Volunteering

So I started volunteering a couple months ago. I help teach English to seniors who are refugees or immigrants from East Africa, mainly Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritria. It's immensely satisfying, hopefully helpful, and I'm very glad I started. The organization is the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, and I volunteer at Africa House, one of its branches.

Volunteering is something that I've really always wanted to do, but never did for one reason or another. It wasn't something really done in the community where I'm from. People there have their own problems and mostly keep to their own. So community service was never really ingrained in me. I have always tried to donate to worthy causes when I had the money, but wasn't motivated enough to do the volunteering myself. I just barely started getting a glimpse of it a few years ago. We had a friend who volunteered with IRC (International Rescue Committee) which aids refugees. We started donating things like clothing and baby items and got to see a little bit of how this impacted a refugee family's life.

Anyway, I just wanted to post something quick for anyone who might someday look at this blog and was thinking of volunteering. Find a place and dive in. It's so worth it, so very needed, and the people will appreciate your efforts in any way you can help.

Chiles

Saw an advertisement at a farmer's market for "'pasilla' poblano" chiles. FYI, pasillas and poblanos are separate varieties. Pasilla (little raisin) is the mature form of the green chilaca (a long green chile similar to New Mexican pod type), while poblanos mature into "ancho" chiles.

While the color is similar in the dried form, it's a whole different enchilada. :)

Social Media

As an historian, it's easy to get lost in the past. We spend so much time reading about the past, writing about the past, and simply thinking about the past, that the present sometimes seems almost...I don't know...mundane I guess. And certainly too transient. Many of us look upon present trends and wonder if they will just be passing fads, relegated to the dustbin of history, a dustbin that we routinely spend time sifting through.

For me, this phenomenon takes the form of being hesitant to accept technology. While some of this is simply me lacking the time (or money) to spend learning new technologies, I think my greatest aversion to trying out new technologies is the unwillingness to let go of the past and dive in to the future.

In an effort to break out of this trap--and at the urging of my wife--I am trying to become more adept at using social media. I was very late to the MySpace party, as well as to Facebook. By now, I've long been using Facebook to keep in touch with old friends, but I only recently created accounts on LinkedIn and Twitter (I follow 6 people and have 1 follower!). Meanwhile, I've let this blog wither on the vine. Part of the problem is not really having a focus for the blog. When it's just my random thoughts, I find it hard to justify sharing them with the world. It seems pretty arrogant to think that anyone would, let alone should, care what I have to say. But I guess that's the world I'm living in now, and I need to get used to it.

In any case, although I have said this before and will probably say it again, I hope to revive my blog and actually use it. /crosses fingers

Arizona racism

If anyone was under the delusion that Arizona's anti-immigrant bill SB1070 was only after immigrants and not racist, look no further than the state's new law against Ethnic Studies. Mexican AMERICANS are the primary target. As if mainstream high school history wasn't "designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group," that is, whites.

So, their idea is that you won't know you're being oppressed unless your teacher tells you, even while passing a law that will encourage racial profiling. How stupid do they think people are?

Man cleared by DNA

Sad that I had to find this story from a UK site.

In my younger days, I used to not be opposed to the death penalty, because I thought in theory the state should have the right to put someone to death for a violent crime. I quickly came to recognize that the theory cannot be separated from the facts and actual practice of law enforcement and our justice system. People are just too fallable.

Stronglifts 5x5

So this week I started training with the Stronglifts 5X5 program. We recently got a YMCA membership, and I've really been looking to get stronger. I don't care too much about getting "ripped," but I want to get some solid functional strength that will translate to a physical everyday life and more frequent sporting activities. Right now, I'm just weak. And I'm carrying about 15 lbs of fat around I would like to get rid of. I'm 5'11" and 185 lbs. Most of my weight is in my trunk, but I've got spindly arms and legs, no ass, a pencil neck, and burgeoning man boobs. As a side note, I have an exceptionally long trunk and arms, but short legs. Wow, that really makes me sound like a total freak to behold.

Anyway, the idea of Stronglifts is to do compound exercises like squats with high sets (5) x low reps (5), adding weight each workout until you stall out on squats. There's a lot more to it than that, but it is a simple program. Reading reviews made it sound like just what I am looking for. As instructed, I'm starting with the empty bar for most of the exercises to concentrate on technique (proper form), to reduce injuries, not stall out to soon, etc.

Today I just finished my second workout, the first Day B workout, which included either pullups or chinups. I grabbed the bar for pullups and immediately realized that I'm not capable of one. Damn they're hard. I switched to chinups and got off 2 of those, but they were ugly and I only sort of got 1 on each of the next 2 sets. Damn, they're hard too.

So far, the hardest thing is putting away my rather modest ego. Putting 2.5 lb plates on a barbell for benching looks ridiculous, as does failing so miserably on pullups/chinups. At least the weights start adding up soon, but the body weight exercises are shameful. Oh well, screw everybody else.

I'll post more when I get further along.

Bombadil

Great band. Look them up. Do it right now. They're worth it.