Tidbits of goodness (and a cry for help...)

hello, friends,

i hope you are all well and enjoying what i hope is a beautiful late fall. winter-like activity arrived in chestertown on wednesday around 9:15 and it has been crisp and clear since then. i also managed to light my propane heater (something one HAS to see in order to believe it) down here in chestertownvilleburg without blowing up the block.

some of you wondered if i was doing okay after the last posting. i am, in fact, great. i'm centered and focused and prepared to take on whatever the world may throw at me. here's what one smart person observed, under the title "raising questions is not enough," based on that last post:

Of course you`re not doing enough to change the world you`re living in. Not even close.

The good news is that none of us are. Or is that really the good news?

There have been times reading that post of yours when I`ve wanted to write a blisteringly scathing comment to all of the intelligent, talented, well-educated, well-spoken, able-bodied people who get out of their cars and sit down at their computers every night to wax philosophic on the state of the world. How terrible this is or how terrible that is. I give them credit for at least thinking about it, but then I think, if they`re thinking about changing the world, why aren`t they doing it?

There are a lot of people out there who are just making their way and don`t really think about other people, people in other parts of the world, what the powers that be are doing, etc. I let them go. They`re the majority. For the most part, while they might not always be helping make things better, by simply making a living for themselves and their family, maybe they`re not making things worse.

But your blog readers. They SEE. They KNOW. They UNDERSTAND. So why don`t they DO? "Yeah, I see what`s wrong, I understand what`s going on, but, rather than do anything about it, I`ll sit here at my computer and show everybody how smart I am with incisive comments on the situation. That should be good enough. Somebody else can take out the garbage." FUCK that.

There are a few reasons why I don`t write a big fat FUCK YOU to every single one of them. The first, sadly, is that I`m not doing nearly as much as I want to be or as I could be to make the world a better place. I have absolutely no room to talk. But that will be changing soon.

The second is that there are enough people out there yelling FUCK YOU. For example, EVERYBODY. Me joining the chorus would be either counterproductive or, worse, another voice lost in the crowd. Cynicism and negativity feed on themselves, and a small part of the reason I don`t prefer to live in America is because those two things run high and strong there. Why is it that the voices of loving, caring, compassionate, positive people are ascribed to be crazy, hippies on the periphery of reality?

Positivity is where it`s at, yo. There is no problem on this planet that can`t be solved with love and compassion. I see it in my own life, I see it on a grand scale when the volunteer organizations come together to help out hurricane victims. Why should the conflict of nations be any different? Why can`t we view what happened to the World Trade Center, for example, as just another natural disaster? Those were people flying those planes, human beings borne of the same energy that causes the wind and rain of the hurricanes. We don`t try to kill the wind and rain when they go out of control on us, and, in my opinion, we shouldn`t try to kill other living creatures when they do the same.

The bell just rang, I gotta go. That`s ten minutes I just spent typing this message that I could have spent doing something else.

so smart, right? there's a lot of great stuff contained within that email, all of which i hope you will take to heart. we ARE intelligent, resourceful, etc. let's get the hell out of our cars.

smack dab in the middle of my application process for the university of hull's higher degree through research program. this is a british-model PhD program that sends one right into research for a dissertation. i'm VERY excited to begin exploring how dramaturgical inquiry might be applied to the larger culture. i hope that this is just a first step on the path that the above refers to.

a dear new friend of mine is having a major surgery tomorrow (check out www.danstumors.blogspot.com) for full details -- if you have any pull with any type of "intelligent designer," would you put in a call? and for the rest of us, light a candle or something. he's a good one and could use a healthy dose of our collective positive psychic energy.

a few things have come in that warrant posting.

that is courtesy of sister sue. i know that i goes against all that has been posted in terms of generousity and good will and everything...but...it makes me giggle. giggling is good, right?

this one is a link that comes from canadian superagent michael petrasek. more giggling. also, what's with the dude in the back: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648

cousin abaigh sent along a HILARIOUS windows movie entitled "arrested: texas style" that, because of blogging ineptitude on my part, i cannot figure out how to post.

(here is the cry for help: if anyone has any suggestions on how to post abaigh's video, how to change a link to say something, and how to get rid of all that white space at the top, there is a cocktail for you...!)

at the end of the day, we only have one life to make the most of, one chance to leave a thumbprint -- don't waste it.

in this season of thankfulness, i hope everyone travels safely and relishes all that we have.

gotohellifyouhatefreedom,

volansky