Stooooooooooooooooooopid!

OK, I'm angry.

All the stupid people just go around having babies whenever they want, or when they don't want, or whatever, because they're too stupid to think that maybe they should use birth control, or a condom, or wait to have sex. Some of these stupid people then go on to kill the baby, also known as "terminating" or "aborting" the "unwanted pregnancy". Nice clinical words there. Also nice that the baby doesn't get a say. That the baby, who has been conceived and is alive and would have grown into a person--was already a person--has his or her life snuffed out without ever even getting a chance to live. All because the stupid parents found it "inconvenient". "Yeah, sorry, you being alive really cramps my style, so I'm gonna have to kill you. No hard feelings?"

Then there are the stupid parents who decide "Gee, having a baby is neat! It's just like having a doggie!" But after the reality sets in, instead of doing the responsible thing and letting someone else take the children, they keep them. "They're my children! Just like my TV and my stereo! You can't take my stuff!" And so these stupid parents just "try to live with those annoying brats," neglecting, abusing, and toying with their children as though they were pets or playthings. Yeah, that's fantastic. Good job, assholes.

ATTENTION STUPID PEOPLE: A CHILD IS NOT A TOY. A CHILD IS A PERSON. IF YOU CAN'T DEAL WITH THAT, THEN DON'T HAVE ONE. IF YOU ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO GET PREGNANT, DON'T TRY TO AVOID YOUR RESPONSIBILITY BY KILLING THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR STUPIDITY. GIVE THE CHILD TO SOMEONE WHO ISN'T STUPID. K? K.

Getting What You Want Vs Wanting What You Get

We are always aiming to achieve more. We believe that once we have reached a certain quota, we would have established the amount that would make us happy enough.

The truth is, if you cannot appreciate what you have in this moment, you won’t be able to appreciate anything else, because even if you have one million in your account, you will need two million to be happy. And on and on and on. Having a sense of direction is really having a goal. The difference is, our actions are more geared towards self expression as opposed to personal acquisition.

As for me - I really, really want what I am getting.

I'm alive!

Today, I'm in the midst my fifth decade and I have all my teeth except one. When I laugh, the lines on my face add character and that character is not Richard Gere’s. I have an ass that gravity has not pulled below the back of my knees. Half a breath is all it takes to hold in my stomach. And though my hair is slowly eroding, I can still use my muscular chest as a distraction.

Today, I have a job that I do well and I don't hate. Sometimes, there are people who make it unpleasant, but by and large, that is infrequent and quickly over. When I get home from work, I can forget totally about it.

Today I still have my mother, a grandfather and two grandmothers who are elderly but young enough to fret about being called "seniors." When I visit them, they are healthy enough to complain of their various little ailments, which I commiserate with them about. They have not resigned themselves to the inevitable decline, but still harbour hope.

Today I am in love. I am in love with my wife, my life and my family around me.

Today, I am writing this post, which my friends around the world will be reading.

Today I am alive, right now, key by key, letter by letter. These are my marks in the world. This is my pee in the alley behind the dumpster, my scrawl in a toilet wall: FOR A GOOD TIME CALL ME AT 773-555-1212.

You, who are me tomorrow, a week or twenty years from now--I don't know where you are, whether you're lonely, unemployed or sick in bed, or whatever--there were days when you were happy, this being one of them.

Remember that there was a day like today.

Dynamic Equilibrium

In chemistry, there is a concept known as dynamic equilibrium. Dynamic equilibrium is a state where a chemical reaction looks like it is not changing, but really the chemicals are coming together and breaking apart at such a close rate that it looks like nothing changes. Personality is this way. Temperament is a form of personality that is dynamic, meaning that it changes as events and situations change. These shifts are often in opposition to one another, so it appears static or at equilibrium.

In chemistry, the theory of dynamic equilibrium was defined with Le Chatelier’s principle which stated that if a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change. No overall change is observed. The temperament of character follows the same principle. By nature, our personality finds a comfortable zone, and is vibrantly habitual from that point forward. The realization of this leaves us opened to embracing both the positive and the negative; and gives us a tool for change.

Basically, there are just some things about our personalities which we cannot change. We are who we are. But if we understand that most of our lives we react in opposition and that we have a choice to use that to our advantage- use our natural reaction to find stability in our lives- then we gain control.

Boasters

“Children are great boasters, because they feel tiny and insecure, because the great world towers above them; and anyone who grows up so completely that he grows out of boasting will have a lot of adjustments to make before he is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven."

Those words were written by John D. Sheridan more than fifty years ago. And I don't know about you, but I could do with taking another look at them. Because my attitude to those who boast is one of intolerance; intolerance without giving a thought to the fact that my prejudice might be contributing to the collapse of the only world that person has. By living around of those modest self effacing people who don't boast, I'm only taking the easy option. I am rejecting those who lack confidence and/or self esteem and who need that little ego boost which boasting obviously gives them. Maybe I can excuse myself somewhat on the rounds that I grew up in an era when the majority agreed that "People ought to be modester".

I'm not suggesting that those few words are going to change your attitude to boasters, but they might do something for me. So the next time someone says to me "My son the engineer is coming home." or "I had terrible trouble parking my new four wheel drive outside the Yawata", even if I am still intolerant of them, wouldn't it be nice if I could give them an ear?