How?

Well, President Bush finally admitted it. We're not winning the war in Iraq. Which seems really really unlikely considering our military prowess and the economic advantages we have.

So I started thikning of the war like a chess game. On our side, an extremely rich and powerful king, with pawns replaced by Queens and Knights. (our airforce and smart bombs) The other side has no Queen, the king is locked up and unable to move, and only has pawns and bishops left on the table. But somehow as we try to build up the Rooks and create a Strong second line, their pawns keep slipping through and blowing them up.

The problem is not the front line, our soldiers are among the most committed, well trained, and well equipped soldiers in history.

The problem is clearly the strategy. we need to get better players.

Clarification

The apparent reason I was denied the job is because my consumer credit rating is too low.
Here are the negatives against my rating for the past 7 years:

My student loans are in default (After 4 years of trying to get my payments down to asomething I might be able to afford, and 4 years of the loan company refusing to lower them to something reasonable for my income level. The last offer they gave me for a "reduced payment" was 486 dollars a month. It's worth noting that at the time I made the last request for a reduced payment I was homeless and my income was from unemployment. Of the two defaulted loans: One went into default when I was told it was going into "Deferment" and didn't recieve any bill or statement from the loan company for over a year. Since they didn't send me bills when it was in scholastic deferment, I didn't think anything of it until I started recieving harassing phone calls from a collection agency. The other one recently went into default because I could not open their e-mailed statements. I did call to have them correct the problem, I asked them to mail me my statements, and applied over the phone for a deferment. They e-mailed the paperwork (that I couldn't open) and I haven't heard from them since. (I've tried calling them a few times, early morning,mid afternoon, late night, it's over a 2 hour wait on hold every time. Each tiem I've called I've waited until "the cell phone company with the fewest dropped calls" dropped the call.)

3 NSF checks. Two of which were NSF for less than 48 hours, and the other was because I thought my new landlord had already cashed the check, as I began to close out the account. (Not having a mailing address can really screw up your ability to monitor your account statements)

I have no credit card. (Nor do I want one. I'd know I'd just buy music and rum. Probably in equal amounts.)

I haven't had a steady job for more than 2 years since 2002, and have been "self employed" for some periods during that time. (Unfortunately this is because 3:4 of my last employers have been worse at getting work than I was at doing it.)

Some bills have been payed late. (Reasons being: I was in NY when it came due and didn't recieve the bill for three weeks after it was due, or I'm disputing the charges. End of list. )

My phone isn't in my name. (Because my girlfriend has better credit than I do, and it's a multiple line account. Go figure...)

I've moved twice in the past four years. (Well, duh.. most people do move when they can't find work in their area, ask anybody in California with an Oklahoma accent...)

I do accept my personal responsibility in this. I know that if I had lived in under a bridge, walked the (average) 40+ mile per day commute, sold all of my possessions, and eaten nothing for the past 4 years the loans could have been payed off. (Oh, and FYI, my personal entertainment expenses for the past 4 years total about 4k between music, movies, books, games and television. Or about 20 dollars a week on average. I've spent about 6k on gasoline in that time, mostly commuting and moving, and 7-8k on vehicle repairs.)

all of which add up to "I'm poor". Which apparently is more important than my ability, and wilingness to do the job.

Oh, and some things that apparently don't matter to them:
In the past 4 years I've missed 5 days of work. 3 were due to a sprained back, one due to blizzard, and one for a stomach bug.

I can not only do the job I am applying for, I have run workshops teaching students from 3rd grade to post graduate level the basic skill sets involved.

I've never even been accused of stealing from an employer.

I have a good track record of dealing with groups that range in age from elementary to post-graduate levels of schooling.

I Spent 4 YEARS OF MY LIFE LEARNING HOW TO DO THE JOB I APPLIED FOR AND I'M GOOD AT IT!! Which I would think should be the deciding factor. But that's just me... To put this into perspective: This would be like the Grand Ol Opry denying Willie Nelson because he ahs tax problems. Not saying I'm as good at what I do as Willie is, but then again, the Museum of Science and Industry isn't exactly the Grand ol opry either.

Fuck you and your problems

Fuck it.. Why bother, give up.

I was just denied a job because I'm poor. That's right, because I'm poor. Since graduating from college 4 1/2 years ago I have made about 50k. Less than poverty level, Losing job after job due to either a lack of work or my supervisors desire to show how much he was in charge. The only contribution I have made to my being unemployed is committing myself to the positions that I have had, and trying to do the best job I could.

This is why people go into crime. I'm about as low as it is possible to be right now, So unless you're Homeless, dying of cancer, AND hiv+ with a bad case of dysentery. I don't want to hear you fucking complain.

Kicking around

This was written as a response to an editorial in the Chicago Tribune. You don’t need to have read the article to understand this, as they didn’t present any new arguments, just the same ones the republican party has been using since Reaganomics was a buzzword, not a nostalgia trip.

I hung my head when I read the recent editorial on the idea of raising the minimum wage. Although many of your points were technically correct, they were truly propaganda designed to play off of peoples’ fears instead of valid arguments.

Your example of the new oven* was designed to play on rust belt fears of automation replacing laborers. The truth is, almost any piece of technology or equipment eliminates a job for somebody. With the invention of gas and electric stoves, restaurants and hotels no longer needed to keep a fire going in the kitchen. Or, closer to home, since the invention of the printing press and movable type there is little call for those skilled in Woodcuts and handwritten copies of books. Blaming the effects of technology on an increased minimum wage is simply and intentionally misleading. Yes, the raise in minimum wage might end up being the deciding factor, but chances are the change was already being considered.

The other question you fail to bring up is how are the paychecks of those remaining workers affected. If raising the minimum wage meant that 14 part -time workers depending on Food stamps and section 8 housing turned into 12 workers who were able to provide for themselves and 2 workers who needed assistance, that’s a price most of us would gladly pay.

Instead of looking at the number of "jobs" created or lost, perhaps we should also be considering hours gained and lost. Since most minimum wage positions are part time, we count two part time positions being merged into one full time position as a “lost job”. Even though the total hours worked might stay the same, or even increase. For example: Instead of having one waitress come in for a 3 hour lunch shift, and another coming in for a three hour dinner shift, one full time waitress can handle both shifts if the employer is willing to keep them on for the couple slow hours in between the mealtime rushes.

The second argument you present is: “Even as individuals reach their late 20’s, they work less and earn less the longer they were exposed to a higher minimum wage, especially as a teenager.” However you fail to give us the example that you were referring to, or any explanation as to why. Leaving us to believe that the minimum wage itself is a bad thing. Could it be that students who are working in order to help provide for their families have less time to study, and interact with other people? Which is a disadvantage that continues to haunt them through college, and as they enter the post-education workforce. Also most teens working for minimum wage through high school and college are going to be from a poor background, which means they are less likely to have family connections or the resources to afford and mount an extended job search.

Also, as workers reach your late twenties, they may begin to look less desirable for a minimum wage position because they either have, or will soon have personal, and family obligations that cannot be met at minimum wage. This means they will be less willing to stay with the company unless they begin to see an increase in their wages. Since most low wage jobs are in companies that have a relatively flat hierarchy, there is simply no place for them in the company to advance to. It may be more cost effective for the company to keep turning over younger workers who don’t care what they make per hour as long as they can go out on Friday night.

Finally you offer the EITC as the saving grace of those in poverty. When really, all it is a way to federally subsidize employers failing to pay their employees a reasonable wage. But the EITC doesn’t help on a steady on going basis. It comes in once a year and drops a pile of money all at once, only to retreat until the following year. As anybody who has ever lived check to check can tell you, those balloon payments do not last long. It might cover the overdue notices on the car, heat bill, student loans, rent and maybe even some decent shoes for the kids. But if that money was coming in over the course of the year, perhaps those overdue bills could get paid on time. Which would save those families from the threat of losing their lights, heat, or the roof over their head at Christmas. Not to mention all of the late charges and additional fees those late payments create.
In addition to these problems, like all federal programs, the IETC is also disproportionately financed by those in the lower income brackets.** So those at the bottom are essentially paying the government to ensure that they still have lousy jobs.

I was surprised you left out the oft-touted ripple effects on the economy: Minimum wage goes up, union wages go up, other people’s wages go up to compensate and prices rise to pay the new wages and inflation spirals out of control. Is the argument we’ve been fed for years really true? Sort of: local price increases can be directly effected by wage increases, or local corporate scandals, or even a bad storm. However, prices will go up regardless of wage increases at any level. As more people exist on the planet our finite resources can only stretch so far. The increased traffic on the roads leads to more time spent stopped in traffic, so fuel is wasted increasing demand and a million other examples.

Remember, currency is merely a convenient way of saying “this is the part of the world that I control.” Instead of bartering with bags of corn or bread, we simply exchange pieces of paper. If the people at the top of the corporate ladders were also suffering a loss of real buying power, I might be able to understand holding off on an increase in the minimum wage, but they are doing better comparatively better than they were 40 years ago, whereas those at the bottom are doing comparatively worse. Eventually this will expand farther into the middle class, and suddenly, there won’t be any consumers left except the top tier.

Another idea you may not have entertained is that perhaps these jobs aren’t worth doing. If a full time position doesn’t pay enough to cover the basic cost of living, maybe it shouldn’t exist. If somebody is giving 40+ hours of their life to another person, they should be able to afford basic necessities, and honestly, at least a few non-essential items so their life is worth living.
You have also forgotten the basic truth about why the minimum wage exists in the first place. Find someone who remembers the dust bowl, the mass migration of people in search of work, the massive levels of poverty, and homelessness. Talk to somebody who remembers “Hoovervilles” and food rotting in crates because people couldn’t afford to buy it, and it was cheaper to let it rot than transport it to market. Find those people who still remember, and ask them if life was better without a minimum wage.

*The story was that a restaurant bought a new oven and fired three or four of its cooks because the minimum wage went up.

** The top 10 percent of wage earners in the US paid 40% or the federal Taxes collected in 2004. They made 60% of the income. (According To the President)

Life update

So yeah, I've been trying to figure life out..

I now have 3 jobs. In two weeks I went from 0 work, to three jobs. Which shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem balancing them, but I'm going to barely get enough hours between them to live on.

The upside is the last one I got will at least allow me to use my degree. I'm an in character tour guide for the Museum of science and industry here in Chicago. I'm actually looking forward to it, if nothing else it will be good practice for 2nd city if I ever recieve my acceptance (Or rejection) letter from them so I can sign up for classes.

I will never understand how people who complain about having to work, and do a lousy job seem to have more luck finding work than I do. But most of the people I'm working with at the Field Museum are rude to customers, and do nothing but complain about the customers and having to work. Even worse, the ones who are the rudest seem to be the ones the museum wants to hire full time. And they wonder why attendance is slow...

Oh, an update on the guy that fired me in April. He still has his job, but has lost his 2 best salespeople becasue he's an asshole. Keep in mind that when I started working there, those two were planning on staying where they were for at least 5 more years. I'm hoping that I'm still talking to people that are there when he finally gets fired.

thanksgiving

Well, this is it, another time for reflection on all the things we're thankful for.

Some of us are thankful for new houses, good jobs, good health, or a new wii or ps3.

I'm thakn ful I have.. um.. wait.. shit.. I got it, I'm thankful I'm not dead yet, and I had the money to restore teh service from my isp after my roomie didn't pay the bill... Because that's all I got going for me at the moment.

Tooth out

I had a tooth removed today, I'ts been bugging me for a while, but without dental benefits I souldn't afford to have the root canal and cap that it needed, and instead waited until I was in agony to have it pulled.

I have discovered two things:

1) I am limited to a diet of cold liquids and ice cream for 24 hours. But no matter what flavor I buy it will taste like blood.

2) Putting that gauze in your mouth to stop the bleeding and encourage healing is the closest a man can ever come to knowing what it's like to use a tampon. Without the handy retrieval string and plastic applicator.

Friendly reminder

When you are out in the world and come across somebody who doesn't share your religious beliefs. That's just Satans way of tempting you to act like an asshole. So resist the temptation, and shut the fuck up.

consistancy

Just a thought... How is it that a group of people who claim there is no evidence of evolution, and that it is therefore an invalid theory turn around and profess their belief in an omnipotent omnipresent god?

upside/ downside

So it looks like the democrats have a majority in congress. Not much, but enough to be able to call it a majority. Although since there are a couple of third party/ independants in office as well, It might be more accurate to say that they have a majority in one house, and republicans merely have a minority in the other.

Good.

Well, not good!!!, or Great!!! And definately not "FUCKING AWESOME!!!" It is at least a step towards a right direction.

It's a step away from outright bogotry and hate to a more subdued intolerance. Instead of openly stating that They are oppossed to same sex marraige, the dems privately lament the idea, but love to piss off Rush. Not quite a step towards equal treatment of all citizens by our government, but getting there.

It is a step towards the idea of providing health care, food, and shelter to all Americans. Either by expanding federal programs or at least raising the minimum wage to something approaching reasonable. It won't get us Universal health care, or a living wage, but at least it's a step towards the right direction.

We will hopefully be moving away from the idea that your belief in god also means that you are suppossed to believe in trickle down/supply side economics. Although the benefits of supply side economics to the poor and lower middle class are as elusive as evidence of some guy in a toga and sandals feeding everybody with 2 fish and a baguette. Not quite a step towards supporting labor unions and worker safety regulations, but at least it's a half hearted saunter in that direction.

The hardest challenge the democrats will have is the 2008 presidential election. Since a large part of their victory seems to have come from Americans finally waking up and saying, "Hey, Bush lied to us", it's going to be difficult to both finish the job in Iraq and also avoid a backlash in two years when we're still not out of Iraq. I'm afraid that only one of the two can happen, and both situations have steps in both the right and wrong directions.

A conversation

K. says:
oh, I have been doing really late night walks too.. you know what I discovered? At 3 am.. there are no bums
S* says:
what
K. says:
Which just shows a lack of dedication
S* says:
where do they go
lol
K. says:
I mean, what, you're only going to beg for change during rush hour? You freaking wussy
If you're determined enough to beg for money, let me see you out there at 4:30 in the morning.. then I'll give you my nickle
S* says:
it gets cold
K. says:
Don't make excuses for them... It's no colder walking around looking for change than sleeping under the overpass
It's just laziness.
and a lack of dedication
I mean, if you're going to be a bum.. be a bum.. don't half ass it
S* says:
u should blog this
K. says:
bum means you're on duty 24/7 sparing for change, picking through the garbage for redeemable bottles, drinking bad wine...
S* says:
yes, but they need sleep, to eat
K. says:
So bum in shifts... larry take the day shift, lenny take the night shift... Damnit I live in a major city... There should be plenty of bums around for any hour.

ready to give up

I give up.. If people aren't going to treat each other with respect, dignity, and try to at least get along. I'm no longer going to try and help them. Just give me an uzi and get out of my way.

You know you're in trouble...

... when a bum gives you a quarter

... when the "service engine soon" light turns on, and you're riding a bike

... when you're 10 seconds from orgasm and you hear footsteps on the stairs

... The doctor leaves the room to call his broker

... you finish stringing your guitar, set it down, and hear a distinctive "twang"

... Your car smells like old spice, and your Boyfriend is allergic to all perfumes

... When reading a cheap Jeff Foxworthy ripoff like this is more entertaining than the porn you normally look at.

Extreme secularism

It's a term I just heard. Fairly obviously it came from a religious conservative, and got me wondering what exactly that meant. Obviously a secular extremist would be the opposite of a religious extremist. I started thinking about what this would mean and came up with the following items:

Religious extremists like to picket outside of concert venues, theaters and funerals. Secular exremists must therefore like to hold the door for you, and pass you a tissue when you get all weepy.

Religious extremists often cite their own religious texts as the answer to any question. Secular extremists would therefore have to quote a secular book. Like Dr. Seuss, or a scientific journal.

Religious extremists use torture to get people to convert to their religious beliefs. Secular extremists would therefore offer you a comforting foot massage and beverage.

Religious extremists use cars and planes to blow things up. Like shopping malls, or skyscrapers. Secular extremists would apparently drive to these same buildings, and just park in the parking lot making sure not to dent the car next to them. Or better yet, walk so that if they get into an accident on the way there, there's less chance of an explosion.

Religious extremists like to wear lots of uncomfortable clothing. Secular extremists seem to favor sweat pants and thongs.

Religious extremists have a long history of sexual inequality and mysogeny. Secular extremists are more likely to try the "reverse cowboy", and have female co-workers.

Religious extremists tend engage in activities that necessitate hiding in caves so the authorities don't know where they are. Those of a secular extremist nature would live with some friends, and throw parties of such magnitude that the authorities in the next county over would know where they lived.

Religious extremists tend to avoid alcohol and other recreational drugs. Secular extremists understand the phrase "puff puff give".

Religious extremists tend to believe very odd things, even when compared to others of a more moderate version of their own faith. It only stands to reason that secular extremists would have to see some proof before they accepted the kool-aid.

Religious extremists have a tendency to seperate people of different genders, even going so far as to shield the groups from each others sights, while villifying homosexuality. Secular extremists wonder if the cutie over there is going to hit on them or their signifigant other, and are equally comfortable with either possibility.

Religious extremists bomb clinics and shoot doctors. Secular extremists pick up doctors from the clinic and buy them an "Irish car bomb" at the bar. (Jameson and Guinness where I'm from. but recipes vary)

Religious extremists will denounce a piece of fiction as being heretical and hold demonstrations before the piece is even open to public view. Secular extremists will buy their date popcorn.

Religious extremists want world piece in the name of their lord and are willing to kill for it. Secular extremists will be happy with a world wide cease fire in the name of well... anybody really. I hear Ari Fleisher is looking for work...

Religious extremists adorn their bodies with cool symbols of their beliefs. Secular extremists adorn their bodies with tatoos in Japanese becasue they believe it looks cool.

Religious extremists give their wealth to organized religious groups. Secular extremists give some change for the guy on the corner who was turned away by a religious charity.

Religious conservatives like to talk about how much they love their deity of choice and should rejoice in it's creation. Secualr extremists are too busy rejoicing to talk about it.

Others?

Um, yeah, better...

So after checking my e-mail and Signing out I come across an article about how people feel they are worse off than their parents. The general thrust was that we're better off financially. However their arguments were fairly misleading. Considering that the source of the article I was reading was a magazine catering to the wealthy and wanna-be wealthy, this is understandable. (Forbes)

Here is the most important thing they brought up: According to their numbers: median income has increased by about 1/3 since the mid 1960's. (13% better than the mid 90's.. which means 2/3 of our supposed increase in prosperity came before Reaganomics "saved" us from the evils of government regulation) However the average income for those at the upper end of the economic spectrum have seen their incomes (adjusted for inflation) increase from about 40 times the median, to over 400 times the median.

To make this personal, imagine you are working for a company, and recieve a 33% raise. Pretty good right? the company must be making making money, you're doing your job well. Everything is good. Presumably other people in the company recieved increases of similar size since you're all working together to produce quality products and happy customers. However your boss recieved a 900% raise. 866% more of a raise than you recieved. Are you still going to be as happy working for that company? Doubtful, because while you can accept that your boss will recieve a larger sum of money in their raise, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be in proportion to your raise.

Compounding the problem is that the cost of living doesn't always increase in ways that are able to be adjusted for inflation. The computer I'm typing this on for example, can't be compared to a basic model personal computer from the 1960's. Because they didn't exist, but the PC is as much a basic part of life now as the Television set was then. So there is an added increase in the cost of living, just to be able to do banking, job searches, deal with some government agencies and communicate with each other.

A standard household of 4.5 people now has the added expenses of cable tv, cell phones, land lines, internet service, microwave ovens, and an almost 50% tax burden. (Approx. 33% wage taxes including soc sec. etc. , 6-8% sales tax, 3-5% property taxes, "sin" taxes, other surcharges and hidden taxes that aren't taken directly out of our paychecks) So apart from basic inflation pressures, that 33% is not going to our retirement accounts or business investments. It's going to the increased expense of living, not an increase in the relative quality of living.

Another area they didn't explore was how many employers offered quality health care, retirement packages, company parties, or vacation time.

The one area where they acknowledged their shortcomings was to let us know that the numbers thay were using did not include investment income. So the dividends on the free or highly discounted stocks the CEO purchased last year, aren't included. They only looked at wages.

There are many ways we are better off as a country than we were 40 years ago. We have more personal, religious, and expressionist freedoms. People no longer have to take to the streets in order to recieve basic rights like voting, and we don't have an "enemy" who can stand toe to toe with our militry and win. There is no need to distort numbers and give useles information in a "news" article. Unless the purpose of the article is to make people feel good about themselves for being the rich leaders of a robust economy, or for plugging away at their increasingly worthless jobs.


Here are the questions that need to asked to see if we are truly better or worse off than we were 40 years ago:

How many hours per week do the households wage earners need to work in order to cover all bills, and put some money into savings/ investments?

What percentage of your income goes to entertainment and recreation?

If you need to see a doctor or dentist, can you afford to?

How many day's or weeks of vacation do you have available per year?

Does your company offer a good retirement package?

Are you confident your company produces quality products?

Have you gone without a neccessity such as food, clothing, or shelter in the past 10 years?

Can you occassionally splurge on a nice dinner or family night out without having to worry about how you're going to pay for it?

Can you afford to send your children (or yourself) to college?

These questions would give a better understanding of how we are doing as oppossed to our parents and grandparents than a strict a simple analysis of income.

Smile and nod

That's all we need to do, just keep smiling and nodding. Yes Mr. President things are going well, yes mr. President the people love you. High level officials in serious suits telling the president waht her wants to hear. An auditorium full of cheering people, shouting for a constitutional amendment so he can run again.

All occurring in an Ivory tower, far from the people as the rest of us try to live our lives without killing somebody, or being killed.

Don't be depressed.. be horny...

it makes the day go faster

Too many thoughts.

I have become convinced that the reason I am unemployed is that I value competance, and that just doesn't fit in with the overall business/ employer philosophy of the moment. For example, I have recieved 1 out of 7-8 pieces of mail that I know were sdent to me in the past month by the unemployment people. 1 out of 7-8. With stats like that they would be sent back down to the minors if they were baseball players. What other profession can consider 1 out of 7 a success?

Terrorism. Terrorists can afford to send out 7 guys and only have one success.

The USPS is now officially a terrorist organization. We no longer have to worry about Al-Quaida mailing us anthrax and chain letters, we now have to worry that the USPS will realize the opower it has over our daily lives. The really scary part is that Al-quaida at least has some half witted religious doctrine to kill people over. The USPS just wants to get paid. (That's why they keep raising rates.. even when their costs go down.) This means they are open to service the highest bidders whims.

The cell phone CO. wants you to sign up for a direct debit service so they can take your money without presenting you a bill first. A service that might sound like a good idea if you're paying late charges all the time because the USPS "loses" the bill every month.

The politician who promises to cut welfare spending realizes that if people don't get their checks, they can't cash them. A few key promised votes in the next term and said politian keeps his promise.

You know what does get through? Circulars for Wal-mart, target and their ilk. Further proof that this conspiracy theory may be more accurate than most.

Response to

This is a response to yesterdays post at www.aberranttemplar.blogspot.com I never bothered to learn how to link and such, so I guess you're stuck with cut and paste. there are a few different idea in here.. in a sort of shorthanded way...

Well.. a few years too late, but apparently reality is catching up to reporters.

I find it odd that a former president is paraphrasing Minor Threat's "In My Eyes".
(You tell me that I make no difference
At least I'm fuckin' trying
What the fuck have you done?)


Of course this statement, and reports like it are proof of a massive liberal media conspiracy to slander patriotism and god. Despite the fact that most media outlets normally skew conservative in terms of their use and choice of adjecives and descriptions.

Sadly this is a battle that merely fighting it entrenches the sides more deeply. Both sides put their fingers in their ears and yell "I can't hear you"

Perhaps we aught to quit blaming Clinton for Bin Ladens continued existence; since he hasn't been able to do anything about it for the past 5 1/2 years. Instead, let the blame lie on Saddam Hussein. He's a proven scapegoat, he's unlikeable, brash, arrogant, and... he's already in custody. If he hadn't distracted GW... we could've had Bin Laden by now. Yeah.. that's the new line.

Or, perhaps we aught to credit Bin Ladin for being very good at what he does, even though what he does is horrific. To me, that just seems more honest. Think of Bin Laden as a Mt. Everst, or the moon. I personally have never been there, but I haven't tried. Others haven't been there, but have died trying. Give the credit to those who tried, and apathy or blame to those who haven't.

huh

Ok, so I know a lot of parents are worried aout their childrens education in math and science.

Stop worrying our teachers ahve established a curriculum so advanded a student with only an 8th grad education now has the technical knowledge and skills to create crystal Meth. in their kitchen with the barest minimum of tools.

So stop worrying...

I've gotta get in the habit of doing these again....

Yep, I'm in a city now.

Sitting on my front stoop the other day talking on my phone I had a drunk guy try to sell me pot. When I said I didn't like pot, he tried to sell me E. When i said I was broke, he tried to sell me crack.

THAT is customer service... Delivery to the door, a product for every price range. Why don't big corporations understand this?

Made it

Mostly moved into my new Apt. Job interview tomorrow, need to work on stuff tonight, doing a short post.

maybe.. finally??!!??!!

I have not been able to move in yet. After I got my car back the last time.. the engine decided it wanted a rest. Permanently.

So rather than toss more money after what we've already spent, my family decided to buy a POS Saturn that was for sale across the street, pop some new tires on it and try again. So I now need to go get the new tires, an oil change, and a stereo before I head out. Unfortunately I only have an "In transit" registration, which means I technically can only drive it between where it is now, and Chicago.

We don't expect the car to make it through the next year, but if it runs long enough for me to find work and get a new one.. we're happy.

I was ready to leave weeks ago... I love my family, but... I would like to be able to move into the apartment I'm paying rent on. Preferably 2 weeks ago.

The only upside to the whole still being stuck here thing is I got to see Serwah for a couple days.

an update

Haven't posted since I moved out of my old apartment.. moving into the new one on Monday. So here's what I've been up to:

Saw snakes on a plane. Still not sure if it was a good movie, or a bad movie. I just know that I smiled all the way home after I saw it because it was fucking great.

Painted one of my brothers bedrooms and built 12" wooden valences for the windows. Bright mint green with black trim. I like the way it has turned out.

Home for two weeks and made two attempts to finally break my D+D cherry... sadly I'm still not a complete geek yet as the games were either cancelled, or at the tail end of a story arc with no place to slide me in.

Saw a bunch of people I didn't realize I missed. Saw a couple that I just didn't miss, and still haven't seen the one I miss the most.

Been watching the A-team in the mornings on Sleuth... Murdoch still puts a smile on my face. (No pun intended)

Out the door

I got ahold of my landlord, I'm getting paid, I'm leaving. I just haven't decided if I should stop outside of the city and wipe the dust from my shoes. Part of me wants to because I like the idea of never coming back here again, but part of me wants to come back in a few years and.. no. no part of me wants to come back here. Ever.

Onward!!!

Killing people, greeting time.

Leads on apartments up to this point have proven useless. I am collecting a list of places to visit later this week, but have had my hopes shattered too many times to get too excited about any of them. Even the one with the jacuzzi, or the one with the female (potential)roommates. Granted female roommates with a jacuzzi.. then my hopes would be up like a sailor in a whorehouse.

So I will have a period of time where I will officially be homeless!! woo hoo!! Write your friends and relatives and tell them you know an honest to goodness homeless person. Might only be a day or two, but it stil counts.

EDS

The apocalypse is neigh! Times fortold in the book of revelations, translated a new by a former tibetan monk hopped up on steroids has certified that the world will end at on September 22nd at 6:37 pm GMT.

GO out and spend all of your money now!!!

If you are happy to be told of this impending doom please donate to this poster.

Thoughts on immigration/ terrorism...

Imagine if we required all business who sell their products in the United States to follow our federal minimum wage, safety and environmental regulations. The countries that we see most as an economic threat would have their citizens income increased, their pollution levels drop, and their citizens health and well being improve dramatically. Which would move them from threat to potential partner.

As a groups wages increase their purchasing power would also increase, particularly for luxury and non-essential items. The items with brand names, and the USA is the biggest brand name going right now. Either to be emulated, or burned in effigy, but still the biggest. This happened locally in the United States in the 1940's as trade unions became accepted and the lower classes were able to purchase such life altering appliances as dishwashers. Crossing the Arizona dessert on foot for an extra 50 cents an hour looks a lot less worthwhile than crossing the same dessert for an extra $5 an hour.

If workers had a more level playing field, the exploitation of the poorest cultures would be replaced by utilization of local resources. It may seem to be a semantic difference, but, anybody who has worked for less than subsistance wages because they had no other choice can tell you the difference.

Many terrorists also point to the United States economic policies as justification for their delusional, meglomaniacal attempts to rule the world through murder and fear. It's easier to recruit the poor into an organizaion like Al Quida than it is to recruit in a middle class neighborhood. By increasing the standard of living for people outside of our own country, we will do more to stem terrorist ideology than 200,000 soldiers ever will.

Many of the companies that hire people illegally do so to avoid taxes, and wage requirements. The people who work illegally do so for the same reasons, avoiding child support payment, taxes, or to get both their unemployment and disability check along with an income. Instead of paying $300 in various taxes, insurances, health plans, etc. plus $15 an hour to their employees, the illegal hires are making a flat $12 an hour with no taxes removed, benefits, or workers comp insurance. Employees are often told that if they fall, they're fired before they hit the ground. The owner can then underbid on a given project since the employees cost him $420 less per week per employee. This makes it difficult for business owners who work legally to compete, and also reduces the negotiating power of unions. (numbers made up, but the costs aren't)

The fastest most effective solution would be to identify a large company that uses illegal workers. Walk into a board meeting with an m-16, and open fire. After that no company would even think about hiring somebody illegally. However that solution is also inhumane, and highly illegal, so other avenues must be sought.

The excuse is often given that immigrants who work illegally are doing the jobs Americans won't do. No, they are doing the jobs Americans won't do for those wages. Pay $2,000,000 a bushel for hand picked apples, and every able-bodied man woman and child in the area will be lining up with their own basket.

Finally

One of the guys from N'Sync finally came out of the closet. Good job Lance... all I can hope for is that the closet was where you kept the microphone.

New camera

I ordered a camera online at the beginning of the week (because it was on sale) and got it today. Which is cause enough for happiness. However it is not the camera I originally ordered. I got upgraded a little bit (more memory, better zoom) as they were out of the one I wanted.

To make it up to me (besides the upgrade) They also decided to include a cd with my order. Now, normally if I get a new cd I'm a bit giddy, with mild lapses into pure bliss. However these guys sent me Dave Matthews Band's "Everyday".

At least it wasn't Justin Timberlake. Although he's only annoyed me since like 200, where DMB has been annoying me since the mid 90's.

Murder! Rape! Parking!

Yesterday I went to interview with a potential roommate to see if we would get along and stuff. Which is fine, I made the 4 hour trip out there, and he corrected my mapquest directions as those would have taken me an extra 1-2 hours to get there. So i get close, I'm cruising around, checking out the neighborhood, Call him again to get more specific directions, get there and start looking for a parking spot. Around the block, nothing. Around the next block, nothing. There's a car behind me, so I try turning in a difernt direction, still nothing. Then as I get onto a 2 way road with barely enough room for someone to go around me, the car behind me turns on their "We're the police" lights.

Apparently in chicago looking for a parking space is considered suspicious activity. So they had ran my brand new (just got 'em yesterday) plates through the system and came up empty. So obviously the car is stolen. All because in Illinois computers take their time to register certain facts.

I hand them my brand new Illinois receipt for my brand new illinois plates and insurance, and my old license. Still wondering why they would think anybody would steal a 1996 buick Lesabre with a leaky gas tank and in need of some pretty heavy body work. So they're grilling me about why I'm in the area, and since I don't know the guys exact address, I can't give it to them when they ask where I'm going. So they grill me to see why I'm in town, they grill me to see if the car is stolen, they grill me to see if I'm dealing. (I wanted to ask them if I was dealing, why would I drive a POS like this?) Then instead of saying anything about how they were sorry for taking up my time, pulling me over, etc. They just walk back to their car and turn off the lights. Leaving me to assume they were done with me, but not explicitly telling me that they were, or that my plates checked out ok, or even to "Have a good night".

SO I got to the interview a little later than I had hoped, but took the 10 cent tour and instantly loved the apt. It seemed to go well, and after living in this armpit of homogeniosity (if that's a word) the neighborhood seems to be what I'm looking for. In the building I'll hopefully be living in, almost every couple is either gay or interracial. Within walking distance I found three bars of each of the main types. Irish, sports, gay, dance club, serious drinker, and bar/restaurant.

The building is really quiet, which will probably make me a little nuts, but I'm planning on being there as little as possible since I need to find work etc.

I really hope I get this apt. He has two more interviews to do, and I'll know for certain on saturday night. But unless he was just getting my hopes up.. he hasn't been impressed with any of the other candidates so far and my chances are good.

Macomb: proof Darwin was wrong.

I'm spoiled, I admit it. I didn't realize what a bastion of civilization I lived in while i was in NY. I have learned that the things I thought were normal and Standard operating procedure are in fact luxuries.

For example:

If you advertise a specific product line, and are listed as a dealer on the companies website, I have been led to believe that you actually carried the product line.

If a customer places an order for delivery, I have come to expect it to be delivered.

I really don't know how I managed to live this long with these erronous beliefs. Why didn't anybody tell me?

New one

Out of all of the offers to extend my penis, increase my bust, make it harder, firmer, more supple, let me lose weight with no effort, sell me knockoff rolexes, reunite me with the people I didn't like in high school, and refinance my non-existant mortgage I finally got a piece of spam worth sharing.

Discount rolodex.

Which if it's a typo is pretty funny in and of itself. But if it isn't. Does anybody out there with a computer still need a rolodex? Or are they just hoping that somebody will please take 46,884 cases of this piece of 1958 technology off their hands for a buck fifty plus shipping?

Response I got to an "Apartment wanted" posting

Hello , I am writing just to confirm if you still have the room or an apartment for rent..............If YES Please I will like to have answers to the following questions below: 1) I will like to have the description of the room, size, and the equipments in there. 2) I will like to have the rent fee per month plus the utilities. 3) Also I will like to know if there is any garage or parking space cos I will have my own car come over. 4) I will also be coming with some of my furniture, that is if the room is not funished and if furnitures are allowed, like bed, book shelf cos I read alot, shoe rank etc 5) I will also like to know if I can make an advance payment ahead my arrival
that will be stand as a kind of commitment that I am truely
coming over and for you to hold the room down for me. 6) If the #5 questions is YES, I will like to know the total cost for the my initial move as in first month rent and if you accept deposit. 7) I will like to know the major intersection nearest your neighborhood. like shopping mall, bus line e.t.c 8) Lastly, I will like to know more about you and also I will like to have your pics as for me to know how my roommate to be looks like. 9]payment mode. I will be very glad to have all this questions answered with out leaving a stone unturned... Here is all I can say about my self for now.I am 25 years old female and I work full time,, Monday through Friday and have weekends off exept for once a month. I was born in Tucson Arizona, but I was brought up in africa I moved to 23 years ago after the death of my father, one of my cousin who live and work in africa took me there for my studies since my mother cannot take care of me after my father's demise.I work in a fashion home as
a designer director.I am not really a sports person,, BUT I do love Hockey Games. I am a VERY out going person and fun to be with. I do play the organ and piano,, and I do have BOTH piano and organ here at my house.I am not a drinker and I don't smoke and I don't do drugs. I think you will like living here and YES I would like to go out with you on weekends and weeknights when we are both free. I like going to movies,, concerts ,, plays,,I like camping, hiking, bike ridding, swimming, and I love to travel. I am a very dedicated individual who is totally committed to human development...........................................
How Was Ur Day Today . Thank Too E MAIL Back Pleass Are Will Need Ur FOMATION Too Send The CHECK To U Over There Name ...Address... City....Country.... Zip Code......State..... Thank for ur Company Okay ....Thank For Ur Undarstand..

Killing time

Waiting to hear beack from my landlord about paint colors, waiting for it to stop raining so I can paint, waiting to hear from new prospective landlord about if I got the apt. Really nice looking place fully furnished , close to the water, only 8 miles from second city. Most I've been looking at are 12-24 miles so classes won't be too hard to get to if I end up not having a car. I need the exercise, so buying a new bike might help with that. Provided I can keep myself from jumping in my car anyway. Part of me wants to get rid of the car completely to save on gas and insurance, but part of me realizes that I might need it for work.

Just over a week and I'm homeless unless I can get the people I"m waiting for to get their shit together and pick out a damn color so I can finally get to work.

Target

It's official, I am a targeted marketing demographic. Even though I really don't have any disposable income, ads are being targeted at me.

They replaced the bunny with a pop star.. I couldn't help it. I had to shoot her. I know, I was weak, and I've got to work to get back my "disaffected by media" status, but damnit it was fun..

Now i just want to setup one of those little shooting galleries at an amusement park or carnival. The ones where there's a big room and you shoot the little light rifles at the targets and they go "ding" when you hit them. BUt instead I'll use real BB guns and replacable paper figures so you can have the joy of blowing off Britney Spears head or putting your little Round copper ball where every bronzed ball in hollywood has gone before you on a Full size cutout of Christina Agulara. I'll have indie kids, country fans and every Dad who had been forced to listen on the drive there lined up to give me their 2 bucks.

Although I think getting their permission and licensing might be a bit of a pain.

Dealing with the stupidnatural.

While conversing with the denizens of the underworld yesterday I asked them what was their greatest accomplishment.

Their answer: Computerized calling systems.

Off

No Cable for Kris. Because oif being out of state I haven't recieved my last cable bill. It's getting shut off tomorrow because the lady at the office wouldn't work with me to get payment when I could pay it. Because of their inflexibility they lost a customer.

Because of this, I get to feel self righteous and morally superior for not paying my bill on time. Woo hoo... it's not like anything else has gone right in the past month.

And continuing that trend. Some weird guy with an anti-dvd fetish has apparently decided to break into my apartment and break my dvd player. If I ever find that guy I'm gonna make him give back the 30 bucks I paid for the thing. Bastard.

post

No good news. Sick of complaining. Go read a book.

From bad to worse

What? I can't hear you.. Speak up. Goddamn it, What do you want.

All things I have been saying a lot recently as, on top of the rest of the fun times I've had being back here in N.Y., I have an ear infection. That's right, the bane of 8 year olds everywhere. So I have no money, am 1000 miles away from my own bed, and it feels like I've been tied down and someone is force feeding my left ear a steady diet of Yoko Ono's rejected tracks as performed by one of the Simpson girls. (which is much worse than the "ice pick" analogy.

I don't normally take aspirin, ibuprofin, or any other pain killers. It is so seldom that I get headaches that I find it easier to massage my temples, close my eyes and do a couple minutes of meditation than to keep an unexpired bottle of Advil in my medicinal war chest. Between yesterday and the day before I went through a bottle and a half of generic ibuprofin and advil. The recommended maximum dose is 6 in one day. This did not kill the pain as their advertising had suggested it would. All it did was dull the sharp aforementioned pain to an almost bearable level. (Unpublished Carly Simon sung by a Shakira tribute band)

I have learned and relearned a few things over the past couple days. including the following: When Upset or stressed my grandmothers voice becomes nasal and buzz saw like, tearing through the ball of cotton in my ear straight into my skull. Fast paced video games are a lot less fun while hopped up on advil... sample text from my experiments would read: "Kris enters battlefield. Kris has been bludgeoned to death by a quadraplegic with a spoon". I would then curse at the screen because he came out of nowhere. My brother drove me home and I remembered how small he is for a 17 year old when I spent over a minute waiting for the power seats in my car to move all the way back so my legs weren't under my chin. I get really shaky when I have a lot of painkillers in me.

I used to get ear infections all the time as a kid, and I enjoyed them.. I got to stay home, read, and the little pink pills didn't actually taste bad for medicine. But if going back to that simnple time means putting up with more of these.. count me out.

Removing the fuzzy

One of the saying from my college days for when something went wrong that has stuck with me is "I'm a little fuzzy on the good/ bad thing here.. but I'm going to go with bad". So I am here to establish the good/bad status of my recent past.

GF Not making it upstate to see me: Bad
Car not having brakes: Bad
G-mas cooking: Good
Little brother having a cute girlfriend that makes him happy: Good
The beer Jason bought me: Good
The women Jason finds attractive: Bad
Not recieving any of my forwarded mail: bad
Not having money 1000 miles away from your own bed: Bad
New AFI album: Good
Having to spend 3 hours checking e-mail because of moms slow dial up connection: Bad
Having to remove 400+ pieces of spyware in order to check e-mail: Bad
Not knowing when or how I can get back to my own bed: Bad.
Brothers graduation party: Good, but dull

Hell is my car

Yesterdays drive home was eventful.
I left home for the friendly face of the ATm so I could empty it and begin the trek to NY.
Unfortunately, because I had paid all of Junes bill and had yet to recieve june's first unemployment check I had 11.05 in my account.
So I did what all true Amreican males do when there is a problem.

I called g-ma. With her super cape a fluttering she leapt into action wiring me 500 big ones. At cost of 20 dollars on each end I might add. She was assured that I would have the money instantly and would be able to start home.

My bank however disagreed and sent me on the way with a condescending smile and "sorry we can't help you yet, the computer will update later tonight."

Bastards.

So I did something I had once promised myself I would never do. I intentionally wrote a bad check. i have overdraft protection up to 300 bucks so the gas station will never know that it's bad. then I headed to wal-mart. bought a mountain dew and another 100 bucks cash back.

I started out, and after being 1 1/2 hours late for my class, I left chicago with no brakes. But i have made it safely to NY.

I still think the brakes went because the car was pointed east and was afraid I might stop and turn around.

bed

Beds are good. I should be there now.

I'm not sure when Ill be able to update again since I'm hoping I have enough money in my checking account to go home tomorrow. Damn high fuel costs. Although it is still cheaper to drive than take public transit.

Oh, and I saw a story today about the bigwigs at oil companies defending their profits by saying that many european countries have much higher gas prices at the pump. Which it tue unless you remove the taxes collected from the equation. Then the margin is much much less.

Although I do have to wonder if they are running a campain to try and make people confuse the terms Gross income and profit.

stuff n stuff

I've started packing up my stuff. Even though I don't know where I'm going to live when I get to Chicago. I figure if I get all packed up beforehand I'll have less work to do when the time comes. So far I've just packed my books and cd's, along with some of the random stuff I've accumulated over the years. I know it doesn't sound like I've packed much, but all that's really laft to pack is clothes and stuff involving the tv. (Dvd's dvd player, ps2 etc.) I think the next step will be pulling down the posters and such from the walls. Which I actually dread doing every time I move because some of them have goten pretty fragile over the years. For example, the Rancid poster I bought in 95 has ripped pretty bad, and my Reservoir Dogs poster has turned black and yellow instead of black and white.

I also have come to the realization that I will probably be spending a lot of time and money going to the movies when I go home, since all of the movies that are currently out that I want to see aren't playing here. And I'm sick of waiting for movies to come out on DVD so I can see them for the first time, it just lacks something on a 26" screen. Some of the grandeur and excitement is gone. Hell, going to the theater to se a movie I want to has gotten so rare I could almost walk out of a threater and not complain about a movie like "the Fantastic Four". In retrospect it almost seems like it was a good movie. Because I had overpriced popcorn and a coke.

If the Universe is constantly expanding, and God is truly omnipresent... does that mean the almighty is getting fat?

quote from me to you

Women are easy to understand.. if they're laughing.. you did something stupid. If they're crying you did something stupid, if they're bored.. it's time to do something stupid

I'm having hot flashes

For some reason my crappy little cinderblock walled apartment seems to be really warm all of a sudden. Last year at this time I had all of the vents closed, and was still freezing, this year I'm broiling. Damn Mano pause.

Hatred, Loathing, Puppies!!!

I know I have a tendency to discuss things that are bothering me, and spend very little time on the things that actually inspire me to get up in the morning.

Number one is Urination. There is no sensation on the planet as exquisite as pissing. If you don't believe me, don't do it for a day, then you'll understand. It is truly one of the few experiences that is universal to all human beings, although slight differations do exist between the genders. Even though it is so common, it is also a varied experience. One time you might have a quick little squirt, while the next you might be standing (or sitting) there for a good 2-3 minutes.

Number two is video games. I grew up on video games. In part because I was 10 years older than my brothers, my mom was too busy for board games, and my stepfather hasn't played monopoly since mom beet hin in '83. Which meant I had to find games I could play by myself. Add in some asthma and allergies and Double dribble was the best basketball game in town.

Number three is books. I tend to like anything that has a sense of humor to it. even authors I dislike can gain some begrudged accolades if they put in a touch of silliness. Shakespeare would be unreadable if it weren't for the comic interludes.

Number Four Is Typing out lists.

Number Five.. Is alive

Number six is referencing movies I have enjoyed, in part to allow those around me to go "OO, I remember that.. I should watch that again."

Number seven is Finding a new musician or band that completely blows my mind.

Number 8 is the knowledge that in two short years we will have the chance to elect a new president, possibly one with a conscience instead of a balance sheet.

Update on me

I just finished painting the first of two houses for my landlord.

My apartment no longer smells of mildewy carpet and poo.

I'm going to be in NY longer than I thought because I forgot about the 4th of July holiday cancelling a class.

I need to start looking for an apartment in Chicago. If anybody knows of a cheap one, let me know.

My cell phone company is messing with my mind. I don't get charged for roaming (theoretically) but the company just changed from displaying the name of whatever provider was providing the roaming service, I just get told I'm off network.

I just signed up for direct depoait with unemployment.

I have a butt. I tried to return it, but the lady behind the counter said they couldn't take it back because it was cracked. (I know it's bad, but eh, whatcha goa
n do?

Since I started trying to lose weight, I've gained 5 lbs.

Enough about me, tell me about you

Porn 1 Jesus 0

I am really enjoying my improv class. In part because the people in the class are beginning to loosen up around each other and we're not self censoring as much. There's still some self censorship going on, but it's decreasing. But today we were doing a "break in the routine" scene. (Basically the characters know each other, but something is missing from their normal routine, which becomes very important and hilarity ensues)

OUr scene was about porn.

Not my idea, honest. As we were batting around ideas fot what the routine could be the thought of movies popped up. Cool, group of friends oing to the movies. But what's missing.. the movie, what coupld take its place.. "PORN!!!" Says the almost innocent looking lady sitting to my left. "Why don't we just make it a porn in the first place" Says the less innocent, but stil demure woman sitting to my right. So the scene was going to be about porn. And the porn was going to be missing.

So two of us set up the scene, arrainging chairs, blankets (for privacy) soda (to avoid dehydration) Lotion (duh), and waited for the innocent looking woman to bring the porn. Instead she brought a bible. The demure woman became much less demure. I asked if the bible had a centerfold (I then returned the idea to Mr. Hicks unharmed), and used the phrase "Hairy bobbin' man ass", (because it was a special rent one get one free on Bill's jokes)

In the ensuing argument the following points were made for Jesus:
1) But.. He's our saviour


For porn, the following arguments were made:
1) But if we don't watch porn I might sleep with him (indicating me)
2) It's research for when we decide to "be fruitful and multiply"
3) You never get any new std's from your hand, so watching poprn might save one of our lives.
4) Jesus is now working with vivid video.
5) It's our routine.. sin on wed. Repent on Sun. If we don't sin on Wed. We have nothing to repent on sunday and therefore have no reason to attend services. Everybody knows that if you don't go to church on sunday you go to hell. Wed. porn is saving us from an eternity engulfed in flames and smelling of brimstone.

It was fun.

I'm ruined

Comedy has been ruined for me. I have been overexposed.
I no longer ever titter at somebody getting hit in the balls by a smal child.
If I see one more "porn star audition" skit, I'm gonna hurl.
I no longer think "hurl" is a funny euphamism for vomiting.
I have realized that a "showing people your penis" joke just isn't funny if the audience never sees the penis.
My favorite comedy writer is now G.W. Bush's speechwriter. (putting the phrase " “every American deserves to be treated with tolerance and respect and dignity.” in a speech condoning the changing of the constitution to further a bigoted religious agenda is a joke unmatched by any current stand up, news parody, or sitcom.
I'm beginning to lean away from quirky, light oddity in my musical tastes, focusing almost solely on anything with gravitas to it.
I was able to type "gravitas" without even thinking of how much it sounds like "Grab datt ass"
Sarte was wrong. Hell is poorly executed satire.
Does anybody even know the difference between parody and satire anymore?
My existential dread organ just beat up my sarcasm organ in a steel cage death match.

If the world stopped now.. instead of being scared about shifts in gravitational pull, teh extinction of species, and the forced migration of humanity to the edges of the neverending day/night... I know just hope to be someplace with soft walls (because of inertia)

meh

I have spent the last day reading web comics because of a moment of boredom while online. All thanks to my friend Jason. Whom I have come to view as a sort of pop culture filter, allowing him to witness the vast debacle that is reality and allowing only the glowing beauty to pass into my life.

Or I'm just too lazy and not interested enough to go out and hunt this stuff down on my own. Your call.

Free verse/ prose piece I forgot i had written.

I don’t understand it. A memory in my mind, intangible as the wisp of smoke from the end of a crumbling cigarette.
The transient state of existance as next becomes last and only now seems to last. An eternal second stretching impossibly with the weight of its own importance.
The vibration of life is imperceptable as each peak and trough cannot end, an entropic reality fighting against common sense.
Names evaporate from my tongue before they can be spoken, much less remembered. Each instance of thought a universe unto itself.
All of the knowledge in my brain has always been there, I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t, so it had to there, inherent in the design: two plus two, a lock of hair, just another in a chain of peptide bonded amino acids spiraling in upon itelf.
Was it a future stolen from me or a bleak present, a mediocre past, but they are all the same inseperable.
Déjà vu is the feeling that everything that has ever happened is actually occurring now.

Time and place for everything.

It has been said "There is never an appropriate time to objecify another human being".

This is bullshit. There are many times when it is perfectly acceptable to objectify someone. Like when your friend hooks you up with one of their "other half"'s friends on a blind date. You get to the restaurant that has been selected for you. They walk in.. POW!! your dream date, killer outfit and accessories that should be doing 5-10 for GBH. You begin to get aroused right then and there... Until they open thier mouths. and your sex organs crumble to dust in fear that you might actualy decide to go home with this boring, rude, husk of flesh lacking any and all social niceties. You go to the club after dinner hoping that you can get away from them and find somebody else. Anybody else. Or at least to have them buy you so many drinks they can never afford to go on another date. (also called taking one for the team)

Then your favorite song comes on. The one you can't help but boogie to. The song that puts pep in your step,a glide in your stride, and a dip in your hip.

There.. right there, that is when it is perfectly acceptable to say "fuck it, you're annoying eye-candy, but let's dance."

Happy Marraiges

Once again the red herring of Gay Marriage has been raised to radicalize, unify and mobilize the conservative base. Just in time for the election season to really get underway. Unfortunately this debate is a necessary part of our countries evolution toward a free society based on equality and mutual respect.
Let me clarify, when I say respect, I am not referring to the "Yes sir, of course sir, let me get my jackboots" fear that my old high school gym teachers mistook for respect. But the actual thing. Respecting peoples decisions to make choices we don't agree with, at least legally. Everyone has the right to be a homophobic, racist, misogynist. (Although you have to also be willing and able to defend those choices.) As long as those choices are protected by law, along with the rights of the people on the opposite side, we come closer to being a free country. However once those prejudices become written into law, we come closer to a fascist totalitarian state.

Back to gay marriage: The current debate is "make it legal" vs "constitutional amendment to protect traditional marraige" vs "who cares".

Vs me: Eradicate the use of the word marriage in legal documentation setting up a system whereby any two people who are not immediately related may join into a civil union allowing one to make legally binding decisions on behalf of the other if the other is incapacitated. (along with the tax deductions, etc. currently allowed by marriage)
Each person is only allowed to enter into one union at a time, with a minimum of three years between the dissolution of one union and entering into another. Unless the union is dissolved by the death of one of the members.

This eliminates all of the problems both sides of the issue have with the other persons side except for the choice of who the union is between.

6/6/06

A day of evil, and I slept, read and checked my e-mail. I must be getting old. I should have been out laughing at the people who think the world is ending.

Just a question

Why do people want their government to make moral choices for them?

For better or whatever

So lately I've been thinking a lot about weddings. the money spent, the gathering of families, the honeymoon, reception, Secular or religious ceremony, Which church, Can I afford a ring? Rice or bird seed? Should we take it out of the bag first? Who pays for the garters? Can we do a weeding without flowers? Is there a way I can trick her into buying the ring instead? What would Jesus do?

That was the one that got me. What would Jesus do?

Stay a bachelor and tramp around with his 12 friends and a whore. That's what Jesus would do.

Title

I have no clue where I'm moving, but I've started packing anyway. Just tthe stuff I don't need everyday, like books and what little of Serwahs stuff I have here. But I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is my stay in Macomb Il. Now all that's left is to find an apartment in Chicago I can afford, so far the closest I've come is 500+ Electric. Which might leave me enough for food and gas if I'm careful as my income from unemployment is two checks a month for just under $600. I'm contemplating getting rid of my car so I don't have that bill as well, and if I buy a new bike I'll also be able to get a little bit of a workout as long as I don't have to transport anything that won't fit in a backpack. Out here a bike will probably serve me until at least mid-october, which will give me time to find work that will pay enough to get a car again. Maybe I'll get used to the idea of public transportaion before long, but it's something I've never had to rely on, so it will be a transition regardless of how I choose to overcome that particular obstacle.

feels soooo good.

I started painting one of my landlords other houses today. I got about 2/3 of the way done minus windows. I had originaly planned on taking three days to paint this particular house, but I might be done tomorrow if it goes as well as today did. But I will say it definately felt good to put in an honest days work instead of spending the day driving around selling stuff.

My apartment still smells like ass.

Damn The Cast Iron Cootch

At first I thought the rug in my apartment would be ok.. I rented a carpet cleaner to suck out all of the water, leaving it only mildly damp.. which is as good as you can get without hitting the whole carpet with a hair dryer. So I let it fully dry out which in theory should have ended the problem. But yesterday it started to smell, so I shampooed the carpet, which made sense to me. Carpet smells and has a bit of mildew... clean it. But now the carpet seems to be mildewing worse anyway and there's nothing I can do about it. So I'm stuck with my overactive allergies and a headache from too much mildew and Dean Koontz. Who I will most likely never read again, but I feel bad whenever I don't finish a book.

Unemployment hearing

Over the past few years I have become (unfortunately) too familiar with the workings of New York's Unemployment Insurance Program. Know I'm learning about Illinois'.
Yesterday morning at 9am I had a Telephone hearing. What this means, is that I was fired, filed for unemployment, the company I worked for requested a hearing to try and prove that I was ineligible for unemployment. I recieved a letter almost two weeks ago informing me of the hearing, And I will admit I've been worrying about it ever since, as I am a very firm pessimist. (Because then I'm either right or pleasantly surprised) Here is a brief paraphrased transcript of the event:

9:00 (on the nose) the phone rings
"Hello"
"Kristopher Soule?"
"Yes"
"This is _____ Calling for your hearing, are you ready to go... let me get the other party... this is being recorded, here are your names and addresses...Are they correct... what position do you hold in the company?... I have in front of me the following Items as exhibits... (At which point I could have been a jerk since I did not have copies, but I didn't think about it then).... Ok, the first question we are dealing with is Was a timely protest filed by the employer?, since you have no information on this I won't be asking you any questions Kris. Do you have any questions?" (I figured I'd shorten the 5-6 min this part of the hearing took to a paragrap instead of a LOT of tedious diologue)
"no"
"Alright ____ we recieved the filing by fax on May second, signed, well, stamped by a ______, _____, _____"
"I believe her last name is ______"
"thank you, Is this correct?"
____ (my former manager)"Yes"
"It was due to be filed on the first. Is this correct?"
"Yes"
"Do you have any information about Why it was filed late?"
"No"
"Thank you, you will be recieving my decision in the mail. Goodbye"
"Goodbye"
"..., ...., (sound of phone hanging up) But... wait, that was it? What about my clever counter arguments and... Hello? ... I guess I won."

Which means that the manager who I have been frustrated by for the past few months isn't even competant enough to FIRE SOMEBODY. I still maintain that they fired the wrong person.

Ah, the Joys of renting

Sometimes you learn things you don't want to know about people you barely know. For example, I don't know any movie stars.. But I do know that if hugh Grant can't use his English charm to get a BJ, he'll use American cash. I don't know Michael Jackson, but I know he has distinctive markings on his Weiner. I don't know the girl living upstairs from me, but I do know she has a cast iron cootchie.

I know this because earlier today my feet detected something wet by my fridge. Since the fridge is almost as old as my mom, I figured that was the problem and called my landlord. After a few minutes of poking around we determined that the fridge was not the problem. When we looked in the furnace room we found that the main drain from my upstairs neigbors bathroom had burst.

BECAUSE IT WAS FILLED WITH PAPER TOWELS!!!

I want to make this clear.. PAPER TOWELS. Who the hell has the pain tolerance to wipe with paper towels? Not to be overly graphic here, but wow!! (and ow) I can understand once or twice... because you haven't been able to get to the store and you have to go NOW!!! But she filled a 3" pipe that's about 4' long. To the point where it burst. Not cracked, not popped a seal to let off some pressure. I mean a full two foot long crack wide enough to see the designs on the paper towels.

This takes an effort and dedication that I cannot comprehend. and a cootchie made of cast iron.

daamnit

I did it, I admit it. I bought some huge ass shorrts because my big ass shorts don't fit anymore, and I need something to wear over the summer. Especially as my Car has no AC.

Lifes little reminders

Sometimes people leave this world when you aren't expecting it. Other times their obituaries are given more coverage than their careers. Such is the case with Desmond Dekker. At least in this country.
As with every musician whose work I enjoy and cherish, his passing is a reminder to delve into the history of the genres I love and to listen more avidly. I've seen every sitcom joke.. but there are still variations of the 4/4 I IV V progression that I haven't heard. A way of turning a phrase both lyrically and musically that I have yet to experience.

Too fat

I did the math earlier today about how many hours I would need to bicycle in order to lose the weight I've put on over the past year an a half. The answer is: about 300. Depending on the difficulty of where I bike. Granted my bike is in my Mom's barn In NY and I'm in IL... But that's not the point. It would take me a month of 10 hours days just biking to lose this weight. How the hell did I eat so much? I will admit that much of what I have eaten for the past year has been fast and prepackaged foods, but still. I've put on approx. 3/4 of a pound for every week I've been here and it needs to come off. Unfortunately I don't know of any truly viable way of doing it as I have almost no willpower in terms of not eating when I'm hungry and I've never been able to run more than 3 /10 of a mile, Without the money for a gym I'm feeling pretty helpless about the whole thing. However I am refusing to buy new clothes becasue that's just giving in.. that's my motivation.. fit back into those big ass jeans so I don't have to buy huge ass jeans.

Missing part.

I believe I am missing a small little piece of my brain. The part that lets you know when you have run off course into the tradewinds off the cost of Tangent. Which is of course, not to be confused with Tangiers. The main difference being you can get a much better martini in Tangiers. Although my favorite bartender at Random serves a wonderful Slow Double entendre against the wall with just a twist of lemon. Random is the "it" bar in Tangent, Black wallpaper painted black with enough smoke machines and lasers to bankrupt Gene Simmons. Seriously, the clientele there is not what you would expect. You get everybody from the Mailman to A-list Celebs there. If you can dance, you can get in. Which is why the first night i went there I had to sneak around back, break into this cute little diner in the middle of the night. Move the deep fat fryer away from the wall and cut through it with a sawzall I bought on e-bay for 50 bucks. So of course when I went through the hole I was all covered in sawdust and wallboard dust, but with the blacklights it just looked like dandruff so I put on an embarrasssed smile and incorporated "head and Shoulders" into my pickup lines that evening. To cut down on the amount of work the bouncers actually do you get this cute little "Acceptable" card if you make it all the way to closing time without being forcebaly ejected. After that you don't have to wait in the normal line, you just buzz up to the front,flash the card at the bouncer, take a moment to appreciate the chick flashing the bouncer for admission.. and you're in. Problem solved.. except in my drunken haze I forgot to move the deep fryer back and the entire building was closed while the health department looked into the giant rats in the area.

What was I saying?

Nothing heavy, just a review.

A couple years ago my friend Jason (http://aberranttemplar.blogspot.com) allowed me to borrow his copy of this really nice computer game. Heroes of Might and Magic 4. I fell in love, the story lines were worth reading, there weren't a any graphics intensive cut scenes, and the only audio/ video was the short prelude to each board. The story line popped up so you could read it if you wanted. The game really allowed you flexibility in terms of the characters you played even though the plot lines were inflexible. The night I loaded the game I played for 6 hours straight. Yeah, I'm that sort of guy.. when I really like something I go all out on it. So it was with great anticipation that I Put down some cash on the Fifth installment of the series.

I hate anticipation. Especially when it doesn't pan out. I bought it today and played the first board. There seemed to be a lot of thought put into the graphics. but it was wasted as the story line did not draw me in at all. I will admit that I do not like cut scenes and expository monologues in my video games unless I can read them at my own speed. Otherwise it just takes to long to watch an animated short film which has no action, merely exposition. Perhaps at the end of the second or third board i will change my mind.. but so far.. I'm not impressed.

Where did Tuesday go?

Because my friend D asked me very nicely to set up a myspace profile (Since I've lost touch with everybody I know) I lost Tuesday. I very literally woke up, played some video games, ate, called my mom, talked to my girlfriend, and started the profile.. By the time I finished and had looked up a few people, it was Wednesday.

Since it's been a couple days I should probably give a full update of my life. Since the last posting the following has changed:

My Girlfriend is back In NYC.
I have a myspace profile under the name cheeseboyardee.
I am three days older.

If evolution is outlawed....

Only outlaws will evolve. -Jello Biafra
One of my favorite album titles of all time... well, that and NOFX's "Heavy Petting Zoo". Which is only fully appreciated when gazing upon the art work of a man lovingly holding a young lamb.

This has no bearing on my post.

I was bouncing around online earlier and happened upon some of the more conservative sites and remembered why I'm truly disgusted with the conservative ideology. However it did bring a couple of points to mind, which I would like to expound upon.

Assertion #1 "Islam is a dangerous, misogynistic, and violent religion"

Well, of course it is. It's a religion that grew in an extremely hostile environment, much like Christianity and Judaism. Actually very much like Christianity and Judaism as all three religions trace themselves back to Abraham. The "officially approved" (coming from the texts) clothing is similar, as are the rules for the treatment of women, and what you should eat.

The problem is NOT Islam. The problem is that the areas where Christianity and Judaism have flourished have been ruled by large bureaucracies, which allows for police, prisons, and non-lethal methods of punishment. The areas where Islam has taken flourished however, have predominately been tribal, and local. The goal of the penal system in the bureaucratic model is one of either reform or punishment. The goal of a local penal system is one of preventing crime in the first place. The easiest way to do this is fear; the easiest way to invoke fear is to use religion. Especially when you can say "No man is capable of judging you, so we will send you to the almighty for judgment."

(Aside) It may also be worth comparing the areas of the world with the most violence today with the areas of the world divided between the European powers during the colonial period.

Assertion two: Liberals are whiny weenies who will run away from a confrontation.

Two words. Gandhi and King. Avoid confrontation? Or accept that confrontation does NOT have to be violent?

Assertion Three: The Muslim world is evil.

By whose definition? Here's the dictionary.com definition.
e·vil Audio pronunciation of "evil" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (vl)
adj. e·vil·er, e·vil·est

1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
n.

1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.

Ok, now that we have a base definition the only way I can see that Islam is evil, is if we look to the reputation it has been given by an opposing theology. Which instantly makes that reputation suspect, as it is being proposed by people with a vested interest in our perceptions.

The reputation truly belongs to the few rich leaders of the movements who have poisoned and bent peoples relationship with the almighty for their own personal gain.

Shmucks.

People are protesting the release of "the Da Vinci Code", which is a work of fiction. Most of the people protesting are highly active members of religious organizations.

However as I think about it it does make sense... highly active members of religious organizations often have trouble discerning fact from fiction.

Immigration debate still raging...

It would be nice to hear groups such as the minutement to just fess up and say "We don't like Mexicans". This would allow the rest of us to see them for what they really are. Instead they hide behind the shield of "We're only after the Illegal immigrants". Which is of course bullshit, as evidenced by their initial lack of presence on the northern border. Once it was pointed out to them that Canada was in fact another country, they quickly moved a token group or two to that border.

What really bothers me about this whole debate is that nobody is addressing the underlying issue. People who hire workers illegally. Whether it is because of citizenship issues, taxation, insurance costs, or the infamous "other", it is important to begin prosecuting the employers. If the threat is great enough, the number of peole hiring people illegally will decrease. If the number of jobs decreases, the demand for workers willing to work for less than minimum wage will also decrease, and the supply of those workers will react accordingly.

Along with increased prosecution of employers, there are a couple other things which need to be done. First increae the minimum wage to a local or regional "living wage". Which changes every few years based upon the cost of living in that area. Second, require that any company wishing to sell its goods in this country obey this counties wage and environmental laws. The first part would increase the number of citizens who are willing to work as menial labor because it would no longer be more profitable to collect public assistance than to work. The second part would raise the standard of living in the countries most of our illegal immigrants come from. This would give them a reason to wait until legal methods of immigration became available.

I'm disgusted with this country right now, and especially with the conservatives "final solution" to immigration issues.

Finally

Yesterday was my first day of classes at Second City. Besides concerts and girlfriends there aren't many things that are worth 8 hours of driving for 3 hours of activity, but the class is one of them. The class is a basic improv class for people with a theater background. I probably have the most improv and the least acting experience in the class. I don't want to sound mean spirited, but if you have an acting background, you should know how to do simple things like... keep the audience in front of you. Ah well, it's an intro class. A bit more advanced than the basic class, but a bit behind where I was when I graduated. Since I haven't done improv in over 4 years now it feels like where I should be.

what the hell?

VH1 is doing a "metal month" which initially had me very excited. Unfortunately the month of program appears to be two countdowns, a couple movies, and playing the same Shakira video over and over. Her hips may not lie, but the ONLY way they are metal is if the legs attached to them are wrapped around Jonathan Davis. I don't say this to be mysogynistic, but if they were blasting George Michael instead... The punchline would have included Rob Halford.

Abroad going

Since in many languages word order is less important than ours I think I'm going to begin using alternate grammar and syntax in an effort to fit into the international community. Either that or I have gotten dumber due to living midwest.

Not having a credit card sucks.

I can't sign up for the class at Second City unless I have a credit card, or show up in person since the determination has not been made about my status regarding Unemployment benefits, and classes start in a week, I might be getting royally screwed.

hehe

As you know many institutions are revamping their image to take advantage of Americas obsession with being lazy. The Moral Majority has released its new motto for 2006 "Why think again when you can be BORN again?"

Leave a message

I've stopped answering my phone if I don't recognize a number. If the bill collectors can't be bothered to leave a message, I guess I can't be bothered to pay them .

Just saw crash

It was good.

What?

Were you expecting some long diatribe about the flick. Just rent it and make up your own.

stuff rolling around in my head.

Our culture has begun to break down into subcultures that while once were defined by race, are now being defined by attitude, music, and a personal sense of belonging.
Suburban children who have never had to deal with not having enough money for lunch at school are lining up to see Eminem strut across a stage. Young Latinos are finding themselves humming along to the latest pop hit while their parents work in a field for less than minimum wage. There are brooklyn girls dancing to Brad Paisleys alcohol even though they've never been outside of the five boroughs. Rural white kids are growing mohawks and dreaming of concrete jungles to conquor or escape.

Music is just the most obvious example. Movies, television shows, and fashion are all becomming more transportable. Good, the more America cross-pollinates its ideas and art across racial lines the less full of hate we become.

The only downside of this is that the founding ideas and thoughts are being replaced by sound bites and surface appearances. Soon the facade may become the substance. So please,. look deeper than the facade and into the hearts of the subculture you represent. Each is valid, each is valuable.

Wrong answer.

The local college (WIU) and the general community has had a rapid increase in the number of bar fights this year. Some people are pointing to this as an example of how the younger generation has lost its moral and civil compass. Which I personally feel sounds extremely stupid especially when it comes from a generation that didn't want to let kids get an education because of the color of their skin. But I digress...
Other opinions feel that the problem is that there are too many drinking establishments in town and that they aren't properly regulated.
...and now the third side...
There are too FEW bars in this town. By keeping the number and type of bars in this town to just 2, or maybe 3 of each type you are leading to an overcrowding in the establishments which raises frustration levels when it can sometimes take aver half an hour to get a drink. Adding this on top of the average students workload, (there are very few "townies" out on weekends in this town.), general fears about decreasing wages, increased cost of living, general fears and concerns over the countries foreign policies... you have a group of people who are already stressed imbibing a pleasure inducing toxin which tends to amplify emotion and reduce cognitive thought, of course you are going to have an increase in bar brawls. Spreading people out and allowing them to have a frustration free night out with their friends at an establishment that kept the music low enough to carry on a conversation, had pool, darts, and maybe a cigarette machine might cut down on the scale and frequency of the fights faster than any increase in alcohol taxes, police presence or "notes home to MOM" ever will.

x-r size

My girlfriend and I have started a new thing where we go out for a walk after dinner. Which is a good thing because I have put on too much weight over the past year and this is a good first step to working it back off. WE'll see how long it lasts.

Dear Iran:

Please quit beating around the bush, and tell us the truth. You're Scared shitless of the American military and want a nuclear weapon to deter us from bombing you. it's ok.. we understand. But please, stop living a lie.

Too passive

I've been watching too much Television since I got fired, I've started to expect other people to do all of the work for me. For example, I just clicked on my Blog to see if it had been updated yet today.

Summer Training

At some point in my life it would be nice if I could get the timing right. The next series of classes I need to take begins in May. Unfortunately classes are Sturday mornings and Monday evenings, Starting either before the train from Macomb gets to Chicago, or ending after it leaves. Which, on the plus side gives me Ample time to wander Chicago, but on the down side forces me to stay overnight. Which costs money I don't have. If I drive it will cost approx 130 bucks plus tolls and parking, but no motel. If I take the train it will be 70ish plus sleeping accomodations.

The Other Downside is that Making it back to NY for my brothers graduation will be problematic although I might be able to get a Flight out Monday night and fly back on Saturday morning. And since I'll be flying into Chicago, there will be more times available. The downside of course is that I won't be able to do the workshop my Mom is trying to book for me that Monday. Ok, all together now...Say "Lay Vee".

details

As promised, here are the details of my firing.

For the last few months, we have been struggling to get in the materials we needed to do our jobs. Stock, books, working trucks etc. This is beginning to get eerybody a little frayed.

When I left tuesday night I had enough books to finish out the week, wed. Morning, I only had half of them. During a phone call to the local general manager he told me that he had taken them off of the truck and given them to somebody else.

I asked him to fix the problem he had created, said goodbye, and hung up the phone.

That's why I was fired. For being rude to him.

I want to stress that being fired for being rude to Scott is like Hitler firing Goebbels for making an anti-semitic remark.

I have been in a great mood since being fired. I needed the paycheck, but in retrospect, not that much.

Maybe Marley was right.

"Seem Like: Total destruciton the only solution."

Throughout my life I have been a very angry person. Angry thatthe world had been around for millions of years, and people still hadn't figured out how to avoid killing each other. Angry that Hate was being preached in the name of love. Angry that there was only one Smurfette, whatever.

But I'm taking a break from that. I'm now only angry that fear kept me from quitting my job. I'm normally not angry at myself, and when I am it's for things that I have done. But now it's because of what I didn't do. Fortunately the anger is overshadowed by a mad glee.

great weight

Since being fired I have found that a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I didn't realize how much of my life force was being drained by my Supervisor. Being held responsible for decisions made by incompetant people really takes the years off of your life.

I got fired

Yep, unemployed again.
Because I was terse with a supervisor because of their incompetance. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO
HOHOHOHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHE

(Not laughing to kep from crying, laughing to keep from busting a gut holding it in. Details later)

Yet more complaining about the midwest.

So I got dressed today, which is always a major achievement when I don't have to work. (Especially since I gained some weight and my clothes are a bit snug for my tastes) Put on one of the few shirts that hasn't shrunk, a nice little classic "Clutch" t since I've been a fan of the band since the mid-90's I feel entitled to wear it. It's just a simple shot of a galaxy with the bands name printed over it in a sci-fi/faux middle eastern font. Nothing too weird, just enough to trademark it. I'm assuming its a subtle reference to the song "Spacegrass", but I might be stretching.

I went to wal-mart.

I was asked what language my shirt was in.

Save me. Please.

I mean it, I'm desperate... in a few months I'll be reduced to begging one-way tickets off of people on e-bay, just to get away from here. I don't care where... Aruba, Jamaica, Buffalo... I don't care!!!

quote of the day

"I thought it didn't matter which one I put it in."

At least we're not fighting them over here.

I hear that a lot. From people on the streets, to people on television. It is a statement usually used as an excuse for the war in Iraq. I use the term excuse, because the event preceded the axiom. Whereas a justification or reson precedes the event.
The reasoning is that it is better to fight the terrorist threat in the middle east instead of on American soil. This reasoning is extremely disturbing to me as it once again removes the moral high ground from under the feet of the American soldier.
One of the most effective arguments for the war is that Saddam Hussein was a genocidal meglomaniac who used people as human shields. If we're fighting Al quaida in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here... Aren't WE using the Iraqi people as human shields?

Heart of America

As much as I hated where I lived in Upstate New York, I have come to loathe the midwest even more. The level of willful ignorance I have encountered here is unbelievable. Some of my favorite quotes include lines such as:

"I don't believe in evolution."

Well, you don't have to believe in it, evolution exists anyway. Evolution is not a deity feeding on your belief in order to feed its own ego.

There is also this trend towards home schooling out here so that the precious little children of the misdwest aren't exposed to the evils of society. Because elementary schools are a bastion of sex and drug filled debauchary with the occassional bit of Shakespeare thrown in to justify those outrageous property taxes the district feels it has to charge everyone to teach their children to be godless, oversexed violent. (if literate) drug addicts.

Violent... oversexed... drug addicts? When did xyz elementary turn into Abu Gharib? Just wondering...

I've just been finding myself more and more complacent about everything since moving out here. My main concern has switched from trying to change the world into a better place for everyone to exist (if only in a localized, mainly insignifigant way), to making enough money to leave.

Oh well.

yeah, go me!!!

I'm getting fired in one month because I don't bring in enough new customers. My Sales are up... buying customers per day, up... hours and Miles driven per day, down...Ticket Average up. (Oh, and I haven't had catalogues for almost a month so even if I do get a new customer, they must be clairvoiyant so they can guess what I have for sale.

I felt old today

For the first time in my life I actually felt old. I was standing in the shower and my mind suddenly started to compare my life now to my life 10 years ago.
I had more hair, I was thinner, I had a car with fewer miles, I was living rent free, I hadn't gotten laid yet, I was about to go on a summer long concert attendance spree, I was working for a company I liked... fortunately it wasn't all positives or I would have killed myself. Which would of course make it hard to write this. Ok, time to shuffle my lazy ass off to the movies. hmm, Shaggy Dog or V for Vendetta.. tough choice.

may have posted Idea before.. can't remember.. deal.

For most of my life I have believed that Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest presidents. He held the country together during a critical period in our history, eliminated slavery, and helped Bill and Ted with their history report.

However I have recently cahnged my mind, and the next time a bunch of whiny backwoods Conservative Bigots want to leave the country... Fucking let them!!!