Reservations, Limitations, and Politics

One of the members of my GISHWHES team, a person whom I had never met and will never meet, baffled me a bit and made me think. His middle name on Facebook was changed to Imsecond, which seemed peculiar as I have been living abroad for the last 6 years and catch up on little news in the way of conservative or religious developments stateside.
Not being one to waste too much brain power on what other people want to insert into the middle of their name, I made the basic albeit vulgar assumption that the name related to order of partners in oral sex, meaning that he preferred to act first and receive second. My mother, also on my GISHWHES team, let me know the real meaning of the term and it didn't make me feel less puzzled.

The idea that Jesus or God is first so I am second actually makes even less sense to me, as many parables within the bible say to put others first, to give the meek or the poor or just your fellow man a position you might otherwise covet. In that vein, a "true" Christian might laugh at the idea of being second, as they would be much further down the line. "I'm last" might be a more accurate statement for one following the word so closely.That might be only how this appears to me, granted.

After GISHWHES ended, I saw no need to unfriend all my group members. Why bother? Then the conservative's posts wound up on my news feed and I was forced to witness some disturbingly inaccurate and offensive material directed at all followers of Islam, some of whom I count among my friends.

I was offended and I quietly removed him. If I honestly thought someone who could share such things would be capable of discussing their repercussions and inaccuracies, I might have spared a moment to message him, but this was not worth the time.

I post this here because this event made me think about reservations and limitations. This concept that the only path that can be satisfying, just, or correct is the one that I personally am following religiously, emotionally, financially, or however is just so very limited. So basic. So lacking in compassion for the very fellow man so many holy books say to help. Yet this seems to be the point of view present time and again when dealing with ultra-conservatives, or ultra-liberals for that matter.

But that is another issue too, and touches more on the political side.

I consider myself a liberal and one of the main reasons liberalism appeals to me is that there seems to be inclusion of differences present in the liberal spectrum that doesn't usually exist within the conservative sphere. I've known a few conservatives who were comfortable with liberal friends only when there was a Republican president. When power changed, they could no longer stomach being around people with such apposing viewpoints, even if we never discussed politics as a group. It could just be me but I haven't run into as many liberals with the same problem.

My main point in all of this blather is only a tiny bit of perspective. I would never dream of limiting the whole of human consciousness and understanding to the tiny bit of life that I find enjoyable or even acceptable. Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around someone else's point of view, admittedly, but when you choose to belittle another person's perspective, especially a main facet of their experience like what they choose to believe in, I can not stand by you. It's not okay. It shows such a lack of understanding and respect, I genuinely hope to never fully understand it. The point of view is far too limited.

A different friend of mine recently included in a status update the idea that a musician I am a fan of would be "the first against the wall when the revolution comes" and about this I was also a bit offended. This artist tends not to be controversial, so the need to post this confuses me. The phrase itself seems to be a running gag from origins unknown (to me anyway), but even so this seems extreme. The artist in question writes silly songs and parodies. Will the revolution really want to destroy that?

This friend was merely placed out of sight for the time being, partially because I have known him longer and partially because his turn of phrase was more confusing to me than offensive. The person I unfriended cannot understand alternatives to his own normalcy, and I most definitely fit into that category. The later guy may just have a different taste in music.

In either case, I lack the time and energy to fully communicate with either individual and instead post my ramblings here. Thanks for reading.

GISHWHES, Random Acts, and Mantis Shrimp

Hello out there, internet-land! Sorry for my frequent delays. Here's what's new for me:


GISHWHES, the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen was AMAZING! I have been considering making a video of my comments and tips for future Gishers since the end of this year's wild rompus back at the beginning of August. This will be done shortly, but probably not today.

I strongly recommend GISHWHES to anyone. Really anyone. If you have a little spark of madness and a little bit of time/money to spare, this is for you. I am still in shock as to how 1 week of craziness transformed how I feel about life so completely. I'll explain more in the video, when that happens.

GISHWHES benefits Random Acts, and charity founded by Misha Collins in support of making the world a better place through Random Acts of kindness. The kindness need to be entirely random. If you have an idea for something really nice you'd like to do or have done in your community, write them a proposal on their website here and if they like it, they may choose to fund it, at which point you would put it into motion and make things happen. Real change in small steps.

Now the question is, where does this funding come from? GISHWHES participants each pay $18.99 to be a part of the scavenger hunt, and this goes straight to running costs for GISHWHES and Random Acts. Random Acts is a charity and does accept donations. They encourage donations. And now here's something even more fun.

Endure for Kindness, E4K, is a fundraiser for Random Acts. Traditionally, a charity might hold a marathon and have each runner work to get sponsors who would pay a certain amount of money per mile to the charity. The last time I did something like this, it was the Math-a-thon in sixth grade, in which people (my parents mostly) pledged a certain amount of money per math problem I got correct and proceeds went to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Today I heard about E4K in this silly video and decided to check it out. I'm not a runner and would not have the ability to put my baby aside for a day of running. Nor would I have the time for swimming, jogging, dancing, or many other of the continuous, hours-based marathon exercises. What I do have is a bunch of worn out socks, and an idea.

I know how to make sock monkeys. I can push myself to make as many sock monkeys as possible in the time provided (a 24 hour period of my choosing between October 18th and October 19th) and ask my sponsors to pay per monkey completed. That would mean if I really work hard and make 15 monkeys and one of my friends pledged $1 per monkey, they would then give Random Acts $15.

In appreciation for their contribution, I shall send them one of the completed monkeys. Choices for specific monkey should be on a first come, first serve basis.

In other news, my serial Vampire novel Strange Fangs is back up and running at Jukepop. Check out Chapter 8.

Also,this week I burned my leg. It was a cooking accident, as most of my burns are, caused in no small part by exhaustion. I now have a personal rule concerning the number of pans or pots that I can have in usage for dinner preparation with fewer than 5 hours of sleep.

The last time I burned my leg, it was much worse. It was also caused by exhaustion, and the naive notion that if I didn't provide complete and absolute sustenance for my then boyfriend, he would inevitably leave me. Of course, that never happened. We're married now. He did prove his worth even then by rushing me to the hospital, getting me meds, and being mad at our mutual employers for not actually providing me with insurance so much as a promise of eventual reimbursement perhaps. We worked everything out and I actually didn't even wind up with any scarring, which was great.

This burn is a lot less severe, but I am keeping it lubricated and under wraps nonetheless.

After burning my leg, the previous Halloween costume idea I had been working on (weaving can tabs into a mermaid tale) seemed rather ludicrous, so instead I have opted to change gears and create a Mantis Shrimp costume. They are amazing creatures, praised by both Ze Frank and the Oatmeal, and are pretty freaking colorful.This should be fun.

I have a feeling that I will be able to find a way to use a Mantis Shrimp costume next GISHWHES. Hehehehe.

Onward and upward!