A couple of weeks ago we were mulling over our lunch options when Teresa had the brilliant idea to eat at Jem 100. Jem 100 is a little ice cream parlor in Newberg, Oregon, that also sells cheeseburgers, chili dogs and the like. The bacon cheeseburger is absolutely amazing. Really.
So we went to Newberg. We feasted on our cheeseburgers and then set out on the town in search of antique stores. While we didn't find much in the way of antiques we did find a pet store with wandering tortoises and a cool toy store.
It was while we were trekking between the pet store and the toy store that Jenna declared the day to be the best ever. "Are we going to have more fun, Daddy?" Jenna asked me.
Funny how shopping in downtown Newberg could mean so much, but then, why not? We were together as a family. We got to ride in Daddy's car (always exciting for the kids). We got to eat some fun food. We saw huge wandering tortoises. Jenna and I made a racket at the toy store with some plastic tubes you whirl around.
What's not to like.
03 March 2010
02 March 2010
Happy Anniversary!
Today I celebrate seven years of amazing marriage to the love of my life, Teresa. I truly believe that we are meant to be together. We are kindred spirits. Thank you for all your love and support through the years!
Our marriage by the numbers:
Seven years
Three teenagers
Two babies
Five cars (me)
Four cars (her)
Eight moves
Four wards
Four cats
One dog
and lots and lots of pizza and love!
I love you, Teresa.
Our marriage by the numbers:
Seven years
Three teenagers
Two babies
Five cars (me)
Four cars (her)
Eight moves
Four wards
Four cats
One dog
and lots and lots of pizza and love!
I love you, Teresa.
Generation War?
I am glad I didn't face the draft during the Vietnam War. I am quite certain that I would have served my country, but it I am also certain that I would have been frightened of the prospect of killing or being killed.
My son, Elliott, is a United States Marine. He has served one tour in Iraq and is schedule to deploy to Afghanistan this year. He joined the Marines for his own reasons, but his mother and I are very proud of his willingness to serve his country. So when I read this portion of The We Declaration my head nearly exploded:
"Our Lives are Not Our Own.
We are being conscripted to fight the wars of the plunderers, serving their ambitions and settling their scores. Many leaders care more about the illusion of victory, despite the costs, than about living in peace. We are told by our leaders that the 'war on terror' will last our entire lives, and perhaps that of our children. We are asked to breed children to fight this war which we did not start and which offers no prospect of peace or compromise."
Shame on the authors for spreading such filth. We have no draft. We have a voluntary military and these men and women are defending the interests of the greatest nation on the planet. If you don't believe that's true then GET THE HELL OUT! You are free to move to France with the other wussies.
I'm trying to imagine the method our government uses to ask people to procreate in order to build this nation's military. The ridiculousness of this statement is mind boggling. It is true that we did not start the war on terror. Those who brought the terror to US soil started the fight. The fight may never end in the sense that there is little prospect of compromise. Remember that peace has many definitions. During the cold war the Russians wanted peace. Of course peace to the Russians meant world-wide communism. Not exactly the kind of peace Americans were striving for.
The journey to adulthood is the pain of coming to terms with responsibility. Our lives are our own in as much as we accept that responsibility.
My son, Elliott, is a United States Marine. He has served one tour in Iraq and is schedule to deploy to Afghanistan this year. He joined the Marines for his own reasons, but his mother and I are very proud of his willingness to serve his country. So when I read this portion of The We Declaration my head nearly exploded:
"Our Lives are Not Our Own.
We are being conscripted to fight the wars of the plunderers, serving their ambitions and settling their scores. Many leaders care more about the illusion of victory, despite the costs, than about living in peace. We are told by our leaders that the 'war on terror' will last our entire lives, and perhaps that of our children. We are asked to breed children to fight this war which we did not start and which offers no prospect of peace or compromise."
Shame on the authors for spreading such filth. We have no draft. We have a voluntary military and these men and women are defending the interests of the greatest nation on the planet. If you don't believe that's true then GET THE HELL OUT! You are free to move to France with the other wussies.
I'm trying to imagine the method our government uses to ask people to procreate in order to build this nation's military. The ridiculousness of this statement is mind boggling. It is true that we did not start the war on terror. Those who brought the terror to US soil started the fight. The fight may never end in the sense that there is little prospect of compromise. Remember that peace has many definitions. During the cold war the Russians wanted peace. Of course peace to the Russians meant world-wide communism. Not exactly the kind of peace Americans were striving for.
The journey to adulthood is the pain of coming to terms with responsibility. Our lives are our own in as much as we accept that responsibility.
26 February 2010
Generation We('re Not Gonna Take It)
The We Declaration needs a bibliography or at least some footnotes, because this following passage made my head spin and was clearly not written by or about the hundreds of high school kids that pack into the local Taco Bell at lunchtime:
"Our Health has Collapsed.
We are suffering an epidemic of chronic, preventable diseases of abuse and neglect. We are being poisoned by the food we are fed and the drugs we are prescribed. Media, education, and government all brainwash us into thinking poisons are good for us. As a consequence, we are on the path to be the sickest generation in history. As children, we have the diseased arteries of the elderly. One in three of us will develop diabetes, more than half of us will become obese, and half of us will get cancer. Our lifespan is expected to be less than our parents."
Wow. I think they need to cite a published study or two.
The line about obesity pretty much sums it up. How can the We Generation possibly be held responsible for their own actions? Or are parents, teachers and school administrators forcing 2-liter Mountain Dews on them between classes? Here's your European History textbook and your Red Bull IV.
We have known from the beginning of time what is and is not poison for our bodies. Sadly the more poisonous it is, the better it tastes! Believe me, if cauliflower and tofu tasted like pepperoni pizza I'd be all over it. Hence the need for personal willpower and personal responsibility. That doesn't excuse parental responsibility when it comes to chubby toddlers. But if you're are old enough to make a formal declaration then you're old enough to make decisions about what you eat.
"Our Health has Collapsed.
We are suffering an epidemic of chronic, preventable diseases of abuse and neglect. We are being poisoned by the food we are fed and the drugs we are prescribed. Media, education, and government all brainwash us into thinking poisons are good for us. As a consequence, we are on the path to be the sickest generation in history. As children, we have the diseased arteries of the elderly. One in three of us will develop diabetes, more than half of us will become obese, and half of us will get cancer. Our lifespan is expected to be less than our parents."
Wow. I think they need to cite a published study or two.
The line about obesity pretty much sums it up. How can the We Generation possibly be held responsible for their own actions? Or are parents, teachers and school administrators forcing 2-liter Mountain Dews on them between classes? Here's your European History textbook and your Red Bull IV.
We have known from the beginning of time what is and is not poison for our bodies. Sadly the more poisonous it is, the better it tastes! Believe me, if cauliflower and tofu tasted like pepperoni pizza I'd be all over it. Hence the need for personal willpower and personal responsibility. That doesn't excuse parental responsibility when it comes to chubby toddlers. But if you're are old enough to make a formal declaration then you're old enough to make decisions about what you eat.
25 February 2010
What We Are
This is an excellent explanation of the type of government we have in the United States.
Hint: we are not a democracy!
Hint: we are not a democracy!
24 February 2010
Generation Wii
Have you read the We Declaration?
I get that kids today are concerned about their future. I was told all through school not to expect Social Security to be around when I grow up. Communism and acid rain were big concerns. I remember laying in bed thinking that I would see the mushroom cloud over Portland right before I was vaporized (Thank you "The Day After"!)
Some of the concerns outlined in the We Declaration are valid. Others I feel are based on a view of our country that is too far from what our founding fathers had in mind. So I will give my opinion on what seem like the most spurious points of the declaration.
First:
"The United States was formed to protect the interests of all citizens, including its young people. Our Constitution mandates liberties, rights, duties, and protects the people from oppression"
True and false. This seems like a case of using a statement of truth to bolster the false argument that follows. I don't think this was done intentionally. I truly believe that these people have not actually read the Constitution. How can they have? I have and I don't recognize any of the things listed.
The Constitution of the United States is not an exciting read. It's rather dry and boring, full of descriptions of the basic functions of the federal government. Aside from the preamble it doesn't even put its lips to the trumpet of freedom. It's more like, hey, you guys do this, you guys do that and you guys do this other thing. Done.
Certainly the ideas and concepts behind the writing of the Constitution had everything to do with liberties, rights, duties and protection from oppression. In fact, it was concern about these very things that prompted the Bill of Rights (aka Amendments I through X). The language of these amendments gives a clear indication of the purpose of the Constitution. Phrases such as "Congress shall make no law" and "...shall not be infringed" speak to restriction, not permission. That is, the Bill of Rights is more so a list of rights of out all the rights we have that the federal government cannot affect. Then comes the clincher, Amendment X:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
To me that says the Constitution is not a document of what rights we have. We have all rights and amendments I through IX clarify some of them. We don't obtain our liberty and rights from the Constitution. They are unalienable rights, per the 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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
Note that life does not equal health, or a guarantee of health. More on this later.
I get that kids today are concerned about their future. I was told all through school not to expect Social Security to be around when I grow up. Communism and acid rain were big concerns. I remember laying in bed thinking that I would see the mushroom cloud over Portland right before I was vaporized (Thank you "The Day After"!)
Some of the concerns outlined in the We Declaration are valid. Others I feel are based on a view of our country that is too far from what our founding fathers had in mind. So I will give my opinion on what seem like the most spurious points of the declaration.
First:
"The United States was formed to protect the interests of all citizens, including its young people. Our Constitution mandates liberties, rights, duties, and protects the people from oppression"
True and false. This seems like a case of using a statement of truth to bolster the false argument that follows. I don't think this was done intentionally. I truly believe that these people have not actually read the Constitution. How can they have? I have and I don't recognize any of the things listed.
The Constitution of the United States is not an exciting read. It's rather dry and boring, full of descriptions of the basic functions of the federal government. Aside from the preamble it doesn't even put its lips to the trumpet of freedom. It's more like, hey, you guys do this, you guys do that and you guys do this other thing. Done.
Certainly the ideas and concepts behind the writing of the Constitution had everything to do with liberties, rights, duties and protection from oppression. In fact, it was concern about these very things that prompted the Bill of Rights (aka Amendments I through X). The language of these amendments gives a clear indication of the purpose of the Constitution. Phrases such as "Congress shall make no law" and "...shall not be infringed" speak to restriction, not permission. That is, the Bill of Rights is more so a list of rights of out all the rights we have that the federal government cannot affect. Then comes the clincher, Amendment X:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
To me that says the Constitution is not a document of what rights we have. We have all rights and amendments I through IX clarify some of them. We don't obtain our liberty and rights from the Constitution. They are unalienable rights, per the 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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
Note that life does not equal health, or a guarantee of health. More on this later.
11 February 2010
Seven Car Garage
BMW E30 M3
Datsun 510 2-door
BMW E46 M3
Honda S2000
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16V "Cosworth"
2010 Ford Mustang GT
Acura NSX
Compared to the cars I have actually owned:
1978 Honda Accord LX Hatchback
1988 Honda Civic DX Hatchback
1999 Acura Integra LS Sport Sedan
2001 Acura Integra GS-R
2002 Subaru WRX
And currently own:
1989 BMW 325i
2003 BMW 330Ci
Even if I had my seven car garage I would still have my bronze E30 ready for running around town.
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