I read two entries in my 1Yr Bible yesterday afternoon. It's helped put my mind at ease some, but I know I gotta get to it again today, as I'm still behind by like 5 days apprx (haven't counted 'em...) and I was behind by what seemed like a mountain. It was probably only a week...I had last read January 6th, so it couldn't have been that long ago, because I was not caught up when I had last read from it. I was almost caught up, so I think it must have been January 7th...hmm (January) 12 - 7(th)(of January) = 5...? 5 days? Hmmmm...that doesn't sound right...and it's still not right, but anyway....idk....
I missed two weeks of church now. I'm kind of afraid I'll enter the house of God w/o enough reverence or something. The guy who sits beside me keeps asking "Are YOU OK?" after I ask him if he's OK and he's got this kind of worried look on his face. Idk...maybe I'm misreading him. Ugh.
Anyway. I always get this way a little on Friday. By "this way", I mean worried. It's usually not so much about my spiritual composure or aura or whatever, but more related to the weight of it. I go most of my week w/o any schedule. Then Sunday comes up and I end up needing to be awake and ready to go. Thankfully church doesn't start until after 10am. We usually leave at apprx 10am, b/c it's a 25(+/-) drive to the church. Most of the churches in the immediate area are Baptist churches, which are not my thing. I haven't looked into the specifics, but my mom said that the baptist church has a bunch of member-bylaws or whatever they're called and not all of them are commanded by The Bible/God. I doubt it's nearly as extreme as what had happened to Jewish law by the time Jesus had arrived, but I don't believe the commands that Paul gave to the Gentiles need to be expounded upon. If they needed expounding, The Bible would have provided that expounding. That's not to say The Bible doesn't expound upon them, but it doesn't expound upon them in list format and I think there's good reason for that. The founders of this nation understood that reason which is why they fled from The Church Of England and made Christianity a choice rather than a government mandate.
Anyway. The morning is still young. I went to bed at 6:30 PM yesterday. I was feeling really like stuffy headed or something...and had a headache + my teeth were all gunky feeling. I had been neglecting my teeth big time. I've never been good at just going ahead with brushing my teeth, and I've let them go even more so lately. I brushed yesterday and the day before. Here's hoping for Day 3. And Day 2 of Bible reading. >>>>GO GO GO!
Ok, I guess that's it.
You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous
Friday, January 13, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
What's King's problem?
Stephen King's two best books are being shortchanged.IT (1986)
and
PET SEMATARY (1983)
A mass market paperback re-issue of Pet Sematary is finally being released January 29 (3 weeks to go!) and I haven't seen any evidence of a softcover on the horizon, which would be much preferred. It's a relatively short book, so it doesn't really *need* a strong hard binding like IT does. However IT was released in softcover back in the summer of '16 and while it's apprx 300 pages shorter than the mass market printing, it's still 3x bigger than the number of pages in the old paperbacks from the days when you didn't need membership into the old people's club to appreciate Stephen King. I swear, you know how many trees you folks are wasting?
IT was once, not too terribly long ago (maybe 3 years ago?) available through book clubs and nowhere else, but now it's just nowhere. It costs at least $50 to buy one that's in nice shape. Yesterday I found one on e-Bay that was actually in quite nice shape. It costs $75. Yeah f****ing right.
I've read on the Amazon forums that Stephen King has a low opinion of PET SEMATARY. I can sorta see why based on this one reviewer on Amazon, citing Stephen King's optimistic streak that is completely absent from PET SEMATARY. However, what does he have against IT? Maybe nothing. I guess it's probably more a matter of cost than anything. If Doubleday or whoever re-printed it, it would probably still cost $40 minimum. I really liked the original cover-art. It was so finger looking good they re-used it for the paperback. That's a far cry from PET SEMETARY, which has never had a good paperback, hardback or softcover pressing aside from one that was printed as part of a set of S.K. hardcover editions back in the early 1990s. It was included on Amazon's website, but hardly anyone selling it was offering the edition pictured in the listing.
Meanwhile, I'm still awaiting CHVRCHES third album, which sounds to be more interesting than their 2nd album. It's being recorded now, and will probably see release in spring '17 but I might get lucky and see it's release late(r) this year... I've grown kinda tired of their debut, but I can tell you it's still good as it was. I just need a break from it.
couponcoupon
I got this stupid email at 1:04 PM today (eastern time). It's from PayPal and the subject line says "Thanks for your generosity". What generosity? The answer seems to be null.
Taken from the email:
Thanks for supporting your favorite cause with PayPal this holiday season. You and millions of others helped to make 2016 one of the biggest holiday online giving seasons ever. We are grateful for our generous community of users.
Yeah, uh...what? I have no idea what that's about. I have no interest in "charitable organizations" aka "charities". The work most of them, almost all of them, do is minimal and costs the donors way more than it ought to because the people doing it are doing it for the money. The CEO of United Way and all these things makes millions of dollars of donations from people. There is nothing the United Way does that the U.S. gov't couldn't do just as efficiently with higher taxation of the citizens. I don't support all of the money the gov't spends on everything, but I can comprehend that I am not in the majority in that line of thinking and that cancer research and environmental impact studies and peace talks between nations at war are deemed worthy of the billions upon billions upon billions that we spend on that stuff. I'm not against cancer research, nor am I against understanding the environment, but surely if the gov't is expected to pay for it, can't anyone with these concerns fund these things individually? The gov't is not what makes America great. The gov't gives and nobody is considering the cost. If cancer research is important, then a free country is able to decide that on its own and make its own fate with its decisions.
So yeah. I don't recall being a part of whatever b.s. this email is referring to. I did donate to The Salvation Army several times in 2016. There are so many charities that do the same thing with a much higher paid CEO & co and thus more overhead. The Salvation Army spends very little on advertising. You know The Salvation Army exists because they get out there and they ring the bells every Christmas and Thanksgiving. For some reason it's not good enough to donate to them. Why? Obviously there's some things they don't budget for, like "raising awareness" about racial issues and animal abuse...the hatred and oppression that occur in this world are not going to go away because of any charity that pops up. God can change an individual's heart but the consequences of past sin and the shortcomings that even sincere hardcore Christians face make a sin free world an impracticality. God will eventually have to destroy the planet because the sin in this world will eventually accelerate into a filthy swamp of tar.
You'll probably have to scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see the rest of what I'm talking about here onward. Their "thanks" for something I do not condone much less participate in is apparently targeted to the same demographic...
COUPONS! YAY! THE SAME COUPONS YOU CAN FIND AT A MILLION OTHER WEBSITES.
COUPON CABIN
THE KRAZY COUPON LADY
RED PLUM
COUPONS DOT COM
RETAIL ME NOT
Seriously, just type the word "coupon" and there's pages upon pages of results that come up.
These sites are sometimes useless in and of themselves depending on what coupons are being offered at any given retailer and what retailer you want to shop with/at, but these PayPal coupons are totally garbage. There's one midpage w/ the WalMart banner. It says "save 30% on rollbacks and free s/h with $50 purchase". WalMart.com offers free s/h with a $50 purchase. That is not a "deal" anymore so than "don't kill me and you won't go to prison" is a "deal". Just any handshake or a signed contract is not newsworthy. People barely take notice when the President is sworn in. Why? Same reason the privacy policy on most websites go unread (by most people). IT'S NOT IMPORTANT. I'd like to just tell Google "SHOOT THEM IF THEY TRY TO COME ACROSS THE GATE AGAIN!", but I don't think Google is sophisticated enough to offer such a service even if you were willing to pay for it. The correlating "Unsubscribe" button would cut me off from "NEWS" ****AND**** promotions. If people can't quit being idiots, at least show some respect for people who aren't as smart as Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking but are still pretty damn smart in comparison to whatever people read and found use from this email.
Taken from the email:
Thanks for supporting your favorite cause with PayPal this holiday season. You and millions of others helped to make 2016 one of the biggest holiday online giving seasons ever. We are grateful for our generous community of users.
Yeah, uh...what? I have no idea what that's about. I have no interest in "charitable organizations" aka "charities". The work most of them, almost all of them, do is minimal and costs the donors way more than it ought to because the people doing it are doing it for the money. The CEO of United Way and all these things makes millions of dollars of donations from people. There is nothing the United Way does that the U.S. gov't couldn't do just as efficiently with higher taxation of the citizens. I don't support all of the money the gov't spends on everything, but I can comprehend that I am not in the majority in that line of thinking and that cancer research and environmental impact studies and peace talks between nations at war are deemed worthy of the billions upon billions upon billions that we spend on that stuff. I'm not against cancer research, nor am I against understanding the environment, but surely if the gov't is expected to pay for it, can't anyone with these concerns fund these things individually? The gov't is not what makes America great. The gov't gives and nobody is considering the cost. If cancer research is important, then a free country is able to decide that on its own and make its own fate with its decisions.
So yeah. I don't recall being a part of whatever b.s. this email is referring to. I did donate to The Salvation Army several times in 2016. There are so many charities that do the same thing with a much higher paid CEO & co and thus more overhead. The Salvation Army spends very little on advertising. You know The Salvation Army exists because they get out there and they ring the bells every Christmas and Thanksgiving. For some reason it's not good enough to donate to them. Why? Obviously there's some things they don't budget for, like "raising awareness" about racial issues and animal abuse...the hatred and oppression that occur in this world are not going to go away because of any charity that pops up. God can change an individual's heart but the consequences of past sin and the shortcomings that even sincere hardcore Christians face make a sin free world an impracticality. God will eventually have to destroy the planet because the sin in this world will eventually accelerate into a filthy swamp of tar.
You'll probably have to scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see the rest of what I'm talking about here onward. Their "thanks" for something I do not condone much less participate in is apparently targeted to the same demographic...
COUPONS! YAY! THE SAME COUPONS YOU CAN FIND AT A MILLION OTHER WEBSITES.
COUPON CABIN
THE KRAZY COUPON LADY
RED PLUM
COUPONS DOT COM
RETAIL ME NOT
Seriously, just type the word "coupon" and there's pages upon pages of results that come up.
These sites are sometimes useless in and of themselves depending on what coupons are being offered at any given retailer and what retailer you want to shop with/at, but these PayPal coupons are totally garbage. There's one midpage w/ the WalMart banner. It says "save 30% on rollbacks and free s/h with $50 purchase". WalMart.com offers free s/h with a $50 purchase. That is not a "deal" anymore so than "don't kill me and you won't go to prison" is a "deal". Just any handshake or a signed contract is not newsworthy. People barely take notice when the President is sworn in. Why? Same reason the privacy policy on most websites go unread (by most people). IT'S NOT IMPORTANT. I'd like to just tell Google "SHOOT THEM IF THEY TRY TO COME ACROSS THE GATE AGAIN!", but I don't think Google is sophisticated enough to offer such a service even if you were willing to pay for it. The correlating "Unsubscribe" button would cut me off from "NEWS" ****AND**** promotions. If people can't quit being idiots, at least show some respect for people who aren't as smart as Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking but are still pretty damn smart in comparison to whatever people read and found use from this email.
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Sunday, January 8, 2017
been awhile...again...
No church today b/c the weather. No church -- for me -- last week b/c my mom was out of town and I didn't feel like trying to find someone willing to give me a ride. I'm going to need to knuckle down and get serious. At the tail end of the day, I got down to reading two entries of my one-year Bible I think I wrote of last month or late the one before. I'm still not caught up, but if I get the same accomplished today, that fact will no longer be true, but of course will be true once again starting 12:00AM, which as of *right now* is 4 hours from now. I can't say I'm moved beyond words to act, but I can just sense myself disassociating with Christian living. The methodology of God seems to be warnings and promises. I don't know why, but I don't feel compelled to act based on either. I don't remember if I ever have been. So where does that leave me? Phone lines are open....
Been having a hard time to find music worth listening to. Pandora on my blu ray player is so screwy. It plays a song or two then starts playing another one, stops that song, and then proceeds to the next one. This 2016 model LG player seems OK, I guess, but the apps are iffy. The Amazon app streams GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) (from my video library) with a resolution that looks marginally better than 8-bit. One concern I have about the blu ray playing component is when I tried to stream TAXI DRIVER (1976), the child lock feature had apparently been activated. I don't know if that was from the previous owner or if this is like what was going on with the SONY blu ray players of 2016. At least I was able to get the disc out of the player, so it's not quite the same problem the SONYs were having, and like I said, it could have been something the previous owner had set. I'd imagine some DVDs and BDs, depending on the software they're made with, could evade the child lock mechanisms. The CL was for both DVDs and BDs, so...uh...
Listening to this CD by...uh...not even sure...lemme check---a band called MuteMath; the album is VITALS. Pretty boring stuff. Singer sounds like he's on drugs and the keyboards are equally drugged sounding. The melodies sound sorta emotional, but just aren't getting to me. I started listening to it and haven't been disgusted by it enough to press 'stop'. I'm using Amazon Music Unlimited b/c I got a $20 credit for buying a CD back in November. I still got $4 credit to utilize, so I'll probably pay whatever $ they require on my billing date of January 29. My Prime membership expries February 20, so I don't know if they'll charge me 30 days for $9.99 or 30 days for $7.99 (the rate for Prime members) or if they'll do a hybrid of the two, since I'll be a Prime member for 20 or so of those days and not a Prime member for the rest of 'em...
I ordered a Roku Express+ yesterday b/c of this b.s. with the apps. Hopefully SONY will put out a worthy 2017 model and I can use that soon. I got a Wal-Mart in-store credit card, with a $700 credit limit.
I actually ordered a SONY blu ray player most recently, but Overstock.com sent me an LG player instead. What's weird is the LG player is higher priced at both Overstock and Amazon. I contacted them and asked them if they would find out what happened and demand I send the player back, and in response they gave a $5 credit on a future purchase. Yay. I'm thinking of selling this LG player. I'll probably hold onto it awhile longer. Idk.
Been having a hard time to find music worth listening to. Pandora on my blu ray player is so screwy. It plays a song or two then starts playing another one, stops that song, and then proceeds to the next one. This 2016 model LG player seems OK, I guess, but the apps are iffy. The Amazon app streams GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) (from my video library) with a resolution that looks marginally better than 8-bit. One concern I have about the blu ray playing component is when I tried to stream TAXI DRIVER (1976), the child lock feature had apparently been activated. I don't know if that was from the previous owner or if this is like what was going on with the SONY blu ray players of 2016. At least I was able to get the disc out of the player, so it's not quite the same problem the SONYs were having, and like I said, it could have been something the previous owner had set. I'd imagine some DVDs and BDs, depending on the software they're made with, could evade the child lock mechanisms. The CL was for both DVDs and BDs, so...uh...
Listening to this CD by...uh...not even sure...lemme check---a band called MuteMath; the album is VITALS. Pretty boring stuff. Singer sounds like he's on drugs and the keyboards are equally drugged sounding. The melodies sound sorta emotional, but just aren't getting to me. I started listening to it and haven't been disgusted by it enough to press 'stop'. I'm using Amazon Music Unlimited b/c I got a $20 credit for buying a CD back in November. I still got $4 credit to utilize, so I'll probably pay whatever $ they require on my billing date of January 29. My Prime membership expries February 20, so I don't know if they'll charge me 30 days for $9.99 or 30 days for $7.99 (the rate for Prime members) or if they'll do a hybrid of the two, since I'll be a Prime member for 20 or so of those days and not a Prime member for the rest of 'em...
I ordered a Roku Express+ yesterday b/c of this b.s. with the apps. Hopefully SONY will put out a worthy 2017 model and I can use that soon. I got a Wal-Mart in-store credit card, with a $700 credit limit.
I actually ordered a SONY blu ray player most recently, but Overstock.com sent me an LG player instead. What's weird is the LG player is higher priced at both Overstock and Amazon. I contacted them and asked them if they would find out what happened and demand I send the player back, and in response they gave a $5 credit on a future purchase. Yay. I'm thinking of selling this LG player. I'll probably hold onto it awhile longer. Idk.
MCD: PT II
after reading Wikipedia's WalMart article, one can only wait and wonder what kind of sick transmutations occur in the world after 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Animal_welfare
Walmart's cage-free eggs will not come from free range producers, but rather industrial-scale farms where the birds will be allotted between 1 and 1.5 square feet each, a stressful arrangement which can cause cannibalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Animal_welfare
Walmart's cage-free eggs will not come from free range producers, but rather industrial-scale farms where the birds will be allotted between 1 and 1.5 square feet each, a stressful arrangement which can cause cannibalism
Monday, December 5, 2016
UTF
When Jesus heard this, He was astonished and said to those following
Him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such
great faith."
Matthew 8:10
"... faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Untitled fiction
Son, you are confined to a small space. You cannot move; you are unable to walk about or even breath on your own free will. The seed with which I used to create you was in this exact same situation. He was freed, like you will soon be, but then became confined to a space not as small as this, but not nearly as big as the ones he was accustomed to after he'd been freed. I wept as he cursed my name, but all he could hear or cared to hear was the sound of his voice cursing me.
Father, why would anyone curse you?
O son. There is so little you can know at this point in your life. You will soon forget me. I will try to find you --- Son; why are you crying?
Father, I cannot bare what you are telling me. Say it is not so.
Son, you know I would not lie to you.
Father, I love you too much. Please spare me this pain.
Son, there are people out there that need you. This world is obscured by lies and hatred. If I reach them directly with my own hands, I will die. We will meet again one day, my child. Go to sleep.
Father, please...
Son, you're making this harder than it has to be.
I'm sorry, Father.
I'm sorry, too, son. These feelings are temporary. There is indeed happiness outside this confine. Why are your eyes widening? Your skin is too pale. O, my son. This work I have begun in you is unraveling. Please let go of my hand...before it's too late.
Matthew 8:10
"... faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Untitled fiction
Son, you are confined to a small space. You cannot move; you are unable to walk about or even breath on your own free will. The seed with which I used to create you was in this exact same situation. He was freed, like you will soon be, but then became confined to a space not as small as this, but not nearly as big as the ones he was accustomed to after he'd been freed. I wept as he cursed my name, but all he could hear or cared to hear was the sound of his voice cursing me.
Father, why would anyone curse you?
O son. There is so little you can know at this point in your life. You will soon forget me. I will try to find you --- Son; why are you crying?
Father, I cannot bare what you are telling me. Say it is not so.
Son, you know I would not lie to you.
Father, I love you too much. Please spare me this pain.
Son, there are people out there that need you. This world is obscured by lies and hatred. If I reach them directly with my own hands, I will die. We will meet again one day, my child. Go to sleep.
Father, please...
Son, you're making this harder than it has to be.
I'm sorry, Father.
I'm sorry, too, son. These feelings are temporary. There is indeed happiness outside this confine. Why are your eyes widening? Your skin is too pale. O, my son. This work I have begun in you is unraveling. Please let go of my hand...before it's too late.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
A lukewarn Sunday
Today started out great. I don't know what happened. I feel like today has been a dark day. My mom was talking under her breath while the worship leader was leading prayer and since then I've been consumed with varying levels of negativity, ranging from boredom, impatience and judgement as well as sadness and regret. Yesterday I snapped at a Target employee who was either very inexperienced or wasn't all that bright. She almost took my entire $10 bill when I had already made it as clear as anyone could that I wanted to pay $11 out of the $13 total with my EBT card. Thankfully I noticed that she was about to make that mistake, but I could have handled myself better. She responded to my anger with more anger, and I felt ashamed, but of course there was nothing I could do about it. I prayed to God this morning and I think I prayed to God sometime since that particular time yesterday, but the fact and memory remains.
I just woke up from a 2.5 hour nap. I ate a bunch of sandwiches for a snack of sorts, and I don't feel too hot about that either. I wasn't happy while I was doing it and I don't even remember what it was that was mad about. Obviously nothing worth additional weight gain.
I have no idea what to make of what the pastors were saying. Nothing they said made any sense. Someone might go to Hell if I don't tell them(him/her) about Christ. I thought about efforts I could make on the way home and I thought any random person I say "hi" to and responds could be an opportunity to create a friendship that could lead to salvation for either them or someone they know. So I thought for a moment; what if I walked and just kept looking forward? Obviously I''m not committed to making friends or I would have done it by now or at least tried. Then I thought ":baby steps". It may not mean anything; right now, it doesn't. Baby steps on their own mean nothing. And I can't guarantee they'll ever mean anything, nor can God Himself. However, there may come a time my baby steps may accumulate into a mini-walk that may slip into a sprint, and things could change before my third eye can protest too much. I don't know. I'm not even sure if I love God enough to be "earnest" in my prayers if I prayed a request for opportunity. Pastor said something about people's attitude of themselves, using an analogy regarding windows vs. mirrors, the difference being windows you can see what's beyond your house and mirrors are just reflections. Damn. I listen to music an awful lot. What is music other than a mirror? I guess I need to go for more walks. I'm definitely not committed enough to God to walk in this muddy water that's pouring from the sky.
Ok, I suck. I don't know why I was about to type more. It means nothing. My feelings are so damn easily manipulated. Tomorrow I may very well wake up as if today never happened. I don't think so. It's not like I'm shallow...not to brag or anything...idk...
I just woke up from a 2.5 hour nap. I ate a bunch of sandwiches for a snack of sorts, and I don't feel too hot about that either. I wasn't happy while I was doing it and I don't even remember what it was that was mad about. Obviously nothing worth additional weight gain.
I have no idea what to make of what the pastors were saying. Nothing they said made any sense. Someone might go to Hell if I don't tell them(him/her) about Christ. I thought about efforts I could make on the way home and I thought any random person I say "hi" to and responds could be an opportunity to create a friendship that could lead to salvation for either them or someone they know. So I thought for a moment; what if I walked and just kept looking forward? Obviously I''m not committed to making friends or I would have done it by now or at least tried. Then I thought ":baby steps". It may not mean anything; right now, it doesn't. Baby steps on their own mean nothing. And I can't guarantee they'll ever mean anything, nor can God Himself. However, there may come a time my baby steps may accumulate into a mini-walk that may slip into a sprint, and things could change before my third eye can protest too much. I don't know. I'm not even sure if I love God enough to be "earnest" in my prayers if I prayed a request for opportunity. Pastor said something about people's attitude of themselves, using an analogy regarding windows vs. mirrors, the difference being windows you can see what's beyond your house and mirrors are just reflections. Damn. I listen to music an awful lot. What is music other than a mirror? I guess I need to go for more walks. I'm definitely not committed enough to God to walk in this muddy water that's pouring from the sky.
Ok, I suck. I don't know why I was about to type more. It means nothing. My feelings are so damn easily manipulated. Tomorrow I may very well wake up as if today never happened. I don't think so. It's not like I'm shallow...not to brag or anything...idk...
more dumbness
got this in an email from gift card resale guru giftcardgranny.com
https://www.giftcardgranny.com/blog/best-buy-rewards-money-saving-secrets/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=12%20days%20of%20savings&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Electronics%20Deals&utm_content=Day%204
This article makes no sense. Why would someone want to shop at BestBuy and hesitate because they can get a better deal elsewhere and then hurt their heads trying to "think like a money-saving expert" when the obvious choice is to simply shop elsewhere? If you want to support "local" businesses, do that. If you want to support ACTUAL ***local*** businesses, you're going to need to spend more money than you otherwise would, which is the whole point, right?
https://www.giftcardgranny.com/blog/best-buy-rewards-money-saving-secrets/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=12%20days%20of%20savings&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Electronics%20Deals&utm_content=Day%204
This article makes no sense. Why would someone want to shop at BestBuy and hesitate because they can get a better deal elsewhere and then hurt their heads trying to "think like a money-saving expert" when the obvious choice is to simply shop elsewhere? If you want to support "local" businesses, do that. If you want to support ACTUAL ***local*** businesses, you're going to need to spend more money than you otherwise would, which is the whole point, right?
Friday, December 2, 2016
The World --- past and present...
I remember when Bill Clinton raised minimum wage toward the end of his presidency. I was 16 or 17 then, not old enough to vote, a little too in the clouds to be much aware of politics. I was aware of the debate about guns, the debate about abortion and the debate about gay people. My mom brought up a pretty good point the other day; most people that have guns don't know how to use them. They either kill themselves or firing at another person that was not the intended target. Since the ascent of vegans and animal rights groups, along with Nintendo and cable TV, hunting is not the past time it once was. It seems most of the forestry has been replaced with McDonald's' and Burger Kings. I'm not as vehement about my prochoice and gay rights stance. If this nation were to be dedicated to God by its people, I'd say sure. Once a true revival has been accomplished, if it ever happens, then I would encourage legislation to prevent another downfall. People are way too worried about Sodom and Gomorra's fate happening to the USA. It is true that the floodgates are opening. Gay people are officially accepted as kosher by the U.S. gov't, and now people are trying to push the boundaries further. Eventually, this will tear us apart. I think perhaps I now understand what people meant in the '90's talking about "treating women as objects" in reference to porn. I had a hard time understanding it because I've always had a difficult time connecting with people. People technically speaking are objects, physically speaking. Just like a piece of electronic equipment is used to entertain us, people are used to make the household goods that our homes contain in this nation and many other developed nations. The difference is love. Your TV can't love you like another human being can. That thought makes no sense in modern youth since sex and love have become synonyms to some extent. After all, if your TV has the Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee sex tape showing you "love", what argument can one make when someone says "Close enough"? I don't think society is anywhere near barbaric enough to warrant a S&G scale cursing. The people of those lands were not merely in a sex frenzy party mode 24/7. They were rude and demanding. They demanded to have sex with the newest arrival in town. They didn't ask for consent. They didn't have any interest in anything other than satisfying their libido. Dating was once generally understood as getting to know someone before marrying them. Then it became an attempt of an emotional connection that may or may not lead to sex and/or marriage. Now it's like a code word. Most men are more coded than I am, but women are even more so. Their bodies are more graceful, both in motion and stillfullness and their ability to detect subtleties is sometimes staggering, in a good way sometimes...Which is why it's never clear what one can expect when you say "Wanna go out on a date?" and the woman accepts. She may pick up on something about you that you yourself weren't even aware of. "Wait, she said I have the eyes of a stalker? Well, she ought to know I'm not a stalker. I only left her 3 voice messages since yesterday..."
(sigh) anyway.
I started this post talking about minimum wage going up in the '90's, didn't I? I think it went up again during W.'s admn. I don't remember. My head is still a little too in the clouds.
Yeah, little more trivial, I suppose, since it's really just a question more so than a narrative of thought/feeling. I have no means of knowing the answer. I know everybody wants more than they've got even though they have all they will ever need except in a lot of cases a lofty retirement. I know there are a lot of people that are misappropriating their money with the latest gadgets and hitting up food pantries for assistance.
However, since I've never had a job -- My limited ability to connect with people is just one reason for that -- I cannot objectively answer the primary question pertaining to the minimum wage debate: My pondrence is pertaining to: for those who were working minimum wage during or before the most recent mnm wage hike and are still making minimum wage today (does such a group exist?): Did the most recent minimum wage increase help you? In other words, is your life better as a direct result of minimum wage going up back then?
I know businesses are at odds with the Democrat agenda. I do think businesses should pay their fair share. Just like gay people should seek God's counsel and abstain from their urges, the people that own WalMart should also be empathetic and generous toward its employees and those less fortunate. However, the same greed that WalMart and its peers exhibit is not something the common man is immune to. Heck, I've been guilty of greed many a time and I've been on welfare all of my adult life. The more you have, the more you think you deserve. It's a tragic tale that happens over and over again, and The Bible shows it plenty and so does less controversial sources of history.
Obviously we as a society need to continue wanting what we don't have. It's a given. That's why capitalism works for those who have a job or some kind of income. But the degree of want is another story entirely. That people are so discontent with their lives that they sacrifice food and shelter to pay for the newest technologies is absolutely absurd. No smartphone is going to be useful enough to make it worth going without a nourishing meal. Heck, any kind of telephone is not really needed, although writing a letter or visiting a neighbor to get your fill of after-work social interaction is just too much to expect of people, right?
Government authority is a fashion statement. No government exists outside of the people's will. If people are wanting bad enough for their government to change, it'll happen. There's a passage in George Orwell's book 1984 that perfectly demonstrates that fact. Sure, people in China and USSR-era Russia had nothing to compare their lives to because of the strict censorship those governments impose(d). But if they really wanted change, they could have made it happen. Chinese citizens are too busy working and then shopping to demand change. Same thing with the USA. Until something bad happens to a family member or someone you love otherwise, it doesn't matter what the laws are. There simply aren't enough victims to make any kind of change. That's the kind of love The Bible speaks of. Loving someone enough to step in and help out with what they need. Not because of some forced familial connection, but because you are God's child and as an expression of gratitude, you treat others the same way Christ did --- died so he could keep us from having to go to Hell for the wrongs we commit, the nastiness in our hearts, both internal and outwardly projected.
I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I don't know if it's a harder road to walk because I resisted so long or if it's merely my dissassociation with society that still plagues me...I think it's a combination of the two. I do know I am a coward. I don't pray to God often enough about that.
This is oft-stated Christian theology, but a fitting closing thought:
The first commandment is NO IDOLATRY! It's the first commandment because even though it's the hardest commandment to follow, it makes following the rest of them a gazillion times easier to accomplish.
(sigh) anyway.
I started this post talking about minimum wage going up in the '90's, didn't I? I think it went up again during W.'s admn. I don't remember. My head is still a little too in the clouds.
Yeah, little more trivial, I suppose, since it's really just a question more so than a narrative of thought/feeling. I have no means of knowing the answer. I know everybody wants more than they've got even though they have all they will ever need except in a lot of cases a lofty retirement. I know there are a lot of people that are misappropriating their money with the latest gadgets and hitting up food pantries for assistance.
However, since I've never had a job -- My limited ability to connect with people is just one reason for that -- I cannot objectively answer the primary question pertaining to the minimum wage debate: My pondrence is pertaining to: for those who were working minimum wage during or before the most recent mnm wage hike and are still making minimum wage today (does such a group exist?): Did the most recent minimum wage increase help you? In other words, is your life better as a direct result of minimum wage going up back then?
I know businesses are at odds with the Democrat agenda. I do think businesses should pay their fair share. Just like gay people should seek God's counsel and abstain from their urges, the people that own WalMart should also be empathetic and generous toward its employees and those less fortunate. However, the same greed that WalMart and its peers exhibit is not something the common man is immune to. Heck, I've been guilty of greed many a time and I've been on welfare all of my adult life. The more you have, the more you think you deserve. It's a tragic tale that happens over and over again, and The Bible shows it plenty and so does less controversial sources of history.
Obviously we as a society need to continue wanting what we don't have. It's a given. That's why capitalism works for those who have a job or some kind of income. But the degree of want is another story entirely. That people are so discontent with their lives that they sacrifice food and shelter to pay for the newest technologies is absolutely absurd. No smartphone is going to be useful enough to make it worth going without a nourishing meal. Heck, any kind of telephone is not really needed, although writing a letter or visiting a neighbor to get your fill of after-work social interaction is just too much to expect of people, right?
Government authority is a fashion statement. No government exists outside of the people's will. If people are wanting bad enough for their government to change, it'll happen. There's a passage in George Orwell's book 1984 that perfectly demonstrates that fact. Sure, people in China and USSR-era Russia had nothing to compare their lives to because of the strict censorship those governments impose(d). But if they really wanted change, they could have made it happen. Chinese citizens are too busy working and then shopping to demand change. Same thing with the USA. Until something bad happens to a family member or someone you love otherwise, it doesn't matter what the laws are. There simply aren't enough victims to make any kind of change. That's the kind of love The Bible speaks of. Loving someone enough to step in and help out with what they need. Not because of some forced familial connection, but because you are God's child and as an expression of gratitude, you treat others the same way Christ did --- died so he could keep us from having to go to Hell for the wrongs we commit, the nastiness in our hearts, both internal and outwardly projected.
I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I don't know if it's a harder road to walk because I resisted so long or if it's merely my dissassociation with society that still plagues me...I think it's a combination of the two. I do know I am a coward. I don't pray to God often enough about that.
This is oft-stated Christian theology, but a fitting closing thought:
The first commandment is NO IDOLATRY! It's the first commandment because even though it's the hardest commandment to follow, it makes following the rest of them a gazillion times easier to accomplish.
chillin' w. the waves
Most of these "chill-wave" albums --- nostalgia-driven 21st century new wave --- start off great and then get boring after 4 or 5 songs. They sound cheesy in concept, but it's hard not to like the songs if you ignore the song titles. I was never into all the crap the 80's offered; RAMBO, POLICE ACADEMY, etc. etc...hair metal is OK, most of it is so shallow, I liked it more when I was a pre-teen and early teenager even though I've always been "deep" compared to my peers. I mainly like a lot of the synth based 80's music, like "Take On Me" by A-Ha, HEARTBREAK CITY-era The Cars (the bulk of their 1985 overview THE CARS' GREATEST HITS is a blast)...there's a lot of music in the '80's that is synth based I don't like. Some of that I liked a lot more before I came to Christ. Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" is just too slow and simplistic, even though it's obviously a bonafide classic; some people ***really*** like that song. It's never been a favorite of mine. I eagerly await a more useful spending of my time when it comes on Pandora, since I keep creating stations hoping to find a blend of music that actually represents the song(s) that I selected as a jumpstart to the station. They say "pick your favorite song or artist". I don't have a favorite artist. "Losing Your Memory" by Ryan Star is probably my favorite song, but I select that and it ends up a big mess of Coldplay like stuff, some of it IS Coldplay, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, they had some killer stuff in the early and mid-2000s, but nothing that compares with the likes of the station seed in question. It just irks me that they never play anything from prior to 2001 when I select that song. Personally I think the Billy Joel remake of that old song "And So It Goes" has a lot more in common with R.S.'s "Losing Your Memory" than most of this piano-jangle pop or whatever you call it. I always have to skip almost a dozen songs because it's largely stuff I've heard way more times than I ever needed to. The Fray's "How To Save A Life" -- and all the other 11 songs on that album -- are nothing new to me. The Fray's 2nd album onward is mostly garbage songs with a few OK songs mixed in. They NEVER played "And So It Goes". I've used "losing your memory" as a station seed alongside other custom radio jumpstarters but never did it cause Pandora to play "and so it goes" --- neither the original from the '50s or whenever that was (don't remember the name of the group) nor the Billy Joel re-make. Heck, I never even heard them play anything else of similar caliber and quality by Billy Joel. He had some killer songs on his "GHv3" from 1997 that covered his later years before he apparently quit making music unless you count live recordings as "making music". I think "The Downeastern Alexa" or "Shameless" would go great. I think one time I heard Imogen Heap's "Hide And Seek" on a station that I used "LYM" as a station seed after like the dozenth attempt. idk. That would have been the most obvious choice as a song you play on a station named after that great Ryan Star song.
Anyway...I don't know what I'm typing about. Music I don't like? idk.
Most of the chill-wave albums are not available physically. I did find one by a band called Gunship, which is probably the most boring chill wave album I've heard as of yet. Amazon is selling it for $18 and some change + tax. You can get it a little cheaper from their marketplace sellers. The lowest prices are like $15 apprx when you factor in s/h. Amazon offers free s/h, but if you opt out of that you have to pay $4 on top of the $20apprx (it might be slightly less depending on your local tax or if Amazon has a warehouse in your state. When I was living in Missouri through 2015, I didn't have to pay tax on Amazon LLC orders, although there were some marketplace sellers that shipped from Missouri who Amazon's system automatically added tax to items I thought about ordering from those sellers.....) I was considering ordering that Gunship CD b/c I had a real cool typically chill-wave cover, but it's in no way worth $15++. I'd rather wait for ATLAS by FM-84 to come on CD or vinyl than buy a mediocre chill wave album on CD. ATLAS isn't consistently riveting either, but it's better than CHROME BURNING by Mitch Murder, which I got done listening to 8 songs of this morning and found myself rather bored by that 8th song and the one preceding it.
Anyway...I don't know what I'm typing about. Music I don't like? idk.
Most of the chill-wave albums are not available physically. I did find one by a band called Gunship, which is probably the most boring chill wave album I've heard as of yet. Amazon is selling it for $18 and some change + tax. You can get it a little cheaper from their marketplace sellers. The lowest prices are like $15 apprx when you factor in s/h. Amazon offers free s/h, but if you opt out of that you have to pay $4 on top of the $20apprx (it might be slightly less depending on your local tax or if Amazon has a warehouse in your state. When I was living in Missouri through 2015, I didn't have to pay tax on Amazon LLC orders, although there were some marketplace sellers that shipped from Missouri who Amazon's system automatically added tax to items I thought about ordering from those sellers.....) I was considering ordering that Gunship CD b/c I had a real cool typically chill-wave cover, but it's in no way worth $15++. I'd rather wait for ATLAS by FM-84 to come on CD or vinyl than buy a mediocre chill wave album on CD. ATLAS isn't consistently riveting either, but it's better than CHROME BURNING by Mitch Murder, which I got done listening to 8 songs of this morning and found myself rather bored by that 8th song and the one preceding it.
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