Stop looking at me!

One's the Eye of God

One's the Eye of Sauron

But which is which?

Dear Rapturist

I was reminded of this issue by these guys and thought I'd go ahead and make a quick post about it. At work a few weeks ago one of our regular customers and I were chit-chatting about this and that when the "End Times" came up and I said that I'm not quite ready for that yet. She said she's ready to go to heaven. Well, madame, I replied, if heaven's got all those people that are in church on Sunday morning, I do not want to go there. They're boring. Plus, I've still got some stuff to do here. Like: books, wine, kisses, foreign lands, tacos, bungee jumping, sailing, and LSD. And that's the short list. I really pity people who are so frustrated, or disappointed(?), with this life and world that they hope for something beyond. I know why they're distraught, I think. Because their beliefs forbid them from experiencing so many of the things that make this world beautiful. If you can't play, why stay, right? It's a terrible situation. I wish there were some way to free them. They should read this essay by Robert Ingersoll and see what awaits them on the other side of slavery.

Girls Girls Girls

So here's a little bit about feminism. I've been called a feminist so apparently I'm qualified to make observations and so forth:

Females and males are different. Biologically they do different things. They are not, however, differently intelligent. They are not meant to perform different tasks. My wife, if I ever get one, will not be "expected" to cook and clean and stay home with the kids. 1. I like to cook. 2. If she makes more money than me and that's highly probable, I'd be more than happy to stay home. I open doors for girls. And guys. If she asks me out on a date, she should pay. And vice versa.

Now, understand that I probably do give girls a little bit more attention and special treatment than I give men but that's because I like them more. I find them more attractive.

Here's the deal, in our world, where people of all sorts of sexual orientations are becoming accepted(finally), there's no longer one single combination of couples so there really can't be a cookie-cutter model for the home. We can't say that men make the money and women keep the house because then a lesbian couple would be broke and a gay couple's home would be disgusting.

This stuff also rolls on to attitudes about sex. For instance, while I do find Roissy's blog tremendously entertaining, the double standard on women being sluts and men being studs is antiquated. Mostly because it's a construction that we talk about but never really find ourselves clinging to deep down inside. Prudes that are female probably want to have lots of romping and rolling. They call sluts sluts out of jealousy. I'm trying to remove words like slut and whore from my vocabulary but they're so ingrained that it's difficult to do. Promiscuous has a negative connotation, too. How to refer to a female that's had more than 1 sexual partner? What about 20+? A man? Have we ever quantified?

And why are women victimized? Why do we always say the man took advantage of the woman? Women are perfectly adept at getting what they want. In fact, we talk about how they hold all the cards. So can't they deal them out when they want to?

One last note: ladies, please hold us to the same standards you hold yourselves to. If you shave and wash and match and shit, expect your man, any man, to do the same for you. Men are pigs because you let us be. Oh, this isn't telling you to brutally psychologically whip your man into shape. And don't be passive-aggressive either. Tell him what you want. Same goes for dudes, too.

I'm Yogic

This is not me. It could be soon. But seriously, I woke up this morning and spent about thirty minutes going through the sun salutation while facing out the big window on the east side of the house, sun rising and dawn breaking. What a beautiful way to start the day.

Coming up soon: some of my thoughts on feminism. Excited?

I'm a Liberal

Before I knew what I was doing, I was doing this quiz and here are my results. I have to be honest though, it might have been a bit different if it let you pick "all that apply" not just one option.

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

LULIN!!!!

Well, I had hoped to see a comet tonight but the damn clouds are in the way. I've definitely decided that I need to invest in a telescope though. I know a guy who's saving up his money for a really nice one but I definitely cannot afford $3000. It would be neat to have one that hooks up to your computer though. I'll look around I guess. This is me being all "starry"-eyed. Ha. Astronomy nerd joke.

Late Valentine's Day

So I've been thinking about love since they first put the candy out. The easy objection to Valentine's Day is the fact that it's commercial. You have to buy candy or flowers or chocolates or diamonds or bullshit. Also, there's the fear of the DTR(that's define-the-relationship) talk that it forces. Ya know? Either you like me enough to buy me something or we should break up. But I think perhaps my biggest objection is the lack of perfection of expression. Those chalky conversation hearts are great to eat but a bit cheesy as far as sweet nothings go. Instead of a simple "I love you," etc., let's try something a little more precise. Blame it on my predisposition towards modernism.

I like coffee, but most of the time

I need at least three lumps of sugar and

A little bit of cream to make it palatable.

I could drink you black.

Yes? No? Maybe?

In the darkness that is my life

Many candles have served to illuminate this corner or that.

Along you came and all at once

The whole room was visible at once.

I think these things are slightly more meaningful.

Confession: I like Space

I am a total astronomy nerd. Astronomy, Cosmology, Astrobiology, etc. I had two telescopes as a child. I would stay up late under the covers with a flashlight reading about star lifecycles and nebulae. I love anything Carl Sagan has every said, including the term "star stuff." I keep track of where Venus is and what phase it's in. I try to stay on top of meteor showers and go see them whenever possible. That's why I chose to take this astronomy class this semester. It's a breeze. I already know all this stuff. I love it. So tonight when the teacher showed us Stellarium , I couldn't wait to get home and download it. Awesome.

Existential Episode #1

Okay so the title of this post means #1 episode for the blog, not in my life.

You know how you get tired of listening to those 3ooo or so songs on your iTunes and usually the over-the-air radio stations blow. Especially in such a poor market as I find myself in these days. So I've taken to listening to the iTunes radio stations and I found this one that I really like. They play the coolest new tunes as well as some pretty classic stuff. It's called The Current and you can listen too. Anyhooz, I was listening this morning and the DJ came on and said "Here's a local band that's pretty cool and they're playing tonight in [city in which I live]." No way! I couldn't escape it. So I looked them up and sure enough Caroline Smith and The Good Night Sleeps were scheduled to play at White Water Tavern. They're great. Cool kids and a very nice little musical production. Very worth whatever you have to pay to see them.

Like I said, cool kids. They have some great stories about being on the road and if you ask the right questions, they'll give you all the right answers. Look 'em up. Go see 'em. Buy a T-shirt.