A Lesson in Waiting

Yesterday I learned a valuable lesson in the art of procrastination. Some would say that it does not pay to put things off untill the last possible minute, I have to disagree. Being pulled over by the police might make some folks anxious and uncomfortable but for me it was a relief of sorts. Those who know me will tell you that I'm the type of person who takes things with a grain of salt, nothing bothers me. So it would come at no surprise for them to see a smile on my face as I sat on the side of the road with a fully lit cruiser parked behind me. After all it was my own procrastinating ways that led me to that moment. So when the officer approached the car and said, "you've got a junk inspection sticker", I did not waste his time by trying to act surprised, or pretending I had no idea that my sticker had expired last November. I won't even debate that it is a good or bad idea to have your car inspected annually. The point is I should have had my ride inspected five months earlier, I was completely aware of this but still I neglected my responsability for no other reason than I was too busy. Which, in some aspects, is true, but it is still no excuse. A lot of things in my life get neglected because of my busy lifestyle, although I do try to own up to my responsabilities. In fact every day I drove my car I wondered to myself, "how long before I get pulled over?" or, "does anybody even care that I have an expired inspection sticker?". The answer to both those questions came to me yesterday while I was sitting in my driver's seat waiting for the officer to finish writing the citation. Would I wait five months to have my car inspected next year, probably. Is it worth getting flustered about when getting pulled over for something that you expected, not in the least. In fact it seemed as though the officer was having a worse day than me when he said,"they're asking us to crack down on this", as he handed me my ticket and explained to me my right to appeal. I must say that fifty dollars is an inexpensive way to learn a lesson in life. Besides I can think of many people overseas that are learning very valuable lessons everyday at the expense of lives lost. Trivial problems deserve trivial responses. Let us focus on what is really important and let us face our own mistakes with honor.

Let The Sun Shine

I have just finished mailing out my monthly bills. I want to cry. I also want to flip the bird to the oil companies for making everything so damn expensive! In fact, here's a list of things that are more expensive today than just 3 years ago due to the rising cost of petroleum;
Staying Warm in Your Home, Buying Groceries, Taking Showers, Driving To and From Work, Hell Driving Anywhere, Cooking at Home, Eating Out, Using a PC to Blog, Watching Cable T.V., Listening To Music, Playing Video Games, Cutting the Grass, Getting A Haircut, Mopping the Floor, Playing an Electric Guitar and Washing the Dishes.

As a result of my recent financial slap in the face I have to decided to seriously consider hooking up solar panels to energize my house. Yes they are expensive but they are also said to pay for themselves through the money you save in heating and electricity bills. I mean here it is, the most natural and economic energy sitting just above us in the sky and yet we are ruled by our reliance on fossil fuels. In this day and age you would think that the technology would be further along in this department of solar energy than it is (Don't even get me going on conspiracy theory's about this topic). Let's just say there would be a sudden drop in petroleum demand that would turn some oil companies into weeping heaps of depressed millionaires.
There will come a day that this turning point will have to occur. Fossil fuels are not going to last forever, especially at the rate of current consumption. Sooner or later the economic bubble will burst and people won't be able to afford the prices that are being charged them on a monthly basis. Whatever the cause may be it is most definitely in the cards for solar power to rule the day in our not so distant future. The Earth is swarming with natural forms of energy that just need to be harnessed. Think rain, wind, water, and sunshine. Think climate, season and hemisphere. No one can tell me that these energies are not being developed. If there is money to be made, you can bet your ass it is being researched. It's time to give the people of this planet a means to be self sufficient. Just think of how it would be to have your own personal solar power plant built into your home with an endless amount of free energy. Now that would be the beginning of a perfect world.

Nature of the Beast

I'm not sure how many citizens of the U.S. realize what is happening in there own country in regards to social economics. It is pretty clear (to me at least) that big corporations are running this country, and by "running" I mean politically and financially. They call the shots because they hold the means necessary to make changes (money = power). As if that is not scary enough, for we all know how well big businesses do in the long term (think Enron). There is one big problem for this system of power, one thing that is in the way, so to speak. Let me introduce the next soon-to-be-extinct group of living species, The Middle Class.
As with any well organized and profitable business, in order for one to make a larger profit one must first eliminate the middle man (or "Middle Class" in this case). Of course by eliminating the middle man from a business plan the business can create bigger profits. Now for some, this poses no worry, for the middle class is nothing more than the lower class trying to make it to the upper class of our social economic scale. In fact if you can imagine an actual balancing scale, you know the kind held by our own Lady Justice, each plate would represent both the Upper and Lower classes of society while the Middle class would be the balancing point between the two. It does not take a mathematician to know that without the balancing point the scales would tip. The rich and powerful would then have complete control.
If we were to learn anything from what history has taught us one thing should be that Aristocratic Societies do not work. Think of the French Revolution for example, where the rich lived in decadence while treating their lower class peasants like bits of turd trapped in the soles of there shiny shoes. Is that really how we want our beloved country to end up? Two classes of society separated by mounds of money and fecal matter? Look further into the future and you will see that the poor, who had been a necessary gear in the workings of society, will no longer be needed as well. With robots and automation running the factories and computers running everything else, the rich corporations along with those who run them will sit high upon their thrones of gold, oil and other riches and basically rule the world. Those peons that are left will have but one choice in order to survive.........Revolution.
However I do not fear this as an inevitable fate, there are much stronger forces at play in the game of life. Nature has it's way of evening out the odds and setting things right, and as far as I know no one has learned how to control nature.................................Yet.

My Intentions

"Please to meet you............Won't you guess my name," as Jagger so cryptically phrased it in the song, 'Sympathy For The Devil'. Of course Mick was referring to himself as the Devil and I of course am nothing more than a mere man penning his thoughts (or rather typing them) onto a lit monitor screen that sits 18" from my eyes. The similarities end there.
Like most songwriters I can be quite cryptic in my wording, I find it entertaining to playfully manipulate what would normally be a common sense opinion into a more dramatic and mysterious cause for debate. Some of my own song lyrics reflect this. I also think that most readers and music listeners enjoy deciphering a meaning from a poem or song that they themselves can better relate to. This is not to say that I am not also straight forward in my conveyances. I can be extremely blunt when the need arises.
I am a rather opinionated man which my wife of 15 years will attest to. We've butted heads on many occasion over different points of view. I do not care to admit how many times my foot has been less than delicately placed in my mouth. Let's just say that I my taste buds have grown accustomed to the flavor of Gold Bond.
Regardless of my headstrong nature, like anyone with a conscience, I have a need to express myself in anyway that suites the moment. Whether it be through drawing, poetry, music or writing blogs to be published to the world. It is a human passion that can not be suppressed although many have tried and many are still trying ( but that is a rant for another day).