I want to keep my head some Saturdays
Just to know that I can do it well
And lose what insane spastic crazy ways
I fight to keep monstrous boredom quell'd.
But Oh the wondrous feeling crazy jests-
So bored and non content though I may be.
Inspired, Frantic, Creation at its best,
Though medium of work n'er can I see.
Caffeine: if you must taunt me like you do
Provide a means that I may soon unleash
Such energetic fury you ensue
On something wondrous which no one can reach!
Though now a force that plagues with sleepless night,
Soon I shall harness your creative plight!
Just sort of came to me... Maybe I finally did harness caffeine's creative power! At any rate, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Wake-Up Call to Live by Stan
Stan's essay, A Wake-Up Call to Live expresses the advise to live in the now and enjoy it. Stan stays away from preaching by using real life examples almost exclusively. He starts out with explaining how life gains complexity as it goes on, until death is near; this causes a person to look at things more simply. Then he goes on to show his experiences as a hospice volunteer, and uses those experiences to display the simplicity of the patients' actions and attitudes, and the lessons he gained from the situations. Finally he qualifies his feelings of how simple things are when in the face of death when he reveals that he himself is fighting prostate cancer. He uses a reference to a quote of Buddha's to open and close the essay. The tone of the essay is a solemn advisory one. Stan uses situations that tug at the heart string to bring out his point. He believes that people should value the time they have now, and not linger in the past or put too much in the future.
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=8005&topessays=3
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=8005&topessays=3
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Gun Control
I am a proud gun owner! I own a Ruger 10/22 and a Winchester M70. Both of these were gifts. I was proud to inherit the Winchester M70 from my uncle when I turned 16, and was given one of my father's Ruger 10/22s when I turned 13. I have a profound respect for my rifles, my father's rifles, my grandfather's rifles... In fact I have a profound respect for any firearm and their responsible owners. A firearm is much more than the killing device many nay-sayers make them out to be. A firearm is a work of precision engineering, a neatly crafted masterpiece of a talented and devoted artist, an effective tool for a wide range of uses, and a perfect channel for building focus, steadiness, and stark concentrated precision.
I find the movement to ban firearms baffling! I truly believe that many of the anti-gun activists have never had the pleasure of firing one. The reason I think this is because they make them out to be killing machines, built only for that purpose, nothing more. I can honestly say I have yet to kill anything with my M70. Less than 10% of the lead that has left the barrel of my 10/22 in my hands has been intended for a kill. I do hunt varmint, and I am looking forward to hunting an elk someday, but I use my rifles for far more recreational purposes. I agree that firearms are capable of killing, it was intended in their development, but some people need to open their eyes and see that there are new uses for firearms.
So what do I do with that other 90% of those shots out of my 10/22, and every shot fired from my M70? Well, this is exactly the type of shooting people need to try before they go ahead and condemn firearms so quickly. I really enjoy finding an area with no-one around for a safe distance, a good backdrop, and a flat line of fire. The last part can be adaptable. I generally scout the area first, to make sure there aren't trails or roads behind it, and to head rocks and hard surfaces to avoid ricochet. Then I place my targets, I like to challenge myself. I've shot at cans like any plinker, but the fun comes along when you pull out the little plastic army men, or tie a string tight to shoot in half. The more I have to try, the more fun it is. Then I load my clip or magazine (generally with the 10/22, 30-06 rounds are very expensive, so I prefer the .22's 5 cents a shot) and take my rifle out of its bag. Then I look down range, checking its clear, and insert my mag/clip and jack the bolt. I take a position, prone for focus, sitting for quick transition from target to target, and off hand (standing) for a real challenge. Once more, I check my line of fire, and put my cheek on the stock. I look hard, yet gently through the scope and breath slowly. In a fluid motion I click the safety off and touch the trigger. Holding the cross hairs tightly on the target, I slowly put pressure down on the trigger until its unbearable to keep it from pulling all the way. Suddenly the target reacts depending on what it is, and the shot rings out. In this moment I'm so focused it feels like the rifle is part of me. Its not always so serious though. Sometimes I load up 30 .22 rounds into a mag and see how quickly I can get them out while still staying on target.
The point here is that I'm exercising my focus and control, and having fun with it. Did I kill anything? Maybe that empty soda can resents my hobby, but no-one really got hurt did they. I find it disturbing that people can disrespect a firearm enough to shoot an Innocent person with it. It seems that these instances are what get anti-gun activist's panties in a bundle. They feel that no civilian should have a gun because some people abuse them. I, for one, would feel it a tyranny to have my rifles, my heirlooms, my gifts taken from me because someone else was irresponsible. If guns are so evil, why allow our police officers or service men and women to wield them. They wield them to protect, and any law abiding citizen should have this right. Guns weren't designed with mindless killing in mind, they were designed to protect the wielder and innocent people and friendly combatants around them. So why should I be deprived of my protection because someone misused a firearm?
Lets take a look at a country that has banned firearms. The UK prohibits the OWNERSHIP of any projectile device that delivers over a certain amount of joules of force. For a while, even their police didn't carry firearms, only a night stick. Many were very afraid that they would be killed on patrol. Why is this? No-one had a firearm, they were wearing bullet proof vests anyway.... They were afraid because criminals resorted to using knifes. A nightstick isn't very effective against a knife and a bullet proof vest doesn't stop a knife. This shows human nature. If someone intends to commit a crime, they will, whether or not they have a gun.
I agree that there is a problem with the abuse of firearms in this country, but the solution isn't all out banning. Instead, hunters safety courses should be required in education, this will alleviate gun accidents due to ignorance, and help people respect the power of firearms at an earlier age. Registering firearms also helps alleviate gun crime, and bring in those who commit them. People just need to remember that even if you take away all forms of weapon from a person, they are still capable of committing violent crime with motivation.
I find the movement to ban firearms baffling! I truly believe that many of the anti-gun activists have never had the pleasure of firing one. The reason I think this is because they make them out to be killing machines, built only for that purpose, nothing more. I can honestly say I have yet to kill anything with my M70. Less than 10% of the lead that has left the barrel of my 10/22 in my hands has been intended for a kill. I do hunt varmint, and I am looking forward to hunting an elk someday, but I use my rifles for far more recreational purposes. I agree that firearms are capable of killing, it was intended in their development, but some people need to open their eyes and see that there are new uses for firearms.
So what do I do with that other 90% of those shots out of my 10/22, and every shot fired from my M70? Well, this is exactly the type of shooting people need to try before they go ahead and condemn firearms so quickly. I really enjoy finding an area with no-one around for a safe distance, a good backdrop, and a flat line of fire. The last part can be adaptable. I generally scout the area first, to make sure there aren't trails or roads behind it, and to head rocks and hard surfaces to avoid ricochet. Then I place my targets, I like to challenge myself. I've shot at cans like any plinker, but the fun comes along when you pull out the little plastic army men, or tie a string tight to shoot in half. The more I have to try, the more fun it is. Then I load my clip or magazine (generally with the 10/22, 30-06 rounds are very expensive, so I prefer the .22's 5 cents a shot) and take my rifle out of its bag. Then I look down range, checking its clear, and insert my mag/clip and jack the bolt. I take a position, prone for focus, sitting for quick transition from target to target, and off hand (standing) for a real challenge. Once more, I check my line of fire, and put my cheek on the stock. I look hard, yet gently through the scope and breath slowly. In a fluid motion I click the safety off and touch the trigger. Holding the cross hairs tightly on the target, I slowly put pressure down on the trigger until its unbearable to keep it from pulling all the way. Suddenly the target reacts depending on what it is, and the shot rings out. In this moment I'm so focused it feels like the rifle is part of me. Its not always so serious though. Sometimes I load up 30 .22 rounds into a mag and see how quickly I can get them out while still staying on target.
The point here is that I'm exercising my focus and control, and having fun with it. Did I kill anything? Maybe that empty soda can resents my hobby, but no-one really got hurt did they. I find it disturbing that people can disrespect a firearm enough to shoot an Innocent person with it. It seems that these instances are what get anti-gun activist's panties in a bundle. They feel that no civilian should have a gun because some people abuse them. I, for one, would feel it a tyranny to have my rifles, my heirlooms, my gifts taken from me because someone else was irresponsible. If guns are so evil, why allow our police officers or service men and women to wield them. They wield them to protect, and any law abiding citizen should have this right. Guns weren't designed with mindless killing in mind, they were designed to protect the wielder and innocent people and friendly combatants around them. So why should I be deprived of my protection because someone misused a firearm?
Lets take a look at a country that has banned firearms. The UK prohibits the OWNERSHIP of any projectile device that delivers over a certain amount of joules of force. For a while, even their police didn't carry firearms, only a night stick. Many were very afraid that they would be killed on patrol. Why is this? No-one had a firearm, they were wearing bullet proof vests anyway.... They were afraid because criminals resorted to using knifes. A nightstick isn't very effective against a knife and a bullet proof vest doesn't stop a knife. This shows human nature. If someone intends to commit a crime, they will, whether or not they have a gun.
I agree that there is a problem with the abuse of firearms in this country, but the solution isn't all out banning. Instead, hunters safety courses should be required in education, this will alleviate gun accidents due to ignorance, and help people respect the power of firearms at an earlier age. Registering firearms also helps alleviate gun crime, and bring in those who commit them. People just need to remember that even if you take away all forms of weapon from a person, they are still capable of committing violent crime with motivation.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Alliteration
Angry apples ate appellation alpacas annexing aggressive avocado armament activists allegedly advocating amazing armadillo acrobatics after arranging archaic ancestral antiques. Nobody neglected negligent Nigerian nightingales nibbling narcissistic nannies near napping Neapolitan nematodes. Unfortunately uniform umbrellas undermined unaffiliated umpires, usurping understandings undercutting unfamiliarity under unemployed underwear.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Cache
If you think about it hard enough and from many angles, the current theory of morality is a fickle as a flickering candle flame.
Your thoughts that are truely geneous in nature are lost to memory's relentles hunger in seconds.
What it many mental disorders are mearly your internal flow of logic making its way around a dam that's blocking its way?
Your thoughts that are truely geneous in nature are lost to memory's relentles hunger in seconds.
What it many mental disorders are mearly your internal flow of logic making its way around a dam that's blocking its way?
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