Have been spending a lot of time thinking about one of the great curses of tropical holidays – you usually book them six months or so in advance so you have no idea how the weather will be when you go!
We don’t leave for a couple weeks but right now we’re in the midst of a snap of record-breaking cold and I keep thinking it’ll probably be -4 when we finally leave. 🙁
Oh well, still warmer in Mexico than here!
In last week’s post, I said your parents are your first formative influence who give you so many of your basic life lessons and core moral code.
If that’s the case, I feel like your friends are the ones who exist to test, question and expand that moral code as you grow. Your friends are the ones who you have playground conversations with where you learn everything from the truth about Santa to facts about sex (well, “facts” in quotation marks might be more accurate!) to all-night discussions about the deepest philosophical questions.
The photo above, taken last fall at the funeral of the brother of a former classmate who was a year older than my grade. A few friends had decided to drive out to Indian Head for the funeral to support our classmate after her brother had died suddenly.
In this photo, there is:
* the friend who was born two days after I was, spent time in the same nursery at the hospital with me and is therefore technically my oldest friend in the world
* the friend who stood up with me at my wedding (uhm, my third one. My cousin stood up with me at our very small legal wedding in Calgary, my dad stood up with me at our small “ceremony” wedding in Mexico. But it was one of my best friends who stood up at our “party” wedding back in front of a couple hundred people back in Saskatchewan!)
* the friend who matched my early interest in computers and technology and was one of the first people who introduced me to BBS’s (Bulletin Board Systems) which were an early conduit to the Internet (that friend also met his wife online, long before dating sites were a thing!)
* the friend who challenged me more than anyone growing up in a variety of ways. He challenged me physically as he was the person who taught me to ride a bike. When he was fighting another friend and winning, said “Who’s the toughest?”. The person he was beating on said “You are!” and he replied, “No, Hammond is!” because at the time (grade one?), I could still take him!). He also challenged me mentally and is the person who I credit to this day for making me an atheist and giving me my science-based, skeptical view of the world.
* the friend who was the daredevil and most likely to take risks – jumping off roofs, driving too fast, etc. which helped me define my own limits.
This is a snapshot (literally!) summary of the influence of some of the friends I’ve known since kindergarten (or longer) but I have friends from throughout elementary school, high school, university (both undergrad and grad school) and since then who I may not see as as often as when we used to regularly share space in a classroom or dorms or whatever.
But those people continue to influence me in so many ways – from books I read to changing my core ideas of how I view the world (as I’m obviously a very different person now than I was at 10 or 20 or 30.)
Social media has been a factor in how I’m able to keep up with this wide range of friends but there’s an unfortunate flip side – friends who I used to hang out with, have sleepovers with and tell my darkest secrets to – are now online sharing ideas I fundamentally disagree with – how much they hate Justin Trudeau (I mean, I’m not a fan but some folks have a visceral hatred that’s alarming) to out and out racism.
On one hand, I get it – that’s the environment we all came out of and their influences have shaped them differently than mine (that’s part of why I’m doing this series – how come I turned out to be this progressive-minded, NDP-supporting librarian and one of my best friends growing up is an anti-immigrant conservative???)
Anyhow, wherever our personal journeys take us, there’s no denying the massive influence your friends – especially in your earliest years but continuing on through your life – play on who you are and how you see the world.
I look forward to raising a toast with you in Mexico in a couple weeks (preferably champagne, not tequila!)
…but this really sums it up:
Hey look! I went through an added an “allinclusive” tag to all my posts about various aspects of our all-inclusive holidays over the years to make them easier to find instead of just using the “holiday” tag which is a bit broader.
I’m clearly getting excited with three weeks to go (and songs like the one below are helping me get in the mood too!)
“5 Years Time” – Noah and the Whale
So it looks like there could end up being a few dozen people running for President as a Democrat in 2020.
Based mostly on my own reading and research plus a fair bit of gut feeling, here are quick summaries of who I think could win (and how), ranked roughly by how I see their chances.
Kamala Harris
– early favourite who blends a few strengths including multicultural background, XY chromosomes, powerful base in California plus a strong legal background. Lots of debate about whether she’s centrist or progressive. (Full disclosure: My first introduction to Kamala Harris was some time during Obama’s second term when I realised he would soon be out of office and the Democrats might be ready for someone who combined some of the main characteristics of Obama and his main opponent, Hillary Clinton. I did some Googling and Kamala Harris seemed to fit the bill so I’ve had a soft spot for her ever since!)
Bernie Sanders
Recapture the energy (and fundraising) of his first run with young people and grassroots activists, continue to be strong with independents and the working class plus those who may have “buyer’s remorse” about Hillary being the nominee instead of Bernie and “what might have been”. He could possibly counter arguments about weakness with people of colour by naming someone like rust-belt state senator Nina Turner a prominent role (some have suggested even naming her VP but that seems a bit extreme for a state senator.)
Joe Biden
Combine fondness for Obama years with his “regular guy” working class persona and high likeability ratings.
Dwayne Johnson
People have joked about it but given our society’s emphasis on name recognition and celebrity, the highest grossing movie star in America who has very broad appeal across the political spectrum could be a dark horse (though he’s said he’s not running.)
Elizabeth Warren
Keep pushing progressive policies and try to position herself as a blend of Hillary and Bernie. Try to put that DNA test debacle behind her.
Cory Booker
Booker is another potential Presidential candidate that I don’t have good feelings about though I’m not sure why – he’s got a reputation as a centrist and a fairly corportist politician for one thing but I also know I’ll never like anyone who cuts libraries (and even gets usually neutral library associations to make public statements criticizing him!) But as for winning, maybe try to come across as Obama 2.0?
Beto O’Rourke
Continue to build on his close-but-no-cigar Senate campaign in Texas which positioned him as another charismatic young leader in the mold of Obama but with potential to turn Texas blue. (Beto is my top pick to end up as the VP nominee for a lot of these people.)
Sherrod Brown
Progressive senator from Ohio, he was one of the top people I thought Hillary should’ve picked as a better VP candidate instead of Tim Kaine.
Amy Klobuchar
Raised her profile during the Brett Kavanagh hearings. Midwestern woman with legal background. Some have suggested she’s got the best combination of attributes to dump Trump though she feels like a bit of a long shot right now.
Kirsten Gillibrand
Personally not a huge fan of Gillibrand but not sure why. To be fair, I also don’t know as much about her as some of the others on this list.
Julian Castro
Another Texan who has potential to reach Hispanic communities and is probably more likely to end up in the VP sweepstakes then as a serious Presidential contender.
Tulsi Gabbard
Tough one – she was an outspoken Bernie supporter last time and also has a military background but gets a lot of criticism for being anti-LGBT and having some other views that aren’t those of a traditional Democrat.
John Delaney
First candidate to declare but doesn’t stop me from saying “Who?”
Pete Buttigieg
Get some name recognition and hope everyone else gets really bad food poisoning at a debate or something? 🙂
Edit: From MetaFilter, a good comment about how no candidate will be perfect:
Gabbard isn’t very liberal. Harris championed some insensitive positions as a prosecutor and, as a Californian, wouldn’t deliver a swing home state. Klobuchar may have been insensitive to workers. O’Rourke hasn’t won a statewide office. Warren caught flak for her blind spot in her familial pride at having an ancestor of Native American heritage. Bernie Sanders isn’t a Democrat and would be 80 in 2020. Kirsten Gillibrand has a muddled history on immigration and, like Harris, wouldn’t deliver a swing home state. Julian Castro hasn’t won a statewide office. Cory Booker will have to answer some uncomfortable questions about his time as mayor of Newark. Sherrie Brown is rumpled. Biden would be 78 in 2020 and has a record of centrism on some key economic issues.
Sasha trying out my new reading glasses. She’s young and I’m old!
No idea if I’d meet their qualification for this deal but would be a great way to get a discount on a flight to Mexico if I did! 😉
Paul McCartney Concert With My Parents (2013)
As I mentioned in my post about the various Christmas parties we recently attended, now that I’m basically middle-aged (I’m going to live to be 90, right?) ;-), I’m spending more time thinking about the various things in my life that have led me to where I am today – the influence of family and friends, the educational and career choices I’ve made, some things that had an outsized influence when I think about it and so on.
For that reason, I thought it might be interesting to do a list of the Top 10 things that have made me who I am.
I’m going to try to do this in pretty broad strokes but it would be just as easy to do a list of “10 Books That Have Made Me Who I Am” or “10 Teachers/Professors Who Made Me Who I Am” or “10 Flukey Breaks/Coincidences That Made Me Who I Am” (and who knows, maybe I’ll do those lists someday too!)
Anyhow, if you’re trying to figure out what makes you who you are, I suspect your parents are near the top of the list for most people. All of your earliest learning and experiences starts with them and as you age, you learn everything from your basic moral code to core life skills and so much more that set the foundation for who you become.
I think of my childhood as very idyllic and though I’m sure they did, I don’t have memories of my parents fighting. Though I’m sure they did, I don’t have (many – it was the 1970’s after all) memories of them spanking or otherwise disciplining me. I don’t even really have many sad memories of any kind. Now, at 45 and working in a world where I daily interact with kids who don’t have those privileges, I know how lucky I was (and am.)
I was very fortunate to grow up in a setting that gave me access to the best of two worlds – my parents farmed but we lived in a house in town so I got to experience those very connected but different worlds. My mom was a nurse and in a small town that helped us live a very middle class existence with a newer house, frequent trips and no shortage of presents under the tree every Christmas.
I didn’t grow up in an overly political household so I often think about why I’m so politically engaged now (hint: that’ll likely be another topic on this list).
I do remember my dad reading the newspaper cover-to-cover every night (even keeping back issues when we went on trips so he could “catch-up” when we got back) and mom was (and continues to be) a regular fiction reader (who even serves on the board of my small-town library today) so I think I come by my love of books and learning honestly (but again, that feels like another point on this list.)
So what else can you say? Maybe the easiest way to finish is to link back to some previous posts where I brainstormed a list of reasons both my dad and mom have been such a big influence on my life?
This is a pretty interesting Wikipedia article.
Also, the news has picked up on the story of one guy who’s apparently edited 1/3 of Wikipedia’s millions of articles and created 35,000 original articles.