Archive for February, 2008

Boston!

Published at February 26, 2008 in Marriage, Fun, Family and Humor. 6 Comments

Every one of you people need to get your hineys over to Brooklynne’s blog & congratulate her.  Yesterday, she received her acceptance letter to Emerson college’s prestegeous graduate school for print & multimedia journalism.  We’re going to Boston, baby!  Clam chowder & lobster,  the Celtics & Patriots,  Harvard, MIT, BC, & Emerson (just to name a few), & now Sam & Brooklynne.  Could this city get any cooler?  So, here’s what I’m thinking…

I should get a job as a janitor at M.I.T. and secretly solve very complex proofs that professors write on the hallway chalkboards. Then, when I’m finally found out, I could make some major breakthroughs on all my daddy issues with a short hairy therapist as he poignantly repeats the phrase “Its not your fault. Its not your fault…” Man that’d be awesome! Maybe it could even be made into a movie. Except I wouldn’t want people to know my real name so we’d have to change it to something else. Something like, uh… Like Will. Will Hunting. Yeah, “Will Hunting” sounds good. Real good! Hey! That could even be the title, “Good Will Hunting.” On second thought, I’m way over-qualified for custodial work. I guess I’ll have to be a therapist. I’ll just keep telling all my clients that it isn’t their fault & hope that it all works out.

What else could we do in Boston?

Beware!

Published at February 22, 2008 in Worst experience of my life, Fun, Humor and Uncategorized. 5 Comments

I don’t want this post to come off as wimpy because that would make me look bad & other people might think less of me. Oh yeah, & because I’m not a wimp. I am big, strong, courageous, & also I’m strong. I am fearless all the time & in all situations. I am never scared of anything.

That being said, there are 7 things that I am scared of. They are, in no particular order:

1. Falling from a high place.

2. Bullets fired from guns at me. (I’m not scared of someone throwing bullets at me. Its annoying, but not scary.)

3. Girls who I want to ask out. (This one is now irrelevant because I’ve faced it & now have a girl (Brooklynne) who has agreed to marry me. So there!)

4. Spiders.

5. Snakes. (I’m not ashamed of this fear as it has very strong scriptural backing.)

6. Pterodactyls. (If you haven’t seen Jurassic Park 3, don’t. But, if you have had the unfortunate experience of watching it, then you will firmly back me on how terrible & vicious these creatures are. While crossing a gorge between 2 cliffs, Dr. Alan Grant & the 4 others he’s with are attacked by a pterodactyl. The pterodactyl swoops in & takes a small boy firmly in its talons. Having its choice of 5 people, 4 of which might at least stand a chance at defending themselves, this wicked & immoral creature chooses an innocent child. Any creature that would do something hateful like that scares me, & I’ll make no apologies for it.)

7. Being attacked by someone or something at night in the wilderness.

So, if that’s not enough for one man to fear, I stumbled upon an article while browsing Digg yesterday. After reading this article & doing some research on the Internet I now have to add a number “8″ to my list of fears.

8. This!

Hateful!

Just to give you some background info & clear some things up, this isn’t a demon from hell as I initially assumed after seeing the picture & reading what it is capable of doing. It is actually a fish from Southeast Asia called the “Giant Snakehead.” It is hateful & there are several reasons why these things scare me.

A) Its a carnivorous fish & is capable of completely wiping out the fish, reptile, & amphibian population around the body of water where it dwells because it, and I quote, “kills more fish than it eats.” This leads me to believe that it is killing just for the pleasure that it derives from taking the life of another, which is simply hateful. This fish should be considered a serial killer. It is perhaps the most hateful animal since the pterodactyl.

B) They can grow to be 7 feet long & up to 70 lbs.

C) It is a highly aggressive & very territorial fish. The female of the species is very protective of younger fish & will attack any animal it sees as a threat, humans not withstanding. It is known to attack & even kill people!

D) It can breathe both underwater & in open air. It can survive up to 4 days out of water & can use its pectoral fins to “walk” from one body of water to another. ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME?! Its bad enough that I’ll never be able to swim in freshwater again, now you’re telling me this thing can hunt me down on land, too. Spectacular!

Now we’re all dead.

If I haven’t posted again in about 7 days, then it probably means that one of these hateful fishes has read this article & killed me to shut me up. Please tell my family, friends, & fiancee that I love them & I’ll be waiting for them in Heaven. Unless the Giant Snakehead has found some way to take Heaven over, too. In which case all hope is lost. I hope that, somehow, you are still able to enjoy your weekend. As for me, I’ll be trying to find some way to defend our nation from these fish terrorists.

What do you think? Is there any way to stop these killing machines?

 

 

American Idol. Woot. Woot.

Published at February 20, 2008 in Fun, Music, TV Shows and Humor. 0 Comments

American Idol 

Its that time of year again. Time for the top 24 of AI season 7. Last night was the top 12 guys & tonight will be the top 12 girls. I realize that the show has been on for several weeks now, & yes, I have been watching, but the audition shows just aren’t worth talking about. Its all become so predictable. Top 24 is where the fun really starts. So, if you’ve been watching, keep it up, & if you haven’t been watching, then you’re probably too mature & intelligent to enjoy it anyway. Zing! Yes!

As for me, I’m on the David Archuleta train for the guys, but I also have high hopes for David Hernandez. We’ll see about the girls tonight!

Who do you like in AI season 7? Claim your loyalties now!

Fear vs. Freedom

Published at February 14, 2008 in Politics and Vote!. 2 Comments

The fact that this happened is indicative of the current situation that Americans are in. As I read the article linked above, my mouth was literally hanging open.

“There is no way that a law providing immunity for warrant-less wiretapping & spying would actually be approved! And by a vote of 68 to 29!!!” I had to check & make sure that I wasn’t reading a satirical piece from the Onion or something.

Americans were obviously scared after the events of September 2001, & something like this would have been, not excusable, but understandable in the months that immediately followed. I would hope though that almost 7 years after that we’d be a little more reasonable. I honestly believe that our country is at a crossroads in many aspects of our government. We’re growing up. The decisions that our government is making right now are laying the foundations for what America will be & what it will stand for in the future. We are in the process of prioritizing the things that are most important to us. The trouble with growth & the decisions that go along with it is that they are deceptive. Many times these choices seem to be small & inconsequential, & sometimes they are in the long run. We need to be mindful though, especially in times like these.

In September of 1787 there were some very big decisions being made in Philadelphia. The members of the Constitutional Convention were well aware that they were creating the document that would define this nation on a fundamental level. Their decisions were pivotal & they knew it. The very nature of their task demanded that they be discerning, consistent, & reasonable. The difference between that convention & our modern day House & Senate is that they were creating & birthing something that was obviously a big deal. I would argue that they did a pretty darn good job. By far, the best thing that they did was to give this document the ability to grow & adapt along with the American people. Over time we have discovered, as they knew we would, that there were changes that needed to be made. Some of these changes (amendments) were huge such as the Bill of Rights, the 13th amendment which abolished slavery, the 19th gives votes for women, etc… Some of these amendments were small potatoes in the grand scheme such as the prohibition of liquor (18th) & the un-prohibition of liquor (21st).

Fast forward to Feb. 12, 2008. The senate reauthorizes a law that, by granting them immunity, allows the US government & telecommunications companies to operate in direct opposition to the 4th amendment which protects citizens from “unreasonable searches & seizures.” The 4th amendment stipulates that if the government wishes to obtain evidence, they must have a warrant that describes the “place to be searched & the persons or things to be seized.” It also points out that a warrant cannot be issued unless there is “probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.”

Why then, did the Senate pass this new law?! Have we decided after 220 years that this should no longer be a right of US citizens? No, I don’t think that anyone in the Senate, or even in the country, believes that the government should be able to indiscriminately start busting down doors & searching houses. I think the more likely answer is that we are scared. We do not feel safe & we are therefore willing to sacrifice our privacy in order to feel protected. After what happened 7 years ago, who wouldn’t be scared? With this memory fresh in all of our minds, it is easy to justify this trade-off in our minds, but I’m concerned that the fear that has arisen from the events of September 2001 are causing us to lose sight of the events of September 1787. I hope we can remember, because I don’t see this country going anywhere good by making decisions that are driven by fear.

What do you make of all this?

Something I Wrote

Published at February 11, 2008 in Fun and School. 5 Comments

I used to post poems on Xanga that I wrote in my High School & early college years. They were always very dramatic & cheesy, but I enjoyed writing them. I always posted them because I figured, best case scenario, readers might actually enjoy them or, worst case scenario, readers could enjoy poking some fun at me, which I’ve always tried to encourage. It seems like the last few years though, I just got really busy & stopped having time to write. For some reason, last week I just wanted to write again. I’d had a theme bouncing around in my head for a little while, & so I took the opportunity of an afternoon off of work & wrote this. It is kind of long for a blog, but since when have I ever been constrained by length restrictions on posts? If you do take the time to read it, please let me know what you think. You might like it, or you might enjoy the opportunity for ridicule. Let it be known that, either way, I’m for it.

 Listen

Listen children, listen & I will speak to you a mystery. It is a mystery of many things, several things that are parts & pieces of a single understanding. From the cluttered chaos of creation emerges a voice. One voice.

Listen children, listen… You can’t hear it? Oh, but you can! You can if only you will. It is a voice that can’t be heard until it is. It will not be, that is to say, it won’t exist until it is heard. How can it be heard unless it is spoken? It cannot be spoken ‘till it is known, & it can’t be known without first being captured. If you are quick & clever enough, you just might catch it.

Listen children, listen! The voice is shouting now, begging to be pursued, captured, possessed, understood, believed, lived, breathed, & finally to be spoken. It is longing to be whispered softly & sweetly from feeble but fascinated mouths & minds. Minds that are faintly flickering flashes of brilliance, & mouths that are sending splinters of the sacred that will sink deeply into the skin of we who are silhouettes.

Listen children, listen & that voice will speak to you a mystery. You need to hear it. I need you to hear it. We need you to hear it. We need you to chase after it, grasp it, wrestle it to the ground, straddle it &, eye to eye, tell it who you are. You must demand it to submit to you. This will be no easy task, but you must persevere. Fight with it until you are exhausted & you fear your strength will run dry & then fight some more. Because with the last blow you land, victory will surely be won. That voice will become yours & will belong to you alone. It will be frightening, but you will then understand that which you did not know before.

Listen children, listen. That voice has been yours all along. With you it was conceived & born. As you grew & changed, that voice, your voice, slowly but certainly slipped from your mouth. It no longer wished to remain on your tongue & under your control, so it fled from you. Since that time it has wandered free, undisciplined, unfettered, unruly, & untamed. Under those conditions that voice grew & changed while you did the same. But unlike you, that voice had no one to teach it. It had no guardian to shield it from the dangers & snares that lurked in the darkness. In such a state it had no choice but to become feral, rough, & wild. You see, civility, polish, & control are a luxury afforded only to those who are safe & protected.

Listen children, listen to be sure this was no fault of yours. You were too small, too young, & too unlearned to see. In the frailty & weakness of your childhood your voice escaped from your lungs & has not yet returned. It has forgotten, just as you have, its rightful home & the place where it was first given life. But now the time for reunion has finally come. This year, this month, this day, this hour, this minute, this second, this voice will reconnect with this mouth, your mouth. You must now search & find the place where your voice has sought refuge from this world & grown unchecked & unrefined. Only then can you begin the tenuous work of rejuvenation that must now be done. It must be done so that you can share that voice with a world that is in pieces. We need you to hear it. Disjointed & quivering we linger, waiting & searching for the voices that we too once had before they sailed away. We have long been shadows seeking solid forms.

Listen children, listen as we are praying for the deliverance that can come only when you have uncovered your voice & overtaken the fortress where it once laid dormant & robbed we shadows of its unwavering light. That voice, your voice will for us become a beacon offering hope amid our search for the strongholds that conceal the voices that have evaded us for so long. Hearing your voice will give truth to those who search, rest for those who tire, & strength to those who weaken.

Listen children, listen & you will hear in your ears a mystery. It is the mystery of many things, many voices. Several voices that have been searched out, reclaimed, & refined by those who were simple silhouettes & shadows. These are those that were waiting, without a voice, until you spoke. It is your voice that now gives them strength to speak out with the voices they have found, & it is your voice that joins with the voices of all creation. Your voice will rise with the voices of all people. You must sing the words to which only you can breathe life & give melody. The song would not be without the voice from your lips, but the song is. It is! The many voices from many places all melting & flowing one into the other before blazing forth as one sacred song. A song of beauty & truth. It is a pure song & a lovely song.

Listen children, listen…