| god damn insomnia |
[Jul. 24th, 2008|01:12 am] |
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| work, gardening, and lifting |
[Jul. 23rd, 2008|08:40 pm] |
I've been too busy lately to update much because I've had so much work to do.
( Read more... ) |
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| the value of my BA in English |
[Jul. 23rd, 2008|08:31 pm] |
...having basically achieved a 4 year degree in professional lying, I can attest to this truth:
And I must say, getting a 4 year degree in professional lying has done great things for my career. |
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| when I die |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|05:10 pm] |
Should anybody ask what I want on my gravestone:
"O, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb?
I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
I should repent the evils I have done:
Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will;
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul."
-From Titus Andronicus, spoken by Aaron the Moore.
...but honestly, I'd rather just be cremated and my ashes given to the rivers. In death, I want the freedom to roam the world's waterways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1R0no7U_w |
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| I <3 Oleg Volk's photography |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|04:17 pm] |
http://olegvolk.livejournal.com/
So I've added my aunt Eilene, uncle Peter, and their three kids Michael, Nathan, & Sophia as friends on facebook, and it struck me that they probably have no clue about my thoughts on gun ownership. Boy oh boy, once they start clicking links will they be surprised!
Anyways, this post is dedicated to them. |
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| pics |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|04:10 pm] |
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Tuesday before Dad & Josie arrived, I rushed out to buy batteries for my camera so that I could take pictures of them, but I could not bring myself to take a single picture of him. After he is gone, I want to remember him as he was before the strokes, not after. |
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| gardening & lifting |
[Jul. 12th, 2008|11:25 pm] |
So today I bought 6 more tomato cages and caged up some of my young tomatoes before they got unruly. While I was working on my garden my dad was watching me, and we had a good conversation about gardening (repeated several times though). I also attempted to dig a new row for some peppers that I need to put in the ground soon. I ended up fighting with some old tree roots that are near the stump in my back yard, and chopping the stump out of the ground has turned out to be harder than I anticipated. So, I might end up taking the easy route and putting in rows in the remaining "easy" ground.
In short, it looks like I will be cultivating every spot in my back yard that I possibly can.
Meanwhile, I started some lettuce from seed and it is doing well. I started some spinach at the same time, but I have yet to see a single sprout from that packet of seeds, which makes me sad because I really like spinach.
Oh well, plenty of gardening left to do. Josie has suggested that I look into buying dwarf blueberry bushes for the front yard, and honestly I am seriously considering it.
http://gurneys.com/category.asp?c=62&bhcd2=1215919706
The thought of having several dozen POUNDS of blueberries every year is too nice to not consider. I mean, even if the birds and the squirrels take their share, that still leaves me with plenty of blueberries. Possibly even enough to make blueberry wine, which would be AWESOME!
So, after all of that, I ended up lifting tonight too. I attempted a 220 pound bench press but failed. I was able to do 210 though. I am very pleased with my progress. I have decided to try to cut out beer & wine from my diet in order to cut calories, and already after a couple weeks of that & eating mostly vegetarian I have lost some weight. I have a long way to go as far as burning off my gut, but damn, my arms look good these days. I am very happy that I purchased a decent bench. |
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| facebook |
[Jul. 12th, 2008|10:44 pm] |
...as a side note, I created a facebook profile and discovered that tons of my old friends from HS are on there. As is one of my aunts.
Anyways, I'm thrilled to get reconnected with some of these folks. At least they'll know I'm still alive. |
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| the more you know |
[Jul. 6th, 2008|01:18 am] |
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| In Thailand, they do commercials right! |
[Jul. 2nd, 2008|07:59 pm] |
"No, that's a transvestite." |
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| ...some of my favorite works of fiction. |
[Jul. 1st, 2008|09:04 pm] |
Because the subject came up elsewhere.
Ivisible Cities, by Italo Calvino. This is a surrealistic fantasy of travel through a myriad of incredible cities. I don't want to spoil it much. Don't expect a plot. Just enjoy the site seeing as you go.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sure, you had to read it in Highschool, so you didn't enjoy it back then. Pick it back up now and reread it. I still love this book. It greatly influenced my writing style, and I really personally connected with it in my early 20's.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. Still one of my all time favorites. Every movie attempt at this novel has been horrible. Were I an evil dictator, it would be this and not 1984 that would be my blueprint...
Paradise Lost, by Milton. Better to live free in Hell, than in servitude in Heaven.
The Lord of the Rings. Well, duh. No words need to be spoken of these.
...to a lesser extent, the Harry Potter books and then CS Lewis' books.
Naked Lunch, William Burroughs. I really wish he hadn't gotten into his cut-up phase of writing. So much of this book would have been great if he could have just held it together for more than 3 pages at a time. Still, I love it if only for the vignettes.
Despair, and Lolita. Two books by Vladimir Nabokov. Though he is famous for Lolita, which is an amazing book and I love it, I actually liked Despair better. His writing was hugely influential to me in my own style.
...and my most favoretest evar!
The Satanic Verses, by Salmund Rushdie. Seriously, the man is still on the most wanted Islamist death-list for writing this. This is reason alone to read it. Plus it is an amazingly funny and fun book. Yes, it's long, and it's not an easy read by any measure. It's fantastic and dark and hilarious. Go read it. It's like a Muslim version of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which goes without saying is an excellent book).
Alas, I haven't been reading much fiction these days. I just can't bring myself to do it. Right now I just finished reading a book on Democracy and Politics in the Muslim world called, The Many Faces of Political Islam, by Mohammed Ayoob. It's a dense scholarly work, but I am highly interested in the subject. It actually made an excellent case for the moderating effect of democracy upon Islamic political parties (such as the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, Syria, & Jordan). It's not an easy read, but if you're interested, go for it.
Now I'm reading, Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe. by Peter Ward & Donald Brownlee. It's fascinating and filled with sciency goodness. |
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| RIP Paul |
[Jul. 1st, 2008|08:43 pm] |
One of my neighbors is dead.
Nick & Ginger came down on Sunday for dinner & to pickup the plants that I was watching for them. When they got here, everything seemed normal, and we had a nice dinner fresh from the garden. Afterwards we noticed there were like a dozen cop cars and an ambulance next door. My neighbor Linda was out front, looking upset and talking to the police. Her husband Paul was not in sight.
I helped Nick & Ginger get on their way because it was getting late, and then I asked the neighbors who were standing around what was going on. They didn't know, so I left and then checked back later. Paul had been shot, possibly suicide, possibly by his stepson, we don't know.
The police made their rounds and asked my neighbor Jan and I (Paul & Linda's immediate neighbors) what we had witnessed. I told them what little I knew.
Tragic, yes, but as my mom said, "this kinda thing happens from time to time..." |
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| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ET AL. v. HELLER |
[Jun. 28th, 2008|09:24 am] |
After reading it again, I found it too good not to post & quote verbatim:
( Read more... ) |
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| MOLON LABE |
[Jun. 28th, 2008|12:21 am] |
...in honor of the Heller case. I am reposting this pic.
It is a good day to be a man. |
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| shockwaves |
[Jun. 27th, 2008|07:57 pm] |
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=11220
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InTheNews.aspx?ID=1122
...I'm still in awe of how strongly worded Heller vs DC is. It is very plausible that a reading of it could pave the way for a prevention of any so called "assault weapon" ban. Already teams of lawyers are laying the groundwork to attack restrictions all over the country. The NRA's pending lawsuits in California & Massachusetts will be excellent tests of the "assault weapon" (read semi-auto rifle) ban. It is all but certain that Chicago's handgun ban will end shortly because of this.
Needless to say, I'm giddy.
On a related note, this ruling makes it easier for me to vote for Obama again (I say again because I voted for him in the Primaries). Though I know he is strongly in favor of gun control, I also know two things 1) Gun control is very out of favor in the country at this time, especially amongst the Blue Dog caucus of the Democratic party. John Testor & Jim Webb, two of my favorite (and well armed) Democrats have both endorsed Obama. I think it highly unlikely that the Democratic party would be stupid enough to sacrifice its overwhelming big tent support in favor of pushing an unpopular program. If the party were to be so stupid as to do this, they would loose the entire Blue Dog caucus overnight, and turn off an entire generation of working class voters who desperately WANT to vote Democrat. The result would be a working class vote that doesn't trust the party. I highly doubt that the Democrats would be willing to sacrifice a generation of power for this losing cause.
2) Even if Obama wanted to now, he would be unable to implement some of the gun control measures as president that he was in favor of while a state senator (i.e. baning of all semi-automatic weapons, banning of gun stores within 5 miles of a school, outlawing of concealed carry [which is hugely popular and growing statistically]), because the Supreme Court has basically said that these measures would be unconstitutional.
On a side note, it looks like Mayor Fenty is going to fight the recent ruling tooth and nail, but I think that just like the Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter, he will soon learn that he cannot arbitrarily enact gun control laws that are contrary to higher law. Just as Pennsylvania's courts stuck down Nutter's fiat gun bans based on existing state law, Mayor Fenty's desire to limit handgun ownership to unloaded revolvers will surely be found to be in breach of the staggeringly clear ruling by the Supreme Court.
I have downloaded the supreme court Heller ruling, and I intend to read it over at least a dozen times. I haven't been this happy about a Supreme Court ruling since I learned that they overturned the outdated sodomy laws (Virginia, I'm looking at you).
BUGGERY AND GUNS FOR EVERYONE! HUZZAH! |
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| fried zucchini |
[Jun. 21st, 2008|09:24 pm] |
Oh man... so, I cut up one of the zucchinis that I harvested today, dipped it in pancake batter, pan fried it, and then served it with salsa on top.
I gotta find a healthier way to eat the rest of them, but man...this was worth it for this one. |
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