Ah, the silliness of religious disputes.

All this nonsense over whether we should say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays is pure stupidity, and it prompted this blog entry. This is what people debate? This is the foolishness they worry about, when minds could be put to use figuring out a cure for Cancer, or how to solve world hungry? I think that people are free to believe, or not believe, whatever they want to believe. Why not show respect to others by allowing them the freedom to do just that?

Someone once held a belief that one must know all to know the all-knowing. The belief that one must be all-knowing to know the all-knowing is a fallacy. It is a contradiction. Human faith in a higher being that is all-knowing and all-powerful is based largely on absent proofs and the unknown. If you believe in a God the way Christians do, you also concede to the fact that humans are merely humans and cannot know all that God comprehends; but you also must understand that the very same individuals acknowledging this also believe indisputably in the existence of God. They do not possess God’s knowledge, but they know him. He is real to them. The believers’ belief in the existence of a God is proof in itself of His existence; it is unquestioned; it is unquestionably a very real entity. Faith can be construed as a matter of the mind—a difference of perception, which varies among individuals in both potency and process. The fact is, those with faith usually have little evidence of that which they believe in. They have personal evidences, but these are things others just do not share. I want to illustrate my point in a much clearer example that almost everyone can understand. This brings us to the scientist and the carpenter. The scientist grasps at knowledge of the world that the carpenter does not understand, but the carpenter may know the scientist, may befriend the scientist, and may love the scientist, without having an intimate understanding of thermodynamics. One may know another without knowing all that another knows. The opposite would imply that one could not know God, making that existence of God impossible to perceive.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone. May you take care and be safe in this most perplexing world of ours.

Been some time, eh?

One of the things that bothers me the most about a story is when the writers seem to downplay the intelligence of some characters to the point where it seems implausible. This is especially apparent of characters previously presented as brilliant and resourceful, even genius, characters, and is, from what I have seen, more prevalent in the writing of television programs. While it might not seem like much of a nuisance at all, I know at least a handful of other people that agree with my views of this writing issue that shows up every now and then. We wonder why it is that characters that are much more intelligent than we are cannot see something that seems so obvious to us. There are a few examples of this out there, but I am going to cite the television show Fringe as my prime example, since it is the most recent that I have noticed. Now, don’t get me wrong; I love Fringe. In fact, it is one of my favorite television programs of all time, and it will continue to be in my top hall of faves forever and ever. It is interesting, has a talented cast portraying the characters, marvelous characters, a good story; but I have noticed, during the latest arc, that something is wrong. As some of you may know, Fringe’s current story arc deals with the presence and threat of a parallel universe, another world just like our own, but with differences, deviations in history, changes, things that might have been, things there were not—you get the picture. The problem concerns the character Olivia Dunham in that during the past two seasons of the show, the alternate universe version of Ms. Dunham replaced our world’s Ms. Dunham as part of an undercover mission given to her by Walternate. Indeed, for a time, it seemed probable that Peter Bishop, Walter, Agent Broyles, and the rest would not notice the difference between the two Olivias, but over time, clues that practically leapt out in your face were presented, which made it hard not to notice that the Olivia in our world was not our Olivia at all… without insulting the intelligence of the characters, of course. Just one example was her considerably lesser memory.


I believe this was dragged on far too long, and it made the characters seem idiots compared to before. Quite a few of the cast are very close to Ms. Dunham, especially, from my observation, Peter and Walter Bishop, which tells me that it would be very likely that they know her quite well, making the fact that they did not connect two-and-two improbable. As a writer, I realize that in a story, there is a time and a place for everything, and now that we have had a look to a number of episodes ahead, up to the point where the alternate universe Olivia was exposed for what she truly is, I can see that there was a point to waiting this long. Had she been exposed before now, the story would not have moved along as it had. However, it just doesn’t sit right with me, regardless. I also realize that there are quite a few ways to write things, and that this didn’t seem all that… I don’t know… realistic. Granted, fiction isn’t real, but the characters probably follow similar ways that real people perceive things. So, I say, why is this? Shouldn’t they have noticed? It seems a bit botched to me, but hey, I’m an amateur writer, so it’s not exactly my place to be pointing fingers at professional work, now is it? Well, I love the program, and the story, so it doesn’t bother me to an irredeemable extent; I’m just irked by little details, is all. Here’s to a long and healthy lifespan for Fringe.

Fallacies. Though we are all flawed, the typical flaws are the most irksome.

Oh, the fallacies. Human nature, how many you have, and yet, how many simply wonderful traits you have.

To base one’s beliefs on precarious foundations is to take a leaking ship out to sea in unstable meteorological conditions. No matter how firmly in place your ideals are rooted into the ground, a solitary, well-placed thrust is all that is needed for a whole system of conviction to come crumbing down onto the head of its follower. This is one reason why an objective basis is required to obtain an accurate reading of any subject, with predispositions serving as little more than impediments to the learning process. Hypocrisy is an unhealthy waste of time during precious mental calculation, playing a role that only hinders our perceptions, and which clouds the judgment of our conclusions. The act of doing a certain thing, on one hand, and condemning that very same thing, on the other hand, is just another method of taking an extra excursion around the block, and of taking longer to reach a resolute conclusion than one would have originally should they not entertain bias. Especially in social interaction, prejudice prompts longer journeys to the same end than would be essentially necessary, a deed that burns up valuable time better spent on more lucrative endeavors, and casts it to the wind.

It has been strange this week.

I often comment on how people shy away from reality and how crappy life and the world they live in truly is to live in their delusional viewpoints, optimistic nonsense that is little more than wishful thinking, that things are better than they really are. I do this, while seeing things as they are, bleak, and while I do see more of true reality than others see, I, too, mislead myself. I, too, have irrational, absurd delusions of which I often am not aware. I liked to pretend that, somehow, I was a bit special, that I could do some things well, and that I had talents whose presence made up for all the flaws and less than satisfactory abilities in me. I’m nothing special, nothing extraordinary. In fact, I’m sub-average, below average. I have come to find out that, where once I thought myself brilliant, I am merely a troubled, useless individual who cannot accomplish anything well.


Where did I see this brilliance? How did I see it? Is there anything even remotely similar to it within this swirling sphere of chaos that is my brain, where it feels as though it is being raked upon its top with hammer claws? It never existed at all. Perhaps I was just arrogant at what I thought was a job well done, or perhaps I am narcissistic. All the same, I suppose, if I were a narcissist, I would not have arrived at the conclusion that I am simply an incompetent loser that overestimated his or her own intelligence and cannot learn anything, a perfectionist that cannot meet lower standards. It would not have registered, so perhaps just a little… haughty… delusional. I have just been pretending, so I would not have to face the reality that I will never be anything more than a very small, very insignificant man. There is less value in life today than there was yesterday. Heh. Onward to the beginning of a brand new day of absolutely nothing.

If I have any readers at all, make an example out of me, learn from me, and how I turned out, and if you have even a modicum of talent in SOMETHING, no matter what that something is, pursue it. Make the most of what you have and of what you learn, because it is so precious.

Humans are such foolish creatures. A certain type of them I count in the many among them. The type that forsakes, believing that they may come back to things whenever they please, forgetting about all things. They abandon constructs of their own design, wherein dwelled things and people that they hoped would grow to an impressive standard of a community. Then they return, wondering why these people have left them to move on to greener pastures. Wondering why it is that the things they hoped to see flourish have diminished into a worthless pile of rot. They wonder why it is they have returned to Death. I say this.

Why did you think that everything would remain alike to how it was before you thoughtlessly left it behind? Why do you think that everything and everyone is supposed to wait for your return? Why do you think that they should suddenly drop what they are doing and rush back to your side, becoming angered when they do not? For what reason do you rationalize this reaction as proper? Why can you not see this as foolish? As moronic? As ignorant? Why do you not see this the way that I do? Are you that daft? Or… do you actually think that you are worth that much… as for people to just wait for you… while you prance out of sight and out of mind, nowhere to be seen, gone. Fools, with not a brain cell to be found.

What’s the world coming to? Well, let’s see. The world isn’t interested in intellectuals that have even a modicum of dedication to learning. It’s interested in censorship and mindless piles of so many standardized things that I’ve lost count of them all. The Cookie Monster can no longer eat as many cookies as he wants, because some fat little boy didn’t have enough self-control to keep from stuffing his face full of food. It’s the Cookie Monster, for Christ’s sake. He’s supposed to eat cookies, not greens. That’s not even logical. The real issue here is that we aren’t paying enough attention in the area of cultivating strength of character and strong wills, not what is on television. Why are the brats as insipid as to monkey-see-monkey-do whatever happens on a fictional program, anyway?

The problem is the children not having enough common sense to see what should and shouldn’t be done, to think for themselves. That fault doesn’t lie with television shows. It lies with cuddling and sheltering the child with a degree of overprotectiveness to the point where it creates an overly sensitive fairy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect your child, but doing so to the extent where it becomes debilitating is nonsensical rubbish. Pinning the blame on a fictional children’s program is a cop out, plain and simple. It’s just a way to say, ”Hey, it’s not our fault. Blame the furry blue guy on the tele.”

What’s the excuse for the people that pay enormous tuition fees for college and then don’t take the learning seriously, just going there to party, have sex, and screw around? Oh yes, you most certainly are out there. I know you exist. I know some of you. All of these things can be done at home, anywhere, really, free. Yet so many kids think it’s a good idea to pay, only to end up with a fabulous career flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, because they didn’t pay attention. The answer is, there is excuse other than being moronic cretins that don’t think things through. You can’t blame that lack of common sense on the Cookie Monster, now, can you?

Hi there, everyone, and welcome to yet another posting on my blog here. Today, I will talk about an area of my views on a subject of which some of you may very well be familiar.

Love.

Yes, love.

In my opinion, most people are blinded by the love that they feel. Love, by its nature, is an illogical thing. You cannot apply that manner of illogical emotion to a logical situation, such as one I am currently in; but that situation is not important to this view. One who is bewitched by love is usually overcome by the splendor of it, that they experience, and the individuals typically believe that it will never end.

So full of optimism, while in the snares of euphoria, they attempt to reason that they will never lose that fire. They sometimes try to apply the happiness and joy they have attained to the possibilities of others; but not everyone is equal in chances or possibilities; and not everything is the same for everyone. There are some individuals out there in such a dreadful situation so far away from such aforementioned things that they do not exist.

Moreover, some of these bewitched individuals, o’ so stricken by the love bug, seem to cancel out the importance of all other, whether friends or otherwise, seeming to care only for each other. When it comes to each other, the couple will throw all trace of logic and reason out the window, even to the point of sinking into the jaws of bias and prejudice, and will act all manners of unfair in order to defend, or retort for, their lover. This is what I refer as ‘blind love’, or lovers’ prejudice; it is a particularly nasty and self-centered thing, which I, personally, find to be disgusting, actually, for lack of a better word that could describe my thoughts toward such.

I have nothing against other people loving one another, but there comes a point when some line must be drawn. Because you love a person with all your heart, does that mean you can dismiss the feelings of others, and the relationships you have with them? Does being in love mean that you are permitted to do whatever you please, so long as it is for what you perceive as in the best interests of your lover? Are you free to place unfair judgment and blame on the shoulders of others, exercising bias and prejudice, acting as if you are the embodiment of Judge, Jury, and Executioner, all in one, just because you think that a person might have done something lewd or offensive to your lover?

To all of these questions, I say no. It is not right to do any of these things, especially if you have no proof or basis for such things other than a personal feeling and belief, which is already riddled with personal bias by means of the relationship, feelings, and love you have for the one you are supposedly defending.

To conclude, one more fact I have gathered from personal observation must be added; the majority of these so-called perfect and unending relationships, as fervent and passionate as once they may very well have been, have all ended in complete and utter failure.

A fleeting thought.

Time. How does the flow of Time affect us? Does its passage trouble us? Do we welcome it as it comes and goes? Do we heed it no mind as it leaves all things a mere husk of what they once were, changed, gone, old? The entire span of a year passes in the blink of an eye. Years go by, and we become old and disabled. From my perspective, before you know it, you are fifty, just when you counted yourself twenty. We cannot defeat Time. It always seems to have us by the balls.



I invite you all to contemplate deeply, the ways in which Time affects you, and how it does so.

That's right. Everything has a beginning, and everything has an end. Let's just hope this is the beginning and not the end, right?

The subject for today’s musing is my thoughts on what true friendship is.

The true measure of a friend, I believe, is whether they will be there for you when you need them; and if they will stand by your side and defend you when you need them the most. When you are being cast out by unfair judgment, bias, and ridicule, a friend should present a defense on your side in their utmost, honest opinion of you, without prejudice. Cower not before the discriminating gaze of authority. Fall to your knees not in fear of punishment that may be to come if you speak your mind in defense of a friend. If you truly care for and about your friend, do not remain in silence; lend a helping hand, or voice, to the banter befalling them. Show them that you care and that you value them by doing what is right.

I truly do believe that this is a value often undermined in this day and age. Too few a people let one another know that they honestly do love their existence. I find it very sad and discomforting. Sometimes, a single word, no matter how meaningless it may seem, can mean so very much. “I love you,” or,” you are important to me,” or, “I trust you and value our friendship; you are a wonderful person”. One word, even if a person is extremely self-loathing, has no sense of self, and just hates their being, can mean the world. We like compliments, even if we do not like ourselves. Yet, people have become so callous in their speech and in relationships. I think feelings should be expressed lest the person leave this world before we get the chance to do so.

In other events, I was scared out of my wits today. I really thought that someone as close to my heart as a person can get was going to fall victim to Death’s restless hand. It was frightening, but it turned out to be helpable. I am not crossing my fingers, though. Things always tend to come back and bite me in the rear end when I think that they are all right.

Ah well.

Some good news, for once, is that work is finally coming along at a more efficient pace. Hahaha, but I am not crossing fingers on that one, either. Well, at least something was done in the last week.

AOBD, signing off~