Starting year 40.

Yep, today starts my 40th year of life. Amazing to look back at all that's happened in the past 39 years. When I was born, Apollo 9 was launched, Richard Nixon was President, and computers filled up a whole room. Star Trek was just finishing it last (and lamest) season, and in the real world, the Concorde had just been tested. It was the year of Super Bowl III, Led Zeppelin I, and Apollo 11. It was also the year of the My Lai massacre, the Manson Family murders, and the Altamont Concert violence.

I came to life the same year as the Internet (well, the Arpanet) and Unix (well, Unics), and the Boeing 747, which I have many memories of from my family's frequent trips across the Atlantic to and from Germany. Since then, the 'net has grown from three nodes, taking over 25 years to grow to 18,000 sites -- but to over 100 million Web sites today. Unix grew from a two-user system primarily intended for text processing of patent applications, to a powerful tool that handles the majority of Internet processing, but can run on everybody's home desktop. Only air travel has become more annoying rather than more useful, with terror fears turning simple travel into a major hassle.

Although I grew up thinking that speaking two languages was normal (until I started getting more American friends), I thought two would always be enough - now I can hold conversations in four. I figured that if I were to live outside of the Maryland/Virginia/DC enclave, it would be in Europe, but now I've been in California for over ten years. I always thought of Europe as my "normal" vacation destination, but these days I take weekends in Mexico and am planning my third trip to Brazil. Still need to visit Asia, though!

Aside from just school friends in Germany, I know have online friends all over the world. Growing up, I never would have imagined corresponding regularly and in real-time with people in Brazil, Finland, the UK, and many other places around the world and in cities throughout the US. And many of them, I can talk to just by pulling a little phone out of my pocket and spending a few pennies. How far we've come from the days when one company owned all the phones, they were on the walls and tabletops at home or office, and long distance (especially internationally) was a luxury for special occasions.

But despite all of these advances that bring us closer together, some changes have been more disturbing. Instead of Vietnam, we have Iraq and Afghanistan. While I honestly believe that the danger from terrorism is no greater now than it was 39 years ago, the rhetoric of fear continues to dominate politics in this country and abroad, putting a shadow of oppression over us that serves not to protect us, but to support the grip on power of the elite. In many ways our country seems to be in the grip of a fear that is pushed upon us by powerful people in government, who seem to want to constantly remind us that freedom is not as important as being protected from the boogeymen of the world.

Still, I have high hopes that our ever-more-interconnected world, with the skills of bright, creative, freedom-minded people, will bring about the changes needed to challenge the power elites that use their auras of authority and legitimacy for their own benefit. The world is changing more rapidly and more wonderfully than they will be able to handle. The generations growing up now are becoming familiar with the tools and ideals of this new world, and soon the dinosaurs that can't figure out how to live in it will die off.

They say that an optimist sees the glass as half-full, and the pessimist sees it as half-empty, while the engineer declares that the glass is simply too large. What should I call myself, the one who says that someone stole half of the glass of rights and freedoms, and I will champion the cause to see them restored? :)

Catch-up

Yes, it's been a few days. I've been busily working on photos from the last few shoots I've done. That, and getting ready to head down to Mexico this coming weekend to do some photo shoots I arranged on my last trip.

The workouts are still going well. I'll probably throw short updates in here after I work out as an incentive to make sure I do them. This morning, 30 minutes on the elliptical, for 2.03 miles.

Back from Mexico

Had a great overnight 24-hours in Mexico this weekend. Went down with my photo partner Thomas, to try to line up some models to photograph on our next trip in two weeks (when we'll be there for two nights). Got a lot of interest because we had some new pics with us that looked quite good. Was rough staying out partying and dancing until almost 4am, though!

I should take more casual pics on these trips. Would be nice to document them.

Beer of the weekend: Mostly Dos Equis Lager, but one of our regular bar stops has Dos Equis Amber on draught. So I get that when I can!

Sore but content

Yesterday's workout really beat me up. I think I overdid my leg workout, especially on the Hack Squat machine. By the time I finished with my weights, my legs were like jelly and I was too exhausted to even go upstairs and do my cardio workout. At least I figure I should get some good gains out of it.

Standard Thursday happy hour last night, this time at the Bistro West in Carlsbad. Beer last night was Fat Tire, a decent Belgian-style ale. I recommend the Slider Trio at this place for some yummy eats, especially at happy hour prices.

Chicachic Event at the Keating Hotel

I had a fun time last night at my friend Cristiane's event at the Keating Hotel in downtown San Diego. A few times a year she has a happy-hourish event to show off her line of Brazilian-styled handbags, belts, and accessories. It's great mingling time with fun people, and I get to practice my Portuguese with Cris, who is from São Paulo, Brasil. I got a bunch of pictures of some of her designs and of her with the other attendees, but got back too late to include any in this post. (So tired!) See her work at http://lachicachic.com/.

My one drink last night was a martini, and fortunately the bartender listened and made it the way I like. About one part vermouth to three parts gin (when I asked for a martini, he actually asked, "Vodka?"! I didn't say "vodka martini", did I?), and stirred, not shaken. Most people want martinis with much less vermouth, but I like the flavor of it. And for drinks that are all alcohol (no juices) stirring makes for a much smoother taste.

Beer of the Evening: Black Butte Porter

As I mentioned, I do like porter. Black Butte is brewed by Deschutes Brewery, in Bend, Oregon. It's got a malty flavor with hints of coffee and chocolate, and is quite refreshing. This is my next-to-last bottle in my fridge!

I did buy two six-packs of other beer at the grocery tonight, but I won't spoil the surprise.

Beginning

This is my first post. I decided to gear up for the new year (yes, I know it's five weeks away) by starting to blog about a few of the things I enjoy.

Free: I like freedom. I mean real freedom. I am a staunch anarcho-capitalist. I believe the saying that "that government governs best which governs least", which (according to Thoreau) means that the ultimate government would govern not at all. I believe that taxation is robbery (money taken from you at the point of a gun), that the military are hired killers (albeit our hired killers), and that everyone should have the right to have (and defend with force) their life, liberty, and property.


Beer: I like good beer. This does not refer to beer made by Anheuser-Busch, Miller, or Coors. Even though I spend time in Mexico, it does not refer to Corona, Sol, or Tecate. (Although I have been known to drink the latter in a pinch.) I prefer ales with body, flavour, and bitterness. Pale Ale and IPA are generally my favorite styles, followed by Porter and Belgian Ale. Guinness, which seems to be a favorite of amateur beer snobs, is only moderately good beer, and generally overrated when bought and consumed in the US.


Shots(1): I like good tequila. The word "shots" is a bit of a misnomer since I don't actually "do shots" of good tequila. Good tequila is for sipping, like good scotch whiskey. I don't drink Cuervo, especially Cuervo Gold. That is nasty tequila. I prefer reposado tequilas, which are barrel-aged and have wonderful, complex flavors. Sometimes I even drink añejo tequilas, which are aged even longer, but sometimes are too mellow and lose the agave flavor. My current tequila of choice is Afamado reposado.

Shots(2): I like to take pictures. I take posed pictures of models, and I take pictures of events. I take pictures when I travel, and pictures of my friends. I got an annual pass to the San Diego Zoo so I can go take zoo pictures, but I have only been once so far. (My trip to the Wild Animal Park was postponed because of the wildfires last month.) I will certainly be sharing some of my pictures here, since I love creating photos for fun, photos for art, and photos to share. Over the past year I have started doing more photography in Mexico, and with my photo partner Thomas, have been delivering a lot of photo prints to various people in Tijuana (my usual site for non-US photograpy). I'm always looking for beautiful people, places, and things to take beautiful pictures of.


The World: I like to travel. I've been to more than half of the fifty US states. I've been to Canada and Mexico, several countries in Europe, and to Brazil. I enjoy learning languages (I speak German and English fluently, and study Spanish and Portuguese at the moment). I love to experience new cultures, meet new people, eat interesting foods, hear different music, and see fantastic places. One of my favorite college classes was Intercultural Communication, and I hope to work toward a college degree in International Culture & Commerce. I love that the Internet is allowing people around the world to have greater understanding of each other, while cursing those who attack and denigrate those whose culture is different.


You'll likely see a few other topics come up from time to time. I do enjoy computer gaming, so I'll surely talk about that. I'll probably talk about my "day job", which is managing Unix computer systems for a major US defense contractor. I've started paying more attention to health and fitness in the past few years, which is becoming more important as I near age forty.

And that's all for today!