Saturday, March 19, 2011
An ode to Jeff, Daniel, and Juka
I am grateful to have you in my life. You invite me over pretty much every Friday, and in addition to opening your home to me, you cook (and call me fatty)! I'm glad that you put up with my weirdness, and my admittedly naughty sense of humor. You three are some of the kindest, most generous people I know. You make me laugh, you never force me to watch Avatar, despite repeated threats, and I can tell that you are generally interested in my well-being. Cran Grape!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wow
So, I just got an email from my friend Matt, that his best friend, and our middle-school and high school classmate has finally passed away after dealing with septicemia, several transplants, and more days in the hospital than out over the past 6 years. Jon Krainock was 31: my age.
Life is short folks, too short to waste on petty BS and too short to live with anger, or waiting for something magic to happen. You have to create your own magic everyday and literally live each moment for itself. So, Jon, wherever you are, the contents of a letter I wrote you back in junior high were essentially this: you jokingly asked me to 8th grade grad dance, and you probably knew that I had a huge crush on you. Yes, of course I wanted to go with you, but thought you were just being a jerk (it was junior high, who wasn't a jerk?), so I basically told you to piss off. I'm sorry, and I am glad we got to chat, albeit briefly, via text last year. You seem to have turned into a remarkable man and father, and at least now your soul can rest from all the physical pain of the past 6 years. See you on the other side.
Life is short folks, too short to waste on petty BS and too short to live with anger, or waiting for something magic to happen. You have to create your own magic everyday and literally live each moment for itself. So, Jon, wherever you are, the contents of a letter I wrote you back in junior high were essentially this: you jokingly asked me to 8th grade grad dance, and you probably knew that I had a huge crush on you. Yes, of course I wanted to go with you, but thought you were just being a jerk (it was junior high, who wasn't a jerk?), so I basically told you to piss off. I'm sorry, and I am glad we got to chat, albeit briefly, via text last year. You seem to have turned into a remarkable man and father, and at least now your soul can rest from all the physical pain of the past 6 years. See you on the other side.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I can't; I'm Mormon
Most of the time, not eating gluten is so NOT a problem. People often tell me that they don't think they would be able to eat gluten free, or that my life must "suck" because I can't eat those products, but let me tell you how it really is.
When I eat something with gluten, the pain isn't immediate; nope, it waits a few hours and then I have intestinal pain for several days, and nothing else I eat gets absorbed. If I am experiencing malnutrition, I am more likely to be fatigued and grumpy, and no one likes that. When we go out to dinner and they put the bread basket on the table, there is no temptation for me to eat it because I like feeling good, and eating the bread will NOT make me feel good. So many restaurants have at least a few gluten-free options now, and they are quite tasty! I now don't do much think of it as that I can't eat something, it's that I don't want to. I still have that choice.
Here's the flipside: being a Mormon and having Celiac disease. So many functions include baked goods that I will not eat. Today, there was a break-the-fast that was entirely pasta, which I don't eat. I know that no one has anything against me (most of them don't even know), but sometimes it's hard not to feel left out at these types of things. I know I am being ridiculous right now, but that's just how it is.
When I eat something with gluten, the pain isn't immediate; nope, it waits a few hours and then I have intestinal pain for several days, and nothing else I eat gets absorbed. If I am experiencing malnutrition, I am more likely to be fatigued and grumpy, and no one likes that. When we go out to dinner and they put the bread basket on the table, there is no temptation for me to eat it because I like feeling good, and eating the bread will NOT make me feel good. So many restaurants have at least a few gluten-free options now, and they are quite tasty! I now don't do much think of it as that I can't eat something, it's that I don't want to. I still have that choice.
Here's the flipside: being a Mormon and having Celiac disease. So many functions include baked goods that I will not eat. Today, there was a break-the-fast that was entirely pasta, which I don't eat. I know that no one has anything against me (most of them don't even know), but sometimes it's hard not to feel left out at these types of things. I know I am being ridiculous right now, but that's just how it is.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Global Warming
Global warming is apparently to blame for every kind of weather. Horrible winter with record rain and/or snowfall? Global warming. Dry winter with not nearly enough rain and/or snow? Global warming. Global warming gets blamed for tornados, hurricanes, floods, or the lack of the aforementioned phenomena.
I have therefore decided that I am going to blame everything else on global warming. Had to work late yesterday? Global warming. Social Network losing Best Picture to The King's Speech? Global warming. Tripped over my own feet? Global warming.
Yep, sounds good. :)
I have therefore decided that I am going to blame everything else on global warming. Had to work late yesterday? Global warming. Social Network losing Best Picture to The King's Speech? Global warming. Tripped over my own feet? Global warming.
Yep, sounds good. :)
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Attention all idiots
Who think that the pop star Katy Perry has her phone number out on the internet, and insist on calling me: I will now be posting YOUR personal information here on my blog, along with the date, time, and how many times you called.
2/23/11 - 3 calls between 10:45pm and 10:50pm came from -
(310) 673-3976
Aaron H. Meza
418 Centinela Avenue
Inglewood, CA 90302
Congrats on being the first moron to earn this dubious honor.
2/23/11 - 3 calls between 10:45pm and 10:50pm came from -
(310) 673-3976
Aaron H. Meza
418 Centinela Avenue
Inglewood, CA 90302
Congrats on being the first moron to earn this dubious honor.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Teachers
Unless you live in a closet, you know that there have been protests in Wisconsin for about a week now regarding the elimination of collective bargaining rights for the teachers in that state. The bill currently being kicked around in the state senate also would require teachers to contribute 5.7% of their pay toward their own pensions and 12.4% toward their healthcare premiums. Tensions are growing on both sides, because I think there is still a feeling that teachers are underpaid. Now, the pay of these teachers does start low, but when you add in their benefits, the cost goes up.
I love teachers, and have friends who I admire for having the patience to teach as a career, but the union leadership is ridiculous. Why should my friend be forced to join a union just so she can get a job? And then, to add insult to injury, that union contributes her dues to political causes which she doesn't agree with!
I was watching the news the other night, and some 17 year-old said we should "raise taxes on the rich" to help the teachers. Who are "the rich?" Let's see...the top 50%, who make more than about $35,000 - these people currently pay about 95% of all income taxes - should we make them pay even more? The top 25%, who make more than about $67,000 - currently paying about 85% of all taxes - should we make them pay more? Where do we draw the line? I fall in between those two groups, and I don't know about you, but I think I pay enough taxes already.
The teachers in Wisconsin aren't currently paying anything toward their pensions. If I pay nothing toward my retirement, you know what happens? That's right - I can't retire. I certainly can't depend on some stranger to pay for me to retire, yet that is what we, the taxpayer, are expected to do in this case for the teachers. Is it too much to ask for them to pay just a little bit for themselves? If they don't have to belong to the union anymore, that would save them about 75/month which they could put toward these extra expenses.
I know times are tough, and people still have their purse strings tightly in hand, but here is what I am saying; I think a little bit of sacrifice can go a long way. We, the average taxpayer, simply do not have the money for the government to raise taxes to compensate for all the unfunded liabilities on the books. Plus, isn't it better for ALL the teachers to make a little sacrifice rather than have 12,000 of them laid off entirely? That's what I really don't understand.
I love teachers, and have friends who I admire for having the patience to teach as a career, but the union leadership is ridiculous. Why should my friend be forced to join a union just so she can get a job? And then, to add insult to injury, that union contributes her dues to political causes which she doesn't agree with!
I was watching the news the other night, and some 17 year-old said we should "raise taxes on the rich" to help the teachers. Who are "the rich?" Let's see...the top 50%, who make more than about $35,000 - these people currently pay about 95% of all income taxes - should we make them pay even more? The top 25%, who make more than about $67,000 - currently paying about 85% of all taxes - should we make them pay more? Where do we draw the line? I fall in between those two groups, and I don't know about you, but I think I pay enough taxes already.
The teachers in Wisconsin aren't currently paying anything toward their pensions. If I pay nothing toward my retirement, you know what happens? That's right - I can't retire. I certainly can't depend on some stranger to pay for me to retire, yet that is what we, the taxpayer, are expected to do in this case for the teachers. Is it too much to ask for them to pay just a little bit for themselves? If they don't have to belong to the union anymore, that would save them about 75/month which they could put toward these extra expenses.
I know times are tough, and people still have their purse strings tightly in hand, but here is what I am saying; I think a little bit of sacrifice can go a long way. We, the average taxpayer, simply do not have the money for the government to raise taxes to compensate for all the unfunded liabilities on the books. Plus, isn't it better for ALL the teachers to make a little sacrifice rather than have 12,000 of them laid off entirely? That's what I really don't understand.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
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