Ahh, the time of year is here when our country becomes far too fixated on politics? No. Education reform? Nope. “Global warming”? Ha, no.

It’s awards season. That means a mixture of celebrity flubs, snubs, shout-outs, and fashion which become mixed in with the hard news - for which is the reason I turn on my TV in the morning. I get just thirty seconds of Obama’s policy initiatives, and three minutes of utterly wasteful analysis on Gwen Stefani’s fashion evolution.

But in the spirit of it all – I’m going to present a few awards of my own, why not?

“Most likely to keep their cool whilst stuck in a tank of sharks” goes to … Barack Obama. Mr. Composure, though not entirely a fan of his politics, has always impressed me with his sense of mellow confidence and poise. This morning’s release of his address to the public and republican Congress members to let partisan politics subside was probably a little too mellow. After being shut down by every republican house representative this past week, you’d think he’d be a little more aggressive in his campaign to push his policy through the Senate. I don’t know if he took an Ambien before speaking, but Axelrod’s “duties as assigned,” will have to be lighting a fire underneath the big boss man’s pants before he gets behind the podium again.

“Most likely to have their name used in a euphemism” goes to … Blago. This character’s idiotic spree of bad decisions will be forever linked to new slang. Twenty years from now our teenagers will be saying “Yo bro, you totally Blag’ed that up.”

“Most likely to actually hug a tree” goes to … Al Gore. His continual publicity push for global responsibility, though longfully important, is a faux paus in our nation’s selective attention. Individuals need to be aware most significantly of the situation we have at hand right now, our downturn economy. People need to concentrate on building their savings, finding a job, and supporting themselves and/or their families. Al, take a break – or use this time to job create in new field of “green.”

“Most likely to be hunted down to write my wedding vows” goes to … Tina Fey. After watching her success show 30 Rock and listening to her Golden Globes acceptance speech awhile ago, I have become quite a fan. I love her humor – subtle but packs a big punch. Congrats Tina, I’ll be contacting you once I find Mr. Right … that is after I find a solid career.

The winner for the “town in which I’d never want to be caught with a flat tire” goes to … Lancaster, Pennsylvania! With Gutmo’s slow closing, Washington officials are trying to figure out where to move and detain the hundreds of captured prisoners, many of whom are some of the most craftfully dangerous terrorists our generation has seen. How about Pennsylvania?! Yeah, that’s great – let’s bus ‘em up on I-95 and drop them off in small town Lancaster. Funny thing is, the residents aren’t objecting. In an impromptu interview spree last week, residents were quoted as saying “Yeah, bring ‘em all here, we’re tough. We’ll take care of ‘em.” Oh, really? Well, Lancaster – Congrats on the recent award.

Finally, the “Best Comeback” award goes to … Ms. Britney Spears (It’s still “Ms.” Right?)! I don’t want to get too into this, but I’ve never seen any individual defy the bell curve of dissolution as she has. Congrats, Britney – you’ve resisted even the Vegas odds.

Curiositia

So after starting up classes for my last (full) semester, I have started the school work grind again. It’s not too much to compare to undergrad work; less little projects, papers, tests and more reading, heavier weighted (however fewer) projects and papers. I’m taking three classes again which include a human resource management course, a course on public policy, and lastly a “Creativity in Business” course. As the professor had commented yesterday evening, you must be thinking, “Creativity in Business? That’s a class?”
Oh yes it is. The name does it justice only to that of why we are connected together as individuals in this class. Everyone goes through a period of stale ideas, dwindling motivation, and apathy. This course is intended to enlighten us as to why “thinking ruts” are created and how to use inspiration around us to get ourselves out. We are going to be broken down in so much that we will decipher our own unique minds as to how we digest information and how to turn that into productive thinking.
In Michael Gelb’s book How to Think like Leonardo DaVinci he informs us that we all have curiosities. Our “curisotia” asks questions that our minds will try and answer, or they can just be rhetorical. The explorer in each of us will at least ponder, or at best find the answers to these questions.
Yesterday evening, our Professor challenged us to an exercise proscribed by Gelb. He asked us to think about how we questioned the world around us as children. In an excerpt from one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, he explains all that he knew about his surrounding world because of all that he did to answer his curiosity. He wondered what the view looked like from the top of his house. Where else to find the answer but on the roof?
In this exercise Prof. Johnson wanted us to think about 100 questions that provoke our curiosity. Though I would duly take on this challenge, however I will provide you only with a short list that might spark a part of your own curiosity.
- For those men and women who become police officers and fire fighters, did they want to get into that profession as a young child like many of us did?
- What does G-Flat sound like?
- What was the percentage of 2008 voters who cast their vote for Obama solely because of his skin color?
- What do garages do with the dirty oil they replace in our cars?
- What are the modern principles of Judaism, Buddhism, and Hindu?
- Are great chefs born naturally with a more sensitive and fine-tuned palate?
- How many years will it be before we see a major evolutionary change in the physical structure of the human body?
- How many years will it be before the banning of gay marriage is seen as ludicrous as segregation?
- Exactly how many journals did John Wooden record?
- What is the most nutritionally valued food grown on the earth?
Considering that’s a short version, there are many more questions popping up in my head as I write these last few sentences. I value so much the insight that is provided in many of my experiences this last year and a half. I have grown to fully appreciate the importance of education and practical learning. What I choose to do in the next phase of my life will most likely largely have been affected by the maturation in graduate school.
Think about your own curiositia. I guarantee you that if you think of just three questions that you would want answered, you’ll be thinking all day of things that will end up spawning the Socratic five year old in us.