I have loud neighbors. They have been loud for a while. I have never seen these neighbors, but I know a lot about them. I know they're nice enough to lend duct tape, no questions asked. I know they have a rocking sound system that can pump bass like a tricked out thug car. I know someone over there really likes their first-person shooters. I know that he can yell loud enough to be heard anywhere in my apartment. I know that sometimes she cries. They remind me of a song.
That song. It is a song I have taken to heart on more occasions than just about anyone knows. I cannot help but think that I should do something, if just to find out why he yells and she cries at three am. I hear one thing clearly from him, anger. One thing from her, apology. I don't know their circumstances, I don't know their names, I don't know their faces, but I hear things through the walls that make me want to be a better person than I am. I just don't know if I can. I don't know if it's right that I poke my nose in. Sometimes people just argue...
I don't know if it's the question or the answer that bothers me more...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
SOPA (or) Why the Internet is Dark
If you are on the internet today, you will find a curious thing occurring. All over the vastness of the interwebs, sites small and great are making a point. Some have blacked their logos, some redirect to a dark site, some have changed their front pages to a noir-styled declaration. All of this, the color of black, the non-functionality, the inconvenience... it is all to make a point. A simple point.
This is the internet of SOPA.
Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Google, DeviantArt, WordPress, Livejournal, all the sites you know and love can be taken from you with a simple accusation of copyright infringement. The words can be stripped from your own posts, left to rot in the caches of uncleaned histories, never to be seen again. Images you create because you love a character in a book or film can be torn away from the world. All melodramatic, yes, but true. The internet will be dark and a dark place with no information or ideas, no sharing of art and thought, even the trolls would find themselves adrift.
To some, it may seem a small thing. To some, it may seem out of proportion. Perhaps, perhaps. However when you look at something, anything, that involves the internet you cannot simply look at what it is doing, what it will be doing and what it can be doing. You have to look at how it will make things change and evolve and you simply cannot predict the ways in which the internet can react. The people that make it up ARE the people of the world and as such are as varied and vast as human beings can be.
America is a country of freedom. The internet is pure, concentrated freedom. If you wanted to you could create a world of your own. We cannot give up our freedom, not with the rules SOPA has laid down. SOPA is censorship, it is anti-freedom. If you do not make your voice heard now, you may not HAVE a voice. Take pride in your freedom and protect it with everything you have.
This is the internet of SOPA.
Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Google, DeviantArt, WordPress, Livejournal, all the sites you know and love can be taken from you with a simple accusation of copyright infringement. The words can be stripped from your own posts, left to rot in the caches of uncleaned histories, never to be seen again. Images you create because you love a character in a book or film can be torn away from the world. All melodramatic, yes, but true. The internet will be dark and a dark place with no information or ideas, no sharing of art and thought, even the trolls would find themselves adrift.
To some, it may seem a small thing. To some, it may seem out of proportion. Perhaps, perhaps. However when you look at something, anything, that involves the internet you cannot simply look at what it is doing, what it will be doing and what it can be doing. You have to look at how it will make things change and evolve and you simply cannot predict the ways in which the internet can react. The people that make it up ARE the people of the world and as such are as varied and vast as human beings can be.
America is a country of freedom. The internet is pure, concentrated freedom. If you wanted to you could create a world of your own. We cannot give up our freedom, not with the rules SOPA has laid down. SOPA is censorship, it is anti-freedom. If you do not make your voice heard now, you may not HAVE a voice. Take pride in your freedom and protect it with everything you have.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wonderful Little Moments
Last night we were laying in bed. Krissy was asleep and I was reading a new book. The window was open to let in a cool autumn breeze, enough to freshen the air but not enough to shake the glass.
It felt like a moment I'd lived a thousand times, curled up in awkward positions, pillow stuffed under my chin, a hot cup of tea at hand, engrossed in a Valdemar tale. There was a difference though. Every other time before this I had been alone.
I glanced over at Krissy and watched her for a moment. Almost as if to confirm to myself that she was really there, I reached out and stroked her cheek slightly. Even in her sleep she smiled.
What a wonderful moment.
It felt like a moment I'd lived a thousand times, curled up in awkward positions, pillow stuffed under my chin, a hot cup of tea at hand, engrossed in a Valdemar tale. There was a difference though. Every other time before this I had been alone.
I glanced over at Krissy and watched her for a moment. Almost as if to confirm to myself that she was really there, I reached out and stroked her cheek slightly. Even in her sleep she smiled.
What a wonderful moment.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
I Get It
Militant pro-lifers. I get it. The whole idea is to defend those who cannot defend themselves. I get it. Desperate times call for desperate actions. I get it. When all legal avenues fail we often turn to more direct methods. I get it.
As Americans we are told from childhood that everyone is unique and special and deserves a life to live and to live it straight into a 2.5 child family and a white picket fence.
As Americans we are told that it is OUR RIGHT to be heard, that our voice matters and that when people out there try to silence us we are to SCREAM UNTIL THEIR EARS BLEED.
As Americans we are told that a hero is someone who does what no one else will, and that being a hero is the greatest thing you can do.
As Americans, it is our responsibility to look at the actions we want to take, and weigh the lives lost against the potential, the POTENTIAL, for lives saved. As Americans we make mistakes and as Americans it is our responsibility to own up to them. To apologize for lives lost and to admit that maybe, just maybe, we did the wrong thing.
I get it. You want to defend the weak, to be the heroes, to have your voices heard while you STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN. You're American. It's what we do. But never can we ever kill to defend, be a hero when committing villainous acts, be heard while we knock others down. Because that is simply unamerican.
As Americans we are told from childhood that everyone is unique and special and deserves a life to live and to live it straight into a 2.5 child family and a white picket fence.
As Americans we are told that it is OUR RIGHT to be heard, that our voice matters and that when people out there try to silence us we are to SCREAM UNTIL THEIR EARS BLEED.
As Americans we are told that a hero is someone who does what no one else will, and that being a hero is the greatest thing you can do.
As Americans, it is our responsibility to look at the actions we want to take, and weigh the lives lost against the potential, the POTENTIAL, for lives saved. As Americans we make mistakes and as Americans it is our responsibility to own up to them. To apologize for lives lost and to admit that maybe, just maybe, we did the wrong thing.
I get it. You want to defend the weak, to be the heroes, to have your voices heard while you STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN. You're American. It's what we do. But never can we ever kill to defend, be a hero when committing villainous acts, be heard while we knock others down. Because that is simply unamerican.
Friday, April 8, 2011
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