*sigh*

I just found out that there was no way I can vote absentee from here--despite the fact that I carry a CA driver's license, have a CA voter's registration, etc, I can't have the ballot shipped here. At the same time, because I have the above, I can't register to vote in Alabama. This is quite annoying. I therefore reserve my right to complain about the people who are elected, because I would have voted if it were humanly possible.

!(@&#*$^)!@*#!(@
(do not attempt to count the characters, no particular curse was intended)

Apropos, I have a little message for any of you out there who are either failing in your responsibility to vote or failing to educate yourselves properly prior to doing so (although given the people who read this blog, I have very, very little to fear on that score). It takes the form of a few song lyrics I scribbled down this morning. So...here they are.

can't you see all the talking heads
sapping your will, feeding your dread
listen to 90-second policies
and then give up your liberty
'cause we're free agents
dispossessed of all our faculties
free Americans
we gave our minds away to shiny screens...

and to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
what's happened to our minds?
our votes are plotted by the media
two figureheads, one agenda
and where's our agency, our will to be?
why don't we start to read?

take the time for a little news research
plug in, click for a Google search
is that too high a price to pay?
can't you pull that off by Election Day?
but your attention flags once more
(free music! iPods! video!)
and you give your mind away to shiny screens...

and to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
what's happened to our minds?
our votes are plotted by the media
two figureheads, one agenda
and where's our agency, our will to be?
why don't we start to read?

attention deficit strikes first
forget the thoughts that you'd rehearsed
is no-one there to speak for us?
can't someone save our brains from rust?
I guess we'll have to find our own way
no help from authority
'cause our thoughts don't serve their goals, they serve ourselves
so we'll find our own way
find our own way
find our own way
find our own way
FIND OUR OWN WAY!

here's to the Ritalin democracy
sound bites control our destiny
consumption rules morality
FOX and the networks drug our minds
votes plotted by the media
simplistic thoughts the agenda
they say this land is for the free
isn't it time to start to think?

Random quiz

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

"Arthur stood up, feeling as if he were in a dream." (Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch?

The things on my desk.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Colbert Report last night.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is. -

2145 CST

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?

2144 CST

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

Bad Religion, American Jesus--playing through my computer speakers. Not much of anything else.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

Today at about 1345 hours--I was going to my English lit class.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

A friend's xanga site.

9. What are you wearing?

Black t-shirt and black exercise shorts.

10. Did you dream last night?

Not that I can remember.

11. When did you last laugh?

About two minutes ago.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Nothing; dorm rooms tend to be kind of barren...

13. Seen anything weird lately?

Alabamian rednecks?

15. What is the last film you saw?

For the first time? Fearless. Last film I watched? Matrix.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

Guns. Lots of guns. Actually, I'd have to wait a couple years to buy them myself. The next morning, I would send a fairly large sum to a couple different humanitarian organizations, buy a ticket to DC, buy a couple sweet airsoft guns, and invest/save the rest, in that order.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.

Not on a public site, sorry. :-p

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

I'm really not sure. I'd like humanitarian organizations to be a lot better funded. I'd like someone I could stand in charge of the world. I don't know if there's one thing.

19. Do you like to dance?

I'd like to learn.

20. George W Bush:

Is a decent person who's trying to do a hard job, picked some of the worst possible advisers to help with it, and has generally-and unfortunately-done more harm than good as President.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

There's someone else involved who gets a say in that.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

See above.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Sure, any specific places you want me to consider?

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate?

"Well done, good and faithful servant." I could never ask for anything more.

25. Four or Five people who must also do this quiz in THEIR journal:

Nope.

A respectful farewell...

...to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. I've been long impressed by Blair's stands on principle, his articulate and flat-out brilliant political speaking, and his status as a generally likable politician, even as I disagree with many of his social and domestic stands. If the next PM is anywhere close to a leader of Blair's stature, the United Kingdom will be blessed indeed.

back again...

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

It's been five years.

You all know what I mean. Five years ago this morning, we all woke up to a shock. For me, it was the biggest shock of my life up until then. It's still one of the biggest, most unpleasant awakenings I've ever received. They blew a building up. Actually, they blew up two and took a pretty good bite out of another. Two buildings blown to hell and gone, and a scar on consciousness that will never really go away. Two thousand, seven hundred and forty-nine people dead.

This isn't a time to announce my newfound party-line Republicanism, or a further departure from the political beliefs I grew up in, or anything silly like that. None of that actually happened recently, anyway. It's not a time to make harsh political commentaries about people I disagree with in the government, as many of them as there are. That will happen again tomorrow, if I decide that anyone cares or that it matters what my opinion is anyway. Tonight, I reflect on what happened then, how it changed me, and what it all means, if anything. This rambling post isn't just about terrorism either. It's about the death of innocence, and how the rocks we once stood on while looking out on a calm, blue sea seem to always erode into slippery cliffs as lightning flashes from above, gale-force winds doing what they can to send us down to the crashing waves beneath.

Five years ago, I woke up on a normal morning, feeling no particular fears of anyone or anything. I looked forward to a normal day, ending in a meeting preparing for the upcoming short-term trip to Costa Rica--we would be leaving the following Saturday, and I was more than a little excited. Life was easy--I was a freshman in high school, I had recovered from a two-year immersion in conspiracy theories and other far-right-wing stupidity, and I had faith that the people leading my country (and of course, me) would guide it wisely and truly, and that when I finally fulfilled my dream of graduating from the United States Naval Academy and flying fighter planes, I would be secure in the knowledge that nobody could stop me, not even the Chinese or Russians.

This morning, I woke up on a normal morning, feeling no particular fears of anyone. I was a bit tired, as I seem always to be now, but of course any night person feels similar sensations when she or he wakes up. I don't look forward to normal days anymore; "normal" means that I'm busy going to classes that may or may not be enjoyable, working a job that doesn't really do anything for me besides paying minimum wage, and looking forward to the possibility of some contact with one or more of the people I care for, most often in the plastic, electronic form of "fellowship." I began to lose my faith in governments long ago; today, I know that I have abandoned the last personal allegiance to this government, that I left the ROTC program in favor of hopes and goals made solely by me, and that I am far happier because of it. And really, I'm thankful that I'm alive; I'm thankful that I can eat, sleep, and study in peace; I'm thankful for the people God has given me and for the hope that He gives for the future.

But even as I'm thankful for what I have, I think of all the ones who don't have those things. The people who died that morning, five years ago, aren't the only ones; there are thousands of children who die every day from easily curable diseases. And even as I throw away faith in empty causes and allegiance to governments I owe nothing, I can't help but think of the people out there, strangers on a road, and I wish to help them. I also think of the people who would fly planes into skyscrapers. They are evil, plain and simple, and they will, eventually, be defeated.

Innocence dies. Good never will.

well, I'm back...

(Note: most of the song lyrics quoted are, obviously, not mine; they’re from Phantom Planet, Green Day, Bad Religion, and Thrice.

we've been on the run
driving in the sun
looking out for Number One
California, here we come, right back where we started from

home,
we're coming home again

(Part I: Back Home)

It's almost midnight here, and I need to get up before 0600 next morning. Sounds like freaking college to me. Well, forget that. For starters, I'm here in California! Sure, it's not for very long, since I'm headed to Ukraine a week from tomorrow and won't be back for two weeks, but still...it's home. The trip was long, but at least I'm still alive after two weeks in a van with my family. On the good side, the trip allowed for some really...productive...conversations with some different people (mostly family members, but yeah). I got to see some friends and relatives and meet some new people. Long drives, too, tend to give me time to think to myself, as long as I can drown out the always-loud voices of my siblings.

my pessimistic lines
the superstitious lives
and the modern age's lies won't absolve you
and the professorial truth
and the dear, clairvoyant youth
and, of course, the nightly news will deceive you (watch out!)

(Part II: The Music)

I bought another Bad Religion CD while on the trip. Suffer really reminded me of why I listen to Bad Religion in the first place--aside from often-insightful social commentary, they make me ask questions about my faith and general worldview. That sends me back to my Bible and to whatever place near the campsite that I've chosen to haunt that night, there to think about what I believe and whether I got something wrong along the way. I spent a lot of time thinking about questions asked by Graffin and Mr. Brett on Suffer, but in the end the album (as before) strengthened my faith and reinforced my moderation on political issues. Also, a couple of the songs were particularly helpful as I tried to resolve some issues in my mind:

tell me, what will it take to make you happy?
indeed, is it out of your reach?...
if you want just the best
turn to yourself for the rest
and forget about the ones who "have it all"

Interesting words about contentment from the guys who will “believe in God when 1+1=5.” It’s strange to me about how people can be so right in some areas and so wrong in the most important ones—it’s rather sad, too.

how can you be sleeping?
waves like weapons crash
o’er us, cry for mercy
and hold fast hope

(Part III: The Music, Local Version)

I have a habit of writing song lyrics while listening to sermons. I’m not sure whether this is a good or bad thing, I simply know that I do it. Most of the time, I don’t come up with anything useful and end up throwing the lyrics out promptly afterwards. Today, though, I came up with another song that Cameron and I will have to play around with a bit…feel free to post flames and suggestions. It was kind of inspired by a few conversations I had on vacation; that’s about all I’m willing to say in a public forum.

economic paranoia
found in your workplace today
you get a job and try to keep it
they don’t need you in their way
work ever harder for promotion
keep your head locked in the game
you’re in the land of competition
(wake up early every day)

lost in silicon dreams
when will you see
that alarms and red eyes
will net you nothing?
cog in the machine
(spirit-killing routine)
you’re earning dollars in streams
but are they worth your soul?

live for the party on the weekend
get wasted every time you can
you’re young and 50 is forever
forget the future, you’re the man
your fun’s your god (easy belief!)
you look to it when you feel weak
but it won’t save you as your clock keeps ticking down…

lost in silicon dreams
when will you see
that alarms and red eyes
will net you nothing?
cog in the machine
(spirit-killing routine)
you’re earning dollars in streams
but are they worth your soul?

Yeah, I’d better go to bed. ;-)

Four more years! Four more years!

Of Darth Vader's Presidency. This is one of the best political parodies I've ever seen. Darth Vader appears in the No-Spin Zone, counseling continued resolution in the war against the Rebellion. The Empire has finally liberated the freedom-loving people of Alderaan...

Double post

And I have nothing to say. So I'm just going to leave it here. ;-)

Programmers? Code monkeys?

I know you're out there. ;-)

This song is perfect for you guys *cough*Jeremy*cough*Matt*cough*.