See Penny on Santa's List

My daughter Penny made Santa's List "http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/176401-wackyfiasco/" - Send your Picture to Santa and See Which List You've Made This Year

Covenant House Gift Catalog - Covenant House

Covenant House Gift Catalog - Covenant House

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Rubbernecking on the Road: Safety and Ethics

Most of us get frustrated whenever drivers slow down to gawk at an accident or someone getting a ticket (or a pretty lady holding up a sign for something). There have been explanations about why people do it:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/390267/rubbernecks_exposed_why_people_gawk.html

I used to love watching horror films when I was younger, because it was so raw, shocking and novel, compared to all the cutesy and safe entertainment I had to be satisfied with before that, but I knew it wasn't real. The gory scenes were almost cartoon-like in their garishness, but eventually, the slasher-type gore-fests became rather mundane, scripted and monotonous, so as a true adult I came to prefer more suspense-based, more "probable" horror movies.

When "Faces Of Death" became popular in the 80's, however, I was disturbed, appalled and insulted. I refused to watch them: It was one thing to watch dramatized make-believe stuff, but someone real who was perhaps loved and had a life, with parents and people grieving for them was having their final moments exploited as a form of macabre entertainment, and I wasn't about to let anyone profit from me with something like that! Likewise, something about rubbernecking somehow to me is an affront to those unfortunate people's dignities. Educational documentaries are a different matter. I will usually watch those, about things like the Holocaust, unethical and animal abuses, but not for any curiosity about the spectacle of suffering and loss: It is painful for me to watch those, but it is important to know what really happens so that people will always remember what can happen and do what they can to prevent it from happening again.

My main concern with the type of voyeurism involved in an activity such as rubbernecking is the potential for desensitizing and apathy. Perhaps some things you shouldn't get used to (unless you have little choice in the matter, like for Police and Fire Rescue work), or you might not be affected enough to give a damn and do something about it when it really matters. Like an incident when one poor pedestrain was hit on the road and only 1 man came to his aid in a crowd of onlookers:



Nobody nearby knew basic First Aid??

I don't want us to become throw-backs to when "civilized" Rome watched gladiators kill each other for sport and watched Christians get eaten alive by hungry lions. The people in those collisions aren't willing participants in some reality TV show for your voyeurism.

Besides, your risk of getting into an accident greatly increases when you are distracted while driving, and that includes rubbernecking:

http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/personal_injury/car/statistics.html

"Car accident statistics indicate 98 percent of reported accidents involve a single distracted driver. Rubbernecking was the highest percentage of single distractions, followed by driver fatigue, looking at scenery or landmarks, passenger or child distractions, adjusting the radio or other music form, and cell phone use."

There are actually products (used before in states like Massachusetts) that are supposed to help prevent rubbernecking:

http://www.rubberneckless.com/index.htm

My suggestion to those tempted to concentrate their attention on an accident scene while driving: Show some class, stop ogling, and keep your eyes toward the direction in which you are traveling, please??

-On Facebook? Visit VEHICLES OF CONSCIENCE for more driving tips and information.

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Sexiest Anime Male Characters

I see a lot of hashing about the sexiest anime females, so to be fair, lets talk about boys for a change (us gals can voice aesthetic appreciation, too, you know).

Here are some of my picks:

Ulquiorra Cifer (Bleach): Although Bleach isn't technically one of my favorite anime series out there, there is definitely something about Ulquiorra that makes me want to devour him (it's weird to refer to a cartoon that way, but they obviously did something right when they created this one). His cool demeanor and intelligence is the cherry on top. Besides, I can get tired of Ichigo's drama.




Vincent Law (Ergo Proxy): He's just nerdy enough to be endearing, and the inner torment and conflict with the other part of him who's the Proxy (the old Jekyll-and-Hyde or Dr. Banner/Incredible Hullk thing) and how they both have a weakness for Real is pretty seductive. It's less how he looks but more who he is that makes him kinda sexy.




















Ditto for Kyoshiro/Kyo (Samurai Deeper Kyo)



Abel Nightroad (Trinity Blood): He seems pretty benign to the point of sometimes seeming like a goofball, but don't let that fool you: He is one serious bad-ass when he needs to be. That's what makes him delectable, that he doesn't need to act tough all the time to actually BE a tough guy.




















Kamina & adult Simon (Gurren Lagann): Kamina was so swashbuckling, and Simon so tenacious (plus the constant "drill" reference wasn't too subliminal), and when they had the scene where you get to see both of them together as adults, I thought, now there's some nice, masculine eye candy.















Mugen and Jin (Samurai Champloo): Here's the Odd Couple of the anime world. Mugen is a devil-may-care misfit and Jin is distant and cerebral. Two great tastes that taste great together.






































While we're on pairs, there's Lelouch and Suzaku (Code Geass): Honestly, Lelouch is too perpetually pissed off and brooding to keep my interest, but Suzaku's sense of duty and strong moral convictions make him irresistibly lovable.






































Hagi (Blood Plus): He may not be as much a pretty boy nor as pretentiously romantic as the chiropteran Solomon, but his timeless, unquestioning devotion to Saya speeks volumes above Solomon's preening endearments.












Kazuma and Ryuho (s-CRY-ed): They spent most of the series kicking the crap out of each other, and they looked very good doing it.

























Kiba (Wolf's Rain): Transient soul, the Lost Boy you want to take home with you.



























I think that's a decent sample of the anime hunks I adore.

10 Seconds with Walter Cronkite

When I'd worked at a resort, I had seen and met plenty of famous people - celebrities and politicians - in a service capacity. They usually behaved like anyone else, and there were nearly no instances in which I became awe-struck in their presence (they were just regular people to me who happened to have a lot of notoriety), all save one: Walter Cronkite.

I remember the day he came to visit Orlando and checked into the resort where I worked. It was about 7 years ago, I think. He was helped out of the limo he was riding in, and he seemed so frail. He looked like a freckle factory, with all the age spots he had, and he looked very, very ancient. Yet, he had a fire in his gaze, evidence that the well-used gears behind it still turned as strongly as ever. I was reverent of what he had done in his life, the points in history he shared with the world, and I just couldn't help myself: Even though it was the middle of winter and one of the coldest nights in Florida, I took off my glove first before I shook his hand.

Something so mundane and rote in my line of work then was elevated in those brief seconds with Mr. Cronkite, to a sublime connection to the flow of the universe for me. He wasn't merely a retired journalist: He was one great eyewitness to history, whose veracity in conveying the effects and meanings of the world's events made him tenably peerless.

You may forever rest peacefully on your bountiful laurels, Mr. Cronkite.


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The MJ on the Pop throne: Icon and musical inspiration has passed away

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. He was a part of my music culture, and he will be dearly missed. I loved him most in his youth, before he lost his childhood to fame. Here is a lovely video of the Jackson 5 from the Ed Sullivan show.

Jupiter One: A fairly new band evokes musical nostalgia

VEHICLES OF CONSCIENCE: My Cause for Self-Aware Driving Habits

One of my most salient activism projects is to increase the awareness of motorists, not just about safer driving habits, but better driving ATTITUDES. Like why tailgating isn't just rude and unsafe, but does nothing to help you out and everything to undermine your stress-reduction on the road. Or, why letting people merge ahead of you (regardless if they deserve it or not) and backing off a good space will in fact not only prevent traffic congestion, but will actually get rid of it (even one person can make a difference in the traffic wave, for a time).

VEHICLES OF CONSCIENCE is a driving philosophy community with a goal to help improve commutes by promoting better driver attitudes. You can find it on Facebook.


I have been trying to spread more awareness about VEHICLES OF CONSCIENCE, so if you think this Facebook group is worthy, please share it with others.

In Memory of Caylee

I haven't had much chance to post about the Caylee Anthony tragedy (when I was busy with my In-Laws and getting ready for Spring classes to start), but I didn't want to forget to do so.

The Anthony family lives less than a mile from me, so this whole mess and tragedy has been going on pretty much in front of us (all the search and forensics crew buy lunch at the Publix across the street from me, and you can plainly see the area where they were excavating and people were leaving stuffed toys, while driving down Chickasaw heading to my home). It's still very difficult to wrap my head around this: I've been deeply affected, and although I can somehow find it within myself to forgive this egregious crime, I don't think I will ever live to understand how someone could murder such a beautiful and loving little girl and then just dump her body. In the woods. As if she didn't really mean that much.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I truly hope her next life is charmed beyond belief.



I hold my little daughter Penny just that much tighter and longer, because of poor little Caylee. I'm glad the Anthony's decided to donate the memorial stuffed toys to needy children.