Monday, April 15, 2013

For Fuck's Sake!

Good morning. I am pissed off and mad and that is probably not the best state to be in while writing,
but I have used my blog more than once to process and vent my frustrations and emotions so I see no reason to not continue to do so. I am not going to be able to articulate myself well but I will attempt to do my best.

You know what? Fuck it.

I am not going to waste any more of my words trying to explain again for the umpteenth time the lack of logic and reasoning exhibited by religious people. My frustration right now is with people of faith in the LGBT community who keep supporting theology and organizations that actively work against their humanity, equality and rights as a citizen of this country. Their beliefs and the education/indoctrination they have chosen to accept for varying reasons makes them an accomplice in the suppression, persecution, abuse and destruction of others like themselves.

"Uncle Tom" is not too strong of a word to use for their ilk. The friend of my enemy is my enemy.

To cut myself short and bring you up to speed on my mental and emotional state, feel free to read these articles.

Does Jesus Really Love Me : NY Times

Why Straddling the Fence on LGBT Issues Doesn’t Work: Andrew Marin’s Response to Dan Savage

Current conversation at the GCN Forum

I realize that all this noise and argument is a waste of my time and resources, but I cannot help but feel infuriated and saddened by people's responses. People who should know better.

Religion, at its very heart, is the greatest evil of humanity.

Time for some coffee and relaxing. I will come back later when I feel more myself.

daemon

PS: The Problem of Luke warm

This is a great article that was shared by DJ Free in the comments below. This so eloquently states some of the more subtle points that I lack the eloquence to express.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Spring!

As I sit here and think about my day, I realize I have gotten out of the habit of writing. There could be all kinds of different reasons for this but the fact remains I have lost touch with my inner voice. It is not that I narrate my days to myself but the times of pause and reflection that used to come so easily just have eluded being captured. I guess in some ways, for a season, my mind was a bit closed off to the idea of sharing my rumination with the world at large coupled with the fact that my life has been incredibly simple the first few months of this year.

Today was a busy day at work, but the pace of customers, training of new employees, the usual paperwork and other things required of me never reached a maddening frenetic pace. I have one more busy day this weekend to finish and then two whole days off are mine. I am rather looking forward to that, though with the bettering of the weather each day, I am solely missing having a convertible in the stable. Not to fret though, I have been scouring the five state region looking each day for the perfect car to play with. I have always been particular about what I choose to buy and invest in, but this time I can be honest and say I am down right picky. I guess as I get older, I am less willing to compromise when finding exactly what I want and like. Trying to replace a favorite car is near impossible so I am attempting to find my new favorite. Those words don't even quite describe it, as I have loved all my different cars but it will have to suffice. I can also cross BMW (Z3/Z4) and Porsche (Boxter) convertibles off the list right now, as the ones that I can afford simply are not up to my standards and those that I long for are WAY out of the budget! (BMW Z8 and Porsche 356 or 911) Not that I didn't enjoy the hell out of the test drives. *enormous grin)

I came home today from work, pulled into the driveway and on the way into the house, I think Spring might have bit me and hard! I looked over at my front plant and flower garden that spans the entryway, frames the fireplace and follows the sidewalk and and decided right NOW was the time to clean it out and make it look new. I literally did not get in the front door. Right then and there, with my chef clothes still on, I went out to my shed, got my gardening tools and made that space right. So many plants were coming up anew under the thick layer of leafy mulch I had spread last fall. The first corms of hostas were poking up. The hibiscus had already grown and was in bloom and all the little perennials were waking up in the new warmth and peeking above ground as they do. It felt so good to get my hands back in the dirt, carefully clean out around the plants, rearrange the decorative rocks, water and feed each plant in and enjoy the sunshine for an hour or so. I must have looked like a mad man in a white coat gardening but damn! Everything is coming back to life! Everything smells and looks so alive! Just breath it all in. Shut your eyes. Turn your face to the sun. Smile.

Spring is here. New life is returning. Soon the long days of warm and blue skies will be upon us. I can hardly wait! It feels good to be talking here again. Hope you all are well.

daemon

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sunday Morn

Just grabbed a few moments to put a few thoughts down before I head to work this morning. Looks to
be a busy day. I have a full hotel to feed, two CMSU sports team with their own breakfasts and a wedding party to corral and feed during their gift unwrapping party. The to do list in my head is growing.

I long for the long, slow, quiet Sunday mornings I used to have. The puttering around in the mornings, watching the sun rise, slowly waking up, choosing some comfortable clothes for the day and then driving into the city to sit at my coffee shop and watch the world wake up around me. Sitting there, listening to music, sipping a Red Eye and talking to friends usually ended and started my week in a great fashion. I am not sure when those days will return.

So I sit here and drink my coffee in silence, planning my schedule of tasks and wondering when I will get to be back outside to enjoy this amazing Spring weather that has finally arrived. Everything changes with time, I realize. I sure do miss my little sports car on a day like this, but I know the next one is right around the corner. I have the money, now I just need to find the car. Hope you all are well. Happy Sunday!

daemon

Friday, April 5, 2013

So God made a Farmer?



If you happened to enjoy the "So God made a Farmer" commercial that played during the Superbowl this year, then I think you certainly will like this parody. Just a laugh for you all.

daemon

Monday, April 1, 2013

Listen:Holocene

Along for the ride

It has been a while since I have read anything challenging. You know what I am talking about. Someone out there who puts thoughts and words on paper that just grab your eyeballs, yanks your neck towards to screen and pours like acid into your brain, all while generating questions, informing you and making you re-examine your own perception and fundamental acceptance of life as you know it.

I have to confess, it has been a while since I wrote anything here that I would find challenging to myself. I know that life has different seasons and rhythms, the patterns that we all fall into with our schedules, work and social activities have a way of lulling into a certain sort of mental complacency. While this at times might be comfortable and soothing, it is the times of self discovery, or the seeing of the "other" that can fracture that thin shell of normalcy and open our eyes and minds to something completely different or formerly unknown to us.

Something I realized at the moment, is that I am speaking on the collective tense while actually, to be more accurate and polite, I should relate these words and thoughts to myself individually. Perhaps you are all living on the scintillating edge of discovery each and every day and find your lives too full of new possibility to search out the unknown, confusing, mysterious and noisome spectacle that is occurring all around us at every single moment of our existence. I find that a bit improbable, but I can accept that possibility.

At times, it a movie that can grip us. A story told in words, pictures and music that moves us and make us rethink our world view, examine our own choices and imagine the possibility of circumstances, lives and concepts completely out the frame of our own limited experiences. For me, I find these mini-epiphanies movies, in books, while listening to new music, in nature out of doors while exploring or camping and in the daily activities that I turn to while not working or being engaged with people. I would say, by and large, that they are events that happen when I am by myself. Maybe in the silence that is created in the absence of others, a space is hollowed out to let me truly hear myself and authentically hear the "other".

My life is changing again. Somewhat more rapidly than I am comfortable with, but isn't that always the case? All growth brings with it some type of pain. While the largest event initially may seem to be the car wreck of last week, looking back over the last year has shown me that I am undergoing another sort of metamorphosis into the next chapters of my story. My priorities are changing. I can see my social groups becoming different as my interests move over the vast sea of choices that is available to us. The names, faces, phone numbers, activities and places I spend my time and effort and once again shifting. Over the course of my life, I have become used to this rising and falling of tides. I cannot begin to list here quickly all the different versions of me that have come and gone in different spaces and places. Looking back it all seems incredibly too much to have packed into my relatively short life thus far, but I would not change one day of it. All of those life experiences, relationships, discoveries, travels and endeavors have made me into the complex though simply motivated person that I am today. I think the largest difference that I notice these days is that I am no longer trying to hold onto my past and force today to be in some way similar to the ones that have past. A dear friend once put it best in an old worn post card that he mailed to me from another coast and ocean in this world. He wrote,"Be as a hollow reed on the shore of that just tossed upon pond and let your life flow through you, like the wind."

I am slowly beginning to understand what he meant on that day, so long ago. I still have that postcard. I still have everything ever written to me.

These are all just rumination and thoughts in my head at the moment while I listen to some beautiful music as the sun sets over the trees to the West. It has been a while since I considered myself. It is a good habit to be in. I am looking at two days off of work and I have decided I will fill them with the things that I love and enjoy. They will be solitary days. I will read, play piano, listen to music, spend time out of doors, walk, drink coffee and watch the people pass me by. I think I am trying to tell myself something. I sense it. I just need to become quiet enough to listen and to hear. I'll be in touch.

daemon

An Honest Cable Company:NSFW



Finally, a cable and internet provider company that tells the truth.

daemon

PS: This was my 800th post here at Icarus Always. A milestone...of sorts? :P