The Extraordinary Tourist
Why Satanism is Dumb.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I was recently informed that Satanism is dumb because:
"The first rule of Satanism is to 'do what you want' therefore, if you follow any of the rules after that, that is someone else telling you what to do and not you 'doing what you want'. Hence Satanism is dumb." I don't know the rules of Satanism and I'm paraphrasing this revelation from someone who promptly declared themselves to be very smart. So smart, in fact, they thought they might inform the Satanist 'Pope' at their first opportunity.
My article was prompted because this person was very pleased with their conclusion and, at the time, I didn't want to lock horns with such a theological master. (Notice how I'm using big words like 'theological' and 'revelation' to make it sound like I actually know something about this subject - I had to look both words up just to check I was using them in the correct context by the way).
Back to the rules of Satanism (which I suspect are much like the Pirate Code and more like guidelines than actual rules). Perhaps you've spotted the flaws in this argument against Satanism?
My immediate thought was, what if you choose to follow the rest of the rules? It's your choice right? You're doing what you want to do which is follow the rest of the rules.
Taking that thought to an extreme conclusion, if 'doing what you want' means choosing to follow all the rules of Christianity, does that make you a Satanist or a Christian?
Then, I thought a bit more about the original argument. If you follow the first rule of Satanism then, technically, that is someone else telling you to do what you want therefore you're not 'doing what you want'. Hmmm... almost as weird a logic as the argument its self.
At this point of my writing, I thought I'd do some research of my own. It turns out that the first rule of Satanism (at least the one referenced above) isn't actually a rule but rather it is a major Satanic social ethic that reads like this:
"Do whatever you want as long as you harm no undeserving person"
Source: Satanic Ethics and teachings on morality in Satanism by Vexen Crabtree. The same source article above references Eleven Satanic Laws, none of which state 'Do whatever you want'. The article also states that Satanists are not bound to these laws and that there is no taboo amongst Satanists if the laws are broken. Hence, one might conclude that these 'laws' are more like 'guidelines'.
Like most people I thought Satanism is akin to 'devil worship' but, based upon my very limited reading thus far I suspect 'devil worship' is a Christian label applied to Satanists. Reading the eleven laws, they actually seem quite reasonable statements, with one or two perhaps leaning towards extreme violence if taken too literally.
In any event, I don't wish to be thought of as promoting Satanism. This article was simply to vent some thoughts I had about someone else's conclusion on the subject.
I don't profess to have any detailed understanding of theology in general and wouldn't like to prove my ignorance by stating any further poorly drawn and unresearched conclusions. Best leave that to other people.Labels: life, observation, social
Squeezing the Toothpaste: A Metaphor
Saturday, March 01, 2008
 I remember when toothpaste was sold in a metal tube. Back then, as a child, you'd cop it from Mum or Dad if you squeezed the tube anywhere but from the bottom. You could even buy special keys that would wind the toothpaste tube up from the bottom so you could get every last bit of paste - no wastage.
Then along came the plastic tubes. Finally you could squeeze anywhere and the tube would retain its shape - or so they said in the sales pitch. For the most part this was true. It wasn't as much of a problem squeezing the new plastic tube from the top. Squeezing toothpaste from the tube was now easy - or so you thought.
The thing about squeezing the tube from the top (or even the middle) is that it leaves some of the paste at the bottom. Eventually you do have to spend extra time pushing the paste from the bottom up into the top of the tube.
Not like the old days when squeezing from the bottom meant you got just the right amount of paste and the tube was always ready for the next person to use. Efficient.
Can the inefficiencies of modern toothpaste tubes be a metaphor for modern times where people often choose the easy option, not realizing that it will actually mean extra work later on? I think so.
The 'easy' option sometimes is deceptive. A little bit more thought can often reveal a better way of doing things that is actually less work.
That's why I still squeeze my toothpaste tube from the bottom (not that this works very well when others in my family don't...*sighs*).Labels: life, observation
Working out how to install a Car Stereo
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Many months ago - maybe even more than a year ago - my partner's son asked if I could help install a new car stereo system into his first car. I've never installed a car stereo system before but, like most things, I can usually work it out so I said I'd give it a go.
Unfortunately, before I got started, he took it upon himself to pull out the old system without making any notes about what wire connected where. This pretty much set back my ability to work things out quite drastically.
I did give it a really good try but found the instructions on the new system difficult to follow (due to them being a poor translation into English from either China or Japan). Plus the wires on the new system didn't seem to match anything that was left in the car after pulling out the old system.
Teenage boys, being like they are, things have to be done now. I was being overly cautious because the stereo was new and expensive. I didn't want to accidentally short something out.
In the end he got a friend to install it and I never saw how it all went together. Though I understand I was on the right track with what I had done up to that point.
Fast forward to the last couple of days and my trusty little Galant which I introduced to you in my article Wheels Again.
Shortly after my partner bought this car for me she also bought her son's old car stereo, main unit to put in it. No speakers though as her son no longer had his.
I hadn't installed it yet as the main unit was not unlike the one I'd tried to install months before. Plus, even if I did install it, I wouldn't be able to hear anything until I bought some speakers.
This weekend, I didn't have much work on so I decided I'd give it a go. The Galant had most of the wires in place already from a previous stereo installation. It was just a case of working out what wire went where.
An added bonus was I also discovered the the Galant had one speaker still in place, located right in the middle of the dashboard. The speaker looked a bit past it's use by date but I was hoping it would still be okay.
I'll spare you the blow by blow account but some highlights included:
- Ending day one with evidence of power getting to the stereo but with nothing else working.
- Learning that as well as a red wire going to the ignition via a fuse and a black wire going to the car body, there needed to be another yellow wire going to the battery. Presto! All the lights on the radio worked... pretty!
- Seeing a nice sparky flash when the wire running from the battery made contact with the body of the car (note that disconnecting the battery is always a good idea before installing a stereo).
- Lots of very sticky red binding tape from the previous installation needing to be removed and getting sticky goo all over my fingers.
- Researching internet sites for wiring diagrams and discovering an interesting history of the Galant.
- Spending all day twisting and contorting trying to install the stereo from under the dashboard then discovering a panel right at the top centre of the dash, directly above the stereo, that could be removed. Wish I'd have found that earlier!
- Discovering that the single front speaker still worked thus enabling me to hear the radio as well as admire all the pretty lights.
All up, this whole installation took me about two days. I didn't have the benefit of instructions and things like the Yellow wire going to the battery was actually a blue wire from the previous installation.
I'm sure someone, who knew what they were doing, could have finished the job in a couple of hours but I just wanted to show that, given enough time, I usually can work out how to do most things.
I'm sure my little Galant goes just a little bit faster now it has a stereo!Labels: education, life, music
I'm an Adult Now. I can do anything I want!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A common myth that teenage adults have as they start to get closer to that arbitary line of being an 'adult' is that adults can do anything they want. I'm sure millions of parents have heard from their teen, at one time or another, "I'm an adult now so I can do what I want." A statement that clearly is a childish justification for poor decision making.
Why? Because usually your teen will come out with this statement if you won't let them do something that they really want. To be fair, sometimes it's just the parents being overly protective but, for whatever reason, being an 'adult now' is a childish way to say I don't care for your concern I'm going to do what I want. (Though in that last sentence you can exchange the word 'concern' for 'unreasonable attitude' or more likely yet just insert the word 'sh_t').
Apart from the obvious physical differences the key difference between children and adults is that adults make all their own decisions. Children do make some of their own decisions and are given more and more decisions as they get closer to adulthood but making all your own decisions isn't the same as 'being able to do anything you want'.
Whilst adults do make a lot of their own decisions they can still be held accountable for poor decision making. Just ask Britney Spears who lost custody of her children due to her poor choices. All adults are answerable to the standards of behaviour that we, as a society, have agreed upon expressed in something called 'The Law'.
Of course few people know the fine details of the Law but most of us know simple stuff like treating each other with respect. Most of us also have a fair idea when we do something that breaks the law too.
Leading to the point of this article is the idea that the decisions any one of us get to make is largely affected by decisions made by other people. Decisions that are beyond our control. Things like the Law is one such example of decisions made by others that can affect our choices but I'm referring to decisions on a more local and personal level.
For example. Lets say your lawnmower is broken but you need to cut your lawn before the landlord comes over for a routine inspection of your house. You could either; 1) Not worry about cutting the lawn and wear the consequences. 2) Hire a lawnmower or, 3) Borrow the neighbours lawnmower.
Decision one, don't cut the lawn. Entirely under your control 100% your choice.
Decision two, hire a lawnmower. If you have the money and you can find somewhere that has a lawnmower available for hire then good. Another decision under your control. There's a few variables that you can't control though. If they can't be met then this decision may not be open to you.
Decision three, borrow the neighbours lawnmower. This one could be straight forward if you're on good terms with your neighbour however this decision is only open to you if your neighbour is the kind of person who would like to help you out.
You see, some decisions we have are made available to us through the decisions of others. Lets say, the last time you borrowed your neighbours lawnmower, they had to ask you for it back and you returned it with no fuel at all even though, when you borrowed it, it had a full tank.
Maybe this time you won't be able to borrow it. Your poor choices the last time you borrowed the lawnmower have lead to a situation where you no longer can make a decision to borrow it again. It's not an option, unless you have an extremely forgiving neighbour.
Being an adult who can seemingly do anything they want is not about passing some arbitary age where society says you're an adult. Being an adult is about understanding how the world works and how you can give yourself the widest possible number of choices when it comes to decision making.
In general, if you do the right thing by other people, they'll be more open and receptive to the decisions you want to make. Not only that, they may just throw in a few more options that could help you out. Doing the wrong thing will almost certainly mean fewer choices.
It's not a hard lesson to learn but it's one that so called 'teen adults' fail to grasp. They'll spend a lot of time trying to do the right thing by their friends yet fail to apply the same concept to the rest of the people in their lives.
I think I'll close this article the same way I closed the article about Britany...
"The truth is that you can get away with doing so much more of what you want simply by doing the right thing by the people around you."Labels: life, observation, social
Wheels Again.
Friday, October 05, 2007
 I can't remember the last time I had my own car. I've only ever owned one car, a Mazda 1500ss. I certainly remember buying it for AU$500 (obviously it was second hand at that price) and then spending another AU$500 on it to fix some minor issues and to completely re-detail the interior. I do remember selling it but I don't remember the year. I can safely say it was more than ten years ago.
Since then I've either walked everywhere or borrowed cars of people (mainly my sister) that I've lived with.
Last month, my partner, Enigma, was looking for a car suitable for her son and came across a great buy. A 1971, Chrysler Galant (pictured). It was recommended to her by her Mechanic who used to do all the servicing on it. In the meantime Enigma's son had found an alternative car that a friend was selling so he went with that. However the Gallant, for which the price had been negotiated down to the price of a fairly flash, brand new bicycle, was hard to pass up. So she bought it.
Now the Galant is a manual gear box. In our family only two people have recent experience driving a manual, Enigma's son and myself. Enigma has driven a manual but that was so long ago she's not sure if she really wants to relearn. Since her son now had a car, I'm the lucky one to finally have wheels again.
I've been for a few short drives so far. I love a manual car because it feels like you're actually doing the driving. Not like automatics where you just kind of push a pedal and steer.
This particular car is a year younger than me and comes from an era before cars got complicated with all kinds of technologies that anyone without a degree in rocket science and electrical engineering couldn't understand. The most technologically advanced things in cars back then was the radio. Since the Galant has had the radio removed there's nothing left to be confused by - except maybe the speedometer which is in miles per hour.
Some of you may be thinking what's confusing about miles per hour? Well, in Australia, we switched over to the metric system probably about the same time this car was made. I've never had to read a speedometer in anything other than Kilometers per hour. I've made myself a little conversion chart to refer to that I've stuck on the dash.
Anyhow I won't go on about having a car. It is good to have wheels but really I just wanted to record the occasion somewhere and share it with you. My readers.Labels: life, travel
Is being me good enough?
Sunday, August 05, 2007
I wish I could articulate all the thoughts that have been running through my head.
I made the mistake of asking for constructive feedback on one of my videos and got well meaning comments like:
"You need to talk a bit quicker"
"You need to smile a bit more"
"You need to be more expressive"
"Maybe you shouldn't talk, let the art take centre stage"
"Maybe you should talk more like you were just talking to a friend"
I've taken this feedback on board and have been trying to change to be more like whatever it is that people feel I need to be more like. Maybe I should just hire an actor to be me since perhaps the real thing isn't up to scratch? Someone who knows how to talk expressively, well paced and can throw in the occasional smile.
Much of the time, it seems to me, that the majority miss the point of online video and why it isn't and never should be mistaken for television. Television is polished and filled with people who train to be the best at what they do.
Online video, whilst accessible to professionals, is the medium of people just being themselves. Presenting whatever it is that they want to express because they want to share something of themselves with others.
I've become discouraged of late because, try as I might, I can't talk a bit quicker, I'm not usually very expressive and I don't smile a heck of a lot. What you see on camera is exactly how I am when I talk to a friend. I'm not trying to be a television presenter. This is me. This is who I am.
The point of my videos is to let you get to know me, the face behind the art. I don't want the art to take centre stage because the art doesn't tell you anything about me as a person. The art only lets you make assumptions about who I might be not who I actually am.
Trying to change myself for my videos has made the process of making them less and less fun. To the point where I often don't record anything because I just can't be bothered with take after take of trying not to stumble on lines that are supposed to be spontaneous. It's a frustrating process where just saying "Hi, I'm The Extraordinary Tourist" becomes a chore because I continuously stumble the very next line trying to talk quicker and more fluently.
If I do let myself talk naturally I then have to spend hours editing out all the pauses whilst I stop to gather my next thought. Even though I talk to the camera the same as I would talk to a friend it's not quite the same. The camera doesn't speak back. You can't think about what you're going to say next whilst the camera speaks. Pauses become much more noticeable. I don't have to edit the pauses out but it emphasizes the slow pace that I naturally speak at.
I'm sure that, after reading this far, you may be thinking I should just be myself. The problem with that is, being myself just doesn't seem to be good enough.Labels: life, me, television, video
Echoes of your online life.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
How long will the echo of your life continue to resonate around virtual space once you are gone?
Performing a Google search on your real name and various user names that you may have adopted for numerous social sites and forums can turn up a lot of your online history. For example, if I perform a search on my real name, one of the results will be the very first web page that introduced me to the online world. This page is more than 10 years old and clearly no longer supported by its author but still it persists.
Other things that will turn up are game levels that I made in my former life as a Dark Forces Game Guru as well as echoes of my more recent stint on my local council. Two things which I have no involvement with in my present life as a wanna be internet celebrity.
Currently my videos are bouncing all around the internet. More than seventy of them and still counting. In these days of social networking and content sharing, who knows how far and wide my videos have spread. I can barely keep track of the places I've uploaded them myself.
How long will my videos continue to bounce around in cyberspace after I'm gone? How long will my echo be? If we physically can't be immortal, what about in cyberspace? Will our echo keep resonating years after we're gone?
I hate to finish with a cliche but...
Only time will tell.Labels: cyberspace, internet, life, mortality
Where is my Mind?
Monday, July 09, 2007
I've had the song 'Where is my Mind?' by the Pixies running around my head for days now. Considering the title of my last post, No body move, I've dropped my brain!, my sense of humor is such that I can't help but title this post as I have. Well? ...laugh.
So maybe it's not that funny but the question is still relevant. Yesterday I thought I might begin work on another video. Perhaps the long awaited Episode 4 in my ebay series. I'd primed myself earlier in the day. Previewing all three episodes so I could reconnect with the content and build upon it in the new video.
I had some ideas but when I got out into my studio, with everything set up, I just wasn't into it. My head had nothing. Despite the usefulness of the series to other people (based on the feedback I've received) filming another one just wasn't something my head wanted to do.
Sitting blankly in front of a camera is time consuming in the worst sense. It achieves nothing. Perhaps if I scripted something? No idea what, since my head had nothing. Needless to say I gave up on filming anything at all.
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
Where is my mind?
Lyrics, The Pixies. Labels: life, music, video
The Deadly Art of Dish Washing.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Thursday 21 June 2007...
Mother's everywhere worry about their children being out late at night. What do they get up to? Are they being safe? Will they make the right choices and stay out of trouble? Yet not a single concern is given, in fact, mothers often encourage, their children to participate in the deadly art of dish washing.
Yes, dish washing. After traveling, by road, more than half way across a country that contains more perils than a Batman movie, dish washing, the day after my return, is what floors me (quite literally). It is my number two most serious accident, in my life, right after breaking a leg skateboarding. Let me explain.
I was washing the dishes, around about midday. I had the dish cloth inside a glass, wiping around the inner rim when a piece of the glasses side breaks off. My right hand continued to turn in the glass, into the leading edge of the break, slicing deeply into the lower back of my thumb. Shi...ouch!
As you can imagine, blood starts pouring out. I'm thinking 'this isn't good', dropped the rest of the glass into the water, grabbed the dish cloth, covered the wound and applied pressure. Now what?
At that moment I hear my partner pull into the drive way, returning home from work. A minute or two later she walks into the dining area, sees me holding the dish cloth on my hand, over the sink and asks "are you okay?"
"No, I just sliced my hand open on a glass."
She rushes to get our first aid kit as my head starts to spin. Coming back, my partner has time to move me away from the sink to the serving bench, take away the dish cloth and bandage the wound (which appears to have stopped bleeding from what I saw). All the while my head is spinning and I'm trying to stay upright.
I've never fainted before. Not even when I broke my leg. I have a theory. When I broke my leg the pain was so great that my brain couldn't do anything but think 'oh my god that hurts, oh my god that hurts, did I mention that hurts?' etc. When I sliced my hand open, whilst the initial cut hurt, after that, there wasn't really any unbearable pain just blood pouring out where it shouldn't. Therefore, my brain had time to think, 'this looks really serious - if I tune out and live in denial maybe it will go away?'
I guess my partner helped me down to the kitchen floor, where I woke up, what I imagine to be seconds later, lying down. She had gone off to quickly lock up the house and phone the doctor. My head was still spinning but lying on the kitchen floor was really uncomfortable and probably very worrying. I got up walked myself into the lounge and flopped onto a couch.
By the time the doctor had been phoned, my head was starting to level out again and I was feeling a little better. From this point on I was able to walk to the car and into the doctors surgery where I had five stitches put in and a fairly impressive looking bandage applied to cover the damage. Afterwards my partner and I went out to lunch as planned.
As I'm writing this it is nearly two days after the accident. I still have my bandage on. It comes off this afternoon. In eight days the stitches will be removed. I'm okay really. Don't worry too much. I've kept the hand elevated and haven't really experienced much pain at all.
However, the trauma I experienced whilst washing dishes has scared me for life. I don't think I'll be able to go near a kitchen sink or wash another dish ever again. The memories of that fateful day are just too much to bare. Washing dishes is far too dangerous and life threatening... well that's my story anyway. Not that anyone believes me.
My partner bought one of those 'mop on a stick' type dish washing utensils so I would never have to stick my hand into a glass to clean it again. I guess she believes in the idea of 'if you fall off a horse you've just gotta dust yourself off and get right back up there and ride it again'.Labels: humor, life, observation, people
Girl Problems.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
My partner's daughter sometimes has sick days from school for, what is described to me as, 'girl problems'.
Now all you blokes out there will know that we sometimes have 'girl problems' too but somehow haven't managed to wrangle a way to make them a justified excuse to take a 'sickie' from work.
Oh, wait, our 'girl problems' are not the same kind of 'girl problems' that girls have? Ahhh...now I see... oops.. probably didn't need quite that much information... ewwww!
Do boys have 'boy problems' and can we use them as a generic excuse to take a 'sickie'?
No wait, boys have 'man problems' surely? (he says beating chest and growling in a very masculine way... ouch that hurt my chest!)
Man Problems. Tell your work mates you're having 'Man Problems' and can't come in today. If nothing else it's sure to spread some rumors around the water cooler...
"I didn't know he played for the home team?"Labels: boy, girl, humor, life, man, problem
It's oh so quiet...
Monday, May 07, 2007
Many people describe themselves as being 'quiet' in real life social situations but as it turns out 'quiet' is a relative term.
I describe myself as quiet in real life. However, when I tell my internet friends that I'm quiet many of them will say 'oh really, me too' thinking that they're just like me in social situations.
No you're not like me. I've never met anyone who is quiet like me. I'm so quiet it's deafening. People notice that I'm quiet within a few seconds of meeting me (apparently).
In some situations my 'quietness' even makes people feel a bit uncomfortable (I think) as the urge to talk can be quite strong - even if you'd rather not speak first. I'm quite comfortable not speaking. I'm used to my own company. I'm an artist.
I'm not good at social gatherings because I think I have a moral obligation to wait until someone has finished speaking before I talk. No doubt you probably agree. However when someone is talking to me, I listen. I'm not formulating what I'm going to say the split second this person finishes their final sentence.
Apparently others do. I get next to no time to think and respond before someone else has started speaking and I've missed my opportunity to contribute to whatever the first person was saying. Now I have to wait until the second person has finished speaking...no time to think because now the first person has started responding to what person two just said... oh dear, they're going to think I'm 'quiet'.
My brain just doesn't work like that. It isn't inspired to recall stories of past high jinx based upon whatever story is being related to me... "oh yes, how we all laughed...that reminds me of the time we..." Doesn't work like that.
My brain just absorbs information then makes important connections an hour or so later. It stores stuff that may later be useful in creating... something.
So, 'quiet' is a relative term. You may think you're quiet compared to your friends but compared to me. I bet you seem... well... normal. No more quiet than anyone else meeting new people for the first time. Once they get to know you, you probably become more out going. Once people get to know me... nup - still quiet.
Oh well. I'm used to being quiet. Oh so quiet.Labels: conversation, friends, life, quiet, social
Still in the Wrapper.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
What does it say about me, the fact that I have several DVDs, given to me at Christmas time, still sealed in their shrink wrap plastic? All of the DVDs are movies that I wanted, yet here I am half way through April and I still haven't opened them.
If that isn't unusual enough, I have a $50.00 gift voucher to an art supply store, given to me in October of 2006, that I still haven't spent. Even though the store is quite some distance from where I actually live, I have been in close proximity to it on a few occasions.
To add to this growing list, I have quite a number of books that I've bought, which I've never read. Not so unusual. I guess we've all done that but still, what does that say about me?
Now that I think about it, I even have computer games that I've bought and never played. Am I really so busy that I just don't have time for this extra stuff?
Do other people have this same problem? Are we all so busy that things in our life remain 'in the wrapper'?Labels: life, observation
Forgotten by my Phone Company.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I'm sure it's not often that phone companies get complaints from customers for not trying to sell them new products and phone service plans but this is one of those rare, missed opportunities.
I have a mobile phone that is almost three years old. I'm not going to tell you the brand but it comes from a time when phones were transitioning into the age of third generation networks, colour screens and built in cameras. You know, all the cool features that makes you wonder where the 'call somebody on the phone' feature is. My phone has none of that.
My mobile phone has the old liquid crystal display. It's most advanced features are picture messaging and playing the inbuilt games. It wouldn't know what to do with a polyphonic ring tone.
Back to the point of this article. Three years ago the contract on my previous mobile phone expired. Just prior to that my mobile phone company was on the phone offering me the latest upgrade on a slightly cheaper, two year plan. The new phone would be completely free if I signed up for the plan. Great, cheaper phone bill, new handset, wonderful!
Two years later my contract runs out. I'm expecting to get the call.
"Hi, we'd like to offer you the latest, wizz bang mobile phone with all the multimedia features you need for zero dollars if you sign on to our two year plan that will be a whole dollar cheaper per month than your existing contract!"
Wonderful! Finally I get a phone that can record video with sound, take photos, connect to the internet, watch live TV and more, all whilst still being able to make and receive phone calls. The call never came.
My plan ran out and simply rolled over. I'm still paying a service fee and call costs but I'm no longer paying off the handset. I shouldn't complain too much as this literally cut my monthly bill in half at a time that I really needed money but still.
Being the video producer/creator that I am, having a mobile phone with the ability to record video would be a fantastic opportunity for creative film making.
You might ask why don't I just go out and buy such a phone. It's the principle. I know my own phone company has plans where you can get the latest phone for nothing as part of a plan.
Eventually I'll probably call them and see what they offer. However it makes me wonder. Did I not make enough calls? Why didn't they offer to upgrade my phone? I've been a loyal customer for four years at least. Doesn't that count?
Feels like I've been forgotten by my phone company.Labels: life, observation, video
The Passenger - by TET
Monday, April 09, 2007
Riding to one side.
Living someone else's drive.
Going no place you'd rather be,
Just to keep others happy.
Fun. It never comes,
From things you wished, you'd said and done.
All the happiness, to one side.
You're just along for the ride.
The passenger, never drives.
Never really lives or flies.
Always under someone's thumb.
Glazed eyes and feeling numb.
Riding to one side.
Living someone else's drive.
Wishing. Breaking free.
Just to be happy.
The passenger, never flies.
Going no place, slowly dies.
Never really being free.
Keeping others happy.
Fun. It never comes,
From things you wished, you'd said and done.
Happiness to one side,
Living someone else's life.Labels: journey, life, lyrics, passenger, poem, poetry
Your Outlook on Life.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
My partner and I went to a local pub for a nice lunch time meal. As we were finalising our order an elderly lady, just preparing to leave with her husband, suddenly became overcome with some ailment causing her temperature to soar. She appeared to be in pain. The thought that she may even be having a heart attack crossed my mind.
Her husband was quick to act, flagging down restaurant staff for some assistance with cold cloths and things. Several people on nearby tables offered their assistance but he didn't seem overly concerned saying this was something that had happened before and that she would 'come right again' in a little while.
The staff were great in offering assistance, keeping the ladies arms and neck cool with their cloths, trying to determine exactly what was wrong and whether the lady required an ambulance (she did seem to be in a lot of pain from what I observed). She initially refused an ambulance as she was of the same opinion as her partner about 'coming right' eventually. But the staff decided an ambulance was probably a good idea because she didn't seem to be getting better.
The women really did appear to be struggling. I'm not sure if she tried to get up or whether it was just that someone suggested lying down might help, as staff helped her to lie down on the floor next to the table (it was carpeted so not too hard).
By the time the ambulance arrived she was actually coming good again, sitting up and even joking a little with concerned onlookers. All in all a good outcome.
My partner joked that it wasn't a good look for the restaurant, a customer leaving in an ambulance. I thought perhaps they should give her a sign saying 'It wasn't the food' just to ease the mind of passers by.
After lunch my partner and I went over to a local park to take photos of flowers with her digital camera. We'd only just arrived when we were approached by a women and a girl (possibly mother and daughter). They greeted us friendly enough by explaining that they wanted to give us an invitation to a function they were attending.
In that second, what little open personality I display, was violently sucked into the metaphorical bomb shelter of my inner being as the realisation hit - we were under attack by messengers from God. Well, more precisely, messengers of The Revival Fellowship. From the moment their first sentence hit I limited my responses to 'uh-huh' and not much else.
This did not seem to deter them any. My partner, who knew of my previous experience with the fear of God, wouldn't look at me because I knew she was ready to burst out laughing if she did.
I'm not going to detail this conversation either because, just as before, I was only half listening. The rest of my thoughts were preoccupied with with the hope that the two of them would stop talking soon and move on.
What struck me though, was that these two were trying to convince me that the world is a terrible place, with everyone out for themselves, not thinking of others and with little hope. The usual doomsday kind of thing that many pro-active campaigners for religion preach in order to convince you of the need to follow Jesus or to accept God into your life.
It's an argument that pales when you consider the experience of the elderly lady in the pub earlier that day. Many people around her were very concerned, despite not knowing her at all. Many of them offered assistance, as did many additional restaurant staff, even though the situation was well under control with the two staff that were assisting her.
The world is not on the decline. It's always been this way. It all depends on which events you choose to focus on and what kind of out look you have on life. In this day and age more things are possible than ever before.
Perhaps I would be more open to religion if they didn't preach that the world needs saving from all the bad things. Why don't they preach about all the good things and encourage you to join in and help to make them better?Labels: issues, life, observation, social
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