No one wants to hear this shit

A dear friend of mine posted his personal philosophy on his blog the other day; it occurred to me that I should post mine, if for no other reason than to annoy him - and try to restore some balance to the blogosphere.

Here is my Dianifesto.

(I'm sure, in my old age, this will look naive)

People are inherently good, and want to do good; Life's situations can make one damaged or desperate and create the need for bad acts. But I am not here to judge (unless I get chosen for jury duty); only the God of Your Heart can be your judge. I can, however, choose not to associate with you if I disagree with your choices or actions - or seek you out to bask in your glory. I will always treat you as I would like to be treated, unless you squander my goodwill.

For the most part I am against big government and in favor of community decision making. That said, I'm a "bleedin' heart liberal" and would rather pay more taxes to help my fellow man and my community thrive - we are all in this shit together.

I recognize that guns are tools for killing, they serve no other purpose, and should be at least as difficult to get (and keep) as a driver's license. Fuck the constitution, look what these advanced weapons are doing to our country - does no one see how far some of these weapons have strayed from the original intention of our Founding Fathers? Defend your home? Sure. Mow down the whole neighborhood from your porch? Nope. Our government should not make it easy for us to kill each other, humans are already entirely too good at it.

I am against the death penalty. How can we, as a society, say that killing is wrong - by killing? Lock the bastards up, make 'em work and contribute to society while removing them from its rewards. Yes, it's expensive to house prisoners - make them earn their keep, that is not cruel and unusual.

I believe in small business, local government, family, framily, and community. In any group where we can speak face to face humans do good work. Separate the beginning from the end and that gap in the middle is where Evil lurks. Everyone should be accountable for their public behavior.

I think that social welfare should be a temporary helping hand, to allow one to recover from bad circumstances - it should not be a way of life. I don't pay my taxes to support someone's drug habit, but I'll happily donate to their recovery.

I have trouble respecting those who do not participate - you can read what you want into that statement. Don't vote? Can't complain about your government. Don't give? You can't take.
Don't work? You can't spend. Don't listen? You can't speak.
I think that everyone should be accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. I don't see this as judgmental - I see it as natural law. How can one eat what one hasn't planted?

I'm not saying that there is a darn thing wrong with asking for help - there is honor in recognizing your own needs and shortfalls. There is also honor in helping.

I am pretty happy with my religion, I have myriad reasons why I've chosen the path that I did. I'm sure that you are pretty happy with yours too. I would never belittle your heartfelt beliefs, or try to change them; please respect mine. I do not believe in Hell, nor do I believe in Heaven - I believe that those concepts co-exist in reality here on Earth. Heck, I've worked retail.

Hey, get the hell out of my bedroom! Unless you are invited in, what goes on behind my closed doors is none of your damn business (Unless I post the photos on the internet).

Gay or straight doesn't matter to me. Love is Love. Commitment is Commitment. You choose your framily and you live your life. Adopt, have babies, live in a commune, live like a hermit - whatever floats your boat as long as it don't hurt anyone; if you are joyous while you do it, all the better.

My body is my own, period. Your body is your own, period. Starting a family is a big decision, a personal decision, and one that you cannot participate in - unless you are the lucky fellow who impregnated me. No man in Washington, in the pulpit, or on the boob-tube is going to tell me when I'm ready for motherhood.

I am a Feminist - which just means I want to be judged on my skills, abilities and personality and not by my gender. I recognize, hell - I embrace, the differences between men & women. But don't write me off because I don't have brute strength; I bleed for six days every month and I ain't dead yet. Also, don't hire me to reach some obligatory Bitch Quota - hire me because I'm damn good. Oh, and my paycheck had better look the same no matter if my name begins with Mr., Mrs. or Ms.

I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, though I respect those who are; it's hard work. I have trouble with aspects of the cattle and poultry industries and therefore try to eat as little products of that process as possible. If I could kill my own steer and eat it I would, that is real. Also, after looking into those big brown eyes one would be less likely to waste any part of the animal. Buying a Cryovac package of grey meat in a fluorescent lit mega-mart seems to me to be against nature. If you have to be so far removed from your lunch/critter, perhaps you haven't the stomach for it. Again, small is better - if you don't know where it has been, why would you put it in your mouth. (Heck, that applies to a lot of things)

Here I have to share the Rule of Three, as interpreted by me. Anything one does ripples outward; do good and you'll spread good, do bad and you bring bad to you. I try (and it's hard) to envision each of the things I do coming back to me three times - if I can handle those waves then I'm OK with myself.

That's enough of my bull-shit for one day.

Word of the day:
Manifesto n.
a public declaration of intentions, opinions or purposes.

Nuthin' goin' on.

Walked around town today with the Hubz and his Bro, had a fabulous brunch at In A Pigs Eye and a great iced americano at Jaho. I kicked a bunch of white-head dandilions and uprooted some pretty yellow flowers (Which I left on top of Buzz & Marci's mailbox). The weather was grand for most of the day. Now the weather is right for reading - I just got a spanking new copy of Anthony Bourdain's The Nasty Bits, I'm going to go devour it now - along with the nachos currently warming in my oven.
Cheers.

Word of the day:

leeward, adj.
1. pertaining to, in , or moving toward the quarter toward which the wind blows (opposed to windward)
n. 2.the lee side; point or quarter toward which the wind blows.
adv.3. toward the lee

DDR

Today my Mom and I discovered the Joys of Dance Dance Revolution. I took her to Salem Willows to celebrate a belated Mother's Day. We had a great time! (We played air hockey too - she kicked my ass.) It took us a while to figure out how to even work the game so that two people could play - but once we got it, Wheeee!

I'm sure that we looked really funny - two fat chicks yelling "Left! Right! Both! Back! Again!" and sweating, giggling and jumping around. We had trouble getting past the first level of difficulty for beginners, but by the time we ran out of quarters we had made it to the final stage. When we were all done Mom said that we should do it again - but bring bottled water and have paramedics on standby.

I can't wait to play again; who knew that exercise could be so much fun. Dammit.

Fly by night

Iwas thinking lately about my night shooting; how it has been all shot to hell by the dramatic changes in the photo industry. All of my creative processes were influenced by the chemicals, lenses, timers and machines that made these images possible - I had intimate knowledge of the camera, the film, the processing and manipulation that made my particular vision come to fruition. I know that film sees the colors of light differently than the human eye, and I used those different colors to tone my images and make them my own. There was a real and valuable craft in using my hands, experience and mind to create art - art that was representative of the real word, but manipulated in such a way to make it my own world.

I was in mourning for the industry that I loved, that was a part of me, for a long time - I took no photos.

I sincerely beleve that there is magic in the interplay of light, time, gelatin, paper and glass. It was not lost on me that to share what I see with others meant working in the dark, alone.
It forced me to really believe in my images; believe while shooting, processing and printing. It was an investment of money, time and heart.

Not so much with my little digital number - but I'm trying.
Next step is a REAL digital camera (with lenses!) and some classes in Photoshop.

Word of the day:
Nocturnal adj.
1. of or pertaining to the night.
2. done, occurring, or coming at night.
3. active at night (opposed to diurnal):nocturnal animals.
4. opening by night and closing by day, as certain fowers.

Two by two

Word of the day:
Ark n.
1. the vessel built by Noah for safety during the Flood
2. also called ark of the covenant a sacred chest containing two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, kept in the Biblical tabernace and later in the Temple in Jerusalem
3. a refuge or asylum
4. a large clumsy vehicle or vessel

Raw Fish

I am up waaaay too late on the last day of my vacation. I have a belly full of raw fish and Asahi from the new Asian restaurant in town. I'll write a review tomorrow when I sober up.
In a word: Yummy. In a few words: Yummy, with great service.
TTFN
CS3

My First Post

Hello My Little Monkeys

I'm just wrtiting to say how damn tired I am. A week of vacation and I'm still wiped out - and I've done nothing (oh, except that little party with all the breasts).

I think I'm just sick of dealing with everyone else's bull-shit. It's exhausting being nice to so many people who deserve a right solid slapping.

That's all for now, until I actually think of something compelling and/or pithy to post.

Let's try this

Word of the day - from the shitty old beat-up dictionary on my desk:

Harrumph

1. To clear the throat audibly in a self-important manner.
2. To express oneself gruffly.