I've been hard at work all day, trying to reorganize my room. I've made some substantial progress, so I've decided to reward myself with a few shots of American Honey and the chance to clear some of the thoughts out of my head.
- I don't think my parents and I will ever get along. I don't think that this is such a bad thing.
- I've been playing fewer and fewer video games lately, which seriously calls into question what it is I've been doing all these years amassing a giant collection of them.
- Honey + whiskey + apple chips= pickle-flavored belches. Not sure how this happened.
- I am so very much looking forward to moving out. My parents get on me every time I talk about it, reminding me at length that I "will never have it any easier than this." Maybe that's one of the reasons I want to move out. Nobody can excel without duress.
- I don't widely broadcast the existence of this publication. I feel as though doing so would take it from being a dump for my idiosyncrasies to a long, multi-part message. That's not what I do.
- I recently cut my hair. Not severely, and by myself, of course. I can't understand why someone would pay enough for a decent lunch to have somebody cut the protein strands off their head. Best multi-function barber's too ever: straight razor. I like the new look, but it is taking some getting used to.
- My dad just offered me a substantial sum to teach my brother how to drive. It seems diplomatic relations have not totally broken down.
- When I move into my new room/apartment, the first thing I'm getting is thick black curtains for the windows. I can't stand excessive sunlight.
- My plans for a meta-fictional story I'm writing have taken some very disturbing turns as of late. I'm not kind at all to my characters, even if my character happens to be me.
Okay, I think I've thrown enough nonsense on the page to constitute an "update." Now back to my room, assuming I don't get distracted by my story...again.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Terror in the North: The Anders Breivik Affair
I'm not even going to hold back on this one. Breivik is a fucking asshole, and if there was a Hell, he would belong in its deepest, least comfortable reaches. But Anders is hardly the problem. This was an isolated incident. People aren't lining up to commit mass murder. If this sort of thing happened every day, it wouldn't get so much news coverage. We WILL NOT see another such incident in a civilized country for many years to come.
Now that we've got that out of the way, we can get to the real problem: the US conservative media. As many of you may already know, Breivik is a xian (get used to that shorthand) extremist and considers himself a Knight Templar. He will, to his dying breath I'm certain, declare himself among the highest of believers for being a soldier for his god. Now Papa Bear O'Reily, Feckless Beck and others will deny up and down that this man was not, is not, and will never be a xian in any sense of the word. This is an obvious double standard that they have applied to their faith, but refuse to allow for islam. EVERY muslim is a potential terrorist; xians, however, are not xians if they commit some sort of atrocity. What xian would systematically slay dozens of children and leave bombs in cities? I could think of a few...
Xians: own your brood. When you pick up that banner, you take everything that comes with it, for good or ill. You get Jesus and Hitler (a Roman Catholic, believe it or not). You get Robert T. Bakker and the IRA. You take it all, or you admit that your title has no qualifiers, and therefore no meaning.
A post-script: I intentionally do not capitalize the names/titles of religions and religious offices. This is because of the connotation that, in English, something with a capital letter is somehow more important or formal than those words without (proper nouns and such). I do not find anything proper about religion.
And to those who have contemplated the "thought experiment from my last post: whatever amount you may have decided should be awarded in that scenario, congratulations. You have declared that human life has a finite value. The correct answer was: human life has no value, by which I mean it is indeterminable. Or I could mean it has no value. You decide.
Now that we've got that out of the way, we can get to the real problem: the US conservative media. As many of you may already know, Breivik is a xian (get used to that shorthand) extremist and considers himself a Knight Templar. He will, to his dying breath I'm certain, declare himself among the highest of believers for being a soldier for his god. Now Papa Bear O'Reily, Feckless Beck and others will deny up and down that this man was not, is not, and will never be a xian in any sense of the word. This is an obvious double standard that they have applied to their faith, but refuse to allow for islam. EVERY muslim is a potential terrorist; xians, however, are not xians if they commit some sort of atrocity. What xian would systematically slay dozens of children and leave bombs in cities? I could think of a few...
Xians: own your brood. When you pick up that banner, you take everything that comes with it, for good or ill. You get Jesus and Hitler (a Roman Catholic, believe it or not). You get Robert T. Bakker and the IRA. You take it all, or you admit that your title has no qualifiers, and therefore no meaning.
A post-script: I intentionally do not capitalize the names/titles of religions and religious offices. This is because of the connotation that, in English, something with a capital letter is somehow more important or formal than those words without (proper nouns and such). I do not find anything proper about religion.
And to those who have contemplated the "thought experiment from my last post: whatever amount you may have decided should be awarded in that scenario, congratulations. You have declared that human life has a finite value. The correct answer was: human life has no value, by which I mean it is indeterminable. Or I could mean it has no value. You decide.
My Heroes
Everybody has a list of so-called "heroes" that they keep in the backs of their heads like some grocery list that they look at every here and again, adding and dropping as they gather new information or lose interest. They are cluttered with generals, sports stars, and other feckless Americana. I'd like to think my roster is, aside from being eclectic, rather timeless and true to my goals and ideals. These are people whose words and actions I have looked to for guidance in my life when more contemporary sources were...less helpful.
Jack Kevorkian: A man whose steadfast dedication to the euthanasia movement cost him his career and ultimately his freedom. He looked at death with appreciation, rather than the disdain of failure that other physicians did and still do. Death could not be a failure, he thought, when it brings the end to such enormous suffering. He was willing to give up years of his life and every shred of privacy and respect from the public and his peers to ensure for others the right he would want to have himself: the right to choose the time and place of his death, and the aid of a merciful doctor or a friend if he so chose. Jack, you will be missed, but at least we have the memories.
Nikola Tesla: Because DC is for bitches. I mean really, this man was a genius to the fullest extent of the term. Most people would reserve this slot for Thomas Edison, but fuck him; the only things he had going for him were direct current and the incandescent light bulb, and how much of either of those do you see these days? The real kicker is that he actually put time and effort towards discrediting Tesla rather than making effort to surpass him. The final score: Tesla wins, Edison blows.
George Carlin: Okay, so now we see; the high-and-mighty Evil Ben is taking life lessons from a filthy comedy act. Well I'll admit that quote Carlin's words frequently, but I take something greater from him. In the 1960s Carlin was actually arrested for using the "7 Words" in public and on public media. He should have been protected by our country's most sacred right, free speech, but he got thrown in the can anyway. So much for freedom. Also, I try to remind others, like he did, that anything can be made funny. Anything. Your dead grandma? I can come up with a joke for that, and not only can you laugh at it, you should. What good does it do you or her memory to attach some sanctimonious silent moping to her name? Why not have a laugh at that last pussy fart that squeaked out at the wake?
Richard Dawkins: It would be too easy (and obvious) to give Dawkins the spot here for being an atheist. No, he gets it for being bold and unrelenting in his mission to spread rationalism and his advocacy of science education. He's taken so many knocks for standing up against religious fanatacism, he's almost...Christ-like.
Carl Sagan: This man, to me, is so powerful, he's actually made it into my dreams to continue his work. Twice. Sagan made it his goal to bring the wonders of science to all of us, not by dumbing it down or sugar-coating hard truths, but by blending scientific fact with his own special brand of elegant prose. His works are what inspire me on a daily basis to always look for the facts, the beautiful truths that describe the awesome nature of our universe.
Anton LaVey: Okay, I think we might have seen this one coming. For starters, who else has founded a religion that DIDN'T turn into a suicide cult/ponzi scheme/militia/orgy? Yup, that's right. Like the modern members of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey was a driven, multi-talented man with a taste for the macabre and a penchant for the mysterious. He understood men better than most men understand themselves. I take from him the desire to interact with the strange, the unusual, the odd, and the downright peculiar.
I'd keep going, but I'm due for a walk with a fat guy. Before I go, though, a thought experiment: a loved one dies in an accident, industrial or otherwise, because of a 100% culpable third party. What is the appropriate amount of restitution to be paid to you or your family?
Jack Kevorkian: A man whose steadfast dedication to the euthanasia movement cost him his career and ultimately his freedom. He looked at death with appreciation, rather than the disdain of failure that other physicians did and still do. Death could not be a failure, he thought, when it brings the end to such enormous suffering. He was willing to give up years of his life and every shred of privacy and respect from the public and his peers to ensure for others the right he would want to have himself: the right to choose the time and place of his death, and the aid of a merciful doctor or a friend if he so chose. Jack, you will be missed, but at least we have the memories.
Nikola Tesla: Because DC is for bitches. I mean really, this man was a genius to the fullest extent of the term. Most people would reserve this slot for Thomas Edison, but fuck him; the only things he had going for him were direct current and the incandescent light bulb, and how much of either of those do you see these days? The real kicker is that he actually put time and effort towards discrediting Tesla rather than making effort to surpass him. The final score: Tesla wins, Edison blows.
George Carlin: Okay, so now we see; the high-and-mighty Evil Ben is taking life lessons from a filthy comedy act. Well I'll admit that quote Carlin's words frequently, but I take something greater from him. In the 1960s Carlin was actually arrested for using the "7 Words" in public and on public media. He should have been protected by our country's most sacred right, free speech, but he got thrown in the can anyway. So much for freedom. Also, I try to remind others, like he did, that anything can be made funny. Anything. Your dead grandma? I can come up with a joke for that, and not only can you laugh at it, you should. What good does it do you or her memory to attach some sanctimonious silent moping to her name? Why not have a laugh at that last pussy fart that squeaked out at the wake?
Richard Dawkins: It would be too easy (and obvious) to give Dawkins the spot here for being an atheist. No, he gets it for being bold and unrelenting in his mission to spread rationalism and his advocacy of science education. He's taken so many knocks for standing up against religious fanatacism, he's almost...Christ-like.
Carl Sagan: This man, to me, is so powerful, he's actually made it into my dreams to continue his work. Twice. Sagan made it his goal to bring the wonders of science to all of us, not by dumbing it down or sugar-coating hard truths, but by blending scientific fact with his own special brand of elegant prose. His works are what inspire me on a daily basis to always look for the facts, the beautiful truths that describe the awesome nature of our universe.
Anton LaVey: Okay, I think we might have seen this one coming. For starters, who else has founded a religion that DIDN'T turn into a suicide cult/ponzi scheme/militia/orgy? Yup, that's right. Like the modern members of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey was a driven, multi-talented man with a taste for the macabre and a penchant for the mysterious. He understood men better than most men understand themselves. I take from him the desire to interact with the strange, the unusual, the odd, and the downright peculiar.
I'd keep going, but I'm due for a walk with a fat guy. Before I go, though, a thought experiment: a loved one dies in an accident, industrial or otherwise, because of a 100% culpable third party. What is the appropriate amount of restitution to be paid to you or your family?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Let's Try This Again...
So yeah, it's been almost a year since this has had any attention. Don't worry, that's about to change significantly. The world has found new and more interesting ways to piss me off and further reduce, in my eyes, the value of human life. Stay tuned, kids; this will get intense.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday morning coming up
This post was conceived somewhere between the second and third episodes of Hell's Kitchen, and born at 1:20 AM PDST
I've been in my pajamas for more than 24 hours. I've spent no time outside of my house, save for when I stuck my head out the back door to call the dog back in. I'm currently putting an outline together for a screenplay/video game idea tentatively titled "The Language of Nightmares." It's about an black man named Thomas Jones-Morrison who develops schizophrenic symptoms shortly before his son goes missing. It'll be everything that Heavy Rain was supposed to be.
I'm also sharpening my knife rather obsessively. There's a fine layer of metal powder on my shirt that shines whenever I turn around to my mini-fridge to pour another Tom Collins. I've nearly sliced my hand twice. I should probably stop.
A thought occurs to me: I am the Ubermensch. How do I defend this thought? I don't have to. I'm the damn Ubermensch. Besides, I don't try to pick apart these sorts of facts. I accept them and roll with it. I'm cool like that.
The printer is whirring. It probably shouldn't be doing that when I don't have anything to print.
I've been in my pajamas for more than 24 hours. I've spent no time outside of my house, save for when I stuck my head out the back door to call the dog back in. I'm currently putting an outline together for a screenplay/video game idea tentatively titled "The Language of Nightmares." It's about an black man named Thomas Jones-Morrison who develops schizophrenic symptoms shortly before his son goes missing. It'll be everything that Heavy Rain was supposed to be.
I'm also sharpening my knife rather obsessively. There's a fine layer of metal powder on my shirt that shines whenever I turn around to my mini-fridge to pour another Tom Collins. I've nearly sliced my hand twice. I should probably stop.
A thought occurs to me: I am the Ubermensch. How do I defend this thought? I don't have to. I'm the damn Ubermensch. Besides, I don't try to pick apart these sorts of facts. I accept them and roll with it. I'm cool like that.
The printer is whirring. It probably shouldn't be doing that when I don't have anything to print.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
For John...
It is now officially October 9th, 2010. It is also 70 years since the world received a very special man. John Lennon, born to the poverty and terror of a war-torn England, emerged from the dirty shipyards of Liverpool to the national stage as a musician, activist, and the voice of a generation of peace-loving youngsters. He went further than any of his former Beatles bandmates were willing to go in the social, political, and artistic arenas. Sitting somewhere between a rockstar and a guru, he asked for peace and understanding while receiving little himself. Few appreciated his rocker-cum-philosopher position, and he made many enemies among the conservative and prudent. When the world told him to keep quiet, he responded with an emphatic "No," and followed up with an enthusiastic "Up yours!" He was never afraid of a joke, even when it cut straight through the boundaries of prudence, and his comment about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus will live on for its presumption and the inkling of fear that it may have been true. So here's to you, John. We dream right along with you, of a world where people are not shackled by objects or insane ideologies, and where brotherhood and peace may reign. Hail John Lennon!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Argumentative mormons need not read
Anybody else ever notice that the only thing separating the word "mormon" from "moron" is an extra "m?" Today I've realized that, in practice, the division is even less substantial.
So it's a bright and sun-shiny day on the interwebs when a former friend, but current acquaintance and mormon "science major" decided to challenge my disbelief in his mythic Stalin-in-the-sky. How does he start? "What is your problem with religion?" I chuckled a bit as I replied: "It exists." It continued on something like this:
mor(m)on: god exists, the bible says so, and I have science to prove it, for I am a science major!
Me: Okay, what sort of science?
mor(m)on: Computer science. Did you know that if Earth's orbit was just a quarter-inch closer or farther from the sun, we'd all DIE?!
Me: (shows a diagram of the Habitable zone that the orbit of Earth occupies, with a generous buffer) A quarter-inch on the diagram scales up in real life, you know.
mor(m)on: ...I need to go pick up my sister.
That's right. No bullshit. Welcome to the facts, folks. Maybe next time he'll try and prove his bronze-age ghost using HTML; at least it's something he knows.
So it's a bright and sun-shiny day on the interwebs when a former friend, but current acquaintance and mormon "science major" decided to challenge my disbelief in his mythic Stalin-in-the-sky. How does he start? "What is your problem with religion?" I chuckled a bit as I replied: "It exists." It continued on something like this:
mor(m)on: god exists, the bible says so, and I have science to prove it, for I am a science major!
Me: Okay, what sort of science?
mor(m)on: Computer science. Did you know that if Earth's orbit was just a quarter-inch closer or farther from the sun, we'd all DIE?!
Me: (shows a diagram of the Habitable zone that the orbit of Earth occupies, with a generous buffer) A quarter-inch on the diagram scales up in real life, you know.
mor(m)on: ...I need to go pick up my sister.
That's right. No bullshit. Welcome to the facts, folks. Maybe next time he'll try and prove his bronze-age ghost using HTML; at least it's something he knows.
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