where are you from?

where are you from?


i find that to be a very interesting question. i think that how you answer the question can reveal a lot about a person. sometimes. i also know that the context of asking the question can change the answer. if i'm in brazil and someone asks where i'm from i'd say the united states. if i was in missouri, i'd say califoria. if i was in pasadena, i'd say fresno. in fresno, i say the tower district.

today, i asked the question of my students and received varying responses. most were pretty standard responses, but a few were mildly creative. nothing memorable though.

as i was driving home and thinking about the question, i remembered a college dorm mate from my freshman year named hans. hans stevenson go go. (i'm not sure if that's how his name was spelled, but good enough). hans had a lot of interesting qualities. he loved basketball. he said one time that eating too much ice cream would give you diabetes. he also said that it was hotter on top of mountains because you're closer to the sun. no lie, he said these things, and really believed them. he wouldn't stack plates on his tray or the table in the cafeteria because that meant you had as many wives as plates stacked (i realize that this was a cultural thing). it went on and on. we made a list of hansisms and put it on a bulletin board in the lobby of our dorm. hans had a very thick accent. he had a pretty different name, as you've probably noticed. he was also a shorter, asian looking man. so, at the start of the year i asked him where he was from. he said new york. that didn't seem like the full answer, so i asked again. turns out he was from the philippines. lived there pretty much all his life. six weeks before he started college he moved to new york to live with family. then, he came to california for school. for hans, the last place he was from, even if it was only a brief time, was where he was from.

this still intrigues me.

so, where are you from?
companion question - why are you here?

what is the cost of progress?

i was reading and came across an idea that really pushed me to ask a question and think.


what is the cost of progress?



i'd love to read your thoughts.

to all you construction heads out there

would you rather have a heavy duty jigsaw or a heavy duty reciprocating saw? both are dewalt.

quick hit

i see on the fuego website that fuego is supposed to be playing the armenian national team next wednesday (jan 17) @ chuckchansi park. anyone want to go? i do.