Flying Around Google Earth

It is so deeply moving for me to just fly around google earth and explore random places. Get perspectives. I imagine myself there and it shakes me to the core.

Today I found myself flying around Dallas for hours. Getting some cool and moving perspectives, but not much to say. Not much to see in street view. Then I randomly decided to drop a pin in England, street view, and BAM! Instant beauty. (Map Location). It's like that every time - I could drop a pin anywhere in the world outside the US and I have a 95% chance of seeing something wonderful. Beautiful or interesting. Humble, but glorious. Profound and withstanding. Look at this picture I wish such love was etched into our walls. I wish I knew what it was like to truly have a heritage; to really deeply love my country. In a way that I could not describe. To feel the same love you have for your country coming through the ancient chisel strokes of a man you've never met. I have no idea what that feels like. But I feel it in every brick of even the lowest slums in the farthest places on earth.

I feel like we just keep saying "America is great", "freedom!", just because we think we're supposed to, but nobody really feels it. Nobody really believes it. Is it just me? Am I just negative? Am I suffering from "the grass is always greener"? Am I "only happy when it rains"? When I have something to complain about? Or am I sincerely concerned about a very real cultural vacuum? Vanilla. I feel like our flag should just be a decaying white canvas. Like everyone who has come here has left behind their culture, and replaced it with nothing. Every other country has piles and piles of paint upon paint, and they continue to tend to it, but no one has touched ours. No one wants to say something, put something on that canvas, that then they'd have to tend to. But the canvas needs tending itself. And it will disintegrate without paint. But I have no answers, solutions, or solid ideas. How would I have started this experiment differently? I don't know. Maybe I'm just wrong and I can't see what's right in front of me. I mean if I'm right about us having some sort of culture-lacking culture, then how do we produce so much worldwide entertainment? Are we just experts at exploitation, manipulation, and spectacle, unafraid to use shock value and break laws like a cheap hooker because we have nothing else to offer? Are we just turning the world vanilla? Or is there something we really contribute that I just don't see? Is there some deep unspoken unique cultural value in the US that I live and breathe so much I simply don't notice?

I struggle with this every day. I didn't have a tough childhood compared to many, but I have never felt like I was truly a citizen of this country. Accepted. Treated equally, given freedom. A citizen of the world, maybe--at least that made logical sense. In the middle of shithole, TX, I was not given the opportunity in public school to specialize in things that kids in bigger city public schools could--the options were Ag (agriculture) or the horse-shit vanilla version of every subject. I felt neglected and discriminated; forced to participate in a system that hated thinking and learning but required my childhood as payment; surrounded by collections of people that do not care, consisting of individuals that really wanted to, but were okay without, afraid to challenge an imaginary norm, living vicariously through characters in movies who escape it. I just constantly find myself saying, "What the fuck?" I can only imagine what black kids have gone through in poorer communities. What has happened, and what do we do to change it in a real way? How was England able to get over slavery before us and fully integrate black people into their society while the land of the free is still sitting over here with it's thumb up it's ass? 240 years. 240 years of freedom and we just keep inventing new forms of slavery.

Am I just a jerk or what? Let me know. I just want to have real love and pride for where I am and where I came from, and right now it seems like the only way to do that is to be an island unto myself. I want my children someday to have that feeling I've never known.

(Map Location)

Protest Against "Pixels" DMCA Action

According to this article, Columbia Pictures has hired and anti-piracy firm to go around demanding takedowns of every video on the internet that includes the word "pixels" (thanks to reddit for bringing this to my attention). They're even taking down videos that students made for no profit for an assignment.

This is out of fucking control. What level of stupidity are we willing to tolerate? Our culture is our responsibility, and we need to stop letting these assholes destroy it. They are not allowed to stifle speech and creativity. Not because our government says so or not; because we say so. Because if we say so, our government will eventually reflect and protect that. This is OUR society. OUR culture. You can't just hijack a word out of our language. We need to seriously re-think our IP laws, but first we need those with power to know that we are not okay with this.

We need to send the IP owners of Pixels a big "fuck you".

So I say we protest by putting the word "pixels" in every sentence, picture, or context we can, while also not spending a single cent on the movie Pixels, or anything else associated with Columbia Pictures.

Here are some pixels images you can download and use for a profile picture (or whatever you want--I won't go after you).

I included the DMCA note in my images because according to the Library of Congress, false DMCA complaints are punishable under penalty of perjury, and I am sick of seeing the rich and powerful walk free when they break the law. If I put up a video on Youtube titled "pixels", then put in a DMCA complaint for the trailer for the movie "Pixels", and it got taken down, I could get put in jail. But it would never happen to someone in power at Columbia Pictures. It takes an act of congress to make someone with money or political power face criminal charges. Why is that okay? Their action against the word "pixels" should be considered unlawful, so I think they should be charged criminally for every single "pixels" takedown request submitted on their behalf. (Of course it would have to be led by an agency with the money to do it--yay freedom pixels)

Let me make this very clear: I believe Columbia's activity against the word "pixels" should be considered illegal activity punishable by perjury under the DMCA because their claim to ownership of the word "pixels" is false. No one person or entity has a right to claim IP ownership of a word that our culture came up with. Nobody has the right to claim sole ownership of any previously existing word or creation from any language or any culture that has ever existed. You do have the right to create new words and help us create new culture. You do not have the right to conquer existing culture unto yourself, thereby removing it from society and contributing to social degradation. I believe these rights are evidenced not by written law but by common sense, cultural sense, and the inherent responsibility to preserve culture, language, and freedom of speech. It's a basic human right. Pixels.

Make your own pixel images! Share them pixels! Don't forget to use the word "pixels" every chance you get. Just tack it on to the end of your sentences, like this pixels. "Pixels" can be the new period. A period is a pixel, anyways. How poetic.

We do this stuff for gay rights and other important issues in our culture. We should continue taking responsibility for our culture by protecting our language and artistic expression. I want to see what you guys create, and I don't want you to be afraid of any kind of stupid shit like this.

Some interesting ideas and thoughts in this reddit thread. If you have any other ideas on how to protest this or any useful links, please share in the comments pixels.

Game Review: Rise of the Triad (PC, 2013)

I'm not feeling it. Confused design goals. Identity crisis. Here are my thoughts and what I might have done differently if I could have been involved as a designer.

I get that Rise of the Triad is a game that doesn't want to take itself too seriously, but it really just seems like serious stuff undermined by gimmicky, way too non-serious elements. Giant floating coins and weird little alien platforms in the middle of a blood-splattered rocket scorched WW2-ish dungeon. The logo looks really serious, like this is going to be a gritty action experience, and so does the UI of the first menu--I'm really getting into a dark mood. But as soon as I click on a menu item, the sound of the click is a very cartoony "pop". The mood was just ruined, and now I'm not really sure what to feel. In that context it's not funny or non-serious--it's just out of place.

I also understand that it's trying to carry that philosophy from the wolfenstein age of video games into today. But instead of using the same philosophy that conceived the first ROTT (or at least made it great) to conceive a NEW ROTT, it seems like they just made the old ROTT prettier. I don't think they understood that since the medium has changed and the cultural context is different, it will have to be different from the original to provide the same experience and be appreciated by this generation.

Ex: Old ROTT, you collect pixellated cartoony coins floating in midair in an pixellated cartoony world of guns, henchmen, and crazy enviros. New ROTT, you collect perfectly rendered coins floating in midair in a perfectly rendered world of guns, henchmen, and crazy enviros. It's like, are we still playing Mario? Before, with the old graphics, the floating coins and coin-collecting didn't seriously conflict with anything. But now it does. Now it looks weird against a backdrop of realistic gore and henchmen. Ideas about what should have been done to carry this theme through: Just put the coins in nazi war chests on the sides of your paths, or scatter realistically-sized coins around the ground. Now you have your coin element, but it doesn't interfere with the tone and experience of the rest of the gameplay.

Now that's just a band-aid fix to use as an example. The real design problem is more over-arching. Because I don't think that band-aid fix I just suggested would necessarily serve this game if it's high concept were more fleshed out and went in a more contextually conscious direction. The game doesn't have a unified identity or gameplay experience. So let's make one as an example. I'm literally thinking of this as I write it.

What drove our decision to make the old ROTT the way it was? It was intended to be a Wolfenstein sequel, but was cancelled in the middle of development. So we took the pieces we had and tried to just make a fun shooter that didn't take itself to seriously, had fun, and just explored the space of what 3d video games can be.

What did people love about the old ROTT? Didn't take itself too seriously. Just about the action and mayhem. Crazy FPS obstacle course.

Since we didn't really design the original game from scratch to be the game it became, let's go with what the people like and make a game for the modern era that doesn't take itself too seriously, lets you have fun with the mayhem with gratuitous violence and action, and some crazy fps obstacles.

The problem is, that game I described has been created a million times since the first ROTT, and many probably got some inspiration from it. So the landscape is different. You can't just make another one. Serious Sam is the first game that comes to mind. Goofy, gratuitous action that's not trying to be any more than a video game. Duke Nukem, same thing. But what happened when they released the new Duke Nukem for the modern age, in the same style? It bombed. They didn't adjust for context. So the question is, what are we going to do differently to establish ROTT again as an inspiration for further video games of this style in this era? What are video games NOT doing? What are they afraid to do? What's really popular and why?

Here's what I would have gone with and built off of: over-the-top violence and action. GTA mayhem is so much of a thing, youtube is littered with "let's play" videos of it daily. Get some really good physics, particle physics, explosions, bullet and gun effects, etc, and record replays of every match so people can edit and post up videos. Make it so you can throw your tons of guns AT enemies when you're out of bullets, and use everything in the environment as a weapon, even punching through or taking chunks out of walls if you get enough power-ups or hit bonuses. Or, if you're going the infinite ammo route, make the player invincible, and make it all about creating as much destruction, death and chaos to the enemies and critical components within a certain time frame, like Crash Mode in the earlier Burnout racing games. Maybe if you shoot rockets in certan places, it can undermine a building's foundation, collapse the building, and kill everyone inside. Like Battlefield Bad Company. Take the best of all these games, and take it all to a new level. Beseige has also recently taken the world by storm for it's entertaining violence and ease of sharing replays. (I think it came out after the new ROTT, but it's an example about the success available to those kinds of games). Maybe if you use one of your sniper rifles, you can shoot a button on a panel or an explosive barrel from across the map that creates an awesome chain reaction. Just build your levels and environments in a way that caters to this gametype. Have some Agent Smith style situations where there are tons of guys in one place and a few grenades send them flying all over the place. Make heads explode like watermelons and arms fly off and impale other NPC's. Get nuts with it. I wanna fly through a replay of a level I cleared and find eyeballs splattered on the walls and badges stuck in the sides of crates like throwing stars. You could even do this with the player model, showing the aftermath of the fight on his body--a piece of shrapnel shoved in his eye, hair missing, his hand in a container on ice, brain or skull matter clinging to the barrel of his gun.

The best thing about it: NOBODY IS DOING THIS. It could've been all yours.

And debug the game. It doesn't matter how great the design is if the game doesn't function. I can't help you with that. All I can say is, the bar has been set, and you absolutely have to clear it if you want to make a great game. The screen flickers in the menu, it won't save any of my video or controller settings, and it's easy to get physically stuck in nooks of the environments.

But the most important thing was the high concept design. There's little to no tension in this game, and where it does exist, it seems out of place. I have infinite ammo, I run super fast, and there's all this wacky stuff, but I still have a pretty standard health situation to mind, but I'm not supposed to take cover? It just seems confused. It's not giving me a clear reason to continue playing.

The community involved in this game is great, but I think they could've done a lot better.

I hope this review was enlightening and inspiring to you. I am available for design consulting.

Why It's So Much Better When Kirk Is Not Here

I really don't like the fact that this is the thesis statement to this situation right now. I would rather Kirk get better or me get better (or both) than for Kirk to just disappear. Below I chose to work out my annoyance, in the moment, with words. Kirk is the husband of my mother and the father to one of my brothers.
-----

Why it's so much better when Kirk is not here.

Noise Distraction
The TV is not on all the time. In fact, it's rarely on.
All of kirk's loud beeps and email alert sounds and mobile games noises are gone.
Nobody is constantly walking in and out of the front door, totally distracting and fucking up the energy. I started writing this noise section when he walked out the door, and he just walked back in.
No noise from the ice machine in the fridge.
No beeps from the fridge.
Nobody downstairs constantly talking to the goddamn cats.
He just walked out the door again. All of the above happened since he walked in.
Nobody on long conference calls on speakerphone with no regard for the rest of the house (won't keep the conversation inside his downstairs office).
Nobody bringing their work into the living room, where the whole house can hear it.
Nobody drunk grumbling under their voice about how stupid everyone in the house is.


No tension
Nobody whose natural state is "asshole".


No Bad energy
No addicts --a beep on his goddamn phone just now-- in the house. Alcohol, cigarettes, television, distractions.


Nobody who's going to tell you you're wrong, even though they've already tried a million times. And some of those issues, you actually agree with, but they still wanna shove their opinion about it down your throat anyways. No escape. And it's about the same 6 topics every time.


I can't get any work done in this house because of Kirk. He just came back from a three day work trip, and it was the most productive, peaceful time my mother, my brother, and I have had while I've been living here. I had no idea just how much this one boorish alpha male douchebag was destroying my productivity and the progress I'm trying to make in my life. It's no wonder I never feel like I'm getting anything done. My desk and bed are in a large landing area upstairs where I can hear everything going on downstairs unless it's in the downstairs bedroom. And when I say everything, I mean whispers, too.
--he just walked in again--

Honestly, what the fuck?

Why do people live their lives this way?
--beep, crack-crack-crack (fridge and ice)--

--door, he just walked out again--

Every night I am tempted to just go downstairs and lock the door behind him. But even then, if I wasn't distracted by the pressure and guilt, I'm sure there would be plenty of loud noise on the other side of that door, phones ringing, and fights to be hashed.

(3 min of no typing, no distractions, just thinking)

The same situation happened to me when I was living with my father in New Braunfels. The sort of "last straw" where I felt like it was absolutely essential that I get my own place asap, by any means, was the fact that my environment there was so distracting that I couldn't get anything done. My father has a similar ailment, but I think the reasons for my distraction were different. He was distracting, but not nearly as often as Kirk. The quarters were smaller and I was sharing a bedroom/office with my father AND high school brother (from another mother). I could've easily judged that book by it's cover, but I didn't.

Which brings me to my point. Somehow I feel like both situations have been my responsibility. --beep from a phone, how poetic-- Most of the time the godforsaken devices beep when he's not even in the house! I don't even want to know when he's in the house or not! I don't want to keep track of that! But I feel like I have no choice.

Anyways, my responsibility. It's my reality, I'm the one getting distracted, I'm the one with the ambition in this house. I've never been great at tuning things out, but there's gotta be a way to focus in spite of these distractions. I know within me that I have the ability to pursue my dreams no matter what is going on around me. Because everything I need is in me. Honestly, how could I let a few sounds throw me off so much? It seems like they shouldn't have that much power.

Sure, I've been developing my second chakra and it's making me very empathetic, but I should be able to control that, too. I believe I can. I've got to be able to --BLEEP (another device)-- not let someone else's prison imprison me. It honestly doesn't seem like it would be that hard when I think about it. It's kinda ridiculous. I mean how would I ever work in a group or office with other people if I'm so easily distracted. I think I'm more distracted by egotistically clueless people because I'm so opposite of that, and I have such hatred for that level of dishonesty. I just wanna destroy that ego so bad! It's like I pimple, I just wanna pop it. But you can't go around jamming your fingers into self-conscious people's faces screaming, "Jailbreak!"

So I forgive myself for being so fixated on some egos and distracted perhaps energetically by someone's personal prison. I love me for being so about truth and honesty that dishonest egos stick out like a faded pink Mitsubishi.

--just walked back in, fridge, crack, and lets bang the fuck out of everything while we make a snack for ourselves--

(Wrote some stuff on facebook celebrating my acceptance into an art show (https://www.facebook.com/events/1435820823392739/))

--Kirk has walked in and out 3 times, is now inside, now garage door is closing, can't take off his flipflops at the door so now I have to hear his every footstep, whispers to cats, bangs shit around, I assume he's going to bed--

(more fb)

--beep-le-beep--

OK, finishing this up. I am in control of this. I am balanced--well, capable of balancing--against a storm of opposition so long as I pursue truth and life in full faith and love. I will endure. I will be alive. I will succeed no matter what.

And I will own a 1967 Ferrari 250 GTO someday.

My Favorite Quotes, 150401

Questions are more enlightening than statements.
- Me

Freedom from ideology is painful.
- Zizek

Every violent acting out is a symbol of something you cannot put into words. Something words cannot properly express.
- Zizek

Fantasy is not where I get what I desire, but where I imagine I am desired.
- Zizek 

Ideas without actions aren't ideas. They're regrets.

...you know what it is? No, it's not dark and light, it's that people get confused. Companies get confused. When they start getting bigger, they wanna replicate their initial success. And, a lot of em think, 'well, somehow there's some magic in the process of how that success was created'. So they start to try to institutionalize process across the company. And, before very long, people get very confused that the process is the content. ... And, in my career, I've found, that the best people are the ones that really understand the content, and they're a PAIN in the butt to manage. You know? But you put up with it because they're so great at the content. And that's what makes great products.
- Steve Jobs, 1995

None can outrun the pursuit of the truth.
- Me

I wish God was real so that I could hate him.
- Me

You have to stay out of your head.
- stay in the spirit?
- ? dont be fixated on any one part of you, lest you forget who you are as
    a whole? Lest you forget your whole self. Lest you form an ego around you.
    Is that what this life is? Asleep in one part of our reality, trapped by
    one big overarching foundational ego?

You cannot be attached to your destiny.
- Me

My patience is as stubborn as the Earth itself.
- Me

Sitting is for assholes
- me

"And how will this be accomplished? for I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve greatness and already I have stumbled in ignorance and fallen into pools of self-pity. The answer is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered with either the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated,usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.
In truth experience teaches thoroughly yet her course of instruction devours men's years so the value of her lessons diminishes with the time necessary to acquire her special wisdom. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and           impractical tomorrow.
Only principles endure..."
"Time teaches all things to he who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity."
- Og Mandino, from "The Greatest Secret in the World"

Art is to culture what science is to technology.
- me

Art is to culture what technology is to science.
- me

Seek to understand before you are understood.

Home is where the art is.
- me

Home is where I am.
- me

"Cell phones are the new cigarettes"
- from a linkedin article

You can get past something, or you can get behind it.
- arturo?

"Truth is best served with a chaser of humor."
- Jaquai and I at DFW Art Awards 2014

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." Mark Twain

How should one feel love if they don't feel wanted? What is love without desire? What is friendship without desire?
- me

Why I don't watch the news? Because no news is good news.
- reddit is better
- me

What is anything good for if not for doing good?
- from: "What is money good for if not for doing good?", whose source I don't remember
- me
Sometimes truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve to be rewarded for their faith.
- Batman, in The Dark Knight
- dunno if I agree w this

Peace is an inside job.

You don't always get what you wish for, you get what you work for.
If you're dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough.

"If you're not angry, you're either a stone, or you're too sick to be angry. You should be angry. Now mind you, there's a difference, you must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host, it doesn't do anything of the object of it's discussion. Anger, yes, you write it, you paint it, you dance it, you march it, you vote it, you do everything about it. You talk it. You never stop talking it."
- Maya Angelou

"There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman."
- Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle), quoting an old Persian saying

"There is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace."
- Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle

GUMC is not a hospital, it's a hideout. And it's turning into a morgue. A fire has started and the building is burning. I'm not a doctor, I'm a fireman--a paramedic, an emergency specialist. God called 911 and here I am. I am not the only one. I have wanted to leave; my job is not easy, but I have a responsibility. People are suffering. They may die if I do nothing. I have an axe and a fire hose. Two violent weapons used for good. Sometimes I can barely breathe in that building. I have to water the church, and cut off dry branches that do not bear fruit. But in doing so, the edges of seeds will crack, come completely undone, and everything will change. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it will all look like complete destruction.
- Me, w below quote hijacked

"For a seed to achieve it's greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, it's insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."
- Cynthia Occelli

"The only hindrance to healing is your idea that there are hindrances to healing."
- Christian speaker; Curry Blake?

"Sometimes you can do something and that's a gift, but when you can teach other people to do it, then it's no longer a gift, it's truth."
- Curry Blake
- sounds like cult thinking

"Since when was insecurity a virtue?"
- chris vallaton?

"I've been gettin in a lotta truth lately."
- me

“My center is giving way, my right is retreating. Situation excellent. I am attacking.”
- French lieutenant general Ferdinand Foch at the First Battle of the Marne during World War I

"The optimist fell ten stories.
At each window bar
he shouted to his friends:
'All right so far.'"

It's better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.

It takes more courage to fight than it does to die.
- Gen S Patton?

It's okay, I'm an artist.
- Me

"We're all puppets. I'm just the one that can see the strings."
- Dr. Manhattan

If you don't look facts in the face, they'll only stab you in the back.
- Winston Churchill (purportedly)

The absence of color is not the color of absence.
- Me

keepin in classy spring valley. from my window im watching two bitches brawl on the front lawn of a middle school. its nice to know that the chick your fighting with just fucked your dad and your boyfriend and you have two kids and got locked up on tweak charges. way to go winners. could you pick a better place to try and stab each other and make it everyone's business? seriously what the fuck is wrong with people.
 i swear i'm not even in the hood. California just sucks dick. no one has any class anymore, aside from some of you lovely people.
-RB

Why are those afraid of death so in love with death culture?

"Nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future."

Easy as playing Jenga with Michael J Fox. - Christopher Walkenthrough

No good deed goes unpunished.
- African proverb

Freedom is only known by those who don't have it.
- Jacques Cousteau?
- related: "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got" -Sheryl Crow

Proverbs 25:11-12
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

Proverbs 25:14
Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

"That was about as funny as a kid with MS trying to open a door"
- Christopher Walkenthrough

"A woman behind the wheel is like a chipmunk filing your taxes. It's inadequate." -Christopher Walkenthrough
- I'm not sexist, it's just funny

"It's the truth. Strong? Don't take it personally. Just take it seriously." -Gordon Ramsey

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”
- General George S. Patton

Live so that when people get to know you, they will want to get to know Christ.
- or, so that they'll get to know that truth is not scary

They have us surrounded? Those poor bastards!
- overly masculine man (meme)

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Do you have a soul or are you just waiting for a man to come and give your life a purpose?
- me

When you're getting a lot of flack, you know you're right over the target.
- air force pilot

Be a voice, not an echo.
-Me, being an echo (not my quote)

Leadership is not about being appreciated. It is about responsibility. It doesn't matter that the burden is heavy. It matters that you carry it.
- Splinter from Ninja Turtles

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. - science
Instead, it is only evidence of the absence of evidence. - me

What's bred in the bone cannot be undone in the flesh.

Some of it is good. Other parts of it make you think, "If I ever meet this guy, I'm gonna slap him around like a whore on my birthday."

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

Look up and get lost.
- me

"Man cannot give wild animals freedom, man can only take it away." -Jacques Cousteau

Religion is for people who want to stay out of hell. Spirituality is for those who've been through it.

If you can't make yourself happy, then screw you--make someone else happy. -me
- related: "I know you don't care what other people think about you, but maybe you should stop caring what you think about you."
-Arturo

I'd rather be failing at a job I love than succeeding at a job I hate.

Server quotes:
Whatever doesn't kill me... better start running.
If at first you don't succeed, die and die again.
Make like a tree and die.

Never waste your time trying to explain who you are to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.

If someone will discuss others with you, they will certainly discuss you with others.

Let your light shine—whether you’re a candle in a corner or a lighthouse on a hill.

God has no religion

“Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable.” 
- Oscar Wilde

"Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure."
- George Carlin

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. 
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. 
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. 
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. 
My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.
- Unknown Monk (1100AD)

"Creativity is intelligence having fun" - Einstein

"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body." - George Carlin

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. 
- Einstein

No amount of darkness can hide a spark of light.
- only denial

To get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done.
- fallacial, tho, and against perseverance success theories

Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. 
- Oscar Wilde

"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
-  Winston Churchill

I've learned that people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou

He who fights for nothing will fall for anything.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Smart people seem like crazy people to dumb people.

Some say the glass is half full, some say the glass is half empty. I say that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.

If evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.

You can lead a human to knowledge, but you can't make it think.
- perhaps wit art?

You should not be ruining yourself in the flesh while others are suffering in the spirit.

Why my faith in Christ far surpasses my faith in science: I place more importance on my own experiences, observations, and thoughts than on what other people tell me. I do not trust the words of others above my own observations and thoughts. I do not PLACE the words of others above my own observations and thoughts.
- me

Truth is truth, even if no one believes it. A lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it.

When will you stop trusting the judgement of others above your own?
or
When will you stop trusting others' judgment above your own?

Real proof is a single word: Behold!

Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.

If you are not willing to learn,
No one can help you.
If you are determined to learn,
No one can stop you.

There are people so poor, the only thing they have is money.

150109: "Oh I'm sorry, I was about to start taking my pants off in the middle of the living room."
- me

"Secrecy serves those who are already in power."

"I work for ideas and I learn from people." -Aaron Swartz

Allison: Why are you being nice to me?
Clair: Because you're letting me.
- The Breakfast Club

"You deserve to be compensated for what you contribute to the community. Whatever comes naturally for you is often not the case for others. You can be an asshole or you can be an inspiration--your choice."
- me

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." -Bob Marley

"God is big enough to care for the smallest needs."

"The only people mad at you for speaking the truth are those who are living a lie. Keep speaking it."
-Tony Gaskins Jr

"that shit is so esey i culd gets all thoes badgers in liek a minits. just using my ass. blind foldid. upsied downs. evin if i was on fiers. and attacked by bears and rapters. whiel i was sl33ping. undar watar. in spaes. lol" -The Chief, from Arby n the Chief

"Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity."

"Ninja parade slips through town unnoticed" -The Onion

"There is a difference between truth and fiction. Fiction has to make sense." -old guy from The International; also Oscar Wilde

"Taste bugs are for eating."
-little bro

"I have come here to reveal:
THE TRUTH!
They say that truth,
and honesty,
will be rewarded with trust and forgiveness.
I'm here to lay my cards on the table.
To trim the branches of deception from the tree of life. 
To shave away the unkempt sideburns,
from the face,
of truth."
-Spongebob Squarepants 

"2 lost in tragic marriage" -The Onion 

"Don't Be Blah" -The Pork Store

"I think therefore... er... I forgot." -Spongebob Squarepants

"You can't hide what's inside." -robot on Spongebob Squarepants

"You are the sexiest, dorkiest man I've ever met."
- a lady talking to me

"I'm looking at my reflection, but my reflection's not looking at me."
- Arturo

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."
- Dale Carnegie 

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."
-Margaret Thatcher 

"Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals."
-Oscar Wilde 

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off."
-Gloria Steinem

"Learning is finding out what you already know"
-Richard Bach

"If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear."
-From "The Quintessential Man"

"A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within."
-Morihei Ueshiba

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
-Sun Tzu

"Wisdom begins in wonder."
-Socrates

"I know you don't care what OTHER people think, but you should stop caring what YOU think, too."
-Arturo

He said, "Don't take my word for anything. Truth is within yourself, and if you don't listen to those instincts, someone can always be one step ahead of you."
To which she replied, "Already one step ahead of ya, ;)". 



It is the responsibility of every citizen to question authority.
- Benjamin Franklin


The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves.
- George Washington


Freedom is only known by those who don't have it.


A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
- Gerald Ford

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”
-- General George S. Patton

No man escapes when freedom fails,
the best men rot in filthy jails.
And those who cried,"appease appease"
are hung by those they tried to please.

Dissention is the greatest form of patriotism.
- Thomas Jefferson

If you won't use the pen today, you won't use the gun tomorrow.

Rich man's war, poor man's blood.

We tolerate the speech we hate because someday our speech might be hated.

"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
-  Winston Churchill

Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident that they are acting on their own free will.

No free country starts a war. A nation that is free to choose will always choose peace.

1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual

1984 is not an instruction manual

If you support this war, send your own children.

How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?
-Howard Zann

The real terrorists are in the white house, congress, and wall street!

If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
- Malcom X

Truth is truth, even if no one believes it. A lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it.

Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense.
- George Orwell

Diapers and Politicians should be changed often. Both for the same reason.

Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man should be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.
- Thomas Jefferson

The American public will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
- Alexis de Tocqueville

Once a marine, always a marine. Eat the apple, fuck the core.
- guy from that video

"You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
- Morpheus in 'The Matrix'


More quotes from myself:
-----------------------------------------------
I am the reset button to your paradigm.

Give me a box to think outside of.

If you're playing the game, you have something to prove. 

As soon as you have something to prove, you're already wrong.

As soon as you think you know anything, you're wrong.

Every challenge is only a challenge of the self.

You are what you think.

You're out of control because you're trying to gain control.

Your ability to commit is directly proportional to your lack of attachment.

Fall

Real control isn't about making things happen, it's about letting things happen.

Real truth does not require proof. 

I like your shirt; it sucks.

Self-consciousness is self-awareness without instinct.

Prayer in C - The Internalization of God

This song was stuck in my head recently, I figured out why, and I think the answer is noteworthy. This song describes exactly where I am--in the middle of internalizing God. I think it's popular right now because that's exactly where society is. Take a look.


Here is the music video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiore9Z5iUg


Here are the lyrics.

LILLY WOOD & THE PRICK LYRICS
"Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Remix)"
(with Robin Schulz)

Yah, you never said a word
You didn't send me no letter
Don't think I could forgive you

See our world is slowly dying
I'm not wasting no more time
Don't think I could believe you

Yah, you never said a word
You didn't send me no letter
Don't think I could forgive you

See our world is slowly dying
I'm not wasting no more time
Don't think I could believe you

Yah, our hands will get more wrinkled
And our hair will be grey
Don't think I could forgive you

And see the children are starving
And their houses were destroyed
Don't think they could forgive you

Hey, when seas will cover lands
And when men will be no more
Don't think you can forgive you

Yah when there'll just be silence
And when life will be over
Don't think you will forgive you

Yah, you never said a word
You didn't send me no letter
Don't think I could forgive you

See our world is slowly dying
I'm not wasting no more time
Don't think I could believe you

Yah, you never said a word
You didn't send me no letter
Don't think I could forgive you

See our world is slowly dying
I'm not wasting no more time
Don't think I could believe you

Yah, our hands will get more wrinkled
And our hair will be grey
Don't think I could forgive you

And see the children are starving
And their houses were destroyed
Don't think they could forgive you

Hey, when seas will cover lands
And when men will be no more
Don't think you can forgive you

Yah when there'll just be silence
And when life will be over
Don't think you will forgive you

From:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lillywoodtheprick/prayerincrobinschulzremix.html


The fact that it's so unclear who is speaking to who in this song is part of what makes this song so perfect. Is it humans talking to humanity? Society talking to society? Humanity talking to God? God talking to humanity? It's all of the above. And that's why it's really about internalizing God.

I am in a place where I can hardly tell the difference between myself and God anymore. My relationship with God is definitely ending, but at the same time, it is maturing to its greatest deepest intimacy.

It's a confusing place. Why does God allow these bad things to happen? Does he even exist? If he does exist, what's difference does it really make if he just sits there and watches people get screwed? Is it really all just us? Do we have that power normally attributed to God? How do we believe that? Is it by taking responsibility?

Recently I've been reminded of how repetition of can be extremely valuable. When reading, listening, or speaking, like in a mantra, or a song, or poetry, repetition can reveal something about the subject that wasn't apparent before. The words can change meaning, and be very enlightening. In this song there is a subtle but gradual change of words among the repetition that gently brings us from one place in this struggle to another.

Consider the last line of each stanza:

Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think I could believe you
Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think I could believe you
Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think they could forgive you
Don't think you can forgive you
Don't think you will forgive you
Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think I could believe you
Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think I could believe you
Don't think I could forgive you
Don't think they could forgive you
Don't think you can forgive you
Don't think you will forgive you

It evolves in two cycles from "Don't think I could forgive you", to "Don't think you can forgive you", to "Don't think you will forgive you".

It's saying, I want to live in love, but who do we blame for this? Who do we forgive for this? I want to know who is responsible so that I can forgive them, grieve, and get past it. Is it you? Or you? Is it God? But whoever it is, I don't think I can forgive them. I don't think anyone can forgive them. I don't think they can forgive themselves. But we have a responsibility to forgive. And what if its God we have to forgive? The concept of forgiving God? That's a role reversal liken to inheriting the mind of God. And if it's God talking to us, have we failed on our responsibilities he has left to us? And if so, then that means he gave us the power to fix it--a God-level capability. The more you grow with God, the more authority and responsibility he gives you, and the more he imbues you with the mind of God--a mind of truth and love. At some point God becomes so integrated into you that you never have to look outside yourself to find him. And at that point, is there really a difference between you and God? Especially if you are in earnest? So have we put this responsibility on ourselves, believing in some way that we could save those children, but we didn't? It makes God kind of redundant. We would not have put that responsibility on anyone or anything, human or God, if we didn't believe success was somehow, some way possible. And how could we believe that if it wasn't in us to do it in the first place? I don't know how we ever got separated from God (actually, I have a theory), but this song is making an effort to bring us back together. To answer if it's us, society, or God... it's all of the above, all at once.

This song is asking society to figure out how to believe in forgiveness without believing in an external God separate from who we really are. It's asking us to figure out how to forgive ourselves so that we can become true sources of love, and maybe have real peace in the world. Because I think forgiveness is the first big step toward becoming our own Gods, and then we can create the world we really want. But before we can fully forgive, we have to fully take responsibility for everything.

I'm not wasting no more time, means I'm not going to wait around for God to do it for me. I'm going to do it myself, and God can either help me, lead me, or get out of my way. The speaker is completely taking responsibility for the situation, and abandoning any idea that she is waiting around for an external God's help. In abandoning God, she's also abandoning the idea of an external God; abandoning her belief and faith in it. She's abandoning her old self that thought the real God power was outside of her. Because it was God who abandoned her needs and those children's needs. And in taking that responsibility, she's reclaiming the power and authority of God--her true creative power--within herself, and actually coming BACK to the real God and the real truth in a very real way.

All of that is converging together in a way that I can barely explain. But the song itself nails it. The song itself is that convergence. Good music is truly magical. A good piece of artwork is a channel that collects energy unto it, takes you through a transformative process, and releases the energy back to you. Art is communication in context. And this cultural context is perfect for this song.

All I can conclude for sure in this is that responsibility and forgiveness is a very strong common thread, and it seems like the end of this convergence is a "conversion" to a sort of athiestic spirituality, where we recognize and unify with the God within us in a more real, quantifiable way than we ever have.

This is a sign that our society is starting to internalize God. It's a sign that it wants to--we are thirsty for a spiritual revolution. Songs like this are opening the door allowing us do that.



See Also:
How to get rid of a song stuck in your head

How To Get Rid Of A Song Stuck In Your Head (the right way)

TL;DR: First read the lyrics. Then sit in silence, let the song run through your head freely, and let your brain figure out whatever it's trying to figure out.

**This is a method to use when the Zeigarnik effect doesnt work, that doesn't require you to just drown it out with something else or destroy memories, both of which can be a very unhealthy habits to develop. This method cuts to the real core of the issue.**

Don't you love it when you get a great song stuck in your head? It just kinda keeps going. And at first you're like, "Ok, this is cool. No problem." But a part of you is afraid. You know what's going to happen. You're afraid it won't go away. That the sweet serenade will turn into a lyrical browbeating that makes you want to throw yourself into the Potomac, and it'll end up being a song you hate the life out of. But you just accept it for now, you try to listen to some other stuff and forget about it. "It'll go away," you tell yourself.

Well, wouldn't it be nice to know that it's gone for real, and that you WON'T find yourself playing hot potato hand grenade in a cold sweat under your uncle's staircase in a week? Wouldn't it be nice to know that no song will EVER plague you like that again? Music is a really great way to deal with our demons and grow as individuals. And songs like this that get stuck in your head are WHERE IT IS AT. Here's what I think is going on and what to do.

Why The Song is Stuck in Your Head:

What I have found is that when a song is stuck in your head it means there's something your brain is trying to figure out, and that song has something to do with it. It doesn't matter if you like the song or not. There's something in you that's trying to speak, and it's found a voice through that song because you won't listen otherwise. There's something in you that needs your attention.


The solution: Listen.

As in most cases, taking "control" really means taking responsibility, letting go of your egos, and then being open to whatever you may be about to learn from within.

First, go read the lyrics, following along with the song as it plays. Just google the song name and "lyrics", and then find the song on youtube. (if you haven't already compulsively bought fifteen thousands copies of it) I prefer to not watch the music video, but that's up to you.

Then give yourself some time to just sit in silence with your thoughts and no external stimulation. This is basically a mini-meditation. Just let the song run through your head freely as it will and just let your thoughts do what they will do. In no time, you will have an "ah-hah" or a "holy crap" moment. You might even get a paradigm shift. I can't tell  you what your revelation will be, but you will definitely know it when you see it.

Of course the ultimate proof is if the song starts playing in your head a minute later. If you found the right thing, it definitely will not.

Some caviats: sometimes it's not just a thought, but a "do". It might bug you until you apologize to your friend, or return the book you stole. It might be that you have to grieve, so you need to go grieve before the song leaves your mind. Whatever it is, you'll know what needs to be done from this five minute exercise.

The last step is to give some sort of thanks. Just thank yourself, whoever, or whatever you feel is partly responsible for your revelation. Appreciate it. Feel that appreciation. Reflect. Done.

No method is completely foolproof--I have been running from the Mattress Giant song for the last 15+ years and it still haunts me to this day. I just can't sit with the song long enough to figure it out--it's so damn unnerving. But for every other song that has ever been stuck in my head, this method has worked. We all have our demons, and music is a great  way to deal with them. I could write endlessly about the perplexing magicality of music. Good luck!
(cue reading rainbow)

Honne, My Purpose, This Blog, Inspirations, Future Posts 150327

In Japan, they have two concepts known as honne and tatemae. Honne is the real truth, while tatemae is the facade. Tatemae is how the truth appears on the surface, the facade, the "official story", or what we choose to tell ourselves. Corruption lives in the gap between the honne and tatemae. Government, culture, soul, mind, body... When the gap grows two wide, corrections happen. Conflict, lawsuits, wars, revolutions, disasters, depression, pain, destruction. My job is to reduce that gap down to a crack, peacefully as possible.

But as we have now seen with religion, corporate and government leadership, and even science, the illusion of purity can not only hide corruption, but encourage it.

So while I do think technical clarity is an important part of speaking honestly, I also think unceremoniousness is just as important, especially in pursuit of the truth. It keeps the ego in check and we should celebrate the raw honesty of our feelings. Often times the funniest comedians are funny just because they tell the truth. The beautiful thing about unceremonious truth is that it's untaintable because it was never serious enough to taint in the first place. So sometimes I will be ceremonious and loving, and other times I will make up words, curse, tell stupid tasteless jokes, or hate everything. I love all of me and I know what I live for. I don't care if I never get a job again for it; this is the life we are meant to live. If you want freedom, live in freedom.

Therefore, I will speak as I speak. I will explore all levels of honesty and truth here with you. I will not hide my demons because I want you to see me deal with them. I will not hide my failures because I want you to see me turn them into successes. I will show you everything I can. I guess that's what a blog is supposed to be.

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant"
- quote from someone; Lewis Grandise? Idk, I stole it from the Freakonomics documentary.

It's my destiny to be a voice in the wilderness. I've always felt like there's so much about our society that's so damn wrong. And I feel like everyone else in my generation feels it, too. I'm seeing a lot of artwork about it. But it seems like nobody really knows how to put it all into words. I think that's my job. I want to write and speak the kind of words that can change the world, and solidify a new epoch in the history of humanity. The world is thirsty for a revolution of the spirit. A revolution of truth. I want to be a part of quenching that thirst.

But there's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know. My job is to expose it within you and offer resolution. Only unified people can unify the world.

My purpose is to solve really fucking difficult existential puzzles. To discover and expose the truth. To figure out the universe. Observation and thinking are the only things I've never stopped doing. It is the most consistent part me. Ever since high school, I've always known my destiny was this, and it still is. I may have too much to share through art or video games, and if I die tomorrow, I have to know that at least some of it is out there for others to find. It's time to start sharing my discoveries, as well as my failures, as new discoveries come up and I realize old conclusions were wrong. I want this struggle to be visible. I want someone to look at all this, and know they're not stupid. Because I have discovered incredible things that I never would have if I was not open to being wrong, or comfortable with uncertainty, or if I had ever stopped pursuing the truth.

Because the greatest thing any philosopher has ever taught me was that there is validity to my thoughts.

Posts like this may come fairly often. I think a person should be constantly re-evaluating their purpose and path in life. Coming to the same conclusion means you're on the right track, but this time you understand it even more.

I will be diving head-first into into scary and impossible subjects nobody wants to talk about, from the nature of existence to abortion. There may be articles you can't read because your current understanding of things is too far removed, or you just can't stand them. Maybe you have a better solution to a problem. I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments.


Future articles:

- How to find your destiny
- The difference between destiny and purpose
- A brief history of my discoveries; why I was not a christian, then became one, and I'm now kinda not again
- How to stimulate positive cultural progress
- Corporate culture in the United States
- The answer to the abortion debate
- The truth about knowledge
- The pursuit of truth or the pursuit of knowledge?
- The human condition, v1, v2, idk
- The truth about right and left brain thinking
- Yoga With Adriene
- Various design reports/reviews (mostly video games)
- The destruction of inductive, deductive, and logical reasoning
- Why a mirror reflects your image horizontally, but not vertically
- Brain Teasers by Sal
- Original Jokes by Sal
- My 4 Fundamental Meditations
- Good Luck Chuck Syndrome Solved (Hopefully)
- How to instantly get control of your sex drive/addiction
- or, How to stop masturbating right now
- How to stop hiccuping immediately using only your breath
- Is porn destroying sex? Is it destroying intimacy?
- or, Is porn why we all suck in bed? Is it why we suck at love?
- My creative design process
- or, How to come up with badass ideas inside any box
- My favorite quotes
- My favorite pickup lines
- My favorite everythings
- My random ideas list
- My video game ideas
- My list of 3d portfolio ideas
- How to identify real love (pursuit revised)
- What I think the future would really be like
- Maybe also some critical reviews of other futurism renditions
- Why the invention of teleportation would end our world
- My board games
- The Salvatorian Verbal Standard
- How to remove LinkedIn contacts if the piece of crap isn't working
- Why haters hate
- What I've learned about success
- The Truth About the Sexodus and Male Rights Activism
- Meta Totems and Fractal Philosophy
- How to fight
- Why I love debate, and hate arguing
- How to never get a sunburn
- How to never stink (without perfume or weird chemicals)
- My ultimate healing tea recipe
- Undervalued clear speaking tricks
- How to solve depression without drugs
- Why I don't believe in belief
- What I do believe in
- What I would do with financial freedom
- Don't listen to anyone (not even me)
- The solution to suicide
- My education philosophy
- Human Time Dilation (how to feel like a kid again, where a week feels like a year, but you're not bored)
- Are antiquated Intellectual Property beliefs starving our future?
- Where I think the information age is heading
- SalvatoreArt.com
- My crazy dances


My Inspirations:
Freakonomics (Dubner & Levitt)
Oscar Wilde
Sherlock
Hemingway
Banksy
The Joker, but also Batman
Christopher Nolan
Socrates
Nietzsche
Sartre
Kierkegaard
Kant
Descartes
Derrida
Zeno
Cyanide & Happiness
The Office
Ricky Gervais
JRR Tolkien
Fight Club
John Oliver
Stephen Colbert
Steve Jobs



I intend to speak frankly, clearly, and concisely. I also intend to litter this blog with original art. I'm not giving up this time.

A Rhapsody About the Pursuit of Truth

Wrote this last year in the middle of a bunch of stuff.


Don't know what I would do if it weren't for the life.
Lighting the way, one step at a time.
To the secret places, right before everyone's eyes.
You pass them every day,
and use them on your way, never knowing the very ground
on which your life is laid.
You see, but do you observe?
The secret passages are curious, tempting, addictive.
Exploring rabbit holes to infinity,
discovering creativity.
Can you find your way back
when all you see is black?
Do you know this space?
Is something on your face?
Your friends can't come to your quiet place.
Thinking "shortcuts in the underbelly", but the truth is in the feeling.
Just beneath the surface,
everything's inertial.
You see the light,
but nothing is right.
Next time you come, it'll be night.
Back on the surface you can hardly stand it.
This dude and that noose walking all over what was commanded.
You're not on the surface,
you're still swimming in subversion.
You'll never be the same,
you've seen from where it all came.
You'll carry it with you wherever you move.
The depth in your eyes is something too soon for the moos that presume they are made to be food.
You've exhumed the roots and brought them with you.
See, everything's fine as long as they continue to work for a dime, sell all their time,
and pretend that the momentary thrill of a shrill fake other life is the bottom line.
They'll see your tricks and thoughts
and be moved with emotion,
but when a change needs to be made,
it might as well be an explosion.
"It's about to collapse!",
but they clap at the calamity befalling your hat,
while the underbelly moves and shifts.
Things start to crumble,
the people stumble,
the humble fumble
and bumble their way.
Death, loss, might as well be moss.
They throw you on the pavement and tell you it's your fault,
"We told you not to go".
And it's all you can do not to slit their fucking throats.
If it weren't for you they would have never been warned,
and they have no idea what you've been doing to keep their families warm.
You've been doing a job no one wanted to do,
facing things alone you should've never gone through.
A part of you loved it, loved every minute,
but the world's on your shoulders when you're down in the pit.
You're in the most dangerous spot,
but it's nothing compared to being called what you're not.

You are right in the middle of everything, in a place nobody will ever be able to find. Not for those who see, but for those who observe. Not just for those who observe, but for those who explore. And not just those who explore, but those who discover.

Will Quoting Scripture Make Christianity Irrelevant? Not Exactly

In response to this article. I somewhat support it, I just disagree with the headline. I think the pastor has his head on straight.

I don't think Christianity will be irrelevant if it continues quoting the bible. I think it will be irrelevant if christians continue quoting it to nonbelievers, or quoting only the parts that contribute to the point they're trying to make instead of just trying to understand the whole and contribute to a larger effort to understand the truth. So often do they forget that Moses and others argued with God and actually convinced God to change the plan. Or how about the entire new testament? Or maybe they haven't even finished the old testament. As long as it's about ego instead of truth, it's not doing any good. Nobody likes it. Even christians don't want any part of it. Even bigoted argumentative christians--the ones who do this--don't like it. Nobody knows everything there is to know about anything. Until Christianity in culture becomes a symbol of that concept, it's screwed in America.

Closed minded arguments are significantly different from open-minded debates. A skill this country is lacking, that the church could be leading in by example. Instead much of the church tends to empower hate, fakeness, and blind belief. But we can't say anything about it because they do it "in the name of love". If it's not in the name of truth, it's not truly in love.

You can't browbeat people with scripture. Jesus loved everyone. He only spoke about scripture with the rabbis. And when he did he mostly only asked questions. Idk why this is so hard to understand. You can talk about the bible getting jacked with over the centuries all you want, but that stuff is still there.