Death and the Surreal

On the plane to New Orleans, I experienced something pretty unexpected. The plane had hit a heavy amount of turbulence, for a good minute or so people were looking around worried as the captain reassured the passengers that everything was fine. I was reading a book and listening to music when I suddenly stopped and started to think of the plane crashing. I wasn't feeling anxious or scarred, more of a relaxed almost wishful anticipation, I felt an extreme calmness that I've never heard of except in what I guess people talk about in their religious experiences as endorphins and nerves run up and down their bodies. Not tuning out the music, but not hearing it either, I was not concerned with anything really, felt a bit like an out of body experience. Nothing was pressing on my mind, no thoughts of friends, family, how short lived I was, or even the highest of probability that death wasn't going to happen anyways. an ode to religious experiences.



Old men like me just tuck our shirts in, too busy running out of time.

Writing

I was very discouraged to hear that we would be doing a blog in our class. Not so much opposed to the writing, but opposed to the idea that my words and ideas would be open to the public, since I carefully choose what subject to talk about and how to go about it, with each person, I didn't like the idea of it being open to everyone to pick apart, even though I don't think anyone has the time or mostly the want to bother on such things as blogs, there is always the possibility. It ended up encouraging me to write more, and I think just through the act of constant writing, whether it be all at one time or a consistent blog a day, I think my writing and everyone's writing has probably progressed a good amount. Not to mention that I have been slightly enjoying it, and I think i'll keep writing, however not online, and not on topics such as oil, and what i did today, and that sort of thing, those topics that are there to fill up another blog for an assignment, but I think it would help my writing in general if I kept it up. Hard concepts: practice and consistency makes people better at things...Not only that but it has made me appreciate authors and notice things in writings that I normally wouldn't notice, because of the appreciation of how writing is often times pretty difficult to convey certain ideas in a way that you want to affect people in a certain way. Now that I look back, I apologize for never editing any of these, probably takes away from a good amount of what I have just said. Regardless, I have picked up little tips and strategies from writing on my own while writing which has been of good aid during writing projects. Things that I generally wouldn't have used. I was reading recently one of Stephen King's introductions into the series I mentioned earlier, and something that stood out is the way that he goes about writing. He says that many people go about editing their paper throughout the whole writing process, and there is nothing wrong with that, but what he likes to do is to go straight through with an idea or book, do the whole thing and then put it away for a good six months, even up to a year, then pick it up later on and edit the whole thing. I have found that strategy to be the best on my papers as well, although not having months or years to let sit, I will write the whole thing through and edit after. I think the advantage in that is that you end up getting all the ideas and concepts you wanted to get across in one smooth thought, and then fix up the language and grammar errors later, putting whatever may be more fitting in the paper, but usually if you go in one continuous sweep with your idea you wont have to fix up a whole lot, or so I've found. Cheers to the king.

Beginnings of a ballad

Based off/borrowed with twisted story line of Cahill (John wayne movie which was about the story of a son of a sheriff (who was never around, always out in the desert bringing down the criminals) who with parental negligance got mixed up in the wrong crowd and robbed a bank, later father finds out, son turns his back on outlaw ways, happy ending), mine heads down a different direction, far from finished lyrically, and may be revised what little i have, once school is done i think writings will get better, also keep in mind that this is going to tunes and makes more sense with those tunes:

As the sun beats down, a father buries his son,
solemn minded, he stands over the grave he dug,
stares into shadows, blood on his boots
a reminder to him, a reminder of you
mother sits and waits, she's waiting on two


"where have you been, you've been gone nine weeks,
said it'd be six this time, been waiting ever since,
where is my son, he's nowhere in my sight,
and what is that sweet rain falling from your eyes?
don't tell me rumors are true, that are son has not died,
tell me everything is alright,
everything is fine."

He stares slowly, wipes the sweat from his brow,
takes off his weathered hat, finds a chair,


I have a bit more, him beginning his explanation, but definitely want to change that around. The storyline is that the sheriff got caught up in a scuffle at the bank, shot few of the men dead then followed the others into the desert, where when they think they lost him he ends up arresting them, seeing one is his son he grows solemn and arrests him as well. The son convinces his father that the outlaws put him up to it, it was for the money noone was to be killed, he takes them in to be tried, the judge sentences each his life. He watches at the hanging his own son life taken, luck of the gallows, once he finishes his story his wife passes away, he takes her to the doctor to make sure, then buries her. He takes off begins robbing trains banks and the bit, knowing all the ins and outs becomes successful and never caught. Legend begins. We'll see.

2 blogs?

they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so can this count as two blogs?

Rot those teeth; they wont if you let them be

The last cleaning/check-up I had was a good three years ago, at the least. They told me on my last visit i needed to get my filling, go ahead and make an appointment at the front. I made the appointment, but the night before called and canceled, don't like the idea of people inside of my mouth regardless if they are helping. I've been going in and out of painful feelings that start in my teeth, cavities i always assumed, but never enough to bring me back. However, lately feeling responsible and on track with life I decided to get my teeth checked out, pain helps occasionally or so i hear, and probably would be economically wiser in the long run. So I headed to the dentist where they were surprised to see me, probably guessing that my dad had made me since he had been in a few months before, talked some sense into me, or something like that. <-- have to enjoy the run-ons. Figuring I would come out resembling Hannibal Lecter with blood splattering from my teeth, I wasn't surprised to see all the blood that she was able to manage getting out of my gums. What I was surprised to see was that I had passed the inspections, the x-ray testing, the sharp object prodding around, the interrogation of the necessity of coming in every so many months, all they could find was wine stains on the backs of my teeth and the possibility of removing morals (money-whores), so I got off clean, with even a supposed cavity that they were going to fill last time. To tell the truth, I don't always have time to brush my teeth three, or sometimes two times a day, I figure gum works, and so far haven't got too many cringing faces when I speak. So let them be, they'll save you money that way, and don't visit as often as they say, gives them all the more reason to dig in there with needles and drills. I made an appointment for six months.

Louisiana (and presidents) pt. 4

After trying to get away from the topic of Louisiana, I found myself reading an article in Newsweek that caught my attention. Unfortunately, I didn't get the issue number or author's name, so I apologize ahead of time for any misquotes or twisting of ideas. However still fresh in my mind I believe I can get the gist of it across. The author was talking about how Obama is untouchable, how he could do no wrong, at least in the eyes of the democrats, of course he is still unlawfully President and the anti-christ in the eyes of conservatives. However, even many conservatives didn't fully appreciate Bush, and many became wary of the idea of where the GOP was headed by the end of his second term, with good reason of course... What I was surprised to find, and had no prior knowledge to, whether it had been because the media didn't touch on it or I haven't been keeping myself updated enough, was that Obama had been endorsed by BP, and with support from his administration had allowed for the drilling in the off-shore drilling in the underwater canyon in the Gulf Coast, possibly endorsed by him, with the prior knowledge of the possibility of such an occurence happening. When the Gulf Coast began to spew a black mess by the thousands of gallons, Obama either failed to mention or failed to visit the scene of the event, and one of the things he mentioned about the spill was 'don't worry, BP is going to pay for the cleanup.' Regardless, Mr. President why endorse such a project when you want to appear green for all your democratic and green followers? And for that matter, Mr. Media and Obama lovers, why have you not ostracized our President like you did the prior? The author brought to attention the question, 'what would have happened if President Bush had done the same?' the world would have came down upon him. But why shall we turn our cheeks when Obama does the same?

God bless these waves of grain, waves of grain.

Wilde Aphorisms

Sometimes people say things better then you, and sometimes its best to get a break from your own words and enjoy others, and all the time Oscar Wilde should be the one to be chosen when in such a predicament:

" A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her."

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

""Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

"Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing."

"Biography lends to death a new terror."

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."

"For women it is matter over mind, for men it is mind over morals."

"I am not young enough to know everything."

"I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability."

"Illusion is the first of all pleasure."

"It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal."

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information."

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

The list goes on...