So every year I get in trouble when my birthday comes around. The discussion usually ends up sounding like this.
Friend/Family: "Andrew, what do you want for your birthday?"
Andrew: "I don't know."
Friend/Family: "Come on, there must be something you want."
Andrew: "Well, ya, cash so I can pay for (Insert Expenditure here)."
This last year was paying off the car, but that's paid off now. So, in order to avoid this conversation again I searched high and low to find suitable gifts for people to give and am even exactly one month early. I've tried to get a variety of items so that everyone has something, if they care to. Here goes nothing...
1) Pooper Scooper. I would like a shovel that I can take on day hikes with me so that we can bury that stuff that no one else wants to see... like toilet paper! Here's what I'm thinking of. (For those of you that don't know "Russell" is synonymous with "Sarah")
2) Water filter. Sarah and I love to go hiking. I'd love to take Sarah backpacking, but we need a few items first. One of which is a filter so we don't get giardia in the back woods and don't have to boil all our water.
3) Stove. Along with the one above would be a backpacking stove.
4) Backpack. And while we're at it, we both need backpacking backpacks.
5) Backpacking tent. Its really hard to backpack with a 15 lb 7 man tent.
6) All those other fun backpacking knick nacks you find at REI. We really want to go backpacking next August and/or September just so we can go wild huckleberry picking if Boeing ever gets back to me and we end up moving there. If not, the Uintahs are just as fun to play around in.
Wouldn't this be a cool area to backpack?
7) Levis. My Levis all got holes in them in the last month. I'm down to one pair of Levis. I have other pairs of pants, so its not mandatory or even necessary, but it would be nice.
8) White shirts for church. I'm down to one good one.
9) Pair of binoculars is still on the list from last year. I would use them mostly for hunting and hiking, but would also use them for a little star gazing (at least while we're in Utah; too many clouds in Washington). Looking back at that list I sure made out like a bandit. The only thing I didn't get was the binoculars and the hoodie.
10) Asus Eee Pad Transformer. This one is for the die hards. I do have a laptop, but this laptop is kinda bulky and a pain to lug around sometimes. Plus this tablet looks pretty cool. The docking keyboard isn't necessary, but it would be cool to have too. I would mostly want to use this for road trips and not getting lost in Washington (it comes with GPS). This is a really fun item to research because it has Apple fans and Android fans up in arms and they clash on almost every review page. Some people really need a life if arguing over who has the best tablet makes them so passionate. There's people starving in Asia and Africa for goodness sake (I even have more of a life than that - and that's saying something)!
Asus Eee Pad Transformer
11) Truck. If that one is for the die hards, this one is for those who worship me... That picture above, what is it missing? A truck. The Subaru is cool, but just think how much better it would be if there was a truck in it. Haven't decided which one I want, but, you know, just in case someone happens on a million dollars overnight and wants to spend a small amount on me. Just look at these trucks. Don't they belong in that picture? And check out the colors I can get!
Toyota Tacoma - I would get the Double Cab, not the Access Cab
Chevy Colorado
12) Cash. That's right. I don't expect anything on my birthday from anyone. Honestly its not that big of a holiday that anyone needs to get anything. But if you insist and you still don't know what to get, money works fine. I have a thirsty bank account that would love to have savings added. Next year, maybe Sarah should do do this blog post again. I bet it was more entertaining, like this one, or this one, or this one.
One last comment. I just wanted to tell the world that cares that I love my wife. Even though I wipe my lips off when she kisses me with slimy vasaline lips, I really do love her and want to help her be happier. And now that I come think of it, I am SO glad that a wife is not on my birthday list.
"Sweetheart Cake" - Chinese cake literally translated to "Wife Cake" - I thought it was funny so I thought I'd throw it in.
Even though this is NOT a political blog, sometimes I do get political. You may remember my rant against the Tea Party. This is slightly related. The co-editor at the WHQ, Colleen, posted this on her Facebook and I agreed with a lot of the statements the author made. You can read the article here (Between Race and Reason: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life) by Susan Searls Giroux, or just read my favorite quotes from it.
"The U.S. has the world’s best universities and attracts the world’s finest minds. It dominates in discoveries in science and medicine. Its wealth and power depend on the application of knowledge. Yet, uniquely among the developed nations . . . learning is a grave political disadvantage.” quoting George Monbiot
"It is important to note, however, that for [Richard] Hofstader anti-intellectuals are neither the 'gibbering numbskulls' nor the 'screaming ignoramuses' that Monbiot and a growing chorus of journalists, scholars, and others criticize. Rather, Hofstadter viewed them as a far more effective enemy to the educated mind and to a vibrant, democratic political culture, which requires for its very survival an abiding commitment on the part of its citizenry to critical thought, moral judgment, the capacity for self-reflection, and an acute awareness of self-limitation." (emphases added)
"The capacity for reflective, creative, and critical thought, finely honed argumentation, and public persuasion—talents one might otherwise assume well recommend a candidate for the office of president—were transformed into the gravest of liabilities," for Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800, as his opponents targeted him.
"Historically speaking, the suspicion of intellect has for centuries spawned a variety of anti-intellectual commitments—the fetishization of folksiness, the cult of efficiency and practicality, jingoistic patriotism, militarized masculinity, and religious fervor. "
"Obama is a product of this elite system and will not push against its interests, unless compelled by an informed and active citizenry. 'Obama used hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funds to appeal to and manipulate this illiteracy and irrationalism to his advantage,' observes Hedges. And indeed the electorate was invited to focus increasingly on the person of this potential leader—his eloquence, his gravity, his unfailing cool, even his jump shot—and a compelling personal narrative that simultaneously invoked the triumphalism of America’s beloved immigration mythology and offered a redemptive conclusion to its most egregious racial sins."
"I argue strongly for academics, administrators, teachers, intellectuals, and others to assume their responsibilities as educators who play a vital role in molding citizens who can actively and critically participate in democratic public life."
"In order to meet all of these political, economic, and spiritual challenges, the nation’s third president understood all too well the necessity of an educated citizenry. Having survived his own bitter and contentious political campaign, Jefferson had witnessed first-hand the nefarious and—as we have seen—cataclysmic danger that anti-intellectual, populist demagoguery poses for a democratic nation."
"For Jefferson, education was the primary means of producing the kind of critically informed and active citizenry necessary to both nurture and sustain a vibrant public sphere; he believed that democracy was the highest form of political organization for any nation because it provided the conditions for its citizens to grow both intellectually and morally through the exercise of these faculties."
Now, I don't agree with everything in the article. But I do agree with the main message: American citizens have so much opportunity to be informed and educated--they should use that education to critically think about current events and politics instead of getting carried away with simplistic ideologies.
I picked the biggest carrot I have ever seen in my life today.
Here it is:
It broke while I was digging it up. It took me seriously 7 minutes to get the bottom half out of the ground. It was in there so deep. I forgot to measure it so who knows how many inches it is.
But here it is with my hand:
It was a huge carrot. I texted a picture to my parents.
My dad said: "You grow them better than I can". This is significant cuz my dad is a really good gardener.
My mom said: "Wow. Beautiful carrots!" and "Maybe glen[n] can bronze them :)" (meaning my father-in-law, who owns an electroplating business).
Here is the giant carrot with some normal-sized carrots, which are also a good size:
And that is my harvest from today. In the left section, there is a green pepper, a habenero pepper, serrano peppers (the long greens), cayenne peppers, and Thai peppers. In the middle part, there is a yellow squash, my first corn of the season (!), a lot of tiny onions, and some tomatoes. On the right, you will see the carrots, green onions, and cucumbers.
Last Thursday, I defended my thesis proposal and I passed! I'm so excited about that. I've been working more on research and soon I will get to start writing my thesis. It is really nice to see the end of the project. Even though I love history and am excited about writing my thesis, it is comforting to know that I am on my way to completing it.
Andrew is enjoying his classes. This is his last semester! He is taking a few graduate classes that will (hopefully) transfer to his master's program.
Also, my garden is doing amazing. I keep meaning to post pictures but I keep forgetting. But I have been canning my pants off. We have like 20 quarts of pickles and 22 1/2 quarts of salsa. In case of a disaster, we will be living off of pickles and salsa.
