Relativity

I don’t consider myself all that interested in pop culture. However, I play video games and watch an average number of movies, television shows, cartoons, and cable news; but I do not read US Weekly, People Magazine, or the tabloids, with the exception of the front page when I decide to wait for a cashier at the supermarket rather than utilize the self-checkout option—my preferred method. I frequently eat fast food because I like how it tastes despite knowing it is horrible for my health and I shop at all the big chain supermarkets. I know I should go to the farmers’ markets more frequently but it isn’t as convenient and for me convenience is king, convenience and efficiency. Do I always go with the most convenience? No. Am I always the most efficient? No.  However, I appreciate efficiency.

Because I watch an average amount of TV I also see an average number of commercials. Most of them I don’t remember. Recently a few caused me to actually believe what they said. But only long enough to waste a somewhat significant amount of time (roughly 10 hours) finding out they are truly full of crap. They were all car insurance commercials telling me in oh so clever ways how to save money. Most of those same companies must have paid a lot of money for clever external advertising consultants because all of the insurance companies with clever ads wanted to increase my monthly premiums. I probably have friends that work for those same ad companies and I applaud my friends for their creativity and ability to make me laugh and believe the tag lines. I don’t applaud those insurance companies that can’t or won’t save me money.

It’s not that I have a great love of money; I just appreciate what it does in society and particularly what it does for me—it lets me buy things I need. I particularly appreciate how much time, sweat, effort, and frustration I put into obtaining it. So when an insurance company wants to take more of my money while providing me with what is probably the least tangible good I will ever purchase while at the same time providing creative and enticing, although mildly deceptive visual advertisements seems wrong. I only say mildly deceptive because for another person those same companies’ complicated algorithms that measure the particular level of risk for a driver given the car they drive, their age, geo-location, and other random data points might actually save them money. However, that only works until the equilibrium price is reached and you have to wait a few more years for the old companies to be priced out by newer, leaner, more innovative insurance companies run by more recent Ivy-League MBA graduates with their revised algorithms that utilize the same data points in a different approach plus a few other data points like moon phases, your astrological symbol, and your lucky numbers—as determined by your most recent fortune cookie—to adjust your risk measurement and once again save you money all while increasing their stock price and bottom line.

Mostly I am just amused by the convoluted workings of life, insurance, advertisements, and everything else that connects to create the human experience. 

Libya: Friend or Foe

Over the last few months the Middle East has been revolutionized by none other than...well revolutions.  Having spent the last six years of my life engulfed in studying the Middle East, watching the recent revolutions unfolding throughout North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula have been both exciting and concerning.  It's exciting that people have collectively decided to stand up for their beliefs and to challenge the systems of government that failed them due to autocracy, lack of transparency, and corruption.  The challenge now is determining what role the United States should play in helping these countries through these exciting, but challenging times.  The movement caught the world by surprise and as can be seen from various speeches and press releases from White House, State Department, and National Security representatives nobody is quite sure what the best approach should be at the moment.

The most concerning for me at the moment is the situation in Libya.  Here Gaddafi has determined to fight to the bitter end and the U.S. has decided to engage in military action to weaken Gaddafi's military so it cannot carry out in unnecessary slaughter of civilians.  At least that is the argument for military engagement.  For me, I'm more concerned with the bigger picture of the U.S. getting involved in yet another military conflict in the Middle East which will cost more money (in the middle of a budget crisis) and may or may not be beneficial (depending on the goals and objectives--which are unclear at the moment).  I am reading a lot of news articles, academic analysis, and other writings on what is happening in the Middle East and Libya and what the U.S. should/should not being doing.  I read two articles recently that provide the best explanation of the situation, the challenges, and the importance of thinking and planning before jumping into yet another foreign interventionist situation.

Take some time and read George Friedman's article "Immaculate Intervention: The Wars of Humanitarianism," and Stephen M. Walt's "Is America Addicted to War?"

Some thoughts: Theism, Atheism, & Religion

"A passionate and committed atheism can be more religious than a weary or inadequate theism." 

-- Karen Armstrong, The History of God

This quote stuck out to me as I read it months ago and various conversations I've had with friends since then has resulted in it coming back.  I have a few thoughts based from this and I'm interested in hearing others comments, thoughts, views, or beliefs as well.

Those of us who believe in God often take the "moral high-ground" when compared to those who claim to be atheist or agnostic.  We feel that our belief in God, whether complete or partial, is better than no belief.  Armstrong's quote and spending two years of my life doing nothing but talking to people about religion makes me think this may not be the case.  A person who does not believe in God but has taken the time and energy to search within their own selves and considers the world around them could have a greater claim to a so-called religious life than someone who claims a belief in God but has done so only partially or superficially with limited soul searching and limited introspection.

This might change depending on how one defines religion and religious belief.  Assuming religious belief is measured by the dedication and passion and commitment toward an idea then atheism can be a stronger, more faithful and more religious than a simple vocal claim of faith in God by one who does not understand nor live by the tenants that such faith would require.  In coming to understand how we view religion I found a definition by Clifford Geertz's work "Religion as a Cultural System" where he defines religion as "a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."

Part of this thought process has resulted from various conversations with friends and strangers about religion where I discovered many people have extreme biases for or against God, for or against a particular religion, or for or against a particular sect within a religion.  I tend to ask a lot of questions to try to understand the reason people feel one way or another and I discovered that frequently people didn't know why they believed what they did.  They had not done their own personal soul searching, study, or pondering on the issue.  In contrast, I have a friend who decided he no longer believed in Christianity in general and in the LDS faith in particular but he did not do so lightly.  His introspective look at himself, his belief systems, his religious tenants, and his personal experiences led him to different conclusions, yet I can't help but admire him for the time and effort he put in to understanding himself and his relationship to the world and his beliefs.  In many ways, his belief and his religiosity is stronger and better understood than many people I know who on the surface claim a belief in God but internally have failed to really understand what that even means.  I don't necessarily agree with all of my friends conclusions, but I respect the process by which he came to them, and I respect his religious beliefs more than those who have not gone through their own soul-searching journey to understanding what and why they maintain a particular belief.

I realize a strong atheism is not the answer, nor is it what Armstrong is arguing (see quote above).  What she wants is for others to understand that this is merely a check upon one's own theistic understanding and that a half-hearted belief in God does not constitute greater religiosity than an atheist simply because God is in the equation.  In essence, this is a call to theists to take the necessary time to really believe in God and to understand the significance of what that belief means for how you understand life and how you live life.

writings and such

Some of you know I use to write a lot more than I do now, poetry and other random things.  For some of you this is new.  For everybody, my goal is to post a new, edited, or reworked piece every week.  You'll be able to find them at thoughtlesspoetry.blogspot.com.  Enjoy.

2010 Year-End Road Trip

As my last final hurrah for 2010, I accompanied my sister on a 28 hour drive from San Antonio to D.C.  The highlight of those endless hours spent driving was the treat of a real southern meal compliments of The Loveless Cafe.  Having lived in the South whenever I have the opportunity to engorge myself in a delicious southern feast, I take it.  Thanks to the Loveless Cafe, I had the best biscuits, macaroni and cheese (Kraft doesn't count), hush-puppies, Southern Greens--complete with hot sauce and spicy vinegar, and fried okra.  There are a few select dishes that would qualify as more southern than these, but these satiate my tongues southern pallet perfectly.

If you are ever passing through Nashville and want something delicious, stop by Loveless and you won't be disappointed.

Graphical Depiction of Life

see more Funny Graphs

I found this graphical depiction a few years ago, it still has application, and more than anything it makes me smile.

Random, People

One reason why I love people.

A Tribute to Action

I love people.  I love meeting new people, talking to them, hearing about what they are doing in life and why.  I especially love people who find something they love, are passionate about it, and then go do it.  Even when it's unconventional or as some might even say "irresponsible."  I've discovered if you love it, if it makes you happy, then you should be doing it because by doing it you will not only find joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment in your own life but it puts you in the best position to help others do the same.

There are three people I've met/seen recently, two are new friends, the third is an old friend.  They are unconventional.  They are amazing.  Sharaya and Ally both quit their jobs to take a gamble on doing something unique that would allow them both to do what they love.  Their gamble is a 50 state road-trip where Sharaya get to spend time writing music and playing in various venues across the country while Ally blogs about their experiences and writes a book on their adventure.  You can read Ally's writings and follow their adventure at http://sharayamikael.wordpress.com/ and listen to Sharaya's music at Amazon or on her Facebook page.  She gave a short house show at our place tonight and she is amazing.

I ran into my third friend, Joey, at a Real Salt Lake soccer game a little over a week ago.  I hesitantly approached not sure it was him foremost because I was in the U.S.  It would surprise me less running into him in Cairo, Istanbul, Rome, or any other random city in the world.  We use to go on adventurous weekend expeditions when we were both living in Jordan studying Arabic and would find ourselves in the most random places.  Drinking tea with Bedouins in an ruinous Roman city on the Syrian boarder, or talking to Jordanian military guards on patrol overlooking the Golan Heights, or hitchhiking back from the Dead Sea after a grueling hike through the desert (on multiple occasions).  The difference is after all of that he just kept going and doing what he loves; traveling, meeting new people, studying languages and cultures all while writing about and photographing the world he sees.

I'm envious of those who are doing what they love, they inspire me.  Partly because I really don't know what I love enough to do it, and partly because they have the strength to do the unconventional.

Aeroplanes & Parachutes

Although the first recorded successful parachutist occurred in 1797, skydiving didn't become an international sport until 1951.  Many a people have said, "I don't see the point in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane." Its funny because the chances of dying in an airplane crash are 1 in 1.6 million, chances of dying in a skydiving accident are 1 in 100,000 (significant difference); however, comparatively the chances of dying in an automobile accident are 1 in 6,000 (wow) and those same people don't think twice about getting into their car every day.  Basically you'd have to jump out of a plane 17 times in a year to equal the same odds as driving your car.

As you might guess I recently jumped out of "a perfectly good airplane."  Although, perfectly good is questionable considering we didn't really have seats and there wasn't a real door on it...so I guess its relative.  However, the experience of free falling from 13,000 for 60 seconds was incredible.  The best part was stepping out the door and watching the plane fly away (or watching me fall away depending on your perspective).  The weightlessness, the wind blowing in my face, the confusion at the fact that it didn't cause an unnecessarily crazy adrenaline rush, the experience as a whole was incredible.  In fact, my thought was I was falling, besides, "this is incredibly awesome," was something akin to, "how does this compare to other things I love to do."  As many know, the thing I love doing the most is Alpine skiing in powder.  In comparison, I'd take a day of skiing in 24" of fresh powder at Snowbird in a fraction of a second over jumping from a plane.  Not because I'm worried about safety, but the enjoyment factor, the marginal benefit I receive from skiing in powder is significantly higher than the benefit I receive from jumping from a plane.  Will I jump again?  Absolutely, will I jump enough to get my United States Parachute Association certification, probably; but given the opportunity to spend a weekend jumping out of planes or dropping into the Bookends or Great Scott will have me donning my helmet and skis every time.

So here's a tribute to what I love most:

Standing Still...

I recently moved.  I've had a lot of people ask me why I moved.  I have a dozen reasons why, but in thinking about it I realized it mostly has to do with the fact that I just need change.  If anything stays too constant in my life for too long I go stir crazy.  The last 12 months has been the longest I've lived in a single location in the last 10 years.  I've averaged a new place every 6 months for the last 10 years.  Right now I want to travel, I want to go explore the world and visit new places, new people, and learn and understand more.  I've been feeling this for awhile but recently was reading my cousin's blog about her experiences (http://brooklynday.blogspot.com) and couldn't help but feel jealous for her adventures.  Perhaps I'll have the chance to travel again soon, and hopefully manage the growing frustration that comes with staying in the same place.

Classical Music: A radio epiphany

Part of the new market segment?
Source: http://www.watchmojo.com/blogs/
images/woman-rock-climbing.jpg

I found myself listening to a classical radio station while driving home the other night from the climbing gym. I enjoy classical music, but am limited in my experience and exposure. The DJ (if classical radio station hosts can be called DJs) was speaking in the typical soft, cathartic voice that causes you to only want to sleep rather than engage in what she is saying. It occurred to me that classical stations are failing to engage huge market segments. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of young men and women who would enjoy listening to classical music more, if the context of the delivery was tweaked. I thought classical stations need a segment—maybe on the late-late weekend hour so as not to upset their very rigid, traditional base—where the DJ is excited about the music and makes classical music rock. It seems a contradiction of term, classical rock music, but really it’s there, it’s interesting, and it’s fun, but I feel that its wasted on those few individuals who are tapped into classical music while the rest of us don’t even have the chance to know what we are missing since the cost of understanding what we are missing is so high we’ll never be able to breach the gap. So I’m requesting that classical music stations take time to find a DJ who will make classical music rock for the rest of us and maybe you’ll find a whole new market-segment you never knew existed.

Ignorance

I hate ignorant people. I don't hate many things, but I just discovered how much I hate ignorant people. I never understood the depth of my feelings until recently. Many of you know how I feel about jealousy and about my "No Tolerance" policy. I feel stronger about this. Two things provided the catalyst for this new discovery. The first was partly as a result of my recent trip to Yemen where two specific images stand out in my mind.

The first is an eight-year old boy standing daily at the intersection trying to survive by selling packets of tissues to people waiting in their cars; despite his hardship, lack of real shoes and tattered clothing, he has a smile that lights up your life. The second is seeing two boys, brothers I believe, watching traffic on a busy street waiting to cross. They were there hand-in-hand, the older boy probably five or six, the younger one only four and nobody else was around to help them, but their confidence, determination, and independence was phenomenal.

Having these experiences and then coming back to the States and talking to a relatively new friend describe how difficult her life was when comparatively it wasn't, made me think she needed to get out into the world to gain some perspective. The second catalyst is a book I'm reading, "the sewing circles of Herat: a memoir of Afghanistan," that describes firsthand accounts of the people and places in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban rule and the results of their ignorance, the destruction of history and culture, and the violent submission of a people in the name of a religion most members of the Taliban aren't even educated enough to understand.

Ignorance of other people makes us forget our problems are small, ignorance of the world makes us think we have the only correct principles on which to shape our lives. I hate ignorance.

Destruction Derby...Almost

Recently I had one of the best driving experiences of my life.  As a boy I use to love to go to the arcade and sit in the auto racers, California Speed (or whatever it was called), and drive without rules and without fear of what obstacles were there.  I just did that in real life--except there were still obstacles.  All driving rules that had been ingrained in me since I was young were forgotten, actually only about 70%, but having to only follow about 30% of the rules makes driving such an adventure.  Of course there is the added difficulty of everybody else only following about 30% of the rules and constantly having to guess which 30% will be followed.  Additionally, there is the pedestrian factor; at any given moment in time a man, woman, donkey, or six year old child will step into the road to cross the street.  One particular road was just like driving a video game, especially on Friday mornings (nobody is out because it is their weekly sabbath).  We called it "the ditch," the Arabic transliteration is As-Salia, but it is basically a 1400 year old aqueduct that runs through the old city just below ground built entirely out of stone with various tunnels and bridges and dips and drops and twists and turns and perfect for enjoying a leisurely adventure drive.

As I was driving, weaving in and out of traffic, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, or otherwise just getting where I needed to go I thought of all the people I knew and realized there were those who would thrive driving without the rules and others who would go crazy and not be able to function without too much stress.  If the non-functioning stressed out individual was driving, I'd want to be anywhere but in that vehicle.  I realized it takes someone who has a more aggressive attitude toward life (and driving) and yet can enjoy the laid back lack of structure.  Because sometimes the rules matter and you have to stop at the intersection, other times you slow down long enough to see if there is traffic then drive straight through the red light passed the policeman standing in the middle of the intersection and its perfectly normal.  I love it.  Of course the down side is now that I'm back in America, my desire to do those things has to be held constantly in check by the thought of anal policemen and expensive ticket taxes as a result of a few little things called rules.  Jon and Rich, drive in Yemen, you'd love it, at least the times that aren't bumper to bumper traffic.  Mom, I'm sorry but don't even think about it, I'm not even sure I'd want you in the car because you might be freaking out a bit.


Its a lot less fun to watch, but a lot of fun to do, so here's to driving in 'the ditch,' cheers.

A Few of Many

Below are a few photos from my most recent adventure.  Its too bad they don't really do justice to it all.

Dictionary.com FAIL

In a recent search of dictionary.com I was told they couldn't find my word and suggested I had spelled it wrong. See captioned screenshot below:

Now you have to wonder if their suggestion seems just a little pointless...turns out I must have spelled it wrong because when I clicked on blue highlighted weblink of "deficit" as opposed to my original entry of "deficit" (see the difference?) it provided the real results.  Made me smile.

Lingua Franca

Lingua Franca is a language used by two people to communicate with each other, typically by use of a second or third language that is not the native language of either.  In the past French filled this role.  In todays world it is English.  Despite English being the current Lingua Franca I still feel like a 'lazy American' who can only speak English whenever I am traveling abroad.  In the last few years my passable Arabic has enabled me to travel and at least somewhat communicate with the locals in their native tounge.  Now, I'm once again traveling in a country where English is not people's second language, but their third or fourth or fifth so fewer people speak it.  Here French is the dominate language and try as I might, I can't seem to remember anything from my 8th grade French class--so much for public education.  Luckily, enough people speak Arabic that I can get by with that, but the dialect here is just different enough, that it's difficult to follow.  So alas, once again I'm traveling and find myself desperately wishing I could speak the dominate local language if only so I'm not pegged as not belonging and also because I want to know what people are saying...plus, I don't like fitting into the European stereotype of Americans being ignorant of other people's language and culture.  Alas, I don't think I can help it this time when the only French I know is 'bonjor' and 'oui' and 'merci'.  Guess I don't hate the stereotype enough to change it.  All those people out there who are fluent in two or more languages (emphasis on the more), I want to be you.

the shoe thief

Like many of you who have traveled I've learned to always pack enough clothing and such in my carry-on to survive an n number of days, if my checked luggage gets misdirected. This time I only had to last 4 days thanks to the generous people in the Cairo airport. I knew from the moment I got off the plane for my transfer flight that my checked bag wouldn't make the flight. What tipped me off? The large inefficiencies, the lack of a help desk, the confused employees, and finally the man that wrote my baggage claim number down so he could put it on my flight, yet didn't write down any flight info. My baggage became just one of a dozen numbers on his sheet with no destination. Four days though, no problem, as far as clothing goes. However, I only had the shoes on my feet since I packed my running and dress shoes in my checked bag. Minor annoyance since I had to work, and wanted to run during that time but my Sanak (*sandals not a shoe) managed to cloth my feet just fine.

This morning as I rushed out the door, looking business stylish except for my footware, I find my bag made it from Cairo. Excited to no longer feel self conscious about casual footware in a business setting I grab my bag open the zippered compartment to find nothing. A thief decided to co-opt my shoes into their wardrobe. At what point did they pull their fast stunt? In Cairo? In Sana'a? Somewhere in between? Only they know. I just laughed out loud and still smile as I think of the 3+ year old pair of shoes with holes in the soles that only looked good because I polished them right before my trip. I've been meaning to buy new shoes and throw the old ones out for 6 months...fate (and my friend) dictated the time is now. I hope my shoe thief is the most stylish man on his Cairo or Sana'a block and gets some mad props as a result of his newly aquired footware.

الشرق الاوسط و اللغة العربية: كيف أحبه

I wouldn't have guessed I'd be back in the Middle East again enjoying all the excitement and flavors of the Arab world. The food, the taxi drivers, the suqs (markets), the history, the pride, the differences from American culture. I love it. Especially the little moments, like when I was finishing eating dinner the other night in a cafe above a great little bookstore where the power went out...unfortunately the power went out for that entire area of the city, fortunately I had finished, paid, and was on my way out helped by the handy little led flashlight built into my Jordanian cell phone (I still wonder why that idea hasn't caught on in the states, considering half the time people end up trying to use their phone as a flashlight just by having a lit screen, why not throw in a tiny led into the top that can be turned on with the push of a button, so much better than the screen).
Pictures pending my return.
مع السلامة

The G40 Summit: An Epic Exhibit

There is something about art that bring power an emotion to the surface.  It amazes me how art has the ability to create such vivid and lasting emotions in an instant.  Anger, fear, frustration, awe, wonder, a sense of hopelessness, a sense of minuteness, excitement, lust.  A good artist in a single shot or exhibit can elicit some or all of these where just prior none of those emotions existed.  That is power.


The G40 Summit is an art exhibition in Crystal City in Arlington, VA that runs throughout the month of March.  If you are anywhere in the area you need to see it.  I loved it.  It is not the type of art you typically find in most art galleries or art museums, which is why I liked it so much.  It felt real.  The emotions, the depiction of life, the messages all resonated to a greater degree than any other gallery or museum I've visited, including such museums as the British National Gallery, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, any of the Smithsonian museums in DC and another half-dozen throughout Europe.  Overall, I would have to define the style as modern.  More specifically I think "Street Art" is the best way to define it, but even that feels limiting.  The exhibit is a combination of styles, from artists around the world with the focus being on Washington, D.C. metro area; New York City metro area; and California artists. 


Its sad these pictures can't compare to the real thing, but here are some of my favorites:
(unfortunately, these are poor quality shots from my phone)





And here are just a few of the artists websites:


www.artderailed.com
www.sharingthestoke.com
www.menobodyknows.com
www.novietrump.com

The Passage

For most people there’s a narrow corridor between wakefulness and sleep that they drift through quickly. For me it’s a cavern. A place where I am neither awake nor asleep, a quasi-dream state where only nightmares are a reality and peace of mind is fleeting. This place where corridors expand through time and space, and which changes with each experience such that finding the right path to blissful rest is a journey. Some nights as I lay there searching for the path it appears quickly, unexpectedly and I think maybe I’ve found the answer; maybe I’ll be able to follow this path again and be satisfied. It doesn’t take long for reality to set in when my next journey takes days, although in reality it is merely a matter of hours. However, in the dark of night hours stretch on endlessly, for only blackness exists in its natural form. We ignore that blackness through human ingenuity: fire, electricity, and light, sight at a moment’s notice regardless of the hour or depth of night. Our senses are no longer limited by the natural order of things. During this time I find there are moments of clarity, which I imagine are similar to the addict who meets the climax, the epitome of contentment, right after satisfying his cravings; where everything is right with the world. More often things are clouded, obscure. Images flash before my eyes, thoughts and ideas come into my mind only to be torn away the moment their brilliance is realized. Patience means nothing; exhaustion means nothing, because it leads nowhere. Not until days pass and the fatigue compounds until the physical limits of my body are reached and the natural order of things must be satisfied through rest, albeit not always peaceful. In the end it all leads to one thing, an expanding cavern containing an endless nightmare which I am forced experience night after night…insomnia.