The Pastor said that the only way to heaven was to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior and to acknowledge that he rose from the dead. For me, that is not the way to heaven or the correct version of what I think Jesus wants from his Church. The Resurrection is mysterious and I believe that it’s meant to be. Einstein said that there is beauty in mystery and that is where the beauty of the Resurrection appears for me, in its mystery.
The best way I’ve heard the validity of the Resurrection described is that, whether you believe that Jesus rose from the dead or not, you must believe that something happened at his tomb on the Sunday after he was crucified. The vast social changes that Christianity brought to the world and the fact that so many people still believe today is a testament to the fact that something happened at the tomb Easter morning.
I have heard theories that the Resurrection is not meant to be a physical resurrection of the body. It has been described to me as the return of Jesus as a spirit, not as a ghost, but as a living spirit among living people. I do not know if I believe this, but I have thought about it a lot. My conclusion is that I have no conclusion at this point. I don’t know. I chalk it up to the mystery of the Resurrection, and that is where I find the beauty in it.
I personally believe in the Resurrection. Even though I believe, I relate to why it is hard for others to believe. Part of the problem is the reasoning behind the Resurrection that they, and I, have been subjected to. In Catholicism, there is not much else besides an authoritative “Of course he rose from the dead,” with tradition and scripture given as evidence. A Catholic discussion of whether or not the Resurrection was physical or spiritual has guided me, but it has not been the de facto reason I believe.
I have heard one Catholic tell another that they do not believe in the Resurrection and the believer has responded, “That’s okay, it’s hard to make the leap of faith. Jesus still loves you.” This Catholic response is part of the reason why I love the Catholic Church. The Evangelical or Protestant arguments I’ve heard for belief in the Resurrection have not convinced me. Their argument that it’s in the Bible, and God wrote the Bible so it’s true, does not justify the Resurrection for me. I believe that the Bible was divinely inspired, but I do not believe that the whole thing is meant to be taken literally. I believe that parts of the Bible were written as stories to describe God. A Pastor I met told me that his faith would be in vain if Jesus did not rise from the dead. My faith, however, would not be in vain. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, his message would be unchanged and I firmly believe his message made Jesus more divine than any miracle he performed. Love God and love your neighbor. As revolutionary today as it was then.
I have two reasons that have given me the courage to make the leap of faith to say that Jesus rose from the dead. The first is that I believe in miracles. I believe in the big ones and I believe in the small ones. I see the divine and God’s plan unfolding in a myriad of miracles that some may describe as coincidences. If I pray to get a hit while I’m batting in a softball game, is it because I believe in divine intervention, in miracles, or is it because of my own skill. No matter which you believe, the fact that I am praying for the miracle means that I believe in miracles. If I believe in miracles, then I can believe that the miracle of the Resurrection took place. To believe in small miracles, one must also accept that large miracles are possible.
The strongest argument I have for the Resurrection is the loving nature of God. The God that I know in my heart is the type of God that would resurrect Jesus. Rather than viewing the Resurrection as a triumph of God’s goodness over evil, I think of the Resurrection as proof of a God of love. I believe in a God that will vindicate a good man unjustly accused and punished.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
The First Human Tribe
250,000 years ago, deep in the jungles of Africa, or maybe the savannah, a little monkey was born that was not quite like the other little monkeys. This little monkey in particular had defective DNA. The code of life that tells the body’s cells how to work had made a mistake. Instead of the defective DNA hindering our little monkey friend, it gave it an extra edge for survival. We’re not exactly sure which gene or which chromosome was changed, but there is speculation that it had to do with brain size and mental capacity. Whatever it was, it helped our monkey survive and become more attractive to the opposite sex. Our monkey took advantage of the situation, mated, and produced children with the same defective gene that gave the monkey a better chance to survive. These monkey children were different enough from the rest of the monkeys that they became something else entirely. This was the first tribe of humans.
If you’ve ever seen chimpanzees hunting as a group on the Discovery Channel, you have a pretty good mental image of what the first tribe of humans acted like. There are two main differences between the chimps on TV and the first tribe of humans. For starters, they are a lot hairier than we were. Though we were most likely hairier, the first tribe looked distinctively human. If we saw them today we would probably tell them that they looked like cavemen. We would be right.
The second difference is that the first tribe of humans were much better at hunting than the chimps on the discovery channel. There is speculation as to whether this is because of increased mental capacities or better communication skills.
No matter what made that tribe of humans better hunters, they quickly replaced the monkeys they had just evolved from. These monkeys didn’t really look like monkeys, they looked a lot like us. The scientists call them Homo Erectus. They also italicize their name for some reason. I just call them Erectus. And yes, the name has lended itself to numberless jokes. We don’t know whether the first human tribe directly killed Erectus or if they just hunted better and ate all of Erectus’ food and took the best hunting grounds. Either way, Erectus died out shortly after humanity was born.
Here is a brief history of the late great Homo Erectus. Chimpanzees and Humans share a common ancestor from about 3.5 million years ago. We know this because of DNA. DNA changes very slowly, but it also changes very punctually, give or take a few thousand years. Scientists can look at DNA from humans and chimpanzees and tell how many differences exist in DNA’s code. Because the mutations happen punctually, that is, they happen every so often and always at about the same intervals, scientists can determine how long it’s been since chimps and humans have shared a common ancestor. The time of our most recent common ancestor would have marked the time that Chimp’s ancestors and Humanity’s ancestors took different evolutionary paths.
From what can be told, 2.5 million years of evolution later, about 1 million years ago, the monkeys that would eventually become humans evolved into Homo Erectus. Erectus evolved in Africa, but the species migrated and settled throughout the world with the exception of the Americas and Antarctica. It is disputed, but some archaeologists have found evidence that Erectus was the first to control fire and make tools. These were traits that the first tribe of Humans took with them when they became their own distinct species.
Different groups of Erectus lived in different geographical parts of the world. Over hundreds of thousands of years, these different geographical groups evolved differently. Some became Neanderthals, some became Humans, and, though it is disputed, some archaeologists claim to have found Hobbits on islands in East Asia. These groups lived in different parts of the world until they naturally became extinct or until they came into contact with Humans. After contact with the Humans, the Humans either outright killed them all or just took their traditional sources of food. Scientists are fairly sure that there was no interbreeding that has produced mixes of Humans and any other descendants of Erectus, though some scientists have not given up and are still looking for evidence.
Erectus evolved into Humanity and over the course of the next 250,000 years Humanity has become the dominant lifeform on planet Earth. Humans have been writing for less than 6,000 years, so there is a lot that we don’t know about our own Human history between that first Human tribe and the present. We do know that the tribe grew, it separated, and fanned out to every part of the planet Earth and have even visited the Moon. Now, in the present day, for the first time in 250,000 years, the separation that occurred when the first tribe of Humans split is about to be rejoined. Globalization, the accessibility of the internet in the farthest reaches of the globe, and communication among different cultures is bringing humanity together in an unprecedented way. In many ways, we are once again one tribe. For the second time in our history, Humanity is joined as one tribe working together for the same goals.
If you’ve ever seen chimpanzees hunting as a group on the Discovery Channel, you have a pretty good mental image of what the first tribe of humans acted like. There are two main differences between the chimps on TV and the first tribe of humans. For starters, they are a lot hairier than we were. Though we were most likely hairier, the first tribe looked distinctively human. If we saw them today we would probably tell them that they looked like cavemen. We would be right.
The second difference is that the first tribe of humans were much better at hunting than the chimps on the discovery channel. There is speculation as to whether this is because of increased mental capacities or better communication skills.
No matter what made that tribe of humans better hunters, they quickly replaced the monkeys they had just evolved from. These monkeys didn’t really look like monkeys, they looked a lot like us. The scientists call them Homo Erectus. They also italicize their name for some reason. I just call them Erectus. And yes, the name has lended itself to numberless jokes. We don’t know whether the first human tribe directly killed Erectus or if they just hunted better and ate all of Erectus’ food and took the best hunting grounds. Either way, Erectus died out shortly after humanity was born.
Here is a brief history of the late great Homo Erectus. Chimpanzees and Humans share a common ancestor from about 3.5 million years ago. We know this because of DNA. DNA changes very slowly, but it also changes very punctually, give or take a few thousand years. Scientists can look at DNA from humans and chimpanzees and tell how many differences exist in DNA’s code. Because the mutations happen punctually, that is, they happen every so often and always at about the same intervals, scientists can determine how long it’s been since chimps and humans have shared a common ancestor. The time of our most recent common ancestor would have marked the time that Chimp’s ancestors and Humanity’s ancestors took different evolutionary paths.
From what can be told, 2.5 million years of evolution later, about 1 million years ago, the monkeys that would eventually become humans evolved into Homo Erectus. Erectus evolved in Africa, but the species migrated and settled throughout the world with the exception of the Americas and Antarctica. It is disputed, but some archaeologists have found evidence that Erectus was the first to control fire and make tools. These were traits that the first tribe of Humans took with them when they became their own distinct species.
Different groups of Erectus lived in different geographical parts of the world. Over hundreds of thousands of years, these different geographical groups evolved differently. Some became Neanderthals, some became Humans, and, though it is disputed, some archaeologists claim to have found Hobbits on islands in East Asia. These groups lived in different parts of the world until they naturally became extinct or until they came into contact with Humans. After contact with the Humans, the Humans either outright killed them all or just took their traditional sources of food. Scientists are fairly sure that there was no interbreeding that has produced mixes of Humans and any other descendants of Erectus, though some scientists have not given up and are still looking for evidence.
Erectus evolved into Humanity and over the course of the next 250,000 years Humanity has become the dominant lifeform on planet Earth. Humans have been writing for less than 6,000 years, so there is a lot that we don’t know about our own Human history between that first Human tribe and the present. We do know that the tribe grew, it separated, and fanned out to every part of the planet Earth and have even visited the Moon. Now, in the present day, for the first time in 250,000 years, the separation that occurred when the first tribe of Humans split is about to be rejoined. Globalization, the accessibility of the internet in the farthest reaches of the globe, and communication among different cultures is bringing humanity together in an unprecedented way. In many ways, we are once again one tribe. For the second time in our history, Humanity is joined as one tribe working together for the same goals.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Never Too Late For Good Ideas
I should have submitted a car to the Pinewood Derby that was only carved enough to fit wheels on and written on the side with a black Sharpie would say, "Winning Isn't Everything."
Friday, May 22, 2009
Idea
If the only phrase that, according to Kurt Vonnegut, Americans can agree on is that “Sugar is sweet,” then I would go so far as to say that the whole world can agree that sugar is sweet. If that is the only thing that unifies humans on planet Earth, I think that’s a pretty good starting point. In fact, I would like to give a sweet, a chocolate, to every person on the planet. A giveaway of this magnitude has never been done before, but I believe that with current technologies there can be a global distribution system that reaches every person in the world.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Gold teeth and a curse on this town
In 2002 I was watching MTV 2 and a video came on for a song called “New Slang” by the Shins. There is something so rustic yet so modern and, to quote another, “so nostalgic about a time that wasn’t that good anyway.” I fell in love with the song. I told everyone I knew about it and everyone told me it was a bad song. That was okay because I didn’t need validation from others to like a song. I downloaded the song and for the next few years I listened to it off and on.
Once it came out on DVD, I saw Garden State. Natalie Portman’s character puts headphones on Zach Braff’s character and tells him that the song she’s listening to will change his life. The song was “New Slang” and I was happy that someone else thought it was a good song, too, and that The Shins were getting some credit for it.
Then a person who I had showed the song to earlier showed it to me and said, “This is a great song.”
“No shit,” I said, “I showed it to you 3 years ago. You said it was bad then.” Then friend after friend of mine started talking about the song. MY SONG, the song that I found that they neglected was now picked up by the masses because Natalie Portman told a guy they laugh at that it would change his life. Bullshit.
Once it came out on DVD, I saw Garden State. Natalie Portman’s character puts headphones on Zach Braff’s character and tells him that the song she’s listening to will change his life. The song was “New Slang” and I was happy that someone else thought it was a good song, too, and that The Shins were getting some credit for it.
Then a person who I had showed the song to earlier showed it to me and said, “This is a great song.”
“No shit,” I said, “I showed it to you 3 years ago. You said it was bad then.” Then friend after friend of mine started talking about the song. MY SONG, the song that I found that they neglected was now picked up by the masses because Natalie Portman told a guy they laugh at that it would change his life. Bullshit.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
UnSummer
Enjoy yourself
Watchin all the leaves fallin
The Winter’s come
But inside the party’s still rollin
At last I’ve come
To the resolute sign of eternal
And then I run
At the sound of someone’s fun
Watchin all the leaves fallin
The Winter’s come
But inside the party’s still rollin
At last I’ve come
To the resolute sign of eternal
And then I run
At the sound of someone’s fun
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
There is no such thing as infinite
It was a little before 4 AM when I woke up and immediately started thinking about atoms. It felt like Divine Intervention was putting thoughts into my head instead of me thinking them myself. The only other time that happened was when I wrote "Everybody Wants to Be Happy." The thought was that no matter how small you get, like the size of an atom, you can still get smaller. But at some point as you keep getting smaller you'll end up the same size you are now. And no matter how big you get, gazillions of times the size of the largest galaxy, you'll eventually just end up the same size as you are now. Like it's all in a circle or a cycle. It was very odd. There's no such thing as infinite.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Judge Me
Our grandfathers told us
of the glory of war
Now there’s nothing left
Worth fighting for
Freedom we have
Gold we have made
Won quite hard
From an ancestor’s raid
Now that we all
Have just what we need
The only thing left
To fight for is greed
of the glory of war
Now there’s nothing left
Worth fighting for
Freedom we have
Gold we have made
Won quite hard
From an ancestor’s raid
Now that we all
Have just what we need
The only thing left
To fight for is greed
Friday, April 17, 2009
When I Say Hillshire, You Say Farms......
Hillshire!
If you are reading this blog, you are my friend. If I'm friends with you, you probably just said "Farms" out loud.
If you said "Farms" out loud, congratulations, we can still be friends.
If you didn't, you were probably just an acquaintance anyway.
If you are reading this blog, you are my friend. If I'm friends with you, you probably just said "Farms" out loud.
If you said "Farms" out loud, congratulations, we can still be friends.
If you didn't, you were probably just an acquaintance anyway.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
One Ring To Rule Them All.....
Gandalf and Pippin are waiting for war in Minas Tirith. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas have just gone through the Paths of the Dead. Merry has hidden himself and is on his way to war with the Rohirrim. Frodo has been poisoned by Shelob and taken prisoner by the enemy. Sam is alone in the land of Mordor and has the Ring.
In other words, shit is about to hit the fan.
In other words, shit is about to hit the fan.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Shauna's poem
I tried to write you a poem but I couldn’t come up with anything. So, a simple I love you will have to do.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
American Dream
My ancestors came here less than two hundred years ago. Ancestor is a misleading word. When I think ancestor I think of people in togas, hunter-gatherers, and people in caves. Ancestor might not be the best word for what I’m describing. Let me start over.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. Where’s “here?” Different branches of my family landed at Ellis Island and then went straight to Philadelphia. Others reportedly owned slaves in the antebellum South, but I think my Grandmom might be making that up. Some family even went to Cleveland. So when I say “here,” I mean America, even though I’ve only been in a small corner of it excluding a few trips to Disney World.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. But that’s pretty unremarkable. The first colony in what became America was only founded 400 years ago. That seems like a long time, but Baghdad was founded somewhere around 8,000 years ago. Most people didn’t get here 400 years ago, so I’m going to estimate and say we showed up around 200 years ago. Whether it’s 200 or 400, it’s a drop in the bucket of the history of civilization and even less in the history of humanity.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. And now I’m supposed to be worried about America’s spot in the world. I’m supposed to be worried that superpower America might not be #1. Well, I think that I’m forgetting the reason I’m here is because my great-great-grandparents ran out of potatoes. Their American Dream was not to starve to death. My American Dream, so I’m told, is a house, two cars, a career, and a vacation home. I’m not completely sold on it. Sure, a house is nice, but why would I need two homes? Why not live in a vacation house? And what about the career? I spend 10 hours a day (including commute) to pay for these things. If I were more like my grandparents, I could get by a lot easier. “Not starving” is an easy goal to achieve nowadays and it’s much more noble than “a house on the beach.”
So I’m coming to the conclusion that there is a problem between me and the American Dream. I’m not sure whether it’s me or the dream, but neither of us are very happy about it. Do you know that I can have a pizza delivered to my house from the internet? I don’t even have to leave my couch and someone will bring me a pizza. I doubt if anyone in human history has had it as easy as me. I don’t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.
But let’s get back to the American Dream. Is that really what people are striving for? Material possessions? I’m looking for something more substantial. Sure, I like my big screen TV, my refrigerator, my comfy couch, my bed and all the comforts that come with it. But would I miss them? I don’t know. Could I get by on a dollar a day? No, I couldn’t. But could I get by on welfare……….now that seems like a worthy challenge.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. Where’s “here?” Different branches of my family landed at Ellis Island and then went straight to Philadelphia. Others reportedly owned slaves in the antebellum South, but I think my Grandmom might be making that up. Some family even went to Cleveland. So when I say “here,” I mean America, even though I’ve only been in a small corner of it excluding a few trips to Disney World.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. But that’s pretty unremarkable. The first colony in what became America was only founded 400 years ago. That seems like a long time, but Baghdad was founded somewhere around 8,000 years ago. Most people didn’t get here 400 years ago, so I’m going to estimate and say we showed up around 200 years ago. Whether it’s 200 or 400, it’s a drop in the bucket of the history of civilization and even less in the history of humanity.
My family came here less than two hundred years ago. And now I’m supposed to be worried about America’s spot in the world. I’m supposed to be worried that superpower America might not be #1. Well, I think that I’m forgetting the reason I’m here is because my great-great-grandparents ran out of potatoes. Their American Dream was not to starve to death. My American Dream, so I’m told, is a house, two cars, a career, and a vacation home. I’m not completely sold on it. Sure, a house is nice, but why would I need two homes? Why not live in a vacation house? And what about the career? I spend 10 hours a day (including commute) to pay for these things. If I were more like my grandparents, I could get by a lot easier. “Not starving” is an easy goal to achieve nowadays and it’s much more noble than “a house on the beach.”
So I’m coming to the conclusion that there is a problem between me and the American Dream. I’m not sure whether it’s me or the dream, but neither of us are very happy about it. Do you know that I can have a pizza delivered to my house from the internet? I don’t even have to leave my couch and someone will bring me a pizza. I doubt if anyone in human history has had it as easy as me. I don’t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.
But let’s get back to the American Dream. Is that really what people are striving for? Material possessions? I’m looking for something more substantial. Sure, I like my big screen TV, my refrigerator, my comfy couch, my bed and all the comforts that come with it. But would I miss them? I don’t know. Could I get by on a dollar a day? No, I couldn’t. But could I get by on welfare……….now that seems like a worthy challenge.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Great Financial Crisis of 2009
I hear this word called “depression”
Which is the result of recession.
I’ve been wondering what the problem is,
The parents say, “We can’t pay for our kids,”
I say that’s fine, I don’t got none.
I’ve been hearing an awful lot about layoffs
But what about severance payoffs?
My friends are a wreck,
But they’ll get an unemployment check.
You can keep your job, I don’t want one.
And everybody’s talking about houses.
All those subprime mortgage louses.
At the salary you’re on
A 300 grand mortgage’s a con,
You can keep your debt, I don’t want none.
Which is the result of recession.
I’ve been wondering what the problem is,
The parents say, “We can’t pay for our kids,”
I say that’s fine, I don’t got none.
I’ve been hearing an awful lot about layoffs
But what about severance payoffs?
My friends are a wreck,
But they’ll get an unemployment check.
You can keep your job, I don’t want one.
And everybody’s talking about houses.
All those subprime mortgage louses.
At the salary you’re on
A 300 grand mortgage’s a con,
You can keep your debt, I don’t want none.
Homeless People Are Like A Genie in the Bottle --- Don't Rub Them the Wrong Way
I got a pair of cowboy boots the other day. There are some songs that make me want to slowly tap my feet. The slower I tap my feet, the more like a cowboy I feel. Cowboys don’t dance fast. Real cowboys sit in the corner and slowly tap their feet.
I went to the mall because they have 7 shoe stores. I started at Payless and ended at the Finish Line. That was a pun, but it’s true, so it’s even funnier. None of the 7 stores had cowboy boots. I even went into the Lady’s Foot Locker, but still no boots with spurs.
The next day at work I tried some of the specialty shoe stores they have downtown. I spent my whole lunch hour at shoe stores, but nobody had cowboy boots. When I got back to the office I put on some music and started to tap my foot, but it just didn’t feel right.
I had just about given up on my dream when I saw a homeless man sitting on the ground. I thought, “You’re complaining about not having boots, but that guy probably doesn’t have shoes,” so I gave him a quarter. He looked up mournfully and said, “Now I shall grant you three wishes,” in a crazy homeless voice. I was already walking past him when he said it, so I stopped and thought about it. I said, “I wish I had some cowboy boots.”
I didn’t notice them before, but when I made my wish the homeless man bent over, took off a pair of cowboy boots, and handed them to me saying, “You have two more wishes.” Stunned beyond belief I said, “A billion dollars and a Corvette. I wish for a billion dollars and a Corvette.” He took a pair of keys out of his pocket, got up, walked over to a trash can and picked up a briefcase. He handed me the briefcase, but he didn’t let go. We both held it and he said, “You don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve wished curses upon yourself, curses and curses. You don’t drive stick and the money will destroy you. Who can you trust now?” And he laughed.
Right before he let go of the briefcase, he leaned into me and said, “The only way this money wouldn’t curse you is if you did something good to deserve it. You had your chance, you had any wish, and you did nothing for the man who gave you the shoes off of his feet. Nobody ever helps the hand that feeds.” I thought about it and I asked him, “What about the cowboy boots?”
He said, “You didn’t really want a billion dollars and you didn’t really want a Corvette. But you really wanted those boots. You’ll be okay with the boots.” He turned around, walked into the street and was hit by a car. “I wish he had told me that first,” I said to myself.
I went to the mall because they have 7 shoe stores. I started at Payless and ended at the Finish Line. That was a pun, but it’s true, so it’s even funnier. None of the 7 stores had cowboy boots. I even went into the Lady’s Foot Locker, but still no boots with spurs.
The next day at work I tried some of the specialty shoe stores they have downtown. I spent my whole lunch hour at shoe stores, but nobody had cowboy boots. When I got back to the office I put on some music and started to tap my foot, but it just didn’t feel right.
I had just about given up on my dream when I saw a homeless man sitting on the ground. I thought, “You’re complaining about not having boots, but that guy probably doesn’t have shoes,” so I gave him a quarter. He looked up mournfully and said, “Now I shall grant you three wishes,” in a crazy homeless voice. I was already walking past him when he said it, so I stopped and thought about it. I said, “I wish I had some cowboy boots.”
I didn’t notice them before, but when I made my wish the homeless man bent over, took off a pair of cowboy boots, and handed them to me saying, “You have two more wishes.” Stunned beyond belief I said, “A billion dollars and a Corvette. I wish for a billion dollars and a Corvette.” He took a pair of keys out of his pocket, got up, walked over to a trash can and picked up a briefcase. He handed me the briefcase, but he didn’t let go. We both held it and he said, “You don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve wished curses upon yourself, curses and curses. You don’t drive stick and the money will destroy you. Who can you trust now?” And he laughed.
Right before he let go of the briefcase, he leaned into me and said, “The only way this money wouldn’t curse you is if you did something good to deserve it. You had your chance, you had any wish, and you did nothing for the man who gave you the shoes off of his feet. Nobody ever helps the hand that feeds.” I thought about it and I asked him, “What about the cowboy boots?”
He said, “You didn’t really want a billion dollars and you didn’t really want a Corvette. But you really wanted those boots. You’ll be okay with the boots.” He turned around, walked into the street and was hit by a car. “I wish he had told me that first,” I said to myself.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Power Point
Power point is a great skill because it still amazes people who don't know how to use it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Lumar
The Chinese take-out place is a store in a shopping center near my house. It has been there as long as I can remember. I’ve gotten to know the faces of the people who work there and until recently they never seemed to age, but I’m slowly seeing lines appear on faces where lines didn’t exist before. They must think the same thing about me.
The woman who answers the phone and works the register speaks heavily accented English so that I’m just able to understand her. We are always very friendly and she knows me by name. I asked her name once and she told me, but I forgot it. Sometimes we are more friendly than others. When I used to come in by myself she would ask how my Mom was. Now she asks how my fiancé is.
She is always there when I am, an ever-present always working part of my life. I’ve never seen her outside of the store, but I can’t imagine her as not being a part of my life. She has made my dinner at least once a week for most of my life. That means that she has made my dinner more than I’ve made it for myself. If she disappeared I would miss her, but I doubt that I'll ever have a conversation with her about anything other than Chinese food or the weather. She is very good at her job and meticulous when it comes to ordering. She’s not demanding, but she means business and gets the job done and she gets it done well.
I’ll never forget the only day she ever seemed different. I don’t remember if I was with anyone or what I ordered, but I remember that she had an extra bounce in her step and her smile was ear to ear. I wondered why and she told me, everybody else in line, and probably anybody that would listen. She had fought hard and now her boss gave her two days off a week. I don’t remember which two days they were, but they were during the week and not weekends. She only got off one of those days before. It might have been Monday and Tuesday.
Maybe it’s because I don’t enjoy being at work, maybe it’s because she works harder than I ever have, maybe it’s because she made me feel too rich, but I felt guilty. What made her happiest is what I take for granted. She never had those days that I waste and think I deserve off for no other reason than that I am alive. Now, after two decades of serving my Chinese food, after serving me my dinner for twenty years, she is finally entitled to two days off a week. Who the fuck am I?
Does she have a family? Children? How much does she get paid to work at the Chinese take-out place? Are there people that she wants to share the weekends with? Are there people that she’s torn away from on Saturday and Sunday morning so that she can take my order for a General Tso’s combination platter?
Maybe the heart of all these questions is this: Why do I get so sad when confronted with people who get so excited about the things I take for granted?
The woman who answers the phone and works the register speaks heavily accented English so that I’m just able to understand her. We are always very friendly and she knows me by name. I asked her name once and she told me, but I forgot it. Sometimes we are more friendly than others. When I used to come in by myself she would ask how my Mom was. Now she asks how my fiancé is.
She is always there when I am, an ever-present always working part of my life. I’ve never seen her outside of the store, but I can’t imagine her as not being a part of my life. She has made my dinner at least once a week for most of my life. That means that she has made my dinner more than I’ve made it for myself. If she disappeared I would miss her, but I doubt that I'll ever have a conversation with her about anything other than Chinese food or the weather. She is very good at her job and meticulous when it comes to ordering. She’s not demanding, but she means business and gets the job done and she gets it done well.
I’ll never forget the only day she ever seemed different. I don’t remember if I was with anyone or what I ordered, but I remember that she had an extra bounce in her step and her smile was ear to ear. I wondered why and she told me, everybody else in line, and probably anybody that would listen. She had fought hard and now her boss gave her two days off a week. I don’t remember which two days they were, but they were during the week and not weekends. She only got off one of those days before. It might have been Monday and Tuesday.
Maybe it’s because I don’t enjoy being at work, maybe it’s because she works harder than I ever have, maybe it’s because she made me feel too rich, but I felt guilty. What made her happiest is what I take for granted. She never had those days that I waste and think I deserve off for no other reason than that I am alive. Now, after two decades of serving my Chinese food, after serving me my dinner for twenty years, she is finally entitled to two days off a week. Who the fuck am I?
Does she have a family? Children? How much does she get paid to work at the Chinese take-out place? Are there people that she wants to share the weekends with? Are there people that she’s torn away from on Saturday and Sunday morning so that she can take my order for a General Tso’s combination platter?
Maybe the heart of all these questions is this: Why do I get so sad when confronted with people who get so excited about the things I take for granted?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I often wonder what Gwen Stefani thinks of the song Glycerine.
When I see pictures in magazines of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, it makes me think of Kurt and Courtney. I’m torn between thinking two different ways. Do Gavin and Gwen embody everything that they could have become, or are they merely sellouts in the shadow of greatness?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Poetry
Poetry Introduction
Poetry is the heart and soul of America. From Walt Whitman to Robert Frost to Allen Ginsberg to untold millions, poetry has been a moral compass and an inspiration to our country. Its power lay in the belief that every man has a voice and every man has the opportunity to exercise that voice. What has come out of those voices has been at times both frightening and mystifying. But the underlying theme remains the same: We are a nation of people doing the best we can with the time that we have.
In the past few years I have called into question the above. What role does poetry have anymore in a country pushed forward by technology and financial gain? In my lifetime, since 1984, I am not aware of any traditional poetry being created that has shaped the American imagination. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place. Perhaps what has shaped the American imagination has been wrongly labeled.
Poetry has been taken out of the hands of the people and put into the hands of academics. Thus signaled the death of poetry. Then came rock'n'roll. Then came punk rock. Then came hip-hop and a thousand other assorted musical varieties and the poetry was given a beat and music behind it and it was packaged for the masses. The academics ignored it as true poetry but there is a large number of Americans who would disagree with them. While at Georgetown University's English department I joined a year-long poetry seminar. The professor leading the seminar told us that his poetry consisted of arranging sculpture size letters into words in a public park. Of our first two guest lecturers, one was a poet who wrote in gibberish and screams and the other wrote poems using only one word. I thought of "Imagine" by Lennon, "Dock 'O the Bay" by Otis Redding, "Round Here" by Adam Durowitz and promptly left the class. Though some of the poetry from contemporary music is bad and some of it is pure pop, like all poetry there are shining gems that inspire the American imagination and will continue to inspire for generations to come.
This inspiration of America is what I have always, with hopefully some success, tried to tap into. The America that I know looks different from the poets from the past, but it is still the same place with the same ideals. Now, as the world is getting smaller and countries are opening themselves up to the world, there may be a cultural movement as strong as the American cultural movement. We are now all global citizens, whether we like it or not or believe it or not, the whole world is now our shared community. With this shared community will come a shared culture.
I am happy to be alive at a time when a shared world culture will come into fruition. It will be exciting to see if it comes first in the form of a viral video spread on the internet or through a marketing campaign organized by a large multi-national company. My guess is that it will be a combination of the two. There is a lot to be learned from the old-way of doing things, but now is also the time to bring in change. Old technologies and outdated systems must be forgotten. We, I, must embrace the new technology as a new way of reaching goals. Technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself. What this new "end" will be is both exciting and scary and I intend to make my mark upon it. It is now the time to throw out that which is detrimental not only to ourselves but also to our community, our shared planet.
Come what may, 150 years from now everyone you know on this planet will be dead. What kind of community will they inherit and what will they think about us, their ancestors. Will our legacy be infrastructure? Governmental organizations that provide for the worlds well-being? A system of government that can include everyone and be as fair to the poorest man as to the richest man? New technologies that will allow machines to do the work of humans?
I hope that my generation's legacy will be its words and its ideas. War, organized violence for the benefit of one group over another, may become a thing of the past. Violence is as human a trait as love, but the systematic killing over "thing" or material objects and ideas can end. Justice is just another term for revenge, so I do not wish justice for the world, I only wish it peace. If we can ingrain an idea like that into the world through our words, we will give our grandchildren's generation the greatest gift the planet has ever received. Sometime in the not so distant future as our species leaves this planet in search of new adventures, let them look on now as the turning point when we banded together in hopes of a better tomorrow. Let us create now the society that we hope they will take with them to distant worlds where they will set up their new societies and cultures. If life on other planets does exist, let us start being the culture we would like to show them. We should strive to be the people, the countries, and the planet that we want to be, not continue acting as what we are. Unless you are happy with the current situation, in which case you will find yourself in disagreement with me. One of my favorite fictional presidents said, "We cannot be separated by our differences anymore, we must unite in our common interests."
Remember, there is only one richest man in the world, but there are unspoken masses of people who have nothing. And you can't have less than nothing. I have never seen a copy of Forbes lowest 500. I wonder if there is a world's poorest man. If there is I would like him to meet the world's richest man to see what they have in common. What is their shared humanity? I have confused myself to think that I am living in the rich man's world, but now is the time of democracy. Now is the time of numbers and the numbers are not in favor of the richest of the rich. The goal is not to bring everyone into a middle class lifestyle, the goal is to give everyone that opportunity to provide for their families and provide en environment for the pursuit of happiness, prosperity, and advancement. One of the inalienable rights not propagated by the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, but is as natural to every person on the Earth as eating and drinking, is preparing to make the world a better place for our children and their children. Remember, both the world's richest man and the poorest men all once pushed their head through a vagina. We all suckled at our mother's breast and we all cried for food. It is what happened afterwards that has separated us into different castes. If we concentrate on the children and their lives, those castes will disappear.
One of my favorite books is 101 American Poems. It is a book that is full of life and meaning and spans 200 years of American history. It shows the hopes and dreams of a people struggling for an identity in the world, from "Two Roads Diverged" to "Casey at the Bat" to "My Soul is old like the Rivers." My hope for the poetry that follows is that it straddles the line between old American poetry and a new global poetry. After all, we are all just different stanzas in a poem called Earth.
Poetry is the heart and soul of America. From Walt Whitman to Robert Frost to Allen Ginsberg to untold millions, poetry has been a moral compass and an inspiration to our country. Its power lay in the belief that every man has a voice and every man has the opportunity to exercise that voice. What has come out of those voices has been at times both frightening and mystifying. But the underlying theme remains the same: We are a nation of people doing the best we can with the time that we have.
In the past few years I have called into question the above. What role does poetry have anymore in a country pushed forward by technology and financial gain? In my lifetime, since 1984, I am not aware of any traditional poetry being created that has shaped the American imagination. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place. Perhaps what has shaped the American imagination has been wrongly labeled.
Poetry has been taken out of the hands of the people and put into the hands of academics. Thus signaled the death of poetry. Then came rock'n'roll. Then came punk rock. Then came hip-hop and a thousand other assorted musical varieties and the poetry was given a beat and music behind it and it was packaged for the masses. The academics ignored it as true poetry but there is a large number of Americans who would disagree with them. While at Georgetown University's English department I joined a year-long poetry seminar. The professor leading the seminar told us that his poetry consisted of arranging sculpture size letters into words in a public park. Of our first two guest lecturers, one was a poet who wrote in gibberish and screams and the other wrote poems using only one word. I thought of "Imagine" by Lennon, "Dock 'O the Bay" by Otis Redding, "Round Here" by Adam Durowitz and promptly left the class. Though some of the poetry from contemporary music is bad and some of it is pure pop, like all poetry there are shining gems that inspire the American imagination and will continue to inspire for generations to come.
This inspiration of America is what I have always, with hopefully some success, tried to tap into. The America that I know looks different from the poets from the past, but it is still the same place with the same ideals. Now, as the world is getting smaller and countries are opening themselves up to the world, there may be a cultural movement as strong as the American cultural movement. We are now all global citizens, whether we like it or not or believe it or not, the whole world is now our shared community. With this shared community will come a shared culture.
I am happy to be alive at a time when a shared world culture will come into fruition. It will be exciting to see if it comes first in the form of a viral video spread on the internet or through a marketing campaign organized by a large multi-national company. My guess is that it will be a combination of the two. There is a lot to be learned from the old-way of doing things, but now is also the time to bring in change. Old technologies and outdated systems must be forgotten. We, I, must embrace the new technology as a new way of reaching goals. Technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself. What this new "end" will be is both exciting and scary and I intend to make my mark upon it. It is now the time to throw out that which is detrimental not only to ourselves but also to our community, our shared planet.
Come what may, 150 years from now everyone you know on this planet will be dead. What kind of community will they inherit and what will they think about us, their ancestors. Will our legacy be infrastructure? Governmental organizations that provide for the worlds well-being? A system of government that can include everyone and be as fair to the poorest man as to the richest man? New technologies that will allow machines to do the work of humans?
I hope that my generation's legacy will be its words and its ideas. War, organized violence for the benefit of one group over another, may become a thing of the past. Violence is as human a trait as love, but the systematic killing over "thing" or material objects and ideas can end. Justice is just another term for revenge, so I do not wish justice for the world, I only wish it peace. If we can ingrain an idea like that into the world through our words, we will give our grandchildren's generation the greatest gift the planet has ever received. Sometime in the not so distant future as our species leaves this planet in search of new adventures, let them look on now as the turning point when we banded together in hopes of a better tomorrow. Let us create now the society that we hope they will take with them to distant worlds where they will set up their new societies and cultures. If life on other planets does exist, let us start being the culture we would like to show them. We should strive to be the people, the countries, and the planet that we want to be, not continue acting as what we are. Unless you are happy with the current situation, in which case you will find yourself in disagreement with me. One of my favorite fictional presidents said, "We cannot be separated by our differences anymore, we must unite in our common interests."
Remember, there is only one richest man in the world, but there are unspoken masses of people who have nothing. And you can't have less than nothing. I have never seen a copy of Forbes lowest 500. I wonder if there is a world's poorest man. If there is I would like him to meet the world's richest man to see what they have in common. What is their shared humanity? I have confused myself to think that I am living in the rich man's world, but now is the time of democracy. Now is the time of numbers and the numbers are not in favor of the richest of the rich. The goal is not to bring everyone into a middle class lifestyle, the goal is to give everyone that opportunity to provide for their families and provide en environment for the pursuit of happiness, prosperity, and advancement. One of the inalienable rights not propagated by the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, but is as natural to every person on the Earth as eating and drinking, is preparing to make the world a better place for our children and their children. Remember, both the world's richest man and the poorest men all once pushed their head through a vagina. We all suckled at our mother's breast and we all cried for food. It is what happened afterwards that has separated us into different castes. If we concentrate on the children and their lives, those castes will disappear.
One of my favorite books is 101 American Poems. It is a book that is full of life and meaning and spans 200 years of American history. It shows the hopes and dreams of a people struggling for an identity in the world, from "Two Roads Diverged" to "Casey at the Bat" to "My Soul is old like the Rivers." My hope for the poetry that follows is that it straddles the line between old American poetry and a new global poetry. After all, we are all just different stanzas in a poem called Earth.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
At Least I Helped Her Up
The train was late again today, so I hustled on my walk to work. My boss isn’t in, so there’s no problem being late, but I like to challenge myself. If I’m trying to be fast, I find someone going faster than me and follow them, trying to keep up. Going from Market Street to Chestnut Street there was a white woman carrying two bags and putting quite the hustle in her bustle, so I followed her.
Ahead of the Hurrying Woman was a black girl taking her time. Instead of saying “excuse me” or going slower, the Hurrying Woman walked on a huge patch of ice next to the black girl. I like a challenge, so I still followed. As I walked by, I turned to look at the black girl…..
I kept following the Hurrying Woman. There was a car in the street she was crossing. She tried to quickly go around the car and SHE FELL ON THE ICE! I helped her up and I said, “You have to slow down, you can’t always be rushing around. Life is too short.” She said to me, “You don’t know my boss.” I said, “Say ‘Fuck him.’”
“You don’t know my boss.” This person allows her day to be ruined, puts herself at risk, and seemed genuinely unhappy because the person who signs her paycheck doesn’t tolerate a minute or two of tardiness. I know the economy is bad, but living in fear is definitely a reason to get a new job. Is money so important? I learned a lesson because of her, though.
Today’s lesson: Slow down or you might fall on the ice.
Today’s other lesson: Don’t challenge myself to go fast, challenge myself to do better.
……And when I turned to look at the black girl taking her time, she was smiling.
Ahead of the Hurrying Woman was a black girl taking her time. Instead of saying “excuse me” or going slower, the Hurrying Woman walked on a huge patch of ice next to the black girl. I like a challenge, so I still followed. As I walked by, I turned to look at the black girl…..
I kept following the Hurrying Woman. There was a car in the street she was crossing. She tried to quickly go around the car and SHE FELL ON THE ICE! I helped her up and I said, “You have to slow down, you can’t always be rushing around. Life is too short.” She said to me, “You don’t know my boss.” I said, “Say ‘Fuck him.’”
“You don’t know my boss.” This person allows her day to be ruined, puts herself at risk, and seemed genuinely unhappy because the person who signs her paycheck doesn’t tolerate a minute or two of tardiness. I know the economy is bad, but living in fear is definitely a reason to get a new job. Is money so important? I learned a lesson because of her, though.
Today’s lesson: Slow down or you might fall on the ice.
Today’s other lesson: Don’t challenge myself to go fast, challenge myself to do better.
……And when I turned to look at the black girl taking her time, she was smiling.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Aqua Fit
Aqua Fit sounds like it would be a pretty sweet workout. I imagined it to be a pool filled with people lifting the water weights and having noodle races. Shauna and I went to Aqua Fit together and there were four older women in the pool. We got in the pool and didn't talk to them. More older women came in the pool. They were all doing ballet jumps in formation.
Shauna had taken me to water aerobics. Aqua Fit is water aerobics. Everything started to make sense. We decided to leave.
It was worse than Bride Wars.
Shauna had taken me to water aerobics. Aqua Fit is water aerobics. Everything started to make sense. We decided to leave.
It was worse than Bride Wars.
Monday, January 26, 2009
When I Was 13
When I was 13, I wrote in my grade school year book that my future occupation would be the driver of the Oscar Mayer wiener mobile. The Oscar Mayer company is now taking applications for that job. When I found out, I got really excited. I thought it was a chance to make my education come around full circle until I stopped and thought harder. Come around full circle? Really? That's stupid.
I don't want what I wanted when I was 13. I want what I want now.
I don't want what I wanted when I was 13. I want what I want now.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Movies
I saw 3 movies today: The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, and Bride Wars. While watching Bride Wars, I felt like less of a man.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Alfred
alfersaurus (12:20:09 PM): u little slut
alfersaurus signed off at 12:24:05 PM.
alfersaurus is offline and will receive your IMs when signing back in.
alfersaurus signed on at 12:54:41 PM.
Skrubby88 (1:38:14 PM): www.someton.blogspot.com
Skrubby88 (1:38:17 PM): it's my blog
Skrubby88 (1:38:30 PM): i need stuff to write about because i'm not interesting
alfersaurus (1:38:47 PM): some ton
Skrubby88 (1:38:54 PM): yes
Skrubby88 (1:39:02 PM): it's somerton, my neighborhood, without the R
alfersaurus (1:39:26 PM): u have two followers
Skrubby88 (1:39:50 PM): Shauna and the guy I'm in a blog writing contest with
alfersaurus (1:40:03 PM): dude
alfersaurus (1:40:07 PM): this is so gay
Skrubby88 (1:40:13 PM): i know, i need to make it better
alfersaurus (1:40:24 PM): u spend ur free time reviewing a bar which no one is gonna read
alfersaurus (1:40:30 PM): and ur review isnt even good
alfersaurus (1:40:36 PM): cheap beer and they let u sing
Skrubby88 (1:40:44 PM): We all had a good time
Skrubby88 (1:41:03 PM): well, i had a good time
Skrubby88 (1:41:21 PM): what should i write about?
alfersaurus (1:41:22 PM): u write about shaving ur back
Skrubby88 (1:41:28 PM): i did
alfersaurus (1:42:16 PM): i want the last 5 minutes of my life back
Skrubby88 (1:42:26 PM): what should my next article be about?
alfersaurus (1:42:28 PM): thats was sooo bad
alfersaurus (1:42:35 PM): about how u are no lohnger going to blog
Skrubby88 (1:42:49 PM): but how else will i express my views to the world?
alfersaurus (1:42:55 PM): or at least how u are going to keep it to urself from now on
alfersaurus (1:43:00 PM): at paddy wacks
alfersaurus (1:43:04 PM): express them there
alfersaurus signed off at 12:24:05 PM.
alfersaurus is offline and will receive your IMs when signing back in.
alfersaurus signed on at 12:54:41 PM.
Skrubby88 (1:38:14 PM): www.someton.blogspot.com
Skrubby88 (1:38:17 PM): it's my blog
Skrubby88 (1:38:30 PM): i need stuff to write about because i'm not interesting
alfersaurus (1:38:47 PM): some ton
Skrubby88 (1:38:54 PM): yes
Skrubby88 (1:39:02 PM): it's somerton, my neighborhood, without the R
alfersaurus (1:39:26 PM): u have two followers
Skrubby88 (1:39:50 PM): Shauna and the guy I'm in a blog writing contest with
alfersaurus (1:40:03 PM): dude
alfersaurus (1:40:07 PM): this is so gay
Skrubby88 (1:40:13 PM): i know, i need to make it better
alfersaurus (1:40:24 PM): u spend ur free time reviewing a bar which no one is gonna read
alfersaurus (1:40:30 PM): and ur review isnt even good
alfersaurus (1:40:36 PM): cheap beer and they let u sing
Skrubby88 (1:40:44 PM): We all had a good time
Skrubby88 (1:41:03 PM): well, i had a good time
Skrubby88 (1:41:21 PM): what should i write about?
alfersaurus (1:41:22 PM): u write about shaving ur back
Skrubby88 (1:41:28 PM): i did
alfersaurus (1:42:16 PM): i want the last 5 minutes of my life back
Skrubby88 (1:42:26 PM): what should my next article be about?
alfersaurus (1:42:28 PM): thats was sooo bad
alfersaurus (1:42:35 PM): about how u are no lohnger going to blog
Skrubby88 (1:42:49 PM): but how else will i express my views to the world?
alfersaurus (1:42:55 PM): or at least how u are going to keep it to urself from now on
alfersaurus (1:43:00 PM): at paddy wacks
alfersaurus (1:43:04 PM): express them there
Bar Review: Hooked at Paddy Whacks
I was at Paddy Whack's last night for Jay's birthday and the song "Hook" by Blues Traveler came on. I was standing with Shauna and Kevin Rieffel and I told them, "I am going to yell the fast part at the top of my lungs." The fast part came along, and sure enough, Kevin and I yelled it at the top of our lungs. Everyone at the bar looked at us, which seems to happen to me somewhat often at bars. I'd like to start my review of Paddy Whack's with a huge kudos to the clientele: They either laughed or sang along with us. That's the kind of people I like at a bar, and so far Paddy Whacks gets a point for that.
Perhaps the second most important part of a bar beyond the people there are the money I have to spend there. Get this, on Saturday night there is no cover and $5 pitchers. In fact, there are $5 pitchers of Miller Lite all day everyday.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I expect I will be back to Paddy Whacks.
Perhaps the second most important part of a bar beyond the people there are the money I have to spend there. Get this, on Saturday night there is no cover and $5 pitchers. In fact, there are $5 pitchers of Miller Lite all day everyday.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I expect I will be back to Paddy Whacks.
Friday, January 23, 2009
INFINITELY cooler - her words, not mine
This is for Keith. I found it on his comments:
"Dear Keith,
You already failed. Today is Thursday. This was Tuesday. You stink. John Wilson is waaaay cooler.
Love, Kristin
PS: I take that back. He's a werewolf. So he's INFINITELY cooler.
PPS: You're neat. "
Although, I'd like to add:PPPS, Kristin: John is not always a werewolf because Shauna is nice enough to help shave his back. That's one of the reasons he's marrying her.
"Dear Keith,
You already failed. Today is Thursday. This was Tuesday. You stink. John Wilson is waaaay cooler.
Love, Kristin
PS: I take that back. He's a werewolf. So he's INFINITELY cooler.
PPS: You're neat. "
Although, I'd like to add:PPPS, Kristin: John is not always a werewolf because Shauna is nice enough to help shave his back. That's one of the reasons he's marrying her.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Discuss Amongst Yourselves, Shauna and Keith
I wonder if people who don't know how to use computers are like people who couldn't read when people first started reading.
She steal my money
I was walking towards City Hall and some of the area is closed off because Jaime Foxx is shooting a movie. I was waiting at a light and I could have sworn that the guy next to me was Jaime Foxx in fake dreadlocks, a skull cap, and sunglasses. I kept looking at him and he said, "What are you looking at?" I said, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
So I may have just gotten yelled at by Jaime Foxx.
So I may have just gotten yelled at by Jaime Foxx.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bananas
Kirk Cameron says that bananas are evidence that God exists. I say that apples are good evidence that oranges exist. I'm eating an apple right now. I know it exists because I can see it and taste it. It's red and delicious. My apple exists.
But do oranges exist? An orange is delicious, but it is not red so it is not an apple. I can remember oranges, but a memory is a terrible thing to trust. After all this talk about oranges, my taste buds and digestive system are telling my brain that it wants an orange. Why would I want an orange if it is not delicious? Oranges must be delicious. I can deduce that it has the same purpose as an apple: To feed me and make me happy.
An apple is red and delicious. An orange is orange and delicious. This is a problem. But I have two guitars in my house right now. One is orange and one is red, but they are both guitars. I can say that the only difference between an apple and an orange is the color and that they both fall under the same category. I call this category "fruit." If guitars can exist with different colors, I can accept that fruits can also exist with different colors. There is a more reason to believe that oranges exist than they don't exist. I am even willing to write it: Oranges exist.
If apples exist and oranges exists, I can say with confidence that bananas exist. Kirk Cameron has never lied to me and, as far as I know, has no reason to lie to me. If bananas exist and Kirk Cameron exists, then it proves that God exists. Based on what I can sense from the apple with my eyes and taste, I can confidently say that God exists.
But do oranges exist? An orange is delicious, but it is not red so it is not an apple. I can remember oranges, but a memory is a terrible thing to trust. After all this talk about oranges, my taste buds and digestive system are telling my brain that it wants an orange. Why would I want an orange if it is not delicious? Oranges must be delicious. I can deduce that it has the same purpose as an apple: To feed me and make me happy.
An apple is red and delicious. An orange is orange and delicious. This is a problem. But I have two guitars in my house right now. One is orange and one is red, but they are both guitars. I can say that the only difference between an apple and an orange is the color and that they both fall under the same category. I call this category "fruit." If guitars can exist with different colors, I can accept that fruits can also exist with different colors. There is a more reason to believe that oranges exist than they don't exist. I am even willing to write it: Oranges exist.
If apples exist and oranges exists, I can say with confidence that bananas exist. Kirk Cameron has never lied to me and, as far as I know, has no reason to lie to me. If bananas exist and Kirk Cameron exists, then it proves that God exists. Based on what I can sense from the apple with my eyes and taste, I can confidently say that God exists.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Naming my blog
Skrubby88 (8:48:05 PM): i need a name for my blog
whatisakeith (8:48:26 PM): let me get my linguist book
whatisakeith (8:49:37 PM): Anorchous - without testicles
Skrubby88 (8:50:12 PM): i picked Some Ton
whatisakeith (8:51:14 PM): how come
Skrubby88 (8:51:48 PM): Somerton without the R
whatisakeith (8:51:56 PM): very nice
whatisakeith (8:52:03 PM): what did u leave the R out for though?
whatisakeith (8:52:07 PM): has to add up
Skrubby88 (8:52:44 PM): because if you leave out the E, Som Rton doesn't make any sense
Skrubby88 (8:52:59 PM): and, because we had this conversation, are you likely to forget?
whatisakeith (8:48:26 PM): let me get my linguist book
whatisakeith (8:49:37 PM): Anorchous - without testicles
Skrubby88 (8:50:12 PM): i picked Some Ton
whatisakeith (8:51:14 PM): how come
Skrubby88 (8:51:48 PM): Somerton without the R
whatisakeith (8:51:56 PM): very nice
whatisakeith (8:52:03 PM): what did u leave the R out for though?
whatisakeith (8:52:07 PM): has to add up
Skrubby88 (8:52:44 PM): because if you leave out the E, Som Rton doesn't make any sense
Skrubby88 (8:52:59 PM): and, because we had this conversation, are you likely to forget?
Monday, January 19, 2009
About
I’m John Wilson, a Philadelphian by birth and an Avalonian by nature. I’ve been coming to Avalon since 1987 when my parents bought their house and have loved every second of it. Whether it’s playing skee-ball at the arcade on 30th Street, getting ice cream at Avalon Freeze, or spending the night at the Princeton, I love everything about Avalon. The only bad thing is leaving.
Avalon’s motto is that they are “cooler by a mile.” Some people say the motto comes from the fact that Avalon is a mile longer than its neighbor, Stone Harbor. Others say that Avalon is a few degrees cooler because it juts out a mile longer into the Atlantic Ocean than any of the other shore towns. With all the different restaurants, shops, and fun things to do, I don’t think it has anything to do with geography. Avalon is not just cooler by a mile, it’s Cooler By A Smile.
If you have a story idea, want to be mentioned in Cooler By A Smile, or just want to say hello you can reach me at JohnRayWilson@gmail.com.
Avalon’s motto is that they are “cooler by a mile.” Some people say the motto comes from the fact that Avalon is a mile longer than its neighbor, Stone Harbor. Others say that Avalon is a few degrees cooler because it juts out a mile longer into the Atlantic Ocean than any of the other shore towns. With all the different restaurants, shops, and fun things to do, I don’t think it has anything to do with geography. Avalon is not just cooler by a mile, it’s Cooler By A Smile.
If you have a story idea, want to be mentioned in Cooler By A Smile, or just want to say hello you can reach me at JohnRayWilson@gmail.com.
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