Entries from December 2003 ↓

Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year everyone.

I’m back in town after about five days away for the Christmas holidays. Went to spend it with family, as usual. It was a very low key Christmas this year, no outside decorations, didn’t even put up the tree this year. Mom of course has many other responsibilities and so prioritization is essential. At this point in our lives, the holiday is so not of the greeting card variety that nobody missed any of it. It was really more like Thanksgiving, with lots of family and food. Gift certificates were the present of choice.

Dad is stubborn, ornery and cantankerous again, which means his health is improving, all things considered. With other family home, Mom got a much needed break and was able to tend to some of her own needs for a change. It was important to be able to help out, but frankly I’m tired. I’m off until the 5th and will need every bit of it to rest. I don’t know how she does it.

With the country at code Orange (whatever the HELL that means), and the airlines on lock down, my younger brother chose instead to drive 16 hours one way from Atlanta than to be subjected to cavity searches from minimum wage federal airport security personnel. Can’t say I blame him, but that’s more driving than I can do in one stretch.

I have no plans for New Year’s eve. It has never been a big deal to me. It’s forecast to be a balmy 50 degrees or so most of this week but that doesn’t mean I’ll be stupid enough to hang out in Times Square. There won’t be anyone there but NYPD and National Guard troops anyway. I’ll probably look for that annual Honeymooners marathon on Channel 11.

Oh, by the way. That picture? It’s not our house. Some stock photo I found on the net. A tad over-decorated, don’t you think?

I am now into my fourth month as a blogger. I must confess it’s addictive. Most days I feel compelled to write something, or at the very least, to read other people’s blogs and many of those linked to them. It is at times informative and educational, but most often purely voyeuristic, as we total strangers are allowed to peek into each other’s lives and read our not so private yet usually personal thoughts.

I credit this blog with getting me back in the habit of regular writing. I had the muse scared out of me for almost two whole years, and really couldn’t put even the simplest thoughts down on paper. But the structure I created for myself here, with a main blog and five side blogs, compels me to write to keep the site current. Nobody visits a blog with weeks-old entries, so it is the equivalent of regular deadline pressure.

I’m the type of writer who needs deadlines. Frankly I can’t really work without them. Years ago, when I worked in radio news, I had deadlines every 15 minutes of an eight hour shift. You cannot overindulge in procrastination under those conditions and it forces you to be precise, concise and efficient. It also helped that there was an immediate use for my writing. At the top and bottom of each hour there was a news broadcast to read what I had just written.

The challenge for me now is to translate this renewed interest in writing to my creative writing pursuits. I have always been a story teller and have written short stories since I was a kid. In the last 12-15 years I have tried my hand at writing long and short form screenplays, stage plays, and tv scripts but my success rate at seeing these projects through to completion is somewhat spotty.

Unlike here, where with a few mouse clicks I can see my words up on a website, I cannot visualize the finished product. If I’m going to squeeze thoughts out of my head and create this baby, I’m not willing to let just anyone raise it. I would have to have a hand in producing it. Yet, there is a vast difference between writing a script and producing a movie or play. There are other people involved, money to be raised, the production process itself, all of it daunting and unrelated to the task of writing.

Because I tend to fixate on the probability (or improbability) of my script becoming something tangible, I get overwhelmed and frustrated, then procrastinate, and eventually lose interest and drift away from the project all together. My file cabinet is full of such starts and stops.

I share all of this because I am experiencing such a writer’s block now. Months ago, I came up with what I think is a great idea for a play. I began some research, began outlining a story, created some character bios, and promised myself I’d work on it. A writer friend of mine, with his own projects (and similar afflictions when it comes to completing his work) and I agreed to meet twice a month to push one another. Well, that was several months ago, and neither of us are very far from where we were when we started.

I’d love to blame it on the daily fatigue I go through at the end of a long work day, or a hectic schedule, or something else external, but I know it’s all related to self-doubt. I could finish the project, and then what? I know far too many playwrights and screenwriters with finished work never seen or produced, and that doesn’t encourage me. I own The Artist’s Way and enough books on writing and creativity to open a small specialty bookstore. I just can’t break out of past patterns.

Since we’re this close to the new year, I don’t want to turn this into a resolution (cuz I’m not too good at keeping those either), but I would appreciate any advice on overcoming the blockage and pessimism.

Winter is the perfect time to get in the kitchen and bake. What’s more fun to bake than cookies? I first started baking cookies when I had a late night sweet tooth, was too lazy to run to the store, but realized I had all the ingredients already in the house. The best part is you get to sample each batch out of the oven.

Here are five easy cookie recipes to try yourself.

Apple Raisin Drop Cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped apple
• 1 cup raisins, chopped
• 1/3 cup milk
• Icing, below

Lightly grease baking sheets. Sift flour with baking soda; set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix shortening, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in half of the flour and baking soda mixture, nuts, chopped apple and chopped raisins. Blend in milk then stir in remaining flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased baking sheets. Bake apple raisin cookies at 400° for 10 to 14 minutes, or until done.

Spread icing on apple raisin cookies while still warm.

Vanilla Icing or Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sift before measuring
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, soft
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Combine all icing ingredients in small mixing bowl. Stir until smooth and well blended. Adjust for spreading consistency if necessary, adding more milk or more confectioners’ sugar. Spread on warm cookies.

This past week the New York Giants turned an open secret into reality, when they fired head coach Jim Fassel. After seven years leading that team and a 60-54-1 record including a trip to the Super Bowl, a combination of injuries to key players, a decimated offensive line and a six consecutive game losing streak down the stretch made it apparent a change was needed. Fassel will coach the remainder of the season, but the Giants have already begun assembling a short list of candidates to replace him.

New York won’t be the only team looking for a new head coach this off season. A week earlier, Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves (Fassel’s predecessor in New York) was let go. It is rumored the Oakland Raiders will fire coach Bill Callahan and his entire staff at the end of the season. Depending on how they finish up, changes may also be coming in Chicago, Arizona, New Orleans, Buffalo, Miami and San Diego as well. So anywhere from three to nine job opportunities may be created.

Coaching vacancies occur every year, but this year there is even more pressure on team owners to give serious consideration to Black coaching candidates. In a league where 70 percent of the players are Black, there are only three Black head coaches, Tony Dungy at Indianapolis, Marvin Lewis, currently in his rookie season at Cincinnati, and Herman Edwards with the New York Jets.

Last season, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue impaneled the NFL Committee on Workplace Diversity, headed by Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, to research the issue of minority hiring and make recommendations. They got owners to agree to the principle that any club seeking to hire a head coach will interview one or more minority applicants.

That agreement in principle was challenged almost immediately, when the Detroit Lions hired former San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci without looking at any other candidates. The NFL fined Lions president Matt Millen $200,000, claiming he hadn’t made sufficient effort to seek out or grant face-to-face interviews with Black coaches. (This is the same Matt Millen who this past week had to publicly apologize after he called Kansas City Chiefs receiver Johnny Morton a “faggot.”) Tagliabue said that future failures to interview minority candidates for a head coaching opening could lead to fines of $500,000 or higher as “conduct detrimental” to the NFL.

Whether the league is serious about increasing head coaching opportunities remains to be seen. Currently about 28 percent of all assistant coaches are Black, including 14 of the 64 offensive and defensive coordinators. Coordinator is seen as one of the best routes to a head coaching position.

Some prominent Black assistants are being mentioned in connection with the aforementioned vacancies. St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith is considered a front runner in Atlanta. He is credited with turning the offensive-minded Rams into a defensive power.

New England Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is another name often touted. He was an assistant to Bill Parcells at the Giants, Patriots and Jets. One of Parcell’s current assistants in Dallas, Maurice Carthon, may also get an interview or two.

Former Minnesota Vikings head coach and current ESPN commentator Dennis Green may have his pick of opportunities, but has been mentioned most often in connection with Oakland and Atlanta.

Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, who was interviewed by the 49ers last year before they hired Dennis Erickson, may have dropped off the radar this year. The Jets season is not going well and his defense is one of the lowest ranked. But this year is an aberration when compared to his past success both in New York and previously in Buffalo.

The unwillingness to give more opportunities to Black coaches is reminiscent of the arguments made against using Black quarterbacks. Questions of leadership ability, intelligence and talent were always used, but have all been dispelled by the likes of Doug Williams, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick.

Art Shell when he was with Oakland, Green, Dungy and now Lewis, who is on the verge of taking a perennial loser to its first playoff in more than 20 years, have demonstrated that given a chance, they too can succeed.

No one can force an owner to hire anyone they don’t want to, but opponents of the NFL’s diversity initiatives, of which there are many, need to know this isn’t about affirmative action or quotas, but opportunity. All too often, the all-White old boy’s network of owners interacts only with their own. Their comfort level extends only to people they already know or who look just like them.

The NFL is asking owners to meet face-to-face with Black candidates, spend time with them and develop relationships, so that whatever decision is made is based on knowledge and full awareness, not fear, prejudice and ignorance.

In a sport with a 16 week regular season, where every game can mean the difference between making the playoffs or not, assembling the right personnel is crucial. Closing the door to anyone who might be capable of making a positive change in your operation is not only discrimination but bad business.

It is generally agreed that September 11, 2001, changed the course of history. But we must ask ourselves why that should be so. How could a single event, even one involving 3,000 civilian casualties, have such a far-reaching effect? The answer lies not so much in the event itself as in the way the United States, under the leadership of President George W. Bush, responded to it.

Read the full article:

The Bubble of American Supremacy
by George Soros