Arguments Aren't Always Arguments

Why must people insist on declaring a winner and loser, who's right and who's wrong, what's better and what's worse in all situations where there is a differing opinion? Differing opinions don't always mean an argument must ensue. A person's view on a particular subject should be listened to, and if possible, understood from the speaker's point of view. While you can never really understand another person's thinking, you can at least TRY to understand the reasoning behind a person's point of view, choice, or reason for being. If a person makes a choice that you don't agree with, and it is a choice that is worth talking about, it should not be an argument of your choice was wrong, my choice was right, it should be a discussion of why each person feels their choice is the right choice. There never has to be a 'winner' of this contest; the goal should be a general understanding of why each person has come to his or her own conclusion to make a certain choice.

<< Some bits taken out here >>

If he leaves, he did not win an argument, he just made a decision based on his feeling about the facts and opinions at hand. The differing opinions helped him to build an informed decision. In most cases where there is a differing opinion, there is no right or wrong answer. Two people are ALLOWED to have differing opinions, they can even argue about those opinions. Debates help inform people of different points of view on the same subject; there doesn't have to be a winner to these debates. There just needs to be an understanding and listening not an attack on the other person's opinion. Mutual respect and understanding is key for the survival of relationships and this must be based on listening and attempts at understanding the other individual's points of view. 99% of all conflicts, including wars, could be solved with this simple concept of understanding and listening. Indeed sometimes people still make bad decisions and cause true conflict, but time should always be spent trying to understand another's point of view, not trying to destroy the other's opinion to prove oneself selfishly correct.

I am not a Hipster

While wandering around downtown in the now incredibly hip 3rd and 3rd district, I had 3 moments of deep realization. 1) I am not a hipster, 2) I am old and 3) I don't give a damn about not being 'in the scene' anymore. I will expand on each point below.

1) I am not a hipster: Despite what Marcela and others may think, I am not a hipster. I wear black t-shirts almost exclusively - been doing that since 2001 and it has nothing to do with being cool or trendy or poety. It has everything to do with 10 years of worrying about what cool t-shirt I should wear each day so that I could be cool, unique, ironic or funny and not wanting the stress of worrying about something as trivial as a torso covering anymore. Black was is a color that looks good on me, though not as good as blue as many people have taken care to point out, it doesn't show dirt, I can get them for dirt cheap through various changing outlets, and I feel anonymous, yet comfortable in what I am wearing. I have confidence in my simplicity and torso comfort. I can grab whatever shirt is on top of the clean pile and call it good. However, that was old hipster. New hipsters wear skinny jeans, shirts made from ridiculously thin material that are brand new, look well worn and cost $30+ dollars, ironic yet stylish neon Rayban knockoff sunglasses, wool caps during the summer, greasy, nappy messed up hair and mustaches. Everything about the hipster style is completely impractical and feeds the corporate nation which they think they are subverting (but that is a post for another time).

Secondly, I ride a fixed-gear or fixie bicycle. Allow me to defend this one. While an avid cyclist since 1997 (though riding off and on long before then) I have been using a bicycle to commute since 2005 and have been volunteering at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective since 2007. I was (and this next sentence is an unbelievable stereotypical defense of one's status as an innovator) riding and talking about and fixing bicycles before any of these purple rimmed jokesters even considered a bike as a mode of transportation. In fact, one such (teal rimmed) hipster, not a year earlier told me I was stupid for riding my bike to work because I would get sweaty and it took so long to get there etc etc etc. Now he is riding a bicycle and telling me about critical mass and how he isn't a cager because cagers suck (I also would like to write about that mentality later on. Remind me.) and how I should get such and such toe straps because they provide so much power to the pedals (I'm not going to repeat the brand because they are of 1930's design and totally silly and I don't want anyone else to be burdened with non-functioning toe straps when clipless pedals are by far the most efficient form of shoe to pedal to drive train power transfer) etc etc etc.

So I built a fixie in 2007 when building a fixie was a thing of pride because you BUILT a fixie. Even if you chose to ride a track bike, it was a personal thing where you would choose component, customize your frame and build it yourself. These days, kids go to Republic Bike or similar, choose some colors, and get themselves a fixie. Granted this is actually a good way to get a fixie and a bike in general, but it loses the original mystic and raison d'etre of a fixie. "Why do you ride a fixie?" Most hipsters would either say, "It's cool", "It's what the bike messengers ride", or "I don't know". It is the rare person who really understands the beauty and purpose of a fixie. A fixie is for cadence training and it is low maintenance. I can strip and rebuild my fixie in 1.5 hours and have it all cleaned, tuned and lubed. My race cycling has improved immensely since riding a fixie. I am a way better hill climber and I can set a good pace for myself for entire 50 mile rides.

This may all seem like nit-picky differences, but I'm just saying, don't call me a hipster because I ride a fixie, call me a cyclist.

2) I am old: It takes me longer to heal after extremely exhausting workouts. My joints feel just a little bit more tired. I may or may not be losing hair. A lot of this realization comes from 3) below. But just realize that I know I am getting older but it turns out not only do I care, I am relieved that I am older and wiser (truly) and not worried about the trivial things of life such as popularity, fitting in, and conforming to non-conforming groups. I'm proud to be 27 and not wandering around the streets smoking a cigarette as a prop, wearing jeans from Forever 21, and twirling my greasy, bleached hair all the while talking about how evil the Mormon church is or how corporations are ruining the world and everything should be bought locally. Open your eyes.

3) I don't give a damn about not being 'in the scene' anymore: I guess I commented on this a bit in 2), but there is more to say. There was a time when I was proud to be a member of the cyclist elite in SLC. I was proud to volunteer my time to further the cycling cause. No anymore. These days, most of the hardcore originators are still doing their thing, but they spend half their time babysitting youngsters that care only about a) what brand your bike is (not what components, what brand) b) who else rides it and c) where can I get that bag you are wearing?. I do not want to be associated with these kids who see cycling as a fashion accessory. Not cool.

I used to look at really dolled up, good looking people who seemed to know a lot of people and were well known and knew a lot about art, music, the city etc. Turns out most of these people are just regurgitating either Wikipedia, or what their friend told them on Wikipedia. If it isn't fact spewing or complaining about corporations (while valid in their own right, stay tuned for the invalidating moment to come) it is complete idiocy and lack of awareness of their surroundings that comes barfing forth. "Oh hi -person who's name I know and have seen at parties-. What's this store you're working at?"
"I own this store."
"Oh," says the moron who doesn't a) pay attention to people's lives and b) can't put 2 and 2 together that the woman behind the counter, making sales, telling people about her store and when it opened could possibly be the owner. Dirty kids acting like they are mature making decisions for themselves yet the decision they make is to go get drunk, and then have bike races (truthfully overheard once).

So I am done. Don't call me a hipster, don't pity me for being old, and don't look down on me for not conforming to your scene. I've got my own.

p.s. I guess I've hit the breaking point and it's back to the blog for me.

The Woderous World of Switzerland

To discuss my trip to Switzerland, I am going to focus on the oddities, and "things" I found to be particularly Swiss or European.

First up, The Jungfrau. This is a mountain peak billed as "The highest point in Europe". I highly doubt that, but it was pretty big. In fact, If memory serves, Mont Blanc, a very close neighbor tower over it by a good thousand feet or so. The blatant false advertising is not the odd part of Europe, that is more of an American Specialty, no, the first oddity was seen on the doors to the bathrooms in the mountain. (I say 'in' because the "toilettes" were indeed inside the mountain. You see, the train travels through the mountain to get to the summit. Throughout the trip, the passengers are able to de-train and soak up the view from the windows constructed into the rock. It was indeed an amazing site and one of the photos is a photo from the window looking down. Guess which one.)



I had noticed the signifiers for male or female bathrooms or WC as the French say, and they were different than Americas, but these were even more different. They have the same basic shape as the other WC signifiers I saw, except these were painted a lovely color. Such care taken for such a simple sign. I like how they have a certain chic sense about their apparel.



Next up we have batteries. Now, I am unaware if this feature is available in the USA, but I fell in love with it. I needed some batteries to supply juice to my camera for all of the oddities I felt I was going to encounter. When I went to extract a battery, I noticed that they had individual little breakout perforations for each battery. I know just about everyone in this world (well, maybe not the world because the Swiss seem to have it right. Maybe in the past they had troubles with batteries and that is why they came up with this amazing innovation) has had the problem of only using two batteries in a pack of 4 and then having the others roll around on the floor because you had to open one giant backside in order to get out 2 batteries. Rather than being mildly infuriating to put in batteries, it was a real treat. The design is perfect.


Keys: Just look at them. I wonder if in the olden days (70's) the Swiss had keys like the Americans, but changed over to these interesting pieces, or if they have always been like this? What's the advantage? I just don't know.


Relatedly: Doors. US doors close flush to the frame and rest on the jam. In Switzerland, the majority of doors I saw were not perfect rectangles like US doors. Instead they were like a US door with a panel on the front that sticks out on the opening side. This panel rests on top of the frame while while the rest of the door goes into the frame and rests on the jam. The only reason for this that I could gather was that having the lip added a little bit more sound deadening qualities. It looks kind of cool as well, that may be part of it too.


Since that door lead to the bathroom, lets talk potty talk. All of the home toilets have these gigantic flusher plates mounted to the wall. Whether to remind you to flush or to just give you a large target, I like them. When you flush, you can watch the little plastic batter board move up to it's resting position. Once it reaches its resting potential, the flush is complete. There is some sort of satisfaction about watching that little plate move up like a physical progress bar.


Now, this next picture is not odd because of the right triangle shower, this is more of a Lieber oddity than a Swiss oddity (although they do hail from Switzerland). What is odd about this is that all of the tubs I saw (3) were ridiculously deep, some were even on a kind of pedestal. The Swiss must love their baths because these are serious tubs. You could wash a bear in there and still have to worry about the water going above his head. Giant.


Cars. There was a huge population of bicycles and scooters. The train stations were filled with two wheeled vehicles. A large number of the bicycles were old Peugots and Biancis and the like; stuff that fixed gear dreams are made of. But that is a digression. The scooters were mostly of the Chinese sort with a couple Vespas thrown in for good measure. But the cars were interesting. I saw a car that had two wheels in the front with one in the back. It seemed a little illogical, but I suppose I am just used to the tradition of tricycles. I saw scooters with full coverage that were made by BMW. They looked like little cars but they had two wheels and sounded like a very large angry squirrel. Then there was the car pictured below. What an interesting vehicle. I was only able to get this aerial view and it was gone by the time I figured out how to get down there so I don't know many details, but doens't it look great? It looks like the speed cars they have on the Bonneville speedway. I think it is a scooter with a rocket body. Most of the cars were small and Audis were like fords over here (in terms of quantity, not quality). Max drives an Opel and it beeps whenever you are close to something.


How about Geneva? Well, they lay claim to the worlds tallest fountain. It shoots a thousand someodd KM into the air and sprays the unsuspecting visitors. It is pretty large and as you can sort of see from the picture, it can act as a beacon to guide one back to the train station (it was the only way I found my way back to the train station. I found it really hard to navigate those streets for 2 reasons. 1. They are not labeled very well and 2, they curve without you knowing it. On 2 occasions I thought I was heading one way when in fact I ended up just going in a circle; ending up right where I started. I did a lot of walking). There were some neat old churches with some mosaic art. I know nothing about these churches other than they looked neat. There was a nice area where you could get on top of a courtyard next to the church and look down on the city. This church was in an area where there was no car traffic allowed and the buildings were very close together. Also, the apparent mascot for recycling is a hedgehog.





The trains were great. I like them loads. The seats are comfy, you get a wonderful view of the countryside and they go just about everywhere you would need or want to go. On the train home from Geneva, I went to the upper floor of the car and was surprised by a wonderful little playground right in the train. It had a slide and among other things, monkey bars. It was fantatstic. There were some kids playing on them so I had to be coy with my picture taking. I didn't want to look suspicious by taking pictures while kids were playing. That blew my mind. I can't believe that if I wanted to, I could play on a slide while I traveled to Frauenfeld.


And finally, the winner of the bizarre drink award: Rivella. Apparently this sweet, yet dark drink is made with lactose. It is a fun, different flavor to drink when you are in the mood for something sweet but not really sugary. Speaking of food, you know the very unappetizing pre-made sandwiches that you can get at gas stations and airports and other places where quick meals sell? Well, in Switzerland (as in other parts of Europe as I hear) these types of sandwiches are delicious. My fist experience with one was a gas station and it was made up of a good baguette, butter, salami, cheese, tomato and cucumber. It was quite good and I was told it wasn't even a very good one. I had more of those throughout the week and indeed, they come in better varieties and they are quite good. I wish I could get those here. I wish America would realize that food is something to be enjoyed, not just consumed.


Well, I think that's about it folks. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

Complete Moron

Today whilst riding the bus to school, I observed a man executing deplorable behavior. I looked over to see him unwrapping a Hershey's Kiss chocolate candy. "Oh, that's nice," I thought, "A little pre-class sugar boost to help him through the pursuit of knowledge." Then he crumpled the tin wrapper into a little ball (along with the 97.6% of Americans who do the same when they enjoy a Hershey's Kiss) and threw it on the ground with complete disregard for his surroundings. He threw it as if it was a piece of corn husk being tossed into the compost. I looked at him with disgust but he looked forward completely oblivious to the fact that someone had seen his egregious act. As I was giving him the stink eye he pulled another one out of his pocket, unwrapped it, placed the morsel in his mouth, crumpled the tinfoil, and discarded his waste right on to the bus floor. He is blatantly littering right before my eyes. I can not believe that there are people in this world with such wanton disregard for their environment. I'm sure this person has thrown many sausage mcmuffin wrappers to the ground after he enjoyed a nice heavy breakfast. I'm sure the roads are littered with his receipts. I'm sure his house is perfectly clean.

What makes a person so unaware of their impact on their environment? What gives them the amount of entitlement it takes to be so utterly selfish as to make them think that they can just throw waste wherever they want? Did you know that early humans (homo erectus) had certain areas of their caves for animal wastes and broken tools and such? This person on the bus was exhibiting features of life not akin to humans, but more akin to a hyena who picks off what he wants and then moves on, leaving the remains for others to deal with.

How can anyone not be self conscious about littering? I mean if you drop something while you are walking and it blows far away and you are unable to retrieve it, that is one thing, but if you willfully and consciously throw a piece of trash onto the ground, you are making up your mind to do something completely anti-social. The pre-conceived act of littering is the first step to pre-conceived murder. You know littering is bad (or do you?), you know it will just hang out on the earth, cluttering our waterways and fields (no, maybe you don't. I think you are full of complete ignorance), you know stabbing someone in the throat is not very nice (I think), yet you choose to ignore the consequences. Perhaps an exaggeration, yes, but, I don't think by too large a degree. You have to admit there are some narcissistic, ant-social, mass murderer type traits being exhibited here. Most individuals with even the slightest regard for their surroundings see littering as the nuisance it is. Even children know not to litter.

Toblog's photo is something that brings me joy in times of extreme frustration with the world. I love the desert. I love summer.

Forced out of retirement

No, I wasn't really in retirement, more like a sabbatical. Whenever school comes around I 'think' I lose interest in blogging, when in actuality I yearn for it as a creative escape to keep my essay skills pumping. For some reason, the procrastination bug hits hard when school starts. This is the opposite of quality genetic cognitive evolution; I should be thwarting the procrastination bug during the school year rather than nurturing it. So here I am to start the blogging year off. I was going to start with something else that has been burning a hole in my brain, but I will save it for later so as to provide incentive to continue on the consistent post schedule.

I've been tagged

I generally don't give this type of internet social game passing stuff the time of day, but it originated from a long time good friend and was passed on to me by another long time good friend. I am supposed to reveal 6 things about me for some reason. So I am going to pour my concentric circle shaped soul out and reveal a thing or two for the WHOLE WORLD to see. People say the internet has stolen privacy. The thing with that is someone has to actually read this blog to find anything out. On to the list.

1. I really enjoy the following television programs - Project Runway and America's Next Top Model. I can't explain it. I have all of these opinions and worries and cares for these unknown people. I can watch multiple episode marathons without even a second thought.

2. I have always hated going to church, yet for some reason I am still compelled to go. Don't ask me why on either count because I can't give you an answer.

3. I am not afraid of dying - at all. In fact I look forward to it quite a bit.

4. I have always wanted to see the US South. Associated with that, I also will not rest until I see fireflies in real life and catch some in a glass jar and look at them wistfully as a dream of a time when I can move to the city.

5. I cried when I watched Cool Runnings. I cry at a lot of movies and at silly times too.

6. I used to be an incredibly lazy kid. Those of you who see my current activity strewn lifestyle may find this odd. Indeed I love nothing better than being outside doing something - whether it be climbing, biking, hiking, writing, or balancing - but as an elementary school kid I was 100% stereotype american. 1 such case study. I was enrolled in this after school science class where we dissected animals and learned about biology. Well, one day I sluffed class because I really wanted some tortilla chips with melted cheese on top and a coke in a glass bottle (yes, this was when glass bottles were still de rigeur). So I sluffed class to go eat chips and watch TV. I am not proud of my excesses. Perhaps that is why I am so invigorated by physical activity (activities of the brain count as well as I led a sedentary brain life as a kid as well) and it may also explain number 1 above.

That is my soul as of 11:27, January 27 2008.

Toblog's photo is a picture that I took of a down cluster that got me 50% off of a certain brand of outdoor equipment.

An Internal Educational Dilemma

I have an internal dilemma/anxiety.

The semester is over for me; I turned in my paper and washed my hands of the stress. Stress is where the dilemma arises. Education is supposed to be a grand enlightening experience that will mold my mind into a master of eloquence and sophistication. I have spent the last 3 or 4 years trying to get excited about school, learning, and the experience, and it has worked for the most part. And really, it isn't totally talking myself into it, it is more keeping myself as into it during the latter half of the semester as I was at the beginning. The thought of school excites me and I love going to school and discovering new ideas that were never apparent to me before or read a book that was never on my radar; and that is exciting. I love that, I really do. The dilemma comes from the stresses of HAVING to complete all of the homework, performing for the professor, and completing the homework and the free time it takes up. I like going to school and learning, but I don't like being forced to work outside of school. I like continuing the learning at home, but I don't like having the looming deadlines of homework and obligatory reading. The quest for knowledge is truly exciting, but having someone poke you in the bum the whole time is not so fun. I am loosing my mental fortitude for keeping myself interested in school and the associated work. How do you maintain interest throughout the semester? Am I really burning out or am I Just lazy? Am I becoming one of those fluff ball students that complains about how stupid a class is? Is this the end of zombie Greg?

I don't think I am one of those kids who complains about being in school and how lame this class is because I generally really love my classes (as stated above). The problem is the deadlines.

My load at school this semester was relatively light yet I still felt like I was about to loose my mind by the end of the semester. There is something about knowing that you have to write a paper on a subject that you are only mildly interested in and that will count for 40% percent of your grade that makes my mind reel. I a good at writing papers; I have written a lot of them and I get fairly good grades with little effort. For some reason however, I feel like I can't write or that I won't be able to write a good paper. I feel the looming ax whenever I have a paper due. It sucks. I am done thinking/rambling about this. I really need to find a way to make it through another year of school.

Toblog's photo is of my brother Dan C. being a goof ball for the camera. He brings me great joy.

Pain/Gender Equivalencies

I wonder if there is a pain for women that is equivalent to the pain of a male getting one in the groin? Is there some instance in female life that causes them the same dull, all encompassing, indescribable and very debilitating pain that comes from a blow to the testicles. Judging by what research data I have gathered through casual discourse throughout my life, there is no equivalent; it appears to be uniquely male. Sure sure there will always the girl in gym class who gets hit in the breast by a volleyball and says it hurts just as bad, but the mere fact that she is coherent enough to make an argument like that spoils her little ruse. If that were a boy who got hit in the child factory with the same ball at the same force, there would be no sounds other than faint moans, and certainly no coherent thought processes traveling across the synapses.

There is also the school of thought that likes to compare childbirth pain to the aforementioned boy pain. I guess they don't necessarily compare it in exact likeness, more they say, "well, that may hurt, but what about having a baby? That hurts." I bet it does hurt. I bet it hurts more than any pain I will ever feel in my entire life (barring any run ins with a gun and my knee caps), but I doubt it offers the same sensation of having Burt and Ernie smashed on a bicycle top tube.

Maybe this is where I am wrong and the pain of child birth is in fact an extremely intense version of the male pain. Perhaps women really are experiencing this pain but in such a different environment and circumstance that it renders the feeling in a different psychological light that gives the woman more strength to maintain a certain amount of composure so that the duty of childbirth can still be accomplished. I still tend to think that the pain from childbirth is different (although unfathomable) and that it is an issue of apples and oranges; they are two different flavors of pain.

One conclusion I can extrapolate from this thought experiment is that women and men are very different in both physiology and psychology. Well, I guess this isn't the end all confirmation. I should say it is yet another confirmation that women and men really are assembled differently. I also know that even though I sometimes wish a girl could feel that same feeling of the worst diarrhea of your life mixed with the worst stomach ache of your life mixed with the worst genital pain in your life mixed with all of that all over your whole body, I realize how mean that is to wish such an awkward pain on someone else. I certainly don't want to experience the pains of childbirth so I guess that is where the fair trade is: both sexes don't want to experience the unique pain of the other sex.

Toblogs picture is a picture to remind me of the good times of summer: Yet another Joshua Tree Picture.