Robin Hood

I guess this one is going to be a little political. (You've been warned!)



I'm going to tell you about something that bugs the mess out of me. It's when political figures compare socialism to Robin Hood. I first noticed the fallacy in this while i was sitting on a subway train in Stockholm. There was some kind of political advertisement poster that suggested that the proposed candidate or party (or however it works in Sweden) would tax the rich and give to the poor. The catchphrase at the end of the poster said "upplev Robin Hood" which translates to "experience Robin Hood". The same idea has been pushed by certain political figures (usually Democrats) in this country and it is completely false! Although Robin Hood is a fictional story, we can learn a thing or two from it about how government should work. Nearly everyone is familiar with the phrase "steal from the rich and give to the poor" which is often associated with the story. But has anyone actually considered what that really means? There is a notion among Socialists that it refers to the government placing heavy taxes on the wealthy and giving that money to the poor. This idea is often referred to as a "redistribution of wealth". Was this actually what Robin Hood did? Let's analyze the story.

Robin Hood was a nobleman (the Lord of Loxley) who was ousted from his position by usurpers while he was away fighting in the Crusades with King Richard. Upon his return, he found a society in which the people were heavily taxed and the government officials were living a life of ease. From this brief synopsis, we can see that the "poor" in the story were the common people and the "rich" were government fat cats. Robin Hood didn't take money from people who worked hard to obtain wealth (which is what Socialists desire to do). He was stealing from the government and giving the money back the the people who were heavily taxed. Funny how people twist the meanings of things to suit there needs...

Chew on that one!

Nobody likes you when you're twenty-three.

That time of year again, eh? What's next?

bass?... er, Bass? I could play bass!

Perhaps this is foolish, but I figure why not? I had a dream some days ago (perhaps last week?) in the which I was backstage at a rock concert when suddenly there was a lack of bassist. So I stepped forward, picked up the bass and started to play. Since then, I've had a great desire to learn to play bass and join my brother and friends in an effort to start a rock band. We got together a few nights ago and wrote a song. Daniel had put together a verse on guitar and when he played it, i thought of a few lines and before the evening was over, we (John, Daniel, Josh, and myself) had a whole song. I had thought about posting the lyrics here but then thought better of it. I wouldn't want anybody steal it. But to be fair, I will say what it's about... or something like that. Basically, it's a "graduation song". You know, like Green Day's "Good Riddance". It's kinda sickening to think that sappy high school kids will play it and cry to it at their graduation parties but I guess we're all at some kind of transition in our lives and they were probably the best words that we could come up with to describe what we're experiencing. We're pretty convinced that it's going to be a hit... as soon as we learn to play instruments and get an album recorded.
On an entirely unrelated note: I have learned that sarcasm does not translate well to the written word...

Update...

... I've got nothin.

Catch-up Time

I suppose it's been a while since I've done this and a lot has happened since the last time. First of all there's this:
John Duggan Mayhoffer, age 82, of eastern Boulder County, Colo., died March 6, 2008, on the family farm.He was born on June 21, 1925, to J. David Mayhoffer and Isabella (Duggan) Mayhoffer.John grew up on the family farm and attended schools in Louisville, Colo., graduating in 1943. He immediately went into Naval officer training at the University of Colorado and Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He served on a destroyer in China until the end of the war. At that time, he joined the Naval Reserves for the next 20 years.He returned to the University of Colorado and graduated with a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in 1954.John married Kathleen Weckmueller in December of 1950, and to this union were born three children. Kathleen was a former Army nurse in the South Pacific. She passed away in 1960. He married Jeane Haynes on Oct. 20, 1962, in San Pedro, Calif.John worked for Public Service Company and Sundstrand, before going to Adolph Coors Company in 1958. He worked in the engineering department for the next 25 years.After retirement, he returned to the family farm and participated in the operation of the farm until the time of his death.John was a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, the Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society, the U.S. Naval Institute, and the Tri-City Elks.He was a member and served as President for several years of the Goodhue Ditch Company, was a member of the Davidson Ditch Company, and served as a board member of District 6 Water.He had a private pilot’s license and enjoyed flying for many years. Later, he and Jeane enjoyed several trips on Cruise Ships.John is survived by three children: Leannah Frances and husband Rick Baron, David John and wife Tami, and Robert Patrick and wife Jane; eight grandchildren: Kathleen and husband Ryan Norris, John, Jeane, David and Frances Baron, Edward, Michael and Philip Mayhoffer; and four great-grandchildren: Michael, Christi, James and William Norris.Services were held in Louisville on March 15. Interment took place at Green Mountain Cemetery in Boulder with military honors.
Now I'm not posting this to ask for any sympathy from anybody. I found out about my grandfather's passing the day it happened and was a paul bearer at the funeral and didn't shed a single tear (not necessarily something of which I'm proud). I just felt like I should pay tribute to a great man who has had a rather profound influence on my life. I never was quite sure how to feel about his passing (something that's still a bit of a puzzle for me). He's not a man that I particularly loved while he was alive but I like to think that I always had a bit of respect for him. After all, were it not for him, I certainly wouldn't be who I am today... and not just because I have his DNA in my cells. I did feel a measure of sorrow for my grandmother's sake. She's a sweet old lady who is now a widow. She loved him very much and misses him dearly.

My time as an undergrad is coming to a close. I have only two semesters remaining and as of right now, I'm unsure as to what I want to do with my life. There are many possibilities and I'm not sure how much I like any of them... I think I'm just a bit scared of what might come next.

That'll be all for now.

Anger

It's madness!!!

Foo Fighters: Long Road to Ruin

Here now don't make a sound
Say have you heard the news today?
One flag was taken down
To raise another in its place
A heavy cross you bear
A stubborn heart remains unchanged
No home, no life, no love
No stranger singing in your name
Maybe the season
The colors change in the valley skies
Dear God I've sealed my fate
Running through hell, heaven can wait
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead end in sight
Let's say we take this town
No king or queen of any state
Get up to shut it down
Open the streets and raise the gates
I know one wall to scale
I know a field without a name
Head on without a care
Before it's way too late
Maybe the season
The colors change in the valley skies
Oh God I've sealed my fate
Running through hell, heaven can wait
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead ends
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead end in sight
For every piece to fall in place
Forever gone without a trace
Your horizon takes its shape
No turning back, don't turn that page
Come now, I'm leaving here tonight
Come now, let's leave it all behind
Is that the price you pay?
Running through hell, heaven can wait
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead ends
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead ends
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead end in sight

character flaw

I've started noticing more and more that I tend to accept blame all too readily whenever something goes wrong. I suppose it stems from some form of insecurity or something lame like that. The other day, I was thinking back on when I was a district leader on my mission. That was the most responsibility I ever had on my mission because once that transfer was over, I asked the mission president never to do that to me again. The thing that gets me worked up about it though is the fact that 1) I had no idea what I was doing and 2) the zonies seemed to always be on my case about something. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the guys that were my zone leaders at the time and I thought that they were great missionaries but (and this may or may not be true) I often got the feeling that I was being blamed for the screw ups of other missionaries in my district. I guess that, in their opinions, I should have known everything about the other missionaries and what they were doing and which rules they were ignoring and stuff like that. The only problem is that I'm not, nor have I ever been, clairvoyant. I can't know what people don't tell me. How was I supposed to know which of their investigators should be dropped and which missionaries would benefit from a visit with the president? None of this really matters anymore except when considering how I reacted. I felt horrible. For nine weeks (my worst nine weeks out of two years) I felt like I couldn't do anything right, like I was the worst missionary in the world. While I know that that's an untrue statement, it's how I reacted and how I tend to react when faced with challenges even now. I tend to feel like it's entirely my fault and I can't do anything right. I guess I have this "tail between legs" syndrome. It's the same kind of reaction that you get from a puppy that's scolded for peeing on the carpet when it tried to warn its owner that it needed to go outside. Now that I can see this flaw, I guess the hard part is growing a spine and fixing it. It's hard because I need to be able to differentiate when something really is my fault and when it isn't. I don't want to shove responsibility for my mistakes off on someone else any more than I want to accept responsibility for theirs.

Selfishness?

Is it selfish to complain about not being able to do what I want? Here's the thing (or at least how I see it); I often do what others want, even enjoy it at times, and sometimes at the expense of what I want to do. It's only fair to have to make concessions from time to time. However, when my time, my desires, my interests are consistently snuffed out in favor of someone else's... surely there is something wrong with this picture? I keep asking myself, "how often is it that what I want is chosen in favor of what someone else wants?" and maybe it's my skewed perspective of things, but I consistently come up with... nothing. Is it selfish of me to expect others to spend a little bit of their time doing what I want? I just like doing things with other people and it really hurts when it seems like the only way to do that is to give up of my time and efforts. It hurts because the way it appears to me, the subtle message that I interpret from these experiences is that other people's time is always too important for me but my time is never important enough to where I can't participate in whatever activity is proposed. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings with my complaining. I just have to get this out there and get it off my chest.

Enya: Anywhere is...

I walk the maze of moments
But everywhere I turn to
Begins a new beginning
But never finds a finish
I walk to the horizon
And there I find another
It all seems so surprising
And then I find that I know

You go there you're gone forever
I go there I'll lose my way
If we stay here we're not together
Anywhere is

The moon upon the ocean
Is swept around in motion
But without ever knowing
The reason for its flowing
In motion on the ocean
The moon still keeps on moving
The waves still keep on waving
And I still keep on going

You go there you're gone forever
I go there I'll lose my way
If we stay here we're not together
Anywhere is

I wonder if the stars sign
The life that is to be mine
And would they let their light shine
Enough for me to follow
I look up to the heavens
But night has clouded over
No spark of constellation
No Vela no Orion

The shells upon the warm sands
Have taken from their own lands
The echo of their story
But all I hear are low sounds
As pillow words are weaving
And willow waves are leaving
But should I be believing
That I am only dreaming

You go there you're gone forever
I go there I'll lose my way
If we stay here we're not together
Anywhere is

To leave the thread of all time
And let it make a dark line
In hopes that I can still find
The way back to the moment
I took the turn and turned to
Begin a new beginning
Still looking for the answer
I cannot find the finish
It's either this or that way
It's one way or the other
It should be one direction
It could be on reflection
The turn I have just taken
The turn that I was making
I might be just beginning
I might be near the end.