You heard it here first!

July 16 I predicted that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States.

My prediction

No matter your thoughts on who would make a better president back then, president-elect Obama came across as more presidential. Anecdotally, I heard on public radio yesterday that many of us make decisions based on visual information alone. What I found surprising from this study was the finding that was presented. A positive visual response generated no extraordinary brainwave activity. But a negative visual response generated a significant negative brainwave activity.

Good luck to all of us as we move into an extremely challenging chapter in the history of the United States.

In other news, I drove through my old home town this afternoon, and I drove through Rio Vista, the town where I went to high school. Small towns don't change much, and Rio Vista is no exception. But my old home town (Isleton, California) population less than 1000, has really deteriorated. Extremely small towns often don't have much money, and Isleton is no exception. But it seemed almost every other building on main street was vacant, some were boarded up and for sale. It was sad to see.

Perhaps, though, my mindset was still framed by my visit to my mom's gravesite earlier in the afternoon. My mom died on December 7, 2000. Mattea was not yet 10 months old, and the boys were still a few years away from their arrival. I don't get to the area often, but when I do, I try to swing by and say hi. Though I can think of my mom whenever I want to, my visits to her grave always make me draw out that thought process. Inevitably I remember things that make me smile. And I always think that she died too soon. She was only 76.

But that's the thing about life. We never know where it is taking us, or how much of it we have still to live. In the words of Mrs. Gump: "Life's a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get."

I still make too many mistakes in my life. I make poor choices. I say things that I shouldn't. I do things that I shouldn't. But I try to do better each day. I actively seek to improve not only my life, but the lives of those around me. One of my strongest desires is to raise Mattea and Noah and Grayson to be independent thinkers, and that they have respect for themselves and others. I continue to be amazed on a daily basis by the people in this world that simply lack respect. It is such a simple thing to have, but apparently difficult to achieve.

One way that I do to try to improve myself is to read things that might help me. Somewhere I heard about "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz written in 1997, and I had the title written on a sticky-note stuck to one of my computer monitors for the last month or two. I finally picked up a copy and started reading it the other night. I still find it amazing that some of the simplest ideas are truly the most powerful. I recommend it as a way to help you improve your interaction with those around you, and improve your life generally.

I notice, as I re-read my blog (which I generally do several times before I actually publish a post) that I refer to Isleton as my old home town. But that actually makes sense. Isleton was my home town. I grew up there. But I left when I was 18. I've lived in San Diego (actually, the greater San Diego area) since 1978. 31 years. I think that makes San Diego qualify as my home town now. (For those of you wondering about the missing four years (I'm 53), that is when I was in the Navy and moved around. I spent much of that time underwater in a submarine.)

It's getting late, and my mind is beginning to wander, and you are probably wondering why I am blathering on like this. When I get to this state, I always think that it is best just to say good night.

Good night!