Right and Wrong

Politics....Religion....Opinions and Beliefs. Aside from the need to find meaning in life, to find guidance, to create social order and cultures, people have the need to be right. We feel good when we make a choice that turns out to be what we consider to be right. What makes that even better is if someone else was wrong. It's human nature to be a little smug. We may not want to admit it. We may know that it is lacking in compassion and selflessness, but we feel it none-the-less. And it feels good. What's really great is if a whole bunch of people make a choice that proves a whole bunch of other people wrong. Then we can feel smug together. We can talk about it. We can forget all of those times when we were wrong and they were right. It's all about the now. We all know that there cannot be two right answers or choices. There can be only one. There can be only one "Best". All others are merely silver or bronze or less. What works for me is what should work for everyone. If that were true, there would be one brand of car, one hairstyle, one TV channel, and one kind of music. Let the music play. Listen to the music you like, drive the car you choose, cut or don't cut your hair however you like, and pray or don't pray to whom or whatever you want. Just don't expect me to do the same.

Am I right!?

I think I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing. I actually wrote three posts last year! I guess winter is my introspection and need to get it written down on something but probably not facebook time.

Recent events and world reactions to them have made me ponder religion again. I've been reading up on Pat Robertson and his agenda after hearing that he feels the Haitians deserved this disaster due to their allegiance with the devil. Aside from a few very obviously propaganda-style re-tellings of a rumor about the Haitians pact with the devil in 1791 to get the French out, and the other propaganda-style rumors that the Haitian government re-affirmed their satanic allegiance in 1991, I can not find any factual accounts of this taking place. Hmmm... Human nature seems to be that when something bad happens to someone you don't like, it is easy to take that opportunity to shout from the rooftops how it served them right. Just like the Nazis justified the holocaust, just like countless Africans have been slaughtered, beaten, imprisoned, etc... in the name of "You are different than us and we fear you so much that we must, in good faith, destroy you!" We humans are a long way off from the age of enlightenment. We're still tribal, xenophobic, paranoid, and possessive as a group.

One thing I know for sure is that if I am certain beyond a doubt about something, I'm probably wrong and in need of further research... This I know without a doubt...

Oatmeal with peanut butter and Tang

I was on a backpacking trip with my brother in NorCal circa 1982 and we had packed a number of hi energy foods in our kit. For breakfast one morning we decided to try adding peanut butter and Tang to our oatmeal. It was the best thing ever. So good. We proceeded to have that for breakfast for the remaining two mornings and loved it. After being home for a few days and having the usual foods for our meals, the desire arose to have that wonderful breakfast we discovered while backpacking! A pot of oatmeal was cooked up. Peanut butter and Tang were added. We sat down and each started in...and that's about as far as we got. It was pretty awful. Truly something to be eaten only in the right circumstances.
And so it can be with people. In good times it is easy to find fault with others because my well-being doesn't depend on them. But when the chips are down and there is someone who has something that I need, I find myself thinking that they aren't so bad. In fact, this person is pretty neat. Often, once I have allowed the door to open for this person, I find that they are far better than I had thought. Sometimes a first impression can cause me to judge and close the door for further familiarity. Perhaps these times of struggle are opportunities to re-examine our relationships and to move our focus away from a person's faults and concentrate it on their strengths. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a selfish bastard who is trying to justify being friendly to people to get things from them...or not.

Pooling Resources - Good for All

It's that time of the economic cycle where we must make the conscious decision to go it alone or pool resources. We've decided to do the latter. Sure, we all love our space and independence. Sure, we love our stuff and having things just the way we like them. When times are good and money comes easily, I find that people tend to put more space between them and those around them. There is sort of a social disconnect. And, certainly, the nuclear family is becoming a thing of the past. The "Village" mentality has come to mean playgroups and group events among people who live miles apart. We have a rather large piece of property and a nice sized house. When we bought it, our mortgage was seriously low. But things were good! The value was going up! Money was coming easily! So we pulled equity out of our house and now we are in a bit of a fix. How to solve? Try to sell in a depressed market? Allow foreclosure? Take advantage of our situation somehow? Again, we'll go for the latter. Some of our family members are parking their rv's in our lot and paying us a little less than they would a commercial lot. Good for them, good for us. We may start raising chickens and selling free range, organic, local eggs to our friends for less than what they pay in the stores. Good for them, good for us. We may be renting out our master suite to some friends for half of what they are now paying for their apartment to help us pay our mortgage and manage some childcare to boot. Good for them, good for us. DW is going to use her net and theatre savvy to do some freelance grant writing. I'm going to do everything I can to keep my job! This is how we choose to come at the problem. We work together with friends and family to make a better situation for everyone involved. It requires work, ingenuity, and some inconvenience, but this is how we get through difficult times and help to take care of those around us in the process.

15 Uses for paper clips

I'm sitting at my desk at work eating my lunch. I look at my Igloo lunch carrying device and realize that the zipper with the missing dangly bit is unacceptable. In a sudden flash of brilliance I reach into my desk drawer, pull out a paper clip and slide it on there. Works like a charm! This brings me to think, "What else do I use paper clips for?". The following list ensues:

1 - Fix Zipper
2 - Poking the reset button that is inside that little hole on so many electronic devices
3 - Getting that annoying seed out of teeth
4 - Fix a broken antenna by sticking a mostly unbent paper clip in the end of it
5 - Key ring
6 - Holding lots of other paper clips together
7 - A string of them makes a lovely necklace
8 - Combine with plastic drinking straws to make homemade tinker toys
9 - Pick a lock (Additional skill required)
10 - Use like a wire tie to hold...wires
11 - Straighten and throw like darts (If you're Bull'seye from Daredevil)
12 - Use inside clay as for a sculpting armature
13 - Scrape your (gang) name or oddly spelled words like LIMOZEEN into a number of different surfaces
14 - Teach kids about magnetism, static electricity, surface tension, or many other experiments
15 - I suppose you could keep multiple pieces of paper or fabric together, too

Prop 8 and People are Stupid

It has been a long time since my last entry. I just have to put it down in words. The majority of people in this world are stupid. There I said it. I often take a bit of time to decide how I really feel about things. I like to let them settle. Never in my life have I had so strong an opinion. I can pretty much see things from all sides and I can hang with people regardless of their theology, political views, or sexual orientation. The freedom to possess and express your opinions and beliefs is what this country is about.
However, I keep trying to help my 5-year old to understand that holding on to something just because you don't want your sister to have it is petty and selfish. Seeing Prop 8 pass makes me think that she may never learn that lesson. To say that allowing gays to marry is bad because it's bad for straight marriages is the way a jealous 5-year old acts. Grow up people!
To say that these marriages don't count because they aren't recognized by the church makes my hetero marriage invalid. I was married in the park by a judge. I am LEGALLY married...has nothing to do with religion. I guess I've just had two kids with my life partner and we just spent a lot of money on a big party to let everyone know that we really, really like each other...a lot.
To say that these marriages promote pedophilia is akin to saying that hetero marriages promote rape. Sure, there are some bad people out there...everywhere, in every walk of life, every occupation, every sexual orientation, every gender, every religious affiliation, and every race. No one is above suspicion. I am constantly surprised by the kindness of people, as well as by their cruelty. I have seen no common thread to either. I have been helped by those with less than me and screwed by those with more. Sexual preference has never entered in to it.
How is it that the majority of people (who voted) are so filled with blind hatred? It must be blind because no one who actually thought about any of this could possibly have an issue with two people who want to spend their lives together and be happy. Allowing people to be happy doesn't threaten the moral fabric of America. Hating people destroys the moral fabric of America. Just ask the rest of the "civilized" world.

Ya gotta have FAITH?

I know that faith is often "taboo" in general company. I believe you're supposed to avoid talking about money, family matters, politics, and faith. This rule was created for people who worry about insulting, are unsure of where they stand on these issues, or are afraid that they may actually be changed as a result of another person's opinion. As a born and raised non-religion affiliated person, I have in my nearly forty years attempted to put a label, or at least a definition to what may be referred to as my faith. I went to church occasionally with friends in different towns as I was growing up. I lived for three years with two very dear friends who are devout Christians. I know a little of various non-Christian religions. I appreciate the community that comes with religion in general. Most religions help people to live in a way that is kind and helpful.
That said, I still don't get it.
I believe in myself. I believe that we are all connected in some way. I believe that there is good in every one as well as bad. I believe that I should take responsibility for all of my actions, good and bad.
Who do I answer to? Me and everyone who's life I have an effect on. (Scary isn't it?)
Where did we come from? I don't care.
When will the world end? I don't know. No one does.
Why are we here? Why ask? We're just here. Make the best of it.
Where do we go when we die? We'll find out when we get there.
Does what we do on this earth have an effect on what happens in the afterlife? Again, we'll find out when we get there. So live a life that you believe is good! Anyway, it will have an affect on those who live after you so make the world a better place for them if you can.
My issue with religious publications in general is that they can be interpreted any way that suits the reader, just like any other book. A bible study is a book group. People read it and get together and talk about their interpretation of it.
The idea that a person is not going to go to the "good" place in the afterlife if they don't believe a certain way is another sticking point with me. Unfathomable.
Should I try to attain some special level of awareness to be closer to a god (or THE god)? I'm living here, now...all the way.
Have I experienced things that are unexplainable with science? Sure. That's totally cool with me. I don't want everything to be explained. Where's the fun in that?
My children will no doubt be aware of my opinions. They are encouraged to form their own.
Rant rant...rave rave.... I probably should not post this. But, since I only have about four readers, I think I can deal with the results!
These opinions liable to change at any time. No gods, demi-gods, deities, angels, familiars, sprites, gnomes, elves, hobbits, or succubus were harmed in the forming of these opinions. Any similarities to another person's views on this subject were not intentional, however, are a happy coincidence.