Summer Sunday Afternoon Afterlife

Some thoughts I've had recently: if heaven was like lying in a hammock on a 70 degree blue sky day...I still couldn't do it for eternity...but for a hundred years or so wouldn't be bad.

Also I've been struck yet again by how...unsavory the human race can be.

But...there is some silver lining in this (not a play books worth...HA).

 We've been learning about the Milgram studies in a few of my Psych classes and it's something I knew about before but it's always interesting...oh and the Zimbardo Prison Experiment too (If you're unfamiliar with either of those Google em...interesting/disturbing stuff).

 Essentially both of studies conclude with the same idea...under the right conditions (those conditions basically being someone else is taking responsibility for your actions and you also view that someone else as a legitimate authority) the MAJORITY of regular, average, perfectly mentally healthy folks can and will do horrible atrocities.

 Later they won't understand why and usually almost always the answer is "I was just following orders."

 Now this isn't to make some anti-military point (Abu Ghraib is one of many instances that makes these implications clear so I don't have to drone on myself) but just to be aware...most evil isn't "outside evil."

 Outside evil is inside of us.

 So what's the silver lining? If we live with that awareness we CAN be better people. If we understand that about 65-70 percent of people will hesitantly but willingly shock a person to death for the purposes of a science experiment (Milgram) then we also understand that there is some 30-35 that could potentially be heroes.

  If we keep in mind that any one of us have the capacity for evil inside of us then maybe we can fight it when we're tempted to go with the flow.

 So it's depressing thought initially but in the end it feels like a silver lining. There's still room for heroes. Here's to that summer Sunday afternoon afterlife. One can hope.

P.S.-Has anyone else been seeing the night sky recently? Last night was pretty amazing...hoping for another good one tonight. G'night folks.

Start

Does this inspire you? Does it make you think of something you want to do, but keeps not happening because of "priorities"? Start. This is a reminder to myself, as much as it is to you. I'll end this bloggette with another quote, a personal favorite of mine:

"Simple is good." -Jim Henson

Keep those two things in mind. 

And have a good evening everybody. 

This song feels appropriate, 

Interrupted shower

So here I stand, with only a towel draped around me in the bathroom. My hair is full of soap. The shower head made this noise, like a dying squeaky toy, and suddenly the water was completely gone, and I stood there suddenly confused. Sarah is going to the well/pump/whatever to check it out. And I wait...with no concrete plan to rinse the soap out of my hair. I decided to write about it. Normally I'd just write a quick sentence about it on Facebook but now you're getting a whole blog post about it! Also I could be editor of Sodo Mojo and make money. Writing about Mariners and MAKING MONEY. I guess the key is that the money isn't nearly enough to live on. And I'm writing for the Mariners now and making money...just separately, haha. College is the better thing to focus on...its got better payback. That's what I keep telling myself. I just heard a door open...I think Sarah might be back in from outside. Maybe there is water! I must investigate! Have a good night folks. And...hey! Its almost spring.

all the small things

I'm writing because I feel distressed, I feel angry, I feel like I do when I need an outlet. I only seem to create when it feels like I need to get rid of some feeling inside of me, more often than not its a negative feeling, but occasionally I get a nice surprise and it's something positive. Either way I usually feel better when it's over.

Usually I aim for a happy go lucky sort of blog, but I'm just not feeling that. There's nothing wrong in particular with anything, for the most part I'm happy and satisfied with my life. I just saw 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' the other day with Sarah as a belated Valentine's Day thing and it was wonderful. We had dinner beforehand and went to the late show, on the big giant RPX screen. Its wonderful to know that, as I near thirty (twenty eighty as of this moment in February), lots of the same things excite me as they did when I was ten.

When I was ten even a simple video rental from the local Blockbuster (or Movie Gallery or mom and pop's occasionally) would excite me, let alone a night out at the theater. And honestly, going to the movies still holds that child-like excitement for me. Which is nice, cause for a couple years I thought I had lost it.

I think the video store would still excite me, but those are already gone. The only ones left are the exceptions, or the high end independents. Its sad but inevitable. I feel I want to avoid feeling sad about them because that automatically dates me, and makes me question my ability to adapt to the even more extreme changes that are bound to happen.  

But, on the other hand...I'm fucking sad. I should just let it happen. And I do, but I make myself look at the positives that change has brought us.

I realize these are fairly mundane thoughts to have, and that many people have them. I don't doubt this, I could have mentioned any of these thoughts in passing to someone about my age or older and I would have, more than likely, received a sympathetic response. But it's not the same. It's about getting it down. A lot of times I don't know exactly what I'm going to write until it starts to come out. Like, this isn't what I thought I was going to write about, I thought I was going to write about what I was angry about.

But that's the thing. The anger is directed towards odd things, like softly cruel jokes friends make, or...things like of that nature. Its hard to pin down what it is exactly. First of all, I'm tired. I'm tired of being a cook, I'm tired of waking up at 5:30, I'm tired of being "too young" to be "tired" of things like this. Everyone keeps saying you're too young for this, or too young for that, even long after you stopped feeling young. And then everyone starts to claim you're too old for this, or too old for that.

At twenty-four I felt FAR too old to go back to college. Which is fucking ridiculous, which is something I realized better when I went to class with fifty year olds...and sixty year olds. I've got friends who feel the same way in their mid twenties. Its a hard feeling to get out of.

I think the anger might come from this tiredness. Tired of these classes, with their identical syllabi, and the same quiet threats...made to ensure academic success. I'm always reminding myself of this amazing opportunity to better myself, and because of my marriage, and my child, the state has paid for my education thus far. Which is something many, many people don't get. And I'm so grateful.

But being grateful doesn't make you not tired. You can be amazingly grateful for your job, but if you're getting up before the sun you can still feel tired as fuck. So I still feel tired.

And so does EVERYONE ELSE. So..,don't get that idea. I get it. But still...I feel this way.

But I can see the light, I'm getting closer to that job I want, that career. I've made strides in my creative outlets which I'm please with, and I feel motivated to start, new uncharted areas of creativity.

And the small things still excite me. DAILY. A forthcoming novel from Stephen King, or a new collection of short stories? Great. Angels and Airwaves making a solid album again? Great news. Especially since blink is dead. A new Steven Page album...Kingsman getting a sequel and so on.

That's great. These things are small but if it keeps you going, while you're going to the grind? Great.

All The Small Things, baby.

Sometimes It Takes a Grand Mal Seizure: Recollections of Getting Free

Man in a couple days it'll be two years since a unfortunate and scary health issue dramatically changed my life. After the doctor told me I needed to have a six month leave of absence to see if the seizures would be a recurring problem it immediately relieved me of a job I was grateful for, but was awful for me personally, especially for a full time college student and dad. It was one of those jobs, like a lot of people out there, I'm sure, where I was good at it, but was one that was killing me emotionally. Emotions never seemed a good enough reason to quit my (mostly) full time job, especially since it paid for my nice and spacious downtown apartment. And having a full time job, and full time school, I never really got around to looking for a new job...even though I constantly told myself I would.

I felt very trapped, and was, in fact, planning on transferring to the Vancouver Red Lion when I transferred to WSU-V. Providing a home for my family and for the nice things I could occasionally buy felt like enough to slog on through the misery. Forgive the dramatics but...it feels accurate. It's a pretty common story I figured, and eventually I also figured (HOPEFULLY) college and grad school would solve the issue.

Thank god that didn't happen. Before the end of that January I had pretty much unofficially decided I could not go back to Red Lion. I had been laid off from the Lion back in '09 and I thought that was the sign to leave THEN, before I wound up back at their door six months later after I ran out of unemployment. Here I was, getting a second out, and I figured it was a sign to move on. So I officially stayed on at Red Lion, burning out my sick time, until it finally ran dry in March. And then I quit. It took pretty much from January until late March to finally decide to take up a standing offer from Sarah's mom to move into the spare rooms she had at her house.

It's difficult to swallow pride. It took Sarah far less time to accept the idea of leaving our wonderful apartment (that I hardly miss as much as I would have thought), and taking up a residence that would allow for a part time job, than it did me. Eventually, I realized, even though pride was a powerful emotion, my pride at the time was just forcing me to stay in a miserable position. Even though I do miss having our own uninterrupted space occasionally, honestly it hardly happens. My life is busy but so, so much more flexible. I have time for friendships, for date nights, for family nights, for special trips with Ava, for reading, for near daily creative time. My actual job allows me breaks for holidays, for classes, for my internship, for my brand spanking new second position of writing articles for Sodo Mojo (at least...I'm pretty sure it will...haha). There is now hardly any 3 a.m. studying. Usually I could get it done on mornings when I'm off or before bedtime on days I've had work/school. Sometimes it takes something awful and scary (i,e. seizure), to realize the misery you are in is in fact, not worth it. Hopefully it doesn't take that for you. Sometimes people don't get a wake up call at all. I'm so grateful I did, Thanks, universe.

It's wonderful. If pride is keeping you somewhere you don't REALLY wanna be... LET GO. Sounds easy, will in fact be super hard, but will feel WONDERFUL.

Updates on Life in General, From a Bathroom Stall

So I'm at school, typing this on my phone whilst going to the bathroom. Ah...modern conveniences! So what's happening? Sarah's got this traveling numbness in face and hands that's kind of freaking her out. So we've been to the hospital and they ruled out some things, now its just wait and see if things persist. If they do...more tests. So that's kind of hanging over our heads but meanwhile regular life trolls on. Tomorrow is Halloween. Ava's going as a bat, Sarah as a cat and I am going as a werewolf (killed the rhyme...I know). Lots of the great seasonal films have been watched...but the true classics have been saved. Hocus Pocus, Psycho, Halloween, Ernest Scared Stupid. The greats. And Sarah only refuses to watch about half of those so...winning. In two days the whole thing will be over and it will be off to the Yuletide races. We just have to make a pitstop at that whole "Thanksgiving" business. The classes are coming into that last quarter lap so November will a bit crazy...preparing final papers and studying for finals. And then...for better or worse things will be over--just like that. It still feels weird, but I'm really looking forward for general education to be over and to move on to graduate school. So hopefully everything goes well on that front. Think good thoughts...pray if you do that sort of thing...wish for the best about Sarah's health. Also squeeze in a good thought for the Mariners...the playoffs are coming one of these DECADES. And...way to blow it Royals. Oh well...that's my friend Richie's tears to cry. I'm a Mariners fan...so my tear ducts have run dry many moons ago. Alright...class is starting soon and I gotta vacate this stall...fresh air's running slim in this room if you know what I mean...*gasps*...

Stuff about the last week and...shit.

Its been like two weeks since my last post. As I've noted succinctly on Facebook...things are strange. Sarah's off for two weeks to AZ to be by her bestie's side. I've had good times, but there's a lot of emptiness on your own. I just don't feel good when I'm living life just for me. That might sound strange...with all that "you've got just one life," business. But the fact of the matter is, living a life only for me, self indulgently, makes me feel sick to my stomach. That isn't to suggest being a married and having a kid makes such a person better. Each of us contributes in our way, and enriches their lives in different ways. But knowing Sarah and being challenged by her view of the world, and how it should work (and vice versa) has helped bring out that part of me that knew school was really the only way for me to approach a meaningful career. I think there's people out there that, when it comes to jobs/careers, only truly care about the paycheck. That isn't to say they only love money...but their careers enriching their lives/world just don't matter as much. That may sound like I'm being condescending but I'm really not.  I'm just kind of laying things out...the way that I see them. I'm about halfway through my own little journey (well in terms of actual schooling anyway) and the fact that I'm consistently making progress, however small it may be, is what helps keep me sane. I always realize that fact when I'm on an extended break from school. As much fun as loafing around and doing jack shit is, I start to go a little nuts. I think working full time can distract us from the search for a meaningful career. It definitely derailed my search for about half a decade. Although, on the other hand, working soul sucking hours may have actually helped the search. The empty feeling I got when I thought about the actual worth of my efforts definitely helped lead me to my end goal. And I feel like I (as well as others in a similar situation) have an advantage of those- straight to college out of high school going for a general degree-types. Those kind of people probably succeed a good amount of the time. But the people who've worked long hours at a demeaning job, away from the families and the people that really matter have a special kind of focus and motivation when they finally get around to working on their passion. The Spanish teacher I had LCC was a great example. She was in her late sixties, early seventies I think. One day a few months into the quarter she brought a box up to the front of the class. It had a boxed pasta product in it, and a few filled notebooks. She said she raised a child and worked in a pasta factory for many years. Consequently she didn't get around to college until age 46. The notebooks she brought in were filled with her notes. She had a special kind of focus, because her notes were detailed and organized to a degree I've never seen since. But she busted through and received her Master's in English. However she wound in a class teaching English as a second language. But she thought she wasn't qualified so she went back to college AGAIN. She received a second Master's in Spanish. So she had the box of things to remind her of how far she had came.  It was a lesson us to not to be content to be in a place we don't really want to be. No matter how long we've been there or how improbable escaping that particular situation might be. I'm thankful that that day came in my first quarter of going back to school. I will not forget where I came from.