Commonality

You know, it’s interesting, having a common name; it’s always evolved into something a bit more colloquial. That can be, both a blessing and a curse, as I am sure anyone can imagine. It’s one of those things that I sometimes take for granted. For instance, I don’t recall anyone ever mispronouncing my name or having to ask how to spell it. No – nothing of the sort has ever transpired. At the same time, however, there are the disadvantages.

“I know someone named Matt Johnson.” “Matt Johnson was a teacher of mine.” “Matt Johnson committed a crime in my town growing up,” etc… Like I said, it is both a blessing and a curse. The following is part of an email to the woman organizing programs for my church. I am co-leading a Confirmation/Teen “Sunday School,” this year, which should be fun. Like volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, I enjoy teaching and helping kids learn. As I derive a nice amount of self-satisfaction out of the process, I don’t think I earn altruistic points, but with that, it’s great there is nothing better than a good win-win.

I should note, on the side, with Isaac and Aaron being co-leaders, I think I am going to have to start going by "Matthew," in order to keep things appropriately biblical. I am not sure how to put it otherwise. Isaac and Aaron both have the solemn tone and name-recognition associated with the Old Testament. Sure Matthew is a Gospel, but come on, every other kid in the Eighth Grade at North Middle School goes by "Matt," "Matthew," "Matty," or worse yet "Mattie."

I'd change my name to Mark, John or Luke, but I think I am beaten in those directions as well. Shucks, with Nathanael being from Bartholomew, I might have to start going that direction. Of course, then that lends itself to Simpson's references.

Can I be called Moses or Noah? I like Noah; that has sort of a Hollywood screenwriter feel to it...

Yeah, that’s it!
Best,
Noah

Jim Leach's Convention Speech

http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/08/25/full-text-former-us-rep-jim-leach-speech-to-democratic-national-convention/

Like the Republicans will have a former Hillary Clinton supporter speak or be around in their convention, we can expect to see converted on both sides. Nevertheless, Jim Leach’s speech last night made me quite happy, largely because the Republican Party misrepresents what it has done with its power. GOP, this is why your brand has been destroyed, because this abominable president you’ve provided us, marketed under the guise of “conservativism,” has been anything but.

Former U.S. Rep Leach sums it up nicely:
“The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts.”

I can’t add anything better than that, and were the Republican Party campaigning on redemption of these principles, they’d be worth considering this November. They blew this since that confluence of Rush, Delay, and W. Sorry GOP – you can scratch me off your rolls.

Cafestol and Kahweol - Two Reasons You Should Give Up Espresso

Cafestol and Kahweol are two nasty little oils, which cause elevation of one's cholesterol levels. Rather than type a whole lot in this regard, I'll simply cite the following: "TOXICOLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR CAFESTOL AND KAHWEOL" (Raymond Tice, Ph.D., Integrated Laboratory Systems, October 1999):

9.0 TOXICOLOGICAL DATA
9.1 General Toxicology
9.1.1 Human Data
A direct relationship between coffee consumption and total cholesterol has been
demonstrated (Thelle et al., 1987). The cholesterol-raising effect of boiled coffee has been
associated with the diterpenes from coffee oil (Heckers et al., 1994; Mensink et al., 1995; Urgert
et al., 1995a; Urgert and Katan, 1996). Paper-filtered coffee does not elevate cholesterol since
the lipid content (including diterpenes) is negligible (van Dusseldorp et al., 1991; Ahola et al.,
1991; Ratnayake et al., 1993; all cited by Urgert et al., 1996). In a 2-year cross-sectional study
of Norwegian subjects controlling for possible confounding variables such as body mass index,
number of cigarettes, and physical activity, boiled coffee increased serum cholesterol by 8% (18
mg/dL; 0.47 mmol/L) in men and 10% (21 mg/dL; 0.55 mmol/L) in women (Stensvold et al.,
1989). For those drinking filter coffee, the effect was only significant for women.
More than 20 epidemiology studies have been conducted. The effects of cafestol and
kahweol on cholesterol, triglyceride, lipoprotein, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity
levels from some of these studies are given in section 9.10.2.

If this is interesting to you, I suggest reading the entire paper, which you can find via the NIH: http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/Cafestol.pdf

I've personally given up everything above and beyond drip coffee, and have seen my LDL levels drop substantially. Aside from better health, it's added dollars and cents to my wallet, as drip coffee is substantially cheaper than the more upscale coffee drinks.

Diligence – on the Tunes

In the interest of diligence, I should note, I preeminently confess that my perspective is quite subjective. That subjectivity is twofold: one, I am happier here in Boise than I was in Chicago, which provides for a happier attendee, hence a warmer experience; two, because there aren’t as many shows, it doesn’t provide for the space to become apathetic. About those two factors, there is no question. I confess that I am most definitely affected by those two factors.

However, I have to qualify that admitted subjectivity. To hear the set lists I have in Boise, with the exception of the local Built to Spill set list, they have involved rarities that one would not hear from these same bands in a larger more frequently played market. Moreover, the crowd shares my enthusiasm, providing for no apathy, which feeds into the performers’ performances—e.g. Wilco’s “Longcore.”

Either way, be it in the “eye of the beholder,” or be it objectively accurate, it is what it is. I’ll take it, just like the traffic, or lack thereof—I am in love with living in Boise. Shhh—don’t tell anyone.

Shows in Boise

Moving to Boise, while it has not been perfect in every way, has a large number of advantages. Many of those advantages I’ve written about are the things I use to make myself feel better when I long for more and diverse restaurants, a greater number of eligible single young educated women, or diverse viewpoints. One further advantage to living here in Boise, which never ceases to delight me, is that Boise is infrequently visited by big national touring acts.

I know – I know, that is counter-intuitive, e.g. Matt, if you love music, you had to love the music scene in Chicago. Big bands played there all the time. Boise is small enough acts don’t play there very often. That’s what one would think, but evidence thus far has proved to be the contrary. Case and point, the last two shows I’ve seen in Boise, Robert Earl Keen and Wilco.

I saw Wilco play the neatest show I’ve seen them play, perhaps ever. That is no exaggeration. They played two encores, and had a great amount of fun. Of course, the venue was a winery converted into an outdoor venue. The stage was at a rather low height for an outdoor venue, with a flat gallery from which to watch the band. Jeff Tweedy commented he could “die” playing in Boise, on that stage, because of how comfortable he felt in the weather.

Prior the show, I’d not bothered to do any research about past Wilco shows in Boise, but Tweedy announced during the show that they’d not been in Idaho since “this small band for REM opened for us. We helped them get their start.” Of course, I could go into further detail on the set list, but that is unimportant. The only important thing to know was that I had more fun and enjoyment listening to Wilco in this beautiful setting, and Wilco was having a lot of fun playing for folks they’d assumed hadn’t heard them live for ten-plus years. As such, they dug into their back catalog, and played a few songs from “Mermaid Avenue,” etc…

Were I a bigger Robert Earl Keen, I could note the same sort of well loved seldom played “rarities,” but I’ve not seen enough of his shows to know better. Seeing Keen, however, proved a wonderful experience. Again, like Wilco, Boise not being a place he plays often, removed any apprehension he might have with him in Austin, or something.
The point is simple, while iterations are less frequent, when we get them, the shows are all the better. Apathy is lost in the beautiful setting with the enthusiastic crowd, leaving bands no choice but to put on an amazing show. Needless to say, I am most looking forward to seeing the Hold Steady in November!

Idaho Natives

Recently, I was coming into the parking lot, with a woman around my age at the same time. For purposes of anonymity, I won’t spell out her license plates, but I have been wondering forever, “To what do they translate?” I had been thinking “I donate….,” so I asked her, “What do you donate to? I am having a hard time deciphering your tags; they’ve been a curiosity of mine for a while.”

She mentioned, “It means Idaho native.”

“Oh,” I said, “I was trying to figure out what you donate to! Ha. Ha….” I was amused as I drove off, largely because I didn’t get it from the start. Beyond that, however, apparently not being someone didn’t damage my ego. It made me giggle at the fact that this woman was proud enough of something to put it on her tags, but that it is probably not deciphered by most.

Whatever the case, I suspect that this speaks to something more substantial, a fear I have coming to Idaho from Chicago. From my perspective, at least it’s not California, which is more typically derided by the locals here in Boise, the same way it assuredly is in Colorado. For me, though, it always begs the question, about xenophobia. I suppose xenophobia is predicated from the classic human condition of fearing an altering of the status quo. At the same time, however, I recall always being quite excited about something new and different, from childhood through adulthood. I guess, from my perspective, that’s when things are the most fun and the least mundane.

I suspect, at the same time, however, there are those, myself included, that come somewhere with sensibilities contrary to what people have known and loved for years. Examples I was just speaking about last night: Here in Idaho, water that is too cheap to encourage conservation; the need to make speaking on a mobile while driving a violation, something for which someone could receive a ticket. I think if one were to poll Idahoans, they would probably find those opinions quite contrary to their ideas of what is right, etc…

I suppose it’s something to consider.

The Grand Teton and Yellowstone - Part I

There I was this weekend, off to visit with the Rice’s, Jon, Lizzie, John, and Margaret. My close friends’ last vacation in the States, before they return to the UK, with my friend Jon’s mum and dad, and they were nice enough to invite me to join them.

I left work on Friday morning, and drove to West Yellowstone. The drive is somewhat uneventful, but provided I’d not yet been to some of those parts of Idaho, I was excited to see things I had not. Southeastern Idaho isn’t necessarily the most interesting part of such a gorgeous state, but one could hear the same thing said about Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. Were it not for the prairies and plains, our settlers would have had nothing to eat, prior to the advent of refrigerated trucking and rail, etc…

I digress. Friday, I drove to West Yellowstone, which is a tiny town with a massive number of hotels and restaurants, most of which are doing their business this time of year. One could tell by the disproportionate number of young women and men from places like Eastern Europe. For some reason, I doubt that a beautiful young maiden from Russia, Ukraine, or Croatia comes to the tiny berg of West Yellowstone for a university education; no, this place is that of lifestyle employment.

I saw the Rice’s that Friday night, but had planned to stay in a hotel, so I could get up early for my fourteen mile run. This weekend was a cutback week, so it was “just” fourteen miles. I know. It’s obnoxious to talk like that, but this Saturday is twenty, and when faced with the difference, one begins to think that fourteen just isn’t that bad.

I woke up at 4:45 a.m. for my run, and stretched grabbing my cup of coffee on the front-end of the morning. I was off at 5:50 a.m., and running to the Rendezvous Nordic ski trails right inside of West Yellowstone. I was referred to them by the hotel staff. Running into those, it was still quite dark, I found myself on a back-road. I kept running the back-road, and was watching my Garmin.

I have to admit, at a time or two I pondered the stray grizzly or wolf pack roaming freely nearby West Yellowstone. I kept running along, however, thinking that those predators were likely closer to where the buffalo roam. It’s amazing how running distance can sometimes work, one can find her or himself running along, thinking about reasons to turn back and try something else. That’s a trick one’s mind plays with them, when doing something voluntary but stressful. Nevertheless, I kept on running. That said, however, the hill never seemed to end. I was running up the foothill range surrounding West Yellowstone, and was not due to stop, even by mile seven, which was when I’d turn around to make it an even fourteen.

There I was, I ran seven miles up the hill, and then, I turned around to head downhill for the remainder of my fourteen mile run. I have the Garmin report, and my elevation started at about 6500’. The summit of my run was 7734’.

The run was what it was. I enjoyed it, and then I spent the rest of the weekend with the Rice’s. I could spend hours writing about what a great time it was with such wonderful people, in such a lovely place. As it is Monday morning, I have to get on about work. Nevertheless, more to come with pictures, but probably not until the Rice’s get back to the Internet, at that point, I’ll have to meander on about what a pleasurable time it was to see such wonderful friends, of whom, in the very near term, I’ll not see a lot. Godspeed to you Rice’s and a happy and safe trip back to Great Britain. “Why do they call it ‘Great Britain?’ Because it’s Great!” – Jon Rice

Blog Updates – Am I Horrible, or What?

Apologies if you’ve been tuning in for regularly scheduled updates, as recently, I’ve been quite horrible about writing in this. Let’s see if I cannot itemize some recent occurrences, and perhaps that will get the juices flowing on this accord.

Running on Wednesday evening, I was up in the Foothills for a nine-miler. I love running the foothills of Boise, which are just a mile North of my place. In short, I run down my hill, then up 8th Street. That brings me to Hull’s Gulch, which is this terrific Gulch running many miles further than I take it. Nevertheless, there is a nice footpath along the stream that rolls down the Gulch.

Running this time was a buzzing noise I heard, this being a few nights ago. I stopped running, hitting “Stop” on my Garmin. As I did so, I looked down at the left side of the path, and there it was, a rattler. The rattler was coiled up, and there it was, quite scared of me. I knew better than to run past it closely. As the snake was in close proximity to the path, I stood there for a moment contemplating what to do. I looked for a rock, and found one partially immersed in the dirt. I kicked at it, until it came free. I picked it up, and lobbed it over, and hit the snake. It paused for a moment; then it recoiled. I waited a moment, and then I watched it slither down across the path, into the bottom of the gulch. I then ran onward to finish my nine miles.

I am heading to Yellowstone today, to see Jon, Lizzie, and Mr. and Mrs. Rice! I am quite excited for it, and will be heading out of the office in the near term. For that I am excited! I am going to run my 14 miles tomorrow morning, but beyond that, the whole weekend is devoted to the Rice’s! I cannot wait to see such dear and lovely friends, all of whom will be returning to the UK within the next month. Of course, for Jon’s parents, they’ll go back sooner, but it’s Jon and Lizzie’s departure that will affect me the most.

It’s quite funny how this move to Boise has been much different than that to Memphis. Because Memphis was in driving distance to Champaign, Chicago, and the Quad Cities, I saw friends a lot more often than I do out here in the West. I’ve not seen Jon or Lizzie since around Christmas, and our communication has fallen off, like it does when one moves ~1500 miles from where they once lived. Seeing them this weekend is of great importance, as they were there and true friends during such a horrible time. The next time I’ll see them after this weekend will probably not be until I make a trip to the UK. I am starting to fantasize about the London Marathon. I don’t know. It’s quite funny thinking about running 42.2 rather than “26.2”. Of course, that is solely the conversion from miles to kilometers, but you already knew that, didn’t you?

Other than that, things are humming along here in Boise. No new updates in the love life. I have the same steady stream of limited prospects. They are there, to an extent, but not in great numbers. Of course, Boise is not a big place, which means one has to change their expectations. Any time I find myself missing the plethora of young single women or ethnic restaurants, I simply remind myself that it takes me no longer to get to work than ten minutes. Oh yeah, and I can ski in the mountains and the climate rocks… These are things we take in strides!

Those of Whom We Fear

This was too cute to not share. When I say "cute," it's meant not out of disrespect for faith, just at how absurd and horrifying that people would misuse their faith in such a way. I liken it to fascism... Biblically, it's reminiscent of the Pharisees.... Hmmm...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztO8wZz029Y

How about taking the production and ad-buy space for the following:
Please pray for the sick
Pray for the impoverished
Pray for the safe return of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
Pray for Peace...
etc...
Obviously, each of us could spend a great deal of time writing more on this, but for the sake of brevity, I'll leave it at that. If you get bored, give it a look.

How Hiring Government Employees Solely Committed to the President's Agenda Hurts Us—For Shame on Bush

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/08/01/todd.defining.abortion.cnn

This report is among the most frightening things I have ever seen come from this government. While I am averse to setting forth on a slippery slope constructed argument, these definitions come dangerously close to affecting women’s rights concerning healthcare and health insurance. Methinks the drafts of something along these lines are largely constructed to help insurance companies getting around paying for birth control. Of course, there are dimensions above and beyond this, but this seems as though it is crafted to compromise reproductive rights.