Every Year Should Be This Good

Last night we celebrated Christmas at our house. It is the beginning of the end of what was a terrific year for the Anderson family.

We were reminded of the importance of family this year, as my father-in-law suffered some health problems earlier in the year. He has made it through, thankfully, but I believe we all learned right away how strong a family we can be.

It was a year of new beginnings, as my sister began a new job.

It was a year of birth, as baby Dimitrios joined our family.

Claudia and I continued our careers successfully. Over the year we made several new friends, all centered around our son.

We learned about ourselves this year, most importantly our priorities. We have evolved into two parents who coach, teach, play with, and are fans of our son. And Jonathan's life has become more enriched because of it.

This year, he:

• visited Tampa
• visited San Diego and Anaheim
• camped out for the first time
• climbed his first mountain
• made wine
• won first place/gold medals five times in Tae Kwon Do tournaments
• led his team in doubles, while batting well over .500
• began learning to swim
• ice skated for the first time
• caught his first fish

It is with the highest of hopes that I begin 2007.

Last night, we celebrated Christmas dinner at our home. I noted the fact that six countries were represented at our table (Armenia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Korea and the United States). We ate and drank and enjoyed this time of peace.

Perhaps if, in a little corner of Connecticut, a family can welcome so many from differend places around the globe to celebrate peace, then the rest of the world can follow.

Happy New Year.

Survey Says...

A recent study claims that 95% of Americans have had pre-marital sex. This leads to so many questions:

• If the Christian/Catholic Right makes up more than 5% of our population (it does, by a lot), what gives?
• Why are condoms in high schools taboo for so many people?
• How could so many of us be anti-abortion?
• What the heck have that 5% been doing with their free time?

I am curious to know how much lower the percentage is for post-marital sex.

* * * * *

George W. Bush says he wants to grow the army and the Marine Corp. Does it dawn on him that he's done more than enough damage with the military he already has?

* * * * *

Miss USA was given a second chance. I was really worried about this. I mean, this is important, life-changing stuff. Thank goodness it's over and we can fill our news slots with something more valuable -- like what Britney isn't wearing today.

* * * * *

Wow. 95%?

The Crade Has Fallen

Look up "Cradle of Civilization". What you will find is a word: Mesopotamia. It comes from the Greek, meaning "between". It refers to the lands between two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates.

Before the great European civilizations, before the Romans, before the Greeks, even before the Egyptians, there were great civilizations in Mesopotamia.

There were great civilizations residing between the rivers for millenia. There were the Assyrians. Later, there were the Babylonians. Much of what we know of in the Old Testament takes place in this fertile crescent. Abraham, considered the father of Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, came from the city of Ur, also in this region.

All that greatness. All that culture. All that history.

It's dead now.

Sure, it had been dormant for several years. Dictatorship has a nasty habit of doing that. But the truth, the essence, of the land and its people, was still there. It was waiting, longing for the day when it could rise again and perhaps take a place alongside our views of other great civilizations, like the Greeks and the Romans.

There is no chance for that now. That place, that Cradle of Civilization, is in Iraq.

And I fear we have lost forever the birthplace of civilization.

Epiphanies In The Middle Of The Night

Sometimes it comes to you at the oddest times, doesn't it?

The idea for my first novel, entitled September, came to my while I was walking the dog. My second novel came to me at a bachelor party. I've written poetry in my head during mass, or even in the shower.

So, I guess last night shouldn't have been too much of a surprise to me.

I had gone to bed a little before eleven and was fast asleep. But I had turned and opened my eyes at around one. And that was it. No more sleeping.

I tossed. I turned. I tried to keep my eyes closed. No luck.

So I went downstairs and grabbed a pad and pencil and began planning Christmas. I got it all done. I made seating arrangements, planned the courses -- even down to the times they would be served, and created lists for what our families should bring.

Then I actually sorted out my thoughts for my Christmas toast. I actually was able to prepare my little speech. And it was only 2:30.

But I still could not sleep.

Then, as the words of the toast continued to linger in my mind, I had my epiphany.

An epiphany occurs when you manage to clear your mind and recognize some truth. I had a wonderful epiphany in the middle of the night last night.

I would love to share it with you, but it will spoil the surprise. But don't worry. You'll be reading about it soon enough.

Viewing Myself Through My Son's Eyes

Something happened last night that hasn't happened in the seven years that my son has been on this Earth. It took my by such a surprise, before I realized why it was happening.

Before I get into what happened, I need to explain some things about my son, Jonathan. Jonathan has a unique gift in that he does not experience stress and pressure the way most people I know (including me). He has been going to Tae Kwon Do tournaments for a year now and has earned first place in six events, including twice in sparring. The noise, the crowds, the competition and the moment actually seems to settle him. He performs better.

In baseball, Jonathan struggles in practice. He never seems to be able to get things right. Then, come game time, it always comes together for him. He led his team in doubles and extra-base hits this year -- and had a knack for getting big hits with his teammates on base.

Jonathan takes the moment and makes it his moment.

Last night I took him to watch Hapkido class at the school of my old grand master. Jonathan met Mrs. Kang, wife of Grand Master Kang, and Les, who was a student with me when I studied there. Les continued training long after I had stopped and is now a master himself.

When Jonathan met them, he was visibly awkward. He looked unsure of himself. He didn't know what to say, or even where to put his hands. He couldn't even get a good kick off when Les had asked him.

I couldn't believe it. What had made this seven-year-old Derek Jeter-type kid so uncomfortable?

Then it occurred to me.

These were people from his father's past. Like most kids, Jonathan sees his father as larger than life. So Les and Mrs. Kang were, to him, not unlike gods.

It's humbling to be granted a moment like I did last night -- to see myself through my son's eyes.

Thank Goodness For Daddy's Buddies

Before I continue I must admit that I am basing what I say here on the press coverage of the Iraq Study Group's Report. I have not yet read it. Once I have read it, I will comment further.

That said, it seems to me that this report is a call to change course. In order to have any hope of success in the Middle East, this administration needs to find alternative means to get there. "Stay the course" and no timetable -- and no real measurement for success -- cannot win this war.

Isn't this what I've been saying all along? Maybe I should run things around here. Wait, my closet's too full.

Anyway, my point isn't that I was right about the war, my point here is that George W. Bush has an opportunity right now to change the course of history. If we continue down this road, the situation in Iraq will get more dangerous. The conflict, and anti-Americanism, will spill further into other Middle Eastern countries. We will have created a nightmare that not even our mighty armed forces can defeat (I say mighty because that is what they are. If you recall, our soldiers and marines win every battle. It is when we leave them standing by idly that they become fodder for the death squads and car bombings). Eventually, we will get out of the region. But at that time, Israel's situation will have been made vulnerable, fanatacism would be the norm and attacks would continue that would make 9/11 look like a minor ordeal.

All he has to do, though, is listen. If George W. Bush can just listen to the advice of the Study Group, there is a chance we can succeed.

Change the course. Work with Iran and Syria. Use diplomacy. Change the strategy.

Remember, George, Mr. Baker is your father's friend. They handled Iraq properly fifteen years ago. He is wise. And he is right.

George W. Bush, by just listening, can save us all from a potentially grim future.

And maybe history will find a way to forgive him.

Oh, Those Morality Police

The Christian Right, and others in the Grand Old Party, love to spend quality time on their soapboxes telling us how to live. They point out for us who the sinners are and are sure to put the fear of God in us if we listen to, emulate or even think about those horrible people.

Yep, you just have to love the morality police.

My first experience with the morality police took place as I was but a budding teenager. As a "child of the 80's" I recall the headlines about Jim Bakker, Tammy Bakker and future Playboy model Jessica Hahn.

Shortly after, there was another, far more important scandal.

In the 1980's Ozzy Osbourne was not considered the addled and funny character his is today. He was considered a menace to society and representative of all the evils of rock and roll. He was often fodder for the Christian Right, particularly Jimmy Swaggart. Then, it was discovered that the good Reverand was meeting regularly with prostitutes.

"Do as I say, not as I do" is apparently the motto of this group.

When Bill Clinton ran for President, the charges began immediately. The extra-marital affairs were front page news. Almost immediately, his presidency took a back seat to the attacks on his morality -- from the very people who had been doing the same things themselves.

Now, when we look back on the Clinton presidency, the years are marred by scandal. Yet Clinton, unlike Bakker, Swaggart and the many Republicans in Congress who resigned when it was discovered they too were guilty of the same adulterous behavior, didn't preach about how to live. He didn't sell us a book of lies about the only way to live morally.

Flash forward to today. We have Ted Haggard, preaching about the evils of homosexuality and at the forefront of the ban on gay marriages. Meanwhile, he was engaged in an extra-marital affair with a male prostitute and trying to score methamphetamines.

We have Bill Frist and a list of scandals involving him that is as long as the list of names of alleged Clinton mistresses.

There is good ol' boy Trent Lott longing for the days of the KKK.

Tom DeLay was known as "The Hammer" for his enforcement of party discipline. Yet he couldn't keep himself out of scandal.

The Jack Abramoff scandal is only just beginning.

And, perhaps sickest of all, Rep. Mark Foley -- chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children -- sent sexually-oriented emails to young adult male pages. And House Speaker Dennis Hastert may have known all along that it was happening and did nothing.

This morning, it was announced that Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter, is pregnant. And while I am truly happy for Ms. Cheney and her partner, I am even happier that this is happening to the family of a right winger.

"So, Mr. Vice President, where do you stand on having children outside of marriage?"

"Mr. Vice President, do you support gay marriage now, Sir?"

"Mr. Vice President, will you be attending the ceremonies in New Jersey?"

It's a wonderful world after all.

Trans Fats In New York: It's So Last Year

New York City has now banned trans fats. Effective July, 2007, restaurants will not be allowed to cook with trans fats and the following year it must be out of all foods served.

So basically the argument is this: it's for the health of the citizens (like the smoking ban) vs. a violation of rights.

First, I want to point out that I am in favor of this ban. This is a step in the right direction in my eyes, along the lines of the laws passed at the start of the last century following The Jungle. Back then, the muckraking book by Upton Sinclair caused enough of a stir that food processing laws were imposed.

Following the disturbing book Fast Food Nation and the documentary Supersize Me, it was only a matter of time before more legislation took place.

Look, we are fast becoming a fat nation. And, truth be told, it is largely our own fault. We spend too much time working and not enough time exercising. Television is our primary form of entertainment and, let's face it, the hours in front of the tube aren't shrinking our hips. It is our fault our lifestyle is this way.

That said, we cannot spend each moment worrying whether we can eat this or can't eat that. Restaurants cannot possibly display ingredients and nutritional value information on all of their meals. The local seafood joint is not a bag of Doritos.

Because of this, the removal of trans fats makes sense. Second-hand smoke is dangerous and therefore smoking has been banned. Likewise, when at a restaurant we should be able to eat knowing that those unhealthy trans fats are not in our foods.

Kudos to you, New York.