Chinese Garden

Chinese gardens are straight rock awesome.  This one is in Portland, Oregon.  They have a building where you can have tea. (Maybe I can live there?)  If I was building a house, I couldn't do much better than this.  Or this.

Photo by Jessica Hibbard (Flickr jesshibb)

Somalia

"Our people like conflict, rather than peace and negotiations." shopkeeper in Mogadishu, as quoted by The New York Times.

Motivation

Ooo-ooh child, things are gonna get easier.  Ooo-ooh child, things'll get brighter.

Photo by Alpha Tango Bravo / Adam Baker

Portland

So Micki and I have a list of places we would like to go.  Places we've discussed, and have no current plans to visit, include:

Ireland

Greece

Scandinavia

Vermont

Quebec

Toronto

Niagara Falls

Washington, DC

Wisconsin

Colorado

Seattle

Portland

California

Tokyo

China

New Zealand

...and there are many more I haven't discussed with her.

But one place, I really think I need to go, and I haven't been there, so I don't know if I'll like it there, and hell if I went it would be for a week or so and how can one like something fully after only one week unless it only costs $1.99.  Still, I want to go to Portland.  I've heard so many good things.

And there are mountains, the Pacific ocean, wine, beer!

We

Saturday night (uh...Sunday morning) I tried to figure out who was up with the "We" commercials.  It's Al Gore.  Al Gore founded the Alliance for Climate Protection which is trying to raise public and political support to solve the climate crisis.  Over 2,000,000 people have signed on to their campaign, and last night I did as well.

What does this mean?  Probably nothing, but I support the Alliance's efforts to keep environmental concerns at the front of American discussion.  The evidence is clear that humanity has put an imprint on our surroundings which has had a profound impact on our planet.  Resistors to the green movement must only disagree as to the urgency of this problem.

...and its fun.

Attribution

I feel bad, I meant to attribute the picture at the top of this blog, however now I cannot find it.  So...I hereby claim the picture at the top of this blog is not the property of myself, someone else took it, and from the looks of it, created the scene depicted herein.  Whoever you are, this picture inspires me, and makes me hopeful.  It signifies life in difficult times, to me, idyllic country.  Thank you.

Happy Holidays

December is the holiday jackpot.  Christmas, Chanukah, New Years Eve...they take place the same time of year.  There is a reason.  Without the holidays, December would suck.  My least favorite month is November, because the plants die, it is rainy, and cold.  If November is a sucker punch, December is the realization the guy who sucker punched you could also kick your ass legitimately.  So we have solved this problem by celebrating things now.  It is unlikely Jesus was born December 25th, and Chanukah is not the most important day in the Jewish calendar, but it is cold.

We string lights, to keep us from the winter darkness.  We might put a tree in our homes in an attempt because we feel bad for them, and because we need air.  I think it is wonderful, thank you ancestral problem-solvers.

This December Micki and I will be really taking it to Mr. December & and Mrs. January.  We are leaving our cold puke-filled* town, for a hopefully less cold, less barf-filled ideal.  C'est Paris, et Koln, Allemagne.

That's right we refuse to not live this winter, and we're telling the Big Bad Recession to huff, and puff, and blow us to Europe (and all of our money into the wind... ... ...I mean United Airlines).  I am excited.  Let us be free of the vomitous plague!

Micki and I have recently purchased a Flip Mino video-recorder and it is coming with us.  Inspired by the Year in Europe podcasts, I hope to be adding videos documenting our adventure, taking Jinklets to another dimension.

*Omaha is not "puke-filled" as such, however I have reason to believe there is puke somewhere tonight.

Future

What is my thing?

Specialized Division of Labor.  Find one thing and get really good at it.  What is my thing?  Is there a way still to like it?

$140,000 student loan debt.  What was I thinking?  Then again applying for a job paying 35,000 dollars means other things paying that much I suppose would work.

Bar Exam, MPRE?, Job Search, Finals, Disinterest, Apathy, Devils, Demons, Drains.

Dawn, Dew, and Greens.