Close Call

This past Friday, before my trip to Austin, I witnessed a pretty scary car accident in Houston...

I was on the very inside, left lane at a red light waiting to turn left. On my right, there was a truck also waiting to turn left (both lanes could turn left).

So, I'm looking down at my radio when I notice the truck moving in the corner of my eye (he's beginning to turn left from the outer lane). This causes me to look up and realize the protected left green arrow has come on. So, I take my foot off the brake and begin turning as well (in the inner left lane).

Next thing I see, right in front of me, is a white sedan slamming into the truck. The truck flies into the air, crashes into the road, and then flips onto its driver side. So, the driver is pinned on the ground, with the driver-side door the only thing between him and the concrete. My brain is absolutely racing right now - what the fu*k just happened?!?

A few of us ran out of our cars, called 9-1-1, and did our best to get the situation under control (comfort the truck driver through his windshield, direct traffic, etc) as we waited for police and rescue crews to come. After arriving, firefighters cut through the truck's windshield to pull the driver out and luckily, other than being in shock and trying to make sense of what had just happened to him, the guy seemed to be okay for the most part. We then provided eyewitness testimonies to police that we definitely had a protected left, which meant the white sedan had probably driven through a red light...and then went on our way.

Anyways, just wanted to share this to remind people to be very careful driving. Even when a light turns green, please take a second to make sure no cars are racing through the intersection, and more importantly, please don't try to beat yellow lights - it's just not worth it.

So relieved that I was looking down at my radio for a split second when our light turned green and hope the truck driver is doing okay wherever he is.

At Peace in Austin, TX

I'm in Austin this weekend for a very chill weekend with Jennifer and her siblings. I love coming back here, a place where I learned so much about life, especially the art of striving to be free as a bird :)

Despite my love for Austin, I must admit that I've been a little over-cynical during post-college trips back here. Sure, I still love this city inside-out, but I also tend to overanalyze and be critical of how much the city has changed from when I lived here. This time around, I'm finally being a good sport and just accepting the fact that this city has moved on without me (sniff, sniff). Quite simply, Austin has a new (and bigger) flock of Austinites and will continue to grow and reinvent itself with each passing day, just as it did while I was here.

Tomorrow, we're planning to run at Town Lake, waste an hour or two at one of my favorite coffee spots (Jo's), and then grab a simple dinner somewhere in north Austin. After all is said and done, we'll probably be home for the night an hour or two before midnight. So, just as Austin has evolved, so have I, and I'm coming to realize I should be happy that neither of us remained too stagnant over the years.

Ahh, at peace in Austin, Texas - just the way I remember this place...

• Peeing next to dumpsters behind Sixth Street bars
• Puking next to aforementioned dumpsters so that I could return to bars and drink more
• Taking a dump inside the women's bathroom at Aquarium. Wait. What? Huh? Nevermind.
• Running out of gas and trying to jump in an Accord while pushing it down a hill with three of my closest and dumbest friends

Hmm, maybe I was one of the people bringing Austin down. Thus, time to sit back, shut my mouth, and just enjoy this city for all of its natural and man-made beauty.

Long live Austin, Texas & Hook 'Em!

Obama's Economic Stimulus Package

Just watched Obama's video on Economic Recovery plan - http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/recoveryvid

How impressive has this guy been? Coming into our living rooms via internet to keep us updated on what's going on in our nation's capital?!! Truly incredible.

Furthermore, he says there will be a site, http://www.recovery.gov, that goes live as soon as the bill is passed.

Contrary to what my previous blog post may have suggested, I am for the stimulus package. Just hope our country focuses on "smart growth", in which fair labor, fair trade, and environmental standards take precedence over big corporations controlling everything.

Speaking of environmental friendliness, I visited Discovery Green for the first time this weekend. Very exciting to see Houston moving in such a positive direction. I hope to explore the park and maybe even write about it more in the future.

Is more growth really the answer?

I know the U.S. economy has gone through some ups and downs, but I don't remember it ever being as bad as it is right now. When a recession hits, conventional thought tells us that righting the ship involves getting our economy back to a "growth phase".

Maybe I'm being a little naive here, but I tend to question how much more growth is really possible in both our country and certain parts of the world (remote, third-world areas excluded).

Breaking it down in real-life, practical terms, I'll provide a small glimpse into some of the things I see when roaming around the concrete slab we like to call Houston:

1. Strip mall
2. Megafreeway
3. Infinite number of street lights
4. Megamall
5. Gigantic houses
6. Strip mall next to megamall
7. Countless number of bars and restaurants
8. Endless array of cars and gas stations pumping them up
9. Coffee shop dwellers and their laptops
10. List goes on and on....

Creating and sustaining these different entities already takes up a lot of energy and manpower. At some point, it was only natural to think we'd reach a saturation point where there would be less need/consumption of them.

For starters, we'll look at megamalls. Current news and consumer spending reports show that malls are empty right now. Quite simply, consumers aren't buying anything. Hasn't this retail slowdown been long overdue? How long could our nation's kids continue buying designer-name clothing in the name of "back-to-school" shopping? Aren't there already enough clothes in circulation that our closets have reached their tipping points?

Ok, ok, obviously I'm a big mall hater, but let's move the argument against malls and "growth" even further. Who does a mall really serve? Land developer - check. Fast food owners in food court - check. Donald Trump (selling his line of clothes inside department stores) - check. Owner of Visible Changes - check.

Why is it so important for us to re-grow our retail sector so that the aforementioned parties make more money and build more megamalls on our precious land?

Ok, ok, now you're thinking I'm completely oblivious to all of the people losing jobs when a mall or corporation shuts down. Believe me, I care about people losing their jobs, but I also wonder if we've been living one way for so long that we have trouble seeing the long-term benefits of letting these companies fail and replacing them with "alternative" models that benefit more people (including those losing their jobs).

Just imagine that mall being one big and juicy organic farm that feeds a whole community of people fresh fruits and vegetables, both making us healthier and eliminating the waste of fuel that occurs everytime foods are shipped cross-country or store-to-store. With self-sustaining communities, maybe our whole idea of "jobs" and "employment" gets thrown out the window. Instead, we stop caring about designer clothes, start eating healthier, and build closer-knit communities in the process.

Maybe I'm a dreamer...maybe I'm a socialist...maybe I'm just way over my head in trying to figure out this economy. In the end, I'm just not convinced that "growth", in the conventional sense, is the answer to our country's current economic dilemma. A shift to conservative, self-sustaining communities that better utilize and distribute resources might be a better long-term solution for all of us.

For now, that's all I got. Wrapping one's head around the U.S. economy is no easy task. I just know I prefer organic tomatoes over kung pao chicken. Well, sometimes.