A Networked Society

Recently I have joined the ranks of the Facebook friendly. This is a big deal. Maybe not to you, but it is monumental for me. It is one of the things that I made the mistake of saying "never" about. I truly was never going to Facebook.

My 180• turn on this issue has me in contemplative mood. I have been delving deeper into what motivates myself and others to use this and other social networking sites.

I know why I initially joined Facebook. Ostensibly it was to give myself access in order to start a page for work. My Cafe Today location could use a little more exposure, and I volunteered my time to make that happen. So, joining was easy. Then I started "friending" people.

Make "friends" on Facebook is easy too. The act of clicking on the "send friend request" button takes no time at all. The thing is, I quickly realized that there was more to it than that. My mind tells me that linking my personal information with another person through a public website is simply one more exchange of 1's and 0's that we see all around us everyday. For some strange reason, however, actively seeking out people that I know was more impacting than I anticipated. For most of my "new friends" we never even exchanged words, and yet during the process I continued to hear the old AT&T tag-line "Reach out and touch someone" in my head. I could feel myself reconnecting emotionally with memories I had of these people, some of whom I haven't talked to in years.

It occurred to me that this was a big part of it. Notice what I just said at the end of the last paragraph. I was connecting to the memories that I had, not the people themselves. Connecting to friends was a nostalgic walk down memory lane. I have been very busy lately, and it felt good to stop down and reconnect ( even if only nominally), to people that I have known in my life. A rare reason to slow down and reminisce.

Today I was reading Burton Farley's travel blog which I found through a link that he posted on Facebook. Things like this make me realize that, going forward I believe Facebook could be a valuable tool for someone like me. I look on this, sort of distant fellowship with others, with blissful ignorance today. Skeptics might say that it could rob me of my motivation for real human interaction with these people, but before I simply had no contact. I did not know Burt and Christine were even in Norway, for example. So, as of now, I will soak up the experience and hope that I will have more common ground with my "friends" the next time we chance to meet in person.



- Posted from my iPhone

Spare the Change

The other day I came across a random Mexican coin that came back with us from one of our trips. It crossed my mind to throw it away like so many unwanted trinkets, but I resisted the urge. I'm not sure why.

The fact is, I found that I have a psychological aversion to junking currency. It isn't just Mexican coins that I have spared from a dark demise. I have found myself shuffling around others such as a Franc, and various Canadian coins at different times. Even the American Penny has extremely little actual worth, but I don't pitch them either.

It isn't my desire to become a coin collector. I usually just end up place them here and there until they get lost anyway. No, it is something else.

As a child it was not uncommon for me to witness my parents scrounging up spare change to find a way to pay for gas or a gallon of milk. I certainly have found myself doing a lot of the same in my adult life. One theory I have, is that being broke simply teaches you the value of small change. Only, that doesn't explain why I would save a single French "penny". You can't exchange that small of an amount of money, and I have no plans to travel internationally in the near future.

Another theory is that it feels disrespectful to throw away money in particular. Like making a snap judgement on the economies of the countries who back these coins. Declaring that these coins will forever remain valued at next to nothing. However, this theory seems far-fetched (even for a lighthearted blog article).

The other possibility is that I recognize the intrinsic value of a metal coin. On some level the ore mined and processed to make these coins has value no matter what border you cross. This too, is a thin argument. I don't have a forge for melting down metal. I also don't know of a metal recycling place where you can turn in a quarter of an ounce at a time.

My final theory is that i am simply exercising my packrat instincts. I tend to save things. (Somewhere Diana is nodding her head emphaticlly in agreement) I am working on it, but the reasons people store things are many and it is a particularly difficult habit to kick.

I suppose the real reason for my actions is a kaleidoscope view of many of the things miss-mashed together. We are complicated beings.

- Posted from my iPhone

British Petroleum

Need another reason to never buy crappy ARCO gas? They are the major distributers of BP gas in the States. I'm no enviromentalist but BP looks pretty bad about now.

You know who is a BP fan right now? Exxon. The Valdez spill is starting to look like no big deal.


- Posted from my iPhone

Just Another Saturday

Last Saturday I had to work. This led to a series of interesting events.

For those of you who do not know, I work in downtown Portland. Portland is not that big of a city, but the people who live there would really like it to be. As a result, they do a lot of stupid things. Speaking of stupid things, it was Gay Pride Weekend. But, before I get into that I would like to back up to give you the full timeline of my day.

In the morning we went to a parade in Woodland. It was a little sad. Parades are supposed to be a celebration of prosperity in the community. A real source of civic pride. Unfortunately, with the down economy, it felt hackneyed and threadbare.

Following our appearance at the parade, I went to work. Unfortunately they were replacing the roll-up door in the parking garage which forced me to park three blocks away. This is when I encountered the Gay Pride movement. It was a group made up of the fashionably unhappy. I guess they were protesting the fact that they live in an extremely liberal city with an openly gay mayor. They probably feel that people no longer respect the trials they must go through. Also, someone suggested that they had combined this with an Anti-Police Violence Rally. I just saw a bunch of selfish whiners blocking my way to work.

Once I finally waded through the throngs of limp-wristed protesters, I had to cook for a dinner party. It was a repeat of a menu that I had served at another home for Cinco De Mayo. This meant that I had a clear plan, but it got a little crazy because my schedule was compacted by being unable to get in to the building on time. I spent an hour and a half cooking, and it went pretty good. For those who are curious the menu was as follows:

Pollo Pablano with fresh tortillas

Pork Carnitas Mini Taco Bar with authentic trimmings

Bay Shrimp Tostadas with Pineapple Mango Salsa topped with Cilantro Lime Crema

Fresh Fruit Skewers

Spicy SW Artichoke Dip

Fresh Chips with Salsa and Guacamole

Following preparation, I had to retrieve my car so I could load up and make my delivery. Once again I was unable to use the garage so I was forced to load curbside. Because of the official nature of the building I work in, security is pretty tight. In order for me to load my catering out the side door there had to be a security officer standing watch. To be clear I was loading half a block away from the afore mentioned protest. This made the security officer nervous. We had protesters, lines of police on bikes (see the above picture), and police on horses 100 feet in front of us and lines of police in riot gear 200 feet behind us.

Once I got out of downtown I had to make the delivery. This particular party was in Portland's West Hills. This is a affluent part of Portland, and our customers on that day were obviously successful. This isn't that shocking or significant other than the contrast it presented to the scene I had just left. I went from pushing my way through a bunch of ne'er-do-wells to chatting up a lively bunch of socialites.

As a bookend to my kaleidoscope day I returned to our home town Planters Day festival. We took our beautiful children to the carnival and enjoyed an easy paced evening.

I hope this post doesn't read to much like a lame journal entry. I was simply struck by the queer (wink) events of the day.

As I finish this, the second half of U.S. vs Ghana is on and if the U.S. can pull out a win perhaps my next post will be about this Saturday.


- Posted from my iPhone

The More You Know

I used to scoff at the idea of a car company advertising intermittent windsheild wipers in this day and age. I put it in the same category as motels that have reader boards advertising color television. Now I am driving a car whose wipers have two settings: on or off. How did I allow myself to grow so egotistical? Why did I think I was so smart and the advertising executives were so old-hat? I have a clear record of being wrong about lots of things, and I should know better than to look down on others by now.

A few years ago I realized that my favorite Coldplay song was actually not a Coldplay song, but in fact it was-"Funeral" by Band of Horses. I was living under the assumption that Paul Harvey was a black man until someone called me on it and I found out that he was as vanilla as they come. It took me years to figure that horizon is pronounced "her-rise-in" and not "whore-a-zon". I was mortified, the first time I ever played the basketball game PIG, when my playmates informed me that I had to pee (They were trying to tell me that I had a "P"). Trust me, my list of wrongs is very long.

We all have lists like this I suppose. It is good to remember that the beginning of wisdom is realizing how little we truly know.


- Posted from my iPhone

Santa Biblia

I have been recklessly neglecting the reading of scripure lately. The other night I was inspired to read, however, and I was truly blessed by what I read. I read Matthew chapter 11 and the corresponding story in Luke 7:11. I felt compelled to paraphrase it here for you. I think I am harbouring a distant hope that you will feel inspired to dust off your copy of The Good Book next, and maybe even point me toward some highlight of your own.

We start with a really cool scene that talks about Jesus having compassion on this greif-stricken woman who had lost her son and is already a widow. He says to her "Do not weep", and then He promptly turns, goes over, and brings the young man back from the dead. An awesome display of understated power to be sure.

The story of this Resurrection and other miracles make their way back to John the Baptist. John is feeling down and is stuck in prison. He sends out his friends to figure out if Jesus is the real McCoy. Specifically he gives them a question, "Are you 'The One who is to come' or shall we look for another?". Miracles are fine, but John wants to know if Jesus is The Messiah. John's emissaries are shown a dizzying display of God's power. More to the point Jesus fulfills very detailed prophecy concerning himself in front of their eyes. After His incredible display Jesus goes back to them and tells them to go tell John that he is the fullfillment of the prophecies.

John's disciples were not the only ones who were watching Jesus on this day. There was a whole crowd there and the crowd was aware of John's people, and their purpose. Our Saviour sends John's disciples on their way, and what follows is a loose speech by The Christ with a fantastically conversational tone. These are the moments in the Gospels that tend to catch my eye and curiosity. I love seeing examples of how human Jesus Christ really was.

He addresses the crowd again, maybe he sees them all peering after John's guys walking away, and He starts talking about John. I get the feeling that people were wondering why he went out of his way to send such a sure message to John the Baptist. So He asks them a string of rhetorical questions: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?", "A reed shaken by the wind?", "A man dressed in soft clothing?", "A prophet?". There, that's the one. He takes it one step further. Jesus tells them that John is more than a prophet. In fact, at the time he was the greatest man ever born of a woman. (This has a polarizing effect on the people. The ones who were baptized were excited by it. The ones who weren't said that it was all a bunch of phooey). He then calls them out for whining like a bunch of spoiled kids who are never pleased.

In true paradoxical form, Jesus then switches things up making grand sweeping statements. He warns the cities, that he has performed miracles in, that they should not harden their hearts. Saying to one city that they are even worse than Sodom.

He ends his speech with reassuring words of comfort for those of us who believe: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I said earlier that I like reading scriptures like these ones because they display how human Jesus really was. In truth, that is only half of it. What makes the story so fascinating is the continual display of the complexity of His nature. He performs wondrous signs, and then he is graciously, and beautifully condescending to us with plain speech.

The Bible is the living Word of God, and we must be careful not to take it for granted. Let us all try to remember what an incredible gift it truly is.



- Posted from my iPhone

Every Cat Has A Silver Lining

Ever since that fateful November day, when the American people clamored for King Obama, I have witnessed a lot of people living in a bit of a pall.

We should be looking on the bright side! Having a democrat president has it's moments. For instance, anti-Bush songs are no longer cool and relevant. Another positive is that anti-war movies have to be more tempered so they don't come off as racist criticism of our black president. One final benefit is that old jokes and gags about president Clinton started sounding relevant again.

We have waited eight years to laugh at well timed jokes with democrats as the butts. I will get you started with one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time Eek! the Cat.

Now go recycle your own jokes. It's all about being green right?

- Posted from my iPhone