JDRF 2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes

My good friend at work, Mr. Kent Bob, is one of those brave individuals who pricks their fingers over and over and over, then has to give himself shots just to live. I admire people like Kent Bob because I'm not sure I would have balls enough to continually prick my finger even if I had to.

At work, they sent an email announcing the Juvenile Diabetes walk and I asked Mr. Kent Bob if he planned to participate. He replied that he hadn't, but really should. It was a 5K affair through Wheeler Farm, a place I had previously only driven past. In a brave, perhaps overly enthusiastic and definitely overly optimistic tone, I offered to walk with Kent in this walk if he walked with me during the 10K Utah AIDS Foundation walk in September. He agreed as he had already been thinking about the AIDS walk.

On the appointed day we went, but ended up having to park a very long ways from the event, easily 2K. When we started, we asked the registration booth if we could count the long walk from the car, but they didn't seem to understand what we were saying. We went for the walk, but really don't think the course through the farm was 5K. It was possible that we needed to complete two or three laps, but when asked, no one seemed to even know, so we only did one. But, combined with the great distance to and from our cars, I believe we did far more than 5K that day. Knowing that I didn't cheat the JDRF on distance helps me sleep at night. =)

Those at the registration tent did know that a donation of $100 was required to get a t-shirt (kind of a reward or prize for helping the cause so significantly). I had other ideas. Do you see this face? This is my, "I just completed your grueling walk so hurry up and give me a damn t-shirt before I have a heart attack and die right here" look. It worked. It worked well enough to also get Kent Bob a shirt. Ironically, the shirt is far too small to wear. 2X, my foot.

I took a look at the AIDS Foundation web site. They have a description of the 10K route. I'm thinking the heart attack may be for real next time if I try 10K and maybe volunteering at a water station would be better. To get in shape for the AIDS walk, I have watched people exercise on those infomercials and have thought every time that I should actually get up and follow along. But, just as my motivation hits a peak and I'm ready to get off the couch, the infomercial changes to a magic pasta cooker or hair out of a spray can and I'm hooked. Can't exercise to a spray can ad, now can I? Seriously, both causes are worthy of my honest effort and I'm very pleased to have done more than just thought about getting involved. If you'd like to join me on the AIDS walk, it is September 20th in the morning. Let me know. We can motivate each other.

Another Day on the Train

For those who know me, this weekend is typically when I journey to Cedar City and enjoy the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Unless I have been living out of state at the time (remember that "fun" mission in the Washington DC suburbs and a rather good go at grad school in Kalamazoo?), it is a good bet since 1989 that during the weekend before Labor Day would find me at the Festival. I have come to love the whole experience of the Festival and plan many years of future attendance. Here is a picture of the Tony award they won a few years ago. The production quality and overall theater experience in Cedar frequently rivals what I saw in New York on Broadway. The Tony was very deserved. If you have not gone, let's go. Next year's line up looks really good.

Unfortunately, this year was not like other years and I did not go down to Cedar. Nor will I venture down for the fall season that starts in a few weeks. Most of this is due to a serious lack of finances and payback for all the travel I did in 2007 (for those who may not have remembered, I went with Josh in April to LA to see Wicked-FABULOUS!-, I went with my family to Yellowstone in May, then to Bear Lake with Josh for my birthday in June, Shakespeare in the summer (yes, with Josh), Shakespeare in the fall (no, I went without Josh. Gosh. We aren't attached at the hip!) and then to Germany to see Josh in December. What a year! It was wonderful.).

This year, the funds have dried up and it feels like I haven't gone and won't be going anywhere for a very long time. =( The Shakespeare Festival is also rerunning several of their crowd favorites because they know people will still come to see them with $4.00 gas. Even though they change directors and the interpretations of the plays can be completely different, my responsible side says, "I gotta no money" (yes, there is a story to that quote, but that's for another time) and I stay home. I just can't justify spending the money to go see a play I've seen six times already, though each viewing has been a treat and I know the current year would be no exception. I usually say I'm not going, then get itchy and nervous, kind of like a crack addict who just needs a fix. It isn't pretty until I get a little Shakespeare. =) This year? Nope. I'm staying home and not crying a minute.

Now for the past several years, I have gone three days to the Festival, then about three hours out to the family reunion in Enterprise (about 45 miles west of Cedar City). This allowed me to visit the relatives I didn't loathe (mostly that category includes the family I hang out with all the time in Salt Lake with the added adventure of maybe seeing a rattlesnake or scorpion), attend the family dinner (always a battle between the wind, bees and a chorus of crabbing due to the late start time and slow cooking corn on the cob) and family meeting before going home. I won't bore you with the details here, but I'm never going to the reunion again. Let's just suffice it to say I'm right and that I hope a few certain crabby old ladies do a quick job of dropping dead. The offending men can stick around because I believe they have been unfairly influenced by the aforementioned old ladies, and because I give a little more leeway to people with penises. Am I sexist? Of course. Boys are better. Deal with it. I used to say crabby old men with shriveled skin flutes were of no interest, but that was before Bob Dole came to our rescue. (If you are a boy who needs a date, let me know. I'm probably available.) Should this surprise or shock you? Let me ask one question: Have you met me? Quoting from a favorite Queer Duck, "I'm as Gay as a Goose."

Before my accountant informed me there really wasn't any money in my account, I had planned to spend today as Shirley D. Licious hosting a fun bus with the Utah Cyber-Sluts to Wendover. I simply did not have the money to get a costume together, pay the $25 fee and rent a room to shower and clean up from the make up. Though, as Shirley D., I probably could have turned a trick or two in Wendover. Gays lovingly refer to it as "Bendover" if you understand my meaning. =) So, I was pretty bummed when I realized going was not an option. With my regular set of groupies (Mom, Rebecca and her clan) planning to be at the reunion, I was probably going to have nothing better to do than pull weeds. I know! Can you imagine ever being so desperate? Michelle came to my rescue.

Instead of going to the reunion, my sister Michelle decided to have an emergency appendectomy. With the surgery a day before she was planning to go down, her doctor said she was absolutely not allowed to go six hours in a car each way. With Michelle in pain, I decided to take Rebecca on an adventure so her mom could rest for a few hours. We started the day at Doug and Emmy's for scones (if you haven't been, what is keeping you? Gosh! I've promoted their yummy scones like a hundred times!!!). Although the food was great as usual, we were put off by the wait-staff's attitude. I'd tell you what it was all about, but you'd probably take their side and that I'm overreacting. I'm not. Believe me.

Rebecca and I went on the FrontRunner train from Layton to Ogden and back. In Ogden, we walked to the historic Union Station where they have a wonderful train museum. Inside, they have really cool displays, an interesting film about the history and types of trains (not boring at all. Really.) They have a caboose car that we both had to climb to the top seats (yes, even I made it up the ladder) and a just freight scale that told me I was just as fat as when I weighed myself at home BEFORE the scone. In your face, Weight Watchers! Lol.

Rebecca found the horn of the modified engine car and enjoyed seeing the mini-trains go past on all the miniature displays. There was so much to see and do in that museum that we will have to go back. Our purchased pass would have allowed us to go visit the antique firearm museum and antique car museum (also in Union Station), but we didn't have time for them before the train going back to Layton was ready to go. We had a wonderful time in Ogden and will have to return. If Shakespeare doesn't look out and start producing some of the non-cash-cow shows, I may need to change my Labor Day weekend destination to Ogden. =)

As a side note, we found many very friendly people along our route, one of whom told us of the Odgen Trolley. It is a free bus that makes continual loops around Ogden. You could take FrontRunner to Ogden, then the Trolley to any part of the Ogden downtown. Or, you could walk over to the train museum at Union Station like we did. If you are a cute boy and need a date, I could go with you. We won't mention the screaming boy who looked older than Rebecca, but didn't know how to behave in public, nor the fussy toddler who reminded us of many a trip to the WalMart store. Ugh!. Let's just say that Rebecca was perfectly grown up and well mannered. Afterwards, we were both exhausted and hot, so we just had to go get a shake at the Arctic Circle. Before you get all in my face about getting a shake when I'm fat, I chose a huckleberry sundae thinking the fruit would be healthier than my normal peanut butter cup. Ah, good times. Now, I'm tired and I need to go to bed. Until next time...

Some images of a birthday trip to the hotel

I'll add a bit of text later tonight, but wanted to get a few of the pictures posted from last weekend's trip to the hotel. Rebecca wanted all year around to go to the hotel for her birthday. She turns 5 next Tuesday and last weekend was the closest our schedules could fulfill her wish. It was a lot of fun. The new Holiday Inn Express breakfast was awesome. Next time you go, try a cup of hot cocoa with two cups of French vanilla coffee creamer stirred in. Yum. More commentary to follow, but everyone knows the pictures are more fun anyway.

Fabian Hambuchen

Last night I got home from work quite late and turned on the television for just a moment to see if anything interesting was happening at the Olympics. I was just in time to see German gymnast Fabian Hambuchen perform on the high bar. This was the exhibition that follows the competition, so no medals. Many say the exhibition is where you will see what the athletes are really capable of because there isn't the same pressure found in the judged events, which may or may not have been biased. Subjective observational judging will always have that stigma of wondering if it really fair?
It was easy to see why Fabian was favored to win the high bar competition. He was simply incredible. He twisted and flipped and contorted with precision timing and mastered skill. Fabian is one of a very small handful of athletes from these Olympics I have come to admire (and no, not just because he is really cute). He won the bronze on the high bar instead of the expected gold, but in my mind, he is still a champion and he represented Germany with passion and dignity. Wow! I have included the clip from the 2007 World Championships where he won the gold. Enjoy.

Jonathan Horton

Some of you may have guessed that gymnastics (especially the men) holds a great interest for me. It amazes me how the athletes can twist and contort themselves. You may assume I like watching young men with taught muscular builds bulging through the thinnest and skimpiest of uniforms. Watch out. You know what assuming does. But in this case, you would be right. I can't (and won't) hide the fact that I'm gay and appreciate bulging men with incredible upper body strength. For a similar reason, I watch the men's diving and swimming events. Watching the Olympics, though, is more than just getting a cheap thrill or boosting my patriotic water-cooler jargon. It is about watching the pinnacle of years and years worth of sweat and dedication. These athletes have obviously been committed even when the easy thing to do would have been to simply quit. They persevered. They conquered. Even those who don't medal at the Olympics are winners because they actually made it to the games. I remember watching the figure skaters dance and glide elegantly along the ice and dream of mastering my own physical and emotional self to become a champion. The feelings of excitement were infectious and I was enthusiastic to become an Olympic athlete so I too could feel the awe of walking into the arena representing my country. Well, as I look down at my overgrown abdomen, life didn't turn out that way. Back then I was 31. Now I'm 38 (golly, can you imagine someone so old? I know!!!) and I have realized the Olympics are for others and that's ok. I was part of the moment in 2002 as a volunteer. They say those who can't do, teach. Well, I say those who can't do should volunteer. The Olympics are next headed to Vancouver, BC in 2010 and London in 2012. Will you be there? I'd love to. Come on. Let's go together.

Now, back to point. Tonight was the reply of the men's high bar gymnastics final. China won the gold (surprise), Jonathan Horton of the United States (Houston, TX) won the silver and the bronze medal went to Fabian Hambuechen of Germany. Fabian is the cute German who tried desperately not to cry mentioned in my first Olympic post of a few days ago. That night he had lost on the high bar, an event he was favored in. I'm so glad he ended up with a medal in that discipline. Following Jonathan's incredible performance, Fabian greeted him with congratulations. Some goofs have commented online that this picture looks like they are going to kiss or is too gay. To those of you who think this, oh grow up. There is nothing wrong with two men embracing. If you don't like my picture, get your own.

This blog features pictures of Jonathan Horton his silver medal winning performance). He also helped win the bronze medal in the team gymnastics and is just awesome. This could have easily been about Shawn Johnson and her gold medal won just prior to Jonathan's silver or about any number of women athletes. Much of why I watch the Olympics is gender neutral, though I'll admit a big bulge is nice to watch. What? Doesn't everyone's eye first go to a man's crotch, then his face? Ok, so(and will hopefully soon sport a youtube video of, sometimes I take a detour (when available) and check out his ass, then up to the face, but I get there eventually. =) Watching the Olympics means different things for each of us. Among other things, it should inspire regular "real" people to become the best they can be. It may not be high bar or diving or even a sport. It may be losing 50 pounds or finally writing something worth publishing. These athletes show us that anything is possible with a lot of hard work and dedication. They amaze me, especially men like Jonathan and Michael Phelps, and make me want to become a better me. Incidentally, I'd like to find the same qualities in a boyfriend. Please apply within if you are interested. =)

Miss Shirley D. Licious -- Shirley D. for short

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An Olympic Travesty

Tonight's Olympic coverage has been interesting and infuriating, kind of like the concept of fire and ice the sport of hockey gives us. Women's diving finals, track events and men's gymnastics floor finals helped couch the exhaustion this weekend's adventure built up (more about the adventure later). These events were interesting and inspiring to watch, especially the muscular men flip and flop across the mat. But it wasn't until I saw the women's gymnastics vault finals that I became upset enough to get off the couch and tell you about it. =)

For those who didn't watch, I'll spoil it by saying the North Korean, Hong Un-jong, won Gold, Oksana Chusovitina representing Germany won Silver and Cheng Fei from China the Bronze. Yes, I have a big problem with this and hope the outcome is being contested. All of my friends in Germany should be enraged as well. Here is why:

Alicia Sacramone from the United States competed first and took a couple of small steps while landing her two vaults. As the others competed, she saw her score of 15.537 slip to 4th place. The upsetting part was that all three of the winners fell, took huge steps and/or stepped out of bounds on their landings. Even the commentators were amazed that Cheng Fei's horrible landing didn't wipe her out of medal contention. Calling Hong Un-jong's disastrous landings anything but catastrophic brings suspicions about biased Olympic judges back into question for the first time since Salt Lake 2002 and the French judge blunder. (interested in knowing more about that incident? Ask me. I was in the middle of it.) I was watching and thought it was nice of North Korea to send a delegation, but how she will probably get yelled at for missing her mark too badly. I was absolutely stunned when her score ranked higher than anyone else's. Yes, you read correctly--higher. Her gold medal was not deserved. The judges should all be slapped.

Even more of an injustice was the lousy vaults Cheng Fei made for China. Her second vault included catching herself with her hands and knees if that tells you anything, but she still ends up with bronze. What? The scoring was absolutely ridiculous.

I do want to share with you my view of who should have won. This is not all sour grapes talking (I don't even like grapes unless they are processed into jam {but not jelly} or juice). Oksana Chusovitina had a much better vault than Hong Un-jong. She also took a bit of a step, but was not nearly as disasterous as Hong's stepping out of bounds and balancing hops. She is representing Germany, but is not from Germany. Originally from the Soviet Union, after the 1992 Olympic games, athletes went home to their respective republics and Oksana started competing for Uzbekistan. Her son's illness and the tremendous help of friends led her to Germany where in 2006 Oksana gained citizenship. (Thanks Wikipedia.) Her story is interesting and her vault much less flawed than anyone else. Oksana should have had the gold medal. Instead, she will take home the silver.

Anna Pavlova from Russia ended the night in last place, but not because of her vaulting. Some say her second vault looked too much like the first, but the real reason (thanks, NBC commentary) was the red light that still burned bright when Anna started her second run. During the tabulation process, a red light is displayed that turns green when it is ok for the athlete to go. They have 30 seconds from the time it turns green to start or they are disqualified. Anna had two really good vaults, but camera replay confirmed the light was still red when she started her second so the score for that run was 0.00. Factored in with her first score, there wasn't any way possible to win even a bronze. I agree with a deduction, but when the Gold medal winners fall, bobble and take steps that are seemingly overlooked my injustice alert goes off.

Here are podium standings as I see them. If the previously crowned winners could shuffle the hardware, please. Go ahead. I'll wait.

GOLD: Oksana Chusovitina - Germany
SILVER: Alicia Sacramone - United States
BRONZE: Anna Pavlova - Russia

For those of you who haven't paid attention, this is the gold that should go to Oksana. This whole event screams foul. The sports with observational critique automatically open the door for questioning about bias and human error. They try to eliminate these problems with a multi-national judging panel, but again I remind you of the 2002 ice skating incident. The race events with computerized timing mechanisms seem so much more fairly judged. No one questions Michael Phelps' wins because the sensors registered his touch first. It may never be possible to have such a cut and dry system of measurement for gymnastics, but there must be an appeals process when such obvious error is allowed. The credibility of the whole judging process is in question. It introduces bitter rivalry and angst when stories of inspiration and dedication to overcome should be in the spotlight. In this case, Oksana was robbed of the gold and Alicia and Anna were denied medals when they deserved them. Who is next? Are you?

Michael Phelps is Awesome!!!

The Olympics give us all a sense of national pride (I'm guessing twice over for Joshua). It also shows us what is physically possible, which some of us need to be reminded of. From Salt Lake, the NBC coverage has a bias to show American athletes compete and that is fine. I like that, but also enjoy seeing what the rest of the world has to offer. This year, I had hoped to see Germans compete so I could wave my flag and imagine I was vicariously sharing a moment with Josh and the Kleinhans family (assuming their television screens are filled with Germans the way my screen is filled with American athletes). This is similar to when I lived in Michigan (2 hours earlier than Salt Lake). My family and I would coordinate to see an exciting movie at the same time (9:00 PM showing for me, 7:00 for them). Afterwards, we could call and compare notes. This worked great for Jurassic Park III, but did not work for Dante's Peak, but that's another story.

This year, if the screen isn't filled with Americans, it is highlighting the Chinese athletes (who are incredible in nearly every regard). Last week after helping host Gay Bingo as Miss Shirley D. Licious (I was stunningly beautiful for an ugly woman), I went home to shower and was just in time to see the German team march during the opening ceremonies. Besides that short moment of anticipated German glory, last night was the first glimpse I'd had of a German. I don't remember his name, but very attractive. =) He was competing in the men's gymnastics individual all around and had apparently been the world's champion of the high bar. He was very good, but not great. The comments made by the irritating announcers were that he would hate himself for doing such a poor performance when it mattered so much. He did not medal and was trying not to show how upset he was, but we all knew it. Maybe 2012 in London will be his turn to shine.

So, putting that one German memory aside, the Olympics have largely been Americans and Chinese athletes. The Chinese are super polished in every sport, it would seem. Did you catch the women's sculling team? Sculling is the really long boat that four people row in unison down a really long lake. The Chinese women were well over a boat length ahead of the other teams. During that race, the announcers said the German and English women will cry because they like to win sculling.

Shall we talk Michael Phelps for a moment? This morning past Olympic gold medal winners for swimming were commenting on the Today show that Michael Phelps was by far the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. Since posting this a few days ago, Michael Phelps has accomplished his goal of winning gold eight times. He is a hero of mine. I admire his strength and dedication to a dream. He represents what we can all accomplish if we set our minds to it and never let go. It has been said that Michael Phelps has the perfect swimmer's body with extra long arms and slim build that cuts through the water. It is also about his desire to taste sweet victory more than everyone else. About not being satisfied with sitting on the couch playing Wii or XBox. Physical attributes helped him win, but without also having the mindset of a champion, he would have probably ended up fat and lazy playing Wii or or Xbox. Michael saw there was more to life than obtaining a high score. He saw that it is also about becoming better, faster and stronger and paying the sacrifices winning required. Quitting was not an option, even when he was tired or the road became hard. He stood up and accepted the challenge and is now realizing the benefits of such dedication. He is a true champion and should serve as an inspiration to all of us. Wheaties is probably already printing boxes with his image. I'll be buying my box, for sure. Now, we call can't be Michael Phelps, but we can add that determination and desire to excel into our lives. Swimming is Michael's thing. He has given me a renewed passion for writing something interesting enough to get published. What is your thing? I can't wait to find out.

There are many ways to describe Michael Phelps and his contributions to sport and the Olympics and national pride and weight loss motivation, etc., but I choose to simply say that Michael Phelps is Awesome!!!

International Warfare - an update

Next week, it will have been two months since my battle with the Chilean Recluse spider. Many people have recently been amazed to still see my bandaged arm and have asked how I'm doing.

During that time, I have moved from the doctor's wrap, to 3 inch wide x 4 inch long jumbo bandages, to two standard size plain and finally one standard-sized rainbow bandage. The truth is that the pad on the rainbow bandages is bigger, roughly the size of two plain bandages, so that really doesn't indicate progress. When I wore a rainbow bandage the first time to work, it was in the shape of a heart (half again bigger than the standard) and the bright colors made some new people curious to see if I had been hurt. By that time, I had been wearing a bandage for a month and my "how in the hell could you have not noticed my suffering for a whole month" attitude may have come across as a bit brash. I'm really sorry if you were among the offended. I wear the rainbow bandages when 1) I am running late and ripping open one package and fighting with one set of tabs is faster than two; or 2) when I'm feeling that my "fabulocity" reading is weak and I need to gay it up a bit. Otherwise, I'll use two plain bandages as they cost less (yes, even using two at a time).

Some days my arm doesn't bother me. Other days, the pain is so intense that I have wondered if cutting my arm off would be a better solution than endurance. But then I realize I use my left hand for many practical things like eating and typing at work and research at home, so I just took a Tylenol and put up with it. Some days even two months since the bite are extremely painful, but nothing like the first few weeks.

When the spider bit me (if you remember from my June post), the red patch went to a large near 2 inch blister in just a few hours. Although the doctor popped the blister, the venom had eaten my flesh under the blister, causing a huge crater on my arm. (Flesh being the tissue under the skin.) The hole has been surrounded by a dark red ring, which I assumed was infection. Little by little the crater has filled in, though I still treat the tender area very gently in the shower (remember that whole accidental scraping off of the new skin incident from my first posting?). The red ring remains, but is now a large circle of bright red (infection for lack of a better word).

The web site where I found the wonderful picture at the top said Chilean Recluse bites usually take between three and four months to heal. I hoped that time frame applied to the Chilean people who may not have had advance medical technology available. But, it has nearly been two months and it doesn't show any sign of being done soon. When people ask if I really recovered weeks ago and am just milking it for the sympathy, I just want to poke them in the eye. I tell them about my flesh being eaten away and the replacement pack I ordered weeks ago from Sears and Roebuck has been on back order. One smart-ass suggested I should have just gone over to the Wal Mart store because they have everything and not waited for Sears. Flesh? Nope. The high-end nature of flesh definitely makes it more of a Sears and Roebuck thing.

I have heard many harrowing stories of spider bites. The physical damage and suffering others endure from the Brown Recluse and Black Widows is significant. When I hear the stories, some are saying that my little 2-inch flesh-eaten away blister wasn't so bad because they heard of a cousin or sister or friend of someone who died or lost a limb. No, my wound wasn't as bad as some have suffered. This is not a competition, not am I grandstanding for attention or sympathy. I'm simply trying to document the experience I have had for those who may care.

Lions for Lambs

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Lions for Lambs has an interesting trailer and the star power of Meryl Streep, Robert Redford (who also directed) and Tom Cruise. Really liking most of the work they have been involved with (see my review of Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia), I rented it from the RedBox and hoped for the best. Some have chosen to simply write this off as just another anti-war protest movie from Hollywood. This movie did discuss the war and showed how much a waste of potential it is, but that wasn't all it was trying to say. I particularly found interesting the discussion between Robert Redford's professor character and Andrew Garfield's student character.

I'm not going to ruin it for you by saying too much. Some say the show is boring. I would disagree. It is frustrating and some argue it doesn't really have a point. They aren't looking hard enough. There is so much subtext and passionate message to motivate yourself and get involved. Near the end, the student asks why try if those who tried and failed end up in the same spot you are in. Redford's Professor Malley simply says at least you would have done something. We may not always succeed and life may not always make sense, but we need to try. The power of one may not seem significant, but our light may be just the thing to motivate someone else off the couch. I'm not suggesting everyone join Rocky Anderson in an anti-Bush, Anti-War protest rally, but with so much at stake this election year, we need to try making a difference. We need to stand up and say a new direction is required--change is needed. Our single voices can unite into a chorus of power. Maybe your getting involved is actively working on a campaign, or knocking on doors to support your candidate. That's fine if it is. Maybe your effort will be to get out and vote (or stay in and vote with the new mail-in ballot). Change of the status quo is not an impossibility, but we need to flush our apathy away.

Meryl Streep's character asks why the government is starting a new military plan of action now and now last year or three years ago. She makes the point that World War II only took five years to win and we are already in our sixth year since 9/11. I agreed with the war when it started, believing in the reports of WMD's like everyone else. I agree that Saddam Hussein needed to go and that the world is much better now that he is gone. But it simply has gone on too long and has cost too much in lives and monetarily. Stay the course and hope for the best is asinine. I support Obama's plan for turning responsibility for Iraq over to their leaders, asking them to step up and become independent and responsible. Meanwhile, I believe we need to turn our country's focus inward to help feed the hungry to those who call America home, to help teach literacy and make a difference here. It is easy to be indifferent, but the better option would be to stand up and at least try to make a difference. Even Obama can't do it alone. Life isn't a karaoke. It is a choir and your voice is needed.

In short, it was a movie that made me think. I liked that and felt just as entertained as watching a comedy that made me laugh for two hours. But this movie was not about entertainment or star power. It was about a message and motivation. I got it. You should too. It is available at RedBox and may still be in dollar theaters (debuted November 2007). I recommend it, highly.