Just saw this on Google Trends. Great use of general searches to understand what's happening. I love seeing stuff like this. Read the first article from the Minnesota Tribune to understand why the all big hubbub. I can't promise that is it for today.
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?q=wcco+weather&date=2009-2-26&sa=X
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Once More
Judging from the comments, the change of pace, from ego-centric to relevant news, was enjoyed. So let's get this started again.
This is one of my favorite columns to read, and sometimes their stuff is either kept in mind (for when I actually have enough money to choose clothes based on some criteria) or just discarded (I don't get asked to donate money for many events). This article is my favorite so far, because it can be pretty hard to find responsible clothes.
http://www.slate.com/id/2211757/entry/2211884/
I actually wondered about this myself during the presidental election, and the days directly following. A few times throughout the campaign, Obama unintentionally brought attention to the hip-hop culture, and its rising status today. I look forward to watching a presidency that engages with fashion and culture.
http://www.slate.com/id/2211626/pagenum/all/#p2
The stimulus package is pretty confusing. Thankfully the VP will be playing a role that is in compliance with the Consitution. Biden is pretty smart, but not an economist, or anywhere close. He billed himself as a foreign relations guru, poor guy, can't even do what he is good at. Jindal was not setting a good tone for the future of this stimulus effort. What would have been revolutionary is if he had made a few points of contention, but agreed on the basic idea. Did the GOP get the memo about post-partisanship??
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/opinion/26collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
This is just another scary aspect of the economy in one way, and in another way, a metaphor for the whole thing. Over-extension based on optimistic views of future growth, goods without a value because no one is buying them, a widespread market which is plummeting, an auction hoping to establish a price, and a wicked case of seller's remorse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/realestate/26condo.html?em
This actually came to me via a fellow volunteer at the MBA. I actually had this idea.......but not the skills or resources to make it happen. Salmon is a good example for many reasons: it is widely consumed, readily available, and the low-carbon items are sustainable, while the high-carbon items are fairly unsustainable. Win-win.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40943
I had heard about this a couple months of ago, and thought it was so petty, and really just spiteful. Cheers to Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project for helping out an artist who was just making art, jeers to Associated Press for deciding to file the suit.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101182453&ft=1&f=1012
This is just hilarious!! Some people read the instructions and know the rules and choose to ignore them, and then there are people like this, who don't even know if there are instructions, and that the rules are based off of your ability and resources. In all seriousness, this is actually pretty serious, or would be, except that only 1 of the 4 won. Wow.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101186460
I think there will be good things coming out of this economic kerfuffle, but we can't see them right now. We in the general public sense of we. One of the good things will be a kind of economic natural selection, with the lazy businesses, and the fat, weak businesses going under, and the adaptive, resourceful businesses emerging even stronger. (I'm looking at you Sharper Image!) A few other things will be a "green infrastructure", a more educated workforce, and old, outdated jobs being traded for new jobs that will last until the next technological revolution.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123560071463276187.html
And finally, new technology, being used for something very old. This is a great idea, and opens up a lot of hypothetical doors.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/186531
Something I often wonder about while reading this different articles is how my generation is going to look. What will be our legacy, and how will we deal with our parent's legacy?? Any comments??
That is it for today.
Have a good day!
This is one of my favorite columns to read, and sometimes their stuff is either kept in mind (for when I actually have enough money to choose clothes based on some criteria) or just discarded (I don't get asked to donate money for many events). This article is my favorite so far, because it can be pretty hard to find responsible clothes.
http://www.slate.com/id/2211757/entry/2211884/
I actually wondered about this myself during the presidental election, and the days directly following. A few times throughout the campaign, Obama unintentionally brought attention to the hip-hop culture, and its rising status today. I look forward to watching a presidency that engages with fashion and culture.
http://www.slate.com/id/2211626/pagenum/all/#p2
The stimulus package is pretty confusing. Thankfully the VP will be playing a role that is in compliance with the Consitution. Biden is pretty smart, but not an economist, or anywhere close. He billed himself as a foreign relations guru, poor guy, can't even do what he is good at. Jindal was not setting a good tone for the future of this stimulus effort. What would have been revolutionary is if he had made a few points of contention, but agreed on the basic idea. Did the GOP get the memo about post-partisanship??
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/opinion/26collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
This is just another scary aspect of the economy in one way, and in another way, a metaphor for the whole thing. Over-extension based on optimistic views of future growth, goods without a value because no one is buying them, a widespread market which is plummeting, an auction hoping to establish a price, and a wicked case of seller's remorse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/realestate/26condo.html?em
This actually came to me via a fellow volunteer at the MBA. I actually had this idea.......but not the skills or resources to make it happen. Salmon is a good example for many reasons: it is widely consumed, readily available, and the low-carbon items are sustainable, while the high-carbon items are fairly unsustainable. Win-win.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40943
I had heard about this a couple months of ago, and thought it was so petty, and really just spiteful. Cheers to Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project for helping out an artist who was just making art, jeers to Associated Press for deciding to file the suit.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101182453&ft=1&f=1012
This is just hilarious!! Some people read the instructions and know the rules and choose to ignore them, and then there are people like this, who don't even know if there are instructions, and that the rules are based off of your ability and resources. In all seriousness, this is actually pretty serious, or would be, except that only 1 of the 4 won. Wow.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101186460
I think there will be good things coming out of this economic kerfuffle, but we can't see them right now. We in the general public sense of we. One of the good things will be a kind of economic natural selection, with the lazy businesses, and the fat, weak businesses going under, and the adaptive, resourceful businesses emerging even stronger. (I'm looking at you Sharper Image!) A few other things will be a "green infrastructure", a more educated workforce, and old, outdated jobs being traded for new jobs that will last until the next technological revolution.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123560071463276187.html
And finally, new technology, being used for something very old. This is a great idea, and opens up a lot of hypothetical doors.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/186531
Something I often wonder about while reading this different articles is how my generation is going to look. What will be our legacy, and how will we deal with our parent's legacy?? Any comments??
That is it for today.
Have a good day!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
News
Today will be a little experiment, instead of talking about things with me, I will be putting up links to articles, and talking about events that interesting to me. Please let me know what you think.
http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/impressions/2009/02/23/throwing-voodoo-hulu#
This article was really interesting to me, because I use Hulu on occasion, and think it is great, and perhaps the future of television. The old attitude that any new threatening idea, or any concept that is hard to understand is very frustrating, not just to me, but to my whole generation.
I actually really like this idea. It seems absurd in today's political atmosphere, but given time, it will happen. There are many reasons to legalize marijuana, one of the biggest being the possibility for revenue. There would also be oversight, and reduction in bad product. Is this the right time for such a project though??
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/25/twitter.amsterdam.plane.crash/index.html
Twitter wins again! Such a great use of technology for serious purposes. Someday I predict all news will be user-generated, or at least user-started. Hopefully in my lifetime, it will very exciting to see.
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11776452?nclick_check=1
Another Twitter article, this one from the local paper. Next-generation uses for old technology. In this case the old technology is SMS, and the new technology is searching second-by-second to user generated information. I'm thinking natural disaster, terrorist attack, or any kind of military action needing to hear from many different sources in the field.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25taco.html?pagewanted=all
Seems Twitter is popping up everywhere. This sounds really good, and so typical of California. It is cool seeing more and more places that are combining cultural cuisine into something totally new. I imagine someone will catch onto the fusion idea and start combining the aesthetic of cultures for new looks inside restaurants.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/02/2009225191624340903.html
This sounds pretty bad. Never thought of Armenia as a place with issues like this. Authority always tries to expand its power, and showcase that power. "Shock and awe" or "Saber rattling".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7908974.stm
Finally! Someone willing to do anything about Gitmo! They need to go to a place where the rules apply. Hopefully Spain will just be one of the first to assist "in principle".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7908498.stm
Ending on a lighter note. This seems more believable than "Nigerian Princess Seeking to Flee Country". Not quite as pitiable as "Retiree Needs Funds to Save Her Cat" though. The only reason it actually went anywhere was it actually came from his email account. No one even offered to help the poor guy. Reelection will stink for him.
That's it for today, please let me know what you think of this slightly different format.
Thanks!
http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/impressions/2009/02/23/throwing-voodoo-hulu#
This article was really interesting to me, because I use Hulu on occasion, and think it is great, and perhaps the future of television. The old attitude that any new threatening idea, or any concept that is hard to understand is very frustrating, not just to me, but to my whole generation.
I actually really like this idea. It seems absurd in today's political atmosphere, but given time, it will happen. There are many reasons to legalize marijuana, one of the biggest being the possibility for revenue. There would also be oversight, and reduction in bad product. Is this the right time for such a project though??
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/25/twitter.amsterdam.plane.crash/index.html
Twitter wins again! Such a great use of technology for serious purposes. Someday I predict all news will be user-generated, or at least user-started. Hopefully in my lifetime, it will very exciting to see.
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11776452?nclick_check=1
Another Twitter article, this one from the local paper. Next-generation uses for old technology. In this case the old technology is SMS, and the new technology is searching second-by-second to user generated information. I'm thinking natural disaster, terrorist attack, or any kind of military action needing to hear from many different sources in the field.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25taco.html?pagewanted=all
Seems Twitter is popping up everywhere. This sounds really good, and so typical of California. It is cool seeing more and more places that are combining cultural cuisine into something totally new. I imagine someone will catch onto the fusion idea and start combining the aesthetic of cultures for new looks inside restaurants.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/02/2009225191624340903.html
This sounds pretty bad. Never thought of Armenia as a place with issues like this. Authority always tries to expand its power, and showcase that power. "Shock and awe" or "Saber rattling".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7908974.stm
Finally! Someone willing to do anything about Gitmo! They need to go to a place where the rules apply. Hopefully Spain will just be one of the first to assist "in principle".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7908498.stm
Ending on a lighter note. This seems more believable than "Nigerian Princess Seeking to Flee Country". Not quite as pitiable as "Retiree Needs Funds to Save Her Cat" though. The only reason it actually went anywhere was it actually came from his email account. No one even offered to help the poor guy. Reelection will stink for him.
That's it for today, please let me know what you think of this slightly different format.
Thanks!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Paintballing Pictures
Here are some pictures from paintballing. As well as what my gun looks like, without any acessories. The web album for paintballing can be found here.Thanks! That's all for now.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
My Birthday
Today was my birthday, and I didn't do too much, which was fine with me, because the days leading up to my birthday were a blast. The stories from those days, and event follow.
Thursday was paintballing again. The games were a ton of fun! The teams were typically arranged in this fashion: 2 people who would “hide” and 3 people who would go to find them. My favorite game consisted of Jesse and I being on the hiding team, and we decided that we were going to hide way in the back of the field. Most of the game was me helping Jesse hobble around the field, moving towards the other team, and away from the line of fire. We actually won the game!! Several times the enemy team would be talking about where I was, and where Jesse was, they would guess “Chris is up in the trees there, and Jesse is in those bushes down there”, when in reality we were both hiding in the bushes, just 10-15 feet away from them. We ended up eventually picking off the opposing team members one by one. My other favorite moment was when I was the only one left from my team, and I hid in the bushes, and ended up surrendering one of the team members. “Surrendering” is when you are close enough to someone that any shot would hit them, and really hurt, so to avoid that, you can shout “Surrender”. Matthew Murada was walking by me, I yelled at him “surrender Murada, surrender!!” Matthew just about jumped out of his skin, then surrendered. Pretty fun.
On the bus ride home, something cool happened, and there was an IPTP as well. First the IPTP. I was just sitting there, and this large black man got onto the bus, listening to what sounded like rap music on his iPod, wearing workout clothes. He must have been 6'4", about 225 lbs, just looked like a serious, large, athletic man. Then he sat down. Immediately he started bobbing his head to the music, then within 3 minutes, he started rapping over the beat on the song he was listening to. I wouldn't have minded this, in fact it would have been interesting, but he was rapping about Cal Ripken Jr.. I found out that "ladies love the moon shots! BOOM!" "2,600 games in a row, who else has done that ****?" "Got more Golden Gloves than ****!". I immediately realized that the Baseball Rapper was going on the blog. The cool thing that happened was not actually on the bus, but waiting for the bus. I needed to transfer to a different bus, and I had talked with the driver about where I could get off. He stopped, and said to me "Hey man, your bus stops here. Get off!" I did, and then realized that this was not where he had said I should get off, but it was a God thing that he did. There was someone else sitting at the bus stop, and he looked decent enough, so I asked which bus he was waiting for. We were both waiting for the same bus, so then we talked about where we were going. He was going to a friend's house to watch a Shark's game. (GO SHARKS!!) I explained that I was coming home from paintball, and he visibly perked up. Turned out he too had paintballed when he was younger. (He is 27 now.) We talked about paintballing for a while, talked about education, religion, movies, cars, working, plans for the future, and then out of the blue, related to nothing that we were talking about. "I've got a Tippmann 98 Custom, that I am probably never going to use again, it is sitting on my shelf collecting dust. Do you want it?" Tippmann's are nice paintball guns, and fairly expensive. I had been thinking about working up to eventually buying a gun, but his offer was stunning in so many ways. The timeliness, the generosity, and the surprise. Sometime this week Dad and I will go up there and get the gun. Pretty cool. I will have pictures once I pick it up.
Friday was MBA, which was relatively tame, but I did notice, again, a phenomenon on public transit. Groups of 20-35 year-old males, wearing rough looking clothes, smelling funny, covered with several tattoos, and typically with some puppy smuggled on the bus. I was talking to one of my friends, and he informed me that the name for such people is "crustpunk". I don't care what they are, when sitting next to them means that my clothes are permeated with the stench of years of non-bathing. Aside from the odor, they seem fairly nice. Friday night was the Valentine's party for Bay Area Homeschooling Class of 2011. The attendees were the planning committee, which is Andrew, Anna, and Courtney, then the hostess, Cassandra, and two people who were not directly involved with the party, Jessica and myself. Some party. In all seriousness, the party was actually great fun, we played Apples to Apples, and Catchphrase, and did a gift exchange. I got a plush penguin from the MBA, which I brought to the party. The end came too soon, as happens with all good parties.
Saturday started with an SOC event, geochaching on the Cannery Row, and doing a sustainable seafood hunt on the Fisherman's Wharf. I have realized that I am not a morning person, up to a point. I do not like waking up, no matter what I am waking up for, but once I have showered and had my coffee, I can be irritatingly chipper. If Chris in the morning without coffee and a shower met Chris in the morning after a shower and coffee, things would get broken. The poor girl who I was carpooling with, her mom was fairly upbeat, which made me even more upbeat, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. Most of the group was in a similar state, excepting those who drink coffee, and those who always wake up early. There were a few particularly funny and memorable events from the day. When I first started SOC, one of the "mentors" was a crazy MBA employee, named Tommy. He played a game with the whole group, called "Captain's Coming". Just saying those two words to anyone who was in SOC during that time would immediately earn a laugh, or fond sigh. Saturday was the first time we have played Captain's Coming without Tommy, and it was hilarious! I got out a lot. Not paying the best attention will do that to you.
When we were at the Wharf, I was sitting talking with a few of the students at a table, and a seagull walked past my outstretched feet, which bothered me, so I kicked aimlessly at him. The seagull did not like that, so he flapped against the table, then flew right over my head, and I huddled up in a ball, while managing to retain some remnants of my dignity. Did anyone see "The Birds"? As my group was geocaching, we walked along a bike/walk trail. If you walk on the pavement, you run the risk of being yelled at by angry bikers or runners, or just getting run over, which is bad. One of my jobs was to remind the group to walk on the dirt that is reserved for slow pedestrians. I did this by simply yelling "DIRT!" whenever anyone wandered from the dirt. So fun. "DIRT!" is now a codeword for "I hang out with the cool people at SOC".
Today for church the youth group went to a local bagel shop (because it was bagel shop Sunday) and then did a review of our study of spiritual disciplines. Sugar football, and 2 everythings, with nothing on them. Small group today was everyone associated with the youth group talking about their mission trips, either upcoming or recently finished. Mur, Yodit, and Betit, who were adopted from Ethiopia, talked about their trip back. Kristy talked about her 6-month upcoming trip to Kenya. I talked about my upcoming trip to Liberia. I then returned home, and got to open my presents. A nice leather-bound Bible from Mom and Dad, a sweet card (4 really) from Mandy, and a yarn bookmark, a chess board from Nick (and Freecycle), and a book titled "How to Back Up a Trailer, and 101 Other Things Every Guy Should Know How to Do." Looks great. Alex and I are going to go to a movie at some point, I just need to find a movie I really want to see that is coming out sometime soon. Tomorrow will be my first time cleaning my room and doing laundry as a 17 year-old. I expect it will be about the same.
Shout-outs: Aaron (thanks!), Baker and Cindy (LOL) , Mom and Dad, my siblings (I love you all) , the paintball gang (this summer guys!!), Kyle (thanks for the dogpile!), and you, my readers. Thanks for listening. Have a good one.
Thursday was paintballing again. The games were a ton of fun! The teams were typically arranged in this fashion: 2 people who would “hide” and 3 people who would go to find them. My favorite game consisted of Jesse and I being on the hiding team, and we decided that we were going to hide way in the back of the field. Most of the game was me helping Jesse hobble around the field, moving towards the other team, and away from the line of fire. We actually won the game!! Several times the enemy team would be talking about where I was, and where Jesse was, they would guess “Chris is up in the trees there, and Jesse is in those bushes down there”, when in reality we were both hiding in the bushes, just 10-15 feet away from them. We ended up eventually picking off the opposing team members one by one. My other favorite moment was when I was the only one left from my team, and I hid in the bushes, and ended up surrendering one of the team members. “Surrendering” is when you are close enough to someone that any shot would hit them, and really hurt, so to avoid that, you can shout “Surrender”. Matthew Murada was walking by me, I yelled at him “surrender Murada, surrender!!” Matthew just about jumped out of his skin, then surrendered. Pretty fun.
On the bus ride home, something cool happened, and there was an IPTP as well. First the IPTP. I was just sitting there, and this large black man got onto the bus, listening to what sounded like rap music on his iPod, wearing workout clothes. He must have been 6'4", about 225 lbs, just looked like a serious, large, athletic man. Then he sat down. Immediately he started bobbing his head to the music, then within 3 minutes, he started rapping over the beat on the song he was listening to. I wouldn't have minded this, in fact it would have been interesting, but he was rapping about Cal Ripken Jr.. I found out that "ladies love the moon shots! BOOM!" "2,600 games in a row, who else has done that ****?" "Got more Golden Gloves than ****!". I immediately realized that the Baseball Rapper was going on the blog. The cool thing that happened was not actually on the bus, but waiting for the bus. I needed to transfer to a different bus, and I had talked with the driver about where I could get off. He stopped, and said to me "Hey man, your bus stops here. Get off!" I did, and then realized that this was not where he had said I should get off, but it was a God thing that he did. There was someone else sitting at the bus stop, and he looked decent enough, so I asked which bus he was waiting for. We were both waiting for the same bus, so then we talked about where we were going. He was going to a friend's house to watch a Shark's game. (GO SHARKS!!) I explained that I was coming home from paintball, and he visibly perked up. Turned out he too had paintballed when he was younger. (He is 27 now.) We talked about paintballing for a while, talked about education, religion, movies, cars, working, plans for the future, and then out of the blue, related to nothing that we were talking about. "I've got a Tippmann 98 Custom, that I am probably never going to use again, it is sitting on my shelf collecting dust. Do you want it?" Tippmann's are nice paintball guns, and fairly expensive. I had been thinking about working up to eventually buying a gun, but his offer was stunning in so many ways. The timeliness, the generosity, and the surprise. Sometime this week Dad and I will go up there and get the gun. Pretty cool. I will have pictures once I pick it up.
Friday was MBA, which was relatively tame, but I did notice, again, a phenomenon on public transit. Groups of 20-35 year-old males, wearing rough looking clothes, smelling funny, covered with several tattoos, and typically with some puppy smuggled on the bus. I was talking to one of my friends, and he informed me that the name for such people is "crustpunk". I don't care what they are, when sitting next to them means that my clothes are permeated with the stench of years of non-bathing. Aside from the odor, they seem fairly nice. Friday night was the Valentine's party for Bay Area Homeschooling Class of 2011. The attendees were the planning committee, which is Andrew, Anna, and Courtney, then the hostess, Cassandra, and two people who were not directly involved with the party, Jessica and myself. Some party. In all seriousness, the party was actually great fun, we played Apples to Apples, and Catchphrase, and did a gift exchange. I got a plush penguin from the MBA, which I brought to the party. The end came too soon, as happens with all good parties.
Saturday started with an SOC event, geochaching on the Cannery Row, and doing a sustainable seafood hunt on the Fisherman's Wharf. I have realized that I am not a morning person, up to a point. I do not like waking up, no matter what I am waking up for, but once I have showered and had my coffee, I can be irritatingly chipper. If Chris in the morning without coffee and a shower met Chris in the morning after a shower and coffee, things would get broken. The poor girl who I was carpooling with, her mom was fairly upbeat, which made me even more upbeat, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. Most of the group was in a similar state, excepting those who drink coffee, and those who always wake up early. There were a few particularly funny and memorable events from the day. When I first started SOC, one of the "mentors" was a crazy MBA employee, named Tommy. He played a game with the whole group, called "Captain's Coming". Just saying those two words to anyone who was in SOC during that time would immediately earn a laugh, or fond sigh. Saturday was the first time we have played Captain's Coming without Tommy, and it was hilarious! I got out a lot. Not paying the best attention will do that to you.
When we were at the Wharf, I was sitting talking with a few of the students at a table, and a seagull walked past my outstretched feet, which bothered me, so I kicked aimlessly at him. The seagull did not like that, so he flapped against the table, then flew right over my head, and I huddled up in a ball, while managing to retain some remnants of my dignity. Did anyone see "The Birds"? As my group was geocaching, we walked along a bike/walk trail. If you walk on the pavement, you run the risk of being yelled at by angry bikers or runners, or just getting run over, which is bad. One of my jobs was to remind the group to walk on the dirt that is reserved for slow pedestrians. I did this by simply yelling "DIRT!" whenever anyone wandered from the dirt. So fun. "DIRT!" is now a codeword for "I hang out with the cool people at SOC".
Today for church the youth group went to a local bagel shop (because it was bagel shop Sunday) and then did a review of our study of spiritual disciplines. Sugar football, and 2 everythings, with nothing on them. Small group today was everyone associated with the youth group talking about their mission trips, either upcoming or recently finished. Mur, Yodit, and Betit, who were adopted from Ethiopia, talked about their trip back. Kristy talked about her 6-month upcoming trip to Kenya. I talked about my upcoming trip to Liberia. I then returned home, and got to open my presents. A nice leather-bound Bible from Mom and Dad, a sweet card (4 really) from Mandy, and a yarn bookmark, a chess board from Nick (and Freecycle), and a book titled "How to Back Up a Trailer, and 101 Other Things Every Guy Should Know How to Do." Looks great. Alex and I are going to go to a movie at some point, I just need to find a movie I really want to see that is coming out sometime soon. Tomorrow will be my first time cleaning my room and doing laundry as a 17 year-old. I expect it will be about the same.
Shout-outs: Aaron (thanks!), Baker and Cindy (LOL) , Mom and Dad, my siblings (I love you all) , the paintball gang (this summer guys!!), Kyle (thanks for the dogpile!), and you, my readers. Thanks for listening. Have a good one.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
PAINTBALL!!!
Despite the fact that this was only my second time paintballing, I had a blast!
To understand what a great time was had, I need to lay a little background.
The participants: Matthew Ma., age 11. Matthew's friend, age 11. Matthew M., age 14. Jose P, age 16, Jesse B, age 13, Will B, age 14, Kyle, youth pastor of undeclared age, and me, 17 in 4 days. Jesse, Will, and Jose are all experienced paintballers. Kyle is too, but his gun was broken most of the time.
The battlefield: Jesse and Will live out in the country, and have a nice fenced area with trees, brush, rocks, open area, and some tires and such that they had set up. The main areas of the field are as follows. A high slope, with sheep paths (no joke, they have sheep.) worn into it, and several large trees spread along it. A middle area with plenty of brush, and an open area in the middle. A "road" skirting the middle area, muddy, with 2 garbage cans, and 1 rock to hide behind.
The games were fairly easily formatted. 2 teams, equal or close to equal numbers and skills, 1 team hides, the other team moves in. Get hit with a ball that splats on you, you are out. Easy enough.
With the background laid, I will jump into the chaotic mishmash of stories I have from today.
Jose seemed to like working the upper slope, and I knew that. One game, I was up there, expecting him, and saw him hidden behind some rocks and bushes. I poked my head out, and was nearly rewarded with a shot in the head. (Everyone was wearing masks) Jose kept trying to move himself out, just a tiny bit, and I kept him back. Eventually the adavantage was with me, and I was able to pepper his location with shots, and eventually he called "Out!!" Later, I found out that he was trying to move to get a perfect shot at my teammates. Apparently at least one of my shots found its mark, because Jose said that his goggles on his mask were suddenly covered in paint. That was me.
Jesse was at a slight disadvantage, he was playing with broken tibia and fibia, on his right leg. However, this was his home turf, and he is good, and he has a good gun, so I had no qualms about shooting him. He was the only one left on his team, and he had been sitting in a nice bunker, but realized he needed to be moving. He moved onto the road, and he and Kyle were trading shots. I started moving up on his position, from the rear. He was trapped. I'm walking up, and I can see he is looking for Kyle around the bend, not even checking his rear. One shot, right in the leg. I thought the leg was the most humane.
Jose decided that he needed to be in the middle area, never mind that Will was stationed there, or that I was covering it. He just starts running into the middle area, and of course, I had to take a shot. Once he got close to Will, I held my fire, to avoid a friendly fire incident. Will, did not hold his fire. He lit up Jose. I felt bad, Jose was getting demolished by Will, and I had already "killed" him. He had 3 welts from that.
Kyle was not having a good time. He kept having to work on his gun, which is never good. The one game where he was on my team, we were working the slope together. About 3 minutes in, he realized that his gun was firing blanks. Jose had a defensive position ahead, and Kyle bluffed his way forward. Jose left the slope and moved into a bunker, because Kyle and I were moving up on him.
Riding the bus home, I saw a pretty interesting thing, and had a bit of an ephiany.
Interesting thing was a black man and white woman both aged 45-55, standing with their faces about 3 inches apart, yelling about something. A woman who had been outside for a smoke, was hiding behind the door of the restaurant they were standing outside. She poked her head out, gave me a look, laden with meaning, and pulled back behind the door. I would not have noticed this, except every man in the back area was looking at this couple, and I got that feeling when enough people are looking at something, that feeling that makes you look too. As we drove away, everyone was looking at each other, and the man sitting next to me smiled and said, in broken English. "She's not happy."
My ephiany was about the arrangement of seating in a bus. The crazy people who talk to the driver, the people who are only going a little way, and the people who are too lazy to move any farther back, they sit in the front. The business people, the little old ladies, the nervous people, and the homeless people, they sit in the middle. The people who are going a long ways, the field workers, the introverted crazy people, and the confident people sit in the back. Next task, figuring out why.
Tommorow is another paintball day. I will have pictures!! Thanks to Mom for giving me a ride up there, Jesse for jumping on the whole idea, and taking charge, and Kyle, for letting us borrow his stuff.
To understand what a great time was had, I need to lay a little background.
The participants: Matthew Ma., age 11. Matthew's friend, age 11. Matthew M., age 14. Jose P, age 16, Jesse B, age 13, Will B, age 14, Kyle, youth pastor of undeclared age, and me, 17 in 4 days. Jesse, Will, and Jose are all experienced paintballers. Kyle is too, but his gun was broken most of the time.
The battlefield: Jesse and Will live out in the country, and have a nice fenced area with trees, brush, rocks, open area, and some tires and such that they had set up. The main areas of the field are as follows. A high slope, with sheep paths (no joke, they have sheep.) worn into it, and several large trees spread along it. A middle area with plenty of brush, and an open area in the middle. A "road" skirting the middle area, muddy, with 2 garbage cans, and 1 rock to hide behind.
The games were fairly easily formatted. 2 teams, equal or close to equal numbers and skills, 1 team hides, the other team moves in. Get hit with a ball that splats on you, you are out. Easy enough.
With the background laid, I will jump into the chaotic mishmash of stories I have from today.
Jose seemed to like working the upper slope, and I knew that. One game, I was up there, expecting him, and saw him hidden behind some rocks and bushes. I poked my head out, and was nearly rewarded with a shot in the head. (Everyone was wearing masks) Jose kept trying to move himself out, just a tiny bit, and I kept him back. Eventually the adavantage was with me, and I was able to pepper his location with shots, and eventually he called "Out!!" Later, I found out that he was trying to move to get a perfect shot at my teammates. Apparently at least one of my shots found its mark, because Jose said that his goggles on his mask were suddenly covered in paint. That was me.
Jesse was at a slight disadvantage, he was playing with broken tibia and fibia, on his right leg. However, this was his home turf, and he is good, and he has a good gun, so I had no qualms about shooting him. He was the only one left on his team, and he had been sitting in a nice bunker, but realized he needed to be moving. He moved onto the road, and he and Kyle were trading shots. I started moving up on his position, from the rear. He was trapped. I'm walking up, and I can see he is looking for Kyle around the bend, not even checking his rear. One shot, right in the leg. I thought the leg was the most humane.
Jose decided that he needed to be in the middle area, never mind that Will was stationed there, or that I was covering it. He just starts running into the middle area, and of course, I had to take a shot. Once he got close to Will, I held my fire, to avoid a friendly fire incident. Will, did not hold his fire. He lit up Jose. I felt bad, Jose was getting demolished by Will, and I had already "killed" him. He had 3 welts from that.
Kyle was not having a good time. He kept having to work on his gun, which is never good. The one game where he was on my team, we were working the slope together. About 3 minutes in, he realized that his gun was firing blanks. Jose had a defensive position ahead, and Kyle bluffed his way forward. Jose left the slope and moved into a bunker, because Kyle and I were moving up on him.
Riding the bus home, I saw a pretty interesting thing, and had a bit of an ephiany.
Interesting thing was a black man and white woman both aged 45-55, standing with their faces about 3 inches apart, yelling about something. A woman who had been outside for a smoke, was hiding behind the door of the restaurant they were standing outside. She poked her head out, gave me a look, laden with meaning, and pulled back behind the door. I would not have noticed this, except every man in the back area was looking at this couple, and I got that feeling when enough people are looking at something, that feeling that makes you look too. As we drove away, everyone was looking at each other, and the man sitting next to me smiled and said, in broken English. "She's not happy."
My ephiany was about the arrangement of seating in a bus. The crazy people who talk to the driver, the people who are only going a little way, and the people who are too lazy to move any farther back, they sit in the front. The business people, the little old ladies, the nervous people, and the homeless people, they sit in the middle. The people who are going a long ways, the field workers, the introverted crazy people, and the confident people sit in the back. Next task, figuring out why.
Tommorow is another paintball day. I will have pictures!! Thanks to Mom for giving me a ride up there, Jesse for jumping on the whole idea, and taking charge, and Kyle, for letting us borrow his stuff.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Some Recent Stuff
This week has been fairly interesting, but in a good way.
Valentine's Day. I worked my youth group's fundraiser, which consisted of baby-sitting for couples from our church. I got the best job of all, working with the infants. I love infants. They don't talk back, they cuddle nicely, they are the right size to carry around, they fall asleep at the drop of a hat, their smiles are so adorable with those little gums, I just love them. When they grow up, they are ok. About 2 hours into the 3 hour event, Amy, the brains behind the magic, came into the infant room, and was bemoaning the fact that all the planned activities had been exhausted, the pizza was eaten, and Charlie Brown's Valentine's was almost over. I, in all my naivete, volunteered to help out with the 20 kids aged between 2-8. First was Simon Says, not too bad, then I decided to tell a story. In retrospect, I should have considered that my 3 younger siblings were among those I was telling the story. My telling was good, but the uninvited audience participation was a little disruptive to my flow. Kids, gotta love them. Shout-outs: Audrey, Amy, Kyle, Jesse, Jose Sr., Gabriella, Emi, and Trent.
Sunday. I went back to my old church to speak about my Liberia trip (which got pushed back to April 9), and see everybody again. I miss them.
Monday. Mom and Dad went to see Call+Response, a "rockumentary" attempting to draw attention to human trafficking and slavery in the world today. Mom is really passionate about this issue, and she surprised me a couple different times thanks to the movie. She purchased the soundtrack, which features some great artists and songs, and was listening to it. I came walking out of my room and heard some fairly uncharacteristic songs blasting out of the speakers. (Check out the playlist at www.callandresponse.com/mp3player) Not what I expect to hear Mom listening to. The other surprising time was at lunch. We were eating, and Mom was grooving to the songs, totally diverse songs. Reggae, rap, rock, folk. Breaking news! Mom is cool. Check out the site, and if possible, watch the movie, it was really good.
Tuesday, today. I am enduring 4 straight hours of school online, with a great reward. Tommorow I am going paintballing with my youth group, which should be hilarious and great fun. I feel like I missed a few days. I will have an update on the paintballing tommorow evening.
Valentine's Day. I worked my youth group's fundraiser, which consisted of baby-sitting for couples from our church. I got the best job of all, working with the infants. I love infants. They don't talk back, they cuddle nicely, they are the right size to carry around, they fall asleep at the drop of a hat, their smiles are so adorable with those little gums, I just love them. When they grow up, they are ok. About 2 hours into the 3 hour event, Amy, the brains behind the magic, came into the infant room, and was bemoaning the fact that all the planned activities had been exhausted, the pizza was eaten, and Charlie Brown's Valentine's was almost over. I, in all my naivete, volunteered to help out with the 20 kids aged between 2-8. First was Simon Says, not too bad, then I decided to tell a story. In retrospect, I should have considered that my 3 younger siblings were among those I was telling the story. My telling was good, but the uninvited audience participation was a little disruptive to my flow. Kids, gotta love them. Shout-outs: Audrey, Amy, Kyle, Jesse, Jose Sr., Gabriella, Emi, and Trent.
Sunday. I went back to my old church to speak about my Liberia trip (which got pushed back to April 9), and see everybody again. I miss them.
Monday. Mom and Dad went to see Call+Response, a "rockumentary" attempting to draw attention to human trafficking and slavery in the world today. Mom is really passionate about this issue, and she surprised me a couple different times thanks to the movie. She purchased the soundtrack, which features some great artists and songs, and was listening to it. I came walking out of my room and heard some fairly uncharacteristic songs blasting out of the speakers. (Check out the playlist at www.callandresponse.com/mp3player) Not what I expect to hear Mom listening to. The other surprising time was at lunch. We were eating, and Mom was grooving to the songs, totally diverse songs. Reggae, rap, rock, folk. Breaking news! Mom is cool. Check out the site, and if possible, watch the movie, it was really good.
Tuesday, today. I am enduring 4 straight hours of school online, with a great reward. Tommorow I am going paintballing with my youth group, which should be hilarious and great fun. I feel like I missed a few days. I will have an update on the paintballing tommorow evening.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Good Times
I love riding the bus. I know I have talked about this before, but I just love it. There are some interesting people, and they always make it worth my time.
Today on the bus was an IPTP who tied Chickenman for sheer interestingness. I noticed him as I was riding up to the bus. Tall, bearded, wearing a multi-colored hat and scarf, standing outside the bus smoking. As I rode past to put my bike on the rack, I noticed his T-shirt. Plain, dirty, white T-shirt with the words printed on it in black "World Peace through marijuana", and on the back "havethisbook.com". I was intrigued. The only open seat was right across from Potman. He started cutting up pieces of paper with with his url on them (www.havethisbook.com) to one per piece, small enough to be kept in a wallet. After being presented with one of his cards, I checked out his site. Some of his ideas were logical enough, if idealistic. His tirade against cars, and his idea that if all needs were provided for, everyone would work for free, provided that they enjoyed their work. His idea that everyone will eventually be using marijuana, which will result in world peace..........speaks for itself. A few of the more positively interesting things were how he travels (walking, with a few times of riding a bus), how he is running his website (he uses his computer as a FTP [file transfer protocol] server, and writes his stories and ideas, and downloads his pics, which are then available to everyone), who is helping him (no one), and how he describes himself "self-employed long-distance walker/journalist". Such a thought-provoking example of belief in an idea, and application of that belief to real life. Thank you, Victor.
A funny video I found a couple of weeks ago, wanted to share with those of you who haven't seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs&feature=bz303
A few little things that happened at the aquarium. Last week I forgot to mention that I was awarded the 250 hours pin, which comes with a license plate frame and a reusable bag. As I was getting off the smaller bus that takes me very close to the aquarium, a homeless gentleman asked me if I liked Indian jewelry. I do, but I had no money. We talked for a while, and I found out he was a full-blood Apache, who had served 16 years in the army. "2 tours in 'Nam, 3 tours in Cambodia, 2 tours in Laos!". As I was walking back to where I eat lunch, Coke in hand, one of the MBA staff was standing ahead of me, and she was asked for help by a guest. She turned to me and said, "This young man can help you, right?". I was not wearing my uniform, I was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans!! I did help the guest, he just needed a wheelchair, but being asked to help out of uniform, with a Coke in hand, was just funny, because for all the guest knew, I was just a random kid.
There were an average amount of people, which was surprising because of the AT&T tournament being held and the great weather. When I left Morgan Hill, there was snow on the distant hills, and it had rained, when I was in Monterey it hailed, and was just generally cold and miserable. Monterey was sunny and 60, most of the day. Not trying to gloat or anything, but it was awesome!
That's all I have for now. Happy Valentine's Day!
Today on the bus was an IPTP who tied Chickenman for sheer interestingness. I noticed him as I was riding up to the bus. Tall, bearded, wearing a multi-colored hat and scarf, standing outside the bus smoking. As I rode past to put my bike on the rack, I noticed his T-shirt. Plain, dirty, white T-shirt with the words printed on it in black "World Peace through marijuana", and on the back "havethisbook.com". I was intrigued. The only open seat was right across from Potman. He started cutting up pieces of paper with with his url on them (www.havethisbook.com) to one per piece, small enough to be kept in a wallet. After being presented with one of his cards, I checked out his site. Some of his ideas were logical enough, if idealistic. His tirade against cars, and his idea that if all needs were provided for, everyone would work for free, provided that they enjoyed their work. His idea that everyone will eventually be using marijuana, which will result in world peace..........speaks for itself. A few of the more positively interesting things were how he travels (walking, with a few times of riding a bus), how he is running his website (he uses his computer as a FTP [file transfer protocol] server, and writes his stories and ideas, and downloads his pics, which are then available to everyone), who is helping him (no one), and how he describes himself "self-employed long-distance walker/journalist". Such a thought-provoking example of belief in an idea, and application of that belief to real life. Thank you, Victor.
A funny video I found a couple of weeks ago, wanted to share with those of you who haven't seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs&feature=bz303
A few little things that happened at the aquarium. Last week I forgot to mention that I was awarded the 250 hours pin, which comes with a license plate frame and a reusable bag. As I was getting off the smaller bus that takes me very close to the aquarium, a homeless gentleman asked me if I liked Indian jewelry. I do, but I had no money. We talked for a while, and I found out he was a full-blood Apache, who had served 16 years in the army. "2 tours in 'Nam, 3 tours in Cambodia, 2 tours in Laos!". As I was walking back to where I eat lunch, Coke in hand, one of the MBA staff was standing ahead of me, and she was asked for help by a guest. She turned to me and said, "This young man can help you, right?". I was not wearing my uniform, I was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans!! I did help the guest, he just needed a wheelchair, but being asked to help out of uniform, with a Coke in hand, was just funny, because for all the guest knew, I was just a random kid.
There were an average amount of people, which was surprising because of the AT&T tournament being held and the great weather. When I left Morgan Hill, there was snow on the distant hills, and it had rained, when I was in Monterey it hailed, and was just generally cold and miserable. Monterey was sunny and 60, most of the day. Not trying to gloat or anything, but it was awesome!
That's all I have for now. Happy Valentine's Day!
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Week, As a Rollercoaster
For perhaps half of my week, I didn't blog, because I didn't have much to talk about, then the other half of my week. When I finally finished with the week, I realized that I hadn't blogged all week, so I started trying to remember what had happened. As I was attempting to recall how the week felt, this image popped into my head.....of a rollercoaster.
All rollercoasters have some starting point. Monday was that point for me, fairly tame day, the highlight was talking with a local Japanese business owner. (I have a post half-done on that) Tuesday was that little hill/curve/tunnel that is usually right after the start of the ride, just enough to make the build-up to the best part bearable. I went to SOC, and it was great. (That will be included in my other post) Wedensday was the least interesting day, the filler of the ride, that you can never remember. Thursday was the hill, climbing up, feeling at peace, enjoying the leisurely pace. Thursday night was the top of the hill, where you realize that you are about plummet down this giant slope, feeling exhiliration and terror at the same time. Friday morning through Sunday afternoon was the hill. Each day will be covered in some detail, but they all felt like one big blur, which left me tired and sore when I finally arrived at Monday.
Thursday was the most enjoyable day, because the rollercoaster moment late at night. I was lying in bed, thinking about the 3 days ahead of me. The feeling was like that on rollercoaster when you are at the top of the hill, about fly down. You can see the angle of the hill, feel the momentum pulling you over the top, feel the gravity pushing you into your seat, hear the wind whooshing past. There I was, and I could see the weeked rushing to meet me. Magical, terrifying, encouraging, exhilerating.
Friday morning was fairly drowsy, the bus was quiet, the sky was gray, the MBA was slow. One of the highlights was talking with a little Down Syndrome boy, about 7 or 8 years old. (Alex, my big brother has Down Syndrome) The funniest moment was at one of the touch pools.
Grandma and Grandpa, aged 55-65, Mother and Father aged 30-35, children aged 7 (male), 5 (male), 3 (female). The adult males seemed distantly interested, not bored, but not wanting to actively participate. All 3 of the females were plunging their hands in, trying to pick up animals, getting corrected, squeezing animals, getting corrected. The two boys were fairly unnerved by the animals, they kept looking at the animals like that decorator crab was getting ready to go for their cortid any second, or that rock was going to, by its own power, bash them in the temple. Grandma and Mother decided that their meek offspring just needed a little help. I was already providing a little help! I was slowly persuading the kids that everything was harmless. The ladies decided that what was really needed was a good grabbing of the arm and shoving aforementioned arm into the water, regardless of any resistance. The poor boys are looking at me, pleading for help, the men are looking at me with total resignment to their fate in life, and I'm sitting there, barely keeping my mouth shut. I felt so bad for all the males in that family, they troubled me the rest of the day.
The weather was bothersome. Monterey is prone to fogs, drizzles, and other dreary moisture. I love rain, but I was riding my bike, so the ride was similar to riding through a cold shower in jeans, with other people. Not the greatest thing, but not the worst.
Immediately after MBA was a progressive dinner with my youth group, so I just rode the bus all the way up to San Jose, with a stop in Morgan Hill. (Thanks Dad!) The dinner was really fun......and delicious. Quick rundown of the menu. Appitizers-taquitos, lil' sausages, vegetables-Salad-I had Ethiopian green beans, wow! So good. I was waxing poetic in the car trying to describe it.-Dinner-Teriakyi chicken, rice, salad-Dessert-Rice Crispies, fondue with apples, bananas, strawberries, and marshmellows, peanut butter cookies with Kisses on top, and Jell-o (I didn't get any Jell-o).
Saturday morning/afternoon was helping a friend of Mom's from high school move to a new house. Hard work. If I do something for someone else, I do it as hard as possible, there was quite a bit of stuff to move, but not the hardest move.....Not even close.
Saturday evening was the monthly Luke 14 party. There were a few really cool things to see. Andy, one of the guys who is part of the group, had a loooong conversation with "Skipper", one of the guests. Dan, one of the guys who lives at the house where the party takes place, had an equally long conversation with another one of the guests in Spainish. Pretty cool.
Sunday morning was made up of going to church (Sunday school was about the discipline of studying), and making an announcment that the Liberia ICE team needed financial help. Afternoon was a Liberia meeting, small group (about the Holy Spirit), a meeting for Mom, in which I paid no attention. The rest of the day was fairly tame, though I was pretty tired.
Monday was very normal. I was tired and sore from helping Ernie move. Tuesday was pretty much the same.
Today (Wenseday) was a bit more exciting, and broke me out of the tired rut. My online class was great, I had a ball.
Tommorow my whole family will invade my youth pastor'ss house for dinner, and I will get a haircut. (Not in that order)
All rollercoasters have some starting point. Monday was that point for me, fairly tame day, the highlight was talking with a local Japanese business owner. (I have a post half-done on that) Tuesday was that little hill/curve/tunnel that is usually right after the start of the ride, just enough to make the build-up to the best part bearable. I went to SOC, and it was great. (That will be included in my other post) Wedensday was the least interesting day, the filler of the ride, that you can never remember. Thursday was the hill, climbing up, feeling at peace, enjoying the leisurely pace. Thursday night was the top of the hill, where you realize that you are about plummet down this giant slope, feeling exhiliration and terror at the same time. Friday morning through Sunday afternoon was the hill. Each day will be covered in some detail, but they all felt like one big blur, which left me tired and sore when I finally arrived at Monday.
Thursday was the most enjoyable day, because the rollercoaster moment late at night. I was lying in bed, thinking about the 3 days ahead of me. The feeling was like that on rollercoaster when you are at the top of the hill, about fly down. You can see the angle of the hill, feel the momentum pulling you over the top, feel the gravity pushing you into your seat, hear the wind whooshing past. There I was, and I could see the weeked rushing to meet me. Magical, terrifying, encouraging, exhilerating.
Friday morning was fairly drowsy, the bus was quiet, the sky was gray, the MBA was slow. One of the highlights was talking with a little Down Syndrome boy, about 7 or 8 years old. (Alex, my big brother has Down Syndrome) The funniest moment was at one of the touch pools.
Grandma and Grandpa, aged 55-65, Mother and Father aged 30-35, children aged 7 (male), 5 (male), 3 (female). The adult males seemed distantly interested, not bored, but not wanting to actively participate. All 3 of the females were plunging their hands in, trying to pick up animals, getting corrected, squeezing animals, getting corrected. The two boys were fairly unnerved by the animals, they kept looking at the animals like that decorator crab was getting ready to go for their cortid any second, or that rock was going to, by its own power, bash them in the temple. Grandma and Mother decided that their meek offspring just needed a little help. I was already providing a little help! I was slowly persuading the kids that everything was harmless. The ladies decided that what was really needed was a good grabbing of the arm and shoving aforementioned arm into the water, regardless of any resistance. The poor boys are looking at me, pleading for help, the men are looking at me with total resignment to their fate in life, and I'm sitting there, barely keeping my mouth shut. I felt so bad for all the males in that family, they troubled me the rest of the day.
The weather was bothersome. Monterey is prone to fogs, drizzles, and other dreary moisture. I love rain, but I was riding my bike, so the ride was similar to riding through a cold shower in jeans, with other people. Not the greatest thing, but not the worst.
Immediately after MBA was a progressive dinner with my youth group, so I just rode the bus all the way up to San Jose, with a stop in Morgan Hill. (Thanks Dad!) The dinner was really fun......and delicious. Quick rundown of the menu. Appitizers-taquitos, lil' sausages, vegetables-Salad-I had Ethiopian green beans, wow! So good. I was waxing poetic in the car trying to describe it.-Dinner-Teriakyi chicken, rice, salad-Dessert-Rice Crispies, fondue with apples, bananas, strawberries, and marshmellows, peanut butter cookies with Kisses on top, and Jell-o (I didn't get any Jell-o).
Saturday morning/afternoon was helping a friend of Mom's from high school move to a new house. Hard work. If I do something for someone else, I do it as hard as possible, there was quite a bit of stuff to move, but not the hardest move.....Not even close.
Saturday evening was the monthly Luke 14 party. There were a few really cool things to see. Andy, one of the guys who is part of the group, had a loooong conversation with "Skipper", one of the guests. Dan, one of the guys who lives at the house where the party takes place, had an equally long conversation with another one of the guests in Spainish. Pretty cool.
Sunday morning was made up of going to church (Sunday school was about the discipline of studying), and making an announcment that the Liberia ICE team needed financial help. Afternoon was a Liberia meeting, small group (about the Holy Spirit), a meeting for Mom, in which I paid no attention. The rest of the day was fairly tame, though I was pretty tired.
Monday was very normal. I was tired and sore from helping Ernie move. Tuesday was pretty much the same.
Today (Wenseday) was a bit more exciting, and broke me out of the tired rut. My online class was great, I had a ball.
Tommorow my whole family will invade my youth pastor'ss house for dinner, and I will get a haircut. (Not in that order)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Business People Love the Planet Too
This year, as an SOC ambassador, I am doing a year-long environmental project in my local community. In an effort to choose an area which I am interested and have skills and knowledge, I decided to spread awareness of the environmental impact of seafood in my town. After meeting 2 owners, I wanted to amend my project to be about exploring the business side of sustainable seafood and gaining understanding of how businesspeople think about this issue.
The first place I went was a Japanese haha and oto-san restaurant, and I really had my naive little eyes opened. In all my talking about sustainable seafood, conservation, etc. I never stopped to think very much about the business side. The chef had a few things to say that were game-changing for me. Regarding yellowtail, known as hamachi he said that he knew about the environmental issues, and had tried the more environmentally friendly choice, and it tasted "inferior". I never thought that the fish wouldn't taste as good, but the idea made sense to me. Why change if the taste is not as good? Another fish he mentioned, monkfish, and its liver, known as ankimo and ankoh are apparently a traditional delicacy, akin to corned beef and cabbage for Irish families. As I was getting ready to leave, he said something that stuck with me, in a really positive way. "We are all for ocean-friendly here!"
My second stop was the one small fish market in town, Pappy's Fish Market. The owner was very nice, and he also had some interesting things to say. We were agreeing about most of the sustainable seafood idea, but he was violently opposed to farmed seafood, for understandable reasons, but their are plenty of exceptions, which was the confusing part for me. The thing from there that really stuck with me was the idea that a business owner might have some reason to not serve a particular item, in this case it was taste, method of harvest, and health effects.
Both places said they would like to work with me, and would allow me to post some Seafood Watch Cards. SCORE!!
SOC was great fun! I arrived early to work on an experimental SOC podcast, which would consist of a recording of the speaker, and the Q-and-A time, available for download on Itunes. This session was just a test to see what we would need to do to make it perfect next time. The speaker was actually a panel of a local resturant P.R. lady, the excutive chef at the MBA resturant, and one of the MBA staff. Great questions from the kids, so encouraging. My favorite question was a follow-up to a question about what other environmentally practices the speakers were involved in. One of the answers was using CFL's, and the follow-up was "CFL's have been shown to have high amounts of mercury, are they the best choice, or could you do something else to lower your power consumption?" This question, and others like it are near and dear to my heart. Cynical, pessimistic, and contrary, we need more people like that, tempering the conversation everywhere.
Hopefully before the end of next week I will be able to keep moving forward with my local campaign.
That's it. If you have any conservation questions, feel free to ask.
The first place I went was a Japanese haha and oto-san restaurant, and I really had my naive little eyes opened. In all my talking about sustainable seafood, conservation, etc. I never stopped to think very much about the business side. The chef had a few things to say that were game-changing for me. Regarding yellowtail, known as hamachi he said that he knew about the environmental issues, and had tried the more environmentally friendly choice, and it tasted "inferior". I never thought that the fish wouldn't taste as good, but the idea made sense to me. Why change if the taste is not as good? Another fish he mentioned, monkfish, and its liver, known as ankimo and ankoh are apparently a traditional delicacy, akin to corned beef and cabbage for Irish families. As I was getting ready to leave, he said something that stuck with me, in a really positive way. "We are all for ocean-friendly here!"
My second stop was the one small fish market in town, Pappy's Fish Market. The owner was very nice, and he also had some interesting things to say. We were agreeing about most of the sustainable seafood idea, but he was violently opposed to farmed seafood, for understandable reasons, but their are plenty of exceptions, which was the confusing part for me. The thing from there that really stuck with me was the idea that a business owner might have some reason to not serve a particular item, in this case it was taste, method of harvest, and health effects.
Both places said they would like to work with me, and would allow me to post some Seafood Watch Cards. SCORE!!
SOC was great fun! I arrived early to work on an experimental SOC podcast, which would consist of a recording of the speaker, and the Q-and-A time, available for download on Itunes. This session was just a test to see what we would need to do to make it perfect next time. The speaker was actually a panel of a local resturant P.R. lady, the excutive chef at the MBA resturant, and one of the MBA staff. Great questions from the kids, so encouraging. My favorite question was a follow-up to a question about what other environmentally practices the speakers were involved in. One of the answers was using CFL's, and the follow-up was "CFL's have been shown to have high amounts of mercury, are they the best choice, or could you do something else to lower your power consumption?" This question, and others like it are near and dear to my heart. Cynical, pessimistic, and contrary, we need more people like that, tempering the conversation everywhere.
Hopefully before the end of next week I will be able to keep moving forward with my local campaign.
That's it. If you have any conservation questions, feel free to ask.
Super Bowl Blues, and Super Bowl Dishes
I confess, I was cheering for the losers. I wanted the Cardinals to win, not because I really like them, but because it was their 1st Super Bowl ever, and I liked some of their players. When they lost I was not crushed, but fairly dissapointed, because they were looking good. Perhaps 2 minutes after the game was over, I got a call......from Al. Rarely is a call from Al a good thing, and this particular call was no exception. I made a bet with Al, that if the Cards won, he would do all the dishes for 3 days, and if the Stinkers won, I would do all the dishes for 3 days. Alex wanted to make sure I knew that the Steelers won, and I could be looking forward to 3 days of dishes. Thanks buddy! Really needed that morale boost!
I watched the game at my youth pastor's house (thank you both for your hospitality!), with a few of the youth, and Sadeep (not a youth but a friend of Kyle), and Kyle's immediate family. This game was the most fun to watch, partly because of the company, and partly because the game was great.
Right around the 4th quarter two of the youth had left (which was okay, because they weren't really loving the game anyway) and the living room had been transformed into a hotbed of Cardinal passion, sometimes filled with screams against dumb refs, other times witnessing the phenomon of people yelling instructions at players, who cannot hear them, and if they could, would wish they couldn't.
As far as the actual game went, there were a few striking plays or moments.
1. Kurt Warner, who had been called a has-been, too slow for the game, and past NFL retirement age, showed that age and cunning will come very close to triumphing over youth and vigor. Of the two quarterbacks, Warner was far better, and his fumble was an incomplete pass. (Dumb ref moment) Big Ben just seemed better because the Cards couldn't tackle for squat, the pass rating showed that Warner was actually the better of the two.
2. James Harrison. Nobody knew who this guy was before this. The star of the Steeler's formidable D was supposed to by Polamou, but Harrison, a linebacker, stole the show with his 100 yard interception return for a touchdown, and then his confusion between MMA and football. The interception return was surprising for a man of his size, but the punching and choke-throw was hilarious. I'm sure the man knew that is not allowed, and that there were people watching who could punish that infraction of the rules. (Mr. Harrison, they are called referees.)
3. The wide recivers on both teams. Great catches!
A main component of the Super Bowl is the commercials, and this year they were.........interesting. MC Hammer and Ed McMahon? A fake Matt Lauer interview of a Will Ferrel character, and a real Matt Lauer interview of Will Ferrel. A commercial for a car, which features cars by competitors.
I did not listen to the halftime show, just because Springsteen is not "my cup of tea".
I am now at the MBA, trying to kill a hour, then I am going to try podcasting, along with 2 other SOC members. 1 ambassdor and 1 student to be precise.
I think I will start a post that is not Super Bowl related.
I watched the game at my youth pastor's house (thank you both for your hospitality!), with a few of the youth, and Sadeep (not a youth but a friend of Kyle), and Kyle's immediate family. This game was the most fun to watch, partly because of the company, and partly because the game was great.
Right around the 4th quarter two of the youth had left (which was okay, because they weren't really loving the game anyway) and the living room had been transformed into a hotbed of Cardinal passion, sometimes filled with screams against dumb refs, other times witnessing the phenomon of people yelling instructions at players, who cannot hear them, and if they could, would wish they couldn't.
As far as the actual game went, there were a few striking plays or moments.
1. Kurt Warner, who had been called a has-been, too slow for the game, and past NFL retirement age, showed that age and cunning will come very close to triumphing over youth and vigor. Of the two quarterbacks, Warner was far better, and his fumble was an incomplete pass. (Dumb ref moment) Big Ben just seemed better because the Cards couldn't tackle for squat, the pass rating showed that Warner was actually the better of the two.
2. James Harrison. Nobody knew who this guy was before this. The star of the Steeler's formidable D was supposed to by Polamou, but Harrison, a linebacker, stole the show with his 100 yard interception return for a touchdown, and then his confusion between MMA and football. The interception return was surprising for a man of his size, but the punching and choke-throw was hilarious. I'm sure the man knew that is not allowed, and that there were people watching who could punish that infraction of the rules. (Mr. Harrison, they are called referees.)
3. The wide recivers on both teams. Great catches!
A main component of the Super Bowl is the commercials, and this year they were.........interesting. MC Hammer and Ed McMahon? A fake Matt Lauer interview of a Will Ferrel character, and a real Matt Lauer interview of Will Ferrel. A commercial for a car, which features cars by competitors.
I did not listen to the halftime show, just because Springsteen is not "my cup of tea".
I am now at the MBA, trying to kill a hour, then I am going to try podcasting, along with 2 other SOC members. 1 ambassdor and 1 student to be precise.
I think I will start a post that is not Super Bowl related.
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