(Parts of this post are modified from a recent post on my new blog, Casa de Cass, which can be read here)
Yes, “On Death”. That simple, that plain. Though, I’m not going to necessarily tackle to topic of Death itself (something for a later post, I think). This post is kind of how I dealt with Death recently. Because it’s been coming at me from every direction, and as a result, plans to blitz through tons of writing these past few weeks stalled out and my initiative and motivation were squashed.
A small subset of the already small subset of people who actually read this blog have had a particular interest in my plans to write a novel. A good number of them have been so kind as to volunteer to proofread drafts of the first few chapters, and you guys have been awesome. And I’ve gotten a good number of questions about when they’ll be getting the next chapter. Well, I’m sad to say that the last chapter I sent out was the last thing I worked on in the book. I totally fell right off working on it once the Fall Semester started up and I’ve not put a solid minute of writing into the thing since I stopped.
If you’d had me in your blog reader or as a friend on Facebook or whatever, you might have noticed I’m back to writing again after a very long silence. So, I’m sure someone who has been checking for activity so long might wonder what I’ve been up to. Well, a lot, actually. And I’ve got a very good reason for why my blog writing and novel writing went to a trickle, really.
For this article, I’m requesting that the reader set aside their preconceptions– I kind of always do, but this time, I feel I have to be quite vocal about the importance of this to understanding where I am going with it. In this case, I’m going to be discussing something that really doesn’t seem to be thought about or discussed openly, even in some of the most avant-garde and bohemian philosophical circles. Maybe the issue is considered settled among them, but I’ve not quite had it explained to me well.
The subject is Time itself.
Well, Obama’s been in office for about a year and a quarter, and in that time, I’ve seen Hope and Change flood down the tube pretty rapidly. Really, the guy made a lot of campaign promises, and he’s lived up to a lot of them on the aggregate, but only if you take every individual policy separately and break them down– and even then, many of them he’s only technically done.
So, we got our “historic” health-care reform bill. No single-payer system, no public option, nothing except a mandate to make everyone buy into the same crappy insurance we’ve already got. And boy is it crappy. I had better when I was on my father’s military insurance, and the policies there were draconian, to say the least. Instead, I get to buy into an insurance plan that won’t cover my needs, because almost no policy exists that covers my personal needs.
(This piece is going to be particularly long, because I’m going to cover a variety of subjects in one article to make up for my epic failure of “BLOGSPLOSION”.)
A constantly replicating problem for me during debates I have with people regarding the American political process centers around the notion of rights and what they mean to us. There are many individuals who ironically refer to themselves as libertarians, who somehow believe that human rights are limited only to those things spelled out in the Constitution of the United States of America. Besides being blatantly wrong by the very words of the Constitution itself (Amendment IX), it fails to account for the fact that humanity exists beyond the borders of the United States. View full article »
I received an e-mail not too long ago:
” I would like to support your trip…and you…,but I need to know your beliefs. I am neither party either.”
This is my response:
“Put very simply, I believe that we as human beings all deserve the best healthcare we can get, and that if our government can so easily find money for tanks, bombs, bailouts and bridges to nowhere, then it can find the money to ensure that no one in this country dies because they lacked for funds. View full article »
Well, I don’t know how to say this, but something in me just kind of snapped. I’m sick and tired of feeling helpless, of not being able to get my voice out to the people who can make a difference. So, I’ve decided to take things directly to Washington. I’m gathering donations and selling what things I can to get up to D.C. as soon as possible to talk to as many people in congress as possible, and maybe even the President. View full article »
There is a story behind how I became the Sports Editor of The West Georgian, when I myself have very little experience as a participant in sports or similar activities. I figure it’s interesting and serves as a good springboard for talking about sports themselves.
This is my third year working for The West Georgian, the student newspaper for this university. I’ve been a staff writer and an Ombudsman (abuse sponge) and worked hard because I believe in the mission of our paper: To provide news to the students and to provide a venue in which students can get experience delivering the news. View full article »
“Not exactly what you’d call a going concern, eh, Lieutenant?”
Dances With Wolves
Wow. I…uhh.. hate to admit this, but I almost forgot about this site! Shocking, I know. I’ve been up to my eyeballs in schoolwork, newspaper stuff, club stuff, and on top of all of that, I got pneumonia! So, now, I’m recovered and back to 100%. View full article »
Recently, a friend of mine seemed to think that I’m some kind of flowery peacenik hippie liberal who hates guns and seemed surprised that I wanted to buy one. This seems to be a common mistake, I think; there’s a strong correlation between people who favor policies like a robust social safety net, Universal Health Care, rehabilitative corrections and those who favor gun control. Problem is, it’s not a direct causal link. My anarchist attitude towards life requires individual self-defense to be a high priority, and as a result, I must say that I’m a hardcore gun nut.
I’ve not made any updates lately since I’m currently dealing with moving, getting bills covered, preparing for the next semester and trying to relax a bit after a stressful summer semester. I did 15 hours in the summer, which is pretty crazy as far as I see it, and walked away with a 3.20 GPA for the whole thing. So, I think I did pretty good. Especially considering I did that while writing for here.
So, while I apologize for the lack of content lately, please understand why I’ve not been updating. I’ve not forgotten my loyal readers.
It got posed to me earlier today by a friend about the issue of refusing to read the works of an author whose personal opinion you offends you deeply. Basically it goes like this: Orson Scott Card, the famous (some would say infamous) author of the bestselling “Ender’s Game”, has made many statements which are fairly homophobic. He’s referred to gay marriage as marking “the end of democracy in America”, and supports laws banning homosexual behavior to make an example of people who engage in it, among other things. A friend of my friend asked her to try reading some of Card’s works, pointing out that his fictional works have nothing to do with his political statements, but my friend refuses to give him a chance, because his public statements have been deeply hurtful to her.
I re-read the piece I wrote the other day on the abortion issue and how it’s becoming a big thing in the debate over the ‘public option’/'ObamaCare’, and while I was not necessarily disappointed in it, I don’t think I rounded it out properly. So, instead of making a huge edit and then trying to drag people back to the re-finished and remastered product, I’m just going to add this addendum– there may be more in the future, as this is a complex issue that can’t just be addressed in a single post (no matter how long).
