The Devil is in the Church

Most know me well enough to know that I’m in no means religious.  In fact, most know that I am very anti organized religion.  I’ve always said that you can pretty much believe in whatever you want, and I won’t care.  But as soon as you start infringing on my rights to do so, or spamming about your religion, or putting down my own, I will be up in arms.

I put that disclaimer there, because this post is one I wanted to cool off a bit before I wrote it.  The largest snag we had for the whole wedding turned out to be the venue.  We had issues with it almost immediately upon choosing it, and I’m glad that we spotted the issues with it as it went along.

(poem) - Change Brings Out The Stupid

Change is a comin’
And their ain’t no goin’ back
Something on the ‘net is changin’
And the netizens are ready to attack.

They will yell and scream
The will complain to no end
About whatever doom
The minor change is trying to impend



Some changes
I never even know exist
Until someone starts to complain
Yelling for a cease and desist

The funny thing is
That every single time
People get butthurt over change
They just fall back into line

If you read Facebook
It seems that Zuckerberg can do no rights
But the truth is
Facebook is one of the most used sites

There are tons of people
That slam Walmart
Yet tons of people shop there
Rampaging with their pushcart

Why do people complain
Then not take action at all?
Complain about how much they hate parties
But still go to the ball?

Rage on the internet
Flows like sand in the desert
Its everywhere you look
Because everyone seems to be an expert

Normally changes have a reason
And normally they are perfectly valid
Yet people rebel against change
Using vocabulary most acrid



There is no shortage
Of how Not to do a thing
And the list grows ever day
When someone tries to make a change

I often wonder
How much of it is just trolls
Goading the sheeple
Into a blundering steamroll

The anonymity of the internet
Is a double edged sword
One can say whatever they want
And never get gored

Yet that means stupidity
Can propagate with complete impunity
While reason gets drowned out
By straight up insanity

Will reason ever come back
To the online community
Was it ever even there
Was there ever any unity?

If you don’t like Facebook
Why are you on there?
Leave those of us alone
Who don’t mind Zuckerberg’s flair.

I guess in the end
Civility is gone
When change happens they will complain
You can’t fix moron.

--Dan

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

Paris: The City of Virtual Memories

The other night I got to watch an amazing movie.  Midnight in Paris.  If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.  The funny thing is, something happened to me while I was watching it that made me really think for a moment.

I’ve never been to Paris, France, though I do long to do so someday.  Yet, even though I’ve never been, I have distinct memories about the city.  Distinct memories tied to distinct locations in the city.  Its an interesting concept, and after the movie was done, I stepped back and tried to do that with other movies and cities.

The Importance of Multiple Honeymoons

From a very early moment in our relationship, Lisa and I knew we’d have to take multiple honeymoons, no matter how silly it seemed.  The only thing we couldn’t truly agree on was the timing of these things.

The main honeymoon is the no brainer one.  The romantic time alone.  The problem is all the things we have to get together for that one.  We quickly decided on a cruise, as its something neither of us have ever done, and we’ll get to see tons we truly want to.  So, I’ll need a passport, we’ll need to change over Lisa’s name completely and get her a new passport.



After all that, we want to wait for off peak times, not only to go cheap, but to not have a younger crowd.  Needless to say, this one is still a ways off.  We are both saddened by that, but not worried.  It will give everything more time to settle down in our lives post wedding.

The first honeymoon was technically just an escape.  It became more and more obvious, as our wedding date marched forth, that we would need a break from all the hustle and bustle.  This particular one was also the last fully hashed out.

Putting together the wedding was a ton of stress, but a ton of fun.  It was nice to step back in time and stay at a bed and breakfast.  It was definitely an escape from the norm.  Beland Manor was a true impressive little place, with the most charming of people running it.  They made the entire stay feel more like we were just visiting friends.

On top of wonderful breakfasts we enjoyed taking a four hour scenic train ride, on which I nabbed some pretty nice photographs.  It was pretty nice, just to sit back and watch the scenery roll by.  I’ve always known there is a time for excitement, and there’s a time for relaxation.  Part of me was worried about Lisa being bored on the train, but she enjoyed herself quite a bit.

After that, we stopped by a small art center that was having a small exhibit on the Mona Lisa.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the painting, and I’ve always thought all the ‘hype’ about it was quite funny.  After seeing the exhibit, all the work done on it, all the research, all the science, I was left with a ton more knowledge than I had before, and an even more humorous look at this poorly painted, incomplete work that was worked and reworked to the point that its shocking lack of vision is only compounded by all its flaws.

All in all, despite a horrendous movie experience, we had a wonderful first honeymoon, a relaxing weekend vacation away from stress.

The family honeymoon is the real kicker though.  Lisa LOVES Disney World, her and CJ have been numorous times.  I have never been.  We knew, the instant we were putting CJ directly into the wedding, that we needed a family honeymoon.  So Disney World it is.

So yeah, the day this posts, I’m there, having fun. *grin* Expect a later blog on it, and for me to edit this to a link to it.  Because, honestly, I’m ending this right here, I need to go get my picture taken with Belle and Beast, which decorated our cake.  Yay!

(poem) - Cahsh Dynar Night.

Back in Ballad of the Emerald Bard: Making the Band - 5, I knew that Deeya, for the second time, would be called out to perform on stage.  It was a wonderful opportunity to pull out a song from her early days as a video game character.  The problem is, the song I had in mind was quite interlaced in that old video game's lore.

So, I set about rewriting it.  As I rewrote the poem, I created a new city, a desert city named Cahsh Dynar, where there are sultans and the slave trade, giving the city a very ancient Arabian city, with a seedy side.  This, in turn, brought out the character named The Masked Canary, and inspired parts four through six of Making the Band.  It also allowed me to bring in a different version of Deeya's backstory and add a bit of mystery to her history.  I truly love it when inspiration goes in a circle like that.

Either way, please enjoy this poem, out of the story's performance setting where you can judge it on its poetic merits.

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