Breakfast in San Diego

We're sleepy

SeaWorld Trip

We visited SeaWorld last Saturday and Sunday.

Tao of Pooh

if you haven't read this little gem of humor, you should. you can take in its simple bits of wisdom for yourself or use it to teach the principles of taoism to your kids.

shopping for shoes

i decided i'd take a step into getting back into style by buying a new pair of sneakers. after searching online and trying on a few pairs, my feet finally settled into skechers tao 4 striped sneakers. i think they're a comfortable fit for my feet as well as my persona.

here's the amazon.com description of the tao shoe: "Designed for everyday wear, the Tao from Skechers is a modern oxford with a sleek, urban feel. As comfortable as it is stylish, the Tao features a lightweight rubber outsole over the covered EVA midsole, and a padded collar and footbed for all day support. Wear it with jeans or chinos."

a pair of skechers eminence fashion sneakers was a close runner-up. patricia liked this pair better. i guess i might change my mind. anybody have an opinion?

insomnia writings

i've never had insomnia until recently.

just watched the preview for the movie southlandtales (moby did the
soundtrack, so i have to see it). has an interesting apocalyptic feel
to it. another take on what the future holds for us. the end is near,
and all that jazz.

it isn't over until the fat lady sings.

so i'll keep writing. (who reads this crap anyway?)

i haven't written much lately, since i've made yet another switch in
my career, except e-mails. (i love my new job by the way.) but i used
to write or edit dozens of articles. i should write one just to keep
my skills up. i've got to continue writing.

without having any writing deadlines, i actually have time to start
thinking about something else besides work. in fact, since i'm always
answering questions about health, i find myself thinking of my own and
of my family's.

my grandfather, nono, is here in my house with me. he has all kinds of
minor health problems. can't go to the bathroom. goes to much to the
bathroom. he's losing his memory. his stomach hurts if he doesn't eat.
his stomach hurts if he does eat. he thinks he has prostate cancer all
the time.

the old guy's pretty healthy, though. a couple of days ago he walked
20 blocks, just around town. he found some cute old mexican gal to
flirt with too. he still thinks about those things.

drinks mate all the time and, when he can find it, a little red wine.

i picked up this writing style from moby's blog. i can usually pick up
a little of the style of what i happen to be reading and go with that.

a favorite is isabel allende. she's so colorful with her descriptions.
her stuff is so entertaining, even if it is all soap operas.

i think i just heard patricia wake up. she'll come over wondering what
i'm up to at 1 a.m. on the comp. maybe it was just my dog, lucy.

i also think about my head. all the things going on in my head. it's a
long, complex thing to think about. i told joe i had a
deconstructionist's mind.

i deconstruct everything. taking everything apart can be quite
confusing. i don't know if i'm absolutely set on any specific idea. i
don't seem to have any kind of conviction of anything. that's not to
say i don't live by certain guidelines. i do. i just think about what
it is to not have guidelines. my mind doesn't seem to have a set
philosophy.

i do try to stick to the most advantageous action of any situation. i
tend to obey a law of max profit with minimum risk. but, frankly, if
it's too much to think about...

my mind needs to be more disciplined. it needs more practice. it needs
chess. it doesn't need ramblings going on inside of it.

i have been learning lots of things lately. i've been reading,
writing, etc. as always. sometimes i just think a lot. think until i
can't sleep.

when i couldn't sleep tonight, i went to a small mexican fast food
hole where everyone spoke arizonan and there was no way i could relate
to anyone. i couldn't even understand how people could live like they
do. their whole life is limited by an immediate apperception of how to
act and be. and that is to hang out at a hole and talk about how they
wish they'd be asleep or drinking.

where am i? i'm wondering if a better life would be to hang out at a
hole and talk about how i wish i was asleep or drinking.

gosh, i probably should sleep. i slept in today, that's the problem.

my mind's been haunted by a thousand memories and wondering where i've
gone to. i need to start creating more memories, better memories.

i know this blog is all over the place. this is called free-flow writing.

i have fantastic childhood memories. almost all of them are about
traveling and the places i've visited. every time i tried something
new, that sticks out as a memorable moment. i should start getting my
kids away from the tv and trying new things every day. usually we go
to restaurants, the library or bookstore.

it's not enough.

we've planned a trip to sea world next week. i hope it helps the
happiness in my home.

ok, my mind just stopped thinking.

david

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids were in Utah (we missed you), but Patricia and I had
Thanksgiving at our house with Nono, Marcos and Jimena.

We had:

- Nono's turkey (I didn't eat any)
- Tofurky (for me) with embedded cranberry and stuffing
- Green beans and asparagus with almond cream
- David's homemade cranberry sauce (with orange juice, orange and
lemon zest, and almonds, mmm... try it)
- Candied sweet potato with dried cranberry and pecans
- Apple cranberry pecan almond stuffing
- Cherie's salmon lemon recipe (special thanks to Cherie's recipe book)
- Cherie's Cornbread recipe
- Nona's au gratin Potatoes
- Aunt Jolene's rum cake (with a coconut oil twist to limit our butter intake)
- Patricia's chocolate pie
- Patricia's pecan pie
- Chilean smoked trout (exclusive at Whole Foods)
- Jimena's tomato salad
- Jimena's peach ice cream
- Apple raspberry juice
- Apple mango passion fruit juice

Yum!

Jorn Dyerberg (newest hero)

Jorn Dyerberg is the pioneer who pioneered DHA/EPA omega-3 fatty acid
effects on the body's blood lipids. He spent months in Greenland
living among the indigenous Inuit so he could discover why their
cardiovascular health was better than Danish and U.S. counterparts.
He's also very humble and funny.

David

Paris Las Vegas

As a baptism by fire in my new job, I attended the SupplySide West
show in Las Vegas. Loved it! I got to meet many of our suppliers and
learned a whole lot. I learned about DHA/EPA omega-3s, the detailed
process of shipping herbs to the States, how CoQ10 works in the body,
new FDA regs, etc.

But Patricia had fun too. She took a lot of pictures and roamed about
the Paris hotel where we stayed and Venetian where the show was. We
ate at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris (our favorite, but no pics), La
Creperie at Paris (wonderful crepes), and Tao at Venetian (classy,
club atmosphere and expensive). We also went to the Mandalay Bay hotel
one night to see if we could get a glimpse of Latin Grammys, but
instead all we saw is a bunch of people trying to get a glimpse too.

David

More Saguaro Lake Pics

Pato and Torie

Saguaro Lake

Here's some pictures of our last trip with the grandparents to Saguaro
Lake. Ryan and Summer, and Marcos
--
David

Patricia's eyes

These are the eyes I fell in love with.

David

Nono Danger Alert!

I believe our slightly deranged little tanguero of a grandfather is
starting to lose his short-term memory. Watch out! He forgets to turn
things off!

Keep this between us, because well, you know how he is.

I mean, we've all heard the story of how he almost burned down his
apartment building, but I imagined it was just a fluke. When just a
few weeks ago he left the stove on again and burned my favorite
thermos, I thought "fluke again".

But we had Nono over last night and today for Thanksgiving and I think
differently now.

1. In the middle of the night, Nono decided to roast a turkey. He put
the turkey in the oven, sat on the couch, and promptly fell asleep.
The oven was on all night. (Don't tell him I told you.)
2. He turned on the sink to wash dishes. Then he walked away and left
it running right into the drain.
3. He turned on the bathroom sink to do that thing you do. He left it
on for hours before Patricia realized.
4. Today the oven was turned on, and so he opened it to put his turkey
in to warm up. He left it open. Awhile later, after I came over to the
kitchen and closed the oven, he remembered why it was open.
5. He leaves the stove on a lot. He uses it to heat his hands up or to
heat up water for maté. I have a gas stove, which is more dangerous.
Thank goodness for the whistle on my kettle.

I feel like I have to follow Nono around my house turning things off.
Soon we're going to need a Nono-sitter. I'm not sure he can be left by
himself.

I'm pretty forgetful too. Am I going to end up like this? I guess I
better start taking my Ginkgo biloba.

David

The illegal immigrant next door

Read this. You owe it to yourself to understand the current politics surrounding immigration. Many of us have friends that are illegal immigrants.

For the last 20 years, the U.S. has had a hypocritical system of denying entry to Mexicans knowing full well they would come in illegally. You don't believe me? For those 20 years, business law stated you had to collect Social Security Numbers to pay taxes, but there was no need to actually check if they were valid.

So in Mexico, this is what people were taught: The U.S. wants you to come work and work illegally; this benefits their economy. It did benefit the economy. Why? Because it created a lower-class people within the U.S. (similar to slaves) who could be worked for little pay and had no rights. The economy grew and grew, with the small setback of illegals using a hospital without insurance everyonce in awhile.

Why do I say the illegals have no rights?

Let's say you're a poor illegal-immigrant woman. You might be married and have children. You have good credit. You have a house. You have a good job. You work hard, but it's worth it to live in the U.S. Then one day, your manager treats you wrongly. In fact, he takes advantage of you. He rapes you. Do you call the police? What if they find out your illegal? You might lose everything!

The easy way out for the U.S. is to not deal with these issues. Get on a high horse and say you came in "illegally" so get out. Let's put up a fence.

I'm all for the fence idea. We need to keep drugs out, terrorists out, etc.

But after the fence, give the people already in the country a chance. Let them stay. Let them come out of the dark. Also, as long as there are jobs available, open up immigration. When there aren't anymore jobs, they'll stop coming and go somewhere else. We all would do the same as them. I know I would.

I'm not an immigration lawyer, but I have illegal immigrant friends, and those are my thoughts.

Torie Baptism

David

Halloween Pics

Aster was Harry Potter
Kelsea was Hermoine (and looked just like her)
Torie was a sock hop girl (she learned the dance and everything)

David

Alan Greenspan

Here's the new book I'm reading. Greenspan's a genius. I feel like I now know a lot more about the country I live in.

My New Job

Hi family and friends,

Here's some happy news from me if you're interested at all. In a
completely unexpected turn of events, my dream job fell into my lap.

Back when I first started university classes, my original intention
was to study to work in a scientific field (biology). I took biology
classes, but with as single dad I didn't have enough time to really
pursue a degree.

I did earn a bachelor's degree in English instead (which came more
naturally to me), but the emphasis of my learning was on writing
technical research papers. I figured if I couldn't be a scientist, I'd
learn how to write papers for scientists.

Well, today I started as the manager of technical projects for
Isagenix's research and development department.

What does this mean? It means I work under the direction of Bill
Wheeler, Ph.D., who is Isagenix's Chief Science Officer. Bill has
asked me to write scientific research papers (executive summaries) on
his work with Isagenix nutritional products, to help develop and
improve them, and also to partially oversee label production.

I'll be learning a lot. Bill has quite a bit of experience. He has
published more than 276 scientific articles. He was the staff
nutritionist for President Reagan and President Carter. He also
advises professional athletes about nutrition and dietary supplements:
the Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc.

Before this change (for those that didn't know) I was Isagenix's
editor/manager of communications since May 2005. Chiefly doing
marketing/PR/journalism work, I managed the company's external and
internal newsletters.

Before that (for those that didn't know) I worked in a completely
unrelated field at Morgan Stanley for six years as a registered
securities broker.

David

Story Published

Chandler Republic published my short “community reaction” story on AZ Central: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0918cr-copreact.html

Orson Scott Card on Immigration

It's worth a complete read:
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2007-08-26-1.html
--
David

Peanut Butter Can Save the World

See how just a little peanut butter has helped curb malnutrition in
Africa http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=79736&m=1NIU913&c=jzmhfgsqdpibpkm

--
David

Boca beware

Today, River shut out Velez Sarsfield 5-0 with a hat trick from Fernando Belluschi.

Fernando Belluschi

After an amazing comeback a couple of years ago, Newell's Old Boys beat River Plate 4-2 (see video below). All this was due heavily to Fernando Belluschi, River Plate bought the player. In my opinion, he's the best player in Argentina right now. I hope Europe doesn't take him any time soon.

Pursuit of Happyness

OK, I usually try to avoid any Will Smith movie (and long e-mails),
but when my wife wanted to watch Pursuit of Happyness I joined her. It
wasn't a typical Will Smith movie.

Wow! Instead, I felt like I was watching a modified version of the
story of my own life. I couldn't believe it.

In early 2000 (the worst year of my life), I went through a nasty
divorce and was completely broke. This was made worse after an
investment that went sour.

Coincidences:

Like in the movie, I looked to getting my Series 7 brokerage license
as the only way to get my life back on track.

Like in the movie, I was also at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (the
companies had merged since the '80s and then became just Morgan
Stanley).

Like in the movie, I was also a single dad. But I was a single dad of
three kids under 5 years old (not just one).

Not like in the movie, this was in Utah. I never became homeless. I
had a salary. And I had good family and friends, which made the
biggest difference of all.

Like in the movie, I studied every moment I could for the Series 7. I
played electronic music late at night to keep me awake to learn about
stocks and bonds.

Like in the movie, I had to take my kids to day care early each
morning and pick them up at night. I had a car. I commuted from Orem
to Sandy in a beat up, old station wagon that was given to me. Later I
bought an old Montero (the wagon died).

When I passed the test (the only one in my class to even take it), I
was ecstatic, moved offices and became a trader. Ryan and his friends
moved in with me. Then I moved into the basement of my parents and
finally got custody of my kids.

Then, I found Patricia and married her in 2004. We bought a house. I
finished school. I got another job. Happy ever after!

The movie tore me up. See this movie.

David

Mormon entrepreneurship

Isagenix (my place of work) made the Inc. 5000. Proof we're growing so fast we can barely stand it.

But guess what city had the most Inc. 500 companies per million residents. The answer is... Provo, Utah. 12.7 total. (My hometown.)

Sedona photos

Our family went to Sedona with our friends Marcos, Jimena and their
two daughters. Here's some photos from Marcos's camera. I filmed so a
video will come soon.
--
David

D'alessandro, Aimar

I know no one cares, but I'm just tickled pink about watching another
season of Andres "Cabezon" D'alessandro and Pablo "Payaso" Aimar
together at Zaragoza.

Plus, Tevez at Man U.

--
David

Key to Happy Decisions

People often make really poor decisions. I'm one of them. And I blame it on three problems. My heart, mind and body. They often disagree. This happens to everybody.

The heart is fickle. It says, "I love you." Soon after, "I hate you." It makes decisions like this all the time. I love myself. I hate myself. Sometimes the heart gives good advice. Sometimes not.

The body is the most dangerous. It's the one that says to you, "hmm... she/he is hot!" The mind says, "but you'll regret it later. there's no benefit there." The heart says, "stay true to the woman you love, your wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend, fianceé, whatever." In this case, you might want to follow your heart.

The mind is logical. But it has no heart or body. Sometimes, however, it has to fix what the body and heart do.

The key to happiness is making decisions that make all three happy. When you choose a significant other, the person should be attractive to you, logically satisfactory to your mind, and someone you love.

Food. Yes, this helps with food too. Think healthy, tasty and heart? Well, you might satisfy your heart by eating in a way that is beneficial to others. Eat with your family. Eat to benefit the environment. Eat to make your girl or boyfriend happy.

What you want is passion. Your heart, mind and body can all be passionate. When you find what creates passion for all three, you've found bliss.

Jack and me

--
David

How to Enjoy Losing

Most people hate losing. It's natural to our evolution. Ingrained in
our DNA is the equation anger = fear(loss). But what if when you lose,
you actually gain? Would you see it differently?

You actually learn much more when you lose than when you win. Each loss is a lesson. Winning is simply a confirmation of a lesson learned well.
But it takes some real brain strength to enjoy losing. In any place
anywhere, however, it's a secret to success.

When you are practicing life, find ways to lose. Lose frequently. Lose
hard. Learn well. Only do this in practice. That way when real-life
battles approach, you've learned all you can.

Consider this if you are ever a children's soccer coach. Chidhood is the perfect time to teach kids the right way to handle loss. Don't let your kids be sore losers! Yes, you want them to win, but teach them to see each loss as a lesson. Celebrate each loss too.

Confessions of An Economic Hitman

I can't help but recommend Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I know that it's shrouded in controversy and considered the work of a conspiracy theorist, but the dealings of the book make a lot of sense for why there's so much mala leche between South American countries and the United States.

Read the book! Let me know what you think.

Not only is the book interesting, it's written Graham Greene style—a hero of the author—always leaving you wanting more every chapter.