Category: Reviews

Information that was, is, and will be is the topic of this post. I think I know a thing or two about it considering all the years I spent in college extracting it from books and computers. Now, as a teacher and blogger, I’m always on the lookout for information, but only good information. There’s the line!

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. If you’d like to learn ore about the prompt or write one yourself, please visit the link.

I spent the last two days at the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance. It was loaded with a ton of information I hadn’t thought about much prior to my visit. Most people are familiar with the Holocaust. Hitler and his Nazis attempted to exterminate the Jewish race. Thankfully, they were not successful. At the museum you learn how they duped a nation into thinking the Jews were the problem causing the depression and all of Germany’s social issues at the time. We learned that Jews made up only 1% of the population in Germany. Hitler gave propaganda to the people which was bad information. It made people vote for him as leader and enabled him to start his plan to destroy the Jews. This photo of an exhibit inside the museum shows a recreation of the two corridors the concentration camp victims were forced to choose from. If they were “Able Bodied” they could work probably 5 more months without starving to death in work camps. If they were women and children, their corridor led directly into the gas chamber. They looked to the sign for bad information. What signs do we look at today leading us to death and hate? More importantly, who is making those signs?

This kind of thing is still happening today. There are white supremacist websites and hate groups. There is even music that has hate-filled lyrics about restoring a perfect race. Along with the good information of the internet, there are tons of sites disseminating bad stuff tat can potentially cause killing and torture through brainwashing. That’s why it’s important to sort through bad information and cast it aside. There are things people can do to hinder hate in our times. If you’ve ever seen candlelight vigils after a hate crime, this is one way. It is like a public shaming against the killer. When Matthew Sheppard was killed for being gay, people came out in droves to a candlelight vigil and it was on all the news stations. It was one way of telling the killers “we don’t agree with you, your information is wrong.” In many ways, all of us are prejudiced but if we stop to recognize that, we may be able to get rid of some of it.

There are many ways to tell if information is bad or good. Sometimes just looking up the source can reveal a lot about it. That’s a positive aspect of the internet. If you publish a blog, be sure and speak out against the information you know to be false. Some people may ask why this applies to me. I will tell you it doesn’t apply to me directly but indirectly I see it does affect me. When someone in the world is killed in a hate crime, they lose their liberty. If one person’s liberty is snuffed out then my can be as well. So, for that reason, I am speaking about liberty for myself just as much as for them. We should do it because it’s the right thing to do of course but also for this reason. We all need to be holding the equivalent of a “candelight vigil” more often when we hear of these atrocities of hate. Always be wary of bad information. It can kill. Good information on the other hand can heal.

Black gold is my secret ingredient to living well. I use my French press in the morning to blast off and usually have an afternoon Starbucks Cafe Misto. Legend says a goat herder was minding his herd when they began to nibble on coffee beans growing there. The goats began dancing. The herder boiled some and it became the first cup of joe.

Whether it’s true or not, coffee is my secret ingredient and I am like those goats.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Ingredients.”

To find and know ones bliss is the secret of life. Well, it’s one secret anyway. I have several: guitar, blogging and technology, writing which goes along with blogging, movies, education and my pool. I spend unknown hours getting my pool up to par each year. It’s kind of like a sport for me. I measure the chemicals, take trips to the pool place, brush the sides, and countless other little activities to keep it looking good. It’s all worth it when I get to float on my back and enjoy it about half the year. Going in my pool and jacuzzi is what takes my edge off. Some people might think I am lucky though to have a pool. Sure that’s true but it’s often overlooked how much time and expense a pool requires.

After the Winter months, there is a process one goes through of restoring and opening a pool. It takes multiple backwashes and many trips to the pool place for sundries. It is aggravating but I find it well worth the struggle when the pool is sparkling and my family and I are lounging in it. I’ve already had a few days like that this season. I have to tell you, despite the expense, it is worth it! My parents had a pool when we were growing up and I have always been an avid swimmer. I love swimming at places like Lake Silverwood and Laguna Beach but I think no place can really compare with the pool at my house.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “On the Edge.”

For me, it’s more like “When did you last blog in a normal place?” because I am equipped to blog just about anywhere. I do blog in uncommon places every day. In fact the other day I made a list of things I can do on my Summer vacation, I have only 2 days left of work and then I am a Summer break guy. I listed some places on that list I am looking forward to blogging from. It is very true that sometimes as a writer you need a change of scenery. My bluetooth keyboards and iphone WordPress App make it easy to seek out creative spots to type my words. I would hope that keeps them fresh. I know it helps me write stuff I find refreshing as well as to solve problems through blogging. To answer the question about the strangest place I have blogged from, you have to go with me back in time a bit. At this time, I had a Nokia “Brick” I liked to call it. It was not a smart phone but you could text on it. I want to say this was between 2005 and 2007. There was a service then called “ping.fm” that allowed you to post from their site to multiple interfaces. It was like an early version of the now incredible IFTTT.

At any rate, it allowed posting to WordPress as long as you gave it the right credentials. It also allowed for posting updates by phone. I think you see where I am going with this. I remember a family trip to Disneyland where I was using sms messaging to post to my blog. They were snippet posts of the day. Today I’d call them “Asides” or “Statuses.” I was elated at my power to do this. When I got home, the formatting was messed up and it proved far too difficult to always strip signatures etc. to use it much. Still, it made posting ideas “from the field” possible in a whole new way. Of course, I have many many ways to do it far better now. I think it pays to be ready to blog in any situation.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Blogger in a Strange Land.”

We live in hundreds of different bodies within our lifetimes. When I was in my teens and twenties, I could eat carbs all day long and never gain a pound. In fact I wanted to gain weight but couldn’t. Now, as I am turning 46 this week, I count calories everyday and try to stay on the fast diet 1-2 days a week. Don’t knock it by the way, I’ve lost ten pounds in a month doing that and it’s taught me a lot about food. Another part of my body that’s changed since those early years is my vision. I had perfect 20/20 most my life up to age 40. Now, it’s getting worse through astigmatism. Without my glasses, I can barely read the computer screen. I suppose if I could have one super sense, it would be that. I want my 20/20 back!

I go to Vision Center in the mall for my glasses and eye checks. They are fast, that’s why I keep going back. This last year they said I needed bifocals. I snubbed at the diagnosis at first. Bifocals? I’m only 45. Eventually, I was convinced they would help my vision so I tried some on. A whole new world opened up. I could see far away and up close clear as day. I can only dream of having this sort of clarity without lenses. Heck, since I’m dreaming, how about super far away vision? Macro vision? A tiny camera implant in my eye that allows me to upload “eye photos” to Flickr. My super sense could be vision, I just don’t know which one I’d be okay giving up. Hearing would probably be my second fave. Love my music.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Super Sensitive.”

If this were my last day, I’d hit the grocery store first. All the foods that raise my triglycerides would nearly fill my basket. Just like a death row convict, my last meal would certainly be in order. Eating is such a pleasurable experience is it not? There wouldn’t be a whole lot of time to go places and in all truth, up here in the high desert town of Victorville, there isn’t much I care to do that I haven’t already done. Of course, I’d fire up the jacuzzi and do some serious backfloating in the pool but that would only be interesting for an hour or two. One thing that would be cool would be not having to worry about shutting off the heater or the pump. I’m always a teensie bit nervous I’ll leave the heater on an the next day when I’m at work it will pop on with the timer and waste gas. If this is it, who gives a sh** 😉 Right? I’d pick up my guitar and jam out on all the songs I’ve played through the years. No need to record it though right? I might check in to Facebook and Twitter real quick, of course email, but not long. If for no other reason other than to check for videos, photos, and statuses about what I can do. After all, I might run out of ideas. I’d do some relaxation and meditation. I’d make my peace with God and Jesus through the peaceful lessons of Buddha. I won’t be asking for anything except inner peace and the ability to good in the next world.

I might think about what I could leave behind. It wouldn’t be a website or anything online. Those hard drives will burn right up. I think writing on stone might be the only way to actually leave a mark. Isn’t it odd that with all our invention as a human race, it will all burn away. I suppose some people are novelty fan and have made a time capsule but as for me, no such novelty will remain. The caves at Lascaux will outlive the writings on this blog. Riley Central will become less than a flicker of electricity in a puff of dust. Obviously, I won’t be blogging. I wish they had a machine that could allow me to blog on a stone tablet. If I knew my words were going to long outlive me, I would be interested in saying a few things. I’d do all these things I have mentioned with the wonderful people in my family. I’d hug my girls and high five my son. I’d kiss my wife and tell them how much they mean to me. I’d probably give my wife a massage. If my kids needed to see anyone, I’d make sure that happened. I’m not sure what they would want but I don’t want to be selfish about the last day. Dad’s should serve their children, husbands should serve their wives. This is bordering on a depressing note but I hope I’ve given you some interesting ideas about what YOU can do on your last day

Part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday

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In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry….”