Today's Funny Comic

I saw this, and it was just too good to keep to myself.

Do Weeks Have Themes?

I love weekends! I love the week too, but weekends have the potential for so much variety.
For this weekend I will have a quick rundown, and then random musings, stories, and ideas from that same time.

Saturday-Alex had a "Scout" baseball game (Scout means that all the players are handicapped), then the whole family went to a funeral for a man who went to our old church.
Sunday-Church, (Bagel Shop Sunday) then a parent's meeting after service, which meant that all the youth were aimlessly hanging around, looking for anything to do. After that was done, we all went shopping at Target.
Monday-Alex and I rode the bus to San Jose for a dentist appointment.
Tuesday-Not much really.
Wedensday-More of the same.

On to the random stuff.
Alex got a baseball bat, so one evening we went to the park and hit a few. The memories came rushing, both mental, as well as muscular. I haven't mentioned this before, but I lived in Iowa before moving to California 5 years ago. Part of why I haven't mentioned it is because it was not an enjoyable time in my life. Except for the sports. I learned how to play basketball, baseball, and football there, thanks to a few men who set aside much of their non-working life to teach the 15 or so boys around my age who lived in or close to my town of 550 people. The rush, the crowd (or whatever you call a audience of 25), the team atmosphere, the competition, the skills, that moment when all eyes turn on you, that feeling you get right after a great play, the letdown of losing a close game, muffing the catch, missing the block, and swinging at that high 3rd strike. I love it. I miss it. Playing with Al was pretty fun too!

I love helping people, and wanting to tell someone, to brag about what a great thing you did. As soon as you tell, you feel like a bragger, but if you keep it to yourself, it glows inside you, and warms you.

I am an eater. I like food, and if I don't eat enough often enough, then I get very hungry and have to eat a lot. At the funeral, I hadn't eaten for several hours, which is a long time for me. So when I saw the food at the reception, I was thrilled. My first plate was moderate, not heaping, just full. As soon as I sat down, I got kiddded, mocked, and criticized for the amount of food on my plate. I was hungry!!

This is a great article about narcissism.
http://www.slate.com/id/2213740/pagenum/all/#p2

We all went to the library today, by as a whole we checked out over 110 items. I personally got about 15. Reviews will be forthcoming.

I have begun to realize what a formidable group my family is in public places. Alex, who acts like a handicapped person (rightfully so), me, I imagine I am hard to catagorize, and then Mandy, Nick and Beth. The three littles typically are fairly uninhibited in their behavior, which can be surprising in today's society of unwritten rules and expectations. Poor Mom. I'm sorry.

I don't know if this is me, or if it is real, but I am noticing a lot of "children's" books that are really good. Funny, thought-provoking, surprising, engaging and creative. Perhaps I just have so much around me, that it is soaking in.

I got a new phone two days ago, and I am pumped! My old phone sounded like I was talking to people, but the people were rolling around in piles of wax paper. My new one not only sounds great, but it has a camera, and not-awful ringtones. It also is very, very tough. It meets army specs for a whole truckload of bad stuff. Everything short of a bullet it seems.

Tommorow Mandy and Mom are going to a ballet in San Francisco, so I will be staying home with Nick, Beth, and Alex. After that, I will be going down to Gilroy to fill up my CO2 tank for paintballing, doing laundry, and preparing for a crazy weekend.

Can't wait!!
That's it for now!
Have a great one!

I Am A Type A Personality

I had a stark realization today at the MBA. I am a type-A personality, even compared to some other type-A'ers. This may not come as a shock to most, or even all of you, but I just thought that I was a bit more out-going, a bit more confident. Today I was teamed with another type-A'er, Bruce, and the combination of the two of us must have been overwhelming for more than one guest. There are plenty of outgoing, knowledgeable volunteers on the shift, but most of them are a bit more reserved, a bit less rambunctious. Interesting.


My shift typically has some kind "enrichment", which is when we learn about something the MBA. Last week some questions had been raised about the rotation of animals in the touchpools, and Dan, the staff member assigned to our shift, got some answers for us. (Once a month in the down season, twice a month in the busy season) Poor Dan spent all of his time, around 25 minutes, answering questions that were raised by his previous answers. I loved the democracy of the whole thing, almost half the shift had at least one question.


The day-long test of my childcare skills didn't go badly. That said, the amount of humble groveling, unquestioning obedience, and fear and trembling was generally lacking. Thanks to Marge and Ernie for bringing meals! Ernie, a friend of Mom's from high school, brought by Boston Market. Boston Market it turns out, is basically Thanksgiving, with excessive plastic packaging. I found out that I don't like Thanksgiving food, except for on Thanksgiving.  I think my love of the day is less about the food and more about the fun that accompanies that food.


Someone wrote LEODY on a part of my bus.


Everything is so green around here. After the rains have come and gone, and the world is no longer gray, and not yet brown, it looks so idyllic.


Big props to Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer. Cheers to Jon for his willingness to take off his funnyman hat, and be serious for a bit. Cheers to Jim for his willingness to stick his neck out, even after being warned by Martha, and his willingness to take some blame, and shed some light on the issue.



Sticking with my little Twitter theme, I thought this was pretty good.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/13/police.social.networking/index.html?iref=werecommend



One more cool thing. Grand Central, an online telephone service, was bought and is being re-released as Google Voice, which will be free. Voice mails can be transcribed, and custom messages can be recorded for particular callers. All free. Wondering how this will make money.

I Couldn't Believe This

Hey readers,
Just wanted to post a link to a mind-blowing story.
Thanks to Wired!
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/magazine/17-04/ff_diamonds?currentPage=all
I will have a real post on the bus ride home today.

New Things

This week has been pretty quiet so far, with a few fun things, and a few new things that I have been given.


New things: haircut, shoes, paintball gun. Yes, I finally did pick up my gun from Aaron and I love it. Thanks to Dad for a great idea. He suggested that I could airbrush my gun to be camouflaged, using his airbrush. I was really pleased with how it came out, and had fun painting it too. Pictures of before are here and pictures of after are here.

Sunday was pretty fun, the young men spent some time planning their summer overnight paintball adventure. 

Tomorrow I might either go to Coraline with Alex, or go to a paintball shop, and then to a military surplus store to pick up some stuff for a game that will be on the 21st.

This Wednesday my folks are going down to Watsonville, leaving all of us children here at home, while they enjoy a lovely get-away night. I will have a report on how that goes here on the domestic/boring end.

There will be some kind of update when something interesting happens.

Awesome!

First, some really exciting news!
At SOC Tuesday night, I found out what I will be doing next year. My official title will be "Intern-Education Department", first Education intern ever. My role will be fairly expansive. I will help train the Ambassadors (I am currently the senior Ambassador), I will help the Ambassadors with any problems they have, I will help them with their conversation project, I will be the liaison between the Ambassadors, the Mentors (the adult volunteers), and the staff, I will help assemble the PowerPoints for the meetings, and the year-end meeting. This is very exciting to me!

This is an article I found that was very interesting, and pretty funny to me.  It was striking to me how hard to replicate the human touch is. I loved listening to the audio clips, highly reconmmend doing so.
http://www.slate.com/id/2212800/pagenum/all/#p2

 I also need to rave about a great book I just finished. Moral Politics, How Liberals and Conservatives Think, by George Lakoff. Mr. Lakoff is "cognitive linguist" at UC Berkley. Much of the book looked at what shapes the conservative and liberal position on issues, how the language used in discussion shapes the discussion, and why conversatives and liberals give each other that look questioning what planet the other is from. Such an interesting lens through which to look at politics.  Great stuff!

I have been riding the bus a bit recently, and I have noticed a few classes of people on the bus.
The Babe in the Woods-This rider doesn't realize what kind of people are around him or her, and smiles happily at others, talks loudly on the phone, moves over for others, not pay attention to any commotion, and repeatedly request a stop, then shout "Sorry, wrong one!!".
The Woody Allen-This rider realizes exactly what kind of people are around him or her, and huddle in the corner of their seat, not touching anything until they get off, avoid eye contact, speak, if at all, on the phone in hushed tones, look at every passenger as if they want to do awful things, and in general look meek and defeated.
The Unwilling Rider-This rider most likely is riding to save money, or because they don't have a car, or because they got their license revoked. Typically seen brooding in a seat, glaring at those around them, complaining about the tiniest problem with the driving, listening to music just loud enough for those around them to hear, but too quiet for the driver, and muttering "50 in a 35 zone, 50 in a 35 zone" over and over.
The Commuter-This rider is the best kind to sit next to, they will leave you alone, they smell nice, and are quiet. They typically carry briefcases, wear a tie, use a headset or Bluetooth for phone calls, take exactly half of the seat, thank the driver, get up and off in a courteous manner, with plenty of "excuse me's", and never offer their seat up.
The Crazy-This rider has many variations, but typically listen to music, eat food, or read the newspaper. Other identifying characteristics include unidentifiable smells, an encyclopedic knowledge of the bus system, an unsettlingly friendly demeanor, and a constant moving, in search of "The Best Seat".
The Battle-Scarred Veteran-This rider is rarely seen, due to its amazing ability to move silently onto the bus, and exit, without drawing any attention to itself. Characteristics are rumored to include clothes patterned to match the upholstery on the seats, the ability to ride in the same seat as another passenger, knowledge of every bus driver's first name, and being able to jump out the window, instead of requesting a stop.
 The Tourist-Any rider with luggage not riding to the airport is a tourist, and as such is shunned by other non-tourists. Common features include a total inability to stow their luggage somewhere convinent, repeated phone calls asking where they should get off, getting up to look at a route map, often for the wrong route, talking to the driver, and unnessecary smiles at other riders
The Loud Talker-Typically juveniles, in groups of 3-10. Identifying features include the ability to talk so loud that even music turned up all the way on headphones is still drowned out, to talk about absolutely nothing for 2 hours straight, at least 3 times the lung capacity of regular riders, which allows them to talk longer without breathing, and the insidious desire to draw other riders into their inane conversation.


Anyone can fall into these catagories, and there are exceptions, sometimes riders in multiple categories,  sometimes new catagories are discovered, but typically these hold true.

This very moment, I sit on a couch, "babysitting". In reality I am hanging out at a different house, mooching a neighbor's Internet, and listening to hear if anyone wakes up.

That's all I have for now.
Have a great day, and report new catagories of riders if you spot one!

There Are All Kinds Of Crazy

This week was filled with various kinds of craziness, and it was quite enjoyable. I like craziness. I think I will just jump right in.

Friday always has the potential to be crazy, but it can sneak up on me, pop out of no where, or, it can sit next to me on the bus home. The bus ride home is always more exciting, more people, who are more talkative, and there is a far greater probability that one (or more) of those people is interesting. My IPTP for last week was Michael. He sat down next to me after looking around the bus and muttering a curse under his breath at those who did not want to share a seat with him. His feelings about this, as I found out later, well, I will let the man speak for himself. "Man, you paid for one seat, man, if you want 2 seats, you better pay for that **** man!"  Michael had a distinct odor, not quite a stench, but not a scent. I can describe it as B.O., with undertones of pot, alcohol, and bad breath.

I wanted to highlight some of  Michael's interesting conversation. Among some of Michael's odditys were his dissertation on how "country" Prunedale is, "This place is like some **** out of Twilight Zone or some **** like that man! ******* country man, look out there, what ******* year does that look like?", a rant against someone in the backseat listening to music without headphones "Man, turn that **** down, or get some headphones, that's what they make them for man! ****! I hear that **** enough in my hood, I don't need to hear that on the bus!", angry musings upon our delay at a stop for nearly 20 minutes, "****! What is going on up there?!? When I get off, I'mma ask the driver, 'What the **** was that about man?'" Michael also asked for 2 dollars to ride the bus back to his house (I obliged) and he asked 5 or 6 times where I was getting off. Amazingly enough, my answer was the same every time.

One more funny thing on the bus. There were 3 Japanese girls (women?) on the bus, and each of them had 2 pieces of luggage. They had most of it stowed under seats, or on seats, but one piece was sitting next to a seat, in the aisle. As it would happen, that luggage was across from the rear door, which has 4 steps leading out and down. The first turn the bus went around, that luggage slid right into that door! I did not laugh out loud. I did not feel bad though, since any application of common sense would have forseen such an event.

Saturday was pretty quiet as I remember. We watch Casablanca and the day before we had watched Guys and Dolls. There is something far more elegant about old movies, when the brainstormers were not trying to think of a movie which could bring in people, but think of a movie with a story, that will stay with you after you leave. I would have liked living in the '40s and '50s. Except for the music.

Church on Sunday was good, not remarkable, but good. We rushed home, in order to be on time for a baby shower for one of our neighbors. Silly us. For the first 30 minutes, we were 1 of 2 families that invited that were actually there. Then the other family left, and we were alone, then more people came, and the numbers went up to 10ish. This was an hour after the party "started". I forgot to explain that the host family, and all the guests, were Hispanic, oh, except for us. It would have easy to tell that I was white, because I brought my chess board, and was playing for a while. The party lasted around 8 hours, but we went home after 6, then went back to get some dessert. The food. I had a tamale (pork). It was great! Fresh out, melt-in-your-mouth texture, satisfying flavor, not too hot, but enough to be authentic, great boquet too. That was the first course. The entree was posole, which seems to be the equivilint of hamburgers and hot dogs for Hispanic parties. I have had posole several times, and it has never been the same. Sometimes more spicy, sometimes with a hint of chocolate (very Aztec), sometimes the broth is dark, sometimes light, the meat can be beef, chicken, or pork. Yesterday's was a fairly light broth, not very spicy, with pork as the meat. I like pork. I do not like pork skin, or pork bones. At all. Despite these few negative qualities, the food was great, the one new thing was radish in salsa. Really good. Dessert was fruit salad, with shredded coconut, and lots of some kind of milky liquid that didn't exactly taste like milk, pink jello thing, that almost tasted like tapioca. Good stuff. The two crazy things: it seems like all Hispanic hostess feel the irresitable urge to try to "fatten me up" in just one meal (I weigh 150-something), and every Hispanic event we have showed up to on time has run over by several hours. We cannot get into our heads that showing up on time is pointless, because everyone shows up 1-3 hours late. I think it is hilarious.

Amazingly enough, that is all the craziness I have for now, but I will have more, I can just feel it.
Have a good day!