...several things that need to be said, and I'm going to say them - now...

Bluntness is rarely my forte. Those of you in the know are aware of what I'm currently dealing with, and that thing I'm dealing with has the lion-share of my tact and patience occupied right now. So here we go...


@Scott: I know you're feeling down about things. I could make guesses about specifics, but I'll get the low-down from you when we hang out soon. We will be each others council just like in the good old days (well, as good as they could be in high school).


@Hizzy: It is not your place to tell people who are in a struggling point to "suck it up and get over it." It pisses me off that you would have the audacity to sit there and chide someone for "bitching" about a rough period they're going through. For your information, people's personal problems DO put them in a position for sympathy, especially if those people are your friends. Friends support friends when things are dark and bleak, they don't sit there and bitch and moan about the complaining and tell them to "stop being a baby." You know nothing about what Nix, Scott, Beaver, or anyone else is going through; and yes, I know for a fact that you know nothing about it, because if you DID, you would be far more sympathic to your friends than you've been. Who cares if you don't mind a job outside your field? - other people DO mind. Who cares if YOU are able to weather through your hardships with relative ease? - fucking good for you, yippy! Other people CAN'T and need FRIENDS to HELP them through it. I do see your points about looking on the brighter side and taking stock in what you have in life, but come the fuck on. I think your little rant just might have more to do with the fact that their pathos is having a negative reverb effect and bringing you down, and you just don't want to deal with it...which is perfectly fine. If you don't want to deal with it, you don't have to. But don't fucking sit there and tell someone who's suffering and sad to "get over it". That's kicking someone while they're down, PERIOD. That helps no one. That doesn't help the struggling, and it certainly doesn't help you in terms of friendships.

I know earlier in our conversation, I was much more kind and diplomatic with you about this; but I've had a chance to think about it. Other people, they aren't as positive about their situation as I am right now. I know this because I've seen it. I've heard Beaver's thoughts, and Nix's, and Scott's, and I can imagine how it would feel for me to be upset and hurt by a hardship and have one of my "friends" write about how people need to just "get over it". Fuck. That. Milk. Stop being an ass.

I consider you a friend; start acting like one. Please be one to these people. They need it.


@Nix: You're gonna be okay. Loneliness is something you will cure eventually. The job thing will pass and things will pick up. And the identity thing? All in your head. We'll figure it out.


@Question: I wish I could jet down to Cali for a couple of weeks and hang...I really do. Perhaps sometime soon that'll be a possibility. Keep pushing yourself to submit those stories - you are a consumate writer, and have the ability and will go far with it. Congrats on the new ride.


@Beaver: Job searching sucks. It's hard, it's a mind-game that will have you feeling useless and helpless sometimes. And there will be times when you feel like giving up, breaking down and crying. Allow yourself the freak-outs; vent if you need to. But don't give up. You can do this. Trust me.


RE: Pot-smoking

Is pot a plant that grows in the dirt? Why, yes, it certainly is. Should pot be legal? Perhaps; some definitely think so. Is pot as deadly or dangerous to your health as legal "drugs", like alcohol and cigarettes? Not directly, no; however, it DOES fry your brain and make you slower in several facets over extended periods of time. Is pot nontheless highly ILLEGAL, regardless of public opinion about the "drug"? Yes. Bottom line. Does pot offend some people if it's done around them? Yes, absolutely...

Which brings me to my point. If someone doesn't want to be around pot smoke, they don't have to be. If you don't like the fact that someone leaves your home or party due to people tokin' it up in the general vicinity, then eliminate the pot smoking or shut the fuck up. I personally would have done the same thing, because I'd rather remove myself than by an asshole and start dictating demands in a dwelling place that is not my own.


@Dave: Good for you, you did the right thing by leaving.


RE: Group politics and the "can't we all just get along" mentality

It's great that a group of people can manage to be around for a decade without fighting and splintering apart. Congratulations. However, that is sadly NOT the fate of Bug-Juice, and that's just the way it is. If you don't like it, and I don't blame anyone who doesn't (because after all, friendships are things to be cherished), then blame the persons responsible for it, and not the people that tried everything within their power to avoid the inevitable outcome. Meaning don't bitch at the people who tried and made an effort; bitch and the SOURCE of the bullshit, those dunderheaded, close-minded few. Period.


RE: Steve's a dick

Finally I'm going to say something about this subject worth reading. Ready?

Fuck that shit. I've been there through thick and thin for people who really, really, REALLY didn't deserve it. I've forgiven atrocities against my person and my loved ones and family members when I was within my rights to drive a railroad spike through somebody's goddamned eye socket. I've been patient and kind during downright RIDICULOUS social situations to a level where I could have beaten GAHNDI in an ESPN televised event. I'm done with all that. I'm not the dick. YOU ARE. (And I mean a circumstantial "YOU", varying from situation to situation.)


RE: Katrina, Bush, Republicans, and my political rantings in general

Do I bitch alot about politics? Yes, I do. Does it get annoying? I'm sure it does. Why do you do it then if people hate it? Because I'm one of the only people that cares enough to do it. I know what I'm talking about; you don't. I take the time to delve into this shit and yank out the ugly truth about a leader that's fucking us over in the worst way imaginable; about a government that doesn't give a shit about you or I, or the good people of New Orleans; so I have a right to voice my opinion because I "get" it. I'm enlightened. Wake the fuck up and realize that whether you like it or not, everything I talk about politically directly effects you. Why would you talk about it all the time like this? What's the point? Because I care. Because someone has to do it. Because if given the choice between being fucked sideways in silence and fighting it every step of the way, I choose to go down swinging like a real man.


RE: Nine Inch Nails and Gravity Kills

It's going to be an awesome time. Industrial madness at it's best. YEAH!



And I feel free. Much better. Aaaaahhhhhhh! Now THAT felt great.


Quilled Tunes: "Highway To Hell" - AC/DC