Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in erios_de_khan's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, November 8th, 2007
8:10 pm	A great debate on The Wolf Web  I got into it on the subject of environmental regulation when discussing global warming.  Here I'm quoting a well-written conservative proponent of deregulating the energy market.  I give him kudos on raising excellent points.  He did however back me into a rather fantastic defense of environmental controls, and why they are indeed so necessary: ******************************************************************************************************************* Quote : "So in other words you agree with me that we are doing a better job than our main global competitor. " Oh absolutely. The US has some of, if not the, most strict air pollution standards in the world. Quote : "The easiest way to reduce all emissions from coal fired plants would be to simply eliminate them. " Which we can't, and we both agree on that. Quote : "On the other side of things we could deregulate them to make electricity cheaper. More controls, more cost." I understand that regulations increase cost. That's why you avoid bad/pointless regulations. The regulations you're refering to on the coal industry however are designed to help meet air quality standards. You're advocating cheaper energy at the expense of human health. I disagree with that position. Cheaper =/= better. Quote : "Actually this whole story goes to point out something that LoneSnark has done an excellent job of articulating in numerous debates. Environmental controls are primarily a tool for current existing industries to gain an edge over new competition. Grandfather clauses give a big advantage for the existing plants because they do not have deal with the costs associated to the new environmental controls. Logically the problem is not with industry, the problem is with a ill-conceived environmentalist legislation which inadvertently encouraged pollution. The article linked below makes this argument in more depth than I wish to here." Not surprisingly, we're arguing in favor of the same position from two different perspectives. Environmental controls are in theory designed to prevent industry from forcing unhealthy conditions on the public. I concur with your posted article that the old controls were ineffective and may very well have done more harm than good. Industry used loopholes in the legislation to avoid dealing with expensive upgrades in order to comply with the new standards. From your perspective, big industry was forced to use these loopholes b/c the alternative was too expensive. From my perspective, big industry used its influence to create the loopholes for their own greedy financial purposes at the expense of the public good. So essentially, the controls suck, and the disgreement is over who's to blame. Quote : "Based on just Alaska perhaps it would be BS. However, if you throw in all the other off-shore sources it would be much more oil." If that's your argument, then make it. If you'd like to argue that green uproar is overblown, that's fine too. But you cannot make the assertion that Alaskan oil will make us "energy independent." That amount of oil is multiple orders of magnitude higher than even the most ambitious estimates. This is the real key to the discussion, so I left it for last: Quote : "pollution controls are more or less glorified filters (scrubbers) placed on the smokestacks of the plants. The sole purpose of these devices is to remove pollutants. This does not make any power, although it may save the power company $$ in some future law suit by the asthma lobby. But, I view such costs as a random act of stupidity encouraged by our reckless legal system." Trying to prevent human health hazards is a "random act of stupity"? If you're arguing that previous/current legislation is ineffective, or doing more harm than good, then that's fine. That doesn't mean the concept is bad. It means the law has to be written more effectively. In normal business practices, when you make a bad product, nobody buys it. You go out of business. Or you redesign the product, having received the poor feedback, and create a better product that people will buy. Sounds good. Now apply this example to the coal industry. If a coal plant operates inefficiently, it earns less revenue and is eventually forced out by better competition. Or, the coal plant can continually improve efficiency to earn more money and, as a result, pollute less. Sounds great, but here's the problem - Let's say that people living near said coal plant start coming down with abnormally high rates of asthma. Now, using the same theory, the coal plant will either have to improve its pollution controls or face the prospect of being forced out of business. However, what's to stop the plant from disputing its liability? "You're blaming us? Prove it." Legislation ensues and lasts for years. Meanwhile asthma problems persist and actually get worse. Ultimately a judgment comes back as compensation for the victims. Several problems with this: 1) No actions to fix the problem are justified until the judgment is passed. 2) The company may go bankrupt, thus leaving the victims out of luck. 3) Even if the judgment is in the public's favor, how strict do the standards have to be? Who should set them? The debate would continue on frivilously at the expense of the original victims. There's an underlying assumption in conservative philosophy that private, deregulated business is ultimately self-correcting. It's true that the coal industry could ultimately self correct itself in time given enough lawsuits and public outrage, but is this truly fair? Why should the public have to endure poor health standards while the industry takes the time to sort itself out? The common good is clearly violated in this case. Environmental standards are not only practical, they are necessary in establishing what constitutes "safe" levels of pollution. This of course only takes into consideration the human-related impacts of pollution. What if the pollution start affecting local wildlife? Now you're facing lawsuits from local hunters with no ducks to hunt. How about water pollution? Now you're facing lawsuits over fish kills, thus putting local fisherman out of work. Soon lawsuits from every conceivable angle are hitting you daily. All of the sudden environmental controls make a lot more sense. Obviously it is impossible to entirely eliminate risk in pollution. That's part of the price we pay for energy. We can however regulate it in order to avoid the lion-share of the harm while still reaping the benefits. We also have to write effective legistlation that actually works. Modern politics will always make this a challenge. It's the price we pay for our system of government. By allowing everyone a voice, you have to allow all the stupid voices to be heard. Instead of demonizing environmental controls, you ought to be thanking us liberals for them. They are in fact the only thing that helps you avoid going out of business due to the previously unforeseen consequences of your product. Current Mood: content (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 15th, 2007
12:43 pm	Gotta love good ol' Rush Limbaugh Or not.... Here's my latest take on the "phony soldiers" fiasco For the record, the Dems letter to Clear Channel was a stupid move, and I stated as such when I created this thread. It's not their job to tell Clear Channel what their employees can and can't say. Let public outrage do the job for you, b/c THAT is what matters to the media - ratings. Quote : "Rush Limbaugh didn't even say anything bad. What he said was taken completely out of context, and the democrats know this." I disagree. Here's the transcript: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_092607/content/01125113.guest.html  ******************************************************************************************************************** Quote : "CALLER: I'm one of the few that joined the Army to serve my country, I'm proud to say, not for the money or anything like that. What I would like to retort to is that, what these people don't understand, is if we pull out of Iraq right now, which is not possible because of all the stuff that's over there, it would take us at least a year to pull everything back out of Iraq, then Iraq itself would collapse and we'd have to go right back over there within a year or so. RUSH: There's a lot more than that that they don't understand. The next guy that calls here I'm going to ask them, "What is the imperative of pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out?" I don't think they have an answer for that other than, "When's he going to bring the troops home? Keep the troops safe," whatever. CALLER: Yeah. RUSH: It's not possible intellectually to follow these people. CALLER: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media. RUSH: The phony soldiers. CALLER: Phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country. RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq." ******************************************************************************************************** The underlined parts are the key. Rush doesn't correct this caller's assertion that "all real soldiers support the war." The caller makes a blanket statement that liberals never speak with "real soldiers," and Rush proceeds to call them "phony soldiers." I'm sorry, but in the context of the conversation, Rush is supporting the concept that liberals only talk to fake soldiers, and that no real soldier is against this war... despite the fact that his previous caller was a former soldier and was in favor of withdrawing. That level of ignorance is staggering.  (Comment on this)
Friday, July 13th, 2007
1:03 pm	After 4 long months of extended contract-employee status, as of last week I am officially a full-time employee. Bring on the benefits, business cards, and having to fill out only one timesheet each week. It's been a long time coming, but I finally got there. I was disappointed with my performance at the Cha-Ching 'n Zing disc golf tournament two weekends ago. Granted, I took home 9th out of 27 players in my division, but I compared my scores to those at this same tournament 3 years ago. They were worse, by about 3 shots. That's depressing. I've worked very hard lately and hope that the next tournament this weekend will be more successful. In other news, here's my latest political rant on the Iraq War. Enjoy: Note - this rant was written in response to the follow link: http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/04/hypocrisy_has_a_human_price_on.html The stories coming out of Baghdad on a local level have been quite moving, I'll grant you. Our soldiers have been hard at work over there for 4 years. I have a friend in Afghanistan putting his civil engineering and architectural degrees to use. And yes, on a local level, my friend and our troops in general are having a significant impact. That of course isn't the problem. The problem is the lack of leadership, political foresight, and diplomacy on a national and international level. The Bush Administration has not gotten the Iraqis to stand on their own. They orchestrated the destruction of the former regime, and in turn they are responsible for putting it back together. From the latest report, they've done an atrocious job doing it. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/12/news/14web-prexy.php 4 years later the Iraqis can't run their own national security. 4 years later and the government exists in name only. 4 years later we still have Shia, Kurds, and Sunnis killing each other, that is when they're not killing us. 4 years later... Al Qaida is evidently back on the rise. Yes, I understand why we need to stay. We need to stay to help nurse the fragile Iraqi government to health. We have to protect the Iraqi citizens so they can resume some semblance of normality in their lives. We have to stay because, damnit, we are responsible for fixing what has been broken. This is all well and good, but.... Someone please tell me what we're DOING to make some actual PROGRESS. 4 years isn't long enough to at least have a semi-functional government? 4 years isn't long enough to have an Iraqi led security force to monitor Baghdad? 4 years... and Al Qaida isn't any weaker... it's STRONGER. All this, and we've degraded ourselves in the international community. We've seen our British allies fall by the wayside. The US is now more vulnerable to attack than ever before. Why? Because we've sat in a foreign nation for 4 years, and the some people just seem to take offense to this. I support the US troops. I believe they are doing an exceptional, downright admirable job. But those efforts are for nothing unless the Administration, the one that ordered them there, pulls the strings to get progress going at the national/international levels. Without it, the troops are nothing more than sitting ducks for ongoing terrorism. I support our troops... enough so that if they're hard work is being abused... I will demand that they be brought home. Mr. President, you are NOT waiting on the troops to finish the job. They are waiting YOU. Put them in a position to win, or get them the fuck out. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 28th, 2007
2:44 pm	Your Score: Humphrey Bogart You scored 38% Tough, 0% Roguish, 38% Friendly, and 23% Charming! You're the original man of honor, rough and tough but willing to stick your neck out when you need to, despite what you might say to the contrary. You're a complex character full of spit and vinegar, but with a soft heart and a tender streak that you try to hide. There's usually a complicated dame in the picture, someone who sees the real you behind all the tough talk and can dish it out as well as you can. You're not easy to get next to, but when you find the right partner, you're caring and loyal to a fault. A big fault. But you take it on the chin and move on, nursing your pain inside and maintaining your armor...until the next dame walks in. Or possibly the same dame, and of all the gin joints in all the world, it had to be yours. Co-stars include Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall, hot chicks with problems. Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the Classic Dames Test. Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
12:50 pm	I've been posting a lot... ... but not in here. The political landscape, particularly in Iraq, has been an off-again, on-again hobby of mine. In my post recent post, I responded to criticism over the proposed withdrawal timetables. Please enjoy: ******************************************************************************* Lets start from the top... First off, it's been four years since the US military steamrolled their way into Baghdad and ended the Hussein regime's reign over Iraq. What exactly has been accomplished since then? True Iraqis had elections, but one look at their political situation will tell you that their new government is a mess, and that's being generous. Then there's the whole civil war thing. Call it whatever you like, but the bottom line is that the sectarian violence over there hasn't been improved to any appreciable degree. Four years later, this war, which was supposed to net us an ally, cheap oil, and a hammer-blow to Al Quaida, is nothing short of a political catastrophe and nightmare. As members the tax-paying public, we are effectively investing in our government. We elect members of congress, and the president, in order to see that our investment is spent appropriately. In this respect, the public has every right to be outraged by the Iraq war. Half a trillion dollars later, the message is quite clear - we fucked up. Right now tax-payers are investing $$billions into this debacle of a war every day. Currently, tax-payers are earning a piss-poor return on that investment. So yes, the American public's opinion can and should count for something in this debate. Give this piss-poor return we're earning, any investor would come to this conclusion: business as usual isn't going to cut it. Any sane investor would have "cut and run" long, long ago. Still, we tried to give the Bush Administration some leeway. We've tried supporting the open ended committment to rebuild Iraq. We've tried relying on the Bush Administration to appropriately conduct this war. We've tried to understand the same tired, re-hashed, "We've turned the corner," "Stay the course," reasonable-fucking proposal nonsense for the last four years. Mr. President? We're all fucking sick of it. I'm sorry, but the current Administration has lost all credibility in terms of knowing and understanding what has to be done in Iraq. You cannot honestly stand in front of a microphone and say the American people "Don't worry, just a bit further and we got it." Bullshit. We've heard that same excrement for 4 years now. In that same time we have lost thousands of American troops. I have no issue with Congress trying to take control of the war. I don't care who is running the war, democrats, republicans, communists, whigs, who cares? It's a political maneaver no doubt, but it has to be done. I support the concept of withdrawal timetables. I do NOT however support timetables for the reasons provided by the Democrats. The timetables are necessary to force the Iraqi government to stand on its own two feet. As long as American troops are present in Iraq, the government has no real incentive to get its act together. By gradually withdrawing troops, supplies, and $$$, the Iraqis will have to start running thir own country again. Only the Iraqi people themselves are truly fit to run their own country. As long as the US persists there, however, the US will be the ones truly in power. It makes absolutely no sense to expect the Iraqi government to voluntarily spend their own resources in such a difficult situation. Seriously, why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? As has been said numerous times by countless people, Iraq is now a political problem, not a military problem. Iraq requires political solutions, and those solutions are clearly not being provided. The Democrats have the right idea, but they're pitching it in the wrong way. By treating the withdrawal timetables as a political lever to pressure the Iraqi government, we can provide the military an honorable exit from a long and exhausting war. Politics got us into this war, and politics will have to get us out. The military has done its job, now its time to bring them home. I'm out. (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 14th, 2006
1:01 am	Another test hits the mark... The Slow Dancer Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLDm) Steady, reliable, and cradling her tenderly. Take a deep breath, and let it out real easy...you are The Slow Dancer. Your focus is love, not sex, and for your age, you have average experience. But you're a great, thoughtful guy, and your love life improves every year. There's also a powerful elimination process working in your favor: most Playboy types get stuck raising unwanted kids before you even begin settling down. The women left over will be hot and yours. Your ideal woman is someone intimate, intelligent, and very supportive. Your exact opposite: The Hornivore Random Brutal Sex Master While you're not exactly the life of the party, you do thrive in small groups of smart people. Your circle of friends is extra tight and it's HIGHLY likely they're just like you. You appreciate symmetry in relationships. ALWAYS AVOID: The Battleaxe CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor or The Sonnet Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating. My profile name: KissingGuru (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
2:07 am	How cute.... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
12:26 am	You are The Hierophant Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching. All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel. The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 9th, 2006
1:04 am	Wise words from Marianne Williamson: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. (Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.) We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.” In the past five weeks I've done something I never thought I would.... seek counseling. In the wake of sleeping issues on the job I was forced to confront several looming issues that all point to one thing - ADD. My brother has ADHD, and it appears I have several similar symptoms. Right now I'm in the midst of changing my ways, and it's tough. Here are some things that will help with the overhaul: 1) Positive reinforcement - I need it. I'm always down on myself for being less than the best. Anytime you compliment me aor give me some positive feedback it means a lot. Much more than I can say in words honestly. If I'm doing ok, let me know. I'm too self-conscience to think so without your expressed consent. 2) Understanding - I'm constantly late and out of contact for good friends of mine. I think this has strained many a relationship among my dearest friends. Know this, you guys are all important to me. If I haven't called in a while, it means I've forgotten to do so. I'm very grateful for th friends I have, bear with me while I make some changes to how I roganize my social calendar. 3) Watch the jokes - There are certain categories of jokes I don't take well. It's similar to, say, flicking the Hulk in the ear. You just don't do it without a death wish. In no particular order, avoid these subjects like the plague: lack of a girlfriend, past failures, questioning character or integrity (unless in a 1-1 constructive criticism manner), and anything having to do my grad school at UNC. 4) Help - Yeah I know, but I do need it. If I've got to be somewhere, a reminder makes a huge difference. If you see me getting down on myself, remind me its all in my head. It adds up quickly trust me. I constantly fight with "mini-depressions" as I now call them. Every so often an evening comes along where several successive negative event have me ready to cry, literally. They rarely make much logical sense, but hey since when was being depressed about rational thought? I'm getting help, and I think I'm off to a great start. I do however have a long way to go. I wouldn't say anything is WRONG per se. I think I've survived ok, but it's gotten old. I'm tired of just surviving, it's time to start thriving. I'm not afraid of success, but I have been mentally sabatoging myself by not dealing with my ADD-like symptoms. It's going to be a long journey, but I have faith. If you're reading this, thanks, I appreciate it :) (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 19th, 2006
1:36 am	Just confirming the obvious.... <td align="center"> TJ -- [adjective]: Sexually stunning 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td> (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 8th, 2006
11:36 am	I got a rock... My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul erios_de_khan goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Bill Lumburg. doctordara gives you 1 red-orange licorice-flavoured jawbreakers. loke_dogg gives you 11 mauve evil-flavoured jawbreakers. madamedysart tricks you! You lose 8 pieces of candy! nonamecity gives you 17 light yellow peach-flavoured pieces of taffy. pope_j_rod gives you 16 light yellow coconut-flavoured gummy bats. sheepi83 tricks you! You get a rock. surrealpenguin gives you 1 milky white grape-flavoured jawbreakers. tbmackster gives you 5 pink tropical-flavoured gummy bats. theinfamousj gives you 13 white banana-flavoured nuggets. tonja1380 gives you 11 teal coffee-flavoured jawbreakers. erios_de_khan ends up with 67 pieces of candy, and a rock. Go trick-or-treating! Username: Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
10:30 am	Hacked... Apparently someone by the name of CrazyforBananas has hacked my account. If you see any weird entries, now you know why. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, September 29th, 2006
3:27 pm	BALEETED!!! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
8:13 am	The difference between... ...Her Diary, His Diary HER DIARY Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry. On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched T.V. He seemed distant and absent. Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster. And... HIS DIARY I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid. Classic.... (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 21st, 2006
2:31 pm	Oh look someone screwed with my LJ... "i can smell circles" How clever. Not only that, but they turned my language to German. Oh, there will be some bitch slapping when I get home. At least they didn't sign me up for the American Nazi party... Current Mood: crazy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 19th, 2005
10:39 pm	It's a long entry.... sorry in advance Please read the title.... twice.... Alright, lets start with Thanksgiving. We're informed day before Turkey day that Papa is too sick to make the trip. I make the connection immediately, Papa is dying. Considering how quickly his condition changed I knew going in I was seeing my grandfather for the last time. Showing emotion I do easily, but showing grief specifically.... well that's another story.... We made the trip in a thrifty 7 hours to Pennsyvannia, just across the Deleware border. For some of my southern counterparts here in NC, a family gathering of this size might be a little more common, if not annual or better. This Thanksgiving ranked right up there with the biggest I can remember, partially because of all my new cousins. Yes, several of my aunts and uncles have been settling down in recent memory. I believe the new cousin count on my Mom's side stands at 6, all of them younger than 15 and 4 of them aged 5 or younger. Playing the big cousin is indeed a job I take pride in :) One thing I look forward to every thanksgiving is speed ball, see two posts back for the rules. Basically it looks like a crowd of drunken colege students jockying for position along the pool table. Christian ethics go out the window here, only the strong survive. I won my share of games and was of course annoyed when I got knocked out, but it was good times all around. We also played the annual family football game, thankfully I managed to be on the winning side once. Note to self, learn how to throw a friggin' spiral.... The actual dinner itself was probably the best and toughest moment the whole week. My Nana (grandma) said grace, but broke down crying in the middle of it. It was a touching moment to sit down to eat with 2 dozen family members at once, and I'm sure the family picture will become an instant classic for us all. I know I want my copy... Friday we butted heads in the bowling alley, dividing into two teams of 4. This time Kyle and I ahd the dubious distinction of losing both games. Stupid me decided to bowl my better game when we had no chance at all and played poorly in the tighter second game. Not a bad performance though, 130 and 100 something. Afterwards we got subs and played our last games of speedball before finally departing. Some days later, I honestly don't remember when, Papa finally passed away in the arms of his children and wife of 52 years. You honestly couldn't say enough good things about him. Being a relative of his, and his oldest grandson at that, was a priviledge in and of itself. You guys remember the Manhatten project? My Papa has the patent for the uranium purification technique used to create both Atomic bombs. Even he didnt know what they were being used for at the time. As a chemist he was nothing short of brilliant, but as a a father and husband he truly succeeded. A quick, painless death surrounded by family I'm convinced was yet another blessing God bestowed upon him. Rest in peace Papa, you touched more lives than you could possibly imagine. I love you, always. After dealing with that I had a simple matter of not failing my classes to deal with. Fortunately my Unit plan came together that same week and got turned in with scarely moments to spare. I grinded out some talking points for my 144 exam, breezed through my math final, and ultimately spent the rest of the week finishing my research project for 145. Somewhere in between I managed to sneak away to see Harry Potter on IMAX. Unfortunately we missed our intended showing at 6:45 and ended up going to Krispy Creme instead. For the record... downtown raleigh driving blows... Aer getting lost more than once we had donuts and caravanned back to Diana's (my MAT math cohort and fellow nerd) place. We worked on our respective exams for an hour before driving back to Raleigh for the 11:45 showing. This occured because (1) Members of our party couldn't or didn't want to stay out that late, (2) Diana had purchased a ticket from one of the fellow that couldn't go so she WAS going regardless, and (3) I'd spent the last two weeks telling everyone to NOT tell me how good it was, since I hadn't seen it. I was seeing this movie even if I had to wait out a divinely inspired flood lasting 40 days and nights that somehow left the movie theater miraculously unharmed. Saturday it rained on my intended stress relief efforts that included a round of disc golf with Frank. I needed the break and wanted to practice up after weeks devoid of fun or flying frisbees. The Frank gets the wonderful idea of playing in Yadkinville Sundat afternoon. Lets review the reasons why NOT to do that shall we? 1) It's going to be 50 degrees at best, likely 40 degrees with an overcast 2) It's drizzling, which makes it even colder 3) It's in Yadkinville, which is west of WYNSTON SALEM, making it a 2 hour drive. 4) I still needed time to fix my research project All this, and the one reason to go was that the doubles tournament had a $600 ace pool. So, against better judgment, you know I went. I had a great time despite not winning anything, including the ace pool which was hit on the 2nd freakin' hole. The course was lovely and the weather cleared out revealing a beautiful cloudless day. A t-shirt with a longsleeve undershirt ended up being plenty warm enough. The expedition did require a night of no sleep to finish the project, which I turned in this morning to my forgiving, not to mention saintly professor, Dr. Lynda Stone. I'll be looking into her canonization later this week.... So now I'm done, tired but still standing, ready for a nice long break to relax and prepare for my student teaching next semester. For all of here at the Book of TJ, let me wish you a Happy holidays since I'm too lazy to write down all the religious and secular stuff that goes on these days. Enjoy, and I always do :) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 1st, 2005
10:50 am	Interesting... Your Birthdate: January 22 You tend to be understated and under appreciated. You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way. People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little. Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know. Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid Your power color: Silver Your power symbol: Square Your power month: April What Does Your Birth Date Mean? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 27th, 2005
5:39 pm	I'll edit this later... Erios 82: we played a variant of pool called "speed ball" Erios 82: every player gets a pool ball, numbered 1-x, where x is how many players you have Erios 82: to start, the player with the 1 ball "serves" by hitting the white ball, which is sitting on the dot (where the eightball rests before breaking) Erios 82: the objective is to sink the white ball into one of the pockets on the table Erios 82: once the 1 ball hits the white ball, however, the real fun begins Erios 82: now, at any time while the white ball is rolling, the player with the #2 ball may hit the white ball with their ball Erios 82: after they hit it, player #3 has to hit the white ball Erios 82: and so on and so forth Erios 82: so if, for example, player 1 hits the white ball, and player two redirects the white ball into a pocket on the table, player #3 receives a point Erios 82: get three points and you're out Erios 82: last player standing wins Erios 82: other ways to get points: hit the white ball off the table, hitting the white ball out of turn, and allowing the white ball to stop completely on the table when it's your turn to hit it Erios 82: there's also an understood rule that you must"throw" your ball forward at the white ball, but that rule I'd have to demonstrate Erios 82: if player #3 is knocked out, player #4 will now follow player #2 (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 25th, 2005
12:00 am	The good, the bad, and the work ahead... Nice mixed bag of stuff to chat about, enjoy... First, Carly and I finally got ahold of one another. Turns out my hunch was right, she decided against doing anything at least for the time being. Perhaps down the road something will come out of it, but definitely not now. Thank God though, it was driving me nuts. Poster presentation went well, though I had to whip up a summary paper I didn't realize needed to go with it. Had a lot of fun reviewing the "Cool = dumb" phenomenon in schools, especially since I'll most assuredly deal with it. A few lost hours of sleep accompanied the effort, but nothing I'll miss all that much. My looming unit plan has me a little worried, but hopefully I'll crank that out on Saturday. The research based rationale FOR the unit plan however will be be a massive pain in the ass.... Now for the sad portion of the post. A few weeks back my mother visited her parents, my Nana and Papa, because of a recent doctor's visit. Papa's memory and motor skill problems turned out to stem from a rather large tumor in his brain. Judging from the size it'd been there a while, and there's not really much that can be done about it. My mother and Nana were of course devastated, so she flew in and returned home to me and my siblings for a family dinner. ::Fast forward to Monday before Thanksgiving:: My Dad calls me up and immediately I know he has knews about Papa. In just a week's time Papa had taken a turn for the worse. There would be no traveling for him, and we certainly wasn't going to have thanksgiving without him. Thus, with only two days notice, we quickly made plans to drive 7+ hours to Pennsylvannia to celebrate thanksgiving at their place. I got off the phone Monday afternoon with a terrible feeling in my gut. First, I felt bad since it was almost a certainty Papa's time was growing short. I'd lost my Grandpa (Dad's dad) when I was 8, fortunately a little too young to truly be stung by the loss, but this was different. We weren't exceptionally close, but he was a staple in my life nonetheless. He taught me a lot about chess and golf, two things I love to do. Many of my fondest memories growing up revolve around playing in his massive front and back yards. We had a game I can't recall any longer that involved throwing a basketball against the steep rough over the garage, but I do remember spending hours playing with my relatives. I also remember soccer games and how we were warned not to ruin Papa's meticulously-cared-for front lawn. I also remember him and I taking down my Dad and Uncle Andy in golf last year. He could barely hit it 100 yards, but a little perseverence paid off with a one shot victory. Which brings me to my second reason to be sad: no family golf competition. As you may or may not already realize, I live for this thing every year. So may great memories, heckling, and choke-jobs surround the lore of thanksgiving golf, from Keith and I's near-rally from 6 points down with two holes to go, to Dad's miracle 30+ foot birdie on the 18th hole, to Keith and I's 12 point blowout win, to a 25 foot putt on 18 that put me and Papa in the winners circle last year. Then, there's the trash talking, which I typically leave to Keith. He can spew more hilarity per hour than anyone I've ever met, some of which revolves around orders for 24-packs of metamucil and complimenting Uncle Andy's sliced shots. Then there's the choke artistry, like Keith's memorable 18th hole 3-putt that negated Dad and Uncle Andy BOTH drowning their teeshots in the water on the previous hole. I birdied 17 and hit a 30 footer for par on 18, but we fell one point short.... I'm not bitter though... really :) I'm pretty much the only one with any real talent, but a lack of practice always brings me down to everyone else's level. The problem is I KNOW how to play well, so playing BAD drives me nuts. Ah, good memories though... Anyway, we're up in PA we're it's in the mid FORTIES with the sun out, and currently the winds gusting the wind chill down around ZERO. Still, we've had some rousing games of SPEED BALL, a game I'll be happy to describe sometime when my post isn't already insanely long. My Nana broke down crying during the Thanksgiving prayer, but other than that everyone's had a great time and we got avery special family picture taken with several new additions to the Thomson-Murray family. It's going to be fun being their to see my cousins grow up, though I'll have to be the one to set a good example.... Somebody has to negate the influence of Keith :) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 20th, 2005
12:15 pm	Meh... So this week's been a little rough, passed on a disc tournament this weekend I actually could have won. Turn out a lot of the best players were either in pro or in Florida for an invite-only PDGA event. Oh well, most of the guys I competed with before have moved up, so I feel compelled to get my game in shape to join them. The school year is never kind to my disc game, so oh well... Currently I'm about to run to the store for poster supplies. Presentation due tomorrow, oh joy. The coupled with looming unit plans to finish, a problem set due after break, and a 8-10 page research assessment due on the 6th. Please oh please let this poster thing not take all day... In other news, plans with Carly have stumbled to a crawl. It may be she's not interested, which is of course fine, but we haven't yet gotten together to really talk about it. A little closure is all I'm asking for, seeing as it's been a week since.... well since things got interesting. In the background of looming HW and on the heels of a break-up, this just isn't something I have any desire to deal with. An answer, either way, will be a load off my mind... Now, back to our regularly scheduled insanity... (2 Comments |Comment on this)