My movie

This is a link to the oh-so-fabulous movie Dylaan and I made...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMkQ9QPRu2Q

You're not that talented!

Hey people who think you can drive and multi-task--you are not that talented. I am referring to the stupid rubberheads who actually think they can talk and drive. Why don't you just have a few beers before getting on the road and seal the deal for a frickin' accident waiting to happen. And I can see you on your phones driving just saying, "blah, blah, blah, I can't stand to only drive because I might have to formulate a thought!" I mean really, who the hell are you talking to and is it that damn important? I think not! So shut the hell up and drive or yap away and don't drive, but don't think for a single second you are talented enough to do both--moron!

Stupid people

Really, I am planning on dedicating this space to my rants about stupid people! There's so much material with the upcoming election. And let's not forget how far I commute--stupid people abound on the interstate highway system!

Get green people!

As someone who enjoys shopping, I inevitably buy things (mostly over the internet) and lately I have become disgusted by the amount of packaging that is so unnecessary. For example, I bought a jar of cream for my face and the amount of packaging would have kept it in tact if it was shipped from frickin' Mars. Do we really need all this packaging? I have tried to limit the amount of packaging I get by recycling plastic bags, using cloth bags and asking for as much stuff as possible to be put in one bag. But I have little impact over products I buy that are packaged. Is anyone out there trying to inform businesses about how to go green?

No shirt, no shoes, no conviction, no service

So the owner of a restaurant refused to serve O.J. Simpson because of his convictions that Simpson is guilty of murdering his ex-wife and friend. I see a few problems with this scenario. In a society where people are innocent until proven guilty, we tend to forget this. Whether we believe Simpson is guilty is not the point. A jury of his peers said he was not. End of story. Can we then refuse to serve someone because we believe the jury made the wrong decision? We put a lot of faith in our jury system and we believe this is the best way to determine inncence or guilt. There are plenty of problems with the judicial system, but it is the best system we have and hopefully those who are wrongly convicted will get some form of justice. Until we can know for sure that soemone is inncent or guilty, we have to keep our faith in the system. Otherwise, we are inviting chaos into our society and there already is enough of that.

Protecting Obama?

CBS News has decided to not allow posts anymore in response to stories about Barack Obama because of the racial slurs that seem to be following. It's really quite sad that the media needs to censor parts of it because of the comments that some people make. But once again we get into First Amendment rights. Blogs, wikis and such allow people an outlet for speech. Perhaps it is the anonymity that makes blogs so troubling to people. So where do we draw the line? Do we allow hate speech? This country was supposedly founded on the right of free speech, but what happens when we don't like what that speech is saying? Most people agree that hate is a negative, unproductive emotion, but since we are all different human beings and have differing views, it becomes difficult to limit certain types of speech and not others. Blogs are open forums and although they are limited in certain ways structurally, the ideology behind them is free flowing information. If we curb that information, aren't we altering the structure of blogs, the very thing that makes them unique?

The cicadas are coming!

So we are supposed to be inundated with cicadas soon. For those who get all squelchy from bugs, you have my sympathy. If this happened with snakes I wouldn't leave my house for the six weeks. (Thank goodness for technology, I really wouldn't have to). I don't remember the last time the cicadas came which means it either wasn't that big of a deal or I blocked it out. I do the latter often, but I don;t think so for this. I'm going to take our buggy friends in stride and just be amazed at the whole event. And if it really sucks, well, you won't have to deal with it for another 17 years!

Virginia Tech fallout

So a straight A kid at Cary-Grove high school got in trouble for a creative writing assignment that apparently was a bit dark for the school administration. I understand the cloud of paranoia the country rests in after the Virginia Tech shootings, but I wonder how far we will let this go. Anytime there is a disaster I worry what new civil right will be in danger of becoming a fond, obscure memory. This seems to happen after a school shooting where we take a closer look at kids. But then we seem to forget after a few weeks and another tragedy happens and then we pay attention again. Perhaps the key here is to pay attention all the time. I do not advocate stifling someone's creativity no matter how dark. I'm sure Stephen King seemed like a possible serial killer when he wrote things in high school, but nobody suspended him. The question then becomes when do we intervene? If we don't figure this out, we are in danger of sliding into a minority-report like scenario where we punish people for possible crimes they are going to commit.

Virginia Tech shootings

Most people have commented on the tragedy and the social ills of life that are associated with this horrible massacre. Working at a university definitely gives you a different perspective. It's frightening to think that there was a student who was so unhappy, that he or she felt the only way to deal with it was to take human lives. We see students everyday and it is true they are frustrated by life sometimes, but so is everyone. People are questioning whether the university acted appropriately. I can only imagine what I would do if in the same situation. Oh wait, I can't because no one could unless they were in that situation. Let's hope none of us ever are.