Things That Are Real

Have you ever tried Rio Grande Coffee? It's pretty good. We bought some type of chocolate flavored whole bean. It smells so good! It's hard to be frugal when you buy coffee. Sometimes, I'll buy the $2.39 can of Krogger coffee. I regret it every time. I almost never use cream or flavoring, but when I buy that coffee and any other type of cheap coffee, I have to doctor it. Coffee does make me happy though. It's one of those things that bring me comfort in life. It helps me prepare for my day. It stimulates all of my senses. It's pretty darn cool.

Today is a good day. Today has the potential to be strange... I don't want it to be strange. Life is so freaking weird to me sometimes. I'm in a dream, it feels. We have some things that are real; love, music, forests...ha ha! Forests. Forests are real to me. The everyday routine is a dream, though. I spend most of my daily life at a job. I don't spend it with my wife. I won't spend it with my kid. I spend it at a job. I am so grateful that I have a job. But, I would love to spend every day of my life with my wonderful wife. She makes me feel like I'm not in a so-so dream.

I'm going to drink the rest of my coffee. I'm going to eat my oatmeal and grapefruit. I'm going to thank God for my wife. I think I'll let her know that today. 

New Mexico's a Dream

It's Thursday evening. I'm wearing my Isotopes cap and it's squeezing my head. I think my head is getting fatter. 

That first sentence doesn't mean anything. Today was just a day, a really strange day. We drove to Magdelena, NM just because we wanted to get out of town. We also had a free meal coupon for Village Inn in  Los Lunas.  Los Lunas was on the way to Magdelena.  

We traveled through a few different New Mexico towns today.  We saw Albuquerque, Los Lunas, Belen, Socorro, and Magdelena. I thought about how beautiful New Mexico is but how ugly New Mexicans make it. The desert has it's own type of beauty. But we pollute it with garbage. Bad buildings, garbage and broken-down cars are everywhere. 

Magdelena was a strange town. There were a few really old buildings. They looked like they might have been built in the 1900s or 1910s. The buildings were in really bad shape. People have really forgotten about this village. There was a post office, a library, a couple of galleries, not much more. There was also a mountain chain to the south and desert all to the north. 

I'm so sad that New Mexico isn't respected by its residents. Think of all the states that have people that respect their surroundings. I can think of Oregon, Washington, Texas, Colorado, Utah, California. In New Mexico, so often I'll see people just throw their garbage out of the window and onto the street. How disrespectful! Why does it seem like New Mexicans just don't care about our state. We could do so much more to show respect to our diverse surroundings. We could get outside more often. We could enjoy more of the natural beauties we're so lucky to have in our reach. 

Here are a few of the pictures I took of Magdelena.

I hope to see New Mexico thrive like the other states in the Union. Will anyone ever see the beauty that I see here? There's so much more of this state I want to see, too. I've never even been to White Sands. I want to at least drive by all of the 10,000 ft and above peaks. It would be even better if I could hike up them. There is a 10,000 peak by Magdelena called South Baldy. Maybe I'll hike up to that peak. Maybe I'll even camp there with Luke. 

Today I was thinking about how cool it would be if there was a Space Needle type structure on top of Sandia Peak. What if there was a 1,000 ft tower on top of Sandia Peak? That would be an amazing experience. You would start at the foot of Sandia Peak on Tramway Boulevard. You would take the Tramway up to the top of the mountain, then take an elevator to the top of this tower. I think it would be amazing if there were a pub up there and maybe a coffee shop, too. Not a stupid fancy restaurant that nobody can afford, but something low-key and a place that is fun to hang out. Maybe a performance space. How cool would that be? Oh, I would love to sip on some local New Mexico brew on the top of this tower in July. I would imagine at that altitude that the temperature would only reach the 70s or maybe 80s in July.

My other complaint about New Mexico is all of the money we spend on our cars and trucks. New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the USA and we probably spend the most on chrome rims and paint jobs. Let's think about how much the average New Mexican might spend on a vehicle. A car payment could be $400 per month. Full coverage insurance could be about $150 per month. Spinning chrome rims and low-profile tires could cost $1,500. Let's also consider maintaining and providing fuel for these vehicles. How much would that cost per month? What about all of those red-light-camera tickets that the average New Mexican still has unpaid? What about the cost of the DWI that that New Mexican probably has? Now what if we spent all of that money on a state of the art public transportation system? 

Could you image what that train and bus system would be like? Let's just say that 200,000 New Mexicans put $1,000 into public transportation instead of their stupid car or truck. We would be less stressed because we wouldn't have to worry about traffic. We would be smarter because there's nothing better to do on a bus or train than read, write or listen to good music. We would be safer because the drunk drivers would be off the roads. 

I really hope I get old, and I really hope to see my dreams come true some day.  

I'm So Thirsty!

Just got back from the gym. I'm so thirsty right now. I could chug a gallon of water. I probably couldn't chug an entire gallon of water. Maybe a pint or so. I just wanted to emphasize how thirsty I am. I'm working out for two reasons now; The first reason is that I want to look good for Lindsey, Lord knows, my wit won't keep her around by itself, the second reason is that I want to be healthy to better my chances of sticking around long enough to see Luke grow up.

I'm still praying for a healthy pregnancy. When you're an expecting parent, you watch all types of documentaries, you read all types of articles, and every one scares you to pieces. I've heard that every thing should be fine... For me, it's in God's hands.

I felt thoughtful just 30 minutes ago. I don't so much anymore. It seems like when I'm running on the treadmill that life is just on my mind. I do my best thinking while I run. Right now there's a Pandora commercial... Thinking stalled. I don't even care anymore. All I can think about is chugging that pint of water. I'll keep writing though.

Last night I was discouraged about my faith. I've been more open about my faith lately. I think it's a good thing. Someone's faith isn't something that should be hidden. Someone's faith should be the most important thing in that person's life. I mean it's called a world view for a reason. You see the world through your lens of faith. Is my lens false? Is my lens distorting my view of the world? Well, that's up to me to decide. To me it's truth. Sometimes I will reevaluate my lens. It always makes sense to me though.

Some  people are probably a little surprised at my belief. Some people probably don't care. I do care what other people think. I don't want what people to think about me to influence my actions, sometimes it does. It shouldn't, though. My life is under a constant surveillance. There's Facebook and there's Twitter. I'm not shy on either networks. I'm not sure who's seeing the posts I make. I rarely get responses. Maybe people just think what I'm saying is stupid. Or maybe what I'm saying is just not worth responding to. I'm not sure.

Whatever people think is fine. They have free will to think whatever they would like to think about me. Do they really have a completely free will? Our culture affects our free will. At least it influences the way we think. We have all sorts of media that might affect our free will. We have our peers, who we admire, that affect our nature of thinking. There is a tendency for us as humans to follow the main stream. Most of us are either Republican or Democrat. We either think that the government should take care of the less fortunate, or we think that the less fortunate should contribute to society by getting a job. We think that homosexuals should have the right to marry or we don't. We think that a woman's right should be to abort a fetus or we think it's murder. There's a main stream of thought. Whatever that mainstream tendency is will ultimately win out on any debate we have. It seems like Christianity is not in this main stream.

I could probably write a lot more about my thoughts about Christianity. (I like to call it The Way. I'm reading Acts right now.) Was Jesus real? Was he God? Did he rise from the dead in three days and return to Heaven. How crazy this sounds, but I believe it. I believe it with all my heart. My faith isn't the strongest. I've been a terrible person. I'm going to continue to examine my faith. I'm going to continue to search for God.