The next President as I see it

As for the next President, my primary vote probably goes to the American, Mitt Romney. He is truly a self-made man with no reason to run for public office other than to help other Americans. Why did Warren Buffet give $37bil to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation instead of Joe "the non-profitteer" Sly? Because Bill Gates has no reason to help people other than helping people. Mitt wants to help America become what it should be, not by whining, not by buying friends both in the country and out, and not by waiting. His financial position, similar to Benjamin Franklin, allows him to be a true servant of the people. To all of the people out there who haven't made up your minds, look at the intentions of the candidates, what is in it for them.

If not Mitt, I would vote for Ron Paul. He is a very straight forward person with an easy going personality who seems to take no advise from Politicos (However, he is from Texas, we can't have two in a row!) John McCain is like George Bush, he has good intentions, but relys too heavily on his aides and advisers.
On the Democrat side, between Hillary and Obama, ...wow, what to say? Similar to Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean, we know we can count on a dishonest person to always be dishonest, and Hillary would always do what is best for Hillary.
When it is all said and done, as I said before, we focus too much on the leader, the generals don't do the fighting and dying or the standing and waiting. The president doesn't make laws, he gives direction. What direction do we want, whose intentions do we want to try fulfill?

Buying a house

If you have never been so stressed out that you wanted to jump into an icy river to relax, try buying a home. About half of the people I know own their own home, and to look at them, you'd only see normal people. But lurking underneath that facade of calm composure, there exists a deep well of what some call "experience." (That is just a fancy word for saying, they have made lots of mistakes.) I never imagine buying a home would be so complicated or so expensive. A few months ago when the US was in meltdown mode because a few billion dollars were lost in bad mortgages, I thought, "how could those people have ever dreamed of borrowing so much money under such terrible terms, and why would a lender loan those people so much money in such a sly way when the reality was that they wouldn't be able to afford their loan?" Now I look at it with open eyes. Here are my reasons why lenders and borrowers are in trouble.
1. Borrowers are brainwashed into the need to own a home.
2. The nitty-gritty of a home mortgage quite confusing.
3. The realtors, loan originators, brokers, appraisers, and anyone I haven't though of, all make money at the time of transaction; they aren't in it for the "long-haul." Once they have their money, they are gone.
4. Money in the financial world is relative. They talk in numbers, not dollars.
5. Real estate was one of the last places people can find money for nothing.

There are four ways to get money. First people look to get money by producing or manufacturing something (or owning an asset that producing something.) Second, they look to get money as a reward for brokering/producing a transaction (i.e. sales.) Third, they get money by borrowing it. And fourth, they let others borrow money for a price. In the US, we got tired of producing things, are getting beat by others at brokering deals, ran out of money for others to borrow, and now we are the borrowers. Ahh... the new American dream.

Oprah and Obama?

Why is a TV talk show host travelling with a presidential candidate? I don't know the answer to this, but I do know that it doesn't matter which candidate we Americans choose. We don't need any more politicians in Congress, we need Americans in Congress. Americans like our founding fathers.
We have proven that it doesn't matter who we elect as president, we won't spend enough time figuring out how to fill the rest of Congress and elect a bunch of party line people fulfilling their own self interest. The president won't get anything done and we will complain notoriously that it is the presidents fault the world is screwed up.
Wake up people! It isn't the president that matters, it isn't even the US Congress. It is us! Looking around we seem to be waiting for someone else to make the world a better place for us. But that is not the solution. Do the work, learn the material, there are no shortcuts to success!

Looking back

Have you ever looked back into your deep memories to see what you saw so long ago? Are your memories real? Philosophy tells us that the only real time is the present, and I honestly have to agree. The past is gone, it is only a dream, and time that can never be completely recovered. I have written journals, taken pictures, and even recorded short videos. Records extent your vision into the past, but nothing is the same about those memories. I miss the good times and I am ashamed of the lapses in judgment, but the only thing real is the present.
It makes me think, what will I be writing or thinking in 20 years? Will I be looking back on this dream I currently call the present. When you have a small child, people with older children look at you and say, "It'll go fast!" I smile and think, "It goes just as fast as any other time, only now you look back at your foggy memories and wonder where the time went."
Past, present and future are all the same, you decide your future by changing in the present because of what you learned in the past. What does the future hold? just memories of the past.

Ears

As I was flying across the country I began to realize that planes are very loud, and the people talking on the plane are even louder. As I closed my computer, I began to be jealous of the easy way in which it slips into hibernation. For some reason, we cannot just sleep whenever and wherever we want. We say, "I am going to sleep." We close our eyes and try to find a comfortable position and then nothing. We wait for some unknown chemical reaction to take place in which we move from awake and alert mode to sleep and subdued mode.

What is so bad about religion?

There are two points of conversation almost all people want to avoid, well, at least the ones that are trying to make friends: politics and religion. I can write about both, but hardly talk openly about either.
Yes, religion is a personal matter, but what you believe about God and life is what makes you who you are. Some believe in nothing, some don't care, some can't believe in anything, some hate the category they would be put in if they believed something, some actually believe in something, some don't care what they believe as long as they a different than everyone else, some don't want to believe anything for fear of additional work, and some gave up believing in anything. What you believe instantly sets a standard by which you live. And it is your privilege to act according to your belief. That is one of the beautiful things that makes America great. You cannot expect someone else with a different belief or even a different understanding to act the way you do. With that said, however, there is a slight catch to the Christian belief that drives everyone insane. Once you belief in Christ, you want to and, to a degree, are required to give others an opportunity to believe in Christ also. So basically, there are a bunch of well-meaning Christians out there who want to give others an opportunity to know God in the way they know. Tack on the fact that everyone has both a varying levels of understanding as well as different points of doctrine, and you have a difficult jungle to weave through while talking about religion.
Here is my opinion, discussion of religion can lead to confusion and frustration or greater clarity. So get out and have a discussion (discussion occurs when at least two people interact in an exploration of a subject) about religion, the conversation will go three ways, one doesn't want to talk about it (queue to change topics), you will become more confused, or you might both just learn something.
But for all those preachy types, remember, no one was ever forced/pushed into heaven.

A whole month!?!

Did I really let a month go by without posting? I guess that lets you know just how busy I am.
A few words of wisdom from a friend: "When you don't like doing something, people can tell." He said it almost off the cuff without giving much thought to it, but the idea stuck with me. You can't hide your thoughts about how you feel, but on the same note, you can hide how you feel by changing you thoughts. Let me explain with an example. When you don't like doing something, you wear your expressions on your face, in your body language, and most especially, in your excitement (or lack thereof.) But if you change the way you think about the things you are doing, you can honestly change your expressions. I don't like cleaning our bathroom, but I do like seeing Grace happy because she loves a clean bathroom, so I will happily clean the bathroom. Or I don't like doing paperwork, but I do like getting paid, therefore, I will be happy doing paperwork in order to get paid. The moral of the story is: don't get grumpy when you have to do something you hate; think about something you like while you are doing the something you hate :)

...It is just a game

Today I watched in shock as my Sooners lost to CU. It is just a game though, it doesn't really matter; I couldn't do anything to control the outcome so why do I care. I was just sitting, watching other people do things.

OLD POST from MySpace which has become a full page billboard destroying it purpose!

well, i find it hard to believe that someone noticed my blog. i really was trying to relieve a bit of stress. but now, looking back, reflecting who has time to think about someone else today. sure we have a lot of noble ambitions; we say that we want something, or we want to do something, but who has time to fulfill their wants and be there/ be considerate of others. i think about what i want in life, what are my goals, dreams, hopes, secret desires, and then i compare them with what i have and what i have accomplished. i don't even know what 'relaxed' means anymore, i run around trying 'to accomplish something' so that i run around and accomplish something else.
i am so sick of people complaining about their life. do people really believe that they are so afflicted? why do they complain about their job? do they really believe that their contribution to a company is worth what they are being paid? in general no! are the hours really that terrible? are the co-workers so annoying? (are you annoying to your co-workers...did you ever wonder?) is the work really that difficult? students complain about tough classes...hello...that is why i am in school, i came here to learn. challenging classes stretch the mind. you aren't in high school anymore, the problems you should face in life don't have a solutions manual! "the professors are boring or up tight or (much worse than what anyone could think)" well, have you ever wondered what they do outside of class? do they do research? have a family? people complain about their car, "the paint is coming off" or "the thing rattles" or "the door squeeks" or "my leather seats are cracking" ...go without a car a few days, see how long you last? why complain? because you are selfish, and you have never looked at the world from someone else's point of view. you have never been able to walk in someone else's shoes. "your heart goes out" to those who overcome trials, but what would you do if you went blind, lost a loved one or were diagnosed with cancer? who would you become? would you overcome your trials or would they overcome you?
i would like to think i would overcome, but i would hope with all my heart that i never had to. as for my life right now, i think i would die if i ever left status quo. working from 12 to 8 in the morning screws with your internal clock (albeit, i don't work everyday, but i am sure some people do), after that it is a quick stroll to the engineering classes i am taking, only to realize that i have no earthly idea what is going on, so i say to myself, "isaac, you need to study!" with every intention i had to a quiet place to be alone and study, but on the way someone calls, someone needs help, someone needs me to teach them something. what can i do but go. eating is almost a forgotten pasttime. yesterday, i remember eating some pancakes for breakfast, then it was night and i needed to get in bed so that i could wake up at 1115 to go to work (valuing sleep over food) sleep, wow, people complain when they get 7 hours of sleep or they have to pull an all-nighter two nights a semester, only to be able to sleep peaceful after consuming an ungodly amount of alcohol.

Freindship

I have moved around quite a bit in the years since high school. I have become a bit disillusioned with the meaning of friendship. As I anticipate the next move, expecting to stay there for the longest time since I left my parents' house, I ask myself. How am I supposed to keep up with everyone that I know? What does it mean to be a good friend? How do you make new friends? When do you spend time with your new friends while still spending time with your spouse?
There is a huge world out there, sometimes we get so used to our culture that we forget there are people with totally different ideas, motivations, and concerns. What is considered polite in the US isn't polite in other places. Three things that Americans do to frustrate people of other cultures are:
One, Americans usually only speak English, we are unlearned and singular just because we don't speak all the languages of the world (or even a few of them.) Well, guess what world, the United States is roughly the size of the entire European continent. I could drive twelve hours in every direction from Oklahoma and still find that 99% of the population still speaks English (or some derivative of it.) Because we are in this cocoon, we don't have an opportunity to go to other countries and learn another language. All joking aside, if Texas was a different country, I'm sure I would learn the language they speak there pretty quickly.
Two, people of other cultures don't make casual talk or light talk. A common phrase in English "Let's get together sometime." In reality this is said with the meaning that, yes, you like the person, yes, you want to get together, but no, you have no idea when. Plans aren't plans until they are confirmed with date, time, place, and obligation. However, if you say in another culture, "Let's get together." and you don't in the following few weeks, you have greatly offended them.
Three, acknowledgement. Everyone is important. In the US, a general greeting is fine, you enter a room, and say a general 'Hi!' and you're done. Not so in other places, you should greet every person, sometimes according to age, both when you're coming and when you're going. I think that is a little bit of a hassle, but it is much more polite. Except in circumstances where the setting in not conducive to personal greetings, this rule holds pretty true.
I have quite a bit more to say especially about the things in the opening paragraph, but I have some things to take care of with my family. Anyway, friends, be careful not to offend, and if you think you have been offended, it was most likely a misunderstanding.