a wonderful tribute

i was skimming across the "best of craigslist" section at lunch today and came across this...

Things My Father Taught Me

The measurement of my finger from the tip to the first joint is 1 inch...depth for planting peas.
The measurement to the second joint is 2 inches...depth for corn.
Return borrowed things in better shape than when you borrowed them.
There are two types of trouble...one is the trouble you knowingly walk into, the other is trouble that just happens...it's important to know the difference.
Walk softly but carry a big stick.
if you have to use said stick, make sure who you use it on, doesn't get up.
Grits is good.
Foul language is a sign of a limited vocabulary
Orion, the Big and Little Dippers.
Everyone is a friend until proven otherwise.
Licorice ferns, huckleberries, nettles, sword ferns.
Tabasco won't kill you even if you eat it by the spoonfull.
Don't watch the clock when you're at work.
Fish can see you if you look over the side of the boat.
Fish can hear you if you talk to loud.
Respect the elders.
Never go to bed angry.
That which does not kill you will hurt like the dickens, but it will make you stronger.
Family is the most important thing on earth.
How to play the guitar, spoons, mouth harp, and water filled bottles.
The true meaning of "Self Made Man"
If you don't know something, go to the library and learn it.
The phrases "I don't know", "I forgot", or "I tried (and failed)" are excuses.
There is a difference between an excuse and a reason, know the difference.
Take care of your appearance...even if it is just a t-shirt and jeans.
The world can change everything about you, except your point of view...unless you allow it to.

David L. McDonald
born 1936-passed 2008
precious father
beloved husband
A right good fellow.

i'm sure mr. mcdonald is smiling down on his child...pleasant dreams...

this week in politics

on today's menu: gun control (or lack thereof) in washington dc via the supreme (ly reactionary) court...hrc's completely illogical supporters...and james dobson bending the bible.

the supreme court this week overturned the law denying citizens of washington d.c. the right to own handguns...of course this was a huge victory for so-called second amendment advocates and the nra...does giving the 18th ranked city in gun violence the right to freely own guns sound like a good idea???...i didn't think so...of course the nra are always happy to unfurl and unite behind the second amendment....but let's take a look at the opening line..."A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"...A WELL REGULATED MILITIA!!!...what part of that statement do people not understand...the cornerstone of the second amendment was twofold...to protect our country from further attacks/invasions by the british...and to protect the citizenry from the instillation of a tyrannical form of government here at home...do we really have to worry about that still...i'm pretty sure that britain has gotten over their loss by now...as far as the second ideology goes...if we ended the type of government that the founding fathers were concerned about (and there are those of us who feel that it's already arrived)...odds are they would have the full backing of the military and folks with rifles and handguns wouldn't stand a chance (and no...i'm not opening this up to say we should legalize assault rifles)...no matter how well armed the citizenry were...do you think they would stand a chance against the technological supremacy that is our over funded military???...so..if we accept the premise that guns are an irrevocable part of united states' culture...let's talk about punishment...fine...you want your guns so badly???...then here's what i propose...if your gun is stolen and used to kill someone...you will be charged with second degree manslaughter...this should cover those idiots that say "well cars kill people too"...usually when a car kills someone it's because the driver is drunk or reckless and that person is charged with vehicular manslaughter which is considered involuntary manslaughter...if your child uses your gun to kill another child or themselves...same punishment...second degree manslaughter carries a sentence between 5 and 25 years depending on the egregiousness of the crime...put that in your pipe and smoke it you nra nutcases...

hillary clinton announced this week that her campaign would be unable to pay back the 20 million she borrowed against herself...oh the irony...she improperly funded her campaign while succumbing to the hubris that dictated she continue even though the electoral math could in no way work in her favor...yet she felt herself worthy of the highest office...wow...where do i start???...she obviously has issues managing money...yet we want her to fix the economic disasters that our country is now facing???...as far as her ego goes...how is her reckless pursuit of the nomination any different than the arrogance of the current administration???...to make it exponentially worse...her supporters demanded that obama help pay back the debt...which he did offer as much assistance as an individual could (a fact that the hrc brigade fails to understand)...let me get this straight...according to PUMA PAC (all 3 of them) and the newsblogs...there are still 18 million hrc supporters (more about some of these morons later) ready to hold out during the election or (worst yet) vote for mcdinosaur..if they all donated 1 dollar...that would pretty much cover it...here's what's killing me about the hrc supporters...they are saying that the sexist media and obama himself ruined her chances so some of them are refusing to vote for obama...refusing to vote at all...are even more ridiculous...choosing to vote for mcfeudallord himself...WAIT A SEC!!!...first of all...if they would actually look at the campaigns...before it came down to just obama and her...the media was treating it like a coronation ceremony...every news station i can think of had already predicted that hrc would be the democratic candidate...it wasn't until the field got whittled down and obama got some traction that the media took a long hard look at obama...secondly...as far as the sexism accusations go...hrc's supporters keep referring to obama's annie oakley remark following his misguided comments about folks clinging to god and guns in times of trouble (which is true but probably shouldn't be spoken during a campaign) and her response...sure...the comment was a bit off the cuff...but for clinton...a silver spoon fed (lest we forget that her father managed a successful textiles business)...wellseley educated...elitist to attempt to align herself with the nra was simply ludicrous...finally...for those hrc supporters threatening to vote for mcparchment...wake up and smell the proverbial coffee...here's what you'll get with a mccain presidency...reversal of roe v. wade...continued loosening of gun control laws...poorly thought out energy policies (like the gas tax holiday or offshore drilling) disguising themselves as concern for global warming...continued military invention in iraw...bombing (or at least assisting israel in doing so) iran...further lowering the taxes of the uber-wealthy and corporations...if you poor misguided souls feel that this is the path you want this country to go...then so be it...but if i hear you imbeciles whining about a mccain government...i will relentlessly verbally destroy you!!!...

finally....james dobson is at it again...once again longing to be in the spotlight (and i thought envy was a cardinal/deadly sin) dobson (head of focus on the family...as long as that family is heterosexual...continually procreating...and tithing 10% of their annual income to the church)...claimed that obama misinterprets the bible and has a "fruitcake" interpretation of the constitution...this all stemmed from obama's invoking (quite like jed bartlet in the west wing) various quotes from leviticus (the old testament)...in order to make a poignant point about the separation of church and state...dobson had the gall to accuse obama of cherry picking sections of the bible top make a point...GIVE ME A BREAK!!!...dobson does that every day and doesn't he invoke leviticus when discussing how homosexuality is an "abomination"???...face it you religionazi psychopaths...the bible is chock full of statements that are no longer applicable to modern life...i certainly hope that dobson himself does not wear poly-cotton blends...eat shellfish...had his child refuse to go to church on sunday...or played football on sunday...many of these "crimes" are punishable by death...and let's not forget that the old testament was also ok with slavery...maybe one of these days the religious wrong will realize that some of us heathen liberals have actually read our bibles and will stop trying to use it as a cugel against us...not likely though...pleasant dreams...

getting caught up

with an incovenient truth playing in the background...it's time to get caught up...in my last post...i made reference to my career life needing a serious makeover...oddly enough...after a couple of weeks...it happened...an old kinko's coworker/good friend...eugene...is the operations manager for the google book search project...i sent him an email virtually a few days after the aforementioned post...telling him that it was time for me to get out of the education biz and he replied that he wanted to meet that week...as it turned out...his daytime operations supervisor had quit an hour before i sent my email...talk about serendipity...so i'm working at google now (albeit i'm only a contractor working for adecco)... without getting into too much detail...i gotta say that google really is an amazing company to work for...aside from working with eugene and another buddy mark again...many of the bennies get passed onto the contractors as well...the cafeterias...as i'm sure many of you have heard are incredible...i really have to watch myself to not get fat (luckily my office mate tirzah...more about her later...has taken on the mission to make sure that doesn't happen...)...i get use of the several gyms scattered about the campus...and the other googlers are very friendly thus far...in other words...i couldn't be happier...plus...it gives me time to actually finish my master's degree and possibly pursue a project management certificate...

in other news...dan has returned from carpentry school in canada...he has suddenly become the definition of six degrees of separation...two of his classmates (in a class of 14 in the middle of podunk, canada) had some seriously close connections to him...one had gone kayaking in reno with our friend scott...and the other has had dinner at his sister's house in new your...talk about small world...another fellow student...an older gentleman named michael...thought he should hook dan up with his daughter...turned out they hit it off like he had guessed AND she has hung out with dan's brother's camp (camp carp) at burning man...i'm telling you...strange occurences are afoot...

there's more to share...but i think i'll pepper it in throughout my posts...with the general election now in full force and the fact that my master's project will likely involve the rhetoric of the debates...i'm going to use this blog as a forum to analyze people's thoughts on this election season...as a rabid reader of the cnn political ticker...this will be a running commentary of people's responses to various political happenings..i'm also hoping that this will force me to be a little more dilligent about this blog...pleasant dreams...

it's been a while

so...in noticing that my last post was in reference to hurricane katrina...i came to the realization that i really SUCK at this whole blog thing...for now...i'll just leave everyone with a quick recap of the last couple of years and return to my snarky political rantings later...moved into new house...got promoted to dean of academics at brooks...got married to kriss-eh...went to singapore and thailand for our honeymoon...took lots of trips to the cabin...got fired from brooks by some outsider jackass who got hired on as campus director (after my four month reign as interim campus director) and was afraid that the staff was more beholden to me than to him...got hired by everest college in hayweird as director of education...went to canada to visit dan (who had gone to woodworking school outside of vancouver)...have come to the realization that my career life is in serious need of a makeover...more later...pleasant dreams...

so lemme get this straight...

mike "i know a lot more about arabian horses than i know about disaster recovery" brown resigns and that's supposed to appease the critics???...as if anyone with half a brain won't see through this scapegoat smokescreen???...i can see the scenario so sharply in my mind...

(in the oval office)
bush: well ya know there michael i've been taking a lot of heat from the public about this here katrina thing. with these confirmation hearings for my religio-fascist judges coming up, i can't be saddled, get it mikey..."saddled" (snicker snicker snicker) with this antelope around my neck...

brown: errr...that's albatross your holiness...

bush: antelope...albatross...they're both birds...you get my drift...

brown: (stares at bush with disdain)

bush: so we gotta have someone take the fall.

brown: and that "someone" would be me right???

bush: absotootyrootytutley (snicker snicker snicker). this whole katrina thing has really done a number on my approval rating and i gotta be able to govern ya know. i gotta install a puppet government in iraq...i gotta make sure the poor people stay poor...i gotta help hearken the age of the apocalypse...and i gotta invade venezuala so i can restart my oil drilling business...besides...i hear the canals there are wonderful.

brown: eeerrrrrr...that's venice your supreme rulingness.

bush: venice...venezuala...they're both in europe right...anyways...you're just gonna hafta take the bullet on this one miko-rama.

brown: and what am i supposed to do in the meantime?

bush: no worries browny boo...we got it all figerred out. first, we're gonna put you on the board of directors of haliburton. with the incentive package and the fact that they're gonna get 64% of the "rebuild new orleans" contracts, you'll be high on the jambalaya (snicker snicker snicker). then, i'm gonna talk to my boys over there at fox to get you a publishing deal so you can write a tell all expose on how it's all mayor nagin's fault. see???...so you can have your cake and bake it too...(snicker snicker snicker)...

brown: that's eat it el numero uno.

bush: whatever...

pleasant dreams...

what katrina tells us (if we're listening)

while the righties spin doctor and the lefties (according to the righties) play the blame game...i still think we're missing the point as far as our reaction to this horrible tragedy has been...first of all...the latest spin from the bush brigade has been that the local authorities were supposed to notify the administration that they were going to need help...WHO THE F#$@ CAME UP WITH THIS ACENINE REACTIVE POLICY?!?!?...if any state is in trouble the appropriate people should be mobilized immediately...what the hell our we paying taxes for if it isn't for federal assistance...did hawaii have to ask for help in order for the military to intervene after pearl harbor???...i know that that was an act of war and an attack on a military base...but this concept of states rights can only be taken so far...when my home state was struck by the loma prieta earthquake...i'd hate to think how much red tape we had to cut through in order for someone to start picking the cypress structure off all the crushed vehicles...moving on to the point i was eventually planning to make...the state of the poor in our country is unacceptable...conservatives tried to shift the blame to the people themselves by saying "they had plenty notice to get out of new orleans"...i can't think of a more uninformed suggestion...when people are living paycheck to paycheck (and in all likelihood welfare check to welfare check)..because the tragedy struck right before the first of the month...many of the poor affected didn't have 20 bucks for gas money assuming they HAVE a car...all in all the poor have become a forgotten and ignored people and this attitude is beyond comprehension in the "richest" country in the world...the other half of this miscalculated equation is if we are victims of another attack WE ARE SCREWED!!!...our response infrastructure is inadequate at best...it is beyond comprehension that the head of fema is deemed incapable to handle a specific type of emergency but still remains at his post...if i couldn't handle student emergencies i certainly wouldn't keep my job...we have just advertised to the entire world and "jihadists" that our administration cannot handle emergencies of any sort...i don't know how i'm able to sleep at night...pleasant dreams...

and now a word from our sponsor...

if you have a couple of seconds...or hours...visit the spartacusunderstood site located under my links...written by a gentleman named david jenkins...his mix of political commentary and cynical humor is some of the best i've read on blogspot so far...well worth a visit...pleasant dreams...

i'm famous...well kind of...

as i mentioned in my very first blog...i'm in the process of finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university...in my graduate seminar on argumentation and debate we had to write papers focusing on various areas of debate...considering my area of focus revolves around politics...i did mine on the 2004 debates between bush and kerry...i did a content analysis of the debates in order to determine if the material focused more on personality traits or issues...what i concluded was that the debates still swayed toward policies...but the information was given in very broad generalizations as opposed to well organized plans...i have an issue with saying that debates primarily give viewers policy information when all they get is "we will work to keep america strong"...as a result...i'm presenting my paper as part of a "young" (i laugh at this because i'm 37) scholars panel...i was going to put the link to the nca conference website here but apparently that doesn't work...so you'll just have to take my word for it or show up in boston nov 17-20...oh yeah...and i've recently added some interesting blogs that i've found...enjoy...pleasant dreams...

and now a word about blogs...

being relatively new to this whole blog phenom...i decided to take a virtual stroll through the blogspot neighborhood...a couple of nitpicky gripes...if you are going to use your own html code to tweak the templates...please pick up a couple books on design...as someone who has been employed in the design field for over a decade and choose to use the premade templates because for me it's about the message...i'm appalled at some of the horrid design decisions...crowded pages...type that doesn't contrast colorwise enough with the background...scrolling menus all over the place...do me a favor and look up gestalt theory...thanks...in terms of content a couple of things...first of all...pick up a friggin dictionary...i know most of the people have grown up with spellcheck but it doesn't catch everything...learn how to spell...and what's with the pseudo hacker language???...i know spelling it "teh" is cute and all...but if you were a real hacker you wouldn't be on blogspot...what's the deal with the internet marketers and the football odds blogs...sheesh...and another thing...i was certainly shocked to see how many "god fearing" people have blogs...seeing as the latest in religio talk has revolved around "intelligent design" as if these religio kooks would know intelligence when it kicked them in the face...i figured i'd post this...pleasant dreams...

post labor day confusion

nothing like a three-day weekend to completely screw over your biological clock...i keep thinking it's monday today...spent the long weekend at dan's folk's cabin in bear valley...chopped some wood...went canoeing...played tons of 500 (the official card game of australia and the cabin) and 1-4-24 (a bar dice game that we all learned thanks to crazy e's girlfriend erinn)...ate tons of great food (cooked by other people...krissy and i are usually on dish duty)...watched aki (our shiba inu) run around like a whirling dervish while off leash...overall it was a great weekend...in other news...was saddened by the news that renquist passed away this weekend...YIKES!!!...that gives bush one more anti-abortion...racist...pro war...pro business...religionazi pricks to put on the bench...WE'RE FUCKED!!!...time to buy that ticket to madrid...and on the homefront...we finally got an offer on our house...5 grand less than we were asking (the bubble is starting to dissipate)...but it was well within where we wanted to be with the new house ...speaking of the new house...as it turns out it's going to be ready nearly a month before they projected...october 3rd...sadly...our new couch won't be ready till the beginning of november...we seem to have issues with timing our couches with our home purchases as this happened last time also...at least we won't have to slum it at friend's houses for a month...pleasant dreams...

wow...i actually got a comment from someone other than a spammer...unfortunately...the nice person didn't leave me their own blog address...

get offa my s#$%!!!

so i noticed that i had a comment on my last post and figured it was probably krissay...cuz i'm sure no one else gives a crap about my useless meanderings...lo and behold it was some internet marketing scam...STAY THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG YOU USELESS CORPORATE PIECES OF SHIT!!!

figure it the f@%$ out

i've been completely inundated with the news coming from the southland...i was listening to the ed schultz show on air america and he was talking about how the governors from each state should be telling bush how many refugees they can handle and let the people of those states take them into their homes...it's a noble idea and a logistical nightmare...but someone has to step in and do something about the devastation in that area...of course bush isn't helping much..."it's going to be hard work" and "help is on the way" are not things people in desparate situations need to hear...they need to SEE action and immediately...i'm not entirely sure bush is even human...there isn't an ounce of empathy in that man's black soul...and...ironically...didn't he campaign as a COMPASSIONATE conservative???...i watched videos on cnn about a man who was stuck on his roof trying to hold on to his wife by the wrist then the house split in half and she knew he couldn't hang onto her anymore and her last words were "take care of the kids and grandkids" as she got sucked into the storm...wow...what a complete mindfuck...he's going to go to bed with that image emblazoned into the back of his eyelids for the rest of his days...i read stories of people dying right outside the convention center...i can't even imagine the horror and i've been through some pretty terrible areas in latin america...then...the governor of biloxi says that "this is our tsunami"...this may sound callous but give me a break...the tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a million people and virtually wiped out two complete countries...i think he was overstating it a bit...in happier news...it's almost labor day and me and the gang are going up to dan's family's cabin in bear valley...i'm in such desperate need of r & r right now...pleasant dreams...

crap like this makes me crazy!!!

so i was keeping up with corporate news on cnn.com this morning and came across this article ...these religio-nazis NEED to get the HELL out of politics...first of all...how does pat robertson get away with calling for a political assassination and not get any reprimand other than the white house disavowing themselves of the comments...god forbid bush does anything to piss off the religious wrong...second of all...isn't the basic tenet of democracy built on people's right to choose their own religion and political system???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he believes socialism is the best form of government???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he is against the imperialistic nature of the u.s. (which is absolutely correct)???...i just don't get it...the silver spoon fed politicos that run this country and do so supposedly based on the laws outlined in the constitution...don't even follow those principles...until venezuala attacks the u.s. they have every right to say what they will about our country...as if we are beyond reproach from anyone...just because they have an increasing muslim population and ties to cuba doesn't give us the right to threaten them...and i know it wasn't bush actually saying it but you know in closed quarters he's snickering along with robertson...also...there was a mention in a related article how reagan had disolved the u.s.'s ability to assassinate political leaders...as if none of those happened on his watch...give me a break...pleasant dreams...

it's been a while

i've only been blogging for a couple of weeks and i'm already behind...seeing as i'm sitting in my home office...in the dark...killing time before going to see my buddy's band security ... i figured i should post something and quit being so lazy...we finally got the house ready to be put on sale...here's the listing ...needless to say those past couple of weeks were completely maniacal and i owe my bro dan so much for making it all come together in such a short period of time...now krissy and i just have to wait until someone makes us an offer...luckily...the new place won't be finished until the end of october so we have some time...but we still don't want our house to just sit here without generating any kind of interest...other than that...work was kind of crazy this week...all of the big wigs were at our corporate offices in chicago which basically meant that the marketing director and myself were in charge...i got a few things i needed to accomplish done...but not as much as i had hoped for...oh well...it'll have to wait until monday...until next time...pleasant dreams...

weekend workout

so i'm sitting here with our living room in complete dissaray wallowing in sweat...not the healthy accomplished feel good about yourself sweat of a hard workout...but the sticky cloying need to scrub yourself with a pumice bar kind of sweat from doing home renovation...today's task...new baseboards in the master bedroom and new closet doors in all rooms...of course...as with all things in this house...one of the closets in the master bedroom was 2 inches wider than a standard closet...considering we only have this weekend to get the place ready to sell...no time for custom jobbers so we wing it...as always i had to enlist the services of my best friend dan...he's kinda like macgyver but without the 80's feathered hair...i can't thank him enough when it comes to his building skills...lucky for him we're moving into a brand new house so we won't be rendering his services again anytime soon...which is good for me because i SUCK at those kinds of things...when most young boys are learning these skills from their fathers...i was afraid to try to help my dad...not that he was abusive or anything like that...let's just say he was a bit of a perfectionist...an example...a week before christmas...my parents would let my sister and i decorate the tree...it wasn't a real tree...my parents didn't like dealing with the mess of pine needles (and i wonder where i get my bah humbug attitude from)...my sister and i would decorate the tree and go to sleep that evening...we would wake up the following morning and by some christmas miracle the tree had gone through a magical metamorphosis...you see my dad was a test analyst for lockheed so he had a very analytical mind...his idea of tree decoration involved the appropriate distribution of trinkets and baubles...of course you couldn't have large ornaments on the outer branches because they weighed them down...those had to go toward the inside...and you couldn't have two of the same color next to each other...and you couldn't have two of the same shape next to each other...and so on and so on...he was this way with many things and...as a result...i have a handful of thumbs when it comes to anything requiring tools...i'm a whiz with a broom though...pleasant dreams...

late blog bloomer

so it seems i've inherited my parents' gift for being the last person on the block to try anything new...as a kid we were always the last to buy all the new fangled toys...microwave...vcr...video game system...most of my friends have blogs so i figured "hey...mebbe this blog thing isn't a passing fad after all"...being the first entry and all...it might be a good time to give everyone a quick rundown...

i'm closer to 40 than to thirty...this is a frightening thought in and of itself...when my parents were my age my sister was 15 and i was 12...holy crap!!!...luckily i don't look my age...most people think i'm in my mid to late twenties...i've only recently stopped getting carded for alcohol...lmao...i'm the graphic design department chair for a design college here in silicon(e) valley...it's one of those jobs that's a mixture of love and hate...i love working with the students and witnessing that moment when they finally "get it"...but on the flipside i despise having to deal with the corporate beauracracy (it's a "for profit" school)...i'm getting married on may 14th of next year...refer back to the "last person on the block" passage...we're in the process of selling our current home to move to a bigger one so we've been spending the past few weeks "renovating"...

on the hobbies front...i don't have a whole lot of free time for hobbies...i'm finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university majoring in political communication...one of those "what are you going to do with THAT" degrees that is only attainable through some sort of liberal arts program...when i do have free time i love to travel...i've spent quite a bit of time in latin america...and spent a few weeks in europe...other than that i'm fairly happy just hanging out with friends...

anyways...i guess that was enough to get the ball rolling...til next time...pleasant dreams...