Author: zeke

Here I go…

Happy 2009, all!

Today I’ll be flying out for a semester of study abroad in Granada, Spain. I’m excited beyond description for sure.

Just wanted to share a few basic details before I go:

  • After a week of visiting Madrid and Toledo, I will settle in with a host family and one other study abroad student in Granada, where I’ll be taking some language and culture classes.
  • Yes, I’ll be trying to visit lots of other places in Spain and greater Europe while I’m there. All reccommendations of places to visit or avoid are welcome!
  • I’m taking two cameras and an Eee PC with me to document the trip. Everything will be posted here on ZekeWeeks.com and gets reposted to Facebook as well. You can also keep an eye on my photo gallery at Picasa. I don’t know how frequently I’ll be updating, but we’ll see.
  • I’m reachable by e-mail or Facebook. I have a cell phone with Spanish and U.S. numbers, but won’t be giving that out, since I want to do most communication over Skype (video or voice). Let me know if you want to chat and we can find some time where I can call you. Granada is UTC +1, meaning that they’re 8 hours ahead of Colorado, which is MST.
  • I’ll be back stateside sometime in late May or June.

See you all on the other side…

The Shoe’s on the Other Foot

Yesterday and today’s news headlines have been making me laugh:

December 17, 2008, 7:27 pm

Gay Activists Decry Pastor’s Role in Swearing-In

By Sarah Wheaton

The Rev. Rick Warren, a conservative evangelical pastor, has been tapped to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration – and gay rights advocates are not happy about it.

Hmm, where have we seen this before? Oh yes, that’s right:

Famed Pastor Defends Invitation to Obama

By NEDRA PICKLER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 29, 2006; 11:14 AM

WASHINGTON — Famed pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren Wednesday defended his invitation to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to speak at his church from objections by other evangelicals to the senator’s support of abortion rights.

Obama is one of nearly 60 speakers scheduled to address the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church beginning Thursday at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

So two years ago we have pro-lifers “outraged” over Obama’s invitation to an AIDS summit, and now we have gay rights advocates “outraged” over Warren’s invitation to an inaugural event.

Personally I bet the media exaggerated both of these people, as I know some pretty rational people in the pro-life camp and the gay rights camp that aren’t freaking out over this. But regardless of the  amount of people who took offense to one invitation or the other, I think that those who did have missed the point about what Barack Obama is really about. Consider the following from his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope:

But for those of us who believe that government has a role to play in promoting opportunity and prosperity for all Americans, a polarized electorate isn’t good enough. Eking out a bare Democratic majority isn’t good enough. What’s needed is a broad majority of Americans – Democrats, Republicans, and independents of goodwill – who are reengaged in the project of national renewal, and who see their own self-interest as inextricably linked to the interests of others. (40)

Our country needs to move forward. I don’t care what you think about gay rights, abortion rights, any of it: we need your voice. We need everyone to work together on making actual progress instead of this self-destructive fight to silence people who disagree with us on this issue or that issue. Democracies function best when everyone puts their word in. And I honestly don’t give a crap if the guy working with me to stop AIDS is pro-choice or anti-gay. If we continue to shut ourselves off from each other, we will make no progress on anything.

Counting Down

3 days until I’m done with school. 18 days until I take off for Spain.

Right now my feelings are split between apprehension about looming finals and pure excitement about Spain. I’m sure that all the academics-related anxiety will go right out the window come Wednesday and I’ll be giddy as hell. I have a feeling that the next 2 weeks will go by with unbelievable speed.

This weekend I got to see lots of friends one more time before I head away for five months, which was great. Beth, Lee, Dave and Cory just went to Spain in September and brought back pictures, recommendations, and recipes.

One thing I have yet to decide is how I’ll document my trip. I want to be careful not to spend so much time taking pictures, blogging, and chatting on Skype with people from home that I miss the opportunity to just take it in and enjoy it. Obviously I’ll be blogging on zekeweeks.com and posting photos. One of my roommates suggested that I should video blog while I’m there, which is kind of an interesting idea. I dunno.

Really, at this point almost all the preparations that can be made have been made- for the other big unknowns I’ll just have to wait and see what I want to do when I get there.  That’s not easy for someone as excited as I am, but I think I’ll manage. (Also that time could be better spent brushing up on my European history, among other things 😛 )

An Open Inquiry: The Meaning of Romance

Today I had a really interesting conversation with someone about what things like marriage and romance mean to us. And by “interesting,” I mean that we disagreed on almost everything! 😀 (Actually, it wasn’t as much disagreement as it was approaching the subjects from very different perspectives.)

I find it fascinating how we use words like “romance” in passing conversation when we all have very different ideas of what they mean. So I’m interested in what different ideas people have on what they think.

Assuming that “love” and “romance” are two distinct things, what does romance mean to you?

An Election Prayer

May this country’s future be one worthy of its founding ideals of freedom, equality, and self-determination. May we come closer and closer to liberty and justice for all.

For everyone who has made up their minds and fears a negative outcome, comfort.

For the polarized and disagreeing, understanding and respect. May we not be a nation divided by our different ideals, but one nation that is strong because of our freedom to be different and united in our stand for that freedom.

For those who serve their country and their community, courage.

For our leaders, discernment. May they be humble and servants of the people, not self-righteous abusers of the powers we entrust to them.

For the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, hope and justice.

As this government is an institution of fallible people, and therefore is itself fallible, and as no elected official or written statute under such a system will be without its shortcomings and imperfections, I pray for grace and mercy after our inevitable mistakes.

For all in the world, peace and prosperity.

Amen.

Barack in Fort Collins

Today 50,000 people packed the Oval at CSU to see Barack Obama speak. The line was two and a half miles long, and the rally got an early start, so the Secret Service stopped screening people in order to get everyone in as quickly as possible.

My friends and I got a spot about two thirds back on the length of the oval. Because the crowd was so long, it was pretty hard to see, so we ended up taking turns pushing up on each others’ shoulders to get a quick glimpse. My camera has a swiveling screen, so I could get it above some heads and see a bit, periscope-style. But most of all, it was great just to be there.

Obama  mostly went through his current stump speech, emphasizing his plans to make taxes lower than they were under Ronald Reagan, reform healthcare, restore the economy, and improve access to education.

Because of our location farther back on the oval, I couldn’t get the greatest photos, but I managed to take a few decent ones… Check them out on my Picasa album. I also took a quick video of Obama speaking on the economy, as well as one of the crowd of 50,000.

Meet Joe the Plumber

This last debate had me wondering what all this “Joe the Plumber” fuss was about… So I asked the internets, and they told me to watch this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFC9jv9jfoA&w=425&h=344]

Joe the Plumber on YouTube
This is just me talking, but I found this conversation much more informative than the entire debate which kept on throwing Joe’s name around for political fodder and support. I wasn’t proud of either candidate’s performances in the three debates, but stuff like this deserves a lot more attention. Negative ads and smears that don’t show the whole picture are escaping the actual issues, which nobody seems to be talking about these days. I wish I could see more stuff like this from both Obama and McCain – we’d be making much more informed decisions if they could just change their approach.

Don’t vote!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaRXvRwhOk&w=425&h=344]

“Don’t Vote!” on YouTube

Colorado has till Monday to register to make your voice heard, and this is one of the closest states in the whole country. Every single person is going to make a difference this time around, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

No matter where you are in the country, you can find pretty much everything you need at this site. Registration information and deadlines, voting locations, it’s all there. Do yourself a favor and make your voice heard. If you don’t vote, don’t complain when you choose not to make a difference.