I’m really not that great of an interviewer, so, like, I pilfered/purloined/swiped some questions from CanTeach.com. Off I go…

What would happen if everyone wore the same clothes?

That question truly needs more clarification. If we’re talking about one single outfit, I think it would be a very impractical proposition. The logistics would be a nightmare. We’re talking about an outfit, assuming it’s modeled after what I’m wearing now and the current population, you know…it’d have to be a shirt with 13.4 billion sleeves, and a pair of pants with a near amount of legs (but not exactly; due to recent wars and collateral damage, the number of arms in the world has diverged drastically from the number of legs.)

Back to your question: I think the first decision has to be skirt? Or pants?

Honestly, most females in the Muslim cultures would refuse wearing pants, and I know some Christian men would refuse to wear a skirt, so there’s your impasse. Also consider the diaper-or-no-diaper infant problem, the transatlantic hemline problem, and the Britney-stood-too-close-to-the-candles-and-caught-our-global-shirt-on-wildfire problem.

But, hey, if you still think it’s possible for everybody to wear the same pair of clothes, think about this: during American winter, our collective outfit needs to be thicker in the Northern hemisphere, and thinner in Australia. Vice-versa for American summer. Major advances in nanotechnology will be required, and possibly some breakthroughs in quantum physics — like a good portion of the waking world will probably have to go to work wearing nothing more than clothing probabilities most days.

On the other hand, if by “everyone wore the same clothes” you mean there’s one shirt and one pair of pants between all 6.8 billion of us…that’s just not going to fly either. Even on a much smaller scale, like getting everybody in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip to share the same shirt and pair of pants — that’s not going to work in 2009. Even on a much, much, much smaller scale, like getting my wife and me to share one single outfit…you know what? Some folks say there are no stupid questions, but you just asked a really stupid question. Congratulations, wiseacre. Next…

Why do you think some people take advantage of others?

Because they were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). Or maybe they just get a kick out of taking things out of context and seeing how far they can twist it.

Or maybe they are fulfilling their role as teachers of great courage and wisdom to the weak and naive.

Or maybe they’re playing Monopoly and that’s the way the maker intended the game be played.

Or maybe they’re scared and desperate and out of options.

Or maybe they have low self-esteem and need a pick-me-up.

Or maybe they’re ignorant, ill-bred clotpoles. Yeah, I think it’s a little bit of all of those.

Do you think it is necessary to have alcohol at a party in order to have a good time?

Well, yeah. I mean, even if 80-something-year-old non-dead Elvis came out of hiding and showed up, or if Marilyn Monroe came out of a time-machine that didn’t transport clothing, or if President Bush walked in with the nukular football and said: “Better late than never…we’ve got every silo and sub aimed at Moscow, and we’re gonna launch ‘em all from your living room. Giddyup!”, even then, it would be a pretty piss-poor party without some jello shooters to loosen up the mood. Ok, maybe if Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson were in the room playing Guitar Hero and telling back-in-the-day stories…I guess alcohol wouldn’t be necessary then. But seriously, how the heck are you going to get Nicholson to show up without a kegger?

What would happen if you could fly whenever you wanted? When would you use this ability?

Duhhhhh…like, whenever I wanted. I always thought it would be cool to fly, but only if it was like a Superman levitation thing. If it was like a bee sort of thing where you have to beat your arms a zillion times a second, it just wouldn’t seem that cool anymore, but I still probably wouldn’t turn it down.

What about life do you find extremely hard?

You know what’s hard? I want to give back. I want to do all the things that will make me feel fulfilled. But whenever I do those things, people think it’s a press stunt or something and — !@#$! help me, I just lifted/hooked/filched this answer from a Lindsay Lohan interview. Please, please help me extend her 15 minutes, no matter how hard she pretends to chase privacy :-)

…while I upgrade the site software. A lot of stuff may not work, or will be hit and miss for a while.

Yesterday the preacher talked about finding little moments of peace in the holiday season when American lives have the screws tightened on them by throwing parties and gift buying and Christmas card lists and travel and extra house guests into normally hectic lives. So, maybe I was subconsciously planning this morning’s moment all along, but it was all cool quiet excitement nevertheless.

Anyway, after waking up and realizing it was Monday and no work and no kids were awake yet and having some time to ourselves, Jodi and I finally drug ourselves out of the warm down covers and she took a shower while I went to feed the dogs.

Now, our three dogs sleep in their beds in the garage, and before I let the dogs out, I usually open the door in the kitchen that leads to the back deck and yard. Otherwise, the dogs rush into the kitchen, slam into the backdoor, and then the two older dogs (both 13 years old and often incontinent) rush around the kitchen and dribble all over the place before I can get the door open. Then the younger dog comes along behind them and makes sure it’s HIS territory by pissing on top of the piss. So, I open the back door before I let the dogs out, so they have a straight shot to the back yard for their morning relief.

But today, it was Christmas Eve, and about 6:30 when I opened the door, I was greeted by a full moonset in the west. The moon was bright white and huge like it had been photoshopped, but I knew it was an illusion because it was close to the leafless, lacelike branchwork of tree limbs on the horizon and almost sitting on the frosty rooftops.

And did I say it was bright?

And quiet?

There was a low, almost imperceptible hum, from early traffic on the main road about a quarter mile away. There was a dog barking in the neighborhood. There were a few birds chirping. Not a cloud in the sky, not a breeze. And that was it. It was THAT quiet.

So, I did get my quiet moment, but don’t worry…I didn’t keep it to myself for too long, and I did let the dogs out so they didn’t burst a bladder. And the two old dogs pooped and pissed and the the young dog did his business, then ran around the frosty (it was 24-degrees, but my robe was warm…) yard, sniffing the trails left by rabbits overnight; I’ve seen the long-eared hoppers sneak under the back gate door to the wooden fence, so I know they’re regular nocturnal visiters.

Everybody’s up now, and we’re off to grab a bunch of coffee at the local coffee shop to take over to relatives…perfect Christmas Eve underway. I hope everybody else is discovering some perfect moments too…

Peace Christmas, Merry Holidays, and Happy Joy! :-)

Read More: Christmas Eve

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Hard-boiled Dreams of the World!

Whoooo-hoo!!!

And, since the definition of anniversary means to return to the same point, the nature of this post be a smack in the face from last year’s reality, which was returning from Guatemala City with a beautiful baby girl…

Guatemala Adoptions

One year later, the histrionic Main Stream Media is spinning Guatemala adoptions in a negative light, claiming mothers are coerced into giving up their babies, that Guatemala is a baby farm, that adoptions are run by private lawyers thereby making the process open to corruption.

The touted solution? Put the process in the hands of the government! Yes, the world is well aware that politicians are sooooo much less corrupt than lawyers.

Trying to stay focused on the truth and not the spin, U.S. ambassador to Guatemala James Derham said earlier this month:

We have thousands of cases of Guatemalan children who have been adopted to the United States and have had terrific experiences as adoptive children there and frankly have probably experienced a life more full of opportunity and support than they would have if they had been abandoned in Guatemala.

What’s more, Kristen Bristol of Rhode Island gives these facts about the so-called lax Guatemalan adoption process in her comment at Anderson Cooper’s blog:

1) The birth mother is required to sign off on the adoption no less than FOUR times during the process. She has until the very end (longer than birth mothers in the U.S.) to change her mind.
2) The birth mother must be interviewed by a social worker in the family court system in Guatemala. If a child has been stolen or the mother has been coerced, the truth will come out there. The social workers are randomly assigned to each case.
3) The birth mother must submit to a DNA test to be administered by a physician approved by the U.S. Embassy. If the DNA of the woman does not match that of the child, the adoption will not continue.
4) To make sure that a child was not switched after the DNA test, the child will be given another DNA test after the adoption has been approved, to make sure it is the same child that took the original test. If this is negative, the adoption will not be completed.

Those facts supplied by Kristen Bristol echo our Guatemalan adoption experience, which I am convinced was a blessing for all involved.

Hard-boiled Dreams

Anyway…one year later, Beautiful Baby Ana is even more wonderful.

One year later, my hard-boiled dream sometimes looks like this (via phone camera through auto glass):

One year later, I’ve learned a lot more about this world, from really Amasnic Facts, to really amazing real history.

One year later, I’m aware that according to science, our world is more akin to a dream than previously realized.

And no, I’m not talking paranormal theories here; I’m talking cold, hard science.

I’m talking about John Wheeler, eminent physicist and colleague of Einstein and Niels Bohr, proclaiming in non-metaphorical language that our consciousness is intricately involved in the creation of external reality, that this universe is built like an enormous feedback loop, a loop in which we contribute to the ongoing creation of not just the present and the future but the past as well.

So, you know, let’s keep on creating. Why not!

Thanks to all who’ve dropped by, and more thanks to those who’ve contributed thoughts and comments. It’s been fun, and I’m looking forward to another year of bouncing thoughts off the interactive universe.

Read More: hard-boiled, world culture, war, poverty, religion, peace, dreams, adoption, Guatemala, John Wheeler

“Stupid in America is a nasty title for a program about public education, but some nasty things are going on in America’s public schools and it’s about time we face up to it.”

Why do American high school students suck so badly when compared to other countries — even poorer countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, and South Korea? Why do American students do well when they start public school, but then do worse as each year goes by?

John Stossel finds some answers in his report, Stupid in America.

Read More: Stupid in America, John Stossel, education, public school, no child left behind