Bird House

Honestly, have you seen the show?

2009-11-24T03:29:00.000-08:00

I recently got HBO and of course I have been watching 'Curb' cause that's why I got HBO in the first place. (I also started watching True Blood, good show-- great show actually.) Larry David makes me laugh, I mean laugh until my sides...... oouwww my sides. I love LD, yes its true, but its not the reason I started this post.

Mormons!

HBO has a show, filming its 3rd season right now, called Big Love.

Look, honestly, I have fully abandoned my beliefs in God or gods for that matter but you have to check this shit out. I know I am coming late and there are many among you that know what I am saying. If you aren't one of those, rent the first season. That shit is bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I know that they are portraying a small 20-40K population in the US that are polygamists but it is fucking crazy, to me. I must first say, if they want to do that in the US, I don't think we should stop them. Coercion of minor girls and brainwashing... absolutely not, but consenting adults should be free to make their lives a living hell through polygamy, if they so choose.

Every episode I sit there and think... How in the fuck does the second wife initially get brought into a conversation? How do you break the news to your first wife that you are wanting to try polygamy out. What is the segue that keeps that shit afloat? Then, you have to convince another girl the she needs to be a polygamist and become your second wife. After that, I suppose the difficulty decreases geometrically with each new wife. According to the show, there is a vote on the new wife to be. What happens? What happens? I can't take it. There are so many conflicts and troughs and walls and nervous tensions, I can't take it. But I am hooked. The setup is ripe for drama, HIGH DRAMA. The dumbest thing a husband polygamist can do is tell a lie to one of his wives. STUPID!
spoiler alert-------!!!

There are a few episodes where, Bill (Bill Paxton), the husband and his first wife and public wife start having an affair behind the other wives backs. You see, they split up days with their husband, Bill. An affair, with the woman you are already married to, really? But I have to say, it was a pretty good piece of narrative to bare, strangely, the complexities of plural marriages.

I realize that this is a hollywood version of a not very well documented sect of an already secretive group of people. Drama and conflict are the goals of the whole series, not the search for an accurate picture of modern polygamy. However, I find myself gaining a dislike for Mormonism and perhaps even its followers. I like to think I am a fairly open-minded, progressive individual but the show is slanting my view. Not the show's fault--they are trying to present the 'practice' in a positive way, very family oriented with moral lessons and values throughout.

I had to watch about 3-4 episodes before I decided that I liked it. The acting is not the best ever but the scenery is fabulous. The characters are creepy, even ghoulish at times but the narrative is strong and pacing is usually excellent. I guess I keep watching cause I have to know why in the hell would people do this to themselves, willingly?

Check it out.

touch....its all a matter of touch

2009-01-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

The Bends
Where do we go from here
 The words are coming out all weird
 Where are you now, when I need you
 Alone on an aeroplane
 Fall asleep on against the window pane
 My blood will thicken  

I need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain
 Cos I'd be scared that there's nothing underneath
 But who are my real friends
 Have they all got the bends
 Am I really sinking this low

  My baby's got the bends, oh no
 We don't have any real friends, no, no, no
  Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
 Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
 I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
 I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen

  Where do we go from here
 The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
 And where are you
 They brought in the CIA, the tanks and the whole marines,
 To blow me away, to blow me sky high  

My baby's got the bends
 We don't have any real friends

  Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
 Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
 I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
 I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen

  I wanna live, breathe 
I wanna be part of the human race
 I wanna live, breathe 
I wanna be part of the human race, race, race, race

  Where do we go from here
 The words are coming out all weird
 Where are you now when I need you

What a year...Just a Peach!

2009-01-13T13:17:00.000-08:00

I cannot and will not try to prove or disprove the existence of God. First, it is empirically impossible to prove that there is no God, one would have to be everywhere all at once and then able to detect the existence of that supreme being. Second, the burden of proof of a supreme being lies with the believer not the skeptic. For me the jury is out and I have neither seen nor heard great proof for the existence of God. I just want to toss up a few explanations for the common arguments for his existence then meddle with some ideology that often is given as proof of God's existence.

Starting at the Genesis... The argument of 'where did it all come from?' is a tired classic and put simply, poor. The stories in Genesis are allegorical at best (if there is a God) and most rational believers can agree with me on that. It takes the same amount of faith to believe that the universe has always existed as it does to believe in a magical wish-granting dwarf. The kind of dwarf that poofs things into existence and then plays with them just for his own amusement. Besides, who created the dwarf? Its the same lame argument and it gets me nowhere.

Now the universe is here and roughly 14 billion years have passed. The earth formed about 4.5B years ago and modern humans(Homo sapiens sapiens) emerged about 200,000 years ago. We developed huge brains for our relative size and that got us to about 10,000 B.C.E. when the ball started rolling. Some background....human physical evolution develops on a more fixed geometric rate(with sudden leaps here or there), where as human cultural evolution develops at more of an exponential rate. Which means the physical evolution of our brains(The fact that our brains are huge for our size...not the biggest, but certainly significant) has slingshot our cultural evolution at a faster rate than our physical evolution. The proof of that is all around. Humans have been here for just a blink in earth's history and just look at the cultural evolution from 200K years ago versus our biological evolution. We have not changed much, physically, in 200K years, but oh how we have changed culturally. And it just explodes century after century since 10,000 B.C.E. Adaptations in our evolution favored the development of human culture/society in order to leave the hunter gatherer nomadic lifestyle for a more stable and evolutionarily advantageous culture of agriculture. This furthered our dominance over other competitors for resources. Now, suddenly, these humans live in a society where there are fewer hardships like that of hunting nomads. There is more time to get into trouble and more people around to get into trouble with, lets say. So, we developed religion as an evolution of our culture. This adaptation helped keep a society in order and also helped answer the wandering questions by humans with much more time on their hands. The creation tale of Genesis is simply an allegory explaining how humans transformed from hunter gatherers to an agrarian society. The tale of a supreme being is simply one way of telling that story which has been passed down over the millennia and then finally put into paperback form. The whole beginning of Genesis is just simply a mechanism of human cultural evolution that helped create rules for keeping the human race the dominate species. And to simply keep society together and moving forward instead of killing ourselves off or breeding ourselves lower down the food chain. Not that nomadic peoples cannot coexist, in fact they are quite good at it, but evolution directs species to proliferate to the bounds of their environment. Cro-Magnon was better equipped, culturally, so they drove the Neanderthal to extinction....so says some theories(it was probably more that just one factor though). Either way, the bigger brain won the contest. Bigger brains mean higher cognition and less reliance on fight or flight instincts to further the species. It is hard to fight biology. Some scientists even believe that our genes are traveling through time and that we are 'hosts' to these genes, mere pawns in their quest to procreate and proliferate. I think that's a cool idea, but I have no evidence and I don't care right now anyway.

Fox Mulder made famous the phrase, "I want to believe". Mulder, however, made no attempts at challenging his beliefs, he simply pursued evidence to confirm those beliefs. So lets mess with what we know about God, disregarding the above argument against his existence. Let us regard God by the only means we have as humans-our five senses and our limited human reason. If God created us with only these faculties, then we can surely only be responsible for recording and evaluating these bits of data. Everything else must be blind faith or human instinct (which can be attributed to evolutionary processes). Yes, I am making comparisons of God from a human perspective on relationships and motives. But were we not made in his image? I would like to apologize to Annie for ripping her off. She has read most of the relevant materials and plucked the best parts out already, so all I can do now is acknowledge her. She does not make these arguments-- she is a believer. Anyway, Paradise is probably the only one who will read this, so I just picked what I needed. Sorry Annie.

If there is a God, and a devil, and they equally have a sphere of influence on the physical world and thereby on humanity, then why does God play the absentee landlord while the Lord of the Flies has a flag, parades, icecream socials and lots of product to offer? Why are good and righteous deeds a task if not a burden? And why is evil so easy and readily available like high fructose corn syrup. Surely a supreme being that created the whole show would at least tilt the scales toward even and make goodness equally easy to access. Why make it harder? We could all be good and those who choose to do evil can toil way their lives in pursuit of whatever. Why does he do this? Perhaps he desires our exclusivity or our singular unspoilt devotion to all things him. If he does, then why hide at every wisp of the wind? Teihard de Chardin (French paleontologist/Jesuit priest/Theologian) called the explanation that God hides himself deliberately to test our love "hateful"; it is "mental gymnastics." Here "The doctors of the church explain that the Lord deliberately hides from us in order to test our love. One would have to be irretrievably committed to mental gymnastics...not to feel the hatefulness of this solution." Would you want that? When you were a child and you fell down and cut your knee, did your mom hide from you in the laundry room with the box of band-aids? And did she perhaps giggle as she went flitting from room to room avoiding you and your gushing wound. If she did, I'm sure it was a playful joke, but there is no way she did it to test your faith in her. How would that communicate love and caring? Even better, how would that bolster a childs loyalty, faith or solidarity to her? Yet, there are many christian preachers who would tell you that God does test us in this way and often. We can't throw out God for what some of his supporters say, true. Teilhard said, "The omnipotence of God makes no sense if it requires the all-causingness of God." If God is omnipotent but does not cause all things, then why stand by voyeuristically when he says he wants to win our hearts and minds. So, if God is semi-potent, perhaps he is unable to reveal himself or his plan to us. Perhaps we are limited and are unable to see him? Then why create such calamity and subterfuge. It does not track. Where is he then? What, if anything is he doing? There are many claims of God's action here or there. Yet not all have seen or been privy to his actions. Sure, not all that happens can be explained with science and yet we still cannot explain those things with God's hand either. Why save one human from cancer when so many people die painfully everyday of diarrhea. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell stated that the Katrina tragedy was punishment for the lasciviousness of New Orleans. If God did that, or let it happen then why let Mao Zedong and Stalin off with nothing but a stroke and a heart attack. Most Americans that will die today, will die those ways and they certainly never killed millions. If God does cause everything then push me out of the plane right now, chute or not, i'll risk it. I don't think I could take one more day of CNN if God was cogitating all the headlines. 6000+ people die in the US daily. You could be next! Most die peacefully but a lot don't. In other parts of the world death comes more fiercely. In alleyways and streets, on gurneys and bed mats, death stalks us globally. 155,000+ people per day succumb to the inevitable fate that is humanity's destiny. AHH, but I speak of destiny as if there was something to direct it...old habits. Or perhaps it is our evolutionary destiny to arrive on earth and experience pain and undulating joys and later to die. Destiny is directed by evolution. I hate to side with Marx, but I think I better understand his statement; "Religion is an opiate of the masses." But I think he missed the social importance of this concept. If religion 'numbs' or makes easier daily life for the masses, then in general it is good for greasing the wheels of society.

So next there is faith. Easy. The same amount of faith is needed to believe in something other than God. And since no one has seen God on Jay Leno or even had a youtube video with suspect authenticity posted. God is obtusely absent. OR.........

Ok! Say I'm wrong. God, please! Make yourself available, present or unhidden because I (we) desperately need your influence on earth today.............

POOF! nothing.
Sorry, I can't say that there is a God. I can't say there isn't. But if there is, he seems childish and I'm not sure I want to play with him anyway.

I know you will believe what you want. It will probably be the same thing you believed before you read this unreasonably long treatise about things rolling round my head. I don't ask you to change your mind about the existence of God. The burden of proof lies with you the believer, anyway. I ask you to take into consideration that there are other well reasoned and valid views on the matter. Understand that your opinion needs testing by fire, if not just to affirm your belief, but also to put balls to bone as it were. Why believe just because your parents and friends do? Check the facts for yourself. Hell, read the fucking Bible for once. Read what it really says and put away all the trappings of your pastor. Discard all the poor and incorrect metaphors that ooze from pulpits on Sunday morning. Read it the way Martin Luther intended, without the filter of the priest and the church dictating doctrine to you. Find out how your version of the bible came together. ooops...can of worms there. So many things they never taught you in Sunday school, these things are important if you actually want to know what you believe. Or you can just have faith that your mom will come out, finally, and bandage your gushing knee.

Next time...I'm tackling Jesus. No, not really, he only plays touch football these days anyway.

WISH

2009-01-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

this is the first day of my last days
i built it up now i take it apart climbed up real high now fall down real far
no need for me to stay the last thing left i just threw it away
i put my faith in god and my trust in you
now there's nothing more fucked up i could do

wish there was something real wish there was something true
wish there was something real in this world for you
i'm the one without a soul i'm the one with this big fucking hole
no new tale to tell thirty-four years on my way to hell
gotta listen to your big time hard line bad luck fist fuck
don't think you're having all the fun
you know me i hate everyone

wish there was something real wish there was something true
wish there was something real in this world for you
i want to but i can't turn back
but i want to

thanks trent

DID YOU VOTE?

2008-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

UMMM...

2008-07-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

I HONESTLY CANNOT CLAIM TO EVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE WITH GOD. THAT IS TO SAY, I HAVE HAD NO EXPERIENCE THAT IS NOT EASILY EXPLAINED BY THE VAST ARRAY OF POSSIBLE HUMAN EXPERIENCES. FOR INSTANCE, THERE ARE AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF HUMAN DISORDERS AND DISEASES THAT CAN ALTER ONE’S PERCEPTION OF REALITY. ONE COULD SAY THAT I SUFFER FROM ONE OF THOSE MYSELF, BUT WHOSE TO SAY WHAT IS NORMAL…..THE MAJORITY OPINION, I GUESS. NOW, AS TO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GOD….I HAVE SEEN THE PREACHERS IN THEIR CHURCHES WITH THEIR HANDS HELD HIGH IN EXULT-CASTING OUT DEMONS, SLAYING PEOPLE IN THE SPIRIT AND SCREAMING TO EXHAUSTION IN TONGUES. I CAN SAY I WAS THERE AND NOT ONLY THERE BUT A WILLING PARTICIPANT. I WAS NOT ONLY A PARTICIPANT BUT A LEADER. I PLAYED MUSIC IN ONE CHURCH OR ANOTHER FROM THE AGE OF 14. THE MAIN SERVICE, THE YOUTH GROUPS AND THE CHURCH BRANCH GROUPS FOR ALL THE SPONSORED EVENTS. IN RETROSPECT, IT ALL SEEMS SILLY AND CONTRIVED. (I NOW GET WHY PEOPLE WANT TO BE FOOLED. HELL, I WANT TO BE FOOLED, ITS EASIER TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.) SO, I REMEMBER TRYING DESPERATELY TO RUN INTO GOD ONCE WHEN I WAS 15 YEARS OLD. IT WAS 6:00AM AND I HAD JUST FINISHED MY PAPER ROUTE. IT WAS 6AM AND THE STOOGES WERE ON AND TIENANMEN SQUARE WAS BEING PLAYED ON CNN….SO I STOOD AND STARED INTO THE FRIDGE. BOTH FREEZER AND FRIDGE DOOR WIDE OPEN FOR NO GOOD REASON AS I PONDERED WHAT I WANTED TO QUENCH MY THIRST. I HAD RECENTLY BEEN TRYING TO BE THE BEST CHRISTIAN I WAS EXPECTED TO BE; I WAS STRIVING FOR THAT CLOSER WALK WITH THEE. SO I DECIDED I NEEDED TO LET GOD MAKE DECISIONS FOR ME. I ASKED GOD TO GIVE ME DEVINE PROVIDENCE ABOUT THE BEVERAGE THAT I SHOULD CONSUME AT THAT VERY MOMENT. KNOWING THAT IF GOD’S WILL BE DONE THEN I SHALL BE THE ONE TO DO IT. JUST IN CASE THE OMNISCIENT GOD WAS UNAWARE, I RATTLED OFF THE CONTENTS OF THE FRIDGE AND WAITED FOR HIS RESPONSE. EVENTUALLY I JUST DRANK SOME SWEET TEA CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I WANTED ANYWAY. I WAS DISAPPOINTED THAT I COULD NOT GET AN ANSWER. THIS IS WHAT I REMEMBER AND BASICALLY THE REASON WHY I RECALL THE INCIDENT . I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED THEN- GOD HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE AN ABSENTEE LANDLORD AND A TRUST FUND BABY ALL WRAPPED INTO ONE. GODDAMMIT! I DO SOME RANK AWFUL SHIT, DAILY. WHERE IS THE CATCH?....WHERE IS MY COME-UPPINS? NOWHERE, THAT'S WHERE.

IF THERE IS A GOD AND HE HAS POWER, HE ABUSES IT(AD).

"MANY TIMES IN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES I HAVE HEARD THE PASTOR SAY TO GOD, 'ALL YOUR ACTIONS SHOW YOUR WISDOM AND LOVE.' EACH TIME, I REACH IN VAIN FOR THE COURAGE TO RISE AND SHOUT, "THAT'S A LIE!"--JUST TO PUT THINGS ON A SOLID FOOTING"- Annie Dillard

TO BE CONTINUED........

SORRY TO NEGLECT THE QUESTION...

2008-06-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

I HAVE TRULY BEEN DISTRACTED FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS. SORRY FOR THE EXCUSE; CAN'T BE HELPED. I APPRECIATE THOSE OF YOU WHO RESPONDED. THE RESPONSES WERE, ON THE WHOLE, VERY PERSONAL AND SEEMINGLY UNCONTRIVED. I TEND TO USE EMBELLISHMENT AS A NARRATIVE DEVICE, SO I CAN'T POINT A FINGER. I HOPE THAT I MADE MYSELF CLEAR WHEN I POSTED THE QUESTION. I DO NOT INTEND TO POST A COLLECTION OF GOOD ARGUMENTS. HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO DISCUSS IT WITH ANYONE.

AS FOR MY PERSONAL OPINION, AT THIS MOMENT, ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD; I'M LEANING TOWARD NO. HOWEVER, THERE ARE DAYS THAT THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST EXISTENCE JUST SOUND LIKE A WORDY OVERCOMPENSATED SACK OF HORSE SHIT. WHAT KEEPS ME WONDERING IS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT CLAIM TO EXPERIENCE THE PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF A HIGHER BEING. THE ARGUMENT THAT STOPS ME WONDERING IS THE OVERWHELMING POSSIBILITY THAT THE COMPLEX HUMAN MIND IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO FOOL ITSELF. I ONCE MADE MY NOSE BLEED JUST BY FREAKING OUT IN MY OWN HEAD.

ANYWAY.

I AM UNSURE IF I WILL CONTINUE THIS PARTICULAR BLOG. NOT BECAUSE OF THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWERS, BUT I AM NOT SURE THAT I HAVE BEEN MAKING GOOD USE OF THE ENERGY REQUIRED TO STORE THE MINUSCULE BYTES THAT THIS BLOG OCCUPIES. ALSO, WHO WANTS TO HEAR MY SHIT ANYWAY?

EVERYONE WHO KNOWS ME WELL, KNOWS THAT I HAVE PHASES. THERE WAS THE BAND PHASE, THE DO-RAG PHASE, THE LONG HAIR, THE WHATEVER PHASE ETC. WELL I GOT A NEW PHASE. ME AND FEW FRIENDS FROM WORK ARE TRAINING TO RUN THE LITTLE ROCK MARATHON. NOW, I MUST SAY I'M ONLY TWO AND HALF WEEKS INTO IT BUT I HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED AN OBSESSION. EVERYDAY AT 5AM ONE OF US CALLS THE OTHERS TO MAKE SURE WE ARE ALL UP AND HEADED OUT THE DOOR. EVERYDAY! WE ALL HAVE HAD PERSONAL STUFF AND HAD TO MISS A DAY OR TWO BUT ON THE WHOLE TWO OF US HAVE BEEN RUNNING FOR, OOOPS, MAKE THAT THREE WEEKS TOMORROW. DON'T WORRY, I WILL STILL BE THE FAT ASS YOU ALL KNOW AND LOVE. I'M JUST GOING TO BE TIRED AND OFF TO BED AT 9:30PM INSTEAD OF 11 OR 12. WE ARE RUNNING THE MARATHON AS A RELAY TEAM CAUSE THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I'D BE ABLE TO RUN 26.2 MILES BY MARCH 15TH 2009. THE LONGEST LEG THAT I MIGHT HAVE TO RUN WOULD BE 8 MI. THE LONGEST MY DISTANCE EVER GOT UP TO WAS 5 MILES AND THAT'S WHEN I WAS 16 OR 17 YEARS OLD. I'M 33 AND I WILL BE 34 WHEN THE MARATHON COMES AROUND AND I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO DO THIS WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF MY TEAM MATES. EVERY TIME I HEAR THAT PHONE RING AT 5AM, I'M PISSED. BUT AFTER 5 MINUTES, I'M UP AND OUT THE DOOR. I USUALLY RUN 2MI, BROKEN UP AND WALK A TOTAL OF 3MI. WHAT WORRIES ME IS THAT I HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ADD ONE MILE OF RUNNING EVERY MONTH UNTIL THE RACE STARTS. I'M NOT SURE I CAN DO IT. THE THING I HAVE GOING FOR ME RIGHT NOW IS THAT I AM TRULY OBSESSED WITH RUNNING. I MAY NOT LOOK LIKE IT YET BUT I WANT SO BAD TO BE ABLE TO RUN 8 MI AND NOT THINK A THING ABOUT IT. GIVE ME A FEW MONTHS AND ASK ME. RIGHT NOW, ITS HELL GETTING MY BODY UP AND THE IF YOU ARE THE UNLUCKY PERSON WHO DREW THE SORT STRAW AND HAD TO CALL AND WAKE ME UP, YOU WILL HAVE TO HEAR A UNIQUE BARRAGE OF WELL PLACE EXPLETIVES. SO, IN SHORT, I AM DAMN PROUD OF MYSELF AND VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE. WITHOUT THE TEAM SUPPORT, I WOULD NEVER GET OUT OF BED. NEVER.

THIS MAY BE THE LAST BLOG ENTRY FOR THIS BLOG. IF I DECIDE TO CONTINUE IN ANOTHER PLACE, I WILL LET YOU KNOW. IF I JUST KEEP TYPING ON THIS ONE, OH WELL...

JBIRD

where is God?

2008-05-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

I need your personal experiences concerning the existence of God. I don't want to hear the 'I felt the hand of God' stories. I need something more tangible. I understand that you will not be able to give empirical evidence to the existence of God, but just try to avoid the classic 'God told me to...' style stories. I would also like to hear your arguments pro and con for the existence of a higher being. Please, only good rational arguments, resist the fluff and the obvious, we have all heard it allready.

The burden lies with you

Electricity.

2008-04-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Recently lots of us lost power from the tornado last week. We all had to hear the stories from everybody the next day; where they were and what was flying through the air just past their house or face or automobile. I know, snoozer.
I only want to make a comment about the aftermath and frankly I just want to reference some song lyrics by the "Talking Heads". Basically, Wendy and I were thrust into the Stone Age. We had hot water, but holy shit, everything else runs on Blessed Electricity. We had a wind-up radio for the storm itself but the laptop was run out of juice by Friday at 1pm. Please note, we were only without power for 48 hours, but OMG we were lost without all the electrical devices that OWN US. I'm not ashamed just surprised at our dependence. Well, the "Talking Heads" do it justice with this little apocalyptic ditty called "(Nothing But) Flowers". (I cut to the chase so you won't not have to read the whole thing...)

There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers

We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner

There was a shopping mall
Now it's all covered with flowers

If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower

This used to be real estate
Now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it's nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we'd start over
But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies

I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens

And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention

I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies

WE USED TO MICROWAVE
NOW WE JUST EAT NUTS AND BERRIES

This was a discount store,
Now it's turned into a cornfield

DON'T LEAVE ME STRANDED HERE
I CAN'T GET USED TO THIS LIFESTYLE

J.BIRD

your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

2008-01-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

I finally got wendy to watch the entire movie without going to sleep.
now, go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

iPhone post

2008-01-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

This is me trying to post on my iPhone. Not to bad, just boring for you.

FOR HEATHER

2007-11-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

Occured to me the other day
you've been gone now, couple days
well i guess it takes a while
for someone to really disappear

i remember where i was
when the word came about you

IT WAS A DAY MUCH LIKE TODAY
THE SKY WAS BRIGHT AND WIDE AND BLUE.

and i wonder where you are
and if the pain ends when I SEE YOU AGAIN
and i wonder if there was
some better way to say goodbye

TODAY MY HEART IS BIG AND SORE
IT"S TRYING TO PUSH RIGHT THROUGH MY SKIN
I WON'T SEE YOU ANYMORE
I GUESS THAT'S FINALLY SINKING IN.

'cause you can't make somebody see
with the simple words you say
all their beauty from within
sometimes they just slip away

and i wonder where you are
and if the pain ends WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN
and i wonder if there was
some better way to say goodbye

some better way to say goodbye

Prayers for Dana's brother and the Vaughn family

2007-07-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

St. Theresa's Prayer: 
May today there be peace within.  May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.  May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.  May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you....  May you be content knowing you are a child of God.... Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. 

BIRDHOUSE

My Last Day.

2007-07-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day at my job. I worked there for 6 years and 3 months. Two and a half weeks ago I accepted a job offer from a competing firm. I have spent the last two weeks in a strange limbo state at work. I have made some great friends and colleagues over the years and many of these relationships were born under high stress situations. But hard work and good laughs make good friends and memorable moments. I know I have complained and even bitched about things going on at my job. I'm sorry that I subjected you all to that. As I look back over the last 6 years, those things seem trivial. I feel I have been lucky to have that job. I did not deserve it when I got hired. I hope I was an asset.

The last few days, everyone has been working me over, trying to get me to stay, to change my mind. I politely refused everyone. The owner, the owner's wife, the lab director, managers and friends all were working me over, tugging at my strings and pushing my buttons. I have to say, I never knew I was that loved and respected there. For instance, the new guy I was training for my last two weeks told me that I should stay because he has never seen so much distress over anyone leaving any job. If I did take his advice, he might be out of a job. My last day was one of the hardest work days I have ever had. Although I am resolved to the new job, I must say, I had to keep from crying a few times. I am gonna miss that place. They took back my key, that was hard, I don't know why but it was. I had to sign papers and transfer stuff, it was depressing.

I have had personality conflicts with one particular person for a good chunk of my tenure. We had our differences and our moments but we actually always worked well together. In the last year and a half, we both have found a new respect for one another. We had to train new people it seems every three months or so. We just could not find anyone who could do the work. So there were many times I had to do his job and he had to do mine and from those experiences we became good friends and formed a mutual loyalty that I still have today. When we said our goodbyes today, I tried to tell a little joke or something to keep me from choking up. I mustered the discipline to tell him what I wanted to tell him. I told him that 'It has been a pleasure working with you and working for you. Thanks for teaching me all the things you taught me.' I meant it, and I would work for him again. He returned the sentiment and I sadly am leaving him with inexperienced replacements. My prayers are with him.

All this to say, I am surprised at how hard it was for me to leave. I am sad at the loss, but I am always looking forward. Here's hoping I have not made a huge mistake.

JBIRD

Fate.

2007-06-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

I find that I am so excited that I can barely sit still or keep a thought in my head. I'm sure it's the excitement only a free man can feel, and it seems that I am a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. As always at the end of each journey, I hope to see my friend and hug his neck and I hope the ocean is as blue as it is in my dreams.

My life changed dramatically today. The gods of fate or chance, perhaps there are no gods or God, but whatever might be spinning the proverbial wheel of chance has stopped it on 13 Black. The least lucky but the most exciting to win. I would like to give thanks to whoever is responsible, perhaps you have broadband access and this POST is easily accessible. Perhaps not. However, pass it on to the tooth fairy, Mohammed, Jesus Christ even Israel ben-Eleazar if you see them; that I am gratefull for the bend in the fabric of existence in my favor. Wendy and I are more at peace because of this change. The universe is less at a stir.

Thanks.

JBIRD

SONGBIRDS...."Teaching a Stone to Talk" Annie Dillard

2007-06-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

We are here to witness. There is nothing else to with those mute materials we do not need....All we can do with the whole human array is watch it. We can stage our own act on the planet, build our cities on its plains, dam its rivers,plant its topsoils--but our meaningful activity scarcely covers the terrain. We do not use the songbirds, for instance, we do not eat many of then, we cannot befriend them; we cannot persuade them to eat more mosquitoes or plant fewer weed seeds.

We can only witness them-- whoever they are. If we were not here, they would be songbirds falling in the forest. If we were not here, material events like the passage of seasons would lack even the meager meanings we are able to muster for them. The show would play to an empty house, as do all those falling stars which fall in the daytime.

This is why I need to take more walks...to keep an eye on things. And thats why I want to hike the Appalachian Trail.

EMO jokes.....

2007-06-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

I wish my lawn was more like and EMO kid, then it would cut itself.

Cheer up EMO kid, the world's not gonna end,..today...

(but maybe on 21st DEC 2012) ooooo........

JBIRD

I GOT A BLISTER ON MY HEEL AND I WAS DRIVING A GOLF CART THE WHOLE TIME..

2007-06-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

A beautiful wedding! I must admit I had my doubt about the venue. However, that McClain "can-do spirit" won over in the end. I dare say if the McClain Clan were more ambitious and drastically more evil, they could take over the world. At least Batesville. Tenacity and persistence to a goal, they all seem to have it and they all seem to use it for good and not evil. And dammit there is a smile on their face and a skip in there step as they do what they do.
Congradulations Julie and Tom!!!!!
May the best of your past be the worst of your future.
JBIRD

A RHETORICAL QUESTION FOR MR SPOCK.

2007-06-05T03:26:00.000-07:00

Repeatedly reminding the crew of the Enterprise that you are totally devoid of emotion is not a very logical or efficient way to spend your time, IS IT NOW?

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

BRING THE TONE!!!

2007-03-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to rip songs from iTunes about a year ago, but I have been lazy about assigning specific ringtones to each on my close friends. One reason, it's freaking hard. However, I bit the bullet and ripped a few that I felt appropriate. I'm sure that there will be some disagreement, but I could give a sh#&... Since I have a MAC, I can freely clip all the songs in my iTunes library to make a 20 or 30 second ringtone.

Here are my current assignments:

Paradise: The lead guitar part from "The Bends" Radiohead....one of my favorite moments in music.

Taft: gets the lead in to "Italian Leather Sofa" Cake. It just reminds me of him bobbing his head and singing along in the white porsche.

Wendy: gets part of the Chorus from: "Sleeps with Butterflies" Tori Amos. In my opinion, a modern classic. Not that I am a butterfly just cause she does sleep with me, just cause it is a pretty song and she is a pretty lady.

Jennifer was soo fucking to hard decide that I am so far stumped or lacking enough of a music library to define her ringtone. I finally decided on "One night in Bangkok", cause it's soo the 80's and I hear she's trying to bring it back. might be wrong about that though.

Anita: Easy.... "All I Really Want": Alanis Morisette. The Classsic: 'Slap Me With A Splintered Ruler' line is so obvious I am ashamed to even mention the idea.

Heather: Sting, of course. "All this Time" from The Soul Cages.

Jay: NEVER FUCKING CALLS ME, SO WHY SHOULD HE GET A RING TONE? Although, i decided to use the intro to "Do the
Evolution" : Pearl Jam (sorry jay, i don't call you either, i know)

Jennie actually has probably called me more than Jay, but where do I get handbell soundtracks or a digital version of: "The Brailettes"? Any ideas, Jennie.

Dana... this one is hard, I want to confess I have a great idea what clip would convey "Dana" but, I think you(Dana) and I will have to discuss this first.

My Mom gets: "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys" Willie Nelson, of course. My mom loves Willie. I mean she really loves Willie. She also loves that this is her ringtone. After I told her, she calls me while we are going places or doing things together just to hear the ringtone.

Text Messages Get: "LetterBox" from the band 'They Might Be Giants" on the album "Flood".

This is all, of course for me, and honestly your opinion, although welcome, will not necessarily change the ringtone. (except Dana, Jennie) I just wanted you, gentle readers, to know what sounds you can make all the way across town.

Also, If your phone is bluetooth compatable and not security locked, I can rip and clip anything you want for a ringtone. I guess this means I am doing requests. All you j-holes with Altell are screwed, I think. There is some security thing paradise was unable to get around. However, If you can get around it, I'll clip it and send it to you. Each phone has limits on the length of each tone, but I have found then to be about 20 to 30 seconds. Make your requests by calling me. I hardly read email these days, so get in contact with me other ways.

have fun,

J.BIRD

And Jesus Drives From Mexico To Get Her Perscription Filled...

2007-03-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Rock Out, Whatever.

I Had dream last night.....terrible nightmare. You ever have one of those dreams that no matter how much your conscience mind tells you that it is not real, you can't shake the feelings that are envoked. I had one last night that rattled my brain and kept me guessing until at least 10am today. The mind is so powerful, never underesimate it, it has control of your whole body....
JBIRD

Lackluster Video....Wow! what a Shithole!!!!!

2007-03-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

I never rent dvds anymore, who does? I did however find an occasion of boredom a few weekends ago and could not find the movies I wanted at my 'regular' rental place; "Video Xchange" on Kanis Rd. I actually never return movies late anymore because Video Xchange has a 5 day rental policy at half the price on any dvd they rent. I did return some late once last year, but the guys there looked me up and said: " ah..forget it, thanks for your business". Cool.

Lackluster Video sent me a letter in the mail today informing me that the late fees that I have incurred are due post haste, and that if I did not remit the balance within 30 days, the matter would be reffered to a collection agency. Look now, my mom is crazy and she has cancer, can you cut a guy some slack. My beloved wife, you all know her, Wendy, has toiled and slaved to fix my past financial errors. I have seen her physically spill her own blood in sacrifice to the collectors so that my credit might be fixed. I love her, i do. So my heart was tromped when she told me of the letter this afternoon. My rectification: I went to Lackluster Video right after I cooked her dinner and payed the bill.....
I went in, I waited in line with the letter, I presented it to the clerk and asked if I could pay this now. She said sure, debit or credit? I said, "whichever". I then told her (mind you, I had planned this) will please terminate my account with Lackluster Video? She said, "Ok". I asked if she needed my card back, which I quickly produced. She said "sure". I said, "can you cut it up or something?" She reached for a pair of orange handled scissors and cut it into many pieces. I got that card and account when I was 16 years old. That was 16 years ago! She just cut it up and said, "Thanks, have a nice night." Corporate American Business sucks.

Folks Buy yourself a TIVO or a DVR, perhaps get video on demand, but for God's sake, don't walk into Lackluster. Your soul has better things to do with it's time in the Universe.

J.Bird

Just as my good friend Paradise says....

2007-02-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

no one wants to hear the "C" word. And they sure as hell don't want to hear that it's invasive or metastisized in the lymphnodes or whatever.

My mother has breast cancer. She actually has two types of cancer. Doctor Abraham can explain it better, she saw the offending tissue, held it in her hand and carefully removed it from my mother's flesh. She has to go back soon to get the rest of it. There were parts that surprised Dr. Abraham, and she wants to go back in and finish the job.

This is the price we pay for our existence. Never think you will get a free ride. There is always an attendant waiting to take you ticket. Don't be fooled, there are 6 billion of us, each and every one of us will get our moment to pass gently or violently. (whichever is our passion/fate)

I have wondered for a long time,

What does God do? What have you or I ever seen him do here on earth? I can't really account for anything lately. However, if God does act upon this physical world that we live in, then I pray that He acts to help my mother. For whatever it's worth God, I pray that you intervene on my mother's behalf, inspite of me, for her sake, cause she taught me to love you, and she loves you and keeps your commandments.

your son,
Jason

AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE

2007-01-31T18:38:00.000-08:00

cause we are the Aqua Teens make the homies say ho and the girlies wanna scream! aaoh check, check it, yeah.
jennie would appreciate it, Abraham Lincoln does a cameo in the credits every night.

10 other cities figured it out and Boston wants 'reparations'. Mayor/Gov feels like an ass and wants to smooth over his foolish bravado. 'OH! never fear we will save you from the advertising!!!' This is the shit we get into from the last few years of pervasive FOX news coverage. Their sensationalist journalism has no place in news. Neither does what the hell's her name, with the goofy eyes and the southern accent on CNN.?? Anyway, she is just as bad as Bill O'Reily and his ilk. The whole lot of them feel poor in heart, cheap, lowest common denominator and sooo 'American Idol-ish', that it just makes me want to SLAP A BABY.

yes I watch Aqua Teen. I own their DVD's as well. I have been a fan for years now. I do look forward to the movie, although I will be going by myself, I will enjoy it. (no one is gonna go with me)

Love you.
JBIRD

oh yeah.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANA!

Employee of the Month

2007-01-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

I am kinda geekily proud of this.

I got a plaque, an Embassy lapel pin and $100 non-foldable cash in the form of a Wal-Mart/Sam's gift card (which I used to buy wendy a NANO for X-mas). The funny thing is, I was and will continue to do the job that I was hired to do. Honestly, not much more. The competition is crap. Oh, well.

Anthropogenic or not, it's kicking our ass right now.

2006-12-21T00:41:00.000-08:00

Global warming. There are stupid few people in the world who are too paranoid and so hell bent against democrats or liberal ideas that they have, with moderate success, created doubt in the public mind set about the reality that is GLOBAL WARMING. They are chiefly from the ranks of fundamentalist christians who feel that God's Will always happens here on earth. Christ de-bunked that in the Lord's Prayer 2000 years ago. Just for argument's sake, look at the population graph for the history of Man. Check the spike on our end. Sure, the entire human population, if mashed into a gooey liquid, could neatly fit into Lake Windamere in Northern England, but this has no bearing on how we change our environment with every decision we make. Yes, I wanted a small shit car that got 1200 miles to the gallon, yes I still want an electric car. Well, the Birdhouse CFO felt that a cheaper gas guzzler would be a better call. I agree, in an immediate financial sense; these things cannot be helped. I think we need to get our minds out of the BABYBOOMER mentality. That sort of excess is gonna kill all 6 billion of us, fast.
Those of you who think that Global Warming is not happening or perhaps you think it is not anthropogenic; please search GOOGLE for yourself. There are plenty of supporting data sets that make clear our role, especially Americans, in the creation and progression of Global Warming.
Hell, I don't know what to do at this very moment. We need a complete change in our thinking. We need the BOOMERS and their ILK to pass on and give us the reigns so that we might fix the mess from the excess of post WWII society. Sorry. At least pass us the torch and cease controlling everything that you can get your hands on. That's what got us in this trouble in the first place.
JBIRD

Jo Terry

2006-11-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remember Jo?

I do. The doctors pulled him off life support on 16th of January 2002. I went to see him in the night of the 15th when sickeness had taken hold of his being. Wendy went with me that night. I cried alot for Jo. He had barely told anyone that he had AIDS. He had not even told his mother. Jo and I had talked about it on occasion. He was sacred of the end and sickness that might take him. I cry for him now, as I do often when I think of his pain and loneliness. He was a great soul. Someone on earth who deserved to be here. He did not put evil into the world, he put love wherever he graced his presence. I miss him sometimes. I don't really know why, but I do. He was a bright spot in a dark corner.
LOVE YOU JO,

JBIRD

IF YOU VOTED ON TUESDAY......

2006-11-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks..GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!!
JBIRD

THE DIFFERENCE OF SEVETEEN FEET.

2006-10-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know my troubles with my job. Specifically, my boss. I should say former boss, because I have been transeferred into another lab, a mere distance of SEVENTEEN feet. My new boss is fantastic. We get along famously and there is an overwhelming spirit of mutual respect and trust between us already. I cannot stress enough how much better my days have been. I am so excited at work these days, I can barely keep a thought in my head. That's normal really, but it's more like the excitement only a free man can know. I feel as if now I am a free man at the start of a long journey whose destination is uncertain. The freedom Buddhists feel when they glimpse enlightenment, or the clean, wholeness felt when you extend beyond yourself and accept that Jesus is the Son of God. Close, anyway.
Thanks, Jehovah.

JBIRD

It's okay W, when you go to hell, i'm sure the devil will be very nice to you and have you over for dinner parties, weekend get aways and stuff.

2006-09-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Inevitability...... The US is having a Health Care crisis. Georgy-boy wants the masses to fork out another couple billion for health insurance after he and his ilk has sucked the very life-giving milk from the Golden Cow. We payed for and are still paying your stupid War in the Gulf, so that your daddy could be safe from the Evil Sadaam. I just got the latest of the trickle
down effects of the Bush Politic. HSA accounts to replace my Health Insurance at my job. Carl Rove is the Smartest Man in America. He has to be, he got a worthless pile of shit elected- TWICE. The real shame should be placed on the preachers all across this land who supported him from their pulpits and Sunday school rooms. Christ never taught us to abondon the sick and poor, or to torture, or to acccuse the innocent, or to force the world to think as we do. This is what the NAZI's did. They killed 6million+ jews. Where will BUSH stop? It makes me so tired I want to cry.....

A Little thing BUSH calls HSA accounts. Translation= We pay the now inflated prices that could have manageable if the REPUBLICAN majority in CONGRESS would not have rejected the helpful legislation that has appeared every year for the last 12 years. Assholes. So now that BUSH has hiked the prices for his friends in the Health Care industry, he dumps the tab on us. Once again the lower middle class bears the burdens of greed, ignorance and hubris of conservative and ideologically driven politicians. This is a class war. It's economics people, forget the abortion, forget the same-sex marriage, forget the right to carry a fucking gun; these people want your money. Not just today, but again and again. Think of the Republican Party as Mastecard or Visa or DISCO; except that the charges are more like 45%, but they don't come due for another two to ten years.
It makes me so tired...
JBIRD

CHINA

2006-09-06T04:38:00.000-07:00

Annie talks about China alot and I suppose I started watching that documentary on Discovery because of her and thereby I also spent some time on the internet and couple of my lunch periods at Barnes/Noble reading about The First Emperor of China. You know the terracotta soldiers. He did that. They found them in 1974 (the year of my birth) and they are still digging up more and more stuff 31 years later. Emperor Qin (pronounced chin) was 38 when he united the people of south east Asia into one Empire. Europe didn't catch up to China's technological ablilities until way after Rome was a burning ember in history. Even the pyramid building Egyptians had nothing on Emperor Qin's Great Wall. He built 3000 miles in 10 years. Do the math, that's 25 miles a month and almost one mile per day. 20 feet High in most places and 10-12 feet wide. The Great Pyramid was built in like 15-25 years, sure they only built like 6 months out of the year but it's tiny compared to the mass of the Great Wall. I say all this to pose one question........What am I doing with my life?....For that matter, what are you doing with your life?
JBIRD

SEVEN HUNDERED THIRSTY INDIANS....dots, not feathers

2006-08-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

"oh good golly.. please to be giving me a Grey Goose and Pepsi"
You have no idea how many times I heard that on Saturday night. Embassy welcomed the entire Indian American (DOTS, NOT FEATHERS) population for a wedding reception on Saturday night. The host (guy paying the tab) allowed $7000 of free drinks to be served for the event. We hit that mark in just over an hour of serving drinks.

They surrounded me. I swear there was no line in front of my bar, just a mass. Instead of waiting to be served they would just call out drinks to me. 15 people at a time, shouting multiple drink orders for just over an hour. I have never heard about or even seen in a movie that kind of bar scene. Even Tom Cruise with his VooDoo magic would have had a liter bottle of Jagermiester up his A** by the end of the night. Anyway, they went to a cash bar when the 7K ranout and it slowed down a bit for the other bartenders. I, however, was moved into the Main Bar where it was the same scenario for the next 3 hours. It was fun, hard work, but fun. I would have had more fun if my foot wasn't all gimped up. They were nice and polite to me and they tipped fair enough. The only thing was, why in the HELL are you gonna spend $7 on Grey Goose Vodka and then mix it with Pepsi, or Coke for that matter.

JBIRD

The thing is... I know better.

2006-06-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

Margarine..Microwave on high, 30 seconds = Buttery inside of Microwave.
JBIRD

Led Zeppelin

2006-06-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Have you listened closely? I have over the years. There is something there that is indescribable. I know I have been fully emursed in music, not just playing but making it. I have studied it, focused on it and made it a part of me. So when I say Led Zeppelin, I mean Led Zeppelin. I love many bands and there are many bands as good as Led Zeppelin and some that are better. I just want to say that there is something about ZEP that separates them from all the rest. Purity is the only short description that I can some up with. The French have a phrase (they always do) "Je ne sais pas". This is the ZEP listening experience. I hate our local radio station "Tragic 105", I never listen, I can't, but they at least realize the economics of the ZEP.

The real tragedy is that one cannot purchase ZEP at iTunes. Lawyers!!!!!!!! Sorry Paradise, you know I love you brother.

JBIRD

Aunt Carolyn

2006-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

send me your email address. I can't write you back without it.
My email=
houseofbird@sbcglobal.net

write me, I'll call you.

I blog very little since I work 7 days a week.

JBIRD

Sarcastic?....Who, me?

2006-04-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I brought home a new lawn mower to replace th last one. This is thanks to a generous individual who shall not be named here. You know who you are, and I am in your debt as ever.

This is the unbelievable thing that happened with the brand spanking new mower. This afternoon, lunch I decide to come home and cut down the Brazillian Jungle in my front yard. I put the mower together last night, but alas, out of gas. By the time I got some petrol, darkness. So I'm home for lunch, I pull out the mower, check the oil and I filled 'er up. I read the instructions, (I actually did) and I proceeded to grasp the pull cord and start the mower for the first time. Guess what. First pull.

JBIRD

Three o'clock in the morning, it's quiet and there's no one around. Just the bang and the clatter as an Angel runs to ground.

2006-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

How that title has anything to to do with my broken mower, I don't know. The spring after we got this house, we were 'blessesed' with a free mower. I have never hated an inanimate object as much as I hate this thing. First of all, there is no grass guard. The grass, leaves sticks and dust just shoot willy-nilly out the hole in the side of the mower. But it's free... When the mower goes up the very slightest of inclines, the engine dies. If the grass is too thick, the engine dies. The whole time while the mower is running, it is leaking gas out of the air filter. But it's free... I hate the damn thing. I tried to break it many times last year. I even loaned it to Lori and begged her to break it. No good. It barely runs, mostly cause it barely starts. But oh my!!!!!!! The day has finally come. The pull cord broke this afternoon. I am giggling with excitement...until wendy remembers that there is possibly another free mower somewhere, that someone is willing to give to us. God bless them. Really. But I just don't want a hand-me-down mower that probably will be a bigger pain in the ass than the hours I would need to work to buy a brand-spanking new one. Guess what? My weed-eater was given to me too. It leaks fuel as well. But it's free...

JBIRD

Hello, my name Jason, and I have an obsession with Annie Dillard

2006-04-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

"Now----There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure generation. There is no one her but us chickens, and so it has always been: a people busy and powerful, knowledgeable, ambivalent, important, fearful, and self-aware: a people who scheme, promote, deceive, and conquer; who pray for their loved ones, and long to flee misery and skip death. It is a weakening and discoloring idea, that rustic people knew God personally once upon a time-or ever knew selflessness or courage or literature--but that it is too late for us. In fact, the absolute is available to everyone in every age. There never was a more holy age than ours, and never a less.

There is no less holiness at this time--as you are reading this-- than there was the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree by your street than there was under the Buddha's bo tree. There is no whit less might in heaven or on earth than there was the day Jesus said "Maid, arise" to the centurion's daughter, or the day Peter walked on water, or the night Mohammed flew to heaven on a horse. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch or souls in a tree. In any instant you may avail yourself of the power to love your enemies; to accept failure, slander, or the grief of loss; or to endure torture.

Purity's time is always now. Purity is no social phenomenon, a cultural thing whose time we have missed, whose generations are dead, so we can only buy Shaker furniture. "Each and every day the Divine Voice issues from Sinai," says the Talmud. Of eternal fullfillment, Tillich said, " If it is not seen in the present, it cannot be seen at all."

Annie Dillard

A Note on Thank You Notes.

2006-04-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

I always appreciate a Thank You Note. I never write them. I can safely say, I am the worst in the world at sending Thank You Notes. Well, not safely, cause I don't know the note writing habits of the entire population of the world. However, I'm pretty bad, cause I can't remember one time that I sent a Thank You Note without a female relative or wendy handing me the card and saying, 'Here, sign this.' I have thought about it, many times. I love getting thank you cards. I really do. I never expect them, they are always a surprise and I have a weird love of colored card stock.
J, sent me a Thank You Note yesterday. This is what got me posting. J, and I lived, ever so briefly/intermittently together in downtown LR a few years ago. In that brief time, I learned something that I did not know about J. He and I are so much alike in some ways it's weird. Personality, perception and some basic thought processes. I know, many of you may not see this, but we both did back then. My point is, J, actually sent me a Thank You Note. I have thought to send him one for all the cranes he folded for my wedding. Maybe for all the painting, moving and God knows all the 1000's of things J has done for me. I have neglected him. My other point is about the Thank You Note for the Thank You Note. 'Seinfeld Rules' clearly state that this practice is not only cumbersome and irritating, but in strict violation of CODE 117.35. I agree, but, here I gotta break the rules. THANKS FOR THE THANK YOU NOTE, J. AND THANKS FOR ALL THE OTHER STUFF TOO.
JBIRD

For My Friend, Neil Sullivan

2006-03-31T23:35:00.000-08:00

A very long time ago, it seems, Neil and I were in each others pockets for about two or three years. We both did things to irritate the shit out of each other. Difficult as it has been the last year or so, I still love Neil and I miss him. At least, I miss the Neil that I knew a long time ago. So, to honor him in a way that I could never have done before without the advent of a blog, I am going to post the lyrics to a song that we used to play. It was, and is, my favorite song from "eve's fallen". Every other song that we put together, I had a 'hand' in creating. Something I said, lyrics, concepts, visuals, etc. was what I added for every song except the song that I am going to quote here in my post. Neil came to us with this song and lyric with zero input from anyone.
I have to say, this song is one of my favorite things on earth. Here's the lyric. If you would like an audio file of the actual song, email me.
FOR NEIL:

FAITH
Time is turning, It's quickened its pace love
Paint is peeling off your Victorian walls
Your garden's taken by Ivy, Weeds and Thorns,
Your lattice arches are crumbled, ripped and torn
And to these days, you sink and you drown,
Your cedar chest memories, of what could have been

To see your faith live to fruition, that's too much to ask.
A life that's lived for moments, that have slipped through your hands.

(chorus:)
And you loose what you need,
You kill what you need.
Taking the time to kill all the innocents we need.

A boat in a bottle floats on a mantle,
Spreads its sails on the seas of the past.
Crowded photos of children and changes,
Dust settles,
Echoes throughout your halls,
thoughout your halls.
(Chorus)

(Bridge) X2
As you fade away.....
As you crumble down.....
As you crumble....
As you crumble....

See your faith live to fuition, that's too much to ask.
A life that's lived for moments that have slipped through your hands.

Thanks Neil,
I have to say, good job

JBIRD

"Luuuucy! You've got some splaining to do...!"

2006-03-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

I've been dreaming alot lately. Last night I dreamed I was the Anti-Christ. I have had this dream many times before. I hate it though, it always makes me feel uncomfortable during and after the dream. There is always the inevitable part where I have to talk to the Devil and get my instructions or get scolded for something I did or did not do. Lucifer never just shows up as lucifer though, he is always someone or something else in the dream and then he'll pull me aside or get me alone and then change into the Devil. Which is always alot like the Al Pacino version of the Devil or just the demon looking guy with horns and the cigar. What makes it uncomfortable is the part where I have to go on living my own life with all my friends and pretend not to be the Anti-Christ. I have to 'hide my tail' as it were when I am with you guys in my dreams. It is all very disconcerting and all too real at times. Why I'm not Satan in my dreams bothers me too. If my psyche is gonna mess me up why not go all the way. I guess my psyche is a wuss. Half ass MF'er

did anyone catch the lucy reference in the title Lucy--Lucifer :)

I know I'm not paying attention...

2006-03-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

Did everybody know that Rix and Susan had a baby. Well, Susan had the baby. I just saw the pictures. Jennie knew.

I so want you guys to check this thing out

2006-03-16T22:26:00.000-08:00

GOOGLE EARTH. maybe I am a geek. cartography geek, I guess, but check out this photo of AREA 51. yes that's right, the secret base in the nevada desert that the US government denied its very existence until 1995.

I want to believe

JBIRD

Paradise wins

2006-03-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

I will not read your blog if you bore me. I'm bored enough already. In the last post, I was putting forth a challenge to all those who would accept. The challenge is to post directly or indirectly the intricate menutia of your peronality onto your blog.

I agree I have not done that. I am just fleshing out this blogoshpere medium, so I can justify it's existence in my life. Sorry to impose my sense of urgency or relative importance on mass.

To clarify further the statement I made about Jennie being weird, I will put it a language we all understand.

Anita Laster is possibly the wierdest person I have ever met. Yet I love her very much and I love hanging out with her. I'm never uncomfortable in her prescence and I thoroughly enjoy her company. I can safely say that we all feel basically that same way about anita. So, nobody needs to get hung up on the weird comment, cause I feel the same way about Jennie.

JBIRD

Trim and Fashionable:American Idol hands are the Devil's Workshop

2006-03-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Jennie, I am not roasting your blog. I just have a few comments about the blogs that we all share.

In the short time that I have posted, I have tried to push a tiny piece of myself into the milieu. I just want to be better understood, just like everyone else on this blue marble. I am used to not being understood. I am misunderstood, misread and summarily dismissed on a daily basis. Don't worry, I have tough skin, you've seen my hands. But being bulletproof just keeps you from the danger and never allows the soft, warm parts of life to get under your skin. What I am trying to do with this blog is something I cannot do in person. I am trying to give you all a piece of myself, just a little piece of myself. The little window, like a microscope's eyepiece, into the individual that is me.

What am I blathering about? I want to look into that little window when I read 'your' blog. If you want me to read your blog, write about yourself. I want to know YOU better. I want to know what happened to you and what you did and thought about it. If you get crazy, then I would love to hear your opinions about metaphysics, fate, God, Time or whatever. Otherwise aren't we just emailing each other with prettier borders. Jennie's blog is what inspired me to this point. I reccomend her blog, because she does give a little peice of herself up to the ether. The last blog she wrote however, was what made my thought on blogs solidify. The last post that she wrote was, well, boring and a disappointing waste of my time. I read the previous 10 blogs of hers though, and they all were interesting, compelling and each one had little gems of insight into that particular McClain's psyche. I enjoyed. But, if I have said it once, i've said it 100X, "Jennie McClain is weird". Sorry Jennie. I really do love you all the same. This is why I need to read posts with more substance than 'American Idol' chatter. IDOL HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP (to be clear, jennie did not write anything about American Idol). I just want to read a post that tells me something about yourself. I know I have not been perfect in this matter and I'm sure that I will be full of fluff in the future.

I know you bastards are gonna go emailing jennie right now and tell her that I'm 'busting on her blog'. Jennie, I am not busting your blog. You have been at it for a long time and have a proven record of giving it up. I just used your blog as an example cause I know it will stir the snakes. (see, that's a little insight into jason bird)

I want to be clear. This is not a statement of rules, regulations or guidlines. It is simply a request to you, the blogger.
Please, tell me who you are. I want to know.

JBIRD

Dana

2006-03-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

I have not been that close to Dana Vaughn in the years that Wendy has been friends with her. I have, of late, become closer and more involved in her life and look forward to becoming better friends with her. In the last few days she has gotten sick and had to go to the hospital. I saw her last night after work and she looked great. She had not slept for like 36 hours and yet she was lucid and much better composed than I would be with that level of sleep deprivation. I had to wear a mask so my sickness would not pass to her. I could not even give her a hug and that made me a little sad. I hope that she's getting HBO in that place or something cause I know she's bored. If you get the chance, go and see her at Drs. Hospital, Room 212. Bring her something nice and sweet, she'll love you for it. She's gonna be OK, if you were wondering. Love you, Dana. Get Well Soon!
JBIRD

The Beast and Revelation Chapter 13

2006-03-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

I believe that there has already been a test of blogs about the workplace. The test led to a firing and court battle. This is not my goal, so please let the shit stay on the fan or whatever metaphorical misplacement you would prefer.

You all know where I work. You all know that I have had an extreme distaste for Mr. Passive Aggressive, a virtual hatred if you will. Actually, it is real hatred, the one that God tells us not to have. Well here I am though, I have few other choices at the moment and little time to try those out in the first place. So, I show up everyday and dutifully perform the rituals and rites for the almighty paycheck god, "Mortgageus". So here's the story: I got sick with a severe cold about two and half weeks ago, and this last Saturday I started to get sick again. Why?, I wondered. So I had a fever and felt like dogshit runover 4X by the mulching mower on Sunday. Monday morning I feel like i slept in a pile of dogshit that had been run over by a muching mower 4X, yet I get up and go to work. When I get to work, the Secretary and a few other minions inquire as to my raspy voice and look of death that dominates my demeanor. I give it up humbly that I might be geting sick again, and that one should try and avoid my prescence for obvious reasons and for the fact that they might get sick. I really looked like death and I hardly said a word all day long, I just kept staring into the void hoping that 5'oclock would come around and save me. I finally went to the DR at my lunch break, and he said that I proabably had a severe COLD the first time and that it had weakend my system to allow the UPPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION to take its hold now. I should not have been at work the last two days. I should be sleeping and coughing up the bad stuff out of my lungs. I need sleep and stress reduction, yet I return to work tomorrow. I return because no one will do the work while I am sick. When I get back, I'd just have 5X as much stuff to do as I do now.
The real rub though is more subtle. My department has more work in-house than I have ever seen in the 5 years that i have been there. I have more work than I can do in the time alloted to me. Whatever, I stopped caring a long time ago, if a client wants to call in and request His/Her data, please do so, there's not enough people there to do the analyses. I hate working with Mr. Passive Aggressive, but I hate it most recently because he has not acknowledged that I might be feeling a bit under the weather. I can't remember a time when I have felt worse than Monday the 6th of March, yet he continues on as if i were faking it to possibly get out of doing work. It is abundantly clear that my physical and mental state are bordering on a 911 call, and yet he never even gives out a 'thanks' or a 'glad you are here, cause I'd have to work harder and longer hours to fill in for your absence' statement. The only people who said to me, 'go home, your obviously sick', or 'gee thanks for showing up and working even though you look like you are about to die' were the owner(rick plant) and a manager(steve bradford). Everyone else had no authority to send me home, only to sympathize and avoid my contagion. Is this a life? can this be a life? how can I sacrifice daily for something i don't believe in when I believe in God and sacrifice little for His sake. Where is the middle, or at the very least the end? Can this be it? God help me.
JBIRD

Led Zepplin (4)

2006-03-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

This tape is one of the few material things I would take, if I had to leave forever and never come back.
JBIRD

GOOGLE EARTH

2006-03-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

I have been hearing about this stupid program forever. I finally went and downloaded the free version. Holy shit!
don't let me describe it for you. go get the free program.
Go to google and press more up at the top. look for Earth. one of the coolest things i have ever seen.
I cant see taft's house but I can see part of our house and a little of paradise's house. can't pick out the mcclain house on colonial court plus trees are blocking most of the houses, and i don't know the location of the new house. I saw my car in the parking lot at my job and next thing you know I was flying over san francisco up into the Muir Woods and then on to Paris and then London with a final stop of at Machu Picchu, in Peru.
sweet
JBIRD

Where is J

2006-03-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

I never see you J.
I call you, I do.

Where are you?
JBIRD

DAMNDAMN and double DAMN.

2006-03-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

i scanned in the LED ZEPPLIN tape that we used to play all the time in paradise's MAZDA B2300 truck. I just wanted to post that as well as the volvo decal and the photo. it won't fucking upload!!!!!! i read the instuctions and limitations on this blog site and i'm good. still will not upload. pissing me the fuck off.
REDBLOGGER
JBIRD

i just tried again, nada.

2006-03-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Saturday Nostalgia

2006-03-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Taft's classic super smile.
Paradise with his famous photo op smile.
BIRD, no comment...well... 'That hair, that fucking hair. why?'
neil, as pensive as he wants us to think he is.

notice the red volvo in the background. not the shorter red car closer to us but in the next parking space. dammit, i have so few pictures of that car.
JBIRD

RECLINING BUDDHA

2006-02-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

I can feel the DEVIL WALKING NEXT TO ME.

Get tied, your talking to a tourist who's every move is among the purist,
I get my kicks above the waist-line sunshine.

so you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage parlors

Murray Head, or a muddy ol' river

If you're lucky then the god's a she.
I can feel the DEVIL WALKING NEXT TO ME.

MY CURRENT CELEBRITY PLAYLIST: JASON BIRD

2006-02-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

Jason Bird

Song Name Artist

Poor Little Rich Boy Regina Spektor
Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song) Fiona Apple
Tony Patty Griffin
Low Light Pearl Jam
Carrion Fiona Apple
Silvergun Superman Stone Temple Pilots
One Night in Bangkok Murray Head
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me U2
All I Want Is You U2
The Fly U2
Please U2
Sunday Morning Coming Down Johnny Cash
911 is a Joke Public Enemy
All This Time Sting
If I Could Give All My Love To You(Richard Manuel is Dead) Counting Crows
A Murder Of One Counting Crows

TO BE AS GOD.

2006-02-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

It seems that I blog like GOD.
God communicates in short horrific bursts or in a slow, drippy conversation over years.

we shall see...not that I am GOD or a god but that I am trying to be GODLIKE or Christ-like.

PATTY GRIFFIN that crazy redheaded bitch

2006-02-21T21:53:00.000-08:00

I guess I've finally stopped believing that any HOPE will ever find me.

RECLINING BUDDHA

2006-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

I think I figured it out......
I have always been in a state of wait.

not an idle state of wait but more like a preparation
waiting to get older
waiting to get stronger or better
waiting to get smarter
waiting to go to college
waiting to finish college
waiting to meet Wendy
waiting to get married
waiting to whatever

i'm not waiting for anything right now. I think it's killing me.

BORED

2005-09-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

Who else is bored? I mean, I am bored. I cannot remember being this bored. Somebody break something, or shoot me in the foot. Some excitement please.

Continuing coverage...

2005-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

I must say that I agree with most of the commentary and complaints that I hear about the relief effort.

I think it is shameful that we are (supposedly) the greatest nation in the world and arguably the most advanced society in human history. No to mention the wealthiest, most resourceful and 'get it done' group of people the planet has ever seen.
HELLO!!! MAN ON THE MOON!!!! JULY 20 1969!!
Yet here we are. Deep into something we all new about. Hell they made a movie that plays (so far) along the same narrative as the actual events occurring. I so want to blame the Bush administration for the entire calamity. I know it's not 100% his fault but you gotta wonder why he was in California on Tuesday not making any phone calls. He should have been on the phone Monday night telling the Natl Guard, Navy ships, Army and the Airforce to get their asses to the gulf NOW. Why is it Friday, five days later, that we now see the guard show up. And what the hell is up with shoot to kill looters. Who cares about all the soggy shit that people left behind. Get those people out. By leaving them there, we are now at a risk for a regional outbreaks of whatever virus or disease might be resurrected from the Mississippi swamp bottoms. I say forget about the financial upset/ gas prices, yeah that's important, but is not human life a most precious thing. Death is a must, but useless and avoidable death, is this acceptable in our society.

I AM ASHAMED AND EMBARRASSED
God help us, please.
BIRD

Saba Koja.....

2005-08-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I cannot describe the enormous amount of gratitude I have for her. If you do not know, Saba did a 'clean sweep' at the BIRDHOUSE. This was a birthday present to match all birthday presents and it was not even for me. It was Saba's present to Wendy. The relief that Wendy must be feeling has to be close to the euphoria of shooting heroin into your veins. (I wouldn't know, but I've seen a lot of movies) The mass, like a 200 pound seemingly inoperable tumor, is sliced out and the system feels clean. Two days (12hrs each day) were spent opening boxes and sorting the contents into SELL/KEEP/BURN. Actually, the second day Saba and I painted Wendy's Martini Lounge. Two colors; 'Candy Apple' red on the top 1/3 of the walls and a 'Milk Chocolate' brown on the bottom 2/3 of the walls. Saba did not stop and piddle, she had both arms up to her elbows for the entire two days. Wendy and I were in the trenches as well. I was sooo tired, I did not recoup for two days. My ass was dragging all the way to 3pm on Tuesday the following week.
Anyway, I just want to express my heart felt gratitude for Saba. If not for her, this would never have happened. Without Saba I could have never convinced Wendy to get rid of the stuff we 'clean swept'. I must admit, Wendy let go of almost all the things that Saba suggested should go. I can't actually remember one suggestion of SELL/TRASH from Saba that Wendy flat out rejected. I was surprised and proud of her. I know it took a lot out of her, but I think she is better and happier for it.
Saba sacrificed herself physically and emotionally out of a pure place in her soul. This that she did was selfless and an extremely unique good deed. Although, 'no good deed goes unpunished', I bet Saba will never even notice her punishment. Her excellent and unrelenting positive attitude will protect her. She knows the meaning of " Friend', and all the stuff that good friends do for each other.

I raise my glass to Saba Koja.
Great Friend, Taskmaster, Unstoppable Force,
and a wonderful human being.

Bird

OUR DOGS are HELLIANS from the PIT OF HELL!!!!...

2005-08-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

I think the title spells it out plain enough. The heat must be getting to them. Me personally, I slow down in the heat and humidity. I love those boys, though. They are sweet. I just wish they were sweet and good for greater lengths of time.

BIRD

Perhaps I am in an overly critical mood...

2005-08-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well, when am I not overly critical to the point of shear exaustion for everyone, including myself. But when do you Jackos find the time to splay your personal existence into a text document form. I'm reading through some blogs today and I just have to wonder, where do you guys find the time. I'm not saying that you should'nt spend the time blogging. To say that would be an ironical hypocrisy on my part. But Damn.
I am glad that you guys are willing to regurgitate the human experience back into the milieu. This makes everyone else's existence not so strange and unbearable. I, unfortunately, cannot do justice( in text form) to the inordinate amount of excruciating minutia, that happens to be my own personal experience with the universe. I'll post, but I cannot be as volumous as all of you seem to be. just a caveat.

Then again, I could just be in a foul mood today.

Keep writing them, I'll read them.

BIRD

P.S. My spell checker on the blog does not work or something, plus I can't speel very good anyway. :)

(I can hear wendy now, "hah, hah, very funny jason")

I would like to read your Blog

2005-07-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION FRIENDS!!!

Please tell me the name of your blogs. I might read them, if you tell me. So that's fair warning, I guess.

BIRD

My first..No wait my second 'professional' time to sling drinks

2005-07-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday, the 9th of July, I was training for my second time at Embassy Suites in LR. It was me, the trainer(Mike) and another trainee named Rob. I am employed as a Banquet bartender, so therfor I was training at a banquet. This banquet was for a military organization, which one, I never learned, but it had a host of military personnel and their spouses in attendance. In fact, there was a 2 Star General attending the ceremonies. Well, it was training as usual with a new job. Nothing to bore you with. The interesting things were during the military ceremony. It seems all branches of the military were represented, besides the Marine Corps, which are technically represented by the Navy. There was a Captain in the Navy there, as well. Ok, to the meat, as it were. At the beginning of the ceremony they formally created the 'Grog Bowl". The 'Grog Bowl' is a punch bowl which is fillled with five, 750ml bottles of alcohol. ONE bottle of Champagne, ONE bottle of vodka, ONE bottle of rum, ONE bottle of burbon and last and most deadly, ONE bottle of tequila. The last ingredient was a dirty sock, from a recent tour of duty. They then commenced to daring each other to drink from the bowl. Eventually, they got hammered and sick and falling down drunk, DUH. The thing I wanted to mention about the ceremony was a little toast they did in the middle before the slosh fest got roaring.
They raised their glasses in toast to the soldier in the field. They raised their WATER goblets in toast to the men in combat. Now everyone knows that toasting with water is a huge faux pax. Yet, this is the reason they gave.
They rose their glasses in solidarity with their comrades not with wine, because wine is not available in combat. They toasted with water because "In combat wine is unavailable and water is a luxury".
If that is what it means to be a soldier, then praise be to heaven there is no draft and I was not called.

BIRD

A LITTLE BIRD FAMILY HISTORY...

2005-07-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

John Bird I: The first American Bird was born in the colonies about 1758 in Augusta CO. Virgina and died 85yrs later on the 4th of December, 1843. He served in the Revolutionary War as a Private, Sergeant and Lieutenant in the South Carolina militia and the Continental troops. During the Seige of Charleston, in May 1780 he and his brother were captured. They were soon released on July 1, 1780 in a general prisoner exchange. He was married to Elizabeth Fawcett between 1781-82. They had six childern before Elizabeth died in 1810. John had one point of interest: John Bird joined the El Bethel Baptist Church in 1804 by faith and Baptism, but sometime later he was 'excommunicated'.
This Bird was my, GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT Grandfather.

James Calvin Bird: was born about 1800 in Union district, South Carolina and died about 45yrs later between 1840-1850, probably in Alabama. He married Mary (Polly) Guyton about 1822 and she bore 7 children before her death between 1840-1850, somewhere in Arkansas? James and Mary named one of thier children Saphronia Alphonso Zilfia Bird. After her birth the whole family left South Carolina and moved to Pickens Co. Alabama where they stayed on a 455 acre plantation with Mary's brother Whitaker Guyton. This plantation and home were eventually known as "The Bird Home" because Mary inherited it from her brother. James C. Bird drifted out of the picture in 1840. He possibly left Alabama to live with his brother in Arkansas. This Bird was my, GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT Grandfather.

A. G. Bird: (What "A" and "G" stand for is only for later)
was born on March 22nd, 1823 in Union District, South Carolina and died 41 yrs later on August 11th, 1864 in a Union Prison Camp, Rock Island, Illinois. He married Martha Dees July 28, 1858. SHE HAD THEIR FIRST CHILD 2 MONTHS AND 8 DAYS LATER. A.G. grew up on the 455 acre plantation in Alabama but at 26yrs old he became restless and left Alabama for The California Gold Rush. He first stopped in Washington. Arkansas where he aquired some land and then he proceeded on to New Orleans, LA where he borded a clipper ship that took him around the southern tip of South America and on to California. A.G. spent a year there and returned to Arkansas without any gold. In 1852 he decided that he would try his luck again and he returned to California with a friend, Daniel Dees. This time they somehow got to the east coast of the Isthmus of Panama and crossed over to catch a steamer on to California. He was there for at least 6 years. He saw the Post Office burn in Sacramento, a fact that he stated in a letter to his brother Marion, who had been working for Mr. Rufus Archer, a merchant at a mercatile store in Magnolia, AR. Marion quit his job and traveled by stagecoach and buckboard to join his brother in the California gold fields. A.G. only found one gold nugget of any size and they all returned to Arkansas at least by late 1857 and A.G. married his friends sister Martha. (Mostly because she was 7 months pregnant.) A.G. was made a constable in Columbia, County in 1860. In 1861 he was made 5th Sergeant in the 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army. Sometime in 1863 he was ordered to go home and "Make a Crop". Whatever that means. (Have kids? grow corn?) He then rejoined the Confederate Army as a private in company K of the 1st Arkansas Cavalary Regiment. On March 29, 1864 he was captured at Poison Springs and first sent to a Little Rock prison camp and later sent to the Union Army prison camp in Rock Island, Ill. Sometime after his arrival at the camp, he was offered amnesty if he would sign the Loyalty Oath to be faithful to the United States of America. He told them to "GO TO HELL". He died about 1 month later of Typhus Pneumonia.
This Bird was my GREAT-GREAT-GREAT Grandfather. AND PROBABLY A JACKASS RACIST BASTARD..

John Whitaker Bird: was born October 5th, 1858 in Magnolia, AR and died 87yrs later on August 6th, 1945 in Magnolia, AR. This guy was SEVEN years old at the end of the CIVIL WAR!!! and he lived to see the end of WORLD WAR 2. He married Martha Alice McGowen in 1878 and they had ELEVEN children. One of the boys, who was named after his Grandfather, died the day that he graduated High School on April 27th, 1900. John was too busy with kids to have done anything exciting like his father.
This Bird was my GREAT-GREAT Grandfather.

Carl William Bird SR.: was born in Magnolia, AR on June 8th, 1891 and DIED EXACTLY 64YRS later on June 8th, 1955. He married Nancy Elizabeth Owen May 24th, 1914. They had only 2 children.
This Bird was my GREAT Grandfather.

Carl William Bird Jr.: was born on October 14th, 1924 and died 70 yrs later on October 23rd, 1994. He married Virgina Fomby in what year, I can't remember. Carl Jr. served the United States during WWII as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He was deployed under General Patton in the European Theater. He and Virginia had 2 children.
I have photos of him when he was in his late teens, and it is striking how much we look alike. You would think maybe I had dressed up in old clothes and taken a black and white photo. strange.
This Bird was my Grandfather.

Carl William Bird III: was born on September 1st, 1948 in Center, TX? and is still alive today. Although nobody knows nor do they care what the hell he is doing right now. He married Betty Benson sometime in 1970, I believe, and they had 2 children one of which is of course, me.
This Bird is my father.

Jason Christopher Bird: was born on December 7th, 1974 in Little Rock, AR and he has yet to be killed by his enemies nor his family nor his friends. But alas, was we all know it is a war of attrition and I'm feeling tired. I married a wonderful woman on the 10th of July, 2004. Her name was Wendy Willets, and she was born on the 25th July, 1977 in Batesville, AR.
Wendy and I met in college on the 27th of September, 1997, and we have been together ever since. Three maybe four days after I met her I knew that I would marry her. And luckily, she agreed.
This Bird is me.

In the beginning...

2005-07-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Let me start at the beginning. It is, of course, the natural place to begin a story or to start a saga. For me, I could care less if a story begins with the end and ends in the middle. I just want to hear a good story. So, here we go with a doosey of mine own. I hope you like it...

Initial

2005-06-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

I hope to bore the living crap out of the readers of this blog. Please feel free to complain, I know that I will as well. See you soon.
Bird