The Last Day of 2007

Don't you feel good that you made it?

This has been a roller coaster of a year. I didn't even start this year in the States, no I was Tokyo last year on this day. I'm sad to let this year go, but anxious to find out what's in store for next year.

2008 will be quite a year, in the first quarter I'll be motivated to finish off my massive paper. On top of that I've been considering post college careers and I won't lie... Service in the military is one option out there, however that's based on whether I'm even qualified for Naval Service (in which case: prepare for a new blog titled "EnsignR3d").

No this has been an exciting year. It seems that 2007 was a giant preparation for 2008! Everything get's decided next year... my fate after college, the presidency, fashion and entertainment, everything!

2008 will be the end of analog television ushering in both a new era of digital TV for us to see even more detailed images of war, news, and cable access.

Blog wise, I started this blog out on my other Sapporo Blog with a comment on Japan and westernized culture. I've since calmed my passion for Japan in exchange for deeper socio-political issues that I'm more engrossed with. As I predicted this year was a transition year and I held my promise from February to blog semi-daily for a total of 140 posts for 2007!

However, since this is my 2007 post I won't tell you my resolutions until tomorrow...

So this is the R3dragon signing out for the year 2007!

Happy New Year and Happy end to 2007.... Talk to ya'll next year!

~J out

The Eves of Eves

Well we made it.

The yule log is on OPB,
I'm stuffed with Japanese Yakisoba I made this evening.
Christmas service nearly burned down the church
Santa is on his way

I'm home.. Like home home.

What a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

~J out

23 Yrs old

Well I survived the night, at 12pm I had a happy birthday mini-party then went to bed.

Who knows what's in-store for this year of my life. I'm guessing whatever it is, it'll be very exciting, maybe even scary exciting.

Who knows. Anyway... Thanks everybody for wishing me a happy birthday! I appreciate it.

THIS IS TODAY'S SONG



ENJOY FOLKS CUZ I'M HAVE A GREAT TIME!

~J out

Stand fast and Make ready for 23

Today is my last day as a naive 22 year old. It's been a good year, but this is my last 22 year old thought to post before the 23 year old upgraded thoughts.

Preface: me and a co-worker have been having this dialog about the future roll of America and the roll of the military. Recently I've been considering a commission in the United States Navy, so the question or opinion was raised between us, what should happen if the morality of the actions of the government forced the hand of the military to strike (as in not-follow orders and resist the actions of) the government. If the military resisted the invasion of Iraq, based on moral grounds, then there would be a massive million man mutiny, should that of happened rather then the military 'mindlessly' obeying orders ? or Should Officers weigh orders against their moral code before following them?

This was my response and subsequently my last 22 year old thought... The reference to "you" was towards my co-worker, but feel free to imagine that I'm talking to you and your industry.. enjoy!


Ok..

(steps up to the soap box)

Pardon my opine, but here's my opinion. The future of this country is being decided by what standards we're going to pick as intrinsically American.

Some Americans are choosing whether faith and holiness and a divine connection to God is how America Rolls.

Some Americans think the GWOT (Global War on Terror) has been waged and that while it was easy to wage, it's going to be a b**ch to end, thus our country needs to be straight on command and control and to possess the world's biggest stick so that other countries and players will take our carrots out of fear.


Some Americans think the future is America, a strong and prosperous American economy and social welfare program will lift Americans up to global standards and prosperity here, will trickle down to others abroad.

Some Americans fear that what it means to be an American is under attack. They feel threatened that immigrants are going to change the social dynamics of their livelihood.

Some Americans are lazy, they let their lives be dominated by work, school, friends, kids, etc. and feel that because they're small fish in a big pond.. they cannot make a difference.

There are many Americans with different thoughts. There are many Americans with plans for America. It's easy to get caught up in the drama, but our country has passed from Childhood to being a teenager to now in the beginnings of it's mid-life crisis. Privateering, Corporate Enterprises, Oil drilling, Diplomatic Super Egos, and Outsourcing is all really Mr. America in it's Mid life crisis--going out and buying a Porsche or a Harley in order to find it's self identity.

We live in what Academics call the "Post-Modern Period." Think about that, "The Post Modern Period." It's meaning literally stands for a time after modernity in which we're no longer striving for production output, instead America has turned into a land of mindblowing unnecessary industries. Something has happened to where you and I can make money in the Internet Categorization Business. I have nothing against that, IT'S GREAT!, but think about it, post-modernism has created "fluff industries." Industries in which programmers are kings and mid-level foremen on factory lines are serfs. Amazing turnaround isn't it!

Where that plays out in the military, I do not know. I'll be turning 23 tomorrow and I'll be graduating with a B.A. soon. The Navy has been an option only because I see a more involved roll for military personnel, and related industries for the next 5-10 years. Perhaps, due to the GWOT, the war machine industries is the next dot-com boom followed by a rapid succession and loss. I don't know, and that's not the only reason I've wanted to join the Navy as an Officer.

We'll see how it goes, it could be that I don't qualify and I end up somewhere else. All I have is my faith, everything else is just good times that I'm appreciative for.... I'm an observer, I can talk up each side of the coin like I was a spokesman, that's my skill. I could defend the GWOT, Bush, etc, as well as I could curse it, that's why I'm an independent. However, this morning the president gave a press conference in which he was asked what made a good president. He said, "Good Solid Principals" and while the man is an eye sore to watch, he's spot on.

Good principals to stand by are the only things worth keeping on too. Wars end and so peace rallies end, Hippies can go conservative, but good solid principals are always new and valid, no matter what. My principals are simple: those found in the Scout Oath and Law, because becoming an Eagle Scout does that to you.

(steps off the soap box and looks back for a sec)

Good times are ahead! Stand fast and make ready for the future lad!

And that's it. That's all I got for 22.. See ya on the flip side I hope you've enjoyed it.

~J out

To Arms for One's Reality

In our minds and speech we refer to a place called "reality." The root "real" infers an association with facts-of-life. Often we pin this place on a mythical world that we either are indulged in or distant from. The expression "the real world" is thus this kind of place. However, may I perhaps share with you my reality.

Reality is nothing more than a culmination of what I think, I feel, and I believe. I think therefore I am is my premise. Reality is nothing more then what I think to be true, feel to be real, and believe is right. Therefore it is most certain that my reality is not yours, nor will it easily sync with society. What perhaps is the "greater reality" then. The reality we believe to exist is nothing more then secondary forces fighting to take their hold and change our world of realism.

Every we fight battles. Battles between you and them. The staging grounds are your 5 senses and your will to win or lose is based on what battles you choose to win or lose. Mayhaps you might understand that there are choices in what we believe. Great battles are being waged in Iowa over what Iowans will do to alter their reality. Hope, as it were, is among these battles for chance.

Hope is a strange part of our paradigm. It no commodity, yet we can measure it in scales of good hope and no hope. However hope, like our reality, is a personal choice we make for ourselves. Take refuge in the hope you have for life, liberty, love will all come to pass, because none of us have to wait for it to become real, real is what we call real until it is challenged and a battle is fought. Winner takes his place among your treasured thoughts of reality. So has it been since you could ever remember.

Thus, the war is not on its way, nor has it passed; War, I'm afraid, is upon us on this very hour. It is time to armor yourself and protect those very core thoughts you feel to be true. Set your own hope high for victory, and go out and fight... do not follow your army of truths into a battle with no hope of victory.

The human race and its morality and goodness faces the biggest battle on four fronts. Physically, Mentally, Socially, and most of all Spiritually. Whatever loses the crumbling world is giving up too, you can, NAY!, YOU MUST Stand up this very moment and tell yourself that what is real and good and just in your mind is the YOUR REALITY.

Whilst we must take this into account that every man wields an army of thought, it is not without a chance of waring with and winning. Sacking villages and taking land maybe not be the order of these days, but it certainly the age of psychological warfare. Be relentless and your mind will guard itself.

The board is set, the pieces are moving, its your turn to wage war in order to protect your Reality or lose to a better one. The choice is yours...... Choose wisely.

~J

Opening up a new leaf

Wow! the stars have not aligned for me since the beginning of September~ :-P

It has to be a cosmic wave I'm in. For so much up there was starting in March, there had to be a down.. Right? That only means it's going to go up.. sometime ___----___------____-----

Let me try to talk about the zen thought of nothingness... This maybe differ from what you know or what's actually true, but in a way new philosophies are always pioneered by suggestion and reflection... So here I go.

In the cosmic wave of things, I, like many others, are swept into a sea of consciousness that drives our ambitions. Somehow the need for something drives our dimensional urge to be misers of modernity. However, this is not the way of the universe. In space there surrounds every body a vacuum, in outerspace it is full of nothingness... Endless lightyears of nothingness. To think of ourselves as simply complex pieces of the greater universe would twist our reality. It would make everything, including ambitions, fall so far down on the scale of "What gives?!" that we may drop our lives completely... In doing so we would join the universe as we would be simply emulating what we know about it... Nothingness is simply acknowledging the greater truth that what is important now isn't really important at all.

My Zen thought revolves around the idea that nothingness is the order of things. Imagining myself as a spec whirling around the galaxy as a space explorer on mother ship Earth just boggles the imagination. Connection with that sort of enlightenment would resolve me to hypocrisy with my own faith, however... Application of the cosmos zen thought in your and my life is this:

1.) Don't sweat the small stuff
2.) The future is always *about* to happen, but don't be lazy; always be alert for the next thing!
3.) Everything untangles and sorts itself out if you let go

oh and....

4.) Don't forget your towel.


Music to check out this week:

first a note.. I've been changing my tastes from jazzy hip-hop beats to now Japanese folk music, not as in Japanese original folk, but American style folk music being sung by Japanese artists. I've found some artists that have really hit an accord and have turned me on. If you're interested I can send 1 song samples when convenient or you can google 'em.

Featured Artist:

School Food Punishment



















Details:
Label: JULY RECORDS
Released: 21 Nov 2007
Genres: indie rock/ambient/pop

They're a hip group with plenty of psychedelic pop-rock groove to them. When you listen to them it's like listening to a Radiohead like group that just "lets go of everything" and plays. I found them on the in-tar-web as always...

Also other bands I'm listening too lately:

Aiko Shimada- An Acoustic Folk singer from Seattle that sings and writes both Japanese and English songs. Very mellow and easy to listen to.

Tenniscoats- A trippy folk/psy/rock band with that mandolin sound mixed with modern sounds for a modern eclectic feel.

Nujabes w/ Shing02 (still)- Jazz/Hip-hop/Rap music.. mostly in English, but I digg the beats and the total laid back chillness of it. Since listening to Nujabe's latest album "Modal Soul" I don't think I'll ever listen to modern rap/hip-hop music again. (As if I did)


K~

~J out

Bored?

This isn't a real post, but more of an update... Spending time with nothing to do this season? I know what's its like.. School maybe out (for good) or you're not working... what's a person to do?

No Worries! You've lucked out because somewhere Picasa (which is linked to Google, which this blog is hosted by) just ran into a sheeez-nit load of more space. That means bloggers like me just got a freaking gig to load pics too..

So guess what.. I updated by webalbums.. In fact I did a major "MEGA-UPLOAD" and uploaded nearly every good pic I had from when I left Sapporo in December of 2006 to when I left in early 2007.. Yep! That's right...

Over 680 never before seen pics have been uploaded to my albums,
15 New never before seen albums have been added..

IT'S A Photo fiesta!!!

to get to them either click on the "web albums" link on the right column or go to this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/wheejc

Here's a breakdown of the albums

(note that albums with an asterisk "*" is a newly uploaded album)


Album Name:

• Kamakura (37 new pics)*
• Nikko (41)*
• Roppongi & Mori Art Tower (17)*
• Ise Jingu Shrine (28)*
• Inuyama-Jo Castle (29)*
• Tokyo to Kyoto Train ride Many Pics of Fuji (35)*
• 1day Tokyo/T-Tower 12.17-18.2006 (31)*
• Sapporo-Tokyo Train Ride (21)*
• Hokkaido University R3vis7ed 11.25.06 (30)*
• Another Sapporo Excursion 11.18.2006 (26)*
• Tokyo-Ginza District (23)*
• Senso-Ji (30)*
• Imperial Palace during the showing of the Emperor of Japan (72)*
• Meiji Jingu new years (34)*
• New Years Eve with Alan (13)*

Added to Existing Albums

• +21 to Osaka
• +10 to Fushimi Inari
• +34 to Himeji
• +35 to Nara
• +57 to Kyoto
• +42 to Hokusei Gakuen University
• +19 to Random

That about does it! Have fun looking at them :-P

(I recommend finding a good relaxing album like School Food Punishment's SCHOOL FOOD IS GOOD FOOD, or Incubus, or another good one is Radio Head's new album "In Rainbows" which I did pay for by the way)

Yeah... Ok You're welcome

~J out

Oh my gosh Rooibos Herbal Tea!

Oh my gosh! Rooibos Herbal tea where have you been all my life!

Yesterday I made a safeway stop to pick up some dinner when I just happened to spot the "quick sale bin." If none of you have ever been to the back of a safeway between the milk and pharmacy, It's an untamed wilderness back there!

Among the uninteresting deals, my eyes (who were looking for tea moments earlier) spotted a khaki box with a lion on the front. Being a sucker for exotic teas (as I am) I examined it, "Kalahari Red Tea." Ooh that sounded exotic enough "Premium South African Rooibos Herb Tea. For a tea this exotic I wasn't going to pay more than a dollar, but to my pleasant surprise it was marked $.50 cents. To boot was a box of Celestial Seasonings Green Tea Sampler so if the Rooibos Root doesn't do it then I'll have Mandarin Orchard Green Tea as a backup.

So today I opened the khaki box with the glazed red logo to reveal 20 bags sealed in white sheaths with exotic tea contents that initially smelled like tea made of a tumbleweed. I filled my battered Tigger the Tiger "coffee overload" mug that has seen its share of toxic concoctions and took a sip of this elixir. The description was no lie, Kalahari Reserve Pure African Rooibos Red Tea tastes like Red bush, the most popular herb in Southern Africa. I tasted something, perhaps the tender tips of the Rooibos bush. However, it took a bit of time before the sweet, smooth taste kicked in. Admittedly I wasn't impressed, for a member of the legume family, I expected a bit more. Adding milk helped, but it was only after consuming half the contents of the potion when perhaps the sensation kicked in and I did noticeably felt better.

The final assessment at the end of one bag was that this visibly red liquid was indeed an exotic drink and well worth the experience. However its unlikely I'll be switching over to this as my regular drink of choice (which currently is Double Burgemont Grey Tea). I have yet to report on the tastes of the Celestial Seasonings brand, but I've had previous teas from them and they are generally a good tea so I expect a good experience there.

For tea lovers and non-tea lovers you should always challenge yourself to a new brand once you run out of tea. Often you'll find exotic blends in the cheap isles of the super markets. Try them.. It's too often we get stuck in the constant monotony of one "go-to tea" which keeps us from discovering something better. At it's root (no pun intended) having tasted Rooibos Bush Red Tea I felt I've learned something new about the world outside the traditional boundaries of learning. It's likely that you too, after trying an exotic tea, will have such an enlightening experience as I did.

Kalahari Reserve Red Tea's Official Website

~J out

EDIT 10:39 am

Just tried the Celestial Seasonings Honey Lemon Ginseng from their Green Tea Sampler and it is tons more better in flavor, sweetness, and robustness than the Red Tea. The Red Tea is definitely for those who want a more organic earthy like tea..

Türkçe Scouting

It just happen to be the other day when I was looking up Turkish scouting websites, I ran into this charming and intriguing photo:

This is a picture of Turkish Cubscouts. The official name for the Turkish Scouting movement is Türkiye İzcilik Federasyonu (Scouting and Guiding Federation of Turkey, TİF). The picture in the background (I'm assuming) is Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Pasha aka "Atatürk".[*edit] What I find most intriguing about Turkish scouts is that the cubscouts are co-ed while the boy scouting part is split up by gender (M/F), however there really isn't a separate group for women... They're all under the universal banner of scouts, but they're separate.

A second, equally intriguing, thing I find interesting is that in Turkey the scouting movement is strong enough and big enough to be in both the main country of Turkey and the de facto part of Turkey (The independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) Both groups advance the values of scouting which are universal..

The Scout Motto is Daima Hazır, Always Prepared in Turkish.

And their emblem is still the fleur-de-lis.

Something to point out is that massive portrait of (who I think) is the scouting founder. WHAT A Testament! They obviously value this person's contribution to society. I vaguely remember a news report of youth in a similar Russian scouting movement (though it was very different from scouting) that had a giant portrait of Vladimir Putin (BTW good job on being re-elected :) .

If anything unique came out of the Cold War it may have very well been this massive portrait thing that seems to glorify great leaders. Imagine one of these in your public school for each president in office, imagine one of these in your office for each Company CEO, imagine one of these at your family reunion for the couple that immigrated to the United States... Wow wouldn't THAT be something?!

Indeed.. ..

For all you scouter's out there here's just one more token of proof that the scouting movement is still strong world wide!

~J

[*edit note] Originally I thought it was Turkey's Scouting Founder Ahmet Robenson, but after some more research I now think it's Atatürk which would make a lot more sense then Ahmet. The funny thing is all these Turkish guys look similar in their portraits.

It could be a December 2 Remember!

What a month so far 'eh? It's like everything is happening so 'crazy like' that it's possible this will be (another) December to remember.

On the 31st or 1st we got a flurry of snow...
then last night we got super strong winds on the coast and massive rain. In fact they've closed off the klineline bridge in Hazeldale.

The worst of it is that "News" Channel 8 choose to broadcast their "extended" coverage rather then do the 30 min updates. It's always like that.. Once something happens (like a snow flurry or ice spell) it's 3 or 4 hours straight of the same footage of a guy getting stuck in a puddle, or doing the slip and slide on icy roads, or watching the rivers go up and up. It's all impressive of course and news of a different sort.

Its refreshing that it's not political news, but weather news has its limits of tolerability. I'm not sure what to say other than I hope the weather drys up (not for my sake) but for the sake of getting some regular news. (on the flip side it is pretty funny watching people getting stuck on Foster road.)


~J

Thoughts unconsolidated

You ever have a topic that you've been scratching at that ends up being something that there's just wealth of info on? There's a point where you absorb and absorb to the point that it becomes impossible to consolidate it all. You have to start diving into it... Specializing it so that your research becomes more and more focused. It gets so focused that you can no longer really describe what all you've been doing. You over generalize it to people who ask, because to take time and tell them wouldn't be in their interests, nor yours. However, what if you were challenged to tell it, you were provoked or even forced to explain your research and what you've been up to all these months... Could you consolidate all that thought and specificity? Could you do it in 10 minutes?

The greater point is that there's a breaking point where you either have to live your life by getting yourself interested, but not so far in that you can't explain it all in 10 minutes.... Or... You can dive in and plunge into the depths of knowledge as far as you want, but you do it risking somebody forcing you to explain your studies in the lapse of 10 minutes.

Tough isn't it? Well this very thing is happening to me.. I've dived into something so specific that I'm having trouble condensing it into an all inclusive neat little 10 minute speech. It's not 11 minutes and certainly not an hour, just 10 minutes and if I refuse then all that work gets trashed until I find something I can do a 10 min speech on.

*Sigh*.. Perhaps I should take a break.. focus my thoughts.. and come up with the greatest News segment/half truth WOWIE so that I can just continue down this rabbit hole with a seemingly endless end.

~J

New Tech for finding old friends

Man when I took off from high school, or from my old church, or when I split from visiting my counsin's house, or when I graduated from Clark Co., or left clubs... I thought well that's it for those friends. However.. we live in a new age.. The age of Facebook, Myspace, and Google. When ever you get that thought about how old (friend's name) is doing you can actually find him...

I've make myself available, even at the expense of massive spamming, because I yearn to find old friends and stay in touch. The future is going to good for doing that.. Keeping friends close.
With facebook it'll tell you when a friend updates their pics or if they update their mood. It's mind boggling who I've found.

We human's have past the pre-modern era, the modern era, the post modern era, the information revolution, and now we're entering the social communication era which will make it possible to link any human anywhere in the world with another human with minimal-to no lag between them. While that technology already exists- the future will have to make it A:) Affordable and B:) Completely accessible through advanced mobile technology so that we'll be connected 24/7/365. I'm sure it's possible even today, just not affordable and practical.

I await what new technologies are in the mix (like the google phone!)

~J

The Holidays are for humans

The holidays are for humans, thats... people.
~It isn't for machines, pie charts, investment stocks, or for aliens.
~It's not for you to stress out, burn out, flake out, blow up, freeze up, max out, or shop-till-you-drop.
~It's not about ham, turkey, those little napkins with the santa folded right, or obsessing over who get's the angel 'merry Christmas' card or who gets the 'Happy Holidays' card. @_@
~And it's defiantly not about you... :)

It's for us to step back from the rest of the year when we're in each others face for this or for that. It's a chunk of time and space for when we're truly ungrateful and completely forgot what we did (crazy things) to those we love and care about. The holidays is literally a designated bloc of time for you to be happy even if you refuse to be. It's just there, set aside, for you to use.

Nothing in the big-book of holiday rules says you actually have to be happy, but the good book does mention something about 'love thy neighbor.' Don't get bogged down into the 1-up mansship, or the nitpicking of Christmas being some 'pagan' holiday, or how you literally hate it when _X_ comes over, with their goolosh, and wants to spend the next 5 hours telling you about their stay in Nicobar Islands. Nothing says you have to log a certain number of Church hours (though it wouldn't hurt) and nothing says you have to buy somebody a present (however just a note: *that* probably won't go over well, or be understood properly by that person).

Take the holidays for what it's supposed to be... Again a set bloc of time where (for me):

• I first honor Jesus for dropp'n in from his excellent pad upstairs to tell me whatt'up 'bout God and stuff..
• I make an effort to drop a line on buddies that I haven't talked to in forever.
• I make myself be happy for My parents, Tink, their family, and my family... then try and show them that I am.
• I dig out my sweaters for the long winter, too realize that was a couple of pounds ago...o_O
  
• I write lists up for stuff I don't really need for (not just Christmas) but for my B-day.
• I load up on the good cheer, old movies 'bout X-mas, Cookies, Egg Nog, and Christmas lights
• I celebrate another year on Planet Earth (23 yrs old in less than a month w00t)
• I Pay bills, Make Money, Give the boss and my co-workers small gifts and cards and thank them for letting me drive over 20 miles a day to work there.. ('member: Happy thoughts..)
• I String up the lights and stare in awe at the glow of twinklies on our house (that always dorfs our neighbor's dinky lights) :P Sorry I had too.

ALL that and much more crammed into a fun filled sack-of-a-month.

Oh and in addition there's this thesis thingy that I gotta write. pshh.

Basically here's my note to everyone who wants to know..

This whole month you're going to run into something where you're absolutely are going to go bonkers on somebody else. Know that right now you love them and they don't deserve that and nothing is really *that* bad anyway. Be cool, and safe, and enjoy the holidays because if you just constantly curse it, that is not going to help you surf this massive "Merry Christmas" wave.

Remember that last year we didn't buy as much junk... so the retail stores are going to kick in extra hard to bring you that cheer..... or else. News says we're supposed to buy $800 worth of stuff... yeah right.

Oh and one more thing... The thing that might just save the holiday cheer for every boy and girl:

Welcome to all the Europeans and British visiting the United States in order to bag yerself some great deals on our weak dollars behalf... Please stock your luggage with tons of goods and spend all that cash on fine restaurants all to boost our economy. It's you that *really* keeps America truck'n on!

To the rest of you lot: Merry Christmas

~J

Happy Thanksgiving Indeed

We all must share another round of "I should be thankful for...." sometimes it comes easy for some, but for others they feel that where they are today was just fate working it's magics.

None of us just 'got here' we were ushered, almost by the hand, to get where we are today. As adults (that they say we are) we must look back and be thankful that in our hour of need there was somebody to thrust that plastic spoon of mush into our face in order to keep us alive.

Thankyou Mom and Dad for doing that and making me into what I am today. Thank you God for not ignoring all my 1000 yelps for help either. I'll admit that I'm no more independent than a cat... no food in the bowl will resound in a meow from me and thus *that* which is food arriving upon my plate and moral encouragement to keep going is what I'm most thankful for.

Not just from my Parents. but from everybody whose 'cheered me on' to the finish.

Thanks... I am truly thankful for you.

~J out

Perceived Realities

Imagine this...

I'm sitting at my desk in front of my widescreen computer eating lunch. The walls, doors, and environment is colored in that clean sterilized office look... Very modern and in a fashion suitable to work in. At 12 noon I clock out for lunch... Where to go? there's so many choices, so many places.. Should I walk? Drive? Carpool? I end up going to Quiznos and ordering up a beef dip sub with some of Miss Vickie's Jalapeño chips. At Quiznos they are very concerned about my health so everything you order just happens to be under 500 calories. The restaurant is very modern and clean looking like my office is. Very comforting indeed. Not once on the way over did I have to worry about "making lunch" or tramping through mud to get it. It was all concrete and sidewalks and accessible.. I could get lost in this world and not wonder where my food comes from. Luckily Frito-Lay has stamped on Miss Vickie's chips, "From Our Farm to You." A farm huh.. while in my mind I don't want to think about the intensive process it took, or whether the farmer got paid sufficiently, or whether Miss Vickie is nothing more than a corporate slogan created to confort me.. I shrug and walk out as Muscheeh from Bangalore in his Quizno's Polo and Khaki slacks charges $6.58 for my "SM Prime Chzstk."

Walking back I realize the irony of all of this. The farm scene on the bag of chips, the dim lighting and modern look of the restaurant, and me sitting at my desk accepting it all as being "right."

I don't believe to be saying anything really shocking here, only that the images and environments being created around us is only made for us to glance at which leaves an impression. Nothing is being designed for us to truly connect with. There's no down the street joint/deli where we go every week day and ask "Joe" what's happening. We don't know our barbers, hardware store guys, mechanics, or even our doctors really. Joe is Americana, we're condition to order a joe and Burger king knows that.. Here's a quote from my future book: "In 2007 we say the same words as they said in 1937, but everything has lost a bit of its original meaning." The question is why?.. Why keep Americana? and why educate our youth to the meaning of what a "cup of joe" is or what a farm is... It's likely they won't *have to know* to get by.

What if companies would strip their products of the lies (like Miss Vickies chips come from a farm to you) and just labeled them for what they really are... (Processed potato with imitation seasoning)... *Cough.. I really know the reason "why" (of course its due to.. marketing, sales, consumer theory, etc. because I work in the same industry) , but I thought I would share this complex over-my-lunch thought with y'all so that you might too have another thing to wonder about.

~J out

----
Examples of Perceived Realities:

"For three generations, the Bigelow family has specialized in creating...teas. We use only the finest mountain-grown tea and natural bergamot in Earl Grey..." Bigelow Ear Grey tea

(Picture) A giant slice of cheese from a wheel of cheeze and underneith the right side of the cheese slice is a cheez-it. The caption reads, "Actual Taste (Cheese slice) Actual Size (Cheez-it)
-Sunshire Cheez-it "The Big Cheese"

Hungary

Sometimes in our lives we get this feeling of hunger. Not the food kind, but the feeling of "I want more." It is possessive, and perhaps egotistical to ask, but I know I find myself in places where I look at my daily routines and say, "that's it? I want more."

Having been shut off from other pleasures and routines, I can say that my life is starting to smell of a state of limbo. I was asked not to recently what all I'm going to do with my wonderful degree from Lewis and Clark. All I could think about was what I was going to do to finish that project at work.

Sad isn't it.

I know this juncture is only a marker that I'll look back on and laugh at. I'm naturally prone to want more in the way of feedback, communication, etc. but it's too cumbersome I suppose to help me out, thus I'm stuck... Stuck in a wedge between wanting adventure and establishing myself in this world.

Enough of my babble.. Life is good in reality...

In fact it's all good... just not satisfying enough :P

Whatever.

Lets just hope Bhutto pushes out of this Musharaf rutt and kicks some behind ..ok! I'll volunteer for any parade she marches in!

~J

Finally I get to Posting pics of my Car
Here's the biography on it:

Name: 青いーくん (aoikun-Blue boy)
Make: Honda
Model: Civic
Style: Hatch Back
Transmission: Manual 4 Speed (currently)
Engine: D15b1 1.5 liter 16 Valve
Throttle Body: DPFI (Dual Point Fuel Injection)
Color Interior/Exterior: Blue on Blue
Condition: Pretty Good

The Story so far:

Bought it at auction for $900 and drove it for a week until it broke down (due to a blown head gasket). Performed a full engine replacement over the weekend and got it running. First week after the swap generated some weirdness. Second week I fixed the more rudimentary problems and got it stable enough to drive reliably. Still has some quarks and bugs to work out like the weird idling Wah-wah thing and some wiring funk with the alt.

Current plan:

Drive it until either A.) I find a better car or B.) Fix all problems relating to this car and make it my "daily driver"

Haven't chosen which one I'll go for.. but this car is (slightly) growing on me (more so on my nerves then on my heart)

Ok nuff said... Pic Time.

~J out

Be Prepared

Tonights post has todo with recent events concerning Pakistan.

The Short Version:

Recent Events have led me to believe that anything is possible nowadays and to scoff and say "there's no way *that* could happen" (Like our government declaring Marshall Law on us) is to be really be naive about history and what is very possible. There was a time centuries ago when people like us said, "There's no way they'll do *that* to us because we live in modern times" yet their naiveness ultimately led to a quick takeover by the government. We mustent get caught in the web of disbelief and contentment.

Long Version:

I'm no fool.. I stay up to date on the news and constantly interpret what governments are doing. The recent events of Pakistan have left be baffled and alarmed. The actions of Musharraf to take over in a militaristic fashion proved that he'll never let go of Military power. His actions contradicted years of negotiations and promises by him and US negotiators to take off his uniform and hold elections should be a warning and we should cut ties with him and support India instead. The direct action by the United States (as an upright staunch promoter of democracy) should have thrown their hands up in disgust, issued a flaming message of condemnation to Pakistan, and even put economic sanctions on the table, as well as, revoke anti-terrorism funding for the GWOT. Pakistan, if Musharraf is willing to do what he did, is not worth having him and his country an Ally anymore (no matter how beneficial they've been since the cold war) The United States government did issue any notice of this appropriate magnitude. And don't tell me that it would be ill natured of this administration to take such a strong tone, HAH!, a passing remark by Saddam as to how evil we are provoked serious condemnation threats by these very people, who merely asked (kindly I might add) that Musharraf promise he hold elections NOT THAT HE ENDS MASHALL LAW RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT HE KEEPS HIS ELECTION PROMISE. WTF?!

I see certain wheels in motion that I must comment on before retiring tonight. There is circumstantial evidence that could lead me to believe that the US government wouldn't put it behind them to declare marshall law on us if we acted up in outrage.

Evidence:

~Weak dollar on the global market means that they could jack prices up to starve us out.
~The War in Iraq has primarily been a big training mission for how to combat efficiently in an urban environment
~Recently a "mock Iraq village" was setup in California to train solders in how to find, eliminate, and clear towns of IED's, IED houses, and to learn key traits and characteristics of "potential terrorists"
~Black water clearly values their contracts with the United States and the US clearly supports Blackwater. And-- during the post-Catrina hurricane blackwater employees were asked to guard the streets (Armed)
~The freedom act and the constitution (under war time) does permit the executive branch and the President more powers to "protect the American people from potential terrorists threats."
~The actions by the United States to not send a strong condemning message to Pakistan means that they feel that the military alliance they have there is more valuable then democracy (still!).
~Declaring war on Iran would cause an upheaval by the American people to protest this action. The protest could be seen as a riot and that would authorize mass arrests and threaten national stability which (as in the case in Pakistan) is justifiable reasons for Marshall Law.

There's more evidence to come as we move closer to the date. As I said in my brief intro, it would be naive to think that the administration would not, or could not do this. There was no outrage by the Administration when Musharraf put the supreme court judges under house arrest and then arrested lawyers who were filing lawsuits against the Pakistani government, or any outrage for blacking out the press (who still are blacked out from reporting anything). If It happened, that is things here broke down, it would break down quick and we wouldn't know what would happen. We must be mentally prepared for anything, we must choose what side we would support if asked to pick. We need to think if we would be brave enough to speak out if free speech was banned or at the very least blogging and editorials were banned. (which would suck for me)

Calling the 21st century "post-modern" and "without concern of dictatorship" is naive words. People in 1908 did know Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Castro, or Saddam would rise up in power. People of 1908 knew of the concept of communism, but did not know of the Soviet Union or the PRC. It is very possible to have a dictatorship in the 21st "Post-Modern Era" and we must prepare ourselves for what we would do in that case. This is not "Scare Tactics" this is preparedness for the unknown.

What is scary is not what could happen, but what will happen in time.
Then again nothing could happen, I could be wrong, and everything could be perpetually blissful my whole life (as people want it to be like).

~J out

A blip in the blackout

Hey everybody, haven't forgotten to blog, but also have not time since events as of recently have kept me from doing such activities (such as blogging and sleeping).

Will report the stories soon...

~J out

A Kaze is brewing

I hate to admit it, but I have been struck broadside by a cold. It's symptoms plagued my sleep last night and the congestive nature plagues my ability to stay focused. I could come at this cold with a barrage of chemical concautions, formulas, and cold relieving promising drugs, but their effects are measured in hours and I think (however unwise) I am going to treat this cold with (mostly) herbal remedies and common sense.

Last night, while writing an analysis of one of my thesis sources, the cold hit me with a 1-2 punch (Cough and Runny Nose), I hit back with a pitcher of 100% Vitamin C Orange Juice, Zinc candies, and a pack of tissue (and TP for back up). I lasted that battle, today at work my strategy is simple:

~I have a 16oz mug with two Green Tea bags (2 because I'm running into something one can't handle
~2 ply Kleenex Anti-Bacterial Tissue (2 ply for the same reason :)
~Those zinc "Cold Eeze" cough drops
~Frequent, short breaks from working
~and Baroque music from Otto's Baroque Music Internet Channel via Shoutcast.

Today I will try to survive the work day... Hope this doesn't turn into a kami kaze and make it to the weekend...

So it's friday everybody.. you know what that means...

"All hands prepare for Friday morning weekend ho!"

"WEEKEND HO!" I repeat, "WEEKEND HOOOOOOOO!"

~J out

Working you over without pay

When I hear the dollar is sinking and that the Dow Jones Industrial & Nasdaq in their first hour today have dropped over 100 points.. I think about how that vacation to Canada is slowly moving towards un-affordability. Every one outside the US's money is either remaining the same or going up as our dollar is going down and now we're slowly feeling the effects of a weak dollar.

Today I filled up my car, a new car that I promise to post on soon, with 9.5 gallons. The price of gas, in Washington, was $3.15/gal making my 9.5 gal or so over $30 bucks... Before I could scoff at the outrageousness of what was being charged, a man pulled up in a construction like truck, a diesel truck and filled up with about 16 gallons of $3.69/gal diesel fuel.

Did gas go up because the nations hoarding the oil decided to jack up rates? or is it that our money doesn't buy as much oil as it used to? I'm leaning towards the latter, but why? Why let the dollar sink? Why another recession? Why let it happen now?

Don't put it on a bad administration, the faults of a couple of bad investments (like the sub-prime mortgage fiasco) were on our backs.

America isn't doing good, we're clinging on to supremacy, but if the dollar sinks lower we won't be able to rebuild anything in NO, or San Diego... And the answer to immigration isn't to drop the worth of the dollar so low that Mexicans will go home for better jobs neither.

Be concerned because it could all fall apart. A man working a job in Britain, getting paid 15 pounds a hour, means that he's getting paid $30+ an hour in the United States. Reverse that and you get a person in the United States working for $9-$15 an hour and in the UK (if they visit the UK) they're making 4.5-7.5 pounds/hr. 4-7 an hour is roughly what a corrupt hotel owner is paying his Mexican hotel maids. He's breaking the law by not paying them minimum wages, but what about us? We're getting paid less for the same amount of work hours, so we work an average of 9 weeks more than European countries to make up for it.. Double productivity yes, but not double compensation. A problem I might say...

When Saddam fell, so did the dinar money... The dinar dropped to such a worthless rate that you couldn't give it away as confetti. Slowly it is going up, but the impacts of that is likely to be the cause of why Iraq just isn't 'bouncing back.' If that were happen here, even on the micro scale, it could cause some serious problems for everyone looking for jobs, working jobs, or retiring after 20-30 years working a job.

Sidenote:

~One country to watch (as we slowly sink into doom) is Japan. While the dollar tanks, the yen remains the same in trade value. Yesterday the yen topped out at 115 yen to the dollar. When I was there a year ago it wavered from 100-116 yen to the dollar. Today it's hovering at 114 yen to the dollar.. This means that our economies are linked in some way. A recession effects everything and everyone across all borders, we can't go into a recession.

Christmas time, in all is whore and greed, is what always rescues America out of the pits. We buy cheap stuff to keep the economy rolling, but if filling up on Gas costs $10 more this year then last year, then that is $10 less on gifts and egg nog. The same goes with Natural Gas costs.

I detect a chain reaction and (like the Matrix) I feel that any uncertainty might trigger "the bomb." Unfortunately there's nothing you nor I can do, but hope. Hope that Europeans who *do* have money come over here and spend *their* wad of money.

We live in freak'n weird times guys.. watch out or else we'll be working our jobs, but be living in the poor house owned by some rich Swiss cow farmer. =P

~J out

Too Much and No Tyme

Oof. everything, from the macro down to the micro, is colliding like a massive meteor upon my nicely dyed blonde head.

I'm going to say it's cyclical and that it's likely that 60% of it was my own fault, 20% was others (and objects like my car) deciding this was the best time of year to throw down, 10% of it is everyone's hero Murphy with his laws of probability, 5% of it is this season/weather/transition, 3% of it is coincidence that it all happened these last two weeks, and the last 2% is due to other miscellaneous causes that I don't understand or know about.

However it's likely that 100% of this funk is due to the big man upstairs who is trying to tell me something like what the 80's Band Cinderella said in their 1988 hit, "don't know what you got till its gone~" (but it's not like I know the 80's or anything =P).

~J

The Source of my Bummer

I think I've landed on the source of my recent strings of bummers. I'm somewhat the antithesis of my surroundings. A relatively independent person who just gets caught up the drama of living so when events shoot off everywhere I'm prone to react to them. The recent events of my life have really spun my head around. When my head gets full of a bunch of bummers and stressful situations my attitude slips and you get this version of Josh that's kinda melodramatic. Luckily, I have spotted the events that has caused this chain of bummers and with some careful planning I know I can make all my negatives positives.

So let me list a couple so that we're on the same page. Things on my mind and agenda list are:

• The year long 35-40 Page Thesis Report Class
• The fact that it is a year long when it really doesn't have to be
• The Small 2 page and 6 page summaries and drafts (that make sense, but feel mundane and unnecessary)
  
• Having to focus my topic down to the micro level, but when asked on the streets "what's your thesis on?" not having a sufficient short answer. (e.g. you just want to tell the guy, "look how should I know I'm just started research'n :P
• More School
• One last final class that has with it its own little agenda and demands
• The fact that I need this class to graduate, but the material is stuff I've already studied, wrote papers on, and generally wished that I could just not show up to class and, in its place, hand in reading reviews and discussion papers to make up for no attendance.
  
• Work
• Progress mostly, making sure that the duties assigned to me are getting done.
• Keeping on task and staying focused
• Not getting burned out and rejecting thoughts of leaving
• Trying to maintain myself
• Business life
• Trying to keep both these balls in the air while remaining sane
• Personal Life
• Trying to take care of myself
• Trying to be original and unique, but also inventive and creative
• Trying to keep this blog alive since it is my only outlet at times #@_@#
• Organization and prosperity (don't ask)
• I.e Keeping the room, clothes, and body tidy and clean
  
• Trying not to ignore or lose any connections with the people I need to connect with, because the loss of these connections would redefine my life by school progress and work and I don't want either of them to define who I am (would you?).
• Phone bill, Insurance, Gas Bill, The Car (and the lingering doom of breaking down on me sometime)
• Other
• A Christmas vacation that I promised I would take Tink on this year.
  

So there's a lot on my proverbial plate here, and the point of where this turns into a whirlwind of confusion and frustration, is when I fail to properly organize and rank certain things by their importance. I can tell you, and others might agree to this in their life, that all these things I could rank as Priority 1 or as high priorities. Thus, I think that more coordination is the key to success-- so from here I need a plan.

On top of the plan I need a means of communication to broadcast just what Josh is up to. So while the plan is in the works and this blog still serves to broadcast my mind's thoughts.. I have a message:

"I want to first apologize if I have been unresponsive to you or have made you feel that I am uninterested with you. As you can tell this is most definitely not the case, I just have a lot to do. I care about each and everyone of you as though you were all priority one in my life. However, serving in the interests of getting things done and being progressive I would like you to support me as I 'get things done.' You can know, deep inside, that I love each and everyone of you, but I think it would be good if I spent some time on getting my life in order. This isn't me giving up on you or shutting off all lines of communication to you, indeed it would be great if you would keep in touch daily or semi-daily. Keeping all the balls in the air has been tough lately, and I rather do not like this time of season since everything seems to converge at this juncture in the year. For the time being I'm just going to putt away at everything that I need to complete. If you are on my list then rest assure you'll get my full attention when I get to the required task you assigned. Likewise my request to those who do support me is that you refrain from making offers that would otherwise sidetrack me. Soon all will be finished and I'll be able to continue running off doing things with all of you at anytime, but for now it would nice to manage my time for a little bit to really get things done.

You all are loved by me, and I hope you don't take this as a sign that I'm just bundling up and closing the door. Feel free to drop me a line or email or IM, I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you for all your understanding, rest assure that when my tasks are with in manageable parameters I'll notify all of you via this blog.

*whew.. time to take a power nap, then wake up and get some things done! heh heh~

~J out

Tuff day much revealed

*Sigh* It's been a really tough day today, I'm glad it's friday

~J

two months till 23

Wow I'll be 23 years old in two months. Guess that makes me older, but my 23rd year will be a challenge.. a move towards responsibility, choices, and all else that happens after I shake the sands of 'going to school all my life' reality.

There's still a whole lot to do. My last class, thesis, work, and such.

This Sunday, however, I'd like to put forward a thought for you all to digest...

The other day I put forward a very personal perspective on 'the other' concept. Lately I've been thinking that I made generalizations about you and how you think about the other. Our reality today is that the world is very open and that a majority of us know issues outside of our immediate surroundings... and additionally, some of us actually care passionately about issues that do not immediately affect us. Take the matters of Sudan-- A country just under Egypt, whose environment is just as hard as fighting for survival, has come to the forefront of many of our minds. What happens there and what actions the government of Sudan make on its people effects how we behave here, even though a raid on the Sudanese isn't a raid on us physically. It wasn't long ago that Africa was just a continent in our minds. It was a whole, undivided, and issues (some of us thought) were universal issues. Take the generalization of Africa's environment, one could ask a person in 1940 (before the African campaign in WWII) about Africa's environment and they might tell you (again a generalization perhaps) that all of Africa is a desert. We know now (as pop culture in fact) that the Congo is mostly jungle, that South Africa is actually more towards the south pole and that effects cooler weather there, and that Libia has more of a Mediterranean feel. This example shows our globalized view (through education) and proves that our view of 'the other' isn't what it was a decade ago.

Back to the Sudan issues, Sudan is now an independent issue and we know that what happens in Sudan is different then what's happening in Nigeria. Africa, in today's terms, is no longer an unified 'other' but a continent which various issues in various regions are almost as diverse as European issues.

Thus, my comment on Asia should be examined. Asia might be different because, in one sense, it is still very foreign. Their culture still requires study to be understood. They are, in many respects, an other- in the western business world, an other in the arts/entertainment world, and an other in the technology field. They are an other, but a familiar other, one we can, at least, dissect, examine, and interpret. What I called 'the other' wasn't Japan or Asia, but that feeling of them being foreign in their separate arenas (like those I just mentioned). That feeling, of this being an other-than-my-own-reality brought me comfort at times this week, and what compelled me to feel a longing to which I shared here.

Undoubtedly there is an other in all our lives that would make us feel comfortable if we were there, visiting. However, this other reality in our lives is a fantasy that, while we might have experienced in the first person, is still a fantasy (in its worldliness) and therefore that is why we might be prone to like it more than where we live today-- which is a place that just happens to strike us in the face everyday just to say,

"hello you, I'm here-- acknowledge me"

Today, I think a measured dose of both the other in our lives, and the reality we face gives us balance. Without our experiences we would never grow in our knowledge, never have a fantasy to fantasize, never think about what lies beyond the fence. At the same time we should not push away all we have invested here in our own current reality. Our invested time, treasure, and passion; the words we speak, however insignificant at times, was genuine in that moment. To remember only the bad times and bad feelings gives us markers to which to consider change through that experience. Likewise, to only think of the happy times brings us hope and makes our lives livable. Both are necessary actions and do not conflict since they are both common things we do with our experiences.

What we should take home is what I once heard was the best answer to the meaning of life, "The meaning of life is to give life meaning"-- I would only add to that, "and to find love in that meaning."

Pontificate on that and steer your life to this:

live on and prosper;
be strong, passionate, and informed;
love without regret; and...
feel to know you're alive.

~J out

New Phone! :P

You got it right... I just bought a new phone.. here it is:

Isn't it cool looking? Well I think so...

Thin, but not absolutely paper thin. The razors are ok, but they are too wide and the krzr just didn't turn me on.. This one, oddly, really seems like a decent mobile phone for me. (And probably only me)

What I really liked:

Flip phone- I was between whether I liked the slide phone or the flip. With the flip.. the phone only needs to keep a small screen lit, but with a slide phone every button bump turns the whole screen on which could drain juice quick.
Light weight: Not having a heavy brick (like in Japan) to lug is always a "+"
Camera View: In Japan I loved that when you took a 'me' shot or a 'me and you' shot you could view yourself before you took it by swinging the top part around... Well phones here are getting there, but that little screen (when closed) turns into a view finder so that you can see yourself + somebody else. Big + (cuz the newer phones just have a dorky mirror ;P)
Music Player: Plays the typical set of music formats Mp3, AAC, and WMA, but it also has...
Expandable Memory (MicroSD): Yeah it can take microSD cards which you could load up with songs, pics, etc. and play them back.. Up to 2 gb's worth. Yeaaaah.
Groovy Camera: 1.3 mega pix might seem ok, but its hell of a lot better then the old cameras we used to use.
FM radio: NPR on my phone.. need I say more? k 94/7, 101.1, Kboo, and 105.5 the buzz (4Tink :)

So I'm happy, not 'bout the 2 yr contract I signed up for, but happy that I'm connected and it's on my dime (every month). Responsibility in doses...

Building my credit up for when I really need good credit.

The best part was that it was a total industry marketing advertisement invoked impulse buy. So I tip my hat off to you T-Mobile, to you Nokia, and to the millions of marketing Zhars who work to get my bottom dollar. Not my whole bottom dollar.. I did get a massive discount bringing the steep $169 price down to $50 bucks, which was sweet, but the irony is even sweeter..

*big thought warning*

-You see I just bought a phone from T-Mobile Inc. with money I earned (hourly) from my company RuleSpace LLC.

-RuleSpace just happens to be contracted out by T-Mobile to build their mobile parental controls which I am specifically grading content for.

-So the $50 started with T-Mobile's contract- which flowed through Rulespace- into my pocket -and then back to a T-Mobile box store...

Ahhh Trickle down... Ronald Regan would be proud don't you think?

If you want to learn more then check out Canada's Nokia 6133 website (b/c the Canada site totally rocks the American T-Mobile site!)

http://pushtostart.ca


~J out

The absence of the other

When us East Asian Studies people study Asia and the reaction of the west to Asia, the concept of "the other" or the mysteriousness of another culture always gets used to describe something we're not familiar with. The other is so foreign that sometimes we prefer it to our own drab reality. Sometimes we fantasize it, and for those who have been there, we sometimes wish we were there even if when we were there we constantly complained about it being too foreign.

So far I've been back for a year and things, while I was only gone for a couple of months, have changed. People I thought I knew to my core have changed to people I may or may not know now and people who knew me tell me that I'm different. What does it all mean? Its effect is that we estrange each other like we were in quarantine until they go through the familiar motions we associated them to be before they left.

Not for me, however, I haven't converted back to the person I left before I went to Japan. I go, daily, through the motions that I went through when I was there. From checking email, to blogging, etc. and while I no longer long to be home (since I'm here) the motions I do perhaps is what keeps those I knew well from embracing who I am now. Perhaps if I was still there and kept doing what I did there and what I do now (the motions) perhaps I'd still have that bond with people who desired to stay in touch with me while I was there.

Work somehow adds to the mix in that is also keeps who I used to be from coming back. I thought who I am now was who I used to be, but perhaps I'm not..

It's hard being green... ~Mr. Kermit't'Frog

~J

Today I got an upgrade of sorts.. An upgrade of duties, responsibilities, and mental anguish perhaps. The upgrade kinda means a lot to me only because it's kinda like I proved myself to people who hired me for what I said I could do, then watched me work for 8 months, and now want to give me more stuff to do... like issuing more trust.

Today I called my girlfriend to try and explain just what happened. I got into details which would put even the most avid 'joshie' to bore. What I really meant to say was that why this isn't some amazing financial buy a Porshe upgrade, it's exciting because A.) I'm doing something else and B.) Somebody in the office (i.e. my boss) wants me to stick around longer.

Whoa. I mean this month hasn't been fantastic for me. I've kinda been down on myself and haven't had any real 'good things' happen to make me feel like I'm not... [insert bad thing].

So-- good for me!... I guess.

I'm glad I could impress somebody with my skills these past months.. I just hope things get better from here.

Here's to success!~ from where ever you can get it in life *< ;-P

Cheers

~J out

That Baroque Sound

Take a break from the popular culture sounds of rock, alt. rock, rap, hip-hop, classic rock, and all that other music and talk.. Now sit back and turn on a playlist of Baroque Classical music and listen to it...

10 minutes will give you clarity, 30 minutes will refresh your mind, an hour will give you back critical thinking skills... 2 hours and 45 minutes will compel you to post on your blog about listening to Baroque Classical music :) (and make you start talking like a good 'ole chap)

Baroque: The melodic gen sing for your mind that's good for struggling students who are working on papers & reports this time of year.

~J

Car Funk

I don't know if my Subbie is telling me that it's tired of my long commute or what, but it's been acting weird with overheating issues...

*sigh I hope it just doesn't give up on me... it has been a fine car....

~J out

Settling the sand

There's too many analogies to what life is like, but never enough on the impact of what we do in our lives... so here's one.

Through life we pass through stages like walking on sand. One action causes a foot print that no matter how much you try, others can follow it to the source. We mess up and many times leave foot prints where we should not have been. Likewise we follow paths and think that, at times, our actions are true when they're actually misguided and our prints always reflects that.

Judgment, as we see fit, is always with its own footprint and those administering it should know that their footprints are also in life's proverbial sandbox.

Don't lie to yourself, truth can dispel lies, but it also causes personal and public pain sometimes. The stinging of some truths will continue to sting for a while until those of us who have been stung, by our own stinging and/or the stinging of others, can make amends with ourselves.

We are not soulless machines who are capable of rebooting, we're human beings and cannot live without each other. Sometimes what we feel we have lost is not entirely lost, but misplaced. With deep thought anyone of us can clime onto a bicycle and ride on... even though we have forgotten what it was like to ride a bike.

It is a fact of life that our looming predictions, seeds of discontent, and secrets only scatter those who just want to embrace in true companionship. There are humbled, humiliated, lost, love one's who are doing nothing but waiting for the warm embrace of their companions to find them and tell them they care. If all of us could just embrace those we love whole heartedly, and not let go, then time will settle any debt we have, on its own, and the roots of love, forgiveness, and happiness will blossem and hopefully make us better loving people.

~J

A cause not worthy enough

Comments from an under 30 yr old:

You'd think that the youth of America would be throwing the country into an all out revolution with all the crud going on, right? There's more than enough causes to stand and fight for, but I believe this "inaction" is merely the result of a 'good cause overload.'

Today, in the United States, is Natl. Coming out day, Gay day, Jendaa Free Nichi (JP), or whatever. Why it is in October during the raining season, I'll never understand. What I do understand is that the message is for young people to accept that gender norms are a form of restriction on freedom. I have to beg the question of those who ask of me to acknowledge the legitimacy of homosexual and transsexual behavior,

"Is it that gender is imposed on me, like slavery by society, to be a masculine heterosexual male, or is that you are imposing on me your belief to accept that your view and orientation must be accepted as normal behavior for the 21st century, by me?"

I'll pose it another way...

To the normal folks who joke with friends, fall in love, and kid around.. A boy is a boy and girls fall in love with boys and boys chase girls around (and act like total doofs doing it), am I right?

That's the norm 'round here. It's the norm in high school and in college. However, the issues of gender bending have, without a doubt, been imposed on us and we're forced to either accept them as normal behaviors or recede to being anti-gay. Haa haa ha.. what a joke.. Anti-gay? Is that what people who don't get their way result to calling those who don't buy in? Oh I'll just call you a name like homophobic and you'll feel some guilt and cross over to a gay loving dude... please~

Here's the revelation folks... Our generation doesn't want conflict. You wanna be weird? Go ahead. You'll be treated weird and if that's ok then ok.

We don't want to fight that hard,
raise too much hell,
Or sit in a prison (with basic cable) for protesting,
or get busted for smoking joints.

We are a non-serious-conflict prone group who chat online...
If you step out of line or out of sync-- you know what you'll get out of us?

"Dude.. not cool"

or

"Well whatever... so I heard about....."

That's the difference in our generation. To y'all (freaking out conservative folks) some of us don't agree with the whole Gay thing or gender bending thing, but we're not about to get all up in someone's face about it... because it's not cool. We let a dude shoot up Ohio, because letting him be his own thing, roll'n his own way... that's our style-- flawed, but free.

Society is a ying and yang relationship in constant balance. In the 60's you saw a forceful over abundance of yang being thrown down on the youth which, naturally, forced a greater amount of ying from the youth to balance it back... worlds collided~

In this new world and new century we've learned that if you keep them relatively balanced-- ying & yang-- your %age of backlash drops significantly. Ya gett'n it yet?

So parents-- when you see your kid, my age, plopped down in front of a computer, ipod, T.V., or handheld gameboy-- be somewhat thankful that you're not getting that phone call to bail them out of jail for busting the windows out of a government building or anything like that...

Be free, Be Cultured, Be informed, Be active, Be yourself...

~J out

Back 2 Norml

Luckily Radiohead came to save the day with their new album 'in rainbow.' The album features an unique aeclectic Radiohead sound that you can't really find anywhere else. The news about is that they're distributing it via, and only via, the web. After googling "Radiohead" or "Radiohead in ranbows" and getting to their site, it takes about 10 or less minutes to pick your price (yes you choose how much to pay. Be it 0.00 pounds or 10 quid) registering and then submitting your info. A link then shows up and the file (a .zip) pops up like you would download any thing.

I enjoy the sounds of Radiohead, but I don't enjoy the ignorance of my peers. A twist, if you may, in the conversation-- News, as I thought, was all around us. Like a plague or privy to have it whirl about you and to always be 'in the know.' I am a news hound- I have my nose in every scandal, election prediction, War assessment, Legal battle, and international headlines. Yet, that's just me.. And I don't expect anyone but me to be that way. However I found it shocking that my peers in class and at work are clueless and must live under some rock their entire lives. For example, someone I knew asked if it had rained today-- I said, "yeah this afternoon I think, but did you see that giant swirl off the coast?" "Oh" they replied, "I don't look at weather reports..." Now this comes from a person, like most of us, who spends time at their computer for hours and they don't know that a massive swirling weather system was just off our coast? Do they not know of 'the danger zone?'

You don't have to know a lot to live, but at the very least you must have a eye out for when the apocalypse rains down on your area so that you could, at the least, take out your umbrella. God and man have made it possible to know what is happening at a Summit in Karachi from a beach chair in Bangkok- Ponder that folks--- the 60's had a famous phrase they said before going to commercial breaks "Stay Tuned Folks..."

Don't be caught being those people who focus so intently on their immediate surroundings that they don't know if they're indeed in "The Danger Zone" or when the President declares Marshall Law and forbodes you to use your cell phone in a crowded bus (ok maybe that would be a little extreme, but you get the point)

Stay Tuned folks-and the world, you thought you knew, will change dramatically before your eyes.

GO Benazir Bhutto!!! YOU SHOW THEM GIRL!

~J

My New Fav. Band

This band I spotted while checking out a cd shop in Sapporo. Their new album was released while I was over there, but because I wasn't totally into it then (and their album was spendy) I didn't get it. I regret not buying it, and I'm still out there looking on ebay for their albums. They're the Yoshida Brothers... They've made a twist on the old sounds of Japan by turning shamisen music into groovy rock style. It'd be like rocking out on a banjo here in the US.

Anyway.. After seeing their music featured on the Wii Ad I thought I'd give them a shout out on my ole blog:

Take it away~



~J out

Think Happy Thoughts

Much have I been in meditation these hours. Searching for answers when condemning myself for the sins I have enacted on this planet. How can one boy steeped in honor for his accomplishments, for sticking in college till the bitter end, and whose friends and colleagues respect, dive into a world of sin that pours nothing but vanity and guilt upon his life and the lives of those precious few who trusted him? What madness has befallen this hero society has lifted up and called it's future? Where does the happy thoughts spring from his diluted picture of reality and pleasure?

Deep thoughts penetrate my young, untrained, novice mind. From my pit I cannot dive further, only upwards can I fly... and it is perhaps that only truth that will allow me to escape my self-destructive prison. I must remain humble and vow to keep myself alive and full of vigor. Humans, such as I, have had nothing but hardships to traverse and to give into the easiest of emotions would signal just how truly weak I've become.

The skies, though dampened by rain, are above me. I must lift myself in the ways prescribed by Christ and not be a hypocrite by loving others and not loving myself. It is the ego we all face, too much makes us drunk on our own selves; too little leaves us dehydrated and weak to face the next day of struggle.

A fall from grace leaves but one path the fallen must take. Upwards bound I must go if ever to restore such public credit that I currently have much debt of.

So rise up, I shall, meet the rain soaked day of tomorrow and with my battered self I will train myself to fly once more with the eagles who soar above me waiting for my return.

From a reflective, yet humble and optimistic soul.

~J out

Atarashi Ame

New Rain... It's almost been ages since I've seen the drizzle of rain pour over my wind shield. I like it... it's refreshing and reminding of where we are. It brings the rivers back and the lawns. Rain is good...

So on to my thesis. What on Earth is worth spilling hours of research to write something worthy of a Lewis and Clark essay? That's what it boils down to. For at least two years I've managed to stay in and stay involved as a LC student, but this is what codifies it. There's two battles you fight that's worth anything in college. The one to get in and the one to get out (with something in your teeth). Walking out means I got to pull something together that is worth the time to write and worth the time read. LC knows that whatever I produce and is stamped by them is what LC stands for. Their credibility comes down to the 35-40 pages of concise critical thinking.

First I was the one boasting, now it seems everybody has it harder then me.. "just BS the middle" they say, but they don't get it. There's one paper which is the last battle of college that absolutely doesn't get BS'd. To all sophomores, freshmen, etc. know this... learn it and learn it well. 4 year rich highly acclaimed schools will let you off the hook in many of the their classes and final projects. You can go ahead and do it the night before, BS it all, whatever... But not the capstone of your education... This one they watch... They read it-- And once approved-- their credibility lies in the students own hands.

Make it good lad.... We're all counting for a paper we can stand on with pride.

~J out

What it means to 'win'

Let me weigh in on just how corrupted we've let our minds become.

America the great is only great because of conflict resolution. We're the mavericks of the planet and that doesn't sit well with those whose traditions make short work of dissenters and free thinking people in their own societies. Yet, we are at a time in which politics have successfully infiltrated and corrupted our ability to make sound critical decisions on our future.

Give up on your mantras, anti-war rhetoric brought pain, shame to our solders, and a split (during Vietnam) sharper then any colored non-sense we have now. Everybody knows and agrees that war, conflict, death, and every think else that smells of conspiracy is wrong or should have done differently. However, we've allowed schisms and factions to break our resolve, as the world's mavericks, to stand proud as such.

It's complicated, we are in a battle of ideologies. There are those who believe the resolve of Americans can be broken. That your opinions and beliefs are fickle and will fall to their superior belief that they are stronger and that God is on their side not yours. There are those who are hell bent on defacing the government in order to end the war against the previous groupm who believe that we will eventually leave their territory. There are those who believe that we must fight tooth and nail to show, not just the enemy, but the world that America's resolve and triumph stands stronger then any half-baked religious theory our enemies tell their solders.

Central to the core is that none of us are weak or are into giving up. Those who believe we must leave the conflict will not back down, as will those who believe we should fight this conflict to prove our resolve. Strength in ideology and beliefs is America's trump card in this ideological war.

WE DON'T BACK DOWN. Americas don't back down; Not to terrorists, not to our government, not to tyranny. We're fighters... even if it's for peace..

Thus, winning doesn't mean that we kill every last person who rises out of the muck to shoot us. Winning means showing those who hold the belief that America DOES BACK DOWN is completely wrong.

We are strong, we are resolute, you show those terrorists that you don't have any back down (be it to your own government, to their belief that the opposite [leaving or changing your mind] is true, or to anyone who commands you to submit) --

America Always Fights For Keeps and Fights to Win

They lose when we show them our back down switch wasn't broken, it just was never there.

~J out

Unscripted Thought

Our lives are divided in so many ways that we roll between what one meaning of life is with another. Goals are mingled with our purpose and resolve. We mix the part of accomplishment as victory with victory itself. In this failed world, we sometimes make religion our bed rock. However, our religion is often crippled by politics, scandal, and misgivings. If Jesus is the center of the universe, then what matters most is what he said and not any interpretation or explanation from a pastor, clergyman, and especially a politician.

Hear me out when I say that Jesus spoke of love as the way in which humans connect on the deepest level. Don’t be mistaken, love is a four letter word in English…But its impact is stronger then letters… Take heed that love, if it is the bedrock of your soul and uncorrupted by false guidance, will guide you to the truth you seek.

~J out

A long pause indeed

It has been a long silence since I posted last to this blog. How hypocritical would it be if I said that blogging was my passion, but then the sole source of insight into my being just disappears. Hypocritical offense it is! It would be as if I died inside and you're waiting for the 10'o'clock news coverage of it. I can't let that be the end of it. I must tell you what devious plot I've been hatching.. in this mini sabbatical.

Ok-- In 1990, if some white, shy, nerd with glasses and a high pitched voice walked up to you and said “Yahoo! is the future” you either A.) say “Yahoo!? you mean booze and rodeos are going to get cheaper in the future?” or B.) you'd say, “you've gone crazy dude.. a word cannot dictate my future!” However, where are we now ladies and gentlemen? Yahoo! is a global enterprise that doesn't even need to create it's own services, it just pays companies to develop software for them. People, I'm telling you “Rangernet” is the future.

Like the nerd who foretold the future vis-a-vis a Texas cowboy ideom. I tell you now, rangernet could be it, with no knowledge of its potential. For now its a fantastic forum or group of people who are committed to the teachings of God, but are also committed to being real role models for young men with no direction in their lives. I encourage my readers to at least visit the modest forum we've created at http://www.rangernet.org.

So what of me? What has become of my politics these days? My goals are simplistic, but their execution is far too complex for me to figure out just how and when I'm going to complete them all. You could say that in the beginning of September, I walked into a cheap buffet (of projects) and loaded three plates full of things I have to complete.

I have a whole plate of immediate things that need doing,

a plate of things to be completed by the end of next month,

and a plate of things I need to plan, research, or execute in “the long term.”

Pretty intense 'eh?

So what is Josh's tally so far on his endeavors? What has the r3dragon done thus far?

I've made rangernet.org happen,

I've started on my thesis and selected a topic,

I'm working 40 hours a week in what many call “a dream job for colleged age people,”

I still have a person who loves me and cares for me,

I've bought a new harddrive and memory for my old laptop making it useful again!

I've installed linux on that laptop to wean myself off of microsoft like we all should do with oil,

I'm alive,

I have multiple hobbies,

I've temporarily stopped playing video games,

I bought an Giorgio Armani Suit Jacket,

and maybe something else that I haven't remembered.

I'm busy and I suppose that confirms that I'm alive and have a purpose.

As these things slowly get completed, I know I'll have lots more time to keep you informed on what crazy madness runs through the mind of the r3dragon.

thanks all~

~R3d

ps. I love you tink

Political Boxes: This side goes up ^

Whiz Bang Boom!

Am I really seeing this or am I just dreaming?

Events are about to happen before our eyes and soon what one man says is all of the sudden going to change the way that candidates for the commander and chief role pitch to us their *new* spin. Of course we're all going to listen to it (or not) and some way or another will eventually pass judgment on those people with our only free democratic right and political power... the people's vote.

First I want to mention that I'm feeling cramped here and I'm starting to get a real bad case of claustrophobia. In more literal terms.. Look up ^ what do you see? If you're like me you'll see a ceiling and likewise, if you look to your left or right you'll see walls, but you don't usually associate this with a box. It would too depressing to think that your mind, body, and existence would spend a lifetime sitting in boxes all day, yet we do, and like clockwork.. our opinions, choices, and votes are all cast in, yep, a box... Gee doesn't that just make you feel free as a bird...

I've lived in the land of boxes (Japan) and quite frankly using a mobile box to call, or eating out of a box with food in it, and visiting a very old box on occasion gets somewhat old and uninteresting.. so why does two people or a whole cast of people who are essentially arguing the same politics-in-a-box, any better then the land of the rising box? Truth is, it all just forces us to compromise our honest opinions... In reality, we just want a Simon to sit in on every debate and every speech and to keep hitting that big ole red X, shutting them all up, and then go into these talking heads with the straight brutal Simon Cowell Brit talk.

Listen up... Americans are being given a salad bar of choices and it would save all of us the headache of analyzing what matters and what doesn't matter if all the Candidates just stood up and said, “I'm an order number 1 with a side of measured withdrawal or stay the course.” Then I could discount all of them and look for an all around Presidential Commander and Chef that would make me a salad when I want a burger, then whip up an Italian meal fit for the Royals, but in general a real candidate that cooks rather then one who puts this chef's food on his plate and then tries to serve it as though it was an original idea.

Step it up a bit on leadership and who knows.. The man (or woman) I vote for won't speak to what they'll do in Iraq after Petraeus' report tomorrow. They'll give me a comprehensive strategy on what they're going to do about Cuba or how they're going to go about Taiwan when China goes ahead and “reclaims” Taiwan for China. If the job opening calls for leadership then I'm looking for a person that'll show competence in not just in Middle East tom foolery, but real knowledge about all of the world's events and how as President they'll shape an America that can make a difference where a real difference is actually needed...

Anyone willing to step up to that?

Impeach the box, not the man...
~J