on to the shout-outs!
happy Earth Day Five Shout-Out to my wondrous friends Brycer D. (a "Mav" statused friend... more below) of Palo Alto, CA and Sylvia F. of Harlem, NY. though my non-phone-callingness has been at all-time highs, i do wish that i was there with you two in SF last weekend. oddly enough, there was a conference there that i could have been at, but then i would have returned to school having lost that entire week (and most likely several important brain cells)...
Happy Tagalong for Tagalogs Shout-Out to my excellently awesome cousin Marissa K. of Cheswick, PA, who upped the ante this year and sent roughly 8 boxes of girl scout cookies to me, through her mom (no doubt) Trish K. not only did i score some bonus points (by giving a few boxes to the ladies in the main office!) but i have secured my peanut butter fix well into november, there's so many boxes!
Don't You Wish You Got To Know Cricket? Shout-Out to excellent friend and fellow sportsnut Sasha B. of St. Croix, VI. sent back from her trip to Antigua and Barbuda to see World Cup Cricket were two t-shirts, stylishly meant for me and Brother Euge. We are big fans and can't thank you enough, even though based on how the Windies (poorly) and Australia (unbeaten) have played, perhaps I should have opted for an Aussie jersey? anyhoo, much love and we wish we could have been there! especially since the "party lawn" looked like the place to be for friends and Hairoun Beer!
Supplemental Tagalog Shout-Out to my dearest and Rowan the Dog from St. Croix, VI for accenting the package of cricket t-shirts with MORE TAGALOG COOKIES!!! between that and the rubber chicken keychain, i've been rubbing my chin and trying to figure out where i deserve such inspirational care packages. i can't wait to see you!
Most Excellent Wingman Shout-Out to good friend and member of "Mav" Status (a high, holy honor I have bestowed only to the best and greatest of friends) Dr. Josh C, DDS of "The Valley", CA. after many a missing moons from having lost contact (i should have known that your AOL account wouldn't be the best form of communication...) we have been re-connected, courtesy a plea delivered for me through dear friend and fishingmaster Stef H. of Torrance, CA. It seems like just yesterday we were failing our radioactive materials handling certification together. and look at you, a board-certified dentist AND commissioned by the US Navy. and no more bleached tips! I could not be more thrilled to see how the 2000's have been to one of my great co-conspirators to many of my grandest moments at USC.
Happy "What is In the Mis Family Genetics?!!!" Shout-Out to my superb cousin Beth L. and her husband (and provider of my cherished USC soccer t-shirt) Tom, of Pittsburgh, PA. earlier this month (5 April 2007), they welcomed the newest additions to the West Pennsylvania Mis': twins Mary Margaret L. and Matthew Everett L. mom and tots are doing fine and i couldn't be more thrilled. just for reference, the family now has 3 sets of twins and 1 set of triplets. we are so going to own any inter-family reunion softball game in the greater Washington, PA county for YEARS!!!
And finally, since i know many of you will forget, Happy Mother's Day Shout-Out to each of you. Don't forget! It's always the Sunday after USC graduation. Nice little way to remember. If only we could remember that day that was (owing to the party the night before...)
--goose
Thursday, April 26, 2007
mayday! mayday! mayday!
dearest all-
there's so much going on, so much to say, so little time to do it, that i'm either going to forget half of what i got to say or i'm going to make this entry so long that my four remaining loyal readers will die trying to get to the intermission...
seriously, this missive has lots. and i'd be remiss if i didn't at least touch on the virginia tech tragedy and how it's shock waves were felt here on our little campus in texas. foremost, such a senseless tragedy and though the closest connection i have to a hokie is a fellow 1st year phd who finished his master's there last year, it felt entirely personal and i experienced some very raw, emotional moments. classmates discussed it and felt a little less safe for at least a few days and though the shooter (and i'm with dick cavett who says we shouldn't name the shooter. his columns on the new york times are a good read, if you have access to the special nytimes all-access membership) was surely disturbingly unique, we agreed that many elements of our culture and times have some contribution that have coarsened the joyful life. even video games, which sounds ludicrous. but if nfl players use "madden '08" to learn defensive schemes and race car drivers use "nascar 2000" or whatever and a rather large number of professional gamblers hone their skills on-line, it's not so far-fetched to think that the dark recesses of human capabilities could do the same. but with so many millions of people who don't take that leap and re-live their gaming moments, you can't lay the responsibility on anyone but the actor involved. and though i think that guns are a bit too ubiquitous in our national dialogue and fabric, you don't have to tell me that banning guns won't prevent murders just like speed limits don't prevent speeding. human behavior, being what it is, drives towards selfishness and self-grandeur and importance, and in certain moments and people, self-delusion. the thing i do to prevent this further coarsening is to strive towards being a better neighbor, friend, colleague, and brother. this strengthens shared bonds and i can't imagine even on the most happy of normal days, such an outlook can't improve that sunshine and warm breeze.
but it's such a stomach punch of a tragedy that i am loathe to paint some sense onto any of it in terms of the scar it left on the collective conscience. it was and will always be wholly senseless. and i grieve and hope that it sows no more seeds of delusional self-grandeur and vague notions of oppression and alienation.
you see, not only did the va-tech tragedy occur, but a week prior, another senseless killing occurred here. it wasn't nearly as senseless (apparently large amounts of alcohol, ego, and testosterone were involved in the stabbing death outside a bar here) but it still, to the by-stander, loosens the necessary feeling that our world is good and safe and that the biggest fear we have each day waking up is whether the starbucks line is too long to get to work on-time. so now, instead of celebrating the end of semester like any good college student, my first thought it, "who carries a knife or gun?" and i know that a popular sentiment around this particular campus is that the va-tech and v-bar (oddly enough) incidents have given at least a certain percent of people a reason to carry a gun around when they previously would have left it in their car/truck or home. and that is unsettling to me.
somehow, we encourage the selfish, instinctual response when anyone who has lost someone due to senseless violence or a poorly shot bullet or some late-night accident that wasn't their fault. it's a lot easier to arm yourself than try to improve the world. what we should be doing, if we were led by a sense of altruism, should be using those raw moments to tighten our common bond as humans. instead, now everyone is sizing up their quiet classmate as crazy, deciding that their girlfriend is worth shooting a guy over, yelling epithets at the top of their lungs on-line and in the real world, or dismissing people into rough boxes of "with us" or "against us".
call me naive. call me rosy. call me crazy. but you can't tell me that we'd be worse off with a little more civility, respect, courtesy, and empathy in our daily lives. you know, that stuff you were taught in kindergarten. and made your mom so proud she hung it on the fridge for all to see. i know optimism can be a weakness (and a blind one at that), but if my #1 mom describes a certain welcoming blue shade of sky using my name as the apt modifier, maybe we can all find a bit of peace and reassurance in a blue sky. that is my hope today.
*INTERMISSION*
(cue Pam Hall's "Our Day Will Come")
ahh, i feel much better. i do apologize that it has been a while since my last post. mind you, there's a good reason:
I AM GOING TO THE CAYMAN ISLANDS NEXT WEEK!!!! yes! research has begun. i couldn't be more excited unless they were giving me a panda and a winning lotto ticket when i land. i'll be down there for 8 days-ish and then i depart for a long-awaited vacation to europe (france and ireland). suppposedly, office-mate, room-mate and fellow drunk monk brother euge will be in london then and we will try to rendezvous at a dublin bar. or maybe all of them. who knows! the trip should be lovely. i'm most excited. there's the birthday party of my sis-in-law in paris (including a moment to see the super-twins and brother, the good dr. carr, president-ex-oficio of "the dad club"). then me and my lovely travel to west france to see her friend from the islands get married to a nice parisian. and then we bail to dublin, where i will badger her to get her irish passport and we will enjoy horse racing, trinity college, and the river liffey. and i will try to get a nice irish souvenir for myself and of course my rockin' god-son little goose who will be turning a magical 9 upon my return (it's a good year!). then i will spend an extra week up in new england before returning to texas to start up the air conditioner in what life longers call "texas summer".
of course, in preparation for the trip, i've condensed my last 7 weeks of school into 4 weeks. and i'm on week 4 right now. to writ: 3 finals, 1 presentation, 4 homeworks, 1 project, 1 proposal, and supposedly 1 paper. as of this moment (11:07 thursday local time) i have 1 homework, 3 finals left. and a celebratory bbq when i hit the finish line. to say that i've never worked harder for such a time would neglect all those summers cleaning leaves from under the bushes or weeding and hoeing my #1 mom's garden. but it's close. though honestly, i'd rather be weedwhacking underneath the grape vines than doing mat-lab for four days straight.
but now it's time for class. i'll have shout-outs later today. after all, it's girl scout cookie season and with those tagalogs goes the requisite shout-out to my cousin marissa.
now go enjoy a nice sunny day,
--goose
there's so much going on, so much to say, so little time to do it, that i'm either going to forget half of what i got to say or i'm going to make this entry so long that my four remaining loyal readers will die trying to get to the intermission...
seriously, this missive has lots. and i'd be remiss if i didn't at least touch on the virginia tech tragedy and how it's shock waves were felt here on our little campus in texas. foremost, such a senseless tragedy and though the closest connection i have to a hokie is a fellow 1st year phd who finished his master's there last year, it felt entirely personal and i experienced some very raw, emotional moments. classmates discussed it and felt a little less safe for at least a few days and though the shooter (and i'm with dick cavett who says we shouldn't name the shooter. his columns on the new york times are a good read, if you have access to the special nytimes all-access membership) was surely disturbingly unique, we agreed that many elements of our culture and times have some contribution that have coarsened the joyful life. even video games, which sounds ludicrous. but if nfl players use "madden '08" to learn defensive schemes and race car drivers use "nascar 2000" or whatever and a rather large number of professional gamblers hone their skills on-line, it's not so far-fetched to think that the dark recesses of human capabilities could do the same. but with so many millions of people who don't take that leap and re-live their gaming moments, you can't lay the responsibility on anyone but the actor involved. and though i think that guns are a bit too ubiquitous in our national dialogue and fabric, you don't have to tell me that banning guns won't prevent murders just like speed limits don't prevent speeding. human behavior, being what it is, drives towards selfishness and self-grandeur and importance, and in certain moments and people, self-delusion. the thing i do to prevent this further coarsening is to strive towards being a better neighbor, friend, colleague, and brother. this strengthens shared bonds and i can't imagine even on the most happy of normal days, such an outlook can't improve that sunshine and warm breeze.
but it's such a stomach punch of a tragedy that i am loathe to paint some sense onto any of it in terms of the scar it left on the collective conscience. it was and will always be wholly senseless. and i grieve and hope that it sows no more seeds of delusional self-grandeur and vague notions of oppression and alienation.
you see, not only did the va-tech tragedy occur, but a week prior, another senseless killing occurred here. it wasn't nearly as senseless (apparently large amounts of alcohol, ego, and testosterone were involved in the stabbing death outside a bar here) but it still, to the by-stander, loosens the necessary feeling that our world is good and safe and that the biggest fear we have each day waking up is whether the starbucks line is too long to get to work on-time. so now, instead of celebrating the end of semester like any good college student, my first thought it, "who carries a knife or gun?" and i know that a popular sentiment around this particular campus is that the va-tech and v-bar (oddly enough) incidents have given at least a certain percent of people a reason to carry a gun around when they previously would have left it in their car/truck or home. and that is unsettling to me.
somehow, we encourage the selfish, instinctual response when anyone who has lost someone due to senseless violence or a poorly shot bullet or some late-night accident that wasn't their fault. it's a lot easier to arm yourself than try to improve the world. what we should be doing, if we were led by a sense of altruism, should be using those raw moments to tighten our common bond as humans. instead, now everyone is sizing up their quiet classmate as crazy, deciding that their girlfriend is worth shooting a guy over, yelling epithets at the top of their lungs on-line and in the real world, or dismissing people into rough boxes of "with us" or "against us".
call me naive. call me rosy. call me crazy. but you can't tell me that we'd be worse off with a little more civility, respect, courtesy, and empathy in our daily lives. you know, that stuff you were taught in kindergarten. and made your mom so proud she hung it on the fridge for all to see. i know optimism can be a weakness (and a blind one at that), but if my #1 mom describes a certain welcoming blue shade of sky using my name as the apt modifier, maybe we can all find a bit of peace and reassurance in a blue sky. that is my hope today.
*INTERMISSION*
(cue Pam Hall's "Our Day Will Come")
ahh, i feel much better. i do apologize that it has been a while since my last post. mind you, there's a good reason:
I AM GOING TO THE CAYMAN ISLANDS NEXT WEEK!!!! yes! research has begun. i couldn't be more excited unless they were giving me a panda and a winning lotto ticket when i land. i'll be down there for 8 days-ish and then i depart for a long-awaited vacation to europe (france and ireland). suppposedly, office-mate, room-mate and fellow drunk monk brother euge will be in london then and we will try to rendezvous at a dublin bar. or maybe all of them. who knows! the trip should be lovely. i'm most excited. there's the birthday party of my sis-in-law in paris (including a moment to see the super-twins and brother, the good dr. carr, president-ex-oficio of "the dad club"). then me and my lovely travel to west france to see her friend from the islands get married to a nice parisian. and then we bail to dublin, where i will badger her to get her irish passport and we will enjoy horse racing, trinity college, and the river liffey. and i will try to get a nice irish souvenir for myself and of course my rockin' god-son little goose who will be turning a magical 9 upon my return (it's a good year!). then i will spend an extra week up in new england before returning to texas to start up the air conditioner in what life longers call "texas summer".
of course, in preparation for the trip, i've condensed my last 7 weeks of school into 4 weeks. and i'm on week 4 right now. to writ: 3 finals, 1 presentation, 4 homeworks, 1 project, 1 proposal, and supposedly 1 paper. as of this moment (11:07 thursday local time) i have 1 homework, 3 finals left. and a celebratory bbq when i hit the finish line. to say that i've never worked harder for such a time would neglect all those summers cleaning leaves from under the bushes or weeding and hoeing my #1 mom's garden. but it's close. though honestly, i'd rather be weedwhacking underneath the grape vines than doing mat-lab for four days straight.
but now it's time for class. i'll have shout-outs later today. after all, it's girl scout cookie season and with those tagalogs goes the requisite shout-out to my cousin marissa.
now go enjoy a nice sunny day,
--goose
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