Another Blog for You to Peruse

A very close and personal friend of mine has joined the blogosphere.

His name is Reptile and he is one of the smartest people I know. He is starting a blog of financial advice for us little people. Very interesting reading and valuable information in these days of uncertain financial times.

Welcome to the club Reptile. You will shortly discover the joys trying to keep up with a blog. (After day 5 or 6 of not posting, the inevitable "FUCK! I have to post something. Why did I think this was going to be such a great idea?")

Everybody give the boy some traffic. http://backwardation.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Happy Monday!

Cuidate.

Busy few days

I keep meaning to post, but have been busy this week. Running from one thing to another, and work has proved to be very interesting this week. Lots of crazy people out there.

Here's some questions to keep you occupied.

Where do you not mind waiting?

Places that are quiet. Churches, parks, libraries, the beach, beautiful spots in nature. Also anyplace with free high speed internet access.

If you could bring someone famous back from the grave, who would you choose?

Hmm... Jonathan Larson (creator of the play Rent)

How could you make $1 million dollars right now?

Walk into traffic and then sue?

What is the most gruesome form of death?

Being burned alive.

Who is your favorite comedian?

This is a hard one. I am stuck between Chris Rock and Paula Poundstone.

What book should be banned based on its boring subject matter?

Anything golf-related.

If you were city commisioner, what would you do to make your city better?

I would ensure that art and music programs are available to the public to all who want them and fully funded.

What is the longest you have ever gone without taking a shower?

Probably five or six days when I went to Camp Sargeant in elementary school.

What class do you regret not taking in college?

How to Marry a Rich Man.

What are you thankful you are not doing right now?

Studying my Spanish. Just burnt on it right now.

What is your favorite candy?

Mike and Ike's.

Who is the most famous person you have ever met?

Rosie O'Donnell? Gene Simmons? Steve Jobs? I guess it depends on who you consider famous.

Alright everybody. I will try to post something more original this weekend. Promise.

Cuidate.

The Big Girl has arrived...

At long last, Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first A380 this week. The plane arrived about two years late due to production issues and wiring difficulties for the mammoth giant. Still, the world is anxiously awaiting it's first passenger flight this week on October 25th from Singapore to Sydney. The seats were auctioned off on eBay with the proceeds going to charity.

No U.S. passenger carrier has placed an order for the giant plane. Both UPS and Fedex had placed orders for the cargo version, but as the delays compounded both cancelled their orders. U.S. airports such as New York JFK, Chicago, LAX, and SFO International have all been making modifications to their international terminals to accommodate the enormous aircraft.



Check out the flight deck too!


A very impressive aircraft. This is the largest passenger aircraft to debut since the Boeing 747 in 1970! I look forward to taking a flight on one in the near future.

Hope you have all had a great weekend. I am on the mend from my cold and feeling almost 100%. Cuidate.

The "Aww" Factor

This is my niece. Isn't she adorable????

I am sick, so not really feeling like doing anything this week. The fall to winter flu bug has hit.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Cuidate.

Song of the Weekend

I am transfixed with music right now. Cuidate.

SNL's take on Ahmadinejad

This is pretty funny. Enjoy.

Helping Others

A lot of us are compassionate people who would like to help others in need. Still, news clips of Darfur and Indonesia seem far away and unreachable. Even if we donate money or time to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, will it really get there?

Recently, there was an organization spotlighted on Oprah which hopes to help people in poor country help themselves and teach them the principles of capitalism at the same time. The concept is microfinance. Lending people in poor countries small amounts of money to start a business or improve upon their existing businesses. The organization is www.kiva.org. They work with local people across the globe granting loans of usually $1,000 or less. When you click on the website, each person requesting a loan has a photo, a biography, and the amount of time they need to repay the loan. (This is usually about a year.) For us, we make a loan of $25 to the person we hope to help. A team of people here in the U.S. all making $25 loans eventually makes up the total amount requested. You receive periodic e-mails from the business owner on how things are going with the business while he or she is paying back the loan. When your loan is repaid at the end of the term, you can choose to take your $25 back or reinvest it with another person who needs a loan. By making a loan rather than a donation, it makes these men and women entrepreneurs. The husband and wife who started this organization met while serving in the Peace Corps in Africa. They saw first hand how a small amount of money could change the lives of ordinary people in third world countries and decided to do something about it. It is really a revolutionary concept and $25 or $50 is an amount we can all afford to part with for a short time. The other important portion of this project is the empowerment of women. Kiva provides loans in many countries such as Afghanistan, Azerbijan, Cambodia, and other nations where women have not traditionally been business owners. By bringing women to the global table, we only make society more equal and progressive for all.

Visit www.kiva.org for more info and I hope you have all a great weekend. Cuidate.

Throwing My Choice Out There

Though I hate to get political, this is my blog and I need to get this out. The presidential election in 2008 is one of the most critical in years. Our country is at a crossroads in our history and we need to throw all of our efforts into electing someone with new ideas. Barack Obama has the best chance in doing that of anyone. I have never been an enormous Clinton fan. On top of that, Hillary Clinton is one of the most polarizing figures in our country. Some people like her, but the people on the right who hate her HATE her with a passion. Throughout the Clinton presidential years, Bill was dogged by scandal after scandal. At the same time, he made promise after promise and reneged on many of them. Environmental reform, inclusion of gays in the military, health care, and on and on. What did we get? A president who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, the United States not participating in the Kyoto Treaty, a failed health care plan, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. If Clinton could have gotten over his ego and resigned in the late 90s after the scandal broke, Al Gore would have been a sitting president and would have easily won reelection in 2000. The course of our nation and the reality we look at today would be vastly different.

Obama represents change, an influx of fresh ideas, intelligence, and a president who can speak properly. (Gee, isn't that a novel concept?) We cannot afford to let our country continue on the path we are on. The United States is nearing the end of our dominance as the world superpower. (This is not a huge concern for me as all things must come to an end. We cannot be number 1 forever. However, we need to make preparations for this inevitable event.) China, India, and the European Union are nipping at our heels. We have serious issues that we as a country and a global community need to deal with. Iraq, health care, national security, the environmental crisis, the struggle for equality for gays and minorities, falling education standards, globalization, immigration, reforming our nation's energy systems, Supreme Court vacancies to worry about, and on and on. If we approach these problems head on instead of denying they exist, the American people can find solutions and save the planet for generations of people to come. By the nature of the American system, we can solve problems better than anyone else in the world. Ingenuity, the free exchange of ideas, and a free market all allow this to happen. But we cannot do it without a leader that is poised to push the envelope and think outside the box. Electing Hillary Clinton or any of the Republicans would be continuing the polarizing political game that has been played out for the last eight years to devastating results. What kind of a president would veto legislation that will provide health insurance for America's children? What kind of chicken shit senators and representatives will not vote to end funding for our participation in a civil war that is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars a year not to mention young people's lives? Eighty percent of the country disapproves of our presence in Iraq at this time. Meanwhile, our national debt continues to soar. Currently we are 9 trillion dollars in the hole. The name and reputation of the United States around the world has never been more trashed. We garner little if any respect from anyone. We need to start engaging both our allies and enemies in a respectful dialogue, not sets of demands like some fat spoiled child.

This a critical time in our country. We all need to be watching the debates, reading these candidate's websites, and taking a stand for the future of our country. I encourage all of you to get involved in the process and convince your friends and family members too. We cannot afford another repeat of the last eight disastrous years.

http://www.barackobama.com/

Cuidate.

Adding More Candles

It is my birthday. I came storming into the world on this day back in 1973. I was a couple of weeks late and my dad was off in Bermuda with the Navy leaving my mom with 5 kids and a lot to do. My parental grandfather's birthday was also October 2nd. He called my mother on the 1st and told her she had to hold out until the next day. Atta girl Mom!

I was born in Maine which I do not have memories of. We moved when I was 2. In later years, we moved back to New England and I did return to Maine. Looking back, I wonder what my life would have been like if I had grown up there. My parents grew up in upstate New York, but never returned to live there until the last few years. It was not until I had reached San Francisco and lived here a few years that I started to feel what home was. I did not fit in many other places. Throughout my life, I have called New Hampshire, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California home at one time or another. As I grow older, I still like to travel and explore. However, after a week or so I miss my life and yearn to come home.

I am thoroughly enjoying my thirties and life just seems to get better and better with each passing year. Your twenties are such a chaotic time and it is nice to finally settle and understand who you are as a person and where you want to go. There is always room for change, growth, and improvement, but on the whole everything is pretty fucking good.

I had a great weekend at Mount Shasta. The workshop was terrific and my interest in Native American spirituality continues to grow. It is some really cool stuff.

Hope you all have a great week. Cuidate.