an overheard conversation.

Marissa and I went to a cafe for lunch today and sitting beside us were two guys who seemed like they might be on a second 'date'. The reason it did not seem like a first date is because while they didn't seem to know each other well, they weren't asking first date sort of questions.

The cafe was fairly crowded, so although we were sitting about 1 foot away, i only heard occasional excerpts of their conversation.



Shortly after their sandwiches were brought out I heard guy A say, seemingly in response to something I didn't hear 'Well, I'm going to be drunk all weekend so don't bother contacting me'
to which guy B replied 'then maybe you shouldn't have made out with me then.'
Causing Guy A to defensively respond 'I get really friendly when I'm drunk.'

This was then followed by a very long, uncomfortable silence.
Since this happened at about the same time their food was brought out, I imagine their meal together was fairly painful. Marissa and I left shortly after, so I didn't get to see how it turned out.

follow up

To follow up with my last post.
I do think conservatism, within limits, does have value. While it is often what keeps societies from progressing, it can also serve to keep progress in check. If there is not a group which fights change, a culture may progress too rapidly. And by too rapidly I mean seeking change that is untested and may be harmful.
If everyone in the USA had been ultra liberal, perhaps we would have embraced Communism at some point last century, which history has shown can be a disaster.

The Universal Application of Conservatism

I think one good measure of an ideology is how well it can be universally applied.
If an ideology can't easily be universally applied, then that is likely to merely be self serving to those who advocate it.

I think this is one problem with conservative ideology (by conservative, I mean, wanting to preserve traditional values), is that it can't easily be universally applied. A conservative from one culture, wouldn't want people from other cultures to be conservative, that is, to try and preserve their traditional beliefs. Conservatives often wish for individuals from other cultures to adopt their values, which would make those people progressives or liberals.

People who are the conservative within one culture are often those most at odds with conservative individuals from other cultures. Members of the Taliban are considered extremely conservative and their greatest enemies are conservatives of western culture. I would imagine that many of those who most oppose the Taliban in the US are those who would most likely be among it's ranks had they been raised in an Arab country.

Progressive/Liberal ideology doesn't have this problem. It can easily be Universally applied. Progressives from one culture will often relate most to progressives from other cultures.

(this entry used the word 'most' 4 times. 5 counting the last sentence. I tried to think of another word to use, so I would sound repetitive, but didn't think of one quickly so gave up)

Other people's opinions.

One attribute I admire in other people is the ability to be comfortable with other people's beliefs/opinions/values, particularly those with which they disagree. Plus being comfortable with those beliefs/opinions/values being expressed. This is a surprisingly rare attribute. For some reason most of us have a need for others to share our thoughts and opinions.
If I get the motivation I will flesh out more of my thinking on this subject.

A question for people who say Obama is a Socialist.

If holding traditional Democratic Party beliefs makes Obama a socialist, does that mean George W. Bush is a Libertarian or an Anarchist? (no, of course not. Obama isn't a Socialist)

Boyd K Packer

As unfortunate as the Boyd K Packer talk was, I think the situation surrounding it contains a hopefully element.

It is significant that his talk caused an uproar and was national news. This is the same guy who once advised people to punch their mission companion if they were gay. That was far more offensive than his recent talk and it didn't receive any sort of negative publicity in the mainstream media, that I am aware of.
As few as 5 years ago, I would be surprised if Boyd K packers talk would have received any media attention at all, but now, in 2010, it is a huge news story.
The backlash to his talk illustrated how far our culture as come in just the past decade in not only accepting homosexuality, but also in understanding it's biological origins.

Rv

Our neighborhood has an unusually large amount of people who live in campers or RVS.
At first I thought it was weird so many old RVs were parked in the area, and gradually I have come to realize they are all being lived in. Sometimes I will catch a glimpse of someone through a window, or they will say something to me as I am walking the dog. One lady and her male companion were doing lines of coke in their trailer as she told me how cute she thought my dog is.

The homeless people in this neighborhood are also unusually friendly, in a pleasant, non over-bearing way i'm not used to expecting from the homeless.. Because of this I end up buying one of those newspapers homeless people sell for a dollar almost every day. If anyone needs any back issues, I have several copies of each one published laying around. Not actually. I usually throw them away when I get home. I used to read them, but now I only read papers sold by people with homes.

stats

Having a stat counter on my website is addicting. I can see what pages people look at and for how long. I can even see what pictures they look at or download. I check it every time I check my email. It has been surprising to see what images people look at most. It has also been surprising to realize how much a person can look at in under 3 minutes.

Neighbors

I guess my neighbors have moved out. But they didn't take their dog, which spends most of it's waking hours barking. Fortunately it's barking isn't super loud and our walls are reasonably sound proofed. We can hear the barking, but it is quite enough that it melts into the background. Actually, now that I am paying attention, I notice the barking has stopped. I guess I got so used to it, it stopped becoming a thing I noticed. Occasionally someone that looks like my neighbor, but younger and female, who I guess is his daughter, comes by to feed it. At least, I figure that is what she is doing because one time she borrowed a can opener and had some dog food in one hand.

www.ChristopherAllman.com

Almost every creative medium I have encountered has piqued my interest to the point where I've wanted to learn it myself. Some things like music or print making, I realized I either wasn't naturally gifted, or enjoyed the process enough to keep at it. Others, like ceramics, writing or painting, I obviously enjoy very much and continue directing my time and effort in those directions.
One area that has never really grabbed my attention at all is digital media. Unlike other media, I can appreciate what others do with it yet have no desire to try it myself.
Because of this, I know almost nothing when it comes to graphic design or web developing.
While I've wanted a website for a long time and even had a particular design in mind, my lack of interest and ability has stood in the way.
Now that I have graduated college and more or less committed myself to pursuing a career as an artist, I've wanted to make more of a focused effort on marketing myself and having gallery shows. I felt it was important to have a website, so I could have something to show those I approached.

Over the past couple weeks, in the moments I could catch in between caring for our new puppy, ( I am still amazed at how much work it is! I had thought people were exaggerating when they said it was like taking care of a baby), I finally buckled down, did my research and learned how to make a fairly simple site. While it is nothing like my dream idea and nothing fancy, it is clean, simple and gets the job done. Perhaps one day, my dream site will happen, but until then I have this:


Www.ChristopherAllman.com

I am still working on a few elements, but it is complete enough to be unveiled.


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