Happy Easter!

So I'm not an atheist. I know some people who think that that means I'm really stupid, childish or superstitious, but personally, I think it's pretty arrogant to just one day up and declare that you think there's no God, and when we all die, absolutely nothing happens. Except the usual scientifically proven stuff, of course, like decomposition of the human body and all that.

Well... I mean, I think a person has every right to say that they don't believe in anything they want to, but many of the people who get really vocal about it are often very angry and intolerant, and they're just using all the clear and present holes in most popular religions to obfuscate the fact that they are in fact, whether they want to admit or not, just plain intolerant. Just as, or even more intolerant and hard headed in fact, than the religious people they love to put down. They're also, whether they realize it or not, not very supportive of religious freedom - which is a basic tenant of any true democracy.

Of course, I've had moments in my life when I've thought that maybe there is no God. I think most people have had those thoughts from time to time in their life. Again... whether they admit it or not.  We all get down sometimes. We all get discouraged and disillusioned, especially when things aren't going our way. After all, there is a lot of suffering and cruelty in the world, and if you really focus on it, life can be extremely disheartening. Sort of makes a person want to pray... or prey upon those who do, maybe. Whatever the case may in fact be, I think it's a little silly to think that choosing to not believe in something that seems far fetched (based on current, ever changing levels of scientific knowledge) makes anyone necessarily better than anyone else.

But please don't polarize the issue for me, thank you very much! I'm also not especially religious. So even though I do believe in all sorts of things, I don't believe in getting too involved in any type of group-centric behavior. I don't do political parties or cults as a general rule. I do believe in karma, the focusing of positive energies, and the genuine power of prayer, but like a lot of people, I've personally witnessed and experienced some very negative aspects of organized religion. You know, the same stuff that makes some atheists get so mean and intolerant. Overall however, I think religion, and having religious freedom is extremely important in any society.

No, you don't have to say "Merry Christmas" to me, or even "God bless you" when I sneeze, but who is anyone to tell me or anyone else that they shouldn't be able to say anything like that to anyone else? Or say a kid can't say the Pledge of Allegiance with the word God among the verses?  Anyway... HAPPY EASTER!  I believe in some things, and don't believe in others. Just like everybody else. And I don't know everything. Just like everybody else. Whether they admit it or not.  And what I do or don't believe in, just makes me human. And flexible, really. Because if nature teaches us anything, it is that rigidity kills. Living creatures that cannot adapt and change must eventually die out.

Anyway, I'm not sitting permanently on anybody's hotly contested fence, or firmly entrenched on either side of it. I make up my own mind, based on any and all of the information that's out there.  Regardless of whether any church, state or highfalutin scientific establishment outright dismisses it from the get go. I have free will. I choose to believe or not to believe as I see fit. Because most of all, what I really believe, is that true rationality, true sanity, lies somewhere between any and all extremes.

Nostalgia

I was a really little kid in the early 1970s (insert your decade here), too. I remember those days really, really well. I remember long, sun kissed summer days walking "up town" in my tiny hometown (population 3,000 or so), with my mother and her long train of children ('cause I was third in line, out of six), because my parents only had one car, and my mother didn't even have a driver's license.

I remember the big "Gas Crisis" of the mid 70s! I remember being really ashamed of having a dumb ass peanut farmer in the White House (and I like peanuts), who couldn't even launch a successful rescue attempt to get our hostages out of Iran. And gee, the memory of that, even to this very day, still really stinks.

Heck, I even remember the late 1960s! I was knee high to a grasshopper, but probably my very first really good impression was of Richard Nixon, whom my father would have me mimic for any and all guests who showed up at the house. Yep! There I was, a tiny kid, standing in the kitchen, making "the Peace Sign" with both hands raised in the air, with a big grin, shaking my head back and forth, pretending to have Nixon's trademark jowls, saying, "I am not a crook!"

I remember all the songs that I still love to listen to, too. I remember all the wonderful American toys that were produced then (and I still collect many of them), and all the kitschy, low budget TV shows, 'cause all we had to watch were between three and five channels, and if something half way decent was on, everybody watched that crap. Whether it was actually good or not.

But that's nostalgia. And nostalgia is great, but it's not really real, you know. It's a product of the human mind. It's a romantic notion that things used to be better than they are today. Actually, some things were better back then, but some things just weren't all that good. And you know what? It's the same today! Nowadays, some things are better than they used to be... and some things still just plain stink.

And sorry everybody, but a big part of the reason why nostalgia does and doesn't really have the same effect on me that it seems to have on a lot of people who "linger in the past," is that my mother believed (and for all I know still believes beyond the shadow of a doubt) that "everything was better in the 50s." And she reminded us quite frequently by saying that "all that shit that you kids listen to" was no where near as good as the music of the 50s. As a result, as you can imagine, I listened to a lot of her music and still like it to this day. But was all that music of the 70s and 80s "shit?" I sincerely doubt that.

On the Nature of Forgiveness

Of course it's good to "forgive and forget," but make no mistake; forgiveness is nothing to take or give lightly. Nor should it be cheapened by being doled out indiscriminately like counterfeit currency, like Biblical "pearls before swine."

Sure, forgive often, but do not forget blindly or all too easily. In fact, if the injury from a given individual is repeated, time and time again, you may actually be dealing with a characteristically belligerent person, a serially abusive personality; someone who's obviously just plain predatory, and has simply learned over a lifetime of antisocial behavior that they can endlessly avoid true repentance by regularly cashing in all their "good Christian" forgiveness chips. I mean, whatever happened to, "Go, and sin no more?"

Come on! You know darn well who I'm talking about; that "Eh! S/he treats everybody that way" bully at work, in the "family," etc. That type of frequent offender "friend" (a.k.a., "frenemy"), co-worker, or habitually predatory relative type person that never seems to realize what a jerk they actually are.

Also, remember that turning a blind eye to bad behavior doesn't really solve the problem. In fact, it usually means the opposite; it means that a given transgression will most definitely be repeated. Why? Well, because by being silent or avoidant, you actually educated them that they could get away with being belligerent all the time, silly!

Duh.

So there really is no shame whatsoever in letting someone who repeatedly harms you know the damage that they've done; not once, not twice, but over and over again. Let's face it, if you allow certain individuals to repeatedly get away with their thoughtless transgressions, don't you think that you run the risk of educating them that they can also get away with doing the same to others?

I mean, if you honestly believe that constantly submitting to abuse like the perfect Christ-like sacrificial victim is actually healthy or even beneficial over the long or even short term, then maybe, just maybe, you may have entirely misinterpreted the true meaning of the Gospels. Or even worse, you may very well have been misled by others to begin with.

Either way, seeking to protect oneself from a serially abusive individual by attempting to finally put a stop to the harmful behavior, or barring that, simply taking positive steps to remove oneself from the situation altogether, does not make anyone either unforgiving or "not a good Christian." It just means that, finally, "enough is enough!"

Sure, you should forgive those who persecute you, but if you keep continually going back for more, what kind of message is that sending, not only to the bully, but to other potential victims? The bottom line is that Christ died for our sins so no one else would have to! And if you missed that particular part of the New Testament, you might just wanna go back and re-read, and at the very least carefully reconsider, that particular part of "the good book."

Because the truth is that Christ, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world," willingly gave himself up to be the eternal "spotless victim" so that no one else would ever have to suffer like that again. Quite literally, the Crucifixion was meant to finally put a stop to the suffering of sinners, and not to suggest that anyone else should continually be forced to endlessly play the victim.

After all, as they say, "Charity starts at home," and habitually abusive people can never truly learn new and better ways of treating others unless they are made aware of just how much damage they continually cause. And by letting them know that you're simply not going to take anymore, you may not just be helping yourself, but protecting the next potential victim. Did you ever think about it that way?

Either way, most perfectly ordinary, flawed human beings (and goodness knows, we all are in various ways) don't really change or make amends unless finally motivated or even forced to do so. So again, true repentance is in order here, not the continual, clearly unhealthy submission to serial abuse.

So gather your courage. Put your foot down, once and for all. Remember, bullies can only continue to take advantage of you if you let them. And if you can't fight back on your own, don't be too proud to seek help. Because everyone deserves that. No one deserves to be repeatedly battered, and if you honestly think you do, then maybe you're the one with the problem.

Most importantly, those who persecute us often simply don't even realize the full extent of the harm they're doing to others. Remember, "s/he just treats everybody like that?" Well maybe people just say things like that because they don't care about you or anyone else. Maybe that's just an excuse to "not get involved." They just want you to shut up and go away.

Maybe people who they really shouldn't be allowed to continually get away with bullying or outright abusive behaviors. Maybe it's time they were finally taught a lesson. Maybe they just need a good old fashioned wake-up call. Who knows, some particularly abusive and serially harmful individuals may even need to finally be given a well deserved taste of their very own medicine.

I Hate Twitter

My response to a Twitter survey, as to why I would not recommend it to anyone else:

"I totally do not get Twitter. No. Actually, I think I really do. For starters, Twitter has total A-HOLE requirements when it comes to posting status updates. Why's that, you ask? What's that, you say? You mean, I'm not "clever" because I can't (don't choose to) always boil everything down into just a few caveman words/anally specified number of typewritten characters?

Nice try, but that's just a rude, arrogant pseudo-argument/inadequately sized bandage of a pathetic excuse, designed to draw attention away from the truly gaping hole of a massive weakness in the defined parameters of the Twitter app!

That's right! I said it! And I wrote it, too! A 140 character limit for a social media platform is just plain stupid.

See, really intelligent people usually tend to write and even read lengthy books and scholarly papers, just to express/grasp even simple ideas (because most people, if you hadn't noticed, just aren't "clever" enough to pick up many basic concepts for themselves without lengthy and repeated instruction on the matter).

Therefore, it is usually only know it all A-holes and bumpkins who go around spouting pseudo-wisdom (Bible/Quran/Book of Mormon verse, party slogans, what have you) in what usually becomes hastily spouted, half-assed colloquial sound bites.

And they do this because it only takes a sentence or two for them to self gratifyingly ejaculate their self righteous brain farts all over everyone else. Even worse, they usually heard most of what they carelessly rattle off from somebody else anyway, and don't even know fully what they're saying means most of the time either!

Or... maybe the grandmasters/wonderful wizards of cyberspace Oz behind Twitter the Great and Powerful think everybody just has a really short attention span? Like this wonderful little cocker spaniel my folks used to have when I was a kid. Cute and loveable, but not especially smart.

Nah! Seeing everyone around you but yourself that way is actually kind of... oh, I don't know... ARROGANT AS HELL, isn't it?

Just maybe.

Either way, Twitter is a great tool for attention whoring wannabe authors (who should be spending their time actually writing books, instead of tweeting about how they want to be authors). I will give you that much. Either way, no, I would not recommend Twitter to anybody. And sorry, but you did ask.

And if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way out of cyberspace Oz now. 'Cause see, "Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't already have."

Will's Personal Manifesto

Hey, hey, hey, everybody out there! Please allow me to  properly introduce myself. For starters, I'm an unabashed teetotaler, and I like to think of myself as an international man of truth and justice for all. I don't drink or smoke, and I honestly never get bored. I love action figures, and all sorts of other types of pop culture iconography. I love my country, too. God bless America!


I am a highly artistic and creative guy, and I've been that way since before anyone who really knows me can even remember. As a result, I've never been bored a single day in my life. As far as I'm concerned, there is just way too much to see, do and create in this world, so even though I do know why some people get bored, I don't truly understand why anyone should have to.

Just about anything requiring artistic talent I tend to be not all that bad at. Just for starters, I've been a natural mimic since childhood, and though I've yet to learn any musical instruments (though I just got a used guitar), I can actually carry a decent tune when singing. Not bragging, it's just true.

Unfortunately however, I grew up in southwest Missouri... where seeking non-blue collar work (or just about anything related to my talents and interests) was mostly out of reach and unfortunately, deemed (mostly by my constantly feuding parents) to be more or less out of the question.

So, I suppose, in the beginning, a big part of the reason I originally sought work in Asia as an English teacher, was to get the hell out of the Midwestern American "sticks," and well away from the "redneck" mentality that I felt was suffocating me.

But, even though I like to try to make friends with everybody, from everywhere, regardless of race, color, creed or whatever, please do not mistake me for someone who is not patriotic. In fact, I love my country, the United States, dearly, as I'm sure you love where you're from too, so if you truly want to be "friends," as the old saying from the American Revolution goes, "Don't tread on me." 'Cause I figure, if I can be polite, and respect and admire others, and keep from shooting my mouth off about all that they personally hold dear, I do expect everyone else to reciprocate - whether they happen to have the right to have and bear arms or not.

Here's the deal. All mean stereotypes aside, I've personally never owned a firearm, and unless there were to be dire circumstances required, you couldn't give me one.

And no, all Americans are not "dumb," and the mere notion is prejudiced, pure and simple. Needless to say, the United States is a big country, made up of people from every single nation, color and creed in the world. So, if you want to get mean and judgmental, I'm going to expect you to clarify just exactly which Americans you think are stupid. The Asian Americans? The Native American Indians? The African Americans? The Mexican Americans, or perhaps the European Americans who fled wars and religious persecution in their former homelands in Europe?

In any case, as a political and social entity, the United States isn't perfect, and nobody that I've personally ever known has ever tried to claim that it is. But here's the real point:

Just like everybody else before us, as a nation, we have been guilty of most of the same things every other major world power has been guilty of since the dawn of human civilization (like our then feuding parent countries, mummy Britain and papa France). However... I firmly believe that America has had, and continues to have, a greater positive effect on the world than a negative one.

In fact, if you've studied even a little about world history, you might see that despite its flaws, there has never been a country truly like the United States before. You're entitled to disagree (in some countries, that is), but I'm afraid you'd have to work pretty damn hard to get me to believe that you aren't unfairly and irrationally biased, so... if you do have an anti-American bone to pick, you may just be better off to drop the issue and leave it at that. In fact, please do.

I'm here to have friends and be a friend. I'm here to learn and share with everyone, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, anti-religion, or social, monetary or political affiliation. Or whatever else separates people instead of bringing us together. For me and quite a few Americans (and non-Americans) I know, none of that amounts to a hill of beans in the end anyway.

In any case, nowadays, I'm so far removed from Hollywood that I probably will never get anywhere in the entertainment industry, but I've reached the point where I'm not sure if I care anymore either.

As far as my foreign language ability is concerned: My spoken Mandarin Chinese is conversational, but I still have quite a ways to go to master both the Traditional and Simplified Chinese writing systems (which should be understandable given the fact that I was not born in China (thank God), and one has to be literate in roughly 3000 characters to be able to read a modern Chinese newspaper!!!), but I read Romanized Chinese Pinyin with relative ease. I'm still very much in the process of learning both Korean and Japanese as third and fourth languages, respectively, so that's all there is to that.

Just like everybody else, my life is a work in progress, and just as I like to live and let live, I do expect the same courtesy in return. So, peace out, everyone!

The Importance of Moderation

Take all things in moderation. Or you will lose your way.

It's Not the 80s Anymore, But... I STILL SAY, "HELL NO TO DRUGS!"

One thing that's been bugging the hell out of me recently is this whole "legalization" issue that's taking America by storm. Some dude from a country north of my own, who also has a Korean wife, who also lives in the same slummy, littered up Korean high rise my wife and I are on a loooong government waiting list to get out of, recently "friended" me on Facebook. And in person, unfortunately. But I didn't find out exactly what his agenda was until it was too late. Unfortunately.

It always seemed like every damn conversation was about hemp! Hemp, hemp, hemp, man! Hemp, hemp hooray! Grass. Pot. Pud! Okay. Yes, Mr. Canuck, I do know that George Washington, the father of my country, grew hemp. In fact, in all those years on his plantation, he probably oversaw the growth of all sorts of your beloved ("My precious!") hemp. Actually, he farmed it, see. So people could make cloth and rope and useful stuff like that, see.

But that doesn't fit snugly enough into our little agenda, now does it?

But maybe... just maybe... good old George didn't sit around toking up all damn day in his mother's basement. And maybe he never baked it in brownies and spent days or just hours laughing it up with Martha while they had a curious case of "the munchies." And it's not like pot smoking could really impair your driving skills in "the olden days," now could it? All you could really crash was a horse or two. And maybe the family buggy. But maybe... just maybe... there simply weren't as many people sitting around trying to get high in the late 18th century!

Ever think of any of that, dude?

Maybe people in British colonial times weren't trying to use "medicinal purposes" as an excuse to stick it to "the man." Whatever... man... that may be. I don't think, even since the drugged up glorious 60s, we've yet learned just exactly which man it was that all the hippies were sticking it to. Nixon?  Sorry. Nice try, but he resigned in disgrace. And he's been dead for a while, you know. Psst! Put the roach clip down and read a current newspaper. Maybe? Might help.

But damn! I mean, we were just getting to the point where a lot of people around the world are beginning to realize that it's just not fair to make everyone around you second hand smoke tobacco, just because, when you were maybe 10 to 12 years old, which research clearly shows is when people become addicted to this very toxic drug - when they are still children, for God's sake!

So now, you want to legalize something else that, when smoked, is harmful to the Ozone Layer?   Crikey! Is everybody dumber than ever these days? Crazier, maybe.

Okay. Sure, "legalize it!" Let chemists extract the beneficial, non stupidity inducing parts of good old Mary Jane and put it in pharmaceuticals, just like every other potent drug that should be regulated and used responsibly (as in, not recreationally).

I mean, come on, people! Tell all this happy hemp crap to some dummy who is buying. On the corner. Or in the alley. From the dude who's probably also been selling Crystal Meth for quite a while, too.