What Time Is It?

I have a clock in my room.

Also in my phone. There's one on the pager I have from work. There's one on the dash in my car. I have a great looking watch that I get lots of compliments for whenever I wear it (which is often). There's a clock on the stove and on the microwave.

When I used to have a VCR, I always had to have it set to the correct time. If it was blinking 12:00, it would drive me up a wall. Now that all TV's have internal clocks, I always make sure that they are set, even though it's pretty much a useless application.

Hell, I'm looking at the one in the little right hand corner here on the computer while sit here and type this.

Whenever I go over to a person's place that I've never been before, do you know the first thing I look for? Wherever the first available clock is displayed.

The surprising thing is the thing I've noticed the most out there when it comes to other people and their environments is that they usually don't have a clock with the correct time readily set. It seems like when it comes to this obsession with always knowing what time it, I'm very much in minority. And the thought of that disturbs me to no end.

Why do people not care what time it is? Don't they have things they have to do at certain times? Don't they have schedules; appointments; people and places they need to be at very specific time periods? Well, don't they?

I have the alarm set for work everyday, but the truth is, even without it, I could usually depend on my body to get itself up (not very willingly, mind you) at the appropriate time. Nine time outta ten, if I know what time it is, and I don't look at it for a certain amount of time, I can correctly guess exactly on the dot how much time has passed without looking at a clock; of course, then I make sure to look just to make sure how right I am.

...and after all this, I choose to ask; not what's wrong with ME; but what's wrong with EVERYBODY ELSE?!?

P.O.V.

Let's talk about a scenario...

Let's take an atheist: someone who doesn't believe in a higher power, who believes that everything is completely random, someone who doesn't believe than anything that happens is a "sign" of something other than what we can see with our eyes and comprehend with our intellect. Let's say that person's best friend is suddenly killed in a horrible and cruel way, with absolutely no time for the person to cope with the idea of someone so close to him/her would no longer be in their lives. You could say that would be something that would interrupt the way the person was conducting their life; it would be reasonable to say that that person would have to think twice about the plans they may have been making and maybe their outlook on life in general; perhaps, maybe even the beliefs they had held on to up to that point.....Perhaps...

Now, let's take a Christian: someone who believes what they have read in the Bible as scripture; someone who believes that by following the path that God has chosen for them will lead them to Heaven; someone who believes that good things will happen to those who believe and bad things, like despair, will happen to those who choose not to believe. Let's say that person's best friend is suddenly killed in a horrible and cruel way; one that is absolutely out of left field. You could say that such an event might cause them to rethink things like what they deserve and what others deserve from God...and THAT line of thinking may lead them to rethink everything they may have believed up to that point...perhaps....

Would the exact same situation, presented to two different people, produce two different results? Could the atheist become a Christian? Could the Christian become an atheist? I'm speaking in general terms, of course, but fundermentally, isn't this the base of a lot of things that we seem to come to a wall against in society?

Isn't the belief; that if "you" would just have walked in "my" shoes; if "you" have lived the life "I" have lived; is what keeps us from reaching any type of common ground?

How wrong is it for people to justify their actions, not only to other people, but to themselves, that they are only doing and believing what anyone else would in their positions?

No, There's Nothing Gay About It, Thank You Very Much...

....so I'm never going to sleep watching Countdown on my iPod again...

I'm not sure what exactly was going on in my dream; the only part I really remember is that the only two people who knew about what mysterious event that had happened were me and Kieth Olbermann and we were sworn to secrecy. But then, the next day, I awake to a world where the media has announced that Kieth had been shot in the ankle and that they thought it was me (for some unknown reason). I tried to go to work (where I was working for Coke again), but it seems that everybody was harassing me wanting to know why I would do such a thing. It really interfered with my job.

So then, at some point, I meet with Kieth, who suggests in order to "fulfill the lie", he needed someone to shoot him in the ankle (as I type this, I am seeing bits of Lost in this). I then suggested, since everybody thought it was me anyway, that I should do it, proceeded to pull out my gun, and shoot him in the ankle. He doesn't scream out in pain and gives me a big "Thanks, buddy".

The next day, the media is again blasting that they think I shot Kieth in the ankle and, like everybody else who is around, wonder why I have not been brought to justice by the proper authorities. To myself, I realize the the authorities have no evidence proving that I had shot Kieth at the time and place that the media claims I did, thus they have no case; but since I HAVE shot Kieth by this time, it is better if I keep my mouth shut about such detail. This becomes much harder as the news starts showing paparazzi pictures of my mom and sister at a baseball game, and then have pundits and commentators talk about "how disgraceful it is that they would be out, having a good time, when as my mom and my sister, they could been stopping me committing this horrible act". Then they move on to another photo, with my dad at work, and again proceed to talk about "how disgraceful blah blah blah". All the while, as me and my family watch these things together in front of the TV, they want to know exactly what happened and if I did indeed shot Kieth. All I can do is keeping badly deflecting that the media is lying; they don't have any proof; if I was guilty, I'd be in jail; no, I'll just let them say what they want and not sue because "it's not worth it".

Ugh.....probably more horrible dreams to follow.....

What's So Wrong About Thinking You're Right?

...I was reading a article in USA Today the other day about the response The Reader is getting in Germany and, by extention, other countries around Europe, contrast to the "negative reviews" it's been getting here in America. The "negative reviews" is what got my attention.



I've been kinda in the dark about this, I guess, but apprentally American critics have a problem with the subject matter, which is (from what I understand, not having seen the actual movie) somewhat sympathetic to a former Nazi soldier in her portrayal. All I remember on is a quote from Kate Winslet somewhere saying how hard it was to play this woman because she "despises" her.



Listen....if this is a movie that advocates the extermination of entire cultures of human beings, then, yeah, this might not be good or responsibly-made movie.



But....



If what we're talking about here is a piece of entertainment that explores the inner and outer workings of a character, or, in this case, a human being, then there's nothing wrong with that.



How many of you out there believe in Good Guys and Bad Guys? Raise your hand, c'mon...Well, don't count me as one of them. Every single one of us are completely and able to commit horrible and dispicable acts against each other, society, and the entire planet. It's a fact that we should not ignore very often.

It always seems that there are very few people out there for commit wrongful acts that think of themselves as bad people (insert comment about current finacial crisis and the people who caused it). The truth is that one person's triump is another one's horror. History has given us quite a bit of perspective on the Nazis and what their ultimate goals and beliefs were, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as quite unconflicting to at least a few people in the here and then.

....and that's ultimatly why we all have such a grand ole' time arguing about every little thing that comes up: most of us DON'T KNOW what's right and what's wrong. Throwing out ideas and certain feelings for public compsumtion usually doesn't have much effect on the people who dream them up, but it damn sure will let them know how other people will react to them, should they acted upon. That's why we don't have a God/King/Ruler because we all only care what the neighbors are going to think. And gosh darnnit, that's the why it should be.

There is just no need for anybody to get up some high horse about such things and lie to others around them that they are completely sure of everything. Lord knows that's the one thing I look for to show me somebody is LYING to me.....