Huzzah!

So the other day I found a veritable treasure trove of notes for a story I am writing. It makes some ideas I had before make sense, as well as remind me of other ideas. I also had an idea for another (much much much much darker) one. Looks like my cup spillith over with creative fodder. I haven't done much poetry recently, I suspect its because I'm less of a bump on a log recently. Just the same, here's some poem fodder. I have not decided what I'm going to do with it yet:

Gold dust, filtering through the glass
Glowing face lies down to sleep
It's smile fades, and melancholy,
The mistress of dreams, takes hold.
She spreads her wings, and takes
Dominion of the heavens
And tosses sparkling diamonds all around


You never liked my silly poems
You never ever did
You smile and laugh, your deadeye grin
Your eyes are there, of course
But no twinkling therein.
And behind those walls
The gavel falls
And I can’t seem to win.

Some day, sometime, I might exist
Some day, sometime, I might live
Some day, sometime I might die
And return to oblivion
As a sleeper rudely awoken returns
To his warm well-used bed,
So short is our tenure
So close is our bed.

The more the merrier!

Here's a short little one I crapped out a half an hour ago:

Socrates the humble

Socrates the wise

Those who boast do tumble

Under your questioning eyes

So why is there no book of yours,

Nothing, save that of Plato?

You must have been a firm believer

That you should write what you know!

And another, darker one:

Write a story, make a play

Give purpose to your waning day

Wouldn’t want your life to be a waste

Find a woman, make her yours

Pull out chairs, open doors

Wouldn’t want your life to be too chaste

Earn a penny, earn a buck

Even if you don’t give a fuck

Wouldn’t want to end with fewer toys

Swing the bat, lift the weight

Make sure that you’re looking straight

Wouldn’t want to be fag to all the boys

Look around for meaning

Make up what your want

As long as what you want is the norm

Man up for the Ladies

Beef up for the boys

Men know the only thing in life is form.

Good Morning Itaewon

More poetry? Don't mind if I do!

Good Morning, Itaewon

Headlight, break light

Late night, lame night

Drizzle rain, wet the skull

Keeping beat, makes me dull

Tequila repetition, stacks of glass

Belly full and burning

Noxious, burning, tastes like ass

Belly dark and churning

Fire spreads out to my arms

Robs my brain of thought

Fire goads me with its charms

And I forget my lot

Crooked smile, silly grin

Makes me smile, makes me swim

Floorboards toss, ceilings swirl

Mindless swinging in the whirl

And yet another installment: Sparks

What is it for, this little spark we have

Flickering in the wide cold dark
In the vast universe, too large for comprehension
Empty, burning, frozen too
Over space and space again
Time and time again.
And these little lights burn


So small, so fragile
These little lights are
They may end at a moment
Never to be seen again
Their color unique
In every sense of that word
And yet of all the same matter
Tomorrow you die, they say
Expecting some far off day
Not realizing that tomorrow could be
Tomorrow. Or even today.


Watch as it dims without fuel
That little light of mind
The spark weakens as it loses itself in false worlds
Worlds created for its comfort
To make it feel important
To make it feel like meaning exists
Must exist
And that it is simple, small
As if this little light were in a room
And all there were was this room
Small enough that it's light reached every corner.
Is it any wonder that the dimmer the light, the smaller the room must be?
So there be no dark corners, no answers to seek, no mystery?

The space beyond this gilded, painted room
The real
Is cold and dark. One might be tempted to believe
That it is cold and dark and there is no light
But we must remember what we are, we sparks
We ARE the light

Bring the sparks closer together.
Watch as they grow in brightness
Watch as they grow in warmth
These special little points of light
Seeking shelter with themselves from the cold night
And they can look out
From their warmth
And see the real, see it again from calm, unfrightened eyes
And see that it is beautiful, and moving, and frightening, and exciting
But most of all: REAL.

Poetry Post! #1

I promised myself I would write a poem every day this summer, and write my novel. So, to add to the incentive, I will post whatever I have at the time, embarrassing, unfinished, or otherwise. Wheeee! Here is the first one I will post, the first one of the ones I wrote here at work:

Excuse me
pardon me
I'm sorry to bother you but
I don't mean to be a nuissance but
I just wanted to say
I just needed to say
If you don't mind
If it is not too much trouble
And I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable but
And I know that you probably will think I'm crazy, but
I just wanted you to know
I just wanted to show
Without ruining what we have
Without making this awkward
I just had to get this of my chest
I just needed to get this out
I just really wanted to shout
And I know what you might say
I know what you're probably thinking
But I would really appreciate if you'd oblige
Just a little bit of a consolation
I know this might make me seem complainy
But please remove your knife from my skull
(My shirt is getting quite brainy)

Wow, I fail so hard. I am going to try to start posting my writing on here now, just because having fodder for the blogging might help me keep going. But First! I took a trip down to Pyeongtaek a few weeks ago for the annual teacher trip (yay!) I was late, so my day started a bit crappily, but soon we were on the road, drinking beer and soju. Man koreans know how to drink.

First we visited a couple of temples:

Then after spending a drunken night at a ski resort, we woke up at 730am and went out to some Lee Hyeong Seok's birthplace. He is most famous for this short story: The Buckwheat Blossoms. The area we were in was famous for the buckwheat, so we took pictures in fields and ate at a buckwheat specialty restaurant. But the best part was stopping by this art center off the side of the road by a buckwheat field.

Ok! Update!

I am currently residing in Jukjeon, Korea, and I couldn't be happier! The people are friendly, the students are very excited to have me, and the food is delicious. I get up at 7:30 every morning excited to start my day, which is a new feeling for me. We'll if that changes when I get internet at home, haha. To start, Ima post some pictures of my apartment. I was surprised at first by it. It opens up into a small kitchen with a sliding door opening up into the main room:

I'm still figuring out how to post additional pictures, so bear with me. Today will be kitchen day! [edit: the blog helper elf posted my pictures for me!] Wheee! So wednesday was education election day, so there was no school, but I came in to work anyway. There were a couple of other teachers here as well, just doing paperwork, but I ended up doing some impromptu english lessons with them and their kids. I taught one teacher about puns! yay!

So! Politics! Some Republican idiot says he has a secret list of socialists in congress. http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/bachus_tells_city_and_county_o.html

Seriously? A list of socialists? Doesn't this sound familiar? And doesn't the history of said familiar event suggest how backwards this is? McCarthy is not known as a hero, let's leave it at that. Of course, representatives will scramble for attention. This is all part of the Republican strategy of using and reusing defunct strategies. They want to try tax cuts for the rich AGAIN, they want to deregulate MORE, they want to shore up the base AGAIN, and apparently they want to engage in 50 year old scare tactics. They don't get it. The younger generation doesn't care about socialism as a bogeyman, it won't work. It will only appeal to the diehard and might i add, dying-out brand of conservatives. What, do they want to go for 100% in Oklahoma?

Honestly, the more disturbing thing than the fear mongering, is the idea that this congressman is actually worried about socialists. Really? Americans are concerned about work, they are concerned about feeding their families, they are concerned about having a future. But there is such a disconnect between peoples actual fears, and what gets played out in politics. Banning gay marriage will not fix the economy or save your job, or even affect you at all. Stopping socialism will not keep your family fed or provide you healthcare. *shakes head*

Speaking of the younger generation not caring, I just want to post this speech by Iowan House Majority Leader Gronstal about a bill to overturn the recent ruling in Iowa supporting gay marriage. Go you, Gronstal!

http://www.open.salon.com/blog/stellaa/2009/04/07/iowa_state_majority_leader_moving_speech_on_gay_marriage

GRRRRRR

Ok, so I haven't posted in a while.  BUT!  pretty soon this blog will become my Korea blog, where I'll post pictures of my school, class, any trips I take, etc.  That way I'll be unique just like all the other people teaching in Korea!  But yeah.  

EW EW EW EW EW!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29536263/

In response to the opposition arguments that the court should overturn Prop 8 because it strips fundamental rights from the minority: "What I'm picking up from the oral argument in this case is this court should willy-nilly disregard the will of the people," said Justice Joyce Kennard.

I'm sorry, willy nilly?  The supreme court is supposed to uphold the constitution, as well as the SPIRIT of said constitution.  The US Supreme Court ruled Brown vs. Board of Education precisely because the will of the majority violated the letter and the spirit of the 14th ammendment.  Prop 8 in California is no different.  It is a slight majority of those that participated in the election effectively stripping fundamental rights from an unpopular minority.  How is this possible??  Simple majorities are all well in good for things that we disagree on, like tax increases/cuts, spending, etc.  HOWEVER!  I believe the gay marriage issue is a different breed entirely.  What if the slight majority decided that Asians couldn't get married?  What if we as a state, enacted anti-miscegenation laws?  The reason that these examples are morally disgusting is not because of the racist attitudes or the fact that we as a majority don't find miscegenation appalling, its because they would be a denial of a fundamental right by a majority over a minority.  Anyone who says that these examples are dissimilar should take a long hard look at themselves and question whether their own opinions of the people involved are clouding their judgement of what the law should be.  

    This is of course beyond the fact that it really should be harder for a state to change is constitution.  The US requires 2/3 in order to propose change to the US constitution, and even then requires ratification by 2/3 (that's 66%) of states, but California needs only a simple majority in a simple vote?  I am sorry, but there is a reason our founding fathers saw fit to make it so difficult to change such a central part of our government and society: to prevent prejudice, passing opinion, and flashy expensive campaigns to sweep large changes in our government; in other words, to prevent EXACTLY THIS from happening.

   This means that the court's job is to be a safeguard against said changes, and if need be, reject the passing fancy of the populous in favor of protecting rights.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUQn0HhGEk

Long Rant about Solis Confirmation delay

GOP-ers may block Solis confirmation

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17538.html

The US is in economic turmoil.  It is a cake we've long been baking in the oven, and the fact that the GOP is insisting on blocking a labor nominee because she might be pro labor, is rather disgusting.  The story is that she is not willing to answer the question as to whether she would support the "card check" bill, in other words that she would take the side of unions in her position.  I don't think there is any doubt where she stands.  She has a working class background, and has consistently been a champion for labor, I think we all know she's going to support the legislation.  The fact that she says she cannot speak for the legislation is TYPICAL for nominees on contentious issues (we all remember Alito's confirmation hearing, among others), so this blocking is just a way to pressure democrats and put them in a bad light.  It's the same reason why players argue the ref or ump.  There's no way the ref is going to change his call, but you might get a break later on. The only problem is the ref is the electorate, and you're not going to score any points with an electorate that is increasingly hispanic and who recently voted for a rather liberal congress and president.

    Now, I've tried to understand why someone would be against the labor legislation, but I really can't.  Spoken simply, the current way a union might unionize in a given company is by waging a secret campaign among the workers of the company, having them sign "cards" (hence card check) stating their willingness to have the union negotiate on behalf of them.  After gathering about 30% of the workforce, the union can legally hold a ballot to determine their right to negotitate.  Typically, the union will wait until it has %50 percent, because there is a large attrition of workers being fired or pressured out of support for the union, and they want to make sure that a majority of the workers at the company are supporting them if there's a fight.  What the union then does is hold a "secret ballot" in which the workers vote for the union to take over their negotiation rights, held on the grounds of the company, subject to pressures from the company and "sweat sessions".  Now what the bill would do is cut out that last provision and have the union instead collect cards of %50 of the workers.  This essentially removes one barrier from forming a union, a barrier that is unethical and unneeded.  

     If you are a business, I can sort of understand why you might want to kill this legislation. In general, labor is the largest cost in any business, and if you reduce that cost, you can possibly keep your sheets in the black.  So, in the short term you save some money on payroll and benefits.  In the long term you contribute to your own doom, and the overall collapse of the U.S. economy.  Now, I know that sounds like hyberbole, but I am really quite serious.  If we look at the problems of the economy, we can see that its root lies in two things: the rotting away of the middle class and the proliferation of ridiculous credit.  As real wages go down, expenses go up, and benefits dwindle, workers can't afford much spending.  Without consumer spending the economy goes belly up, so how did our economy last so long with workers becoming increasingly unable to afford things.  Enter credit.  Credit in theory allows workers to buy necessities and large ticket items in the short term, to be paid off in the long term with the benefit of said items.  An example might be someone taking out a loan to get a car, which he can then use to have a wider range for commuting.  In reality, however, credit tends to just tie people up.  People buy things they simply cannot afford, driven by the seduction of advertising and Mephistophelesian contracts.  So, people start paying for everything with credit.  They take out loans to pay for loans and cards to pay for cards, all continuing a trail of mounting credit to cover up the fact that the cannot afford things, and so they continue to consume.  It's no wonder that our economy has collapsed, then, when the largest source of credit (people's houses) and the banks resonsible for doling out credit dry up.  The alcohol leaves the system and America is left with a giant hangover.  

     So how do unions play a part in this? Unions are a way to have actual stability, not false stability through credit.  It is a truism, or at least it should be, that if you want to do well, pay your workers enough to afford your product.  As it is, our economy has demonstrated that it is not willing to do so on its own, so obsessed with short term profit as it is, and so the workers need to fend for themselves.  

    So what if Solis supports the bills?  That means she's not living in the gilded age. Republicans need to take a long look at whom they represent, who they're protecting.

  

http://www.thinkatheist.com/photo/i-can-haz-evolooshon?context=featured

Oh my goodness yes.

And so the madness begins. . .

So, this is what a "blog" is, eh?  Very interesting.  Well, My name is Jeff.  This is my blog.  As king of said blog, I decree that I shall use it to post my thoughts, writing, interesting videos, and links to interesting articles.  Pretty much all things of an interesting nature.  I have spoken! Harrumph!

I'm feelin' a bit punch drunk this early in the morning, so I shall start with some madness.  http://www.timecube.com/

I found this website while researching for a story, it is the blog of a man by the name of Gene Ray.  He, as you might be able to tell, is simply mad, schizophrenic most likely.  What is interesting, however, is reading along and following his "logic".  If you read it long enough, it starts to make sense.  Perhaps your mind just sort of accepts his parameters of his logic, and you soon cease to notice the unusual grammar and dime-turn logic.

Now, once madness finds a friend, then it ceases to be madness, yes?   Scientology comes to mind, but I have a truly less scary example.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsonomy

Don't you just want to find out about Marsism now?  Mmmmm cheese and beer!

By the by, here's the wiki list of pseudosciences that I used.  Any and all innaccuracies in this post can be blamed on this website as well as an abundance of laziness on my part.  Whee!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pseudoscientific_theories