Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in jtseverson's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
1:58 pm	Best. BCS. Championship. Comment. Ever.   scavenger   Florida won the toss. I just lost $500,000. I may have a gambling problem ----- Found on Fark.com's game thread. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Monday, December 18th, 2006
12:19 pm	To Do list --- have done list Things to do: 149 (#98 is missing) Things Done: 55/149 = 36.91% Things I want to do: 58/149 = 38.93% Things I do not plan on doing!!: 36/149 = 24.16% 01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink 02. Swam with wild dolphins 03. Climbed a mountain 04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 05. Been inside the Great Pyramid 06. Held a tarantula 07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone. 08. Said “I love you” and meant it. 09. Hugged a tree. 10. Bungee jumped. 11. Visited Paris. 12. Watched a lightning storm at sea 13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise. 14. Seen the Northern Lights 15. Gone to a huge sports game 16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa 17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables 18. Touched an iceberg 19. Slept under the stars 20. Changed a baby’s diaper 21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon 22. Watched a meteor shower 23. Gotten drunk on champagne 24. Given more than you can afford to charity --- only because I am too budget minded! 25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 27. Had a food fight 28. Bet on a winning horse 29. Asked out a stranger 30. Had a snowball fight 31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can 32. Held a lamb 33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon. 34. Ridden a roller coaster 35. Hit a home run 36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking 37. Adopted an accent for an entire day 38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment 39. Had two hard drives for your computer 40. Visited all 50 states 41. Taken care of someone who was drunk 42. Had amazing friends 43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country 44. Watched wild whales 45. Stolen a sign 46. Backpacked in Europe 47. Taken a road-trip 48. Gone rock climbing 49. Midnight walk on the beach 50. Gone sky diving 51. Visited Ireland 52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love 53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them 54. Visited Japan 55. Milked a cow 56. Alphabetized your CDs 57. Pretended to be a superhero 58. Sung karaoke 59. Lounged around in bed all day 60. Played touch football 61. Gone scuba diving 62. Kissed in the rain 63. Played in the mud 64. Played in the rain 65. Gone to a drive-in theater 66. Visited the Great Wall of China 67. Started a business 68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 69. Toured ancient sites 70. Taken a martial arts class 71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 72. Gotten married 73. Been in a movie 74. Crashed a party 75. Gotten divorced 76. Gone without food for 5 days 77. Made cookies from scratch 78. Won first prize in a costume contest 79. Ridden a gondola in Venice 80. Gotten a tattoo 81. Rafted the Snake River 82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” 83. Got flowers for no reason 84. Performed on stage 85. Been to Las Vegas 86. Recorded music 87. Eaten shark 88. Kissed on the first date 89. Gone to Thailand 90. Bought a house 91. Been in a combat zone 92. Buried one/both of your parents 93. Been on a cruise ship 94. Spoken more than one language fluently 95. Performed in Rocky Horror 96. Raised children 97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour 99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country 100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over 101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge 102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking 103. Had plastic surgery 104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived 105. Wrote articles for a large publication 106. Lost over 100 pounds 107. Held someone while they were having a flashback 108. Piloted an airplane 109. Touched a stingray 110. Broken someone’s heart 111. Helped an animal give birth 112. Won money on a T.V. game show 113. Broken a bone 114. Gone on an African photo safari 115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears 116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild 118. Ridden a horse 119. Had major surgery 120. Had a snake as a pet 121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours. 123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states 124. Visited all 7 continents 125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 126. Eaten kangaroo meat 127. Eaten sushi 128. Had your picture in the newspaper 129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about 130. Gone back to school 131. Parasailed 132. Touched a cockroach 133. Eaten fried green tomatoes --- they were Soooo good!!!! 134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey 135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read 136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 137. Skipped all your school reunions 138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language 139. Been elected to public office 140. Written your own computer language 141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream 142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care 143. Built your own PC from parts 144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you 145. Had a booth at a street fair 146. Dyed your hair 147. Been a DJ 148. Shaved your head 149. Caused a car accident 150. Saved someone’s life Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: 92.9 NIN (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
12:45 pm	The holiday season has begun.... Unfortunately, it isn't a happy one for everyone. I got word this morning that like two or three people (one of whom is in the choir I am in) have died in the last two days. I might not have been a good friend to any of them, but the one in choir, I definitely had a connection to as he was often singing the same part (bass) as I was. Being in a leader-type position in relation to the guy, I am getting a better understanding of what it feels like to lose support, someone you knew you could count on, someone you knew would be there. They might not have been the best singer or anything, but they were always there, you never had to worry about him not showing up. The weirdest part is I got a chance to help him out a week or two ago. I got to know him a little better and he was no longer the older guy in the choir. He became a person. It is amazing how different your view of someone becomes if you just take the time to put down your defenses and really take time to get to know someone. My heart goes out to the families that have experienced loss this Christmas season. On another note --- what is up with the weather?!?! Been up in the 70's for about 3 weeks now, and now we are supposed to be seeing snow by Thursday morning!?!? LOL!! It will be even funnier if it really DOES snow! Current Mood: melancholy (Comment on this)
Monday, November 27th, 2006
3:47 pm	Scary thought I was in a conversation the other night about the effects of terrorism, etc. on the world political scene. Someone brought up that places in Africa are being over run by Arabs/Muslims/(Arab Muslims?). What will be really interesting is seeing what the Great 8 will do in response. My initial thought was that we will do similar to what we did back in the cold war days --- preemptively take control before the terrorists take it. For example, many of the Caribbean Islands are separate individual nations, standing alone, rather than uniting and pooling resources, etc. This leaves them vulnerable to anyone who would care to exploit them. Brings back to mind the Cuban Missile Crisis. Eventually, if Arab/Muslim expansion continues, the Great 8 are going to start looking around at what assets remain and move to make those assets a part of themselves. Especially if those assets are within easy reach of their coasts. Imperialism reborn? Self defense? Preemptive containment? Will this all seem to mean nothing 50 years down the road?? Kind of like Communism has lost its "scare/shock" value? The worst part is, with our nation attempting to be as politically correct, etc. as possible, will they move quickly enough to be able to secure our borders? And I am not talking about illegal immigration here...I am talking about securing them from missile/whatever attacks. If the terrorists managed to set up a base/training camp in the Caribbean....it really isn't that far away! Just a thought, folks. I'm out! Current Mood: curious (Comment on this)
3:28 pm	Another idea.... And a rather random one at that.... Someone needs to do a comic strip where the main characters are farces of current pop comic/cartoon/etc characters. For example: the main character would be Square-head Sponge Pants (sorry...I must be tired, I think that is really funny!) A side character could be Tart Dimpleson (Bart Simpson) Also appearing would be: The cucumber out of veggie tales --- Bill Pickle (an old sour-puss, bitter and mean --- life after veggie tales) Mr. Flabtastic --- previously known as Mr. Incredible, but ... people get old, you know? Odysseus --- based on the writings of Homer (Simpson); the life he wished he could have lived; sometimes forgets he is just a character Homer created and actually speaks from Homer's POV Mule --- Donkey, from Shreck, reincarnated --- he moved down the ladder....lol...and is unable to mate...though spends all his time trying Pimp Clause --- Santa Clause gone bad (especially funny to anyone who was part of the conversation after small group last night) I.T. Clause --- Pimp Clause's competitor for rightful place at the North Pole Kenny --- this time he is a mockingbird Pal --- Mal, from Firefly/Serenity fame...with all the hard edges taken off Whammy --- based on Over The Hedge's Hammy --- except, now that he got a taste of soda, he spends all his time looking for his next fix The catch --- as many names as possible (not shown above) have to be spelled like the cell phone companies are naming their phones (Rzor, Pble, etc). OK...creative juices running out here... You think of anyone you would add to the cast?? Can you think of a plot line? LOL! Have fun with it and post your ideas in the comments! I'm out! Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
2:11 pm	Back to work... So it is the Monday after Thanksgiving Day. The Monday after "Black Friday". Also known as "Cyber-Monday" due to the people buying stuff on-line. To me....better known as the day people realize it is really Monday again and they have to get to work. Like the person I saw on the way into work today. 50-60 through a 35 mph school zone. Almost swerves into a curb to avoid hitting a school bus. Cuts across an unpaved section of roadway to enter freeway traffic faster. Basically drives like an imbecile or a drunk. People like that need to lose their licenses...and their cars. So you are late for work...get over it. Driving like that has a highly increased chance that you will never make it into work at all! Funny thing is, I got up at my usual time today --- and somehow managed to still make it out of the house and to work 10 minutes before I needed to be there. Maybe I took a faster shower than normal? Maybe I was just better prepared for getting going in the morning than usual. I even had a chance to eat breakfast!!! Woot! lol! So, for the sake of all the little kiddies on school buses everywhere, for Pete's sake, drive like a sane person!!! And actually wake up in time next time! I'm out! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
2:43 pm	Digg.com Joined the Digg.com community today --- not really sure why I waited this long...I have been reading stuff off their site since they started, pretty much. And today, they are huge! Digg's founder, Kevin Rose, even made the cover of a major (can't think of it at the moment) magazine about how much he was worth. LOL --- and all this from a guy I enjoyed watching on TechTV....way back when it was TechTV! Here goes nothing! lol Current Mood: geeky (Comment on this)
Monday, November 20th, 2006
9:41 pm	Just a thought.... Just read an entry from the windows vista blog talking about the number of device drivers that will be shipping on the Vista DVD. Apparently space isn't an issue, as they have over 19,000 drivers on the DVD!!! My question is, why don't they ship the product with enough drivers to guarantee the user can get up and running and on the internet...and then let them use either driver discs they got from the manufacturer or use windows update or the manufacturers website in order to get the latest drivers for the specific devices? Yes, it does put more work on the user. However, it REALLY cuts down on the bloatware and makes for a more streamlined product when everything is said and done. Just because storage restraints are not what they used to be doesn't mean that media minded people aren't going to be annoyed by the lack of space created by 19,000+ surplus drivers cluttering up their system! Or maybe I am wrong...maybe it does take 19,000+ drivers to guarantee everyone can get on the internet and update their machines. Maybe I am foolish for thinking a set of basic drivers should be able to get everyone on the internet and the people/manufacturers who don't/won't conform to those basic drivers...should go out of business. That is not to say that there shouldn't be advanced drivers available. That is just to say that the user will have a functioning PC based on those basic drivers...and once online, the advanced drivers can be downloaded and the user experience upgraded to what it really should be! Is that too much to ask for?? I think it is great that Microsoft has found 19,000+ drivers...I just don't think they should all ship on every single DVD! What do you think?? I'm out! Current Mood: thoughtful (Comment on this)
Friday, November 17th, 2006
5:13 pm	More random thoughts.... Got to thinking the other night about relationships. Namely what is it that causes us to veer from what would make us happy and seemingly continually falling for people who don't fully appreciate us? I read a friend of mine's blog in which they asked why they seemed to be doing this very thing. I believe deep down it is because we are not confident in who we are. We all know the cycle of abuse. About how people in abusive relationships continue to gravitate towards abusive people. I think that exemplifies perfectly the phenomena elsewhere. People outside of an abusive relationship see how damaging it is to the person being abused. People outside of unhealthy relationships can see how unhealthy they are for the people in them. And yet, the people in them refuse to see the light. They refuse to acknowledge what is really happening. They feel they have invested too much, or they feel like they can't love like the other person is, or they think they are loving too much. Or any of a million other excuses or reasons we have for not truly giving ourselves permission to either begin a new relationship or end an old one. I can't tell you how many times I have sat and watched girls do everything they can for some low-down, no good punk who just wanted them for sex, or their money, or whatever. And these same girls, when a guy comes along who is mature, who has his life together, who can actually help them grow as a person, etc...they turn them away! I have to wonder if it is not in some part because they feel like because of past mistakes, they could never live up to the expectations of the new guy, or maybe it is because they really don't believe there is someone like that out there. The truth though, is that there is someone like that out there! There are really mature people out there! And if they approach you....it is not because they don't see your imperfections...rather, it is because they see them, and chose to look past them, at the valuable pearl you really are, that they approached you in the first place. They understand imperfections, they have them, too; however, they are mature enough to see that we are not just the sum of our imperfections. We are the sum of our past, present and future possibilities, we are the sum of our mistakes and our successes, we are the sum of our imperfections and perfections, we are the sum of all our parts. Mature people know and understand this and wonder when the rest of the world will figure it out! LOL Life is too short to deny ourselves that which is good for us, that which brings growth to our lives, that which brings life to us. It is too short to focus on the emotional drains that some people have become in order to gain dominance over us. It is too short to allow others to dictate to us how we should feel, how we should react, how we should think. I don't talk about the bible very often, I think Christians should be able to live their lives as examples of the word of God rather then walking around quoting scripture at people. Sometimes though, it is necessary to use the words from the Bible in order to make the conversation more meaningful. God says that before you is life and death, he wants you to choose LIFE! You have a CHOICE in the matter!!! The power of life and death is in your tongue! The words we say can bring healing and hope and restoration...or they can bring strife, pain and bitterness. I have told people in the past that how they act and speak makes a difference in how they live out their lives and in how they feel. Many motivational speakers will tell you about the virtues of a positive physiological (how your body and posture and facial expressions portray how you feel) outlook. Just smiling can make you a happier person!!! Try it sometime! It really does feel good! :) I have a friend who loves watching the TLC channel and seeing how changes in people's clothing even makes a difference in how they carry themselves, etc! I can't even begin to count the times he has mentioned how impacting it was when he saw the difference in how a young man carried himself when he was in a suit and tie as opposed to being in saggy jeans, etc. When he had on the jeans and everything, he was in a defensive posture, slouching and disrespectful. When they put the nice suit coat on him, he stood up straight, had an air of confidence about him and actually said Yes, sir/ma'am, instead of cussing all the time!! And this is just one example of how your outward appearance affects how you really do feel!!! I have told people to act like they happy, confident, etc. My hope was that in doing so, they would actually come to believe it. I think it would have worked, too...if they had stuck with it. Yes, I do realize there are speed bumps in life's roadway. Part of life is learning how to recognize them and slowing down before we get to them so we don't blow out a tire or scrape up the bottom of our car. Life is supposed to be good! Life is supposed to be about life! Life is supposed to feel vibrant and exciting and wonderful! If it isn't, we need to stop and ask ourselves why...and once we figure that out...fix it! lol --- if it is broken, fix it!! You can do it! Much easier to fix it now than to allow the problem to graft itself into who you are and have to carry it around with you! And for those problems that are already grafted in, sometimes there is a way to make it easier, sometimes it just needs to be cut off...it isn't producing any fruit, Jesus said to cut it off! How many times do we just go through life doing what we have always done and not considering what is coming as a result of our actions? Do we ever really stop to take stock of where we are and what we are doing? Maybe we should! You never know what you might find... :) I'm out! Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
9:39 pm	LIfe, ideas, random thoughts.... Will probably cross-post this in mySpace as well.... IN today's world, full of technology, internet, news, etc it can become easy to miss out on what life is really all about. No, it isn't about the latest gadget from Dell or HP, or the hottest car you can buy for under $80,000. Life is about the people you meet and the relationships you generate as a result of those meetings. Life is about the experience you gain from those relationships and making sure you learn the lessons so you don't repeat the same mistakes all over again in a future relationship. Life is about development. About the respect you have for others and in turn the respect reciprocated to you. Life is not about what I can get out of it. Life is about what I can give into it. What I can give to others around me and how that, in turn, will allow them to give to others around them. So often we focus on what we are doing. What we are learning. What we are doing for ourselves. And don't get me wrong, to really be able to give to others around you, you need to make sure you are in a position where you are able to do just that: education and making sure your own self is taken care of is vital to that goal. The problem lies in that we often lose sight of the true goal. We lose sight of the people we set out to help in the first place. We lose sight of the goals that inspired us to go into law and we become corporate lawyers who grow rich off filthy lucre. With a world of information at our fingertips, and with that information becoming even more integrated into our worlds, through social bookmarking sites or Digg.com or Fark.com....finding information is no longer holding back anyone. Everybody can go down to the local library and get on google and find out just about anything they want to! So why don't we? Why don't we have more kids focusing on what potentially lays just beyond their fingertips and instead focus on how much they want to kill the kid on the other side of the class? Why do almost all the girls, specifically, in suburban America have poor posture? A result of low self-esteem? If that is the case....why? With more ways of making a girl look pretty than at any other time in the history of man...why? Not related to looks? Not related to what America says is beauty, you say? Then why??? What if it is all much simpler than all that. What if it all really does come back to relationships. Relationships we are too busy to take time for. Relationships between fathers and daughters and mothers and sons. Relationships that if time was taken for them would solve so many problems! And yet, we can't even get the husband - wife relationship to work right, so how can we expect to get the role of a father or a mother right? When will we become aware enough of our surrounding to learn that life isn't about gadgets and gizmos and games. It is about life. It is about the lives we come in contact with everyday. Every life has a story. Every life is unique. Yes, there are patterns, and yet, even within the patterns there is a unique thread, a unique yarn, a unique story...and that story is yours, or your husband's, or your wife's, or your son's, or your daughter's, or your father's, or your mother's. We are all connected in a web of life. Every motion in the web creates disturbances farther reaching than one can fathom. And yet, we blame the media, or the game industry, or the music industry, or the lobbyists in congress, or the president, or the school system. Never once taking the time to sit back and realize that, wait, I DO have a say in what I watch or in what I let my kids watch. I DO have a say in how my kids are raised! I do matter! I can take action and effect change in the world surrounding me! And yet....we turn and look elsewhere. Waiting, watching, hoping, that something will come and make a difference. Wanting something to change and yet unwilling to make the effort ourselves. We selfishly expect someone else to do the work. We deny those around us the blessing of being around someone who cares enough not just to think about the problems, but that is willing to take the initiative and do something about the problem, at least in their own circle of influence. Maybe your circle of influence is just your family. That is fine! Effect a positive change in them!! Train them in ways that they can effect a positive change in their world! Maybe it is your church. Even better! Now you have a platform, with more resources, to effect that change! Maybe you are a teacher, or educator: kudos to you! You have a great place already to begin that process of change! Senator? Congressman? A huge responsibility lies on your shoulders. You have the power to effect change for thousands, if not millions of people. Do not take that responsibility lightly. Treat the position with respect and behave accordingly. Don't let your desires override your sense of justice and duty! I think that is one of our biggest traps in this day and age. Our leaders refuse to admit to themselves that everything they do is under the watchful eye of Americans everywhere! They blame it on the media and story mongers; yet, if they had never been in the situation in the first place.... People, take responsibility for your own actions! Yes, you can help taking another drink. Yes, you can help being a cesspool of negativity. Yes, you can help it! Stop fixing blame. Stand up and take some responsibility --- it might actually make you feel good about yourself, for once! Oooh. Here is one that is sure to step on people's toes: stop telling the President what a bad job he is doing. Instead, get on the computer and write some emails, make some calls, give your representatives ideas about what can be done to fix the problems. Don't just say something is wrong...I think we all know that! Come up with ideas, research it! Write up a paper on it! Get it published! Get your ideas out where people can read them, where the people in the right places will be able to get ahold of them and act on them! Manage your time. Think about what really matters. Focus on it. For in the end --- it will be what you focused on that will be all you have. I'm out. Current Mood: discontent (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
6:59 pm	Interesting I read some of "The 5 Love Languages" ... supposed to have two dominant ones...looks like I have 3....hmmm....lol The Five Love Languages My primary love language is probably Quality Time with a secondary love language being Physical Touch. Complete set of results Quality Time: 10 Physical Touch: 9 Words of Affirmation: 7 Acts of Service: 3 Receiving Gifts: 1 Information Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others. Take the quiz Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
6:37 pm	Best comment I have seen in a long time!! This was on Fark.com's scary story posting in observance of the holiday: "I once had little children come to my door looking for candy. Children!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!1!! /whimper" ROFLMAO!!! Edit: I like kids, but this is still funny! Edit 2: another good one: "I once upgraded to Firefox 2.0 and all my bookmarks suddenly vanished! Oh yeah- MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" That was funny to me too! Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Friday, October 20th, 2006
3:28 pm	Very interesting story and an even more interesting comment... Story links and comment thread found here: http://digg.com/videos_people/Best_Dad_Ever_Dad_gives_best_gift_to_son_Read_then_watch_the_video The story is about the Hoyts and the exceptional devotion the father displays for the son. I ran across this most interesting comment while reading through the thread though: by AriaStar 18 hours ago + 7 diggs You know, what we rarely hear about in the news are the good parents. We hear all about the bad ones all the time, but never about the good ones. This didn't touch me in quite the same way that it seemed to touch everyone else because I grew up with a father - and mother - who dedicated their lives to making sure that their daughter had every chance in the world. A daughter who had extremely extensive medical issues that actually make this man's son's issues seem mild in comparison, severe to the extent that the doctors urged them to let go and let her go. No to an institution, but to die. Even moving their family several hundred miles away to find the best doctors and hospital the US had to offer. This father isn't so exceptional, he's just the loving type who we never hear about in a society where fathers are made out to be nothing more than child support checks, jerks who run out on their children when the fact is that the courts often take away visitation for no reason. Many fathers do all that they can, and it doesn't make any one any better or worse that another. As long as a parent, be it a father or a mother, does all that that parent can, then it doesn't matter if the best you can give your child a trip to the moon or a trip to the local candy store, because the measure is in what you have the ability to give. Digg me down, I don't care, I just see that there are more good fathers in this world that society would have us believe. I am a woman on the board of directors of an international fathers' rights organization, and I have been fortunate enough to see countless fathers just as wonderful as this one. I wish it weren't a privilege of sorts to know them. Then maybe society would see the value in men. Not often where you see truth like that in a thread full of people proclaiming praises for Dick Hoyte...not that he is undeserving in any way, but there really are others out there. Just not many of them have gotten any attention, like the Hoytes have! I'm out!! Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Monday, October 9th, 2006
7:50 pm	Saw a blog entry from one of my friends.... (Friend's post found here: http://gleemie.livejournal.com/155635.html?nc=3 ) (this entry will feel a little rambling...sorry about that!) It may just be the people I have been around the last few years (well, the last 10 years or so, really), but I have been very concerned about some things I have seen lately. I am going to use an example, and though I don't know if it applies to other organizations, etc, I think it does have many of the same symptoms you are talking about. The thing that has had me so concerned is the lack of participation on almost any level (leadership or otherwise) of the younger people in the churches I have attended. I have gone to 5-6 different churches in the last 10 years and there were only two that had any kind of decent levels of participation from their youth --- two had a separate youth service, where the kids stayed kids forever (they basically never grew up --- they continued to hang around the younger kids even after they had turned 19, 20, and even up to 25, I think). The other was a larger church that I got the feeling it was a core group of people doing everything (people that had been there for years and years were the ones organizing and everything). And that isn't even mentioning all the older church people who just come and sit and listen to a sermon every sunday and never get involved. All that to say that I think the whole issue is people don't want to grow up. They don't want to take responsibility for their actions, they don't want to have to DO anything. They are too used to sitting with their beer and watching the game, or now days...playing a game. I am a big believer in balance, if you move to far in any direction, it upsets the cart, if you will. There is a point where someone can be too much of a feminist, or too much of a liberal, and we all know there are plenty of people who are too conservative. Throughout history the pendulum has swung back and forth between extremes. I agree with the other commenter, I hope this period of transition doesn't last too long. I have a friend who believes that women coming into the wholeness of who they are...without the men in their lives doing the same is what resulted in the feminist movement. He says that the American male, at least, has a "John Wayne" complex...where they are going to do what they are going to do, never show or express any emotion (well, maybe anger and lust), and leaves the woman to take care of everything while he goes and plays with his horse and guns (his toys, if you will). Too often, the men simply aren't being the man they should be. I don't really know how else to say that. When a man can divorce his wife because he isn't happy...leave the wife with the kids and go get married to someone else within the year --- that isn't being a man --- a man shouldn't shirk his responsibilities...and I am sorry, once you bring kids into the picture, you have responsibilities, period. I think an argument could even be made for having responsibilities once you get married, but we'll leave that one alone for now! And paying child support is not accepting that responsibility --- it is finding the quickest way out of it. I think the biggest thing right now is getting people to be personally responsible. OK, maybe you were molested when you were a kid, get help, get your life back on track and move on. I know each case is different and everything, but when all you do is sit at home and blame the government or God or Chevy (for the accident you got in) or McDonalds (for the coffee YOU spilled in your OWN lap) or your parents, or your teachers, or your neighbors. It gets really annoying listening to some people sometimes. They won't take action because so and so did/does such and such. Now, I will be the first person to say that government is not the answer to everything. Nothing is perfect, and government is no exception. When you have 3 generations of a family living in one apartment in an inner city, surviving off government checks (getting paid according to the number of kids they have --- which, yes, means that the grand mother and mother and daughter are all having as many kids as they can --- without breaking the cycle, because to break the cycle would be to get a man and have a real family...but if they get a man then the government stops sending that check...so they have live in boyfriends...none of whom they can keep for too long, lest the government consider them married at some point). Is it really all about the benjamins?? Whatever happened to family values?? No, not the values the Far Right says is family values, but real family values, the ones we all wish we had had growing up...the ones we all wish we saw more of in the world today?? Have they disappeared in our ever changing landscape of what the family truely consists of?? Regardless of what it consists of, shouldn't those values still be the same --- or, wait for it, are our families and our ideas of what a family really is so skewed by the drive to please numero uno (ones own self) that those family values have become a moot point...because we twisted them and perverted them in order to get our own way (or were taught them in a skewed way by our socialization). Why are the biggest protests and demonstrations about something that is illegal to begin with?? I am a huge proponent for immigration reform...but illegal is illegal, people. I care too much about people to say just ship them all back, or kick them out or what ever...but at the same time...they shouldn't be coming here and telling us how to run our country. The only other large protests that I can think of recently are the world peace marches...once again about something you have no control over. Yes, you do have a voice...it is in the ballot. Not in the street. Even in a world where public opinion is available at the drop of a hat, as long as the same people are getting elected and re-elected...all the noise means nothing. Governments and terrorists are the only things that determine whether there is global peace or not. And as we can all see, the terrorists are good at destroying it, and the governments, regardless of their positions generally suck at stopping the terrorists from spreading havoc. You can make a difference in your vote, you can make a difference in your community, you can make a difference in the lives around you. Try doing that and see if more doors don't open up for you. Try taking responsibility and getting off your fat arse and doing something with your life. Try making a difference in someones life. A good difference. Anyone can pick up a gun and go kill a bunch of kids in a school. But how many people are willing to work towards preventing these kinds of things from happening? When Columbine happened, it was kids getting picked on by other kids...a somewhat preventable occurance...if the parents and teachers cared enough to take responsibility and pay attention. These last few weeks...3 or 4 school shootings and at least two of them by non-student gunmen? WHAT THE FRAK??? That is worse than a bully, because at least a bully will only take your lunch money (even if he is three times your size), but to have a non-student come into the school (age advantage, size advantage, experience advantage) with a gun (weapon advantage)....How do you explain that one?? How do you dismiss that one?? Blame it on video games again?? I don't know of any video game that makes it fun to line school girls up and shoot them execution-style....especially when one of them sacrificially asks to be shot first. Where is the respect for human life? Where is the respect for educational institutions? Where is the love for ones fellow man? And yet...there are never any consequences. So the man killed himself afterward. Now what?? It is the victims families who will have to live with the hurt, the pain, the grief... When will we stop justifying and start caring? How do we stop the flood of people taking advantage of the system? How do you know who to help or when to help? Why are there only more questions and seemingly so few answers??? How did an opiate for the masses become a cause to incite world-wide terrorism and warfare?? I think there have been some pop-psychology and pop-sociology things that have skewed the way americans think. And I think it might be time to revisit them. Time to sit down and really figure out what is going on. Most Christians think it is the end-times, the end of the world, the prelude to Armegeddon. Though, they have been thinking that since the first Gulf war and even before that. My generation is jaded against it. Being told it will happen tomorrow and then nothing and nothing and more nothing. The whole world feels poised on the brink of despair. The bring of Chaos. And yet, somewhere, a stranger picks up a child who fall, brushes him off and sends him back to play. A soloist fills a concert hall with a beautiful aria, a prayer ascends to heaven, awaiting an answer. A teacher establishes an afterschool program for disadvantaged children. A dance teacher uses dance to give kids purpose and meaning in life. A man takes responsibility for his actions and marries and stays commited to the girl he knocked up. A family makes time for each other and a warm home is created. A father plays catch with his son. A family makes an adoption. Another man learns how to control his anger and doesn't get fired for cussing the boss out on his 45th job. People improve, people invest, people learn, people trust, people have faith. It has kept us going this far. We must continue on. Make a difference in your world --- your the only one who can do it like you can! You have a unique opportunity, being the unique person that you are, to make that special difference in the world around you. Everyone of us has that chance, that opportunity. Seize it now, for you may not get another chance. I, too, hope you dance, when given the chance. Current Mood: aggravated (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
8:16 am	Another idea for games.... While this isn't actually a game concept (i.e. some new type of game I might have thought up), I think it will help video game developers create a more immersive environment. For as long as I can remember, the going trend in computer gaming was making it as realistic an experience as possible. Graphics get better, physics get better, sound improves, etc. One thing I haven't heard much about (and it could be because it just isn't all that exciting for most people), well, haven't heard anything about it, really, is applying a doppler effect to sounds. Most games have one or two sounds that they play whenever something happens, and depending on your proximity to that sound is either loud (when close) or softer (when farther away). Sounds do get louder as the object making the noise gets closer, but sometimes you can't tell if it is just getting louder (an engine reving) or if it is actually getting closer! By applying a doppler effect to sounds, slight pitch adjustments to the sound would tell you if it was getting closer or moving away. For slow moving objects, there wouldn't be much of an effect, and there wouldn't need to be. Faster moving objects though, say a howitzer shell or the like, it would make a huge difference. A shell that is always approaching you will always sound higher in pitch (volume here would be key in telling you how close it would land). A shell that passes overhead will be get higher in pitch, and then, after it passes overhead will come back down. The only shell that would remain at a constant pitch would be one that stays tangential to the sphere of which you are the center! Hearing that in games would be outstanding! Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
Monday, September 11th, 2006
9:19 am	Best comment I have read in awhile This comment was in response to a top ten list naming the best animated films: Dear B___ K____ D____ (aka the writer) You are a moron. Please die of a horrible intestinal parasite infection. Sincerely, anonymous Really not sure why I find it so funny. By the way the list included "The Lion King", "Shrek", "Monsters, Inc.", "Beauty and the Beast", "Toy Story 2", "Bambi", "Toy Story", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Ice Age", and "A Bug's Life". Really not sure how these were named in the top ten, though the author seems to focus quite a bit on how much they made. (List found here: http://techblogbiz.blogspot.com/2006/09/top-ten-animated-movies.html) I'm out!! Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 20th, 2006
8:30 am	Why oh why!?!? What is this?? I can get on here while at work, but I can't do MySpace?? What is that all about?? Oh, well...I used myspace for blogging mostly anyway --- I can always start back up on here again... I'm out! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
9:33 am	Reading list A list of the books I have read since approximately January can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/profile/jtseverson *Note: These are just books I have read, not necessarily the ones I own. You can view the details of the book to see when I read it, and maybe even what I thought about it. The books I actually own will have an "Acquired on" date in the details. Current Mood: blank Current Music: Mega 101 (Comment on this)
Monday, March 27th, 2006
12:51 pm	Somebody asked me ... what I did --- outside of computers. My answer? Reading. Of course, reading isn't all I do --- just one of the main, easy ones to point at. I also play Sudoku, work crossword puzzles (anything that keeps the old brain active --- I think of it as brain calesthenics [sp?]), watch movies, listen to music (mostly Tejano, from 101.1), blog, think --- quite literally, IM, text, hang out with friends, go to concerts (last one attended was Noche Caliente at Miller Outdoor Theatre, where the Diaz School of Music basically had a concert --- they were REALLY good, too!), (I will only mention computer gaming here as a side note --- though I do it often --- it is computer related, afterall, and they asked what I do "outside" of computers), play games (of just about any type --- as long as I have a chance of winning --- I don't HAVE TO win, but I do like to win every once in awhile) ... on the list could probably go on for awhile, but I will stop here. I'm out! Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006
9:37 am	1337 speak... Shift your insect-like plastic Zerg across the board! Draw cards with incomprehensible South Korean l337 speak printed upon them to get advantages over your opponent! Wage wars between the Protoss and Terrans while making impressive sounds laser-gun sounds with your mouth. - Kotaku I am really starting to like these guys' sense of humor! I'm out! Current Mood: silly (Comment on this)