written 16 Aug 2009 while the school buses headed home
Thank you, the pleasure has been all mine. I cannot wait to visit your country and skip your countrymen in line, not move over even an inch as you barrel down the sidewalk, and return your general rude attitude.
Also, thank you for proving to me how very, very tough and/or gay you are by staring at me from across the cafe, the bus and the parking lot for as long as I am in your presence.
written 15 Aug 2009 while the school buses headed home
I have recently finished my second novel and am considering whether or not I want to try and go through all of the to-do involved with finding an agent and attempting to get it published. In the meanwhile, if anyone might be interested in reading such a piece of work, you can read the first few paragraphs and download the novel as a PDF, in its entirety, here.
written 13 Aug 2009 while the sun tried, at least, rising
To those opposed to socialized health care, to the government giving it to us completely free, without cost, consider why you’re afraid of this. We have many socialized programs today, the biggest one I can think of being the national highway system, and every other road you drive on. You don’t pay every time you hop into your car and drive across town, across the state or across the continent. Sure, roads often have potholes and don’t always go exactly the route that you’d like, but more or less they get you where you’re going. In fact, I would argue that their are far too many roads. Personally, I’d prefer a bit more distance between where I am and where you are, to be honest.
So the government socialized roads and we still have a world class highway system, so much so actually that America has become such a bunch of fat asses that going to the beach, once a feast of curves and tanned lady skins, is now the leading cause of blindness in young males between the ages of 14 and 37.
Of course, the roads aren’t actually free. Every time you fill your tank up you pay a gas tax which goes toward highway maintenance, as do various other fees associated with having a car such as registration, title, etc. It’s actually a pretty solid system because the more gas you use, and therefore the more you travel/use the roads, the more you pay for them. Perfect.
So why couldn’t health care be the same? We currently trust the government to run a completely socialized version of health care for our veterans, and these are our greatest heroes, right? And to pay for this would be simple, just tax the hell out of everything that is fiercely known to make you sick. The more expensive things are that are “bad” for your body, the less people will be able to participate in their use, thereby lowering the amount of sick people considerably, and for those who wish to continue in their harmful actions (I will smoke, for example, until cigarettes are $25 / pack), they are able to do so and help to pay for the care they’ll one day require.
Examples of items that should be taxed:
The list goes on and on, basically anything that contributes to x% of health care costs which isn’t a natural factor (for example, rebuttals such as “Well then we should tax breasts because they cause breast cancer” are precisely as idiotic as the person who thought of it.)
written 12 Aug 2009 in the early afternoon
As many of you may know, I am not particularly a musician, though I once played the equivalent role of Sid Vicious in a couple of punk bands during my more mohawk-having days.
Nevertheless, I have written, recorded and produced my own album. First impressions from the various supermodels, superstars and supersized coffees I have pre-released this work of sound to have been favorable, ranging from statements such as “It’s like Folk Metal meets Hardcore Easy Listening” and “I would have sworn it was Elvis Costello had it sounded completely different.”
Accusations of derivatives aside, the record is now available in full mp3 quality glory, including a sleeve you can print out and hang alongside your other platinum, gold and silicon record collections.
written 11 Aug 2009 in the late evening dusk
Politicians are evil. That is a well known fact listed on many websites including Wikipedia, Truthaboutevilpoliticians.com, mylesbianroommate.net and of course, ClickNathan.com. The type of folks who desire to get into politics are all too often just nerds who got bullied or bullies who didn’t know what to do with themselves after high school, individuals who love fame or power but rarely “good” ladies and gentlemen truly out to help the people they represent.
Were I in charge, and I’m not, but were I, I would make a simple law stating that politicians only made the median income level of the people they represent. So do you represent Jupiter, Florida? You’ll be making $200,000. Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania? $25,500. The President would make $50,233.
Additionally, any assets an individual had, such as investments in big tobacco or oil, would be frozen for the duration of your stint as a politician and for another 10 years after you career as a statesman was over. That way, the bastards wouldn’t make decisions that would benefit themselves over the people they represent.
This would add a much greater diversity to Congress, allowing them to work harder for the people they represent because it would benefit them at the same time. It would also make their monetary lives a bit harder (though keep in mind, they’d still get about 3 months of vacation, which none of the rest of us get), and in all likelihood begin to shrink that ever increasing gap between the uber-rich and the ultra-poor.
If that plan doesn’t work, however, I think we should at least force them to wear those old white, curly wigs like the forefathers wore, and not just in Congress, but all day everyday.
written 7 Aug 2009 in the late evening dusk
Thank you.
written 6 Aug 2009 over dinner
I’ve been perplexing myself over my latest fascination that perhaps the answer to “what is the meaning of life” type mind boggling is simply that there is no “life.” Join me for a few paragraphs while I explain, if you will, but try and read with an open mind, or at least the idea of an open mind.
What if we don’t particularly even exist in this human, material, wordly form? Imagine for a moment that instead of humanity evolving slowly from nematoads or their being an all-bearded divinity responsible for our creation, that existence is simply a coming together of ideas. No matter, no atoms, nothing material exists, simply a vast and perhaps infinite collection of ideas. The ideas would have started simple at first and evolved or combined over time to create more complex ideas, similar to how a child’s mind grows from perceiving simple notions at first to the complexities we are able to divine later in life, such as general relativity, time and two scoops of raisins in every box.
These ideas eventually grew so complex that they felt the need to confirm themselves in a physical reality, perhaps it was easier for ideas to compile and expand themselves if they had a more solid state. The same way, again, that a child’s mind can be so wonderfully full of imagination without direction, but as we age we desire direction and focus more than just going with the raw wonderment our brains can muster.
There is actually plenty of evidence to support such an idea, though even the most open-minded skeptic would be able to dismiss it. Think of fire walkers, the folks who hang 300 lbs from their nipples by chains, or those old ninja masters who can have cinder blocks smashed on their chests without feeling it. There are all kinds of people who can ignore pain and what to nearly every one of the rest of us would register as physically impossible acts. We accept them, typically, as amazing and move on with our lives, opening doors, breathing air and generally not defying the laws of nature. But in the end, as much as the majority of human collective consciousness dismisses the ethereal, there is so much to the universe we can’t understand quite yet.
Fortunately, I’ve just figured it all out and revealed it in this post.
written 5 Aug 2009 in the late evening dusk
This is not a post in support of religion, nor is it one necessarily denying science.
Early man believed that the sun was a god. Some of the greatest thinkers of all time, from Greek philosophers on through the 1800s, believed that life stemmed from decaying inanimate matter. Even 100 years ago, many doctors, scientists and other folks important enough to have a different prefix than “Mr.” thought you could cure most afflictions by sticking a bunch of leeches on yourself and letting them such the bad blood out. Of course, now we know so very much better and consider such concepts outdated, inane, even insane. Well, except for those people who still believe that an all powerful being lives in the clouds and one day will all
written 17 Jul 2009 either awfully late or awful early
Having been blessed with such a short and singular lifespan, and all of the glory, amazement and uncertainty it provides, I believe it to be our sole most important obligation to live it as fully, kindly and genuinely as our minds, bodies and collective spirit might allow.
written 15 Jul 2009 either awfully late or awful early
I have felt a complacency of late. A strange peacefulness unlike any of many before. It’s not one of those life-altering, time warping masterpieces that end in you living in Peru on a stick raft, mind you, but a comforting settling of mixing up some good ol’ fashioned mind blowings with a dash of organic epiphony. Okay, maybe that’s pushing it.
Unfortunately, and as always, it’s the kind of revelation inexplicable via the written word or perhaps even our fabled English language. However, I will of course do my best;
If you didn’t pass out from excitement, alcohol or exhaustion, you shouldn’t be asleep.
Actually, I forgot the whole idea whilst writing and came up with the quote off hand.
Toodle do,
Toodle done
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This is the online corner of my life, where I combine syllables, contemplate molecules, confront the issues confronting us all, and generally talk about transit and bikes. (more)
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I use Last.fm's Mac Menu Bar Scrobbler, which builds an RSS feed out of whatever I'm playing in iTunes. If you think it's as nifty as I do, check out Last.fm and if we seem to have similar taste, feel free to make me your friend. :)
Here's what I've done lately: (?)
I use Twitter to help me keep track of the things I do in life that I find enjoyable. For example, if I go for a bike ride or take a walk with my family, I just make a quick note. That way, if I'm ever feeling like life's lacking, I can just get a little reminder.
