Sunday, July 26, 2009

Two Wrongs Makes You Both Wrong

I am so sick of the Gates story. How the hell did it become a major story in the first place? I haven’t read any of the articles, yet I know the story. Both men need to apologize to each other. Yes, I said it! I’m sure Gates wasn’t exactly polite considering he was sick and just returning from a long trip, (both of which can make people highly irritable) and then he’s barely home before he is accused of breaking in to his own house, that said though, once the police had his identification and saw that he did in fact live there, they should have apologized for the misunderstanding and left him at his house, free to curse them out until his heart was content. In my opinion, there was no need to arrest him unless he moved to attack one of the officers. Since the police and Gates failed to control their emotions, both should apologize. I think Obama should have said, “I believe both parties involved acted stupidly.” People still wouldn’t have liked the president using the word “stupidly” but I think it would have been a fair statement. Gates should have tried to be calm and the officers should have tried to be understanding. This incident was unnecessary. I wouldn’t call it an instance of racial profiling though.

I’ve been twittering for almost a week now and I am already bored with it, but I will try to continue a little longer. I think I owe it longer than a week. Anyway, I tweeted a poem a couple of days ago and I thought I would put it up here so I can keep track of it.

Halfway

You’re a gun loaded with blanks,
Confusing empty prayers with giving thanks
Moving in and out of plastic cars,
Finding happiness in nightcaps at bars
You’re constantly in the process of doing something,
Desperate to avoid the thoughts you have when you do nothing
You believe in letting things fall where they may,
So you only give enough effort to get you halfway.


Status: Wondering how the new Harry Potter movie is.

Monday, July 20, 2009

What Are Tweets?

Today was one of those crazy days, where I was inspired to do random things. I joined Twitter and I worked on a new story that is nothing like anything I’ve written. It’s a bit sci-fi, so I don’t know how long I’m going to be inspired to write it, which means it will probably join the pile (or in this case, random disks collection) of stories I’ve started and then abandoned. Sometimes I revisit the stories and work on them, sometimes I don’t. That happened most recently with Voices in a Room. The story had been half done for years, and one day I read it and I was possessed by the need to finish it. Stories usually come pouring out of me when I get that feeling.

Now back to the Twitter thing. I’m thinking I need to come up with some idea to keep myself posting updates because I’m a pro at beginning things and not finishing them. I briefly thought about tweeting a novella or short story, but then I saw a Yahoo article about a guy who was tweeting his novel and that killed that idea. I don’t want to copy what someone else has done. I was thinking about doing something with poetry or maybe creating story snippets that are only a couple of tweets long or better yet, short stories that are ten tweets or less. The problem is that I get bored so easily. I’m going to try to think of something and actually update Twitter on a regular basis. People will probably be rather surprised that my life is just as boring as I say it is, of course that’s assuming people will read my tweets. Either way, I think it should be fun for a few days.

Status: Surrendering to peer pressure.

Friday, July 17, 2009

My Opinions about the Season Finale of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant

Okay, so I was watching the MTV show 16 and Pregnant last night, yes I know, I’m 26, what the hell am I doing watching that show…now that we have that out of the way, there was something about last night’s episode that really bothered me.

Some of you who saw it might think that it was the fact the two teenagers gave their baby away, but it wasn’t that. My problem was this rule or law (I’m assuming it’s a rule, but I don’t know for sure) that I learned. The girl’s mother did not want her to put the baby up for adoption. I spent the entire episode wondering how the hell an underage person can give a baby up for adoption without the approval of a parent of legal guardian. I was always taught that you have to be 18 to enter in to a legally binding contract, unless you’re an emancipated minor. I watched the show closely, wondering if maybe the mother would change her mind or if the girl would change her mind and decide to keep the baby.

So, we get to the end of the show and the girl has the baby at the hospital. Her mother leaves because she has no intentions of signing those adoption papers. The girl tells the audience that because her mother wasn’t there to sign the papers, she couldn’t give the baby away on hospital grounds, which was code for, I have to walk outside and off of hospital property and then I can do whatever the hell I want to do, and that’s exactly what she did. The girl and her boyfriend and his mother and the adoptive parents walked off hospital grounds and exchanged the baby. What the hell? Are you kidding me? I’m assuming the purpose of the rule is to cover the hospital’s ass but come on!

Another thing that bothered me was that the girl’s mother had no say. I understand that the girl’s mother was not a very good mother, but talk about sending a big FU to mom. My goodness! I can’t imagine how her mother felt when her daughter came home without her grandbaby and she realized that her daughter had followed through with the adoption. If I was her mother, this is what I would read between the lines, “Hey Mom, life is so crappy with you that I wouldn’t wish that on my baby. I want my baby to have a good life and you sure as hell can’t provide that. We move too much. We’re too poor. I could go on, but you already know how horrible my life has been. I made the adult decision to have sex and I made the adult decision to give my baby to a loving couple so screw you! If you want to watch your granddaughter grow up, you better be nice to me, and maybe I’ll show you the pictures.” Of course her daughter didn’t come across as bratty, so I think she would probably say that a little nicer than I wrote it, but the underlying message would be the same and that would be that the baby is better off with her adoptive parents. The weird thing for me was that the girl didn’t seem to understand why her mother was so upset with her.

I’m not knocking adoption. The girl gave the couple a precious gift. I just think that unless a grandparent can be proven to be an unfit parent, if the grandparent wants the child, then the grandparent should be allowed to raise the child, especially if it’s a teenage parent involved. That said though, I’m not sure if the girl’s mother wanted the grandchild bad enough to take over guardianship, which is why I ultimately understand the girl’s decision. The girl and her boyfriend were not ready to be parents (and I’ll spare them the whole that’s what birth control is for lecture) so they found their child a nice home with people who came across as great people. It was a very responsible thing to do and a particularly heartbreaking thing to watch.

Status: Having strange thoughts.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Should I Return to Hollyoaks?

One of my friends has recently discovered Hollyoaks, namely John Paul, Craig and Kieron. It is taking everything in me not to watch the old clips of John Paul and Craig or John Paul and Kieron. If you’ve been following this blog long enough, then you’ll remember a time last year when I was completely obsessed with Hollyoaks. I couldn’t help myself. It was so good and I was hooked immediately. I’m trying very hard not to go down that path again. Why was that show so freaking good? It’s unfair to be that good. I stopped watching after the sunset ending because I was only watching for John Paul anyway.

I actually did watch my favorite scene this morning. I had to literally get up and walk away from the computer to keep from watching other scenes. I’m going to try to be strong enough not to become addicted again.

Other than that, I’ve had a great weekend. It was peaceful and joyous. I haven’t had that combination in a while. Good things happened this weekend. Nothing major, but big enough to make it a good weekend.

Status: Thinking about all the work I have to do today. I guess the party is over :-(.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

16-14 in the Wimbledon Finals? and Other Random Thoughts about Roger Federer versus Andy Roddick

I’m posting twice in one day! What brought this on? One word: Wimbledon! I had to take a little time to recover after watching an amazing, seemingly never ending Wimbledon Men’s Final. My goodness! What a match! I thought last year’s final with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was great, and I, like many others, did not think this year’s final could live up to that standard. We were all wrong! This year’s final was a different type of match but it was just as incredible and just as nail biting.

I’m not a fan of long drawn out matches or close games. They drive me crazy. The commentators were all laughing about how the match could go on forever and I was yelling at the television saying, “One of you win it already!”

I came in to the match a little conflicted. I have been an Andy Roddick fan ever since he first emerged on the tennis scene (back when he was dating Mandy Moore). I was thrilled that he made it to the finals but I couldn’t completely root for him. I felt almost un-American not giving my full support to Roddick.

Unfortunately, I love Roger Federer! I wanted Federer to get the record and have his 15th Grand Slam title. It broke my heart last year when Federer lost his Wimbledon title to Nadal. I wanted him to reclaim his title this year, especially since it meant so much. A Wimbledon victory this year, would give Federer back his number one position in the world and solidify his place as the best male tennis player in the open era. It may have taken forever and a bit of luck, but Federer pulled it out!

The match went as follows: Set 1-Roddick 7-5, Set 2-Federer 7-6 (8/6), Set 3-Federer 7-6 (7/5), Set 4-Roddick 6-3, Set 5-FEDERER 16-14. Yes you read that right, 16 to 14! It was a great match that was well fought by both opponents. I wish it could have been a draw, but tennis isn’t one of those sports. In tennis, someone has to win and someone has to lose.

Great job ANDY RODDICK and congratulations ROGER FEDERER! I love you both, even if that love isn’t equal.

On a side note, Andy Roddick is quite cute with his hat on and I like his new body, it’s very nice.

Funniest moment: During Federer’s victory speech, he complimented Roddick on his play and told Roddick that he knows how it feels because he lost a close one last year. Roddick responded by saying something like, “Yeah, but you’d already won five.” Haha. I thought it was funny. The crowd at Wimbledon laughed, but their laughter had that nervous tinge in it that made it sound a bit uncomfortable, whereas my laughter was from the sheer hilarity of Roddick blurting that out. You could tell it was one of those pure thoughts, the kind that flows from your lips before you have time to think about it.

Status: Hoping Andy wins the next one. He deserves it.

How Do You Break Up With a Mormon?

I have a date with two Mormons tonight. Okay, not a real date, more like an appointment kind of date. I’ve been meeting with these Mormon missionaries for a while now, partly out of boredom, but mostly out of fascination. They seem so happy and I wanted to investigate that happiness. I’d love to have the kind of joy they seem to have. During our talks, I have discovered that they have had their own personal battles and they turn to God for everything. I’ve never been a “have faith, sit and wait for the answer” kind of person. I believe in God or at least the existence of some being greater than me but I’m not in to the whole praying to someone to make my life better part. I’m more of a “do your best and hopefully something good will happen” type of person. I confess that I don’t always give my best, but that’s because of my crippling fear of failure. I pray from time to time, but mostly for the health or safety of other people.

Anyway, I’m going on this tangent because I think it’s time for me to break it off. Unfortunately, I don’t know how. How do you break up with a Mormon? How can I look them in their eyes and tell them that it’s been fun getting to know them and they seem like great people but their faith isn’t for me, at least not now? I mean I have enough trouble with things from the Old and New Testament, I really can’t try to wrap my mind around Jesus coming to America after his death. Is it possible? Sure, anything is possible. But I’m not ready to believe that yet. I want Jesus to stay in the Middle East because that’s what I’ve always been taught.

Status: Hoping I can find the strength to send away two of the nicest people I’ve ever met.