Dear Editor,

I was upset when I read Joe Lamb’s letter, he
uncovered the entire brainwash scheme! I am a young
person, 18 years old in fact. I am one of the
millions of youth following the enchanting tune of the
pipe from America’s very own pied piper, Calvin Brodus
a.k.a Snoop Dogg. I may have been upset at Lamb for
his ruthless disclosure of the brainwashing plot, but
I chuckled at Bob Otto’s comparison of me to something
less than a rat or a cockroach. My biggest question
is why is Bob wasting his time as photographer at the
Chronicle when he should be utilizing his knack for
witty commentary? Perhaps in a weekly column? The
fact is that would probably be a bad idea though,
seeing as Bob makes unfounded assumptions on the
audience of a certain genre of music. Is Bob allowed
to not like Snoop’s music? Sure. It doesn’t matter
to me, and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else. There
is plenty of music I do not enjoy, but on the other
hand there is so much different music I do enjoy. It
is this ability to have a breadth to my musical taste
that I like most about myself. The rap genre is one
of these that I do like, including Snoop’s records. I
would be happy to share what is actually within my cd
collection to demonstrate that I do enjoy so much,
including things that Bob might enjoy as well. So
something doesn’t fit Bob’s own personal liking and he
decides to say that the ones that actually do like it
are less of an organism than those found in a
cesspool? Come on Bob, have a sense of courtesy!
Perhaps Bob just assumes that those that are fans are
unemployed, uneducated criminal types. Well Bob, I
have a job, as well as being enrolled at the
University of California, Riverside. I think not even
Bob can argue that UCR is an outstanding institution
of higher learning. I am proud to have earned a spot
at the university, it took hard work and it continues
to be hard work as I strive to comply to what is
expected of me at the university. Sadly, I missed the
concert on Sunday because I decided to remain home and
work on an assignment for a class. I know I would
have had a great time at the Ramona Bowl, but I
believe that doing better in college is more
important, and with the education I receive I will be
able to have a great job and support a family. Along
with a job and a family, I will continue to have an
open mind, and I am not going to portray myself as an
ignorant person with misguided misconceptions to the
public. I’ll leave that up to Bob.

Thank you for reading,

Nathanael A. Hutchinson

I also had my first two tests today that went very well, and I bubbled in my first Scan-Tron sheets in four years. Truly a special occasion. Whatever happened to the round bubbles on standardized tests in my youth? Much more fun to fill in.

I have been working on a pro and con argument for a debate I have in my Environmental Science course. I do not know which side I will argue, but I think I wrote pretty good arguments for both sides (meaning I wrote each as if I believed in both views). While I am an environmental-conscious guy (Prius driver remember?) I don’t think the government should be involved in regulating our reproductive rights (which they actually do try to do from time to time, but never for the sake of trying to maintain the Earth’s carrying capacity). I will post them here, just because I feel bad that I don’t get to share all that writing I did when one of these two sides will not be heard. I think I did a decent job and enjoyed arguing both sides, which is sort of proving these thoughts of pursuing law school I’ve had for the passed couple months.

As for a youtube link…here’s a funny one: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WJqPNpUhxPY

As for music, the new Radiohead album, an innovative distribution idea for a really good album, better than I thought it’d be, reigning in those electronic tendencies and becoming a band again.

And if anyone that happens to read this knows any Iowans… send them to this link

…It is not over and I still have hope that the country wants and needs new direction.

Well today I began back at UCR with a long day of classes. It was quite a long day (8am – 6pm), but it was exciting to be back in there…

I felt pretty old, especially since I was taking a couple of freshman type courses that I needed to fulfill, but I think that being a bit more mature and experience can only be positive.
I decided I was going to be a much more confident student and try and speak more during class when a professor asks a question or does one of those trailing out, fill-in-the-blank type statements where we can shout out to him or her. Today I managed to get something out during my Environmental Science lecture and thankfully I was correct. A good way to begin. I feel pretty confident, and do not think that it will wain soon, probably not at all.
Some things are still the same…there are still many Razor scooters abound, being used in lieu of feet and dignity to get across our relatively small campus. Other things haven’t changed as well. Books are pricey, but I guess you have to figure that fees would be worse if they were to drop the prices, the money has to come from somewhere…

Speaking of money, today members Congress joined in bi-partisan defiance and got the SCHIP bill to the President’s desk despite his veto threats. I find it interesting that Republicans in Congress felt it in their hearts that the well-being and health of the children covered by this program is important enough to defy their party leader, yet the ability to ensure the well-being of roughly 168,000 Americans in Iraq, they can’t seem to find the courage to cast the right vote to make a withdrawal bill veto-proof as well. In a week where we condemned another nation’s leader (which I agree with) we still manage to demonstrate the inability of this country to move forward and restore our own credibility.

Well back to the original topic, I am excited to be an academic player again and I am set on dedicating these few years to ensure I can give my contribution to the ideas and nation I love.

Travis, the blog inspirer shares his love with a good idea here
Album of the day is Springsteen’s Born to Run. I listened to it in preparation for my return to school, its a top album for me and is pretty good at getting me inspired and ready to go, plenty of fist-pumps. A classic.

The YouTube video(s) of the day is President Kennedy’s inaugural address, I think its fitting because these were his first words to the citizens of the United States and the world. I definitely do not aim to compare myself to President Kennedy, or his words, but this little place on the internet of mine is my first real attempt at sharing my own thoughts and words I am at the beginning as well. I hope you enjoy this bit of history. It is in two parts…

Part 1

Part 2

This weekend we move to a new place, I’ll cover some of that.
Thanks to those who’ve read.

I am trying to resurrect this as I simultaneously try to do a minor resurrection of my own life and venture back to the academic life I so unceremoniously departed from about four years ago.

I also found a bit of inspiration while teaching a very good friend of mine some basic html code he wanted to implement on his blog.

I have usually been ahead of the curve, but I have failed miserably in the world of blogging, so here’s my chance to right that wrong and use my website and domain for more than just email.

Thanks for reading this and I hope to have much more in the next few days.