"if you're going to san fran....diego,..."

me and the fam are off to San Diego tomorrow (well, today). i'll be back friday. see you then.

i forgot to the get that book from you scott. i'll get it when i get back. and congratulations.

big time.

thank you Deborah Orin

sweet merciful crap! this is the greatest article i've read in the last couple months. the topic of this article is what i've been thinking about the whole time all of this stuff about the president "lying" about the reasons for the war in Iraq. okay, so maybe there IS no connection between Saddam and Bin Laden, does that mean that there's no justification for this war? that seems to be what the media proposes. they seem to get sidetracked so often during this war. can't they see past this minor intelligence "glitch" and understand that there is a much much bigger picture here; that the Iraqis have been suffering under Saddam's rule in ways we can't even fathom and that that time is over thanks to us? yeah, i know we're held to higher standards (but why? because the Iraqis aren't capable of such ways?), but this whole prison "scandal" is so ridiculous and inconsequential in the grand scheme of this war. i say, reconsider your pow policies, give these soldiers a slap on the wrist, and move on. i heard a guy (some lawyer or politician) say soemthing along the lines of... "this will be talked about and looked at 50 years from now." that was the final straw. what a moron. SHUT UP!

here it is plain and simple:

Reporters have to face up to the fact that right now, if we highlight the wrongs that Americans commit but not — out of squeamishness — the far worse horrors committed by others, we become propaganda tools for the other side.

thank you Deborah Orin

crazy like a Firefox

for all of you out there in the market for a new web browser, i have a recommendation. Mozilla Firefox 0.9. and here are some reasons to do so (besides the fact that jeff will be you're new friend). it seems to be pretty nice and crap free. only time on the net will tell. but i say give it a whirl. jeff whittle would.

(however, currently, it does not display my blog correctly.)

oh YEAH. i'm not a big fan of online gaming, but this Matrix online game looks really awesome to me. as dumb as MMORPG's seemed to be from watching HG play, this one sounds really fun. you get to go around the matrix and gain skill and do missions and all sorts of cool stuff. i just dont think i'd be able to get my money's worth for $20/month. ah well.

p.s.

oh yeah, and i forgot to wear a belt today. so now i look like that nerdy guy who always has his shirt tucked in, but doesnt wear a belt. dangit.

and i was 6 min late to work.

the fade to bluegrass cd i got from the burkas is great. i love when someone breaks down that kind of music and brings it to you in a way in which you can hear the real musicality in the original piece.

opinon time with josh

you know, i'm getting just a bit tired of reading about how inhumane and abusive Americans are. did anyone see the beheading of Nick Berg? well i highly dont recommend it (that link is not to the video, by the way). it is unbelievably horrible image. i started to write about this a few weeks ago when i saw it, but i didn't. i really couldn't comprehend it at first, but when it finally sank in, i was enraged. i was so mad at so many people. first and foremost, at the "people" that did it. i hope they enjoy eternal damnation. he wasn't even a soldier. and secondly, at the countless people criticizing our country for its "inhumane" treatment of pow's (even though none of our pow's were harmed). yeah, the stuff those guys (and girl) did were not right. yeah, those pow's were probably extremely humiliated. but last time i checked, extreme humiliation does not even come close to matching the magnitude of beheading someone. what the hell are some of these people thinking?? i can't stand how some people are so stuck on either being liberal or conservative that they don't even recognize that the other "side" may actually be right here and there. and it happens just as much on both sides. so stupid.

and another thing, why does Michael Moore live in america? why the country he criticizes the most? why not canada? he seems to love canada. that's who funds him anyway. don't get me wrong, i think he has quite a bit of potential as a director (or at least documentarian), but i think he has an extremely tacky way of proving his point. and i really feel that he loses a lot of credibility because of that. at least for my part he does. you can see the trailer for his new movie at the link above. on that same note, here's an interesting article that seems to blow the whole point of Fahrenheit 9/11 out of the water. kind of funny. not the article, but the topic of it. yeah, his film won the highest award at cannes film festival this year. phhhh. the french. what do THEY know about movies? ...that's what i thought. (and don't tell me they invented them.)

here's a guy who disagree's with moore. actually, there are quite a few websites dedicated to fighting moore. ah well, i'll probably go see the movie (for free, of course, through my good friend billiard hammock).


okay, and now for some (non-political) links...

-10 foods to avoid

-kind of an interesting article on the evolution of blogs

-i didn't know Gmail was so sought after!


oot

i got skills. (they're multiplying.)

i got me lights on. it took me around 6 hrs to install them, but it was worth it. besides, i really enjoy doing it. (oh and i was doing it entirely by myself, so that added a lot of time to the installation.) i'm really proud if the job i did. it's nice and clean. also, the lights can't be seen, just the effects of them, which is perfect. and i'm extremely pleased with the 'white'. it looks exactly like i'd hoped. so i'm excited. (in case you didn't know, i'm refering to my neon light underbody kit.)(i'll have a picture up soon)

now i gotta fix the catapult. i got a new fulcrum. just gotta replace the bent one.

we watched the movie, Short Cuts by Robert Altman. he has an intersting way of depicting life. and it's generally never in the way you hope for/expect. we also watched Barton Fink (and early coen brothers movie). it was... not as funny as advertised. niether was Short Cuts. both claimed to be very funny and niether were. not that they weren't good movies, just that i felt mislead. but at least you can hear new ways of saying something common in a coen brothers movie. the dialogue in their movies has got to be my favorite.

did i mention the other day that i ordered Fatboy Slim's Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars", Chemical Bros' Dig Your Own Hole, and The Big Lebowski, all for $23 on amazon.com? well, i did. i've determined that all are essential for any music/movie collection.

anybody wanna go see Cake at Dancing in the District this thursday?

enter 'bored at work' post

looks like it's definitely just going to be a sunmmer of work (as opposed to a summer of fun and partying. well, i'll still have fun. i guess the partying will have to wait till fall though.) my job's going fine. it's getting harder and harder for me to sit down all day, but i make up for it in the evenings by exercising. and i drink at least 2 Liters of water everyday. and i eat a turkey and pepperjack cheese sandwich for lunch everyday. delicious. i was drinking coffee, but i've stopped that due to the necessary amount of sugar i have to put in it in order to enjoy it. Jordan's working construction. it's good for him. it'll make him appreciate jobs later on. the way i see it, he's getting paid (rather well for someone his age) to work out all day and get a tan. of course, along that same line, i'm getting paid (decently) to watch TVs all day.

i hope corey's situation improves. it sounds like it is. i can't believe the guy complained because he thought a girl was flirting with him. what a douche. i know, i know, i dont know him. i'm sure he's great. he just lacks people skills (as do others around her it seems). i think corey's a great a person, which causes me to think these other people are stupid when i hear how they act. but we have to remember, corey's the one who gets to spend the summer in New Zealand, not us. dang you, corey.

my 'missing friends from europe' seems to come in waves. as does anything i guess. (at least with me). corey said something in her blog about how hard it was going to a new country and not knowing anyone and whatnot. that challenge alone pretty much sold me on the idea of studying abroad. i loved it. if it weren't so painful being away from jesse, i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

speaking of botat, she's working with her mom nowadays and she's getting up earlier than i've ever had to. heheh. it's about time ;) i'm just glad she's working. that in itself is an answered prayer. but i haven't spent much time with her this week, so i miss her and am looking forward to this weekend. my time after work on weekdays seems to just disapear in a flash.

speaking o prayers, please keep my grandmother (my mom's mom) (and my mom and dad) in your prayers. she's been in the hospital lately with pneumonia and an unknown mass in her back. it's looking slightly better at the moment, but your prayers would be very appreciated by all of my family.

gonna fix the catapult this weekend (because the weight bent the fulcrum on the first firing). so get ready.

josh

i kind of wish i was at bonnaroo.

come get some.

now.

enter long post

well work is going alright. i'm finally getting more involved in doing stuff. i enjoy the work but it's gets a bit boring for me. maybe not so much boring as it's just really difficult for me to sit here all day. by the time i get out at 4, i feel like i'm about to explode. but i'll be doing actual traffic engineering in a week or 2. i guess by the end of the summer i'll know whether or not this is the sort of stuff i want to do when i get done with school. just a warning to all you new coffee drinkers out there: go easy on the dark stuff. you may not like the effects of it (particularly on your intestinal system). go figure. took me a week to pinpoint exactly what it was. no more of the "dark brew" for me. gonna stick to the "special roast".

stuff got a little rough with jess and i the other day, but i feel a lot better about it now. i hope she does too. i think we've come to a good solution. one that will be best for us. at least for now. man, problems get a lot tougher as a relationship furthers. seems like everyones going away. jesse's sister just went to Florida and will soon be in Thailand, "never" to return to TN. Sam is in K-burg and will soon be on her way to Hong Kong. Todd's going to Maine in a few weeks. HG, Ryan, and Hayley are going to Europe soon (phhhh... newbies.). Scotts going to... school... and then to memphis (i think?). i'm... not going anywhere. YET. and niether is jesse. yeah, it's looking less and less like i'm going to get to drive out west this summer. son of a... i was really looking forward to that. so yeah, john, i may not be out there as soon as i thought. but mark my words... now.

jesse is now employed! and she gets to go to work earlier than i! it's about time she learned what it was like to get up that early everyday. yeah. God is very good. it's a real blessing that He helps jess and i be strong for one another when it's really needed. i truly believe that there isn't a problem her and i can't work out through God's help.

operation "eat less, move more" is underway. we'll see if it's a success.

update: operation "build wicked catapult" is almost completed. oh man, this thing is gonna friggin rock. i just took the concrete weight out of it's mold. what a hog. i don't see how this thing COULDN'T work. the arm alone (without the sling) is going to swing about 11ft in the air. then add the 5ft sling at the end og that. man that's going to be some good compounded force! i hope everyone's stocking up on water ballons.

i emailed all my friends from Europe a "5 months later checkup" letter yesterday. i hope i hear back from some of them soon. i miss those guys. some of the neatest people i've ever met.

well, i guess if i write anymore you probably will get bored. ah who cares, nobody's forcing you to read this. get off me.

i enjoy chris rice's voice. and the lead jars of clay guy. if i could choose a singing voice, it's be one fo their's.

i bid on Dig Your Own Hole on ebay. i'd like a real copy of that cd. it's a great one.

oh! i talked to corey from church last night at 11:00. it was 4pm today her time, which is awesome. she sounded great. i think she's having a great time with the mission work. i wanna go to new zealand. corey said i'd like it.

later.