Thursday, December 22, 2016

The Reason For The Season

Happy holidays! What? I didn't say, "Merry Christmas!" I must be a part of the supposed war on Christmas. You can't tell but my eyes are rolling deep into the back of my head. The Christmas season brings about wonderful things. It's a time of giving, a time for family, and a time for so many to get extremely butt-hurt if the Starbucks barista didn't wish them a merry Christmas. To some, there is a war declared on Christmas but Christ is the reason for the season so everyone needs to back the F off and leave our Christian holiday alone! I have no problem with celebrating Christmas. What I do have a problem with is when these Christians assert things that are actually false and then act like a dick to someone who was just trying to wish them a happy holiday season no matter what they believe.

First of all, Christmas is not the only holiday observed in the month of December. When companies ask their employees to wish people "Happy holidays," they are not declaring war on Christians or Christmas. These companies realize that there are consumers who celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa, etc. and they don't want to exclude anyone so hence asking employees to say the "happy holidays," line instead of just "Merry Christmas," which some may not celebrate.

But Jesus Christ is the REASON for the SEASON! Well, sort of, but honestly the reason for the season was technically the sun not the Son. The first mention of December 25th being called Christmas occurred in A.D. 324. Before that December 25th was a Roman holiday called, "Dies Natali Invitus" or "The Birth of the Unconquered." It was the birthday of the Roman sun god. Well it's Jesus' birthday too! Actually, not at all. We don't actually know the day the Jesus was born but we know what month and it wasn't December but rather September. So how did a day honoring the birthday of the Roman sun god become the day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus who wasn't even born in December? Well, in A.D. 323 Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion of Rome. On a side note, that's an extremely interesting fact considering the Romans persecuted and killed Christians the previous 200-some years. Another side note, Christianity becoming the state religion was not a good thing for either the state and especially not the religion. Back to Christmas though... After Christianity became the state religion all the pagan holidays were renamed and re-branded and December 25th went from the birthday of the sun to the birthday of the Son.

So Christmas' roots are just as pagan as Halloween, a holiday so many Christians boycott because it's pagan roots. Irony. So what is my point? Everyone needs to get over themselves. People who get offended by someone wishing them a merry Christmas, get over yourself! People who get offended by someone wishing them happy holidays, get over yourself! People who yell that Jesus is the reason for the season, get over yourself! Everyone need to move on and just get over it! If you want to chose to throw Jesus a birthday party on December 25th, who cares? Go for it! If you want to celebrate the winter solstice, who cares? Go for it! You are not better than the one who thinks opposite of you. So get over it, move on, have a merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

No Angels Here



Donald J. Trump is now the President Elect of the United States of America. Half the country is elated and half the country apparently forgot how the electoral college works. Yes you can win the popular vote and LOSE the election. It has been that way since 1804. It has now occurred five times in this country where a candidate has won the popular vote but lost the election. Happened in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and now in 2016.

Getting on social media right now is like eating a piece of gum after it fell on the ground on Bourbon St in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. You'll probably be okay but you risk ending up with sores in your mouth. Gross analogy but I stand by it. For a guy who voted third party like myself EVERYONE is annoying. The people spouting the "doom" of America are incredibly annoying. We are NOT doomed. America is not done for. Oh my goodness the melodrama! STOP! Perhaps more annoying are the people who say they were in tears thanking God that he sent Donald Trump to save America. Roll. My. Eyes. Trump is not a messiah, or an angel, or a prophet that descended from heavens on a cloud of love and hope. He's a politician that, like ALL that have come before him, spouted many promises that he may never be able to deliver on. That's how this whole thing really works. Just like how you no doubt lied or exaggerated (lied) on your resume during your job interview, politicians do the exact same. Stay woke lol.

But the absolute MOST annoying of all people on social media are the people acting like we missed out on one of the greatest nominees of all time. They act as though Hillary Clinton was THE ultimate choice of choices. Like she was going to be the greatest president ever! But that is simply not the case here.

We did NOT miss out on some incredible presidential nominee with Hillary losing. I personally think most politicians are corrupt (DTA) but the wikileak's emails PROVED that Hillary was/is corrupt! She bowed to banks and corporate backers, made back door deals, and took bribes. She colluded with countries that support ISIS. That's what we missed out on. In some way I am SO GLAD she is not in the white house. Trump is definitely not some great choice either. Yes, he has said some of the MOST OFFENSIVE things in this election. The truth is this election absolutely BLEW as far as our choices go. There were no angels here, just two turds. But make not mistake, it is still a GOOD thing that Hillary is not our president and people need to open their eyes and see the truth of that.

For me the bottom line is Donald J. Trump is the turd that beat out the other flaming turd. Now lets hope that he actually has a backbone and won't bow to corporations like the last few presidents have. Let's hope he actually is for the American worker. And let's move on from Hillary and stop acting like she was going to be great for America. She wouldn't have been! See you in four years.

Monday, November 7, 2016

What's Happiness Have To Do With It?

If we were happy 100% of the time, would we even know we were happy? Would we be happy if we had all that we wanted? Would that bring happiness in our lives? What even is happiness? And what does being happy all the time have anything to do with life?

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." These words are truth to me and you know what? That's alright; it's alright that life is painful. It's alright that life is not this hyper-happy thing 100% of the time. How would I even know to appreciate the happy times if I didn't go through so much pain in the first place? I would most likely take all those precious moments for granted. I don't think I would truly realize and understand how wonderful small happy moments are throughout our day, week, year, or life without the pain life brings. So, pain is alright because it helps me fully enjoy those moments of happiness when they come.

In comparison to the universe and the infinite, our life is nothing. A small blip on the map. A single breath. A blink of the eyes. It lasts a second, no, a millisecond. A lot spend that millisecond trying to make it happy the whole time and when they ultimately fail, they feel like something's wrong with them. They feel like something missing in their life because they're not happy all the time. But nothing is missing from your life. You're not happy right now? You're in a painful time right now? Well... That is life. None of us are promised some grand, happy, satisfactory life. Even when we think things like, "If I had more money..." we have to realize that won't make you happy all the time either. Why do you think there are so many unhappy rich people?

Acknowledging that life is full of pain is just a first step of realizing you're alright. But if you stay in a defeated mindset, because life is pain, that is wrong too. Instead of staying and living in the defeat of life because you're not happy, live your millisecond by taking each day in stride. When you're living out the pain of life press on. Keep going. Don't stop. Don't let it defeat you. It hurts. It sucks. But don't let it beat you to the ground. And when those moments of happiness come fully enjoy them. Immerse yourself those moments while they last. Don't let the pain creep in during those moments. The pain will come back. The heartache will come back. So don't let worry ruin those moments. My wife and I had a leaky roof for a long time. Every time it rained it was a reminder of our financial situation and how we couldn't afford to fix our roof. I remember one particular storm where my kids wanted to go play and dance in the rain. I had a choice: live in the pain and reality of a leaky roof or dance in happiness in the rain with my kids. When those small chances of happiness during our millisecond life come, truly let it envelope your mind, body, and soul. Let it consume you for that brief moment. Life may be pain and not happy all the time but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you or something missing in your life . It just means you have life. A completely normal life. A life that is a millisecond, yes, but a millisecond that so worth living.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Many Fight To Be The King...

Many fight to be the king but...





Just a little song I mixed up when I was bored a couple years ago.

Monday, October 24, 2016

I Am Not A Writer

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
Pablo Picasso


I really like to write. Whether I'm sitting down with my guitar and writing out some thought or feeling and putting it to music or just writing down random stories that come to my head, I really like to write. But I am not a writer. I mean, I just started a sentence with "but" so I think you can tell that I am not a writer. I used to write lots of stories when I was younger. I'd write stories of mysteries and murder. I'd write stories of angels and demons. I'd write write stories of dragons and knights. Somewhere down the road all that went away for awhile. I was like almost every kid in this world. You see, every kid is an artist, a writer, a dancer until they are told they're not good enough. Sometimes the kid puts the pressure of perfection on themselves due to something they saw on television or something they read perhaps. Other times that pressure of perfection is put on the child by their parents. But kids need space to be imperfect because true art will never be perfect.

Perfection is not a goal we should strive for. After all, perfection is in the eye of the beholder so in some way everything will be imperfect. I'm sure some could look at the paintings of Picasso and say it's not good or perfect but does that make it true? No, of course not. There will always be someone out there to point out why something is bad or wrong or point out mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are turn out to be what we like the most. Some of the greatest lines in movies were actually bloopers of the actor messing up what was written. While we should never shy away from CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, we absolutely should cut out people who are constantly negative. When did it become cool or good to tell someone that thing that they enjoy doing so much is garbage? When did it become the right thing to tell someone that they aren't good enough? When did we get the right to say something isn't perfect in the first place? Why not find enjoyment in what others enjoy? If someone likes to write but it's not perfect when it comes to the grammar, who cares? Find the beauty in it! If someone likes to sing but they're off key here or there, who cares? Find the beauty in that person and enjoy! If someone likes to paint... I think you get my point.

I really like to write and many could  read what I write and rightly say to me, "you are not a writer." When it comes down to it, I enjoy what I do and that's more important than someone else's definition of perfection. It's more important than your definition of perfection. And while I don't shy away from constructive criticism, I also don't freely open myself to everyone's opinions. When you put something online for the world to see, almost EVERYONE will be a critic. But their criticism and opinions, no matter how "right" they may sound to themselves, have no value or weight to me. There are people in my life that I trust will give great constructive criticism when I need it. But if you're not in that closed circle, you can save your comments of how to make something better. You can choose to enjoy with me or simply move along. There's that old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I think I prefer, "If you don't have anything nice to say, say something nice anyway."

This world is tough enough without us going around stomping on each others dreams and pleasures. So I'm going to say this: if you like to write, you're a writer. If you like to paint, you're an artist. If you like to sing, you're a singer. If you like to dance, you're a dancer. Whatever you like to do, you are that! Enjoy life because it's so short. Enjoy others lives because theirs are short too. Dream, believe, be.

PEACE.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Welcome To The Thin Skinned Era




Have we really gotten to the point where people are so thin skinned that they can't take a joke about who they're voting for? Yes... Yes we have. I truly don't understand how someone can pay for a ticket to go see a comedian and then take all the jokes so personally that they end up leaving. When it comes to cracking jokes at the expense of politicians, WHO CARES?! It's just a joke! It's comedy! To me it's no big deal at all and I think people need to lighten up a little bit.

This presidential election has divided so many and to be honest I'm not going to say that's a completely negative thing. Sure, you now know that you were friends with borderline racists but that's a good thing, right? Now you can distance yourself from them. Sure, your Christian friends are disgusted with the "immoral gays" but now you know they're ok with a guy bragging how he sexually assaults women. Hooray for Christian morals! And sure your other friends are absolutely fed up with government corruption but now you know they're ok with voting for more of it! Yay USA!

I think no matter who gets elected (it's going to be Hillary) WE ARE GOING TO BE FINE. Yes, it sucks that it looks like for the next four years we're getting more of the same but we will be okay. So learn to take a joke. Make fun of your own candidate (I'm voting for Gary Johnson so I have plenty of material too). And don't be so thin skinned. Oh and don't vote for Trump lol...

Seriously though.. Laugh! Because if you don't laugh you'll cry.

PEACE

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Monday, August 1, 2016

Vote The Bible?

A lot of people say we as Christians need to "vote the Bible."  I have even said those very words in the past, though I'll admit that I was more just repeating a line that I've heard a thousand times than truly thinking it through.  So now my question is this: what parts of the Bible should we vote?  Should we vote against men having the right to shave their beards and the sides of their heads?  I have a mo-hawk so I'd be a little put off if it was made into law that I can't shave the sides of my head.  How about making a stand against wearing different types of fabrics together?  Should we vote against women braiding their hair and wearing nice outfits?  Should we vote that women should never speak over men or be leaders over men?  I think I've found a new item for the platform of those sexist candidates.  Should we vote that women should drink cursed water/poison if her husband gets jealous and THINKS she MIGHT have had an affair, causing her to miscarry/abort any child that is not her husbands?  I mean after all, each one of those things are in the Bible (some even in the New Testament).

So do we vote for those things or in our efforts to "vote the Bible" do we get to leave out those verses and pick just the ones we like?

I think somewhere along the lines of "voting the Bible" it truly became 100% political and party partisan.  It became us picking one or two political issues and finding one or two Bible verses to back up our opinion.  Even if those verses were out of context we simply fell back on the words of "I'm just trying to vote the Bible like all Christians should do."  We took those verses and heard the (9 times out of 10) Republican candidate quote them and thought "See! They're voting the Bible just like me," and then fully embraced (though rarely admitted) our partisan bias because they were on the "right" side of the issue.

I don't know much about him nor do I know if he was the first to say this but last week Rev. William Barber spoke at the DNC.  Some of you will immediately write off his words because of where he spoke.  Again that partisan bias coming in.  In that speech he said, "I'm so concerned about those that say so much about what God says so little, while saying so little about what God says so much."

But it's so true isn't it?  You see God is love.  The Bible is packed full with a message of love.  Most Christians call the Bible a "love letter."  And yet so often Christians both politically and religiously use this "love letter" to create walls of prejudice, judgment, and hate.  Instead of not judging unless we ourselves want to be judged, we "vote the Bible."  Instead of taking the plank out of our own eye before worrying about the tiny speck in someone else's, we "vote the Bible."  Instead of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, we fight them on every issue all the while hiding behind the words "Vote the Bible." 

Are we really voting the Bible? Or are we hiding behind a certain political party that has decided to pick one or two issues using one or two Bible verses to spread their political parties agenda? 

At the RNC Senator Ted Cruz said we should vote our conscience in this presidential election.  I would both jokingly and seriously say that if you're voting your conscience you are going to find something wrong with every single person running for president and you might not be able to vote for anybody.  As of today I'm not decided on who to vote for.  I'm considering voting for Jill Stein (Green Party) or Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party).  My Republican friends tell me if I do that I'm basically voting for Hillary Clinton while my Democrat friends tell me I'm basically voting for Donald Trump.  Meanwhile I am rolling my eyes at the friends who are so married to their political parties they couldn't possibly vote outside of them despite having real issues with their own candidate.  Come on guys lol. 

I don't really have a solid conclusion to all of this, to the words "vote the Bible," other than it's basically impossible to vote the entire Bible especially seeing as half of Americans aren't Christians in the first place.  True freedom for all will always offend someone.  I will say this: God is NOT a Republican.  God is NOT a Democrat.  God is NOT a part of the Green Party.  God is NOT a Libertarian.  God is not a part of the Transhumanist party (now that's a weird party LOL). 

You know what God IS?  GOD IS LOVE.  Everything hinges on LOVE!

So next time we get into a political argument (and believe me we will because we're all human beings) let's remember our votes don't matter anyway according to the Bible. 😜

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

What's Really Important/Why I Quit My "Corporate American" Job (This is a vlog)





In this super honest vlog I talk about why I quit a corporate job with loads of "promise" and how it ultimately helped me learn what really matters to me in life. This is probably the realest I've ever been on here so I hope it helps.

Awesome ambient song I used:
What True Self, Feels Bogus, Let's Watch Jason X by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/




Tuesday, May 24, 2016

I'm Angry

Can I be honest with you?  I'M ANGRY!  So, so often I am absolutely angry.  I'm angry about a lot of different things.  I'm angry that I still live in the city even though I've wanted to move for years.  I'm angry that I have a few neighbors that are complete asses.  I'm angry that I have a former friend saying crap behind my back even though I have said absolutely nothing.  I'm angry that I'm broke every month.  I'm angry that I've needed new shoes since LAST YEAR but can't afford them.  I'm angry that I can't give my kids things they want because of not having money.  I'm angry that I blow my back out whenever I pick up my kids because of this dumb back injury.

I'm angry.  You could say I'm having a moment of weakness here.  But I can't sit here and act like everything is OK because, no, I'm NOT OK.  I'm sorry if no smile is thrown your way but I'm exhausted. 

"God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you?"  You ever feel that way?  Well if you do, then at least you're in good company.  The bible, especially in the book of Psalms, is full of people that are angry, upset, overwhelmed, and plain done.  Don't believe that watered-down "everything is awesome" fluff you hear on Christian radio. "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows.  It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it."  I think that's one of the realest quotes to ever be written in a movie.  Life is difficult.  Life will hit you hard.  Life will make you angry.  It's what you choose to do then, when you're down, that matters most. 

I can't say it any better than Rocky Balboa did: "If you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth!  But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not point fingers saying you ain't where you want to be because of him or her or anybody!  Cowards do that and that ain't you!  You're better than that!" 

So... Be angry.  Be mad.  Yell.  Scream.  But don't forget to GET BACK UP!  FIGHT!  TELL LIFE TO BRING IT!  And realize YOU ARE NOT ALONE in this struggle.  I'm with you.  And there are others with you as well.  Stand up and give life a black eye for knocking you down.  You're not a survivor.  You are a conqueror.  An ANGRY conqueror!


Tuesday, May 17, 2016

I'm A Barbie Girl

Confession: I've liked Barbie Girl by Aqua since day 1!  It's ridiculous and over the top and yet somehow lyrically deep in a way.  Is it a commentary of how we objectify women and create unrealistic standards for girls?  Or is it just a silly dance track that's super fun?  Either way I love the tune.  Whether it makes you laugh or makes you think there's something deeper to the song, I hope you enjoy my take on Barbie Girl.



Monday, May 9, 2016

Limbo Sucks

One of the worst feelings ever is having a long to-do list without the actual means to get anything done.  It's pure agony.  It's utter misery.  It's suckiness to the maximum!  You just sit there and stare at that list as it stares back at you mockingly.
 Will any of this crap ever get done?!

There's an old saying, "You have to spend money to make money."  Well what the hell do you do when you don't have any money?  You wait.  Waiting, how can I put this eloquently, FREAKING SUCKS!  I have quite a few things going on right now that are in that waiting/limbo/will-it-ever-get-done stage. And it is the least fun stage you can be in.  But, it is what it is.  That's life as they say. 

Perhaps what makes it difficult is the dreaded feeling of that thing that haunts your to-do list may... NEVER GET DONE?!  That feeling can sometimes cause us to do stupid stuff and try to force our way to get it finished/fixed/whatever.  But what happens when we try and finish something that we don't actually have the means to finish is it becomes something less than what we wanted and fills us with new frustration. 

Being stuck in limbo sucks!  But I find it's much better to wait it out than try to force it.  In the end it will turn out MUCH better when you finally get the correct means for completing said to-do item, whether that means is money, a special tool, the right partner, ect. 

So here's to all those of us that feel stuck in this limbo poo. I know it sucks to be here but we WILL make it out alive, cross off that nagging to-do, and move on to the next thing... Where we'll probably be stuck in another limbo... Ugh!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Ending On A High Note

J. R. R. Tolkien said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."  I'm 30 years old.  I'll be honest with you: I did NOT think I would feel anything about turning 30.  I figured it would just be another birthday like all the others.  But alas it was not like all the birthdays before.  Suddenly it was as if my entire life flashed before my eyes and I was disappointed about quite a few things.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living the dream I've had since being a small child.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living where I wanted to live.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living free from the fear of judgement of what others think of me.  Here I was, 30 years old, and nearly everyday played out just like the one before it.  It was like I opened my 30 year old eyes and only then realized I was starring in a real life groundhog day.

No, my life isn't a sad life.  I have a huge amount to be happy and satisfied with.  But I felt as if I had hit a plateau and was no longer going towards where I wanted to be.  There are many factors of why I felt this way but as I looked back I was partly to blame.  You see there were a multitude of days, weeks, even months where I chose to do nothing.  When it came to my free time I was content with vegging out and "relaxing."  I'm an introvert so I'm perfectly comfortable with doing nothing.  Except I'm not okay with it at all.  I crave to be creative.  I hate if a day or a week goes by and I feel as if I've accomplished nothing.  For some reason when I hit 30 I was flooded with these feelings.

Now those over 30 are probably rolling your eyes at me.  "30 is so young."  I know this but understand that I did not think I would be at nearly the identical spot I was at when I was 21 at age 30.  And yet, I may be at a very similar place but I am such a different person.  And that's what I choose to focus on.  I'm honestly not sure I believe in fate but I do think some things happen for a reason.  If I would have achieved my dreams at age 21 or so, where would I go from there?  Not to mention I was chasing something at 21 that wasn't truly my honest dream.  I was settling and listening to what others wanted more than what I wanted.  So perhaps I would've become a tired and bitter person.

My life is (hopefully) far from over.  But I honestly want to make the next 30 years more memorable than the first 30.  I want to DO things!  I want to CREATE more things!  I want to look back and KNOW that I LIVED!  We all have such a short time here on this planet that's flying through space.  So why do we waste so much of it just sitting around doing nothing?  Why are we content with making the focus of our days "can't wait to sit down and watch Netflix."  I want to repeat that quote from J. R. R. Tolkien I started with, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

SO GET UP AND DO WHAT YOU DREAM OF!  GO!  LIVE LIFE!



Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Fresh Thoughts

Just wanted to get some thoughts out while they were fresh on my mind.  Don't listen to hate.  Don't just ignore or turn away any compliments you receive either.  Try to stay positive and focus on good things.

And subscribe to the YouTube channel! lol


Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Monday, March 28, 2016

So I Have This Podcast Thing

Podcasts.  I love them.  I listen to them to learn things, to hear interesting guests, to laugh, & to kill time.  Some of my favorite podcasts talk about nothing!  And some have awesome guests!  One even had the President of the United States!  Yes we live in a country where our President was on a podcast.  To me that's a really cool thing whether you like the guy or not...

I love to talk about things I love.  Music, movies, WRESTLING!  With all that in mind my brother and I decided to start a podcast.  It's called AMONG THE FIRST PODCAST named after a music project we started along with the podcast.  What's the podcast about?  Literally anything!  Whatever we randomly think of we talk about.  We crack each other up to the point where sometimes we can't breath!  Our goal is to make this a great music/entertainment podcast which will one day include guests but all our interests will likely bleed through.  And we will always laugh our butts off through whatever we're talking about!

If you're a lover of the podcast world I'd love for you to give a listen sometime!  Below I'll post two episodes including a bonus episode where we discuss a thing we are BIG nerds about: Wrestle Mania!  If wrestling's not your thing check out some of the other episode's!

THANKS!