What up GANGSTAAA
- I can't wait for Xanga to come back to life. The suspense of the entries I haven't been able to read is killing me. Also, I'm counting on plenty of angry postings to follow, like "XANGA SUCKS" in flashing red size 24 font, or other entertaining shows of disgust.
- Sox and Cubs are both 1 1/2 games back from making the playoffs. This would be an awesome time for both teams to go on a tear, and ultimately meet each other in the World Series. Or am I just living in a world of delusion?
- It seems like all of my 40-something managers have shoulder problems of some sort. I'm not looking forward to being 40-something.
- Literally every morning of this week, the first video I saw when I woke up and turned on MTV was Linkin Park's 'Faint'. It really seems like each week, they decide on the one video they are gonna show in the morning when I wake up. Last week, it was Fabolous feat. Tamia, the week before that was Beyonce, and the week before that was Justin Timberlake.
- I've been wondering, couldn't David Banner have come up with a ghetto name? Someone responsible for a song such as "Like A Pimp" shouldn't have a name that sounds like a guy from some boy band or a character in Full House.
- Fantasy football drafts are almost here, and I have done basically no research. Every year this happens, but I always end up feeling good about my draft after it happens. And then my team always proceeds to suck when the season starts.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
The Rape of Nanking
A few months ago, I started reading The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. I got through about 1/3 of it in the first week, then it just sat next to my alarm clock for a long time as I forgot it was there. Well, a couple nights ago I finally decided to finish the book, and I thought I would write some thoughts about it in my blog.
First of all, the event itself is not very well known, despite being comparable to a lot of other human disasters, such as the Holocaust. When you learn about WWII during high school, the Rape of Nanking is usually either discussed only in passing reference, or not mentioned at all. The reasons for this obscurity in our view of history were discussed in the book, and in short, it was mainly a matter of world politics and economics in the time following World War II.
Since I know nobody is actually gonna read this book themselves after reading my blog, the summary of what happened is as follows. During World War II, Japan invaded China, and part of this invasion involved taking the city of Nanking. Throughout history, Nanking was probably the Chinese city that was richest in tradition, also serving as the capital for many years. You might consider it the "New York City" of China.
Anyways, as the Japanese army did to a lot of other nations it invaded at the time, they arrived at Nanking and performed pretty much every atrocity you could imagine against the people there. The soldiers killed whoever they felt like killing, raped whoever they felt like raping, plundered all the stores, and destroyed a lot of valuable national treasures in the process. Nothing was sacred, as evidenced by the fact that girls as young as 8 and women as old as 70 were all raped, and Japanese newspapers routinely reported contests between soldiers about who killed more Chinese people, as if they were scores of last night's sporting events.
The book also includes some pretty graphic pictures, such as Japanese soldiers posing in front of a pile of human skulls, using live bodies for bayonet practice, and dead naked bodies of raped women, some mutilated. It's some of the most disturbing stuff I've ever seen.
When the war finally ended and the dust settled, Nanking was left with a few hundred thousand people dead and a city in complete ruins. It has recovered and rebuilt somewhat since then, but most likely the city and its people will never be the same.
After reading the book, the first inclination I had was to hate Japanese people. Hate them for the brutality of everything they did, and hate them for covering it up afterwards. But given more time to think about it, I'd have to say that if this was my only reaction after reading the book, I would be taking a step backwards, not forwards. As we were always told in school, the whole point of studying history is to learn lessons from it and prevent future mistakes. And of course the Rape of Nanking is no exception.
Not to let the Japanese off the hook, but the Chinese army was not without responsibility in this tragedy. By the historical accounts described in this book, it was clear that had the Chinese leadership been less cowardly and selfish in their actions, much of these events would have turned out much differently.
After 9/11, the popular mantra for this country was "United We Stand". Meanwhile, most of us either forget or ignore the phrase that follows, "Divided We Fall". The significance of this is well illustrated by the fact that more American lives were lost in the Civil War than in all of its other major wars combined.
As for China, if you've studied any amount of its history, you would know that it is a history filled with struggles stemming from the nation's failure to stand united. Even today, there are two countries that continue to bicker about who is the real China - one being the "Republic of China" (located in Taiwan), the other being the "People's Republic of China" (controlling the Mainland). This is a fact that makes me both very sad and very angry at the same time.
Anyways, the fact that a country as huge as China fell so easily and decisively to a small island nation like Japan shows how much internal division can hurt and weaken a country. Even as its major strongholds were falling during the war, the Chinese army still far outnumbered the Japanese at Nanking. But for some reason, they barely put up a fight when the time came to defend their people. As most of the Chinese soldiers ran away or simply surrendered to the invading army, they left themselves and their defenseless civilians open to all of the massacre that followed. In the face of this cowardly display, it's almost hard for one to fault the Japanese for their delusions that the Chinese people were inferior human beings, and that killing them would be akin to crushing a bug or trapping a rat. Almost, but not quite.
Recognizing all that happened at Nanking was also an important reminder to me of the extent of extreme cruelty that human beings are capable of. Unfortunately, things that we consider to be "inhumane" are in fact a very real part of human nature. The Rape of Nanking was an example of one race perpetrating terrible things against another; yet these same kinds of terrible things have happened and continue to happen in this world between those of the same race. Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong starved and abused their own people under their respective post-WWII reigns of the Soviet Union and Communist China. Until recently, Saddam Hussein and his sons routinely tortured the Iraqi people for many years. And right now, unspeakable violence still goes on in God-knows-how-many-places around the world, from Liberia to North Korea to the ghettos in Chicago.
As much as I hate to borrow the cheesy words from the annoying, played-out song, "where is the love"? Where is the respect for human life? I'd like to believe that society and human civilization has progressed to the point where we are beyond the capability for these kinds of things. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever be immune to that kind of ugliness.
For most of us, we're not in a position to change the world and save the millions of suffering lives. But I guess at the very least, reading this book reminds me that I need to resist the inertia to stay ignorant and pretend like nothing bad ever happens in this world. As much as I disagree with some of the things President Bush has done during his term, I have to say that one thing I do respect about him is that I think he honestly cares about the injustices in this world, and feels for the people who are being persecuted. Speaking out and acting against Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il may not have been the most popular and easy thing to do, but it shows that he isn't prone to ignore the evil things that go on. At least he isn't spending his time in the White House messing around with some intern.
Once in a while, I need to be reminded that there are much more important things to be concerned about in the big picture of life, than what I encounter daily in this bubble that is my own world. After seeing how bad life can really get, anything in my own life that I consider to be a major problem barely seems significant at all. Maybe in a twisted way, I'm just making myself feel good by comparing my life to such an extremely bad situation, I don't know. I definitely do think that it was a worthwhile experience to read this book, though. And if anyone happens to be interested, I'd highly recommend that they give it at least a quick read or a skim.
*****
Dang, that ended up sounding too much like an 8th grade book report. I guess you can take the nerd out of school, but you can't take the school out of the nerd. (The nerd being me).
This California governor's recall election is definitely gonna be something to watch. It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous and entertaining for me. At first I thought the political analysts were out of their minds when they were talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger as a serious contender. But now I look at the other candidates coming out, like Larry Flynt, Gary Coleman, and some 22-year old porn star, and I'm convinced that the entire state of California is filled with wackos, who are all headed towards eventual self-destruction. The stupidest thing is that since he declared himself available as a candidate, Arnold hasn't even talked about any of his policies or running platforms, but he's already leading in the polls. It's pretty absurd any way you look at it.
Maybe it's a sign I'm getting old, but I think I'm actually becoming a fan of Sheryl Crow. I always thought of her music as being very lame, but I like her voice a lot. All day at work yesterday I had that "Steve McQueen" song stuck in my head. It didn't help that I was in a meeting where radar was a recurring subject. Like Steve... McQueen... underneath your radar screen.... and you'll never catch me tonight wooo-wooo.... hahaha
My condolences go out to all my friends on Xanga. I notice it's been down for a while now. I don't think their servers would crash for this long, it's probably some virus, like that worm that was going around. Or maybe just some hackers doing some old-fashioned Distributed Denial of Service. I always wondered why people would go through the trouble of programming viruses, it just seemed really stupid and annoying. But then I think about all the times someone sent me a file called "funny.exe" that would lock up my keyboard and make me type something like "I AM RETARDED" no matter what buttons I pushed. After being tricked, the first thing I would do was look down my buddy list and see who I could pass the fun on to. I guess that's the mentality that makes things like viruses exist, and I'm sad to say that I'm guilty of it myself.
Mussina was pulled after 8 innings of shutout ball with a 6-0 lead. I was pissed. This kind of thing has happened way too much to my team this season. >:-O In other news, Matt Mantei is a stud.
A few months ago, I started reading The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. I got through about 1/3 of it in the first week, then it just sat next to my alarm clock for a long time as I forgot it was there. Well, a couple nights ago I finally decided to finish the book, and I thought I would write some thoughts about it in my blog.
First of all, the event itself is not very well known, despite being comparable to a lot of other human disasters, such as the Holocaust. When you learn about WWII during high school, the Rape of Nanking is usually either discussed only in passing reference, or not mentioned at all. The reasons for this obscurity in our view of history were discussed in the book, and in short, it was mainly a matter of world politics and economics in the time following World War II.
Since I know nobody is actually gonna read this book themselves after reading my blog, the summary of what happened is as follows. During World War II, Japan invaded China, and part of this invasion involved taking the city of Nanking. Throughout history, Nanking was probably the Chinese city that was richest in tradition, also serving as the capital for many years. You might consider it the "New York City" of China.
Anyways, as the Japanese army did to a lot of other nations it invaded at the time, they arrived at Nanking and performed pretty much every atrocity you could imagine against the people there. The soldiers killed whoever they felt like killing, raped whoever they felt like raping, plundered all the stores, and destroyed a lot of valuable national treasures in the process. Nothing was sacred, as evidenced by the fact that girls as young as 8 and women as old as 70 were all raped, and Japanese newspapers routinely reported contests between soldiers about who killed more Chinese people, as if they were scores of last night's sporting events.
The book also includes some pretty graphic pictures, such as Japanese soldiers posing in front of a pile of human skulls, using live bodies for bayonet practice, and dead naked bodies of raped women, some mutilated. It's some of the most disturbing stuff I've ever seen.
When the war finally ended and the dust settled, Nanking was left with a few hundred thousand people dead and a city in complete ruins. It has recovered and rebuilt somewhat since then, but most likely the city and its people will never be the same.
After reading the book, the first inclination I had was to hate Japanese people. Hate them for the brutality of everything they did, and hate them for covering it up afterwards. But given more time to think about it, I'd have to say that if this was my only reaction after reading the book, I would be taking a step backwards, not forwards. As we were always told in school, the whole point of studying history is to learn lessons from it and prevent future mistakes. And of course the Rape of Nanking is no exception.
Not to let the Japanese off the hook, but the Chinese army was not without responsibility in this tragedy. By the historical accounts described in this book, it was clear that had the Chinese leadership been less cowardly and selfish in their actions, much of these events would have turned out much differently.
After 9/11, the popular mantra for this country was "United We Stand". Meanwhile, most of us either forget or ignore the phrase that follows, "Divided We Fall". The significance of this is well illustrated by the fact that more American lives were lost in the Civil War than in all of its other major wars combined.
As for China, if you've studied any amount of its history, you would know that it is a history filled with struggles stemming from the nation's failure to stand united. Even today, there are two countries that continue to bicker about who is the real China - one being the "Republic of China" (located in Taiwan), the other being the "People's Republic of China" (controlling the Mainland). This is a fact that makes me both very sad and very angry at the same time.
Anyways, the fact that a country as huge as China fell so easily and decisively to a small island nation like Japan shows how much internal division can hurt and weaken a country. Even as its major strongholds were falling during the war, the Chinese army still far outnumbered the Japanese at Nanking. But for some reason, they barely put up a fight when the time came to defend their people. As most of the Chinese soldiers ran away or simply surrendered to the invading army, they left themselves and their defenseless civilians open to all of the massacre that followed. In the face of this cowardly display, it's almost hard for one to fault the Japanese for their delusions that the Chinese people were inferior human beings, and that killing them would be akin to crushing a bug or trapping a rat. Almost, but not quite.
Recognizing all that happened at Nanking was also an important reminder to me of the extent of extreme cruelty that human beings are capable of. Unfortunately, things that we consider to be "inhumane" are in fact a very real part of human nature. The Rape of Nanking was an example of one race perpetrating terrible things against another; yet these same kinds of terrible things have happened and continue to happen in this world between those of the same race. Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong starved and abused their own people under their respective post-WWII reigns of the Soviet Union and Communist China. Until recently, Saddam Hussein and his sons routinely tortured the Iraqi people for many years. And right now, unspeakable violence still goes on in God-knows-how-many-places around the world, from Liberia to North Korea to the ghettos in Chicago.
As much as I hate to borrow the cheesy words from the annoying, played-out song, "where is the love"? Where is the respect for human life? I'd like to believe that society and human civilization has progressed to the point where we are beyond the capability for these kinds of things. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever be immune to that kind of ugliness.
For most of us, we're not in a position to change the world and save the millions of suffering lives. But I guess at the very least, reading this book reminds me that I need to resist the inertia to stay ignorant and pretend like nothing bad ever happens in this world. As much as I disagree with some of the things President Bush has done during his term, I have to say that one thing I do respect about him is that I think he honestly cares about the injustices in this world, and feels for the people who are being persecuted. Speaking out and acting against Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il may not have been the most popular and easy thing to do, but it shows that he isn't prone to ignore the evil things that go on. At least he isn't spending his time in the White House messing around with some intern.
Once in a while, I need to be reminded that there are much more important things to be concerned about in the big picture of life, than what I encounter daily in this bubble that is my own world. After seeing how bad life can really get, anything in my own life that I consider to be a major problem barely seems significant at all. Maybe in a twisted way, I'm just making myself feel good by comparing my life to such an extremely bad situation, I don't know. I definitely do think that it was a worthwhile experience to read this book, though. And if anyone happens to be interested, I'd highly recommend that they give it at least a quick read or a skim.
*****
Dang, that ended up sounding too much like an 8th grade book report. I guess you can take the nerd out of school, but you can't take the school out of the nerd. (The nerd being me).
This California governor's recall election is definitely gonna be something to watch. It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous and entertaining for me. At first I thought the political analysts were out of their minds when they were talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger as a serious contender. But now I look at the other candidates coming out, like Larry Flynt, Gary Coleman, and some 22-year old porn star, and I'm convinced that the entire state of California is filled with wackos, who are all headed towards eventual self-destruction. The stupidest thing is that since he declared himself available as a candidate, Arnold hasn't even talked about any of his policies or running platforms, but he's already leading in the polls. It's pretty absurd any way you look at it.
Maybe it's a sign I'm getting old, but I think I'm actually becoming a fan of Sheryl Crow. I always thought of her music as being very lame, but I like her voice a lot. All day at work yesterday I had that "Steve McQueen" song stuck in my head. It didn't help that I was in a meeting where radar was a recurring subject. Like Steve... McQueen... underneath your radar screen.... and you'll never catch me tonight wooo-wooo.... hahaha
My condolences go out to all my friends on Xanga. I notice it's been down for a while now. I don't think their servers would crash for this long, it's probably some virus, like that worm that was going around. Or maybe just some hackers doing some old-fashioned Distributed Denial of Service. I always wondered why people would go through the trouble of programming viruses, it just seemed really stupid and annoying. But then I think about all the times someone sent me a file called "funny.exe" that would lock up my keyboard and make me type something like "I AM RETARDED" no matter what buttons I pushed. After being tricked, the first thing I would do was look down my buddy list and see who I could pass the fun on to. I guess that's the mentality that makes things like viruses exist, and I'm sad to say that I'm guilty of it myself.
Mussina was pulled after 8 innings of shutout ball with a 6-0 lead. I was pissed. This kind of thing has happened way too much to my team this season. >:-O In other news, Matt Mantei is a stud.
Monday, August 11, 2003
Monday Morning Blog
- Something I've been avoiding for a long time is going to the dentist. I haven't gone to a regular checkup in about 2 years, I think. Part of the reason is because I'm scared of all those drills and stuff. But beyond that, I just don't trust the dental industry in general. It all seems shady to me. I feel like as long as I take care of my teeth normally, I'll be fine, but if I go get a checkup, the dentist will tell me I need all this stuff done when I really don't. Just as a way of making more money off of me or my insurance company, they'll make me get my wisdom teeth pulled or something. Still, I probably should get a checkup anyways, I just need to find a dentist that I trust.
- I guess the dentists themselves are only partly to blame, it's the overall system that is messed up. Since so much of the costs are paid for by insurance companies, the dentists can do pretty much whatever they want to jack them for money, and most people don't do anything about it.
I hate the insurance industry so much, maybe even more so than the advertising industry. The concept isn't terrible, but for normal schmoes like me and you, it really ends up being a lose-lose situation. You pay your insurance company a monthly or yearly "premium" for "coverage", in other words, you're giving them some of your money, and in case something bad happens (i.e. a car accident, you get cancer, etc.), they are supposed to pay to take care of it.
Now, 90% or more of the time, nothing bad ever happens, and in that case, 100% of the money you've been paying stays in the pocket of your insurance company. Which is fine, because that's for the service they are providing of distributing risk between their millions of customers.
The thing that pisses me off is when bad stuff happens and you expect your insurance company to pay up, but you are the one with a headache about collecting. You and your family have been paying premiums to State Farm/Allstate/Geico for years, and when you skid on a patch of ice and hit a mailbox, guess what? You're afraid to report it to your agent because they might raise your premium. Think about that, of all the thousands of dollars you have spent over the years for their "coverage", without ever asking for any of it back, you are now afraid to ask them for a few hundred bucks to fix your fender. Not only do you have to foot the first $500 or $1000 of the bill yourself because it's the "deductible", but within a few months your insurance company will probably have recouped whatever they had to pay, by jacking up your premium. "Like a good neighbor" my eye!
Then there's health insurance. For whatever reason that is beyond your control, you get sick and need all this expensive treatment at the hospital. Instead of gladly spitting back a small amount from their mountains of cash to take care of you, your health insurance tries to find every way it can to wriggle off the hook. They'll dig into your history and if it was a "pre-existing condition", you're on your own. Or they decide to go through your original application with a fine tooth comb, trying to find a technicality that will legally release them from responsibility. So you could be not only battling for your life, but also fighting the hospital and the insurance company at the same time just to get everything paid for. As if you wanted to get sick or something, because it's so fun.
Of course, I'm partly exaggerating, and it's usually not all that horrible. But these things do happen and it's not right. Unfortunately, the way our society works, insurance is a necessary evil, kind of like lawyers. So the way I see it, either you find a good agent and pay up, or just get the cheapest coverage you can, and put the money you would've been spending into the bank as your personal "in-case-sh*t" fund, as Chris Rock would call it. Then "in case sh*t" don't happen, you still got most of your money.
"This sucks! When I had health insurance I could get hit by a bus, or light myself on fire... now I gotta be careful?!" - Joey from Friends
- Observation of the day: The nicest-smelling people in the world are old black ladies. I don't know why, but it's true.
- Between mowing the lawn, being at a company picnic, playing softball, and working on my car over the weekend, my body is a little sunburnt now. It sucks to not be able put on a shirt in the morning without feeling like all my skin is peeling off. I've also got a couple blisters to show for my weekend activities, thanks to a bat with a handle covered with sandpaper-like material, the shakiest lawn mower ever, and trying to loosen the super tight bolts on my wheels. The best part about blisters is when they pop, and my favorite ones are the bloody ones. It must be the best feeling in the world.
- Being at that company picnic made me feel pretty young and out of place. It was supposed to be for employees to bring their families, but more in the sense of "wife and kids", not "mommy and daddy". I was gonna bring my sis, but she ended up not being able to make it. So basically, I went there by myself, ate 2 pieces of fried chicken, drank a beer, said hi to a few people, and left. Unless certain stars collide and I get married within the next 12 months, I don't think I will be going to next year's picnic.
- Friday was Chinese Father's Day. Did everyone remember to wish their Chinese Father a happy day?
- Something I've been avoiding for a long time is going to the dentist. I haven't gone to a regular checkup in about 2 years, I think. Part of the reason is because I'm scared of all those drills and stuff. But beyond that, I just don't trust the dental industry in general. It all seems shady to me. I feel like as long as I take care of my teeth normally, I'll be fine, but if I go get a checkup, the dentist will tell me I need all this stuff done when I really don't. Just as a way of making more money off of me or my insurance company, they'll make me get my wisdom teeth pulled or something. Still, I probably should get a checkup anyways, I just need to find a dentist that I trust.
- I guess the dentists themselves are only partly to blame, it's the overall system that is messed up. Since so much of the costs are paid for by insurance companies, the dentists can do pretty much whatever they want to jack them for money, and most people don't do anything about it.
I hate the insurance industry so much, maybe even more so than the advertising industry. The concept isn't terrible, but for normal schmoes like me and you, it really ends up being a lose-lose situation. You pay your insurance company a monthly or yearly "premium" for "coverage", in other words, you're giving them some of your money, and in case something bad happens (i.e. a car accident, you get cancer, etc.), they are supposed to pay to take care of it.
Now, 90% or more of the time, nothing bad ever happens, and in that case, 100% of the money you've been paying stays in the pocket of your insurance company. Which is fine, because that's for the service they are providing of distributing risk between their millions of customers.
The thing that pisses me off is when bad stuff happens and you expect your insurance company to pay up, but you are the one with a headache about collecting. You and your family have been paying premiums to State Farm/Allstate/Geico for years, and when you skid on a patch of ice and hit a mailbox, guess what? You're afraid to report it to your agent because they might raise your premium. Think about that, of all the thousands of dollars you have spent over the years for their "coverage", without ever asking for any of it back, you are now afraid to ask them for a few hundred bucks to fix your fender. Not only do you have to foot the first $500 or $1000 of the bill yourself because it's the "deductible", but within a few months your insurance company will probably have recouped whatever they had to pay, by jacking up your premium. "Like a good neighbor" my eye!
Then there's health insurance. For whatever reason that is beyond your control, you get sick and need all this expensive treatment at the hospital. Instead of gladly spitting back a small amount from their mountains of cash to take care of you, your health insurance tries to find every way it can to wriggle off the hook. They'll dig into your history and if it was a "pre-existing condition", you're on your own. Or they decide to go through your original application with a fine tooth comb, trying to find a technicality that will legally release them from responsibility. So you could be not only battling for your life, but also fighting the hospital and the insurance company at the same time just to get everything paid for. As if you wanted to get sick or something, because it's so fun.
Of course, I'm partly exaggerating, and it's usually not all that horrible. But these things do happen and it's not right. Unfortunately, the way our society works, insurance is a necessary evil, kind of like lawyers. So the way I see it, either you find a good agent and pay up, or just get the cheapest coverage you can, and put the money you would've been spending into the bank as your personal "in-case-sh*t" fund, as Chris Rock would call it. Then "in case sh*t" don't happen, you still got most of your money.
"This sucks! When I had health insurance I could get hit by a bus, or light myself on fire... now I gotta be careful?!" - Joey from Friends
- Observation of the day: The nicest-smelling people in the world are old black ladies. I don't know why, but it's true.
- Between mowing the lawn, being at a company picnic, playing softball, and working on my car over the weekend, my body is a little sunburnt now. It sucks to not be able put on a shirt in the morning without feeling like all my skin is peeling off. I've also got a couple blisters to show for my weekend activities, thanks to a bat with a handle covered with sandpaper-like material, the shakiest lawn mower ever, and trying to loosen the super tight bolts on my wheels. The best part about blisters is when they pop, and my favorite ones are the bloody ones. It must be the best feeling in the world.
- Being at that company picnic made me feel pretty young and out of place. It was supposed to be for employees to bring their families, but more in the sense of "wife and kids", not "mommy and daddy". I was gonna bring my sis, but she ended up not being able to make it. So basically, I went there by myself, ate 2 pieces of fried chicken, drank a beer, said hi to a few people, and left. Unless certain stars collide and I get married within the next 12 months, I don't think I will be going to next year's picnic.
- Friday was Chinese Father's Day. Did everyone remember to wish their Chinese Father a happy day?
Friday, August 08, 2003
- So I guess Arnold Schwarzenegger is officially running for governor in California. Man... whoever is running against him better win, or else I will definitely have lost all faith in our system of democracy. You wouldn't even need a campaign team to come up with ads against him, just run clips of "Jingle All The Way" and see if people still want him to run their state.
- I think I should take a moment to pay tribute to a severely underrated asset to all of our lives: the Sun. Sure, we all like the Sun a lot already. Everyone enjoys it when it's "nice and sunny" outside, many of us desire to "get more sun" whenever we can, and it's almost never used in negative context. But too often we think of our Sun only in terms of its role in weather, while forgetting its much more signifcant role as the source of all our energy.
Other than some scattered obscure undersea ecosystems that rely on the heat of the earth's core, everything that has ever lived on this planet depends in some form or another on the energy of the Sun. It's easy for us humans, being at the top of the food chain, to lose track of this fact. But everything we eat, whether we are vegetarian or carnivorous, contains energy that was somehow harnessed originally from sunlight. That steak you eat comes from a cow, which ate grass, which was able to grow because of the Sun. The exact protein chains that end up in your body may chemically change along the way, but every last calorie you burn can be somehow traced back to the process of photosynthesis, which gets 100% of its stored energy from the Sun.
Not only this, but when you drive a car, it is running on gasoline that has been processed from fossil fuels. What are fossil fuels? None other than decomposed organic material. Though heavily compressed over time to become liquid form, all of the energy in this organic material once belonged to a prehistoric plant or animal that inevitably derived its energy from sunlight.
So as you can see, the Sun is much more than a mere glowing object in the sky that provides us opportunity to tan or gives us warm weather. It is no less than the very key to our survival. Bless the Sun and its all-sustaining light. Showering us generously day after day with its glorious photons. And even when the Sun sets, it provides us ample light throughout the nighttime hours by reflecting itself off the moon. Seriously, what a trooper. What else can I say? I'm in awe.
- A few days ago I went with Cindy to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook the stuff in front of you (teppan?). Across the table were these two ladies that were probably in their 50's or so, and one of them asked me how old I was, so I said 23. To which she replied, "I've got shoes that are older than you". All righty then...
- I think I should take a moment to pay tribute to a severely underrated asset to all of our lives: the Sun. Sure, we all like the Sun a lot already. Everyone enjoys it when it's "nice and sunny" outside, many of us desire to "get more sun" whenever we can, and it's almost never used in negative context. But too often we think of our Sun only in terms of its role in weather, while forgetting its much more signifcant role as the source of all our energy.
Other than some scattered obscure undersea ecosystems that rely on the heat of the earth's core, everything that has ever lived on this planet depends in some form or another on the energy of the Sun. It's easy for us humans, being at the top of the food chain, to lose track of this fact. But everything we eat, whether we are vegetarian or carnivorous, contains energy that was somehow harnessed originally from sunlight. That steak you eat comes from a cow, which ate grass, which was able to grow because of the Sun. The exact protein chains that end up in your body may chemically change along the way, but every last calorie you burn can be somehow traced back to the process of photosynthesis, which gets 100% of its stored energy from the Sun.
Not only this, but when you drive a car, it is running on gasoline that has been processed from fossil fuels. What are fossil fuels? None other than decomposed organic material. Though heavily compressed over time to become liquid form, all of the energy in this organic material once belonged to a prehistoric plant or animal that inevitably derived its energy from sunlight.
So as you can see, the Sun is much more than a mere glowing object in the sky that provides us opportunity to tan or gives us warm weather. It is no less than the very key to our survival. Bless the Sun and its all-sustaining light. Showering us generously day after day with its glorious photons. And even when the Sun sets, it provides us ample light throughout the nighttime hours by reflecting itself off the moon. Seriously, what a trooper. What else can I say? I'm in awe.
- A few days ago I went with Cindy to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook the stuff in front of you (teppan?). Across the table were these two ladies that were probably in their 50's or so, and one of them asked me how old I was, so I said 23. To which she replied, "I've got shoes that are older than you". All righty then...
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Aaron Karo
I've had a more relaxed day at work for once. It's allowed me to do a little freelance reading, and one site that I've found to be fun reading is www.aaronkaro.com. A couple years ago, I remember reading this guy's "ruminations" on college life. Before everyone had their own blogs, he was writing purely entertaining, quality material in a monthly newsletter, posted on the internet or distributed through email lists.
I forgot about him until now, and it turns out that since then, he's graduated college, worked on Wall Street, quit, compiled his writings into a book, and spent time touring the country doing stand-up comedy. Through it all, he's continued to write consistently hilarious ruminations, a lot of which I can relate to, but most of which I lack the wit and charm to transfer to my own blog. After reading all his stuff, I feel shamed to continue posting in my blog, which is devastatingly mediocre in comparison. But anyways, I highly recommend that everyone check out that site and read through his columns.
Here are a few of my favorites:
"I think maybe I’m starting to figure women out though. One thing I have noticed is that girls are always cold and they are always complaining that they’re feet hurt. (Who the hell told you to wear seven-inch heels anyway?) So, I think what I’m gonna do is carry around a pair of sneakers and a sweater. That’ll really make me a hit with the ladies! Man, the things we do for love."
It's funny, cause I've known this for a long time but never did anything about it until recently. This guy thinks like me. Except instead of a sweater, I keep a fleece in the backseat of my car. And these days when Olivia asks me which shoes she should wear, I always tell her "I really like your white and blue sneakers". Even if we're going to a fancy place.
"Did I miss the poof revolution? Since when did it become mandatory for all girls to use one of those poofy things in the shower? I was crashing at a girl friend’s place and all she had was a poof and liquid soap. Guys were just not meant to use a poof in the shower. It’s too rough in places it should be gentle and too gentle when it should be rough. I feel uncomfortable just writing about it."
I can't help but respectfully disagree here. The gentleness/roughness issue is easily remedied by careful usage, most should be able to easily vary the amount of pressure applied in using the "poof" depending on the sensitivity of the area to be washed. It's not just for girls. But like him, I never knew what the real name was for the longest time, and I always called it the "poofy thing". Now, I've been enlightened to know that it's called a loofa.
"I am fascinated by bathroom attendants. To me, this is a sign that the economy is so bad we’ve been reduced to just making up jobs. Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that I really do need baby powder, condoms, six varieties of mints and twenty different kinds of cologne every time I use the bathroom. I certainly don’t need all that stuff handed to me. And I definitely don’t want to tip this guy every time I take a piss. It’s like a urinal tollbooth in there."
I kind of like those guys actually. But it definitely does get annoying that I gotta feel pressured to drop a buck in his tray, just cause he handed me a paper towel after I washed my hands. I can get my own damn paper towel. They're at least part of the reason I tend to break $10 and $20 bills more, instead of using my singles to buy stuff. Stupid, I know, but hey... pays off when you really gotta pee at Barleycorn.
"My college buddies are obsessed with fantasy sports to the point that I’m actually worried about them. Here’s an example. My friend Jeremy is at this club and bumps into Kurt Thomas of the Knicks. Now if I met Kurt Thomas, I’d be getting his autograph, taking pictures with him, etc., but not Jeremy. Here is their conversation. Jeremy: Hey, you’re Kurt Thomas! Thomas: Yeah. Jeremy: It’s great to meet you. Thomas: Thanks dog. Jeremy: You know, I have you on my fantasy basketball team. Thomas: Word? Jeremy: Yeah, listen, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. Thomas: What? Jeremy: I’m in second place, and I could really use some more blocks from you. Thomas: More blocks? No doubt, I’ll see what I can do. Jeremy: Thanks man, have a good night. That’s a true story. A few days later, Thomas had the most in blocks in one game of his career. He must have done it all for Jeremy."
Substitute in that story "Joe" for "Jeremy", "Mike Mussina" for "Kurt Thomas", and "Strikeouts" for "Blocks, and you've got a perfect description of my dream encounter with my favorite fantasy player.
"I wish med school kids wouldn’t show off so much. The other day a bunch of my friends were hanging out and someone farted. We all laughed but then the med student of the bunch said, “Guys, that was just a natural mixture of carbon dioxide, formed from chemical reactions between stomach acid and intestinal fluid, as well as hydrogen and methane.” Well that kind of took the fun out of it."
Yeah, I'm pretty immature like that, but most of the time Olivia laughs it off. But maybe I should try to be a little more professional around her med-school friends. They probably don't appreciate my brand of crass humor as much. So in the future I'll have to resist the temptation to call Magglio Ordonez "Fagglio" or Bobby Jackson "Booby Jackson" when I'm at one of those dinner parties or whatever. Only when I'm with my own less sophisticated group of friends could I say stuff like "I worked out at the Bally's in Queerfield (Deerfield)" or "Let's go eat at Taco Smell".
*****
Also, the call for any interested softball players continues. It sounds like there's enough interest for me to go ahead an plan details, so that's good. Tentatively, it seems early Sunday afternoon would be an ideal time, although I am still leaving the door open for a Saturday date too. Talk to me within the next couple days if possible.
I've had a more relaxed day at work for once. It's allowed me to do a little freelance reading, and one site that I've found to be fun reading is www.aaronkaro.com. A couple years ago, I remember reading this guy's "ruminations" on college life. Before everyone had their own blogs, he was writing purely entertaining, quality material in a monthly newsletter, posted on the internet or distributed through email lists.
I forgot about him until now, and it turns out that since then, he's graduated college, worked on Wall Street, quit, compiled his writings into a book, and spent time touring the country doing stand-up comedy. Through it all, he's continued to write consistently hilarious ruminations, a lot of which I can relate to, but most of which I lack the wit and charm to transfer to my own blog. After reading all his stuff, I feel shamed to continue posting in my blog, which is devastatingly mediocre in comparison. But anyways, I highly recommend that everyone check out that site and read through his columns.
Here are a few of my favorites:
"I think maybe I’m starting to figure women out though. One thing I have noticed is that girls are always cold and they are always complaining that they’re feet hurt. (Who the hell told you to wear seven-inch heels anyway?) So, I think what I’m gonna do is carry around a pair of sneakers and a sweater. That’ll really make me a hit with the ladies! Man, the things we do for love."
It's funny, cause I've known this for a long time but never did anything about it until recently. This guy thinks like me. Except instead of a sweater, I keep a fleece in the backseat of my car. And these days when Olivia asks me which shoes she should wear, I always tell her "I really like your white and blue sneakers". Even if we're going to a fancy place.
"Did I miss the poof revolution? Since when did it become mandatory for all girls to use one of those poofy things in the shower? I was crashing at a girl friend’s place and all she had was a poof and liquid soap. Guys were just not meant to use a poof in the shower. It’s too rough in places it should be gentle and too gentle when it should be rough. I feel uncomfortable just writing about it."
I can't help but respectfully disagree here. The gentleness/roughness issue is easily remedied by careful usage, most should be able to easily vary the amount of pressure applied in using the "poof" depending on the sensitivity of the area to be washed. It's not just for girls. But like him, I never knew what the real name was for the longest time, and I always called it the "poofy thing". Now, I've been enlightened to know that it's called a loofa.
"I am fascinated by bathroom attendants. To me, this is a sign that the economy is so bad we’ve been reduced to just making up jobs. Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that I really do need baby powder, condoms, six varieties of mints and twenty different kinds of cologne every time I use the bathroom. I certainly don’t need all that stuff handed to me. And I definitely don’t want to tip this guy every time I take a piss. It’s like a urinal tollbooth in there."
I kind of like those guys actually. But it definitely does get annoying that I gotta feel pressured to drop a buck in his tray, just cause he handed me a paper towel after I washed my hands. I can get my own damn paper towel. They're at least part of the reason I tend to break $10 and $20 bills more, instead of using my singles to buy stuff. Stupid, I know, but hey... pays off when you really gotta pee at Barleycorn.
"My college buddies are obsessed with fantasy sports to the point that I’m actually worried about them. Here’s an example. My friend Jeremy is at this club and bumps into Kurt Thomas of the Knicks. Now if I met Kurt Thomas, I’d be getting his autograph, taking pictures with him, etc., but not Jeremy. Here is their conversation. Jeremy: Hey, you’re Kurt Thomas! Thomas: Yeah. Jeremy: It’s great to meet you. Thomas: Thanks dog. Jeremy: You know, I have you on my fantasy basketball team. Thomas: Word? Jeremy: Yeah, listen, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. Thomas: What? Jeremy: I’m in second place, and I could really use some more blocks from you. Thomas: More blocks? No doubt, I’ll see what I can do. Jeremy: Thanks man, have a good night. That’s a true story. A few days later, Thomas had the most in blocks in one game of his career. He must have done it all for Jeremy."
Substitute in that story "Joe" for "Jeremy", "Mike Mussina" for "Kurt Thomas", and "Strikeouts" for "Blocks, and you've got a perfect description of my dream encounter with my favorite fantasy player.
"I wish med school kids wouldn’t show off so much. The other day a bunch of my friends were hanging out and someone farted. We all laughed but then the med student of the bunch said, “Guys, that was just a natural mixture of carbon dioxide, formed from chemical reactions between stomach acid and intestinal fluid, as well as hydrogen and methane.” Well that kind of took the fun out of it."
Yeah, I'm pretty immature like that, but most of the time Olivia laughs it off. But maybe I should try to be a little more professional around her med-school friends. They probably don't appreciate my brand of crass humor as much. So in the future I'll have to resist the temptation to call Magglio Ordonez "Fagglio" or Bobby Jackson "Booby Jackson" when I'm at one of those dinner parties or whatever. Only when I'm with my own less sophisticated group of friends could I say stuff like "I worked out at the Bally's in Queerfield (Deerfield)" or "Let's go eat at Taco Smell".
*****
Also, the call for any interested softball players continues. It sounds like there's enough interest for me to go ahead an plan details, so that's good. Tentatively, it seems early Sunday afternoon would be an ideal time, although I am still leaving the door open for a Saturday date too. Talk to me within the next couple days if possible.
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