sethland's Xanga

My road-trip mix tape

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:56:25 GMT

I like these songs because they fill you with a sense of longing or excitement for things beyond, at the end of the journey

Home to You by The Peasall Sisters

Very sweet song of longing to go home

Distance by Hikaru Utada

On Jordan's Stormy Banks by Jars of Clay

My first job: childcare (aka pet-sitting)

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:51:28 GMT

The very first thing I got paid to do was probably to pet-sit neighbors' dogs. In Ohio, all dogs are bark-y and mean and chained to doghouses. I was so scared because I didn't want to get eaten, so sometimes I failed to go within their "circle of influence" to change the food and water.

Corrections Reform

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:04:50 GMT

Read a good blogpost on one guy's experience corresponding to a convict in prison. Some salient points of the article I will summarize here:

1. The U.S. incarcerates more of its population than any other country in the world - BY FAR! About 1% of the adult population - 783 per 100k people; Cuba is #2 at about 580.
2. From 1925-1975, the US had about 110 prisoners per 110k, in line with most developed countries today. Since then we've increased that population by sevenfold.

So what has changed since then? Has the US gotten 7X more dangerous? Highly doubtful. Since that time there has been a political revolution under the guise of zero-tolerance policies. Sentences have been increased, California has a 3 strikes law, etc. A major component of that increase is due to drug offenders.

I think it's time to ask ourselves: are we handling our "corrections" properly? Are we treating felons more out of retribution for their crimes than with an effort to help them live constructive lives on the outside? The scariest thought is that it is not very politically popular to champion "felon's rights".

Science

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:23:46 GMT

Why are we lagging in science education? We don't have a jiving theme song as good as this one:

How to split a meal to save money

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:47:24 GMT

We all know that meeting aggressive savings goals can be a little painful on one's lifestyle, but I feel the pain every time Alexa and I go out to eat. It's not that I go home with an empty stomach, but I am acutely aware of the glares and stares that come our way from waiters when we put in our order to split just one entree with water on the side. I'm a highly empathetic person and don't want to look like Johnny Cheapskate in front of other people. Fortunately, we've found that it's quite possible for a couple to eat out, be satisfied, and not be a cheapskate.

The trick to successfully splitting a meal with a spouse is sticking to a few key principles. First, it is an open secret most restaurants serve more than twice the amount of food an average person needs for a meal. Psychologically, we feel compelled to eat whatever is on our plate. But if you take your entree and put it on two plates, it's actually more than enough food than you need. Secondly, and perhaps most difficult, is the quest to agree on a dish two spouses would like to share. There is no easy advice I can give, but the process involves clear communication about the types of food you desire, affirmation of the spouse's desires, and the willingness to agree on something that wasn't necessarily your first choice. In other words, it is wonderful practice for building all the core marriage skills! Third, and finally, ordering small doesn't mean you have to be a cheapskate. If Alexa and I split a $15 entree (comes out to $7.50 each) and we had good service, we wouldn't feel bad about leaving a $4-5 tip, which equates to roughly $20-30 of food.A generous tip is not really that much to spare in the big scheme of things, especially when you're saving $10-20 on the second entree' you skipped. It's just hard sometimes to assure our waiter of our good intentions at the beginning of meals.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:57:48 GMT

holy cow...we were there!

Church in Japan

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:45:33 GMT

Transport in Japan

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:48:36 GMT

A few clips of the quirky modes of transport in Japan.

Foolishness

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:34:00 GMT

As a country, we must learn military restraint against Russia as they bully their neighbors... as hard as that is to swallow. Believe me, I don't think very highly of the current Russian government/regime that is slowly tightening it's grip of power around it's nation and making a self-serving power statement in the world. My initial reaction was a desire to answer Russia to keep them in check.

But doing so would be to learn nothing from Iraq. Before we invaded we were focussed one thing: a menace of a leader creating problems. We were quick on the trigger because we wanted to send a message. From it, I hope that we are learning that war is not at all a glorious solution: people die, it costs a ton of money, we unleash undesirable elements of power, and being the "winner" can be a dreadful responsibility. No one wins at war. It should only be used in self defense and only when significantly threatened. America's long-held view of itself as the world's policeman, standing up for justice, is so arrogant and our actions are subject to corruption, as much as anyone. We need to stand up for certain ideals, like peaceful free democracies and free societies, but our list of allies is so varied in their trust-worthiness, that it seems arbitrary and can only be explained in a history of geo-strategic "interests" in the region.

On that note: upon learning more about Georgia this past week, there are some things to like about it: it is a pro-west democracy and they have been staunchly pro-American. They contributed the 3rd most troops to Iraq after the UK. Because of this, we feel obligated be there for them because they were one of the few countries supporting us in the operation. But it turns out that Georgia has question marks around it's democracy and military actions too. And it foolishly invaded a breakaway province that was protected by Russia. Do we have an obligation to support an ally in a foolish move? Additionally, Russia is made to look foolish for it's bull-headedness and now will not be trusted by the West at all. It also goes without saying that the US has spent most of its moral capitol on the Iraq invasion. What can we say about an unprovoked invasion on a sovereign nation? How can we say that we support free democracies when we have very unusual alliances all over the world?

Maybe the best hope for this situation is that the foolishness could be exposed quickly and then we can hope that we learn quickly from our actions.

olympics observations

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:12:07 GMT

1. This might be China's Olympics (in terms of medal count), but this might be South Korea's greatest Olympics.. they're currently 6th behind US, China, Russia, UK, & France, but ahead of Germany and Japan... definitely over-achieving.

2. You can spin the Olympics however you want: if you're ahead on the golds but behind in total you rank by #golds, otherwise you rank by #total medals.