Half of my mistakes I’ve made stone cold sober.  Half of my mistakes I’ve made at closing time.  You can lean too hard on a prayer, but I don’t recommend it; ’cause half the good things in my life came from half of my mistakes. - Gary Allan

I’ve had, arguably, the last few weeks from ‘hell’; as a result, I’ve reflected a bit upon what I’ve done with my life, how I’ve affected others, the good - the bad - and the ugly.  Not that I suggest anyone make a habit of it; it’s not pretty, but a ‘personal inventory’ isn’t a bad idea now and then.

The conclusion I came to, as arrogant as it may seem, is plainly this… I’d like to spend some more time with the people I care for, I need to let go of angst / ill-will more easily, and I should probably quit smoking.

So, when you do you own personal inventory, if that’s all that’s bothering you, then I’d say you’re doing allright.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got my sins - against man, against God, against myself; but I’m at peace with them.

Ironic as it may be, half if not more of the best things in my life are a result of the fallout of mistakes I’ve made… and I’m O.K. with that.

“Maybe it’s a lil too early to know if this is gonna work, all I know is you’re sure lookin good in my shirt.” - Keith Urban

So I’m starting to wonder if I’m antisocial… and in so, I wind up posting here.  What’s sad about the whole thing is that I had initially intended for this blog to be semi-technical in nature, or at least for posts to be ‘widespread’ / appealing to many.  I’m spiraling downward towards a ‘bitching-post’ blog instead, which isn’t good.  But… that’s for another day.

At the moment, I’m coming to the conclusion that my antisocial tendencies are becoming an issue.  Let me be clear, antisocial is not anti-society (I’m not walking into the post office with a sawed-off).  Rather, I’m just one of those people who tends to keep to himself on his days off, doesn’t go out a whole lot, and finds his happiness in puttering around the house and working on his little projects.  That’s me.  What do you want me to do, change?  I think not.  People don’t really change anyway.  They can “lean” one way or another, but they don’t really “change” change.

Keeping that in mind, I’ve found that those of the fairer gender are ‘bothered’ by my antisocial-ness (if that’s even a word, which I’m sure it is not).  “Me”-time is not allowed!  I’d like to think this is an isolated incident or that it is somehow not true, but it’s been pointed out to me by every single person that I’ve ever had a relationship with.  I’d dare to say its a scientific fact at this point.

Guess I’m just an ass…

* Image from http://www.laughters.org and retains their copyright / ownership.

I can’t help it, I have to say something.

“I got me 14 kids — gimme some good ol’ state funding, free nurse-maids, and screen-time.  Or else I’ll cry about it.”

I’m sorry, but why is it ‘ok’ for a woman to inseminate herself with 475,326 swimmers, sprout 6 - then 8 more - children, and not be held responsible for it in some manner.  Her parents are basically raising the previous 6, and now the new batch.  Did Octo-Mom see Amblin Entertainment’s “Gremlins” one too many times?

- Vinnie the Cultural Psycho-Analyst.

I was at work today, doing what I do, and I heard some scuttlebutt about an episode of Family Guy that made reference to some viral video known as ‘Two Girls, One Cup’. Not wanting to be out of the loop, I arrived home and started doing some research. What I found was… odd.

Long story short, the Wikipedia page tells it all –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Girls_1_Cup

If want to see the video, here’s a direct link –

http://www.mfxmedia.com/Trailer/mfx-1209.mpg

Note: I’ve no idea how long that link will be valid for. It’s been up for a long time, but I’m sure it will eventually drop out.

Now, a lot of people find this video revolting, sickening, and pretty much everyone and their brother claims that they have vomited due to experiencing it. It’s gotten to be such a ‘fad’ that every Tom Dick and Harry with a keyboard has resorted to videotaping their friends and family watching the clip, and then posting those reaction videos. There are even renditions of Kermit the Frog watching the clip!

Add to all this, a beastiality clip of a 44 year old man having his way with a full grown horse. Yes, I said it, a horse.

Kenneth Pinyan, an engineer for Boeing Aerospace and Defense, regularly engaged as the receiving end of anal intercourse with horses; he employed his friend to video tape the acts and then publish the clips. In his final act, no pun intended, the horse bucked up and fully inserted into Pinyan, puncturing through his internal organs. Reports indicate, not immediately dead, Pinyan realized the gravity of his situation but refused friends’ pleas to seek medical attention. He feared the shame of an Emergency Room full of confused medical professionals.

Apparently, education does not equate to intelligence. It is comforting to know that America’s first line of defense and military backbone is being designed, tested, and outfitted by men who can’t grasp the fact that a 3 foot long, 4 inch diameter ‘thing’ should not be inserted into a 1 1/2 inch diameter, 6 to 8 inch deep cavity. Maybe that’s where mid-air refueling came from, a ‘horse-love’ session gone well?

I guess I’m just bothered by all of this. Not the particular ‘abnormal sexual acts’, but the reaction of everyone to it. People have been doing insane things for thousands of years, but not until the age of the internet have we, as a society, become so engorged with every ounce of it. It’s as if we feed upon it.

Myself included, I admit, “I just had to see it”.

Contrary to others, I didn’t throw up… although the equine video was a bit shocking (in the same way that watching acrobats at the circus is ‘edge of your seat’ stuff). I actually found both clips to be… mundane, boring, and wholly a waste of tape (er, hard drive space?) I’m very surprised that any of this made it into the news, let alone has become engrained as a chunk of ‘popular culture’.

Have we run that short of news-worthy, conversation-worthy material?

Remember when we all had 24.4 kbaud modems? Ya, those were the days. Webpages were written efficiently, because it took –

f-o-o-r-r-r-e-e-e-e-v-v-v-v-v-e-e-e-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-r-r-r

– to load a single page with nothing more than a couple jpegs and some text. Now, in an age of 1.5 MByte/sec downloads, it’s a clutter-fuck of useless information.

In the end, I think this will be the downfall of telecommunications.

… Whoa, right now you’re saying, “How the hell did he go from talking about that 2 Girls, 1 Cup thing to the downfall of telecom?!?!?”

Ugh… As more and more cavemen-esque, mini-minded, waste-of-oxygen persons fill up the television channels, radio airwaves, amateur radio frequencies, bulletin boards, blogs, the internet in general, etc. with what I can only compare to cellulose filler, the new big brother (no longer any government, but the telecom providers, seeking their own desires, whether they be strong right wing, monetary, or simply that of holding their finger on the proverbial red button) builds more and more steam.

Liberty and freedom extend only so far as we can defend them… and our ability to defend them is, by their nature indeed, directly proportional the character of the actions we take as a result of them.

As canned and over-romanticized as it may sound…

Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed and spite, jealousy, and we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we’ve done, like we did with the Cylons. We decided to play God, create life. And when that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it really wasn’t our fault, not really. You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you’ve created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can’t hide from the things that you’ve done anymore.

- Edward James Olmos as ‘Adama’, in JJ Abrams’ Battlestar Galactica

Note: air refueling image provided free by ‘wallpapers.free-review.net’

It’s 2008.

Democrats (I suppose that’s me, since we’re in an American political schema where you’re either a Republican… or sane) are running a ticket that pulls out all the punches. In the left corner, we’ve got a strong-willed, angry, driven, and powerful candidate — who just so happens to be a woman. In the right corner, we’ve got an idealistic, ‘been down the hard road’, vital, and forward thinking candidate — who just so happens to be of a decent where his grandparents and parents only had 3/5th’s of one vote. Republicans can’t complain about either one of them without being ridiculed as either Sexist or Racist.

But, being a card carrying Communist, er… Democrat, I have the ability to take shots at both of them. And, since the good ‘ol “Once Had Faith in It, but Not Anymore” Straight Talk Express of McCain has been derailed something fierce, akin to Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero, I find the need for my remarks to actually have some salt — dare I say, have credibility and social responsibility.

So here goes…

Once a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter, I’ve really had to re-examine the reasons why I carried such an opinion. Being a typically ‘fact-driven’ individual, I was faced with the fact, dire as it may be, that I really didn’t support Hillary Clinton. Rather, I supported her mid-life-crisis-era husband, Bill. Boasting a solid track record in office, an ability to actually balance the national budget (providing a surplus, such that some day, hundreds of years from now, America could, theoretically, pay off its debt), a knack for dealing with feisty foreign dignitaries, and the simple - yet immutable - characteristic of a man who ‘gets the job done’; he won over many American hearts, including this one. I suppose, in my little mind, Hillary was to Americans (longing for Bill) what GoBots were to those seeking Transformers. If you don’t follow that logic, get off the golf-cart now.

I went back and thought about why we (as a nation) favored certain leaders. Reagan has been jabbered about more in this campaign than any other, but what did he ever do? Not much of any good; plunged the county into debt, yelled at a Russian and a German, instituted ‘Trickle Down Stupidity’, and considered launching ‘big frickin laser beams’ into space. … but he did it with a smile and a movie star’s face.

I’m ready for it, go ahead; badger me for disliking Reagan. I’ll retort ahead of time…

“He was our best president, like, ever!” — Really? Have you lived through all 230-something years of this nation’s presidents? No? Then don’t make stupid remarks.

“I bet you wanted Carter!” — I wasn’t even alive then, but there is something to be said for a fellow who is still being called upon by current heads of state to negotiate differences between some of the most divergent groups. And, no, I don’t like peanuts… much.

“It’s all you Democrats on welfare that think that Reagan wasn’t the best-est best-iest guy on earth!” — I have a job. Before that, I had a different job. And before that, I had yet another job. I’ve never collected unemployment, even though I really should have at times, and I’ve yet to savor the taste of government cheese; although I do wonder whether its homogenized or not.

Back to the point at hand… why we like these people. Truth be known, I liked Reagan — I was something of 6 or 7 years old, but I liked Reagan because he was all I knew, he spoke as a caring figure would, and he had the right suit for the job. Moral of the story is, people want to vote for someone they like… or can like.

Think about that when you pull the level, squiggle in the little circle, or do whatever it is that you do to vote. Think about how the only person who’s had the stones to TRY to motivate Americans, since Howard Dean got blasted out of the last election, is Obama. And in his first great ‘test of character’ — his response to his Pastor’s reverse-racially charged remarks — he just plain spoke his mind, and it was refreshing to hear someone state that, while he’s not in agreement with the specific (possibly over-emotionally charged) statements made, that he isn’t going to distance himself. The man doesn’t want to run and hide — he’s confident in himself and his abilities, regardless of what may or may not have been a shortcoming in his friend. That seems very… leader-like.

For the record, I heard most of the ‘rant’ that this Southern Preacher gave regarding the place of a minority in modern society, the need to promote his or her people, etc. etc… and while I wouldn’t be so bold as to encourage ‘reverse-racism’, I really (honestly) don’t see anything wrong with what the man said. He was wholly blunt, and very ‘from the cuff’, but he was being honest. What the hell is so bad about that?

Dare to think different. It might be contagious. // Dare to believe. It might become reality.

Note:  Image property BarackObama.com … used for the purpose of election promotion.