Michael Kindt's Blog, page 504

Frédéric François Chopin (March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849), or...

Frédéric François Chopin (March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849), or Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in his native Polish. Photograph taken the year of his death.

Currently rocking out to the Mazurkas.

As a parent/as a human being, what do you think of teenagers losing their virginity in high school?

Like, right there in history class or something?

Har, har. Me so funny.

But seriously, I think they should be informed enough to use protection. They should be more informed than that, but AT LEAST that. I would guesstimate 80-90 percent of people lose their virginity in high school. Whether they're ready or not is meaningless, whether I think they "should" or not is meaningless. Instead of screaming at the wind, prepare for it.

Sony Reader and various iThings

Both Early Onset of Night, Volume One and Note To Self are now available for the Sony Reader as well as for Apple stuff. Yay!

Current status? Stoked.

Sony Reader :: iThings

Also, there's a signed copy of EOoN, Vol. 1 available on Ebay for ten bucks, which includes shipping. It is made out of an ancient substance our ancestors called 'paper'.

Land of the Free: Put Up or Shut UpAs Americans, we constantly...

Land of the Free: Put Up or Shut Up

As Americans, we constantly blab about how free we are in this country, almost as if we're trying to drill it into our own thick skulls and convince ourselves that it's true.

With same-sex marriage legal in six states now, plus the District of Columbia and including New York, home to almost 20 million people, 12% of Americans are free to marry who they want. This doesn't quite rival the percentage of Americans legally allowed to marry blood relatives (40%, 16 states). Sure, incestuous marriage between cousins is still much more condoned and legally accepted than same-sex marriage, but, gradually, we're making progress, easing ourselves out of the dark ages, and becoming as free as we so often boast—at least when it comes to marriage rights anyway.

The tide has turned, and those who enjoy telling others how to have sex and who to marry are being rightfully shouldered to the fringe.

And they're not happy about it. In fact, many of them are feeling bullied. Jim Campbell, an attorney with the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, has said "They're advocating a lot of changes in the name of tolerance, yet ironically that tolerance is not returned."

I would like someone to explain to me why I have to be tolerant of intolerant people who are not tolerant themselves. The problem for them, it seems to me, is that, like the racists before them, they have lost the argument.

Chuck Colson, who helped launch the Manhattan Declaration in 2009, has said "The gay rights groups have shown their fangs. They want to silence, and yes, destroy those who don't agree with their agenda."

Seriously? What, is he high?

The Manhattan Declaration, by the way, is a manifesto issued by more than 150 religious leaders—all of them Christian— that objects not only to same-sex marriage, but also to divorce and the "uncoupling of marriage from childbearing." In other words, it's a scrap of paper telling you how to conduct your personal romantic relationships.

Claiming victimhood is a ploy as old as the sun. When losing, simply stomp your feet and say the other guy is being mean to you. BAM! You've successfully derailed the whole discourse. Now it's about the people having the discourse—the mean, nasty one and the poor, attacked victim— rather than the original objective topic, which, in this case, is FREEDOM—the freedom to love how and who you want, the freedom to marry how and who you want.

There are controversial and provocative people on both the right and wrong side of this debate. The cretins and lizard people who make up the Westboro Baptist Church, for example, picket and mock fallen U.S. soldiers because of a hatred of homosexuality. They say America is being punished by God for its gradual enlightenment toward gay folks. Of course, these are marginal wack jobs whose behavior and black hearts would get them tossed into the imaginary hell of their own imaginary religion, but, really, how different are they from more eloquent and subtle haters of private and personal freedom?

I won't lie to you. Winning an argument is fun, and I am having a total blast writing this. I will never in a million years be tolerant of intolerance, nor will I ever apologize for being right.

The undeniable fact of the matter is that a section of the human race is, has always been, and will always be gay. Just like there are black people and people with freckles and people under 5"2, there are gay people. Give them all the freedom you enjoy, even if you don't agree with their "lifestyle."

Be the American you boast you are.

share on Facebook :: earmarked for the CaglePost

I wrote this to a follower who was looking for opinions. I like what I said to her and decided more people should read it. I am very glad that I saw someone on Tumblr trying their hand at written satire :)

I like this and think you should go with it. Satire is difficult for many to do, and understand, because it is a form of literary protest that refuses to show all the cards in its hand or reveal its intentions obviously. The Onion does it well, usually, though they don't go far enough and are often repetitive (also a bit simplistic, imo). South Park is brilliant satire and pretty much anything the creators of the show touch is as well.

If you piss some people off, you're doing it well. If less intelligent people don't fully get it, or if people who consider themselves very intelligent tell you you're doing it wrong, you're doing it right…and well.

Just remember that the goal of satire is to make people think and to make them question what they are reading (the work itself, as well as what the work is addressing).

Keep at it.

Alien encounters 'within twenty years'A top Russian...

Alien encounters 'within twenty years'

A top Russian astronomer says he expects humans to encounter extraterrestrial civilizations within the next two decades.

Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Andrei Finkelstein said 10% of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.

"If water can be found there, then so can life," he said, adding that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs, and a head—despite life on Earth being so diverse it includes such things as fungus, elephants, and clams.

Even though astounding differences can be found in the living creatures of Earth, a single planet, aliens in the the Universe will be very much like us, Finkelstein insisted. "They may have a different color skin, but even we have that," he said. "Besides, haven't you guys seen Star Trek?"

He then fashioned an antenna out of a coat hanger, placed it on his head, and lit up the 9th joint of the morning.

source

Old movies tonight. Yay!

As Good As It Gets, I think is 15 years old. Great movie. Greg Kinear is fabulous in it. Everyone is, but Kinear is truly awesome. I like when he's talking about watching people, watching someone until you see the humanity in them. Also, I think he means if you watch someone long enough you find the humanity in yourself.

Haven't seen this movie in years. Fun, fun. Anyway, I'm on a pee break and thought I would post this. See ya.

Whenever I say, "It's bizarre that..." I realize it's all bizarre. Totally fucking bizarre.

I then fall silent and drink another beer.

recipe

dez-ray replied to your post: It's 1:33 am

What kinda bread?

Regular bread. Here, I'll give the recipe: 3 cups AP flour, I cup stone ground wheat. I tablespoon salt, one tablespoon oil (canola or olive).

Put those together and mix.

In an object that holds at least two cups, put one tablespoon of yeast (or two packages, if you go that route), one tablespoon of sugar, one cup of warm water.

Let fester for about 15 minutes. Then, dump it in the flour, salt, oil, mixture.

Knead. Knead the shit out of it. Knead. Knead. Knead. You'll need to add more water. Do so a fourth of a cup at a time.

Shape the dough into a ball, lightly coat in oil, then stick it somewhere where it can rise in peace. Me, I use a big glass bowl with a wet towel covering it.

Let it it rise and rise. When it's about 3 times as big as the original ball, take it out, smash it down, flatten it out, work it into a ball about the size of when you started. Because of yeast you won't be able to, but the idea is to get it as small and compact as you can without spending a lot of time on it.

Let it rise again, which it will. And when it does, get out your bread pan. Make sure the oven's hot and fired up to 400 degrees F. Dump the dough out and flatten it. Once the dough is flat out before you, kind of like a really thick pizza, wet your fingers and rub it. Get it ALL wet. Don't be surprised if you hear it groaning.

Once you have the surface of the flattened dough damp, roll it up, into a sort of loaf shape. Then stick it in the bread pan.

Wait till it rises above the edges, then throw it in the oven. 55 minutes later: BAM!

It's 1:33 am

Who else wants to talk to me? I just made bread and drank a six pack of beer. What are you doing?