My food

I had a lot on my mind last night.  I got home fairly late after a piano lesson and could not stop thinking about how hungry I was.  I made myself a turkey and Havarti sandwich with some fruit and BBQ chips.  I could have run to Zaxby’s or Whole Foods or Chick Fil A (is CFA open on Memorial Day?  Well they should be… damn Sundays), but I didn’t.  I stayed home and made myself a healthy and simple dinner. 

I got to thinking after I told myself that… simple.  How simple is this really?  To me a sandwich is typically a boring meal that I prefer  exchanging for something a bit more substantial.  I like a lot of food, and despite my best effors my favorite food is unhealthy food… with a lot of ranch dressing.  Pizza and ranch, chicken and ranch, it’s so good.  I typically go the healthy route, but on weekends I splurge a little bit!  It’s more fun that way. 

Anyways… I got to thinking about how this meal, to me, is simple, but to some would be much more than that.  We all know that there are people out there who have nothing and deserve much more than we do with our fancy cars and computers and lack of work ethic.  I am not talking about homeless people that bum around the city begging for lose change to purchase alcohol and cigarettes.  I have no sympathy for those who are too lazy to try but feel as if they are entitled to hand outs from those of us who do.  I’m talking about people living in countries like Haiti, portions of Africa, and any other country so weak that they cannot provide a comfortable life for their citizens.  As awful as this country seems at times with its plethora of corrupt politicians and undeniable greedy behavior, we have it pretty good.  We have the promise of opportunity and ability to choose between one hundred different types of bread at the grocery store, then we complain about having too many options.  We can drive our cars to work, to the park, to our homes, but we complain about the gas. 

We all know, of course, that there are people out there who have far less than we do but I don’t believe we ever really think about it.  I’ll admit I don’t always think about it, but pretend that it doesn’t exist.  It doesn’t affect me all that much so why should I worry about it?  Most of us probably think that way.

Next time you sit down to eat think about what is actually in front of you.  Think about how lucky you are to have shoes on your feet, food on your plate and a comforable place to sleep at night.  You are the minority.  We are the minority.  Think about that.

Bad Dad Award

WTF. 

That’s what I say.  WTF.  Oh look, even I have become so lazy that I must text-write everything.  Beside the point. 

I work on a campus with thousands of other people… not a University or school but a government campus.  Government.  People should be respectable, intelligent, and responsible, wouldn’t you think?  Okay okay all government jokes aside, that’s what I expected. 

Not long ago, a few days ago in fact, I was having a conversation with a man who, at the time, I felt sorry for.  He is a single dad raising his six-year-old daughter.  The father’s, we’ll call him Jeff, mother had passed away a week prior and we were talking about how his life was going to change.  He explained to me how his mother was kind and giving and thoughtful.  She was a giver, not a taker.  It turns out Jeff was not upset because his dear mother had passed, but that he would no longer be able to take advantage of her kind heart. 

“Now that my mom is dead who the fuck is going to take care of my daughter.  I don’t have time for that little bitch.”  Those were his exact words.  I very quickly went from feeling bad for him to wanting to punch him in the face.  After a brief pause he said “Do you expect me to raise my own daughter?”

Well NO SHIT dumb ass.  Oh man I was about to punch this douche bag in the face as hard as I could.  Why have the poor child if you have no intent of caring for her?  Too selfish to keep it in your pants.  If it were up to me he’d be getting a vasectomy, good for nothing jack ass. 

What is wrong  with people?  I realize that this is just the way the world is but have we completely lost our ability to calculate possible consequences before we act like complete morons?  What I hate the most is that once this girl realizes her dad doesn’t give a shit about her, she’s going to cling to any man she can find.  She’s going to produce more children who won’t be taken care of, and he same thing will happen to her children. 

Some people deserve to be locked up or thrown on an island to whither away.  I realize that’s a horrible nasty thing to say but that’s what I think.  This dad is a worthless good-for-nothing coward.  He’s selfish and stupid and I would bet there are many more like him.  Perhaps it’s a culture thing? 

Whatever the case may be or the reasoning may be, people suck and that’s all there is to it.

Petition to end Conlkin Dairy Farm

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/shut_down_conklin_dairy_farms_and_arrest_and_charge_gary_conklin_and_his_crew_with_animal_cruelty

If you have heard about this and are appalled like me please sign the petition to shut down the farm.

Rain… over there

I’d like to share a picture that I took last night driving home from work on my iPhone camera.  Now, as I am not a writer, I am also not a photographer, so the picture quality is horrible.  I still wanted to share a picture of a thunderstorm I witnessed while in my car.  Peer North into the distance only two miles and the downpour of heavy rain and hail was easily seen.  Nature is absolutely beautiful and I wanted to share what I saw.

My Battle with Writing

I made this confession once and I’ll make it again, I’m a terrible writer. It’s very frustrating to me. I have very good ideas in my head, I know that I do, but I cannot execute effective writing to allow my ideas to be written. When it’s time for me to write I go completely brain dead and probably sound like a big fool. I want to write well, and I want to write period. I’d love to be a part-time blogger, a part-time news columnist, but who wants to read a page full of drivel? I’ve read books on helping me read, I’ve taken Writing in college a few times, creative writing once in high school and still seem to have not progressed an iota forward. Am I trying too hard, or are some people just incapable of writing well? I’m reading the book The Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Dow and even Mr. Dow’s writing style is elementary and lacks basic punctuation use. But it’s good. It’s simple and it tells a story and makes a point. Why can’t I do that? I’ll write something that I feel is magnificent and exemplary, turn it in, and the professor will quickly stomp on my happy feelings with red marks galore. The only reason I have a 4.0 in college right now is because my father helps me edit my papers. I hate to admit I’ve not done it on my own, but English is the one class that I can’t handle by myself. What do I need to do? I read a lot, I write a lot, I learn a lot, I know I’m creatively gifted but I cannot write anything well. Some people are meant to do some things, and some people are meant to do other things. I can do many things, and I can do them well. Despite my grandest efforts, I cannot write and I feel I never will be able to. I will always be below par. That will not stop me, and hopefully as this blog progresses, I will see improvement. Perhaps my future readers can critique me, respectively, and show me what I’m doing wrong or give me some pointers. I’d appreciate that big time! For now, I will keep writing… keep writing and hope for the best.

Education is bust

“The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” – C.C. Scott. What a beautiful quote… do I have your attention? That’s what I’m supposed to do right? Grasp my reader’s attention with an intriguing first sentence. Well great, I have you, I can check that box off! This is what I’ve learned throughout my career as a student. I’ve learned the point by point makings of a formal piece of writing, and not much more than that. I’ve learned how to solve an algorithmic equation, and not much more than that. I know how to do a lot of things which is of course an extraordinary feat of ingenuity. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to take part in the real world now and I’m ready to conquer all! Just kidding. I know nothing. Absolutely nothing. I don’t know why… I don’t know why anything. I don’t know what importance this information is to me. I left high school with the ability to recite the Preamble to the US Constitution, but completely, 100% unable and illprepared to tackle the “real world” one door ahead of me. Math was never my interest, nor was writing, or science, or history for that matter. I could care less if you want the truth, which I imagine you do… remember I hooked you in the first sentence. I loved music. That’s not correct, I love music. I was the band nerd king in high school and I loved every second of it. Unfortunately for me, my high school, Wimberley High School in Wimberley, TX, favored sports, standardized testing and popular good-for-nothing cheerleaders and athletes over a decent, quality music program. Now I can’t blame the school completely for their disturbing decisions, the department of Education feels that students intelligence can be determined by a mixture of tests that degrade the importance of creativity. The education system in the US is jacked up. Not only the US I imagine, all over, but I can’t and won’t speak for those guys. A new day has come… music is just important as math, and dance is just important as science. I don’t mean to trivialize the core subjects, I do believe that they are important, but I don’t believe that they are all that is important. Had my high school felt music was as important as I did, I could have really excelled “Academically.” But I did not. In music yes, I did, I was astonishing, but by the school’s standards I was average, if that. The school reinforced the idea that I will go no where with music, and I believed that. I gave up, for a short period of time, and wasted a few years of my life chasing a life more acceptable by civilized standards. WRONG. Very wrong. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Damnit. I have come to realize my potential and am back on track, but how many students are left behind because what they are good at is not acceptable. A change is necessary if we, as a country, want to thrive. If we want to empower our children and give them hope, then we must change. Dreams may no longer be crushed and education must be altered.

Taunting Iraqi Children

A few moments ago I read an article on Huffingtonpost.com about Spc. Robert A. Rodriguez, a US Soldier based out of Alaska.  The story talks about how Mr. Rodriguez taunts two young boys living in Iraq and then posts the video on his facebook page, telling his friends that he was bored and had found a way to entertain yourself.

One, if you’re a soldier in Iraq you have no time to be bored.  Two, this soldier is a disgusting human being and should be sent back home to wallow in humility.  No wonder everyone hates us!  “Arrogant” America.  This guy is a complete ass for thinking he has the right to harrass these little boys.  That one of the United States Soldiers felt it was okay to refer to these young boys as future “gay terrorists” makes me feel embarassed  that I am American.  This guy, Mr. Rodriguez, needs to go.  What was he thinking “Hey lets piss these guys off some more so that we can create more terrorist that will come and attack us later”?  This bigot idiot needs to drop out of the military and re-think his career choice.  Next he’ll want to fly home, be called a hero and get a gold star for his patriotic good-doings for the country.  He’s a worthless cheat who deserves nothing more than disgrace.