anthillz

Now that I’m doing what was my hobby for a living (not this website obviously, but you know, computer stuff, which technically I was studying, but not really) I need a new hobby. I’ve been watching movies for an hour or two every day, but that’s more of a TV replacement, and damn is it depressing. Have you seen some of these movies that they’re making these days? It’s no Who’s the Boss, let’s agree on that. Watching movies and listening to music and reading books aren’t a hobby anyway, that’s more of a list of leisure activities and I think I’ve run for the border long enough in all of those categories that I’m pretty much off of the Enjoying This radar. So the point is I need a hobby again that is preferably nowhere near a computer. Here’s all I’ve come up with: Bikes (too hip), building furniture (too gay, or is it not gay enough, I’m not sure), camping (sucks), traveling more (too expensive), learning German (starts Saturday), and I just got distracted by 43things. Anyway, I’m totally free and sometimes the options are paralyzing, you know how it is. Like it took me fucking 5 minutes to think of the word paralyzing. Sometimes I just get all, uhh, hmm, uhhhhhhh. Nevermind.

I was recently fucked over doing my income taxes and it got me thinking: what do elected officials actually do besides determine how the money I give them gets spent? We’ve probably got enough laws as it is, so not that. Shaking the hands of the people, sure, sure. But when I’m giving a huge chunk change back to the government (I didn’t have to pay initially since I was self-employed most of last year) I start to think about options. Mostly how I’m presented with a whole lot of options for the way my life is but no options for where my money goes. Why should other people decide how they’re going to spend my money? Since they’ve been elected “representatives” (partially representative of me) why don’t we just cut to the chase and actually get to say where our money is going on all those forms we’re filling out (since I’m going to be checking boxes for a while anyway). I’m not saying I want to get all specific about where my money goes, just sort of in the general direction of programs that I like. You know, I could check one and the majority of my money wouldn’t go toward military expense. I wouldn’t even mind if they got to name the categories. Something like Freedom March Funder, or Spreading Democracy with Full Metal Love. I’m not sure who comes up with the language in Washington but it is fucking genius. I just can’t compete. Anyway wouldn’t that be like, you know, democratic or something? Or at least lie to me. Give me the option to be lied to.

I was recently in the MCA bookstore and found that they have begun selling Dave Shrigley books. I really want one, I have for a bit, but somehow I can’t justify paying $16.00 for a 25 page book with 1 sentence per page. That’s approximatly 64 cents per sentence, and some of them aren’t even sentences. “PLOYS HOLP ME” is not a sentence, nor is it worth 64 of my cents to have that written on a piece of paper. A few of the sentences are worth more than 64 cents, it’s true, but I also feel like Shrigley wouldn’t want me to buy his damn book in a museum bookstore. He’d want me to steal it. And it’s small, and I thought about it and then I got scared because I’m too big to steal things. And a wimp. And this guy was standing right there the whole time. I’m going to kick myself for not stealing that. And aren’t you supposed to regret stealing, not not stealing?

You know when someone says “dig it” do they mean dig it like dig for more information, read up, find records or books you’ve never heard of and stuff? Probably not. I really like that part of Hey Joni where he’s like “Can you dig it?” and actually sounds cool, although I wouldn’t saying the same thing. He’s slipping all the way to Texas.

Links are over at http://del.icio.us/mikebling/ until I can get Wordpress configured to work with del.icio.us.

I recently read The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman and, like most things that I read (or for that matter watch, listen to, enjoy, respect, etc.), it was basically hopeless. Berman’s thesis is that we are in the middle of the most rapid cultural, intellectual and political decline since the fall of the Roman Empire and unfortunately he makes a strong case.

(Unrelated: I wanted to use a word that sort of implies diarrhea or sickness here but I couldn’t think of it, but I did find out that the main entry for diarrhea on thesaurus.com is Aztec two-step)

The first half of the book is a pile up of every depressing study you’ve ever heard about–people who don’t read books, can’t name an author, can’t name their representatives, have either very little knowledge of history or very little recall (which might be the same thing); it’s all the type of things you’ve heard someone else say, “there was this study…”. We could get into how you can find a study to prove anything here but I’d rather not. I did find fault with some of his evidence (citing Leno to talk about intellectual decline!?) but overall it’s at the least an affirming read. Sure, it’s affirming a sort of hopelessness in trying to change others or society’s direction but that may be the sort of hopelessness I need to change myself. The last sentence is: There is a Quaker saying: “Let your life speak.”

It’s hard to live a life that you don’t fully believe in. Driving to and from work every day gave me plenty of time to think about that. I’m riding my bike now.

I’ve also overheard a few people lately who say ‘alternative’ as if there is such a thing. How did I get to the point where I have fully dropped out? Have I or have they? Someone isn’t paying attention around here. Maybe that’s why I don’t get it: I’m alternative. Or something. Is reading alternative?