I am working on the da Vinci part right now. I am reading the book "How to think like Leonardo da Vinci".

Youtube - Video

I was returning some empty cans this morning at the supermarket, often an unpleasant task because of the professional bottle returners that hog the machines. I found an open machine and returned my soda cans. One of these bottle returners was next to me. I turned to leave and he has his shopping cart boxing me in. I thought for a split second do I ask him nicely to move it, or gently push it away. Nah I went with the full on shove of the cart out of my way. The guy's reaction was like WTF but he didn't say a word. I am nice and polite 99% of the time but I do have my moments and you may not know when.

I think the essence of rooting for a sports team is that it is a microcosm of life. You mix in something you believe in, something you hope for, a good amount of talent, some struggle, doubt, and then you just watch what happens. When your team wins, especially in some unexpected way, you get the feeling that life does sometimes work out the way it should.

Can't predict the election this early, but I think Gingrich has a good chance of beating Obama. I think it served a purpose that Obama was elected. It shook us out of our complacency that we were in after Bush and Clinton. It made us remember what we used to be as a nation, which Obama fundamentally disagrees with. It's not just disagreeing with his policies, it is that Obama and his wife want to "fundamentally transform" the United States. No they don't want to recapture what made this nation great, they want to set up a different model for the country. There is plenty of evidence from their past, from the Obama's reverend of 20 years preaching "God d-mn America", to Michelle Obama saying she was proud of her country for the first time when Obama was elected. Google "Michelle Obama all this for a flag". It shows the Obamas at a 9/11 ceremony where the American flag is being folded very ceremoniously. Michelle whispers with a smirk something to the effect "all this for a flag". Obama nods with a look of disgust before resuming his presidential pose. So let's thank the Obamas for one thing - helping us remember what we stood for by showing us the opposite.

It's snowing this morning. I looked out my backdoor and there was a northern cardinal chirping on my patio. It flew up to my door and chirped at the foot of my door. I think that is a good omen.

Youtube - Video

Without going out-of-doors,
one may know all under heaven;

Without peering through windows,
one may know the Way of heaven.

The farther one goes,
The less one knows.

For this reason,
the sage knows without journeying,
understands without looking,
accomplishes without acting.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I read this story about an elephant. Somebody took a baby elephant and connected a chain to its leg that was tied to a stake in the ground. The baby elephant wasn't strong enough to pull up the stake so it could only move as far as the chain allowed. They did this until the elephant was fully grown. At that point it could easily pull the stake out of the ground but it didn't even try. It had been conditioned to think it wasn't strong enough to get its freedom when it actually had plenty of power to do so.

I don't know if that is a real story but I think it applies to people. Sometimes life hands you a setback and leaves you feeling small and weak. You may actually recover all your strength and ability but the image you have of yourself is such that you don't even try anymore. Being aware of that possibility is freeing.