Ramblings

A 8' x 4' space is where I learned the most important lessons of my childhood. I shared a room with my younger sister for approximately 14 years. There I learned compromise, dissapointment, resentment and the true meaning of happiness. It was only after I was given my own room that I truly grasped the importance of being an alone people person. I value my time. Especially the time I spend with family and friends. It still amazes me that everyday I manage to learn a new tidbit about my coworkers, longtime friends and family members. Every interaction with another human being leaves a mental mark in my mind; a new tidbit that continues to color my internal portrait of that person. We are an infinitely fascinating species for one reason: brains. Our brains our responsible for some very beautiful and dark things. Our emotional attitudes and physical actions all stem from the brain. Every year we get closer to unlocking the different functions of our cerebellum. But we will ne...

I know it seems kind of uncouth to discuss politics when people everywhere are clebrating the birth of Jesus, oh wait I mean the time of gift giving and spending money. As for the former I thing with the latter it is okay to go ahead and share my thoughts on the new term Happy Holidays! I'll save the Jesus/Christmas thing for another time! It didn't dawn on me until I started to wish my co-workers Seasons Greetings. Since I am still fairly new to my job I still am not completely aware of everyone's religious affiliation. And I took it upon myself in an instant to say Happy Hoildays rather than Merry Christmas! At the moment I said it I thought oh no another politically correct phrase meant to lessen the true meaning of Christmas. Now after hearing it passed around the institution I work at I now know it sounds completely like I sold out. Now don't get me wrong I completely respect everyone's right to be able to express themselves in the work place. But this m...

Saddam alive; Osama alive; Phillip alive and well and living the good life. Times change, people get older and life passes people by. About three months ago I stood here on my bully pulpit and proclaimed the end of stagnation. I promised to keep in touch and to keep you abreast of my activities and daily dalliances. Well as fate would have it I reverted back to my old ways and have not written here in awhile. I thought since Saddam has made a much awaited appearance in the hands of American forces I would make an appearance here on the world wide web. It seems like President Bush is working his magic on the short term fixes for our nation. The new economic numbers show some growth, not much but growth nonetheless! Now Saddam has been caught alive and without harm to his person! Mark it well here! I am predicting another victory for the incumbent president in 2004! Why? Well with no stand-out democrat and the primary attack issues concerning the war on terrorism and the faltering eco...

I attended the University of Southern California around the turn of the decade. The entire time I was there they stressed the importance of the Trojan Network. A mythical machinery that enabled graduates to get in touch with alumni and find a job. And while I was at USC I never met anyone who benefited from the program. It just dawned on me though, the network doesn't work if the lines are broken. During the Korean War my grandfather was a telephone technician. Basically he was sent out to repair damaged lines from shrapnel and enemey sabotage. Without him and others like him the vital communication lines between different units would have been severed. Over the past two years my lines have been damaged. I've kind of been in a rut. Like many others I have suffered from the failing economy. And just recently some light has made its way into my life. And I find myself trying to reach out to those whose lines have been severed. As you might imagine this is no easy task. Whil...

Before my grandfather died in April of 1998 he was able to tell me about some of the things that had happened to him. After listening to his stories intently there seemed to be a recurring theme ... Death. Of the stories he told; my grandpa nearly died three times in his life. And so when he succumbed to cancer it was the fourth time that was his mortal charm. I'm in the the third decade of my life and have come close to death twice. Each time I somehow knew it wasn't my time. The first time I found myself on the ledge of death was literally. In the Spring of my Junior year I decided to partake in the Alternative Spring Break program offered through my college. I along with 20 others set out for the barren Death Valley in California's Mojave Desert. My group volunteered our services to help protect the extreme life found there. We did without showers, running water and electronic convienences. It was there that I saw the most beautiful night sky and where I almost met my...

Across the country hundreds of mom and pop stores dread three words: Wal-Mart is coming. Now those words make more than parentals cringe. Wal-Mart is without a doubt the biggest selling retailer in the history of the free world. It operates over 2,900 stores in the US alone, has annual sales of over $244 billion and employs over 1 million people world-wide. All of this is nice and dandy if you're a Wal-Mart shareholder. But if you're a Wal-Mart competitor beware! When Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in Arkansas in the 1960's he had one goal: to provide the lowest possible price. From those humble beginnings to now; the driving force has been to slash prices. One new book entitled, "The Wal-Mart Decade," explains the obsession with lowering prices like a religion. So what's the problem? Wal-Mart is the most anti-union corporation in the world. When Sam Walton was alive a distribution center tried to unionize and Sam simply let them go and replaced them ...

The famed astronomer Carl Sagan used to begin each Public Television show he hosted with the phrase "billions and billions" to refer to the stars and planets in the Universe. The past two weeks however, have focused scientists and the world on Mars. If you've been living in a bubble then here's some news: Mars is closer to Earth today than it has been since the Stone Age. Spectatcular pictures have been taken by scientists from NASA and Cornel University showing detail up to 17 miles. In other words, we are about as close as we can get without having to send a telescope like the Hubble to the Red Planet. All of this interest in Mars begs the question. Why the fascination? Stories of Mars date back to Galileo and even further when the world's pollution levels were so low primitive man was able to see the Red Planet and a strong red tint in the atmosphere. Nowadays that's virtually impossible. But authors like Ray Bradbury and Orson Welles enchanted legion...

Every now and then you hear in the news about some computer virus effecting users on the information super highway. Michelangelo and Anna Kournikova are the two I remember most. Within the past two weeks though the Blaster virus and SoBig worm viruses infected thousands of users and made downloading email a chore for millions. All of this comes on the heels of news that Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Windows XP make it easy for hackers to gain access to users computers. With the internet all but a common household appliance for millions of Americans these security holes are frightening. Microsoft for it's part has updated its site and offers free downloads to its users. And with all things on the internet related to security we usually don't find out about these critical security holes until hackers penetrates them. So Microsoft can't be more proactive in these situations then we might expect from say the Office of Homeland Security. With that in mind all of us...

Over the past 100 years the earth's temperatures in the arctic regions have increased over 2 degrees. Not much you might say. But it takes quite alot to heat up a region that contains over half of the earth's water. In fact it usually takes a geological event. In this case it took irresponsible humanity. No doubt you've read about the heat wave going on in Europe. And how they're dying from dehydration. Meanwhile temperatures in the United States are also hotter than they've been. In Southern California we're experiencing humidity that rivals the Southern states. All of this begs the question is global warming to blame? This year out west we had one of the coldest winters since 1997. With the climate at such an extreme in winter some might consider it logical that summer be just as extreme. Scientists, more specifically meteorologist, say that the current weather could be apart of a 100-year cycle. Other scientists say that this is just an anomoly in the w...

If you know me, then you know I above all things value the inherit principles in a democracy. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is now in the twenty-first century basically freedom of speech, freedom of religion and right to protect one's property. The freedom of speech part is beginning to irk me though, mainly because we have a president who uses the english language like a three-year old. Hear me out, I'm not just another GOP bashing liberal. In fact, I tend more towards the conservative side when it comes to social issues and liberal on economic ones. So it comes as no surprise that I believe the tax break for the wealthy people, the tax advances for the middles class and the no tax breaks for the poorest americans, who pay a greater percentage of their income than all others, really bothers me. To top it all off the American President takes a month long vacation, while the American economy continues to struggle, American soldiers continue to die in Iraq, and t...

With the summer movie season almost devoid of acceptable entertainment. I thought I would take some time to defend a movie that has gotten an undeserved bad wrap. First off Gigli is not Citizen Kane or Casablanca, it's another Hollywood film with shallow characters and an even less deep script. What it is though is a mediocre romantic/redemption/look in the mirror type movie. Yet, if you listened to any reviewer you'd think it's the second coming of Glitter . After seeing the film, yes on opening weekend, I left the theater thinking of what could have been. Perhaps the fact that JLo and Ben Affleck are now romatically linked, turned off many people hoping to see some of those public fireworks. Instead the film has two characters searching for themselves and discovering it doesn't include the other. More than anything the film shows that no matter how high wattage the stars a film still has to have a strong script. And while this script was more Screech than A.C. i...

The greatest trick a politician ever pulled was to convince themselves they were qualified to run for a political office. Seems Arnold Schwarzenegger is more than just an actor - he's also a magician. No one doubts the good Ronald Reagan did for the world in ending communism in Russia. Yet it can all be erased if we blame him for allowing actors to believe they are qualifed to run for political office. I - like many sat in shock an awe in listening to Arnold announce his canidacy on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As a Californian I also sat in disgust as I listened to the prepared statement and scripted verbal jibes at the politicians in Sacramento. It's bad enough Californians have to put up with new taxes yet alone go through another election with no qualified candidates. Honestly, is a qualified candidate in this race leader of one ballot initiative aimed at after school programs for kids? Is the most qualified candidate an actor married to a relative of one of the m...

The continuing efforts of one USC Trojan to establish a digital connection to the rest of the world begins here ... this step, the first in what will be several to create a website, blog journal, resume link, etc. ... to further the opportunities for myself to succeed in the digital age ... and for people to establish a connection with me ... stay tuned ...