No longer a geo-muggle.

I've been writing a bit recentl, just not here.

Just went on my first geo-caching expedition. Some co-workers and I ventured to a succulent botantical garden that we had not known existed on campus. We looked up and down and all around before we found the tupperware filled with little meaningless goodies. Pretty fun. We've learned a few lessons that should make it easier next time we try this.

English is NOT our only language.

One of the reasons English is such a great expressive language is that it is adoptive and has been influenced from languages around the world. Every year new words come into use and old ones die. It evolves. It's got a million nuances and flavors and I'm thankful that I have some fluency in it and I can challenge myself to speak and write and communicate the thoughts that swim around in my brain. But English like all languages has limitations. I often have thoughts that come from the Chinese part of my brain. And although I can translate those into a rough English translation, it still shows English is not the end all of language.

But none of that has anything to do with what's happening today. Today the Senate is voting to make English the national language. They believe doing so will promote national unity. Like the subtly intertwined immigration reform issue, this is pure diversionary bunk. This is Junior and Rove looking for something, anything to talk about but the endless failures in Iraq. This is about playing on white America’s racist fears of hordes of Asians and Mexicans invading and changing the character of this country. This is about protecting his base in the midterm elections this November.

Certainly, there are advantages to speaking and writing English. And maybe immigrants need a basic proficiency for their own sake and ours. I’ll even concede that having one language used across this vast country would have its advantages. But we’ve had a free country for a couple hundred years now, and a Constitution with some sort of guarantee about free speech. It looks like that speech is a lot freer if its in English.

Who's calling who?

I spent more time on the phone last night than I typically spend in a month. And apparently, the NSA and Junior might know about that already, because I was speaking with an AP reporter and maybe I was one of his sources on a news leak and maybe the current regime is doing that information these days under the guise of "national security".

It sounds like USA Today got the news out yesterday and some Congressmen declared outrage, but the American people really didn't care. They seem to be faced with the choice of "little black box program that is illegal and may threaten your civil liberties" vs. "Junior says this will help us catch terrorists" and people continue to choose, "What Junior says." It's a little surprising considering his low approval ratings and lack of credibility domestically or internationally.

I'm not sure if I should be worried yet. I'm trying to figure out the implications. If I call a gay friend who's a part of a gay advocacy group, does that mean my number has been flagged? If I know someone who knows something about computer viruses and I call him about what happened in the Sharks game last night, is that tracked? Probably not. But we're on that sort of slippery slope right now. Pay attention.

Last Week

So this past weekend was my brother's wedding. It was a grand affair. It was great to see his love fulfilled and his new life starting. It was great to see people from throughout their lives gather for the special event. There were many people I had not seen in years. As Chairman Rob noted, we were a little community. Best Man duties definitely kept me running around. I wonder if my wedding was that crazy behind the scenes, and people just did a great job of keeping it from me.

Anyway, the wedding really turned out to be a week long event. My grandmother was in town, as were her two daughers and all four of her grandchildren and their attached families. And most people got to town Thursday before the reherasal dinner and left Wednesday after. It was good to see everyone, especially since, I rarely make it up to Seattle and I hadn't met my cousin's two year old little angel, Sophie yet. So it turns out, just about every day, I ended up as a shuttle service, moving relatives to and from Berkeley, San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek and wherever else anyone wanted to go. And each night we feasted, meaning I probably added five pounds this weekend.

I hear Indian weddings are pretty long affairs. I wonder if by day three people decide they just want to sleep in because they can't take anymore. Probably not, but I could see it.

Why I've been too busy to blog recently.

Photo by Meng Horng

Copycat

Apparently the promising writing career of a 19 year old Harvard student is over almost as soon as it began. She apparently read some bad literature and copied many passages of that bad literature in her own name for her own profit. (Yes, I am being somewhat judgemental, but as someone who reads and writes, I'll take that liberty.)

I feel somewhat bad for her. It's hard to see someone that young crushed and googled for all the wrong reasons. But she she have known that what she did was wrong, and that she was going to get caught. She will probably never be able to get anything published ever again.

Maybe, she actually has some talent. Now we'll never know.

Sake, sake, sake.

This past Saturday I continued the slow poisoning of my liver. A small sushi restaurant in San Mateo held a sake tasting. They served appetizers and 7 varieties of Sake. The owners were Japanese speakers and could not elaborate on the different sakes in much detail. Their flier said something like, "this sake like hear music beat." But I've always liked sake. It can have a rich flavor without the harshness of a lot of drinks. I remember drinking sake and having salty boiled prawns as one of the most enjoyable meals I've ever had.

I've been told that it's nearly impossible to get a hangover off of good sake. Some day I might have to test that theory.

BTW, I lost at Texas hold'em poker that night, but I'm sure it had nothing to do with the drinking.

Hat Trick

Okay, it's already May, so this is the last time I mention hockey for a while.

The other week when we went to the goal, I pointed out to my wife, "Hey Cherchoo's got two goals. If he gets three, they call it a hat trick." And of course, he did it. At which point hundreds of hats when flying through the arena landing all over the ice. The game was nearly over, but it had to be delayed several minutes while people picked up all the hats.

According to wikipedia, the hat tradition goes back to tipping the cap in cricket. Though it seems suspiciously like the flowers they throw at bullfights, or whatever they used to throw at the gladiators back in the day. I get that, but throwing octopus thing they do (or did) in Detroit. That's probably crossing the line.

Anyway, the little tidbit I found out this weekend that makes me blog is this. I actually know what happens to all those hats now. They get cleaned and sent to Packard's Children Hospital. I probably have a half dozen hats that the wife wouldn't mind taking to a hockey game now.