it's a Death Valley Christmas!

click to get the full wide angle shot

burning questions...

getting evacuated from your home is stressful. the freeway complex fire this past weekend came within a mile of our home. I don't know anyone whose home burned, but I do know at least 4 families who got evacuated. all the homes on one coworker's street in Yorba Linda burned except for hers. I thought of calling my boss in Diamond Bar, but I wasn't ready to hear bad news -- so I chickened out and waited till Monday morning. her house (on Running Branch) survived. cool. but just imagine having to leave wondering if your house will survive. gotta be hard. we weren't evacuated, but still, this event literally struck close to home. I can't remember another time when my neighborhood was in national news.

my kids in Telegraph Canyon, Chino Hills State Park the week before the fire:

I don't consider myself that much of a materialist -- not totally spartan, but I try to not be defined or ruled by my possessions. despite this, I have acquired much over the years, and parting with things can be difficult. so the idea of having just a few minutes, hours, day or actually any length of time to determine what to take with and what to leave behind is a difficult proposition. sure there's the box of important papers, some photo albums. actually the first priority is to get my family out safely. the pet cat is easy - I'll get her outside but then she's on her own. I'm not going to try to keep her in a car that I'm packing! let's see, my laptop should taken as well as my Palm, phone and portfolio. then what? a knapsack with basics? I keep thinking - "gotta bring deoderant". hmm, some clothes, shoes. now what? I still have ten minutes and the car is not full... what else to pack? maybe a couple books I've not yet read? some food? what else can I not sacrifice? so many objects with memories attached. it's a tough thought process, I tell you!

the other thing I was considering which also quickly turned into a disorganized morass of disorganization is this: what do you do to prevent your house from catching fire?. seems simple enough to start. but when you come down to it, nothing is going to be 100%. keep the lawn watered? cut down all plants/trees near the house? get rid of the wood pile at the side of the house? hmm, what to do with that can of gas? are all the vents screeened small enough to prevent an ember from getting blown in? do all of this and there is still fate to deal with and you'll never control all the variables. so again, I fall into the paralysis of analysis.

so it was an eventful weekend. we were out of town and in our own world celebrating my wife's birthday camping and rock climbing in Joshua Tree. awesome time learning top rope (TR) and rappelling basics from a friend who generously came out with his wife Saturday and showed us the ropes -- as well as chocks, cams, quickdraws and other interesting climbing paraphanalia. the best routes up Cap Rock, our first choice for learning, were already taken at 9:30am, so we went instead to a little used spot called "Lizards Hangout" I believe. the air was warm, the sky blue and we all had a great time.
coming back Sunday afternoon I could see that fires were still burning in the LA basin. I figured it was probably somewhere in the San Gabriels. so it was a bit of shock to hear when I turned on the radio that it was actually happening close by to our own neighborhood - Diamond Bar, Yorba Linda and Brea! we had to go home in a roundabout way because the 57 freeway was closed. I should've taken a picture of the empty freeway. yup, kinda different...



good fire pics

so twitter is down...

(right now anyway... click the link above to see current status) and here I had a little thing I wanted to post. I'll do it here instead --- so I thought up this word "thongathon" and wondered what would google up on the term... found a flickr site, but it wasn't what I expected. check it out.

twittering. tweets available...

I'm posting on twitter in case you were looking for an update here. But I haven't abandoned this blog, honest! see what the lazy guy is doing at: www.twitter.com/tomawesome

making good decisions

my son just made this video for his 7th grade health class... where'd he get such talent?

Mt. Baldy Speedo Hike 2008

My son and I hiked up Mt. Baldy last Saturday with his boy scout troop.



No we weren't participating in the 2nd annual wearin' of the speedos. One of the adults said "I didn't need to see that!". he may have been referring to the guy in pink briefs that said "no boys allowed" in the back (sorry, no pic). I applaud this minor rebelliousness to those social mores that dictate decency. it helps us discover what freedom we really have. the speedo hike is an annual event done by some folks at the Claremont colleges - fun stuff but not much coverage on the web. my friends, this is news you can use!

back to the hike: it's a steep four mile trail that climbs up 4,000 feet of loose granite. Mt. Baldy is a mountain that most Angeleno's can see daily if they bothered to look - it's the highest peak in the San Gabriels at a little over 10,000 feet. being up there, the mountain and environs take a very different look than that from the freeway. you actually see blue skies and weathered gnarly pine trees. and a stream still flowing in september (filter before drinking of course).

halfway up the trail is the Sierra Club's "ski hut" -- I haven't quite figured out how anyone could ski to this place. speaking of skiing, there was a dude there that demonstrated rock skiing - no special equipment required, just trekking poles, long pants and hiking boots; and a daredevil mentality. I was tempted to try it too. maybe next time. try finding a video of it on youtube -- it's pretty wild. the granite slope is steep enough and the rocks are small enough that I think you actually could get a good run in with parallel turns just like snow skiing. Baldy was where I first learned to ski (at the tender age of 8), so it will always have a special place in my memory. digressing a bit more, I also want to mention there is genuine aircraft wreckage off the trail about a half mile down from the top - the remains of a USMC training mission gone wrong for a couple hellcats in '49.

anyway, back to the "ski hut" - it was locked, but it
also features an outhouse that is probably the fanciest I've seen anywhere. it has a window to a great view outside as well as interior lighting powered by solar charged battery. and a real toilet seat like you'd find at home. cool!

so while the rest of the world spouts off about Palin, Freddie Mac and Chrome, remember this news you can use... go hike Baldy, wear a bikini or rock ski. and visit the solar john. it's good for the body and soul, so just do it!

on the lighter side...

this is my new meez avatar. feel free to make your own and leave a link to it. be sure to give tomawesome the referral credit. ciao for now!

a little perspective

I'm going to a funeral tomorrow. it's for a neighbor of mine. he was my age and had brain cancer. it seemed to happen very fast. like my wife heard about it, went to visit and he was gone the next day. I'm sure he had time to reflect on his life; accept his approaching demise with dignity. at some point there is nothing left to do except reflect on what you've accomplished with your life. no other goals will ever be; there's no more planning, there's just what is and the memory of what was. I feel like there is so much that I still want to do; I'm not ready to accept my demise. I don't feel I have to yet. but when death happens so close to home, it forces an evaluation. for all I know I could have cancer too. I'm not really a smoker but I've had a problem with my throat for a month now (the current diagnoses is LPR). the doc put me on some meds and if there's not enough improvement I'll go see an ENT doc. sometimes it just doesn't work out and the best modern medicine can do isn't going to matter.

yeah, there's still a lot I want to accomplish. I'm making plans. I just finished a three day backpack through Yosemite on the John Muir Trail (JMT). it was tough for me (felt like an old man sometimes) but really just a continuation of constant improvement through challenges. I did it with my son and was imagining doing the same hike with my (as yet nonexistent) grandson in twenty years. I'd be 68 then. that's one of my dreams... to be in good enough shape to do a ten mile backpack hike at 68 and to see my legacy continue. that's the natural way it's supposed to happen. our parents are getting to the falling apart stage where death is a reasonable consideration. but not for guys like me in their 40's! then again, a true warrior always lives with death at his side and so is always prepared to die. in so doing, he lives to the fullest, right?

anyway, we made it to the top of Clouds Rest -- overlooking the Yosemite valley. so nice to be in that beauty and away from the crowds of civilization. all our days are numbered; maybe my dreams won't happen. maybe my ashes could be tossed in the wind from Clouds Rest by my sons. I'd like that. but who knows?

disaster looms! are you prepared?

I watched "The Omega Man" last night w/the kids. They said it was a crummy version of "I am Legend". anyway, these end of the world scenarios are fun indulgent fantasies. here's some I got from a blog post by Amat Lim (Now if the earthquake prediction comes true you can't say you weren't warned!):

Future Prediction by Juseleeno Nobulega Da Roose (Jucelino)
Posted by limns on May 27, 2008

Some of his predictions for 2008 include:

◎ 2008
● successful development of effective drugs for treatment of AIDS disease and Dengue fever
● 18 of July: 8.1 earthquake in Philippines; thousands of people dead.
● Sept: terrorist attacks at the New York Empire State Building
● 13 of Sept: Super-strong 9.1 earthquake in China; epicenter in Nanning and Hainan Island; also results in over 30 meters of tsunami costing millions of lives; likely to devastate Japan as well.

Editor’s note: 12th of May and 13th of Sept are only a few months apart; at least he got the year correct but the magnitude of the destruction has been scaled down. Or could it mean that there will be another more devastating earthquake in Sept in China? It is mentioned on a forum in Jan 2008 that although this huge 9.1 earthquake happens after the Olympics ends in August 2008, there will be a series of relatively ’smaller’ earthquakes occurring in China before this huge earthquake. This suggests that the recent 7.9 mag Sichuan earthquake is only one of those ’smaller’ earthquakes which precede the mega 9.1 mag earthquake in Sept 2008. Scary thought isn’t it? Only time can tell…

Latest!! (updated 22nd May 2008): Lab breakthrough seen in lethal dengue fever

Unusual ‘Earthquake Clouds’ reportedly observed in Shandong on 9th of May, more than 1400 km away from the epicenter of the 7.9 mag Sichuan earthquake. What are earthquake clouds?

Some of his predictions for 2009 include:

◎ 2009
● 25th of Jan: an 8.9 mag earthquake in Kobe and Osaka, hundreds of thousands of people will be killed.
● Nov: another major earthquake will occur in Japan again, thousands of people dead.
● Economic crisis causes delays in payment of pension and insurance funds in Brazil; city and prison riots rampant.
● 24th of Aug: 8.9 mag earthquake in Istanbul of Turkey; the streets will be devastated.
● 16th of Dec: Sumatra 7.8 mag earthquake in Indonesia’s Sumatra Islands in the East; thousands of people dead.

◎ 2010
● average temperature of the African nations could be as high as 58 degrees Celsius; severe water shortages and droughts.
● 15th of May: New York stock market collapses, the world’s economy plunges into major crisis.

◎ 2011
● research into effective treatment of cancer successful, but a new disease will emerge. This deadly virus is named ”ALS”; if infected with the virus, one can die in as short as just four hours.
● H5N1 strain of bird flu infects humans; pandemic causes more than 3 million humans to perish by 2013.

◎ 2012
● massive desertification occurs from 2015 to 2020, leading to disappearance of a large part of amazon.
● from 6th Dec, the sky worldwide begins to turn gloomy: An ominous event which precedes dramatic earth changes and widespread and severe natural calamities.
● dramatic spread of infectious diseases signifies beginning of human extinction.

◎ 2013
● research into effective treatment of cancers (other than brain tumour) successful.
● violent eruption of volcano on Bahamas Island of the West Indies (islands near Caribbean Sea) from 1st to 25th of November, triggering unprecedented 150m high tsunami which travel rapidly to devastate large coastal areas of US, Brazil, etc. with about 80m high water waves. These huge killer waves will travel inland for about 20 km, causing tremendous loss of lives. Before the onset of the tsunami, sea level in the affected areas will drop by about 6 m and mass migration of birds will be observed.

◎ 2014
● scientists discover that the slowly approaching asteroid 2002 NT7 might be on a colliding course with the Earth; if so, will lead to an unprecedented castastrophe which threatens the existence of mankind.

◎ 2015
● Nov: the average temperature of the Earth could be as high as 59 degrees Celsius and the resulting heat waves will kill scores; world will become more chaotic after this.

◎ 2016
● mid April: powerful typhoon(s) strike China’s metropolis; causing widespread damage and leaving about 1,000 people dead.
● U.S. (Ex) President George W. Bush will be rushed to hospital and face life-threatening crisis.

◎ 2018
● leaders and scientists of the world largest countries in heated disputes amidst discussions on ways to avert the ‘colliding asteroid’ disaster. (Note: Jucelino had already, in 2000, foreseen the forthcoming disaster and had warned the NASA of the existence of this asteroid. NASA had confirmed its existence and had named the asteroid ”2002 NT7” on 31st June 2002. From news on the web,

“On July 9, 2002, the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Project (an MIT Lincoln Laboratory program funded by the United States Air Force and NASA) in New Mexico detected a 1.2-mile-wide (2 km) asteroid. It has an orbit around our sun of 837 days, and early calculations indicate there is a small chance that this asteroid will collide with Earth on February 1, 2019 … Asteroid 2002 NT7 has the potential to strike the Earth at over 64,000 mph and delivering and explosive force of 1.2 million megatons of TNT. The result of an impact by 2002 NT7 would be destruction of ‘biblical proportions’.”

◎ 2019
● scientists may develop an ingenious way to avert the asteriod catastrophe; but if a collision results, one-third of the world population will perish. Jucelino predicted a probability of about 60 percent.
● major quake (more powerful than the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake) on eastern coast of Japan, leading to widespread destruction.

◎ 2025
● new asteroid discovered; 80% chance of colliding with the earth

◎ 2026
● Great San Francisco Earthquake (The Big One) will occur due to rupture of the San Andreas Fault. California will be destroyed. Many dormant volcanoes in the region will become active once again. An unprecedented tsunami of over 150 meters in height will be triggered.

Editor’s note: The well-known American prophet and mystic, Edgar Cayce had also predicted a similar event. In his words, Edgar Cayce prophesied (before 1940)

“The earth will be broken up in the western portion of America. The greater portion of Japan must go into the sea… Land will appear off the east coast of America… Portions of the now east coast of New York, or New York City itself, will in the main disappear. The sea apparently covered all of the western part of the country,”

◎ 2043
● only about 20% percent of the current world population remains. Many had perished in the natural calamities.

Editor’s note: John Croino had also predicted that:
“By 2050, more than 99% of human males will be sterile…..there will not be a future of overcrowded cities and overpopulation. Instead, the human race will be facing it’s own extinction. The big problem of the late 21st Century will not be too many people, but too few ….”

Editor’s note: Mr. Juseleeno Nobulega Da Roose is a Brazilian, born in 1960, 47 years of age and currently a vocational school teacher. He can accurately predict future events with unbelievable precision (including the year, month and day and has made attempts to systematically document his predictions everytime he wakes up from his ‘prophetic dreams’. If the prediction concerns an ordinary individual, he will simply write a letter to warn him or her. If the prediction concerns a large number of people (or an important individual) and can have serious repercussions such that it warrants serious attention, he will send letters to the concerned agencies, governments, etc.

He mentioned that he began to have visions of future events in his dreams when he was still a child of nine years in 1969. Such dreams came naturally to him. He predictions are known to be unusually accurate. An outstanding example is afforded by his prediction of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He had sent a letter to the Indian Ambassador in Brazil to warn of the event eight years before it actually occurred in 1996. It was stated in the letter that “he predicted an 8.9 mag earthquake will occurr on December 26, 2004 in Indonesia’s Aceh. Indonesia and India will be devastated by a tsunami 10 meters high. Similar letters were also sent to the Thai, Phillipino, Indonesian embassies in Brazil. Ample proofs are provided by the time stamps on the letters. Unfortunately, appropriate actions were not taken by the authorities. Predictions (especially those that arise from prophetic dreams) are almost always treated with a high level of suspicion and skepticism since they lie in the realm of pseudoscience. However, there is still so much that science cannot explain. See for example the double-slit paradox in quantum physics.

Mr Juseleeno made known his predictions in the hope that people will take heed of his warnings so that these disasters can be averted. (From the Buddhist point of view, awareness of such predictions can have a subconscious influence on the course of future events. Our physical environment is intimately connected to not only our actions but even to our thoughts). He hopes there will be a major change in mindsets of people in the time period leading up to 2008.

Both Juseleeno and John Croino (another well-known but elusive prophet) predicted major seismic activities and climatic changes in the years after 2007. John Croino mentioned:

“Then from mid-2007, the shock of events and disasters will increase month by month, worse storms, more violent seismic activity, bizarre and terrifying ominous events that seem to foretell of some great change brewing. Most people will not truly realise even a hint of bad it will become until late 2008. Every year from 2007 until 2014, will be increasingly nightmarish, with the peak period being 2012-2014. The sky will be dark in those places for long enough to truly frighten people and damage crop yields.”

Note that Juseleeno also predicted unusually dark and gloomy skies over large parts of theearth starting from 2012. The parallels between the two sets of prophecies are simply too overwhelming.

is this blog dead?

no... but I do need to come up with some material. been too busy on ebay lately!

fear and trembling: the ethical question

Kierkegaard's book analyzes the old testament story of Abraham and Issac. basically God told Abraham to murder his son, an indefensible, unjustified and unethical command with which he complied.

the fact that at the last moment God said "stop, I was just testing you" is irrelevant. Abraham was carrying out an act of murder and so had accepted that mindset. this submission to a perception of something greater than oneself is a scary, recognized, human trait. note "Islam" in english directly translates to "submission".

so, when God is on the line, do you take the call? have him leave a message? remember that avoidance is still a decision and if the issue is important, non-action is as serious as any action that you do...

I heard a disturbing story on "This American Life" recently. in it Alex Kotlowitz interviews a woman whose abusive father probably killed someone. she reported her suspicions to the police, but the detectives didn't pursue the matter. she let it go -- even though the guilt of not acting forcefully enough and following up with the police ate at her. years later, a review of the cold case resulted in a conviction -- of the wrong man. he spent years in prison until somehow the woman heard about him and she finally came forward with what she knew. he considers her his angel, but she still feels terrible about it.

...cut to my dream last night. I'm at work and get a phone call from a stranger -- maybe it's a wrong number, I don't know. he wants me to go meet him at the police station in 5 minutes - he needs a witness and is afraid for his life. I have no idea what is going on. he insists he needs me so the police don't beat him or shoot him. what can I do? what should I do? hang up? sorry, wrong number? I don't want to get involved? it sounds very important; my decision could have life impacting consequences.
I think...
"on what basis and with what justification are you asking this request, and how is it that you are asking this request of me and not someone else?" of course, the answers to these questions may not be enough to make the right decision... we should in any case know ourselves well enough to be prepared to make the choice. you may be selfish, you may be foolish or mixed up or even consider yourself wise and caring; whatever you honestly are, you must admit to yourself.

Bob Dylan said "you gotta serve someone". personally, I think I serve many masters. in the end they all boil down to one, but who's to say that end is ever reached?

our educational system...

"Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training." - Anna Freud

just a quote I thought to throw out to let you know I was around :)

Toys for Justice

join the cause now!

nature pics

I have a new flickr account and picked some of my recent favorite shots to share.
see them here

my body is working...

one of the things I like about weekends is sleeping in -- you get time to lay in bed relaxed and mind cleared of most of the banal distractions. anyway, I can think better. this past week I was occupied with plenty of activities: saw the Body Worlds exhibit in LA, sold a vehicle, bought a new car, went on a business trip and dealt with airport travel, group dynamics and new surroundings. with all this behind me, and finally some quiet thinking time, I could digest some of the inputs. focus is a quality to be exploited. so what are the learning activities that, given time, I should like to pursue? I am driven towards becoming a musician. strange, considering how handicapped I feel in that area. nonetheless, I am compelled and will start lunchtime guitar practice soon. my goal there is to learn "pride and joy" as the late SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughn) played it. if I get good enuf, someday I may be a real street musician!
secondly, I've resumed my artistic (drawing, painting) pursuits. I've found pastels to be a good medium for learning - challenging, but quick and cheap. I've liked working from photographs but that is a bit of a crutch. on my recent trip to Chico, I was in Birdwell park without a camera. I wonder what mental impressions I have of that place that can be transferred to paper?

so these are some things I do "for the sake of which" I become more of the self I am pursuing. that concept bears more explanation, but I won't go into that now. instead, I'll just expose a little dialog from that excellent philosophical filem "waking life" (it's a little bit relevant, ok?):

Boat Car Guy - Ahoy there matey, you in for the long haul? You need a little hitch in your get along, a little lift on down the line?
Wiley Wiggins - Oh yeah, actually I was waiting for a cab or something but, uh, if you want to...
Boat Car Guy - Alright, don't miss the boat.
Wiley Wiggins - Hey, thanks.
Boat Car Guy - Not a problem. Anchors away! So what do you think of my little vessel? She's what we call see-worthy. S-E-E, see with your eyes. I feel like my transport should be an extension of my personality. Voila. And this, this is like my little window to the world and every minute's a different show. Now, I may not understand it, I may not necessarily agree with it, but I'll tell you what, I accept it, just sort of glide along. You want to keep things on an even keel, I guess it's what I'm saying, you want to go with the flow. The sea refuses no river. The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving. Saves on introductions and good byes. The ride does not require an explanation, just occupants, that's where you guys come in. It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now you may get the eight pack, you may get the sixteen pack, but it's all in what you do with the crayons, the colors that you're given. And don't worry about drawing within the lines or coloring outside the lines, I say color outside the lines, you know what I mean? Color right off the page. Don't box me in. We're in motion to the ocean. We are not landlocked, I'll tell you that. So, where do you want out?
Wiley Wiggins - Uh, who me? Am I first? Uh, I don't know really. Anywhere is fine.
Boat Car Guy - Well, just, just, give me an address or something okay?
Wiley Wiggins - Uhhhh...
Other Guy in Car - Tell you what, go up three more streets, take a right, go two more blocks, drop this guy off on the next corner.
Wiley Wiggins - Where's that?
Boat Car Guy - Well, I don't know either but it's somewhere and it's going to determine the course of the rest of your life. All ashore that's going ashore. Ha, ha, ha. Dooo dooo!

(thanks to for from www.silywily.com/wakinglife.html for the quote).

btw, I think I am a eight pack crayon box :)

the world beats a path to my door of perception...

I've nothing more to add now, but will come up with something clever shortly my friends! in the meantime, try "indicating the formal aspects of the idea of existence"...

on an unrelated note, when you're in my neighborhood, I recommend the bbq pork pho at pho tay bak. it's places like this that make so cal an international food fest :)

Obama is not Usama!

no, he's not even a Muslim. of course now that I've planted that idea, you're associating our next president with a terrorist. oops, I did it again. I'm such a tool for HRC :)

more realistically, I'm thinking of comparisons of Obama with Jimmy Carter. both were good speakers promising the kind of change that only an outsider can do. seems to be a winning combination!

actually, to me personally, these matters are trifling. as a practicing phronimos, my concern is to do the appropriate thing in every situation I find myself. I didn't vote in the primary because I truthfully had more important things to attend. the old slogan "think globally, act locally" applies here.

speaking of the Clintons, what has been occupying my time lately is deep analytical studies in philosophy of the phenomenological, ontological, existential sort -- I'm reminded of when Bill discussed the meaning of 'is' as I've been learning Heideggerian (what is 'being') via podcasts by UC Berkeley philosophy prof Bert Dreyfus. I am again a student!

on that note, let me close with some key dialog from the wonderful flick "Across the Universe":

Dad: "Be serious, Max. What do you actually intend to do with your life?..."
Max: "...why isn't the issue here who I am?"
Uncle: "Because Maxwell, what you do defines who you are."
Max: "Who you are defines what you do."
Jude: "Surely, it's not what you do, but its the way that you do it."

think of this when Barack get's into his vision thing...

Vitameatavegamin Buy it Now!

I was looking to buy some Vegameatavitamin (or is it meatavitavegamin)? unfortunately nobody has thought to create and market this product yet. yeah, you know what I'm talking about. it's not copyrighted by Desilu is it? well, actually I did find a poor facsimile of it. and here I thought you could find everything on the internet. here's a free unexploited idea for you get-rich-quick marketeers!

classic (old) must-see movies

in celebration of the new year, I made a resolution to escape into a cocoon of self-improvement and develop my historical cultural awareness by spending 2008 in front of my warm 42" plasma watching these classic films:

Bogart:

1. To Have and Have Not
2. Casablanca
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. The Big Sleep
5. High Sierra

Film Noir:

6. Asphalt Jungle
7. Touch of Evil
8. The Third Man
9. L.A. Confidential

Cary Grant:
10. Notorious
11. The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
12. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
13. My Favorite Wife
14. North by Northwest

Sci-Fi:
15. Forbidden Planet
16. The Day the Earth Stood Still

actually these flicks are recommendations my brother-in-law gave me last week and I needed a convenient place to post the list (43things is not my thing anymore).