Here comes this weather that is very foreign to me!

A good day was had talking with the president of a big conglomerate corporation and tons of cheese. Tim Ferriss totally has it down with talking to big CEOs, they are like the hot chicks of the business and job world – i.e. everyone is afraid to talk to them straight and never does, therefore they love to have some informal talk with you and wil remember you always. Also, free beer on campus is cool (hooray private schools without state school regulations)!

Which reminds me, I used to have this statement written in a marker right above my bed when I would wake up in the morning: “Your intention creates your reality.” And I have it on my fridge now. Same idea. It’s true, eh.

Two years ago I quit my job to follow my dream, and each day it gets better and better. It’s amazing what the human mind can do with the help of God. This is exactly what I wanted and there is so much more good to come.

An excellent time was had here as well with my mom visiting Worcester for a week:

And Katie came to visit for a different week as well. We all had a blast here with deliciously cheap happy-hour seafood, bone-chilling temperatures, bland Dominican food in Massachusetts, nuns racing through the park, endless drives along the cliffy coast, and just plain being together. It had been a few months since I saw Katie, and it made it that much better. Many good times were had and many more million to come.

15 days ’til I return to the big Texas. I really miss the people, but not so much the place.

I guess Texas is the home of my heart and Massachusetts is the home of my brain. The two can coexist in harmony you know:

“… and television on all over the place is leading to a steady dumbing
down of the American public and a corrosion of basic critical thinking in the population.”

- Jamie Raskin, American University law professor, November 2004 on the Democracy Now! radio program

Flickr user sandymichelle

Just this past Sunday I had to kill my television – in the best sense of the word. You know: denounce, unrecognize, and the such. It was really stealing away any free (and productive) time that I had. I mean, the idle brain cells spin out of control and zoning out in front of TV after a long day of work leads to: not caring about what you eat, not thinking critically about other great things in the world, not spending ol’ fashioned time with your family or friends. (Lots of great, original articles about Killing Your TV)

I remember about 4 years ago when I came across a similar “Turn Off Your TV” site online in the form of a podcast. And the 2 people were talking on and on about trans fatty acids. I was so compelled as to what they were saying I remember typing as fast as I could to take notes and replaying parts and looking up health terms and the such. Learning. Critical thinking. Sharing. I went on to write an article in the paper at my school and was excitedly telling everyone about my findings. I continued to look up more and more information – I was addicted to knowledge. Just a few minutes ago, I just finished my meal of baked chicken, couscous, and black bean soup with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and garlic. And I know that most of that motivation to eat healthy as I do today came from that little audio finding 4 years back. Now it allows me, 4 years later, a chance for me to just sit and enjoy a meal – in peace and quiet – and experience the flavors of life one by one. Hmm, there was life before TV.

I kept running past the idea that parents talk to their kids about 28 minutes a day while the average adult watches 2.5 hours of television per day. Hmm. What are we doing to ourselves? Now, I’m not being anti-fun here, entertainment is great, and I make it through most of my day with a humorous outlook on life. But I see people ignoring food as they eat, sitting silently among family or friends, just gazing. Paying lots of money – to be advertised to constantly and have this machine suck away brain cells.

Flickr user janz87

I also came across someone who said – if aliens came to visit us and checked out the layout of our homes, they would think the television is some sort of god of ours, as our entire houses are arranged around the careful placement of the television set. And then comes the arguments about using a DVR to save time. Of course, it is better than just mindlessly watching channels and surfing without barriers, but there are other ways to go about getting your fix without paying a crapload (ahem). But I can think of many better things to do anyway! I don’t think you’ll lose sleep at night or have regrets on your deathbed – just wondering and wishing that you you had watched more TV.

Flickr user chrisdonia

On another note, it is awesome to see change and progress going on all around the world, from the recent election all the way down to the small world of fire protection engineering. Every time I watch one of the videos about technology and change in this era – I get all giddy and warm on the inside. It’s true.

There’s a giant conversation going on. And it doesn’t depend on power or money or anything. Just a passion – a want. I think of how one person that I know revamped and forever changed the world of fire modeling by utilizing a couple of free tools to bring together thousands of users who were all previously working in dark corners. I think of how a few scratches I made on a notebook one night turned into a tool that hundreds of fire model users use every week – and I think of the next step, and the next, constantly progressing. I think of those that are “too busy” to participate in this movement and think this is only for nerds and computer people – and how bad I want them to participate.

I came to the conclusion that the two ideas I speak about here are interrelated. Apathy and social sloth. Here’s what I think: no one is any more busy than anyone else. Some of us just want something more strongly than others. And that used to be okay, praised even – when the dark corners were predominant. But now, everything is public – the world pushes upon itself.

Don’t be “too busy” watching TV or sitting out on this big movement – wherever you are or whoever you are. This is big. Join in anytime.

This summer, I have been working in the sticky Houston heat as a fire alarm and security technician once again, because, well, it pays quite a bit more bucks than UHD did for being a lab assistant. And, thanks to my low income over the years of chasing my passions, I need as much cash as I can get ahold of before the big move in three weeks.

The cool part is that I used to work for the same company for 6 years, so jumping right back into the groove after being away for 22 months took all of half a a day to happen. Most of the customers that I were meeting up by commuting all over the city to I had actually visited years before. And even more odd to me, somehow all of the old knowledge was still stuck in my brain, waiting to be used. I’m talking about weird, minute stuff like remembering city code and station IDs (06 3D) or IP addresses (192.168.1.254) of customers that I hadn’t physically been to in over three years. Oddly intriguing how our brains are wired, isn’t it?.

Well, the focus of this post is to present a glimpse of the diverse set of people, minds, and environments that I run across during the regular work week (and you know how much I like diversity of mental inputs and daily stimulation of the senses).

These particular photos are from an adult care home in southwest Houston, in which this tenant was not present at the time, and I can only imagine what is running through her thoughts these days. The organization of the photos and thoughts seem to reflect raw categorization patterns of the mind. And the daily routine list with 14 steps to follow each and every day make me wonder how Josi is doing with her version of time management and self progression in her own version of the world.

It really serves to remind me that relativism is one of the most important concpets for us to wrap our heads around in the world. Relativism as a basis of thought and experiences makes way for a much better, hands-on understanding of forgiveness, happiness, and it also raises our awareness of expectations in the modern connected world.

Well, enjoy the pictures (link to full album) and take a moment to think of what it would be like to live in this room for years and years to come, with your only possessions being these posters and a toy tool bench set placed in the corner of the otherwise bland, white room.

Your sanity would be optional.

Link to full photo album