The Nuances of Life

You ever have those moments when the full symbolism of something in your everyday life hits you? I have a few such examples.

1) I had a beloved little Quaker parrot named Truffaldino. My mom had found him. At the same time, my beloved was getting ready to leave for Iraq. He came back, we went through all the crazy Army bureaucracy bullshit, all the consequences of being out in the front lines etc. Then we break up and that same day my mom calls me and tells me that Truffaldino flew away. It was like Truffaldino was the symbol of our love that escaped from us. I had that bird for the bulk of the relationship and then he flew away when it ended.

2) Last night, I got dumped and the song I wanted to hear was Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova". One of the lyrics say "A snake with blue eyes". This guy has blue eyes and he saw himself as a snake. I realized the connection as I was listening to the song. All I could say was "Fuck."

I could sit here and talk about how art gives our lives order and points out all the subtleties in our lives we miss because we are too busy occupied with the bulk of the problem. But I'm not. Maybe it is the artist in me that sees all these nuances while everyone else would simply see coincidence, an over-active imagination and point out that the subconscious affects our choices including my choice of songs. I'm sure there are more examples, I just don't feel like digging through the recesses of memory for them.

Goodbye Love soundtrack

For the past few months I have slowly picked songs as a kind of goodbye soundtrack to my ex. I never pick the same songs for different guys, and I try and match the lyrics and mood to the circumstances. The songs range in styles from pop to musicals to country and ballads. They are in no particular order. Usually I include a little information about the songs, why I chose them etc. but I'm not going to do that this time. I can't really bring myself to open up here. Perhaps at a later time, I'll post the poems I wrote in the course of our 3 1/2 year relationship. No promises however.

Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson
Already Gone- Sugarland
Breathe- Taylor Swift ft Colbie Caillat
Big Girls Don't Cry- Fergie
How To Save A Life- The Fray
Forgive Me- Evanescence
Goodbye My Lover- James Blunt
More Than A Feeling- Boston
What I Did For Love- A Chorus Line
Unfaithful- Rhianna
I Told You So- Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis

A couple of these songs I actually didn't like when they came out, or quickly got tired of them soon after they came out due to excessive radio play. But now they have such meaning to me that I had to include them on the list.

Fire and Ice

I took this picture at Mammoth in Yellowstone. The only editing I've done was to add a little mark to protect the picture. Please do not take this picture and claim it as your own. Click on the picture to see a larger version of it.

Koran burning on 9/11

In the small, usually quiet, town of Gainesville, an event that has not yet happened is already capturing the attention of the nation. Terry Jones and his small congregation of 50 people is planning on having a Quran burning bonfire to 'commemorate' September 11. Many people have voiced their opinions including Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Joe Liberman, Eric Holder, and Gen. David Petraeus. Here's my opinion: I think it's very sad, very closed minded, and quite frankly against God therefore hypocritical. This man, this group has no idea what he's talking about. It's not the religion that should be condemned, but the radicals that manipulate the religion and use it for political purposes that are extreme and not at all reflective of the true values of the society. Oh gee, kind of like him! He's exhibiting the same exact hatred that he's protesting against. The irony is, he doesn't realize it. One of my dear friends actually fought in Afghanistan and he separated religion from the issue of who the enemy was. The enemy was not the religion, or even the majority of people who followed this religion; the enemy was, and continues to be, those extremists who always mess it up for the rest of the group. All it takes is that one bad apple, doesn't it? Another really sad fact is that the world is letting this man control us. How could 50 people control the world like this? Many of my fellow classmates are saying that we are giving them the attention they want. I have to agree with them. Yes they are radicals, yes they are offending a lot of people, and yes they plan to have this event even though the fire department denied their requests but this should not have become the world's focus to the extent that is has become because the problem is now compounded.

Thought of the Day

How much knowledge did the human race lose at the onset of the dark ages? We've lost thousands of plays from the Greeks. This can be inferred from the fact that Dionysus festivals were held every year? Plus there are fragments of plays left. The Egyptians definitely knew something about math and science. There is also all the medicinal herbs that every culture had. The Cubans still retain some of this knowledge as evidenced by "los cosimientos" of chamomile tea- the tea that cures everything. The people of Columbia have mate (pronounced mah-teh with an emphasis on the second syllable), another cure-all. It is believed there are a couple lost Shakespeare plays. It makes me wonder how much more 'advanced' our civilizations would be if we didn't lose, burn, and just generally destroy everything. Only thing is, this is always happening, not just simply during the Middle Ages. Think of Soviet Russia, they changed all the textbooks not simply to brainwash people into living and breathing the party, but because they knew that knowledge was dangerous. We may have had to’re-invent the wheel'. It's sad how ignorance and fear possess people to make decisions that affect not only themselves, but the world, a society. How much do we really know? Can we ever regain what has been lost?

*Note- the title links to a picture that is NOT mine. I just thought it went nicely with the post. Hope the owner's not too mad. <3