It looks like I’ve finally landed an internship, working with one of the most connected persons in the state. Big opportunity for me, but I’m still a little unclear on some of the details. Hopefully, though, this means I can get by with only one (or zero) classes this term and just focus on doing the best job I can do for her.

I’m excited!

As you all know, I’m finishing up a master’s in public policy here at OSU. Now I’m starting to have to think about my essay, which is, for all intents and purposes, a master’s thesis.

I’ve bandied about a couple of ideas, first thinking about the concept of defense consciousness which I found so fascinating in Japan, but I’m not sure how exactly I could work in a policy angle. That’s more of an international security issue, though I suppose there’s some sort of sociology involved.

What I’ve started to lean toward instead–and this forces me to admit the influence this very green, very rural university has had on me–is a study of natural resource management. Essentially, I want to explore why some cultures are more protective of natural resources and more conservation minded, whereas others are willy-nilly about it. I could look at the US and China, for example, in that order. The US federal goverment has been reluctant to drill in ANWAR, has significantly restricted timber production here in Oregon, and so forth. At the same time, China is overfishing and could potentially completely deplete fish stocks in a very short period of time.

The odd thing is that there’s no cultural precedent for this in the US. China has plenty–Chinese historical culture has lots of edicts about balance, preservation, and in general, East Asians are much more nature-minded. The US has none of that–much of early American policy while expanding westward was slash and burn. So the question is, what’s the driver? Is it pluralism in the US? Have the environmentalists gained enough political clout to force this shift in American policy? Is it the command government in China–one that censors information it doesn’t like to hear, especially when it comes to feeding over a billion–to blame for bad resource management?

I think it’s interesting and a worthwhile perspective. If anyone has any ideas, please ask some questions!

I was reminded of a friend’s tattoo (link).

Yup, it covers practically her entire back, and it’s pretty damn awesome. For those who don’t know, the image of a dragon and a phoenix is the historical Chinese imperial seal. I normally don’t like ink on girls, but it’s on her back and this art is pretty damn cool.

I just realized I left a bit of a legacy behind, in more ways than one. Well, that’s overly dramatic, but the old blog format had an image, an original design based on a personal item I’d had:

I picked up this small charm from a con back in Tampa, think it was MetroCon. I was instantly struck by it since I knew immediately what it was, but at the same time, it was strangely elemental. It’s as if this would be some ancient glyph used to represent the mythical bird of rebirth and purification. Unfortunately, it got lost a little while ago, actually around the same time I changed formats, I believe. Hopefully I can find it again.

I still find it inspiring, though.

NSFW images ahoy!

No curves.

I mean, I’m sure she’s got a great personality and all, but that’s just not attractive to me. She should eat a: burger!

Seriously, I don’t understand the bone-thin phenomenon. I know some girls just have fast metabolisms and they can’t fill out much more than that, but it’s the ones who try to look that way that bother me. Almost as much as the men who are attracted to them.