My Old Blog

Actually, The server problems continued. I’m sorry for not writing on Tuesday but I was unable. It is fixed now so I’ll get to it.

Hey folks. The server problems are finally sorted out, so hopefully I’ll be posting again. Also, I’m nearly finished with a new site design, so you’ll have something new to look at.

I’m going to the beach this weekend. I’ll post again on Tuesday. My topic will be the Destuction of Mankind. Stay Tuned.

I watched the Matrix Reloaded tonight. I can’t say I liked it as much as the first one, but I can say that the sequence on the highway was maybe the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen in a movie. And when Neo fought Agent Smith on the playground…that was pretty cool too.

One thing is certain: The ending sucked and now I have to wait till October to see what happens next.

Sorry about the lack of updates. I’ve been having problems publishing to this server. I’ll have it fixed soon.

It has been quiet the last few days. Nothing good or bad going on. I’ve been hitting golf balls and playing basketball. I’ve lost 2 whole pounds since I’ve started going to the gym alot (2 months ago). To be honest, I haven’t been able to tell much of a difference at all…only that I tend to eat an extra meal a day. It makes me hungry.

Tax season is over. I learned more than I thought and enjoyed it more too. The people I worked with were pretty nice, but a little boring. The people whose taxes I did ran the gamut from a little ol’ lady with a 4 million dollar net worth to people who made enough to buy about a loaf of bread a week yet wanted to claim 4 dependents and child care expenses.

On a general note, taxes are way too complicated. There is a strong case to be made for simplifying the tax code instead of continuing to band-aid the old one year after year until it is such a patchwork of laws you need a graduate degree to understand it all.

I guess my employment situation leaves me with the a decision to make, which will happen soon cause I’m ready to do something. I’ll keep you posted.

I talked to this guy on the phone today about a book he is doing: Europe from a Backpack.

He was telling me all about the submission guidelines and asking about my travels……all I could think about was how he got the project together. I mean, it is a serious undertaking to coordinate all that goes into a submission based travel book. I asked him some questions but he didn’t really want to answer them.

Maybe its a secret? I wanted to know how he got his contacts and whether the book was already sold or not….did he have a lawyer draw up the contract, did he have any experience in the publishing industry…etc. He was nice and answered a bit, but seemed more excited about my submissions than my interest in his business.

Oh well. On the upside, I have done a lot of travel writing over my seven years abroad…..I don’t know which journal entries I’ll submit, but I’m sure I can find something worthy of publishing.

He said the book would be arranged by location in Europe. All I need to do is pick something about a place that few people have gone to and I’ll have less competition.

The weekend was rather slow, but enjoyable.

It is supposed to rain all week, until friday, so I don’t anticipate that I’ll have a very good week. I don’t like rain, except in the middle of the summer when it is really hot and you get an afternoon shower that cools things off and I am at the lake so I can see the raindrops hit the water and then have a cookout after it stops and maybe pitch some horseshoes…….other than that I don’t much like the rain.

All those transcendental people are always talking about living in the moment and not letting thoughts of the past or future distract from each precious second of existence. Great idea in theory I suppose but it doesn’t work worth a crap for me.

I love the past. I love planning for the future. If it weren’t for future plans and memories of the past I don’t think I’d be able to endure the present.

On a different note I got my first mosquito bite of the year today. Spring is coming.

I wrote a book one time. I go back and read it when I feel like it. I can’t say its a masterpiece, but it has a value to me. And some of it is not only good, but bordering on perfect. When you say exactly what you want and it expresses that unspoken thing in so few words and you almost feel like it must’ve felt to live it.

And that is the great achievement of literature, one that still stands far above the achievements of science: Literature can help you understand how it feels to be someone else, to live in their shoes. Science tells us everything about the conditions of existence, but brings us not one step closer to knowing what it would be like to be someone else, to live that alternate life.

Science will put an astronaut on the moon, but only a book can send a janitor.

I read this website every once in a while: www.bigfatblog.com. It is devoted to defending fatness and I admit to being a regular visitor. I have resisted writing, commenting or judging for a long time. After several whole minutes of deliberation I am now ready to have an opinion.

Mr. BigFatBlog says some pretty intelligent things. He makes the point that being fat does not mean you need to wait until you’re skinny to go out and do something with your life. I come to Mr. Blog’s defense at times. Being fat is not the end of the world. That is a pretty true statement.

However, there are some other points he makes that brought me to my final opinion: “The only thing that’s ‘wrong’ about a fat person wearing a belly shirt is that society sees it as ‘wrong’.” What??? You could make that argument about anything….the only thing ‘wrong’ with a dead person as a best friend is that society sees it as ‘wrong’. The only thing ‘wrong’ with sleeping with blood relatives is that society sees it as ‘wrong’.

Here is my favorite: “You should love your body, no matter what it looks like.” Really?? I tell a slight variation of that to all the really hot girls I meet. “You should like me even though I’m not as hot as the guys you usually date.” Or how about potential employers: “You should hire me, no matter how lazy I am.” How about the NBA: “Don’t discriminate against me just because I’m short, white and have no talent.” It just isn’t realistic. And if realism isn’t your bag, it isn’t desirable even in that perfect world we’ll never find.

And here is my final opinion about fatness: All things being equal, it is better to be skinny than to be fat. Being fat usually creates problems. Being skinny can occasionally create problems. Fatness isn’t always the worst of personal issues, but it can add to whatever is. So…all things being equal, it is better to be skinny than to be fat.

I wonder what reaction Mr. BigFatBlog would have to that?