the dark side is a lonely place

doesnt this just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside?

"The United States, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the only major industrial country to have rejected Kyoto, has been on the defensive since the conference kicked off on Dec. 3."

via msn

additional justification

this post is to serve as additionally justifying me breaking my promise that i would post every day in december.

*sniff*

this is supposed to be a really RAD title

and the body of this blog posting is supposedly super AWESOME and RADICAL.


just imagine that, thats the whole purpose here.

lately everyone is critical

why is it that everyone around is critical of something? im to blame too. but ive been thinking about this. everyone seems critical of something. whine whine moan. on and on. it gets so tiring, so old. ive been trying to scale back my critique. in doing so i reach this point where i dont have much to say but compliments.

and the real trouble beings. some people find compliments to be critical.

...

hows that for a preface to the fact that i said i would post every day in december and havnt? call me a hypocrite. i really hope no one is too let down. in return i have this wonderful opportunity: if you send me a cash for $1000, i know these guys in nigeria who have some sort of inheritance for you.

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im super bummed i cant go see heima tomorrow night. i have a meeting. i hate meetings.
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i had a dream last night that i turned my alarm on. turns out i didnt and i slept in.
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i think it would be fun to live on a sail boat. im just not sure how lonely it would be and if i could handle it.
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does anyone make little plugs to plug into the bottom of an ipod to keep all the sensitive connections clean?
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people like to eat snow cones in the summer and summer sausage in the winter. how weird. And in the winter, when i drive by the ymca at night downtown there are like a million people all running frantically on treadmills. its hard for me to understand this. why dont they just run outside? even on perfectly nice days people run on treadmills, in their basement, watching tv. which is cool i guess...but its just ironic that they are healthy motivated people that would not have to run on treadmills if they just motivated themselves to eat a little bit less. unless they want to "be able to run" or "call themselves a runner" in which case is even more funny cause they seem to be training themselves to run on treadmills BY running on treadmills and the treadmills dont get anyone anywhere in life.
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i guess im being critical again.
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*sigh*
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i hate the long nights of winter. they are like loneliness.

and suddenly, as if someone threw a switch, he lost control of his...

bodily functions?!?!

its not even noon and ive successfully consumed six (6) giant cups of coffee.

ex caffeine aficionados know what im talking about.

if i run out of toothpaste what can i use as a replacement?

i ran out of toothpaste. in all honesty, this has never happened for more than about 6 hours. always, always do i go and get more. or, i rummage through all my backpacking and camping supplies and find some crusty small tube of crest from when i was in 8th grade and had really bad acne. apparantly, i rummage through all that stuff frequently, because last night i couldnt find anything.

really, it started on sunday. toothpaste gone. dang. i used some useful techniques to try to get just another pea size out it. (one can always get another pea size blog of paste when they really try.) and i was sucessful. so monday morning comes. again. then monday night. oh boy...better try a little harder. then teusday morning...you get the picture.

well this morning, i could not get another pea. i think i literally strained a tendon in my finger trying. i even scraped the paste out from inside the opening...nothing left today though.

what an interesting experience. the things we take advantage of. does anyone have any idea how discomforting it is to not be able to have toothpaste? ive had thoughts today of using handsoap, comet, dishwasher detergent, baking soda. the list goes on. ive concluded that dishwasher soap would probably work the best. but baking soda would taste best. ive even thought about getting some mint flavoring, mixing it up with baking soda and viola! maybe tonight... if i still dont go to the store.

meanwhile, here is a good article: the media and mass murder.

i like'em real thick and red lettered...

...you cant find nothing better.

the Godtube. heard of it? i just did. without expressing any personal views on the website, i would like to direct you to some of the content of Godtube:

baby got book:


pretty awesome eh!

"a word to the Christian sistas: i cant resist ya"

so everybody's doing it

i like december cause a lot of people post pictures every day. i would hate to hold out. but really, im not in to taking pictures lately. but i do like words. so ill try to write a bit each day. bits about random thoughts, good songs, fun youtube, amazingness and horses.

random thoughts:
-why can't they fix daylight savings? i hate going home when its dark
-i decided im a carnivore - the opposite of a vegetarian: the texture of lettuce makes me want to barf and i get sick.
-gmail has been in beta for a really long time, are they going to make it alpha then require a membership fee?
-is there a place in the world where one does not have to pay property taxes? i would like to retire and not have to pay anything to anyone.
-i plugged my tv into the cable jack the other night to see what would happen. turns out i get a free 85 channels of cable. some things are freee!

good songs & good youtube videos in one:
bands that come up with lines like: "do they smoke grass in outerspace or do they smoke astro-turf" and " too many mutha uckas uckin' with my shi-" are very enjoyable to me. see the following videos by the great flight of the conchords. (oh and the last one is David Bowie's Space Oddity (a brilliant song i might add))

the auto industry is like the devil

Conspiracist over here! me! *raises hand*

ive long time believed and have preached that the folks behind the auto industry are like devils. they intentionally build crappy cars that are intended to break. AND they intentionally do not make the cars fuel efficient.

the reasons are simple: (1) if cars keep on breaking, mechanics will have jobs, so will places like autozone, napa auto parts, sears, etc. furthermore, the auto industry can keep on selling more and more cars. people think they need a new car when its like 5 years old! just think about the modern stigma attached to a car: 80,000 = time to get a new car. thats bull. to prove it, i keep on driving my truck (keep fixing minor things myself) and its got 230,000 miles so far. people are amazed by that, but im not. engines should be able to go a long long time if properly maintained.

and reason (2): the oil industry and the auto industry are lovers. its simple. the oil industry pays the auto industry tons and tons of money to keep all the cars out there from being more efficient. obviously, if they are less efficient, the oil industry makes more money. the government is in on the deal too. as you read below ask yourself why the EPA has not changed the minimum fuel economy standards..?

i heard a story one time thats true about this guy in texas who designed a carburetor for his old ford torino (or something like that) and it got like 70 miles per gallon. then he got it patented. you know what happened? well, Ford stopped over, bought the guy a few drinks and offered to buy the patent for some obscene amount of money. the dude sold. Ford took that patent and probably filed it away in a safe place so no one would ever use it. sure as hell they would.

so this morning, i was reading this article about the gov wanting to up the efficiency standards on cars and trucks by 40%. thats awesome! here's what is says:

An agreement among congressional Democrats to support a 40 percent increase in U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency by 2020 has been hailed as an historic step by both environmentalists and the automotive industry.

Did you know that since 1990 (thats 18 years!) the EPA standard on fuel efficiency has been stuck at 27.5 mpg!!! thats ridiculous. eighteen years. so with this new deal, it would be raised to 35 mpg. thats not too bad. in fact, "it would save consumers $25 billion at the pump, based on gas costing $2.50 a gallon, and it would reduce the nation’s oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels a day" (i wonder who has been pocketing that 25 Billion thus far?)

anyways, i kept reading the article and came accross this statement:

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said Monday that the automaker would be able to meet the new, tougher requirements without having to abandon any of its lower-mileage truck or SUV lines.

BAM!! Caught in the act!! You know what Alan is saying? He is saying that they have the technology (and the patents) to make some pretty efficient cars. its no problem. all the existing Ford Excursions...they just need to swap out a few parts and boom! 40 mpg.

oh...this really upsets me. really.

im not being treated fairly

on strike

Ecclesiastes 1:3

What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?

wesley's Notes say this:

What profit - What real and abiding benefit? None at all. All is unprofitable as to the attainment of that happiness which all men are enquiring after. His labour - Heb. his toilsome labour, both of body and mind in the pursuit of riches, or pleasures, or other earthly things. Under the sun - In all worldly matters, which are usually transacted in the day time, or by the light of the sun. By this restriction he implies that the happiness which in vain is sought for in this lower world, is really to be found in heavenly places and things.

well thats it then. im going home.

but then in 2:14 it says:
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

and in 5:8
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.

oh dang. i better stay.

(i think about these verses often.)

best quote ive heard in a while:

"Young people spend too much time indoors and spending time indoors leads to them being consumed with thoughts of sex. People need to get out-of-doors, to experience the out-of-doors and to learn in the -out-of-doors. The out-of-doors allows the mind to expand to other thoughts..."

via from the rooftop

peace on earth and stuff

Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album is coming out tomorrow. you can download it for $7. dmr free. it doesnt get much better than that. oh, other than the following are contributing to the album:

Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
American Music Club
Aaron Robinson
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Sleeptalker
Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin
TW Walsh
Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie
The Winston Jazz Routine
The Long Winters
Rosie Thomas
Great Lake Swimmers
David Karsten Daniels
Via Audio
Quiet Company
The Cotton Jones Basket Ride (Michael Nau of Page France)


from its hard to find a friend
oh, and while youre there, be sure you download a live show by david bazan for free here

this looks ridiculously fun

and ridiculously dangerous

project BAM! 7

Boka is a great Djembe player. The Djembe is a great drum.

organs, crosses, and mandalas

oh boy! first-plymouth congregational church is having a big auction in their church. they're selling crosses. as if turning God' s building into a marketplace isnt bad enough. lets sell our icons and ideology.

and may i remind you: first plymouth has one of the most grand organs for hundreds of miles. (photos from here and here) i will admit, when i was in the men's glee choir and sang beneath these pipes, i had chills running down my spine for about 20 minutes. awesome. (make sure you listen to it here)










































though i tend to side with presbyteer concerning the correlation between a church's understanding/clarity of the gospel and the size of their organ. (see his graph below)























the fun part about this story, is that its ties into tradition. tradition and stigma has it that a church needs to have a big gran ol organ. with Fat sound. true.

but these things cost money. a lot of money. like half a mill (ref). funny that a church with a half a mill organ needs to use their place of worship to sell crosses. but anyways...

its time to break out of tradition. i would LOVE to see a church use a Nord C1 Combo Organ with a sweet set of speakers. Nord's are notoriously good at replicating many different organ and keyboard sounds. For a fraction of the cost. my roomate has a nord electro, i have a fender rhodes from the 70's; the other night we got the nord to sound exactly like the rhodes. seriously. if i were cool, i would put sound bits up. but im not.

anybody want to split a cabin with me?

one thing ive longed for since i was about 8 - it was around that time when i read Hatchet - was to have land in the middle of the forest. the wilderness. i cannot even begin to explain the excitement my heart feels when i start thinking about this. just a little plot with a million trees, maybe some water and a cabin that i will build myself. then there will be the trails. miles and miles of trails going everywhere. yes...this would be nice.

it starts with things like the land for alaskans program

so if anyone wants in. check out the following sites for some plots. we could be neighbors or something.
alaska state land offerings
University of alaska land management

clever kids

One Halloween a trick-or-treater came to my door dressed as 'Rocky' in boxing gloves and satin shorts. Soon after I gave him some goodies, he returned for more.

"Aren't you the same 'Rocky' who left my doorstep a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but now I'm the sequel. I'll be back three more times tonight too."

san diego county fires

link