Stop Before the Moment Moves On

I'm finding so much joy lately in all the choices life has given me that I have to ask the inevitable question: am I taking it all on too fast? There is something to be said for those that slow life down to ingest it in little moments and the value that comes from the sharing. This week has moved me back into that role of the fast paced life that I grew to hate while I was here last time, and in the end it all comes down to me putting on the breaks myself.

That being said there have been plenty of moments to reflect on faith over these last few days and I've done little else. It seems that every where I turn there is some new challenge to the complexity of my faith walk, and instead of running in fear like I have in the past I've allowed these moments to really begin to search out in me where my understanding of myself and my reasonings are enough to justify why I believe the way I do. Lots of talk...lots of thought...great new foundations.

It is on that note I cut this short as I must get some sleep. Back the the regular in the morning: work out, yoga, and then off to work depending on how bad Bend weather decides to be. Drive safely all and have a great week...

Truthiness?! Huh?

It is clear that men suffers from a disease called vagina blindness. I don't think this can be argued. There is just some woman in this world that no matter how smooth the man, the thought of being in close proximity to her vagina makes you blind to all of the stupid shit she is making you do. We've all been there. Try and argue guys. If you are not castrated or live a vow of celibacy you will fall into this debilitating disease. It claims millions of men a year in one form or another. This one is simple to diagnose.

The one that perplexes me is the opposite side of the coin...and sadly though I rack my brain I can't come up with a name for it. This one involves you ladies. It is a fundamental discrepancy in the natural order of things. The closest I can come to a name for it is truth blindness. There are these distinct moments in all of your lives where a guy (no matter how apparent his game is) can get you to believe anything, and you gladly give in to his whiles no matter how much hurt or consequence will come of it. Time and time again I've seen you ladies fall for the dashing words of some young Turk, dashed upon the rocks you once thought was the port of your dreams only to realize too late it was shallow coral infested waters.

The reason I write this is I'm frustrated. I've seen far too many friends fall victim to guys that were all talk but no walk. Any man can skill himself in the ability to hash out some sugar-coated plan to get in your pants, but the thing that amazes me is that no matter how smart you are you all fall for it. I've been standing there watching it happen and just shaking my head that you buy half the stuff that is coming out of their mouths. And I've been there in the aftermath when all you are left with is a pain filled husk confused as to how you got to place you did.

It can't only be the attention. I love attention...thrive on it even...but can say that I've never allowed the attention of someone from the opposite sex to completely void myself of all reason and blindly believe a lie that is being told right to my face. Is it a desperation that lies in you that you are willing to except any foolish notion in the hopes of not being alone? That is sad and can't help but make me feel that way too many young women are just settling instead of being true to themselves and their honest desires. More than likely this will be something that I will never have an answer to.

Hell...even I've done it (though not anymore...I try to be respectful)...feign a little interest in a woman's dreams, her thoughts, or her aspirations and sprinkle in a healthy dose of concern or empathy and you have them eating out of your hand. Can it really be that easy? Can you really be that blind to not understand what is happening? The only thing I can say is it must be true because I have never seen anything to prove to me otherwise. Is it any wonder women feel taken for granted and thrown away in life? Maybe if they put a little effort into realizing the power and strength you have you could avoid disappointment and heartache when in comes to your man.

I'm not deluded enough to believe that we will ever avoid heartache completely...but some things are just stupid. This to me is the biggest one. It is like I always say...it is too bad you can't teach a person common sense. It is lacking in humanity.

J...

Random Thoughts from the Asylum

This week I trampled. Thinking I'm not liking that. It surely isn't in tune with the bi-line for the new and improved Jack. It is really hard because I tend to get tunnel vision when it comes to politics and leave a lot of bodies in my wake when I least expect it. Here I espouse a message of tolerance and humane behavior but don't even live by my own rules. Got to work on that one...

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Overall, this week has been great. It is interesting listening to people and what they think. Some leave me shrugging of how you can make these kinds of jump in logic while others have you hanging there in the moment breathing in words of wisdom from a place least expected. Surprisingly my one vestige of finding these people seems to be in public transit. There is an incredible amount of street prophets and wisened individuals all too keen on sharing their outlook and all you have to do is look beyond an unshaved face and the smell of too long with a shower. It is in their eyes which then flows out through their words. Glad I'm in a place I can slow down enough to take in and enjoy these fractions of my day.

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Finally saw Crazy Heart this week and can see why Jeff Bridges won the Oscar though one has to wonder: why hasn't this happened before? The man has quite the resume. The Fisher King, The Big Lebowski, Men Who Stare At Goats, and Tucker were all outstanding films. But I guess it is okay to be happy in the "better late then never". He certainly deserves every award he gets. The man is an icon of an actor.

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Being a music man it always surprises people what I haven't heard. This week I added The Arcade Fire to that and have been pleasantly surprised. It reminds of the time I was introduced to My Morning Jacket. Suddenly my mind was awakened to some of the most incredible sounds. It seems like with each new band I take in and like I'm seeing music I've listened to for ages in a whole new way. Classics like Pink Floyd are awakened alive again with a new appreciation I can only see by listening to many bands they have influenced. Current faves and retreads include: EPMD, Pink Floyd, The Arcade Fire, U.N.K.L.E, Chemical Brothers, The Mars Volta.

...this has all been rather random today...maybe that is all I have to say...much love all...

j...

Throw My Head to the Air Screaming, "Why?"

It has been finally this month that I have embraced two truths: 1) The whole of government has failed me and the American public. What once was my shining hope in a change of regime has turned to equal parts dissatisfaction and hatred to everything that is currently in place. No longer am I content to let extreme conservatives and their ignorance be the ire for which I stoke the fire. Obama and his gang have joined it as well by taking a stance that is exactly opposite to those of the far right - sitting on their hands and trying to do things "the right way". Bush and his lackeys never did that. They saw what they wanted to pushed, forced, bought, and bullied their way through. The liberals now sit in a similar seat of power but act like a bunch of castrated mongoloids. Grow a pair guys. It is sad when the person that has the most balls in your party is Nancy Pellosi. At least she stands firmly behind what she believes and doesn't mind ruffling feathers.

2) I'm embracing the fact that, like most people that feel they fit in the bohemian intellectual sect, I'm decidedly socialist. I'm not changing. Not wavering in the fact. Not ashamed that I feel socialism is the political standing that is most in tune with compassion, humane behavior, and intelligence. Where socialism fails is purely from a stance of those in charge losing sight of what is important. Socialism is nearly impossible in a free market filled with partisan politics and back alley dealings. I think that is why it fits me so much. I want to distance myself as much as I can from Republicans and Democrats. At their roots they have amazing potential and the ability to accomplish much, but greed and personal agendas make these two parties a cancerous tumor in the guise of a two-sided coin.

My current beef extends to just about every aspect of American culture. It is a crisis of faith in all that composes modern living. I've wondered why I'm not as excited by movies, tv, and other things I used to love so much. Well I think the answer has always been there staring me right in the face. These things don't matter. As I'm fond of saying they are all "opiates for the masses". As long as we can have a celluloid distractions and celebrity gossip we are content to live within the confines of our own four walls protected from an ambiguous ethical reality that exists right outside our doors.

I can joke (which is surely a coping mechanism for the ugliness of our world) but the fact is I'm hearing the broken. I'm speaking to the woman who stands behind a plastic sheet of Plexiglass so some pervert can ogle her. I'm speaking to the father that has to make the decision of who in his family gets to go to the doctor this year because he can't afford health insurance and the many other medical costs that continue to climb in this nation. I'm speaking to the youth that didn't have the luxury of seeing things through rose-tinted glasses and was robbed of his/her innocence before they ever had a choice. Lastly I'm speaking of the billions around the world which get our table scraps so we can sleep soundly every night. We are broken. It is political, spiritual, emotion, and financial bankruptcy that embodies the fat, oblivious nature that makes us so hated around the world.

All I have is an answer that always resides in myself. And believe me or not, this blog comes with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I love that I care. The change in this world starts with me. With the choices I make. Being just as much of the problem this is for me as it is for anybody who actually reads this. My summer changed priorities for me but now it is time to define what that means. Take the chances that are not popular but are healthy for the world around me have to be my function. These moments have always been baby steps in life and that is all I can ask of my reader. Take the baby steps that change you and in turn you might change the world.

Little things change with me daily. I've exercised nearly every day for a month so I'm working of the physical me. I pray and speak to my savior daily so that builds the spiritual me. I'm attempting changes in old thought processes which have been part of me for way to long which changes the ethical, emotional, and intellectual me. In the end I can only hope that you too can find your crutch...your modern medicine...and shirk off its ill affects to see the world for what it truly is: a place full of hope waiting for us to create it. Be the hope in your world.

Financial Speculation 101

It is amazing to me how simple things can seem sometimes. I just started reading The Value of Nothing and am loving it. Raj Patel has a intellectual's ideas with a layperson's way of explaining things. I'm barely into the book at this point and am already plotting what it will be that I'll be reading next to further my goal of books that actually institute change in my life and thinking. So now to the point of that first sentence. In the opening of the book Patel talks about the current economic crisis and how ideology is in part of blame. We all have an ideology, it is what makes us understand and operate in the world around us, but it is when we begin to see other people's ideas of the world that we can sometimes be left confused.

Alan Greenspan was the chief financial advisor and Chairman to the Federal Reserve for nearly 20 years. It was his insight into the economy the led this country along in its highs and in the end led us to our current lows. This was all due to an understanding that he knew the behaviors of our finances and could be trusted to act accordingly. Patel shares some of Greenspan's closing words though and we find that we was as much of a chance speculator as anyone else. When pushed on why he didn't regulate banks more stringently or act more aggressively against speculative trading that was rampant on the stock exchange his answer is simple: his model was flawed.

And I can accept that strangely enough. Any model for running a government has to be willing to bend and balance and grow with the times. But that there is where I can't accept what Mr. Greenspan says. His model changed very little over the nearly 2 decades he held office. Why you may ask? Because he was basing his predictions on a very narrow margin of the financial markets. Some say he assumed to much about the ethical backbone of American business but to me it just appears he was content and lazy the let things be as they always had been. The issue with that being now there are people worldwide that are dying based on his faulty speculations.

Now I don't pretend to be an economist. In fact, I am horrible with money. I love to throw it around and give it away and it is a joy to spend it in exchange for the joys that living in a free market can provide. What qualifies me to write here is my humanity and the fact that it hurts me to see those in power making decisions that affect the day to day living of every person on this planet. So who gets held responsible when the people in charge of keeping the wheels turning fail? Sadly, it appears the only people that will pay are those that are the hardest hit by this economic crisis.

Can I make a suggestion instead? I'm trying to be positive in all things. It isn't easy. I ride the pessimistic wave with glee most times. Often times I think I like pessimism probably because it is something so familiar but I'm trying. Instead of just throwing up our hands do something about our current state in this country. Find a charity you can believe in and give what you can. Give a warm meal to a family that you know is struggling looking for work. Offer a ride to your neighbor if he is having an issue getting to and from school/work/etc. Find a cause, understand it, and go to a place where you can rally and make a difference. I do my own things and can tell you it brings me great joy knowing that I understand hardships and that makes me want to give back even more. It doesn't have to be much...even a smile and a "hello" can make someone's day. We may never see anyone pay for these mistakes but we can rectify them outside our front doors.

As always...