For everyone is the U.S.--

Yes, I know I've been rather scarce these days.  There's no excuse, I just wanted to do "real-life" for awhile.  It wasn't that impressive.  While most people I know say less time spent on the internet would add more balance to their lives, I'm finding that the opposite is probably true for me.

It turns out I've become a bit of a hermit in real life too. While I am no doubt more physically active than I have ever been in FL, I still manage to stay alienated from the majority of the human race. I have very few meaningful relationships in New Zealand--they consist of Roland, immediate members of his family, and some very bratty children.

Meanwhile, there are countless people I love and share very meaningful relationships with--all of whom are going about their daily lives in Florida and various other parts of North America.
I haven't forgotten you guys. I still think about you all the time. It can be quite heart wrenching, even.

So, let me fill you in with what's been happening in the last four months.  But I'll spare you by only giving you one installment for now.

WORK

I work 34 hours a week as a nanny for an incredibly well-off family of five living in a nearby suburb.  In my charge are Charlotte, a fiercely independent 22-month-old girl with a healthy obsession with Sponge Bob Squarepants; Sam, four-years-old, with the most compassionate and sensitive heart you'd ever find in any human being; and Harry seven years of pure terror and hell wrapped up in tiny body that wants nothing but to scream and play rugby, who I happen to adore.

I enjoy my work, but at the end of the day, the children's potential is at its peak, and I feel that at this point, the best thing for these kids would be if Mom and Dad were around more often--one of them even becoming an at-home parent.  This, however, is usually never an option for parents with "amazing" careers.  I find these parents don't just do their jobs for the financial security, they do it to take regular time off from being a parent and/or spouse.  In my opinion, if two married people want to keep that divide in their life and they each consent, then fine.  But your life truly changes once you have children--everything, your entire identity.  And while married adults from all walks of life love the idea of starting a real family with kids, a good deal of them aren't willing to sacrifice what it takes to nurture an ongoing, meaningful relationship with their kids.

You'll never win as a nanny, because the only families you will have an opportunity to work with are rich, career driven families who are too busy to care for their own children.  Unless of course, you are willing to work out of charity.

And so a new philosophy has developed from within and I would like to share it with you all.  It's my philosophy on having children.  I don't care how stable, rich, and successful a couple are, a couple should never decide to have children unless they are prepared to drop everything. 

And if you can imagine your life without simple comforts (having a hot cup of coffee, reading the paper in the morning, going on hedonistic cruises in the Bahamas, etc.) and not be pissed off about it, then maybe having children is a good option for you.  But every day, god knows how many freaking couples have kids only to fit them around their preexisting schedules and feel justified in doing so, no matter how much strain it puts on the kids and their relationship with their parents.

Bad things happen in families.  Parents split-up, kids do poorly in school and grow depressed, financial instability kicks-in out of nowhere, and so on.  These things happen to normal families, and you have to already have the attitude that you are willing to change your life and do everything you absolutely have to in order to protect your children and your family.  I'm not so sure many of these people are willing to do that.  It might mean not going golfing on Saturday any more, and that seems to piss off a lot of these rich older dads.

I'm not saying that parents don't need a break--because they do.  They also deserve to have a life and identity outside of being a parent.  I'm saying that being a parent should be the most important aspect of your entire existence.  When I am taking care of children, I feel like I am in an incredibly powerful position and have the chance to do real good.  But why I am I being paid to do that?  Why aren't you giving this to your own children?  It's a sacred relationship, the one between child and caregiver, why on earth would you allow someone else to come into your home and do this for you?

Just last week I was holding Charlotte while Mom was about to dash off to work.  Charlotte gave me a kiss on the nose, a new thing she just started to do with me the day before.  Mom said, "Oh how sweet!  Charlotte hunny, give mummy a kiss on the nose" as she leaned in.  Charlotte just turned her head violently and shouted, "No!".  Just think, I get paid to get the affection and interaction these kids should be sharing with their parents.

Maybe it was just how I grew-up, even though we weren't rich and were even a bit emotionally unstable at times, but I always thought it important that I know, understand, and share meaningful relationships with my parents.  Even my mother, who I'm sure most of you know on one level or another, I even have a meaningful relationship with her (granted, I set the bar pretty low for her, but that's only cuz she's my mom).  Your kids are precious!  They are reflections of you, and they are also completely separate individuals.  You have to recognize this, appreciate it, and make an effort to "be" with your kids and do cool stuff that you all enjoy for as long as you can.

They say you don't appreciate your parents' efforts and struggles until you've had kids of your own.  Well, in my case, I didn't need to have kids to learn this one.  By watching other parents ignore and walk away from their children during the week in the name of "work", only to run off to Auckland over the weekend for a shopping spree or golf game, I discovered how ridiculously lucky I was growing-up.

Yeah, I know one of my main gripes was that Dad worked too much and mom was just difficult to be around, but looking back on it, they both constantly went out of their ways to build good memories for us.  Dad, Bobby, and I went on countless adventures together--which never really stopped, by the way.  Just last year we went on a hunt for a hidden cemetery.  The fact that at 27-years-old, from the other side of the world, I can still talk to them over the phone and feel like nothing has changed, says it all.  They must have done something right.

It doesn't matter if the family is poor, or has suffered from divorce.  You can still have a "family" and healthy, meaningful relationships, and do your best to live the best quality life possible.  After all, the whole reason we build families is to create a structure of ongoing support, which enhances each member's survival rate.  Why bother making a family if you're not willing to provide or accept that support?  Why not be single and deal with the loneliness?

For these reasons and more, I'm letting you all know now not to expect children from me any time in the next few years.  While I still think my mom and dad are awesome for truly putting themselves up to that challenge, I feel more comfortable fighting things out for myself, as an individual and as a partner to Roland.  This is an identity I am still struggling to learn more about and I'm not going to make things more complicated with children.  And of course, Roland feels the same way.  Basically, I'm not ready to lay it all out on the line for kids--I'm far too introspective (i.e. self-absorbed) for children.  I still feel like I have more spiritual growing to do as an individual, and that my relationship with Roland needs more time as well.

It's funny, people say "Wow, you've been working with kids for years and you really like it, you'd be an awesome mom!".  But I always say, "Even if I was a good mom, I'd only want to do it if I knew for sure that I wasn't going to resent it in any way".  Of course I want kids!  My freaking 27-year-old body definitely wants kids!  I'm physiologically programmed to want kids for crying out loud (which is probably why I work with them so often).  But I don't need kids, not now.  Just because the impulse pops-up here and there doesn't mean I have to follow it.  Besides, cooing over baby animals suffices for the moment, and I don't even have pets--pretty much for the same reason I don't have children: too much attachment and commitment.

It will be painful to walk away from this job, because when there are kids involved, I get rather attached.  But I always remember that in the end, they are someone else's kids, not mine, and I can only do and provide so much.  But it's a nice feeling knowing that I built a meaningful relationship with a one-year-old girl, and also helped two very sensitive boys find confidence and independence, which I hope serves them well whenever mom and dad aren't around.  It sounds incredibly corny, but everyone you've ever met who's seriously worked with children will tell you the same thing: it's not about what I've taught them, but what they've taught me.

~JNX

PS I love you Dad!  You were, are, and always will be "The Best".

My dear partner Roland and I recently spent 7 days in the South Island of New Zealand. We rented a car and did a complete coastal trip, hitting up Nelson, Abel Tasman, Golden Bay, Kaikoura, and Picton (with various side trips along the way). Links to the full photo albums:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010171&l=e877a&id=76400128

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010172&l=e4ba3&id=76400128

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010173&l=27260&id=76400128


From the coastal hike at the Abel Tasman National Park


The Kaikoura peninsula


Jen and a seal friend at Wharariki Beach, Golden Bay

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We were all nonbelievers--but now it's finally happened:



Only 48 years in the making and Axl Rose has finally delivered. Let's hope it lives up to (...), well, at this point, let's hope it lives up to Bucket Head-type standards.

For a sneak peek visit: http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses

Coffee is just one of those things--once you lose your balance and fall, you continue to spiral down to deeper, darker levels.

If I had 10,000$ laying around, I don't think I'd have too much trouble handing it over for a top of the line home espresso machine. But since I find myself living in what has to be the pinnacle of poverty thus far in my adult life, I had to settle for a Turkish coffee pot instead.


I'm the proud owner of that wee little guy at the end there--only $12 NZD

The internet is a great source for researching coffee. In fact, that's how I learned all about making Turkish coffee. There are loads of how-to videos out there. You don't even need a Turkish pot to make it, it just makes it easier to pour and layers the froth properly. It brews in about 5 minutes and tastes ridiculously good (so long as you let the "mud" settle before you dive into it). You'll never drink filtered coffee again... in fact, why the hell were you ever drinking it in the first place?

Even Dad realized the pure evil of drinking filtered, despite his going to great lengths to buy premium, freshly roasted beans that he grinds himself in order to make it taste its best. Look what he snagged after just one coffee related phone conversation with me a few weeks ago:


Unfortunately, I hear he was mislead, as the machine vibrates so much the espresso lands everywhere except in the cups.

I won't deny it--after having this horrible US election shoved down my throat for the last year (and god, I know it must have been bad in the States, but you have no idea how ridiculously enchanted the New Zealanders were about the whole thing) I'm pretty well fed-up of my country tis of thee.

Yeah, there's always going to be some bias news story playing in the background at some point in my day. There's always going to be another Kiwi that I have to explain to (and most of the time, really try to convince) that I don't care whether Obama or McCain won. On top of that, there are always going to be America's lingering "problems" for the International mainstream media to report: scandal, poverty, crime, economic-crisis, ignorance, arrogance, etc. etc. etc.

Despite living on the other side of the world, on an island with just 4 million people inhabiting it's land, it's impossible to escape any of this crap. Incidentally, there's been quite a bitter taste left in my mouth whenever I think about the state of things back home these days.

That was until I saw the documentary film "Air Guitar Nation"


This movie explores the first ever U.S. air guitar championships, and then follows the two top contenders as they represent the USA in the World Air Guitar Championships held in Finland.

Watching this reminded me again why I believe that America is the greatest country on earth: because Americans live life better than anyone else does.

So next time you're bummed about gas prices, experience the pain of extreme liberal guilt, or find yourself steaming for having to hand half of your earnings over to a government that will surely squander it, watch this movie. It will restore your faith in what matters most: the American spirit.

Well folks, the romance is officially over. Actually, there never was any real romance, or even much respect for the cafe I've worked in for the last 6 months, but hey, I learned the ropes and got all the free shitty franchise coffee one could ever need.



Sayonara Suckas!!!




Next step: either a dope cafe job, or some hardcore hippie shit (like making beaded necklaces and selling them on a blanket at the weekend market).

I've been taking boxing classes for a month now. I get to the gym about 3-4 times a week. Sunday morning and Tuesday evenings are tech-class, when my coach constantly berates me for my shit right hook and poor hip-swing. I blame the slow learning curve on bad habits attained from childhood. Come on Dad, you knew nothing was going to stop me and Bobby from fighting; at least you could have taught me the proper stance and corrected my wild swing.


Jen in wraps, giving the camera a straight body shot :)


The good news is that I have a solid left hook and my footwork has improved. Also, I was fortunate enough that my new bedroom came with full length sliding-mirror doors--great for shadowboxing.

All I need now is a dope boxing name.

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Although I've posted most of these photos elsewhere, I figured it was time to include them in my blog. It's the standard tourist-type stuff, all taken during my first month in Wellington. It's incredibly fun to look at this now that I've been living here for almost 9 months.




The Botanical Gardens

   
      








      





Oriental Bay

     






The Wharf







Te Papa Museum



   

 


Central Wellington


         


         

    

Excerpts from Wikipedia Article:

John Hutchison is a Canadian inventor known for his claims of inventions and discoveries of a variety of extraordinary phenomena, which other researchers - and often Hutchison himself - have been unable to duplicate.

Hutchison effect

In 1979, Hutchison (Born October, 1954) claims to have discovered a number of unusual phenomena, while trying to duplicate experiments done by Nikola Tesla. He refers to several of these phenomena jointly under the name "the Hutchison effect", including:

1. levitation of heavy objects.
2. fusion of dissimilar materials such as metal and wood, while lacking any displacement.
3. the anomalous heating of metals without burning adjacent material.
4. the spontaneous fracturing of metals.
5. changes in the crystalline structure and physical properties of metals.
6. disappearance of metal samples.

Hutchison has maintained a number of websites over the years, in which he posts videos and pictures of the purported effect, including short low-quality clips of objects flying around or rising from the ground, and metallic objects moving without being touched.^[1][2] He has offered mail-order VHS tapes of the effect for $100 each,^[3] though videos are now sold exclusively through Gryphon Productions.^[4]

Supporters like Mark Solis, his former webmaster, maintain that none of these effects can be the result of known physical phenomena, such as electromagnetism.^[5] Hutchison and his supporters surmise that these phenomena arise from zero-point energy or the Casimir effect.

It has been said^[who?] that researchers at NASA and the Max Planck Institute have attempted to reproduce some of Hutchison's experiments, but that so far none has succeeded. Indeed, NASA's Marc Millis remarks that Hutchison himself appears unable to reproduce his own experiments. Hutchison claims that this is due to the destruction of his lab by the military, or because he has been otherwise prevented legally by the government from repeating his experiments.

Canadian inventor and fringe physicist Mel Winfield says that it was solely through his theories that The Hutchison Effect came into being. He has published evidence including signed contracts, letters, and communications from John Hutchison himself on his website.^{[citation needed]}

Military interest

According to Hutchison and United States Col. John Alexander,^[6] military scientists from the United States have been working with him because of the effect's military potential. In the documentary Free Energy: The Race to Zero Point, he states that military scientists were impressed with the effects, but were not able to replicate them on their own without assistance.^[7][8][9]

Hutchison later accused the military of coercing the Canadian government into seizing his lab so that it could be passed on to Lockheed Martin Skunkworks for research purposes. Journalist and author Nick Cook later wrote that this had been confirmed by a high-ranking friend of his in the Skunkworks.^[10] Boyd Bushman, retired Lockheed Martin senior engineer, later confirmed this in an interview in Nick Cook's book The Hunt for Zero Point.^[11]

Hutchison claims that "at the end of the cold war" a "military intelligence service" (not otherwise specified) destroyed his lab in Vancouver while he was traveling in Europe. To support this allegation, Hutchison has presented photos of letters allegedly written by various scientific and government organizations, as well as a letter allegedly written by Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein. However, it is far from clear what relevance these letters, whose provenance is unverified, might have.

 

Charges of fakery

One set of videos posted to an antigravity website (and later taken down) shows closeups of a toy UFO bouncing around, and then shots of the toy gyrating wildly in the air. When it was pointed out that the movement of the toy was consistent with being supported by a string, and a moving wire or string could be seen in the video, Hutchison claimed it was a power supply:^[12]

The string is not string but #32-gauge double polythermalized wire on a takeup up reel with 20 to 50000 volts DC. The main apparatus was turned on, causing the toy plastic ufo to fly all about in amazing gyrations. This was a pretest to Gryphon Productions airing this fall for fox TV. I did not need the extra high voltage 2000 time period so the toy levitated without a high voltage hook up during the filming for Gryphon there was a string on the toy no high-voltage dc but interesting movements.

—John Hutchison, quoted at the American Antigravity website

Hutchison later admitted to being "creative" with the footage, citing pressure from the Discovery Channel to create material for the show and an inability to legally reproduce the original effect, according to Tim Ventura of American Antigravity.^[13]

In 2005, Hutchison admitted that he hadn't actually reproduced his effect since approximately 1991, though he says the earlier levitation footage from the 1980s is genuine. These videos show objects suddenly flying upwards and never coming back down, and are consistent with objects falling from an upside-down stage filmed with an upside-down video camera.^[14]

Hutchison later rejected charges of fakery, and maintains that his "effect" has been demonstrated many times in the presence of scientists and, he says, members of the US Army Intelligence and Security Command.

In March 2006, Hutchison states that he managed to reproduce the effect in his Ash St., New Westminster apartment for National Geographic, as well as for author Harold Berndt, whose film of the event can be found on the American Antigravity website.^[15]

 Scientific opinion

In a posting to the sci.physics.research newsgroup, Marc Millis, who ran the now-defunct Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program for NASA, wrote:

This "Hutchison Effect" has been claimed for years, without any independent verification — ever. In fact, its originator can't even replicate it on demand. This has been investigated more than once, been part of documentaries on The Discovery Channel, but still never seems to pass critical muster. This is in the category of folklore. In general, the "American Antigravity" web site caters to such folklore and its enthusiasts.

—Marc G. Millis, Video Footage Of Antigravity ?^[16]

 

Quantum batteries

Hutchison also says that he has invented new power sources, which he calls "Crystal Energy Cells" or "Hiroshima cells". He claims they obtain zero-point energy from the quantum vacuum using the Casimir effect. In one video a battery is described by John as including Rochelle salts, gallium, iron pyrite, and germanium. Hutchison claims that his work "explains the technology behind UFOs".^{[citation needed]}

These batteries have been labeled by some^[who?] as over-unity devices. Mainstream physicists point out that over-unity is just another word for a perpetual-motion machine, and that zero-point energy and the Casimir effect, while legitimate scientific concepts, are often invoked by people seeking to mislead the public or tap into free energy, in defiance of the laws of thermodynamics.

There are a few nights out of the week when I am freakin' tired as hell, hungry enough to eat a horse's butt (no wait, horse butt is meat), and too broke to buy cool stuff to cook with. On nights like these, I make good poor eats: good as in it tastes good, and poor as in anyone can afford it. Keep in mind, going vegetarian certainly helps keep meals cheap.

Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta




Ingredients:

1/2 package of dry fettucine
8-10 Kalamata olives
2 cloves garlic
6-8 green Spanish olives
5-8 sun dried tomatoes (from jar in olive oil)
1 small zucchini
1/2 can of chickpeas
1/4 medium block of feta cheese
sea salt
ground pepper
olive oil

Cooking:

Dice olives, garlic and sun dried tomatoes while putting the water on for the pasta. Slice up the zucchini and feta and throw in the pasta once the water is ready. Cook until al-dante, drain, set aside. Swirl some olive oil into the pot you just used to cook the pasta with. Throw in the olives, zucchini and sun dried tomatoes and let simmer for a few minutes on low heat. Drain the can of chickpeas and add one half of it to the mixture cooking in pan (refrigerate the rest). Last, throw in the garlic (I know most peeps throw garlic in first with the oil, but here I'm cooking on a gas stove so garlic burns easily). Add drained pasta to the mixture and drizzle some more olive oil. Toss in the feta cheese, some salt and pepper, and mix well using two forks. Makes 2 main servings.

Simple pastas like this rock because they are fast (only took 15 minutes for both prep and cooking) and you don't need to trash the kitchen to make it. This meal only requires one large pot, a cutting board, a knife, and a couple of forks. I also like to wash any used dishes/utensils while the food is cooking, that way I only need to wash the pot and my plate/fork after dinner.

This dish is pretty intuitive and can easily be adjusted to ones own tastes. Sometimes I replace the zucchini with baby bella mushrooms. I used a bit of basil-pesto once and found it to be too overpowering, so now I just stick to the sun dried tomatoes (I always buy them in a jar in olive oil because I find that the dried ones from the pantry/bulk section have bad flavor and texture--plus, one 4$ jar of sun dried tomatoes is enough to make multiple dinners). For protein, I like to use the chickpeas, but because I'm one of those gimp vegetarians, I can substitute them with mussels or shrimp (if I'm willing to put up the $$$).


Cheers!
-JNX

Speed Racer (2008)

I give this one 2 out of 5 stars. One star for the hot Asian kid who played Taejo, and a second for proving that even the most literal adaptation of a cheesy, yet beloved, anime series does not rape ones childhood any less than the usual Hollywood remake does. In fact, the Speed Racer movie reminds us all that the original series was bad too--the only reason it got away with it was because it was a cartoon.

*Approach with extreme caution. This gem of a film is over two hours long, and generates sensations of being trapped inside of a pinball machine while huffing glue.

[...] we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

                                                                                       ---From the Libertarian Preamble



Is She Crazy, or Just Not Give a Damn Anymore?

I've been talking about it for months now, and I assure you it's no joke. I am preparing my request for an absentee ballot; a ballot with Bob Barr's name on it.
I do not that believe that McCain or Obama are evil forces--but I also do not believe that either would make a particularly good president. Bob Barr might not make a good president either, but that's beside the point because there's not a chance in hell that he'll win the election.

I believe in the right of each and every individual to shape his or her own destiny. And I believe that it's us, the people, and not the candidates we elect into office, who should bring about real change.

To those voting for Obama or McCain; to those voting for alternative candidates; and to those who are choosing not to vote at all: I trust you have come to your decision by drawing from your own beliefs, judgment, and experiences. May we all somehow make it in this crazy world we've made. Godspeed.

-JNX