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Sunday, December 17, 2006

Looking Back Through the Keyhole

Some time ago I looked through the famous Roman keyhole to view St. Peters. It was in a time of innocence and hope. Today might not be as innocent but the hopefulness of an earlier time still lives within.

We are living in a ruder world. People are not so patient with each other. I know in my world, our industry is really in a state of conflict the likes of which I haven't seen quite like this. Is it greed? Is it power? Is it progress?
Ideas of beauty, like power, change in time. 50 years ago Gina was the image, now Giada is.

50 years ago red high heals were a fashion statement, now it's Gel-Kayano's that set the pace for a more health-centered outlook.


A month ago I broke a toe. I haven't run a mile in a month. I'm trying to be patient with myself.

Five years ago we were a country the world looked to with awe, with passion, with pity, for strength. Now we are pitiful. I have no intention of cutting and running from this country, but it better start rewarding good behavior and bringing back the best and the brightest into the mainstream.

Our toe in America is broken. We have bumped our collective foot in the dark, by our own deeds. We have bullied people, and expected them to salute us for our misdeeds. We are losing power. I saw this in ancient Rome, walking the hills as a young man. Before that my ancestors lived it and some of that lives on in these bent bones.

We must re-juvenate our society. We must bring our people back under the tent and embrace our wisdom and our democracy. Something has invaded all of us and we have allowed something lesser than the best to clog our arteries and our air.

Does anyone really care about the score of a wine if our world is unfit for our children's children?

The ancient bones have been rattled and they have rattled back. We must bring back strength of character or the view through the keyhole won’t make a difference from either direction.