I realise I haven’t posted in a while, but I have been a bit busy as of late. I am working to complete my law school applications and have been working pretty long hours. I am flying to New York tomorrow for work and then I think I will take a short weekend trip to DC or Philly. Upon returning I need to buckle down and finish my applications, so don’t expect too many posts. Once these are finished however, it should pretty much be smooth sailing through the holidays and beyond. I’m looking forward to getting some use out of the old library card and switching to linux when I finally get a chance (maybe I’ll learn chinese and write a novel as well… haha). If I don’t get a chance to write before Thanksgiving, have a great holiday everyone!
One more thing: I found a pretty cool post with pictures of President Bush. It’s light-hearted approach is a good representation in my opinion. He was (and is) only one man; I hope people will finally realise this once he leaves the White House. Similarly, I hope our next president is not judged on the same standards. If we truly believe one man holds the course of the nation in his hands alone, the idea of America has escaped even ourselves; how could we then expect others to understand?
Inspired by A Whole Lotta Nothing’s How to get my nerd vote and to feel better about the mediocrity of the candidates in the election tomorrow, I decided to put my thoughts to words…
I’ve said to friends how I wished I could vote for an idea, rather than try to pick between two flawed candidates. I imagined running a campaign for ‘freedom’ and seeing the media baffled on election night as freedom, an idea rather than an individual, garnered five percent of the vote for President of the United States, winning no electoral votes, but finally questioning the monolithic conception of American party politics. Sadly I’m not sure this is either possible or helpful…
So instead of dwelling on this impossible dream, I am going to try to write a list of things I wish I could cast my vote. Of course this list is very idealistic, but I’m a dreamer
Education - Kids can’t vote and parents are selfish – innovation is driven by the human mind, invest in it or fall behind. Quit buying ignorance to cover your short term mistakes and invest in a better future, one where America’s competitiveness is earned by advancing human capital, rather than bullying the world.
Freedom of Thought – I’m not sure how to accomplish this, but cracking a blow to the mainstream media’s strangle-hold of the agenda would be a good start. Why are we paying for people to upgrade their televisions? There are other ways to stay informed; it’s called the internet, look it up. (There are even other ways to be entertained – psst, they still make books…) And quit spying on your own citizens, I think America used to stand for something… oh yeah, Freedom.
Humanity - I wish I could vote for a future where humanity is left to persist in the absence of useless factions. Where the innate qualities of benevolence, understanding, and ambition in each citizen were left to flourish; where the pursuit of knowledge took precedence over the pursuit of wars. Humanity has been beaten and abused by our rulers and idols, but it is worth saving and I still hold the dream of it’s future return to glory.
Broadband - how about instead of spending forty dollars on everyone’s television, we (the government, whoever) lay down some fibre optic cable. Personal (intellectual, academic, business, etc, etc.) advancement depends upon access to information. We are falling behind, way behind.
Youth and Ambition - Americans are becoming complacent – I want to vote for an America that is not satisfied with what it has; one that dreams, isn’t afraid of change, and will work to advance humanity.
…somewhere a fox executive is cringing at the idea of this world series… phillies vs. DEVIL rays… who even cares?
-1st, why not pinch hit for Tek? – Tito, I love and respect you, but you’re getting too emotionally connected with your captain; someone like Theo would have been able to pull him without thinking twice – sometimes you need to approach decisions without emotion… oh yeah, and Lowrie — is that all we had???
-I was going to take a weekend away from work when I’m out East and go to Philly… I’m not sure I can do this while a Ray-Phillies series is going on… it just seems wrong.
-It was a great season and I enjoyed the ride, but what am I supposed to do until pitchers and catchers…? this void cannot be filled by work… please no… I suppose I could finally apply to law school :-/
It may take me a few months, but I will definitely get through this low and will likely return with great optimism in 2009. Until then, let’s make some moves Theo – I know you’re still looking at Teixeira, and that’s important with the Lowell situation up in the air, but…
-Don’t forget that the middle infield is the core of your defense… is Lowrie our future?
-We really need to solidify our rotation. Peavy is an option, but are the costs too high?? Though we do have two center fielders, which I know they are looking for…
Theo, I trust you more than anyone to make these decisions from a detached and informed perspective. I’ll be checking in again in 2009.
I will most likely be burying myself in work for a while, so feel free to try to contact me and console me…
I don’t know if it is because it was so incredible or because I am on only a couple hours of sleep, but I don’t even know what to say about last night. The game immediately entered my top three favourite sports moments. Last night is the reason I love baseball…
In an attempt to ease the pain aching inside me from the soxx game last night, I am turning my post to a worthwhile cause: poverty.
As you may or may not know, today is Blog Action Day; this year’s topic is poverty. Although I did not draft a lengthy post (as I had no idea it was Blog Action Day until I got to work), I would like to share some links:
It’s easy to realise that, relative to many others, our situations are quite favourable. Some of us may have been dealt more or less agreeably along the way, but life has always offered us opportunities. But us is not all and this is something that anyone can readily recognize.
Still, I fear that not enough will ever be done… .1 percent of our GDP will not erase poverty; even the agreed upon 1 percent could not. Non-profits have done great work across the globe, but still poverty exists in great numbers. So what then is the solution?
I believe that it is our humanity, the characteristics each individual shares with each of the world’s population.
Humanity belongs to the individual. If we have arrived at the point where we depend upon our government to display this humanity, then we have lost it. If our worth as a human is continually tied to a dollar amount, we may never find it. The world’s population must be stripped of its factious character and left to prosper in a benevolent world. I fully recognize that this has never been possible – factions arise and aggression becomes the inevitable means of securing one’s prosperity.
But, today’s world is not that of the past. We are more informed, our voices are readily translated to all who wish listen. The factions that have presented themselves and been perpetuated all this time have been based on limited understanding fictional boundaries, by artificial walls built to deter humanity’s true character, one of innate benevolence, a drive for mutual understanding, willingness to pursue knowledge, and boundless ambition.
So then the process is slow, but the solution is readily available: It is for each individual to find his or her humanity. Step outside your world and into another’s – you’ll recognize that humanity has no face, no flag, no creed.
I’m not sure if it is the result of increased twitter use, or if I just have less to write about, but my usage of this blog has certainly declined as of late. It could be because I am incredibly lazy as well, or because of my memory situation on my home computer (still waiting for that new membory from newegg…). Or maybe working on the house has taken all of my free time (though I still somehow find time to watch soxx games and heroes online). Either way, I really want to find something original to write about… life has become boring without writing. Yet, what is left for me to say at this point? I could talk about the soxx, a subject near and dear to my heart, but there are plenty of blogs already dedicated to that. I could write about politics, as an important election is approaching, but there are far too many narrowly informed blogs already serving this purpose. Furthermore, I don’t feel like debating about two candidates that are essentially the SAME – yes, they are fundamentally the same… why can’t people understand this…? Both will bring bigger government (for those of you who can’t wrap your head around it, this means less freedom, independent thought, freewill, democratic reasoning, and all those fun ideological terms you like to throw around); neither will bring peace.
I still have no idea who I am going to vote for… if there are any decent candidates or even decent people out there, let me know…
Sidebar – why do I have the Aladdin soundtrack on my iPod? I really need to clean out my iTunes… Oh yeah, this reminds me of how my iPod fell off of my desk at work… the screen cracked (from a three foot fall…). $150 for a replacement, but I will never own an apple product again. Instead, taking a radical new direction in consumer spending, I will seek value and quality in my electronics purchases… crazy huh?
Anyway, although I just said I didn’t need to write about the red sox, I just decided I will be writting about my life thusfar as a soxx fan… soon. Probably sometime during this long Minnesotan winter (after they win the world series…?). In all seriousness though, I need to find a purpose for this blog… any ideas out there? I appreciate the feedback.
So… I haven’t posted in quite a while and have been getting abysmal hits in response to my lack of commitment…
Anyway, for those of you interested in my life, I have been disturbingly content (my recent complacency, as always, will inevitably lead to travel in the near future…). Work has recently shown the potential for a trip to TJ as well as an extended stay in New York. If neither of these come to fruition, expect a short holiday… maybe Austin or Florida… In other news meaninglessness, I took the LSAT again last weekend and am now DONE with it; I am pretty sure I got the exact same score (150… not really, haha), but will wait a few weeks to find out. Also, the soxx are in the playoffs and they are through the first round!! They will be playing the Rays, which should be quite an interesting series considering the matchups this year and the inability of Boston to show Tampa that they are not the team they think they are =P.
As for music, I am still awaiting the Phoenix release, but have been going through my iTunes in the meantime to filter out the music that best suites me now. If you haven’t heard of Neimo, please take a listen:
Apparently the melancholy of office life has dulled my imagination and insight (or maybe just my ambition…) because I truly want to write something worthwhile, but nothing comes to mind.
To reiterate the effect that all of this work is having, here is a list of the typical ‘highlights’ of my day:
