Archive for May, 2008
What I watched on TV Last Night
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 30, 2008
I watched Smallville and LOST last night. The latter was more read dialogue off and on as I spoke to Erin over the last half of the season finale while she was driving home. If you’ve not caught LOST this season I am not sure if you are losing out or wise not to continue with the addiction; regardless, the show, at least the episodes I caught, has proved to be rather interesting.
This season was a series of what people were calling flash forwards where we learn that six of the inhabitants of the island finally got off and returned to the real world. The problem that I have with this assessment is that people are assuming the story was told in a series of flash forwards; when in reality I think the writers and producers, in order to remain somewhat with the times and styles, moved the story forward to today and then did what they’ve always done, told the story in flash backs with a single central character for each episode.
The characters that finally escaped the island are: Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Aaron, and Jinn. Jinn is pregnant, still; Jack and Kate had a thing going and now don’t; Hurley has decided he is crazy and, pretty much, lives in an asylum, Aaron was Claire’s baby; and the only thing I caught of Sayid was that he was paranoid, killed someone, and broke Hurley out of the asylum for some strange reason that seems unclear to me. At the very end of the season finale, we see Jack in a funeral home, that he broke into, with a beard that does not look good on him, talking to Ben, the leader of the Others, who tells Jack that he has to take everyone back, which includes John Locke who is dead and in a casket.
Since I read news stories, rumors, and such… one of the critiques about this season finale was that instead of piquing the audiences attention with a lot more questions, it actually offered a whole series of answers, on right after another. And, since I’ve not really been a big watcher of the show, I can’t say that is true or false; but I can say that the end, where we see John Locke in a casket, is one of the biggest questions that need some kind of answering – AND Ben telling Jack that because he left a lot of VERY bad things happened on the island and Jack was responsible for them… or did someone else tell Jack that?
Regardless, it was all a part of the dialogue between Jack and Ben.
One would think that with twists and turns and changes such as been happening pretty consistently in this show that the audience would give up and go away. That is somewhat true, since viewership of the show has waned a little since the first season. The producers are not allowing enough actual answers to warrant viewers to want to continue following the show.
With all that said, J.J. Abrams, the mad producer and mastermind behind LOST had a pilot series picked up by FOX that follows in the veins of The X-Files where a couple of FBI agents go around trying to solve mysteries that appear to defy science. Sounds a lot like The X-Files to me, which is probably what FOX was wanting as the show was highly successful, is still popular, can be found on reruns, and has spawned two movies and possibly more now that Chris Carter and 20th Century FOX has settled their lawsuits… especially given that there is a second X-Files movie in the works to be released later this year carrying the stories of Mulder and Scully and showing where they ended up after the nine year hiatus.
The point, though, is that J.J. Abrams and his crew of misfit writers and producers have had a great time learning how to keep secrets secret, especially on the tale of ALIAS with Jennifer Garner, and by confusing viewers in just that special way that makes them talk about the show and complain about the frustrating developments, but still come back next week to watch the next episode… pant-pant-pant….
As for Smallville, I always thought creating the character of Chloe was a bad idea. There are several reasons for this, one of which is that she never falls into Superman cannon and explaining how this constant and important presence in Clark’s life suddenly disappears and does not show up in the movies, e.g. Superman The Movie or more recently Superman Returns, makes for some harry story telling. Not that people who are or were a part of our lives years ago still have to be now; more specifically, Chloe is cousins with Lois Lane and as such, that family connection is necessary to the show. That is, eventually, how Lois is introduced to the show.
With that said, Lois, last night, was offered a job working for the Daily Planet by a VERY young managing editor. Which, in itself, is unbelievable; but in the way that you just role your eyes and groan some about the network insisting on young and attractive actors playing roles that, in real life, would be left for older and FAR MORE EXPERIENCED individuals. Perry White, in Superman cannon, is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, and yes, he made a stop through Smallville trying to figure out what made Clark Kent special…
You know, you just have to wonder why it is people insist on rewriting something.
And as I write that, I read the other day about Japan and how it quickly, after WWII, became an economic power and since then has developed into an automotive and industrial powerhouse through a simple expectation: that every employee from the CEO down to the lowliest lineworker is expected to figure out how to improve the way in which they do their job; thereby, improving the way in which business is done.
Now, what the article failed to illustrate was that the U.S. paid for Japan to rebuild, and brought our technology over to them; moreover, that Japanese companies are great at making something better, but they lack the ability to actually develop something new. As a result, to use Japan as a hallmark of what every industrialized nation should be doing to improve what they are doing is… nice, but since Japan does not create new anything, their ability to improve is just that, they can improve something that already exists.
The reason I bring this up is that I expect that Superman can be improved upon. I don’t expect that the current writer’s-slash-producers-slash-studio area doing that very well in this series. The series began with a simple edict, for Clark: No Tights, No Flights. Which I found to be interesting. What we are not dealing with is Superman, but rather Superman in embryo.
One of the immediate problems that I have with this, though, is that Clark is set up to be afraid of heights. How does someone go from being mild-mannered Clark Kent, can’t stand heights, to the Man of Steel who flies at dizzying heights.
Well, it would appear that there is an intentional shift in this focus as they introduced, this past season, Kara, Clark’s cousin from Krypton, who was in suspended animation under a lake after the meteor shower for nearly 18 years. She meets Clark. Realizes he can’t fly, and then says stuff. True to the “if we can’t put doubt into the viewers mind, we aren’t doing our jobs” mentality of writing for television, we now have to deal with the possibility that Clark’s cousin, like Lex and Lana and Chloe and every other character that has come and gone, is possibly evil and out to destroy Superman before he becomes Superman.
Truth told, suspense like this is interesting as we all know, in advance, that Clark survives and becomes Superman; but, how he gets there is the journey and creating the mythos through serialization makes for… interesting story telling.
Okay, I am not sure why I ever watched that show, I don’t honestly find it that intriguing now.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Political Parties
Posted by smokingpen in Politics on May 29, 2008
I grew up thinking that I was conservative and that, someday, I would affiliate myself with the Republican Party. I am still a conservative individual, but upon closer reflection, find myself at odds with both the Republican’s and Democrat’s.
Political Party’s in the United States are not mandated. In the vision of the Founding Fathers there were no political parties. Rather, there would be several groups that would keep everyone in check as the process to run the government started and was maintained. However, it quickly became apparent that, as a means of enforcing the Constitution, people would segregate into larger central groups (party’s) and would then vote in blocks in that manner. As a result, the United States has, pretty consistently, had two dominant political parties that have run things.
Currently, those parties are the Democrats and the Republicans.
If you are of a more liberal persuasion than most of the people you live around, chances are you lean more toward the Democrats. If you are more conservative than the people you are around, you probably lean more toward the Republicans.
Since I am in Utah and am an active member of the LDS faith, I get the impression that many people believe that the God ordained political party, and the one we as a religion should follow, is the Republican Party. At church this past Sunday I heard a man, who immigrated to the United States, begin to talk about Party affiliation before abruptly changing direction and talking about something else.
However, the LDS faith does not have a political party nor does the faith, in general, affiliate itself with one party over another.
The problem with the two political parties is that they are so similar to each other that neither is significantly different from the other. Sure, people who are actively involved in the Democratic Party are more likely to be pro-choice, pro-same sex marriage, and pro-big government; while people on the Republican side are more likely to be pro-life, pro-guns, and pro-moral values. It’s the way things work – but in neither case is that true of the members of the party.
In fact, neither party actually has to exist. Neither party has to remain in force or in power. And neither party has a monopoly on governance in the United States. Nor is either party a better choice for seats in Congress or as President or as Judiciaries. The difference is that, right now, we have these two dominant parties that claim their party is better than the other one. Or that we will be better off if you vote for one party over the other.
Sure, I am like a lot of other people and think that Bill Clinton was a bad president; I am unlike a lot of my peers in thinking that G.W. is not only a bad president, but also one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. What is the proof for either? Both men represent the different parties, and yet, they will both have served two terms. Where teen pregnancy numbers rose during Bill Clinton’s presidency; the cost of gas, consumer goods, the number of depressions, and the money spent on unnecessary military actions have risen, considerably, in G.W.’s terms in office. Where there are protections for the American people in a declared war, we fight an undeclared war which, in part, does not allow the same economic protections.
In recent history, the worst political offenders seem to come out of the moral right. Nixon had to resign his office rather than chance going in front of a Democratically controlled congress with an impeachment for Watergate. Ford was not a lot better. Jimmy Carter has done more for… what? since leaving office, he was a one-term president, as was G.W.’s daddy who declared, “Read my lips. No new taxes,” and then proceeded to raise taxes on the American people.
The most admired president in recent history was Ronald Reagan. People, in general, really liked Kennedy – and recently, noting the death of Bobby Kennedy during a presidential primary he would’ve won, has brought media ire down on HRC’s head. Is HRC a better choice than McCain or Obama? Not really. Is McCain a better choice because of party affiliation? Nope. Nor, honestly, is Obama. Now, one of these people might be more effective than the others, and my cards are on Obama because he will either do a remarkable job or he will be a one term president that will fall into the annals of history with all those other ineffective one-term presidents, but he offends me less than HRC or McCain. And, truth told, voting for him goes against what has become the norm.
Regardless, we are a two party nation. Not this election (it’s really too late), but in the near future, it is not impossible to see a new political party rise up in protest against the same-old, same-old that has been going on for far too long. G.W. divides this nation. We are polarized; and McCain divides the nation; and HRC will divide the nation. We need not only a leader, but also a party that will unite the nation behind them… and at present that isn’t happening.
I don’t expect a lot. Which is sad, because our Senators and Congressmen are paid a king’s ransom to, effectively, screw over the constituents and allow things like BIG OIL to continue price gouging. What we need is a new party, a new way of thinking, and a new set of candidates that will help restore some semblance of trust and faith in the system and the way it was meant to work; because, right now, it ain’t working.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Thursday Thursday Thursday
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 29, 2008
Well, last night was spent alone in the thralls of studying logic. I kept trying to work through proofs to prove the problem without resorting to help and, truth told, found that I don’t see the answers as spatially as I would like to. Which proves to be a problem; but not as big a problem as one might expect as I am sure that using the rules will help me see the methods better. So, a frustrating night at the opera that will, ultimately, lead me to see things in a far easier context in the future.
Granted, this is mostly being done because I have a test next week, early… and didn’t get to class yesterday… which was frustrating all on its own as I really enjoy this class… but the outcome results in me doing again and again similar problems in the hopes that I can start to see the answers in a way that will allow me to work through these problems and do well on the tests.
Not really sure what the test is gonna be like. That should be interesting. Since I was not in class the other day I don’t know if there is a practice exam online that I can go through or what… I want a practice exam.
Outside of that… it was an interesting day, yesterday. Erin had a bad day for a variety of reasons, which made it hard on me to sit on the sidelines and watch her go through the bad day portion of things. On the flipside, I think she is having a good day today; which is good and fun. I ended up leaving work for about 40 minutes to get her car, fill it with gas, and then return it to her before heading back to work and… well… working. It was interesting.
The thing that has caught me (almost totally) off guard over the past coupe of days is watching drivers do overly stupid things. For example: on the way back from the gas station, returning Erin‘s car, I watched as a red Lincoln Towncar took a left at a red light and drove down the left side of the road into oncoming traffic. The car stopped long enough to allow the cars driving directly at it to get around it, but, as long as I watched it go, remained on the left side of the road.
And then, over the past couple of days, I’ve noted that there seems to be a rash of people driving at, like, 25 mph regardless of where they are. As University Ave. is my main route home, to have people doing a steady 25 in both lanes of traffic when the speed limit is set between 45 and 50 mph is seriously frustrating. I mean, I expect people around here (Utah in general) to be extremely idiotic when it comes to driving and the roads and cars and all sorts of things; but it seems that with the warming weather and the start of summer (we are kissing June here folks) that people are acting more idiotic than normal.
The real kicker to all of this is that its not grey-hairs driving in a way that only further promotes a special public transit system specifically for geriatrics who no longer have the ability or capacity to operate a motorized vehicle. Most of these drivers are people who appear to be in their twenties, and early twenties at that… often with other people in the car, all of them staring at something that is not the road.
On top of that is the pretty constant, I am talking on the phone and therefore need to swerve left and right and left and right incessantly, people who don’t maintain their lanes and don’t seem to know they are on the verge of hitting the car driving next to them. Of course, those are the people on cell phones. Just as rampant, over the past couple of weeks, are people who don’t bother to use turn indicators and just nudge and force their way into areas or who change lanes rather suddenly and with no warning – and repeatedly, which makes for an interesting adventure when it comes to driving.
I know that I’ve said, in the past, that people in the state, other drivers specifically, are out to kill me; but I haven’t really felt that way in a few years in part because I don’t drive as much as I used to and I certainly avoid large swaths of road space in order to avoid cars and trucks and insane drivers.
And to say that this is relegated only to the driver of small automobiles is a mistake too. I have seen semis doing similar things on the roads, making sudden lane shifts, not signaling, and out-and-out being complete idiots when it comes to driving.
What makes this more frustrating is that I read a local news article about an accident (actually two accidents) in Spanish Fork Canyon where one car went off the side of the road and the passengers climbed back up to the road only to have another car slam into them, killing one, at the same spot the first car went off the road. The highway patrol said they were driving around the corner too fast for conditions; but, you know, I am not convinced that the people were paying attention enough to know what the conditions even were. This wasn’t a freak accident, though it was an accident. Highway 6 through Spanish Fork Canyon between Spanish Fork and Price is a pretty dangerous stretch of highway which is why, over the years, and especially in recent years, the speed limits have been reduced and highway patrol presence both in planes and on the ground has been upped considerably.
I think I could ignore a lot of these things if it weren’t for the fact that people tend to act as though they are being very polite when they drive. You go to a parking lot and someone is driving in front of you, passes a car that is getting ready to back out, and then expects you and everyone behind you to back up so that they can have that parking spot. The world does not work that way. Cars and parking lots don’t work that way (and yes, I encountered that, again, recently).
Or, light turns green and some yahoo pulls up to the exit of a parking lot and the car in front of you waves them into traffic. I am sure that the admonition, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is very applicable in times like these, but the lights are designed to help control traffic which means that if the light were to turn yellow and red, that would be a perfect time to let the car merge into traffic… not at the start of a green light.
What I truly think is that we are so concerned with what other people, even complete strangers, think about us, in general, and about how they interact with us on the road – an almost completely anonymous endeavor, by the by, that we pretend we understand or know what courtesy is and make it up as we go along. People, especially people here in Utah, are exceptionally rude. They give the appearance of doing what they are meant to be doing and in the process, as long as you are not in their direct forward facing line of sight, forget that to be kind in one direction is completely rude in another direction.
I think that is enough ranting for the moment.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Midweek… Midstrife
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 28, 2008
Okay, no idea where the title comes from… it just popped into my head.
However, we are at midweek. Monday was lost to us do to a Federal Holiday. That was fun. Erin and I woke up, had McDonalds for breakfast, not something I am apt to do again; and then went to IKEA to get a REAL entertainment center for our entertainment stuff… specifically the TV, Xbox, what DVD’s we have laying around, my small Go set, the large Go stones, the armadillo domino set, and more.
As we came home, Erin said she would do the general, didn’t get done, or needed doing since Saturday, cleaning around the house while I put the entertainment center together. On the plus side, IKEA stuff is rather nice to put together. IKEA creates a set of instructions that are all graphics based, no text, which, I am sure, saves money since none of the instructions have to be translated; however, sometimes those instructions are not always the clearest when it comes to being able to follow them.
Wicked fun.
I took somewhere around an hour or so to get the entertainment center together. It matches, somewhat nicely, the wooden furniture we have in our front room – to include the little round table for keys, the steampunk-esque candle, and such, and, though bigger than the wooden bench we were using, seems to add a nice feeling to the room as a whole. Now I just need to hope that Erin doesn’t decide the whole room needs to face in the other direction and I think the world will be groovy.
Last night was spent in pursuit of doing logical proofs… something which I was going to carry over into today, but, at the last minute, decided to leave my book at home with all of the rules and shortcuts for proving proofs. I can remember some, see others (though names don’t always fit into what I am doing) and had to stop. However, before going to bed, almost exactly at midnight last night, I figured out a proof that I’d been working on for a couple of hours and that Erin started to work on with me. Truth told, I don’t think I would’ve gotten it without Erin‘s help… it was fun and exciting. AND it caused me to go to bed more tired than I thought I should.
Which, on the flipside, caused me to wake up this morning feeling as though I were beaten and drugged and sick… which probably means I am actually a little on the sick side since I’ve been dealing with something that feels like a cold in the back of my throat and head for a little over a week. It might’ve come to a head today. I hope. I can hope. I think I can hope. Let’s just say we are hoping that the worst of it is over.
Yesterday I had my first non-GF pizza in a few years. That was good, not great. The pizza they sell here on campus is… different. A name I’ve seen before, but not something I would go out of my way to get in the future. That was nice. Coupling that on top of all the other non-GF friendly foods and I think my life has hit a new avenue to follow.
Of course, I have to carry Beano with me wherever I go… have some in the car, in my backpack, at home, and (possibly) in Erin‘s purse in the future… but that allows me to eat what I want rather than what I can. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how hard it is to find things to eat or desire to go places for food when what you have to eat is, well, rather bland and unappealing. To say the least, none of it has really sat well with me and as a result I would rather eat nothing than try to force the same-old, same-old down my throat.
Sure, some of this experience has also taught me to cook more and differently, and I am somewhat excited for the next stage in my cooking evolution (well, baking…) when I can try some of the recipes I’ve been experimenting with. You know, buttermilk biscuits, lemon bars, and more.
In fact, I was telling Erin I can try my hand at sugar cookies, which would be fun, since we have some cookie cutters we’ve never tried, in part, because I couldn’t find a sugar cookie recipe that acted like it would work in the GF environment.
Though, truth told, those cookies may get to wait until fall because… well, they are fall themed cookie cutters.
Though, though, I did come across a frosting recipe that uses only sugar and real butter and that, my friends, make me want to jump into the cookie making business a little sooner, faster. I like cookies. I’ve tried the frosting recipe before and it worked well… so, you never know. All of this may wait until Erin and I have done other things to set our lives into some semblance of order in preparation for little camper to come along and join in all of the fun.
What has been interesting to me, of late, is that we talk about having the child and how our lives will change. For example: we went to the Provo Temple Saturday morning because, well, I wanted to and our bishop suggested that it would do both Erin and I good. So, we scheduled, in our individual calendars, time to go and do that and then went and did that. (Point of order: we scheduled time in June to do it as well.)
Erin said that we had the latitude and freedom to do that right now, but when the baby comes along we could do X to gain that freedom. Now, I am not a fan of X (defining X doesn’t matter here, because, well, I am not going to define it), and so, later in the day, or a couple of days later, you know, whatever, I suggested that we had a more preferable option, lets call it Y, and that I preferred that for trips to the Temple or movies or whatever.
Enter the conversation on money… we are not poor, poor, but I am a student and Erin works full-time for a company that pays enough to cover our needs and some of our wants; but may not be friendly enough to allow us to pay a babysitter for a night out AND actually be able to afford the night out. Sure, that could change come January, which is probably a good thing, but still… as we look at the impending change of child in our lives, the outcome may be that plan X comes back into play.
One thing I’ve learned is that I can’t disregard plan X, regardless of how we are defining X, because sometimes we just have to allow for the possibility that X is the best solution out of a group of solutions. Now, with that said, I’ve noticed that Erin and I don’t go to movies all that often. Chances are greater that we will go to the rental store and rent one, or dig through the piles of DVD’s we have sitting around the house and decide on one of those; but actually going to a movie is a bit out of the question.
For example, I wanted to see my childhood be destroyed and went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Erin did not want to see this movie and as a result, I (personally) planned to see it while she was out-and-about with one of her friends. Her friend cancelled and she encouraged me to go anyway. So I went anyway, and sure enough watched as George Lucas destroyed yet another of my childhood memories.
As an aside, George Lucas should not be allowed to make movies.
So, we do see movies, we’ve started watching movies when they come out on DVD, and in the rare situations where we want to see a movie we go, or we go to the movie we individually want to see by ourselves or with a compatible movie going partner. For me, it’s by myself.
Having a baby will probably change all that.
I realize this.
So, our lives are constantly changing, I am excited to see and deal with those changes. And, the outcome of all of this is… I still don’t have a clue as to what the title is meant to mean.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
The Beano Experiments
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 27, 2008
As the world knows, or knew, I am sure, I was under the belief that I had Celiac Disease. Past tense is important here for a couple of reasons. First, anytime I had something with wheat or a wheat derivative in it, I would get sick; and second, when I stopped eating wheat and went on a strictly wheat-free diet I no longer got sick and could function in a somewhat normal way.
More excitement than anyone should be allowed to have, I’d say.
Anyway, the point in this post is that I had the probes a week and some ago and it was determined based off of the biopsies and inspection of both ends of my intestinal track that I don’t have Celiac Disease, which is really a good thing as eating wheat causes the Celia in the small intestine to die and then… cancer. Cancer is the ultimate killer here. The outcome was postulating that I had something like Crohn’s Disease or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) that was being influenced by either a wheat intolerance or a carbohydrate intolerance. Honestly, these are far more preferable than being Celiac.
The difference, though, is that these intolerances require slightly different treatments. As for the wheat intolerance, if that were the case, then the solution is to remain rock steady on the diet I was already on; whereas for the carbohydrate intolerance you can take stuff that helps you body digest things. Specifically, the carbohydrate intolerance is a result of the body not producing enough of a certain enzyme which helps in the breakdown of the complex sugars. If this was the case then purchasing and using Beano (the only product on the market designed to treat this) before eating would take care of the problems… well, half, as the other half is intestines that don’t work properly.
After the probes and biopsies the current estimation is IBS. So, no on Celiac and Crohn’s and yes on IBS.
That’s great, and all, but the question that comes to mind is what happens when I eat something with wheat in it. I actually though long and hard about this and eventually decided, for lunch one day (after secretly buying a small bottle of Beano) that I would eat Teriyaki Stix… specifically the Hot and Spicy Chicken Bowl. So, this Friday past I popped my three pills of Beano and proceeded to down my lunch. First off, it was good; second, I had to wait about 24 hours to see what would happen.
And then we wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Just a little more waiting… and when I woke up Saturday morning, and throughout the day, I felt fine. In fact, I felt fine enough to share with Erin what I’d done. She was excited enough that when I suggested we go to the scary KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken – first store right here in Utah) and eat some fried chicken she agreed. In fact, she was so excited to see me eat something that I enjoyed that much that she took a picture and insisted that I call and tell my mother.
That was experiment #2.
Not being one to go too far off the wagon, we paused there until Sunday. On Sunday we were invited to dinner above Sundance ski resort to an older families home and, before going in, I took some more Beano. As a result, and without Erin realizing it, I ate four rolls. They were good, as was KFC, and Teriyaki Stix (by the by). And again…
Waiting…
Waiting…
Waiting…
With yesterday morning being one of our gold standard tests on whether or not I am going to get sick from eating all this stuff. When I woke up and was not sick (though I did want to sleep more, but that is another story for another time – me wanting to sleep) we went to McDonalds and got breakfast (I had three sausage biscuits) and then drove to Ikea and back home where, eventually, we went to eat at a burger joint that Erin‘s brother likes a lot.
So, to finish this post out, it would appear that I am back to eating wheat filled items. Honestly, I never really thought this day would come. There was always this little hope in the back of my head, and I am glad it’s happened; but I never really considered the opportunity to do what normal people do.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Fridays are Wonderful Days
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 23, 2008
Really. They are. Apparently, according to Erin, I got paid a bit-o-money today that was more than either Erin or I was expecting. This is, in part, me working more hours over the summer, and in part my having received a small pay increase having survived the Winter Semester at this job. Exciting.
And the more money (than normal) in light of my having to take time off for the anal probe and for aliens (or medical professionals) to do what they will do. Apparently, according to a letter I received in the mail the other day, the biopsies that were taken were all normal… which really means nothing to me as Erin is the one who got the instruction after the procedure as I was loopy and completely out of it.
On top of which, I think I shared all of my life’s plans (to that point) with her. Accoding to Erin that was a series of non-sequiturs that were VERY funny and, at the same time, made her sad because she was laughing at me.
That whole day was weird; though I am also glad, happy even, that the biopsies came back normal.
Still, what does it all mean? Guess I will have to wait until the middle of June to find out and have my questions answered.
The last couple of days have been… interesting, to say the least. Yesterday I was asleep and sick most of the day; not sure I am much better now, and ended up getting out of bed, showering, and trying to eat as Erin came home to go to Salt Lake for class. I only thought about really going with her after she left and then felt bad because she looked tired and I could tell, before she left, that it was weighing on her.
On both Wednesday and Thursday nights I stayed at home, watched some TV, did some homework, and felt bad (physically) as I waited for Erin to get home. It was interesting. Especially since you also have to throw in some running of errands – putting gas in my car Wednesday and getting some food on Thursday – into the mix and I had enough to do. Though, again, it would’ve been interesting to go with Erin and, I am sure, would’ve helped her feel better.
As for her classes, I think she’s doing pretty good in them. At least, the outcome of the classes, or reports, are more on the positive side even though she is not (exactly) pleased with one of the two. So… you know… it happens.
Work has been going well. I am starting to (slowly) learn PHP and MySQL which has caused me to come up with some long-term goals to do with the programming language and database. Should be fun, given that I get enough knowledge (mad skillzz) to put the whole thing to the test. Looking at various forms of code has become easier to decipher, though, admittedly, I am no expert. That is why we pay people who enjoy coding and various scripting languages to do these things.
Truth told, a part of me wishes I could afford to pay some $12.00/hr to design what I see in my head and then up the money when the first project is done… but that isn’t really feesable.
We are heading, of course, into a long weekend. That should be nice. Had a test last weekend and have another test a week from Monday and Tuesday in the same class. I also believe I am expecting a test in my other class, though I don’t really care for that class a whole heck of a lot. I know I’ve said this before, but: I think religious classes have a place on a religiously sponsored campus, otherwise why would the religion sponsor the classes; however, I don’t believe that those classes should count against my GPA (e.g. they should become Pass/Fail) and as such, am annoyed that I am in a position to take those classes.
Truth told, other than Logic, my other class is D&C (Doctrine and Covenants) and I struggle with how the professor or brother or whatever he is meant to be called and his conflicting theories on church governance, doctrine, revelation, and etc.
On top of that, I finally had an awakening moment this week that, in part, went into effect today. That is, I am no longer going to follow authors that show a ton of promise and, at the same time, don’t appear to take me anywhere. What does that mean? Well, I’ve been reading a particular author in the hopes that the author would get into the groove of good story telling and would hint at proclivities rather than out-and-out stating them. However, after some events over the past couple of weeks I’ve decided that not only are the novels not worth my time; but also the blog the author in question keeps is no longer worth my time.
The last time I did this, across the board cut out an author from my reading list, I was in high school. So, this doesn’t happen very often. And yet, subject matter in a book matters and this author has really just tried to offend at least 1/2 of the potential readership and the author’s writing does not reflect (in my opinion) the desires of readership. I think, unless some changes are made, and I won’t be around to see them, this particular author will find selling books and building the target fan base much harder to do.
Since the author is being published in various forms and fashions, I think that fans will grow as a result of the numbers of books out there; however, I am no longer going to be one of those people that buys books penned by this individual.
In fact, for about two days I was trying to write an entry that described how events all seem to come together in a moment of clarity and you realize aspects to a situation that was obscured or unclear. In that moment, you find clarity of purpose and can see the most likely possibilities existing in the series of events surrounding you. For me, it was reading a series of blog entries that caused a cascade of scenes from some books, and then a couple of personal emails received from this author that all seemed to coalesce together to form a much greater, and yet unspoken, picture.
Can’t say that this happens very often but it does happen. I think the point where Erin and I got engaged was one of those moments of clarity for me as I realized what events had taken us to the place we were at, what was happening right then, and what would happen in the future and as a result I proposed (and then she called it off and proposed again about two weeks later).
Clarity is important.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Last Night
Posted by smokingpen in Politics on May 20, 2008
Last night I got lost in a series of events that were not outside of my realm of control; and yet, did not allow me to update. What does that mean? Well, I’ve discovered of late that updating is a time consuming endeavor and, truth told, some days don’t want to force the update to be written. Yesterday, at least the page and a half I wrote, ended up being a stream-of-conscience thought about the weekend. I am sure it might’ve been interesting; and yet, I didn’t post it.
In fact, this entry is being written on the exact same document that yesterday’s post was started on.
Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled on the Constitutionality of same-sex marriages. I am opposed to this. However, as someone who tries to follow the law, I will support that ruling until the law is sufficiently changed to make that illegal. Part of the reason for this is my religious beliefs. Yes, my religion is tolerant of same-sex people’s who choose to be abstinent, it is not tolerant of same-sex sexual relationships or otherwise. In short, it is against my beliefs and as a result, if presented with the opportunity, I would support a constitutional change to prevent this from happening.
As the laws and opinions of people have changed in the last (say) ten to twenty years, it is important to note that I am not opposed to a different designation for same-sex unions. Where I don’t believe the term marriage should apply to same-gender couples, I also don’t believe that two consenting adults should be held outside the protections and practices of the law. If you choose to live with someone and share resources, that separation should have economic and legal consequences for the individual.
I don’t, personally, agree with same-sex attraction.
This is not to say that I have never met or associated with people who choose to practice their lives in this way. Rather, I am supportive of people and want to be supportive of lifestyle choices, but personally choose to not understand why that choice is made.
Sure, I can drop into some thoughts and research on the elements of life that lead to these choices in life, and the neurological changes that take place in men when they start to live the same-sex lifestyle, but none of that really matters. This is my opinion; I have built my opinion on experience, research, and religious views; and one of those views dictates that marriage is ordained of God, is to be between man and woman and is meant for husband and wife to have and raise children.
Regardless of the reasons people choose to experiment and then adopt a lifestyle, and outside of artificial means, same-sex couples cannot have children. Two women or two men cannot have children naturally. The women either have to break the bounds of marriage to become pregnant or have to accept in vitro fertilization and the consequences of that to have children. There is no natural childbirth in this situation. On the side of men, the only option is to adopt.
Even heterosexual individuals sometimes need to use in vitro fertilization and adoption as a means of having children; and that is where these processes came from; but this is an alternative to regular childbirth and the natural order of creation.
In the long run, I think the California Supreme Court will have done more, with their ruling, to hurt the citizens and the families of California than they will have done good. People who support this ruling and who are in favor of it, and who do not practice same sex relationships, will, ultimately, find themselves standing in opposition of this ruling because of the consequences it will have on the people. This was a bad ruling that was (from all indications) made for all the right reasons and yet doesn’t really follow the intent of the law.
You see, the reason States and the U.S. have Supreme Courts is to determine exactly what the intent of a law is supposed to be. Intent is not always clear as legislators are more likely to make something vague than to write a law that clearly states:
Marriage is between a man and a woman.
In the current state of affairs, with the way the judicial branches of government seem to work, this clearly defined law would, invariably, be overturned on appeal to the judiciary and, as a result, would become null as a law. In order to counter this, the founders of the U.S. form of government created a means whereby intent, and clarity (sometimes), are written into the basic document of governance: The Constitution; whereby people can add an Amendment to The Constitution that dictates:
Marriage is between a man and a woman.
In this instance, when determing the intent and legality of a new law, the judiciary has to apply the rule: marrage = man + woman; to the ruling on the law. Therefore, laws that help clarify and uphold the Amendment are legitimate, while laws that remove rights associated with that Amendment are not legitimate and therefore unconstitutional.
As such, this came to a small head with national fervor for and against a few years ago where G.W. was opposed to same-sex marriages and, as such, voiced his opposition; but, at the same time, chose to leave the matter to the states. One legal reason for this is that all laws that are not directly defined to exist with the Federal Government automatically fall under the perview of the State.
However, one of the national tacit’s of interstate commerce and laws is that if California, Massachusetts, and etc. choose to allow something, the other states, by understood treaty and agreement as members of the same national body also agree to recognize that same something. In the case of drivers licenses, you get one in, say, Vermont and then decide to drive to Arizona, you don’t have to be re-licensed in each state along the route and back. If you are married in, say, Florida, that marriage is recognized in Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, and all of the other states.
The first step to national recognition of same-sex marriage exists in the states. That is why, in politically liberal hotbed states like California, like Massachusetts, and others (Vermont for example), taking this issue to court and forcing the judiciary to overturn the application of the law is the first step. The next step, after determining that you are legally allowed to marry in specific states is to then move to a state where you are not legally allowed to be married and then sue the state for equal treatment.
Except, this crosses state lines and then tacit understanding between states is recognition of marriage that will work it’s way through the Federal Court system to end in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In opposition to this tacit agreement is the realization that some states allow things like concealed weapons permits, while other states do not allow concealed weapons permits. Your permit holds no water in states that do not recognize or ratify a concealed weapon.
Regardless, once same-sex unions are defined as marriage, and, in essence, California has defined them this way this past week, which makes this a national issue rather than something that should be determined state-by-state. Marriage is, and should be, defined as between man and woman, period.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Forgotten Things
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on May 16, 2008
Yesterday was the colonoscopy and endoscopy. The experience was interesting. Specifically, Erin and I woke up, we got ready and then drove to the facility. I was admitted, given an armband and then taken back to remove all of my clothing and put on two different robes, one facing backward, the other facing forward. At that point the nurse took me to a small alcove where they repeated a series of questions I’d been asked the day before and when I was being admitted. She then proceeded to put an I/V into my wrist, which actually was uncomfortable enough that I almost said something… the nurse removed a long stint from the I/V with a small viol of blood and then injected something. I was then led to a small waiting room.
That was actually one of the worst waits… in part because I didn’t feel well, and in part because I could hear people talking about various things to include a high pitched old lady say, “Yes,” and, “I don’t think he can hear you,” and, “Yes,” and, “His hearing isn’t too good today.” You might think that something as benign as a couple helping each other out might be comforting to me; however, in the preceding week and a couple of days I’ve known about this procedure, I’ve received a lot of different accounts of what to expect and what is going to happen, as well as other people’s experiences and, truth told, I was not (exactly) eager to lay on the table and have the doctor and nurses and technicians do anything to me.
Especially after the first nurse put the I/V into my and it was still hurting and kind of bleeding around the insertion point.
The wait ended as a nurse or technician (I never bothered to have it distinguished for me) came into the waiting room and had me follow him into the operating room. He had me lie on a table and another nurse put monitors on me as the first attached an I/V line from a drip bag and proceeded to set things up. At the same time my GI doctor was already there and started asking me questions which seemed to mirror the questions everyone else had asked me, “When was the last time you had something to drink?” “Did you follow the laxative regiment?” and yadda.
On a side note, as of right this second, the laxative regiment is, perchance, the worst thing I have ever done. By the time I was done I couldn’t even think about the liquid without physically becoming ill; and I was so cold I had to pull out the hot pad and stick it up under the sweater I put on to try and trap the heat my body was generating. On top of it, the liquid was clear and (allegedly) flavored (allegedly because I am the one who added the flavoring) and tasted like something strange and thick and coating and weird. You take 8 ounces every ten minutes for three hours and, I gotta tell you, I don’t know if having information (possibly life saving) is worth the hassle and the disgusting feeling that comes with that laxative. On top of which, I spent half the night in the bathroom and the other half the night wishing my body was ready to return to the bathroom.
Back to the surgical center… the first nurse suggested that if I ever have to do that again, I should mix the laxative with something else. She actually suggested sodas and when I said I don’t drink sodas but a fruit juice cocktail might work she just smiled and jumped back into her questions.
After the GI doctor was done with his questions the second nurse/technician asked him, “Do you need to speak to him anymore?” and, since I didn’t hear anything, he must’ve shook his head indicating, “No,” because the nurse/technician injected something into the drip line, which stung as it entered my arm, and then my nose felt itchy and I could smell something acrid. When I asked, “What did you just do?” The nurse said, “It might sting a little.”
I said, “I can smell something…”
“Oh, if you can smell it its practically to your brain….” and that was it.
The next thing I know, and not even clearly, is Erin next to me. According to her, I was talking, somewhat incoherently, for a while and making her laugh. Throughout the rest of the day I’d say something and she would respond, “You already told me that.” I would then asked when, and, her answer was always when I was waking up in the surgical center.
I guess one of the things that really caught my attention was that, which still coming out of whatever I was under I insisted Erin take a book she is reading out to my mom while I woke up and she was beside me and other things happened… to include the doctor coming and showing Erin some pictures from my stomach that indicates I had an ulcer in my stomach that is now scar tissue and healed, and to prescribe some medication for me to take twice a day, and finally to set up a follow-up appointment. Since no one was speaking to me, or if they were I don’t have any recollection of it, I am out of the loop on what the doctor said…
…That is, except to say that he doesn’t think it is Crohn’s Disease or Celica and that he is leaning (heavily) toward IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) with some kind of food intolerance, possibly (if I am lucky) a carbohydrate intolerance. Some of this is (actually) inferred from what Erin told me and from the appointment I had with the doctor a week and some ago.
However, most of the day, yesterday, was very fuzzy for me. I don’t remember going home; I don’t remember sitting for a couple of hours talking to my mom; I don’t remember Erin going out and getting the medication or other things; and I don’t remember laying down for a nap or the nephews and niece and sister and brother all showing up or pizza arriving or much of anything else.
One of the negative side effects of whatever they did to me was that I was completely lost most of the day and night. Knowing that I have a test today (or tomorrow, and right this second, it will be taken tomorrow morning) and knowing I had homework to do, I tried to study and do the homework but my mind was not accepting of new information or even old information and it was like forcing my way through a rather thick brick wall. Truth told, my night really ended up consisting of me watching TV and staring at my computer as I tried, valiantly (I will interject), to study and get things done. None of which, to my today estimation, actually happened.
All in all, the experience was okay. Other than an odd feeling in my throat and bum and wondering when I had an ulcer (probably my Layton days), everything seems to be okay and yesterday really was a throw away day. I would share art, specifically pictures from the experience, by I didn’t get any and I don’t think Erin asked for any; well, that and I don’t really know that I want to upload files even if I did have them; but, truth told, the question by the professor the other day, “Why would you choose to have that done?” seems very pertinent to my situation.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly