Monthly Archive for August, 2008

thoughts on the dems convention

Published
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avarhirion
on August 28, 2008
in Faith, News, Sports & Politics
. 0 Comments

The last few days through the end of next week are exciting moments for political junkies like me.  This week’s Democratic National Convention has been loaded with plenty of classic lines and unforgettable moments already, with the culmination tonight as Obama accepted the nomination.

i. Mark Warner Keynote:

I believe that Obama, if elected, has huge potential to be an amazing President, but in 2006 I wasn’t yet on his bandwagon.  In 2006 I was gunning for Mark Warner.  As a casual observer of American politics, I have often noticed that legislators suck at running the country.  Legislators make the laws and executives apply them.  The reason we haven’t elected a senator or congressman in decades is for this very reason.  I have faith in Obama’s executive potential because his community organizing required him to do lots with little resources, a challenge that builds character and leadership, two traits that are easily scalable.  Also, his relatively short career in the senate was not long enough to corrupt him.  Under most circumstances though, I’d prefer a former Governor to a Senator, and former Virginia Governor Warner was my man.  Early in 2007 he formally let down the thousands who had joined the “Draft Mark Warner” groups, myself included, saying he and his family weren’t ready.  With the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, however, he is now well on his way to getting there.

Former Virginina Governor Mark Warner

Former Virginina Governor Mark Warner

Mark Warner’s speech was the one I was most looking forward to, and before tonight’s festivities, the one I was most wowed by.   His energy and idealism were nothing like Obama’s in 2004, but instead it was firm and decisive, strong and quote-un-quote Presidential. His message of the ‘race into the future’ was uplifting, essentially the content, and clear sequel, to Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” speech.  His message contrasting Obama to McCain echoed one of the prevalent Democratic themes of the election, that McCain would be more of the same, but he offered details to back up the claim.  His words were firm, detailed, and pointed, and though it may not have inspired people like Obama four years ago, it instead ignited people’s resolve to see the change we need actually occur.

The best part of his speech was his “greatest criticism of President Bush” which, according to Warner, was not about policy but inaction, when he failed to “tap into our greatest resource: the character and resolve of the American people”.  Here is a quote, definitely the most thought-provoking moment of Convention.

“People always ask me, ‘What’s my biggest criticism of President Bush?’ I’m sure you all have your own. Here’s mine—it’s not just the policy differences, it’s the fact that this president never tapped into our greatest resource: the character and resolve of the American people. He never asked us to step up.

“Think about it: after September 11th, if there was a call from the president to get us off foreign oil to stop funding the very terrorists who had just attacked us, every American would have said, “how can I do my part?” This administration failed to believe in what we can achieve as a nation, when all of us work together.”

With a future as bright as Warner’s, I hope he ends up on the short-list for the next Democratic ticket next time go round.

ii. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer:

Throughout the convention the headlining speakers have done their job to deliver the message in the way we expected them to.  I will save you all the trouble and not re-hash the analysis of most of these speakers.  But in Brian Schweitzer we had a minor speaker inspire, entertain, and impress us in a way totally unexpected.  CNN was decidedly ignoring the man’s speech, picking apart Warner’s recent speech to the utmost detail, until suddenly the crowd was overheard cheering like crazy.  The anchors shut up and cut to Schweitzer.  What a great cut it was.

Montana Governor Brian Schweizer

Montana Governor Brian Schweizer

Immediately what we saw was a good ole western cowboy whose level-headed look at what America needs, his energetic approach to speaking, and his calculated comedy back wit and charm made for an unforgettable speech. His occasional “whoo-weee” and guttural phrases characterize him as a modern loud and proud American frontiersman (cowboy), masculine and not afraid to rise up and speak out. I hope this guy makes it to national politics, we need a guy like him.

There were many memorable moments in his speech, including a one-liner about McCain’s forgetfulness about the number of homes he owns—which was followed by a “whew-wee” as the crowd cheered, a moment where explained that the best barrel of oil is the one we don’t have to buy, and another when he told convention delegates to “get off [their] hind ends” and let the world know we were declaring our energy independence.

iii. Hillary Clinton:

Hillary had a job to do.  She did it and more.  Among the many excellent things she said, I was most happy with this quote, which summed up the reasons I get so frustrated with old Hillary supporters that “can’t bring themselves to vote for Obama”:

New York Senator Hillary Clinton

New York Senator Hillary Clinton

“I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”

Her words were spot on, uplifting, and well organized.  She made a case to her former supporters for Obama, and didn’t just say “I endorse him”, rather she told them why they must, for the sake of all they worked toward together, vote for him.

The next day when she interrupted the roll call of the states to motion to nominate Obama by acclimation, that was amazing.  I am proud of that woman.  I would have been proud to vote her.  She was and is good for America, and I am glad she had a role in this historic election.

iv. Obama:

After being picked apart by everyone under the sun, if you want to see some more intelligent commentary on Obama’s speech, check out any other website.  I just want to say this: it was great, at times it made me tear up, and it reminded me why he is my candidate.  Good job Obama, and good luck over the next few months.

v. See More:

All the speeches are archived on the convention website.  Especially check out Schweitzer’s speech if you have a moment.  You need Microsoft Silverlight (the new flash competitor) installed (boo), but the videos are high quality and worth it.

stories from the first day

Published
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avarhirion
on August 26, 2008
in Sun Devil Life
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i. picking a seat:

I forgot how much I enjoy watching people pick their seats on the first day of class, and today, after a year off of school, I was given the opportunity to see it again.  I arrived early, like I hopefully will every day now, because if I am late it will mean I missed my bus.  Seated eleven minutes prior to the instructor’s and 67 of his 70 students’ arrival, I saw person after person file in through the door.  Oddly enough, though there were two doors, everyone used only the east entrance… why and whether people will learn of the other door’s existence are questions that may be answered later.  But it wan’t what door they came through that I was interested in, it was what they did after the door shut behind them.

Each one looked around before taking a place.  During their visual survey of the room, they displayed their thoughts through their facial expressions.  These expressions informed me of the motivation that led them to the seat where they eventually sat down, and also gave hints into what kind of student they would be.  There are those who purposely picked the front seats, mostly because they’d rather have the back of their head stared at than look in the eye the students they just embarrassed with that excellent question and even better test grade.  In the back and far left and right are the timid, whose effort so far has gotten them by but they prefer not to be called on or involved in discussion.  Of course, there were those who sat near or next to friends and acquaintances from prior classes.  Their search for safety in the unfamiliar could suggest either an excellent study team or an insecure student who will rely on the support of his or her fellow student.  Either should yield a higher grade but not a curve-setting one, since their relationship should also act as a distraction.   Finally there are those who purposely place themselves in the speaker’s cone, that place where the instructor will “look for friendly eyes” when speaking.  These people are okay with the knowledge that the instructor will see them, and interact with them, that is what they want.  It is these people you must be scared of, they set the curve.

As for me, I chose my seat in my favorite area, just off center in the second row, near the center of the cone.  Fear me.

ii. smell of soap and perfumed poo:

Even a small school like Mesa Community College, which I attended for five semesters and two summer sessions, can feel like a labyrinth of buildings, passageways, and dead ends.  On the day I graduated MCC I knew the location of only nine restrooms, the ninth having been discovered while dressed in graduation robes at the line up.  I needed to pee before the three hour ceremony.  Someone from the nearest building’s academic department was nearby and suggested the seemingly hidden bathroom in that building.  Anyway, I was hoping things would be easier at ASU but no cigar, I am as lost as I was on day 1 at MCC, except this time lost in a bigger labyrinth with seemingly fewer restrooms.

After my 9AM class ended, my breakfast beverages declared freedom and my search for a restroom commenced.  I walked three hallways on two floors in the BA building before I considered my attempt futile and walked across the grass to the MU.  Inside the MU I was expecting a map, but the recent renovations required such resources to be temporarily taken down and obviously the work team was behind schedule.  I asked some other students just to learn that many were new freshmen and others were looking for a restroom as well.  Descending to the lower level and turning a corner put me in another hallway and with still no sign to guide my way.  I passed a soda machine, the third I had encountered in my hunt so far; ironically they water you down more than they provide a place to release, but I guess it makes sense since bathrooms don’t earn marketing dollars from Pepsi Co.  Beside the soda machine was another hallway, and a scented draft found my nose.  As if produced by a potpourri of soap suds and perfumed poo, the musty unpleasant smell that only a public restroom could create gave me hope that an end to my quest was near.  Down the hall, through two doors, and alas a urinal and a long “ahhhhh….”.

On the way out I popped $1.25 into the machine for a 20oz Mountain Dew.  Highway robbery, they were $1 at MCC.  Three hours later, I need to pee again.  And the search begins anew.

iii. hot chicks looking unattractive.

When at MCC the Kirk Student Center, the community college’s sorry attempt at a MU equivilent, was my between classes hangout.  It often frusturated me that every table was occupied by Magic: The Gathering card player dorks and all the comfortable chairs were occupied by people napping.  No different in the ASU MU–except their are more soft chairs here.  Seated next to me is a girl that if awake and sittup up would pass my hotness test but pretty fails it asleep.  Seriously, why would anyone, especially a hot chick, think it is wise to fall asleep in a chair in the student lounge?  There is nothing more unattractive than a hot chick asleep in chair with her mouth open and drool on her cheeck.  Well, except for your grandma naked.

an insigificant date, a significant beginning

Published
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avarhirion
on August 22, 2008
in Photography
. 0 Comments

Today is August 22nd, 366 days after August 23rd, 2007, when I made a promise to take a picture every day for a year. I was later unsuccessful in fulfilling that promise, and I was unable to finish the project.

Day 1: Introductions

Day 1: Introductions

The promise I made, introduced here, was to take a daily picture for a year. I did well, making it over halfway through to day 202, but then a myriad of circumstances culminated into my missing a day. A broken camera, a long period of not posting the photos and not getting feedback, a crazy work schedule, a bout of insomnia and then boom: I missed one day. And I couldn’t go on. I’d rather fail than have an incomplete finish. So I stopped, at day 202.

Breaking - Day 15

Breaking - Day 15

Breaking - Day 15

A Boy and His Camera - Day 64


Despite not finishing, the project was eye opening and life changing for me. It allowed me to be creative, and I learned so much about myself and photography. This post contains many pictures of myself that I took during the project.

Movement - Day 116

Movement - Day 116

But despite all the benefits of the project, that fact that it was incomplete is saddening to me, so tomorrow will be day 1 again. A totally insignificant date, August 23rd, will mark the beginning of my project yet again.

Here we go.

the wheels on the bus go round and round

Published
by
avarhirion
on August 21, 2008
in Sun Devil Life
. 2 Comments

I am writing this (though I won’t post this until later when it is edited and pictures are uploaded) from a Valley Metro bus.  I have lived in the Phoenix area all of my life and I have never rode the city bus system before.  There is a first for everything, I guess. I am riding the bus today to become familiar with one of my three transit options to and from school.  The city bus service is a key part of my three-fold plan to save lots of money this year–while also saving the earth a little bit too. (The other parts being: buy and ride a bike, park in free park-and-rides near school, and not buy a $780 campus parking permit.)  For a first time on the bus, the experience has so far been neat and exciting.

The Evil Scary Bus

The Evil Scary Bus

I started my first day of public transit by missing my bus.  I was aiming to board the 11:54 AM bus but had to wait for the 12:09 PM one.  Since making it to class will be dependent on my making the bus, I learned a good lesson today.

The bus system in Phoenix, despite numerous public awareness campaigns, is operating on a tarnished image.  I haven’t ridden the bus before because of this image.  The busses are supposedly dirty, dangerous, slow, always late, uncomfortable, and poorly air-conditioned.  Also, the bus system is supposedly difficult to use, lacking on routes, and requires a person to be unnecessarily subject to the elements.

Though this is my first trip, I can say that so far none of the above it true.  The bus is clean, the driver was friendly and welcomed me on board, the passengers were normal people just doing their business, it was on time the entire trip, the seats weren’t super-comfortable but they weren’t uncomfortable, the AC worked well, and the bus schedule and web site are easy to use.  The bus system is spread out a bit, but every major north/south street in Chandler and Tempe has a route, so if I wanted to I could get around.

My biggest concern, and my family and friends’ greatest criticism of my plan, was how long it would take.  The trip took 43 minutes to complete.  In good traffic I can get to ASU in 20- 25 minutes and in traffic 25-40, so it took at the most around 20 minutes longer via the bus, but two of three of my trips to and from school are during the rush hour, which could result in the bus option taking no longer anyway.  Plus, at about $6-$8 in gas savings every trip, what is 20 minutes?  In 20 minutes I couldn’t earn $6 at my hourly job!

Overall, my first trip on the bus was educational and exciting, and it relieved many of my fears and concerns related to my school transportation plans.  I am sure I will share stories from my experience as a public transportation commuter in the near future.

Posted the Infinite MPG category as I chronicle my efforts to save money, gas, and the earth by communiting in Infinite MPGs.

T-Shirt Tuesday featuring “Refraction”

Published
by
avarhirion
on August 20, 2008
in Scouts and T-Shirt Tuesday
. 1 Comment

One week in and I already messed up on my T-Shirt Tuesday series.  I have a good excuse though, my cat, Oliver, chewed up the power cable to my MacBookPro and I didn’t have my computer for a few days.   It cost $72 at the Apple store, including the student discount, to replace it, in addition to the funeral costs related to Oliver’s untimely demise.

In t-shirt news this week comes an excellent selection from Threadless, including a new must-have for me called T-Minus, and also some long-awaited reprints from Design By Humans, including one I missed out on called Controlled Chaos.  I discovered a great source for typographic tees called Snakes and Suits, which is definitely worth a look.  Also, Barack Obama’s campaign is holding a t-shirt design contest that should yield some awesome results considering an already awesome selection of fan-created tees (1, 2, 3).

A close up of Refraction

A close up of "Refraction"

This week’s feature shirt from my closet is “Refraction” from Design by Humans.

Refraction from the front.

"Refraction" from the front.

It is funny that five to seven years ago (when I was a teen and I cared how others thought of me) you were “gay” if you (as a guy) wore any colors other than black, red, or gray.  The dominant fashions of the late 90’s and early 2000’s except for the “prep” style all followed this rule, but none more stringently than the “skate” style.  With the skate style now melded into the more general “west coast” style, blacks, reds, and grays, are still around, but often as the base shirt for a design full of color. Bright Pinks, Purples, Blues, Greens, Yellows, and every other color imaginable have emerged, and people my age and younger now can wear whatever they want and not have their sexuality brought into question.  As a person who sees color as expressive, and as a person who is very loud, passionate, and expressive himself, this is a good thing for me.  I credit the mid 2000’s “Real Men Wear Pink” fad (which I avoided with a ten foot pole) as the opening that made it okay for us guys to express ourselves.

That said, my selection of “loud” designs is still limited, perhaps for more subconscious reasons than not.  But when it comes to loud designs in my collection, not one beats “Refraction”.

It looks great on me.

It looks great on me.

When I first saw this design on DBH, I thought of the classic Pink Floyd Album cover like it.  The beam of white light begins around the back of the shirt and hits a prism on the lower left side, exploding into swaths of brilliant colors.  The brilliant design is pleasing to the eye and exciting, and makes a statement when worn.  I picked this shirt up for $14 during a sale, but at $19 this shirt is still worth every penny.

This was my first shirt from DBH and I’ll warn you, the inks on this one don’t hold up as well as store-bought and Threadless tees.  I have begun washing this shirt in dark-colors-only loads on a gentle cycle to maintain the quality.  But even a little worn out, “Refraction” is still loud and proud and easily one of my favorite shirts in my collection.

I have already shot the pictures for next week’s selection, in hopes of having T-Shirt Tuesday posted Monday night.  Until then…

1/100th of a second… again

Published
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avarhirion
on August 17, 2008
in Faith, News, Sports & Politics
. 0 Comments

Today we wrapped up Olympic swimming until 2012, and it was monumental.

Everyone and their brother are talking about Michael Phelp’s 8th Gold Medal.  And congrats to him.  I’ll let everyone else comment on that accomplishment, as I have already discussed Phelps enough here.

What was also monumental tonight was that another race was decided by 1/100th of a second, the Women’s 50m Freestyle.  Again, the result included an American.  But this time, the American got Sliver.  Still, props to Dara Torres for that Silver, she deserved it.  She is another “crazy” person by my standards, she busted out three Silver medals in her sixth Olympic appearance since 1988. But she is not why I am posting.

I am posting because of 1/100th of a second.  Because twice the difference between Gold and Silver was 1/100th of a second!  I see an inspirational poster coming on… “Make every fraction of a second count, it could be the difference between success and failure, a win or a loss, your dream accomplished or missed, Gold or Silver”.

These two races, each with the same miniscule time difference but two different outcomes, highlight how we as a people should make every moment count.  Even those 1/100ths of a second.

1/100th of a second

Published
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avarhirion
on August 16, 2008
in Faith, News, Sports & Politics
. 0 Comments

1/100th of a second was the difference between Gold and Silver in the Men’s 100m Butterfly swimming event today.  1/100 of a second made Michael Phelps more of a history making figure than ever, as he now earned his seventh gold medal in Beijing, a perfect 7 for 7 with one event left and is tied for most medals won by a single person at a single games, and he still has an event left.

western region OA gets a facelift

Published
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avarhirion
on August 15, 2008
in Scouts
. 0 Comments

One of the two areas of focus on my first attempt at blogging was related to leadership, which I had experience in due to my scouting program, called the Order of the Arrow.  I was a hugely active member of the group at a Section level, and served as W4C Section Chief in 2006.  Apparently, I was also one of the last Section Chiefs for W4C.

Yesterday, via the blog of my good friend Chad Wolver, a former Western Region Chief, I got a fresh look at the newly realigned Western Region.  I had heard rumors about an upcoming realignment, but seeing the details of it made it real.  If you can throw the feelings of shocked, excited, bittersweet, curious, and scared into a blender and set it ‘puree’ mode, and then add a proverbial cherry of hopefulness to the top, the result would be my feelings about this monumental change.

Below are two images, the first is of the current Western Region map.  The second is of the map to take effect next year.

A map of the current Western Region

A map of the current Western Region

A map of the soon to be Western Region

A map of the soon to be Western Region

At first view, there seems to be a lot in common.  But the details reveal the changes.

The first thing I noticed is also the most saddening change… the realignment comes loaded with a completely new way to designate Sections.  Instead of the W-number-letter pattern, the new Sections will be designated with a W-letter-number pattern.  This is hugely significant.  The w-number-letter pattern is as old as Sections are, 35 years to be exact.  The west has survived realignments before, but keeping the designations similar have allowed some Sections to maintain an identity for years.  Even though most Sections are only trading a lodge are two, they are also completely losing their identity, which will be difficult to rebuild and comes with a moderate to major financial impact as well.

Over the years, Sections, mine included, invested hours of time and uncountable loads of money into their brand.  Artwork, websites, web domain names, cut-and-paste materials, web networks, etc. will all need to be reset or rebuilt from the ground up.  As an simple example, the Section paid almost $100 four years ago to buy our web domain, and now over half that investment is lost.  This example seems trivial (oohh, $100), but it was one of a few I could actually measure, as most of the losses cannot be valued (ex. how can put a price on pro-bono digital artwork that now must be re-done?).

The actual realignment is not all that surprising to me, as I have been suggesting some similar changes for a while, but only in side conversations.  Some of the really large sections are split up and now smaller and more manageable, and other sections that had difficult political issues with an uneven mix of various sized lodges now seem more balanced out. These changes will add two Section Chiefs to the West, giving us more voting power at National, which should also help us all out as well, potentially yielding us more National Officers than in years past (because the last two years have been great for us).

For the changes to my area, I both heartbroken and hopeful.  For the first time in 51 years of Conclaves, Papago and Wipala Wiki will no longer be in the same Section, the realignment splits us up.  Our relationship and teamwork is as old as our Lodges are and now we are split apart, even though we are based only 100 miles from each other.  I know the Tucson/Albuquerque connection will be really positive for Papago and Yah-Tah-Hey-Si-Kess Lodges, but I fear the distance will hurt the Section’s growth… they’ll need a killer set of leaders to get them going.  I also hope that Wiki and Papago maintain a relationship despite now being in separate Sections, we did some good work together in the past.  As we say goodbye to Papago, we say hello to Tiwahe.  Wiki and Nebagamon will now be teamed with Tiwahe, which is a great Lodge thats not too far away for us.  They are based out of San Diego County, California so they bring in another huge population base to our Section.  I expect our Section will become one of the strongest in the West, because with San Diego and Phoenix and Las Vegas all in the same Section, we have lots of population to draw from and some excellent destinations for conclave.  (Who wouldn’t want to do back-to-back beach and Vegas conclaves?)

I will be a presenter at the 2008 Western Region Gathering of Chiefs and I am excited to be attending this one in particular because I will be able to discuss these changes with many Region dudes.  It will be interesting to go into detail with them about the changes.  Like I said already, I am overall hopeful for these changes and look forward to seeing the growth of the Region–that is, after some of the wounds have healed.

a new synonym for ‘beast’: Michael Phelps

Published
by
avarhirion
on August 14, 2008
in Other Crazy People
. 0 Comments
Michael Phelps in Element (via Flickr user )

Michael Phelps in his element (via Flickr user vironevaeh)

Its official. Michael Phelps is a beast. While watching him isn’t as much “Go USA!” as it is “Break another record dude!”, it is still exciting as anything else on tv right now and totally worth all the hoopla of the Olympic coverage.

I have a lot of respect for the guy. Any person who chooses to dedicate so much time and energy into one thing in their life certainly is crazy in a good way! I am also crazy as you all know, but in the super-creative-wants-to-try-lots-of-new-things-so-he’s-never-the-best-at-anything crazy, which is the exact opposite kind of crazy as Phelps, but that we’re both crazy means we have lots in common.

And that is another reason why the Olympics are so dang cool, because awesome sports like swimming, diving, and volleyball that are never on TV are actually on a major network and hella-exciting to watch!

Back on topic, I totally hope Phelps can pull it off and get 8 Golds. I’ll be rooting for you man!