Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Not Voting

Greetings, Readers.

You read the title right. I have officially decided not to vote this year. Why? Because I'm tired of the constant political mud-slinging I've seen all year, and for me to vote would be to say that I fully support a mud-slinger, regardless of which side I choose to vote for.

All year, ads have been running for both candidates pointing out one screwup or another, thoroughly outlining all the ugly sides of the opposite candidate, and then showing one brief moment of the advertising candidate's "good side", with a voice-over by that candidate saying "I am [Joe Candidate], and I approved this message." Why can't we just once have a presidential candidate who will run their entire campaign based solely on their own merits, without targeting the other's downfalls over and over again? Would that candidate win the election? In this world, it would seem, probably not. But if he were to stick to his advertised (Christian) morals in his policies and campaign, and not lay down wave after wave of personal attacks against the credibility or value of the other candidate, then he most certainly would have my vote behind him.

Since I am also now a father in this election year, I begin to wonder, "What is this teaching our children?" I mean this seriously. Imagine if the candidates for the position of class president in their High School were to run their campaigns this way. I don't even want to imagine the defamatory, slanderous posters there would be seen around that school's campus, or the hateful advertisements that might be run during the morning announcemnts. But then, of course, I'm sure the principal of the school would have something to say about such things. Surely they would not want to allow their children to advertise themselves that way. And yet, who's to argue against those children when, season after season, we see grown, "mature" adults acting the same way for virtually the same reason?

So, what would I say if I was asked who I would vote for? I honestly don't know. I mean, who do I want to vote for - a war-monger or a flip-flopper? Either way, I'd be voting for one person slinging mud against the other, with me being one in the middle catching the crossfire.

- Iszi

Friday, October 22, 2004

Blown Away

Greetings, Readers.

I just got done staying up all night with a thought in my head that has just blown me away. Okay, so that's not the only thing that kept me awake. I had work, too. But the whole time, my mind kept wandering back to this one idea.

What if Jesus wrote an autobiography?

Seriously, what would it be like? To read about the days of Jesus' life, from his own perspective? Okay, so we have the Gospels that tell us all about what he did, but it's all second- and third-party information. In some cases, it's only a man's translation of what God's Holy Spirit has revealed to him. And, while I do fully believe the Holy Spirit is a power to be reckoned, whenever you add a human into *any* project, whether divinely inspired or not, there's always a margin for error or mis-interpretation. Especially when you consider that the Bible that we read has already gone through a few different translators before our eyes even get to see it.

So, consider that Jesus Christ himself were to write an autobiography, and write - individually - a copy in every language of the world, so that he would not have to rely on fault-prone human translators to spread it around. What would it be like to read such a book?

A couple questions that come to my mind first are:

1. When would it start? Since Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity, He is fully God, and therefore has existed alongside the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity to date, and to come, even before the Creation of Earth, and likely before Time was even created. So, at what point would He start His autobiography?

1a. Would He start it at the beginning (if there is such an applicable concept) of events in Heaven? Would we, through His eyes, get a glimpse of how Heaven existed when all was in perfect harmony for a time? Would we then be able to see what Jesus saw when Satan and his angels were cast out from Heaven, and understand the feelings and emotions Jesus must have experienced when those events took place?

1b. Or, would He choose to start where the Bible starts, with the Creation of the Earth? Then, we would enter into a universe devoid of any existence, and witness how God created the stars and heavenly bodies, and chose one of those bodies to be a workplace for Him to create all known forms of life, including those made in His image. We would be with Jesus, and feel the heartbreak He must have felt in the events leading to the fall of man. We would be with Him to watch such Biblical events as the Great Flood, the Exodus, the downfall of Sodom and Gemorrah, and more. All these events we have read about, but we can only begin to imagine what it was like to witness - and likely even have a hand in - these events unfolding, from on high. We can't even begin to dream of what went through Jesus' divine consciousness, as He saw again and again how mankind turned from the Father, and as a result was punished time and time again.

1c. Would He maybe wait just a little while, until it was decided that He would be sent down to be the once-and-for-all perfect sacrifice and salvation for mankind's waywardness? Then, we would start by meeting the Old Testament prophets as Jesus did, and possibly even see what it was that made God choose the select few who foretold of Jesus' ministry, hundreds of years in advance. Perhaps we would even get to know them more like God knew them, better than any man on earth would have.

1d. Would He just simply start with His birth? That would be the way most humans could relate, by following the path of His "natural" life on earth. Might He actually begin writing of this path with the night of His birth? Or would He choose to wait awhile, until such an age that humans naturally begin to collect memories, so that we might relate better?

1e. Or would He maybe just start with His ministry, with the day that he was baptized by John the Baptist? This would be, by most measures, the most pertinent turning point in His life, and therefore probably the latest time that anyone would expect such a being to begin writing his life story.

2. Then, one must wonder when the autobiography would end? Being a divine entity, Jesus has existed and will exist for all time, longer than the Earth or humankind ever has or ever will exist.

2a. The earliest time one might expect this book to end would be with Jesus' Ascension into Heaven, after His Resurrection. While this may only (at the very least) cover the time period already documented in the Gospels, we would still have the unique priviledge of experiencing now-familiar events from a never-before-seen perspective.

2b. Or, Jesus might just decide to follow through a little further and show us how it was as he influenced the lives and ministries of his Disciples and Apostles. We would get to see Jesus' meeting with Saul on the road to Damascus, along with other earthly appearances He made after ascending to Heaven.

2c. Possibly, he might come fully up to speed to the current day. This would allow us to follow His perspective through all of currently known history, seeing and feeling what He saw and felt as various wars were fought, new lands were found, and other revolutions changed the course of history. We'd get to know His feelings on the current status of the world and His church. Then again, might we not want to? It's possible that He is not very much happy with His church as it is now. After all, a sadly large portion of the Christian church is very much asleep in regards of accomplishing any tasks that are of Heavenly importance.

2d. Maybe Jesus would come up to the current day and further. Perhaps he might jump into the future and show us more of what the end of the world would be like. Without revealing too many unknown secrets, He could still give us a very unique perspective on the things that would happen as the events described in the book of Revelation unfold. And, what is most important to me and been very much the driving force of this dream (for lack of a better term), it would also give us a look into His heart as He watches humankind punished once more, for the last time. We would delight with Him as he takes His children up to Heaven to be with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Then, we would watch as God creates Heaven and Earth anew, in such glory as has never been seen or imagined by mankind.

These are the thoughts that have been driving through my mind all night. What if Jesus did write an autobiography? It would be an amazing read, I can garuntee you that for sure. It would definitely rock the world - for both the secular and Christians alike. And I can almost definitely assure you that it would completely revolutionize the Church, and the way she looks at things.

The very concept of such a thing has absolutely blown me away like nothing else.

- Iszi

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Sudden Realization

Greetings, Viewers.

I just came to the realization that, since I started living together with my wife, I can't think of any pictures that have been taken with me in them that can successfully be cropped to include me entirely without her. Okay, so there's a couple from our wedding (dad wanted a shot with my grandfather, himself, me, and my daughter - to show the generations), and then some from my dad's wedding (since she wasn't in the wedding party), but aside from those pictures, the few pictures that exist of me after January of 2002 all include her.

And, of course, none of these exist on my hard drive. At least, not that I can think of. Maybe I should do some digging to find out, or request them e-mailed to me from my father.

This was just a thought that crossed my mind as I was trying to find a picture of me to replace the picture of Ewean McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, in Star Wars - Episode II, that currently covers as my profile pic.

In fact, now that I think of it, I don't think there are any "recent" pictures of me at all that don't include some friends or family. I guess there is some deeper meaning behind this, but I'm running out of time to come up with it. I just thought I should toss this up before I scrambled off to work and forgot about it.

Maybe I'll edit this post later, or make a complementary post after I get home or something.

- Iszi

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Abbott and Costello

Greetings, Readers.

I've always known there was this famous comedy pair out there named "Abbott and Costello". Their skits and movies have apparently impressed enough of America that many know their names, even though they may not have heard or seen a single one of their works. (i.e.: Someone like me.)

Yesterday evening, while staying at my grandparents' house, I had the pleasure of watching their production of Jack and the Beanstalk on DVD. In this production, Lou Costello plays Jack - a "professional babysitter" - who falls asleep while the child he is watching reads him the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk. The rest of the movie is a dream sequence in which the story is played out with Lou Costello as Jack (of course), and Bud Abbott (who plays Jack's "manager", Mr Dinkel, outside of the dream sequence) as Mr. Dinkelpuss, the butcher to whom Jack sells his cow. Although the picture quality (even after being put on DVD) leaves much to be desired by today's standards, the story is nevertheless still timeless and well played out by all the actors involved.

Then, this morning after breakfast, my grandfather introduced me to one of the radio shows done by Abbot and Costello, called "Who's on First". If the rest of their productions have near the quality of humor as this one, then I can definitely see why their names are now so commonly heard of. The web link above has a text script, and audio and video files of the comedy skit. It may be a bit tricky to follow by audio or video, as there's a lot of quick talking, but those are definitely the best ways to enjoy the production. Go ahead and download one, then sit back and laugh a few minutes today. It's good for your blood pressure. :-)

- Iszi

Monday, October 11, 2004

I Should Probably Say Something

Greetings, Readers.

I guess I should probably say something about the recent death of Christopher Reeve. Everyone else is, at least. Not that it's a bad thing or anything - I'm just not typically one to talk about deaths of others that do not personally affect me, often.

One thing I must mention though, is that I find it sad that he is only remembered in most of his obituaries as "the star of Superman". I mean, sure he did a great job in all of the Superman movies, and he definitely created a face and character for Superman that most recent-day spin-offs of the series try to imitate, but that's not all he did as an actor.

I'm no film and movie guru, but I do know that most "big name hero" actors (i.e.: James Bond actors Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, Star Trek actor William Shatner, Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Patrick Stewart, Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire, just to name a few) don't have just one movie or one series that's all they do in their acting career. I mean, sure there's the one that really get's their name on the map. Or maybe not the one that's the first to put them out there, but still the one that most people will recognize. Yet, that's not the only movie or series that completely should define the actor. There's plenty other movies in which every actor has performed very well, outside of their most-recognized role, and few ever get much recognition for those movies when they're being referred to, unless they don't have one of those "defining roles" as the aforementioned actors do.

As I ramble on about this, I must admit that I've still not seen every other movie Mr. Reeve has acted in. In fact, I've only seen one outside of the Superman series. It is one that I believe he deserves just as much credit and mention for as any of his Superman roles. In my opinion, it was a very great film, with a well-played part by Christopher Reeve. It is called Somewhere In Time. In short, it is about a playwrite who meets an older woman that turns out to be an "old flame" of his, that he's not yet had. This sparks a short series of events that leads him to be obsessed with this woman, whom we later find was a turn-of-the-century actress, and decides that he absolutely must meet her again. In probably one of the most unique ways that I've seen yet, (using self-hypnosis) he travels back in time to meet her and they fall in love, although much to the disapproval of her manager whom also has an eye on her. The rest of the movie, I will not spoil. Go see it for yourself. Chances are, a local library has a copy you can check out, if all else fails.

Anyway, it's now a couple days after I started this post, and I'm picking up from the middle, so I've halfway lost the train of thought I was originally running on. I've also got some other things that I've jotted down in the meantime, that I wanted to post about, so I'll cut this one off here. I think I've said most of what I wanted to say, even if the thought line seems somewhat incomplete.

- Iszi

Delightfully Dreary

Greetings, Readers.

This morning's weather has been, by most measures, quite miserable so far. The sky has been mostly overcast, with only a few patches of sky showing through the clouds, which have been steadily letting down a light drizzle of rain upon our heads.

I'm lovin' it.

I don't know why, since I typically don't like riding my bike in the rain, but today I'm just loving every minute of this weather. The air is cool, there's a light breeze running about, there's the fresh smell that accompanies the rain, and the dark blues and grays in the sky are absolutely magnificent. (I love it when blues and grays blend just right.) The rain is really barely there, and entirely tolerable. In fact, it's somewhat conforting. Since there's only a light drizzle coming down on me, and no noise coming from above, I know these clouds are not signs of some horrid thunderstorm on its way that I need to avoid. So, I can just carry on and enjoy the weather.

So, today has been quite a delightfully dreary day for me so far. That is, if you measure the day from dawn to dusk. Running the other way around, (as I usually refer to it) I think I can describe my night about the same. It was delightful in the sense that it went by quickly and easily, yet dreary because it was filled with extra detail cleaning chores (scrubbing the front sidewalk and parking spaces, pulling out the frozen drink machines and mopping behind them, hands-and-knees cleaning under counters) to prepare for today's inspection. So, while the tasks dealt with overnight were not overly enjoyable, the night went by quickly and shortly and I got out before daybreak, even. It also helped that my co-worker pretty much left me to deal with my own work almost entirely for the larger part of the night.

Altogether then, I think I'm pretty happy right now with the way the past 10 hours have gone. I might post some more thoughts and ramblings later, but right now I need to go do some laundry and stuff in preparation for a night to be spent at my grandparents' house. (Something I've not done in several years, and have always enjoyed, even through my most recent ages.) I've barely walked in the door and gotten my feet out of my soaked-through socks (soaked from hosing down the lot, not the rain) before I came to post this. I wanted to get these thoughts out before I lost them, though.

So, with that all said, I'll talk to you later.

- Iszi

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Anyone Else Having Problems?

I just recently downloaded and installed the latest release of Mozilla Firefox, to try to get myself away from the Internet Explorer hook. It's a beautiful browser, and I love all the features that it's offered, but I've been having problems viewing this blog properly. After the Archives section in the sidebar, there should be a Links section, followed by a Blogger button and a couple other icons. However, in Firefox, all I see is some text that is supposed to be commented out in the HTML code of the template. Anyone else using Firefox that's having this problem? Any slick coders wanna take a shot at it?

- Iszi

[EDIT]
Seems some good person at Blogger was able to fix the problem for me. The site looks nice and pretty now in Firefox, as it always has in IE. Thanks, Blogger!

Fasting - A Lesson In Resisting Temptation

Greetings, Readers.

As I have mentioned before, since my wife has been gone I have been slammed with a wave of temptation towards acts that easier for me to resist when she is here. I won't sugar-coat this, now. It comes right down to porn and masturbation. It's something that I had let run rampant in my life long before I got married, and for some time after. At one point, for several months recently, I had full control over these desires and was able to steer clear of everything. But the past (three, now?) weeks have been harsh.

I've been sexually deprived, and could not rest in the reassurance that relief may be available within a few short hours, or days depending on how our moods and schedules worked out. No, relief is still several weeks away. Also, there's fewer people in the house for me to have to worry about being "caught". So, for the first two weeks of this abscence period, I found myself succumbing to the temptations, although every time I would beat myself up over it (not physically, mind you) afterwards. I hate the compulsion that leads me to these things, and yet I had not the strength to consistently resist it.

Then something came to my mind. I don't know how or why, but I had another compulsion coming forward now. This one, however, was not of Satan and sin. This was the re-arising of a desire to do something that had helped me feel spiritually free in the past. I wanted to fast. Now, when most people consider fasting, they think it means going off of food for a few days or so. Some people do this kind of fasting as a regular practise and exercise of their Spirit. For me, however, that is just not an option. I'm 6 feet tall on a thin frame, weighing in at 129 pounds. I can't afford to go without food for much more than 12 hours (and that's sleeping), let alone a whole day.

So for me, as well as many others, fasting has a slightly different meaning. Instead of going without food for days on end, they'll choose to avoid some other compulsory behavior or desire that they have. It may be food-related, or not. Some may fast off of chocolate, some might stay away from the TV or computer. There's all kinds of ways to fast, as long as it is something that you have to constantly consciously make your mind up not to do.

What, then, am I fasting away from? After reading the first part of this post, you may assume porn and masturbation. But that's not something to be fasted from, that's something to be avoided altogether regardless. Yet, at the same time that is obviously my end goal, right? So, my fasting is targeted towards assisting me in that. In a sense, it's a temporary aversion from one thing, to accompany and aid in the permanent aversion of another. When I fast, for the second time now, I'm fasting off caffeine and other forms of artificially made stimulants. I used to be big-time hooked on Mountain Dew Code Red. I used to drink between one and two liters of Code Red throughout each work shift, occasionally downing a SoBe Adrenaline Rush in low-energy emergencies (i.e.: working a shift after already having been up for 24+ hours).

Some had said I was addicted to the stuff, which I may have been. One day, at the last Men's Encounter that I attended, Pastor Rob saw me walking down a hallway with a 1-liter Mountain Dew Code Red in tow, as I almost always had one by my side during those days. He said "I'm going to pray that you get delivered from that this weekend." In the middle of the Saturday of that Encounter, (Encounters start Friday nights, and run to Sunday morning) my three-liter supply for the weekend had run dry, and the hotel's convenience store didn't carry any. So, I decided to take Rob's word as a challenge. I got some lemonade to help my praising voice last the days, and that's all I had to drink for the rest of the Encounter. For a month afterwards, I stayed off all drink-based caffeine (couldn't keep entirely away from the caffeine that naturally comes in chocolate) by supplementing my liter-sized Code Reds with liter-sized Aquafina, proving that drinking Code Red was no longer an addiction, but a choice of habit.

After that month, I slowly started to slip back into keeping a regular supply of Code Red handy as I used to. Once in awhile, I'd go for the water instead, but Code Red was again my habitual choice. So now, to accompany my re-establishment of abstinence from sexual sin, I am once again fasting off caffeine and artificial stimulants (i.e.: the aforementioned SoBe Adrenaline Rush). The closest I have come to breaking this so far has been one relatively small dose of Ginseng the other night, upon the insistence of one of my concerned co-workers. Since it is a natural herbal supplement, I do not consider this a breakage, but also am not going to be making it a habit.

Through this period of fasting now, (which has lasted a week and a day today) I have come to realize what the real purpose behind fasting is. Most will say it is to help weaken your flesh, in order to allow the Spirit to strengthen within you better. While I agree with that, I also believe there's a psychological aspect to it that can actually aid those struggling with sin.

As stated before, fasting is abstaining from any activity or indulgence which you would habitually do, and have to make a conscious and willful decision on a regular basis not to do. Now, what is sin? Willful disobedience to God. That means that every time you sin, you are taking that opportunity to make a conscious decision to follow the desires that lead you towards that sin. That also means that every time you are presented with that opportunity, there's also the choice available that leads away from sin. The conscious decision to follow God's will and not succumb to Satan's wishes for your life.

Given that parralel, one can gather that not only is fasting a strengthening of the Spirit, commonly in preparation for prayer or some heavy trials. It's also training to resist sinful temptations. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to constantly resist one of the most primal natural urges and bodily needs - to eat. That has got to be the ultimate training grounds for one to learn to resist any form of sinful urge. Especially for those that fast for days on end like that.

So, I've decided now that I will continue this period of fasting until my wife returns. After that, you can bet Code Red will be back at my side, although once in awhile substituted with a liter of Aquafina. But I do not by any means intend for the end of my fasting to be the end of my resistence to these sins that have plagued my life for so long.

- Iszi

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Photoblog Is Up!

Greetings, Readers.

I've now established my photoblog, entitled "My World In Pictures". This is where I'll be posting all my pictures, when I have them to post. Right now there's just a handful of my wife and daughter, and one of my wife and I, but there surely will be more to come so stay tuned!

- Iszi

Pictures... Lots of 'em!

Greetings, Readers!

As most of you by now know, my wife and daughter are currently visiting family in Illinois. The other day, my mother-in-law fished out some batteries for her digital camera, and the picture flow hasn't stopped since. Since I also have a good bunch of pictures on my computer, (if not my wife's) I thought you might enjoy getting to know me a bit more through those. So I'll shortly be setting up another blog that will be strictly for the pictures, so as not to clutter this one up. I'll post a link when it's up.

- Iszi

Monday, October 04, 2004

Cool Coincidences

Greetings, Readers.

Yeah, I know, this is a lot of posting for one day for me, but there seems to be a small handful of things I have to talk about, most of which don't really fit together. So, here's this post. Kind of a small thing really, but I just thought it would be interesting to share.

Yesterday was Sunday, of course. So, of course I wasn't able to post this then, as Sundays don't typically work well as posting days for me. (Read about it here.) In any case, I did go to church yesterday, as usual. A couple interesting things just sort of lined up during my time there that I'd like to share.

First, on the way to church, my sister asked me to help her cram for the test we were expected to have in School of Leaders that morning. Part of the test (we thought) was expected to include several memory verses that we were supposed to have gotten throughout the course of the semester. I personally slacked a lot on that part of the class, as apparently did my sister. So, while we were in the car, I took out my School of Leaders book and started calling out verses for my sister to remember. Near the end of the list, I came across one that I had expected her to know easily, as it is one of the primary scripture verses to remember in the Christian faith - particularly more so in our church, as this is what the church's vision is based on. So, I told her "Here's an easy one - Matthew 28:19." She didn't know it. Of course, there's many verses in the Bible that one may recognize without knowing offhand the scripture reference for it, so I tried another approach. "C'mon, it's the Great Commission! You've got to know that one!" Still, she was clueless. So, I told her:

Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,


Then, it took her a good couple minutes going through it to remember the whole verse verbatim. Shortly after, we got to church and went up to take our tests. At the end of the test, Pastor Rob announced a few bonus questions. The last question was "What scripture is known as The Great Commission?" My sister is so toasted if she got that one wrong!

Another interesting coincidence where I was able to help someone in church that day, without originally anticipating that I would be helping them, occurred in the entryway to the church after class. I was mingling around there, waiting for the next service to start, when I ran across one of the guys in my cell group (whom we are calling JF) with his wife. After a minute of talking with JF, my cell group leader's wife came over and started talking to JF's wife. During that conversation, I heard my cell group leader's wife mention something about being self-conscious of her "coffee breath". During that moment, I happened to have my hands in my pocket, and my fingers ran across a sample packet of Orbit gum that had come along with a sandwich I had had at work for dinner. I usually keep a pack or two of Trident White with me for after-dinner chewing, so I'd just tucked the Orbit away and not thought much about it. Figuring the last thing a pregnant woman needs to worry about is her "coffee breath", I pulled out the sample gum and offered it to my cell group leader's wife, who graciously accepted it and immedately opened the package and started chewing the gum.

So, let's recap.

1. I have my favorite sandwich for dinner at work, which just happens to currently include a sample of breath-freshening chewing gum.

2. On the way to church, I give my sister a hard time, like the loving big brother that I am, for not recognizing a key Christian memory verse.

3. The aforementioned memory verse pops up as a bonus question on our test later, and my sister gets to nail it!

4. I end up being able to give the aforementioned piece of gum to a pregnant woman in need.

Isn't it amazing how God can just line things up for you to do without you realizing it?

Very Un-Patriotic (BMW)

Greetings, Readers.

I don't plan on making a follow-up post here for every post I make on BMW, but this particular issue nagged at me bad, and I wanted to make sure some people at least knew it was posted. The post contains a word or two of profanity, but is not littered with it, as that's not my style. (Unless you really get me cheesed, in which case I won't be referring to that kind of post on here.) So, if you wish to view my rant on one of the most un-patriotic things I have ever seen, feel free to follow the link.

- Iszi

Wake Up and Smell the Foliage!

Greetings, Readers.

As I have said before, some things are more easily noticed when using a slower mode of transportation. (Refer to my "When Life Slows Down... Finally" post.) Today, it was an interesting smell that just brought peace to my mind. I got out of work a bit earlier than usual, just as the sun was coming up. So, as the sun came up and warmed the earth, the morning dew began to evaporate off of the grass and trees around me as I rode. As the dew evaporated, it carried with it the various smells of the plants that it was on. At some point in my bike ride home, I came across an area where the scent was so strong, it was almost like a perfume although the smell itself was distinctly natural. It actually made me just close my eyes and enjoy the smells around me for a minute as I rode. (Being careful to make sure I wasn't on a collision course with anything beforehand, of course.)

Somehow, this particular smell reminded me of a time in my youth when the world was still somewhat blissful. Particularly, it reminded me of one summer I spent at San Pedro's Summer Scripture Camp. It was sometime during my middle school years, and my grandparents (who are Catholic - hence, the Catholic-oriented camp) thought I would enjoy going to a summer retreat as a birthday present. (Mark on your calendars, people: June 17th - Coincidentally also the date I started this blog, and the day that my wife and I started considering ourselves as a "couple" before we got married.) It was a great time there, just being relatively away from everything and everyone. Sure, there were plenty of other people there, but no one that I knew. It was also in a pretty woodsy area, so for the most part everything was quiet and peaceful. Like I said, it was a time of bliss, when I had little to nothing in particular to be concerned of, and everything was just quiet and - dare I say - perfect in the immediate environment. One of a few times in my past life that I wish I could just go back and spend the rest of my future in.

So, what about you? Try this: Wake up early one morning, or stay up late one night (depending on what your sleep schedule is like) and take a walk or bike ride around some area near your house that you know, starting just as the sun is beginning to come over the horizon. Give yourself a chance to experience all the smells that are in that environment as they come up to you. Then, write about them and (if anything) what they remind you of.

This should be interesting.

- Iszi

Friday, October 01, 2004

No Trespassing

Greetings, Readers.

Short one here. Just something that kind of popped in my head as I passed by a small body of water on my way home today. I've actually seen the phenomenon that brought forth this thought twice now, in two different locations.

So, someone please tell me, what does the Florida Department of Transportation want so badly that's in retention ponds? Two times now, in two different places, I've ridden past these weird retention ponds. Both of them are fenced off, and on the fences are signs saying "NO TRESPASSING - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION". What's up with that?

- Iszi

Notepad

Greetings, Readers.

Just thought I'd forewarn you that I've started carrying a notepad and pen with me now, wherever I go. Among other occasional purposes, its main function is to document blog article ideas as I come up with them. See, there's been several times where I get home and log on, and know that I've thought of something to blog about overnight at work, but can't for the life of me remember what. So, I've got this notepad now, and it's already got a good several items in it. A few for this blog, and a few for my other blog. So, I've got some writing to do now, and my posts should be more regular as I spend my blogging days trying to catch up with the notepad, rather than trying to stew up something to blog about out of thin air.

Hope you enjoy.

- Iszi