time. I can't even imagine jumping from the high board at a pool, so the idea of these guys tumbling off cliffs into a free-fall is beyond my conception.

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Just to prove to their Dad that they have actually visited this site before, yesterday Sasha gave me a hard time for not posting here recently. Jeremy started to do the same, but quickly stopped as soon as he realized that he barely ever posts to his own blog, the one that his Daddyo pays a hosting fee for.

For you my loyal readers who have been wondering why there has been a dearth of postings here lately, let me explain...

Often times my posting strategy is to save a link along with a title into the software that I use to publish Daddyo, with the intent to go back later and write a full post. In looking for something snappy and fun to post here quickly (so as to placate my children), I found that the only things I had sitting in reserve to be published were about the election and about politics.

"So, Scrappy," you ask, "you are a freakin' political animal. Why have you not written anything about the election recently? Why in god's name have you not mentioned how you feel about it?"

That's a good question, I'm glad I pretended to be one of my readers asking that.

Well, here's the answer. Yes, the election of Barak Obama as President has struck me the way it has so many Americans (and people all over our little blue marble). There has been a collective sense of happiness and hope that I have never felt with anything other than a World Series or NCAA basketball championship. And while I've had lots of thoughts about the whole deal and what it means, I've felt no need to write about it because I'm hoping that (at least for a little while), that this is a time for action, not words.

My feeling is that for once I will put down my snipe-filled pen and just watch and hope for a while. While I am not so naive as to think that Obama is the great liberal (and certainly not leftist) hope, for the first time in my life, I DO feel a sense of political hope. I feel that for once, things might truly shift in a direction I believe in. And it's not about the new President, it's about the larger crisis we find ourselves in. We're entering a time that Naomi Klein talks about in her book Shock Doctrine, a time like after September 11th when the American populous is open to potentially large changes.

So right now, I want to watch. I want to hope. And for once in my life, I don't want to opine about politics. We'll see how long that lasts.

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There are lots of wonderful greatest lists out there, but I absolutely love Out Magazine's list of The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums. Yeah, there are oodles of predictable choices here like Madonna (way too many of her albums on the list), David Bowie, Queen, Pet Shop Boys etc. But there are also some great surprises. Nick Drake and The Beatles make the cut. But then there is th inspired choice of Antony and the Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now, which comes in at #10.

Antony Hegarty has a high tembling voice which you either love or hate. Me, I love his voice and all the vulnerability he exposes. According to Out Magazine:

"With unflinching passion, a desperate desire for human connection, and a tremulous voice redolent of Nina Simone, cherubic Antony Hegarty -- with help from Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, and Boy George -- delivered a sparse set of some of the saddest, rawest songs ever recorded. In I Am a Bird Now’s 10 tracks, the singer meditates on the lonesome “middle place” between life and nothingness (“Hope There’s Someone”); gender mutability (“For Today I Am a Boy”); sadomasochism (“Fistful of Love”); and, on the album’s breathtaking climax, “Bird Gerhl,” the sublime freedom of flying alone."

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From Kim we have this brilliant video pointing out the hypocrisy of the religious right's opposition to Gay marriage.

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Cynthia sent along this wonderful poem from a Detroit Area 5th grader. It's great to read something so straightforward and honest. It reminds me not to overthink.

Advice to the Next President

Always help the homeless.
Watch out for pointy hats.

Remember to share cucumbers.
Give the rich to the poor.

Keep your shoe out of your ear.
Follow your instincts.

Don’t help half of the world.
Help all of the world.

Don’t bail on us.
Stay strong.

Love the people.
Make this a new world.

– Talandra Royal
5th Grade, Mark Twain Elementary

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A year and a half ago my friends Annie and Alison gave me an tabletop HD Radio that they had won, but didn't need. Since then my bedroom has been filled with the pure shining goodness that is HD Radio. I've so fallen in love with HD Radio that I went out and bought an Add-on HD Radio for my car. Recently my friend Linda asked me about my thoughts on my HD Radio, so I thought I'd share with the faithful daddyo readers, the information I passed along to Linda.

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Recently Robin sent me a link to this online portfolio of the work of Callie Shell.

In the portfolio we see Shell's work covering the Obama campaign these past year and a half. These images are as stirring and beautiful as photojournalism work I have seen in many years. I was particularly moved by the photo of Obama's shoes and the image of he and Michelle on the campaign bus.

Whether you support Obama or not, do yourself a favor and look over Shell's work, you'll be glad you did.

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