tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70322770616727744702024-02-07T02:11:56.416-08:00Wicked Dreams EmporiumAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-16107181168136901012014-09-11T19:39:00.002-07:002014-09-11T19:39:55.307-07:00Thirteen Years Later<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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9/11. It’s been thirteen years since the Towers fell. My
most vivid memory of that day isn’t of planes crashing or of buildings coming
down. It’s of a single person. A firefighter. Tower 2 had just fallen. A
reporter was on the streets blindly asking questions of anyone he saw. This
firefighter was trudging towards the north tower, Tower 1, where smoke was
still billowing into the autumn sky. It would later be learned that the rescue personnel
inside had been ordered to evacuate but many had not heard the call. This ignorant
reporter grabbed at this firefighter and asked him what he was doing. He nodded
at Tower 1. “My brothers are in there.” That’s all he said. His face was so
haunted. He walked on. Less than ten minutes later, at 10:28, Tower 1 came
down. That’s what 9/11 will always be to me. A person’s sacrifice, not just for
those he has sworn to protect, not just for his city, but for those that are
closer to him than family. I ran fire and rescue early in my career. Your crew,
the people on your squad or company, you didn’t leave them behind. I’ll never know
that man’s name, I’ve never seen that clip of video on the countless hours that
are replayed this time of year, but I will never forget him.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-70300196241492251872014-09-04T15:22:00.001-07:002014-09-04T15:22:28.884-07:00Mood Swings & Secret Wishes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
We all have things that we want. Cravings, desires, they’re all
part of life. Everybody wants something different though. A prisoner might wish
for freedom, a lonely person for love, many people, it seems, want money or
power.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most frustrating aspects about my bipolar is the
way that my manic episodes manifest themselves. Those with my diagnosis can
respond in many different ways when their mood suddenly shoots upward. If there’s
an activity with an element of risk, we’ll find it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gambling, drugs, hitting the highway at dangerous speeds. We
can empty bank accounts overnight and drive up hundreds of thousands in credit
card debt. Some of us will go hypersexual and sleep with almost anyone we see.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been fortunate however in that I almost always go hypomanic,
a mild form of mania. And when my mood swings up I don’t gamble, I don’t sleep
around or do drugs, I spend money, sometimes money that I don’t have, sometimes
hating myself as I do it. It’s a compulsion that’s almost impossible to resist.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have found ways over the years. I’m still not always
successful, but I’m getting better. I’m always finding ways to better myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But this isn’t what this is about. I’m talking about an entirely
different kind of want.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was watching a movie about a primitive tribe living in the
jungle. It was night and they were gathered around a fire, telling stories and
communing. Some danced and some talked. Some simply stared into the flames,
lost in thought.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve never been the kind of person who makes friends easily.
People have often described me as standoffish. I can easily talk to you guys on
here because online is an entirely different animal. Were this the real world,
were we at a party, what would happen?</div>
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<br /></div>
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It could be the best of times, good music, drinks and a bonfire.
Everybody would be having a great time and I’d still be on the periphery. If I
was lucky my girlfriend would be there. Even then, I’d find myself waiting
until it was time to go.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not because I wouldn’t be enjoying your company, but because
I’ve never been able to. Not in large crowds like that. I want plenty of
things. But I truly envy people who can be in crowds of their friends and have
a good time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wish I could too.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-36471766312755163062014-09-03T16:35:00.000-07:002014-09-03T16:35:07.921-07:00Long Nights & Good Memories<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I ended up in town today. A couple of times actually. It was
one of those days. One of my trips took me to a business complex across the
street from the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad. Back when the world was new,
when I was running fire and rescue, I would bump into them every once in a while.
I was a member of Stuarts Draft Rescue, but depending on the nature of the
call, sometimes more than one squad would be toned to respond to it. There was
always a rivalry between Draft and Staunton-Augusta. It was usually good
natured, but any conflicts were put aside when you got on scene. This
particular call was a multi-vehicle accident. I don’t recall a lot of details
other than the fact that it was night, there were several people involved, and
we were in a part of the county that we didn’t usually respond to. As it so
happened, I ended up loading my patient into a Staunton-Augusta unit and riding
with them into the hospital. I remember noticing the small differences between
the back of their trucks and ours. Little things such as where equipment was
stored. I didn’t have a lot of time to sightsee however, since I had a patient
to tend to. The thing that will always stick with me though is the moment where
the leader of the Staunton-Augusta crew leaned over to me. He looked at the
Draft windbreaker I was wearing and said, “You ought to take that off and put
on one of ours.” I didn’t have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a lot of
time to think on it then, but it’s stayed with me through the years. Even in
the most hectic of circumstances, when you would swear that you don’t even have
a second to breathe, there’s always time to give someone a compliment, to tell
them that they’re doing a good job. It may give them a smile, or brighten their
day. Who knows, it may even be something that they remember forever.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-75393128359475795892014-05-18T16:00:00.000-07:002014-05-18T16:00:13.643-07:00Faith & The Ultimate Question<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Talking a bit ago about writers using their craft to deal
with the traumas in their life. I wrote ‘Fallen Angels’ for one reason only.
Because my mother committed suicide. I remember so clearly coming home from the
hospital, from the morgue where I had seen her for the last time, where I had
run my fingers for the last time. Where I had touched her for the last time.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At the house was some pastor that I did not know. In an
unbelievably misguided to comfort me, he put his arm around me and said, ‘Don’t
worry son, God won’t put any more on you than you can handle.’</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It was then that the last splintered and fractured pieces
of faith that I had shattered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there
was a God and he was so protective of people, then why had my mother taken her
own life? I pushed away from him and organized religion.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There was no way that I could ever find God in this plane
of existence, let alone stand face to face with him and ask him that question,
the ONLY question that mattered.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Why?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The question so many have asked in so many ways, about so
many things, in so many languages, for millennia. Why could God allow this to
happen? I couldn’t stare God in the face and ask the question.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But I could create a character who could.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And ‘Fallen Angels’ was born.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There are many things in this book. Hope, despair, faith,
disbelief, love. It revolves around an angel sent on a task by God himself, but
it’s far from a religious story. If anything, it’s a story of one person,
trying to discover for himself the answer to a question that he thought he
would never ask. A question that must be answered, even if asking it is blasphemy
in itself.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Why?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
‘Fallen Angels’, available now wherever e-books are sold.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Not all who fall are lost.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #333333;">God’s daughters have been
cast out of Heaven, to protect them from Lucifer’s rebellion. Once the war has
ended, Samuel, God’s most trusted angel, is charged with returning them home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #333333;">The fallen angels, born
mortal, have no memory of their divine birthright. Each has led a unique life
in a different part of the world, each following their own faith, if any faith
at all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #333333;">As Samuel experiences life on
Earth and witnesses the abuses that those nearest to him have been forced to
suffer, his own faith, once unfailing, begins to fracture, and he too begins to
question.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #333333;">When the actions of a former
ally prompt one of the daughters to commit an unforgivable sin, Samuel is
forced to make a once unthinkable choice. Defy God and risk his own salvation
for hers or allow her, and humanity, to be forever lost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Fallen Angels’ is
available at:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Angels-lost-Arehart-County-ebook/dp/B00CF8FOJM">http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Angels-lost-Arehart-County-ebook/dp/B00CF8FOJM</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Barnes & Noble Nook: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fallen-angels-christopher-southers/1118612110?ean=2940045682763">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fallen-angels-christopher-southers/1118612110?ean=2940045682763</a></div>
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iTunes: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fallen-angels/id817024278?mt=11">https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fallen-angels/id817024278?mt=11</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Smashwords: <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406301">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406301</a><u><span style="color: blue; mso-themecolor: hyperlink;"></span></u></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-26471830752576202032014-03-26T11:56:00.000-07:002014-03-26T13:46:39.175-07:00Every Girl Has Her Day<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It was bound to happen. I just never expected it to
happen like this. I’ve had Symantha for a week and a half now. I’m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>39 y/o dude at a major turning point in his
life. She’s a ’93 Camaro Z28 with some sweet mods.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Until today, no one had stepped up and tried to challenge
me to an off the cuff race. I knew it was bound to happen. I wasn’t keen on the
idea. I’m NOT in my twenties anymore. Hells, I usually drive her below the
speed limit! I wasn’t sure how I’d react!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Until today…</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I had left a doctor’s appointment and was coming home
when I noticed a vehicle in my rearview mirror, following so close that I
couldn’t even see the license plate. Tailgate city dudes. I made a left and it
followed, just as close. We sat for a bit at a light until the green opened us
up to two lanes of traffic.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I stayed in my lane, behind a slow moving car, and the
vehicle, which turned out to be a burgundy minivan of all things, shot out
around me and dashed ahead.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was now irked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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The slow car now chose to move over for some reason and
the pursuit was on. To make things interesting, I decided to keep my speeds
within the limit. If he was going to fly, so be it. But if I could catch him
within the posted numbers, then game on.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I grew closer as we left a 35 zone and entered a 45. At
the last light before my destination and with only half a mile to go, I was now
sitting beside him on the line. I took a quick glance out of the corner of my
eye.</div>
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<br /></div>
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He was smiling the smug bastard.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
*A quick sidebar: The kid I bought Symantha from had
already begun some extensive modifications on her as I said. New intakes,
Flowmaster pipes, I had never really opened her up before. It was time to let
my girl do her thing.*</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The light turned green and I hit the gas. Symantha
roared. I left the dude far behind, presumably in a puddle of urine and shame.
Never once did I speed, I just got to the speed limit a hell of a lot quicker
than he did.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I love Symantha. I really do. I just really need a
vehicle that’s a four season car. But I’ll always remember her as my spring,
and hopefully summer, fling. :-)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-188436717755237372014-03-23T20:05:00.000-07:002014-03-23T20:05:17.173-07:00Abscessed Teeth, Tortured Souls & Surprise Endings<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Last night was a bad night for me. I was attacked by a
houseplant. Now this isn’t a common occurrence in my home. I was minding my own
business when it simply dropped and struck me on the shoulder.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Now for most people this would just be an aggravation. A
mess to clean up, an angry stare at the hook that simply fell from the ceiling.
However for me, it was more.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Many of you know that I have a spinal cord injury,
herniated disks and multiple trigger spots along my spine. The impact of the
plant on my shoulder was a major shock. It also made me aware of a problem I
didn’t know that I had.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’ve had a tooth that’s bothered me for years. As soon as
the plant hit me it began hurting me. Big deal, I thought. It’ll pass. It didn’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As evening progressed to night the pain worsened and
began to spread. I recognized the signs all too well. An abscessed tooth. On a
Saturday night.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
Yeah.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There were no other options.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I drove myself to the hospital and got out of my car.
This is where the second crisis of the night happened.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Have you ever had one of those moments where you stare at
your keys as the locked door swings shut? Yeah, that was me. Three-thirty in
the morning and locked out of the car.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But I had other worries. I went in and explained my
situation to the triage nurse. Within five minutes I was in a room. No showing
of ID, insurance card, or vitals taken. It’s a new policy at the hospital and I’m
still not sure how I feel about it. It may speed the process, but someday
something important will be missed.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The doctor came in, diagnosed me, gave me some
antibiotics and some Percocet, which I obviously couldn’t take until I got
home. I thanked him and the nurses and went out. I found a tow company that had
a lockout service and sat down in the waiting room.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I had time on my hands. Maybe a card game on my phone
would distract me.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Then I heard it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Do all things happen for a reason? I don't know. But I
think many do. I think I was delayed at the hospital for a purpose. As I was
waiting for the tow truck to arrive, one of the security guards radios
crackled.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There was a Sheriff’s deputy coming in with a TDO.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Just hearing that gave me chills.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Many of my friends know that I’ve made the decision to go
into an inpatient facility in the next couple of weeks. I’ve dealt with the
symptoms of my Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and what is now emerging as
Borderline Personality Disorder for all my life. Recently I’ve come close to
losing the battle. I’ve finally accepted that I need help to learn skills to
handle these things, these wars caused by a simple quirk of brain chemistry.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It was not an easy decision to make.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But when I heard those words, TDO, it all struck home. A
TDO is a Temporary Detainment Order, meaning that someone has been found to be
so much of a threat to themselves or others that they must be placed into a
psychiatric facility.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I watched the two deputies lead the young man in,
handcuffs on his wrists and shackles on his feet.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There but for the grace of God went I.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Finally the tow truck driver arrived. He had my door
opened in minutes. I sat inside of his truck, enjoying the warmth, while he
filled out the paperwork. He was a kindly man, in his 70s he told me. He even
gave me a discount on the bill.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Talk turned to my injury and how hard it is to get the
help you need. He agreed. The current situation is messed up.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Unless you’re one of ‘the blacks.’ They get everything.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I sat stunned for a minute. I was tired and in a huge
amount of pain. He finished writing the bill and handed it to me. I thanked
him, got out of his truck, and was soon heading for home.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It still surprises me when people will just blurt out
such bigoted statements. I find it sad that such thoughts, and people, exist.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He was such a nice person.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-14108708633359365112014-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:002014-02-21T07:24:04.244-08:00Missed Busses, Lost Earrings & Time Well Spent<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It was going to be a great morning. I had turned my alarm
off, I could see that the temperature outside was already a balmy 49F and I was
just in a comfy, happy place. I could sleep in for an hour or two and then
begin my day. Yeah. You guys know where this is heading, right?</div>
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The rapid knocking began at my bedroom door. Sierra, my
oldest had missed her bus. She takes CNA classes in the morning so giving her a
Friday off from school just isn’t an option. So I drug myself out of bed.</div>
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As I got dressed I realized two things. First, it was
raining outside, which explained why my pain level was so high. Having a spinal
cord injury, multiple herniated disks putting pressure on my spinal cord, makes
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Today is going to be a rough one.</div>
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My second realization was that I had lost an earring
somewhere yesterday. Yeah, big deal, but this annoys me when it was part of a
set of spikes that I had to order specifically online because I couldn’t find
what I wanted around here. I now only have three spikes, one looped spike and a
double loop.</div>
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And an empty hole.</div>
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This is where your empathy should really be kicking in.</div>
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As I walked out into the house I realized that I hadn’t let my
dogs out before I went to bed. Sure enough, Anika, my black lab and best friend
had peed all over the conservatory. My oldest cleaned that up as I finished
getting ready.</div>
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That’s one of my biggest frustration about my injury.
Everything has to be so slow and precise now. I can’t just throw something on
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Ever since my accident a few weeks ago, where my car slid
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wheel. The weather today was a nice touch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Sierra and I drove on, laughing and talking about new
things and old times. The kind of conversation we don’t seem to have a lot of
anymore.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My kid missing the bus is going to cause me to hurt a lot
more today. I’m glad it happened.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-60986831675486750472014-02-20T09:17:00.000-08:002014-02-20T09:17:48.198-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3g8yLh9M6rZOIEGXpCn4agyMt8ohu06w6IpOrwgHfx1yixnQvSiif646HhmHXPq-0vYMe9Yj_D47u1dpdQlQlqUo_DJ0aUeAv7XO3mU1V16Rnrwn-eDNGxbF4Go1ccMZKoxBU7OJwhrnN/s1600/+SM+-+Better+(quote+graphic+6).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3g8yLh9M6rZOIEGXpCn4agyMt8ohu06w6IpOrwgHfx1yixnQvSiif646HhmHXPq-0vYMe9Yj_D47u1dpdQlQlqUo_DJ0aUeAv7XO3mU1V16Rnrwn-eDNGxbF4Go1ccMZKoxBU7OJwhrnN/s1600/+SM+-+Better+(quote+graphic+6).jpg" height="320" width="245" /></a></div>
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A little bit
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The fact
that he heals far faster than any animal she’s ever seen before is nothing
compared to the shock of being face-to-face with a mysterious man named Vaughn
– the wolf no longer in sight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Vaughn
Richards knows more about Hannah than he’s willing to tell her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’ll force her to unleash her true nature
when Hannah discovers a secret that could change everything between them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
NOTE:
Contains explicit sexual language and situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book is intended for mature
audiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not read this story if
these things offend you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
‘All The Better To’ is available at:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All The Better To:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
All The Better To:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-The-Better-To-little-ebook/dp/B00E6R6GJW">http://www.amazon.com/All-The-Better-To-little-ebook/dp/B00E6R6GJW</a><u><span style="color: blue; mso-themecolor: hyperlink;"></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Barnes & Noble Nook: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-better-to-christopher-southers/1118671952?ean=2940045700436">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-better-to-christopher-southers/1118671952?ean=2940045700436</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Smashwords: <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406292">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406292</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-87100614973511427062014-02-15T06:23:00.000-08:002014-02-15T06:23:05.643-08:00Traditional Marriage, A History Lesson & The Brave New World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirM_-1FGD2HM9H_6zkrysE76nAKe9FzrNJjL2pbXjonSx1fBzibxwLNsegxkyEV0XlS2EOsM0bzyLc7FCdaEvEPPHu78HzdXaFpdu0e0YeOSINjYFyzXCVvWoqXaJtyzHlMeAtqpTtBACU/s1600/1898101_519727454813214_218139962_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirM_-1FGD2HM9H_6zkrysE76nAKe9FzrNJjL2pbXjonSx1fBzibxwLNsegxkyEV0XlS2EOsM0bzyLc7FCdaEvEPPHu78HzdXaFpdu0e0YeOSINjYFyzXCVvWoqXaJtyzHlMeAtqpTtBACU/s1600/1898101_519727454813214_218139962_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>And my state has been drug, fighting
and screaming into the 21st century. This, only four months after we fortuitously
failed to elect a governor who spoke of making ALL forms of sodomy a crime.
(That treat you gave him being such a good boyfriend / husband? It theoretically
could have landed both of you in jail.) If you listen carefully you can already
hear the conservatives screaming about how this will lead to a rise in
pedophilia and people marrying their pets. You know, just like when the arrest
of a Virginia couple for breaking Commonwealth law ended up going all the way
to the Supreme Court, resulting in a ruling allowing interracial marriage
across the country. Remember the huge increase in human - feline marriage
applications after that? No? That’s because it didn't happen. Those proclaiming
that they're trying to 'protect the sanctity' of traditional marriage need to
sit down with their third wife and look it up. Grab your closest Bible. If you
marry someone outside of your own faith you are not in a 'traditional
marriage'. Virgin girls are supposed to be taken as spoils of war and submit
sexually to their new 'owners'. Nope, not military policy anymore. If a woman
is raped she is to marry her rapist, but to be fair, the rapist must pay the
girl's father fifty sheckels, estimated to be about $12.50, for the loss of his
‘property’. Don’t forget the polygamy, the kings with hundreds of concubines
and my personal favorite, the part where a widow without a son was required to
marry her brother in law and, of course, submit to him sexually. Many of my
religious friends will tell me that those laws ‘don’t count’, how everything
changed when Jesus showed up on the scene. Jesus had something to say about those
old laws that he allegedly got rid of. "Do not think that I have come to
abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or
the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken
place." (Matthew 5:17 NAB) So there are two ways of looking at this.
Either there has never really been a true ‘traditional marriage’, or we, as
people, have been changing it all along, as our society expands and evolves and
we learn to respect other people, cultures and genders. I’m married to a woman
because I’m straight. It’s my second marriage. Along with myself and their
mother, my children are lucky enough to have a stepmother and a step-fiance’
who love them like crazy. I also have friends who are gay and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi. Some of them would love to get married.
Would that hurt or destroy my marriage? Actually it would strengthen it. Why?
Because it would bring more love into this world. Look around you. What do you
see? Darkness, sadness, hate. And we’re trying to deny people a way to
strengthen the bonds of their love? There are many ‘traditional’ things that
are antiquated and whose time is long past. Slavery, abuse of people by those
in power, killing in the name of God. Love is a message that has been spoken,
taught and preached throughout recorded history. Instead of fighting over love,
instead of fighting about those who love, it’s time to simply allow people to
love. All men, all people, were created equal. Let’s simply accept that and
move on.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-23637773948576714232014-02-09T11:18:00.001-08:002014-02-09T11:18:52.043-08:00The 'Buy Me' Button, Mom & Why I Do What I Do<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>I just had an incredible moment of ‘Duh!’.
My amazing site mistress who has done so much for me, including set up
wickeddreamsemporium.com which I have given so little attention to that I
should be beaten, has installed a ‘Buy The Books’ button up top here on the
Emporium! Now you can click and go directly to Amazon, iTunes, the Sony store,
Smashwords, Barnes & Noble or Kobo and get your fix of Christopher
Southers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In my defense, the list DOES update slowly, so not all of my
books (‘Fallen Angels’ for example) are listed and some of my newer works
(again ‘Angels’ is a perfect example) haven’t made their way to every location,
but if you want it, it’s out there. Amazon has everything and Smashwords has almost
everything else in my catalog in any format for any reader including your phone
or computer.</div>
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The only thing I haven’t published on Smashwords is ‘A Taste
of Joy’, the posthumous collection of my mother’s poetry. I managed to type it
up and get it out on Amazon on Mother’s Day last year, but my intention is to
republish it the way it should be, with photos of her life, scans of the
original documents, many of which were in her own handwriting.</div>
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I want to do her justice, but right now I just can’t handle
it. It’s been two weeks since the anniversary of her suicide. But it’s there,
her tribute. It and everything else. I love you guys. Thank you for stepping
into my world, for reading the things that I’ve written, for sharing a piece of
my world that in some cases was so very intimate that I would have tears
running down my face as I typed the words. Much of what I wrote was for myself.
But you guys make it worthwhile.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-18817114637124278072014-02-08T07:19:00.001-08:002014-02-08T07:19:50.843-08:00Truths<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jesus: “</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.”</span></h3>
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Muhammad: “Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not
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The Buddha: “Resolve to be tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with
the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these.”</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-77824082100084014272014-02-08T06:09:00.004-08:002014-02-08T06:09:56.458-08:00<span class="userContent">Not all who read have Kindles... I love
Smashwords. When I publish with them they make me available everywhere.
Barnes & Noble, the Sony Store, iTunes, but it does take time. If
you have a device other than a Kindle, and you don't mind uploading via
USB (how last decade can you get?) then get a jump on things and head
over to Smashwords and get your 'Angels' fix. <br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smashwords.com%2Fbooks%2Fview%2F406301&h=3AQHJVToO&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406301</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-71624073762125431802014-02-08T06:09:00.001-08:002014-02-08T06:09:06.267-08:00<span class="userContent">Be the cool kid on your block. Go on, you know you want to. 'Fallen Angels', available now on Amazon.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Angels-lost-Arehart-County-ebook/dp/B00CF8FOJM/ref=la_B00BSTTYB8_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391830846&sr=1-5" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Angels-lost-Arehart-County-ebook/dp/B00CF8FOJM/ref=la_B00BSTTYB8_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391830846&sr=1-5</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-11201063893825377832014-01-18T06:24:00.002-08:002014-01-18T06:24:28.089-08:00Getting Lost, Eating Snake & Letting Go<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>I’ve talked about life reboots on here
before. I’ve had the moments of epiphany before and made the resolutions, but
it’s funny, sometimes things just happen. For me they usually happen in my
sleep. That’s where my greatest inspiration often comes from. I’ll see the
stories, often take part in them, and when I awaken, I’ll write them down. But
this time was different. I was walking down the corridors of an office
building. I had no idea where I was however. There were no nameplates on any of
the doors, all of the blinds were drawn and the hallways were dark. Turn after
turn. After a while I noticed something on the floor. Someone had dropped their
notepad. I picked it up thinking that I could look through it and find a name
and return it to the owner. There were no pages inside though. Only more
covers. While flipping through I actually smacked myself in the face with one
of them. *Lesson learned: When you push the world, and people, away, eventually
they will push back. You can’t see beyond anyone’s outside if they won’t let
you.* So in my dream I took off running. I had to get away. My character
anyway. I was in full story mode. I ended up in Turkey in an ancient city. This
was home for my character. A local man had prepared him a meal of snake, fresh
caught, served with a sauce made from their blood mixed with a strong local
coffee. I can still see the fresh herbs mixed in with the pieces of meat and it
actually makes my mouth water. Is there such a dish? I have no idea. It doesn’t
matter. I got to sit on the Turkish coast and watch the sun rise over the
Aegean sea, which considering that the Aegean is on the west coast of Turkey is
a pretty rare event. I woke up with a smile on my face for the first time in
longer than I can <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>remember. *Lesson
learned: Sometimes you just need to get back to your roots.* I’ve realized
recently just how much I’ve really let the negativity, the bitterness, the
anger and the pain, both physical and emotional that have come since I got hurt
redefine me. How much I’ve let them affect and twist my life. I think it’s time
to begin letting some of that go. I like the person I used to be. Was I a
smiling happy bastard? No. But I smiled a lot. And I was happy. And I’ve always
been a bastard. … Jeez maybe I WAS a smiling happy bastard… Is it too late to
reconsider?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-90999005532915870972013-12-24T07:09:00.001-08:002013-12-24T07:09:09.784-08:00Faith & Christmas Eve<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>This is going to be a very difficult
day. Were the situation any different, I would choose to just draw the
curtains, pull the blankets up and crawl into a hole until, maybe February. At
minimum tomorrow. That’s not a choice though. I slept through my alarm this
morning. As I write this I’ve been up for half an hour or so. Meds are on
board. I’ve already taken my first Xanax. Anxiety is gripping me so tightly
that my hands are so numb I can barely write this. My entire body is tingling.
My chest is constricted and aching. Each breath is a focused effort. Just
another day in wonderland. So here are the plans for today. An early Christmas
Eve dinner with my girl’s family followed by a candlelight service at a nearby
church. The dinner itself may be tense due to the fact that my girl and I had
some issues a couple of months ago. Everything is copacetic now, but her family
is protective. I have no problem at all with that, in fact I applaud it. Every
girl deserves that. They’re good people too. There won’t be any open hostility.
Once everyone sees that everything is okay, I think that everything will be fine.
It’s actually the church service that’s on my mind. I haven’t stepped into a
church for any kind of religious service in almost sixteen years. Not since I
lost my Mom. January will be the anniversary of the date she took her own life.
I still remember clearly coming back from the morgue where I had viewed her,
ran my fingers through her hair one final time. At the house some pastor I did
not know put his arm around me like we were best friends. “Don’t worry son,” he
said. “God won’t put any more on you than you can handle.” That was it. That’s
all it took. The sheer hypocrisy of his words were the detonation <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that blew me away from organized religion. And
now here I am. My girl has been looking for something to reconnect her with her
faith. She’s angry at God too. We have separate views on how things work. She
believes in the Holy Trinity. I was raised the son of an abusive, sexually
marauding preacher and long ago lost the ability to take things on faith. I
believe in a higher power, a God. I’m not sure what his name is. I believe that
many people call him by many names and the has had many prophets, Jesus among
them. My girl worries about this because she doesn’t want me to compromise my
faith by going to a church with her. I’ve told her I’ll go to any church she
wants, because I love her, and I can find feel love whether I’m in a church, a
temple, a mosque or a synagogue. But as to my faith… I don’t know what it is. I
believe in something, I know that. It wouldn’t be so difficult if I didn’t.
Whatever it is that, I suppose my path towards discovering it will begin
tonight. Faith. It’s really a beautiful thing. I’d love to have it again.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-77075864621882349922013-12-18T13:16:00.001-08:002013-12-18T13:16:32.181-08:00Retro Blog: Autumn & Anticipation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
is definitely that time of year. The leaves are changing. The nights are
getting cooler. The frogs of summer have given way to the crickets of autumn.
You can go outside and look up into the twilight sky and see clouds
illuminated, backlit by the already fallen sun. And then of course there’s
football.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My Grandma, who is now living
with my amazing wife and I, asked us the other day why she heard my girl
screaming from the bedroom, “THROW THE DAMN BALL!!!” Sometimes all you can do
is smile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And remember that bedroom
noises may be louder than you think.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But still leaves are falling,
and chainsaws are running in the distance. The occasional gunshot echoes over
the mountain ridges. All reminders that summer is slowly slipping away for
another year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There will still be warm days
to come. Like a lover’s kiss in promise of their return. But first winter will
arrive, filled with long dark nights, ice and snow. My girl and I have already
begun nesting in anticipation. There are some beautiful days, when the ground
is covered in snow, and all is quiet and peaceful.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
holidays<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will soon come, when family
gathers together to reminisce and to make new memories. But for me, this time
now, when the evening air begins to go crisp and my thoughts turn to preparing
for winter and sitting around a fire with my girl, this, this is the most
wonderful time of the year.</span></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-35401664060168689742013-12-17T09:44:00.003-08:002013-12-17T09:44:50.934-08:00A White Guy's Christmas Message<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Once and for all…</div>
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*spoiler alert*</div>
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Santa Claus is a fictional character. He does not exist. He
originated from Sinterklaas, the Dutch St. Nicholas, patron saint of children
who lived in the 4<sup>th</sup> century. The modern story of Santa Claus arose
in the early 1820s when Clement Clark Moore wrote ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’.</div>
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By the 1930s Coca Cola was bringing images of a red suited,
jolly Santa to the world. Does he really exist? No. Is he white? That depends. Which
Santa are you talking about? The one on the TV show with Rudolph that you
watched last night or the one that you saw at the Mall last week?</div>
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Santa Claus is a state of mind, a representation of
goodness, and if it makes African-American (or Asian or Hispanic) children feel
more included to give their wish lists to a Santa of their race then no, Santa
does not have to be white. He is, and always has been, whatever a lonely child
needs him to be.</div>
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On to Jesus. Jesus is a historical person. It’s hard to find
references to him in history books because oddly enough, there’s a HUGE chasm
between religion and pretty much every other facet of the secular world these
days, but yes Virginia, Jesus did exist.</div>
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Jesus however, was not white. For this one I’ll ask you to
simply turn on your TVs and look at any report coming out of the Middle East. Now
quickly shut it off, because any news report coming out of the Middle East
isn’t going to be pretty. If there’s good news in that part of the world, you won’t
hear about it in the West.</div>
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The reason I asked you to do that was to look at the PEOPLE.
Notice what they look like. You didn’t see a lot of blonde hair and light skin
did you? Probably not a lot of blue eyes either.</div>
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The first ‘white’ men recorded in Palestine, what is now the
Holy Land, were the Romans. Jesus was a Jew, born in Galilee to Jewish parents.
As the Bible, the Talmud and the Quran all agree, he certainly existed, but he
likely would have looked like your typical Palestinian of today, with dark hair
and eyes.</div>
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Me personally, I don’t get why either Santa Claus or Jesus have
to be white’. It doesn’t matter to me.</div>
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Good kids will still get Christmas presents from a black
Santa and I can still feel love from reading the teachings of a Jesus with
dark, curly hair. Or from those of Mohammad or the Buddha for that matter. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that’s just me.</div>
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<![endif]--><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-90272062123962660052013-12-13T18:41:00.001-08:002013-12-13T18:41:52.081-08:00Never More Beautiful<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-42339024873250145162013-12-13T06:42:00.001-08:002013-12-13T06:42:23.081-08:00Fixing The Windows<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>One of the things that really gets to
me about being hurt (I had four disks herniated in my neck and back by an
injury at work 19 months ago) is that it's emasculating. I know a lot of that
is probably in my head, but it really gets to me at times when I wonder how am
I going to pay this bill, how am I going to make this repair, how am I going to
move this heavy object. Two years ago I'd just do it. My head still hasn't
caught up to my body. I'm not sure when the adjustment will finally happen.
This morning when I woke up I felt a tickle on my neck. No, it wasn’t my girl.
She had already left for work. It was air. There was a little bit seeping in
from under the window. It only took a few minutes to caulk my window and my
girl’s but it really made a difference and how I felt about myself. Everybody
needs to feel useful. Two years ago I’d be up on the roof stringing Christmas
lights, moving furniture around to make room for the tree, just being me. Today,
I’m still learning to be the new me. And the new me has to be careful, because
one wrong move could hurt me. A lot. I spent my entire career working with
spinal cord injuries. Now I have one. There’s a twisted karma about that. I’m
lucky. VERY lucky. I have a lot. Family, a lot of friends, possessions, a
writing career that I’m going to make succeed. Still, I don’t think I’ll ever
be able to let go of the days when I could go out and just play football with
my kids, wrestle with my dog or tackle my girl. I’m still living, but it’s not
the same.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-23534782307774402792013-09-04T07:35:00.002-07:002013-09-04T07:36:24.266-07:00Luck and Second Chances<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I’m a lucky guy. I really am. In the last week I’ve had my
Worker’s Comp case shot down, had my oldest daughter wreck my car and got into
an email battle with my ex that became so heated that her current dude
threatened to come over to my house and assault me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So why do I consider myself lucky? Me, the dude that deals
with chronic pain on a daily basis, needs a cane to get around and lives paycheck
to paycheck, never sure exactly when my next writing assignment is coming or
what that royalty statement is going to say.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This morning put everything into very clear perspective. I
had just cleaned the house and myself, clearing out all of the negative energy
that’s built up over the last few months, and believe me it was substantial. A
moment of brief meditation and I was good to go. I felt open and positive for
the first time in… I can’t remember when.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then I heard it. Coming down the highway near my home was a
siren. It was coming at high speed too. This happens from time to time. We’re
out in the county but we live close to one of the primary corridors out to the
true boonies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anything happens in this part of the world, the cops have
to come by here to get to there. We don’t live on the main road itself, but on
a road off of it, only about fifty or so yards so if a siren is screaming, we
hear it.</div>
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I didn’t think much of it. Until less than five minutes
later when I saw the helicopter flying in the same direction. I couldn’t tell
from my viewpoint and the trees whether it was Pegasus or LifeFlight but it
didn’t really matter. It all meant the same. Someone was gravely injured.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lifetime ago I worked volunteer fire and rescue. Four of
the best years of my life. I saw some of the most horrifying, painful things you
can possibly imagine.</div>
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I remember vividly running my first code, walking in on a
person who was clinically dead and desperately performing CPR. I remember doing
a final walkthrough after loading two victims of a car that had flipped over
and the cold chill that ran through me when I saw crayons and a coloring book.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The relief that followed when they told me that their child
was at home, and not beneath the car, only tempered it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember helping to extricate the body of a truck driver
who had fallen asleep behind the wheel and drove into a ravine. I remember
clearly the wedding band on his finger. Needing his name, I pulled his wallet
to look at his license. I can still remember the pictures of his kids.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once I was driving home from a small, local grocery store
when my pager went off. A car exiting the interstate had been broadsided by a
state truck doing highway construction. I was less than a mile away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I got there a road crew from a local correctional
facility was working nearby. The girl in the car was in VERY bad condition. I
approached the closest guard and told him that I needed help. He responded that
he had prisoners to watch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fuck that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I pointed to the closest inmates. Two I assigned to traffic
control, one became a runner back and forth to my still running car for
supplies and my jump bag and another I pulled into the car with me to help with
the girl.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The guards did a great job watching.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a lifetime fire and rescue arrived and eventually so
did a medevac helicopter. Several months later I saw the girl working in a
store. She said that she was doing well and that while she was in the hospital the
inmates had sent her a card. That made me happy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know that if I hadn’t been there she may very well have
not survived that day. But I also had the opportunity to make a difference in
several other people’s lives. People that otherwise would have gone back to
jail that day and continued counting down the days until they got out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every day we have chances to make a difference, sometimes
big and sometimes small. Don’t pass them up. Life is too damn short. You never
know what’s going to happen. That helicopter flying past my house today is
proof positive of that.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-4888842034420081482013-08-29T13:16:00.000-07:002013-08-29T13:16:05.228-07:00Porn, Pedophiles & Small Town Prudes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I live near a small town. It has a quaint, gentile look about
it. Many of the buildings pre-date the Civil War, we often have Victorian festivals
and such to celebrate the rich history of our fair city that once served as a temporary
capitol of Virginia back in 1781 while our delegates were busy running from
Richmond to avoid being captured by those pesky British. Staunton isn’t a bad
place. It’s a glimpse into the past sitting in the heart of the Shenandoah
Valley.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s also located right on the middle of the major east
coast drug corridors and is home to some of the nation’s warmest and most
cuddly gangs. Bloods, Crips, MS-13, Latin Kings, you want ‘em, we’ve got ‘em.
They even teach the kids here in our quiet little country schools how to
recognize the gang signs so they know where to stay away from.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ahh, that sweet dichotomy of the past and the present. I was
thinking of that yesterday when I was glancing through our local paper. Yes, we
actually had a physical copy of the paper here! Isn’t that wild!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The headline story was about a local man, a former cop and ‘resource
officer’ at<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an area school no less, who
had been popped in a sting operation. Officer A Little Too Friendly thought he
was chatting and getting ready to meet up with a 14 year old girl. You can
guess what happened when he pulled up to the house.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a running joke in the area here that you can open the
paper and find the pedophile of the week. Lately it seems like it’s been the
pedophile of the day. Yesterday I counted stories about two.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what gives? I did a little research. The ratio of sex
offenders to residents in Staunton is 257 to 1. Let that sink in. Now I wasn’t
going to spend all day Googling this, but I was able to find that nationwide
there are nearly 500,000 registered sex offenders. The population of Staunton
is only 25,000.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What the hell? Do we just breed them here? Do they grow
wild?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know this is a repressed place to live. Some would call it
morally upright but let’s be real. Again, in a town of 25,000, we have ONE club
that stays open until two in the morning on weekends.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How do we manage that? Simple. The club is in the basement
of a landmark local building. If the city tries to shut him down, the entire
building goes dark. It’s a mutual understanding.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We even had *gasp* an adult video and novelty store here
once. Can you believe such a thing? The city couldn’t stop it as there wasn’t a
‘no porn’ provision in the city ordinances. But that didn’t stop undercover
detectives from performing ‘surveillance’ and surreptitiously purchasing
several products. What a hard day at the office that must have been.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Less than a month after opening, the owner was indicted on
eight felony and four misdemeanor counts of selling obscene materials. To be
thorough, the jury watched three hours’ worth of the movies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sugar Britches</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">City Girls Extreme Gangbangs</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Six of the seven jurors were over 50. Six of the seven
jurors were regular churchgoers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the end, the owner was found guilty on one charge for one
of the DVDs, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sugar Britches</i>, and
fined a total of $2500.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s the moral to this story? Are people who live in a town
with its values trapped in the 1950s more likely to go online and attempt to
diddle cops pretending to be teenage girls? That one I can’t answer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want your porn in Staunton you can go online, drive
to a neighboring town or just hit the video store on the hill less than half a
mile outside the town limits. The back room is to the left.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some things about people I don’t understand. The desire to
play with little kids is one. The need to press your morals and beliefs on
others is another.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the way if you’re interested in a blow by blow, graphic
breakdown of the Staunton porn trial here’s a link that will give it to you
nice and slow, maintaining eye contact the whole time: <a href="http://www.readthehook.com/82555/cover-obscene-sort-staunton-porn-trial-bizarre-start-finish">http://www.readthehook.com/82555/cover-obscene-sort-staunton-porn-trial-bizarre-start-finish</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-53593378122956513342013-08-23T07:47:00.003-07:002013-08-23T07:47:39.716-07:00What's Irritating Me Today<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Just so y’all know, this is a rant. I’m kind of pissed right
now.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Let’s talk about money for a minute. I know, I know, that’s
one of those iffy subjects. You <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>don’t
break out your paycheck in front of your coworkers. It’s just in poor taste.
And personally, I’ve always tried to keep politics (usually) and religion
(sometimes) out of my conversations and blogs.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It doesn’t matter how polite or balanced you try to be,
tempers flare, personal feelings come up and they often get hurt. Now I don’t
watch TV much. I get my news from the ‘net. Every source possible. The left
(CNN, what used to be MSNBC), the right (Fox), and as many outside sources as
possible. Log on sometime to BBC or Al Jazeera. You’d be surprised at the
different perspectives. Everything from the Brits isn’t snobbish and everything
from the Middle East isn’t ‘Death to America’.</div>
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But back to money. The very first site I went to today was
talking about how the US was reconsidering aid to Egypt and Syria’ in light of
recent events’. Aid of course being money we send them to be our friends.</div>
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Here’s something that might interest you if you’re curious
about American finances. Check out the page <a href="http://foreignassistance.gov/CountryIntro.aspx">http://foreignassistance.gov/CountryIntro.aspx</a>.
It shows a pretty little map and gives a country by country breakdown of where the
United States is sending money.</div>
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Some examples of what we’re planning to give in 2014:</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Egypt - $1.5 Billion</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Pakistan - $1.1 Billion</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>South Africa - $445 Million</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Poland - $19 Million</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Mexico - $205 Million</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Portugal - $100,000 (Really?!)</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Tanzania - $552 Million</div>
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According to US government estimates, China currently owns approximately
8% of American debt, worth about $1.2 Trillion dollars. Yet we’re still
planning on sending them $7.6 Million in financial aid in 2014.
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So what’s my point here? Maybe the $1.2 Trillion in student loan debt
that people, my family included, are struggling to pay off. An education system
that is still failing in many places, roads that are crumbling, bridges that
are literally collapsing and a health care system that can’t be sorted out
because 535 people in Washington are too busy trying to score political points
and make sure that their campaign donors stay happy.
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The American Congress is currently on a five week vacation after working
only 87 days so far this year. Think about that the next time your senator or representative
tells you how hard they're ‘fighting for you’.
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There has been no jobs bill. There has been no immigration reform. Our
government is still under sequester forcing automatic budget cuts. There have
however been THIRTY-SEVEN ‘symbolic’ votes against the new health care law,
costing taxpayers an estimated $50 Million total.
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And still we keep sending money to other people.
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Remember that scene in Spiderman, the movie or the comic, it’s been
repeated several times, where young Peter Parker fails to stop the bad guy who later
goes on to murder his uncle. I personally think we all have a duty to act,
whether as individuals or as nations when someone is in need.
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However there is a crucial difference. I may want you to be my friend.
You may have something I want you to share with me. But if my family is hungry,
my roof is leaking and my power is about to be turned off, I’m not cutting you
a check.
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You’re
going to have to like me for me.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7032277061672774470.post-29268485421863275972013-08-20T18:10:00.003-07:002013-08-20T18:10:30.743-07:00Guns, Abortion & Stupid People: The Blogging Begins AnewI had no intention of my first post on here being a repost of something I shared on the Emporium. I haven't had a proper blog in several years, but after today, rant I shall: <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">And
ANOTHER idiot decides to go shoot up a school. What the freakin' hell?
Maybe I'm the weird one here. Maybe I'm strange for thinking people have
the right to live their own lives and go about things their own way. Am
I a personal fan of abortion? Not particularly, but I have NO RIGHT to
tell any woman what she can or cannot do with her own body and I will
defend her right to do so at every oppo<span class="text_exposed_show">rtunity.
Do I believe in the right of the individual to own guns? Hell yes. It's
a right, one of many under assault these days. I own guns. Have I ever
felt the need to shoot up a school or kill innocent people? No! Actions
like this speak to a sickness that pervades our society, not just a
mental illness or an apathy but a desensitization to the value and
sanctity of life as a whole. This is America right? The home of the
free. Even here on Facebook there are plenty of places where you can see
gore, violence and dead bodies aplenty. But god help you if you show a
nipple. Where the hell are our priorities? There should be controls on
guns, just as there should be controls on medications and cars and
anything else that can be harmful in the hands of those too young or
incapable of handling them. But people who want to kill will always find
a way to kill. Whether they use a gun, a knife, a car or their bare
hands. Thankfully no one died in that school today. But the next time
someone uses a gun to kill an innocent victim, someone who can't defend
themselves, or a knife, or a car, or their bare hands, let the
punishment fit the crime.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05428460958930226445noreply@blogger.com0