They must be trippin'

What the fuck? Did his mother name the kid while high on Oxycontin? Were they high? And what's up with all these ghetto/hillbilly names white people are coming up with these days? I see it all the time in the schools and on xbox live (a whole other story). Man, they should invent a new word called ghetoO'Billy or something. There we go, I just did. Now, don't say I never did anything with my life. I invented a new word-GhetoO'Billy!

I bet if they have a daughter they'll name her Trick.

Tit for Tat...

That'll work, it always does!

Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said:

"Japan cannot avoid the tsunami of the world recession, but it can try to find a way out."

"The world economy is in a once-in-a-hundred-years recession. We need extraordinary measures to deal with an extraordinary situation," he said.


Huh? How do they know this happens once every hundred years? Didn't this just happen in Japan like fifteen years ago? And if it happens every hundred years why didn't world financial leaders expect this to happen? They're acting like this is a natural occurring phenomenon in nature, kind of like El Nino or hurricane season. You expect me to trust the words of the same arrogant assholes that got us into this mess in the first place? If they were so fucking smart they should have seen this coming a mile away, but they didn't. Now they're claiming it's just "something that happens once every hundred years". Sounds like one big fuck up that happened as a result of human arrogance and greed.

Well, at least the world falling apart will clean the slate for real change. Things fall apart for a reason-in order to create real, lasting change things have to be destroyed first. You can't fix a intrinsically broken system by working within the broken system. Our system is on its last legs. The machine is about to break, for good. Humanity must evolve its way of thinking, its economy, its politics -- everything -- if it plans on surviving. Good riddance. Let the world fall apart. Hells a coming and payback is a bitch, especially when rents way over due.

It's all 20/20 in hindsight. Too bad none of these fools had or have any real foresight.

Chrysler: Thanks for investing in us, America

What, you mean I had a choice? Great, thanks. Investing in failure and hollow dreams is one of my favorite, All-American past-times. Merry motherfucking X___________mas. Thanks for the lump of coal, Santa; I mean Uncle Sam.



Wow, if they followed through on any of the things that "Chrysler is committed to" they wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place. I guess, the last thirty years of mismanagement, shotty engineering, and ugly cars will just be their version of a Mulligan. Besides, we shouldn't have expected an American car company to provide: "cars and trucks you want to buy, enjoy driving, and will want to buy again", "deliver products with the best quality and value", and "improve fuel economy" on their own. I mean, that's just crazy, especially when the Japs and Krauts can do it for us!

After-all, that's the real American dream-to have someone else do it for you and make a shit-ton of money at the same time! Hard work, innovation, tenacity, accountability, etc.-those are just myths of the past! Money for nothing! We can have it all! Now that's the future. Shit.

Edumacate yourself!

Great, another private school educated administrator without a single day of real-life public school teaching experience. Well, at least he knows how to say the right thing (is a career politician) and won't have his high minded-ideals bashed against the wall (there's a reason why over 50% of teacher quit within three years, and it's not the pay).

I love his idea of residency programs for teachers seeking advanced degrees in education. How long does he think teachers will stick around in urban schools after they've gotten their Masters/Phds? How many days did he stick around teaching after he got his advanced degree? Oh yeah, he hasn't taught a day in his life.

Oh, and bribing students to do well in school is a great idea. As if the value of an education isn't incentive enough. Shouldn't we be teaching students about thinking in the long-term, especially with America's fiscal/credit/savings crisis? Doesn't bribing them to do well in school just support the instant gratification, "now, now, now", "me, me, me" mentality of America?

Whatevar, at least it all sounds good and that's all that counts these days.

One more thing: I love the idea of accountability just so long as the students, parents, and communities are drawn into the equation of accountability. After-all, it takes a village to raise a child-not just a teacher. Therefore, all of the blame shouldn't be placed on the teacher for the failure of the student. However, blaming the teachers for everything is an extremely politically convenient "solution" to the nation's education problems.

It's times like these that I miss a good ole tar and featherin'

Those close-set, beady eyes just scream schemer.
And is that hair even real?

A Few Questions on the Bail-Out...

Is this loan going to insure that GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc. don't make shitty cars anymore? Will this loan be able to pull Americans like me away from our love affairs with Japanese automobiles that we have owned and have served us well since we were teenagers? Not to mention, will America's love affair with German engineering and various European luxury cars disappear? Will this loan improve American students' scores in math and science, which will in turn lead to more competitive U.S. born and bred engineers that can provide the innovation necessary to make American made cars not suck anymore? I doubt it. This loan seems like more money being flushed down the toilet for the sake of supporting the gluttonous lifestyles of the crooks who got us into this mess in the first place.

I like Obama's Trasition...

mainly because he's showing wisdom in his selections by not going too far left. Personally, I hate far left wack-jobs just as much as I hate far right wack-jobs. They both have no sense of balance or perspective on the world. What we need is balance, which Barack is showing.
In addition, Barack is showing foresight by setting the table for winning the next election. Despite the far-left's: "We've got a huge mandate for change" mentality, Barack seems to know that he can't win a re-election solely with the support of the far-left. After-all, he only won 53 percent of the popular vote (aided by an atrocious Bush/Republican presidency). Yes, he won a land-slide in the electoral college, but the popular vote leaves a lot of people out there who aren't too fond of him. Not to mention, only 62 percent of eligible voters showed up to the polls, which leaves about 38 percent of eligible voters out there who just don't give a fuck (or see much potential for change) either way. That's not a huge mandate, especially when younger voters tend to get more conservative as they get older and gain more experience dealing with the realities of the real (not ideal) world. Unless, of course, they're super-rich and sheltered within the ivory tower-blind idealism is a luxury of the wealthy.

So, good job on your selections Obama and keep pissing off the far-left. Their view of the world is just as skewed as the far-right. Keep it sane and govern from the center.

As Cormac McCarthy once said about the world: "...it is, a hat trick in a medicine show..."

Anything, is a possible. Then again, it could all be a bunch of bull-shit. Depends on how you look at it, I guess.

I wasn't going to go here, but the door was opened for me. Therefore, I just have to go where no self-serving, politically correct white man has gone before.

"Bring it, Obama. No wait, I want to be secretary of state. Stick your cock down my throat, skull fuck me for all my ideas, policies, and appointments, call them your own, and to top it off rob me of my remaining dignity by blowing a fat load of jizz all over my face. And don't forget to get some in my eyes!"


"Yeah, you're my bitch now."

Whaaaat? Barack Obama's well-written, eloquent speeches aren't spoken from the heart? They're written by an over-privleged, Ivy-League, white boy. Whaaat? I wonder if Barack even wrote his own books. No, wait, they're not nearly as well-written as his speeches. Maybe, just maybe, he isn't the great brown hope we all hoped for? Oh well, shit happens. Just ask this guy.

By-the-way, I have nothing against Obama. I actually voted for him, but not b/c I think he's the "answer" or "change" we are looking for. He was just the lesser of two evils, as usual but in a different color. If his name was Jim Smith, he was white, had the same voice, same ideas, and spoke the exact same way no one would have been excited about his promise of "hope" and "change". I think a lot of people just got caught up in a cosmetic, superficial fad like most Americans do these days. He was an easy answer with an excellent sales pitch. I truly hope he proves me wrong, but then again hope hasn't gotten me very far in life. I'm just curbing my enthusiasm is all, Larry David style.

Cruel World, Indeed...

Well, I've been slacking on the blog thing because of the new book I'm working on -- an accessible, exciting, action-packed one full of hope (because hope sells regardless if it's false or full of hot air) -- but I'd thought I'd spread some holiday cheer. Check it out:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081204/ap_on_re_us/proposal_death

Anyways, it's concerning a 20 something mail-order, Filipino bride and her 45 year old hillbilly, dream-boat of a man who she left the Philippines for. Basically, he proposed to her on a dangerous portion of the Oregon coast, she fell in, and all 4' 11'', 93 lbs. of her was swept away by the riptide. Now, I realize this is a horrible tragedy, but even I know that sleeper waves and their riptides are extremely strong this time of year. Why couldn't this local man wait until summer to propose, or at the very least not propose so close to the water? Damn, some people just don't think. And when people don't think, shit like this happens. Keep the dream alive, America. Don't think! There's always someone else to blame or solve your problems for you!


Oh, and I'd like to say my first "novel" was full of hope too. I just didn't pitch it right. I focused too much on the cynical/satirical/social commentary aspects of it. And frankly, that shit don't sell. Hope sells, the hard truth doesn't (at least at this point in history). Therefore, I'm going to resubmit it using a more upbeat, hopeful slant to it. It's going to go something like this:

Be the change you wish to see in the world. Change starts in the mind. For the world to truly change then people themselves, as individuals must change (humanity must change). Someone can’t do it (change) for us, no matter how optimistic they are. God said to Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ: "It is arrogance to try to save the world-save yourself”. That is how you bring about true change. That is true hope. And that is what the Land of Lost Dreams is about: changing ones’ self serving dreams (mentality) into something greater. A true change must be conceived in the mind for it to be transformed into action. It will not be easy, for anyone. This is the story of one man’s arduous journey of change through the mind which leads to consequent action in the land where dreams are bought, packaged, and sold to the highest (and sometimes lowest) bidder.

So, that's how I'm going to frame the new pitch, while I work on my science-fiction novel that is accessible and exciting for all. However, it's a more of a hard science fiction/horror novel. The kind of speculative fiction novel that one would read and say: "Hey, that's not science fiction-that could really happen." Anyways, it's a money maker and that's all publishers really give a shit about anyway. No one wants to take any risks, even if the risk is worth while. Oh well, I'll quit my bitching and get back to writing it. But for those of you that care here's the angry rant I wrote to myself the other day concerning the responses I've been getting to The Land of Lost Dreams:

So, I kind of feel like Stephen Crane circa 1896 when he had a great book to publish, but couldn’t find a publisher because it didn’t fit into mainstream American literary theory. At the time American publishers were focused on Victorian style novels that had a moralistic message; not on books that were realistic. I feel we’re in a similar situation these days, except publishers are obsessed with pumping out books full of “hope”, whether or not the “hope” they sell is false, contrived or complete bullshit doesn’t seem to bother them. It’s what they think sells. And maybe it does, but I’m sorry “hope” in itself isn’t enough. You can “hope” all you want but that doesn’t necessarily change the reality of the matter. A change of one’s mentality that leads to a change in action is what is necessary for real change. “Hope” in itself is just a fairy tale-another easy solution for weak-minded Americans.

At any rate, I’m getting plenty of positive response from editors and agents, but most of them chalk their rejections up to “I like your idea, I like what you sent, but there’s not enough “hope”, “I like what you sent, but I don’t think this is the right time for your book” (What the fuck? This is the perfect time! I guess it doesn’t pay to be way ahead of the curve these days), or “keep writing and try to instill some more hope”. Sorry, I guess I was too realistic. I wish I could offer the people of America an easy solution, but I’m just offering a snap-shot of one man’s mind that’s caught up in a mentality driven by the contemporary American dream of excess, self-gratification, and self-entitlement. But the thing is: there is hope in the book. It’s just that the “hope” isn’t some crack-pot’s easy solution that says: “Read this book and all your problems will be solved” or “Read this book and you will be so filled with hope that all your problems will be solved”. This book is not “you do”. Change is an arduous process that begins in the mind (completely changing one’s mentality), and in-turn leads to action. Change is not merely “hoping”. Yeah, I “hoped” my heart out that my mother wouldn’t die of cancer, but that wasn’t enough. There isn’t any difference between my mother’s cancer and the cancerous mentality that the majority of Americans (and humans in general) hold. This mentality is what got us into this mess, and merely “hoping” isn’t going to change shit. That’s the reality. Sad but true. Sorry.

Anyways, I’m going to self-publish on Lulu and link the book to this blog. On second thought, I probably won't do this because I'm broke and I want to do a second round of submissions. But if I do, please buy it. I’ll provide some sample chapters on this blog so you can see what you’re getting yourself into. I’m also contemplating selling them at Powell’s books in Portland. Or maybe I’ll just give them away (on-line and in person like a bum on the street peddling for change, except I’ll be peddling my book)? At this point I just want people to read it because I feel like 10-20 years from now people will be saying: “Damn, at least one American didn’t have his head up his ass”. Besides, I’m working on a highly sellable novel at the moment that is accessible to all, thought provoking, and a true “page-turner”. It’s the kind of book that could be spin-off into a series (books as well as films, mini-series, or graphic novels). That’s all I’m going to say about them until I finish the first book.

So what happened to Stephen Crane’s book? After being universally rejected in America it was published in the U.K. It became a big hit in the U.K., and then became a big hit in the U.S. Go figure. I guess I should try to get in contact with some U.K. publishers/editors/agents. Until then I’ll try the self-publishing thing (maybe). I’m in the process of obtaining a digital copy of a painting that I think is perfect for the cover of “The Land of Lost Dreams” from my friend Michael Pacheco. He’s great. I hope it all works out, for everyone-including you.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I hope you stuff yourselves full of hope, then shit it all out the next day!