Bubbling Over

Today, I thought I would touch on the lighthearted topic of racism, mostly because Ann Coulter was on Real Time with Bill Maher claiming that racism doesn’t exist anymore. (Excuse me, what? Rich white lady that has never had cause to experience the sharp end of racism? But said “Our blacks are better than their blacks,” a decidedly racist comment.)


You know how I know racism still exists? Aside from the KKK and Neo-Nazi’s still existing, and a poll in 2007 in Pennsylvania where 11% of people “Weren’t ready for a black president” and experiencing it to a limited degree? Obama is referred to as the “first black” president. Not the first from Hawaii. Not the 44th. Not one of the youngest. It’s not an attack, but it is a pervasive display of the idea of race and racism in our society. If there was no racism, he would not be described as such. Plain and simple.

While we’re on the subject, let’s discuss another pet peeve I have about racism.

There is no such thing as reverse racism. It’s like gravity. There is no directly opposing force to it. Electromagnetism, strong and weak forces interact with matter and overpower gravity in the small scale, but there is nothing that opposes gravity. It’s one way, always attracting things together.

rac•ism- (noun)

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.



There’s no way for there to be reverse racism by the definition of the word racism. There can only be a shifting in the direction racism is pointing, or the direction it is perceived to be pointing. Just like “legitimate” rape.

rape- (noun)

1. the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse.

2. any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.



How do you categorize something as legitimate unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress? I just don’t get it.

Closely related to racism, slavery. My brother and I were having a discussion recently that touched on this and he mention that he had met someone who had been a slave. I wondered how that was possible. Slavery was abolished after the civil war. Was he some sort of masochistic time traveler? Not so.

Amendment XIII

Section 1.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

And look at this people:

The Thirteenth Amendment was proposed by the Thirty-eighth United States Congress, on January 31, 1865. The amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865, when Georgia ratified it. On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward, proclaimed the amendment to have been ratified by the legislatures of 27 of the then 36 states. The ratification dates are:[21]

1. Illinois (February 1, 1865)

2. Rhode Island (February 2, 1865)

3. Michigan (February 3, 1865)

4. Maryland (February 3, 1865)

5. New York (February 3, 1865)

6. Pennsylvania (February 3, 1865)

7. West Virginia (February 3, 1865)

8. Missouri (February 6, 1865)

9. Maine (February 7, 1865)

10. Kansas (February 7, 1865)

11. Massachusetts (February 7, 1865)

12. Virginia (February 9, 1865) - first former Confederate State to ratify the amendment, two months before Lee's surrender (in Virginia)

13. Ohio (February 10, 1865)

14. Indiana (February 13, 1865)

15. Nevada (February 16, 1865)

16. Louisiana (February 17, 1865)

17. Minnesota (February 23, 1865)

18. Wisconsin (February 24, 1865)

19. Vermont (March 8, 1865)

20. Tennessee (April 7, 1865)

21. Arkansas (April 14, 1865)

22. Connecticut (May 4, 1865)

23. New Hampshire (July 1, 1865)

24. South Carolina (November 13, 1865)

25. Alabama (December 2, 1865)

26. North Carolina (December 4, 1865)

27. Georgia (December 6, 1865)

Ratification was completed on December 6, 1865. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states:

1. Oregon (December 8, 1865)

2. California (December 19, 1865)

3. Florida (December 28, 1865, reaffirmed on June 9, 1869)

4. Iowa (January 15, 1866)

5. New Jersey (January 23, 1866, after having rejected it on March 16, 1865)

6. Texas (February 18, 1870)

7. Delaware (February 12, 1901, after having rejected it on February 8, 1865)

8. Kentucky (March 18, 1976, after having rejected it on February 24, 1865)

9. Mississippi (March 16, 1995, after having rejected it on December 5, 1865)

Really, Mississippi?

The person my brother met had been convicted of a crime and became a slave under that law. I think we all know how even and fair the courts were for those that were not white at that time. Still not completely colorblind, but we’re approaching equality.

Civil rights movement was not that long ago, people. That happened in my father’s lifetime, and I’m turning thirty next year. Just because my generation was born into a world where the laws actually spoke of equality of races, doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. We need at least two more generations, after my (non-existant) children before we get to where the law is true everywhere, instead of just on paper.

Whew! Rant achieved.

Random Quote: You have made me into someone who should not hold a loaded gun.

So, Yeah

My car decided it didn't want to start yesterday. I knew the battery was going out. I was hoping against all hope that Luna would make it to the weekend, but alas. No dice. $176 dollars and four hours later, I was on my way to work. It would have been worse, but the car place I went to had a coupon for $75 off towing. WORTH IT. They found a bunch of other problems (shock) but I didn't have the money or time for exploratory surgery. ::sigh:: I wish I had the money for exploratory surgery.....or a new car. Gonna work on that.

Moving on

I've spent so much time editing things recently that I lost my feel of the current place in my current book. Oh, I've got things in the way future (book two grinding on in the head), but the right now went off to aunt Sally's. Today, I begun the reading of it. I like it, which is good, I just hope I can get the monster moving again. There's nothing worse than a completely stalled book. I already have some of those.

I also have the NaNoWriMo issue poking me in the back of the eye. I have NO IDEA of what I want to write for it. Maybe a retelling of Rapunzel I have a start of an outline on. Maybe a young adult witch hunt in modern times. Maybe an assassin. Rewrite a dragon YA....the list goes on for ideas. I need to hone in on an idea and blast out an outline. It sounds so easy.

Random Quote: Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple

I Love You Long Time

I didn’t keep the promise of updating once a month. I felt bad about it, but spending 7 hours at home on a nightly basis was not conducive to the frills of blogging. So there was a  work+school induced hiatus. As for the month after……I was busy. Prepping for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Gold Conference. Reaffirming friendships I couldn’t tend to while I was busy 60+ hours a week (not including commute, writing, sleep, and time I was stuck somewhere with no internet connection). The yearly birthday boom.

I had plans of grandeur. Re-vamping the blog for the glorious return……and it’s yet to happen. The post conference OMW I NEED TO EDIT has had me in its clutches for the past week. So I decided to get this on while I could. (Typing in word then the copy past quickly, because I’m at work, Dang It.) I believe as the fall settles in I should fall back into a workable pattern. Just need to kick the laziness in the butt, though, after a year of work+school, I deserve some laziness. It’s so crazy. I’m getting like 6 hours of sleep on weeknights. That’s 2-3 hours more than I was before. As soon as massage job happens, that might increase more. I might just approach where other people are regularly. I don’t know what I’ll do with myself then, I really don’t.

So, what’s happened since we last spoke?

I learned a lot of muscles and pathologies. Myasthenia gravis is the coolest one to say. Makes me want to wiggle in delight.

I became a licensed massage therapist. (Yes, yes. Thank you.)

I’ve written half a book. I’ve edited the book I wrote last November to a point it is ready for the first part of publication. (That is, the querying, pitching to agents, submitting to editors part. We’ll see what non-me people think of it.)

I read a few books. Ones outside of school, even.

My dad got a job out of state, so my bro and I moved into his house. (Moving while in work and school SUCKS) I am just now getting to the point of unpacking the non-essential stuff…..five months later. I had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen during school and then….laziness mixed with busyness. What are you going to do? C’est la vie.

Fifty so half story ideas have attacked me. Most were written on a sticky note and allowed to simmer in the dark. The more tenacious are working themselves into full stories…I hope. I still don’t know what’s going to happen for NaNoWriMo, other than it will happen. If I can manage with work+school, I can manage without.

Went to the Ingrid Michaelson concert. AWESOME! I love it when people can sing.

Last night, went to 93.3FM’s Big Gig. It was okay. A friend had won the tickets, so it was free, which made it better. It was at Red Rocks Amphitheater which, as most music artist will attest to, is one of the coolest venues in America, possibly the world. Garden of the Gods. We got some awesomeness here in Colorado.

DAY TWO AND ALL'S WELL!!!

NaNo day two and I will cross the 6k mark before I head to bed (OR ELSE!!!!!). I'm such a slave driver. It's good though. I know there will be moments that it will be like pulling teeth to get through 500. I've just got to rememeber Dorie in Finding Nemo. "Just keep writing. Just keep writing. Just keep writing, writing, writing." Or something like that.
Today's Excerpt:

She ripped them in half lengthwise. She wanted to savor it.

“Take that, Asshole.” Rip.

“Even if you can get the money back.” Rip.

“See of you can get one of your homeboys.” Rip.

“To sit through this garbage with you.” Rip.

“Or maybe you can take your skinny little whore.” Rip.

“I’m sure she’d like that.” She had a strong desire to throw the ticket confetti on the floor, spit on it, and grind it into the floor with her foot. But this was her floor. There was no point making and even larger mess for her to clean up. And there was the fact that it was childish. She didn’t want to look childish in front of the gorgeous man she had saved. Victoria did her best to ignore the fact that she probably already did look about five years old.

“Sometimes there just aren’t enough trash cans or enough paper to rip or pictures to smash.”

“I have a fire pit at my house.”

She froze in her mashing the pieces between her palms and swiveled around on the balls of her feet. “Reeeaally?”




Random Quote: He likes the way I talk and I like the way he talks.

Yeah, Not So Much.

I thought about blogging so many times when I was nowhere near able to. Had lovely beginnings started in my head. Then the world of busy blew up. At least now that NaNoWriMo has started, I can just come on and post snippets. Not a great intro, but here we go:

She caught a glimpse of his wide-eyed expression as she headed for the kippered beef jar. He clearly wanted to ask.

“I got home earlier than I had planned to. A client no-showed.” She ripped a piece of beef and chewed it like it deserved much worse before swallowing. “I guess I should be glad she didn’t come, since I already got the money and I caught my lying, cheating my flaming, ass-ball of a bitch turd ex-boyfriend in my bed with another woman.”

Understanding dawned in his eyes and he relaxed a bit. She wanted to be offended at his reaction, but couldn’t find it in her. Even if a person had saved her, if they were acting as angry and erratic as she had been, she would be a little on edge. Scorned woman was a way to make sense of it. A little less scary than just simply crazy. She chewed on her almost reaction as she ate another piece of beef.

She waited until the meat and brown sugar hit her stomach to good effect before she tried to move forward. Angry was not the best way to encounter a griffin. Adding in the energy drain that came from shifting shapes several times in a short period was a dangerous prospect. She needed to eat something. The longer she waited, the less discriminate she became. He didn’t know just how close he just came to looking worse than her bedroom did.

Random Quote: HEEEEY YOOOOUUU GUUUYS!

New Goal

I'm setting myself up a new goal. I am going to blog at least once a week. I was doing so very well, then I decided to go back to school and all of my week night free time was eaten up. Then I had a couple (three) weekends that were completely full up stuff. Fun stuff, but a lot of stuff. Some highlights:

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference.:

I find it hugely entertaining that through out the whole weekend, I only managed to take one picture. However, it is an fantastic picture. There was a shimmy war going on between the Mireyah (NAILED IT), then WE ATTACKED.

The next weekend the friend of one of my friends was filming an independant short film. She needed a PA. Suuuuree I can help. I even know what a PA does. (No I didn't, but I do now. Production Bitch, excuse me, ASSistant.) Filming started 7am on Saturday, 8am on Sunday an hour away from where I live. Ummm, Hello Sleep. Remember me? No? I'm sure we met before.........at somepoint.

Yeah.

On the plus side, I'll probably have another IMDB credit. I'm getting myself on the film industry radar, one small film at a time.

Let's see what else....I've seen dead people.
For massage school, we go to cadaver lab twice during each of our three anatomy classes. Two down, four to go. I've held someone's skull and had my finger in someone's carpal tunnel. Very odd moments in a person's life, I'll tell you what. You do have a realization of your own mortality. Naturally, it will all be stored in my head for a later story.

Also, HALLOWEEN APPROACH-ITH!

Random Quote: I'm the pious guy the little Amletts want to be like on my knees day and night scoring points for the afterlife

Wooooow With The Busy

So my life plus massage therapy school equals busy like the wolf. Learning lots. Getting massages a lot. Knees are hurting a lot. (Kinda hate horse and archer stances.) Really can't wait until my legs get strong enough to not hurt through the 50 minutes of massaging. And then I have to make it through five 50 minute massages in a row for clinic. YAY.

Random Quote: Is it dead?