Censored Olympics

As you very well know, the 2008 Summer Olympics will be held in China. China is the most populous country in the world, and is quickly becoming a powerhouse industrialized country. They are also a communist country that is infamous for not being very humanitarian. Also, the country has a big pollution problem that has caused the air quality to be very low. These reasons are causing many groups and activists to boycott the entire Olympics Games this Summer.

Now there is another problem with the Olympic host country. This article reports that China now has restricted the journalists visiting China to a modified internet. The Chinese officials are going to restrict our citizens' rights while they are reporting on a global event. Of course, China has the power and right to put these restrictions on visiting reporters, but is it really ethical to censor peoples' rights to free speech?

The committee that decides the location of the Olympics should seriously be reprimanded. As much potential as the Chinese citizens and economy has, they are just not ready to host an event of this caliber. The administration that chose China for the Olympic Games should have had the foresight to see these problems.

Will I be boycotting the Olympics? No, I will watch them as much as I normally do, which is honestly not much to begin with. I will, however, set my Tivo to record my favorite Olympic Sport.

I study best when under pressure

I have a test in 12 hours. A test that will help determine if I graduate in 12 days. Have I studied? No I have not. Instead, I am writing in my blog that I have been neglecting for a while. Considering only 2. 5 people read this, I am not too worried about it.

Erin left CS a few hours ago, but once again this weekend was amazing. These weekends that we spend together are wonderful. I am going to miss them so much when she moves back to Manhattan for her last 32 weeks of class. But at least I will have these weekends as warm memories while she is studying in the frigid tundra of Kansas.

Mom and Dad came down this weekend to help me move out of my apartment. During this process, I came upon an internal realization about my personality: I HATE MOVING. I am not sure how I would have done it without my parents and girlfriend kindly helping me out; and they did not complain one single time. This weekend once again reminded me that I am truly blessed to be surrounded by people that love me so much.

This weekend also reminded of another blessing: my church that I have called home for the past 24 months. Today was my last service at Cornerstone Family church. As much as I am ready to get plugged into ALC again, I am also going to miss the people in College Station. They have done so many things for me and I will rememeber them all... Chad and Tamisha always saying a kind word, Charles and Kati feeding me once a week, the Utermarks inspiring me to follow Jesus more closely and even Sabrina telling me that her voice doesn't sound right in her monitor.

Wow. God is good. And He has truly blessed me with friends, family, and an amazing relationship. Now I need to study.

The Double Yellow Line

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be able to be in ALC's morning service, where I heard Jeff Hennigan speak. During his sermon, he said that "The middle of the road is safe as long as there is no traffic." I have been thinking about this quote since I heard it, and I wanted to expand a few ideas which are based on it. The whole sermon can be found on the ALC podcast, which this site will direct you to.

I was driving back to College Station late Sunday night, only a few hours after hearing Jeff's words. The drive from Dallas to College Station is basically split into two main parts: the interstate drive on I-45 and the "dark country road" portion. As I drove down the dark 39 road, I started to veer onto the yellow line. I would soon realize my mistake, and correct it by turning the wheel to the right. Then after a few moments of apathy, I would find my truck straddling the yellow line once again. I did this a number of times, and I never ended up in a collision. I considered all those hours "wasted" in driving school and confidently thought, "Those instructors had no clue what they were talking about." Then a car whizzed by. And it all came back as to why I should stay on my side of the road.

This principle applies to my spiritual life as well. If I am living halfway for God, or straddling the yellow line, my life will be fine; right up until something bad happens. When life is good, it's easy to stray away from God and live as the flesh would choose, but when the valleys of life hit me head on, I am going to wish I had stayed on God's side of the road.

As I turned onto OSR, I had another thought concerning my driving habits. (By this time I was religiously staying on the right side.) If I were to get into a head on collision while in the middle of the road, the outcome would most likely be just as traumatic than if I had been completely in the left lane. So basically, driving down the middle has the same degree of danger as driving in wrong lane. This metaphor still holds true in my spiritual life. If I have a lukewarm relationship with God, it is not any better than completely forsaking him. I need to concentrate on keeping my relationship with God as healthy as possible, and to never stray away from him. And if I do stray, I need to jerk the steering wheel of my life back to the right, because even thought I may have veered only a few feet, the outcome could be catastrophic.

Jeff preached a great message, and this was only one point that he made on Sunday. If you weren't there, you should definetly go check out the podcast.

If you are looking for a church home, please give Abundant Life a try. We have services every Sunday at 9am and 11.15am.

New Title?

Now that I have started this blog and I am trying to write regularly, I am always on the lookout for possible topics that might be of interest. There are so many potential topics that I see on campus, read on the web, hear on the radio, and see on television. As I noticed how much material really is out there, I started to consider the title of my blog: One Thought at a Time.

My title is horribly inappropriate to my life. I never have one thought at a time. Thoughts come to me in multitudes continuously throughout the day. I have so much going on in my mind, that it is an accomplishment in itself if I can ponder on only one subject matter. For example, I sat in math class today thinking about every possible topic, except of course math. I find myself doing this quite often. It seems to be a side effect of the College of Liberal Arts forcing me to take classes that have nothing to do with my field of study.

See? Here I am, writing about the random thoughts running through my mind, and I diverted to a path that will lead to my irritations with my department.

So do I need to change my title? Should my title be more appropriate to my actual thought process? I am going to think about it. Maybe the next group of thoughts will present a better title. But until then, my blog will remain the same.

One final random thought: The All-Star Game needs to end so I can go to bed.

Circle of Life (without the whole Elton John thing...)

Erin and Jess (Erin's little sis) came into town and chilled with me this weekend. We had a blast. Jess is starting to look at colleges and I wanted to show her A&M, because everyone deserves a chance to see the best college campus in the world. As we started the tour around campus, we listened to the guide speak about the history and traditions of Aggieland, and I reflected on the first time I walked around campus. I heard the same speech, the same history, and the same account of what makes the Aggie Spirit so amazing. That tour, along with passive persuasion from my father, started a chain of events leading up to today; graduation is only 25 days away.

My time at Texas A&M has been so memorable. I have nothing but good things to say about this place. It has given me so much, and added so much value to my life. Texas A&M has helped make me what I am. The profs, faculty, and student body helped mold my personality and character into what I am today. Everything is now included in me: the weeks with 4 tests, the small and cramped dorm room, the FTA Midnight Yell Practices (Whoop!), the weekends with friends, and even the weekends alone.

The past few weeks I have seen the new freshmen walking around campus with their parents. They are here for their new student conferences. They are so green to the idea of college. The intimidation of Aggieland is all over their faces. It seems so poetic that as I attend my last 2 classes, they are registering for their first 4. As I count down to the moments that I try on my Aggie Ring for the first time and then walk across that stage, they count down to the days that their dorms open up for move-in day. They have no clue how the next 4 years are going to change them, and make them better people. Even if I sat everyone of them down and told them how much I have grown up as an Aggie, they would not understand. The experience here is unlike any other.

My message to the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2012: (1) Enjoy it while its here: you graduate much faster than anticipated. (2) Keep the Aggie Spirit Alive: this is what makes Texas A&M so special. (3) Learn about life not only in the lecture halls, but also everywhere else: academia can teach a lot, but the world can teach you so much more.

-jon

From the outside looking in, you can't understand. From the inside looking out, you can't explain.

My weekly (not really) film review

This blog entry has possible spoilers for the movie Wanted.

I watched Wanted (with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman) last Friday night with Erin and Jess. I was looking forward to it very much, mainly because the critics had said it was pretty good, Morgan Freeman rarely does a bad movie, and Angelina Jolie is freaking hot. The beginning had promise and the style of the camera angles and editing reminded me of Fight Club. I was expecting Tyler Durden to pop on the screen any moment. Plus, the idea of a regular Joe becoming a lethal assassin is really cool.

Throughout the movie, the main character is kind of a wuss. When he starts his assassin training, the audience expects him to develop into more of a hardcore killer, but he remains a pansy. There is no character development until the end of the movie. In my opinion, the writers should have made the main character much more confident, especially after undergoing the extensive and violent training that he endured.

Next, the editing of the raw footage was done very poorly. The clips were spliced together in a very quick fashion, all while the camera angles were so tight that the viewer couldn't decipher what he was looking at. I felt like I was back in elementary watching Pokemon or some other anime cartoon as the scenes were so quickly cut from one to the next. Wanted was just visually exhausting to watch.

I know...I'm being really hard in this film, considering it was made only for entertainment, and not for any sort of serious statement. But honestly, I just expect more out of modern filmmakers. It seems like there is so much crap that comes out of Hollywood that movies should be more intelligent and thought-provoking. (Then again, maybe Hollywood is just trying to appeal to its target audience of stupidity.) To be fair, Wanted is a fun, entertaining movie. But when you go see it, don't expect an epic story or twist, but instead expect amazing visual effects and computer generation. (Plus, Angelina is very sexy.)

Final Conclusion: 6 out of 10

Really Obama?

Barack Obama told his audience in a town hall meeting that we should be teaching our kids how to speak Spanish. He claimed that even though immigrants should learn English, we should also learn to speak their language. He then went on to talk about how Europeans are very well-versed in English, but when we go to their home lands we only speak one language.

First of all, let me take a deep breath. These comments infuriated me. Why should we impose on our children a language that is not our own? Why should we accommodate anyone that comes and lives in this country and does not even have the decency to learn our primary form of communication? Don't get me wrong, I support legal immigration completely. Immigration is what built this great country. Different cultures have moved in and we have fused them together to create a melting pot of a society. I think that is what makes the United States wonderful. But we have also established customs and an official language. Anyone who wants to argue that English is not our official language will be directed to go read the Constitution and listen in on any public court. Both these illustrations show how the English language is the primary means of communication in our land. With all that being said, why should our children have to go learn another language?

Next, why is the presumed Democratic Presidential Nominee so concerned with what Europeans think about us? Mr. Obama, they envy us. We are the supreme world power in global politics. Our economy can splash and its ripples will be felt all around the globe. Yet Mr. Obama thinks we should be worried about Europeans who look down on us because we only speak English. Newsflash: they learn our language because they have to. If they didn't, our businesses would ignore them. English is not only the primary language in the US, it is also the primary business language around the world. So do not tell me that I need to know another language, because I am American. And as an American, I will speak English with my head held up high.

By the way, Mr. Obama, do you speak Spanish?

Computer Jargon is not always useful

This video is pretty funny. It makes fun of the computer jargon that we take for granted everyday.

Is a sex change cheaper than gas?

I saw this post on another blog by Jessica Hagy. She is another economist that maintains a blog entitled "indexed." This blog is unique in that it only has pictures of index cards that show graphical relationships for normal everyday occurrences.

The above index card is very interesting in that it pertains to my driving life. I drive a full size GMC pickup with a 350 V8. It is one of my biggest expenses every month, yet I would never consider getting a smaller vehicle. I guess you could say that I am willing to park a little further and pay more at the pump in order to boost my ego by driving a big truck.

It is very curious, however, that on the weekends when I'm with Erin, I always choose to drive her car: a much more efficient compact SUV. One could say that I am willing to spend more on gas when my manhood is questioned, like when I'm alone. But I am not willing to spend more on gas when my manhood is certain, like when I'm with my girlfriend. I suppose this trend will continue until I run out of money. Or I could just become a woman and this struggle would cease to exist all together.

The Birth

OK, here goes. I have started a new blog. This is not my first attempt at broadcasting my thoughts to the world: I had a blog back in high school. Back then, it was the cool thing to have. Everyone had one. I started one with the naive thought that some girl I had a crush on was actually going to care what I did day to day. She didn’t.

So now I begin another one, hopefully one with actual substance and thoughts that a select few will actually take the time to read. And if it doesn’t get read, then at least I have my segment of the internet ready for my personal use or avoidance.

I considered blogging when I moved away from home. (The thought stemmed from the idea that a new era in my life should lead to a new media of communication.) I kept myself from blogging online because I was under the notion that these internet sites were reserved for self-absorbed pricks that assumed the entire world really cared what they were thinking. Have I become one these internet hoarding criminals? Maybe, only time and future posts can tell…

I have a few goals with this blog. First, I plan to kill time and escape boredom. Next, I will use it as a means to express my thoughts on life, religion, politics, relationships, and anything that I might consider funny. (which means that you will also think it’s funny, because I have the best sense of humor in the world.) (See, I am already becoming self-absorbed.) Finally, I have always considered myself a proficient writer, so if I can use a means of entertainment to enhance my writing skills, than I will gladly sacrifice a few moments a weeks to maintain a blog. Again, only time will tell if I am to become an veteran blogger.

So I guess this marks the birth of my new internet addiction. As will all new babies, I have a lot to learn, so be patient as I figure out whats going on the interwebs. Hopefully, you will enjoy.

-jon