OneRepublic

Image from google images

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izRNYB-d_N0

I love this new band because they remind me of Savage Garden for some odd reason.  Most people have heard of their song, “Apologize” because it had heavy radio play.  Now their song “Stop and Stare” is getting the same attention.  I especially love “Stop and Stare” because the words reminds me of how we all get ’stuck’ in life’s problems once in a while.  Some of us, forget who we are. Some of us forget what is important in life.  Some of us, fool ourselves into thinking we are moving in the right direction, but realize later that it is not what we want. I can ramble on forever about the different things or images I get out of this song,but then it would only be my opinion!  I love these lines because it reminds me of the importance of looking at where we have been in life to help us figure out where we are heading in the future and why.

Stop and Stare,  I think I’m moving, but I go nowhere

Yeah I know everyone gets scared, but I’ve become what I can’t be

Stop and Stare, you start to wonder why you ‘here’not there

 

Another of their song, “Say” is also a really good song. This song is beautiful! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ-4f9GP92Q

 

Geocaching: A modern twist to scavenger hunts

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LMHZcgM11GU

This weekend, I took thirteen members of the club I sponsor from school to San Diego on our first trip out of town. I talked my secretary and my co-worker in going along as drivers and chaperones.  While most people would shudder at that thought of taking thirteen teenagers anywhere, these two brave soul was enthusiastic and excited about the trip. 

Brian, one of my chaperone, is also a history teacher.  He was excited about going with us because the trip would provide him with the opportunity to do some geochaching (pronouned ‘geocashing’). The kids and I asked Brian what the deal was and he said it was a scavenger hunt using hand held gps systems to locate “treasures” people hid all over the world in different places.  In order to get clues to where the “treasures” are, people can go to geochaching.com.  Once at the site, people can get the clues as well as the coordinates left by others as a guide to the items left. Here’s a history behind geocaching from geocaching.com that better explains it.

On May 3, [GPS enthusiast], Dave Ulmer, and a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy [of GPS systems]by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the “Great American GPS Stash Hunt” and posted it in an internet GPS users’ group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.

The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: “Take some stuff, leave some stuff.”

On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beaver Creek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his “stash” with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav:

N 45 17.460 W 122 24.800

Within three days, two different readers read about his stash on the Internet, used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. Like many new and innovative ideas on the Internet, the concept spread quickly – but this one required leaving your computer to participate.

Within the first month, Mike Teague, the first person to find Ulmer’s stash, began gathering the online posts of coordinates around the world and documenting them on his personal home page. The “GPS Stash Hunt” mailing list was created to discuss the emerging activity. Names were even tossed about to replace the name “stash” due to the negative connotations of that name. One such name was “geocaching [geo meaning 'earth' and cache meaning 'hiding place"].

So far Brian has found 575 geocache, two of which he found on  our trip to San Diego wth my club kids.  Number 574 he found in Balboa Park in the Butterfly Garden, close to this huge tree.  He used the clue and his GPS unit to locate the items left by another geocaching enthusiast.  We witness his discovery of the waterproof brown plastic zip bag with butterfly items in it.  There was a rubber butterfly stencil and a little butterfly notebook inside.  He wrote: number 574 founded with the IFEC (my club) from Kofa, Yuma, AZ. The kids and I were excited as him for this “treasure”.  When we went to Coronado Island, he found number 575 on the beach. 

If you love scavenger hunting and have a GPS unit then this could potentially be the next great adventure you are looking for.  This idea of ” sharing things” by ” taking some stuff and leaving some stuff” is brilliant because we all love a good “treasure” hunt because it tests our own cleaverness. For more info in case you would like to start your own hunt, go to geocaching.com.

War is not the Answer!

Howard Zinn is someone I admire greatly because his words are truly inspirational.  He has written many books such as his most recent Just War, The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency, and A Power  Governments Can not Suppressed.  His straightforward and candid discussion, analysis, and insights into history inspires further thought and contemplation on events we think we are experts in. 

In this day and age, all we hear about is war and destruction all over the world.  Everyday we are bombarded with the media ’s stories on war and conflict. We have become to a certain degree become so familiar with violence that we almost expect to see something bad all the time in the news. Maybe that is the problem: we have talked ourselves into believing and accepting that violence is normal and part of life and to get use to it.  Are we becoming a society that accepts everything we see because we are too lackadaisical to want to discover the truth?

I saw a video on Youtube where Howard Zinn was asked if he thinks war can be categorized as just or unjust. I like the the response he gives.  He says that any war  should be seen as unjust. I agree with his statement “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable.”  For example, the Iraq war, we went in there to take Saddam out, but as a consequence there are millions of displaced citizens and the dead.  Some of these people do not care who is right or wrong. They just want to live their life in peace. 

Is it part of human nature to be agressive?  Is war a natural progression of civilization? 

An act of charity

When I was living at home I use to hate it when my mom would command me to come out of my room because we have visitors because I knew that meant one thing: I had to go greet our visitors and ask if they were hungry or thirsty. If they were hungry I had to feed them and if they were thirsty I had to get them something to drink. Looking back now,I am grateful that my mom made me be the one to do this because now it is so easy for me to ask a total stranger if they were hungry or thirsty.
Who would have thought a Laotian tradition of seeing to the comfort of our guest would actually help me to comfort those outside my home.

We should began each day with an act of charity.  The first gesture should be towards ourselves because in order to teach others to value themselves, we must have a positive opinion of our own self-worth.  In order for that to happen, we need to be less judgement to what we perceive as our faults and flaws, whether it be physical or emotional.  There is nothing wrong to admit our weaknesses, but to fixate on it on a daily basis can prevent us from seeing the goodness in ourselves as well as others.  This brings to mind the definition of charity according to Encarta, “the willingness to judge people in a tolerant or favorable way.” I like this definition because it is the reason why we give to charities or create one of our own.  We give to others because we want to help them no matter who they are, what race they are, or what they are like.  We are tolerant of other people’s faults because we are aware of own shortcomings.  At least that is how I see it.I am saddened by many things I see everyday.  One of those things is the homeless situation in my community, the nation and the world. I can’t stand the idea that a person has no home to go to at the end of the day because I equate home with warmth, security, and happiness.  When I see a homeless person I wonder what they are going to eat today, where are they going to sleep at night, who is going to be there for them when they are depress or angry about life.  Also, I think about who cares about their welfare? Where is their family and how could they let them be homeless? I know there are a dozen reason or justification for a person being homeless, but it still upsets me to see them like this.

A couple of years ago I met a homeless man at the park who made me realize two important thing: 1) always act on my impulses 2) see the goodness in others no matter what. As I was leaving the park with my friend I noticed a man sleeping on the grass . His fits of coughing spasm cause me to stop, lean down and lightly tap him on the shoulder to ask if he was okay.  What started out as a polite question about his well being turned into a conversation about the mundane: the weather, the other people at the park etc.  Our topic of conversation was pretty random and nothing deep, but what happen afterwards had a profound affect on me.

I told the man to take care of himself and as I started to leave,he said, “Thank you for the conversation.”  That was it.  He didn’t ask me for money, food or anything.  I stared at him in surprise, amazed that he was grateful for our conversation and that was it.  When I got into the car with my friend I was telling her how bad I felt that I didn’t have any food or drink or something with me to give to him.  I could have gone back and taken him some food or drink, but at that point I didn’t how to help him without making him feel awkward that I knew he was homeless.  Even though I had nothing to give him except my time, I felt that me simply talking to him as an equal was valuable.

Since that day, I have learned to act on my impulses to help others without fear of what others will think of me or fear of humiliation of assuming too much or too little about someone’s situation.  When I see a homeless person I make it a point to ask them two things: 1) how are you and 2) have you eaten anything today?  Of course, I am sometimes uncertian whether the person is homeless or not, but it doesn’t hurt for me to ask those two questions. Getting yelled at or being told to go to hell is a small price to pay.  So far, neither has happened to me.  The people I meet has always accepted my offer of buying them a meal whether it is at a gas station or at a fast food place, wherever I see them.  I don’t expect anything, not even a thank you because I do these things because I want to.  Knowing that I have ease their hunger for that brief moment is more than enough.  Looking them in the eye and telling them to take care of themselves and not give up hope is something I always do when I walk away.

An act of charity is not just giving of things or monetary donations, it is act of caring for others with our words and deeds.