Lions for Lambs

I just finished watching an interesting movie. Although I believe it left entirely too much unanswered, it still got a point across. The basic idea of the movie is that "If you don't STAND for something, you might FALL for anything." The premise revolves around the "war on terror." I remember seeing posters for this movie while in Berlin, Germany. I also heard reports of how unappealing it was to a few random Germans. Needless to say I put it out of my head until I got a chance to watch it at a friends house.

According to IMDB "Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian and Ernest, follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley, and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving, is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates."

The part that was most interesting to me was Dr. Malley's (portrayed by Robert Redford) intense and highly intelligent conversation with a student, Todd. Todd, a slacker, has attended only 8 classes out of the semester but has aced each of his exams. Malley pushes him to be bold and not waste what he has had the privilege to grow up in. He sees the incredible intelligence and potential in Todd and doesn't want to see him lose sight of it. Their conversation weaves in and out of the other story lines but still drew my closest attention.

It was truly refreshing to see a college student portrayed in such a positive light. Intelligent, well spoken and completely aware. Aware of real issues, not those trumped up by media outlets for increased ratings or politicians for votes. Malley and Todd went back and forth in what seemed to be a battle to best each other's wording of their viewpoints. Malley told Todd of his former students Ernest and Arian and their decision to enlist in the Army. Todd questioned Malley and insisted that he could not be trying to recruit him. He wasn't, only trying to illustrate to Todd that talk is talk and does nothing but truly making a difference requires walking the walk. Malley attempted to inspire Todd not to waste his gift but rather to put it to use. He had already proven his ability to debate while in class analyzing a cities decision to distribute clean syringes to drug addicts in order to reduce the passing of diseases. Todd negated the proposed positives of this idea and claimed it would be just the same as creating a lane for drunk drivers to use on the highways.

With all that is going on in this world, the most prevalent are those that reflect our country in a negative light. I believe our youth is incredibly mis-informed, either by ignorance or the failures of teachers or parents. Like I stated in a previous post, voting for a presidential candidate because one thinks they're cool is preposterous. I wish more young people were like Todd and could stand up for what they believe in, debate truthfully and intelligently, and represent our population as a nation of successful doers rather than the slacktastic generation we have come to be known as. No, I cannot say that I am anywhere near perfect. However, I do the best I can at staying as informed as possible on what is going on with our country and how it is impacting the rest of the world. I believe that if I didn't I have no reason to vote in elections and state opinions as they wouldn't be based on facts, just rubbish. Well, I think I have ranted on for long enough. Regardless, check out "Lions for Lambs" if you into that sort of thing.

Scout's catastrophe...

Overall Scout has been an incredible puppy. Out of all the puppies I have had through my lifetime she has been the least trouble, that is until this past week. Every weekday I wake up early and take her out, then feed her before putting her in the crate so I can go to work. I follow a similar pattern at lunch and dinner time.

Well, I came home from work this past week and when I let her out of the cage I noticed something odd on the wall. I pulled her cage out from the wall to see a nice 4 inch by 2 inch hole in the Sheetrock. The little brat must have been pissed off at me for some reason and figured out how she can wedge her snout through the crate bars enough for her to reach and gauge the wall. Let's just say I was less than impressed. Seriously, what the f***. She got spanked and put in her cage but only after I pulled it out from the wall some.

I have patched the wall with some Spackle and attempted to match the weird texture. I also had to find something to put on the sides of her cage so she didn't do any more damage. I found two sheets of plastic that go in fluorescent ceiling lights and so far it has seemed to work. I am still speechless that she did this!

Operation Fury Soldiers

In April of 2008 I was on my way to Knoxville, Tennessee to represent HR Florida and the Big Bend Society for Human Resource Management at the Southeastern Regional SHRM Student Conference and HR Games. While on layover in the Atlanta airport I found a seat and open power outlet to plug in my laptop and get some work done. Shortly thereafter I noticed soldier after soldier arriving at the gate directly across from me. A few minutes later more and more soldiers continued to arrive at the gate. Before long there were upwards of 100 to 200 soldiers in the gate. I wasn’t really sure what to think.

Time went by as I buried my head in returning emails. A soldier came and sat near me to use the same power outlet for his laptop. I asked him where he was from and where all the soldiers were going. He responded with a blank face, “We have all just finished a two week leave and are on our way back to Iraq.” I quickly learned that his name is Robert (Sergeant to be exact) and is the same age as me, 26. He is part of the 67th Specialized Search Dog Platoon, Canine Company, 5th Engineer Battalion, 5-55 Engineer Brigade.

To be honest with you I didn’t really know what to say and I didn’t want to pry into experiences revolving around the war as I wasn’t sure how he would respond. I stuttered a few times trying to dance around the subject when I just came out and asked how he was doing. It was as if he was waiting for me to ask. Robert described how hard his military experience with the war has been on his family, especially for his wife and small child. I gave him a business card and told him if he felt like it, he could email me whenever he wanted. I also told him I was interested in sending over a care package.

Before long it was for me to catch my flight, but not before I had to maneuver my way through a sea of camouflage. Seeing all of these young soldiers awaiting their return to war is something that is burned into my memory. The experience truly put things in perspective for me.

Since that day, Sergeant Dami has contacted me via email and provided me with some ideas for care packages. After a few emails back and forth I asked myself how I could do more to show my support and we came up with a project, "Operation: Fury Soldiers." I am gathering the names of soldiers and their dogs in his unit in order to provide information on all of them including needs and a few wants in addition to toys for the dogs. My plan is to put all the information together into a package of some sort and offer them up to friends, family and co-workers to "adopt". If you're interested let me know!

Scout's first thunderstorm...

For those that didn't know, I finally named my puppy. Her name is Scout. She is one cute little one if I do say so myself. One big ball of energy. She has been a great companion over the past few months and loves all the new friends she has met at the dog park and when traveling to New York in March.

Summer time in Florida is always the same. Super hot, humid and uncomfortable. Not to mention the daily thunderstorms around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Well, today we had a doozey. I'm talking major power outage, fallen limbs everywhere, flooding, etc. To make things worse, the storms have been ongoing into the evening. In fact, right now we are getting some crazy lightning.

I busted out of my office and ran the short distance to my car to head home only to get completely soaked. When I got home this afternoon I immediately went to let Scout out of her cage. As soon as I hit the doorway to the laundry room where I kee her crate I was bombarded with an unpleasant smell. She peed in her crate. Scout layed there curled up shaking in the back corner of her crate. It was pitiful. I knew instantly that the thunder and lightning had scared her. Poor thing.

I gave her a quick bath and now she is sitting on my chest as I lay on the couch typing this. I dried her off as much as possible but she still is shivering like it is 20 below. Five minutes ago she was running circles around my apartment as fast as she could, which is her normal post bath routine. As of now the thunder and lightning isn't bothering her but I am positive it is because I am home with her. Damn she is cute!

What are we supposed to do now?

Well, it has been settled. Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary a few weeks ago. I will admit that I changed my party affiliation in the fall of last year from an Independent to a Democrat so that I could vote in the primary. Obviously that was in vain if you remember the controversy (What? Florida in an election controversy? No...) in which votes in Florida did not count towards the primary because the date of the Florida primary was earlier than was "allowed." Pretty lame in my opinion and yet just another way for our corrupt government to screw with the livelihood of our people.

Well, when it comes down to it, my political beliefs are liberal but in the range of Libetarian and Moderate. Raised in a ridiculously Republican family I grew up around guns, hunting, money and egos where I was told what to do and what to think. Those that know me today are not surprised when I say that that didn't last long once I turned 18 and went off to college. Thank god for personal freedom and the ability for me to form my own beliefs no matter how much is pisses of my family.

Now when it comes to this election I am speechless. On one side with have an ancient war veteran who is a bigger flip-flopper than John Kerry. On the other an intelligent and appealing African American man surrounded by a mysticism due to his great possibility of becoming the first African American President.

Let me say that McCain makes me absolutely SICK. To be honest, in 2004+ McCain began to make appearances on the late night talk shows, including my favorites the Daily Show and Colbert Report. McCain became famous for being a "left-wing" Republican frequently making jabs at GWB. Thoughts and view points were presented to the viewers repeatedly that questioned the validity of GWB's decisions, military (or lack there of) history, etc. In 2006/2007 McCain began stirring and a drastic difference in his interaction with the media began to be more and more obvious. For someone who had the following of so many young people and a great number of "right-wing" Liberals it amazes me to think of how far gone the view points that made him appealing are.

Obama. What can I say. Yes I am a registered Democrat but something about this guy doesn't seem right. Could it be his complete lack of experience to run a country? Could it be the fact that he tends to promise things that are highly unlikely to be followed through with? Hmm. Not to mention his speaking style completely freaks me out. I'm sorry but someone who has hardly any experience working in the Senate has no grounds to be the President of the United States of America, the strongest nation in the world. I do think it is amazing for an African American to be in this situation and am proud that it has finally come to that point in our history, but someone shouldn't be voted President just because of that. Same reasoning behind why I do not believe Hillary should be voted President just because she is a woman. That should have NO grounds what-so-ever to be voted President.

I have quite a few friends who are completely gung ho for Obama, but why? He is appealing to the masses, especially the young ones. It is these young ones (who I am one of) who rarely have any concept what-so-ever about politics and what is needed for our country. This bothers me greatly. Young people will tend to vote for the person they feel the most appealing regardless of how good of an option they are. I really think this issue has to do with the lack of coverage of politics and government in secondary and post secondary schools. I am sick and tired of hearing young people answer why they are going to vote for Obama with, "Oh, I think he is cool." Come on. That's like saying Dwight Schrute from The Office should be President because he is funny.

At this point I really don't know what we are supposed to do. It worries me now to think about what is going to happen. Not only because I believe we are screwed regardless who is voted but more recently the concept that Obama could win the popular vote but not the electorates to become President. Sound familiar? Hello 2004 sham of an election!

Back to the Basics

After a few months getting away from the original meaning behind this blog, I venture back towards my true intentions with this post. I have been doing a lot of volunteer work over the past six months since my return from Europe. Most recently I have been involved with some fundraising efforts for a local group called Tri-for-Gey.

Professor Steven Gey, a Constitutional Law professor at the Florida State University College of Law was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease in 2006. ALS is a fatal illness that affects thousands of people and is a crueler disease than most because while those afflicted lose all muscle control, their minds are left intact. Patients literally become prisoners in their own bodies.

Being highly respected in his field and loved by his students, it is no surprise that a group of over 40 current and former students, friends and colleagues joined together and created Tri for Gey. This group of individuals competed in the Red Hills Triathlon as a way to help fund the fight against ALS. Bringing news of this event and the story of Professor Gey to the public, the group sought sponsorships and donations in hopes to raise $10,000. The group far surpassed their original goal and raised an incredible $40,000 for the ALS Therapy Development Institute.

This year, the group has grown to over 70 members and they have set their hopes high in raising $60,000. As of today they have raised just over $42,000. These empowered individuals will compete in the Red Hills Triathlon on Saturday, April 5. The race includes a third of a mile swim in cold swampy lake water, a 16 mile bike ride over hills and a 3.1 mile run.

Professor Gey has inspired countless students and he is the motivation for Team Gey. While there is currently no treatment or cure for ALS, the team’s motto is “We are going to ‘Tri for Gey’ because, as Professor Gey stated, ‘maybe we'll get a last-minute cure after all!’”

I was able to offer donations from a professional organization I am a member of, Big Bend Society for Human Resource Management, to Tri-for-Gey totalling just under $250. If you are interested in finding out more, check out http://www.active.com/donate/tri-for-gey-ii.

Early End to the Presidential Election

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

The Nameless Puppy

I made a trip up to Thomasville to visit my new puppy today and took lots of pictures. She is adoreable and will be coming home on March 21st. In the mean time I need some help picking out a name. Any thoughts? Let me know!

Puppy

Let the count down begin! After 4 years in Tallahassee on my own I have not only moved in to my own apartment, but I have finally had the opportunity to get a dog. I grew up with German Shepards and Labradors, hence I love big dogs. However, since moving to Tallahassee I have been able to get to know a variety of smaller breeds like the Boston Terrier, Jack Russell, Pug and more. Two years ago I was introduced to a family friend's dog, Wilbur, a French Bulldog. I quickly fell in love with the breed and have been obsessing about them ever since. For the past two months I have been seriously looking into dog breeds and most recently I moved and have changed my focus to look at great apartment breeds. Frenchies would be a great apartment dog. Unfortunately they run anywhere from $1500 to $3000+. With that in mind, I am no millionaire and the Frenchie was out. Then a few weeks ago good friends of mine got a black miniature Schnauzer named Pearl. She is adoreable and an awesome dog all around. After never considering such a dog Pearl quickly changed my mine and yesterday I picked out my very own miniature Schnauzer, a small black and gray female. The breed doesn't shed and is hypo-allergenic, not to mention they are cute and have great personalities. She comes home on March 21st and I cannot wait. It is hard even to imagine that a little puppy that fit in the palm of my hand will be my very own dog! I am heading back up to the breeder's home in Thomasville next week and will be taking lots of pictures of the little one!

The Conquistador

I picked up my first big art purchase today, "The Conquistador" by John Lytle Wilson. John is a good friend of mine and one incredible artist. For the past two years he has been the reigning Artist-in-Residence at The 621 Gallery here in Tallahassee. Come down to 621 at any upcoming First Friday to check out his amazing pieces, you will not be disappointed. According to John's website, "When not working in the studio, John avoids mowing the lawn and doing the dishes. He enjoys firecrackers, macaroni and cheese, and riding very, very small bicycles. To check out more on John visit his website at http://www.johnlytlewilson.com/.

Becoming a Grown-up

I have recently become what I consider to be a full fledged grownup and it feels a bit wierd. After four years living here in Tallahassee, 3 of them at at Camelliawood with two other roommates, I decided it was time for a change. I went out and found my very own apartment. A month or two of unsuccessful attempts at finding a small house to rent began to bug me so I turned my sights to apartment living and found an awesome place to call my own. It is right across the street from my office, still in the vicinity of my friends and most importantly about five minutes from Tom Brown Park and its dog park. I hope to finally get a dog by the beginning of Summer. I have always had a dog ever since I can remember but haven't been able to have one since I moved here. It will be great to have that companionship with a pet again. It will be even better to have my own place! I am starting to pack things up and slowly but surely will be moved out of Camelliawood. Here's to growing up!