Blogger Blend Review # 2

Today we review Boca Java's New Media Mavericks. I have to say that I am much more impressed with this blend than I was with the Blogger's Boot Up Blend. This stuff is coffee in the truest sense of the work, it's a bold and rich flavor that won't kick into the ceiling but will leave you wanting more.

You taste all the traditional coffee flavor, plus an added pucnh, it's like Red Bull from your morning mug. This stuff is not only great, it's good.



And in case you haven't seen it yet, check out the Evolution of Dance.

Acceptance

Okay, so I guess that's it, I just have to sacrifice myself to the fact that I'm only going to get on this about once everymonth (probably less when the Twins get here) but that's okay. I don't think anyone is reading this anyhow.

Okay, well, let me start off with DUH! Of course people are freaking out and creating buzz about the shuttle going up. Maybe you shouldn't tell people something's wrong if you don't want that to happen, but that's the thing, they do want people to talk about it. I'm guessing risk is pretty negligible here or they probably wouldn't have put 7 Americans into orbit there, but hey, I'm just some midwestern guy in his 20's, what do I know.

What I know is this. The best way to get a child to do something is to tell them not to, I know, not a huge revelation for most of us. But did you know it works with Adults as well? All NASA has to do is leak this info that things are bad with the shuttle and we shouldn't launch it, and then suddenly everyone is struck by this spur of the moment Americanistic thought of "But we must!"

It happened with the war in Iraq, it happened with the Cold War. The suprise, I guess, is that it didn't happen in WWII, which is where I think it all really started. You see, when Pearl Harbor was attacked that fateful December Sunday in 1941 America learned that it pays to go on the offensive, to be proactive, if you will. And after that we tried very hard to be proactive, we did relatively well in this area for the next 60 years or so too. Minus the whole Kennedy thing, but hey, Reagan made it, so it's all good, and besides, there's always some idiot who wants to get his fame in an idiotic way, ever since the caveman it's been that way.

Anywho, after 60 years we got comfortable again, we were resting on our laurels, after all, we're Americans, we've worked hard since the foundation of our country and we deserved a much needed rest, right?

Enter Osama and the shit hitting the fan. Everybody was so pissed at Osama that they didn't stop and think about what throwing the entire Middle East into chaos may ensue.

Also, most people don't realize that structure, however diabolical, always helps people cope with life. Now granted, Iraqis were not in the midst of a friendly governmental structure, but there was structure.

So we took that bastard Saddam out. Great for us! And great for Iraq too, right, they're free now. Except is wasn't freedom like when we did, and hell, even our founding fathers had to get together and write the constitution to keep the country from falling to the wayside. Why did we think we could shoot a guy and just bring our boys home like nothin had ever happened?

Because we were being proactive again, but, like in Vietnam, we didn't totally think this one through. Everyone, even our senators and congressmen (there the ones who approved the war and bitch about it now) was so concerned about the terrorists we forgot to think about the citizens of a country we were about to invade. And YES, we invaded it, and NO this is not EXACTLY like Vietnam. In Vietnam guys were drafted, and then they had their tours extended. Not so today, today it's just your common everday enlisted man that's getting to sit in the desert for an extra few MONTHS at a time.

Now don't get me wrong, I support the troops, I know quite a few, and my uncle will be joining the ranks real soon here, so for all you ultra-conservatives out there, don't tell me I'm just being caloused and liberal. In fact, don't tell me jack. Just listen, for once.

We screwed up, okay, it's that simple, now we need to get this job done quickly, and get the hell out. If we're so worried about Iraq, then lets make sure we sign a treaty with them, to come to their aid. You know, I'm pretty sure that helped out a little county over in eastern Europe back in the late 30's/early 40's, you remember Poland, don't you?

I guess my point is this. We are Americans and when things get tough, we alwasy try to be even tougher, but maybe instead having the violently flaring temper that our Irish/German ancestors gave to so many of us, perhaps we should attempt to stop for just one moment and more accurately aim our punch at the heart of the problems that arise, rather than wherever the blows may lie. Let's allow ourselves to be marksmen, not machine gun junkies.

Whew...too long!!

Wow, I don't know what happened here. I've been so sidetracked by life that I forgot to blog. Is that a blessing or what.

Well, let's see, my birthday kicked ass all the way through. We found out the next week that we're having twins!! Blessing!!! I went up to the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness with 6 other guys over Memorial Day weekend, and while I know my wife missed me, I also know she's glad that I had a good time. Blessing!! A friend of mine who went with, him and I got to do some witnessing for Christ and we even watched one in our group surrender his heart to Christ.

My dad and I really connected on this trip somewhere around the way too. I don't really know how, or why, but we really did connect. It was just cool since we've always had more of an understood type of relationship than a displayed one, but he gave me a big ol' hug in front of all 4 of those other guys and he didn't even blush, and there's the coolest part, he gave me a hug, usually goes the other way.

Well, life is grand, this is probably full of typos and yadda yadda, but oh well, today I don't care, and neither should you, go find whatever's waiting on ya!

Today is a good day.

Today is my birthday; it's really nothing special. I turn 24 at 4:41 PM this afternoon. I only know that because my parents argue about it every year, and every year they're both wrong. I'm the only one who remembers, that, my birth weight, and that fact that I was born on Mother's Day of 1982 are really all the memories I have of my birth, and they are, of course, facts that I came to learn long after the event.

I woke up to my wife being very sweet. You see, even though she is pregnant, she let me sleep in and kept the puppy out of my hair for an extra half an hour this morning. As I left with puppy Siku to go on our morning walk, I noticed a note on my gloves, there were about a half dozen or so spread different places in the house and in my work folder this morning. She is a very sweet woman, very sweet indeed. Siku (our Siberian Husky puppy) even seemed to understand today was significant too, not too much fuss and howl during the walk this morning (he's in training, he does not like corrections).
I got to take a shower, and even though my Hawaiian shirt is missing a button and I was unable to wear it, I am still comfortable in what I ended up wearing, and I like it enough to keep it in the closet so that's that.

My dad called me this morning on my way to work. He is the second person to wish me a Happy Birthday. I decided I want to trade jobs with him today; he gets to go to a 3M plant and burn things in a 2,000-degree oven. He's testing fire retardants today. He loves being a building inspector more than he ever liked being a working blue collar stiff. I am happy that he called me this morning. My dad is a really cool guy.

Now I sit here at my desk, my office looking like Times Square on New Year's Eve, and I am happy. My 'crew' as I call my group of female co-workers (I am the only male among us as of yet) was kind enough to decorate my office while I was at the first OB appointment that my wife and I had for our unborn child. So while I was listening to a heartbeat that sounded like an old steam engine (It was really quite beautiful) they were throwing confetti, balloons, and crepe paper around my office. They also stole one of my 'signatures' and posted a huge list of odd/fun facts about the year and date of my birth. Useless knowledge such as this is something that is usually saved for me to acquire and spread around on a rainy or boring day, and they've used it against me! Ain't life grand?

Two of my co-workers will be unable to attend my 'office birthday lunch' later this week, and have offered to take me out for lunch today. We're going to go get Chinese food. This is special for me because my wife doesn't like it much, and therefore, we do not usually have Chinesey things in our home. (See, good day for me!)

I only know that my evening will consist of spending time with our kids and my wife. That there will be cake, Which my very loving wife made right out of the box for me. That is huge for her, and I am very, very happy with it. She even let me eat the extra frosting, am I a dork, or what? But I don't care and I don't have to today.

I say every year that it's no big deal and just another day, and you know what, it's still working, every year that I say that, I end up seeing that it is a big deal and that people really do care for me. So I'm sticking with what works, at least if I'm right, I can only be mad at myself that way, right?

Disablism: Fact or Fiction?

I've only recently become familiar with this term, in fact, until yesterday, I'd never heard it. Perhaps that says something about the predominantly white state that I live in. What bother's me further though, is that even though I'm only 23-years-old, in the past 6 years I've already made a career of working with people who have mental, cognitive, and physical disabilities. If anyone should've heard this word by now I feel like I should have at least been eavesdropping.


I do see that this is a problem, and I've always seen that it's a problem. In some ways, everyone partakes in disablism, much in the same way that most of us white folks take advantage of racism, but rarely do we notice or discuss that it's being done. In fact, it took me a sociology class focused on inequalities before I truly recognized how screwed up we is with this discrimination thing.

Many of us actively practice racism, sexism, and disablism in our everyday lives and never even notices it.

Think about it, when was the last time that you stared at a black or African-American person standing across the street while in an unfamiliar town and worried about what might happen, or thought that, based on the way they were dressed, they obviously aren't doing enough for themselves?



And in kind, have you never done a double take at a well-endowed woman in a low cut top? Or perhaps a long legged beauty in a short skirt? What about a tall dark and handsome man in a freshly pressed suit? Or that hunky football player at the mall? See, this might start an argument, but women do participate in some of these things too, although when it comes to sexism, men do seem to take the cake, don't we? Too bad.

It works the same way with disability rights, you see a person in a wheelchair and you stare, even if only for a brief moment, and you never think to actually speak to the person, you just make your glances. Trust me, they notice. That guy at McDonald's who was throwing a fit because he didn't get the super size on his value meal, he noticed that you were smirking, smiling, laughing, staring, glaring, and all unapologetically and without understanding.


The greeter at the local department store, the one who's always staring at the floor, he's just looking for you to say "hi" back to him. He doesn't need you to hear his life story, it's not a bar or a bistro, and you haven't asked, just say "hi" and take his flyer. Then he can feel the purpose in his job that you get to feel in yours.

You may still be telling yourself that I'm a nut, that this stuff just doesn't happen, but can I just simply ask why you honestly believe that in 6 years of working with this community I've never seen any of this? Or furthermore, why I'd just make it up?

If you want more info on how disablism is not only grabbing our country, but not being recognized, check out this link: http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/closerlook/000947.html