I love the Ypsi-Arbor Bowling Alley sign. It really jumps out at you.
At left you can see CNN's estimate of what an Obama versus McCain presidency would mean for your taxes. While the ruling classes in America are becoming increasingly elitist (especially the Supreme Court, followed swiftly by the US Senate), the nation is becoming more populist. That's why Obama was able to raise record-breaking amounts of money from the common voter while Senator Clinton and Senator McCain nearly maxed out a majority of their contributors.
I'd also like to address Euchre. It's not a "Michigan card game" as some people say. It's actually pre-dominantly not even American.From Wikipedia: The British Isles, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all have large followings of the game. Euchre has declined in popularity in the United States since the 19th century, when it was widely regarded as the national card game, but it retains a strong following in some regions. Today, the game is most predominant in the western New York area, as well as some areas of the Midwest, especially areas with significant populations of German-Americans who settled in these areas during the 19th century.
Places I wanted to work after graduating:
1. Coke: Such a classic feel, european, and huge room for career and geographic mobility.
2. Whirlpool: Amazing management structure that is extremelly reflective upon personal success in the company.
3. Global Forex Trading: A truely brilliant company founded upon intricate calculations and formulas that decipher the world of currency trading. "I'll buy 2 million of your Yen for 1 million US Dollars!" Offices in New York, Chicago, Tokyo, London, Sydney... world headquarters in Ada, Michigan.
4. Google: I know, I know... but I can dream, can't I?
5. American Century Investments: Encourages good balance between personal and professional life.
6. Intel: Fully paid sabbaticals and strong brand image.
7. AMD: A company whose product I very much believe in.
8. Genentech: Rated best company to work for in the United States; fights cancer.
9. Focus on the Family: My favorite non-profit organization. Great location, great message, great people.
10. J.M. Smucker: 100% tuition reimbursement. The unusual part: There's no limit. And who doesn't want to make jam all day for 50k+
Ashleigh and Paola, my buddies from my trip to Spain:
The Quotable Nate Brooks:
"You know, Dan, there would be nothing more attractive to a girl than you being unavailable."
"You should keep shaving. When you had the monstrous sideburns they were so disturbing, ruggedly handsome, and manly at once that I was quite intimidated."
Fear
I think everyone is afraid of something. People fear loneliness, violence, betrayal, etc... My big fear? I fear people forgetting how much I treasure their friendship...
When I was young I had a best friend named Jordan. He had some mental disabilities, but we were the closest of pals for years. When I moved here he forgot who I was completely within a few years. When I first noticed his memories were fading it was painful. He forgot details, then chunks... then our entire friendship--possibly even my name by now.
A friend in middle school hung out with me every day, talked all the time, and invited me to things. Freshman year I mentioned how we didn't hang out much, but my friend couldn't remember ever having spent much time together. It felt suddenly like I had lost those experiences.
In high school someone (whose name I won't mention; if you're reading this then it isn't you though, lol) used to go dancing with me all the time when I was first learning to swing dance. She came from far away, always said she loved learning it, and she often took the initiative to plan it. Long after she mentioned how she had never liked swing--I had always peer pressured her into going. That was especially saddening.
People know I have a terrible memory, but often they are surprised when I remember a detail of some personal story or something unusual about them. I remember because I care very much... and friendship itself is something I never forget. Each and every person reading this entry is either a random stranger or else probably someone I've spent time thinking about in the last 48 hours.
Write good memories in stone; keep them always like little treasures in a little chest of precious gems. Write the bad memories in the sand and pay them no heed as waves gently smooth them away.
(Sept. 21, 2006): One can be caring, successful, respectful, honorable, wise, and other fine things, but I aim for more. I want to be those things for sure, but I also desire a special spark to my personality—a fire and excitement. I want to cook food for my spouse fit for a queen, take her to faraway countries to see sights unimaginable even by aid of pictures, and go on adventures such as camping, swimming, canoing... or even treasure hunting—for I am a pirate, after all! I desire greatness—not necessarily the position of CEO or even one with a large salary and prestige... but a career and life for which I have a passion. I want to be known as a man whose family is his life; I will just happen to have a respectable job on the side. My energy, my enthusiasm will be for showing my future family—whether merely a spouse or 20 kids as well—how amazing the gift of life can be. Happiness lies less in the scattered acts of adventure, but rather in a perpetual sense of adventure.
My good friend Maggie recently pointed out that we as humans are in a perpetual cycle of working towards something and never arriving. We go to high school to prepare for college. If we do well, we are rewarded by the necessity to strive again—this time through college. Then we graduate, and before we can relax in the satisfaction of achievement we realize that again we must strive to survive life. Work—in one form or another—will follow us for the rest of our lives.
Happiness, then, cannot neither be achieved through freedom from responsibility nor detachment from duty. Somehow we must seek happiness as my father does. Despite his cancer he has no fear of death. In fact, to say this actually marginalizes his positive attitude. He is, in fact, happy. His jokes are still present in the greatest moments of pain, and somehow his smile never seems forced—but rather it seems he would be hard pressed to NOT smile. I think this inner happiness comes from (as with me) his faith, which has taught him to cherish his wife (my mother) and children more than he cherishes himself. In this way, his own ailments are made small. Love—when love is true—cannot be diminished even with loss, and thus his happiness cannot be diminished either.
I hope for this one day—to cherish a wife more than I cherish myself, to define myself not by my work but by my love for my family and to learn how to love without exclusions or requirements. In that way I am not defined by the
cyclical parts of life but by the parts that grow forever.
Finally I return to my early commentary on adventure. What I was saying can be summarized simply: Happiness lies within oneself—within one's own perspective. My father may be having surgery, my friends may have relational issues, and I may miss a certain friend more than I knew was possible for a human being... but I can be happy with the events in my life that do shine. Last week I canned 3 varieties of salsa, made homemade tortilla chips, read a book and aced a dreaded accounting exam. I must take these and choose to base my emotions upon them. If these things disappear, I base my emotion on something else. I cannot prevent chronic sadness completely, but I can choose to live a happy life. I can choose to look forward to the life before me with a zest and excitement no matter what it brings.
So much awaits... and I will take both the good and the bad—living my life knowing that I am part of an adventure.
