Good...

I saw Santa last week! Same day, may be a few hours off...

We don't have a chimney so I don't know how he got in, but he was there. I was awake. Waiting for him, in fact. My son is 11 and still believes in Santa. He'd left milk and cookies for him near the tree with a letter that stated what he would like this year for Christmas and what one calls a powerful close. "I will always believe in you", he said. I wanted to make sure Santa got the message and my son, what he wanted...

The letter must've been last minute, because what Santa brought for him was way off! "I'm not sure he's going to be happy with that", I said. "Forget the milk and the cookies, I know you get that all the time, but read that letter again, especially the close. You have got to do better than that", I urged...

"Hmm, he thought, "What if I gave him a gift card instead? So you can buy him the game he wants", he said. "That could work", I said, "what gift card are you thinking?", I asked. "Oh! It's either Target or Barnes & Noble, I got to stick to Red or Green, you see. Does that work?", he asked me back. "Target could work", I said, "though I have to check their stock to see if they're still carrying the item"...

"You know what, I'll thrown in an extra Barnes and Noble gift card, just for the trouble", he said. "It's no trouble at all Santa, but I would appreciate the extra card. He did get a Nook for his Birthday recently, so he can really use it to get some e-books. And I'd love for him to read books than play games anyway"...

Santa did have an extra B&N card on him but not one for Target, so we agreed that he would order it at Target.com. I asked him to sit down and have the milk and cookies while he did that, so he plopped himself on the couch, pulled out his mobile device (I don't know what they call those at the North Pole) and started his act...

A couple of minutes in, he asked me for my email address and told me he would have to send it to me and asked me if I could forward it to on the little fellow (something to do with not being able to send stuff electornically to children under 18, he mentioned). I agreed and gave him my email address. Ho! Ho! Ho! "That is probably the longest email address I have ever seen", he laughed, even as he hit "Submit"...

He said it usually took a few minutes for the order to be processed and for me to receive the email and I didn't want to let him go till I was sure that I had it in my inbox, so I asked him to sit and chat a while . I pulled out my iPhone, hit the email icon and gently stroked the screen with my thumb in a pull down motion, which is the equivalent of hitting refresh on a browser. It wasn't there yet, so we started talking...

"So how come you didn't bring ME anything?", I asked. "Hmm! That's a good question. Have you been Good this year?", he asked me back. "I can't say I'm perfect, but I try to be Good", I said. "I work hard, I care for my kin and I don't wilfully hurt anyone. Is that Good enough"?...

"Sure is", he said, "and I'm sure you believe in me too, you wouldn't have stayed up otherwise, would you? Well, let's see here. Maybe you never asked me for anything", he said. It made me think for a minute. "It's true Santa, I said, I really don't ask for much from life. But then, isn't just being Good good enough?", I said, even as I kept repeating the pull down motion with my thumb on my iPhone...

This time I think I made Santa think for a minute. "You certainly seem to have the right questions", he said. "But I think you also answered it yourself. You're Good because you want to be Good, not because you want something, right"? I looked hard at Santa, looked down at my phone again, saw the email from Santa drop into my inbox and then looked back at him. "You're right", I said...

I stayed awake a long time after Santa left that night. I've been thinking about what he said all this while. "Been Good" isn't good enough! Being Good is not a means to anything. Being Good is a choice we make, for ourselves...

The New Year is nigh! So like the merry old song says, "Be Good for Goodness' Sake"...

HAPPY 2013 TO ALL...

Seeking a Trend for the End of theYear...

It's that time of the year! 2.5 days to go...

I want to wind down, get some rest and spend some time thinking what I want the next year to be like. Not that I can control how it turns out, but at least sit down and think about what I want to do in 2013...

If this was 2009, I would have made a list of "10 things I want to do in 2010". Considering I still like 2 months of vacation like a school kid, that would amount to an even one milestone a month. Simple...

But I've grown up. I've realised that the longer the list gets, the smaller the chances of me getting anything done. So the last couple of years, I've really been trying to keep it to 2 or 3 things I want to do...

I've still got to account for what all I did in 2012, but one thing I did was read "Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson", cover to cover. Too early to say if I'm inspired, but to say I'm influenced is an understatement...

I was never an adept multi-tasker, but now, I only believe ten times more in doing only a few things but doing them extraordinarily well. In being minimalist, but pure...

No wonder then, that my goal for 2013 has been reduced to ONE! Sitting here the same time next year, I would be happy if I have done ONE THING, and done it well...

No points for guessing what the ONE THING is. I want to Write! Nothing would make me happier than if I can spend every spare moment of 2013, doing the one thing that stirs my soul. Write...

And I don't even want to wait for 2013! I want to Write every spare moment of the next 2 something days. I want to waste no time. I want to warm up. I want to get in the groove...

I'm not even seeking a trend for the end of the year. It's the only way I want to end this year...

Overheard...

In the back seat of a car with a 12, 11 and 10 year old (L to R)...

12: Hey Guys! I got Pokemon White 2 for Christmas.

10: I got an iPod touch and Pokemon White 2.

And the conversation lingers for a while on games, devices and everything under the Christmas tree, until...

12: I am a member on Youtube.

11: Oh! You are?

12: Yes, and I am now an ex-member of the White House.

10: What do you mean ex-member of the White House?

12: Yeah, if Mitt Romney had won, I would've still been a member of the White House, but Obama won, so now I'm an ex-member.

10: That doesn't even make any sense...

12: You know, it would have been so much better if Romney had won.

10: No, it wouldn't! It's actually better that Obama won.

12: No. If Romney had won, there wouldn't be so many homeless people in America.

10: If Romney had won, all the soldiers wouldn't be coming back home for another 5 years. Obama has promised to bring all of them back in the next 2 years.

12: But there's so many homeless people, think about them! Romney was going to give them money so they wouldn't be homeless anymore.

10: Ah! That's so stupid. He can't do that.

11: No 12, what 10 is trying to say is, think about all the soldiers who are far away from their families in places like Afghanistan fighting endless wars and living in dangerous conditions.

10: Yeah! Think about it, they can't even be with their families for Christmas. That sucks.

12: Yeah! But think of all the homeless people who can't even have Christmas because they don't have any money. Haven't you seen all the homeless people in Philadelphia?

10: Listen, no matter what there are always going to be homeless people. There's like a 500 million homeless people all over the USA and you can't prevent that.

11: 10 is right 12, there's always going to be homeless people no matter what. But 10, that's not right, there aren't even a 500 million people in the USA...

10. Yeah, whatever. But there are homeless people all over the world and there are going to be homeless people no matter what, because some people are lazy and stupid and just don't want to work.

12: But Romney would have taken care of that. It's true. He was going to give all the homeless people money so they won't be homeless anymore.

10: Thats not even possible. Even if he wanted to give away that kind of money, he would have to take that money from people us, like in taxes.

12: No. Romney went to the Olympics and all that and he has a lot of money. And he was only going to ask the rich for more taxes. He had a plan for that.

10: I think you are right about that, but that wouldn't solve the homeless problem. Besides I think the soldiers are more important. They're fighting for the country.

Car pulls up a traffic light...

12: No, the homeless are more important. Look at that guy right there, he is homeless and he is begging for money to buy food.

10: No. He probably wants to buy wine or some cheap liquor, whatever...

12: How do you know that?

11: I guess what 10 is trying to say is that all homeless people are not homeless because they lost their jobs, some of them are just lazy and they beg for money to do the wrong things.

12: No that's not true. When Obama was President a 100 people lost jobs while only 25 people got jobs. So that's why there are a lot of homeless people.

10: Listen 12, there are always going to be homeless people but Obama is better for the country right now.

12: No he's not. I myself heard him say that the richer you are the less tax you pay and the lower you earn the more you pay taxes. Did you hear that? The lesser you have the more tax you pay.

10: There's nothing wrong with that. More people want to be rich.

11: Hey, that's not right. But 12, I don't think you heard it right. How can you have less money and pay more taxes. That doesn't sound right.

12: It's true. I heard him say that myself. And that's why I think Romney is better.

10: No way. Obama's better. That's just the way it is. And look who won anyway?

11: (Thinking to himself), Yeah, whatever, I'm Switzerland...

Driver: OK guys, time to get off. Put away your devices and get ready. I'll be back to pick you up in an hour. Stay inside the glass doors and don't come out till you see me pull up...


I wasn't a big fan of this car pool thing as I only have a sedan and had to cram 3 boys in the back seat, but going by what I heard (Overheard), I can't wait to do this again.

Who knows, I may soon know everything I need to about the Fiscal Cliff...