Question your sources, step back and never inherently trust pictures.

So, we're nearing the final months before elections take place, and people are ganging up on each other trying to sway the public opinion.  It's a great show of how democracy is being lauded as a positively proper system of government as long as your opinion is the same as mine otherwise you are an idiot that wants to kill the country, eat babies and destroy the environment.

Obviously this is an over exaggeration of how things are, except when it's not.
A lot of people are trying their best to ensure that those who are undecided suddenly hit enlightenment, and those who have more of a decision made shoot for clairvoyance status and can positively without a doubt SHOW how bad things will NOT suddenly happen once their candidate is elected.

When I was back in High-school I had a wonderful history teacher, he made classes fun (for me), hilarious debates (at least for me) and gave very good lessons for how to deal with History (as a subject) and life for us.

One thing that simply stuck with me, is this "never just trust a picture and ALWAYS question sources".

It's simple, lacking context, you can make a picture show anything you want.  

 Take the picture above as an example, I did a minor survey of the "what's going on there?" sort.
From the people I queried, I had various responses, one said "An African American struggling with a man on the floor", Another one said "She's protecting the man", and as far as we can tell neither is wrong.

The real situation is explained on this article, if you don't care about clicking, she's actually protecting him from getting beaten up by the mob, but FROM the picture we can't tell accurately what happened, except that there's a mob, a rally, and two people on the floor one CLEARLY worried.

BBC will help you get context of it, on that particular instance.

Now, in my country, people are putting pictures with no context as clear examples of an "evil" thing candidates may have done or how badly they upheld their public positions or other stuff.

Pictures lack context, this one is an example:

The argument is, that the municipality did a lousy job of cleaning the city, and that this is a clear example of lack of public office follow through.

While that may be the case, I see a ton of trash on the street that was clearly put there by citizens living (or working) on that particular block.  I see a lack of civility or neighbourly duty as well in regards to how to deal with solid wastes.

Other than that, I don't know if the truck was just about to pick it up, if the collections department was on strike, if the trash had been there for more than a minute or, which is the case A LOT of the time when dealing with political parties, this picture was staged.

But lacking context, I can't use that picture as an example of who NOT to vote for, there are plenty of BETTER examples out there right now, should people care to read, but this picture?  Not really useful at all.

Lacking this context, or information making a valued (and valuable decision) is quite nigh on impossible, so please, IF you decide to vote, cast a ballot and participate in a democratic exercise:

Again that's just my opinion, I could be wrong...

(that last line, I stole from Dennis Miller :P)

Paternal preconceptions and normality as apathic behavior

As some of you may be aware, I am a dad (still working on making it Dad with capital D, but it's all in the cards).

My son is the most wonderful gift I have been given, and quite an example for me of interest, growth and self drive, he does however have certain "particulars" which make it hard for him to relate to other kids, and adults alike.

Years ago we found out that he had, what at the time was diagnosed as "Asperger's Syndrome", back then, it was considered by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as a separate Syndrome, now it's just part of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder and is qualified as one of many areas on the severity scale.

In simple terms, he has a hard time socializing and interacting.

So, we take good care of what he does, and how he reacts, a few days ago, he came home with a note, he punched somebody and bloodied their lip.

Of course, as concerned parents we worried about the situation, he told us that yes he had punched them and that was about it.
So we apologized to the kid's parent's and told the teacher about our work-plan to make it better.

Yesterday at therapy we took up the subject again with the Therapist (lovely woman that I recommend highly), and I expanded on it from what Jr told me had happened, apparently he punched the kid because they were teasing and otherwise mistreating another infant.

The therapist said "that's totally expected, kid's with this type of syndrome, do not deal well with injustice, and they will react explosively".

That made me think hard, and well, should we ALL not react the same way?  You know maybe not punching people, but interfering and acting so that the action, injustice or otherwise abuse is stopped?

We're dealing with Jr's acts a step at a time, but really, is standing by and letting others be trampled on, and abused the norm now?  Are we so far disconnected from our fellow people that it's "normal" to let them be?

In my case, I rather not walk away, and do something, I remember my grand-dad telling me we should always step in and act fairly and ensure that others are not oppressed or abused, that the little ones, be them children or defenseless people, NEED us to step in.

I was reminded of course of a passage in "Ender's Game", where Ender is bullied and reacts accordingly.  As kids are about to gang up on him, he makes a decision to fight in such a way and defend himself so that others will really think long and hard before bullying him again:

  Can't think of anything to answer. Anything I say will make it worse. So will saying nothing.
 
  "Hey, Third, hey, turd, you flunked out, huh? Thought you were better than us, but you lost your little birdie, Thirdie, got a bandaid on your neck."
 
  "Are you going to let me through?" Ender asked.
 
  "Are we going to let him through? Should we let him through?" They all laughed. "Sure we'll let you through. First we'll let your arm through, then your butt through, then maybe a piece of your knee."
 
  The others chimed in now. "Lost your birdie, Thirdie.  Lost your birdie, Thirdie."
 
  Stilson began pushing him with one hand, someone behind him then pushed him toward Stilson.
 
  "See-saw, marjorie daw," somebody said.
 
  "Tennis!"
 
  "Ping-pong!"
 
  This would not have a happy ending. So Ender decided that he'd rather not be the unhappiest at the end. The next time Stilson's arm came out to push him, Ender grabbed at it. He missed.
 
  "Oh, gonna fight me, huh? Gonna fight me, Thirdie?"
 
  The people behind Ender grabbed at him, to hold him.
 
  Ender did not feel like laughing, but he laughed. "You mean it takes this many of you to fight one Third?"
 
  "We're people, not Thirds, turd face. You're about as strong as a fart!"
 
  But they let go of him. And as soon as they did, Ender kicked out high and hard, catching Stilson square in the breastbone. He dropped. It took Ender by surprise he hadn't thought to put Stilson on the ground with one kick. It didn't occur to him that Stilson didn't take a fight like this seriously, that he wasn't prepared for a truly desperate blow.
 
  For a moment, the others backed away and Stilson lay motionless. They were all wondering if he was dead. Ender, however, was trying to figure out a way to forestall vengeance. To keep them from taking him in a pack tomorrow. I have to win this now, and for all time, or I'll fight it every day and it will get worse and worse.

I am sure the execution wasn't the best possible scenario, we will definitely make sure that he tones it down accordingly, but I can't really fault Jr for stepping in, maybe if we all did, life would be different for those being bullied.

Presidential Postulates and Pricing in the Periphery.

So, as I posted on FB a few Days ago, election season and political fever have invaded my usually peaceful neck of the universe.

In the tiniest part of the spiral Galaxy I live in, people's fervor towards certain rituals is unregulated and spontaneous, mostly because "freedom", so everyone has an opinion (mostly the same as a lot of others, but NEVER call them sheeple) and the sanctimonious impetus they have when sharing it is deafening at times.

Just like astrology, finding the best political candidate takes a lot of guesswork (it really shouldn't but you would not be able to see this from the way some people react and apply their feelings into what, should be a mathematical postulate at times (not always though).

So, from my limited stay on this here third rock, I have come to identify various ways in which people choose a candidate of their liking:

• Hereditary, these are the people that just vote for whoever their parent's taught them to vote
• Utterly and illogically biased, these are those that have no clue who to vote for, yet decide to exercise the right to select the next president of the country based on "he's cute", "she's a woman", "he's the one with the TV show" etc.
• Gut feeling, having never really studied politics, these wondrous and adventurous individuals just trust their gut "feels right" is something you hear a lot here
• Self identification, the candidate reminds me of something I once liked in the past and I'll just go with that
• Scholarly voters are pretty much people that DO NOT adhere to a single party, but will study, review, understand and SELECT the choice that best applies to what they believe the future of the country should be

There may be one or two more categories, but I feel those above cover most of what I've seen.

People in Latin America like a 'people' person, we're very outgoing (mostly), talkative (sometimes), grounded (this is really being eroded lately) and having someone that feels like he's "people" and not just a figure head is what a lot of the citizens want.

So, it's not surprising when two days ago, a lot of the opinions towards the selection of the next president seems to be based off knowing or not, how much groceries cost in the open market.

I read a story once, Assimov's "The Franchise".  In the FAR FAR away future of 2008, indirect voting was taken to the extreme, you had a "Voter of the Year", and ONE person decided who the president would be.

From Wikipedia:

In the future, the United States has converted to an "electronic democracy" where the computer Multivac selects a single person to answer a number of questions. Multivac will then use the answers and other data to determine what the results of an election would be, avoiding the need for an actual election to be held.

I left those links there in case anyone wants to learn more about democracy and elections.

The funny part is, the actual questions that Norman Answers, have to do with cost of food, cost of living, and stuff like that, but the this one stuck to me pretty solidly, as it was well, here's the line from the book:

"The one question Norman could remember at the moment was an incongruously gossipy: "What do you think of the price of eggs?""

 

That's precisely what a lot of people are basing decisions on, if a candidate knew or not the price of groceries.

 

There being millions of factors you could abide by to choose a person to lead the country, the biggest news now, is basically Gossip.

 

I am not defending the ignorance of any particular candidate (most didn't know and one decided NOT to answer a single question), but seriously?  This is what a lot of people want for our country's future?  

 

We have, at the moment a female president and  NO ONE is asking out there why there are no female candidates at this point.

 

We do have a younger candidate, among the miriad of rehashed past hopefuls, and one or two newcomers that were dropped into the position after a circus fanfare to rival Roman Coliseums shows.

 

But we really are not looking for a proper president, we seem to be looking for whether or not he's "one of us".

 

 

Turn, turn, turn... Or how people don't live the moment but await the date.

When I was an itty-bitty baby, like 3 or so, my mom took me to the amusement park.  She took me lots of times afterwards but THIS one stuck on my mind (and 30 years is quite a memory marker), so I want to share with all of you.

So, we're at the Amusement Park, and we go through the gate, this is not like Disney World or anything, back then it was like (for you outside CR) a VERY big state fair that never went away.  EVER.

So, they had all these rides for children and some for grown ups, it was (back then) mostly for the kids.

So again I go through the gate to this magical place and I see for the first time ever, all these rides, it was just amazing.

We had a Ferris Wheel, we had little "lady-bug" rides, a carrousel, a rollercoaster that was SCARY (the scariest thing is it is still running), and a whole bunch of other rides.

So I jumped in on the first one, and while I was riding the carrousel, I was looking at the next ride, joyfully awaiting the moment the carrousel stopped and I was able to run and queue up for the bumper cars; once on the bumper cars, same thing, I wanted to just finish fast so I could go to the ride-boats.

My mom took me aside of course (mostly because she didn't want to run from ride to ride, but also to give me one of the greatest lessons ever) and said "You aren't really enjoying yourself on the rides because you are waiting to jump on the next one, you're missing the MOMENT!"

Back then it really didn't mean much to me, it was just a "OK slow down and enjoy THIS ride, once off, I'll figure out what comes next", but little by little her words started to sink in and give me more context.

These days, I extrapolate a bit more.  Maybe it's just because I've grown older, but I highly doubt it.  Lately I see people (not just commerce) RUSHING towards the holidays, and by holidays I mean Christmas.

As far back as August I saw people on Facebook asking if it's too soon to start putting up ornaments because they "JUST LOVE Christmas". 

AUGUST guys, AUGUST.  FOUR months ahead. 

I've even heard of people Caroling already, you know singing Christmas Songs, in OCTOBER.

I hear some say that it's because in Latin America, we don't really have holidays between September and December (that said most of Central America Celebrates independence in September but I digress), but damn it people, by the time December comes your tree will be wilted, you will seriously want to murder someone for singing Carols, and the gifts will have probably got up and found a different family to be delivered to.

Yes, I LIKE Christmas, I enjoy Christmas, but things have a time, a place and a proper setting.

Enjoy your moments people, they don't come back, and once you fast forward to the places you "love" and miss those "less special", you are the only one to blame when you fail to grow from experiences, living ahead of your time, and enjoying none of it and this is precisely what you pass down to your children, a feeling of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and not living IT.

Perfect Perception of Possible Scenarios.

As some of you may have noticed, that is you are there to notice (if a person blogs in the forest and there's no one to read it do people even notice?)... I have been writing a bit about me, how I feel and my parents.

It's therapeutic and it does shed some light on things that I see, and live daily.

That's not all there is though, I have been writing to find my centre, my precise spot of comfort, they say that the only way to get good at writing is to do it daily and often, hey no matter how lousy you are, if you can engage just ONE person, you can definitely make a difference; so I am making a habit of writing.

I also write in the off-chance that it will create some sort of enlightening circumstance in my day where something I put here, will actually make me write some more about different things.

Right now, it's mostly thoughts on "paper", I believe on this as a journal, so while I may not put life changing thoughts here, it is indeed a mind-dump of my personal life.

I write in order to make myself a better dad as well, I look back on my experiences with my parents, and I try to gain an insight on what it was that made them such great parents, at least according to my experience of course.

I do this, in order to really make a difference on my son as well.

As some of you may know, I am a first time parent, while I am 33, this whole experience of caring for a little human being is a completely alien and horrifying scenario at times.

So, I want to be better and more than that, the best I can be at it.

I read a few blogs a day, and today, I read this on the Art of Manliness about how "The Child is the Father to the Man", if you have a few minutes, go ahead and give it a read.

So, I've always thought that whatever upbringing you have, whatever choices your parents made, and how you learn to react to them, will mould the person and practical Grown human being you end up being.

With my son, my approach is that of a friendly father figure, I don't know the "stern driver" of a Dad doesn't quite suit with me.

We do things together, and I do things FOR him, while I teach (or try to) how and why I do things and take decisions.

He is 7 though, so following my train of thought is not always that straight forward (that may also be because sometimes I can't even follow where I started or ended up with the idea myself), but it's a fun exercise.

A few days ago, we had our Independence Day celebration, I am not the most nationalist person in this country.  BY FAR not the right person to teach how to love this country.  I like it, don't get me wrong, but I've been exposed to the fallacies of politics and the idiotic behaviour of steadfast nationalist bigots, to know that it's not in me to try and sell that to a child.

But it's also my civic duty to do so, and I may as well do things right for him and future generations.

So, this weekend we made a "farolito".  You know how you get fireworks commemorating the rockets and the fighting that the US went for on their fight for independence?  Well, here we actually make lanterns in remembrance of how hard it was back in the 1800s to get a message through the whole of Central America of independence.  People walked, rode horses, mules or whatever they could find with torches or lanterns to light their way.  So the WHOLE celebration has a runner with the Torch of Independence going through the country, and the kids, well the kids celebrate with their own version of it.

Over the years, it has gotten more and more elaborate, back when I was a child, it was good common place to just have a simple lantern with a candle inside, and we used to march through the street on the 14th of September with our lanterns and sing the national Anthem.

These days schools STILL ask us to make the lanterns (some are even ok with store bought though) and for the family to go to school and celebrate.

So, being the way I am, I dove into it wholeheartedly.  You know, for Jr.

Coffee, cutting mat and materials

Ideally, this would not have been a coffee fueled binge of creativity, but as luck would have it, I though Jr was going away for the weekend and that assistance WAS NOT mandatory.  I was wrong on both accounts and it was all for the better to be honest. 

Deep in the realms of Cutting on board...

I decided to go with an "adobe house" or what people believe was the custom here ages ago (about 192 years ago if you go by independence date).  I like making things with my hands, and I like to believe myself to be meticulous in the undertakings, so I did it to scale, 1:50.  Totally unnecessary as it was just supposed to be lighted up later, but I can't help it, I couldn't just build it haphazardly.

AS such though I didn't want to do it all alone, after all this is a family task, so Jr did the painting and colouring  bit messy, but all his!

Indeed we had a bit of fun on that (to be honest I cringed at the thought of it being less than perfect but I'm learning about this parenting thing as I go as I mentioned).

Light off final house

With our little "torch" light inside

In the end of course it was his face which lit the brightest, I still don't know if I am doing everything right, I actually think I am not going "by the book" on a lot of these things, but I am learning and pushing myself at it.

To do things with our hands is in reality what separates us from animals, our use of tools and our creative ability.  To squander that gift just because stores sell things, I believe is one of our gravest mistakes; and one I hope he doesn't make.  But this is definitely something I need to preach by example, only by doing can I show him the need and the satisfaction of it.

“What a man knows should find its expression in what he does. The value of superior knowledge is chiefly in that it leads to a performing manhood.” –Christian Nestell Bovee

So, if I want for my son to be a great father as a boy to himself as an adult, I must act and perform that way myself, as such he is also, as a boy, a father to me; in a way that I learn from him by performing, and doing myself, and hoping that "my best" is indeed good enough.

Presentable Paranoia and Simple misunderstandings

So, here's this thing, you know how sometimes you think there's nothing you can do to make amends, that is you messed up and things simply don't seem to get any better no matter what you say?

Well, I sometimes get that without saying or doing anything really, I just worry about what people will say or think over stuff I may have done which no one has complained about at all but still makes me worry.

Sometimes it's as simple as something I said that may be misunderstood, other times is the way I act which may be misconstrued at a different level and people will react to it in ways that are simply randomly selected out of their OWN messed up Psyche.

We all suffer from Paranoia a bit, we all worry needlessly over certain behaviours which could be left alone and no one would bat an eye, but sometimes we seek that final confirmation that we can make things better.

And, just like that, by asking; we make them all the worse.

See, if people didn't notice you saying something offensive, the reality is, that if you ASK about it, they will end up noticing it all the more.  If they were just acting like they didn't notice, well then, you JUST confirmed it to them.

So, which one is better, act the fool, or just come out and say things straight?  Depends on the outcome you want.  If you GENUINELY and unequivocally require to make amends, go for the kill and the question, but that may not fix anything at all.

Why do I go about this?

It's simple, while I was born in a Latin country, where Spanish is THE main form of communication, my use of it is haphazard at best.

I have been thinking and talking in English long enough that the 1st meaning of any word I utter, is the English variant and that leads to all sorts of weird outcomes when speaking with people that MAINLY use Spanish.  It's not at total lack of communication, but it does yield some impressive misunderstandings.

As is my nature, I ask about this, and more often than not, end up making a bigger thing out of something no one would have noticed.

It's fun sometimes though, I am separated from others by a common language and hilarity ensues.

Vacations, Vacant Memories, and Vague Dreams

This post will have less pictures that some of my other ones,  the Scanner is stuck in a box somewhere and well... I don't want to take grainy pictures of pictures with my phone just so I can post them here, so... Not many pictures, or at least not the pictures I have at hand.

A lot of this post will have to take place in your imagination as well, I guess I'll have to be quite more descriptive for that to happen, so I'll do my best to be a decent writer and create the environment.

September, has always been a transitioning month for me, back in Highschool, while not starting classes back then (our schedule is a bit off from the US, our School year starts in Feb-March), we did have a new set of activities, the year changed, Exams started and on September 1st, my dad's birthday came on.

I loved his Birthday, it was always full of people and happiness and cooking.

His last birthday, the one we spent together before he passed away, was a weird affair though.

My Dad, well, step-dad had a family before me and my mom, cool people, we don't get along though, and that Birthday they asked him to go and see them early and spend time with them, so he felt maybe, it would be nice, and we cancelled our plans.  Weren't really going to do anything for it, we'd wait a few days.

Turns out the "noble gesture" was asking him early so he could pick up the shirt they got him as a present so they ALL could go to the beach without him.

My dad was a bit broken up about it.  Back then I was 20, so, 13 years ago, I didn't have a job outside of working with my family (that is him and my mom) and my salary was pretty much enough to go out sometimes and chill, but not exorbitant.

Hearing that my dad was going to spend a birthday without celebrating was something I would not stand for, I called in a LOT of favours, and managed to get us into a restaurant that had JUST opened (it was opening night), so, me, my mom and my girlfriend celebrated all out as Rock Stars on that new Fusion restaurant.

Then, after that, we went to the casino and had a grand time, he even made a killing on the floor as well.  He cried for a while and we got really emotional about it, that was our last birthday together, while I didn't know THAT at the time, I felt that this was the least we could do for each other, be happy, enjoy life, and face it together as well.

Ever since his passing, September, and September 1st to be honest are weird hard months for me.  It used to be that they were hard on me and my mom, but, as luck would have it, she's not here anymore either.

6 Months now, six months have passed since my mom left us, and it ended up being that THIS September both dates would hit me harder than expected.

So it didn't surprise me when come September (1st at that) I woke up with a face covered in tears.

Why was that you'd say?  Well you would if you were real and sitting in front of me.  Maybe, as it stands you are a screen full of text right now and not capable of retort.  So, well, you did say it anyway, stop being picky.

I had a dream about my parent's.  It was weird in the way dreams tend to be weird, so stuff was out of place but not so much so that bending Physics, reality and the overall structure of the universe WASN'T weird.

In this dream, I had somehow attained a time machine, and managed to meet my parent's at one of their vacation spots, I believe it was Dominican Republic, or Jamaica.  Definitely the Caribbean.

So, there I was, at a bar on top of the Sea it was on a bay, and they had built right on top of the ocean, people swam to it and climbed a ladder onto the bar.


So there I was, feeling like a cool Bond Character type, when I see them, walking up the beach, hand in hand, all smiles and happiness like I remember them, in love and totally in control I guess.

They didn't recognise me, of course they wouldn't know me as I am now (or so my dream self thought), and we struck a conversation.  Emotional as I was in the dream, it never prepared me for what continued, as not only did we strike a conversation, but we became friendly to each other.

Here's the thing, I always was friends with them while they were alive, but to feel their acknowledgement, and to know that if life had not been as kind to me as it was, and had I been born of other parents I could STILL have been their friend?  That just did me in.

We struck our good byes, and farewells, and I saw them leave, and here is where I woke, face full of tears, and a heart sunk inside me.  Not only do I miss my parents, I miss our friendship.  I miss our closeness.

Sometimes, I wish, I could just let it all Pass, and wake when September ends...

Factual Truth above all... or why I argue with my self?

I know that there is nothing better than the feeling that not only are we right, but people agree with us and that makes it THE TRUTH.

But, a couple of things will definitely put a damper on it, one of them being reality.
Our opinion, is nothing more than that a coherent array of thoughts put together out of our own volition due to terminology, definitions and experiences that while, sometimes shared by others, is still OUR very own.

Going online we are bombarded every day with information from all the types of sources you can imagine, some legitimate, some not, a lot simply are there for the shock factor, and our own upbringing will easily play a part to which ones we decide to align with.

Confirmation bias is a powerful crutch.

Confirmation bias has been described as an internal "yes man"

I have been reading some post by friends, family, and just overall internet people (a sub-human interdependent state that is acquired through anonymity and the desire to be noticed), where people just go on an "I told you so GUYS! See? I was right, this article says I was and all of you weren't!!" tirade that is overwhelming to say the least.

A few months ago, a very "devout" catholic friend of mine posted a link to what appeared to be a Gay youth leader in France that was vehemently opposing the Civil Union of same sex couples as something he deemed unnecessary and "evil".

As you can imagine there are HUNDREDS of thousands of pages that may disagree with that, but he was quite proud of finding a GAY person moving against Gay marriage in France.

Another friend of mine pointed me to a female friend of hers, that found a girl who was raised by a Gay Father that totally despised and abhorred the idea that other children would have to put up with what she did, her father paraded men into the household sometimes even neglecting his children in lieu of this.

Neither of those are really anything more than people having an opinion and finding someone that agrees with them if, at all for the wrong reasons, the Gay activist fighting against Gay Marriage is doing it out of a Religious reason, not particularly because he thinks Gay people should not be together.

The girl is arguing that her PROMISCUOUS and aloof father was a bad influence for her but that would have been the case whether he was straight or not.

Today, I see someone posting an article about how marihuana DOES INDEED cause memory issues and how it should not be legalized EVAH!...

"Hey look, man, I made a bong out of my HEAD! Put the pot in this ear and suck it out of this one, go on take a hit!" -Denis Leary

Right, again confirmation bias, he hates it, he hates all types of drugs, and found the one article that agrees with his point of view.

Replace Creationist for Biased and we're GOLD!

We all do it mind you, I rather read literature that is more akin to my point of view that that which blatantly disagrees with what I like, but, I am open to peer review.

One of the things I enjoy the most out of the scientific method is that when we formulate a hypothesis, we are always prepared to have it DIS-proven as easily as proven.  Ego of course gets in the way, as it does with everything, but we are more likely to get clearer reasoning and proof this way.

I have though, been seeing a LOT more people just run wild with a "conclusion" and then seek facts to make their conclusion stand, albeit shakily so that they can look down on others.

I am not saying Guava does not cure Cancer, but using an article that came through email where the "JohN HOpskings Hospital" (sic) said that Chemotherapy was a hoax, is totally ludicrous, if you firmly believe Cancer can be cured with fruit and a balanced diet that is your prerogative, but using a clearly fabricated lie to support it, will definitely reduce credibility to your arguments.

Take time and question what you read, look at alternate sources (reputable sources if possible!) and investigate.  Taking information at face value causes a lot more issues than researching for 10 more minutes; after all, Nazi Germany found studies where the Übermensch were a "proven" reality, and we all know how THAT turned out...

let's all mindlessly complain about things that are actually good

HOW DARE a corporation charge for parking?

So, I went today to one of the Malls in the area, it's quite simply one of the most transited malls in my zone, and seriously one where people feel they should "hang out".

They decided to institute a new thing (as, I might add, most shopping centers now) which is mandatory parking charges; this is regardless of parking underground or not; underground parking was always charged for at a cost of ABOUT $0.75 an hour, and people (I know I did) gladly paid for it as cars were safer, secure and most importantly not at the mercy of the elements.

Now, they want to charge for the privilege of parking anywhere near the premises; and I am not only OK with that I agree wholeheartedly and welcome it.

Another mall did it, and people complained to the high heavens, I am actually amazed that they didn't go on strikes and boycotted the mall.  All because NO ONE wanted to pay $0.60 for 4 hours of parking.

Here's what people don't get.

"sorry bub, even though we saw everything, we're not responsible"

Free parking was never free.  You were welcome to worry as much as you wanted about your car getting burglarized, bumped into, crashed or vandalized before and the administration of the shopping centers shrugged off and said "well, it's free parking, we're not to blame or even have any responsibility in this matter".

Now, they are charging for the parking, NOW they can't just shrug and say "not my problem" anymore, not IT IS THEIR goddamn problem.

I welcome the extra charge, if this means that I drive up to a mall and CAN ACTUALLY park near an entrance because hundreds of non-consumer mall rats have no place to go now that daddy or mommy can't afford the $0.50 cents of parking, THAT makes me happy.

You go to a temple of consumerism and expect NOT to pay while walking around the hallways aimlessly and without any purpose?  Jesus people there are actually paying customers that have to turn around after 20 minutes because parking is just not an option.

I drove there today, it was BEAUTIFUL, they haven't started charging yet, but the gates are there, that's a deterrent for the vagrants if I've seen any.

Maybe I'm pushing it, but if you don't want to pay, don't go!

Will the Mall lose customers?  Not really, no, it will lose non-consumers, it will make sure that the people that go there actually are planning on staying with a purpose, and more importantly it will certifiably improve security for those of us who are quite willing to cough up the candy-bar worth of parking charges that come with it.

Breaking of unbreakable

I like super hero movies. Ages ago I would never have even allowed myself to acknowledge that. I mean super hero movies were cheesy. Awful and a quick way to sell toy licenses that had nothing to do with the actual movie. 

Then along came a movie that was as much about sure heroes as The Village was about technology. 

Sure. Shyamalaman's movies weren't the best of their kind and it came to be expected for them to ALWAYS have a twist ending. They got more about the twist than the content, but unbreakable (in my eyes) was a completely different thing. 

It was a good super hero origin story for our new urban settings. 

Spoilers ahead for a 13 year old film (seriously?)

Average Joe is presented with a fantastic story about why he's so lucky and is never really sick, injured or why seems to know how people will act. 

Of course he doesn't buy it. Not at first. Not totally. 

But as the movie progresses it's less about him believing he is truly Unbreakable and more about he WANTS to be this hero. This person his son looks up to. Someone that can really make a difference. 

See, if you are a parent, and mainly a father, you know where I am coming from. Our sons worship the ground we walk on. 

Things we do?  It's magic to them and if not magic it's something NO OTHER human being can out perform!

Our children want to believe we are there to save the world, or at least everything that is THEIR world, and we more often than not, are definitely there to comply. 

So, why do I like it so much?  Because I really want to be that same hero some day, the person he looks up to. I may not be unbreakable but I sure as hell won't let him know I am not!

The origin of this hero?  That need to make the world better for our children. That's what unbreakable was about for me. Making them believe again. 

As bad as the movie was, in a lot of senses it was outstanding to me. 

A bittersweet symphony of the senses...

I was a weird kid.

Screw you guys, I was HIP!

NO no, I'm sure you'll say "we were all weird kids"... Oh, ok, so no, you agreed, well yeah I was a weird kid.

Sure enough I became a weird adult too, but I pass off as normal for a lot of people, so ... 

Back to the story, I was a weird kid, I didn't eat a lot of foods, and not because of lacking exposure, my mom tried ALL methods possible to have me eat new things...

Once she resorted to outright deceit tactics. See I hated "frijoles", I thought any food that was black could under NO circumstances be good for you. So, what does she go and do?  Got rid of the black beans and proceeded to present them as 'Beans' and they were all nice and shiny red.  Took me a while to catch on, by then it was a bit late to complain.

So, where was I?  Oh yes, Bittersweet.  The first time I tried a bittersweet sauce, chinese of course, was with my mother at a little out of place Chinese restaurant in what (back in the 80s) was a bustling Shopping Center in my area.

So, my first try at bittersweet was indeed a whole spectacle of the senses, as I had NO IDEA what to expect (I probably was 9), it really hit me.  A Satisfying taste that had undertones of something, not quite, irregular in an otherwise fruity amalgam.

So, what's this got to do with anything?

Today is mother's day in my area, it's a weird date for me, as today marks the first of many to come (please make it many!), without my mom by my side.

That's us in 2006 - my Birthday

We used to be inseparable (and quite phonetically similar insufferable).  Of course, life does come to an end to all of us, and as life would have it, she was the first to depart.

I am sad, I can't say I am not, but not because of it being mother's day.  That's a Stupid Hallmark (tm) Date.

I am sad because out of all the people I have shared this mortal coil, my mom is not here today to see where things would have taken us, today though, is no different than other dates this year past, EXCEPT for her birthday.  I was totally overwhelmed on her birthday and I just hope when the the earth reaches that point again of it's orbit, I am able to overcome how I felt that day.

So, why bittersweet?

My mom, showin Jr how it's done

Well, I am indeed, a bit happy, happy to be here, happy to share my life with great people, happy to have a successful (so far) career, and happy to have the most wonderful and adoring son I could dream of.
But I can't say it is all joy, I do miss my mom dearly.

People are wont to say "she's just a heartbeat away", or "she's in a better place" or more succinctly "we are all doomed to the same fate"; sure, sure I get it, life is just a middle point between birth and death, but I do still miss her.  Sometimes I feel her SO close that my mind wanders off for hours, just being grounded again by dawn.

Mom at "Dia de los Abuelitos" - Last time she was able to visit Jr's school

I know that near the end, my mom used deceit again with me, I know she preferred to 'hide the black beans' with a lot of effort on her part.  Not everyone can pull a fast one on me people, I can assure you of that.  But when my mom told me she was "all right, just a little tired" I used to fall for it quite easily, no one could've convinced me that she was only capable of using 20% of her lungs, and STILL lead a life where I counted on her FAR more than I probably should.

I have to say, "Mom, wherever you are now, you fooled me, and fooled me right, you did it always for my benefit, but that doesn't mean I liked it one bit!!"

For now, that's it, that's my story.  I'm still a weird kid, or grown up (trying to not let it get to me), but thankfully I was never really aloof with my mom, today, it's just another day, but as I did while she was right here, I celebrate mother's day everyday.

Sometimes all we need is for them to hold our hand, others, we get to hold them

Good night...

Amusement Parks and Recreation... No Ron Swanson here though...

So, there's like 600million things I have on my mind at the moment and I'd like to mention and talk about, but it's kind of hard to put everything on a single post, so I will probably do it in chapters.

Let's start with the latest memory then, Sunday at the Amusement Park!

 It really started with a slow Sunday at home, we weren't doing much, today is the Last day of Summer here, and Jr was having a good time up until noon, when out of the blue he says:

"Dad, let's go to the amusement park!"

I was seriously considering it, I mean, last day of summer, an amusement park packed with kids, adults, and god knows how many varieties of airborne cooties!! 

But the day before he'd overheard his mom talking to an aunt and saying that some of the cousins would come over to the park today.

That really didn't pan out.

So, I figured that queues are not really an issue when you don't have another thing to do, and if you're six and can handle it, might as well just wait them out.

So, on we went to the park.

I must say though that this is a bit of my nature, plans are NEVER set in stone; anything can change at the last minute and I am all for surprises.  I learnt the hard way that if plans are REALLY unmovable, life will find a way of messing them up for you; might as well make the best of it.

So AT LUNCH, we went to the park, we found a not so distant parking spot (it was about halfway home and park away) and walked to the door.  There were people ALREADY frustrated at the door, I mean You haven't even gone in and are already fed up?  Jeez.

By the time I paid for our tickets, you'd think we went to Disneyland!  Jr was happy, I mean REALLY happy, smiling side to side, saying "Hi" to everyone, and decided that TODAY was the day he would ride the big rides (No.  Didn't happen).

Seriously people, if you go to the amusement park with a kid, IT IS FOR THE Kids.  Don't give them a hard time, do not make them feel guilty of waiting in line for 30 minutes for a 2 minute ride; I'm pretty certain when YOU were manufacturing kids you didn't complain about the "build up and then short ride".

See the difference on the faces?  Sure one is painted and the other one isn't, but that smile?  SON that smile is worth the 2 hours total of queues we did for the 3 minute rides... 

I took a 6 yr old, and turned him into a smile machine, that people, that's worth ANY wait time I had to go through, and if you disagree, then you're probably not a parent right now ;)

Half Shells, half life, half truths...

I'm not an activist.

Simple as that, I am a human being with interests and passions but NONE of those make me an activist.
I'm a conscientious objector at times, a permissive jerk at others, but overall I am a Citizen that wants life to be good for me, my fellow Citizens and most definitely for my son.

I am passionate about various things, tolerance being a very strong subject.  Civil liberties and the right of people to defend what they believe in, WHETHER OR NOT I agree with those beliefs.

But I am not an activist.

I will not sit down and write endless diatribes against GMOs, Healthcare, animal rights, or anything of that sort, for; while I care about these issues, sitting behind a desk and writing like I am an expert about them will not change a single thing.

I can talk to my "activist" friends about issues, I can hold my ground and sometimes sway their opinion about things (some friends are less informed than others to be honest) but that DOES NOT make me an activist.

I will though, take a stand against people that deliberately thwart the rights of others, even if they believe these are the right thing to do.

Recently in my country an assassination occurred, it wasn't just murder, that implies chance.  No, this turtle and nature Activist (capital A) was assassinated after trying in vain to save turtles, turtle nests and the nesting grounds from poachers.  He even used twitter to ask the police to be present and TRY and do something about it.

Now, a million different "activists" jumped at this outrage, they starting crying and yelling, asking for change, but these same people are what I call 'facebook-activists' they will click on "like buttons", scream their outrage in ALL CAPS while never changing their status-quo ONE iota.  They will rarely challenge the system in any way that will make things inconvenient for them.

Boycotting the eating of turtle meat or eggs is EASY if you have never in your life even contemplated doing something of the sort.

Asking poachers to stop through facebook is easy, heck they probably don't even have phones, so who cares?

Taking a stand, asking for change should not stop at a status message, it should NEVER pend on having someone die to request this.  It's in all of us to make said change, by acting in accordance with our words.

Did I ever think about having turtle meat?  NO, as I don't know, but I want to know WHY there is a market for this, why poachers are making a profit and HOW we can change THAT root cause.

The eating of the meat is only a symptom of a bigger cancer, one that no one dares approach, so, let's stop it with treating the symptoms, and look at the decaying smoldering mass of bodies our societies have become and loose the "Screen anonymity" let's make sure each voice has a face and a name to it.  We walk the streets and never really see those around us; as if WE don't exist.

Let's make a stand and let's ensure that we all know who WE are...