In doing this blog I've really started paying attention to how other people write, I'm going so far as to read the comments on other pieces. I've noticed a trend that has left the hands of kids and must have infected adults.
I'm talking about rudeness. Some friends of mine play World of Warcraft (WOW) and they will talk occasionally about "griefers". These are people that want to cause problems because they think it's fun. I had assumed they were kids, now I wonder.
When reading news and politics articles their is a lot of people making rude comments. So I think they only comment to be rude. I assume they are adults because I can't imagine many kids reading some of the news things that I do (the Economist is a good example).
The internet does give one a degree of safety and invisibility and I think that has become a bad thing. If you won't say it around your mother, you wouldn't want someone to say it to you or your mother or you wouldn't say it to someone that might hurt you then maybe you shouldn't say it or think of a better way to phrase it.
I know it's difficult to put humor and sarcasm in writing but that means you must be extra precise when writing to get your point across.
I wonder how many rude comments would be made if the person had to say them to a person instead of hiding behind a computer. Yes, I said hiding. If people were always this rude then I don't think dueling would have died out. I rather think I would prefer the dueling. Anyone thinking that dueling was a European thing are mistaken, Texas and Louisiana have a fine history of dueling. They might have used a Bowie knife instead of a sword but still dueling.
Maybe this is just a phase that our culture is going through. Hopefully, we will grow out of it much like a child grows out of the terrible two's.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Having a foster child.
We had planned to do foster care when we moved but then a child came into our world that needed some help. What could we do? You're never ready to have children and you're never ready to have foster kids.
I don't know what her home was like before but from what she has told us she needed us. We're teaching her odd things, cooking from scratch I think is a little odd to her. I've been teaching her about history, restaurants and tipping (she wants to go to Yale, waiting tables could help) my wife has been teaching her about guns and driving.
One of the most important things we've been teaching her is to have fun. We've played "stuffed animal wars" with her. Of course she had no idea what this was to begin with but it's started to appeal to her. Here's the rules:
I don't know what her home was like before but from what she has told us she needed us. We're teaching her odd things, cooking from scratch I think is a little odd to her. I've been teaching her about history, restaurants and tipping (she wants to go to Yale, waiting tables could help) my wife has been teaching her about guns and driving.
One of the most important things we've been teaching her is to have fun. We've played "stuffed animal wars" with her. Of course she had no idea what this was to begin with but it's started to appeal to her. Here's the rules:
- Grab stuffed animals.
- Throw animals at other people in house.
- Pick up stuffed animals that people threw at you.
- Go to number 2.
We think that a child's main job is good grades but a kid needs to know about responsibilities. All the kids have chores around the house, she actually came up to us and said that she's not used to being spoiled and she wants to do more stuff around the house. Okay, let's add these things. She didn't freak out when one of the things we added to her chores was a weekly cleaning of the bathroom all four of the kids share. We are impressed.
She wanted to know what time she had to go to bed and we told her it's up to her. If she is up and ready to do whatever we're doing in the morning then she can stay up as long as she wants. If she is sleeping in because she was up late having fun don't expect us to stay quiet for you. If you're working that's different but she's still not working.
The local mall has an indoor playground for young kids and on some rainy day I told all the kids to put on shoes and socks we're going to the playground in the mall. I told her that it's a mall and if you want to just walk around like a teen go for it. When we get there I told her we will be right here and go have fun. Apparently being a teen girl and wandering around the local mall is the epitome of fun.
I noticed that her legs had hair on them and asked her if that was the trend for teens now and she said that she wasn't allowed to shave her legs. Do you want to shave? Yes. We will get you a razor, we'll have my wife tell you her tricks. I did get her some stick deodorant to help prevent razor burn (it's amazing what you can learn in topless bars). I think that she was a little shocked that we moved so quickly on something that her former home thought was wrong and we think of as no big deal.
We went to the zoo recently and we did notice some unhappy looks and overhear some things that really annoyed us (we are white and she is black). That is life. You hope that your example will lead others into doing the right thing. If it doesn't, you've still done the right thing.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
One of the reasons why I love my wife.
I love her, I really do. When she was in school she took a lot of photography classes because she loves photography (her favorite photographer is Diane Arbus).
Flash forward a few years later and we were given a free photo shoot by some local studio. We didn't know anything about this company but it was a free sitting so why not? Once there we're talking to the photographer who's telling us that the company will probably not be around in three years. Okay, we figured he's just some guy not too thrilled with the company that he does freelance work for occasionally. Later on we changed our opinion of his position.
We did the shoot on a Saturday and the photographer said to schedule a time to view the shots. We scheduled the viewing for the next Saturday. We go to look at these shots and are shocked at the prices. The one picture is free; no sweat, while we're here should we buy something else? What would be the price for a cd of the raw photos? Here's a price list. Okay, we'll think about it.
Then we get into the car and I'm going to start complaining about the outrageous prices and my wife beats me to it. $800 FOR A CD? $35 FOR AN EXTRA PRINT? $1200 FOR A CD AND A HANDFUL OF PRINTS? THEY'LL BE OUT OF BUSINESS IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS. YOU CAN GO TO CVS AND GET THE SAME PRINT. WE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT SOMETHING IF THE PRICE WAS REASONABLE. NO WONDER THE DISPLAY PRINTS OF CELEBRITIES WERE ALL 20 YEARS OLD. GRUMBLE GRUMBLE Grumble grumble.
So true, the cd was $800, I understand that a photographer needs to make money for his time spent training, shooting, equipment and all sorts of stuff like that but be reasonable. Where will he make more money, selling one cd for $800 (maybe) or selling more cds for 100 each? He was using the same equipment to view and print that we have on our computers at home and the same that drugstores have. When your competition isn't the guy in the next studio it's Target cameras and drugstore printing you need to change the rules of the game.
All the things I wanted to say, my wife was. Keep in mind that my wife has a science background with a lot of photography classes for fun and is now a cop. Between the school and the badge were many jobs but nothing that taught her business. This is all common sense. As we were driving my wife would just start complaining about something else about the prices of the pictures. We had a thirty minute drive and I think she complained for about twenty of it and I laughed every time she said something.
I'll say it again I love my wife.
Flash forward a few years later and we were given a free photo shoot by some local studio. We didn't know anything about this company but it was a free sitting so why not? Once there we're talking to the photographer who's telling us that the company will probably not be around in three years. Okay, we figured he's just some guy not too thrilled with the company that he does freelance work for occasionally. Later on we changed our opinion of his position.
We did the shoot on a Saturday and the photographer said to schedule a time to view the shots. We scheduled the viewing for the next Saturday. We go to look at these shots and are shocked at the prices. The one picture is free; no sweat, while we're here should we buy something else? What would be the price for a cd of the raw photos? Here's a price list. Okay, we'll think about it.
Then we get into the car and I'm going to start complaining about the outrageous prices and my wife beats me to it. $800 FOR A CD? $35 FOR AN EXTRA PRINT? $1200 FOR A CD AND A HANDFUL OF PRINTS? THEY'LL BE OUT OF BUSINESS IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS. YOU CAN GO TO CVS AND GET THE SAME PRINT. WE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT SOMETHING IF THE PRICE WAS REASONABLE. NO WONDER THE DISPLAY PRINTS OF CELEBRITIES WERE ALL 20 YEARS OLD. GRUMBLE GRUMBLE Grumble grumble.
So true, the cd was $800, I understand that a photographer needs to make money for his time spent training, shooting, equipment and all sorts of stuff like that but be reasonable. Where will he make more money, selling one cd for $800 (maybe) or selling more cds for 100 each? He was using the same equipment to view and print that we have on our computers at home and the same that drugstores have. When your competition isn't the guy in the next studio it's Target cameras and drugstore printing you need to change the rules of the game.
All the things I wanted to say, my wife was. Keep in mind that my wife has a science background with a lot of photography classes for fun and is now a cop. Between the school and the badge were many jobs but nothing that taught her business. This is all common sense. As we were driving my wife would just start complaining about something else about the prices of the pictures. We had a thirty minute drive and I think she complained for about twenty of it and I laughed every time she said something.
I'll say it again I love my wife.
Friday, March 29, 2013
News and the evils of texting.
I've started a new blog called "Business and/or Politics". It can be found at bpravingvoices.blogspot.com. If I post on either blog I will mention it on the other.
This is me trying to follow some advice I've received about this blog and my writing style.
On to the actual post:
My teen daughter sent me a text once and misspelled a word. When I told her she said that it doesn't matter in a text. I so beg to differ.
In a text or email we can only use the thirty odd symbols of punctuation and letters. Therefore we must endeavor to be as accurate as possible so as to reduce any ambiguity to what we mean to say. Our species evolved speech in conjunction with body language so if we don't have the other clues we must strive for better writing. Consider the writing of some authors, they are so good with words that you can almost see/hear/smell/taste and feel what they are describing. Compare the good with the bad who use sentences like: "She had red hair like she was Irish."
It's also very difficult to use sarcasm or humor in written form without using puns or flat out telling the person it's a joke or sarcasm. Our various senses help us communicate better and make the language experience so much richer.
On the practical side when someone does something enough times it becomes a habit, a habit they will probably use when they are writing something where spelling and grammar count. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how many degrees you have, or how much money you make; if you don't know the difference between you're/your, there/their/they're (etc.), spelling (I know English is the hardest language to spell, deal with it), capitalization rules, and basic rules on syntax and grammar then you will look like an idiot. This daughter will send a text to a friend saying "wat u want 2 do" this young lady also wants to go into the army and use that experience to be a heart surgeon. Consider her spelling like that in a performance review for a subordinate in the army or writing her thesis paper to get into a better university (she wants to go to Yale).
Some people say that the schools won't let this happen, I beg to differ. My wife was born in the mid 80's and was taught to spell "through" differently than I was taught. She spelled it "thru" and didn't know that was wrong until in the police academy they told her how wrong that was.
Some people say that if the language changes it doesn't matter, languages always evolve. True, languages do evolve. It's up to us to make sure they evolve in a way that can be used by anyone, not just by someone that doesn't know or doesn't care about the language.
This is me trying to follow some advice I've received about this blog and my writing style.
On to the actual post:
My teen daughter sent me a text once and misspelled a word. When I told her she said that it doesn't matter in a text. I so beg to differ.
In a text or email we can only use the thirty odd symbols of punctuation and letters. Therefore we must endeavor to be as accurate as possible so as to reduce any ambiguity to what we mean to say. Our species evolved speech in conjunction with body language so if we don't have the other clues we must strive for better writing. Consider the writing of some authors, they are so good with words that you can almost see/hear/smell/taste and feel what they are describing. Compare the good with the bad who use sentences like: "She had red hair like she was Irish."
It's also very difficult to use sarcasm or humor in written form without using puns or flat out telling the person it's a joke or sarcasm. Our various senses help us communicate better and make the language experience so much richer.
On the practical side when someone does something enough times it becomes a habit, a habit they will probably use when they are writing something where spelling and grammar count. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how many degrees you have, or how much money you make; if you don't know the difference between you're/your, there/their/they're (etc.), spelling (I know English is the hardest language to spell, deal with it), capitalization rules, and basic rules on syntax and grammar then you will look like an idiot. This daughter will send a text to a friend saying "wat u want 2 do" this young lady also wants to go into the army and use that experience to be a heart surgeon. Consider her spelling like that in a performance review for a subordinate in the army or writing her thesis paper to get into a better university (she wants to go to Yale).
Some people say that the schools won't let this happen, I beg to differ. My wife was born in the mid 80's and was taught to spell "through" differently than I was taught. She spelled it "thru" and didn't know that was wrong until in the police academy they told her how wrong that was.
Some people say that if the language changes it doesn't matter, languages always evolve. True, languages do evolve. It's up to us to make sure they evolve in a way that can be used by anyone, not just by someone that doesn't know or doesn't care about the language.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
My take on gay marriage.
There is a big debate about gay marriage currently. I think it's ridiculous that we are voting on this. If two consenting adults want to get married, do it. I don't care if they are both male, both female, or one of each. Truthfully, the marriage could be more than two people and I just don't care. I think that should also be the governments view.
Call me conservative/libertarian/anarchist if you want, I really believe the government went a little crazy with laws. Just write laws to punish people for doing something that hurts someone else, or potentially hurt someone else. Someone speeding could kill someone else, punish them. Someone has a car without lights, could possibly hurt someone else, punish them. They're not wearing a seatbelt? They can only hurt themselves, why punish them? I wear my seatbelt (and did before it was a law) because I think it's safer in a car with one. Why do we have so many laws? Are some of these laws just to further some lawmaker's beliefs and views? I can not think of any other reason that doesn't smack of the government thinks we the people are stupid.
As for gay marriage, I don't think the federal government should say a damn thing about it. If a state wants to say yes or no then that state can vote against it. And I say against it because it doesn't hurt anyone so I don't think it should be illegal. This debate is basically so the government can tell two people they can do something that doesn't hurt anyone else and unless the two people (three with priest/rabbi/minister/jp) tell someone, nobody else will know. At what point did we the people not have the ability to do something so trivial? I don't consider marriage trivial, but to the federal governments point of view it should be trivial.
With all the other things going on this world right now we (and by we I mean the federal government) are spending how much time, effort and tax dollars on a law to let (or not let depending on your opinion) Bob and Bruce (Or Lucy and Betsy) do the exact same thing they would do with a long term relationship. Only now they have a piece of paper. How many people are dead because we worried about this instead of people that can hurt others?
Some people say that homosexuality is a sin. By your standards it's a moral sin and should not be noticed by the government by my standards. Some people say that gay marriage will destroy the institution of "traditional" marriage. The only way your marriage can be hurt by Bob and Bruce getting married is if your marriage isn't that great to begin with.
Call me conservative/libertarian/anarchist if you want, I really believe the government went a little crazy with laws. Just write laws to punish people for doing something that hurts someone else, or potentially hurt someone else. Someone speeding could kill someone else, punish them. Someone has a car without lights, could possibly hurt someone else, punish them. They're not wearing a seatbelt? They can only hurt themselves, why punish them? I wear my seatbelt (and did before it was a law) because I think it's safer in a car with one. Why do we have so many laws? Are some of these laws just to further some lawmaker's beliefs and views? I can not think of any other reason that doesn't smack of the government thinks we the people are stupid.
As for gay marriage, I don't think the federal government should say a damn thing about it. If a state wants to say yes or no then that state can vote against it. And I say against it because it doesn't hurt anyone so I don't think it should be illegal. This debate is basically so the government can tell two people they can do something that doesn't hurt anyone else and unless the two people (three with priest/rabbi/minister/jp) tell someone, nobody else will know. At what point did we the people not have the ability to do something so trivial? I don't consider marriage trivial, but to the federal governments point of view it should be trivial.
With all the other things going on this world right now we (and by we I mean the federal government) are spending how much time, effort and tax dollars on a law to let (or not let depending on your opinion) Bob and Bruce (Or Lucy and Betsy) do the exact same thing they would do with a long term relationship. Only now they have a piece of paper. How many people are dead because we worried about this instead of people that can hurt others?
Some people say that homosexuality is a sin. By your standards it's a moral sin and should not be noticed by the government by my standards. Some people say that gay marriage will destroy the institution of "traditional" marriage. The only way your marriage can be hurt by Bob and Bruce getting married is if your marriage isn't that great to begin with.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Our dogs.
I was going to write a poignant piece about gun control, equal rights or minimum wage. Then our dogs got into a "dispute" with some unknown dog that came into our backyard.
I spent an hour looking in our backyard for a dead or crippled small dog or puppy. Nothing, which is good of course but what the hell?
We have three dogs; our German Shepherd K-9 and two Corgis. Not everyone knows what corgis are so if you don't it's not a problem.
Now that you've refreshed your memory, know that corgis are big dogs with short legs. The first time I had to put a pill in the smaller corgis mouth I was a little disconcerted; they're big teeth, almost the size of shepherd teeth. He didn't want the pill so that was an adventure. Corgis come in two body types, fat and ripped; ripped like a male model or a comic book character. Our smaller corgi is the ripped type with the Welsh attitude that made Hitler worry about the British Isles.
The two boys had to go to the vet for a general check up. The shepherd was no problem; open my mouth? Okay. Blood sample? Okay. Fecal sample? Let me get into a more comfortable position for you. The smaller corgi was not playing. Why do you want me to open my mouth? My blood, it stays in the body. YOU WANT TO PUT THAT WHERE? NOT BLOODY LIKELY! The samples were taken eventually but it took three nurses to hold him down and even then they had to wait for him to tire himself out. Keep in mind that this dog weighs in at 27 pounds and I think 25 of it is testosterone.
Whenever we go to the dog park (Fort Woof in Fort Worth, I highly recommend it for dogs) we put the corgis in the big dog section. The corgis were raised with a shepherd and they are a pack. Some big dog will try to show his dominance to our little corgi, the look of surprise on the face of the big dog is priceless. I can just imagine the "thought" process: I'll bark at little dog, little dog puffs up hair and runs away. He's barking back? He's moving towards me? He has friends and they're both bigger than this one? Screw this, I'm going to bark at a dalmatian, they fall down.
The smaller corgi will pick fights with the shepherd and he will take his lumps but he doesn't back down. He'll stop fighting but that's it. However, the shepherd will back down if the female is nearing her heat. I swear my little corgi does some crazy eye thing and barks "Are you looking at my Janet?".
I spent an hour looking in our backyard for a dead or crippled small dog or puppy. Nothing, which is good of course but what the hell?
We have three dogs; our German Shepherd K-9 and two Corgis. Not everyone knows what corgis are so if you don't it's not a problem.
Now that you've refreshed your memory, know that corgis are big dogs with short legs. The first time I had to put a pill in the smaller corgis mouth I was a little disconcerted; they're big teeth, almost the size of shepherd teeth. He didn't want the pill so that was an adventure. Corgis come in two body types, fat and ripped; ripped like a male model or a comic book character. Our smaller corgi is the ripped type with the Welsh attitude that made Hitler worry about the British Isles.
The two boys had to go to the vet for a general check up. The shepherd was no problem; open my mouth? Okay. Blood sample? Okay. Fecal sample? Let me get into a more comfortable position for you. The smaller corgi was not playing. Why do you want me to open my mouth? My blood, it stays in the body. YOU WANT TO PUT THAT WHERE? NOT BLOODY LIKELY! The samples were taken eventually but it took three nurses to hold him down and even then they had to wait for him to tire himself out. Keep in mind that this dog weighs in at 27 pounds and I think 25 of it is testosterone.
Whenever we go to the dog park (Fort Woof in Fort Worth, I highly recommend it for dogs) we put the corgis in the big dog section. The corgis were raised with a shepherd and they are a pack. Some big dog will try to show his dominance to our little corgi, the look of surprise on the face of the big dog is priceless. I can just imagine the "thought" process: I'll bark at little dog, little dog puffs up hair and runs away. He's barking back? He's moving towards me? He has friends and they're both bigger than this one? Screw this, I'm going to bark at a dalmatian, they fall down.
The smaller corgi will pick fights with the shepherd and he will take his lumps but he doesn't back down. He'll stop fighting but that's it. However, the shepherd will back down if the female is nearing her heat. I swear my little corgi does some crazy eye thing and barks "Are you looking at my Janet?".
Monday, March 25, 2013
Future and practice eulogy.
This is my tenth post in a row and this post is also getting started before 11:30 pm, I'll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back.
I've been thinking about this blog quite a bit and how to make it better, one suggestion was to not be so random. What I'm thinking about doing is making multiple blogs; one about politics, one about random stuff and one about whatever in a non random way. That way I can keep up with my personal goal of at least one post a day on whichever site and of course using the other blogs to mention it. Any suggestions will always be heard.
One of my brothers (Bryan) is mentally retarded (MR) and is declining in health quite rapidly. About a year ago I realized that I needed to write a eulogy and an obituary for him before it was too late. This is my rough draft of the eulogy, let me know what you think.
Back in 2010 I realized I needed to write a eulogy for my mother. That's not something anyone wants to do. And then it was too late. That's when I realized I needed to do one for Bryan. I was hoping this eulogy would tell the people that didn't know Bryan that well just how wonderful and vibrant he was. Let's see how I did.
Bryan had a way of looking at things that kind of cut to the heart of the situation...When I was eleven or twelve I found out that Bryan wanted to buy a Playboy magazine. I figured if he did he would get caught and I would get in trouble. So I figured I could fix this problem by lying to Bryan. I told him "You can't buy the magazine, you have to be 25 to buy them." Problem solved, or so I thought. The very next day my father was talking to my mother about why was Bryan saying he was 25?
My parents were cheap, my mother would buy t-shirts, cut them up into rags and stuff them in a big dispenser box. When Sherrie bought the business she did the same thing. One time she's stuffing the box, a tedious and monotonous chore, and she thinks "Bryan needs something to do". She calls him over and gives him the job. Bryan puts a few handfuls into the small opening and thinks to himself: "This is silly." He then proceeds to open the rag box and pour the rags into the big opening.
An employee of my parents, Otto, was telling us about another employee. This guy was shaking Bryan's hand and squeezing it to the point where Bryan was in pain. Otto was worried and was going to intervene. He needn't have bothered. Bryan cut to the heart of the matter and introduced this guy to his foot. Bryan's hand was just squeezed a bit, this guys capability to father children was now in doubt. Otto said he never bothered Bryan again and for obvious reasons, Otto told us about this after the idiot was no longer employed.
In the business world those are called teachable moments. Bryan taught us about humility. Maybe we could all learn a little from him. Just maybe his whole existence was a teachable moment.
I've been thinking about this blog quite a bit and how to make it better, one suggestion was to not be so random. What I'm thinking about doing is making multiple blogs; one about politics, one about random stuff and one about whatever in a non random way. That way I can keep up with my personal goal of at least one post a day on whichever site and of course using the other blogs to mention it. Any suggestions will always be heard.
One of my brothers (Bryan) is mentally retarded (MR) and is declining in health quite rapidly. About a year ago I realized that I needed to write a eulogy and an obituary for him before it was too late. This is my rough draft of the eulogy, let me know what you think.
Back in 2010 I realized I needed to write a eulogy for my mother. That's not something anyone wants to do. And then it was too late. That's when I realized I needed to do one for Bryan. I was hoping this eulogy would tell the people that didn't know Bryan that well just how wonderful and vibrant he was. Let's see how I did.
Bryan had a way of looking at things that kind of cut to the heart of the situation...When I was eleven or twelve I found out that Bryan wanted to buy a Playboy magazine. I figured if he did he would get caught and I would get in trouble. So I figured I could fix this problem by lying to Bryan. I told him "You can't buy the magazine, you have to be 25 to buy them." Problem solved, or so I thought. The very next day my father was talking to my mother about why was Bryan saying he was 25?
My parents were cheap, my mother would buy t-shirts, cut them up into rags and stuff them in a big dispenser box. When Sherrie bought the business she did the same thing. One time she's stuffing the box, a tedious and monotonous chore, and she thinks "Bryan needs something to do". She calls him over and gives him the job. Bryan puts a few handfuls into the small opening and thinks to himself: "This is silly." He then proceeds to open the rag box and pour the rags into the big opening.
An employee of my parents, Otto, was telling us about another employee. This guy was shaking Bryan's hand and squeezing it to the point where Bryan was in pain. Otto was worried and was going to intervene. He needn't have bothered. Bryan cut to the heart of the matter and introduced this guy to his foot. Bryan's hand was just squeezed a bit, this guys capability to father children was now in doubt. Otto said he never bothered Bryan again and for obvious reasons, Otto told us about this after the idiot was no longer employed.
In the business world those are called teachable moments. Bryan taught us about humility. Maybe we could all learn a little from him. Just maybe his whole existence was a teachable moment.
A very basic primer on evolution.
One of my daughters was saying that us humans are descended from monkeys. No Sweetie, we're related not descended. What's that mean? I sat down and spent longer on that discussion than I did on cooking dinner. In case you went to a good school or are going to one now (like my daughter) and still don't know, here is a very basic primer on evolution.
My personal pet peeve, we are NOT descended from monkeys/apes/lemurs/chimps/or any other primates. We are cousins at best. Picture this: your thumb represents the human race, pointer finger is chimpanzees, middle is apes, ring is some other primate and pinkie is another some other primate. Your wrist is some unknown primate that we are all descended from.
Some people believe that evolution is in response to an environmental stimuli. Nope. If the air on the planet changed its balance so we had more CO2 and less O2 would we start mutating (evolving) into humans that have larger and more efficient lungs? Nope. The humans that had a mutation causing them to have bigger and better lungs could work and reproduce better thereby giving them and their offspring an edge against their competitors (aka neighbors). If the mutation works in that environment then it is passed on to offspring. If not the parent might not be able to pass it along.
A simple example of evolution can be seen with horses and zebras. The horse has the temperament to be domesticated partly because it evolved without any major predators. The zebra on the other hand evolved with numerous predators which is why they are so "twitchy", they're always ready to run. The two can be bred which will normally give you a hardy horse that's rather more wild than a wild horse. That is survival of the fittest, the pattern of life that is most able to survive and pass on its genes to offspring.
Genetic material from all life is constantly mutating, it's just not normally noticeable from our perspective.
My personal pet peeve, we are NOT descended from monkeys/apes/lemurs/chimps/or any other primates. We are cousins at best. Picture this: your thumb represents the human race, pointer finger is chimpanzees, middle is apes, ring is some other primate and pinkie is another some other primate. Your wrist is some unknown primate that we are all descended from.
Some people believe that evolution is in response to an environmental stimuli. Nope. If the air on the planet changed its balance so we had more CO2 and less O2 would we start mutating (evolving) into humans that have larger and more efficient lungs? Nope. The humans that had a mutation causing them to have bigger and better lungs could work and reproduce better thereby giving them and their offspring an edge against their competitors (aka neighbors). If the mutation works in that environment then it is passed on to offspring. If not the parent might not be able to pass it along.
A simple example of evolution can be seen with horses and zebras. The horse has the temperament to be domesticated partly because it evolved without any major predators. The zebra on the other hand evolved with numerous predators which is why they are so "twitchy", they're always ready to run. The two can be bred which will normally give you a hardy horse that's rather more wild than a wild horse. That is survival of the fittest, the pattern of life that is most able to survive and pass on its genes to offspring.
Genetic material from all life is constantly mutating, it's just not normally noticeable from our perspective.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
My plan and my beliefs
Since this blog is to train me to write more I've decided to change my habits and hopefully create some good ones.
Instead of sitting down in front of the computer at 11 pm and typing for a while then going to bed at midnight I'm going to start earlier and do two parts. Part one will be the typical posting whilst (I love that word) part two will be part of a longer and future post.
My post "Steubenville" was difficult for me to write, I'm pretty sure I made some mistakes just because I didn't want to proofread it. When my father died I realized that my mother would be passing soon also. I tried to write a eulogy for her but I just wanted to procrastinate on that. Then when she did die I had a few hours to write an obituary for her, didn't quite get it done. That made me realize that in a few years I would probably be at a funeral for one of my brothers. I have written his eulogy and am working on his obituary but they were not quick and simple pieces for me do.
Because of the difficulty in writing these I did a puff piece after. Hopefully doing the more intense pieces in parts will let me be happier and do better work.
And now for something completely different.
I'm an atheist. The way I see it there are two kinds of atheists; the ones like me and the angry ones. The angry ones also fall into two camps; arrogant pricks and the ones that secretly believe they are wrong.
If someone could prove to me that some kind of intelligent design was at work with me would I act any different? Not really, I do reserve the right to some modifications for what flavour of designer may have created me. If I find out that the Norse mythology is correct I will have a hammer/spear/lightning bolt engraved on my carry gun, if I ever lose sight in one eye I will wear a really cool eye patch and I will hate mistletoe. If the Greeks were right I'm not making anyone in that pantheon mad because they were all vindictive bastards. All in all I act in a manner that most mythologies would be copacetic with. Now if H.P. Lovecraft was actually right, it doesn't matter what I believe because we are all SCREWED.
There is a big difference between belief and worship though. Why should I bend the knee to someone/something that created me? Respect is fine but not blind obedience.
Of course if the Scientology cult is correct to hell with them they just annoy me.
Instead of sitting down in front of the computer at 11 pm and typing for a while then going to bed at midnight I'm going to start earlier and do two parts. Part one will be the typical posting whilst (I love that word) part two will be part of a longer and future post.
My post "Steubenville" was difficult for me to write, I'm pretty sure I made some mistakes just because I didn't want to proofread it. When my father died I realized that my mother would be passing soon also. I tried to write a eulogy for her but I just wanted to procrastinate on that. Then when she did die I had a few hours to write an obituary for her, didn't quite get it done. That made me realize that in a few years I would probably be at a funeral for one of my brothers. I have written his eulogy and am working on his obituary but they were not quick and simple pieces for me do.
Because of the difficulty in writing these I did a puff piece after. Hopefully doing the more intense pieces in parts will let me be happier and do better work.
And now for something completely different.
I'm an atheist. The way I see it there are two kinds of atheists; the ones like me and the angry ones. The angry ones also fall into two camps; arrogant pricks and the ones that secretly believe they are wrong.
If someone could prove to me that some kind of intelligent design was at work with me would I act any different? Not really, I do reserve the right to some modifications for what flavour of designer may have created me. If I find out that the Norse mythology is correct I will have a hammer/spear/lightning bolt engraved on my carry gun, if I ever lose sight in one eye I will wear a really cool eye patch and I will hate mistletoe. If the Greeks were right I'm not making anyone in that pantheon mad because they were all vindictive bastards. All in all I act in a manner that most mythologies would be copacetic with. Now if H.P. Lovecraft was actually right, it doesn't matter what I believe because we are all SCREWED.
There is a big difference between belief and worship though. Why should I bend the knee to someone/something that created me? Respect is fine but not blind obedience.
Of course if the Scientology cult is correct to hell with them they just annoy me.
Friday, March 22, 2013
My simple bio.
After yesterdays post I wanted something a bit lighter. So you get sympathy for the scorpion and a little about me.
My name is Justin, I'm in my forties, I have wonderful children. My wife is a cop and beautiful, and a little insane for hitting on me all those years ago. My background is topless bars mainly but I still can do a bit of good in a restaurant. My family background is woodworking so I definitely have an appreciation for fine woodworking and furniture. I am a gun person, and a live and let live person. My wife and I have a mixed marriage, I'm an atheist and she's a Christian. As I said, live and let live. I'm a voracious reader and thinker. I'm most assuredly a cat person yet I live with three dogs. I'm more of a Nestle/Mars guy instead of a Hershey fan. Not into sports, I can appreciate the work and effort they do but I just don't understand the thrill of watching someone else play a game that I don't want to play.
Accept no substitutes. There is another Justin (with the same middle initial and last name as I) in the area. We are the same age, he has a brother named Jason like I do and his fathers name is Ken like mine. He also has a probation officer. I know this because the gentleman left me a message on my home phone yelling at me for missing my probation appointment. I was really worried that I missed the meeting until I realized that it was for the other one.
The Scorpion and the Frog
Does everyone know the story of the scorpion and the frog? Watch "The Crying Game" or check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog Done? Good, now that we have the same basis we can start.
Everyone knows that the frog is stung by the scorpion because the scorpion is some suicidal and kill crazy critter. Yeah, that makes sense. How do we know that the frog wasn't some scumbag that was cheating on his wife and the scorpion was hired to kill the frog? Maybe the frog was in the Amphibian Protection Program for dropping the dime on his boss. Or maybe the frog was the Capo di tutti i Capi of the local Mothers And Fathers Interswamp Agency (read the acronym) and the scorpion was the local kid that just had enough and had to put an end to the tyranny. Maybe, just maybe the the scorpion was some kill crazy madman. And maybe he wasn't so crazy after all and maybe he could swim.
The truth will never be known. The original frog and scorpion are dead and gone plus any written records they left will be really hard to read because who is going to admit that they read some frog or scorpion language.
What is known is that people "know" the scorpion killed the frog for no good reason and because of this the scorpion will never get a fair trial.
Considering my last post some people may think I am trying to bring sympathy to the Steubenville rapists. Hell no, put a bullet in the back of their heads like any other rapists should have.
Maybe we need to open up our eyes and start questioning what we don't normally question. Because no matter what we will never know the whole story.
Everyone knows that the frog is stung by the scorpion because the scorpion is some suicidal and kill crazy critter. Yeah, that makes sense. How do we know that the frog wasn't some scumbag that was cheating on his wife and the scorpion was hired to kill the frog? Maybe the frog was in the Amphibian Protection Program for dropping the dime on his boss. Or maybe the frog was the Capo di tutti i Capi of the local Mothers And Fathers Interswamp Agency (read the acronym) and the scorpion was the local kid that just had enough and had to put an end to the tyranny. Maybe, just maybe the the scorpion was some kill crazy madman. And maybe he wasn't so crazy after all and maybe he could swim.
The truth will never be known. The original frog and scorpion are dead and gone plus any written records they left will be really hard to read because who is going to admit that they read some frog or scorpion language.
What is known is that people "know" the scorpion killed the frog for no good reason and because of this the scorpion will never get a fair trial.
Considering my last post some people may think I am trying to bring sympathy to the Steubenville rapists. Hell no, put a bullet in the back of their heads like any other rapists should have.
Maybe we need to open up our eyes and start questioning what we don't normally question. Because no matter what we will never know the whole story.
Steubenville
I have been reading and listening a lot about the Steubenville rape. This disturbs me, the rape of course disturbs me, but I mean the "rape culture" of our society. Saying that she asked for it, it ruined the boys lives, the victim getting death threats, and some people possibly knowing about it and trying to hide it.
BULLSHIT.
That whole theory that if she was drinking or dressed in a particular way means that it's okay if she is raped implies that if you show a lot of cash you're asking to be mugged. Let's take it to the next level, if you're a straight guy and you unknowingly walk into a gay bar does that mean that if you get drunk and you're showing some "plumbers crack" it's okay if the entire bar pulls a train on your ass? I see no difference. Some gay guys might even think that if you went into their bar you obviously were intrigued and possibly subconsciously interested.
To the lady who was victimized, I apologize on behalf of men. I know that doesn't help and won't let you sleep any better, unfortunately that is all I can offer. This lady obviously has some cajones, and I'm proud of her. She went to court and I assume had to deal with a defense lawyer who was the definition of legal weasel. Unless this attorney was a paragon of virtue he was going to make her relive the ordeal hoping she would break and decide that it would be better to just drop it. Do I know if he did this? Nope, I don't. I hope I'm wrong, if someone does know please let me know.
I will be the first to say that not all rapes are true rapes. I remember in the nineties reading about some rapes where the lady decided afterwards that she shouldn't have had sex and thought that meant it was a rape. Some child molestation is not truly molestation, I'm not going to get into the laws about age of consent and such but if two people are dating and it's fine and then one has a birthday and it's illegal that is not statutory rape or child molestation to me. This however cannot be described as anything else. The guys are minors, they knew what they did was wrong, treat them as adults for the punishment.
I do believe that child molestation and rape (I consider them to be the same. Attacking someone that cannot protect themselves) needs to be punished and be punished severely. If we know this person did commit the crime and can prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, put a bullet in the back of their head. Anyone that commits those crimes cannot be rehabilitated and anyone that gets their jollies from doing things to a child should be removed from the gene pool. I'm not going to get into the mental health aspect of it either. These rapists were not insane or from some culture that thinks rape is okay. That actually wouldn't fly here either but someone would try it as a defense I bet. Some people think that castration (physical or chemical) is a better punishment for these crimes. Nope again. Some scientist mused that the greatest sex organ is the human brain, I can't say I disagree with him considering my observations of fetishes (you would be amazed what you can learn in a topless bar) and such. As such if the penis is not working wouldn't some rapist decide to use a proxy of some kind. Some might use drugs, some might use sex toys, some might use who knows what and in what manner. If the brain is the greatest sex organ then give them a .45 caliber castration to the back of the head.
The other part of the punishment goes to those people that believe that they deserved it. Still nope. Whenever we hear someone say this maybe we need to disagree with them so that the idiots that hear and believe them will have less stupid thoughts in their brain.
If my daughters want to wear sexy clothes am I going to stop them? That depends. The seven year old that wants to dress like the "prostitots" she might see at the local school will be told no. The fifteen year old that wants to wear a miniskirt and crop top, maybe. That will depend on where she's going, how short the skirt and top are and the child in question. Will this be more work that some blanket rules? Yepper, being a parent is work, deal with it.
In this rant I always implied that rapists were only men. That is not true. To anyone that says you can't rape a man, you're an idiot. Some men have been raped by men some by women. Some women have been raped by men some by women. The gender doesn't matter, if anyone wants to rape anyone else, I believe they need a bullet in the back of the head. I've heard that the first man to call a rape hotline was laughed at by the lady on the phone. This is third hand information that I hope is wrong. I truly hope that nowadays the response would be better.
My rant is over for the night. I know that rapes will continue to happen, that is just a statistical fact, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try our best to lower the number. One person at a time is better than "she was asking for it". That's it for tonight, this topic sickens me enough where I need to walk away from it for now.
I'm going to wake up my daughters and tell them I love them.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Moving
We are moving. We live in Texas. My wife works in a small Texas town. The commute is driving her crazy. Plus maybe moving will be a good thing for me. Will it be good for my wife and children? Yes, the only negative would be that one of my children will go to a different school. Therefore we will try and do the move during the summer break.
I'm looking at the move as a good thing, fresh start and all that jazz. The only thing is that we live right between Dallas and Fort Worth. The population for those two cities is a little under two million. About 684 square miles for the two. The town we want to move to is eight square miles and about 14,950 for the population. Say it again, EIGHT SQUARE MILES AND A POPULATION OF UNDER 15,000. My graduating class in high school was almost a thousand people, the school itself for the three grades was about three thousand kids. I think we had five high schools at the time, I have no clue how many we have now. I'm a city boy, if I see a dog without a collar I think it's a wild animal. If there are two dogs then it's a pack of wild dogs. If I see a hawk or falcon whilst driving through the country I think it's neat. I'M A CITY BOY. This new town doesn't have much in the way of livestock (anymore) but they have some. They have a newspaper and I think it has only one reporter. EIGHT SQUARE MILES AND A POPULATION OF UNDER 15 GRAND.
I'm thinking a fresh start will be good for all of us, maybe my writing can really take off. I would like to make a living by putting my random scribblings onto paper, but I would also be really happy with just writing more. I was actually thinking about starting this blog when we moved but then I thought that I just needed to bite the bullet and do it.
I used to want to be in politics but I worked in topless bars for eleven years and our city council is a bit conservative, prudish might be a better phrase. I'm willing to bet that this new town is just as conservative but they were never called a "yacht club without a yacht" by Texas Monthly magazine. Maybe I could run for city council or one of the other offices in the city.
There are some franchises I was looking at that I wouldn't mind starting up. Since my background is bars I know I can rock a topless bar but a: I don't want to get back into that business and b: I don't know if this new town even has a bar, much less a topless bar (I saw a HUGE tanning salon today, pointless for me since I'm not a fake baker). Since my wife is a cop there I could ask her but it'll be more fun to drive around and point at stuff and ask about it.
Whenever I go out to restaurants in this new town (and the surrounding area) I plan on doing a review of them. My sister doesn't like going to restaurants with me because I'm so critical. She even mentioned that she doesn't care if guacamole is fresh, canned or a mix as long as it tastes good. She doesn't care that they don't sell Modelo in a TexMex restaurant, I on the other hand think that guac should be at the right price point so you're making the right money and if you don't sell Modelo in a TexMex restaurant then why do you want to lose money? Oh wait, they'll make it back on volume right? I've worked for a guy that thought that. He no longer owns that place.
I think the move will be good. Like most of life it will be an adventure, you just have to live it. See you out there.
I'm looking at the move as a good thing, fresh start and all that jazz. The only thing is that we live right between Dallas and Fort Worth. The population for those two cities is a little under two million. About 684 square miles for the two. The town we want to move to is eight square miles and about 14,950 for the population. Say it again, EIGHT SQUARE MILES AND A POPULATION OF UNDER 15,000. My graduating class in high school was almost a thousand people, the school itself for the three grades was about three thousand kids. I think we had five high schools at the time, I have no clue how many we have now. I'm a city boy, if I see a dog without a collar I think it's a wild animal. If there are two dogs then it's a pack of wild dogs. If I see a hawk or falcon whilst driving through the country I think it's neat. I'M A CITY BOY. This new town doesn't have much in the way of livestock (anymore) but they have some. They have a newspaper and I think it has only one reporter. EIGHT SQUARE MILES AND A POPULATION OF UNDER 15 GRAND.
I'm thinking a fresh start will be good for all of us, maybe my writing can really take off. I would like to make a living by putting my random scribblings onto paper, but I would also be really happy with just writing more. I was actually thinking about starting this blog when we moved but then I thought that I just needed to bite the bullet and do it.
I used to want to be in politics but I worked in topless bars for eleven years and our city council is a bit conservative, prudish might be a better phrase. I'm willing to bet that this new town is just as conservative but they were never called a "yacht club without a yacht" by Texas Monthly magazine. Maybe I could run for city council or one of the other offices in the city.
There are some franchises I was looking at that I wouldn't mind starting up. Since my background is bars I know I can rock a topless bar but a: I don't want to get back into that business and b: I don't know if this new town even has a bar, much less a topless bar (I saw a HUGE tanning salon today, pointless for me since I'm not a fake baker). Since my wife is a cop there I could ask her but it'll be more fun to drive around and point at stuff and ask about it.
Whenever I go out to restaurants in this new town (and the surrounding area) I plan on doing a review of them. My sister doesn't like going to restaurants with me because I'm so critical. She even mentioned that she doesn't care if guacamole is fresh, canned or a mix as long as it tastes good. She doesn't care that they don't sell Modelo in a TexMex restaurant, I on the other hand think that guac should be at the right price point so you're making the right money and if you don't sell Modelo in a TexMex restaurant then why do you want to lose money? Oh wait, they'll make it back on volume right? I've worked for a guy that thought that. He no longer owns that place.
I think the move will be good. Like most of life it will be an adventure, you just have to live it. See you out there.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Rambling about Kids.
Third day and I have no idea what to write about. One of my brothers is mentally retarded and a bit older, he's 52 and showing signs of dementia or Alzheimer's. It's very hard to see this, it's terrible to say but I'm glad that my parents aren't alive to see his not so slow decline. We call him B.R. I'll write more about him eventually.
For now I'm going to write about dating. Specifically teens wanting to date my daughter. When my first child was born I realized that I would need to deal with teen boys someday. My first thought was the standard cleaning a firearm when the boy comes over to pick her up. That plan started to get modified when I talked to other fathers and they also had the same idea.
Plan two: Take a photo of the boy with crosshairs on the picture, just as an "in case of problems" situation.
Plan three: My wife is a cop and we have an apprehension K9. Have Orion meet the boy and have the boy take a bite (with the bite suit on) from him.
Plan four: Shake the boys hand then spin him face first into the wall and punch him in the kidneys until I'm sure he pees blood. Gentlemen, I do believe I found a winner.
When I was a teen my hormones were pumping and no old guy was going to scare me with a gun, photo or dog. Peeing blood; hmm, how hot is she again?
Part of my duties as a restaurant manager is to do table touches. First time parents are easy to spot, compliment the kid and the parents are happy. With a little girl I would ask the father what he would do with the first date situation. I told them my idea, always a big grin from the father. Little boys I would warn to stay away from my daughters. I would tell them I'm the most dangerous thing in the world, the father of a little girl. Lots of laughs from the parents.
I was thinking that with my children I would have a bit of time to really plan my attacks on these boys. Then boom, we get a teenage foster daughter. I have to really ramp up my game. She has a friend (he lives about an hour away) and they want to date. She's worried that we might send him to a mental institution due to our mental abuse. I laughed and said "It's cute how you think he'll survive us."
My sister is 14 years older than me. When a guy would come over to pick her up my father would have me kick him in the shin or call her mommy. Eventually my sister started lying to my parents and would go and meet the guy somewhere else. I don't want my children to do this so I need to change up the plans a bit. Yepper, punching him in the kidneys is still my top contender. I'll keep you informed on my plans.
For now I'm going to write about dating. Specifically teens wanting to date my daughter. When my first child was born I realized that I would need to deal with teen boys someday. My first thought was the standard cleaning a firearm when the boy comes over to pick her up. That plan started to get modified when I talked to other fathers and they also had the same idea.
Plan two: Take a photo of the boy with crosshairs on the picture, just as an "in case of problems" situation.
Plan three: My wife is a cop and we have an apprehension K9. Have Orion meet the boy and have the boy take a bite (with the bite suit on) from him.
Plan four: Shake the boys hand then spin him face first into the wall and punch him in the kidneys until I'm sure he pees blood. Gentlemen, I do believe I found a winner.
When I was a teen my hormones were pumping and no old guy was going to scare me with a gun, photo or dog. Peeing blood; hmm, how hot is she again?
Part of my duties as a restaurant manager is to do table touches. First time parents are easy to spot, compliment the kid and the parents are happy. With a little girl I would ask the father what he would do with the first date situation. I told them my idea, always a big grin from the father. Little boys I would warn to stay away from my daughters. I would tell them I'm the most dangerous thing in the world, the father of a little girl. Lots of laughs from the parents.
I was thinking that with my children I would have a bit of time to really plan my attacks on these boys. Then boom, we get a teenage foster daughter. I have to really ramp up my game. She has a friend (he lives about an hour away) and they want to date. She's worried that we might send him to a mental institution due to our mental abuse. I laughed and said "It's cute how you think he'll survive us."
My sister is 14 years older than me. When a guy would come over to pick her up my father would have me kick him in the shin or call her mommy. Eventually my sister started lying to my parents and would go and meet the guy somewhere else. I don't want my children to do this so I need to change up the plans a bit. Yepper, punching him in the kidneys is still my top contender. I'll keep you informed on my plans.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Why I'm a stay at home dad.
Quite simply: money. My background is in the F&B industry and the hours are not conducive to having small children. When I was working in bars I would see them about an hour a day. That is partly why I decided to not get back into the bar scene and did restaurants again. Those hours are just as bad. Since my schedule as a manager would change weekly (sometimes more, got into the habit of looking at my schedule daily to see if I worked the next day.) we needed a nanny with flexibility. In restaurants I might open on Monday (arrive at 7am out at 6ish) then close on Tuesday (arrive at 5pm out at 3 or 4 or 5 if I'm doing inventory) then off on Wednesday and open again on Thursday. It's not real easy to find a nanny that was that flexible. Daycare isn't really an option because they close at 6:30 pm. There are some that are 24 hour but the ones in this area I wouldn't leave my child at.
Why doesn't my wife watch the children? She has a career, she's a cop. She absolutely loves it. Her hours are better than mine were (that should tell you something about restaurant manager hours), her department does alternating three and four twelve hour shifts. One week she works 36 hours the next it's 48. Sometimes she has overtime due to paperwork and/or arrests but she still works less time than most restaurant managers. Additionally, if I needed time off I had to request it about a month in advance. She could send a text message to her supervisor and get a response back in about five minutes.
So daycare is out, a nanny is pretty much out and then the kicker. I've been in the F&B industry for 28 years and I'm tired of it. The income I was making was about $100-200 more than we were spending for daycare. That was before taxes or gas for driving. Work a job I despise for basically $100 or spend much more time with my children. Easy answer for us. I actually went to my eldest's father/daughter dance, I couldn't have gotten that day off without all sorts of schedule juggling. I was off on Christmas, I've always worked for companies that were open 365 days of the year, it was fun. I will be off on Mother's Day, hasn't happened in about 20 years. I was even off on Superbowl Sunday, I don't watch football but I didn't have to deal with the drama, that was relaxing.
Money is the cold hard reason about why I'm a stay at home dad, but not being in the industry I started hating is just icing on the cake. And spending more time with my kids is beyond my skill as a writer.
Second day in a row I've written something. I'm very proud of myself.
Why doesn't my wife watch the children? She has a career, she's a cop. She absolutely loves it. Her hours are better than mine were (that should tell you something about restaurant manager hours), her department does alternating three and four twelve hour shifts. One week she works 36 hours the next it's 48. Sometimes she has overtime due to paperwork and/or arrests but she still works less time than most restaurant managers. Additionally, if I needed time off I had to request it about a month in advance. She could send a text message to her supervisor and get a response back in about five minutes.
So daycare is out, a nanny is pretty much out and then the kicker. I've been in the F&B industry for 28 years and I'm tired of it. The income I was making was about $100-200 more than we were spending for daycare. That was before taxes or gas for driving. Work a job I despise for basically $100 or spend much more time with my children. Easy answer for us. I actually went to my eldest's father/daughter dance, I couldn't have gotten that day off without all sorts of schedule juggling. I was off on Christmas, I've always worked for companies that were open 365 days of the year, it was fun. I will be off on Mother's Day, hasn't happened in about 20 years. I was even off on Superbowl Sunday, I don't watch football but I didn't have to deal with the drama, that was relaxing.
Money is the cold hard reason about why I'm a stay at home dad, but not being in the industry I started hating is just icing on the cake. And spending more time with my kids is beyond my skill as a writer.
Second day in a row I've written something. I'm very proud of myself.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
This blog is for me to develop my writing skills. If it lets me get some thoughts out of my head and onto "paper" so I can work on them and think it through all the better. Some of my thoughts are about religion or my lack of religion, about the economy, child raising, guns, common sense, and more common sense.
I'm a stay at home dad for about three months now. It's different, my background is in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, kids don't respond well to the usual tactics that I would use on my employees and customers. If an employee doesn't do something correctly; it's just a learning experience, this is what's expected this is what you did, how can we help you do your job better? Kids don't care. My room is a mess? you can clean it. I didn't put my plate in the sink? just get another one from the cabinet. I truly believe that kids are evil, I don't mean evil like Hitler, Idi Amin or Stalin though. Evil as in doesn't care about others, very selfish, doesn't really care if causes harm to others, and other actions of a selfish nature. I know this isn't the proper dictionary definition of evil but what else can you call a mischievous toddler or baby?
Rereading this I noticed how "higgly piggly" it reads, that's what this blog if for, to teach me how to write properly. Other than skill, imagination, and fame do you know what's the major difference between Stephen King and hundreds of amateur authors? Mr. King can write for eight hours a day 364 days out of the year. I'll be happier if I can write an hour a day 300 days a year. I'll work up from there.
First post done. Let's see if I can keep it up.
I'm a stay at home dad for about three months now. It's different, my background is in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, kids don't respond well to the usual tactics that I would use on my employees and customers. If an employee doesn't do something correctly; it's just a learning experience, this is what's expected this is what you did, how can we help you do your job better? Kids don't care. My room is a mess? you can clean it. I didn't put my plate in the sink? just get another one from the cabinet. I truly believe that kids are evil, I don't mean evil like Hitler, Idi Amin or Stalin though. Evil as in doesn't care about others, very selfish, doesn't really care if causes harm to others, and other actions of a selfish nature. I know this isn't the proper dictionary definition of evil but what else can you call a mischievous toddler or baby?
Rereading this I noticed how "higgly piggly" it reads, that's what this blog if for, to teach me how to write properly. Other than skill, imagination, and fame do you know what's the major difference between Stephen King and hundreds of amateur authors? Mr. King can write for eight hours a day 364 days out of the year. I'll be happier if I can write an hour a day 300 days a year. I'll work up from there.
First post done. Let's see if I can keep it up.
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