Hell has Frozen Over..Oh No Wait...False Alarm

I read a headline today that made me take a second look. The headline read US: North Korea to Suspend Nuclear Activities but my eyes read Hell has Frozen Over. I couldn’t believe that North Korea would agree to such terms. I figured there was a catch because there had to be a catch. I read the article and discovered that the agreement was made in exchange for food aid from the United States. As I continued to read the article, I was filled with more questions about the details of the agreement. The article wasn’t clear on whether the moratorium referred to all nuclear activities, or just specific types of nuclear activities.

I don’t believe it for a second. Nuclear activities mean too much to North Korea because it’s the only leverage the country has. Let’s say for the sake of argument that North Korea keeps its word and suspends the activities, how long will the suspension last and what are they going to do once the suspension is over? I have this vision in my head of the leaders of North Korea shaking hands and making promises, but all the while, their fingers are crossed behind their backs.

To Apologize or Not to Apologize

Obama shouldn’t have apologized about the burning of the Quran. He should have said it was an accident and continued to inflame the situation. At least that’s what some people think. I think that Obama was right to apologize. When you do something wrong, whether by accident or intentionally, you should apologize. Obama is trying to defuse a volatile situation. It would be reckless for him to come out and say something like, “It was an accident, get over it.” That type of thinking is as good as saying “Go ahead and kill a few more Americans.” Sometimes being the bigger person means stepping down even when you’re not technically wrong. His words may not have appeased everyone, but at least no one can say that he fanned the flames. We know that there are people who are willing to go to war over the Quran, ignoring them will not make them go away. Some fights are worth standing your ground for and accepting the casualties, but this one was not.

The Shooting at Chardon High School

There was a school shooting in Chardon, Ohio. I live about an hour away from Chardon. I’ve never been to Chardon schools or shopped in Chardon stores. I’ve driven through Chardon on my way to other places, but I’ve never stopped. Before today, it was just another city. I knew people from it and I knew it was notorious for getting pounded with snow, but it wasn’t a place I cared about one way or the other. This evening, things are different. I’m suddenly filled with questions about the schools and the students and the city and the parents. I’m wondering about friendships and rumors of lost loves, but most importantly, I’m thinking about the tragic events that happened today, Monday, February 27, 2012 in a high school that is not so far from the high school where I work.

No matter what facts emerge, no one wins. Everyone involved in the situation has lost something. Even people not directly involved have suddenly been confronted with the truth that no matter how old you are, your life can change in an instant. Sometimes it’s not about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, sometimes it’s about being where you’re supposed to be at the wrong time. There is at least one teenager who died today and one teenager who is responsible. There are people hurting on every side.

Like many people, I find myself asking, “why.” It’s natural to want to know why someone would do something so horrible, but I’m tired of hearing people ask if there was something that could have been done to prevent this tragedy. Hindsight is always 20/20. We can look back now and clearly see the warning signs, but that’s because we know what we’re looking for and we know what happened. Sometimes, you can’t see things that are right in front of you. Sometimes there’s nothing to see. I don’t know if this could have been prevented, but I do know that no amount of second guessing can change what happened. I’m not going to make assumptions about the shooter’s motives or the lives of the victims. I’m going to keep my mouth shut until I learn more about the situation.

At this point, the focus should be on dealing with what happened, making adjustments to try to prevent future tragedies and accepting the fact that it’s too late to fix whatever went wrong, but it’s not too late to talk about it.

Status: Feeling sorry for everyone involved, from the witnesses, to the families, to the friends, to the victims and even the shooter.

Hypothetical Nuclear War...Hmm.

A friend convinced me to check out a dating site and one of the questions that the dating site gave was in regards to nuclear war. I seem to be the only person who selected the option that it could be exciting. Could you imagine if a nuclear war happened? I would be scared and on edge. The idea of living after so many people have died is intriguing to me. What would I do without my iPhone or electricity or the internet or running water? I would never actually want to find out but I think the hypothetical prospect of finding out is exciting. Would I still be kind to everyone, or would I develop a “survival of the fittest” mentality? There are so many questions that can’t be answered until you are in that situation. I guess I’m one of the few people who can see pass the billions of dead people and focus on the idea of being one of the living.

Status: Thinking that I should consider changing my answer because I clearly did not interpret the question correctly.

Someone Needs to Buy That Man A House

I was watching the World News tonight and I saw a story that threatened to break my heart. A 64 year old man was featured in one of the stories. The man had been fired from his job. He slipped out of the middle class and now receives food stamps. Unfortunately, his food stamps didn’t cover much in terms of food so he was skipping breakfast in order to save money. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the man became teary-eyed when he spoke about the possibility of losing his home. He had lived in the house since he was twelve years old. I almost cried with him. My first thought was that someone needed to see his story and buy his house for him. I couldn’t imagine being in his position. I try not to complain too much about my job because I know that I’m lucky to have one.

Status: Hoping someone buys that guy’s house for him.

I Miss Passions

Days of Our Lives now has a gay storyline. I used to be on top of these things. I guess working full-time and giving my writing an honest effort has me slipping. I missed the build up to the storyline. Fortunately, the short clip that I saw reminded me why I don’t watch Days of Our Lives. The show just never appealed to me, even after it took in some of my favorite Passions and Guiding Light people. I used to love Luis on Passions, but I don’t even know the name of the character that Galen plays on Days of Our Lives. I should probably look that up.

I miss Passions. That show was ridiculous, but that’s what I loved about it. I saw the very first episode of the show and I was excited to watch a soap opera from the beginning. I was still in high school for the first few years of the show, so I missed a lot of episodes, but the summer was enough to get caught up, because the show didn’t move too quickly. I watched the show from time to time in college and I had some of my friends watching it, too. Their initial reactions were always the same as mine, “What the hell is this? This is terrible!” But the show was so bad that it was good. It didn’t take itself seriously and I loved it for that. I was sad to see it go.

The Galen I'd Take to Meet My Mother:

The Galen I'd Take Home:

A Quality Article on Yahoo!...I Guess it Does Happen

Every now and then, I read something that completely stokes my interest. Usually, I don’t read it on Yahoo! I love Yahoo! articles, but they’re not known for being of the highest quality. Today I read about a family of blue people. I found the Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise article on Yahoo! I’ve always been fascinated by science and genetics. I used to think that I would one day create a cure for AIDS, then I realized that I wasn’t very good at science and I lacked the commitment and focus to spend the necessary time to be decent so I abandoned that dream and focused on my real passion: writing. The article awakened the scientist in me and I found myself actually reading each line instead of skimming the article. I wanted to know about the family and their lineage and I wanted to know if the family still existed. If you enjoy reading about marvels of nature, then this is a good article.

Status: Wondering what it would be like to be born blue.