Stuff & Junk

2008-10-06T11:25:00.001-07:00

test number 2 for ping.fm

More Peace Jam

2008-09-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

So last night I went to the main presentation. Each laureate was absolutely incredible. They came literally from all corners of the world to come together for this unprecedented event. On the one side, I felt bad for the other laureates because Desmond Tutu has been significantly hyped up above and beyond all the others. On the other, it was incredible to see the other laureates reverence for him. And if you ever remotely get the chance to see him speak, go for it. You will not be disappointed. Not even remotely close to it. If I have any complaints at all, it would be the fact that we could not understand all the speakers in their own languages. Waiting for translations really interrupted the flow of some great speeches. What really made me laugh was waiting for Spanish translations when half of the audience had already started to clap or laugh or cry. I'm still a bit on the overwhelmed side to be honest. It was quite incredible.

Peace Jam

2008-09-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

So there's this awesome event going on in LA called Peace Jam. 3,000 HS student have come to campus to listen to issues affecting the globe and how we can better the world. Tomorrow evening 6 Nobel Laureates will come together to speak. This is going to be a completely unprecedented event. Tix are like $200, but I snagged one for free by doing some good volunteer work today. Really excited!

writing

2008-09-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have not been writing lately. Not in my blog, not in my social or professional life. I really need to do so, even if it's nonsensical. This is my 'only way out is through' strategery. Let's see if it works. I"m also going to wake up early to get to work and read or write (i think read mostly) for an hour or so every day before work begins. It gets a 2 week trial run. it may get split with exercise time since i've been TERRIBLE about that. hmmm interesting thought indeed. i'll keep that in mind.

Oh Blog

2008-08-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Blog, how i've neglected thee. I'll cuddle up w/ you again soon.

The Rhythm of the War Drum

2008-08-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

Who gave us the right to kill others?
Who gave us the right to kill our own?
The power over life and death is the greatest power of all. S/he who holds this power and wields it without regard for the sanctity of the individual life in mind holds us all prisoner. We must break free of this oppression. We must unite with open hearts and overcome this strictures placed upon us. The fate of all depends on it.

If we don't, we might as well be counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drum

Intro to my dissertation

2008-07-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

FEEDBACK WELCOME!!! ENJOY

Envision five hundred high school students cheering and chanting at the top of their lungs. Most people would assume after only one simple sentence like this that my next one would include a ticking clock rapidly approaching 0:00 in the 4th with the home team down by one.

My next sentence, however, involves picket signs and a student shouting into a megaphone urging the President to ‘bring our boys home’. Why is it that we get more excited over sporting events than we do the lives of brave young American men and women? How is it that we see sports fans crying over games lost and our daily local TV news spending consistently less than one minute on a war taking lives each and every day?

These students I mentioned back in the first sentence have probably wondered the same thing. And it’s not that I, nor any of them for that matter, necessarily have problems with being passionate about sports. Truthfully, it’s not a pretty sight in my house when the Yankees are losing. I am merely questioning why we are not at least as, if not more passionate about life or death matters that we as a nation forced some of our finest youth into. I’m sure we could blame society, government, mainstream media, big business or any other ‘big evil’ that impacts us on both large and small scales every day for this loss of insight of what’s really important. This very well may be true and I for one have no problem including them on the list of causes. I would, however, be naïve to not include parents, teachers, and other adults in the community that are not addressing these issues face to face with out children on a daily basis.

Turning the conversation once again back to our five hundred screaming students…
   THEY decided to take on a cause
   THEY decided to stand up for what they believe is unjust
   THEY took matters into their own hands

One of the beautiful things about being young is not boxing yourself into what society expects of you. It is natural for youth to resist and reject societal norms. The trick however, is for them to find productive, and not destructive, means to stand up for what they believe in.
The youth mentioned above did just that. They organized a rally to protest the War in Iraq. They set ground rules of no violence or swearing upon themselves to ensure productivity. They marched with picket signs and a loud unified voice. The energy and idealism of youth was captured in this amazing event. They were heard.

The piece of the puzzle I have yet to reveal, however, show the true genius of today’s youth. Other than the actually rally on the streets, this protest was theorized, organized, and promoted solely on MySpace and YouTube. They used the tools that most adults are afraid of to do all the grunt work to stand up against injustice. Once the event took place, they promoted to their peers. All of this right underneath our adult noses, yet we were no the wiser that something so big was about to occur.

Reflection

2008-07-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

   Today’s reflection is going to be a bit off topic. I just found out Jose’s mother passed away. Death always makes me think about why we’re doing all that we do in society, education included. I’m not a fan of dichotomies, but on this planet, there is one that will always remain true and that’s life and death. What happens afterwards may change my thoughts on that, but that’s not the situation I’m in, nor do I hope for a long, long time.
So why is it that we have create civilization for ourselves when ultimately we all succumb to the same fate? It is a manufactured system created by man that has made some lives pleasant and others miserable. Some die early, while other live long, fulfilling lives. In that, some of it is nature, while many other individuals fall prey to societal influences.
   I’m not sure where I’m headed with this, but I wonder why we put ourselves in such a hurry. Civilization is what it is in its current state and I hope to do my part to make it the best I possibly can. Sometimes I think we get caught up way too much (myself included) in the details and forget the big picture of what is meaningful: each other. I think most of us understand this concept when it comes to the ones we love, even if we wane in and out from time to time. I’m not sure why individually we can’t seem push our thoughts and love further out to others we just know or have not even met. Why is it that we fear the other so much?
   Granted, growing up a white, upper-middle class male left me little to fear about this society, but a lot of what many of us have been trained to fear is completely created by society. So why is it so difficult to break down what we’ve created? Life’s just too short. This song came up as I'm writing this, seemed fitting.
I hope we can work past all of this one day.

Is Google REALLY Making us Stupid?

2008-07-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

One of my professors sent this article along to me from the Atlantic Monthly. I read the whole article in depth, contrary to what the author, Nicolas Carr, would probably do with his own writing. He writes about the Internet with a lot of skepticism, which I always appreciate because it is easy to accept it as 'something new' or the 'way the future is heading' without any deep critique (he has a great quote from Richard Forman about this towards the bottom of the article).

Yes, Google's purpose is to make information readily available to anyone anywhere at anytime. Google however is not the producer of the content that appears after one types in a search term. That part of the 'blame' for 'making us read only in short prose' must be 'placed' on website itself in which Google recommended.

If we are to be fearful of Google, it is to be fearful of the fact that when one does a search, Google ranks their suggestions by placing websites in order one after another, page by page based upon popularity. Just because a website is popular does not make the content of the webpage any better. For example, type in "Martin Luther King, Jr" into Google and check out the 8th or 9th website down called martinlutherking.org. If you read through the website a bit, you might be surprised at what you find on a website in the top 10 of Google search. We should be wary of the fact that if we are all using Google, we may easily fall prey to only searching through the same handful of sources instead of delving deeper.

Also, skimming text for information is not a new technique. It existed well before the Internet was ever imagined. I would rather view Carr's 'problem' as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to hone the skill of skimming. This does not negate the fact that there is also a skill of reading deeply. It is one thing to be aware of a potential pitfall of any medium; it is another not to actually fall in. This is why I urge individuals to be reflective about all that you do. If you notice a change in behavior, truly assess if it is a change for better or for worse. Sometimes it's neither. Understanding change is one thing. Finding a balance is completely different. It is in this place where we will find our true selves in the face of anything new - good, bad, indifferent. Ultimately it's what we do with the technology that let's us define it or it define us.

2008-06-28T14:08:00.001-07:00

one last test. i think i get it now

2008-06-28T14:06:00.001-07:00

test # 3. Blogger and FB aren't workin

Political Correctness

2008-06-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

some individuals have problems with being politically correct (i'd argue way too many of them for the good of humanity). i understand, yet whole-heartedly disagree with most arguments. one however that makes me think is not based upon being a term deemed as politically correct, but rather where the roots of the terminology come from and who was the one who deemed it to be a politically correct term. it is easy to use one term to mask another one that is acceptable to society (see last 7 years of our administration for examples). these are the terms that are the MOST dangerous. they are the most insidious. i'd claim they are all classist on top of the other mode of oppression the term reinforces (race, gender, sexuality, etc). just a thought while takin a shower. wanted to get it down before i forgot it.

Bleck

2008-06-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's about how i feel right now. why do some of us insist on being stubborn? all is does is create more heartburn and paperwork for the rest of us.... great

Struggle

2008-06-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

There is both a societal and individual struggle between good and bad which remains in constant flux. I'd like to try to find answers to find out how to instill and even create good, but it's an impossible task. Who's good first of all? Mine? Yours? Somebody else's? That alone is a daunting task. Then i think of life in terms of balance. If all of life is good for all humans, there is an obvious imbalance. Does the shift of extreme bad get pushed onto animals or mother Earth herself? Or do we have to look at balance across time? What would the complete opposite look like? How long would it last?

These questions make me understand a bit better the Buddhist Noble Truth: Life is suffering. We cannot have nor appreciate the wonderful things in life without knowing suffering. On the one side i am comfortable with this fact. On the other, to be truly honest and fair, does that mean I have to spend half of my time happy and half sad to be truly balanced? Or do I just need to acknowledge the suffering and do my part to overcome it by spreading happiness? Then again, even thinking about overcoming it, am I just applying my western ideals to eastern thought? Looks like i've got some pondering to do. Hopefully i've inspired some in others as well.

Once again

2008-06-21T23:07:00.001-07:00

Once again, i'm gonna have to say good bbq... even though i ended up playing grillmaster unbeknownst to me ahead of time. it's all good... except i didn't get nearly as much done as i expected. there's always tomorrow.

Balance

2008-06-20T22:54:00.001-07:00

I realized that my life has not been balanced lately. have not been eating well (or at regular times), no exercise, stress, stress, stress. Enhance your calm John Spartan. You will get through it.

coming together

2008-06-20T00:13:00.001-07:00

the past week has been crazy and so many questions left unanswered and headaches kept arising. finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel... and very happy about it. 1 more week... well 2 if you know what i know (wink wink).

argh

2008-06-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

argh

FF3

2008-06-18T00:17:00.001-07:00

oh, and if you haven't yet, download FF3 by 3EST, Noon Pacific, and be part of a world record. http://www.mozilla.com/firefox

furt

2008-06-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

so i haven't had much to say lately. just goin through the daily grind wanting to rip my hair out because nobody will make any decisions and it's not my place (nor job) to be doing any of it, but i am. mix that in with a ton o schoolwork to do and a roommate i plan on kicking out in the morning and oh boy yippie yippie.

headache

2008-06-15T22:16:00.001-07:00

I have a headache... that is all

Praxis

2008-06-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

quite simply, practice what you preach. know what you preach and why you do and make sure your actions match. if they don't match up, delve deeper and see why not. which do you hold stronger to, the theory or the practice. let that be your guide in this duality.

Racing

2008-06-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

Lotta stuff racing through my mind today. missin home, how am i going to get all my work done for the semester, when will this room be renovated... and then i started reading more bell hooks. incredible. why do we always see things in binary as a culture? heck this computer is written in all binary. what if that system were broken down? what would computers look like then? that's just one innocent example. another thought that has haunted me for some time is how can i be a critical educator coming from all points of privilege?... identity crisis

Incredible Class

2008-06-10T00:10:00.001-07:00

Haven't written in the past few days. enough reading and writing for other stuff led to little to no motivation to write in the blog.

Ever have a class that was so incredible that you could put it in the top tier of classes ever attended, yet at the same time have no idea what actually happened in it? that was tonight. I know we ripped apart state standards and then talked about compassion in education, but past that, I don't know if I could recount the details of what happened in class. Oh, there was an argument about whether our students see race (either at all or in the same terms that previous generations saw it). Ok, i'm tapped out, but it was incredible. absolutely incredible

furniture

2008-06-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

so it's not quite (or at all) in my job description to search for furniture, yet what did i do today? i even called up 3 marriot hotels in Chicago to find phukin tables... and i still never got in touch with the right one. damnit i just want to record lectures in class and stuff

unlaziness

2008-06-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

Got really busy for like 2 months and stopped running. I started back up about a week/week 1/2 ago and paid dearly. yesterday was the first day I was close to back on par with what I should be. Good to know I can recover in 3-4 runs. I'm not even sore this morning. guess i'm becoming unlazy again.

centrality

2008-06-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

so are we all trying to move as a society to a common notion of good? is that even possible in our pluralistic society? is there one centrality? are there many that dance with one another? do we as individuals gravitate to one? multiple? which ones? why? brain hurts.

It's not what you think... or is it

2008-06-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

So I was thinkin that tonight could be special. nice meal. some wine. little mood music and candles. i'll take you back to my room and we'll get real close and comfortable. then, just when the anticipation is highest, take a deep breath, hold on tight, because it's time to plurk. we'll plurk all night and then again in the morning (before or after breakfast is your choice). wanna plurk?

MORE MMMMMMMMMMMMM

2008-05-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

John & Jason's BBQ Today. I was there and rubbed the meat down last night if you know what I mean. Try the brisket. It'll be fantastic courtesy of this guy.

i Like

2008-05-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

well iLike is a cool app, but what I actually like is http://kjscozz.blogspot.com/ as well Saturday Night Live... totally needs to be deconstructed, totally man

SWPL

2008-05-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

Don't be the last white person to laugh and poke fun of yourself. of course we can't just be honest about who we are. We need to joke about it because we love self-deprecating humor and we don't want to "have to" call anybody else out for calling us out on our livelihoods/quirks/hypocrisies/whatever because of the whole racism and reverse racism thing. I feel like I just added another one to the list in this post.

How can you blame Mr. Rogers?

2008-05-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

speaking of chugging...

2008-05-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Great party O! and as usual, Royce, the burgers rocked. Countdown to next BBQ... T minus 5 days. I'm gonna be so drunk in front of my boss and my bosses bosses boss (not sure if the bosses boss is coming), but it'll be ridic

I AM....

2008-05-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

IRONMAN. good movie. easily one of the better superhero flicks. time for me to chug away at literature. joy

phookin itunes

2008-05-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

So i'm an admin for iTunes U and sometimes it just doesn't quite work correctly (like all technology really). Well I had to recreate a course for a prof with 75ish files I had to blah blah blah and yadda yadda yadda. ok done bitchin

Financial Aid & a Good Book

2008-05-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

So there was a "glitch" in my financial aid and almost got screwed outta $2.5K. Only took an hour this morning to fix the glitch, so it should just work itself out naturally. Problem solved from your end... sorry trailed off into Office Space. Anyway, I got the book Digital Media and Democracy (the link is there for your purchasing desires) and decided to read a chapter even after a long debate in class on the role of business in education and its meaning for students and the future of the nation. After reading the chapter, I've left myself once again in a conundrum about how we educate our students to be literate - media literate, technologically literate, mathematically literate, literate literate and any other kind of literate you could possibly think of. The more I think about it, the more daunting it gets.

Typo

2008-05-21T23:00:00.001-07:00

So this is what happens when a typo occurs. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1018985/3/index.htm. read closely, instead of David Casper, I'm apparently now a felon. If you know me well, you're probably not surprised.

Democratic Race/Black Sheep

2008-05-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Does anybody else see a || between the Democratic Party race and Black Sheep?... except for the fact Al Donnelly is not black. Maybe it's part of the reason that's shaping my thought process... probably not, but still, you never know. That subconscious is an interesting place.

Lioness

2008-05-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

So I had this thought will running just a few moments ago. You know how they call cities concrete jungles? Well, I saw this mom in her silver SUV driving her kiddos (probably to soccer or something like that... and why do they almost always have Silver SUV's?)... anyway, so I saw what is quite a typical occurrence that I've seen probably a few thousand times by this point in my life. If I was counting, somewhere in the order of 2 dozen instances would be an underestimate. And then I thought, 'why these gas guzzling SUV's? (see yesterday's post). And even though we know how unsafe SUV's are when it comes to flipping, etc, they look and feel very, very safe. If I was in a head on accident with my (non-existent to date) kids, yea, I'd rather be in an SUV than my lil Yuri the Yaris. (Yea, finally just named him Yuri).

I then went back to thinking about nature and how this need for moms to buy SUV's instead of Ford Pinto's is as instinctual as a lioness protecting her cub. The biggest lionesses do the best job of protecting their young due to size and strength. Instead of looking at human mothers' size and strength, we look at their cars'. And the queen of all lionesses has to be the Hummer H1, the vehicle I saw that started this whole thought process. The End.

Story of Stuff

2008-05-19T21:09:00.001-07:00

Check it out http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html

Uncle Rico

2008-05-18T02:21:00.000-07:00

Not that this post has anything to do w/ Uncle Rico other than the fact that grandma broke her cockix, but good job JE, Marc, and Drew to a fantastic housewarming party

Playing

2008-05-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

So I played around with Twitter last night and Google Pages today. Let's see how Google Friend Connect can fit in to my ever expanding web life.

New Company

2008-05-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

While eating some rockin sushi for lunch today, HaeDaveCo was formed. We're not sure what kind of company it will be, but I assure you it'll fall under the category of superawesome.

SB

2008-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Went to Santa Barbara yesterday with some fellow ITA's to chill with the bigwigs. We kicked ass, took names, no big deal. Plus, it was GORGEOUS with a capital G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S

Comfy Bed

2008-05-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting patiently after leaving work a bit early waiting for my comfy bed. It would be really nice if they'd deliver it already. 1/2 hour left... sigh

This is a Test

2008-05-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the sillyness

PS- I LIKE YOU, DO YOU LIKE ME?

F'n Pepsi

2008-05-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm finishing a meeting with my manager and co-worker. My manager happened to have an extra can of Pepsi in her office after lunch today. She picks it up off her desk to put it in the department's fridge and invariably it slips out of her hand and BLAMO, it explodes all over ever crevice of her office as well as the three of us. It completely soaked her pants and covered the walls, desk, chairs, and you name whatever else. The fun times never stop at Daum Hall.

Echo, Echo, Echo

2008-05-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.apreso.com/ How cool is this? Well if you're an education geek and IT nerd like me, very.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day mom. On another note, I did nothing... absolutely nothing. And it was everything I ever dreamed of and more.

Crawdads

2008-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I went to my very first crawfish boil. A whole host of Tulane Alums were there, so somebody was nice enough to show me what to do since I was obviously struggling. Of course part of that struggle was due to the fact that I drank way too much in a short span of time.. oops

Indy

2008-05-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tom Selick was the first choice for Indiana Jones. He gave it up for Magnum P.I. Good choice? you make the call.

Good BBQ

2008-05-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

I love the folks I work with. We had a great BBQ on the Marina... although a bit windy and chilly. The food was awesome (the hamburgers were only one small piece of it). It's just cool to see individuals go the extra mile even for a BBQ. It's all rooted in our genuine care for one another.

Double MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

2008-05-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

So I just made these kickin burgers for our dept bbq. got some classic style, italiano, and bourbon peppercorn with blu cheese nuggets to die for. Damn that last one's good. I hope I have 1 or 2 leftover.

Done... I know

2008-05-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

See, don't I look so much happier?

Done... I think

2008-05-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

Is it sad that I decided to go grocery shopping to feel a sense of Normalcy? (Thanks Mr. Harding for that wonderful word.) Now I just need to present one crappy 15 page paper and turn in another crappy 15 page paper... why am I paying to do this to myself? This is my enthusiasm after writing 15 of those 30 pages and putting together my presentation this weekend.

All work and no play...

2008-05-04T01:43:00.001-07:00

makes Dave a dull boy... just need to get through Monday.

MMMMMMM

2008-05-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

MMMMMMM El Cholo in Santa Monica. Green corn tamales... fantastic. I actually got Annie's somethin or other vegetarian tamale this time.... also fantastic.

Good day... Sort of

2008-05-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how one person can ruin a good day. Everything was going swimmingly until I sat down and talked to this one individual which turned into this argument. Without going into details, it really altered the shape of what was a beautiful day. Such a shame when that happens. That's life... I actually just woke up pissed off about it. That's the part that sucks most. Knowing it got to you.

Massage

2008-04-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so going back to the stiff neck thing. Didn't feel a whole lot better when I woke up this morning, plus I took the day off to do a mound of HW, so I figure, hey, why not go for a massage. Between the stiff neck and stress, it was needed. It was absolutely wonderful, but some random thoughts crossed my mind during and after the massage. Why is it ok for a complete stranger to touch over 90% of my (or yours or anybody's really) body intimately, yet people get all scheved out when you give a pat on the back at work to somebody you probably know a whole lot better than this random masseuse (unless you're a regular). Personally, unless someone's cuppin my ba!!$, it really doesn't phase me either way, just trying to note a social oddity. So part two of this is having a complete stranger touch your entire body and god only knows how many others' entire bodies throughout the day. Not that I'm a germophobe by any stretch of the imagination (it's not a 5, but rather 10 second rule for me), but it just seems like the probability of transferring contact related diseases would be really high, even with precautions. Eh, who knows. When you have an hour to do nothing but lie down, relax, and think, the mind tends to wander a bit. Back to HW. Peace.

Stiff Neck

2008-04-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

I love when you wake up with a stiff neck like I did today. It's not the worst I've had, but it certainly was not pleasant going through my day with it. I think I'm giving up on the mattress I have. My couch is more comfortable.

Hotttness

2008-04-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

So hot in SoCal today... and I didn't even get to go out much... Thanks homework. Maybe a long walk on the beach with Suzanne my Chimp will do. Ok, so she's Jay and Silent Bob's. You can't get everything in life.

Yea, I know

2008-04-26T21:41:00.001-07:00

Yes, if you carefully... or not so carefully, I have a different, yet eerily similar picture up on VerveEarth... deal

Hello

2008-04-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is all about Stuff & Junk going on in my life. Random thoughts such as... blogger needs some new templates... will be thrown out pretty much at random. Also, VerveEarth is a cool little site I found that links bloggers around the world by placing them on Google Maps. Nice idea. Found it from Go2Web20.net, which has an incredible amount of great sites to get yourself lost in for hours on end. So that's my random Stuff & Junk for today.