Category: Culture

Obama. Hillary. McCain.

I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m conservative and I try to base my decisions on which candidate has the best moral fiber. I was not impressed with Bill Clinton’s behavior while he was in the White House and I think it is a sad state of our country where we give a wink wink and a nudge nudge to a man who commits adultery. I think it’s accepted because we have come to a place where sin, no matter how heinous, is tolerated. Virtue and morality have become antiquated and old fashioned. Having faith in something outside of yourself is considered weakness and if you decide to take a stand for something other than the greening up of our environment or world peace then be prepared to be a martyr for your cause. The stones will come out.

I read a Koontz book where a billionaire gave all of his money to a church and people said he must have gone insane. Koontz made a point of how if he had been addicted to drugs and hookers, if he had been an alcholic or a sex addict but admitted that he was such, that the country would have applauded him and made him a hero. Everyone loves a tragedy. Everyone loves a comeback. I think we love the adulterer, the alcoholic, the addict, because we can identifiy with them. I’m guilty too.

I’m not sure who I’ll vote for this year. I have to admit that I’d like to see Obama become president for the mere fact that it will be a triumph over racism. It is a huge sign of progress as the thought of an African American president just 8 years ago seemed about as likely as a woman president – ludicrous.

Martin Luther’s Dream is closer to becoming a reality. Hilary had a good run, but I don’t think it was that America wasn’t ready for a woman president, I think it was that Hilary was just up against some stiff competition and maybe there was a negative residue that still lingered from her husband’s indiscretions.

It should be a good fight between McCain and Obama. I don’t really see that Obama has much experience in politics, but who is really qualified to be POTUS? How can anyone expect to change a country in just 4 years? Now days a highly qualified person doesn’t just have to be a good public speaker, you also have to be rich. You can’t run for president unless you are loaded or you have a lot of rich supporters.

Culture Diet

Change is Hard

Our self image, strongly held, essentially determines what we become. – Maxwell Maltz

Last night in my MIS class our Prof hit on some really great points about self-image and why people, no matter how often we try to make them change – don’t. The importance of this information was tied into the fact that many large corporations try to implement new processess and policies only to find that they are ignored. This is especially true with “Knowledge Workers” who use their brains to do their jobs and not manual labor. Once we develop a way we like to do things, a way that has worked just fine for us, we don’t like to change it.

According to Dr. Maltz, each individual has a picture of who they are and how the world sees them. This self-image is created over time by our failures and successes and by what people have told us repeatedly about ourselves. “Once a belief about oursevles goes into this picture it becomes truth” Maltz says ” We do not question it’s validity, but proceed to act as if it were true.”

Think about that for a moment. If you were told in the 7th grade that you weren’t good at math, were you ever good at math? I wasn’t. It always came hard for me. For most of my life I didn’t consider myself a creative person, it was only when I started to work for TI that I started to believe I was creative and only then because people told me over and over how creative I was. It took years for me to actually believe that I truly am creative and then to start nurturing and feeding that creativity.

I thought this information was interesting to note especially in the case of Americans and dieting, exercise and general health. Our teacher put a quote on the board form Maltz that said, and I’m paraprhasing, “90% of all patients with heart disease do not change their eating habits or lifestyles even after they have had heart surgery and they know that if they do not change their habits they will die.”

I had an Uncle that smoked cigarettes like a freight train. When I met him for the first time he had no voice box. He used one of those machines that you held up to a hole in your throat and when you talked it sounded like a robot or a Speak and Spell. He had gotten throat cancer and so they removed his voicebox, but he kept smoking. Later, Cancer ate up his entire face. My dad went to visit him int he hospital during his last days and he said the cancer was so bad that his face was mutilated and his lips were so swollen that they stretched back away from his teeth and he couldn’t even close his mouth.

It’s an ugly picture, but a picture that only validates Maltz’s theories about change.

As I have worked hard to diet these last few weeks, as I have struggled for self-discipline and self-control I have noticed areas where I have sabotaged my self. I have been my worst enemy at reaching my goals.

I’m always delighted to learn truths about human behavior. Understanding why I am the way that I am helps me to take better actions for change. It’s gonna be hard, but I can change.

Culture Finances

Bike. Stay Home. Save Gas

Post author By Evan Stark
Post date May 27, 2008
24 Comments on Bike. Stay Home. Save Gas

Since gas is nearly 4 dollars a gallon I’ve really started to think twice before I make commitments. A trip to Waco is now 80 dollars in gas where it used to be only 40. A round trip to Denton to play Ultimate Frisbee now costs me 15 bucks, 4 trips to Denton a month and that is 60 dollars for Ultimate Frisbee, almost the same amount as my water bill. Ultimate is worth it though, I will go without food before I go without Ultimate.

Thankfully I live only 2 miles away from the office and so I don’t really have a large gas bill. I don’t really go much now either, I stay home, workout, do Yoga, it’s a simple life, but it works. I am wondering though if I start biking to Yoga if that will save me some more money on gas and get in some extra workout. it’s about 14 miles round trip to Yoga and that would actually help me burn a few more calories. Also, I could start biking to the grocery store and the bank as they are very close as well. Unfortunately, Texas is really hot and so I don’t know if the benefit will be worth the extra sweat, but it might be fun to try. Even if I only incorporate a bike ride to the grocery store on the weekends it would be a nice way to be more environmentally friendly. Over time, I am sure those miles will add up.

Have you been cutting back to save gas?

The funny thing about Gas prices is that they are something that we have been talking about for the last 10 years. I did a video project for a customer and he was the CEO of 7-11 at the time. The constant question was, “How is business with the increasing gas prices?” At the time, gas was less than 2 dollars a gallon and we were complaining then, I wonder why we didn’t have Hybrid vehicles back then? Why didn’t we take huge measures to save?

Culture

On a Mission for Truth

I’ve been doing some soul searching lately and believe it or not, it started with Beer. I’ve been drinking beer since before I was 21. I never really liked it, but i desperately wanted to be “one of the guys”. I hid my drinking from my parents most of my life, but as I got older I realized that drinking beer is not a sin. It’s not always agreeable when you are mentoring young teens, but in the Christian world where morality is what really matters, there is nothing wrong with alcohol consumption. I closed the can of guilt trip on that issue a long time ago and although I don’t drink or discuss my drinking habits with my parents, I don’t think they are oblivious to the fact that on occasion I enjoy a little bit of rum.

So maybe this detox has gotten me thinking correctly, or maybe it is my age, but I’ve started to be honest with myself. I don’t really like beer all that much. There are times when I really enjoy a Coors Light or a Blue Moon, but there are many times when I drink beer just because it is the manly thing to do. We stand to pee, we watch lots of sports, we like Gwen Stefani and we drink beer.

So while I’ve been admitting things to myself and to the internet, I’ve started to wonder what else I’ve been duped into thinking I liked it but I really don’t. High Fructose Corn Syrup, Everybody Loves Raymond, Jamba Juice, Starbucks Coffee ( I do like their Mocha’s and Macchiatos), and Cigars.

Whew, that does feel like a colon cleansing right there. Yep, I put it in writing, I said it. But it’s the truth. The last 3 times I had a beer I asked myself, “Do you really like this?” and I Eddie responded with, “Dude, I’ve been wondering why you’ve been swilling this stuff all these years. It’s expensive, it makes you fat, and it tastes like crap.” I’m pretty smart when I listen to me.

Other things I think are overrated: bowling, golf, disc golf, $50 dollar steaks, scotch, luxury hotels, and personal pet monkeys.

So I urge everyone to take a moment and think about their lives and if they are doing something that they really like, or are they doing it because they’ve been told that they should like it? Are you watching Family Guy because you love it, or because your friends love it?

And for those of you that love all the things I don’t, well, that doesn’t mean they are bad things or that they aren’t enjoyable, I’m just admitting to myself that I don’t enjoy them.

Culture Relationships

A Soap Box Moment

“Did you ever stop to think that you should have asked if I needed help to mow the lawn? You knew my foot was hurt…” I asked the question of my roommate who very rarely lifts a finger around the house. I don’t mind for the most part. We are two guys and if the house gets a little messy – no big deal. However, there are times when you would think someone would step up out of common courtesy and offer assistance.

Whenever I am confronted with an issue like the one aforementioned I have to pause and turn back time in my head and remind myself of what it was like when I lived with my parents. I remember my mom and dad saying, “Didn’t you think to do ______?” And I was all “No”, but I would have done it if they had asked. They had to drill it into me that there are some things in life that no one should have to ask you to do.

I think if people thought less of themselves and more of how to serve others around them this world would be a much better place. It’s not only about what you do, it’s also about what you shouldn’t do. You shouldn’t play your bass so loud that it annoys everyone in the neighborhood, you shouldn’t talk during movies, and you should be polite and courteous to people.

Lately, I’m feeling a little under appreciated in more than one area of my life. When this happens, normally something dramatic is sure to follow. I’ll try to keep my emotions in check this time and handle things properly. Sometimes I have to take my own advice too.

I’ll put the Soap Box away for now.