Cheering for Tiger

Yesterday Tiger Woods delivered a long awaited, highly-anticipated apologetic speech regarding his episodes of marital infidelity. In 15 minutes, Woods made apologies to his wife, family, friends, fellow PGA players, to his foundation, his sponsors, and his fans. He spoke to the reasons behind his transgressions and what he plans to do to rectify his errors. He made no excuses. He pointed no fingers. He took full responsibility for his actions and humbly asked for our forgiveness.

What else could you ask for?

Apparently, quite a lot more judging from a lot of media reaction.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding just how genuine Woods' apology actually was. While he delivered his speech from a written draft he brought to the podium, his delivery has been described as "mechanical," "robotic," and "insincere." Some of his mistresses have been harshly critical of the speech, saying it's not the Tiger they knew, one even chastised him for not making apologies to her (which to me is going too far. As his mistress, you should be following his speech with an apology of your own directed to all the same people, especially to Mrs. Woods.)

Regardless of what you think of his delivery, it is not Tiger's tone or body language that will tell us the integrity of his statements. To paraphrase as statement from Tiger's wife Elin, Tiger's apology isn't going to be made with words, but from the actions he takes in the future. So let's all please just back off a little and give him some time to prove himself. That's something that no doubt we all ask for many times in our own lives, we certainly owe it to him.

Tiger also laid out some very explicit facts and rules for the media regard these events. First, he addressed rumors that Elin had hit him or physical hurt him on the night of his car crash. He firmly stated that there has never been any domestic violence in his marriage ever. He also made it clear that this event falls squarely on his shoulders, and so the media should live his wife and children out of this. He defended Elin saying she deserved nothing but praise for her gracious handling of this entire scandal. And in no uncertain terms Woods addressed the fact that, in spite of the public's interest in this affair, the discussions about his episodes of infidelity and the future of his marriage are a matter strictly between himself and his wife; and will not and should not be made public.

Honestly, I felt proud of Tiger Woods making this speech. He set the record straight about what happened and fully accepted all responsibility and consequences. Now he's pressing forward, and he's going to try to change himself, save his marriage, and return to professional golf in the near future. I thought it took guts to say all that to the world. I think it was honorable for him to act as a human shield between the media and his family. He's absolutely right that this is first and foremost a matter between him and his wife. We have no right to know anything more than he told us.

Tiger Woods used to represent a level of greatness to which everyone should aspire. He worked hard, sacrificed, and was able to become one of the most prominent figures in the world. He not only found athletic success, but married a wife and had a child and a happy marriage. He achieved some of the utmost pinnacles of human success. But as is the law with all things under the sun, what goes up must come down.

Tiger Woods is in the most difficult moment now he has faced in his entire life. And instead of trying to bury him deeper, to make him a footstool for our own selfish grandeur, how about we try and lift him up once more? Instead of finding more ways to embarrass him, let's give him a kind word to support his spirit. Because if Jesus Christ taught us anything, we should know that justice if fair, and justice is good; but mercy is better still.

Now I'll be cheering for Tiger now to make the greatest comeback in his life.

To see Tiger's speech and read the transcript, click here.

Always darkest before dawn

I met up with two friends today. Both of them used to be gainfully employed as architects in Portland. One has been reduced to 10 hours a week and has gone back to school, and the other is looking for a new job. We commiserated and shared the experiences of looking for work in a heavily saturated and over-sized local market. We theorized about how hiring will lag as firms absorb incoming work with half-timers before hiring new employees. We talked about what we're doing to try and make ourselves more marketable or valuable, and whether or not that will make much difference. We wondered how many people were going to leave the profession solely because of this recession.

It's tough out there right now. For many people, but in Oregon especially (11% unemployment) and for Portland architects (almost 50% unemployed in December).

But history swings; not always in rhythm, nor with convenience, yet surely the pendulum must pause and zenith before beginning a return journey. What is has been and will be again. No famine lasts forever, everything created has a beginning and an end. Jobs were here, they've disappeared for now, but they will come back again.


That's the easy part though for me. Partially because I'm in a circumstance where it's easy to live off unemployment, where I could probably find a minimum wage gig if I needed to that would pay enough to live on. I have enough money saved up I might even be able to go travel again! I have no worries about food or shelter or clothing; I'm off far better than lilies and birds.

But the tough part is the patience to wait for things to return, and to work in the meantime on things which have no foreseeable return. Like becoming a LEED accredited professional, learning new software, studying books and adjusting my portfolio over and over. The tough part is not having opportunities to grasp at, or a purpose to get up earlier than 10am, or progressing further in my career or achieving goals I hold for my life. It just feels like I had a plan, which got sidelined, and I'm not getting the opportunity to fix it.

But I'm reminded and chastised a bit for having such a narrow view of my life. There is no reason why lacking a job or daily labor is keeping me from doing things which are progressing me towards my future. I don't even know what tomorrow holds, so how can I say that taking cooking classes and reading library books or considering unorthodox jobs isn't preparing me for what God has in store for my life? I hardly really understand my own past, how can I say that this is not working out my future?

I cannot. And that's more than a little frustrating. But it reminds me of the our instructions in the Lord's prayer: to ask for our daily bread. Not for a year's supply or a lifetime supply. Just today's bread. I have enough for today, and though I prepare for what may be coming tomorrow, I have to move forward knowing that whether I hit goals or never accomplish anything, the only thing I have any right to ask for from my creator is my daily bread, and to let that be enough.

So this is the new year...

So a new year starts with me looking for a new J-O-B. Things sounds like they're as slow in the biz as when I left, so I'm exploring my options and seeing what comes up. Doing a lot of searching on Idealist.org and also looking into Americorps positions. There's lots of competition everywhere I've heard, so I'm glad I can collect some unemployment checks for a bit while I find new work and then a new place to live.

Being back in the states is good. It's nice to come home just in time for the holidays and spend it with a critical mass of family. We had so many people staying over new years that I had to sleep in the family room!

Went and saw Avatar today in the theatre with my grandfather, and wow those effects were stunning! And it wasn't just the realism that got me, but the quality and style of the camera work in what were largely entirely digital scenes really impressed me. The camera movements, close-ups and panoramas, playing with the depth of field, sweeping shots that floated the main characters in and out of, it was all well done I thought.

The movie plot itself has been likened by many to Dances with Wolves and District 9 (the first for commonalities, the later for contrast). I thought it felt a bit like Ferngully with Steven Spielburg directing. What really intrigued me was the Na'vi (sp?) characters and the culture that was created by the writers and directors. They're a people in tune with the Earth Mother, able to communicate directly with her. You can observe the influences the animators and writers drew from when creating these characters, most obviously Native American and African tribal histories, possibly also Australian aboriginals. From the speech patterns and manhood rituals to clothing styles and fictional tribal relations it is simple to reverse engineer to the source material. And I wonder just how that affects how we perceive those cultures, and did they even go beyond their own built up ideas to for these characters? I mean, you don't have to look futher than the Lion King disney movie to find a tree of life! Granted, that really is a very common metaphor used in many stories, even in video games (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) so I can't really fault them for sticking with what works.

Not that Avatar doesn't make references to contemporary American culture. There are clear statements one materialism and captialism, as well as the Iraq war that are placed behind the thinnest of veils. There was one review I read that also made an intriguing, though perhaps not truly accurate leap towards “White Guilt.” It plays itself well on many levels and, though heavy handed perhaps with it's message, steers into a predictable and likable conclusion. I'd just rather have seen our hero, Jake Sully, make himself a martyr for both humans and Na'vi and through his death lay a foundation for reconciliation and harmony. The victory delivered in the ending is hollow and short-sighted, and large as that is, that seems to be the only real fault in the movie.

Back to prepping my resume and portfolio and writing cover letters. We'll see what comes in 2010. One thing has already come: a new phone! My old one was baptized in Spain (in the bottom of my bag with a leaky water bottle) and is now ready to be sent up to mobile phone heaven. To replace it, I bought a refurbed Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220! I love it, it looks great, has better reception and also has wifi, so now I can check my e-mail and stuff over free networks, which are everywhere these days, all without paying for a data plan! Woo Hoo!