The Bostonian Abroad

I'm so tired of the Democrats and Republicans and their stale positions on every single issue. I'm also tired of they ways both liberals and conservatives seem to download without question everything they watch or read or hear on the media serving their political mind-set. The way they parrot what they have heard, without questioning its validity, demonstrates a real lack of thought and skepticism on their parts, and this is most tiring of all. Worse still is how the moment you state your view on something, these same people are just waiting, drooling to put you in one camp or the other. It's like they are thinking, "Now what is this guy, a liberal or conservative?" They immediately want to see if you are friend or foe, and if you happen to have a view they deem in one camp or the other, they shove you into that camp and commence treating you like one of "them," ending even the chance of a meaningful conversation. Neither party represents me. Nor does...

I hate to speak ill of anyone or any organization, and my dislike of my time in the “Aloha State” has been thoroughly documented here over the years, but a recent annoyance has brought back to me the very reason I left that wretched island “paradise.” Now, don’t get me wrong. Hawaii is a beautiful place, for the most part, and the weather is the very best in the entire world. Nothing comes close to it. But the people, ohhhh, the PEOPLE!! They make it the hell it truly was for me, and the hell that it truly “IZ” for so many people there. To be diplomatic, I will not name the school at which I taught for my five-year tenure in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. Y’all can figure it out somehow anyway, if you are Internet savvy. What set me off this time? I wrote a nice note to the students, faculty, and staff of the school sending them my well-wishes at this difficult time, which is the tragic event of the earthquake and tsunami of March 10, 2011. You see, I have taught a ton of stu...

I’ve been noticing a lot of talk recently about the end of the world. Not the usual rigmarole of 2012 or of Nostradamus, but of the imminent collapse of the dollar, the reversing of the magnetic poles, the loss of our magnetic field, and some lady named Saba or something who died long ago but supposedly made all kinds of predictions, the most recent of which is the advent of World War Three. Maybe it’s because I am into guns and watching a lot of channels on Youtube about guns and their attendant proponents, who all seem to be prepping in one way or another for the eventual (and they say inevitable) collapse of modern society. As if these people would really be able to survive very long in such a scenario. I think it would be more luck than anything that decides who lives and who gets trampled, burned, blown-up or even eaten when the “shit hits the fan.” I can understand being prepared for a Katrina-like situation, where society collapses for a short time before returning. You’d ...

Since I broke my leg, I've been casting about uselessly for something to do with myself now that my main hobby/obsession is impossible for me and may be thus for the rest of my life. At the same time, I have a sizeable collection of guns I inherited from my father last year, so my long-standing interest in guns and shooting has naturally rekindled. Recently this interest has kicked into high gear. I've been watching a ton of videos on Youtube, reading different websites, and logging onto gun and shooting websites galore. I even went and took a concealed-carry class in order to get my CCW permit. Looked at different ccw guns and learned all I could about size, weight, calibre, mag-capacity, and overall cost. Two Youtubers stood out for me in my search: Hickok45 and Nutnfancy. Both really know a great deal about guns, and both are interesting, entertaining, and inspiring to watch. Hickok is more of a shooter and down-to-earth kind of guy, whereas Nuntnfancy is more of a mor...

As horrific and unbelievable as the shootings in Arizona have been, I have to say, sadly, that nothing could have prevented them. "What??!!" you say? Rachel Maddow seems to make a connection between his drug use and the shootings. She also seems to make a link between his troubles at Pima CC and the shootings, indicating that these were warning signs that could have or should have been used to keep him from buying a gun and ammo. I hate to sound so callous, but I have to quote Sex and the City: "Coulda, woulda, shoulda!" Look, the JLL's of the world are always going to be out there. Sure, we need to try and get to them and either lock them away or drug them silly before they get to hurting others, but in the end, it is an impossible task to get them all. The reactionism on the TV now shows a hue and cry for new laws: Ban guns! Ban large ammo clips! Lock nutcases away!! We can't ban guns in this country. We just can't. To do it w...

Okay, so it has been nine weeks since I broke my tibia and fibula when I went down on my motorcycle, and my foot got twisted up as the bike spun out on a poorly paved lot where I was working. How am I doing? First, I'll talk about how I'm doing physically. If you have watched the above video, then you know I'm healing well -- in fact, better than I had anticipated or was led to believe. The orthopaedist originally told me that I would not be able to bear weight on my right leg until February first, but when I went to see him at the end of December, he shocked me by saying I was cleared to bear weight and even transition out of the crutches and the boot I've been forced to use since November. When I got home from the doctor's office later that evening, I was so excited to be able to bear weight that I dispensed with my crutches altogether and started walking around my kitchen, utterly amazed that I could in fact "walk" again, albeit, limpingly. Then realit...

November 1, 2010, 9:35 PM. I exited the building where I work at night, teaching an Adult Basic Education class for Wake Tech. It was a new site, and the weather had kept me from riding my bike for the three months I had been teaching there. Finally, the weather was good, and this night, I walked out to my bike to ride home. I had wanted to get in my first cold-weather ride of the season in preparation for a long winter of riding. Winter is my favorite season to ride, and I was eager to get started after a long, hot summer stuck inside in the AC at home and work. I was also eager to participate in the Polar Bear Challenge, an informal challenge on Youtube where riders around the world ride and make motorcycle video logs (motovlogs)of their trips. The winners are those who ride the most, go the farthest in a season, and ride in the lowest temperatures. So here I was, walking out to my bike, parked directly in front of the school building where I taught that night from 6:30 to 9:3...