I love thunderstorms. I love to watch them and hear the thunder rumble and even sometimes go out in the rain. Well, thunderstorms in Chicago vs. ones here in Nebraska are two totally different things!
Last night, we just got back from the Sand Hills trip and I heard about the tornadoes that struck Colorado. Well, those storms were heading right for us! I went to sleep around 1 in the morning, only to be awoken at 3 to some of the deepest rumblings of thunder I ever heard/felt. The wind was blowing like crazy out, the rain slamming against the house and lightning was flashing everywhere. I do have to admit that for a brief moment, there was some fear of maybe a tornado striking but I was so amazed by the lightning that I quickly forgot about it. I was like a little kid again and after about thirty minutes of watching the storm, I went to sleep and had some of the best sleep I've had in a long time.
I'm watching the weather channel and see that we're supposed to get some good storms again. We just had a brief storm blow by with some hail. It looks like the big storms should hit around 3 again. I hear thunder off to the distance and the wind chimes outside will make it hard to go to sleep. Hopefully, I get a repeat of last night. It'll be a long time before I see another storm like this again!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
May 22
Well, today was interesting. Alison and I decided to go up to the Sand Hills in Nebraska. We left her parents house at noon and headed west. It was storming earlier so the ground was pretty wet and it was still drizzling a bit. By the time we got to Lincoln, it had dried up considerably and things were looking good. Three hours later, we got to the Sand Hills. To me, they were beautiful! This is a part of the country where there is NOBODY around. The hills are grassy but you can see that instead of dirt, there's only sand. We stopped into a national forest that was hand planted back in the 50s and 60s and then decided to turn around. We didn't get back to her parents house until around Midnight! The good thing about this trip is that I learned that, for the most part, the people in this state are very friendly. I got stared at a bit, but overall, people were pleasant and I never felt uncomfortable.
The other piece of news is that I had an interview! Well, a while back, I sent my resume to what I thought was an event planning position. I received a phone call last week asking if I was interested in a tradeshow sales position. After talking to the lady, I cleared up the confusion and declined to interview for the sales position. I told her that my background is in event planning and she said she would keep my resume on file, in case anything comes up. Well, yesterday, she called and said something came up! I had a pleasant phone interview, even though I was a bit nervous (It all happened so fast, i did not have a chance to prepare myself for a phone interview) and I have my second interview on Wednesday. If I get this job, I'll be right across the street from the Sears Tower and would travel internationally! We'll see how it goes, keep your fingers crossed!
The other piece of news is that I had an interview! Well, a while back, I sent my resume to what I thought was an event planning position. I received a phone call last week asking if I was interested in a tradeshow sales position. After talking to the lady, I cleared up the confusion and declined to interview for the sales position. I told her that my background is in event planning and she said she would keep my resume on file, in case anything comes up. Well, yesterday, she called and said something came up! I had a pleasant phone interview, even though I was a bit nervous (It all happened so fast, i did not have a chance to prepare myself for a phone interview) and I have my second interview on Wednesday. If I get this job, I'll be right across the street from the Sears Tower and would travel internationally! We'll see how it goes, keep your fingers crossed!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Nebraska
So, I'm in Nebraska right now, in the South Eastern part of the state. I'm outside the tiny town of Syracuse and it's beautiful here. It's been around 80 degrees and mostly sunny for the most part of the time I've been here. The people here are friendly, for the most part. I do get a lot of stares and such from people because I'm black but it's more out of curiosity than anything else. People have come up to me and after five minutes, everybody's all smiles and laughing.
The reason why I'm here is to help out a friend of mine. Her parents are older and have a lot of stuff that they are getting rid of. They are planning on moving at some point but wanted to go through their stuff and maybe sell it on ebay. So, they bought my plane ticket and paid for my meals. I just do all the heavy lifting and grunt work. It's a fair deal.
My friend and I have gone to visit a couple of her high school friends and I had a chance to play with their kids. Everybody here is convinced that I should be a teacher since they say I'm good with kids. I wouldn't do it because I don't like the thought of having a class with the only goal of passing some kind of standardized test. I know that there's more to teaching than that but I don't agree with a lot of what goes on.
Anyways, back to Nebraska. It's been fun, and considering I've been here before, I know the area pretty well. I can now get around by myself without worry about being lost.
Well, I better get going. I'm going to try to get some sleep. Bulls got the #1 pick! I'm happy...
The reason why I'm here is to help out a friend of mine. Her parents are older and have a lot of stuff that they are getting rid of. They are planning on moving at some point but wanted to go through their stuff and maybe sell it on ebay. So, they bought my plane ticket and paid for my meals. I just do all the heavy lifting and grunt work. It's a fair deal.
My friend and I have gone to visit a couple of her high school friends and I had a chance to play with their kids. Everybody here is convinced that I should be a teacher since they say I'm good with kids. I wouldn't do it because I don't like the thought of having a class with the only goal of passing some kind of standardized test. I know that there's more to teaching than that but I don't agree with a lot of what goes on.
Anyways, back to Nebraska. It's been fun, and considering I've been here before, I know the area pretty well. I can now get around by myself without worry about being lost.
Well, I better get going. I'm going to try to get some sleep. Bulls got the #1 pick! I'm happy...
Iran vs. Soviet Union
One last blog about this stuff.... Obama is getting hammered by everybody for his comments saying that the threat that Iran poses now is nothing compared to the threat that the Soviet Union posed during the cold war. Please tell me that you can see through this and realize that Obama is right in what he said and that the matter is being so overblown.
Look, the fact of the matter is this. Think about Iran, right now, and tell me how Iran can cause damage to any American city. How can Iran hurt us? Terrorist attacks? Terrorists, for the most part, are not state sponsored. Sure, you have groups like Hezzbolah but Al-Queda wasn't state sponsored and they prove to be a bigger threat to us than Iran. The Soviets had a couple thousand nuclear missiles pointed at us at all times. Hell, Russia probably still has them pointed at us. In 1983, because of a faulty computer, Russia thought that we were attacking them and they almost nuked us. They had the power to destroy every American city five time over...
Now, Obama wasn't saying that Iran wasn't a threat, but he was trying to put things into perspective. Besides, Iran is a threat that we created, by our policies we had in place during the reign of the Shah and the treatment of the Iranians after the 1979 revolution. Just like a lot of other problems that we face out there, we made our bed a long time ago and it's just time for us to sleep in it.
Look, the fact of the matter is this. Think about Iran, right now, and tell me how Iran can cause damage to any American city. How can Iran hurt us? Terrorist attacks? Terrorists, for the most part, are not state sponsored. Sure, you have groups like Hezzbolah but Al-Queda wasn't state sponsored and they prove to be a bigger threat to us than Iran. The Soviets had a couple thousand nuclear missiles pointed at us at all times. Hell, Russia probably still has them pointed at us. In 1983, because of a faulty computer, Russia thought that we were attacking them and they almost nuked us. They had the power to destroy every American city five time over...
Now, Obama wasn't saying that Iran wasn't a threat, but he was trying to put things into perspective. Besides, Iran is a threat that we created, by our policies we had in place during the reign of the Shah and the treatment of the Iranians after the 1979 revolution. Just like a lot of other problems that we face out there, we made our bed a long time ago and it's just time for us to sleep in it.
Appeasment
For those of you who say that we must not sit down at a table and talk diplomacy with foreign nations until a set of "pre-conditions" are met, let me remind you that the Korean war would have been over in 6 months had it not been for the American and North Korean's demands that certain "pre-conditions" needed to be met. Of course, their arguments were about the color of chairs and such but it is close enough of an example to prove my point. The Korean War went on for over two years after peace negotiations were started. Because both sides were consumed with setting "pre-conditions", some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the war were fought and that nation was brought close to nuclear war with China. Battles like the Chosin Reservoir, where many of our Marines froze to death would not have been fought.
This whole notion of having diplomacy after a set of conditions are met is non-sense. How often do you think that it would happen that way for us? Apparently, not too often if we have never had face-to-face talks with "rouge" nations like Iran and Cuba. We see it as bravado but it does nothing but allow whatever situation that is ongoing to continue and delay any hopes of a resolution that would be beneficial for all. Nothing gets done, people get upset because nothing is getting done and then bad things happen and people get to point a finger. The days of gun-ho diplomacy are over. They have done nothing but lead us down a dangerous path where we stand alone in the world, hated by all.
This whole notion of having diplomacy after a set of conditions are met is non-sense. How often do you think that it would happen that way for us? Apparently, not too often if we have never had face-to-face talks with "rouge" nations like Iran and Cuba. We see it as bravado but it does nothing but allow whatever situation that is ongoing to continue and delay any hopes of a resolution that would be beneficial for all. Nothing gets done, people get upset because nothing is getting done and then bad things happen and people get to point a finger. The days of gun-ho diplomacy are over. They have done nothing but lead us down a dangerous path where we stand alone in the world, hated by all.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Hilary lost because of Sexism
There are many Hilary supporters out there that are calling for women democrats to not vote for Obama because he ran a sexist campaign (example of story here).
To those who would agree with this view, let me ask you this. Please forward to me links to news articles or video speeches that show that Obama is a sexist. I would love to see where you are coming from with this argument.
The reason why I ask this is because I believe that people who have this opinion are sore losers. To those who point out that I had said I would do the same thing if Hilary got the nomination, well, my reasons had nothing to do with with race or sex but with Hilary's politics and beliefs. I said that she is a polarizing figure, and she has proven that point. She says comments about nuking Iran and getting rid of OPEC and flip flopping on views just to get votes and I cannot vote for her. To those of you who say that she has lots of experiences, she served one more term as a senator than Obama so that's not that much more experience. Finally, I will stand by my belief that the wife of a CEO wouldn't be viewed as qualified to take over a company, so why would a former first lady? She has based her whole experience claim on this and this alone but is it a valid argument? If she does have the experience, why doesn't she elaborate on what she did during that time? And notice, I said elaborate and not exaggerate like her claims of being shot at while visiting Bosnia. Last but not least, Hilary has no shame in making race an issue. The past couple of weeks, she went from state to state saying Obama can't win the white vote and because of his race, he won't be able to win in the fall. Obama is not going out there saying Hilary can't win the male vote. Nobody was saying Hilary can't become president because of her sex.
To those who would agree with this view, let me ask you this. Please forward to me links to news articles or video speeches that show that Obama is a sexist. I would love to see where you are coming from with this argument.
The reason why I ask this is because I believe that people who have this opinion are sore losers. To those who point out that I had said I would do the same thing if Hilary got the nomination, well, my reasons had nothing to do with with race or sex but with Hilary's politics and beliefs. I said that she is a polarizing figure, and she has proven that point. She says comments about nuking Iran and getting rid of OPEC and flip flopping on views just to get votes and I cannot vote for her. To those of you who say that she has lots of experiences, she served one more term as a senator than Obama so that's not that much more experience. Finally, I will stand by my belief that the wife of a CEO wouldn't be viewed as qualified to take over a company, so why would a former first lady? She has based her whole experience claim on this and this alone but is it a valid argument? If she does have the experience, why doesn't she elaborate on what she did during that time? And notice, I said elaborate and not exaggerate like her claims of being shot at while visiting Bosnia. Last but not least, Hilary has no shame in making race an issue. The past couple of weeks, she went from state to state saying Obama can't win the white vote and because of his race, he won't be able to win in the fall. Obama is not going out there saying Hilary can't win the male vote. Nobody was saying Hilary can't become president because of her sex.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Why I Refuse to Vote Along Party Lines
Some people have questioned me about my stance on voting Republican if Hilary gets the nomination over Obama. Well, it's simple. When it came down to the current three candidates, I did some research of my own (something that I feel most Americans no longer do). When it comes down to it, regardless of what you think may or may not be important, the next president of this country MUST be able to mend fences, not only in this country but abroad as well. The Bush administration has done a lot to soil our reputation amongst other world leaders. I remember back in 2003 when people were saying who cares if other nations don't like us. Well, if other nations liked us, we would have more support for our efforts in Afghanistan. We would have more support in curbing Iran, the real danger in the middle east. When it comes down to it, no matter how hard we try to deny it, we need the rest of the world just as much as they need us, maybe even a bit more.
So, the next president has to mend fences. That's why I throw my support with Obama. He is the best person, out of the three to go out there and rebuild our reputation amongst other world leaders. He has the greatest potential to cause other nations to regain their confidence in us as a world power. He believes in working with everybody to get stuff done, regardless of where they come from. This is exactly what America needs at this crucial point of our existence.
McCain, well, he talks a mean talk but he has proven in the past that he too has the ability to work with members on the opposite side of the aisle to get stuff done. His foreign policy might be a bit modeled after Bush's but it would be a bit better than Bush's than any improvement would be a great improvement.
That leaves me with Hilary. While I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, she is too much of a polarizing figure to get anything done domestically. Republicans really hate her. Conservatives really hate her. It wouldn't work out. Now, that was my initial reasons for not backing Hilary. Then she cried.
She used pity to gain votes in New Hampshire. Then she used her opponents message of change. Then she vowed to disband OPEC and to support the gas tax relief plan (which would only save us 30 cents per gallon but with summer coming, prices would rise much higher than that so it really wouldn't do much good anyways). You can't disband OPEC because they are their own countries, countries that happen to be sitting on the world's oil reserves so they have the right to control oil supply and prices. Just because we are the world's leading consumer of oil doesn't mean we have any right to tell the sellers what to do. And, if you want to find a solution to the rising cost of gas, you should do more than relieving the gas tax for this summer, with no way to stop oil companies from raising the price of gas by the amount of the gas tax. They figure that you are use to paying that much for gas, why not make even more of a profit. A coalition of economists have come out to say that the gas tax relief plan is a bad idea. When told to Hilary that economists didn't like the idea, she said “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists because I know if we did it right ... we would design it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively.” (Story Here) Does this mean she doesn't even have a plan developed yet? That's what it sounds like to me. There are a lot of other comments and views that Hilary has disclosed that I dislike. So, she is the least qualified person, to me, to run this country.
The problem is that this country is more than just the land of the free and home of the brave but also the land of ignorance. Voters will refuse to vote for Obama because he is black, or they believe he is Muslim or because his name is close to Osama's. Don't believe me? Then why are stories like this (read here) popping up? When I read news stories about how Obama is unelectable because of his race, or news figures are bashing him because they believe he is Muslim, I begin to wonder what exactly was so wrong about the comments of Rev. Wright. He hit a nerve with this country, but also proves a point. America has a huge race problem and because of ignorance on all sides, it is a problem that is here to stay...
So, the next president has to mend fences. That's why I throw my support with Obama. He is the best person, out of the three to go out there and rebuild our reputation amongst other world leaders. He has the greatest potential to cause other nations to regain their confidence in us as a world power. He believes in working with everybody to get stuff done, regardless of where they come from. This is exactly what America needs at this crucial point of our existence.
McCain, well, he talks a mean talk but he has proven in the past that he too has the ability to work with members on the opposite side of the aisle to get stuff done. His foreign policy might be a bit modeled after Bush's but it would be a bit better than Bush's than any improvement would be a great improvement.
That leaves me with Hilary. While I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, she is too much of a polarizing figure to get anything done domestically. Republicans really hate her. Conservatives really hate her. It wouldn't work out. Now, that was my initial reasons for not backing Hilary. Then she cried.
She used pity to gain votes in New Hampshire. Then she used her opponents message of change. Then she vowed to disband OPEC and to support the gas tax relief plan (which would only save us 30 cents per gallon but with summer coming, prices would rise much higher than that so it really wouldn't do much good anyways). You can't disband OPEC because they are their own countries, countries that happen to be sitting on the world's oil reserves so they have the right to control oil supply and prices. Just because we are the world's leading consumer of oil doesn't mean we have any right to tell the sellers what to do. And, if you want to find a solution to the rising cost of gas, you should do more than relieving the gas tax for this summer, with no way to stop oil companies from raising the price of gas by the amount of the gas tax. They figure that you are use to paying that much for gas, why not make even more of a profit. A coalition of economists have come out to say that the gas tax relief plan is a bad idea. When told to Hilary that economists didn't like the idea, she said “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists because I know if we did it right ... we would design it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively.” (Story Here) Does this mean she doesn't even have a plan developed yet? That's what it sounds like to me. There are a lot of other comments and views that Hilary has disclosed that I dislike. So, she is the least qualified person, to me, to run this country.
The problem is that this country is more than just the land of the free and home of the brave but also the land of ignorance. Voters will refuse to vote for Obama because he is black, or they believe he is Muslim or because his name is close to Osama's. Don't believe me? Then why are stories like this (read here) popping up? When I read news stories about how Obama is unelectable because of his race, or news figures are bashing him because they believe he is Muslim, I begin to wonder what exactly was so wrong about the comments of Rev. Wright. He hit a nerve with this country, but also proves a point. America has a huge race problem and because of ignorance on all sides, it is a problem that is here to stay...
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Ravenswood 5k
So, I ran the race. Overall, I was happy with my performance, even though I ran it 5 minutes slower than what I wanted to do. But, I really wasn't worried about my time. The whole purpose of the race was to see if my knees would hold up for that distance and if I was able to have a kick at the end of the race. Well, my knees were just fine and I sprinted the last 400 meters or so with ease. The only problem is that after the first mile, my calves and back got really tight and by the end of the second mile, I couldn't feel my feet anymore (not sure what that was about but I'm not too worried about it).
I think I'm going to stick with the 5K and have that as the longest distance I will run. I forgot how much fun that distance can be. Meanwhile, I have some new goals to work on. I found out that the University of Chicago Track Club (which I'm thinking about joining) holds a couple of summer meets at Jackson Park. While the competition won't be the greatest (I'm afraid that there will be more kids there than anything), I think there will be a couple of people that will be able to give me a run for my money in the 200m (it's open to anybody and someone ran a 21 second 200 time last year which is around my PR). We'll see how that goes.
This is all in preparation for the Hayden Classic, an indoor track meet held in December at the University of Chicago. Now, that meet will be fun. People and teams from all around the country come to that meet and it's the meet that I have my eye on. If my knees hold up until then, I will be happy. After that meet, if my body is still up for it, then, I'll continue to run. If not, I would be happy to have that meet be my very last.
I think I'm going to stick with the 5K and have that as the longest distance I will run. I forgot how much fun that distance can be. Meanwhile, I have some new goals to work on. I found out that the University of Chicago Track Club (which I'm thinking about joining) holds a couple of summer meets at Jackson Park. While the competition won't be the greatest (I'm afraid that there will be more kids there than anything), I think there will be a couple of people that will be able to give me a run for my money in the 200m (it's open to anybody and someone ran a 21 second 200 time last year which is around my PR). We'll see how that goes.
This is all in preparation for the Hayden Classic, an indoor track meet held in December at the University of Chicago. Now, that meet will be fun. People and teams from all around the country come to that meet and it's the meet that I have my eye on. If my knees hold up until then, I will be happy. After that meet, if my body is still up for it, then, I'll continue to run. If not, I would be happy to have that meet be my very last.
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