Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Is a real life Idiocracy not only feasible, but imminent?

Before I even get started, if you haven't seen the movie Idiocracy go now.  Do it.  This will still be here when the movie's over. 

Back from Netflix?  Fantastic!  Let's get to it. 

On a daily basis, through various mediums I'm exposed daily to just how badly our society (as a general blanket statement) has regressed.  We've gone from grunting cave dwellers that paint on our walls with blood and flowers to the architects of legendary monolithic skyscrapers on a regular basis.  We've gone from the abacus to building computers that are actually smarter than we are (Watson.  Google it.). And yet every day, there's some blast of utter stupidity.  Are we truly the last generation of people capable of using their brains?!  In my current employment, I deal with many 20-something individuals.  On a one to one basis, they're pretty solid.  They're still kids comparatively, and party as hard as they work.  Nothing wrong with that at all.  But once in a while, there's something that gnaws at me like a thorn in this old bear's paw. 

Ok, maybe my title was a little extreme.  But I do feel that people have forgotten the meaning of discretion.  The fact that despite the social networking sites, there's some things people just try to keep private.  Discretion is a lost art to most.  Just yesterday on a friend's status post about going to a bar in Keizer, Oregon for quarter beers, one of their friends was like "THOTT U WER PREGGO?!" Obviously, if she went for quarter beers, she's not knocked up.  She's not that stupid.  I'm also fairly sure she thanks you for having so much faith in her intelligence. 

Seriously, if as a species we're losing such crucial parts of human interaction as respect and discretion, I'm truly frightened what's next.  I'm also terribly scared of the days when we're revered as geniuses in history books nobody will know how to read while people water their crops with energy drinks, staring at someone like they're high when they suggest using water.  "But it has electrolytes." 

Maybe the title wasn't so extreme after all..

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Holy hell, it's been a while!

So much has happened in the last few weeks.  Whirlwind of change style.  Go ahead and grab your coffee, monster, soda.. oh hell, it's lunch time for most of you.  I just crawled out of bed!  iFail!  Remix!  Grab your cheeseburgers, tacos, or whatever mad scientist alchemy you can pull out of your fridge and buckle in.  Ready?  LET'S GO!!

Major happenings!

I've reconnected with the one woman that truly makes me feel whole.  She's literally my other half.  My drive, my happiness, my pride and joy.. my angel.  This brings me happiness beyond measure!  I'm still the same ol' me.  I should still come with a warning label that says "CAUTION:  I do dumb things!" but to prove to her that she means so much to me, I'm making a huge effort to cut down on my stupidity.  I'm also making a massive effort to break out of the stagnant shell I was wearing.  I was a TERRIBLE house keeper (Working on it!), I work about fifteen hours a week.. come the fuck on!  I need income!  I cheated on her about a bazillion times.. never again.  In fact, when my friend (an ex girlfriend) said she really needed a place to stay, I consulted her before I even sent a reply... and it was her that sent the reply, not me.  Yeah, she's a keeper.  I intend to behave accordingly!

That brings me to the new roommate!  She was entirely up shit's creek without a paddle.  I'll leave the situation for her to discuss if she decides you need to hear about it.  It wasn't cool at all.  Since my brother had been living with his girlfriend for quite a while, I asked if he minded cleaning his room up so that I could offer her a place to stay.  He one-upped me and actually moved 90% of his stuff out.  Part of that was a miscommunication, because other people were trying to handle my business (A direct result of him not responding to my texts except for a phone call a few days later.. par for the course for the guy.  He's pretty busy lately.) and we've since talked, and I explained that to him.  BUT!  I have a roomie that pays bills, and I rarely see, even when she's here.  The latter part is because she likes to have a place to hide and decompress, but she says it's to stay out of my way.  How much in my way can someone get?!  I go room to fridge/coffee pot to computer.  That's about it, unless I'm either going to work or looking FOR work, and most jobs post their openings online now which works out marvelously for me.

My book has been COMPLETELY neglected, unfortunately.  I'm working on fixing that too.  I started writing the other day, but the words were coming very slow due to massive distractions.  My phone was going off, I wasn't listening to the right music I usually write to, and then my girlfriend came over.  Not very beneficial to productivity, but if I said I wasn't ecstatic about it, I'd be lying.

I realized through a bit of spelunking on my favored spiritual website that I've actually been taking a Year and a Day class!  Yes, this means I'll be paying much more attention to "Day X - Subject".  I caught up ENTIRELY last night, save for consecrating some "holy water".  As I don't have a container with a lid that fits the description, if I'm going to need it for something, I'll plan a few days in advance. This also alters my consciousness a little in other ways.  Typically, I viewed Sundays as my day to screw off due to the quote "Sunday is the day of rest."  Well, now it's "Saturday is the day to play." 

On my birthday, I plan to begin the "No Excuses Workout", also offered by Old Ways.  You can find this at http://oldways.com/features/noexcuses.html and watching Jeffrey's transformation has been rather incredible.  That tells me that it works!  Happy Monday to me! 

Oh yeah.. I turn 32 Monday.  No big deal, but I think my angel and my brother are conspiring.  We'll see what happens. I'm not so big on my own birthday.  Last year was the first birthday party I'd had since I was 17 and sold my Super Nintendo to get a half gallon of vodka.. which I drank by myself.  I didn't even tear it up on my 21st, just went out with my dad for a few drinks.  I'll be pouring out a Guinness Extra Stout on Monday in his memory.  If you ever met the man, I invite you to do the same.  That was his favorite. 

My intent for today -
Go outside and welcome today, express my intent to the sun, and thank the sun and the day for coming.  Come back inside, read today's lesson, then get to work.  My plan is to scour Craigslist for suitable jobs, then hit a few websites.  My aim for a new job is something part to full time to supplement my current income rather than replacing my job at the bar.  I know I can handle two jobs, so why the hell shouldn't I?  After spending at least two hours looking for work, I'll dig into some housework and try to catch up the festering mess that is my apartment.  I know I can get at least the carpets done today, and I'll go over the parts of my house that are already clean as maintenance.  After housework, I plan to finish writing at least the chapter I started on Friday, and possibly bang out a second. 

I leave you readers with a random observation that I meant to actually write about last night.

My roomie bought a loaf of French bread the other day to eat with her dinner.  I openly admit I've had a few slices myself. lol YUM!  Anyway, Friday, she left it out of the bag, and the cut end was starting to dry up.  Like rock hard starting to dry up.  I poked the top, there was no give at all.  No awesome fresh bread squish.  Having grown up dirt poor, this initially frustrated me to no end.  YOU DON'T WASTE FOOD!!  But then I stopped and thought about it.  The hard part couldn't be very deep after only two days.  I cut a few small slices off, maybe an eighth of an inch thick until I found the squishy bits.  I thought about saving those for croutons, but the likelihood of me eating a salad in the next few days is imaginary.  Sadly, that's two wasted slices of bread.  On the bright side, the tougher crust from being exposed to air surrenders even better to a good knife and the bread holds up it's shape when you slice it instead of squishing!  I might actually do this to EVERY partial loaf of French bread that enters the house.  Especially if I plan on a salad on day two!

Well, that's it for today!  Blessed be, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!