In the Star Trek universe, the Vulcans are the first alien race to make contact with the people of Earth.  Because of a tumultuous history they changed their society so that it values reason and logic above all other things.  They are intelligent, compelling an although humans are not capable of the level of computer-like reason, their influence ushers a new golden age on Earth as old prejudices and handicaps fade in to the past.

I’ve always admired the Vulcans and their main representative in the Star Trek series, Spock.  He looks at situations logically, analyzes them, draws conclusions, proposes solutions and works extremely hard to ensure the right outcome succeeds even if it means he has to make the ultimate sacrifice.

We really need to take a page from the Vulcans with some of the greatest issues of our day.  There’s a decided lack of logic applied to our problems and even if some stray observer were to view an issue logically, the cacophony of our assembled and easily swayed masses would certainly drown it out.

There are a few issues in this country which especially get me fired-up.  These are 1)The War on Drugs, 2) the heath care crisis 3) The War on Terror 4) education 5) the economy.  I get fired up because huge debates rage about these issues and then absolutely nothing changes, except occasionally when a more irrational and unstable position gets implemented.

The most important thing that needs to be decided when looking at these issues logically is “What is the desired result?”

On a broader level, these all get to what we think is a healthy, functioning and prosperous society.  But on a more specific level let’s just say the goal of the War on Drugs should be a society free of drug related crime and as few lives destroyed by addiction as possible.  The questions we need to ask are how to we achieve that goal most efficiently. Is it by funding various armed conflicts across our continent or by legalization or criminalization or some other means?

It’s winter, it’s cold.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the winter lately, what I hate about it and what I like about it.  There are certain days when I wish I was in L.A. and there are other days where I wish I was in Vermont.   There are three main varieties of cold winter days.

• gray winter days –  these are the days when there’s a blanket of gray clouds that hovers over us.  This is distinguished from gray days in other times of the year by the visible contours of the cloud bottoms.  The yellow light of the sun might even be visible on the horizon below the blanket of clouds.  These days are the perfect compliment to a harsh urban setting.  Bleakness on top of despair.  When it’s particularly cold, you might see some flurries but it’s not a snowy weather system.
• sunny winter days – glorious blue skies might be punctuated with puffy white clouds that are blown from northwest to southeast by a strong wind.  these clouds traveled from western New York or Canada on the back of arctic temperatures.  These days won’t erode your optimism or worsen your disposition if you remain in the sunlight.
• snowy winter days – the moisture in the air crystallizes and you know snow will come. The clouds that loomed ominously before loose the sheen and move higher.  A stray flake might blow past you, then two, then three and then suddenly it’s snowing.  These days are best spent inside but sometimes you have to shovel the sidewalk or get your car out of the snow.

These all have their perks.  One thing that’s nice is when you’re in a warm café or restaurant and it’s so warm inside that the windows fog up.  Another thing that’s nice is eating a hearty stew like kimchi stew or Irish beef stew.  I have a tradition of watching The Empire Strikes Back on the first day that it snows (which hasn’t yet happened this winter).  I’ve been doing that since I was a kid and really having an excuse to watch one of my favorite movies.

Mostly though, I dislike the winter.  While summer seems so full of possibilities winter seems so full of hindrances.

So here’s the obligatory New Year’s Resolutions post on my blog.   I just took a look at last year’s resolutions, and I think – for the most part – I’ve accomplished the things on the list.  The one that’s going to stay on my list for this year is “think hard about my future.”  We should probably always be doing this but I find myself still at that crossroads of my early life.  I’m still trying to figure out the right career path.  I want something fulfilling and interesting.  It’s hard to get that in motion though, or to be given the opportunity to try totally new things, but I know if I focus on it I’ll find something.

Besides that, I think there’s a lot more tangible things I want to do by the end of 2012.

1. Think about my future.
2. WORK on my future.
3. Write a lot.
4. Cook at home more, bring my lunch.
5. SHOOT A RIFLE.
6. Run a marathon (don’t know which one yet).
7. Do more push-ups. Do them properly.
8. See some more of the U.S.A.  - I’d like to do a road-trip through the South or the Northwest, but even going to the Adirondacks would be great.

Just a couple of months ago, I made a box of macaroni and cheese and had that alone for dinner.  I ate it but felt a deep dissatisfaction.  I thought that maybe this was it – I would give up eating boxed macaroni and cheese.   It had become flat and sad and – worst of all – unpalatable.

This was no small epiphany for me.  Macaroni and cheese had long been one of my favorite dishes since I was a child.  When I was eight or nine years old I first started cooking by making boxes of Kraft.  And even as I got older and my palate became more sophisticated and I really became a decent cook, I would always come back to the box of macaroni and cheese.  And when I lived in Korea, boxes of macaroni and cheese sent by care packages became an even more potent symbol of home and comfort.  But since I’ve been back, I’ve soured on the dish.

I am sort of broke.  I don’t have a lot of money coming in and I need to be more thrifty with my food.  On my way home from my part-time job, I was debating whether I should go to the grocery store to stock-up on things.  I was sort of dreading busting out the debit card and began thinking about what I had in my kitchen and what I could possibly make.  A box of Western Beef Macaroni and Cheese, some hot dogs, an onion, a half of a bell pepper, some scallions, cream.  I started formulating an idea.  Then I got home and realized I could cook this all in one pot, add hot sauce, pepper and  put bread crumbs on top and BAKE IT.

Dios mio, man.   I don’t know which element exactly made this work so well but I’m going to try to replicate and even enhance this thing and make it a signature classic.

It’s now almost four months since I’ve returned from a long period abroad.  It’s been great to be back.  I thought readjusting to life in America would be difficult but it hasn’t been so bad.

I was unemployed for about three weeks and then got a job doing sales at a language school, which only lasted one week.  This job did not pay me anything nor did it really seem like there was potential in it.  It was sort of a depressing week – I was really pumped to start a new job doing sales.  I thought it would be a good opportunity but there were no leads and ended up being really discouraged.  But I quit, which was empowering, and two days later found another job.

The other job I got was as an ESL teacher at a language school in Midtown – I mostly teach Western European young adults.  It’s different from my previous teaching Korean elementary school students – a lot more conversation and a lot less in-class discipline.  It was difficult at first but now I have the hang of it.  It’s a decent job, but the hours come and go with the enrollment levels, so the job lacks a sense of permanence, which maybe is a good thing.

I was hoping that I’d fall in to something interesting and be able to start a serious career doing something but I’m still uncertain about which course to take and find myself in a holding pattern.  It’s not so terrible, but I’d like to get moving on something.  I don’t really know how one goes about figuring this thing out – I’d like to try out some more jobs.  What jobs? How will I get them?  I don’t know.  I don’t know.