Bordering Paranoia

Have you actually read your passport?  I know, I hadn't either.
Here's what it states:
'The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.'
Without delay or hindrance, huh.  Well, here's what one has to deal with when entering back into the the U.S. these days.
My personal experience:
Arrive from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Detroit, November 22, 2010.  I was in a long long line with fellow American travelers snaking around belted partitions as a squat black woman barked orders at us like a military officer.  There were four customs officers perched in bullet proof glass cages processing everyone.  I was at the line of discretion, uneasy, and met the testosterone filled eyes of a bulky, shaved-head customs guard.  I didn't say hi and get all deferential like I normally do.  This time I wanted to feel like he was serving me, not the other way around.
He asked me if I was traveling alone, what I was doing abroad, what I was doing home, where I was living, who I would be staying with in the United States.  My answers were satisfactory and he gave my passport a stamp and I was on to pick up my baggage.
Everyone must pick up their baggage and re-check it now, even if one has a connecting flight.  So, I got my suitcase and got in line at yet another custom officer's checkpoint station.  As we all waited patiently in line, a woman holding a nervous German shepherd on a leash looped her way around, urging the dog to sniff us, our possessions, bags and suitcases.  The dog lingered, snuffling on a woman's rolling suitcase and the woman officer screamed, 'Are you carrying any food items with you today, Ma'am?'  The woman said no.  The dog continued.  My stomach turned to liquid with fear.  I was smuggling in stinky, runny, raw milk French cheese and a bag of butter cookies.  Thankfully the dog didn't catch on.  Then, it was finally my turn to stand before the second customs officer who looked just like the first.  He asked me again if I was traveling alone, what I was doing in France.  As I answered, he half listened, looking at my passport photo, then me, my photo, then me again, then said, 'you look familiar, that's why I keep staring at you.'  Then he asked if my husband was planning on coming to the United States at a future date.  Then he asked me if I was bringing any food items into the U.S.
He wrote something on my customs card and kept it and let me go.  There was another barricade of officers who were choosing people at random to enter into a small room called, 'Baggage Search' where our bags would be gone through extensively by a man wearing rubber gloves.  I was glad to go by unpicked.  I rechecked my baggage and had to go through another security checkpoint even though we had all just come from Paris where we had all passed through the x-rays and scans and into this secure customs area and we had to go through it all......again...?
A fellow American behind me was disgruntled, 'Why do we have to do this all again?  This is just ridiculous, do we really have to take our shoes off again?'
The security guard sang out, 'yes, take off your shoes, take off your belts, put your keys, coats, bags, electronic devises in the trays.'
So, we walked one by one over the filthy, cold floors in stocking feet through the scanner to get yet another dose of radiation.  Some of my traveling companions were chosen at random to enter the glass alien pod puffer machine, others got a pat down, others a purse pillage.  Finally, I was able to enter the Detroit airport proper.
I passed, but with hindrance and delay. Don't get me wrong, I think some security is necessary, but I feel the 'terrorists' have won if the nation is terrorizing it's own citizens.  Does grandma really need a pat down or a full body x-ray?  Come on!

Cream and Crimson

I am a diehard Indiana University basketball fan.  The past few years, heck, the past decade has been difficult, to say the least.  Indiana has five national basketball championships, the last one coming in 1987 which occurred just before I turned seven years old.  I vaguely remember watching that game.  I remember sitting on my dad's lap and an enormous uproar when Keith Smart hit "The Shot".  I couldn't really appreciate what was happening, but it was fun.  For my birthday, I got an Indiana National Champions shirt, and I cherished it. 

I was even more emotionally invested in 1992 when Indiana lost in the Final Four to Duke.  I was crushed when the Hoosiers lost that game.  What I couldn't have known is that would be the last time they would make it to the Final Four until 2002.  Even more painful is that string of first or second NCAA tournament exits during that ten-year span.  Indiana fired Bob Knight in 2000 and that 2001-2002 team was a lot of fun to watch, a team that produced my fondest memory of watching Indiana basketball.

Indiana had made it to the Sweet Sixteen as a number five seed, which usually means you are going to play a number one seed, and in this case the number one seed was Duke.  Even being a huge IU fan I saw no way the Hoosiers could win that game.  We were at my dad's house for the weekend and had the game on.  As the game went on, it was clear the Hoosiers had a chance.  As the final seconds ticked away, it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  When the final buzzer sounded, Indiana had won the game 74-73, and my dad and me went nuts, running around and hugging everyone in the house.  I'm sure it was a sight, and Michael still talks about it to this day.  Indiana went to the national championship game that year, losing to Maryland, 52-64.

It was all downhill from there.  Two years later, the Hoosiers had a losing record and did not play in the NCAA tournament or NIT.  In 2006, Indiana hired Kelvin Sampson who basically ran the program into the ground and ruined Indiana basketball as we know it; all in a span of two years.  I won't get into the specifics, but by the time he was fired and Tom Crean took over, Indiana had only one scholarship player return the next year; a player who averaged 1.3 points per game.  It would be an understatement to say the program was in shambles.

In the first two years with Tom Crean as the head coach, Indiana won 16 games and lost 46.  This was to be expected, but still a tough pill to swallow.   Indiana is making strides, though.  They are off to a 6-0 start this year, and they have many top recruits who have already committed to play at Indiana; the biggest name of the bunch being Cody Zeller. 

The recruitment of Cody Zeller had the Indiana community buzzing.  It was more symbolic than anything else.  If he chose to play at Indiana, it would mean Indiana is once again a force to be reckoned with.  Plus, since Cody Zeller is from Indiana, it was thought that more Indiana kids would soon follow him to play at Indiana (which has already happened).  Once Cody Zeller signed his letter of intent, a press conference was set up for Tom Crean.  There was a podium set up at the practice facility and Tom Crean entered the room and was followed by his current team who stood behind him.  He then addressed the media:

(transcribed from the Hoosiers Insider blog on indystar.com)

“When these players came, especially a couple of years ago, they didn’t have anybody to look up to. They didn’t have anybody in here to teach them the way. They literally, when you look at Verdell, and you look at Tommy and you look at Matt, they didn’t have anybody to even recruit them. They were recruited by driving around in a golf cart or going to a spring football practice, or something like that. And along the way these players have become the face of the program. That’s why it is so important to me and to all of us here, that they are successful. What they mean to the present day Indiana family and what they mean to the future family is really, really important. These guys have done a phenomenal job of building this program. They recruited some of the ones you see back there like Victor and Will, but most importantly what they just did in this recruiting class. Without a doubt, one of the greatest selling points that we have at Indiana University is our players. And these guys have (inaudible). And that’s why I want to see them be successful here and for so many years down the road because it’s so different for them. They’re the ones that are bridging the gap here and we just need to make sure that we keep working toward the fact that they leave a legacy here on the court as well as what they’re doing to make this program better. We would not be recruiting to the level that we are right now without our players. And I can’t make that any more definitive than that. Players can spearhead part of this, and certainly through prior relationships that can be very helpful, but it’s the way the team has come together. There’s a lot of different ways to form leadership but this group is forming leadership. You may not get to see a lot of Kori Barnett on the court but there’s not a much more valuable guy to this program in the sense of bonding his teammates and making them better. And I single him out because he does not get singled out on the court just yet. But that’s the kind of stuff that makes this program what it is. I’m proud of it and I hope you find places in your videos and I hope you find places in your stories to make sure that the headline reads “We would not be doing this without them, without these current players.” They did not have anybody in here to teach them the ropes. And we wouldn’t have wanted anyone (from before) to teach them the ropes. You know that and I know that that. I’ve said this privately before but now I want to say it publicly to the players. Thank you for what you do and let’s keep it rolling.”

I am looking forward to the future of Indiana Basketball!

sanguinity. (or "death's approaching")

hanging on.
that glimmer of hope.
optimism.
we are leaves.
this is what we looked like
three fortnights ago.
now we are dead.
private ceremony.
send flowers. ;)

Brilliant Narcissism

Sarah and I went to see the movie Social Network a few weeks ago. It's about the college kid that created the multi billion dollar Facebook site. Great movie. Great acting. It was disturbing however, to see the portrayal of the young genius who was behind the actual hands on creation of the web pages. He was not simply a nerd, but a truly obnoxious, egotistical ass. Unable to make friends, he poured his life into the cold hard plastic of computers. In a dialog with a girl who tried to see beyond his freakish personality, it was painful to watch him slice and dice her verbally with little or no thought to his cruel words. She finally said she didn't want to be his friend anymore because having a relationship with him was like having a relationship with a StairMaster. It was apparent to everyone that his brilliance caused him to view the rest of us as less than human, substandard beings not worthy of his time or attention. He's the youngest billionaire on the planet and he's an absolute jerk.

As I think about this young mans life and career I can't help but parallel it with the gifted basketball player Labron James. A similar genius, gifted in a different genre but equally unable to blend his special abilities with a normal personality. He carries his title of King James around looking down on the rest of the world as if we were all less than equals. And now that he's acted like an ass and turned his back on his friends and supporters from his home town who helped him become who he is, he pulls the race card. Instead of admitting he's been an arrogant jerk, he claims people don't like what he's done because he's black.

Both of these young men turned their backs on the only real friends they had in search of power, fame and money. Neither takes responsibility for the terrible shortcoming of their own personalities. Their mean spirited, back stabbing, ruthless drive to win overshadows any personal commitments they might have. While I can appreciate true genius, I cannot tolerate narcissism or cruelty. Whether you are Mensa material or simple minded, physically gifted or handicapped, black or white, an asshole is still an asshole in my book.