Thanksgiving Day Part I

After three months apart, Lisa and I finally got to see each other for Christmas. I didn't realize how rough those three months were until I saw her at the Denver Airport waiting for me. We had a great weekend. We drove to the mountains to see the alleged grave of Buffalo Bill. Apparently he has several resting places scattered through out the west. Thanksgiving dinner was a nice low key event, just us and Lisa's sister, Jennifer. Jennifer is a very nice person who cooked the entire meal and puts up with Lisa's snowball assaults. Lisa's Mom and brother, Chris, were in Missouri visiting Chris's children. The great thing about Lisa's family is how close they are. They remind me very much of my own family. I guess that's why we get along so well. We have very similar disposistions. I can usually predict how she'll act in a given situation because it's the same way I would react.

We also picked out Lisa's wedding ring. It's pretty and she loves it. We saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was good, I'm not sure if I liked it as much as the last one, I think I did. We painted pottery at Lisa's friend, Stephanie's shop. That's one of our favorite things to do. I love to watch Lisa paint, she always looks so peaceful and happy. We walked around the 16th Street Mall area and had drinks at the Samba room and some fancy bowling alley that I can't recall the name of. According to the newspapers on the wall in the bathroom, the one in Hollywood is a favorite hangout of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore and other celebrities. It was a cool but expensive bar/bowling alley.

All in all it was a great weekend and the best part of it was being with Lisa after being apart for three months.

Crawford Texas

Crawford Texas,
originally uploaded by briankeithglass.

I rode the bike to Crawford yesterday. It's about a 70 mile round trip from where I'm staying in Gatesville. This area is the "hill country" of Texas and it's much more pleasant than the panhandle. That's the part of the state I've been through the most. It's still pretty desolate here and the onset of winter isn't helping. Even though it got up to 70 yesterday the trees are bare and the grass is brown. It's a lot like my least favorite time of the year in Ohio, but in Ohio you get the snow to occasionally cover up the ugliness.

Crawford is a nice little place. I'm not sure if I missed the down town area or not. I think I covered it all, which makes it one small town. Like the caption of the picture says, everyone I met was friendly. Admittedly, I didn't meet too many people but I did drive past the same guy twice and he waved at me both times. If that had been me I might have waved once but than thought to myself, "What's this moron doing?" the second time. He smiled both times too. An older couple took the picture for me. They were stopped also taking a picture. When I stopped on the bike the wife seemed a little nervous until I identified the subject of their picture as Flat Stanley. They were taking a picture of him for their grandson. She was pleasantly surprised to find out I was familiar with him. Flat Stanely is a paper doll school children send to family members living in different states. The family member takes a picture of Stanley in front of some monument or landmark and sends the picture and a little information back with Stanley. I got Stanley from my niece while I was on Wake Island. I think she smoked the competition in the distance catagory. But I digress.

Yeah, so Crawford, small, not very pretty (this time of the year anyway) and super friendly.

Red Hot

Okay, enough with the politics. It's what happens when I'm bored. I haven't been riding the bike much lately because it's getting cold even here in Texas so I've been thinking on politics too much. I figured I would post a picture of the new FZ1. It's a beauty.

Iraqi Soldier

Iraqi Soldier,
originally uploaded by nukeit1.

Contrast this with the two too serious little girls and their suffering mom. What is the disconnect in this country. I don't want to be a clichéd blogger but is it the main stream media. I realize that people see what they want so I try to believe the media is fair. But do they cover everything equally?

This is from an interview of the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, from the June 20th, 2005 issue of the National Review.

Interviewer: I recall Kofi Annan said the Iraq war was illegal.

Hoshyar Zebari: For us it was the most legitmate of wars. To have suffered the atrocities of Saddam over those years, and the indifference of the international community, including the U.N....It was the war that eased the suffering of the Iraqis.

NR: Do you fear for your own life?

HZ: I take all the security precautions. All of us assume that we are targets for assassination, car bombs, anything....We have uncovered three car bombs, which were either minutes away or seconds away from blowing us up.

That's one brave s.o.b. working to make his country a better place. The rest of the interview is just as good. If you get a chance you should read it and the article on the World Economic Forum held in Jordan.

Do I think Bush's plan of spreading democracy through the world one country at a time will work. I don't know but I think doing something, anything at all, is better than the status quo, in this one case anyway. Do I think Bush manipulated intelligence about WMDs. No, but I've been naivé before and will be again.

The picture comes from nukeit1's photoblog by the way. I like to check it out frequently. There are funny, informative and really sad photos there. You should check that out also.

inconsistent |ˌinkənˈsistənt| adjective not staying the same throughout; having self-contradictory elements : police interpretation of the law was often inconsistent. • acting at variance with one's own principles or former conduct : parents can become inconsistent and lacking in control over their children. • ( inconsistent with) not compatible or in keeping with : he had done nothing inconsistent with his morality. • erratic in behavior or action : we're too inconsistent to win the league.

hypocrisy |hiˈpäkrisē| noun ( pl. -sies) the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.

All We Need Is Some Ice Cream And A Hug

rotten tomato head,
originally uploaded by christyscherrer.

I was browsing on Flikr when I came across this picture in one of the groups I'm in, Emotional Faces. I wanted to write a comment but I'm still not all that comfortable posting to other people's pictures. It seems most of the time it's friends and family postings. Plus I'm getting out of the stage in my life where I enjoy getting in to a pissing contest with someone I don't know over something I can't convince them of. I thought the comment that went with the picture was interesting though. The woman, the mother to one or both of the girls I guess, is concerned about the strife and worry we are passing on to our children. She suffers because we are teaching anxiety at an early age. (Here's the part where I sound like an ass) I think she's the one teaching that anxiety. There has been something that's bothered me since 9/11 and the Iraq war that I haven't been able to put my finger on but this picture has helped me narrow it down. The problem is over reaction. I'm not saying these aren't serious times we live in but it isn't (necessarily) the end of the world. How about instead of taking your kids to a demonstration of something you have no control over, play with them at the local park, maybe you can even pick up the litter or do some other volunteer work to teach them civic responsibility.

I remember watching the made for t.v. movie The Day After about the after effects of nuclear war. I wasn't able to sleep for two nights and I was freakin' 18 at the time. It had an affect on my for years after. I think it was one of the reasons I joined the Air Force. After the collapse of the USSR I started relaxing a little, but just.

I don't mean to belittle this woman but when I read this I thought of Reverend Lovejoy's wife wailing, "Oh! won't someone please think of the children". Not to mention the sign looks like a too cutesy idea some adult thought up.

I'm not suggesting everyone have the same devil may care attitude I exhibit towards the collapse of civilization but maybe moms everywhere should help their kids paint a lemonade stand sign and just let them be kids for a few more years.

From Rockandrollconfidential.com

Your band sucks!

You Big Fat Beautiful State

Election results. Everytime I check the site it looks more like a landslide. I'd like to think it's all due to my entry last night. But no, it's because the good people of Ohio are all knowing and wise. Of course as I write this the complete results are not in, but two of the issues were being trounced with a 70% no vote so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Please Vote

Tomorrow is election day. It's late to be posting this I know and chances are my plea won't sway anyone one way or another. I was just excited about voting. I got to cast my vote early for the absentee ballot (I'm now in Texas) and I was giddy. Voting on local and state issues is funner than the presidential race. I feel like I have a say in it. No Chinese diplomats or Haliburton executives mucking things up. For my friends in Ohio, I don't expect you to go on just my say but you must vote no on issues 2, 3, 4, and 5. Here are the details. I'm particularly interested in Issue 3's clause that "Permits labor unions, and other nonprofit unincorporated membership organizations, to contribute funds from regular membership dues paid by the organization’s individual members to a small donor action committee. The small donor action committee is not required to report the names of individuals who contribute in this fashion." What's a small donor action committee mean? It also allows a candidate to spend an unlimited amount of his own money. Which should be good for the rich candidates. I like to think of this amendment as the Incumbent Protection Act. I could go on so I think I will. Issue 2 would allow everyone to vote absentee with no reason needed. There are currently 13 reasons to receive an absentee ballot and none are checked out very stringently. I hate to sound like one of those obnoxious guys the internet tends to breed but seriously, I think you should put in a little effort to vote. The argument against in the pamphlet gives some different reasons but I think it all comes down to this, get off your lazy ass and participate in the voting process.

The thing that aggravates me the most is the opposistions whole reason to vote yes is to end corruption. I think IF election reform is required this is not the amendment to do that. Someone is trying to replace the current form of corruption with one more to their advantage. And besides, is "end corruption now" really a rational arguement? Great catch phrase though.

So in conclusion just let me say the air is mighty sweet up on top of my high horse.

My Yard In The Fog

My Yard In The Fog,
originally uploaded by briankeithglass.

Just a little picture of my yard. I took it last week while I was home. It reminds me of a Japanese garden, not just because of the bamboo chimes. I love the yard and miss it while I'm away. This was a great day, it stayed foggy most of the day and the neighborhood was even quieter than usual.