Unclenching my Fist...

I figured I would give my take on yesterday's Inauguration. I'm sure it's been written about ad nauseum, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want. besides, being a very opinionated person, I'm sure my thoughts matter immensely. That's what the internets are all about, right?

First of all, I don't mean to blame my bitterness and cynicism in life on George W. Bush. I've never met the guy, of course, but he seems rather boob-ish and ignorant. Were he some uncle that I only saw at family functions, I would laugh at his antics, such as forgetting the names of foreign dignitaries and not knowing the old "Fool me once..." saying. But where he was, in fact, the leader of my country, and he sort had the fate of millions in his greasy, dumb hands, yeah, no, I wasn't laughing. I spent the last 8 years hating him. And I use the word hate here in the way it was intended. I get annoyed by a lot of things (mostly everything), but I reserve hatred for the really bad things, like George W. Bush. And Dick Cheney. And the fires of Hell.

Eight years is a long time. It's a long time to carry hatred in your heart. For awhile, I hated my ex-girlfriend for racking up charges on my credit cards and forcing me into debt and despair. But that faded with time. I also hated another of my exes for awhile, because she was just a stupid bitch. Now I just pity her for being a stupid bitch, because she is stupid and couldn't help herself. The hatred faded. Time heals all wounds.

But I did hate George Bush and Dick Cheney for 8 years, and it never faded. So, while I don't blame them directly for the state my life is in, it weighed on me to carry that around all that time, and certainly didn't help matters. The fact that he was flushing the country down the toilet, and made very few decisions I actually agreed with, didn't help, but I hated him from the first time I even heard he was running, and the fact that people actually voted for him, twice, made me hate him and most of the country. How could people in this century be so blind? Not all of them were, of course, since he didn't actually get the majority of the votes the first time, but... Deep breaths. It was 8 years ago.

I think now the hatred can begin to fade a little. Granted, we're still in a gigantic mess that will take years to clean up, but watching the Inauguration yesterday, knowing that there were hundreds of students in the lobby of CGS watching it on TV's that I had set up, and several classes were watching it on projected laptops that I hooked up (small feats, I know, but it's something), I was washed with feelings of hope and happiness for the first time in 8 years. And it felt wonderful. I may never not hate Bush and Cheney, but I can stop carrying it around so much, because I know we are headed in the right direction.

Who You Run With

In case you missed it (and I'm sure most of people did), Bruce Springsteen won a Golden Globe for "The Wrestler" last night. The song is awesome and is available on iTunes right now. Go buy.

In my journeys on the internets, I recently came across an article written by a guy who has received this nugget from his grandmother:

"Show me who you run with and I'll show you who you are.'

I really liked that one right away. Bet then, I always tend to go crazy over marvelously pithy phrases like that one. Then, I started to think about it a little, and it might not necessarily be a universal truth. It probably could be applied to people who run with arch-criminals (which would make them criminals themselves), but not everybody. I know it means to say a lot to people about their identity, but I think the key is the first part.

I like to poke fun at comic book nerds a lot, which is strange because I buy my share of comics every week. And read them. And file them neatly in a box by number. However, I always felt that the fact that I can separate fiction from reality set me apart from most comic book fans. In effect, I do not run with them. Probably because I'm too judgmental.

But why should all comic book readers be lumped together? There are sports fans and then there are people who paint their faces and go to every game and yell and holler at anyone who will listen about how great their team is, regardless of how great or awful their team really is. It is universally accepted that these people are crazy, but not all sports fans are. However, I feel that all comic fans are sort of lumped into one category: geeks. Despite the fact that there are levels of fandom, just as there are with everything, most people lump us all into the geek group. So, I don't always tell women that I hope to sleep with one day that I enjoy reading comics. maybe I'm just being paranoid.

The point being that I don't run with them. So, who am I, is the question. Who do I run with? Back in high school, with all the cliques and groups, I enjoyed being a sort of floater, a friend to all yet not really "running" with any particular affiliation. Clearly, I was much less cynical back then, but hopefully, I still am that kind of person. Hopefully, I can still be a friend to all. I remember several years ago when I was with my ex-girlfriend and my car had broken down and had to be towed. She marveled at the fact that I could make small talk with the tow-truck driver all the way home, like I was his best buddy, even though he was talking about the weirdest shit you can imagine. We were not similar at all (he was a burly, foul-mouthed tow truck driver. Probably not a comic book reader.) I would not run with this person, but I can carry on a conversation with him.

My floating ability will be put to the test soon enough, I suppose, as I just joined the AHS Class of 1994 Reunion Group on Facebook. Wow. Hey, a least Facebook can be good for something. Truly, can I still be friend to all, after 15 years of cynicism and bad breaks? Will people remember me for the guy I was, or the guy I thought I was (who was kind of a weiner.) It will be interesting. Hopefully, I'll be better dressed at the reunion that I was in high school, at the very least.

So, who do I run with? Sometimes, I think it's no one. Sometimes, it seems like it's everyone. I guess that's why I'm so conflicted all the time, because if who you run with determines who you are, and you don't know who you run with, then you may have a hard time figuring out who you are.

Life'll kill ya.

You're It!

So, my friend Jay tagged me recently, and I completely missed it until now. The idea pf tagging someone's blog is that you are supposed to link to them and "spread the word" so eventually we will all read everyone else's blog and will no longer need to talk to anyone, which will be fantastic.

Seriously, the rules of this game of tag go like this:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs
4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Simple, right? Sure, except I don't read 7 blogs that I could link to, or anyone else who would bother going to read them even if I did (my friends are a rather unaffected and lazy lot). Also, the idea of sharing 7 random facts about myself disturbs me. For one, I pride myself on speaking my mind a good part of the time, so for me to come out with 7 new, random things seems like I will have to dig deep, which, I suppose, is one of the points (It's a learning experience. Awww.), but it still bugs me out. BUT, I am a writer and so will do the best I can.

Ahem...

#1. I am not a big fan of red meat. It may be the blood, or the sordid-ness of killing a furry animal, but I have no problem eating chickens, because they are so weird-looking (and tasty!). However, I love bacon, pepperoni and hot-dogs, so you figure it out.

#2. I am not nearly as angry at the world as I appear to be. In fact, I am kind of a happy person. I am, however, very opinionated. People seem to get confused.

#3. I can not eat dinner in my apartment without watching something on TV, but I have to have it picked out before I start eating. I can't eat and channel-surf at the same time. In fact...

#4. I rarely channel-surf at all. I am not a fan. If I don't know what I want to watch on TV, then I can probably be doing better things.

#5. I feel religions are bad. All of them. We should all believe in whatever we want, but religion has been the cause of more needless wars and deaths than anything else I can think of. They should all be abolished.

#6. The Internets have given everyone (especially me) license to think they are more important than they are. Go read some facebook status messages and tell me I'm wrong.

#7. Most of the things I spend my life bemoaning (movies, comics, marriage), I actually really like. I just have high-standards for them. I don't see this as a problem. Why settle, right?

I guess that's about it. Let me see if I can come up with a few blogs to tag:

The Ed Zone (mentioned in a couple other posts)

Teacher Trenches (A shout out to my brother)

Indecision Time (My friend Mike, who I think just uses this to tell everyone what he played on his radio show. But at least it's a plug, right?)

Well, to be continued, I guess... Unless I can't come up with anymore. hey, I've written two posts today. I need some rest.