McMansion summary

The central point in the essay "The McMansion Next Door: Why the American House Needs a Makeover" is essentiallly that American houses have become similar in design and have kept getting larger and larger. One example that gets used is that custom built houses are still built for people who are well off but that when children are asked to draw a house it is almost inevitable that they will draw a box with a triangle on top. This representation of a house remindes people of "home" but the currently marketed houses are gennerally to big for everything in their near context. Later the author states this is getting to be so evident that poeple who care about design are remodeling old houses instead of buying new ones. The author also points out that young people who love cool design are not going to buy huge mass culture houses as their first house. The author then concludes by saying that our houses should reflect who we are and that if that happens our grandchildren may draw something new when asked to draw a house.

My opinion of time.

I think time is strange and inconsistent. Occasionally it stretches in agonizing slowness, with seconds feeling like minutes, and minutes turning to hours. Other times it vanishes, with hours becoming heartbeats in a steady rhythm. Whole days frequently seem misplaced as if they forgot where in the week they belong. Even weeks and months are subject to the ebb and flow of time speed distortion, seeming slow at first, then racing by unexpectedly, only to slow down again.
I think the strangest behavior of time is either: when it goes whirling by at a snail's pace, or: when it freezes so solid that movement feels similar to pushing through deep water. These sensations are almost opposite because when time flashes by extremely slowly it is that time is going by fast but it seems to take forever to do so. This experience is similar to the sensation of being in the state of half consciousness between asleep and awake. It is strange to me because it seems like time is passing at almost, but not quite, the exact wrong speed for whatever is happening.
Time freezing is an altogether different sensation that is a far more exhilarating experience. When it happens there is the innate knowledge that everything that happens is taking place in a matter of seconds even if it seems like minutes are going by in the time it takes to go a single step. Part of the exhilaration of time freezing is the perspective that almost always accompanies it, at least in my experience. The best way I can describe it is to say: it is like controlling a puppet through telekinetic means while being telepathically linked to every sensation experienced by that puppet in an arbitrary fashion similar to watching someone from a safe balcony, at the same time knowing that the puppet being watched and controlled is your own body. What is even weirder is that knowing it is my own body doesn't have any effect on its importance. As long as time is frozen my body is just a puppet that can blast like lightning through the liquid air so fast that nothing else seems to move unless it has been accelerated to a similar speed of temporal distortion. At times this experience can be so subtle (like a dream) or so short (like an instant long blackout) that it doesn't even register consciously but, when thought about, is the only explanation of how the speed of non-reflexive, or even semi-reflexive actions taken during that time could be possible.

A place...

Green grass lightly covered in slender silver-gold leaves under the beautiful blue sky holding snowy, white clouds. Trees are sitting on a hill dappled with newly fallen, bright yellow leaves. Evergreens huddled together as the green and gold leaves of the others throw playful shadows as the wind whispers through rosy stones as I sit in the sunlight shining against them.

If I had to give an acceptance speech...

I accept this nomination for the position of president, dictator, supreme overlord or whatever the position I have been nominated for is called in this dimension because this is clearly not the one I came from. As I never considered trying to get into a position of political power, I am flattered that so many of you would consider me worthy of the position. Since I have been nominated to become your leader I suppose my policy will be to try and improve things through whatever method is most widely accepted here: regardless of whether it involves improving technology, returning to a more primitive state, learning to ascend to a higher state of being, simply assimilating all species into the collective, etc. You get the picture, resistance is futile. I can't guarantee that I will be able to make any improvements especially since I am new to this reality but I am willing to take suggestions about what can be done.
My first act if I am elected for whatever this position is, will be to start, and participate in; the largest game of Calvinball in all history. I thank Bill Watterson for the concept of this sport and look forward to introducing it into the realm of major league sports. I also hope to organize all politicians into soccer teams that will begin all political functions and foreign negotiations by challenging the other political party to a soccer game, unless of course the way things are done in this dimension involves some sort of major battle/mass assimilation first in which case, the soccer game will be a closing formality among the winners. Also if battle/assimilation is the considered the norm opponents who wish to surrender and be spared must first defeat our nation's best Calvinball team to gain consideration, in the event of their loss they will be obliterated. If you still feel like electing me into this position of leadership or think that having me as your leader would be fun then please vote for me or whatever you do to make someone your leader here. However, if you later regret your decision I will abdicate and deny responsiblity on the grounds that you are the ones who gave me power.

My speech probably wouldn't get me elected, but I would certainly have fun giving it.

P.S. If you dont know what Calvinball is or how to play it: start reading Calvin and Hobbes comic books by Bill Watterson. Chances are you'll figure it out eventually.

Tatoos and peircings

I don't have any tattoos or piercings but I have thought about them. I think that a significant portion of why I haven't gotten one is because I want to be certain that it would be something I would be happy with. I will most likely get one eventually once I have decided what, where and why I want the specific tattoo or piercing. For example: say I got a tattoo of a hawk on my shoulder, I wouldn't want to wake up the next day wishing I had gotten a dragon tattoo on my back instead. The same sort of restraint applies to piercings: do I want to get one ear pierced (possibly multiple times as I like the earrings in "Deep Space 9" that the Bajorans wear), or do I want to go with a friend's suggestion that I get my eyebrow pierced. There is also the thought that I might not one at all or would be happier without one.
If I did get a tattoo or a piercing I certainly wouldn't attach existential meaning to it, that is not to say that it would have no meaning. I would get a piercing for aesthetic purposes or possibly just to try it but I would want a tattoo to have at least some significance. Going off of the ones I mention in my earlier example (a hawk or a dragon): I would want a Merlin Hawk because that is the species of bird I am named after (for those of you who have read "The Lost Years of Merlin" by T.A. Baron, Trouble is one of my favorite characters). I would want a dragon because it is my favorite kind of mythological creature (the book reference to this one comes out of "The Dragonback Adventures" series by Timothy Zahn, specifically book #2, "Dragon and Soldier"). Those are just examples because the possiblities are seemingly infinite so I want to be sure that I won't regret any that I choose to get.

My weekend

For me the weekend starts on Friday because I don't have any classes on that day. This Friday I went to the Botanic Gardens as an adult chaperon to a group of second graders that included my younger brother. This in itself wouldn't feel strange except that my younger brother's 2nd grade teacher is the one I had for 3rd grade 11 years ago. Once we got back from the field trip I did a few errands on my way home including refueling my motorcycle.
As it turns out that was a good idea because when I got home my dad told me what a large portion of Saturday would be spent doing: riding my motorcycle to the BMW club breakfast with him (he is a member of the club), going from there to Golden so I could try on motorcycle boots (we bought them), and finally riding along the lariat loop and down through bear creek canyon to get home. This was a fun 53 mile trip ending around lunch-time so I had all afternoon to work on my homework. By Saturday evening I had finished with enough that I could watch a movie while doing some of the reading homework. It was about 9:30pm when I realized that I had five library books that needed to be either renewed or returned to avoid being late. Two of the five were on hold so they couldn't be renewed so I got to try out one of the pairs of boots that I had gotten earlier while taking those two books to the night drop-off slot at the library.
Sunday morning was dark and I was tired, so I finally got to sleep in by my standards (this means I got up at about 10am). Once I was up I finished a bit more of my homework then spent two hours relaxing and briefly visiting some of my relatives that are in Denver on a trip from their home in Alaska. After getting back home, it was time for more homework on this busy weekend.

Guys in the media

I think that boys undergo some of the same media bombardment that girls do about their appearance. The media portrayal of males from my perspective as one of them is that they are supposed to wear baggy/plain designer clothes, have well defined muscles and be tall. Some of these things we have control over but others are even more impossible to achieve than what is directed toward girls. Perhaps the most stereotypical representation of guys in American media is football players. The average guy is encouraged to watch and play sports; so by giving plenty of media attention to men who could be described as 6' 1"-6' 3" 250-350lb. juggernauts, the average guy is encouraged to try to become one.
I am lucky in that I am naturally physically fit and what I like to do keeps me that way but I cannot change how tall I am. Height is a subtle factor in media portrayals of men and it may be coincidence but I doubt that. If you look at actors in particular there are not many who are less than six feet tall and they are rarely shorter than the actresses in the same movie. This, as you might imagine, can create a huge pressure against the acceptance of guys who are only, say; five foot six simply because they are six inches shorter than the "average" media portrayal. Take Kevin Kline for example: he is an actor who commonly plays an average man, but he is actually six feet two inches tall. Even actors who are overweight or wear glasses fit into this height regimen plus they are almost always in comic or scapegoat roles. Example: you would never see a man who is overweight or wears glasses in the role of the suave secret service agent 007, or even as the hacker out of the middle of nowhere who saves the day.
The pressure to meet these modeled standards might not be as much as a girl would have to face when it comes to beauty as shown by the media but they still have an influence on everyday life. I would argue that the standards set by media even affect what the other gender considers attractive and can override what people say directly to someone regarding looks. This seems to be true for girls more often than it is for guys; that is, if my own experience is anything to go by. This may be because of greater pressure or just differences in psychology. Either way it would seem that cheerleaders in skimpy clothing and linebackers shaped like tall, lean, muscular bricks are what everyone should strive to be... or so the media tells us.

McCain's Speech

To start with I would like to say that Barack Obama is a far better speaker than John McCain as evidenced by how much smoother his transitions between subjects were. McCain began his speech by thanking all the people that have helped him become nominated for the presidency. He then interjects a paragraph stating that he will win the election before he introduces the vice president candidate he is running with. He makes that introduction in a way that doesn't make sense; he states that Sarah Palin is governor of Alaska (a political position) and that he looks forward to introducing her to Washington (place governors must interact with politically). He immediately shifts to talking about how they will keep their promises and change Washington before jumping to being called a maverick and what he claims to have done to fight corruption. After he talks about Iraq he gives thanks to one general and his men for rescuing us from a demoralizing defeat, which I find odd considering that sending more troops was simply meant to end the war faster, not save us from defeat. Following that he talks about how he has been in fights and will fight for three families specifically chosen for their difficulties that supposedly represent average Americans.
Nearing the halfway point in his speech he stated "...both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies." Wouldn't McCain and Obama both fall into the "both parties" category? Shortly after that he starts to directly contradict what Obama said in his own speech about his policies and what they would do. McCain goes from that to how he wants to use and change the school systems, followed by an abrupt change of subject into how we will stop sending 700 billion dollars to "...countries that don't like us very much." and will encourage alternative energy. McCain makes another jump from this paragraph long mention of clean energy produced in America to what sounds like a six paragraph bid to make America into the self controlled police/peacekeeping force of planet Earth: one that will determine what is or is not acceptable for other countries to do. McCain's next few paragraphs re-state how he plans to change things as well as attacking Obama by saying "I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not." What makes this clear dig at Obama even worse is that from one paragraph afterwards until the end of his speech he talks about nothing except fighting and his own war record. It is interesting to note his statement, "If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher...", when you combine this with his statements about war being horrible, and ensuring the peace, the positioning of, "Enlist in our Armed Forces.", right at the top of the list of ways to make the country better is suspect. I think it becomes even more suspect when combined with all of his references to war and seeming desire to have America become the Earth's police force.
This analysis of McCain's speech may not seem as objective as I had hoped to make it, but that may be due in part to how confusing this speech of things that don't quite add up right was to me; personally. I also think that McCain's war record is worth looking up because it is significantly less flattering than he makes it out to be.

I think that the site below provides a clear: These are the facts, point of view about McCain's war record but I leave it to you to decide for yourself.

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/mccain_post_card_word%5B1%5D.pdf