omar eduardo’s blog

The real highlights of my recent life are mostly taekwondo related. Within the past three weeks we had two INCTL tournaments, one hosted by our team at MIT, while the second one was hosted by Cornell University. The season has so far been be very challenging, since all teams are training to the best of their abilities and giving it their all in the ring. That’s what makes it exciting at the same time.

That being said, our team won the tournament we hosted, while Cornell University’s team won their own tournament. After both tournaments, however, the overall standings of the league favor MIT by 32 points (Cornell is second with 1011 cumulative points).

My personal contribution? Being there to spar heavy guys. Some of them slightly heavier than me, others… simply massive. One of the guys I lost to was so massive I thought I was sparring the Great Wall, except that it moved.

My two last matches at the Cornell tournament taught me two important lessons:

1) Trust your training, challenges that might have defeated you in the past are within reach now.
2) There are bigger challenges to face that you should keep training for.

I’m looking forward to keep training and improve my taekwondo overall. There is definitely something unique about taekwondo, and it’s not worth it to even attempt to describe the feeling.

Outside of taekwondo…

I keep learning and growing everyday from my interactions with my close friends, and even from interactions with not-so-close friends. I’ve realized how much I treasure the time I spend with the people closest to me, even if sometimes it seems too short.

I don’t think many people understand me or my feelings/thoughts, and sometimes I wish that this wasn’t the case since it could make some of my relationships much stronger and enriching. However, I wouldn’t want to turn a ‘casual’ friendship into an ‘awkward’ one by trying to explain myself or my feelings to someone that might not understand/appreciate them. I don’t blame anyone for not understanding me or being able to correspond to my feelings, for these things are natural and we can’t all think/feel the same way. Relationships in general are pretty irrational, and this uncertainty is what makes them so special. It’s all about finding that person that resonates with you.

I do have friends that understand me, and it makes me happy to have people like them around me. It’s nice to have people who don’t judge you based on trivial things and not-so-trivial things that you can’t change — I feel genuinely happy around them. I can’t complain about my life, because even if I miss some friends, and even if not all things can be like I’d like, I enjoy genuine and pure friendships with the people that surround me.

It hurts to think about how things could be, but it helps to see the good things of how things are.

If you haven’t done so already, go vote for Obama. We need this.
I can’t vote, but I’m hoping you will exert your right to vote for me.

-Omar

A friend’s friend I met not long ago wrote the following note. I want to share this with you since I find myself interested in American people and how, after 8 years of George W. Bush, people don’t realize that America really doesn’t need another 4 years of pretty much the same, i.e. John McCain.

Back at home we always used to think that America was a very advance society. We taught that people here were educated, and voting for Obama instead of McCain would be a simple decision to make. But apparently… not. If John McCain wins the elections my faith in America will be destroyed. How do we expect this country to prosper and gain stability if the people we choose to lead the nation are not prepared for it? McCain & Palin are definitely not the answer to America’s problems. Obama & Biden, however, they represent change and prosperity.

Here’s the note by Anne Stevenson:

Boy was I nostalgic for those days tonight as I walked out the supermarket door with 6 bags in hand and $150 poorer. But I guess that’s what happens when you elect Mr. Crabs from Spongebob Squarepants as your president.

So anyways, I have some nuggets that I need to write about because otherwise I might blow up after what I witnessed today at the trailer park while out fighting the good fight for Shaheen/Obama.

1. If you are a Democrat reading this, especially one in battleground or red state, YOU NEED TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR FOR EVERY NEWS PAPER IN YOUR AREA THIS WEEK AND TELL PEOPLE TO VOTE DEMOCRAT. Take this note and post it on your profile and tag everyone you know and tell them to write a letter too. This is imperitive because there are other closet cross overs, independents, and Dems who need some encouragement and reassurance to vote Obama. I did this and I already heard back from one editor, so hopefully that will be printed this week. Don’t go getting all fancy because anyone who’s undecided obviously hasn’t been paying a lot of attention to politics and needs shit boiled down for them. I’ve taken the liberty of creating a template that you are totally welcome to plagerize, and maybe it will spark some ideas about what you might like to say:

Dear Editor:

As a native of _____, I’m worried that will continue declining in Republican hands. Like most families, I’m not a politician and don’t have a Washington lobbyist. I’m a mom getting by OK at a 9-5 job, which mightn’t be there with the next round of lay-offs.

McCain and raised taxes on families and small businesses while cutting taxes to zero for corporations shipping jobs overseas. They deregulated Wall Street for corporate profits, crashed our economy, and now their hands are out for $750 MILLION taxpayer bailout. Then Republicans call Obama a “Socialist” for using taxes for family healthcare, mortgages, and protecting our IRA’s?

If they’re reelected, we won’t have jobs, homes, or personal property to collect taxes on. We should for policies affecting the tax bracket we’re ACTUALLY in and get something back, not the one we WISH we’re in. I’ll never have to worry about having my CEO salary capped or megacorporation taxed. Millionaire McCain only visits to campaign, and he will never have to worry about losing any of his houses to shady lenders. It’s time he joined us in the unemployment line he made so long.

Barack Obama and will realize ’s potential by cutting taxes for families and small businesses. Obama’s a dad who knows our struggles with a proven record of keeping taxes low, creating jobs, getting our kids kindergarten and healthcare, and growing our economy. Obama cares and fights for working families because he comes from one. In Washington, President Obama will continue hearing us and make us proud.

Sincerely,

ANY VOTER IN THEIR RIGHT MIND

2. Today I got kicked out of a trailer park, which was an experience that only America’s finest get to have. I like to think it’s because I’m to classy, but there’s that lingering doubt that I might just be too WT to hang out in a place where people keep their aluminum homes on cinder blocks, the car on the lawn because it’s not as drivable, and I don’t have cigarette smoke, cat, and Glade air freshner exuding through my pores. But what ever.

Here’s how it all went down:

So Reece and I are out banging on doors and spreading the Liberal cheer and it’s not going well. Out of the 9 houses we hit, 7 were McCain supporters, one was undecided, and the other didn’t speak English. Each time, my head kind of cocked to the side, I would just say “So you’re OK with the economy being in shambles and everyone losing their jobs and homes for the next four years at least?” And each time, the answer is the same:

“Obama and Shaheen want to raise our taxes.”

It’s a short fall from trailer park to city park here people, and you won’t have to worry about paying taxes on that park bench you’ll be sleeping on. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the aluminum housing market is not experiencing the equity boom it once was thanks to the financial market deregulation ushered in by your favorite flag waving candidate with the supersized jowls. But being that we are in a rural trailer park in NH, I’m sure these are just corporate fat cats in disguise who are choosing to live modestly like their favorite Wal-Mart mom Sarah Palin as we humble New Englanders often do.

That was the sentiment radiating from the crazy lady who kicked Reece and I out of the park. She pulled up behind us and gave me a lecture about how we could be arrested for trespassing on private property and asked us to leave. “You know some people choose to live in this park specifically because they don’t want to be bothered by political campaigns.”

Again, my head tilted to the side and for a moment I was looking her dead in the face and waiting for her to bust out laughing after she said that. Honey, people don’t live in Shady Pines Trailer Court because Shady Pines Trailer Court is the only elite gated community in the area capable of safeguarding their political autonomy. Sorry hun, I’m calling bullshit on that one. So I was like “Fine, you just get back in your house and drive off and I’ll be on my way”. Unbelievable.

3. That’s all I can write tonight because I have to go to work tomorrow morning and do a bang up job so I don’t get laid off.

WRITE THE LETTER TO THE EDITOR!!!

There is no reason to vote for John McCain, and anyone that thinks about it should arrive at this conclusion. Here’s a video you should watch:

RescueTime

Now this is one useful (& FREE) application for people like me. If you wonder what happened with all those hours of ‘free time’ you had this week, this application will tell you exactly what happened to the hours you spent using your computer.

How long did you really spend on Facebook? What about checking your e-mails? Talking to people over IM? Photoshopping those pimples out of your profile picture? This software will tell you how much time you really spent doing each of these (with a ~95% accuracy).

I thought it was a pretty neat idea considering the amount of time I spend using my computer, this gorgeous iMac that probably sees my face longer than anyone/anything else, sadly.

Just check it out and ‘Rescue’ some of your time, if you want, otherwise just be aware of where it went!

-Omar

Although I can only sit to watch TV for a limited amount of time (unless it’s something completely amazing, or a movie), I must say that I’m infatuated by the Olympics. The opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was simply breathtaking, a surreal spectacle that I watched twice and still couldn’t believe it. The entire thing was a masterpiece. Of course, it would have been better to watch it without NBC’s English commentaries, which actually made things worst, or with the couple of times in which they decided to focus on Bush rather than the actual event. But ignoring those instances, the event was just majestic. The fireworks, the tai chi demonstration, the huge screen projecting beautiful imagery, the art, the performances, the costumes, and, of course, Sarah Brightman and Liu Huan’s “You and Me” performance… everything was spectacular. Each part was so well executed and planned that I had to remind myself that no, it wasn’t a movie, and yes, this happened on Earth. I felt like a kid again, and a very excited one. 

Now I’m looking forward to the Taekwondo events. The Puerto Rico team has 2 taekwondoists in their team of 22, so I definitely wouldn’t want to miss those matches. I’m also packing everything and cleaning up to move to my friend’s place for two weeks, and then to my new apartment! It’s an eventful end of the summer.

-Omar