You must unlearn what you have learned.

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

L: I can’t believe it. Y: That is why you fail.

This morning I realized it really is June out there. I have to run all over and put my toes back into my life. I swear I’m paying attention. Please don’t be mad at me, world. I didn’t really leave, I just got distracted. This morning I had a dream about lilacs. They never bloomed in my yard this year, but apparently they are still blooming in my heart. I like that; think I’ll keep it.

Directly following a conversation about music, this happened:

Me- Man, now I have ‘Rooster’ in my head.
Greg- That’s funny. I have ‘Handlebars’ in my head.
(pause)
Dan- That sounds painful.

Dan’s grandfather is called Dzadzi (pronounced Jahjy). It is Polish for grandpa. Dzadzi told us a good story about the drainage pipe behind his house. I guess the pipe is about 4ft in diameter and just sticking out of the side of the hill, not covered or anything. Water comes out of it, but it’s never full and even dries out completely at times. According to Dzadzi all the boys in the neighborhood and even some of the girls would climb into this pipe and crawl up as far as the road in front of the house and even farther. They could get to several manhole covers at the street but did not climb out as the manhole covers are quite heavy to lift. Kids routinely played inside this pipe, including Dan’s father, who told us that it was dark, but you just take a candle or flashlight and you’re all set. Dzadzi said that once some kids had a fire going inside the pipe and smoke was coming out of it. The parents were afraid that kids might be stuck inside, but no one was. They had some trouble putting out the fire because it caught on the top inside surface of the pipe where it was coated with tar. I guess they finally managed to put it out and ascertain that no one was trapped or hurt. Currently the pipe is a bit smaller, still open for at least a few feet before a grate blocks your way. This according to Dan who had also explored it when he was little.

I saw a turtle the other day. He was walking towards my car parked in the turnaround. It looked like he had just come from the road. I wondered how he crossed without getting killed. I was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to get to where there was water and might turn back to the road and get hit, so I picked him up and put him in a pail. I walked him out to a spot I know is wet back near the neighbor’s cornfield. Before I left I showed him to Dan and the neighbor on the other side. The turtle was quiet at first, but as I walked with him he got totally nervous and kept trying frantically to climb out of the pail. When I got to this wet spot, I turned the bucket sideways to let him escape. He toddled as fast as possible into the water and under the surface, scattering a bunch of tadpoles. Once underwater he looked much calmer and I walked back home with my empty bucket.

More words (and why not?):
Eat pickles!
Gregory, Sue and Boris, Igor, Eloise and Morris, Theodore, Jane and Adeline and Ben-
And that makes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, 8- 9- 10!
Strong Bad, I swallowed your computer, I mean a small bug. I swallowed a small bug.

No post today. Use your imagination.

I had wanted to watch The Birth Of A Nation, so finally went ahead and did it. Some bits were good, others were surreal and unbelievable. Also I wasn’t always thrilled with the acting style; too much tossing hands in the air and wringing clothing. Anyways I may as well tell you the plot:

The Stoneman family lives in the North. The dad is a senator. He has a daughter and two sons. Their kin in the South are the Cameron family. There are two daughters and several sons. We see them meet (for the first time?) and the younger generation all become friends. I would put all the kids in the age group late teens to 20’s. Also I guess they aren’t THAT close of kin since the dudes from one family are totally digging on the girls from the other family and vice-versa. After their visit the Stonemans head home. At this point the Civil War begins and we see the boys of both families enlist to their particular sides. There is one very poignant scene where one of the Stoneman boys meets one of the Cameron boys on the battlefield and they have a mutual moment of recognition and horror, before both dying of their wounds.

So the Civil War ends and the South is supposed to get some aid for rebuilding, but Lincoln is shot and suddenly everyone is worried that won’t happen. In the context of the film, the person who ends up spearheading the changes in the South is Senator Stoneman. He is clearly a bad dude with some bad ideas if I read the music cues correctly. He thinks that blacks and whites should have the same rights (the nerve right?) and he puts a “mulatto” guy named Silas Lynch in charge of setting up some blacks in the South into some power. Again, if I’m reading the music cues right, this can only lead to disaster.

The next parts of the film and until the end are the most disturbing, and it strikes me as strange that anyone could believe them. With Lynch in the South to help enforce changes, blacks get the vote and a bunch of seats in local government. We even see on election day that blacks are voting more than once and whites are being shoved away and not getting a chance to vote even once. The government building is a circus, the black elected officials are disorganized and basically act like a bunch of animals. They pass a law stating that whites and blacks may intermarry. Everyone in the building goes crazy like it’s New Years and the 4th of July because apparently marriage to a white girl is the dream of every black man. This sets up a scene in the woods in which the younger Cameron girl encounters a black man who is a captain. He tells her he’s interested in marriage, ostensibly to her. She freaks out and runs deeper into the woods and eventually to a cliff. The black Captain follows her (I’m uncertain if that’s for creepy reasons or if he’s worried about her) and she threatens to throw herself over if he comes any closer. Unfortunately, he does come a bit closer and she throws herself off. Her brother, who’s been looking for her finds her, then she dies. The movie let’s us know (on a title card) that we should not mourn, because death is a better fate for her.

So because of all this trouble the black people are causing, the young Cameron decides to do something about it. He invents the Ku Klux Klan. He happens to notice that some kid hiding under a white sheet is able to completely freak out a group of black kids. WHAT? Matt and Trey were right? Black people are afraid of ghosts!? Seriously, there are several times in the movie when a black person completely freaks out from the sight of a person dressed like a ghost, and for no other reason, since the KKK has really just formed and has no reputation yet. Wow. So yeah.

Anyways, not trusting the law to get it right and punish the black captain who made his sister jump, Cameron gets the KKK together. They capture the black captain and give him a “fair trial”. The fair trial scene has to be a creepiest scene of the entire movie. Mainly because the movie purports it to be a fair trial. It is basically a lynch mob going wild. The scene is done in a horrible red color (as opposed to sepia or grayish blue) and is just so obviously about vengeance instead of justice, I can’t get my head around what they were thinking here.

Because of his involvement in the KKK, young Cameron is wanted by the law and has to hide out in a house on the edge of town. Meanwhile, in town things are getting out of hand as black militia members run wild, doing what they like. Silas Lynch is attempting to make the Stoneman girl marry him, and Senator Stoneman is starting to realize giving power to Silas was a bad idea. Luckily (for the context of the movie) the rest of the KKK show up to restore order, save Cameron, and stop Lynch from marrying Senator Stoneman’s daughter. At the end of the movie we read a title card that basically explains, things are still in a less-than-perfect state, but we have hope someday the Prince of Peace will rule and we will have paradise. They even show what that will look like; sort of like ancient Greece wall-to-wall with people and some dude (Jesus?) superimposed over them with his arms outstretched. I’m not really sure why the religious theme was tossed in at the end like that. Pretty weird, but then the whole movie was…

What do you say about a movie like this? Much of it was really strange and unbelievable, the acting style was odd to me, the story line had a strange flow and the message was racially skewed to amount to propaganda. Reading up on the movie I found out the battle scenes are famous for being done well and most people don’t seem to mind the acting. The story itself is full of stuff that’s plain false and offensive, but I knew that. When the movie came out in 1915, however, enough people were influenced by it to create a resurgence in the KKK groups around the country. That’s nearly a hundred years ago now, so I guess I should feel very removed from it. But to me, movies are the thing of now, and I can’t help being a little frightened that this movie exists and was ever met with any type of praise.

Knowledge is power. Power corrupts.

Study hard, become evil.

My niece who upon seeing me says, “Treeshee! Treeshee Treeshee Treeshee Treeshee!”

Getting a VeggieTales song stuck in an atheist’s head

Why did the turkey cross the road? To fly in front of my car and make me hungry.

This morning when I woke up I noticed the time was my left-handed coworker’s tech code.

At a Wendy’s drive through window I was offered a “regular” drink. My response, “Can you quantify that?”

I used to be a camp counselor at Skye Farm Camps. If something broke you got it fixed by leaving a little note to the maintenance guys. In 2002 I held the record for number of notes to the maintenance guys. Here they are:

6/28/02 10:29 and 5/6 am
Elementary and Tucker washhouses
Tucker needs 8 four ft fluorescent bulbs
Elementary side needs 5 regular bulbs
Both are on the girls’ side

7/5/02 9:18
Hagy Cabin 2
There are ants on the ceiling beam every time I look and no one has food in the cabin. Why are they there and can you ask them to leave?

7/5/02 6:53pm
Hagy Cabins
The girls of Hagy have all lost their minds. Will you look for them for me? If you find them please return them ASAP. Can you also help me find mine?

7/9/02 5:48p
Tucker (for real this time)
There is a toilet that is “broken”. I think it is just clogged and the water shut off. Can you check it?

7/14/02 4:39pm
Johnstown Cabins
The bunk left of the door, the ladder is loose on one side. Maybe some extra screws? Thank you.

7/15/02 10:04am
Jr Washhouse
2 lights out over showers in washhouse

7/17/02 7:02pm
Jr Washhouse
Jr Washhouse girls’ side paper towel bar is broken

7/17/02 7:18pm
Tucker Washhouse
The door next to the neuter room on the girls’ side next to the door to the bathroom on the girls’ side (not the one around the porch side) does not have a hooky thing to keep it closed and I think someone entering the neuter room from the door next to the boys’ room door could push it open and whack someone (like me) coming out of the girls’ room or even going into it then they’d fall over and land on the porch of tucker unconscious and someone would have to send for the nurse and wake that person up and they might even have a concussion and need to go to the hospital which would short the staff and then we’d be in trouble because kids would be unsupervised and maybe get hurt and they’d have to go to the hospital also and well, it would be a big mess to worry about so let’s find that clippy thing for the door so it doesn’t happen.

7/28/02 now or close to it
dining hall Embury table
Dear Maintenance Guys,
How is everything in maintenance land? I haven’t requested anything in a while. Did you miss me? The third table extension is missing. Can you look for one for us? P. S. Sarah says the girls are falling off the table benches.

8/6/02 6:29p
Central Washhouse
One of the toilets has the top off because (?) it doesn’t work or is stopped up. Thank you

8/6/02 6:39pm
Outpost
We have an extra hacksaw with “Maint” on it. Why do we have it and do you want it back?
(this one is signed not Tracey, but ‘Anastasia Catalina Amanda Carolina Jennilisa’)

8/7/02 12:17pm
Tucker and Central
They have no paper towels in the neuter rooms

8/8/02 6:49pm
Maintenance Box
Please read the request under this one
Thank you

8/8/02 6:50pm
Central Washhouse Girls’ Side
None of the lights work. Can you get new bulbs or fix them?
(this one is signed ‘again’)

Nickerdude and Davey D. were such good sports.

Dan and I went to Washington DC a while back. Here are the highlights:

Lady with a stroller
A couple with a strollered toddler were walking in front of us approaching an escalator which was broken. They stopped to let us climb on first. As I looked back at them I realized these things 1) the mom is rather pregnant 2) they aren’t following us up the steps 3) they have no idea how to get the large stroller up the steps. I walked back down the broken escalator and asked them if they needed help. They said yes. So I took the front end of the stroller while the dad took the back. The mom apologized for not carrying anything herself. (but she is carrying something heavy already, and has no way of putting it down, so it’s not like I’d want her lifting anything!) At the top they both said thank you and Dan and I left.

A “White” House
I noticed that for a white house, the White House is awfully white. I mean most houses get dingy pretty quick. I wonder how often they paint/replace the siding.

Lincoln a God?
It was striking that the Lincoln Memorial was built like a Greek temple with an enormous god statue inside, only the statue is a modern (for his time) Lincoln. His words are actually carved on the walls in stone, the most poetically immortalizing way to be recorded. Lincoln is huge. You are forced to stare up at him; your mouth almost naturally drops open from the tilt of your head. In all our US history Lincoln is the only one we treat this way. He is less a man and more a legend. No one will ever be thought of as a greater president for the simple fact that we raise him to such heights and keep him there. It is interesting.

The “Oh” baby
One of the art galleries had a little wing was all nature photographs in sepia. A dad entered with a baby whose only phrase was, “Oh!” She seemed sooo happy with her phrase and possibly how it sounded in the slightly echoey chamber, that she continued saying, “Oh” in various intonations every couple seconds. Without stopping. For several minutes. Annoying for some perhaps, this just made me want to laugh. I decided she was enjoying the art. Dan thinks she was just enjoying her voice.

Next Floor
There are several art buildings and galleries. Dan and I looked at a ton of art in different forms. One piece was a 12 minute film called “Next Floor”. I was pleased with the amount of attention to detail and production value that went into it. It seemed to be an extended metaphor that could be taken several ways. I will just describe it and leave it abstract for you since we never made up our minds what it meant:
The piece begins with a butler staring straight at the camera. The view pulls back and we see that he and a fleet of waitstaff are serving a group of rich, stiff looking men and one woman sitting around a table. Everyone is wearing dusty looking black suits. They sit stiffly, but are ravenously eating what is before them. The plates being loaded onto the table are all extremely decadent and greasy meats; no veggies, no pasta, ect. The only non-meat items are some fruits which are obviously meant as garnishes. The only person not eating is the woman who looks detachedly at those around her. She seems uncomfortable with the entire situation but unsure what to do about it. As the waitstaff continue to load plates onto the table we hear the floor begin to groan. A moment later the entire table and seated guests plunge through the floor landing one floor below. The butler goes to a wall intercom and says into it, “Next floor.” The waitstaff all begin to bring the new dishes of meat down one floor to the new dining area. The guests wait patiently until the servers arrive before plunging back into their wanton consumption. This happens several more times; each new floor is hit and the diners wait to begin again. Finally they hit a floor which immediately begins to creak as if it is already in danger of breaking. The butler stops the waitstaff from serving and they move down a floor in anticipation. Everyone holds their breath; not wanting to move. Finally an old guy seated at the table decides to go ahead and eat. The others soon follow suit. It looks like the floor is holding. Everyone is eating as if they are starving to death- except the woman. She gets a faraway look in her eyes. Then suddenly she too dives into the food with determination. We see her struggling to eat, stuffing her mouth. A tear rolls down her cheek. Then the floor gives way. The diners hurtle past the waitstaff who are just a floor below. They keep going, falling floor after floor. We see them clinging to the table and shrieking. The waitstaff look at them vanishing into nothing as they fall and fall. Then we see the butler staring at the camera. The piece is over.