Jetta Resurrection 3.1

First pic and post

2011-06-15T17:07:00.001-07:00

This is a picture taken from the front camera of a asus eee transformer. The school has purchased this won and I'm learning how to use it.

a new post

2007-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is a post to let you all know that I'm alive and well, teaching Digital Art at Orange Cove High school. Orange Cove is the town that I grew up in and has a current population of around 4000. The high school is a new school and the students are very bright and enthusiastic. We won the league championship in football and I'm looking forward to basketball season.

The Trip Back '07 - Day 4

2007-05-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Leander, TX - It's Challenge Time! (0:33)

The Trip Back '07 - Day 3

2007-05-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Austin, TX - And we're Back! (1:23)
Austin, TX - Roller Skates in your Shoes! (0:36)
Austin, TX - Have You Eating at Chick-Fil-A?! (0:06)
Austin, TX - Dueling Pianos! (0:34)

The Trip Back '07 - Day 2

2007-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

And so the Driving Begins - Oh Yeah! (0:41)
Our First Interchange - Talk About the Matrix Reloaded! (0:37)
Tallahassee Krispy Kreme - I new you were Brothers! (0:49)
Pensacola - Sexy and Single! (0:08)
Mobile - Oh Sh*t! (0:12)
Bridge Over Louisiana - Sucka!
The Cabin - Before!
The Cabin - After!
Lake Charles - A Very Concerning Turn of Events!
Houston - Fiesta Tiempo!

The Trip Back '07 - Day 1

2007-05-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

These following links are a few audio recordings of Diran and my trip back to California from Florida. I hope to update this everyday.

Layover in Phoenix - Thank You Aunt Mary!
Arrival into Tampa/Saint Pete!
Good Food In Tampa - part 1 of the going away festivities!
Good Will and Good-Bye - part 2 of the going away festivities!

whistling

2007-05-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Whistling

Toto's Logical Syllogism - 80s Music in Review

2007-05-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Premise 1: It's not in the way that you hold me
Premise 2: It's not in the way you say you care
Premise 3: It's not in the way you've been treating my friends
Premise 4: It's not in the way that you stayed till the end
Premise 5: It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you'll do
Therefore, hold the line, love isn't always on time, oh oh oh!

My Critique of Behavior Psychology

2007-05-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Certainly, if you put meat through a grinder, you'll get ground beef. However, that doesn't mean that the essential state of meat is ground up.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Parts of Speech!

2007-05-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Noun – is a word used to name a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun can be a proper noun or a common noun.
Examples:
George Washington, Charlotte Bronte (people, proper nouns)
man, woman (people, common nouns)
Maplewood Park, Chicago, Illinois (places, proper nouns)
playground, town (places, common nouns)
baseball bat, tennis ball (things)
independence, freedom (ideas)

Pronoun – is a word that replaces a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronouns can act as subjects or objects, and some can show possession.
Examples:
I, you, he, she, it, we, they (nominative case, can act as subjects)
me, you, him, her, it, us, them (objective case, can act as objects)
my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs (possessive case, show possession)

Adjective – is a word used to describe, or modify, a noun or a pronoun. An adjective describes “what kind,” “which one,” “how many,” or “how much.”
Examples:
the brown dog (Which dog?)
the colonial house (What kind of house?)
the two cars (How many cars?)
She is blonde. (What kind of hair?)
He is tall. (What kind of height?)

Verb – is a word that shows action or that indicates a condition or a state of being.
Examples:
I run. Polly talks. The boys eat.
I am sick. She is tired. The people are free.

Note: It is best to use strong action verbs that paint a vivid picture in the readers' mind (e.g. race, waddle, chomp). The verb "to be" (e.g. is, are, was, were...) is not descriptive, so requires the use of adverbs.

Adverb – is a word used to describe, or modify, a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb describes how, when, where, or to what extent the verb performs.
Examples:
I run fast. (How fast do I run?) The boys are eating now. (When are the boys eating?)
I am very sick. She is extremely tired. The people are finally free. (These examples all show to what extent the verb performs.)

Preposition – is a word used to show a relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the sentence. Prepositions often show direction, location, or time.
Examples:
in the morning, up in the sky, down south, in a minute, at 2:00 p.m., before bed, by my side, without a doubt, over the hill, after school, through the door, across the street, around the world

Conjunction – is a word that connects other words or groups of words to each other. There are three types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.
Examples:
Steve and Sally are going to the store. (coordinating)
Sally is going to the store because she likes Steve. (subordintating)
Sally likes Steve whether he likes her or not. (correlative)

Interjection – is a word used to express emotion that has no grammatical relationship to other words in the sentence. Interjections should be used sparingly and usually only belong in narrative dialogue.
Examples:
Uh oh, I made a mistake!
Oh no, I forgot to call Jane!
Well, what are you going to do?

Four Paragraphs to the Last Four Seasons

2007-05-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

As my final semester of the credential program comes to a close, I have been thinking about my experience as a whole. For the most part, I have not really enjoyed it. It was extremely difficult. However, I will say that I have learned an incredible amount in a very short time. The program has enhanced my abilities to write lessons and assess learning. It has taught me how the effects of culture and politics play out in schools and about the necessity of including literacy in art education. I cannot begin to numerate the ways I have learned from my daily interaction with students at the school site.

My growth as a teacher has been substantial, although not pleasurable. I suppose that real growth rarely is easy, but I doubt I would be able to sustain the rigorous schedule of the last two semesters. I am afraid that if teaching is even more difficult than the credential program, I may not be “cut out for it.” I am hopeful that it will be easier in many ways and difficult in different ways than the program has been.

The only area that I feel unprepared for is the beginning of next year. I have been told that the first few weeks with the student are the most important of the year. They set the stage and mold the temperament that the class will have for the rest of the year. Simply being aware of this situation is no consolation to me because I know of so many other things in the dynamic world of teaching that cannot be told, but rather, can only be shown. I have never been shown how to begin a school year.

This year comes to a close and with it the term of my continuous education. Now I can begin the process of learning in adjunct to a whole new set of responsibilities. I am excited, but also wary. Like a ball player before the beginning of the game, I wait in great anticipation. Let the learning begin.

Grandma Dorothy

2007-04-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

My grandmother died today.

Holy Act of Congress, Batman!

2007-03-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Free Beer

2007-03-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

At a London brewery on October 16, 1814, a huge wooden storage vat burst open, flooding the streets with a 25-foot-high wave of beer. Eight people drowned in the flood, while dozens of others ran to scoop up the free beer.

New Music?

2007-03-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

This band, at long last, has some integrity/originality:

Lyrics:

Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim

A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home

Sigur Rós hail from Iceland, and rightly claim to bring you the beautiful landscape of their homeland with their music. It's impossible to justify it with words, you have to listen to it to understand.

A Quotation

2007-03-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

“Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”

- Pablo Neruda

George Michael's Logical Syllogism

2007-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Premise 1: Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Premise 2: Though it's easy to pretend, I know you're not a fool
Premise 3: I should have known better than to cheat a friend
Premise 4: And waste a chance that I'd been give
Therefore, I'm never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you

Russian Imperial Stout (the desroyer beer)

2007-02-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Imperial stout, also known as "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Imperial Russian Stout," is a strong dark beer or stout that was originally brewed by Barclays brewery in London, England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia. It has a high alcohol content (nine or ten percent is not uncommon) intended to preserve it during long trips and to provide a more bracing drink against cold climates. The colour is very dark, almost always opaque black. Imperial stout exhibits enormously powerful malt flavours, hints of dark fruits, and is often quite rich, resembling a chocolate dessert.

Over winter break, my step-father cracked open a version of this brew from Stone. It had been a long time since a beer had "taken me out" and this one surely did. The robustness of the malt and hops are indeed remarkable. In fact, a friend of mine was enjoying one a few days ago and actually had to stop drinking near the end of the pint because he was overcome. If you ever get the chance, drink this one with a few good friends.

Can You Guess Which Ride We're On?

2007-02-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Last summer, I was workin' crazy hours with my uncle both at the Horn shop and out at his property. Most days exceeded the 12 hour mark and we rarely took a day off. At one point, I had worked for 45 days straight. It was a cruel, cruel summer.

Why did I do it? Well, he's building a house just outside the city of Fresno and it was crucial that we got the roof on before the rains came. It also had something to do with the duckets.

Do to large time commitment, a feeling of entitlement began to rise up in me and one day, in the midst of the swealtering heat, I said, "Harry, when we finish this house, we're going to Disneyland." It was a joke. It was also serious.

Well, this past thanksgiving, with the roof on the house that joke was realized. The photo is proof. If I had to do it all over again, I would.

A Portrait of California

2007-02-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

So, my dad plays this game with license plates as he's driving around town. He counts the last three numbers of a license plate sequencially beging at 000. Right now, he's on 680. Truck plates don't count. He's been playing this game for over 6 years. Others play this game as well.

Dreaming of Becoming a Fireman

2007-02-14T17:55:00.001-08:00

Lots of little boys dream of becoming firemen when they grow up. Firemen are some of the more idolized professionals among the 3-8 year old demographic. Today, I saw the manifestation of this as I was driving home. As I passed by the local fire station, I noticed that the big fire engine doors were open and that a stream of water was pouring out into the drive way. Then I noticed the fireman holding the hose and a little boy, no more than 3 years old, by his side. The boy's mother stood off to the side, watching with glee. It was a perfect encapsulation of what used to be good about American culture.

I feel like we all want to become firemen is some sense or another. For instance, I was eating some really hot salsa earlier today and I was, like, "Damn, that is some hot stuff. My mouth is on fire! I need a fireman to put out the flames that are coming out of my mouth."

(Sigh)

"I wish I was a fireman."

Double IPA Festival in Hayward, Ca

2007-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the executive chef at Calvin Crest Josh Haas, my step father Dave Divelbiss, world renown Gear's of War advocate Brad Long, and I made the trek up to the Bay Area to enjoy some serious brews. The weather was a bit sketchy at times, but the beers made up for what mother nature left out. Here is a photo of some of our selections: Hebrew's RIPA (Dark), Pizza Port's Hop 15, and Russian River's Pliny the Younger (light). Of all the beers present (well over 50 different Interpretations of the Double IPA style), Russian River won the day with their incredible Pliny the Younger. I'd like to give a big up's to all the guys for letting me tag along on some seriously "Good Times."

Men at Work's Logical Syllogism: 80's Music in Review

2007-02-09T20:52:00.001-08:00

Premise 1: Do you come from a land down under?
Premise 2: Where women glow and men plunder?
Premise 3: Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
Therefore, you better run, you better take cover.

A Brief History of the Nonic Pint Glass

2007-02-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

“Conical” glasses are shaped, as the name suggests, as an inverted truncated cone around six inches tall and tapering by about an inch in diameter over its height. More often than not, the glass bulges out a couple of inches from the top; this is partly for improved grip, and partly to prevent the glasses from sticking together when stacked. This style of bulged conical glass is often termed “nonic” by suppliers. This is the most common type of pint glass found in UK pubs.

AAA 2006 VCE

2007-01-27T12:00:00.001-08:00

Dause Open Mayne!

2007-01-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

a year of the Experience

2007-01-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

5 grande vanilla latte's a week
$ 3.35 per latte
52 weeks in a year

$871.00 per year

a latte is steamed milk with a small amount of concentrated coffee.

2 cups of milk at the grocery store costs $0.38

Make a sacrifice to survive Piranha infested waters

2007-01-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

As a last-ditch effort, you can try to create a diversion by releasing an animal carcass or a substantial quantity of raw meat downstream from your desired crossing point. Keep in mind, however, that the piranhas can indeed strip the animal to the bones in a matter of minutes or even seconds, so you'll want to cross very quickly before the fish catch wind of you.

Heart's Logical Syllogism - 80's music in Review

2007-01-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

Premise 1: Freedom is a kiss
Premise 2: But the prince hides his face
Premise 3: From dreams in the mist
Premise 4: These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Therefore, Every second of the night I live another life

The Good Shepard

2007-01-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

All Russia is our orchard. The land is great and beautiful, there are many marvellous places in it. [Pause] Think, Anya, your grandfather, your great-grandfather, and all your ancestors were serf-owners, they owned living souls; and now, doesn't something human look at you from every cherry in the orchard, every leaf and every stalk? Don't you hear voices . . . ? Oh, it's awful, your orchard is terrible; and when in the evening or at night you walk through the orchard, then the old bark on the trees sheds a dim light and the old cherry-trees seem to be dreaming of all that was a hundred, two hundred years ago, and are oppressed by their heavy visions. Still, at any rate, we've left those two hundred years behind us. So far we've gained nothing at all--we don't yet know what the past is to be to us--we only philosophize, we complain that we are dull, or we drink vodka. For it's so clear that in order to begin to live in the present we must first redeem the past, and that can only be done by suffering, by strenuous, uninterrupted labour.

To all the World...

2007-01-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

Peace!

Hot Pockets!

2006-12-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Pablo Neruda: Residence on Earth

2006-11-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

There Is No Oblivion (Sonata)

If you ask me where I have been
I must say "It so happens."
I must speak of the ground darkened by the stones,
of the river that enduring is destroyed:
I know only the things that the birds lose,
the sea left behind, or my sister weeping.
Why so many regions, why does a day
join a day? Why does a black night
gather in the mouth? Why dead people?

If you ask me where I come from, I have to converse with
broken things,
with utensils bitter to excess,
with great beasts frequently rotted
and with my anguished heart.

Those that have crossed paths are not memories
nor is the yellowish dove that sleeps in oblivion,
they are tearful faces
fingers at the throat,
and what falls down from the leaves:
the darkness of a day gone by,
of a day nourished with our sad blood.

Here are violets, swallows,
everything that pleases us and that appears
in the sweet long-trained cards
around which stroll time and sweetness.

But let us not penetrate beyond those teeth,
let us not bite the shells that silence gathers,
because I do not know what to answer:
there are so many dead,
so many sea walls that the red sun split,
and so many heads that beat against the ships,
and so many hands that have cradled kisses,
and so many things that I want to forget.

The More Things Seem to Change, the More they Stay the Same

2006-10-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Why is it necessary to develop creative and critical thinking skills in a society that primarily values a service based economy?”

The Clash's Logical Syllogism - 80's music in Review

2006-10-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Premise 1: As soon as the shareef was chauffeured outta there
Premise 2: The jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio blare
Premise 3: As soon as the shareef was outta their hair
Premise 4: The jet pilots wailed
Premise 5: The shareef don't like it
Therefore, rock the casbah

Pillars of our Society

2006-10-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Values play an enormous role in the society we live in. Strong values are not simply ideas that direct you in the voting booth, but rather are passions that empower daily actions. Probably the greatest value we already teach in school is that of diversity. Nothing is more important than to have a firm, governing understanding of the value of how different things in the world are. Without diversity, we as human beings would be unable to differentiate between each other (or anything for that matter). Without this fixation, a collapse in the hierarchical structure of our society might occur. It is with this value at heart that I recommend we do a better job of differentiating between the more powerful and more latent values that are a part of our culture.

First, students should be equipped with an understanding that desire is paramount. It is through desire that all consumption (the driving force of our economy and consequently our livelihoods) is channeled. Even the youngest of students already can identify this feeling inside themselves and, therefore, should be allowed the linguistic access to reflect and analyze it. Schools are already teaching this lesson through the practice of on campus vending, but this is simply not enough. In the same way that natural resources are unlimited, students can be taught that there is no need to limit their personal desires. We all can desire as much as we want and the fulfillment of our “wants” will lead to our inevitable happiness.

The second value that needs to be addressed more in schools is that of self-centrism. As individuals focused primarily on themselves, our students can be better prepared to learn how society in the United States functions. Most students do not yet have cars, and because of this, are not acutely aware of how the automobile (as well as many other consumer goods) can quarantine individuals and set them apart from others. Students should be taught that collaborative interaction with others is something to be done only at work (or school) and that every person is allowed their own “piece of the pie.” How can they eventually take their place alone in the “winners circle” if they use the help of others? We must teach them that it is through our individuality that we come together as a strong, unified, diverse nation.

Finally, profit is our society's most indispensable value. Students need to be taught about what profit really is so that, eventually, they can business owners in the capitalist economy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with charging consumers more for a product than it is worth. Congruently, there is nothing wrong with paying laborers slightly less than they deserve. Don’t trouble students with the apparent contradictions between the other, lesser values of honesty and integrity. They must come to understand that the business owners of our society are actually doing the consumers a favor. It is because of the business owners that we can have the desires that lead to happiness and eventually enjoy that happiness all to ourselves. Consumers are obliged to pay a little more.

With those three values (desire, self-centrism, and profit) at the center of our values curriculum, our students will be completely prepared to enter into our society and we, as teachers, will have done our jobs.

li-young lee

2006-09-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Arise, Go Down

It wasn't the bright hem of the Lord's skirts
that brushed my face and I opened my eyes
to see from a cleft in rock His backside;

it's a wasp perched on my left cheek. I keep
my eyes closed and stand perfectly still
in the garden till it leaves me alone,

not to contemplate how this century
ends and the next begins with no one
I know having see God, but to wonder

why I get through most days unscathed, though I
live in a time when it might be otherwise,
and I grow more fatherless each day.

For years now I have come to conclusions
without my father's help, discovering
on my own what I know, what I don't know,

and seeing how one cancels the other.
I've become a scholar of cancellations.
Here, I stand among my father's roses

and see that what punctures outnumbers what
consoles, the cruel and the tender never
make peace, though one climbs, though one descends

petal by petal to the hidden ground
no one owns, I see that which is taken
away by violence or persuasion.

The rose announces on earth the kingdom
of gravity. A bird cancels it.
My eyelids cancel the bird. Anything

might cancel my eyes: distance, time, war.
my father said, Never take you both eyes
off of the world, before he rocked me.

All night we waited for the knock
that would have signalled, All clear, come now;
it would have meant escape; it never came.

I didn't make the world I leave you with,
he said, and then, being poor, he left me
only this world, in which there is always

a family waiting in terror
before they're rended, this world wherein a man
might arise, go down, and walk along a path

and pause and bow to roses, roses
his father raised, and admire them, for one moment
unable, thank God, to see in each and
every flower the world cancelling itself.

In case Yall forgot!

2006-09-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Whoops...

2006-09-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. B,

I am the student in your class who argued in support of deficit theory of understanding minority achievement during the discussion tonight. I would like to clarify that it was not my intention to support the value judgments that are commonly and mistakenly made by proponents of this theory. I believe these judgments are motivated by racist views rather than scientific evidence. The point I was trying to make is that genetic differences are present and should not be disregarded because of their presumed usefulness as a tool in culturally bigoted argumentation. Indeed, those who are in power throughout history have never needed science to justify their claims to power. I realize that this is not a science class and we don’t have the resources or time to examine every issue too deeply.

I would like you to know that I have a deep respect for the differences that exist in the cultures and peoples of our community. I believe it is through description, and the understanding which follows, that the courage to value difference comes. We can not pretend to be the same when we are not. For that, I am thankful, because it is beautiful to be different.

Sincerely,

James Lyons

The Ethic of Fairness In Contemporary Public Education

2006-09-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Fairness in the classroom is a difficult, but necessary, topic for discussion. The ideas of impartiality and equality are deeply ingrained in the minds of young students and the revelation of the falseness of these ideas is hard to receive. I believe fairness to be the treatment of all students equally, in accordance with their specific needs. It is a lofty belief and whether many or few hold it, it is certainly not held by all.

Either as a result of belief or biology, humans behave differently from each other. At times, these differences are large and, at times, they are small. Regardless, the various behaviors we exhibit are the evidence for the inconsistency of moral beliefs in our world. Does this inconsistency in the world warrant the teaching of a different kind of fairness? Some people work their entire lives to own their own home only to see it all wash away in the fury of Mother Nature. Bill Gates says, "Life isn'’t fair, get used to." Is this something our students should be sheltered from or taught openly? Is Bill Gates a good role model? Can we overcome the natural world?

The good, or bad, news is that educating forces are already at work in our classrooms. Humans have an incredible ability to teach themselves and shouldn't those forces be harnessed? Rather than setting up mini moral utopias, we might consider preparing our students for the kind of inconsistencies they will inevitably encounter. Will we do our students a disservice by attempting to convince them otherwise?

Robert Palmer's Logical Syllogism - 80's music in Review

2006-09-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

Premise 1: Your lights are on, but you're not home
Premise 2: Your will is not your own
Premise 3: You're heart sweats and teeth grind
Premise 4: Another kiss and you'll be mine
Premise 5: Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah
Premise 6: It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough,
Therefore, you know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love

A Summer Job / The Horn Temp

2006-08-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

My uncle (Pictured on the right) owns the central valleys largest and most well renown Musical instrument repair company. The Horn Shop, as it is so called, is known by all decent wind instrument players in and around the Fresno/Clovis metropolis for its quality of workmanship. The summer is the busiest time of the year for the Horn Shop. They maintain the brass and woodwinds for nearly 100 schools, servicing nearly 5000 instruments in all. This task, being impossible for the permanent technicians, requires the employment of seasonal workers affectionately referred to as "The Horn Temps."

As a "Horn Temp" my skills are at best rudimentary in comparison the my uncle but that doesn't mean the work is boring. Everyday, I'll disassemble, clean, de-dent, and reassemble 5-10 trumpets, marching horns, euphoniums, and tubas. Learning new skills and techniques has been by far the most engaging part of the job. There are many, many unique tools which are used for highly specific functions. The Ultrasonic Cleaner (pictured here), The Dent Eraser, and various mandrils are some of the more interesting ones. In additions, my coworkers are fun and interesting people.

For the most part, I have enjoyed this summer tremendously. I've worked long and hard (in addition to The Horn Shop, my uncle and I are building a house) and working hard is a good thing. Call me a Marxist if you want, but if you're not working, get off your bump and bust your hump.

Jane Child's Logical Syllogism - 80's music in Review

2006-08-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

Premise 1: I don't wanna fall in love, no no
Premise 2: Love cuts just like a knife, woo woo
Premise 3: You make the knife feel good baby
Therefore, I'll fight you to the end

Monuments of Nostalgia

2006-07-31T22:29:00.000-07:00

Just before my freshman year of highschool, my mother and step-father took the family on a tour of the country. Our final destination was Memphis and then Iowa, but we went by way of the southwest. This was my first trip to the desert and I was impressed by the heat and by the desolation and since then, it has always been my favorite place.

All the usual characters of the desert were discovered on that trip for the first time. I remember admiring the cacti and the likeness of Joshua Trees and U2 album covers. I remember the evening we drove through Monument Valley. I can not explain the feeling but it was something like surprise. Magnificent and terrible surprise.

As I think back on that night, I am full of deep sadness. I can't go back to that time. Back to when I was a boy and my step-father was a young man. Back to the rocks and trees and the overcast sunset that turned the world to a glowing grey. That world and its enormous monoliths which stand like sign posts pointing to things gone by, has past by me.

Sometimes, I dream that on that evening in the desert, if only I could be there again, I'd find all those whom I've ever loved, waiting for me to come to them.

I know that my writing is weak and that you're probably scratching your head right now. All I can say is that my eyes are filled with tears about the past. Tears ready to fall on the sands of an overcast desert.

The Jetta Heats Up

2006-07-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

In addition to this blog, the Jetta, for which it is so named, has been in a state of disrepair. As the summer has climbed higher and higher into record temperatures, the temperature of my engine has also climbed above its normal, seasonal levels. This has resulted in a momentary shutdown (arh) of all jetta usage and has relegated all motor-vehicular transportation to other apparatus. I realize the rather large amounts of shame that go along with bumming rides and using your parents gas, but these are trying times. Damn trying, some might say.

With the Jetta down, but not out, I've decided to attempt to repair her myself. I've conferred with some mechanical minds and their prognostications give me both hope and confidence that the Jetta can be both restored and reinstituted. All I have to do is change the thermostat.

Before we go any further with this post, I must assure all 6 of you who still read this that "I ain't got time for" global warming or any other theories about why my car has been driven to exhaustion. I also ain't got time for workin' out in 113 degree heat either.

Anyway, while at work today, I listened to various channels on Sirius Satellite Radio.

How bout a nice, warm cup of STFU

2006-07-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Jorge Luis Borges in The Immortal

2006-04-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

Death (or its allusion) makes men precious and pathetic. They are moving because of their phantom condition; every act they excute may be their last; there is not a face that is not on the verge of disolving like a face in a dream. Everything among the mortals has the value of the irretrievable and the perilous. Among the Immortals, on the other hand, every act (and every thought) is the echo of others that preceded it in the past, with no visible beginning, or the faithful presage of others that in the future will repeat it to a tertinginous degree. There is nothing that is not as if lost in a maze of indefatigable mirrors. Nothing can happen only once, nothing is preciously precarious. The elegiacal, the serious, the ceremonial, do not hold for the Immortals. Homer and I separated at the gates of Tangier; I think we did not even say goodbye.

Well... who do you wanna blame?

2006-04-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

If lust and hate is the candy,
if blood and love tastes so sweet,
then we give 'em what they want.

So their eyes are growing hazy 'cos they wanna turn it on,
so their minds are soft and lazy.
Well... who do you wanna blame?

Hey, give 'em what they want.

And that John, the Favorite, was a Dry Fly Fisherman

2006-03-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

"It is those we live with and love and should know that elude us."

Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, but I still reach out to them.

Of course, I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone, although some friends think I shouldn't. But when I am alone in the half-light of the canyon, all existence fades into a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.

The Report and Other

2006-03-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

"Tragedies are like facts. You have to pretend they don't exist."
- Stephen Colbert

Also, this week I saw a bumper sticker that read:
"I support our troops and President Bush's decisions."

...things are heating up!

PS: I'm currently listening to Jeopardy by the Greg Kihn Band. Ooooh-ooh-oooooh

Jack

2006-02-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

105.9 FM

...you were right, I was wrong.

test

2006-02-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

disregard this post

Across in the Research

2006-01-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

As the child of history and reason, Revolution is the offspring of linear, successive, and unrepeatable time. But as the child of myth, it moves in cyclical time, like the stars and the seasons. The nature of Revolution, then, is dual. We cannot think it except by separating its two elements and discarding the mythic as a foreign body - and we cannot live it except by uniting them. We think it as a phenomenon foreseen by reason; we live it as a mystery. The fascination of revolution lies in this enigma.

-Octavio Paz in The Other Voice: Essays on Modern Poetry

Magical Realism

2006-01-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

...but I think it's to ask you, if you could do anything you wanted...if you could have a wish....

And you're the kind of man who could grant me that wish?

I don't know. I'm just asking.

You know, I never got to bat in the major leagues. I'd have liked to have had that chance, just once...to stare down a big-league pitcher. Stare him down, then just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. The chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes to look at it. To feel the tingle in your arms as you connect with the ball. To run the bases, stretch a double into a triple... ...and flop face first into third. Wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish. Is there enough magic out there in the moonlight... ...to make this dream come true?

What would you say if I said yes?

It's Money They Have and Peace They Lack

2006-01-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

-James Earl Jones playing Terence Man in Field of Dreams

Truth and Representation

2005-12-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil. Listen to Rat Kiley. Cooze, he says. He does not say bitch. He certainly does not say woman, or girl. He says cooze. Then he spits and stares. He's nineteen years old-it's too much for him-so he looks at you with those big sad gentle killer eyes and says cooze, because his friend is dead, and because it's so incredibly sad and true: she never wrote back.
You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty. Listen to Rat: "Jesus Christ, man, I write this beautiful fuckn' letter, I slave over it, and what happens? The dumb cooze never writes back."

- Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story" in The Things They Carried

Advertising has taken over...

2005-12-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

...the moral responsibility for all of society and replaced a puritan morality with a hedonistic morality of pure satisfaction.

A facade of fearlessness

2005-12-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Pryor did not grow up in grinding poverty, but he had a childhood that marked him for life and that he mined repeatedly for his comedy. Born Dec. 1, 1940, in Peoria, Ill., his mother, Gertrude, was a prostitute and cocktail waitress and his father, Buck, who he saw beat his mother regularly, was a pimp and bartender. His grandmother, who raised him from the age of 10, owned a brothel.

Even though Pryor was in some ways fearless onstage — there was nothing he wouldn't talk about, from impotence to his crack addiction — there was sometimes a hint of the skinny little Peoria kid lurking behind his eyes as he performed, watching fearfully for bullies.

He dropped out of school after eighth grade, got in and out of minor trouble, then joined the Army and was sent to Germany. Discharged for getting into a knife fight, he landed back in Peoria in 1960, where he started singing and telling jokes in local black nightclubs. The jokes went over better than the singing, and in 1963 Pryor moved to Greenwich Village, where he performed at fabled clubs like The Bitter End and befriended Bill Cosby and George Carlin. "He had a sort of pain that was fairly evident," Carlin recalled of those early days. Read more...

Uncited Sources |All Is Sillyness|

2005-12-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light. Lamentations 3:2

"One thing, be sure of why you are in this discussion. Pride only fogs the lenses. Play is the most powerful way. Like a child; see, as in the heart of a child, play isn't concerend with what's right or wrong. It just plays; it just is; remember that truth is arrived at through many ways but that the heart shapes the mind and vice versa; what this entails = you want to show, know, be, or say truth, shape the heart, watch it within you and desire to know truth and love it above all your own wants - with God's help, all things can be known. ...remember, true answers necessitate being, not speculation."

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

2005-11-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Frozen Hyperreal: At what time will it snow?

2005-11-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

Disneyland is a perfect model of all the entangled orders of simulation. To begin with it is a play of illusions and phantasms: pirates, the frontier, future world, etc. This imaginary world is supposed to be what makes the operation successful. But, what draws the crowds is undoubtedly much more the social microcosm, the miniaturized and religious revelling in real America, in its delights and drawbacks. You park outside, queue up inside, and are totally abandoned at the exit. In this imaginary world the only phantasmagoria is in the inherent warmth and affection of the crowd, and in that aufficiently excessive number of gadgets used there to specifically maintain the multitudinous affect. The contrast with the absolute solitude of the parking lot - a veritable concentration camp - is total. Or rather: inside, a whole range of gadgets magnetize the crowd into direct flows; outside, solitude is directed onto a single gadget: the automobile. By an extraordinary coincidence (one that undoubtedly belongs to the peculiar enchantment of this universe), this deep-frozen infantile world happens to have been conceived and realized by a man who is himself now cryogenized; Walt Disney, who awaits his resurrection at minus 180 degrees centigrade.

-Jean Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulations

Zombification and You

2005-11-20T22:25:00.005-08:00

In 1985, Harvard University botanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti in search of the poison powder called coupe poudre, allegedly used to cause the death-like trance state induced in the process of zombification. His sponsors believed that if such a drug existed it would have valuable pharmacological usage. He published the results of his findings in two books The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), and Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie (1988). In essence, Davis claimed that yes, there are indeed "zombies," and that they are created, at least in part, by a poisonous powder. But, Davis maintains that the poison in and of itself is not enough to create a zombie, rather that "set and setting" must be taken into account. This is the distinction that defines the field of ethnobiology, the idea that physical, social and psychological settings inform biological interactions.

-Jakki Rowlett in The Ethnobiology and Ethics of the Haitian Zombie

Not For Human Sacrifice, Rather Against Humanity

2005-11-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

Clearly, it is difficult for us to come to a true understanding of what human sacrifice meant to the sixteenth century Aztec: but it may be observed that every culture possesses its own idea of what is and what is not cruel. At the height of their career the Romans shed more blood in their circuses and for their amusement than ever the Aztecs did before their idols. The Spaniards, so sincerely moved by the cruelty of the native priests, nevertheless massacred, burnt, mutilated and tortured with a perfectly clear conscience. We, who shudder at the tale of the bloody rites of ancient Mexico, have seen with our own eyes and in our own days civilized nations proceed systematically to the extermination of millions of human beings and to the perfection of weapons capable of annihilating in one second a hundred times more victims than the Aztecs ever sacrificed.

-Jacques Soustelle in Daily Life of the Aztecs: On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest

For Bryan

2005-11-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

Apparently in response to the woman's threat the she was going to stop helping her daughter if the daughter didn't stop responding to her abusive husband’s financial and emotional demands, Tonio, in an admonishing tone, gave the woman a piece of his mind, quoting an aphorism: "Una madre nunca echa los hijos para afuera, siempre los recoge" (A mother never kicks her children out, she always gathers them near her). Seeing that this woman was going on endlessly about her problems, he conveyed that he was going to resolve her problems by saying, "Yo se dónde está el monte" (lit., "I know where the rain forest is"; i.e., I am the brujo).

-Raquel Romberg in Witchcraft and Welfare

Backin' it up with Berger [x2]

2005-11-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

According to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome, the social presence of a woman is different in kind from that of a man. A man's presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies. If the promise is large and credible his presence is striking. If it is small or incredible, he is found to have little presence. The promise power may be moral, physical, temperamental, economic, social, sexual - but its object is always exterior to the man. A man's presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you. His presence may be fabricated, in the sense that he pretends to be capable of what he is not. But the pretence is always towards a power which he exercises on others. By contrast, a woman's presence expresses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her. Her presence is manifest in her gestures, voice, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings, taste - indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence. Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation, a kind of heat or smell or aura.

- John Berger in Ways of Seeing

"Bad" Girls

2005-10-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

A book by fourth-grader Rosa hints at the tensions some girls may feel between operating within a discourse of love and romance and an alternative 'good girl/good student' discourse. Love and romance may represent a sanctioned cultural pathway for girls, but they receive conflicting messages about when and how they are to embark on it, such that in certain times and places for girls to operate within a discourse of love and romance is to position themselves as "bad." This may be especially true for Latinas, who are often stereotyped in good/bad binaries, and for girls within the context of schooling, where being “good” generally requires a denial of one’s sexuality. In the initial draft of her story, Rosa wrote about a girl who watched too many soap operas, talked about them incessantly in school, kissed a boy while under their influence, and performed miserably as a student until her teacher talked to her mother. At that point the girl stopped watching novelas and became a model student.

-Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, Good guys and "bad" girls: Identity construction by Latina and Latino student writers in Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse

A is for Affective

2005-10-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Affective epistemology is based on the idea that there is a way of knowing which transcends, specific perceptual frames. The idea is predicated on two primary elements:

1) Feelings and emotions (affective components) are relative to localized perceptual frames. They are not specific to perceptual frames. Individual affective components are specific-to-specific thought forms.

2) These components maybe categorized into two basic sub-classifications lateral and trans-lateral.

Affective components indicate the qualitative and quantitative efficacy or weighted meaning of a given perception, thought form, or way of being in the consciousness of human beings and sentient life.

There is a faith that, through affect and reason, an understanding of reality can be attained.

The Horrible Templet

2005-10-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Don't be confused, Orange is not my favorite color.
...this is the calm before the storm.

The Glory of Love

2005-10-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back, it will always be yours.
If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and destroy it.

Hat Tip (pt 2)

2005-10-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

You are nothing compared to these guys.

Link

Hat Tip

2005-10-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

This one goes out to all the ones that check this blog more often than I update it.

...this bud's for you!

The Next and Last Semester [Are Yall Ready?]

2005-10-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

ART 21: Figure Drawing (3 units)
ART 160: Ceramics (intermediate) (3 units)
ART 120: Drawing (advanced) (3 units)
ART 113: Design (advanced) (3 units)
ART 140: Intermediate Painting (3 units)
ART 179: Development of Artistic Expression (3 units)

Daily Life of the Aztecs: On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest

2005-09-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thus neither nature nor man are to be sent to an everlasting death. Resurrecting forces are at work: the sun comes up again each morning after passing the night 'under the holy plain' teotlalli iitic, that is to say, in Hades; Venus dies and is reborn; the maize dies and is reborn; the whole world of plants, struck dead in the dry season, arises more beautiful and younger each season of the rains, just as the moon dwindles in the sky and returns according to the rhythm of its phases.

-- Jacques Soustelle

Could be the Beginnings of a Term Paper

2005-09-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

On the side, thanks Ken for reminding me to get back on track. Today I drove over to Dennis R. Falk's Dentist Office and got myself a crown. I listened to Mariah Carey on the way.

Fear, Love and Anonymous Comments (A Final Note)

2005-09-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

This is a public blog. Its readers come from a variety regions, both culturally and geographically and there are few limits to their access. Comments are provided as a space for readers to respond to the written thoughts of the author. They are solicited by the author. A link at the bottom of each post is provided for comments.

By providing a space for comments, the author is inviting her or his readers to enter into a public, mini forum where readers are permitted to view past comments and to post new ones. It has been long suspect that comments help to attract readers as they are often interested in discussion.

The mini forum provided by comments is, like all forms of human communication, a place for dialog. This dialog can range from a pleasant conversation to a heated debate. However, regardless of the tone or mood of a particular dialog, it is always and essentially a place where comments are made, either agreeing or disagreeing, in response to previous comments.

Often, a person posting a comment will desire to remain anonymous. This happens for a variety of reasons. It can be agitating to the author of the blog and other commenters when an anonymous person comments contrary or controversial opinions because we all have a deep desire to defend ourselves. This desire can be and is often motivated by our fears.

I have a personal belief, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, that it is best for me to behave lovingly toward everyone. I do not claim a right to defend myself at the expense of others. I do not demand anyone's name. This is not a level playing field. If my readers are the scum of the earth, then I am joyful as they are those to whom I have been called to speak.

My aim is only the truth, and I will pursue it with the means by which I have been afforded. I am not afraid to hear the truth spoken harshly to me, though I do not recommend such a delivery. I am not afraid of losing my social status. I am not afraid of losing my job. I have already lost my life.

A Quickie

2005-09-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

Folks, why is it so hard to behave appropriately when someone posts anonymously on your blog?

In a debate, the identity of another person is not only beside the points, it should not at all be factored into a response to...said points. Don't you see that to respond with knowledge of the other person hinders you? It opens the door for unjust condemnation, blinding you from the truth or lack of truth in their arguments.

If a person signs anonymous, it is not because they are weak or ashamed, it is because they want you to deal with their points... not your ill conceived notions of their character.

A Few Things

2005-09-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

1. www.mybad.com is a porn website.

2. I have never been to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

3. "Who are you?" Indigo Montoya tone.

Do you want to know?

2005-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Three times now I have recieved the following email:

To initiate the process for resetting the password for your
Google Account, visit the link below

http://www.google.com/accounts/

Thank you for using Google.

For questions or concerns regarding your account, please visit the
Google Accounts FAQ at
http://www.google.com/help/faq_accounts.html.

This is a post-only mailing. Replies to this message are not monitored
or answered.

This means, someone is trying to gain access to my email without my permission.
Don't worry, I'm not offended. Whoever you are, just email me at Jlyons@Gmail.com and I'll send you the password. It's no big deal.

Expression

2005-09-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

Think about the word: Primal.

Rudimentary, basic or primitive. Early, first, old, original, prehistoric, primary, primordial. Pejorative?

How about, primal - simply not available for export.

Backin' it up with Berger! (Ways of Seeing)

2005-09-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

"The mirror was often used as a symbol of the vanity of woman. The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical. You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure. The real function of the mirror was otherwise. It was to make the woman connive in treating herself as, first and foremost, a sight."

"One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision: a sight."

Gender Enabled

2005-09-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

When the first allegedly nonsexist Bible published in Britain was launched, a press release said that "the revisers have systematically changed expressions such as any man to anyone, but have kept the masculine, especially for God, on the grounds that this is faithful to the original." This comment draws attention to the way in which our mental imagery associated with God is, by cultural convention, masculine, at least within the Judeo-Christian world view.

The belief that the universe is created by a male God has an impact on how we see the creativity of men and women. No wonder there are few female pronouns in religious discourse. After all, we say God made man in HIS own image! Or was it men who created God in a masculine image?

Adrienne Rich

2005-08-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Someone is writing a poem. Words are being set down in a force field. It's as if the words themselves have magnetic charges; they veer together or in polarity, they swerve against each other. Part of the force field, the charge, is the working history of the words themselves, how someone has known them, used them, doubted and relied on them in a life.

What does a poet need to know?

-That to track your own desire, in your own language, is not an isolated task. You yourself are marked by family, gender, caste, landscape, the struggle to make a living, or the absence of such a struggle. The rich and the poor are equally marked. Poetry is never free of these marking even when it appears to be. Look into the images.

Lighting up Caverns

2005-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

This summer, I became convinced the drops of sweat were my tears. Too tired to realize, I was lying to myself.

Cumulus Congestus

2005-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

I watch the children play at my work during recess. I watch them run and chase and play on the jungle gym. They often make trips to the drinking fountain and I think about what it is that they've lost and what they're replacing it with.

Water, in both cases, beading up on their noses. Falling in large drops from dirty strands of uncut hair. It lands in the sand between and among the myriad of footprints. I watch their sweat evaporating out of the earth and meeting the clouds high above.

I think about the three forms of water and realize the sweat falling from my brow. I too am in the clouds.

2005 Vacation, Relocation Update Part 2

2005-08-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

Entire State of Texas
iPod
Louisiana Swamps and impeneterable Forests
Monsoons
Trailer Hauling Fiberglass Elephant & Other Oversized Animals
Hardee's (East Coast Carl's Jr.) sucks ass
Flamin' Hot Cheetos (Con Limón)
Huge Rivers (Mississippi)
18 Mile long Bridge
Exploding Frieght Truck Tires
3 Bros Hauling a Helicopter behind a Station Wagon
Unrealistic Expectations of Other People Being Perfect
Over Abundant Usage of the Term "Ape Shit." IE, I'm going ape shit!
Why is it a "penny for your thoughts" but you have to "put your two cents in?"
.....,,.Somebody's makin' a penny!
Mah Bah (My Bad)
My Bad This!

2005 Vacation, Relocation Update

2005-08-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

10 hour days
iPod
Desert vistas and Saguaro Cacti
Monsoons
Super hot waitress in Needles, CA with a fantastic short cut
El Paso, TX sucks ass
West Texas sucks ass
Dueling pianos in downtown Austin
A tour of the Real World House!

Finally, a New Post...but wait!!!

2005-07-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm going on Vacation. I'll see yall later!

A new Post for Comments

2005-07-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

You can now begin commenting.

The Hummingbird

2005-07-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Like a Coca-Cola promotional before your favorite movie, I've been feeling a bit disingenuous. I've spent the last three weeks relatively alone; I've suffered (yet again) a great misfortune/loss in my life. My attempts to create anything valid, credible, and authentic have all fallen sort.

I stopped feeling this way yesterday, when for the first time, I held a hummingbird. 'Be still and wait,' she says.

Can you believe that?

Robert Frost for Inspiration

2005-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not have noticed, the Jetta Resurrection has been silent lately. Our staff writer has been worker overtime in a remote location, far away from any kind of "high speed" internet and has consequently been unable to write with any amount of his mediocre skill. In order to diminish the unfortunate rift of posting regularity, we offer you, faithful readers, a wonderful poem. Enjoy!

Mending Wall

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Bruggeman!

2005-06-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

The odd testimony of Israel puts forth a theological claim that is profoundly subversive of the present. Israel has known, ever since the barrenness of Sarah, that there is a deep incongruity between the intention of Yahweh and the circumstance of lived experience. Israel, in the face of that incongruity, did not have many alternatives. It could accept the circumstance of its life as the true state of reality-thus, for example, Sarah is barren and then the promise is voided within one generation. The alternative, Israel's chosen one is most seasons, is to rely on Yahweh's oath as a resolve to override circumstance, so that it is the oath and not the circumstance that tells the truth about reality. In this theological intentionality, Israel embraces this uttered testimony as the true version of its life.

--Walter Bruggeman, Old Testament Theology

XXI

2005-06-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

A monk ran into a party of handmaids of the Lord on a certain journey. Seeing them he left the road and gave them a wide berth. But the Abbess said to him: If you were a perfect monk, you would not even have looked close enough to see that we were women.

--Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert

Oh No He Didn't!

2005-06-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Look at them all... so nice and lined up like that.

A Vague Explanation

2005-05-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

The so-called Smiling Figures (Previous Post) from the Remojadas region of Veracruz, Mexico are often regarded as expressions of Mesoamerican humor. These hollow ceramic sculptures are thought by many to be associated with a god of dance, music, and joy. Another compelling interpretation, however, relates them to a cult of pulque, an intoxicating beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant. The animated faces, puffy cheeks, and swollen protruding tongues are regarded as evidence of intoxication. The figures may depict ritual participants, or even sacrificial victims. The survival of many more smiling Remojadas heads than bodies suggest to some a possible ceremonial decapitation and destruction of the bodies. This bare-chested figure, with open mouth and filed teeth, stands energetically with legs spread and arms lifted as if caught in mid-motion. The garb of this celebrant consists of circular earrings, a beaded necklace and bracelet along with a skirt decorated with laterally symmetrical patterns. On her cap are ollin symbols, a sign for motion. This sculpture evokes a festive dance or ritual accompanied by the rhythmic reverberation of the hand-held rattle and celebratory sound escaping from the figure's open mouth.

Mysteries in Mesoamerica

2005-05-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Doesn't she look so happy?

Barber Shop Commentary

2005-05-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

It began with a definition of integrity. Dictionary.com served us up three subtle variations:

Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
The state of being unimpaired; soundness.
The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

The conversation turned toward a denigration of particular morals and I quickly check out. We all can agree that the infusion of the concept of "completeness" into the definition is significantly more provacative than what conservative, geriatrics think about goodness. (I don't say this to attack conservative values, but more over to attack the values of tired, old conventional thoughts.)

Everyone has an idea of what completeness is, but few of us have it. Like falling asleep quickly or smelling some kind of flower. Paris Hilton and Buddha. A few people feel comfortable in their own skin, but most people don't.

I drove to the Barber shop at the corner of First and Shaw and I listed to the horrible radio station, Y 101.1 (It's a social critique I'm working on).

Why?

2005-05-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

(high pitched voice) Annie Lennox is so tight!

Wear the Wrong Colors, be Cautious

2005-05-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Hate it or love it the under dog's on top
And I'm gon shine homie until my heart stop

Go'head'n envy me
I'm rap's MVP
And I ain't going no where
So you can get to know me

Consider the Source

2005-05-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I received this fortune cookie. I was ecstatic. Finally, a sign from the gods detailing the amazing feats I will achieve in my life. Verifiable proof than not only am I a great person now, I will also be successful in the future! In my euphoria, I showed it to a friend of mine who sobered me up pretty quickly with the words, "Consider the source."

It's definitely easy to doubt the reliability of fortune cookies. In fact, a friend of mine once got one that said "Buy the red one" and he wasn't even car shopping. However, even if these unreliable claims are put forth by meaningless traditions, we still have a responsibility to evaluated the claims by themselves, not by their sources.

I've heard a lot of talk on the blogs about anonymous commenting. Anonymous posting is available here. Most opponents of the idea frequently make accusations of cowardice instead of dealing with the truth of the statements. It's easy to say, "Oh, James Lyons is an idiot. I don't have to listen to a thing he says." Our first thought when reading an anonymous comment is, "I wonder who said that?" It is of little or no worth to allow the prejudices of our appearances to cloud the truth, or lack of truth, in the statements we make.

Today, I made a huge mistake and criticized someone about something I didn't really understand. I considered the source before I thought about the meaning of what was being said. It's been driving me up the wall. I've been listening to Eninem: Encore.

Differences Above Similarities

2005-05-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

The existance of verifiable atruism among primate populations has long puzzled evolutionary biologists. Altruistic behavior cannot evlove by ordinary natural selection because it decreases the fitness of the individual performing the behavior. An answer to this problem was not clearly formulated until 1964 when a biologist named W. D. Hamilton published a theory which predicts that altruistic behaviors will be favored by natural selection if the costs of perfroming the behavior are less than the benefits discounted by the coefficient of relatedness between actor and recipient.

rb > c

r = how closely the actor and the recipients are genetically related
b = the total benefits to all individuals affected by the behavior
c = the cost to the individual performing the behavior

Simplistically, this theory proposed that the closer the relationship between two individuals, the more likely they will behave benevolently toward one another.

Today, as I drove to work I was cut off by several persons insignificantly related to me. I got mad, made a few verbal and gestural comments, and then took the McKinley Ave Exit. I was listening to Ennio Morricone: The Mission Soundtrack.