The Moving of the Cheese

In less than a week I will no longer be living in this state. I will no longer be living in the south. In less than a week I will be back “out west”, although a little further than west than I have lived before. Although this blog is by no means anonymous, I do wish to keep a few things a little more unknown to the random blog visitor. For that reason, I am not really up for revealing where I am heading off to.

The move is exciting, both personally and professionally. It will give me a chance to start fresh, and will provide more opportunities for Jenn than she had here, and best of all, we will be living in a real city.

Its funny, only in the end of our time here were we able to realize the support structure we had. Part of me understands that when the end comes, people you know will go out of there way to do things with you that they never would have before. When the end is indefinite there is always tomorrow. It has been a very interesting time to reflect on the last three years. I am not the same as I was three years ago. Sometimes I look in the mirror and see someone who I never thought I would be. I am pretty happy with the person I am now, but I never did expect this.

It may be a while before another post, but I will be back as soon as I get settled.

Independence Day, 2006

It irritates me to no end referring to Independence Day as “the 4th of July”. The holiday is Independence Day, and it is celebrating true freedom from oppression and true liberty.
230 years ago, the British Colonies of America declared their independence from the rule of King George and Great Britain. The impact of this day should be fairly obvious, noting that the United States of America is still operating free from British rule. However, if you follow the mainstream media in the USA, you would think Independence Day is more like Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day. Independence Day is not just a day to remember Veterans and those who fought for the USA. (Do not get me wrong, I am a HUGE supporter of Veterans, and have the utmost respect for those who have fought for our country). Independence Day is a celebration of those ideals of which our country was founded on. The ideal that, as the so eloquently written in our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. This is a day to remember the principles that founded our country. This day is not another day to show “blind patriotism” or chant the slogans of the propaganda machines. This is a day to reflect on the principles of our country, and to investigate whether we still possess our unalienable rights.

It is ironic to me that 230 years later the American people are still dealing with a “King George”, a ruler who is more interested in lining the pockets of his friends than protecting the rights of all people. We have become complacent about our rights, and the usurpations of our rights. For some reason our rights have become less valuable because we are in a “time of war”. Our fourth President, James Madison declared that, “there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations”. I think these words could easily be spoken today, and that frightens me.

As another one of our country’s founders, Ben Franklin, said "those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

UPDATE: Wow...the political party who allegedly loves America refers to this holiday as "The Fourth of July". Check out Grand Oil Party website.

It Fits (the shoe that is)

This is not the first time in my life I’ve been in a “limbo” stage. It seems that this is a fairly common occurrence for me, and that I should just get used to it.

For the last few weeks I think this feeling of limbo has really increased my desire to write. I do not have any real defined goals or directions for the writing, just spitting out words on to this virtual paper.

So I’ve been thinking about the limits of honesty. Now, I am not talking about honesty in relationships or anything like that. I think that is pretty cut and dry. You really have to be honest when it comes to relationships. Rather, I am talking about honesty when it comes to the only time in your life where it really pays to sell yourself. That’s right, job interviews. I’ve been on a couple in the last few months, and I constantly struggle with how honest I need to be. What should I tell the interviewers about why I am thinking of moving on from my current position? What should I tell them when it comes to my perceived weaknesses? How honest is too honest?

I do not want to work somewhere where I will not fit in. So I want to be honest enough to let the interviewers know where I am coming from, but I sometimes think that is still being to straight forward.

What is too much? Where can I draw that line? Is there a line?

Entitlement Issues

I am currently looking to move on from my current job right now. Because of this, Jenn and I have been talking about a variety of issues and topics regarding jobs, what we think we are “worth”, etc. Now keep in mind, both of us are “educators” so we understand that our worth does not amount to much in real world dollars. However, we do understand that we are at least worth enough to be paid a livable wage. Anyway, one of the issues that Jenn brought up is entitlement. It may be a tail end of Gen-X or Millennial Generation attribute, but regardless, we feel some sense of entitlement about jobs. For example I feel that I am entitled to a certain level of position in my field because I have a couple years experience full-time and have a master’s degree. Well, Jenn questions that entitlement. She asks, “Do you really deserve a certain type of position? Are you not willing to work your way up”? Good questions indeed, and definitely questions I had not ever thought about.

The whole issue is pretty intriguing, especially because I think Jenn and I have some pretty hardcore work ethics for people of our age (at least according to our parents, and other people not in our generation). Yet we still realize that even we have some feeling of entitlement.

So where does this put us? I have had a couple job interviews and as of yet nothing has turned out. Partly due to that I am questioning my career choice. Understanding that I have a sense of entitlement makes me think that if I switch fields now, its no big deal because I am still at an entry level.

So these are the thoughts in my head on a Wednesday evening.

Is it 2008 yet?

I know it is early, but I think we need a person to run for President who will stand up for us average Americans and who is not going to give in to corporate interests. We also need a President who will rebuild our relations with other countries. I think one such person is Sen. Russ Feingold. Check out Draft Russ!

29 Percenters, Immigration and Fun Hollywood Satire

I will start from end, and work my way to beginning or something like that.

A couple weeks ago I went and saw American Dreamz with Jenn and my folks when they were in town. Despite some of the poor reviews that the move received, I definitely recommend seeing it. The movie obviously pokes fun at our American President, American pop culture, and other relevant American issues. Although I do think it is telling when four self-identified progressives are some of the only people laughing at much of the movie…especially when the theater happens to be in the reddest area of this red-state. The movie can be harsh at times, but it also is very blunt when pointing out many of the wonderful hypocrisies that exist in our culture today. You also cannot go wrong with the actors in this movie: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Coolidge, Willem Dafoe, etc, etc. The movie reminds me of a more blunt Saved! with a bit of Wag the Dog and Primary Colors in the mix.

Now on to everyone’s favorite topic, Immigration. I do not really think the big issue is being played out here. Now, I may be getting a bit to “conspiracy theorist” on this one, but I believe that the people in power are using fear to yet again subdue or misguide the American people. Illegal immigration is an issue, no doubt about that, but I think that one of the things our wonderful leaders are trying to do is to put a wedge into the working class. By pitting illegal immigrants against the rest of the American working class (including whites, blacks, etc) the working class cannot unite. All of the American working class is being treated poorly…I think that is agreed upon. However, if members of the working class of different ethnicities and backgrounds cannot find common ground, then the working class has been subdued. I have sneaking suspicion that our leaders want exactly that. If the working class is being told to be afraid, they won’t bother with the other issues that they are facing.

Finally, hopefully the word of Bush’s amazing 29% approval rating has spread across the land. If not, check out this article from Yahoo! News: President Bush's Job Approval Rating Reaches New Low of 29 Percent Positive, Down Seven Points Since April, According to Harris Poll. I have heard pundits say that people are upset about gas prices, or are finally get tired of the war. I think that is true, but I think people are starting to get a little freaked out by the nature of our leaders…especially with the wire-tapping, and phone call logging that the NSA is doing. Anyway…because of the new poll numbers, I am now regarding those elite few who support our President as “29 percenters”.

Well then…I’ve run out of juice.

Change is Good

I thought I'd give things a face lift around here. Hopefully that means I will write more. I want to write more...I just can't seem to find more time.