Blood Diamond

Anyone out there seen the movie Blood Diamond?  I just saw it tonight.  At the end of the movie when the lights came on, illuminating my new $120 Guess jeans, the first thought that flooded my brain was how disgusting they were.  My heart just sank as I looked down at them.  It just seems so ridiculous to me that people are fighting for their lives out there in the world and I'm concerned about the type of wash on jeans.  How do we lose touch with the rest of mankind so easily?  I just hate that feeling...that feeling of reckless desire to make the world a better place, to make it right overshadowed by the seemingly stifling reality we exist in.  It just seems so hopeless.  You know the feeling I'm sure, you get it everytime you leave a movie like this.  You probably had it when you left the movie Hotel Rwanda and you'll probably get it again with the next movie of that sort detailing social injustice.  I just hate it...I hate it so much.  I hate that my daily life just goes on while others are suffering and I do nothing.  We do nothing.  We're defeated before we even start.  How can we live like this...? How can we live with ourselves?  Sometimes I don't think I can...maybe that's where it starts....

You know the part that I hate the most about all of this?  Before I make it to the bathroom and into my bed tonight, I'm sure that I'll stop in front of the mirror without even thinking and admire my new jeans...

Currently Listening Weekend in the City By Bloc Party see related

nugget of wisdom...2 / valentine's day pre-chat

K...not so profound today.  More like a bit of a rant.  Here's the scoop.  So, as most of you probably don't know, I live in a house full of 6 dudes.  It's a bit of a dudefest...in a good way.  Well most of the time.  I've become a mother figure however...which isn't that cool or dudelike.  I have no choice though...i like a clean kitchen and someone's gotta do it.  I guess I'm kind of the one in charge...and by that I mean, everything's in my name and I pay all the bills etc.  That's gotta be the worst part of it.  Best part....Pizza, coke, and movies all the time!  haha..jk, it's not like that I promise.  ya, in my dreams it'd be like that. Back to reality.  Anyways, getting off topic here.  So get this.  Having a house of 6 dudes mean that there has to be some Dude Turnover I would like to say.  Ya ...ie dudes come and dudes go.  Well, a new dude came in January.  Kinda random.  He's this 30 year Nigerian who came over here to go to school.  Kinda random but pretty sweet...

here's the wisdom though:

If you plan on having a Nigerian or some random foreigner live in your house make sure you explain how long distance calling works or you'll get stuck with an 1100 dollar phone bill surprise in your email inbox one morning and he/she might not be able to pay it...leaving you with a big kick in the nuts...  dang it!

             hebro

Currently Listening Weekend in the City By Bloc Party see related

nugget of wisdom

So...I was at a house show the other day.  I grabbed a little nugget from that night and find myself here passing it on to whoevers out there.  The story goes something like this (sorry this might sound confusing):

So my friend is commenting on a friend of ours and says that this friend lives his life as though he is only one step away from the person he looks down on...or even better yet....half a step. 

Whoah...what a way to put it huh?  and so true.  Something I'm sure many of us has thought about but been unable to put into words.  I'll refine the statement myself and say that "at best I'm one step away from the person I look down on".  In my own life "the person" is usually a down and out patient or even a friend for that matter.  I've learnt that I'm/we're capable of immense evils and it's just by grace that I/we don't fall into all of them.  Who am I to to look down on anyone and in a sense judge them when I am just as capable of getting myself into the same situation they are in.  I kinda think that this idea of being "one step away" is something vital to be grasped/recognized, and maybe even repeated to ourselves whenever we are tempted to look down on someone.    Kinda helps keep me grounded and I'd even risk venturing to say humble. Well...humble is the goal...

Currently Reading Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2006 : The Travel Skills Handbook (Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door) By Rick Steves see related

 When Love Comes to Town...

Life can be pretty crazy sometimes. You never know when it's got a curve ball up it's sleeve.  I think I caught a curve ball a couple months ago and man did it get me good.  So there's this girl....haha...we all know where this is going!  Anyways, so there's this girl, not just any girl.  Lets call her "the girl".  I used to date "the girl" 3 years ago...back in the day.  Check it out.....

(so cute huh???)

I fell pretty hard for her but things just didn't really work out.  Looking back at those pics....I must have been crazy to let her go.   uhhh...Lots of reasons why we broke up though I guess.  Timing was a big part of it...just at different places in life.  And plus, I really just didn't know what I was looking for.  So we split...went our separate ways.  Both dated other people, but I guess that I never really got over her.  I'm sure you can see why....but more than just that...there was just something about her, about us.  She was always there, in the back of my mind.  Not that I wasn't totally pumped on the people I dated in the meantime, cause I was.  I just always came back to the classic "what ifs".  They're a killer, I don't recommend them.  When you give up on something before you give it a fair shot...good chance you're going to experience them. 

Whatever the case...a month or so before grad, fate decided to step it up and toss me that curve ball.   A couple trips to Reno Nevada (her hometown) later and it looks like things are back on.   What the heck hey?? Who would have thought after a 3 year hiatus that we would get back together.  It's just nuts...like something out of a movie.  I guess they don't call me loverboy for nothing...oh wait I call myself loverboy.   nevermind

This summer we're meeting up in Paris to go travelling for three weeks in France, Switzerland and Italy. Nothing like a romantic Rendez-vous in Paris let me tell ya.  It's gonna be amazing!  Any sweet travelling tips you guys have for me would be much appreciated. 

So there...that's my story.  

THE STEPPING METER

Ok...so I won something at work today.  Hold on...don't get too excited.  So I get back from break and one of my co-workers hands me a little white box.  She tells me that I won something in a draw that they just had.  My first question was "why the heck are we having random draws at work??"  Some sort of strange attempt at boasting staff moral?  Nope, turns out that it is NURSES WEEK for all yal out there who don't know.  Go ahead, hug a nurse and tell them how much you love them!!!  But first, make sure there's nothing gross on their uniform like say.....well you get the picture.  What, what? gimme a break, that'd be on your mind too if you changed 6+ attends (adult diapers) full of diarhea today.  Oh ya that's another thing...hug a nurse because of the somewhat non-glamorous days they have once and while.  Today was one of them! eeeeeeeee

Ok...back to my prize!  So I open the lil white box and low and behold a Stepping Meter.  What the heck is this I'm thinking????  Well...I'm not too sure but I better put it to use...Today onward I track how many steps I take in a day.  Today's tally, 23 057 steps.  Wow...it sure is accurate.  Ummm well, except for the fact that every move I make counts as a step.  haha...who makes these things???  they're ridiculous.  Good thing it came with instructions...ohhhhhhh...I've been using it all wrong.  The accuracy sure increased when I took into account these instructions:

1. Stepping meter will not function properly when:

          1. moonwalking

          2. walking in a tricky fashion

I really think I increased my Stepping meter accuracy when I stopped moonwalking between patients rooms.  I'm still trying to figure out the second no no for the Stepping meter....not too sure what this "walking in a tricky fashion" is all about but I think for some reason that I probably do it.  hmmm.  But hey...better be ready, I'm going to be compiling my stepping meter statistics and blowing your mind from time to time with all the stepping I'm up to.  alright...time to cash it in....gotta rest up so i can beat my stepping record tomorrow!!!