"Ho, ho, ho," is an expression often attributed with Santa Claus. Along with this minor, yet distinct attribute come many others, such as his red and white suit, Reindeer and most importantly his beard. Santa's beard says a lot about him, and the same positive attributes could be tagged on those that took the time to grow a beard out like him. Men should grow their beards out, it will give them a good first impression in all situations. There are many benefits for themselves and others.
First, there are many reasons beards would benefit men. For example, beards make men respectable. beards have "I know what I'm talking about," written all over them. Also, they make men appear wise. Beards take some time to grow, and one can be sure that someone with a beard has seen a thing or two. Another benefit is the time one can save. Beards require no time for shaving. Although some will say that beards do not look good, all those that men really care about will think otherwise. In addition, a beard keeps men fashionable, and if not fashionable, bold. And, men will never have an excuse for boredom, they can style their beards to meet the times expectations. Along with all its other practical uses, a beard can help men keep warm. This allows men to avoid the use of scarfs in winter time. Also, A beard helps men keep clean. When food doesn't quite make it into the mouth, food ends up on the beard, and not clothes. Even though some may find it repulsive, it is of great value to store snacks in a beard. Another great perk of beards is there affect on women. They can either keep women around or attract new women. Additionally, many men with beards may be mistaken with Santa. This allows men to find an additional job during the holidays that otherwise wouldn't be open to them. Although some will frown upon a mans beard scaring young kids, this can prove to be very entertaining.
In addition, beards also benefit those without. For example, beards can be donated when a man tires of it. This will give someone else the ability to have hair for themselves. Also, having a beard will create less work for others. With shaving in public bathrooms being a thing of the past, janitors and neat-freaks will be kept happy alike. Additionally, there is confusion between men with beards and Santa. Along with the extra money saved from not buying shaving accessories, many kids end up with more gifts than they would otherwise.
As can be seen, beards benefit both the men with the beards and those without. Men will be able to be confused with Santa and be able to reap the benefits of association with someone elses positive attributes. This helps fight the already judgmental society we live in.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
VF! IVth
After a long day of work, i brought my camera back into Valleyfair! to snap some shots. i ran into James W. on his way out from his first day since last year, and chatted with him while he walked. Preceding further into the park, i saw that the shots i wanted were less than likely to turn out with the lighting, and decided that i would wait until another day, during the day. Jeff L. stopped me, commenting my "nice camera" and asking if i "had gotten any nice shots". i made some remarks about camera jargon that went over his head before i walking to other areas of the park, snapping photos here and there. Scott H. ran into me as i was going at a shot of the ferris wheel and Power Tower, telling me that i was not allowed to take photography of the rides without permission from VF!. i ignored him as i took a few more frames, and then gave him crap right back. He had told me earlier before that there had been, in the least, nine fights - something to be expected on the forth of July. He had commented to me more quietly that "things were going to get ugly," and that if i saw a fight - to get down.
"guns?" i asked. He responded saying that he was unable to say anything in the matter.
i wished him well, patted him on the back, and went back to what i had been doing. Tanner was at 550, he asked me to talk with Bryan K., and ask him if he could close 550. The game would not be closed, and he only had around ten minutes left on his shift. i came around to the Outer Games area, going into 554 while Kyle E. was talking with Tiffani B. at Scales.
I figured i would say goodnight to everyone at Gunball outer, so i stopped by and chatted for a few minutes. One of the LP (Loss Prevention) guys jumped over the counter next to me frantically, asking where the phone was. It was evident that he was in a great deal of a hurry, and i figured he had seen a theft or something of that nature. He dialed the phone and grabbed his scanner, bring it to his face along with the phone.
It become evident what was happening when i looked over to my left, there was a large group of black people running around, and maybe five or more in a brawl, going back and forth, back and forth. i couldn't pick anyone out, it was just a mess of bodies going about. Screams rang out, the group dispersed.
"STUPID NIGGERS, STUPID NIGGERS! BUNCH OF NIGGERS!" a kid yelled, himself being coloured. Another boy looked away from the group, obviously pleased by what was happening, and expressed glee with his comments. Curses came from others, and running about. The group was again in form, down by Scales. The mass went on the scale, past the scale, further into the game towards 554 and the fence between. Tiffani and Kyle where now in this mess. i looked over to my right, seeing the LP guy that had made the phone call, looking on as a was, wanting to help but knowing there was nothing we could do. Screams, more and more rang out from the crowd. the brawl went back and forth, perhaps against the fence, and slowed. i approached Kyle and Tiffani, asking them if they were alright, knowing there was nothing i could do for the people involved, but maybe i could assist my co-workers. The both said they where alright, and i knew they were less than likely to have been harmed, but i thought it necessary to ask. Looking over towards where all bee-hive of activity had been, under the fence was a body. It lay there, motionless. Blood dressed the clothing, splattered thickly. i quickly turned
"Oh G-D, Oh G-D, Oh G-D" was the only thing i could think to say. i was absolutely shocked and what my eyes had just seen. There was a lot of blood. i really didn't want to see that.
Looking back from the beating, one could see people for a distance away, stopped, looking in stupor.
Later i found that Kyle had tried to pull one of they guys involved off another guy. Kyle's shirt was also splattered with blood. Tiffani had been hit.
i don't know what to think of this ordeal, this was one of three fights at the same time. Security was already searching for several suspects. Sirens could be heard, two ambulances came, and more police.
Three gangs were in the park? *sigh* There had already been one gang fight earlier too...
"guns?" i asked. He responded saying that he was unable to say anything in the matter.
i wished him well, patted him on the back, and went back to what i had been doing. Tanner was at 550, he asked me to talk with Bryan K., and ask him if he could close 550. The game would not be closed, and he only had around ten minutes left on his shift. i came around to the Outer Games area, going into 554 while Kyle E. was talking with Tiffani B. at Scales.
I figured i would say goodnight to everyone at Gunball outer, so i stopped by and chatted for a few minutes. One of the LP (Loss Prevention) guys jumped over the counter next to me frantically, asking where the phone was. It was evident that he was in a great deal of a hurry, and i figured he had seen a theft or something of that nature. He dialed the phone and grabbed his scanner, bring it to his face along with the phone.
It become evident what was happening when i looked over to my left, there was a large group of black people running around, and maybe five or more in a brawl, going back and forth, back and forth. i couldn't pick anyone out, it was just a mess of bodies going about. Screams rang out, the group dispersed.
"STUPID NIGGERS, STUPID NIGGERS! BUNCH OF NIGGERS!" a kid yelled, himself being coloured. Another boy looked away from the group, obviously pleased by what was happening, and expressed glee with his comments. Curses came from others, and running about. The group was again in form, down by Scales. The mass went on the scale, past the scale, further into the game towards 554 and the fence between. Tiffani and Kyle where now in this mess. i looked over to my right, seeing the LP guy that had made the phone call, looking on as a was, wanting to help but knowing there was nothing we could do. Screams, more and more rang out from the crowd. the brawl went back and forth, perhaps against the fence, and slowed. i approached Kyle and Tiffani, asking them if they were alright, knowing there was nothing i could do for the people involved, but maybe i could assist my co-workers. The both said they where alright, and i knew they were less than likely to have been harmed, but i thought it necessary to ask. Looking over towards where all bee-hive of activity had been, under the fence was a body. It lay there, motionless. Blood dressed the clothing, splattered thickly. i quickly turned
"Oh G-D, Oh G-D, Oh G-D" was the only thing i could think to say. i was absolutely shocked and what my eyes had just seen. There was a lot of blood. i really didn't want to see that.
Looking back from the beating, one could see people for a distance away, stopped, looking in stupor.
Later i found that Kyle had tried to pull one of they guys involved off another guy. Kyle's shirt was also splattered with blood. Tiffani had been hit.
i don't know what to think of this ordeal, this was one of three fights at the same time. Security was already searching for several suspects. Sirens could be heard, two ambulances came, and more police.
Three gangs were in the park? *sigh* There had already been one gang fight earlier too...
Friday, February 8, 2008
They will find and kill you
This morning i woke with a feeling of guilt, as though i had done something terribly wrong. Questions, many of them, ran through my head as i thought about what i had witnessed, and what implications were imposed by this.
i was, i assume, a Nazi soldier. i could have been a Russian soldier, they had their share of indescribable war crimes. People don't like to blame the Russians for hating haters. Hating hate is a beautiful thing to many.
Along with a group of soldiers, i was playing a sick and twisted game. Many of my comrades were lined up, across from me. Between these two lines was a "playing field". Guns where given to the players, children many of them, to run about the field. It appeared as though they were playing a game of broom ball, running about with various arms, firing blindly at us, as we picked them off from "their game". Being on the opposite side of the field as my comrades fired in my direction was interesting, but i managed. After taking one out, with a small side arm, a pistol, i stood. A young boy spun about with an assault rifle, firing past me. i froze, and somehow was not injured. Lifting the pistol i aimed at the child, and fired, hoping to retrieve the AK-47 for myself. The shot went off, and the child kept moving, i missed him. i watched him as he walked a few more steps and spun one last time, falling onto the ground, becoming another body to litter the field. He looked as though he was barely old enough to walk as he fell. i had not missed.
i ran over, picked up the rifle, and ran back to where i had been. Upon returning i heard voices in a snow bank.
(i must have asked who was in the bank.)
A girl, in her mid to late teens popped half of her head through the snow. Oh my, she seems to have managed to have hidden, along with maybe one or two others, avoiding death i could only hope.
"God is close to us here," she said. It was apparent that she had stayed at the base of the bluff, maybe being 5-6 feet high at most; overnight while it snowed they had stay here.
"They will find and kill you," i said to her. She flinched a bit at my words. i was not going to reveal their position. If they could stay here, hiding, and live, would be a wonderful thing.
"Pray to GOD and ..." i trailed off. There was so much i wanted to say, and no time to say it. If i were caught talking to this girl in the snow, i would more than likely be killed myself, and my talking to her would show that someone else was here besides myself. "i'm an American," i began telling her, "from the state of Minnesota." i was not proud of what i was doing, i did not want to do what i was doing: killing people. It seemed to be hard on both of us, and was very emotional. She kissed my chin several times as i continued, "i have a family, four, a mother, father, sister...". i looked back to see men on the other side of the field, looking around, and told her to get down further.
The dream ended somewhere around here. i will admit, i think it's a bit awkard, but at the same time really cool. Awkward being the kissing, though it was meant for comfort and careing. Cool because it didn't make sense from a world perspective. She had every reason to hate me, to want me dead, to spit on me and drive her nails into me. Or, from her position in the snow bank, covered spare her face, to stare coldly at me with her eyes. But she received me, she felt for me, even though i was killing what where probably her family and friends.
And so, you might see why i had many questions upon waking. How loveing would she had to have been to act in the way she was acting? How was it that she seemed to be at such peace? Could have i have risked my life in attempt to save hers? What does this mean for me? How can i be more loving? Do i really reflect the qualitys of Christ, and if not, what do i need to work on?
i was, i assume, a Nazi soldier. i could have been a Russian soldier, they had their share of indescribable war crimes. People don't like to blame the Russians for hating haters. Hating hate is a beautiful thing to many.
Along with a group of soldiers, i was playing a sick and twisted game. Many of my comrades were lined up, across from me. Between these two lines was a "playing field". Guns where given to the players, children many of them, to run about the field. It appeared as though they were playing a game of broom ball, running about with various arms, firing blindly at us, as we picked them off from "their game". Being on the opposite side of the field as my comrades fired in my direction was interesting, but i managed. After taking one out, with a small side arm, a pistol, i stood. A young boy spun about with an assault rifle, firing past me. i froze, and somehow was not injured. Lifting the pistol i aimed at the child, and fired, hoping to retrieve the AK-47 for myself. The shot went off, and the child kept moving, i missed him. i watched him as he walked a few more steps and spun one last time, falling onto the ground, becoming another body to litter the field. He looked as though he was barely old enough to walk as he fell. i had not missed.
i ran over, picked up the rifle, and ran back to where i had been. Upon returning i heard voices in a snow bank.
(i must have asked who was in the bank.)
A girl, in her mid to late teens popped half of her head through the snow. Oh my, she seems to have managed to have hidden, along with maybe one or two others, avoiding death i could only hope.
"God is close to us here," she said. It was apparent that she had stayed at the base of the bluff, maybe being 5-6 feet high at most; overnight while it snowed they had stay here.
"They will find and kill you," i said to her. She flinched a bit at my words. i was not going to reveal their position. If they could stay here, hiding, and live, would be a wonderful thing.
"Pray to GOD and ..." i trailed off. There was so much i wanted to say, and no time to say it. If i were caught talking to this girl in the snow, i would more than likely be killed myself, and my talking to her would show that someone else was here besides myself. "i'm an American," i began telling her, "from the state of Minnesota." i was not proud of what i was doing, i did not want to do what i was doing: killing people. It seemed to be hard on both of us, and was very emotional. She kissed my chin several times as i continued, "i have a family, four, a mother, father, sister...". i looked back to see men on the other side of the field, looking around, and told her to get down further.
The dream ended somewhere around here. i will admit, i think it's a bit awkard, but at the same time really cool. Awkward being the kissing, though it was meant for comfort and careing. Cool because it didn't make sense from a world perspective. She had every reason to hate me, to want me dead, to spit on me and drive her nails into me. Or, from her position in the snow bank, covered spare her face, to stare coldly at me with her eyes. But she received me, she felt for me, even though i was killing what where probably her family and friends.
And so, you might see why i had many questions upon waking. How loveing would she had to have been to act in the way she was acting? How was it that she seemed to be at such peace? Could have i have risked my life in attempt to save hers? What does this mean for me? How can i be more loving? Do i really reflect the qualitys of Christ, and if not, what do i need to work on?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
One of the questions that comes up all the time is: How
enthusiastic is our support for UNIX?
Unix was written on our machines and for our machines many
years ago. Today, much of UNIX being done is done on our machines.
Ten percent of our VAXs are going for UNIX use. UNIX is a simple
language, easy to understand, easy to get started with. It's great for
students, great for somewhat casual users, and it's great for
interchanging programs between different machines. And so, because of
its popularity in these markets, we support it. We have good UNIX on
VAX and good UNIX on PDP-11s.
It is our belief, however, that serious professional users will
run out of things they can do with UNIX. They'll want a real system and
will end up doing VMS when they get to be serious about programming.
With UNIX, if you're looking for something, you can easily and
quickly check that small manual and find out that it's not there. With
VMS, no matter what you look for -- it's literally a five-foot shelf of
documentation -- if you look long enough it's there. That's the
difference -- the beauty of UNIX is it's simple; and the beauty of VMS
is that it's all there.
-- Ken Olsen, President of DEC, 1984
enthusiastic is our support for UNIX?
Unix was written on our machines and for our machines many
years ago. Today, much of UNIX being done is done on our machines.
Ten percent of our VAXs are going for UNIX use. UNIX is a simple
language, easy to understand, easy to get started with. It's great for
students, great for somewhat casual users, and it's great for
interchanging programs between different machines. And so, because of
its popularity in these markets, we support it. We have good UNIX on
VAX and good UNIX on PDP-11s.
It is our belief, however, that serious professional users will
run out of things they can do with UNIX. They'll want a real system and
will end up doing VMS when they get to be serious about programming.
With UNIX, if you're looking for something, you can easily and
quickly check that small manual and find out that it's not there. With
VMS, no matter what you look for -- it's literally a five-foot shelf of
documentation -- if you look long enough it's there. That's the
difference -- the beauty of UNIX is it's simple; and the beauty of VMS
is that it's all there.
-- Ken Olsen, President of DEC, 1984
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Of Clouds and Mesh
12-13-06
As sparks fly, so do my thoughts, brightly flaming, like phosphor tipped rounds being fired into the night sky, before they lose there glow, losing attention, becoming nothing. Broken remains, difference in the mind, missing the parts so previously intact.
Result is had, steps are lost
I'm perplexed... unable to see it, how is everything connected. I looked up at the sky, half covered in clouds – breaking. Diffusion on both sides of me, like a mother eagle covering me with her wing span. How do these clouds fit with reality, how do they affect my future, what purpose have they? They are so fine, and well defined residing in there places, chance one fall, and loose its identity while viewed through, yet its pride means no change, only its willingness to become close.
Where the sky meets the horizon, also defined, yet lacking definition in place, as the ground. Always changing. And where, these dream-likes, that spout snow, glistening down, do they have a connection with reality. With a world cold in heart, with hard physical facts, and demise of all hope.
Seeming unearthly, that they are.
12-7-06
Why has my mind stopped now that I have an opportunity to document some of its thoughts? I can't think, my mind is blocked – I have had such a hard time reflecting things, and yet again, not. So many things, nothing. Today, my mind has been alone, in its paranoid little corner, thinking away, trying to place point of view of attitude, belief, stance, experience, thought, perspective, influences... So much, nothing.
...Mr. Koch kicked Joe W. out of class... it startled me, more than that, it scared me, I don't understand why, but I was reminded of Mr. Lepper, even though there is no comparison. For those of you that know Mr, Koch, you know that he's a great guy, and this just shows my irrational thinking. I started wondering, dreading, that I would also be kicked out of the class, just waiting for him to snap – even though rarely even get called on, much less speak. I don't know where this is coming from.
Who have I become over the years? Have I become a timid, quiet person, who struggles to speak in front of groups? Someone
Last week I figured, being away from God for so long, that I would take an attempt at a quiet time, or something like that. I attempted reflecting, after so long, it came to me – I was mirroring Ecclesiastes, and as I open my Bible and read through, I found I was mirroring even more than I had thought, I stopped after about two chapters....
Its been so long, I don't even know. Somewhere – the Fall Retreat, I've completely lost it. Before the retreat, I had a weekly quiet time, they where good, and I went not wanting a high, I didn't want a artificial closeness to God. I wanted a regular (daily) relationship with Him, growing closer to Him consistently. I wanted on the retreat, I wanted Him to break me, I wanted, I remember asking, on the first night, to weep in his presence. If I heard right, I think I did, He told me “This retreat isn't about you”. Why not? How frustrating, not that its not about me, but that I can't get anything accomplished in this time, that I can't get any closer to You in this time! I know very well that God was present during the retreat, I would request something, and He was faithful – He would answer. Jeff Dexter was a great speaker, but I didn't understand what he was saying, nothing made sense on the retreat... it was so weird, it was like God had nothing to say to me. I asked that he let me know what was going on the second night, and Eric came over and made sure that I knew what was going on, actually brought me to Dexter, who explained what was going on... it didn't apply to me
I remember the night Doug accepted Christ, everyone was singing, jumping, and getting into it, and I just stood there. God again answered my prayers, and Tim came over and asked me why I wasn't jumping or something like that, “Shall my heart lie?”. We went to the Cafeteria and and talked. I have had things I've been wanting to get out for so long. Everyone seems so far, and honestly, I think people could care less – feelings are so overrated. It felt good to talk to Tim, so good, about two separate subjects – two small things that had grown on my mind, consuming my thoughts, not that either where wrong.
Could someone remind me? When God feels far, although I know He isn't, does that mean I am simply learning, or that he is testing me? These and much more linger on my tounge, waiting to be spoken, but never being brought to be heard.
Some entries i made some time ago
-Dan D.
-Dan D.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
New Blog
Well, a new blog. No, not for me cat either (rolls eyes). i suppose i will use this as a mirror to my other blog, or us this for other purposes, such as posting articles, propaganda, educational material, comics - etc.
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