We’ll Never Own

It is a life in a city where seasons never get a fair shake. Expecting dusty air and a warm blanket of modest humidity you are greeted instead with an unexpected sense of cool comfort, nearly causing you to look at your neighbor taking the garbage out to meekly state, “A bit chilly.” It’s far from a true chill in the air – 85 degrees and approaching midnight; this observation leads you to declare that everything is relative. The smoke from a cigarette drifts away from you gently rather than clinging to the air in a static position when you can see it backlit from a yellow streetlight, but some things remain static – the neighbor at the computer in the upstairs window, glancing down at you on occasion with an air of familiarity even though he never waves back when you see him in the front yard, hoisting cables and receivers into a windowless panel van early every Sunday morning. The crowd at the coffee shop remains static, but comfortably so – an ever-expanding group of people you smile and nod to for five weeks in succession before making small talk at the bar, only to be followed by another two months of the same until idle conversation begins – about the weather – outside at the tables stained with round watermarks of previous drinks, evidence that life before you has, indeed, existed.

The gust of cold air in August, replacing the expected monsoon, leaves one with a lack of reference for what is to be expected, even for what is acceptable bundled weather. Suddenly those nights of walking barefoot in the foam of breaking waves on Redondo seem unacceptable, but those nights of warming whiskey shots on a deserted pier behind the Embarcadero seem well placed. Music echoing from the open bedroom window is distant but near, making you nostalgic for memories you don’t have, for lovers you never embraced, for tear-inducing sacrifices you never had to make. It does stir in you, though, that maybe your second chance at getting things right never got a fair shake; circumstances clouded the best of intentions, but if we can’t weather this, then I can’t even begin to see the fucking point. The cigarette is burned without more than two humble drags, and another summer night in the city where the seasons don’t even get a fair shake is lost to the future emotions that we’ll never own, but we’ll always claim.

Atheists vs. Inauguration: Who Is Right?

I found this article from The Orange County Register to be quite amusing. Apparently, as the article summarizes, a group of atheists are suing Saddleback’s founding pastor Rick Warren in order to block him from referring to God at the inauguration of President-Elect Barrack Obama. A couple of things that make this interesting:

1) From what I’ve studied, individual atheists heavily dislike being identified by a singular agenda. I will fault to referring to atheists as a class of people in this short article, since we are clearly discussing a group of (relatively) similar people (atheists) against another group of (relatively) similar people (Christians). Nonetheless, just as atheists do not believe in God, they do not believe in organized beliefs of relatively any kind. I do not believe that atheists as a whole are being hypocritical here, just the 11 or so atheists who are apart of this lawsuit. The very fact that these individuals have united under a common agenda or belief (that God should not be mentioned) goes against the very foundations of what they are supposed to stand for. Of course, it’s hard not to label a group who are united by their lack of unity, but that’s the seemingly obvious problem for those atheists whom subscribe to that theory. 

2) I will readily admit that I believe wholeheartedly in the separation of church and state. On a fundamental level, I passively disagree with any marriage of the two. In my mind, nothing would be scarier for myself or this country than a president who runs things according to his own (naturally) interpretation of faith. I would much more readily vote for a moral atheist for president who looks at things concretely and subjectively than an evangelical Christian who promises to do everything by the Word of God (think: Bush). 

That rant aside, I do readily agree that mentioning God in an inauguration speech deeply insults and infringes on the rights of atheists in this country. Conversely, I also agree that not mentioning God deeply insults and infringes on the rights of Christians in this country. While the atheists argue separation of church and state, Christians argue tradition. Both, in this case, are valid arguments. If you don’t believe “tradition” to be a valid argument, just wait until the atheists play that trump card if religion is suddenly introduced to a government ceremony where it was previously absent. 

In essence, the second portion of my rant is that atheists are wanting to embrace the same right that they currently are angry at the Christians for having. This is just another example of both sides hating on the other for completely hypocritical reasons. If a person was trying to truly embrace the “correct” and “moral” sides of this continual argument, you would be stuck in the middle as both have glazed over the rights of the others in order to advance their own agenda. In actuality, it’s just sickening. 

My opinion? There’s no such thing as “equal rights” in this country. Atheists are never going to have equal rights to Christians, and vice versa. If the scales were ever tipped in the “favor” of the atheists, they would be embracing the same rights that they claim are unfair for others to have. So who is right? Neither side; they are both wrong. Obviously, with the inauguration looming, tradition will hold. Does it suck for atheists, Buddhists, Hindus and other American citizens whom do not participate in one of the three monotheistic faiths? Completely – and it is unfair to them. However, these citizens also need to realize they live in a global community – and “tolerance” is a concept that seems to be forgotten on both sides. If we ever become advanced enough in this country to consider a non-Judeo-Christian president, and then that president is forced to swear on a book he/she doesn’t believe in (The Bible) then that is when the argument against God and the Bible will have a foothold, and that is when the practice will cross the line from tolerance and custom to strong-armed majority rule and wrongful enforcement.

Rick Sanchez vs. Joe the Plumber

I have a new and profound respect for CNN’s Rick Sanchez. Once again citing the  non-thinking American’s political hack Joe the Plumber, and his recent comments in Israel where he lashed out at the media, this happened: 

How to Use the Restroom in Jerusalem

Working late tonight at 1:30am, I wanted a smoke but was out. So I headed on out to my local Chevron. The guy in front of me in line was chatting, rather knowledgeably, about the Hebrew language with the cashier. As I was buying my smokes, I continued the conversation with the cashier on the Hebrew language – he has studied it quite a bit through his Bible study, and we got to speaking about the old and new versions of the language. I told him about my time in Israel nearly three years ago and relayed a rather humorous language story that happened to me in Jerusalem. 

David, Jamie, and myself were having lunch with Jamie’s friend Sean (from Phoenix but living in Jerusalem at the time) in the newer portion of Jerusalem, off of the trendy Ben Yehuda Street. I had to use the restroom and couldn’t find it in the two-story half-bookstore half-cafe restaurant. I ran into a waiter whom didn’t speak English. Using the little Hebrew I knew at the time, I asked in Hebrew if he could point the way to the restroom. Problem is, I confused the word “sharoutime” (restroom, roughly translated) with the word “sharoute” (taxi), and basically asked the waiter: “Excuse me, sir, where is your taxi so I can urinate?”

He was confused. 

I view this experience as having been of great value, forever setting the two similiar words apart in my mind. Otherwise, this blog may have ended up being titled “Place to Urinate” in Hebrew.

Hostel Response Revisited

On July 7, 2005, I woke up at Mike Skon’s Rancho Santa Margarita apartment. It was meant to be a final day of fun in Orange County immediately after returning from my solo Pacific Northwest road trip. Instead, while making myself breakfast, I turned on CNN and saw the London bombings on television. I wrote a blog about it that morning, using a recent scenario as an example of peace. Not three days before, on Independence Day, I had been at Hosteling International’s Fort Mason location. Originally in the room were myself, a Londoner named Simon, and a Japanese backpacker named Mark. The three of us that day met (on seperate occassions) two new members of our shared dorm room, Sammy and Hazib. Sammy was from Israel; Hazib was from Palastine. 

The three of us became concerned about what might happen that night when they meet in our dorm room. None of us knew what to expect; they each seemed pretty passionate about their backgrounds. After watching the fireworks from over the Bay and all of us consuming our fair share of beer and cheap wine, we eventually all sat down and had a large group discussion until 3am. Sammy and Hazib hated each other at first; the next day, they went out in the city as two friends to explore San Francsico. I wrote the following that day, and I think it is still applicable for the horrible war going on right now between Israel and Palastine. It’s my personal belief that hosteling should be a mandatory part of growing up for all humans:

“There is no room for hate in the hosteling culture, and that is one of the goals of hosteling: for young people from different and often opposing countries to come together and sit and talk and find peace, with the goal that the same thng can happen on a larger scale someday. Utopian, yes. Simplistic, perhaps at times. But when you see hate expressed on such violent levels from both the “good” and “bad” sides, you can’t help but think that some problems could be solved by community, by friendship, by taking the time to sit and talk, have a beer, and understand your fellow human being.” 

Good vs. Evil

In two separate (unrelated) freelance writing assignments, I’ve covered a historical overview of The Vienna Academy of Arts and also the history of air ambulance services. Intersecting those two histories, interestingly enough, is Adolf Hitler. 

In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler (a semi-gifted artist who was once popular in the local Vienna art scene for his landscapes of the city) tells the story that he was twice rejected for admission to the city’s art academy because his landscapes “lacked people.” While this was true of his work, he suspected that the entire governing board of The Vienna Art Academy were Jews; since a Jewish doctor was responsible for the misdiagnosis of his mother and caused her subsequent death, he felt betrayed by the race. This is where I write the obligatory sentence that this in no way condones his actions or his hatred, et cetera, et cetera. 

On a seperate but related note, the idea of air ambulances was first used in World War I by the English, but were deemed by the Crown too unreliable and costly, and the idea of using air transport to fly the wounded out of battle was regarded as absurd until 1936. This is when Adolf Hitler began supplying the Spanish Army with Nazi Germany-made air ambulances; the wounded were flown from Spain to hospitals in Berlin. Aware that the Nazis resurected this technology, the English refused to use it in World War II, even as Hitler did. But enter the Korean War: The United States adopted this technology for use beginning in 1950, and it has saved thousands of lives in wars all around the world ever since. The nation with the most high-tech air ambulance technology to date? Israel. 

This really begs the question: what would the world be like if Hitler had been accepted to art school, or if the Academy’s board and the doctor would have been of mixed ethnicities, or what if Nazi Germany had thrived, but used it’s power for good instead of evil? Of course, this is relatively impossible to consider, seeing as how a study of Hitler would reveal that he pursued whatever made him popular – unfortunately, at the time, it was alignment with antisemitic friends after his rejection from art school; he rose to power as the result of intimidation and violence, not great oratory skill as commonly discussed. 

It is grossly unpopular to label Hitler as having contributed to society in any positive way, his atrocities so horrid. The man was no doubt evil, but the scientists and engineers he had working for him created some amazing things that have altered EVERY SINGLE DAY of our existence, whether we choose to recognize them or not. Some examples:

-Volkswagon (a company personally created by Hitler, allowing his people to have cheap mass-produced cars). 

-Rotary engines

-Stealth technology

-Microwave ovens

-Seismic weapon detection

-Autobahns (the organized precursor to America’s beloved freeway system)

-Jetplanes

-Weapons such as the automatic rifle and anti-tank missiles

-Missile-guidance technology (expect in the case of laser-guided missiles, this is still used today)

-Magnetic audio tape

-The process of creating synthetic fuel from coal (this isn’t a new thing, hippies)

-The science first linking smoking and lung cancer

-The first effective television broadcast

-The smoke detector

-Inflatable “pleasure” dolls (for his troops, to keep them from chasing women)

-Atomic microscope

-The first space rocket occupying a man (it failed, he died)

-Pesticides

-The science linking mesothemola to asbestos inhalation

This is not to include numerous propaganda techniques, best-model business practices, and organizational structures employed by our government and American companies everyday. 

Ironically, there is one technology that Nazi Germany did NOT invent, but was perhaps the most important in their use of mass-collecting data of the Jews, categorizing them, and systematically killing them. Nazis did not randomly murder Jews; it was a very organized process and every person put through their mass-killing machines were processed accordingly. The processing was controlled by a new data punch-card system; without this system, it would have taken the Nazis MUCH longer to kill the Jews in the detailed methods they desired. Who invented, and knowingly leased this unit processing data machine technology to Nazi Germany? International Business Machines Corporation, otherwise known as IBM, based out of New York.

Obama Choosing Rick Warren – My Opinion

I generally consider myself a news junkie; I usually fall asleep to CNN, spend my day at the house working with the news on in the background, and always go out of my way to steal some homeless guy’s newspaper when he’s not looking. Once in awhile, I get tired of the news and spend three days straight watching Arrested Development, or just admiring the handywork of my 600 lights on our 8′ tree. I go back to the news and am usually surprised by what I’ve missed. 

Apparently large members of the gay community are mad at President-Elect Obama because he chose Rev. Rick Warren to do the invocation at his inaugration. Rick Warren, as many of you probably know, is the author of “The Purpose-Driven Life” and pastor of Orange Country’s uber-conservative Saddleback Church. I’ve read most of Warren’s books, been to his church several times, and while not outwardly appearing uber-conservative, he is in that catagory. 

Why are the gays mad? Because Obama is a strong supporter of gays and lesbians, while Warren was a vocal proponent of the controversial Prop 8, which changed California’s constitution to define marriage as strictly between man and woman. The gay crowd views this as a stab in the back by Obama.

This is a bit of hypocrisy it seems, as this isn’t the first bit of relationship between the two. Warren famously hosted both Sen. McCain and then-Senator Obama to a debate at Saddleback months ago, and even though some gays were angry that Obama agreed to appear there, they still happily voted for him. In return for the now-loud opposition to Obama from the gay community, the President-Elect has bascially told the queer community to relax a bit, reminding them all that he “is going to reach out to all sides.” 

I have to say that I agree with Obama on this one. I am thrilled as rainbow punch that Obama won the election, however, I also recognize that he is the President of The United States, not the Gay President. We elected Barrack Obama, not Harvey Milk. I think it is unfair to ask this man to make every single move with the gay community as his primary concern – and I would be deeply worried if the gay community was indeed so forefront in his mind. I will be the first to say that our country right now has much, much deeper issues than this.

On that note, for the last eight years we had a president who put special conservative interests in the forefront of the national agenda and who probably would have passed on a pastor just because he had spoken out against Prop 8. The very worst thing we could do right now is swing the pendulam in the entire opposite direction and have a president who ignores the entire conservative base and puts liberal special interests ahead of what is best for the country. 

Liberals, and liberal homosexuals specifically, have been shoved to the back of the crowd politcally for the last eight years, and we have cried foul and discrimination, using our rights as Americans as the platform on which to insist we have equal say. Now let us not be just as hypocritical as we have accused the conservatives of being and push them to the back of the house, too. The goal for gays – and liberals – should be to be better than – not equal to – our own oppressors. When we begin criticizing that which we have worked so hard to have elected just because he is trying to actually embrace, rather than shoot down, the opposing side, we have stooped to their level. Maybe we can shove just a bit of gay pride back down our throats for one second and take greater pride in our country than we do ourselves, and then we can actually live in a progressive and unified country rather than a consistenly divided and politcally polarized environment that swings from one extreme to the next.

Holiday Phrases

I was thinking tonight, when I wrote a Twitter comment about “unplugging the tree,” about some other phrases said during the Holidays that, if said at any other time, would raise suspicious eyebrows:

• “Can you unplug the tree?”
• “Stuff the stocking.”
• “You have to tie the legs together after you stuff it.” 
• “Did you stuff both ends?”
• “Go sit on the man’s lap and tell him what you want.”
• “He’ll come down the chimney.” 
• “Worship the baby.”
• “He’s on the roof.”
• “Can you stick your finger there while I tie it?”
• “Do we have skirt for the tree?”
• “Did we buy hooks for the balls?”
• “Bring the tree in the house.”
• “String the popcorn.”
• “I need help wrapping it.”
• “Frankincense.” 
• “It looks better with a bow.” 
• “Take the lights off the roof.”

Do you have any? Add them below.

Lightrail, Books & Mesa

I live in Mesa, Arizona. According to Wikipedia, it is the 38th most populous city in The United States, with 452,933 citizens (compared with neighboring Phoenix, which comes in at #5 on the list with just over 1.5 million citizens). That’s Mesa’s ranking out of 262 cities, with the extremes being New York with more than 8.2 million and Palm Bay, Florida with 100,116. So that’s a pretty respectable amount of people, right?

Well, our 452,933 citizens are spread out over 133 square miles, creating a rather small population density of only 3,171 people per square mile. Compare that to my originating hometown of Anaheim, California. While ranked at #55 with 333,249 citizens, it has a density of 6,708 people per square mile, while having only 50 square miles in total land. Much more dense than Mesa, right?

What’s the point of all of this? I like cities. And theoretically – I live in one of the nation’s largest. Why doesn’t it feel like it? There is something about city life that I love – and something I relatively can’t stand about spread apart, brand-spankin’ new suburban communities. To that end, I enjoy doing things that make me feel as if I live in an actual city.

All of that to say – I got a library card today. I haven’t had one in years; I’ve been locked into the mind-numbing trap of driving down to Barnes & Noble at Tempe Marketplace, or Borders at Superstition Springs, to buy a new book. Of course, those places have their advantages – I can buy a book, hang out and drink coffee, and use the (usually) free wifi – plus they are great people-watching places. But (this may seem weird coming from an author) I’m a little over buying books that I read once or twice and then stick on the bookshelf. I don’t mean fiction books like the works of Eggers and Hemingway – those I’ll gladly buy and display on my shelf for years on end – I mean books on fairly topical things like business, networking, marketing, et cetera.

After weeks of procrastinating on the whole library scene, I took advantage of the dreary afternoon and spent some time at the library hunting these books. Free library card. Free book rental. I rented eight books today – for free! And I have them until the 4th! Plus, there was something right about the library – two floors filled with business people to the homeless, something authentic. I felt, again, like I was in a real city.

One thing I’m also quite looking forward to that helps to evoke the city-mindset is the opening of the Light Rail in a couple weeks. Reading about it on handy sites like these have built up my excitement even more – I’m going to, at least twice a week, take the new express bus from my house directly to the Light Rail station on Dobson, transfer, and then rail it up clear to downtown, where I will enjoy the amazing cappucinno’s and free wifi of Lux Coffeeshop. And what, in my mind, will make that even better? Rainy days, clouds, and warm jackets.

I’m still working on finding some redeeming factors of this city though for the summertime … if you have any ideas, drop me a line.

“Dear World – A Novel” by WJNM Now Available!

 

Dear World – A Novel is the fictional story of Marc, a 21-year old Orange County resident who is struggling to come to terms with his Christian faith and realization of his own homosexuality. Emotions and tensions in his life have reached a breaking point; it has become too much to continue internalizing the stress and pain of such a dichotomy.

To reach out for someone – anyone – to vent to, Marc begins a flow-of-consciousness blog where he lets anonymous, and sometimes not so anonymous, readers see into his pain for purposes not rooted in self-pity, but rather in a desire to have a sounding board coupled with a venue for others who might feel the same. Perhaps, if he does feel all hope is lost for him, at least others can gain some insight and he can help those who secretly struggle not with “sin,” but with the hurt and loneliness oft inflected by a supposed “caring” world.

The e-book, in an effort to get it to as many people as possible, is free to download (the link is below). If, however, you wish to donate to the author’s funds, before or after reading the book, you may do so at the link below. All funds go to the author, with a percentage retained to continue the art and work of Social Network Publishing; any amount is appreciated.

“Dear World – A Novel” by William J. Nash-McAdam

Please make your donation via PayPal to info@socialnetworkpublishing.com…thank you!