i just don't see the point in bringing up kerry's purple hearts and having people say he didn't deserve them. the FACT is, he served, he was IN vietnam, he came back a changed person (as i can imagine most who have been in combat), and he became an anti-war veteran. how is that unpatriotic? are people NOT allowed to change their minds after they have more information to go by? do people HAVE to want to continue to kill people for reasons they are opposed to? if scientists form a hypothesis for an experiment and that experiment fails, do they keep testing over and over with the wrong hypothesis? of course not! how unpatriotic it is to not honor a person's decisions and want that individual or group to have the same view. is this not the US that we live in? aren't we free to speak against what we don't believe in? can you see the hypocrisy the republicans are trying to use to spin things? think about it! we need to come to our own conclusions, and not let dick, rumsfeld, ashcroft, ahnold, or anyone else (even the dems) tell us what to think. gather the historical information presented and come to our own opinion (assuming we are smart enough to think independently of course). we know that john kerry was in vietnam, and dubya was not. i would imagine the war experience would temper a person's decision to go to war. i don't think kerry would underestimate a threat... and i don't think kerry would hastily go to war on unreliable data... especially after he's been through and witnessed the atrocities of war. i'm not sure where the republicans get that kerry would be soft on defense? back to my old point that making a correct decision is not the same as a quick decision.

here's an article from an ex-viet cong soldiers perspective. the vietnamese have and are moving on from that horrible time period (and you can even say they won the conflict), why can't we? it was a bad time, we learned from it, let's move on and do something better for the future.

here's another thought... if the whole reason of the iraq war was to free the iraqi's and stop their oppression from saddam, how come we're not freeing the chinese? they're government limits rights terribly and there are always stories of human rights violations that come out, but because the central government controls the media and are very tight lipped, we don't even really know what else is going on! remember sars? they government didn't tell the outside world about the epidemic until time had past and they couldn't control its spread unless they spilled it. so... that's over a billion people that we can free from their oppressive government? how come we're not invading china and toppling the communists? what's that you say? they're our largest trading partner? oh... i see how it is, money=good so status quo stands. it's not hard to see through the foreign policy of the bush administration... to protect american interests *cough*trade*cough* (or oil in the case of iraq) by any means neccessary.

eh... ok... enough... no more politics. i caught a bit of the rnc... i couldn't take more than 5 minutes of it... i could feel my body tense up. as much as i want to watch it just to see it and inform myself... i just can't... the people that are there all have these stupid grins and smiles on their faces and can't even see their own hypocrisy. i caught a bit of arnold's speech too... what a frickin tool. done.

so... there aren't too many movies coming out that i want to see these next couple months. many seem totally bad or at best "feh". the ones that i do want to catch include... meet the fockers, the incredibles (i LOVE pixar films), ocean's twelve, and fat abbott... er i mean fat albert.

classes are ok so far... i had this whole big thing that could've had me in on a saturday in november taking tests for 8 hours... but that was avoided (hopefully), if my physics prof can come up with a better plan and move my physics exam date (which is also the same date as the pcat exam i'm taking) to another one. i think i'll have to do some physics homework when i go camping this weekend... i so HATE physics.

i shall go now. nightenED.

i just caught a pbs nature production on babies. it was awesome. babies are awesome. they all do baby stuff and fall over but they don't care cause everything's fun to them. it's too bad i won't be around to watch it again this coming weekend in buffalo, as it's being rebroadcast on our local affiliate. i guess i'll try to timer tape it... but i know i'll probably forget. anyways... check it out and see when it's on on your local pbs affiliate... it's cute and fun and full of goodness. yup.

here's a post by tansal... and some thoughts about the upcoming election. he also has linked to the recent esquire article titled, "the case against george w. bush" by ron reagan.

on the flip side... a pretty well written and thought out article in the previous month's esquire where the author argues why bush will win. i hope though, that the dems can somehow counter the blinders that the republicans are setting up. it's going to be difficult because people see what they want to see, and if the republicans continue to spin things correctly... even with all the outrage, i honestly think they could win. for us who realize that another bush term is no good... we need to engage in thoughtful dialogue whenever possible with undecided voters. we need to make sure people understand that this is about more than terrorism, the president sets forth policy for us domestically and internationally, with security, economically, environmentally, the list goes on. we need someone who will give thought to everything, not just some narrowminded focus on finishing unfinished business from his father's previous term. the US is part of a global community, if we choose to disengage from it, it will be to our own disadvantage. as much as the world needs us to function, we need to world to function as well. this is important, and we must not lose this election as another 4 years of bush will bring with it more pain.

argh the bush tax cut plan! it's a bad policy to make tax cuts the cornerstone of an economic plan when we're already down billions of dollars this year. long term economic policies using tax cuts of this magnitude provide way too much short term pains, and long term benefits aren't proven. it's too big of a gamble. i don't think our economic numbers this friday will be stellar or even sufficient enough to put public opinion behind the bush economic plan of tax cuts.

and also... a plug for the recently released movie hero from the motherland. i caught it friday night. zhang ziyi is hot... but like a subdued hot in this movie... which i think is much sexier... and i don't even normally go for asians... mainly cause the one's who grow up in the US are so spoiled and there's just this barrier that i feel between them and myself in so many facets of personalities and interests that i don't think i'd ever be able to reconcile our differences enough to make anything work. make sense? anyways... yeah... hero=good. cinematography... colors... choreography... unfolding of story... historical context... i enjoyed it. it helps to go in with a basic understanding of the warring states period of china too... it'll help you understand and pick up the overall angle a bit better.

so today will be the last night of true freedom i'll have for awhile. continuing on my journey into my 9th month of school... i'm a little more optimistic at this point. rest assured that this optimism will probably degrade into me wanting to jump out of a window at some point... but for now... let's just go with it shall we? =]

it starts off a bit slow (i'm even going camping this labor day weekend)... but will pick up and go into a frenetic pace... kaplan class for the pcats... finishing up pharm school apps... the actual pcat test... volunteer time... job time... and then finals. there's a lot to coordinate... and a lot to study for... and hoping to do better than just to survive this semester. there is one thing i should've done when i was still working in new york... i should've taken some classes @ the bmcc. as it stands now... i might have to do a 5 course spring semester as i had to drop my public speaking class because of kaplan class conflicts. i'm still hoping someone will drop out of the public speaking class at the only time that won't conflict with any of my other classes, as currently it's all filled. oh well.

i can't believe it's almost september though. i can't believe it's been 7 years since i moved into weinstein residence hall... into that dirty disgusting floor that we unaffectionately named the leper floor. it was 7 years ago since mo pulled out a ziploc bag full of bud that he grew, that alex's dad came over and told me to be alex's friend, that tansal finally showed up to his room and proceeded to not go to class, and dan would wake up in the middle of the night and freak me out, and you'd always catch jere door open, sitting @ his desk reading or on the computer when you walked up the leper stairs to our floor. that was a long time ago. i can't say that i'm that much better off now than i was then... but i think even with my uncertainty of everything... i at least i think i have a better grasp of everything... and even myself if it's only a little bit. maybe i'm just going to be a slow learner for the rest of my life and i'll have to try everything before i find the one that fits best... but right now... i'm ok with that.

so... i guess that'll be it for tonight. lots of posts recently... but i guess i'll make up for it with a lack of posts as fall semester steamrolls me.

night.

Politics can get lonely
Matthew Zawisky is like a lone wolf howling at liberals in the night.

Last month, he was outside Baltimore, in front of a library, asking passers-by to sign a petition to get Ralph Nader on the ballot. A few weeks later, he traveled to Billings, Mont., for signatures. A trip to North Dakota is on the horizon.

Zawisky, 24, of Elma, a Nader supporter since meeting him in 2000 at the Statler Towers, has joined the national "Road Trip for Ralph," a grass-roots effort by hundreds of volunteers.

It's not easy work. Not only are the rules different in each state, the reception from voters can be testy.

"Mostly it's the liberal Democrats that kind of give us a hard time," said Zawisky.

He's been chased from malls, county fairs and even libraries, and when he does get to talk with voters, he finds a lot of them uninformed. "When I ask people who they plan to vote for," he said, "a lot of them say (actor) Jim Carrey."

why is our country full of stupid people? how did we manage to become the superpower that we are? it's hard to understand isn't it?

in sad local buffalo news. the main location of la nova went up in flames last night. the owners are preparing to rebuild, and have shifted some people out to their amherst location. quite sad, as they are the premier pizza institution in buffalo originating in the old italian west side.

onto some brain chemistry. though it has been an oft used practice, it's becoming increasingly more known to the public that drugs can often be rebranded to treat different conditions and symptoms. this piece is about tests for treating addiction using very well known drugs that currently treat other issues. it's a good thing in the end, companies won't have to spend so much on research and trying to profit on any specific drug... why not reuse when you can? all about the efficiency!

sometimes... revenge just feels so good. probably feels better if you're just a mean person to begin with. maybe that's why mean people get meaner?

no so much brain chemistry, but brain related. this was a link tansal sent me awhile ago. can the company you work for own your thoughts? kinda ridiculous if you ask me especially if it was unrelated to work you're doing. what if you thought about killing someone and actually carried it through? sure, you personally went through with the murder, but if in actuality your thoughts were owned by the company, shouldn't they also be held responsible too even if it's not related to work? in the end, could one argue that the company told me to do it? our legal system contains frameworks to resolve issues in fair and just ways... but sometimes... it just doesn't work like it should. sometimes i wish it was a little more totalitarian... where some guy just comes out and says, "that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard! get outta here with that and stop wasting time."

the part of me that likes donuts thinks this is a brilliant idea (even though i'm more for tim hortons than krispy kreme). the other part of me cringes at the rise in hyper-fatty kids of already overweight adhd afflicted americans.

this is the last oddball link. it's cool how they have a sense of humor about it all. best to you guys.

ok... links all cleared out for now. perhaps another post later.

why do people always attempt to solve problems by using force or violence? "oh... i'm against stem cell research! that's killing babies! babies are people, and that's murder! why don't i go blow up a lab which could possibly have people working in it?" dumbasses.

some paxil news. i hope that all drug manufacturers release all data for their drugs. in this case it's kind of critical, as paxil is also used to treat depression. if it could make a patient taking it more suicidal, that negative test data should be out in the public, not shielded for 3 years. it does hit home a little too... as i could have just as easily been prescribed paxil instead of zoloft... and for the couple months i tried out the ssri's... it could've made things worse. having that information available would've probably affected my decision to go with one over another.

with 802.11b+g dominating, does anyone even use 802.11a? in any case... it's a nice move by intel to include it in their centrino chip. seamless ability for wireless is a good thing.

sp2 a p.o.s.? no way! just waiting for the day when everyone just gets fed up with microsoft for releasing crap software. come over to linux... it's fun!

updated way of meeting people. many of you who live in craigslist cities already know about the missed connections. from the popularity of missed connections... this has also sprouted increasing chances i guess of you hooking up with a missed connection by designating certain cars on the subway for people that look at those posts. i originally found this all in a gothamist post but i lost the link... and am too lazy at the moment to go to the site and search (dialup makes the site load really slow). interesting what fun can be had in the city... flash mobs anyone? here's a parody article link to the whole finding a date on the train thing.

more fun happenings. so these are bern's pics from the whole scavenger hunt thing in new york the night i left. i guess they finished the hunt... lasted overnight for something like 12 hours? (someone correct me and post the times if i'm wrong). i know they started out with a pretty big group working on different parts of the puzzles and hunt... but dwindled down to 4 at the finish line. congrats on finishing though... i may have to make a trip next year to join.

so these are the political issues that caught my eye this past week.

the farm vote. i feel that we need to lessen our subsidies for farming, and decrease our tariffs on agricultural goods coming from other countries. this will better establish a balance between supply and demand and make things more efficient both financially as well as our own consumption and waste. by leveraging globalization like this countries that export their agricultural goods benefit as well as they'll have a larger market to sell on. currently, our tariffs (and subsidies) are pushing up the prices we pay for our own goods as well as limiting the market for exporting countries with very simple economies. i'm not advocating shutting down the majority of farms, but with the current structure, there is very much waste. it would be beneficial if we could find other uses for ag products for general use such as corn to produce ethanol and allowing market forces to settle at the equilibrium points. in the long run, we can keep our farmers employed (maybe corn farmers will turn into ethanol producers in the future), but work out the inefficiencies and added costs.

oops. if it wasn't bad enough that the current president and his people rushed us into a conflict... shouldn't we have a president whose administration plans for ALL situations before going into combat? i've got nothing else to say about that.

it just keeps getting worse for the non-wealthy. the gap between rich and poor is continuing to grow. 35.8 million below the poverty line? that's about 1 out of 7 people here. we need to ask ourselves if that is acceptable? many conservatives view the war in iraq as something we needed to do, to liberate iraq and promote freedom and HELP them setup their own government. i wonder if they're just as willing to open up our coffers and provide services to help OUR neighbors.

another reason why married women suck. no... i'm just kidding... but it's interesting (although not surprising) how family life affects a person's decisions.

rnc action site. for people in new york.

michael moore's recent letter. i LOVE the sarcasm... lays it on all thick an shit. good stuff.

i feel like i'm out of ideas and out of interesting things to write about. how many times do the people that visit this blog want to hear me complain some more? even i get sick of complaining sometimes... it's always the same old worries and the same old thoughts. without that though... who am i really? pretty boring... just your average person i guess... nothing to see here. so josh posted something that says a lot of what i'm feeling better than i could ever have written.

is this the end? should i take an early retirement? you know... a little less than 10 years ago... i thought the world was mine to conquer. it seems the world has conquered me... trampled me over a million times and left me on the side of the road... and i'm too tired to get back up. after all this time... i still have more questions than answers... and i still can't figure myself out.

the turkey's are back!, backyard 08/04 

awww yeah... who dat? he loves it when you call him 'big poppa', backyard 08/04 

ho's be all over dat (ie. "big poppa"), backyard 08/04 

"big poppa" gettin ready to mess up some youngun for steppin outta line, backyard 08/04 

"big poppa" makin sure there ain't no funny business goin on, backyard 08/04 

"big poppa" layin the smack down on one who got outta line, backyard 08/04 

"big poppa" an his biznitches, backyard 08/04 

"big poppa" off to collect, backyard, 08/04 

so i've been filling out the pharmcas application information. i forgot how boring filling out apps are. i don't like the personal statements... what do you write? doesn't everyone say pretty much the same thing? i want to be a ________ because this and that, etc., etc. what everything boils down to is... "i want to be a ______ because i want to make a difference in people's lives." so why the personal statement? if people are only in it for the money... they'll say the exact same thing as people that aren't. seriously... who would write "i'm in it for the bling" as the reason they want to be a doctor of ______ in their statements?


i've been going back and forth all day between... having faith that things will work out... and thoughts of failure. being the optimistic person that i am <*sarcasm*>... it's been mostly thoughts of not making it today.

here's a link that tansal sent me awhile back. it keeps telling me that i should be a computer nerd. think that means anything? i also had 2 fortune cookies in new york tell me that i should "pursue that love interest", and that the "current year will bring much happiness." i can only see myself messing things up... cause that's what i do... and i'm good at it. if it were a major in college... i'd get straight A's... and be like the president of the screwing things up international no... intergalactic society or something. yes... i'm THAT good.

apparently dick cheney GETS one thing at least.

With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.

now if only everyone could understand that it is a personal right to choose what one does with his or her life in regards to relationships, jobs, religion, etc. if we are indeed in a true democracy, shouldn't we bring this issue of adding an amendment to the constitution to a vote by the general populace, and not just elected officials who cannot represent every single one of their constituents own personal views? i don't think the amendment would pass if it were indeed brought up to a vote by the american people. in anycase... what happened to the republicans being all about, "less government! more freedom!" it seems they want more regulation into their personal lives (patriot act) and choices (defense of marriage act). who's doing the flip-flopping now?

p2p networks get busted. the RIAA is just wasting time and money. pirating will always be around... it's always been a cat and mouse game. here's an idea... why not lower the prices on cds instead of gouging the general public? i don't know how cd's ended up costing more than cassette tapes... even after adoption of the cd was nearly universal. any label would make their money back faster with cds than with tapes. not only are cds easier and quicker to manufacture, but they cost less to produce as well. think about it... i disc of digital data that consists of plastics and film of metal vs. roll of audio tape, 4 screws, 2 plastic reels, 2 halfs of plastic tape case, and other plastic bits. so how come when tapes were still out... they cost $9.99 or so and cds were $14.99? people will pay for progress... they did with the cd... even though at the time... many were pirating tapes. where's the next step from the cd? give us a better format than mp3 RIAA and we'll pay for it (there are examples throughout the technological timeline one of the most recent being vhs to dvd!)

i'm sorry but i'm not a big fan of abercrombie. some of the slogans they've put on their shirts are uncalled for and in certain instances racist. now i happened to find that 'wong' shirt kinda funny but i know many people who were offended and i could see why. you know... i'd expect to find a shirt like this in chinatown in nyc for like $2 or something... but from a retailer like abercrombie? you'd think that with all the money they're making from their overpriced merchandise they'd have SMART people working who had good enough taste and a little more respect for people. is it too much to expect more from a clothing company that for some odd reason many consumers love? then again... they see themselves as a very american fashion company... so maybe it's fitting that they don't respect people and thumb their noses when people complain thinking they're better than everyone else. that's a big reason why my respect for people drop when i find out they're into a company like abercrombie. with all that's happened with abercrombie... people still buy a&f goods with their hard earned money. that in itself tells me a lot about a person.

oh... a tip for you verizon people who have free in-network calling. instead of using *86 to check your voicemail, dial your own cell number and enter in your pin. you can program this in your phonebook... and add a T (aka pause) after your number and before entering your pin. this will be a free call during your daytime minutes cause it's considered free in-network and not a voicemail call that will deplete your anytime minutes.

poo on me. this is bad for me. wtf? how do you go from 384 applicants to 822? who wants to come to buffalo? i thought everyone hated buffalo! i think i'll have a better chance of getting into long island university... but ugh... i'm not looking forward to going to another private school. at least i'll have friends in new york so i won't have to start all over yet again. i am taking some classes that other schools require that ub doesn't... i hope they'll make my record look better or something. i looked at a kaplan pcat book... and i didn't know what was going on. frickin poo. eastern medicine school's looking like more of an option.

i can't imagine people from rochester are the only ones applying to ub pharm school. i've never really spent any time in rochester. i've seen some nice houses and stuff... especially this place where i got my violin & bows. they have lots of good string instruments and the owner/employees are very knowledgable and friendly. i highly recommend checking them out if you're on the market for an instrument.

oy... i need some drugs because of this whole drug school thing i have to think about now. here's an article from gothamist about new york state attorney general eliot spitzer and drugs. there is also a link to high cost and low cost pharmacies in new york... useful if you don't have rx insurance coverage and you take medication. eliot spitzer is the man. btw you can always head over to canada too, it's cheaper there.

for those of you looking for the cheapest gas in your area... here's some help.

so i've been playing around with the wap browser on my samsung phone. for those of you with newer phones... some of you can change the wap gateway of your phone from the service provider's default (in my case verizon) to a public wap gateway. this allows you to bypass web wap charges billed by your provider and allows you to browse wap sites using your minutes (useful if you have unlimited nights & weekends, or night & weekend minutes that you never use up). there are some useful things i could do with this... like setup a wap email gateway... or a messenging gateway or something. good stuff. read up... waptunnel.com, waptunnel discussion group, and recent listing of public gateways.

i also found and downloaded a qualcomm phone utility which is useful for qualcomm's cdma phones (verizon & sprint network, not the gsm networks that at&t, cingular, and t-mobile use). all i need is the usb data cable now... i'm planning on bidding on ebay for one... and i should be able to easily pull off the pics that i took with my phone. i love finding ways to get around things... cause seriously though... $0.25/pic adds up over time (verizon and their high cost 'get it now' service). i'll also be able to upload not so annoying ringtones, and download vids and voice as well.

so i finished identity by kundera last night. it was quite good, and i can't really reveal what went on... cause the ending isn't just a straight ending. i'll have to think about how to write about the book and all... maybe by the end of the week i'll have something together.

i started globalization and its discontents by joseph stiglitz. being all econ and all... i'm very interested in what's going on between the differing viewpoints of globalization. personally, i think in general the idea of globalization is a good thing, it can bring about better lives for many. i guess at this point, i'm just trying to understand the arguments against globalization, as i feel that many people are against it just to be against something and protest without knowing what it actually is. i'm not going to sit here and say that globalization does not have its flaws (current policies are not always fair policies), but when you break it all down, if you ask most people... is paying less for goods you want better? they'll answer yes. or if you ask foreign workers... if being employed in a factory will earn a better wage than subsistance farming? they'll usually answer yes. globalization allows both these situations to happen.

so far from what i've read, stiglitz presents a balanced view of globalization from a domestic policy perspective coming from serving under the clinton administration as well as a global perspective while serving at the world bank. he brings up the good that it can do if carried out fairly and correctly, and also the flaws that it has in its current incarnation. i'll have to post some more once i finish reading, but so far, it's quite interesting.

so sept. 20-24 is yahoo advertising week. you can vote for your fav icon. i'm gonna have to go with the pillsbury doughboy. that guy is awesome... you can tickle his pudgy belly. pudge is cool... bellies are cool... it's like the most winningest combination or something. i remember someone had a lifesize cardboard pillsbury doughboy thing... i can't remember who though. i would've paid to get that. either that or the snuggle bear.

speaking of ad icons... anyone see keebler chocolate chip softbatch cookies anywhere? i miss those things, i could never find them in new york. i think the last couple times i looked in buffalo... i couldn't find them either.

first full day back... and i'm missing new york a good deal. maybe i'll skip some classes and drive down over one of the jewish holidays that ub gets off in sept.

looking forward to the camping thing though. labor day weekend... after i drop off my grandma and dad @ the airport... i'll be driving down.

til tomorrow... after a mighty run.

ravi & bern, enid's 08/04 

t.c. & laura, sin sin 08/04 

kristi & amanda, sin sin 08/04 

alex & kris (bad pic but looks kinda cool), sin sin 08/04 

grillin' @ the garden with the neighbors, grec garden 08/04 

mara & me kickin' it on the beach, coney island 08/04 

my OLD friend martine... just turned 25, coney island 08/04 

yeah... that's right... i won, coney island 08/04 

martine being unsmooth, coney island 08/04 

martine @ the go-karts, coney island 08/04 

mara @ the go-karts, coney island 8/04 

nathan's hot dog record board @ coney island. yes, the mens record does say 53.5 hot dogs. the female record is 32.0 hot dogs. i'm pretty sure both were set this past july 4th by tiny asians. 

i'm reading identity by milan kundera. it's a nice short book... but still very involving similar to the unbearable lightness of being. i don't know what it is... perhaps it's kundera's attention to detail... or i guess the things he writes about have so much significance and meaning down to the smallest thing. he certainly seems to capture what i think at times... but somehow... so much better than i could ever... as he's able to put it all down on paper in a coherent form but with a poetic form to it.

i liked the following passage a lot.

... the eye: the window to the soul; the center of the face's beauty; the point where a person's identity is concentrated; but at the same time an optical instrument that requires constant washing, wetting, maintenance by a special liquid dosed with salt. So the gaze, the greatest marvel man possesses, is regularly interrupted by a mechanical washing action. Like a windshield washed by a wiper. And nowadays you can even set the tempo of the windshield wiper in such a way that the movements are seperated by a ten-second pause, which is roughly, an eyelid's rhythm.

so yeah... i don't really know what to say now... i don't think there was a point... or a connection to be made... maybe i'll be able to think of something more interesting to say about it all after i finish... and tie everything together to some other thoughts.

so my blog is a bit different... i decided to switch things up a little. so... please excuse the appearance... and i try to get all the links etc. back on in the next couple days.

night =].

so it seems i'm the bringer of bad weather... er something when i travel to new york. for the 9 days i was there... it was muggy... humid... and all around nasty. i brought tropical storms when i was getting there... and i left thunderstorms when i was leaving. according to weather.com it's perfect weather there now! humidity @ 34% (instead of 350%)... chalk it up to my bad luck.

so anyways... even with the disgustingness with the weather, it was a pretty good trip. i was telling kris before i left... that i need to stop visiting new york... mainly because of the fact that i end up missing people more after i leave. plus, i feel bad because i want to see so many people... but that leaves not much one on one time. i think that's what i was missing when i didn't know what i was missing. timing and scheduling... always a pain and never enough of it.

i got jamba juice twice! once with kris and tansal... and once with my cousin mimi... at 2 different locations too (times sq. & columbus circle). i ordered strawberries wild the first time and peach passion (i think) the second time. i'd like to add peaches are the best fruit ever. a good peach is better than any other fruit i think. i watched james and the giant peach on hbo @ tansal's too... that's a totally great movie btw.

surprisingly... or should i say unfortunately... i'm ashamed to admit that i did not stop @ mister softee to pickup a vanilla cone. yes... i should be beaten and left for dead... i know. there was an afternoon that we did try looking though... alex, agnes, and i. mister softee was nowhere to be seen around mcgolrick park though... and he's usually there. the closest i came to softee though... this ice cream place on bedford ave & grand st with kris... where they had an ice cream flavor called sponge bob. we were both all 'wtf?' i didn't get ice cream though... i ordered a vanilla shake... there's just something wrong with getting vanilla ice cream when i hadn't yet gotten softee yet.

hmmm... where else... red bamboo... great place... if anyone's ever in new york... it's on west 4th between 6th and thompson. it's vegan... but it's so good. hit up this vietnamese place... la'nam i think it's called... that i like. also stopped at a light touch on A with sarah.

went go carting with martine and mara @ coney island... and walked on the boardwalk and beach some. i guess people go crabbing with chicken on the pier... and it works. i had to stop nathan's and pick up a hot dog. went to the comedy social where laura (who's also in the fifth dentist, and produces minty fresh shows) had a set.

so... i've got some pics on my new camera phone... and some on the digital. i have to figure out a way to get those pics off my phone without having to pay verizon... i'm ordering a usb cable... and i think i've found some software that will let me pull stuff off of it. i'll post them somewhere soon... but i still didn't take as many pics as i would've liked.

i saw ravi and storrey @ enid's on my last day... met up for brunch.

do you ever meet people that are all mysterious and you just don't know what they're about? but not in a bad way... more in an intriguing way. i like that... it's interesting... cause you feel like there's something deeper... and you're barely scratching the surface... and you just slowly peel away the layers.

nap time.

back in the buff. exhausted... apologies to that one person that manages to visit my blog everyday (cause who really reads this crap anyways?)... more posts... thoughts... complaints... and randomness to follow. i'll have to work on them this week... my last week of vacation.

i'll leave you with this scene @ the airport today... picture lots of delayed flights because of weather in the afternoon... picture 2 little kids... pulling a blanket out in the middle of a crowded airport terminal walkway... in pajamas... with a large teddy bear and pillows... setting up and getting ready to go to sleep. i thought it was ridiculous but in a cute... funny... kid-way. how come kids get to have all the fun? why is it inappropriate for adults to do that? how come when a kid does that... we all laugh and don't mind?

ahhhh yes... to be young again.

more tomorrow... night =]

i don't know if it's the weather... or what... but i'm feeling a bit isolated today. i feel like i'm missing something... but i don't know what it is. i miss everything and nothing at the same time. it'd be nice to disappear for a little while... become invisible... disappating ether... just not think... for a short time... until this feeling passes.

i guess i'll listen to some music before heading to bed... don't know what though.

til tomorrow.

i've always hated the green line in the summer... especially @ the union square station. even on a day like today... it's supposed to get up to the upper 60s... and right now in the early afternoon i'd say it's in the mid 60s max. so even though it's cool outside... it's swassnasty down in the subways. for those who haven't come across the swass before... it's a combination of 2 words... swamp and ass... i'll leave it up to you to think about what that's all about.

i'm still tired... i was all gonna go to the early service of the church i used to go to this morning... but i lazed out... and didn't get out of bern's in time. perhaps i'll go to the evening service... it's a little more low key... and they have a jazz band leading the songs/hymns.

i'm sitting @ tansal's now... saw kris last night... she seems to be doing well... had some vegan "buffalo" wings. they were ok... the only thing right about em was the sauce though... otherwise i wouldn't call them real wings as they were breaded.

there was a whole ordeal of getting into the city... my scheduled departure was supposed to be @ 10pm thur night... when i got to the airport i found out that the 2 flights before mine were delayed/cancelled... most likely because of the hurricane(s) moving up the east coast. jetblue mainly flies to florida and dc on the east... so they most likely had a problem getting their planes back in service to head to buffalo. @ 12pm we finally got off the ground... i ended up getting in @ 1am... and then it was a pain in the ass to get from jfk to manhattan as late night scheds on the nyc transit system are terrible... i've waited for trains @ 3 in the morn for an hour and 15 min before. previously i've never had a bad experience on the airtrain... but this time... 3 airtrains to howard beach passed and none to jamaica, queens went by (i wanted to go to jamaica as the E line has a shorter trip to tansal's from jamaica), so on the 3rd train i decided that i'd just go to howard beach... needless to say... it took longer... A to 42nd st. to the E... after picking up some food... i finally got into tansal's @ 3:30am or so. i felt totally bad about making tansal stay up and not getting enough sleep for work which he had to get to in oh 4 hours. though i still give jetblue props for getting people in... even if it was late... they couldn't help it given the weather situation... and could've easily just told everyone to go back to the airport the next day.

one thing that i noticed this time so far... i don't feel like new york is home anymore... there's a familiarity... but... it's not like when i was here in may.

i'm actually in new york now... i didn't tell anyone outright except 2 friends. i wanted to show up and surprise people... it turned out pretty good. i had to avoid the truth on 2 occasions... kristi yelled @ me... but i thought it was funny... i'm twisted like that... i've seen most everyone for the most part... and the people i haven't seen yet don't read this... so i can post about it.

it's been fun so far... i'm tired... stocham beat me @ hockey on the ps2... but i can live with that... for now. couldn't find a mister softee today around mcgolrick park in brooklyn... so i stopped @ the met and bought a six pack of ice cream sandwiches and shared with alex & agnes.

well... i'll post later... when i'm not so tired... apologies for the shortness.

=]

still scheming on the dl... on that secret project... i've made a partial completion of the mission... perhaps i'll finish tomorrow. i'll leave an update if i do... and reveal.

tired... need sleep. links to share soon.

night.

wait... what happened to internet explorer, windows media player, and all that other stuff being an integral, integrated, non-seperable part of windows? i guess that's not the case. microsoft's a bunch of liars... releasing their buggy software and asking the general public to pay for their monopoly prices. thank god linux is slowly making inroads and causing microsoft to be a bit more worried about their position. competition is a good thing.

so... what's their store gonna be called then... 'R US? no toys? how in the who what?

almost @ tree-fity. that's one big ass fish.

i was converting some of my cds to mp3 to back them up... and 'recovering the sattelites' by the counting crows took a turn. i have this one bittersweet memory i haven't thought about in awhile associated with this cd. senior year in high school winter/early spring maybe... as there was still snow on the ground. one of the last times we had our group together for a party... it was @ kim m's house... her parents were cool enough to let us get stupid. funny things happened... mighty was brought... then when things started quieting down... and people were starting to get sleepy... 'long december' came on. i remember looking around the room... and it hit all 10-20 people at about the same time... we all got a little misty-eyed. we realized that things were about to change in a couple months. it was probably one of the last... if not the last time we'd all be together kinda united and unified. there was the future that we all looked forward to ahead... out of high school finally... but it was an extremely sad moment as well... bittersweet... boy that was a long time ago. i can only hope to see everyone together again sometime in the future maybe... hopefully under good circumstances.

lots to do tomorrow... laundry... errands... and secret stuff... shhhh.

apparently my friend mr. dirty himself... has been on the new york city subway system up in the bronx... dirtying things up. yeah... you know who you are.

feeling a bit down today... i've been going through the mp3's that i managed to salvage... from my recent disk deaths... and nothing seems to fit my mood. i hate it when that happens. the closest i could come was beck's sea change... but something's off about it. maybe it's a little too slow... or the lyrics don't quite fit. anyone ever listen to hooverphonic? i had b.w.p.m. in mp3... but i think i lost it on a previous hd malfunction. oy... why is picking music so hard. you know what else i hate? when you're all downloading or buying music @ your local hmv/media play what have you... and you can't remember what you went in looking for. then when you're all at home and getting ready for bed or something you remember. crap always happens to me... i am a forgett-OR. maybe it's the years i'm racking up... or too much of the past recreational medicine.

i wish i still had some catherine wheel.

Chrome, Catherine Wheel

Can't you accept this flower hasn't grown?
Kick away the petals and come home
This is all she said
But there's something in me cold within me
A beast inside me, bold inside me

I find myself in chains
I find myself in chains

But if I had some time
I'd use it this time
Fix myself I will, I hope it's this time
And if I could only see the subtle things you see
I'd think myself so brave in victory

Step inside everything, everything's all clear
Maybe I could find some inspiration here
Because it's time to fix this thing
It's time to fix this thing

But if I had some time
I hope it's this time
Escape to somewhere beautiful
Then maybe I could really see the subtle things you see
I'd consider it such rare and privileged company

No, no, no, no
But never again, never again, never again
I'm just too close to winning
And I find myself in chains
And it's time to fix this thing

'Cos if I had some time
I'd use it this time
Escape to something beautiful
'Cos underneath the steel and rust and oil and shit
There's chrome just shining chrome

A mirror finish of my own

Alive inside this chrome, home, home, home

so my dad invited this one guy and his family who are visiting from taiwan to dinner @ the skylon tower in niagara falls, on. i suppose it's ok... but having done the niagara falls things so many times... it's just kinda ho hum. i do have to say though, if you're visiting and want a good view of the falls... the revolving dining room is pretty nice... especially if you get a window table.

i remember a couple years ago, tansal was visiting buffalo... maybe for his first time. so colleen and i hopped in the car along with dan... and went to grab some dinner. like most expensive restaurants... the food was pretty good to excellent depending on what was ordered... but the portions if i remember correctly were small. i remember not being full after having eaten there. this time though... i ordered the prime rib. lemme just tell you... if you go to the skylon... don't get anything else except for the prime rib or the sirloin. both are of good portion... and you will definitely be full after eating. with all the other entrees... they may be $5 less, but it's more likely that you won't be full. when it comes down to it $30 and $25 isn't such a big difference.

oh... funny story about dan. i won't use this as my one a week memory... cause dan has many... this'll be a freebie. from the point we picked up dan at his house... and all during the 20 minute drive to the falls... and all the way on the elevator ride up... and right up until we were about to order... he was telling all of us (tansal, colleen, and myself) that he wanted a beer. so naturally... when we ordered... he ordered... milk. WHO DOES THAT? then we all asked why he ordered milk when he was talking about beer for a good 40 minutes. his response was, "oh... yeah." he's such a dumbass.

@ 3am did not go through successfully. i was kinda pissed... it was a long one too... and it's all gone. i just went to bed... and decided that it wasn't worth typing up again. perhaps parts of it will resurface in later posts... i guess anika was right... i'm aware of the present. so... i suppose my posts are all a bit stream of consciousness type things... and to try to remember all that was said and rewrite... doesn't seem right to me. it's lost its originality and freshness.

so... instead... i will reference what i posted about by linking to 2 readings. i feel that the soc class i took the first summer session... sparked some sort of interest in trying to understand how and where i... as an asian american fit in, in the general fabric of american society. what was posted was pretty much an expansion of my own personal feelings that were echoed by some first generation asian americans interviewed in these 2 publications i read during my soc 101 class.

-"The contested meanings of 'Asian American': racial dilemmas in the contemporary US", Nazli Kibria

-excerpt from Chap 2 of "Becoming Asian American", Nazli Kibria

so i haven't checked in with orkut in awhile... and decided to log in, but couldn't get in.

here's the http webserver error message that came out.

Bad, bad server. No donut for you


Unfortunately, the orkut.com has acted out in an unexpected way. Hopefully, it will return to its helpful self if you try again in a few minutes.

It's likely that the server will behave this way on occasion during the coming months. We apologize for the inconvenience and for our server's lack of consideration for others.

i got a haircut today... i never know how i want to cut my hair. i have really stupid hair... typical east asian hair that is... thick and stupid... so after it's cut, it just sticks straight up. it'd be so nice to have floppy hair, that way i can step out of the shower and not care about it. what else is wrong with me... oh... it takes me 3 days to grow facial hair... and i can never grow anything cool... like a beard or goatee... cause it looks dumb and would probably take me 3 months to do it.

i got myself an A- in chem 2. i think i missed an A by like 2 questions... so if i would've gotten just 2 more right on any of the 3 exams, i would've gotten an A. though i'm happy about my grade considering that i couldn't focus or concentrate for most of the last session... it sucks to have missed the A by 2 frickin questions.

i looked @ the textbook prices for my classes next semester... my orgo book is over $200... and it's a damn brick. people are selling it used for over $150. do you know how much mighty i could get for $150? that's like 75 super mighty burritos... and over 300 wings @ duff's. it's insane how much food i'm gonna be missing out on by buying this textbook.

well... at least i got some sort of focus back... i hope it carries over to the fall.

does anyone else think fresh cut grass smells like bananas, or is it just me?

so... this post here by anika over on the naturally flavoured blog gave me an idea. as i think i probably explained over on my old blog... i think i'm in the minority of people in that my group of friends from high school still keep in touch pretty well. lots of people i know from college and work, they all lost touch with old friends. i guess we're the exception rather than the rule. on to my idea. i'm gonna write down some old memories... one memory of a friend a week maybe... of people that i still keep in touch with. probably not interesting to the general public... but i'm writing for the people that know me/us, and to keep from forgetting all the stupid things we did. they may serve as good wedding stories in the future as well. i'll start with high school people first... no specific order... just who i think of on any given week.

so... let's start with ung... he's got a blog too... so i can link to him. rather than spill it on a funny thing that happened this past weekend (i think it's best saved for when we are all at a bar or something with the old crew... cause you know it's gonna come up sometime as long as jay's around). one thing i remember about leng... we went camping as we often did with a pretty big group of people... usually 7-8 or so... rotating depending on schedules and who was free. we were all underage... and would go to alleghany and have a good time. this one time... leng came along with his dodge shadow or similar car... since we were all poor and removed from high school only a year leng's car wasn't the greatest of all cars... (ie. hunk of metal with wheels). turns out as we were driving around on gravel roads looking for somewhere to camp out... i guess he damaged his exhaust system. i'm pretty sure the catalytic converter and muffler were both literaly dragging on the ground. we stopped for a bit... when leng decided that it'd be better to perform some car surgery. he decided to take the entire system off his car, as it'd be more dangerous to drive with it scrapping on the ground. we were in the middle of nowhere... no mechanics tools around... and all we came up with is a swiss army knife with a short saw segment. leng goes under his car, and starts sawing off the exhaust system with the knife. after some time... it comes off, and this rusted, dented, broken, hunk of metal gets thrown in a ditch beside us. leng then decides that he'd better go home instead of continuing with us on our search for a site. he starts up his car, and the thing sounds like a tank... and you could totally smell the noxious fumes coming out. i remembered talking to him after i got home from that trip, and him telling me that he almost passed out from the fumes... since there were no pipes... to pass them through to the end of the car... the fumes just kinda stayed within the engine compartment and seeped into the inside of the car. i was amazed that he made it home on that 2 hour or so drive back without killing himself.

i still think the funniest thing about it all... was leng deciding then going @ the exhaust system under the car with the short saw attachment of a swiss army knife. that's a classic moment right there.

can i just say... damn... it feels good to not have classes for awhile. i can't even believe it's almost mid august though... i spent the last 3 months studying... it's the first summer in a long time that i haven't done anything summerish by now. i have a lot of catching up to do before the leaves start falling. it's been pretty cool here lately... 60's and stuff as the daytime high... i don't mind... i like the cooler weather. light sweater weather is the best... it's comfortable to sleep in @ night. i've been wearing my canada zip-up roots hoodie that alex gave me.

umm... jah. so this organization artspace has been in discussion with the city of buffalo to create an art-space.

Artspace Projects, a national, nonprofit organization, is working with the City of Buffalo, New York to study the creation of a major, multipurpose arts facility in Buffalo, which would include space for arts organizations and other businesses as well as affordable living and working space for artists and their families.

sounds cool... i hope they get to rehab and reuse some of the old brick buildings downtown. the potential for successful reuse of many buildings is there... it'll be nice that this organization is looking to move on that potential. as long as people are jumping in... i think that gives others more confidence to take a chance and jump in on their own projects and developments. it'd be nice if we could reach a point here... where that's self-sustainable, and government won't always need to step in to make things happen. hillary clinton (and chuck schumer) is/are awesome. i have to give props to both... as they seem to be aware that there's more to new york state than nyc.

so it turns out they've done some research and hashed out a proposal for a regional county government. the proposal would dissolve the city of buffalo, and setup a county run government. i hope people vote 'yes'... it makes sense. right now, the city is pitted against the suburbs vying for businesses... and businesses aren't hesitating on asking local governments what tax breaks and amneties they can get if they relocate across town and city lines. i feel we need a one central regional government that controls all these deals that go on... and one central body that plans for the region. we've spent far too long fighting and competing between neighbors... instead of working together to benefit the local area. maybe in the future... if this ends up working out well... we can merge niagara county in as well... and maybe even out to rochester and monroe county. the more that we are a unified bloc... the better we can counter downstate and all our tax dollars that get funneled down there.

this makes me sad. i met a lot of interesting, and smart people during these last couple years... and many have moved on to other industries. though silicon valley was a total sausage area... i think it would've been cool to have worked and experienced life out there for a little bit at least. i always looked on in amazement while sitting in a car and driving down some of the main roads... as buildings with the names and logos of apple, oracle, google, hp, sun, all passed by.

"I don't think Kerry's ready to be president," said Laura Weber, a 37-year-old Republican from Pierre, S.D. "Bush would be more decisive."

excerpted from this article.

???? what? just because a person is decisive is not a reason he/she should be president. i know the quote was just a clip and all, and could very well be taken out of a larger well thought out argument... but if the ONLY reason this woman thinks bush would make a good president is that he SEEMS to be more decisive... then it's a terrible argument. people can be decisive and make bad decisions... which i think the bush administration has plenty of them. being president REQUIRES a person and their administration to make the BEST decision in the face of ALL information gathered. being president REQUIRES that person's administration to check and thoroughly recheck information to make sure it's right, and after that point make the BEST decision. the fed are not going to move on interest rates unless they have jobs, unemployment, gdp, trade, cpi, ppi, etc., stats. if we do all of that for money, shouldn't we get the best and most correct data for something like a military campaign when the lives of our fellow americans are on the line? obviously the length of time a decision will be made on certain issues will vary from person to person... but the important point is that we make the BEST decision... sure... it's a judgement call... but what i'm trying to get across is... rash decisions are not the same as good decisions. kerry WILL have to make decisions as president... i don't think kerry will make as many quick decisions as bush, but why is that bad if they're the CORRECT (read best) ones?

"I'm not going to be satisfied until everybody who wants to work can find a job," Bush told cheering supporters at a picnic in New Hampshire.

taken from this article.

well then i guess bush will NEVER be satisfied. no matter how hard anyone tries, there will never be 100% employment... i guess not unless we move to a complete command economy (aka communism and various forms of socialism). there will always be people that can't find jobs in a capitalist market. even if everyone did have a job... yes... i feel like i'm beating the type of job issue to death... but if you were making $40k/year as a business analyst, were laid off, continued to want a job as an analyst, but you end up being a grocery bagger for minimum wage (ie you still WANT a job)... is that acceptable?

global trade... free trade is NOT bad. the wto is NOT bad. there are things that might be wrong with the system, but conceptually... why is it bad to get things cheaper? why do americans LOVE shopping @ wal-mart and yet they'll (people other than the workers. ie people with 2nd hand experience) protest wages that wal-mart pays the workers? simple business sense would dictate that the more costs you have... the more you'll have to find a way somehow to cover them. being that wage costs are the main costs to a retail business that are self-adjustable... if wages go up, something has to make up for it on the revenue side. the major revenue variable revenue stream is product pricing... thus prices for items would need to go up. in the case of US farming... i think our subsidies for farmers are way too much. why subsidize for a system that overproduces by so much? our supply greatly exceeds the demand for farm products... which means the price should be very low for us right? unfortunately the government props up these industries by installing a price floor, so not only do we as consumers pay more than we have to... we pay for product that we don't even consume (at the supermarket checkout and through taxes). why the waste? why can't we return the market to equilibrium naturally? why can't we use tax dollars for something more productive like education credits for farmers whose farms would fold if we did set that industry free? in the long run... that would benefit more. or... another way to think of it... if you're a farmer (i know in my head farming is difficult work... not first hand... but i know it's more difficult than what most people imagine) and you work your farm 24x7 putting in those long days... and in the end the product of your work is not being used up... but instead wasted... what does that say about the time you put into producing that product? from a personal perspective... is it time well spent? we are a nation of over-producers and over-consumers... we have that luxury... but we waste SO much... and we overpay for waste. i wish our politicians would stand up against waste more than anything else... i think in the end... a lot of problems domestically and internationally that we face stem from us over-consuming and wasting things.

jetblue is awesome. i'm glad they're growing and doing well. they're planes are comfortable, their service is exceptional, and their prices are cheap. i lucked out when they first launched... as the new york-buffalo route was an initial route... for a few months they had i think like $25-$30 one-way fares on the route. $50-$60 roundtrip... i was so on that... especially being a poor college student. within the last year or so... they reconfigured their planes to give you extra legroom in the rear plane seats. people in the rear are usually the last ones to get off. this makes sense i think... cause sometimes in the past i'd be disappointed if i didn't get a seat in the front of the plane... but if i had extra legroom... that's something i can at least take comfort in that the front seated people didn't have (frickin jerks). i try to get seats mid-plane now... legroom & decent deboarding time... nice compromise.

brett hull (the non-goal scorer) signed with phoenix...

Hull, drafted by Calgary in the sixth round in 1984, has played for the Flames, St. Louis, Dallas and Detroit. He won Stanley Cups with the Stars (1999) and Red Wings (2002), scoring the cup-winning goal for Dallas in a triple-overtime Game 6 victory against Buffalo.

WHAT?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (think of the 'NOOO!' from mcbain on the simpsons). the article forgot to add that his skate was in the crease... thus technically nullifying the goal because of the RULES of the game at that time, which promptly were changed the next season. you know... that was perhaps the best game-winning NON-goal that i've ever seen. das war eine grosse hasselhoff... eine grosse scheisse.

das ist alles fuer jetzt...

so... i was a bit worried about this last test... but... i came out feeling better than both my previous tests. the only question that i didn't outright know and had to try and make an educated guess on was on isomers & geometric isomers of an organic compound. everything else was good... and the only reason i think i would've gotten anything else wrong is if i messed up a J/kJ conversion of g/kg conversion... but i made sure to double check everything. i also didn't run out of time like the last 2 tests. hopefully i'll have done well enough to get a decent grade in the course.

so i've been saving up some articles i thought were interesting...

so... bush has proposed a change to labor laws that is interesting. it's actually an idea that i like and agree with, on certain conditions. the first being, that this new law does not get rid of overtime. some people like overtime and some other depend on overtime to pay the bills etc. i do like the choice i'd be able to have of using overtime as flex-time though. if i worked 60 hours a week one week... it'd be nice to know that i could take 2 days off the next week if i so choose to. i can see how the afl-cio would be against it, i think they are worried that cutting overtime will be the beginning to a shift of power towards business and make it easier for them to exploit workers by refusing overtime. pluses and minuses... but with the right bill i think it could benefit both sides.

it's all in how you spin it...

so the bush people are touting the number of jobs created so far... and how jobless claims have dropped (because of the bush tax cuts of course). while i've already wrote about how supply side economics work... and i'm not going to say that tax cuts don't work, i still don't believe tax cuts are the best way to stimulate an economy experiencing such a drawn out slump. it's just not sustainable... and all the while that these cuts are being made, services to people and organizations that need government funding are left to struggle a bit more. so in this next article... we see that payroll growth has slowed down... bringing into question the sustainablity of the economic "rebound". if you've noticed in the past couple weeks there've been reports about the types of jobs the economy is creating... many of which are in lower wage service jobs. while they are jobs being created... i wouldn't go so far as to say our economy is moving forward ("turning the corner" as bush would say) because of the increase in people delivering pizzas. unfortunately a "job" isn't really always a job when it comes to economic growth.

while we're on the topic of tax cuts... we've broken a record by the tune of $422 billion! it's too bad it's not a $422 billion surplus... rather a giant deficit... brought to us by none other than "Texas" himself. i wonder what would happen, if we really messed with texas? good idea though... let's decrease our revenue and increase our defense spending... and hope that when our nation's currency is devalued we'll somehow magically have the funds to pay for everything. smart... and he went to business school where? harvard? hmmm... maybe they teach another kind of business @ harvard business school? when i last checked... it was good to have your revenues exceed your costs... not the other way around.

if bush/cheney and kerry/edwards were to fight... who would win? maybe we'll find out if they keep campaigning in the same towns. i'd put my money on kerry/edwards... they have the smarts and youth on their side. cheney might not even be able to make it to the fight... given his health... and for some reason... bush's 'bama guard credentials don't seem too intimidating.

go john mccain. it's nice to know there are people in government who no matter what their party allegiance is will call people from their own party out and tell them to shut up. is it true that kerry served his country and later disagreed with it? yes... but the important fact is... kerry served his country... it was a conscious choice... how do you argue with that?

a good opinion piece on teresa heinz kerry. like donn esmonde i find women with qualities like teresa heinz kerry intriguing... and attractive. they won't take crap... and they'll stand up to anything. if a woman is the comforting supportive person in a relationship that is is good... but not all the time. even i know that sometimes i'll need a kick in the ass cause i'm being ridiculously dumb.

this was upsetting to me. race relations in the country have progressed... but... not to the extent that people throw race out the window and live together harmoniously. i'd like to think that eventually we'll get there however long it may take. what happened to "all men are created equal"? yes at the time the statement was written it was inferred that 'all men' = caucasian, but we're supposed to be over that... aren't we? we are the standard that other free nations look to... we have to set a good example... and right now... we aren't doing a very good job... domestically or internationally.

somewhat encouraging signs of slow path to racial income equality. it's good that the other races in the US feel they have disposable income (di) to increase their overall spending. while this report doesn't go too in depth with the break downs of stats such as net income... at least it's encouraging to know that di has seemingly gone up for minority groups which i guess would infer that they had greater income than before.

and lastly for links... here's some funny brought to you by will ferrell and ACT, i found from this post on gothamist.

someone remind me to get some jamba juice when i'm in new york.

ich muss Chemie fuer Morgen studieren (das ist kein Spass, aber es ist fast ueber), entschuldige fuer kein Updates... bis morgen dann.

some songs can show up and define certain moments in a person's life. i was just listening to navy blues... and iggy & angus took its turn. i think i'll always associate i&a with going to see sloan with alex @ the bowery... i'm pretty sure it was his first sloan show that i dragged him to... i think i just told him to come... cause it was going to be a good show, he blindly followed my advice (which is always good btw =]). it was kinda still hot/warm in the city as we walked down from 26th... so it probably was in the beginning of sophomore year. the reason i&a=alex is i think that may have been the tightest song they played that show (imo)... kicked it up a couple notches... the place was jumpin... and alex came out a changed man. i'm pretty sure they came around again... sometime in the late fall to middle of winter? cause i remember colleen came up from virginia and i had gotten tix for her b-day or v-day to the show... anyhow by that time... i had already converted alex into a canadian music junkie. though stocham has disappointed in many ways over the years (too numerous to list, but thank god for laura or the list would be twice as long)... that is perhaps one of my greatest accomplishments. alex, we seriously need to hit up a street fair... get some sassage and softee asap.

Iggy & Angus, Sloan

Someone better get insurance
To take good care of me
'Cause if I'm stuck with my own bad luck
Well, that's the saddest sight you'll see

'Cause if I stumble, then I fall, and get back up
Try to brush the dust off
And everything is black when I close my eyes
I lose all sense of time

It hurts, it's cruel, but it feels real good
I'm going to do it after all

We're still the same
After all these years
It's funny how you get a feel for it
When you finally lose your sense of fear

When Iggy said it's loose down on the street
Living in the city
And everything went black 'cause it's in my eyes
Everything denied

Kurt's still cool and Angus rules
I'm gonna plug it in again

We're still the same
After all these years
It's funny how you get a feel for it
When you finally lose your sense of fear

Someone better get insurance
To take good care of me
'Cause if I'm stuck with my own bad luck
Well, that's the saddest sight you'll see

It hurts, it's cruel, but it feels real good
Well that's all right
Kurt's still cool, and Angus rules
And that's all right
All right

i'm not yet supposed to give up my technology empire just yet.

i was just recommended to update another website... i need to touch base with the owner in the coming days/week or so. most of my friends can attest to the fact that i'd be quite happy as an IT consultant with my own firm. the hard part is stringing along a bunch of work... so i don't go incomeless for 3/4 of the year. i liked doing server/desktop and network setups on the side in new york... it required a certain amount of creativity... thinking... and skill to deliver within the client's budget... plus it was good money... more per hour than i made with my real job. the problem was standing out from all the other millions of individual consultants and consulting firms of large and small sizes. i had a decent base of customers i guess for someone who did it on the side... and just starting... but if i wanted to grow... i'd really have to just jump out and do it... which was quite frightening. it just seemed like... i had already been sidetracked by so many other events over the last 8 years... i didn't want to take the risk... perhaps i should've... perhaps i'll hold onto it and see where i end up.

... to get to the other side of course.

so i was driving back home this morning from my chem lecture... and these 2 canadian geese that were on the median stepped onto the road just a bit ahead of me and started walking. i stopped... and let them continue on their way across til they got to the other side.

today capped a week in which there was a lot of big news from friends...

first off... i'd like to congratulate R&S as they are now officially engaged. good setup by R too... central park lake, rowboat... nice. so i guess theirs is going to be the first wedding of a close high school friend that i'll be going to (unless someone decides to pull a tricky sneaky and puts theirs ahead).

and then... i'm gonna have another niece or nephew again... well... surrogate niece or nephew. congrats to m&k. i need to work on being closer to friends that have kids... or are going to have kids. i want to be the cool uncle... and spoil my friend's kids.

so i'm excited for all four of you guys... and happy... and i give you all good vibes.

yet again... people giving christianity a bad name.

"I'm glad I didn't carry my gun. I'd probably be in jail right now." Rocco said. "I believe in the Ten Commandments and I don't appreciate what people like him are doing to my country."

yes... it's your country... but it's also close to 300 million other people's country as well. so what you're saying is... you're the only one that matters? nice... pretty selfish of you wouldn't you say? how very christian of you to shoot someone and go to jail. this country may have been built on the fundamentals of christianity... but the fundamentals of christianity also allow an individual the freedom to choose what your beliefs are (they can be judged right or wrong by God, but the consequences rest on the individual who chooses). why do conservative christians still not understand that second point? you all realize we're paying the consequences now for these few right?

very very cool. i hope we continue stem cell research in the future... it could benefit people tremendously.

new york's on heightened alert after some new intelligence was gathered. for the most part i believe it... but if this ended up coming out 40 years later to be a ploy to get bush reelected playing on the fear of the public i wouldn't be surprised either.

so... what did bush say a few days ago? 'we've turned the corner'? or something to that extent right? not according to this link on our gdp, and this link on job growth. i'm under the belief that growth from tax cuts are not sustainable... it's like a coupon... a one time break that may increase spending in the short term... but having gone through a long period of a recession and then a stagnation of the economy like we have... it will not be a sustainable uptick. we've already tried supply side economics under reagan... it didn't work... why... WHY on earth would we try it again? thanks for add to the national debt mr. bush. thanks for creating burger flipping jobs for people with skills and experience in other industries i'm sure they're thrilled about it... is this really how we're going to grow our country? nice work!

then there's the mba degree... this thing always fluctuates... not surprisingly with business in general. i still think it's a valuable degree if combined with the right background... i'm still planning on getting one sometime in the future... i think it's one thing that i am sure about... i'm still leaning more towards the management information systems side of it instead of the straight up management. though i need to get through this i don't know phase first.

and... seagate is awesome. they just reupped their warranty period of their drives from a measly industry matching of 1-year... up to 5-years. there was a period when industry average was 3-years... that was as recently as my sophomore year @ nyu... then sometime between then and the recent past, warranties went down to 1-year. good to see seagate buckin the trend... i think it also says something about their products if they're willing to put themselves out like this. i commend them for doing it.

5 more days... then 6 more days... i be gone!

let's start with canada first... leng has some pics of quebec city which i really like... it's got me wanting to go... i've never been to quebec city. maybe i'll roadtrip next summer before or after a trip to asia? ontario to prince edward island? it's been a long time since i've been up to nova scotia and new brunswick. i want to buy a house in the canadian maritime provinces when i'm older... it's peaceful... and serene... and scenic.

courtesy of tansal... a post and a link to an article on how orchestras around the country are now performing howard shore's lord of the rings orchestral score. there's been large demand for tickets to these concerts, maybe the buffalo philharmonic will perform it sometime... i'd very much like to hear the score live. i have to say... i don't think i've ever heard a better movie score... what shore does... down to the intricate details and instruments, added so much to the movie, especially in the theaters with the dolby digital surround... it's pretty amazing it all came from one guy.

tonight i went and saw harold and kumar go to white castle. i won't say much about it... except that i liked it... don't want to give too much away. i'll post more about it in the next couple weeks... after people've had time to see it themselve and form their own thoughts on it.

i think that's all for now... oh... solaris 9 is on my unix/linux box... i've never seen gnome and xfree86 on it before... me like.

ok... happy august... night for real.