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So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I want to write about it all, but it’s difficult to pull it all together into a tight narrative. So instead, I’ll just write a big list:

1. I just got back from a two-night trip to Dover, Delaware. Although I was painfully unprepared for the cold weather, it was a great trip. One of the priests I met, Fr. Gabage, is a serious art collector. He gave me an hour-and-a-half tour of his collection. I felt like I stepped into the final scene of National Treasure. The collection made most of the stuff I saw last week at the Phoenix Art Museum look like garbage. I could write forever about my concern over modern art, but I’ll try to keep this quick… It is a grave problem when the finest art from a generation doesn’t show any talent. When you strip away the intellectual bullsh!t that artists and their collectors say about the work, you are left with something that is entirely unimpressive.
2. My new favorite thing to eat at the airport is oatmeal. It’s simple, wholesome, and comforting. Starbucks and Cereality serve it up just right.
3. I don’t know how much more news I can handle about the “Financial Crisis.” I’m an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal, especially over the last six months when every day held a new story. But it’s getting me discouraged and I think it’s time to find something else to do with my time…
4. …like saving money. Candyce and I worked together to cut costs–including a different cell phone plan, car insurance, canceling subscriptions–and came up with $96 a month.  That’s adds up to more than $1160 in savings over twelve months.
5. It’s worth noting that when the economy is red hot, it’s cool to be seen living “the good life.” You know, vacations, car accessories, home upgrades, piling up investments. But when the economy is ice cold, everyone decides it’s cool to be seen saving money. Most of the people I know like to keep one foot in poverty and another in wealth. They lean in either direction when they need to, but in the end we’re all in pretty good shape, doing our best to responsibly manage our money as the years of our life pass by.
6. Rumor has it that one of my favorite restaurants is now a victim of a sluggish economy. What will downtown be without Palatte? I am grieving.
7. My six month old daughter has two bottom teeth now. This brings the grand total of teeth up to two. But make no mistake–when she bites you, you are in for some pain.
8. Trends are trends–if you ignore them, you’ll look like you’re just a leftover scrub from a decade past. I’m too old and sensible to wear the super-tight jeans like the trendy boys do, but my jeans are more snug now than they’ve ever been. I’ve been on a lot of business trips in 2009, and I’ve counted myself as one of the more stylish dudes in the airplane. But I’m also one of the least comfortable. I got a flicker of hope at 20,000 feet when I read the January issue of Esquire Magazine. Richard Dorment hinted that 2009 is ready for relaxed clothes:

For the past few years, a man could be forgiven for thinking that some fashion designers really had to be joking. The rib-crushing fit of certain suits, the tourniquetlike taper of so many skinny jeans, all those wacky school-boy proportions: While many in the fashion world were embracing these extreme views of silhouette and fit — the shorter and tighter, the better — those of us who wore their clothes were left sucking in our guts and praying to God that our pants didn’t split. Fashion being fashion, though, the collective mood seems to be shifting — think of it as a market correction — as designers from Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Maier and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey to the duo at Dolce & Gabbana are embracing more sensible, relaxed fits in their spring collections. Not baggy or saggy or overly loose-fitting. No: relaxed, with clothes maintaining a close, easy, and, above all, comfortable relationship to the body.

First of all, I am very proud of the Arizona Cardinals. Nobody would have ever guessed that the lowly Cardinals would ever make it into the playoffs this year, much less earn a trip to the Super Bowl. Plus, they played like they deserved to be in the Super Bowl. Had one call gone our way, the championship could’ve been ours.

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My driver from Providence to Cape Cod told me about the time twenty years ago when picked up Franklin Delano Roosevelt III, the grandson of the U.S. president Franklin Dealano Roosevelt, at the port where the ferry arrives on the Massachusetts shore from island of Martha’s Vineyard. There wasn’t much to his story besides the fact that FDR the Third thought he was too good to speak to him on the two hour drive to the airport. My driver explained: “He was an asshole.”

Although I felt like I had to stick up for the grandson of a US President, I couldn’t argue on his behalf because I honestly didn’t know there was an FDR3. Instead, I changed the subject to talk about cars. That lasted for another hour until we arrived in Cape Cod.

Since I’ve been back, I did a little research and learned that FDR3 is a respected economics professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York state–an honorable position within our society. You can see his faculty page on the university’s website.  When I reconsider my driver’s experience with the man, I imagine that both of the guys in that taxi on that random day in the 1980s were unsatisfied with where they were in life. What boy wants to grow up to be a cab driver? And how can even the most accomplished economist not feel like an underachiever when he was expected to grow up to be nothing less than the President of the United States?

I imagine this scene plays out every day in each corner of our society. The characters and circumstances are different, but the consistent theme is reconciling the dreams and aspirations from youth with the tough realities of life.

Several years ago I heard a great story on This American Life a man who played in a 1970s British punk rock band called The Automatics. They had little commercial success, so he moved on to other things in life, eventually became a successful mortgage broker in Beverly Hills. One afternoon while at his office, he went on eBay to find if any of his band’s old records were being sold online.

That moment of curiosity began a story that ended with the discovery that his band’s old records had garnered much attention in Japan, enough fans to warrant a reunion tour through Japan, although he would be the only original member of the band on the tour. So he took a break from his high-dollar job in Beverly Hills and traveled to Japan with his wife to play the songs he wrote in high school. Except this time, he was in his late 40s, and he would play in front of hordes of fans. One venue was so packed with fans that his only way out of the building after the show was to be passed over the crowd.

Host Ira Glass asked what it was like to experience a postponed fame:  “We don’t get what we deserve. We get what we get, and you have to be okay with that.”

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Did the Arizona Cardinals deserve to win the Super Bowl? Yes. Did the Pittsburgh Steelers deserve to win the Super Bowl? Yes. You had two great teams loaded with men who played like champions. Had one call gone our way, the Arizona Cardinals would be Super Bowl champions. But in the end, only one team can win, and it was the Steelers. Maybe next year will be the Cardinals.

It has been one week since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. The exuberant speculation about Obama’s presidency is deafening. News reporters and political commentators are beaming about change, hope, and a new beginning for our country.

Depending on who you ask, Barack Obama is more than a president, he is a celebrity, an icon, a super hero, a civil rights leader, or a savior. How can this type of adoration be anything but a speculative bubble, a big disappointment waiting to happen? One man cannot undo the adversity that our nation faces. One man cannot solve every man’s problems. These words may seem negative or even unpatriotic today, but I can guarantee that you will hear this same sentiment grow as each day passes in the Obama administration.

I sincerely hope I am wrong here. I recognize that each president has gifts, talents, and wisdom apart from his predecessors, but each president faces adversity more daunting than anything he encountered in his fight to win the White House.  To campaign as a solution to our problems is one thing, to solve those problems is another.

I will close with this. In all of the news coverage on Obama’s inauguration day, the most balanced perspective came from a twenty-second comment from Ted Koppel on NPR’s Talk of the Nation with Neil Connan:

He is not a foolish man, Barack Obama. He understand that the challenges that confront him now are going to make some of these high flown speeches seem almost quaint in a few months.  He still faces all of the same problems that George Bush faced. Will there be a difference in tone? You bet. They’re already is. Will there be a difference in terms of tactics? Very likely. Is the ultimate strategy going to change? I would be surprised.

A couple weeks ago I celebrated my 30th birthday in San Diego. Candyce and I left Norah in the care of Grandmother and three aunts and we headed to downtown to enjoy a night in the city. We had dinner at Café Chloe, a charming French restaurant in the East Village. After exploring downtown arm-in-arm, we drove to Little Italy to have espresso. It was a cold and foggy night and we seemed like the only couple on the street. We enjoyed the solitude–the city was our own.

Shortly after Candyce and I got back into Phoenix, my mom, dad, and grandmother arrived in town. They enjoyed meeting their new grand daughter. We had a great time hanging out over the long weekend. (As usual, Dad helped me finish some odd jobs around the house: repaired tiles on the step, finished wiring hallway light switch, and patched a drywall hole in the wall.)

Now I am in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona for my “official” 30th birthday celebration. I feel like joining a new decade of life warrants a reflection on the previous decade. It would take too long to write something profound and life-changing for a reader, but I have too much going on to do something that noble. So instead I’ll just record the random thoughts spinning in my head in the two weeks since I turned 30:

1. I refuse to complain about aging because it is in poor taste.
There’s nothing more pathetic than claiming that 30 is the new 20. It sounds absurd and foolish, because trying to live in someone else’s decade is just that—absurd and foolish. It smells of insecurity. Act your own age.

Don’t misunderstand me: if you are 50 and you feel as optimistic, energetic, and passionate as when you were 20, that’s fine. Good for you. I hope to be just like you some day! But I’m not going to assemble a lifestyle so that a stranger would assume I am younger than I actually am. I’m 30 and proud of it. Afterall, someone around here have to act like a grown up.

2. Humor is a gift.
Like most gifts, humor can be misused. Don’t use your humor to tear other people down. Negative humor like sarcasm causes distrust which will make you lose friends. If you can be funny and positive at the same time, you’ll be a happier person and you’ll make more friends.

3. Fame was very good to me.
I was able to travel the world and help people. If you find yourself famous some day, I encourage you to do the same. Fame, like most things in life, is temporary. (Very few people will live and die famous.) You will have every chance to use your fame to delight in the pleasures of the world, but you soon the spotlight will pass and you’ll be left to reconcile who you were when the world was watching.

4. Diversify your investment portfolio.
No really. Do it. If you are afraid to pull your money out of market because the returns are so dazzling, then you are probably in a bubble.

5. Everyone needs compassion.
Here’s the deal: we all have flaws. That’s right, all of us. And which one of us doesn’t need more compassion? Try not to judge others. It is impossible to judge someone one and love them at the same time. I’ve tried, and believe me, it doesn’t work that way. If someone is being aggressive or spiteful towards me, I learned to first greet them with compassion. Compassion has a unique ability to disarm hostility.

6. I have no tolerance for arrogant people.
Arrogance is a tool for an insecure person to become the center of attention, surrounded by other insecure people who need their approval. There is nothing fun or life-giving in those circles of friends. What is ironic about arrogance is that anyone can be arrogant. Anyone! There are no requirements for success, charm, intelligence, or life experience. You just have to wake up one day and decide that you are better than everyone else and start to treat others poorly. If you choose to be arrogant, we won’t be hanging out together.

7. It’s good to be a fan.
Following a sports team adds richness to you life. It connects you to your city and to other people. Becoming a fan of the Phoenix Suns has given me countless good parties with good people watching a good team. What more could you want? Just be sure to “diversify” your sports portfolio so you aren’t disheartened when your one-and-only team doesn’t win the championship. Cheer for several teams and you’re guaranteed an occasion to celebrate each year.

8. Tattoos last forever.
Your taste will change over the years, and you want to have a tattoo that you can be proud of in each decade of your life. I have found little evidence that your interests in high school and college are worth commemorating in a tattoo. There’s no shame in waiting till later in life to get a tattoo. If after much thought you’re positive that you want to get a tattoo, save up a lot of money so you can hire a talented tattoo artist. This is a piece of artwork that you will keep for a lifetime, so it’s worth getting the best.

9. Very few people today seek truth.
People are very proud of their opinions and they will share them often, even if they don’t know what they are talking about. You get a high when you share an opinion. You feel important, smart, and powerful all at once. I have not met many people who have enough fortitude to slow down and learn about an issue before they form an opinion.

What makes things worse is that people often adopt opinions for no other reason than because it’s a popular opinion. Now you’re not just one person who feels important, smart, and powerful, but a member of a crowd that is important, smart, and powerful. We are a gregarious species. I can’t imagine we’re going to progress as a society if our discourse is a popularity contest and not a means by which we uncover truth.

10. I love Candyce.
I didn’t think I would wait so long before I got married, but I am glad that I was patient and waiting for the right one. Candyce is beautiful friend that I am very happy to spend my life with. What could be better than going on a date everyday? I cannot understand why people complain about their spouses. I mean, aren’t you the one that chose to marry that person?

11. I love being a father.
A guy cannot understand himself fully until he becomes a father. Males have traits that are not appreciated in the life of a single 20-something. But as you hold your newborn baby, those traits rise to the surface, and you become twice the man you were the day before. It’s an exhilarating transition.

Ian Plimer, Professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide, argues that most atheists are in no position to attack religion if they support environmentalism, which he claims is becoming an almost cult-like religion of its own. It’s hard to argue with Mr. Plimer’s clear thinking. (Hint: If the video below does not load, watch it from fora.tv)