In Case Of Cell Phone, Break Glass:

Okay folks, I’m tired.  I am sick and tired.  I am so sick and tired, I am going to blog about it.  Also known as let’s have a talk, about your cell phone and you.

Allow me to demonstrate.  This is a typical, I repeat, typical, complaint between several a different friends of mine and me.  On average, I hear this complaint at least once week.

Friend: My boyfriend/girlfriend/fiancé/husband/wife is always on the phone. I can’t believe it.  Worse, s/he is too busy on the phone to talk/flirt/mate like a wild animal with me!

This is very much what I hear, all the time.  Allow me to tell you a series of solutions:

1. Make a Rule about cell phone use when together.

Healthy relationships have rules, spoken and unspoken.  We have unspoken ones like ‘do not say I look like an elephant, even if I do.’  Then we have spoken ones like ‘no you may not poke my friend’s with a stick when they bother you.’  And yes, that is a spoken rule in my relationship. Apparently, poking people is not encouraged.

Either way, rules make people happy, and will make your relationship happier.  If the cell phone use is bothering you so much, then it’s time to discuss rules with your special somebody. Just be aware. Everyone gets on everyone else’s nerves in some way especially with prolonged contact.  They will have rules for you too.

2. When on a date, don’t take your phone with you.

Oh no! The reader gasps in horror at the very idea of not having their cell phone with them.  What about in case of emergency!

Allow me to now stare at you in sheer horror. Unless you have dates that occur deep in the woods, or the desert, or the jungle, or the middle of the ocean, or some other suitably remote place, then you should probably be in public, and let me tell you about public. There are phones in every single business out there. 

They are call landlines, and operate via wires.  I know this comes as a shocker, but they exist.  And if you can’t find a semi-mythical landline, then just find the nearest teenager or other adult.  You really should have certain numbers memorized, like your parents, your significant others, your own, 911. Please tell me you have the last memorized.  That one’s the important one. 

Ah, but I see you aren’t so convinced.  Still need your phone on you? Face down in the table, all stacked on top, everybody’s. Then you don’t have it half so easy to fiddle with do you?  Everyone will be watching you in disappointment if you give in to the urge.  And if that doesn’t work, leave the gorram phone in the gorram glove compartment. Or, if you must…

3. Only take a single phone out.

This works on the guilt principle.  As in, ‘they don’t have one, so I shouldn’t use mine.’  Just make certain the one the feels guilty easier has the cell phone.

4. But what is someone needs to get a hold of me.

Allow me to tell you something super awesome amazing. It. Can. Wait.  When out on a date with the significant other, it can wait. When out with friends, it can wait. When out with family, it can wait.  In other words, when out in any capacity that renders you in a busy status:  It. Can. Wait. Even bad news waits, dudes.  Even horrible news can wait.  It isn’t good for you to be in always constant contact anyway.  It can wait.  They can wait until you are available.  If all else fails, you get a rousing game of phone tag out of it.

5. But what if plans change, or someone is late, or something happens that I need to know about right now!

Eh. You can’t handle a change of plans, or someone arriving late, or something happening?  Dudes, if it’s serious, someone will find you.  If not, just chill, relax, and have fun in the meantime.  I promise, except in extenuating circumstances, which you would hear about from those around you in public, you can have fun on your own for all of the fifteen minutes that you should have to wait before you can say adios to them and have fun on your own.  If you are very patient, you can make it all the way to thirty.  If there is a traffic jam, and they are stuck, then find out how back the traffic jam is, then find a good book store.  In other words: Just chill.  They’ll come find you to let you know, or just be running late. It’s not that big of a deal.  Very rarely, do you absolutely have to know right that very second.

One Final Byte: Dude, it’s just a phone. So Chill out.

Injustices

So this year, I think I'm going to try something a bit different than last time I did a year of blogs. I think I'm going to try and post either a short scene/story or a poem every Thursday all year long, starting today.  I haven't been writing half as often as I should like to, after all, and I think this will get me back into writing once more, and it will get the blog active again! Yay!  So, I suppose, welcome back!  I hope you all enjoy the new scenes and thoughts.

Injustices
I have seen a boy with low credit,

At age five,

Because in order to have a phone,

His mother put the bill in his name,

And could not pay.

I have seen two parents with degrees,

Two teachers,

Unable to send their only son,

To college because two college grads,

Are not paid well.

I have seen educated women,

Flipping meat,

College degrees in their back pockets,

Without connections for a good job,

In their learned field.

I have seen men, who risked their own lives,

Homeless now,

Who gave all their self, their minds and bodies,

And now live trapped, no purpose, alone,

Their support gone.

I have seen these immoral forced acts,

Choices gone,

People stuck in ways they did not choose,

Punished, for not being born with

Silver or gold spoons.

Messes

I have, I admit, a bit of a problem when it comes to inviting people over.  Though I hardly keep things military clean, in order to study, I have to have things tidy, or I simply can’t concentrate.  However, when I invite someone over, sometimes they tend to spread out, quite a bit, then make a mess, and then, when they leave, they simply don’t acknowledge the mess.

In other words, I’ve invited people into my house that have made a mess, and while, I wouldn't expect them to clean it all, or even most, I do hope that they will at least put their dishes in the sink.

Well, I’m not the only one.  The American people invited into our lives, these men and women of Congress.  Some have been there so long, that no amount of cleaning around them, seems to do the job.  They just make more mess.  Others are new, and make a stab at pretending to clean, but don’t do it either.

Luckily, this is an invitation we give, every few years, and like whenever you share a house, it is those in the majority, who get to decide who stays and goes.  And sometimes, right around the time, that we issue this invitation, we find our house tidy and neat, even around those long time mess-makers.

It is as neat as a clever child’s room.  They’ve simply hidden it all away. Unfortunately, this is enough to fool the majority of the people into saying ‘Look at this person, look how good they have done.  Let’s have them stay longer.’

And so, they do, and then you go to clean under the bed, and in the closets, and, well, you discover the truth.

I think it may be about time, that we do not forget how messy these long time guests have been, or how they don’t even put their dishes, in the sink.  When someone cannot do even that most basic of chores, well, sometimes something must be done.  And right now, I think that something is abundantly clear.

It is time to clean house:  to dust our shelves, to organize our closets, and to stop hiding things under the bed.  We should not re-invite these guests that we call congressmen, that we call senators.  We should not say ‘Look how good you’ve done.’

Perhaps, they’ve tidied one or two spots, in one room, maybe they've put up their clothes, but there are still legos on the floor.  But that doesn’t change the fact, that they didn’t put their dishes in the sink.  They’ve made a mess of things.  I think it may be time, to ask them to leave.

One Final Byte:  I can only hope the majority says out.

A Frightful Reflection and the Bill of Rights

TV, books, and entertainment media in all its forms has always been a reflection of the current society.  In some ways, that is superb, and astounding, and we can learn about the worries and the lives of the time based entirely on reading a book from another decade.  In others it is worrying and frightful, particularly when one looks at what is on TV today.  The monsters of today are still monsters.  Vampires still suck blood, werewolves still attack people (though no longer devour them, it seems) and monsters as a whole are still monstrous.  But it feels as if that monstrosity has in a way matured.

 

To my horror, people seem to flock to the beautiful monsters.  Whether it is a man who tortures others because of childhood bullying or it is a handsome vampire who still kills, and does so freely, but gets away with it because of his beauty.  I think that is my biggest problem with monsters on TV.  The vampires are only what I could call an Anne Rice Vampire.  They are more like an incubus who drinks blood than anything else.

 

Knowing what I know about media and the mirror it shows society all I can do is weep.  Our monsters are no longer in the shadows, hidden.  Or, at least, the faces of these monsters are not, though their true nature often is.  Instead, they are lauded, adored, because of superficial reasons.  The modern monster of man, the monster we see and acknowledge as monsters, are not those that dwell in shadows but those that stand in the spotlight, smiling, declaring their vegetarian nature, and how against hunting they are.

 

They are the monsters who claim that by spying on the bad guys, they are in fact good guys.  In order to spy on the bad guys though, well, they have to spy on the good too.  How else do they know who is bad or who is good?  There is no longer a presumption of innocence.  Instead, you are guilty, particularly if you lack the beauty of the heroes or the seductive nature of the monsters.

 

To me, I think, the monster on TV and in the books reflect the true nature of our society today, and it is a nature I want with all my heart to change.  The fact that you can buy an expensive sports car whenever you please should not be a get out of jail free card for burning down a dance studio.  Nor should being a spy for the ‘greater good’ excuse you from using the moral compass that you hopefully have.  It doesn’t have to match mine, but surely you believe in the one thing so many world religions espouse: Do No Harm.  

 

Or at least try?

 

It scares me that money or looks can get someone, anyone out of trouble.  Whether it is out of the trouble of bullying and harassing another, or out of the legal trouble that breaking the key laws that the US based its cultural identity around.

 

We are a cultural melting pot, and things change, from year to year, from decade to decade.  Change is not necessarily bad, and in many ways can be amazing.  But we have a unity, and it isn’t based on the laws that change so often in our nation, but in a single founding document that we all agree on.  But, I think, I may need to put it in modern words and modern terms so you can maybe see why these glittering monsters, these pretty littler liars and bloody rich killers concern me so.  They are, by virtue of money and media in powerful positions.  And lately, all of them have been ignoring what brings our culture together.

 

Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but this is how I have always read the opening of the Constitution:

We the People of the US, come together to life together, and ensure that justice is served on these lands that we claim are ours.  We come together to ensure that any man, woman, or child can have justice, that all of our people do not have worry about rioting, or warfare, or bullets being shot in the streets.  We are here, to provide a form of protection made of the people willing to protest, and here to ensure that it is possible to rise above poverty and into a life where you can provide for yourself.  We come together as a nation to secure the right of liberty, of freedom to be, for ourselves, and all who come after us.  We, the People of the United States do claim and proudly establish out support of this Constitution for the United States of America.

 

And maybe I just don’t speak legalese well, but this is our bill of rights, as I understand it, in the most plain terms I can think of to say it:

Amendment I:

Congress cannot force you to believe a certain way, or penalize you for believing whatever it is you believe.  No religion will be outlawed by them.  You may saw what you wish, and the press cannot be told what to share with the people.  Congress cannot tell people they can or cannot gather, nor can they deny them the right to create a petition, or the right to have their grievances heard.

 

Amendment II:

People, average, everyday people, will be able to protect themselves, and their nation, even from those who govern them, if necessary. And people, citizens, not necessarily members of the military, will form a militia ran by the common man will be encouraged as a necessity to ensure freedom.

 

Amendment III:

No soldier, no military personnel may take over your home and force you to host them, in tiems of peace or times of war.  If they must, for some reason, do so, they can only do so in a legal manner, following every last step of the law.

 

Amendment IV:

No one had to worry about the security of their private life, or private business.  Random searches cannot be conducted even with probable cause, because only a warrant with probable cause, an oath that only what is on the warrant will be search, and a in depth description of what is to be search can make a search legal.  All of your business, no matter in what form, is your own and cannot be rifled through without first a court issued warrant.  Any of your ‘effects’, that is, anything you own, that you regularly carry cannot be taken and looked through.

 

Amendment V:

No one, no matter what, will be punished for a capital crime unless they first have had a trial in front of a Grand Jury.  The only exceptions are in the military forces, or in the militia, and only then if the US is in a time of war.  No person, no man, no woman, no child will ever be tried twice for the same crime.  No person will be forced in any criminal case to act as a witness against their-self.  No person can be killed, be locked up, or lose their property without fair treatment through the judicial system first. Nobody’s private property can be taken for public use without being given something else, whether cash, other land, or what have you, that comes to the same value of what was taken.

 

Amendment VI:

If someone is accused of a crime, they won’t be forced to wait in the limbo of the justice system for any long amount of time at all before they are given a public trial, that anyone can attend, and they must be tried by a jury with no feelings of attachment to them or their victim.  The trial will take place in the state and district where the crime was committed.  The accused must be told, before the trial, of why it is believed they committed the crime, and of what crime it is believed they have committed.  They will have a chance to know the witnesses against them, and they will have, required by law, the chance to have witness’ on their side, and legal aid on their side.

 

Amendment VII:

If there is a non-criminal court case, involving a money related argument more than twenty dollars in value, then the right to an impartial jury is still reserved.

 

Amendment VIII:

No one will be required to pay a bail that they cannot afford.  In other words, if a loan is required for a person to post bail, than that bail is excessive.  No unaffordable fines will be imposed on anybody.  If they cannot afford the fine, then the fine is too large.  No one will be subject to any punishment that causes any mental, physical, or emotional damage, nor will any punishment be out of the ordinary in its nature.

 

Amendment IX:

No constitutional amendment gives anybody the right to deny anybody else their constitutional amendment. Nor can any amendment be used as an excuse to be insulting, cruel, or otherwise a jerk to another human being.

 

Amendment X:

Anything not explicitly in the US Constitution, is reserved for the states, or for the citizens themselves, to decide, so long as the constitution does not forbid it explicitly.

 

 

I hope you can see why I am worried based solely on those two parts of that full and total document.  I want more than just opened eyes.  I want you to ask yourself why.  I suppose, because I have often asked why in my life, that I want you to always ask the whys, and to ask them of the people who both know, and can change them.

 

One Final Byte: Stop and ask why for everything one time.

A Bold Statement

Talk about making a statement.  America has made its statement loud and clear.  Ouch.   As of 8.40 pm last night, 42 states had petitions on the white house’s petition page, calling for the secession of their state.  This isn’t by the way, governors, senators, or anyone like that.  No, these are ordinary people, making a petition for the president to see.  Some of the states have multiple petitions even.

Talk about a statement, and one I understand.

These people don’t believe they will be able to secede.  Instead, they are, essentially, giving a vote of No Confidence in the entire Federal Government.  I hope and pray they don’t secede, but I would not be surprised if they did.

Forty-two states.  When I had checked around noon it had been 33 states, and only one had enough signatures.  At 8.40?  Much more.  As of nine pm last night, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas all had even signatures to land their petitions on the President’s desk.

I should note, however, that Missouri’s count was split over two petitions, neither over the necessary 25K, and Georgia had three petitions, the middle one over 25K. Texas, however, only had the one petition at the time, and had over three times the amount of signatures needed.

I think the people have spoken clearly in this vote of no confidence.

But will anybody understand?  Will the politicians hear “They have no confidence in me, personally.”  Or will they hear “It’s all Obama’s fault.”

It’s not his fault. Not entirely, though blame must be shared.  He’s been a semi-decent President.  Not the best, but not the worst.  At best, he’s average.  Unfortunately, he has a congress that won’t play nice.  And even when congress does play nice, he and his fellow politicians seem unable to get work done.

The President has ignored the protesting in the streets.  He’s ignored attempt after attempt to get him to open his eyes.  Corporate media no longer cares.  But…we still do.

I hope this vote of no confidence opens his eyes.  I hope it opens Congress’ eyes.

But I doubt it will, because they choose to be blind.

One Final Byte: One way or another, people will be heard.

Week Twelve: Voting

Yesterday was Election Day in America, a day where we as ordinary citizens make decisions on everything from city proposals to the President of our nation and National Matters.  I don’t need to mention how important it is to vote, every election day, no matter what, and to inform yourself through multiple sources, even those with different opinions, about the positions and laws being voted on.

Listen to the news, yes, but not just the news.  So many news organizations are so political that they are little more than the mouthpiece for their party.  Instead, listen to three or four news sources, but especially the local news, not the national big news corporations.  Find a few outlets rated on an international level for trustworthy journalism.   Speak to your religious leader, and if you have no religious leader, then speak to an elder who you consider wise.  Talk to your family, your friends, and find out what they know.  Then decide.

Unfortunately so many people on my campus will not be voting this election, and for some of them, any election.  I have heard a plethora of reasons from ‘My parents didn’t send me my absentee ballot.’ To ‘What’s the use?  My choice won’t win anyway.’

To that, to those insignificant infinitesimal reasons, I can only say ‘You Fools!’

You parent shouldn’t have had to send in an absentee ballot.  You knew where you were going to be on election day, and you knew perfectly well it wasn’t going to be near your polling place.  Much of your year, including the election time, is spent in Alabama at school here.  Switch your voting registration place and vote like a person who cares.   Vote like a citizen enjoying the privilege of being able to be heard, because in so many places they aren’t!

As for the fools who ask what the use is, the use is simple.  Do you want to be heard?  Do you want to be a citizen or are you merely a lay-about, unable to fulfill as simple a civic duty as selecting a multiple choice option?  Can’t find one you like?  I have a solution! Write someone you think would make a good president in, and heck, organize a write in campaign for that person!

Participate.  You think it’s hopeless? It’s more hopeless if you can’t manage this simple act.

But the biggest fib I have heard, the biggest sign of a ridiculous head in the clouds ninny-pated fool that I have heard this election season?  ‘I don’t have time.’  The polling place on campus here is open from 7 am to 7 pm.  Most employers are willing to work with employees so they can have a longer break, to vote during that.  If your employer is not, consider Early Voting.  Check out the regulations on that in your state, but it’s an option just in case.  You have more time than you think.

In short, there is no excuse not to vote.  None.  People constantly complain the elections are bought out.  I will tell you now, that you can change that easily.  Look up your civic rights, your civic abilities.  Sometimes, it’s hard to find information on these things, I know.  But check out a book from the library, if all else fails.

People say that they as citizens have no voice in our government.  I say that if you aren’t willing to speak up, then you have robbed yourself of your own voice.

One Final Byte: Learn what you can do as American.

Week Eleven: A Bird in the Box

Pikachu, the Budgie

Well. I knew college was full of surprises, but I didn’t think that a budgie was one of them.  A budgie, you ask?  Well yes, I see.  It’s a type of small parakeet, frequently found in pet stores, that mostly comes in a variety of yellows, greens, and blues with white and black markings.  Possibly.  This one happened to be very yellow, and very cold.

Not that I blame it.  It was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

It was also very domesticated.  I know this, because it flew up on a friend.  Quite literally.  He called a halt to our LARP battle to reveal a small yellow bird laying on his chest, cuddling him quite fiercely.

Of course, all this happened while there was a small gaming convention occurring inside the University Center, a suddenly not so scant 100 feet away.  Luckily, a box was found, and the people running the convention were summoned to help figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, of course, a group of around 20 bystanders has gathered, and no one has any clue what to do.  My eyebrow feels a twitch coming on.  In quite firm agreement with the eyebrow, I suggest calling maintenance to get the poor bird inside until further plans are made.  They are, after all, the only ones available on weekends.

No one called.  No one knew the number, or knew how to look it up.  Instead, the people in charge and I  decided to make other plans.  I put my cloak over the box to aid in warming the small cold thing, and someone with a car volunteered, then asked for someone else with a GPS in their phone, and someone who knew…okay, I’m still not certain why he was there, but he proved important later.

Oh.  Don’t be stuck on the bit about the cloak.  LARP means Live Action Role Play, and I have great fun doing so in costume.  Plus, it was cold.  I needed the dratted thing to protect against the wind.  Well, now the budgie needed it more.

It took three tries to find an open vet, and after the second, we finally just searched for an emergency animal clinic.  This is around 5 pm by the way, on a Saturday.  Yes, the emergency clinics were the only ones open.  It’s a Saturday.  They need a break too.

We spoke to the vet at the clinic.  The vet examined the bird, gave us a breed, offered to take it over, but admitted the owners had little hope of finding it that way, and said that she couldn’t find any more information on the bird, because the band on is leg was of no use.   This apparently just shows it’s domesticated.

Drat.  Still, it wasn’t a bird specific clinic, and most vets don’t have an awful lot of avian visitors.  At least we knew it was in good health.  From there, now in a rather unfamiliar part of town, and with sunset rapidly approaching, we needed to find a pet supply place.

We found PetCo shortly after the sun disappeared and a cage and basic supplies were located.  The bird in the meantime, had acquired a name, and had his gender identified.  Pikachu, a male.  I did not name the Budgie.  But I liked it more than Pidgeotto and Zapados. I fiercely defended the name Pikachu.  It was two against two, but as the other two in the car couldn’t agree on a name, the united front won out.  For now, no doubt.

Well, what do you expect? He was small, yellow, and found during a gaming convention.   At one point, he flew inside even.  There’s more than one reason the box was needed.  With the supplies, we now had to return, temporarily.  Most of us had left a wide variety of our things there after all, and it was there that we met up with the temporary care provider.

That mysterious fourth person earlier?  He turned out to know someone who loved animals, and had family in the area that also loved animals, and needed to change the food and water daily for those animals, so could do the same for Pikachu.  This is important, as everyone but the driver had called at least two other people, and no one else found anyone else who could take a poor helpless bird in immediately.

However, it takes a bit of time to pull gamers away from a gaming convention, so, while everything was being set up, and the caretaker acquired, (and some of us ate dinner) the Budgie was snuck into the convention to hide in one of the empty back rooms, where he was allowed to wander around for a bit and stretch his wings outside the cramped box that he only barely fit in.

And don’t tell me we should have let him out earlier.  We let him out in the car, and that proved to be a poor idea, because he had to see out all the windows, and then he decided there was food on the mat of the driver’s side door.  Needless to say, we came to a very careful rolling stop in a parking lot.

The Budgie was put back in the box after this.  A PetCo he decided to fly off to another part of the store.  I am willing to bet this is not the first time this Budgie has gone missing.  He’s a runner.

Either way, he was soon back in the too small box on his way to his temporary accommodations, everything provided for until his still missing owner could be found.  As we believe it to be a student, most of us don’t have much hope.  He would have been an illegal pet on campus after all, and to claim it would be to invite trouble.

If the owner isn’t found, a bird lover has agreed to take him in on a more permanent basis, as it’s no good for a Budgie to be on his own like this, and I don’t think turtles in an aquarium count as companions.  I could be wrong. 

Or rather, permanent until this summer when, if the owner isn’t found, I will suddenly own a bird.

One Girl’s Byte: Do I now say I choose you Pikachu?