This week I also talked a lot about my blog to someone that does not blog. I explained how it was something I used a lot more back in the day but have since stopped using for various reasons. I do miss it, but today I got a chance to be motivated enough to actually post something. I was “unfriended” on facebook. Since the conversation was removed and probably nobody that knows the participants in the conversation even saw the exchange I figured, lets preserve the exchange without the authors… except for me. One disclaimer though, I do realize that people, conversation and context don’t exist on the internet and for the person that unfriended me this was probably the short end of the stick in the sense that it escalated without proper background. The person that unfriended me was someone that I was already questioning even having as someone that I read. They did survive several cullings (I love doing that on facebook for some reason) which is an activity that brings me almost as much inner peace as detailing my car.

Some more context. I am starting to hate facebook. It has amazing ways of viewing other people’s life unfold and it makes you almost feel part of things that happen oh so far away. It also lets you hear what I call “facebook prayers” which makes me wonder if some people just never talk to any other humans. The part I am tired of is the constant regurgitation of talking head points about racist, sexist, and just plain ignorant things. Some people seem so conditioned to it that at every slight opportunity ignorance comes out, and then the diatribe of the topic already regurgitated several times comes pouring out like a river that smells like the streets of New York. Aside – (Someone needs to come up with a true New York Perfume that smells like sidewalk piss.) Long week in New York… too much work not enough play I guess. After spending time there where the language you hear the least is English I come home to this little discussion.

Original Status – Heavily Redacted
Person 1
Carpet guys are here and I’m getting an education on country music. Apparently “country boys and girls getting down on the farm” is worth singing about. I also have become aware that there are women who thinks trucks are sexy. #TheMoreYouKnow
-
3 people like this.

Funny, witty, entertaining. The reason this person survived multiple cullings.

Person 2
Let me know if they are any good. I’m always on the lookout for good flooring guys. Just be thankful they speak English!

Person 1
They’re from XXXX XXXXX. Super polite. One of the guys is an apprentice and I can hear the older guy teaching him along the way.

Nothing to see right? Simple exchange. Well, not for me. My facebook feed feels inundated with this type of crap, not just by Person 2 but many other friends of friends that say just ignorant stuff without realizing it. I stay quiet and say nothing 99% of the time, but maybe because the topic had NOTHING to do with English speaking in the first place, or because I saw so many NON English speakers living and working in New York which for you geography buffs is part of ‘Murrica!

Logtar
I’m curious Person 2, what does speaking English have to do with any of what Person 1 said? Furthermore, if they did not speak English and were contracted and did a great job why would it matter if they performed and maybe educated Person 1 on some Latin music? How many languages do you speak again Person 2?

I know. I am wrong… I opened up the door, you could even say I baited… but this was my hope. Maybe, people can see that jumping to the whole “SPEAK ENGLISH PEDRO!” BS is kind of offensive and most first generation naturalized Americans are tired of hearing that. Maybe people will stop assuming that every worker in this country that does something construction related does not speak English. In fact, if you talk to contractors in some areas of the country they will tell you that skilled labor left, to the point that they are poaching framers from each other’s jobs. I digress though. I just did not see where the whole, “be glad they speak English fits.” What kind of people do I associate with when they are glad that their ‘Murrica speaks only English? Assimilation complete at all. So here is where it gets very interested.

Person 2
It is VERY difficult for people to communicate with people who don’t speak English. I work with MANY hispanics, some from Mexico, some from El Salvador (and even guys from Eastern Europe). ALL of them speak English! It is a requirement because my guys have lots of interaction with homeowners. I also listen to a lot of latin “Polka sounding” music when around my guys. Not sure I like it any less than country music! I speak only one language, English.

Logtar
I figured Person 2, but your comment is really offensive because the conversation had nothing to do with speaking English at all. Thank you though, I now know where not to take my business. I work in a environment where many of the people I interact with don’t know just one language, and English is not even close to being their primary language. I kind of chuckle at your VERY difficult, try to understand the word “Policy” in a legal environment where the meaning translation is “Politica”, which does not match with the literal translation. Its ok though Person 2 I am sure communicating with people from all over the world is can be very difficult when all you know is English. I like to communicate via food, but that is just me.

Here is where it kind of got surprising, one of the reasons that Person 1 was considered for previous culling was that I figured the antagonistic stuff came from a place of intelligence and not close mindedness.

Person 1
So (for the sake of being a dick because I’m bored) – if I move to Colombia I should just expect to speak English?

Person 2
I respect your opinion, John. I’ve heard countless stories of customers asking a worker a question about their specific project only to get either a blank stare or an “ok” from the worker. It has nothing to do with the quality of their work, but customer service. I’ve made a conscious effort to employ skilled people no matter where they are from! They must be legal to work in the US (no matter where they are from) and be checked through E-Verify. They must also be able to communicate with my homeowners. Heck, some of my hispanic guys do a better job of that than my American guys!

So now its a tag team!

Logtar
Funny that you bring that up, many Americans actually do and live in closed communities sending their kinds to English only schools. That’s ok though Person 1, I now know what I am dealing with.

Person 2
If you move to Colombia (not Missouri!) you should expect to learn the language and assimilate into that culture.

Person 2
Those folks can attend the English only schools, that’s their prerogative. But don’t expect the locals to go out of their way to accommodate it!

Person 2 By the way, Person 1, I love it when you call yourself a dick!

I should have known better and stepped away after the flirting started, that should be private but it is facebook right?

Logtar
People that take every opportunity to shine the light on topics that are not theirs but that a talking head gave them to discuss and use. It is really sad that a post that has nothing to do with “Speaking English” was taken there. I thought pointing that out would make it stop and maybe open a mind but I see that immediately where I a from is being questioned and now the word assimilation is brought up. I am as America as you two are.

Person 2
I never asked where you were from, nor does it really matter to me.

Person 1
You’re not making sense. What talking head? What topic that is “not mine”?

Person 2
It must be “Offend me Friday” or something.

Logtar
What does your post have to do with speaking English? which is the first thing that Person 2 brought up. What does me being from another country have anything to do with pointing out that it is ignorant to bring up “people that don’t speak English” in a topic that had nothing to do with it.

Logtar
I said it is offensive, not that I am offended. It does make me sad when I see this kind of ignorance though.

Person 1
This is done.

Topic deleted, Logtar was unfriended. I thought about posting the actual screen grab or posting it to lamebook for other people to comment on, but I figured I would use my little corner of the internet for my rant.

This is the thing. I am tired of being around people that are semi racist and intolerant of others but when called out on it they simply shrug and say, I am not racist. I am from another country and I personally can be racist in some situations. We don’t even want to do it but our brain is trained to… how, by being exposed to images and writing that is racist or intolerant. You might not think anything of it, but constantly being bombarded with, people should speak English, and undocumented workers are taking our jobs, and bla bla bla eventually becomes what everyone goes to when anything remotely related to the topic comes up. Why do I have to explain to people that even though I am from another country and speak more than one language I am American… BUT that does not make me one of the “good” ones or in any was assimilated, if anything I infect people with as much food and culture from other places in the world as I can. It is almost like my mission to make people see that communication is not just about language and that 20 seconds trying to look up what you are trying to say in a dictionary is not going to kill you but maybe teach you a thing or two. Tell the people of New York that they have to all speak English and be assimilated and they will laugh in your face, or a good portion not even understand you. I seriously thought that xenophobia was on the decline in this country. I guess it is alive and well.

Btw, I was not remotely offended by any of it. I was just more sad that I was right about the level of some people’s quick response to a topic that to me is much, much broader than just! “Learn English Pedro! You are in ‘Murrica!” Then again, the original post had nothing to do with it… that was my only point.

Facebook has turned into a prayer book, and no I am not jumping on my religious friends at all but basically at the notion that instead of picking up the phone and calling a friend about an issue people now leave it to facebook to answer their prayers… or air their dirty laundry. A lot of my thoughts that used to fit so nicely here have now become displaced passengers stranded in an island where they don’t have the money to get into the next ship.

I used to feel like I could put anything I wanted here and most readers understood that I was being devils advocate and trying to make them think of another point of view, or simply exploring my own point of view. The internet is not the same place anymore. Can someone really become radicalized simply by reading the internet? Do I seriously long for the dirty place where the worst thing you could find was rotten dot com?

Having a lot to say does not cut it anymore, and frankly facebook discussions with people that barely understand the difference between religion, conviction and morals is really futile. Twitter is even worse. The podcast I wanted to start has some merit but it will not be a complete outlet, only a small drip… lol

Pair that with the fact that now things are more and more available to everyone and YES your Mom knows that you blog.

I have a couple of entries that should make an appearance soon, but then again is it time to move to a new format and maybe create a serious YouTube channel? Did the blog really die with the first decade of this century?

Back to the same thing, at this point I am not sure if I should blog or not. /sigh

That is the conclusion Heather and I came to last night.

A lot has happened in the last year, new job, more travel. There is a chance that I will spend some time in Brazil this year and I should be looking forward to it but sometimes I just want to stay close to home. The world is getting to be a little to scary with random acts of violence… or are they really random.

Two tourists in Brazil were kidnapped yesterday, one of them raped. See earlier this year we took a cruise and after reports that there was local unrest in Belize I decided that we would not get off the ship on that port. I rather not chance getting shot at over some local unrest. Funny thing is that most people think that Colombia is an unsafe country, but don’t understand that there are unsafe areas. The country overall has not been unsafe since the mid 90s in my opinion, well not more so than any other.

Last night the office building where I go to the office at (when I go to the office) had some windows broken due to gun fire. The way it is being told right now is that it is totally random someone walking through the street and just firing. The skeptical person in me says that there is more to that but who knows.

I grew up in Colombia with violence being something you grew up with. I had a baseball cap snatched from my head, had a knife pulled on me in a mugging, my family was shot at, I was blocks away from a car bomb. I have seen my share of violence. I don’t want it in my life. As I get older I try to figure out where it comes from.

Violence is born from frustration and most of that frustration has been born out of poverty and hunger. There are people that do lose it and see violence as a viable outlet, but I think frustration because you cannot feed yourself or your family is a great motivator.

The economy hit this country hard, and while the political process continue to be about everything but the real problems I get more and more concerned about the future. Should I get an arsenals and get ready for society to crumble? Should I be afraid to travel to countries where I have to work but might not be all that safe? Is violence really random or something that can be prevented?

I wish I had more answers than questions.

While a lot in my life has changed, a lot has stayed pretty much the same. I think I have changed a lot more than life around me. Even though I have spent my life preaching about opening your eyes about what is right in front of you, at times I was just as delusional as everyone else seemed. So yea, it still me, still the same rambles, still hoping it makes you think when you read what the weird voices in my head say.

I am still thinking that this place might have run its course and it might be just left to be an old book that I come back and read. Even though some entries are still living and getting comments, overall I don’t create content here like I used to. Some days I want to change that, some others it feels like the medium is tainted like photography still is to me in some levels. Something that you do for fun, should be enjoyed.

Which brings me back to packaged deals. I am told constantly that I deal too much in absolutes. I am aware of this deficiency on my way of thinking. People are not computers, or math equations… even if they do behave as such sometimes. At least that is how I understand some of them. I try, really I do, but seldom do people really tell you what they are really thinking or feeling, and often times people don’t even know how to put into words what they are feeling either.

Friends and groups of friends always come with some added benefits. Sometimes it is that some of them get you access to cool underground parties or a shorter line at the DMV. Other times those same groups of people come with a price, the person that makes everyone uncomfortable but nobody calls out. I always see those as packaged deals, you kind of have to take the good with the bad and just ignore the losses. I know that applies with not just groups, couples, etc but also with people.

Do you take all the good of a person and try to ignore some of the bad, or most of it? Is the friendship really worth it? Is the time investment something that truly will benefit you in the end.

I spent a good part of the first decade in this century figuring out that cutting people that are destructive in your life need to go. They are a waste of energy. What happens when those people come in a package though? What is then the deal breaker? When does a second chance come into place?

Confusing, I know. Maybe that is why I need to write more again. It seems like my brain is quite a mess at the moment. Funny thing is that it isn’t. I am at a very peaceful time at the moment. It is not void of issues and problems like life is, but I am ok with them and with the plans I have in place to move forward. However, the “nice” person in me feels like I should always reach out and give second chances in situations and not call things done. Maybe that is the part of being human that I am so uncomfortable with. You know the pan handle is hot, you know that you should get the oven mitt before you touch it, but how much can a little test touch can hurt?

Another amusing fact is that one of the precursor of April Fools day is the Feast of Fools a medieval tradition that was held, you guessed it, on December 28.

I have plenty of friends that own guns. I have wanted one for personal protection for quite some time. I know that owning a gun is not enough, being trained on it and actually firing it in a range is what will make it effective in a life and death situation. This year as a present I decided to get a shotgun, for the nurse. The story of why will come soon enough, but because of something unrelated to this post I told her about it. She has not seen the shotgun but she knows about it. It is still kind of a surprise in that sense.

A Chiefs player killed his girlfriend a block away from where we live. We had no clue that we had an NFL player living in the neighborhood. The weird thing is that around that same time I was buying a gun as well. It was an easy process, I was amazed at how easy. Granted, I have no criminal record and I am a citizen but I could not help but be at awe at how easy it was to get one.

I have no problem with people owning guns, I just don’t want crazy people having access to guns; the hard part is how do we determine that.

A young man, possibly mentally ill kills 27 people, 20 of them very young children… like my nephew, like the nurse’s nieces… I cannot imagine how parents feel. I know my Mom was freaked out when she heard the news because she had no idea where Sandy Hook was located or what was happening. Even a second thinking your loved ones are not safe is hell.

This horrific event seems to be shifting the gun control discussion. I honestly don’t think it will accomplish much. If the mother of the kid that lost it was a good citizen and sane she could have still purchased the guns. Limiting assault type rifles seems logical but how many of those guns are already out there. The real problem is not that guns kill people, its that people that “lose it” either temporarily or permanently are the ones that kill people.

So the problem is not guns, it is mental health. You can call it evil; but I thought we were past the middle ages and thinking that winged monsters are the ones responsible for bad things that happened. People that lose their grasp of reality are the ones that kill others.

Mental health comes with a huge stigma still. A lot of people still don’t see it as an illness that needs to be treated. This is what really amazes me when people think that universal healthcare (including mental health) is something we don’t need. I dare you to read this article and reflect.

I have talked to a shrink before, more than once. I am one of those people that very early on understood that all you can control in life is yourself… and even then it is an uphill battle because well, that croissant is just so dam tasty, even though I should not eat it. When I encounter a situation filled with drama, the first thing I try to determine, is this something I am in some way causing?

Avoiding drama is an art. The thing is that any time that you have strong views about anything drama is waiting just around the corner waiting to pounce.

I remember after a couple of failed relationships I decided to see a shrink again. One failed relationship might be bad luck, two its you for sure. I explained to the shrink what my shortcomings were, how I grew up, what I expected out of a relationship. I also explained the relationship issues I had, what I saw as not working and her prognosis was simple. “Stop dating crazy people.” A shrink said that… and it was a she.

We are all a little crazy and I can safely say that I know where my crazy comes from. I am a very logical thinker for almost everything in life, but when it comes to relationships I am extremely emotional. I can turn the emotions off completely and make compassion something that other people feel for puppies. I was that person for a long time, and it helped me deal with life as a teenager in a very dysfunctional home.

I never wanted that as an adult, and I have done everything in my power to avoid being the source of drama. I do fail miserably from time to time, because in the effort to avoid it, I seem to spin it into high gear.

Funny enough, this is probably one of my most drama free times of my life. While I had no shortage of it in the beginning of the year with my uncle passing, recently I am pretty drama free. I do have plenty of drama close to me, but I am now more of an observer than a direct participant.

The top water mark came some months ago when a bully feared by many tried to start something in a setting was bad. No, not the multicolored troll showing naked pictured of the conquest in a church in front of children, that one is a story for another time and another day. I engaged the bully, held my one and realized something. By standing up to said bully, even though I did it for the “right” reasons, I was simply perpetuating the drama.

In a conversation over lunch with coworkers recently the talk of leadership came around. The person making the statements is someone that has been around the world actually getting paid to give leadership seminars. I asked the question I always ask when people talk about leadership, is innate ability or learned skills better. He answered both, but the best are the ones that come with the innate ability, the ones that want to learn the skills are the ones that kept him employed. He also added that one of the things to learn is that you should never try to guess motivation, that it is always easier to just ask the person.

It brought me to a new understanding on a lot of things. Drama, for the most part can be just a lack of communication. I think a lot of drama start when one person tries to guess what motivates another to do something, and then people formulate things in their heads from that thought. Sometimes a person just wants to be listened to, and drama seems to be the only way to get someone’s attention.

Trying to ignore drama is not the answer. Trying to avoid it can create more of it. So at this point in my life I think that trying to just listen more is probably the best way to avoid it. I have been very good at removing people that cause drama to get attention out of my life, however it never really made me drama free. Now, it seems that trying to just understand people’s motivation by gathering information rather than guessing seems to be the best antidote to drama.

Obama won… and why did he… simple math. You cannot win the election without the minorities or women. The republican party doubled down on the Tea Party and lost.

I remember what changed my mind about people being capable of being smart no matter what. It was not the “sheeple” attitude of listening and repeating only soundbites. It was racism. Racism that reared its ugly head once again.

Let me clarify, the following statements are RACIST!

You voted for Obama only because he is black. <- Obviously someone that has never read my blog and understands that to me Education and Energy are more relevant than race.
“Let’s make the white house, white again.” <- Yey! Tea Party.

I am not foolish, I do know that some black people did vote for Obama just because he is black. I know some voted for Romney because he is white. Latinos in the other hand voted because of the issues and not because of race. I wonder how this would be twisted when the first Hispanic actually makes it into the ballot.

I’m compassionate first. Let me repeat that… I care about people first. Let me make it clear, I have volunteered in the past and will do so again. I have given to charity, but most of all I believe that social programs are what makes this country great.

I believe in personal responsibility and while there are people that certainly game the system, it is naive to think that the cancer of our society is the people that live in welfare and not the rich guys that pay less taxes than all of us combined.

Wake up people and realize that until we as a country start to fight the real problem which is that the money we put into the system is sometimes not used properly. That said something has to be done. Lets first make sure that we have no sick or hungry people in the country first, then lets get rid of the criminals that because they have a white collar can get away with using their church tax exemption to pay less. That is just the start though, from there we need to make sure that we create a place of true fair competition and we move ahead from this era of “by any means necessary.”

If we learn anything from the past two decades is that we cannot continue to build sand castles and expect them to be there next summer. Lets build a future by staying engaged and learn that this country will be strong again if we wake up, stop the racism and divisiveness and concentrate on the real issues, that rich people are trying to buy the country little by little. Don’t be fooled into thinking they want you at their table too. Keep the middle class strong!

Today we lost another person close to us. This time was the nurse’s family. Her Aunt passed away quietly after she had her last breakfast and did a little craft work in the nursing home she had been residing in. She was a person that was always felt. In one way or another her opinions were strong and she made sure they were heard. She liked me for whatever reason she had, she did not know me very well, but she said I was a keeper.

I don’t know how to deal with the feelings and emotions of death. I spent a lot of time with my uncle before he passed. I made the decision to not fly back for the funeral because I did happen to be by his side the day he lost his life. I have always felt that putting someone in the ground is not something that should be as ceremonious as it is. Sure it is cool to see a military funeral if you never experienced it, but a funeral is just not somewhere you look forward to being.

I say that I want a happy funeral, remembering the good times and playing many of the silly dance songs I love. If I happen to outlive my friends I would want them to remember the good times and not be sad at the fact that I am gone.

Religion spends lots of time preparing us to die. The promise of heaven sounds very good on paper. To most the fact that we could see loved ones that passed away before us is also enticing. I don’t know how prepared I am to die because in all reality I love life. I love my life right now and I want to live it.

I am tired of putting my grandparent’s generation to rest, I can only dread the time when it is my parent’s generation that will be the ones taking the turn. Death is something that we don’t really know now to handle well. I know how to say I’m sorry for your loss and give condolences, but the relationship with that person is really more than the flesh is what will be missed the most.

A lot of what I have seen recently with death is that it seems to bring to the surface feelings good and bad and sometimes amplify them. Not to get to sappy about the whole thing, but I do think it is important to tell those you love just how you feel about them, often, all the time really. While our elderly passing on is not sudden or a surprise it still hurts and leaves a void.

I really hope there are no more funerals in my future.

- I never thought I would get into the whole renfest dressing up thing, but I now have a hat and an idea for a whole character.
- I guess that is probably the interesting part of the whole dress up thing, the story behind it.
- It keeps your mind occupied and allows you to forget about the election.
- I have been holding back because I don’t want to have to unfriend more people.
- The stupid meter was almost broken recently with people really pushing its measuring limits.
- I am not implying that I am all that smart either, but at least I try to not be stupid.
- When do people just stop trying, maybe some just never tried at all.
- Back to the renfest, I consumed a turkey leg.
- Way more impressed with the apple dumpling.
- I have to write a post about manliness.
- I might actually upgrade to a straight razor shaving in the near future.
- More effort but way better results.
- Ingrown hairs are angry little pains.
- I have some BBQ sauce that I need to mail.
- It taunts me every time I see it and makes me feel like a procrastinator.
- More like I am getting old and forgetful.
- I want to shave all the pets in the house.
- My throat feels like I am going to cough up a hairball every morning.
- It could just be that allergies are getting to me.
- I need to get back into a workout routine.
- I have to find a bar near the house that has the Bears game every Sunday.
- The nurse has a style of cooking totally different than mine.
- I am learning tons of new stuff and coming up with great new ideas.
- We work well together in the kitchen, its like a little dance.
- I am starting to get the itch to go into teaching.
- I knew I would end up becoming one eventually, but I think it might be near.
- First getting set up financially though, then teaching.
- Longboards might be my favorite place to eat fast food.
- Pandas might make me very sleep deprived over the course of this week.
- I love when I write a sentence that seems like should never fit in with reality.

Secularism is something that transformed a whole region in Canada. It is an interesting chapter to read about. I like it because it makes swearing in French fun specially every time that Spyder cringes. I do get physically punished in the process, which to some might mean that my Catholic upbringing did its job steering me to BDSM. Now if I could only have ballroom butt… inside joke.

What pissed me off this morning on the radio was hearing Chuck Norris get all political and mix religion. Oh man, I don’t even know where to start. I am not even sure if he was going all New World Order tin hat foil or just simply being stupid. The thing is that to use the whole evangelicals should vote, and then assume that it means that they won’t vote for Obama is what bothers me. To call out someone because of socialism while using your religion as a springboard (which by the way its all about being your brother’s keeper) makes me think that logic is not something we are allowed to use as Americans anymore.

You can have all the political views you want, but don’t call on your “congregation” to vote not even for the Mormon, just against the socialist is kind of weird. If the country is going in the wrong direction, is a more religious nation the right direction? When did the republican party get all hijacked as the Christian party?

Keep on beating those drums people and see how more and more people leave the republican party. You will have lots of fun talking to empty chairs with a bunch of tea party people.

At least you will have Chuck Norris on your side.

I had a million reasons to come back to Kansas City but once of the cool ones was that a good friend was already saving me a spot in an indoor soccer league. We will come back to this in a bit.

I love the sport of soccer. I like watching it live and playing it a lot more than actually watching it on TV unless it is the world cup. The game is not exciting to watch on TV unless the level of play is at a very high level. Now to watch it live or play it is another story. I am not a soccer nut by any means, but I do have favorite teams in all the mayor leagues and I keep up with some of the international stuff.

Back in Chicago I was very curious about playing in an indoor league. I played outdoor in highschool and tons of street soccer back in Colombia. Indoor was completely foreign to me but it seemed like something that would be a lot easier to play and a great way to get in shape, or at least as an excuse to stay in shape. I talked to a couple of friends and they told me that it was a horrible idea unless I wanted to end up with a broken ankle. It had happened to one of my college buddies brother. So I steered clear. The way the story was told to me, and I hated the fact that it had that qualifier is that the “Mexican” teams were very dirty and took it way too seriously. As it was explained to me there were other nationalities in the hispanic community there but none dirtier than the team that played under the Mexico flag.

When I moved back up to Chicago my cousins and I played “touch” football one weekend. After seeing how they went full force with no pads I could see hospital visits in my future. I said no thanks to future inqueries to join their “fun” games. I guess I am officially old when I don’t think blowing out a knee should be a part of my weekend activities.

Fast forward to my KC friend talking about indoor. The selling point was that it was a co-ed league so there would be no dirty play. Also that it was an amateur league so the play was not very competitive. I was excited and even after the first game it looked like a promising thing. I was looking forward to getting in shape so I would be able to be more than just a sub but actually play entire periods.

Chimpo made fun of me on twitter before I started and thank Jebus that it was not profetic when he mentioned a broken leg on his little jab.

The second game that I was a part of was against a team where the guys all looked like they played soccer every day and on top of it were on roids. The girls on that team were also quick. First ball I get, first intimidation kick I get right to my shin. Lucky for me years of soccer and martial arts have killed enough nervs in that area that it barely registered.

It was a slaughter. The shots at our goal resonated throught the whole sports complex. I think the score was like 11 or 12 to 1 by the end of the match. It had the feel of when small country teams play the dream team in the olympics. It was pretty silly to have that level of team play with the amateurs.

The following week I had a personal thing come up so I could not make the match and that is when the drop that filled the cup happened.

Two of the girls that play in our team are related. Mother and daugther. They are both good soccer players. The daugther is probably one of our best players overall. Great speed, great ball management and can probably kick harder on goal while running than I can. This is a second hand account of what happened because I was not there.

One of the “Hispanic” teams played against our team. Again I hate the fact that it has to be identified as that and it is a little embarrasing since I am hispanic. I was not there to confirm nationalities either… actually I am pretty glad because I would have been happy to lend my swearing skills to the encounter. One of the girls fouled our best girl pretty badly and an actual physical altercation ensued. Mother defends daughter and they both get suspended for 10 games (so basically the rest of the season and into the next one.)

I am pretty new to our team and have only been to that All American Sports a handful of times throught the years. From what I hear the place has become all about taking people’s money and not really providing a service. Our team is pretty much dissolved since both our captain and our best players are not allowed to play. Granted they were involved in a confrontation but who goes full force in an amateur league where you are playing just for fun.

I am pretty dissapointed that I won’t get to play soccer on Fridays anymore. I might get in shape and eventually play outdoor again. They all have the possibility for injury. I know some of the people that play soccer are going to start playing kickball… I guess a safer alternative. Maybe it is better to just stick to the home gym.

I started blogging back in 2004 from Michigan. I still travelled back to Chicago quite a bit, and even though I did make an awesome friend in Michigan thanks to my blog locally, my best friend is all the way out in California. My blog did not really go local until I moved to Kansas City. I have met many of the commenters on my blog, followed a ton of new people and created awesome relationships outside of the internet world. I loved the KC bloggin community, it felt like a family. Then came twitter and it changed the landscape completely.

I like a lot of the people I met through twitter and it is a great place to find people to do stuff with on short notice. I do DM people more than actually tweet so its more like an overgrown rollodex for me. I do hear that people have discussions and chats with the site, but I have not really seen it as a platform and besides harrassing meesha, XO, Nuke and The D I really don’t seem to get much out of my miliage there.

Writting on a blog does not only take inspiration, it takes actual effort. The time it takes to type an entry here I could have tweeted all about how many times I pooped today and how all of a sudden I have more regular bowel movements. Yeap, some people tweet that crap… literally. As amusing as it is, I don’t feel like I own my twitter account and have gone back and forth between open and closed to only friends.

With facebook it has never been a question for me, its a communication tool for those people I know. My soapbox has always been my blog. Facebook is more like my livingroom. Facebook merges not only the world of my friends and family with internet buddies, but also people I met via twitter. Linkedin has been kept mostly business and I might connect with you in linkedin but not friend you.

My facebook has always been about foodporn mostly because I know it annoys some of my friends, and it makes others hungry. Its fun to taunt people with food the have had but have no immediate access to. I don’t get too political in there, and really don’t anywhere anymore. I do feel like I own my wall and my connections. If I don’t like what you are posting (hate related stuff mostly) my connection to you is severed. I do like debate and civil conversation, but the moment that something becomes about namecalling or hate I really don’t want it there. Just like I would not want it in the livingroom of my home. I like my wall to feel like a place of safe exchange, not a place to take dumps.

I know I don’t own my wall, facebook owns it. I do own this blog, the domain and the content here. I don’t often delete comments here unless I don’t like you or your message. Careful though, don’t assume that just because you have an opposing view I don’t like you. I do like intelligent debate. Sheeple, not so much.

This weekend visiting the KC Ethnic Festival I felt amazing. It was not just the company of my awesome nurse, which does make things that much more fun. It was the feeling that human can find things to relate with each other (awesome food) rather than things that separate us (the never ending hateful posts on facebook recently.) That feeling of how many people can come together and share something is what I felt in the bloggin community here in KC.

I know this is going around in many circles, but it does have a point or common theme. I miss the debate that blogs used to create, I miss the exchange of ideas, but most of all I miss the sense of community. The bloogsphere here in KC used to feel like a nice hangout and facebook used to feel like it had the potential to continue that. Today as their stuck plummets facebook reminds me more of myspace than it should.

In the world of the internet we all know that we seldom go backwards. Not sure if we can get back to blogs or not but it is a nice dream isn’t it.