The transition to UNC and the MBA program has really engaged Emily and me in different ways emotionally. For me, I wake up ready to jump out of bed most days. I rarely get 7 hrs. of sleep anymore but have even more rarely felt tired. I can think of several different fields that I would really enjoy. The classes are generally very energizing, and my classmates are fascinating people. We get into deep conversations about purpose and have time to reflect deeply on history and the current state of affairs in our world. For instance, we had dinner a couple weeks ago with friends Vlad and Vali, who are from Romania and grew up much of their lives under Communism. They unpacked Romanian history for us over an amazing Romanian meal. Another good friend Michel just got an offer from GE - Michel's from Congo and wants to head back there with his family eventually to aid the people through sustainable business development. Last Tuesday in a basketball game, Michel drove baseline, crossed-over and slammed a thundering dunk over another 6'8'' classmate. I was glad to be on his team ;) Profs have been very good thus far, and the number of students with a deep concern for the poor and international development has been encouraging. For Emily, it's been a tougher transition process. She had to leave a dream job and has little time to find work before delivering the baby (we're 99.9% sure that we'll call him Andrew James, Andrew because we like the character in the Bible and James after Emily's granddad). Despite our plan to head back overseas after getting the MBA, her deep longing to engage in the developing world has to be shelved for a time. We have gotten to know many of the International students, but her longing to live cross-culturally still goes unmet. Despite the stress of transition and putting desires on hold, she has done well with the transition. Andrew seems to be growing well, and we just finished up a birthing class, where I often felt queasy watching birthing videos - that doesn't bode well for the delivery date!
To me the most disturbing thing of the day was seeing McCain's new ad attacking Obama by comparing him to Paris and Brittney. Comparing a former editor of the Harvard Law Review to ridiculous celebrities is absurd. Does McCain want to be seen as an out of touch, angry old man? Did he not see that Obama got no bounce in the polls from his worldwide trip? I have a hard time thinking that the attacks are going to diminish over the next few months or that McCain is going to make up ground with this approach. The reality is that McCain is facing a man that may turn out to have similar communication skills with Ronald Regan. I'm not saying that Obama has the political savvy or effective policies like Regan, but the man can flat out speak. Measured criticism that exposes Obama's wanting to be all things to all people will go much farther than this recent ad.
To me the most disturbing thing of the day was seeing McCain's new ad attacking Obama by comparing him to Paris and Brittney. Comparing a former editor of the Harvard Law Review to ridiculous celebrities is absurd. Does McCain want to be seen as an out of touch, angry old man? Did he not see that Obama got no bounce in the polls from his worldwide trip? I have a hard time thinking that the attacks are going to diminish over the next few months or that McCain is going to make up ground with this approach. The reality is that McCain is facing a man that may turn out to have similar communication skills with Ronald Regan. I'm not saying that Obama has the political savvy or effective policies like Regan, but the man can flat out speak. Measured criticism that exposes Obama's wanting to be all things to all people will go much farther than this recent ad.
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