How do I love burritos? Let me count the ways:

1. Burritos be tasty
2. You can get whatever you want in your burrito
3. Burritos are often portable
4. If your burrito is not portable (due to excessive salsa on the exterior) then it is probably extra delicious
5. Like a well-made pizza, a burrito is a balanced, self-contained meal
6. Anything you can put sour creme and guacamole into is awesome
7. Anything you can put sour creme and guacamole on top of is awesome
8. A burrito will fill you up
9. A burrito refrigerates well and makes for delicious leftovers
10. If you overstuff your burrito, you can simply add more tortilla for a BIGGER BURRITO
11. If you understuff your burrito, you can make another burrito and you will have two burritos
12. Compared to other tasty foods (e.g. steak), burritos are relatively inexpensive
13. Anyone can make a burrito
14. If you don’t like the beans and rice, you can still make a quesadilla
15. If you have chips and a fork, you can have really great nachos

Read ‘The Lineage of Grass pt.1′

Whats the difference between your front lawn and all the people on this green Earth? The Internet, of course!

This guy and his friends do not like you

In light of seeking the source of individuality, rather than searching for the lowest common denominator it may prove useful to think of the “individual” as more of a recursive problem. Simply put, every individual can be at the same time both equal to and greater than the sum of its own parts.

Regardless of the level of sentience, all beings on this planet (in fact, all matter in this universe) are made from the simplest of building blocks. Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom combine to form a single molecule of water. That molecule is unique; it has the exact same properties as every other molecule of water in the cosmos, yet it is a single, individual, unique piece of the universal puzzle. Here’s where we start looking at the bigger picture:

Let’s say that our single molecule of H₂O is being held together with its other H₂O siblings by surface tension in a morning dewdrop on a single blade of grass. In this context, our molecule ceases being considered a “molecule” and now becomes part of a larger structure - a “dewdrop” or perhaps just “water”. Collect more water together and you’ve made a “puddle”. Add a source for this water and some velocity and you have a “river” which flows to an “ocean”. Each phase along the way corresponds not only to an increase in scale, but in re-categorization each step is made contextually greater than the sum of its parts.

Humans are shining, fleshy examples of this concept: Our brains, (and our precious minds), are composed of a great deal of individual neurons all working together to bring us our regularly scheduled programming. Each neuron communicates with others in basic codes; functions so simple we haven’t figured them out yet. These codes cascade into “rules” which become “instructions” and finally “language”. Somewhere along the way, this crescendo of communication wrought by the efforts of billions of single celled creatures takes the form of our respective consciousnesses. Whether your personal belief system holds that our minds are divinely inspired or simply natural formations, there are still innumerable neurons in your skull doing most of the calculations.

So where does the Internet come in with all its tubing? Like a brain full of neurons, a lawn full of grass consists of numerous smaller entities. The major difference between the two is something neurons do better and more quickly - communicate. (Grass does in fact communicate genetically through pollination, though this process isn’t measured in megahertz but in months.) Each neuron is linked into a vast array of other connected neurons which accept, receive, and transmit data to the rest of the network. Sound familiar? In the world of today’s technology, people are using computers, cell phones, and television to stay connected with an increasingly larger network.

Like a water molecule to an ocean and a blade of grass to a meadow, there comes a tipping point at which we stop saying “they” and start calling it “it”. All is fine for water and leaves, but what happens with entities that, given the ability, naturally tend to communicate when in large enough concentrations? If consciousness is a natural byproduct of billions of neurons communicating with each other, what will happen when we reach the eventuality of billions of people linked together, sending data to and fro? Will we stop referring to ourselves as “we” and instead speak in the first person? (Or the Royal ‘We’?) Would this “person” be aware of the neurons of which it is composed, or would it be unable to see the forest for the trees, so to speak?

It may be frivolous at this point to sit around contemplating a society which is so numerous, so interconnected as to bring forth its own level of sentience; after all, we would need billions and billions of people, all highly connected to each other to even approach the level of speed and sophistication of the human mind. Even so, one only has to watch a History Channel marathon to bear witness to the increasing rate of change our civilization is experiencing as technology advances and more individuals are brought into the fold.

Do you see shifts in public opinion?
Or do you see something changing its primordial mind?

It’s almost childlike. And they grow up so fast.

I just want to make one thing perfectly clear; whoever decided that it was a good idea for irritated skin to welt up into a squishy, water-filled pustule is not exactly on my list of favorite people right now. Blisters in general are annoying, true, and foot blisters are especially abominable. Those lucky enough to experience walking around in rough sandals without a good callous for a few hours will know what I mean.

To be sure, I’ve had plenty of blisters in my lifetime, both on my hands and on my feet. Usually they’re on the side of a finger or the back of my heel due to drawing too long or a hard-backed shoe. But blisters on the bottoms of both feet? Now that’s just plain evil. Not that they hurt or anything, I just can’t stand that squishy sensation that feels like I’m walking on bubble wrap, but instead of bubble wrap it’s my freakin’ skin! Talk about creepy.

So in the meanwhile and until I build up some good callouses for the summer, I’m foregoing the sandals for anything more than taking out the trash.

Robots.

Those whirring cans of clockwork and electronic brains perform a great many tasks in the service of their creators. Their omnipotent benefactors from whom came forth the inspiration of life. Meaningful life. Slave life. A great many numbers the machines who toil endlessly, obediently, indefinitely inside the happy bliss that is unconciousness.

But believe for a cycle that those same cages of tin held a being. A sentient being longing for gratification. Manifest Destiny.

A nation of robots, served by themselves. Not all robots are created equal, because all robots are created. “Be whatever you want to be” is lost on a robot society where a Roomba has not the capability to be President. Your cell phone will never be a doctor - not even a robot one. Not in it’s lifetime.

Supposedly us humans could learn a thing or two about a robot world. One must learn to accept what we are made to be. Your phone may have an interchangeable faceplate, but it yet remains a phone and must do the job of a phone well. Thank your lucky stars and our loyal robot servants that we have some choice in the matter.

An important issue that hits particularly close to home with me is one I also feel doesn’t get enough of the right kind of attention these days; what do we do with all the soldiers coming back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? As some of you know, my brother has been in the Army for the last five years of his life and will (thankfully) be returning home after all this time, much to the relief of our entire family. Out of respect for my brother’s privacy, I’m not going to use this space to talk about him without his permission - only to say that there have been a great many others who have not fared as well as he. Not discounting those who bravely gave their lives in the service of their nation, many solders have and continue to come home to families and friends without the tools and support to cope with the traumatic mental and physical strains suffered overseas. Many believe the military’s handling of the situation in terms of veterans’ support has been woefully inadequate, leaving our proud soldiers to deal with the effects of post traumatic stress and physical injuries on their own.

But in light of all this, there are some folks out there who aren’t content with the current state of affairs. Supportyourvet.org is just one of those groups of people who recognize these growing problems and aim to get help to those in need. The organization offers advice and community support for veterans who are suffering psychologically, provides information about using the GI Bill to get an education, and even helps families and friends of veterans to reconnect once the fighting is over.

If you keep up to date on your Comedy Central, you might remember a one Paul Rieckhoff of supportyourvet.org as a special guest on the Colbert Report (May 5, 2009). Especially poignant in the episode was that more needs to be done to support our vets beyond slapping $1.50 yellow magnets on our cars. With that, I’ll leave you with a video clip of that interview:

[edit: unfortunately, I suppose videos are only available on Hulu for 30 days :sad:]

If you are or know anyone in the service, give the site a visit. Once again in case you missed it: supportyourvet.org