ESSAY EDITORIAL: Against Homosexual Marriage Because of the Bible? Most Likely the Bible is Already Against You

In whichever (edited version) of the bible you choose to read, you may come across chapters in Leviticus, backed by passages in Roman as updated in the new testament, that say homosexual relations are an abomination:

Leviticus 18:22
"'Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable"
Leviticus 20:13
"'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

And, if you take the word of the bible as literal and choose this as your own view, you can have that as a belief. So unconfessed sins of homosexual relations condemn those who practice them.
What I do not believe you can do, however, is only take *some* verses in the bible as written truths without taking ALL verses in the bible as truth. This means many people have unconfessed sins, and just about 98% of the world is going to hell unless they confess, and those seem like some huge sinful numbers over issues that might not be seen as so important, even by Christians who read the bible today. I think homosexuality is one such position that has changed in modern times, along with a few other examples I'll introduce.
The bible was a book written 2,000 years ago to give a base reference for the Catholic/Christian religions gaining popularity at the time, and reflects values and belief of that time, some 2,000 years ago.
So, if you choose to believe the word of good as written in terms of same-sex relations, you cannot choose then to ignore other verses in the bible, and must believe them in inherent truths as well, right? And we must specifically confess for sins made, lest they hang about our souls as weights that keep us from heaven? In modern society, we could spend a whole afternoon confessing and most likely still be missing a few, as they are written.
And we must, if we take those passages from Leviticus condemning homosexuality as true, take every verse of the bible as equally true. Otherwise, that means you could just choose what parts to believe and what parts to deny. That doesn't seem correct or fair, to interpret and modernize some, while still holding the text of others as infallible.
Therefore...

No more seafood, as the same chapter also declares this "an abomination",
Leviticus 9:10, "All that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you."

Slavery is okay, and people are possession to be bought, sold, inherited, as long as they are not your Israelian relatives. Again, also found within Leviticus.
Leviticus 25:44-46, "You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way."
Ephesians 6:5 "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ."
Also in Exodus, 21:7 there is reference to slavery being just fine.

Death by stoning for not listening to your parents by the council of elders is permitted (are you seeing where some of these ideas held at the time are not as acceptable now?)
Deuteronomy 21:18-21, "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die."
Deuteronomy 22: 20-21, "But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you."
Exodus 35:2, if you have a busy week and work all the days in that week, you will be put to death, "For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death."

Refusal to accept anyone with handicaps or disability into chuch (I trust you let blind people into church now if they asked admittance, right, without praying for forgiveness for doing so?)
Leviticus 21:17-23 "Whosoever … hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken … He shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries."

No playing football, they are all sinners.
Leviticus 11:8, "You must not eat their [pig] meat or touch their carcasses [that's the football]; they are unclean for you."

No women in positions of power, (you do believe in equality for men and women now, don't you? But not for homosexuals, based on the same scripture that says not even women deserve respect)
Timothy 2:11 "I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent."
In the King James version, being the most commonly read, they have *changed the passage to reflect the change in times* though it is still dicriminatory, to "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection."

If you disobey god, you will eat your babies, (Are you hopefully seeing some things in the bible cannot be taken so literally?)
Leviticus 26:27-30, "If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters."

And last, again from Leviticus, we must extend love to all, (strange to find this passage in so much hate)
Leviticus 19: 17-18, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke [reason with] thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord."

I can assume your position is that YOU can love them, but god will judge them. In this case, hardly anyone is getting into heaven, and you'll have millions of good people breaking ancient rules of the bible not being let through the gates of heaven, punished for rules most don't follow because it is 2,000 years later, and we know eating seafood is not an abomination, along with many other observed changes from growing together as a people that will however go unconfessed, and stain our eternal souls.

Unfortunately, I don't think any of this will change your positions. This is part of my issue with religion, the world and the people in it are changing ideas and finding ways of incorporating other beliefs from other societies that religious texts can't take account for. Therefore, you can't rely on only a religious text to purport beliefs, otherwise we'd have no sin for owning slaves but have sin for playing football with the family. At some point--and it took far too long--we realized slavery is unjust and immoral, and touching leather doesn't make one unclean. Don't you think so? Or do you still agree with the bible? Changes of beliefs progressed our societies and expanded our capacity for love--something god should have wanted, as his base message has been one of love. As with slavery and other positions now immoral or not relevant in current times, a person's sexuality should not be considered an abomination, and instead we should find a new capacity for love. And no, there is no slippery slope into bestiality, as that practice was around before god was here and is still happening now, but no one is coming forward to claim tax benefits and the right to marriage with their sheep, and there would be no point in doing so--nor would it affect the lives of anyone if someone did go around saying "I married my sheep" because he would be judged in current times as being crazy. I, however, don't think two humans loving each other is crazy. It infringes on the dignity of *people* to dictate from an outdated religious text what rights can be granted to them by the state. God didn't create marriage, marriage existed well before Jesus and the bible became well known, the bible just gave it certain rules. American government is founded on ideals of freedom, including freedom religion. Making people conform to a chosen religion is to take away that freedom, because it is forcing the religious ideals of one community to another that does not wish to have that set of beliefs. And the state protects the right of those people outside of religious qualms. If a person wants to disagree with their choices as an individual, that is another conversation--they are entitled to their opinion and belief. The summary of my points is there is no right to discriminate against the LGBTQ community through the state, nor is their legitimate ground to discriminate via religion, or that person would need to take all parts of the bible as written truths, being unable to choose which parts of holy scriptures they choose to believe and not believe.

You can disagree with this, that's fine. I'm just hoping you can at least see this way of thinking from a less biased perspective and respect the choices of other people, extending a godly love, and not damn them to an abomination based solely on scripture.

I ask that you look into your heart, your idea of love, look past the scriptures, and find a place for those with ideas differing from your own. Ask yourself, not the bible, then see how their ideas affect your own and whether it is worth continuing to discriminate against them as less than regular people. Marriage is joining two souls in a unity of love. I wouldn't want to believe hell awaits for finding love in this world.

Cause For Alarm

[[This is a poem for the Lit Bulb programme. The bulb has been lit!]] 

( For more on Lit Bulb and this series theme of "Together", http://litbulbfestival.com/2015-festival-programme/ )


Cause For Alarm

by Brent Danley Jones

There is a fatty fat bumblebee on the window sill

Next to the flowers and infront of the trees

Under the shutter brought in with the breeze

After adventuring a thousand miles

He comes to stop and rest a while

The eve grows young as the days turns old

He must arrive home before onsets the cold

Baby spots him first, lets out a squeal

A tasty morsel sized snack before next meal

Little Sarah notes next, gives off a shout

Letting all know a bumblebee is about

Little Danny sees him now without fear

He runs for his weapons, enemy is near

Momma has not a clue what to do

She flees the room in panic, nothing new

Daddy's now got his newspaper ready

He arches the media back, holds steady

There is a fatty fat bumblebee on the window sill

So much trouble by one bee was bred

He starts up and his motor and away he fled

To Lead

by Brent Danley Jones

       One clean shot sent spiraling through the right eye dropped another of the shambling terrors we once called human. Hear the rattling wheeze, on instinct turn right, a swing successfully severs the spinal column between the sixth and seventh vertebrae just at the base of the neck, producing a ring and chuck sound felt down the sharpened steel, snapping the imitated life out of another abomination. A quick glance to the left revealed Ray, a baker by trade, experiencing difficulty disposing of his dreadful foe as a state of panic crept into his addled mind.

        Poor guy. And it’s only one.

        Accuracy decreased as the rate went up, with death dripping nearer. The ghoulish figure advanced, outlined in the dim glow of a distant fire, pressing forward unfazed by the shots passing through its body, as shrapnel of bone and flesh ricocheted away. To fear is to be human, and Ray found himself being bared down upon by something without fear.

        Not wanting more precious ammo to be cast without reason backing the bullet, the sights on my old hunting rifle even themselves with the ear and loose one shot through the left and out the right. A low, bellowing moan let out by the falling foe brings a queer relief as another beast slips back into death. All grew still now, silence falling like the comfort of a familiar quilt around us. Ray’s eyes were still as wide as exhaustion would let them go.

        They always think they’re ready.

        A quick kick gets us through the door of a neighboring building as the smell of mildew on linen floods to greet us. A clothing store, ‘Trinities’. Gathering inside, we throw on the gas lamp, reload and recoup.

        A number of frumpy sweaters and skimpy dresses still cling to hangars, some barely holding on, each with a pricetag. Assumed value. Thirty-five dollars for the loose fitting blue one with the big red pockets. It kind of takes you back. A time when paper could be traded for goods, and metal discs could buy food. I rip the jumper from the hooks and stuff it in my tuckerbag over a few remaining biscuits, maybe to use later. Funny. This used to be called “stealing” and now it’s just “living”.

        I hated resorting to guns, ammo’s not easy to make. Machetes don’t run out of bullets, but putting a rifle on rock ‘n’ roll beats dying. Shoulda took the semi-auto instead of Ray, but he’s lacking in cool hands, my two to his zero. Also shoulda known we’d hit a swarm, the place looks untouched for a reason: it’s crawling with death. Running some quick mental math says we got about seven or eight minutes until anything in earshot drags itself to our position. Shame. Would like to have reset my sight.

        Ray’s still out of breath and we don’t bother with words. He knows the scolding that’s waiting there for him. Slumped down beneath an old world calendar, with some picture of a baby goat on a stump, he lets his head hang, not wanting to make eye contact—or any kind of contact. That’s good. Part of you needs to die for the rest to live sometimes.

        A strange thing that at a time like this previous memories would work their way back in, sending a dull spark to the part of nostalgia we just don’t talk about no more. Calendar on the wall says April 10^th. It’s my birthday. As I shove unfired shells into the chamber of my mechanical best friend, my pace with the shells slows.

        The emotion numbing armor lifts for but a moment in thought—living life like this is just like waiting to die, right? What will happen if we manage to fend off the oncoming onslaught and get back to Base? We will enjoy another week, maybe two, of paranoid fear from this ghastly oppression. Slowly we steep into insanity, behind our little walls within the confines of Base until the order trickles down the chain for me to take to the streets again, hoping a sharp blade and hot lead is enough to drown out the sound of my own delusions and follow the mission. Repeat the same cycle. Again. Vicious in its repetition. Salvation seems steeped in death.

          Scattered notions buzz like corpse flies, a sickly contamination spreads through my mind. It’s not the first time—but reality jerks me back, out of the soul, stained salvation, and death, back into 'Trinities' clothing boutique, where a familiar sound grows louder than the offensively colored clothing. I hear tears. I hear the human heart beating, and scared. I spin my head around fast and see a baker named Ray, his kicked-dog face buried in a fuzzy magenta frock grabbed off the counter. I stare at this blatant example of emotion and see a fear so different from mine. Ray's little mishap may be the closest in life he’s ever felt to death, something with no greater thought than fear needed to justify terror. Ray is human. Have I lost my fear? Death of dying in living life, all is in the mind, but the breathing and sputtering mass of man in front of me now is real, present, and washing the blue from his eyes. His senses are still acute, like all survivors, and note he’s being watched. Ray lifts his sunken face from its rosy resting place with the look of a lost child. I realize what I am meant to do. I stare back into frightened Ray's blue eyes.

          “Shut the hell up, stand up, move out. Shoot like that again and I’ll shoot you, you’re not worth the ammo you’re wasting. Want to live? Shoot straight, once, and in the head. Got it?”

And he nods.

Weapons in hand, we leave out the back door.

The Facebook, It Lives

Now that I've moved into trying to push my word-meshes under the nose and for the eyes of various digital and print publishers, there exists a page where my progress will be charted for ages to come.

https://www.facebook.com/BrentDanleyJonesWriter

From there, updates will be posted irregularly with good news.

Salutations!

Flash Fiction: Belfry, 2090

BELFRY, 2090

by Brent Danley Jones

 BRIDGES & BELFRIES

by Brent Danley Jones

        "It was a roll of the dice from the start, wasn't it?" said Erina, exasperated and sucking in the cold air that stings your lungs when it’s from so high in the sky. Her black body suit kept her core temperature regulated, though at times she liked to feel the brisk chill again.

        "Observant as ever," Leif commented calmly as he coiled rope. His huge hands made it look like thread. “You knew it from the start. Pay that good comes with a catch. But now this is taking way too long, and I’m getting a twinge fearful we’re in over our heads here. The bridges may shift before we get this oxy-tech prototype back down.” He took the length of silk hemp and stored in back in the many folds of his green and brown robes hiding metallic storage bins beneath.

        " ’Fraid’a heights?”

        “Shut your pretty mouth,” Leif snapped back in a low voice.

        “So, that’s a ‘yes’.” Erina figured out by now he wasn’t the kind of merc that relieved stress by having a laugh. What a bore. "I know, suck at gambling, but I'm a sucker for taking chances. Besides, worst that happens is they catch us, ban our gen-sequence, and erase our existence from the Sphere. No biggie," she said wearing a relentless grin.

        She disappeared below the bridge, slashed a bundled wirepack hidden beneath the walkway connecting the next belfry, and rolled back on the stone.

        Ducking in the doorway, Leif praised her in his head but not out loud; such deft, seamless movement was a deadly effective feature for a merc, though she still had a lot of punch in her as well. Leif could tell Erina was much more serious about the job than her exterior would lead on. He felt an itch crawl up the old rash on his back. The plan he had in mind might be more of a gamble than lifting the prototype proved to be.

        After a brief pause, they peered out and watched the glow from another storm sentinel fade. The bluish tint in its crafted eye sockets grew grey and hollow as it slumped, still standing upright.

        "And who even uses electric-based guard sentinels anymore? It’s outdated. And tacky,” Erina teased the dead rock sentry. The duo huddled low and made their way across. She could taste the precipitation in the clouds. Erina clawed open the back of the sentinel, carefully cutting out scrap and pocketing it for resale. Leif checked the dynamic prints. Still another 200 gridblocks to go. Problem was, structures in the Netherlands developed a tendency for changing shape on you. Organic architecture was received like the rapture among the builders, but made breaking and entering even harder than before.

        Leif looked out from the terrace, scanning for the next tower in the spider web maze of belfries and bridges. He focused on each peak, using the GUI in his eyes in attempt to discern which had the televator they needed to descend. “No clear sign, little lady. Gonna have to keep navigating and hope the bridges don’t shift.” He signaled the all clear, and the two crouched, staying low, striding across quietly so as not to be detected from below. He sighed when his eagle eyes picked up the signature of another storm sentinel along the next causeway.

        He sighed, indicating his exhaustion outstripped his worry. "It just makes a mess, it does. Has to be the twelfth one we're gonna knock out. Wires. I guess no matter how secure the location, not everyone can afford the lodestones for power. Even more so when they don't know what they really have."

        "Maybe we're in the wrong business, and we should be harvesting the sparker gadgets of these lugs. Sell 'em back to whoever still makes them." Erina executed what was now a practiced routine of hooking off the bridge with her claws and slashing a wired core beneath.

        Safely through the doorway of the belfry, Leif guessed there would be another six towers before arriving at the center spire, lost in the web of bridges suspended by towering peaks in the sky. Leif kept one eye on the schematics and another looking for any avi-bots making overhead scans and a third inner eye on Erina. She seemed to be enjoying herself, taking micro-pics of the stonework and the masonry as they ascended endless stairs. Nevermind that chance of getting erased being one capture away.

        "Oh, Leify, look'it that one! It looks like a star made out of butts."

        "Quit'cher ass-hattery and keep your head in the game. We have to find which tower will lead us closer to the Outgrounds before Stillion's other mechanical minions hone in on our locale," Leif said in between light wheezes from non-stop movement. "I still I can't see why we've gotten this far without better resistance."

        "You may be underestimating what we can do now that we've... enhanced ourselves a bit."

        "Yeah, but I ain’t takin’ no chances. I’m not like you.”    "Whatever you say, big boy! Ooh, look at that! Stained glass griffons, almost as good as the original even when replicated." It was quiet enough to hear the faint click of the micro-pic cam as Erina stored the images. “I can’t believe the one that made this structure and got all those scholarly prizes was also the same asshole trying to steal the air from the sky.”

        “Doesn’t matter, someone else will pay us more to steal his shit than he would to protect it. I don’t really care what they do with this oxy-whatever tech,” Leif patted his side pocket, even though he knew the prototype wasn’t in there. Erina had a fair share of new tech on her, and in her. He had since discerned lie detection wasn’t one of the new additions.

        "Right, you know, sometimes I still wonder if we’re the good guys or the basen--" BOOM. A thud through the wall knocked the whole of the belfry two inches to the left, and a bloodbank automaton came in from the open air. A wall crawler left unchecked.

        "I knew this couldn't go well forever," Erina lost the playful charm in her voice, sounding as old as Leif looked now.

        "Hm. Deal with it. You don’t have any blood in you now. It can’t do anything but pierce your skin and suck out gel.”

        "Ha, guess you're right," she said, then jumped claws bared into the path of the advancing bot, aiming for legs. "Now, get ready to knock out the integrity board’s connection to the powercell, that should shut him up, and we can strip it after. We really should’ve go into the scrap business!"

        She scratched one leg to open the machine at a weaker point, metal nails shredding the gears of the bloodbank sentry, the sound echoing off the towers with a sharp pitch, but not before a stony limb hit its mark right in her side, leaving dozens of tiny needle cones piercing her armor and digging into her flesh, sending her sprawling against the opposite wall of the belfry.

        "Crap, ahh… guh. This not having blood thing means this won't hurt as bad, huh Leif?" She felt a bit faint, curious, since it could draw out the gel in her skin, though that shouldn’t affect her.

          She turned to check if Leif was ready to move up and get inside the stone brute now that his gearing was exposed. All she saw behind her was the end of a silk rope dangling from an archway, blowing in the breeze.

The Funniest Jokes

Knee-slappers? More like face-slappers.
Please enjoy the immense pain derived from the tragedy of these amazing jokes.
These were gathered into an anthology of groaning from the darkest corners of the internet. Haha jokes , funny jokes , oh man , someone please throw cold water on me.



What does an angry jalapeno do?
Gets jalapeno face!


What do you call an alligator in a vest?
An investigator!


Why does the little mermaid wear seashells?
Because A shells and B shells were too small!


What did the sea cucumber say to the mollusk?

With fronds like this who needs anemones?


What do you call a fish with no eyes?
A fsh!

What do you call a dictionary of drugs?Addictionary.



How do you know Indians were the first people in America?
Because they have reservations!


Why wouldn't the shrimp share his treasure?
Because he was a little shellfish!


What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
Make me one with everything!


What does a vegan zombie eat?
 Graaaaaaainss!


Where did George Washington keep his armies?
In his sleevies!


What was Beethoven's favorite fruit?
BA-NA-NAAAAAA


What is a pony with a cough?
A little hoarse!


A magician was driving down the road...
... then he turned into a driveway!


Why is there no gambling in Africa?
Too many cheetahs!


Why are all the frogs around here dead?
Because they keep croaking!


Why did the cowboy adopt a wiener dog?
He wanted to get a long little doggy!


Have you heard about the corduroy pillow?
It's making headlines!


What do you call a psychic midget who escaped from prison?
A small medium at large!


BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

A dog walks into a telegraph office, puts $1 on the counter and says:
"Woof woof woof, woof woof, woof woof woof woof"

The operator says to the dog "Its $1 for 10 words, shall I put another woof on there?"
The dog then says "But that wouldn't make any sense!"

+++

Studies show that six out of seven dwarves aren't happy.
The same study also said 6 of the 7 seven dwarves aren't grumpy either.


+++


TRY THIS

How does it change many dyslexics to take a lightbulb?

...Now try reading that sentence out loud. Getcha? Got me!

+++

1 1 was a racehorse,
1 2 was 1 2.
When 1 1 1 1 race
1 2 1 1 2.

And finally...

Steven Spielberg was discussing his new project - an action docudrama about famous composers starring top movie stars. Sylvester Stallone, Steven Segall, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were all present. Spielberg strongly desired the box office 'oomph' of these superstars, so he was prepared to allow them to select whatever composers they wished to  portray, as long as they were famous. 

"Well," started Stallone, "I've always admired Mozart. I would love to play him." 

"Chopin has always been my favorite, and my image would improve if people saw me playing the piano," replied Willis. "I'll play him." 

"I've always been partial to Strauss and his waltzes," said Segall. "I'd like to play him."

Spielberg was very pleased with these choices. "Sounds splendid."
Then, turning to Schwarzenegger, he asked, "Who do you want to be, Arnold?"  Arnold in a slow deliberate voice replied, "I'll be Bach."

POEMS WITH LONG TITLES THAT IN ACTUALITY ARE RATHER SHORT AND SAY VERY LITTLE

MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN I HAVE BEEN RENDERED UNABLE TO PROCEED WITH ROUTINE MORNING RITUALS TO BEGIN MY DAY DUE TO UNFORESEEN FACTORS OF A MOST FRUSTRATING NATURE

the oatmeal

sweet singing peaches

alas

still too hot to eat

OF OBSERVING SMALL PLEASURES IN LIFE FOR THOSE WHOM THOSE PLEASURES MOST LIKELY CONSTITUTE A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF WHAT THEY WOULD TERM AS LIFE ITSELF

the janitor lady cleaned things

while eating an orange popsicle

 

IN RECALLING THE DAYS OF YOUTH IN THE SUMMER OF MY FAIR CONTENT IT BECOMES APPARENT WHAT ONCE BROUGHT ME IMMEASURABLE GLEE IS NOW BUT A TRIFLE OF PITIFUL PUNNERY ALTHOUGH SOMETHING IN ME STILL GUFFAWS

show me your pikachu

or I'll take a peek-at'you

BEREFT OF SATISFACTORY REASON AT TIMES I DO FIND MY EMOTIONS SPIRALING IN A TORRENT AT THE CAUSE OF AN UNKOWN STORM AS THE EBB AND FLOW OF WORRY ENCOMPASS MY PERSON ENTIRELY

sometimes

i don't know why

i just feel sad

WHILST RELIEVING MYSELF OF A LARGE AMOUNT OF PROCESSED LIQUIDS THAT HAD EXPIRED IN USE FROM MY BODY I OBSERVED THE NEIGHBORING STALL TO BE OCCUPIED AND FOUND THE STRENGTH TO RESIST TEMPTATION OF ALLOWING IMMATURITY TO HALT THE PRESENT PROGRESS

whatever you do

don't cross swords

I WALKED BRISKLY THROUGH THE MORNING CALM AND FOUND MY SPIRIT TO ALIGN WITH MY MIND IN A BEAUTIFUL HARMONY BROUGHT ON MERELY BY THE RICHLY NOTED FRAGRANCE AND TEMPERAMENT OF THE AIR

around nine-o'clock in the a.m.

in april, it really smells like oregon

ALTHOUGH ACTIVISM IS NOT WHERE I GENERALLY SET MY SITES FOR DAILY PROCEEDINGS I COULD NOT HELP BUT BE SWEPT UP IN A CLANGOR OF WONDROUS NATURE UPON THE CAPITAL STEPS AS CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS YELLED

if i could be

king for a day

i'd make rainbow the national color

and chase all the crows away

HOW ABOUT MY MOTIVATION MAKES A FORLORN ATTEMPT AT FINDING ME INSTEAD OF ALWAYS FORCING MY SEEKING OF IT THEREBY GIVING THE WILL TO BE MOTIVATED IN THE FIRST PLACE TO SOLVE ALL MY PROBLEMS

yeah, I'll take a number 4, a large orange juice

and a small side of what the hell is wrong with me

WALKING ALONG THE PAVED ROADS WHEN THE HOUR OF THE NIGHT CREEPS ALONG SLOWLY AND THERE ARE NO CARS ONLY FOG AND STRANGE SENSATIONS OF FORGOTTEN FREEDOM SPUR ME TO UNCOMMON ACTS

gonna j-walk the haters away

lie in the street and make an invisible snow angel

with no snow because it's that kind of night

WHEN I WOKE THAT MORN I WAS SURPRISED AT WHOM MY BED PARTNER TURNED OUT TO BE AND UNEXPECTED PHRASES UTTERED BY THE PERSON IN QUESTION CAUSE ME GREAT CONFUSION

no,

it's okay,

the hickey will blend in

with my horrible skin

I'm just tired of dating bisexuals

REFLECTING ON MY TIME SPENT AS A YOUTH IN THE FIELDS OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN I CALL MY HOME LEAVES ME AT ONCE WITH BOTH A SENSE OF NOSTALGIA AND WORRY AS I SEEK TO TERMINALIZE THE IMPACT OF MY LIFE

I spent so much of my childhood chasing dragonflies

and I still like chasing dragonflies

OFTEN I FIND MY MIND WANDERS WHILST REFUSING ATTENTIVE PARTICIPATION IN LECTURE BASED SCIENCE CURRICULUMS AND I SEEK TO PERVERSE THE INFORMATION BEING TOLD TO THE MASSES WITH MY OWN ORIGINAL INTERPRETATIONS ONE MIGHT DEEM CREATIVE

sometimes I think I am

odorless, colorless, and tasteless

and I'll never change

I guess that makes me... noble

ONCE WHEN I WAS BUT A BABE AND KNEW NOT THE WAYS OF THE WORLD AND THE CREATURES THAT POPULATE WITHIN IT I BELIEVED ONE INSECT IN PARTICULAR WENT ABOUT ITS INSIGNIFICANT LIFE SPAN WITH ONLY THE DESIRE TO CAUSE MILD DISCOMFORT

itchy itchy

a mosquito bit me

Thoughts About Thinking

THOUGHTS about THINKING

I'm starting to worry I'm going to lose my mind.
No, not in the going crazy kind of way.
Actually, far from it, I'm worried I'm going to be too sane.

Now, it could very much be influenced by my surroundings, situation, and being in Japan.
But it seems like no one around me talks about anything.
And I hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, they're thinking of things, but I'm worried.
When I was in a cubicle in America, it was not much different.
Talk is over the new artisan cake shop, something a famous person they never met said, gross general statements about people and casually categorizing words (their 'beliefs'), and whatever hijinks their cat got into last night.
Or they just talk about work.
Or no one talks at all.
And again, maybe in their personal world of thoughts there is something more bumping around. Co-workers are, on a whole, only one step above acquaintance. But even among friends the conversation usually stays around people and events, and rarely strays to ideas or thoughts.
Though most seem closed off anyway, already knowing how they think about something, decided in what they like, making them either extremely present, way back in the past, or far off in an unknown future.
.
.
I have lunch with a group of teachers everyday.
So on one afternoon while they were talking about the latest album release from one of the most over-produced supergroups, I was trying to work out in my head the rates of domestic agriculture production in Japan versus the agriculture industry of exports in China, making best estimates from what I know of either economy, factoring in shipping, then attempting to decide how high import tariffs would need to be to keep markets level in competition.

The next day, they were talking about course prices of a restaurant they wanted to go to, and if 7000yen was worth the amount of food they would get, going back and forth over who drinks how much and whose diet wouldn't make it worth the bill, but how good the food was. I was busy being quiet, trying to determine the extent of the effect that love can motivate actions, with the variables of how much "love" is present and how susceptible a person can be to love. How much love would one who is cold and solitary need to have to willingly leave their job to be with that other person? Inversely, how much would someone with a predisposition towards being in love need to feel to do the same?
The next next day, they were talking about the changes in the schedule for the day, and I was trying to think of every fish I could name.

To be clear, I'm not trying to find some greater answer--'love' is not a quantifiable thing, but if it was, how would you count it? I'm just using my observations and understandings to think of things. Thinking is a hobby. Right now, I'm thinking of how uncommon that hobby seems to become as life settles around you with age, and some of these people aren't even 30.

I usually don't have a lot to contribute, but I'm still listening and understanding the whole time (even in a second language) and make comments where I can. When they run out of things to say, sometimes one of the teachers will ask me what I've been doing, and I tell them about my recent attempts to submit short fiction to sci-fi anthologies, or a escapade into Tokyo to see a rock group no one at the table has ever heard of. Their reaction is always followed with astonishment. I entertain the thought they could be flattering me, but the surprise comes across as pretty genuine, followed by "wakai ne!" (you're still a young dude!).

Other times, I tell them "not much" or "sleeping" because I know they're only asking out of boredom and will switch topics as soon as another thought in the group comes up.
There have been a few times they've even asked what I'm thinking. That gets a really surprised reaction, when I say something like "I'm thinking about whether lakes form differently by their altitude being above or below sea level". (If you speak Japanese, have some vocab! sea level: 'kaimen', above sea level: 'kaibatsu', below sea level: 'kaimenka', and good luck finding a place to use it, laughing out loud)

Am I just more honest and forthcoming with what I'm saying? Could be. I know there is a group dynamic here--that people in a group want to talk about safe, surface subjects that anyone can go along with (though those can often be reverse-alienating if you are not interested in the bland waters of the mainstream) and I know what I think of seems further out there, but the chances to talk with only 1 or 2 other people grow fewer as folks just get too busy, and groups become the main. I'm worried. I'm not saying these people don't think; they are active, adaptive, strong-willed teachers who work with teenagers every day, and if anything are more youthful for it. I worked a number of different jobs when I was back in the States with all kinds of folks, and don't find country of origin to make much difference with personal interactions. I'm aware that Japan is more secluded, sharing less than other societies, but these people are friends who work together, going out drinking with each other, and act and speak like any other groups I've been in.
.
.
I'LL PULL THIS ALL BACK TO SUMMARY: all in all, it's not them I'm worried about--it's me.
I'm worried I'll stop thinking.
I like the part of me that still questions, wonders, asks why and then tries to form answers. It's given me powers of judgment and compassion as a result, an overall wisdom I pride myself on. As years go on, however, the sort of wide-eyed conversation and consideration for life, how to live it, and all things in it continues to decrease in frequency and length. No one wants to talk much, unless it's a heated political issue that calls some preset value they have into question. No one wants to examine things for the sake of seeing what more there is too them, or think of the abstract for the sake of thinking. The trend is more towards whatever is right in front of them making them busy, or whatever will make them feel relaxed to do after. And I'm worried the more I'm continuing with people around in this universal trend, the more I'll keep slipping in with it. Will I be the guy to point out the new artisan cake shop? Will I buy a TV just to see what everyone else is talking about? The age of social media and anything "viral" throws so much in front of us, but is more thinking the result, or just more passive reception to be counted like items on a list later.
"Did you see _____?"
"Yes, I did."
"Okay."
Even if there is a 'what did you think' to follow, it usually doesn't go on for more than a sentence of two, because the other side is not really asking to engage the idea, more often than not it's just to see if you share the same perspective, so then you get that little spark of connection-communication, and you can move on with the day.

I want to continue living an observed life, where everything can be turned into a chance to think, reason, and understand. It's that form of brain-tinkering that brought me into the person I am now, that's pushed me to live a more challenging life, and do things no one else has done, for the experience and to see what comes next. I want to keep thinking, thinking as an active mode of operation, not just an occasional necessity. And I'm wondering how I'm going to do that when a lot of the dialog around me doesn't come out as conducive and lulls me into slogging along in the daily grind, where a day can go by without a thought.

I've recently returned to trying to memorize song lyrics just to give my mental-bits something to do. I've been writing more, revising too, and am trying to internalize the thinking process to make it less dependent on outside factors, though those have always been the ones I've enjoyed, trying to gain another perspective and hear things said in a different way.

I'm assuming only about 3 and a half people have the attention span / care enough to have read this far, but I wonder if there are others out there who feel the same? Wanna be thought-based pen-pals? I don't want to misplace the communication connection of thinking, as another good-brain perspective always opens up as much new territory as a new dimension.

Where I am, job-wise and by way of country, is temporary. Within about a year I'll be looking for a new place to start a new chapter of life, and that will come with all kinds of exciting challenges and frustrating struggles, though there's no way I can know what they'll be. And I think the best thing I can do to prepare for them is to keep thinking, keep my mind sharp, and not let myself go too sane. After all, I don't want to lose my mind.

Green Demon & Purple Demon

[Japan has a moral education fairy tale, called "Red Demon and Blue Demon", wherein blue demon follows the advice of red demon to make friends with village children, which leads to red demon leaving forever so he won't scare the kids. It is a dumb story, and it also is a very poor moral story, as it seems to dissuade students from communicating with their friends. So, I rewrote the story (to a higher level of English, but) with a better ending, supporting the value of friendship, and the two demons become radical rockstars.]

GREEN DEMON & PURPLE DEMON

by Brent Danley Jones

            Once upon a time Green Demon lived in the city of Shimokitazawa. Green Demon wanted to be a famous rockstar drummer. So he put a board in front of his live house. He wrote the words, `I`m a radical drummer! Please come and listen!` But everyone was afraid of him so no one came in, because he was a scary demon and his ticket price was too high. He felt angry and finally took the board away.

             One day, Purple Demon came to Green Demon`s house. He said, `Do you really want to be a famous drummer?` Green Demon said, `Yes, I do!` Purple Demon agreed with him and said, `Okay, you need to start a band. I am a great guitarist. Together, we will be the Toxic Brothers!` Green Demon liked Purple Demon`s idea and said, `That`s a great idea! We may have an awesome time!` Then they went down to the village station to perform a street live.

             Lots of people were at the station. Suddenly, Green Demon and Purple Demon came. They shouted, `We are the Toxic Brothers! We`ll rock your world!` The people were excited and shouted, `Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!` with their hands in the air. Then, Green Demon sang: `When you`re lost, and you don`t know what to do, listen to your demon heart, and let the music guide you!` Green Demon hit the drums like crazy and Purple Demon played like his hands were on fire. Everyone shouted, `Yaaaaaaaay!`

The people cheered, `Thank you for your awesome performance! You are radical dudes. We want to go to your live house.` Green Demon`s live house became very popular and the Toxic Brothers were the most famous band in the local indie scene.

A few years later, Green Demon went to Purple Demon`s apartment to thank him. Green Demon found a letter on the door:

`Hey Green Demon,

I`m glad you are a famous rockstar now. I want to play with you again, but I need to become a more powerful guitarist. I will go far away into the mountains to practice with the Guitar God and find myself. I will always be your friend.

Rock on,

Purple Demon.

Green Demon couldn`t believe it. He made a new band called The Purple Hearts and they also became very famous. Green Demon never forgot the power of music thanks to Purple Demon.

A few years later, Green Demon still did not forget about his long lost friend. He wanted to tell Purple Demon that he didn`t need to be better, because he was already a very powerful guitarist that had all the Toxic Brothers needed to be a radical band. Green Demon decided to follow Purple Demon into the mountains to tell him that the power of music was more important to him than how well someone can play guitar.

When Green Demon got to the top of the mountain, he was amazed by what he saw. Purple Demon was playing guitar… in a big rock battle with the Guitar God! Purple Demon was having a hard time. Green Demon wanted to help. He quickly made a drumset from sticks, stones, and a mountain goat. He played like crazy, supporting Purple Demon. Because they had always been best friends, they matched each other perfectly and played and played and kept playing with awesome power until the Guitar God exploded in a brilliant pyrotechnics display. It was the greatest song in the world, even though no one was there to see it but the two demons.

`We did it! We did it!` Purple Demon said. He was so happy that he jumped up and down. But Green Demon went over and hit him! `Ow! Why would you do that?`

`What a fool you are! You could have been killed by the Guitar God`s groovy high voltage music. I know you wanted to be stronger, but you should have told me, your best friend, about your plans. I could have come to practice here with you. You taught me the power of music, but also you taught me the power of friendship. If there is anything more important than music, it is believing in your friends!`

Purple Demon was crying. He said `You’re right, music is radical, but playing music with your friends is the most awesome.`

`Right on dude!`

Green Demon and Purple Demon went back down the mountain and started a new band, DEMON800, and played a lot of radical music as friends forever and ever.