Leftsider

Where I first dream of Twitter

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:26:01 -0500

I was goofing around my grandparent's house, which wasn't actually their house but the house of the grandparents of some childhood friends from long ago. I remembered when the neighboring houses were nothing but fields that we used to play hide and seek in. Running around in the dark, until I realized that some new resident was washing dishes in the sink just a few feet away, exposed to me by a kitchen window.

I back away softly while waiting to see their face. It never happens. I turn to see the ice cream truck that's headed my way on the night street make a sharp right and drive up the stairs of a cupcake shop; the truck nimbly makes a 180 turn and drives back down as I wonder if he sells the cupcakes along with his strawberry shortcake popsicles, which I now want. I race after him, and decide to give chase as far as it takes.

At the end of the street I must open a door to continue, and there I run into my grandmother with groceries in her hands. Though I am not supposed to leave, she is not at all angry (or surprised). She feigns ignorance as she walks on to wards the house. I set off running again, though beyond this door there is freezing rain. The ground is slushy and I slide as if I am ice skating, happy to be free. I think to myself that I want to twitter, "Running t-shirted in the freezing rain. I feel like @brad." I need to revise my wording.

I jump in a skip kind of way, being careful not to slip and fall. The last time I jump too high and float in to the arms of a medium-sized tree that lines the sidewalks. Rather than alert the people who were walking in front of me, I jump again and land on the roof of the nearby building (which I think is this tire shop I really live by) on the roofs now, with no one to alarm or disturb, I run and leap and soar at full speed, recklessly. I realize I'm too high, too fast and as I touch down onto a large commercial roof I just take off sliding. I slide off the edge onto another building, and another, until I'm running out of buildings and approaching a treed neighborhood. I jump at the last building and try my best preparation to an unwanted land in suburbia.

Somehow I land on a house but inside the house; on a very high ledge where the floor is far below me and filled with stuffed animals. I contemplate which plushy item will absorb the sound and impact of my fall, but then I hear noise. Afraid that the inhabitants have already heard me land, I quickly drop down as silently as I can and dart to the back door. While opening and making my way out I realized I can't sprint nearly as long as I'd want because I just finished running and skipping there. I need to hide

Best Kid Scenario

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:04:46 -0500

I can't find an excuse to have a kid.

I like kids. I dote on them, try to be an example to them, try to inspire them and encourage and validate their inquisitive tendencies. I love to ruffle their hair in that older brother way and corral them into an affirming squeeze. I think this is one of the most important things I can do for my society. And I think they really appreciate it; I guess.

But for the most part, I pity them. Many times they are the product of a naïve wish or lack of planning. When they are realistically and properly realized, they are often meticulously bred to be the crowning achievement of their parents wishes and aspirations. I think it most selfish to have a child to create a new, improved version of you. Increasingly I think the answer is to let a child be who they can be (an intentional alternative from letting them be who they are).

Still, I have love to give. I energy and emotional support to offer in the development of life. In fact, I believe this is my most important mission as a world citizen. If this is what I'm going to do, and I intend to do it objectively, do I have to create a new life to do it? Adoption seems the most logical option.

We've talked a bit about this, and we're kinda set on it. But in our minds, the concept of having a family always invloved children, not a child. Why? Because we are both of the opinion that an only child has less incentive to embrace concepts like sharing and collaboration. Regardless of the validity of that statement, it brings out a horrible and calculating reality: Our only reason for a second child would be to improve the outlook of the first. No doubt we could love and cherish that child, but their existence is as a component, not at all independently valid. I think this is most heartless.

So now I need to learn to appreciate the single child concept, or resign myself to no children at all? I have a tendency to be excessive in contemplation, so maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe there's a better option I haven't though of?

Airport BeeGees

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:02:37 -0500

Airport BeeGees from leftsider on Vimeo.

So "To Love Somebody" by the Bee Gees was the first song I've ever purchased from iTunes. This is what happens when you're up late editing silly footage you recorded over your week in Denver. FWIW the song was actually playing in the restaurant I was sitting in when I recorded this--that's how I was able to include the ambient sound.

The video doesn't make sense, but I get it; hope I'm not the only one.

In the Garden of Good and Evil

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:43:12 -0500

Lately I've been wondering whether I'm a good person or a bad person.

I don't think I've done anything too bad; not that I can recall. But I wonder, are good things what make me a good person? Is it a ratio of good versus bad deeds that determines our goodness quotient? If a genuinely good person does several bad things, is he now a bad person or were those actions done "out of character?"

Moreover, if I do good things only so that I might be seen as good and might generate public consensus to my will based on my reputation, am I still a good person? I would consider that person to be of the most reprehensible villiany that mankind can observe, yet all that she or he has done would be good. If a bad person does good things for an ultimately bad purpose, does that make the good deeds "not good"?

At this stage in my philosophical contemplations, I'm trying to determine what a good person is. Sofar I've come to this: we are forced into socially accepted norms of goodness and virtue. When we gain freedom from these restrictions, or a power that can make us exempt from them, our true identities are revealed. As a theist, I imagine my ultimate power or form-maker; what if there were no god or I was that god? If I look honestly, I see myself having much different actions than I do now; then I imagine, say, Siddhartha Gautama (who was not god nor claimed to be) reaching enlightenment yet leaving its bliss to share the path to others, and I see the distance between me and what I imagine as Good.

Am i a bad person then? Hmm... still out to lunch on that one. But I think it's all a matter of the strokes I make in the process of making my life, and making it better.

A New Way to Survey

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:58:53 -0500

I've been asked by the church I attend to be director of Young Adult Ministries. I'm not sure how I feel about that, so I suggested that I'd prefer if I could use this capacity to generate data on who young adults are, their interests, values, and concerns; this data I would then hand over to a team of young adults that I'd help to create new and pertinent programming.

Wikipedia says that a young adult is between ages 18 and 40. If you know anything about that age group you will know that:

They are least likely to be at church.
They are least likely to be at church on time.
They are least likely to be at church long after the service is done.

So how do you poll the disillusioned, the disinterested and the easily dispersed? With a novel and portable interview system.

Atlas Shrugs, I Unite Galaxies

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:18:20 -0500

If you really want to be a magnetic personality, you have put out a little.

Despite the existing duties of work (two jobs, now) and school, I've taken it upon myself to rouse my friends and associates out of their suburban stupor and get them active, socially and/or physically. To this end I established B.A.S.T.I.O.N., Bryan Against Suburban Tendencies of Inactivity, Obstinacy and Negativity. Our first event was in October (I think). It was a variant on the Pecha Kucha meme that we named 20twenty.

Right now, the event of the moment is "Galaxies Unite!", an outing to see MLS teams DC United and LA Galaxy battle it out at RFK Staduim in Washington, D.C. Soccer enthusiasts and fans of David (and Victoria) Beckham have been assembled to go and watch and enjoy the day.

Most people don't know is that planning an event is a complex and stressful process that isn't for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of risk and "testicular fortitude" to keep it from falling through; basically think of the entire event as resting on your shoulders. Here's a sneak peek into what is making this event work.

A hundred pushups

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:53:57 -0500

If you know me, you know I'm privy to far-reaching, barely logical, nearly irrelevant ideas. Like the time that I tried to get Cesar to take up fencing with me (neither of us did). Or when I made my wife stop cleaning the house. To me, it's precisely the novelty of it all that makes it worthwhile. Which is why it seems I'm following Joi once again (the first time was with neti pot), undertaking this Hundred Pushups meme.

I can't think of one thing that I want that will be achieved by doing this, nor can I think of one ability i'll have that I don't currently possess. Perhaps it's the mental discipline that's attracting me; heaven knows I could use some. Either way, I'll go through with it and see you on the other side. ^^

Better yet, why don't you join me? You can look sexy for the last months of beach season...

Status Report

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:58:40 -0500

For the few of you that are still subscribed, or occasionally check in, yet do not already know, I've picked up a second job. It'll be my primary job, and my freelance consulting (which I've still never formally announced) will be accepting new work on a very limited basis.

Back in September, when I left my job, I hoped that someday I could come back and work in a capacity where my passions were more accurately applied and when there was more incentive to change things for the better. Today, as an Assistant Director of Communication for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, I've got more opportunity to do what I hoped than I ever imagined possible.

This is a good thing. It means more action here on Leftsider, less clandestine activity, and a whole new realm of projects which I hope to showcase as they grow. In my mind, I totally envision this turning out not unlike Mager's blog, but man I've got a long way to go for that; I'll settle for something slightly more animated than what Jan's blog has become. ;)

I guess that means I'll be involving you as well. Look to see comments return in the near future. It'll be great to see what you think of the new chapter we've begun.

Taiwanese tea dream

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:43:28 -0500

P1070684, originally uploaded by udono.

Who celebrates Memorial Day?

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:02:18 -0500

We've long forgotten what we were supposed to memorialize, dividing up the duty between the more ideological Independence day and the more recognizably named Veteran's day. So on this special day that few celebrate but even fewer have to work on, I've decided to reinvent Memorial Day. Here's my idea:

Memorial Day: The day we celebrate remembering things.

We'll eat food from recipies we haven't googled, and have fun activities from yesteryear like Concentration and Husker Du. What's more, we'll call up our friends to join us--dailing their actual numbers instead of using voice activation and speed presets.

Orators' rhetoric will be the fireworks of the day; prompters and cue cards will have the day off, and festivals will be held showcasing speakers of all age groups reciting memorized passages of years gone by. Far from the lectern will the speech-reading presenter be banished. Prizes will be awarded for those who can recognize past presidents by face (not just the scandalous ones).

When you think about it, there's really something ironic about celebrating how little we bother remembering things on a holiday now most associated with the opening of public swimming pools. Perhaps, it might also give us pause to reflect one what society really gains--or loses--when we relieve ourselves of mental burden.

03.08 DC

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:51:24 -0500

03.08 DC, originally uploaded by Frulwinn.

Wacky Wedding

Sun, 11 May 2008 19:22:54 -0500

Today my father married his third wife. I mulled over the idea of not attending, but decided to go. As fate would have it, we ended up missing the ceremony completely. There were apparently no hard feelings, though, as followed the party to the reception before heading home.

It's not easy to watch anyone marry a third spouse. You begin to wonder why they're trying again, what will they gain from yet another endeavor, and, especially, whether they've modified their selection criteria since the last time. It's harder still when it's your father, to whom you owe half of your genes directly (and the other specifically through his preference). You want to wish them good luck, but you'd rather investigate for a good reason.

Perhaps that explains why today was the second time in my life that I've met the woman who now could technically petition to be called stepmother. The first time was over Thanksgiving, and I assume that is sometime near the beginning of their relationship; I have no idea. Honestly, last week I was asking my sister what her name was. Again. And it didn't help that I was told of the plan to marry about six weeks ago, and the ceremony was expedited--a month earlier than originally stated. By the time my MapQuest placed me at the church 30 minutes late, having missed the entirety of the ceremony, I couldn't muster any more suspicious confusion if I tried.

temple at night

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:30:55 -0500

temple at night, originally uploaded by youngdoo.

Abandoning Status

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:49:00 -0500

About a month ago, I stopped at a bakery, grabbing a pastry before heading off to meet a client. As I turned out of the parking lot and onto the street, I saw a man standing on the median with a sign and a cup. While not uncommon, what struck me was his attire: khakis, worn loafers, and an earth-toned pullover. Considering previous discussions I've entertained regarding their clothing choices, I was taken aback; this pan-handler's outfit was (dangerously?) close to my wardrobe.

"Wow, this neighborhood is more affluent than I thought," I sneered. "I'm at the same level as the bums."

Today, if I stood up and walked to the front window of my new apartment, I can see that very median. What has changed for me? Not a thing. I've not become any more affluent. I'm imagining that perhaps my brother on the street is in much the same situation as well. Now, however, we walk in much closer circles, and the disparity between us is amplified.

I'd like to think that my affinity with him was more than just clothing options. But how often do we consider each other based on how we are dressed? Don't be caught in last season's offerings. In this new neighborhood, Mercedes are the new Honda; try a Maybach, Bentley or Lambo if you want to set yourself apart. All the houses are big--even the small ones. I live here, but never have I felt more out of step.

This environment has exacerbated my recent contemplations on status. Never before have I been more inclined to reject the concept of status altogether.

boutique

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:09:47 -0500

boutique, originally uploaded by nabenori.