Monthly Archives: May 2008
I need a day or two off. Mega stressed. I’m ok, though. Got a big issue to deal with.
I’ll be back. There’s no way in hell that I’d let anyone scare me from this blog. Be well and take advantage of each day to appreciate and love each other, and not find a reason to complain.
Life is far too short.
If you (you know who you are) read this, I want you gone from my life. I want you to leave me alone. I know you read this blog. I want this message to get to you without me calling you and perhaps starting a confrontation. You aren’t worth it; I’m tired of your lies and manipulations. I’m publishing this so that everyone knows my intent to evict you from my life. So that I can have “backup” if needed.
You have burned your last bridge with me. I’m changing my phone number, deleting all my email accounts that you know of, and severing all possible contact between us. If you ever, ever try to come over to my house again, the cops will be called and I will be making an (At the least, an assault if not attempted murder. I don’t know which one would apply in my case.) charge.
Don’t ever put a knife to anyone’s throat again and say it is only a joke, you sociopathic bastard.
What Dreams May Come
I love the lyrical beauty of the title, so simple and elegant. So I had to pick up the book. I watched the movie with Robin Williams sometime ago and had liked it.
The book is, like so many others, much better. Thick. Meater. More philosophical. I loved it and it should be a must read on everyone’s list. I like how Richard Matheson invisions the afterlife, which accomodates people’s differing tastes.
My heaven would be quiet and filled with books. And horses. And free WoW. I digress.
At the heart of this story is the author’s philosophy on what happens after we bite the big one, the love story seems like an after thought, as a way to delve into the workings of how the afterlife works. I guess that’s ok, because there are moments of such clarity into the main characters’ relationship that the love they share almost feels geniune.
This is a novel whose themes of hope and love and to live life without fear are important to take in and absorp. Read it. It’s great.
Related books: The Lovely Bones
Cops. Excessive force. Lethal shootings.
Ninety-nine point nine percent of police officers are actually sane (gasp!) and do not want any “excuse” to engage in excessive force. Sure, some (far and few between, I’ll add) officers do want a chance to work out some bully-aggression, but the vast majority start out with the desire to make this a better place, to improve society.
Most people do not realize just how many whacked out folks are in the world, but cops are exposed to situations that “civilians” will never–hopefully–find themselves in.
I can’t imagine the horrors that cops may see, or just how unpleasant some of the people they run into are to not only the cops, but everyday people. Whether the challenges from the job arise from a series of unfortunate circumstances, or from a cold blooded psychopathic killer, every terrible “crime scene” must take a piece of humanity from them.
To witness what horrors humanity can perpetuate on itself…that takes a kind of strength that most of humankind doesn’t possess. It can turn people hard.
(It’s also one of the careers with the highest rate of alcoholism. Medical professions, like doctors, are up there too.)
What brings this up? A couple of officers have been accused of shooting and killing a mentally ill person in L.A, California, after repeated requests (and tasering) to surrender.
I may get crap for saying this, but mentally ill people can be very dangerous–most of all, to themselves. It all depends on what the person has been diagnosed with, of couse. Relatives of the shooting victim have said that he’d never hurt them–but I tend to disagree.
I’d say they didn’t know that for sure, since they called the cops to get some help for him. Look, police resort to guns as a last resort; they do not take pleasure in shooting people. Really.
That said, I don’t think that the “law” is infallible. I think that all deaths like this should be investigated by a neutral (by that I mean neither supported by the police or the police watch dog groups) agency.
But what really gets me is that the family of the deceased is suing the city for “wrongful” death. What do they want? Not badges, or the people that shot their loved one in prison. No. They want MONEY.
In Short…
Sweeney Todd + Tim Burton = homicidal awesomeness. Yeah, I borrowed that word from the ISB.** What’s that blogger gonna do to me? Give me paper cuts from horrible, outdated, misogynistic comic books? I kid, I kid.
In truth, there IS a hero in this movie, but it ain’t Sweeney. Duh, I know. And it ain’t Mrs. Lovett with her lovely meat pies… It’s the orphan that Mrs. Lovett takes in. Ooops. I’ve already said too much.
I do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the titular character, but he may have gone a little overboard with the killing and the singing whilst elbow deep in blood. (Obviously fake. Real blood is darker, especially coming from an artery.***
Yes. This is a musical. With blood. Lots of arterial spray all over the place. I guess that means even manly men can watch and enjoy the spectacle of this movie. It’s bloodier than I expected, and even darker than most of Burton’s films, but it is a good film.
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**If you are a comics fan, this blog is a daily MUST read.
***Don’t ask me how I know. I’ll have to show you! I joke. (As far as YOU know.)
We are Family
Family, true family, is who you choose to let into your life. True family shouldn’t be about a matter of blood or words on a page. You should feel people are members of your family in your heart. I can barely stand the people who share the same genetic code with me, but I consider my roomie as my sister.
I can’t have children. Which is fine as I don’t really want children, not the way the country is going. (And according to some Mayan prophesies, 2/3rd of the population will be dead after 2012 anyway—not that I believe in the prophesies…) But if I did want rug rats, and I guess I might if I met the right person, I think I would adopt.
It wouldn’t make me love or defend the child any less. If I were a mother, I would be a very, very devoted mother. I’d take motherhood seriously. It would still be MY child, my heart, something for me to share my life with and someone that I can teach and see develop into an amazing person.
I hurt inside when someone says, “I won’t be able to love any child not of my own flesh.”(This isn’t dedicated to anyone that reads this blog.) Really, that is an arrogant statement. What of those children that don’t have dedicated and loving parents? What of the abandoned ones that are shuffled off from foster home to foster home?
I say love them. Find one and show them the true meaning of love and family. Teach them to trust and to live and to love openly without fear of being hurt or mistreated. Most of the world’s minor problems (which, all together add up to be a major one!) stem from the lack of love in children’s’ lives.
I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings by this post. I don’t want to be seen as cruel or unfeeling. I merely wish to say there is always a way to have a family, even if it is slightly nontraditional. Don’t give up. There really are children that need you.
Bored…
I’ve been thinking about politics and candidates lately, and decided to just have fun with how Marvel characters would campaign. As you will read, I’ve been bored at work.
For the Republican ticket:
Frank “The Punisher” Castle
Campaign slogan: Hard on crime. Harder on criminals.
Stance on the war: We’re already over there, might as well clean things up. As bad as it it, it’ll look worse to them if we pull out. We’ll look weak…like we’re easy pickings.
Pros: He can be his own Secret Service. His experience in ‘Nam.
Cons: Slightly homicidal. More than a little loco.
Running mate: Nick Fury.
Democrat ticket:
Professor Charles Xavier.
Campaign slogan: We can make a difference working together.
Stance on domestic problems, such as gay marriage: “We are all basically the same inside, no matter what gender, race or ‘orientation.’ I think, on some level, people realize that we all have our parts to play in
society–and that scares some individuals, challenges preconceived notions about life and the nature of it.”
Pros: Intelligent, influential, charismatic.
Cons: Might mind control Congress. (Hmmm on second thought…)
Running mate: Jean Grey (purely for the “chick” vote.)
Iron Man
I had heard good things about this movie, so I went in expected a fun popcorn flick. Thrills, chills and pop spills…all of that. Robert Downey Jr is a great, underrated actor, so I was anticipating a good job from him. Gwyneth Paltrow gave an adequate performance also. I barely recognized Jeff Bridges; I thought it was Kris Kristopherson for a few minutes. What a drastic change!
I wasn’t expecting it to have humor in it. I never thought of Tony Stark as anything other than a man who happened to stumble into the superhero business half blind from alcohol poisoning.
And yes, he is a jerk through the first one third of the movie…until he realizes that the weapons–his primary business just happens to be weapons manufacturing– he made hurt innocent people. THEN he evolves into an most unlikely superhero.
I really enjoyed this movie, mostly because of the special effects and the marvelous way that Downey created Tony Stark. Yeah, the villian (s) not as completely developed as I would like, but then, this isn’t a film about them. (And I get tired of hearing of why bad guys are bad….sometimes it’s just enough to know it.)
This movie is about Iron Man! Who is still a jerk but with a heart of gold.
V is for Valkyrie 