Why the Hell not?

So I'm sitting here, knowing that it's about that time to make a new weblog post, and I haven't the slightest idea about what to write. I'm dressed, well fed, and slightly overhung. It's a good thing. However, while I had budgeted some time to sit here and think about it, I have this very moment been called into work early. So, off I go. I'll have something after my shift, I hope.

In short, To Be Continued...

* * *

And We're Back!

Well, recent occurrences have prompted me to turn this into an "Update" post. I was working along tonight, minding my own business, when an unexpected text message arrived. To make a short story shorter, I have a date tomorrow night. The lovely eHarmony match and I have decided we shall meet. Joy. I haven't been on a proper date in years, but the timing is somewhat serendipitous.

On my last day off, Tuesday, I enlisted the help of my brother and turned my life into something different. The clutter in my apartment is gone, and my bills are relatively under control. I found out that there is indeed carpet in my bedroom. There are also counter tops in my kitchen. I got a haircut, and I look, feel, and live like a whole new me. I am really glad that this is happening now.

Speaking of now, Now onto concerns. I am not the best person I can be yet. I am currently in search for a second job, whereas my date is about six weeks from being called Doctor. She is a smart vet. I am an angry philosophical worker ant, not yet even capable of self-sustaining. However, to my advantage, I am smart. I have a bachelor's degree in two fields (albeit the same essential field of social science) which I hope to continue some day, and an associate's in another. I am a jack of many trades, and a damn charming person when I try. Please pardon the ego trip. To sum, I fear I'm not in her league, but with a bit of personal work, I could be, and wind up a better person nonetheless.

Second concern, maintaining the new me. I have a bad pattern for getting a new set of skills, objectives, or resolutions, sticking with them for just long enough, and slacking. I'm going to have to actually maintain this new set, because I actually believe that this is a better state than what I lived in before. I will lose the drive eventually, and wind up slacking again. The key is in recognizing the pattern and working against it at a key point (or points.) If more people could do that, many problems and crises would be avoided in my opinion. So, my first defense is telling people that I am going to maintain this new nose-to-to-the-grindstone-and-up-for-a-beer lifestyle. It's like telling people that you're quitting smoking (also incidentally true.) I guess that telling people means that they'll help keep an eye on you, so that they can tell you when you're slipping. You also have to keep up your resolution to them, or risk looking like a tool. There must be other facets to the idea of society helping someone keep their resolve, but fatigue, among other things is keeping me from assuaging the need to think on it longer.

This is all date anxiety, I'm sure. Wish me Luck!

-The0

People I wish I could meet

While a healthy debate rages on between Baldercrap! and Kurtharsis, I have decided to steer clear of anything important or sensible, and instead pollute the Internet with another list of unhealthy sentiments. What follows is a small compendium of the characters that I would like to meet. The ability to pick these guys brains, to better understand their assumed philosophy, and to find out what sent them cracking would be a fun little trip, I'm certain. Without much further ado, here we go. These are in no particular order, but they are all awesome.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter

I have always been a fan of the Dr. Lecter series, and not just simply out of epicurean curiosity. Even between his ruinous childhood, a very telling adolescence, and a very well defined set of opinions on how humans should interact and respect each other, I still can't fathom how it became right in his mind to twist people into dishes. The murder and punishment stuff, I get. Killing a flautist and improving the the orchestra by removing the weakest member? Darwin-esque, to say the least. Serving and eating him? Creepy, yet there has got to be a way in which it makes perfect logical sense, at least to him. I'd ask about that, among MANY other things.

The Joker

Yes, I'm well aware that he's a very popular villain right now, what with Ledger's posthumous award and society latching onto whatever he does simpy out of his former sex appeal. And I'll also admit, I never actually took the time to do the character research like Ledger did. I've never even fully read a Batman comic book. But the scene where The Joker is corrupting Harvey Dent, and where he's explaining to Batman his philosophy make it obvious, he's not just a criminal. The Joker took being homocidally insane and raised it to an art form. Beautiful the way the world burns, isn't it? If I were going to interview him though, I'd definitely want some sort of mental protection. He seems the kind of guy that gets into your head and starts throwing shuriken.

Millions Knives

This is a very obscure one, and not even as (quasi-)justified as the other ones mentioned so far, but no anime is complete without a supervillain. Knives is the brother of our gun-wielding hero Vash, who are both some super advanced form of human. Regular humanity depends on their powers to survive and thrive. Vash's ideology is to separate prey from predators, so as to save them both, illustrated when he tries to release a butterfly from a spider's web. His brother reaches in and crushes the spider. Logic behind this? If you're going to save the butterfly, the spider starves and dies anyway. So, later in life, Knives starts destroying humanity in order to save the butterflies that he, his brother, and the others like them are. Humanity is one big hungry spider? Sounds accurate enough. I'm probably better not talking to this one, he'd just shoot me and get it over with, since I'm going to die anyway.

Darth Vader

It's clear that despite how poorly the character was built, it is canon, and the story is there. (On a side note, C-3PO should have been directing. We saw that he was a baddass storyteller in Return of the Jedi.) His character is evil and hateful out of emotional pain. He tried so hard to prevent everything from going to shit, and in the end he still lost everything dear to him. Does he go home and emo it up? Nope. Instead, Alderaan. Enough said.

Michael "Schwartzwald" Seebach

Another obscure one, but I like it just as much because he can be seen as a bastion of my crusade. This journalist uncovered a massive conspiracy in the city in which he lived. The corporation responsible for the conspiracy tries to have him killed. This tempers him, and he goes on a mission of trying to "wake up" the public, to get them to open their eyes and see. In addition to this, somehow or another giant robots are involved. Anyone so obsessed with trying to get people to wake up and embrace knowledge that he goes insane is a winner in my book. A fun little video of his magnum opus speech can be seen here. A lot of the information is out of context, but it's still very stirring. "Is it a crime to try and learn the truth?" "Wake up! Don't be afraid of knowledge!" Perfect lines for the embattled intellectual.

Light "Kira" Yagami

As long as I'm on an anime tear, I might as well include the [adult swim] community's favorite, self-righteous killing machine. Light Yagami, the smartest student in all of Japan, happens upon a notebook in which if you write a person's name with his or her face in mind, they will die exactly as you wish. After some moral squabbling, he sets to purge the world of evil and criminals. As the most intelligent and most forward thinking (at least as the series puts him) he removes people with a swift and judicious pen. I'd love to see what I could learn from him, and ask him how much more progressive/regressive could a world without criminals be? Where do morals actually come into question? Is it merely all dictated by law? What dictates the law? I'm certain he would have a beautifully cold answer to all of these.

And lastly, just to refocus...

Me, when I finally snap.

I'm certain I'll have an entire crazed manifesto as to why and how I'll do it all if I don't wind up straightening my head.

Not really, I kid, I kid. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a physical two-sided conversation with youself though? Would it be the most interesting conversation ever? Or would it be perfectly silent? That'd be cool to try.

Well, that's it for now. Have any of your own, or do you simply want to say I'm wrong? You know where to go. Somewhere else.

Naw, I'm kidding. Put it in the comments section.

-The0

Edit: 03/16/2009

After considering the suggestion of one of my readers, I have added pictures of these crazed superstars (plus the dude I have chosen as my avatar.) I do not own the rights to any of these pictures, they are all owned by their respective companies. That's right, I stole them. Enjoy!

I hope I'm not Ethically Biased

I had the strangest thing occur today. I got off of work (which I am truly beginning to loathe, between managers, quality of product, and overall wage), and I went and did my job at a friend house, only to a degree that I enjoyed. I found pleasure in doing what I do. And what was stranger was the fact that my enthusiasm may have been infectious. I was able to get everyone present excited in the project at hand, and the end result came faster than we all expected, and wound out better than we were hoping. It was a good evening.

Now, my question on this whole course of events is, “Why don’t I feel this way at work?” What keeps me from channeling my enthusiasm and creativity into my job? I choose to blame those that have established themselves before me. I’m not going to blame them for working in the field longer than I have, that would be immature and “hot headed” for lack of a better expression. To go against anything that the tenured workers have to say might as well be asking if I could violently fuck his or her mother. Thus, any use of materials or additions that might be consider that might be considered fresh, new, entertaining, or creative, get stifled and belittled by my co-workers and managers. So, I feel like if I’m doing anything a bit unorthodox, it will get belittled and thrown back at me. It’s not like I’m trying to sell this, but with my performance, leadership, and results at my friend’s house, I easily could.

But maybe it goes deeper than that. I am beginning to think that I’m forever going to be that guy that shows up to work not wanting to be there. I'll be the guy that doesn’t believe in the product simply because he’s dissatisfied with his experience of making the product.

So, after a bit of thought, the solution presents itself. In order to move forward, I have to put my nose to this dissatisfactory grindstone and pump out the best possible product I can, sub-par though it may be. Once I happen to do that, if I remain unrecognized for it, I begin searching for a place of employment. I hope this can come to fruition, I don’t have long, I’m nearly certain the general manager has it out for me.

* * *

This post is dedicated to my mother (who continues to be there for me) and father (who for some reason continues to believe in me, and bails me out time and again when I fuck up.) I love you both with all my heart.

-The0

Apologies, It's technically my 2nd post.

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-The0

Deus Ex Kayceedee

It’s been a good week for me, relatively speaking anyway. Now don’t get me wrong, bills still suck and I’ve been exhausted all week, but I’ve had a number of great experiences that I plan to share with you. Followers of XKCD will nitpick me, and people who have no clue what it is will have a hint at how to learn and follow this glorious mindset.

The most exciting one comes first. In my eHarmony profile it says “I’m kind of looking for an XKCD girl,” which can be kind of vague, not to mention esoteric. That’s the beauty of it though. According to the way XKCD followers work, and indeed, as the rest of the techno-savvy world works, if you don’t know what XKCD is, you’re not an XKCD girl. The glory of this little diatribe is, Miss eHarmony Match did not know precisely what XKCD is or means. Does she give up and ask me about what the hell I was talking? No, no she did not. She googled it. She doesn’t even know that what she did there, perfectly qualifies her. I really hope I can win this time around. It’s been harrowing, and a hot nerdette is hard to come by.

Then there’s the second achievement this week. It can define the movement of the techno-savvy as well the self-motivated person who won’t let financial or technical restrictions stand in the way of what he wants. I was chatting with a friend who informed me several times during the chat of what she was doing at the time. These all involved different locations of a house or apartment. I was confused, and then she explained that she was on a wireless laptop. It made me jealous. I wanted to be able to type in bed, or look up recipes in my kitchen. I used to be a die-hard laptop user, but tides changed. I can’t remember why, but I’m positive it had something to do with gaming. My last laptop was purchased for me in 2000 as a reward for good academic performance. It was shuffled around family hands for a bit, and it was my college laptop from 2003 to its death in 2005 from unknown complications. It sat dead and awaiting parting in various boxes until a couple weeks ago, where I had this conversation with my friend. I wanted a laptop again. I disassembled the laptop in a last ditch effort, and located the problem, a destroyed power jack. Though a network of great friends, not only did it get repaired, but rebuilt and upgraded. I type tonight on a 9-year-old resurrected laptop. Total cost to me on this project? $0. That’s living the life in my book.

My cell phone also ceased to operate this week. I was cut off from my constant texts, emails, and my link to my electronic dharma. It really made me realize just how connected I felt to my small egocentric world and how lost I felt without my material trappings. My mother and I went to see how to get it working again, and found out that it would be an asinine amount of money to replace my phone (side note, everyone should check with their extended warranty or insurance provider on their cellular phone. I was apparently dropped the instant I got my last replacement.) We decided that was just wrong, and to search for parts online. We went and bought a cheap little Nokia to act as a “spare tire” that could be used by the family lines should anyone else’s phone break. I eventually learned that what kept me from fixing the phone myself was that I was simply doing my hard reset incorrectly, and I reset my phone. I did lose all my data though. Numerous text sessions from special people, phone numbers, recipe notes and addresses, all lost. The bittersweet lesson is that now though I have my window to my world repaired, I have lost my view. If you’re going to collect data, back it up, daily.

So, the week in summation. I like this girl a lot and I really hope she really reciprocates, because she’s my kind of people. I have built from ashes a new window to my electric nirvana. I have suffered information withdrawal, and I have learned the hard lesson that if you’re going to be the self-motivated information seeker with an unquenchable thirst for new technical, scientific and practical knowledge, do be certain to have multiple copies of it, aye? Live, learn, and love, ladies and gentleman!

-The0

Self-Referential Philosophy a Must

The thought occured a couple days ago that I am not a very good blogger. I'm usually just trying to find something over which to be angry, and trying to flaunt semi-proper grammar. I'm certainly no Cory Doctorow, and the crusade I'm on isn't a popular one. It's actually very offensive, and it's also hard to garner support for a crusade against socially accepted ignorance. Someone must carry the mantle though, and I choose to be that one! Take a stand with me! Sit down and read a damn book!

Back to my weblog though. I get a feeling that this is just my little jewel, if you will. A little thing I picked up because all the other (pseudo-) intellectuals were doing it. I maybe wanted to feel popular. I choose to draw from Saint Thomas More's Utopia. "Similarly, they pick up pearls when they find them by the seashore, and diamonds and garnets that are sticking out of fallen rocks. They never go looking for them though, but only collect them when they come across them by chance. They polish them up and give them to their children to wear. Little children take immense pleasure and pride in such baubles, but when they grow a little older they realize that only kids care about such trifles. Their parents don't have to say a thing. They become ashamed to wear jewelry of their own accord, just as our own children give up jacks, marbles, and dolls when they grow up." Is this collection of ramblings simply a little jewel which I show off to people, so they can see my pride in it? I suppose that if not, my writing and thinking processes will become more refined, and a higher quality post will be delivered unto you. If it is, however, I suppose I'll eventually just grow up, and lose my marbles.

Things are harrowing at this point. The bills are getting more plentiful, and at a rate directly inproportional to the funds. In a bad way. I think I just need to hunker down and do more work. If you keep working, something's bound to turn up, to paraphrase Harvey Pekar. On that note, I do have my résumé floating out there, and I am working on a plan. It involves moving to a cheaper place, and other fiscally responsible moves. More on that as said plan progresses.

As far as something turning up, I have an update. The lovely lady from the land of eHarmony and I have been communicating very regularly. We're in something of a pissing contest to see who can write the longer email, and we have a LOT of things in common. She's a very near match to the dream girl. Her last email to me was 9 pages long. I am, however, starting on that attachment/fear roller coaster. I'm starting to really like this girl, and I'm beginning to hope. That was the last thing that came out of Pandora's box, for the record. Knowing my luck, she'll find another guy before everything is over, or something else will keep everything nice and in it's status quo. That's not the attitude to have going into a possibly great situation, but hey, realism is a option too. Besides, I'm not even close to up to par to chase a girlfriend right now. Not according to my manifesto. But hey, we'll work and pray, and see where it all goes. It sure would be nice to get back in the saddle. 

I have to to sleep, I open tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Questions? Comments? Philosophical inquiries? You know where to put them.

-The0

The links, I must try them!

Between Nadya Suleman, Alfie Patten, Several choice individuals whom I choose to not name, and the church's view on population control, Humanity is wholly and dearly Fucked.

-The0

'Bout that time, eh chaps?

Well, here we are. Another Valentine's Day (or if you're one for clichéd humor, Singles Awareness Day.) This is just a temporary post, intended to fill the gap between work and midnight. A Valentine's Day post will technically occur after Valentine's Day. It'll be good. Patience, young Skywalker.

* * *

And we're back! Today is the one day of the year where single people are generally expected to be a little surly of their relational status. I have decided to have a slightly more positive outlook on things however, and stick to the man. Method of choice: sticking it to the women (Ha!)

Today I got up early and went straight to my computer. I didn't go through the thoughtful and loving process of cooking someone breakfast in bed. Instead, after noting that my case temperature was a little high for my tastes, I went ahead and gave my computer case a couple new fans and upgrades. No flowers and tasteful, considerate cards, just upgrades for my ultimate enjoyment.

I then went to go wash my truck. Ashley is my current valentine. She's been there for me when I've needed her, and has broken down but twice over the 40,000 miles I've had her. So I decided I'd do something nice for her. I cleaned out her crevices and trunk, and washed her, finishing with a wax job. This was time I could have been spending shopping for the perfect gift, or massaging, or waiting on some one's beck and call. Filling a void with stimulating and thoughtful, flirtatious conversation. I could have used all this time to make someone special feel perfectly beautiful, so I did. I polished up the one thing that's been here for me (unlike you, missy.)

Now, I'm not disillusioned. I'm well aware that my SUV is an inanimate object and doesn't have feelings. But the thing is that I spent the time and effort I could have used to make you feel pretty, making myself and my baddass toys even more baddass. Ha.

I then went to work. I spent time earning money to spend on me. No pretty dresses or fancy meals, just stuff that I want. I made myself a more positive force in society, instead of building a pedestal on which to place the object of my affection (which I did do with my truck and computer.) I just want to let you have a hint. I am fantastic as a boyfriend. I have never forgotten a birthday, or a special date, and I certainly know how to make a shining Valentine's Day. Thank you, ladies. I didn't have to go through the hassle this year. I got to work on what makes The0, The0. Today was my day, not yours. My gain, your loss. :Þ

And on that note, a curious thing happened today. eHarmony seems to have directed a charming young lady my way. We'll have to see how that turns out. Also, most of the females at my place of employment are single this year as well. A most curious occurrence, because I thought it was only me and my partners in crime. Not saying that a relationship is the ultimate accessory or validation in life, but it sure does help with the grind. Also, my "If they're hot, they're taken" rule was definitely brought into question. Curious.

Also, last night I watched American Splendor. It's about the life and times of a miserable man named Harvey Pekar, after he worked out getting a comic series made out of his life. I tell you, nothing makes you feel better about yourself quite the way like watching someone else's life suck does.

I'm simply rambling at this point. It's been a long day, and I had much bigger plans for this post. It seems to have petered out. Oh well. Have a nice evening.

That's what she said.

Side Note: I have made an addition to the previous post. Feel free to check it out if you have the will.

-The0

All Filler, no Killer

It's actually been a good couple of days. I am working near full time, making barely enough money to pay bills, and the band is doing well. I have been given a couple of days off in a row, and I tell you, I haven't been in this good of a mood/gotten this much sleep in well over a year. I am smiling. Hopefully this isn't my mind cracking (it may even be only a temporary thing) but I still need to make a post about something. So what to talk about? Why not music?

The following is a list of songs that I feel would be good "break-up songs." Not that I have had the recent experience of a break-up (there are prerequisites involved for that,) but with Valentine's Day approaching, and some of my readership being single, I figured that this might be of some interest. Linkin Park will not be seen on this list. Everybody already knows "In the End" by fucking heart.

"Vermilion" by Slipknot

This one is pretty clear. If just broken up, all some really want to do is just yell their brains out. This song helps you acknowledge the fact that the one you just had wasn't "the one," and regarding your "one," you may finally be able to tell yourself "She isn't real" and there's nothing you can fucking do about it. Life ain't Disney. Yell about it.

"The Game" by Disturbed

Don't worry, this list won't be all metal. Just most of it. Anyway, the refrain in here is for the man who was dumped or cheated, not the dumper or cheater. "Is she not right? Is she insane? Will she now run for life in the battle that ends this day?" I guess this applies in that all relationships can be seen as a battle which we all will lose until we meet our perfect partner, or at the very least, the person we find ourselves best tolerating. To translate and quote Rammstein, "Sex is a battle, Love is war." Which reminds me...

"Wo Bist Du" by Rammstein

"Where are you" is a song for that poor love-torn soul who just can't find that partner that seems destined for him or her. The assumed protagonist in the song winds up killing himself in a graveyard, and calls it sleep. The minor key of this song, the mournful vocals, and the mere opening lines make this a good song for the sad. Or suicidal. Hell, it's Rammstein, it's automatically a good song. You know what else is a good song?

"Amour" by Rammstein

This is a fantastic song, off of their 4th album, Reise, Reise. It applies with the lyrics of how love is a wild, ravenous beast which cannot be controlled. It preys upon you, filling you with burning desire and crazy longing. And the end of the song, "Love is a wild beast, and you fall into it's trap. It stares into your eyes, binding you in it's spell. Please please, give me poison." Awesome. Tell a guy that's just lost someone that's not what's it like. I'll bet it is, anyway...

"Take It All Away" by Cake

I'd post the lyrics, but that's too long and and it all applies. I will copy and paste the post bridge verse though. "Go, Go ahead and destroy this. Better come with an army. Are you feeling, feeling okay, baby?" It can apply to both sides of a breakup, plus it's got a very sad melody yet again.

"Pure" by Orgy

A lot of Orgy songs can apply to the recently single, but this one seems like it applies best to the very-long-term-recently-cut-short breakup. "You got the best of me when you said you didn't love me anymore." Priceless. I'm also a huge fan of the song "Inside My Head" but I think that more for the guy that's still embracing the memory, not the breakup.

"Right Where It Belongs" by Nine Inch Nails.

I was recently given this song, and I love the hell out of it. If you're looking for distortion, it's there at the end, If you're looking to just sing, this is for you. If you're looking to tell yourself "Maybe it wasn't all it was cracked up to be" just listen and try to enjoy it, sad-face.

"Just So You Know" by American Head Charge.

This is another one of my favorites, but I don't think anyone actually remembers this band. "I wish your body was not so warm to me" shows us that the protagonist misses the hell out of her. "And all it was was something beautiful, when tides and dreams don't seem so tall, at all." Dude, how much more passion could you cram into a final sentence to your ex? That's how I choose to interpret that line. But my best point from this song is where he begins to shout. "You won't save me. I can't save you." The context in which I choose to apply this is something about which I actually feel anger (There it is!) There are people out there who choose to take it upon themselves to find that pitiful excuse for a human and decide that he or she is going to be granted the world and all it's goodness in an effort to "fix" the subject. An example could be that one episode of Family Guy where Brian tries doing magic in order to get a new girlfriend, only to find that she's picked out someone who is a loser (and also not a dog.) It doesn't work. People can't be loved back into shape; it takes hard effort and strong will on their own part. "You won't save me. I can't save you." You can only save yourself. I think it applies anyway.

There are more songs that work really well. Blind Guardian and Nightwish have pepperings of lyrics here and there that can be matched up as you see fit. There are numerous indy bands that have perfect songs for exact situations. It's up to the listener, really. My tastes aren't nearly broad enough to render an unbiased opinion. The comments section is open to all you readers who want to put in your two bits. But just in case you can't reconcile your emotions, and you need to end it all...

"Hotel California" by The Eagles

Get in your car after midnight. Find a not-so-crowded road. Turn on this song (loop it if you have to do so) after you've been going for a little while. It is my stark opinion that before long, you'll have thought enough about everything to want to drive yourself into the nearest telephone pole, wall, or truck.

Don't kill yourself. I don't need the liability.

This is probably to be continued. Have a nice day, everyone.

-The0

Edit: 02/15/2009

One song that I really wanted to mention in the lineup in the first place was this.

"Don't Tread on Me" by Metallica.

Now, this doesn't have so much to do with breaking up. It's just a kickass song to which you can feel angry at someone. It's a war march against your ex, and you can't help but solidify your feelings at the jerk or bitch by shouting "So be it! Settle the score! Touch me again for the words that you'll hear forevermore!" and then you splice in whatever you want to say, at the top or bowels of your lungs. I think it's cool.

This isn't to deny all my lovely commentors. Those are all great tunes for the subject matter. I'm stealing a couple as I type this. Awesome.

So Be It, Friend No More

I was going to do a piece about trying to find a happy medium between eugenics and dysgenics, but I have a new enemy. Fate.

I have been trying to get my shit all the more together so that I could stop leeching off my parents, and start paying my own fucking bills, and start dealing with my own problems. You know, actually turn myself into that "positive force to society." But it seems the more shit I can finally figure out and pay, the more gets loaded on my plate.

I was headed back to my delightfully overpriced apartment with my little brother and his girl/friend, when suddenly I see those begrudgingly patriotic red, white and blue lights. I had just gotten finished picking up my truck from the repair shop, which was no fucking picnic, a bunch of money for the next few months while I pay off my rebuilt transfer case. I had also just gotten over a bad bout of 24-hour flu. I get pulled over, for apparently going 54 in a 40. I had kept a solid eye on my speedometer the whole time i had been accelerating. I never saw the needle go past 40. I thought it was nonsense. Plus, since I was just finishing picking up my truck, of course I forget my fucking wallet which has both my license and insurance information.

I had a knife sitting in my glovebox, which I had opened to try and find my spare insurance information. Now I know that constitutes a search of my vehicle. So here I am freezing my ass off on the curb while some guy gropes me in my "I'm feeling sick" clothes (which look like "Let's get high" clothes), and then he searches my vehicle. I have learned tonight that not only is a switchblade illegal, but also that there was one in my truck (I haven't cleaned out the thing in 6 months). So, I will say happily that I dodged a bullet and wasn't arrested and put on a felony because of an illegal weapon that I wasn't aware of, but fuck man. Why is the shit hitting the fan now?

I got three tickets tonight, and I hereby officially no longer trust cops. Sure I was let off very easy, but I'm still fuming over the fact that I was pulled over in the first place. I'm annoyed that I couldn't get a chance to say my policy number or my license number. I never got a chance to explain my little circumstance. Shit, I can't even remember how many times he asked me if I do drugs. Motherfucker. I am offically going to regard every cop as someone looking to fuck me over. I'm keeping an eagle eye on my fucking speedometer, so that the next time I get pulled over, I will know exactly how fast I was going. I'm not scared straight you see, I'm taking every chance I can to prove you fucks incorrect. Fuck you, Police. 

-The0

A side of Irritation, and a glass of Cliché, please.

I believe the tone of this web log has been set nicely, and I have had a bit of work since the last post. There are many injustices, or at the very least, habits about society that annoy and anger me deeply. Allow me to please present one of them.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter was once reported as having said that he would prefer to eat the rude. After dealing with certain people in exacting situations, I can understand the sentiment. Jean-Paul Sartre once said "Hell is other people." After simply observing how humanity interacts at times, I can see the motivation in that remark. The fact of the matter, as I see it, is that everyone needs to calm down, communicate, and for the love of God, remember what the word "respect" fucking means.

I'm never going to claim that I am perfect, nor will I claim that I know what's best. But honestly, would it hurt anyone to take the extra 0.5 seconds to say "Please", "Thanks" and fucking mean it?

Here's a situation with which I'm all too familiar, a nice example. Everybody is running around, and everybody needs somebody else to get something done. Do we cohere as a team? Do we realize that we each have our own work to do as well as get something done for somebody else? Not a chance. We shout what we need at someone, and expect it to come to fruition exactly after that shout. Not "I need five of these, please" or "As soon as you can, could you help me with _____?" No. It's everyone barking at each other, implying like their situation is the most important to grace the goddamn globe. Everyone is isolated on their own pedestals, professing their needs to be met by the underlings (or in the case of this metaphor, across to another pedestal). Disgusting.

Just the way we interact in American society is cold like that. People can scuffle over a bumped shoulder. Ladies yell their brains out at a barista who is simply trying to make it through the rush with accuracy and precision. Guys give hell to telemarketers, like cold-calling people for a job isn't tough enough. I think the worst way I've heard it put is "You have to earn my respect, I don't just give it away." Deplorable. 

Granted, my previous post was welling with hate and disrespect. It even may have been closed- minded and classist. But a core tenant of my being is to meet everyone with a smile and a chance. I shake your hand assuming that you already work harder than me. How hard can that be? I still say "please" to everyone I can and “thank you” at every turn when relying on someone. And for fuck's sake, I leave a tip whenever I can. It’s their time as much as it is mine.

The next time you have someone on your ass to get something done, don't be afraid to request a bit of courtesy. The next time your bartender is clearly slammed, order something simply, politely, and thank them when you get it. You’re going to get it anyway, why not just take a few seconds, go an extra step, and respect the people around you? Or do you not work hard enough to know what “respect” is?

-The0