Custos Honor

Moving to a New Blog

2010-11-22T18:34:00.005-05:00

When I first created Custos Honor, I did so with the idea of using it for reporting in from my time in college, and then the Marines. Neither of those panned out for me, and since that time I've struggled to find my voice, to figure out just what the Hell it is I have to say.

Well, I think I've got an idea of that now, and with discovery comes change. I've decided that while Custos Honor had its time, the name no longer really fits me, or what I want for my blog voice.

So with that in mind, I've created a new blog, and will be moving there, I'll likely repost my Ayn Rand blog post there, as it fits with the direction I plan on heading in.

With the blog's name changing, so comes a slight change to my name. Ravencroft never really fit, I chose it because it flowed well. Now I'm choosing a new last name to post with, that being Phule (pronounced just like you'd think it would be)

I have chosen this name in order to help me guard against being a fool, or at the very least, against being foolish.

My new blog is Magniflorious Phule, and I hope you all will join me there.

- Andrew Phule

Buying Used Games

2010-08-25T08:25:00.003-04:00

I read an article about THC's new game policy and then read a commentary to it here

I'm curious how they feel about buying used books? Or even Libraries for that matter. To me, buying used games is pretty much the same as used books, and a lot of times, the only way I can get a book or a game is used. Especially if it's something that's out of print.The companies already made money from someone buying that game/book, so why is it a problem for someone to trade that game in for another game or book?

What if, instead of books, libraries carried video games?

I'm not necessarily stating that I think it's wrong for a company to do something like what THC did. I've always been a firm believe that it's their company, they can do whatever they want with it, or with it's products. The consumer can then decide if they want to agree with that company by buying it's products or not. However, once the consumer has bought that product, it becomes theirs to do with as they will (aside from breaking copyright law)Game companies like Rockstar found a better solution, I think: Offer additional content (in this case a better horse, or an outfit that refills your deadeye meter faster) to the first time buyer. This is content that only the first time buyer has access to (and perhaps later, others if they offer it as something to buy as DLC) and won't change the nature of the game, but adds further enjoyment to it. Saying online play is only for the first time buyers is actually limiting money making potential (unless they offer a way for people to pay a small fee to get it) via having avatar items or rings or whatever that are only available for online play which they can sell, thus generating revenue in a better way.

Other companies take into account the fact that there will be people who buy used copies of the game, and so to get any extras for the game, everyone has to go and purchase the DLC.Once again, I'm not saying that THC is wrong. I'm just saying there are better ways to deal with the fact that people buying used games doesn't generate revenue for the company.

The Tank Mentality

2010-04-26T10:29:00.001-04:00

Okay, so you've thought about it, and you think you might want to join the Tanking Core. Be you Druid, Death Knight, Paladin, Warrior, or even Shaman (I have seen a few, even today), it is important to make sure first that you can handle the job, mentally.
Now, I don't refer to your IQ when I say this, but rather, your personality. Unlike DPS, or even Healing, there is a certain mentality a player should have in order to be a successful tank. First and foremost a tank, even an off tank, must be willing to lead, both in leading the pace of the group, and in keeping moral up when things are going less than stellar. To survive as a tank, you must be thick skinned.

You have to have a willingness to accept good criticism, and shrug off bad criticism. Mostly, you'll be receiving the bad, just shrug it off. I can't tell you how many times some random dps just decides to run off and aggro the rest of the room, then starts screaming at you to hold aggro. Or they'll think that because you've attacked target A, they can go ahead and go full blast on target B, which is right next to A, but hasn't actually received any damage yet. Or, once you're geared high enough, you begin to pull the room, and they start in on the pack you've already run past, meanwhile the healer has begun spamming heals to try and get a head start on what's sure to be a large cluster****, so now you have to use your taunts on the healer, and pray that the heals are enough to keep DPS up while you re-establish aggro, because you just know one of the DPS are going to have a cow if they should happen to die. . . you get the idea. Understand that for the most part, their mentality is: "If something bad happens, it's the tank's fault."

Helpful tip for those situations, by the way, is to communicate from the very beginning, a lot of times this helps prevent the issue from happening in the first place. A simple, "Hey, I'm going to do X, please don't start in with damage and heals until you see me do Y." (For me, this is usually, "I'm going to pull a lot of stuff, please hold off on damage and heals until you see me stop running around and drop another consecrate.") Which leads to the next key trait a good tank needs.
A good Tank must be able to communicate and ask questions, as well as listen. Even when fighting raid bosses that I could tank blindfolded, when joining a new group for an encounter, it's vital that I make sure I understand how the group normally does it. In this situation, I'm a guest, so it's important that I learn their way, remember that as long as it gets the job done, its the right way to do it. Communication during a fight is also key, particularly if its a fight where you and another tank are trading aggro. Even in a group that I've run with repeatedly, it's alway helpful to call out who is about to take aggro, so that the healers know who to focus on, or when they need to increase their heals per second.

More than the DPS, a tank must have a willingness to learn the fight before hand. Read up on fights you don't know, and actually take notes on what specifically is the tanks job. Take notes on that tank spot video, don't just sit there and watch it. You'll retain what you need to know better if you do. Take notes on the role of dps and healers too, as this will give you better raid awareness once you're actually in the encounter.

Just as in driving, you can't focus on just one spot in the road and expect things to go well. You must be able to check the entire screen. You've got to watch the health of your team, watch your health, watch for important debuffs, make sure no one is catching up to you in threat that shouldn't be (if you're the off tank, make sure you aren't about to rip aggro off your main tank, while still staying above dps) watch for patrols and how close you are to other mobs, and watch your target, all at the same time. Never watch one thing to the exclusion of everything else.

You have to understand and accept that for the most part, tanking is a thankless job. When you do your job right, much of the time no one notices. When for whatever reason you mess up, you can expect everyone to notice. That's just the way it is.

A successful tank must have confidence. You have to be willing and able to exude confidence during encounters, a timid tank is a dead tank. Most tanks I've partnered with have been some of the most arrogant SOBs I've met, and I'm one of 'em too. Pull half the room and the boss too? Absolutely! Remember, if you can pull it off, then what you're expressing is confidence, not arrogance. Now, at the same time, you have to be able to balance this with knowing the limits of the rest of your party. If you start doing stuff to the point where the healer can't keep up with you, you're going to die, and your going to bring everyone else with you, which isn't the sign of a good tank.

So, what's great about being the tank? Everything in the encounter revolves around you. From the pace you set, to where you tank the boss or whatever add your on, it's all made possible because of you. It's the knowledge that even if you aren't listed as the raid leader, for all intents and purposes, you are the raid leader. It's having the knowledge that, even if no one else acknowledges your contribution, that successful run was made possible by you. (okay really it's a group effort, but the tanks know what I mean.)

Ayn Rand, God, and Marijuana

2009-11-01T19:51:00.005-05:00

Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness; that individual persons are in direct contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally.- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_%28Ayn_Rand%29

Adherents of the Christian faith, known as Christians,[4] believe that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (the part of scripture common to Christianity and Judaism). The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds, which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith.[5] These professions state that Jesus suffered, died from crucifixion, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead to open heaven to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins (salvation).[6] They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God.[7] Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel ("good news") and hence refer to the earliest written accounts of his ministry as gospels. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

Those who know me, but don't know me well, never really know what to think of me. I embrace Christianity, yet I also embrace a philosophy which would seem contradictory to that religion. And on top of that, I have no problems with a substance which likely groups in both the religion and the philosophy would say isn't a good thing (though only those in the religious category would outright try to forbid me from doing it.) On a side note, I have never had any actual contact with pot entering my system, nor am I likely to until such time as it becomes legal. I'm not against such things, the opportunity has just never come up where I've been able to try it. Something else always seems to come up at the last minute the few times where I've made an attempt.

So how can I believe in a philosophy which extols the the rational mind, yet at the same time, embrace a religion which that philosophy is against because it embraces faith?

“Faith” designates blind acceptance of a certain ideational content, acceptance induced by feeling in the absence of evidence or proof.
-The Ominous ParallelsLeonard Peikoff, The Ominous Parallels, 54.

While the philosophy may take issue with the religion as a whole, Christianity only takes issue with the philosophy in the areas that they don't agree. However, I do not believe that faith and the rational mind are mutually exclusive.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
- Galileo Galilei

Rather than go into a rather long and complicated list of why I believe as I do, I will simply state that the largest reason is from my interest in studying the beginnings of the earth, both from reviewing evolution and creation. After looking at the evidence for creation, and the evidence for the Big Bang, I have concluded that God created everything. And since I have concluded this, I therefore believe that everything belongs to God. If everything belongs to God, then he must have some rules, and it'd be a good idea to figure out what those rules are.

Yes, these realizations came later in life, however, I had questions which evolution couldn't answer for. The two largest questions I have revolve around the the Laws of Thermodynamics.

First Law:
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.

If in the beginning there was basically nothing, then where did the energy come from to cause this big band? Where did the material come from? If it's from the Universe constantly expanding and contracting, what caused this to happen in the first place?

Thus, if entropy is associated with disorder and if the entropy of the universe is headed towards maximal entropy, then many are often puzzled as to the nature of the "ordering" process and operation of evolution in relation to Clausius' most-famous version of the second law, which states that the universe is headed towards maximal “disorder”. In the recent 2003 book SYNC – the Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz, for example, we find “Scientists have often been baffled by the existence of spontaneous order in the universe. The laws of thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite, that nature should inexorably degenerate toward a state of greater disorder, greater entropy. Yet all around us we see magnificent structures—galaxies, cells, ecosystems, human beings—that have all somehow managed to assemble themselves.”

Or Lamen's Terms, order tends to disorder, which the above quote also shows my question: If order tends to disorder, how is it that everything on this earth, this galaxy, and this Universe have such an ordered existence?

Now this is where true evolutionist and I agree: God can not have created the Universe if it's as old as evolutionists claim. A god which used evolution would be a god which was imperfect and cruel. Further, if you add up the dates within the Bible you come to the conclusion that the earth is only a few thousand years old, not trillions. The God portrayed the Bible is practical (if at times harsh) and if you read the creation story, God created plants before the insects. Now, insects are vital in the reproduction of plants, and so having these plants around for millions of years before insects were around to help them reproduce really doesn't make much sense. Where as if it's just a day, no trouble there.

Ultimately though, everything will boil down to faith. You either believe that in The Beginning God, or in the beginning nothing. I came to the conclusion that in The Beginning God made more sense.

As to Marijuana, to put it simply, I see it as no different from tobacco or alcohol. Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding, and yes, they used wine to make water drinkable back then, people who use this argument overlook the fact that it was done at a wedding, which means the wine would have been celebratory, and therefore a bit more potent than regular drinking wine, indeed, one of the guests lauded the wine as being the best at that wedding. Marijuana does much the same thing as alcohol, and as I have no problem drinking alcohol, I have no problem with people choosing to smoke marijuana.

2009-10-28T23:50:00.002-04:00

In the past, I've felt a little guilty for not updating my blog more regularly, occasionally I've had things which I've wished to post about, but kept putting off, and for that, I feel responsible to myself. However, I don't feel guilty anymore about not updating more regularly, simply because this is my blog. I write on my blog because I enjoy writing, and when I write I like to share that with people. However, it's my blog to do with as I wish. If I wanted to everyday just write the word magniflorious and leave it at that, I can do that, no one is going to stop me. Just as anyone who reads my blog has the choice to not read it. I'm not writing for you, I'm writing for me.

With that said, I am coming to the point where I have more to write about, though I think I'll keep updates to weekly rather than daily. There may be weeks where I update more frequently, and there may be months where I update less. You're welcome to read it when its up. Until then, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Fred Astaire!

Working on a new largish post

2009-10-28T23:29:00.001-04:00

This weekend I'll be covering my beliefs regarding the odd mix of Objectivism, Christianity, and Liberal tendencies that I seem to have, and why they don't necessarily contradict one another.

Oh, that's so nice.

2009-10-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

A woman from Alabama and a woman from Manhattan were both sitting in the airport. They realized they were both going to be waiting for a while and struck up a conversation. They soon learned they had things in common: both women were married, both women had 3 children.

The woman from Manhattan (WM) says, " When I gave birth to our first child, my husband bought me a new car."

The woman from Alabama (WA) replies, "Oh, that's so nice."

WM: "When I gave birth to our second child, my husband bought us a new apartment overlooking the park."

WA: "Oh, that's so nice."

WM: "When I gave birth to our third child, my husband bought me a new 6 carat diamond ring."

WA: "Oh, that's so nice!"

WM: "Did your husband do anything for you?"

WA: "Oh, yes! My husband sent me to Finishing School."

WM: "Oh? Did it do any good?"

WA: "Oh, yes. It taught me to say 'Oh, that's so nice' instead of 'Fuck You'."

A Simple Creed

2009-10-27T01:22:00.001-04:00

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

A Haiku for you.

2009-10-19T00:24:00.001-04:00

Haiku's are easy,
But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.

Ayn Rand on Altruism

2009-10-11T01:08:00.000-04:00

Theory

What is the moral code of altruism? The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.

Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice—which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction—which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.

Do not hide behind such superficialities as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the issue. The issue is whether you do or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem will answer: “No.” Altruism says: “Yes.”

Philosophy: Who Needs It “Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World,”
Philosophy: Who Needs It, 61.

There are two moral questions which altruism lumps together into one “package-deal”: (1) What are values? (2) Who should be the beneficiary of values? Altruism substitutes the second for the first; it evades the task of defining a code of moral values, thus leaving man, in fact, without moral guidance.

Altruism declares that any action taken for the benefit of others is good, and any action taken for one’s own benefit is evil. Thus the beneficiary of an action is the only criterion of moral value—and so long as that beneficiary is anybody other than oneself, anything goes.

The Virtue of Selfishness “Introduction,” The Virtue of Selfishness, viii.

It is your mind that they want you to surrender—all those who preach the creed of sacrifice, whatever their tags or their motives, whether they demand it for the sake of your soul or of your body, whether they promise you another life in heaven or a full stomach on this earth. Those who start by saying: “It is selfish to pursue your own wishes, you must sacrifice them to the wishes of others”—end up by saying: “It is selfish to uphold your convictions, you must sacrifice them to the convictions of others.”

For the New Intellectual Galt’s Speech, For the New Intellectual, 142.

Now there is one word—a single word—which can blast the morality of altruism out of existence and which it cannot withstand—the word: “Why?” Why must man live for the sake of others? Why must he be a sacrificial animal? Why is that the good? There is no earthly reason for it—and, ladies and gentlemen, in the whole history of philosophy no earthly reason has ever been given.

It is only mysticism that can permit moralists to get away with it. It was mysticism, the unearthly, the supernatural, the irrational that has always been called upon to justify it—or, to be exact, to escape the necessity of justification. One does not justify the irrational, one just takes it on faith. What most moralists—and few of their victims—realize is that reason and altruism are incompatible.

Philosophy: Who Needs It “Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World,”
Philosophy: Who Needs It, 61.

Why is it moral to serve the happiness of others, but not your own? If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but immoral when experienced by you? If the sensation of eating a cake is a value, why is it an immoral indulgence in your stomach, but a moral goal for you to achieve in the stomach of others? Why is it immoral for you to desire, but moral for others to do so? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? And if it is not moral for you to keep a value, why is it moral for others to accept it? If you are selfless and virtuous when you give it, are they not selfish and vicious when they take it? Does virtue consist of serving vice? Is the moral purpose of those who are good, self-immolation for the sake of those who are evil?

The answer you evade, the monstrous answer is: No, the takers are not evil, provided they did not earn the value you gave them. It is not immoral for them to accept it, provided they are unable to produce it, unable to deserve it, unable to give you any value in return. It is not immoral for them to enjoy it, provided they do not obtain it by right.

Such is the secret core of your creed, the other half of your double standard: it is immoral to live by your own effort, but moral to live by the effort of others—it is immoral to consume your own product, but moral to consume the products of others—it is immoral to earn, but moral to mooch—it is the parasites who are the moral justification for the existence of the producers, but the existence of the parasites is an end in itself—it is evil to profit by achievement, but good to profit by sacrifice—it is evil to create your own happiness, but good to enjoy it at the price of the blood of others.

Your code divides mankind into two castes and commands them to live by opposite rules: those who may desire anything and those who may desire nothing, the chosen and the damned, the riders and the carriers, the eaters and the eaten. What standard determines your caste? What passkey admits you to the moral elite? The passkey is lack of value.

Whatever the value involved, it is your lack of it that gives you a claim upon those who don’t lack it. It is your need that gives you a claim to rewards. If you are able to satisfy your need, your ability annuls your right to satisfy it. But a need you are unable to satisfy gives you first right to the lives of mankind.

If you succeed, any man who fails is your master; if you fail, any man who succeeds is your serf. Whether your failure is just or not, whether your wishes are rational or not, whether your misfortune is undeserved or the result of your vices, it is misfortune that gives you a right to rewards. It is pain, regardless of its nature or cause, pain as a primary absolute, that gives you a mortgage on all of existence.

If you heal your pain by your own effort, you receive no moral credit: your code regards it scornfully as an act of self-interest. Whatever value you seek to acquire, be it wealth or food or love or rights, if you acquire it by means of your virtue, your code does not regard it as a moral acquisition: you occasion no loss to anyone, it is a trade, not alms; a payment, not a sacrifice. The deserved belongs in the selfish, commercial realm of mutual profit; it is only the undeserved that calls for that moral transaction which consists of profit to one at the price of disaster to the other. To demand rewards for your virtue is selfish and immoral; it is your lack of virtue that transforms your demand into a moral right.

A morality that holds need as a claim, holds emptiness—non-existence—as its standard of value; it rewards an absence, a defect: weakness, inability, incompetence, suffering, disease, disaster, the lack, the fault, the flaw—the zero.

For the New Intellectual Galt’s Speech, For the New Intellectual, 144.

Altruism holds death as its ultimate goal and standard of value.

The Virtue of Selfishness “The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 34.

Since nature does not provide man with an automatic form of survival, since he has to support his life by his own effort, the doctrine that concern with one’s own interests is evil means that man’s desire to live is evil—that man’s life, as such, is evil. No doctrine could be more evil than that.

Yet that is the meaning of altruism.

The Virtue of Selfishness “Introduction,” The Virtue of Selfishness, ix.
Practice

Observe what this beneficiary-criterion of [the altruist] morality does to a man’s life. The first thing he learns is that morality is his enemy: he has nothing to gain from it, he can only lose; self-inflicted loss, self-inflicted pain and the gray, debilitating pall of an incomprehensible duty is all that he can expect. He may hope that others might occasionally sacrifice themselves for his benefit, as he grudgingly sacrifices himself for theirs, but he knows that the relationship will bring mutual resentment, not pleasure-and that, morally, their pursuit of values will be like an exchange of unwanted, unchosen Christmas presents, which neither is morally permitted to buy for himself. Apart from such times as he manages to perform some act of self-sacrifice, he possesses no moral significance: morality takes no cognizance of him and has nothing to say to him for guidance in the crucial issues of his life; it is only his own personal, private, “selfish” life and, as such, it is regarded either as evil or, at best, amoral.

The Virtue of Selfishness “Introduction,” The Virtue of Selfishness, viii.

Even though altruism declares that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” it does not work that way in practice. The givers are never blessed; the more they give, the more is demanded of them; complaints, reproaches and insults are the only response they get for practicing altruism’s virtues (or for their actual virtues). Altruism cannot permit a recognition of virtue; it cannot permit self-esteem or moral innocence. Guilt is altruism’s stock in trade, and the inducing of guilt is its only means of self-perpetuation. If the giver is not kept under a torrent of degrading, demeaning accusations, he might take a look around and put an end to the self-sacrificing. Altruists are concerned only with those who suffer—not with those who provide relief from suffering, not even enough to care whether they are able to survive. When no actual suffering can be found, the altruists are compelled to invent or manufacture it.

The Ayn Rand Letter“Moral Inflation,” The Ayn Rand Letter, III, 13, 2.

Some unphilosophical, eclectic altruists, invoking such concepts as “inalienable rights,” “personal freedom,” “private choice,” have claimed that service to others, though morally obligatory, should not be compulsory. The committed, philosophical altruists, however, are consistent: recognizing that such concepts represent an individualist approach to ethics and that this is incompatible with the altruist morality, they declare that there is nothing wrong with compulsion in a good cause—that the use of force to counteract selfishness is ethically justified—and more: that it is ethically mandatory.

Every man, they argue, is morally the property of others—of those others it is his lifelong duty to serve; as such, he has no moral right to invest the major part of his time and energy in his own private concerns. If he attempts it, if he refuses voluntarily to make the requisite sacrifices, he is by that fact harming others, i.e., depriving them of what is morally theirs—he is violating men’s rights, i.e., the right of others to his service—he is a moral delinquent, and it is an assertion of morality if others forcibly intervene to extract from him the fulfillment of his altruist obligations, on which he is attempting to default. Justice, they conclude, “social justice,” demands the initiation of force against the non-sacrificial individual; it demands that others put a stop to his evil. Thus has moral fervor been joined to the rule of physical force, raising it from a criminal tactic to a governing principle of human relationships.

The Ayn Rand LetterLeonard Peikoff, “Altruism, Pragmatism, and Brutality,” The Ayn Rand Letter, II, 6, 3.

The social system based on and consonant with the altruist morality—with the code of self-sacrifice—is socialism, in all or any of its variants: fascism, Nazism, communism. All of them treat man as a sacrificial animal to be immolated for the benefit of the group, the tribe, the society, the state. Soviet Russia is the ultimate result, the final product, the full, consistent embodiment of the altruist morality in practice; it represents the only way that that morality can ever be practiced.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal “Conservatism: An Obituary,” Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 195.

America’s inner contradiction was the altruist-collectivist ethics. Altruism is incompatible with freedom, with capitalism and with individual rights. One cannot combine the pursuit of happiness with the moral status of a sacrificial animal.

The Virtue of Selfishness “Man’s Rights,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 95.

From her start, America was torn by the clash of her political system with the altruist morality. Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they are philosophical opposites; they cannot co-exist in the same man or in the same society. Today, the conflict has reached its ultimate climax; the choice is clear-cut: either a new morality of rational self-interest, with its consequences of freedom, justice, progress and man’s happiness on earth-or the primordial morality of altruism, with its consequences of slavery, brute force, stagnant terror and sacrificial furnaces.

For the New Intellectual For the New Intellectual For the New Intellectual, 54.
Psychology

It is obvious why the morality of altruism is a tribal phenomenon. Prehistorical men were physically unable to survive without clinging to a tribe for leadership and protection against other tribes. The cause of altruism’s perpetuation into civilized eras is not physical, but psycho-epistemological: the men of self-arrested, perceptual mentality are unable to survive without tribal leadership and “protection” against reality. The doctrine of self-sacrifice does not offend them: they have no sense of self or of personal value-they do not know what it is that they are asked to sacrifice—they have no firsthand inkling of such things as intellectual integrity, love of truth, personally chosen values, or a passionate dedication to an idea. When they hear injunctions against “selfishness,” they believe that what they must renounce is the brute, mindless whim-worship of a tribal lone wolf. But their leaders—the theoreticians of altruism—know better. Immanuel Kant knew it; John Dewey knew it; B. F. Skinner knows it; John Rawls knows it. Observe that it is not the mindless brute, but reason, intelligence, ability, merit, self-confidence, self-esteem that they are out to destroy.

Philosophy: Who Needs It “Selfishness Without a Self,”
Philosophy: Who Needs It, 50.

The advocates of mysticism are motivated not by a quest for truth, but by hatred for man’s mind; . . . the advocates of altruism are motivated not by compassion for suffering, but by hatred for man’s life.

Philosophy: Who Needs It “An Untitled Letter,”
Philosophy: Who Needs It, 102.

The psychological results of altruism may be observed in the fact that a great many people approach the subject of ethics by asking such questions as: “Should one risk one’s life to help a man who is: a) drowning, b) trapped in a fire, c) stepping in front of a speeding truck, d) hanging by his fingernails over an abyss?” Consider the implications of that approach. If a man accepts the ethics of altruism, he suffers the following consequences (in proportion to the degree of his acceptance):

1.

Lack of self-esteem—since his first concern in the realm of values is not how to live his life, but how to sacrifice it.
2.

Lack of respect for others—since he regards mankind as a herd of doomed beggars crying for someone’s help.
3.

A nightmare view of existence—since he believes that men are trapped in a “malevolent universe” where disasters are the constant and primary concern of their lives.
4.

And, in fact, a lethargic indifference to ethics, a hopelessly cynical amorality—since his questions involve situations which he is not likely ever to encounter, which bear no relation to the actual problems of his own life and thus leave him to live without any moral principles whatever.

By elevating the issue of helping others into the central and primary issue of ethics, altruism has destroyed the concept of any authentic benevolence or good will among men. It has indoctrinated men with the idea that to value another human being is an act of selflessness, thus implying that a man can have no personal interest in others—that to value another means to sacrifice oneself—that any love, respect or admiration a man may feel for others is not and cannot be a source of his own enjoyment, but is a threat to his existence, a sacrificial blank check signed over to his loved ones.

The men who accept that dichotomy but choose its other side, the ultimate products of altruism’s dehumanizing influence, are those psychopaths who do not challenge altruism’s basic premise, but proclaim their rebellion against self-sacrifice by announcing that they are totally indifferent to anything living and would not lift a finger to help a man or a dog left mangled by a hit-and-run driver (who is usually one of their own kind).

The Virtue of Selfishness “The Ethics of Emergencies,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 43.

[Intellectual appeasement] is an attempt to apologize for his intellectual concerns and to escape from the loneliness of a thinker by professing that his thinking is dedicated to some social-altruistic goal. It is an attempt that amounts to the wordless equivalent of the plea: “I’m not an outsider! I’m your friend! Please forgive me for using my mind—I’m using it only in order to serve you!”

Whatever remnants of personal value he may preserve after a deal of that kind, self-esteem is not one of them.

Such decisions are seldom, if ever, made consciously. They are made gradually, by subconscious emotional motivation and semi-conscious rationalization. Altruism offers an arsenal of such rationalizations: if an unformed adolescent can tell himself that his cowardice is humanitarian love, that his subservience is unselfishness, that his moral treason is spiritual nobility, he is hooked.

The Objectivist “Altruism as Appeasement,” The Objectivist, Jan. 1966, 2.

The injunction “don’t judge” is the ultimate climax of the altruist morality which, today, can be seen in its naked essence. When men plead for forgiveness, for the nameless, cosmic forgiveness of an unconfessed evil, when they react with instantaneous compassion to any guilt, to the perpetrators of any atrocity, while turning away indifferently from the bleeding bodies of the victims and the innocent—one may see the actual purpose, motive and psychological appeal of the altruist code. When these same compassionate men turn with snarling hatred upon anyone who pronounces moral judgments, when they scream that the only evil is the determination to fight against evil—one may see the kind of moral blank check that the altruist morality hands out.

For the New Intellectual For the New Intellectual For the New Intellectual, 45

Peacecore and The Appalachian Trail

2009-06-11T18:03:00.002-04:00

I've been debating for some time, though mostly in the back of my head more than anything else, about joining to peace core. I figure now would be the time to do it, as I don't have that many responsibilities in my life other than those in regards to myself. I'm a very handy person who's quick to learn, but more importantly, I have a desire to help people, and this would be another way for me to do so. The next step will be to talk to a recruiter, and after I've done some more research I plan on doing so.

Something I've started saving for is to go on the Appalachian Trail at some point within the next few years. I've got some things I need to take care of first, but they're very minor and will easily be taken care of by the time I have the money to go. Last year I spent five months driving most of the the United States to the west of Georgia, and I want this to be my next big trip, backpacking through the Appalachian Mountains.

SNL Celebrity Jeopardy

2009-05-20T00:59:00.000-04:00

Faith of the Fallen pt. 2

2009-05-17T23:49:00.002-04:00

Another small excerpt from Faith of the Fallen, this time speaking on life.

Faith of the Fallen, by Terry Goodkind (pg. 749-750)

"'Evil is not one large entity, but a collection of countless, small depravities brought up from the much by petty men. Living under the Order, you have traded the enrichment of vision for a Gray fog of mediocrity--the fertile inspiration of striving and growth, for the mindless stagnation and slow decay--the brave new ground of the attempt, for the timid quagmire of apathy.
You have traded freedom not even for a bowl of soup, but worse, for the spoken empty feeling of others who say that you deserve to have a full bowl of soup provided by someone else. Happiness, joy accomplishment, achievement. . .are not finite commodities, to be divided up. Is a child’s laughter to be divided up and allotted? No! Simply make more laughter!
Every persons life is theirs by right. An individual’s life can be and must belong only to himself, not to any society or community, or he is then but a slave. No one can deny another person their right to their life, nor seize by force what is produced by someone else, because that is stealing their means to sustain their life. It is treason against mankind to hold a knife to a man’s throat and dictate how he must live his life.
No society can be more important than the individuals who compose it, or else you ascribe supreme importance, not to man, but to any notion that strikes the fancy of that society, at a never-ending cost of lives. Reason and reality are the means to just laws; mindless wishes, if given sovereignty, become deadly masters.
Surrendering reason to faith in these men sanctions their use of force to enslave you--to murder you. You have the power to decide how you will live your life. These mean little men up here are but cockroaches, if you say they are. They have no power to control you but that which you grant them! This is what the Order offers you: death.'"

Faith of the Fallen

2009-05-16T17:40:00.003-04:00

I find myself frightened lately. Scared that America is becoming a Socialist State. Already we hear how the Federal Government has taken control a private bank, and of a certain privately owned car manufacturer. Socialism in political thought refers to economic theories of social organization advocating collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with an egalitarian method of compensation.

Basically, the government controls everything and then redistributes money, food, housing, etc to based on need. Those who are able to work do so and help provide for those who are unable to work. Everyone works together for the good of everyone. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well it isn't. You see, in such a society, the ones who benefit most are the ones who can't work. Eventually what happens is people start to figure this out, and come up with reasons as to why they can't work, whether they're valid reasons or not. What ends up happening is that no one works. Those who can work have no reason to, because what will eventually happen is that their entire wages will be taken from them to feed those who "can't" work. Below, you'll find a conversation between Richard and Nicci. Richard is trying to teach Nicci the difference between Self-sacrifice and being selfless.

Faith of the Fallen, by Terry Goodkind (pg. 548-549.):

"'Self-sacrifice for a value held dear, for a life held dear, for freedom and the freedom of those you respect--self-sacrifice such as mine for Kahlan's life--is the only rationally valid sacrifice. To be selfless means you are a slave who must surrender your most priceless possession--your life--to any smirking thief who demands it.

"The suicide of self-sacrifice is but a requirement imposed by masters on slaves. Since there is a knife to my throat, it is not to my good that I am stripped of what I earn by my own hand and mind. It is only to the good of the one with the knife, and those who by weight of numbers but not reason dictate what is the good of all--those cheering him on so they might lap up any drop of blood their masters miss.
"Life is precious. That's why sacrifice for freedom is rational: it is for life itself and youur ability to live it that you act, since life without freedom is the slow, sure death of self sacrifice to the 'good' of mankind--who is always someone else. Mankind is just a collection of individuals. Why should everyone's life be more important, more precious, more valuable than yours? Mindless mandatory self-sacrifice is insane.'

She stared, not at him, but at the flame dancing on the pool of linseed oil. 'You don't really mean that, Richard. You're just tired and angry that you have to work at night, too, just to get by. You should realize that all those others you help are there to help society, including you, should you be the one in desperate need.'
Richard didn't bother to argue with her, and said only, 'I feel sorry for you, Nicci. You don't even know the value of your own life. Sacrifice could mean nothing to you.'

'That's not true, Richard,' she whispered, 'I sacrifice for you. . . . I saved what millet we had for you, that you might have strength.'

'The strength to stand upright when I throw my life away? Why did you sacrifice your dinner, Nicci?'

'Because it was the right thing to do--it was for the good of others.'
He nodded as he peered at her in the dim light. 'You would endanger your life to starvation for others--for any others.' He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder. "How about that thug, Gadi? Would you starve to death so he might eat? It might mean something, Nicci, if it was sacrifice for someone you value, but it isn't; it's a sacrifice to some mindless gray ideal of the Order.'

When she didn't answer, Richard pushed the rest of his dinner before her. 'I don't want your meaningless sacrifice.'

She stared at the bowl of millet for an eternity.
Richard felt sorry for her, for what she couldn't understand as she stared at the bowl. He thought about what would happen to Kahlan if Nicci wer to fall sick from not getting enough to eat.

'Eat, Nicci,' he said softly.

She finally picked up her spoon and did as he said.
When she had finished, she looked up with those blue eyes that seemed so eager for the sight of something he could not make her see. She slid the empty bowl to the center of the table.

'Thank you, Richard, for the meal.'

'Why thank me? I'm a selfless slave, expected to sacrifice for any worthless person who presents their need to me.'"

Crap!

2009-05-15T23:36:00.003-04:00

I let it get away from me again. In an effort to actually live my life I completely forgot about my blog. I've got something I've been working on, mostly in my head. I've got to get up t 4am, however, so expect something by nightfall Sunday.

I'd really like to win this contest

2009-04-21T22:39:00.000-04:00

just click that link, it brings up a website, and if I get the most unique clicks, I win an Ipod.

Creation Minute is an exciting series hosted by Eric Hovind that explores the creation worldview using cutting-edge visual effects and digital technology. Each episode challenges the evolution theory and gives evidence of the Bible's historical and scientific accuracy.

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds

2009-04-16T00:03:00.002-04:00

Tuesday Night I went to Devos Hall where the Grand Rapids Symphony was performing music by composer Nobuo Uematsu, which is conducted by Arnie Roth. The evening was fantastic, and I would recommend it for anyone.

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds

Easter

2009-04-13T10:11:00.003-04:00

So I found out Saturday night that my grandmother had passed away on Good Friday. She and my Grandfather had gotten married on April 21, which that year was also Easter, so they kind of considered Easter their anniversary as much as 4/21 was. She was also a kind and positive person. She once made me promise that I'd tell the girl I loved how I felt about her, not because she thought things would work out between us necessarily, but because she knew that it was something that would be good for me. And she was right. She would ask if someone was up when they were in their room, and when they said yes, she'd ask, "What, up on the bed?" I'll miss talking to her on the phone and receiving her wisdom, but I know she's in a better place.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-04-11T01:03:00.002-04:00

Okay, so Saturday Night is the Staff Christmas Party at my job. That's right, four months from the actual event, we're finally having our Christmas Party. And on Easter Weekend, no less. I was told that I ordered steak, though I don't recall ever being asked if I wanted steak or chicken, and even better, if you didn't choose one of those two, you get vegetarian lasagna, though I didn't find any of this out until yesterday at work, which is much too late to fix anything. Let me state quite simply that I am morally against the killing of plants for the purpose of eating. I think it's cruel to eat something simply because it can't run away, nor show signs of pain. So if I end up with the vegetarian lasagna, I will walk out of there without a second thought.

In Azeroth, Noxx attempted two dungeon runs this week, both which ended up featuring much higher level players running the rest of the group. In the first dungeon, a level 70 mage proceeded to attack everything, not with her spells, but with her dagger. My guess is that she didn't train with dagger much, because I was repeatedly able to steal aggro (enemies) off of attacking her and to then start attacking me, which resulted in numerous deaths on my part. She then proceeded to lecture me on watching my threat generation (Threat which is too high causes you to steal aggro). Now, if there's one thing I became intimately familiar with when playing Aneska, it's how to watch threat generation, and to make sure that no one overpowers the tank's threat level and thus steals aggro. We made it through this dungeon, but it took about half an hour longer than it should have.

The second dungeon run was led by a level 58 DK (Death Knight [read; Dumb Kid]) who proceeded to stand around and do nothing, resulting in a four man dungeon run by those too low in level to attempt it. Once the rest of us died, the DK would then begin attacking the enemies resulting in us not receiving experience points. This group I dropped out of along with one other person (others anted to stay) and signed on with Aneska and ran the other guy through the dungeon without a hitch. Noxx had made it through this dungeon in the past, so only went for the experience points. I think in the future, until I reach higher levels with Noxx, I'll start cashing in on favors owed to Aneska by having them run Noxx through those dungeons.

PUGs (Pick Up Groups) are hell, and more so when either the tank or the healer have no clue what they're doing.

Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle

2009-04-06T01:03:00.002-04:00

Aneska Update:

After Dozens of attempts, I have finally been able to beat Utgarde Pinnacle on Heroic Difficulty. Every other time I've tried my group either had insufficient DPS, or Skadi the Ruthless would glitch and restart itself. The glitch is a known issue, and has been since people first started running this dungeon as a Heroic. Yet Blizzard has been unable to fix this issue in over four months. Now, I understand that there are going to be issues with online games, but when you've got a bug as severe as this one (you can't complete the dungeon without going through this guy) it should be one of the top priorities to fix. Sadly, the sword I wanted didn't drop(only an 18% chance), but with this success I'm confident that I'll be able to go back at another time to get it.

Meanwhile 3.1 is still due to come out, it was supposed to be back in January, however they're still in testing with no release date yet given for the new changes or the new raid. From what I can tell about it, you still won't be able to fight the Lich King, which seems kind of odd, considering the expansion is called Wrath of the Lich King, yet here we are months later, and still no word about taking him to task. I'm beginning to think he's just too scared to face my awesome tankadin skills.

Tankadin: A Protection Specced Paladin. Basically a self healing meat shield for the rest of the group.

A Work in Progress

2009-04-03T23:53:00.003-04:00

I haven't left, I'm still here. Yes, I can hear the groans of despair as some of you realize this. The fact of the matter is that I don't post as much as I'd like to, because I like to wait until I either have something to say, or something I feel is worth sharing. Blog Father Harvey makes a good point that a blogs name says who you are. While I do consider myself a guardian of honor, I don't feel that such a thing is necessarily proper for this blog, as the subject matter tends to deal with other things entirely.

My weight is starting to drop, though I do still crave Dr Pepper like you wouldn't believe. Moving strictly to water with an occasional juice is hard to do, particularly since most businesses when you eat out don't offer much to drink besides soda and alcohol, and only with soda do you get free refills.

In the gaming world, I've been playing World of Warcraft for the most part. I've started working on Noxx a Night Elf Druid, and have to say that I find the class quite enjoyable. I started playing the game while I was driving the edit truck for Supercross during Spring of '08 as a way to avoid dealing with the people who were around the truck all day. I was expected to be on hand in case anything went wrong, even though the only things which might go wrong were things which I couldn't fix. And so I created Aneska, a Draenei (Drah-Nye) Paladin. And from there, I've been playing off and on ever since.

Gaming Console of the Future?

2009-03-27T02:19:00.003-04:00

First heard about it here, the original post is below, with the link before it. This pretty much sums up my thoughts on Onlive quite well, usually I'd comment on an article rather than just repost it, but there's really nothing I could add to it.

Ctrlaltdel-Online

So obviously OnLive is causing a pretty big stir in the video games community, and with good reason. It's a fascinating concept that could revolutionize gaming. However it also stirs up a lot of fears and concerns and doubts that are all perfectly legitimate.

The implications and possibilities (and possible failures) of a system like this are too numerous to explore completely here (at least within a reasonable amount of time), but I do want to share some of my thoughts on it, as well as concerns and what I've heard.

When it was first announced, my initial reaction was "Wow, that's amazing" followed immediately by "But I don't want to give up that much control over my games.". And I don't. I don't want to rely on so many X factors to access and enjoy my games. I don't want to rely on the OnLive service functioning, as well as the internet service to deliver it. What if I wanted to travel somewhere that doesn't have internet? I could take my console. With OnLive I'd be completely cut off.

I don't want to not "own" the game I'm paying for. I know more and more things are going digital these days, but there's still a lot of comfort in owning a physical copy of something you paid for. You know it's there when you need it. I imagine it's the same reason people purchase the Ctrl+Alt+Del collection books even though all of the comics are available for free online. Sometimes you want tangible stuff that you know can't disappear with an internet outage or a corrupt hard drive.

I also don't like the idea of losing control over a game that I've bought. While I cannot honestly think of a time in recent memory where I chose not to patch a game because I didn't agree with the patch changes, I'm not sure I want to relinquish that option. I'm not sure I want to start playing a game, and then have it disappear because the developer decided it wasn't selling well enough.

So those are some of the things, right off the bat, that turn me off about the idea. They mirror some of the general concerns I've heard murmered about the concept.

"What about lag and internet/service outages?" Exactly. OnLive says they've developed new tech that all but obliterates latency but... honestly, haven't we all heard that before? The bottom line is, the service will be prone to hiccups and lag. Now most of us have come to accept this as a fact of life when we play multiplayer games online. But do we really want to introduce this variable into our single player experiences as well?

Additionally, not everyone has great internet speeds, and not everyone has uncapped bandwidth. These are additional speedbumps the service has to deal with.

However, there is incredible potential for a service like this. It's huge for people who can't afford the top-end gaming PCs, or who can't afford three different consoles just to play all the available games. That would be a fantastic advantage. Imagine it, having all games available through one service. How convenient would that be?

But who says there's only one service? Yes, OnLive is the first, but does anybody honestly think that, if this actually works, that other companies aren't going to launch their own versions of the service? Of course they are. And then this idea of a utopian, console-free, one-stop video-gamescape goes right out the window, because we're back to different services competing for subscribers, and competing for exclusive rights to various games. Want to play the new Call of Duty? Sure thing, it's on this network. Oh, but you want to play the new Starcraft? Sorry, it's exclusive to this other service.

And that's not even mentioning all of the companies who have built their business around asking us to purchase new hardware every few years. I cannot see nVidia or ATI lying down while a service says "Hey everyone, you don't have to buy a new graphics card, we'll run the game for you!". I can't see Microsoft saying "Sure, don't buy our console, we don't want the revenue from XBL, etc anyway."

I won't pretend to know the architecture of the intricate web of licensing and exclusivity deals that ensares the entire games industry, but I do suspect that some pretty strict arrangements would start popping up between developers and the console manufacturers. And I also know that a lot of development studios are owned by console manufacturers, or other publishers. I doubt Microsoft spent so much time and money acquiring a lion's share of the industry to turn around and let Bungie's new Halo game show up on a service that costs them console sales.

And Nintendo... Nintendo shits money and they've had an incredible case of explosive diarrhea for the last few years. What incentive do they have to license their titles to a start-up service that, once again, doesn't sell their hardware?

I agree that OnLive is a really novel idea. A streaming version of the all-in-one console we've all dreamed of. But it's an idea whose fate ultimately rests entirely in the hands of developers, and there are a lot of considerations and loyalties (and legalities in some cases) some of these developers have to come to terms with before they license their games to the service.

And the console manufacturers aren't just going to pack up shop, either. If anything, all OnLive will accomplish will be adding a fourth "console" option to the market. Which is actually really great, because as mentioned, some people miss out on some games because they don't have top-end PCs, etc.

However a lot of people seem to see this heralding a complete overhaul to the gaming industry, practically overnight. The "Death of the Console", and I just really, really doubt that. To be honest with you... I'd be surprised if it gets past being the Netflix of gaming. A great service, a great alternative... but not the end-all of gaming platforms.

Obama Gives England the Finger

2009-03-10T00:10:00.002-04:00

No, he didn't absentmindedly flip the British off, but he did remove the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, which England gave to us after 9/11 to show that they were with us, and has in fact returned it to the English. "But when British officials offered to let Mr. Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: 'Thanks, but no thanks.'" What sits in the place of Churchill? A bust of Abraham Lincoln. Guess no one told him about the letter Lincoln wrote where he would have allowed Slavery to continue. . . But then, they don't teach the true history of the Civil War in the North.

Could someone please explain to me how a man who proclaims Lincoln for as one of his heroes then go against much of what Lincoln stood for?

As if that wasn't enough, Obama decided to give the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a DVD box set of America's great movies. Too bad the Prime Minister can't watch them though, you see, their DVD players can't play most of America's DVDs (They use a different style of player over there). Primer Minister Brown gave America a "pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa." Which of course goes great with the Desk they had already given us, made from the HMS Resolute, which symbolizes British-America goodwill (The queen has a twin to our desk, minus the door placed on by FDR to hide his wheelchair). The other gift is a framed commissioning paper of the HMS Resolute, the significance of which was previously mentioned.

Barak Obama's actions are nothing short of arrogant, and the audacity he has to treat America's long standing friends the British should not be overlooked. Obama needs to apologize to Great Britain for his actions, not that the Obamessiah would ever do such a thing.

If you wish to send a message to the embassy in America, they have a facebook profile which you can find here.

Farewell

2009-03-03T01:29:00.003-05:00

I got rid of my Nintendo Wii, traded it in to Gamestop for store credit. I don't play it anymore, there are no games out for the system that I want to play anymore. . . I'm actually kind of peeved about the whole thing. I mean, I've known about Nintendo's decision for a while now, but I didn't really focus on it. I think the Wii is a great system, and Nintendo came up with a great concept with it's Wiimote, the mii's, and a few other things. What peeves me about it is the fact that Nintendo said a big, "Screw you," to it's gamer base and has started coming out with titles exclusively for the casual gamer. Now people who would never have otherwise picked up a video game have done so, which is great, but at the same time, Nintendo is pretty much churning out garbage. I've seen the wiifit, and it's great that people are actually using it to get into shape, but it's a rather low quality product, much like most everything else that comes out for the system these days.

But again, what peeves me the most about the whole thing, is that I've supported Nintendo since I was a 5 year old kid playing NES. Through the years of Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, these were the titles I kept coming back to even when technology far surpassed them. I have owned every Nintendo console to ever come out at one point or another in my life, stubbornly stood by the Gamecube when others said it wasn't that good. And then Nintendo came out with the Wii, and it very quickly became evident that Nintendo no longer wanted us.

I understand that in some ways I'm comparing a video game company to an ex-girlfriend, and I understand that there are more important things to life that video games. But there's also a decent chunk of history in my life that Nintendo was a part of. I still remember unwrapping the box on Christmas day and seeing the NES, which was the fist console I had which was actually mine. (I had an Atari for a while, but that belonged to my Grandpa, he let me borrow it for a while.) I still remember playing Duckhunt in my living room, and placing the gun directly onto the screen to try and shoot the ducks in the higher levels. I think I even still have my Nintendo gun at my parent's somewhere packed up.

Well, tonight was the end of my friendship with Nintendo. I don't imagine that I'll be supporting any of it's products in the future. It may happen, but I don't think it will be too likely.

End of the Vacation

2009-03-02T01:37:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm back in Michigan after a week in Maryland visiting my family. I'm not quite sure I'd call it a vacation, but it was paid time off of work, and I got to catch up on some sleep, though I still have years left before I'm completely caught up. I think I'll be dead before that happens. I very much enjoyed Rush Limbaugh's first ever televised address to the nation (look lower for the links) I hope to see more of them in the future. I originally saw it in the airport waiting to get on the plane from the Washington DC Airport, amidst a few liberals who looked disgusted, and a few of my generation, perhaps a bit younger or older, who were actually paying attention to what he had to say.

I hope that people will start actually paying attention to what people say, as well as what they do. The tendency we have today is to just ignore whatever is around us that isn't good, unless we are cynical, in which case we tend to ignore the good. I try to see both, though with my history of customer service, I lean more to the cynical.

Amidst trying to figure out how I'm going to break things off with one girl, my mom has been working at setting me up with a different girl. While I haven't actually met her in person, I have talked to her online and we'll see how things go.

Tomorrow is going to be my first day back to work in over a week, we have new BP/Pulse and Temperature machines that were implemented while I was away, as well as SOP changes that I learned before I left but have since forgotten. I understand that we need to go over them, but 90% of what I read of the changes I end up forgetting about two days later, unless it was a change to an SOP that doesn't yet apply to me, in which case I forgot about 5 minutes after the fact. Much of the time they either change one word to another which means the exact same thing, or they add something to it which either A. doesn't apply to our center, or 2. It's a change which our center had already implemented. My job becomes increasingly mundane each day, which doesn't help someone who becomes rather impulsive when they're bored. I don't think there's anything more dangerous on this planet than an impulsive human who has become bored.

Twitter

2009-03-02T01:34:00.003-05:00

I don't know who came up with the name twitter, maybe there's some kind of internet lingo behind it or something. I don't really feel like looking it up, it's not that important to me. I do have twitter now, I'm not quite sure why, but you can find me here:

http://twitter.com/Arthuus

It almost seems like they took the whole facebook status bar and made a website for just that.

Rush Limbaugh @ CPAC

2009-03-01T02:58:00.003-05:00

Much of what I believe about this nation, and what I believe politically, is covered in this speech given by Rush Limbaugh. I know it is not very likely to happen, but in 2012, I would love for this man to run for President of the United States of America.

An End

2009-02-15T20:26:00.000-05:00

How do you go back to just being friends? I started a relationship with someone I had been friends with for a while, and now I realize that I just like her as a friend. It's still a fairly new relationship, but I really have no experience in ending things amicably. Any suggestions on how to talk to her? (Obviously it'd be in person.)

I had thought about buying her a copy of He's just not that into you, the book the movie is based on, and then highlighting the appropriate chapter, but I'm really not the kind of guy who'd do something like that.

Weighing In.

2009-02-08T02:26:00.002-05:00

Currently I weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of DAMN! My goal is to lose the weight by the end of the summer. I'll be changing my diet up to help accomplish this. I've cut out soda except for once a month. I've limited myself to water (purified from Brita) and Sobe or V8 splash (does not taste good). I won't be eating out quite as much, no matter how much I might crave an Oreo Sundae Shake from Burger King. I'm also adding in exercise, speed walking and stair climbs, which will be in addition to the walking I do while at work. My short term goal is to enter the Fifth Third River Bank Run, It's only going to be the 5k, but it's also in May, which is 3 months away. Longer term goals include entering the Grand Rapids Marathon. While running in these is merely a step, the main reason I want to do this is that I am sick of putting it off. I let myself grow too far out of healthy shape, and I'm tired of it.

Out With a Bang?

2009-01-19T00:31:00.001-05:00

I think a real feather in the cap for Bush's final day in office would be if Osama were captured before the end of the day.

2009-01-17T00:28:00.002-05:00

Go to urbandictionary. com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, then write the definition it gives you.

1) Your name?

Andrew

The boy's name Andrew \a-nd-rew, an-drew\ It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "man, warrior".

2) Your age?
25

The age at which one can finally rent a car in the United States without being charged enormous amounts of money and without having to sign thousands of papers for that matter.

So, a half-blind 70-year-old just got his license, rents a car a kills 5 people is more acceptable than a 24-year-old who has been driving for up to 10 years without an accident.

3) What should you be doing?
reading

The act of defiling one's eyes to malicous, or mind-boggoling content.

Did you see how red John's eyes were? He must have been reading.

4) Favorite color?
Carolina Blue

The name used to describe the school color of the University of North Carolina.

5) Hometown?
Raleigh

(2007) population: 367,995=Cultural center, andCapital city of North Carolina in Wake County. Home to many research firms due to it's proximity to Research Triangle Park. Home to Singer Clay Aiken, Rappers, Petey Pablo, Small World(of DTP) and Brolic D of DTP. Home Of NC state University, Shaw, Meredith, and Saint Augustines colleges.

6) Month of your birthday?
April

a female of wise words. Often regarded as a "panda" person. These types of females are very energetic and friendly, and when you see these types of girls down, you feel down too.

7) Last person you talked to?
Mary

one who is seemingly innocent.

Mary is commonly known as a good girl, for example: the virgin mary ... however Mary is a bad girl who never gets caught.

person1: ...christian cheerleader? a Mary?!?!
person2: yeah, at practice and church is a goody good... but you should've seen her at the party.

8) Your Last name
undefined currently

9) Your most recent car.
Dakota

The worlds largest hell hole.

-"My parents are moving to Dakota"
-"you poor fuck.

Another Trek Through Insanity

2009-01-16T23:40:00.002-05:00

And so it is that, after knowing Anessa (no where near her real name) since we both worked at Meijer a little over three years ago, I have officially journeyed back into the realm of insanity known as dating. I've found that the trek is different each time.

Fire Breathing

2009-01-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

Okay, first, I want to caution everyone who isn't smart enough to realize this already, but firebreathing is extremely dangerous. Equally important, don't tell Boudicca's kids about this post.

Since I've moved back to Michigan, I have; either at Ren Fairs, or at Swing dancing (not sure what fire breathing has to do with swing) seen numerous examples of good fire breathing. I've also seen some really bad examples of it at a bar not to far from here, where in one case the side of a guy's face caught fire because he did not wipe the excess fuel from his face after breathing it.

I have decided that this is something that I want to learn how to do, as it seemed a natural step from making campfires become towering infernos of fire. My first few attempts have been great successes, or rather, they didn't end with me in the hospital or badly burned. In talking with some performance artists, I have picked up the basics and can only say that it's a technique that's both easy and dangerous in it's simplicity. While rather exciting to do, I initially found in my first attempts that having a flame that close to my face is also a little scary.

When I feel that I am good enough, I'll be sure to post video of my attempts.

A Riddle.

2009-01-07T02:42:00.000-05:00

There are four men in a room sitting around a table. Scattered around the room are 53 bicycles. One of the men has been shot. Why?

Most Memorable Event

2009-01-06T02:55:00.002-05:00

I think the most memorable event from my trip was traveling through the mountains of Montana with zero visibility during a snowstorm. It got to the point where I thought about risking driving into open air to pull over to the side of the road. At the worst part, I could no longer see the road, the rumble strip wasn't making the rumble sound, and the safety markers were completely covered in snow and thus perfectly camouflaged. What makes this truly memorable during the worst of it, a wiggle wagon passed by me, and I was able to follow its tracks the rest of the way through the worst part of it and to the next truck stop. Needless to say, once my heart finally settled back into place I slept really well that night.

A good joke

2009-01-06T02:53:00.000-05:00

"See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum. . . and one night. . . one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So they get up on to the roof, and there, just across the narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in moon light. . . stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see he's afraid of falling. . . So then the first guy has an idea. He says, 'Hey! I have my flash light with me. I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me.' But, the second guy just shakes his head. He says. . . he says 'What do you think I am, crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across.'" -Joker (The Killing Joke)

A bad joke

2009-01-06T02:52:00.001-05:00

a pirate walks into a bar with a paper towel on his head. The bartender, seeing this, asks why it's there. The pirate answers, "Arrr! There be a Bounty on me head!"

I'm Back

2009-01-03T00:39:00.003-05:00

Suffice to say, it's been an odd year for me. I spent most of 2008 on the road with AMA Supercross, effectively placing my social (and blogging) life on hold while I drove a truck so that those who enjoyed watching it on TV could actually do so. Needless to say, I've learned a lot from that trip, some of which I'll share a little later on this week and on down the line. An additional deterrent from keeping up to date with my blog was a lack of internet at home, due mostly to a lack of interest in getting internet, as I had many books and games to catch up on, as well as getting back in touch with friends, and a lack of ability to access blogger while at work. Suffice it to say that my life has settled back to a semi-normal reutine, and that I will be able to better devote time to you, my reading public.

Also built into this time were two complete uprootings of my life and moving down to Georgia, then deciding to move once more back up to Michigan. So now I'm back in Grand Rapids, living in a much better apartment than I was previously, and will be much better about keeping the dust off the blog than I have been in the past.

Cheesy Beefy Melt -- Weekly PSA

2007-12-17T22:51:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you, but I really liked Taco Bell's Cheesy Beefy Melt. I was not happy when they brought in the new item and got rid of it. So I did some research, and came up with a way to order it regardless:

Order the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito as follows:

No Beans

Substitute Beef

No Fiesta

Add Sour Cream

Steam the Tortilla

Eat and Enjoy the cheesy beefy goodness!

Weekly PSA-- Problem Solving

2007-12-13T11:06:00.001-05:00

Ever have those times when you've got a problem that you just can't seem to solve? Well, the issue is that you're focusing on the the problem, and when you focus on the problem you're never going to be able to find the solution. Stop thinking about what's going wrong, and begin thinking about what needs to be done to correct it.

Think of the solution, not the problem

Mike Huckabee Ad:

2007-12-10T21:19:00.001-05:00

Vote for Huckabee, or Chuck Norris will roundhouse kick you into nonexistence

A Soldier's Silent Night

2007-12-07T01:58:00.001-05:00

I'm gonna be honest, this video brought tears to my eyes.

To all the troops out there, thank you.

This was Emailed To Me

2007-11-08T23:10:00.000-05:00

A friend sent this to my email, and I thought it was too important not to share this stunning information.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.

Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.

Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.

DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.

Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.

Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.

Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.

Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere.

Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

I scored 111 total of these

2007-10-26T03:56:00.000-04:00

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are a lot of movies on this list. Copy this list mail, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put the number next to the movies you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun!

( )Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x)Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x)Deep Impact
() KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
(x)Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 17

() A Cinderella Story
(x)The Terminal
()The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(x) The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 24

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
()Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
()I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 30

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
(x) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 38

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
()Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 49

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
()ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
()Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 53

( ) Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks!
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 59

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x)Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls (and skulls 2 and 3...lol)
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
(x) Shrek 3
Total so far: 75

(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Kippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
(x) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 80

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 86

(x) Baseketball
() Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 90

( ) The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x)Monsters Inc.
(x)Titanic
(x)Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x)Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 93

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 96

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
() The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 99

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 105

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
111

tagging:

Blogfather Harvey over at Badexample

Only Great Minds Can Read This

2007-10-11T13:54:00.001-04:00

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Because I got High . . . I thought you were Jedi

2007-10-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

I talked with my mom about her progress in becoming a nurse, (she battled and won against breast cancer earlier this year, so had a bit of a setback) and she had thought that she had a year from when she finished the classes to get the rest of her hours in. Turns out it was a year from when the classes started, which ended in September (Maryland Law). However she's going to ask for an extension since she was dealing with cancer and surgery, which she just went back a couple of weeks ago to have some of the cosmetic stuff redone. The doctor said that he's only going to bill the insurance, and whatever they don't pay he isn't going to worry about. On Saturday I'll be driving up to MD to see them, and we'll be going to Gettysburg, Medieval Times, and other fun things.

In other news, I have a Facebook account, and this was recently sent to my inbox:

"I know you from the afroman video "because i got high". MAN, was i high when i saw that! but i still know it´s you. if being a jedi was a real religion and you really get all those powers i would totally be a jedi! it´s the only resonable religion! the force better be with you!"
- Isaias

my answer: um, thanks, I think.

Pirate's Prayer

2007-10-08T15:49:00.001-04:00

Our cap'n, who art in Fiddler's Green, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as 'tis in Fiddler's Green. Give us this day our daily sea biscuit, 'n forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Fer thine be th' kingdom, 'n th' power, 'n th' glory forever. Amen

American Idol

2007-09-30T21:55:00.000-04:00

So I was at the UGA @ Alabama game a little while back. We were doing a shoot for Are You Fan Enough, an On Demand show that focuses on the crazy antics of the fans, and them discussing the two teams that are competing. One of the fans told us we should go check out one guys house, because he was one of the largest contributors to that college. Well, on the fence was a sign marked private party, but being the good people we were, we completely ignored it and crashed the party with the camera rolling. Well, turns out it was the house of Taylor Hick's father, and they were throwing a tailgate party. Sure enough, Taylor Hicks was there in a baseball cap. My uncle didn't recognize him, and I didn't think he should have won so I kept my mouth shut. As it also turned out, his lawyer was there, and wanted to know who we were, and what we were doing. No one had told us to leave, but right now we're in a little bit of trouble with Comcast.

Update: We aren't in trouble anymore, and we can use the footage, though we've didn't put anything up showing who he is.

I'm not Dead Yet!

2007-09-26T13:51:00.000-04:00

Wow, completely forgot about my blog for a while, but now its time to brush off the cobwebs and the ten pounds of dust, and start afresh. I now live in Georgia about ten minutes from my aunt and uncle, and my cousins, and second cousin. I'm finally back down in the South where I belong.

I've begun watching the Star Wars films in order, Episodes 1-6, and its got me thinking. I don't think the Empire is really all that evil, and low and behold, I found someone else who agrees with me, and even backs it up pretty well.

You can go read it here, or you can just scroll down a bit farther, as I've pasted it from the website to here.

Back to my other topic. I decided to move down to Georgia in order to basically start life afresh. I've felt for a long time that I like where I'm at as far as personal growth, but that the area I was in was filled with too many people who knew the old me, and would judge me based more on that than on what was truly myself. Then too there are a number of things about my past that are tied to Michigan that I regret, and felt that the easiest way to close the chapters on those parts of my life would be simply to relocate to a new area. More on what I'm actually doing down here later.

While a bit warmer than Michigan, the weather in Georgia has been great. There's been very few cloudy days, some great thunderstorms, and my neighbors are much quieter than the ones in my apartment complex in Grand Rapids. Believe it or not, I actually left the white trash in the apartment complex and now live around much better neighbors. Overall stress is down, though so is social activity, as I'm still getting to know the area. I don't yet know where all the groovy hip kids hang out ;-) .

Well, that's enough for now, look for something new on Friday or Saturday, as I feel like it.

Star Wars:

It's a difficult leap to make--embracing Darth Vader and the Emperor over the plucky and attractive Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia--but a careful examination of the facts, sorted apart from Lucas's off-the-shelf moral cues, makes a quite convincing case.

First, an aside: For the sake of this discussion, I've considered only the history gleaned from the actual Star Wars films, not the Expanded Universe. If you know what the Expanded Universe is and want to argue that no discussion of Star Wars can be complete without considering material outside the canon, that's fine. However, it's always been my view that the comic books and novels largely serve to clean up Lucas's narrative and philosophical messes. Therefore, discussions of intrinsic intent must necessarily revolve around the movies alone. You may disagree, but please don't e-mail me about it.

If you don't know what the Expanded Universe is, well, uh, neither do I.

I. The Problems with the Galactic Republic

At the beginning of the Star Wars saga, the known universe is governed by the Galactic Republic. The Republic is controlled by a Senate, which is, in turn, run by an elected chancellor who's in charge of procedure, but

has little real power.

Scores of thousands of planets are represented in the Galactic Senate, and as we first encounter it, it is sclerotic and ineffectual. The Republic has grown over many millennia to the point where there are so many factions and disparate interests, that it is simply too big to be governable. Even the Republic's staunchest supporters recognize this failing: In "The Phantom Menace," Queen Amidala admits, "It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions." In "Attack of the Clones," young Anakin Skywalker observes that it simply "doesn't work."

The Senate moves so slowly that it is powerless to stop aggression between member states. In "The Phantom Menace" a supra-planetary alliance, the Trade Federation (think of it as OPEC to the Galactic Republic's United Nations), invades a planet and all the Senate can agree to do is call for an investigation.

Like the United Nations, the Republic has no armed forces of its own, but instead relies on a group of warriors, the Jedi knights, to "keep the peace." The Jedi, while autonomous, often work in tandem with the Senate, trying to smooth over quarrels and avoid conflicts. But the Jedi number only in the thousands--they cannot protect everyone.

What's more, it's not clear that they should be "protecting" anyone. The Jedi are Lucas's great heroes, full of Zen wisdom and righteous power. They encourage people to "use the Force"--the mystical energy which is the source of their power--but the truth, revealed in "The Phantom Menace," is that the Force isn't available to the rabble. The Force comes from midi-chlorians, tiny symbiotic organisms in people's blood, like mitochondria. The Force, it turns out, is an inherited, genetic trait. If you don't have the blood, you don't get the Force. Which makes the Jedi not a democratic militia, but a royalist Swiss guard.

And an arrogant royalist Swiss guard, at that. With one or two notable exceptions, the Jedi we meet in Star Wars are full of themselves. They ignore the counsel of others (often with terrible consequences), and seem honestly to believe that they are at the center of the universe. When the chief Jedi record-keeper is asked in "Attack of the Clones" about a planet she has never heard of, she replies that if it's not in the Jedi archives, it doesn't exist. (The planet in question does exist, again, with terrible consequences.)

In "Attack of the Clones," a mysterious figure, Count Dooku, leads a separatist movement of planets that want to secede from the Republic. Dooku promises these confederates smaller government, unlimited free trade, and an "absolute commitment to capitalism." Dooku's motives are suspect--it's not clear whether or not he believes in these causes. However, there's no reason to doubt the motives of the other separatists--they seem genuinely to want to make a fresh start with a government that isn't bloated and dysfunctional.

The Republic, of course, is eager to quash these separatists, but they never make a compelling case--or any case, for that matter--as to why, if they are such a freedom-loving regime, these planets should not be allowed to check out of the Republic and take control of their own destinies.

II. The Empire

We do not yet know the exact how's and why's, but we do know this: At some point between the end of Episode II and the beginning of

Episode IV, the Republic is replaced by an Empire. The first hint comes in "Attack of the Clones," when the Senate's Chancellor Palpatine is granted emergency powers to deal with the separatists. It spoils very little to tell you that Palpatine eventually becomes the Emperor. For a time, he keeps the Senate in place, functioning as a rubber-stamp, much like the Roman imperial senate, but a few minutes into Episode IV, we are informed that the he has dissolved the Senate, and that "the last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."

Lucas wants the Empire to stand for evil, so he tells us that the Emperor and Darth Vader have gone over to the Dark Side and dresses them in black.

But look closer. When Palpatine is still a senator, he says, "The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good." At one point he laments that "the bureaucrats are in charge now."

Palpatine believes that the political order must be manipulated to produce peace and stability. When he mutters, "There is no civility, there is only politics," we see that at heart, he's an esoteric Straussian.

Make no mistake, as emperor, Palpatine is a dictator--but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet. It's a dictatorship people can do business with. They collect taxes and patrol the skies. They try to stop organized crime (in the form of the smuggling rings run by the Hutts). The Empire has virtually no effect on the daily life of the average, law-abiding citizen.

Also, unlike the divine-right Jedi, the Empire is a meritocracy. The Empire runs academies throughout the galaxy (Han Solo begins his career at an Imperial academy), and those who show promise are promoted, often rapidly. In "The Empire Strikes Back" Captain Piett is quickly promoted to admiral when his predecessor "falls down on the job."

And while it's a small point, the Empire's manners and decorum speak well of it. When Darth Vader is forced to employ bounty hunters to track down Han Solo, he refuses to address them by name. Even Boba Fett, the greatest of all trackers, is referred to icily as "bounty hunter." And yet Fett understands the protocol. When he captures Solo, he calls him "Captain Solo." (Whether this is in deference to Han's former rank in the Imperial starfleet, or simply because Han owns and pilots his own ship, we don't know. I suspect it's the former.)

But the most compelling evidence that the Empire isn't evil comes in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Darth Vader is battling Luke Skywalker. After an exhausting fight, Vader is poised to finish Luke off, but he stays his hand. He tries to convert Luke to the Dark Side with this simple plea: "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. . . . Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." It is here we find the real controlling impulse for the Dark Side and the Empire. The Empire doesn't want slaves or destruction or "evil." It wants order.

None of which is to say that the Empire isn't sometimes brutal. In Episode IV, Imperial stormtroopers kill Luke's aunt and uncle and Grand Moff Tarkin orders the destruction of an entire planet, Alderaan. But viewed in context, these acts are less brutal than they initially appear. Poor Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen reach a grisly end, but only after they aid the rebellion by hiding Luke and harboring two fugitive droids. They aren't given due process, but they are traitors.

The destruction of Alderaan is often cited as ipso facto proof of the Empire's "evilness" because it seems like mass murder--planeticide, even. As Tarkin prepares to fire the Death Star, Princess Leia implores him to spare the planet, saying, "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons." Her plea is important, if true.

But the audience has no reason to believe that Leia is telling the truth. In Episode IV, every bit of information she gives the Empire is willfully untrue. In the opening, she tells Darth Vader that she is on a diplomatic mission of mercy, when in fact she is on a spy mission, trying to deliver schematics of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. When asked where the Alliance is headquartered, she lies again.

Leia's lies are perfectly defensible--she thinks she's serving the greater good--but they make her wholly unreliable on the question of whether or not Alderaan really is peaceful and defenseless. If anything, since Leia is a high-ranking member of the rebellion and the princess of Alderaan, it would be reasonable to suspect that Alderaan is a front for Rebel activity or at least home to many more spies and insurgents like Leia.

Whatever the case, the important thing to recognize is that the Empire is not committing random acts of terror. It is engaged in a fight for the survival of its regime against a violent group of rebels who are committed to its destruction.

III. After the Rebellion

As we all know from the final Star Wars installment, "Return of the Jedi," the rebellion is eventually successful. The Emperor is assassinated, Darth Vader abdicates his post and dies, the central governing apparatus of the Empire is destroyed in a spectacular space battle, and the rebels rejoice with their small, annoying Ewok friends. But what happens next?

(There is a raft of literature on this point, but, as I said at the beginning, I'm going to ignore it because it doesn't speak to Lucas's original intent.)

In Episode IV, after Grand Moff Tarkin announces that the Imperial Senate has been abolished, he's asked how the Emperor can possibly hope to keep control of the galaxy. "The regional governors now have direct control over territories," he says. "Fear will keep the local systems in line."

So under Imperial rule, a large group of regional potentates, each with access to a sizable army and star destroyers, runs local affairs. These governors owe their fealty to the Emperor. And once the Emperor is dead, the galaxy will be plunged into chaos.

In all of the time we spend observing the Rebel Alliance, we never hear of their governing strategy or their plans for a post-Imperial universe. All we see are plots and fighting. Their victory over the Empire doesn't liberate the galaxy--it turns the galaxy into Somalia writ large: dominated by local warlords who are answerable to no one.

Which makes the rebels--Lucas's heroes--an unimpressive crew of anarchic royals who wreck the galaxy so that Princess Leia can have her tiara back.

I'll take the Empire.

Maryland, Gettysburg, and my truck.

2007-03-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

Working at Biolife has certain benefits. Included in the benefits is three weeks paid vacation and eight personal days. I decided to take my first paid vacation this past week. I was going to take it sooner, but my mom's surgery and recovery prevented that from being a good idea. Because it would have been too expensive to fly, I elected to drive down to Maryland which is also costly, but in this case still cheaper to flying when you add in gas to get to Detroit, parking for a week, the plane tickets and then the drive back to Grand Rapids. More on the truck later. My mom is doing better, though I've found out that she's going to have to have yet more surgery due to the kind of medication she's going to need to be on to help reduce the chance of the cancer coming back, which is something she's really not looking foreward to having. In the past she's always come back from surgery must faster than the normal person, and this time its taking longer for her, which is frustrating. Other members of my family are doing well, though my younger brother and sister can't seem to understand that mom isn't able to take as much right now.

As I've recently become interested in studying the Civil War, yesterday my father and I went out to Gettysburg and toured the Battlefield, or atleast, the Museum located at the battlefield. The battlefield was closed due to a bad snow storm. A couple days previously the weather had been in the 80's. The museum was nice, and they have an electronic map which shows with lights the progress of the battle at Gettysburg, its interesting how close the CSA came to winning that battle.
After the Museum visit, we walked around downtown a looked in some of the shops, I bought a CSA bowie knife, which features R.E. Lee astride his horse on the handle, and on the blade lists the states of the Confederacy.

I found out that my truck shouldn't have been able to make a 9hr drive to Maryland. Part of the engine is self destructing by rubbing against something else, the water pump was barely hanging on, the muffler wasn't muffling . . . I was unaware of all of this. The only thing I knew was that the truck didn't sound right, the cure for which was turning the radio up and placing tape over the warning lights. Before you go into a panic, no I didn't really place tape over the warning lights, although I did turn the radio up (Engines are much louder without the muffler).

So now my truck is being fixed before I can drive it back to Michigan, luckily that shouldn't take too long.

My eharmony Report

2007-03-12T01:38:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I'm seriously going to consider using eharmony, but I thought I would check it out anyway. I did all of their questions, and this is what they've come up with:

This week, Agreeableness.

You are best described as:
TAKING CARE OF OTHERS AND TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF

Words that describe you:

Fair
Considered
Collaborative
Responsive
Sensible
Diplomatic
Contemplative
Indulgent
Rational

A General Description of How You Interact with Others

You are important. So are other people, especially if they are in trouble. You have a tender heart, but you know how to establish and keep personal boundaries. You are empathetic and compassionate, but you also believe that it's best if people solve their own problems and learn to take care of themselves, if they are able.You are deeply moved by the needs of others, but you know that if you don't take good care of yourself, you'll wind up being of no use to anyone. So yours is a thoughtful compassion. You strive to be fair and sensible, taking care of others while also taking care of yourself.When someone really is in trouble, you like to collaborate with them toward a solution; they do their part, you do yours. You consider carefully, and respond in a sensible way; they do their part, and together you move through the difficulty. You seldom act impulsively; rather, when a problem arises, you take your time to think through the situation. This contemplative quality usually means that you'll arrive at a diplomatic solution, one that's fair for the other person and also fair to you. It's frequently a win/win situation.

Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You

For people who are ruled by tender-hearted compassion, your more diplomatic response to problems might seem too cool, too focused on fairness and not filled enough with sympathy and selflessness. For them, when someone's life is on fire, what is needed is not collaboration but rescue. And the person who experiences their life on fire may resent the time you take to contemplate. "I need you, and I need you NOW! This isn't about fairness, it's about the fire." "All deliberate speed" may seem too deliberate and not fast enough, either to the more compassionate or to people in genuine trouble. At the other end of the spectrum of compassion, those who believe people should take care of themselves may find even your thoughtful sympathies too soft. They expect people, themselves included, to work their own way out of trouble. They are convinced that the helping hand you lend just fosters dependence and is not good for the development of character, either in you or in the person you assist.

Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You

Many people, perhaps the majority, will come to appreciate your balance as a compassionate person. The more they get to know you, the more they will admire your thoughtful compassion for others and its compliment in the sensible ways you take good care of yourself. Those whom you help will appreciate the way you leave them with their dignity by expecting them to collaborate in their own rescue. Those who are more tender-hearted will find in you a balance they lack; when they've run out of energy because they fail to take good care of themselves, you will still have enough compassion left to lift others out of trouble. Even the tough-hearted, those who believe people should solve their own problems, might come to admire your tenderness which they don't find in themselves. So the people you help will be grateful, and the people who see your balance between self and others will admire you. Certainly, balanced is not bad at all as a way to be known among your friends.

Speak English Dang It!

2007-02-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

I know that some people can speak another language in addition to english. If you're out in public and want to converse with friends of yours that can also speak a different language, that's fine with me. However, if you're in a work place that centers around customer service, it should be a condition that around your customers you speak in the dominant language of whatever country you are in. I find it highly rude to walk into a place of business and find that two employees are conversing together in another language that the majority of the people around you don't know.

Psychotic People

2007-02-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

Without going into too much detail about it, I've decided to actually look back at my dating history, and I've come up with one conclusion. Every girl that I've ever seriously dated, has been crazy. I'm not talking acceptable crazy either. I'm talking the kind of crazy where the person needs to be locked up in a psych ward and evaluated. I've come to the further conclusion that there is something about me which attracks this kind of girl, so it's definately something I need to work on. Currently I wont date a girl unless a trusted friend at meijer says that she's okay to date, I figure that atleast for now, I can't trust my instincts.

In other news, the redwings didn't win the superbowl, but maybe next year. I've begun teaching people at another swing venue how to do the deathdrop, and I've also decided that running barefoot through the snow is better done when the temperature is slightly above the freezing point.

Superbowl prediction

2007-01-31T15:53:00.000-05:00

the Redwings will win the superbowl. The game will go to triple overtime, and they'll finally make the win with a homerun from center court, they'll bring home the world cup for sure.

Cat Talk

2007-01-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

I'm looking at getting a kitten with my tax money. Any advice on what to look for in a a kitten? (ie, what are signs of good health and the like?)

2007-01-15T15:05:00.000-05:00

This should be the proper link for the swing video.

In other news, I've finally got access to the sci-fi channel, something that I've lacked since moving to Grand Rapids, mainly because Comcast Cable is a complete rip off. I don't yet have internet back, I'm looking into DSL, and trying to find one where I don't need a pre-established phone line. I figure that since I've got a cell phone so I don't need a home phone. My personal life is finally starting to come back together for me, so my stress levels have reduced to defcon three.

Things in my family life aren't going so well however. My mother was diagnosed with cancer, and my grandfather has been in the hospital for the last week. My mom had already had surgery to take care of it, and started radiation, but they found more so they have to do more surgery, and they still aren't sure if they will need to do Kemo or not.

Biolife and Swing

2007-01-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the doctor came back from his two week cruise, and finally signed off on my ability to do the task 1 and 2 jobs for the medical history area. Unfortunately, he had two weeks of files to go over, three nurses to observe, as well as a co-worker of mine who needed to be recertified. So it wasn't until late in my shift that I was finally signed off. And of course, because the doctor finally showed up, this was the day that the center became extremely busy (I think there's a murphy's law about this.) After I finally was certified, I went to lunch, ate Jimmy John's (Best subs ever) and came back to work, only to find out that a manager had to also sign the paperwork, and that that hadn't been done yet, so I still needed to locate a manager to verify my protien level checks, as well as co-sign with me. I started processing, I gave the guy a fingerstick (take blood from the finger, similar to diabetics), took his vitals (blood pressure and pulse), and he was fine to donate. I sent him out to the holding area, and then asked a coworker to get either a manager or a trainer to verify that I had everything right. Somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes later, someone finally showed up, I gave her my read, and she looked, then asked me to check again. I looked, and the reading had jumped from 6.7 to 8.9. When she had looked just a second before, it read 7.2. Due to the long wait for verification, the sample had gone bad. So I had to document a QNS (Quantity Not Sufficient) and then bring the guy back in and do a second fingerstick. I redid everything, and once again, he was fine to donate, this time the trainer stuck around to verify it with me at 6.7.

After that they finished with my paperwork, and I no longer need to get my findings checked over and co-signed.

While swing dancing Wednesday night, I started learning a move we have dubbed: "The Death Drop." I had done it improperly before with a much lighter and much shorter girl once before, and we got through it because I was able to muscle the whole thing. I figured I should learn the proper way. The description of the move is as follows: Boost the girl up so that she straddles your right shoulder, you both grip eachother's wrists, she then twists and slides down your side face first towards the ground (you have to help manuever her to the side of your body, otherwise she slides down your front and gets stuck), you lean back at the end, and she pops up. video (the video is sideways, as the site owner never got around to fixing it, but you can see the move)
Pictures of the place can be views here.

2006-12-31T14:32:00.000-05:00

Happy freakin' New Year. :)

Fun in Medical History

2006-12-30T12:09:00.000-05:00

At this point in job training, I'm waiting for the doctor to get back from his vacation so that he can sign off on my tasks. Once that is done, I won't be needing an initial next to my initial after everything I do, and I can finally be placed on the regular schedule.

All of my coworkers and even the management are fun to work with, everyone who works there is quite friendly and welcomed me to the center. Occassionally they will mix words, but it's always in jest, and you can tell that it isn't really meant. Thus far management has seemed more like coworkers than a boss.

Although customer service still plays a roll in my job, it isn't the main focus, and the people who come in to donate plasma are there because they want to be there, rather than they have to be, which makes a huge difference in the attitude people have.

So far its been the second job of nine that I've held that I've actually liked going to.

I outrank my blogfather . . .

2006-12-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Emperor Andrew the Expensive of London by the Bow
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

As I recall, emperor outranks duke.

I'm worth $60.00

2006-12-28T15:43:00.000-05:00

Here's the deal. You look it over the following list and see how many of these things you have done. BUT you have to ADD up the money amount along the way. Then post the amount that you are as the title of the bulletin. Example "I've done $00 worth of stuff."

1. Had sex: $6.00

2. Smoked: $5.00

3. Got drunk: $5.00

4. Went skinny dipping: $3.00

5. Kissed someone of the opposite sex: $4.00

6. Kissed someone of the same sex: $4.00

7. Cheated: $2.00

8. Fell asleep in class: $0.50

9. Been expelled: $5.00

10. Been in a fist fight: $3.00

11. Given oral: $5.00

12. Got oral: $5.00

13. Prank called the cops: $3.00

14. Stole something: $2.00

15. Done drugs: $5.00

16.Dyed your hair: $0.50

17. Done something with someone older (like a few years): $3.00

18. Went out with someone OVER 18 (if you were under 18): $4.00

19. Ate a whole thing of oreos: $0.50

20. Cried yourself to sleep: $1.00

21 .Said you love someone but didnt mean it: $1.00

22. Been in love: $4.00

23. Got caught doing something that you shouldnt have been doing: $1.00

24. Went streaking: $4.00

25. Got arrested: $5.00

26. Madeout with someone at the movies: $2.00

27. Peed in the pool: $0.50

28. Played spin the bottle: $1.00

29. Done something you regret: $3.00

Now add up and post as "I'm worth $(amount)"

The following people are getting tagged:

Blogfather Harvey of Badexample

Boudicca of Boudicca's Voice

Pete of Shakey Pete's Shootin' Shack

Sissy of And What Next

Update forthcoming

2006-12-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

As soon as I get a chance to get to the library, I'll create a proper post about work, but until then, I can't write much about it, as I don't want coworkers to be peeking over my shoulder as I write.

Quite the Blurse

2006-12-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

Blurse: A blessing and a curse

I have now started my job with Biolife, and I've finished with the initial reading, which took about two and a half work shifts. I am now beginning my observations, in which they observe me as I do the basic tasks, and help me to learn how they are done.

The good news about the job is this: I am the only male currently working in the medical history area, and all of my coworkers are attractive.

The bad news: I am the only male in the medical history area, and all of my coworkers are already dating someone else.

I am adrift in an estrigen sea, but there are definately worse places I could be . . . ;)

Which is Better?

2006-12-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

So my friends, when it comes to acts in the bedroom (or elsewhere as the case sometimes is) which is better, lingerie, or just bein' naked from the getgo?

We'll take the Physical Challenge

2006-12-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was growing up, a very special show that would come on Nick. I used to watch the show all the time, and then it got canceled. Double Dare was in my ever-so-humble-completely-correct-oppinion the best game show ever. Not only did you have to have a decent knowledge, but you also had to have athletic ability, and not be grossed out by slime, and the many ways that they presented to you on that show. Slime was Nick's trademark. If someone got slimed, it happened on Nick. No other television station used it. Shows like You can't do that on Television, Double Dare, What Would You Do? all had this trademark. Nick needs to bring it back, along with the shows the worked so well with it. I'll never forget Barf the chef . . .

The Willowbrook Ballroom

2006-12-11T13:27:00.000-05:00

Last night, I and some friends took a road trip to the Willowbrook Ballroom for a night of swing dancing. Overall we had a good time, we met some people there, and I had a great time swing dancing, and even managed to learn how to triple-step without constantly going back to the swing step. Big help is not to look at your partner when you triplestep, but at the back ground, because you will get dizzy. The dance floor was nice, and while they didn't allow flips and other throw moves, it was kind of nice because I likely wouldn't have learned the triple-step if they had allowed them. It would have been better if there was a live band instead of just a DJ. It was a nice place compared to the places I go on a regular basis on Tuesday and Thursday Nights, but overall I would have to say that it wasn't really worth the trip.

Medical Historian

2006-12-10T15:17:00.000-05:00

As to what a Medical Historian is, I don't really know. This is what Biolife says is the job of a Medical Historian. I'm not sure what it all means.

1) Comply with federal, state, local and company-specific regulations related to quality of product, employee and donor safety and to the proper performance of day-to-day activities.

2) Committed to meet customer service expectations, greeting donors as they enter and exit the building.

3) Answer phones within reasonable timeframe

4) Take and record donor pulse, blood pressure, and temperature measures and conduct medical history questionnaire

5) Take and record other donor measures to include weight, hematocrit, and total protein

6) Check all equipment used in the medical history area

7) Enter donor information into the Donor Information System (DIS) (where applicable)

8) Assemble charts/collection containers for donor floor.

9) Coordinate donors to donor floor and compensate donors at Outgoing Coordinator.

10) Respond to donor reactions

11) Maintains complete and accurate records, in accordance with cGMP.

12) Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

13) Ensure general cleanliness of work area, donor waiting area and assist other work areas, as
needed, to ensure a clean and professional environment.

14) Attend monthly staff meetings.

15) Maintain orderly filing system, purging records as needed.

A Job and A Road Trip

2006-12-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

I received a call this morning, in fact it woke me up, I was going to let it go to voicemail and go back to sleep, but the caller ID stated that it was Biolife calling. When I answered the phone, it was the manager on the other end, and she informed me that she was pleased to let me know that I have been accepted for a position at Biolife as a Medical Historian at a wage of ten dollars an hour. I went in and filled out the remaining paperwork, and then went down the road and got a drug screening. Once they get the results from that, I can start working for Biolife.

In celebration, I'm going to take a road trip with some friends down to Chicago and we're going to go swing dancing. Anyone in the area is welcome to come, information about it is below

NO JEANS OR GYM SHOES ALLOWED!!!!!!! Seriously, Ballroom's rules, so
dress up and have a ball.
$10.00 admission at the door

Willowbrook Ballroom, 8900 S. Archer Ave.
Willow Springs, IL 60480.

Final Interview

2006-12-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

So I think I had my final interview with Biolife today, and it will likely take until early next week to here any results from them.

I still haven't heard anything from the Bank in Maryland, but I'm not too upset by that, as I don't really want to move there.

Either job is likely to be temporary, as my Uncle in Georgia may yet decide to hire me to work for his production company, but that's atleast a few months away, as there's some things that he needs to take care of first.

I'm glad I was blessed with patience, because I hate waiting.

Biolife

2006-12-04T13:11:00.000-05:00

Today I went in and donated, and as I was heading to the holding area, which is the area that you go to before they give you one of those really nice almost beds, the assistant manager asked if he could give me the initial interview (after the phone call) after I finished my donation. After my donation I had the interview, and things seemed to go well. He gave me the typical questions that they ask in interviews and told me a about a few of the details that are part of a medical historian's job, and made sure I could handle stress. I assured him that after working for three years as a cashier at meijer, stressful situations weren't a problem for me.

I got the impression from the interview that he liked me and would speak favorably about the interview with the manager. I now look foreward to recieving a call about the third interview. I wouldn't be surprised if when I go in for my Wednesday donation they ask if I can interview after that. Here's hoping things continue to go well.

Movies and Jobs

2006-12-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

I think I've been watching too many movies as of late. Thanks to Blockbuster, I can now take the movies that I rent from online, and return them at the store for a free rental, and free up my que right away. I've lost count of the number of movies I've seen in the last few weeks, and couldn't begin to remember the names of all of them.

My current employer continues to schedule me only once a week, so I'm going to be quitting this week as soon as I find a seasonal job so that I can continue to eat, buy gas for my truck, and pay my bills. You know, the luxeries of life.

Monday I'll be heading in to Biolife for the first of my twice a week donations, so I'll see if I can talk to the Manager that hires people while I'm there. My interview with the bank in Maryland the name of which escapes me still went well, and I will likely get a call back from them at some point, though I'm hoping to stick around Michigan for a little while longer.

Another Possible Job, This Time No Girlfriend

2006-11-27T18:09:00.000-05:00

I recieved a call from Biolife, which is a company that pays people to come in and donate plasma. I had been interested in getting a job there, and turned in an application about a month ago, but never heard from them. Today during the 4 o'clock episode of Friends, they called me and did an initial interview, and will be getting back to me about coming in for an interview. Pay starts at $10 an hour, so it would be a nice job if I could get it full time.

Looks like I might have to make a decision or two in the future. It'd be nice to have options for once.

The common cold

2006-11-27T13:49:00.000-05:00

If you're going to get the cold anyway, you may as well make out with a girl that has it. Unfortunately, all I did was sit across from her.

A Job and a Girlfriend?

2006-11-25T10:40:00.000-05:00

My mother has conspired with her friends at the bank she's a member of to set me up with a job there. There also happens to be a single girl who works there, and they've also conspired to get us together. I visited the family in Maryland for Thanksgiving, and also turned in the application for the bank. The girl was on vacation, so I didn't meet her, but I did meet my mother's firends, and they seem very nice, despite their teasing me and all agreeing that the girl would like me. I flew back home later that day, and after I landed in Michigan, I recieved a phone call from my mother that the bank had called, and wanted to know if I could come in for an interview that night. I'll be flying out to Maryland again this coming week, for the interview.

In other news, strife with the manager continues, as he only scheduled me one day this coming week, and its a Tuesday PM shift. I'm not happy about that, but atleast I'll be able to go swing dancing right after work.

Ravencroft is lame.

2006-11-25T00:55:00.000-05:00

Actually, he's not really lame. I just felt like being inflamatory. Although, analyzing his name I can't help but picture his head on Laura Croft's body... and that scares me.

Figured I'd post at random here, since Mesuir Ravencroft was so kind as to update. I actually can't find the last post I made here, so it must have been forever plus a day ago. Anywho, on with the post.

I believe I had mentioned here before that I was selling Aflac insurance. I had a really rough start with it, but I've actually improved as I've been going. Trouble is, the money is not coming in as fast as I had hoped or needed. Although I've seen people make good money and do well at this, I'm not going to be able to continue doing this full time any longer. I've started refreshing my resume and looking for a job, but all is not a loss. My speaking skills have seen a decent improvement, which happens after a thousand or so approaches to businesses. I'm also better organized than before.

Because of the situation, it does look as though I'm going to need to sell my house and move back to the city (Dearborn). It's really odd just driving by homes in the city and seeing the backyards. Now I'm not in the country where I'm currently living, but I could probably fit my house 4 times on my property and still have room between them. I'm not sure I could fit a house in the city twice on those lots. Another odd adjustment will be the noise. After living in Caro for 5+ years, I've become quite accustomed to the quiet. My mom lives about 4 blocks from the freeway, plus Metro planes fly overhead occasionally and that's just freaking loud! I don't quite remember it being so damned noisy.

So for now I'll just have to hope that things work out. It's going to be rough if we have to move everything and everyone back. Plus, I won't have my own home again. Trying to stay positive though, but it's not always easy.

Issues with a Manager

2006-11-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

This week, I decided to go home for Thanksgiving, so that I could be with my family. In order to do this, I had to take time off of work. When I first started working for the company, it was established that I wouldn't be working Tuesday PM. The days I asked off for were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (11/22-11/24). My parents then set up my flight for me, which had me flying out of Grand Rapids on Tuesday. When I recieved my schedule for the next week, my manager had scheduled me Tuesday @ 12 pm.

I sent an email the day I recieved my schedule (it comes via email) and then called on Friday when I hadn't heard back from him, and he told me that he hadn't gotten my email, but that he would work things out. Today I recieved an email reprimanding me for not also asking for Tuesday off. In the past, he had scheduled me to work Tuesday PM, and since I didn't have anything I needed today, I worked the shift and then rescheduled the things I did that day to other times. I then sent an email reminding him that Tuesday PM I wasn't supposed to work.

Everyone says that Mike is a great boss, is my definition wrong?

Moving

2006-11-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like I'm going to be joining the rest of my family. Currently I'm the only member of my family that is north of the masen-dixen line. Trying to find a decent job in Michigan (that pays well with good hours) is similar to trying to find a virgin in a house of ill repute. By the looks of things I'll be heading to Maryland, which is located close to a few other states, and the capital of this great nation.

Last Day Fun

2006-11-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

So I figure enough time has passed (two months), and I can share this now.

On my last day at Meijer, I had a lot of fun.

The first thing I did was arrange in advance that I would be on U-scan. This is where the fun begins.

As a cashier, I'd been running the U-scan for two and half of the three years that I worked for meijer, so I learned a lot from the guys who would come and fix the machines. One guy didn't like to be called all the time, so he gave me the username and password, as well as showed me how to do some basic maintenance. Also at my desposal are a fair amount of computer skills.

By searching through the files on the computer at U-scan one day, I came accross network connections, and noticed that all of the lanes are connected to eachother through the U-scan.

On my last day, while at U-scan, I had previously called a radio station and requested the song: Take This Job And Shove It as well as arranged with a coworker in the back to set the radios to that station, and then broadcast it over the PA when the song came on. I waited for the song to start up over the PA, and then proceeded with my plan. I went back through the computer and located the network connections button, and then proceeded to shut down the network. I watched the expressions on cashier's faces as computer after computer started to malfunction. I then walked off the job. The service team leaders still aren't sure what happened.

No Longer a Moderate

2006-11-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

I used to consider myself a moderate, because there a some issues where I take the left's stance, and some where I take the republican view. However, with this election campaign, the left has just been ticking me off.

Their defeatist attitude about the war in Iraq, the fact that they can't give a straight answer to any question that matters. Rather than take responsibility for their mistakes, they blame it on anyone or anything that had even a remote connection to what happened. Rather than talk about the issues, they run a smear campaign against their opponants, forcing them to respond. In one instance, with the governor race here in Michigan, Granholm keeps pointing out how DeVos laid off a lot of jobs in Michigan and invested $200 million dollars in China. Well, first of all, it isn't DeVos' job to give people jobs. It's his job to make sure that the company he's running does well. Second of all, if he had kept those people here in Michigan and didn't invest his money in a factory in China, the company would have ended up having to lay off even more people, or might have failed, which would have placed more people in unemployment.

So if I'm not a moderate, what am I? I'm a conservative. I vote republican. I am pro-life, anti-control (pro gun education), for lower taxes, for the death penalty, and proud of it.

How can I be against abortion and for the death penalty? Easy. An unborn child hasn't killed anyone. When you have the intention to take someone else's life, and you act on that intention, whether you suceed or not, you forfeit your own right to life.

Michigan, and why I'm still living here

2006-10-30T11:42:00.000-05:00

I had been trying to figure out why I remain in Michigan when I don't really want to be here in the first place. When I think about it, there isn't anything really going for me here. I have a job that I like, but it doesn't give me enough hours, and I'm starting to hate my boss. I have a few people that I call friend, but none of them are close enough to me that it would be a good reason to stay. I spend the majority of my time by myself, and I like it that way, I don't need to be surrounded by a lot of people, and when I am, I switch to observation mode. I don't have any romantic interests, and I constantly long to just take off with no set destination in mind.

So why remain here? I stay because there are some things in my life that I need to figure out, and it feels like it would be running away if I left. If I had a career waiting for me if I should leave, that would be a different story, but right now I don't, so I can't leave without feeling like I'm giving up. One thing I've never done is give up (unless refusing to do so would violate my integrity in other areas).

The Haunt

2006-10-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

Last night I had the chance to check out one of Grand Rapids fall attractions, The Haunt, with friends DJ, Bethany and Joel. Its basically a haunted house, and I gotta give the people credit for doing an amazing job with decorations and costumes. However, I can't say that I found it scary, so I was a bit disapointed by that. The highlight of the night was that I knew one of the guys that worked there, and he either already knew who Bethany was, or I had mentioned her when he asked if I was planning on going to the Haunt (he got me VIP tickets for $10 instead of $20.) So I think Bethany got pretty weirded out by that. DJ didn't catch on to it until the guy mentioned his name as well, or atleast he didn't seem to. Another good part was where they had a platform that you had to walk over to get through a revolving tunnel, which completely messes with your sense of balance. It was a funy experience, but I was really hoping to get scared. I guess part of the fun is taken out of it if you know that you won't come to any harm. Maybe they could change that in the future . . .

Swing Dancing and Work

2006-10-25T11:45:00.000-04:00

So my job with 7up is very physically demanding, as is swing dancing. On days where I don't have both, I can easily handle one or the other. Today my body is very sore and fatigued, and I'm going to be attempting work and swing for the next couple of days, so by Friday, I likely won't be able to move from my bed. I owe myself atleast 48 hours of make-up sleep, but we'll see if I manage to pull that off . . .

I'm Sorry! Really I am!

2006-10-23T12:18:00.000-04:00

Its been a two month unnofficial hiatus. I really did mean to post sooner than this, but I kept putting it off. I'm going to have to start writing stuff at home, burn it to CD, then bring it to the library I guess. I'm going to try and make up for it now by sharing an addictive game with you:

the game is called line rider, and the concept is simple: draw at a downward angle, and then press play to watch someone ride the line. Then add jumps, try for backflips and front flips, try a loop de loop (harder than it sounds) then show it off to a friend.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40255643/?&q=line+rider&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5

Swing dancing has been going great, and I've begun teaching novices the basic steps, and the flips and airials that I know really well. If you're ever in Grand Rapids, come downtown and check out the swing club at 800 Monroe.

7-up

2006-08-28T11:19:00.000-04:00

As you know from a previous post, I got a job recently working for 7-up as a merchandiser (read: glorified stock guy). Now that I've been there a few weeks, I've got a good idea of how the job works (okay so it isn't rocket science). However, the main thing is that I actually like my job. Yeah, there is some hard work involved with it, mostly heavy lifting, and counting (okay, that part isn't hard) but its actually enjoyable, and when I get done with work, I feel like I've actually done something productive, which is a feeling I never got when working for Meijer (read: Hell on earth) In some ways it's like I'm getting paid to be a member of a gym, and between that and swing dancing, I'm getting into shape again pretty fast.

Straight Outta Lynwood

2006-08-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

"I thought you all might be interested to know that I am going to WORLD PREMIERE the first single from "Straight Outta Lynwood" on MySpace.

Right here on this page.

August 21. 6 PM Pacific, 9 PM Eastern.

And I'll even make it a free download.

Have fun!"

- Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al's new album hits the stores 09/26/06 you can preorder the CD at his website: www.weirdal.com.

Leaving hell, hoping never to return

2006-07-28T12:46:00.000-04:00

So finally, after three years at a job that I despise, I've managed to find a new job, and will finally be leaving Meijer, never to return. I will now be working for 7-up/American bottling group, stocking the shelves and coolers at stores. Pay is a lot nicer, and I also get paid compensation for gas milage. I'll still be working at Meijer, as well as a few other stores, but I'll no longer have to answer to management or customers there.

Union Steward

2006-07-23T10:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I've done something completely unnexpected, I've become a Union Steward. This is unexpected strictly because I hate unions. I think that in the past there was a place for them, but now that we have laws protecting workers, they ultimately serve no purpose. So why become a steward? for the power. In certain situations, I have as much authority as management. Also a perk is that every christmas I get my union dues back. So that's about the only perk I have at work anymore, other than finally getting vacation time after 3 years. I'm still paid less than 7 an hour, and I need more than that to survive.

Swing Dancing and Renaissance Festivals

2006-07-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Recently in my post-loss of internet life (how I miss easily accessing it anytime I want) I have taken up swing dancing. While I am still in the process of learning, it has been the most fun that I've had in quite some time.

This past Saturday, I had the chance to go to a Renaissance Festival. Unfortunately, I had to work. So I went to the Ren-fair, and when I got there, I called into work to inform them that my truck couldn't get me in to work today. This was a true enough statement, as my truck was at the time 2 hours away from me. That settled, I set about enjoying the fair. The first thing I did other than checking out the various swords and armor was to have my friend DJ arrested for sullying the name of a woman. He in turn had me and a friend arrested in his stead. And she and I had to dance and sing our way out of prison, after which I had DJ arrested again, and paid a small bonus so that he was forced to sing and dance to get out. However, he decided that this time he should run for it, and did so, finally getting caught because he ran down a dead end path. Next we went and checked out the various birds of prey (unfortunately we never got around to seeing a demonstration) and then proceded to the Ric Rac Dumb Show, essentially a guy making a complete fool of himself. Almost everything at a Ren-Fair is interactive, and I was called upon in the audience to help him get a ball out of his mouth that he was "stuck" there. I misunderstood what he meant by his hand gestures, and asked if he wanted me to punch him in the stomach-- to which he informed me by his behavior was not the case-- he wanted me to do the heimlich maneuver. The show was quite fun. The next event we went to was the Pirate Shanty and The Bonnie Lass, which I ended up going to a total of three times, as I enjoyed it quite a bit. However the best event was the Drench a Wench/Soke a Bloak. Those who dressed up for the fair were allowed to participate in getting soked, which DJ and I did, as it does get quite hot wearing period clothing. In this event, you are given three sponges to throw at the opposite sex. In thanks of getting soked, the guys hug the girls that soked them, and the girls kiss the guys on the cheek. The festival was great, and I'm looking forward to going to the Holly Renaissance Festival on September 2nd. Actually, I wouldn't mind being a participant in them and performing, and doing that for a living.

internet lacking

2006-07-06T13:37:00.000-04:00

no internet for a little while. not that it affects this blog too much . . .

Time Loops (History Repeating)

2006-07-03T22:06:00.000-04:00

Its odd, but the girl that I found myself attracted to most recently is becoming very similar to a girl that I was interested in in the past. Last time it ended badly, and I really don't want that to happen this time, but it's as if I'm walking a pre-established path. The path is headed straight for the executioner's block. I struggle against my bonds but I am unable to break loose of them. As I near the platform, I struggle harder still, and finally the executioner comes into view, his face covered by a hooded cloak. When I reach the platform, I stumble and fall. Hands pick me back up, but they are not comforting hands, but the hands of one that doesn't care. A hood is placed over my head and I can no longer see. Despite this, I can hear soft twang of the axe being freed from the executioner's block. I'm forced to kneel, with my head on the block, and I feel the axe briefly touch my neck as the executioner lines up. I hear a grunt as he raises the heavy axe. All the while I struggle to break free of my bonds. I hear the whistle of the axe as it falls, craving my blood. I find myself in the third person, watching my head fall onto the platform, the executioner's hood is thrown back, and the face I see is my own. I don't know how to break free of this path before its too late.

2006-06-29T02:28:00.000-04:00

This seems expensive for something that is basically a bunch of leftover wire.

and a whole load of technology here is waiting for your to view.

just to touch on a few of the items:

In Japan, they've released a credit card sized phone. I don't know why people keep wanting cell phones that are smaller. A smaller phone is easer to lose. Personally, I'm happy with my razr. I thought about getting the slivr, but I prefer flip phones, as I've seen people call numbers by accident too many times, only to hear a faint disembodied voice coming from their crotch region.

Available at Amazon is an ice cream maker ball. This seems interesting, and if I liked ice cream enough, I would probably get it. You place the ingredients inside the ball, and then bounce it around for twenty minutes, when your done, you have ice cream. Before your done, you have a 7lb ball of death that I'm sure you can find creative things to bounce it off of to get that "special" flavor of ice cream . . .

here's also a remote control golf ball, which I'm sure you can imagine the uses for right away (just don't let someone tee off on a par 3 . . .) how many points do you knock off for a hole in none?

For those of you who just can't figure out what your dog wants or how their feeling, go buy a different pet! Or you can buy a doggie translation device, which tells you just that. Frankly, I find it a waste of money, as dogs, being dumber than man are quite easy for anyone to understand.

Mr. T and Burt Renolds have lent their voice to TomTom's navigation company. "I pity the fool who can't find his way without asking directions!"

Finally, there's a model tornado available for purchase. For only $204.00 you can have your very own tornado sitting right on your desk. No word as to the liability if there should be a sudden power surge, quickly creating a class 5 tornado in your office building, ripping your latest project to shreds moments before the deadline and at the same time killing off your secretary . . . but it looks nifty!

There are many more gadgets for your viewing pleasure at that site, so go check it out.

Parakeet Issues

2006-06-25T19:12:00.000-04:00

Well, for a while now, I've owned a parakeet. It used to be two, but one died, and so for a month or two it was just the one. Well, recently I noticed that the one parakeet has started shedding more than she should, including some blood feathers. I'm hoping its merely depression, as I've bought a new parakeet to be her companion.

The newest edition seems more content to either fly around the room or perch on me, where as the other two prefered the cage. I've decided to let my parakeets keep their wings, as its more fun watching them fly around the room, and easier to train them to do arial acrobatics if they can fly.

Today, I came across a rather funny comic, which you can view here.

If Star Wars was a Porno . . .

2006-06-23T22:11:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure it'd look something like this.

Personally, I think there's something wrong with a guy who needs to use a dildo for any reason. Now if it was one of these, I could understand, provided it was for use with a female in conjunction with a ball gag and a leash.

Let me further state that I'm glad I no longer attend Cornerstone University, as I would have a hard time explaining any of this to the IS department when they recieve the flags for everything I was looking up in order to do this post.

Random Sappyness

2006-06-22T00:38:00.000-04:00

Speak Softly Love by Andy Williams

"Speak softly love and hold me warm against your heart
I feel your words, the tender trembling moments start
We're in a world, our very own
Sharing a love that only few have ever know

*Wine coloured days warmed by the sun
Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly love so no one hears us but the sky
The vows of love we make will live unitil we die
My life is yours and all because
You came into my world with love, so softly love"

Embeding flash

2006-06-19T00:22:00.000-04:00

okay, I've figured out how to embed flash files in my posts-- does anyone know how to keep them from starting/repeating on their own? I have no trouble on flashes that come with the appropriate code, but what do i do with the ones that don't?

How Jedi Are You?

2006-06-18T23:32:00.000-04:00

how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen

"50 things about guys" with comments by: The Reverend Andrew

2006-06-18T01:52:00.000-04:00

1. Guys hate "sluts."
Well, hates kind of a strong word, but I definately wouldn't seriously date one.

2. "Hey, are you busy?" or "Are you doing something?" ~ two phrases guys open with to stop from stammering on the phone.

I've never used either of those lines on the phone

3. Guys may be flirting around all day but before they go to sleep, they always think about the girl they truly care about.

The most important things are the things we think about just before we go to sleep, depending on how many there are, we may not sleep that night. (pretty sure this is why I don't sleep much)

4. Before they call, guys try to plan out a little about what they're gonna say so there aren't awkward pauses, but once he's on the phone he forgets it all and makes it up as he goes.

I don't plan it out, I prefer to make it up as I go, yeah there will be pauses, but so what?

5. Guys go crazy over a girl's smile.

If he cares about the girl, he could be having the worst day ever, and her smile will make whatever bad stuff happened fade to nothing.

6. Guys will do anything just to get you to notice him.

eh, I do stuff just to do stuff.

7. Guys hate it when you talk about your ex-boyfriend or ex love-interest. Unless they're goin for the let-her-complain-to-you-and-then-have-her-realize-how-wonderful-and-nice-you-are method.

Actually, I don't mind hearing about it, but its not something I want to talk about constantly. I'd like to know you have more of a life than who you're dating or who you dated.

8. A guy who likes you wants to be the only guy you talk to.

I just want her to feel that she can come to me about anything.

9. Boyfriends need to be reassured often that they're still loved.

guys aren't as secure as you think we are.

10. Don't talk about your guy friends to your boyfriend.

I don't mind actually, unless its a guy I don't trust. Hang out with whomever you wish, but if I don't trust them I don't really want to hear about it.

11. Guys get jealous easily.

It depends on the situation, and how serious the relationship is.

12. Guys are more emotional than they'd like people to think.

I definately have a pretty good poker face when I try.

13. Giving a guy a hanging message like "You know what?!..uh...nevermind.." would make him jump to a conclusion that is far from what you are thinking. And he'll assume he did something wrong and he'll obsess about it trying to figure it out.

depends on how she says it.

14. Guys are good flatterers when courting but they usually stammer when they talk to a girl they really like.

not always the case

15. Guys hate asking parents for money to buy girls presents. So they come up with ideas like saving their lunch money for a week. But it never works because guys are always hungry so they end up asking the parents for money anyway.

I've never asked my parents for money so I could get a girl something. I had this lovely thing called a job

16. Girls are guys' weaknesses.

17. Guys are very open about themselves.

depends on who I'm around. If I'm around the right person, I'll volunteer the information. Otherwise they have to ask, and then I'll only give the most basic information.

18. It's good to test a guy first before you trust him. But don't let him wait too long.

This is true about anyone

19. Your best friend, whom your boyfriend seeks help from about his problems with you may end up being admired by your boyfriend.

This doesn't mean we like you any less.

20. If a guy tells you about his problems, he just needs someone to listen to him. You don't need to give advice.

not always the case. But if we want your advice, then we trust you a lot.

21. A usual act that proves that the guy likes you is when he teases you.

I'm just a tease, doesn't mean I like the person beyond friendship.

22. Guys love you more than you love them if they are serious in your relationships.

23. Guys will brag about anything.

If you've done it and there's a witness, it ain't bragging.

24. Guys use words like hot or cute to describe girls. We rarely use beautiful. If a guy uses that, he likes you.

I've only used the word hot to describe a girl that is temperature hot. I use words like attractive or pretty.

25. Guys think WAY too much. One small thing a girl does, even if she doesn't notice it can make the guy think about it for hours, trying to figure out what it meant.

Where as girls seem able to do more than one thing at once, guys seem to be able to think about more than one thing at once. When a girl does one small thing, a guys entire mental energy will go into trying to figure it out-- which usually leads to burn out

26. Guys seek for advice from girls not other guys. Because most guys think alike, so if one guy's confused, then we're all confused.

not always the case

27. Any guy could write out a rulebook or advice book for flirting, but no guy can write out a book about relationships.

I know several who cant do either, or can do both.

28. Try to be as straightforward as possible.

29. A guy has to experience rejection, because if he's too-good-never-been-busted, never been in love and hurt, he won't be mature and grown up.

30. If the guy does something stupid in front of the girl, he will think about it for the next couple days or until the next time he spends time with the girl.

31. I didn't like this one, so i took it out. Though true it was. **Nomi's note: Just a typical guy thing, taking out the bits they don't like. Haha.

32. Guys learn from experience not from the romance books that girls read and take as their basis of experience.

I've learned from both, I know some who don't learn from either.

33. Guys worry about the thin line between being compassionate and other things. (being a wuss)

34. If a guy looks unusually calm and laid back, he's probably faking it and is spazzing inside.

sometimes true, not usually the case for me.

35. When a guy says he is going crazy about the girl, he really is. Guys rarely say that.

36. When a guy asks you to leave him alone, he's just actually saying, "Please come and listen to me."

again, depends on the person and the circumstance

37. Guys don't really have final decisions.

its more that we're flexible enough to allow some wiggle room.

38. If a guy starts to talk seriously, listen to him. It doesn't happen that often, so when it does, you know something's up.

39. If your best guy friend seems to avoid you or is never around when you're with your boyfriend, he's probably jealous and likes you.

or you and your boyfriend need to watch the pda. . .

40. When a guy looks at you for longer than a second, he's definitely thinking something.

41. Guys like femininity not feebleness.

Very much true

42. Guys don't like girls who punch harder than they do.

actually, I like a good challenge

43. A guy has more problems than you can see with your naked eyes.

44. Don't be a snob. Guys can be intimidated and give up easily.

not so much with the intimidation, I just don't like snobs.

45. Everything in moderation. Put on makeup, wear perfume. Just not too much.

46. Guys talk about girls more than girls talk about guys.

47. Guys hate rejection, BUT THEY HATE BEING LED ON EVEN MORE.

Very very true. I hate being led on. Rejection really doesn't bother me.

48. Guys really think that girls are strange and have unpredictable decisions and are MAD confusing but somehow are drawn even more to them.

49. A guy would give his right arm to be able to read a girl's mind for a day.

It'd have to be atleast for a month or two

50. No guy can handle all his problems by his own. He's just too stubborn to admit it.

I Have Good News . . .

2006-06-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.

Well, not really, but I am now a state certified bartender. And I only had to take the test four times . . .

The class was a lot of fun, as were the teachers. Now I just need to find a job . . .

Man Laws

2006-06-09T02:09:00.000-04:00

Miller Lite has changed its ads to comercials about Man Laws, they have a website for it, and you can find it here. On the site they have the manlawpedia, with over 1,000 man laws written in it that were previously unwritten. Also in the manlawpedia, there is the option to edit the manlaws, as well as comment on them, and make exceptions to said man law. It's a granted that persuit of a woman is usually a justifiable reason for breaking just about any of the man laws.

I have added my own man law: All men must see the Godfather Trilogy atleast once in their lifetime.

I personally hold that no woman should be a valid excuse for breaking this man law.

a message

2006-06-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

Repeat this message to a friend And there will only be one to offend Send it to two And there will be one more to think less of you Send it to three And there will be one more annoyed with thee If you send it to four on your list There will a total of four that will get p***ed Sending it to more will be a synch They only need one of you to lynch Send a few more to be drawn and quartered A few hundred to be crushed in a mortar Or send it to none and spare your life And spare your back from a friend s knife.