La política

Okay, I don't like politics. Not one jot. And while it may seem a bit late, now that the election is over, but I simply must let out my feelings.

First off, I am independent and I voted that way this election. I am independent because I have yet to find a party that holds close enough to my political leanings that I feel the need to associate myself with them. I am somewhat of a idealist when it comes to voting. I feel that the only "wasted vote" is the one cast for a candidate you don't really feel is the best. I absolutely hate the whole partisan mindset that the the country has. "Well, I don't like guy A, but I don't want the guy B to win, so I'll vote for guy A." I just want to throttle those people and ask "Don't you realize that it's that sort of mindset that is messing the country up?" If everyone just realized that if every major party member who didn't like their chosen candidate voted for who they honestly and truely believed would be the best president/senator/whatever, the two-party system wouldn't be such a freaking monolithic behemoth. We would see more and more powerful third parties that could actually have an influence on the course of the country.
But no. People just figure that if they don't vote for "their guy" then he'll obviously lose, because no one on the other side is going to break party lines. It's that sort of complacency and willingness to sell out one's beliefs that just... GAAAAR!!!! I don't even know how to articulate the full extent of the frustration that I feel. Why can't people just see that it's in no one's best interest to give up like that.
Whenever someone tells me that it's a choice between A or B, I immediately start thinking of every other possibility that may exist. Even if it's a stupid option, the possibility does exist! So obviously there are more choices than just A and B. Now let's assume that some of the other options aren't stupid, it's just that most people are too lazy to try and look for them. That's what politics is. Most people are just too freeking lazy to search for another candidate that may have a platform closer to their beliefs than one of the major candidates. And those are the people who even bother to study out the candidates at all. Don't even get me started on the people who vote in ignorance. If I weren't so forgiving, I'd say it should be a criminal offense. I mean, seriously, this is for the preaking people who decide our freeking laws! How can you just vote blindly without having the slightest idea of what the people stand for? Go here to see what I mean. I mean, seriously! Holy freeking frak! People on both sides of the fence are voting one way or the other and they have no freeking idea what the frak their candidate stands for! Just... AHHHH!


*deep breath*


Okay... Anyway... If I had just one political message for the United States and/or any other country with democratic elections, it would be this: Don't bind yourself to voting a certain way just because you think you should. Actually study the issues. Open your mind and see if the people who think differently than you might have a valid point. And for heaven's sake, don't ever vote for someone just so someone else won't win. It doesn't help anyone. If the other person truely is the worse candidate, then they'll show it in office and get ousted out the next election.
Although I guess that's several messages rolled into one. And it only works in a perfect world where everyone is honest with themselves and each other.

Whatever.


Honestly, I don't care if it's never going to happen or not. I'm going to act as if it's possible and I'm going to work towards making that world real, because if I do, maybe it might. But if I don't, it certainly won't.


P.S. I'm not proofreading this post, so if it's got problems, I'm sorry, but it was written in the heat of the moment, and it's staying that way.

P.P.S. My favorite episode of the Simpsons is the Treehouse of Horror VII, with Citizen Kang. Go out and watch it. Pay especial attention to the end. That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Beueeeeeno...

Ufff... I was pretty sick a week and a half ago. It was very much not fun. I haven't had much time for anything recently. Been too busy trying to catch up on my homework. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna figure out how to actually get my homework done asap instead of during the last minute.

*sigh*

Oh well...

I'm trying to put together a short film contest for the symposium I'm on the committee for. Hopefully that all goes well. Not much else going on. Just school, school-related activities and being married. Nothing to complain about, except for a couple problems caused by my own laziness. I'm working on that though.

Well.... Later.

Una cosita

I just had a funny experience that helped solidify my love of being a nerd.

I was walking down the hall in one of the buildings on campus, and some guy, some random guy I'd never seen before, was wearing a shirt that said: "one day all of this will be yours." Immediately I thought to myself: "What? The curtains?"

¡Adelante!

Okay, so... not a whole lot happening. I got fired from my job a week after giving three weeks notice. That was less than endearing. It's like, soooo... you figure that since I'm leaving anyway you'll get rid of me first just so you don't have to pay me as much? That's not very cool. Friggin' bites is what it does.
Anyway... I might actually get a part time job that only lasts a week, next week, which would be just about what I need. Not perfect, but it's better than complete unemployment.

So, that movie I've been talking about. It's called Casshern. It's a Japanese action flick, supposedly. However there's very little action, especially considering I've seen an OAV that it's based on. I was expecting a strait, mindless, blow-up-robots-with-bare-hands action movie. What I got was... weird. I mean... the best word I have to describe the movie is "weird." There was so much that happened in the movie that made no sense whatsoever. Even after everything was said and done and everyone's motives were revealed and all the secrets in the open, it made almost no sense. And the amount of robot-destruction was at a minimum. I spent most of the movie scratching my head and being disappointed at how little action there was. I'm not against non-action flicks, but I had certain expectations, you see, and those expectations were not met.

Yet I think I really loved the movie.
Maybe I didn't enjoy it per se, but the movie touched me. You see, throughout the movie, everyone makes bad choices and does everything they can to advance their own agendas, usually while hampering those of others. And not in a nice way either. It was vicious. The "bad guys" want revenge in quite literally the worst way possible; Casshern (the good guy) really was just trying to stop the violence and killing, usually ending up just making things worse; his father is consumed by grief, making him perform atrocities; the government is about as controlling and evil as it can be; the several government people we meet are evil and conniving, ranging from selfish to well-intentioned-but-still-evil. And by the end, everyone dies. Some more than once.
It was rather depressing. Yet what got me was at the very end... (again, it was weird,) Warning: Possible Spoilers ahead:
There was a montage of clips of all the characters acting in the exact opposite roles, spliced in with the shot of the protagonist and his fiance being taken away in a beam of light to another world (I think). It shows the son who berayed his father instead is caring for him lovingly; the simpleton who is confused at all the violence surrounding him is happy, sitting on a bench and learning simple joys; The protagonist and his fiance just being together in peace. A bunch of other stuff like that: All of these people who did horrible things to each other and to humanity, almost all of who were either sad, angry, evil, or had given up hope were doing the opposite they were all kind, good people and you could just sense the peace and happiness come off of them. The beautiful music helped a lot too. It was really unexpectedly emotional. And when contrasted to the previous 99% of the movie, it was all the mroe powerful. Kind of like being beaten with negative emotion nerf bats for two hours and then suddenly Mike Tyson punches you in the nose with a positive emotion boxing glove. The emotions it stirred up in me made me want to be a better person, to re-evaluate my life and change it for the better. It made me want to improve the condition of my fellow man and mankind in general. For lack of a better term, it was a spiritual experience. (The only reason I hesitate to use that term is because, except for the last few minutes, its a very, very dark film.)
I would hesitate ever so much to suggest that you go out and watch this film. Let me say that this film is very, very worth watching. Just, don't expect it to make sense. If you go into it with the expectation of you will not understand what is going on or why, then you will enjoy this movie a lot more. I don't know if it will touch you in the same way it touched me, but the potential is there. Pay more attention to your emotions than your brain when you watch this, and you just might be able to make sense of it.

¡A escribir!

Well, I keep meaning to update on Sundays, and I keep getting side-tracked. So, since I remembered to do it now, and I doubt I'll get to it unless I write something right now, I'm going to write right now.

Sooo.... What's going on? Not much. I've discovered two serieses (is that the correct plural?) that I like. One is the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series. It's two books, I'm almost done with the first book. What I like the most is that the prophesied hero is a fisherman who actually talks and feels like a low-class bumpkin fisherman. Most fantasy novels with prophesied heroes who start out on the farm or whatever still sound and feel exactly like all of the soldiers/nobles/inkeepers/whatevers around them. Not in this one. The protagonist speaks with a very low register (at first) and talks just like you would expect a stubborn, rough-around-the-edges fisherman surrounded by people far above his station would. Other than that, it doesn't really break much new ground. It's different from most fantasy I've read, but I don't read as much as I used to or would like to. Still, I find it enjoyable and well-written.
The other series is The Dresden Files. I'd heard of it a while ago but never gotten around to it until now. I must say that it is VERY entertaining, especially if you love looking for cultural references. It's on book nine, I believe, now. I love the character development. Over a single book it's more subtle, but over the whole series (especially considering there might be as much as a year fast-forward between books) there's been quite a bit, and it's been pretty beliveable. Take one book ata time and it's a quick, light, easy read. Take them as a whole and a deep, long-reaching story arc appears. I like that.

*phew.* Okay, hopefully that kick-start will help me to be more consistent.

P.S. Expect my comments on the movie mentioned in the previous post in my next post.

Until later.

Hay que quitar las telarañas

Happy 4th of July!

Wow... who new that being married would take up so much time?

Heh.

Well.... It's been far over a year. That makes my last post rather ironic in retrospect. Huh. I wonder if anyone will ever realize that I've updated. Anyone who may have ever read this blog on a regular basis probably gave up a long time ago. Oh well.

Anyway... married life is good. I enjoy it and recommend it to anyone who feels mature enough to trust everything they have/are to someone else and accept the same in return.

So... Man, I love those elipses too much. I really should try and use them less.

Returning to the subject of the blog. I really do enjoy blogging. It's the only sort of journal I've been able to keep. I realize it's not a real journal, but it's something. So, I'm once again going to try and re-start this. Just, please give me a chance. Between marriage and *shudder* work. I don't have that much time. But I will try. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against work by itself. It's just that my current job, while it pays well, in a word: bites. It's a call center. The crew bosses are really cool, but the the job itself is slow torture for someone with my personality. If I could find another job, even just part time, I would take it in a second. But for some reason all the job offers I can find either pay too little or are for people more qualified than me. That, or there's some other reason that I wouldn't take it. Eh, maybe I'm just too picky. I don't think I am. I took a call center job, after all. Well... Time will tell.

You must see this.

I'd like to post a review of something. A movie, a book... anything. While I have watched a few DVD's recently, I have only watched one thing that moved me to any degree of emotional response one way or another that I feel I must post something now. And that one thing (which I watched today) moved me so much, that I feel I have to wait at least until tomorrow to say anything about it so I have time to digest it properly and say what I really want to say rather than just some OMG! TAHT WUZ T3H UBER COOLZ! because the movie was far more complex than that. Also, I am too poor to have seen any of the big blockbusters that I've been wanting to. I'm waiting for them to hit the local dollar theater so I can afford to watch them.

So, I'll be weighing in soon with something. Maybe as soon as tomorrow or Sunday, but don't hold your breath. These things take time to develop into a habit.

Os pido disculpas.

well... uhhh... I do believe that this is the longest I've ever gone without any update at all.


Dang.

Well... Pretty much I have no excuse other than what I've already said. Well... everything I've said before, (i.e. I got busy, and then the longer I went without posting made it that much harder to... and blah blah blah...) and the fact that... I'm engaged. Yeah, remember my girlfriend from the previous post? Yeah, we're getting married. So... that's one of the reasons I've been so busy the past 4 months. So please forgive me, and I shall try... I shall make a herculean effort to begin updating once more.

Thank you for your patience.

Also in the news, I got accepted into the Spanish Translation major here on campus. WHich is really cool because it's limited-entry, only 25 people a year allowed, and you have to pass two entrance exams. One in English and one in Spanish. Funny thing was that the English test was way harder. I would have thought the Spanish test would have been, but hey.

Anyway.