outstanding. deserves a minute of your time.
02 February 2011
31 January 2011
30 January 2011
National Security
In the light of the hullabaloo following President Obama's 2011 state of the union, I would like put forward my thoughts about what I found important in his speech.
First of all, I would like to disregard the political maneuvering that was the freezing of the national spending levels and the reduction of some governmental agencies. Those were obvious concessions to Republicans, and while you may or may not agree with the statements, I do not believe them to be the crux of his message.
What really hit home for me was the President's emphasis on educational investment and the progression of the economy towards future technology. I am of the opinion that the country tools its economic output via governmental policy. To anyone who disagrees, I would recommend that they look into tax code and regulatory law, even governmental stimulus programs that occur in areas like agriculture and transportation, oil, defense, and banking. Lobbyists have secured concessions from the government, and those same concessions can be directed towards the future if we so want. The "market" is not a creature that directs itself, but rather responds to leadership to make the best of a situation. Lets nudge it towards research and development.
I very much liked the President's speech. An auspicious start to his re-election campaign.
26 January 2011
Faceless
It strikes me how incredibly powerless the average citizen is in this country. It is remarkably frustrating. Brought on by the state of the union address (which I thought was quite good) and its rebuttals, my sense of helplessness is overwhelming. It appears that the Humanities are dead, and that I surely chose the wrong major.
I want to blame my parents, who told me I could do anything with my life. I blame myself, for thinking that I could be successful with history as a profession. I blame the State and the U.S. government for seemingly abandoning a committment to have the smartest, most efficient work force in the world. I feel tempted to blame the greed, the senseless deporting of manufacturing jobs, the incessant bickering between pampered labor unions and corporations concerned only with the bottom line.
Frustration leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the Dark Side.
The only option is to get smarter and more efficient. Complaining about it, becoming frustrated, is a path without an end. Frustration always leads to frustration; it is a way of life. I must shrug the weight of the world from my shoulders and keep on keepin' on.
I started MIT's online Physics I course today. The goal is to work through all of their courses within the year.
23 January 2011
Ready... Set...
The work starts tomorrow. I'm ready as I'll ever be.
Daily goal: Take 30 minutes of time to meditate and relax.
Weekly goal: Work towards overall fitness level.
Birkie training starts for real tomorrow. Added to that is the Madison Marathon training, though that will take a back seat to the skiing for now.
Lets hope that school stays under control.
Go Packers
22 January 2011
The Calm Before the Storm
My second semester of grad. school starts next week. Back to the grindstone. It will be nice to get a sense of purpose back to the day. The goal of the next half year will be to get a more efficient, manageable schedule that will allow for a higher level of training during the week and more efficient time usage for school.
I sat down with a good friend, Eric Schmidt, over break and had a great chat. He is currently in grad. school at Duke for a Ph.D. in political science. Our discussion about the work load of school and the time requirements, along with my recent experiences with the last semester, has convinced me that, in order to live a more balanced life (not one that is so dominated by school) I need to evaluate the work at hand before plunging into it without thinking. Treating every assignment equally last semester was a mistake, and I paid dearly with my stress level in every other aspect of my life.
I'll be experimenting with different ways to manage the stress, namely a more regimented schedule, greater control over my calendar, and exercise goals. More to follow.
05 January 2011
Blog Re-Design
Greetings infrequent readers and Blogspot browsers,
The New Year has come and gone and, however much I despise resolutions of any sort, it is time to take a look at the previous year and has out some goals for the next.
The year started out under the dark cloud of Army Basic Training. On leave during what the Army like to call "Christmas Exodus", I had returned to Milwaukee from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Christmas for 10 days. The break was needed if not entirely well deserved. Basic had taken much out of me, and I was very grateful for the break. After the New Year's festivities, I returned to Ft. Leonard Wood to complete Basic and AIT. The experience was unbelievable. I learned much about the human condition, along with the strength and weakness inside my own heart. I would not trade the experience for the world.
I returned home to Milwaukee in March, where my girlfriend met me at General Mitchell Airport. From there, life returned to normalcy. I had been admitted to the graduate program for History at UW-Milwaukee during AIT, so the summer was devoted to working and saving. I worked for a small start up painting company, Culver's Painting, for the summer, putting in long hours most days. The owner, Josh Culver, a graduate of Edgewood College, was only 2 years my senior, and his youthful exuberance for making money matched his employee's. With a long duty assignment this summer, 3 weeks in June, I was able to save considerably for the coming year while staying at my old roomate's apartment in Madison. Living and working in Madison allowed me to spend much of my summer with Lynn.
The summer soon became fall, and school replaced the long days of painting. The course load was daunting to say the least, with 12 hour days that included ROTC training in the morning and classroom and library study at night. My social life suffered greatly, to say the least. The work was well done, however, and when the semester was completed I had earned the best marks in school then ever before. My final projects went much better than expected, and while I was certainly a bear to those around me for a couple weeks, 3 all-nighters netted me very quality remarks on my work. While the balance of ROTC wih graduate school was difficult at times, the semester ended and I was able to look back with sastifaction.
The winter break is a welcome relief from the trials of school. I recently went to the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. Wisconsin played Texas Christian Universtiy. I went with my good friends from my undergrad and Madison: AJ, Devon, Mark, Jordan and Matt. There, we met up with Lynn's roomate and another friend from school, and celebrated New Years and the game. Coming home is not much of a let-down, however, because soon I will be skiing with Lynn and Shannon in Utah, though that might have to wait until next year. I will soon post pictures from the last year onto a photo sharing site. I will post when I have accomplished this. The next post will discuss plans for the future.
Peace Brothers and Sisters.
The New Year has come and gone and, however much I despise resolutions of any sort, it is time to take a look at the previous year and has out some goals for the next.
The year started out under the dark cloud of Army Basic Training. On leave during what the Army like to call "Christmas Exodus", I had returned to Milwaukee from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Christmas for 10 days. The break was needed if not entirely well deserved. Basic had taken much out of me, and I was very grateful for the break. After the New Year's festivities, I returned to Ft. Leonard Wood to complete Basic and AIT. The experience was unbelievable. I learned much about the human condition, along with the strength and weakness inside my own heart. I would not trade the experience for the world.
I returned home to Milwaukee in March, where my girlfriend met me at General Mitchell Airport. From there, life returned to normalcy. I had been admitted to the graduate program for History at UW-Milwaukee during AIT, so the summer was devoted to working and saving. I worked for a small start up painting company, Culver's Painting, for the summer, putting in long hours most days. The owner, Josh Culver, a graduate of Edgewood College, was only 2 years my senior, and his youthful exuberance for making money matched his employee's. With a long duty assignment this summer, 3 weeks in June, I was able to save considerably for the coming year while staying at my old roomate's apartment in Madison. Living and working in Madison allowed me to spend much of my summer with Lynn.
The summer soon became fall, and school replaced the long days of painting. The course load was daunting to say the least, with 12 hour days that included ROTC training in the morning and classroom and library study at night. My social life suffered greatly, to say the least. The work was well done, however, and when the semester was completed I had earned the best marks in school then ever before. My final projects went much better than expected, and while I was certainly a bear to those around me for a couple weeks, 3 all-nighters netted me very quality remarks on my work. While the balance of ROTC wih graduate school was difficult at times, the semester ended and I was able to look back with sastifaction.
The winter break is a welcome relief from the trials of school. I recently went to the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. Wisconsin played Texas Christian Universtiy. I went with my good friends from my undergrad and Madison: AJ, Devon, Mark, Jordan and Matt. There, we met up with Lynn's roomate and another friend from school, and celebrated New Years and the game. Coming home is not much of a let-down, however, because soon I will be skiing with Lynn and Shannon in Utah, though that might have to wait until next year. I will soon post pictures from the last year onto a photo sharing site. I will post when I have accomplished this. The next post will discuss plans for the future.
Peace Brothers and Sisters.
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