Ron Paulitics

I interrupt this blog to espouse the views of my activist son...

Jeff (left) and Shea (right) leading the pack

Yes, that would be my eldest, Shea, marching nearly ten miles around Austin, the capitol city of the great state of Texas this past weekend. He and his friend, Jeff, went downtown to check out the march, but ended up leading it. I'm not exactly sure what it is about the elderly Ron Paul that so attracts the young, but I appreciate the way it energizes them and gets them thinking. Whether one agrees with his politics or not, invigorating the future of America is a good thing.

“When you have decided what you believe,
what you feel must be done,
have the courage to stand alone and be counted.”

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Disclaimer: The intent of this message is a reminder to let your voices be heard. In no way am I trying to coerce, hoodwink, brainwash, or trick you into voting for any particular candidate. Now that I got that out of the way, Vote on, America.

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"The Day"

What would the term be? "Happy Anniversary"? Hardly so. I honestly had zero intention of bringing up "the day" ten years later. There was not a bone in my body that wanted to discuss any emotions brought forward from the past. I was happy with it being just that, the past. It's hard to ignore, though, when it is all television, Internet news, facebook, and twitter have to offer is remembrances of that dreadful day. One would have to be a complete social misfit to avoid it, but that's exactly what I had intentionally done until this morning when I dare clicked on a local expat's link to her blog titled, Ten Years On. My curiosity overcame my need to stay in my bubble as I knew the author wasn't an American. What could she have possibly felt from a far off land to put the crumbling chaos of my country in perspective? Surprisingly (or actually comfortingly), feelings that weren't so far off from my own. She experienced the same need to cry, same need to be held, and that same need to feel for those that were beyond help. Reading her words, tears streaming, I was sucked back into that surreal day that I so wanted to leave behind. Hindsight, maybe it's not meant to be forgotten. Maybe I need a reminder of no matter what bubble I may live in, someone out there is experiencing their own 9/11.

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Happy Mother's Day

They are not leaving us behind. They are only searching for the path that we tried ever so hard to lay out for them. Now we just hope and pray, like our mothers before us, that we paved it not only with the right intentions but with rock solid materials.

Don't trip over it kids, it's right in front of you!

Wishing my mom and all moms a...

Happy Mother's Day

Me & My Mom doing what we do best...
EATING

I love you, Mom.

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Qatar Potests~Why Not?

Follow Shabina on twitter ~ @dohanews

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen
Lend me your ears"

And while I have your ears, let me have your eyes to peruse over my fellow Doha expat's commentary that was published in yesterday's Huffington Post. My twitter friend (and otherwise), Shabina, addresses the continued concerns of those not understanding what makes Qatar different than other countries currently undergoing unrest in the region. I hope she's right...my bubble is banking on it. Thanks for sharing, Shabina!

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The People are Speaking

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor;
it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

M.L.King, Jr.

What's happening in the Middle East?

Maybe the question should be, what's not happening. The newspapers, televisions, twitter and all social conversations are pointing towards the Middle East these days. Revolutions, revolts, protests, uprisings, awakenings~you name it, it's out there. I won't even venture to give an opinion on the matter. I have no analysis or pithy comments to make for I'm not schooled in the politics of the region. That being said, however, I'm not understanding how peaceful protests can be met head on with such aggression and violence. I am shocked, to say the least, to find Bahrain caught up in this same scenario. (Al Jazeera Live Blog coverage) Who's next? Qatar? Bite my tongue. After being quizzed by a friend from the States this morning via Twitter that very question, I posed the same to my friends.

@DanCMos to me...
my response to Dan...

After I answered Dan, I began to wonder what the rest of my Twitter world's thoughts were on the subject. They would be a better source than someone that's a self proclaimed bubble dweller, so I posed the question to them...

I received a few responses from Qataris and expats alike that reaffirmed my beliefs and truthfully made me feel a lot better about the whole subject. No, these are not experts in the field, but they are real people with vested interest in their country...

Rest assured family and friends, all is well in the land of sand. I'd be the first to skedaddle if it were otherwise

...Peace Out

***added after original posting...

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Vote, America!

Let Your Voices Be Heard,
America!

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Showdown in Vancouver Town

I don't even follow hockey, but in a photoshopping frenzy messing with the tweeple I follow, I somehow ended up in uniform. So it is that the men's Olympic USA and Canada teams are meeting on the ice tonight (11:00pm Qatar time) to fight for the gold. I'm from Texas, people, not hardly ice hockey country. The limit of me ever witnessing a hockey game was years ago in Beaumont, Texas. David had free tickets to a semi pro team that we had at the time, maybe called the Wildcatters? Can't remember and don't feel like Googling it. Anyway, I found the fans to be the most vile people I had ever seen. All they wanted was blood. They literally begged for the fighting on the ice and cheered to the heavens when it occured. I wasn't in tune with them then, and I'm not sure if I am now, but I'll give it a whirl and represent the red, white, and blue from my sand lot over here.

Representing TEAM USA from Qatar will be moi

Representing Team Canada will be Canada's @meredithwrogers (also residing in the desert)

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!

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Hill's the Deal

Ok, so Hillary is in town, pantsuit in tow. I opted not to talk about it because believe it or not, I try to stay "a"political unless I'm sparring with brother Michael at the family Thanksgiving dinner table. Nonetheless, I've been called to the carpet by Facebook and high school friend, Denise, for not sharing this earth shattering event. While, it's really not so earth shattering, it has caused a shortage of pantsuits at the local Doha malls. Did you find anything, Mer? Anyway, there was a small stir on my Tweetdeck this morning sharing some of Ms. Clinton's thoughts while she is in town for the US-Islamic World Forum...

So, that's all I got on Hill. No bumping into her at The Ritz while at high tea or anything remotely exciting. Though we did see a few flagged beamers after our "Valentine" dinner at Bennigans last night, that were, no doubt, toting around dignitaries. Bottom line: Put away your pantsuits peeps and tweeples, Hillary is moving on to Saudi. Ciao.

pic courtesy of @dohanews


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Blessed

No other word better than "Blessed" can describe how I feel about my "Sweethearts". To my beautiful children, inside and out, and to my original sweetheart, David,

Happy Valentine's Day

As well, to the rest of my family, friends, stalkers, and blog junkie friends!
May your days be filled with love and blessings.

Blessed ~ Martina McBride

Forgive me if you were one of the unfortunate ones to have to hear a Doritos commercial before the music. It plays every other hit or so. I had to settle for it. Sorry!

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Where Art Thou Vancouver?

There are no Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in sight in Doha. Back in October 2008 I calendared this event to make sure I wouldn't be caught sleeping. I had just had the pleasure of meeting an Austrian Olympic Gold Medalist, Andreas Kofler, on a train from Innsbruck to Vienna to top off an already spectacular Austrian getaway. He told us he planned to be in Vancouver in 2010 for the ski jumping events barring any injuries or misfortunes, and I held him to his word. Unfortunately, between our Orbits and Mozaic cable services, I have yet to find any hint of Olympic coverage on the gazillion sports channels offered between them. If anyone out there knows something I don't, speak now or forever hold your peace. The first of the ski jumping is tonight, so I guess I'll have to rely on Internet surfing and Twitter for coverage. Not quite like seeing it live and up close on the tube. Good Luck Andreas!

Hold the press, David found this while I was yakking....http://watchvancouverolympics.com/ we shall see.

2010 Olympics Anthem ~ I Believe

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Superbowl XLIV

ARE YA READY FOR SOME FOOTBALLLLL?!

Hank and his rowdy friends may be, but I haven't decided. The 2:30 A.M. Super Bowl kickoff time is really weighing heavily on me and besides, we don't get the much hyped commercials on this side of the world. Why waste all those beer advertising dollars in Qatar? Though, I do love a game with an underdog and The New Orleans Aint's Saints have really come around since their days of yore. Who Dat? I had to get that in somewhere. Then, who doesn't love the Indianapolis Colts', Peyton Manning, whom by the way was born in New Orleans. You in the monkey suit, shut your pie hole, that was rhetorical. I won't think too hard or too long on my decision. After all, it is just a ballgame when you remove the commercials.



A past Superbowl classic...



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