This is totally not cool. Why the hell won't people stop dying? Dylan's death was hard enough on everyone. Of all the people to go, why him? A week or so ago, Dylan's roommate, Dave's 3 year old cousin died. Then my friend Quinn told me (if i remember correctly) several of his cousin's friends were killed in a car wreck. Lee Ann's dog almost died the other day. Finally, this afternoon, after Dylans memorial service, Quinn's grandfather had a heart attack. I think he'll be ok, but still. What the hell is going on?
As far as Dylan's memorial service, everything was perfect. Several of our friends were unable to make it, but lots of people turned out to remember him. Some of our teachers and two of Dylan's old coaches gave little speeches. Quinn gave a great speech and I threw in a little extra. Everyone had so many great memories, and it was hard not to stay all afternoon sharing them. Its still pretty shitty though. I saw his car in the Mitchell's driveway when i was going to Quinn's house Friday night and for a second I was thinking, "hey, Dylans home." This is going to suck for a long time.
Gas
I bet you don't like to pay a lot of money for gas. I bet that nobody really does. Why does everyone have to cry foul when prices go up though? This is a simple case of supply and demand. Everyone knows that there is going to be a shortage, so they want to fill up. The only thing that's going to keep all the stations from running out of gas from people topping off is a higher price. You know what? It's working. There's still enough gas, but the price is high enough that the people that don't really need it aren't buying it and there's some left for the people that do. The hurricane is also gonna hurt the coffee supply some. Is everyone ready to call the grocery stores out on price-gouging coffee. Look, fact is, if you don't really need to be driving, then maybe you shouldn't. Walk. Ride a bike. Just don't go. Maybe this is what we really needed to get people to make the effort to learn about public transportation.
Religion.....everybody's favorite subject
Ok, I'm gonna keep tonight's rant short. This might offend somebody. I kinda hope it does, it'll give you something to do. Religions are fun. You need something to think about? You can spend your whole life studying religion and tryin to figure this stuff out. It's really interesting learning what makes different groups of people tick. That being said, religion is doing a pretty good job of fuckin stuff up. People have been fighting over this stuff for thousands of years. Why? Why do you have to be right AND make everyone else know that? I'm a little annoyed from time to time by the Christian leaders in this country. You know the guys.....do I even need to name names? Sometimes this stuff is just counter-productive. If you don't like the idea of a lottery, then you can build a much stronger argument on it hurting low income families than you can from just saying that it's immoral. And what about that "high-alcohol" beer thing? Nine-percent alcohol "devil beer" isn't making a mockery of morality. Why don't you people bitch about everclear some or something? That'll fuck you up way more than the devil beer.
In any case, local religion impacts can be annoying, but that's about it. Pat's callin for an assassination (whether he wants to admit it or not), but he's not getting out there and doing it. On the other hand, let's spin the globe around to, oh, let's say, the Middle East. Israelis and Palestinians are taking this a little far. You people have a place to live, you can practice your own religion. Who gives a shit what religion your neighbors are. Iraq. Shiites and Sunnis are fighting. You people worship the same damn god......get the fuck over it. Do you realize that you're blowing up your whole shitty country over this? I'm not saying that our presence hasn't had any effect on all this........but we didn't just pit them against eachother in the last 2 years. This is ridiculous. Why can't we get along (yeah, I said it). So apparently as long as your religion is the right one, and you hate and kill as many others as you can while you're on earth, the afterlife will be great. Everybody better hope there is an afterlife......or everyone is dying for a big hoax.
And you know what? how about some opinions? tell me im right. tell me im wrong. and tell me why. you wont hurt my feelings. opinions are fun. arguments are fun. you get to hear different sides of things and you get smarter. its fun. i like doin chass shit
I think I might be onto something
Why is it that my brain only really fires up around nine o'clock at night? I find it rather likely that it corresponds with my sense of dissatisfaction and general restlessness also firing up when I notice that the day has slipped away and im faced with the sole possibility of going to sleep. Granted, my bed may be fabulously comfortable, but it feels so much better when you've earned it.
What do I want? I want something to put in here before i go to bed; something that somebody might give a shit about. You know what? I want it to be something I've done; not a rant about what I want to do. I'm not asking for something big, but i want a highlight. An interesting highlight would be fantastic.
Let's go out on a limb here and say that I do want to try something in the writing field. Here's the question: Do I want to report stories or do I want to make my own? Twenty words per sentence, two sentences per paragraph. Get the who, what, where, when, why, and how. Sounds kinda boring doesn't it? It sounds to me like a formula; like something I'd learn in an engineering class if we engineered news articles. Straight forward newswritting might have its place, but I'm thinking that gutting a story down to the bare facts pretty much takes the story out of it. Feature writting gets as good of a look from readers as the hard news stories and it's because its better written. Put some effort into news stories. Make them sound "pretty." People may be in a hurry, but not many people are going to mind a few extra words when they get the experience.
THE EXPERIENCE.Thats what people want. Everyone thats stuck in the same old boring job wants it. They guys that never have any fun want it. Even totally content people want it. Give people the experience and you'll be sucessfull. You couldn't make it to the big football game, but you want the experience. You'll get it through television coverage, commentary, trivia, and even advertisements for beer. People read the news just to be informed, but they also want the experience. Why just know what's going on with flooding in New Orleans when you can witness it? Even advertising deals with an experience, there's just a little more trechery involved. You want this party experience? Coors light can make it happen for you.
What is everyone's favorite thing to do though? Fun? An Escape? A vacation? An adventure? Yes. The key here again is bringing home the experience. Not that many people care about the facts. Sure, some people are interested in going somewhere and want a travel guide. The rest, however, either have too much to do or don't have the financial means. That's why you have to take them on an adventure/escape/vacation in a convenient and cheap means for them. The big question is: what's the best way to do it? Television is the newest answer, but good writing can still make the mind work the hardest.
Whatever the best method is though, I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to have a kickass time. I'm going to bring everyone at home along and make them feel good for a few minutes in theire mundane existance. Best of all, I'm going to make money doing it. Theres my job. I'm gonna entertain you, but behind the scenes I'm really just entertaining myself. And you're going to pay for it. And I'm gonna have some awesome stories to tell. Enjoy.
