XLVIII. Scaling the Wall

Writer's block sucks.

Not in the little, nagging way you'd feel if, say, you realized you were suddenly out of a delicious snack you'd just been munching on. No--this is a despair much like the feeling one gets when he knows he has disappointed someone important. In this case, the important someone is indeed the writer himself.

You see, the act of writing serves as an outlet--transferring one's ideas to external media. The writer's pen is a spigot. When the ideas aren't flowing an unbearable pressure builds up, frustrating and tormenting him.

It seems the only way to get over this is to force oneself to get started. My own approach will be to regard any blank sheets of paper I see as a dire emergency--an imminent threat requiring my immediate attention to quash. Just fill 'em up, and let god sort 'em out.

I'll see how that goes.

XLVII. The New Caveman

Am I becoming a Luddite?

I don't own a Blackberry, I don't spill my every inane thought on Twitter, and I don't relish the idea of telling everybody on the planet know what I'm doing every five seconds.

Oh, well. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I'll stick with my e-mail and my halfhearted social networking and blogging.

(For now, anyway.)

XLVI. Duck and Cover!

If you get all your information from the mainstream American media, you are probably aware that we are now gripped by a pestilence not seen since the days of oh, say the dreaded bird flu.

Seriously, to anyone who might be thinking that this is the beginning of the Apocalypse, might I point you to the words of the late, great George Carlin
(check out the beginning of part 2 as well):


Just be sure to stay away from the Chinese chicken...

XLV. Confick-you! (Or not, if you're smart)

Well, the computing world's latest gift from losers with too much time on their hands is called Conficker, and it's scheduled to go off just minutes from now--threatening to wreak havoc on Windows boxes worldwide.

While this irritates me to no end, and it is my opinion that spreading computer bugs should be one of the very few offenses worthy of capital punishment (all right, a slight exaggeration--but the sentiment comes across) the best we can do at this point is keep our own asses covered.

Don't get f-ed over by Conficker

XLIV. Five Yards for Encroaching Censorship

I am growing increasingly disturbed by the encroachment of police power into our daily lives. With each passing day another liberty seems to disappear.

Take, for example, this plan by the UK government. Presumably aimed at banning certain "controversial" types of manga drawings, it would give the government incredible control over the ideas people are allowed to express.

Not to defend any given type of idea, mind you. But, theoretically, if a government presumes the sole authority to label ideas as "obscene" then there is nothing stopping it from attaching this tag to any idea it wishes, given situational efficacy.

The real danger in this type of reactionary thinking is that it feeds into the agendas of those who would like to gain control over others.

For instance, why are images of nudity or sex considered obscene, but images of wanton violence so commonplace?

Is it, perhaps, that some people would like to take from you control of your own body, while simultaneously desensitizing you to the suffering of others?
Sounds kind of like an efficient, obedient war-making machine, doesn't it?