At least they are fair...

This is now my favorite instance of the PC (politically correct) world taking over.

PUYALLUP - A local school district is banning Halloween parties because children dressed up as witches might be offensive to real witches.

Ok, so doesn't Santa offend people trying to be real Santa's and elves offend the midgets? Does the Easter Bunny offend people with big ears and lots of hare? It seems to be technically feasible to find something wrong and get it banned.

Lets say that my wife was 'uncomfortable' with the way her fingernails looked, and it made her 'feel bad' to see women in public jobs (reporters, politicians, cheerleaders) to have perfectly groomed nails. Well, since these women are not accurately portraying the way my wife feels about her nails does she have an obligation to strike down the fake nails of America?

What lard.

What the Heck

Okay, this following piece officially goes into the 'What the Heck' area of my mind. How can one not see the lies in this piece? Never in the history of man has a 'culture' or 'nation' broken itself apart to honor and cherish the different cultures in the world. Americans aspire to mimic all other cultures, and are quite content to let that culture go on about it's business.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash5.htm


French President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday of a "catastrophe" for global diversity if the United States' cultural hegemony goes unchallenged.

Speaking at a French cultural center in Hanoi ahead of Friday's opening of a summit of European and Asian leaders, Chirac said France was right to stand up for cultural and linguistic diversity.

The outspoken French president warned that the world's different cultures could be "choked" by US values.

This, he said, would lead to a "general world sub-culture" based around the English language, which would be "a real ecological catastrophe".

Citing Hollywood's stranglehold over the film industry as an example, Chirac stressed that only with government assistance could countries maintain their cultural heritage.

Vietnam is a former French colony, but only around 375,000 of its 81 million people speak French. English is considered by most people a far more valuable and practical second language, particularly among businessmen.

Okay, lets give him the point about choking out other languages, and talk about cultural heritage. The French Marxist is so foolish as to think that the government is the only answer to the problem of English becoming more common. Why does every single problem have to be fixed by the government? Why does authority have to come from above. Why can't actually practicing democracy for a change be a fitting answer? Why can we not move towards a society where all things are done and voted for by the public at large. Why can't I decide what is my language heritage and culture?

Video Games

If ever there was a vice that I could 100% effectively, honestly, openly, admittely, or shallowy admit to - video games would be the vice. There is nothing in my life that would qualify as something that was bad for me or another besides video games. Yet, for me, the problems with VG are that pretty much everyone in my life accepts and promotes them. Perhaps this is something that I become more aware of as I grow into a man who is trying to mentally condition himself to pursue more worth practices.

My mind, however, does have a very convenient way of sheltering things that are like an orc lurking behind the bush. Meaning a man walking about a path notices a game animal slightly off to the side of this wooded path. In reality this animal is an orc lurking in the woods waiting to pounce upon you in an ugly manner. Have VG become just such an orc? Or be perhaps that VG are just an ordinary hobby, and me just in a strange mood.

What a sad mental state to be in. I may just be drifting backwards out of the loose orbit of reality. Sheltered amongst the many me's in my head. Once off the gently balance of orbit, I careen at the same steady temp into the liquid inferno of the nearest sun.

The idea is interesting to me anyway....

Personal Note

There is a pretty good chance that I might be at least a little bit retarded.

From the inside my brain appears so radically different than the picture I get from talking to ther people....

hmm... I wonder.

Guns...

Congratulations to the US Congress for finally getting something right. The non-action in letting the Assault Weapons Ban is a positive step towards truly freeing our country...

Dazed and Confused

What follows is an email I wrote to myself late last night. I wrote it at a time that a man should not have to be awake. Alas, however, I had no choice.


The following comments are only edited for spelling, and nothing else:


Earth cannot produce environment more destitute than 2 AM. Thoughts wander, never fully formed. Words die in the Middle. The middle of what? Is it that those words left unsaid, unwritten and unthought slip somewhere else, into the deep alter-reality alter-universe of sleep? Do memories, questions, fears, ideas fully blossom to potential? Blossom on the other side of the Veil?


Wonder....


The morning after a rainstorm is full of life. Nature picks herself up, come out of hiding, and moves back into the rhythm of life. Earth worms are no exception. The worm runs to the surface in search of air, finds it, only to discover a scant few hours later that a mad dash back underground must take place in order to survive. Sometimes a worm is halfway back in when a boot, or a stick nastily cleave the might worm in two. The half that made it back underground will regenerate and live on.


Are conscience functions like this. Constantly slipping between sleep and wakefulness in search of growing to full length? What thoughts am I harboring that are waiting to recoup in order to contribute once again.


Is sitting up at 2 AM unable to sleep harming those ideas? Do they die, as parts of my brain randomly change from sleep to wake? One one side a boot crushes an idea, only to be crushed from the other side simultaneously as that sector jumps lines?

Shadow

Ella has worked as the Head Maid for nearly 24 years. She had defended the manor from babies, children, weddings, parties, even wars. Never was a mess left in a corner, or a tapestry left unbeaten even for a single day. Through that time she has seen many things change. Some of that change had been ushered in by her. Currently she was sweeping one of the long, meandering hallways. The broom's straw strands making a careful, ordered swish swish on the cool stone floor.



She smiled at the thought of all the hours she had saved by inventing a new way to bind the straw together and to the broom handle. She had soaked leather in a pot overnight (over the fire next to the boiling rabbit stew: another of her innovations she reminded herself to reminisce on later). Then she bound the straw with the soaked leather, and baked each set of brooms in the bread oven. What came out was a broom that would last well beyond four of its string-bound counterparts. A slow smile spread across her face.



Ella saved every copper or silver she could over the years. Except for the occasional dress, and the essential consumables she had saved every possible bit. Next week she would talk to the Lord, and then leave.  She had enough to buy a small estate somewhere, preferably in the trees; she loved the birds' calls. Her mind wandered as she continued to sweep down the corridor.



Swish. Swish. Swish. As she neared a window a chill went up her spine. The ordered cadence did not falter, alter, or change no matter where her mind went. Then, suddenly, it stopped. As Ella had swept past the window, and her shadow fell across the floor, her long, smooth stokes moved across her shadow, until on one identical stroke, her shadow was swept away in a furl of dust and minute bits of straw. Where just a moment past the swish had fully swept through the air, a scream rent it sharp like a knife... A man's laughter, deep and sardonic could be heard coming from just outside the window in the courtyard beyond.

Polish

A man needs polish. Though I cannot offhandedly say what type of polish one needs. Some need shoe polish, need car polish, some need hair polish. Since I started capturing some thoughts here on this blog, I discovered that I need mental polish. My writing is uncharacteristically choppy, awkward, and confusing.

I have never been Mr Eloquent. I did, however, have some polish. That is what I am looking to get - polish. Over the next few months I predict that the composition, flow, wording, content of this blog will completely change, though I imagine one could still recognize it as my writing.

Thinking about why my writing has deteriorated to the point of anemia, I discovered what I think is the source for this depravity. EMAIL. Not just any email. Work Email.

I don't know what causes it, I have seen it rarely, like in versions 7-8 but not consistently, and I can NEVER reproduce it.

What is your % work done?

Here you go

Communist

Those are just a few examples of eMails sent by me in the last few days. Short, to the point, but utterly without imagination, flow, or life.


ARRGGHHHH!

Post Note: EMAIL email Email eMail how is it supposed to be spelled/represented?

Impressions

Studies, statistics, and academic types all agree. 'They' (the indubitable phantom of persuasion) say that the chances of changing opinion after a first impression is made are very low. Not to say that it cannot be done. I am here to tell you of one of these scarce occurrences.

I am an avid reader. I read - a lot. I started really reading in the 7th grade. That is when I read my first whole book. Dragons of Autumn Twilight was that book. Well, that was the end of it. My imagination shall forever be tinted with the blood of dragons, elves, knights, and so on. Needless to say it was several years before I took a breath. I decided to step into another genre...and read Dune. Well, not as far away as I was attempting to get, but it was a step.

During this time, my opinions and thoughts about literature in general were formed. There were books, then there were BOOKS. I couldn’t (and still can’t) get enough of stories about heroes, and wars, and saving the world. I tried to look about me and see what other people were reading. It is this time that I took my actual first look at Stephen King. I knew nothing but his name. It took my all of 5 seconds to become anti-King. Just a glance at the bookstore and I was set against him. There was a bigger Stephen King section than that devoted to my entire genre! I have always deep down resented (and admired) the McDonaldization of our society, and I thought King was the manifestation of that horrendous societal behemoth.

Ah to be young and idealistic.

Part 2 later….The Transformation

Good Morning Vietnam

I wonder how someone can sit down and watch, really watch John Kerry speak for more than 10 minutes and not throw up in one's mouth. The man makes satire way too easy. If you take a random sample of 100 continuous words from a Kerry speech/interview/public record you can find another 100 words somewhere in the last 20 years stating the exact opposite.

I admit, politics anger me, liberals more than others, but the man is like a dead fish in the middle of the ocean, you cannot tell what shore he'll wash up on next week, and as soon as you throw him back out, he drifts somewhere else.

It must be hard being a politician. It would be extremely challenging to have an opinion on everything, from the speed limit on country roads in New Mexico, to the labor negotiations of the Longshoremen in San Fran. But come on...I own 12 SUVs...I do not own an SUV. I don't get it.

Just an aside here for a moment, I live in the ultra-liberal Puget Sound region of Washington State. This is the stomping grounds of Ralph Nader. I am not a Nader fan, but I have to feel sorry for the guy, I mean he is a 'Socialist' (Read:Communist) and he cannot get more than 1% of the vote. That is how drippingly liberal Kerry is.

Enough about that.

First Post

I decided that since this is the first time I have:

A. Had a Blog. And,
B. Decided to share my thoughts on the internet with others.

That I would do something special. I have been reading several 'blogs' over the last few years, and decided it really is not a bad gig. What other outlet can a person use to share thoughts, opinions, heck even rants and raves, for free, and get feedback?

So let's see what can happen.