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Initially, I emailed a link about this out to my family members, but then I realized that it deserved to be posted here as well. I watched this TED Talk presentation by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor earlier tonight and it really left quite an impression on me. I thought I'd recommend to everyone that you take 20 minutes when you get a chance and watch it. This is really impressive stuff and I think you'll find that it ends very differently than it begins.

And if you don't know about TED already, you really should learn more about TED.

There are some really amazing talks available on the TED website, and I recommend exploring the content there. I have spent (not wasted, but invested) hours watching different presentations on the TED site. The one I recommend above is one of the very best I've seen to date.

Think about it.
Or don’t because nobody can make a monkey think about anything.
In a monkey suit, you are as good as, maybe better than, most monkeys.
Be free. Be who you’re supposed to be.
Swing from tree to tree.
Jump onto a table and pounce on strangers.
Sit on the floor when eating dinner.
Knives, forks and spoons are out of the question…
unless you really want to use them,
because with a monkey suit on, you can do anything you want.
You certainly have the dexterity.
Monkeys don’t have to get up early.
Monkeys don’t have to watch TV or brush their teeth.
Monkeys only have one bill to pay,
and we all know what that is.
Monkeys are curious
and people laugh at the crazy capering they indulge in.
Monkeys don’t have to conform to proper grammatical conventions.
Do what you want. Get the suit. Do what you want.
But definitely get the suit and wear it.

If I were running for political office, and especially if the office I were running for were as consequential as President of the United States of America, I would not be seeking handouts from visitors to my online home before even letting my guests get a foot in the door. Clearly political candidates need to raise funds to support their campaigns, but can't the solicitation wait until after I get comfortable with who they are?

The reason I'm mentioning this is that tonight, for the first time, I visited the respective websites of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the two candidates seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party in the upcoming November 2008 Election. Quite frankly, I was shocked by the wide degree of difference between the reception I received at each site. Without requiring you to click through and visit the sites for yourselves (unless you're so inclined, that is), I'll let you see the message with which each candidate greeted me upon my arrival at their online "Front Door." Gentlemen first:

Compare that message from Barack Obama with the following from Mrs. Clinton:

A song lyric is now in order:

And if all I have is a heart that fears
if all that's left are the stains of tears
and if your soft voice is all I hear
I'm never fighting back

I'm playing with Blueprint: A CSS Framework this time around, so bear with me and we'll see if we can't make this work beautifully.