History has always shown that great Presidents become great because they define the times and not the other way around.

Abraham Lincoln held the Union together.

Franklin D. Roosevelt dug the country out of depression.

John F. Kennedy prevented nuclear holocaust.

Now, we will have the chance to watch history unfold. Will the two wars in the Middle East and the Recession on the verge of another Depression, define Barack Obama’s or will he control the course of history?

Perhaps it’s not the daunting task that is ahead of him that I eagerly await for him to take his place among the Great American Presidents. It’s the fact that someone like him has finally taken the oath of office and that for the first time as a father, I was able to look at my children and know that in America everything really is possible.

Well, almost everything, the Cubs have yet to win the World Series.

Another winter wonderland in Chicago and another long adventurous travel to work, which could only mean plenty of time to ponder while avoiding pot holes and ditches.

Driving through the treacherous city streets, I can’t help but think how maybe I’m trapped in a time warp, repeating the same eye gouging, wrist slitting commute. To keep sane, I began contemplating about things that I had no control over, like the vicious cycle that humanity seem to be imprisoned in.

What if we are all stuck in a time warp where events and things constantly repeat themselves and the reason why they seem different is because new actors and new props are put in but the over all plot or premise of  life remains constant.

Here are some examples:

1.  The Recession of 2008-? = The Great Depression of the 1930s: Both happened because of irresponsible lending and borrowing

2.  The Extremists’ call for a Holy War = The Crusade: Both are done blindly in the name of God

3.  War in the Middle East = War in the Middle East: I’m still scratching my head on this one

4.  Roman Gladiators = UFC (Mixed Martial Arts): More blood more excitement

5.  Russia’s Iron Curtain = Russia’s Energy Cloak: Totalitarianism at it’s best

6.  U.S.’s Vietnam War Quagmire = U.S.’s Iraq War Quagmire: Both under the guise of democracy building; there’s something to be said about the resolve of people fighting for their survival no matter how technologically inept they are

7.  The Plight of White Immigrants in the 1900s = The Plight of Mexican Immigrants in the 2000s: Same issues, same place, different race

8.  The Need for US Affirmative Action = The Need for French Affirmative Action: Same issues, same race, different time and place

I’m sure that there’s more, but these are the only things my limited knowledge can generate.

Obviously, we are not really trapped in a time warp. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that instead of the human race being stuck, we’ve actually moved forward and consequently we’ve forgotten and we haven’t learned.

Cell phones have been an important part of our lives. Every year, there are new models or upgrades that saturate the market. When these new gadgets make their way to our hands, we act like little children during Christmas morning.

The moment you get your new phone, you savagely open the box and eagerly put the sim card and battery on so that you can start experiencing the wonders of your new toy.

You ooooohhhhhh and aaaaahhhh for every new feature that you discover. With gleaming eyes, you excitedly show it off to your friends, family, and co-workers, and of course they will get envious.

To protect your new prized possession, you procure a carrying case that would properly house it. However, since your new phone is very special, Wal-mart will not have the right carrying case and you will end up ordering a special case online. And while it’s an inconvenience you really don’t mind because your phone is new and it deserves all your attention and understanding.

As days go by, you continue to fill your new phone with your contacts, more applications, daily schedules, and personal finance information.Your cell phone becomes an extension of you.

But when two to three months have passed and the newness of your phone has diminished, you will begin to see its imperfections and you will start assessing whether your phone is really right for you.

You will start to see that it cannot do some things that you want it to do, like power point presentation or good clear photographs. You tried your best to improve with more upgrades but since it wasn’t originally made to take excellent photographs, your phone still falls short of your expectations.

Now, you wish that you had waited and bought something else. You want to give it back or exchange it, but you can’t.

You can’t because you’ve gotten use to it and it has all your contacts and personal information. In addition, as a result of the many applications that you’ve installed, the phone has learned to accommodate almost all of your needs.

Also, giving up on your phone will cost you a pretty penny since you are locked in for a two year service contract and without a new contract, the cost of your replacement phone will be astronomical.

So with little or no option, you decide to keep your old phone. You bear with it and learn to appreciate it for what it is and not for what you want it to be because it still has many good qualities like keeping you entertain when you are bored.

Still, in the back of your mind, you know that there’s a phone that’s perfect for your needs. However, you know that deep down inside, when everything around you goes dark, you can use your old cell phone as a flashlight.

Relationships are like owning a cell phones.

Chicago has recently experienced ample amount of snow. Consequently, the white powdery mess, that seem to come down almost on cue during rush hour, has added an uncomfortable length to my morning and afternoon commute to and from work.

The upside to this daily winter trek was the extended amount of time that I get to spend with my three school aged children, CJ, Smiley Face, and The Guy In The Middle. We’ve had many thought provoking and intriguing conversations during these snail paced voyages home.

We’ve talked about life, God, relationships, superpowers, and SpongeBob. But this post will not be about my conversations with my children. I will share these intellectual exchanges with you in the near future.

What I wanted to write about is an important anthropological study that I conducted one fine afternoon when we spent six hours on the road because of a snow storm that caught everyone by surprise.

On the third hour of our journey home, from my rearview mirror, I witnessed my youngest son looking out the window staring at the big snowflakes falling from the dark ominous sky. While in a state of daydream, CJ unconsciously searched his nose for a prize. When he was able to pull out a decent size bounty from his nose, he began to roll it on his thumb and index finger.

Maintaining his gaze outside, he kept rolling his booty for a good two to three minutes and then without hesitation he flicked it. I tried to follow the trajectory of his dark brown greenish pellet but I was unsuccessful in doing so.

I then decided to see if I could catch other people from the other cars dig fervently in their nostrils. Unaware that they were being studied, drivers, bored and frustrated out of their minds because of the snow storm, instinctively attacked their noses. Most used their pinkies and pointers but some also used their thumbs and middle fingers.

Obviously, I wasn’t interested in their tools of choice. I was more interested on how people disposed their, for lack of better word, boogers. I discovered and concluded that there are three types of booger pickers.

The first type is the pick-and-flick. This person usually would pick his or her nose and then indiscriminately flick the booger or boogers. Now this could be potentially dangerous because the projectile could hit and injure somebody’s eye. Pick-and-Flick person could also leave an unsightly decoration on the windshield, the dashboard, or the side windows. At home, you will know if a person you live with is a flicker when you see random booger stuck to your walls or floors.

The second type is the pick-and-wipe. This person picks his or her nose and then immediately wipes the booger off with a tissue but most often, the bottom of the driver seat is used as the default storage. One can usually tell if when a pick-and-wiper is present because that person’s dwelling place has evidence of booger streaked across the walls or furniture.

The third type is the pick-and-roll. This person picks his or her nose and then as in prayer and meditation, deliberately rolls the booger in between his fingers. When the pick-and-roller achieves the desired booger shape, he or she then either flicks or drops the spherical shape of boogers carelessly. Little dark oval shape boogers lying on the floor usually suggests that a pick-and-roller is present in the premises.

Now the next step to my study is to determine whether there’s a correlation between booger disposal and human behavior or temperament.

Of course if I limit my study only with my five children and my wife and I, I will be able to give you a definitive conclusion whether booger disposal is an extension of human personality. But in order for my study to be accepted by the scientific community, I will need to increase the number of my subjects.

Who knows, I may even discover that booger picking transcends across cultural barrier thus proving that we are all brothers and with this profound realization, we may achieve world peace, especially in the Middle East.

In conclusion, hindsight being 20/20, I’m thankful for the rush hour snow storms in Chicago. With another one coming this Friday, I may find the cure for cancer and if I don’t, at least I’ll have more conversations with my kids.

My dad turned seventy last Saturday, January 3, 2009. He has been around on this earth for 25,550 days. And as he and I have gotten older together, I see how he has undergone a metamorphosis.

In his younger years, he was more reserved and more reluctant in showing his emotions. Now the quiet man with very few words has transformed to a person who tells a lot of jokes and comments on every single thing worth commenting.

He used to be the man who always volunteered to buy more ice when there was a party so that he didn’t have to mingle with the guest. Now he strategically sits at a spot where he can see and speak with everyone during family gatherings.

He used to be the man without any hobby except falling sleep in front of the television but now his basement is bursting with hobbies. He has learned how to play the piano, the guitar, and the saxophone.

Perhaps if his life was different, if he made different choices, in his youth, he could have been the man that he is now. But a son’s perception is often different from a father’s reality.

Dad chose to play it safe. He chose stability over risk and rewards. He chose integrity over financial bounty. And when things became difficult, he stood his ground.

Some may say that with his great intellect, he could have achieved more. He could have been a president of a multi-national bank. He could have had a bigger house. He could be traveling the world, but instead, he still works because that’s all he has ever done.

Every time I look at him, I would often find myself staring at him and wanting to ask him if he thinks he has lived a successful and fulfilling life. But whenever I’m on the verge of opening my mouth to ask my question, I would hesitate and then turn away.

Maybe I really don’t want to ask him because deep down inside I already know his answer. I’m sure as I go through my own choices and challenges his answer will come to me because even during the time of my own solitude I hear his voice.

I have always heard him. And as time continues to add its weight on my shoulders my father’s voice has grown louder.

I will never be like my father and I will never follow in his footsteps because he has never been in front of me. All this time, he has been in his right place, which is right behind me and I’m sure with him constantly whispering behind my ears, his voice will never grow faint.