I guess I don't know anything. How does anyone actually know anything? You might say you know pain, but tell that to the mountain climber who had to make the arduous, the absolute sacrifice of sawing off his own arm to survive. Mark Swinton, a hiker, was lost in the woods of upstate Washington when he slipped and fell off the side of a cliff. He tried grabbing for the sides of the cliff while plummeting, but unfortunately, the boulder he managed to grab came loose, and when he finally reached a bottom, the boulder pinned his left arm. You can guess how he got freed.
I agree with women that child-birth is painful, but it's still a choice. You knew the outcome after nine months of pregnancy; it was not going to be a piece of cake. Think of some of the other situations with pregnancy, mainly where a girl was raped and impregnated - how difficult would it be for her?
At the same time, I hate it when people do exactly what I'm doing - that is, taking difficult and unbearable situations, that, for some reason, had to happen, and shove that down the throats of those who complain about every little thing. I'm sure a lot of Holocaust survivors can't stand to watch Survivor the television show, and witness how all the contestants think they are the ultimate survivor in life because they could stomach bugs. But it's not the Holocaust survivors' job to speak up against the show and the people on it, just because their lives were more rough.
I guess the error of my ways is to complain about being tired at my job when I have only had about five hours of sleep, and then hear another person complain about how tired they are after their newborn baby kept them up, and their ceiling is leaking. Kind of like my web-chart for patience, you could map out a single mother's past decisions and their consequences; some of those actions not being the wisest. Same with the actions of an alcoholic, or what-have-you. But for me to say my life is hard, when the only rough part of my life is working the weekends, is pretty ignorant on my part.
I just happened to think that if you would learn from your actions in the past, respectively, the consequences will be lesser or non-existent in the future. But we always seem to make the same mistakes twice.
I don't see why I have to feel sorry for other people.
(This is stolen right from CNN) "Hoping to save his stranded wife and children, James Kim decided Saturday to venture into the cold and unforgiving Oregon wilderness wearing only street clothes."
Everyone has heard of James Kim in the recent news. He was part of that lost family in the wilderness of Oregon; the mother and her child being the only two found alive in their car, him being found frozen at the bottom of a gorge. If CNN would have interviewed me about the lost man, I probably would have expressed my condolences to the family, and stated that something so traumatizing as this event will be something that will be with that family forever, but I think I would also state that, though, the father's interests and intentions were what he felt were best for the family, ultimately his decision to go out into the wild was that of drastic behavior, and not a decision of intelligence. Then, I'd thank CNN, and be on my way.
He left his family in their car, they stayed alive. The rules of survivor are as follows:
1.) Have available, or seek shelter, for protection of wildlife, the wilderness itself, from weather, or seek a shelter that traps heat, to stay warm.
A car is just that!
2.) Find food and water.
They easily had water. Take snow, place it into a container of some sort, and use your body heat to melt it. Don't eat snow. It will cool down your core body temperature and it could kill you. Once the snow is melted, drink. The only problem for them would be food, but you can last in the wilderness without food for more than a week, it's no water that will kill you.
3.) Find a heat source.
Sparingly, you can use the heater of the car. Otherwise, try and build a fire if you can.
They had about all they needed within that car. And obviously, the car wasn't that far from the main road, because a day after Mr. Kim left the safety of the car, a rescue crew was able to find the car, Mrs. Kim, and their child.
Panic had its way with Mr. Kim's mind. Obviously, being lost in the wilderness was enough to drive him mad, considering he dressed in very little clothing to trek through snow. For those climbers on Mt. Hood, you should have stayed in one location, instead of moving on, and hiking deeper into snow drifts, and forest-area. If you start getting lost try and stay in one place -- the quicker you'll be found if you stay where you are. A helicopter is not going to be able to spot you through trees. Hell, do what they do when a person gets stuck on a deserted island in the movies; try and convey a message somehow. And a snow-drift ice shelter is not that hard to dig; I've seen that shit plenty of times on the show "Man vs. Wild" on the Discovery Channel, plus jacket around arms like a plow and dig. Keep your barrings.
For three expert climbers like those that were trapped alive on Mt. Hood, and that are now probably dead, you guys sure did a shitty job of surviving. As heartless as that sounds, it's the truth. As kids lost in a shopping mall, trying to find your parents, would you have hidden or just ran around the mall, or would you have stayed in one place and sought assistance?
At least they can, or, I guess, could have said they knew what it was like to be cold...some days, I'll go outside and feel cold, but then again, I don't know anything.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Organization, and Crayonization
I oppose any type of organization. Sometimes a person might try and illiterate that YOU must be organized within your life; don't listen to them. I remember about a few years ago, I tried organizing my life, and when it was all over, I couldn't find anything. I was so used to clutter, and with the clutter around, I knew exactly where everything was. Under the pile of old pants, with the box of CD cases and trash, was always my headphones, and car adapter for my iPod.
Couldn't clutter be a form of organization?
I love scavenger hunts, so let's say, if I were to create a walk-through of where exactly everything was in my cluttered room, that's organization. I have a detailed map, if you will, of where things are under junk, like a treasure map, with the treasure being all the important objects under all the unimportant ones, the trash being like a file cabinet with me. To be honest, I don't have a detailed map like that, but if I did, that fits within the definition of the word organization.
I was thinking of creating a map of my room, or, at least a spreadsheet of all the DVD movies I own because right now, I just have everything in individual stacks; the stacks being one for independent films, a stack for the essential films I own, one for average movies I own, and one for those once-in-a-great-while-viewed movies I call the "lackies". But at this time in my life, I didn't have MS Excel on the computer I use periodically, and I couldn't find a decent writing utensil. But I found a crayon. It would look a little childish for now, but it's all for my reference, so the look of it didn't really matter. I realize now that a crayon is a shitty writing utensil. You can't do a fucking thing with a crayon!
Try writing your name with a crayon. Right now I am using a crayon to write my name. My name in "Crayonese" is Aushn. The fucking crayon was so bulky, and so choppy with it's writing, that the crayon spelled my name Aushn. I'm wondering why in kindergarten, the teachers always would insist you use crayons on things. Markers bled through, and God forbid the room would have a pencil or pen; some bit of normality to it because let's be honest, after kindergarten, if you continued to use a crayon in language arts, you would look like a retard. That's why you don't see people signing off on a check with crayon. If I'm asked to endorse something with my name, and don't have a writing utensil on me, and the person I'm endorsing this check to hands me a black or blue pen, I'm not going to decline the offered writing utensil because I'd rather use a fucking crayon!
The conversation could be as follows:
"Sorry, but would you happen to have an Aqua-marine blue crayon on you?"
"God no!"
"How about a 1988 macaroni and cheese? Or a '76 forest green?"
"What are you babbling about?"
"Not familiar with those standardise crayon options, eh? Fine! I'll take a magenta, between the dates of 1978 and 1999..."
"I don't have a crayon on me, sir, not one!"
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not 6 years-old..."
Why is it so important to learn to use a crayon? They don't color well at all; in fact, if you wanted to color, use colored pens or pencils, not crayons. You would start writing using a crayon, but by 2nd and 3rd grade, you have to use pencils, so why waste three years of your life on crayons? I've always hated crayons. They are waxy and leave a film-type feeling left on your fingertips after usage, they don't color in completely because they are wax, they melt, sometimes, without warning, and can burn and destroy your child's hands on contact, sometimes you'll scrape your fingernail on the crayon, and get a piece of the crayon stuck under your nail (I fucking hated that), they explode, or, will omit toxic fumes, they are asexual and can multiply out of control if you ever use the phrase 'peanut-butter and jellyfish' in hearing distance of them, they are shaped like bullets, and instill violent-tendencies within a child's brain...I don't like it! They might seem cute, but crayons are deadly and must be taken out...
***EDITOR'S NOTE***
Have you ever broke a crayon, mid-sentence, writing something out? Hi, I'm Austin Smith, from 2009! Boy was I on a streak with that one! Yes, crayons are useless, and full of disease. Just ask your doctor! And, you might find your son turning a little gay after using them, for crayons slightly resemble penises, and a lot of kids like sticking elongated shaft-like objects in their mouths.
Couldn't clutter be a form of organization?
I love scavenger hunts, so let's say, if I were to create a walk-through of where exactly everything was in my cluttered room, that's organization. I have a detailed map, if you will, of where things are under junk, like a treasure map, with the treasure being all the important objects under all the unimportant ones, the trash being like a file cabinet with me. To be honest, I don't have a detailed map like that, but if I did, that fits within the definition of the word organization.
I was thinking of creating a map of my room, or, at least a spreadsheet of all the DVD movies I own because right now, I just have everything in individual stacks; the stacks being one for independent films, a stack for the essential films I own, one for average movies I own, and one for those once-in-a-great-while-viewed movies I call the "lackies". But at this time in my life, I didn't have MS Excel on the computer I use periodically, and I couldn't find a decent writing utensil. But I found a crayon. It would look a little childish for now, but it's all for my reference, so the look of it didn't really matter. I realize now that a crayon is a shitty writing utensil. You can't do a fucking thing with a crayon!
Try writing your name with a crayon. Right now I am using a crayon to write my name. My name in "Crayonese" is Aushn. The fucking crayon was so bulky, and so choppy with it's writing, that the crayon spelled my name Aushn. I'm wondering why in kindergarten, the teachers always would insist you use crayons on things. Markers bled through, and God forbid the room would have a pencil or pen; some bit of normality to it because let's be honest, after kindergarten, if you continued to use a crayon in language arts, you would look like a retard. That's why you don't see people signing off on a check with crayon. If I'm asked to endorse something with my name, and don't have a writing utensil on me, and the person I'm endorsing this check to hands me a black or blue pen, I'm not going to decline the offered writing utensil because I'd rather use a fucking crayon!
The conversation could be as follows:
"Sorry, but would you happen to have an Aqua-marine blue crayon on you?"
"God no!"
"How about a 1988 macaroni and cheese? Or a '76 forest green?"
"What are you babbling about?"
"Not familiar with those standardise crayon options, eh? Fine! I'll take a magenta, between the dates of 1978 and 1999..."
"I don't have a crayon on me, sir, not one!"
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not 6 years-old..."
Why is it so important to learn to use a crayon? They don't color well at all; in fact, if you wanted to color, use colored pens or pencils, not crayons. You would start writing using a crayon, but by 2nd and 3rd grade, you have to use pencils, so why waste three years of your life on crayons? I've always hated crayons. They are waxy and leave a film-type feeling left on your fingertips after usage, they don't color in completely because they are wax, they melt, sometimes, without warning, and can burn and destroy your child's hands on contact, sometimes you'll scrape your fingernail on the crayon, and get a piece of the crayon stuck under your nail (I fucking hated that), they explode, or, will omit toxic fumes, they are asexual and can multiply out of control if you ever use the phrase 'peanut-butter and jellyfish' in hearing distance of them, they are shaped like bullets, and instill violent-tendencies within a child's brain...I don't like it! They might seem cute, but crayons are deadly and must be taken out...
***EDITOR'S NOTE***
Have you ever broke a crayon, mid-sentence, writing something out? Hi, I'm Austin Smith, from 2009! Boy was I on a streak with that one! Yes, crayons are useless, and full of disease. Just ask your doctor! And, you might find your son turning a little gay after using them, for crayons slightly resemble penises, and a lot of kids like sticking elongated shaft-like objects in their mouths.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Apart from Linus
It's December 7th 2006, and, like many people around this time, I am gearing up for the next holiday. It seems Thanksgiving is forgotten after everyone has mimicked the obese, and stuffed their faces full of Crisco and bacon-fat, before devouring a turkey in full. Then, grandpa loosens his belt on his pants to make room for that last piece of pumpkin pie...then explodes within seconds of finishing the last bite. The next morning, you happen to turn on the radio to hear Christmas tunes that are now labeled, "Holiday Classics". Which, on that subject just there, I've never understood the thin line advertisers and the media themselves have tread all these years. So, let me get this straight, in an ad for the Gap, you can't say Merry Christmas or the two words in the same sentence because of what again? - you might offend groups? But it's okay for you to play Christmas songs in the background, and have everyone leaping into a giant hill of fake snow. You don't see anyone playing traditional Yentl music, or any "holiday" commercials with a giddy Jewish boy, counting off the days of Chanukkah, do you?
Secretly, and I believe this to be true, our government is Christian. We sport that if you come to America, we will embrace your culture, and it's more freedom then you'll know what to do with, but behind the inviting smile, we also ask that you convert to Christianity, and learn English. This is the quick-sand portion of my rant because I firmly believe that anyone who comes to this country should learn to speak this countries' language, even if that said language stole its root words from other languages. It's quick-sand because from what I just said, that top part, about how our government is Christian, and has full backing behind the phrase, "Do what we say, not as we do," has sunk me deeper. The last thing I want is to be consumed by hypocrisy, go back on anything I've said previously, or just come off as cold-hearted, or an ignorant ass, though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion of me.
There are too many people to count out there that are concerned with, "When will the U.S. have a black president, or a woman for president," when really, I'm more interested in when we will not have a Christian president. When will a Jew come forward to lead this country that isn't Joseph Lieberman? Now there's an ignorant ass. His politics are all concerned with morals; can't have violence and sex on television, or in any other media, violent video games were invented by the devil, and, I don't know, what else? - children should continue to breast-feed until they hit 17. Isn't the U.S. like one of the only countries on this earth that have yet to break through our sexual revolution? I mean, Christ, go to Japan and they sell little teenage girls' panties from a vending machine, and no one cares. Germans love gangbangs; that's a fact! Sexuality in Europe is so open, they don't have to revolt. They have gone through that and have broken the mold, yet, we've been going through it for centuries, and we still have restrictions. I'm not saying it should be right to go out and fuck a dog, but, they charge people and arrest them for sodomy. Just a little ass-sex is illegal. Big Brother better not be watching when you ask permission to stick it in the ass.
Would we see a change if our president wasn't Christian? Would more people explore the religion that of the president of the United States?
Does it irk anyone else that we celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday, when there is no mention of Christmas in the Holy Bible? Sure, it's the day Jesus was born, but there isn't a date set for when that event was, and Christmas was conceived from the Pagan's winter solstice, or that of the Greek holiday, the Saturnalia, the Roman's festival of Saturn. Here is Saturalia, the festival where the Romans got hammered, gave gifts to one another, before a vast orgy. Christmas was also not even celebrated by the church until 440 A.D., where the Church at Jerusalem instated it after Roman Catholicism sprang up. Before that even, the Emperor Constantine forced all pagans in his land to be baptized, so now you have renegades running a muck, crossing themselves, saying they are Christian when they still practice Paganism. So what's Constantine do, you might ask? He creates these Babylonian mystery religions in 313 A.D., which lead to the holding of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Basically, Constantine said, "Christianity is open to adopt your beliefs, Pagans, including your winter solstice festival...whatchamacallit...join our church, and you can practice that, along with some other religious crap you guys like...," and thus, the doors were opened for Christmas, or, back to what I was saying before, Saturalia, which was held for Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light.
(I'm just about done Tarantino-ing this whole rant, I might add)
In order to make Christianity acceptable to the heathen Pagans, as Constantine would call them, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia, and adopted it into Christianity. It wasn't until 375 A.D., that the Church of Rome under Pope Julius I, would announce that the birth date of Christ had been "discovered" to be December 25th, and was accepted as such by the "faithful". The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithras could now be celebrated as the birthday of Christ, hence, the creation of "Christ's Mass," or whatever they probably called it, in 440 A.D.
Yeah, Constantine, to boost the numbers of people going to church, tricked Pagans into celebrating Christianity by saying they could continue to celebrate their religious winter solstice, then stole the holiday altogether, had his friend Julius come by with some fake-ass documents saying Jesus was born on December 25th, had Christmas instated as a religious holiday as the birth of Christ, further duping the Pagans and everyone else. I don't think I'd go as far as to say I've stopped celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday because who really knows if those documents suggesting Christ was born on December 25 were a lie or not, but I have shunned Santa Claus. I think it's downright perverted for a child to compare Santa to Christ, or to say Santa IS Christ. Ho ho ho Santa Claus, all dressed in red and white, is a good spirited hoax based on the real saint of Christmas who gave to the poor, and distributed presents to children. He died out a long time ago, but his spirit lives on. Jesus Christ, though he did give to the needy and do magic shows for kids, is far from Santa. The day I see a crucifix with Santa pinned to it instead of my Lord Jesus Christ, is the day I shoot myself.
Christmas will forever be another holiday where I get together with the family, with a whole lot of food on the table, and smiles around the table. It's a holiday where I'll sit down, as I usually do when I get religious, one on one with Jesus, and say thanks for what I have. Sure, at the end of Christmas, I'll have more possessions than I know what to do with, but the true meaning of Christmas to me is outside those possessions; it's love for family, friends, and the life we share.
Secretly, and I believe this to be true, our government is Christian. We sport that if you come to America, we will embrace your culture, and it's more freedom then you'll know what to do with, but behind the inviting smile, we also ask that you convert to Christianity, and learn English. This is the quick-sand portion of my rant because I firmly believe that anyone who comes to this country should learn to speak this countries' language, even if that said language stole its root words from other languages. It's quick-sand because from what I just said, that top part, about how our government is Christian, and has full backing behind the phrase, "Do what we say, not as we do," has sunk me deeper. The last thing I want is to be consumed by hypocrisy, go back on anything I've said previously, or just come off as cold-hearted, or an ignorant ass, though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion of me.
There are too many people to count out there that are concerned with, "When will the U.S. have a black president, or a woman for president," when really, I'm more interested in when we will not have a Christian president. When will a Jew come forward to lead this country that isn't Joseph Lieberman? Now there's an ignorant ass. His politics are all concerned with morals; can't have violence and sex on television, or in any other media, violent video games were invented by the devil, and, I don't know, what else? - children should continue to breast-feed until they hit 17. Isn't the U.S. like one of the only countries on this earth that have yet to break through our sexual revolution? I mean, Christ, go to Japan and they sell little teenage girls' panties from a vending machine, and no one cares. Germans love gangbangs; that's a fact! Sexuality in Europe is so open, they don't have to revolt. They have gone through that and have broken the mold, yet, we've been going through it for centuries, and we still have restrictions. I'm not saying it should be right to go out and fuck a dog, but, they charge people and arrest them for sodomy. Just a little ass-sex is illegal. Big Brother better not be watching when you ask permission to stick it in the ass.
Would we see a change if our president wasn't Christian? Would more people explore the religion that of the president of the United States?
Does it irk anyone else that we celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday, when there is no mention of Christmas in the Holy Bible? Sure, it's the day Jesus was born, but there isn't a date set for when that event was, and Christmas was conceived from the Pagan's winter solstice, or that of the Greek holiday, the Saturnalia, the Roman's festival of Saturn. Here is Saturalia, the festival where the Romans got hammered, gave gifts to one another, before a vast orgy. Christmas was also not even celebrated by the church until 440 A.D., where the Church at Jerusalem instated it after Roman Catholicism sprang up. Before that even, the Emperor Constantine forced all pagans in his land to be baptized, so now you have renegades running a muck, crossing themselves, saying they are Christian when they still practice Paganism. So what's Constantine do, you might ask? He creates these Babylonian mystery religions in 313 A.D., which lead to the holding of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Basically, Constantine said, "Christianity is open to adopt your beliefs, Pagans, including your winter solstice festival...whatchamacallit...join our church, and you can practice that, along with some other religious crap you guys like...," and thus, the doors were opened for Christmas, or, back to what I was saying before, Saturalia, which was held for Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light.
(I'm just about done Tarantino-ing this whole rant, I might add)
In order to make Christianity acceptable to the heathen Pagans, as Constantine would call them, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia, and adopted it into Christianity. It wasn't until 375 A.D., that the Church of Rome under Pope Julius I, would announce that the birth date of Christ had been "discovered" to be December 25th, and was accepted as such by the "faithful". The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithras could now be celebrated as the birthday of Christ, hence, the creation of "Christ's Mass," or whatever they probably called it, in 440 A.D.
Yeah, Constantine, to boost the numbers of people going to church, tricked Pagans into celebrating Christianity by saying they could continue to celebrate their religious winter solstice, then stole the holiday altogether, had his friend Julius come by with some fake-ass documents saying Jesus was born on December 25th, had Christmas instated as a religious holiday as the birth of Christ, further duping the Pagans and everyone else. I don't think I'd go as far as to say I've stopped celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday because who really knows if those documents suggesting Christ was born on December 25 were a lie or not, but I have shunned Santa Claus. I think it's downright perverted for a child to compare Santa to Christ, or to say Santa IS Christ. Ho ho ho Santa Claus, all dressed in red and white, is a good spirited hoax based on the real saint of Christmas who gave to the poor, and distributed presents to children. He died out a long time ago, but his spirit lives on. Jesus Christ, though he did give to the needy and do magic shows for kids, is far from Santa. The day I see a crucifix with Santa pinned to it instead of my Lord Jesus Christ, is the day I shoot myself.
Christmas will forever be another holiday where I get together with the family, with a whole lot of food on the table, and smiles around the table. It's a holiday where I'll sit down, as I usually do when I get religious, one on one with Jesus, and say thanks for what I have. Sure, at the end of Christmas, I'll have more possessions than I know what to do with, but the true meaning of Christmas to me is outside those possessions; it's love for family, friends, and the life we share.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
"Sshhh-ers" and Reason
As though I were recapping the speech I was forced to sit through during my high school graduation, presented by the very tearful valedictorian, I am here today to hash out an annoyance of mine, not necessarily a pet-peeve, but just an occurrence that baffles me to this day, by delving into the history I've had with people like the ones I'm about to tell you about now. As far as kindergarten, there always seemed to be at least two of these people among my pubescent classmates; one of them being a person I would call my friend. Back then, I would say people would have entitled them as a "Sshhh-er." They received that label when they first would mock the teacher's "sshhing" mannerism, his or her method of controlling the noise level of the room. That little kiss-ass would play teacher just to be favored, or receive two milks instead of one during the snack portion of class, right before nap.
First grade was no different, except, you might have gotten sick of the echoing sshh coming from the lips of the kiss-ass to the extent that you would mouth-off to that person. That might have gotten you tattled on. Oh yes, "The Sshhh-er" was also a "tattler".
And after your isolation from the rest of your classmates because creating the odd-ball in the class gained nothing, but that was the punishment nonetheless, and you were placed outside in the hall, and were threatened to either be quiet, or your mum would be phoned, you came strolling back in, eyes damp with tears, and "The Sshhh-er" just grinned with glee. I remember being a very vengeful youth because right after being placed in the hall myself, and being welcomed back into the group with my enemy relishing the fact that I got in trouble, a crayon-turned-projectile felt like justice to me. Then, it was back outside the room, where this time, the teacher said, "What is wrong with you? You like being in trouble?" Where, in my heart, I knew my teacher must be blind or not have brains to not notice that faggot grinning back at me. How can you let that go? "The Sshhh-er" or "Tattler" was the one getting me in trouble, taunting me to do something, and my response was to fall into the trap because vengeance has a sweet taste to it.
Some people might say, "High school was hell for me being a new face entering a new world that I felt I didn't belong in." I felt the total opposite. Elementary school was hell for me. After all those times I was placed outside of my classmates, I started to feel like the odd-ball, and nobody wanted anything to do with me because I might get them in trouble. That was the beginning of my bad reputation.
Something triggered those past memories today. I heard a few mumbles and grumbles from one side of my work place, and on the other, a sshhh! Mumbles and grumbles, and another sshhh! A "Sshhh-er" was in the room.
Why is a simple release of air through locked teeth, where your lips control the pitch, while the increase of the air current controls the amplification of the sound to any octave necessary when expressing silence? Do you realize you are making more noise then the person you are sshhh-ing? You sound like a fucking snake! Stop it; that's annoying!
Ever found it necessary to sshhh back? Then you have this power struggle between who can be louder than the other person. Who started the sshhh? So, like many of my rants prior to this one, I decided to "Google" the question. Well, apparently nobody knows the answer. But, upon thinking back to how the people acted back then, and how they are now, a lot of "The Sshhh-ers" were anal-retentive bitches; actual bitches, and weaklings. Don't you wish that your vocabulary was as advanced as it is now, then, so you could have called those pricks hard-ass, kiss-ass shitheads, or, have just said, I hope your parents die in a fiery, and horribly bloody commuter train/vehicular collision?! I know I do! Then, it's back out to the hallway with you, a phone call to your mum, and, nowadays, a talk with the school counselor about school violence and some shit. Couldn't a lot of those screwed-up, Emo, student and principal killers you read about or see on TV, who have just slaughtered everyone at their school, have been those same odd-ball kids who weren't nurtured by the school system, and shunned from the classroom because of bad behavior brought on by forces they couldn't control? It can't always be the kids who are into death metal and play violent video games because they love to kill, right?
Partly, school violence can be blamed on neglect; family neglect to teacher/student relationship neglect. After Columbine, the board of teachers and the PTA all wanted answers to why a student or students would go on a shooting-spree through a high school. School is a cut-throat endeavor that, in certain situations, can strengthen a person's character or rape it, until it is nothing more than a dried out husk. "Sshhh-ers" and "Tattlers" are bullies in their own right, censoring free-speech, then running off to Big Brother. If ever you impregnate a mate, have a child together, and place that child into an academic institution, that child better not become a "Sshhh-er" or "Tattler," unless you want that kid to immediately be home-schooled shortly after the incident.
And that shit about school shootings is no open-shut sort of deal, either. There is reason behind everything. The parents want to believe violence and explicit content on television is to blame, along with the "Marilyn Mansons" in the world. Subliminal messages in music, with my citing being Judas Priest in the eighties, when two kids committed suicide because of the lyrics, can't be blamed for persuasion. Please, how mentally stable were those kids? I've said before that I myself have witnessed subliminal advertising; it had no effect on me. Okay, so that's not the best way to support my opinion. Let's just say, if Judas Priest in fact did record their music with subliminal messages in it, hoping that some of their listeners would kill themselves, that's funny; more than at least someone, because there were two kids in the story I read way back in my Psychology class, were stupid enough to kill themselves for a band that could care less what their names were, or the lives lost. Dumb fucks!
Speaking on behalf of reason, there is reason for everything we do. For those Vegans out there, there is a reason way we "supposedly" enslave an entire race of bovines and chickens - they are fucking delicious! I'll admit, that's a very arrogant thing for me to say, but human beings are not the highest on the food-chain for nothing. It's like organized religion. A person can jump up on stage during a press conference, before being dragged off and beaten to death, and shout out, "Christianity is the only religion you should believe in if you don't want to go to hell," and the press would run it, and other religious leaders would have a field day, saying, "what the hell were you thinking, media, for running slander like that?! You do it because you yourself are Christians, and believe the outspoken protestor was right!" Of course, Christians would receive complaints from the Atheists as well because they do not believe in any form of religion. The media, in return, could say to everyone, "We can run anything because we are not regulated, and it's free speech...chew on that!"
Just like that scenario, there are people out there that are not willing to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle; some people love meat, and it's not really that either. Some people love to hunt animals for fun. I don't understand why that is, but they do it. People associated in PETA, who drive around in shopping mall parking lots, waiting for some high-socialite to walk by in a fur coat, so they can jump out of their vehicles, and drench the poor, rich bastards in red paint, are just like those Atheists, who have protested saying "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and those religious leaders who order their converts to fight wars, sometimes bloody wars because they are intent on being right, and cannot be wrong. To be wrong would wreck their already religion-filled lives, defying their religion's purpose.
When actually speaking with a vegetarian on this subject, the vegetarian said he just wanted people to open up to another way of life. With that said, he also told me about how he bitched out an old lady in animal skin.
I understand he thought he was doing the right thing, but he went about it the wrong way. Make a website or something, hand out leaflets; voice your opinion in some way. Take, for instance, my blog. In this world, I'm right. Outside of my blog, I probably have people calling me a bigot or a douche - whatever the clever insult may be. I don't care. The fact that nobody comments this blog is not surprising to me because there are so many blogs out there these days; some of those being credible. Although I try to be as accredited as humanly possible, some people might skim this and think, "what a liar that guy is," or, "this fucking cock is wrong!" No, I'm really not, but I take the criticism, and I don't resort to violence or hate-mongoring. My opinion on vegetarians: do what you want with your bodies; practice whatever you see fit to practice, don't force your beliefs on your opponents, and; people killing people, people killing animals, people destroying life has all been a part of human history. You won't change that. Stick to your beliefs and you are good. Simple, but effective procedure.
Is there always a reason for whatever happens? No. However long it takes for us to realize that depends on how stubborn a person is; how long it takes before a person will stop questioning, and accept the cards that are dealt to them is anyone's guess, and, again, it all depends on the person. For those families who dealt with the death of their daughters and sons in school shootings, they need to realize that finger-pointing at different elements of society that perhaps corrupted the sane minds of those who murdered their children, is no solution. So you sued a performing artist because of their lyrics in their music. The record was not pulled from the music stores. You just took money from the artist for reimbursement for your child's death; what solace is that?
First grade was no different, except, you might have gotten sick of the echoing sshh coming from the lips of the kiss-ass to the extent that you would mouth-off to that person. That might have gotten you tattled on. Oh yes, "The Sshhh-er" was also a "tattler".
And after your isolation from the rest of your classmates because creating the odd-ball in the class gained nothing, but that was the punishment nonetheless, and you were placed outside in the hall, and were threatened to either be quiet, or your mum would be phoned, you came strolling back in, eyes damp with tears, and "The Sshhh-er" just grinned with glee. I remember being a very vengeful youth because right after being placed in the hall myself, and being welcomed back into the group with my enemy relishing the fact that I got in trouble, a crayon-turned-projectile felt like justice to me. Then, it was back outside the room, where this time, the teacher said, "What is wrong with you? You like being in trouble?" Where, in my heart, I knew my teacher must be blind or not have brains to not notice that faggot grinning back at me. How can you let that go? "The Sshhh-er" or "Tattler" was the one getting me in trouble, taunting me to do something, and my response was to fall into the trap because vengeance has a sweet taste to it.
Some people might say, "High school was hell for me being a new face entering a new world that I felt I didn't belong in." I felt the total opposite. Elementary school was hell for me. After all those times I was placed outside of my classmates, I started to feel like the odd-ball, and nobody wanted anything to do with me because I might get them in trouble. That was the beginning of my bad reputation.
Something triggered those past memories today. I heard a few mumbles and grumbles from one side of my work place, and on the other, a sshhh! Mumbles and grumbles, and another sshhh! A "Sshhh-er" was in the room.
Why is a simple release of air through locked teeth, where your lips control the pitch, while the increase of the air current controls the amplification of the sound to any octave necessary when expressing silence? Do you realize you are making more noise then the person you are sshhh-ing? You sound like a fucking snake! Stop it; that's annoying!
Ever found it necessary to sshhh back? Then you have this power struggle between who can be louder than the other person. Who started the sshhh? So, like many of my rants prior to this one, I decided to "Google" the question. Well, apparently nobody knows the answer. But, upon thinking back to how the people acted back then, and how they are now, a lot of "The Sshhh-ers" were anal-retentive bitches; actual bitches, and weaklings. Don't you wish that your vocabulary was as advanced as it is now, then, so you could have called those pricks hard-ass, kiss-ass shitheads, or, have just said, I hope your parents die in a fiery, and horribly bloody commuter train/vehicular collision?! I know I do! Then, it's back out to the hallway with you, a phone call to your mum, and, nowadays, a talk with the school counselor about school violence and some shit. Couldn't a lot of those screwed-up, Emo, student and principal killers you read about or see on TV, who have just slaughtered everyone at their school, have been those same odd-ball kids who weren't nurtured by the school system, and shunned from the classroom because of bad behavior brought on by forces they couldn't control? It can't always be the kids who are into death metal and play violent video games because they love to kill, right?
Partly, school violence can be blamed on neglect; family neglect to teacher/student relationship neglect. After Columbine, the board of teachers and the PTA all wanted answers to why a student or students would go on a shooting-spree through a high school. School is a cut-throat endeavor that, in certain situations, can strengthen a person's character or rape it, until it is nothing more than a dried out husk. "Sshhh-ers" and "Tattlers" are bullies in their own right, censoring free-speech, then running off to Big Brother. If ever you impregnate a mate, have a child together, and place that child into an academic institution, that child better not become a "Sshhh-er" or "Tattler," unless you want that kid to immediately be home-schooled shortly after the incident.
And that shit about school shootings is no open-shut sort of deal, either. There is reason behind everything. The parents want to believe violence and explicit content on television is to blame, along with the "Marilyn Mansons" in the world. Subliminal messages in music, with my citing being Judas Priest in the eighties, when two kids committed suicide because of the lyrics, can't be blamed for persuasion. Please, how mentally stable were those kids? I've said before that I myself have witnessed subliminal advertising; it had no effect on me. Okay, so that's not the best way to support my opinion. Let's just say, if Judas Priest in fact did record their music with subliminal messages in it, hoping that some of their listeners would kill themselves, that's funny; more than at least someone, because there were two kids in the story I read way back in my Psychology class, were stupid enough to kill themselves for a band that could care less what their names were, or the lives lost. Dumb fucks!
Speaking on behalf of reason, there is reason for everything we do. For those Vegans out there, there is a reason way we "supposedly" enslave an entire race of bovines and chickens - they are fucking delicious! I'll admit, that's a very arrogant thing for me to say, but human beings are not the highest on the food-chain for nothing. It's like organized religion. A person can jump up on stage during a press conference, before being dragged off and beaten to death, and shout out, "Christianity is the only religion you should believe in if you don't want to go to hell," and the press would run it, and other religious leaders would have a field day, saying, "what the hell were you thinking, media, for running slander like that?! You do it because you yourself are Christians, and believe the outspoken protestor was right!" Of course, Christians would receive complaints from the Atheists as well because they do not believe in any form of religion. The media, in return, could say to everyone, "We can run anything because we are not regulated, and it's free speech...chew on that!"
Just like that scenario, there are people out there that are not willing to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle; some people love meat, and it's not really that either. Some people love to hunt animals for fun. I don't understand why that is, but they do it. People associated in PETA, who drive around in shopping mall parking lots, waiting for some high-socialite to walk by in a fur coat, so they can jump out of their vehicles, and drench the poor, rich bastards in red paint, are just like those Atheists, who have protested saying "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and those religious leaders who order their converts to fight wars, sometimes bloody wars because they are intent on being right, and cannot be wrong. To be wrong would wreck their already religion-filled lives, defying their religion's purpose.
When actually speaking with a vegetarian on this subject, the vegetarian said he just wanted people to open up to another way of life. With that said, he also told me about how he bitched out an old lady in animal skin.
I understand he thought he was doing the right thing, but he went about it the wrong way. Make a website or something, hand out leaflets; voice your opinion in some way. Take, for instance, my blog. In this world, I'm right. Outside of my blog, I probably have people calling me a bigot or a douche - whatever the clever insult may be. I don't care. The fact that nobody comments this blog is not surprising to me because there are so many blogs out there these days; some of those being credible. Although I try to be as accredited as humanly possible, some people might skim this and think, "what a liar that guy is," or, "this fucking cock is wrong!" No, I'm really not, but I take the criticism, and I don't resort to violence or hate-mongoring. My opinion on vegetarians: do what you want with your bodies; practice whatever you see fit to practice, don't force your beliefs on your opponents, and; people killing people, people killing animals, people destroying life has all been a part of human history. You won't change that. Stick to your beliefs and you are good. Simple, but effective procedure.
Is there always a reason for whatever happens? No. However long it takes for us to realize that depends on how stubborn a person is; how long it takes before a person will stop questioning, and accept the cards that are dealt to them is anyone's guess, and, again, it all depends on the person. For those families who dealt with the death of their daughters and sons in school shootings, they need to realize that finger-pointing at different elements of society that perhaps corrupted the sane minds of those who murdered their children, is no solution. So you sued a performing artist because of their lyrics in their music. The record was not pulled from the music stores. You just took money from the artist for reimbursement for your child's death; what solace is that?
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Good to the Last Drop
Remember my rant on Quality and Patience? If you don't, I'd like to type a few of excerpts.
"...Quality should be a part of realism; without Quality, our lives would be meaningless, would not be entertaining or enjoyable, much like George Orwell's classic "1984". Well, without patience, you lose a certain distinguishable intelligence. How intelligent do you look getting frustrated at a short wait? Not too intelligent at all, and how about your courteousness? Or care? Isn't care a low form of quality? To care for something is to find quality in it...you'd lose a bit of quality in the middle of losing your patience."
"If quality is attached to care, and care fits within patience, which, in itself fits within something else (I don't know how far I want to go with this) then, I would imagine more values are lost or missing when others are absent."
Is a bell ringing? I surely doubt it, so, let me just push the snowball down the hill, and we will see what all it collects, and how big it will get, shall we?
Never get impatient. For one, it invokes getting frustrated. Then, you end up getting so hot-headed you can not even think straight, which invokes ignorance. Then, you are not of a higher quality of person you once were. It's that web-effect I was talking about a long time ago, where, somewhere towards the top, is Quality followed by Patience; the official order of it all has yet to be fully uncovered.
What I've found is that people now-a-days want this and that right now. I blame simplicity. It is so simple now-a-days to pay bills, to cook, to find food, to stay warm, to find entertainment and fulfillment - all these things are right in our grasp. If you have high-speed internet, you can pay your bills online, no sweat. "Ready to Heat" meals that come out of a box or plastic can take the strain out of slaving away at a stove. Fast-food has eliminated the dependency on cooking. Ever tried starting a fire the hard way, with friction, or striking flint? It sucks. But a box of matches can easily solve your heating dilemma. I've stated it before, if you give an extrovert the stage, you've given them the world, and any egotistical prick can transform into a thespian. And fulfillment can be met with another person, so, get out there and date! The simplicity of the world today has created, in it's wake, spoiled heathens who, when dealt with not getting their way in due process, resort to arrogance and thumb-biting.
Sometimes, you just don't have the answers they are looking for, which, is like a slap to the face for these people. A well-deserved slap. That's why I have resorted to pissing these people off as much as possible. Fight fire with fire, I'll say! They want to spout a bad attitude, they will be answered with annoyance and anger.
So maybe somewhere on that chart is simplicity, yes?
Obviously, if you baby everything, you are just asking for more ignorance to come from people, in the same respect, you have people becoming accustom to everything being handed to them, and it results with people being spoiled. I say this only because of personal experience I have dealt with in the subject matter, and my own personal outlook on the philosophy.
I have heard it many times before; we do things for a reason. Another thing I have stated on this blog is the following:
"I just have found that in thinking more and more, taking what I can from other people's thoughts and associating that with the whole picture, you could go back to what I was stating about an absence in proper child-care. And in finding that answer, ask, what does a child really need?"
That's right, people. It starts in the mother fucking womb! I'm watching a little kid right now, about 4-5 years old because that's my job title really; the essence of it all is to watch people. Watch to make sure these people are not looking up inappropriate things, watch to make sure these people stay under control - I label myself "The Watcher". And, like I said up above, I'm watching at this very moment a child throw a temper-tantrum, yet, God forbid, the parents do anything about it because it's "PLAY TIME ON THE COMPUTER" for them; just like children themselves. Why is it that people have kids when they are not ready? Sex feels good. Other times, the sex is bad, and we call bad sex rape. Not cool, alright. These people obviously did not engage in a hate-sex rapefest with each other because I am pretty sure after that, the relationship would be ended.
They had this kid because they were irresponsible with sex or the condom broke, which, on a side note, do not be afraid to double wrap the tool. There is nothing wrong with that; sackers at Walmart do it all the time; the double bag. It's a safe way in keeping your groceries in check, just like two condoms would do the job in keeping the liquids in check, hell, why not three condoms?
These dumb fuckers pooped out a kid, and now because the kid can write its own name, and can spell a few words, and speak both the parents' names without pooping its pants, the parents think, "Let's let the kid run wild!" because when I think of parenthood, I also think of abandonment...wonderful job of raising a moron, folks. Let's see this kid's smoke in ten years when he decides to knock up his slack-jawed, toothless whore he calls a girlfriend, and the cycle repeats itself for generations to come.
"...Quality should be a part of realism; without Quality, our lives would be meaningless, would not be entertaining or enjoyable, much like George Orwell's classic "1984". Well, without patience, you lose a certain distinguishable intelligence. How intelligent do you look getting frustrated at a short wait? Not too intelligent at all, and how about your courteousness? Or care? Isn't care a low form of quality? To care for something is to find quality in it...you'd lose a bit of quality in the middle of losing your patience."
"If quality is attached to care, and care fits within patience, which, in itself fits within something else (I don't know how far I want to go with this) then, I would imagine more values are lost or missing when others are absent."
Is a bell ringing? I surely doubt it, so, let me just push the snowball down the hill, and we will see what all it collects, and how big it will get, shall we?
Never get impatient. For one, it invokes getting frustrated. Then, you end up getting so hot-headed you can not even think straight, which invokes ignorance. Then, you are not of a higher quality of person you once were. It's that web-effect I was talking about a long time ago, where, somewhere towards the top, is Quality followed by Patience; the official order of it all has yet to be fully uncovered.
What I've found is that people now-a-days want this and that right now. I blame simplicity. It is so simple now-a-days to pay bills, to cook, to find food, to stay warm, to find entertainment and fulfillment - all these things are right in our grasp. If you have high-speed internet, you can pay your bills online, no sweat. "Ready to Heat" meals that come out of a box or plastic can take the strain out of slaving away at a stove. Fast-food has eliminated the dependency on cooking. Ever tried starting a fire the hard way, with friction, or striking flint? It sucks. But a box of matches can easily solve your heating dilemma. I've stated it before, if you give an extrovert the stage, you've given them the world, and any egotistical prick can transform into a thespian. And fulfillment can be met with another person, so, get out there and date! The simplicity of the world today has created, in it's wake, spoiled heathens who, when dealt with not getting their way in due process, resort to arrogance and thumb-biting.
Sometimes, you just don't have the answers they are looking for, which, is like a slap to the face for these people. A well-deserved slap. That's why I have resorted to pissing these people off as much as possible. Fight fire with fire, I'll say! They want to spout a bad attitude, they will be answered with annoyance and anger.
So maybe somewhere on that chart is simplicity, yes?
Obviously, if you baby everything, you are just asking for more ignorance to come from people, in the same respect, you have people becoming accustom to everything being handed to them, and it results with people being spoiled. I say this only because of personal experience I have dealt with in the subject matter, and my own personal outlook on the philosophy.
I have heard it many times before; we do things for a reason. Another thing I have stated on this blog is the following:
"I just have found that in thinking more and more, taking what I can from other people's thoughts and associating that with the whole picture, you could go back to what I was stating about an absence in proper child-care. And in finding that answer, ask, what does a child really need?"
That's right, people. It starts in the mother fucking womb! I'm watching a little kid right now, about 4-5 years old because that's my job title really; the essence of it all is to watch people. Watch to make sure these people are not looking up inappropriate things, watch to make sure these people stay under control - I label myself "The Watcher". And, like I said up above, I'm watching at this very moment a child throw a temper-tantrum, yet, God forbid, the parents do anything about it because it's "PLAY TIME ON THE COMPUTER" for them; just like children themselves. Why is it that people have kids when they are not ready? Sex feels good. Other times, the sex is bad, and we call bad sex rape. Not cool, alright. These people obviously did not engage in a hate-sex rapefest with each other because I am pretty sure after that, the relationship would be ended.
They had this kid because they were irresponsible with sex or the condom broke, which, on a side note, do not be afraid to double wrap the tool. There is nothing wrong with that; sackers at Walmart do it all the time; the double bag. It's a safe way in keeping your groceries in check, just like two condoms would do the job in keeping the liquids in check, hell, why not three condoms?
These dumb fuckers pooped out a kid, and now because the kid can write its own name, and can spell a few words, and speak both the parents' names without pooping its pants, the parents think, "Let's let the kid run wild!" because when I think of parenthood, I also think of abandonment...wonderful job of raising a moron, folks. Let's see this kid's smoke in ten years when he decides to knock up his slack-jawed, toothless whore he calls a girlfriend, and the cycle repeats itself for generations to come.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
An Apple Among Onions
I bought a new camera today. It's a Canon if that does anything for ya...I just randomly went out one day, spent about $300 on a camera, and, for what? Because I love taking pictures?
I haven't really used it yet, either, in fact, it just sits on top of my DVD collection, collecting its own aging dust. I'll pick it up every once and awhile, and mess around with it's features, maybe snap off a few worthless pictures. I still can't comprehend how, just out of the blue, I drove to OfficeMax, and forked over that much money for a camera.
I started thinking of how I'd use that camera; what sort of pictures I'd be taking with the camera, where I'd be at the time I cashed 200+ pictures, how long the camera would last me, if I'd break it within 2 months of its ownership, which brought me to my first point - I had to insure this camera. And I did. I paid an additional $30+ on a 2-year warranty.
Don't think for a second I've never owned my own camera before. I had bought a real piece of shit before; a Sony. I went in that day, browsing the selection, hunting a familiar and reliable brand, such as Olympus or Canon. I saw Kodaks and Minoltas, Nikons, and Pentax (one Pentax, that is) - and then, the Sony. Canon was there, but before I came in, I did my research. It appeared more economical for me to go with a camera with a battery pack, instead of manual-loaded batteries. This would save me from buying individual packs of batteries.
I didn't want a Kodak, Minolta, a Nikon, or a Pentax. They were my feared off-brands. Nikon was a big name, but, from what I've heard, only a top shit brand in SLR's. Sony, it seemed like, was an off-brand in the digital camera department, but I took a chance, an ill-fated chance at that, and purchased the Sony because it had a battery pack. That camera is now with a Brazilian who matched my $150 reserve for it on eBay. The flash rarely worked, the processor speed was shit, I dropped the son of a bitch after a night of heavy drinking, and it couldn't brush away the evidence of a battered life. That Brazilian must have been a dumb-fuck.
Somewhere among these letters is a point. That point is, I made a mistake in taking a chance, and yes, I know this way of putting things seems naive. When you take a chance, it seems like it is always with love or some other major thing like getting behind a wheel when you are smashed, and never is with something minor like camera shopping.
In my compulsiveness a few days ago, I repeated that dire mistake, which this time, didn't resemble the same consequences. I enjoy my Canon. Couldn't I have waited to buy a camera? The answer to that is no. I constantly feel like I'm missing out on different events, such as hanging out with friends, talking with loved ones and family members. Some of those people won't be in my life much longer, and, I hope against this, the vise-versa. A life in pictures seems to be the best solution. Even if the scrapbook contains some pretty uninteresting moments, it's still a sure-fire way to keep those memories in tact. And above everything else, that's all I can ask for.
Here's a related story. My mom will, just out of the blue, pull out her old high school yearbooks, and flip through them, reminiscing about what all went on in those three years (she went to Central for middle school, and back then, middle school extended from sixth or seventh to ninth grade) I could tell it brought back to her a flash of emotions.
She'd get to pictures of people who are dead now, and how she knew them. Then, the rest of the people who moved on to other towns, states, and countries. Nowadays, we live in what the older generations have coined as the "digital age" where everyone has a cell phone, a digital camera/camcorder, and computer available, and how those are utilized in communication and documentation. How she probably wishes she would have been so lucky to have what we have now, and how cheaply we can commandeer it. At times, I'll just utter, "Thank God" because technology has come a long way, and the benefits are remarkable.
In an unrelated story, I find myself to be a scientist some way. I am not intelligent enough to know the word for the exact thing I am trying to express, so, I thought I would start things off by telling the story in full, spliced and edited of course, for time, and we will see what develops.
I test people constantly. I will be at work, and a person will come in that seems distrustful. If they pay for something, I will give them a buck or two back over the correct amount of change they should have been given when paying for something in large bills. I will count it back to them, and hope they listen for the mistake. They usually will count the change back to themselves; it is something I have noticed lower-class citizens will do, to make sure they are not jipped. If they catch the mistake, and are a good person, they will correct me, and say, "I think you gave me too much." I'm an excellent interpreter of body-language, so, when they have caught the mistake and are not such a good person, they tend to flush, or make some kind of odd body movement or impulse that makes me believe they are not telling the truth. Those people will take the bait, and walk out, without another word, a buck or two richer. Why do I do this? In Greek Mythology, why did Hera test Jason by disguising herself as an elderly woman, and asking Jason to carry her upon his shoulders across a raging river to the safety of the other side? She was looking for a good soul among the wicked to do her a favor, to fetch the golden fleece with the Argonauts. I guess in a way, I'm searching for my own hope; a band of good souls among the wicked.
I haven't really used it yet, either, in fact, it just sits on top of my DVD collection, collecting its own aging dust. I'll pick it up every once and awhile, and mess around with it's features, maybe snap off a few worthless pictures. I still can't comprehend how, just out of the blue, I drove to OfficeMax, and forked over that much money for a camera.
I started thinking of how I'd use that camera; what sort of pictures I'd be taking with the camera, where I'd be at the time I cashed 200+ pictures, how long the camera would last me, if I'd break it within 2 months of its ownership, which brought me to my first point - I had to insure this camera. And I did. I paid an additional $30+ on a 2-year warranty.
Don't think for a second I've never owned my own camera before. I had bought a real piece of shit before; a Sony. I went in that day, browsing the selection, hunting a familiar and reliable brand, such as Olympus or Canon. I saw Kodaks and Minoltas, Nikons, and Pentax (one Pentax, that is) - and then, the Sony. Canon was there, but before I came in, I did my research. It appeared more economical for me to go with a camera with a battery pack, instead of manual-loaded batteries. This would save me from buying individual packs of batteries.
I didn't want a Kodak, Minolta, a Nikon, or a Pentax. They were my feared off-brands. Nikon was a big name, but, from what I've heard, only a top shit brand in SLR's. Sony, it seemed like, was an off-brand in the digital camera department, but I took a chance, an ill-fated chance at that, and purchased the Sony because it had a battery pack. That camera is now with a Brazilian who matched my $150 reserve for it on eBay. The flash rarely worked, the processor speed was shit, I dropped the son of a bitch after a night of heavy drinking, and it couldn't brush away the evidence of a battered life. That Brazilian must have been a dumb-fuck.
Somewhere among these letters is a point. That point is, I made a mistake in taking a chance, and yes, I know this way of putting things seems naive. When you take a chance, it seems like it is always with love or some other major thing like getting behind a wheel when you are smashed, and never is with something minor like camera shopping.
In my compulsiveness a few days ago, I repeated that dire mistake, which this time, didn't resemble the same consequences. I enjoy my Canon. Couldn't I have waited to buy a camera? The answer to that is no. I constantly feel like I'm missing out on different events, such as hanging out with friends, talking with loved ones and family members. Some of those people won't be in my life much longer, and, I hope against this, the vise-versa. A life in pictures seems to be the best solution. Even if the scrapbook contains some pretty uninteresting moments, it's still a sure-fire way to keep those memories in tact. And above everything else, that's all I can ask for.
Here's a related story. My mom will, just out of the blue, pull out her old high school yearbooks, and flip through them, reminiscing about what all went on in those three years (she went to Central for middle school, and back then, middle school extended from sixth or seventh to ninth grade) I could tell it brought back to her a flash of emotions.
She'd get to pictures of people who are dead now, and how she knew them. Then, the rest of the people who moved on to other towns, states, and countries. Nowadays, we live in what the older generations have coined as the "digital age" where everyone has a cell phone, a digital camera/camcorder, and computer available, and how those are utilized in communication and documentation. How she probably wishes she would have been so lucky to have what we have now, and how cheaply we can commandeer it. At times, I'll just utter, "Thank God" because technology has come a long way, and the benefits are remarkable.
In an unrelated story, I find myself to be a scientist some way. I am not intelligent enough to know the word for the exact thing I am trying to express, so, I thought I would start things off by telling the story in full, spliced and edited of course, for time, and we will see what develops.
I test people constantly. I will be at work, and a person will come in that seems distrustful. If they pay for something, I will give them a buck or two back over the correct amount of change they should have been given when paying for something in large bills. I will count it back to them, and hope they listen for the mistake. They usually will count the change back to themselves; it is something I have noticed lower-class citizens will do, to make sure they are not jipped. If they catch the mistake, and are a good person, they will correct me, and say, "I think you gave me too much." I'm an excellent interpreter of body-language, so, when they have caught the mistake and are not such a good person, they tend to flush, or make some kind of odd body movement or impulse that makes me believe they are not telling the truth. Those people will take the bait, and walk out, without another word, a buck or two richer. Why do I do this? In Greek Mythology, why did Hera test Jason by disguising herself as an elderly woman, and asking Jason to carry her upon his shoulders across a raging river to the safety of the other side? She was looking for a good soul among the wicked to do her a favor, to fetch the golden fleece with the Argonauts. I guess in a way, I'm searching for my own hope; a band of good souls among the wicked.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Kids, Hold off on RENT, Play Tetris, Flash a Smile, and More Kids
im not good at titling anything. i decided, since it's been more than a month since i've written here, to author in some usefulness. for some odd reason, i smell the stench of baby-sick; baby vomit, baby shit, baby powder, urine in a diaper, you name it! i smell baby! which got be thinking...who really wants a baby? you have to be ever vigilant with a baby; if it goes crawling off somewhere, you're fucked. baby-guarding everything is a bitch. covers over electrical sockets, locks on cabinet doors, sharp things in drawers and keep it all out of reach. those fence-looking things across the doorways of places not suitable for babies. you have to deal with diarrhea shit running down on your shirt if the baby has an accident while you hold it, gyrating about. milk regurgitated on your shoulder after you patted the baby on the back, when it was hiccupping. ever get shot in the eye with a stream of urine while you changed a shitty diaper? i don't like that; i don't feel like dealing with that on a day-to-day basis!
i plan to adopt when my time comes where i feel i'm ready to have a kid. i've heard people say, "but if you adopt, the kid won't look like you. don't you want your son or daughter to have your eyes, or your nose, or other facial features and so-forth?" i'm an unattractive man, thank you very much. do i want my kid coming out looking ugly as fuck in traditional standards? no. plus, you can adopt an adorable toddler or whatever-aged-kid you are comfortable with.
i don't understand the fascination with the musical, "RENT," i just don't understand it. "the music score is fabulous!" no, it really isn't! i still hear people humming or jiving to "La Vie Boheme" or "Seasons of Love," like it's Justin Timberlake or something gay along those lines. i saw RENT; I have no reason to lie. i went and saw the motion picture version the first night it was out in theaters. i'll be honest; i almost cried when Angel surcame to AIDs. And then Roger was having some kind of HIV/AIDs shit-fit, and it got emotional. Oh, and Mimi and her AIDs...and all the other AIDs. you'd swear it took place in South Africa, but alas, no, it's scenery is New York. and so many rich people actually adored the film and Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer Award-winning theatrical version. how funny, considering, if they ever saw poverty in real life, they'd try to mask it somehow. RENT made them look at the problem square in the eyes. there is too much poverty and sickness in the world, and these are the people coping. "how delightful! such a great love story!" yet, at the core of it all was a story about the things we try and ignore or forget. that's RENT for ya! the music is just a mix of Bon Jovi inspired, heavily-influenced Billy Joel shit, pooped out of Aretha. oh, and don't forget the drag queens!
instead of watching RENT, i think i'd have more fun sticking my tongue into the blades of a fan.
i've gotta give a tip of my hat to Tetris. every Reagan-baby should remember the block-stacking, cash-giant video game first introduced on the Nintendo Gameboy. now, it's been revamped for a new generation, and a better handheld, the Nintendo DS. though, old fans might not be open to switching from the low-quality Gameboy, to the elongated, stylus-wielding DS, with it's rich graphics, and 5.1 audio. i kid you not, the DS packs some heat. how could such a simpleton game like Tetris be a top-seller on the DS? it's quite simple - you open the handheld port to new playable mini-games on the DS, you offer 6 different playing modes, including standard block-stacking, better graphics and sound, and WiFi play - enough to make any retro-gamer ejaculate all over in Princess Peach's hair like Mario and Luigi do in the anime-porn you just now downloaded where the two plumbers fill both of Peach's holes! thumbs up, Tetris, you are still living strong!
now, onto bigger and brighter things. it recently occurred to me that people anymore are spoiled, with their lightning-fast internets, their daddy's money, and credit cards, but the one thing that's reached the point of ridiculous, is the cell phone. check out the Helio - comes complete with Myspace mobile, it's a camera - a multimedia device, and it's a phone! there are video phones, camera phones, internet-compatible phones, chat phones, MP3 player phones...the phone does everything now. and with that kind of power, a person will fight you in order for them to keep their phone. anymore, you have to treat grown adults like children, and tell them to either get off the phone or there is going to be trouble. "do i have to take that away from you and keep it, or will you shut it off?" it's become unbearable! can't you have your phone off for five, ten minutes. "but i don't turn off my phone because of emergency calls..." so an emergency in your life is knowing what time 'One Tree Hill' is on that night? an emergency could be your girlfriend coming down for the weekend, and you will see her in about ten minutes, and that would be the perfect time for you two to talk about God-knows-what, but instead, you have to talk to her in a public place, and you don't have Verizon, so you're breaking up, and have to yell. FUCKING BULLSHIT! GET OFF THE MOTHER FUCKING PHONE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! no, their life is in a phone. all the numbers of their stupid, douche-bag friends are in that phone. spoiled assholes. "my kid was too fucking cute to slap when they did something wrong as a toddler or child!" no, your fucking kid was a manipulative little prick and knew a cute face would get him/her out of trouble. maybe having an ugly kid isn't a bad idea. you would never have that moment where the kid did something stupid or wrong, and punishment was at foot, but you couldn't go through it because of a cute face. in return, the kid would try a cute face, but fail miserably, installing in that small mind, honesty, forgiveness, and, above all, humility. oh, and i guarantee at some point in that kid's life, he or she is going to say to him or herself, "i'm ugly as fuck!"
i plan to adopt when my time comes where i feel i'm ready to have a kid. i've heard people say, "but if you adopt, the kid won't look like you. don't you want your son or daughter to have your eyes, or your nose, or other facial features and so-forth?" i'm an unattractive man, thank you very much. do i want my kid coming out looking ugly as fuck in traditional standards? no. plus, you can adopt an adorable toddler or whatever-aged-kid you are comfortable with.
i don't understand the fascination with the musical, "RENT," i just don't understand it. "the music score is fabulous!" no, it really isn't! i still hear people humming or jiving to "La Vie Boheme" or "Seasons of Love," like it's Justin Timberlake or something gay along those lines. i saw RENT; I have no reason to lie. i went and saw the motion picture version the first night it was out in theaters. i'll be honest; i almost cried when Angel surcame to AIDs. And then Roger was having some kind of HIV/AIDs shit-fit, and it got emotional. Oh, and Mimi and her AIDs...and all the other AIDs. you'd swear it took place in South Africa, but alas, no, it's scenery is New York. and so many rich people actually adored the film and Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer Award-winning theatrical version. how funny, considering, if they ever saw poverty in real life, they'd try to mask it somehow. RENT made them look at the problem square in the eyes. there is too much poverty and sickness in the world, and these are the people coping. "how delightful! such a great love story!" yet, at the core of it all was a story about the things we try and ignore or forget. that's RENT for ya! the music is just a mix of Bon Jovi inspired, heavily-influenced Billy Joel shit, pooped out of Aretha. oh, and don't forget the drag queens!
instead of watching RENT, i think i'd have more fun sticking my tongue into the blades of a fan.
i've gotta give a tip of my hat to Tetris. every Reagan-baby should remember the block-stacking, cash-giant video game first introduced on the Nintendo Gameboy. now, it's been revamped for a new generation, and a better handheld, the Nintendo DS. though, old fans might not be open to switching from the low-quality Gameboy, to the elongated, stylus-wielding DS, with it's rich graphics, and 5.1 audio. i kid you not, the DS packs some heat. how could such a simpleton game like Tetris be a top-seller on the DS? it's quite simple - you open the handheld port to new playable mini-games on the DS, you offer 6 different playing modes, including standard block-stacking, better graphics and sound, and WiFi play - enough to make any retro-gamer ejaculate all over in Princess Peach's hair like Mario and Luigi do in the anime-porn you just now downloaded where the two plumbers fill both of Peach's holes! thumbs up, Tetris, you are still living strong!
now, onto bigger and brighter things. it recently occurred to me that people anymore are spoiled, with their lightning-fast internets, their daddy's money, and credit cards, but the one thing that's reached the point of ridiculous, is the cell phone. check out the Helio - comes complete with Myspace mobile, it's a camera - a multimedia device, and it's a phone! there are video phones, camera phones, internet-compatible phones, chat phones, MP3 player phones...the phone does everything now. and with that kind of power, a person will fight you in order for them to keep their phone. anymore, you have to treat grown adults like children, and tell them to either get off the phone or there is going to be trouble. "do i have to take that away from you and keep it, or will you shut it off?" it's become unbearable! can't you have your phone off for five, ten minutes. "but i don't turn off my phone because of emergency calls..." so an emergency in your life is knowing what time 'One Tree Hill' is on that night? an emergency could be your girlfriend coming down for the weekend, and you will see her in about ten minutes, and that would be the perfect time for you two to talk about God-knows-what, but instead, you have to talk to her in a public place, and you don't have Verizon, so you're breaking up, and have to yell. FUCKING BULLSHIT! GET OFF THE MOTHER FUCKING PHONE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! no, their life is in a phone. all the numbers of their stupid, douche-bag friends are in that phone. spoiled assholes. "my kid was too fucking cute to slap when they did something wrong as a toddler or child!" no, your fucking kid was a manipulative little prick and knew a cute face would get him/her out of trouble. maybe having an ugly kid isn't a bad idea. you would never have that moment where the kid did something stupid or wrong, and punishment was at foot, but you couldn't go through it because of a cute face. in return, the kid would try a cute face, but fail miserably, installing in that small mind, honesty, forgiveness, and, above all, humility. oh, and i guarantee at some point in that kid's life, he or she is going to say to him or herself, "i'm ugly as fuck!"
Friday, August 18, 2006
The Envelope has been Pushed
Musicians, namely Madonna, have been pushing the envelope for years. From orgasms on stage to having sex with a black Jesus - Hell, back in the day, Elvis' swinging hips fueled controversy. If you give an extrovert the stage, you've given them the world. So it's not surprising to hear of above-mentioned Madonna, performing more upsetting acts on stage.
Last week, she staged a mock crucifixion of herself in Rome.
A mock crucifixion?...
Obviously, Madonna wants attention because I don't know why anyone would do that...does Madonna have a new song about the crucifixion? Last time I knew, her material was shit, unless she is reverting to the classics, if you can bare to call them that. Does she think she's Jesus? If anything, she's a has-been.
But the big story is her repeating the stunt in her upcoming Duesseldorf, Germany concert on Sunday. German prosecutors are threatening to monitor Madonna's weekend concert in Duesseldorf, and if she's dumb enough to pull that stunt again, it's time behind bars for the material girl.
The crucifixion scene, which stirred uproar from religious leaders in Rome earlier this month, features the pop star performing on a mirrored cross, with her hands and feet bound, and drew an estimated 70,000 fans.
I'm kind of curious as to what Madonna, I mean, Mrs. Louise Ciccone-Ritchie because honestly, Madonna, I could care less what you called yourself. Prince/The Performer formally known as Prince/(insert 'Prince' symbol), or Roger Nelson, as was his birth name, pulled the same crap. I have to commend Prince though, for his work with "The Revolution," but I've never been a Madonna fan, so to commend any type of her work, might be considered 'blasphemy' in my book. As I was saying, I'm kind of curious as to what Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie said to her publicist/manager/ and/or production crew on her Confessions tour, when she first thought up the scheme. (insert faked British accent, or is she doing that still?) "I had a vision last night; something prolific, something existential - of myself as Jesus Christ. As we are performing in Rome, the second motherland of the people, I would like to stage a crucifixion scene during my song...I don't know, we've done a lot for "Like a Prayer" - that comes off as an overkill. I was thinking the scene would be perfect during, "I love New York"...
The fact is, I don't know which song she chose to taint with the stunt. I do know, though, that pushing the envelope is not always an artist's best interest, especially if, by pushing that envelope every single time, push comes to shove. It was tasteless, and for 48, Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie, you have a lot of growing up to do.
Last week, she staged a mock crucifixion of herself in Rome.
A mock crucifixion?...
Obviously, Madonna wants attention because I don't know why anyone would do that...does Madonna have a new song about the crucifixion? Last time I knew, her material was shit, unless she is reverting to the classics, if you can bare to call them that. Does she think she's Jesus? If anything, she's a has-been.
But the big story is her repeating the stunt in her upcoming Duesseldorf, Germany concert on Sunday. German prosecutors are threatening to monitor Madonna's weekend concert in Duesseldorf, and if she's dumb enough to pull that stunt again, it's time behind bars for the material girl.
The crucifixion scene, which stirred uproar from religious leaders in Rome earlier this month, features the pop star performing on a mirrored cross, with her hands and feet bound, and drew an estimated 70,000 fans.
I'm kind of curious as to what Madonna, I mean, Mrs. Louise Ciccone-Ritchie because honestly, Madonna, I could care less what you called yourself. Prince/The Performer formally known as Prince/(insert 'Prince' symbol), or Roger Nelson, as was his birth name, pulled the same crap. I have to commend Prince though, for his work with "The Revolution," but I've never been a Madonna fan, so to commend any type of her work, might be considered 'blasphemy' in my book. As I was saying, I'm kind of curious as to what Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie said to her publicist/manager/ and/or production crew on her Confessions tour, when she first thought up the scheme. (insert faked British accent, or is she doing that still?) "I had a vision last night; something prolific, something existential - of myself as Jesus Christ. As we are performing in Rome, the second motherland of the people, I would like to stage a crucifixion scene during my song...I don't know, we've done a lot for "Like a Prayer" - that comes off as an overkill. I was thinking the scene would be perfect during, "I love New York"...
The fact is, I don't know which song she chose to taint with the stunt. I do know, though, that pushing the envelope is not always an artist's best interest, especially if, by pushing that envelope every single time, push comes to shove. It was tasteless, and for 48, Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie, you have a lot of growing up to do.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Conclusions
I never liked Myspace the moment it sprang up in everyone's internet history pages. For one thing, everyone I knew hailed it as 'awesome' and 'addictive', as though it had innovative opportunities, but when I finally got around to checking it out, it had nothing to offer on the table for me. A web-based community; I've seen it before! I was lucky enough to find a flow chart on how Myspace has risen to the top.
***http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/03/myspace_mania.html*** Rubel, Steve. "Myspace Mania." Micro Persuasion. March 30, 2006; blog.
It compares Myspace's registry rates to other communities similar to it, like ivillage.com and go.com. I checked out ivillage.com, and, I get the feeling Myspace is not done with it's tranformation. Right now, it looks sophomoric, and it's undeniably user-friendly. ivillage.com is at bust! It's so jam-packed, my experience with it was horrible. So many different screens just to get to another place, I sort of got the "run-around". Go.com is actually an email site; it won't even give you your own space!
Myspace being a centerfold for news stations - is old news. Everybody has heard enough about it's controversy; how sex offenders can access people's identification, how spammers use the site to debauch people, how people are scammed by advertisements clustered on the site's homepage - like the site itself, it offers nothing new.
It's a psychiatrist's wet dream; adolescents have begun using the site as a sort of "escape", in a sense that they are given their own space for them to do whatever they want with. They are offered virtual friendships, and have turned the computer into their own personal playground. The next big question now is, can people turn away from the computer? For a site that is so addictive, could an adolescent stray from it, can anyone be without it, and on that note, is the computer itself addictive? Yes, it is. No longer is it the television that is worrying the experts, the computer has become an essential tool for all ages! And that cock-mockery about how the chat rooms, the blog sites, the games, the file-sharing programs are all to blame is bullshit - take a look at the schools. Every major paper must be typed now-a-days and it's been that way for ages. And I don't know if you're stupid or what the fuck your problem is, but you're being taught to use them because technology is advancing. Some day, in the not so distant future, everything will be computers - wow, I sound as though I were 80.
The future for Myspace is the bottom of the barrel. I remember "Bearshare", I remember "mIRC", the decline of "Napster", the decline of "ivillage", "Skype", this increase in popularity for Myspace is grand and all, but never lasting, just like those other hot places of lore above.
I figured out what Myspace really was. Some programmer (Tom), probably after drinking heavily or smoking a bowl, was fed up with pop-up ads, wanted something universial in the world of chat, wanted something universial in the world of email, wanted something more advanced then Xanga, but wanted the flavor of then-popular XuQa...thought, "Let's put all the crap generated on the internet into one huge site," and sure enough, it sold. With Myspace, you can chat with friends, or just random people off the internet who have a registered site, send bulletins, or new-wave "chain mails" to people on your buddy list (can you say messenger?), smear advertisements anywhere - how 'bout one there, or down there, or in the middle, or one that hovers around, and when you go to click a link somewhere, it sneaks in front of your cursor. Some place where you're not afraid to express yourself photogenically because when I think 60+ million registered members on one site, I never think that maybe one or a couple thousand are also registered sexual deviants.
When VH1 finally, and you know they will, comes up with an "I love the 2k's" or "The New Millennia," when they express their opinions about Myspace, people watching the program will be like, "Huh? Ohhh, right...I LOVED Myspace," emphasis on the word 'LOVED'.
***http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/03/myspace_mania.html*** Rubel, Steve. "Myspace Mania." Micro Persuasion. March 30, 2006; blog.
It compares Myspace's registry rates to other communities similar to it, like ivillage.com and go.com. I checked out ivillage.com, and, I get the feeling Myspace is not done with it's tranformation. Right now, it looks sophomoric, and it's undeniably user-friendly. ivillage.com is at bust! It's so jam-packed, my experience with it was horrible. So many different screens just to get to another place, I sort of got the "run-around". Go.com is actually an email site; it won't even give you your own space!
Myspace being a centerfold for news stations - is old news. Everybody has heard enough about it's controversy; how sex offenders can access people's identification, how spammers use the site to debauch people, how people are scammed by advertisements clustered on the site's homepage - like the site itself, it offers nothing new.
It's a psychiatrist's wet dream; adolescents have begun using the site as a sort of "escape", in a sense that they are given their own space for them to do whatever they want with. They are offered virtual friendships, and have turned the computer into their own personal playground. The next big question now is, can people turn away from the computer? For a site that is so addictive, could an adolescent stray from it, can anyone be without it, and on that note, is the computer itself addictive? Yes, it is. No longer is it the television that is worrying the experts, the computer has become an essential tool for all ages! And that cock-mockery about how the chat rooms, the blog sites, the games, the file-sharing programs are all to blame is bullshit - take a look at the schools. Every major paper must be typed now-a-days and it's been that way for ages. And I don't know if you're stupid or what the fuck your problem is, but you're being taught to use them because technology is advancing. Some day, in the not so distant future, everything will be computers - wow, I sound as though I were 80.
The future for Myspace is the bottom of the barrel. I remember "Bearshare", I remember "mIRC", the decline of "Napster", the decline of "ivillage", "Skype", this increase in popularity for Myspace is grand and all, but never lasting, just like those other hot places of lore above.
I figured out what Myspace really was. Some programmer (Tom), probably after drinking heavily or smoking a bowl, was fed up with pop-up ads, wanted something universial in the world of chat, wanted something universial in the world of email, wanted something more advanced then Xanga, but wanted the flavor of then-popular XuQa...thought, "Let's put all the crap generated on the internet into one huge site," and sure enough, it sold. With Myspace, you can chat with friends, or just random people off the internet who have a registered site, send bulletins, or new-wave "chain mails" to people on your buddy list (can you say messenger?), smear advertisements anywhere - how 'bout one there, or down there, or in the middle, or one that hovers around, and when you go to click a link somewhere, it sneaks in front of your cursor. Some place where you're not afraid to express yourself photogenically because when I think 60+ million registered members on one site, I never think that maybe one or a couple thousand are also registered sexual deviants.
When VH1 finally, and you know they will, comes up with an "I love the 2k's" or "The New Millennia," when they express their opinions about Myspace, people watching the program will be like, "Huh? Ohhh, right...I LOVED Myspace," emphasis on the word 'LOVED'.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
***ReTrO PoSt***
[Getting Along Good] - first posted: September 15, 2005
I am having a pretty damn good day. Lets back up about a week and I'll tell you why I'm having such a good week. I SAW DAVE MATTHEWS!!! Finally, I freakin' saw dmb in concert and I've gotta say, IT....WAS.....AWESOME!!! This was a concert where I wasn't just rocking back and forth pathetically because I didn't know what else to do, no. This concert, I was Woo-ing at the beginning of their song, "Warehouse," I was dancing to "Louisiana Bayou," I was hitting the high notes on "Bartender," and I smelled more weed there then anywhere. And people were boozing it up and a lot of them were singing and dancing not out of joy, but because they were trashed so bad. And Boyd was on the fiddle and he was a-fiddlin' and a-hoppin' around the stage and then he got in the face of Dave and was like, "Oh yeah! You like that?" only not as homo-erotic. And Dave was just feeding it right back to him, and then his solo came up on "So Much to Say" and he was like, "Step aside..." and took Boyd to school. Being at Red Rocks wasn't too bad either- I mean, it is DMB's most recognized and appreciated concert spots, since the last time they played there was 95....I might be right on that one. Thanks a lot, Huber, for the tix and the experience. It will go down as the highlight of this year, most likely. Come to think of it, Jon was responsible for two highlights of my year. One was Mardi Gras, the other was this....wow! Welp, gonna go.
I am having a pretty damn good day. Lets back up about a week and I'll tell you why I'm having such a good week. I SAW DAVE MATTHEWS!!! Finally, I freakin' saw dmb in concert and I've gotta say, IT....WAS.....AWESOME!!! This was a concert where I wasn't just rocking back and forth pathetically because I didn't know what else to do, no. This concert, I was Woo-ing at the beginning of their song, "Warehouse," I was dancing to "Louisiana Bayou," I was hitting the high notes on "Bartender," and I smelled more weed there then anywhere. And people were boozing it up and a lot of them were singing and dancing not out of joy, but because they were trashed so bad. And Boyd was on the fiddle and he was a-fiddlin' and a-hoppin' around the stage and then he got in the face of Dave and was like, "Oh yeah! You like that?" only not as homo-erotic. And Dave was just feeding it right back to him, and then his solo came up on "So Much to Say" and he was like, "Step aside..." and took Boyd to school. Being at Red Rocks wasn't too bad either- I mean, it is DMB's most recognized and appreciated concert spots, since the last time they played there was 95....I might be right on that one. Thanks a lot, Huber, for the tix and the experience. It will go down as the highlight of this year, most likely. Come to think of it, Jon was responsible for two highlights of my year. One was Mardi Gras, the other was this....wow! Welp, gonna go.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
The Unmistakenable Nonsense
I was recently watching a movie with David Cross* in it (*Mr. Show, Scary Movie 2) and something odd struck me about it at the ending, where the movie flips to a fuzzy, no-signal screen, and the movie ends. Within the fuzziness of that scene, I clearly share the image of a woman and a man kissing. The first thing I thought was, "Nah. I didn't just see that..." and then it dawned on me. My mind automatically thought of kissing someone. I witnessed a subliminal message in the media. This wasn't like noticing the 'boom mic' in a movie, many times over like I did in the movie "The Break-Up". These people had secretly placed a subliminal message within the context of their film; I felt raped. Now I don't trust the media because what if subliminal messages are already being fed to us through our own television? While thinking this, I suspected another group of people of doing such things; auto-racers. Nascar racing, to me, feels hypnotic! Picture it - a couple dozen cars, different colors, repeatedly driving around a track, and you are following your favorite racer's car with your eyes, continuously around said race track - that seems hypnotic. Then, every five minutes is a beer commercial, and a commercial for a new movie or movie release - a complete life of comsumption. And you ask why the majority of Nascar fans are below the poverty line!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
A Little Bed-time Story Before I'm Through
While talking about 'the benefits', I had somehow come across something relevant that I'd like to share now. A lot of people against the foul act of smoking stated that all forms of smoking are bad for you. That meant cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking, marijuana smoking...Etc, if the rest of that smoking might be crack or what-have-you, it all was bad. Certainly cigarette smoking is very bad for you; it's not only addictive, but cigarettes contain added properties to the tobacco that, once inhaled, kills you quicker, hence the reason why Phillip Morris states, "There is no such thing as a safe cigarette." Cigars, depending on which kind you get, are basically fatter cigarettes with more of the tar for your lungs. I say 'depending on which kind you get' because hand-rolled, right in front of your face, cigar manufacturing actually cuts out those harmful additives. Cigars are bad for you. Pipe smoking; more tar than cigarettes, but less than most store-bought cigars, though, that statistic irks me, unless, it's the actual tobacco itself containing the tar. With pipe smoking, you pack loose tobacco into the basin, and, you've got yourself a pipe ready to be smoked. This seems the safer of the three because you've basically cut out all the harmful ingredients; no paper used to roll the tobacco like you'd find on a cigar or cigarette, and the tobacco is freshly packaged tobacco, cut up, ready for you to use, unless they treat the tobacco with chemicals to keep it from spoiling, if tobacco spoils. I really don't feel like throwing up this morning to find out the real solution; I'm sure I'm missing something. I'd say smoking out of a pipe would be the best way, but people I've talked to say it's the worst. Then, we go into the other things you can smoke, like marijuana and crack cocaine. Marijuana, "burns you out!" 'You lose your will to control your own sanity' 'You destroy brain cells' 'You become retarded!' None of these claims are true.
Here's the truth - "Infection - Researchers at the recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington presented findings from animal studies that showed cannabinoids markedly altered helper T cell production of cytokines, which are important to resistance of infection. More disturbing, they provided strong experimental evidence that marijuana and other opiates may be co-factors in the progression of infectious diseases." - USA Today article, March 16, 2000
You are at greater risk of heart attack if you're middle aged, and, of course, the infection part of it goes into how your whole body is prone to illness.
There are many ways of fighting infection though. Vitamin C (strawberries, oranges, papaya, mangos, tomato juice) , for instance, strengthens many things in your body, and is a healthy antioxidant. Vitamin E (a variety of nuts, apples, spinach, pastas even!) an antioxidant vitamin involved in the metabolism of all cells, helps. You consume a lot of those vitamins, and that creates a strong defense against any type of infection.
Sadly, though, there are no positives to smoking crack cocaine...I really hoped it cured something, but it doesn't do any good...
Medicinal use of marijuana has revealed some very astounding results. It prevents and treats many types cancers, it reduces spasticity in MS sufferers, marijuana could reduce one's risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma because it slows down the overproduction of harmful B cells...Wait, I'm catching on to something...
We've reviewed the negatives of cigarettes, cigars, and the pipe smoking of tobacco because, let's face it, there are no proven positives of tobacco use, no matter how you smoke it. Marijuana is a different story. Sure, risk using marijuana and increase your chance of infection, but, the last time I checked, an infection can be fought off and cured, emphysema, greatly connected with the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products, except snuff, can't be cured, and can only be prevented if you don't smoke.
The good sort of out-weighs the bad on marijuana. I don't condone the use of marijuana, but, out of those I've looked at just now, it seems marijuana is the safest, and holds the greatest benefit of them all. This reminds me of this time I went to this friend of a friend's house, and we were all outside, enjoying the night breeze, and, a few of my friends were drinking, I'm not afraid to admit, and a smaller few than that were burning one down. This girl I had just met that night, was standing right across from me, and she was offered a beer, and she refused because she had to go home later that night. She was then offered what the other people were doing, and she refused because she had to go home later that night. And she really was against the fact that these people were doing this in her presence because she had to go home later that night. Her parents would probably smell it on her if she helped burn one down. While she was explaining this, someone, I can't remember who, exhaled, and the smoke got caught up in the wind, and this person just completely blew everything he was holding in his lungs at her...And she was worried about everyone smoking in her presence!
Here's the truth - "Infection - Researchers at the recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington presented findings from animal studies that showed cannabinoids markedly altered helper T cell production of cytokines, which are important to resistance of infection. More disturbing, they provided strong experimental evidence that marijuana and other opiates may be co-factors in the progression of infectious diseases." - USA Today article, March 16, 2000
You are at greater risk of heart attack if you're middle aged, and, of course, the infection part of it goes into how your whole body is prone to illness.
There are many ways of fighting infection though. Vitamin C (strawberries, oranges, papaya, mangos, tomato juice) , for instance, strengthens many things in your body, and is a healthy antioxidant. Vitamin E (a variety of nuts, apples, spinach, pastas even!) an antioxidant vitamin involved in the metabolism of all cells, helps. You consume a lot of those vitamins, and that creates a strong defense against any type of infection.
Sadly, though, there are no positives to smoking crack cocaine...I really hoped it cured something, but it doesn't do any good...
Medicinal use of marijuana has revealed some very astounding results. It prevents and treats many types cancers, it reduces spasticity in MS sufferers, marijuana could reduce one's risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma because it slows down the overproduction of harmful B cells...Wait, I'm catching on to something...
We've reviewed the negatives of cigarettes, cigars, and the pipe smoking of tobacco because, let's face it, there are no proven positives of tobacco use, no matter how you smoke it. Marijuana is a different story. Sure, risk using marijuana and increase your chance of infection, but, the last time I checked, an infection can be fought off and cured, emphysema, greatly connected with the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products, except snuff, can't be cured, and can only be prevented if you don't smoke.
The good sort of out-weighs the bad on marijuana. I don't condone the use of marijuana, but, out of those I've looked at just now, it seems marijuana is the safest, and holds the greatest benefit of them all. This reminds me of this time I went to this friend of a friend's house, and we were all outside, enjoying the night breeze, and, a few of my friends were drinking, I'm not afraid to admit, and a smaller few than that were burning one down. This girl I had just met that night, was standing right across from me, and she was offered a beer, and she refused because she had to go home later that night. She was then offered what the other people were doing, and she refused because she had to go home later that night. And she really was against the fact that these people were doing this in her presence because she had to go home later that night. Her parents would probably smell it on her if she helped burn one down. While she was explaining this, someone, I can't remember who, exhaled, and the smoke got caught up in the wind, and this person just completely blew everything he was holding in his lungs at her...And she was worried about everyone smoking in her presence!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
The Benefits
I've been confirming the benefits of a few certain things - the benefits of the disposal of pennies has crossed my mind. I am anti-pennies; I seriously don't like to use them...in fact, I throw them on the ground when I get them, I don't use them in any coinage transaction, and I see pennies as the coin equivalent of shit, especially when handed a handful of sweaty, warm, degraded pennies, with like pieces of lint, debris, and crusted over, unknown brown, ungodly shit all over them like the type of pennies I see.
Another benefactor would be that of low consumption of alcohol, or, not drinking hard liquor, but drinking low, almost no volumes of alcohol, like beer or wine. The more you have to drink, the better. When you are full of liquor, like beer, your stomach will stop you before your conscious thought. You tend to drink more alcohol to get completely hammered when drinking beer or wine, a complete differential of drinking hard liquor. With hard liquor, you drink less to get hammered, which means less liquid in your system. It would take your system twice, almost three times as long to get that shit out of your system. And, being alcohol, it already takes way too long to exit your system. With beer or wine, you drink more of it, causing your body to have more liquids, thus, enabling you to pass it quicker. And wine is said to be a great way to clean out your system, much like water, though I hardly believe that.
Oh course, the benefits of having a friend with benefits is free sex, anytime you want it. But it just seems like a lot of the things I'm talking about have negative effects as well. Consider the alcohol thing. That could lead to serious health problems, alcoholism, which ends with you isolated from loved ones. Not good. The negative benefits of having a friend with benefits would be just using someone for sex, you'd want your partner to be clean, and, if they are set up with the same perdictament you two are in with many different people, that's not clean. That's only to name a few. The advantages of pennies would be a lower form of coinage just in case your meal ticket came to the sum of $14.23...a nickel just wouldn't cut it!
The biggest benefit, though, is the benefit of life. To experience the creation of it, and to partake in the creation of it, is a worthwhile experience that only life can bring, unless God has to do it all over again. The main benefit of life is the experiences of life. But with every benefactor comes the negative. What kind of life would be worth living if you were in a coma, or sustained serious injury to where you were paralyzed from the eyes down? You're a useless body with a brain. How sad it would be that no one would understand you, or, how sad would it be to never express your thoughts or who you are? Some people deal with the worst life could deliver. A few give up, and just wonder aimlessly, depressed, alone, without love or true acceptance. A few of those commit suicide or murder, in the case of murder, only to bring the same pain they feel day in and day out to other people who have it good. It doesn't even have to be murder - their goal in life is strictly to cause hate or pain among the loved and happy. But to those who strive to make each day better than the last, and are thrown into a shitty situation, those few were destined for life. Think about that. Their goal in life is to live. Without that goal, their lives would be as good as those murderers and fiends. Their want in this life is to make other people happy, and, in return, make themselves happy because they truly only feel happiness by expressing happiness. They accept their lives, and have decided that they were given life to give it, in any form possible. They were destined to live. A lot of people ignore that. They think living is to entertain themselves, they live to satisfy only themselves...that's not living. That's a selfish embodiment! The benefactor of the life of giving life is true happiness, not forced happiness to hide pain or grievance, but true happiness. They want that life. I only wish I knew happiness like that. I feel it, though, sometimes when I'm at the most content. Then it fills me up, and it's like an inner explosion. And I just feel like smiling. Other times, I don't feel that way, and am forced to look like I'm happy, or act like I'm happy. And why is that? Because happiness is radiant. You feel happy, or look it, or act it in any way, and other people can't help but feel it. And what's life any ways? Can life be summed up by just saying that life is happiness? Not necessarily, but happiness shares a huge responsibility in life. So, in a sense, spreading happiness is like spreading life, only, the real thing is always the best.
Another benefactor would be that of low consumption of alcohol, or, not drinking hard liquor, but drinking low, almost no volumes of alcohol, like beer or wine. The more you have to drink, the better. When you are full of liquor, like beer, your stomach will stop you before your conscious thought. You tend to drink more alcohol to get completely hammered when drinking beer or wine, a complete differential of drinking hard liquor. With hard liquor, you drink less to get hammered, which means less liquid in your system. It would take your system twice, almost three times as long to get that shit out of your system. And, being alcohol, it already takes way too long to exit your system. With beer or wine, you drink more of it, causing your body to have more liquids, thus, enabling you to pass it quicker. And wine is said to be a great way to clean out your system, much like water, though I hardly believe that.
Oh course, the benefits of having a friend with benefits is free sex, anytime you want it. But it just seems like a lot of the things I'm talking about have negative effects as well. Consider the alcohol thing. That could lead to serious health problems, alcoholism, which ends with you isolated from loved ones. Not good. The negative benefits of having a friend with benefits would be just using someone for sex, you'd want your partner to be clean, and, if they are set up with the same perdictament you two are in with many different people, that's not clean. That's only to name a few. The advantages of pennies would be a lower form of coinage just in case your meal ticket came to the sum of $14.23...a nickel just wouldn't cut it!
The biggest benefit, though, is the benefit of life. To experience the creation of it, and to partake in the creation of it, is a worthwhile experience that only life can bring, unless God has to do it all over again. The main benefit of life is the experiences of life. But with every benefactor comes the negative. What kind of life would be worth living if you were in a coma, or sustained serious injury to where you were paralyzed from the eyes down? You're a useless body with a brain. How sad it would be that no one would understand you, or, how sad would it be to never express your thoughts or who you are? Some people deal with the worst life could deliver. A few give up, and just wonder aimlessly, depressed, alone, without love or true acceptance. A few of those commit suicide or murder, in the case of murder, only to bring the same pain they feel day in and day out to other people who have it good. It doesn't even have to be murder - their goal in life is strictly to cause hate or pain among the loved and happy. But to those who strive to make each day better than the last, and are thrown into a shitty situation, those few were destined for life. Think about that. Their goal in life is to live. Without that goal, their lives would be as good as those murderers and fiends. Their want in this life is to make other people happy, and, in return, make themselves happy because they truly only feel happiness by expressing happiness. They accept their lives, and have decided that they were given life to give it, in any form possible. They were destined to live. A lot of people ignore that. They think living is to entertain themselves, they live to satisfy only themselves...that's not living. That's a selfish embodiment! The benefactor of the life of giving life is true happiness, not forced happiness to hide pain or grievance, but true happiness. They want that life. I only wish I knew happiness like that. I feel it, though, sometimes when I'm at the most content. Then it fills me up, and it's like an inner explosion. And I just feel like smiling. Other times, I don't feel that way, and am forced to look like I'm happy, or act like I'm happy. And why is that? Because happiness is radiant. You feel happy, or look it, or act it in any way, and other people can't help but feel it. And what's life any ways? Can life be summed up by just saying that life is happiness? Not necessarily, but happiness shares a huge responsibility in life. So, in a sense, spreading happiness is like spreading life, only, the real thing is always the best.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Where's the Beef in Loans?
Payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans or deferred deposit check loans - any of this something you've heard of before or seen around? The FTC define them as "...small, short-term, high-rate loans..."; nifty, little loans offered from check cashers and other finance companies when you need the money now! Think of it as a cash-rewarding credit card, in a sense that, just like a credit card, you get the cash when you need it, but have to pay it off later. Why would it be a problem, right? A lot of people own credit cards...those companies, along with the FTC, get their money in the long-run anyways, right? Wrong. Ever stopped to wonder why in some towns, you see Payday loans more than in other towns? These companies feed off poverty-stricken communities. Almost unnoticed, they move in, and before you know it, they are feeding the feeble minds of the poor with promises of wealth, and an answer to debt. It's nice to get a pay advance, until you go over your spending limit, then realize because of the offered security of another paycheck, you have spent way too much money and am further down in debt. I like to discuss my mental cycles - different events that link together and form a sort of reoccuring effect. These cycles can happen anywhere. McDonald's, for instance, is a cycle. Cash is delivered with every purchase of a Big Mac, the fat, obese lug who ordered that meal, sits down like he does everyday to stuff that hunger-demishing death into his face, and McDonald's is introduced to another third-world country. Then repeats, until that fat, obese lug is buried and gone, but, the cycle continues because McDonald's gloats that it serves 1 billion people a day. Payday loans have an equally disturbing cycle; they are financial-horror trendsetters. Their cycle begins by advancing someone with a quick loan, giving them the cash on the spot that they would've gotten employed and entering a new payday. They now hold in their hands filthy green, which equals to the overall total of two cashed paychecks for them to do whatever tickles their consumer fancy. Oops! What's this, Freddie...lost all that cash already??? Do keep in mind, beginning the first day of next month, we track your loan...pay it in full, who we deliver you a few notices that respond with: "Forgetting something? We had a deal! Give us the money by next week, or we start increases the balance you owe us!" Suddenly, that smiling, friendly look you saw on the face of Bob, the loaner (Loan-shark Pimp!) isn't too friendly anymore. He wants his money! But stupid you! Pulling out your pocket sleeves to reveal moths that flutter away from your existence - you spent all that money on a guitar, or other possessions, or maybe you used it to get out of the debt you were already in, only creating more debt for you to pay off again. "Well, I still have my other paycheck...wait, darn it! That's right, I sold that one already off...Jimminy Christmas! Will I ever win?" Sadly Freddie, not when you tangle with loan-sharks disguised as legit business...
I'll provide a quick summary of what happened to Freddie.
A borrower writes a personal check payable to the lender for the amount he or she wishes to borrow plus a fee. The company gives the borrower the amount of the check minus the fee. Fees charged for payday loans are a percentage of the face value of the check or a fee charged per amount borrowed.
Let's say Freddie has his check back, has never messed with a payday loan before, and is standing right in front of the small housing building, about to enter to get his "free" money offered to him on the radio. He has a $145 check because Freddie works hard, but isn't rewarded for it with much. He needs out of debt quick, and is happy to see that $290 should do it. Otherwise, if he waits around anymore, he'll have to pay double or triple that! Freddie had continuously heard of payday loans on radio, on television, he even drove passed the place everyday going to work. Freddie needs $145 more dollars for the $290 debt. He rest assures that he can live off $175 he's entitled to get from a friend of his. He receives his $145 on the spot, but, what he doesn't know is they charge a lending fee on top of that, and, if that money isn't paid off, they continue to charge lending fees and other fees to his title. Freddie is no longer in debt. He lives off the $175, and, at the end of the month, decides to splurge after being so responsible with his green, and finally paying of his prior debt. His employer regretfully informs him that there was a situation at work, and his paycheck was held. A week goes by. Finally, he gets his check for $175. He heads down to Payday Loan, where, upon arrival, they tell him his lending fee, and also the charge on not paying off the loan in the days they agreed on. He's now in debt again.
Cash Advance Loans - the cost of the initial loan is a $15 finance charge and 391 percent APR. If you roll-over the loan, or hold it for a certain extension, let's say, three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow $100. Does it make sense to pay for money? My mind is blown! How is that even possible...you might as well keep the $60 and like recycle or something to get the additional $40...donate blood platlettes or something. That should get you pretty close to the money you need.
You can find out about so many different options of getting money then using Payday Loans. I consider them a pollutant, and, like every other pollutant (Wal-mart) they need to be stopped.
I'll provide a quick summary of what happened to Freddie.
A borrower writes a personal check payable to the lender for the amount he or she wishes to borrow plus a fee. The company gives the borrower the amount of the check minus the fee. Fees charged for payday loans are a percentage of the face value of the check or a fee charged per amount borrowed.
Let's say Freddie has his check back, has never messed with a payday loan before, and is standing right in front of the small housing building, about to enter to get his "free" money offered to him on the radio. He has a $145 check because Freddie works hard, but isn't rewarded for it with much. He needs out of debt quick, and is happy to see that $290 should do it. Otherwise, if he waits around anymore, he'll have to pay double or triple that! Freddie had continuously heard of payday loans on radio, on television, he even drove passed the place everyday going to work. Freddie needs $145 more dollars for the $290 debt. He rest assures that he can live off $175 he's entitled to get from a friend of his. He receives his $145 on the spot, but, what he doesn't know is they charge a lending fee on top of that, and, if that money isn't paid off, they continue to charge lending fees and other fees to his title. Freddie is no longer in debt. He lives off the $175, and, at the end of the month, decides to splurge after being so responsible with his green, and finally paying of his prior debt. His employer regretfully informs him that there was a situation at work, and his paycheck was held. A week goes by. Finally, he gets his check for $175. He heads down to Payday Loan, where, upon arrival, they tell him his lending fee, and also the charge on not paying off the loan in the days they agreed on. He's now in debt again.
Cash Advance Loans - the cost of the initial loan is a $15 finance charge and 391 percent APR. If you roll-over the loan, or hold it for a certain extension, let's say, three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow $100. Does it make sense to pay for money? My mind is blown! How is that even possible...you might as well keep the $60 and like recycle or something to get the additional $40...donate blood platlettes or something. That should get you pretty close to the money you need.
You can find out about so many different options of getting money then using Payday Loans. I consider them a pollutant, and, like every other pollutant (Wal-mart) they need to be stopped.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
What is thou PAY-SHHH-CENTS?
I've been thinking of many o' things, and they all center around this conformity of ignorance on a day-to-day plain of my hometown's existence. Hutchinson seems like the ignorant capital of the world to me. I've been talking to a few people about this thought, and it seems to boil down to a lack of patience in my sector of living. And I've had people come up to me and say, "Jesus, I couldn't take your job for a second because it involves way too much patience, which I lack," or, "It would frustrate the hell out of me!" That has never bothered me. Sure, I deal with my fair share of people, but I never get frustrated. And hardly ever impatient. It comes down to the quality of people I can't comprehend. Why they would live their life like this, or how they were forced to. That pains me. I have a hell of a lot of patience in this body of mine. Have you ever got on to this thing called the internet? (You might even be on it as we speak, but you might not know it.) The internet is invisible. Until you are in it, that is. Any ways, I thought of the most tedious task ever assembled to test patience, and I think I have that duty nailed down. Parenthood. How does that not scream patience, and coping with the fact that when you have little impatient bastard kids, it's more of a give very little, but take a shit load relationship? That's a real patience-tester...That, and chess. I realized a lack of patience within the people I see everyday, these patrons of mine, would result in an absence in good parenting. Afterall, think of all the fits a kid has in a day, especially babies - one when it's hungry, tired, just plain agitated - it would be a God damned miracle to get out of a department store without that baby crying. An impatient person would shush the baby or tell it to not cry right now. A patient person wouldn't have that probably because, unlike an impatient person, this more patient, holier than thou when it comes to patience-person would have already subdued the baby before entering the department store. In fact, they would have known exactly what time their kid was going to act up because they were so calm and used to dealing with the individual. Patience is a virtue - it's commonly seen as one, but with all virtues, is almost always ignored. I've set up a certain mindset, or as it is referred to in this book I'm reading, as a 'Chautauqua', although, I'm not on a journey in discovering this. The person in my book believes Quality should be a part of realism; without Quality, our lives would be meaningless, would not be entertaining or enjoyable, much like George Orwell's classic "1984". Well, without patience, you lose a certain distinguishable intelligence. How intelligent do you look getting frustrated at a short wait? Not too intelligent at all, and how about your courteousness? Or care? Isn't care a low form of quality? To care for something is to find quality in it...you'd lose a bit of quality in the middle of losing your patience. I see it as a large web or diagram, with virtues and values written down, and like a web, it can all come tumbling down after removing a certain strand of something because to have a web, everything must go together, that's how it all fits within that web. If quality is attached to care, and care fits within patience, which, in itself fits within something else (I don't know how far I want to go with this) then, I would imagine more values are lost or missing when others are absent. Philosophize it as you will. I just have found that in thinking more and more, taking what I can from other people's thoughts and associating that with the whole picture, you could go back to what I was stating about an absence in proper child-care. And in finding that answer, ask, what does a child really need? Emotionally, a child needs to feel, above all else, secure. Without security, he or she lives a life dedicated to wanting security, when, in all aspects of a secureless life, that person most likely will be insecure. I find it to be very sad when a child is brought into the world with a shitty life, or just in a bad situation. And these unwed mothers popping out babies on some sporadic cycle, are just causing their kids to be just like them. In a sense, the world is doomed to idiots. Whatever happened to the good parents? In asking this, were there ever really good parents? Think of a good parent for me...was it a character on television by chance? The early generations looked to Joan Cleaver from "Leave it to Beaver". The median generations might think Karen Arnold from "The Wonder Years" or Danny Tannor, Joey Gladstone, Jesse Katsopolis - the threesome fathers from "Full House". These days, you might think Sandy Cohen from "The O.C.". What labels a good father or mother? "Oh, well Matthew's father let's him stay out as long as he wants. No curfew...such a great dad!" Things like that are no showing of a good parent. Security issues arise because honestly, letting a 12-14 year old kid out of your sight all night is just negligent. Can you truly say your parents were good parents? If you're not mature in answering this, and still hold it against your parents that they spanked you, don't speak. They did it to set grounds. And now more to this ever-filling pot! To have a kid that is boundless - you really don't want to think that, do you? If you don't set up grounds or bounds to how far your kids will go, you've then got a real mess. A parent who sets those grounds - in my eyes, that's a good parent, to an extent. They could set grounds, by brute force. "I'll kick the shit out of you if you steal that cookie." The cookie gets stolen. And then you have child abuse. I guess, to really narrow this rant down in the coarse of having grounds set with brute force, you've got to have a new mindset. You can go so far, then be stopped. For instance, here in the lab, we had a rule - the first 5 copies free, the rest 10 cents, so, of course, we had people printing off 20 copies, then picking out 5, and trashing the rest. They stepped over the line, and they got checked. Now, you have to pay for all copies. I'll spank my kid, he or she is throwing a fit, I've counted to 3, the fit persists, and here's the spanking. It's all within grounds of establishing those bounds - you throw a fit, you get spanked. So less and less, the fit comes up. All of a sudden, no more fit, which, in light of good behavior, no more spankings. But every once in a while, you get those Phil Spectre people, or Bing Crosby's who just beat the shit out of their kids for not playing the piano right, and those grounds for beatings are broken. Child Services come in. How is a government organization competent enough to say when or when-not to take a kid from a parent's custody? Our government is a shamble! That's bullshit to come in and regulate something you have no knowledge of. What about those kids who weren't beaten profusely; the ones that deserved the spanking because of bad behavior; the parents who were setting boundaries with the grounds that you misbehave, you get a spanking? You take the kid away, and right there - it completely defeats any type of security the parent might have established earlier on. Without feeling secure, other things go, like caring, a false sense of humanity...sure, what you did was best for them, you thought, Child Services, but you just destroyed a good portion of that kid's mentality. And, defeating one thing wipes out others. Security is gone, care, which has eliminated patience, quality, good temperament...their world is askew. They think, at any moment, my kids could be taken away, eliminating spankings or bounds for their kids, thus establishing that if a kid is without strong, moral guidance, that kid will more and more be less of a good parent themselves. Thus, an art of patience. Patience can be part of Quality in a sense. So, when it comes to the author of my book I'm reading thinking Quality should be a realism, then yes, I'd have to agree. We all take a sort of Quality in something, for instance, I take care in writing these little brain mumblings - I look for facts, I do research, then, I sit and rest, and think. Boom, a blog! I also have a Quality in life. I'll get really pissed off, and, in the heat of the moment, I might say something or just act nuts, and won't care what I say or do. After I've cooled down, I might start thinking why I acted the way I did, how my environment interacted with the proceedings, and what to change next time. It comforts me, that's why, it's best for me to just sit in seclusion and think to myself, how could I better an experience like that next time. I view that as a sort of Quality. I care to do and be better. It's in these moments that I'm thinking, that people say I look depressed or angry. My mind is just racing through things, pushing back emotions, and care, to delve deeper for answers. Maybe in a span of a life-time, I'll find answers and construct my own theories and hypotheses, but for now, I guess a more sensitive, personal request from myself to you would be to keep reading and returning to this site.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Personal Transportation
What people see as transportation are sometimes a lot different than what other people see as transportation. Let me give an example because even to me, that sounds a bit confusing. There is this old guy with a beard and baseball cap, and he travels everywhere on his Hover-Round scooter, and when I say everywhere, I mean he will actually drive it in the right lane of a traffic road, where he should be riding it around on the sidewalk. To him, that is his transportation - his small, land-craft that goes maybe five miles per hour...he rides in a thirty mile an hour traffic lane. Does he get ticketed for it? No.
Now-a-days, it's cool to drive a dirt bike around town. A recreational motorcycle primarily used in off-roading is now used on-road. That right there used to be illegal, license or no license, but I guess the law doesn't carry now. The popularity of riding a dirt bike around town was sparked when Tommy Vercetti, main character in the popular video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" - the fourth installment in the GTA franchise, could jump on an unmanned dirt bike or steal it by kicking/stabbing/shooting a person off one, and driving it around. What was considered leisure fun or a better way to get through traffic in fictionalized Staunton Island (like Staten Island, NY) in the game, has now been modernized in the real world, and is seen as a...quick and better way to get around in the city. Does a person riding a dirt bike in the city get ticketed for it? No.
Join the fun now, kids!!! You thought those scooters were fun?! Or skateboards?! Now try Hover-round motorized disability assistance scooters!!! While driving to work, I witnessed two girls, about twelve, playing with their push-scooters, a little boy on his skateboard, and then trailing behind them, two kids had abducted a motorized Hover-round power chair, and were chasing the other three. Unbelievable! For one thing, I thought the only person who could ride in the motorized chair was the person with their doctor's permission? It's all cute and fun when grandpa or grandma is letting the kids ride on his/her lap while they circle around in the middle of the room, but minus the grandparent, and isn't it just theft? A person like myself would find it unsafe and negligent to go and let my kids or grand children go off riding around the neighborhood in my Hover-round. If they go too far, it could strand them out in some unknown neighborhood and they could get lost or worse, molested. Too many riders at a time on the power chair, and it could flip and burst into flames, serverely burning the children. I think at times, if the power chair is hit with projectiles or ram-rodded by a vehicle, it would just blow up, again, serverely burning the children. A vehicle could hit it and kill the children. After the vehicle hits it, the car flips in the air, striking other pedestrians or cars, causing a pile up or again, severely burning everyone in a flaming hell that could be prevented. This isn't coming from a paranoid freak, but a concerned citizen. I find it to be my responsibility to warn these parents of possible fatalities that would most likely ensue. The Hover-round is not a play thing, just like my parents told me exposed electrical sockets were not play things, cobras are not play things, wild dogs are not cute, teddy bears with switch-blades for hands are not cuddly, and fruitcake is toxic.
A message to the old guy on the Hover-round, the teenager on the dirt bike riding it in town, or the kids piling up on the Hover-round, thinking it's their personal automobile: other people don't watch their driving. Old man - I invision great and horrible pain in the future. Teenager on the dirt bike - It was rad when you did stunts for money on "GTAIII", "GTA: Vice City", and "GTA: San Andreas", but that was a video game...it was only cool in the video game. Continue to be a loser that can't and won't get laid. Finally, children on the Hover-round: one word - molestation or two words - burning children.
Now-a-days, it's cool to drive a dirt bike around town. A recreational motorcycle primarily used in off-roading is now used on-road. That right there used to be illegal, license or no license, but I guess the law doesn't carry now. The popularity of riding a dirt bike around town was sparked when Tommy Vercetti, main character in the popular video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" - the fourth installment in the GTA franchise, could jump on an unmanned dirt bike or steal it by kicking/stabbing/shooting a person off one, and driving it around. What was considered leisure fun or a better way to get through traffic in fictionalized Staunton Island (like Staten Island, NY) in the game, has now been modernized in the real world, and is seen as a...quick and better way to get around in the city. Does a person riding a dirt bike in the city get ticketed for it? No.
Join the fun now, kids!!! You thought those scooters were fun?! Or skateboards?! Now try Hover-round motorized disability assistance scooters!!! While driving to work, I witnessed two girls, about twelve, playing with their push-scooters, a little boy on his skateboard, and then trailing behind them, two kids had abducted a motorized Hover-round power chair, and were chasing the other three. Unbelievable! For one thing, I thought the only person who could ride in the motorized chair was the person with their doctor's permission? It's all cute and fun when grandpa or grandma is letting the kids ride on his/her lap while they circle around in the middle of the room, but minus the grandparent, and isn't it just theft? A person like myself would find it unsafe and negligent to go and let my kids or grand children go off riding around the neighborhood in my Hover-round. If they go too far, it could strand them out in some unknown neighborhood and they could get lost or worse, molested. Too many riders at a time on the power chair, and it could flip and burst into flames, serverely burning the children. I think at times, if the power chair is hit with projectiles or ram-rodded by a vehicle, it would just blow up, again, serverely burning the children. A vehicle could hit it and kill the children. After the vehicle hits it, the car flips in the air, striking other pedestrians or cars, causing a pile up or again, severely burning everyone in a flaming hell that could be prevented. This isn't coming from a paranoid freak, but a concerned citizen. I find it to be my responsibility to warn these parents of possible fatalities that would most likely ensue. The Hover-round is not a play thing, just like my parents told me exposed electrical sockets were not play things, cobras are not play things, wild dogs are not cute, teddy bears with switch-blades for hands are not cuddly, and fruitcake is toxic.
A message to the old guy on the Hover-round, the teenager on the dirt bike riding it in town, or the kids piling up on the Hover-round, thinking it's their personal automobile: other people don't watch their driving. Old man - I invision great and horrible pain in the future. Teenager on the dirt bike - It was rad when you did stunts for money on "GTAIII", "GTA: Vice City", and "GTA: San Andreas", but that was a video game...it was only cool in the video game. Continue to be a loser that can't and won't get laid. Finally, children on the Hover-round: one word - molestation or two words - burning children.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Hiding From Fact
I'm the master of filibusters and rants. I could rant all day about useless information, and after I was done, the government would slap a seal of approval, and give me a gold badge or a purple heart. I've come to realize this through conversations with friends, my own writing, but the biggest example of it is through my blog entries. They are huge! And I like to back my thoughts up with proof, so it looks like I know what I am talking about. Let's face it, some people in this world are unremitting bullshitters. I'm a sporadic bullshitter. I fell behind in an English class once. The day before a paper was due, which, I might add, this paper had to include sources out the butt, note cards, bibliography cards, numerous corrected and checked rough drafts. I had nothing of the sort. Twenty minutes in front of a computer, about ten if you include made-up note and bib. cards, and a few minutes it took to pass a few rough drafts to friends within other class periods, and I cranked out a bullshit paper. When I got it back, I had an A+. I also had a note towards the bottom of it, "way to go on the research!!! (smiley face)" A high school paper thought up at the last minute. Did the same for college English, and got an equally high grade. I can't do that with that many subjects in school, but when I do accomplish it, it is gold! This labels me as a sporadic bullshitter.
Upon many bullshitting fiascos I tend to accomplish in my blogs, I realized the longer the blog entry was, the fewer people would respond. No one responds to this blog, but my other blog on Xanga gets a relatively high feedback ratio. Does this mean that our generation is full of fewer readers? What I mean to ask is, are more Americans anti-readers?
I enjoy a good book here and there, but at times, I'll find myself unattractive to pages upon pages of words and dialog, especially after reading or just blindingly staring at a computer screen all day. Has it come down to a time factor when determining the make-up of readers in today's society? Most people I know always seem to be rushing. Their lives are in the fast lane and they hardly find the time for leisure, never really finding a time to read. I, on the other hand, am all about leisure. I find that I will be more productive after a nap or a break from work. I was in heaven this past week. Somehow, my work schedule ended up giving me five days off work, including Memorial Day. A break like that gave me rest and relaxation, before having to work a full week of nights and weekends. I found that I was happier, obviously, being away from a work load like that.
It's common sense that other countries are different in handling work efficiency. Take Japan, for instance. Part of their work schedule includes a "nap-time" like break, where workers can choose to sleep and rest up for more work. Upon further research of this topic, I found that some companies in Japan will even release aromas into the air to relax workers. For instance, lavender was exposed to children to test it's effects. Here's the link:
http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/8/683
In the study they found that one group, exposed to lavender, worked better to another exposed to jasmine, lavender was said to have a sedative-like aroma that brings out euphoria. When exposed to the kids working 60 minutes on tests evaluating concentration and a lapse there of, during the 30 minute break between tests with the exposer of lavender, the students worked harder going into the next tests. This proves that the Japanese know what's good for their workers, although, I have no idea as to what their work days look like.
Does work stress tire a person out to the point where they want to be left alone in a vegetated state? Absolutely! There are days sometimes where I'll sleep for 12 hours after working eight hours with one break every four hours. It's that stress factor that runs you down, and caffeine is not the answer. You need that break to get your senses back. I've heard of game developers in America who have provided their workers with private massage therapists. The outcome: workers were willing to work longer hours - all they needed was a break, and a stop at the snack machine was not going to cut it!
Leisure time should be spent doing just that - leisure. Why should you be worried about taking a break off from work? More importantly, why shouldn't you be given a break? Some places of employment don't allow more than a week or less taken off by their employees and that is tragic. It's proven in all the studies that workers need consistent breaks. So it all trickles down to a necessity to rest. You go home from work, and what is the first thing you want to do? Flop in front of the television or get a cold beverage, and just relax. Do you ever want to just go home and open a copy of "Moby Dick" after doing extensive paper work at your job? Not really. Who's fault is it that test scores in reading and comprehending the material are low? It is industry! You work long hours completing endless amounts of paper work...you really should just sleep. You are driven to the point of exhaustion, and it doesn't help when you have kids. They see a parent not reading for leisure, and how does that help instill the WANT to read? It doesn't! Then, they are tested at schools in reading and arithmetic and the schools are shocked to see such a low outcome. The worst thing I hated in school was being forced to read a book I didn't want to. Why were classrooms forced to provide students with reading material in exchange for grades? Low testing in reading and arithmetic. As a parent, instill that WANT to read. I have a full understanding of families who don't do so because of three or more jobs and 14 to 18 hours of work a day. That's where industry ties in as a problem. Otherwise, read as much as you can, that's about as much as I can say on that point. Big companies out there, slave-pits, Walmart - give your employees some employee time! It's proven to be a high work-efficiency lifesaver. On the downside, you deal with mistakes and problems that could have been corrected if a certain employee would've been given some rest.
Upon many bullshitting fiascos I tend to accomplish in my blogs, I realized the longer the blog entry was, the fewer people would respond. No one responds to this blog, but my other blog on Xanga gets a relatively high feedback ratio. Does this mean that our generation is full of fewer readers? What I mean to ask is, are more Americans anti-readers?
I enjoy a good book here and there, but at times, I'll find myself unattractive to pages upon pages of words and dialog, especially after reading or just blindingly staring at a computer screen all day. Has it come down to a time factor when determining the make-up of readers in today's society? Most people I know always seem to be rushing. Their lives are in the fast lane and they hardly find the time for leisure, never really finding a time to read. I, on the other hand, am all about leisure. I find that I will be more productive after a nap or a break from work. I was in heaven this past week. Somehow, my work schedule ended up giving me five days off work, including Memorial Day. A break like that gave me rest and relaxation, before having to work a full week of nights and weekends. I found that I was happier, obviously, being away from a work load like that.
It's common sense that other countries are different in handling work efficiency. Take Japan, for instance. Part of their work schedule includes a "nap-time" like break, where workers can choose to sleep and rest up for more work. Upon further research of this topic, I found that some companies in Japan will even release aromas into the air to relax workers. For instance, lavender was exposed to children to test it's effects. Here's the link:
http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/8/683
In the study they found that one group, exposed to lavender, worked better to another exposed to jasmine, lavender was said to have a sedative-like aroma that brings out euphoria. When exposed to the kids working 60 minutes on tests evaluating concentration and a lapse there of, during the 30 minute break between tests with the exposer of lavender, the students worked harder going into the next tests. This proves that the Japanese know what's good for their workers, although, I have no idea as to what their work days look like.
Does work stress tire a person out to the point where they want to be left alone in a vegetated state? Absolutely! There are days sometimes where I'll sleep for 12 hours after working eight hours with one break every four hours. It's that stress factor that runs you down, and caffeine is not the answer. You need that break to get your senses back. I've heard of game developers in America who have provided their workers with private massage therapists. The outcome: workers were willing to work longer hours - all they needed was a break, and a stop at the snack machine was not going to cut it!
Leisure time should be spent doing just that - leisure. Why should you be worried about taking a break off from work? More importantly, why shouldn't you be given a break? Some places of employment don't allow more than a week or less taken off by their employees and that is tragic. It's proven in all the studies that workers need consistent breaks. So it all trickles down to a necessity to rest. You go home from work, and what is the first thing you want to do? Flop in front of the television or get a cold beverage, and just relax. Do you ever want to just go home and open a copy of "Moby Dick" after doing extensive paper work at your job? Not really. Who's fault is it that test scores in reading and comprehending the material are low? It is industry! You work long hours completing endless amounts of paper work...you really should just sleep. You are driven to the point of exhaustion, and it doesn't help when you have kids. They see a parent not reading for leisure, and how does that help instill the WANT to read? It doesn't! Then, they are tested at schools in reading and arithmetic and the schools are shocked to see such a low outcome. The worst thing I hated in school was being forced to read a book I didn't want to. Why were classrooms forced to provide students with reading material in exchange for grades? Low testing in reading and arithmetic. As a parent, instill that WANT to read. I have a full understanding of families who don't do so because of three or more jobs and 14 to 18 hours of work a day. That's where industry ties in as a problem. Otherwise, read as much as you can, that's about as much as I can say on that point. Big companies out there, slave-pits, Walmart - give your employees some employee time! It's proven to be a high work-efficiency lifesaver. On the downside, you deal with mistakes and problems that could have been corrected if a certain employee would've been given some rest.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
The Facts of Life
I have been complaining a lot about the media, and how they handle newsworthiness. Newsworthiness - an actual term used to describe what is news. I guess if the media didn't report what they do air, you might see what viewers got a chance to see on CNN a few days ago. The big craze that week: the syndicated television show, "The Facts of Life" was finally coming out on DVD. Tootie, Blair, Natalie, and Mrs. Garrett could now be viewed in high definition on this collection of the first and second seasons of the show. For a five to ten minute segment, CNN brought together three of the cast members to interview them about the show, and what their feelings were while making it, and also being apart for so long. It was a sluggish time for news.
But CNN was not the only network with a news show to have a special. In fact, that very morning, Good Morning, America did the exact same thing. Bryant Gumble, I believe, was asking the same questions as CNN did, making it fully aware that CNN stole the segment. I could see why someone would want to nab a story like, "Miners Trapped in Virginia" or "Two Teens Found Guilty of Bomb and Shooting Attempt," but why "Facts of Life: Reunion?"
Sure, we all need to know about hair changes, and weight changes in the cast, deaths above all things. Wait, no we don't! More wasted time. Tony Snow could've came over to the news team, and played with his asshole, Paula Zahn and Heidi Collins could engage in some lesbian action, while Fredericka Whitfield, Soledad O'Brien, and Sanjay Gupta try and say every word in the English dictionary without expressing any verbal ethnicity in the pronunciation of their syllables. Hell, sock puppets would have been better. If you have to fill airtime, do it with illustrations or presentations. Advertising would do a hell of a job, too. Don't try and liven your news with information on a DVD release. I realize you are a news station, but how important are "The Facts of Life?" You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...There's a time you gotta go and show you're growin' now, you know...When the world never seems to be living up to your dreams. And suddenly you're finding out...It takes a lot to get em right, but you're learnin'...so I guess not every news story is a homerun, sometimes you have the good and bad, and you've got to learn from your mistakes. Wow, so I guess the facts of life are important to cover in the news room. Gee, thanks Facts of Life;)
But CNN was not the only network with a news show to have a special. In fact, that very morning, Good Morning, America did the exact same thing. Bryant Gumble, I believe, was asking the same questions as CNN did, making it fully aware that CNN stole the segment. I could see why someone would want to nab a story like, "Miners Trapped in Virginia" or "Two Teens Found Guilty of Bomb and Shooting Attempt," but why "Facts of Life: Reunion?"
Sure, we all need to know about hair changes, and weight changes in the cast, deaths above all things. Wait, no we don't! More wasted time. Tony Snow could've came over to the news team, and played with his asshole, Paula Zahn and Heidi Collins could engage in some lesbian action, while Fredericka Whitfield, Soledad O'Brien, and Sanjay Gupta try and say every word in the English dictionary without expressing any verbal ethnicity in the pronunciation of their syllables. Hell, sock puppets would have been better. If you have to fill airtime, do it with illustrations or presentations. Advertising would do a hell of a job, too. Don't try and liven your news with information on a DVD release. I realize you are a news station, but how important are "The Facts of Life?" You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...There's a time you gotta go and show you're growin' now, you know...When the world never seems to be living up to your dreams. And suddenly you're finding out...It takes a lot to get em right, but you're learnin'...so I guess not every news story is a homerun, sometimes you have the good and bad, and you've got to learn from your mistakes. Wow, so I guess the facts of life are important to cover in the news room. Gee, thanks Facts of Life;)
Friday, May 12, 2006
R.I.P.
I just heard some horrifying news! The Hummer H1 is extinct. When the Model T was put to death 1928, it was like sinking the Titanic again, only the Titanic was the size of New York City, and it was full of baby animals. When Chevy said, "No more Bel-Aires," the streets ran red with the blood of protests, and the widows cried for 40 days and nights. Now, the Hummer H1, and there are already reports of mass slaughter and bombings.
No, I'm kidding. Nobody cares when a car dies because it's a machine...and machines break apart or die on a daily basis. Thanks CNN for wasting bandwidth and reporting on your website that the Hummer H1 will be discontinued before summer 2006.
No, I'm kidding. Nobody cares when a car dies because it's a machine...and machines break apart or die on a daily basis. Thanks CNN for wasting bandwidth and reporting on your website that the Hummer H1 will be discontinued before summer 2006.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
College Shmollege
Many students struggle to "cut it" and "make the grade" attending college. Let us dwell deeper into my personal life, shall we? I am sort of in a pickle. I kinda said fuck off to the major I had, and got the information on how to switch out to something different; something I had no idea might be. So I went all depressed-like and hated everything, until I thought I found the right replacement major, but then decided, "What's the point of school?" and kind of went deeper into depression, then fought to not get smothered last minute-like. I have a good feeling things turned out tragic. In the light of my situation, I decided to look up the failure rate in achieving a degree in college and what I found was astounding.
"...54 percent of students entering four-year colleges in 1997 had a degree six years later..." - a MSNBC report "U.S. college drop-out rate sparks concern" states.
That's more than half the people enrolling in college achieve their goal. Let's do the American thing and figure out who to point the finger at. Why not the colleges themselves?
I went to the ACT website and found the results of a recent survey, recent being a little under 2 years ago. ACT survey officials say, "...at more than 1,000 two- and four-year colleges and universities...an alarming number of schools have no specific plan or goals in place to improve student retention and degree completion." Why is that? Don't they want students to complete their degrees?
Of course they do, but if you're in college and you're not responsible for that kind of material by then, should you really be in college?
There is the shell-shock factor of it all - shell-shock a term coined during and most notably after wartime when a soldier is overwhelmed with the tribulations of war. Same thing is suggested to happen to a good number of students in college. This might explain why a lot of students fail out of college.
You have to go into college with the right intentions. Don't expect to party and booze it up your whole first and second semester, and still pass all your classes. If you can succeed in doing that, you must be a true genius. You have to work at succeeding in college. But don't over stress.
"College is something you complete. Life is something you experience - So don't worry about your grades, the results, success. Don't focus on the finish line, or how you're doing compared to everyone else - or why you've had a rash for over 20 years now - Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may."
- Jon Stewart; "The Daily Show"
Failing all your classes isn't ever good, don't get me wrong, but, realize why you are in college, and make sure you want be there, before you put forth the money. Van Wilder might have been a cool movie, but don't follow by example on that one...
"...54 percent of students entering four-year colleges in 1997 had a degree six years later..." - a MSNBC report "U.S. college drop-out rate sparks concern" states.
That's more than half the people enrolling in college achieve their goal. Let's do the American thing and figure out who to point the finger at. Why not the colleges themselves?
I went to the ACT website and found the results of a recent survey, recent being a little under 2 years ago. ACT survey officials say, "...at more than 1,000 two- and four-year colleges and universities...an alarming number of schools have no specific plan or goals in place to improve student retention and degree completion." Why is that? Don't they want students to complete their degrees?
Of course they do, but if you're in college and you're not responsible for that kind of material by then, should you really be in college?
There is the shell-shock factor of it all - shell-shock a term coined during and most notably after wartime when a soldier is overwhelmed with the tribulations of war. Same thing is suggested to happen to a good number of students in college. This might explain why a lot of students fail out of college.
You have to go into college with the right intentions. Don't expect to party and booze it up your whole first and second semester, and still pass all your classes. If you can succeed in doing that, you must be a true genius. You have to work at succeeding in college. But don't over stress.
"College is something you complete. Life is something you experience - So don't worry about your grades, the results, success. Don't focus on the finish line, or how you're doing compared to everyone else - or why you've had a rash for over 20 years now - Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may."
- Jon Stewart; "The Daily Show"
Failing all your classes isn't ever good, don't get me wrong, but, realize why you are in college, and make sure you want be there, before you put forth the money. Van Wilder might have been a cool movie, but don't follow by example on that one...
Monday, May 08, 2006
Mad-chic Magic
Well, David Blaine is at it again. He's on his way to completing his next death defying stunt of being underwater, wearing a diving helmet that allows two-way communication, for a week! Wait! That's not death defying...that is like saying, "Here, this shit is dangerous! Go digging in the ground, find an earthworm, and eat it! You won't live through that one!"
David Blaine has what? Balanced on a 22-inch circular platform atop a 100-foot pole for 35 hours; got buried alive in a see-through coffin for a week; survived inside a massive block of ice for 61 hours; fasted for 44 days in a suspended acrylic box over a river. That last one is pretty haggard. Can anyone really survive for 40 days without food or water...oh, right...someone DID! Answer is Jesus, right? Jesus did that!
Looking around on various fancy/pantsy science and anatomy websites, I found that the answer to how long a human being could go without food is a very hard question to get answered. First, you must look at the muscle and fat mass of the subject. David Blaine looks like a skinny, toothpick, heroine junky, but I could only speculate that if that guy wanted to wolf down a pizza or two, he'd find room. As for muscle, if that little bitch were ever in a knife fight, that bitch is gettin' shanked like a mutha! What the body can resort to doing in desperate times (starvation) is it starts to consume fat storage. Once those carbs are burned, the body turns to muscle for substance. Delicious protein! When muscle is gone, you're shit out of luck because not only can you not eat anymore due to weakness and the resistance from your tummy, but now you can't move. Then, the body turns to your vital organs for support, and shuts down whatever you don't need. That's into your last few days, possibly around day 50-60. Relatively, you have about a month with no food.
Water was a simple answer. 3-5 days. So how'd David Blaine do it? Was he even deprived of water? QUOTES!!!
"(He was given) much bedding, a sports bag, a photo of his departed mother and a diary and pencil were...loaded aboard. Compared to his other feats this seemed to be not very challenging - even Blaine appeared bored and disinterested."
When asked why 44, he said because his birthday was 4/4 (April 4th) and beyond days 45-50, you go blind. Right, Mr. Blaine...the real truth is, David Blaine wanted to one-up on Jesus. He was quoted to have said, "Savior my ass," while loading his magic sports bag with water, Hostess snack cakes, and beef jerky. (That's called sarcasm dipshits!)
Something about that damn bag doesn't add up. Let's look at more magic he did. The buried alive segment. Here's more quotage, this time from http://www.magicdirectory.com/blaine/buriedalive.shtml, the same site I got the other quote from. Here, it shows a day by day directory of what happened. Day 3 was astonishing.
"Day 3
Regis came down to view David in the casket. He offered him a hotdog and told him to come out of there. He made David laugh talking through a microphone telling him how crazy he looks.
David was under a blanket at some of the moments he was in there..."
You know you are receiving lots of attention you never got in high school when a senile old man starts throwing hot dogs at you...wait! That was Regis! What's up with this blanket shit? Are you cold? Catching a bit of a cold, so you need to be wrapped up in a blanket, huh? LIAR! That blanket was lined with food! NEXT!
The infamous block of ice trick. Funny...have you ever seen pictures for this? The guy's whole upper body is unseen, but you can see his legs. Oh, and he has a little peep hole for people to see him. Again, a communication head set, to tell him when people aren't around so he can eat and drink! You're still freezing your ass off, but so is all of Siberia. Magic: no. Houdini, you are not Mr. Blaine. You have to start wondering what David Blaine was like in high school. Probably the nerdy kid with his dungeon master's guide, his cape and top hat, quoting David Copperfield, wearing eyeliner and questioning his sexuality. Those were the days David Blaine went by Artimus Wolfcaster, the dark elf of Schneebof.
David Blaine has what? Balanced on a 22-inch circular platform atop a 100-foot pole for 35 hours; got buried alive in a see-through coffin for a week; survived inside a massive block of ice for 61 hours; fasted for 44 days in a suspended acrylic box over a river. That last one is pretty haggard. Can anyone really survive for 40 days without food or water...oh, right...someone DID! Answer is Jesus, right? Jesus did that!
Looking around on various fancy/pantsy science and anatomy websites, I found that the answer to how long a human being could go without food is a very hard question to get answered. First, you must look at the muscle and fat mass of the subject. David Blaine looks like a skinny, toothpick, heroine junky, but I could only speculate that if that guy wanted to wolf down a pizza or two, he'd find room. As for muscle, if that little bitch were ever in a knife fight, that bitch is gettin' shanked like a mutha! What the body can resort to doing in desperate times (starvation) is it starts to consume fat storage. Once those carbs are burned, the body turns to muscle for substance. Delicious protein! When muscle is gone, you're shit out of luck because not only can you not eat anymore due to weakness and the resistance from your tummy, but now you can't move. Then, the body turns to your vital organs for support, and shuts down whatever you don't need. That's into your last few days, possibly around day 50-60. Relatively, you have about a month with no food.
Water was a simple answer. 3-5 days. So how'd David Blaine do it? Was he even deprived of water? QUOTES!!!
"(He was given) much bedding, a sports bag, a photo of his departed mother and a diary and pencil were...loaded aboard. Compared to his other feats this seemed to be not very challenging - even Blaine appeared bored and disinterested."
When asked why 44, he said because his birthday was 4/4 (April 4th) and beyond days 45-50, you go blind. Right, Mr. Blaine...the real truth is, David Blaine wanted to one-up on Jesus. He was quoted to have said, "Savior my ass," while loading his magic sports bag with water, Hostess snack cakes, and beef jerky. (That's called sarcasm dipshits!)
Something about that damn bag doesn't add up. Let's look at more magic he did. The buried alive segment. Here's more quotage, this time from http://www.magicdirectory.com/blaine/buriedalive.shtml, the same site I got the other quote from. Here, it shows a day by day directory of what happened. Day 3 was astonishing.
"Day 3
Regis came down to view David in the casket. He offered him a hotdog and told him to come out of there. He made David laugh talking through a microphone telling him how crazy he looks.
David was under a blanket at some of the moments he was in there..."
You know you are receiving lots of attention you never got in high school when a senile old man starts throwing hot dogs at you...wait! That was Regis! What's up with this blanket shit? Are you cold? Catching a bit of a cold, so you need to be wrapped up in a blanket, huh? LIAR! That blanket was lined with food! NEXT!
The infamous block of ice trick. Funny...have you ever seen pictures for this? The guy's whole upper body is unseen, but you can see his legs. Oh, and he has a little peep hole for people to see him. Again, a communication head set, to tell him when people aren't around so he can eat and drink! You're still freezing your ass off, but so is all of Siberia. Magic: no. Houdini, you are not Mr. Blaine. You have to start wondering what David Blaine was like in high school. Probably the nerdy kid with his dungeon master's guide, his cape and top hat, quoting David Copperfield, wearing eyeliner and questioning his sexuality. Those were the days David Blaine went by Artimus Wolfcaster, the dark elf of Schneebof.
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