phelony_jones's Blog

"There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13)

I always nod to a soldier when I see one. Sometimes I've been driving through a parking lot and passed one in their car, and given them a quiet salute. It's in those moments that we must also be thankful to the soldier, as they may not rejoin us as veterans.

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I think Katharine Lee Bates had the right idea. Too bad so many of these verses are cut out of our modern day version of America the Beautiful:

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears! America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice, for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America! God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

America is not only a land, it's a state of mind. It never hurts to revisit the definition of America. When you do, you understand at the level of your soul, what it means to fight for it.

Last Saturday morning I was sitting in a room full of bloggers who were listening to different panelists. I was restless and didn't stay. But what sticks with me is something that started on that day, and progressed throughout the week.

Charlie Sykes was on a panel with Brian Fraley and Ed Garvey. On the influence of bloggers on media, Charlie referred to Patrick of Badgerblogger.com, and pointed out that Patrick's content is unique. And it is. He also noted that Patrick can and does offer content that few blogs and news outlets can offer.

Then within 24 hours, Charlie lost his mother in the blaze.

72 hours later, Patrick was posting the audio of McGee's statements, of which we are now all familiar.

It moved the community, and influenced the media - local and national. It also prompted action.

The full-circle nature of those days might always stay with me. From the moment that Charlie declared Patrick's influence, to the tragedy, to the blog post heard throughout the community and nation. To the gathering and action. I'll never forget it.

What also stays with me is knowing I was in the room with Charlie before his entire world changed. Something about that is emotional for me. Perhaps all this blogging hasn't destroyed my social skills and empathy, after all.

First things first, what a beautiful day.

I tried to sit inside today for the Blog Summit, but I just couldn't. I was full of nervous energy and other excitement bouncing around inside of me and made an executive decision to get my narrow rear outside. I made a slippery little exit so as to go unnoticed...

This evening I had also had plans, by that point, I was reasonably content in the thought that I'd seized the day. Without, you know, taking a nap.

So this evening I got together with a group of bloggers from the MyFoxMilwaukee blogs. Tonight I met Gitrdone, saditalianeyez, Barbiedoll1959, highwayrun, and ididwhat. We had a really great evening of spirited conversation: Goofy neighbors, funny police stories, our veterans, hilarious quotables, life stories and blogging stories. I hadn't met them before, but we all hit it off swimmingly and it was a really great time.  And I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again!

And next time, I'll actually have a drink and a smoke :)

Oh PS - Thanks to WI_Sports_fan and wfbdoglover for the invite!!!!  And by all means to Gitrdone for organizing these events and for the hospitality :)
 

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at Genesis on Saturday. If you want to make it a full-on, all-blog Saturday, be sure to check out the Wispolitics blog summit at Marquette this Saturday. Details can be found at:

MARQUETTE LAW, WISPOLITICS TO CONVENE SECOND WIS. BLOG SUMMIT ON APRIL 28
Wis. Blog Summit II
Saturday April 28, 2007
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Marquette University Law School
Third Floor, Sensenbrenner Hall
1103 W. Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, Wis.

(above is courtesy of Patrick at Badgerblogger.com) 

I went to last year's blog summit and met many of the bloggers that I now read on a daily basis. A great group of people - so if you're not planning much (and I hear it will be blustery Saturday) try to make it on down!

It's a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, and I've just returned from skating at the lakefront. I went by myself, because at this time, that's pretty much with whom I have, to go anywhere.

Pourquoi? I'm 35. Going on 36. I've been working hard for a long time, I've been in a couple of long term relationships. And most importantly, friends come and go. This generally isn't a problem when you're 23 years old, because everyone is single and will be out later. You're bound to run into someone you know and you can attach yourself to their group. But, if you spend your days with your head down at your desk, and end the day pretty tired, it isn't long before the imperceptible waning of your circle of friends and your own social skills - starts to rear it's ugly head. Why? Because no one was there to say "oh honey, you can't go out like that".

My point exactly. You lose your circle, your support, and you lose a lot of your reality check and perspective. Pretty soon you find that you're living for work because that's mostly where what's left of your social circle, is.

It's easy to end up with hangers-on at this point. So therefore it's even more important to be selective and careful, because you're prime pickings for unstable women of your own age.

But you hang in there, especially because you can see the reality of the situation. It's critical to be stuck on only one thing: the type of people you want to ally yourself with. And that's easier said than done when you're basically starting over like I am. Why? Well, you're out of practice. Especially when it comes to being friends with women. That's hard for some people to imagine but it happens more often than you'd think.

So therefore, I say this. I know there are women out there who are exactly like me, and are looking for the exact same thing: companionship with other women who are smart, self-reliant, stable (emotionally and financially), aren't intimidated by successful women and in fact want to be around successful women, and darnit - want to go and do things. My ideal situation would be to be adopted by an existing group of women. To put the perspective back into me. Socially, and otherwisedly. I'd be open to pointers, ideas, or social invites.

But if you fit the same profile as me and you're in my exact situation, let's have coffee. Hell, let's get more of us together for coffee and chick chat.

(my contact details are in my profile.)