The Only Thing Bigger in Texas is....

There are many stigmas people collect over the years, as they age and they add things to their personality or person.  Tattoos have become more accepted, but some of the locations on the body are quite stigma still.  Visible tattoos will keep you from getting some jobs, while certain locations brands you as slutty or a punk....

I’ve seen the stigmas affect the old, as people start thinking you are senile, and I’ve seen the stigmas that affect the young, how they won’t be heard, no matter how good their ideas are.  I still remember having to fight major stigmas when I was young, and it never mattered when I was proven right, I was still a kid and just got lucky....

Moralist Values, and the lack of.

I’m so thankful that my parents laid the groundwork for my moral outlook on life. I was taught right from wrong, taught faith in a higher power, and gained insight on how children should be raised. Moral values are key to living a good, solid life, full of the happiness I have found with Dan.

I am astounded now, how people simply have no morals, and yet they still exist just fine. One of the biggest things I don’t understand is how some families seem to teach these morals to one kid, then celebrate another kid not having any morals worth repeating. Admittedly, I only have one child, but I’d be damned if I favored the one that broke laws, both man made and those of a higher power, over the kid that tried hard to make it in life with their morals held high.

Addressing my current state.

I’m tired of spreading hate, and tired of having hate spread.  Its truly a shame when it hits so close to home, in a more than literal sense there.  I mean, I have such happiness in my life, but then as I’ve always know, when people see something that’s truly beautiful, they try to destroy it.

I’ve seen it happen time and time again, to so many people.  Everything is going great, and people just start picking.  There’s been songs about it, there’s been songs about the condition of people just having to cause drama to keep themselves occupied.  I’ll never fully understand it.

The Thing About Lies.

Dan has told me over and over that he believes lying is the worst sin committable by humans. He talks about how undermines human society, and will be one of the possible downfalls of the human race. "How can we honestly trust anyone, when so many people lie as outrageously as they do?"

Sure, everyone lies, its an unavoidable aspect of existence, I don’t know how many times I’ve lied in my life, I’m sure its more than I’d care to admit...but there is a line I will not cross when it comes to lies. I will lie to protect friends, protect family, bury secrets that need to be buried; you know, things that you have to protect.

What Controls the You?

There have been many philosophical debates over the millennia, most of them are valid arguments, and need to be looked into to understand the human condition.  “I think therefore I am,” the human soul, what could be a better debate?

What about the one about why humans act the way they do?  All my life I’ve watched human beings defy common morality, sacrifice themselves for the greater good, or humiliate themselves for money.  The problem is, trying to understand the large decisions, is far too complicated, so I wanted to get down to the basics.

I believe there are three major aspects to how we exist.  We interact with this world through our Body, which has a central processing unit called the Mind, both of which somehow have tethered a Soul to this mortal coil.  My question is, “Which one of these, controls You?”

I am a Gamer

Are video games more than just a pastime?  In the end, I have to argue the pastime thing about many things.  Take a look at books.  Are fictional books just a pastime?  Lets take a closer look.

I have to admit, that escapism is a type of pastime, but reading a book does more.  There are educational values, because many novelists like to use words that you would never ever use in regular every day speech.  I’ve learned so many words just from reading.  It also teaches you to pay attention, because many books have subtle plot twists.

Einstein said

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

Remembering a Wedding

Why are weddings such stressful things to plan?  It makes absolutely no sense.  You want a celebration of your love with friends and family in attendance, but it turns in to a huge drama-fest of trying to make sure everything’s perfect.  But why?

Surely its not an ego thing.  It seems like it when you watch the shows on TV about it.  How people have to have a weddings that’s better than another persons.  Its sad when you see it, but it definitely happens.

Bad Cop, Horrible Cop

To serve and protect.  Words synonymous with the police force.  But I’ve often wondered about police themselves.  They are normally so feared by the public and such an avenue of corruption.

Now I fully admit, I’ve met some good and great cops.  I’ve know some that I knew I could call on and trust.  But I’ve also known the opposite.  I’ve met good for nothing cops that cast a shadow of shame across law enforcement in general.

There was a great movie line, from one of my favorite movies of all time, if not my all time favorite, The Chase , that stated how the only people cops come in contact with, on a day to day basis, is the worst of society.  Pimps, pushers, liars....  Soon you start feeling everyone is that way.  And this I see the most of.  Sometimes a cop will automatically think the worst in someone, for whatever reason, and treat them like a criminal when that someone doesn’t deserve it.

(poem) To Live.

When shame is the name of the game
Then how do you tell, what it is they sell?

It always seems as if people’s dreams
Do nothing but oppress instead of impress

This is a sad way to be, because you can never be free
From humanity itself, because there is no elf

Which is sad for me, because I love fantasy
To live in another world, found in books unfurled

But no, there is only this world I know
So the best way to deal, it to simply be real

And simply tell all the haters to go to hell
And live life the best you can, be you woman or man

Live with morals close to your heart....
Because truly Living, is an Art.

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

One of Those Mother-In-Laws

So, its starting to look like I’m going to inherit one of “those mother-in-laws.”  She completely thinks I’m not good enough.  She goes so far as to suggest other men for her daughter, my fiancé.

But then it goes deeper.  Its not just a mother-in-law situation, its something much more.  The drama the woman exudes is astounding.  And I honestly have no clue where to begin.  I guess I’ll begin with the hard part.

Optimistic Pessimist

Optimism in this day and age is such a ramshackle term.  The world seems to be going down in flames, yet having a favorable outlook about it all seems silly.  I think that’s the reason why I call myself an Optimistic Pessimist.  Most people try to split the middle by calling themselves realists, but I’m definitely not that.

I believe everything will work out for the best, though there will be pitfalls along the way.  My current example: the battery went out on the car, a dead battery is either the thing that charges the battery, the alternator; or its just a dead battery.  If it’s the alternator and you don’t check it and you replace the batter with a new one it will kill the new battery, as well.  So when does it cross the line FROM optimism to say that we should check the alternator just in case?

The reason I create.

Have you ever had a dream that overwhelmed you?  I’m not talking about a nightmare, I’m talking about thoughts of a story that has swept you away, and after you came out of the dream, you just kept adding to it, or editing it, as you went through your day?  Ever see a story or a movie, and think to yourself that you could have done it better, or that it would have been better with certain tweaks?

Unfortunately, I am like this.  I say unfortunate, because sometimes I can’t enjoy certain stories because I see the plot holes, or something that’s just incorrect, or something that the author/director changed to fit what they needed to, even though they had set up something before that doesn’t justify it.  Okay, maybe that last one was a bit confusing due to pronouns.

(poem) Strive

Delusions of grandeur
Dreams of greatness
They can be seen on the horizon
Yet be as elusive as Nessie of Loch Ness

They are figments of the imagination
Yet things for which we strive
Some people fully believe
To achieve them is to be alive

We walk this Earth
Striving for a destiny
Yet most are doomed
To an existence kin to a zombie.

I’ve watched dreams thrive
I’ve watched them die
I’ve achieved my happiness
In the blink of an eye

I crave so much more
Yet that is not as important
As simply learning to live
Within each and every moment

Goals are great
Dreams are good
Enjoy this life
In every way you would

Pain is temporary
As is life
Your dreams are your pinpoints
To move you from strife

Achieve what you can
Smile every day
For maybe sometime
You can enjoy where you lay

I enjoy my dreams
And strive to achieve them
Go strive for your own
I'm imploring you with this poem

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

Acheivements

Human achievement is astounding.  How can anyone not just step back and marvel at what we have done in such a short time on this planet.  Nothing on this planet before humans could even build their own shelter....  We’ve tamed nature in so many ways, and somehow we haven’t managed to kill everyone and everything on this planet yet.

And yet, it goes mostly ignore by all, especially the media.  I had to learn that there is another Mars Rover today on a blog.  A blog....  Not the news, not the media, but someone sharing an obscure link from YouTube on the landing of the vehicle....  Pitiful.

But that’s been the entire history of the space program here in the US.  Completely ignored for the most part, unless some kind of drama occurs.  Most of the footage from the Apollo missions, shot live, were not broadcast....

(poem) Rambling about inadequacy

Passing the time
Watching it go away
Is this what I should do
Day after day?

My life is completely on track
Yet I’m hungry for something more
I know what I should do now
So both of us don’t end up on the floor

But will it work
Can it pay off
Only time will tell
If we can fill the trough

Outside of here.

Expanding one’s horizons is such a nice thing to do.  Its amazing to see what’s out there, even if its just reading about it.  Today I learned about some things in another country that I never knew existed.  I was simply amazed and shocked at things.

But then, I’ve been looking around at other countries for awhile.  There’s so much out there in this world.  History that has been kept from me, especially as I’m from the US and we’re taught that we’re the best and there’s nothing else worth seeing out there.  It’s a sad fact of life, living here.

(poem) The people who Hate.

There is always one
Who will hate you
One who will throw your happiness
Into a busy avenue

I know these people
I know them well
When they speak
I can hear the bells of hell




They ring loudly
In my mind
Thoughts of murder
Rage making me blind

But then I smile
Into their face
And do their job better
At a quicker pace.

I wonder why
They are so intimidated
By one such as me
I’m always so timid

Yet this is what they do
They pick out your superiority
Even if its not flaunted
And plan its atrophy

The United Hate-breeders of America

Ignorance is such an amazing thing.  It permeates life here in the United States.  I have to believe that it is elsewhere in the world, but the way it erodes society here, is just dauntingly unbelievable.  Ignorance here is a weight that crushes souls and grinds civility to dust.

You can take this whole Chik-fil-A thing for a good example.  Today I saw a bunch of Facebook posts of ‘good Christians’ cursing and using derogatory comments to defame and tell the gays of this world to die horrible deaths....  It honestly makes me ashamed to be a human when I see these things.  How can there be such hate in this world, and people using such terminology as using ‘free speech’ as an argument.  Freedom is freedom to do anything that’s not harmful....  Yet these people want to take freedom away from others....

Gender inequality?

Here’s an age old question, what are the differences between men and women? Would you be shocked if I said there really wasn’t any?

Yeah, I figured you would be, but hear me out. The only real difference is reproductive rolls. Besides that, what other difference is there? Well, the answer to that one is easy, most of the differences come directly from those reproductive rolls.

Escape of a lifetime.

What is it about traveling that makes people more worldly? I guess the answer is obvious, but it is pretty amazing at how those who have left their home and moved far away have so much more wisdom and insight.  In my home town, everyone is so stuck in a rut, and I can see that in other places, but never as bad as that place.

I admit, I’m not as much of a gypsie as some people, but I was born in Texas, lived in North Carolina for eleven years, lived close to Little Rock, AR. For a year, and now I’m in Oklahoma. Rural OK at that. Its been a wonderful life, and I’ve been amazed at what I’ve seen and how far I’ve come, but I still find those people, whom are older, yet they just don’t seem to have this experience with life.