Monday, December 29, 2008

And so this is Christmas...


And what have you done?

There is much to discuss, and I think this time I'm actually going to go through with it.

Violence. We have become desensitized to it *tips hat to the media*, but when we actually see it, it's still shocking. It was two days after the world seemed to gather itself together and think about peace as a viable option. Because of a freaking holiday that doesn't even belong in December. If we put it where it belonged, then June would be the month.

Anyway, I know the Israelis and the Palestines don't celebrate Christmas. Obviously. But really? Does this kind of horrible stuff have to keep happening? It seems like the Israelis are a bunch of whiny teenagers rebelling against their parents for trivial reasons. Because that's what it is. I'm not saying religion isn't important, but I swear I've never seen anything in any version of the Bible that talks about violence as a solution. To anything. Even the self-mutilation and flagellation that used to occur so prominently in the Church. I mean, geez, hundreds of years of persecution and blood have been shed over this book. It's a book! Anyway.....it's incredibly depressing. Haven't people figured out there are easier ways of resolving problems?

It's unbelievably distressing to live in this world today. I am so ashamed to be a part of the ME generation. It makes me so angry. But then I think....I DO have my own laptop. and an iPod. and a cell phone.

But I have books, and I love them to death. Thank God for other people's words and stories. Thank God for tactility!! Sometimes I have to wonder if things are real or if we are truly just connected through fiber optics. What's so bad about sending someone a letter? Hand-written? Ten years ago that was how it went! And what happened to sitting around and shooting the shit with your family and friends? What happened to campfires and geezus, what happened to childhood? Why am I the last generation to have non-battery operated toys growing up? That's terrible!! And why is it alienating when a child doesn't have television or fancy toys? Why are books looked upon with disdain? And why do we always look forward? There's nothing wrong with looking backward, listening to stories of those who know of past and pain. If I could, I would do nothing but listen all the time. I'd be a full-time listener of people's stories, lives, music, legacies, and wonder how I can do the same thing. I always gaze in wonder at the generation that is dying right now: People 100 years old. Can you imagine all the change they have seen? It must have been incredible, two depressions, foreign wars and all their effects, assassinations, honest people, hostage crises, and then the smack of the technological revolution. Hits them in the last years of life.

Everyone is selfish now. Nobody does favors anymore-you gotta expect something in return.

Nobody gets the value of just sitting around and talking. And listening. We are taught that death is a part of life but too many people take life for granted. I won't have it.

Sigh. Disillusioned. I often wish I had been born at a different time in history, but I can't go wishing for something that abstract. I have to deal in the present and think about how to make it better.