A realistic peace or The age of the social disconnect

You might begin to see the irony of this post before I even finish this sentence, but the idea remains the same. How often, in our day to day lives, do we actually remove ourselves from the machine, i.e. everything non-human, and actually interact with our fellow species? This came about earlier for me last week when I had many customers come through my register line while a: Talking on a cell phone, b: Texting on said cellphone, or c: e-mailing on the blackberry. The complete social disconnect between someone conducting business and the person trying to finish said business, i.e. me, is absolutely frustrating. Someone told me that technology gave them a realistic sense of peace, as it removed human obstacles and gave a freedom that comes from non-direct interaction. Really? Do we as a society really desire this?

We are becoming one of the fastest growing nations in technological communications, further removing the human element of transporting speech and message and sewing up the thin layer of anything remotely human in the form of a physical expression. I once witnessed some very giggly prepubescents having a full length (guesstimated measurement: 20mins) conversation over text message, right next to each other.

Now, this may come off as a rant against the evils of technology and the zombification of society it has and will presumably continue to do to our wee little race, but the fact that our entire society can and will be absolutely decimated by its non functioning or possible non-existence is just as real as me having the technology to write on here about it. If I could have given a better retort to the statement given to me about technology (I originally said you’re stupid) it would have been this. If a social physical human disconnect is the idealistic realization of a sensible form of peace, then death would seem the sensible form of such a functioning form of existence or non depending on how you want to see it. The main goal, it would sound like, is to remain isolated long enough that if in the event you must make human contact that it lasts no longer that a text message can continue on later.

It just seems that there is far more socialites wanting the desire to log on then those wanting to unplug. Ha, even that statement has form of irony in it, if you see it the way I do.

Living the bare minimum

That’s what my current situation in life feels like today. Well mostly for like the last year it has felt like this. Every day of every week, I am man of routine living and working in the bare minimum of my existence. What do I mean? I mean it seems that I get by doing the least amount of one given day, just to get it over with. Every day I get up, go to work, work to get paid, go home to eat, eat to live, live to sleep so I can wait to go work again the next day. The routine as become predictable as setting a clock.

And when it comes to the weekends, Friday nights are spent trying to make my bare minimum existence seem more then that. Saturdays I truly find the most enjoyment of my weeks, but then I still find it to be a routine that comes off as well, a routine. I wish I could see it more then just that. I guess what I am trying to convey here tonight is that I am tired of owning stuff, working to own stuff and then finding contempt in the stuff I own. Then I try to make my life reflect that I like owning what I have, but understanding how I come to all this “stuff” it makes life seem kind of void. I remember awhile ago I put up a prayer request at small group saying that God was leading me in a direction/opportunity I didn’t want to follow or understand, at first I didn’t want to ignore it, but when I started, I couldn’t avoid it.

I was at church tonight, and thats when my spirit put it’s foot down. It wasn’t because I was being so minimalistic with my life but by what I was hearing. I was actually growing upset that message was entirely focused on church growth equaling success, but that success was based entirely on letting your sins be confronted personally by Jesus and you finding the time to “work it out”, but never by human confrontation i.e. accountability, pastoral leadership. I was awestruck when the pastor himself said that he is also along the path of following and being taught, not saying he was leadership. I find it hard to look for help at this place when it seems no one can actually stand up and confront me when I need it and help me when I ask or when it looks when I need it.

So it hits me fully tonight that I am done living the bare minimum in my Christian life, personal life, work life, and my personal relationships. I am tired of striving for things that make this life seem meaningless and are making my race that much harder. I am tired of doing something in hopes of receiving something better, or to fulfill a need I believe I need.

I guess what I’m also trying to say, I hate money, and what a great pedestal I have placed it on. I got terribly drunk Saturday night and I want that to be the last thing I do with money thats not mine (i.e. being a steward of God’s money). I realized when I had done that, I felt, “This is the best thing I thought to do with the rest of my weekend?” Sundays are then spent moping about the rest of work week, thinking I’ll probably repeat it the same way. And it scares me to death. I do not want to drink my paycheck away, or eat out senselessly. I am tired of owning and having!!! Something is just clawing out of my soul wanting more, and the more I let my heart dwell on it, the more I believe I need to be missions and thats what I believe is that thing God has been nudging me with. I want to just give all the junk and money I have away, when this came out of my mouth I was shocked. I am a very materialistic person, so this is like cutting off a part of my body. But I have never felt this way before in my life. I want to walk away from it all right now, start over with God, give me a Bible and my laptop and I’ll be fine. I want my schooling to now encompass a bible degree and preparation for missions training, this is now how I am hearing it and how I want to see it.

I am tired of living for the next big thing and how I will achieve it/own it/loath it. I really just want God and to go where He goes. I can’t see a way to live in the bare minimum there.

“I saw it, it’s alive, it’s amazing!”

Just a quick post to say I saw Cloverfield early today, and it’s amazing.

She’s not a woman…

…she’s a man. Seriously, not what you think it is.

Funny to read though that some people thought this was a real political attack ad.

Time for a post

It’s always hard to find time to make a post. I always would like to do it after work is over in the evening, but I am so tired after work.

So I’ll do it on my day off. It was a very nice day to take off today. Awesome to feel how warm it was today, wicked windy though. I was driving behind a semi today in my many travels and it was swaying pretty good. Part of me wanted to see it tip over but the other said it would really suck if it crushed me in my car. I optioned for the latter and stayed away.

God of War is the greatest game I’ve played so far. I’m really liking my new ps2, the really old one, but still new to me. Decided I’d buy myself an early Christmas present and it was super cheap. Christmas shopping has been real easy this year and I’m feeling a little blessed this year and I love passing that on to others.

This is another distraction post as am I watching a movie right now and my thoughts really aren’t connecting. So long for now…

But some videos that I found awesome today.

I Am Legend. Cannot wait.

2008 films I cannot wait for.

the teaser trailer that ended with a collective “What The Heck?” from moviegoers around the globe and started the biggest viral campaigne for a movie I’ve ever seen.

and then the second trailer that made the wait seem so far away. What the heck is this movie about?!??!?

And for the Panda in all of us…

“Go on Panda, show us what you can do.” Oh so true.

Ugh, November

This year is almost over. Wow. There are only three things I look forward to in these upcoming last two months. The day after the day after thanksgiving, last weekend in December and New Years. I can pass the next 60 some days with this thought in my mind.

At least 2008 should be really cool. We get to witness how the Chinese will act when the Olympics are being played in their front yard, February will show the Super Bowl, also a total lunar eclipse will take place over both North and South America, May brings the hopefully good conclusion of ‘Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, ‘The Dark Knight’ hits the screen in June (YES!!), in July Bill Gates steps down from his all powerful throne and takes up a tech support job and in November, a whole year from this coming Tuesday, the impending doom of Presidential elections will be upon us again. So yeah, years’ almost over.

So I was wondering the other day as I normally do about these shows that expose the seedy underworld of drugs and other forms of illicit activity. But they present them from the point of view of observation. Not being biased in any fashion. I watched one of them couple nights ago and it was showing the users and effects of people taking various drugs all the while the “investigative reporter” was filming them and asking them questions. Being a non user myself, I would find this to be a very stupid idea. My image hasn’t been digitally covered, my full name was given and we’ll say at least one million people saw me take an illegal substance. Then I thought, what an amazing opportunity for a DEA officer. I saw him take it, I know his name and I know the reporter who witnessed it. Just thought how retarded it was.

Don’t do illegal things on television. Don’t do them entirely, but at least have some common sense. “I’m going to shoot heroin into myself, hold some animal fighting rings and while I’m at it, setup a brothel in my house. But I think best way to show whats going here is let someone film me while it happens. Yep, that sounds good.”

And now for something completely different….

I am the lawgiver!!!

Warning: reading this post may result in compulsive gambling and sallowing your own tongue. This blog has also been known to randomly punch you in the kidneys while taking the last cupcake and snickering. Please consult your blog advisor before reading.

I’ve been enjoying the wonderfully creative prescription ads on t.v. and radio. Now I understand these aren’t anything new, but they have increased their visibility in the last few years letting us know that we need sleep aids, depression lifters, cholesterol lowers’ and um, well, bedroom helpers.

One of the things that I enjoy more about these commercials of pharmaceutical whoring besides their eerie wonderfully bright atmosphere is the seemingly endless lists of side effect warnings. The announcer proudly tells us every reason why we need the pill for our ailing bodies but then, for legal base covering, gives us pretty much every reason not to excluding the exception that it might kill us.

The diet pill sounded amazing until the words anal leakage broke out into the room. That caught me off guard. How fascinating. You’ll be going whether you like it or not.

I’ve been having terrible trouble falling asleep, a convenient placed ad at 2:30 in the morning seemed insightful, but the idea that I might actually try and eat my own tongue as a late night snack seems to still keep me enjoying my insomnia. The apparent desire for my tongue to explore the deep wonders of my throat in my ambient slumber still has me chuckling.

I fortunately do not have Parkinson’s and do hope someday that there is a cure. I sure hope it’s not the one that makes the sufferers of this disease want to gamble obsessively. Granted a person not on this odd medication might be rather handy at the dice tables, but I would be more concerned of the guy terribly abusing his autistic savant brother by making him count the deck at blackjack.

Sorry that last bit was bad. Oh! Theres a new medicine ad. Do you lack that unique ability to say the right words? Do you find yourself speaking out of turn and becoming offensive? You might be one of fifty sufferers from the condition tactlessitia (tact-less-itia) a sever condition of the brain and mouth. Sufferers may have the following symptoms: Irritable vocalization to people you don’t like, stating the obvious in tense situations, explaining why you’re right, explaining why their wrong. It’s time for relief. Available now in suppository, Tactfully (1000mg) will help in your new road to recovery. Possible side effects may exist for you and your crazy “condition.” Your likely to get that crazy butt thing. I’ll take one bottle please.

A man’s (really permanent) right to choose

I meant to post this yesterday, but have been so caught up in the Rockies post-season, it’s been hard to pull myself away from a t.v. They currently lead the series 2-0!

Anyway to the article I wanted to talk about. I saw a recent interview on the TODAY Show a couple of days ago about a man’s, a single man, decision to have a vasectomy at the age of 28. Again this man, Toby Byrum, is not only single but childless.

He’s not alone. Urologists around the country say that they are seeing a small but growing number of young men who are deciding to have vasectomies when they are young, all but insuring that they will never be able to have children of their own.

“It’s kind of getting to be a departure from this society – a wife, a husband, have kids, live in the suburbs, – and instead is more, ‘Maybe we don’t want to have kids,’ “ Byrum said.

Maybe we? Toby, buddy, it’s just you right now. Now I’m usually a fair judge of character when it comes to those of good parental ability and I believe if you can’t contribute that much in the gene pool, well you should just stay on the deck. But what Toby has done here is take a very reasonable albeit permanent approach to the idea of “Male birth control.”

What makes Byrum different from most men who undergo the procedure at such a young age is that he did not ‘bank’ sperm before having his vas deferens – the tubes that convey sperm from the testicles – severed in a 20-minute out-patient surgical procedure.

“For me, it’s an ultimate decision, and therefore I did not want an escape hatch,” Byrum said.

But here is where I think his plan of action is a little flawed. Yes this is a procedure that is extremely hard to reverse, less then 5% success rate. Yes, it does remove that “very annoying” thing called pregnancy in an unwed relationship. But what if, if, on the chance he comes across that women to be his wife someday and this is to become a topic of discussion? He doesn’t hide his decision from women he dates.

“The first date, if not before,” he said. “I live in a small area, so some people are already aware of this. I bring it up quickly. There’s no reason to waste anybody’s time. If someone has a different idea for themselves, I don’t want to get in the way.”

In second TODAY segment with Natalie Morales, in which he responded to viewer email questions, Byrum admitted that for some women, the news is an automatic deal-breaker. But he’d rather know that from the start rather than continue a relationship under false assumptions on either side.

Morales said she was surprised that many women who emailed supported and approved of his decision.

Byrum is the only male child in his family, and if he does not reproduce, the family line will die out. Lauer asked if that was a consideration.

“After thinking about it, it really isn’t a factor to me in wanting to have kids or not,” Byrum said. In a pre-interview, he added that he thought that having a child simply to continue his legacy would be selfish.

Selfish? Maybe, but I like the idea that my family name will continue when I’m no longer here.

I do understand the mindset behind it. But this makes for a very complicated married life down the road. As he said, it becomes a deal breaker in most cases, so one could say that the women he met were just as selfish in the fact of wanting children of their own, not nessecerely the idea of being able to have children. I do believe the ‘banking’ method would be the safest out point in the case this does come up. I believe it is beyond being selfish when a man would deny his wife the ability to have children with her husband from his natural ‘seed’.

I agree to the point that if he can find a woman that is of like mind, then he’s settled. No baby worries here.

But come on, who doesn’t love babies?

Young, good-looking, and out-going, Byrum leads an active life, enjoys the outdoors and hopes to get married some day. He said he likes children; he just doesn’t want any of his own.

 

Here’s the full article if you want to read more.

 

The winds of change approach

I am so freaking excited right now. Fall is beginning to make its presence known and the trees are putting on their awesome show of color. Anybody want to go the high country this weekend and watch some trees?!?! I know it sounds lame, but it’s one of the few reasons I love living in Colorado. You could get some awesome pics up there Lee? Camille? Legit? Anybody who has a flickr account? It would be relaxing and real nice. Just a thought.

I couldn’t do anything though this coming saturday night due to the Rockies taking their second victory away from the D-Backs in their upcoming three game series, but we should all go up sometime before its all gone up there.

Speaking of the Rockies, their only down 1 1/2 games from a wild card spot. It would be the first time in 12 years that the Rockies have had a post-season bid. I could nearly pass out right now if they finally got in. As for the Broncos and their opening season, well were not speaking right now. They need to rethink their priorities in our relationship before they think they can win another game.

Finally finished a stag play I started writing a year ago. Feels good to have it printed and in my hands. I’ll post some excerpts when I have finally nailed out the final working draft and have given it my writers approval.

Well even on this nice, chilly lazy monday I have to go get ready for teh work. Be kind, stay behind.

A limited interaction government

I’ve been mulling over the last couple of days about the recent tasing incident at the University of Florida town hall meeting for John Kerry. If you haven’t heard there is an article over on MSNBC about it. In brief, Andrew Meyer, 21, a university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes was Tasered by campus police and arrested after loudly and repeatedly trying to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry questions during a campus forum. Videos of the Monday night incident, posted on several Web sites and played repeatedly on television news, show University of Florida police officers pulling Meyer away from the microphone after he asks Kerry about impeaching President Bush and whether he and Bush were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University.

Every time I watch what happened in the above mentioned videos (amazing how many people carry video devices now) I am still trying to decipher whether or not he was trying to congratulate Kerry or make a fool of him. It was plainly obvious that he’s a raging liberal university brain washed student trying to either make a dying statement for an event long over or he is as stated above, a practical joker. Despite this though, when I look at how this was handled, it becomes more clear how out of reach we are at times with those we have given the privilege to be in office. Now I have no debate on the re-election of Bush in ’04, would have rather had him then Kerry, but when these defeated candidates continue to whine about losing as you can hear Kerry in the videos comment about, makes me really wonder why they ran in the first place. In the after effect of this semi odd protest by Meyer, the issue of the First Amendment gets resurrected once more and continually beat into the ground were it rests until it is needed again.

An example of this was portrayed at the Emmy Awards this past weekend where Sally Field took that same approach. As most celebrities do now a days, if theres an open mic and a willing audience, the stage is theres. Ms. Field got the treatment she deserved. FOX who was airing the program censored the actress as she was making a public protest against wars in general saying, “If mothers ruled the world, there would be no g*****n wars!” FOX was right in doing so. I do believe we have the right to voice our opinion of an issue but when cursing is thrown in the mix in the situation of a live telecast it doesn’t need to be heard. FOX was obviously trying to avoid what happened to CBS in its super bowl fiasco.

But as more Americans now a days try to distort what they believe there rights are as opposed to what they really mean it will continue to push our nation in to a limited interaction government which I translate to meaning, “Here’s your freedom, but you must follow these set limitations on your rights and privileges on how you use that freedom.” I may say I have the right to freedom of speech, but I am not entitled to abuse it. It would not be wise to bring about a false alarm in crowded room, would it? These same rights all have the same principles. Because I have the right to bare arms, does not mean I should be waiving my firearm around in the air for all to see. American citizens need to understand that yes we are free nation and live under a set form of civil rights, but to continue to think that we can bend those rights to mean whatever we want or to change there meaning is wrong. A government that was established by the people and for the people is being bullied not by its administrators but by those who are to be served by it.