Happy New Year

It feels obligatory to make some sort of holiday post. My holidays have been involved. I turned in two weeks notice at my job and am planning my triumphant return to Dayton... in my mind it's something like Caesar returning to Rome after conquering Gaul. That's in my wonderful mind though. In reality I'm moving in with my brother and becoming a full-time student again! I'm super excited about what the future holds and will write more when I can pull myself away from daydreaming about Roman chariots.

Link of the day: The Dan Band (NSFW w/o headphones)

In case you didn't catch it in the title, make sure you have headphones on before listening.

I want to share with all my loyal readers my passionate love for the dan band. These guys are amazing and hilarious rolled into one package. You've likely seen them at least once in Old School, but check out more of their songs on youtube and if you're a true fan you'll fly out west to see them.

Link of the Day: Oh my god

This fits everything I know about her perfectly. I'm sure she'll garner exactly the respect she deserves and dare I say desire.

Link of the Day: I feel this guys pain... but honestly

I disagree with the 1984 airline controls we've implemented in our desire for a false sense of security. I fully support flying while tipsy. I support doing those little things to not play along... however I'm not so sure about this guy's thought processes.

Link of the day: I did not know this

I love books and most everything associated with them; however I wasn't aware of this genre.

link of the day: AWESOME FUNNESS

My name is Crabbymonkey Wickednose

Link of the day: No you can't borrow my pencil

I find this law disturbing. Isn't someone responsible only for their actions? I can understand if someone knew they were willing aiding and abetting a crime they'd be responsible for.. AIDING AND ABETTING! Not tried as if they committed the crime.

Link of the day: Talk about guts and taking ownership of your life

This guy deserves to be recognized.

Link of the day: Step 1 - Remove criminals rights -> Step 2 - Define crime.. err I mean terrorism

This kind of fear based responses concerns me greatly. I value the rights my country wants every person to enjoy and I'm not willing to trade them for a false sense of security which is all our government, and any government, can offer. I believe an active and involved ownership in your life and your community is the best way to address these kinds of fears. If you think your neighbor might be up to something, don't blindly report them to the government, go meet them and talk to them. It's that simple rule that we fear the unknown and I believe it is every individuals right, privilege and responsibility to address their fears, not be controlled by them.

If you feel this bill is something that should not be passed please contact your senator.

If you'd like more information go here for a pdf of the bill and to track the bill's progress in the senate and house:
House Bill
Senate Bill

If you're interested in a presidential candidate that would not consider a bill like this take a look at Ron Paul. I for one am done being passive and just talking (now I'm not proposing violence or the threat of violence so please don't come after me National Commission on Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism) but I donated to Ron today. I want to take my stand and be counted.

Go Browns!

What an awesome field goal! I'm in Mexico so I didn't get to watch the game in person but thankfully youtube helped me out. I actually thought we'd lost the game because ESPN reported it as missed and I went out to the beach.

Whatever happened to..

Where's Waldo and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? That is a horrible segue to where is Jason!?

Jason is on vacation in Cancun!

Here are a couple pics to catch you up. And before you get too jealous, while it's warm and luxurious where I'm at, it is also overcast and rainy. However, the waves crashing on the rocky beach are still gorgeous.


Waiting to go through customs, you'd be smiling too if you just got to Mexico. It's the departure picture that always looks grumpy.




Some of you Indiana people might not be aware but the OSU Michigan game happened this Saturday and that is also the day we traveled. We arrived at the resort at the beginning of the 4th quarter and watched the rest of the game. However in Mexico it wasn't so simple as turning on a TV. Our hero and Christy's new husband, Jeff Long, worked tirelessly weeks in advance to set up a slingbox to stream the game to his computer. We all gathered around as soon as we arrived to watch the rest of the game on his laptop.



Group photo at dinner Sunday night.



At some point I'll put up a whole album but that's enough for now. Hopefully everyone is having as great a Monday as I am... although I doubt it! muahaha

Link of the day: I love biking

I love biking but I don't love it quite as much as this guy.

Link of the day: Do the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many

I think the first time I was exposed to thinking about self vs. society was Spock sacrificing himself for the good of the group.

This article lacks the emotional impact that a good movie funeral offers but it provides solid fuel for interesting conversations.

If you're interested in more about Ron Paul I encourage you to visit his homepage.

Link of the day: Love the nerd you've got

An insightful and frighteningly accurate article on the nerd approach to life.

Taking bribes to root for your most hated team...

This weekend was an auspicious weekend for me. I went to my first Ohio State game! I'll explain why you should pay me to root for your hated team soon, but first allow me to focus on the highlights.

My dad and I bought some tickets and went up for the whole day. We had to stop on the way up to outfit me with some Ohio State gear. I know it's shocking but I owned nothing that enabled me to be a walking OSU billboard, thankfully we remedied that. From there we joined several of my dad's friends for pre-game festivities. Notice the new threads I'm sporting at the tailgate!

From the homemade wine, brie and crackers, fantastical deserts to the amazing "hot dogs" they threw on the grill; it was a sweet spread. Their idea of some hot dogs was a fantastic roast that had been marinating all day. My mom got up early Saturday to make cookies for us to contribute to to the amazing smörgåsbord. After eating our fill and sharing in some Buckeye fellowship we headed off to the game.

We were parked in one of the westernmost lots and hiked over to some buses which shuttled us to the stadium. As novices to the stadium, we succeeded in walking around the entire stadium before finding the appropriate gate. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were in position to watch the best damn band in the land enter the building. We quickly settled into our amazing seats. If you're curious what I'll look like in 30 years see the gentleman to my left. Not too shabby eh ladies!

The seats were incredible! We had seats 15 & 16 of Row 1 in 20A. That translates to sitting about 20 feet above the field, maybe 30 feet back and at the 45 yard line. INCREDIBLE! The weather was a cool 50 degrees, perfect football weather. Unfortunately for me I neglected to think perfect football weather might be a little chilly for a t-shirt and sweatshirt. However, the nice people at Bank of America were willing to trade me a long sleeved t-shirt for my SSN. I considered it a fair swap and look forward to feeding their credit card to my shredder. One thing you can't see from this picture is the metal benches we were sitting on. Remember how your mom told you to wear your hat outside because most of your heat escapes through your head... far be it from me to challenge mom's wisdom but I'll add a corollary, cold metal bleachers can sap heat pretty damn quick too! Bank of America came to our rescue again as they provided my father with a blanket in exchange for his SSN! How generous of them.

Now as to why you should give me money to root for your most despised rival? Well let's what happened when I showed up to root for my Buckeyes. They completely failed to stop the spread option and were ran over all game. They threw 3 interceptions. And I got to see a #1 team lose their #1 ranking... You're probably asking how this justifies paying me. Thank you for asking. I'm offering my services as a cooler. This marks the third game in a row that my team has lost. Now truth be told I'm just frustrated that my teams keep losing when I'm in the crowd. However if the streak keeps up I just might let you make a donation.

Link of the Day: This is for the verbose among us

Credit to James for this link (I stole it from his away message fair and square).

I got up to level 40 before dropping back down... how will you fair?

Link of the Day: Bad ass!

I wish this guy lived on my street.

Link of the day: Baby boomer dating guide!

I'm a little older today so maybe it's time for me to start dating like a baby boomer... only kidding!

I read this article on a whim and realized it offered good advice to anyone, not just a baby boomer trying to date again. Take me for example. I love meeting new people and getting to know them; however I'm a natural introvert and am horrible at doing being friendly and out going with strangers. I become nervous and timid and assume I'm bothering or intruding on the other person. Over time I'm incrementally improving in my ability to meet new people and not freak out. It is a far from natural act though.

I think this article offers a couple of practical ideas on the hardest part of meeting someone new, how to start a conversation. My typical strategy was to stare at the person nervously like I was on a dusty street in an old western waiting for them to reach for their gun first. If I was feeling especially extroverted I might throw out a safe, close-ended question which nets a one word answer and a nice meeting you handshake as we both forget each other's names. You know the kind I'm talking about, in college it was what dorm do you live in and what's your major. Now it is where did you go to school and where do you work.

I believe most people are as nervous as I was and are waiting for someone to break the ice. Some people are true misanthropes but in general everyone likes meeting a friendly person. I have to continually remind myself of that though.

Open ended questions are a great way start a relaxed conversation and allow both of you to get a read on each other. You both get to talk about things that interest you and share a little bit without it feeling too forced. I especially liked #2, 4 & 5. One that wasn't listed that I've had success with is "what do you do for fun".

How do you approach meeting new people? Do you think about it all or just allow what happens to naturally develop? Do you have a strategy or are you a natural people person? How do you handle different environments? Do you have any great open ended questions?

Too Funny

My friend Janice, who is in South Korea, sent me this link of New York hilariousness. I appreciate the world crossing connection of South Korea sending out a reference to humor originating in New York. Either way check it out and vote for your favorites.

Link of the Day: Be mindful of pretend verbosity

This article regarding businesses' tendency to create new words amused me. Then I realized for the past year my friend group had been doing the exact same thing described in this article. Except we'd been tacking on -ish to the end of words. Personally I feel adding -ish is much more fun and I highly recommend it over -ful.

Link of the day: Honest sarcasm

Colbert for President! Forget platforms on terror, socialized medicine or immigration. I think a direct and honest platform of sarcasm and mockery is exactly what our country needs. Go Stephen go!

Link of the Day: Did I miss something?

This video is about Bush, education and the war in Iraq. My thoughts are indifferent to those things.

As one of my high school teachers used to open class, I want to cuss and discuss, how popular it is to pick on Bush. I support credit where credit is due and President Bush deserves all the "credit" for Iraq. However, I'm more inclined to applaud him for opening military recruitment to individuals who lost their financial aid than criticize him.

I'd challenge the creators of this video to review the circumstances. This law was passed in 1998. Mr. Bush took office in 2000. How was he in any way related to congress passing the Aid Elimination Penalty. It appears to me that he at worst is taking advantage of an opportunity created by pre-existing conditions and at best is offering an alternative to someone who has lost their school funding. Granted he could fight to eliminate the Aid Elimination Policy, but as a hard line conservative how does what could be considered supporting marijuana use fit into his agenda?

I then ask myself, do I support the Aid Elimination Policy? Is it a reasonable response to a crime? I believe I do. I don't want my tax dollars supporting criminal activity. This drives me to ask a second question, do I consider marijuana worthy of definition of criminal activity. That is an entirely different consideration and one I don't want to mix into this post. Defining punishment for a crime and defining what is a crime are different thoughts and I refer to my earlier post referencing C.S. Lewis and doing time for crime versus treating a criminal or preventing future crime.

Link of the day: Education <> wisdom

This is one of those stories that pops up every so often. People thinking the internet is a private place... I really don't get it. You want to post pictures of yourself drinking underage, write stories about vandalism etc and are surprised when it bites you in the ass? I mean seriously, if I started posting flyer's around town with my address and pictures of me committing crimes I'd expect action to be taken. The real surprise to me is more isn't being done by law enforcement to search these giant public databases.

Really, what you see here is a business opportunity. Write a software program that reviews social networking sites looking for illegal activities. Then sell the reports to various law enforcement agencies. Sure the FBI and CIA could do this for themselves and probably do, but your local law enforcement agency doesn't have that kind of capital nor access to the FBI and CIA for searching out the local graffiti artist.

PS. Don't forget that recruiters are looking at your facebook and myspace pages too. It might be time to purge those old frat and sorority party pictures.

Link(s) of the day: Double edged swords cut interesting paths

Thanks Joe for finding this picture. It made me think of Iranian president Ahmadinejad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20942057/page/2/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6948920,00.html

Some days you wonder where the world is headed...

Link of the day: When do you finish doing your time...

This might come across as uncaring, but it isn't. It is a case of extending a principle uniformly. I don't support in any way the heinous acts some of these people have performed.

I've always been leery of the sex offender registration that our country does, and especially as the information is available to anyone. Now there are 150 pages of research that say all of it much better than I can:

While the article says it well I can't deny myself a good monologue... (random thought: is everything on the internet technically a monologue or perhaps a soliloquy?)

I'm opposed to continuing punishment after someone has completed their sentence and how the sex offender list is handled feels like additional punishment. I would even consider it cruel and unusual punishment as we don't force and publish the same registration for drug offenses or other crimes. Do a quick google search for map of drug offenders and sex offenders. The first two hits for sex offenders are maps. I didn't find one for drug offenders at all.

Thinking of punishment reminded me of a C.S. Lewis essay from years ago regarding the justice and legal system and its goals.

In quick summary and in no way doing justice to C.S. Lewis' writing. If the purpose of the legal system becomes rehabilitating the criminal and preventing additional criminals then the punishment being defined relative to the crime becomes irrelevant.

I find this essay especially poignant as we discover more genes that control all our behaviors. Do we in fact have the choice to commit a crime or is it in our genetic make up to be criminals? I don't believe our choices in life are dictated by our genetic make-up or our past history. I've seen first hand the changes people can make in their lives. Overcoming horrible pasts, genetics and half a life-time of choices that perpetuated their bad start.

I believe we're responsible for our actions and can't slough off blame on an unhappy childhood or bad genes. Punishment should fit the crime and curing the criminal doesn't fit in that context at all. It takes the criminal out of the equation. If I were to find myself crossing the line, I'd want to know exactly what I need to do to make restitution and move on.

Thought on building consensus before meetings

leading is what you have to do when there isn't time to politic beforehand

Look at me mom, i'm blogging

So I've decided to add an entry after oh a 6 month hiatus. At this point there isn't much inside my head that I feel compelled to share.

Life has been steadily improving for me. I'm now over 6 months clean of nicotine, exercising regularly and enjoying life. I'm planning a move to Indianapolis in July. I'm looking forward to having nice things again and getting it situated how I like it. The past couple months have been more transitient living style and are starting to drive me nuts.

Being a quitter

So on January 1 at 11pm or so I quit smoking for good. I've told just about everyone who will listen how happy I am. It is a wonderful feeling to get up in the morning and not have your lungs hurt, you don't smell like smoke and in general you feel better.

It wasn't a quick or easy decision for me. I honestly enjoy the feeling of smoking; however the rest of the experience was less than appealing. The smell, the taste, the health "benefits", lower body temperature, ripples in my nails and all other sorts of pleasant experiences. The desire to quit finally built to it's crescendo for me and I was able to do it cold turkey. Until then I'd wanted to quit but I wanted to smoke more.

First Post

This is the obligatory first post. In case anyone is curious, this isn't really meant to be a blog as much as a personal journal that I can access anywhere. So maybe I'm using the wrong software... but you know what, i could care less. it meets my needs.