No. I don't mean "a new post." Though, I do suppose this is a new post.
I'm starting a new blog. So far, it's nothing too crazy. It's just one of those "it makes too much sense not to" sorta things.
So what it is?
The Budget Gamer's Guide
Basically, I'll be writing tips on how to get the most bang for the buck in the land of gaming. I'll be pointing out crazy deals on new games when they happen, but I'll mostly be focusing on the games that can now be purchased for under ten bucks. Let's face it, some of us like our money at least as much as we like our games, and it's ideal to be able to have both.
So, I'll be doing my part to see to it that we can have both. Right now, I'm just going over basics on how to shop and so on, but I'll be getting into reviews and features that recommend the best of games now available on the cheap, giving special focus to games that could have been overlooked when they first came out.
So head on over there, bookmark it, whatever. I'll post up something here again when I have something meaningful to say.
Much love.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Regarding Love
I'm defining two words/expressions for the sake of this post. They may not be the definitions you're used to, but they're the ones I'm going to use here, so it's probably a good idea that we're on the same page.
1. Love - love is an action wherein you pour yourself out for the benefit of another with no regard for personal gain
2. In love - being in love is a conscious/emotional state of being
You can love someone without being in love with that person. Likewise, being in love with someone does not require loving that person. Sadly, it seems all too often in my listening to others that people get caught up in a desire to be in love such that it is a self-serving pursuit of an emotional high.
But I'm going to write a personally revealing post rather than a social criticism for once, so I'm not gonna go down that path today. Instead, I will say this:
I am designed, and perhaps even need, to love. I can speak highly of myself all day long, I can honestly like myself a great deal, but I ultimately need to have people around me that I can pour myself into for their gain with no regards for my own. I don't mean to imply that all people are in need of me, not in the least, but it's in my very nature to love. Though I speak of relationships in general here, it is especially true of romantic relationships.
Conversely, I have quite the capacity for being in love, and you'll find few guys (my age, in this era, anyhow) who seem to have more romantic creativity than me, but I'm not constantly longing for that emotional state. It's pleasant enough, but I can ultimately live without it.
I think that this could be why I'm presently single. I seek (and promise) a deep, meaningful relationship that revolves around love rather than throwing around my potential for being in love. I would most prefer love and being in love, but I'd rather set up a foundation of love before falling in love than fall in love and hope that a life of love follows.
Do I think this is the way it should be for everyone? Perhaps. I do think adopting such a perspective would result in far less heartbreak. Then again, my approach hasn't won many ladies over. Unfortunate, that. Numerous guys ask me for advice about their relationships (or girls of interest), and my advice works quite well for them. I just prefer not to woo ladies before having a chance to develop a little relational substance.
But then, once that substance develops, I'm too far into the friendzone for anything to change. Go figure.
I would say that I'm digressing from my main points, but this was never intended to be an essay. Think of it more as an introspective. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to speak frankly on a personal matter. It's not the most common thing, but it seems like a good thing every now and then.
1. Love - love is an action wherein you pour yourself out for the benefit of another with no regard for personal gain
2. In love - being in love is a conscious/emotional state of being
You can love someone without being in love with that person. Likewise, being in love with someone does not require loving that person. Sadly, it seems all too often in my listening to others that people get caught up in a desire to be in love such that it is a self-serving pursuit of an emotional high.
But I'm going to write a personally revealing post rather than a social criticism for once, so I'm not gonna go down that path today. Instead, I will say this:
I am designed, and perhaps even need, to love. I can speak highly of myself all day long, I can honestly like myself a great deal, but I ultimately need to have people around me that I can pour myself into for their gain with no regards for my own. I don't mean to imply that all people are in need of me, not in the least, but it's in my very nature to love. Though I speak of relationships in general here, it is especially true of romantic relationships.
Conversely, I have quite the capacity for being in love, and you'll find few guys (my age, in this era, anyhow) who seem to have more romantic creativity than me, but I'm not constantly longing for that emotional state. It's pleasant enough, but I can ultimately live without it.
I think that this could be why I'm presently single. I seek (and promise) a deep, meaningful relationship that revolves around love rather than throwing around my potential for being in love. I would most prefer love and being in love, but I'd rather set up a foundation of love before falling in love than fall in love and hope that a life of love follows.
Do I think this is the way it should be for everyone? Perhaps. I do think adopting such a perspective would result in far less heartbreak. Then again, my approach hasn't won many ladies over. Unfortunate, that. Numerous guys ask me for advice about their relationships (or girls of interest), and my advice works quite well for them. I just prefer not to woo ladies before having a chance to develop a little relational substance.
But then, once that substance develops, I'm too far into the friendzone for anything to change. Go figure.
I would say that I'm digressing from my main points, but this was never intended to be an essay. Think of it more as an introspective. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to speak frankly on a personal matter. It's not the most common thing, but it seems like a good thing every now and then.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Non-Partisanism
Background: I just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Empire, and it reinforced some thoughts that I've had for a while.
Particularly, thoughts about the fact that the great political divide we call "the party line" causes a lot of trouble. In the words of Card's afterword, "We are fully polarized -- if you accept one idea that sounds like it belongs to either the blue or the red, you are assumed -- nay, required -- to espouse the entire rest of the package, even though there is no reason" that this must be true.
The reality of politics today far too often makes things about Republicans and Democrats. "The liberal media this," "the conservative wackjobs that." We hear it all the time. Instead of acknowledging the common ground (if we even have any left beyond our humanity and citizenship due to the extreme polarization of today, though that should still be amply sufficient common ground) with respect and understanding, working together for good of the American people, we make power plays, work on pet projects, and contend with emotional appeals for votes when solid reason is needed to diagnose problems and properly solve them.
The problem is that that requires setting aside pride, personal gains, and a whole lot of cashflow for a lot of people. If inter-partisan wars were to cease, the hype machines would fall. That would hurt a lot of pocketbooks: the media, the interest groups, and, of course, the politicians.
Ironic, I suppose, that the continuation of this ongoing war comes at the cost of the Everyman; the individuals and communities the participants involved in the warring all claim to be looking out for.
Am I going somewhere with this, or is it just one more of my ramblings? Perhaps a little of both, but I do have a challenge for you.
On second thought, make that two challenges.
The first is that you read Card'safterword from Empire with an open mind. Many of the thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind are stated there, but he isn't fighting for concision in the way that I am here.
The second challenge is that you join me in setting aside party predispositions. Be you conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, it's time to set down alignment and party pride. I sincerely hope that you've never been of the mentality that says "I always support the Democrat/Republican candidate," believing that your party of choice is always right (if you're an optimist, anyway; or that it will do less harm if you're a pessimist). I would hope that that's something you would all avoid without my challenge.
However, the snare that is much easier to get caught in is one of thinking that you (or your party) is right, so everyone else must necessarily be wrong. Best case scenario, that's arrogant as all get out. Likely scenario, you're acting in ignorance. Worst case scenario, you're throwing out the valid points made by "the other guy," hurting your ability to actually pursue the best possible solution to any given issue.
We walk an ugly path so long as we support the inter-partisan wars.* We don't need to throw out partisan ties entirely, but partisan zealotry must be done away with. In its place, we need to pursue civilized discussions across party lines, doing our best to objectively weigh the merits and shortcomings of ideas presented by both sides (being especially alert to our natural predispositions), for the sake of making our nation the best possible nation for her people. All the while, we must maintain respect and understanding for others, along with an open mind to the ideas and reasons they have, even if we do not share their conclusions. If we cannot do this, then we are unworthy of respect, and we perpetuate the problem.
It's true that it will take more than just a few common citizens to change the way things are, but if we don't start the change, how can we expect it to come? America is fueled by dreams and the initiative to bring them about. Let's bring the dream of a government that serves the people efficiently by focusing on the benefit of the people first, leaving the benefit of the politicians and parties for last, back from the threat of becoming little more than a fantasy of the past.
-Kenny Yeager
*Make no mistake. Political apathy, in refusing to fight an evil, helps that evil continue. In the words of the great philosopher Geddy Lee, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
Particularly, thoughts about the fact that the great political divide we call "the party line" causes a lot of trouble. In the words of Card's afterword, "We are fully polarized -- if you accept one idea that sounds like it belongs to either the blue or the red, you are assumed -- nay, required -- to espouse the entire rest of the package, even though there is no reason" that this must be true.
The reality of politics today far too often makes things about Republicans and Democrats. "The liberal media this," "the conservative wackjobs that." We hear it all the time. Instead of acknowledging the common ground (if we even have any left beyond our humanity and citizenship due to the extreme polarization of today, though that should still be amply sufficient common ground) with respect and understanding, working together for good of the American people, we make power plays, work on pet projects, and contend with emotional appeals for votes when solid reason is needed to diagnose problems and properly solve them.
The problem is that that requires setting aside pride, personal gains, and a whole lot of cashflow for a lot of people. If inter-partisan wars were to cease, the hype machines would fall. That would hurt a lot of pocketbooks: the media, the interest groups, and, of course, the politicians.
Ironic, I suppose, that the continuation of this ongoing war comes at the cost of the Everyman; the individuals and communities the participants involved in the warring all claim to be looking out for.
Am I going somewhere with this, or is it just one more of my ramblings? Perhaps a little of both, but I do have a challenge for you.
On second thought, make that two challenges.
The first is that you read Card's
The second challenge is that you join me in setting aside party predispositions. Be you conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, it's time to set down alignment and party pride. I sincerely hope that you've never been of the mentality that says "I always support the Democrat/Republican candidate," believing that your party of choice is always right (if you're an optimist, anyway; or that it will do less harm if you're a pessimist). I would hope that that's something you would all avoid without my challenge.
However, the snare that is much easier to get caught in is one of thinking that you (or your party) is right, so everyone else must necessarily be wrong. Best case scenario, that's arrogant as all get out. Likely scenario, you're acting in ignorance. Worst case scenario, you're throwing out the valid points made by "the other guy," hurting your ability to actually pursue the best possible solution to any given issue.
We walk an ugly path so long as we support the inter-partisan wars.* We don't need to throw out partisan ties entirely, but partisan zealotry must be done away with. In its place, we need to pursue civilized discussions across party lines, doing our best to objectively weigh the merits and shortcomings of ideas presented by both sides (being especially alert to our natural predispositions), for the sake of making our nation the best possible nation for her people. All the while, we must maintain respect and understanding for others, along with an open mind to the ideas and reasons they have, even if we do not share their conclusions. If we cannot do this, then we are unworthy of respect, and we perpetuate the problem.
It's true that it will take more than just a few common citizens to change the way things are, but if we don't start the change, how can we expect it to come? America is fueled by dreams and the initiative to bring them about. Let's bring the dream of a government that serves the people efficiently by focusing on the benefit of the people first, leaving the benefit of the politicians and parties for last, back from the threat of becoming little more than a fantasy of the past.
-Kenny Yeager
*Make no mistake. Political apathy, in refusing to fight an evil, helps that evil continue. In the words of the great philosopher Geddy Lee, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Dear Attitude
Dear Attitude, please die in a fire. Immediately. You pretty much suck, and I've had it with your crap.
Love,
Kenny
You ever have one of those days when you realize your attitude is simply crap? I'm having one of those months. It's a crazy thing to give up what you have come to love very deeply to return to something you rather dislike on account of some unshakable conviction that it's what you have to do.
That's been me since I realized that I need to be here in the PacNW instead of the land I love that is the South. It's easy to hold such an attitude when you feel robbed of something good and given something bad.
But then, there's the part where I have to come to terms with the fact that I'm the one who has made the decision to be here. I could have resisted, at least in theory, but a sense of duty led me back, so I came back. Still, I have been railing against the the fact that I am here as if it were something I was forced to do. Now, trying to be reasonable, it seemed to me that my attitude about being here was profiting no one and only harming myself.
So it seems to me that my attitude needs to shift to match my decision. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean I have to love the PacNW, but it probably means that I need to stop my complaining and make the most of what I have before me.
And I seem to have much before me. The fun part is simply getting the heart to follow the head so that the inverse does not become true.
In other news, it turns out I'm a lot better with hard rock/metal guitar than I remembered. This is exciting. Also, my enterprising mind is finding new ways to acquire the funds I need to pay off loans and survive.
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