Oh, oh, it's magic...

So I got back late last night from a trip to Las Vegas. All in all, it was a pretty cool trip, and the highlight was seeing Penn & Teller! :)

I had no idea about the biases and political persuasion of the duo, and I had chosen to see the show merely because I knew of its "magical" and comedic properties. I respect Penn & Teller a great deal now, though I cannot help but meet some of their suppositions with a bit of skepticism. They "debunked" some of the techniques psychics/mediums (media?) use when "reading" people, including hot reading and cold reading. Since I am as of yet undecided about my stance on the supernatural, I was a bit upset by the allegations that all such material is completely bogus. I like to think myself reasonably intelligent (if not incredibly forgetful), so it's frustrating to think that I've been "duped" by people who claim to have extrasensory perception.

I'm curious, faithful readers, as to your take on such things. I've wanted to be open to spirituality, religion, and so forth, but find it increasingly difficult. Do you think that there is some basis (however small) for "supernatural"/"ethereal"/"spiritual" beings and events, or is all a hoax? Do you think that there are actually people who can communicate with the dead, or are we being tricked by our own vulnerability? How should be trusted to make sound decisions of something that is hard to truly prove one way or the other? Any thoughts or comments are welcomed; in fact, I'd love it if you (a stranger, friend, acquaintance, whomever) would comment on this issue. A lot of people feel very strongly (one way or the other) on such a topic; what do YOU think?

To close, I shall leave you with my pictures of Penn, Teller, my friend, and myself. (They were REALLY good about meeting audience members after the show for some free PR!) :)



Me with Penn, the verbose member of the duo. He was most friendly and was great with the crowd!



My friend, Charlie, and me with Teller, the mostly silent member of the two.

Props!!

So hats off to my buddy for sending me these links:

1.)
Check out this article! Madness.





2.) NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day! Gorgeous! :)

On a brighter note...

So I meant to post some pictures yesterday of my sister's wedding this past weekend. It was a lovely affair and truly inspiring. It, shockingly enough, renewed and reaffirmed my faith in love.

Without further ado, the pictures:



(my hair for ze wedding)






(my sister's hair)






(my sister with my dad... i love it!)






(sisters and the photographer's arm!)






(the ladies of the bridal party: bridesmaids in purple and honorary bridesmaids in black)






(my sis & me in the "bridal party's ladies' prep room"






(ze couple, professing the awesomest vows i've ever heard)






(my family!! and my mom's eyes were shut in all these pics, so i just picked the best one.)






(i like this pic, b/c it's the whole family, but it's not perfect... except my dad & bridesis, are doing other stuff. i'm also playing with the formatting of pictures.)






(my sis w/ our niece, tabatha. i love this picture.)






(the entire bridal party, complete with my ex! [he's the last guy on the right.] it was cool, though.)






(the happy couple, slicing ze cake!)






(my sis's rockin' new ink... gotta love it!)






(me & my good friend, joe, in the midst of 2-hour-long dancing!!)

I wrote a song!!

So I'm kinda bummy today, but I know it'll be cool eventually. However, in light of recent events, I've written a blues song!! :) I had initially googled "how to write a blues song," and got much helpful advice, but I decided to do it on my own.

While listening to John Mayer, I drafted this bit of bluesyness:

I got the blues….
Oh, I got the blues…
I’ve got the lover-turned-friend-turned-nothing-for-no-real-reason blues.

Walked down my street,
On the phone last night
Wonderin’ what he was thinkin’
“Doin’ what is right.”

Oh, I got the blues…
Yeah, I got the blues.
I’ve got the different-opinion-frustrating, gut-wrenching, stupid-feeling blues.

Been goin’ through this
For almost half a year
Just wonderin’ why
He let love lose to fear

Sayin’ I got the blues…
Oh, Lord, I got the blues…
I’ve got the grown-man-actin’-like-a-scared-child-breakin’-my-heart blues.

[Awesome harmonica break, fade to end]

Fin.


Yay! I think. Granted, it's nothing special, but I find a blues song particularly helpful when dealing with life's heartbreaks. Try it sometime; it's actually pretty therapeutic.

Also, I can't help but love John Mayer's album from last year (Continuum). Plus I saw him in concert last month (awesomeness!!). Here's "Dreaming with a Broken Heart," a lovely song worthy of checking out:



When you're dreaming with a broken heart,
The waking up is the hardest part

You roll out of bed and down on your knees
and for a moment you can hardly breathe,
wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?

No, she's not
'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.

When you're dreaming with a broken heart,
The giving up is the hardest part

She takes you in with her crying eyes,
then all at once you have to say goodbye,
wondering could you stay, my love?
Will you wake up by my side?

No, she can't
'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.

Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my, roses in my hands?
Would you get them if I did?

No, you won't
Cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
the waking up is the hardest part.

Why? Because I can.

So I'm at work, and am still completely LOVING the job! I initiated my first meeting today, and it was great! I'm revamping a nutrition program we have to make it more teacher-friendly (it's for use in the classroom), and I have a project partner who is equally psyched!

Anyway, I uploaded some pictures here at work, and I'd like to share some.

For your viewing pleasure:


(Me, conquering nature, as I sometimes do)




(The rentals in full effect)




(Ze sistahs!!)




(A yummy dessert at P.F. Chang's)




(The John Mayer/Ben Folds concert in a Phoenix suburb!)




("Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona...")




(At a recent conference... Why do they even *have* that door?!!)

It's also probably my favorite day EVER: 07.17.07!! (My two lucky numbers in a perfect palindromcial number!) It's been great so far; here's what I've done:

-got up at 6:15 for my daily (!!) run; ended said run with a HUGE hill
-received a shipment of (free!) stuff from bananarepublic.com (I used a really old gift certificate that still worked)
-rolled into work, caught up on e-mails, got some work done
-drove from Cottonwood to Prescott, which was beautiful!
-had an AWESOME meeting in Prescott
-got lunch at Subway & read "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck; killer book!
-drove back to Cottonwood, filling up at County Fleet/Fuel on the way
-got back to work, where I caught up on e-mails (and blogging)

The end!! :)

After work, I'm going hiking with a good friend, so that'll be nice. Then dinner, and maybe a delicious dessert (we'll see if we can find green tea ice cream!). All in all, awesomeness.

A meth minute...

So I've subscribed to a newssite called Join Together, which is all about "advancing effective alcohol and drug policy, prevention, and treatment." It's got a lot of interesting stuff on it, and I'd definitely suggest checking it out.

Anyway, check out this recent article:



Domestic Meth Production Falls After Crackdown
July 10, 2007


Seizures of homegrown meth labs fell 58 percent last year, and anti-drug officials credit recent crackdowns on cold medicines and other chemicals used to make the drug, USA Today reported July 2.

"This is one time where the laws worked, and they worked quickly," said Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Special Agent Philippa LeVine.

In 2003, drug agents seized 17,356 small meth labs nationally; in 2006, seizures totaled 7,347.

However, both meth use and prices have remained fairly constant, with superlabs in Mexico quickly moving to fill any supply shortages caused by crackdowns on U.S.-based operations. The DEA said that up to 90 percent of the meth used in the U.S. is from international suppliers. "We know that meth is coming from Mexico in significant amounts," Payne said.

Still, the crackdown has had significant secondary benefits for local communities, said drug czar John Walters. "These were toxic sites that exposed children, first responders, neighbors who weren't even aware this was going on," he said.

-------[Fin.]-------

Ok, so this is very interesting news. However, I can't help but see the humor in it as well. First, why use the term "crackdown" in a drug-related article? I thought that was amusing. Next, Mr. LeVine, the DEA Senior Special Agent quoted above, seems surprised that a law actually worked! Finally, in the last paragraph, John Walters carries the title "drug czar." How, exactly, does one earn such a title?

Anyway, these are my thoughts for the time being. Peace out!

On (the lack of) airport security...

So I went to Denver this past weekend for a friend of a friend's wedding. It was very enjoyable, though the time went quite quickly.

On the way to Denver from Phoenix, my friend and I were overly reminded (by airline employees, signs, etc.) that there is a liquid restriction on flights nowadays. (See picture below for an idea.)




Since I'd never gotten "caught" with full-size containers of toiletries, I figured I'd try my luck...

... And I got away with it for a 5th time!! My friend, however, was not so lucky. He had to fork over two tubes of toothpaste (why he brought 2, I'll never know) and a relatively new bottle of hair gel. Yikes! I, however, escaped Scot-free with the following: a full-size bottle each of shampoo and conditioner, a full-size bottle of saline (contact) solution, a 4-oz. bottle of body wash (the limit is 3 oz.), a full-size tube of toothpaste, and a large bottle of sunscreen. How I got through with it and my friend didn't is anyone's guess.

Upon our arrival in Colorado, my friend bought another bottle of hair gel (and mooched my toothpaste). On the flight back to Arizona, he asked if he might "smuggle" his hair gel in my carry-on. I agreed, fearless as usual.

I got through again!! This time I had the entire list above, though minus the shampoo and conditioner (they ran out) and plus a full-size bottle of hair gel. TSA regulations, my butt! It's stupid enough as it is, but to not even consistenly enforce it, well... that's just silly.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In other news, I'm trying to accumulate as many part-time (easy!) jobs as I can. This week, I'll be doing the paperwork to get me on board with Yavapai College as a tutor for various subjects. Ultimately, I'm hoping to get my foot in the door to be an adjunct faculty member. We'll see how that goes.

Today I put in an application with Best Western, to see if I can work at the front desk... We'll see if they get back to me! Perhaps I'll relax & enjoy life someday, but for now, I've got massive credit card/student loan debt to repay!! (Plus I can earn more for retirement if I have more jobs!)

Okee, I think that's about it for now. Have a great day, y'all! :)