According to my Mom the answer is no. That is the excuse she uses every time when we try to get her to try something new... like computers. I guess it is genetic, though, as my Grandma Griffin refused to learn to drive. However, this generation of the Griffin/Hutton side of the family believes in lifelong learning, and that is pretty much what my life is dedicated to accomplishing.
Take for instance this Ph.D. work. It is still the hardest thing I have ever done and has stretched me far beyond my comfort zone... and keeps stretching me. However, I do love it on the other hand, as I am learning such incredible things every day.
I grew up riding horses and have owned my own (as an Oklahoman it is almost mandatory to be a cowboy at some stage in your life). Some people reserved the boots/jeans/cowboy hat for '89er day in school (commemoration of the opening of Oklahoma Indian Territory to settlers in 1889 commemorated by the land-run of that year), but I wore them often. While I was figuring out my life in college I spent a lot of time working at a stables in northwest Oklahoma City and riding almost every day. I loved it! But, the opportunities to ride have diminished over time (and it is much easier to just jump on my trusty BMW motorcycle) and I honestly cannot remember when I last rode a horse. That is where my title to this post comes in. This last weekend a friend invited me to go horseback riding and I jumped at the chance. I am very comfortable around horses, not intimidated by their size or demeanor, so that was just great. However, when I got on, I almost fell off the other side because this was an English saddle (with no saddle horn and short stirrups) and English riding! In fact, the horse I was riding was a Lipizzaner and was trained in classic English riding. I've never heard some of the terms my instructor gave me like, "Express your horse" or "Impulse your mare" in the context of riding. Some of the fineries of English riding seemed a bit ridiculous to this ole cowhand, but I was game and really enjoyed myself.
The other thing I am doing is announcing my run for Congress in the 1st Congressional District of Washington (please note that this may change based upon the redistricting that is going on in Washington state because we got a new Congressional District this year). I loved running in 2006 and 2008 , even though those were the worst years to run as a Republican in a couple of decades (another horse analogy is, "if you get bucked off the horse, pick yourself up and get back on). I took 2010 off to work on this Ph.D., but have decided that when I get this Ph.D. I will throw my efforts into a hot Congressional Race. The key to any race is raising money, and the two times I ran you could not get anyone to give you money to run against an entrenched incumbent. This time is different, however, as there is no incumbent! That makes this an attractive race to run and I will face more competition than I have in the past. I can't wait to get back to the States and crank up my campaign. However, raising money is the key, so if you have $25 to spare, please go to my website and donate it now: www.larryishmael.com/contribute.
Thanks for reading the saga of my life, and keep checking back to this blog to see how things are going in all respects!
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