alexis in the city

I don’t care what you guys say - MY mom is the best!

I wrote this note for a project my parents’ chaplain put together for military moms on Mother’s Day a few years ago. Since I hadn’t posted it on the blog, I thought now was an appropriate time to do so. Love you mom!

As an Air Force Brat, I grew up with a pretty privileged, sheltered life. Of course, I didn’t realize it then – and sometimes still forget how blessed I was, and am. It wasn’t till I went away to college that I began to uncover the idyllic tendencies of my upbringing.

It came as news to me that some people’s moms hadn’t always been there to answer the phone when they forgot their homework (and subsequently bring it to school for them). Or that most people’s days DIDN’T start with a home cooked breakfast and prayer before school – as they did for me – or get capped off with reading the classics (some of my favorite childhood memories). I also discovered that, post 1950’s, it wasn’t super-common for families to all sit down to dinner together – but we did, even if we had to wait till 8 pm, when dad got home from work.

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Dear Miss Manners: how the millenial generation lost their filter

my mom called me into her study the other day and as i judged by the tone of horror in her voice, i could tell she was shocked by something that had offended her sensibilities. i read the email (from her hairstylist) over her shoulder: “we’re so excited to tell you guys …. well … you’ll see.” with a sense of dread, my mom clicked on the download button and there before our eyes was a GIANT ultrasound fetus, filling up the entire computer screen.

oh blessed horrors.

i wish i could say such an assumption and intrusion happened on rare occasion but with the advent of email blasts, facebook and the social web has come a complete lack of propriety. and it’s not just my generation (the millenials, gen y, generation net, whatever you want to call it) that’s guilty. with amazing voracity, a variety of demographics has latched onto the idea that everyone wants to know about their unborn child, their bodily functions, their dirty little secrets. but we don’t.

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my dad is an uber space nerd

before the internet, i had no idea what my dad did. well, that, and i was a kid and just figured my dad had a job that he did somewhere. and what he’s done over the years has always been so complicated, and his titles so long, that i can never remember them for longer than two minutes. the only time it was easy to articulate was when we lived in florida and he launched rockets from cape canaveral. almost anyone living there knew what a titan rocket was, and so i’d say, “y’know the titan rockets? he launches those.” simple enough.

so back to the internet. most of what my dad does - well, the stuff he can talk about - is a). over my head, b). pretty heady and high level and c). not super interesting to me. aside from knowing that he helped built -  and now monitor/run - GPS, i know that he flies around a lot to all kinds of bases, government officials, meetings, seminars, blah…blah…blah.

but when i heard he’d be testifying on space debris before the science and technology committee of the house, i was googling away. the info is on the committee’s site, and i found his nine-page presentation that he gave (but no, i didn’t read it), plus a press release on the subject:

From a national defense perspective, USAF Lt. Gen. Larry James, said, “We need to be able to discriminate between natural and man-made threats. We need to understand the location, status and purpose of these objects, their capabilities, and their owners’ intent. This comprehensive knowledge enables decision-makers to rapidly and effectively select courses of action to ensure our sustained freedom of action and safety in what is clearly a contested environment.”

James continued, “To get there we require more automated, net-centric capabilities to command and control space forces, and networked sensors and information systems that seamlessly share information to more effectively use our current resources.”

yes, yes, very important no doubt. but the story that really takes the cake is my dad said after he was leaving the hearing, someone in a cab drove by, had the driver stop, back up, he rolled down his window and went, YAAAAY air force!  and then my dad’s escort asked him what it felt like to be a rock star.

you may not THINK a degree from the air froce academy in astronautical engineering (yes, a literal rocket scientist), a subsequent masters from MIT, and a career immersed in all things space would elevate you to a fans-screaming-out-of-car-windows status. but you’d (apparently) be wrong.

environmental justice is a fundamental part of faith

“i remember that it’s not me trying to protect the rainforest. rather i am part of the rainforest protecting myself.”

john seed, rainforest information center

on my fridge i have the creed of the social justice council from the catholic church i attend. it says: “we are required by our faith to protect the planet, and to act as stewards of god’s wonderful creation.” it’s creeds like this that have led me away from the traditional, conservative evangelicalism of my youth - where professions and requirements such as these tend to be sadly lacking - and toward a faith that encompasses more applicable answers and actions in regards to the earth’s biggest problems. but this post is not about my spiritual dissension - i’ve covered that enough for now! - it’s a followup to the idea that people of faith, for whatever reason, aren’t as responsive as they should be to the environmental tragedy we face. my second point in this investigation and commentary is this:

2. what we believe should dictate our actions. it seems pretty fundamental, right? if people of the christian faith believe that god gave them - in one way or another (ie, through creation, evolution, increasing knowledge, development of resources, etc.) - the earth and what inhabits it, shouldn’t we be the MOST careful about caring for it?

the general argument i’ve heard against this idea is that we WERE given the earth, and it’s under our dominion, therefore we can do whatever we want. i follow the first two points, but the third reflects an attitude that to me is entirely off-base with the outlook we should have. it belies a selfishness that seems out-of-touch with the very ideals of the basics of just about any faith.

3. if we believe the earth is a gift, and set aside our selfishness - christians should be LEADING the environmental movement, not fighting against it. i suspect i would not have a hard time - all other things being equal - convincing most people of the above points, at least on the surface. but there’s one reason i suspect that - from here on out - it gets dicey and far too many evangelicals refuse to act: politics. for whatever reason, evangelical christianity is splintered highly in favor of the republican party (it’s called the “religious right” for a reason :-). and the enviromental movement is viewed as the territory of liberals and democrats.

why? i don’t know. maybe it’s due to (my former boss) al gore. maybe it’s because democrats tend to be against things like drilling, mining, polluting, etc. because they have adverse affects on the environment. but i’d bet on one thing (based on my personal experience and research) - there’s a large section of that 66% in the evangelical movement that doesn’t want to identify, in any way, with any type of liberal ideology. so the baby has been thrown out with the bath water.

i should be clear that there are those who have chosen to stay within the evangelical movement and yet put a high priority on our role in regards to the earth’s care. my parents fall into this category, and i’ll talk more about that in my next post. i want to make a point of saying i am not making a sweeping generalization, but rather talking from a perspective of experience, observation, and research.

i’d also like to point out that these posts are in no way talking about global warming. i had my brother-in-law ask me if global warming could irrefutably be proved false, would i still be an environmental activist. (though i suspect the question was simply bait to give him a chance to rattle off his list of global warming shortcomings. hi luke. :-).  the answer is an unqualified “yes.” i am not seeking - in these posts, anyway - to get into a debate on the science, evidence and factuality of global warming. for my purpose now, that has nothing to do with these topics.

environmental activism started in my family long before talk of global warming. so my investment in the issue has less to do with politicized buzz words, scientific argument, and hot button issues and much more to do with caring for a precious gift, being good stewards of our natural resources, and treating our home in a way that is equitable and respectful.

my parents are coming

i’m super excited about my parents’ visit this weekend. it’s weird how our relationship has morphed and evolved over the years. i’ve always been close with my family, but i was more than excited to go away to college, strike out on my “own” (mostly financed by them, of course). if you’d asked me ten years ago, i probably would’ve said that of course i love my family, but i’d be fine being halfway around the world from them. growing up like i did gives you a strage dichotomy - your family is all you have and so you forge unusually strong bonds, but you become almost excrutiatingly indpendent. and thus you know when the time comes, you’ll be able to maintain those bonds, even if it’s from hundreds or thousands of miles’ distance. this is all still true, but i’m so psyched that for the first time in my adult life, my parents live within driving distance. this is quite a switch from their former assignment (japan) where they were oceans away! (you can read our exciting travel blog here, which chronicles the six weeks we spent in tokyo, followed by a month traveling asia.)

my parents have been to visit us in the city several times, and i always find myself making mental notes - my mom wouuld really like that place, my dad would enjoy that restaurant. now i have the opportunity to take them to these places more frequently than i did before. while my parents and i have our differences (duh), we’re extremely alike in a lot of ways. this makes it easy to figure out stuff to do, as i know we can easily spend an afternoon walking through the yves saint laurent exhibit at the de young, or indulge in a musical, or try a different ethnic food for every meal of the day.

i often find myself wishing my parents lived in the city - or at least in the bay area - so we could do more awesome stuff together. this is a far cry from my sentiments at 18, when - although i always felt emotionally close to my family - was fine with whatever physical distance was between us. guess time change things. and it’s definitely rendered one cliche true: the older you get, the wiser your parents become.