Places i have lived

Born _Washington D.C., the Goose Bay Air force Base Labrador Canada, then Alamogordo NM, then London England (Hyde Park), then Stoken-church England, then Davis Monthom AFB Tucson AZ, LaPalma California, Austin TX, Tustin CA, Lake Elsinore CA, Alameda CA (USCG), Port Angeles WA, Petaluma CA, Kodiak AK, Long Beach CA, Seattle WA, Kodiak AK, Homer AK, Port Angeles WA, Agana Guam, Cape Code MA, New York NY, Virginia Beach VA. Bremerton WA, …

Harry Potter

The final Harry Potter movie is out today. I can't believe this is all comming to an end. We all owe J.K. Rowling so much. These books were the first to interest in reading. We have gone to each movie as an entire family. Even when the family changed, the tradition continued.

I think this was such a good story for the simple reason was that it was a simple story full of complex issues. The simple story, good versus evil. The outsider wanting to fit in. The difference between childish fun and adult responsibilities. Complex ideas, Magic in a muggle world, where do you draw the line. causing pain and even death to your family and friends based upon the choices you make. etc.

All of this plus Harry is the nerd who lived under the stairs, the ultimately poweless who is discovered to have the ultimate power in Majic. His best friends are the supper smart girl in a mans world, and the poor, aquard boy, youngest son with wierd parents. Everyone can find something to dientify with.

Now look at the fring characters, All the good guys have something wrong with them, Tonks can't keep the same hair color, Lupin changes into a warewolf, Remus is an escaped con from a mean family, Hagrid is a bumbling oaf, mad-eye money is crazy and deformed physcally. All of the death eaters are smart, pretty, handsom, from rich families. J.K. is telling everyone that substance is more important than style. it is who you are not what you look like that is important.

The only normal and I think the most interesting person in the entire series is Ginny Weasely. Pretty, smart, Quidich jock, popular. She has 6 older brothers, a flighty mother and a proffesorial father. She repeatedly demonstrates her courage weather it is on the quidich field or in the chamber of secrets. When Harry is in trouble, she jumps in without question. Yet she maintains a seperate identity. She secretly loves Harry but does not pine away when the love is not returned. She holds no jealousy for Herminne. She tolerates her older brother but shows more maturity. As I said, I think she is the most interesting. I would love to read a book about those years from her perspective.

I also think that deep down, J.K. Rowling is more like Herminne, but wishes she were like Ginny.

When you add to this that Harry and the crew spend the movies solving

Military Brat

I was a military Brat, My father was an enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force, I grew up on Military bases and or military communities in town. Although it was a traditional house, with a conservative father it wasn't totalitarian, my mother would never have allowed that. In my teens, my mother and I had many "discussions" about the world.

My dad got out when I was 10 years old. It seemed we moved just as much after the Air force as we did when he was in. I was always the "New Kid". Always on the outside looking in. This creates an unusual perspective. A child learns to not form close attachments, he/she learns to rely on his own judgement. Too ofter people would judge me without knowing anything about me. It is easy to paint the new kid as "Other", not one of us. I learned at an early age to not care what other people thought of me. To realize that they were not very intellegent and quite often, very narrow minded.

I learned that my happiess could not be based upon other people, but had to come from within. While there have been many times I have been unhappy in life, I always realized that it was up to me to change my situation. I think this is one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned.

I believe that most of us know when things are "right" and when they are "wrong". Avoid those situations that bring on the "wrong". If you in the wrong situation, figure out what the right one would be, figure out the path to the right situation and start moving down it. You will notice immediately how much better you feel about yourself once you are headed in the right direction.

Generational Advances

My grandmother (Gertrude Johnson) was born in 1900, 3 years before the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk and died in 1972, 3 years after Armstrong walked on the moon. Her generation saw remarkable advances in transportation. Her world was a great deal larger than her parents.

My father was born in 1927, 2 years before the great depression and died in 1997. he was born into a farm house with out electricity, indoor plumbing, or a phone. Only 45 years after his birth, he had a suburban house, with air conditioning, a refrigerator, a back yard pool and 2 cars. His generastion saw remarkable advances in personal comforts and material wealth. he live an easier more comfortable life than his parents.

I was born in 1959, before the first communication satilittes, into a world on 1 phone per house that you "rented" from the sole phone company, and 3 channels on the black and white TV. Today, I can watch my nephew pitch baseball in Maryland on my computer, I can scratch my Information habit by simply accessing the internet. I have seen great advances in the ability to access information and enterainment. I know more and experience more.

How will my kids lives be different than mine? I believe they will be a great deal longer. Micro-Biology, nano technoly, will extend life significantly. will they be saying, my parents lived 70 years, I lived 140 years?

Story Ideads

1. A single Space astronaught is sent in a ship on a 200 year voyage to a new star and new planet, the first person every sent on such an exploration. He suffers through 200 years of bordom just to be know as the first person to colonize a new planet in a new solar system. He will get to name everything, River Jones, Mountain Smith, etc. He get there to find that humans arrived 100 years earlier, they found a fast travel method.

2. "I turned 21 in prison doing life without Parol" the ultimate waisted life. By 21 Alexander had conquered half the world. Why do some lives turn out so differently? No one could create an empire now. But maybe in the future, in space, someone could create an empire of known worlds, Could it be someone who started out in Prison, with a wasted life and changed enough to gather the resouces, and support necessary to create an empire, and if so how?

3. A Space life boat lands on a new planet, how do modern people survive without technology, or very limited tech. How do humans interact with new life, You don't know what is poisoneous, what animals are agressive, how do you make fire when you lasers don't work. What is that sound in the bush at night.

More later

a Humble Winston Churchill

In the summer of 1941 Sergeant James Allen Ward was awarded the Victoria Cross for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington bomber, 13,000 feet above the Zuider Zee, to extinguish a fire in the starboard engine. Secured only by a rope around his waist, he managed not only to smother the fire but also to return along the wing to the aircraft's cabin. Churchill, an admirer as well as a performer of swashbuckling exploits, summoned the shy New Zealander to 10 Downing Street. Ward, struck dumb with awe in Churchill's presence, was unable to answer the prime minister's questions. Churchill surveyed the unhappy hero with some compassion. "You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence," he said.

"Yes, sir," managed Ward.

"Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours

I remember Mama

Saw the movie "I remember Mama" with Irene Dunn last night. I remember seeing it years ago when my kids were very little and thinking. That is what people should be shooting for. A life of simple yet vast importance. A life focused on raising your children, helping those around you. And being the rock they lean upon. The most succesful business man, or rock star, or high priced actress will not be as important to your life and history, as your mother will be. Or as you will be to your children.

Thanks Mom