The older I get, the more I dislike gift wrapping. Not that I ever really liked it in the first place. I'd just as soon put the presents I've bought in paper bags. But all that brown isn't very festive and I don't think my family would be too happy with what resembles bags of groceries for them to open.
"I always remember that to be critiqued is part of being human; no one can escape it; it's the price you pay for putting your vulnerability on display as a creative person. Failure is very important, as it is inevitability in life. Incredible growth, self-realization and reflection comes from failure."
There's a reason the current president promised to be "no-drama Obama." It's a promise he's delivered on, and that has served the country well. Those who want to know what a re-elected Obama is likely to do should not be distracted by his underwhelming recent performances. They should look back at his first-term record and note how consistent it is with his pragmatic and moderate personal character: an effective, but ultimately modest, balanced stimulus that's helped turn the economy around; the achievement, at long-last, of near-universal healthcare using an idea originating in conservative circles; the comeback of that emblem of American capitalism, the auto industry; winding down two wars and killing al Qaeda's leader in a bold but limited strike that deployed smart power rather than chest-thumping militarism; advancing and protecting reproductive and LGBT rights.