Paul Lumsdaine

Sometimes I get a craving for Del Taco and I can’t quite explain why. So I decided to walk down to the one on Lake and Union, close enough to my office to walk to. The whole journey down Colorado I’m thinking about how tired i am of being broke, not having enough cash to get an apartment down here, to eat at the Ruths Chris I pass by, to afford the Range Rover that pulls up at the valet… I stumble in to del taco and notice a guy sitting in the corner with shifty eyes. He’s mumbling to himself and I think, oh man there’s another freak. I get my 49 cent burritos and sit down to enjoy them.

Now freaks in this joint are part of the decor– that’s what you get for having cheap food on a major street down the road from the metro. But this guy was unusually freakish, continuing to talk to himself and stumble around, asking for water and then spilling it all over himself. I just wonder what this guy is on or is withdrawing from or how the hell he got here in the first place. I also felt like a jerk for even thinking that I am broke– sure I might not be as rich as others but I am also not as emotionally, mentally, physically and monetarily broke as this guy here.

He’s still outside right now as I’m writing this, casing the joint, waiting for some spare change to go back in and buy another $1.08 worth of pseudo-Mexican fare. I don’t know his story but sure as hell know that I don’t want to end up like him. Man. I’m not THAT broke.

Met up with my good buddy John Sagredo who I never get to see sinc he moved to Phoenix. We headed over to the new Bobs Big Boy in Downey, that is actually a renovation of the old Johnny’s Broiler. It was Decked out in 50′s diner fashion and stayed true to the old school decor. It was good seeing John and talking web with him. Feels like old times.

Headed to the GNR on Sunday to catch a glimpse of Chris Richardson’s from LA Speed Shop and to check out some amazing cars. I was chilling with photobyjj most of the time, checking put the scene. I got to meet a lot of cool people and hope to see them again. Got into a crazy love triangle with Dean and Matt from DicE mag and took a closeup of the sweet silver inlay work that James did on Chris’ chopper. Good experience overall.

The recent disaster in Haiti has prompted me to learn more about the island country. It seems overly apparent that the media is trying to bolster support for Haiti by texting campaigns (Im sure the cell providers love this) and regular donations to the salvation army. Throwing money at a problem sometimes does help bring about solutions, and in this case it might generate enough public and private funds to help the nation rebuild.

But why should Americans care about Haiti? Well, here is a nicely put sentence from Wikipedia that says it all: “It was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion”. The history and rise of this island nation from the depths of slavery make it a prime example of the triumphs achieved through democracy and a positive outcome in the fight for independence.

Because Haiti came to rise independently, it has sustained much of its cultural heritage through the years. Their culture serves as a look into the history of European exploration / exploitation, the forced migration of Africans and the strong influence of other Latin American customs that have spread throughout the world.

However, if we really want to save Haitians, we cannot simply through money at the problem, or worse yet, let the IMF come in and restructure the nation. There needs to be some serious thought put into how we help rebuild this country, and the UN needs to step up and guide this mission. The US has a lot on their plate right now, and can offer much in terms of food and finance, but cannot have all its attention diverted from other pressing issues.

How I wish we could just end those wars against terror to help battle real terror when it strikes, like a natural disaster that kills over 50,000 people and leaves hundreds of thousands stranded without shelter, food and water. America definitely needs to get its priorities straight if we want to return to being a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.

Took a quick look at Boxee.tv today. Wow, it is more than amazing. I have a dedicated machine just to my TV that doesnt get as much use as I would like. I have been using media center quite extensively to watch instant movies via Netflix and to watch DVDs I’ve bought and backed up onto my PC. But now that I have seen what Boxee has to offer, its going to be a an easy switch to Boxee. The integration with social nets (and netflix) is a smart feature for TV based PCs. It basically does everything that media center can do, but runs on any platform. So if I wanted to plug my laptop into my tv, it wouldn’t be hard to set it up for quick movie watching or for a family photo slideshow.

When you get a chance, check out Boxee.tv.

Here’s a quick Howcast video on how to get started with Boxee.

So I was listening to NPR and there was an interview with a sports columnist who was talking about Mark Sanchez, the quarterback for the Jets. He said something to the effect that he is good for football because he is a “Latino”. It seemed hard for him to say the word and I was surprised he used that term instead of “Hispanic” which is widely misused by many people. But the next sentence he came back and said how Mr Sanchez would be a great role model for “Hispanics”. I found it odd that he used one term to describe the man himself and then another to describe an ethnic group as a whole.

So why didn’t he just say “Latinos”? Well I have a theory that white people in general don’t know what to say when referring to Latinos. When I was young, I was taught that Hispanic was the correct term to use when referring to anyone coming from central or south america. However, after taking a Chicano studies class at UCSB I learned that it should only be Hispanic if it’s someone from Spain. And even then it is an antiquated term.

I think white people (or Caucasians) just don’t know what to call Latinos and so they just revert back to what they learned as kids. I catch myself saying it from time to time and always correct myself.

Just randomnly went to this place called Viet Huong in El Monte area. It was really good! It was in a weird area, surrounded by auto repair shops and run down residences. However the place itself was really nice, like an oasis in a kind of run down area.

One thing that set this place apart was their kindness and sincerity. We ordered vegetarian spring rolls which had a nice crunch in them and were served with a uniquely delicious peanut sauce. From there on it just got better when I got my vegetarian bun with crispy yet well marianated tofu.

The best part was when we got the check and it was only $20. That’s an appetizer and two meals for about $10 each. A really good deal.

It was a good experience to find a good place that wasn’t within my normal stomping ground.