Learning to defeat my addiction to the Internet and multi-tasking
I hate to admit it, but trying to be a writer, you know, in the age where you don’t use a typewriter, has become quite difficult. It isn’t necessarily that I lack content ideas or am missing the words I need to illustrate a thought. It is the damn compass button at the bottom of my computer that connects me to the World Wide Web.
Being born in the age of computers, I’ve been attached to the Internet since I was around 12. It started innocently enough, with instant messaging my friends, but once college rolled around, things changed. Social media, silly cat videos and the emergence of memes made it nearly impossible for someone computer savvy to have an attention span long enough to sit down and write. The Internet is corrupting our minds.
All satire aside, multi-tasking and Internet addiction are blocks in the road of production. Be it procrastinating for tests or just having a hard time focusing at work, both these issues can really hinder a person from achieving their true potential. Multi-tasking doesn’t actually save time, and the Internet, if not used correctly, can be a huge time suck. But all it takes to help curb these issues is a little self-restraint.
Taking small steps to focus on individual tasks is the cure to the ailments above. Making simple lifestyle changes, such as keeping your laptop or computer out of the bedroom, not watching TV or reading while eating, or even ceasing to open multiple tabs while surfing the internet, are changes that can increase production.
Though it may be easier said then done, learning to focus fully and keep off of the net is possible, even in this technologically obsessed existence.
Cambodians are f*cking cool
As blunt as this title may be, I don’t know any lighter way to put it. After traveling through Thailand and Laos, and feeling very unwelcome in a good few spots, hitting Cambodia was a breath of fresh air. Cambodian people, though somewhat rough around the edges, are kind, gracious, extremely playful, and actually enjoy having tourists in their country. They are also actively taking steps to make the influx of tourism postive.
I’ll be real; I honestly believe Thai people hate tourists. I’m not one for blanket statements normally, and I don’t believe ALL Thai people do, but take a trip to southern Thailand or Bangkok and try and prove me wrong. Laos, though home to some extremely nice people, are following in suite.
From experience, I do believe both Thai and Laoation people are good people. Having dealt with shitty tourists for some time, and allowing lots of their beautiful locations to turn into shitty tourists destinations, has jaded them on westerners. Tourists seem no more than a giant dollar sign. It is sad, but it seems to be the case.
What makes Cambodians so great is that they are real. They don’t pull punches and they are upfront. Sure getting hassled by Tuk Tuk and Moto drivers is obnoxious, but Cambodians will be open when they want to talk to you, as well as when they want to try and sell you something. If you are lucky enough to befriend a Cambodian, you will find out just how playful and affectionate they can be.
Visit Cambodia, meet people, and remember a smile and a little effort to learn some Khmer will go a long way.
I think he may have killed a man
He sat at the same bar each night drinking Ankor lager. He bought cans, but poured the contents into a glass with ice. This small gesture showed he had been in Southeast Asia long enough to adopt local drinking habits. That, and the fact he also spoke Khmer. The only night this week he didn’t show up at the restaurant was when it was filled with balangs. He doesn’t like being around westerners anymore.
As we watched the man with indistinguishable, but probably British, accent drink, we began to ponder why he became an expat. We had listened to him tell other travelers he hadn’t been home in decades, while also avoiding any personal questions. My travel mate and I decided he was up to something. We decided he may have left home after killing a man.
Tonight he engaged us to show us the drunken cicada on his table. This was our in. We joined his table, and began to interrogate. After talking for a while, and beginning to get comfortable, he started to open up to us. He told us about the south London gangsters he knew in Sihanoukville.
He also told us about the two years he spent with a Khmer girl, but didn’t share the ending of the tale, prompting me to ask in a joking fashion if he killed her…just to prod him a bit. He didn’t, and his gleeful way of telling how she went back to her village didn’t give me insight if he had a killer instinct. The man was good at saving face (or maybe he's not a killer).
As we left the restaurant, we still had unanswered questions. We knew when he left, but we still didn’t know why. Let’s just hope he didn’t catch on to our little interrogation, in the event our assumptions were true.
WTF Colorado?
Having been out of the state since June, I’ve done my best to keep up with Colorado news. I’ll check the Denver Post website when I get the chance, but a few times in the past five or so months, Facebook updates have shared the news for me.
A few have been fun, such as our state swinging to the left side (according to Snoop Dogg “because, yeah that’s the crip side”) and legalizing the sticky icky, but the last few days haven’t been so fun.
This week, the Colorado headline have spoken about a 20-year-old lost soul named Mitchell Kusick. He was arrested due to his plan to try and assassinate President Obama during his campaigning, as well as shoot children who were trick-or-treating at Thunder Ridge High School on Halloween.
He was said to have been obsessed with the Columbine High School Shootings, and studied the shootings this past summer in Aurora. On the same note, the headlines also talked about Aurora shooter James Holmes not being able to attend court hearings because of self-inflicted wounds.
I don’t know why things like this are occurring in our state, but the fact is something needs to be done. My humble opinion? Advocate and pass common-sense gun laws. The Brady Campaign outlines incredible legislation that makes obtaining guns more difficult, but doesn’t impede on our citizens 2nd amendment. There is nothing wrong with guns; it’s just certain types, and the hands these guns are placed in.
I’m a hard-core leftist, this is true, but I don’t think common sense gun laws need to be a lefty issue. Nobody wants to see innocent people killed, and no one wants to see our state in the national news for more shootings.
You have to have seen the beach to find sand in your bag
I had never seen her wear the sleeveless button-up blouse and jeggings. We had both, more or less, worn the same clothes for the last 10-days, but this evening marked the last night we would spend on the beach together.
In fact, it marked the last night, in all reality, we would probably ever spend together. She said she wasn’t dressing for the occasion, that it was the only thing that was clean, but I didn’t believe her. She also let her curly hair loose, the way I liked it. She never let her hair down.
We went out for a final meal, and after we ate, we walked hand in hand down the beach. Her English was better than my French, but sometimes she liked to force me to try and articulate my thoughts in her mother tongue. It didn’t sound pretty, but it made her happy. I loved to see her smile.
The walk ended at our guesthouse above a local's store, and we made our way through the dark hall to our room. The generator was off, no lights were on, and the locals were already sleeping. I threw her on the bed, opened the mosquito net over us, and kissed her with authority. She reciprocated the notion.
In that moment, I felt like Christmas had come early this year. I had learned a thing or two since my youth, though. This gift was too special to tear open with haste; I undid each button of the sleeveless blouse slowly, anxiously awaiting what lay underneath the wrapping.
Destroyed trees
If there is no poem lovelier than a tree, then the sight of one reduced to a stub like the unfortunate one pictured above is the 180 degree opposite. In fact, it makes for a downright ugly sight until the tree is no more.
It is ghastly to see a tree turned from a lovely, imposing sight to an eyesore thanks to the ministrations of a saw, chainsaw, or other cutting tool. In fact, I am of the opinion such ugly sights are more wanton than needed in this day and age unless the tree –a living thing- has already died from, say, the effects of Emerald Ash Borers, or acts of mother nature such as wind storms or volcanic eruptions that flatten huge swathes. But it seems to me humans are worst disease of all for them.
There once was a tree that if memory serves was an oak that stood on the northwest side of my apartment building whose leaf-covered limbs provided a welcome aid to air conditioning in the hot, humid months. But a nearby highway bypass was soon built requiring the realignment of local streets.
Incredibly, despite this tree being well back from the thoroughfare being realigned, its destruction was decreed by the local department of transportation and so it fell. The result: my building now stands on a barren plot of land susceptible to having the sun bake it.
It can get worse than the destruction of a random tree by a department of transportation, though; in some parts of the world (including the USA) clear-cutting destroys whole acres of trees. Sure proponents claim there are benefits to such work of the saw such as being able to re-introduce trees that crave high light intensity to grow, but it is inarguable that the resulting sight after a section of centuries-old forest is demolished ranks even uglier than the annihilation of a lone tree. To say nothing of negative impacts like the loss of natural homes for wildlife, or increased risks of erosion.
I sure hope there are still plenty of trees left when I am older. It would be a crime to lose them all.
The ghost of County Road 18
Most recreational trails are either made out of crushed limestone or black asphalt. But what on earth is the trail above made out of? That isn’t your normal biking and hiking path! It looks like a county road instead. That is because it was indeed once a county road, County Road 18. A road I remember well from childhood trips to Valley Fair in Shakopee, MN.
County 18 used to cross the Minnesota River on a small bridge in Bloomington, MN, known as Bloomington Ferry and then wend its way beside the river towards a junction with Highway 101 in Shakopee. It was a route suitable enough in the dry months but whenever the Minnesota would spill out of its banks County 18 would be closed until the waters receded.
It especially suffered during the infamous floods of 1993, which closed County 18 for weeks. All in all, it was a major headache that the expansion of nearby Highway 169 across the Minnesota in 1996 on the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge finally cured.
But the old roadway was not left to rot. Rather, it was converted into a trail linking Bloomington and Shakopee. For a time the old road bridge carried trail traffic over the river but was replaced by a new span in 1998.
Along the stretch of trail closest to the river, however, the pavement of old County 18 was simply slashed down to the strip of old road you see here. Not your average re-use of an old roadway, one that makes the ghost of old County 18 a charming anomaly to hike or bike on.
Reading Pile: 11/15/12
Point of Impact #2- A solid second act for this title that maintains the momentum from the previous issue and keeps you interested. I’m really into Koray Kuranel’s art and layouts and think that he is a great find for this title. A-
Thor God of Thunder #1- Jason Aaron was one of those choices where you stopped and wondered if he was really a good match for this title but didn’t want to deny it completely because he has done some really great stuff. I believe the combination of his scripting and the great art from Isad Ribic really makes this book pop. Aaron introduces a darker plot to hook you in and infuses it with the right tone, atmosphere, and intrigue to pull you in. My main problem is the same problem I have with Marvel as a whole, and it’s that they feel they can outright fleece money from their readers with only twenty pages of story for $3.99. The content is great, but if you expect to get a large readership you have to make it more inviting first. A-
Great Pacific #1-What was that I said about making it possible to actually get a readership through financial availability? Thirty-one pages of story for $2.99, with no ads and a unique story with a solid hook is something that makes this title a welcoming alternative to the onset of expensive ‘all-new, all different’ corporate repackaging happening in the rest of the industry. Ten years ago I would have never predicted me saying this about Image, but considering their current publishing model they are really stepping up the game as far as producing new and interesting material for the industry. This book is also a sneaky environmental tale about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is something that definitely requires more acknowledgements. It’s sort of sad that you have to sneak it in a form of fictional entertainment, but hey whatever gets the knowledge out there. You should give this a try considering it has solid art and a well scripted story, but also to show more support for Image and creator owned projects. B+
Locke & Key: Omega #1- Having just caught myself up in the HCs so I can read this, I can honestly say that if you are not giving this title a chance you are missing out on one of the best comics to be published in the past ten years (if not longer). Also, how can you not like a book that essentially starts with the villain winning? A+
Links for November 14, 2012
Limbaugh pushes away Hispanics and Boehner in one fell swoop.
Many pundits are saying that the Republicans lost the election because they failed to reach out to black and Hispanic voters. Heck, even a lot of Republicans are saying that.