Hey everyone, Oye! Oi galara!!!
its been awhile since I've written on this one, but if you want to know whats going on with me in Brazil check out this blog bkingyainbrazil.blogspot.com . I feel like this post makes more sense here vs. my other blog.
So yesterday I somehow got pulled into being a bus monitor for 41 twelve and thirteen year old Brazilian students who were going to Hopi Hari, the largest theme park in Latin America. One of my friends here is a math teacher at the school and he asked me if I would go because they were having trouble finding enough adults to go because normal adults have jobs that don't let them leave on a Thursday for the whole day. So I went, and it was a blast the kids were good...mostly...and I think Jr. High age kids are funny in whatever language. Quickly though, at the very first they could tell I wasn't Brazilian but they weren't sure where I was from so I asked them to guess. They guessed first Portuguese, then Italian, then Argentine so my Portuguese must be getting better. Pride points yaya. (I know pride isn't always good, but come on that's pretty cool)
My whole life I have been terrified of heights, like I used to be afraid of riding escalators, so I was leery to go to an amusement park. Once I got there though I didn't have to wait in lines because I had a professors pass (perks yaya) but I went directly to the big roller coaster, then the huge tower that lets you drop, and I wasn't that scared. Don't get me wrong I was a scared, and I had a good time, but I didn't have the absolute terror that I have had in the past, and whats weird is it missed it. It let me feel alive, real, and concentrated. As I've gotten older most things have become blurrier and once strong feelings have gotten less, I know its a part of growing up and I started to feel stronger about different things. Its like how your tongue changes as you get older and you start to enjoy the flavors of different things. Like as a kid, I hated onions but today I really enjoy them and I used to love peperoni pizza more than anything else, but now its just ok. My tastes have changed, but when I eat pizza I miss enjoying it the way that I did. I miss feeling with utter confidence about what is right and what is wrong, what is politically right, and what is best. I miss being afraid, of being certain, I miss knowing I was right, but I can't go back to black and white as much as I miss it, but my tastes have changed and I'm liking gray.
Yall be careful y espero que estes con una sonrisa
Friday, September 24, 2010
accidently posted twice
well i accidentally posted twice, but i dont know how to delete.
look above for what i was writing about
look above for what i was writing about
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Jeff and Steve
Oye! Che! Oi!!
Days are getting closer to me being in Brazil! I leave July the first. I started a new blog http://bkingyainbrazil.blogspot.com/ all about Brazil stuff, so if you would like to hear about whats going down in Brazil then I'll be writing there too, using this one more for stuff I'm thinking about and the other for what I'm doing and updates about Brazil.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the motivations for why we as people do what we do. I think that everyone almost always has their own self interest at heart when they are doing anything, even if it is altruistic. I think that people often do good deeds in order for reciprocation, even if its only a good feeling that you get from doing it you are still selfish in some way. I mean I question if there is really any selfless act. I think about celebrities who adopt children from other countries, and I wonder, what part of that was done in order to look good to the public. Its difficult when you think about motivations to make things right and wrong. Like for instance lets say Jeff saves Steve's life, but Jeff only saved it in order to become famous and to tell other people about saving him. Is it still a good deed?
To me, it seems that Steve would say that it doesn't matter about the motivations, because Steve is still alive. I think the same goes for the orphans that we see celebrities adopting, if they are having a better life than what they would have had then the motivations don't matter as much...because there is worth in the results. However, I think that is important to try and recognize what it is that makes us do what we do, and try to diminish the self-centered ways we have of looking at things. But, its almost impossible to do so and I think there is no reason to feel absolutely guilty about these motivations, as long as you recognize that they exist and that its not exactly a good thing.
But thats just what I'm thinking about
what do you think?
yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Days are getting closer to me being in Brazil! I leave July the first. I started a new blog http://bkingyainbrazil.blogspot.com/ all about Brazil stuff, so if you would like to hear about whats going down in Brazil then I'll be writing there too, using this one more for stuff I'm thinking about and the other for what I'm doing and updates about Brazil.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the motivations for why we as people do what we do. I think that everyone almost always has their own self interest at heart when they are doing anything, even if it is altruistic. I think that people often do good deeds in order for reciprocation, even if its only a good feeling that you get from doing it you are still selfish in some way. I mean I question if there is really any selfless act. I think about celebrities who adopt children from other countries, and I wonder, what part of that was done in order to look good to the public. Its difficult when you think about motivations to make things right and wrong. Like for instance lets say Jeff saves Steve's life, but Jeff only saved it in order to become famous and to tell other people about saving him. Is it still a good deed?
To me, it seems that Steve would say that it doesn't matter about the motivations, because Steve is still alive. I think the same goes for the orphans that we see celebrities adopting, if they are having a better life than what they would have had then the motivations don't matter as much...because there is worth in the results. However, I think that is important to try and recognize what it is that makes us do what we do, and try to diminish the self-centered ways we have of looking at things. But, its almost impossible to do so and I think there is no reason to feel absolutely guilty about these motivations, as long as you recognize that they exist and that its not exactly a good thing.
But thats just what I'm thinking about
what do you think?
yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Power
Buenas everyone
Crazy things are happening, I can't even explain it to you. Portuguese, Brazil, paintings, work, class, travel, michael dell, Austin, Bryan, Spanish, Houston, San Antonio, Fredricksburg, Ex-state representatives, San Angelo, Kermit, Denver City, Oplin, TV, reading, music, caffeine, love, dreams, and schemes have all been in my life lately. I could probably write about 40 blog posts about my life the last few weeks but that is the condensed version. I've been moving around a lot lately and it feels good. It was brought to my attention that i have been ignoring my blog since the last time it snowed...regrettable, seeing as I am now wearing shorts. So here is a blog.
In my sophomore year at ACU my roommate Jordan and I had two posters side by side on the wall when you walked into our dorm room. One poster was of Gandhi, and the other of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Many people would come in and laugh, rightly so, because at first glance it would seem that these two men would be completely opposite in their ideologies. Gandhi, who taught non-violence and Che who killed thousands of people; how could we let them share wall space? Our joking answer was that they were like the good and bad angels that you see on the old cartoons one on the right shoulder and one on the left, however in reality we saw them as two men who were very alike. Che and Gandhi were both revolutionary figures who wanted to change the reality that was around them into something better. They took two completely different stances on violence, Gandhi wrote on satyagraha and ahimsa attempting to show that through training and diligence one could learn to overcome their passions and actively work to change a system while at the same time avoiding violent nature; El Che, on the other hand, was famous for preferring confrontation to compromise, and literally wrote the book on guerrilla warfare. When we look at the two figures it is easy to get caught up in the grandeur of their stories; especially with Guevara, the beleaguered asthmatic warrior fighting for a change that he believed to be right. His travels and the adventure that he made his life are very intriguing and make me want to be alive and be a part of this world; to leave an impact. Gandhi lived with simplicity greater than most men can ever hope to achieve, living in community, fasting and living with a vegetarian diet. He took the writings of Thoreau and applied them to the group level, leading the way to civil disobedience he was followed by Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. It seems to me that there are a few choices that everyone had to make in their life... One is whether or not to try to change what they see around them, and two, if they do decide to make a change do then take the Che or the Gandhi route...or is there something in the middle. I believe that violence is wrong because I know there is little difference between me and anyone else in the world. There is a better answer than violence almost every time. However for me I think that my Che/Gandhi dilemma is that while I see an issue with the world around me Che on my shoulder tells me to try to help in the most adventurous way that I can muster...and the Gandhi side tells me that there is a better way if I will be patient and unalterable. I guess I will continue to have the two people on my shoulders telling me what do.
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Crazy things are happening, I can't even explain it to you. Portuguese, Brazil, paintings, work, class, travel, michael dell, Austin, Bryan, Spanish, Houston, San Antonio, Fredricksburg, Ex-state representatives, San Angelo, Kermit, Denver City, Oplin, TV, reading, music, caffeine, love, dreams, and schemes have all been in my life lately. I could probably write about 40 blog posts about my life the last few weeks but that is the condensed version. I've been moving around a lot lately and it feels good. It was brought to my attention that i have been ignoring my blog since the last time it snowed...regrettable, seeing as I am now wearing shorts. So here is a blog.
In my sophomore year at ACU my roommate Jordan and I had two posters side by side on the wall when you walked into our dorm room. One poster was of Gandhi, and the other of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Many people would come in and laugh, rightly so, because at first glance it would seem that these two men would be completely opposite in their ideologies. Gandhi, who taught non-violence and Che who killed thousands of people; how could we let them share wall space? Our joking answer was that they were like the good and bad angels that you see on the old cartoons one on the right shoulder and one on the left, however in reality we saw them as two men who were very alike. Che and Gandhi were both revolutionary figures who wanted to change the reality that was around them into something better. They took two completely different stances on violence, Gandhi wrote on satyagraha and ahimsa attempting to show that through training and diligence one could learn to overcome their passions and actively work to change a system while at the same time avoiding violent nature; El Che, on the other hand, was famous for preferring confrontation to compromise, and literally wrote the book on guerrilla warfare. When we look at the two figures it is easy to get caught up in the grandeur of their stories; especially with Guevara, the beleaguered asthmatic warrior fighting for a change that he believed to be right. His travels and the adventure that he made his life are very intriguing and make me want to be alive and be a part of this world; to leave an impact. Gandhi lived with simplicity greater than most men can ever hope to achieve, living in community, fasting and living with a vegetarian diet. He took the writings of Thoreau and applied them to the group level, leading the way to civil disobedience he was followed by Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. It seems to me that there are a few choices that everyone had to make in their life... One is whether or not to try to change what they see around them, and two, if they do decide to make a change do then take the Che or the Gandhi route...or is there something in the middle. I believe that violence is wrong because I know there is little difference between me and anyone else in the world. There is a better answer than violence almost every time. However for me I think that my Che/Gandhi dilemma is that while I see an issue with the world around me Che on my shoulder tells me to try to help in the most adventurous way that I can muster...and the Gandhi side tells me that there is a better way if I will be patient and unalterable. I guess I will continue to have the two people on my shoulders telling me what do.
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
snow
Hey Everybody! Buenas tardes... Boa tarde
heya!!
I hope this finds you well and that your day is going unbelievably well. Today I had boot camp class in the morning, Spanish class, and a test in international law. Then I went to work and now I'm back here.
So yesterday we had a snow day, which was amazing, but this morning there was still a ton of snow on the ground and the remnants of people's snow days all over the place. I saw snow men, snow sharks, snow trains, and an igloo. It made me start thinking about the snow. Snow is ironic. The people who really like the snow and go out in their front yards and play in it but the more you play in the snow the faster it melts. (At least in Texas where snow only lasts one day) It seems that snow is a lot like other things in the world where the people who like it end up going through what they have a whole lot faster than the people who don't like what they have. The other crazy thing is the more snow you get the less its worth to you... like people in Alaska probably don't care about nor want more snow. However if you compare how much fun kids from Texas have with the sames white H2O...every once in awhile, its not the same; the whole law of marginal utility stuff (thanks coach P) and relativity theories all wrapped up into one.
well thats what I was thinking about today.
yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
heya!!
I hope this finds you well and that your day is going unbelievably well. Today I had boot camp class in the morning, Spanish class, and a test in international law. Then I went to work and now I'm back here.
So yesterday we had a snow day, which was amazing, but this morning there was still a ton of snow on the ground and the remnants of people's snow days all over the place. I saw snow men, snow sharks, snow trains, and an igloo. It made me start thinking about the snow. Snow is ironic. The people who really like the snow and go out in their front yards and play in it but the more you play in the snow the faster it melts. (At least in Texas where snow only lasts one day) It seems that snow is a lot like other things in the world where the people who like it end up going through what they have a whole lot faster than the people who don't like what they have. The other crazy thing is the more snow you get the less its worth to you... like people in Alaska probably don't care about nor want more snow. However if you compare how much fun kids from Texas have with the sames white H2O...every once in awhile, its not the same; the whole law of marginal utility stuff (thanks coach P) and relativity theories all wrapped up into one.
well thats what I was thinking about today.
yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
good old days
Buenas!!!
Hey everybody how are you all tonight?
Today we had another snow day here in Abilene... my roommates and I went to the brand new Pizza Inn here in town and then we came back and had a snow ball fight. Then I did some laundry and watched a weird zombie movie with the roomies. All in all a good day, I should have been a little more productive but I didn't.
I just noticed that this is my 50th blog post, that's halfway to what my goal was and to a point still is. I'm more glad that its a cathartic experience.
Sometimes I wonder about when people talk about the good old days, if those days were really as good as they remember. Some people seem to think that there was some kind of moral purity that is associated with older generations. I think some of that has to do with the childhood innocence that people remember from past ages. Also I think that the same issues we are facing today people were dealing with them too. I think that today our world is just a whole lot more exposed and there is media everywhere. I mean look at this blog that I'm writing, I feel like I let a little of me into this every time I put my words out onto the net for the world to read. There is facebook and twitter where some people let everyone know when they have finished brushing every individual tooth. Then there is the openness of people about things that in the past were taboo to talk about. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing but it seems like the only way to solve problems is to bring issues out into the light and discuss them. I think that when we look at the racism, of the past and the memoirs of people who were living in the drug/free love years you could argue that we might even be moving society in a better direction by talking about the issues like STD's and the effects of drugs than ignoring them.
If you look I know today we have less racism and there is more awareness about what is going on around the world in places like Darfur and Burma, but we still have a whole lot of problems; old ones that linger and new ones that we are developing ourselves. I hope that this generation can create a time where the good old days were really good.
But thanks again for reading and I hope this finds you well
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Hey everybody how are you all tonight?
Today we had another snow day here in Abilene... my roommates and I went to the brand new Pizza Inn here in town and then we came back and had a snow ball fight. Then I did some laundry and watched a weird zombie movie with the roomies. All in all a good day, I should have been a little more productive but I didn't.
I just noticed that this is my 50th blog post, that's halfway to what my goal was and to a point still is. I'm more glad that its a cathartic experience.
Sometimes I wonder about when people talk about the good old days, if those days were really as good as they remember. Some people seem to think that there was some kind of moral purity that is associated with older generations. I think some of that has to do with the childhood innocence that people remember from past ages. Also I think that the same issues we are facing today people were dealing with them too. I think that today our world is just a whole lot more exposed and there is media everywhere. I mean look at this blog that I'm writing, I feel like I let a little of me into this every time I put my words out onto the net for the world to read. There is facebook and twitter where some people let everyone know when they have finished brushing every individual tooth. Then there is the openness of people about things that in the past were taboo to talk about. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing but it seems like the only way to solve problems is to bring issues out into the light and discuss them. I think that when we look at the racism, of the past and the memoirs of people who were living in the drug/free love years you could argue that we might even be moving society in a better direction by talking about the issues like STD's and the effects of drugs than ignoring them.
If you look I know today we have less racism and there is more awareness about what is going on around the world in places like Darfur and Burma, but we still have a whole lot of problems; old ones that linger and new ones that we are developing ourselves. I hope that this generation can create a time where the good old days were really good.
But thanks again for reading and I hope this finds you well
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Holding up traffic
Boa tarde
Buenas tardes
Today is Sing Song here at ACU, and I am currently in between the first performance of the day and the second one. Sing Song is ridiculous.
I'm sitting here watching Pawn Stars with my roomy brooks. This show is pretty funny, its like Antique Road Show but with recurring characters and tattoos.
It's pretty funny watching the ways they do what do. Their entire life revolves around haggling. It's very interesting to see them work at trying to get people to sell their stuff for cheaper. It's like watching a social experiment every time. Its amazing to see the things that people have squirreled away in their houses or backyards. My grandpa is one of those people, he has his backyard full of stuff, anything from glass insulators for telephone poles to old satellite dishes. You name it he probably has it. He has a notorious reputation for stopping and picking things up out of the middle of he road. I know one time he actually stopped his truck in the middle of traffic and got out to go pick something up. It was stuck. So he went back to his truck and went to his tool box and got a screw driver to pry up the street treasures. All of this while holding up traffic.
Pawn Stars really gets me conflicted, because on one side I see people come into the shop with items that are really incredibly old and are apart of history others come in with stuff like Rolex watches or antique cars. Now my conflict is this, I think some of that stuff is incredible and I think its really interesting the connection that you can make with the owners of the past. I think that its also important to study history to understand why we do the things that we do, but its still just stuff. So while I may have tendencies to be a collector like my grandpa and I love the historical side, and the memories that you can associate with things, I still think we don't need all that much stuff.
So this post has bleed over from yesterday onto today, but Sing Song was fun.
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa.
Buenas tardes
Today is Sing Song here at ACU, and I am currently in between the first performance of the day and the second one. Sing Song is ridiculous.
I'm sitting here watching Pawn Stars with my roomy brooks. This show is pretty funny, its like Antique Road Show but with recurring characters and tattoos.
It's pretty funny watching the ways they do what do. Their entire life revolves around haggling. It's very interesting to see them work at trying to get people to sell their stuff for cheaper. It's like watching a social experiment every time. Its amazing to see the things that people have squirreled away in their houses or backyards. My grandpa is one of those people, he has his backyard full of stuff, anything from glass insulators for telephone poles to old satellite dishes. You name it he probably has it. He has a notorious reputation for stopping and picking things up out of the middle of he road. I know one time he actually stopped his truck in the middle of traffic and got out to go pick something up. It was stuck. So he went back to his truck and went to his tool box and got a screw driver to pry up the street treasures. All of this while holding up traffic.
Pawn Stars really gets me conflicted, because on one side I see people come into the shop with items that are really incredibly old and are apart of history others come in with stuff like Rolex watches or antique cars. Now my conflict is this, I think some of that stuff is incredible and I think its really interesting the connection that you can make with the owners of the past. I think that its also important to study history to understand why we do the things that we do, but its still just stuff. So while I may have tendencies to be a collector like my grandpa and I love the historical side, and the memories that you can associate with things, I still think we don't need all that much stuff.
So this post has bleed over from yesterday onto today, but Sing Song was fun.
Yall be careful and ojala que estes con una sonrisa.
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