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I am a Mental Juggernaut
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| | Current Music: | Sounds from the Ground - Drawn to the Woman | | Subject: | Pain | | Time: | 10:30 pm |
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| And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain."
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
--Khalil Gibran (from The Prophet) | comments: Leave a comment   |
| | Current Music: | De Phazz - Havana Moon | | Subject: | Awesome weekend | | Time: | 05:00 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/smile.gif) content |
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| This weekend was teh awesomes. Friday night I went over to Adam and Lyle's joint. We all ordered Thai and watched the Futurama movie. About what I would expect from a series cancelled 3 years ago that made a 2 hour movie. Alcohol was served.
Saturday I awoke most early and went shopping for a few hours and took care of a few chores. Then watched the Hokies beat BC and win the ACC! Go Hokies! Saturday night was most enjoyable too as I went to Asahi Kaiten and had sushi, and then yadda yadda yadda . . .
Sunday had brunch, and then pretended like I was going to pick up the laptop and do some actual work! HAHA! Instead I watched the Kitchen Nightmares marathon on BBC America and played Civ 4. A great sleepy way to come down from an awesome weekend!
p.s. - Holy crap, it's early! | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Sven van Hees - Tsunami (Inside My Soul) | | Subject: | A few thoughts | | Time: | 07:00 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/snore.gif) drowsy |
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| If you're going to try and give me the "asses out" hug, don't even bother. Life is too short. If you don't actually wan to hug me, just shake my hand and don't insult my sensibilities.
It's still 65 days to Christmas. Get the damn Christmas music out of your store.
This season of college football is just insane. Tons of games decided by a field goal, and tons of upsets.
The Zune is really not a bad mp3 player. Big video screen, and wireless capability, and it's relatively easy to hack, apparently. More importantly, Microsoft is actually going to be supporting the old edition when the new one comes out.
This site may be the black hole at the center of our galaxy.
I wish I had someone to go with me to see Cowboy Junkies on Friday. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | elAk - Remember Me | | Subject: | So much for that . . . | | Time: | 11:30 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/tearful.gif) d'oh! |
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| | I picked Zona to beat Carolina in my suicide FF league, and traded Derek Anderson for Kurt Warner in my points FFL. d'oh. This time, my team managed 0 TDs on offense, 1 on defense (da BEARS). I am really bad at fantasy football in general, apparently. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Foo Fighters - The Best | | Subject: | Fantasy football | | Time: | 11:00 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/blush.gif) chili cheese fries |
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| My NCAA pickem last week clocked in at 6/15, an all time low both in percentage and points. Ouch. I just don't have the time to follow college football like I did when I was in college. I don't think I've seen any Big 12 matches at all, and this is a problem for my pickem picks, as they are always have overrated teams in the top 25. Still, it's been a wild ride in college football this year.
For NFL fantasy football, I had Tony Romo, Randy Moss, Sammy Morris and Edgerrin James, and wound up getting clobbered last week. I can't win. Moss, James and Morris combined for 0 TDs, Romo dropped in 6 turnovers, and it didn't help that my scrub WR fumbled twice.
The one bright spot is my survival league. If there's one thing I can do, it's pick the team that will win. Lots of people lost on the Chargers against KC. With 13 other games to choose from, why you would want to pick the one game between a couple of 1-2 teams is beyond me. A lot of people were eliminated picking the Bungals in week 2 as well. That was totally surprising. Although Cleveland sent their starting QB packing, Anderson didn't look that bad in game 1. The fact that they got smeared at home against Pitt meant that they absolutely needed to man up and win, or end up in a spiral of loserdom that would doom them to suck all year. Plus they were picking the frikkin BUNGALS! To WIN(!) ! | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | William Orbit - Water from a Vine Leaf | | Subject: | end of the year | | Time: | 10:00 pm | | Current Mood: | sleepy |
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| | So it's been a year since I've moved up to NoVa. Really, it seems like an uneventful year. One trip to NY, one trip to the beach. One day trip to Atlantic City. One promotion at work. A few new friends, and some old ones remet. Two beautiful green couches and a big comfy bed. A new apartment and a lot more work coming my way. Here's hoping FY 2008 will be better than the last. | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Gypsy Kings - A mi manera | | Subject: | August 6, 1945 | | Time: | 09:00 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/sad.gif) solemn |
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| If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
--J Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita
I'm watching a show with inteviews from survivors in Japan after the atomic bomb. It's amazing that after the bomb was dropped, plant life returned to the area very quickly. People had nowhere to go, so they went back to the irradiated area. There was no help from the government, though there was quite a bit of studying of the victims. "In Japan if they find out you'te an atomic bomb survivor, nothing good will happen" said one survivor. One building near ground zero in Hiroshima survived mostly intact, and it was decided not to restore it, to serve as a reminder. The people have survived as well, and they remember the pain every day. The resiliency of people is amazing.
I have no doubt that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved many, many lives and injuries. The official estimates were as many as 1,000,000 dead from the inevitable land based invasion (see wikipedia for starters). The US military ordered Purple Heart medals in anticipation of Operation Downfall. That operation never occurred because Japan surrenderd shortly after the second nuclear bomb, but the Purple Hearts were paid for and delivered. That supply of purple hearts had lasted the military about 60 years.
We can only hope that by using the bombs, we can preserve many more lives by showing people the awful reality of nuclear war. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | John Adams - Grand Pianola | | Subject: | On disappointment | | Time: | 11:30 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/determined.gif) cynical |
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| I think we've all been hopeful of some event being greater than it turns out to be. The moment you find out Santa Claus is just your parents, or for me, my first trip to Central Park. Was this all there was? What was all the fuss? Or the moment I found out that Hulk Hogan was on steroids. Stay in school, say your prayers and take your vitamins. By "vitamins," he meant anabolic steroids. How disappointing.
Another example of these situations is your first real train ride. My brother was visiting me for a few days, and decided to take the train back to Richmond. For starters, the train was almost 45 minutes late, and of course the train station consists of a large indoor waiting room circa 1930. But it was at least cheap.
What causes such disappointment, at such a seemingly trivial event? I think usually this is because we have the idea in our head of what something will be before we go in. The train situation is certainly exemplary. You see the train in the movies, the Orient Express, or the Bond films, and get an idea that train travel is exotic, with private cars and really it's not like that at all. Real life sucks sometimes. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | emiliana torrino - unemployed in summertime | | Subject: | Insomnia | | Time: | 01:30 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/shocked.gif) somnambulistic |
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| I just read livejournal post from this girl I knew in high school. why is it that so many women I know have been abused? No fucking silence!
I was out with Princess at the happy hour thing last week, and she tells me that she hung out with the guy a few weeks ago. And I'm like, "fuck that kid, wherever he is, I won't be." I know how he gets down. Then she brought up this other dude who wasn't an abuser as far as I know but who set this really abusive, psychopathic guy onto one of my close friends to get him out of his own hair. Long story short, it was emotionally and socially a disaster for her because the guy would just not leave her alone. So I'm like, "fuck that kid, too. If he were here now I would punch him in the face."
Princess says "You hate everybody from the old school!"
to which I reply, "No, actually just Micah and Leighton. Everybody else is cool." So everyone thinks I'm just trying to be funny.
At the times when I am the most serious, is when people think I'm kidding. And vice versa. Maybe that's why I'm alone tonight, because I want to connect at an intense, spiritual level with someone who gets me. Someone who will know when I am sharing a serious part of myself and not laugh at it. I haven't met her yet. That's what I'll tell myself tonight. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Cornelius and Kahimi Karie - Moonwalk & 69/96 (Girl meets casette) | | Subject: | Can you dig it? | | Time: | 02:30 am | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/sick.gif) inebriated |
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| This makes me happy. If you can get into this, you will understand me better.
+1 bonus
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| | Current Music: | Joe Cocker - Feelin Alright | | Subject: | End of quarter review | | Time: | 10:00 pm | | Current Mood: | see above |
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| Yesterday was spent working to get in the counts I needed for work. Unfortunately I miscalculated, so I had to stay in quite a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I think I got everything in. Now I just need to do more this quarter so I can get my promotion and keep my job.
Trip to NY last month to see Sarah was very nice. Spamalot was awesome! Though next time I hope we can get standby seats and spend less money, it was totally worth it :)
I also saw knocked up. Hilarious! If you liked 40 year old virgin, go see it.
After the work last night I saw 300 finally. It was about what I was expecting. Lots of 6 packs in that flick. Glad I saw it in the theater, as I just can't see that one translating well into TV. The place I saw it at is one of those theaters with tables where you can order a beer and food, and smoke if you'd like. I think this place requires further patronage on my part. I'm still geeked out about Transformers!!
Lots of fun stuff on the horizon for this summer! Possibly two happy hours this week, one with the free drinks, and Bill Cosby at Wolftrap on Friday. Lawn seating, and wine will be had :) Possibly a picanic, depending on what my frinds feel like. If the weather is half as nice as it was last friday, it should be a gorgeous night! Thinking about going on a day trip to Atlantic City in August, through work. Never been to a casino, so that could be cool. Lunch, transportation and $25 in casino chips for $40! No plans for the 4th yet . . . | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Phil collins | | Subject: | Man, I'm in a weird mood | | Time: | 10:00 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/weird.gif) weird |
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| | Weirdness. So here's what I got in the mail today. A postcard from a car shop I took my car to one time, which includes my name, address and license plate number. That is just not cool. Not cool! If I wasn't already done with those monkeys, this would definitely seal the deal. Just not cool. also, got car insurance notice. I don't knwo why I can't pay my premiums on time. Dear god, you can't be this bored! And finally, a fireworks catalog addressed to a previous tenant, and it's their 99 cents sale! Holy crap, I had no idea you could buy fireworks through the mail. That's just frikkin awesome! Yet another reason why America is the best country in the world. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Rossini - The Barber of Seville | | Subject: | Summertime, and the living is easy. | | Time: | 11:30 pm | | Current Mood: | still illin' |
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| Missed work yesterday because I was in bed sick. At least I got paid for it. Go-go Gadget sick leave!
FYI : Bill Cosby is doing stand up at Wolf Trap on Friday, June 29. Cost is $20 for lawn seating/$40 reserved seating.
At those prices, for the most famous comedian perhaps ever, this show WILL sell out.
Anyone interested? Lemme know! | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Otis Redding - The dock of the bay | | Subject: | Weekend Update | | Time: | 09:00 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/blank.gif) okay |
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| So last weekend ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) prplstkypunk and me went to the beach. (No, we're just friends.)
Friday night we met up with Sabs and went out dancing at some club. Man, the music was def. not nearly as good as 80s night at Mars . . .
Saturday we hit the beach, albeit a bit cloudy, and in general just wandered around the boardwalk and drank some pina coladas.
All in all it was a relaxing weekend. The pictures prove it!
( Here's an lj-cut for your friends list sanity. Dialup not recommended. )
After three years of faithful service, my camera totally died that weekend, so no more pics. Sad, because I was going to use that sucker a lot this summer! With all I have planned, and all the money I'm spending, it'll be a while before I can buy a new one. Good thing I got my phone replaced so I at least have that camera! C'est La Vie. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry. | | Time: | 10:30 pm | | Current Mood: | resurgent |
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| One last post about what happened on Monday. The media have been absolutely disgusting. There is a difference between pandering to your audience and yellow journalism.
"How did you feel when you heard about the tragedy?"
"How angry were you at the administration when you heard about the tragedy?"
One of these qustions is a responsible, journalistic question. One is designed to support a sensationalistic story, designed to evoke emotion and get ratings, said story having already been written before the question was even asked. Only one of these questions was asked of Virginia Tech students over and over again by the "reporters."
In all of this, the media have shown time after time, the images of ____, holding the two guns, or holding the gun to his head. The media chose to make ____ into a larger than life figure, which was his intent all along. ____'s name will not be mentioned here.
It is important to remember that the victims of this tragedy were real people. Children, brothers, sisters, parents, friends. Each of them tried their best to make the most of their opportunities at Tech. Each one of them had seemingly unlimited potential. Liviu Librescu was a holocaust survivor, who by all accounts gave his own life to save those of his students. Henry Lee was a Chinese immigrant who spoke no English when his family moved to America, but worked hard, earned his citizenship after he was eligible, and became salutorian of his class. Ryan "Stack" Clark was a double-major who had already earned the credits for his degree, but was waiting for May so his whole family could see him graduate.
Each of them was so much more. Their lives were cut short, and they were cheated, so I implore anyone reading this to learn who they were. Don't let this murderer steal the memories of these wonderful people. Don't let these people be defined as victims.
New York Times interactive feature, with personal pages for the 32 people
Yahoo! links to stories about each one of the 32.
USA Today interactive feature with a brief article about each person
Below are the words to the poem Nikki Giovanni read at the convocation. If you haven't watched it, it was linked in my last post. It's important enough and timely enough to bear repeating.
( words ) | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
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I am a Mental Juggernaut
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![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/bouncy.gif){kind=small}
bouncy![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/geeky.gif){kind=small}
geeked out!
