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

Why don't you shut up?

The power went out today all over Florida for a couple of minutes. I did not even notice until I walked by a TV in the library and CNN was freaking out about us not having power. (Its weird because the TV was on, so obviously we had power by that time) Anyways, the CNN journalists were blaming all the terrorists for the power outage. Everything is a conspiracy. I tried to picture my friends in the Dominican Republic when their power goes out, which happens every day.

Sometimes people freak out about really small things and make them into huge things. I know I do this too, but seriously sometimes we just need to shut up and not freak out.

In positive news, my nana saw Miami on the news and decided to call me. I got to talk to her for a half hour.


Stop talking when there is nothing left to say

-Leo Tolstoy

my school

If you want to see what my school is like check out this video filmed right in front of my dorm last year... Not even joking that is my school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DC4Rb9quKk

Politics

It is interesting how many people are politically conservative here in Miami. It seems that in universities everywhere students are so liberal it is almost uncool to ever think something good could come out of the conservative party. That is dangerous thinking. So many people just want to blame George Bush for everything that is wrong with the world, but there is a lot more going on and scapegoating won't help.

Though I am a registered democrat, I am very thankful that I am surrounded by so many conservative thinkers. It is great to have good debates and figure out what I really believe, rather than being around people that think like me.