home

A decade has past and at last I've returned. Everyone has a city where they feel most at home, a place that fits them so well that they feel a loss when they are away. I lived here for a short time ten years ago and have been trying to find a replacement ever since. After 3 years in Utah I moved to Huntington Beach for a time, sure there's a beach and an ocean but between the tattoos and tourists I couldn't find my space. Newport was closer but still too many rockstars, roller blades and a ridiculous lack of parking space. I got married and we moved inland a bit; first Aliso Viejo and then we left the cool ocean breezes behind and moved to Rancho Santa Margarita, a great town for a young couple with a young family but still not quite home. In the last ten years I've lived in ten different houses in eight different cities and I finally feel at home again. I hope I'm here to stay.

my house just got a little smaller

I got a new TV for christmas. I waited in line at Circuit City for 6 hours starting at 5am to get it. When I got it home I was bummed because; a- it was not worth the wait and b- I felt white trash for having an 1,100 sqft house and a 46" TV (it is bigger than our kitchen). Instead of doing the reasonable thing and returning it I kept it and started looking for a bigger house.

Mitt Romney or Your Mom

I think I like politics for the same reason I liked skateboarding as a teenager; I enjoy being frustrated. I have followed the presidential primaries a little too closely this last year so I feel compelled to take some time to write about my own opinions to even out all the time I have wasted listening to the opinions of others.

In full disclosure a large part of the reason I took interest in Mitt Romney’s campaign is because we share the same religion. I think it is a valid reason to support someone as long as they also share secular ideologies. I am a registered independent because I am adamantly against the two-party system. If we had a stronger third or fourth party there would be a lot less pandering and a lot more honesty in politics. Even beyond that I am convinced that no political party should be involved in a presidential nomination. The office of President is meant to be held by an individual not a political party. Our country needs a president that is not aligned or committed to any particular party so he can stand on his own merits and judgment and not those of his political party. I’ll make my point before I digress further into my anti partisan gibber jabber. Election time is not a time for Americans to be polarized or separated. It is a time when Americans should be united in a great cause; sorting through the rabble that our political systems offers us and finding the candidate that is the least likely to screw up this great nation. (I will try to make that my last pessimistic remark, pessimism is too easy).

Now here is a quick summary of why I’m voting for Romney and why I’m not voting for the other leading politicians:

Why Romney: Here are my top 5 reasons: 1. When I listen to him I hear sincerity in his voice. He is a politician and he plays political games but beyond that I think he has sincere intentions. 2. He can lead; he has proven his leadership abilities in both the private and political arenas. 3. He can succeed: In the U.S. success is measured in dollars and he has more of them than any other candidate. Being rich should not be a crutch for him; we are a capitalist society and we are more likely to remain that way if Mitt Romney is elected. 4. He seems to be a man of good character, something that is lacking in many politicians. 5. I have yet to hear any “Washington Insider” in the media say anything positive about him, this is a plus in my book, we need someone who will stir up the pot not meld to it.

Why not Giuliani: His personal life has to come into play in my decision because character is as important as any other presidential trait. The facts that his children don’t back him and he was unfaithful to his wife gives me reason to question his character. He has had some great achievements in his life but none that make him more qualified than Romney and his social views are not in sync with mine.

Why not Hillary: I think it would be a waste of cyberspace to answer that question but I will simply say I don’t see anything on her resume that qualifies her to “fix Washington”.

Why not Obama: I think Obama is the most sincere Candidate on the Democratic ticket. I think he has strong principals that outweigh his ambition. I think he has good leadership skill and the ability to motivate others; however I can't vote for him because I disagree with him on almost every issue and don’t believe he is a capitalist

Why not Huckabee: I will be honestly shallow here – every time I look at him all I can see is Gomer Pile in a suit. I have a difficult time seeing Gomer Pile leading the free world. He seems like a pretty good guy but I don’t think he has the fiscal know how to run a business or a country.

Why not McCain: McCain comes in close second for me, however his biggest achievement happens to be his biggest liability in my eyes which is the number of years he has spent in Washington. All pessimism aside I truly believe Washington corrupts or at the very least deteriorates a person’s judgment. I think it is important to have a president with as few Washington “contacts” as possible.

That's what I think.

I'm gonna give this another try.

It has been over five months but I'm going to attempt a come back. I don't have an excuse for my hiatus except for the lack of that 25th hour in a day. I sometimes wonder why God didn't give us that extra hour. 25 seems like such a better number then 24. I understand that it doesn't divide easily but we could all pretend there were 24 hours and then use the 25th one to catch up on stuff. I don't have much to say but I'm going to brainstorm and hopefully come up with something clever.

i found my soul in rock n roll

Sometimes you don't realize that something is missing until you find it.

I love music, I like classic rock, hard rock, soft rock, punk rock, even emotionally independant rock. I like hip hop, rap, house, techno and if Johnny Cash is country then I like that too. But something happened. I don't know exactly when or why but I stopped listening to music.

I spend most of my work week sitting in traffic or on airplanes which gives me plenty of time to listen to my old favs and keep up on what's new, then a year and a half ago I got XM and Audible. Since then audio books and talk radio have come to consume my world, until last week. I was reaching for the XM button when my finger slipped to M1 where Johnny Ramone was hammering out the chorus to Needles and Pins and I realized what I have been missing. The emotion and inspiration found in music can not be matched by other mediums. Jared Diamond's exhastive exposé on the social dynamics of the Inuit is no match for Mike Diamond's 2.5 minute exploration of sexism among America's youth.

This is a confessional more then anything else. I feel guilty for letting such a large part of me slip away, I can't remember the last time I learned a new song on the guitar or bought a new CD. But tomorrow is a new day...

Who do they think they are?

I'm tired of people complaining about how overly conservative BYU is. I am BYU Alumni and while I was a student I did my fair share of complaining; but I am older and wiser now and I am embarrassed for some of my short sited criticisms. The fact of the matter is, BYU is a private school and has the right to make any restrictions or standards that it sees fit especially since its tuition is only $1,810 per semester for members and $3,620 for non LDS members. (USC tuition is $14,994/semester, UC Berkeley is $3,899/semester for residents and $13,241/semester for nonresidents.) If you don't like or do not want to live by the standards then transfer somewhere else. If you do/did attend somewhere else then you have nothing to complain about and your criticisms are petty and make you appear insecure about your own college education.

Another quick point I’d like to make is, from my experience, BYU's student body is much more conservative then its faculty. Any “liberal” BYU students must understand that if they are hoping to affect change it’s going to be an extremely up hill battle. I know this seems like a “no duh” blog but I think there are way more BYU haters then there needs to be.

WWJD

Would *Jesus support a policy of disproportionate response? Would Jesus think it appropriate to protect your property with lethal force. Would Jesus justify capital punishment. Would Jesus be a capitalist or a socialist? So what makes the "Christian Right" so Christian? (In the interest of full disclosure I find myself disagreeing with **Jesus on some of these issues, which is disturbing.)

My point; religion has no place in politics. Anytime the two get mixed religion ends up being trampled in the mud. History teaches us that most wars are the result of religious differences when in fact, religion is simply being used to justify man's lust for power and revenge. Islam is no more responsible for terrorism than Christianity is responsible for the Inquisition. The purpose of the separation of church and state is not to protect the state from the church, but to protect the church from the state.

I know this post was somewhat disjointed and far from eloquent, these are just a few things I've had on my mind this election season.


*Jesus is used metaphorically here; I’m using him, not as a rational, living, breathing man but as an over simplified culmination of his teachings. I do this with respect and with no intentions of blasphemy.
**Again, I am not disagreeing with Jesus (he happens to always be right) I just happen to find myself agreeing with things that my metaphorical Jesus would disagree with.