A Skeptical Mind

Job Well Done

2012-01-14T08:26:00.001-05:00

I had an interesting week and it all started with a guy missing work. As I have told you before, my duties on my job include covering for people when they miss work so I was assigned to that job I was supposedly given then it was taken back. Sucks, but oh well, I cain't do anything about that. Anyway, so the individual doing the job missed a day, and has since retired, and low and behold, who do they put on the job, yours truly of course because all the other utility individuals on that line are new, and don't know anything. So, being the simple-minded idiot that I am some times I threw myself at it 100%, like I would do for any job. It's just who I am and learned it from my grandfather. I think to myself, I used to do this job, this shouldn't be any problem, the other guy was just an old fart who didn't know how to manage his time correctly for one, and he didn't know how to manipulate a job to reduce unneeded steeps. I do and since I can, I will do this job, just wait and see. Well after running around for a day and a half like a chicken with his head cut off, in the end I did master it. But oh, the pain I was in, my arms felt like I had pitched twelve innings, both left and right. I'm not as young as I used to be, but I can still move like lightening when I have to. Even though I eventually did the job, my foreman and myself agreed that there was to much work on it. I always said that I was an exception to the rule when it came to timing people doing jobs because I was so good at it, and nothing made me more proud to say so as when one of the guys from the front office came out to look at the job who had previously watched me work about five or six years ago. It was his job back then to go out and make sure every job was do-able within a certain amount of time, and every job that I was on, back then, I did within time. Well, fast forward five years and now that guy was head of that entire department and word got around to him that there was trouble on a job; his first question was "Well, whose on it?" and when he got a response, he told me "Hell, when they told me you were on this job and there was a problem, I thought to myself, that job's got to be messed up if he can't do it." And right there, in that one simple response, everything that my grandfather had taught me came to fruition, "What kind of man are you going to be? and How will people think of you as a worker?" Yip, in that simple response, I knew, and know that when I get a job no matter what it is, I do my best. And just when you think nobody really cares how you do it so long as it gets done, something strange happens and God lets you know that people are watching you and they are watching the type of work your doing, and can tell the type of man you are by the work you do. The guys say to me "Hell there ain't a job I've written up that you haven't burned through, so I know if you're having problems then there's something wrong." I never never needed to say a word, not one word, and the guy knew that I was honest, he knew that I was genuine, and he knew that I wasn't a liar. That my friends, just goes to show that people are watching, people are watching and they can see the job you are doing, and they can tell the type of person you are by the job you do! Job Well Done. Job Well Done.

He's Wathcing Over Me

2011-12-17T08:34:00.001-05:00

This week I got some very interesting news at my job. Recently my employer had a major layoff, 315 people. Happily, I made the cut by thirty, but of those thirty, me being the first, the company didn't have any jobs for us. We were supposed to be used as Utility, or what you would call fill ins for people who didn't show up or just needed help. So, I was content, especially after not wanting to be sent to another section of the plant. For the ten years that I have worked at my current job, nine of them have been in a single department, and I was hell bent on staying there, but the decision was not up to me. With the layoff going through, people were moving around everywhere, and bumbling, or as we call it higher seniority people kicking lower seniority people off the goods jobs, was rampant. I knew I was going to end up on a sorry job, I just didn't want to end up on a sorry job in another department. So I had to wait until my time came to go pick a job, but that wasn't until some of our older personnel decided to retire, and other couldn't cut the mustard, disqualified. For a moment there, I was actually content with my lot in the plant, plant wide utility. I had worked it out in my mind that I would just keep showing up to my department and work from there, being loaned out to other department occasionally. But now that a few jobs became open, I was the first one called in the office of the thirty people who didn't have a job, and I had a lot of opportunities, in other departments. But the greatest opportunity came two days before and had absolutely nothing to do with me. And older gentleman on our line who got bumped and, without knowing it, picked a hard job, decided to retire, therefore creating an opening on our line, of which I was totally oblivious. So, when I was called to the office to make my selection I asked "What were my option?" and the lady from personnel began naming jobs off here, there, places I knew I wasn't going and didn't want to go unless I was absolutely forced. She was just naming jobs like nothing until I heard her say my department, job 24. My ears kinda perked up, as I said to myself "Job 24, what's that?" I gave here a kind of odd look, thinking that all the jobs in my department had been filled and she started calling off the jobs duties, low and behold, could you believe it, the job I spent almost three years on and was considered a master at was available. I couldn't believe it, my mind was thunderstruck and it took me almost a full minute to respond to the lady's question that I didn't hear, "Well, do you want it?" Once I had a little mental clarity, I shot at the opportunity "Yes, Yes I want that job!" and bam, just like that, my belief was reinforced and I knew there was a God, I knew that he was watching over me. Thank you God.

Season Ticket's

2011-11-24T08:30:00.004-05:00

ND vs BC

Yes, football season is pretty much over again and this year was not everything I had expected it to be. We had some great ups and some really bad lows, especially in the beginning, but after a long and hard campaign, my team has still come out bowl eligible, and had a winning record up to now of 9-3.
Now that the season is over I again take up all my ticket stubs and continue preparing for what will eventually be a magnificent collage of all the games I have ever been to. Since I have been attending Notre Dame Football games, and especially since I started getting season tickets, I have been saving all the ticket stubs for nostalgia, to show my children, maybe one day my grand children, and I think there is not better way to do that than to create a collage of all the ticket stubs I have collected over the years.
My plan is to keep going to as many Notre Dame games as I can, but seeing that ticket prices are ever increasing, I feel that "the writing is on the wall" so to speak. This wont last for ever, I know that, eventually I am going to have to stop going, but until that day comes, I will continue collecting ticket stubs and preparing for what will eventually be one of my greatest works. In good time my friends, in good times.

Football Season Almost Over

2011-11-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, Sadly football season is almost over and with that coming to and end, I again open up my laptop and get ready for another season of hit and miss posts on my blog. My teams season didn't go as well as I had hoped it would but it went better than I expected, especially after such a horrible start going 0-2.
So, now that football season is over I turn my attention back to my blog that has been sorely neglected. And in so doing, I thought there was nothing better to do than to update my blog; almost as a re-dedication to it and to myself. So, with my first major decision that I have made with the layout since I began blogging, I went to a new format and finding it was not easy. I wanted to give my blog a new and spruced up look, but I didn't want to go overboard with the tiles and the exorbitant amount of pics that I could have posted. I wanted my layout to exemplify the type of articles I write about; Food, Woodworking, Politics, Religion, and life in general. So some of the lay outs were way out of my comfort level, especially when it came to color. I narrowed my search and brought it down to two and in doing so I chose the layout that best represents myself on the page in terms of using the least amount of words to say the most that I can, straight forwardly. That's the kind of guy I am and that's how I like to bring my message across.
I hope you guys like it and I hope to put it to work as often as I can. I have neglected my blog for some time, but I think it's time to get back in the grove of posting on a regular basis. And with football season fast coming to an end I need to start warming these keys up with this post. Next week I hope to jump right into it updating you on some of the projects I completed over the summer and some of the projects I hope to begin next year, in terms of my woodworking. With my cooking, I hope to try and accomplish some new smoking techniques, using some new recipes, and trying to bake. I really want to get into attempting some authentic Spanish/Mexican food, and I have got me a few new web sites, magazines and cook books to assist me in that venture. I hope it goes well.
And lastly, I hope to give you guys a good dose of my thoughts on politics, religion and life as often as I can; hopefully once or twice a week. Well, that's pretty much it for now, I hope to talk to you guys soon. Keep a look out, later.

Brisket

2011-07-04T06:38:00.000-04:00

Today is the day that I attempt the most difficult piece of meat to cook; The Brisket. I have already tried cooking half portion and have done some decent jobs, but today I attempt a whole piece, thirteen pounds. Oh yes, it was that when I started but after I trimmed it up I think I cut out about a pound of fat. The only problem I'm going to have is time constraints. I am attempting to get it done for dinner tonight, so I started early this morning. Up at 4:30 and got it on the fire at 5:30. So, hopefully I can keep the temperature a little high so that way I can have it done by around four in the afternoon. But I am so psyched, yesterday I attempted bbq chicken for the very first time. After I had a horrible start where my coals wouldn't catch fire, and then my mesquite bag burst into flames, I made a spectacular come back, cooking the chicken to almost perfection. It was moist, it was flavorful, it was a little crisp on the top which was my only set back, but other than that, I patted myself on the back for that one, and I expect to make more. I think the trick was the rub, which I got from another web site, and then i just got lucky with the timing. I thought it would take longer than it did, but somehow I pulled on just at the right time. I just hope I get that lucky with this brisket, it's going to be a long day.

Great day cooking!

2011-06-26T08:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I spent almost the entire day cooking, something of a rarity for me if you actually knew me a few years ago. But, as I always say, time changes people, and if it doesn't, then they are the ones that look like the biggest fools. So, my wife got me a magazine which had hundreds of recipes for cooking on the grill, my favorite way to cook, and as a I was syphoning through its contents I came across two very interesting pictures, one a veggie pic, which if you know me, I don't do veggie anything, and the second was a pic of a piece of fish. I have never grilled fish in all my life, and I rarely ever eat fish myself, but for some reason, yesterday I wanted to. So the veggie dish was called "Sausage Vegetable Packets," which included but not limited to; Smoked Sausage, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, and various spices and ingredients. Probably the most surprising item for me was the Zucchini, I don't know why but for some reason, I like Zucchini, and in this dish, it came out perfect. I prepared all the ingredients in a piece of foil and grilled them for about thirty minutes, and let me tell you, I love the smell of green peppers off the grill. They put such an aroma in the air, it always reminds me of a Spanish restaurant and that sizzling plate of fajitas that comes passing by and you get that smell and think to yourself, "Man, I should have ordered that!" Oh, I could die for it! When that pack came off the grill, the Zucchini was a bit overpowering but the green peppers did an excellent job of balancing it all out. The second dish I prepared was called "Maple-Glazed Salmon." The picture in the book looked so much like a dish you would order at a restaurant that I just wanted to taste it, even though I've never tasted salmon before. The fish was cooked pretty much straight forward, I cooked it on the grill with a light season of salt and pepper, and glazed it with this amazing Maple-glaze. My wife and I were discussing how certain items smell when they stand alone, but when you add them to others and cook them, it's amazing the type of taste and smell they transform into. The fish itself, came out a little on the dry side, being that this was the very first time I tried to cook fish, I didn't want to under cook it, so it went a little to long, but it was still very good. Now I know for next time, time is the most important thing. This week I also did something a little different that I normally don't when I'm grilling, I used Hickory Smoke Chips. I had never used them before, but was aware of them, so this week I got a wild hair up my but and decide to try a package. It came out pretty good, although I did end up making a hole in the bottom of the foil which caused some of the wood to burn straight away, but over all it worked and the smell. Oh, let me tell you, the smell coming from that fire was amazing, I could tell the difference just in the air. So, I don't know what's on tap for next week, but I can assure you this, My wife can't wait, seeing that she doesn't have to cook anything, she just loves it.

I'm Back Again.

2011-05-29T08:12:00.000-04:00

Well after my surgery I am back again. It wasn't serious, just foot surgery, I could have been writing on my blog for the past couple of weeks. I just took a break from everything, and I mean everything. I haven't done much of anything, just watch T.V. and play on my brand new smart phone. I love it. I think I'm addicted. But, I think it's finally time for me to start getting back into the grove of everyday life. I have two more weeks until I go back to work and I need to start getting back into my routines. Writing is one of them and I have a few issues I would like to discuss. But as I said before, I haven't done much of anything and my head is pretty much empty at the moment. But don't fret, tomorrow is the official start of summer for me and now that I am able walk, and the weather has finally taken a turn for the better, I am going to start my summer activities. The first think I am doing is smoking me a pork butt roast which will take most of the day. The day after that I am going to start getting back into my garage. I have a lot of cleaning that needs to go on in there and then I want to get started on my desk that I didn't finish last summer. I also bought some new tools which I am eager to get started using. Carving tools. Yes, I want to learn how to carve into wood, but I want to learn to use it to add to my projects, not just carve into wood. I want to recreate a box that I created for my friend, except this time, I want to add my own designs to the box, carved into the sides and some other places. I have some idea, and I think this one project might last me all summer. If I do what I know I can, and the why I can, it surely is going to take me all summer. Perfection isn't anything anyone can attain, but it is something we can all hope to achieve. I heard that somewhere, or read it; I can't remember. Anyway, like I said, I'm back again, and I expect to be seeing a lot more of you.

I'm Back.

2011-04-17T08:47:00.000-04:00

I'm back after a couple of very busy weeks. I went on vacation to the Dominic Republic and then spent another week getting things back into order. I like having things in order, that's just one of the weird things about me. But anyway, the vacation was a blast. My family and I spent a week in Puerto Plata, right of the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It was amazing. We stayed in a private Villa that was at the top of a mountain, or hill, which ever you want to call it, which overlooked the city and the ocean. I got some of the most amazing views I had ever seen. We had a fun filled week while we were there as well. We really only scheduled to events, but each of those events were all day and they wore us down pretty quick, so the other few days we just relaxed, that's what your supposed to do on a vacation isn't it. And when I mean relax, I mean relaxed. I took naps in the afternoon. I sat around overlooking the ocean and one side and the city on the other till about noon. I lounged in the pool for a while, then had some amazing Dominic Food prepared for us by the amazing two ladies that were the hired to take care of the villa. I played pool with the children, as well as darts; watched very little t.v.; and just sat on the balcony and let the cool ocean breeze take me to another place. It was amazing. The activities we did schedule were an all day Safari to the country side where we got to see how the locals lived, another Dominican lunch, and then the best part of the day, I got to water board in the ocean on a private beach. Another day was filled with a trip to the local water attraction called Ocean World. There we spent the day swimming in the on site water area, watching small sea-world type events, lunch was provided, and finally ended our day meeting Dolphins. It was great. Maybe I'll have more to talk about next time, but for now here's a little glimpse at what was probably the best view I have ever witnessed.

Coaching Clinic

2011-03-26T08:52:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a while since I last blogged, that's because I have had a heck of a time the last few weeks. I ended up getting a new computer, which took quite a while to transfer over all my old stuff to the new one. When I found out how much Best Buy was going to charge to do it, I just said I would do it my damn self. So I did. Took a while, but then I got a new phone, HTC Inspire smart phone. It's the first one I've ever owned and I have been playing with that for about a week. I love it, I'm hooked. The apps, the games, the ability to go on the net from anywhere. Wow! It's got me all stoked up. And then just this past week, finishing today, I have been attending a coaching clinic at the University of Notre Dame. Yes, I'm a golden Domer lover. But the coaching clinic I just started doing last year, and let me tell you, you learn a lot, I mean a lot about football. But what interests me more than anything is what I learn about teaching, about learning how to teach. Yesterday we had the ex-University of Florida coach Urban Meyer give a speech, and I got to tell you, it was good. It was inspirational, it was heart wrenching at time, it was funny, but most of all, he speech encompassed two major issues, Teaching and Doing write buy those you teach. His best line of the speech was "...Change involves to issues, Risk and Discomfort." He gave a statistic about heart disease and after most people have surgery, he said that 80% go back to living the life they did before they got sick. Why, because change required Risk, and it required Discomfort. Neither of which most people don't want to confront. Meyer also described his "What if Moment" and what was required to overcome them. His four critical aspects to overcoming a "What if Moment" were:
1. You have to have purpose. Be purpose driven.
2. Where are you emotionally. You have to get emotionally stable in order to move beyond the moment.
3. Physically you have to be in shape.
4. Mentally, know what you're doing and why your doing it.
Four basic rules for knowing that "What if Moment" as described by Urban Meyer, and as he described his 'what if moment' coming on the heals of that 2009 lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship, he knew he needed to change, but change wasn't easy, and he held on longer that what he should of because of the Risk and Discomfort he didn't want to deal with. In all what I got most from Meyer's speech, was not about change but doing something for the people that you teach. Being an educator by heart, I have a degree in education just no job to go with it, I know exactly what he means. Much to the dismay of some, teacher's don't go into to teaching to get rich. They go into teaching to help people, help children, help those who can't help themselves. If you're not in for those reasons, then you really shouldn't be teaching. Coaching is no different. You may be teaching something to play a game, but how are you really changing that child's life, or rather should I say, are you doing anything to change those children's lives as a teacher first, coach second?

Education a Right or Requirement

2011-03-05T08:37:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm back after a few weeks do to a recent hand injury which left me unable to type very well, no thanks to my own dog. But after a few weeks a lot has happened in the world. Probably the most news worthy is the events in Wisconsin, of which I have a lot of interest; one because I am a member of a Union, and two, because I have a degree in education.
First off, this attack on teacher is a damn disgrace. To think for one, that the entire educational system is broken, not just in one state, or one town, but in every school is laughable. There are not that many bad teacher out there, even on a good day. We have to start looking at some of the real problems with education, and I'm not going to tell you about Test Scores, No child left behind, and all that crap that you always hear about, because frankly, that is a bunch of crap. Those are just excuses for the American people to turn to because like every other thing in this country, we are afraid to look upon our own failures as a community, a society, a state, and a country. And what is it that I'm really talking about, it's about accountability, not of the teachers, who I think are doing as best they can with what they are given, and paid. This is about the accountability of parents who place the blame for the their child's lack of education on the educators and not on themselves. Yes, I said it, Parents, your the problem, not the teachers. When I did my students teaching I had so many great ideas about how the class would go and how I would instruct the students, but I got a real bad dose of reality when I showed up and my entire agenda got snowballed because I found out that you can't give homework. I thought are you kidding me, what do you mean you can't give homework, "just try it and see how that works" one teacher told me. And yes, I did try it, and yes, although I hate to admit it, I was proven wrong. It was a joke, hardly any to none of the students did the homework, which was just reading two pages in their required text. And with no reading, came no answers to questions, no critical thinking, no relating to everyday events, no open minded discussions, nothing, they just sat there and looked at me like I was the problem. No, they are the problem, and the parents of these children who don't enforce a good education are the problem. Is it our job to go to every students home and make sure they do their homework? I don't think so, teachers don't get paid 12 million dollar salaries, even if they did there's still not enough time in the day to go to over a hundred students home and make sure they did their homework. And probably the biggest slap in the face to teachers is that they all know the problem, they just can't stand up as say it, "Your child is the problem. You are the problem. Do your part so that I can do my part." Yip, and all this talk of fixing our current education system is a joke as well
Number two, do you want to know why charter school are better at educating students than public schools. It's not because of teachers, its not because of better atmosphere, its not because they have a better lunch, it's because of one reason and one reason only, they can kick students out. That's it, plain and simple, they have the power to tell a parent your child doesn't cut the mustard here, they have to leave. That's the only difference from a public school to a charter school, and do you know what; it works. Some how at charter schools, kids do their homework, kids do participate, kids do more because why, if they don't their out. And if you ask me, that's where we need to start with public school. "EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, IT'S NOT A REQUIREMENT." is my matto. Start kicking out these kids who come to school only worried about who's dating who, what's the next fashion, what sports they're playing, barely showing up to class, not giving two cents about anything, behavioral children, which teachers shouldn't have to put with. If your child doesn't know how to act at school because your ass is to lazy to teach them yourself, then why should we, the teacher and schools, have to teach them something they should have already learned before they even got to school. How to sit down in your chair, how to be quiet, and how to treat other people with respect. If your child can't come to school and do those basic things, kick them out. Kick them out if they consistently don't do their homework, because I know employers don't retain employees who don't do their job. Kick them out if they don't behave. Kick them out for not showing up. Kick them out, kick them out, kick them out! And why do I say that, for this very simple reason, so that the kids who do show up and do do their work and aren't worried about all that other crap and get the best damn education that the system and the teacher can provide, which is one of the top notch education's in the world if you ask me. So that the students that are there don't have to put up with the one student that screams, yells, and does nothing but give the teacher a hard time. So that those that are there can learn in peace. And I can hear the screaming over here, You can't do that to the children! Hey, if you don't care enough about your own child to teach them how to behave. If you don't care enough about your own child's education to make sure they have home work, and make sure that they are actually doing it. If you don't care about your own child period. Then why should I. They are your children, and if you love them so much, do right by them, don't try and be their friend, they've got plenty of those, what they need is parents. To show them right from wrong and lead them down a straight path. And I know your thinking to yourself, what about the kids that are kicked out of school, they could become a problem, dealing drugs, gangs, etc. I say, if you want to enforce any kind of truancy toward those children, enforce that if your not in school, then you can be bussed to the local garbage dump where you can separate recyclables from the real trash. It's simple, you make the alternative to not getting an education bad enough that they would do anything to get a FREE education and follow all its tenets to get it, if not they can help out society in other ways. Trash please. Remember: "EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, NOT A REQUIREMENT!"

Hard Time

2011-02-19T07:31:00.000-05:00

I'm finally back after that little spat with my laptop, but now I am able to return to my Skeptical Mind. I had a lot of thought running through my head these last few weeks, especially concerning the democratic protests in Egypt. What amazed me about the entire even was that it has been the United States that has backed the Egyptian President and supported his total reign of infamy. What most people are not seeing in the total picture, is that the people are rising up against that, against the Influence of the United States. They want democracy for themselves, as they see it, in Egypt. Not the way that America sees democracy, in it's own country. I find it very funny that the people in the United States support whole heartily what is taking place in Egypt, when the new Egyptian Government could very well oppose everything the United States Supports. We have to remember, democracy is a form of government wielded by the people for the people, if the people don't want American/Western influence, then they will do everything they can to get rid of it, even if that means going against American Influence.
But what I've really had on my mind the last few days is the concept of Hard Time in American prisons. I know I've never even seen the inside of a prison or jail cell, but I've watched enough shows on T.V. to know that these chumps have it way to easy. So I can up with an idea because of the blight that has riddled my own neighborhood. In certain parts of my section of town we have a number of run down, empty houses that have absolutely no value in them what so every. Many of them look condemned, and if they are not, should be. No one is living in them and so what happens, they become drug houses, or homes for squatters and homeless people, or just places for gangs to hang out and cause trouble. So I had an idea, why doesn't the city take a few of it's less appreciated citizens, i.e. the ones in our local jails, non-violent offenders, and have their asses out there demolishing these homes and empty building. Hell, if we the tax people are having to pay for their incarceration, we might as well get something out of it. We should put these people to work cleaning up the city, tearing down the places that are of no intrinsic value to the city. Maybe then, when these places are taken down and the lots cleaned up, maybe the value of the property might go up, if not, at least the city looks cleaner. Maybe I should take this idea to next level. I know I haven't worked out all the bugs, but as an overall concept, I think its a good idea, put the hard time back in hard time. We don't need these bums sitting in a jail cell all day wasting our taxpayer dollars, while getting fed and sometimes an education. Bull crap, their are people who follow laws everyday of their life and they don't get those two items daily. Put them to work I say.

Mother's good ole Chicken.

2011-01-23T08:51:00.000-05:00

About three weeks ago my mother came up from Texas and spent a week visiting. It was really great to see her and we had an alright time. It wasn't great or anything but that's because the weather was so horrible. But other than that we had a good time in the kitchen with each other. Normally, a mother in the kitchen with one of her children usually tends to be with her daughter, but I'm no girl. I'm her son, and I'm not gay either. Since college, I have just wanted to experience so much about life and cooking has always been one of them. Well, when my mother came up I wanted to learn some of those dishes she used to make me as a child that no one else could ever match. Her good ole fried chicken recipe. I used to love it so much that I would eat almost a whole chicken by myself, and that doesn't include what my four siblings used to eat as well. Let's just say, when she cooked it, we packed away a lot of chickens. But anyway, when she came down I spent most of my time with her in the one place I really didn't expect, the kitchen. It felt kind of weird, you know. Her son, who is a staunch guy, loving football and brutal sports, watching her every move. Listening to her every command. For the most part I just stood behind her and watched how she did everything. From how her knife moved to how she just so carelessly pored the seasonings onto everything. While I watched we talked about the old days when I still lived at home and how she came about all these recipes from her mother, and other people. When I look back on that one stretch of week I came to realize that not only did she teach me how to cook, but she did something that has been going on since the beginning of time, she passed down her knowledge of life to me. That thing that most generations never really understands until the older generations pass away. But for me, I knew it, I could see it taking place right in front of me, and now, today, I attempt to recreate that knowledge she passed down. I hope I don't screw it up. God help me, and if He can't, then I've got Moma on speed dial. Let's cook!

The Dark Side

2011-01-15T07:45:00.000-05:00

This week a man broke into our home, well, it wasn't much of a break in, my wife left the door unlocked and he just walked in, so it was more 'come in and help yourself.' But that's beside the point, the point was that she found him in the house after she took our three dogs for a walk around the block. That fast, lest than ten minutes she said, and he was in. He had to be watching the house, I know he was and knowing that enraged me, it enrages me even know as I write this post. I can feel myself typing faster, punching the keys a little harder, wanting to strike, but at what, something to make myself feel better! Oh how I wish I would have caught him in my house, the pain I would have brought down on him. I can envision it know, the absolute rage I would unleash. I can almost feel the excitement of letting that power go, reminds of my high school football days when I could unleash hell and punish people with absolutely no repercussion for my actions. That's what I would do, unleash hell and this brings me to my overall reason for writing this article. Do you have that Dark Side? I believe everybody has a dark side, they may be lead to it in different ways, and show it in different ways, but everyone has a Dark Side. Some are quite, some are spiteful, some are vengeful, and some are down right crazy and psychotic. To me, the question is can we release a power like that inside us and when we do, can we suppress it after the time that it is needed is gone. I think that not very many people can, some would rather not want to go to that point, trying obviously to avoid even going there. But some try to push to issue and are always at that point, those are the one's that I think can't function in society, and are therefore 'locked up'. But I do believe in the Dark Side, I do believe that some day someone could drive me to the Dark Side. But I also know that I can control that wrath of anger and punishment ready to be meted out to whom ever chances my path. And I say woe unto him that does so for from me hell cometh, not from the book of righteousness, nor the Laws of God, but from within me, Hell cometh, and Hell I bringeth, and all those who shall see it's fury shall weep and flee for the gnashing of teeth and cry out His name "GOD SAVE ME!!!"

New Year, New Food

2011-01-01T08:15:00.000-05:00

Well, with these holidays coming to an end I can slowly make my way back to writing on my blog. I did a great job there for a while, but I did slip a little. Hey, what can you expect, especially for the holidays. One big event I had for the Christmas break was that my mom flew up from Texas. It was great, I hadn't seen her in a couple of years. This visit was different from all the rest I ever had from her, she had something I wanted, something I needed, and I spent as much time as I possible could getting it from her. And what was this thing she had that was so important, her cooking. Yes indeed, no body cooks like your mother does, except for your grandmother I guess. Seriously though, living thousands of miles away from my mother has given me such an appreciation for her cooking, that good ol' southern hospitality, deep fried and smothered in cardiac seasoning. Yep, when my mom came down I spent as much time as I could with her in the kitchen, learning to make her one in a kind deep fried chicken, how she made her home made tortillas, and lastly what the hell she used to flavor her taco meat. For the past few months I have been searching the web for a tasty, Spanish style taco meat seasoning that rivaled the best tasting Spanish food we have around here, Don-Pablo's. But everything that I was able to find seemed like that off the shelf stuff that went with fake taco shells and no real spice. So when my mom showed up I was bound and determine to see what she put in her taco meat and when I found out I almost slapped myself upside the head it was so simple. All she did was made her a little home made salsa out of jalapenos, onions, and tomato's; that was it, simple. She took two jalapenos, diced them up, about a fourth, maybe even less than that, of onion, diced that up, and one whole tomato, diced up, and mixed it all together. Then she added a little garlic salt, and Lowery's meat seasoning to her meat, drained it of all the fat grease when it was done cooking, then added some of her salsa to the meat and cooked for about a minute or two more. That was it, after that first bite, I knew this was exactly what I had been looking for in taco meat. It wasn't even that hot, but spicy, a little warm, but very tasty. My wife, bless her heart, does what she can to cook the best she can, she does one hell of a job, but some stuff, it's just ok. I'm looking for a little more and had to go back to mom's to find it. And find it I did; now the real challenge is going to be getting my wife to change her cooking style, and she's not going to be happy to find out that I like my mother's cooking over hers, in some respects. Happy New Year!

Winter Smoking?

2010-12-19T08:16:00.000-05:00

Today I'm going to try something I have never done before, smoke a brisket. Actually, I have smoked a brisket before, this past summer to be exact, but what I have never done bore is smoked a brisket in sub-30 degree weather before, which I will attempt to do today. The hardest work I did yesterday, cleared the foot of snow all the way back to my garage, where my smoker is. And shoveled my usual spot in my back yard, which took damn near and hour. After that I cleaned and preped my smoker like I usually do, except this time it took a little longer given the fact that most of the iron on it was frozen solid. I had to use my small space heater to get myself, and the smoker a little warmed up, and then I used my scraper to do the rest. It some elbow grease, but I worked it out and got it all ready. I preped my brisket last night and had it sit in the dry rub overnight. And lastly, I went out at seven in the morning and got the fire going, with long underwear on as well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and the fire kept me certainly warm. But after about half and hour the fire was ready and I was ready to put my brisket on. I didn't get it on at the time I wanted, but usually, the briskets' don't cook as long I think they do. So, today, we heaving a little slice of heaven at my house, good ol' home cooking. Oh yea!

Banana Republic

2010-12-05T09:02:00.001-05:00

I was watching the John Stewart show the other day, which I do frequently for the middle ground jokes that he makes of both the republican and democratic parties, but on this episode he had a whole new fish to fry, founder of Wiki leak's Julian Asange. I'm sure you're all aware of the recently released diplomatic cables which were to create some kind of political A-bomb, as some have put it, for the Obama administration. Thousands upon thousands of cables that were to reveal secret diplomatic information that could have changed the entire political atmosphere for the U.S., but as we here in America are all aware, nothing more than gossip and name calling showed to be of any real significance to any of us. And as if that weren't enough, Mr. Asange, who I think is a target of political assassination with these trumped up charges of rape and sexual misconduct, had the audacity to demand the resignation of the Secretary of State Hilliary Clinton for lying to the American public. I couldn't believe it, for lying, come on! As John Stewart correctly noted, clearly Mr. Asange, you don't know how the American Political system works. Here are two perfect cases on how the American political system works. One; republican senator from Louisiana David Vitter is caught red handed in a prostitution scandal which he had to admit publicly. Not only did Mr. Vitter not step down, as he so forcefully urged Bill Clinton when he was implicated in the Monica Lewinsky scandal citing moral values, he was re-elected with fifty-seven percent of the vote. And second; democratic senator from New York Charlie Rangel is charged with eleven counts of rules infractions including tax evasion, improperly raising money, undisclosed financial assets, and other various illegal activities. And how dare I say was Mr. Rangel treated by the people of his great state for his corruption, dishonesty, and clear lack of adherence to the rule of law, by re-electing him with eighty percent of the vote. Yes, Mr. Asange, you clearly do not know American Politics.
As for the real story in this story of no stories, political corruption and lying to the American people, come on, we're used to, hell, we pretty much expect it now. Everybody knows its going on, everybody says it's happening, every one I know is disgusted with, and yet what do these people in these two states in question do when they have a chance to right the wrongs that are committed. Exactly, they re-elect these damn fools! That's the story Mr. Asange, the story of the people and their willingness to accept corruption, even when they can blatantly see it happening. You know that saying, the people get the government they deserve, and yes, we, the American Public, get the government we deserve, A BANANA REPUBLIC!

Desk Top and Design

2010-11-28T08:35:00.001-05:00

When I got it in my head to actually build a desk for my wife, she told me she wanted a corner desk rather than the normal square desk or those that just stick right out of wall. The reason for this was because of the layout of our living room. We didn't have room to fit a desk directly up against any wall and only had room in a corner. So, giving me this one and only path to follow, I went looking on the net for pictures of a desk I thought I would like to replicate, with a corner design. Most of the pictures I came across were basic fabricated desks, but I wasn't looking for that. I wanted something that had a little more pizazz to it, something that looked a little more custom. You know that look of real wood versus particle board that's painted over white or black. Na, I wanted the look of real wood, the feel of real wood, and the sturdiness of real wood. So as I whizzed through countless upon countless of photos from google search, I finally came across one that I thought, "that's the one, that's the one I want to replicate. This design was everything that I was looking for. A corner desk, the look and feel of real wood, and lastly, a custom design." http://www.a1-furniture.co.uk/DesksCornerDeskandComputerCornerPictures.htm Yip, that was the design I wanted to try and replicate and as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to try and do it. The only problem was, the site didn't give me any dimensions in which to work, only two, height and depth, that was it. So, looking at the design I knew I was going to have some major work ahead of me, but the most important problem I had to tackle was proportions, size, height, depth, and measurements. So, going with what dimensions I did have, I took to measuring our current Wal-Mart desk, got the ones I was looking for and went to work on a mock sketchup. The most difficult aspect of this design was it's triangular looking shape, but it really wasn't all that triangular because of how the side had draws built into them. I knew this was going to be my greatest obstacle to overcome so I did something that I had only read about in my magazines. I created a template from some spare boards I had laying around. I joined three board to give me the overall size I was looking for, but it was in creating those two corner sides that would be the place for the draws that I had to get right. I measured them out at ten inches on my template, cut the design, and sure enough, they were two small. I was so elated that I did this on some spare wood than to have made that mistake on the wood that I was actually going to use on the project. The mistake could have been devastating, but I saw the error of my way on the template, and from there I adjusted the overall design. With the disaster averted, I then went to work. Next week, wood for my project, and preparing the word.

Desk

2010-11-20T08:15:00.000-05:00

This summer I wanted to do a project that would not only test my abilities as a woodworker, I also wanted to build something very nice. So, I talked my into allowing me to build her a new desk for the living room. We really didn't need one, but the one we did have was all beat up and flimsy like the ones anyone buys from places like Wal-Mart or Target. I asked my wife what she would like and I came up with a corner design, that I might have borrowed from another site, but I didn't have any of the dimension save only the height, everything else I pretty much had to guess and do what some people call relative measurements. Any way, she liked the design and gave me the green light to go ahead. Most of the project I had built up to this time I used regular knotty pine because it was cheep and easy to work with. But for this project I didn't want all those knots and I wanted a wood that was going to give some pow to the look of it. So, I fessed up some extra money and went for a more expensive wood that didn't have any knots but didn't break the bank either so to say.
This project was truly everything I expected, testing all my limited abilities that I had acquired over the last summer and a half working in my garage. For those that must know, I don't have heating in my garage so I am limited to only working during the summer time when the weather is at least bearable. During my winter months I catch up reading my magazines and plan for the projects that I want to work on for the next summer. But, anyway, this project took the entire summer because I didn't want to go all out electric tool on it. I got a few hand tools over the winter, specially a block and jack plane, and I wanted to use them on this project. Did it take longer because of that? Yes it did, but the satisfaction I got from learning how to use those tools was invaluable to me. To me, there was nothing more gratifying that sharpening the blade, mounting to the plane, then slowly and dutifully, guide it over the wood. It was so peaceful, so calming, I told my wife many times that when I'm back there working, it's like my place of zen. One hour a day, no one bothers me, no work, no thinking about anything but the project, and especially, NO MUSIC. I can't work with music going in my shop because it distracts me. It distracts me from what I am doing, it distracts me from looking at the long term, and it distracts me from concentrating on the issue at hand.

I wanted to use this post as a starter because I am going to be talking about this project in depth because of the amount of time I spent on it and how I had to learn some new techniques in order to finish it. It's those that I want to talk about more than anything and hopefully if some people out there actually read my blog, they might learn a thing or two about woodworking right along with me. I did do a few projects in between my work on the desk which I will post and discuss them as well, but this project, my wife's desk, took up the bulk of my summer and the project from which I learned the most.

Gay/Lesbian Adoption

2010-11-13T06:55:00.000-05:00

I wrote an article this week in which I took a stance on gay/lesbian adoption. What interested me most about it was the angle from which I took agreement with this stance. I didn't base my argument in the liberal view of freedom and constitutional rights; no, I based my argument in the belief of those who think being gay is a choice. That's right, from the religious point of view. What I found when I began to think the process through was this, if being gay/lesbian is a choice, as so many would like you to believe, then two men/two women should be allowed to raise children because its the child's choice not to be gay, is it not? If in fact that is what you believe, that being gay/lesbian is a choice, then at any time a child with gay/lesbian parents knows the difference between so-called "right and wrong" and can determine for themselves if they want to be that way. I also took my argument to a friend who is a self-made pastor and of course he disagreed with my stance going into the same old lame excuse "...But the influence, it's always right there." I couldn't resist, I hit him with my knock out punch. I said "If the influence is so overpowering, then how is that two straight parents have gay/lesbian children? Wouldn't the influence of seeing their parents with the opposite sex be so overpowering that they would have known that all they could have been was straight." If its influence you want to argue then how is it that a child that has had straight parents all of their life end up being gay. And secondly, if you want to say that being gay is a choice, then gay/lesbian parents should be allowed to adopt because it's the child's "choice" to be gay/lesbian or not. Yip, I'd say I had a pretty good week arguing with the others argument.

Elections

2010-11-06T07:17:00.000-04:00

There were many things that I wanted to talk about this week but none more important, or rather should I say, more ridiculous than this years elections. 'Ridiculous?' you ask. Yes, ridiculous I say because of the absolute stupidity of some people. And yes, you probably know who I'm talking about; Tea Party Voters. What I found absolutely astounding is how they vote for dressed down republicans and then say they are voting for people that are going to change Washington. When the people they are voting for have usually been there before and aren't going to change much. I'll give them credit, in Florida and Kentucky, where they voted in two of what I would call 'legit' tea party candidates, but, and I do say a big 'but', they voted in two idiots who say that they want less government and that the federal government doesn't create jobs. How stupid can people get. If they want less government what would these fools do when say something like an oil spill happens in the gulf coast? Who's going to enforce cleaning it up? Is the company that caused the spill going to take it upon there shoulders in good faith to completely clean up the mess as well as reimburse everyone who's lost out? Yea, we see how well that worked out in Alaska and here recently. Yea, less government my foot. I guess they would be quiet alright with these wall street jack asses again taking the market for everything its worth and letting it fall after they've lined their pockets. With no government to enforce any rules and regulations, what will be left? Nothing, because these idiots also feel that we shouldn't bail them out, and they are partly right, but like I said, what will be left, what will the common people be left with?
And secondly, 'government doesn't create jobs' what an absurd piece of stupidity that I ever herd. I find it very funny that many of the voters of the tea party are irate that there aren't any jobs, that's why they are voting against Obama and Pelosi. But hold on a minute, I just thought you said that it's not the government's job to create jobs, if that in fact is true, then why are you voting for people to go to government to create more jobs. Yes, the stupidity is boundless, when you actually stop and think about it. "We're not voting for Obama and the Democrats because of jobs, jobs, jobs." But they will vote for a party that says it's not the government's responsibility to give you a job. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Yes, if you ask me, we should start giving all these states exactly what they ask for and let's see how long it takes before they come crawling back to the federal government with there hands held out and heads hanging to the ground, not looking you in the face, and probably most important, to damn proud to even say they were wrong. That's what the federal government should start doing with these idiots that think jobs don't come from government, start holding back the money, the money for roads, the money for infrastructure, the money for health care, the money for education, and then when all the jobs are gone, then let's see this idiots say "Government doesn't create jobs." MY ASS!!!!

Summer End

2010-10-31T08:10:00.000-04:00

Well, summer has come to its end and my outdoor activities have come to their end. So, now that I will mostly be relegated to the indoors, once again, it's time to start trying to give this blog a shot. I know I have been very inconsistent when it comes to writing, but I think this is going to be my early New Years resolution, to write more, especially on this blog. I did so much this summer and learned a lot, I have so much to say, I just need to pull the finger out and sit down and do it. This is it, I am standing up and holding my hand to the good book; I will try, try like hell to be consistent in my writings, and I will do everything I can to make the time, make the time to write. I always say 'you can't count on anyone but you to make your dreams come true,' well it's time to put my words to work or eat them politely, smiling as I hold my nose and swallow hard.

Are There Aliens?

2010-08-14T07:12:00.001-04:00

Being the devout skeptic that I am, one would never get me to commit to idea that there are aliens or to the concept that there are not aliens. I would only like to have an adult conversation about various facts for and against the argument, much as I did with one of my friends at work.
The topic came about when my friend was listening to the audio book "A Brief History of Just About Everything" and in it the author discussed time and the distance of space. I can't remember what he quoted from the book exactly, but it came across close to this, "If the earth were the size of a pea, Pluto would still be ten thousand miles away" or something close to that. So, we discussed what little we knew of space technology, I threw in my two cents about Ion Propulsion Systems that I had been doing a little research on, and we made it out to be a somewhat decent discussion. But again, when it came to the size of the universe and what's really out there, of course the discussion moved to life outside our planet. This is where I think I moved to the front of the class as far as having an open mind about Alien Life. As I said, I would neither commit to the idea fully that there are Alien life forms, nor would fully commit that there are not, I only stepped back and took an honest, reasoned thought process concerning the idea that aliens do exist, and what I came up with very much propelled me into the fray that aliens life forms do exist. What was my reasoning?
I will start with earth, and not the universe. It is argued, even today, that the earth is either ten thousand years old, devout religious people, or billions of years old, open minded scientist. Given the fact that the more pious bunch never can explain dinosaurs, when they lived, and how they got here, I tend to lump myself in the latter of these two groups. So I started with the earth being billions of years old. I then reasoned that, if we look at the history of man, of which we only have ten thousand years recorded, we see that technological improvement was almost non-existent up until about two hundred years ago (The Industrial Revolution). From there onward, man has been able to achieve unprecedented accomplishments in many realms, and this was just in the last two hundred years (From no phone to iPhone). The nine thousand, eight hundred years prior, was mostly unchanged in the sense of technology. So, given this, I thought to myself, which I explained to my friend as well during our conversation, what if a civilization on another planet were at the point we are, right now, technologically, one million years ago. Look at the advances we have made in just the last two-hundred years, imagine what would be accomplished in another hundred years, or a thousand, or perhaps, ten-thousand, or one-hundred thousand years on earth, from this point right now. What if a civilization on another planet somewhere out there in space, were at the point we are now, one million years ago, and have steadily advanced since that time. It almost unthinkable what could be accomplished technologically speaking.
Do you think that given that amount of time that a civilization could not discover space flight, and the ability to move through space at unthinkable speeds? Maybe, maybe not, but given the fact that the universe is so vast, maybe they just haven't reached us yet, or as my friend astutely retorted, or maybe they just don't know where here either. Yes, as I said, as our conversation ended, I never committed to the idea that aliens do exist, and nor did I ever commit to the idea that they didn't. I only stepped back and took and honest look at what could be based on mans concept of history, time, and space. That's all we have to go on.

T.V. Stand

2010-05-16T12:18:00.000-04:00

I built this TV stand for a friend of mine. It didn't take a whole lot of work to build, I just like to put a lot of me into my work. I think I actually spent just as much time constructing as I did sanding.

With me being an amature woodworker, I am still learning to do a lot. With this project I read my magazines and woodworking books to practice on my trim work, how to use a hand plane, and sanding.

The trim on the lower section was double tuff because it was the first time I ever used my table to cut at an angle. But, after a few practice tries with some scrap wood, I have to say that I came out fine. The top trim was something I was trying new as well. Rather than using one piece of trim, I came underneath with another piece, to make it look as thought the trim was doubly thick. What I tried to do was match it with another piece of furniture that My Friend already owned, and it came out pretty close.

I also practiced using my knew hand planes on the flushing the face trim with the side panels. It was also something I took from my magazines on how the experienced people do it, so I had to eventually try it. It actually came out very well, although I dug into the side panels very little, it was nothing the sanding I also practiced didn't smooth out. What I had to learn was the proper technique. Which direction to move the sand paper and how to feather out small gouges and larger wholes. In the end, the project come out really well, and it took me about three weeks. I also used regular pine.

My Writing

2010-02-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

My writing has taken off to a whole new level, although I'm not showing to much of it here. I like to write with pencil and paper, I don't know why or when that started, I just like writing that way. So a lot of the writing I do is on single sheets and in a notebook, but let me guarantee you this, it has dramatically increased. What happened was that I went and bought two books to help get going and boy let me tell you they have helped me tremendously. First off, I thought I had some kind of writers block on account that I just couldn't sit down and write, but after reading my first book I found out that I didn't have writers block, I had a sever case of anxiety and fear of writing, fear of somebody reading my work. This came to light when I read my first book "The Courage To Write." Oh how this book has helped me see that I had an anxiety and not a block, that I was just afraid and the first thing to overcoming that fear was admitting that I had it. Then I read my second book "The Fiction Workshop." This book drilled the one thing into my head that I really needed to know, "Make Things Up," and all the little writing prompts that it provided helped me very much. It was as if I was so concerned about getting historical facts right that I thought I could never really get the whole story down if I didn't start off correctly. But this book drilled into my head to make things up, that's what fiction was all about and once I got that into my head its like the cork was unscrewed and water came running out. I started writing my story from the a middle point and wow, the next thing I look up and I have four pages, front and back. It just started coming, I wasn't concerned about the facts and I just made things up that I didn't know. Thank God I picked up those books because now, I have the passion back, I have the drive, and you will be seeing some of it here in the future; the drive that is. Thanks a lot for reading and I'll catch you later.

Avatar

2010-01-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

I'm going to make this short and to the point. After hearing all the criticism about the movie Avatar, I went and watched it again. To be blunt and to the point, I guess White America doesn't like to be reminded oh how their kind used to be and how our kind, present tense, is now. They don't like seeing the entire story plot being played out in front of their eyes. Knowing why wars are really fought and what they're fought for. Everybody knows this story is a play on how America crushed the Indian population in order to steal their lands, the story is right in front of you, most of us just don't want to see that it was really like that. Dare I say Wounded Knee. Those of us who like the movie don't hate America, they hate American capitalist, those individuals who are about nothing more than the almighty dollar. That's what we hate, not America.

Old Testament Christians

2009-12-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

The other day a friend and I were talking and he happened to mention that he was signed up to some girls twitter account that had a religious perspective to it. My friend tells me that one day the girl twitted that "God hates fags" and of course this led my friend and I into a deeper discussion about God and Jesus and what they really mean. He replied to me during that discussion that her message should have read "God Hates" and that is where I hands down agreed with him. And to my overall bigger question; "Where is Jesus in Christianity today?" this fell directly into what I am exploring in these posts.
"God hates" is a prefect example of why the current christian movement needs to be split into what it really is and what it tries to perceive itself as. The current christian movement is really a so called belief in Jesus, the savior of your soul, and if you believe in him, you will be saved. And that's about it, just believe in him and your in. As far as actually attempting to do what it was that he so ardently preached, that's not so much important as just believing in him. In a simple word "forgiveness", that's what he will do, forgive you of your sins.
But if your gay, or if you support abortion, you know things of that nature, well then, your shit out of luck. What the hard core christian believers actually believe in is the rules and guidelines of the old-Testament for you. You know, where God dammed Saddam and Gomorrah. where God sent a plague upon those who did not follow his law. Those are the laws and guidelines your relegated too, your not allowed to be apart of the these newer more forgiving laws. Its as if your not applicable to Jesus and dare I say even if you do believe in him as the son of God or God in the flesh, tuff luck, your out. Its as Jim Carey so apply states in "The Grinch That Stole Christmas"; "So Martha baby but the G-train has left the station!"
That's the true extent at which these new radicals take the current christian faith, which is why I say right here and now they will from this point forward be dubbed "Old-Testament Christians." What though they believe that Jesus was born, was a something to God, prophet maybe, and that he will forgive 'some' people; they still believe in the law of the God of the Old-Testament for others, and that it trumps anything that Jesus said and tried to preach in the New-Testament, basically all that stuff about forgiveness. "Jesus can't forgive you because God hates you" is what her twitter page should have said, and Woe unto all of those who sympathise with them. Sometimes we just have to take people's word based on the intelligence in which it comes from, which for some, is not very credible nor intelligence what so ever.

Calling out the Opposition

2009-11-27T07:23:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking of a subject that has peaked my interest for a long while but I'm not sure how I should go about writing on the subject. The problem is that I have so many ideas I stumble into many different directions and almost begin to cut myself off as if I'm having the conversation with myself, trying to get the next point across so quickly that I don't break my last point down to specifics. So what I have decided is to break up my ideas into many smaller arguments so that I can fuse them all together at some point and make them a longer essay or small book that I can get published. So here we go...

I started talking about this issue about a year ago and have taken to reading two books to try and help me explain my ideas. Sadly the books I read had absolutely nothing to do with the ideas I was trying to get across. I wrote about a year ago, when Obama was running for president, that I wanted to know where Jesus was in the Republican party. Basing my argument off of that thesis, I took to wondering why it was the republican party had this strangle hold on religion. No matter what issues and from what angle, the republicans made religion an overall guiding principle. Leftists democrats for some reason are relegated to try and oppose many issues without the namesake of Jesus and the same cry of religious freedom, religious tolerance, and moral authority. Its as if they automatically throw there hands up when moral issues are introduced and say you got me. They immediately go straight to arguing freedom and rights, that's all well and good, but if they haven't learned yet, you can't beat someone at an argument that doesn't care what your points of argument are. You almost have to literally bash them over the head with your points and still it doesn't come across. What trips me out most about the republican party is that they claim to have a foot hold on the concept of moral authority, yet time and time again, we see many of their followers step over the line of moral righteousness. Yet, the hole time, never, never do we hear the opposing party question that authority, nor their leadership as to how they maintain such authority with followers of such low standard. Much like America does in Afghanistan, where the entire country seems to be completely religious, yet corruption and basic human decency is thrown out the window. And does our leadership ever say anything about that, a big emphatic "NO!"

Democrats must battle republicans and the conservative front on their own terms. They have to hold these people to the very principles that they so radically support. When corruption is evident, someone has to put their feet to the fire on religious terms. When they get caught cheating on their wives, they need to be shamed and hammered on their true moral convictions to their party and their faith. And the party leaders need to take just as much heat as they do for having members that don't tote the party line, if there even is a real party line or just some fuzzy line in the dirt that can be moved when the other guy turns his head. The opposing side needs to call them out on the bases by which they stand, religion. If there is one concept democrats can take from the other side its questioning their basic assumptions, its questioning their basic assumptions loudly. Turn it up to eleven as they say.

In the end, if the democrats can force the other side to hold true to its principle, then that in itself will spell the end for the conservative block on moral authority because we all know they can't stay true to its fundamental beliefs. No one can. It will lead to its logical end and create a super moral authority, one that defines itself strictly under the watchful eye of god and we already know how that turned out don't we, can anyone say "Inquisition." Ah, dreams of politicians actually standing up to the other side and holding their feet to the fire, I'm a blind optimist.

My next idea shall be renaming the political parties and beliefs in a religious terms.

Sara Palin

2009-11-17T15:37:00.000-05:00

I don't want to even waste the breath it's going to take to say anything about this fool but I will ask this. Is worse that a fool and half-twit such as her can be hoisted to such prominence, or that there are actually fools and half-twits that believe she would actually make a good politician? Hey, what am I talking about, did I forget that last eight years of fools and half-twits, what's wrong with me.

2009-11-14T06:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted on this blog. My how times fly when your having fun. But, with football coming to an end, and Notre Dame pretty much a bust for anything significant, I have finally decided to come back to writing my blog. A lot of things have caught my interest this last year and I think I am going to incorporate them into my blog. I have started wood working and have created four big projects, which I will give each its own feature on this blog. I continue to have an interest in reading and writing, and the podcasts that I listen to give me a wealth of information about airing my views concerning my ideas and writing. Probably the greatest thing to happen to me was that my brother started his junior year in college. The reason I say that that is great for me is because I now have someone to bounce a lot of my weird ideas off of that I can talk to and people not think I'm crazy. We all know that junior year is where you start more theory and ideas than the lame facts and figures in freshman and sophomore years. Well, now that my brother is finally learning to use that noggin of his for something other than a hat holder, we have been having some very interesting conversations, and of course I shall bring many of those to the forefront of this blog. And finally, yes politics and religion still have a big hold on my life, and with the republican party as crazy as ever, I have a lot to say about those fools as well. Don't be mad republicans, I was a republican, and still consider myself republican on many issues, but what I don't like about the current republican party is its moral corruption, its wing nut players, and its "my way or the high way attitude." My dad had that attitude and I whooped his ass for it and then left my house. I couldn't whoop any top republicans ass for this, but I wished I could have, and then I would have still left. Anyway, like I said, I'm back and I'll catch you guys here in a few days.

Where's Jesus in the Republican Party?

2008-11-26T20:34:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but after this last election I sure am wondering where Jesus is in the Republican Party. It just kind of odd to me that a party that has at its base a fundamental religious movement predicated on Jesus is filled with so much hatred. I could not believe my ears with some of the things that were coming out of the mouths of the so called devout republican followers. The absolute hate that these people were touting was outrageous, and then the fundamental issues that these people wish to support; no marriage for gay and lesbian individuals and absolutely, without a doubt no abortion. First of all, gay marriage, it just seems to me that Jesus said that He wanted to be at the table with all those that were outcast from society, that he wanted to break bread with them, but what do you see the so-called religious right do with these dregs of society, they kick them to the curb and want nothing to do with them. Thanks a lot for keeping with the word that acts which Jesus himself said and did, we really need good honest Christians like that. And secondly, abortion. It just seems to me that the religious right are the one who are most out of touch with today's society. Tell me this, is it not one of the fundamental beliefs in today's society that a person can redeem themselves from a mistake? In the eyes of the religious right, that belief is unacceptable, no one can redeem themselves from a mistake, which in the spirit of Jesus Christ, was not forgiveness the basis of his doctrine. Yes it was, yet these people are the first one to preach division, hate, and name calling. It seems to me that these people are more in line with the idea of the Old Testament and a wrathful God. If you ask me the religious right should take up the name Old Testament Christians because they don't follow the doctrine of New Testament belief and that puts them squarely in the real of wrath rather than forgiveness.

Angry!

2008-09-19T14:42:00.000-04:00

I just want to wail of somebody so bad! I'm pissed that these wall street bastards are allowed to rack up this kind of debt and then the government comes and bails their sorry asses out. I know full well that they need to be saved in order that we not have economic depression, but come on. What are they doing to make sure that this doesn't happen again? I'll tell you what there doing, nothing, that's what! The Fed, the Sec, the House, the Senate, and yes, the administration are doing absolutely nothing to hold this people accountable for this fiasco. It's a damn shame. There should be some regulation, there should be some prosecutions, and there should be some annihilation's. Some of these companies should be allowed to go under just so that some them a taught a lesson on how to spend and save money. Now that they are getting bailed out with the American people's money, now we see what type of bullshit the whole system is. AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What happened to Jesus?

2008-08-27T16:45:00.000-04:00

Do you now what I would like to know; where's Jesus in the Republican party? Now I'm no fool, I know both parties are quick to judge, shoot, all Americans are quick to judge, but the Conservative Right seems more so, especially with its right wing Evangelists. It sure is funny how these people run around and tout their religious beliefs, yet fail to actually follow through with what they are really meant for. Let's get one thing straight right now, religion is what one believes, religious is how one practices those beliefs. The republican party doesn't seem to understand that Jesus was about love and about going to the others and bringing the word to them. It just seems hilarious to me that these are the people who are the first to push people away. They are the first to condemn them for their actions. And, they are the first to say they are in the right. They sure are in the right, the way right. But one right they are not, is at the right hand of Jesus. Let me tell you Republicans this, Jesus was about love, loving all, leaper, prostitute, and sinner. If you haven't figured that out, or just don't understand and care what he did, then your not being very religious, are you. You are just touting your religion. Oh yea, also, what every happened to that concept of freedom in America. If I, or someone else, wants to live their life in a vat of heaping sin, lust, and greed, who are you to take that away from them. Let the law be the law, and let morality stay in your yard, because that's as far as it needs to go!

Joe Biden??

2008-08-23T14:34:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry for the hiatus folks, I've been pretty busy with the Olympics and the Presidential Campaign. Speaking of the campaign, I just can't believe the Barrack Obama selected Joe Biden as his VP. I really thought that he was going to take Hillary Clinton, but I guess he really is a gambler because I don't see this pick as louring the middle class voters that supported Clinton during the primaries. We just have to hope that Biden brings it and that he can bring some sort of support that we haven't seen yet. To tell you the truth, I really wanted to see a Obama/Clinton ticket because I thought it would a sure fire winner. Now we have to wonder if it's going to be close, can the democratic ticket pull it out. I sure hope so. I don't know, but it seems that this is gamble, a really big gamble.

Pics

2008-06-07T09:59:00.001-04:00

My wife got me a new camcorder that also takes pictures for father's day. Yes, it was a bit early, but she got it because it was on sale. I wouldn't expect her to spend full price for me. Anyway, she got me this camcorder, but what I like about it most was that it also took pictures, like a digital camera. I had been wanting a new camera and was trying to drop some hints here and there, and I guess they payed off. But to get to the point of my story, I was taking a few pics on one of our trips to the local zoo and an idea came across my mind. Why not take my pictures while the family is lest expecting it. It seemed like a good idea and I went with it. It was awesome, some of the pics turned out really well. Their face really told most of the story, by allowing their true expressions to come out in the picture, rather than having a fake smile or looking directly at the camera with a false face. It was the faces that really brought the picture out and when I caught them when they were least expecting it, the picture seemed more real, more alive. A few days later, I was listening to NPR on my way home from work and wouldn't you know it, their guess was a professional wedding photographer. I was ecstatic to hear what I had already guessed, she said that if you want genuine, professional pictures, hire someone, and don't worry about them, just have your fun and do your thing. The photographer will go around getting the best pics when the audience is least expecting them and those will be the most memorable because they will show the faces and emotions as the event really took place. So you see, even though my wife thinks I don't know what I'm doing, this just goes to show that I have some sense to spend my mind.

Character Depth

2008-05-28T13:54:00.000-04:00

This week I was working on a specific character of my book. I was trying to do what most author's do, give him depth. But I really didn't know how to go about doing that. He just seemed to me, another character of the story. But I thought I wanted to write something about him that defined him differently than all my other characters. What I came up with was this. My story is based on Fallen Angels. And in my attempt to tell their story I am writing how each character lost something precious to them when they fell from heaven. In hell they attempt to gain something, which always eludes them, the element I gave this character to loose was his perfectness, or perfection. When he lost heaven, he lost what made him perfect and when he battled in the war between Lucifer and Jesus/God, he was from that point stained, imperfect. He now has a mark upon him that continues to haunt him in hell and it will never go away. The more he tries to conceal it, the more others ask him about it, and in turn making it even more nerve racking for him because it is always being brought to his attention. A small element such as this gave my character depth, but also allowed me give an example of what hell might be for some people.

Quote

2008-05-16T16:19:00.000-04:00

I came up with this quote when I was visiting a writing website, I won't mention the name. On this site I was sharing excerpts of my book and it got some interesting reviews, but the one that interested me the most was a response I got from one reader who said, (this is not a quote) that she didn't want to have to work to read, so she didn't like it. It just baffled me that a person who first, considers themselves a writer, didn't want to have to work to read another person's writing. And secondly, what kind of sad intellectual person doesn't want to take the time to understand things they are reading. I hope she doesn't take that kind of tone if she reads the bible. Which brings me to my quote, "God save the world from those who think they should not have to work in order to accomplish something of significance." My high school coach's always use to tell us that if its cheap and easy, then it probably ain't no dame good. A-men to that!

Title

2008-05-10T19:14:00.000-04:00

While I was reading an article from the Writer's Market web sit, I came across an interesting article concerning titles. I tried to go back and get the information after I took some notes but for the love of me I couldn't find it on their site. Either I'm a giant idiot when it comes to looking for stuff that I already found, or the site must of taken it off. Either way, like I said, I took some notes from the article. The most important information that I took was:

1. A title should arise from the vernacular of the piece itself.

2. A title should have three purposes.
I. An introduction to the story's crucial images and ideas
II. An initiation into the rhetorical pitch of the prose
III. An inducement to keep reading.

After reading this, it was like someone took a hammer and hit me over the head, rightly. All of a sudden I ideas started jumping around and before I knew it, pow, a title shot to my mind. One of the big ideas that I have been dealing with my book is how God loves his, I don't want to say creations but, in essence, that what we all are, his creation. Anyway, God loves his creation but when they wrong him, he usually does something very terrible to them, or, others would say, allows things to happen to them that would be deemed as Divine justice. So, in my story this is where I get my title; from God's love of us, but also his hate to our vices, for which we will all pay dearly for, in life or death.

Question?

2008-05-04T16:42:00.000-04:00

Question?

What am I to you and who are you to me?
Do I keep to you as a mother to a daughter,
Or are we bound for some unforeseen reason to one-another?
Are we to enjoy each other’s company,
Or are we to make each other’s lives as miserable as can be?
Am I to encourage you, to push you up when the tide has turned for the worse,
Or do I pull you down by your legs like a plague or a curse?
Am I to one day cast the stone that will catapult you into the afterlife,
Or am I going to tell all that you are the perfect wife?
What am I to you and who are you to me?
Will we live our lives together for eternity,
Or will we someday break our bond of love and sanctimony?
Are we each other’s opposite in dreary or misery,
Or are we each other’s equals in intellect and sanity?
Do we cast the same inner fire that feeds passion to the heart,
Or do we sting each other’s soul like the bulls eye being hit by a dart?
Do I show you the love that I give to no other,
Or do I hold back and pass it on to some other?
What am I to you and who are you to me?
Are you a pedestal or a crutch that keeps me standing,
Or am I the axe to your tree that keeps everything crumbling?
Are you the one who stands at my back through thick and thin,
Or am I the one who has the crack and lets’ too much get in?
Do I not see your beauty, the fairness of your skin,
Or do I see right past you like something that has never been?
What am I to you and who are you to me?
Honestly, I don’t know what I am to you, only you have the power to choose.
But, I know what you are to me, you are my everything, my all, my one and only.
With a single touch, you’re the one, who sends chills to every finger,
Not the one who elicits uncontrollable anger.
You’re the one, who makes me proud to be,
Not the one who gives me shame from the eyes of everybody.
Who are you to me?
Simply put, you are my everything!

What's Next.

2008-04-20T15:56:00.000-04:00

I have really been thinking about what I want this blog to be about. After doing a lot of thinking, I have decided to make this a place where I talk about the ideas I am writing in my book. I thought it would help me get the word out about it, and let others give me some ideas that I could implement into my work. Without giving to much away, my story is a work of fiction concerning the Bible, the Book of Enoch, the Watchers, and Hell's beginning. Probably the most notable aspect of my book is that I am writing it as a play, a Shakespearean style play. I have been working on it for about a year and half and am about three-quarters of the way done. Why I am writing it like this is because I really wanted to avoid the he said, she said aspect of a story and really wanted to concentrate on the characters and their development. I also thought it would be a lot more interesting if the readers could, with their own imagination, create the scene for themselves, within their own mind of how they think the characters would look like and what they were actually doing. I am really concentrating on the words and have been having a great time studying Shakespeare. If any have any question for me, drop me a line. I'm new to blogging, so bear with me if you can. Thanks.

Introduction

2008-04-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

I thought I would begin my blog with an explanation of my title. I chose this title because I feel it best describes the kind of person I am. The explanation of the glass of water is what I consider the ultimate test of how people actually see the world and life. A true pessimist would say the glass is half-empty, and a true optimist would say the glass is half-full. But what do you call a person who commits to neither half-full or hall-empty. This is the realm in which I stand, committing to neither side and willing to open myself to both; seeing the left and the right, the conservative as well as the liberal, the christian as well as (what others call) the heathen. After looking closely at my life I have one absolute, and commit myself fully to only one agenda. The one absolute is that their is a God, and Jesus was his son. The one items I commit myself to without question is my marriage. I firmly believe that a certain degree of skepticism is best for everyone, because it doesn't blind our vision, or completely shut off our thoughts to opinion, ideas, and concept that might not fully agree with you. In my view, to completely commit yourself to one side leaves you blind and at the mercy of powers, thoughts, and people, who have certain agendas and desires that could very well run contrary to what you firmly believe politically, religiously, or humanly. Understand me from this quote, taken from "A Delusion of Satan," a book concerning the Salem Which Trials. "It doesn't matter what you believe, so long as you don't believe it completely." There were many people who, with the best intentions, allowed themselves to be taken advantage of because they neither had the ability nor the power to step back from an unknown situation and critically think about the forces and motivations that were moving the events. This is the type of person I consider my self not to be, a blind sheep lead helplessly into the fire. You can best believe that if there is an issue to be discussed, or if no discussion is wanted, someone like me will be there asking questions, whether others want to hear them or not. Not to be against the norm, but to try and fully understand the actions being taken and if they are truly the best choices that can be made at that point and time.