Rollercoaster called Life

The Creeping Past ~Martial Arts~

Have you ever been affiliated, dedicated to an organization or activity for a decent part of your life and then suddenly left?

You didn't tell anyone why you left, or maybe not even understand why at the time, but had only the notion that you need leave and move on with you life?

Do you regret your decision?

These types of questions have been plaguing me for over ten year now.  The little voice that is so annoying and never ceases in my mind always asks me questions, but I can never answer back.  So my mind asks again and again and drives me nuts because I don't know the true answer.

I am a 1st degree Black belt in Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan.  There is never a such thing as a former martial artist or former black belt, its is in the heart, and not on the belt.  One of my most cherished achievements is receiving my 1st degree black belt because the regiment isn't like the run of the mill karate studios.  I remember walking by other karate school's window and just laugh at them for the lack of dedication, spirit, and perfection.  I would say the type of training I grew up with is intense military, traditional, and philosophical.  From when I was 9 years old to a teenager, martial arts was my life.  I went around the nation and world in tournaments, did performances, instructed, and every new opportunity arose I taken it.  After school for about four hours a day, I would either be training or instructing.  My body would pass out on my bed at 10 pm from all of the activities.  This philosophy was carried from martial arts into my academic life and personal life.  It laid my foundation for my life it has served me well for years, but I feel now that I am off the track and stuck.

My life isn't where I want it to be and its very naive believe that it will come out just as I hoped for.  Quite honestly, I feel like one of those kids that were famous when they were young and their adult life is really messed up.  The one leg up, always places you two steps back.  I know that my life is better than others, but why is life worth living if you aren't living life the way you want to?  Thats a tongue twister. 

My life has so many loose ends and knots more than the Cobble's knot.  I don't think even Maniac Magee could solve my puzzle.  I really want to go back into Martial arts and just develop a greater shield on all of the ill influences in life.  I want to go back into Martial arts to regain the feeling of belonging and absorb the limelight that glows everytime you are performing in front of an audience, or just demonstrating to your students.  It definitely wouldn't be the same as like it was ten years ago, in fact, the place where I trained changed immensely in a decade. 

Do I regret leaving Martial arts?  There are many yeses and nos.  There are reasons why I left and they are valid reasons.  I had to start thinking about whether or not I am going to college.  Are there other pursuits I want to do that martial arts is soaking up my free time.  Also the feeling of lose of connection with my instructor and felt not as welcomed by my senior instructor anymore just made the push.  They always put a glass ceiling on my abilities to perform and participate in the organization.  I went from pet to stepchild without understanding why they treated my that way. The business behind the scenes was shaping influencing their motives.  Their focus shifted from developing very skilled and worthy practitioners to dollar signs dancing around the students' head.  They were in the midst of becoming a run of the mill karate school which I despise because it throws mud in everyone else's face that worked so hard and diligently to earn their belts instead of handing it to them.  I will never agree with that! 

But I still want to go back...

I miss it, and felt the best times of my life is centered around my martial art experience.  I couldn't even describe everything in enough detail of the drama that happened during karate that made it worth living for.  I just don't know if I can go back...or how to go back.

Wonderful World of Telekinesis

I am sure everyone had this situation one time or another.  It is a nice sunny day, the breeze fondles your hair, and you’re cruising down the interstate.  There isn’t a lot of traffic, no construction cones, and easily fallen into a trance of tranquility.  The all of the sudden, BRAKES! BRAKES! WORK, BABY, WORK!   The prized Mally the Malibu comes to a screeching halt.  The Vehicles are about three miles along ahead of you and slowly navigating around whatever.  The redness blushes through as you grow impatient and angry.  The horn won’t work and you can’t maneuver into another lane.  You just want everyone to…get…out…of…the…f..^...#..%..&..$..g…WAY! 

 

“Be one with the force….” A peculiar voice within whispers.

 

The cars seem just to obliterate out of thin air and levitate off the road.  The buses, semis, and the every god forsaken VAN are floating in air.  WTF!?  The road is clear, no cars, no buses, no semis, and no cones.  Heaven at last.  Then Mally the Malibu begins again the glorious summertime cruise down the road off into the sunset.

 

GEEK!  Ha, yeah right, right?  It’s a nice thought.  Isn’t it unusual though to have events like window slams shut when no wind or people are around?  Or when the sink suddenly turns on with no one around?  You found your keys in a spot at which you have no clue how they got there.  Is it ghosts or poltergeist?  How about someone playing a practical joke?  Are your shoes tied?  Boxers or Briefs?  Ok, I will shut up now.

 

 

Throughout history we have been very interested in events or phenomena that are mysterious, the unexplained.  We are compelled to thrive on the unknown and believe we have more powers than we seem to know.  Skills like telepathy where we can read another mind, OBE or outer body experiences, and the one of the most profound telekinesis.  Telekinesis is the ability to use your own energy to move physical objects without touching them.  Telekinesis is blanketed with skeptics and believers, but never have been scientifically proven that telekinesis exists.  If telekinesis does exist, could it explain other unexplained events, such as poltergeist activity?  Could our minds have the capacity to move objects in another room or another home somewhere far from where you are?  Example of telekinesis is in the video below.

 

 

There is a false claim that we use only 10% of our brain capacity, and this promotes the possibility of humans having telekinetic capabilities.  This misconception is from many misinterpreted research and intelligent reasoning.  One famous person caught up in this myth is Albert Einstein.  There are very few resources on the internet for investigation, but we will assume that we use 100% of our brain.  Then how could the possibility to use energy to move physical objects?

 

Follow with me on this demonstration and hopefully you will experience the same thing I am.  *Great time for comments*

 

1)  Wash your hands, and make sure they are ambient temperature.  The hands must be dry also.

2)  Have your hands cupped slightly, palm to palm, and about an inch apart.

3)   Mediate and focus on the space in between your palms.  

4)   After a few minutes your fingers will begin to tingle and feel a slight sensation on your palms.

5)   Wait for a few more minutes.  When you’re ready slowly pull back your hands to about five inches and back to one inch.  Did you feel the energy flexing in the space between your hands?

6)  Now if you keep that energy strong, slowly rotate your hands as if you are making a snowball.

 

I would like someone to explain that sensation of having energy in between your hands and could that be the energy used to move physical objects when it is at greater concentrations.

 

In investigating the possibility of telekinesis, Parapsychologists does research on two types of measurable and observable psychokinetic and telekinetic effects in experimental laboratory research.  They are the Micro-PK and Macro-PK.  The Micro physchokinesis has a very small effect, for example the effect on atoms and molecules. Macro physchokinesis is a larger scale effect that can be seen with the unaided eye.  This is the most common account observable, for example the video link above.  The United States National Academy of Sciences in 1984 done research on Macro and Micro PK and concludes the results are inconclusive.   

 

There are many explanations to debunk Psychokinetic abilities.  They could be explained by illusions, static electricity, magnetism, and an over zealous imagination.  The video below explains the events in the video below.

 

 

 

Some believe that static electricity will allow some movement of items, even when they are surrounded in glass.  Magnets are the most common in facilitating movement in other potential magnetic items from a hidden magnet in hand or under the table.  Many magicians or illusionists career are built around making items levitate, move, and disappear.  Of course, without knowing their process, they seem to have very substantial telekinetic powers.  Also some people have very vivid imaginations or on medications that alters the mind in how it is interpreting unusual events.

   

From yours and mine personal experience, how do we explain suspicious events that happen to us, when we really don’t have a logical explanation?  The door or window slammed shut because of the wind or draft, when its still air outside.  I must have placed these keys here, when they are found in the most strangest and illogical places.

 

I was conducting research at the University late one evening during the summer ‘08.  During this time of day, I was alone, literally by myself in the whole building.  In the research lab, the sink is up against a hood that runs from floor to ceiling on the left.  Then on the right side of the sink is some counter top space, and cabinet to place all the glassware.  When facing the sink, the wall has areas to hang items allowing them to drip dry.  I believe I was finishing the experiment and washing the glassware.  I am not that tall and my reach is limited in placing items on the wall so I normally place them upside down on the counter.  I was fixated on getting everything cleaned up so I could go home.  While falling into a dazed at the sink, I suddenly felt something tap my left shoulder, CLASH.  Puzzled, I turned around to see what fell, and it was a 25 ml Volumetric flask!  How in the hell did that fall from such a height on my left side to hit my shoulder? That freaked me out badly, because it was near impossible.  Volumetric flasks are bulb shaped flasks with a long neck, and that neck fits snuggly on the hook on the wall.  If  the flask wasn’t hanging correctly and falls, it won’t have such an arch to fall pass the sink, even from the top row of hooks on the wall.  Also, there would have to have been some type of applied force for it to reach my shoulder at the angle it was coming from.  There are no shelves or areas for flasks to fall from on the left side other than from the hooks on the wall.  I was standing a good six inches away from the sink, drying the glass with a paper towel at the time.  I couldn’t blame it on Ghost Kitty because Ghost Kitty, my explanation for unexplainable events at home, wouldn’t come to work with me.  Could it have been poltergeist activity, or could I have spontaneously used physchokinesis while I was in the daze?  Could have someone else far away used their unknown physchokinetic ability to move the flask?

 

Do you have any other possible explanations?  Do you believe in telekinesis or other types of supernatural phenomenon that could explain unusual situations?

 

Opening day of softball at Dow Midland and its going to be an experience because….

Well, let me give you some perspective about my coworkers and where I work.  This is the oddest collection of geeks and some nerds I will ever met.  All, but maybe three of us graduated with a science degrees.  Our degrees range from microbiology/chemistry to neuroscience.  The other three have an English, Philosophy, or Education degree.  I have co-workers that play WOW *World of Warcraft*, Magic; the gathering, and any other type of *Board, PC, Xbox, Wii, and MMO* game you can think of.  I work with highly intelligent people and some are going to professional or graduate programs in the near future.  Other than our supervisors, we are a rather young and vibrant group.  Some other notable coworkers are:

 

• Couges is the nickname I will call my friend and carpooler.  She is the oldest and loudest laugher out of the bunch.
• We have the brown nosing, wicked excel/metrics sheet macro guy Walker.
• The tall pale skinned *acts older than his age but quarky* guy.  Hes also kinda of anal about dieting and working out. So, one would think he would be athletic sport guy, but he runs away from the softball, Czakski.
• Most of the girls are innocent and delicate, but not girly girls and this includes Me in disguise.
• The bubbly blonde BeeBe.
• Of course, Miss. Diva.
• Funny and nice dressing Asian guy Ping.
• The shy guy, So-crates *Philosopher*.
• Weekend Warrior party Animal.
• Got a “Go Go”…Speedracer who likes Nascar and participates in local races.
•  Wolverine the documenter, computer, and Blueberry loving guy.  The first day of safety training I sat down next to him.  I discreetly looked for claws for match his facial hair.
• The glam Rockstar in disguise Pixie. 
• A girl that is with obsessed Detroit Tigers and Brennan Boesch, her name is Tigger.

 

All the other departments within the BPSC and Dow Corporate complain often because we are too socially loud and never really seem to be working.  Those old Couts!!! We do take executive lunches from time to time, leave and come as we please *within limits*, and make most of your down time, but we do work really hard and dedicated to our job when it comes down to it.   I wouldn’t be happy either if I seen some energetic youngins going into their 8’ x 8’ cubes, instead of their 4’ desks to deal with finance, procurement, supply chain, and returns….slaving away while they are having fun…

 

We are Environmental, Health and Safety Hazard Communication Authors.  We classify hazardous materials, create global MSDS’s for Dow/Rohm and Haas products, and determine proper transportation while complying with global regulations.  We make sure the shipping, use, disposal, and storage of our products is safe you and the environment.  If we make a mistake, it could be catastrophic for the environment, the laboratories/household, or when you are commuting by road/air/ship.  People have and could be severely injured/death from failing to comply with regulations and not carefully creating these documents.  If these MSDS’s however are correct and you don’t follow them properly the fault is yours only! 

 

Anyways, today (5/5/2010) is our opening day for our softball season here at Dow.  I am wondering how a bunch of geeks will fare playing with other geeks in a good old game of softball.  Most of us are not jocks, athletes, or naturally incline to be so active.  This is going to be fun.

 

 

This type of league is unlike I have ever played before.  There are no "carpet" strikes, balls, and walks.  You have a position to play and can switch out with your backup as much as you please. We don't even take score.  Most people take their beverage of choice out to the field with them!!  I'm used to traditional rules because I played JV, and number of other competitive leagues.  I had a hard the hard time saying your an idiot or not understanding why people aren't doing what they are suppose to be doing like chasing the ball.  I had to remember this is for fun and not for competition.  I began having fun.

 

The day was a perfect day for softball.  The sun streams rays onto my fair skin.  The gentle breeze cooled any sweat and calmed my anxiety.  Softball field was bright green, grass evenly cut, and no pests to contend with on the field.  Everyone was in high spirits with a spike of nervousness.  We practiced catching for a few minutes and the game commenced.

 

The girls were girls and were afraid of the ball.  The guys were guys and cringed when a ball flew near them, and discovered that we has only a few seasoned players.  The ones that haven't played before is going to have it made in this league because there was no pressure and learn as you go.  I could tell some of them, most are guys, were getting intimidated from not being Pro-athletes as they assumed they should be.  WE ARE GEEKS!!! Geeks aren't normally athletically inclined.  There were some great plays, we didn't let any one off of home plate in the first inning.  The seasoned players were the backbone in catching flyballs and whipping the ball to base.  When batting, none of us really had the timing down to hit the ball, but we did get runs.  Nothing too spectacular to report, but I am sure there will be.  We celebratex cinco de mayo with tacos, sangria, margaritas, and coronas during and after the game. 

 

Yesterday, the weather was very cold and soggy from the rain on Monday.  All the guys complained its too cold to play softball.  Since its cold out it won't be fun..blah blah blah.  While the girls said just wear something warm and we are ready to play.  We don't care if its soggy and get a little dirty.

 

6/11/2010

I missed last weeks game. Supposedly, we won the game. I guess the non sporty Czaski got two people out at second base. This is great because he doesn't understand how to play second base. Its comical. Wednesday we had a lovely game. The other team was a tight knit team. But So-crates another person who is the loner, off beat, soft spoken, and not again athletic slammed the ball, but still can't get to first base. Walker did his thing in the left field catching every ball his way... Jess had the first strike out in slow pitch. I guess thats about it for now. Pixie is our short stop. She tripped over her glove some how on the field and plowed into the muddy infield.

 

6/18/2010

 

Well we almost won the game.  I don't know the final score, but it seems like we were down by 3 runs.  Walker and Surfer (RF and MRF) almost knocked eachother down in a failed attempt to catch the ball.  Both were steam engineing towards eachother, without calling it, and collided.  It hit Walkers mit but it dropped to the ground :(.  Between Walker and Surfer they were catching almost every flyball, and I am impressed with their performance.  Then Tigger plopped head first into the dirt after running home.  I don't know what caused it, but she just smashed onto the ground, head first, and just laid out. It was really funny, but worried that she gotten injured. Meowch!  She wasn't :).  Other than that, nothing really good to report.  I'll keep you posted.  I wish I could video these moments and put them on my blog. 

 

 

7/9/2010

 

Two weeks ago we had Hawaiian themed softball game.  Everyone was dressed in flambyant ettire of leis, hola skirts, and Hawaiian shirts.  Tripsey has proven to play very well in the left field for someone who hasn't played the game before until this year.  She still needs some batting practice ;).  Czaski seems to be dodging games just as much as he dodges the softballs while he is on 2nd base.  Somehow a guy in a hola skirts doing the shimmy is just the spell for batters to slam the ball.  We did very well that game and also the last weeks game in which we got a tie. 

 

~New ABC Series~ Might be exploiting the Nations Crap Chute

I am cruising the internet trying to find something to do for the weekend.  I stumble upon some amazing future events for Michigan.  Before I begin my rants and raves about some information I found, I do want to point out that I have lived in Michigan all my life, and actually very proud and have loyalty to my state.  What I may say could be taken the wrong way, and I don't want that so when I rant about something, just remind yourself of how you feel about going over to your in laws house for holidays, but you really do like the family.  That same logic applies here.  

ABC is starting a 12 episode series based in Detroit about Detroit, the Nations Crap Chute *to put it nicely*. Detroit 187 is a comedy drama series involving Detroit police investigating and solving the murders that happen in the city.  The cast includes D.J. Cotrona as Det. John Stone, Jon Michael Hill as Det. Damon Washington, Aisha Hinds as Lt. Maureen Mason, Michael Imperioli as Det. Louis Fitch, James McDaniel as Sgt. Jesse Langford, Shaun Majumder as Det. Aman Mahajan, Natalie Martinez as Det. Ariana Sanchez.  Some people are worried about how this series will aftect the reputation of Detroit.  Also it could heighten the violence and crime in the city.  I hope this series doesn't have a negative affect on Detroit's already tarnished reputation, but we need the publicity and economic flow of money that comes from filming in the city.  It airs this Fall.

 

Another series about Detroit is HBO's Hung. This series is about a former high school sports star who finds himself years later as a divorced high school history teacher with two kids and now living in his childhood home in Metro Detroit.  They are trying to plan some filming in Tigers Stadium.  Also HBO is making another series based from a Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Middlesex. 

In taking a minute to talk about the city these series are about, Detroit is all that it should not be as a city.  It does have a lot of crime, but not out of the ordinary for a major city.  Huh, major city...it is honestly a ghost town.  A comedian jokes at Maxies Food and Spirits Bar free comedy night on Sundays about Detroit, and he said, "Detroit is the only major city with vacant skyscrapers!"  We all laughed, but sadly the truth does hurt.  I am sure everyone in the bar that night felt the same sudden hurt in our hearts and maybe a turn in our stomaches.  Michigan has really, really been going through a rough time.  Everyone is impacted somehow from the downfall of the auto industry.  If someone in your family didn't work in the auto industry then you didn't grow up here, not a Michigan native.  What makes it worse is all of the other businesses feels the repercussions and also had to close up shop.  That trickles down to the small business owners, like family restaurants who can't afford to stay open because customers couldn't afford to have dinner.  Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.  We have many talented people starving for the few jobs that are still available in Michigan.  I have friends who have degrees from college and unable to find a decent entry level position *Thank Goodness for my job*.  They either have to move out of state and away from family, or get a higher level of education in order to pursue their dreams.   

Which city is the Crap Chute of the State? I really don't know now.  I would firmly have said Flint about ten years ago.  Flint was built on the auto industry, but when plants started to close so did the city.  Flint is in the midst of rebuilding itself after a reign of poverty and political corruption in the last decade.  Flint was a great city and would want nothing more for it to be restored to its former glory.  Remember the film, Semi-Pro?  The movie was based on the Flint Tropics Basketball team that was trying to go into the NBA?  The constant repeat of  Flint, Michigan in the script was annoying, but Flint isn't...or back then wasn't like that, but it was like that at the same time.  Figure that out.  The crime and slimmation of bad apples tend to migrate from Detroit, to Flint, to Saginaw, and back.  So, for some reason its a competition now to win the title of Crap Chute of Michigan between Flint and Saginaw. 

Overall, I am thrilled with the emerging film industry in Michigan.  I hope the interest in our state, and the success of films and TV series will only give people the motivation to continue reviving our state.  We need big corporations in film, science, technology, and other innovative companies to really rise up and take the risk in building Michigan.  This state is a wonderful state once everyone does their part and putting the Michigan Puzzle back together. 

I would appreciate any feedback.

My blog can be found at Blogarama!

MacGruber is a Flopper

This movie I would rank in the top 10 of the most weirdest and off beat movies.  I know it is a parody of MacGyver TV series from the 1980's, and granted, I was very young during this era. I also didn't watch the SNL skits of MacGyver, which could also hinder my accurate review of this movie, but I know when I see a good movie!  Before I give my review, I want to mention some worthy weird and off beat movies;

 

 

1)  SpaceBalls - If you go into ludicrous speed you will turn Plaid...?  I first seen this parody of Star Wars with a friend who is really into Star Wars.  I have only seen one movie, which I wasn't all that thrilled about.  He couldn't understand why I though this movie was so unbelievably dumb.  Then after I was convinced to watch all of the Star War movies and then watch SpaceBalls again, it had great humor, but it is still a dumb movie.  

 

2)  ZombieLand -  I could use a Twinkie!  I had no idea what this movie was about when I rented it and Me Lordy.  Its crazy, funny as hell, and is a very weird and off beat movie.  When the world is taken over by Zombies, you must have a sense of humor, no guts, no glory, and make lemonade out of Twinkies attitude to survive.  The actors Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are great in this movie.  Woody *Tallahassee* is crazy as usual trying to find Twinkies and taking out Zombies.  While Jesse *Columbus* is the wimpy, pushover kid just trying to survive and falls in love. *awww*      

 

3)  Idiocracy -  Welcome to Costco! I Love You!  This movie does not get the attention it deserves.  If you like all the other films that are weird and off beat then this should be on the top of all time faves.  I have never heard about this movie until my Star Wars friend introduced it.  I couldn't find many videos on You Tube and this trailer stinks!  The movie is way better than advertisement .  The only thing scary about this movie is I could see this happening.  There are statistics that people with lower IQs produce more offspring than people with higher intelligence.  If this does continue, I could see our world ending up like this movie.  If you haven't seen this movie, you are missing out! 

Anyways, back to MacGruber.  This movie doesn't do justice as a parody for MacGyver, and I couldn't imagine how lame the SNL skits could have been.  Ryan Phillipe and Will Forte did their best to make the characters come alive, but was slapped with horrible storyline.  The plot consist of the mission, dead wife, and Macgruber own issues didn't flow, and wasn't as funny as it should have been.  If they taken more time to refine the movie, it would be better.  My only favorite scenes are the naked decoys with celery stuck up their ass.  When I went to see the movie in theaters, there were a total of five people in the theater.  Overall, I wouldn't spend my money to see this movie.  

Did you see these movies?  How well did you like them?  Are there any weird and off beat movies that you know of that could be an all time fav?  I would like some comments on how you view these movies.

~How to Keep your Ten Year Old Car Like New~

Here are some valuable tips in maintaining a healthy care for years to come.

 

1)  Don’t park next to concrete columns in the parking garage.  The only spot in the whole parking garage might be next to the concrete column and your running late for a class Intro to Bioethics, but don’t take the chance…the concrete always wins.  Unless you have a Metro or Escort, leave the parking space alone or you may end up needing a $2000 paint job and replace the rear passenger door.

 

2)   Before rolling it off the dealership lot, make sure the car is complete.  It is not the greatest day when you bring it home, it is missing the clear coat, and chipping within the first week of having it.

 

3)   Don’t drive on ice, or better yet, don’t brake on ice.  Either way you will slide into every direction that you don’t want to go and end up rear ending an off duty police officer.  It doesn’t matter the speed, where you are at, or where your going, the cop will be there with his dinky S10 truck at a stop sign not even giving the consideration to move out of your way.  You try to steer out of the way…*BAM!!*  You smash into his truck and he slides into the intersection.  The car will have a broken headlight, grill, fender, and bumper while there is not even a dent on his truck.  Also the question “Did you call the cops?” and “I have to call my supervisor...” while he flashes his badge is not the most embarrassing moment.  At least he admits to be ass ended by a hot chick to the chick’s father and homeboys.  Homeboys, the eight other cop cars that surround your car and is checking out the little situation their buddy is in.  Only one of them took the ID, registration, and insurance.  I guess when the father slides flat onto his ass while getting out of his truck, and the supervisor shuffling his feet to remain balance while sliding into your car to give back your documents warrants no citation.

 

4)   When having the pride of owning a relatively new car, make sure it is parked in the garage.  Please don’t park it on the road or in the driveway because that only promotes vandalism.  If you leave it in the driveway, at any given time trees will pounce on it, or better yet, elbow drop into your lovely new car to the point your car says, “Uncle!”  Then when you decide to leave in the car in road for one night only to not block visitors in the driveway, hoodlums are magnetize to the car like flies to a Bug Zappers.  All of them swarming, buzzing and gazing at the pretty object trying to figure out how, if, and when to touch the pretty object without the ZAP!  Well, most cars unfortunately don’t Zap *They should*, and those pests can just grab whatever they want.  They took the fairy trash bag, cell phone charger, stereo, but the keys to the other vehicles/home and change cup is way too much to carry!!  What a great scene to wake up to.  The neighbor knocking at your door and pointing to your car out in the road, with weather stripping cut and dangling along the door, the window pushed down, and the inside of the car in a complete state of entropy.  It is an overwhelming disappointment to find the car in utter chaos and feel violated.

 

5)  Traffic signals are out to get you!  Traffic signals have a personal vendetta against motorists.  They will turn yellow right before you are at the intersection forcing you to either come to a screeching halt or zoom through hoping there aren't any unaware drivers that wont plow into your car.  There are also the blinking red and red or the blinking red and yellow signals.  Sometimes you can't tell which one they are and afraid if you stop and go through that the other vehicle won't stop and T-bone the car.  Well these traffic lights have assistance from the sun because when either the sun is glaring behind or ahead of you, its hard to determine which color is lit.  If you choose the wrong one and cautiously go through, an old lady will clip your rear end pulling the bumper off your car and into the middle of the road.  Not sure if you just ran over an animal or hit a pot hole you look into the review mirror, "Oh crap!"  Don't worry, the judge will completely not understand your deposition about the traffic light vendetta, but she will decide to give you a speeding ticket because the sun's detail in the whole story just shined through.

 

6)   A new engine is always a good thing!  I will give you a little tip here, THINK WITH YOUR DIP STICK!!! *SWAP*  Apparently, the good old faith about just getting an oil change every 3000 miles isn't as golden as one may think.  The one day of slowly pulling out of the driveway and *POP*and no performance from the engine which indicates a big expensive oopsy.  Try on the "I'm Clueless and Stupid" costume while having your car towed with a blown engine at 40,000 miles.  You will be life of the grease monkey party as they diagnose your car with a spun bearing, and a fucked up crank shaft *while laughing at you*.  The payment would be about $5,000 for sparkling up the good ol' engine because four years ago you thought it would be best to get the big 2.4 Liter Twin Cam instead of the 2.1 Liter which everyone on earth bought except you.  Also spend a day every month for now and forever adding oil to the not so seal proof newly rebuild sparkly engine.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burger King Madman!

I used to love Burger King.  But the current tactics in the commercial and marketing plan for Burger King has left me running far away from even stepping foot into another Burger King for about five years now.

 

I remember the awesome grilled chicken sandwich JD used to make when he got done with his shift. It was grilled chicken, cheese, barbecue sauce…lettuce…no wait he didn’t like lettuce. 

 

Anyways, I rarely have a craving for a Whopper because everytime I think about Burger King…I think of this guy!

 

The Burger King Creep! 

 

I remember watching a show discussing the Burger King creep and their intention was to make this guy creepy because it gets people attention.  I don't know about you but....this I feel would be the wrong type of attention I would want to bring to the public.

 

This February article in the Wall Street Journal explains the reasons for the decline in sales for Burger King in the past five years.  I believe it is a good summary of the variety of factors for the downward spiral Burger King has been experiencing during the recession.  My opinion is that between Burger King Madman and super sizing meals *Driving up the price* were the wrong choices and should have taken a safer route to weather the economic down turn.  

 

I would like to hear  your thoughts about the Burger King King and the fast food industry.  Which is your favorite and worse fast food resturants and why? 

 

 

Did You Know I have an Avatar?

Ohe kame anyga,

 

  My Avatar!!

 

Avatar Movie Review

 

When The James Camron’s Avatar premiered, the crowd never seemed to wane.  I went to see the movie in regular 3D about two weeks after the premier and again in IMAX 3D about a month later.   Both times were like crushing people as if we were sardines into an ever shrinking stadium theater.  Everyone was scrambling to obtain the best seats (in the middle) by arriving about an hour early and preordering tickets a couple days before.  This was unlike any other craze I have seen.  I have waited three hours to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 movie when I was younger, but that’s to the extent of the craziness for movies in the area where I live.

 

Avatar for many reasons was unlike any other cinema production.  It was not another alien movie, or action movie, or romance movie, or fantasy movie, or theatrical explosion of cinema graphics and effects.  Avatar was all of that and more.  I bought the DVD last week, not the Blue Ray, and was assuming disappointment because the theatrical effects would not be as forthcoming as it was in the theater.  I was right in feeling that normal viewing of the movie would not be as engaging and stimulating.  But the story still won my creativity award and enjoyed the movie overall.  The regular 3D movie was detailed and had very subtle 3D effects in the forest of Pandora.  The graphics did give an impression of engaging yourself into the movie, but nothing was too extreme.  However, if you were lucky enough to see the movie in IMAX 3D the whole experience changes to a more dramatic, throwing yourself into the fantasy, a dream, and never waking up….until the credits were rolling.  The characters were digital, clear, and the best projection of 3D realization.  The vivid, ecstatically creative complexity of the scenery and character interaction was astounding because it was so close to being realistic, but pure imaginary. 

 

More About Pandora

 

The Moon

The discovery of Pandora is real.  Pandora is located in the nearest solar system in southern hemisphere of Earth about 4.4 light years away.  Pandora is a moon that orbits a huge gas planet that resembles Saturn.  The star in this solar system is Alpha Centauri A.  In this movie, the moon has large vast jungles, wetlands, and grasslands.  The magnetic fields and unobtanium makes the world like no other with the mountains floating in the air.   

 

The Wildlife

The biodiversity of Pandora is vast and unlike Earth. The bioluminescence, the glow from the plants and characters at night, is impeccable.  The whole world is beautiful and exotic with creatures that are so different but identifiable.  There are animals reminiscent of dinosaurs, horses, panthers, lizards, and hyenas.  They share different areaa of the world like the wetlands, water, forest, mountains, and grasslands of Pandora.  The underlying story of the signal transductions between the fauna and flora as form of communication is already present on earth in variety of bacteria, but not as vital as Pandora.  Also the Na’vi have the ability to communicate by using neural connections with animals and plants. 

 

The People

The Na’vi are humanlike natives on Pandora.  They are 9’ to 10’ feel tall.  The Na’vi are very strong and slender which enables them to maneuver the Jungle with ease.  They have a tail, big yellow eyes, and skin that is blue striped and bioluminescent to camouflage themselves with the environment.  On Pandora, there are a number of tribes that have a different connection to the world.  They remind me of Native American culture.  In each clan, they have a male leader and his wife as the spiritual leader or physic. The main clan in the movie, Omaticaya, are more in tune with jungle and there home is the Home Tree.  Their deity Eywa has a spiritual connection with all living things on Pandora and communication is through the Tree of Souls.  This is where they pray and worship.  The Na’vi has a very compassionate relationship with they world the live in.  

 

The Aliens

We humans are the aliens to Pandora, the sky walkers.  The only reason for us to come to Pandora is to mine unobtanium which isa very rare, valuable element on Earth.  The problem is that the largest deposit is under Home Tree.  Of course, our nature is to take whatever we want and doesn’t matter how we get it.  It’s another Manifest Destiny journey.  They claim to try to bargain with the natives in exchange for them moving away from their home.  We tried to give them education, medication, and anything to make the tribal culture one step closer to civilization, but Na’vi wants to be left alone.

 

The compound houses the research, military, and administrative sectors of the operation.  The research team have the technology of combining the DNA of the natives and humans to develop an Avatar which the human can control using his neural connection to the avatar.  The tank is similar to the mammalian womb.  The tank was used previously for cloning animals and human body parts. They use these Avatars to be able to withstand the harsh Pandora environment, study the ecosystem, and communicate with the natives.  The military are Marines that use brawn force to protect the compound and to force the natives away from Home Tree.  The military operation uses a lot of high tech gear and vehicles to fend off the animals, natives, and protect the ultimate task of mining the element.  The reason to mine this element other than for it is worth, which is I believe it is 20 million dollars a kilogram, hasn’t yet been disclosed.  The OPS center is where all the daily operations are monitored.  This is the central place for communication throughout the whole project.  There are also satellite areas where research and refuge from the environment are located throughout the world.

 

People Who Can't Count at Walmart

April 27, 2010

My friend and I were shopping at Walmart one evening for something to do.  The area where I live doesn’t have a lot to do, especially on a Sunday.  We headed towards the electronics department to look at the xbox 360 games and accessories.  My friend as I will introduce him as, Fawkes, have been trying to get me to buy the rechargeable power packs for my controllers. They were out.  So then we went over to the games and checked to see what was new and if there were any games we wanted to buy.  Fawkes decided to buy a Star Wars game.  I just gotten a new phone and don't have a car charger for it.  We begun looking for the right charger for my phone.  "I think your phone will fit this one.  Let me see your phone." Fawkes said.

"Ok, I think this other charger would fit my phone.  That just seems to skinny of a port."

"No. Just trust me, it fits my phone so it should fit your phone.  You should get and ipack anyways so you can get different plugs at Radioshack."

As I sighed, "An I..what?  I just need a charger and your phone is different from my..."  As I tried to plug it into my phone and it fit. 

"See you always second guess me and I am always right," Fawkes pressed with huffy attitude.  He is just so cocky, I thought.  Its true though, when I second guess him, he is always right.  I hate admitting defeat, and we fussed about it some more about who's right discussion until I decided to apologize.  I really need to get him back on something and prove he's wrong! Ha!  At that time, I made the decision to grab a card containing the 1600 xbox live points because so far I see no point of having xbox live unless you have a bunch of friends to play online all the time.  I figured if I bought some points and downloaded some items off the xbox live it could become more useful to me.

The Walmart was busy as usual, and we got in line with the express check out.  I will emphasize EXPRESS CHECKOUT where it is, I believe, 20 items or less and the person ahead of us had...a...whole...chart...FULL...of groceries!  I couldn't believe the cashier allowed him in when there is obviously a line of people who have the right amount of items and have the right to be there.  I don't mean to personally offend anyone, but when you go into a line for anything that your not suppose to be in you look like a moron.  Especially if there is a sign indicating who should be there.  If you think that a cart full of groceries is less than 20 items, obviously you can't count and everyone else knows that also.  So, if you don't want to look like you don't understand standard store policy, go into a regular line if you have a lot of items.  I would hope you would want to be courteous to fellow patrons that have only a few items and don't want to wait a half hour or so while you unload the cart and check out.  It gives all of us that are following directions migraines...hence Fawkes was moaning about while waiting in line twenty minutes longer than needed.

I am wondering if anyone has encountered this and how did you feel about it?  Are you one of these people that disregard the express lane sign and why?  What are some other discontenting shopping experiences that you have experienced and would like to share.  I would like to read comments from anyone who had an experience or opinion about this or similar situation.

Murphy's Law is a Bitch!

April 23, 2010

If you have never heard of Murphy's law or never happened to you, please feel very lucky.  Between karma and this epigram will nip you in the ass.  For those of you that don't know the epigram, it is, "Anything that could go wrong, will go wrong." by Capt. Edward A. Murphy. 

Murphy's Law is actually an idiom which has evolved over time from a variety of sources. The mathematical representation is that 1+1 hardly ever equals to 2.  This statement reminds me of the long drawn out semesters of calculus 1 and 2 in college where you have to find limit to equations.  While trying to discover sources to explain this phenomenon, I came upon this experiment called the Mad Hatter project.  When I was reading this I was amazed with the concept, analysis, and results applied to Murphy’s law in quantum physics, which I am still really skeptical.  The morbid self found the article very entertaining because it has my two favorites cats and science.  I would have never taken the next step of slapping a piece of buttered toast onto the cat’s back throwing them off the crane to observe the landings, but tossing kittens off the front porch watching them land on their feet was fun enough.  Yes, cats do land on their feet.    

 

The diagram of the buttered toast and cat experiment from the Mad Hatter Project

 

Well this morning, I was backing out of the garage and didn't notice our empty plastic trash cans were out a bit farther on the driveway next to the grill.  Now going back to the beginning to develop this Murphy's Law realization, I just bought a new Imperial Blue Chevy Malibu in February.  It’s beautiful and not like other Malibu LT1s.  The blue is deep and glistens nice from the metallic flakes.  It has the chrome grill like the LTZ, the heated seats like LTZ or LT2, and chrome door handles.   About a week later after rolling the Malibu of the dealership lot it wouldn’t start.  There is a new car in my garage, I am trying to go to work, and it won’t start!  My thoughts were reeling with why wouldn’t a new car start, and I even called onstar.  They couldn’t detect anything wrong with the transmission and engine.  So it had to be towed and taken back to the dealership where for another week and horrible winter storm that prevented the shipping of a part it needed, an oxygen sensor.  Then last week another horrible experience unfolded and continuing to haunt me while the situation is still rather current and unresolved.  At this moment, I will not comment on this experience until a later date or whenever I feel comfortable enough publicizing it.  Then today I was pulling slowing and not realizing how close I was to the garbage cans untilI heard something move outside my car door.  I stopped and looked out and it was the garbage cans!  I thought to myself, no big deal, I pulled forward enough to get out my car and put the empty garbage cans back and left.  When I got to the parking garage to meet my carpool I seen white scratches trailing from the front wheel all the way across my drivers door.  DAMN IT!!  When I got to work I called the dealership and after work I am going there for them to take a look at it and maybe I can figure something out.  When will this end?

 

Big Heart, Big Problem....

April 27, 2010

Ever since I was five years old, I have always had a cat as a pet.  I have a very big heart towards cats and other animals. I can't bare to see them in any type of suffering.  Any animal is always at odds in surviving life without help.

About seven years ago, Wow that is a long time ago and I didn't even realize it!  I was out in the yard bringing in yard decorations and getting ready for Fall.  It was a one of those evenings where the landscape glowed dimly from the sun setting and the gentle breeze gave a cool crisp ambiance.  I seen something around my, Playhouse, which is now our storage shed.  I approached the playhouse slowly, cautiously because I didn’t want to scare whatever this creature was.  I crept around the back and I was so astonished at the horrid realization before me.  A very small kitten screamed at me, almost shrieking in fear.  This kitten was nothing; I mean barely hanging onto what life it had left.  She was a calico, probably a few months old, with no hair on her back, and seen every bone beneath her delicate skin.  I never seen an animal so sickly before and my heart crumbled.  I have to do something about this kitten, but I can’t keep her.  She could be really sick! This kitten could not survive a few more cold nights.  Should I take her to the vet? Should I feed her?

I decided to approach her slowly to see I could get close to her. I got about two feet away when she scampered off.  I laid in bed all night thinking about her.  This poor little kitten outside in the cold with no food and fur.  That image of her in my mind tortured me.

A few days later, I heard rustling of something on the other side of the playhouse when I was on the back porch coming home from college.  I went behind there and seen that kitten pulling on an opossum carcass into a hole under the playhouse she called home.  She freaked and scurried into the hole.  Cats don’t eat caresses!  This is making me sick, and I am going to have to start getting this cat to become comfortable around humans or she’ll never have the chance.    So that night my family had steak for dinner, and against my parent’s advise I took all the fat and meat leftover and threw them near the playhouse. Moments later….there she was taking what she could back into her hole. Eureka!

For the next few nights, I threw the leftovers from our meals to her.  She gladly accepted the gesture but still was very afraid of any type of interaction.  The nights and days were becoming colder and colder to the point where frost crusted the grass every morning.  I have begun feeding her by hand and buying cheap cat food.  I would give her food by hand, pet her, and give her some more food.  I would talk to her in a nice quiet voice to avoid startling her.  What amazed me about her was that she wasn’t growing much fur.  I was feeding her for weeks now.  Because of the cold temperature in the evening, I would put on an old coat with gloves to go outside, picked her up, and tucked her in my coat.  Finally! The poor little kitten took in the warmth and finally felt comfortable enough for a short nap in my arms.

We were very concerned for the reasons why her fur wasn’t growing back. Mange?  But finally after a month of regular feeding it bugan to grow back, we took her in our home, and begun to call places that would take her in and put her up for adoption.  Her name is Tweetle, Tweetle Lee Pansy, or Tweetle Dee.  She is the most plump, loyal, annoying, and bipolar cat I have ever met!  By the way, my other cat, Puffy, was very pissed about having another cat in her domain, a whole other story.  

I would like to hear from other people and their stories about how they found their pets.  Did the pets go shopping owners or did you go shopping for them?  What would you have done if this kitten was waiting at your doorstep?

Launching a Bit of Positivity to April 28th

April 28, 2010

I appreciate everyone who comes to my Blog site and reads my passages.  This is my official launch date and hoping for some very positive outcomes.  After all, on this day for many years has been apart of my rollercoaster called Life. 

This day has many meanings for me.  From the beginning of my rollercoaster, the bounds of horror, anxiety, happiness, and joy were the main aura of my life in the past ten years.  One of my most surreal, engagingly euphoric moments of my life was graduating from college on April 28, 2008 with a B.S. in Chemistry (concentration Biochemistry) from University of Michigan – Flint.  During the whole day, I felt depersonalized from the event taking place in front for me.  The idea of graduating from college and beginning a whole new chapter of my life was overwhelming and scary.  I also had this sense of sadness because all of my college friends were moving on, I was stuck here trying to figuring out what I wanted to do honestly, and had no clue how life would be outside of school.  I did have plans in place to go to graduate school, and finished my applications about a month earlier.  Unfortunately, this bit of excitement and opportunistic motivation to focus on the direction of my life was overshadowed by the discovery of my father was very ill.

About a week after the commencement, I was still doing independent research at the university when I received the most horrific, terrifying call from my mother.  “Courtney, the hospital called.  And I don’t know how to tell you this, but your dad’s liver and kidneys are failing.” 

Overwhelmed in dread and the rush of adrenaline pricked every synapse in my body as I told my professor that I had to leave because something was horribly wrong with my father.  The signs were there about my dad’s failing health for years, but no one, not even the doctors knew what was to come.  For the next year, it was dialysis, doctor appointments, hospitalizations, and taking care of a slowly dieing man while trying to get him on the transplant list.  I knew the chances of receiving a liver and kidney was near impossible.  The disparity of not being able to do anything weighted heavy on my mother and I.  My father was literally wasting away.

On April 27, 2009, my mother and I visited my father at the hospital.  My father couldn’t talk to us because of the oxygen mask and ventilator from respiratory failure.  He couldn’t receive any nutrients because it will only feed the ever growing bacterial infection and increase the ammonia in his body from his liver failing to convert the proteins into urea.  His tummy was increasing in size from water retention and slowly leaking through his back where once a tube was inserted to assist in draining his tummy.  What I described here doesn’t even explain everything that he was going through.  His vital signs were abnormally normal.  His heart rate 80 beats per min, and nice EKG rhythms.  I stood there next him as I talked to him and held his hand.  I made sure the nurse suctioned out the mucous because the chest congestion was making it hard from him to breathe and he smiled.  Mother was on the other side of the bed watching him.  I then sat down in a chair, it was a long day.  As she was talking him, I felt an overwhelming sickness and dread.  I have to get out of here.  I am feeling so sick that I want to throw up!  It had been about an hour, which is our normal duration of stay.  We told him that we loved him and get your rest.  As we walked out of the room, the strangest gesture from my father stricken my mother and I.  He was holding out his hand out towards us, staring, as if he didn’t want us to go.  But we left hoping and optimistically believing there will be tomorrow.  Later that evening, just before midnight, we received a call from the hosiptal.

My life changed forever from that moment on.  There were some videos from You Tube that my neighbor, mother, and I watched to break the perpetual mourning with some laughter that early morning.  The links I will share with you below.  I had to suddenly become a woman that had to take care of my mother, my family, the household duties, funeral arrangements, and brush everything in my life that I needed to figure out off to the side.  Only a few people know how I truly coped with such change while others only see a harden shell, but honestly I am just lost.  The only way not to feel so much hurt is that my father is not suffering now…anymore. 

A year later, I am bringing a new opportunity on the anniversary of my father’s passing.  When there are so much negative things to dwell on or memories that will leave myself depressed and missing him, I have decided to start this Blog.  This is where I hope positive change begins not for only myself but whoever is touched by my Blog in some form.                   

You Tube Videos

1)   Simon's Cat TV Dinner

2)   Simon’s Cat “Cat Man Do”

3)   Simons’s Cat “Let Me In”

4)   Kitty Song

Welcome to my Blog ~ Rollercoaster called Life ~

Greetings everyone,

 

I extend a warm welcome to my Blog site. This is where I vent and try to discover solutions to my rollercoaster call Life.  I am struggling and stuck on the bend looking for way off. 

 

Not only will there be excerpts from my crazy life experiences, but topics from science to any topic my viewers wish to discuss.  This Blog will hopefully resolve any issues, brainstorm ideas, and create a window of productivity in your life as well.

 

*Note* This site may have adult content.  Any blogs about my life experience will be truthful as remembered, but there will be nicknames to hide peoples' identity for their privacy.  Also if you do find out that you are mentioned in my Blog and disagree with the portrayal please consult me personally.  Also please take into consideration its only constructive criticisms and not directing any ill will towards anyone.  Commentators please discuss with respect to everyone including myself because we have right to our opinion that may be different from yours.