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Jason's Mind Archives! 09/2002 | ||||
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[9/27/2002
10:18:47 AM | Jason Hunter] The Good Ol' Days Sometimes I think back to when I was younger. Life was
so much simpler then Those may not have been the way you remember the good ol' days. Me neither. I was never that morbid. But I do remember what I used to like to do as a kid. And that was watching high-quality shows on TV like He-Man and Transformers, and playing with the action figures of said shows. He-Man was a great show. The beginning opened with Prince Adam's dialog: I’m Adam, Prince of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Greyskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said: “By the Power of Greyskull, I have the power”. Cringer became the Mighty Battlecat, and I became He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. 3 others share this secret… our friends the Sorceress, Man-at-arms, and Orco. Together we defend the universe from the evil forces of Skeletor. How can you go wrong with a storyline like that? You have a bad guy named Skeletor. He's got to be bad with a name like that. You have a good guy that somehow stumbles upon the secret words to a magic sword and becomes the most powerful man in the universe. I loved that show. I would be engrossed in it and not know what else in the world was going on. It's because of that show that I still remember Schuyler Jensen's, my childhood friend's phone number. I was watching He-Man and my dad wanted to call the Jensens. He asked me what their phone number was. I told him I didn't know. He asked again. I was watching He-Man throw a huge boulder into a canyon to stop a flash flood. I didn't care about a phone number. Dad then walked over to me, turned off the TV, made me look at the phone, and asked again... What is their number? I looked at the number pad and immediately said: 798-6993. Then I went back to watching TV. That's how good that show was. It was "phone number-forgetting" good. Then there was the Transformers. Robots in Disguise. These were robots from another planet that were stranded on Earth and just want to go back home. The Autobots are peaceful and want to get back without hurting humans or other earthlings. The evil Decepticons want to plunder Earth and then go home. Their different foreign policies made for many battles between the two groups. They had really cool, well-made toys too. These were made of metal, not plastic. And were so ingenious in the way that they turned from a robot into a vehicle that you just had to sit back and say wow. "Wow", I said, when I first saw them. I think that there should have been races of female Transformers. You could have the good ones called the Hottiebots, and the evil ones could be the Seducticons. I can just see one of the Seducticons trying to lure Optimus Prime into an alley. He'd blast her to kingdom come. Toy makers are starting to come out with the original
toys again. They have been watching them sell on eBay for 10 times what
they originally sold for. They thought: Hey, maybe people would buy the
toys if we made them again. And people have. The new line of He-Man toys
sold out immediately. It just goes to show you that people like quality,
and they had quality back when I was a kid. Those really were the good
ol' days. I have thought lately about the differences between God's form of management, and mine. Well, let's just say that there is no chance of me taking over His job. At least not with my current track record of management. Right now, I am managing a Fantasy Football Team. What I have done, for those of you who do not know about Fantasy Football, is I have gone through and picked out players in different positions in the NFL to be on my "team". My team gets points depending on how well the individual players perform in their respective games in the NFL. My team is pitted against another such team each week and we see which team gets the most points, thus coming up with a winner and a loser. I get angry at my players when they do not perform well. They must have done well last year because they were ranked pretty high when I picked them up. But some of them act as if they don't even care that I have them on a Fantasy team. They go out and play poorly, or they don't get passed to as often as some other player that I don't have. If they knew how important their performance was to me, I would think that they would try harder. Then, some of them get injured and don't play. You can't get me points if you don't play. So what do I do? I trade them for other players. I say: "goodbye Mr. Stewart, you no longer please me as a quarterback. I am getting Mr. Brady to play for me. Maybe he'll try harder for me." Of Course Mr. Stewart doesn't care. He didn't even know that he was playing for me to begin with. I am vengeful. If I could, I would make it so that they never played again. I want to win, dang it! And I need players on my team that also want to win. Then there's God. He does things differently than I do. In fact, his whole purpose is differ rent than mine. I want to win. He already has. I get rid of my players when they don't perform well or are injured. He keeps people like that on his team, and even focuses more on them so that they can perform better in the future. In fact, His whole outlook is to the future. It's fantastic if you are performing well now, but He wants to see how far you can take that. If you are playing poorly now, He tries to get you to do better. If you are playing well, he tries to get you to do better. If you are injured, he doesn't take you out. He makes you do what you can and then sees how you can do better. He doesn't trade you to another team. How would it feel if you had done poorly and God came and told you that you were being traded to Satan’s team. You'd feel pretty bad. He is also not as vengeful as I am. Unlike my Fantasy players, we pretty much know that we are playing for God. Despite that fact, we rarely give it our all. You'd think that we would. But we are dumb. But He is patient, and keeps working with us. We'll have to see in the end, which management strategy
works the best. If I were you, I wouldn't bet on mine. God has been at
this for a long time, and I have only been at it for a couple weeks, and
am only now figuring out some strategies with whom to play and when. Maybe
someday I will be a good Fantasy Football coach. Then I can go on to other
things like managing a family. Or if I never seem to hack it at football,
I may have to step back a bit and try to manage something simple like
an ant farm. [9/25/2002 3:42:54 PM | Jason Hunter] I found out that I am well-rounded. And no, I am not talking about when I stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror. Though that could be worked on, I guess. I am talking about my personality. I'm sure you've all seen the personality tests where they give you a bunch of words and you pick the one that best describes you. Or they give you situations and you decide which one best describes how you would react. Well, I took one the other day and was pretty surprised with the outcome. They break your personality down into 4 colors: Red, Blue, White, and Yellow. They each represent different personality types and most people have a mix of colors. Each color has its strengths and weaknesses. No color is better or worse than another. Though some colors are better at doing certain things than other colors. Almost no one is a pure color, though most people tend to have a more in one color than the others. I took the test, consisting of 45 questions and situations, and I came out as follows: Red: 12 If I were shooting at the color wheel, I would have hit
dead center. You can't get any more evened out than that. What does this
tell me? It either means that subconsciously, I can't make up my mind
on a personality. Or, it means that I am just well-balanced when it comes
to personalities. I have always thought that I was well-balanced. Now
I have the colors to prove it. I like to think that I have all the strengths
of each of these colors and none of the weaknesses. I am the "Blade"
of personalities. [9/24/2002 1:01:47 PM | Jason Hunter] Henry David Thoreau once said, "Simplify! Simplify!"
[9/23/2002 11:13:30
AM | Jason Hunter]
These organizations are pretty extreme in their views. The ACLU is fighting to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance. Do I agree with that? No. Is it against someone else's rights? Maybe. If it is, then I am glad to know that there is someone out there fighting for that person despite the fact that the majority of America is against that. I would like to think that this organization would fight for me if I were in a similar situation. In fact, I kinda wish they were around when the Mormons were being persecuted 150 years ago. You could bet that the ACLU would have been the Mormons biggest advocate. The NRA fights to keep machine guns and other weapons in American's hands. Do I think that Americans need to have machine guns in their homes? No. But I believe that they should be allowed to have other types of guns. My views on the subject of the Bill of Rights, the rights that these organizations were designed to protect, are much more moderate than what these groups are fighting for. But, I need to associate myself with them because they fight with 16 lb bowling balls. Here's what I mean. I'm going to compare views as if they were bowling balls. The different sides have their respective bowling balls. When the two sides clash, they roll the balls at each other and the heavier one will send the other ball back to its owner in shame. There are those out there like Brady, who want Americans to have absolutely no guns whatsoever. He is so extreme on the negative side of this that his bowling ball weighs a good 16lbs. If the NRA were to go at him with views weighing only 7 lbs, the Brady ball would smash the NRA ball, and we would end up with absolutely no guns in our homes. But, if the NRA counters with a 16 lb ball of their own, the two tend to bounce off of each other and end up somewhere in the middle. So sure, we may not end up with machine guns in our homes, but we don't end up with no guns at all. It's the same with the ACLU. I do not like flag burning. I would never do it. But I believe that it should be my right to do so if I were so inclined. I don't always agree to the extreme that they fight for things. But by being so extreme, they fight back with a bigger bowling ball and get a lot of good stuff done. At least both of these groups are fighting for our rights to be able to do things. So, am I now the enemy
of the state by being associated with some extremist groups that the government,
both republican and democrat, tend to be against? Or am I being a patriot
by defending what I believe are the rights that the founding fathers gave
to us, believing that they were God-given and not to be taken away by
man?
Ok, I am excited. I just came across a really good deal on cookbooks. I joined a book club of just cookbooks. In the next couple of weeks, I am going to have the following cookbooks to work with. Indian - Vegetarian dishes
from the Hare Krishna With all of these,
how can I go wrong? I am going to be the master chef. I ought to take
some culinary classes just to help with technique and overall knowledge. [9/19/2002 9:52:39
AM | Jason Hunter] Should I really be
cheering on the drought here? I would normally think not. But then I read
an article saying that fishing this fall will be better than ever. The
reason is that the lakes are so low, that all boat ramps are closed. No
one can get onto the lakes for waterskiing, sailing, or...fishing. The
only people on the lakes are those with rafts and float tubes. And they
are catching a lot of really nice trout. I have a raft and a float tube.
Maybe I should break them out this weekend and try my luck. I could stand
to fill the freezer with some trout. It has been too long since I had
a nice baked stuffed trout. The low water levels are going to make it
harder for the fish to survive the winter, and many lakes are raising
the limits on trout, just to thin out the schools a bit. I do have a fish
cookbook coming in the mail. Maybe this is my chance. We need the water,
but as long as it is low, I'll celebrate the drought and go fishing. I'll
be praying for rain in the meantime. Someone once said that if you ever think of causing bodily harm to others that you are perfectly sane and healthy. But if you ever think of doing yourself bodily harm that you are insane at least to a degree. What about causing harm to
stuffed animals? I like shooting guns. I like to see things happen when
the target gets hit. I will never shoot anything living for sport. I have
no qualms about killing animals for food, but I do not do it for fun.
But, I have to admit that, being a guy, I have an ingrained need to feel
superior, and that means having dominance, and that means being able to
do things as I will including killing them. Obviously, controlling this
need and urge is what gives a man real power, but we'll not discuss that
today. This dates back to the days of the cave man when they really had
nothing better to do. The men could sit around and make pots with the
women, but men need to feel superior and they can't do this by making
pots. How do you judge which pot is better? Do you judge by size? Some
guys might. Do you judge by quality of craftsmanship, color, decoration,
or any number of characteristics? No way. Besides, what man out there
cares if he has mastered the pot? Pots pose no threat, it isn't like they
will master you unless you master them first. Nope. They had to master something that was powerful like a cave bear. (Notice how everything back then started with the word 'cave'... cave man, cave bear, cave paintings, cave forest.) The man that could kill the cave bear could control anything and was usually put in charge of the tribe. The man that could only kill cave prairie dogs, was usually put in charge of weeding the cave garden. It then got to the point where simply killing it was not enough. They had to do it in a bloody way. They not only wanted the cave bear to die, but they wanted to see it something cool happen at the same time. The greatest cave bear killing of all time happened when Throg shot a cave bear with an arrow, the bear caught on fire, fell off a cliff and exploded on impact with several after-explosions. There is a reason that guys like to see violent deaths, and it is because guys are dumb and have been since the beginning of time. So anyway, thousands of years later, I came along. I have this base need to kill things and to do it in an exciting, violent way. I also picked up a conscience somewhere that won't let me kill things unless they are trying to kill me. Or they are tasty. Since I don't have any recipes for prairie dogs, I need to kill inanimate objects. Shaving cream cans make a nice display. But how many of those do you come across in the wild? They don't mimic anything real. I need an animal shaped shaving cream can, but they don't make them. The next best thing is a stuffed toy animal. But they don't do anything cool when you shoot them. Until now. I am going to hollow one out enough to fit in a shaving cream can, or a can of red soda. When hit, that should give me enough of a cool reaction to satisfy my need for a violent death. I can then hold the gun over my head and yell in a loud voice, "I am Jason, Master of the stuffed purple dinosaur!" And that should give me enough status to rule my tribe. I just need to go recruit some members. So am I sane? Yes.
[9/16/2002 12:14:18
PM | Jason Hunter] What is love? "We can do no great things
- only small things with great love" (Mother Teresa) Here's what Brak has to say about it: You know love is a happy time.
All throughout the universe. I think they're all
onto something there. Brak may have the more realistic way of seeing it.
"One", by Metallica. I could listen to this song over and over again. It lasts about 8 minutes. The best version is the one they did with the San Francisco Symphony. The strings add a whole new dimension to it. I get goosebumps every time I hear it, without fail. I don't know what I like about it, I don't know what about it appeals to me. But here it is. I Can't Remember Anything Now That the War Is Through
with Me Hold My Breath as I Wish for
Death Back in the Womb its Much Too
Real Fed Through the Tube That Sticks
in Me Hold My Breath as I Wish for
Death Darkness Imprisoning Me Landmine Has Taken My Sight
No! No! No! [9/12/2002 10:24:20
AM | Jason Hunter] I am all for patriotism,
real patriotism. The kind of patriotism that spawned people like Thomas
Jefferson, Francis Marion, and Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot.
[9/11/2002 8:43:25
AM | Jason Hunter] I am sitting here
staring at my lunch, and couldn't help but thinking that it is a lot like
life. Scott pointed out
yesterday, that I take a nap every Monday. It's true. He has to come in
and wake me up every Monday to see if I am going to go to FHE. I don't
take naps during the rest of the week. I am not tired during the rest
of the week. I can (and usually do) stay up as late as I want, sometimes
only giving me 4 hours sleep each night. You would think that I would
be able to sleep in on the weekends or something. But I cannot sleep in
any later than 8. I don't know why. Normally, I have so much going on
during the weekend, that I find no time at all to rest. Monday is my breaking
point. I now join the world in hating Mondays. I am cranky, short on temper,
and most of all... tired. I sleep more on a Monday afternoon than I do
on any given night during the week, refusing even to wake up and watch
the Simpsons. After Monday, the rest of the week is cake. I am refreshed
and ready to stay up as late as I need to. There are some things that
can only be done after 9. So that's why, despite hating Mondays, I bestow
upon it the title The Most Relaxing Day of the Week. The roots run deeper
when it gets dry. I was up in the canyon
last night and noticed that the leaves were changing colors. They did
this last year too. I couldn't help but wonder if they had done it the
year before that as well. I think that it is a kind of maturation process
for leaves as they learn who they are and that they don't all have to
be the same. They all start out in the Spring of life as fresh, bright
green leaflets. I don't know why they all pick green to wear. Maybe it's
because they are all outdoors and green is a good outdoor color. As they
age, they all keep with the green, but they try on different shades of
it. They figure that they want to be enough like the other leaves that
they don't get singled out, but they want to be just a little bit different
so as not to seem like they are just doing what everyone else is doing.
Well, by the time they reach the last 1/3 of their life span, they figure,
"what the hell" and start becoming individuals. Some of them
turn towards the different shades of yellow. Others put on bright oranges.
I'll be honest with you, I actually say some red leaves. Honest to goodness
red leaves. You can't get any farther away from green. It seems like just
as soon as they find out who they are, they start to die. Some hang on
there for a long time and get to enjoy their true selves for quite a while.
But most of them don't get so long to really live. Now all of this is
not to say that being green in the first place was wrong. Those so-called
"evergreen" trees start out green as well. But they are comfortable
with who they are and see no reason to change colors just because everyone
else does. In the end, by staying the same color as they started, they
are the ones that are truly different from the others, and demonstrate
their individuality. [9/5/2002 11:10:58
AM | Jason Hunter] The AC has been out at work for the last week or so. I missed some of it while trekking around England. This week has not been so kind to me. They try to help us cope by allowing us to wear shorts, bring in fans, and keep ice bags on our heads. But nothing beats a good ol' AC unit. They brought in a portable one today to help out. It keeps the air really cold for about 3 feet around the unit. At least the copy machine won't overheat. They tried to be the heroes and bought ice cream on Tuesday and popsicles yesterday. Only thing is that they brought them around after half of us, including me, had gone home for the day. Great planning, guys. I wanted to go outside and cool off in the sun, but I found that I had melted to my chair. This complicates a lot of things. Buying pants that fit is going to be even harder. I though I had ghetto booty before.
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