Entry for May 29, 2006

I haven’t been to one of those warehouse clubs in awhile and I was amazed to see everything that had changed since my last visit. Where there was a once good deal in almost everything is now either cheaper, lower quality versions of good quality merchandise sold elsewhere or stuff sold in such bulk that you fail to realize that it’s the same price as other stores who don’t require such large purchases. The only truly good bargains were milk, gas, and tires. Everything else broke down to the same cost per ounce, serving and article as the same things in smaller packages or quantities at other stores that don’t require a membership and a human-drawn oxcart to buy a box of cereal.

So the question I posed to myself when I was leaving empty handed was, “Did something change or was I just caught up in the ‘it’s bigger therefore it’s better’ hype?”. And of that, I do not know. It is my hope that over the last couple of years the market has adjusted a bit and the prices are now fairly identical across the board. But in all reality, I probably just never did the math. Either way, I will not be returning to any membership based club unless my yearly intake of milk, gas, and tires increases to a level high enough so offset the savings with the $35 yearly membership fee.

Wasn't that commandment an option?

I was reading the news this morning and came across an article about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice receiving an honorary degree from Jesuit Boston College University this week and that struck me as kind of odd. I mean, here is a school steeped in religious doctrine and they are honoring someone who now holds the position for the continued war and subsequent justification of such war in Iraq.

Now I’m not religious in any way, but I know that "Thou shall not murder" or “לֹא תִרְצַח” is probably open to all sorts of interpretation such as, "Sure, but what if we think that they might, maybe one day harm us? Wouldn't even Jesus kill all of them in the name of pre-emptive justice?" I mean, suuuure if you want to get technical about it (like the church) murder and killing people is wrong. But why not shower these people who killed in our name as heroes now that the war has been justified through the finding of Weapons of.... Osama... The connection between al-Qaeda and... ....ok, so there was no real justification to killing all of those people. But still, who the hell wants to admit they were wrong. It's not like Jesus ever taught humility.

Lincoln: "Public opinion in this country is everything"

This morning I am angry on the behalf of the Republicans. I am not a Republican, nor would I gleefully side with today’s average elected Democrat – although I would probably agree with more historical Democrat agenda then the Republicans. That being said, I am very upset on behalf of the voting Republicans. What the fuck happened to the elected Republican leaders values, beliefs and responsibility? The president's approval rating is hovering around 30% and the leaders in the House and Senate are surely not much higher. And here it is at another election year and instead of running on smaller government, fewer taxes/debt, and more states rights they’ve had to drag up loser issues like flag burning and gay marriage, again. This is so insulting that I feel for the Republican voters out there.

Arthur Gordon once said "Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there's all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish between what can and what cannot be helped; acceptance makes that distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens.” This is where I believe that most Republican voters have gone. They’ve learned to accept the fact that their team will stay in charge as long as they also accept the fact that some changes in their core principles will have to evaporate into memory.

What they are left with is a country that has spent more money then ever before, created a climate of ever-weakening states rights, more intrusion from our national government and a slow dissolve of our Checks and Balances. This is not what they believed that they were voting for and this saddens me. It’s one thing to back a candidate knowing that there is no way that they can deliver on all of their campaign promise – but it’s another to back a candidate only to find out that they are going to do the exact opposite of what they said AND to simultaneously realize that this person is your only party option.

So this fall as the average Republican listens to his elected leaders talk about the knowingly dead issues of gay marriage amendments, flag burning and obscenity legislation they will also have to ponder whether or not it’s better to sit this election out in the name of what is best for the country. Because let’s face it, as rare as it is finding a fiscally conservative Republican walking the halls of the House or Senate, it’s equally rare to find one of these representatives that believes that their core isn’t stupid and accepting enough to take their crap election year politics sales pitches – and that is a sad state of affairs for all of us.

Nothing is more Nouveau Riche then a BMW

First of all, a few disclaimers: I understand that we live in a time of plenty in this country. I understand that those generations that came before you worked hard so that you could have the “best” things in life. And yes, I understand that you now want the “best” things in life. Now that that has been said, let’s move on.

Secondly, for those of you that don’t know, Nouveau Riche is a French term, usually derogatory, to describe persons who acquire wealth within their generation, and spend it conspicuously. The implication is that, being of lower- or middle-class origin, these individuals lack the taste to properly use wealth. Frankly, I could care less about your pedigree and overall elegance as long as you can carry yourself in a respectful manner – which very few of our recent generation seem to be able to do.

The warning:

Stop it, just stop it. You aren’t fooling anyone. You are not part of the mega-rich and you are not “old money”. Old money won’t speak to you; old money doesn’t like you. To them, you are nothing more then a snotnosed little brat with a maxed out credit card and no class. The only time Prada, BMW, Gucci, Rolex… will bring you respect is when you are dealing with another Nouveau Riche child. And yes, I’m talking to you.

But I digress to explain.

Old money has been here for a long time and is very comfortable in its daily rituals. It doesn’t feel the need to flash “bling”. It knows that it has money and doesn’t aim to buy the “best” of everything. Instead, it buys what it likes and doesn’t think another thing of it. It’s only the Nouveau Riche who would ever seek out that which someone else has deemed the “best” as the actual “best” and flaunt in lieu of class. What you buy, wear, travel in and display does not make you cool or add in any meaningful way to your level of standing in society. So when you try to act rich your lack of urbanity shines through and you appear, to everyone who is not your lesser, as someone who has a little bit of money and spends it on shiny things to amuse their little mind.

And now I’ll regress.

My parents did a wonderful job of instilling a sense of self-pride and refinement in me at a very young age. I value respect, civility and real substance over impressing you. I do not feel the need to buy things to increase my standing or pretend that I was not born into a different class then I was. And for that I thank them and hope that your own children see through your parade of distractions to the substance and class that still lurk down deep in your soul.

So the shit has hit the fan, and I'm glad

Alright, so Kela has finally received her marching orders and they are sending us Saginaw, Michigan for 76 months for her clinical rotations. The good news is that we now have a plan; the bad news is that the plan sucks. We now have 12 weeks to work our asses off in the Atlanta
area and raise $14,000 so that we can relocated across the country (again) to complete Kela's medical education. So from here on out I will be working as many hours as possible as a prostitute, day laborer and indentured servant. Kela will be back (again) at her Grandfather's doctors office shlepping in the
same job that she did in high school. Those of you willing to donate to the 'Pay For Kela's School Fund'; can send money through PayPal:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

I’ve come to the conclusion, during the course of my short life, that he who dares nothing, need hope for nothing. I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it. And now that paths lie ahead of me in directions of varying adventures I see only the future in each bearing. I have the same fears, concerns and worries as always accompanies any first step – but a nervous need for adventure and success that will not let me pause. It is on new paths where you learn who you are and where you are heading. I can only hope that this next path reveals enough to keep my feet beneath me. Now is the time to plan, pack and progress – movement is afoot.

Entry for May 03, 2006

Boredom is an insult to the imagination.

Have you ever taken one of those goofy love tests?

I was tricked into this one: http://gud.us/lovetest.php?page=537458 and got a good laugh, so I thought I would share. Enjoy.

Can someone please name this song?

Here is the link http://brian.hamilton.youaremighty.com/

What I know:
It’s not from Carmina Burana
It’s not from the Omen
It sounds Russian to me – but I’m not really sure.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I can’t believe I’m responding to this question

I post quite a bit on Yahoo Answers and got barraged with questions when I posted a description as to the process of evolution as a theory on the same level as gravity (let’s hope there aren’t still people arguing that gravity doesn’t really exist). Here was the brunt of his argument: If we evolved from monkeys, why are monkeys still here?

So let me post this publicly, just in case someone else who can both read and thinks that this is a valid question might see it.

Because we all came from the common ancestor. It’s like wolves and dogs. Dogs evolved from wolves, but we still have wolves. Not everything has to evolve into the same thing (or at the same rate). So wolves in one place in the world can evolve close to where they’ve been for millions of years, and wolves with human interaction can evolve into the mutts we have in the house.

There, enough of that. I can’t believe we still have people so intellectually lazy on this planet. At this rate we will may actually start to devolve.

I really need a vacation...

...with some time to read what I want to read while not caring what those sounds coming from my laptop are warning me about..

After the credits

What do you do when your love’s lost hope?
When you know you will never get what you gave?

Could you resent and not hate.
Would you want to?
Would you have to?

In the end does it matter,
That you’ve seen your life fade?
Your hopes are still shattered,
You life has been paid.

Gone is your hope,
Disappeared is you life.
Never returning, ending in strife.

Wasted on those who cannot repay
Gone in the years of constant decay.

And finally you are all on your own,
Broken and tired and very alone.

Should you have left when you had a chance?
Abandoned hope for new romance?

Would it end the same?

The Anderson, South Carolina Public Library of Whatever

I am beginning to loath the beautiful Anderson, SC Public Library. It stands in Historic Anderson as a beacon of intelligently spent wealth in a small struggling southern town. Unfortunately they have the audacity to cater to the only recently anurous local population.

Today I stood at the help desk with a bibliography of essential reading for my upcoming PhD residency and was made to suffer through a tedious explanation of how a library such as theirs cannot stock the specialized books that I needed. Being the pragmatist that I am, I was expecting that the vast majority of the text was not to be found therein. But it is what came next that brought my blood to boil. Interrupting, as is social norm for Southerners, a very portly, waddling, effervescent woman squealed “Where can I find that new Jackie Collins book?” to the lady who was helping me. To my horror, the librarian turned with delighted eyes and brandished it from the depths of her own terminal. The two then had a quick, scatty conversation about the poetic prose of Jackie Collins where they both seemed to speak at once without ever hearing the other. Once the gaggling had died down and the native had wandered off with her masterpiece of literary heraldry, the librarian turned back to me and said the words “Hey, aren’t you that guy who was questioning us last week why we only had two books of some Von-da-gut author? Because I don’t think we have any more of these books then we do of that guy.”

Angry, mentally disheveled and forlorn, it was at this point that I left swearing to never, ever, darken step across the threshold of that building again.

Awesome Tilapia Recipe

Ingredients

4 Tilapia fillets

2 tbls Paprika

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Lemon Pepper

1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 tsp Ground Red Pepper

1 1/2 tsp Dried, Crushed Basil

1 tsp Onion Powder

1 tsp Dried Thyme

1 cup Melted Unsalted Butter

Instructions

Heat iron skillet on high for 5 minutes.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Dip fillets in melted butter and coat with dry mix.

Place fillets in hot skillet, cooking 2 minutes per side.

Faith vs. Patience

I don’t understand the blind faith of people’s religious beliefs. That’s not to say that I don’t understand the premises, rules, customs and dogmas - those I understand emphatically. What I cannot comprehend is how someone can have absolute blind faith towards one religious belief while brushing aside all others as not as correct as their own. Strictly on blind faith, the only difference between Christianity, Hindi and a belief that your pet goldfish is the ultimate creator of the universe is the numbers which follow each belief. And alone, without the support of those numbers, the person who believes Jesus Christ once visited the earth as the son of God has nothing more to offer as substantiation then the person who believes in the divineness of his aquatic deity.

So when I realized that I too had blind faith in something it worried me.

I have absolute blind faith in those I love. I believe the potential of people will be met if encouraged and given proper support. And like all blind faith, it will fail 50% of the time when tested. Most of the time I do not mind. It is the offer of such faith in those that I love that is more important then whether they succeed or fail. But lately my patience for such faith is waning. I am exhausted in faith, exhausted in patience and tired of being proven wrong. My patience for blind faith in those I love is depleted by the reality of life. Reality is not perception, reality is perception applied.

Without faith you are only left with fact and that which you cannot explain. Seeing those you love under such an exacting light is not flattering and only leads to contempt and mistrust. I want to feel faith again. Faith in those I love, patience to give those people time to succeed and the trust I once had to believe in that faith once again.

Entry for March 02, 2006

Some days I feel as if we are here for some sort of cosmic explanation of what can and will be within the creation and understanding of the universe. But most days I believe we are just sacks of meat with options.

Dumb observation

Not many people seem to want to watch some half talented person butcher their favorite song in the middle of a bar at 1AM on a Friday night - yet one of the most popular shows on TV right now is nothing more the televised karaoke. Sooooo, WTF?

Please tell me where I am wrong with this seemingly inescapable logic on the Iraq situation?

1. If there was no WMDs then there was no immediate threat to the US
2. If there was no immediate threat to the US, then there was no justification under both international law and our own president’s statements *
3. If there was no justification under both international law and our president’s own statements, then it was illegal
4. If it was illegal then it was a war crime **
5. If it was a war crime, then those who ordered it are war criminals

* "They have WMD. If they didn’t we wouldn’t have any right to invade" March 2002 So even under our presidents own admission, this war was done illegally
** war crime n. means an act or omission that is committed during an international armed conflict, whether or not it constitutes a contravention of the law in force at the time and in the place of its commission, and that, at that time and in that place, constitutes a contravention of the customary international law or conventional international law applicable in international armed conflict.

Also,

I am not for bringing the president up on war crimes, but the evidence is seems to be fairly clear that the simple progression of inescapable logic listed above is accurate.

Please also don’t get into whether or not invading Iraq was a good thing. We’ve obviously lost that war as we are about to pull out as they are falling into a what will be a long, nasty civil war that will end (as their history shows, time and time again) with yet another leader like Saddam finally winning over one side or the other. All of that is pretty cut and dry at this point. It’s the buildup and justification to classification of war criminals that I hope for someone to shed light on.

Where in the world is Brian & Kela

A couple of you have asked where the hell we actually are right now. So here is the basic schedule:

• Kela is in Champaign, Il through March 4 learning how to better doctor people
• Brian is in Atlanta interviewing for waaay to many jobs during the week of Feb 13-20 – then back to Anderson, SC for a week of consulting work and back to Atlanta once more
• Kela should begin her rotation in Atlanta sometime in April (hopefully)
• Brian is already teaching online and hopes to have another position by the time Kela returns (hopefully)
• Lucy (our worthless mongrel of a dog) will be staying with Brian until he has found a permanent home in or around Atlanta

How long will we be in Atlanta?

At least 2 years for Kela to finish her basic rotations

Where are we moving after that?

Who knows – we’re still trying to figure that out

Haven’t you people moved enough over the last couple of years?

Yes, we don’t even bother unpacking everything anymore

Are you going to have kids?

We don’t even have time to take care of the dog. She’s learned to cook herself dinner and uses the toilet.

Really?

No.

Entry for February 03, 2006

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. – Groucho Marx