2 dead

It was a sad day yesterday for some people here in the area. Two brothers were shot and killed in front of my school.

There is a big fair that is happening on the lot next to FIU, and it seems like everyone in Miami is there. At about 4 in the morning some cars got into a fender bender which escalated to some guy shooting two brothers, two young guy I heard, like high school. I was sleeping and of course slept right through it, but everyone told me in the morning about it. Crazy to think that two guys' lives just ended so fast because of a fender bender. 

At work, I was talking with some of my coworkers and they were saying what it is in which we live. mhhhh... Then we started talking and realized that people do stupid things because they are scared. But we should not live in fear because that will only make things worse, it will make us capable of the same evils about which we hear. But it is scary to think that it is dangerous to walk around minding your own business. (There was a store manager taken hostage a couple hours later on top of the shooting.)

If people did not live in fear but in confidence we could live much safer and happier. From the gangbanger at the fair to the businessman walking down the road. I am going to start to stop living in fear and taking steps against fear, I'll let you know how that goes. 

Caleb mi amigo and Country Music

I spent my spring break drinking cafe con leche with Caleb here in MIAMI. We spent the week watching Hillary and Obama make fun of each other, watching dolphins swim in the ocean, and me trying to pick up girls, while they try to pick up Caleb. (Ay! The never-ending cycle of the girls going for Caleb while I am interested! He always gets the numbers and since he is the only one who has had a girlfriend, I guess he is better at sealing the deal.)

We discovered that it is really annoying when people are scared to tell you how they feel. 

We discovered that Miami can be very plastic and fake, and some parts so raw and real. 

We discovered that we are glad we are friends.

We met these girls who have decided to move into one of the worst areas in inner-city Miami and work with troubled youth.

We saw some really fine girls.

We fell in love with country music and realized that growing up in liberal Chicago made us miss out on some awesome lyrics.

In Chicago its popular to say, "I like all music... Except for country." Weird how that is... I have a theory its because its so liberal I missed out on country because country is associated with conservatives or something! Country is awesome! You can actually understand what the singers are saying. I got nothing against liberals, flip, I'm a registered democrat, but man they made me miss out on country. I heard a song that you are only a guy if "your hands can pick up a toolbox", thats just cool. I have never actually picked up a toolbox, but guys that have are just more manly for doing it, I don't care what you say.

Any thoughts on why us northerners don't like country?

Death in the Sun

Buried beneath the sand at South Beach. I should have stayed under the sand all day. Two days after spending the day at the beach, I am in the hospital tending to second degree burns all over my back and shoulders and given narcotic drugs to be able to sleep at night. I am really dumb sometimes I swear.

All the people I went with were dark so I didn't think I would need sunscreen because they didn't use any. Boy was I wrong. Great way to celebrate St. Patrick's day, in the hospital. I need to remember my Irish roots for real. More than twenty minutes at South Beach requires sunscreen for any people with Irish roots.

Plato's my Homeboy

I have decided that a dream of mine is to go to a bar and drink a couple beers with Plato. I have been hanging out with him a lot lately, he does all the talking (I mean writing) whenever we go out. Plato's Republic is perhaps the most important book in our history. We are reading it for my Western Civilization class. Makes me want to be a lawyer, maybe I'll switch majors again, :-)

He speaks of knowledge and understanding and the lust we must have for it, claiming that, "Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." We must desire it and lust for it to obtain it.

As I watch people not questioning the things they are taught and not getting to the roots of what they believe, it is saddening because we turn into zombies. This has challenged me to not be lazy but to search and question deeper than ever before, otherwise I will not come about knowledge. 

Plato has also challenged me to persevere with the growth of my beard. He has encouraged me to not waver but to be an example in growth. This growth is the second way of obtaining knowledge. (Plato doesn't specifically mention this in The Republic, though it is obviously implied by the actions of his life.)

Friends