Lorenzo's Blog

Things That Are Real

2012-02-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

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

2012-02-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2012-02-13T09:05:00.002-07:00

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.

God is Real?

2012-01-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

I believe in a supreme being that I cannot see. Why? Why have I chosen to have faith? I'll admit, the main reason is because my parents raised me to believe this way. If the path that I follow is the only path that is true, then how is it fair for people who happen to be born in a Mormon home, a Muslim home, an Atheist home? Well, it's not fair at all. How then can I believe that Jesus is the only way to find salvation? Well, the Bible says that is the way it is. Why do I believe the Bible?

These are all really tough questions for a Christian to ask him or herself. In fact, I would guess that most Christians don't even ask these questions. Many Christians find themselves in a protective Christian bubble. I never wanted this "bubble". So I did my own thing. I did what I wanted. I listened to music that didn't suck. (There is a lot of Christian music that just plain sucks.) I went to parties. I drank. I didn't go to Church. I didn't pray. I didn't read my Bible. I knew that I still sort of believed in God. I ignored it though. I lost my innocence. Sometimes I would hear God speak to me. It sounds crazy, and it is a little crazy. I never heard any audible Old Testament style voice of God. I never saw a burning bush. But God would speak to me in other ways. A Relient K song. In the midst of me trying to please myself God said, "I still love you". I was never happy. I never had joy. For a moment I was joyful, when I would take a shot of vodka. Then in the morning it would fade and all I had left was an empty bank account, a huge hangover and a craving for more cigarettes. And I was left empty. I felt empty.

How can this be? I thought, if there is a god, why would he love me? How can God even exist? People all around me think the idea of "god" is a joke. We don't need a god. The universe came into existence on its own. It's all really unlikely, but it happened. And we're the result. We won the cosmic lottery. There was no god that created anything. We started as single cell organisms, then over the process of billions of years we evolved into different creatures until you get humans. That's just common knowledge.

Stephen Hawking has insight on the idea of a god creating the universe. He says that isn't the way it happened. In the episode "The Story of Everything" he touches on the idea of god. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_The_Universe_with_Stephen_Hawking So if he doesn't believe in God, and he's one of the smartest living people on Earth, then why should I believe in God? How can I be so sure?

The fact is that I'm not so sure. I know that God will prove himself to me. I see the joy that God gives me in my beautiful wife. I see the joy God gives me in expecting our first son. I see the joy God gives me in seeing the sun rise every morning. I see the stars and imagine the universe and all the planetary systems. I imagine standing on top of Santa Fe Baldy, or Sandia Peak. I imagine fishing in the Pecos wilderness. I imagine people helping other people in need. I imagine love. The complexity of the human brain. Is the human brain the most complex thing in the universe? It might be.

And why I believe is because I have joy. God brings me joy. I don't feel empty. I fill full of joy! My belief isn't popular. I'm sure people already think less of me just because I'm publishing this blog post. I don't care. What I get in return is far better. I have a community of Christian brothers and sisters who care about me enough to ask me how my week was. That means so much! Just that little amount of effort.

I want to know more. I want to study. God gave me this brain so that I can search and not follow. I'm not just going to be a flimsy Christian. I'm going to be strong. I'm going to know my stuff. If I find something along the way that I think is not right, then I won't be a Christian anymore. The whole Christian story sounds so absurd. But is it so absurd? Did Christ rise from the dead? Well, if he didn't then I have no reason to believe.

Here's a random Coldplay music video. This has some significance in my life, negative significance. But I have the ability to remove the negative significance and replace it with positive significance. This morning I heard on the radio that someone thought of this song as a love song from God to humans. It means so much more if you think about it that way. Sure, our relationships with other humans mean so much to us, but our relationship with God is exponentially greater. He loves us like we love our wives or husbands. The love He has for us is more though. Think of infinity, then think of love. Haha! It sounds dumb, but that's what I do. God has an infinite amount of love for me. And if I find God to be true, then that love is real, and it feels good to know that.

Downtown Walk

2012-01-27T19:32:00.001-07:00

Today I took a walk in downtown Albuquerque. Here are some pictures I took. Maybe people will see these 75 years from now and be amazed at how much the city changed.

Rain in the Southwest

2012-01-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

It's been raining all morning. I love it! We don't get much rain in Albuquerque. It really is a treat when it rains here. Sometimes, as I lay in bed, I imagine what Albuquerque would be like if the climate were different. I imagine what the Sandia Mountains would look like if it received 100 inches of rain every year. I imagine the mountain completely covered in snow from November to April. Then having the mountain covered in clouds all year getting rain or snow. It would be a rare for me to see the mountain, every so often when the clouds go away. The mountain would be completely green, even though there are lots of rocks. I imagine towering Douglas fur trees. I imagine moisture soaked, cool air. The run off from all of our mountains would make the Rio Grande big enough to rival the Mississippi. We would have giant bridges to let ocean ships cross underneath them. The city I dream Albuquerque to be like might look a lot like Portland, OR.

It's funny, because I've imagined Albuquerque being like this city a few times over the years. Being in the desert isn't so bad. I love being able to see the mountains almost every day. But sometimes I want more variation. I want storms. Snow storms, rain storms. I can do without the wind storms. That's about all we get here in Albuquerque...wind. We get an occasional thunder storm in July and August, and we might get a dusting of snow in January. The cool thing about New Mexico is that the weather isn't uniform for the entire state. The temperature in Santa Fe seems to be 5 - 15 degrees cooler than Albuquerque all the time. Santa Fe seems to get much more snow than we do. I suppose it's our geographical location. We're in a river valley in ABQ against a 10,000 ft mountain. Santa Fe is sitting at 7,000 ft above sea level against a 12,000 mountain chain. Rain here means snow in Santa Fe most of the time.

So, to see some snow, or some thunder storms, I just need to drive one hour north on I-25. Santa Fe isn't Portland, OR. There aren't towering fur trees in every neighborhood. There are mostly shrubby junipers and piñon. But then you drive up to Hyde Park and the Santa Fe ski basin and you'll see some towering pine trees. They aren't as tall as the trees you'll see on the Oregon coast, but they're a respectable size.

Maybe I need to live in Portland. I love that the city has tall buildings. I love that they care about their city there. They want to preserve what they have. It really sucks to say, but Albuquerque citizens don't give a crap about our city. So often, especially on the West Side, I see people just throwing their garbage out of their car window. That pisses me off so much! Care about your city! We all have to live here. Albuquerque has so much potential. It really makes me sad that we aren't living up to that potential.

El Morro National Monument

2012-01-20T17:46:00.001-07:00

Today, Lindsey and I went on a mini adventure. We were thinking about going to Magdelena, or El Malpais National Monument. While I was researching El Malpais, I stumbled upon El Morro. El Morro was a great decision. We had such a good time. The weather was perfect (51°f) and the hike wasn't bad at all.
On the cliffs, you could see inscriptions dating all the way back to the late 1600's. I would encourage anyone who is interested to read up on the history.
Here's the link.

NM Drivers

2012-01-20T10:52:00.001-07:00

Some times New Mexico gets boring. I don't blame New Mexico though. I blame me. There are a lot of things that tic me off about our State. One is the way people drive. I am always on high alert for someone running a red light. I see it all the time. I was highly pissed off when we voted the red light cameras out. I also hate that there are so many drivers in the city that buy very large vehicles. My least favorite ones are; Hummer H1, H2, H3, Ford Excursion, Chevrolet Avalanche, Ford F-250, F-350, any duelly not pulling a trailer. I realize it's a free country. You can buy any car you want and throw away all the money you want in gas. It just feels like I'm less safe with so many reckless drivers in tanks on the road. We live in the city. We need to get from point a to point b. You don't need a bullet proof truck. You don't need a race car. You don't need 42" mud terrain tires. You live in a city! The roads are paved!

Today, Lindsey and I saw a truck with some shiny testicles hanging from the bumper. WTF?! Lindsey had a funny comment. She said, "Oh, it looks like that truck is a boy truck."

Anyway, I had to vent. I wish we were more responsible when we drive. Obey the laws. They're there so that you don't murder someone with your car.

FM Transmitter, Sacrifice

2012-01-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

What the heck?! I've been waiting to my fm transmitter that I ordered from New Egg for over a week now. I enter the USPS tracking number into the tracking tool on the website and it comes back as an unknown order. I really just want to jam out to some mp3s.

It's probably best that it hasn't come in yet. Last night I rediscovered CDs. The sound quality from a CD is so much better than what I would get from a FM transmitter.

Life has been so busy, it seems, since I've married Lindsey. I've forgotten about things I enjoy. I haven't really listened to a whole lot of music. I haven't gone to the mountains to snowboard. I'm starting to think about those things more now though.

It's not bad that life has been busy. It's not bad that I haven't listened to a lot of music. Marriage is an investment though. I have to work at it.

It's good when you feel like you're getting a better idea of how things are supposed to work. There's a lot of sacrifice in marriage, too. I'm learning that there is a larger reward when you sacrifice your desires in place of your wife's.

I'm still learning though. I'll probably never stop learning.

Thoughts

2012-01-16T16:43:00.001-07:00

My life is changing. Things are different. It feels good. God is pouring His blessings on Lindsey and me. We have a great house that we live in, we have amazingly supportive parents, and we are awaiting the arrival of our son, Luke. We are learning so much about each other, too. We are learning what it means to be married. I feel like we are getting stronger in our relationship every day. We still have stupid arguments, like the one we had this morning about how to cook eggs. Dumb argument, but we love each other so much.

It feels good to know that she loves me. It feels good to know that we are growing stronger together.

You know, I've been a follower of Christ for most of my life. This faith hasn't been real to me until recently. I've been afraid. I'm afraid that people won't like me if they know how I think. That's not the right way to think... My faith isn't real. I guess my faith hasn't been real. I'm trying to change that.

Antique Shop

2012-01-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

We went to some antique shops today.

Day Off Breakfast

2012-01-12T09:02:00.001-07:00

Radish, green chile, mushroom, egg, green pepper, seasoning, toasted French bread.

Phography, Video Experiment

2012-01-12T07:48:00.002-07:00

The moon has been really bright the past few days. Here are a few pictures and a video.

Bosque Hike

2012-01-07T13:26:00.001-07:00

We went on a hike today. The weather was gorgeous.

Apps---->Faith

2012-01-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

This Blogger app for Android is pretty sweet. I'm really liking it. I've noticed a bunch more Google apps in the market, too. Google sky lets you point your phone to the sky and identify stars and constalations. Google goggles can scan an item and run an image search and match the two. This app seems like it needs some work. It's a great idea though. Then there's Google Music. This app might be my favorite app. I downloaded it thinking it was only an app to purchase music. That's not the case. You can upload your music into the cloud and stream your music to your device. So your music collection is only limited by your network and data plan.
This morning I started reading Acts. Some crazy things happen in this book. Things that don't happen naturally. Lots of supernatural. This is where my religion began. There are things in this book that even Christians avoid talking about. Speaking in tongues? That's just weird to many Christians. Then there are the Pentecostals who embrace tongues. Does this kind of thing still happen? According to Luke the Physician it happened. He either was there reporting this, or he knew someone who was there. This brings bigger questions about the Bible to me. How much of the Bible is an eye witness account, and how much is just a guy reporting what he heard?
I think it's good to ask questions. If the Bible is true, then it will withstand all of my questions. There are lots of things that are easy to swallow, like Jesus talking about love. Then there are other things that are not so easy, like David being such a man of God, yet he was a murderer and had so many women. God does not want us to murder and He wants us to be faithful to one. Then there's the canon. A group of people came together to decide what books should be in the Bible. Was God there? Christians believe so.
I could see how easy it is not not believe. Why do I believe then? That's something I have to test every day. I want my faith to be strong. I think so many Christians believe just because they were brought up with their faith. If they were born into any other religion then they would follow that faith. Fair enough. Blind faith is not something I want. I want to use this brain that God gave me to search. Science and God cannot be seperated. I will look to the sky. The stars show me God is here. How big is our universe? We can't answer that. Laws of nature. Why are there laws? My wife's beautiful face, the love I have for her, the love she gives back to me.
God gives me more than the Bible to find my faith. Is that wrong for me to say? I'm not going to limit God.

2012 Is Here

2012-01-01T09:25:00.001-07:00

Happy new year! 2012. The years keep ticking on. I get really sentimental on New Years Day. I'm reflecting on this year that passed. I'm thinking about all of my mistakes. I'm thinking about some things I might have done right. I know that's everyone's goal, to make as little mistakes as possible and to do as much right as possible. Well, this year there was tons of opportunity for right. I didn't take this opportunity most of the time. Floating. I did a lot of floating in 2011. I did not take action to affect others positively.

Where do I start? Well, the obvious place to start is with my wonderful partner in life, Lindsey. I'll admit this to the world: some times I can be a real jerk! Some times I don't treat Lindsey the way she deserves to be treated. That's going to change in 2012. Date nights are mandatory. Flowers are going to be picked. Gifts will be given for no other reason but that I love her.

This year is a turning point. I can see it. There are events that change your behavior. One is having a child. This baby is coming. We're going to be parents. That's awesome! It's more than awesome. It's scary, and humbling. I can never be ready for what's going to happen. 2012 is here, ready or not.

iPod, Christmas, Weather

2011-12-26T09:24:00.001-07:00

The Blogger app for iOS isn't as good as the Blogger app for Android. Go figure. Blogger is Google, Android is Google. I'm going to stop complaining and move to my Ubuntu machine.

Okay. Much better. I love my iPod touch for a few reasons: it plays music, the touch screen is really accurate, and the accelerometer is really accurate. I hate it because Apple limits their devices so you have to upgrade every time a new one is released. I had one operating system update for my iPod touch 2nd generation and I had to pay for it. The next operating system update wasn't even available for me. This made me really angry because I payed lots of money for this mini computer. I can't multitask applications, I can't send more than one picture with an email. I can't even attach anything other than a photo as an attachment in an email. But that's okay. It still plays music and browses the web. My iPod wasn't supposed to be the subject of this little blog. It was supposed to be about my trip to the east mountains--and something else too. I forgot.

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Oh well. I can't remember what the other thing I wanted to say was. I do want to remember my Christmas day 2011, so I'm going to document it here.

I had a fantastic day yesterday. I woke up at around 7am, freezing. (Lindsey and I turn our furnace off at night to conserve energy.) I think the low Christmas eve was in the teens--I think like 17°F. So it was pretty chilly yesterday morning. It's alright because the furnace in this house works like a charm. It warms up our entire house in about 20 minutes, then it even gets too hot.

So after I turned the furnace on, I turned the radio on. I put it on 89.9 FM. Sunday mornings there's this amazing gospel music program.

Then we went to Lindsey's parents house and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas breakfast. There were scrambled eggs, ham, green chile, and cinnamon rolls. Then we got to open presents and just hang out. It was really relaxing.

After Lindsey's parent's casa we went home to let our little Diego out to go potty and also unload all of our gifts and firewood that we got from the Freeman house. Diego also wanted to play with his new toy he got from Nana (Lindsey's grandmother).

Onward to the Dominguez house. This was a Latino zoo for sure. The decibel level at my parent's house was greater than what you would hear in the boiler room for a navy ship. There was so much going on too. I couldn't keep up. Despite the chaos, it was really great to see my grandma and grandpa, and my aunt Dodo (her name is Dolores but we call her Dodo) and my uncle Sam. It was also good to see my uncle Jeff, aunt Carmen, uncle Mark, aunt Gloria...(did I miss anyone?)...a few of my cousins, my parents, my brother. Yeah, I saw everyone. And I ate some more. I made my plate, then I covered it with my mom's red chile. It was good, but then when the crowd started to chant, "Jerry, Jerry" I decided to make like a tree and leave.

One cool thing about my parents house in Moriarty was all the stinking snow! They had like 18'' of snow! As we were driving east from Albuquerque, we could see the snow show up more and more. We made it to Moriarty and all you could see was white. Then I looked down at my thermometer in my car and it read 13°F. I tapped my instrument box to see if that would fix it. I don't know why I did that because it wasn't broken, and even if it was broken I don't think giving it a firm tap would have helped. But yeah, 13°. It was cold in Moriarty. I looked at the forecast, and it went down below zero last night.

Anyway, that was my day yesterday. Christmas 2011...

Littlest Dog in the Whole Southwest

2011-11-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning! It's good to have a day off! Strong coffee, the littlest dog in the whole southwest, the sleepiest cat in the Milky Way, Netflix, eggs in boiling water. It's a good day. This morning, church. This evening, UNM soccer. It's a good day. Next week will be good, too.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Christmas is my favorite. November through January are my favorite months.
I've decided that I will not be so negative. Lately, I've been really negative. Well, maybe just opinionated. Whatever it is, I need to stop.
Here's something positive, Lindsey and I are starting to really get into the X Files. Lindsey loves detective shows and she loves the paranormal. Lindsey loves Sci Fi but she won't admit it. Next, I'm going to try to get her into Star Trek Next Generation. I'm sure she's going to love it, it's just going to take some time.
Next week is Lindsey's birthday. I have to figure out where we should eat dinner that night. She wants me to pick.
Luke has been growing in the womb for 20 weeks. He's growing so fast! I need to update our baby blog (http://newmexicobaby.blogspot.com).
I'm writing this blog using my iPod Touch (2nd Gen). This is making me want an iPhone 4s. I might have some opinions about Apple, but you can't argue against the iPod, iPhone and iPad. The Android phones are also so cool though! I know Lindsey is getting an iPhone 4s. But I kinda want a Droid RAZR. They're all just things in the end...cool things. What's important now is breakfast. And X Files.

-Lorenzo Dominguez

Musical Mood

2011-11-10T13:47:00.001-07:00

I feel bad I haven't bought the newest Blindside record. I can still listen to it using Groveshark, but it's really not the same as opening that CD and popping it in my CD player for the first time. I'm listening to it right now anyway... The first song sounds pretty good so far. We'll see how the rest of the album goes.

I've been in a musical mood all day. I haven't really put on music that I love and turned the volume up in a long time. Today I did that.

The day started out with me and Diego taking a trip to the Peak and hanging out there for a few minutes. We had the music turned up and we were just enjoying the view. I think Diego was getting anxious. He just wanted to get out of the car and run around. We saw a dusting of snow all the way at the bottom of the mountain. As we begin to climb in elevation we started to see more and more snow. (I like how I say "we"... It was just me and Diego. He is my buddy though.) I made a video and I posted it on You Tube.

I could see Mt Taylor and the southern Sangre de Cristos perfectly. Both mountain ranges were covered in snow. I could also see the city really clear. It's kinda neat how clear the air is in New Mexico. For a city the size of Albuquerque, I would expect much more smog. I'm glad we don't. On our way down we spotted three deer! It seemed like one was the mother and there were two young ones with her. One of them looked injured. I hope he/she wasn't hit by a car. Either way, I hope the wound heals. If not, it'll be an easy lunch for a mountain lion. That would be sad, but that's the circle of life. The mountain lion might have some hungry cubs that need to fatten up for the winter. I was actually thinking about how cool it would have been to see a mountain lion kill that deer. It would have been like my own personal nature show! The deer was living after we left. And we continued home.

Here are some photos of our little journey.

When I got home I decided to head to the gym. I don't know why, but I was just really getting into the music when I was running. People probably thought I was weird playing the air drums while running. Whatever. I was going to look up all of the songs I listened to on You Tube to share them, but I don't feel like it anymore. Besides, Lindsey just got home and now it's time for me to hang out with her. I was also going to talk about traffic safety. That'll be a different blog... Please don't text and drive and please don't speed in school zones.

My New Cameras and What I Have To Say About Them, Some Photos Too

2011-11-03T20:56:00.000-06:00

I was going to start a photography blog, but I figured that if I had anything photography related that I would just post it in my normal blog. I have too many blogs to maintain (like anyone cares anyway) and I'm not really a photographer so I can't justify a "photography blog".
I am a cheapskate who frequents thrift shops and I got lucky and stumbled upon two very nice vintage cameras. My first little gem is a Japanese camera called the Topcon Unirex and my most recent purchase is this really neat (West) German camera called the Voigtländer Vitomatic I. I have taken a few photos with my Topcon. I haven't scanned all of my photos from the Topcon, a lot of them are garbage anyway. These first few rolls of film have been me trying to learn how to manually set almost everything needed for a photo. There's no flash, and there are so many factors you have to take into account when snapping a photo. I love my Sony digital cameras for what they are--point and shot. That's all you have to do. Not the Topcon, or the Voigtländer I'm guessing. I'm so excited to try my new camera and the truth is I'm not even sure it works or if I can find film that fits it. From what I've read in the past ten minutes, this camera is from the mid '50's, so I don't know if my standard film rolls will work with it. I'm excited nonetheless.

So those are them. I'm mega excited to take some more photos with my Topcon and I'm excited to find out if my Voigtländer even works. I'll post the photos as soon as I get them developed. For now, here are some photos Lindsey and I have taken with my Topcon.

Running Mind

2011-11-02T12:52:00.000-06:00

What makes a good band? In my opinion, a band is only as good as its rhythm section. Rush is a good example. I don't want to say that I am embarrassed to like them. I don't even "like" them that much. But you really can't argue with the fact that they are an amazing group of musicians. And what really makes Rush an amazing band is Neil Peart and Geddy Lee.

Thoughts have been running though my head all morning. I wanted to write them all down before they escaped me. I was too late. My thoughts are all mine today. Some of my thoughts seemed like they were good enough to share today. I've had lots of time to think lately. It's a good thing. That's why we have a brain, to think. Right? Well, a lot of my thoughts had to do with the fact that I am an open book. Ever since blogs, or personal webpages were around, I've expressed my thoughts without thinking twice. I have thought about safety. I don't want to let people know where I am at all times. Even my location could be figured out if someone hated me enough to find that out and stalk me down. (I really hope I haven't angered anyone too much.)

This might anger some people. I don't really care for Bob Dylan. I just can't get into his music at all. This goes back to my idea that all good bands have a solid rhythm section. Bob Dylan--no rhythm. Just a harmonica, a strange voice, and a guitar. Well, he's got something to say at least, and he delivers it in a poetic manner. That's why I love mewithoutYou so much. They are poetic, they have something meaningful to say and their rhythm section is just amazing!

mewithoutYou makes me feel less insecure. Yes, I'll admit it. I am insecure about my belief. Belief in God. It's a terrible thing, I know. I just see my opposition all around me. I'm a curious person. I think that most of the time, things can be explained. Well, I think ALL the time, any event can be explained. That is, except God. The idea that God cannot be explained is what Atheists might call "me feeding myself a lie". Everything can be explained, except God. "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 NLT) Okay. But was there math in the beginning? I'm serious. Was 4*2=8 in the beginning? Oh wow... So there was a beginning. Or was there no beginning? I don't know. But it's interesting how math can explain nearly every event that happens. The strength of my cars axles can be shown using math. The roundness of Earth can be measured using math. The intensity of my computer screen's light can be shown using math. But can my love for Lindsey be shown in a math equation? I don't think so. Can my love for Lindsey be shown using Scientific theory? Well, you can say that I have this "love" burned into my brain so that I can protect the person who will help me create my offspring. How unromantic! But everything doesn't have to be romantic, I guess.

I just read a book by Rob Bell called Sex God. He made parallels between Jesus and the Church and a man and his wife. (I should say he pointed out the Biblical parallels.) We are Jesus' bride, and we are worth dying for. Would I die for Lindsey? Without even hesitation, I would. What does that say? Were we born with the ability to die for someone else? I mean, we want to preserve our own health. We don't need to protect someone else... To be self-less. That is an incredible idea. To go out of our way to help someone else. I don't do that enough. Love. Can we find out what true love is. Can we define love for ourselves and not let Kim Kardashian define it for us? Did that giant ring bring her love? How about all of the money spent on that wedding? Absolutely not. Love is bigger. Love is deeper. Love is the most amazing thing ever given to us. It's a gift. We don't have to work for it. Can you imagine that? The best thing we can have, what everyone is searching for so much, is free. And it's said that God is Love. Oh, there's some math! God=Love. I know, it's not math we can find taught in Universities, but it's truth. My mind has been so busy this morning and I just couldn't stop it. Here's just a bit of what I was thinking about. Science vs God... Is that even a fair court hearing? Haha! It's not like The State of New Mexico vs Lorenzo Dominguez or anything. It's something we made up. You can't disprove God, but then again you can't disprove the Flying Spaghetti Monster! That's my favorite one. Okay, I'll stop.

http://www.fixed-point.org/index.php/video/35-full-length/164-the-dawkins-lennox-debate

Running, Apps, Transitions

2011-10-24T10:34:00.000-06:00

I just got back from a run. It's been way too long. I was doing really well for a while. I was running consistently 3-5 days out of the week. I wasn't running very far or in a fast time at all, but I was doing it. Thing was, I wasn't losing any weight. Then we found out that Lindsey was pregnant and that stopped our workout routine. We'll probably start working out again here soon, but since June I didn't have a consistent exercise schedule.
I did, however, get a really cool app called Lose It! for my iPod touch. This app allows me to record all of the calories that I consume each day (and exercise) and it will graph out my net calories in the day. I have a budget of x amount of calories. If I go over, the graph will turn red, and if I stay under it will remain green. I can also enter in a goal weight and when I enter my daily weight it is then placed on another graph. It's really neat, and because I love recording data and looking at graphs I was keeping track every day and I was seeing results. I think I lost up to 14lbs. Pretty good, I thought. Then I went to Denver for a week and forgot about my cool tool. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I can download the same app on my Android phone and it records all the data in the same spot. If I record that I ate something using my iPod it will also show this recorded on my Android and vise versa. And on my Android app there's an option of scanning the barcode on a package so that you don't have to manually search for it. So all of this was pretty awesome, especially because I was loosing weight. Then I started to gain the weight back. Life was too busy and I love food a lot. Now I have all the time in the world. You can say that I'm at a point of "transition" in life. I have lots of time on my hands, so I thought I would begin using these cool apps to help me stay healthy. This time I am going to use both apps. Runkeeper helps me graph my distances, times, heart rate, type of exercise and Loose It! helps me keep track of my net calories for the day as well as my daily weight.
Running is so therapeutic for me too... It helps me keep my mental sanity in a big way. I throw on my favorite bands and just run and enjoy the scenery. The scenery, by the way, is amazing where I am. I don't see or notice the mountains very much, but I do get to see our tallest buildings every day. Our buildings aren't very tall in Albuquerque, but they are still neat. I love running downtown. Plus traffic really isn't bad at all so I don't have to worry as much about getting run over (knock on wood). If you want to see some of the pictures I'm taking while on my little walks downtown check out my Google + page. I'm using + more than Facebook now. I don't even write this blog on Facebook, I just have it set so that when I write this Blogger blog it is then posted on Facebook. I think if I didn't do that then nobody would read it. I'm probably a bit too honest on this blog too. I need to start thinking about who can see this. There's just a lot on my mind and my first vent would be Lindsey, but then I like to write it down. This blog is especially cool because I know that my son will someday be able to check this out and see exactly what I was thinking on this day. Yes, I said we're having a son. You can read all about our upcoming baby on our baby blog http://newmexicobaby.blogspot.com.

FW: Dinosaur Costume

2011-10-20T13:35:00.001-06:00

From: pxer83@hotmail.com
To: pxer83@hotmail.com
Subject: Dinosaur Costume
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:32:16 -0700

pxer83@hotmail.com has forwarded you this craigslist.org posting.
Please see below for more information.
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Dinosaur Costume

Date: 2011-10-18, 9:48AM
GREEN DINOSAUR WITH EYES, NOSE , MOUTH, SHINY SCALES WITH TAIL IN A HOODED CAPE STYLE , NOT A FULL OUTFIT. SIZE 4T.

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

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Love, Sandias, More Questions

2011-10-05T08:51:00.001-06:00

It's wednesday morning and I'm not at work. It feels good to just relax and enjoy the damp, cool air. We're not used to this weather but it's well welcomed. Right now I'm in Starbucks sitting by myself. Lindsey is here with her mom and a few other ladies from the church. They're supposed to be having a Bible study but it just sounds like normal chatting.

I'r really trying to live life as best I can right now... It seems like it's a too common topic I write about. It's always on my mind though. I guess you can say it's my religion, or you can say that it's just because I'm human. All humans, I think, want to live a fullfilling life. There are so many things I'll never understand... Like how complex we humans are. I mean it seems on the surface that we aren't. But we really are! There are so many mechanisms in our brain that even the smartest doctors don't understand yet. Well how would I know that? I guess I don't know what the smartest doctors know or don't know. It seems like a fair assumption though. Some give credit to a Creator, they're just blinded by belief though. Others give credit to a complex evolutionary process. And unless you live in Alabama you are looked at as a weak minded person for thinking something other than what many important scientists have found. But with every new discovery even more mystery is found. I was watching a documentary on the plannets yesterday. Scientists were amazed to find that life on Earth began shortly after the Earth itself began to exist. What about the speed of light? We were certain that there were limits. I'm not going to try to begin to pretend that I know what I'm talking about. I want to always learn. That's why-God, or evolution-gave me this brain. The idea of God is a romantic idea... I see the Sandia Mountains and I ask, "did God make those for me?" They sure are gorgeous mountains! Oh and when I am in nature, all of my senses are alive! Maybe our speces evolved to love such places because there are more resources there to survive? But maybe there's a Creator who loves me? I don't have all the answers. I wish I had just a few. What matters to me is love. Christ had the right idea... Love. Love! We all need it. We need it more than we need food or water.

Another spelling dusclaimer...learning this Android, don't know how to run a spell check.

Boycotting Paragraphs

2011-09-26T08:50:00.001-06:00

I really hope that nobody reads this blog. I really don't have anything important to say. Right now, my life is pretty boring. Boring isn't necessarily bad though. I am happy. I'm enjoying life. I live in a great house that Lindsey and I both love. We have jobs that pay our bills. We are provided for. Most of the time we don't have too much worry. And if we do have some worry it doesn't last very long. Sure, we have plenty of problems... But there's so much in life to be thankful for. There's mewithoutYou screaming in French. There's every album MxPx ever released. There are people who show love to other humans. I want to be one of those who are selfless. There is the wilderness, creation. I love going into the mountains and loosing cell phone reception. You are forced to respect everything about the wilderness. Wow, my thoughts are so scattered. Maybe it's because I forgot to eat breakfast and I drank extra strong iced coffee. I'm a bit jittery. Or maybe that's just the way I am. Sometimes I wish I could focus. Sometimes I wish I were smarter. I think intelligence is the just the ability to sort out and remember your thoughts. I know there's probably more to intelligence... But that's just an observation of mine. I know it's hard for me to remember everything I read on a page. I hate that. I wish I could know more about what I'm reading. Sometimes Lindsey and I will read a page from the Bible then we'll talk about it. I'm embarrassed. Sometimes I have to let her go first because I don't remember a lot of it. I hate taking tests too. That's probably why I'm incredibly average. It's alright. Live goes on. Lindsey loves me. That's the best feeling in the world. Sometimes we disagree. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter because we love each other. And we going to have a baby together. That might be the most exciting and most scary reality. We just want to be good parents. We want our baby to be healthy. Today I'm boycotting paragraphs. This is just one blob of random thoughts. I hope nobody reads this, cause then people can see how I think. I just like to keep a history--for myself and now for my child. (If there are errors in this then I'm sorry. I don't feel like proofreading this.)

Optimism

2011-09-22T08:18:00.002-06:00

It's going to be a bright, bright, bright, sunshiny day! That song is pretty cheesy, but I love the guys (Jimmy Cliff's) optimism! Our lives are overwhelmed with such stupid problems. Everyone, including me, was upset about stupid Facebook and how they made a change. That's not important!

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn! I'm excited about that because this summer was really disappointing. We hardly had any monsoons to speak of and it was incredibly hot. Come to think of it spring wasn't very great either. It was extremely windy! I'm going to have some of Jimmy Cliff's optimism and say it's going to be a cold, snowy winter. That would make me happy.

Weeks Go On: Week #38, Day #262

2011-09-19T10:27:00.002-06:00

I'm just floating through life... My weeks are identical to each other. Sunday I go to church an hour early to rehearse my guitar skills. Sunday night I watch some Netflix with Lindsey, most of the time Destination Truth. Monday I get up bright and early around 6:15am to let Diego out to potty, then I feed him and Floofy. Then I go to work. Same routine five days in a row. But there's a kink in my weekly routine on Wednesday when I have to rehearse my guitar skills again. I need some variation! I always want to go hike, or camp. I want to go out to dinner if our budget will allow, sometimes even when our budget doesn't allow.

This little life that is growing in Lindsey's tummy might be the best thing ever to happen to us. I know it's going to change this routine in a big way. I know it's going to be hard to be a parent, and I know it's going to be a challenge. Am I scared? Heck no! I'm more excited about this than anything I've ever been excited about!

Some things in life aren't working out perfectly. I don't have as much financial wiggle room as I would like. But that's just fine. I have all I need. The iPad can wait, they're probably working on the next three generations now anyway. My iPad will always be obsolete. I don't want to be a poser anyway, and if I have an iPad then I'll definitely be a huge poser. Life is good though. I'd like to do more! Lindsey deserves the best husband ever. She deserves a man that cares about her every needs, a husband that listens and that is in tune with her. I want to understand her more. The lazy nights on the couch watching Netflix are great, but there is so much more. We are blessed beyond we could have ever imagined. I hope we can be a bright spot in other people's lives too.

P.S. for more on this little life in Lindsey's tummy you can visit http://newmexicobaby.blogspot.com

Red Light Cameras

2011-08-17T08:29:00.001-06:00

I'm all for red light cameras. People are upset about the idea because they think it's just one step closer to "Big Brother". Well maybe. But I'll argue that we're pretty much there anyway. Banks have cameras to make sure that we don't rob them. Walmart has cameras to make sure that we don't rob them. People post millions and billions of photos of themselves on Facebook voluntarily every day. There is a picture of you on a hard drive somewhere. Unless you live under a rock in the Pecos Wilderness (that would be nice), you're being watched. So what is the big deal about red light cameras. I don't think the issue is because it's a foreign company who cities contract to set up and manage the cameras. http://www.redflex.com/ I also don't think the issue is that they take a big chunk of the fine issued. And I don't think the issue is that the tickets issued are only civil citations and the city cannot issue warrants or take the person to court for the citation. I think the issue is that we don't want to be held accountable for our actions on the road. When we get into our cars we turn into selfish, arrogant, jerkfaces. I'm guilty too. I'm not an angry person most of the time, but if you cut me off on the freeway then I turn into a jerk.

I had an idea to even take this idea further. I think it would be amazing if in the future all cars speeds were monitored all of the time. Not even just monitored, but governed. I think it would be great if our cars were communicating with satellites all the time and if we tried to gun it past 15 mph in that school zone then our motor shut down for a moment. Does that take away any rights? Is it our right to break the law if we want? I don't know the law. And I'm all about free will. I don't want to be controlled. But driving is a privilege. Driving is a luxury. You can walk your happy butt around town if you want. Walking and the freedom to go wherever you want is a right... But not driving. I think if you can't obey the laws then your rights should be taken away. So many people die each year because of cars. I'm too lazy to look up stats, but I know the numbers are probably pretty high.

Here's a video of the accident I was in. I'm the little maroon car that was hit by the person who tried to speed through a red light. If it wasn't for the red light camera then I would have been sited.

Route To Work

2011-08-14T21:12:00.001-06:00

I'm really starting to like Google + a lot. I love how all of my old Google services that I use are all brought together in one spot. Blogger, Buzz, and Picasa are all accessible on Google +. It's kind of annoying though that I can't rotate the photos I upload to my blog using Picasa. Maybe they still have some bugs to work out. I'm going to stop talking about Google though before I start sounding like an advertisement.

Our weekend was fantastic. I wish I could just freeze time and stay in the weekend all of my life. It's not so much that I dread the week, it's more like I just enjoy the heck out of the weekend. This weekend we went to Pecos and had a picnic. I bought some chicken breasts and Joey brought some good bread, cheese and some Grey Poupon. We took cover underneath a bridge because we thought it was going to rain on us. It didn't end up raining very hard... We had an excellent time though. Just hanging out with friends. I know it's times like this that I'll never forget.

I'm optimistic for this next week. I think I lied in that last paragraph. I think sometimes I do dread the upcoming week. I try to stay optimistic though. I think that this week can bring wonderful things. I just have to break the routine. I think I'll start with my route to work. This week I'll try to take different routes every day of the week.

Sunday Evening

2011-08-07T22:04:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is the start of a new week. These days seem to be going by faster and faster. I feel like this summer just zoomed past us.

I'm tired of a few things in my life. I'm tired of my lack of motivation in some areas. I'm tired of our little bathroom. I'm tired of the weather.

Really, I have no reason to complain. We always complain. I always complain. I complain about terrible drivers in Albuquerque. I complain about dry, hot weather. (I live in a freakin' desert. I need to just get used to it.) I'm just a complainer. We're all complainers. But what do I do to change my situation? I complain some more. I would much rather do something. I could keep on complaining about how flawed people are, or I can just focus on my own life. My life needs improvement. I won't be happy if I focus on other people's lives.

I don't know. Sometimes life gets me down. Sometimes I don't have all of the things that I want. Then I have to stop and think, and sometimes write in a blog, then I remember--I remember that I have all that I need. I have a wife that I adore. I have loving parents and parent in-laws. I have family that loves me. I have a job that pays the bills. I live in a city, state and country that I am proud of. Life is mostly good.

Today Lindsey and I saw a homeless woman in the park. We both have seen her many times walking around the Nob Hill and University area. I was filled with compassion, but I didn't do anything. I just sat there and I enjoyed my Arizona Tea Arnold Palmer. I wanted so bad to give her something, to show her kindness, but I ignored the urge. Next time I see her, I want to say something, I want to give something.

Random Thoughts 8/1/11

2011-08-01T13:51:00.000-06:00

It's another day. I'm half way though and I feel anxious. I'm anxious to see what life will bring. Will there be sorrow? Will there be joy? I'm sure a good mixture of the two. I'm trying to find ways to be prepared for both of those things.

Lots of things are going on in my life right now. I love Lindsey so much. We have lots of decisions to make together. I once heard someone say, "Fail to plan, then plan to fail". So I'd like to have a good plan. We're moving into our new place next month. (We're renting.) Yesterday we had the help of Lindsey's parents to clean the house. It was a few minutes of hard work, but I think it's paying off. The house is pretty old. Old is good though. We're excited to move in.

So I'm pretty sad that monsoon season really hasn't brought anything to the Albuquerque area. Everyday I look at the radar images to see if there's a chance that one of these storms will hit us. So far we've only had one good storm. It's alright, I live in a desert I know. Rain is so much sweeter when you live in a desert.

Here's something I read today that made me think...

"27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate."

Luke 6:27-36 (NLT)

Nice Storm

2011-07-31T15:33:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen a bush get struck my lightning? I haven't until about 20 minutes ago. It was pretty amazing really. The entire bush glowed bright orange and pink for a split second then I could see smoke and steam coming off of the bush. It all happened so fast. I was driving behind Lindsey and she saw it too. Pretty cool. Here's a picture of the Doppler radar of what we just went though. We were entering Tijeras Canyon.

Get Over Yourself, Denver

2011-07-26T08:40:00.001-06:00

Seriously, I think that Denver, Colorado is one of the most beautiful cities in the country. I have one complaint though, and it's the elevation thing. Everywhere you go in Denver you see something about being one mile high. It's the "Mile High City". Even the city's magazine is called 5,280. Maybe this fact is something that is really impressing for all of the transplants from the east coast. For me, I was born at 7,000 ft above sea level at St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe, NM. (I kind of wonder if it's the highest full service hospital in the U.S.) I have to laugh though at some of the things we are fascinated with. And I'm the guiltiest. I always talk about my current elevation... I'm ranting because I often see Denverites vandalizing Wikipedia pages and trying so hard to tell the world that they are a mile high. First of all, miles are dumb. Nobody else cares about miles, they care about kilometers. Second of all, I just want to read about boiling temperatures, I don't care that Denver is a mile high. Here's the quoted text from that article:

"In Denver, Colorado, which is at an elevation of about one mile, water boils at approximately 95 °C.^[2] Depending on the type of food and the elevation, the boiling water may not be hot enough to cook the food properly. Similarly, increasing the pressure as in a pressure cookerraises the temperature of the contents above the open air boiling point."

Our Weekend

2011-07-25T08:28:00.001-06:00

What an amazing weekend! It started with some great New Mexican food at Silvano's with my family. I got to show my new camera to my dad, mom and brothers. I snapped a few good photos too, I can't wait to get them developed. I really hope that they come out, I'm still trying to understand camera settings. -- It's also been really dark and stormy. That is really refreshing to me. The air smells nice. It's cool. I love it.

Another thing we did was go on a mini road trip in northern New Mexico. New Mexico is so beautiful, and a lot of people don't know it. We went up to Santa Fe to Espanola to Taos. We saw the taos gorge and the majestic New Mexico Rocky Mountains. We then traveled through the Carson National Forest toward Angel Fire. We went up to the base of Angel Fire and enjoyed some coconut shrimp and a micro brew. Then we traveled south from Angel Fire through Black Lake and Guadalupita then through Mora then past Storie Lake then to Las Vegas and back through Santa Fe and finally toward Albuquerque. All along enjoying some amazing lightning shows. It was just a great little trip and I can't wait to do it again. Hopefully I'll have some photos to show off soon.

Comfort

2011-07-20T08:48:00.000-06:00

It's been an interesting morning so far. I feel a bit unsettled. I don't know why I feel this way sometimes. I guess it's just emotions. I feel like there's a place where my life needs to be and when my life isn't there then my emotions feel sort-of off. Where I feel I should be is--->comfortable... Is comfort that important though? Well, maybe not. Maybe I need to move because if I am comfortable then I stay still and if I stay still then life gets stagnant. Life is stagnant and then it just starts to stink. It's the same ol', same ol'. I wake up, I go to work, I watch some show that I watched the night before, then I go to sleep and wake up then do it all over again the next day. That is not life. That is not being human. Being human is loving people. To be a human you have go out there and experience God's creation. There is so much beauty out there that nobody seems to care about. With the beauty comes danger. You hear about hikers and campers getting lost all the time... But that danger takes you out of your comfortable home, your comfortable car, your comfortable chair. You're alive! Love!

I just have some things on my mind this morning. I don't feel comfortable, not at all. I had a bad dream last night that disturbed me. But maybe it's God's way of saying "MOVE! You're way too comfortable!". So I won't pout, I won't stew, I won't feel sad. I'll move. Life keeps moving. People still need to be told that they are valued. People need to feel human.

SNL skit season 27 drew barrymore hot tub

2011-07-11T19:24:00.000-06:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq0zzWbf2qY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my miniature computer.

Mt. Rainier

2011-06-29T14:03:00.002-06:00

This looks intense!

http://www.summitpost.org/mount-rainier/150291

Truchas Peak

2011-06-29T13:55:00.001-06:00

Oh my goodness! Truchas might be my new goal. This looks tough! I'm sure it would be really rewarding to summit this puppy though!

http://www.surgent.net/highpoints/nm/truchas.html

http://www.summitpost.org/truchas-peak-aka-south-truchas-peak/151757

Lake Katherine

2011-06-29T12:01:00.000-06:00

This makes me so happy!

Mountain Climbing, Hiking in NM

2011-06-29T11:03:00.001-06:00

I have started to become really excited to hike some mountains. Wheeler Peak is my goal for the end of the summer. I really wanted to conquer Wheeler Peak this month. The fourteen mile hike might be just a bit too much for me at my current level. I want to work up to my goal. I want to hike Santa Fe Baldy and the Truchas (although I think the Truchas might be a harder hike than Wheeler). I'm really excited though. We have so much natural beauty here in NM and I want to discover it.

http://www.summitpost.org/wheeler-peak-nm/150429

http://www.summitpost.org/santa-fe-baldy/151395

Our Little Pup

2011-06-28T12:09:00.000-06:00

Here's a video of our little pup swimming.

Weather, Buff Old Dudes

2011-06-22T11:59:00.001-06:00

I really hate checking the weather and seeing advertisements with buff
old dudes in them.

New Photo Blog

2011-06-21T18:23:00.000-06:00

I love Gmail. I use everything Google has to offer, except for its search engine. For that I use Bing. Weird huh? So I have had Gmail since 2004, back when it was "invite" only. In fact, I still have 98 invites left. What I really love about Gmail is that I can look back years to see what was going on in my life. It's a really cool little time capsule. I did a search for ".jpg", and there are tons of cool pictures that I sent to myself and my friends. I thought it would be nice to make a blog that could show these photos. http://skate1zo.blogspot.com

This is my new photo blog. I'll start with old photos, then I'll put new ones.

We Are Lucky To Be Alive

2011-06-20T14:50:00.001-06:00

This one time, Lindsey and I were traveling down a path where
elephants are known to be seen. We were really hopeful that we would
not see one at all. We know how powerful these creatures are. From
television, we also know that they can be quite grumpy and protective
over their young. We also found out that a pride of lions took down
and ate one elephant one time. This is beside the point though. A
friend of ours, who was also our tour guide, took a picture of us in
the Indian jungle so that we could show our friends and family how
much fun we had. He snapped one photo, but my beard
wasn't combed right. So then, as he was preparing for the next photo
Lindsey and I realized that there was a giant elephant behind us! It
chased us until we outran it. Then we made it to the village and
enjoyed some tea.
(This is my lame attempt at writing a story.)

Goal #1 Joy

2011-06-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

I'm having a hard time staying positive these days. I know that I am
certainly blessed, but for some reason things are just irritating me
more than usual. I'm still trying to discover who I really am. It
sounds strange, but I don't know that. I know who I used to be. Some
main things have not changed. I'm still generally the same person I
was maybe five years ago. Some things that gave me joy five years ago
no longer give me joy. I know I'm changing, but I need to know how I'm
changing. I thought adolescence was the end of my changes. Nope... So
now my search. What gives me joy? By the way, what the heck is joy?
For me joy is a really important thing, and it is really hard to
describe. It's something deeper than happiness. I want to know that I
can accomplish what I desire. My goals need to be real, and not just
ideas. I don't want to be lazy. So that's my thought for the day. Goal
#1 joy.

Hmmm... I guess I picked the right major!

2011-06-08T10:21:00.004-06:00

Rain

2011-06-05T21:52:00.001-06:00

It looks like some of our state is getting some much needed rain! Like
babbled before, it has been really dry. I really sound like a broken
record. Bla, bla, bla...I really wish it would rain...bla, bla, bla.
Whatever, that's what's on my mind. A few other things are on my mind.

This weekend Lindsey and I spoke with a loan officer. She gave us some
insight on home buying and what we, as new buyers, could expect. She
really did shed some light on things for us. We came away from the
meeting knowing that we could buy a house on our own. It felt kinda
good. Starting out in marriage, we both have lots of questions about
how life as a married person continues. Buying a home is one of the
major scary "unknowns". But we'll see. It could be three months, or it
could be three years before we buy a house. Or, if life takes us
somewhere else in the world, then it could be never. We're keeping our
options open.

So what else is on my mind? Well, I want to be happy. How am I going
to do it? I would say meditating and studying what is most important
to me, namely the God called Yahweh. I know it is difficult to study
what is not study-able, well maybe impossible. But I would like to
have more knowledge... But nobody wants to know about my religion,
right? That's personal stuff! Haha! It's really hard to keep something
like that to myself though. It is who I am... I even think it's deeper
than that. Something that I could ponder for a really long time.
That's where I gain my joy. Joy is a gift. I would like to also bring
joy to other people if I could. I would like to get more done than is
expected of me at work. I would like to go beyond what is expected of
me as a husband too. It's really difficult to get to the dishes every
time I see that they have piled up, but I would like to. Laundry is
also a huge chore, mostly because I have to drive half-a-mile to the
laundromat to do the laundry. I want to be a sponge for knowledge.
Every type of knowledge.

So that's what's on my mind right now.

In the near future I hope to see rain. In the near future I would like
to be above 10,000 ft above sea level. In the near future I would like
to sleep in a sleeping bag, on the floor, in a tent, in the Santa Fe
National Forest. The Pecos Wilderness is where it's at. I love the way
the forest smells after a good afternoon thunderstorm. I love when I
see those creeks grow into raging rivers. The forest is amazing
because it demands fear and respect. You can't help but admire it's
splendor. I love how all five senses are being touched with beauty. I
can feel the cool air and the grass brushing my legs, I can smell and
taste the forest air, I can see the towering pines and the rocky
cliffs, and I can hear the stream rushing and the bird calls. It's
pretty amazing... Soon.

Weather Report: Smoke

2011-06-03T07:46:00.001-06:00

Smoke

2011-06-02T22:35:00.001-06:00

There is a major fire in Arizona somewhere and all of the smoke from
that fire is drifting here to NM. It's really a bit scary to walk
outside. I can't even see the mountains. There's a haze outside as if
a house is on fire in the neighborhood. There is ash particles raining
from the sky. The National Weather Service issued an "Air Quality
Alert". I doubt I'll ever see anything like this ever again. I really
hope some rain comes soon to wash all of this ash away.

25,000 Foot Peak

2011-05-26T12:17:00.001-06:00

Lunch time for me, but I'm not thinking about food. I'm thinking about
mountains. I was just in Colorado this past weekend and they are
obsessed with their 14,000 ft. peaks, or "fourteeners" as they are
called. A bit of envy was starting to collect in me. I was wondering
why New Mexico didn't have any fourteeners. It turns out that at one
time New Mexico did have a fourteener or two. Culebra Peak was on a
Spanish land grant and was included in New Mexico. Then the US
Government came along and seized the land. I really want to read more
into this subject of land grants and what the country was like back
then. I've even heard that the survey for the state line of Colorado
and New Mexico is a bit off. I remember recently that they found that
the marker for the Four Corners was off quite a bit too. I don't know
how this was resolved, but pretty interesting though. So, I know it's
dumb, and I do love Colorado. It's one of the most beautiful states in
the Union, even though it's overcrowded with rich Texans,
Californians, and New Yorkers. But I don't even think Coloradoans even
like the southern part of their state anyway. I think the US
Government should give us Culebra Peak along with Durango, Pagosa
Springs and Wolf Creek. Colorado won't miss it.

Also, at one time it looks like New Mexico might have had the highest
point in the continental US. Mt. Taylor is a volcano and before a
major eruption like the eruption of Mt. St. Helens it could have been
anywhere from 18,000 ft above sea level to 25,000 ft above sea level.
Crazy! Could you imagine looking west on top of Sandia Peak and seeing
a 25,000 ft peak instead of the current 11,000 ft peak? I wonder how
that would have changed the climate of Albuquerque. Hmmm... If only I
could be transported in time to see what the landscape of New Mexico
was pre-Mt. Taylor eruption.

I don't know why I care about these things... Here are some cool links anyway.

http://www.summitpost.org/culebra-peak/151463

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Taylor_(New_Mexico)

Mmmm... Now time for food.

Free Laugh

2011-05-25T16:05:00.001-06:00

I was just decompressing here at work... Numbers, numbers, numbers,
floating around. Sometimes I like to take a real quick peak at the
"free" stuff on Craigslist.org just to have a laugh. This is
hilarious! Enjoy. Alright, back to work... :D

Hmmm...

2011-05-19T14:56:00.001-06:00

This is funny!

Fwd:

2011-05-16T22:09:00.000-06:00

Sent from my miniature computer.

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Lorenzo" <lorenzo@necessitycmc.com>
Date: May 16, 2011 10:49:22 MDT
To: <lorenzodominguez@gmail.com>

http://www.hdrweather.com/publications/reports/EPAT_NM.pdf

Old Route 66

2011-05-08T22:42:00.001-06:00

It's been a great Sunday. Today is Mum's Day. I love my mum. I love my wifes mum. Mum is how the British say mom. Okay... Well, it was great to spend time with family today. It was great going to church and playing my guitar. I'm starting to get a bit more adventurous on my playing. We then drove out to Moriarty, even that was relaxing to me. I just love spending time with Lindsey.

On Friday, we went to Hasting's and we were looking these books on how Albuquerque and New Mexico was in the early 20th century, I wish I could remember the names of the books. There were pictures of different motels along route 66. A few were named in Moriarty that are still there and operational. There were also a few named in Albuquerque, one of which president John F. Kennedy stayed at. After the motels hay days in the 1960's, it then made a turn for the worst and became a motel frequented by prostitutes and their clients. So it was knocked down and replaced by the Four Hills Shopping Center. What does this have to do with our drive out to Moriarty? Well there were photos of Route 66 going through Tijeras Canyon before Interstate 40 was built. It looks almost the same, except for a few hills missing. I guess entire hills were destroyed to make way for I-40. There was also a rock on Route 66 that people would paint advertisements on. This historical rock is still in somewhere along the way. It was also bulldozed off to the side to make way for the new roadway. I would love to find this rock with advertisements on it.

I've run into a writing road-block. I can't remember what I was going to say... Oh yeah! I found a new app called "Topo Maps". That is all. Happy Mum's day to all the mums out there!

Cool Web-Page

p.s. After looking for images to put on the blog post, I think I'm going to start collecting antique post cards. There's a really awesome antique shop by our house where I would like to start.

Camera

2011-05-04T10:58:00.001-06:00

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666192672

I want!

Tetanus, Goals, Money

2011-05-04T07:37:00.001-06:00

Good morning! This darn tetanus shot pain in my arm. I guess the pain
could be much worse... The weather outside is so nice. The temperature
is perfect. I can smell spring in the air. That's strange. My goal
today is to be extra productive. I want to get a day and a half's
worth of work done today. I want to drink two mugs of coffee. I want
to drink six 946 mL jugs of water. Lindsey and I are also quiting the
craft beers, we're just spending too much on them. Plus, for some
reason after a great IPA I get a headache. That can't be good. We're
going to start focusing on other hobbies. Yesterday Lindsey mentioned
white water rafting. I am down. I also would like to track the dollar,
the euro, the pound and the peso more. Just for fun.

Beautiful Old Hymn

2011-05-03T21:47:00.001-06:00

Downtown there is an amazing book shop we like to visit on occasion.
There is an old hymnal that I plan on purchasing. It was published in
the 1870's if I remember correctly. This song would have been brand
new in this hymnal, if it's in there. What a beautiful song.

Nothing But The Blood

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Now by this I'll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Now by this I'll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Just A Note

2011-05-03T19:15:00.001-06:00

It's been an incredibly long day. I'm glad it's almost over. Lindsey
is making something delicious. I know it has some sort of beef in it.
We're going to watch a movie then we're just going to relax. We're
learning how to be married. Marriage is really hard, especially when
you're as selfish as I am. We're coming along just fine though. I have
no doubt that we'll still be loving each other when the arthritis, bad
sight and bad hearing sets in.

That's all for now. Time to take the trash out.

p.s. i really don't care about the death of Osama Bin Ladin. Is that weird?

p.p.s. I'm excited for great spring weather. Is that weird?

Mountain Comparison

2011-04-29T08:33:00.001-06:00

Dry Weather

2011-04-23T19:06:00.001-06:00

Everybody, it never fails, tells me that when I mention that I love rainy weather that I'm a total idiot to be living where I live. Well, maybe they don't say that I'm a total idiot, but they imply. The thing is I love diversity. I love that I can see desert and lush forest all in on short car trip. I also love my home, I think everyone loves their home. People like to love where they live. It's a big part of their identity. I don't like when people get angry at me for not knowing some obscure fact about their home county, city or state, so I don't get angry at people when they don't know that Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the U.S.

What am I getting at? Well we've been experiencing a severe drought here in NM. I guess I prefaced what I'm getting at with what I just said because people don't really understand the climate in NM. When I say that we're experiencing a severe drought, people might think that it's just always a drought in NM, so how could the lack of rain be out of the ordinary. Well it is out of the ordinary for some parts of the state. We were just on the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains where it's normally pretty green with creeks and lakes. I noticed such a difference to what I normally see this weekend. The stream that normally fills a pond was dried up. The grass was brown. The air was dry. We are in desperate need of some moisture in our state. Every day that I look at the weather report I see there is a red flag warning. It's so dangerous in the forest. I'm really hoping that we see some rain, and some good rain soon. In fact I'm heading to weather.gov right now.

Another Good Article

2011-04-19T13:23:00.001-06:00

Lindsey sent me the link to this article. It was really interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/19/granderson.children.dress/index.html?hpt=T2

Great Article

2011-04-15T11:02:00.001-06:00

My boss showed me this article today. I really enjoyed reading this.
Life is a blessing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42599413/ns/us_news-life/

It's a Good Day

2011-04-13T08:03:00.001-06:00

6 "What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins[b]? Yet God
does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your
head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to
God than a whole flock of sparrows.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/carson/recreation/fishing/trampas_lake.shtml

Let It Happen Every Time

2011-04-08T09:01:00.000-06:00

I remember being in high school and wondering when someone would love me--a girl ya know? I remember thinking that high school was probably not going to be the place where I would meet someone to love. This is really cheesy but I feel like I need to write it down. It just makes me happy to see my patience paid off when I married Lindsey. She's the girl that when I think about puts a smile on my face. We're faced with questions on where to go all of the time, but I couldn't have thought of any better person to make those decisions with than with Lindsey. In a confusing world she helps me make sense of things. When I was dreaming about my future wife in high school, I was dreaming of Lindsey. She's perfect. When I was dreaming, sometimes I would be listening to "Let It Happen" by MxPx. I know that is really lame. I know people hate MxPx. Here are the lyrics and link to the song that I was listening to if you really care to take the time.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Let+It+Happen/pY2KM?src=5

I want someone to love
a girl that when i think of
will put a smile on my face
i want to hold her hand
want her to understand
there's got to be a better place
than this world cause this
is the best time of our lives
Should I be thinking about that now
She turns my world around
I let it happen everytime
i want a lot of things
somethings always seem to bring
all the pain back in my mind
which way to go
answers to questions I don't know
there's better things that we can find

FW: [kob] Re: Mayor will meet with FDIC to determine Anasazi's future | KOB.com

2011-04-07T10:44:00.001-06:00

> Subject: [kob] Re: Mayor will meet with FDIC to determine Anasazi's future | KOB.com
> From: notifications-8SHYJEUU45@disqus.net
> To: pxer83@hotmail.com
> Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:27:55 +0000
>
> Clark_Nova wrote, in response to bobthehermit:
>
> If you want to attract people downtown, try closing about 75% of the sleazy bars, hookah lounges and strip clubs. Do something about the panhandlers and street crazies, too.
>
> We don't need skyscrapers. Land prices aren't high enough to justify them. I think you should go back east, you're not fitting in well here.
>
> Link to comment: http://disq.us/1j47nv
>
> bobthehermit wrote:
>
> Let's finish it and attract more people downtown! I can see a thriving downtown Albuquerque one day. Coffee shops, music venues, nice restaurants, apartments...maybe a light-rail to connect it all together. Stop living in the past New Mexico! Let's get some skyscrapers up too. It's been twenty-one years since the Bank of Albuquerque building has gone up, I think we're due a nice 30 or 40 floor skyscraper.
>
> -----
> Options: Respond in the body to post a reply comment.
>
>
> To turn off notifications, go to: http://disqus.com/account/

Spring & Love

2011-03-28T07:44:00.003-06:00

Monday morning. For breakfast I have a grapefruit, a peanut butter and honey sandwich, some orange Powerade Zero, some coffee and The Fray Pandora station. It's a good morning. Spring is in the air. There's a feeling of life all around me. The trees are beginning to bud. The mornings are no longer cold, but only cool. I think this morning's temp was about 41°F. Anyway, I love spring. I'm starting to love spring the most out of any season. Summer is too darn hot. Maybe I don't have a favorite season cause even though summer is darn hot I can still tolerate it, and I associate summer with road-trips. So I like all seasons the same.

Sometimes I feel like life is so strange. I hate how life doesn't make sense to me sometimes. I don't know how I got to where I am now. I don't know why it feels like there is so much unrest in our world. Sometimes I feel like we're on the verge of breaking. Then I zoom into my own life and I wonder how on Earth I every deserved to be loved. In many areas I don't deserve any love. But forgiveness exists. Love exists. Redemption exists. It's good to know that such things exist. I can either give into my fear, or I can resist and give into love. Love is the greatest thing that has ever existed. And it exists! I think this in itself is a miracle. Love is a mystery.

Lorider Bike!!!

2011-03-27T16:41:00.001-06:00

So, this afternoon I'm shopping for a bycicle on Craig's List and I find this gem. Delicious. Only in New Mexico, (parts of California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas) would you find a lorider bike for sale on Craig's List.

I Completely Agree

2011-03-23T16:02:00.001-06:00

NYC

2011-03-18T18:47:00.000-06:00

New York, NY. What a lot to take in! We've been walking, and walking,
and walking some more. I feel like we have been doing nothing but
moving. Subway rides and looking at buildings. It's been great, but
I'm still trying to adjust to all the walking and train hopping. It's
weird because this is my fourth trip here and the last times I visited
it was much easier to adjust.

So far I've snapped some pretty good photos. I'll post them all here soon.

In our trip we still have Jimmy Fallon to see and also our anniversary
night. I'm excited for both of those things.

...still things seem dark here... I'm hoping for an upward turn toward joy.

Fly Away

2011-03-11T17:21:00.001-07:00

I would love to fly to El Paso from ABQ and have a 8 hour layover in Clovis. Fun times!

Calendar

2011-03-08T14:14:00.001-07:00

I love seeing this on my calendar!

Pictures and Junk...bla, bla, bla

2011-03-08T08:24:00.002-07:00

It's a great day today. The weather is cool, but you can tell that spring is on it's way. Yesterday it sprinkled on us a bit and this morning I can still smell a remnant of a bit of moisture. It's not as dry as it has been. It's still dry, but not as bad. We really need some rain soon though. I guess there have been really bad fires in southern New Mexico. Silver City was evacuated. There are still really bad threats to fires today.

There are a few things I want to do. I want to enjoy my city more. I want to walk around the city with my point and shoot Sony camera and capture what I find as beautiful in the city. There are a lot of really cool houses and examples of great architecture in the city that not many people know about--nor would they have even thought that these buildings could exist in Albuquerque. As I took Lindsey to work this morning a few times I pointed out "that would be a great photo".

So that's my goal. I want to enjoy my city more. I think Albuquerque is the ultimate diamond in the rough, if you will. We have a gem of a city and not too many people know of it.

Climate Change

2011-03-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

Is there such a thing as climate change? Or are there trending climate changes in the long run? Basically, is there any chance that New Mexico could gradually become warmer or cooler in the next 50 to 100 years? Will we trend more or lest precipitation? I'm just wondering. Is there a possibility that we could see more grasses and less desert? These are a lot of questions, but I think it would be cool if we could notice a climate change in my life time. It's just so darn dry here and I wish it would rain more. I think my better bet would be to move to Alaska. That's not going to happen. Although, I would really love to visit Alaska some time soon.

Joy, Love, Hope

2011-03-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

Things I'm cooking right now: Kroger Deluxe Shells and Cheddar, sautéd
garlic with Ragu marinara sause (I added some tampura powder and a
drop of Valentina hot sauce), boiled shrimp, tri-color rotini, and hot
water for tea. I'm a cooking man right now. It's good though. I'm also
listening to the brand new Anberlin release. The music is fantastic.
It's good for me to just listen and think. Sometimes I think I'm
really sad. Sometimes I think that life makes no sense and has no
purpose. Sometimes there's no hope. Sometimes it feels as if there is
no hope for me. Hopelessness is probably the worst feeling ever. I
have hope. I don't have to feel as if I have no hope because I know
that there is hope for me. I would say the opposite of hopelessness is
love and joy. These are what we all desire as humans. We long for
these as if they were food or water. I have joy. I have love! I don't
have to feel hopeless.

Zoot Woman

2011-03-02T18:05:00.002-07:00

I just have to put this out there ... ... ... ... ... This song and music video is (are?) (lol) amzing! Enjoy Zoot Woman.

Interstate Bridges

2011-03-02T17:56:00.001-07:00

I love bridges and interstate highways. I don't know why I love them but I do. My two favorite interstate interchanges in Albuquerque are I-40 & Louisiana and I-40 & I-25. So now you know.

IPAs On A Monday Night

2011-03-02T08:32:00.001-07:00

Today is a great day! I think it just might be the coffee buzz, but I just feel great today. It also might be because I just feel so much better physically today than I did yesterday. Joe and I had enjoyed two or three IPAs on Monday night. Joe pointed this out, it seems like the hoppier the beer the worse you feel in the morning. Keep in mind that we don't have to drink a lot of IPA beers in order to feel horrible in the morning. I can have one Marble IPA and just feel kinda crummy. This is unfortunate because I really love the hoppy beers. OH well... By the way, the story behind the origins of IPA beer is pretty fascinating. Check out this Wikipedia article.

I'm also super excited for our New York trip. I'm excited to see Mr. Sean Friend. I'm excited that you can search "Jeff Omidvaran" on iTunes and see his music. I'm excited for our friend Joe and his adventure to Portland. I'm a bit sad that he's leaving, but it's great for him. Last night we (Lindsey, Erin, Joe and I) gathered at Flying Star to celebrate Erin's 27th birthday. That was really fun. I'm grateful for friends.

I read this proverb this morning. I really like the desire for knowledge the author had. This is how I would like to think. I want a thirst for knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

Proverbs 2 (New Living Translation)

Proverbs 2

The Benefits of Wisdom

1 My child,[a] listen to what I say,
   and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
   and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
   and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
   seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
   and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
   From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
   He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just
   and protects those who are faithful to him.

9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
   and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
   and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
   Understanding will keep you safe.

12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
   from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
   to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
   and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
   and their ways are wrong.

16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
   from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband
   and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death;
   it is the road to the grave.[b]
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
   He will never reach the paths of life.

20 Follow the steps of good men instead,
   and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land,
   and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,
   and the treacherous will be uprooted.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 2:1 Hebrew My son.
Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the spirits of the dead.

Silence

2011-02-28T07:53:00.001-07:00

Yes I'll have to agree with Lindsey on this one. Technology has taken over our every second. Did you see the commercial for Ford with the car that tells you your Facebook updates? Ridiculous! I am the guiltiest, I admit. Lindsey hates when it when I read articles non-stop when we're hanging out. We need a revival of things simpler. Instead of sending e-mails we should send hand-written letters. I think more love is put into hand-written letters. I don't think technology is entirely bad, I just think we need a little moderation. My day started at 6:00am. At this point I turned on channel 4 and continued on with my morning rituals. I then step out of the door and turn on m88 on my radio. There's always noise in my life. Today was different. Meditation, prayer and silence filled my car. It was amazing. It's good to be aware of your surroundings and to occasionally turn off the noise of TV, radio and the internet.

Sent from my miniature computer.

Cell Phone

2011-02-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have been trying my hardest to get away without buying a cell phone. I have been trying to use my iPod for text messages and phone calls. Text messages are no problem with my iPod touch. I use Text Free and Google Voice. Google Voice is a better app than Text Free. It runs smoother on my device and it doesn't try to sell me other apps. What's cool about Text Free is that it allows me to make phone calls too, but it only gives me 120 minutes to start off with, which I've already used up... Google Voice doesn't work for phone calls on my iPod. Who really cares though.

Last week I was in a little fender bender and it would have been nice to have a cell phone. I'm thinking Cricket. I'm a penny pincher...

Unrelated--here's a good music video.

Love

2011-02-25T07:40:00.003-07:00

Sometimes music will bring me so much joy. This is one of those songs. I love the music video because it reminds me of the joy I felt when I spent time with my grandfather. My grandfather sparked curiosity in my young mind. He played music for me, he told me about different countries and what it's like there. We would spend hours looking at maps and globes. One of the globes he had was in this music video, the one that glows behind the keyboard. I miss my grandpa a lot. I want to make an impact on people like my grandpa made an impact on me. Even though he isn't here on Earth he has left me with some of the most amazing memories.

America's Top Model-T

2011-02-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

I found myself visiting the Comcast Cable's webpage and I ran into this photo. I'm really sorry, but all of these women look so ridiculous. The longer I looked at this photo the more ridiculous they appeared. So that's my random thought of the day. I'm sure these women are nice and great in person, their poses just make me laugh.

The Three-Mile-High City

2011-02-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. Could you imagine living in a city that is higher than any mountain peak in the continental United States? La Rinconada, Peru sits at 5,100 m above sea level. The highest point in Colorado is 4,401 m. The highest point in New Mexico is 4,011 m above sea level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rinconada,_Peru

Don't Read This, Lindsey. You Will Become Bored.

2011-02-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm deciding now that I want to keep track of how much water I drink each day. Why? Because I'm totally weird. I would also like to keep track of how far I am driving each day. Who knows? Maybe I'll even put this data into a graph.

Water Consumption:

as of 12:13pm -- 1000mL

Distance Traveled:

as of 12:13 pm -- 8.4 km

Movie Sunday Night

2011-02-21T08:13:00.003-07:00

Lindsey and I watched the movie Brothers last night via instant watch Netflix from our Wii. I'm thinking to myself...oh a movie about a soldier staring Spider-man, Donnie Darko and the girl who played the princess in the new Star Wars movies. I wasn't expecting much but then I started to recognize some of the scenery so I IMDB'd it and sure enough the entire movie was filmed right here in New Mexico. It was cool because it showed a lot of cold scenes when snow and ice skating. I'm sure a lot of people were confused about that when they looked it up, seeing as New Mexico has a primarily hot and dry image. The movie itself wasn't that bad. Spider-man went to Iraq and his helicopter was shot down. He and one of his fellow soldiers were captured and tortured for a few months. He was rescued but not before some serious PTSD was able to set in. The movie I think was based off of a movie out of Europe. Maybe I should get my facts straight before I write a blog... but I'm not here to bring facts. I'm here to vent my thoughts in writing. So feel free to research the movie yourself, I'm sure you have the internet. You are reading this now. Anyway, I would like to see another great movie tonight. I'm tired of the lame-o comedies that I always watch.

Journal Entry

2011-02-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Good Presidents Day to ya! I would have to say my favorite president is FDR. I would love it if I had the day off but I don't. Lindsey was a bit sick this morning, she could've used the day off as well. I hope she feels better today. I hope we both have good work days. It's fine though, I'm still looking forward to a good week. I'm especially looking forward to our trip to NYC next month. We're staying with our buddy Sean for a few nights and on our anniversary night we're staying at a nice little hotel near Central Park. I'm starting to compile a list of things to do right now. The countdown has begun to our visit to The Big Apple.

Sent from my miniature computer.

This Was Not Supposed To Be A Blog About Weather

2011-02-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and I feel good. I have a nice mug of delicious black coffee in front of me. I have my day's work cut out for me here at work. This is good because I hate feeling like I am not of use to my company. The weather has been so warm, in the 70's sometimes in the afternoon and in the low 40's in the morning. This is a significant warm up from the -14F mornings we were experiencing a few weeks ago. One or two days there we were the coldest state in the country. This includes Alaska. If I remember correctly Taos dipped down to -36F. What's funny is that we still were not able to break our record for coldest ever temp in New Mexico. That was accomplished in 1950 (I'm going off memory here) in Galivan, NM. The temperature reached -50F. That is amazing. I am happy that our heater was working just fine on those days when it was seriously cold. It was really amazing when it was cold what happened in our house. The temperature difference from inside our apartment to outside caused condensation to form on our windows. This condensation promptly froze creating a sheet of ice about two to three centimeters in some spots.

We don't have to worry about freezing temperatures for this week at least, and definitely no sub zero temps for the rest of the year. Oh dang, why am I talking about weather. Nobody cares about weather. Last thing--we are forecasted rain this weekend and I know it will probably only sprinkle on us, but I always just hope that weather unleashes on us. I hope we get over an inch of rain this weekend. That will never happen.

Our Weekend

2011-02-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

I can't help but think of life as a line graph right now. Right now it's on it's way up. Just like our economy, there are ups and downs and the line could have ups and downs and trend up or down in the long run. I have a good feeling that my line is trending up. I had a great weekend with "mi amor". We had a great time talking and hanging out, just the two of us, this weekend. It's so great to see her smile. We went to dinner, the wait was 50 minutes but it was alright. We went ahead and hung out at the bar and just talked. We people watched. We were doing something and it felt good. For me it's the best thing in the world to know that Lindsey loves me. Sure we disagree on some things, but at that moment when we were looking at each other and talking none of that mattered. The next day we hung out with our good friend Joe. We went to Santa Fe and met up with Yas. We walked around, enjoyed some galleries. We almost bought the $30,000 painting of the fox, almost. We hung out with Erin and Joe at "The Bird" which we originally thought was Blackbird, but later found out that it was The Bird of Paradise, two completely different establishments. We watched a cover band there and ate our weight in deliciously nasty chips and queso. Wow, I just can't help but be so thankful right now for friends.

So now I find myself at a desk and I'm listening to Adele's album "21". It's a good Monday and now I have to get back to work... I feel like I need to see a photo of some mountains in Colorado. I'll search for Culbera peak and something in the southern Colorado Rockies. Maybe a photo of Santa Fe.

Fwd: [kob] Re: Mayor Berry delivers update on outage's overnight developments | KOB.com

2011-02-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPod

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Disqus" <notifications-X1HVZUELVZ@disqus.net>
Date: February 4, 2011 11:06:27 PM MST
To: pxer83@hotmail.com
Subject: [kob] Re: Mayor Berry delivers update on outage's overnight developments | KOB.com

espanola63 wrote, in response to bobthehermit:

i think the gov. is doing a gr8 job, just some people have to complain about everything.

Link to comment: http://disq.us/12i32k

bobthehermit wrote:

I have to say Mayor Berry seems like more of a leader right now than Governor Martinez. Just saying.

-----
Options: Respond in the body to post a reply comment.

To turn off notifications, go to: http://disqus.com/account/

Fwd: [kob] Re: Mayor Berry delivers update on outage's overnight developments | KOB.com

2011-02-06T18:47:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPod

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Disqus" <notifications-LWM7YQQ021@disqus.net>
Date: February 5, 2011 11:43:34 AM MST
To: pxer83@hotmail.com
Subject: [kob] Re: Mayor Berry delivers update on outage's overnight developments | KOB.com

Mgi13 wrote, in response to bobthehermit:

Give me a break, Bob!! Suzanna is directive and informative to the whole styate as a Governor should be. Amd Mayor berry is informative and calming to the poeple in the Albuq area as he should be. Why do poeple like you alwyas have to jump onto the 'left' side of an issue and find a thread.

Link to comment: http://disq.us/12lkai

bobthehermit wrote:

I have to say Mayor Berry seems like more of a leader right now than Governor Martinez. Just saying.

-----
Options: Respond in the body to post a reply comment.

To turn off notifications, go to: http://disqus.com/account/

Destroy My Bridge!

2011-01-27T19:51:00.001-07:00

If you have BridgeBasher installed, follow this link to view the bridge:
View Bridge On My iPhone/iPod Touch

If you do not have BridgeBasher installed, you can learn more about it at the BridgeBasher Webpage.

BridgeBasher is available in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Sent from my iPod

Gathering Data--Rail Runner, Gym Trips

2011-01-27T08:32:00.002-07:00

I am a gatherer of data. I love reading about data trends and I love looking at graphs and maps. This is probably why one of my favorite websites is weather.gov. There is so much data on that site that I can look at. For example, right now I'm wondering what the lowest every temperature reached in Des Moines, IA is and then I'll compare it to Santa Fe, NM and Albuquerque, NM. The lowest ever reached temp in Des Moines was -30°F in 1884. The lowest in Santa Fe was -27°F in 1971 and -17°F in 1971 in ABQ. Most people think this is dumb and useless, I think it's totally fascinating.

I'm now gathering data on our gym trips. Lindsey, Joe and I have been visiting our local community center gym this month. I feel so much better about myself when I work out. I feel like I've accomplished one of my goals. My mind feels clear, my lungs feel good, I think I can even feel my blood improve. It's weird, but I my entire body feels better. I enjoy most gathering the data from my workouts and listening to music. It's not very often that I get to dedicate a time of my day to just really listen to music. I listen to how the album is recorded. Sometimes I make up my own music videos. Sometimes I just see colors moving. I can see the drummer playing. I can see the noise. So running is one of my favorite things to do. I'm using this app called Run Keeper to record all of my data. I'm also writing data on my iPod's notepad. My stats are probably terrible right now, I've been out of it for the past few years but I'm hoping to graph an improvement in February and March.

On a completely different topic: there was a report released on how wasteful NM government is with our tax dollars. The biggest target was of course the Rail Runner. The report showed where money is going, how much it is costing and how much the train is making in ticket sales. I haven't researched this as much as I would like, but I was thinking that there is more data that you can look at. You have to keep in mind all data, not just how much it costs to lay track and how much ticket sales are bringing in. You don't see the entire picture. You have to look at census data. How much is Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Los Lunas, Belen projected to grow in the next ten to twenty years. How many of those people are likely to ride the train. Would a big factory that would provide thousands of jobs be more likely to placed in our area if there was a commuter train connecting communities? I don't know, but I think that would be a factor. The connecting of our communities couldn't be a bad thing for the local economies of the cities it goes through either. What about the cost of repairs for roads that will not have to be made because of less traffic? Does that count toward what the Rail Runner cost? What about the reduced number of traffic accidents and traffic deaths on I-25 that happen because of the reduced amount of traffic? I know that the Rail Runner has killed a few people that have tried to cross the tracks, that's really sad that those people died, but I don't think it's the train's fault. I don't know, I really like the Rail Runner and I'm happy to see there have been four million (4,000,000) riders since the train began. In New Mexico history the rail has never been a bad thing. People movers in Earth history has never been bad. The more people you move the more prosperous your economy will be. I would love to see the Rail Runner prove itself within these next 10 - 20 years. I believe nothing but good can come of this train.

Monday Thoughts

2011-01-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, January 24, Twenty-Eleven, Anno Domini. This month seems to be going by really fast. It probably feels this way because I spent the first week in Florida. When I go on vacation it seems like there's a lot of things in my life that are thrown off.

I would sometimes measure my happiness on how many things I can accomplish. Lindsey and I have made it a point to head to the gym and work out for a little while. We've actually been doing it and in a LEED certified city gym. I would like to see more live music...I have not been able to do this. Negative point toward happiness. I vacuumed our house carpet yesterday--positive point toward happiness. I have not been able to take Lindsey out on a date in a while--negative point toward happiness. I have not been able to go snowboarding this winter--negative point toward happiness. I'm heading up to the Mora wilderness this weekend and spending time in a cabin with Lindsey, Joe, Ryan and Stephanie--big positive points toward happiness.

For a while I didn't really care about football. I thought it was only a way for a select few to get rich, and we as Americans are being exploited. That may still be true, but it's part of our culture. It's something I can call my dad and be excited about. If it helps bond families then I'm all for it. Sarah Palin, American Idol, NASCAR, country music, and Jersey Shore are also parts of our culture. I refuse to take part of that.

Poor folks in Chicago... Their Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. I hope that they can win in our lifetime.

These are my random beginning-of-the-week thoughts.

I would like to appreciate things more that we have forgotten about. I'm going to start using my typewriter again. I want to send letters via USPS. I want to get a turn-table and play some records. This would be a positive point toward happiness. I want to make more trips to antique stores. Lindsey and I both absolutely love vintage photos. Lindsey makes some amazing art pieces with these photos.

Have I been a poor friend? I feel like many of my friends don't contact me anymore. Maybe I'm too busy being in love with Lindsey. Don't hold it against me.

Here are some photos of things involving New Mexico and Oregon.

http://www.marybethpizzoli.com/gallery/6355/My%20New%20Mexico/&pos=6&pos=6

Poetry

2011-01-20T11:13:00.001-07:00

He laid emeralds in her eyes,
but I'd already tried a braclet made of gold
and a scarlet thread around her wrist.
And everything was wrong so we sang sentimental songs.
Oh, how seldom we belong, but how elegant our kiss. and we painted crooked lines but we danced in perfect time to a love so much refined, we know not what it is. so like the dullen wine we poor into a grief we'd known before, but never quite like this.
all i know now is regret. she follows like a silhouette of a cobblestone behind me. she has nothing left to say except to innocently ask, her voice delicate as glass. do you see me when we pass?
but i continue on my way.

From Norma Jean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_the_Martyr_and_Kiss_the_Child

Blog Word Cloud

2011-01-15T20:29:00.001-07:00

Petroglyph National Monument.

2011-01-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

In just a few minutes, Lindsey, Joe, Erin and I are heading to Petroglyph National Monument. I am really excited to get on a hike and see the west-side volcanoes and some great views of the Sandia Mountains. I have really been taking my city for granted. We have some of the most awesome natural surroundings in Albuquerque. For the most part, Albuquerque and New Mexico is arid, but then you travel just 10 to 15 miles east and you have the Sandia Mountains that are covered in dense forest. It's not an Oregon or Washington forest by no means, but a forest none-the-less. There are tall pines and meadows with gorgeous flowers. The New Mexico landscape is really diverse. Much of the landscape is covered with short juniper bush and desert grasses, but then other parts are covered in lush forests. If I could take a guess, then I would say that our forests cover an area of maybe the size of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire. I can find out. New Mexico has 16.68 million acres of forest land according to http://www.statemaster.com/state/NM-new-mexico/geo-geography. Vermont and New Hampshire's combined total acreage is (5.919 million from VT + 5.74 million acres from NH) =11.659 million acres. So, New Mexico's total forested area is more than the combined acreage of New Hampshire and Vermont.

New Set Up

2011-01-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

Lindsey and I are spending our Sunday rearranging things in our apartment. We decided that we liked the strand of Christmas lights in the kitchen, so we put up some Christmas lights in our living room too. I think at night it will make our living room warm.

The rearrangement has also allowed me to connect my Ubuntu computer directly to my modem. I'm no longer using the blasted wireless card. I effing hate wireless connections sometimes. They are okay for my iPod, not okay for Ubuntu. Soon I will have 3 TB of storage so I can make room to install the newest release of Ubuntu. Until then, I will suffer.

I Hope We Get Clobbered By This Storm

2010-12-29T14:12:00.001-07:00

I my goodness. I hope all of this moisture and cold air slams NM! I want our winter weather. It's been so unseasonably warm. I heard on the radio that this December has been the warmest on record. I really hope January is cooler! I'm also looking forward to hitting Sandia and maybe Santa Fe Ski Basin a few times.

Here's a screen shot of the moisture I hope we get!

NM Weather

2010-12-18T15:02:00.001-07:00

I am so excited about this weekend! First thing, the weather has been
magnificent! It rained all day yesterday and all night. Meanwhile, as
the crow flies seven miles to the east we received 21 inches of snow!
It's been cloudy and frosty all day. We needed this moisture badly.
Tomorrow is the New Mexico Bowl on ESPN. I really hope that they show
the snow covered mountain on tv.

Sent from my iPod

Driving In Portland, OR

2010-12-15T11:50:00.001-07:00

Driving in Portland was really fun. I especially liked driving though this section of freeway where there are a bunch of bridges in a row. I hope to drive on this freeway again soon!

I Wish I Was In Space

2010-12-13T16:57:00.002-07:00

It's the end of the day and I'm still thinking about stats and such. Weather and sizes of cites and stars. I'm dreaming now. I wish I could listen to Oh Darling by the Beatles while floating in space while and looking at the earth. I would be in some sort of space craft, of course. That would be nice.

The other night I was dreaming (while awake) that there was a bridge that spanned the Atlantic Ocean from the USA east coast to France's west coast. I was thinking about how the material used in constructing this bridge would have to be some type of super material. I was also thinking about how there would be little bridge towns along the way. There would be fueling stations and restaurants and hotels. I dream about this bridge while I lay in bed. I also dreamed (while awake) about a bridge that would go over the Rocky Mountains (the Rockies in New Mexico). This bridge would go right over Truchas Peak. I think that drive would be pretty nasty in the winter. I'm guessing there would have to be oxygen stations too. Ya know, folks who aren't used to 14,000 feet could get altitude sickness. I don't actually think these things could be accomplished...but it would be sweet if they were.

Here are some random screen shots of what I look at during my free time.