Ludsville.net

I find enlightenment through meditation on verbs I spit. Rewrite and recite dictionary definitions of nothingness with metaphysical significance. Quote with the voice of God the prophet’s word and watch reality imitate it. Reclaim my domain trough eminence. Spiritual niggers come against. I spit lyrical mace in their face and brush that devil off my shoulder like he comes in jest. Toss taunts and tests. “Is that your best?” And I won’t rest until Each One Teach One reach some. Truth home come. Youth catch on, latch on, jump the wagon wall and ride on into the future. Dawn of Resurrection Kingdom come.

(What black man doesn’t enjoy frequent meditation on scripture and poetry…and fried chicken?)

Tags: Arts and Crafts, Check Yes or No // Add Comment »

1. Buy yourself something nice.
2. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Same list as always.

This year, we’re going to try something a little different. You’re all getting presents. I know this. I don’t even celebrate Christmas and I get presents every year. We call this the “season for giving” except we all get. Now, I know that you gave her a porcelain duck and he gave you a sweater and she gave him socks, but, in the end, don’t we all come out even?

I give to you and you give to me and neither of us ever really has to give anything. It all works out. Well, if that’s your “season of giving,” then “bah-hum-bug” indeed! Let’s start a new trend. We won’t change the world, but we can change our world. We can impact the lives of those around us.

Your instructions are as follows:
1. At least 20% of your giving (as determined by monetary value) will be to people (or a person) who hate(s) you. No one hates you? Then people who just don’t like you. Everyone likes you? Then people who you would not normally give to.

Why? Because you’re not all that good. So you give to those who are closest to you. Who doesn’t? Name the most selfish, self-centered, uncaring person you know. Even that person gives to those who are closest to them. I’m asking you to take it a step further. I’m asking you to rise above the standard set by the rest of society and give, no only of your wallet, but of yourself.

2. At least 50% of what you receive (as determined by monetary value), you will give to people (or a person) who need it more than you do. If the gifts which you receive are not of a nature which would benefit such a person (i.e. a sweater with your name engraved on it, a car, or something with sentimental value) you may exchange the gift for the value of the gift. That is to say that if, for instance, you get that sweater and that is your only gift, you may keep the sweater and give the Rescue Mission or Feed the Children or the single mom down the street (or maybe your own) half the value of the sweater in cash or another gift. (You can even ask for receipts for all your gifts so that you can exchange or return them if necessary. I am sure no one would mind or be offended, especially if you explain why.)

Why? Because you’re not all that good. So you give. Who doesn’t? Everyone gives on Christmas. What makes you so special because you do what every other human being in your world is doing? I’m asking you to take it a step further. I’m asking you to rise above the standard set by the rest of society and give, no only of your wallet, but of yourself.

Trust me, folks. It’s not the end of the world. It’s only the beginning.

And what a world it would be if this was the standard for all four seasons.

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Folks, I’m sorry, but when you skin is orange, I think it’s time to get out of the sun.  Pick up video games or knitting or something that doesn’t require you to cook yourself.

Tags: Grrr, Quick Draw, Rant Day // Add Comment »

…a tragedy which could have been averted.

There. I said it.

Tags: A Moment of Silence, Whatever // Add Comment »

So many miles between us. It doesn’t look that far away on the map, but the more I look around, the more I realize that you’re nowhere in sight. How could you be any farther away? If you were here, I wouldn’t hold your hand or stroke your hair or sing you a love song. I would just lay here and think about music. But now, the only music I hear is love songs. Songs about your soft skin. Songs about your soft hair. Your soft lips. Soft touch.  Soft…

This bed is so damn hard!

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Ben Cartwright. That Ben Cartwright. What a wise man? Never harm a human being. Never lie. There is always a better way. Always calm, always collected, and always calculated, he always gives the benefit of the doubt and always speaks and acts with honesty. Truth and compassion was all he needed to make everything right with the world (or, at least, North-Eastern Nevada).

Now, don’t go getting the wrong idea, here. I understand that it was only a TV show. Real world problems are often not solvable within an hour simply by stumbling onto an answer in a saloon somewhere. Nor is there always a clear cut and obvious good and evil. Nor do we always have the means to accomplish everything that we need to accomplish.

But…we can try. The virtues of love (”the willing, sacrificial giving of one’s self for the benefit of another without thought of return”), joy (”gladness of the heart”), peace (”tranquility of the mind, freeing one from worry and fear”), patience (”[honest tolerance of] others, the opposite of a short temper, a disposition quietly bearing injury”), kindness (a gentle disposition), generosity (it is given to you that you may give it away), trustworthiness (”let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’”), meekness (place yourself last in line), and self-control (”the ability to harness and control one’s passions and lusts”) can never steer you wrong. I will opt, for instance, to control myself in the face of anger over causing stress and strain for myself and all those around me by overreacting when I am wronged. I will opt to have a friend to talk to because he or she listens over having an enemy to fight with because he or she is narrow-minded toward something about which I am passionate. I will opt to give to those who need or want over consuming that which was so graciously given to me on fleeting desires.

Oh, yes. Ol’ Pa was quite a wise man. And if you want real, genuine, life-changing wisdom, I suggest you start here.
(”Ohm” has it’s place. This time, however, instead of emptying your mind, fill it. Now repeat after me…)

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustworthiness, meekness, and self-control.”

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I know what you’re asking. “How ever will he pull those three together into one post?” Well, I can and will. Indeed, I am a master blogger.

We will start with Blogmad. Blogmad is another blog trafficking site. You browse blogs and, in turn, you get credits which allows others to browse your blog. Really, it’s pretty useless. Most of the people surfing those sites don’t actually stop to read anyone’s blog; they just keep clicking through, racking up as many credits as they can muster.

The few of us who do actually read blogs don’t really expect much from the service in the way of traffic to our own sites. Instead, we use it to find other blogs and bloggers who interest us. I have found quite a few good blogs this way.

Among those, is The Mary Blog. I will spare you the details of who she is because I would rather you find out by actually reading what she says. Suffice it to say, her posts are well written and thought provoking.

For instance, her blog, Agnostic Atheism (read it). In short, it said, “I have no reason to believe or disbelieve, hence agnosticism. However, I am more on the disbelieving side as the default presupposition when faced with reality is that that which I do not perceive likely does not exist.”

While I agree with the effect of this claim, I disagree with the claim itself. You see, if we trust nothing and act in an absolutely and purely scientific manner, we will reject all claims of existence and nonexistence. Even that which we perceive could not be reasonably accepted as our senses are prone to error.

So what do we do? Do we just lie down and wait to die? That is if we are even really alive! Over this question, philosophers - amateur and professional – have fought and died at the hands of kings, warriors, religious fanatics, and even themselves.

Only one word can cure this disease and quench the thirst for direction. The question of how to react to the fact that we truly cannot know anything can be answered with one word which has been heralded as the answer for two thousand years. That word is faith.

Now, now, don’t turn me off, yet. We’re just getting to the good stuff. You see, most agnostics and all atheists find themselves grasping at faith. Only they call it by a more modern name; trust. Even Mary put trust in something. While she held that her senses had just as much chances of deceiving her as they do of representing truth, she chose to trust them, at least a little, and say that since her senses say nothing, she will be more likely to believe nothing.

Even the most well renown Nihilists, even the biggest agnostics of them all, even the great Nietzsche, even the illustrious Kant, Darwin, Mendel, even you…Even you believe. Even you trust in something. Even you have faith.

You see, the only rational way to act is to accept the irrational. As agnostics, our only choice is between acting on faith in every matter and failing to act on any matter.

Now we come to the difference between an atheistic leaning agnostic such as Mary and a theistic believing agnostic such as me. It is simply a matter of how much faith one is comfortable with. Does my computer exist? I trust me senses, though I could never falsify their claims. Does Mexico exist? I trust those who say it does, though I have never seen it. Did Christ perform miracles? I trust many of the first century writings and stories concerning Him, though I was not there. Do miracles happen today? I trust my experience and some portion of the testimonies of the churches of Africa, Asia, and South America (and even on occasion North America and Europe), though some might call that irrational.

Does the invisible fairy in my palm exist? I’m not comfortable trusting you, there.

Tags: Whatever // 4 Comments »

So, I’ve updated to WordPress 2.1…finally. So far, everything seems to be working fine,*** but that could just be because I haven’t looked hard enough. So, if you happen to see any errors or anything that doesn’t seem right, please let me know so that I can find out why it’s wrong and fix it.

***One plugin, the Livejounal Crossposter doesn’t work anymore, and until our man Evan finishes ironing out the issues in it, LJians are just going to have to do without my insane ramblings because I really don’t feel like either hacking the plugin or my WP core or (definitely) actually using LJ.

Tags: Arts and Crafts, Check Yes or No, W-P // 1 Comment »

I’ve been thinking
Meditating, writing, and reading
Winking at YAH
Making promises with my fingers crossed behind my back
As if HE can’t see right through me
I wasn’t lying; I was only kidding
No, I was speaking it into reality
Trying to make what wasn’t be
But while I was speaking for then
Now came
And it wasn’t the same as what I was saying
I swear, I’m not playing
But my excuses are lame
Just like my sense of honor
Limping around from tree to tree
Holding on for balance but falling to its knees
The forest is dark and it can’t see
Because the trunks hold it captive like bars of a jail cell
23 to life alone
Relationships are hell
Eternally tormenting so one can never go home
To true love
She said “I do.”
But I didn’t catch it
I was too busy flipping through magazines
Checking out the breasts on philosopher’s chests
I swear to god, I wasn’t cheating
But adultery comes in many forms
And idol worship is more than porn
I kissed my wife goodnight
Then fucking the night light
786,482 pixles of pure time
I wasted it
Told tHEm I would wake up
Early to make up
But slept through my alarm
What’s the harm of five more minutes?
Two hours later I found out
And I don’t doubt that tHEy think I’m a dead beat
That tHE’re better off without me
But I need tHEm
She and HIM
You and YAH
ELI, I, and Allie May
May I
Redeem myself
Save the day?

Tags: Arts and Crafts, Check Yes or No // 5 Comments »

As the record turns
360 degrees around
The leaves turn so many degrees of brown
And the trees release
Their most prized possession
The beauty of their branches
Falling ever so slowly down
They are piled and burned
To re-soil the ground

And here we’ll dance ’til midnight
And dance again until tomorrow
When the advent of the sun’s light
Floods our (ball)room
And awakens our sorrow

For underneath your wedding gown
You wear a Kevlar vest
To thwart cupids futile efforts
At postponing the inevitable at best
Hurling 9mm love darts at your chest

To be loved again is a lost cause

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