TT: Blind

Editor’s Note: I am attempting to catch up to my blogging (sounds, familiar, eh?) by starting with TT topics, from current backwards. Thank you for sticking with me. . .

TT for the week of 03 September 2009:

I have four posts in my “drafts” of this blog. Since, I have deleted them. I had four posts in my “drafts” of this blog. Since I have deleted them – I have no posts in my “drafts” of this blog.

I moved again. Back to Sandy. Sandy, UT. It’s a quaint little town just South of Salt Lake City, the capital of UT. No – it’s not. It’s a suburb. Just like any other suburb. In Utah. We have nice neighbours and we have asshat shit eating neighbours. I like the nice neighbours. I would not care if the Shiteaters moved tomorrow. . . or tonight.

I wonder what people want to hear from me. I really wonder. I had heard once, from a guy I know, that, “If you blog it, they will come.” OK – is was not exactly like that, but you get the drift. I have been hit over 6,000 times. That seems like a lot to me. Well, it is a lot – it’s no million hits in 3 days, but I’m not posting celebrity sex tapes, either. That would be sweet if I did. Well, if I had any. And they were legit. And legally acquired. . . Wow – that would be a lot of work. I would probably need to know a celebrity, who had made a sex tape, and then gave me permission to post the video. I could not afford a lawsuit of the magnitude a leaked celeb sex tape would bring.

I’ll stick to writing.

I wish I could write emotion. There are a lot of folks who can. You sit down and begin reading their work, all the while, understanding – perfectly – what emotion they are trying to convey. I am not that talented. I may be able to learn with practice and training, but I don’t know for sure. Probably.

I have realized what a downer I am on here. Not my intention. It’s a blog – a web-based diary. I should feel free to write whatever I want. Readers of blogs absolutely understand how blogs are designed. People read because they want to. I want them to. Is that vain of me? I don’t care. I want to see how many folks care to read about me. I want to hit 10k page views. It has taken a year and a half (almost) to hit 6k. That’s not bad, really. . . That means I average over 12 views per day. AND – I have not written A LOT of those days. Hmmm – I’m not going to complain. I suppose I was blind to the sheer number of hits I have received.

OK then – I will begin to write again. Let’s see how long it takes to get to 10k. Any wagers?

Ciao.

INST 6325 – please read.

To whom is may concern . . . I am enrolled in INST 6325 (Brian Belland’s course) Fall 2009, as USU. I am using inst6325.wordpress.com as my blog for that class. As a result, in order for me to respond to any of my peer’s blogs, I must sign in using openID. My openID is shinshige.wordpress.com. I am sure this will confuse many people. My thought is – by posting this, a little research can be done and folks will learn who I am by cross referencing this blog with inst6325.wordpress.com.

Thank you for your time. ;)

Ciao

Tortilla Soup

I got this recipe from Sarah, who got it from a friend. It is extremely easy to make, extremely tasty, and very easily modified to fit your taste. . . I present – Tortilla Soup:

1 can of chicken broth
1 can of black beans w/ juice
1 can of corn w/ juice
1 can of garbanzo/white beans w/juice
1 16oz jar of salsa
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 packet taco seasoning
chicken – as much as you want . . .

First step – open all the cans, jars, bottles, etc. of stuff (except taco seasoning) and pour them into a large pot. Cook. ;)

Second – while cooking the above ingredients, chop and brown the chicken and the taco seasoning. . . After the chicken is just about fully cooked, add it to the pot of cooking stuff until it IS fully cooked.

Finally – pour the soup in a bowl, add some crunched up tortillas and shredded cheese, mix and eat. It is freaking delicious.

As a note – feel free to add other ingredients as you see fit. I want to add onions, but Sarah does not. I would also add something like olives, but again – Sarah would not. . . It’s de-lish. Enjoy.

Ciao

Just for fun.

Put an X in the boxes you have done and take the X out of the boxes you haven’t then send it to you friends. . .

Things you have done during your lifetime:
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
() Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
() Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
() Been on a helicopter
(x) Been lost
(x) Gone to Washington, DC
(x) Swam in the Pacific ocean
() Swam in the Atlantic ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
() Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t.
(x) Made prank phone calls
() Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
() Danced in the rain – naked -
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone…
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies
()Been deep sea fishing
() Driven across the United States
() Been in a hot air balloon
() Been sky diving
(x) Gone snowmobiling
() Lived in more than one country
(x) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(x) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
() Seen the Statue of Liberty
() Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
() Gone to the top of CN Tower
(x) Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
(x) Traveled by motorcycle
(x) Been horse back riding
() Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(x) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(x) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(x) Been in a rain forest
() Seen whales in the ocean
() Been to Niagara Falls
() Ridden on an elephant
() Swam with dolphins
(x) Been to the Olympics
() Walked on the Great Wall of China
(x) Been water-skiing
(x) Been snow-skiing
() Been to Westminster Abbey
() Been to the Louvre
() Swam in the Mediterranean
() Been to a Major League Baseball game
(x) Been to a Greatful Dead Concert
() Got Two Speeding Tickets in one day
(x) Studied Abroad
(x) Lived in more than 1 state
(x) Gotten more than one tattoo
(x) Seen both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
() Been to Italy
() Been arrested in another Country
() Been to Prague
(x) Regrettably made your best friend or family member so angry that they stopped speaking to you
() Visited Ellis Island, NY
() Celebrated New Years in Times Square, NY
() Walked the Freedom Trail, Boston, MA
(x) Seen a movie at a Drive-In Theater
() Gone SCUBA diving
() Piloted an airplane
(x) Been in a parade
() Been to the pyramids
() Cried your way out of a speeding ticket

Impromptu Top Nine “I Would” List.

In no particular order. . .

1. Charlize Theron
2. Debra Messing
3. Harry Connick, Jr.
4. Billy Crudup
5. Megan Fox
6. Alicia Silverstone
7. Angelina Jolie
8. Brad Pitt
9. Johnny Depp

For reference:

THEODORE JOHN KACZYNSKI 04475-046
USP FLORENCE ADMAX**
U.S. PENITENTIARY
PO BOX 8500
FLORENCE, CO 81226

Limirick

There once was a lass named Lewinski;
on the skinflute she’d play a Stravinski;
she’d nibble your chode ’til you had to explode;
like a letter-bomb mailed from Kaczynski.

God Grant me . . .

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

OK – so here it is. . . More insight being revealed throughout this current leg of my journey through life. . . I lost my job last Thursday. I was stunned. It happened because I looked at our company’s books and realized we were spending too much on overhead. Me – being half of that overhead – was the most dispensable. So – the next day, at a meeting I called, I was let go. . . Shit, right?

You all know how I have been feeling lately anyway. . . struggling, et al. . .

Then – today I was talking to a friend who is also struggling. At one point I told her to let go of the things over which she has no control. It was then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I started running through the serenity prayer.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

That part was very profound to me – because I think it directly relates to my thoughts of the greener grass. Last year, when I was blogging about transition, change, and green grass – I believe Lynnski made a comment reflecting the serenity prayer. Obviously, I did not take pay attention. Today, however, when I managed to rediscover it for myself, it all got a little clearer still. So – here, I have included the last half – with a few modifications, as to account for my lack of belief in our monotheistic “God.”

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking the world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that all things will be made right
if I surrender to the will of the Gods;
That I may be supremely happy in this life.

Amen.

Adapted from Reinhold Niebuhr.

Mortgage License.

Hi all,

I took and passed my mortgage license exam today. Yay me.

Work has been interesting. Honestly, though – I can not complain too much – I have a job.

Ok – bye.

Epiphany?

Hmmm . . .  This morning, I was doing dishes.  No – not loading the dishwasher – but actually doing the dishes, in the kitchen sink, with soap, and a sponge.  When all of a suggen – WHAM!!!

I remember – very clearly – having series of conversations last year with my friends (prior to moving away,) about being content with one’s life.  I have always, as can be found by reading some of last year’s posts, believed people should not be content but should constantly strive for more.  Strive for bigger, strive for better. . .

I am rarely content.  Someone once asked me, as a result of my seemingly perpetual discontent, if I was a “grass is always greener” kind of guy. Since I wrote that post, I DID actually move to California. . . for about 7 weeks.  Bah.  Came back – and guess what?  It’s the same here.  The same fucked up weather, the same fucked up politics – the same thing, the same thing, the same thing. . .  So, what IS the winter of my discontent?  It is contentedness.  Ha.  I slay me.

My epiphany this morning has to do with the grass being greener.  Do I think my old premise has changed?  No – probably not.  I do think, however, that I had the right ideas all along – just did not know it.  I said, “The world teaches us to be content with what we have and work to make that better,” and I then went on to call that premise a bunch of shit.  Er, excuse me – a bunch o’ shit.  Here we are – 15 months later, and while doing dishes, I realize how dumb I was then.  This is why:  That sentence above – you know, the one in quotes, is a flawed statement.  How, exactly, can one be content with what one has AND THEN work to make it better?  Is not working to make what one has better – by definition – showing discontent?  How can you be content with something you wish to change?  You can’t.  So – you MUCH change it.

Now – during this same time, I had many a conversation with a fantastically brilliant and beautiful woman, who was dealing with some issues of discontent of her own.  I had mentioned some things to her I thought would help, and here we are a year later – and she is better off as a result (at least as far as I know.)  Later – she threw my own advice back to me and this is that she said:  “You’re the one who said that you should change what you don’t like until you like it.”  What is that?  That is looking for the other side – where the grass is greener.  But until this morning, I did not recognize MY OWN DISCONNECT. . .

The epiphany was this:  To be most effective and efficient – we SHOULD take WHAT WE HAVE and simply CHANGE WHAT WE DON’T LIKE until we like it.  Get it?  We don’t need to abandon one pasture to find the greener one.  The grass IS always greener. . .  I totally believe that.  But – why do I need to go to the other side?  “The other side” is philosophical, it is metaphorical, it is literal, it is, it is, it is . . .  It just is.  The other side – ALWAYS happens.  It IS that which is next.  It’s the other side.  Do you get it?  Do you understand?  the GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER on THE OTHER SIDE.

You don’t need to change the grass – you just need to change when and how you get to the other side.

Some one asked me once if I was a “grass is always greener kind of person”.

Is the grass always greener?

Ummm – yeah, I think so. And – I don’t necessarily think that’s a problem.