Discerning the Dominant Chimp
It's all in the attitude. We're all just a huge collection of stereotypes and cliches. Admit it to yourself and you'll feel better. I promise.
"Taxation is Theft."
"Taxation is theft" is a phrase I've been seeing a lot lately. Famous "Libertarians" like Penn Jillette are pictured with some quote remarking that taxation is equivalent to the government robbing us at gun point. Which is fine. He's allowed his opinion about that, and I certainly agree with Jillette on other things (his story about becoming an atheist is great, I think).
So, I want to work through this, on the internet, so that we can all be on the same page.
If taxation is theft, and theft is wrong, let us stop taxation.
Outta Sight, Outta Mind
In our daily walk through the paths we choose, we all want to feel important. This is as universal as breathing oxygen to live in the human condition. It is the reason behind our rage and sense of victimhood. It is the driving factor within our desire for connection with others.
To somehow find people in our lives who see us as being worth sacrifice and loyalty, commitment and love.
To be seen and treated as if we are of import.
Recovery
We're all a little bipolar. The fucking planet earth is bipolar. We all vacillate between happy and sad.
Notes from the Post-it Wall – Week of June 4, 2017
• All this talk about Wonder Woman being the first major motion picture featuring a female superhero… Uh, hello, sheeple! Is Barb Wire not major enough for you?
A Decade in Chicago, Ten Years of Mastering Disappointment
Finally, after a decade of imagining it, I had arrived in Chicago. The Big City. Home. Although I didn’t look the part, I was ready to take the place by storm. Within three months, it was clear that instead, Chicago was going to bend me over its knee and spank my ass red with the rotten corpse femur of Daddy Daley while I helplessly, and more and more self-destructively, took the beating like a frightened little bitch.
Between Generations and Happy to Steal from Both
"When I ask older people,* they say it's the smart thing to get a stable job with benefits and a secure salary even if I don't like the job. When I ask younger people,** they tell me to take time off, that it's completely fine to jump from job to job until I find something that, I don't know, fulfills me."
* Older than 33.
** Younger than 33.
My friend is leaving her job. It seems things are getting fairly dismal over at my former place of employ and that, perhaps, I got out while the getting was good. Unlike me, she's leaving without any kind of severance package and is a bit lost in her Next Step on the Journey sort of deal. She wanted to grab lunch and see how I'm doing as a gauge for what comes next for her.
"You don't seem to fit either category. What's that all about?"
I Believe... [Bill Maher Needs to Channel Lenny Bruce]
...that if Bill Maher wants to say the word, he should take Lenny Bruce's cue and say it so many times it becomes meaningless or makes a point. The casual dropping of an intense racial epithet is exponentially worse in its flip and careless use.
Diversifying Your Identity Portfolio to Become a Real Live Person
Identity is that which we find our own self worth. It is the moniker we decide is most representative of our essential I—being professionally successful, being highly educated, making a lot of money, being an excellent parent, being pious and faithful in a chosen religion, being socially and/or sexually popular and desired, being physically attractive or beautiful. It includes areas that we have no control over but decide to embrace—our skin color, our gender, our sexual preferences, our physicality.
Race and gender and physicality are born-in traits but the choice is not to erase them but to either embrace the stereotypes laid upon skin color, sexuality and disability or buck those stereotypes. Culture, hair style, language—the trappings of the outward display of identity—are all conscious choices.
What you choose indicates what you value in life.
Do You Have a Personal Relationship with Joe Janes?
"Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?"
Ordinarily, I just avoid the spiraling pit of nonsense discussion that entering into this question/trap opens up. I know that the fact that I do not have a personal relationship with a long dead carpenter who, in legend, resembles Paul Bunyan crossed with Smokey the Bear is going to start a pseudo-psychological debate about my life and the void that I have in it.
Not this time. Just not in the mood.
Wonder Woman Movie Leads to Gender War and Potential Human Extinction
Living Two Lives is Like Walking on a Razor's Edge
It points out that I live two lives every day: the one that engages in face-to-face conversations and takes walks in my neighborhood and has a beer (or two) with people, and the other that is immersed in the screens in front of my face.
Move with Purpose (or The Removal of Unnecessary Motion)
One of my personal favorite shorthand directions when working on a staged play I stole from my second ex-wife.
"Move with purpose."
So simple.
Translated it means that if you are going to cross from point A to point B, have a reason to do so that connects with the character's life in the play. It funnels down to mean that all movement, down to scratching your face or tying your shoe needs to connect with your purpose. As an actor, it's an extremely helpful tool as I have a tendency to move around a lot with no function other than I just have lots of freakin' energy.
Notes from the Post-it Wall — Week of May 28, 2017
• When I see an American flag as a decal on a pick-up truck window or a bald eagle presented as frightful and violent instead of regal on a decal, hat, t-shirt, etc., I get a little nervous...
The Rhetoric of Separatism
The fecundity of division is easy. Is someone black? They go in the Black Category. Wearing a blue uniform? Racist Thug Category. White? White Supremacist Category. That rhetoric, however, is only good for inciting division. And division is the opposite of the solutions to create and maintain a fair and just society for every single one of us.
I Believe... [Snake Plissken vs Johnny Castle]
Is Emotional Labor the Same as Working Construction in Your Dreams?
There is a misconception going around that having a conversation about difficult subjects is hard. That the very idea of sitting down with someone who vehemently disagrees with you is so taxing that the potential results of common understanding and forward momentum are simply seen as not worth the effort.
I'm not buying it. And I don't even like Heineken.
I Joined Quora and Now Am Filled with Despair
As a piece of the freelance journey and in a desire to increase my online visibility (online presence and freelance work go hand in hand these days) I was advised to join Quora. Quora is a a social network where people can ask questions and, ideally, receive answers from experts on the subjects.
In principle, it works. In practice, I have been struck that either many of the questions are generated by robot or there are just too many lazy, stupid people in the world for me to be able to grasp.
The Moment Before Blowing Out the Birthday Candles
A birthday wish is not something to be taken lightly. This is not a simple loose eyelash or a shooting star you’re wishing upon. This is your birthday wish and you only get one for the year. It needs to count.
Worker Bonuses, Fresh Ingredients and No Advertising
My experience has indicated to me that money (and the focus on business over quality) is like red onions. A little bit is a nice addition to your burger but even a bit too much makes the whole sandwich taste like nothing but red onions.
There is a way to make millions without losing your soul to the Greed Virus.
The second voice arrived on Thursday morning while Monte was attempting to make toast.