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If you are awake — and not celebrating Yom Kippur — you can listen to the live stream tomorrow (Saturday) at 8:00 AM EDT by clicking here. For everyone else, we will provide a link to a recording of the broadcast on Monday.
I am not Jewish, but I have so many friends who are that over the years I have learned a lot about Judaism. Self-reflection, introspection, exploring the meaning of your own path. Anyone who knows me knows I am incredibly emotional and a constant thinker. Yom Kippur was tailor made for me! When I think of my life the last few years, I realize the constant has been rapid change, stress, and lots of perpetual motion. This can often lead me to lose perspective. When I was thinking about this blog post, I came about this story which I think captures my resolutions far more effectively than I ever could express in my own words:
While I personally support President Obama’s re-election — and you may as well, or perhaps prefer one of the candidates seeking the GOP nomination — I ask you to consider supporting the Draft Dave Walker campaign in the Politico presidential primary. Politico is running a “parlor game” to select five picks who readers want to run as independent candidates for president. No Labels is entering the game by trying to draft former U.S. Comptroller General and No Labels Co-Founder Dave Walker to enter the race. Supporting “Draft Dave Walker” will help No Labels raise awareness for its critical cause — urging our leaders to put aside their labels on occasion to work together, forge compromise, and do what is good for the country. Watch this video to see why we think Dave would be a great candidate to enliven the debate and give voice to the millions of citizens across the country who have been muted for so long: To participate, click here. On the website, type “Dave Walker” into the box at the right of the screen and click submit. You will be taken to a page with a tweet saying “I nominate Dave Walker in the #POLITICOprimary because…” Complete the sentence and spread the word. That’s the crew here at The Recovering Politician taking a deep breath after surviving an intense and unprecedented 36 hours or so. Surviving, because the little essay written by Jeff Smith — on the subject of love behind bars — went, as the kids say, “viral.” Tens of thousands of readers came to the site for the first time. Thanks to the incredible support of our volunteer IT wunderkind, Justin Burnette, we limited the off-line time and have expanded our ability to enable more readers to come to our site and enjoy the experience in the future. We deeply apologize to those of you who had troubles the past few days accessing the site, but we hope we’ve made it up to our loyal readers by developing an even stronger technological infrastructure for the future. And for all of the newest members of the RP Nation, welcome. We hope you enjoy the ride. As New Year’s Resolution Week continues at The Recovering Politician, The RP himself cross-posted his own pledges and promises at The Huffington Post. As a recovering politician (6 months, clean and sober!), the RP has a lot of atoning to do. So in the spirit of the season, he offers his own half-Letterman list of New Year’s resolutions. Click here to read “The New Year’s Resolutions of a Recovering Politician” at The Huffington Post. It’s time again for yet another of my infamous Half-Letterman pop culture lists. If you are a newbie, having joined our site after a “Prison Sex” Google search, SHAME ON YOU, and enjoy these links to all of my past gems: Favorite Breakup Songs, Favorite Hoops Books, Most Jew-ish Gentiles, Favorite “Docs” who Weren’t Doctors, Pretty Boys I Begrudgingly Admire, Guilty Pleasures, Pop Music Lyrics, Awful TV Shows with Terrific Theme Songs, Most Romantic Screen Scenes in the Rain, and Worst Oscar Robberies of Italian-Americans. While lower forms of culture (and alleged outbursts of “humor”) are my forté; today, I will try to educate, inspire, and lift the RP Nation up out of the penis-joke muck by offering some high-brow pontification. So with nose raised high, hand firmly patting own back, and notifications sent to all of those whom I desperately am trying to impress with my erudition, I hereby and heretofore offer my list of the Top Five Art Museums to Place on Your Bucket List:
OK, it would be slightly disingenuous of me to lump this local fare into a group so rich in prestige and historic import. But as a disproportionate percentage of the RP Nation hails within driving distance of my hometown, I use this opportunity to strongly prod my neighbors into visiting this superb hidden local treasure. The Tuska Museum, a tribute to the life and art of John Tuska, Kentucky’s most celebrated 20th Century artist — housed within the late sculptor’s former off-campus home — features many of the legend’s greatest works. Tuska vividly captures the human condition through his exquisite draftsmanship, solemn paintings, and, most famously, extraordinary sculptures — in bronze, ceramic and paper. Check out the permanent collection here and sign up today for a guided tour, performed with great love and passion by the artist’s son, Seth. OK…back to our shew…
A few years ago, Mrs. RP and I were wandering through the shops, synagogues, and kosher restaurants of Paris’ Marais District, the heart of France’s Jewish community, when we stumbled upon the under-advertised tribute to the greatest artist of the 20th Century. La Musée National Picasso features the late Spaniard’s personal collection of nearly 3000 of his own beloved works, as well as his collection of other great artists, such as Cézanne, Degas, Rousseau, Seurat, de Chirico and Matisse. The gallery is housed in a building that itself is worth espying: The Hôtel Salé, is a 17th century architectural masterpiece. Of course, you are going to have to wait a little bit to check this museum off your bucket list: It is currently closed for renovations, and will re-open in the spring of 2013. So order your plane tickets early!
The tour guides around Rome can only agree on one thing: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a d-bag. But they fiercely debate the value of the Catholic Church’s historical impact on the world of art and architecture. The guides at the Collosseum and the Roman Forum decry the Popes of the Middle Ages who robbed these historic sites of the art, architecture and majestic craftsmanship created at the behest of the Roman Emporers. But the Vatican guides ferociously celebrate how the Church maintained and preserved the best of the creativity of the pre-Renaissance Era. What’s indisputable is that in order to experience the greatest art of that age — and the greatest religious art of any era — you’ve got to head to the Vatican Museums. You are undoubtedly familiar with the Sistene Chapel’s iconic ceiling, painted laboriously for years by prone Michaelangelo — and you’ve got to experience the entirely sublime head-craning spectacle — but the Museum (and the Chapel itself) have so much more to offer. And don’t neglect to stay for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest, most ornate, and most visually spectacular church you will ever visit. Just make sure to wear comfortable shoes on the most cobblestone roads and floors. I learned that one the hard way. Ouch!
Good news: You don’t have to travel halfway around the world to experience one of the world’s greatest art musuems. In fact, in my not-so-humble opinion, the MOMA features the world’s most spectacular collection of 19th and 20th Century artwork. Whenever I can squeeze a few hours out of a business trip to the Big Apple, I wander through the permanent collection on the fifth floor and give greetings to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Chagall’s I and the Village and Rousseau’s Dream and Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans and Cezanne’s Bather and Monet’s Water Lillies and Jasper Johns’ Flag and…and..and… The special exhibitions are always worth checking out as well, as MOMA works hard to include all of the visual arts, from film to electronic media, to architecture, to photography…the list goes on and on. If you are new to the world of art, this is a great starter museum — many works that you’ve seen via the pop culture — even if you can’t exactly explain them — surrounded by hundreds of other incredible works that will expand and fortify your art cred. And you don’t have to take six or seven planes to get back home. Read the rest of… Jeff Smith’s piece today on love behind bars, “When JT Met Pork Chop…(Or, Sex, Lies and Prison Love)” is already the second most read post in the six month history of The Recovering Politician. What’s #1? Jeff Smith’s first piece, of course, “The Long and Winding Journey to My Second Act.” We welcome all of our newest Smith fanboys and gals, and encourage you to stick with the site. We have a lot more to come this week alone, from former Congressman Artur Davis’ analysis of the Clinton years, to former State House Speaker Rod Jetton’s list of New Year’s resolutions for famous polls, to my own ranking of the world’s top five art museums. So stick along for the ride. We think you will enjoy it.
New Year’s Resolutions? This week, Jews all over the world commemorate the Days of Awe, a ten day period which begins on Rosh Hashanah (literally, “head of the year”) and culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. These ten days are always very special to me and remind me why I so appreciate my religion. While there are some important communal celebrations, the High Holy Days are primarily a time for personal reflection, reassessment and introspection: What do we regret about our actions in the past year? Whom have we hurt or offended? How have we failed to honor our responsibilities to our faith, and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Most significantly, it is a time to chart a more righteous path for the coming year. Unlike the secular New Year, in which some of us make resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, or strive for a promotion; for the Jewish New Year, we try to self-analyze and figure out how we can better honor God, family and friends. We also try apologize and seek forgiveness for our own mistakes, while promising to do better in the months ahead. As a recovering politician (6 months, clean and sober!), I have a lot of atoning to do. So in the spirit of the season — and of my website, which gives me and two dozen other former politicians an opportunity to recover by writing candidly about the system and the issues of the day — I offer my own half-Letterman list of New Year’s resolutions: Read the rest of…
I wake up this morning and can only imagine the shock. September 1—everything seemed great and cruising to a world series title. September 30- epic collapse and out of the playoffs. Sports pundits everywhere likening this to every bad Red Sox memory…Aaron Boone, Mookie Wilson, Bucky Dent. The bad part about history and having such a devoted fan base is they hang on everything—good and bad. Its easy to recall all the bad things when bad things happen, just like its easy to remember all the good things when good things happen. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but insane expectations, like the fans of Boston have, can be a career killer. I can only imagine how bad you feel. Real loss, especially when you think you have done your best, hurts. And it also is much worse when you care so much. I hate failure too…and yet I find I fail far more often than I ever want to. Sometimes the harder I try, the worse I fail. It seems like the Red Sox suffered from that a lot this month.  Terry Francona There are all sorts of calls for your head—fire the manager. Blame you. But cooler heads usually prevail. Boston will remember the glory of 2004 and 2007. Boston will remember the way you comported yourself in the good times. Boston will give you the benefit of the doubt for the classy way you have managed the team. Or maybe they’ll just forgive you because we all are human, and even epic mistakes can be treated with compassion. Take solace in the fact that you have fans, that a big loss hopefully will lead to a better team next year. A chance to fix things that maybe seemed ok but weren’t, a chance to rebuild, and rebirth. I always hate the flowery poetry of baseball—“leaving you when the seasons turn darkest, and returning in the Spring” but the good news is there will be another chance. I really hope it is in Boston, but if somehow you do get fired, I’ll be a fan wherever you go. It hurts now. But try to learn a lesson from all this. And keep your head up. Can’t wait for Spring training and next year. A devoted and sympathetic fan, John In September? If you are confused, then you are looking at the wrong calendar. According to the Hebrew Calendar, today is the first full day of Jewish New Year. And to all of my Jewish friends, I wish you a very happy and healthy new year. Today, Jews all over the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah (“head of the year”). On this High Holy Day, we celebrate the Earth’s creation, and we begin a ten day period called the Days of Awe, which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. These ten days are always very special to me and remind me why I so appreciate my religion. While there are some important communal celebrations, the High Holy Days are primarily a time for personal reflection, reassessment and introspection: What do we regret about our actions in the past year? Whom have we hurt or offended? How have we failed to honor our responsibilities to our faith and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Most significantly, it is a time to chart a more righteous path for the coming year. Unlike the secular New Year, in which some of us make resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, or strive for a promotion; for the Jewish New Year, we try to self-analyze and figure out how we can better honor God, family and friends. We also try apologize and seek forgiveness for our own mistakes, while promising to do better in the months ahead. Accordingly, all of next week in The Recovering Politician, our contributors and I will be sharing our own New Year’s resolutions. And whether you are Jewish, Jew-ish, Gentile, or with no religious beliefs at all, I encourage you to do the same. Just send us your New Year’s Resolutions to staff@TheRecoveringPolitician.com by Saturday at 10 PM. They can be a sentence or two; or if you prefer, send us a 1500 word essay. Or anything in between. Thanks, and we look forward to reading your resolutions in next week’s The Recovering Politician. |
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The RP just taped an interview with Abigail Romaine of 
