my observations on everything right and wrong with the world - starting with myself.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
nobody has the balls to speak up anymore.
I'm beyond inflamed at the recent Devin Brown/LAPD travesty (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-devin16feb16,0,2516785.story?coll=la-home-headlines)...
ok. tragedy occurred when a 13-year old boy was shot to death...but let's not forget the fact that he was driving a stolen car and backing into police officers at the time of the shooting.
that's right. stolen car. possible intent to kill.
but nope. they're treating this as racism. the Nation of Islam is outraged. the Police Commissioner is blindly apologizing. City leaders are being held accountable for police actions.
this is hilarious, because they're completely forgetting the fact that the boy stole a car and was backing into police officers. they're completely forgetting the fact that a moving vehicle is considered a weapon. most importantly, they're forgetting the fact that regardless of the race of the person driving, the LAPD would have done the exact same thing under the same conditions.
everyone likes to play the race card whenever possible...but sometimes, people go too far.
people are asking for change within the LAPD and in municipal policies...but shouldn't they be asking for change elsewhere?
why aren't they asking about why a 13-year old would be compelled to steal a car on Sunday?
why aren't they blaming his family for not raising him correctly? why isn't his environment being criticized? what about his friends? the contents of his CD case?
remember Columbine? remember how the families of the teens involved in the murders were scrutinized?
why wasn't the Nation of Islam up in arms when Columbine occurred?
so many questions...so few answers...but most importantly, so little testicular presence.
damn.
I'm beyond inflamed at the recent Devin Brown/LAPD travesty (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-devin16feb16,0,2516785.story?coll=la-home-headlines)...
ok. tragedy occurred when a 13-year old boy was shot to death...but let's not forget the fact that he was driving a stolen car and backing into police officers at the time of the shooting.
that's right. stolen car. possible intent to kill.
but nope. they're treating this as racism. the Nation of Islam is outraged. the Police Commissioner is blindly apologizing. City leaders are being held accountable for police actions.
this is hilarious, because they're completely forgetting the fact that the boy stole a car and was backing into police officers. they're completely forgetting the fact that a moving vehicle is considered a weapon. most importantly, they're forgetting the fact that regardless of the race of the person driving, the LAPD would have done the exact same thing under the same conditions.
everyone likes to play the race card whenever possible...but sometimes, people go too far.
people are asking for change within the LAPD and in municipal policies...but shouldn't they be asking for change elsewhere?
why aren't they asking about why a 13-year old would be compelled to steal a car on Sunday?
why aren't they blaming his family for not raising him correctly? why isn't his environment being criticized? what about his friends? the contents of his CD case?
remember Columbine? remember how the families of the teens involved in the murders were scrutinized?
why wasn't the Nation of Islam up in arms when Columbine occurred?
so many questions...so few answers...but most importantly, so little testicular presence.
damn.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
so in a vain attempt to see how popular the name "gerard garcia" is...I googled it.
lo and behold, on the 9th page of the search results...something that actually had me in it:
here's the link:
http://voh.chem.ucla.edu/vohtar/fall95/11A-lec2/qa.html
and this was the part that contained something I said:
Question:
Date Submitted: Tue Dec 5 11:59:33 PST 1995
Student Name: Gerard Garcia
Student Email: ggarcia@ucla.edu
Submitted from: cloudburst.seas.ucla.edu
Question: This question is irrelevant to the class but I was just wondering, I went to Basic Training for the Army this summer and I had to go through the gas chamber. It was part of our toxic agent endurance training. Anyways, in the gas chamber, we were hit with a riot-control agent known as CS gas. Our drill sergeants said that it didn't have any toxic effects but oh man, did it irritate! What I want to know is if you knew anything about this gas and its structure and why it does what it does. It is something that me and other people from my unit have been pondering on since Basic Training. Thanks.
Answer:
The compound is chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile. Start with a C=C double bond. At one end, bond two CN groups (triple bond between the C and the N) to the same carbon. At the other end, place one hydrogen on the carbon. You now have one bonding place left on the carbon, so we can abbreviate it as (R)(H)C=C(CN)2, where R is the rest of the molecule. The R is a benzene ring with one of the H's replaced by a chlorine, C6H4Cl. That chlorine is bonded to one of the C's next to the carbon that is bonded to the C=C double bond. So the compound is (C6H4Cl)(H)C=C(CN)2. Got it? The compound is a riot control agent, a severe eye, throat, and skin irritant. A similar compound that you've probably heard of is "Mace". CS is more irritating the Mace, but less incapacitating. Both CS and Mace are solids, so they are probably "administered" as sprayed solutions.
***
this was posted during my freshman year at UCLA...and already, signs of my clear lack of study skills were becoming evident. damn. that chemistry class sucked. 700 students...and they all wanted to kiss the professor's ass.
except me, of course. I was too busy trying to recover from all my rollerblading injuries.
what's hilarious though, is that the second 'real' result for "gerard garcia" that actually had something to do with me was this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198606419/026-7880673-8163623
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
excellent reference, April 2, 1998
Reviewer: Gerard Garcia (ggarcia@ucla.edu) from Los Angeles, CA
For a person with an avid interest in studying classical civilizations, this book provides an immensely helpful reference in all aspects of the history of the ancient world, legends, myths, and culture. The Oxford Classical Dictionary is vital for anyone who wishes to understand and appreciate the basis of modern western civilization. The book reads more like an encyclopedia rather than a dictionary. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
***
to think that in three years...I would go from being a lazy student to actually reading related materials outside of class is astounding! all it took was discovering a college major that I had a profound interest in...
:)
lo and behold, on the 9th page of the search results...something that actually had me in it:
here's the link:
http://voh.chem.ucla.edu/vohtar/fall95/11A-lec2/qa.html
and this was the part that contained something I said:
Question:
Date Submitted: Tue Dec 5 11:59:33 PST 1995
Student Name: Gerard Garcia
Student Email: ggarcia@ucla.edu
Submitted from: cloudburst.seas.ucla.edu
Question: This question is irrelevant to the class but I was just wondering, I went to Basic Training for the Army this summer and I had to go through the gas chamber. It was part of our toxic agent endurance training. Anyways, in the gas chamber, we were hit with a riot-control agent known as CS gas. Our drill sergeants said that it didn't have any toxic effects but oh man, did it irritate! What I want to know is if you knew anything about this gas and its structure and why it does what it does. It is something that me and other people from my unit have been pondering on since Basic Training. Thanks.
Answer:
The compound is chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile. Start with a C=C double bond. At one end, bond two CN groups (triple bond between the C and the N) to the same carbon. At the other end, place one hydrogen on the carbon. You now have one bonding place left on the carbon, so we can abbreviate it as (R)(H)C=C(CN)2, where R is the rest of the molecule. The R is a benzene ring with one of the H's replaced by a chlorine, C6H4Cl. That chlorine is bonded to one of the C's next to the carbon that is bonded to the C=C double bond. So the compound is (C6H4Cl)(H)C=C(CN)2. Got it? The compound is a riot control agent, a severe eye, throat, and skin irritant. A similar compound that you've probably heard of is "Mace". CS is more irritating the Mace, but less incapacitating. Both CS and Mace are solids, so they are probably "administered" as sprayed solutions.
***
this was posted during my freshman year at UCLA...and already, signs of my clear lack of study skills were becoming evident. damn. that chemistry class sucked. 700 students...and they all wanted to kiss the professor's ass.
except me, of course. I was too busy trying to recover from all my rollerblading injuries.
what's hilarious though, is that the second 'real' result for "gerard garcia" that actually had something to do with me was this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198606419/026-7880673-8163623
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
excellent reference, April 2, 1998
Reviewer: Gerard Garcia (ggarcia@ucla.edu) from Los Angeles, CA
For a person with an avid interest in studying classical civilizations, this book provides an immensely helpful reference in all aspects of the history of the ancient world, legends, myths, and culture. The Oxford Classical Dictionary is vital for anyone who wishes to understand and appreciate the basis of modern western civilization. The book reads more like an encyclopedia rather than a dictionary. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
***
to think that in three years...I would go from being a lazy student to actually reading related materials outside of class is astounding! all it took was discovering a college major that I had a profound interest in...
:)
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Before, during, and shortly after being a student at UCLA, I wrote a lot of poetry. Not many people know this.
The poetry was written mostly in reaction to how my infatuation was treating me at the time...usually, pretty poorly - I made a pretty good doormat. I've come a long way since those days...and as my situation improved, my poetry started becoming happier (not necessarily better, creatively speaking, per se)...and once I felt that I had found what I had been looking for, I stopped writing poetry altogether.
But nevertheless, I've got lots of poetry written down. For me, they capture a lot of angst and anticipation that I was never able to physically or vocally express...
anyway, here's an example:
****
ouch
I know you don’t
but I persisted
I saw the signs
but I didn’t digress
I saw the light
but I’m still in the dark
I’ve traveled places
but I’m still here
I’ve heard it all
but I didn’t listen
because I thought you did
or so it seemed.
My reality was
infinitely strange
because what I believed
was never real
I tried so hard
to be myself
and keep it real
at least to me
but you threw me off
and told me no
or at least that’s what
it sounded like
but I know what you meant
and I know how you feel
so there’s really nothing
that I can do
to change your mind
about liking me
so I’ll keep my eyes closed
because the truth hurts sometimes.
****
and for those of you who insist that poetry has to rhyme:
****
the gall
How ironic could it be
that the word that made you speak to me
was none other than ‘audacity’
even though my displays of affrontery
were marked with silent timidity
so I chose to express casually
what I would have said with bravery
and when we spoke I tried to see
any chance opportunity
for me to hold you momentarily
and let you know what you mean to me
but my indecisive personality
couldn’t think of any strategy
(though I’m sure that you agree
that an act like that has to be
out of spontaneity)
so I do nothing, don’t you see?
But I don’t want you mistaking me
because my nonchalance is obviously
something I’ve been pondering recently
and I have to say that honestly
I want you to know my true identity
before I do something irrationally
and change what’s between you and me.
So please forgive my simplicity
in showing you what you mean to me
because what I don’t do visibly
I hope I’ve explained poetically.
****
I'm just wondering if it's worth hunting an agent down to submit all of my poetry for publishing?
Wouldn't that be funny? A poetry-publishing systems integration engineer working for a major defense contractor and lives in the paragon of middle-class suburbia with his wife and child. It's almost funnier than an out-of-work telecommunications engineer who finds success out of drawing cartoons which lampoon his former coworkers and corporate workplace...
The poetry was written mostly in reaction to how my infatuation was treating me at the time...usually, pretty poorly - I made a pretty good doormat. I've come a long way since those days...and as my situation improved, my poetry started becoming happier (not necessarily better, creatively speaking, per se)...and once I felt that I had found what I had been looking for, I stopped writing poetry altogether.
But nevertheless, I've got lots of poetry written down. For me, they capture a lot of angst and anticipation that I was never able to physically or vocally express...
anyway, here's an example:
****
ouch
I know you don’t
but I persisted
I saw the signs
but I didn’t digress
I saw the light
but I’m still in the dark
I’ve traveled places
but I’m still here
I’ve heard it all
but I didn’t listen
because I thought you did
or so it seemed.
My reality was
infinitely strange
because what I believed
was never real
I tried so hard
to be myself
and keep it real
at least to me
but you threw me off
and told me no
or at least that’s what
it sounded like
but I know what you meant
and I know how you feel
so there’s really nothing
that I can do
to change your mind
about liking me
so I’ll keep my eyes closed
because the truth hurts sometimes.
****
and for those of you who insist that poetry has to rhyme:
****
the gall
How ironic could it be
that the word that made you speak to me
was none other than ‘audacity’
even though my displays of affrontery
were marked with silent timidity
so I chose to express casually
what I would have said with bravery
and when we spoke I tried to see
any chance opportunity
for me to hold you momentarily
and let you know what you mean to me
but my indecisive personality
couldn’t think of any strategy
(though I’m sure that you agree
that an act like that has to be
out of spontaneity)
so I do nothing, don’t you see?
But I don’t want you mistaking me
because my nonchalance is obviously
something I’ve been pondering recently
and I have to say that honestly
I want you to know my true identity
before I do something irrationally
and change what’s between you and me.
So please forgive my simplicity
in showing you what you mean to me
because what I don’t do visibly
I hope I’ve explained poetically.
****
I'm just wondering if it's worth hunting an agent down to submit all of my poetry for publishing?
Wouldn't that be funny? A poetry-publishing systems integration engineer working for a major defense contractor and lives in the paragon of middle-class suburbia with his wife and child. It's almost funnier than an out-of-work telecommunications engineer who finds success out of drawing cartoons which lampoon his former coworkers and corporate workplace...
