Forever Feels Like Home

No one ever tells you that
forever feels like home
lying all alone inside your head

Despite the maudlin lyrics I can't get out of my head, today was actually a pretty good, if excessively long, day.

Parable of the flood

Sometimes God gives you several opportunities to get it right, and you still mess it up. Horrifying, really, if you think about it.

A man is on top of a roof during a great flood. A man comes by in a boat and says "get in, get in!" The religous man replies, "No I have faith in God, he will grant me a miracle."

Later the water is up to his waist and another boat comes by and the guy tells him to get in again. He responds that he has faith in God and God will give him a miracle. With the water at about chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again because "God will grant him a miracle."

With the water at chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and they tell him to get in. Mumbling with the water in his mouth, he again turns down the request for help. So he drowns.

He arrives at the gates of heaven and says to Peter, "What happened? I put my faith in God and He let me drown!" St. Peter responds, "We sent you three boats and a helicopter, what more did you want?"

(adapted from the version on the Aha Jokes website)

Mayfair with a friend

I met up with a good friend this evening at Mayfair Mall, where we enjoyed the extended holiday hours. Those new iPod shuffles are indeed drool-worthy (no, didn't buy any, so don't get any ambitious ideas if you think you're on my holiday list, and no, please don't get me one, while I like drooling about them, I doubt I'd actually use it. I have a hard enough time engaging in the real world without music running in my head all the time to distract. But thanks, it was a nice thought). The pomegranate juice drink at BarnesBucks was interestingly novel. And the micro magnetic Scrabble-on-keychain game actually is pretty fun. Which just goes to show that fun is basically entirely in company.

And continuing birthday celebration! I may actually become addicted to these chocolate caramel truffles.

Turkey was great, the fish fry was worth trying once, the run this morning was an, um, adventure, but I'd say meeting up at the mall was a highlight of this trip to Milwaukee.

Footlocker Nike Open

I watched my cousin Peter run in the Boys Jr./Sr. race at Footlocker on the UW-Parkside campus today. Then my cousin Brian, my uncle Tom, and I ran in the Nike Open race. They ran pretty well. I didn't run so well at all, I should take this as a sign that I need to work out more.

Thanksgiving Feast

I think my favorite is something we call "Grandma Clark's Salad", a cool-whip-and-Jello salad with celery and cherries. Very tasty. Sweet potatoes are a close second.

We missed Elizabeth this year. The first Thanksgiving where mom and dad and my sister and I were not together for the holiday.

After dinner we took a walk. Hales Corners hasn't changed much since last I was home. On our walk we met up briefly with a childhood friend of mine, Chris. He's married now and in graduate school and wow have I lost touch. I should do a better job of staying connected with people. Connections between real human beings are important.

This evening we played Word Thief, my parents and I. Lots of fun. I won both games, but my parents made them close games. I suspect if Elizabeth were home she'd have given me a run for my money.

Birthday festivities

I ended up celebrating my Sunday birthday on the following Monday this year. Probably best to get a day of separation from the weekend anyway -- takes another chunk out of an already-short week.

I had a delicious homemade Indian dinner, saw Casino Royale, and enjoyed birthday cake. Life is okay.

And it turns out Indian and birthday cake makes a fine breakfast.

A Quarter Century

Today's sermon was on hope. I thought it was a very good sermon.

Today I turned 25 years old. While it had some highlights, overall, it was a kind of lonely day.

3 pounds 13 ounces

A coworker recently had a healthy baby boy, weighing in at just over nine pounds. On the occasion of my birthday, I reflect on starting life at a little less than half that size, a hefty 3 pounds 13 ounces.

Pre-Birthday Partying

Today I slept until noon, which was a treat in itself, catching up from days of inadequate sleep and recovering from a disappointing Friday.

Then I went to the Zoo. The Phoenix Zoo isn't as nice as the Milwaukee County Zoo. For one thing, the Milwaukee zoo has polar bears, whereas the Phoenix zoo does not. I recall having more fun at the Madison, WI zoo, where admission is free. Admission at the Phoenix zoo is decidedly not free. But it was an okay place for lunch and it was a little fun being around all the people, all the children running around.



The zoo closed at 4pm, but the Desert Botanical Gardens remain open until 8pm and are right next door, so I headed over there afterwards. I took the opportunity to explore the wildflower gardens, which were beautiful despite being largely not in bloom. I took about a bzillion pictures. I wonder if, besides giving me a hobby, they'll actually ever be of use to anyone. In theory a teacher could use them to teach plant identification or plan a trip to the gardens, maybe.



On my way home I stopped in at Arizona Mills to check it out. We certainly do like our shopping malls out here in the Valley, don't we? Wow. I got another cheap pair of sunglasses. I never seem to have one handy when I want one and I figure I'm eventually going to saturate my space with shades. They had a gourmet popcorn store but I resisted temptation. I think my love of popcorn is waning. I did stop in Gameworks and played a few games for the novelty of it, but the flashing lights and noise is too much to take for very long. The virtual reality beachhead protection game was kind of fun.

That's quite the movie theatre in the mall. Didn't see any movies, since there's some chance I'll have a chance to see one over Thankgiving break and I wouldn't want to have already seen it. Thanksgiving break. I talk like I'm still in school.

After that detour I went home and tried to see Leonids. This evening I didn't even think I saw any. Disappointing. Light pollution probably made it much harder to see anything interesting, but I didn't come up with an alternative.

Better uses of judicial resources

Maricopa County Attorney General Andrew Thomas proposes dedicating additional judicial resources to fast-tracking death penalty cases in Arizona, so wrote the Arizona Republic this Friday.

There are 118 capital cases in Maricopa county. Thomas would dedicate 5 judges to a panel exclusively to hear these cases. Somehow that doesn't sound like a good use of judicial resources to me.

"Thomas wants to rein in defense attorneys' ability to interview witnesses or probe some issues after the death sentence."

Because thorough review before the state murders its citizens in cold blood isn't justified?

Maybe instead of rushing death penalty cases, we should take some care to address them more slowly and with more care. Re-trying them after the United States Supreme Court sends them back because they weren't constitutionally handled the first time (Ring vs. Arizona) would appear to insert more delay than the speed gained by rushing them through the first time.

Eight people from Arizona's death row have been exonerated since the 1970s, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, by way of the Arizona Republic article. Now that sounds like a good use of judicial resources.

We have real problems in the state of Arizona. We are rated dumbest state in the country, and sure the study and metrics were flawed, but they also weren't, in that we know it's true: education here isn't what it should be. We have an overwhelmed healthcare system, particularly emergency healthcare. We have fatal vehicle accidents so often they're commonplace, a way of life. Which is more important, fixing the problems that affect many people, that claim the lives of some of the best of us? Or rushing to kill the worst of us?

Opening Pandora's Box

Pandora Internet Radio is pretty cool. My dad introduced me to it. It proves a decent way to set up some radio-like background music for work or hanging out at home. I'd probably prefer listening to The Edge at home, but I can't seem to get good real radio reception.

Leonids

I spent some time outside my apartment this evening watching the sky for Leonids. Security (locally euphemized as "courtesy patrol") neglected to chain the gate to the pool area, so I plopped down on one of the deck chairs. Convenience outweighed concern

I think I saw one, but maybe it was a figment of my imagination, borne of wanting so much to see one. I know at least the stars were real, and they are beautiful.

Goldfield

Dad and I spent the afternoon in Goldfield, which is a tourist trap very near Lost Dutchman State Park, but a very nice tourist trap. The mine tour was fun, as was the train ride.

We stopped by the Mining Camp restaurant for dinner, which was pricy but a great followup to an afternoon wandering a ghost town.

Costco

This morning Dad and I went to Costco. We picked up several cases of Arrowhead water. It seems stupid but somehow I can tell the difference and like Arrowhead a lot better than the alternatives.

Arizona State Fair

Dad and I went to the Arizona State Fair. It was fun, but not as cool as the Wisconsin State Fair, of which I have many fond memories.

South Mountain

Dad's visiting this weekend. This morning we went hiking at South Mountain, mostly the Pima Wash and East Loop, but a bit on the Ridge Line as well. Beautiful.