leading

had a thought the other day, formed somewhere between a movie and the news:

we must look past the foolishness of our leaders,
to the needs of the people, for the people are the power.

often, leaders forget what their position implies; that there are people to be lead, to be looked after, and nurtured. they serve themselves, and their supporters, while forgetting that their position comes from the people alone. not from the sycophants, not from their supporters, not from any of the parasites which feed on the system.

to lead; to inspire; to encourage; - this is what is forgotten.

to distract; to bully; to abuse; - that is what is being done in the name of gov't.

- - - - -

snollygoster (n) slang - one, especially a politician, who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles.

:|

forensic entomology

ever watch CSI?
i watched it again last nite. once a month i seem to flip to it randomly.

the one guy, gil i think, is my hero, his world is forensic entomology.
how cool is that?

bugs & guns & bodies - oh my!!!
:D

other things

well, other things are taking a bit of my time, soccer, work, etc.
sorry haven't been posting very much...

thank you blogger, for werd-verification!
;)

die, spambots, die!!!
grrr...

friday confessional 4

sorry padre, not upto a full-blown confession today.
how about just a little one?

when i was fifteen, i was horny, and i was a virgin.
not unusual, you say? very true.

well, i had been telling an older friend of mine, for about 6 months, that "i have to get laid, man" (we said man alot in the 70s & 80s, dood). and he, being a good friend, and better connected with the chiquitas, set me up.

he and i went and picked up a young lady that he knew, a year or so older then myself, who was agreeable to the situation. and, she and i went back to a bedroom and started making out. just kissing and such, and i was fairly inexperienced, so she was the boss, right? and i had fun, and we continued this for about a 1/2 hour or so, and he came into the room, and asked "aren't you done, yet?", to my surprise. (in hindsite, i should've probly expected what happened later on in this story).

well, he needed to do some stuff in that room, so she walked me back to the master bedroom, and asked if i wanted to take my clothes off. you know the answer and the next 5 or so minutes, i betcha. well, i had fun, didn't finish on her thigh, and was done very quickly, happy to be me, all as you might expect, right?

here's the twist: my older friend walks in, nekkid, and calmly asks me if i'm done, and to move to the top of the bed, and the young lady gets a huge grin on her face, and gets onto hands and knees on the bed, facing me. he then takes her from behind, while i sit against the headboard and watch...

after they finish, i get up and get dressed and walk home.
they took off in his car. (again, probly should've seen that coming)

maybe i should be telling my therapist this one, eh, padre?
:|

aren't you glad i don't participate in FFF?
me too!

strawberry fields

oh, this is funny... biggest bust in arizona history up near strawberry, lol.

10,000 plants?! - wowzers!

(we were joking around at work about the recent fires up in that area (pine), and the large number of volunteers they probly got to fight that fire).

dood, i'm getting all hungry, let's go get some yumbo-yacks
;)

on the border

there are important things happening along our southern border, as it is in the news, and the governors of two states have declared states of emergency. i wonder what kind of economic, social, humanitarian impact studies will be done along the southern border in the near future? arnold (california), janet (arizona), bill (new mexico), and rick (texas) will probly form some kinda committee to examine the ramifications, blahblahblah...

and we'll end up with some gynormous wall or something...
:|

friday confessional 3

ahh, another week complete. not that it has brought any satisfaction. it is my weekend with my twins, so i have a lot to look forward to... a movie, a final visit to the waterpark, breakfast out with my parents... all good things.

hmmm, a confessional-? oh yeah, that's why i'm here, ain't it? okay, padre, here we go; hang on to your cassock...

when i was in sixth grade, i was smoking a bit of dope with the neighborhood kids. it probly doesn't qualify as dope these days, as it was very low grade, and possibly had little to no THC in it, and was probly more properly identified as hemp, as in: rope. see, i did a small horticulture experiment at the time.

my friends, who had older siblings ( i don't ), had learned that it was important to sift the stash, over an open (vinyl record) album cover, flicking out seeds and stems and what-have-you. me, being an enterprising young lad, with some curiousity as well, decided to save those seeds, plant them in my back yard in a small pot, and see what grew...

well, my mom was the type who basically liked plants, and had lots of liquid plantfood around, and so i asked her if i could use some on my "school experiment", and she was very accomodating. gave me a whole bottle of the green goo, and even had lots of advice about growing things from seed (she never actually saw the seeds), and i believe she used to even check on it for me, cuz she would tell me when it needed water and she may have possibly even watered it occasionally for me, lol.

and so, i grew a decent sized marijuana plant in my backyard, with my moms help.

it sure wasn't one of these leaf-dense, mondo-sticky-bud-producing plants you see. it was a few leaf clusters sparsely populating some very sturdy, strong, & straight stems, and it got about 3 feet tall very quickly... in a word: rope.

when i got out of college, i confessed this whole thing to my mom, and thanked her for her help and tolerance (thinking, wrongly, she had to have known what it was), and was informed that she HAD NO IDEA that is what it was... oops! lol.

thanks for your never-ending tolerance, mom. i love you.
;)

stories we tell

there are stories we tell to ourselves, i suppose, that are meant to bolster up our image of ourselves, or to soften the blows of acts we've committed, even sins. these stories fall into the realm of personal fictions, and possibly our autobiography, if we have that particular muse. there's a concept i call "the book of my life" that i play with sometimes, like, today is another page in "my book", what do i want to write in it today? is it an adventure? a tragedy? an epic? a kung-fu hustle?

there are also the stories that we tell others. when we meet them for the first time, we filter the contents, sifting out the reality, in order to show ourselves in a better light. sometimes, if we feel safe that we won't ever see them again, maybe we will embellish those stories, or we may, gasp, lie.

to what effect?

sometimes, it is only to our own detriment, far more tragic is when others are affected. like in a marriage; little lies, white lies, partial truths, and bald-faced lies all cause damage in all directions. and the scar tissue that those blades create, seems very thick. does it ever go away? if i rub it with vitamin-e oil?

what do those small people think when they hear these, over and over? do they learn to detect them? do they become distrustful? or emulate them? i don't know the answers to my own questions, and i'm shaking my head.

i have little trust left, anymore - will it come back later?

:|

ack ack ack

ever see that movie "Mars Attacks" - ? - it was fun, wasn't it? and all the campy, cheesy comedy was a great relief from whatever lifes little troubles were biting yer ass? yup. me too. i absolutely loved when the martian leader starts ack ack acking at everyone...

it kinda reminds me of an argument i had with my ex today, after work. things started all nice and everything. she invited me over to see the twins after they were outta town for a long weekend, and i, foolish earthling, went...

i made peace offerings, and she responded in kind, and i gave the kids hugs and kisses and asked how their weekend was, etc. - normal stuff... then, that stoopid white dove flew over, and someone mentioned the divorce papers and filing them (probly me, idiot), and she started going "ack, ack, ACK..." and " ACK, ACK, ACKACKACK - ACK!" and suddenly green bolts flew out of her eyes, and i ran for the door, the kids shouting "RUN Forrest, RUN!!!" or something like that...

well... that's how i remember it, anyways. but, i'm sure when that green bolt hit the back of my head, right behind my left ear, it did something to my memory. fer shurrr, d00d...

peace out.
;)

Global Weather

this is awesome, from wikinews:

Global Weather

friday confessional 2

and now for another rendition of friday confessional:

so, once upon a time, in my 20s, a friend of mine and i went out drinking at this "riverside" college bar. we happened to meet up with these 2 very nice canadian girls (who said they were from canada, anyway). we were drinking tequila and beer and dancing alot, and it was all very fun. my buddy is hooked up with the much hotter girl (and i guess that makes me the wingman, no?) and she invites him (us, actually) back to their hotel room. which we have to follow them to.

yeah, it sounds like the beginning of trouble. but it actually isn't. except in a possibly life-altering moral way, for me, at least.

so, we follow them from this "riverside" bar, which is on one side of town (or in another town, in the way a metropolis has lotsa towns blending into each other), and we follow them quite a ways to another part of town (or another town, as aforementioned). well, this town, which i will call "westtown", happens to actually be where he and i grew up. seriously. the hotel is like a block from my parents house, and its right next to this shopping mall where i've been getting five-finger-discounts since i was like, six.

we pull into the parking lot, and he and i are just cracking up, laughin our asses off, and the girls are wondering wtf? and thinking maybe they made a mistake with these 2 drunk americans.

to attenuate the story, we spend the night with them in the 2 bed, single room, and my canadian girl and i have alot of squeeky fun, while my friend and the hotchick don't, and all i hear from the bed 2 feet away is disgruntled mumbling. anyway i'm an ass, and i haven't slept all night, and i'm still drunk from all the tequila, and so as soon as i see a crack of dawn at the blackout blinds over the window, i jump outta bed, whip open the blinds, and grinningly shout "good morning! let's go eat!".

nobody's happy with me, except me. lol.
my girl is exhausted. my friend and his girl are pissed off at each other, and focusing it on me. and i'm hungry. so, i walk over to the grocery store, and pick up a dozen donuts, and some juice, and such, and pay and start walking out the door.

guess who comes walking in, as i'm going out? "hi dad!" [big stoopid grin]. "what are you doing on this side of town, (son)?" [puzzled smile]. "oh, (friend) and i went out drinkin' & ended up over here with some girls." dad just laughs (he's ex-navy), and walks away... shaking his head. "have a good morning." "you too, dad, tell mom i love her".

and so i walk back to the room, and i'm locked out, of course. eventually, after pounding for about 10 minutes, and promises of donuts, i get in. laughing, i tell my friend about running into my dad (who was our soccer coach). and we both start laughing again, and i almost choke on a donut. the girls just stare at the stupid americans, from under the covers.

;)

wicked problems, patterns, & anti-patterns

work related junk:

• wicked problems


• patterns


• anti-patterns


• visitor


• decisions

post-monsoon bugfest

wowzers! bugs everywhere after the monsoon the other nite. i'm at the coffeeshop, and there are vast migrations of ants, termites, and some unidentified mini-wasps all over the place... there is also something that looks like an ant, but with a fat abdomen, almost beetle-ish... i dunno.

i like bugs, probly should've studied entomology instead of biology in college. they're fun. they bite. they stink. they come in lotsa cool colors.

so, we had this awesome monsoon the other nite. the duststorm hit about 9pm, and it was average, i'd say. and then the lightning started, which was pretty cool. had a couple of close strikes near my apt. the kind where there is no pause between the bang and rumble. but the power stayed on, so it was fine. then, the sky opened up, and dumped on us. i'm sure it doesn't rank in places that get rain all the time. but in phoenix, it was quite the thang... we got almost 3 inches in somewhat over 2 hours i guess. a friend of mine was out playing in it, and had a yardstick. he measured the flow down his street (streets here turn into torrential rivers whenever it rains) at 8 inches - cool! he actually called another friend of ours on his cell while he was out in it, and said if you hear me start screaming, call 9-1-1, lol. crazy d00ds...

oh, heard the pres was gonna be relaxifyin on his ranch in tejas, doing a little record-setting at his crawford ranch... sometimes dubya has a good idea.

;)

live science

not much to say lately...

hrm, 10 ways to destroy the earth? top 10 deadliest animals? new bigfoot sitings?
Live Science seems to have it all...

;)