History in the making

Blogging is evolving into a world changing action.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174300636

Even House Speaker Dennis Hastert has a blog
http://www.speaker.gov/journal/index.shtml

The Sony reversal is monumental if you think about it. Previously consumers had to go through several intermediaries or use the court system. The idea that thousands of bloggers could scare Sony into ordering a recall on a DRM CD blows my mind. It speaks strongly on the new found powers of consumers and the importance of freedom of speech and the internet.

Pissed off

Am I the only person in the US who is generally pissed off how the world is described? Seems like everyone is perfectly fine with being told the whole world is going to hell. I just dont buy it, sure its not perfect, there are politicians and corporations without ethics, people do drugs, people drive drunk, people get cancer, families break up, women have abortions. But what kind of message are we sending to those that are younger than us? Give up now cause were giving you a FUBARed world.
Despite all the shortcomings of my life, Im genuinely pretty happy most of the time. There's no point in being a pessimist cause life is short, and all to often humans either dont cherish life till its at its end or at all. I thank God for my stupid little life, no matter how insignificant it is in the galaxy. As higher beings were are given amazing things to ponder on whether we know it or not. Free Will. Why did God invent it, seems like he just created it and decided to let man figure it out. The meaning of life? I know my purpose, I dont claim to know anyone else's other than my family members. And no Im not going to tell you cause so far the people I've told tell me Im weird and crazy, and granted I am very weird and eccentric, I still know something they dont.
What about Love? Is there anything greater in life, yes it causes pain and heartache, but think about it, does anything else create true happiness despite that it hurts when we lose what we love. Would we really appreciate anything if we always had it? I dont think humans do, we dont appreciate our gifts, we dont tell our loved ones how much we love them near enough. How many people realize their purpose in life? All too often I think its right in front of us. But I think the origin of a lot of unhappiness is that people dont act on their purpose because they are afraid of the unknown. I say bring it on, take a few chances in life you may surprise yourself. I'm not talking about driving drunk or doing drugs. But what about that trip to Tahiti? That offhand date invite to the pretty girl in class?
Now to drama. I hate drama! All too often I see people creating drama for themselves by making stupid decisions and giving into temptation. Dont cheat on your spouse, dont cheat on your girl or boyfriend. Dont start a fight if someone steps on your foot. Treat others the way you would like to be treated, and dont worry those that always seem to get away with everything will get theirs, its what lady fate lives for. She loves to teach people humility.
Power. What is it that human history teaches us? Those in power always fall from it, either through death, vote, war, or a revolution. Those that live by the sword die by it. In a world of extremes, doesnt it make sense to be a moderate? Honestly being modest never hurt anyone, moderation never killed anyone. Im not advocating being a boring person, just dont be in a rush to grow up, die, live, learn, etc... Life comes at you faster than most people can handle it.
Dont talk trash, because the more you do it the more probable it is that that person will find out about it, and then "you will be in a world of s__t."
Sometimes its frustrating being a history major because those who study it are doomed to see it repeated over and over.

Post Secret

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

If you are looking for something amusing or thought provoking, check out Postsecret Blog.

Life in the capitol

So there was a bomb scare on capitol hill today. It was pretty weird to be so close to something like that. But I was never concerned for myself and overall it was a very slow and quiet day, I was almost falling asleep while waiting for the phone to ring, and dealing with back pain from leaning over file cabinets to file mail. But I still really like my internship and I look forward to it all week.

Creationism & America in the world

With all the hulabalu going on in this nation about creationism being taught in school theres a simple solution. Sunday school people! Indoctrinate your kids in sunday school like how your parents and grandparents were taught. That way teachers can spend more time on more important things like math and science to keep this country ahead of the chinese nad europeans.
I think it is a bit of a stretch to take for total truth a creation story written by a few lonely men in small communities living alone in the desert. So much of the bible was written that way, small groups of men trying to make sense of their existence and make the most of their days. Today is not the past and we should look to the bible as a moral highground, not as the absolute truth. Those stories are meant to be guidelines, and they are good guidelines to live by. But like everything in life take them with a grain of salt. The human race would not be as advanced as is now if we had followed absolutely everything in the bible.
And also as children of God we need to stop killing each other in his name. Jesus and Buddha preached peace and forgiveness, but we as a society practice grudges, horrible war.

"Consider your origin; ye were not made to live as brutes, but to pursue virtue and knowledge."- Dante; Hell

The other day Pat Robertson, a supposed disciple of Jesus was advocating the assassination of the President of Venezuela. What kind of Christian does that? We need to look at the positive things he has done for his people, improving their lives and education for the children of the country. The media has lots of poisoned stories planted by oil companies to discredit his advances in venezuelan society. US citizens need to be more vocal to US companies and let them know that we wont accept their unethical practices in other countries which reflect badly on the rest of the country. Their actions paint all Americans as heartless, uncaring, and unethical people. If we want to improve our relations with the third world we need to make sure our large corporations act with responsibility and ethics in poor countries and not take advantage of those people.

News choppers

Today on the news their helicopter was hoving over a landfill where a body was found. The picture was live and it went on for about 30 mins or longer, not really sure as I stopped paying attention. I began to think about how much they spend on fuel just to cover an unchanging scene. Seems like they could have recorded about 10 mins worth then moved on instead of having a live image of a dump site and a few guys lingering around a blue tarp. come on US news conglomerates! How about using some footage of international news that doesnt always involve an explosion or looting, molotov cocktails, or some boring summit. There is plenty of footage and stories around the world.

cut the mullet

So I was watching COPS on court tv on mute this evening after simpsons and amusingly enough 2 kids get busted shoplifting and trying to run, when the cops get the kids up against a fence I notice that both kids and both cops have mullets. 4 guys with mullets, I was wondering if there was a WWE convention in that town. Honestly how can anyone anywhere find a mullet attractive to look at?

October 3, 2005

I had some time before a speaker at a media research center downtown on 15th street so I walked over to the national plaza and sat in the shade of the Washington Monument, It never seems as big as when your standing right next to it and you see how big the stones are and how tall it is.


I was walking down a closed off street to traffic and all of a sudden I was behind the White House. It was a bit of a surprise for me as I wasn't expecting it and I dont remember all those buildings around it, I never remembered the National Treasury being so close to the White House but apparently its been there for quite a while. (Thank You Alexander Hamilton)

the irony

I thought this was ironic. In that they used wood to help a young tree grow up straight.

death

Ever notice how cemetarys are made out to be so scary in movies and cartoons? How society is so afraid of the dead coming back to life when so much of christianity is based on some guy who brought another guy back to life and then later himself? Crazy double standards...

hmmmfff

Im too conservative for college...Is it just that Im realistic, not idealistic as everyone else my age? Have I seen enough of the world to see how things are? Have I given up on paradise on earth? Is there something wrong with me or with everyone else? I seem content to work with the system Ive been given, to make my niche in the world and to work behind the scenes, make alliances and friends to change the world subtly.

Anyway, I didnt get an email so I was able to walk around the Capitol mall, I went into the Aerospace museum, revisited some exhibits havent seen since I was 12.

America Today

Why is it almost everytime we turn on the news in this country we are bombarded with so much bad news? It seems like no one has anything to contribute but sarcasm and criticism. The few positive stories are typically dumb, cute crap, is that supposed to make me feel better? Maybe its part of the tragedy of human nature that we are grossly interested in death and suffering. It seems to me that giving of oneself is almost dead in this country. We are a nation with something like 60-70% church attendence, not to mention the jews in temples, the peace loving muslims in mosques, or the buddhists, who are probably the most peaceful people on the planet. The vast majority of people living today need to find out the beautiful feeling of loving someone else more than themselves. Stop trying to convert everyone to your views on life. To your politics, etc... Just accept them, appreciate them for the things you do like. Waste less, tell people the truth always, but always be fair

Washington DC

Well Im in DC now until December 17. I went and explored the main campus and picked up my AU ID. Not as many pretty girls up here, but it doesnt really matter, I doubt Ill have much time to flirt. My apartment and roommate look like theyll work out. The only 2 other things I have to worry about are my classes and my internship. I have to figure out the Metro very quickly.

back to school

Well the end of August is finally coming and Im having tons of fun, but its coming to an end. I just wish I could have another month of summer. Ive had lots of surprises this summer, and met lots of interesting people, driven all over Texas and through New Mexico and Colorado. Helped 4 friends and one brother move. Ive read plenty, learned tons of computer stuff. I feel really good about life, I know where I want to get to and what I want in life. I have lots of great music to listen to and absorb.
Washington DC should bring its own surprises and lessons. Im not excited about living there, and I hold no expectations. I know my time up there will fly by and itll be Christmas in no time and then ill be in Mexico if everything goes to plan. Im sure Ill have a lot of free time for reading and learning new skills as I wont have a tv in DC, but ill be fine with my powerbook and an internet connection. I do love the internet, I can find just about anything I want to learn about or listen to or watch anything.

software

Ive been surprised recently with the amazing products that Google and Yahoo! have been giving away for free. Google's desktop search and Picasa, their photo management software are very formidable pieces of software for windows. Yahoo!s recent purchase and release of Konfabulator (www.konfabulator.com) has brought widgets (mini desktop applications) to windows.
Its nice to see computer owners gaining more control over their machines. The era of 'netizen' is dawning with so many people writing their own blogs. I recently started my own as you can see. Its a great way to learn about your friends and family. How they think, what concerns them, it will ultimately give us a better understanding of ourselves and each other. Maybe the internet will finally do what religion has been trying to do for eons. Bring people together and build a community of respect for each others beliefs and thoughts and promote understanding and tolerance.

discovering music you already own

Its lots of fun to go back through old CD cases and listen to CDs youve owned for a while and find that you have lots of great music that you didnt appreciate when you first got the cd. My problem was that I would just listen to the big singles and add those to iTunes.
Its amazing what music does for so many of us. It gives a release of pressure, helps us think about things in a different light or an altogether new subject. What bothers me sometimes is how some artists will use their popularity to brainwash so many people to bring them to their side, and those people dont even really think about how they feel about the topic, sometimes it isnt the artists fault and who can blame them for trying to bring attention to something, I just dont have much respect for people who cant think for themselves or develop their own opinions.

priorities

Why is it that for so much energy we expound upon trying to not feel alone we end up feeling further apart from another or even the things we think we need or want. We seem to search for another being or things to fill a void in our lives to complete us. Some people seem to find their soulmate, being so young I wonder if I should actively search for my soulmate or let fate carry me through life. Fate is a funny thing, to an extent we can make our own but so much is just meant to happen to us because of Karma or something else To me it seems that we should surrender ourselves to God everyday. Humility should be a part of our lives everyday.

The Future

All too often I find myself thinking about my future. Wondering about getting into Law School, making a living, whether I know my future wife or if Im still waiting to meet her, what our children will look like and what that adventure will bring to my life. I keep having to plan every 5-6 months of my life to make sure I have planty of "doors" open to me in the future. Im almost confused as to whats really important to me right now. I love to party, but I know that I have to keep my eye on my goals and keep my head straight to get the things I want. The end of school will not come soon enough, but that will bring its own new set of problems. The one thing I really want in life is a family of my own, to watch my children grow up and provide them with even more than my parents gave me. Im sure God will lead me through this adventure called life and Ill end up with more good memories than bad ones, and Ill have plenty of "good pictures in my head to take with me" (to make an allusiion to 'Meet Joe Black').

My senior pic from 2002

growing up

time has sped up so much since senior year of high school. Its amazing how fast years go by now. So many great things happening to me and my friends as we grow into men, go through college and relationships with women. Im glad Im not afraid of growing old like so many people seem to be. Another day another year is just another experience to be had in this life. The trick is that for as much as we try to control our lives, its important to let go of a lot of control to really live and have great memories.

human relationships

It is interesting to look at human relationships as we grow older. The problems we create for ourselves, seeming to make things become more complicated by not making the right decisions. We lie to ourselves, our family and friends to try and get things we want but usually just end up hurting ourselves or loved ones or both. Also we as a society spend so much time lusting after the things we dont have, men thousands of years ago learned that lust can be a very dangerous thing and can destroy or help us waste our short lives leaving us with a life of unfufillment. We look for other people to try and fill voids in our lives and souls, when what will make us feel better is to put everything we are into another person who will do the reciprocal. All too often we let our animal instincts rule us and they get us into positions we dont want to be in. My philosophy is to not take anything too seriously, not to let any woman I get involved with carry any false hopes about me. I like to keep things simple by telling the truth and to always mean what I say. I know how it feels to have my heart broken and I wish it on no one else. Love life and cherish every moment.