Lock's Blog

There would never be another.

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:15:15 -0800

Tonight I reflect upon memories. I think of my life, of the highlights, and the lowlights. I look towards the future. I look towards how to improve myself, how to be a better person, how to be a better friend to those I care for. I look at opportunities ahead of me. I pray the Lord guide me to the path He has chosen for me, and not let me falter.

I think about life. In doing so, the following words, written by another, I draw strength from, and use that strength to be strong for two people right now.

There would never be another.

It changed the future
and it changed us.

It taught us that we have to create the future.
or others will do it for us

It showed us that we have to care for one another
because if we don't, who will?

And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places.

Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope
that there can always be new beginnings
even for people like us.

It sounds like LIFE. The truth of those words, when taken with an open heart, can provide strength when times are difficult, when hope seems so far away, when we feel like there's nothing we can do. There is ALWAYS something we can do. We can chose to FIGHT for ourselves. We can chose to love. We can stand up for what we believe in - no matter if one person or a thousand believe in us. We MUST chose to do what is RIGHT. We must chose wisely. But we must chose. To not chose, is to be defeated - for me, that is no choice at all.

I was recently asked, "How do you do it alone?" "Do what?" I asked. "Survive."

I chose to survive. I refuse to give up. I find the strength. Part of it I draw from my faith in God. Part of it I draw from those around me, those who are family to me.

Someone once said, "It's okay to fall down sometimes, as long as when you stand back up you're two inches taller." I make sure I'm taller than yesterday.

The same old thing

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:15:42 -0800

In watching the Presidential candidate debate tonight...

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Obama slams McCain for supporting the Iraq war...
But then says we should invade Pakistan
...because the people there are threatening American lives

It just seems to me I've seen Obama do this type of thing a few times - say one thing, then suddenly flip on it. He said that if Pakistan can't or won't help us hunt down the Taliban / Al-Queda, then we have to go in after them.

Wasn't Iraq threatening American lives? Certainly Sadam Hussein was. Certainly Al-Queda walked across the border from Afgahastan into Iraq, and Hussein gave them quarter. Isn't that exactly the scenario that Obama is talking about with Pakistan?

McCain just seems to be more stable on his positions. IMHO.

Obama talks about "change" -- but he's doing the political speech thing - telling people what is popular at the moment. That's not change - that's the same old thing.

Another point - America was founded because the Pilgrims (specifically on reglious reasons) were tired of persecution - tired of other morals/ethics/beliefs being pushed on them.

Obama keeps saying "we have a moral obligation to do {insert action/issue here}." Isn't that Obama trying to push HIS morals on the American people?

McCain seems (as is typical of Republicans) to want people to have choices. He recognized that people aren't all the same, and that the American population comes from different moral and ethical backgrounds -- not to force people into some government-mandated obligation.

I think a difference between the two candidates really stood out when asked if healthcare was a right or a responsibility.
McCain: Responsibility (everyone is responsible for themselves)
Obama: Right (everyone should/must have health coverage)
I think that highlights the keys between the stereotypical labels of Democrates and Republicans. One side believes in less-government & more self-reliance; the other believes in more governance & socialistic systems.

Manitoba Herald

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:19:29 -0800

A cousin of mine sent this to my mom, and she onto me. It amused me greatly. I had to share.

Manitoba, Canada, Oct. 3 -- A flood of American liberals
sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in
the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop
the illegal immigration.? The possibility of a McCain/Palin
election is prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens
who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and
agree with Bill O'Reilly. Canadian border farmers say
it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors,
animal rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields
at night.

"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there
was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said
Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North
Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry.?
"He asked me if I could spare a latte and some
free-range chicken.

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who
meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo
station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them
to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged
conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I
found one carload without a drop of drinking water.? They
did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."?
When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the
border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from
conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the McCain
administration establishing re-education camps in which
liberals will be forced to shoot wolves from airplanes, deny
evolution, and act out drills preparing them for the
Rapture.

In recent days, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious
ways of crossing the border.? Some have taken to posing as
senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian
prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans
disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities
began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed
senior-citizen passengers.? "If they can't identify
the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get
suspicious about their age," an official said.?
Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal
immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and
renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.

"I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian
economy just can't support them," an Ottawa
resident said. "How many art-history and English majors
does one country need?

And now for this word...

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:08:46 -0800

This guy goes OFF! He said it well.

McCain more bipartisan than Obama

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:03:02 -0800

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/15/records-show-mccain-more-bipartisan/

A couple interesting stats (yes, I'm doing the 'soundbite' thing):

"Over his Senate career, Mr. McCain has voted with the majority of Senate Republicans about 85 percent of the time, while in his three years in the Senate Mr. Obama has voted with his party 97 percent of the time."

"The bill on which Mr. McCain attracted the most support in the past few years was his plan to combat greenhouse-gas emissions. That bill garnered 16 co-sponsors, 14 of whom were Democrats, including Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrats' vice-presidential nominee. Mr. Obama himself signed onto another of Mr. McCain's global-warming bills."

"Mr. Obama's best successes in attracting co-sponsors came on a bill to boost the union's bargaining power with the Federal Aviation Administration, on which all 38 co-sponsors were Democrats, and a bill to issue a postage stamp honoring Mrs. Parks, which garnered 24 Democrats and 14 Republicans. "

"In a memo to reporters, his [Obama's] campaign points to bills he worked on that gained near-unanimous support from both parties"

Analyze the article and facts for your own opinion.

Letter to Jeff Perwin - Running for CA State Senate Dist 39

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:37:06 -0800

This morning I opened my email at 6:30a to find an email from the Jeff Perwin campaign. Mr. Perwin is running for CA State Senator, Dist 39 (Much of San Diego). I'd seen an email from his campaign previously where he was hosting some get-together at the Balboa Dog Park in response to incumbent Senator Christine Kehoe's support of a bill requiring tracking of intact animals (I'd have to dig up details). I didn't seem to agree with the bill-in-question, made some mental notes, moved on.

This mornings email, however, was regarding his adament support of Prop 8 - the anti-gay-marriage amendement proposition on the California Ballot this November. I won't describe it as I will provide it in it's entirety below. I felt compelled to respond, so I wrote him back in response, and my response is also below for your pleasure.

-----

Mr Perwin,

I'm relatively new to San Diego, this being only my 2nd year here. I'm slowly getting a feel for the political landscape, the districts, the government, the people.

In specific due to the your stance on the issue below, I cannot support your run for office. I am Republican, as was my father before me. I am also Christian and hold my faith dear to me. I am also gay. As a demographic, I am neither well-accepted nor well represented. As such, public elections are very important to me and I research the issues and candidates before casting my vote.

On the issue of gay marriage, the argument that it will "destroy traditional marriage" is nothing but a specious argument. In fact below you offer no argument against it whatsoever. Of my gay friends of who have entered into serious long-term relationships, and even gone on to civil unions or even marriage, they take it as a very serious step in their lives -- I might offer that the gay couples I've seen go that far in their relationships, in my personal experience, take it more seriously than the straight couples I've seen. I'm sure you're well aware of the divorce rate among straight couples, Mr. Perwin; not exactly a testament to the value of traditional marriage. We may do more justice to the value of traditional marriage by putting a 5-day waiting period on marriage certificates than spend all this time arguing about gay marriage.

Not all gay couples make it, just as not as straight couples make it. However, I've never seen a gay marriage or marriage-like-situation have a negative impact on a straight couple's relationship. I have yet to see one straight marriage "destroyed" over this.

The argument is that gay marriage, as you said, would destroy 'traditional family values.' Which values? What do you believe will be destroyed if gays are allowed to have the legal rights & responsibilities of marriage?

Being gay & Christian, I've seen all the arguments against homosexuality. I have always been fine being gay and Christian; those two issues did not have to be at odds with each other. One day, after being assaulted with some questions I sat down & looked at the arguments. The result was that I published a paper on the subject. That's the type of effort I want to see from the candidates claiming to represent me - that they can do the research and offer educated arguments supporting their positions. Statements like "gay marriage will destroy traditional family values" have no logical or reasonable basis. It's an claim meant to stir emotion, nothing more. In my research on the subject I have yet to find a reasonable argument against it. Most of it's based on the overall 'homosexuality is wrong' argument, which is another argument altogether.

I realize that no candidate will ever agree with me on 100% of the issues, hence there is no perfect candidate. Especially because of that, it's important to me that candidates demonstrate to the voters what exactly they stand for, or stand against - and why! When it comes to the general elections, being Republican I do tend to vote with the party--but more importantly I like to examine the candidates and vote for the best PERSON.

As constructive feedback for your campaign, please show a positive acknowledgment that many of us are well educated and very successful in life. Don't strictly campaign to the lowest common demoninators of the voting public. Show us how you think, show us how you analyze issues so we can have some confidence that you are the candidate best suited to represent those people in the region you want to represent.

I hold all candidates to the same measuring stick, whether it's a local office or President of the United States. I hope that if you decide to run for office in the future, you base your arguments on facts, talk about action and options. I certainly did not read your email as an "effort of hate". However, I did not get any feeling that you understood the issue. I hope you'll focus on talking about what makes you a good candidate, not simply talking negatively about your opponent.

Best regards & good luck.
Steven Kirk

Jeff Perwin wrote:
>
> Hello Fellow Republicans,
>
> Most of you are probably aware of the efforts to pass Prop 8 to protect traditional
> marriage. I just also wanted to give you some background on the whys of the effort.
>
> What most people don't know is that Prop 8 is the treatment of a symptom of a serious
> problem in the State. Christine Kehoe our elected State Senator is a major reason we
> have this Proposition. She is the Chairwoman of the LGBT caucus of the State and it
> was her personal friend on the Supreme Court that made the deciding vote to give
> rights for gay marriage.
>
> Senator Kehoe joins California Supreme Court Justice Joyce Kennard,
> who was one of the justices in the majority opinion granting marriage rights
> to LGBT couples, in Sacramento on May 15th.
>
> We should be proud that San Diego is leading in the cause of the destruction of family
> values in the State of California! Her Senate District spans from La Jolla to Spring
> Valley.
>
> Christine has also helped passed laws requiring the rewriting of all textbooks from
> kindergarten and up mandating the teaching of the homosexual lifestyle in all
> elementary and high schools (AB777). Unless, we stop this law soon, schools will
> be forced to teach this lifestyle as normal to children starting as young as age 3.
>
> Even if Prop 8 passes and Christine remains in office, she will continue the fight to
> undermine traditional family values. We must remove the cause of the problem not
> just treat the symptom. If people don't understand the reasons why we have Prop 8
> and it's causes and only work to pass Prop 8 only, the problem just continue and
> get even worse.
>
> We must also remember that Prop 8 is not an effort of hate against the LGBT
> community. It is only an effort to protect the traditional definition of marriage.
>
> Please, take a few minutes to donate to the campaign to help in this fight. Even
> $20 can make a huge difference. www.jeffperwin.com/donate
>
> Thanks...
>
> Jeff Perwin
> California State Senate Candidate, District 39
> To volunteer, please contact Rich at 619-850-6247
> www.jeffperwin.com
>
> 76th Assembly District Precinct Operations
> Republican Party of San Diego County
>

Obama's Blueprint

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:46:50 -0800

I have a rather lengthy discussion of Obama's Blueprint for Change sitting in draft form.

Do I publish it, and say my peace? Does it matter?

Honestly I find that "blueprint" to be nothing more than political refuse. It says the same things that Presidential candidates have said for years. There's no "change" in there, honestly. He'll slam Bush's tax cuts costing the gov't $2.3 trillion by 2009 -- but in his own revenue cuts, I'm adding up at least $500 billion in 2009 alone! That's called beint two-faced. I haven't found anything amazing about anything in there yet.

I think I'll read more of his plan (not tonight, it's drained me)...and in trying to be honest & subjective about this, I'm going to research McCain's plan deeper and do a similar analysis. Don't know if I'll post any part of either--but I'll make the promise that if I publish one, I'll publish both.

Speech Viewership

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:40:54 -0800

Results of viewship of the recent xNC speeches:

McCain - 38.9 million
Obama - 38 million
Palin - 37.2 million
Biden - 20 million

I'm supporting McCain

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:26:48 -0800

End of debate. It's not real surprising, to those who knows me. If it fractures friendships, then I'm sorry and apparently we weren't true friends to begin with.

A minor story today - the RNC rescues thousands of flags which were thrown away in Denver. By whom, who knows-- but apparently 12,000 flags. DNC says "we didn't throw them away!" but the pictures tell a different story. The Dems would never ever admit a mistake, tho--it would only tout, again, this issues on 'experience' (or lack there-of).

A couple articles on it:

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/06/the-recycled-flags-of-the-dncc/?print=1

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10398830?source=rss

Honestly, it's probably just a finger pointing game, but clearly the gloves are coming off and the dirty politics are beginning. It's going to be an interesting two months.

Political Racism

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:46:55 -0800

I avoid politics. My beliefs are my beliefs - and some part of them, at least, tends to go against any given group of people I'm around.

A phrase occurred to me the other day, in thinking about the two main American political parties: "Political Racism."

I want to explore this a bit.

Racism, as defined on Wikipedia, is "the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups."

Replace "race" with "political party."
...the belief that party affiliation is the primary determinant of American traits and capacities and that party differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular party. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their political affiliations.

"Hate" may be a strong word to use - but some people get very passionate about party affiliation - and specifically I know I get a lot of hostile feelings and words from Democrats because I'm Republican. There is a LOT of "hate" towards Republicans--merely for being Republicans, without any evaluation of them as people.

If party affiliation represented a single point of view (as the Obama campaign would have us believe)...why does it matter if we have Obama or Hillary?

I leave you to your thoughts, and I hope also to your own research. How you vote is your concern, please don't try to tell me I'm going to hell for being Republican, or be snotty about being an Obama supporter. Respect my beliefs just as you demand I respect yours.

today's bike ride

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:10:09 -0800

13.4 miles. My place, up to Miramar Blvd via Kearny Villa, then back the same route, but down to Balboa, over to the Studio Diner, and home.

Fairly easy ride. The hills on Kearny Villsa thru MCAS Miramar weren't as bad as I thought they would be. This might have to become a regular local ride.

I Refuse

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:36:39 -0800

I refuse to lose my passion. I refuse to give up on the things I care about. I refuse to let anyone take away the things that are important.

MFR - CHS88 Day 3

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:00:11 -0800

There are some activities today for folks at the reunion - I'm not attending, however. I have a 13:30 flight home. I knew I needed to sleep in.

The facilities guy at the hotel last night told me that all this haze & junk in the air was due to fires - he said there was a big one down by Happy Camp that had been going for 3 months. The air got worse yesterday as the day went on.

The banquet was great. It went off better than expected. We had 10 people show up to pay at the door--great! I don't know if we really needed to up the catering headcount, but we did. People started showing up a few mins before 6p. Most everyone was there within 30 mins. Got dinner served. I thought things were going to putter-out and people would start heading off for the after-party at LandMine about 8:30, but that's about when they got *started* -- girls started pullin' their guys out to dance -- or the DJ played "Macarena" and that got about 10 of the girls (same ones from high school haha) out on the floor havin' a good time. We ended up going til about 10p -- everyone was having a good time, I really felt proud having been able to help pull this together and that everyone was really enjoying themselves.

I stuck around after to help clean up, take away the party things. Got to final bill from the caterer. Cleaned up, changed clothes, got over to LandMine Productions about 11p. FYI, that's a production company/warehouse that one of our alumni, John Foote, started & is doing quite well at. He offered to use the stage/warehouse as an after-party location. I rather expected more people there, honestly--but maybe only half those from the banquet showed up. A handful of folks went to the after-party but not the banquet. I heard one of them make some comment about the "$100 dinner." He missed the point, apparently. That's fine, his loss.

I think I took off about 12:30a. Had said goodbye to everyone I could think of. I think I missed Bill (sorry Bill!).

Overall, it wasn't as bad as I had in my mind it could be. I was in "host-mode" during the whole banquet. Walking around, making sure people were doing ok, that everything was to everyone's liking. Tracey Worley pulled me out to dance at one point haha. During the last song, actually--I had the DJ play "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks (good DJ, btw, I need to write in & mention that).

I wasn't sure how this crowd would react to me being gay. Only a handful of people knew (Rob, Adam...maybe that's it? or all I know that know). Darren Davidson knew, however, and asked if I had any S.O. at the time. Very nice of him. Shelley Lockwood (now Rose) maaaaaaybe caught on? Not sure. She made some comment about "someone with so much art to his photos..." LOL. But she did press me about, "now you never answered my question [from email a couple months back]--did you ever get married?" I think perhaps that "settled it" for her. She hasn't hardly changed--she's a riot, I loved spending time with her. She seems very happy with everything in her life and I'm very happy for her! It was good to reconnect with her, and others.

I'm going to finish packing--drive around a bit more, take some imagery in, find some old haunts, and then get to the airport. I'm eager to be home, to not have to travel for a while. I'm exhausted (mentally mostly!), and dehydrated (the fire-air here is driving my sinuses nuts!) and will be happy to find my routine again.

MFR - CHS88 Day 2 (part 1)

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:46:39 -0800

The tour of Crater High School brought back a LOT of memories, a lot of faces, a lot of imagery from 20+ years ago. Some of the school remains the same (the lockers are the same hideous orange, yellow, and baby-blue they were way-back-then). But a brand new Performance Arts Center has been built (nice to see). The cafeteria (student center) was re-done. However, the remainder of the old school is largely as-is. Some offices converted. The old science class rooms were moved & the new "main entry " put in at the end of Hall D. It was fun - lots of pics!

Then we did the park for a picnic. It was almost all families. Didn't look like any of the single folk made it ('cept me). I ended up running out to grab Del Taco (mmmm!)--took a while, they were slow.

So that as fun - but I mostly hung back, watching people--as that's what I do.

Afterwards, I ran to the bank to get change for tonight, ran to Home Depot to get supplies for tonight--and then I went out to Sam Valley, out to where I used to live. That valley is so "small" compared to how my young mind remembered it. It used to seem so spacious, so open-- not so much in my older age now. A LOT of big willow trees dotting our old farm, around the house, down the drive-way. It was hard to even see that house. Yes, the thought ran through my head of going up & knocking to see if anyone was home, "Hi, yeah, I helped build this house 30 years ago." However, they had a gate at the top of the drive, with a key-pad on it. Clearly they did not like visitors. Drove around the area a bit. Ran over to Sams Valley Elementary School. It was shut-down for the summer, of course -- it was almost strange to think I could drive in, get out, wander around--no security AT ALL. Got some pics. Peeked inside Mrs. Shaffer's old classroom, where I spent 5th & 6th grades--hadn't changed at all! I could still see Mrs. Shaffer sitting at her desk in the far right corner, grading math papers (the teacher's desk is still there!).

I really enjoyed the rush of emotions, of feelings, of images that came over me this afternoon, driving around. At one point, Clay asked me (via txt) "miss it?" -- no, not really--there's nothing here for me to miss. But I do enjoy this "coming back" to see it all again. I don't think I could live here, tho. Somewhere else to call my home would be more appropriate.

Especially as I watch the interactions between people, I keep wondering "Did I do anything more than just live here?" I wasn't horribly social back then--still not amazingly social now. I'm more concerned and focused on ensuring people enjoy this weekend--so far so good.

On that note, I want to run down & check on the ballroom.

MFR - CHS88 Day 1 - Post Mortem

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:18:53 -0800

"Gross Point Blanke"