Live from From The Land Of Wie, It's Friday night!

This particular Friday Night, I have indeed forgone part of the ritual because I really wanted to put my thoughts together with all neurons firing with full CPU power. Behold the power of a focused mind! (And Grayskull!) I write a lot of heavy stuff. It is the way I express myself. It is the way I keep my mind together. There is this magnifying effect that I am not sure I understand. It just happens, sometimes. Maybe things always seem heavier than they really are. But, here is the thing: While this decade has been a bit of a rough one so far, the effect on me is not what a lot of people may think. Yes, I can be down and dwell too much sometimes. But that is not my default state. The years have changed me, but they have not made me bitter. Just a lot more philosophical than I ever thought I'd be. I guess with each day I grow older, the closer I am becoming to that stereotypical elder you'd read about in a book or see in a movie, the one the people go to with questions... Why? Because he's seen a lot of you-know-whut in his life. I am not sure which I'll be: The Wise One or that or the stereotypical crazy old hermit on the mountain. Obiwan? Should I grow a beard? Hello, there! Of course, that greatly depends on your view. Either way, that number rolls up in a week. I used to think that was old. If I make it another 20 years, I'll probably start calling 50's people "kids". Get off my lawn, Sonny! Point of view. Obiwan was right.  And any elder has two sets of lessons to teach. I tell my kids (They're all in their 20's) not to just learn from what I have done right in my life, not just my good examples. Don't be exactly like me. Follow the example of the things I did right, and tread a new path in the areas I failed. Don't be me. Be an even better version. It's hard to think fast and think deep at the same time. Have you ever noticed that? It's like trying to run in water up to your chest. It's damn hard to do. Beyond any loss is the weight of representation. These are the hard questions. Do my actions reflect favorably on my mother? Am I representing my father the way I should be? Am I doing the right things to preserve my baby sister's memory? Am I striving to be closer to the wonderful person she always believed me to be? How am I portraying the family? What would my grandparents think? Those are the tough questions. And it can be difficult to see where you are in the race while you're still running. Maybe I am not quite the elder I speak of. Maybe I am middle aged or whatever you want to label me... But I see that version coming. When we live long enough, we get old. That is inevitable. What isn't is the wisdom and maturity associated with that wise old elder. That takes more than experience. It also takes work and self reflection. I still say we are never instantly born spiritually. Physically yes, but never spiritually. It takes time and it takes effort to become the beings we were meant to be. That's why life (though so short) can be so long. True growth takes real time to happen. It can not be rushed. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to be born. Oh well, that's my soapbox opener. Hope you're having an awesome night. Love to all. Love to you, Universe. How goeth the world? It's useless information for an average Joe like myself, but, yes, gravitational waves do travel at the speed of light. Of course, I'm not Joe, or even Wie for that matter.... And I'm not exactly average either. But oh well. When I have questions, I ask them. Here's one I haven't answered yet. When my internet at home goes down, why does Firefox always say, "We are having trouble locating this site?" What do you mean 'we'? You are an internet browser, not a group of people! Could Firefox actually be the Borg? "I am Locutus Of Borg. Your internet connection is futile. Your attempts to access this website are irrelevant. Oh, and I am also Le Cutest of Borg." (Servos whirring) "Resistance is futile." Wink-wink. Oh boy, now you've gone and done it! Distract Locutus while the rest of us escape in the shuttle! Good luck, pal. Buh-bye! And they thought Wolf 359 was the greatest disaster. And there is the extent of the lightness. It has been one horrible week in the news. Just about when my faith in humanity gets restored, some vile examples of my own species always come along to shatter it. I don't like people. Yes, I'm a person, but I annoy myself too. Am I Insane Or Is It The World? Could it be both? There are days when you realize escaping the madhouse requires escape velocity. And a star chart that shows where all the sane planets are. Calgon, carry me away to the merry ol' land of Oz! You can chew through the straps, break out of the padded room, and climb over a wall, but if you're still on Earth, you're still in the madhouse. And friends, I am just about sick enough of the insanity and the ugliness that I want to scream. Unfortunately, there is no void around for me to scream into, and I don't need the unwanted attention. So, I'll just bottle it up like I always do, write another letter to the universe, and have another sesson with Doctor Blog-ieo. Today is indeed brought to you by the letters, W, T, And F. I thought we were better than that. That's me, alright. Thinking too damn much. Humans can all too often be my least favorite animal, and there are times I am ashamed to be one of them. Just turn me into a frog, Ribbit-ribbit! If there were a robot uprising right now, I just might side with the robots. I really don't want to watch the news anymore. It ruins my day. It either depresses me, or it pisses me off. What the hell is wrong with people? It's not only with the senseless violence, but the callous cruelty with which people speak of the dead. I think I have truly had enough of social media for a while. I will say it again: I did not agree with everything this man said. We differed on a few issues..... But if you are "NOT SAD" about a man being taken away so violently in front of his wife and young children... No matter the DAMN POLITICS!!!! Then it says a lot more about you than it says about him. And it says you have no heart. Damn it! I grow weary of cruel hearts and ugly souls who put talking points and ideology before basic human decency and respect. I grow tired of people hurting each other with no remorse. I am sick of seeing more compassion for criminals than for the victims of crime. I am so very damn tired of this whole insane asylum. You can hold your party line without being an insensitive jerk devoid of compassion. How low are we going to go? Because it's times like these that it feels like we as a species are already south of Hell. I have never quite seen this level of sadism. If Satan exists, he's having a ball. Just know that it stops being funny when it starts being you. To rejoice in someone's suffering is to spin that wheel that will come round at last. And that rough beast? It lives in the comment section of tragedy.  Hope they're proud at the depths they have fallen.  Too many have no shame at all. Only pride in cruelty. Just where is this God people keep talking about? Maybe he should rage quit this game of The Sims and start completely over. Insofar as they walk among us, both angels and monsters are quite real indeed. They just take the form of human beings. We don't always know what's behind the mask. Appearance means nothing. Trust your instincts, trust your gut. Where does that intuition come from? Our subconscious sees just a bit more. There's a part of you that knows more. Listen. I try not to be judgmental, but there have been a very few I have met and thought, "They give me the creeps. I don't like them." And I would kick myself for being an antisocial jerk. Ah, but Lo and Behold, there came a day when they did something that proved me right all along. Some crimes are forgivable, and some are not. Some souls are redeemable, and some are not. Those who attack the innocent shall never be. The dividing line between a human being and a monster is inside the brain, and nowhere else, between those with a conscious and those who would harm the vulnerable without a second thought. At the risk of getting political, I say the purpose of eliminating a predator is not to deter other predators. The purpose is so a predator can never again harm anyone else, which is very hard to do when they no longer walk this earth. First, we had a young lady who had fled war and destruction, only to be attacked and destroyed on that train. Days later, we have a man taken down in the prime of his life, simply for speaking his beliefs. A father with a wife and two young children. A man who only used words and never hurt anyone. Now, I didn't agree with that dude on everything. I have a very different view on religion and what true liberty means. I make up my own mind about a lot of things. Still, we would have also had quite a few areas of agreement about economic issues, sanity, common sense, and freedom of speech, the very right to speak your mind without fear for your life or for your liberty. I wonder if we'll ever be truly there. People are silenced by cowardly violence because the debate could not have been otherwise won with words, logic, or reason. So, a coward would resort to violence because he lacks the courage to challenge this man with words. But such things backfire because nothing quite amplifies the message like martyrdom... Think of anyone who dared stand up for what is right. Lincoln, JFK, RFK, Doctor King, John Lennon, and so many more. Their words are preserved in song, portrayed in film, and even taught in school. You can silence a man, but beliefs never die. And that's all I can really say. Enough darkness. Clean cup move down. I am, as usual, sitting here in silence, waiting, either for something to happen or for the clock to wind down. Silence is an old companion of mine. Sometimes a friend, sometimes my enemy, but most always there. There are days that seem empty. There are days when I don't mind the quiet at all. It is an alarm clock lottery, really, on which day each shall be, an exactly who I'll be. A smug island or a weeping sea. It's like Forest's momma said. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Sometimes, I'm lonely. Still, I can't go for shallow or superfluous connections. In the end, it just makes me feel unseen and empty. A simple facade could never satisfy this hunger for realness. I need so much more than a pretty picture. I am not so sure if such thoughts should matter anymore. Is there a point in time when hopes and dreams lose their relevance? And does the dreamer, too, become irrelevant? Allow me to make a confession. It is the personal tragedies that occupy my mind the most. In my older age, I find tragedy to be much more personal. I have a big enough heart to have empathy for others, but I am forever marked by certain days few others remember. I am not insensitive to those national days of remembrance, but this old heart has so many more days to remember. As horrible as the losses on those days were, It's not December 7, 1941 or September 11, 2001 that keep echoing in my mind late at night in the silence. Those were days of infamy. My heart goes out to those people and my country, but there are other dates on the calendar few others know about. December 31, 2008, October 11, 2018, January 23, 2022, March 25th of that same year.... And July 21, 2024. Death, loss, destruction. Sometimes physical. Sometimes emotional. Often both. That combines with all the terrible things I have seen in the world of late. Damn that's heavy stuff, man. I think I need to lighten up just a bit. Clean cup, anyone? Move down? Okay. Let me literally lighten up. I will say again, clean cup move down, mad watch, yadda Yoda, two days slow! Sometimes I guess the only escape is to turn off all technology and find some good people to be around. I am not sure what gives people behind keyboards (Or their smartphones) to be assholes. Such things has been fraying my mental health and the best choice is probably to get away for a while... Not from here, though. I still need the good Doctor Blog-ieo... He's not much on advice but you can't beat the price.