Sports Figures...on Drugs. [BUM BUM BUMMMM]]

Steroids in baseball. Michael Phelps smoking grass. Assorted sports figures from multiple arenas brought up on charges for a host of felonies. What does it mean? Most sports people I know feel we are in dangerous times for professional athletics.

I, on the other hand, feel like all of this is a very positive thing for the American people. It's hopefully making people recognize that sports figures, even the most talented, are just people. They never asked to be role models. They just wanted to play baseball, or swim really $%#* fast. We made them into people to look up to. People our children should model themselves after. We decided to hold them up on a pedestal, from which anyone would eventually fall.

Why would we trust them like that? We don't know anything about them, as people. We've never met them. We don't know who they socialize with, what they believe in, or what they do after the cameras go dark. If we applied those same criteria to some random joe on the street, would you blindly trust your children to them then? Likely not.

But we don't have to make blanket statements here. It's not, as an absolute rule, bad to use sports figures as role models. But use them only for what you know about them. Let them demonstrate how determination, hard work, and sheer force of will can accomplish great things. Let them demonstrate how anyone can be successful, if they try hard enough. Just don't expect them to be morally upright (by your definition) members of society, ready for you to pin your hopes for your children on their actions.

They're just people. Great at some things. Bad at others.

It would be extremely positive if more parents were role models, instead of some random NFL running back.

The Rings of my Life

I'm going to lay a little low tonight and express love for an ever present gem in my life: rings. I have been wearing rings for as long as I can remember. Some adjectives I would use to describe my ring style are expressionistic, domineering, silver, sparkly (but not in the diamond sense), puzzling, and colorful (mostly shades of green...so really one color). Interesting..Hmmmm..I don't know what any of that means, but please if you have any inclination of the meaning behind Kate's ring style let me know. I prefer to buy my jewelry from art sales. It's so humbling actually meeting the person who put their heart into making the jewelry you are wearing. I love supporting the artists and buying one-of-a-kind items. My favorite ring is the simplist I've probably ever worn. It's a one inch wide 14k silver band that my dad gave my mom on their 5th Wedding Anniversary. My mom gave it to me 10 years ago and it's been around my left thumb ever since. I love my parents very much and I've been living far from them for most of my adult life and this ring is a nice comforting reflection of them that's with me always.