On this day 40 years ago, the first humans set foot on the moon - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. So much has happened since that amazing time, and yet so much remains to be done. Let's all raise our glasses to those who have brought us this far, and those who will take us even further in the years to come!
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As this shattered regional capital sorts through the corpses from China’s deadliest civil unrest in decades, another loss has become apparent: faith in the government’s ability to secure the peace and quell mass disturbances. In many neighborhoods, police officers remained absent for hours as the carnage unfolded, witnesses say.
American families who are car-dependent spend 25 percent of their household income on their fleet of cars, compared with just 9 percent for transportation for those who live in walkable urban places. That potential 16 percent savings could go into improved housing (building household wealth), educating children or that most un-American of all activities, saving.
I know that if Suzy and I needed a car, we would be sunk. Even ignoring the upfront cost of buying a car (whether new or used), the ongoing expenses of gas, insurance, and maintenance would break our modest flow of income. We are blessed to live in a city with good public transportation, and also blessed to have a lifestyle that doesn't require a car.
My old dinosaur of a bicycle, sitting on the bike rack of the newest, shiniest, most comfortablest bus in the ABQ RIDE fleet. :)
To become a system administrator or get a similar IT job. I love tech, I've got a magic touch with computers, and in general I find this stuff to be a ton of fun. I started out working my way up to an Associate's of Science in Networking Technology. After that, I looked around for tech jobs while also taking my prerequisite classes to enter the college of Computer Science at UNM.
I quickly shifted to being an English major after realizing two things: 1) I had to take 4 years of math classes just to apply to the CS college, and 2) I didn't want to take my enjoyable hobby and turn it into a chore. Work can often be a kind of King Midas, but instead of turning everything it touches into gold, it can turn things you love into things you hate with every ounce of your being. I knew IT would be like this. Also, despite my best intentions, I'm not a total bodhisattva yet; I'm not so compassionate that I can put up with constantly helping people who want to "put this paper on my internet" (which I've recently figured out means: I want to scan this document and e-mail it to my friend).
To live the American dream of a huge two-story house with a wife, three kids, two dogs and two cats, and two cars. I never really wanted most of that anyway, but growing up it seemed like that's what most people shot for (and what a lot of people indeed had). I figured I would end up living that life as well, because that's what everybody else wants, right?
I can mark off one of those checkboxes: having a wife. I love being married, and my wife is an amazing gal. No regrets on the marriage part -- I made that choice on my own, without living someone else's dream. But having explored the world some, I can't imagine why on earth I would want the expense, the stress, or the extreme worry that goes hand-in-hand with having a giant house, a giant family, and tons of possessions. There's something to be said for shedding baggage, as opposed to loading yourself up with more. We rent a room in a comfortable house, we walk or take the bus everywhere. Minimal expenses, maximum freedom, and lots of happiness. Works for me!
To join the Air Force. I enjoyed ROTC a lot. I loved the uniform, the spirit of service, the integrity, the lessons in leadership. I learned so much from my training, but the most valuable thing I learned was not to pursue half-hearted dreams. I wanted to join the Air Force for patriotic reasons, but I also wanted to join for job security. It was a way to escape having to take responsibility for my own career path. I could finish university, get my commission as an officer, and the higher-ups would find a purpose for me. The Air Force is filled with great people, and there is a proud military tradition all along the branches of my family tree -- but I was there for the wrong reasons, and I was living a dream that was not mine.
If I had finished my last year of training and gotten my commission, I wouldn't even be writing this blog post now. I would likely never have been able to go to China once, much less twice, and I certainly would not have met my amazing wife there. I would probably be off in Afghanistan or Iraq fighting a war nobody can really believe in (except oil tycoons and opium suppliers). I wouldn't have to take as much responsibility for making life choices and I'd be making a boatload more money than I do right now... But I would not have the amazing experiences of the last few years, nor the simple and happy life I have today.
(Posted via email from bits of buddhism)
On September 26th, I'll be volunteering to help Light The Night, a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This event is both to raise money for the cause, and to raise awareness as well. I'll also be participating in the evening walk, which is a tribute to all those battling blood cancers and to loved ones who have been lost.
![[Light The Night -- donate!]](http://etools.lightthenight.org/mission360assets/default/fundraising/docs/LTN_Web_2C_lores.jpg)
I invite you to make a donation to Light The Night. The average participant raises around $200 -- I want to do way better than that, and raise at least $1,000. Will you help me meet my goal by donating?
Cancer leaves no family completely untouched -- members of my own family have fallen victim to it, as have others I know. I don't think I have a single friend who hasn't lost someone to cancer, or nearly lost them.
Big or small, every donation makes an impact. Here's an idea of what your donation can do:
If you can help me reach $1,000 (or more!), imagine the great things that money can accomplish for others who desperately need assistance.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope you will join me in supporting this very worthy cause by donating today.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act’s (”DOMA’s”) definition of marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”
Massachusetts, which legalized same-sex marriages in 2004, claims that the federal definition violates its authority under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution to define marriage as it sees fit.
Damn right. #statesrights, baby.
20:23:38 <%Pie> what is that, like his journal? "Dear diary, I hope people in the future don't make 'Chairman Meow' jokes. That would get old really fast, I imagine. Current mood: Communisty"
"In some states, like Massachusetts, public health doctors have persuaded legislators to pass pandemic influenza legislation that will allow state officials to enter homes and businesses without the consent of occupants, to investigate and quarantine individuals without their consent, to require licensed healthcare providers to give citizens vaccines, and to ban free assembly of citizens of the state." (emphasis mine)
- Beverly Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
a passion, a longing-pain.
Remember the lips
where the wind-breath originated,
and let your note be clear.
Don't try to end it.
Be your note.
I'll show you how it's enough.
... your attachment
to beliefs and bloodties
and desires and comforting habits.
Don't listen to them!
They seem to protect,
but they imprison.
They are your worst enemies.
They make you afraid
of living in emptiness.
Be with those who mix with God
as honey blends with milk, and say,
"Anything that comes and goes,
rises and sets,
is not what I love."
(Posted via email from bits of buddhism)
On Wednesday nine House Republicans, including two who represent Marion County, added Florida to a long list of state legislatures that are resurrecting a states' rights push to re-establish the balance between the federal government and the governed.
Florida lawmakers in their paperwork, known as a memorial, argue that "many federal laws are in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment," whose limits on Washington "established the foundational principle that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states."
"And yet," they add, "currently the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government."
"We, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the United States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp," the memorial continues.
Crappy mashup of two things I like: this song, and Smash Bros. Ignore the lame video and enjoy what SHOULD be our national anthem here in the US of A. Happy 4th, everybody!
(Posted via email from bits of buddhism)
