SmackyMac's Den of Zen.

Another

2009-08-29T19:41:00.001-07:00

So, in discussing how we measure a person (and by discussing I mean, I started out asking questions and Del and GG answered), I determined I hadn't gone about the idea I had in mind the right way.

So here's another go around.

If you were to define the concept "a good person," how would you define it?

A good person is...

?

A short one

2009-08-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

How do you measure someone's worth?

By what they've done?
By what they could do?
By the values they espouse?
By qualities they possess?

Or by something else?

I live!

2009-08-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

OK.

So, new posts shall begin. Starting now.

...
...
...

But with nothing much to say, how's about just a joke.

Joe and Dave are hunting when Dave keels over. Frantic, Joe dials 911 on his cell phone and blurts, "My friend just dropped dead! What should I do?"
A soothing voice at the other end says, "Don't worry, I can help. First, let's make sure he's really dead."
After a brief silence, the operator hears a shot. Then Joe comes back to the phone. "Okay," he says nervously to the operator. "What do I do next?"

Is It Ever Too Late...

2009-07-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

...to apologize?

For not blogging for 5 months?

For a wrong done to someone 5 years ago?

For a wrong done 10 years ago?

What about 20 years ago?

Is there a point in time in which it is too late to apologize for something?

Does it matter what the thing is, whether it's major or minor?

Shamelessly Stolen From G

2009-03-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, one of my high school friends - a really great photographer btw - has a blog. I won't share it as I dunno if she'd like that. But I was reading today's post, and it was really interesting, so I stole it, re-branded it and posted it here. And now.

If you had to sum up your life in 6 words, what would those words be?

The idea comes from this site, which is based off of a book that was newly released. The book (and website) is a collection of random people and their 6 words. Some are funny, some are poignant, some are weird. But they're all very interesting.

So, if you had to write your six words, what would they be?

I'm still working on mine. I will post it when I come up with it.

Perceptions

2009-03-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

How do you know when your perceptions are accurate and right?

Hypothetical:

5 people and 1 supervisor (for a total of 6 people) are involved in a project to create something - a widget. At the end of one stage in the project, 2 of the participants have the perception that the project leader is acting unfairly and giving some voices more weight than other voices (their voices). The other 3 participants feel that the project is being handled fairly and equitably.
How do any of the parties know their perception or feeling is right?

More information:

The supervisor asks for everyone's opinion and gives each party equal time to talk. He never criticizes anyone, but instead encourages people to talk. However, the resulting widget has more taken from the three participants than from the 2 complaining participants.

Would that sway your opinion as to whose perception is right/accurate?

Different facts:

The supervisor controls who talks when and for how long. He limits some participants from talking while giving other participants free rein to talk as much as they want. The 2 participants who feel the project is unfairly done were the people who had limited speaking time. The widget still takes more from the three participants than from the 2 participants.

If these different facts were given, would you change your mind?

Or do you take the zen position, that everyone's perceptions are right and accurate?
_____

It just seems difficult to know which perceptions are right and which are biased because of your outlook/history/current situation. And it becomes more difficult to know which perceptions are valid when, in a group situation, most of the group disagrees with your perception.

Your comments are appreciated.

Picking up where we left off

2009-03-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Skewbie sent me an email about human-ness, and reminded me that I hadn't picked up where I left off. So here's me, picking the discussion back up, brushing it off, and seeing whether time has make wine from the grapes of my thoughts.

Before, I had come to the conclusion that, to pick at this concept of right to life in fetuses (fetii?) I had to either say that rights like the right to life aren't granted right away OR the right to life isn't a fundamental right OR that there was some superseding reason that overcame the fetus' right to life in the womb.

If we assume for the purposes of the argument that there is a fundamental right to life (which I am not convinced that there is [death penalty]) and we assume that the baby gets the right to life from conception (which I'm not sure I agree with), then all we're left with is the idea that there must be something else that legally overcomes the baby's right to life.

One of the big arguments is that the life of the mother can take precedent over the life of the fetus if the mother's life is in danger. Most of the States' abortion laws leave the exception for life of the mother - some even include the general health of the mother.

So that seems to be a universally accepted superseding reason to deny a fetus the fundamental right to life.

Are there other reasons? Some people argue that the fetus is a part of the mother's body, and as such the mother has the right to do with it as she pleases. Almost a fetus-as-property argument. If the mother "owns" the fetus just as she "owns" her body, then the fetus' right to life is not yet developed to a point of overtaking the mother's interest in her body. Looking at this idea, though, I could bring out a probably-ridiculous idea: does one Siamese twin have a greater interest in the shared body than the other Siamese twin? If there is this idea of "my body, my business" then where does the law draw the line? Does it help that both twins are of the same developmental stage at the same time?

Other people argue that the baby will be developmentally disabled or fatally disabled and so would not live beyond a few days/would live a half life/would live a life of extreme suffering, and so the mother is doing the baby and everyone involved a favor (that sounds insensitive, I know, but I mean it in the best sense) and sparing them the misery and suffering. I'm not sure what the legal phrase for this is. It almost sounds like an argument that could be used for assisted suicide, another sticky spot in the law.

I can't think of any other reasons people have for saying the rights of the mother supersede the right to life of the fetus (if it has one). If you have another reason why the fundamental right of the fetus to live should be trumped, sound off. I'm sure there are reasons I've forgotten.

Finally, I want to link the article I was sent that reminded me to get back on this. This article suggests that life is more of a sort of continuum, and that it's tough to say where a human life begins. And I feel like the author is making a distinction between biological "life" and legal "life".

But, the article does say - unless I am misreading it - that the little zygote is not human.

"I'm also confident that the freshly fertilized zygote is not human, either. There's more to being human than bearing a cell with the right collection of genes."

So maybe our definition of human needs another look at. Not now, but sometime down the road...

Hu Man 4: Return of The Shredder

2009-02-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

With a general idea of human - though I am refraining from picking at the definition of organism - we can now move onto the less scientific, more ethical/moral/economical side of the debate.

When should we give humans rights?

We acknowledge that some rights are not fundamental rights. But the right to life has always been a "fundamental" right - one that always exists.

If the right to life begins at conception, a chain of bad consequences follow.

1. The woman who spontaneously aborts is now a murderer.
2. IVF scientists are now murderers, and the current method of helping women become pregnant basically halts.
3. Abortion is outlawed - cept maybe in narrow cases where the mother's life is in danger. Maybe, depending on how it's written.
4. Women who become pregnant by rape now have to carry the baby to term.
5. Women whose babies have major handicap issues (like spina bifuda) could not abort, even if they baby would not live beyond a day outside the womb.
6. what else?

But does all of that justify denying humans the right to life - a right we deem fundamental? It is in the heart of our most valuable legal documents - "...inherent and inalienable rights..." Can we justify tossing aside one of the most important and basic rights because it'd make life a lot more complicated?

I feel like there is a problem with the idea that the little fertilized egg, one minute after conception, is protected. Especially since it's not always a guaranteed baby. But I'm uncertain as to what the problem is - where the error in reasoning lies.

If you're like me, and have a problem with the idea that the baby should be protected from minute one, it seems like we can pick at this problem from a few different angles:
1. We can say the definition of human is incorrect.
2. We can say that the right to life is not a fundamental right (and maybe it's not always present).
3. We can say there is something else that supercedes the fundamental right to life.

I don't know which of these I'll use. Or maybe there's another area we can focus on. So this is still a work in progress, but that's where I've progressed to.

Hu Man 33 1/3

2009-02-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

New post to keep my thoughts from overrunning the comments page.

To this point, I am focusing on the question "What is a human?" The article talks about when humans get rights, and I'll get to that issue, but before I can say when humans get rights, I need to know what a human is. Is the little zygote a human? If it isn't even human, the second question is moot and we can all have some pie. So I have been kicking around ideas and hypotheses about how to define "human." I'll get to the question of when humans get those fundamental rights like the right to life, just not yet.

So far, my definition of "human" has been attached to genes. A human is a thing that shares the genetic code of homo sapien. But what kind of thing? Anything, or a specific subset of things? Would it be any organism that shares the genetic code? Any group of cells? Any single cell? Does it have to be capable of life?

More on these questions as I get to them. They probably seem like silly questions, but I want to make sure I have a clear workable definition about what IS and what IS NOT human.

Hu Man part deux

2009-02-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

Jerris said:

Maybe I'll have more to add later, but I want to hear your views on who/what gets all the rights of a human being. Would you consider the intentional ending of the life of any of the following beings murder?

1. A brain dead human
2. Apes that learn sign language
3. The terminally ill

I was going to respond in the comments, but it got to be too long, so here it is as it's own post.

@ Jerris:

Murder is, of course, defined as "the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought."

So for any of those to be murder, the elements have to be met.

1. unlawful killing
2. of another human
3. with malice aforethought (a higher level of intent or negligence than accidental)

In each case, I can imagine a scenario where there is unlawful killing. I can also imagine the necessary malice aforethought. The crux of the issue is whether they are human or not.

Which really goes back to my quandry. What does it mean to be human? What qualities or characteristics must a human have?

In case 1 and 3, I suspect we can all agree they are human. If we worked with my 2 aspect hypothesis, 1 and 3 have the capability of detectable brain activity, even if 1 doesn't actually have any. And they physically are human. As for 2, going off of the physical aspect - which I don't have well-defined - the ape probably doesn't share enough of the physical traits to be considered human. Even though it may reach the threshold of mental activity I suggested be used.

Of course, I am still in the thinking stages, so this could all be incorrect.

@ everyone:

As I re-read my post today, I looked for the holes. One big spot surrounds the mental aspect I suggested was necessary. Thinking about it, is there some mental component necessary? Or is just meeting the physical aspect good enough? Maybe, since the mental aspect is a product of the physical, maybe it's redundant.

But still I am stuck on defining what is physically necessary to be human. Probably because I don't know enough biology, I suspect.

So there I will leave it for now. More to come as I think on it.

Hu Man?

2009-02-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Read this article and then come back to the table. I'll wait.

...

...

...

Back? Good.

I was talking with Skewb today about that article and about the bright line declaration these politicians are making about what is human.

The discussion - which ended prematurely - got me thinking. We're all so quick to try and define what a "human" is, but we're not thinking it through all the way. We're trying to make up a definition halfway through the discussion, on the fly. I think people need to think about this first, before we - or they - make any sweeping statements.

So let's take a step back and think for a second. What qualities does a human have - must a human have? Does a human have to have some basic level of thought processing? Or the capability to process thought? Does a human have to have a certain physical composition (i.e. 2 arms, a torso, a head, eyes, the human genome, etc...)?

Here's my two cents. I usually think of human-ness in 2 parts - the physical aspect and the mental aspect. For the mental side, I think that humans have the capability of a certain level of mental activity. Not that one must actually meet that level of activity, just that the capability be present. And by mental activity... well, I'm still working on that, but I mean something like brain waves or something measurable with an MRI.

Like I said, I'm still working on it.

For the physical side, I think... well, I'm not sure about this either. Maybe you're human if the genetic code of your organic body (can't forget about prosthetics) contains the 5 base pairs? I can't say certain number of chromosomes, cause then the chromosomal disorders would stick out. I can't say a certain physical shape, because then physical impairments would be out. I can't stick too close to genes, cause heck, maybe X Men will become reality, and then where would I be?

So I guess I'm still working on the whole concept. I know I like the dual aspects as necessary to be a human, but I'm not sure how to define each aspect. Any thoughts?

Sports

2009-01-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

I was arguing with Nobbit last night about sports. Somehow we got onto a discussion of sports and what constituted a sport and I proclaimed that Risk was a much more difficult sport than darts. To which she replied "Risk isn't a sport!!"

Then we had a big long discussion. Here is what Nobbit concluded, and I reluctantly agreed with (reluctantly because I don't like being wrong).

She said that there was a class of activities. This class has 2 sub-classes. One is sports - any competition that involves physical skill or activity done by the player himself. Sports usually also involve mental skill. The other sub-class is games. Games are competitions that involve mental skills and physical skills, though ones where the physical skills or activities can be done by another person with no difference to the outcome of the game.

So as an example, she said that Football is a sport. There is a physical activity required, that of throwing, catching, running, etc. There is also the mental skill required, that of knowing the plays, running the routes, evading other players, etc. The physical activity must be done by the player - it makes a difference if Brett Favre is playing QB or if I am playing QB.

The other example is... Risk. There is the mental aspect, that of calculating the attacks, making and breaking alliances, planning ahead, defending your places. There is also the physical requirement, that of moving the pieces, rolling the dice, etc. Game play and the outcome isn't really affected by the person doing the physical activities. For example, I could direct Nobbit in her moves and in what to do, she could roll the dice and move the pieces, and the outcome would be the same as if I did everything myself.

Now, I disagree on principle. I think her reasoning is good, but I want Risk to be considered a sport, darn it! So I began thinking of outlying cases to shake up her analysis.

My ideas were these. Video games. Sport or game? I mean, there is definitely a physical skill or activity, and a mental skill required. Take for example Tetris Attack. If you don't know it, look it up, cause I wouldn't be able to explain it well. It makes a big difference whether I play Tetris Attack or Jerris does (Jerris being really good at it and me being really bad at it). I could have the mental skills required to play a stellar game of Tetris Attack, but if I don't have the physical skill, the dexterity, I'm gonna lose if I physically play.

Second idea. A musical competition. Sport, game or neither? There is a definite physical component and there is a mental component too. Picking the right songs, not getting psyched out, not forgetting the music. And the physical skill is particular to the player. It matters who you get to play the guitar solo.

________________________________

Now, as I was writing this I got to thinking about the distinction between sport and game that Nobbit was making, and I think to help her side of the argument, I might define sport as follows:
A sport is any competition that involves some degree of specialized physical skill and some degree of specialized mental skill.

That means a sport needs the player to have specialized skill, like running, throwing etc. If another person can't do the physical activity in your place due to training and practice, that seems to suggest it's more of a sport than a game.

But still, my two ideas remain valid. Still strong. So what do you guys think... video games - sport? music competitions - sport? Or am I getting it wrong?

My thoughts on "Beautiful"

2009-01-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

This is a response to something a friend was discussing. She wanted to know what people found "beautiful."

First, of course, I want to get a basic definition of beautiful and beauty to work with. Mirriam-Webster says...

Beauty: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

It's a nice catch-all definition. Anything that provides pleasure to the senses, mind, or spirit can be considered beautiful. Though perhaps one might argue over the extent of the pleasure - if it provides only minimal pleasure, is it beautiful? M-W doesn't get into that, so I have to strike off on my own here. I tend to think there has to be some larger quantity or magnitude of pleasure for a thing to be considered beautiful.

Thus, things that could be considered beautiful...
- a well played board game, where every move is as planned to a near-perfect conclusion.
- a nice sunrise, or sunset, with colors not usually seen or in unusual configurations.
- a delicious dessert, one that exceeds expectations.
- family
- certain pieces of music, typically well-written and well-performed.

But of course we recognize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I mean, everyone finds different things beautiful. But is there something that EVERYONE finds beautiful? Or are we all so different we none of us can agree on even one thing?

One last thought, on a slight tangent. We always talk about beauty and beautiful in terms of more or less, right? So if one thing might be more beautiful than another thing, is there something that is the most beautiful? Could such a thing exist in reality, or is it an impossibility?

My Resolutions

2009-01-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

1. Stop being my own worst enemy.
2. Learn Sign Language.
3. Learn guitar - 3 songs.
4. Have a healthy baby.
5. Finish one of my writing projects.
6. Meet the running requirements for "Mark-It-Zero"
7. Teach George 5 new tricks.
8. Built a storage place for our nice glassware.
9. Start voice lessons again, and join a choir.
10. Lose xx pounds.
11. ?

So, there ya go. My resolutions for the year. We'll see how it goes.

Holidays

2008-12-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

So Christmas in Orlando and New Year's in the Keys.

It's gonna be awesome.

Aside from that, things are things. My Bar application is processing just fine, which is good. I've sent them everything they need, now it's just time until I get approval. Aside from that things are slow things. I mean, the last 2-ish weeks of the year nothing happens. Businesses are closed mostly, schools are closed, nothing really gets done.

So yeah, that's it for me for now.

Expect more later.

The Coming Year

2008-12-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

So, as a heads up...

I think I'm going to make a list of things I want to do in 2009. Some will be things that will better me as a person, some will be just fun things to try.

What's on your list?

*** My actual list is soon to come, once I've figured it out. This is more of a heads up to give you time to prepare yours, if you want.

10 Best Books

2008-12-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to take a break from not posting and post a bit. But nothing important going on, so...

Top 10 Books that everyone should read

10. 1984/Brave New World
9. Les Miserables
8. Stardust
7. Watership DOwn
6. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5. Noble House
4. Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy
3. Ender's Game
2. Papillon
1. Siddhartha

What's your top 10? Sorry, Jerris, no movies. That'll be another post.

Brush the Dust Off

2008-12-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Hello? Does this thing work still?

Ok, so it's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really haven't updated much recently. But I have a good excuse.

It's because nothing new or wow-y has been going on.

I mean, things are still chugging along like usual. But nothing really post-worthy. The election went by, my candidate didn't win - and no, I didn't vote McCain. But I'm cautiously optimistic about Obama and his chances of not being horrible.

Fall Ultimate Frisbee league has been chugging along nicely, but nothing outstanding to report. It's in it's first season, so there are the inevitable kinks to work out. People bicker about the rules, and life goes on.

I'm going to start watching Lain again. And this time I'm going to finish it. I've had 2 attempts to watch it, with Jerris in the dorms and with I think 534. But both times we'll get 2 discs in and lose track of it. So hopefully third times a charm.

Thanksgiving came and went. I had turkey, but not as much as I would have liked. So here's to Christmas and New Year's to give me my tryptophan fix. (They don't have tryptophan in the blogger dictionary.) We did a panhandle sweep, seeing my folks and both of Nobbit's sides. It was fun. And we got to shoot guns. That was awesome. That's right. Me. With a gun. Shooting. Well, really missing. Wood targets. It was fun, and we got some good shots of Nobbit packing heat.

And now we're into December. Advent has started, our Christmas tree is up, Belenus has attempted to destroy 2 ornaments so far, and we're probably gonna string some lights around the house or backyard. We have tons of lights.

I think that's been it, really. Plugging away, doing the tutoring thing as much as I can, working on my various projects. A project for this weekend is to fix the power thingy on the computer. It is broken. The comp will either charge or be on, but not both at the same time. And when it's on, it runs on battery, even if the power cord is plugged in.

So that's my update. I'm gonna try and be more frequent with ym updates again. But, I am not as bad as Sampson. Or Jason. So I feel good. If we were being chased by a bear, I wouldn't be in danger of being eaten.

It's a metaphor.

PS - any of you guys going to a 10th year reunion at all? Anyone's classes even begun talking about it? I think mine has, but who can say if it'll actually happen. I just got wind of people starting to talk about it now, which is pretty late in the game, I think.

Hope?

2008-10-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Is hope always rational?

Is hope ever rational?

Rational (from dictionary.com):
1. Consistent with or based on reason; logical: rational behavior.

Hope (from dictionary.com):
1. The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

I am still working on my thoughts. What are yours?

200th Post

2008-09-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

This is my 200th post - yay me! And as I sit here, playing Burnout Revenge and considering life, I find that I want to continue the themes I have been exploring lately. The theme being, of course, when people view their lives, do they see chance or fate.

Looking at what you do, or what you aspire to do, why did you choose to do it? Was it just that it interested you? Was it that it was what you are passionate about? Or was it something you felt called to do? Why do you do what you do?

And further, could you imagine doing anything else? Could you imagine a world where you had a totally different job or aspiration?

For myself, these ideas are in my mind as I sit and search for jobs. Why do I have a law degree? Why do or did I aspire to be a lawyer? Is that really the career for me, or is it just a stepping stone in my life, a resting spot until I can find something... better, for lack of a better word, though I don't know if better is right.

So let's hear your thoughts. Why do you do what you do?

My musings for the moment

2008-09-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

So, when you think about the course of your life, when you think about the random events that have happened, the unlikely coincidences and fortunate happenstances...

Do you use words like "Destiny" and "Fate," or do you use words like "Chance" and "Coincidence". When you look back on the course of your life, how do you describe the twists, turns, and random loops it has taken?

A Call to Arms

2008-08-25T12:25:00.001-07:00

So, here's the deal.

I'm working on figuring out how people descipher arguments. Do we analyze the parts of an argument, looking for the missing bits? Are we that technical? Or do we just sort of feel our way through - intuitively pick out the weaknesses?

What do you do? When someone presents an argument to you, maybe in a bar, maybe on a test, how do you respond? What's your thought process, your analytical approach?

Yes, I'm using you guys as my test group to understand how people deal with arguments.

Where's the wonder?

2008-07-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say, just a few questions I was thinking about last night. I was watching a movie and the protagonists went to a World's Fair at the turn of the century. They saw a light display on a couple of buildings, and were in awe. The look of wonder on their faces got me to thinking...

1. Are we losing (or have we lost) our sense of wonder or awe?

2. If so, what is (are) the cause(s) of the loss?

3. What fills you with awe or wonder?

cool news!!

2008-06-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Check out this news story! How cool is that??

News

2008-06-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

Check out this article. It's kind of sad, the things that the President has allowed to happen. And this is something that I think totally slipped under the radar.

Wow, just... wow

2008-06-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Check out this link. Tell me this isn't seriously disturbing. Like I said above. Wow... just... wow.

stuff

2008-05-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend. Busy.

Family came to town, we went to visit the 'rents for the weekend. We had a low-country boil, had a fish fry, ate shrimp... way too much seafood for this guy. My little nephew is great though. 2 years old, walks, talks, soaks up words like a sponge. So I had to be really careful what words I said around him.

My goal for the next 3 weeks is to go on an all out blitz. It's some job or another for me. I'll start by bombarding town with resumes at all of the lawyers' offices. Once that's done, I'll be sending resumes to any place that might possibly have a use for me. The real difference between this new strategy and my old one is now I am willing to get any job, whether or not it is a legal job. The money - it's time to get it.

So, we'll see.

Ponderings

2008-04-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look at people you used to know and wonder about them and compare yourself to them?

Recently due to the magic of internet, I have been coming into contact with a lot of people I used to know, back in Wisconsin. And I see where we all were, back together in roughly the same place in Wisconsin, and I see where we all are now - an owner of his own company, a project manager of a national organization, actors in New York, a dentist, a world travelling manager of a dance company, a mother of 2 kids...

And I wonder about all of us. I see all of us in such difference places, and I wonder how we got where we are, and where we could have been had we done things differently, and all that stuff.

It's a bit sobering, to see how much some people have made of their lives in such a short time. I mean, I know we should all measure success differently, and we all have different goals and dreams and ideals. I know all that, but it still makes me wonder. Even though I know I shouldn't, I still in some ways compare where I am now with where they all are now.

This isn't a cry for pity or anything, it's just a random train of thought I wanted to share.

Riddle me this

2008-04-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

In lieu of a new update, I will post this riddle. Should you get it right, you will win Sampson's Shrute Buck that she owes me. I think I bothered some people about it before, but it's a fun game, and will distract you from work for a while.

The Puzzle:

There are five houses in a row in different colors. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The five owners drink a different drink, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet, one of which is a Walleye Pike.

Who owns the fish?

The 15 clues:

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Malls keeps birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk.
9. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
10. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the one who smokes Dunhills.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Princes.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Prediction 2008

2008-04-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Since I don't have too much to say, I figured I'd write a little discussion about the 2008 election.

Here is my prediction:

McCain will win the general election.

Mind you, I don't want him to win; I will not vote for him nor support his campaign in any way.

But look at the situation the Democrats are in. It's Mid-April and they haven't picked a candidate yet. This fact has two implications that are relevant to our discussion. First, this means that all of the Democratic candidates' time, energy, and money is being spent attacking the other. Each candidate holds rallies, debates, luncheons - all aimed at proving why he or she is better than the other. Each candidate exhorts his or her followers to spread the word that the other candidate is full of garbage and not worthy of the nomination. And their supporters are picking up what the candidates are throwing. Supporters are emotionally invested in the campaign at this point, and are very vocal about their feelings for the other candidate. Most political articles online are followed by comments from readers, and these comments highlight that the supporters have bought into their candidate - most comments are filled with vitriol and bitterness. Once the Democrats select their candidate, are the loser's supporters expected to forget all their hate and anger? After being told for almost 10 months that Candidate X is bad, Candidate Y's supporters are expected to suddenly do an about face and sing X's praises?

I know the response to this is "They'll vote Democrat because they'd rather any Democrat in office than a Republican." But I have seen on message boards and in commentary, and heard from people that if the other candidate is nominated, they will vote 3rd party (or Republican) rather than vote for the other guy. Granted, the number of people who will actually do this is small, but even if it's 5% of the democratic vote, that's still a huge swing. Consider how close the 2000 and 2004 elections were. Can the democratic party afford to alienate even 1% of their constituents?

The second implication my earlier comment raises is that if both candidates are spending all their time attacking each other, who is attacking McCain? He can just sit back and take notes on what they're doing. In comparison to the two Democratic candidates, by doing nothing he can look pretty clean. He can solidify his position within the Republican Party and build a strong base for the general election. And once a Democratic nominee is chosen, he can start firing off attack after attack, and won't need to do much initial research. He can just sit back, collect more donations and save time and money until an opponent is selected, and then come out swinging with new and used attack material.

I know, you might think that once a candidate has defended his/her position on a given subject the matter is dropped. However, I just don't buy that. How many times did Obama have to defend his Rezcko (sic) connection? I am confident he'll have to do it again if he is nominated.

So it seems to me that neither Democratic candidate is doing their Party any good at this time. One of them would do well to step down for the good of the party. Neither will, of course, but the longer they prolong the decision, the more likely McCain is to win the general election.

Fun Thought

2008-04-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Ever since I read about the students who built a Panzer Tank, I have been inspired. It would be fun to do something like that. However, a Panzer tank might not be the best thing to have here. So instead I think it'd be cool to build an electric car. Sounds fun, eh?

Nothing New

2008-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Not much new to pass along. So instead, watch this:

Will NO ONE Think Of The Sprouts!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

2008-03-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

I realized this morning a horrible truth that the veggie-people don't want you to know.

Sprouts are the VEAL of the veggie world.

Think about it - the sprouts are taken when they're in infancy. The evil farmers pack as many of the things into as small a space as possible, and don't give them any time to run around and exercise. The sprouts are prized for qualities that only the young possess.

So think about that next time I have veal.

Tag

2008-03-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment (you’re it) and to read your blog. You can’t tag the person that tagged you. Since you can’t tag me back, let me know when you’ve posted your blog so I can see your answers…
____________________________________

1. I don't care how my sandwiches are cut - or even if they're cut at all. If I'm making the sammich, I don't cut it. If someone else makes it, they can cut it or not as they see fit.

2. I am horrible at making things, but I have this drive to build and work with my hands. I always have ideas to make a bar or a cabinet for our wine glasses. Even though I suck at making things, I still always want to make more.

3. I am horrible at taking compliments. It's not that I don't believe people when they give me one, it's just I can't accept it as truth.

4. I really like baking. I think it's because it's a way to express my organization/OCD/whatever you call it. I know I don't have much of a drive to be organized or whatever, but in baking I do like to be organized and stuff.

5. I love learning new languages. I rarely stick with it enough to learn the language, but I really like learning it. I'm right now in the middle of learning Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic.

6. In my nightmares I am almost always running from something or someone. Also in my dreams I can breathe underwater.

7. I really enjoy teaching at the tutor place I work at. It's really a rush, watching the student "get it".

8. I want to brew my own beer, vint my own wine, and distill my own brandy. It's gonna be awesome. I even found a way to home distill - and as long as I use stainless steel or copper, I won't go blind. Awesome.

9. I don't like big cities. Too big and I feel like I don't have enough space and I'm congested. I liked Jax only because where we lived had a very small town feel to it - though driving 45 minutes just to cross town sucked.

10. I'm looking forward to having kids. Should be quite an adventure.
_________________________________

I tag Beth, Sampson, Paul and Jerris. And I bet 3 out of 4 of you will actually do it.

PS - see Jason? I did it by the end of the week. Not too bad, eh?

For Jackboot's viewing pleasure

2008-02-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

This article is pretty freaky. I must admit I hadn't heard of more than half of these, either.

Enjoy!

PS - I've been studying for the Bar, fighting to get my Bar Study loan BEFORE the Bar, Hunting for a job (though i might have found a pretty good one) and trying to eat cheap meals without eating hot dogs every day.

That's my life, in a nutshell.

Outside the nutshell, the job is a paralegal job working from home. It sounds like a great opportunity, and I'd be able to continue it past May (assuming I get into FSU).

So yeah, I decided I don't want to be a lawyer really. I like thinking about the law, and I like research, but I don't like the rest of it. So after talking to Beth for a while and thinking about what goals I have and what makes me happy, I decided to go back to school for my PhD in philosophy (of law). It's some more school (and in this market school isn't a bad idea) and I'd be positioned to teach, which is the goal. So if all goes well and I impress FSU grad program, I could be starting school again in May. Keep fingers crossed and whatnot.

And that's about it. For now. More later.

I Got New Game

2008-01-29T12:17:00.001-08:00

On one of the other websites I visit, there was a game people were playing. I thought it sounded cool, so we should all play. It's called

The Album Cover Game

Here's how you play:

1. You go to Wiki Random Article Generator. The first article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go to Random Quote Generator. The last 4 words from the quote that is x quotes from the bottom (where is is your birth month) are the title of the album.

3. Go to ROFLbot and play around. Use the random pic generator. Pick the random pic that best fits your band and album title. Then position the band name and album title on the pic, save it and post it on your blog. Best album cover wins 500 monopoly bucks.

My Submission:

IOWA and beyond

2008-01-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Iowa caucus was tonight. Go find a newspaper if you want to see the results.

This isn't a real blog post so much as a list of questions on my mind tonight.

Who do you want to vote for?
What issues are MOST important to you?
Is the 2 party system ruining America?
Can you ever really 'waste' your vote?
Does the electoral college get in the way of a true representative democracy?

Maybe tomorrow I will comment on these. maybe you will too?

From Del to Paul to Me

2007-12-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

My thought on Del's original article:

The biggest issue I found
was this: Do scientists presume that there is an underlying order that
was caused by someone/thing? The whole article seems to presume that
scientists have faith that there is an underlying order - the author
did nothing to convince me that anyone believes that there is an
underlying order. Indeed, Chaos Theory suggests that there is no
underlying order - that it is sheer coincidence and random chance that
up is up and down is not.

My thoughts on Paul's thoughts:

I agree
with Paul about the "Faith is Justified" bit. The original author is
using a different connotation of "faith" than the religious
connotation.

As for Richard Feynman's comment - that seems patently offensive.
I would be saddened if scientists did not ask philosophical questions
about science. It might not pay the bills, but it is as essential to
being a scientist as the scientific method is. Similarly, as a lawyer,
I ask philosophical questions about law ALL OF THE TIME. Those lawyers
who don't ask such questions are the ones who really have no idea what
a lawyer does.

And Kant vs Hume - Kant suggests that there is a priori knowledge about how to order the universe. Hume suggests that the order of the universe is based on a posteriori knowledge. I dunno if they can be mixed, because one talks about knowledge before and one talks about knowledge after.

By the Consent of the Governed

2007-12-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

There has been a shift in how our government views us. It is a subtle shift, but it is one that is incredibly frightening.

The government used to think of us as citizens. It looked to protect us from being taken advantage of by big corporations and from being hurt by criminals.

But now.

Now, the government looks at us as criminals. Every new law being made, every new executive order - they are all to find the criminal, not protect the innocent.

The shift is this: The old laws were protectionist but passive (i.e. the govt could only act when a wrong was committed). Now, the laws are active. The government is now looking for the criminals - hunting them, searching their homes, their possessions, their movements. But since the government doesn't know who they are, they search through the populace. They search all of us to find the criminals.

My tinfoil hat doesn't seem so silly now.

Breakfast Casserole a la Sampson

2007-11-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

So Sampson wants me to make a casserole that she thought up...

BCalaS -

Preheat the oven to broil.

Get a bunch of regular potatoes, cut then into thin slices.

In a pan, cook a package of sausage links. As they're cooking, cut them down the middle lengthwise. Then add in the potatoes, and cook these together until they're done. Set this mixture aside.

Next, get a box of bisquick. In a bowl, make one batch of pancake batter. I like my batter thick, so I use a little less bisquick than they recommend. Also, in the batter add several dashes of Cinnamon and brown sugar. Make a batch of pancakes, try to keep them fairly small - 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

In a bowl on the side, scramble 5 eggs with milk until they're nice and frothy. Set this aside.

Next, get a casserole dish. In the dish, lay down a layer of pancakes, covering the whole dish bottom. Then spread a layer of sausage/potato
mix. Repeat to fill up the dish. After the layers are done, pour the
eggs over the casserole. Finally, cover this with cheese to taste.

Now,
put the casserole into the oven. The broil feature makes the oven
really hot, but the heating element is at the top of the oven, so the
eggs will cook without overcooking the rest of the dish. Once the eggs
are done (this is a personal decision based on how well done you like
your eggs), take the dish out. Let cool for a few minutes, and serve.
Have some maple syrup as a topping for those of us who like it.

____________________

OK, that's the recipe. Tips, suggestions, comments?

Finally an Update

2007-11-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

OK.

It's been several weeks since I posted on this here blog. However, a week and a half of that time wasn't my fault - without an internet connection, updating is rather difficult. So here is the update...

We moved houses 2 weeks ago from this upcoming Tuesday. The move was
nasty. Beth took the big truck by herself, for which she gets several
thumbs up, and I took the car with all of the animals. Marco,Kyrie and George were contained, but Belenus and Dokan were free-roaming for the trip. Belenus would sit on the back of my neck, looking out the driver's window, or he would sit in the passenger seat. Dokan was meowing for a little while, but then settled down and sat in the back. Kyrie howled the whole way. bleh.

We got the house mostly cleaned before we left. I was really pressed for
time, and things just weren't going as fast as we hoped. So we didn't
do a finalswiffer , and we missed cleaning a couple other things. All
in all it was more cleaning than I've done at other houses, so we
should get most of our security deposit back.

And then we drove over to Tally. I got into town at 645 or so, dropped stuff off at home, and rushed immediately off to work.

Yes, work.

I am back at the tutoring place, teaching the LSAT. I had a Class
starting that night, so I was rushing not to be late. Good news is I
got there and taught and whatnot, soall's good.

And speaking of teaching. I am tutoring 2 nights a week for 3 hours per night. Then,
this week, I am picking up a one-on-one tutoring session for the LSAT,
which should end up being another 6 hours a week. It's not enough for
ends-meeting, but it is a nice start. If I can get one more student,
I'd be doing fine. Though these students won't be with me after
December, I can get more students (hopefully) for the February test.

And the house is coming along nicely. We had Jerris and Emmy and Paul and Carrie (a frisbee friend) help us move stuff in and unpack. So what usually takes us a
week or two took about 5 hours. And the animals all seem to like the
housealot . Nice sliding glass doors for them to look out of, lots of
space for George to play in. The weekend we moved in, we had a BBQ. We
dug afirepit (for smores) and cooked burgers and whatnot. It was alot of fun.

Then this weekend we had a game day. Beignets, coffee, fruit, Risk, Catan... I lost at Risk (barely), and lost at Catan (again barely). It was fun. This upcoming weekend, there is a meteor shower on Saturday night. We don't get much light pollution round here, so we should be able to seealot. So we'll hopefully have something going on - maybe some Catan, maybe some Balderdash, definitely some Apple Pie (I have a recipe I want to use).

Aside from that, not much is new. We are trying to decide how to decorate
each room. I want to have one room be a Japanese decorated room.
Crystal and Jason have given us some really cool decorative Japanese
things. One of which came recently as a care package -I don't think I
thanked them for it yet. It was perfectly timed, since we were getting
lots of bad news that week. And the package helped fund our Beer
tasting that weekend - we got a bunch of niceBelgian beers to taste
from the local fancy wine shop. So, though it is a late thanks -
Thanks, Jason and Crystal. We really appreciated the gift and the
thoughts behind it. It was very much appreciated. And Crystal, you need
to let Jason have some space on the card next time :)

Aside from the Japanese room, we don't know how we're gonna decorate the other
rooms. We have lots of pictures, it's just finding which ones fit
where...

In other news, I picked up my Guitar again. 30 minutes a day from now until Christmas is my short term goal. If I can do that little bit, I will be very happy. Aside from that, I am at a tough patch with my weight. Haven't lost a pound in a few weeks. Jason, how's yours going?

Anyhow, that's about all I got for now. Enjoy your update, there will be more activity on here now that I've got internet again. Oh and watch my tumblelog.
I put whatever interesting articles i find on there - I don't have
energy to blog them, but I think they are interesting or funny or
whatever.

So there ya go. An update.

New house!

2007-10-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hey, a short update to show pics of the house we're moving to in Tallahassee. Yeah, we decided to move back and find work there - there is NOTHING here. So we went this weekend and looked at houses. And played a really cool game called Citadels. I will totally buy it at some time, cause it was alot of fun. Kinda like Catan, kinda like roll playing, very fun. The house we picked is a bit outside of town (Shoreline Dr) but not bad. 5 minutes from Jerris and Emmy's place, 14 from Paul's, 7 from downtown, probably 20 to AMC. It's a 3/2, kinda small, a jacuzzi tub in the main bath, and the best backyard ever. Here are some pics. If I can make it work...

PHOTOS:

This one's from the front.

First View of the back yard.

The following are a 360 view from the center of the backyard.

The Pond (Campbell Pond) aka The Backyard

The front door again, one last time:

___________

So, I hope you enjoyed this little photo tour of the new place. You had better, since it took me like an hour to do it. I know, I know, Crystak can do it in half the time. I do not have her blog skills yet. Probably never will. Ah well. Hoe everything is going well for everyone.

Anagram Maker!

2007-10-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

OK, let's have some fun. Go to this website and enter your full name. Then see which anagrams come up. Which is your favorite? Post it here so we can all laugh at you.

Here's mine:

Tzar End When Jell Won

OR

Lawn Zed Jennet Whorl

Fulfillment

2007-09-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

This blog post is for Beth - we had a discussion at lunch today that started me thinking.

She was saying that her work is not fulfilling right now. And she was talking about what she wants to do that will be fulfilling. THen she asked what fulfilled me.

And sad to say, but right now, I don't have an answer right now. I am in a ditch, I feel like, and I know jobs will come soon and all that. But I sort of feelm like I lost my aims and aspirations a bit recently. I dunno if it's just the lack of a job, or if it's the fact that I'm sending resumes to EVERY type of lawyer, whether or not I like that type of law.

So, here is how you all can help me. Answer the question yourselves. What fulfills you? Maybe I will be inspired by your answers. Who can say.

Peace.

A very cool website

2007-09-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

OK, so this website, Geek Logik, is a really, really cool website. I was just gonna put it in my tumblelog, but it is cool enough that it deserves it's own post.

I won't blab all about it, so go look. But he had a column on an equation to determine whethe to bluff in a poker game. And one about which house to buy, if you want to buy a house.

It's really cool. I added it to my links section.

Oh, and any more input you all have about my post below, please comment on it.

Weekend Update

2007-09-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hello, internet.

So, my life has continued along on the same pace as the last couple of posts. I am almost done with my second month of unemployment, with no luck yet. I have sent out over 150 resumes... Seriously.

I made it my goal to send resumes out to every law firm in Jax, and I have almost done just that. I think I have 30 or so left, and then I will have completed my objective. However, this brings up another concern. What next? I will have sent resumes out to the law firms of Jax and the surrounding beaches.

It seems that I have 5 options before me. If you have any thoughts, please let me know.

1. Keep working the law firms here in Jax. Send out updates and follow ups and whatnot, to those who havent responded already.

2. Start sending resumes to the surrounding counties.

3. Start looking for non-law jobs and work in a non law setting until I get a legal job.

4. Apply for legal jobs in Tallahassee. I don't pick Tally at random - Beth's work has an office there, maybe they'd let her transfer to that office, thus letting her keep her job.

5. Go back to school for another degree of some sort.

I haven't presented the pros and cons of each, cause I don't want to bias your thoughts and comments. But I really would appreciate feedback - you guys are always good for ideas and thoughts.
_______

In other news, if the scale is to be trusted, I have lost a total of 9 pounds since my diet began. Jason, how is your diet going? And how does this competition work?
_______

So, I think that's it for my updates. At least for the moment.

The promised update

2007-09-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the update with my life and all of the fun filled goings-on. My day to day life hasn't changed much. Looking for work, frisbee, sleeping, hanging with the nobbit. Though there has been one pleasant change - the last few Saturdays, we have had some of the frisbee folks over for a game night. It's fun, laidback, etc... It's good to finally find some friends here in Jville. I mean, the law school people were fun and some are our friends still. But we rarely see them. So it's nice to meet some people who aren't afraid to be nerdy and all that.

Let's see, what else...

On the job front, I have spent this week emailing like I have never done before. I think I have sent out, in the last 3 days, 75 ish resumes. I used the florida bar website to find all of the family lawyers in Jacksonville beach, and I emailed them. Then I repeated with all of the elder law/wills and trusts lawyers in town. I also applied online for government lawyer jobs. Now I am expanding to every lawyer in town. The responses thus far have been negative, of course. But I figure there's got to be someone out there who needs another lawyer. I just need to find him/her.

One of the responses that stands out in my mind, I'd like to paraphrase and share. Tell me your thoughts on it, if you have any. It went something like this:

Mr Wentzell,
Thank you for your resume. Unfortunately we are not hiring at the present. We will keep your resume on file.

Sincerely,

XXXXX

PS - For those of us who are old timers in this profession, you might want to stick to the old way of sending resumes.

________________________________________

To clarify:
I have been sending the vast majority of my resumes the new fashion way - via email. The old way is going to their offices and leaving paper resumes and writing samples. I went around San Marco and did some resume-leaving the old fashioned way, and each visit went something like this:

Me: Is so and so available?
Secretary: do you have an appointment?
Me: No, I'd like to talk to so and so about my interest in a position with this firm.
S: So and so is busy right now. You can leave your papers with me and I will make sure he gets the.

I tried once to say, "no, I'll come back when he's available. Is there a better time?" Of course the response was, albeit more politely, "no, there will be no good time for a job applicant."

So, my thoughts on the subject of old school vs new school technique of applying for jobs:
If I go around in person the old school way, I have to dress up. I have to ask for so and so each time, and each time I give my resume to the secretary who says she'll give it to him/her. I never see the lawyer. I rarely hear back from them (though one firm here in san marco was very kind and mailed me a rejection letter - I appreciated it). I can probably do about 10 to 15 of these a day, factoring in driving time. This does not include cost of gas, stationary, ink, etc.
OR
I can sit here on the couch, comfortable. I spend only the money in electric costs. I can do up to about 30 or 40 resumes a day. I don't have to bother the secretary. I still don't see the lawyer, btu I can send it to his email where he will at least see it and take some action (read or delete).

I dunno, I think the new way is much better, easier, faster. What do you think?

A Late Update

2007-09-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Time for a long awaited update!

So, here's my life these days in a nutshell. Job Hunting, Frisbee, Sleeping. Those are the big 3. It's getting a bit hectic round here, what with the no job thing and all. I mean, there's only so long that one can have a negative cash flow and not hit the end of the money. For us, that time is approaching. But things will work out, I am certain. It's just that this middle time is so frustrating and stressful.

Aside from that crap, things are ok. I have now lost 6 pounds, and counting. That's something, right? I've needed to lose weight for a long time now, so it's good to see some progress finally.

And I have found a fun new game, you guys should play it with me. It is called UpDown, and it is an investment game, like the one you probably played in middle or high school. You register, for free, no charge, and they start you with 1 million play dollars. After that, you play the stock market, and you do whatever it is you do. Since I don't have an investment strategy yet, I figure this will be a great opportunity to learn a bit of investing style. Plus, you can form investment groups, to track each others' progress and play against each other. It seems really cool - both Beth and I are doing it. You can join and find us and be our friends and maybe even join our cool group - The "Ultimate" Moneymakers. If you do join, befriend me and whatnot.

OK, I am off to collect some more names of attorneys in Jacksonville. Someone will be hiring, darnit! And they will hire ME. Wish me luck.

Heroes and Villians

2007-08-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

Go here and find out which supervillian you are. IF YOU DARE!!!

I was Dr. Doom.

AND...

Go here to find out which superhero you are. IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE!!!

I was Spiderman.

Copying Jason

2007-08-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I copied Jason. Here's my results.

Congratulations!

2007-08-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Hooray!

You have found the new url for more of the same old Smacky ramblings. But what fun it was getting to this point!

-That's all I got.

Honey Mustard Chicken

2007-08-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today's lunchtime creation...

Sadly I didn't have great bread, I only had wheat sammich bread. But it was alright.

I put some Ken's Honey Mustard on the bread slices, then some bacon. On top of that, white onion (the only onions we have) and precooked chicken chunks. Then some cheddar cheese. Smush it together, toss it in the oven to toast it for about 10 minutes.

It wasn't too bad. I want better bread, but that will have to wait til next trip to the store. The bacon wasn't ideal, but it worked. I think I need more than the little bit I used. The taste of bacon was kinda weak. I debated about lettuce, but thought it would be wierd if I toasted the lettuce too.

__________________

On a side note, we made chili last week. It was ok, but it wasn't the greatest. There's just no good pre-made chili packs out there. One of these days I'm gonna make it from scratch, but until then, anyone have a box or bag that they always use? Something they would recommend to their friends - ones they would recommend that would NOT make said friends ill.

That's it for this time.

tasty quesadilla

2007-07-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

So, since I am currently unemployed, I get to cook myself lunch. Today I made a masterpiece.

Admittedly, the masterpiece was not my original idea. I had it in Boston, with Sampson, at that place with 320 different beers, 120 of which are on tap. I didn't want to leave that place...

But today I made:

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with a kick

I got the flour tortilla. I tossed it on the oiled cast iron skillet. I then added chipotle cheddar cheese. Next, I tossed on my already cooked chicken chunks. I then topped it off with a generous amount of Bono's sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. I put the other tortilla on top, cooked til both sides were appropriately crispy.

It was delicious. Messy as all get out, but so tasty it didn't matter. I think I will refine it a bit next time. Not sure how to make it better, as it was already a masterpiece, but I will see. Ideas are certainly appreciated.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to send out more CVs to employers and whatnot. Cheers!

Back!!!

2007-07-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hey World, remember me???

Well, I'm back, and ready for what the world might throw at me.

The Bar sucked. 2 days of lots of questions and essays and uncertainty. The good news is that it's over. Now we have to wait until September 17 to find out how we did.

Anyhow, I am off to rest and relax. More news later.

Oh, and Harry Potter book 7 rocked.

A Diversion

2007-06-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

As I sit here, in the bar prep lecture, the voice of the lecturer
drones on, and on, and on. The temperature here is comfortable, and my
eyes begin to droop. His drone is at a level and pitch that makes the
words blur together and put everyone to sleep.

I try to fight
it, because I don't want to snore in class. So I write this blog,
hoping it will divert my fatigue and give me some pep. Thanks to Del
for the suggestion. Oh, and ninjas will always beat pirates.

I had a big thing to write about, all about law and justice. It was
fitting, since today Paris Hilton got freed from jail (after only 3
nights). But as I was writing it, I just got frustrated and irritated.
It seems patently unfair and BS for this sort of thing to happen.

So
I won't write about it. I'll just shake my head and wish for a place
where the laws apply to everyone equally. Or else I'll wish for Batman
to come back, with his unique form of justice.

I really have
no inspiration today. I would love to wax philosophical, debate a great
issue with people, but this lecture is sucking the life out of me. It
is sucking the genius out of me. Oh the horror.

So here's what I'll do. Here are some things
I'd like to talk about sooner or later. Add or subtract as you'd like.
Maybe a list like this will spur me into paying less attention to
boring lectures and help me stay awake.

1. Freakonomics (book)
2. nanny-government
3. Google Street View and my tinfoil hat
4. the big worry about News that Nobody knows (but me)
5. the whole "where I see myself in 10 years" thing that I have seen from may folks
6. self-sufficient homes - ones that don't rely on the electric company
7. the computer I want to buy
8. my 10 year plan (see how I mixed it up there?)

Enjoy thinking for me.

from nobbit's blog

2007-04-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

time turns

Friends into enemies
Enemies into friends
Friends into lovers
Lovers into friends
Experience into wisdom
Profits to loss
Losses into profit
Amateurs into professional
Failure into success
Success into failure
Grapes into wine
Wine into vinegar

The Low Down On The Abortion Ban

2007-04-18T19:52:00.001-07:00

I had not intended to write a serious, current event post, but the news
today really spurred me on to research just what the hubbub was about
this abortion thing, and what it all means. I don't really want to go
into the implications of this ruling, as there are many, many
implications, and just thinking about it makes me mad. Instead, I
wanted to see how this Ban would affect women who are seeking
abortions. Would they still have access to them? Or would this be a
serious road block for post first trimester abortions?

The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 says, in large part,

(1) the term 'partial-birth abortion' means an abortion in which --

(A) the person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally
vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first
presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother,
or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk
past the navel is outside the body of the mother for the purpose of
performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially
delivered living fetus; and
(B) performs the overt act, other than
completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living
fetus; and

(2) the term 'physician' means a doctor of medicine
or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by
the State in which the doctor performs such activity, or any other
individual legally authorized by the State to perform abortions:
Provided, however, that any individual who is not a physician or not
otherwise legally authorized by the State to perform abortions, but who
nevertheless directly performs a partial-birth abortion, shall be
subject to the provisions of this section.*

But what does that mean?

Basically, this Ban means that a particular abortion procedure is now
illegal. This type of abortion is called "Dilation and Extraction"
(D&X). I have seen a few variations to the procedure, but it's
something like this:

This procedure is accomplished by cervical preparation similar to cases of dilatation and evacuation, but the fetus is removed in a mostly intact condition. The fetal head is able to be collapsed after the contents are evacuated so
that it may pass through the cervix.**

But is this the only method of abortion for second and third trimester
pregnancies? I did some research, and it turns out this is not the only method for aborting such pregnancies. There are the other types of abortions used for second and third trimester fetuses. The most common ones are:

1. Dilation and Curettage (D&C)
2. Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)
3. Induction Abortion
-installation Injection (ISI)
-Intracardial Injection (ICI)

I'd like to go through each one and lay out how they are performed.

D&C
The procedure is usually accomplished with similar dilatation procedures, but the uterus is emptied with a sharp metal curette. These curettes
are more dangerous than the flexible or rigid plastic devices, which
are used in the suction procedures, and are not recommended for
abortion procedures.**

D&E
The D&E is similar to the D&C abortion. But during a D&E, the
woman’s cervix “must be dilated more widely because surgical
instruments are used to remove larger pieces” of the unborn child.
After dilating the cervix, the doctor inserts narrow forceps. He then
methodically cuts the baby and removes the dismembered pieces. In this
procedure, the woman may receive intravenous fluid and an analgesic or
sedative. If the baby is beyond 14 weeks,oxytocin can be administered to get the uterus to contract and shrink.***

ISI
In late second-term and third-term abortions, instillation techniques are
often used. These methods require abortionists to inject lethal
chemicals.** It is a rarely done surgical procedure where salt water,
urea, or potassium chloride is injected into the amniotic sac (to kill
the fetus);prostaglandins are inserted into the vagina (to induce labor) and pitocin is injected intravenously.**** The parenthetics were added by me, not from the source. Basically this technique is to poison the fetus and induce labor of the dead fetus.

ICI
Another method, intracardiac injections, involves injecting a poison—such as digoxin—into the unborn baby’s heart. The mother’s cervix is opened over a one- to
four-day period. Once the cervix opens, labor is induced, and the
mother delivers a dead baby.***

As I went through this list of types of abortions, I came to an interesting set of revelations. First, if the woman does need an abortion, there are other forms
available to her. I do not have data on the safety of each technique,
so I cannot comment on that aspect. And second, the reason for this Ban
is somewhat... wrong? The Act says that the reason for banning D&X
abortions is because it is "a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is
never medically necessary..." * I don't want to open the cans of worms
about necessity - I want to instead focus on the first part, the
gruesome and inhumane part. Now, the Legislature wants to ban this
inhumane procedure. But why just this one? And really, is this the
worst procedure? Comparing the procedures above, D&C and D&E are very
gruesome. I mean, the others aren't walks on sunshine or anything, but
these seem just as gruesome as D&X. But D&X is the only one
banned. Nonsensical, at the very least.

CONCLUSION
To sum this post up, there are several forms of second term abortions
available, of which D&X is only one. While D&X is now illegal
(except to save the life of the mother), the other forms are still
available.

To conclude my conclusion, I want to attach a story
I read today that really paints abortion in a different light, one that
I must confess I never really thought about. Please read it, even if
you skip everything else I wrote. You can find it here.

Endnotes:
* - Source
** - Source
*** - Source
**** - Source

Taking the bat to the familiar dead horse

2007-04-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

I will type a post about evolution.

It will be inspired by Paul's post from the NYTimes article.

Bate your breath.

Catan.

Haikus - Won't You Join Me?

2007-04-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Haiku della Marco:

sitting in my spot
watching an inner vision
I see my glory

Kyrie's Haiku:

Please, I want more food
I'm wasting away o'er here
Please, I want more food

Andy's Haiku:

It's so sad I lost.
I will win Catan, I swear
so you should watch out.

Catan Glory

2007-03-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true.

I will actually post about winning Catan. I am that guy.

I won Catan. I was the dark horse.::neigh:: It was a good game, though a trifle long. And next game, I think I will get beth to host, as my current instability of computerness is not something we should bet on. I mean, we can, but only if the winner has to buy me a new comp.

Anyhow, I was thinking about getting a new template and facelift
for this, but then I realized that I wouldn't know what to do with the
stuff I have built into this one. It would require lots of work, and
calling Jason and Crystal at odd hours to figure it out. So instead I
put up a new description quote thing. Maybe it will inspire me to new,
dizzying heights.

Or maybe not.

An update and several musings

2007-03-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

This is my update. Consider yourselves updated.

Now, moving on.

My first musing is about team sports, specifically ultimate frisbee. I recently played in a winter league for frisbee. 5 teams, 12 ish
weeks, about 10 people on a team. Anyhow, I decided last week, after
hemming and hawing, to stay with the league and play for the spring
session. This brings us to the crux of my musing. I know that all of
you know that I am BAD atfrisbee . I don't mean bad as in good, I mean
bad as in I play for fun but with no expectation of winning. To add to
this, I am not much for team sports. I don't do well with teams.
Authority in general is a problem, but team sports just don't do it for
me. So I was wondering, at least in the context of Ultimate Frisbee,
this: I am not good atfrisbee, and I'm not a team player. Is this just correlation, or does one cause the other? Am I not good at frisbee because I am not
a team player, and so sabotage myself somehow? Or maybe, am I bad
enough at the sport that I am unwilling to buy into the "team"
mentality? Or is it just that I stink at the sport and I don't like
people?
_______________________________________

My second musing has to do with entertainment. A small detail with my current situation in Jville: I am taking voice lessons again at UNF. We have a "concert" ish
thing this weekend (no, you're not invited:) ). As I was practicing
today, my prof was trying to get me to emote more and sell the song.
She said I needed to feel the song and then convey my feeling to the
audience. Iinterpreted that as "You need to make the audience believe
that you believe." Anyhow, this set me on a train of thought about
entertainment in general. To entertain, the performer has to convince
the audience to play make-believe with them for a bit. The audience
imagines that the performer is really doing what he acts out, or feels
the emotions of the song, or whatever. But, in today's society,
make-believe is a dead game. I feel like society in general has lost
its innocence, its faith in man, to the point where pretending is a
lost art. People don't pretend anymore. Movies are all graphics, trying
to make the image as real as possible to make the story as
comprehensible as possible for the audience. Songs are not about
fanciful things anymore. Music now is about stuff that people relate
to, stuff you hear on the news or see every day. The element of pretend
has slipped away, to the point where the concept "suspended belief" is
nonexistent. We've lost our innocence, and making believe is too hard
to do, it requires more than one person can deliver. As such, to be one
person selling a myth, you have to be extraordinary. You cannot be a
itinerant musician and expect to sell your songs. To sell it as a
musician, you need to either be in the topeschelon or you need people
behind you, making the air move and rain fall, making the words you
sing become real and tangible the fake effects.

Anyhow, the
long and short of my musing here is that I do not emote well. No
surprise. Feeling the music isn't what's required. Being good enough to
make the audience believe you feel it is what's required and sometimes
that can be infinitely more difficult.
_________________________________

My
final musing, and then I'm off to run. This one is about preemption. I
am reading a book that sets forth the premise that preemption is better
thanpostemption (if that is a word). Basically, the idea is this: if
you know that there is a conspiracy to, let's say, commit an act of
terrorism, but there is not enough proof to bring the conspirator's to
a court of law, or even arrest them, what do you do? As opposed to
waiting for the evidence to mount to the point where the conspirators
can be arrested lawfully, which can sometimes mean waiting for the act
of terror and any deaths that could follow, this book sets forth the
idea that law enforcement shouldpre-emptively strike against the
conspirators and remove the threat, even if you have to kill the
conspirators. It sort of looks at the question "How many people is itok to kill to avert a tragedy?" I mean, if the tragedy was 1 million people, would it be ok
to kill any people to avert the tragedy? If so, how many? 10? Maybe the
flat rule 10% of the total potential deaths? It's kinda hard to
quantify but the idea sort of bounces around the issue in "Minority
Report". Would it beok to have any pre-emption of unlawful activity, especially when that unlawful activity would result in the deaths of innocent people?

For
me this is a difficult idea. I am stuck between the rock of too much
governmental authority (which inevitably leads to abuse and corruption)
and the hard place of wanting to avert innocent deaths and protect
those innocents. I dunno if a balance can be struck between my Scylla
and Charybdis. I mean, I want to think that protecting and preserving
innocent lives is important, but how do I weigh the lives saved in the
short run against the lives threatened by abuses of power? It builds
itself into the same question on a larger scale, really.
______________________________________________________

I
guess this is where I leave you. I have to go run now, get my
endorphins kicking. Enjoy my update, I will try to have more.

My word for today is "Lexicographer." I don't know why.

Go Web Go

2007-02-24T18:33:00.001-08:00

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		70%
Green Lantern		55%
Robin		55%
Superman		50%
The Flash		50%
Hulk		45%
Iron Man		45%
Supergirl		38%
Batman		35%
Wonder Woman		28%
Catwoman		25%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Beer

2007-02-18T12:18:00.000-08:00

In honor of Erin's post about beer, I decided to write about beer. Well, not write, so much as be an advertisement for samadams.com... Two things I want to advert here, that I think are really cool.

1. the beer glasses are so cool. They look cool, they sound cool... I don't know if they would work like the website claims, but they sound neat-o.

2. the beer contest sounds like it would be really cool. I am interested in giving it a shot. I don't have a homemade recipe yet, but I am working on it. Might be fun, eh?

That is all.

New Blogging

2007-02-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

I am being forced to change to the new blog thing where you NEED gmail. I protest this absurd attempt by gooogle to insert itself into every little aspect of my life. If I wanted a gmail account, I should have gotten one. If I didn't then Google should go throw poo at its neighbors and be content with my gmail-less life. And I should not eed a gmail account to have a blog. Those two things should not need to be the same.

And there should be an opt out clause. Even the mandatory HPV laws have opt out clauses. Why does Google hate... well, everyone knows how that sentence ends. Now I am off to sulk and rant about Big Brother. You all laughed at me in the beginning. Well, who's laughing now??????????

Answer: No one is laughing. We're all sad that I was right.

"Beer Goggle Effect Explained"

2007-02-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

I would copy and post the article here, but the actual article has the formula and nice graphics, so my copy would not do it justice. Hope you enjoy this article.

'Ello Gov. Fancy a Spot of Bangers And Mash?

2007-02-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ello! How's tricks?

My name's George, and I am kotching around the house, doin' fanny adams. Let's not cast nasturtiums on Andy - he'd be here typing, but 'e ain't got the lemon and lime. Do me a cheesy quaver and get me a bone, will ya? I'm goin' completely hatstand without something to chew on.

When's e'rybody comin to town? We can get together and get brahms, long as no one drives the porcelain bus... Seriously, fancy a meetup? Once you get a scooby of your schedule for June-ish, let Andy know.

You don' have a baldy notion what I mean, do yeh. Now if yeh'll excuse, I need to Barry White.

______________

Sorry, George took over my comp for a bit. Anyhow, I'm back, and have nothing new to report. Classes are going like normal, I should have an update on volunteering next week, if all goes well. Besides that, it's been same old same old.

ps - I hope youre happy sampson.

MM-ification

2007-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is the cool M & M I made. He is capable of beating down billions and billions of little M & Ms. Go to becomeanMM.com or something like that. And then post them for us all to see.

everyone else MM-ified

2007-01-18T08:41:00.001-08:00

So I decided to pick out some people's MM forms for them. I know you will like them. They fit everyone perfectly, I think. Enjoy.

Sampson MM form

Crystal MM form

Beth MM form

Paul MM form

Jason MM form

Dell MM form

Vacation Remix

2006-12-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Short post.

We are off to the Keys, where we will be mostly out of internet range. So no intarnets for us til we get home next weekend. Hope everyone's doing well, blah blah blah. I will try to call you all or text you all at some point on new years. Or you can call/text me. just remember, I now use beth's orlando cell. Hope everyone's well.

long post on how the holiday was (both orlando and the keys) when we return. think of george, off in puppy wonderland for the week. that's right, she's going to a nice puppy place for the week, where they keep her out of her crate all day except for feeding, naptime, and night time. Other than that, she will be a pack dog, off playing blissfully.

talk to you all later. A to the X - out.

Alas Poor Pluto, I Knew Him Horatio

2006-12-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Now that all of the hubbub and furor has died down, and the dust has settled...

Pluto is no longer a planet. It was stricken from the ranks of the planets and is now a... What exactly is it now, anyway??

Well, I don't know what those scientists are calling it, but I have determined that a new class of celestial bodies exists, and Pluto is the first to fit into the category. Others may follow, but Pluto is the galactic object I thought of first when I conceived of the group name.

I will leave you with the category of bodies that Pluto fits into. Remember, I thought of it first.

Behold Pluto, first of the Planettes!

Triumph The New Post

2006-11-27T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, so now that everyone is coming down from their Triptophan high, I thought I would do a semi-thought provoking post. It is a short questionairre, and I think it is interesting. It's applicable to everyone who reads my blog, mostly. For Jason and Crystal, if you answer it, answer liberally. Also, the answers cannot be "because i need money" or "because I signed a contract" unless that's the only answer that applies. OK, here we go.

1. Why did you enter the field/job/thing you do? What prompted it?
2. Why do you continue to work in the field/job/thing you do?
3. Is that the area you want to work in? What is the area you want to work in? Why do you want to work in that field?

I have been wondering about Purpose lately. Why do people do the things they do? I am not thinking, ya know, divine purpose or anything like that, I mean self-inspired purpose. And I guess I wonder about even more specific than "because it's what I love." Why do you love it? Is it for the challenge? The people? An ideal you hold dear? I wonder about this.

So satisfy my questions, wake yourself up from your turkey stupor, and write a thingy here. I want answers, dang it!

Boat boat boat

2006-10-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

The photos speak for themselves, really. This is Our Boat. We have a name, but we have not named her, so we can't say the name. But we can all look and plan. So, once I pass the bar, I am thinking I will use my full title. "Andrew Wentzell, esquire. Captain of xxxxxxxxxxx." Has a ncie ring to it, neh?

Everything Is Ruled By O'Doyle

2006-10-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

This article validates my 25 year argument with writing teachers.

I know, it sounds ludicrous. But it's true. I have been arguing about this sticky subject for as long as I can remember. In EVERY class, from the beginning of my education to even now in law school, I was always told that Passive Voice is a no-no. It was said to be bad writing, and anyone who used it was clearly deficient in writing ability.

However, it never made sense to me. There simply had to be a reason for it, otherwise why would anyone have done it? Passive Voice had to be good for something. I thought it was a conspiracy, The Man keeping me down, whatever you want to call it.

Honestly, I wondered what the deal was. Why is Passive Voice so bad? Granted, if it is used in an way that is against its purpose, it's bad. But really, Active Voice can be bad also, if you follow that argument. Anyway, I thought about it, and I came up with my own reasons why Passive Voice was not all that bad. I even vowed to fight the system, when I become a professor, to tell people why Passive Voice wasn't going to condemn them to the 3rd circle of hell or anything.

But before I could fight the good fight, this nice article came out. It is a sign that I am right. Again. Read it and rejoice in the rightness that is me. And the author.

Ps - thanks go to my nobbit for finding this.
PPs - Jason needs to post again.

Repeated for Truth

2006-10-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Or Truthiness

Laugh? Cry? Shake Your Head and Walk Away? You Decide.

2006-10-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Click

Vote.

Interesting Article. On a Side Note, Read Comment 11

2006-10-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Click here!!! Do it!!!!!

I'm Just too white and nerdy...

2006-09-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Modern, Cool Nerd

73 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 39% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used
to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a
pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world
that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and
geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very
least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent,
knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing
computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one
you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one
up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 99% on geekosity
You scored higher than 99% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Good Morning Sunshine

2006-09-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

You Are Sunshine

Soothing and calm
You are often held up by others as the ideal
But too much of you, and they'll get burned

You are best known for: your warmth

Your dominant state: connecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

To PC or not to PC, That Is the Question?

2006-09-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

This post is from about 2 years in the future. Future Me(tm) will be buying a computer to be the gaming/random applications/whatever-I-want-it-to-be station, and the toshiba laptop will be used just as document writer/internet getter. And Future Me is unsure what sort of computer to get. There are 4 options, and Future Me is torn. Should Me buy:

1. a laptop PC (thought not HP or Toshiba)
2. a laptop Mac
3. a desktop PC
4. a desktop Mac

So Future Me wants to hear the pluses and minuses of each side so as to make a good decision. Me could, you know, read articles and learn meself, but hopefully this stimulating debate will shake out the strengths and weaknesses of each type of machine. And since there is a balance among you all between Mac users and PC users.

Yeah, I'm lazy. So what? Like you're not. Just post. You know you want to. Every post has a chance of winning a unique prize. Just Do It. Post. Comment. Do it. Zamboni.

My New Goal

2006-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I have a new goal in life. It is a goal that may take all of my life, but I am sure that you will all agree that it is worth it. Indeed, you may join in and make this your own goal in life too.

At any rate, this is my new goal outlined in brief. I want to drink life to the fullest, sip everything that life has to offer. As such, I need to drink all 100 beers. Not all at once, mind you, but I want to try them all.

I don't think that they'll all taste good. There're alot of bitters and IPAs and such on the list, which I don't really like. But I will try them, and hopefully expand my palate as I climb this Mount Everest of beer lists. Sadly, thus far I have tasted only one of the beers on the list: the Anchor beer. I went out to Cali and tried it with Brother Aaron. It was pretty good. But that was the ONLY beer on this list that I have tried. So my task is monumental. But I shall overcome.

Won't you join me?

If You Have Any Poo, Fling It Now

2006-08-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

So, I was reading an article - a blog - and I thought it was worth sharing, as were my thoughts on the subject.

This post really made me think about the state of affairs in the airports and with national security right now. It really made me wonder at the state of affairs in Denmark, ya know? I wanted to write a letter the various airlines and tell them that I am boycotting their services until they stop with this BS treatment of American citizens, and stop fear-mongering. I mean, I know I am just one person, but if people stop flying, stop allowing these abuses to take place, maybe we could get back to the happy days where flying was a wonderful thing. Maybe airlines would get the message that giving in to fear is not the answer.

But then I wondered. How soon after I mailed the letter would it be sent to Homeland Security? I'd be blacklisted from flying, and knowing my luck I'd be strip searched at the check points. And that's a bad thing for everyone. Or worse yet, I'd vanish one day. I'd get carted off to Cuba, and share a cell with 4 or 5 people. And you know what they do for fun there. Well, if you don't let me enlighten you. They have human waste distance throwing contests! The winner gets the losers' puddings for a day. And of course, instead of saying "ready, set, go", which is soo pedestrian, the judge says...

...say it with me...

"If you have any poo, fling it NOW!"

The More You Know

A Comment

2006-08-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Read this essay and think about it. Are we really safer? Is flying any safer? Or is the airport a theater?

Y'all all know my thoughts on it. What are yours?

Short Post

2006-08-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

A glimmer of hope in this crazy world.

A Short Thing

2006-08-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

So I was reading about all of the restrictions for flying now, and all of the fuss. And amid it all, I read this, and I was intrigued. Read it and expand your minds. Oh, and add any corrections that the article guy wasn't aware of. That's all for now.

Living Off The Grid

2006-08-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been reading articles about building a home and living "off the grid" a.k.a. being independent or mostly independent of public energy/city energy. Sounds like a great, right?

I thought it was, anyway. So I went looking around at the different ideas people had for living "off the grid." There were several, but I narrowed it down to 2 examples that I felt represented the better and the worse of home designs. So I will present them both, for your pleasure.

Contestant 1 - this website very quickly turned me off to their product. I know, I am a biased person when it comes to "crazy hippie ideas". The sell for this was very hippie. Instead of selling their product, it felt like they were trying to sell their ideology, and I gotta say, I wasn't buying. I was very quickly turned off, and so didn't really give it a chance. But in my defense, image is everything in marketing, isn't it? And really, the steps to making one of these homes reminded me a little of a scam, or a cult. You have to pay increasing amounts of money to advance up the steps to making one of these homes. So really, this was one of the worse examples of "off the grid" homes.

Contestant 2 - this website was not a true selling website, so it immediately was a step up from the others. Now, I know it's kinda like apples to oranges (comparing Contestant 1 and Contestant 2), but too bad. The how-to style was more approachable, I felt. Further, the style was super-cool (I am a nerd, after all). There were no steps you had to surmount, but then again, it wasn't trying to sell you blueprints. I dunno, it seemed more helpful to me to see an informative website than a persuasive website. So I liked this, and felt that it was one of the better examples of "off the grid" houses.

So what do you think? Which, if any, would you do? Or is there another one that catches your fancy... I know that this post is full of eco-friendly ideas, but this is not an opening for you to push your crazy bring-you-own-bag-to-the-grocery-store ideas. (Ahem, Crystal, Ahem).

And Jason, update. Post. Allakhazam. Alohomora? Allakadabra? :waves a wand: Where's the cloud of smoke?

Informed Decisions

2006-07-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, I have decided to grace you all with a post.

What is an "informed opinion"? I didn't want to do the usual technique of researching the phrase in a dictionary. This time, I am gonna ad lib it. So here goes. I feel that an informed opinion is one made after you have heard both sides of the story. But wait, there's more. Beyond just hearing both sides of the story, to make an informed opinion, I feel that the opiner should be able to argue both sides of the issue. If you can only argue the one side of the issue you may not be as informed as you thought, and more to the point, you may not have actually processed the information that you "heard".

Too many times have I read online people argue over an issue, and they are so wrapped up in their own side, there is NO way they will EVER be able to see the other side of the issue. Their opinions are not informed. Neither of them has ever considered where the other side is coming from. And sadly, it seems that all too many people today are like this. All too many people make up their minds on little or no information, and that's it - there's no changing their minds, regardless of how compelling the information or how credible the source. They have never tried to get into the mind of their opponent and really try to understand his/her side of the story, and they never will.

Don't be one of those guys.

*As a footnote, trying to understand where the other guy's coming from and trying to be able to play devil's advocate can lead you to opine that the other side is completely defenseless and absurd. And that's alright too. You made the effort, you played devil's advocate and came to an informed decision. Bravo, I say.

** As a further side note, probably everyone knows that I cannot stand, cannot stand, people who are uninformed opiners. I feel, if you cannot change your mind, if the possibility of changing your mind does not exist in your head, if you cannot ever see the other side of the story, there is no point in having a discussion with you. You are not worth the time and effort. So please, please don't be like this, so I have people to debate and argue with.

*** I'm not saying that any of you are like this. In fact, all of the regular readers of this blog are not like this. It's the rest of the world that is like this, and that inspired my quasi-rant...

Very cool.

2006-07-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

I thin that this is really cool. I mean, it's not much different functionally that the RFID chips. They will be able to do essentially the same stuff. BUT the key differnce, I feel, is the size.

Imagine if you need to put a chip into, say, Alex. Instead of the bigger RFID chips that are impanted, you could just use one of these, and I imagine it would be less invasive and painful for her.

There are many more possibilities than I can imagine, I'm sure, but it's pretty cool. C'mon, revel with me!

A real update

2006-07-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have an actual factual real update for you all to enjoy.

First off, a little anecdote. Beth and I have been making smoothies recently, and I was one evening in the process of making a raspberry mixed berry banana smoothie for us, in our blender. Now, I like to fiddle with my blender as its blending, and help move the ingredients around to aid in the blend process. I normally use a wooden spoon to manipulate the top area of the blender vessel. So I am playing and blending at medium speed. But the mixing is not going well. So I begin more vigorously stirring the stuff in the blender, to help it all mix up. As I am doing so, there is suddenly a thunderous "CRACK!!!!" and I jumped back from the blender. As I did so, I jostled the blender vessel and splashed some of the smoothie around, and splashed some of the area around me. Beth suddenly gasps in horror and dashes into the room. Apparently, when she heard the crack, she looked over and saw me jump back, and she saw massive amounts of dark red liquid go flying, so she assumed that I have gotten part of my hand chopped off. We had a good laugh about it after I explained that it was only the wooden spoon that got mutilated, and not my hand.

And now on to serious matters. I am getting the feeling that I am in a limbo sort of place right now. Employment wise especially. I have not been successful in getting a job thus far, and it is frustrating. When I apply for law jobs, they do not hire me because I am underqualified. I have no real law work experience to speak of, and so they are immediately turned off and I don't get interviews. And when I apply for non law jobs, they do not hire me because I am overqualified. I am almost done with an advanced degree, and apparently employers feel that this is a bad thing to have. Now I know I am lumping all of the non law jobs together, and I'm sure that there are lots of non law jobs that don't worry about or wouldn't find me overqualified. However, the types of jobs I am forced to apply for (entry jobs mostly in retail) are certainly those that find me overqualified. I have talked to Sampson and Beth and probably a few other people about it, and it's true that you can talk away any worries people have about being overqualified. But I dunno if the places I applied at bought my explanation, or even paid attention to it. Take employer N. I submitted an application recently, and was called for and got an interview. At the interview, the manager did not bring up the concern of overqualified. The interview went well. I know I didn't do anything wrong, and I think I scored some telling points. Really the interview was more along the lines of her telling me what I would be expected to do if I was hired. Well, a week later, after not having heard back from her about whether I got the job, I went in and spoke to her and she said that they did not have anything open. Which really means they didn't have anything open for me. And I have to wonder whether it was because I was "overqualified".

I dunno. I feel like overqualified is a myth. I don't know why it exists, but it's a myth. Either a person can and will do the job, or they can't or won't. Underqualified certainly can be an issue. But overqualified? I have heard that it is linked to pay, but again I have a problem. If I apply for a job, and am told what the pay is, either I accept the job and the pay rate or I don't. It's not a matter of paying me what I'm "worth" but a matter of the employer paying, and me accepting the pay rate. If I feel like it's too low, then I probably won't accept the job, and the problem is solved. But if the employer unilaterally decides for me that I wouldn't be paid what I'm "worth", that bothers me. Pay scale is something that both parties have to agree to. Now, I suppose that it could be said that employers feel that most people in a situation similar to mine, with skills similar to mine, would reject the pay rate, and so the employer may not extend an interview. I mean, it makes sense economically. Time is money and all that, and managers' time is valuable. But if they give me an interview, then the issue of overqualified, if it is an issue, should be aired and figured out right away.

And really, I feel like, if I am applying for a job, I probably already have a good idea about pay rate. I mean, honestly, I knew that entry level employees at employer N made around 6.50 an hour. I knew it, and I applied. Because, of course, I felt that the pay was acceptable for me. So really, overqualified shouldn't be tied to pay rate, because I assume that most people are like me and they know roughly what they pay is before applying, and in applying are saying that the pay is acceptable.

So what else is overqualified thought to be? I have heard that overqualified means that you would be bored doing the job and would be more likely to quit should a better situation arise. Now, I have several problems to this. An employer is looking for loyalty. They are looking for someone who will be with the company for a long time, so as to make the training worth it. What about having advanced degrees makes employers think you will be disloyal?? Maybe they think you have to take a class in "how to get ahead" to get the degree?? Honestly, I feel like a person will be loyal or disloyal regardless of how much school or experience they have. Loyalty is not a product of degree or experience or anything. EIther you are loyal or you are not.

As for being bored with the job - sure, lots of people get bored with their job. But it's a job, not a video game. I suspect that most people with advanced degrees understand that your job is what you do, and sure, some parts will be boring. But you tough it through those parts and have fun with the fun parts that make it worthwhile. Really, I bet lots of people are bored with parts of their job. But that doesn't mean that they're gonna jump ship ASAP. They agreed to do the job, they do the job, and they like some parts and not others. But being bored does not make you more likely to quit. Least I don't think so.

Anyhow, enough about overqualified and my job woes. Although, as an end-note, it does bug me that employer N didn't call me back about whether I got the job or not. If I didn't love what N sells, I would boycott the place. Maybe I will, and go to it's competitor B for a while, just til I feel vindicated. Meh, we'll see. Oh, and Jason - Blog, or Post or Update or whatever the word is.

Pics

2006-06-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

No, I am not gonna post pics here. First, I don't know how. And second, I would prefer to send the interested parties the compressed file full of tons of photos from the disposable cameras. So if you want photos, get your email addresses to me. And don't assume I have your address, cause I might or I might not. Anyhow, more to follow.

UPdate

2006-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

This is an update. I will poat more later.

Del Smells

2006-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Now that that's out of the way...

I think Beth is casting voodoo magic or something. This weekend, I lost at Catan. Beth won. Not too uncommon, right? But it gets worse. Beth also beat me at 5 games out of 11 in cribbage. 5! To toot my own horn, I do not often lose in cribbage. So either she's gotten really good, I've begun to suck at games, or, more likely, she is casting a spell on me...

In other news, our apartment is finally back in order and clean. After a month of slovenliness, we finally got the place clean and shiny again. Looks good too, when it is clean.

I am starting to volunteer at a legal clinic tomorrow, for 5 hours a week. It will be great experience, and I will be seeing a whole lot of different types of problems. I am looking forward to it - especially bcause it is business casual, and not suit or anything.

OK, I am gonna log off, since Beth is spying on me. A longer post may follow in a few days. People, we need to make plans to get back into the catan vibe. We can work out the multitude of time zones and such, I am sure. Will and Way, and all that.

So, to recap, Beth -voodoo, Del - smell. the rest of you, I havent figured out insults for you yet. But you're time will come.

It works.

2006-05-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

OK, now that this works again, I will do a short post, not the ginormous book that crystal posted.

First off, crystal cheated in the spam sampson's post game. You can't leave and come back and count that as one sitting, or whatever. So I am still winning. 32 is my victory!

In other news, this past weekend we went to Beth's family reunion in Florala Alabama. It was pretty fun, all things considered. We got to play waterballoon games and stuff like that. The only drawback was that the food we had was all southern. Now, I have no beef agianst all things southern. But the food is all salty and stuff. And I grew up with no salt on the table or anything. So the food is too much for me, really. But the desserts were really good.

And aside from that, I have been relaxing since school got out. I sent out a bunch of resumes and went into offices, but so far no job. I am gonna continue doing this for a while, but if there is no job forthcoming in a few weeks, I will be expanding my search to more than just law jobs. I mean, I have to pay the bills, right? So, hopefully I will be writing soon that I have a job, but who can say.

One more thing. Apparently employers are big into checking to see if potential employees have blogs and checking them before making a decision about hiring. Seems strange to me. I mean, I guess if we write it here, we should expect that people will read it, right? But it's odd to think that employers will be reading it too. So I guess as we have already learned, discretion is good, huh.

Anyhow, that's it for me.

This is a test.

2006-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Of the blog-casting system.

Does this thing work? For a while it stopped, so this is a test run. Not an update.

What's In a Name?

2006-05-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

My thanks to Sampson and Del. This was, I thought, really cool, and it deserved it's own post in honor of the coolness. And i am gonna forward the info to my family - I dunno if they know all of this, but they will once they get it.

What does the name mean?
Last Name: Wentzell
German: variant spelling of Wentzel, or in some cases probably an altered spelling of the same name.

What does the name mean?
Last Name: Wentzel
German: variant spelling of Wenzel, or in some cases probably an altered spelling of the same name.

What does the name mean?
Last Name: Wenzel
German: from the personal name Wenzel, a pet form (with the German diminutive suffix -el) of the Middle High German personal name Wenze, a borrowing from Slavic representing a short form of the Old Czech personal name Vęceslav (see Vacek; the borrowing took place before Czech lost its nasal vowels).

What does the name mean?
Last Name: Vacek
Czech: from a pet form of the personal name Václav, Old Czech Vęceslav (cognate with Polish Więcesław, Latinized as Wenceslas). It is composed of the Old Slavic elements viece ‘greater’ + slav ‘glory’. It was borne by a 10th-century duke of Bohemia who fought against a revival of paganism in his territory, and after his death became patron saint of Bohemia.

______________________

So I am related to Good King Wenceslas. Very cool, even if it's a non-relation sort of relation. Thanks again to Del and Sampson for this - it's really neat.

2006-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Sampson, I win.

This is what I got when I tried to keep leaving comments.

"Comments have been disabled on this post."

So I win. AND my comments were content-free. Awww yeah.

Top 10 Sci-Fi Films

2006-05-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by this article, and so I think it would be cool to make my own top 10 sci-fi moovies ever. I don't have the list ready yet, so I will post if as a comment. Won't you do the same?

Honorarium

2006-04-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today's honorable mention goes to Paul. He had a great link that was truly a masterwork. The work wasn't his, but he found it, so he gets the mention.

2006-04-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, should the US offer reparations to the descendents of slaves?

This was the topic for a couple of classes this week, and I thought I would send the question out into the internet to see what everyone else thought.

Now, reparations come in many forms. One suggestion for reparations was building a Slavery Memorial, much like we have a Holocaust Memorial. The idea being, of course, remember what happened so it won't happen again. Another suggestion was to create trust funds (funded by the govt..), for the next 5 or 10 years, for each new baby born to those African Americans who were the descendants of slaves. A third idea was an outright payment, much like America did to the Japanese Americans who suffered in the internment camps.

So what do people think? Are any of these appropriate? Should reparations be offered?

__________________________________________

My thoughts:
First, who would be paid? Just African-Americans who are descended? what about those of other ethnic backgrounds? if they can trace their history back to slaves, why shouldn't they get money too? And what about those people who have descended from slaves of the Caribbean? If they live here now, but their ancestors were slaves in the caribbean, do we pay them? And what about the descendants of slaves who were freed and sent to Africa? They were slaves in America, but then were sent to another continent to live. Should they be included?

Further, what are we reparating? Is it the fact that the slaves were made to suffer? or that they were degraded by the majority? If either of those is correct, then don't we owe money to the descendants of immigrants? After all, immigrants were made to suffer also, and were degraded by the majority.

So next, how many people would be eligible for reparations? If we go by descendants of slaves, what is the percentage of ancestry one would need to claim money? As long as one ancestor was a slave do you get money? And what if you thought you were descended form slaves, but had no proof? after all, geneology is a difficult thing to pin down.

If we're just talking about descendants of slaves, I wonder how many people we are talking about. 1 million? 10 million? And then if you include the descendants of Caribbean slaves? The number probably doubles. And then if you include the descendants who live abroad, especially in Africa, how many now? 50 million? 100 million? Finally, if you include the descendants of immigrants, then how many? 125 million?

Finally, we get to the money. How much would be sufficient to reparate people? 100 dollars? 1 thousand dollars? How much is it worth? Then multiply that number by the number of people who are getting money. And remember who is footing the bill. Not a collection of nations, but just America. Do we have 12.5 billion dolars extra laying around that we don't use? And that's assuming that we only pay out 100 dollars per person.

So where does the money come from for reparations? Well, it comes from taxes. So these descendants would be paying themselves reparations. And further, where will the money go once it's been paid? If 50 million in the US get 1 thousand dollars extra, you know what will happen? not much. If the money that the consumer is willing to spend goes up, the cost of the product goes up too. I am not an economist, but if we all get 1000 dollars, suppliers are going to raise prices, right? So 1000 dollars won't even be worth as much anymore. In real spendable dollars, the reparation amount went from 1000 dollar each down to a lesser number.

In the end, the numbers don't support any sort of payment that would assuage people while not bankrupting the US economy further. The idea of monetary reparations seems unsupportable, and further, financially irresponsible. But that's just my opinion.

** the numbers I was throwing around in my analysis were, as you suspected, pulled from my butt. I couldn't find any source that gave any kind of firm number of descendants of slaves living today. If you find some numbers, please comment with them so as to make this discussion more accurate...

Man, now I want to go to Japan...

2006-04-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last Ninja: 'Be Able to Kill Your Students'
By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer

Wed Apr 26, 2:33 PM

NODA, Japan - The teachings of Grand Master Masaaki Hatsumi echo through my head as he entreats me to attack a blackbelted disciple with a practice sword. "Always be able to kill your students," he says.

Chilling words from a shockingly fit 76-year-old man who bills himself as the world's last ninja and stocks his training chamber with weapons such as throwing stars and nunchucks. Especially to a neophyte whose closest brush with martial arts was watching Bruce Lee matinees as a kid.

As I cautiously raise the sword with a taut two-handed samurai grip, my sparring partner gingerly points to Hatsumi. I avert my eyes for a split second _ and WHAM! The next thing I know, I'm staring at the rafters.

Keeping your focus is just one of the lessons thumped out on the mats of the Bujinkan Dojo, a cramped school outside Tokyo that is a pilgrimage site for 100,000 worldwide followers. They revere Hatsumi as the last living master of ninjutsu _ the mysterious Japanese art of war practiced by black-masked assassins of yesteryear.

"He's unlimited in body, mind and spirit," says Richard VanDonk, who flew in from California to practice body throws in the dojo's warm glow of rice-paper screens and flickering votive candles. "He's a master of change."

Hatsumi is the only living student of the last "fighting ninja," Toshitsugu Takamatsu, the so-called 33rd Grand Master who was a bodyguard to officials in Japanese-occupied Manchuria before World War II and fought _ and won _ 12 fights to the death. Legend says that during one battle, Takamatsu snatched an eyeball from a would-be Chinese bandit.

Today, Hatsumi's enemies are stereotypes and flagging interest in the ancient art. He seeks to leave the task to a worthy successor as speculation mounts about his retirement.

In many ways, the curly-haired, wide-eyed Hatsumi has been a victim of success: He has helped make ninja an international household name by training followers from Chile to South Africa. But he also has watched his legacy co-opted by goofy caricatures such as "Mutant Ninja Turtles" and schlocky Hollywood send-ups like "Beverly Hills Ninja."

"I think it's pathetic," Hatsumi says of the ninja's modern image.

A glance around the dojo suggests the average Japanese might agree. The vast majority of students are foreigners, often with a military background, who learned of Hatsumi overseas. That's because in Japan, ninjutsu is swept up in the wave of apathy that has sapped the ranks of traditional martial arts like sumo and judo.

Most Japanese are exposed to martial arts in school. But the number practicing judo has been declining since the 1980s as more people turn to Western sports like golf and tennis. Sumo also has fallen on hard times, forcing the Japan Sumo Association to import stars.

"Young kids might be more interested in other sports that are flashy or fashionable," concedes Makinori Matsuo, an associate professor of martial arts at Tokyo's International Budo University.

"They tend to be turned off by the image of martial arts as sweaty and smelly," he said.

Ninja is a compound word from the Japanese characters for "stealth" or "endurance" and "person," a reference to their traditional role as spies, mercenaries and assassins working for medieval warlords.

Traditional weaponry such as swords and throwing stars feature prominently is Hatsumi's lessons, as do handclaws for climbing walls, blow darts and chili pepper dust to throw in an opponent's eyes.

But true ninjutsu, Hatsumi says, is self-discipline and balance in the boardroom and the battlefield. It's about mastering one's weaknesses, including laziness and fear, and exploiting a rival's needs, such as sex and pride.

As he nimbly glides across the padded floor, Hatsumi showers students with cryptic proverbs straight out of Confucian scrolls, such as "anything can be used as a weapon" or "ninjutsu is the sum of things in the universe."

"Timing is the most difficult," he adds, while casually deflecting a gleaming metal sword swung at his neck by a veteran student. After the turning the blade on the attacker, Hatsumi gives his arm a slight twist, eliciting a baleful yelp.

Halfway through the lesson, Hatsumi takes a break to pen traditional brush paintings for students who hustle to his side with paper. Then things get serious again with the meting out of "ninja tests."

Going for his fifth-level ranking is Phil White of England, who kneels on the floor with his eyes closed. Behind him stands Hatsumi, clutching a padded wooden sword that he plans to bring down on White's head.

If White _ with his eyes still closed _ manages to dodge the sword, he passes; if not, he takes home some bumps.

Twice the staff cracks on White's head before he slumps out of the way on his third try _ enough to satisfy the master.

"I'm still shaking," White says afterward, while being barraged by congratulatory slaps on the back. "I didn't feel like I was moving. You feel like you're being blown by the wind."

Today, hundreds of ninja schools across Europe, North America and beyond trace their roots to Hatsumi.

He has held training seminars for the FBI, CIA, the Mossad and for police in Britain, France and Germany. He has served as a martial arts adviser to films such as the James Bond thriller "You Only Live Twice" and the television miniseries "Shogun."

Hatsumi has left his mark in other ways, authoring a dozen books in English and Japanese.

He says he is not ready to sheath his sword anytime soon, but admits the question of who will succeed him as ninjutsu's world leader is a constant topic of gossip at the dojo. Only Hatsumi gets to choose the next grand master, and he's not giving any hints.

It's even possible it will be a non-Japanese for the first time, he says.

"Human beings always want to know what they cannot know," he says. "But you can never tell the future.

2006-04-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

you all smell. Bad. Especially sampson and paul.

I however, smell good. Like a nice ::insert your favorite smell here::

So there.

I like the enter button.

What about you?