My Dad showed me this article today and I thought it very interesting and apropos to my family and my personal life. I grew up in a cluttered home, which I never minded at all. The clutter shows that the home is lived in and is not merely a structure of a house. The clutter gives the place character, and makes it uniquely our own. I have inherited my cluttered traits from my parents (as have my two younger brothers). I now live in a cluttered apartment, with a cluttered bedroom, and a cluttered desk. Albert Einstein said “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” I think that is very true. I prefer to spend my free time doing more productive and fun things, rather than going through clutter. I also saw a refridgerator magnet (on my grandmother's fridge) that said "Dull people have immaculate homes". I guess that's true to an extent. I suppose some of those people don't have anything better to do, so they spend each day cleaning their house. I've know a number of parents (of friends, and friends of my brothers) who are like that. I've also know other parents (of friends and friends of my brothers) who are of the cluttered mindset. On average, the cluttered home and parents are the more fun to be at and around.
Other quotes from the article that I particularly enjoyed are:
"Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands."
"Total organization is a futile attempt to deny and control the unpredictability of life."
"As a corollary, the book’s authors examine the high cost of neatness — measured in shame, mostly, and family fights, as well as wasted dollars — and generally have a fine time tipping over orthodoxies and poking fun at clutter busters and their ilk, and at the self-help tips they live or die by. They wonder: Why is it better to pack more activities into one day? By whose standards are procrastinators less effective than their well-scheduled peers? Why should children have to do chores to earn back their possessions if they leave them on the floor, as many professional organizers suggest?"
"Mess is robust and adaptable, like Mr. Schwarzenegger’s open calendar, as opposed to brittle, like a parent’s rigid schedule that doesn’t allow for a small child’s wool-gathering or balkiness. Mess is complete, in that it embraces all sorts of random elements. Mess tells a story: you can learn a lot about people from their detritus, whereas neat — well, neat is a closed book. Neat has no narrative and no personality (as any cover of Real Simple magazine will demonstrate). Mess is also natural, as Mr. Freedman and Mr. Abrahamson point out, and a real time-saver. “It takes extra effort to neaten up a system,” they write. “Things don’t generally neaten themselves.”"
"Indeed, the most valuable dividend of living with mess may be time."
"In the semiotics of mess, desks may be the richest texts. Messy-desk research borrows from cognitive ergonomics, a field of study dealing with how a work environment supports productivity. Consider that desks, our work landscapes, are stand-ins for our brains, and so the piles we array on them are “cognitive artifacts,” or data cues, of our thoughts as we work.
To a professional organizer brandishing colored files and stackable trays, cluttered horizontal surfaces are a horror; to cognitive psychologists like Jay Brand, who works in the Ideation Group of Haworth Inc., the huge office furniture company, their peaks and valleys glow with intellectual intent and showcase a mind whirring away: sorting, linking, producing. (By extension, a clean desk can be seen as a dormant area, an indication that no thought or work is being undertaken.). His studies and others, like a survey conducted last year by Ajilon Professional Staffing, in Saddle Brook, N.J., which linked messy desks to higher salaries (and neat ones to salaries under $35,000), answer Einstein’s oft-quoted remark, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”"
Anyway, here is the link to the article:
"Saying Yes to Mess" by Penelope Green
Appeared in the New York Times on December 21, 2006.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas Week Events
Well, Christmas has now come and gone in a seemingly blink of an eye. I always enjoy the season leading up to Christmas so much - its kind of sad when its all over. But it will come around again next year of course.
Last Thursday, we saw the movie Eragon. It was pretty interesting, I thought (I haven't read the book though). But my brother, who has read the book, said the movie left out tons of important stuff.
Last saturday afternoon, my mom, grandmother, brother and I went and visited a 98-year old friend of the family on the other side of town. She is originally from Germany, and came over here from Holland during the Second World War. My grandfather and his sister and a couple of brothers drove all the way to Manhattan, New York City, to retrieve her and her husband (and their dog too). Must have been quite a drive back down South with all of those people in one car and all their luggage (pre-freeway days!).
Christmas Eve was spent, like most years, at my grandparents house (mom's parents) with all the extended family. There was a lot of pick up food - and as usual I was stuffed to the brim afterwards. It was nice getting to see everyone. Christmas Day my immediate family awoke around 10:00 am and exchanged presents. I received a number of book that I have been wanting to read (those will keep me busy for a while). We had lunch, and then went and visited my grandparents. (They usually go around and visit all their grandchildren on Christmas Day, but this year, since they are both still recovering from broken hips, we decided to go see them). It was a nice day of spending time with and visiting family.
Tuesday I stayed at home all day for a change and just relaxed. Wednesday went back to work with several new projects to start off with. It was also my youngest brother's birthday, so we had a cake for him over at my grandpartent's house (I went there straight from work). Then we all just sat around talking and visiting until around 11:00 pm. Thursday was another full day at work. That night a lot of cleaning was going on at home.
I took Friday (yesterday) off from work and slept late. It was a beautiful warm day outside, so I sat out by the pool in the early afternoon reading (I started another one of my new books - I had already finished another one that I started on Christmas Day). Later, my mom and I went to see a friend who is working at Radio Shack and changed up our family cell phone plan. We are now paying about half as much as we were on the previous plan. Friday evening, we all went to an All Academy Military Ball at a local country club. One of my cousin's is a senior (and a wrestler) at West Point (U.S. Military Academy) this year. My aunt and uncle are actively involved in the West Point Parent Club. It was a nice evening. The dinner was delicious and consisted of: salad with a unique but tasty dressing, steamed vegetables, creamed white rice, baked chicken breast with cream sauce on top stuffed with a raising type of sauce, and creme brule for dessert. The speaker is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. She is involved with nuclear engineering on aircraft carriers. She gave a general perspective of what its currently like to be serving in the U.S. Navy (and U.S. Military in general). She had a lot of advice for all the cadets and midshipmen present, and said the academies adequately prepare them for when they are actually out hitting the deck plates or on the ground in the real world.
Today was another day of sleeping late. My mom, brother and I, this afternoon, went over to my grandparents and helped them put away their Christmas decorations. We also went and fed dogs, cats, and other pets at one of my mom's brother's (and his family's) house. Some of them went to Orlando, FL, this week, and the other half of their family went to Seaside, FL, this week. They all really stay on the go a lot.
Well, tomorrow I think we're having lunch at my house, and my grandparents are coming over. They said they need to get out of the house. The main dish will be leftover Christmas ham with raisin sauce. I'll play in my church orchestra tomorrow morning as well. Don't know what all is going on for New Year's Eve tomorrow night. New Year's Day we'll eat the obligatory black eyed peas, cornbread, and turnip greens at my grandparents house.
Last Thursday, we saw the movie Eragon. It was pretty interesting, I thought (I haven't read the book though). But my brother, who has read the book, said the movie left out tons of important stuff.
Last saturday afternoon, my mom, grandmother, brother and I went and visited a 98-year old friend of the family on the other side of town. She is originally from Germany, and came over here from Holland during the Second World War. My grandfather and his sister and a couple of brothers drove all the way to Manhattan, New York City, to retrieve her and her husband (and their dog too). Must have been quite a drive back down South with all of those people in one car and all their luggage (pre-freeway days!).
Christmas Eve was spent, like most years, at my grandparents house (mom's parents) with all the extended family. There was a lot of pick up food - and as usual I was stuffed to the brim afterwards. It was nice getting to see everyone. Christmas Day my immediate family awoke around 10:00 am and exchanged presents. I received a number of book that I have been wanting to read (those will keep me busy for a while). We had lunch, and then went and visited my grandparents. (They usually go around and visit all their grandchildren on Christmas Day, but this year, since they are both still recovering from broken hips, we decided to go see them). It was a nice day of spending time with and visiting family.
Tuesday I stayed at home all day for a change and just relaxed. Wednesday went back to work with several new projects to start off with. It was also my youngest brother's birthday, so we had a cake for him over at my grandpartent's house (I went there straight from work). Then we all just sat around talking and visiting until around 11:00 pm. Thursday was another full day at work. That night a lot of cleaning was going on at home.
I took Friday (yesterday) off from work and slept late. It was a beautiful warm day outside, so I sat out by the pool in the early afternoon reading (I started another one of my new books - I had already finished another one that I started on Christmas Day). Later, my mom and I went to see a friend who is working at Radio Shack and changed up our family cell phone plan. We are now paying about half as much as we were on the previous plan. Friday evening, we all went to an All Academy Military Ball at a local country club. One of my cousin's is a senior (and a wrestler) at West Point (U.S. Military Academy) this year. My aunt and uncle are actively involved in the West Point Parent Club. It was a nice evening. The dinner was delicious and consisted of: salad with a unique but tasty dressing, steamed vegetables, creamed white rice, baked chicken breast with cream sauce on top stuffed with a raising type of sauce, and creme brule for dessert. The speaker is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. She is involved with nuclear engineering on aircraft carriers. She gave a general perspective of what its currently like to be serving in the U.S. Navy (and U.S. Military in general). She had a lot of advice for all the cadets and midshipmen present, and said the academies adequately prepare them for when they are actually out hitting the deck plates or on the ground in the real world.
Today was another day of sleeping late. My mom, brother and I, this afternoon, went over to my grandparents and helped them put away their Christmas decorations. We also went and fed dogs, cats, and other pets at one of my mom's brother's (and his family's) house. Some of them went to Orlando, FL, this week, and the other half of their family went to Seaside, FL, this week. They all really stay on the go a lot.
Well, tomorrow I think we're having lunch at my house, and my grandparents are coming over. They said they need to get out of the house. The main dish will be leftover Christmas ham with raisin sauce. I'll play in my church orchestra tomorrow morning as well. Don't know what all is going on for New Year's Eve tomorrow night. New Year's Day we'll eat the obligatory black eyed peas, cornbread, and turnip greens at my grandparents house.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
People, For Heaven's Sake, Get Happy!
I read an article in U.S. News & World Report today 50 Ways to Improve Your Life. The very first sub-article was part of a health section. This sub-article is entitled "Get Happy, and You'll Live Longer". Here is an excerpt from the article by Deborah Kotz:
[begin excerpt] Ever envy those Pollyanna types who skip around with a smile on their faces? While some people may be born with sunny dispositions, happiness isn't necessarily based on genes or luck. Psychologists now believe it's a learned skill, almost like knitting. In fact, Harvard's how-to-be-happy course, with more than 850 enrollees, has become the university's most popular class. Its first lesson? Embrace your failures and frustrations. "When you give yourself permission to be human," says course instructor and psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, "you are more likely to open yourself up to positive emotions."
And better health. Nearly a dozen studies show that happier people live longer. They're also less likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, and pain from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, Carnegie Mellon researchers last month found that people who express positive emotions come down with fewer colds and flus after being exposed to the viruses than those who express negative emotions like anger, sadness, or stress.
Set point. While moods can change day to day-even hour to hour-psychologists used to believe that life satisfaction levels remained stable over time, always returning to a "set point" after a traumatic or happy event. A recent study from the University of Illinois, though, suggests that this set point can shift over the years. What's more, there are ways to push the needle on the gauge toward happy. In fact, experts-who refer to themselves as positive psychologists-have found that such simple acts as being grateful for what you have can help improve your outlook. "We need to look for happiness in the right places," Ben-Shahar says.
Those places don't include Tiffany's or a BMW dealership. The joy in acquiring objects of desire dissipates quickly. "Like french vanilla ice cream, material things are great at the first taste, but then after a while they lose their flavor," says happiness researcher Martin Seligman, who started a positive psychology master's program at the University of Pennsylvania. Through his studies, he identified specific steps that can help increase happiness over the long haul.
Go for real goals. It's better to think of happiness in terms of leading a meaningful life. "It's about being in the flow, completely absorbed by your work, the pursuit of your goals, the people you love, and your leisure activities," says Seligman.
Make a gratitude visit. Deliver a thank-you note to someone who's been especially kind or helpful but never properly appreciated. When you feel thankful, you get pleasure from remembering a positive life event. Plus, you'll strengthen a relationship that may bring you future happiness.
Focus on the good things. You probably spend more time each day thinking about what went wrong rather than what went right. Jot down three things that went well each day and explain why. "This will help you feel more grateful for what you have and more hopeful about the future," says Seligman. [end excerpt]
I found the section on the relationship between happiness levels and healthiness levels quite interesting. When I think about it, most of the generally happy people I know tend to be very healthy people who hardly ever get sick, never take medicine, and only get a cold maybe once a year at the worst. The generally unhappy or negative people I can think of that I know tend to be sick or ill quite frequently, take pills and medicines for every little ache and pain, and are always complaining of some sort of ailment or another. hmmm....interesting.
Well, I've always been an overall happy, positive person. It takes a lot to get me down or to make me angry, and even then I bounce back to my happy state quickly. However, I often run in to people or get involved with persons who, in general, seem to be brimming with unhappiness, negativity, and pent-up anger and frustration. I know a person's background may play some role in that type of behaviour and way of thinking. But I also think a person chooses and makes an effort to be a certain way as well. If someone wants to be a happy person, they think that way, and make a conscious, positive effort to do so. This then overlaps into other areas of their life serving as a positive influence.
I've traveled a lot to many places in this world and have seen things that most people in the United States who have not traveled cannot even imagine. People in the US are incredibly blessed beyond imagination and most seem to take that for granted or have no conception of that concept. Many in the US also seem to have a mentality of "entitlement", which I also do not understand. They get mad, angry and frustrated over petty, insignificant little things that don't even matter. And these "glass half empty" people almost seem to want to spread their negativity to those who are naturally "glass half full" people. Well I for one refuse to let that happen to me. Maybe the negatrons are just jealous of us naturally positive folks. I suggest they make a conscious effort to become more happy and positive themselves.
[begin excerpt] Ever envy those Pollyanna types who skip around with a smile on their faces? While some people may be born with sunny dispositions, happiness isn't necessarily based on genes or luck. Psychologists now believe it's a learned skill, almost like knitting. In fact, Harvard's how-to-be-happy course, with more than 850 enrollees, has become the university's most popular class. Its first lesson? Embrace your failures and frustrations. "When you give yourself permission to be human," says course instructor and psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, "you are more likely to open yourself up to positive emotions."
And better health. Nearly a dozen studies show that happier people live longer. They're also less likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, and pain from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, Carnegie Mellon researchers last month found that people who express positive emotions come down with fewer colds and flus after being exposed to the viruses than those who express negative emotions like anger, sadness, or stress.
Set point. While moods can change day to day-even hour to hour-psychologists used to believe that life satisfaction levels remained stable over time, always returning to a "set point" after a traumatic or happy event. A recent study from the University of Illinois, though, suggests that this set point can shift over the years. What's more, there are ways to push the needle on the gauge toward happy. In fact, experts-who refer to themselves as positive psychologists-have found that such simple acts as being grateful for what you have can help improve your outlook. "We need to look for happiness in the right places," Ben-Shahar says.
Those places don't include Tiffany's or a BMW dealership. The joy in acquiring objects of desire dissipates quickly. "Like french vanilla ice cream, material things are great at the first taste, but then after a while they lose their flavor," says happiness researcher Martin Seligman, who started a positive psychology master's program at the University of Pennsylvania. Through his studies, he identified specific steps that can help increase happiness over the long haul.
Go for real goals. It's better to think of happiness in terms of leading a meaningful life. "It's about being in the flow, completely absorbed by your work, the pursuit of your goals, the people you love, and your leisure activities," says Seligman.
Make a gratitude visit. Deliver a thank-you note to someone who's been especially kind or helpful but never properly appreciated. When you feel thankful, you get pleasure from remembering a positive life event. Plus, you'll strengthen a relationship that may bring you future happiness.
Focus on the good things. You probably spend more time each day thinking about what went wrong rather than what went right. Jot down three things that went well each day and explain why. "This will help you feel more grateful for what you have and more hopeful about the future," says Seligman. [end excerpt]
I found the section on the relationship between happiness levels and healthiness levels quite interesting. When I think about it, most of the generally happy people I know tend to be very healthy people who hardly ever get sick, never take medicine, and only get a cold maybe once a year at the worst. The generally unhappy or negative people I can think of that I know tend to be sick or ill quite frequently, take pills and medicines for every little ache and pain, and are always complaining of some sort of ailment or another. hmmm....interesting.
Well, I've always been an overall happy, positive person. It takes a lot to get me down or to make me angry, and even then I bounce back to my happy state quickly. However, I often run in to people or get involved with persons who, in general, seem to be brimming with unhappiness, negativity, and pent-up anger and frustration. I know a person's background may play some role in that type of behaviour and way of thinking. But I also think a person chooses and makes an effort to be a certain way as well. If someone wants to be a happy person, they think that way, and make a conscious, positive effort to do so. This then overlaps into other areas of their life serving as a positive influence.
I've traveled a lot to many places in this world and have seen things that most people in the United States who have not traveled cannot even imagine. People in the US are incredibly blessed beyond imagination and most seem to take that for granted or have no conception of that concept. Many in the US also seem to have a mentality of "entitlement", which I also do not understand. They get mad, angry and frustrated over petty, insignificant little things that don't even matter. And these "glass half empty" people almost seem to want to spread their negativity to those who are naturally "glass half full" people. Well I for one refuse to let that happen to me. Maybe the negatrons are just jealous of us naturally positive folks. I suggest they make a conscious effort to become more happy and positive themselves.
Routine
Well, I seem to have gotten into a routine with work and everything else lately. It seems that my weekday schedule generally unfolds in the following order:
7:30 - wake up, shower, shave, eat breakfast, get dressed.
8:30 - leave for work from the suburbs.
9:00 - arrive at work downtown.
sometime after 1:00 - take a 30 minute lunch break.
5:00 - leave work and spend at least one hour in rush hour traffic heading out of downtown back into suburbia.
Evening schedule:
6:00 or later - arrive home from work and decide what to do for dinner (or get ready for orchestra rehearsal on Wednesdays, which lasts 7:00 to 9:00 pm), then work on homework when school is in session or work on the book my brother and I are co-authoring until after midnight. I usually try to run/swim/workout for at least an hour sometime each evening as well. At any rate, all that is the most typical evening, but some evenings I visit my parents or grandparents, or go out to eat with friends.
It all makes for a full day.
I'm really excited about Christmas (as usual). Looks like a lot of fun times will be had with family, and lots of good food. Hopefully sometime this week my family and I can go see two movies: "Eragon" and "The Nativity". I'd like to see both of those. Well, officially the place where I work is only giving us Christmas Day off (the owner is Jewish so I guess we're lucky to even be getting that day), but I think I'm going to take Friday and Tuesday off as well. I especially do not want to have to go right back to work the very day after Christmas. Also, my youngest brother has a birthday two days after Christmas.
7:30 - wake up, shower, shave, eat breakfast, get dressed.
8:30 - leave for work from the suburbs.
9:00 - arrive at work downtown.
sometime after 1:00 - take a 30 minute lunch break.
5:00 - leave work and spend at least one hour in rush hour traffic heading out of downtown back into suburbia.
Evening schedule:
6:00 or later - arrive home from work and decide what to do for dinner (or get ready for orchestra rehearsal on Wednesdays, which lasts 7:00 to 9:00 pm), then work on homework when school is in session or work on the book my brother and I are co-authoring until after midnight. I usually try to run/swim/workout for at least an hour sometime each evening as well. At any rate, all that is the most typical evening, but some evenings I visit my parents or grandparents, or go out to eat with friends.
It all makes for a full day.
I'm really excited about Christmas (as usual). Looks like a lot of fun times will be had with family, and lots of good food. Hopefully sometime this week my family and I can go see two movies: "Eragon" and "The Nativity". I'd like to see both of those. Well, officially the place where I work is only giving us Christmas Day off (the owner is Jewish so I guess we're lucky to even be getting that day), but I think I'm going to take Friday and Tuesday off as well. I especially do not want to have to go right back to work the very day after Christmas. Also, my youngest brother has a birthday two days after Christmas.
Spent all day at work yesterday putting together a large L-shaped desk for a coworker. There was no electric screwdriver so the hundreds of screws were screwed in manually and I now have blisters on my palms and soreness in my wrists. We were informed that tomorrow we must assemble another desk of the same type for another coworker. I must be the best one around the office for manual labor. Oh, well - all in a day's work.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Graduation
Thursday evening (immediately after I got off work) my Mom, one of my brothers, and I drove five hours to the university where I have spent the past two years working on a master of science degree in geography. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn downtown. Friday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, then went to the university bookstore for me to retrieve my hood for the ceremony, and then looked around the geography building. They got to meet my advisor as well as another professor on my committee. Then we drove over to the museum on campus and looked around there. They have many interesting exhibits: ancient Egypt, Native Americans, geology and fossils, decorative artifacts, and a temporary exhibit on three Cherokees who traveled to England in the 1700s. After that, I drove them around a bit, showed them the waterfront park, and then went to my old apartment to get some more of my stuff that had aparently surfaced. My old roommate had already gone home for Christmas, but his new roommate - from Iran - was there and helped us get some of the stuff into the car. Next, we drove back over to downtown and looked around Market Square. Finally, it was time to head to the arena to get ready for the Graduate Hooding Ceremony, which began at 6:00.
After unproprietously changing into my regalia in the parking lot, My mom and brother headed into the arena to find some seats, while I headed into the depths of the place to figure out where I was supposed to go. I met up with a couple of other geographers who were also graduating with their masters degrees, so we were able to sit together in the Arts and Sciences section. I also saw a couple of geographers who had volunteered to help with the event.
The whole thing last about an hour and a half. I marched across the stage fairly near to the beginning. The bulk of the ceremony was taken up by persons receiving their doctoral degrees. They actually had their major professors walk across the stage with them and hood them. Hopefully in about four or five more years I will be in their place receiving my Ph.D. in geography.
After the ceremony, we drove to a wonderful Italian restaurant that I had only been to once before. It's called Naples. My brother had spaghetti with marinara sauce, my mom had fetuccini alfredo, and I had pasta supremo which consisted of a lot of different ingredients such as noodles with herbs mixed in to the actual noodles themselves, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, olives, pimientos, and more. It was delicious. The bread and garlic butter were also delicous. For dessert, my brother had a blackberry sorbet (fantastic!), and my mom and I shared spumoni (ice cream with three flavors - pistachio, black cherry, and chocolate).
After the wonderful meal, we hit the freeway out of town for our five hour drive home. We arrived home around 1:00 AM and I promptly headed to bed. It was a wonderful, albeit quick, trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with my brother and mom.
On the drive back my brother and I were able to further discuss our book that we're writing about our travels in South America. I think the ideas are really coming together and we should be able to pull it off in the not too distant future. I do hope it will come to fruition - it should be an exciting read at any rate!
Today, I slept late, then got up and ate some leftovers from the Italian restaurant. I sat out by the pool reading all afternoon in this high 60s/low 70s degree weather we're having in December. A week until Christmas, and it sure is warm outside. I almost felt like jumping in the pool! Anyway, I did finish a very interesting book I've been reading - The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century by Thomas P.M. Barnett. His view of the world divided into Core and Gap, the need to advance the frontiers of globalization to shrink the gap and defeat disconnectedness, and optimistic view of the future are quite compelling. I can't wait to read the sequal, which I'll try to do real soon - The Pentagon's New Map Blueprint for Action.
After that I went to visit my grandparents. They fed me leftover bar-b-que, beans, coleslaw, bread, and apple pound cake. And later on the fed me some raisin egg bread. My mom and aunt were there too. Tomorrow afternoon, my aunt wants me to come over and then we'll walk across the street from her house to play Christmas music on the piano for two of her elderly neighbors.
This evening, we (my brothers, mom, a number of friends, and more) went over to some friends of the family's home where we made Christmas cookies, had pizza, and visited. It was nice. I'm now back at my apartment for the first time since Thursday morning and will hopefully go to bed soon after reading for a while. Church will come early in the morning - but I think we'll be playing a lot of Christmas music! Fun stuff!
After unproprietously changing into my regalia in the parking lot, My mom and brother headed into the arena to find some seats, while I headed into the depths of the place to figure out where I was supposed to go. I met up with a couple of other geographers who were also graduating with their masters degrees, so we were able to sit together in the Arts and Sciences section. I also saw a couple of geographers who had volunteered to help with the event.
The whole thing last about an hour and a half. I marched across the stage fairly near to the beginning. The bulk of the ceremony was taken up by persons receiving their doctoral degrees. They actually had their major professors walk across the stage with them and hood them. Hopefully in about four or five more years I will be in their place receiving my Ph.D. in geography.
After the ceremony, we drove to a wonderful Italian restaurant that I had only been to once before. It's called Naples. My brother had spaghetti with marinara sauce, my mom had fetuccini alfredo, and I had pasta supremo which consisted of a lot of different ingredients such as noodles with herbs mixed in to the actual noodles themselves, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, olives, pimientos, and more. It was delicious. The bread and garlic butter were also delicous. For dessert, my brother had a blackberry sorbet (fantastic!), and my mom and I shared spumoni (ice cream with three flavors - pistachio, black cherry, and chocolate).
After the wonderful meal, we hit the freeway out of town for our five hour drive home. We arrived home around 1:00 AM and I promptly headed to bed. It was a wonderful, albeit quick, trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with my brother and mom.
On the drive back my brother and I were able to further discuss our book that we're writing about our travels in South America. I think the ideas are really coming together and we should be able to pull it off in the not too distant future. I do hope it will come to fruition - it should be an exciting read at any rate!
Today, I slept late, then got up and ate some leftovers from the Italian restaurant. I sat out by the pool reading all afternoon in this high 60s/low 70s degree weather we're having in December. A week until Christmas, and it sure is warm outside. I almost felt like jumping in the pool! Anyway, I did finish a very interesting book I've been reading - The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century by Thomas P.M. Barnett. His view of the world divided into Core and Gap, the need to advance the frontiers of globalization to shrink the gap and defeat disconnectedness, and optimistic view of the future are quite compelling. I can't wait to read the sequal, which I'll try to do real soon - The Pentagon's New Map Blueprint for Action.
After that I went to visit my grandparents. They fed me leftover bar-b-que, beans, coleslaw, bread, and apple pound cake. And later on the fed me some raisin egg bread. My mom and aunt were there too. Tomorrow afternoon, my aunt wants me to come over and then we'll walk across the street from her house to play Christmas music on the piano for two of her elderly neighbors.
This evening, we (my brothers, mom, a number of friends, and more) went over to some friends of the family's home where we made Christmas cookies, had pizza, and visited. It was nice. I'm now back at my apartment for the first time since Thursday morning and will hopefully go to bed soon after reading for a while. Church will come early in the morning - but I think we'll be playing a lot of Christmas music! Fun stuff!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
I wanted to post the following link to a poem by Maya Angelou. It is entitled "Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem". I found it to be very beautiful and moving - and I wanted to share it at this most special time of year.
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
by Dr. Maya Angelou
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
by Dr. Maya Angelou
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Friday's Christmas Party and Today
Well, the Christmas party hosted by someone in one of my classes was a lot of fun Friday evening. There was tons of food there and I was absolutely stuffed! I would say about less than half the class showed up, but those who did all brought food and wine. Someone brought some sort of sparkling wine that was really good. The spread of food included: cheese ball, cheese sticks, and spinach dip with King's Hawaiian bread for appetizers; green bean casserole (I cooked that), hashbrown casserole, steamed vegetables, and rolls for side dishes; a marinated and grilled pork tenderloin as the main dish; and for dessert a stollen (German Christmas bread - I brought that), some fruit and cream white cake from a bakery, fudge, and some other little things. Someone also brought some fruit tea which they made by mixing sweet tea, orange juice, and pineapple juice. Everything was absolutely delicious! We were all very stuffed! The whole evening was quite pleasant.
After that, around 11:00 pm or so, I went by home to see one of my younger brothers who had just flown in from college for the Christmas break. Stayed there until about 1:00 am before heading back to my apartment. Several of his friends were there as well. It was nice to visit. I got to talking with my mom and some of the rest of them about some of the funny things that happened throughout the week at work and elsewhere.
Today I slept late, which was a welcome change, and then had rehearsal all afternoon at the old theater downtown where my church orchestra is having a Christmas concert Sunday evening. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoy playing with that group. The show tomorrow night should be quite spectacular, moving, and fun. I do believe it is a sellout too - I don't think there are any tickets left! It's being hosted by a local television weather personality. This will be the last Christmas concert I'll be playing in for this season - until next year! I do love being a part of these type of things.
I think my family and I are going to get to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a couple of weeks. That should be a real blast!
This evening, my brother who just got home from college last night prepared us a vegan meal of vegetable soup and polenta with tabouli.
After that, around 11:00 pm or so, I went by home to see one of my younger brothers who had just flown in from college for the Christmas break. Stayed there until about 1:00 am before heading back to my apartment. Several of his friends were there as well. It was nice to visit. I got to talking with my mom and some of the rest of them about some of the funny things that happened throughout the week at work and elsewhere.
Today I slept late, which was a welcome change, and then had rehearsal all afternoon at the old theater downtown where my church orchestra is having a Christmas concert Sunday evening. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoy playing with that group. The show tomorrow night should be quite spectacular, moving, and fun. I do believe it is a sellout too - I don't think there are any tickets left! It's being hosted by a local television weather personality. This will be the last Christmas concert I'll be playing in for this season - until next year! I do love being a part of these type of things.
I think my family and I are going to get to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a couple of weeks. That should be a real blast!
This evening, my brother who just got home from college last night prepared us a vegan meal of vegetable soup and polenta with tabouli.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Events of the Week So Far
I discovered Monday that I have several holds on my account at the university where I'm getting a second masters degree - I started there in August. After delivering my immunization forms to the registrar's office to remove that hold, they informed my that I have two other holds placed on my account by the graduate school. Apparently they never received my writing sample that I took in August, and they also haven't received the final transcripts from the other university where I received my M.S. in geography. After a series of emails, I discovered that the woman who administered the writing sample to me never logged me or my results into the system. What the hell? She said she was just clueless as to what could have happened. Well, cluelessness is no excuse for incompetence! I vividly remember that day because I had just arrived home the day before from a trip to South America. So, that morning in August, I went in and met with the lady, she gave me a handout of two writing sample essay questions. I went to the computer lab and wrote the essay, printed it out, returned to her office, and then physically turned the thing in to her. I guess it was promptly lost. It's a good thing I save a copy of it, which I sent to her Tuesday and she immediately had it graded. Hopefully that hold has now been removed. Now, I'll just have to have the other university send the transcripts in after they post my final degree when I graduate from there next week. However, that masters degree in geography is definitely not a requirment for admission to this program - so why in the world does it even matter that they have a final transcript in order for me to be able to register for classes next semester? Oh well - dealing with university administration logistical matters has always been tedious.
The environment of the office at work this week has been one of transition. We are expanding into another area of the floor in the building where we are located. All sorts of people have been coming and going this week - network people, wiring, electricians, security system installments (apparently someone has already tried to break in twice over the past week), etc. The place was supposed to be up and running on Monday. One of the co-owners - who currently lives in California - flew in to help out this week. She flies back early Friday morning. We'll all miss her because she is such a happy, positive, vivacious person, and is super nice! She doesn't hold back anything she thinks though; but I think its good to be forthright - and she does it in a humorous way. Anyway, they are supposed to be moving back here later in the spring or June. They're expecting a baby in January. I think she'll be back in February for another week; one of the co-workers is getting married the first weekend in March. I really like working with all these people - they're really nice and fun to work with. The office is real laid back and is a good work environment. The co-owner who is flying back to California told me that some girl in the office across the hall has been eyeing me. I ended up meeting her out in the hall today when I was helping move some stuff, talking with the co-owner, and she seems a bit older than I am. Oh well.
One of my classes is having a Christmas party Friday night at one of the student's and her husband's home. I think only about half the class has responded saying that they will be there. We're supposed to bring a beverage and a side item/or dessert. I think I'll bring a bottle of wine, and some side dish that I haven't decided on yet, and maybe some stollen (German dessert bread commonly eaten around Christmas - sometimes referred to as Weinachtstollen or Christollen) for dessert. I asked one girl in the class (she and another girl were doing a superb job of flirting with me while I was giving a presentation to the class Monday night) if she would like to ride together - I offered to drive - and I received a "maybe". What the hell? Yes or no please! I mean, you're definitely going to the party. Why not go with someone? However, it's been my experience that "maybe" usually ends up being "no". Dammit! Oh well, the party will be fun nonetheless. I'm sure there will be lots of good food there and nice people.
On the way home from work tonight I stopped by to visit with my grandparents for a while. They always like to have visitors sit and watch Jeopardy with them. They always offer food and absolutely expect people to eat it while there - regardless of whether they are hungry or not (comes from the German culture I guess). So, she fixed me two gigantic pieces of toasted cheese and butter toast, which was delicious, and sweet tea to drink. They had me go out to their mailbox three times while I was there to see if their mail had run yet - but it didn't come until after 7:00pm!
After I got home I started some laundry, and then worked on a geography PhD application. I actually got it submitted online as well. Now I just have to make sure all the other stuff gets sent in timely - GRE scores, transcripts, recommendations, etc. Hopefully I'll start the program next Fall 2007.
Thursday was also Pearl Harbor Day. So, don't forget that - December 7, 1941 - "A day which will live in infamy" as President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it on the radio the following day.
The environment of the office at work this week has been one of transition. We are expanding into another area of the floor in the building where we are located. All sorts of people have been coming and going this week - network people, wiring, electricians, security system installments (apparently someone has already tried to break in twice over the past week), etc. The place was supposed to be up and running on Monday. One of the co-owners - who currently lives in California - flew in to help out this week. She flies back early Friday morning. We'll all miss her because she is such a happy, positive, vivacious person, and is super nice! She doesn't hold back anything she thinks though; but I think its good to be forthright - and she does it in a humorous way. Anyway, they are supposed to be moving back here later in the spring or June. They're expecting a baby in January. I think she'll be back in February for another week; one of the co-workers is getting married the first weekend in March. I really like working with all these people - they're really nice and fun to work with. The office is real laid back and is a good work environment. The co-owner who is flying back to California told me that some girl in the office across the hall has been eyeing me. I ended up meeting her out in the hall today when I was helping move some stuff, talking with the co-owner, and she seems a bit older than I am. Oh well.
One of my classes is having a Christmas party Friday night at one of the student's and her husband's home. I think only about half the class has responded saying that they will be there. We're supposed to bring a beverage and a side item/or dessert. I think I'll bring a bottle of wine, and some side dish that I haven't decided on yet, and maybe some stollen (German dessert bread commonly eaten around Christmas - sometimes referred to as Weinachtstollen or Christollen) for dessert. I asked one girl in the class (she and another girl were doing a superb job of flirting with me while I was giving a presentation to the class Monday night) if she would like to ride together - I offered to drive - and I received a "maybe". What the hell? Yes or no please! I mean, you're definitely going to the party. Why not go with someone? However, it's been my experience that "maybe" usually ends up being "no". Dammit! Oh well, the party will be fun nonetheless. I'm sure there will be lots of good food there and nice people.
On the way home from work tonight I stopped by to visit with my grandparents for a while. They always like to have visitors sit and watch Jeopardy with them. They always offer food and absolutely expect people to eat it while there - regardless of whether they are hungry or not (comes from the German culture I guess). So, she fixed me two gigantic pieces of toasted cheese and butter toast, which was delicious, and sweet tea to drink. They had me go out to their mailbox three times while I was there to see if their mail had run yet - but it didn't come until after 7:00pm!
After I got home I started some laundry, and then worked on a geography PhD application. I actually got it submitted online as well. Now I just have to make sure all the other stuff gets sent in timely - GRE scores, transcripts, recommendations, etc. Hopefully I'll start the program next Fall 2007.
Thursday was also Pearl Harbor Day. So, don't forget that - December 7, 1941 - "A day which will live in infamy" as President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it on the radio the following day.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Christmas Spectacular and a Rant
Well, after weeks of rehearsals, our church Christmas concert has now come and gone. I play the French Horn in the orchestra. We gave two performances today at 2:00 and 6:00, both with packed audiences. It was all quite an extravaganza of a production. The music, lighting, and total effect was beautiful and moving. I really enjoy playing in things like that. Next Sunday, the orchestra I play in will be giving a Christmas performance at a historic theater downtown. I do believe all the tickets have already sold out. Should be great!
The guys in the show had to wear tuxedos - I've had mine since I was a senior in high school, and it still fits mostly. But I discovered that the pants have become a bit tight. I'll either have to start exercising more than I do already, which is quite a bit, or just buy a new pair of pants for the tux the next time I have to wear the thing.
My parents came to the 2:00 pm performance today and I was very glad to see them there. They're always so supportive of all of us and I really appreciate that. I wish my brothers could have come too, but the middle one is still in school up north (but flies home later this week - yea!), and the youngest one (in high school) just doesn't like to get out to go to those type of things I guess - although he always ends up having a great time once he's there. Perhaps I can coax him into going to the show next week (I think the rest are already planning to attend).
I invited a few friends to come to one of the performances today - they had said they would probably come to the 6:00 pm show. Did any of them show up? No. I'm continually learning that that is the way people are, friends or not. I certainly know that if the scenario were reversed, I would have gone to see one of my friends in something like that. And I would have gone because I actually would have wanted to go, not because I would have felt obligated to go. After the last performance I came home to my apartment that I share with two other college buddies to find one of them lounging on the couch watching some mindless crap on the television. I suppose that's what's been going on around the old apartment all day - TV watching. Oh well, at least I know I'm participating in something that I both enjoy and that I know serves to lift peoples' spirits.
Apparently one of my roommate's parents came in to the city today just to repair his car for him - took them all day to do it. Well, this evening after I got back from the performance at church, I went to workout, exercise, and run. Afterwards, when I got out of the shower and reached for my bath towel, I discovered that it was literally covered in black grease and motor oil. What kind of person would do such a thing? Is there such a thing as common courtesy? I would never do something like that to someone else's stuff.
I think I've about had it with people in general. I feel like I bend over backwards for people, going all over creation and to hell and back for them, doing things for them that they don't even seem to appreciate. Not asking anything in return. But then I always seem to get run over - or at least it feels that way - no matter how nice I am to people, and how happy, positive, and encouraging I act towards others. What is wrong with this picture? Deep-down do people not like to be around happy, positive, and encouraging persons? Is that why we get taken advantage of? Oh well, I won't stop being nice and kind to people, and I won't stop being happy and positive and encouraging towards others. It's simply not in my nature or personality to behave otherwise.
The guys in the show had to wear tuxedos - I've had mine since I was a senior in high school, and it still fits mostly. But I discovered that the pants have become a bit tight. I'll either have to start exercising more than I do already, which is quite a bit, or just buy a new pair of pants for the tux the next time I have to wear the thing.
My parents came to the 2:00 pm performance today and I was very glad to see them there. They're always so supportive of all of us and I really appreciate that. I wish my brothers could have come too, but the middle one is still in school up north (but flies home later this week - yea!), and the youngest one (in high school) just doesn't like to get out to go to those type of things I guess - although he always ends up having a great time once he's there. Perhaps I can coax him into going to the show next week (I think the rest are already planning to attend).
I invited a few friends to come to one of the performances today - they had said they would probably come to the 6:00 pm show. Did any of them show up? No. I'm continually learning that that is the way people are, friends or not. I certainly know that if the scenario were reversed, I would have gone to see one of my friends in something like that. And I would have gone because I actually would have wanted to go, not because I would have felt obligated to go. After the last performance I came home to my apartment that I share with two other college buddies to find one of them lounging on the couch watching some mindless crap on the television. I suppose that's what's been going on around the old apartment all day - TV watching. Oh well, at least I know I'm participating in something that I both enjoy and that I know serves to lift peoples' spirits.
Apparently one of my roommate's parents came in to the city today just to repair his car for him - took them all day to do it. Well, this evening after I got back from the performance at church, I went to workout, exercise, and run. Afterwards, when I got out of the shower and reached for my bath towel, I discovered that it was literally covered in black grease and motor oil. What kind of person would do such a thing? Is there such a thing as common courtesy? I would never do something like that to someone else's stuff.
I think I've about had it with people in general. I feel like I bend over backwards for people, going all over creation and to hell and back for them, doing things for them that they don't even seem to appreciate. Not asking anything in return. But then I always seem to get run over - or at least it feels that way - no matter how nice I am to people, and how happy, positive, and encouraging I act towards others. What is wrong with this picture? Deep-down do people not like to be around happy, positive, and encouraging persons? Is that why we get taken advantage of? Oh well, I won't stop being nice and kind to people, and I won't stop being happy and positive and encouraging towards others. It's simply not in my nature or personality to behave otherwise.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Geography and Quotations
What Geography Is:
I hardly ever go anywhere that, upon hearing I'm a geographer, someone asks me what geography really is and what I really do - as if geography is simply my cover for clandestine activities. Most people seem to be under the impression that geography is merely memorizing the locations of place names. Although that is an important and useful skill for anyone, not just for a geographer, it has about as much relevance to geography as a vocabulary table has to literature. Geographic literacy is necessary for us to understand global events and cultures. Geography, as a spatial science, can be applied to the study of a vast array of subjects because everything has place. Historians look at the world chronologically or temporally, political scientists and economists look at the world structurally, geographers look at the world spatially. But geography also draws upon other fields, becoming interdisciplinary in nature - not narrowly focusing on one topic because in this world today things are very interrelated and affect other things and are affected by other things in a countless variety of ways.
Basically, there are five themes of geography:
Here is another interesting link. This is a geographic literacy survey commissioned by National Geographic of 18-24 year olds in 2002. The results are both surprising and disturbing:http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geosurvey/
On to other things...
I was also just reminded of a quotation by Winston Churchill that I heard Dr. Henry Kissinger quote at a speech he gave that I attended a few months ago. I thought this quote by Winsotn Churchill is still quite applicaple today, which is probably why Dr. Kissinger chose to end his talk with it:
"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. We are going on swinging bravely forward along the grand high road and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."
Also, since I'm in a quotations mood, here are some more passages and quotes that I've admired for quite some time:
If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again
by Diane Loomans, from Full Esteem Ahead
“If I had my child to raise all over again, I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.I would care to know less, and know to care more.I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.I’d teach less about the love of power,And more about the power of love.”
The Art of Giving
By Kent Nerburn, from Letters to My Son
“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom and others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Find in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than how it is shared, and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”
"To act and act wisely when the time for action comes,
To wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose,
Put mankind in accord with the rising and falling tides of affairs
So that with nature and law at his back, and truth and
Beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders."
-- Helena Petrova Blavatsky
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
-- Mark Twain
I hardly ever go anywhere that, upon hearing I'm a geographer, someone asks me what geography really is and what I really do - as if geography is simply my cover for clandestine activities. Most people seem to be under the impression that geography is merely memorizing the locations of place names. Although that is an important and useful skill for anyone, not just for a geographer, it has about as much relevance to geography as a vocabulary table has to literature. Geographic literacy is necessary for us to understand global events and cultures. Geography, as a spatial science, can be applied to the study of a vast array of subjects because everything has place. Historians look at the world chronologically or temporally, political scientists and economists look at the world structurally, geographers look at the world spatially. But geography also draws upon other fields, becoming interdisciplinary in nature - not narrowly focusing on one topic because in this world today things are very interrelated and affect other things and are affected by other things in a countless variety of ways.
Basically, there are five themes of geography:
- Location - Relative Location and Absolute Location
- Place - Human Characteristics and Physical Characteristics
- Human-Environmental Interactions - Humans adapt to the environment, Humans modify the environment, Humans depend on the environment
- Movement - People, Goods, Ideas
- Regions - Formal, Functional, Vernacular (perceptual)
- The world in spatial terms - The structuring of geographic information, the ordering of knowledge into real and mental maps, and the spatial analysis of that information.
- Places and regions - The basic units of geography and how those units are organized differently by different people.
- Physical systems - Physical and environmental phenomena, such as land forms and climate, and their interaction through ecosystems, renewable resources, and the hydrologic cycle.
- Human systems - Human populations and their economic activities, migration patterns, settlement patterns, territorial arrangements, and political conflicts.
- Environment and society - Interaction between physical and human systems and identification of the central role of resources in environment-society links.
- The uses of geography - how to apply geography as a component and tool to understand the past, interpret the present, and plan for the future.
Here is another interesting link. This is a geographic literacy survey commissioned by National Geographic of 18-24 year olds in 2002. The results are both surprising and disturbing:http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geosurvey/
On to other things...
I was also just reminded of a quotation by Winston Churchill that I heard Dr. Henry Kissinger quote at a speech he gave that I attended a few months ago. I thought this quote by Winsotn Churchill is still quite applicaple today, which is probably why Dr. Kissinger chose to end his talk with it:
"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. We are going on swinging bravely forward along the grand high road and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."
Also, since I'm in a quotations mood, here are some more passages and quotes that I've admired for quite some time:
If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again
by Diane Loomans, from Full Esteem Ahead
“If I had my child to raise all over again, I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.I would care to know less, and know to care more.I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.I’d teach less about the love of power,And more about the power of love.”
The Art of Giving
By Kent Nerburn, from Letters to My Son
“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom and others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Find in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than how it is shared, and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”
"To act and act wisely when the time for action comes,
To wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose,
Put mankind in accord with the rising and falling tides of affairs
So that with nature and law at his back, and truth and
Beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders."
-- Helena Petrova Blavatsky
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
-- Mark Twain
Friday, December 1, 2006
Two Films, One Evening
After work this evening a friend and I went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant (I had mole poblano). Then saw a double feature at the movie theater: "For Your Consideration" followed by "The Queen". I thoroughly enjoyed both. The first was quite funny, the second quite dramatic. Just the way I would suspect many actors/actresses behave over the whole academy awarde hype. In "The Queen", Helen Mirren did an excellent job portraying Queen Elizabeth II. I found it interesting to see the Royal Family from this most different perspective. In fact, I thought all the performances were great. The people cast in "The Queen" did a fantastic job of performing the roles of their real life counterparts - their looks, actions, behaviours, speech...I would definitely recommend both films if you haven't seen them already.
When we left the theater it was storming outside. There was a violent downpour of rain. It is still in the mid-70s, but I think the bitter cold will strike very early in the morning. Unfortunately, will head to work in freezing temperatures no doubt. Looking forward to the weekend though!
When we left the theater it was storming outside. There was a violent downpour of rain. It is still in the mid-70s, but I think the bitter cold will strike very early in the morning. Unfortunately, will head to work in freezing temperatures no doubt. Looking forward to the weekend though!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Book Writing
About a month ago, one of my younger brothers and I decided to start writing a book about our adventurous travels in South America this past summer. This particular jaunt included wandering around Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, as well as Mexico (on the return back to the United States). In addition to typing up all our journals, we've also come up with a tentative outline. However, neither of us have really had that much time to devote to this project lately due to us both being in school - he in college and I in two masters programs. I also have a job. I hope we'll be able to put more time into the book over the Christmas break - maybe. We need to consolidate both our journals, polish them up, contextualize them, link them all together, and a lot more bits and pieces to the overall tale. Its something I would really like to do though. Other people write books - I mean look at all the books available in a local bookstore, not to mention online. So, why shouldn't we be able to as well. We're both decent writers. And we have an interesting story to tell. I imagine this book will somewhat be geared toward the so called "armchair" travelers out there and other people who enjoy reading travel writing. In any event, if we don't actually get a book published, I would certainly hope we could get a couple of travel articles into some magazines. Time will tell. But the prospect of this really excites me - as does many things related to traveling.
I'm also working on a couple of scholarly journal articles based on my geography master of science thesis. I'll coauthor one with my major professor, and I hope to get at least one submitted by the end of the year. I'm also trying to get a couple of research papers based on my thesis ready to present at a geography conference in San Francisco in the spring. All in good fun for a budding academic professional geographer.
I'm also working on a couple of scholarly journal articles based on my geography master of science thesis. I'll coauthor one with my major professor, and I hope to get at least one submitted by the end of the year. I'm also trying to get a couple of research papers based on my thesis ready to present at a geography conference in San Francisco in the spring. All in good fun for a budding academic professional geographer.
Wasting Time...
| Your Five Factor Personality Profile |
 Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you tend to overachieve without realizing it. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue. |
The Five Factor Personality Test
| You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy) |
 You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer. |
WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence
and require kindness. They resist
confrontation at all costs. They are
typically quiet by nature, they process
things very deeply and objectively, and they
are by far the best listeners of all the
colors. They respect people who are kind, but
recoil from perceived hostility or verbal
battle.
WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to
be controlled by others. WHITES want to do
things their own way, in their own time. They
ask little of others, and resent others
demanding much of them. WHITES are much
stronger than people think because they don't
reveal their feelings. WHITES are kind,
non-discriminate, patient and can be
indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn.
When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept
(and support) their individuality, and look
for nonverbal clues to their feelings.
What Color Are You?
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Global Village
In class this evening, one student gave a presentation on diversity of students and employees at our university. This student concluded by showing a short DVD presentation entitled Village of 100. The video described the demographics of the Earth by reducing the Earth's population to a village of just 100 people.
If we could reduce the world’s population down to a village of 100 inhabitants with all the human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this :
- 60 Asians (of which 20 Chinese and 17 Indians), 14 Americans (6 from North America and 8 from South America), 13 Africans, 12 Europeans and half an Oceanian.
- 52 women and 48 men
- 70 non-whites and 30 whites
- 70 non-Christians and 30 Christians
- 89 heterosexuals and 11 homosexuals
- 50.5 people live within the village and 49.5 are scattered throughout the countryside.
- 6 persons possess 59 % of the world’s wealth, several of them are Americans.
- 50 of the village inhabitants live on 2 dollars a day while 25 live on 1 dollar a day.
- 15 persons produce more than half the CO2 emissions in the village
- 25 persons consume three quarters of all the energy, the other 75 consume the remaining one quarter.
- 17 persons have no access to medical services, decent shelter or drinking water.
- 50 persons suffer from malnutrition
- 70 persons are illiterate
- 80 persons live in poor-quality housing
- 20 inhabitants control 86 % of the GNP and 74 % of the telephone lines
- 11 persons have a car and they will probably be 20 in twenty years time
- 20 persons have 87 % of the vehicles at their disposal and 84 % of the paper in use
- 9 persons have access to the internet
- 1 person (yes, only 1) has a college education
- 1 person dies and 2 or 3 children are born into the world each year
- And the population of the village will be 133 people in 2025.
When one considers our world from this perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes obvious. "Changing the situation entails awareness on the part of each and every one of us." Global manifesto (basic text of the Associated Humans 1984)
I also found the following information interesting. This listing presents information about the Earth's population based on a village of 1000 people. Although from looking at some of the statistics this data may be out of date, I find it interesting nonetheless.
If the world were a village of 1,000 people by Dona Meadows (Dona Meadows has written a regular bi-weekly column called "The Global Citizen" that are equally thought provoking):
If the world were a village of 1,000 people, it would include:
- 584 Asians, 124 Africans, 95 East and West Europeans, 84 Latin Americans, 55 Soviets (including for the moment Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians and other national groups), 52 North Americans, 6 Australians and New Zealanders
- The people of the village have considerable difficulty in communicating: 165 people speak Mandarin, 86 English, 83 Hindi/Urdu, 64 Spanish, 58 Russian, 37 Arabic. That list accounts for the mother tongues of only half the villagers. The other half speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French and 200 other languages.
- In this village of 1,000 there are:, 329 Christians (among them 187 Catholics, 84 Protestants, 31 Orthodox), 178 Moslems, 167 "non-religious", l32 Hindus, 60 Buddhists, 45 atheists, 3 Jews, 86 all other religions
- One-third (330) of the 1,000 people in the world village are children and only 60 are over the age of 65. Half the children are immunized against preventable infectious diseases such as measles and polio. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to and use modern contraceptives. This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer, 2 of the deaths are of babies born within the year. One person of the 1,000 is infected with the HIV virus; that person most likely has not yet developed a full-blown case of AIDS. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.
- In this 1,000-person community, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income.
- Only 70 people of the 1,000 own an automobile (although some of the 70 own more than one automobile).
- About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water.
- Of the 670 adults in the village, half are illiterate.
- The village has six acres of land per person, 6,000 acres in all, of which 700 acres are cropland, 1,400 acres pasture, 1,900 acres woodland, 2,000 acres desert, tundra, pavement and other wasteland. The woodland is declining rapidly; the wasteland is increasing. The other land categories are roughly stable. The village allocates 83 percent of its fertilizer to 40 percent of its cropland - that owned by the richest and best-fed 270 people. Excess fertilizer running off this land causes pollution in lakes and wells. The remaining 60 percent of the land, with its 17 percent of the fertilizer, produces 28 percent of the food grains and feeds 73 percent of the people. The average grain yield on that land is one-third the harvest achieved by the richer villagers.
- In the village of 1,000 people, there are: 5 soldiers, 7 teachers, 1 doctor, 3 refugees driven from home by war or drought
- The village has a total budget each year, public and private, of over $3 million - $3,000 per person if it is distributed evenly (which, we have already seen, it isn't). Of the total $3 million: $181,000 goes to weapons and warfare, $159,000 for education, $l32,000 for health care.
- The village has buried beneath it enough explosive power in nuclear weapons to blow itself to smithereens many times over. These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 people are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together; and if they do, whether they might set off the weapons anyway through inattention or technical bungling; and, if they ever decide to dismantle the weapons, where in the world village they would dispose of the radioactive materials of which the weapons are made.
On the Radio and Other Stuff
Well, this morning I got up bright and early to play in a brass quintet on a local radio program. The two hosts of the show are quite hilariously crazy! We all had a good time though. The two trumpets, trombone, tuba, and I (French Horn) performed a very crazy arrangement of Jingle Bells, complete with sound effects provided by others present in the studio. It was quite a fun and interesting experience.
The rest of the day involved going to work (and meeting two new employees), then class, stopping by grandparents, working out and running, and then homework. Fun stuff!
I've been reading a book lately called The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century (Amazon.com Link) by Thomas P. M. Barnett. I'm heading towards the end of it, and so far it has been very enlightening. Barnett's thesis is quite interesting and makes me think of and perceive many things in new ways. Basically, Barnett divides the world into two parts: the Functioning Core and the Non-Integrating Gap. The Core is where globalization and connectedness are the way of life. The Gap is where globalization and connectedness have yet to reach. Click here to see the map: Pentagon's_New_Map.jpg
Here is an article by the author written for a popular magazine offering a brief synopsis of the ideas presented in the book: Magazine Article Link
Wikipedia has the following to say about the book:
The rest of the day involved going to work (and meeting two new employees), then class, stopping by grandparents, working out and running, and then homework. Fun stuff!
I've been reading a book lately called The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century (Amazon.com Link) by Thomas P. M. Barnett. I'm heading towards the end of it, and so far it has been very enlightening. Barnett's thesis is quite interesting and makes me think of and perceive many things in new ways. Basically, Barnett divides the world into two parts: the Functioning Core and the Non-Integrating Gap. The Core is where globalization and connectedness are the way of life. The Gap is where globalization and connectedness have yet to reach. Click here to see the map: Pentagon's_New_Map.jpg
Here is an article by the author written for a popular magazine offering a brief synopsis of the ideas presented in the book: Magazine Article Link
Wikipedia has the following to say about the book:
"Key ideas:
- Systems of rules called Rule-sets reduce violent conflict. Violence decreases as rules are established (e.g., the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding) for dealing with international conflicts.
- The world can be roughly divided into two groups: the Functioning Core, characterized by economic interdependence, and the Non-Integrated Gap, characterized by unstable leadership and absence from international trade. The Core can be sub-divided into Old Core (North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia) and New Core (China, India). The Disconnected Gap includes the Middle East, South Asia (except India), most of Africa, Southeast Asia, and northwest South America.
- Integration of the Gap countries into the global economy will provide opportunities for individuals living in the Gap to improve their lives, thereby presenting a desirable alternative to violence and terrorism. The US military is the only force capable of providing the military support to facilitate this integration by serving as the last ditch rule-enforcer. Barnett argues that it has been doing so for over 20 years by "exporting" security (US spends about half of the world's total in military spending).
- To be successful the US military must stop thinking of war in the context of war but war in the context of "everything else", i.e. demographics, energy, investment, security, politics, trade, immigration, etc.
- In recognition of its dual role, the US military should organize itself according to two functions, the "Leviathan" and the "System Administrator."
- Leviathan's purpose is employ overwhelming force to end violence quickly. It will take out governments, defend Core countries, and generally do the deterrence work that the US military has been doing since the end of WWII. The Leviathan force is primarily staffed by young aggressive personnel and is overwhelmingly American.
- The SysAdmin's purpose is to wage peace: peacekeeping, nation building, strengthening weak governments, etc. The SysAdmin force is primarily staffed by older, more experienced personnel, though not entirely (he would put the Marines in SysAdmin as the " Mini-me Leviathan"). The sys Admin force would work best as a Core-wide phenomenon.
- By exporting security, the US and the rest of the Core benefit from increased trade, increased international investment, and other benefits."
Barnett has already written a sequal entitled Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating (Amazon.com Link). I'll plan to read that one as well in the not too distant future.
All in all, the Core-Gap thesis appears to be a sound way of describing the current dichotomous nature of the world. It is also a positive outlook toward a "future worth creating" where all people are free to choose their level of connectivity with globalization and the global economy as a whole.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Activities of the Past Few Days
I heard this interesting anecdote this morning about Rudyard Kipling (a British author born in India; one of the most popular writers in English, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907):
At the height of Rudyard Kipling's popularity, he is said to have earned about $1 a word (around $20 today). This inspired a certain autograph hound, who had been unsuccessful in obtaining the great man's signature, to try again. He sent off a letter that he was sure would produce the desired result: "I see you get $1 a word for your writing. I enclose a check for $1. Please send me a sample." The writer replied by postcard -- unsigned: "Thanks."
Anyway, I thought that was humorous.
Well, the past few days have been absolutely beautiful - warm and sunny! Friday afternoon, my brother, mom, and I helped get my grandparents Christmas decorations out of their attic (we would return on Saturday to help them finish the decorating process). Friday night I went to a football game at the high school I graduated from. We won 39 to 14. The MTV television trucks were there in full force filming the second season of their reality TV series "Two-A-Days". I ran into several people I attended high school with - along with some of the band directors (I was in the band). It was interesting to find out what some of them are up to these days, and what some of their family members are now doing.
Saturday, we visited a friend who works at Radio Shack and made a purchase from them to help their commission. Then went to grandparents and helped them finish decorating for Christmas. Had dinner there as well - a friend brought them a huge pan of fettucini alfredo, salad, and bread. Saturday evening I started researching and writing a paper thats due Monday evening - I know, I'm a procrastinator. But I always get the job done, and I get it done well. Grades always turn out fantastic anyway.
Went to church this morning, played in the orchestra. Had lunch at grandparents (more noodles), boiled potato with sour cream, and apple salad. Then I worked more on the research paper. All afternoon was spent in orchestra/choir rehearsal at church for our Christmas programs which are next Sunday. After that, I had a steak dinner at my family's house. Then, I returned to my apartment to finish the research paper, which I just completed.
I'm getting up real early in the morning to play in a brass quintet on a local radio program to advertise for our Christmas programs. That should be fun and exciting, and I'm looking forward to it!
At the height of Rudyard Kipling's popularity, he is said to have earned about $1 a word (around $20 today). This inspired a certain autograph hound, who had been unsuccessful in obtaining the great man's signature, to try again. He sent off a letter that he was sure would produce the desired result: "I see you get $1 a word for your writing. I enclose a check for $1. Please send me a sample." The writer replied by postcard -- unsigned: "Thanks."
Anyway, I thought that was humorous.
Well, the past few days have been absolutely beautiful - warm and sunny! Friday afternoon, my brother, mom, and I helped get my grandparents Christmas decorations out of their attic (we would return on Saturday to help them finish the decorating process). Friday night I went to a football game at the high school I graduated from. We won 39 to 14. The MTV television trucks were there in full force filming the second season of their reality TV series "Two-A-Days". I ran into several people I attended high school with - along with some of the band directors (I was in the band). It was interesting to find out what some of them are up to these days, and what some of their family members are now doing.
Saturday, we visited a friend who works at Radio Shack and made a purchase from them to help their commission. Then went to grandparents and helped them finish decorating for Christmas. Had dinner there as well - a friend brought them a huge pan of fettucini alfredo, salad, and bread. Saturday evening I started researching and writing a paper thats due Monday evening - I know, I'm a procrastinator. But I always get the job done, and I get it done well. Grades always turn out fantastic anyway.
Went to church this morning, played in the orchestra. Had lunch at grandparents (more noodles), boiled potato with sour cream, and apple salad. Then I worked more on the research paper. All afternoon was spent in orchestra/choir rehearsal at church for our Christmas programs which are next Sunday. After that, I had a steak dinner at my family's house. Then, I returned to my apartment to finish the research paper, which I just completed.
I'm getting up real early in the morning to play in a brass quintet on a local radio program to advertise for our Christmas programs. That should be fun and exciting, and I'm looking forward to it!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Thanksgiving
Well, I certainly had a fun and filling Thanksgiving Day. Although Thanksgiving for us is typically held at the grandparents house, an aunt and uncle (mom's brother) decided to have it at their place this year. Now, this aunt isn't particularly a very friendly aunt to the rest of the extended family (or in general supposedly - I mean, the lady had their little Yorkie put to sleep for no good reason the other day). The uncle is always nice to all of us, but their kids weren't very talkative around the rest of us or the other cousins either. My youngest brother (another younger brother couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving) a couple of other cousins, and I all had a great conversation over lunch, but the kids of the aunt who lived there didn't seem to chime in at all. I tried to include them, but it didn't really work. Are we not good enough for their level of sophistication?
The lunch consisted of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, jello salad, sweet potato casserole, chicken dressing, rolls, and pecan pie, coconut cake, and cheesecake for dessert. After the meal, we saw the aunt pouring the leftover sweet potato casserole down the disposal in the kitchen sink. As if no one else wanted to eat any leftovers? There's always room for leftovers eventually - that's one of the grand things about holiday meals! I would have taken them with me and ate them later if no one else wanted them (which was not the case of course). She just doesn't like sweet potatoes apparently. Oh well. At any rate, people usually leisurely hang around after a Holiday meal when it is elsewhere. Well, not here. Not an hour or so had gone by before it was "time to leave". It was just as well though. We took my grandparents back to their house before heading home ourselves and taking naps.
Well, this evening after napping a while, we went to try to go see the new James Bond movie - "Casino Royale" - but it was sold out. So we then went to visit another aunt and uncle (mom's youngest brother) and their family. After staying there a while and eating a piece of cheesecake, we went to catch a later showing of James Bond at a different theater. When walking into the actual room we ran into another cousin and one of his friends. I thought they had gone out of town to have Thanksgiving with their dad's mother, but apparently, as it turns out, they had just had it at their house so they wouldn't have to be around this particular "aunt". hmm...interesting I would say.
I really enjoyed the James Bond movie, and usually always like films of that genre. I like the action and intrigue and also the flitting around from one country after another (i.e. traveling, which I love of course). Speaking of movies, I saw a preview for the fifth Harry Potter movie the other day ("The Order of the Phoenix"), which is due out next July I believe. I absolutely love reading those books, and have thoroughly enjoyed the films as well - and will certainly be looking forward to this one.
Anyway, I'm not planning to get out in the mad rush of day after Thanksgiving shoppers in the morning. I think we'll stay around here and decorate the house for Christmas.
The lunch consisted of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, jello salad, sweet potato casserole, chicken dressing, rolls, and pecan pie, coconut cake, and cheesecake for dessert. After the meal, we saw the aunt pouring the leftover sweet potato casserole down the disposal in the kitchen sink. As if no one else wanted to eat any leftovers? There's always room for leftovers eventually - that's one of the grand things about holiday meals! I would have taken them with me and ate them later if no one else wanted them (which was not the case of course). She just doesn't like sweet potatoes apparently. Oh well. At any rate, people usually leisurely hang around after a Holiday meal when it is elsewhere. Well, not here. Not an hour or so had gone by before it was "time to leave". It was just as well though. We took my grandparents back to their house before heading home ourselves and taking naps.
Well, this evening after napping a while, we went to try to go see the new James Bond movie - "Casino Royale" - but it was sold out. So we then went to visit another aunt and uncle (mom's youngest brother) and their family. After staying there a while and eating a piece of cheesecake, we went to catch a later showing of James Bond at a different theater. When walking into the actual room we ran into another cousin and one of his friends. I thought they had gone out of town to have Thanksgiving with their dad's mother, but apparently, as it turns out, they had just had it at their house so they wouldn't have to be around this particular "aunt". hmm...interesting I would say.
I really enjoyed the James Bond movie, and usually always like films of that genre. I like the action and intrigue and also the flitting around from one country after another (i.e. traveling, which I love of course). Speaking of movies, I saw a preview for the fifth Harry Potter movie the other day ("The Order of the Phoenix"), which is due out next July I believe. I absolutely love reading those books, and have thoroughly enjoyed the films as well - and will certainly be looking forward to this one.
Anyway, I'm not planning to get out in the mad rush of day after Thanksgiving shoppers in the morning. I think we'll stay around here and decorate the house for Christmas.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Past Travels
Just to go ahead and throw this out there - I love to travel. I try to travel as often as I can (or can afford), and would probably travel most anywhere given the opportunity. With that in mind I offer the following maps:
These are the countries I've visited thusfar:
create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands
and the U.S. states I've traveled to:
create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.
First Post
Well, here's another blog to add to the vast array already out there floating around the internet. I don't really have much to say at the moment, so I don't even know why I created this thing. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Thanksgiving will be here in a couple of days. Always a fun day - lots of good food. My roommates and I and several friends prepared a large "Thanksgiving" meal this past Saturday evening. I successfully cooked a turkey for the first time. Other dishes I prepared were sausage balls, green bean casserole, french onion dip, and cream corn. Other dishes we had were: vegetable casserole, chicken dressing, cornbread salad, sweet potato casserole, turnip greens, squash casserole, deviled eggs, hashbrown casserole, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice cake, pecan & cranberry pie, an assortment of white and milk chocolate covered desserts, sweet tea, ...
Everyone who showed up seemed to enjoy it. Although, half the people we invited (and planned the date around) decided not to show up at the last minute, which seemed a little rude to me. Oh well, thats how people can be I guess. I don't think I'll ever understand them? But there were plenty of leftovers to eat off of for days.
I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. Already, I'm realizing why I decided to go to graduate school and why I am so looking forward to start working on a Ph.D. in geography somewhere next fall. Anyway, this job involves staring at a computer screen all day, right hand latched onto a mouse - I can't imagine doing that for any extended amount of time. Data collection and updating databases, statistics, GIS, geocoding, and research are all involved. But, it pays the bills.
Someone sent me one of those "forwarded" emails the other day as many people often do. This particular one actually made me mad for some reason. Here is what the forward said (sorry it looks all garbled up, but you get the gist):
"> "What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your> gift> > to God."> > Danish proverb
>>>> > >The way it should be> > >Good morning> > >Welcome to the United States of America> > >Press "1" for English> > >Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.> > >> > > >Subject: FW: SOCIAL SECURITY> > > >> > > >My mom was a homemaker and dad worked all his life and> > > >paid into SS, dad> > > >has passed away and now my mom can barely make ends> > > >meet. While the> > > >possible "illegal" alien in front of her at the> > > >grocery store buys the> > > >name brands, my mom goes for the generic brands, and> > > >day old breads. She> > > >doesn't have out of state calling on her phone,> > > >because she can't afford> > > >it and shops at the thrift shops and dollar stores> > > >while the "illegal"> > > >aliens go to Macy's, Gap, J.C. Penny, Banana Republic,> > > >etc. She> > > >considers having a pizza delivered once a week "eating> > > >out". She grew up> > > >during the depression, watched her husband go overseas> > > >to fight in WW II> > > >a year after their marriage, and then they went on to> > > >raise, feed and> > > >clothe 5 children, scrounging to pay tuition for> > > >parochial schools. I'm> > > >sorry, but I can't see how the Senate can justify this> > > >slap in the face> > > >to born and bred!, or naturalized citizens. It is> > > >already impossible to> > > >live on Social Security alone. If they give Benefits> > > >to "illegal" aliens> > > >who have never contributed, where does that leave us> > > >that have paid into> > > >Social Security all our working lives? The Senate> > > >voted this week to> > > >allow "illegal" aliens access to Social Security> > > >Benefits. Attached is> > > >an opportunity to sign a petition That requires> > > >citizenship for> > > >eligibility to receive social services. If you do not> > > >wish to sign the> > > >petition yourself, please forward on to anyone you> > > >think might be> > > >interested.> > > >> > > >PETITION FOR: President Bush> > > >> > > >Mr. President:> > > >The petition below is a protest against the recent> > > >vote of the senate> > > >which was to allow illegal aliens access to our social> > > >security! We> > > >demand that you and all congressional representatives> > > >require> > > >citizenship for anyone to Be eligible for social> > > >services in the United> > > >States. "
--and then a list of almost 500 names made up the rest of the email, followed by this statement:
"> > > >If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we> > > >will lose all> > > >these names. If you do not want to sign it, please> > > >just> > > >forward it to anyone who might want a voice. Thank> > > >you!!!> > > >> > > >To add your name, click on "forward". You will be able> > > >to add> > > >your name at the bottom of the list and then forward> > > >it to your> > > >friends.> > > >> > > >I just copied it and pasted it to a new email - then I> > > >was> > > >able to add my name.> > > >> > > >> > > >THE 1,000TH PERSON SEND IT ON TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL> > > >ADDRESS:> > > >President@WhiteHouse.gov"
Was I justified in getting angry over it? I started to write a response and "Reply to all" that it was sent to, but then decided against it because it probably would have just gone over their heads anyway. Who Knows. That type of stuff just serves to provoke narrow-mindedness about things and people and cultural differences. But you can't try to tell some people anything that goes against what they think about things.
Anyway, the following is what I felt inclined to write down after reading it:
"My, My. I sure feel so sorry for this poor unfortunate old lady. But if she really is this destitute, why is she solely relying on Social Security? Why isn't she out looking for a job to help support herself? Did her five children suddenly abandon her as well? Surely at least one of them made something of him or herself and could help support her if she raised them properly. I also find it hard to believe that (up until last week) a majority republican Senate would be considering enacting legislation that would give the same benefits to undocumented immigrants that U.S. citizens receive. Remember, this is the same senate that voted recently to use your tax dollars (that could be much better spent elsewhere) to construct a 2,000 mile long wall along the entire length of the U.S./Mexico border (never mind the fact that throughout history "walls" have always failed - Berlin wall, iron curtain, Israel/Palestine wall, etc...). This is the same Senate that voted to make it a felony to have any interaction with undocumented immigrants. I just find it hard to believe that this senate would also be considering legislation giving Social security benefits to undocumented persons.Maybe if this lady needs more help we could all vote to raise taxes to have more funds to put into Social Security. Or, we could reallocate funds from the already poorly funded education system to help this lady out (I doubt congress would allow a decrease to the defense budget at all for the same purpose - we have a war in Iraq to pay for you know). Last time I checked, I didn't notice too many "illegal" immigrants shopping at high end stores - they really can't afford to, but at least they are working to support themselves and their families back home in their origin countries. And most do pay taxes in one form or another. Most work long hours day to day in low-wage jobs such as construction and landscaping in cities, or agriculture and food processing in rural areas. You won't find as many Americans doing these jobs anymore because they can't get paid as much as they want to, but they also want cheap goods and services which requires someone to perform low-wage jobs to produce those low-cost goods and services. I would also like to point out here that, from direct personal observation on my part, the poorest of the poor in America are far wealthier than a lot of people around this world. I'm beginning to wonder about Americans in general. Most act so entitled and self-centered about everything, always coming up with excuses and blaming others for their own shortcomings. And they worry and fret over the stupidest things. Most have absolutely no earthly idea of the horrors that many people in this world go through on a daily basis. Many Americans could do with a good eye-opening!"
People are funny! Anyway, that's about all I have to say right now.
Thanksgiving will be here in a couple of days. Always a fun day - lots of good food. My roommates and I and several friends prepared a large "Thanksgiving" meal this past Saturday evening. I successfully cooked a turkey for the first time. Other dishes I prepared were sausage balls, green bean casserole, french onion dip, and cream corn. Other dishes we had were: vegetable casserole, chicken dressing, cornbread salad, sweet potato casserole, turnip greens, squash casserole, deviled eggs, hashbrown casserole, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice cake, pecan & cranberry pie, an assortment of white and milk chocolate covered desserts, sweet tea, ...
Everyone who showed up seemed to enjoy it. Although, half the people we invited (and planned the date around) decided not to show up at the last minute, which seemed a little rude to me. Oh well, thats how people can be I guess. I don't think I'll ever understand them? But there were plenty of leftovers to eat off of for days.
I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. Already, I'm realizing why I decided to go to graduate school and why I am so looking forward to start working on a Ph.D. in geography somewhere next fall. Anyway, this job involves staring at a computer screen all day, right hand latched onto a mouse - I can't imagine doing that for any extended amount of time. Data collection and updating databases, statistics, GIS, geocoding, and research are all involved. But, it pays the bills.
Someone sent me one of those "forwarded" emails the other day as many people often do. This particular one actually made me mad for some reason. Here is what the forward said (sorry it looks all garbled up, but you get the gist):
"> "What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your> gift> > to God."> > Danish proverb
>>>> > >The way it should be> > >Good morning> > >Welcome to the United States of America> > >Press "1" for English> > >Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.> > >> > > >Subject: FW: SOCIAL SECURITY> > > >> > > >My mom was a homemaker and dad worked all his life and> > > >paid into SS, dad> > > >has passed away and now my mom can barely make ends> > > >meet. While the> > > >possible "illegal" alien in front of her at the> > > >grocery store buys the> > > >name brands, my mom goes for the generic brands, and> > > >day old breads. She> > > >doesn't have out of state calling on her phone,> > > >because she can't afford> > > >it and shops at the thrift shops and dollar stores> > > >while the "illegal"> > > >aliens go to Macy's, Gap, J.C. Penny, Banana Republic,> > > >etc. She> > > >considers having a pizza delivered once a week "eating> > > >out". She grew up> > > >during the depression, watched her husband go overseas> > > >to fight in WW II> > > >a year after their marriage, and then they went on to> > > >raise, feed and> > > >clothe 5 children, scrounging to pay tuition for> > > >parochial schools. I'm> > > >sorry, but I can't see how the Senate can justify this> > > >slap in the face> > > >to born and bred!, or naturalized citizens. It is> > > >already impossible to> > > >live on Social Security alone. If they give Benefits> > > >to "illegal" aliens> > > >who have never contributed, where does that leave us> > > >that have paid into> > > >Social Security all our working lives? The Senate> > > >voted this week to> > > >allow "illegal" aliens access to Social Security> > > >Benefits. Attached is> > > >an opportunity to sign a petition That requires> > > >citizenship for> > > >eligibility to receive social services. If you do not> > > >wish to sign the> > > >petition yourself, please forward on to anyone you> > > >think might be> > > >interested.> > > >> > > >PETITION FOR: President Bush> > > >> > > >Mr. President:> > > >The petition below is a protest against the recent> > > >vote of the senate> > > >which was to allow illegal aliens access to our social> > > >security! We> > > >demand that you and all congressional representatives> > > >require> > > >citizenship for anyone to Be eligible for social> > > >services in the United> > > >States. "
--and then a list of almost 500 names made up the rest of the email, followed by this statement:
"> > > >If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we> > > >will lose all> > > >these names. If you do not want to sign it, please> > > >just> > > >forward it to anyone who might want a voice. Thank> > > >you!!!> > > >> > > >To add your name, click on "forward". You will be able> > > >to add> > > >your name at the bottom of the list and then forward> > > >it to your> > > >friends.> > > >> > > >I just copied it and pasted it to a new email - then I> > > >was> > > >able to add my name.> > > >> > > >> > > >THE 1,000TH PERSON SEND IT ON TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL> > > >ADDRESS:> > > >President@WhiteHouse.gov"
Was I justified in getting angry over it? I started to write a response and "Reply to all" that it was sent to, but then decided against it because it probably would have just gone over their heads anyway. Who Knows. That type of stuff just serves to provoke narrow-mindedness about things and people and cultural differences. But you can't try to tell some people anything that goes against what they think about things.
Anyway, the following is what I felt inclined to write down after reading it:
"My, My. I sure feel so sorry for this poor unfortunate old lady. But if she really is this destitute, why is she solely relying on Social Security? Why isn't she out looking for a job to help support herself? Did her five children suddenly abandon her as well? Surely at least one of them made something of him or herself and could help support her if she raised them properly. I also find it hard to believe that (up until last week) a majority republican Senate would be considering enacting legislation that would give the same benefits to undocumented immigrants that U.S. citizens receive. Remember, this is the same senate that voted recently to use your tax dollars (that could be much better spent elsewhere) to construct a 2,000 mile long wall along the entire length of the U.S./Mexico border (never mind the fact that throughout history "walls" have always failed - Berlin wall, iron curtain, Israel/Palestine wall, etc...). This is the same Senate that voted to make it a felony to have any interaction with undocumented immigrants. I just find it hard to believe that this senate would also be considering legislation giving Social security benefits to undocumented persons.Maybe if this lady needs more help we could all vote to raise taxes to have more funds to put into Social Security. Or, we could reallocate funds from the already poorly funded education system to help this lady out (I doubt congress would allow a decrease to the defense budget at all for the same purpose - we have a war in Iraq to pay for you know). Last time I checked, I didn't notice too many "illegal" immigrants shopping at high end stores - they really can't afford to, but at least they are working to support themselves and their families back home in their origin countries. And most do pay taxes in one form or another. Most work long hours day to day in low-wage jobs such as construction and landscaping in cities, or agriculture and food processing in rural areas. You won't find as many Americans doing these jobs anymore because they can't get paid as much as they want to, but they also want cheap goods and services which requires someone to perform low-wage jobs to produce those low-cost goods and services. I would also like to point out here that, from direct personal observation on my part, the poorest of the poor in America are far wealthier than a lot of people around this world. I'm beginning to wonder about Americans in general. Most act so entitled and self-centered about everything, always coming up with excuses and blaming others for their own shortcomings. And they worry and fret over the stupidest things. Most have absolutely no earthly idea of the horrors that many people in this world go through on a daily basis. Many Americans could do with a good eye-opening!"
People are funny! Anyway, that's about all I have to say right now.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Yay, I'm Still a French Horn
In light of many people beginning band camp around this time of year (I'm having to live vicariously through others), I thought this interesting:
You scored as French Horn. French Horn, eh? go practice. right now.
French Horn | 75% | ||
Oboe | 75% | ||
Tuba | 75% | ||
Trombone | 67% | ||
Viola | 50% | ||
Violin | 50% | ||
Clarinet | 42% | ||
Bassoon | 42% | ||
String Bass | 33% | ||
Trumpet | 25% | ||
Flute | 25% | ||
Cello | 25% | ||
Percussion | 8% |
If you were in an orchestra, what instrument would match your personality?
created with QuizFarm.com
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Lists
There is a large thunderstorm underway outside right now.
Well, you'd think after five weeks of being away from working on thesis revisions that I would naturally be able to jump right in and get the thing finished. I'm finding procrastination to be a difficult thing to conquer. Oh well.
On one of the train rides a couple of weeks ago, I think from Cusco to Puno, Peru, about 10 hours, James and I were making some lists of various things while passing the time (favorite books, books read just this year, places in the world we want to visit/travel to in the future but haven't yet, etc.).
Specific places or areas I would like to visit in the future (but haven't already):
-Ruins of Pompeii (near Naples, Italy)
-Amalfi Coast (near Naples, Italy)
-(well, much of Italy, really - Venice, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Sicily, and aforementioned)
-Greece
-Other places in Mediterranean Europe
-Various places in and around the Alps in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria
-Black Forest and Bavaria in Germany
-Lands End (UK)
-More of Ireland
-Iguasu Falls (Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil)
-Hawaii (specifically Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, and Haleakala National Park on Maui, well and much of the rest of the state too of course)
-Alaska (many places really - Glacier Bay, Anchorage, Fairbanks - Dad was born near there, Mt. McKinley - Denali, Alaska Marine Highway, AlCan Highway, etc.)
-Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
-More of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Bali, Vietnam, etc.)
-Taj Mahal, Varanasi, and Rajasthan (India)
-Pyramids of Giza and other ruins (Egypt)
-Huangshan scenic mountain area (China)
-Karst landscapes of Guangxi Province near Guilin (China)
-Great Wall of China (well, much more of China in general - Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Yangtze River area, etc.)
-Acadia National Park (Maine), and other parts of New England
-Prince Edward Island and Atlantic Canada
-Japan (Mt. Fuji, and many other areas)
-Easter Island (owned by Chile)
-Galapagos Islands (owned by Ecuador)
-Australia and New Zealand
-Islands of the South Pacific
-More places/islands in the Caribbean
-Central American countries
-Turkey
-The Holy Land
-Chile and Argentina (various places)
-Iceland
-Scandinavia
-Central Europe
Okay, well I might be getting carried away. But, there are probably many other places that I would want to add to this list but haven't thought of them at the moment. I've just been stricken by wanderlust for a very long time. I don't know why. But I don't mind it either. Maybe its part of being a geographer too.
Countries I've already been to:
-Much of the United States
-Canada (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia provinces)
-Mexico (Sonora, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Morelos, Puebla, Guerrero, and Oaxaca states)
-United Kingdom (London, England, Scotland)
-Ireland
-France
-Belgium
-The Netherlands
-Germany
-The Caribbean (U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas, French West Indies, Netherlands Antilles)
-Hong Kong (formerly British, now part of China)
-Macau (formerly Portuguese, now part of China)
-China (Hainan and Guangdong provinces)
-Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai)
-Burma
-India (West Bengal and Orissa states)
-Ecuador
-Peru
-Bolivia
-Japan (just transiting twice, though)
Well, you'd think after five weeks of being away from working on thesis revisions that I would naturally be able to jump right in and get the thing finished. I'm finding procrastination to be a difficult thing to conquer. Oh well.
On one of the train rides a couple of weeks ago, I think from Cusco to Puno, Peru, about 10 hours, James and I were making some lists of various things while passing the time (favorite books, books read just this year, places in the world we want to visit/travel to in the future but haven't yet, etc.).
Specific places or areas I would like to visit in the future (but haven't already):
-Ruins of Pompeii (near Naples, Italy)
-Amalfi Coast (near Naples, Italy)
-(well, much of Italy, really - Venice, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Sicily, and aforementioned)
-Greece
-Other places in Mediterranean Europe
-Various places in and around the Alps in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria
-Black Forest and Bavaria in Germany
-Lands End (UK)
-More of Ireland
-Iguasu Falls (Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil)
-Hawaii (specifically Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, and Haleakala National Park on Maui, well and much of the rest of the state too of course)
-Alaska (many places really - Glacier Bay, Anchorage, Fairbanks - Dad was born near there, Mt. McKinley - Denali, Alaska Marine Highway, AlCan Highway, etc.)
-Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
-More of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Bali, Vietnam, etc.)
-Taj Mahal, Varanasi, and Rajasthan (India)
-Pyramids of Giza and other ruins (Egypt)
-Huangshan scenic mountain area (China)
-Karst landscapes of Guangxi Province near Guilin (China)
-Great Wall of China (well, much more of China in general - Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Yangtze River area, etc.)
-Acadia National Park (Maine), and other parts of New England
-Prince Edward Island and Atlantic Canada
-Japan (Mt. Fuji, and many other areas)
-Easter Island (owned by Chile)
-Galapagos Islands (owned by Ecuador)
-Australia and New Zealand
-Islands of the South Pacific
-More places/islands in the Caribbean
-Central American countries
-Turkey
-The Holy Land
-Chile and Argentina (various places)
-Iceland
-Scandinavia
-Central Europe
Okay, well I might be getting carried away. But, there are probably many other places that I would want to add to this list but haven't thought of them at the moment. I've just been stricken by wanderlust for a very long time. I don't know why. But I don't mind it either. Maybe its part of being a geographer too.
Countries I've already been to:
-Much of the United States
-Canada (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia provinces)
-Mexico (Sonora, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Morelos, Puebla, Guerrero, and Oaxaca states)
-United Kingdom (London, England, Scotland)
-Ireland
-France
-Belgium
-The Netherlands
-Germany
-The Caribbean (U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas, French West Indies, Netherlands Antilles)
-Hong Kong (formerly British, now part of China)
-Macau (formerly Portuguese, now part of China)
-China (Hainan and Guangdong provinces)
-Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai)
-Burma
-India (West Bengal and Orissa states)
-Ecuador
-Peru
-Bolivia
-Japan (just transiting twice, though)
Home Again
Well, my brother James and I arrived home safely around 1:00 am Sunday morning from our five week adventure in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico. It was quite an amazing journey - volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and all. I've posted some backdated entries of some emails I sent out throughout the trip if anyone would like to read about some of the things we did and saw.
I think we spent much more time in airports (Mexico City and Atlanta) Saturday afternoon and evening than we actually did flying between the two cities (about a 3 hour flight). Security was very tight on both ends. Getting on the plane, everyone and everything was hand searched and absolutely nothing even resembling a liquid or a gel was allowed. I even saw women having to throw away their lipstick before getting on board. The line for immigration in Atlanta was very long as usual - took over an hour. Then we were re-screened through another security checkpoint in order to ride the train from the international concourse to the main terminal to collect our luggage, which didn't emerge until probably an hour and a half later.
At any rate, its always fun to go and see other places, but its always nice to arrive back to home sweet home as well. But, there's a lot of the world left to see! As one of my geography professors told me: "I'm pleased it [your journey] is going well, and especially that you are following a time-honored tradition among serious geographers - getting yourself out into the real world and making direct observations about the land and peoples of our fascinating world."
I think we spent much more time in airports (Mexico City and Atlanta) Saturday afternoon and evening than we actually did flying between the two cities (about a 3 hour flight). Security was very tight on both ends. Getting on the plane, everyone and everything was hand searched and absolutely nothing even resembling a liquid or a gel was allowed. I even saw women having to throw away their lipstick before getting on board. The line for immigration in Atlanta was very long as usual - took over an hour. Then we were re-screened through another security checkpoint in order to ride the train from the international concourse to the main terminal to collect our luggage, which didn't emerge until probably an hour and a half later.
At any rate, its always fun to go and see other places, but its always nice to arrive back to home sweet home as well. But, there's a lot of the world left to see! As one of my geography professors told me: "I'm pleased it [your journey] is going well, and especially that you are following a time-honored tradition among serious geographers - getting yourself out into the real world and making direct observations about the land and peoples of our fascinating world."
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Earthquake in Mexico City
Well, around 9:30 AM we experienced an earthquake here in Mexico City. We were still in the hotel room - James was about to take a shower and I was sitting on the bed watching the news. I suddenly felt a peculiar sensation, as if things were moving. I stood up and the rocking motion continued. It felt like things were moving from side to side and frontwards and backwards at the same time. I called to James in the bathroom, "James, do you feel that...I think we{re having an earthquake!" After he came out of the bathroom, I was still feeling the movement. We saw the window curtains swaying back and forth as well. Then, the quake began to subside. I assumed it wasn{t too bad because, well, the building was still standing and the electricity and water were still on, and no gas smells or anything like that. About 10 or 15 minutes later, in between news from Israel/Lebanon, and London, there was a brief snippet interjected on CNN, "This just in, we{ve just received word of a large earthquake near Mexico City. The Mexican Geological Survey is still trying to determine the magnitude." It was on the local news again much evening. We later learned the quake registered a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter Scale. The U.S. Geological Survey later assigned a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter was about 125 miles west southwest of Mexico City. It turns out though that there really was no damage and thankfully no one was hurt. So, we're all okay. An interesting experience though. We've now seen a large volcanic eruption in Ecuador on this trip (Volcan Tungurahua, which cause evacuations in the towns nearby), and now have experienced a moderate earthquake.
Here is some information about the earthquake:
CNN - Quake Rocks Mexico City
USGS - Magnitude 6.1, Guerrero, Mexico
After all that, we had breakfast, and then traveled south to Cuernavaca to visit my host family from when I studied Spanish at Universidad Internacional there for six weeks last summer. It was very pleasant to visit with them and see them again. We all had lunch together around 3:00 in the afternoon at their home. After looking around the center of Cuernavaca a while, and eating some delicious ice cream, as well as tacos al pastor, we went back to their home, said our goodbyes, and then made our way back to Mexico City.
We're getting our luggage rearranged now due to the new restrictions because of the terrorist threat from London that occurred yesterday. Tomorrow afternoon we takeoff around 3:30 for Atlanta (about a 3 hour flight). Looking forward to returning home after 5 weeks of traveling around 4 countries.
Hope you all are doing well. Take Care!
Here is some information about the earthquake:
CNN - Quake Rocks Mexico City
USGS - Magnitude 6.1, Guerrero, Mexico
After all that, we had breakfast, and then traveled south to Cuernavaca to visit my host family from when I studied Spanish at Universidad Internacional there for six weeks last summer. It was very pleasant to visit with them and see them again. We all had lunch together around 3:00 in the afternoon at their home. After looking around the center of Cuernavaca a while, and eating some delicious ice cream, as well as tacos al pastor, we went back to their home, said our goodbyes, and then made our way back to Mexico City.
We're getting our luggage rearranged now due to the new restrictions because of the terrorist threat from London that occurred yesterday. Tomorrow afternoon we takeoff around 3:30 for Atlanta (about a 3 hour flight). Looking forward to returning home after 5 weeks of traveling around 4 countries.
Hope you all are doing well. Take Care!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Buenas Noches en la Ciudad de Mexico
Well, we´re still trying to recover from lack of sleep - so we slept quite late today. Then had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, then booked a tour for tomorrow to go to the Teotihuacan pyramids outside of the city (as well as to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the Plaza of 3 Cultures). This afternoon, we rode the subway to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia and spent several hours there. It is a huge and very well designed museum, with different rooms for the different cultures of Mesoamerica. Also noticed while walking around near the Museum, and near Chapultepec Park (largest park in the city), that the Paseo de la Reforma, the widest and main rode through the city, was completely closed off because of the protestors and demonstrations that had situated themselves on the road. Then we rode back to the center of the city and went up to the top of the Latin American Tower for a beautiful 360 degree view of the city, the Valley of Mexico, and the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. There were patches of rain here and there off in the distance, a rainbow, and the sun beginning to set. After descending, we walked to Chinatown and ate dinner there. I think we´ll go to bed pretty soon because we´ll get up early for the tour to the pyramids. I was able to get in touch with my mexican host family and we´ll plan to visit them at their home in Cuernavaca on Friday. They sounded excited to hear from me, and it will be neat to get to visit with them again.Well, I guess that's about it for now. Hope ya´ll have a great night and a great Thursday!
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Hola from La Ciudad de Mexico
Well, we made it safely to Mexico City, landing around 6:00 am this morning, after leaving Lima around 12:15 am. I really didnt sleep on the flight at all (I have a hard time with that on airplanes for some reason). We flew past a lot of lightning storms once we got over Mexico, so that was interesting looking out the window at those. It took about an hour and a half to go through immigration because it was so crowded. We finally arrived at our hotel without any transit delays around 7:30 am and immediately went to sleep for a while. The protests and demonstrations appear to be completely nonviolent and passive. Many tents and sitting areas are set up on the Plaza de la Independencia and along one of the main roads leading to the plaza, which seems to be the only road closed off. Other than that things seem to be running smoothely. We walked around a while all afternoon after a late lunch, and just now finished eating dinner. Probably will go to bed soon - missing a whole night of sleep doesnt feel all that great. Tomorrow I think we'll go to the National Anthropology Museum. Thursday or Friday we'll go to Cuernavaca to visit my host family. The day we don't go we'll go to the Teotihuacan pyramids outside of the city. Its been pretty rainy here today, but a nice change from the dry Andes.
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Hola from Arequipa, Peru
Hello Everyone!Here´s another update of what my brother James and I have been up to over the past few days in South America if you´re interested.Our time in La Paz, Bolivia, the highest capital city in the world at almost 13,000 ft. above sea level I think, has now come and gone. We arrived Tuesday night and left Thursday afternoon heading back in to Peru. Our hotel is in an old colonial home and is very nice. Slept late Wednesday morning for a change (have been up at 5:00 am or earlier every day for the past week). Had a nice pizza for lunch, then walked around in the "Witch´s Market", one block from our hotel, where all sorts of strange objects and concoctions are for sale, including dried llamas to be placed in the foundations of new buildings for luck. Wednesday afternoon we took a city tour: saw a variety of neighborhoods including wealthy and not so wealthy, the main plaza and cathedral (apparently, in 2003, a shootout between the police and the army occurred here), the valley of the moon (strange rock formations due to erosion), and drove up to a panoramic vista of the entire city and distant snowcapped peaks. Then we went to a dinner folkloric show that evening. We left La Paz Thursday afternoon at 3:30 pm for Arequipa, Peru, and arrived there around 3:30 am Friday morning.The train ride monday was nice, and met some nice people from Italy who sat next to us. I was amazed at the amount of their Italian I could understand, even though I´ve never studied it - I guess Spanish and Italian have many similarities. We saw some interesting scenery and small villages as we rode through the Altiplano high in the Andes. The highest point the train passed through was around 14,500 ft. above sea level. Spent monday night in the railway hotel in Puno. Tuesday morning we were picked up early for our transit tour to La Paz. Throughout the day we saw many interesting sights on and around Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake at 12,500 ft. Walking across the Peru/Bolivia border was easy. The town of Copacabana, Bolivia, where we got aboard the catamaran to go to the Sun Island and cross the lake, is interesting and picturesque. Bolivia is gearing up for their independence day celebrations, which is on August 6 (Peru´s is on July 28 - and we saw a lot of preparations for that, although we were traveling back from the jungle on the actual day). Anyway, the sun island is in a microclimate and has gardens with all sorts of flowers, plants, and vegetables. Got to interact with some llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas, as well as participate in some spiritual ceremony involving offerings to "Pachamama" or "Mother Earth". The whole tour was very interesting and we learned a lot. We also met some nice people traveling with us from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a mother and son from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a couple from Birmingham (Birmingham, England, that is). We exchanged stories about each of our respective Birminghams. The guide, Gloria, from La Paz, was really intersting and funny as well.At any rate, James and I arrived in Arequipa around 3:30 am this morning. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru, with around 1.5 million. The hotel is quite nice (someone from the hotel met us at the bus station early in the morning). Once we were up and about today, one of the young hotel workers walked with us to the main plaza of the city, and, while sitting on the steps leading up to the cathedral, we helped him with some English homework he is working on for his English class, which he was going to this afternoon. He then helped us book a tour to the Colca Canyon: We get picked up from the hotel at 2:00 am Saturday morning, visit the Colca Canyon (one of the deepest in the world), see the giant condors, see some villages, and return to Arequipa between 5:00-6:00 pm. Then, we have bus tickets to Lima - the bus departs around 9:00 pm saturday night, and arrives Lima sometime the next day. We´ll stay at the youth hostel in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima Sunday night. Monday night, we head to the Lima airport for a flight to Mexico City just after midnight Tuesday morning.After all the bookings, we ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, then visited a large monastery with many brightly painted, winding passages and rooms. There is a nice view of the city, the snowcapped mountains, and the towering volcano "El Misti" from a lookout point on top of one of the buildings. Then we looked around in the main cathedral. After that had some fruit juice and bread, now are here checking email. I think we´ll look for dinner soon, then head back to the hotel to get some rest before our extremely early departure (2:00 am) to the Colca Canyon. The adventure continues!I hope you all have a great weekend. Take Care!
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