Enough of "Us" versus "Them."

I spent some time and thought on this, so I figured maybe it was worth sharing.  One of my friends posted something on Facebook about how he was encouraged by some of the great results from Tuesday's election.  One of his other "friends" (who is a stranger to me) said that he was disappointed in the results and shrugged it away as the result of "fewer people voting who love liberty and more people voted who love free stuff."  (I'm paraphrasing).  Here was my response to that.

[Name of Person to whom I was responding]--No political party has staked a claim on Liberty. Conservatives do *not* love America, or Freedom, or Valor, or any other positive attribute more than Liberals. We all love Liberty. Liberals love America, too. Liberals defend America, too. Liberals have fought, killed and died for America, too. We continue to do so. We will keep on doing so.

Conservative, Liberal. . .we *all* love America. We all love Liberty. We just have different ideas about how Liberty is best served. There is not a party that loves America and a party that hates America, no matter what some pompous radio comedian might claim. This is the primary point the Republican party needs to accept. Politics should not be about "us" versus "them." If "we" win, what do "we" win? It shouldn’t be about who we agree with or who we don’t, who we identify with and who we don’t. It shouldn’t be an ongoing conflict between camps—it should be a conflict of *ideas*. Which ideas are best and why? If we have to ascribe beliefs to our “opponents” that they don’t actually have just so we can “win,” then we should carefully evaluate whether our beliefs have merit that allows them to stand on their own. If so, we should hoist them like a flag and not fear they’ll be proven wanting. We should be willing (if not eager) to discuss—with specificity—what our ideas are. If not, we should have an open-minded debate about which ideas do have merit.

Any scholar of Constitutional law will tell you that the President of the United States has specific, enumerated, powers. In most matters, particularly those about which we all debate, the President, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot achieve Change without the help of Congress. To me it smacks of the worst kind of disingenuous cynicism to see a President reach across the aisle time and time again, even when he has substantial political capital, only to find a refusal to cooperate followed by a passive-aggressive claim that he is “polarizing.” I find it particularly repugnant when that refusal stems, not from a difference in ideas, but from a partisan political plan of “gridlock.” When politicians run on a platform of “gridlock,” or when a United States Senator openly admits that his goal is not to achieve progress for his state, but to play politics and devote all of his efforts to making sure a President is a “one term” President, then our leaders have lost sight of why they were sent to D.C. in the first place. Politicians should be devoted to service to “We the people,” not to themselves or their own career aspirations. It is insultingly transparent and dishonest to refuse olive branches and efforts to reach across the aisle by our President and then to turn around and criticize the President for “not getting more done,” or to call him a “polarizing figure.” You know who has been “polarized?” The ones who *wanted* to be polarized. The ones who refuse to recognize that there is more that unites us than divides us. The ones who value the “us” versus “them” game more than they value the host of beneficial things that “We the people” can achieve when we can be enlightened enough to put aside our petty differences and work toward a common goal.

Washington--and all of these United States--should be a marketplace of ideas, not a battleground of ideologues. There is not a party of hard workers and a party of lazy opportunists. There is not a party who wants good things for our nation and a party that wants bad things. There is not a party that believes in kicking puppies and eating kittens and a party that opposes it. There is not a party that respects family values and one that hates families. There is not a “party that loves liberty” versus a “party that loves free stuff.” Let’s be adults. Let’s talk about real issues, not imaginary ones. If we allow pundits to craft that argument or to reduce real issues and controversies to that sort of oversimplified, unsophisticated fiction, then we’re losing sight of something important. If we believe in that sort of positive/negative, black/white politics, then we allow ourselves to be reduced to nothing more than children with a schoolyard squabble. We cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated like that. We cannot allow ourselves to lose sight of that which is truly important: The fact that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth; that we, as Americans, are empowered to chart our own destinies; that we are Humans first and foremost; that we all are inhabitants of this good Earth; that we are Americans next and, maybe, members of political parties after all of that; and most importantly, that we as Human beings are endowed with incredible potential: for brilliance, for creativity, for innovation, for achievement, for compassion, for empathy and for Love.

Your Personal Theme Song

So the title pretty much says it all.  You know how certain iconic characters have their own theme songs?  Indiana Jones had one, Darth Vader had one, I guess Malcolm Reynolds had one if we count the theme to Firefly.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about or who these people are, why are you even reading my blog?)

Anyway, I have a new personal theme song.  Nothing deep here, just appropriate.  So don't get all douchy and rain on my song for not being "Art."  My tastes are probably too simple to appreciate a work of art if it kicked me in the crotch.    

Here's my current theme song:

I like it.  It cheers me up just a bit when I hear it on the radio. 

So, do you have a personal theme song?  Or maybe one you used to have?  If so, throw it up so everyone can make fun of. . .I mean, enjoy it too.

Asshole of the Month, April Edition

You know what I hate?  I hate rude people.  People who think only of themselves and who act like they're unique little snowflakes and that the rules that apply to the rest of us don't apply to them. 

 I like to think there's a special place in Hell for people who just park wherever they damn well please.  You ever notice at the supermarket how some people just pull up to the curb, park and stroll right in, bold as brass?  I always want to say, "Oh, hey!  Are you famous!  I'm so fucking starstruck!  You must be really important!  I always have to park in a. . .you know. . .a designated parking place. . ."  (Please fill in the rest of the sarcasm-laden rant here). 

I once mentioned this to some folks from out of state and they were surprised to hear this ever happens.  Either they never go to the grocery or maybe other states actually ticket these assholes. 

Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words, and all that, so let's take a look at this month's winner:

Alright, it is hard to tell from this picture, but this Red Mercedes with Fayette County Kentucky tags was parked like this in front of the Kroger on Nicholasville road (near Michaels, etc.).  You also can't really tell, thanks to my poor photography skills, but this thing is parked at quite an angle, with the rear substantially farther from the curb than the front.  Now, I have seen worse locations for people to just stop a car and leave it, but this one combines the selection of a non-designated spot, with the added insolence of parking at such a devil-may-care angle. 

Here's another view:

So if you ever see this red Mercedes, Kentucky license number 1450AW, please tell him (or her) that I said "Fuck you, asshole!"

So that's our Asshole of the Month for April 2012.  The winner receives a swift kick in the crotch.*





*Winner must be present to receive prize.  Prizes are non-transferable.  Void where illegal.  Some restrictions may apply.  See dealer for details. 

Memory or Dream?

Have you ever had a memory that you just weren't sure about?  Where the memory seems so separate from you, how can it possibly be *your* memory?  A memory so crystal clear in the visual detail, suggestive of emotions you can no longer grasp, but real as rock?  Where you doubt yourself?  You ask, perhaps that was a dream?  Perhaps this memory doesn't belong to me?  If it was mine, is it wrong for me to *keep* it?  Do you ever feel like a voyeur of your own life? 

Ever have a memory as real as it is elusive?  A memory like a square peg and no matter how many times your mind turns it over again and again and again, it never seems to fit?  A memory that's as noteworthy for how it makes you feel as for how unreal it seems?  Like you're seeing through alien eyes?  Here's mine, called to mind by circumstance and unleashed of it's own will:

Sitting on a plane, left side, window seat (peering out at the concourse, of course.  While the pretty lady explains how buckles work).  Standoffish yellow lights outside.  Large window where folks are warm inside. The Terminal.  Watching.  December--probably? 

Outside I stare.  Important people going places, some hand in hand.  Twinkling lights unfurled for the season or some reason beyond recall.   Where I'm not, hot-glowing tree is like a brand.  Lazy-fat snowflakes fall.  White blots fill the air. 

And I feel.  content.  Happy.  satisfied.  Certain of the future.  Me?  Is this just the way: Snowblots; trees; brands; people; cold; lights; rolled-out; season.  Makes one feel? 

Or was this ever real?

Catchy Tunes with Poorly Enunciated Lyrics

So the other day as I was driving home from work, I heard this song on the radio.  I'd heard it before and I liked it in the sense that it is the type of song one can get in one's head for a few days. 

But when I tried to listen to the lyrics, I found them darn near incomprehensible.  I listened very closely.  I made out, "better run, better run, faster than my [????]"  I thought the word that belonged in the brackets was "Brother," turns out, it is "Bullet."  (Had to Google it, of course--fortunately, my cell phone was able to tell me the name of the band and song).  Yes, it is that hard to understand.  In fact, the lyrics are kinda messed up.  I guess it is about a kid who finds his dad's revolver (I guess they still make those), and seemingly wants to go on a killing spree.  *sigh* 

But the tune is so upbeat.  :-(  

Anyway, here it is if you're interested:

So, do you guys have any songs you like that are similarly difficult to understand?  I know this sort of mumbling was practically the trademark of "Dead Can Dance." (Or am I thinking of a different group?)

BTW:  I have no idea what the Hell a "pumped up kick" is, but, apparently, all the other kids have them.  *confused*  

Fashion or Function?

I have no idea how this came up, but I was talking to one of the women with whom I work and we got on the subject of the type of footwear/shirt a guy "should" wear.  First, I didn't realize there were any rules.*  But just for sake of discussion, let's assume there are.

Under this. . .paradigm?  Yeah, under this paradigm, I've been doing it wrong for years.  Well, my whole life, it seems.    She says that the only time it is "okay" to wear running shoes is if you are actually working out, or going to or from same.  Well, this blew my mind.  Although she has never seen me outside of work (where I always wear suits, a la Barney Stinson), I almost always wear running shoes, jeans and a T-shirt (and I add a longsleeve T-shirt when it is cold, and will forgo jeans in favor of cargo shorts/Utilikilts in the summer).  My coworker says that she is embarrassed even to wear running shoes to the grocery store--where she has no problem wearing Yoga pants and a T-shirt. . .with freakin' flip-flops of all things. 

-->Let me interject here that I have a powerful dislike of Flip-Flops.  I hate the name, which--appropriately--rhymes with "slop"--and I think under most circumstances they evidence an absence of care for one's appearance.  I think I mostly hate them because they strike me as the most impractical type of footwear ever invented.  Flip-Flops are the D students of the footwear world.  I submit that they *barely* even qualify as footwear.  Anyway, I'll do an entire rant on them one day perhaps.

She believes that a guy "should" wear an Oxford type shirt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_shirt) and brown "dress shoes" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dress_shoes) (I have to note the hilarity I perceive in the fact that this wikipedia page recognizes 7 "possible" colors for men's shoes.  So. . .the other colors are *IM*possible?  Interesting).  So, even if I'm just hanging out with my friends, I "ought" to be wearing: an Oxford shirt, dress shoes and jeans.  Interesting.  (If this blog were a train, I'd sound the whistle a couple of times and yell out, "NEXT STOP: Fakeville" ("Sorry, ma'am, the train doesn't actually stop at 'Pretentious Heights,' but you can easily take a cab from Fakeville")

What this actually leads me to conclude is that I am more out of touch with Normals than I had previously believed or even suspected.  I suppose this is how Normals see the world?  So, although they think it is awesome when one wears a suit, they think my typical (non-work) appearance is sloppy?  Do most of them really think there are particular things one "ought" to wear? Apparently a sweater ("jumper" for some of you) is also okay.  I sometimes wear sweaters, but never with an Oxford Shirt, which is what I think she was presuming.  I also think that unles your name is "Chandler Bing" you have no business wearing a sweater-vest. 

Anyway, color me surprised.  Apparently I'm something of a "way-too-casual" dresser.  Why didn't anyone ever tell me?  :-)

Anyway, that's a nice bit of frivolity for one day.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?  Agree/Disagree?  Have anything to add? 

[I just remembered, we were talking about some restaurants in town that (apparently) have dress codes which would preclude my ability to enter (absent advance warning).] 

*Barring the obvious social mores when it comes to all things sartorial.

Recycling

This year was the first Valentine's day in years in which I haven't given her anything, given our situation. "My son," however, got her a card in which "he" wrote "I love you, Mommy."  "He" also got her a metal, heart-shaped box of chocolates.  Today I found that Tin Heart empty and in the trash.

I took it out and put it in "Recycling" instead. 

Feel Free to Respond

So...just so we're clear, while I know several folks who haven't visited yet, if any of you have, it wasn't my intention that this place should be a soapbox, monologue sort of deal.  I had a pretty profound discussion with a couple of you folks yesterday and I thought it was pretty refreshing.  Feel free to bring that same sort of thing around here.  I know some of these topics may not interest you at all, and some of them are just plain depressing, but if you have *anything* even marginally noteworthy to add, please feel free. 

On the other hand, if I simply have yet to discuss anything of interest to you, that's cool.  Stick around.  Even a monkey with a typewriter supposedly has a good day on occasion. 

Kelvar

P.S. Thanks and Kudos to Sylvia for being the first to follow this.  I have some questions about your most recent post on your own blog with my favorite frog pirate.   

P.P.S. Is there any way to set this thing up so that "fully justified" is the default setting?  It seems like every time I post I have to edit so that I can clean that shit up.  Failure to fully justify one's margins signals to me that you simply don't care.  Of course, that's just my opinion and personal pet peeve.

If you Define me, you Negate me.

It occurred to me that I never actually defined Urban Exploration when I talked about it before.  And since I'm a lawyer and not a philosopher, I think definitions are really important, and while I understand the expression I used in the title of this post, I think that it is almost an "ivory tower" sort of concern.  Of course, I guess it depends on *how* someone or something is defined.  Plus, I think "Negate" is--perhaps--an overly strong word for this context.  I think "limit" may be better.  Or it may even be better to say that when you attempt to define a person or thing, you necessarily do that person or thing an unintended injustice by the things you don't say and also by the inherent limitations of human language.  (Of course, when you say it my way it sounds a lot less quote-worthy, doesn't it?).  But let's get real.  In everyday life we need definitions to get anything done.  Otherwise we'd all just be sitting around in Birkenstocks, smoking a bowl and letting life pass us by. 

As a side note, in discussing this I cannot help but think of the TV show "Code Monkeys" (which I loved and have on DVD if any friends are interested).  I recall that there was an African-American programmer who worked for the company who everyone called "Black Steve"--even though there were no other employees named "Steve."  I think that's a decent, if lowbrow, example of a way in which this expression does hold some truth. 

Anyway, that tangent aside, Urban Exploration is basically just curious/adventurous folks who seek out places in urban environments that are typically unused, abandoned, off-limits, etc. They go behind the velvet ropes, if you will.  They want to see what isn't supposed to be seen or what is no longer being used.  They go to places that may have quite a history, but--for whatever reason--are now abandoned to the slow decay of time.  Places that once were important to someone--often, a lot of people--that now sit eerily empty--dust-filled and cobwebbed destinations, long since forgotten by nearly everyone else.  

This often involves at least minor infractions of the law for trespassing, but they deem it worth it.  Some Urban Explorers actually feel entitled to enter such places.  That is where my own values differ.  But I do sometimes yearn to visit these "secret" places and see what mysteries they hold.  And the photographs are sometimes quite evocative.  Sometimes they make you really think about how everything but time is an illusion and how all the things we do and work so hard to accomplish now are really just fleeting moments that will be completely forgotten in perhaps just a few decades.  Imagine your own office or workspace.  Imagine traveling through time to the future and returning to find your office completely abandoned.  Everything in disarray, covered in a thick layer of dust--evidence that no one has been there for a long, long time.  What small trinkets might still remain?  How unimportant would they seem?  Think of the papers on your desk.  What if you return to find them wrinkled and yellow-brown due to the passage of time?  Maybe they pertained to events that were long since made irrelevant by Time. 

This is partly why I find UE so interesting.  It is like a type of temporal voyeurism to see the remains of what once was so important to someone whose name you will never know and who passed away, perhaps before you were even born.  What mundane drudgery filled their lives?  How insignificant were the tasks on their calendars--especially the ones that went undone once the person had passed on from this world?  What about the date circled in RED?  The date that this person never lived to see.  What lessons can we take away from this, if any?  Am I just being pretentious or pedantic to even write about this?  Am I simply dwelling on things that are obvious to others and yet mysterious to me?  I can't say. 

On a "lighter" note, UE often makes me think of an apocalyptic future, where many, many people were taken before their time and all that remains are the places they used to frequent.  As someone with an interest in the Zombie Apocalypse genre, this has something of a morbid or frightening appeal to me. 

Anyway, hopefully this gives some explanation of what UE is and why it fascinates me. 

Here is (arguably) a more authoritative source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration


Kelvar

Highs and Lows

So, I've come to expect that through this whole thing I'll have some highs and lows.  Today was definitely a low day.  (Note to self: crying at work is not a great idea. . .if even, seemingly, no one noticed). 

This is all I have today, folks.  Sorry. 

A Bit of Fun with Velvet Rope

Okay, so you know how at movie theaters and art museums and snooty LA clubs (I'm never subjecting myself to that again.  Ever) and many, many other places they have those fancy velvet ropes that somehow yell out, "Stay back, ye unworthy swine!"?  The sort of ropes that seem to carry their own weight of authority behind which we mere mortals fear to tread? 

Well, guess what?  Today I found where one may puchase this very thing.  Have a priceless faberge egg sitting around that you're worried about being fondled by some uncouth guests (and let's face it, who doesn't have a few of those just laying around--eggs that is, not guests), well, now you can rope it off in proper fashion to let your unwashed hangers-on know that they are OFF limits!  Or maybe you have been playing Magic The Gathering so long that you have an unbeatable deck that you want to formally declare "off limits" to your "friends" and their greedy little paws?  Maybe there's a special room in your house that you think of as your "throne room" (if you know what I mean)?  Well, what better way to show the world that you are a big shot and they are mere peons who--if they're lucky--might (at best) catch a slight glimpse of the wondrous treasures you have tucked away in your treasure room.  (You do have a treasure room don't you? You know, filled with all manner of delicate, priceless and useless objets d'art?). 

Well, let me tell you, there is no better way to mark those spaces and treasured valuables than with a bona fide velvet rope.  You can't question the rope.  The rope is there.  It means stay back.  It isn't meant to be pondered or questioned or even thought about. 

Well, now such aloof and snooty barriers are yours at affordable prices:
http://www.allendisplay.com/Store-Fixtures/Traditional-Post-and-Rope


For only $123.95, this bad boy can serve duty in your own well-appointed abode.

And, obviously you need the rope, available for the bargain basement price of only $15.95

Now, am I the only one who sees many great comedy scenarios that could arise from gleeful misuse of these products?   "I'm sorry, sir, you can't use the men's room.  William Shatner is in there, and by the sounds of it, he's taking a double Shatner so I think he's going to be a while.  Feel free to use the ladies' room until we reopen." 

Or, if you're like some people I know (who totally are not me), maybe you'd be more comfortable "reading a magazine" at work in the relaxation of your own private washroom. . .

Or, place it obsessively around some mundane object that in no way requires such treatment.  Maybe there's a certain Swingline stapler your boss has had his eye on?  Well this says, mitts off, Mr. Lumburgh!

My friend Whitney pointed out that this could be useful in signaling to your coworkers that that special sandwich in the lunchroom is only for you, and not for the likes of such plebians! 

Maybe you could find a bar that does not charge a cover, and set up outside charging your own cover until you get busted.  Then you could easily run away, cackling gleefully as you shoulder your fancy equipment while imagining banjo driven get away music playing. . .

You could buy a really pretty, really expensive and desirable Doll that your neice really wants, and invite her over, but tell her she isn't allowed to touch the dolly, just to admire it.  Maybe a friend in a faux security uniform could forcefully eject her from the premises if she fails to follow the rules.  Hey, your place, your rules, right?  Besides, what kind of a knuckle-dragging neanderthal doesn't know to respect the rope?  Hello!   It's RED.  It's VELVET.  This means mitts off to everyone but those of use who have the "in" with the glitterati. 

Of course, to really sell it, you could probably benefit from one of these:

Nothing says, "I'm important" quite like an object that has been placed on a Doric column and surrounded by red velvet ropes.  I think that's how we're supposed to know what ART truly is.  "Is it art?"  "Well, it is resting on a column and surrounded by red velvet ropes...of course it is art!  What sort of a rube are you?"  Who's up for sneaking in to an art gallery with me, and setting up a colum, brass bars, red velvet ropes, placing an ordinary Campbell's Tomato Soup can on top and maybe some type of self-righteous placard declaring the brilliance of the piece and then sitting back and letting the magic happen.  Tell me there would not be a fair number of people to stop and "Admire" the "work" while trying to devine its meaning?  (It's all about commercialism, duh!).  We'd basically be taking Warhol's work and improving on it.  "See, ours is *three dimensional*!  Please try viewing it through the special "viewing lense" (a cheap, children's viewfinder) to get the full depth and painstaking talent that went into replicating the original product of Warhol's fame. . .""  

I think, perhaps, though, using it to feign importance with everyday objects may be the most hilarious use for this. 

"Oh, that urinal?  I'm sorry, sir, but that one is reserved for Mr. Kelvar."  :-)

Does anyone have any other suggestions of how these things might be misused to hilarious effect?

Kelvar.

The Truth is out there. . .

I thought this was worth the brief read:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/30/mystery-blue-balls-of-jelly-rain-from-dorset-skies-_n_1241534.html


Kelvar

What is Urban Exploration? Here are some examples.

In my ongoing experiment to see what I can do here, I thought I'd share this:

And a couple more...

These are pictures taken by various Urban Explorers, all of whom are personally unknown to me.  (I do not claim any legal right to these pictures and they remain the full property of thier original owners.  If these are yours and you don't want me to share them, just ask me to take them down and I will.  Alternatively, tell me who you are and I will give you full acknowledgement for your work).

Please carefully examine each one.  If they don't make you feel...something, then you probably won't get why I'm so fascinated by UE.  I can get pretty philosophical about them all (and I shall), but I don't know whether what I call philosophy is simly shallow pretention.  *shrug*  Anyway, I like them and they make me feel a way I can't describe.  They just scratch a certain itch I cannot otherwise scratch. 

I'll talk more about them (and others) in the future, but I wanted to give you guys a sense of what I'm talking about.  I sort of wish I myself could do some UE, and perhaps I can, but I have a certain fear of the breaking the law (even for something as minor as Trespassing Fourth) that I have a great reluctance.  Meanwhile, I appreciate the efforts of the intrepid folks who took the effort to seek out these places and share them with the world--who otherwise might not have gotten a glimpse.  Which I would consider a real loss.

Kelvar

Some Lighter Fare?

So, I realize that in my first two posts I've been more of a buzzkill than Buzz Killington, (do we have a clip?)

I thought we could use a bit of levity, no?  So here's another clip of which I was reminded during a conversation with friends earlier this evening:

                                      

And one last one:

                                       

I know some of you haven't really watched much family guy.  If you need more encouragement, I'm your source. 

When It Rains

So here's something I'd like to try.  It says that one can embed a video and here's one I'd like to share.  The song is one to which I've been listening a fair bit recently.  Let's see if I've got the technological chops to make this happen.  (Knowing my luck, I'll end up linking to some type of German Shizer film...)

If this works--and I'm making no assumptions at this point--then I hope you'll give it a listen.  Regrettably, I am not gifted when it comes to music (or any type of artistic expression, come to think of it).  But this song sort of sums up where I'm at right now.  So maybe Paramore can more artfully express what I cannot. 

I like the idea of rain as a metaphor for the hard times in life.  Times we all go through.  I guess I like it because it seems to suggest that surely a day will come when the rain stops falling and we can see the sun again.  I'm not currently convinced, but all I know how to do is to try to make the best of each day.  I try to laugh when I can and I try to be especially kind to strangers.  I know how much pain is out there in this fucked up world and going through all this serves as a constant reminder.  Hopefully I can keep resisting the powerful temptation to harden my heart and build a barricade against such searing pain and try instead to remain unchanged as much as I can.  So I try to enjoy my hobbies, I try to find time with my friends, I try to laugh when I can and I try to be more thoughtful of others.  I think the world would be a far better place if we all could respond to pain and fear and uncertainty with charity rather than responding with the same sort of ugliness that's so damn pervasive. 

That's my goal anyway.  I guess Mr. Obama said it better, that we should "be the change we want to see in the world."  That's my goal folks.  But I make mistakes and may not live up to such aspirations.  But I do try.  I try to be a good friend, I try to focus on the misfortunes of others and I try to be kind and thoughtful to strangers I encounter.  I try.  Maybe I don't often succeed, but I do try. 

Does that count for anything?  I really can't say.

Kelvar

Why do people Blog?

So this is the first post on the first day in my new blog.  I've never had one before and I am anything but tech-savvy, but this place seems to make it easy enough for the likes of me. 

I intend to keep this one short, because I am under the weather (and have been for a couple of weeks) and I am very tired and possibly a bit loopy from the medication.  I'm also dealing with a fair bit of shit that I suspect was largely the impetus for this project in the first place. 

If you don't know me, hello.  I promise that I will at least endeavor to make future posts more interesting and thought-provoking.  I have a great many topics on which I'd like to share my thoughts.  Some are political, some are philosophical, some are sad, silly, or downright frivolous to an absurd degree. 

I think what drove the creation of this place is my current situation.  If you don't know me, I'm a bit of a planner.  I try to plan ahead for *everything*.  I think it may come from my days as a Paratrooper.  In the Army, when you have a mission, you don't just have one plan, and anyone who is even passingly conversant with Sun Tzu knows why.  No, in the Army, when you have a mission you have no fewer than Four plans.  We called it P.A.C.E.  You always have a Primary Plan, an Alternate Plan, a Contingency Plan and an Emergency Plan.  So I'm a planner.  You might say planning is my thing.  I have invested a great deal of thought into various contingencies--up to, and including, a full-blown Zombie Apocalypse.  That's right, I said Zombie Apocalypse, what of it!?  It is funny how Murphy always finds a way to rear his ugly head, though, no matter what you do.  

I'm currently in the midst of a shitstorm for which I never had a plan, much less four plans.  I had believed that there were some things you can count on in life.  I had believed that there are people in my life on whom I can always count and who will always have my back.  People--or a person--who I loved more deeply than I ever thought possible and whom I would never betray, never leave and never let down.  And I had thought the feeling--and, indeed, the official, formal agreement--was mutual.  But folks, when your feelings run so deep you place yourself in peril.  When you love so deeply you take the risk that you may be hurt just as deeply.  Like a chisel through stone, like a cut to the bone, you make yourself vulnerable. 

It is sort of like taking off all your armor and allowing yourself to be vulnerable--by sharing your innermost thoughts, your deepest insecurities and fears and laying bare all that you keep protected and secret from the world.  And once you've done so, you can never really put your armor back on again.  You remain vulnerable to the most chilling, toxic and excruciating barbs that will pierce you like...like...something that's easily pierced.  Heh.  But, yeah, it is sort of like that.   

As Mal has said, "Just once, why can't things go smooth?"  For all my planning, I never saw it coming.  It is as though your allies have the greatest potential to harm you--not the flesh eating zombie horde outside your gates, but those whom you trust implicitly, they can hurt you in a way that I don't think you can ever really plan for.  I guess vulnerability goes hand in hand with love and with trust.  Maybe it is like Good and Evil?  Ya can't have one without the other.

So, with all this prologue out of the way, maybe I've answered my own question.  Why do people blog?  I think there may be many reasons.  It may be partly narcissistic in that you really think people give a shit about what you have to say.  I admit I am guilty of that.  But more importantly, for me, I think there are some things you just have to write about.  So maybe that's why.  I just can't bring myself to talk to my friends about all the things that have occupied my mind of late.  It is as though I'm afraid that by speaking the words I may unintentionally breathe life into something far more terrible than I want to contemplate.  I also don't want to be a downer.  I also don't want them to see me cry.

Why do you think people blog?  Is it just a bunch of self-important, emo drivel?  Or is there something of merit to it? 

My intention with this place is *not* to be such a downer all the time.  I want to talk about Skyrim and Pathfinder.  I want to talk about my favorite place to grab a pint.  I want to talk about emergency preparedness and why it isn't just for tin-foil hat misanthropes and hermits.  I want to talk about how Bill and Ted (yes, that Bill & Ted) possessed greater wisdom than many cultural and religious icons held in such high esteem these days.  I want to talk about stupid expressions--perfect example: I heard a line on tv earlier about how someone was being framed for a crime he didn't commit.  To me this begs the question, it is possible to be framed for a crime you did commit?  Doesn't the very expression "Framed" imply innocence?  Or like that time I overheard those female bartenders talking and one said to the other, "You can't pretend to be something you're not."  I really wanted to say, "Actually, that's what pretending is.  Now, it would have been a true statement if you'd said, 'you can't pretend to be something you are.'"  I decided to keep quiet.  What is that expression about how it is best to keep silent and be thought pretentious rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt? 

So I clearly have serious topics to discuss.  Like, Felicia Day and how awesome she is.  And the Star Wars remakes and why they're a betrayal of the original adventure and characters with whom we grew up.  Han shot first, asshole.  If you don't know why that's important, then you're a moron, so please don't waste my time.  If you want, I'll find you a website with pictures of shiny things. 

I want to talk about the Five S's and why I'd rather not see a movie that doesn't have at least one of them.  I want to talk about the XBox 360 and why it is the ultimate gaming platform.  I want to talk about the Wii Fit Girl and the many questions she poses--in my mind at least.  (Youtube it, what am I, your Sensei?).  I want to talk about Utilikilts and why they rock.  If you're a guy and you don't already have one, what the Hell is wrong with you?  I want to talk about the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse and what you need to know to have a fair shake at survival.  I've got the chops to actually be an expert on that topic.  If you want to compare C.V.s, bring it.   

I want to talk about Firefly.  Oh, yes.  You are on notice that you are in Browncoat territory here, buster.  If you support Fox and their willy-nilly, slot-changing, show-slaying shenanigans, then I say Good day, sir!  (Hey, I managed some brief and unintentional alliteration there).

I mentioned Pathfinder, but it bears mentioning again.  The good folks at Paizo deserve respect for being the only real stewards of the game I grew up playing.  

I want to talk about travel and log homes and Alan Wake and why I'm obsessed with Crater Lake.  

I want to talk about the Citizens United case and why I have lost what little respect I had for Scalia and why I can well imagine our country looking back in 20, 30 years and seeing that case as the first boulder in a landslide that may well bury our way of life as Americans.  Citizens United could very well usher in a new era of unrestrained Corporate Power and Influence in the sort of magnitude and in the particular flavor previously only seen in the sort of dystopian societies painted so well by the Cyberpunk genre.  No joke.  I never joke about dystopian societies. 

I want to talk about societal norms and social morays--particularly in how they pertain to gender issues, the way humans think and, yes, fashion.  Expect me to talk a great deal about "pre-deliberative thought" when I get to that. 

I want to talk about Urban Exploration, and why it fascinates me.  I want to talk about why I think some folks who engage in UE have some misguided views.  I want to talk about architecture and why I'm fascinated by structures that have no overt beauty and that are purely utilitarian.  To me, there is a type of beauty in that itself. 

I also want to take this whole Blog thing for a spin and see what it can do.  I want to redline it and maybe look under the hood a bit.  Like, I see that I can "insert" a video or an image.  How does that work?  I'll definitely have to check it out. 

So  I have plenty of ground to cover.  I think that's really why I want to do this.  I have too many interests to be contained within one carbon-based life form. 

If you have some interest in some of the above, stick around.  I welcome insightful or silly input.  If that's not your bag, thanks for stopping by.  I hope your 2012 has been better than mine so far.

Kelvar

P.S. Remember--if you can't laugh at your friends, who can you laugh at?