Friday, March 30, 2012

oh DARN!

   
      I forgot to buy more cereal! I guess I'll just have to settle for a couple of fried egg sandwiches and a banana! 

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Stop sugar coating everything!



     Just put your true self -- that child in you, that clown in you, that actor / actress in you, that diva in you, that animal in you, and alter ego in you -- wake up lines and all, zits and all, out there dammit!    You might find out that people you actually like like you too!

Judge

Judge yourself regularly, the laugh may do more good than you'll ever know. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

"Christian or atheist, which is it?"

     Must it be an either-or situation?  How wise are the extremes or all the degrees in between?  Who really knows?

     Have Christians always argued well, through their speech, writing, and actions for Christianity?  Have they argued well... against atheism?

     Have Atheists always argued well, through their speech, writing, and actions for Atheism?  Have they argued well... against Christianity?

     What makes an authentic Christian?  Atheist?

     Can a Christian be as foolish as an Atheist?

     Can an Atheist be as wise as a Christian?

     Are you a good Christian just because you boldly declare something like, "I'm not religious!  I'm Christian!  I'm saved?"

    Are you a good Atheist just because you boldly declare something like, "There is no God, no devil, no spirits, no angels, no heaven, and no hell."

     Can a Christian be atheistic about some beliefs, ideas, speculations about God.

     Can an Atheist be "for Jesus?" and/or maybe even be "for God" in the sense that they are for the truth, the whole, truth, and nothing but the truth... about anything, and they want to avoid any form of "God of the gaps" kind of conclusions?

     Does a Christian, or Atheist, really "muddy the water" when he avoids the extremes, recognizes merits in the degrees of mix in between the extremes?

     Can there be heathy mixes of the two?

     No, I've not been asking about Agnositicism, but go ahead a plug that one in too.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Your grandma had sex too, you know!

        So, if I met a person who enjoys being with me, enjoys texting me, enjoys keeping up with me daily; and if we enjoyed going out for breakfast together, or dinner, or just coffee and dessert; and if we enjoyed hanging out doing almost nothing, walking in parks, or just walking around a city block or two while carrying on random conversations; if we're totally into each other, and if we enjoy hugging and kissing, sitting close, walking close, why! oh why! should it matter to anyone, anyone, ANYONE that we're the same gender???

     Why would YOU allow yourself to be bothered by it.  It's not like you, almost automatically at lightning speed, would allow yourself to venture into imaginations about what we might be doing in our private time.  Or, would you?

     Sometimes, actually often, I wonder if (acually I'm kinda convinced that)  that's really the root of the problem.  Yes!  It is a problem!  Why?  Because so many people out there are making a lot of unnecessary trouble for others due to this root. 

     What is the "root?"  Simple!  It's that many individuals won't keep their minds on their own business.  They won't stop themselves from pondering what other individuals are doing in their private times.  Way down deep they've grown infatuated with their own tabloid sensationalized speculations about private times of other individuals.  If that's not the case, then, seriously, what's the bother all about?

     Many have said, "Well, the Bible says...."  But, the truth is, they're simply using the Bible like a mirror to reflect their own prejudices back at them.  They'd already decided to dislike something (before they'd ever read the Bible, let alone studied its contents), so while they were kinda reading it they found something that suggests "God's" opinion is the same as their own (so Hallelujah! must be on the right track!).  I say it's either something like that, or it's something like this.  They heard a preacher or a teacher or a broadcast person voice a mirror-image opinion back at them (so Hallelujah! must  be on the right track!). 

     Suppose.  Read the first paragraph above and just suppose that in the "private times" there is no sex.  Why would you (or anyone) allow yourself (himself/ herself) to be bothered by the situations I described in same-gender scenarios?  What problem is imposed upon you (or anyone) because of them?  What injustices are imposed upon you (or anyone because of them)?

     I can understand why you might not like people doing sex in front of you, but if people are not doing sex in front of you, then why would you allow yourself to be bothered by individuals of the same gender holding hands and walking together, and sharing their g-rated honest affections with each other?

     Ok, so maybe you just don't like it.  So what?  Maybe I don't like seeing people eat certain foods.  Maybe you don't like certain clothes.  Maybe you don't like all sorts of other things that people do in public view.  Maybe people don't like what you do.  Still, I'll bet you don't want other people imposing their dislikes upon you, right?

     I know all this is kinda abrupt, and the logic is not fine tuned, but I'll bet you get the gist.  Why!  oh why?  won't people keep their minds out of gutters when thinking about Gay and Lesbians?  Seriously, why! oh why? won't everyone support Gay Marriage and, well, not worry about what they do in private.  If you you're not pondering what they do in private, what's the problem?  You just don't like it?

     Do you like the thought of your grandma having sex?  How about your neighbors?  How about people you go to church with?  How about people you work with? 

     More than enough said!

    


    
    
    

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

"Profanity"

     Now, this is kind of a stupid blog....  Really, I was just sittin' in my chair when thoughts such as these just cropped up and took on a life of their own. 

     Chances are, before I have finished this ramble, I will have spewed out a few thoughtless words that come in handy when my laptop suddenly imposes massive grief upon me and my ever so diligence to use time wisely.  Back in days of typewriters, I learned to punch out about seventy words a minute, error free, on one of those big heavy Olympia manual typewriters.  Back then, typing on a manual type writer included using your left hand to push the carriage back with every line you typed.  Now days, there is no carriage return.  Just hit "enter" with your right pinkie and keep going.  Of course, we don't call it "typing" these days.  We call it "keyboarding."  Anyway, way back in "typing" class, I learned how to type without looking at the keys.  In class, the letters weren't imprinted on the keys, so it did little good for a student to look at the keys anyway.  So, these days, my habit is to let my fingers do the walking, rather than pounding, ever so quickly and gracefully on these soft keys.  I guess, on a good day, I can get over hundred words tapped out in every minute IF,  IF, IF the desktop or the lap top is cooperating with me.   Remember, my style is to "type" away without looking the keys.  Usually, I'm not looking at the screen either.  I'm just plugging away tapping out whatever is in my mind to put on the page, and this laptop I'm using now does some of the damnedest things when I'm not looking.  God!  I hate it when it does that!

     For example, it leaves out letters that I know, sure as hell, that I pressed on the keyboard.  Also, in a split second, without warning, it deletes entire paragraphs (remember, I'm not looking).  Sometimes, I notice that split second when that happens, and out of my mouth flows "Dammit!" But at other times, I don't notice the omissions until three, four, five paragraphs, or a few pages, or a few days LATER.  Then, it's like SHIT!  DAMN!  DANGIT! etc., etc.  Those thoughtless words that come in handy don't solve the problem, but, HELL YEA they do, they do, they DO help get that honest rage vented, and so I would even say they are a little therapeutic in that spit second of exasperation.

     Now, usually, there's no one around when such therapeutic vocabulary spews out of my mouth.  But that's not always a good thing.  Yea, I have enough self-control to "keep my mouth shut," say when my mom, or a child, or my boss, or a co-worker is in the room, but that's not nearly as therapeutic, is it?

     But, you know what?  I don't even call that use of those words "profanity."  I don't call it "cussin'" or "saying bad words" either.

     To me, "profanity" is "nonsense flowing out of someones mouth, or being said as they are writing / typing, that's being pushed as faithfully representing the truth."  Get it?  It's what many of us often call "bullshit," and the word "bullshit" isn't profane when it pretty much, in a metaphoric way, nails it.  I've heard "profanity" coming from church pulpits, college lecturns, people who rarely, if ever, use the "four letter word" variety, and even sweet old men and women.

     Now, I do wish my daughter (Hey Divina!) would clean up her mouth!  I really think she is intelligent enough to use more sophisticated vocabulary than she sometimes does, and I would rather her children not hear (or read) her cuss words.  But, she's a big girl, has a mind of her own, and she doesn't not need me telling her what to do.

     But, as my opinion would have it, "four letter words" are NOT necessarily profanity, and profanity is not necessarily the use of "four letter words."  Profanity can, and often is, voiced and written in so many other ways and can be so much more replusive than the "four letter word" variety.

     As far as the "four letter word" variety goes (and I know some of them contain more than four letters), here are some, along with some of my commentary, that, as far as being truthful goes, can nail it pretty good and, so, don't have to be thought of as profane.

    Hell:  When I say it, it can mean that place where we'll go if we don't go to Heaven.  It can also mean "trouble," as in "They raised hell last night," or it can mean "trouble is brewing or has been made" as in "Oh hell! She's gonna be mad."  Sometimes, it means "that world totally void of logic, truth, and meaning (in a word, nonsense)," as in "They finished with a hellish conclusion after wandering all over hell."  Other times, it can mean, "fury," as in  "He was angrier than hell."  Sometimes, I think preachers and pious people are glad to be able to say this one quite liberally.

     Damn:  When I say it, it usually means (to put it mildly) "I don't approve," as in "DAMN!"  But, sometimes, it can mean "Wow!"

     Damned:  When I say it, it usually means "ruined."  For example, "That was a damned argument." or "It sounds like you've got a damned mouth."  But sometimes, I use it as an adjective of emphasis as in "That doesn't mean a damned thing to me."  This is another one that I think preachers like to say.  Well, if it's in the Bible, they can say it, right?

     Dammit:  When I say it, I usually say it forcefully (although not necessarily loudly).  It indicates that I'm blaming something, or someone, for an inconvenience imposed upon me.  Usually, "DAMMIT." is a complete sentence.

     Dayum:  This is the way many southerners say "damn."

     Darn:  This is a polite (perhaps) way to say "damn."

     Darned:  This is a polite way to say "damned," (when it has nothing to do with putting socks together) but it sure would, likely, be funny to hear  preachers say, "Those who don't believe shall be darned."

     Durn:  This is a polite way, but not as polite as "darn" to say "damned."

     Shit:  This can refer to feces produced by any living creature, but, like "Damn!" when I say it, it usually means "I don't approve."   For many people, though, it can be kind of an all purpose word for just about any noun.

     Sheeit:  This is the way many southerners say "Shit."

     Shoot:  "Shit"

     Crap:  "Shit"

     Bullshit:  As I mentoned before, this term usually means "nonsense."

     Bullcrap:  This is a polite way to say "Shit" or "Bullshit."

     Fuck:  Sometimes this refers to sexual intercourse, generally, or penile penetration, specifically.  I usually don't use this word, but it seems to mean the same damned thing as "Damn!"  or "Go to hell!"

     Fucked:  This is past tense of "fuck," and can mean "ruined."

     Fucking:  Present active tense or a gerund.  It, like "damned," may be used as an adjective of emphasis as in "Not a fucking thing."

     God damned:  Sometimes, this means, "God has damned" this or that.  The only time I use this one is when I think it's literally true about something.

     goddam:  This makes "God damned" seem a tiny bit more polite.

     bitch:  This might refer to a female canine creature (dog, fox, wolf, etc), but it might be used to refer to "griping," or to a very pronouced negative attitude.

"Ass" is in the Bible too.

     Anyway, these are not my preferred words of choice.  Usually, I avoid using them.  But, I ain't gonna lie to you by telling you that I've never used them.  Fact is, they've been handy at helping to "nail it" at times.





    

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Some things you should know

Hi! 

*  I post whatever I post due to my own reasons and for my own purposes, and, most likely, I don't state what those reasons and purposes are.   Sometimes my purpose is to be sarcastic.  Sometimes it's to inform.  Sometimes it is to take an opponents side and argue for the case he / she has supported.  Sometimes it's to be plain silly.  Sometimes, it's for any number of other purposes.  Whatever!  These are MY blogs.
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*  If you are a child, I would think you should not be here.

*  Most likely, I'll use a first person perspective.  This is what I think right now.  This is my feeling.  This is my opinion.  I saw it this way.  If you have been a part of any situation I write about, and if you have another perspective to add, then, by all means, add it and speak for yourself.  I welcome that.

*  I'll make no attempt to keep everything chronological.

*  Feel free to point out grammar errors and misspellings.  It may be awhile before I get around to making corrections.  So, make the corrections in your own mind, and don't worry about it too much.  Ah hell!  Go ahead and worry about it all your want! 

*  Ok.  That's enough for now.  If I think of something else I wanna put here, I'll do it.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

I've been in a sour mood today.

Ok.  Ok.  I've kinda been in a bit of a sour mood today.  Actually, it's been several days.  Usually, I don't like to get online to bitch and whine about stuff.  I prefer to put a positive spin on things, and just roll with the punches as best as I can.  My attitude isn't any different now.  I'm not really wanting to bitch and whine so much as I just wanting to be honest and vent a bit. 

This is the first blog type type thing I've done after many years.  I mean I've had a Youtube channel since 2006, and I've posted over 1000 videos there.  But, I've not written so much nor posted pictures as I'll probably do as these blogs continue.  Once upon a time, I had a blog site full of pictures, lesson plans, instructions I used for my classes, directions for how to do things, but I got in trouble because in the midst of all my pictures, I guess I had posted over 1000, I had a few pictures of me wearing beach wear on a tropical island.  Some parents -- very dumbass, over re-acting, control freak kind of parents of some very obnoxious, dumbass (not to mention fat assed) students -- saw the pictures (about six of them in all) and flew way off the handle about it.  My posting them was definitely a mistake on my part.  What happened is that I used a super fast picture uploader that could upload an entire CD's worth of pictures without my having to click on each individual picture.  So, I uploaded all my travel pictures from the previous summer without scrutinizing them (I know!  I know!  I should have! But I'm not apologizing for anything, because they were harmless pictures.  None of my private body parts were showing.) and I knew my eighth graders were, behind my back, avidly looking for any opportunity they could find to do sneak peaks on pornographic sights and they often forgot to close windows after they forgot they had minimized them and, obviously, had forgotten to shut down their computer stations.

Oh!  BTW:  in case you haven't noticed, I tend to get long winded and wordy.  I tend to jump from one topic to another.  I tend to write like I talk.  Get used to it if you decide to read more.

Anyway, so I uploaded a CD full of vacation pictures and a parent or two began to raise some hell about six of them.  I had totally forgotten about those pictures being on that CD.  Never mind that the rest of the blog site was pretty damned good.  I mean teachers from all over the state had complemented me about it after having gotten some ideas from my pages.  Not only that but my blog site had the blessings of my administrators.  I was proud of it, and I told everyone about it.  I posted the link to it on every syllabus I used for my classes for several years.  On it, I had posted recipes, pictures of student work, travel pictures that highlighted other cultures in other countries.  Six pictures of me and friends in beachwear -- you know swim wear.  Yes my chest was showing!  No my dick was not showing!  No my ass was not showing!  Noones ass or dick or breasts were showing.  BEACHWEAR on beaches for crying out loud!  Sheesh! 

Anyway, I was told I could resign, or I could go through the full termination process.  I chose to resign, not because I felt I was wrong about anything.  I didn't, and I still don't!  I resigned because I honestly didn't want to work for what I would call a morally inept group of people.  Get this!  This same school system slapped wrists of teachers who got into literal altercations (sometimes called "fights") with one another in front of students.  This same school system had already been exposed for buying dozens of cell phones and not using them.  I had many years of perfect attendance.  I had been honored twice in "Who's Who."  I had been runner up for teacher of the year several times.  SIX LAME HARMLESS PICTURES!  Yea, I've got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about it.  Yea, I should've anticipated such damnable reactions.

Anyway, I deleted the whole thing.  Now I kinda wish I hadn't done so, but I did, so.... But that happened years ago.  So why am I in a sour mood today.

Remember, I'm venting!

First let me say I love working here.  I love living here.  Since I arrived here in 2008, I've not needed a car of my own to get anywhere.  I've been able to get anything I've needed within walking distance.  I been able to rely on taxis, buses, trains, and planes to go for longer distances.  My students have made teaching a joy.  Most of the people with whom I've interacted have been friendly and helpful. 

In October, 2008 I came to South Korea to teach English.  I had accepted a position in a small town near a military base and surrounded by farms.  The school's directors began taking good care of me from the start.

But, suddenly, after three years, things started going downhill.  Two weeks before the school closed, I was asked,

 "Didn't they tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"We're closing the school at the end of the month." (in two weeks).
"No.  They didn't tell me."
I already knew the school was facing a crisis, but not this.  I knew that they had to be out of the building "by May" due to financial problems had by the owner of the building.  So, I had "May" in mind and had already begun to apply for documents from the USA in order to keep my visa alive.  It had been well known that getting all the documents could take several months to accomplish, and the documents must be no more than six months old when you turn them in.  Now, one of my school's directors was telling me that the school would close in TWO WEEKS.

They were kind enough to help me enlist the help of a company manager to help me find a new position, and he was kind enough to land me a position within a few days.  But, they hadn't yet finished paying me for January and it was now close to the end of February.

I know they tried their best to pay me all they could.  But, as it has turned out so far, I've receive no salary for February and no severence pay (they owed me 3 years worth).  All in all, it amounts to about 10,000,000 wons that I've not received.

Well, my diplomas arrived at my new boss's address.  That's a good thing.  But, when we took them to the local immigrations office, they told us that I needed my FBI background check within 30 days.  WHAT????

Back in January, I was told that I would not need that until September when my alien registration was due to expire. 

Well, to be on the safe side, I applied for the FBI background check anyway.  I got the fingerprints made and sent them to my sister (because I don't have a credit card, and it was cheaper to ask her to have money orders made to take care of the fees.  I would send her the cash to cover it all.).  The package she sent which had a pre-paid, self-addressed envelope, the fingerprints, the application, and the moneyorder to take care of the fee arrived at the FBI office on March 1, 2012.

Now it is March 10, 2012, and my sister has not yet received the background checks from the FBI Office.  She has to send them off to another agency to have apostiles placed on them, and she is ready to do that. 

I was told a few days ago (March 8) that I have 30 days to turn the apostiled background check to the immigrations office here.  That is gnawing on my mind.

Yes, my sister has tried to contact our US Representative to put a RUSH on this.  Yes! I have sent emails to the office of the same US Representative explaining the situation.  Yes, we will ask my mom to call this office and bug the hell out of them to get a RUSH on this order.  Why shouldn't we?  They've already had the order since March 1, 2012!

In addition to all this, I've sent text messages to my former boss to find out when they stopped paying into Korea's national pension fund held for me.   The report I have (which I knew nothing about until a couple days ago) was mailed to the address of my former school.  Why was it mailed there and not to me?  The report was dated November, 2010, and it shows monthly payments up to then.  Where is the report for 2011?  I want to know how much is in the pension fund.  So far, my former boss has not replied.

I just want my FBI background reports to arrive SOON, so I can keep working my job and simply get on with living my life.