Supreme Court Justice

I was once asked If I were given the choice to be a California state legislator, governor or a supreme court justice which would I choose. My answer was supreme court justice. My reasons for choosing to be a supreme court justice are that there are only nine in the whole country, their opinion is highly valued and they are in charge of deciding what laws will apply to the nation.
Every time the country does not know what to do about a controversial issue they take it up to the supreme court to decide what to do. There are only nine justices in the supreme court meaning nine people get to decide what is right according to the constitution which they can interpret however they want basically. There are checks and balances but they have the power to declare things unconstitutional. It is a very highly esteemed position. It is a very difficult job but a very prestigious job. Aside from the power aspect of being a Justice the evidence to back up my reasoning is the following.
In the Marbury v. Madison (1803) court case, the court gave itself the power to decide whether things were unconstitutional, in other words they awarded themselves the power of judicial review. This shows the tremendous weight they carry in deciding what can be done.

Recording

Campus Village has rooms on the first floor where people can hang out, watch movies, study, etc. The rooms are fairly soundproof with padding on the walls. A couple of friends transformed one of those rooms into a recording studio and we laid down some tracks. It was actually more like just one song. A lot of time goes into recording a song. We spent all night just working on recording the vocals and the instrumental parts and the editing part hasn't even begun! That will be a few more hours of labor. Precision is key as well as technicality and diligence. It was hard having friends in the room while trying to record because the mics are very sensitive and will pick up every sound, whether it be loud breathing or moving in your seat. It also didn't help that they were making each other laugh and laughing at the almost comically tense atmosphere of not being able to move or talk. We finally ended up asking them to leave so we could get some work done! Through the window of the room I could see study groups gathered in the lobby pulling all-nighters. They reminded me of what I should have been doing, and at 5 in the morning I finally decided to go home and work on the recording later, but who knows when we'll be able to transform studio B again.

Tues/Thurs

Tuesday morning was unlike any other I've had this semester. I woke up at 5 in the morning to go to a free concert at the improv. The radio station Live 105 was broadcasting from downtown and brought a couple popular bands who are promoting their new CDs and their tours. Along with the musical guests, two comedians got the crowd going that morning. The band Switchfoot covered an amazing song by the band Bad Religion. The other band, Panic At The Disco had a rough start with their interview session. It might have had something to do with the time of the day it was, but it was almost painful to watch the DJs try to get decent answers from these band members.
AND...
Thursday we had our last Campus Crusade for Christ meeting. Seems that it was only a few days ago I was writing about our first meeting! Time certainly flew by this semester. Our Campus Crusade events however, are not officially over. We are going to be Christmas caroling in the neighborhoods surrounding the university. We will be ending the night with delicious food and Christmas cheer. Beginning today, I have at least three Christmas parties to attend every weekend from now until Christmas. This time of the year can be overwhelming but I am really looking forward to wedndesday when I will worry about school no more.

resumes

I just finished typing up my resume. It is honestly my first time ever writing one and I must say I don't like them. I feel that I am just inflating all the good things I do and have done. I didn't lie on the resume but I feel that I am bragging about my qualifications and skills, which is essentially what a resume is, but I just don't like the idea of having to tell someone how great I am. I would much rather people find out things about me when they get to know me. A resume just skips all the steps of small talk and a slow building of a relationship. This type of fast relationship building is to be expected of course, at the pace the world is moving. We don't have time for anything anymore, all the possible steps that can be sped up, are.

myspace

I have to confess I was completely against myspace for a long time. I figured if people can't be friends in real life they shouldn't be hiding behind an online community to feel secure. I am a big advocate for in person relationships. I strongly dislike people who use technology to say and do all the things they are too scared to do in person. We are losing the ability to communicate face to face. We can't apologize verbally to friends anymore, we wait to get home and write it to them. Now I realize that writing is a very useful tool that can be used to express ideas that we can't always form right away when we are in front of someone, but we need to continue to practice interpersonal development. I have never had a problem communicating with others and now i realize that myspace is just an easy way to stay even more connected with friends. I have made it a rule that I can only write to other people things that I wouldn't have a problem saying verbally to them.

things to do...

I have come to the realization that school is almost over and I'm not nearly done with all my school work. It is overwhelming, but I know that everything will get done so I try not stress. I like starting up new semesters because that means I get to see all my friends again. Towards the end of the semester I get excited that school is almost out and I get a nice long break. When finals are finally over I breathe a sigh of relief. Then I realize I won't see very many of my friends for a while and start looking forward to the start of a new semester. My point is that I am never satisfied, I am always looking ahead instead of focusing on what is here and now.

It is not so easy to try to focus on the present because we are conditioned to think ahead. We sign up for classes well in advance, we plan for events weeks beforehand, we are always thinking about things to come and not things that are already here! I don't know how to stop this cycle, no matter how hard I try to think only about my immediate surroundings, I will always be 'forced' to assimilate to the norms of society. I must meet deadlines and that requires thinking ahead.

It is a good concept though, to always look forward.

computers

I seriously think my level of stress is significantly increased by the frustration of not receiving full cooperation from my computer! How is it that such a wonderful thing as technology can make me want to pull my hair out, I literally grab my head in my frustration. I love my computer, it helps me do great things, but there are times when I can't get it to do what I want. I know it is partly my fault for not knowing how to take care of it properly and not knowing exactly how to operate it, for I know how to do only simple things on this elaborate machine.

languages

I feel that people who don't speak a foreign language are at a disadvantage when it comes to the state wide writing exams. I remember taking the state English exams and a section of the test was always finding the right definition for a particular word. The words on the exam many times were words that most people wouldn't know at the particular grade level i was in, but knowing Spanish which is derived from Latin helped me so much. being able to pick out the root word, if the word was Latin based, gave me a fair advantage over those who didn't know another Latin based language. I might not use all the words I know, but I feel that I know many more words, and their definitions, than the average American student. I'm not claiming I knew the definition to all the words on the exam but I could at least make an educated guess, and not to my surprise I always did well.

Now that I am older I realize that the advantages of foreign languages are even greater. I not only was able to score high on state English exams but now that I want to learn still another language it is facilitated by the knowledge of Spanish. Never mind that the language is Italian, which is fairly similar to Spanish, but it is another language. All the Latin based languages are 'inter-communicable' which also gives me an advantage as an international citizen. Being able to communicate with many different people in many different parts of the world is a qualification that the average American student can't claim to have, unless of course their homes are interracial, but even then many opt to make english the official family language and the secondary language is forgotten or not taught at all.

blogging is hard work

Every week I have to post a new blog and every week I am caught off guard. Sunday rolls around and I realize I have to post another one for the week and I haven't thought about what I'm going to write. Since I currently do not have any sophisticated topic ideas or a topic remotely interesting I shall wait a couple of days until I feel inspired. I'm sure I will think of something soon...

See You At The Pole

Wednesday, September 27th, was See You At The Pole day. See You At The Pole is a national day of prayer for schools. Students meet at the flag pole to pray for their schools, student body, staff, the nation, etc.

San Jose State met from 7:30 to 10:30am. Students came and went according to their class schedule, but our time was awesome. We prayed and sang songs by the flag pole in between McQuerry Hall and Sweeney Hall. The guitar definitely set the mood for a time of worship.

In continuation of the See You At The Pole event was the Gathering Of The Unashamed, in downtown San Jose at the Cesar Chavez park, that evening. Christians from all over the bay area gathered for an awesome time of prayer and worship. Two of our very own SJSUers led the bay area in prayer. Hundreds of young people showed up, Christians and non-Christians as well.

A Canadian band called Hawk Nelson performed and they definitely drew the crowd in. Girls were swooning over the lead singer and their pop-rock sound got the crowd excited.

I believe San Jose will see many changes in the months to come. This gathering downtown was a great opportunity for fellow Christians to just hang out and stand united.

The best part was that it was all FREE.

Nietzche

I'm having a hard time getting into the teachings of Nietzsche. He might be considered a great philosopher, but I don't think that he did anything particularly impressive. To me, Nietzsche was just a man completely dissatisfied with life and never achieved happiness or even contentedness, even though he tried so hard to think for himself.

I'm not saying that since he thought for himself and wasn't happy that we should therefore not think for ourselves because we won't be happy. All I'm saying is that I don't feel he had a meaningful life. All Nietzsche did was question institutions and destroy the foundation of peoples way of thinking and living without providing a better way.

I have yet to finish reading the Genealogy of Morality so I might change my mind.

men and women

I have been studying John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women. Mill discusses in one of his essays marital slavery vs. marital friendship. He argues that women should be brought up to the level of men and should be treated as equals. He was one of the first philosophers to tackle the issue of the equality of women and though his intentions are pure and noble, I feel he got it wrong.

The mere fact that he says women need to be brought up to the level of men indicates that he thinks where men are is where we should all be. Women need to enter the world of men and assimilate. He says women are capable, therefore should be given the opportunities to excel in the areas in which they are gifted yet have neglected to develop.

"...the very things which women are not allowed to do are the very ones for which they are peculiarly qualified; since their vocation for government has made its way, and become conspicuous,through the very few opportunities which have been given."
-John Stuart Mill



Beside women's role in government he focuses on the marriage aspect of our human relationship with the opposite sex. He says women should not be forced to serve their husbands, for the contract of marriage is not to be one of marital slavery but more of a contract of friendship and partnership.

This sounds great, but something is missing from his argument. He has forgotten that men and women are very different. I am one who thinks men and women were created to fulfill different roles in society. We are not all to act the same and be qualified in the same fields. Though a woman is capable of doing that which a man does, it does not mean that that is to be her goal in life. To be just like men would not work. Men and women are indeed equal. Since the beginning of time and creation, husband and wife were in a partnership having been made equal but to serve different purposes.

Roles are interchangeable and one can perform well the role of another but the original intent has been forgotten. Each have strengths and weaknesses therefore we should assume our roles and complement each other. My thoughts may seem too idealistic but if we learned to be content with what we are given then there would be no need to fight for what another has.

second time...

"Most of us have been subconsciously 'named' by at least some of the negative experiences and circumstances in our past. And going through the world knowing you're one of the unlucky ones, one of the unlovely people, can be a traumatic experience. surrounded by scandal, we live in fear that somehow even more of the things we've done, the bad things we've thought in the deep recesses of our heart, will someday show up on the Record for the whole world to read and know about. And we'll be marginalized for life."
-Rick McKinley

We all fit in the margins of society at one point of another. We feel a sense of illegitimacy because we lack something that everyone else seems to have. We feel that everyone will be able to point out that thing that makes us illegitimate the very moment they see us. We feel that way because we ourselves cannot see past that when we look in the mirror. Our past experiences seem to form us and define who we are. The world looks at us and according to our place in society and surrounding circumstances and 'names' us.

We all receive labels but we shall not be held in bondage by that. A name cannot define us. I am infinitely grateful that i do not need to be limited by what the world has to say about me. No matter what my circumstances or my background are, there will always be someone to give me hope for a better future.

first post

Campus Crusade for Christ just had their biggest event of the year so far. The traditional Root Beer kegger at the Crusade House. There was a really big crowd which makes me excited about the semester ahead of us.

verse of the day...
" pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." proverbs 12:10