VD

not venereal disease.....valentines day. This is another reason why i love college football, because of what brings out in others. Obviously you can get birthday gifts and christmas gifts that are Auburn related, but valentines? No way, surely there is no room for college football on Valentines Day........oh contrare:

Happy Valentines Day Sweetheart

Much of this won't make sense if you know nothing of Auburn or SEC Football, but you can at least enjoy the spirit of it.

War Eagle

The Lost Writings

I wrote this well over a year ago and never finished it.....its time has come:

Well, another year has kicked off in paradise. This year i will not be teaching school. I will be dealing with a much more difficult group of humans known as "The Tourist". I will be working on a sailboat Calypso (a catamaran for those who know boats) doing daily charter trips. I will also sell trips on said boat and other boats in a small kiosk big enough for me to do nothing in. I take that back, i can sit in it.....and if i suck my chest in, there is just enough room to think in it. I feel as if it should have bars on the front, and children should come up and point that the big gorilla in his small cage. I would then throw fecal matter at them......Its not so much like trying to put a square peg in a round hole, but trying to put a round peg into a smaller round hole. This year will probably look very different than last year. I do however feel that working with "The Tourist" will give me plenty of things to write about. "The Tourist" is a very predictable animal, while at the same time being extremely very unpredictable. Let me clarify: I mean that we are constantly amazed and astounded at what they are capable of coming up with as far as their words and their actions. While on the boat, they will ask questions such as:

What is the altitude here? (Altitude according to common sense is the height above sea level) A: one more dumb question away from experiencing sea level first hand
"What holds the islands in place?" A: Anchors, lots of them
"Can you snorkel all the way under the island?" A: Depends on how long you can hold your breath

It is important to know what to expect from "The Tourist" as we already know a little bit about the nature of the beast. First and foremost, "The Tourist" will most assuredly refer to our lovely island as St. John's. This is incorrect, it is St. John, and no argument otherwise will be accepted from anyone at anytime. How will we differentiate "The Tourist" from "The Local"? The skin color of "The Tourist" will not be one solid color. It will consist of splotches of blinding whiteness and lashes of painful red. The ratio of one to the other, however, will vary from person to person. Like snowflakes, the burn pattern of no two "The Tourist" will ever be identical. These patterns are sometimes quite remarkable, and i'm sure i could put together a "coffee table" book full of images and descriptions. There is a second class of coloring i need to mention, although a much more minor class. There are two minority variations of the "The Tourist" that are one solid skin color.

#1. "The Shadow Tourist". They look as they are leaving as though they have never been in diret sunlight. There are some who will wear 3 inch thick wet suits, head to toe, the whole time they are in the water as if they were snorkeling in Canada during January. Others wear SPF 85 and reapply four times per hour. They will actually manage to go back paler than when they arrived. However, the score is Them 1, Skin Cancer 0.
#2. "The Perma-Tan Tourist". This variation has no tan lines whatsoever.....seriously. Nowhere. Sometimes they referred to as "the leatherback tourist".

Now some may think that they blend in with "The Local", as if one our own because of their perma-tan. This is simply not the case. First, all locals have tan lines. Second, locals don't drink $8 fruity drinks in collectible cups. Third, locals only wear jewelry made from shells and hemp.

Thats as far as i got, i had intended to do a whole series but instead i worked over 60 hours a week. I did in fact enjoy my job very much and had fun working with "The Tourist" as most of them do understand that islands do not float.

One day my friend....

...one day

You're never there when it counts....

....We all get the feeling. You add weight to my life. I know that I shouldn't consider you a burden, but sometimes i do. You are there, always there, but not when it counts. Being there for no reason doesn't really make me appreciate you. I have invested money and time in you. Time getting to know your ins and outs. How you operate. How i need to take care of you. I know what you could potentially bring to my life, i just haven't seen it and i doubt if i will. I have had these relationships in the past, and i know how it will end. And i knew that before this even got started, but i couldn't resist. I gave into my temptation hoping that i would be wrong. I'm not so sure right now.



I have been carrying around my new Leatherman Wave with me for two weeks, every day, on my hip. So far i have cut the tape of a cardboard box to break it down for trash and cut a sheet of plastic with it (even though it wasn't needed because there was already an exacto knife open and ready to use, instead i went through the process of taking it out of its case and opening it and figuring out which one was the knife). I will not have it when i need it....thats how it works. Leatherman's and Swiss Army knives come cursed. There is a demon in charge of making sure they are never actually present in an emergency. I'll be sure to let you know if i conquer this bladed demon.

It was fun while it lasted......

When you tell someone that you live on an island, they are instantly filled with jealousy that you live in paradise. What most people fail to realize is the price that must be paid to live in a such a place. We give up the convenience of having choices when it is time to shop. We give up the convenience of knowing that when we need something, it is readily available. But mostly, you give up the security of knowing that you will always have at least a majority of your close friends near by. People are constantly coming and going from here. Some stay for one season, some for a few. But eventually we will all leave. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to spend the time i did with these friends. I am thankful that I was close enough to a group of people that i am sad to see them go. We say our goodbyes reassuring each other that we will be reunited one day, if only for a weekend of memories in someone's new home in the states. We are not only giving reassurance to each other, but to ourselves, fighting off that feeling of this may actually be the last time we cross paths. I truly hope that I am wrong and that we can all one day be reunited if just for a few days wherever it may be, but if not, I am happy to have had good enough friends to be saddened by their departure. So thank you to my friends of the last two years. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life, and thank you for always giving more than you took.


Tyler "Dallas" Clark: With Tyler i could always count on him to know what movie i was referring to with the vaguest of references. He loved his cat like a parent loves a child, and it hurt him if anyone spoke badly of Baby (AKA Babers). What i didn't like about Tyler was that he never followed through with Hot Dogs and Dreams, he never made a sign, he never promoted it farther than with me. But if you do ever get there Tyler, rest assured, I'll have one of each, please.

Jamie Zanelotti: I never grossed Jamie out. Even when she said she was, deep down i know she wasn't. What i liked about Jamie was her ability to see that i was right when i explained it was ok that i put a boogar on her. She always knew why what i said was funny. What i don't like about Jamie is that she can pick up the guitar and play and sing on key, it makes me feel self conscious about even owninShe may have pretended to be grossed out, butg one myself.

Mary Laurel Burt: She always made me smile. What i like about Mary Laurel is that when i showed up, i always got a warm welcoming, she never turned me away. I was always given a smile, and i know she had to give them to everyone who came up to order breakfast, but mine always came with 40% off. What i didn't like about Mary Laurel is that she made me feel so insufficient when it came to my Ipod because she always had so much better music than me, i still feel the sting....


Megan Foley: Oh Megan. I always had someone to eat with. I am grateful for the time we had on our own here the last few months. It was nice to have someone that i could count on. What i like about Megan is that she never once judged me. That doesn't mean that she liked everything i did or said or the cleanliness of my house , but not once did i ever feel judged. She went out of her way to do small things to let you know she cared. I also like how easy it is to convince her its time for icecream. What i don't like about Megan is that I was always worried that my place would be to dirty for her, even if i thought it looked pretty good. I got over it.

There are certainly others, and there will be more to come. I only hope that when i leave, i've left as much of an impact on others as these few friends have left on me. Thats not to say that everyone is gone, I am still lucky to have these guys. Whats better than owning a boat? Having friends who own one.

Huck-

-abee (not -leberry Finn)

My first introduction to Mike Huckabee, Arkansas Governor running for the GOP nomination, was a commercial via YouTube that is to start airing in Iowa




This sparked my curiosity so i searched further on YouTube and came across his answer to an evolution question during a Republican Debate



I like how he handled himself and I like his answer. I am curious as to what his weaknesses are, where he struggles in his faith. I don't doubt that he is genuine, but genuine people can still mess things up. David was genuine and he slept with another mans wife, and then had the man killed.

I wonder what the real story is on ethical complaints against him. I'm not sure how closely i will follow things. I don't get a vote anyway.

Reign Over Me

This is the best movie i have seen in a really long time. College roommates run into each other. Adam Sandler's character lost his family in the 9/11 crash and it has left him a wreck for the last five years. His old roommate becomes his only friend. Adam Sandler was great and I was reminded why I am such a fan of his. This movie gives a good perspective on how everyone deals with things differently and we can't force anyone to cope the way we would cope or in the time it would take us. Everyone goes their own route in such matters.

Jena 6

Two of the Jena 6 attackers handed out an award at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards
I wouldn't touch most of this with a 40 ft poll. Well, i would have at one point in my life but not now. So racist white kids put nooses in a tree, absolutely uncalled for. A fight starts eventually and 6 black kids, now known as the "Jena 6" beat one of the white kids unconscious. Also absolutely uncalled for. People from miles around come to support the 6 because they feel they are being treated unfairly in the court system. These kids received a lot of support and prayers from people.

Obviously those who want the kids locked up for life are upset about their appearance at the awards show, but this is about those who stood up for them and protested for them and marched for them. I couldn't find anything on the BET blog, its huge, about this stuff but two of the posts mentioned in the article are very fair in my opinion.

1. Another wrote on the blog, titled "What's wrong with this picture?" featuring a picture of Jones and Purvis on the red carpet, "... this is what I was protesting for! So that later you could show up at the BET awards and style and profile?"

2. "They can find somebody else to march for them (be)cause I will not be there the next time, and whoever invited them to this should be slapped," one person wrote on the BET blog. "(You're) not setting a good example for the justice that everyone is fighting for. You look like the thugs they said the Jena 6 are. Thanks for making us look stupid!"

Its a sue for all!!!

Cop Sues Victim

I don't think this is right. If for some reason this were to be upheld and the officer compensated, then anytime a cop gets hurt while attending to a victim, any injuries they may incidentally recieve in the process would potentially be made liable to the victims.

ex: An armed robber breaks into a home through an unlocked door. Cops show up, one gets shot in the arm in the process. Well if they hadn't of left the door unlocked then the cop would have never gotten shot in the arm, and he can sue them for this.

According to the cops personell file, she is great at what she does. It is a shame that she was injured on the job. The insurance company should compensate her, because that is what they are for. I don't think sueing the family is the way to go.

What will we do for profit?

This is an interesting article. Several years ago all of America was enthralled by William Hung. Luckily for him, he was able to at least make a buck off it selling CD's. But how much money does it take to realize the only reason you have it, is because people are laughing at you? The weeks leading up to an American Idol new season are full of commercials showing clips of people who are awful. That's why people watch the first rounds. They don't care who will be good, that will all come later, after we have heard the horrible and laughed at them. We are effectively watching bullying and saying that it is ok because that person put themselves there voluntarily. We market their rejection and people are getting rich off of it and we don't seem to care. We all know that there are pre-stages of audition where some are sent away and others are let through. The worst of the worst are let through solely to cause a scene or make us laugh which drives up ratings. I laughed hard every time though. Hopefully i won't anymore. What am i going to tell my kid when i know that they can't really sing, but all they want in life is to audition? Life is hard enough as it is without having yourself humiliated for profit. I feel pretty bad about it.

Edwards, John

Taken from the .National Review Online.

"Edwards: 'Pretty Soon We’re Not Going to Have a Young African-American Male Population in America.'

Asked about what he could do about "inner-city kids partaking in violence" at the MTV/MySpace Forum yesterday, Democratic candidate John Edwards offered an apocalyptic prediction for young black males:

“We cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”

Hyperbole much? Despite popular misperception and those who find it a convenient talking point to illustrate inescapable racism, there are more young African-American men in college than in prison. In 2005, according to the Census Bureau, there were 864,000 black men in college. According to Justice Department statistics, there were 802,000 in federal and state prisons and jails; between the ages of 18 and 24, however, black men in college outnumber those incarcerated by 4 to 1."

My Thoughts:
John Edwards has taken a specific question about black youths in inner city's and turned it into a problem with all the black youth in America. He may very well have had a logical point following his statement, but the quicktime wouldn't work on my computer for me to see it from the MTV link above. Either way, he makes way to broad of a generalization. Sounds like someone has been listening to Hannity.

**I have been informed that the statement made by Edwards was taken way out of context. Like i said, i couldn't watch the interview for whatever reason and probably never would have posted. It happens.

Ye Old Ships

This is Breath. Breath was built by Peter Muilenberg in the late 70's-early 80's on St. John. Its a cool boat with lots of history. It has been across the Atlantic several times and through many storms and up rivers in Africa. It has lots of history and Peter has written a book telling stories of of his travels. A group of us went out on breath last week. It was cool to see a boat that was traditionally rigged and very salty.

Trust for Public Lands

Today I met Gary and John from Trust for Public Lands. They negotiate the purchase of land held by private entities and then give the land in some way to the public. This is done by giving it to National Parks, public land for cities, and other non-profit organizations whose work it is to protect the land for people. The have recently put under contract the 415 acres that makes up Estate Maho Bay. Their next project is to try and save Maho Bay Campgrounds. The lease on our land runs out in January of 2012, and the lease will not be renewed per the landowners. TPL wants to put this property under contract to preserve it as an Eco-Resort. This is great news. They have saved some 2.2 million acres from development. Hopefully they can add the 13.8 acres we are on to that.

My front porch

Here it goes, an attempt at something new. Welcome to my world. For the last 5 months I have lived and worked at Maho Bay. It is an Eco-Resort on St. John. I will continue to live and work here for at least the next year and a half. We are currently in the middle of hurricane season. So far, so good (as far as St. John goes). This is my front porch. I intend to share more of my life in the months to come which means pictures, stories, complaining, and my views.

Tropical Depression 8

Well, Invest whatever number it was never did anything. It was like a bottle rocket that turns out to be a dud. Well, Invest 91 is more like a roman candle. We thought it was a dud, then 7 hours later you find out it is actually a depression. It could end up being Ingrid or Jerry. There is something in the gulf that could get named before this one. I've learned that in a place like this, job security can depend on weather, what a crock. (click on the title to visit the tracking website to play along at home)

Invest 98

No, its not a late 90's slogan for Wachovia Securities. You better believe most people in the Caribbean know what it is........

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200798_model.html

I hope voting rights isn't a requirement for a FEMA trailor.

Katrina Hangover

With one Hurricane Season out of the way (06-07 season) and one underway right now, things like this are more relevant to me. This is mainly because i live on an island where there is no fleeing north. This NYTimes article is about whats going on in the aftermath of Katrina. Specifically with people living in FEMA trailer parks and not being able to find work. Gene Torti and his friends are building houses in the Gulf area for Katrina victims. There are no doubt others out there doing the same thing. Churches are still involved financially and service trips to clean or build. So there are people still working on this. I can't believe New Orleans is bringing people in from South America to do work instead of bringing their own people back.

(I foresee my blog taking more of this approach for a while as opposed to what i used to do)

Phileas Fogg

He traveled the world in 80 days, at least through the pages of Jules Verne's book. He didn't soak anything in while stopping along the way. He pretty much just went from place to place, and it took him 80 days. That was considered fast back then (late 1800's).

Today 80 days would be slow. You can easily travel the world in 80 days and take in the sights. And that is what i want to do. Who do i know in the world? Where can i stay on the couch of a friend? Can i hit Australia in this journey? How much is all of this going to cost?

Only one of those questions can be answered at the moment: How much is all of this going to cost? Answer: A lot.

The way i figure it, i have roughly 8 months to figure it all out before i leave this fall. tick tock

Love I Cant Find

I honestly don't know his name. I heard people call him John, J, Jase, and Chase. I just called him my bud, so that is what i will do from now on.

We were in Chicago on a Mission Trip. I was an adult leader for the week with the High Schoolers from Brentwood Baptist. It was a great week, but i am going to focus on one afternoon for right now. It was our last day of service in Chicago. Our assignment that day was to run a kids camp. By this time we already heard from the other groups about some of the children we would have. I was excited because i love playing with little kids. Kids make me smile because of their innocence and love. We get there and kids start showing up. Instantly the youth start hugging on them and loving on them. They know their names in no time and are playing games. Bud comes by and then leaves for whatever reason. You can tell within the first 2 seconds of meeting him that he is much slower than the other children. So the day goes on and we play with the other kids. I think they are cool and the youth think they are great.

Finally Bud comes back. We are about to have our bible story and snack time there in the grass of Garfield Park. He sits right in the middle of the group. He squirms and moves a lot more than the others because of the way he is, and we all know it and just let him be. His peers know he is different too. Some people who are slow are too slow to know it. They won't know when they are being picked on, it will be more of a game to them. Bud is not one of those. He is definately slow, but he knows when the others are being mean to him. It doesn't take 30 seconds of him being there in the middle before it begins. They are laughing at him, poking him, messing with his clothes and his reactions only add to their laughter. I get on to a couple of them instantly, hoping they will let it go. I caused only a temporary pause in their behavior. They kept right back with it. I even moved some of them away and it wouldn't stop. I decided to sit in the middle with bud and he wanted to sit on my lap. They tried to start up again and my face let them know that it wouldn't be a smart thing for them to do. I spent the next 30 minutes with him going where he wanted to go, doing what he wanted to do. Occasionally they would laugh at something but thankfully he couldn't hear or wasn't paying attention, even though i heard it every time.

Here's the point: I know that kids will be kids and that they aren't going to understand everything and are going to be mean. You could see that one or two of the group weren't as gung ho on giving him a hard time and knew that i was right in wanting them to stop. I am not writing about them. I am writing about those who will never do anything genuine for Bud. I don't want to see those kids ever again. Now everyone else there would probably tell you they can't wait to see them again next year and that is fine, i'm glad that they have love for those children. But i hated what i saw in them. There was no sweet innocent child there. There wasn't unconditional love. The way they acted went beyond kids being kids. It wasn't a behavioral problem, it was something deeper inside of them. They didn't look guilty when i told them to stop, they were merely perturbed that i was slowing them down. They will never be his friends. They will never stand up for him. In fact, others will stand up to them for Bud. They went beyond thinking his behavior was funny to being evil towards him.

I think this shows that although i want to be able to have the perfect love that is spoken about in scripture, i won't be able to grasp it here on earth. It should be easier to find in kids. Kids can't hurt you the way a peer can. I should be able to love all of the kids equally. Obviously we have favorites, but that doesn't mean we don't love our nonfavorites. But now i find a gap in that love i desire to have, and it just outs me more in awe of the unconditional love that christ has for us.

My delegate doens't get a vote....

Dear President Bush,
Please do not attack Iran. I think we can all agree that this guy is much crazier than Saddam. In fact, Saddam is just the weird uncle that comes around on the holidays compared to this guy. W, he's crazy. It doesn't matter what intelligence says, he doesn't care about the U.S.. He cares about Israel, and Holocaust 2.0 (which in his view would actually be the first one). He merely uses the U.S. to gain support from other U.S. haters should something happen. Let him be, he'll cause trouble by attacking someone on his own, with little cause, then you can attack with everyone behind you saying, "yeah America, kick him in the balls". His hope is that you will attack first, making us the bad guys and gaining him support with say, Russia (who i don't think recieves our fan mail), and taking the pressure off of him. Attacking first will only drive our currency down even further, and prohibit me from being financially able to buy gas to drive my SUV which i love so much, it is part of my identity. Thankyou for taking time to read my letter, and not pushing the flashy red button in front of you.

Scott

Interview with Crazy McLunatic

I'm not very political these days, especially since i now am a resident of a territory and have no voting rights. Actually i haven't really talked about politics in a long time accept to nod my head when someone else is speaking on it. It is exausting keeping up with both sides on even just one area of debate. I have more important things to learn right now than to read the latest Anne Coulter or Al Franken book. But i have been following what Capt Insano from Iran has to say over the last couple of months. He is not going away anytime soon, and is going to cause lots of problems in the world. He worries me, and so does the fact that we can severly mishandle him if we are not careful. That's all i ahve to say until until '08. (Hillary vs Condi, man that would be somethin)