My small percentage of genius...

Is not displayed by being able to write witty shorts.  But, I will attempt to keep you non-FBers more in the loop this way, if you want ♥ 

Emily started swim team last night, and she is adorable!  She does think that the coach was just trying to make them tired, and she was a little confused about that.  ;-)

The Grown-Up Dividend

Today I made a bone-head move of pulling a U-Turn in front of a police officer. Not such a big deal but I basically pulled away from the curb, across two lanes of traffic, a middle turn lane, and then into the other side of the street.

Had no idea that was illegal since the street was 100% empty of any and all traffic.

Well it is illegal. Can't UTurn from the curb.

So he pulled me over, checked my papers, and sent me on my way with a polite, respectful verbal warning.

Being 44 with the same (correct) address on all of my documents just got me out of a ticket Isurely would have received had I been a younger man (I am sure of ths because as a younger man I got LOTS of tickets).

So now my record is STILL clean and I didn't get a fine and my insurance doesn't go up like it would have if I had been young. And we all know young people pay higher rates because they are poor drivers.

Event thought I just made a young-person mistake.

As a grown-up.

I'll take it.

This needs to be saved here so we can look back and say ...

Comments to be added to Alex's post about cars.

The Things I've Done

My friend Leonie is right, of course. The way to become a writer is just start writing.

Do it Now, while the soup and bread is paid for. Later you won't have time to do the creative stuff during the daylight hours. Those hours will be needed to pay for the room & board. And it really will take awhile to become a good writer.

There are two techniques you need to master. The Outline & The Daydream.

The Outline is used to plot a story and leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can come back later and finish/modify what you started to write...

The Daydream is used to fill in the blanks in the Outline.

There is another "trick" that will help you if you actually intend to be a writer. That is to buy a Dvorak keyboard and learn to use it. There really is very little controversy left in the world of typing ergonomics. Dvorak typists can type 200 words a minute without injury. The entire "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" was invented to describe repetitive strain injuries that typists receive from using their qwerty keyboards. All computer operating systems now come with built-in support for the Dvorak keyboard.

It's $2.00 to try it out... Search for "Dvorak Keyboard" at eBay.com.

Here's the Wikipedia page, Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

I recommend you read this page. dvorak-keyboard

And here's something from someone at MIT Dvorak

Again, I spent $29.00 to buy a PC Keyboard with the keys in the Dvorak pattern (on eBay, though he doesn't seem to have any for sale right now.) The $2.00 stickers can be used for a trial, along with a simple set of changes to windows or Linux or Mac OS system software.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I ever have to "grow up," what do I want to become?

Let's see, what have I done already?
Ceramics pourer for the largest Ceramics outlet in Northern California
high points include making a numbers matched German Luger (The place I worked was attached to a machine shop that specialized in making replacement parts for guns.)

Craft's Instructor at the YMCA
high points sculpting neat things...

Dishwasher at a bunch of places...
high points, free food.
low points, hard to get out of that lifestyle. People don't seem to think you can do more than that.

Gas Station Attendant
high points, One bright shiny day with a Cowgirl, naked on my lap in an empty house looking out the windows and making memories that, so far, have lasted for 44 years.
low points, It would be easy to become a criminal starting here.

Carny (Yes, I ran off and joined the Carnival.)
High points, Let's see if I can find it. I know i left it somewhere... Let me look around.

I remember when I was twenty-one, back when I was "Second Man on the Rock-O-Plane" for Blake and Sons, Concessions, life was like this... Fast and uncomplicated. Hour followed hour.

Some hours were spectacular, like when we escaped the midway for a couple of hours up in The Dalles (Sp?) Oregon. It's an area with a very twisty river running through it that has cut canyons about 8 feet deep in the floor of this flat plain. But the river twists back and forth, like a stream of syrup on a waffle... We stole away from the Carnival for a couple of hours in the afternoon to go swimming/skinny dipping in the Dalles... And when we got there there was this girl... We had a lot of good time. And later that night, after the Carnival closed, (in Oregon, back then, the show closed at Midnight.) After the Carnival closed at midnight we went over to the club where the girl danced. She was the Go-Go Dancer at this 'sort-of" Country Western Bar in Redlands, Washington... I can still close my eyes and see her fly around whenever I hear "I'm 'enery The Eighth I Am... 'enery The Eighth I Am... I Am... I got married to the widow next door, She's been married seven times before, and every one was an 'enery, She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam, I'm her eighth old man I'm 'enery, 'enery The Eighth I Am...""

Low points, the show closes for Winter.

Payroll Clerk, The State of California
High points, First encounter with computers...
Low points, First female boss, and her menopause.

Night Counselor at The New Mexico School for the Deaf
High points, I love children
Low Points, Children with long term disabilities.

Manual Writer, The Zia Company
High points, Making six multi-media slide shows... Writing, Photographing, Scoring, Producing them.
Low points, one month writing the Response to the RFQ (Request For Quotation) for the new contract... Everyone I knew was expecting to be replaced and everything depended on what I wrote... Never again!

COBOL Programmer, The Zia Company
High points, Sit in cubical, writing code, fed through slot in door... My first experience with total isolation.
Low Points, having to attempt to modify code written by paranoid programmer who deliberately obfuscated the code so he couldn't be replaced. Then he left. He wasn't near as irreplaceable as he thought he was.

Computer Consultant,
High points, the salary...
Low points. Companies hire consultants when they are in trouble. Sometimes it is merely a "Time Crunch" on a project, but most times it is because they have a boss who can't keep employees. A boss who is nasty to his underlings. This is not a job for beginners.

The next 17 years I spent working at Los Alamos National Lab as what they call a "Computer Technician" because I didn't have a degree.
High points, I was part of CORRTEX. We saved the world and ended The Cold War. There were eight of us, I was the peon. Look it up. I forgot to mention going to NTS (i.e. Nevada Test Site) for three Nuclear Tests. Better than the California earthquakes on the sixth floor of that office building, though the building in California (Sacramento) was much scarier.
Low Points, Working in a University environment for Physicists. A Physicist can never admit that he doesn't know the correct answer. Physicists spend the first 30 years hiding from other people, "doing Physics," and then, to be able to afford to hire them, they are hired as the Boss. Imagine working for someone who hides from his employees.

Truck Driver
High points, Sunsets on I-40 headed west. Café Risqué in Lavonia, Georgia talking with "Sunshine" or "Sky" or "Jade"...
Low points, almost any time spent driving a 75 foot long 13 and a half foot tall rig in New York City or Chicago or New Orleans...

So, given those experiences, the best AND the worst times were "writing". And the way the world is changing nowadays where everyone thinks they can write, and they usually can't, so nobody actually gets paid to be a writer anymore, I suspect that the right career path is to join the Carnival and write novels all winter. Love a "townie" now and then, and never tell anybody your Social Security Number.

I almost forgot. The essential tool for becoming a "Writer" is The Careful-Writer

Here it is Used, but in Hardcover for sixty cents and four dollars shipping The Careful Writer (used)

Perhaps I could go back to school and learn to make movies like Worldclass-Movies
__________________
Dave

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"Le uova non devono ballare con le pietre."
"Eggs have no business dancing with stones" from the movie "Shoot 'Em Up"
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An early Parker

Matt, Parker, and BG

Ian & Curtis.

Hah!

So that's how it works.

Pink Peaches Photography: Super cute boy is on the blog.....here is Brannans...

Pink Peaches Photography: Super cute boy is on the blog.....here is Brannans...

SnaxSax November Sale

Hey all - wanted to let you know first that I just marked down all of my SnaxSax!  I have a bit of an overstock after my craft shows and thought I could pass on some savings!!  So ...  as Christmas shopping is upon us - I am having a November Sale!!!  

Check it out:

www.SnaxSax.com

Great gifts!!!  (for others or yourself)  :)  :)

Happy Holidays!!!

Sara

More Fuel for the Illegal Immigrant Fire

One of the problems with having flashes of enlightenment is that nagging feeling that associates with the light-- namely, "why didn't I think of this sooner?"

With the current US vs Arizona court case (re: AZ SB1070) working at a breakneck pace to come to a decision before July 29th, of course the major news media are publishing every possible angle on the story.

One angle is, as always, "Why break up families?" And I have to admit, as staunchly anti-illegal immigration as I am, I have always twinged a bit at the thought that the mother or father of a bona-fide US Citizen might be deported BACK to where they are legal residents of.

Man do I not like the idea of breaking up families. Of course, the illegals (they are illegally here) could always take the anchor baby home with them. That is one solution that certainly adheres to the "personal responsibility" I respect so much.

But you can't force a citizen to leave. (BTW, if you don't like that the anchor babies are citizens, tough. It's in the Constitution. Amend it.)

But it just hit me: I have heard more stories for decades along the lines of "they come here to work and they work really hard and they send money back to their family back in Mexico or El Salvador, etc."

Exactly.

Coming here, illegally or otherwise, is for the most part, an act of breaking up your family. Yes, the intentions are good. So what? Breaking the law and breaking a family are bad, no matter what the intentions are.

But, and this is a big but, I hold myself and America to a higher standard than just "well they did it so we can, too." I hold myself and America to the standard of "do what is RIGHT."

And what I believe is right is to allow the parents to take their US Citizen child home with them to their legal country of residence. Once there, the whole family can work to make their legal home better. A place that we would want our citizens to live. A place where they can prosper. And if anything happens to our citizen while there? We have laws and procedures in place for that.

And if they decide to leave the citizen here while they go back to their legal residence and get in line to come here legally?

Well we have lots of people in America that love to take care of children. Our citizens, even the poorest, enjoy a decent standard of living. And of course the US citizen child can travel freely between their US home and their parents legal residence until the parents get legal permission to come back, should they choose that over the option of improving their homeland.

And another note: if you worry that we are deporting people back to places that are unfit for them to live... remind them that God gave them the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

America's founding fathers, bless their eternal souls, believed in that truth so much so that they risked their property, their fortunes, and their to lives make it possible.

Dakota / Flirt / The Veronicas

The Press Release

What about this idea for a flat tax?

I just had an epiphany about taxation.

It has long been said that high marginal tax rates on the richest members of society will incentivise (sic) them to either leave the country, hide their income, or disencentivise them from earning that marginal next dollar.

So what would happen if we taxed the poorest of the country?

What about a $20,000 flat tax on everyone? What would that do? I can tell you that if you were earning $20,000 a year, you would be very highly incentivised to work a little more because it would all go to you, not the government!

Plus, if we were to let everyone know just where that $20,000 in taxes were going, what it was being spent on... wouldn't that create pressure among the masses for whom $20,000 is a lot of money, to try to economize? I honestly believe that those who consume a lot of taxpayer services rarely worry about the efficiency and value of those services. But if you foot the bill... then you start looking for bargains!

And what about the idea of taxation causing someone to "leave the country"? Is that true? If we taxed the poorest people, would they go somewhere else? Would they take their families to look for areas where taxation is lower? Maybe. I don't know. Would that be a bad thing? It is a free country, right? And I don't really hear too much complaining when wealthy people say they might move if the taxes are too high... its almost like those who are not wealthy are happy to hear that the wealthy among us are suffering.

Lastly... I hear frequently that the best way to reduce a behavior is to tax it. Makes sense. Want someone to stop driving an SUV? Tax the gasoline. Want them to stop smoking? Tax their cigs. So why do we tax the wealthy and the top earners? Are we trying to get them to stop? No.... because we need those people. Maybe we should tax poverty out of existance. If we start this year with a 50% tax on everything you earn below $40,000... that would be awesome incentive for people to earn more. How do you earn more? Well, to start with you could finish school. Go to college. Become a professional.

Would the poor have a lot of incentive to hide their money if the tax rate was so high as 50%? Yes, they would. But in this age of technology it should be impossible to hide money.

Besides, I've already posted about how to make more money, get free healthcare, and a free education... Join the army!

Another cost of illegal immigration

I don't know why this thought never occurred to me before but maybe the reason is because it is so simple and plainly obvious.

I hear stories about the "best and brightest" of other countries coming here illegally to get an education and a better life and whatever other reason they come here.

Some newspaper articles point out that these people are future doctors and lawyers to make sure I don't think of them as unworthy (nice bit of attitude manipulation there!)

What just occurred to me is the undeniable fact that if these wonderful people stayed in their own country and worked that hard, they would be the best and brightest in their own country and they would raise their own country.

If illegals are willing to break our laws (and there is no argument that this is exactly what they are doing) and learn a new language and suffer the distance from family... wouldn't all of that energy be so much better spent in their own country to make it better from the inside?

Amazingly, by simply stating that smart people in other countries should stay there and try to work to improve their country, I am going to be seen by some people as the bad guy.

I Know How The Afterlife Works

Its very simple. "The afterlife", whatever that is, should be a fair and straightforward way to reward those who were good and punish those who were not.

I also believe that, once you are part of the afterlife, there should be opportunities for you to grow and learn and possibly even earn a better and better afterlife for yourself.

BUT, if you are not one of those who should be rewarded, and you are not one of those who grows, then your experience in the afterlife (it stands to reason), will be a very negative one.

But even that doesn't seem so straightforward, because if you deserve punishment, who hands it out? Does God? Seems unfair to make a kind and loving God punish anyone. So who do you give that job to, without putting someone fair and honest into the unenviable position of having to dish out punishment for those who deserve it. Sounds like a terrible job for a fair person or deity.

So here is my very simple afterlife equation.

The afterlife should be an opportunity for a person to drive themselves around as a passenger on an eternal road-trip.

That way, if you are a good and kind and understanding person, you will be taxiing around a good and kind and understanding person.

And if you are an asshole, you will be the chauffeur of an asshole.

More than that, if you are the type of person who complains about everything, you will hear nothing but complaints.

If you are a praise-giver, you will hear nothing but kind words of encouragement.

Following the plan literally, you will be your own passenger, driver, and back-seat driver. You will reward and punish yourself with your own spirit, soul, and demeanor.

You will spend an eternity treating yourself the way you treat others. Good for good, bad for bad, helpful and tolerant for peace and love... you get the picture.

And what if, after some eons of living with oneself, a spirit begins to grow toward the rewards and the fairness and love? Then your growth is immediate for you will instantly find yourself in the company of a spirit that is, likewise, better and nicer, and more lovely than before.

It has been said a million times "put yourself in someone else's shoes".

Maybe you ought to put yourself in your own shoes.

And don't wait until you are dead to do it.

KotaHollywood on YouTube

For anyone who cares, there is another, um, more private (if there is such a thing???) YouTube channel that Kota/Copa/Dota/Dakota has been posting at. There are some wicekdly funny videos on there as well as some absolutely beautiful performances of hers. Mostly, it is Kota getting full value out of her little Mac Book. I HIGHLY recommend that kids get Mac Books.

Sara and Alex, I think your kids will find some vids on the channel that they like:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KotaHollywood

Check this out:



She recorded multiple takes and layers of her own voice accompanying David Archuleta and, in a sense, remade the song. Not really a remix, but a very cool customized version.

Peace and Love,

Eric

I'm Calling A Bottom - DJIA 8100 to 8200

First caveat: there will be a few hundred points of volatility in the DOW 30 for the next few weeks but I'm calling this as the bottom. The DJIA closed in the 8200's today and I feel like we're done selling. Maybe get as low as 8,000 but I think what we are witnessing is a bottoming process.

I am hearing from radio / TV that they are calling this the Obama Recession because people are selling stocks, etc., to avoid increased capital gains taxes.

I don't buy that. Yes, there are anectdotes about that but there's also anectdotes about people seeing flying saucers. I think we had a huge pop in the bubble, the economy is in the tank, financial companies are laying off like crazy and the stock market is as low as it's gonna get, plus or minus a couple percent.

So, I honestly think you're pretty safe to start buying or adding to your diversified, well managed mutual funds at this point.

Would I buy individual stocks? Not too many of them. LOTS of risk still exists that GM or Ford may go BK. However, if you buy diversified portfolios, you should be okay. Try to buy American if you're going to buy based on this recommendation.

Finance

I'm looking at taking a big chunk of my Financial Aid check from January and sticking it in a short term CD (like 6 months) so that way this summer when I am studying for the bar exam it will mature, and almost more importantly: Megan and I will not be able to touch it before then. <-- is this a stupid idea with the interest rate being so low right now?

I'm looking for virtually NO risk (the kind of risk that means if I lose that money the USA has bigger things to worry about). I'd love to put $$ into a mutual fund and see it double in that time (like if prices bounced back to what they were 5 months ago), but I'd hate to get to June and have it be worth half as much as if I had just put it under my matress (as Megan's mutual fund has done in the last few months).

The Logic of a 6 year old:

So, this was just a joke that was forwarded to me, but I knew all you would like it... unfortunately they don't point out that fiscal responsibility can be achieved in other ways than selling your soul:

I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl, and she said she wanted to be President some day.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

She replied, 'I'd give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow - what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. 'Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house.'

She thought that over for a few seconds 'cause she's only 6. And while her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'

And I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.' Her folks still aren't talking to me.