The Hard Truth

The hard truth is this:

Americans are arrogant, lazy, and self-indulgent because they've had it too good for too long.
If the Chinese were to give each one of their citizens a car and a full tank of gas and tell them to go out into the world, we'd all be speaking Mandarin by sundown.
Africa is not some mythical birthplace of humanity, nor is it a cultural garden of Eden; Africa is a very violent place where many rivers carry more blood than water.
No country south of the Rio Grande has ever had a government that was spared from a violent revolution about every other generation or so.
Arabs are violent and intolerant.
Europeans may have some great historical sites, but the entire continent was responsible for the worst human rights abuses of the twentieth century - hands down! - all the way up until the millenium ball dropped.
Russians do not place a high value on human life.
Every human being in the world carries the arrogant assumption that their opinion means something.

and the last hard truth:

The only thing that redeems us is our ideals: Our ideals that we can actually make the world better.

VG

Messy Desks

I love my messy desk. I love dumping all the papers of all the stuff I gotta do right into a big pile right next to my keyboard. I love looking at the endless possibilities . . . will I find a paycheck that I overlooked? Will I find a collection notice for some huge piece of furniture that I forgot that I bought? Will I find a terrific idea for a story that I had thought of on the I-5 and then jotted down on the back of a napkin from Appleby's and then conveniently forgot?

Personally, I like just looking at the pile of stuff I gotta do MUCH more than actually doing it.

And that is why I am typing this post right now, while occasionally glancing at that pile.

VG

1861

amazing the impression that a year can leave on us. to this day, whenever I see the number 1861, i remember the images of that year. so clearly. even if they are only contained now in the earliest, most granulated greyish photos - the year that America went to war against itself: one of the bloodiest times in our history. and now, 1861 is so quiet. the sounds have completely dissipated, and all we are left with is the image of the men who marched actoss these great lands to die . . .

1861.

Vietnam Veteran Bumper Stickers

That was a terrible war, and a terribly unpopular war, but my thought for the day was, after seeing yet another bumper sticker this morning on the drive across town (you know the kind, with the yellow flag with green-orange bars and what say "Proud Vietnam Veteran"), I thought to myself about how these guys must see the new generation of military in this new long drawn-out Middle Eastern Affair.

Do they have sympathy? Thinking, "I sure as hell wish another generation didn't have to go through what I go through?"

Or do they think, "Those punks didn't have it tough. WE had it tough!"

Maybe different people think different things. Who knows. Either way, war sucks and that's why I'm an avowed coward.

Me - never went to war. Wish nobody else had to either.

VG

Avoid Plastic Surgery . . . STAY UGLY!!

That's what I thought as I just logged on today - I saw the little glimpse of the blog "Avoid Plastic Surgery" as I logged on and I immediately thought to myself

STAY UGLY!

That's a way to avoid plastic surgery. I, myself, had decided aeons ago simply to love my ugly self.

(as often as possible! hehheheheheh!)

But seriously folks. I suppose you should take a look at that blog - it probably has some really good advice on how to look nicer without going through something invasive and painful. I'm honestly not dissing anything, I just wanted to show you how my mind works.

And it's damn scary!!


Have fun with your life!

VG

Do What You Love to Do

Bizarre, but lately I've been seeing a lot of this same message coming to me in different aspects of my life - on TV shows, in articles read in magazines, even a sermon in Church (in finding our "place" in the world . . . open yourself up to prayer and you will find a message from El Señor in what will be good for you to do in this world) and basically, it's starting to seem like there's a message here that I shouldn't ignore . . .

not that I'm a superstitious guy or anything, or believe in "signs" but seriously, I've been seeing quite a few things coming across my personal path that all say the same thing.

Find what you love to do and DO THAT.
Discover what you are and BE THAT.

But . . . the problem is . . .

What I love to do is: to read books and articles, and sit in the library researching nothing at all, occassionally making up new songs on the guitar, spend the entire day writing stories and screenplays, and every once in a while stop and sketch some pictures in pen and ink.

So how can I do that? And still find a way to feed my family?

What a quandry!

VG