5 Questions, Your Answers

There are questions every day.  Some are simple, such as “Is it a right or left turn to get to school?”  Others, not so much.  “What’s better for me, a movie ticket to see the Avengers or the perfect Reuben?”  Difficult choices, as you can easily see.

I think about the tougher questions, and try to puzzle them out.  The usual reason why is I have too much free time on my car rides home and everything random usually filters into my head, but there are other reasons.  I question what is right for me, my school, even the country.  So I’ve got five questions here that I’ve been puzzling over, and hopefully have answered to a degree.

1.    “Do you trust people enough to give them more freedom?”

This one’s a toughie for me.  As I’ve said, I’m an unabashed liberal all the way.  I believe that individuals have to choose for themselves what’s right for them, and given enough time and guidance, human beings will generally make the right choice.  I believe it, but I doubt this more in practice on a grander scale.  When human beings are separated from each other, until the point where we don’t even recognize what we are paying money for (i.e., taxes), we are generally mistrusting of where our money goes.  Instead of putting money towards the common good, we invest in ourselves, putting our funds in bank accounts instead of public projects.  So in answer, I believe in this person, but I think we don’t need more freedom from taxes.

2.    “Entertain or Educate our Youth, can we do it at the same time?”

I find this question easy.  After four years of high school, four years of college, and now being back in the classroom as a teacher, I can definitely affirm that we can do both.  Are there areas of learning that can seem boring?  Yes, and they need to be taught.  But overall the goal of teaching should be making the connections between education and entertainment to the student.  If a student is enjoying their work, then the achievement is all the more precious for them.  It may have been difficult, but education must always be relatable and intriguing for students to be engaged.

3.    “Is there a God?”

Yes.  Next question?

I come from a line of faith.  Christianity is all I’ve ever known, and after all my time and (continuing) adolescence, I still believe in Christ, God and the power of faith.  And it is against reason.  Faith is supposed to be against reason.  If it could be quantified, if humans could convince each other of its validity, then religion is not a belief, but an argument and point of persuasion.  Faith combines the surety of reason with the fluidity of the heart and soul.  Believe, don’t know, that there is a God.

4.    “What are you willing to give up for others?”

Ouch.  Um…maybe my room, if I could get a bed elsewhere?  I don’t want to give up my house, I don’t want to give up my stuff.  Is that what I will need to do to help others?  I will easily give up my time to help others, as well as anything I can personally do.  But I recognize that I have possessions, that I have come from a place of wealth.  I may not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I certainly have never had to suffer the way others have.  I don’t know how to deal with this, and what I would have to give up to help others in a meaningful way, or even what my line is.  What won’t I do?  What will I do?  That’s still a question for me.

5.    “Who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman?”

Batman, hands down.  He rocks; more intelligent, better costume, more money, better villains, ruthlessly pragmatic, and the Nolan movies have kicked serious butt.  Superman…I like reading about him most when it’s proven that he can be beaten.  Sorry Superfans, but Batman would take this one no sweat.

So that’s my thoughts on some serious (And not so much) questions.  Your response?

Diary of an Unemployed Wanderer, Part 3

August 26, 2012

Dear Journal,

School starts tomorrow.  Kids are going to be in school, in my…in the classroom, and I won’t be there.  I guess it’s just hitting me now that I am unemployed, that my career as a teacher just isn’t happening.

The week has been…okay.  That stupid article from last week was only a distraction.  Went to my hearing, Manny was really just understanding about everything.  He helped me with the charges, and as you can see, I’m out of jail.  My account is five thousand dollars lighter thanks to a fine, but I’m out of jail.  And out of work.

I walked out of the courtroom, and who was there, but Kelly.  God, Kelly.  I hate her so much because she is right about so many things.  I know I’ve been, well, hating her for the last few weeks, but the look on her face just floored me.  She was there, she was at the court, to see me.

I said hey, we sort of stumbled our way through how everything was going, and I suggested a lunch to celebrate me not being in handcuffs.  She agreed, and we started to talk.

Maybe this will make more sense if I describe Kelly.  Kelly Bentz was my old boss, and became the first woman to become principal at the high school, at the age of forty-two.  No, there is absolutely nothing sexual there.  She’s forty-two, I’m twenty-eight.  She’s just fantastic, a brilliant mind and a heart that’s only for the kids.  Which is why she’s not giving me my job back.

I tried to explain, and realized I couldn’t.  I was out cold for hours, missed everything, and I couldn’t even give a reason.  For all she knew I was getting high or drunk or even gambling away my livelihood.  She was a bit more comforting than I expected, was even willing to help me compile my resume, but the message was clear.  I’m not going to be in school.

After that, the meeting became awkward.  I just wanted out, she wanted to be gone, but neither of us wanted to be rude.  When the waitress came by with the check, Kelly offered to pay, and I had to leave.  I was abrupt, but I didn’t want her to think I was helpless.  So I just flew away.

No, she didn’t see me.  That’s probably the only thing that I’ve been careful about the past couple weeks.  But I don’t want anyone to see me, take a video, and suddenly I’m the freak on Youtube with federal agents knocking on my door.  So I take off from the woods, or from skyscraper roofs, and I just go.

It’s a feeling, to fly.  It starts straight in the legs, the feeling of the wind between my ankles, and it just keeps going.  Suddenly I feel like I’m being wrapped up in a shell of air, whipping me around yet still in full control.  I can feel the nothingness of air, and yet nothingness is so powerful.

I’m actually writing this on top of the school roof.  The school isn’t tall, only three stories, and this is probably a very stupid idea.  But until tomorrow, until the new year officially starts, I can still trick myself.  I can pretend that I’m just grabbing a bite, taking in the view from my school.  I’m delusional, and I know it’s a dream.  Once those kids walk in and sit down in their seats, I know it’s lost.  The man at the board won’t be me, they won’t be reading Shakespeare from me.  I’m unemployed.

I’ve been out of work for two weeks now.  And though I haven’t been jailed ever, I now have solicitation on my record.  No one is going to hire me.  I’m going to end up homeless unless I do something drastic.

I’m thinking about robbing a bank or something…

Enjoy Partisanship, Enjoy Being Different

I spend a lot of time thinking about politics.  It’s an election year, and people are taking sides, dividing the country up into different little groups they can easily identify.  In the next couple of weeks you’ll soon be identified as a Democrat or Republican, pro-life or choice, everything will be a decision on who best suits your individual values.  What a great system.

I love politics, and I adore partisanship.  It’s completely corny, but this country is built upon the right to disagree.  We each have individual ideas on how to improve society, whether it’s a need for more funding for the arts, or education, or even defense.  And these ideas need to be fleshed out, expounded upon, and then they must be debated.  We can have real debates from idealists, from realists and cynics, in the attempt to discover the facts and how our decisions could impact the future.  We can have a confluence of ideas, simply by being informed, opinioned and vocal about both.

One of the most overlooked aspects of partisanship, however, is informed.  In the information age, where we could easily get specifics, track plans and implement ideas through the internet, our candidates refuse to give accurate and complete information.  Campaigns are being boiled down to “I will create twelve million new jobs in my first year,” or “My opponent’s plan will actually add trillions to the deficit.”  These are mind-boggling statistics, and yet I have no idea where they come from.  If this candidate is elected, what will he do?  He’ll fix the economy, but how?  And is this the right thing to do?  If it turns out to be a disastrous plan, how will we know?  I’m speaking in generic terms myself because I don’t have any data from these campaigns, and I want information.  I want to know what programs will be cut to help pay for others. 

For a hypothetical instance, cutting defense funding in deference to education is a difficult pill to swallow.  But not paying for missile defense programs that are proven to be ineffective and extremely costly could save millions each year, which could hire new teachers, or put more computers in public schools, or possibly even fund some national art projects.  And maybe my stance of for education is completely wrong, that this hypothetical missile defense system is just a short step away from becoming the backbone of a defense program, but I want to know how I’m wrong and why it is important.  Information breeds opinions based on facts, not mere speculation.

We all have difficult decisions to make this coming election.  My advice is simple: research.  Research the candidate, what he says his plans are and his track record.  Research what these plans could possibly mean for the country, and whether or not you agree with them.  And most importantly, research yourself.  What do you believe in?  Odds are you won’t be simply defined as Republican or Democrat.  There are dozens of issues to consider, and only you know what you stand for and how important this stance is to you.

After that, it’s simple.  Pull the lever, cast your vote, and enjoy being yourself.

Rape is Rape is Rape, Guys. Stop telling Women what to do!

I broke my trend already.  I'm sorry, but I felt I had to.

This year is turning towards the bizarre.  Campaigns seem to have focuses.  In 2004 it was the two wars we were in.  During the 2008 it was how do we get ourselves out of this mess we seem to be in.  This campaign, there seems to have been a bit of focus on women and their…womanhood lately.  Last week, I wrote about the personhood laws that have been circulating the media, having been defeated in both Colorado and Mississippi.  I thought the ideas of personhood were beliefs held by some Americans, and that they had the right to do so.  Unfortunately, the issue has spun out of control.

In case you haven’t heard, Representative Todd Akin lately talked about the difference between rape and “legitimate” rape.  According to Todd Akin’s science, it is biologically impossible for rape victims to get pregnant.  Their bodies simply will not allow them.  Therefore, rape ‘victims’ who are pregnant are biologically proven to not have been raped!

This piece of science fiction, I wish I could say I was surprised about it.  Sadly, I am not.  For the past couple of months, I have been aware of a large number of Americans that seem to think they know more about women and their bodies than the women do.  And no, I am not talking about Republicans.  I am speaking about men.

Yes, I’m a guy.  Looking at my picture to the right of this blog kind of reveals this fact, but it is a fact.  But seeing the horrors unfold around these issues makes me want to ignore my gender, to cry out against the stupidity that my sex has done.

The Todd Akin is just the latest in a long line of men ‘being men’ about women’s issues.  Sandra Fluke, having the courage to talk about what birth control has done for her friends in Georgetown?  Rush Limbaugh congratulated her with the title of slut and prostitute.  During the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, many men joked she shouldn’t be given decisions while menstruating, she could get emotional!  And of course, who could forget both sides’ use of the male favorite about the top two women in the previous Presidential campaign?  “If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.”

Abortion is a serious issue.  I can’t talk about it, because I have absolutely no ideas what it entails, and what are the ramifications, either ethically, philosophically or spiritually.  But I can speak to the men about this issue, and I hope that we can all take this to heart.

Do not claim that you know more about women’s bodies than they do.

Do not legislate on women’s bodies until we let them legislate ours.

Most importantly, men, do not consider yourselves better than women.

This is still an issue.  We think of ourselves as the protectors, the bread-winners, the go-getters.  The man is king, master and commander of his fate and household.  But women are overtaking college admissions.  Women are working just as hard as men.  And yes, women know their own bodies as much as men know their own.  Maybe even more, considering all the media that’s been done about the female body lately.  Time to allow them to make their own decisions.

Women, I apologize for men.  I know you’ve been apologizing for us long enough.  Give guys a chance, and maybe even forgive our nutjobs.  Just get them out of office.

Diary of an Unemployed Wanderer, part 2

August 19, 2012

Dear Journal,

Something strange is going on.  I haven’t been able to write for a week, and that in and of itself…you know…bothers me.  I mean, I have superpowers, and yet I can’t even write once a day?  Why can’t I keep up with a diary…I mean, journal?

I think the reason is because I’ve been experimenting.  I know I said last week I have superpowers (AND I DO!) but I haven’t been able to figure out everything they do.  So I’ve been trying to teleport (ended up falling off the bed), put my back into super strength (and I haven’t been able to get my back, well, back)…I even attempted to use x-ray vision (and that girl really didn’t understand…by the way, I have a court date on Tuesday).  So what kind of superpowers do I have?

Oh, right, maybe I should introduce myself.  Gary Plummer, high school English teacher…former, I should say.  And no, I haven’t been able to find work as of yet, but here’s hoping!  I officially have flight under my list of skills on my updated resume, and I think that’s going to be a deal-breaker.  I mean, come on, look at candidates.  One applicant has a degree from Harvard?  Big whoop, there’s new Harvard Graduates each year, and they don’t seem to be stopping.  I can freaking fly.  Top that, Crimson boy.  Yes, Kelly Bentz went to Harvard.

Kelly Bentz, AKA my boss, excuse me, former boss.  She made sure I wasn’t going to be working there anytime soon.  I’m sorry I missed the meeting, but I was in the middle of getting exposed to radiation!  Or something else, I don’t know…it was glowing.  But you know all that.  And for how much I hate her, and yes I totally do, Kelly did kind of help me figure out I now have superpowers.  How?  Well…it involves drinking.  A lot of drinking.  How much is a lot?  Here’s the article.

Ex-Teacher Taught a Lesson

Gary Plummer, former teacher at Fresdale high school, is facing a $500 fine for soliciting a bouncer at a local bar.  Manny Trempkin, the bouncer, apparently was asked if he wanted to go back to Mr. Plummer’s place to talk about a tree.  “In his words, it was glowing,” said Trempkin.  “I could already tell he’d had a few too many to drink, so I just called him a cab.”

Plummer, having been fired for showing up four hours late to mandatory orientations for teachers, has been showing a remarkable lack of decorum for someone charged with the responsibility of education.  “I think it’s sick,” said a concerned parent who wished to remain anonymous.  “You show up late to school, get fired, and then go solicit a man? If you ask me he should’ve been shot.”  Again, this parent asks to remain anonymous.

Gary Plummer has been contacted several times the past two days since his firing, but has declined to respond to inquiries to the reasons behind his firing, solicitation, and disappearance.

Disappearance…I was in the stratosphere!  Well…maybe not the stratosphere.  I think I need to go over the spheres again, since I’m spending so much time up there.  I do remember I was in the clouds.  Before you ask, I did solicit Manny.  Moral of the story: don’t mix vodka with tequila, rum, scotch and everclear.  Bad things will happen.  After I asked him back to my place, Manny did probably the best thing for either of us.  He threw me out of the bar.  Yes, literally threw me, out the side alley, and so hard I hit my head on the dumpster, thank God.  I started to get woozy, and the next thing I know, I’m hanging out in the clouds with a flock of geese screaming at me!  Geese!

Was I flying?  Yes.  I could do anything I wanted up there.  Soar, zoom, dive and twirl to my heart’s content.  All I had to do was picture it, and I could do it.  I never have to pay for travel fare again, or even my car!  My transportation is basically assured.

On the other hand, I’m still fired.  And as much as I love adding flying to the resume…what can I do with it?  Fight crime…I don’t think I’m going to look that good in tights.  Steal?  Don’t be ridiculous.  Get a new job…I don’t think that defying gravity is on the list of possible job qualifications.  What am I going to do?

This is the first time I’ve been back to my house since I last posted.  It’s gotten too hectic, and I don’t blame anyone.  The public think I’m a drunk, a deviant, and I used to be teaching their kids, I’d want to shoot me!  But I need to think right now.

Who needs a flyer?

When Newt Gingrich calls you Right-Winger...

I love politics.  I write fiction (hopefully for a living), but politics continuously look like the place where reality seems to break away from common sense.  Either side has made decisions that made neither political nor legislative sense, it just seems that this year it will be the Republicans take on it.  Before I go any further, I will make full disclosure.  I am a bleeding heart Liberal from a rather Navy Blue state, and take great pride in it.  On the subject of the Paul Ryan, my perspective is going to be entirely that of an outsider/opponent/gleeful audience member.  Take it as you will.

Congressman Paul Ryan

I have been keeping up with Paul Ryan’s nomination for the past week, and his portrayal has been controversial at best.  He is known as charismatic to the right, risky to the left, and the rest of us haven’t really known what to think.  Personally when I heard Paul Ryan was the nominee, my first thoughts were of the Paul Ryan budget, named by people like me as the “Kill Medicare” budget.  For those who aren’t obsessive about politics, Paul Ryan wrote a budget that would replace the current system of Medicare with a voucher system, in the hopes of extending the livelihood of the program.  This budget, while some may see it as a partisan issue, has actually been widely discredited by members of Ryan’s own party.  Former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich has been on record calling Ryan’s budget proposal “Right-Wing social engineering.”  Also, many Republicans in tight races this November are racing away from his budget, calling it unsound and claiming they never voted  for the plan.  With Presidential candidate Mitt Romney already facing questions about his personal finances – such as when he stopped receiving money from Bain capital, and what exactly is he hiding in his tax returns – this seems an odd choice.  Paul Ryan is a fiscal conservative, with some rather radical ideas.

As of Sunday of this week I knew of Paul Ryan as the “Kill Medicare” budget guy.  But as his record has been perused, his social concerns have come to light with almost alarming urgency.  Paul Ryan is a co-author of not one, but two bills dealing with abortion rights coming to the House floor.  The first is a federal law similar to that of the Ultrasound law in Virginia, requiring all women wishing to have an abortion to be shown an ultrasound of her baby, regardless of its medical relevance.  This law was passed in the hopes of limiting abortions in the state by Governor Bob McDonnell, and is widely attributed to him being passed over for the VP candidacy.

As controversial as the Ultrasound law is on a national level, Paul Ryan unfortunately has to deal with the second law, which has precedent at the state level as well, but not nearly as successful.  Paul Ryan has helped author a bill which will define personhood, i.e. when a fertilized egg becomes an actual person with all the rights of a person, at conception (1).  Paul Ryan is trying to pass a law which will define that life begins at conception, and that any form of birth control or abortion after conception is murder.  This bill is wildly unpopular across the country.  Almost the exact same bill has been voted upon in Colorado the past two years.  Each year the bill was defeated by over forty points.  Even in Mississippi the personhood bill was defeated.  This bill is simply too extreme for Americans in any state, and Paul Ryan is trying to make it national.

I can’t go into my own view on abortion rights.  I am a young man who has never had that serious a relationship with a woman up until this point in my life, and I honestly don’t believe I will ever be in a position where I can tell a woman what to do with her body.  But Paul Ryan has three bills which he is fast becoming famous for, and Democrats are eager to define him as a man who is trying to impose his will against the American populace.  No matter his qualifications, Paul Ryan is fast becoming a risky pick for former Governor Mitt Romney.  Let’s see if he chose the right risk.

I now open the floor to debates!

1. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr212/text

(Picture courtesy of http://emilyslist.org/blog/breaking-mitt-romney-chooses-paul-ryan-vp )

Diary of an Unemployed Wanderer, part 1

And so begins my foray into Blog Fiction!  Hope you all enjoy this.  Until next week!

August 12, 2012

Dear Journal,

Today has to be the most amazing day I have ever been in!  You would not believe the day I have had.  I mean to sum it all up, I now have…wait.  Build it up, build up everything, I’m supposed to be leading to something, not just spilling my secrets, ha!  That must’ve been anti-climactic, right?

Let me start over.  Sorry, this is my first post, so I’m still a bit nervous.  Imagine, being nervous talking to…well, you’re not exactly alive, now are you?  I mean, you can’t do anything, you can’t fight back you can’t…stick to the point, right.  Where was I?  Oh, right, today.

Today was the day.  THE, day.  The day I was going to ask for a raise.  I know, I know, the school hasn’t exactly been receptive of me (I think the principal called me Larry instead of Gary), but I was confident.  I’d been working there for five years, obviously there had to be something, right?  I wonder if I should still ask for a raise after what happened…probably not.

All right, all right, all right, the day.  I went to school…well, tried to.  I was taking the back roads through the woods (7:00 in the morning, only real option is back roads or traffic, am I right?), windows down on my way to teacher workshops, when all I hear is a pop.  It wasn’t gunfire or a loud explosion, more like the sound a jar makes as the air seal is broken.  Times fifty.  And with it I see a couple of branches just fly past the hood of my car, one even struck my car!  I slam on the breaks, pull over to the side of the road, and get out of the car.

I don’t know what I was thinking.  Somebody might be hurt, there might be something really cool, and as much as I wanted a raise I didn’t really want to be in teacher workshops on a weekend…but I went.  Dress shoes, khaki slacks and all, I went trudging through the woods.  Yes, there was mud, and yes did I step in it.  As I’m typing this my shoes are drying off the caked mud and awaiting a stiff brush and some prayers that the muck will just fly off.  Wouldn’t that be ironic?  Getting ahead of myself again…

Anyways, I’m a couple hundred yards off the road, when I start seeing a glow.  Not an aliens-have-landed glow, or even a sunshine glow.  First off, it wasn’t coming from the sky.  Instead, I could see the light kind of seeping out of the ground.  And the glow wasn’t even fixated on a particular color.  It changed from red to orange to green, almost every color in the spectrum without any sort of pattern. It was kind of cool.

I know what your first thought was.  I kind of freaked myself when my first thought was radioactive spill-off, get ready for cancer or a third eye…but I didn’t feel cancerous or anything.  Cancerous…can you feel cancerous?  Is there a sensation attached to radioactivity?  I’ll admit I’ve read my fair share of comic books and watched superhero movies, but I don’t know how one feels when you’re next to anything nuclear.  Maybe there’s a lot of pain, or perhaps a tingly feeling?  I don’t know, I couldn’t know, so how could I even expect there to be…whatever?  All I knew was I didn’t feel anything beyond normal.  And the light was looking really cool.  So I went further in.

First thing I thought when I saw what the glow was, was kind of disappointed.  There wasn’t a clearing with signs drawn over the ground.  There wasn’t a burnt up circle to indicate where extraterrestrials had landed.  Just a tree, with glowing roots.  Yes, glowing roots.  And let me stress that the rest of the tree wasn’t glowing.  What the hell was up with this tree?  What kind of tree has glowing roots?  Was I losing my mind?  Am I in the middle of losing my mind?  Should I be taking iodine and staying away from x-rays for life?

Why is this the best day ever?  Because I was totally, completely and unequivocally stupid.  I didn’t run for the hills, I didn’t call the cops.  Instead, I tried to find out why the tree only had glowing roots.  Yes, I touched it.  And blacked out.

I woke up next to my car in the high school parking lot.  I managed to get up to find Kelly Bentz, AKA my boss, walking towards my car with not the best look on her face.  I was about to get fired.  Apparently the principal didn’t enjoy the fact that I missed six hours of mandatory workshops, and instead just showed up with mud all over my shoes, dirt on my face, and no explanation for where I was.

So here I am, unemployed, possibly exposed to radiation, and bills coming up pretty soon.  Why is this a great day?  Why is this quite possibly the best day of my life?

Because I have superpowers.

Role of Government

So since this is my first weekend, I thought I'd kick it off with a showing of my personal views, especially in an election year.  As it will always be, I open the floor to a fantastic debate!

Role of Government

Nobody enjoys paying taxes.  The primary objective of taxes, are to fund the government’s projects.  As the Republican nominees for presidency start to debate, the ideals of government, and its appropriate size are brought to the forefront of thought.  Nearly all potential candidates from the Republican side state that taxes are already too high.  The role of government is to ensure domestic tranquility, enforcing the laws, both ethical and moral.  To do this, does not require massive taxes.  The smaller the government involvement, the better the country will be.

There are several benefits to this strategy.  There is always going to be more money in the pocket of the individual.  Less taxes facilitates a capitalist society, as more and more people are able to invest their money in their business ventures.  And all the extra money can go wherever the individual wants, with no restraints from the government.  Less taxes, equals more money.

But more money for whom?  Over the past decades, the gap between the wealthy and the poor has been growing ever wider.  For the first time in American history, we have the developments of an aristocracy.  The Kennedys, the Rockefellers, and the men of Wall Street and big business command most of the wealth, while the middle and lower classes are finding less and less wealth for survival.

More importantly, is the lack of public options.  The educational system is failing for lack of funds.  America, despite claiming to be the pinnacle of civilized countries, is one of the few countries without a comprehensive health care program provided for all citizenry.  Public transit is well and good, but not nearly as efficient as it can be.  The government’s lack of funds prevents any sort of aid for the working class.

With taxes come public options for the populace.  A public health care option, which forces private corporations to compete with a system designed by the people, for the people.  Government jobs can be funded that are designed for the sole purpose of improving the country, whether through installation of more energy efficient power systems, or rebuilding roads and public structures.  A public educational system that sets the standard for the world, not just the country.  All these things are possible, if people are willing and able to pay.

Many fight the idea of big government, because of the strain it will put on them personally.  To this, I ask the question: Will your salary be over ten million dollars a year?  These are who I wish to increase taxes upon.  Men and women who can not only survive under increased taxes, but still be recognized as the wealthiest people in America.  These people will be taxed, because the money is needed to fight disease, poverty, and illiteracy.

Personally, I dream of being a millionaire.  I dream of having the sort of salary where I could walk into any store in the country and tell the manager I’m bored, so I’ll be purchasing the store.  And with this salary, I want the badge of honor that is higher taxes.  I would publicize my taxes, let it be known around the world that I was paying more than my fair share, I was improving the country.  I had proof that I was making a significant difference for the entire country.  I was affecting change, and all because I filed everything on April 15^th.

Big government seems intimidating.  It watches over the people, judging misdoings, enacting laws that restrict behavior, taking away money.  But it also solves the problems of economics, puts away the criminals of society, and strives constantly, for the betterment of the country.  I am a liberal, and I want more taxes, please.

"Taxes are paid in the sweat of every man who labors" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Full Disclosure:  My deep personal friend and often-time co-author The Wayward Wordslinger did, in fact, edit this previously.  I invite you all to check out his personal blog on the entertainment industry and fun facts (like Joss Whedon!)

Finding understanding is not the point! Enjoying ourselves is

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury…no…of the audience, right, that’s it!  Ladies and gentlemen of the audience, may I present myself.  Jack Holder, out of the closet as a liberal, a nerd of all shapes and sizes, and worst of all, a writer.  Worser still, a blogger!  I come before you today unabashed to show you, dear readers, just what kind of person, what kind of writer I am.

But why should you care?  There are thousands of blogs, possibly bajillions, designed for every sort of character.  It is possible that you could go to any number of these sites, and yet you are here.  And the question is why stay?

My answer is simply that I have something to say, and hope that it wants to be heard.  I consider the world around me as something that is begging to be explored, to be questioned, to be considered and most importantly, enjoyed.  As I am a nerd and an English major, my first response is to write, and now as a blogger my second response is to post, to see what you think of it.  Whether or not you hate these words on the screen is valid, and I want to know why!

From now on I’ll be posting twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday evenings, and more if the world demands such.  Thursdays I’ll post on whatever I find relevant, and whatever makes me think.  Topics will range from sports to entertainment to politics to questions I heard on the street or the way an orange rolling on the sidewalk made me feel.

Sundays I’ll post periodical fiction, or in other words, a snippet of a work to be determined.  On this I can only promise that it will provoke something within you, and I invite all responses.

Looking out at the sky right now I can see that the sun is spreading over the leaves of the tree, and that could mean that the leaves will once again try and get stuck in my air conditioner again.  The world is an interesting, infuriating, incredible space we live in.  My only choice is to write about it.

Stay strange, folks.

“(D)o any of us understand what we are doing?  If we did, would we ever do it?”

-          Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw