Paleck.com » Thoughts

Unexpected Origins

paleck — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:33:21 +0000

Although I am was not an English major and quite frankly I am usually at a loss for words especially when writing, I have always been fascinated by interesting words an their origins. For instance brouhaha definitely doesn’t seem to fit in with the English language but there it is. Last night I ran across an origin for a word I had never thought twice about. The word teamsters I had always assumed was just some reference to them being a union. When historically teamsters comes from the term teaming in the 19th centure(possibly earlier, but I am not sure) which was defined roughly as “driving a cart for hire.”

It’s definitely been interesting reading some older books, in this case Bram Stoker’s Dracula, that have been annotated and end up teaching you something new.

Has it really been a year?

paleck — Wed, 09 May 2007 04:28:19 +0000

As I lie here(yes I am that lazy that I am posting from my Wii ) unable to sleep………again, I just remembered that today is the one year anniversary of this blog. So I figured I should probably post something(I’ll add a picture of fireworks or something tomorrow). Since typing long entries with a single button remote on an on-screen keyboard can be a bit tedious, please forgive any grammatical/spelling errors and just chock it up to pure and unfettered laziness. I always had high hopes for this blog, that I would write in it a couple times a week and be filled a with all sorts of of and insightful commentary. Instead you have recieved whatever 6 randomized thoughts that I thought somehow belonged together at the time I wrote it. Even better is that I somehow managed 30 or 40 of them and no one developed cancer or died of brain rot reading them. In spite of the tone you think I am taking I am actually quite proud of this endeavor. Generally speaking I hate writing, especially when I don’t have to. Somehow when I was excited or disgusted enough with the subject matter, it didn’t seem like such a chore. Some posts didn’t even start off as posts, rather they started as a jumble of thoughts that scribbled were onto a post-it or typed into notepad. Well my arm is startting to get tired of meticulously aiming the remote so for Goodnight.

I miss…

paleck — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:15:00 +0000

The days when the never-ending news cycle didn't have to report every worthless thing that no one cares about.
The days when every other channel wasn't filled to the brim with reality shows that nobody cared about.
When driving a car didn't require a taking require taking out a loan to fill the tank with gas.
How every little event in the world is politicized but one special interest group or another.
Non-homogenized radio with something new to listen to besides the top 10 bands of the day.
Not having to worry about how one person or another was going to try and screw me.
When frivolous lawsuits like the McDonald's hot coffee one were almost unheard of.
Not having to choose my words so carefully for fear of offending the wrong person.
Being able to read a book or two a week without neglecting some responsibility.
When you didn't have to use listen to or read the news with a 10lb bag of salt.
The days when companies didn't try to squeeze every last cent out of you.
Sitting out on the porch listening and smelling a Texas thunderstorm.
I miss not having two cell phones ringing at once with call waiting.
I miss not getting enough mail to have cut down a small forest.
When Intellect and not stupidity still counted for something.
Sitting in front of campfire with marshmallows on a stick.
Learning something new everyday simply for the fun of it.
Having enough time and energy to have a life.
The days when common sense prevailed.
The days of peace within my family.
Throwing rocks on a pond.
When life seemed simpler.
My sister's innocence.
My dad.

Nuke’em before they nuke you

paleck — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:10:00 +0000

They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther!

Capt Jean-Luc Picard – Enterprise-E – Star Trek: First Contact

For some reason I have been wanting to post that quote for weeks. Everytime that I read/watch the news especially when it is relating to North Koreas and their nuclear testing, Iran and their nuclear technology aspirations and any news story relating to terrorism seems to trigger it. It seems like the last few decades there is a general inclination to avoid conflict….ANY conflict, and if for some reason there is a conflict to end it no matter what.

It seems that after World War II, once Japan attacked us and pulled us into the fray, that no one except minor terrorists dared to attack us. Now it seems to me that we have lost our reputation. Think about North Korea’s failed ballistic missle test that was supposed to fly towards Hawaii, but not hit us. Think about Mexico challenging us because we decided to build a border fence on our own soil.

I don’t say this to piss people off or to say that we should go to war and prove that we are not weak. I say this to show that the general impression that we have been giving off is that we like running away from a fight, especially when it gets to hard or the media, and in turn thepublic, doesn’t like it. Like I said these are just the thoughts that have been swimming through my mind threatening to drown me unless I let them out.

Although I personally haven’t decided whether I still agree with the war in Iraq(I did initially for the record), I still believe it is of the utmost importance to finish what we started. If we run away from Iraq now leaving it in the chaos then the next time we are attacked, either by another country or by terrorists, the war will be over before it even begins.

P.S. The title is a joke not a suggested course of action!!!

They’ve stolen what little fun there was

paleck — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 23:10:00 +0000

This is getting a little more than slightly aggravating. Ever since the last few election fiascos where ~~George Bush was elected~~ overeager and mediocre reporters, news anchors and strategists called the elections before the votes were even counted. This year no one is releasing any exit poll information until after that areas’ polls are officially closed. This is the most asinine thing they could have done. They’ve already taken away alcohol during elections, the only thing left was the hourly updates compiled from the exit polls. Followed a few minutes later by some pseudo-analyst trying to explain how one issue/canidate/referendem/etc flopped in 60 minutes. This has got to be the most boring election ever, since there is nothing to keep me entertained throughout the day other than the inane jabber of strategists and pollsters that pretend like they actually know what the rest of us think.

In all seriousness though, exit polls were never the problem. The problem came that some one looked at their exit polling data and decided to call the election and claim the election was over, before the the ballots had even been brought back to the elections commision to be counted. Just give me back my hourly exit polling so I have something…..anything and this time WAIT until the official results have come out before you claim anyone has won.

A lousy excuse for poetry

paleck — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 18:45:23 +0000

Lights twinkling in a sea of night
Like fireflies darting to and fro
The roar of the ocean down the open road
Reminds me that off to bed I should go

Stop & Smell The Roses

paleck — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 03:33:00 +0000

Too often it’s easy to keep ourselves so busy running from place to place, event to event and crisis to crisis that we forget to take a timeout from everyday life. This past weekend I had the chance to attend a wedding of one my Pledge Brothers from my fraternity. It took place at Snowbird a local ski resort about 12 miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon. But even those 12 miles make all the difference in the world.

If it hasn’t already loaded in a few seconds a picture of the scenery surrounding snowbird will appear. I had forgotten how much I miss the smell of the trees, the sounds of the birds in the trees and the mountain air that is free from the smell of burnt gasoline(and at least 20 degrees cooler than the valley). Take a few minutes look at the picture, let them take you back to a similar place, and post your thoughts or describe your memories in the comments.