Thursday, November 27, 2008
I can't get no satis faction
Well I am sad to post this but my job interview did not go as planned today. I lacked the answer to a few simple questions, there were only 6 but I only got 3 right in my opinion. Oh well, I am not exactly an IT person i just dabble which wasn't enough!!! So back to the grind.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
SHORTLISTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I am happy to be writing today as, last night I checked my email to find that my application for IT assistant at Royal Holloway where my wife attends university, was accepted. The email stated that they wanted me to come in on Monday for an interview. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. It is a part-time job, which is perfect, which will pay 6.75 an hour. It's not much but it is better than the nothing we are bringing in now. I also do not know the hours but I also do not care as long as I can pick up my daughter every other Tuesday like I need to. WOOHOO!!!! <----exactly, I can hardly wait!
Thank You,
Chris
Peace... One Love
Thank You,
Chris
Peace... One Love
Monday, November 17, 2008
Recent Happenings
Well after much request, I am going to try to get to updating at least once a week. The first week of November my wife and I helped out with my daughter's schools Indian Art Week. Indian art week was a week where the whole school spent the week learning about India, forgoing much of the regular learning in favor of hands on cultural art. Some children themselves from India or of Indian heritage had relatives come in (in traditional dress) and enlighten children as to their culture. My wife and i helped the children create fun works of art with an Indian theme. In the class I helped in we did simple things like watercolors over wax all the way to clay tiles and elephants. We even cut out cloth elephants to make tapestries. This all culminated on Friday of that week where the students were able to put on an art show. I think this was a great hands on learning project and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. The art show too was great fun and the pictures can be found on our webshots album here --> http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/568554682VwWdPO
hopefully that works.
The following weekend found my daughter having her first playdate with a cute little neighbor girl who is a few months older than her. She was excited all week on top of art week to have a friend whose house she could go to. She was able to spend several hours over the course of the weekend playing with the girl. They seem to have a blast, I guess before we moved in another young girl lived in this flat and our neighbor and her got to be really good friends. When the people that lived in our flat before us moved, she was crushed, then she saw our daughter outside one day and got really excited. They seem to be getting along great, and the girl has gotten Bodhi into taking Chinese lessons and Bodhi can now count 1-10 in Chinese (the girl's family comes from China). So not only is it great that my daughter has a friend but she can learn a lot of great things just being around her.
Last week I guess the only thing of real note was my birthday on Wednesday the 13th. My daughter was picked up by her mother on Tuesday so that they could go shopping, my daughter picked out my cake and my gift. On Wednesday my daughter sung me happy birthday and presented me with my cake (a small all chocolate affair tasty but not to rich) and my present ( a cool lego set we could do together from the Exo-Force series), I was also treated to an incredible late breakfast by my wife. All in all a great day and a good week. Bodhi got to play with her friend next door over the weekend for a few more hours, including a tea party.
Today, Monday the 17th, I helped chaparone my daughters field trip to a local church to learn how a church operates. As one might imagine the kids had the most fun ringing the bells. Plus, it helped me get out for awhile.
Alright, I will probably be able to make another post tomorrow.
Thank you for reading,
Chris
Peace.. One Love
P.S. If I can get the time I think I may even try to start my own played out webcomic. I think I could do it.?!!!
hopefully that works.
The following weekend found my daughter having her first playdate with a cute little neighbor girl who is a few months older than her. She was excited all week on top of art week to have a friend whose house she could go to. She was able to spend several hours over the course of the weekend playing with the girl. They seem to have a blast, I guess before we moved in another young girl lived in this flat and our neighbor and her got to be really good friends. When the people that lived in our flat before us moved, she was crushed, then she saw our daughter outside one day and got really excited. They seem to be getting along great, and the girl has gotten Bodhi into taking Chinese lessons and Bodhi can now count 1-10 in Chinese (the girl's family comes from China). So not only is it great that my daughter has a friend but she can learn a lot of great things just being around her.
Last week I guess the only thing of real note was my birthday on Wednesday the 13th. My daughter was picked up by her mother on Tuesday so that they could go shopping, my daughter picked out my cake and my gift. On Wednesday my daughter sung me happy birthday and presented me with my cake (a small all chocolate affair tasty but not to rich) and my present ( a cool lego set we could do together from the Exo-Force series), I was also treated to an incredible late breakfast by my wife. All in all a great day and a good week. Bodhi got to play with her friend next door over the weekend for a few more hours, including a tea party.
Today, Monday the 17th, I helped chaparone my daughters field trip to a local church to learn how a church operates. As one might imagine the kids had the most fun ringing the bells. Plus, it helped me get out for awhile.
Alright, I will probably be able to make another post tomorrow.
Thank you for reading,
Chris
Peace.. One Love
P.S. If I can get the time I think I may even try to start my own played out webcomic. I think I could do it.?!!!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Proposition 8 in California
As many know on May 15th 2008 California became one of few states that not only recognized gay marriage, the state supreme court overturned a ban on gay marriage, allowing thousands of gay couples to be able to share that which many straight couples get to take for granted. Sadly on election night Tuesday November 4th 2008 California voters voted "yes" on proposition 8, a state ballot to amend the California state constitution to specifically define marriage as between a man and woman. This proposition now law, bans gay couples from the right to get married.
No matter your personal views on gay couples, this amounts only to one hateful thing, institutionalized discrimination and an attempt at "separate but equal" views which in other forms has already been struck down (not that long ago sadly) as unconstitutional . 52 percent of voters in California voted to take away the rights of gay couples and to strip them down to second class citizens. This is wrong, we in America sit in our Ivory Tower telling the world how to act, telling the middle east to give women equality, when Iran's leader said on TV he wished to wipe all Jews off the face of the Earth there was a tremendous public outcry. Telling those in China to Free Tibet and let Taiwan alone,the US government has said if China were ever to invade Taiwan that the US would protect them. We tell dictators in Africa and South America, stop these massacres of your people. Yet all the time we sit here and continue to segregate and discriminate against our OWN CITIZENS.
Americans, we can not let this happen, we can not continue to sit and say we defend democracy abroad when we do not do it here, we can not tell misguided countries to follow our lead when we do not follow it. There was a time when the United States was a beacon to the world as a sign of what could be done if a people worked hard enough and, while we certainly had our problems then, we can not continue to allow ourselves to slide back to institutionalizing discrimination. Yes there will always be those who feel their own narrow view of the world should be imposed on others but, we can not allow them to dictate that anyone should be discriminated against.
No matter your personal views on gay couples, this amounts only to one hateful thing, institutionalized discrimination and an attempt at "separate but equal" views which in other forms has already been struck down (not that long ago sadly) as unconstitutional . 52 percent of voters in California voted to take away the rights of gay couples and to strip them down to second class citizens. This is wrong, we in America sit in our Ivory Tower telling the world how to act, telling the middle east to give women equality, when Iran's leader said on TV he wished to wipe all Jews off the face of the Earth there was a tremendous public outcry. Telling those in China to Free Tibet and let Taiwan alone,the US government has said if China were ever to invade Taiwan that the US would protect them. We tell dictators in Africa and South America, stop these massacres of your people. Yet all the time we sit here and continue to segregate and discriminate against our OWN CITIZENS.
Americans, we can not let this happen, we can not continue to sit and say we defend democracy abroad when we do not do it here, we can not tell misguided countries to follow our lead when we do not follow it. There was a time when the United States was a beacon to the world as a sign of what could be done if a people worked hard enough and, while we certainly had our problems then, we can not continue to allow ourselves to slide back to institutionalizing discrimination. Yes there will always be those who feel their own narrow view of the world should be imposed on others but, we can not allow them to dictate that anyone should be discriminated against.
The speech delivered by President Roosevelt incorporated the following section:
| “ | In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want--which, translated into universal terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb. | ” |
| — Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the Annual Message to the Congress, January 6, 1941 |
== United Nat
These where what FDR considered universal rights, for all people not just what some decide is right.
Thank You,
Chris
Peace... One Love
member of the Human Rights Campaign since 2007, believer in total human equality since 1981
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Future
As I am sure every other blog in the world is doing today I want to say how happy I am that the election is over. Congratulations to our President Elect Obama. I hope you can follow through on your promises to help see through truly revolutionary change in the US. I can say I have waited with baited breath, having read your book The Audacity of Hope after your speach at the DNC in 2004 and then your candidacy. Many of the issues that you stated as your own I too feel strongly about. Your three big issues are your biggest chance to truly move our country forward and re-create a United States that is that beacon to the world we once were and still seek to be.
On your website, in your book and through your speeches you stated your stance on the economy, energy and the environment. Currently the US is in a bit of financial turmoil, we also source the vast majority of our energy from other (mostly unstable) parts of the world and produce more pollution than any country but China (with a population 1.4 billion, four time the US').
I believe as do a great many others, that the solution to all of these issues is the same. The Green New Deal ( i did not com up with the name) something akin to the Tennessee Valley Authority would be a brilliant idea on a National Scale using wind, solar, biomass or geothermal power. While much controversy existed and still exist about the TVA, we also have the luxury of being able to look back at mistakes made which can help to avoid some of these in the future. By using combination's of renewable energies throughout the nation, through government sponsorship and investment, we can create thousands maybe even tens of thousands of jobs that will be around for a long time to come, we can diminish as much impact on the environment as we can currently and we can reduce or even eliminate our dependence on foreign fuels that prop up unstable and often brutal governments.
Regardless of whether you believe in climate change or whether you care where the energy for your house comes from, the possibilities of a green new deal are endless and are all "win-win". What I am talking about is not socialism or communism, I am talking about an investment in our country and in our people, that will pay off for years to come. While this suggestion only touches some of your platform issues, it has the possibility to help with them all.
Thank You,
Chris
Peace... One Love
On your website, in your book and through your speeches you stated your stance on the economy, energy and the environment. Currently the US is in a bit of financial turmoil, we also source the vast majority of our energy from other (mostly unstable) parts of the world and produce more pollution than any country but China (with a population 1.4 billion, four time the US').
I believe as do a great many others, that the solution to all of these issues is the same. The Green New Deal ( i did not com up with the name) something akin to the Tennessee Valley Authority would be a brilliant idea on a National Scale using wind, solar, biomass or geothermal power. While much controversy existed and still exist about the TVA, we also have the luxury of being able to look back at mistakes made which can help to avoid some of these in the future. By using combination's of renewable energies throughout the nation, through government sponsorship and investment, we can create thousands maybe even tens of thousands of jobs that will be around for a long time to come, we can diminish as much impact on the environment as we can currently and we can reduce or even eliminate our dependence on foreign fuels that prop up unstable and often brutal governments.
Regardless of whether you believe in climate change or whether you care where the energy for your house comes from, the possibilities of a green new deal are endless and are all "win-win". What I am talking about is not socialism or communism, I am talking about an investment in our country and in our people, that will pay off for years to come. While this suggestion only touches some of your platform issues, it has the possibility to help with them all.
Thank You,
Chris
Peace... One Love
Monday, November 3, 2008
First real post
Hello all, I am now coming to you live from the UK. We got internet about a week or two ago, and things are finally settling down enough that I can think about posting, albeit at 10pm my time. First off terri, my partner, and I love it here. While there are the pro's and con's we think the pro's currently outweigh the con's. Some of the pluses, there are sidewalk's, honest to goodness sidewalks that people can walk on. Despite being about ten miles from London, there is greenery everywhere, tree's and gardens, nature paths all very refreshing to be able to see while walking. Some things are a little more expensive however, once we can start making some British money and stop having to convert it will not be so bad. the country despite having a reputation from being conservative, is actually in some aspects far more progressive (more to come later on this topic).
We are really enjoying ourselves here and our daughter now says she thinks she would like to stay here to live.
We saw Igor two weekends ago, while it was an somewhat enjoyable waste of time, I believe it is a movie incorrectly advertised to kids (a main character is a suicidal rabbit who attempts to continually find ways to kill himself) when most of the humor is slightly more adult than the Shrek movie's. Though the movie was not bad there were a number of trailers for movie that I believe we would have preferred to have been wathcing. Overall I give the movie a C. The cinema however, was very nice with real prices comparable to the US (a movie is expensive anywhere), the popcorn was salty (they do not have butter at the cinema) but tasted better than most and the nachos come with not only cheese and peppers but salsa.
Last week my daughter had what they call here half term. It is a week long break in the middle of the school term. We were not expecting until about a week prior and we ended up lounging around the house most of the time, especially since terri was busy in workshops and meeting Mon-Wed. By Wed night my daughter, Bodhi, was so bored she was nearly ready to pop out of her skin. So at more or less the last minute we decided to go to the aquarium in London. This would be me and my daughters first time in London and our first time taking the train. We were excited to say the least.The train ride was relatively short and uneventful but we are enjoying not driving and being able to see things.
London, we were also somewhat unaware that the aquarium is located smack dab in one of the main tourist spots of London. The London Eye (or Millenium Wheel), Big Ben ( not all that big), and the houses of Parliament very close-by, along with several museums the only saving grace I beleive from making it total pandemonium was the fact that it wasn't a bigger holiday. The line to get into the aquarium was about an hour long. Plenty of time to realize that you are hungry and one of the little food stands is just perfect. We had a small bag of fresh from the fryer donuts with a light sprinkling of sugar, tey were probably the best donuts we have ever had. The lady behind us was very nice and gave a an extra 2 for 1 coupon that you get to use when you take the train into London, saving us a decent bit of money. The aquarium definitely highlighted the fact that england crams a whole lot of stuff into tight quarters. Small hallways combined with, likely, a higher than average foot traffic made for some tight quarters and the desire to unfortunatly move a little more quickly. All being said it still had some great displays and a vast variety of sea-life to appreciate. The gift shop (also tight) was quite impressive with the array of choices (more London themed than aquarium) and quite fair prices on most of the gifts, terri got several, Bodhi laid claim to a stuffed orca and I acquired a change purse (a necessity in this country). back outside we could see the preparations for halloween, which is oddly not as big a deal here as in the States being that it originated here. The London Eye is impressive and I can not say as I would like to go on it, one it spins very slowly, which while understandable, if you decide shortly after going up (after waiting in a very long line) that you do not like it you are stuck for quite a while. I took quite a few pictures on the trip, all of which were uploaded on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
That will be it for now, I am getting kind of sleepy. I will have plenty more to write when the time (and computer) is available. Next time I will probably speak about my daughters first time seeing snow in her life, my trials and tribulations in searching for a job and hopefully even a review of another movie (hopefully the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace) or maybe a DVD (Incredible Hulk or Iron Man).
Thank you for reading, cheers
Peace... One Love, Chris
We are really enjoying ourselves here and our daughter now says she thinks she would like to stay here to live.
We saw Igor two weekends ago, while it was an somewhat enjoyable waste of time, I believe it is a movie incorrectly advertised to kids (a main character is a suicidal rabbit who attempts to continually find ways to kill himself) when most of the humor is slightly more adult than the Shrek movie's. Though the movie was not bad there were a number of trailers for movie that I believe we would have preferred to have been wathcing. Overall I give the movie a C. The cinema however, was very nice with real prices comparable to the US (a movie is expensive anywhere), the popcorn was salty (they do not have butter at the cinema) but tasted better than most and the nachos come with not only cheese and peppers but salsa.
Last week my daughter had what they call here half term. It is a week long break in the middle of the school term. We were not expecting until about a week prior and we ended up lounging around the house most of the time, especially since terri was busy in workshops and meeting Mon-Wed. By Wed night my daughter, Bodhi, was so bored she was nearly ready to pop out of her skin. So at more or less the last minute we decided to go to the aquarium in London. This would be me and my daughters first time in London and our first time taking the train. We were excited to say the least.The train ride was relatively short and uneventful but we are enjoying not driving and being able to see things.
London, we were also somewhat unaware that the aquarium is located smack dab in one of the main tourist spots of London. The London Eye (or Millenium Wheel), Big Ben ( not all that big), and the houses of Parliament very close-by, along with several museums the only saving grace I beleive from making it total pandemonium was the fact that it wasn't a bigger holiday. The line to get into the aquarium was about an hour long. Plenty of time to realize that you are hungry and one of the little food stands is just perfect. We had a small bag of fresh from the fryer donuts with a light sprinkling of sugar, tey were probably the best donuts we have ever had. The lady behind us was very nice and gave a an extra 2 for 1 coupon that you get to use when you take the train into London, saving us a decent bit of money. The aquarium definitely highlighted the fact that england crams a whole lot of stuff into tight quarters. Small hallways combined with, likely, a higher than average foot traffic made for some tight quarters and the desire to unfortunatly move a little more quickly. All being said it still had some great displays and a vast variety of sea-life to appreciate. The gift shop (also tight) was quite impressive with the array of choices (more London themed than aquarium) and quite fair prices on most of the gifts, terri got several, Bodhi laid claim to a stuffed orca and I acquired a change purse (a necessity in this country). back outside we could see the preparations for halloween, which is oddly not as big a deal here as in the States being that it originated here. The London Eye is impressive and I can not say as I would like to go on it, one it spins very slowly, which while understandable, if you decide shortly after going up (after waiting in a very long line) that you do not like it you are stuck for quite a while. I took quite a few pictures on the trip, all of which were uploaded on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
That will be it for now, I am getting kind of sleepy. I will have plenty more to write when the time (and computer) is available. Next time I will probably speak about my daughters first time seeing snow in her life, my trials and tribulations in searching for a job and hopefully even a review of another movie (hopefully the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace) or maybe a DVD (Incredible Hulk or Iron Man).
Thank you for reading, cheers
Peace... One Love, Chris
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