back to the island

pardon my absence...

nothing will turn your life upside down like moving. and while this move was less painful than many others i've endured (is it bad that i've already experienced many moves?) it still threw off my routine and kept me away from my beloved Island for an extended period of time.

in the interim, we've had the oscars, the (not) state of the union address, a republican response delivered by the indian mr. rogers and the return (and subsequent dismissal) of tiger woods. all things that grabbed my attention and stirred my spirit.

but in the interest of preserving your time, i'll keep it brief...

the oscars: hm. guess i should've gone to see slumdog millionaire.

the nsotu: even if you disagree with obama's politics, how are you not inspired by his ideals. makes you wonder if the republicans are opposed because they really disagree or just want to be contrarian.

the response: rumors of the gop's demise are greatly exaggerated. they have too much money and too much support to completely collapse. but with what we've seen from jindal and michael steele, if i were a republican, it wouldn't inspire too much confidence in my party leadership.

tiger's back (and gone): no surprise that someone (even tiger) who hadn't played competitive golf in eight months would look a little rusty on his return to the tour. but then again, if there's anyone who could win his first tournament back...

finally, those who know me are aware that i disdain all things reality tv. but i might have to break that rule and watch the golf channel's new show - project barkley. few things bring me as many laughs as charles barkley's golf swing. but if top-flight golf instructor hank haney can do this, i have to watch.

aahh...feels good to be back.

did you realize that you were a champion?

peer pressure's a bitch...

what is it about being rich and famous that means people expect you to be a champion of social and political causes?

tiger woods has accepted an invitation to speak at an inaugural event for President-elect Barack Obama. for this, some people have criticized the normally politically neutral woods as riding the coattails of a trailblazer instead of using his fame and influence to blaze the trail himself.

this isn't the first time. in the past, the likes of charles barkley and jim brown have complained that many high-profile black athletes have not used their prominence to promote a particular agenda.

having extra zeroes at the end of your bank account gives you a lot of things. a greater sense of social or political activism isn't necessarily one of them.

different people have different reasons for not thrusting themselves in the midst of national discussions. everything from not wanting to offend people to lack of knowledge to (gasp!) lack of interest.

add to it that as a fan, i don't care to hear these people give their thoughts on life. i marvel at tiger woods because he can hit a golf ball longer and straighter than i could ever dream to...not because of his hypotheses on how to resurrect the economy. his iq or social conscience does not increase with his bank account. and we're stupid for believing it should.

as this generation has matured, we've seen plenty of our cultural "leaders" grow more irrelevant as a function of the era and their own need for constant attention.

see: jackson, jesse

when do we realize that the true leaders among us attain that designation because of a sincere desire to affect change? not because of some forced obligation that comes with an entry into a higher tax bracket.

peer pressure really is a bitch. thankfully, tiger's immune to pressure.