16) Olympic Athletes

    Ah, the ever exciting and captivating Olympic Games. I sat and watched a multitude of the events on my nights following work and noticed an interesting and to me obvious and aggravating fact. A ton of United States citizens are competing for other countries! Does anyone find this in the very least a little bit insulting? I know I am harsh and at times coarse and downright disagreeably nasty but how can I be okay with someone who wants to live here and take advantage of the countless benefits offered by an American citizenship and yet decides they would rather represent another country with "pride" in a worldwide competition? Absurd!!! I am completely understanding of carrying pride in your national heritage but if it is so wondrous where you hail from that you feel the need to turn your back on the country you chose to reside in and call yourself a part of then why not move to that other place and stay there? I do not see myself saying, "I love living here in the US; making money here, raising a family here, traveling around here, adding to the deficit here, producing monumental piles of trash here, utilizing medical and dental care here, paying taxes here, voting here and being buried here but for 17 days I plan on playing for Mexico in competitive events that represent part of the very nature and essence of what it has meant to be an American citizen. Oh well, perhaps I do. I'm outta here and moving back to that dump!"

15) Your Own Worst Enemy

     Have you ever heard or had voiced towards you the idiom, "You are your own worst enemy?" At a much younger age I scoffed and disregarded such presumed nonsense yet being older I now ascertain that perhaps there is in actuality something there.

     Every individual truly is themselves the only enemy they shall ever experience throughout life. If someone else is what you would consider an enemy then it is simply you who are allowing them to become such. Either physically, mentally, emotionally or otherwise, you alone are allowing them to enact their negative will and influence upon you. They do not pierce and defeat you. You defeat yourself by allowing them in.

     It is easy to become overpowered and unknowingly act or react in these situations. How many times have you said, "Why did I say that?" or, "Why did I do that?" or, "I knew better than that!" These acknowledgements are all too common and are perfect examples of battling oneself.

     These occurrences are some of the most painful to address also. It is incredibly difficult to admit self-erroneous ways and to understand that you could have and should have come to a more appropriate conclusion. Two ways to increase your percentage of success are;

1) Slow down and think before you speak or act. Your brain is quick. Make sure you are keeping up and doing so logically.

2) Control your emotions. Most of them shall only work against any worthwhile deductions. Whether it be anger, happiness, fear, sorrow, love, hate, jealousy or any of the others, make sure you remain level when formulating your conclusions. Do so especially while speaking. Words spoken are never able to be rescinded.

14) Crazy Things Oregonians Do

1) Compost their entire front yard
2) Pay double for anything that includes the words "eco" or "organic"
3) Planking
4) Put a bird on something and call it art
5) Tattoo their states name on themselves
6) Two words, gluten free
7) Leave moss growing on their roof because it is a living thing
8) Support Obama
9) Big guys and toe shoes
10) Wear bike helmets into stores
11) Socks tucked into pant legs
12) VW bugs are in and way overpriced



    


Add your own in comments!!!!!!!

13) The Wall Of Will

     How easily are you able to mentally block out negative external interruption?

     All of it. All reasoning and understanding. All truth, the obvious and that less so. All emotion. How strong is your will? Your mind? Your mind is the most powerful and formidable force in the universe. It is capable of any single thing. The mind through willful determination can alter anything so that it appears as you desire or need.

     Some struggle with their great understanding and execution of this power. They fight it for the ease by which they can negate anything with just a thought. It is a power struggle and it need be always in check though it must remain active or you risk being completely overwhelmed by internal emotion and turmoil that can be your very existence. Perhaps a darkness is held at bay. 

     The universe is mental. Think the movie 'The Matrix' as an example. "What is real?" If your mind deems it so, it is so. No matter what anyone else says. If you desire a great day, make it so.

     Try this::::    When having a bad day or finding yourself dwelling within negative emotion consider yourself as having a dial upon your back. Turn this dial in the opposing direction. The desired direction. Turn the hate to love. The anger to joy. The sadness to smiles. Will it through your mind as working and it shall.

12) U.S. Debt

     The United States and it's debt somewhat perplexes me. Here are some things to ponder.

     If the U.S. dollar is low and it's people struggling, print more. That will lower the value? Who would know anyhow?

     Well then take a bunch back? Then theoretically the dollar would rise. Then there will not be enough to go around? Okay, anti-liberally speaking then maybe people will fight for the right to possess what they possess. Value their values. Consider not everyone equal but consider everyone equally able to obtain that which they desire due to hard work and perseverance.

     Regardless it is a primarily paper driven monetary system and lets think about that for a minute. Paper!!!!! Why not absolve the use of money and have everyone have what they want all around? A barter system. Too liberal?  Too basic and practical?

     I feel that if we think of the U.S. economy as a household budget it would work better. Lets cut what does not primarily matter and whittle down our debt. Yes there are disputes about what is pertinent and that which is not but why not vote on government expenditure. QUIT GROWING THE DEBT AND BORROWING!! These countries from which we borrow can set themselves up to nearly own America if things do not change.


     What do you think?

11) Lover's Blindness

     I see that you sit there and silently stare at her as she looks out with her fierce gaze across the Pacific. You cannot define it, it baffles you. There you are watching her body's graceful movements, acknowledging  how everything else contorts around and is dwarfed by it. She controls the very elements just as she does you. The sea breezes dance through her hair. The sun beams forth strong and highlights her picturesque features. The ocean's waves playfully scamper at her feet. You watch her lips as she takes each breath and you gladly return her smile as you make her feel more alive. Simple and yet precise are her mannerisms. Quiet and strong is her will and mind.

     What is it that can take you completely out of the comprised elements of your existence and leave you staggered?

     What is the definition of the power that can so easily supersede and completely negate the all powerful mind and will?

     There is an overpowering captivation and you cannot pull away. You are intoxicated and love it for it brightens and bestows upon you a sense of accomplishment. You have what you needed. You have what you need. You have what you always shall need.

     You crave it.

     You are becoming one with it.

     You feel a rising compulsion to repeatedly ask, "How are you?" or, "Are you okay?," or, "Can I help?" Instantly however you feel foolish and overbearing for ever voicing such nonsense. Relax and enjoy the positivity of the moment. She and you are certainly worth it. Desiring to be caring and nurturing remains far more pertinent than a few nonsensical and prying questions yet I plead you not to feed this dreaded and worrisome anxiety.

     Do you sense the foreboding? Are your veins woven with certain undesirable inadequacy fibers? Are you enough? Can you function without asking the aforementioned questions to her?

     Is it insecurity?

     You mayhaps try to otherwise explain but the knifing conclusion remains that you are afraid and it is only because of you that you run. Regardless, you ardently try and you would do anything in your power for her. You ask for nothing in return other than to be understood and appreciated as your true self. Not the one that people see or think they see.

    My friend,

               I find what you have stated to me here as completely within reason and a perfectly acceptable demand from this life. Oh but how quickly we tend to judge and do so inaccurately. You do it. I do it. It is unavoidable. At the very least shed the ignorance and understand and accept it as a part of our flawed humanity. Do not deny!

     Everyone exhibits their unique vibration, their own method and execution of existence and like hers, you say. You scream it to me.

     Well then, my suggestion is to smile at the very thought of her and way in which she is. Not at her flawless perfection but instead at her perfect flaws that make her perfection flawless. Love is blind but no more so than any number of things exhibited each and every day.


     "I passionately smile and love her not for her flawless perfection but for her perfect flaws that make her perfection flawless." - Jon-Michael Crochetiere July 12, 2012

10) Songs Of Life

      Driving down the highway a certain song comes on. Most tunes are drowned out and ignored but now rushing back comes a particular thought that I had until that very moment not been able or allowing recall. It is overwhelming. It is neither happy nor sad. It simply is and I thank the privilege to revel within it.

     Simply amazing is the attribution of songs to memories of past persons or events. It is nearly unbelievable how the lyrics and melodies can coalesce and ignite the mental library and so vividly re-create the past comings and goings on. The most striking conclusion thus gathered is that some of the past events seem only reawakened by that particular song and little or nothing else. Some recollections recur again and again from the same song and only that song. The same visions. The same sounds. Smells. Tastes. Every single time the song plays, a mental movie begins, a trance-like state ensues and little else is acknowledged. It is as though the two have become intertwined. Now synonymous. Now symbiotic. How is it that one can completely forget something only to have it return at the cue of certain sounds? What do you think?


  

9) The Empire of the United States of America

     I find exhaustion with the incessant tabloid and media exclamations such as, "This country is threatening to launch a missile at the United States," or, "This country is upset and wants nothing to do with the United States." Who isn't upset with America? Who isn't saying they are going to send a rocket our way?  Well I suppose Canada but then again I am not entirely certain that the Canadians have found a functional warhead on Ebay yet.

     In all seriousness though I tire of repeated American involvement in civil quarrels half a world away and people making money stating such blatantly obvious outbursts as, "North Korea is pissed off," or, "Iran is building a nuclear weapon." What can be properly discerned is that the truth is never stated by the left and that is that we are in a full blown war and have been perpetually since before we were even pronounced a nation.

     We are a warrior civilization. We always have been. Wake up!

     One of these days somebody is going to grow the stones, ignore all rationale, say the hell with it and push the flashing red launch button. The jocularity I find here is knowing that even then I doubt we would return the favor. Not at this time anyhow. We would just watch them rain down and wonder what went wrong at our last diplomatic conference.

A great book showcasing a piece of America's untold birth

8) Potential

    I understand the relativity of the term, the subjective definition being one's own and only that. Everyone varies in their ability to achieve and accel and progress into greatness. Each understanding and definition of greatness is unique to the particular individual doing the defining. But more importantly, when does one decide or have for them decided that now is the time to do "it"? To stride forward and upward to reside where you, by intelligence, determination and acceptance belong. And do so happily nonetheless.

     Do your parents or family decide for you as when you are young? Or do you struggle for a decade and then stand up and revolt against the inactivity and stagnation? Does it even matter? And where is your sanctity? Where is your blissful retreat? Is it inclusive of another? That perfect partner? An animal? A homestead? The dream occupation? Or is this all in your head? Is your willpower and mental assertation enough to conquer your failure to fulfill your destiny?

      Part of me is certain that the mind carries along with it the power to overcome all forces. To warp and alter any scenario to make sense. To be acceptable. To be loved. To hate. To get up and fight. Or to watch idly by.

     I believe firmly you will do when doing is needed and that you will mayhaps do or do not and that neither in actuality matter. I also believe the greatest time for action is now. Why wait? The value of the moment is monumental.

     Hypocritical? Perhaps. Yet both are realistic realities and cannot and should not be ignored as possible futuristic outcomes.
 

7) Lonesome George

     I am saddened by the loss of this creature. He exemplified for me an innocence and understanding nearly forgotten by man's increasingly blind progression. Stop and realize those minute details that when combined create this complicated and enormous universe around us. Tis a marvel how large we at times consider ourselves and yet how small we in actuality are. Man is certainly unique in their embodiment of that potential. To be completely bi-polar and unknowingly so. To nurture. To destroy. Humble. Arrogant.

  
     I read and watched so much about George throughout my entire life. He was beautifully simplistic. He only lived in the moment as was his design. He was the last known Pinta Island Giant Tortoise for at least 36 years. I have sat quietly and pondered this reality. What exactly would that be like? Not just living alone or being alone but understanding you are the only one left? You are the last. That to me is a remarkable notion to contemplate upon even if briefly. Thanks for the reflection Jorge. 6-24-2012

Wiki George

6) Laptop?

     What is the preoccupation with referring to a laptop computer as a laptop? I never put mine on my lap, it'll overheat or radiate my legs though I suppose if I have any tumors there it could save my life. I do however put many things upon my lap and yet they are not attributed as laptop anything. What about the pants on my lap? My dinner plate? The PS3 remote? My girlfriend? A blanket? A book? Spilled soda? A kayak? Cabbage? Crash Bandicoot?

     I'm referring to everything that touches my lap from now on as a laptop and a laptop computer as a mobile digital computation writing and useless media processing device.

     There conformity!!!

     Show off that black eye. Do it proud though, oh indignant you.

5) The Pit

     What is the correct choice?

     Many a time we cannot foresee the results of our actions and yet we step forward blindly hoping to step over and not into the pit before us. Throughout our lives the quintessential crossroads ever arise taking the shape and size correspondent to the severity or particular importance of the situation. Always a pit, always a choice. Nobody desires to tumble into and fall into the void before them and yet sometimes it appears unavoidable and other times it can even be the more appropriate decision. The repetition of arrival before it could therefore conclude that the pit offers some appeal. Why is that? What is the preoccupation with constantly tempting the fall? Which is more fruitful? Acknowledgement that you are easily seduced by the drugging lure of the outstretched arm of the void? Or that you are completely ignorant to any such thing and fall in completely unbeknownst?    

     To step around or to step in.

     There is a hard to uncover understanding that the foreseen pit can in actuality become a sanctifying net. Though still tantalizing and intoxicating the outstretched arm can be unveiled as nurturing and kind. It need not be the original ghastly lure but may unfold as wondrous and wispy, ethereal and graceful by just giving it an unbiased viewing

     Clarity is crucial.

     Perception is paramount.

     Decisions are never final though that of course depends upon the depth of the pit. The pit represents your crossroad or quandary and what at first may appear as where not to venture can with time and thought be the only logical conclusion. This still makes the pit a roller coaster. A gamble. But don’t those gambles sometimes reap the most profound fruits? I can with the utmost sincerity declare..........yes.

4) Johnny Depp and the Downfall of Intellectual Society

     Let us begin with my full acknowledgement of how inflammatory such an accusation is, especially of someone as fondly regarded as Depp. I use him as an example and not as a root cause. I definitively find the root cause and effect to lie within the ever increasing multitude of mentally feeble followers and unquestioning believers in this world. It is his representation that I am exhausted of; his phony externally presented personae. This stems from endless observation and understanding in myself being a huge fan of his talent. I though, unlike many, understand how it is that dollars enter his pocket and evaporate from yours.
        
    Johnny Depp is a gimmick. His very marketability is an acknowledged lie. He knows this. He preys upon, promotes and profits from it. He repeatedly takes characters that are intelligent, complex and full of complicated depth and beauty and transforms them into laughable buffoons. Instead of aiding the masses to intellectually rise up and interpret these characters, Depp contrarily retards them. Most of his representations rely upon shock factor; makeup, over the top and exaggerated acting, unconventional attire or blatant drunken and aloof behavior. Amusing? Yes. Promoting my loss of brain cells through lack of thought and stimulation? Yes again. Let us discuss a few of these characters; Barnabus Collins, Tanto, Captain Jack Sparrow and The Hatter.

    Each of these characters exudes a complexity with which he ignored and turned into laughter or sheer idiocy. Barnabus Collins was a serious, emotionally flawed and mentally complex character and not the comedic jester in which Depp portrays. He uses comedic relief to draw away from the reality that he has completely botched the identity of the original. Tanto was a foolish and laughable sidekick; unimportant and a far second to the exploits of the great Lone Ranger but somehow he is the focal point in the new film. Captain Jack Sparrow is a write in based upon Depp’s love of hard rocker Keith Richards and his son Jack’s tattoo upon his arm. He is a drunk mockery of a lifestyle that was ruthless, of the utmost serious nature and was also highly misunderstood and misinterpreted. Depp has further progressed this misunderstanding by making light of the truth, the history that was mainly involving the Caribbean within the 1500s until the early 1800s. The last of my examples is the Hatter. I am most personal with this one on account of my exhaustive study of Lewis Carroll and my deep appreciation of his characters and their representations. The Hatter was a serious, intelligent and yet maniacal character conjured from deep within the psyche of Mr. Carroll yet is essentially no more important than any other character and yet is the cover piece and focal point for Johnny Depp’s adaptation. He is upon only a few pages of either tale and yet is the main character in Depp’s movie.

    To be sure I recognize and fully appreciate any use to promote oneself and profit from such endeavors. I just want to present that it is unnecessary to dumb everything down to achieve an understanding. This is a fact involving and encompassing a far greater reach than Johnny Depp but he is a part of such. Make strides to get people to think. Allow them to be challenged. Leave them in wonderment at reasoning a solution to what you have presented. Most of all you must have faith that presenting a complicated subject will be accepted and adored and not misunderstood or ignored. That is how you better your audience and give them meaning and interpretable depth with which to savor and grow from.

3) To blog

     Oh, what it is to blog. I have been shoved in the back and subsequently tripped into a time machine which takes me to the past.  A past enveloped with a Neanderthal attribution to pseudo communication utilizing such seemingly benign terms as blog, text, tweet, Facebook status update and of course the author killer, the dreaded e-book. What a progression retarding path humanity has chosen to waddle down. I choose waddle down for on top of the skills lost in such introverted behavior, these "technological advances" are aiding in our becoming globally and alarmingly obese. We have gone from possessing incredibly small, manageable and personal bubbles to these grotesquely bloated global bubble baths infected with billions of sweaty bodies clogging up the warm end of the tub.
     What is the drive here, the preoccupation with such isolating behavior? The weak have now found their voice and it emanates directly from the liquid crystal displays at their fingertips. Where the strong speak or write expression, the contrary now tweet, blog or text their viewpoints. Hypocrisy abound is noted though as in most cases acknowledgement negates assimilation. Does acknowledgement however rise you above the rabble or stifle you far below it? Is it better to be cognizant of the evils and entertain their acquaintance or remain ignorant of them?

A GREAT WAY TO PUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2) Possession and Value

     What is yours exactly? Everything? Nothing? Can it also be mine? Ours? And is what you value truly valuable? Does it retain its value when not in consideration by yourself? Is that then true value? I marvel at the notion of possession and the value placed upon that which in essence should not or does not contain value. Why is there value on a cigarette or a television program? What is that value anyhow? Is it a dollar, an hour of my time or a banana? Who creates this value? Why should I even give their value of it any time whatsoever? I agree with the relative nature of the term 'valuable' though why in the world is gold valuable? Is it because it is rare? Hardly. Bubonic plague is rare and I'm not shelling out 1500 bucks for an ounce of that. Or is it valuable because someone has said it is valuable and thus created a drive, a greed towards gold’s possession. Value and possession are truly relative though I believe something is valuable not if I desire it but if someone else does. I want things that I like though that in no way makes them valuable. If someone else wants something it is valuable then I am able to obtain it and drive any price for it that I desire. Therein lies hypocrisy, I know. Someone else says gold is valuable and I agree because you say so but gold is just what it is, a soft shiny metal. It is as valuable as you find it to be. It also is just as valuable as I find it to be.

1) Truth and Polarity

  

     Take what you know and unwind the sensibility which leaves you stuttering and unassertive in deciding conclusion. Take what leaves you blank and disconnected from surrounding conformity and reverse the pull. Attempt utilization of oppressive and negative forces by mentally and therefore wholly counteracting with acknowledgement of a universal polarizing effect making that which you loathe and reject being simply opposingly contrary to that which you love and desire in common understanding, not essence, not actuality. Each are an extremity of the other. One is not obtainable or existent without the other. Focus upon sliding the bar from the pull of one to the other. Hate to love. Sorrow to gladness. Frustration to calm. Know that certain instances are unapproachable or contain any reasonable consistency allowing altering. Focus upon that which remains true to you. The individual truths which you hold so dear and can construct upon throughout the tapestry adorning the walls that keep you within and the others without. This is your unique unveiled sanctity. This is your definitive home. This is your mind attempting control. Let it be yours. Let it be yours.

Find and learn if you so desire