How Long?

I am sure some will find this horribly offensive. I can't really apologize for this because I am just saying what is on my mind and this is something I will allow for you to do as well. All of my evidence is circumstantial and this article was not published with the intent of changing anyone's opinion nor is it intended to connect those who agree. My opinions are exactly that, my opinions. I will not engage in any conflict over this topic so take it somewhere else.

I have been puzzled for some time about the suggestion that the planet we inhabit and the universe of which it is a member has only been in existence for less than 10,000 years. I grew up with Christian teachings being shoved into my head and was told all kinds of strange stories that could not be answered sufficiently to pacify the logic of my the eight year old mind. The favorite story that was most often presented for me to begin questioning was this story about a man and his family building a big boat that they would load a bunch of animals on so that they might survive the wrath of their angry deity in the form of a flood. As a young child who had been around a few cattle and who had also been to a zoo, I marveled over the magnitude requirements of this floating barn. I considered the amount of hay just for the cattle and did some elementary school math with assumptions for the number I had guessed of animals there were. Of course I also considered that some animals diet consist of other animals so there was some questions there. Then there is the whole returning from the dead thing that I found seriously insulting to my intelligence by the age of 12. The really odd thing is that all of the years I was exposed to these stories, everyone ran for the hills when the question of how long ago was the creation.

Even though I was not a subscriber, I was very tolerant of the churches that regularly delivered variations of these stories in an effort to fill the collection plates. I would attend various churches with people I knew as a sign of respect that they had discovered something I had apparently missed. Many years passed and I had heard nothing of anyone claiming to know when the creation had taken place. My first exposure to this claim of knowing when the universe was created was when I took a friend to a Christmas mass around 6 or 7 years ago. I always found the Catholic Christmas traditions to be amusing until this night. The priest started reading his script and immediately made the statement that 6,998 years ago God created the heavens and the earth. Here go all of the flashing lights, red flags, and every other method of my brain saying "Hold on a minute." because this was something that I had been waiting to hear someone say in a church. I had a few Catholic priest friends who were professors at a local university that I could not wait to get an explanation from on where this is coming from. These professors during the week would perform mass once or twice a week to maintain their status as priest. I will not divulge everything that I have learned from conversations with these dudes but it was extremely fascinating to get an understanding of why they lived these lives of informational conflict.

The explanation I received on the age of the planet and the universe was that since the Bible is like a family history book and had genealogical records that served as a pedigree for all the descendants of Adam and Eve so someone did some math by making some assumptions on the predictable ages of each person at recorded points in the Bible. This explains why there is still some degree of variation in the numbers being quoted. These are also the same folks who explain that the Old Testament was memorized and maintained as an oral collection of stories. I don't want to even get into how seriously nuts to consider that people would be very diligent in memorizing these stories when they are wandering around in a desert trying to find food and water. I am sure there were a few details that dropped out through the generations. I mean really, the Old Testament is either filled with enough genealogy data to bore children to sleep or some really epic tales that would amaze and distract them from realizing how messed up their current circumstances were. So the finally got around to writing it all down and adding some to it. Then someone that could afford the project decided to hire some dudes to combine all of these books into a single book. Being overwhelmed by the project, this group decided in an effort to make things more consistent they omitted a few chapters that gave conflicting versions. Then there is the translation issue, since I am learning to speak German I am very aware of what happens when you try to translate and how contextual information seems to be diminished in the process. That brings us to the next big mystery that I have been working on.

How can anyone with an education actually disregard scientific data on the topic and be convinced that the universe is less than 10,000 years old? This has been boggling my mind for a while because the number seems to be increasing in certain countries. I have spent a considerable amount of time doing analysis in the subconscious part of my mind and occasionally allowing for some priority processing to take place when I witness spectacular exhibitions of conflict on the subject.

First of all I do not disapprove of religion because it serves as a fantastic morality guide and source of comfort for many who are facing circumstances that exceed their ability to reconcile the conditions that threaten their lives. I will however break down the anatomy of how churches function in a way that some people will find highly offensive but when the anger has cleared they may find a way to agree to some degree or another. A church is a business unit which may consist of a single church or as a network of churches who solicit religion and community to those who choose to follow. A church as a singleton entity has financial needs to maintain delivering the services which they provide. These financial needs require that churches continue a state of growth in order to not fade through natural attrition. In order to maintain a constant growth state, there are some aggressive actions required to attract new members who will contribute to the community effort to expand and maintain their existence. Nobody can deny that when financial matters are involved there is always the temptation to sucumb to instinct of greed and indulgence in acts of greed leads to corruption.

Taking a side step for a moment to explain a corrupting force that may or may not have become involved. Modern politics is controlled by money if many aspects. The amount of money that goes into an election campaign is insane to say the least which leads most politicians to spend far too much time thinking of getting re-elected instead of focusing on the governing that they have been hired to do. This has made it possible for lobbying organizations to apply a form of influence to suit the financial needs of the group they represent by contributing to politicians campaigns as well as finding other ways to provide incentives to get the votes swayed in the directions that allows them to maximize their profits. The special interest groups have even gotten into the business of authoring legislation so that the politicians can focus on public appearances as well as preparing for the next election cycle. This is not news and if it is news then, my friend, you should spend less time with your head in the sand.  The special interest groups find themselves at odds with other groups like, lets say, scientist. Scientist tend to bring forward information that can cause great expense or even the elimination of some forms of business by reporting on the pollution and contamination an industry is creating.

Scientist are smart folks aren't they. They are able to provide answers to questions that would otherwise require the suggestion of magic to explain. They can find cures for diseases, put people and things into space, and they can even explain why we stay on the planet and not float out into space. That is some big stuff. There is a lot more stuff they have figured out too like our current habits and consumption are going to make our planet inhospitable for not only ourselves but thousands of other inhabitants of our fair planet. The scientist are scared and trying to sound the alarm. This scares the financial interest that are making huge profits from exploiting our planet. The special interest groups launch an assault on science from as many angles as possible. Denial by politicians works for a few years but this can only last for so long considering the track record that politicians have with being truthful. This presents a real challenge because now they have to find a way to undermine these really smart people we call scientist. What could possibly influence the constituents of a democratic nation?

Hey, people like to watch TV and read newspapers and, whoa, there is the internet as well. Ways to influence people that scientist might be wrong by shoving it directly into their faces. So the infiltration of the media with conflicting messages and scientist who succumb to the instinct of greed that are willing to say something they don't agree with because it improves their financial situation begins. This reaches a lot of people who find themselves questioning the reports of the scientist claiming we are killing our planet and ourselves. A direct feed into the minds of a significant portion of the population, who for some reason do not have the desire or the ability to think for themselves, buying additional time to rape the planet and poison the inhabitants. This is still not quite enough to encourage the population to look the other direction. The politicians are still getting a lot of pressure to make the business community comply with the necessary implementation of methods that will reduce the destruction. How else can the financial interest influence the population that everything will be OK? Some type of magic will be required to convince enough people to ignore what is being done to them.

The oldest source of selling magical ideas to people is through religion. Hmm. Churches require a steady cash flow to maintain and expand their existence. It was very popular in the last century for members of certain crime organizations to have their sins forgiven by making a significant contribution to their church. Churches are the only place that can convince people that scientific evidence is irrelevant because after all, God created the heavens and the earth in 7 days just a few thousand years ago so God will protect his creation just as he did when he instructed Noah to build a boat to preserve all of those animals and all. Since this is all done by magic anyway, who cares how we use the planet. I mean really, God created this one, he can just create us another one when this one is used up. Squeeze that sponge until it is dry and then soak it up again. This seems to be the belief of far too many people these days. It is even becoming a political issue about which information is being taught in the school rooms. The textbooks are not consistent with the ones I used and not all of the changes are the result of new things that have been learned in my lifetime.

Oh, the politicians can embrace their religions and bolster this conflict of information that people are supposed to be sorting through as well. This is simple enough since they are on the same payroll with the churches. Blind faith and supporting that nice guy from your district how surely has your best interest in mind are serious contributors to demise of the future existence of mankind and any other kind that lives here on our lovely planet. This concept is nothing new, as long as there has been wealth it has been used to gain power and vice versa. Corruption in religious environments is nothing new. Corruption in politics is nothing new. Those who wield power to influence your opinion is nothing new. Convincing your that something bad for you is really good for you is nothing new. Allowing yourself to be the chump who doesn't consider what you are being told might be a lie is a personal choice that everyone has to make for themselves.

I cringe when I hear the word convinced. People who are convinced are doomed to stagnate in the confines of their beliefs. A curiosity about the validity of someone's statements is an opportunity to grow as an individual. What really is best for each of us? What really is best for all of us? I do not have answers for that and having put a great deal of time into studying these I can tell you that nobody has the answers to these questions. This puts the responsibility for the individual to decide for themselves what is best for the current situation and to have an open mind that what worked last time might not work this time. Keep your minds open and question all thoughts, especially your own.

Languages

Learning a 2nd language is an interesting challenge at my age. Being surrounded by people who grew up with more than one language is not really making it easier since they performed this modification on their brain at a young age when it was much easier to split the neural pathways without causing any major side effects. 2 months of classes and I am still barely able to order coffee and ask what time it is. Maybe after another month I will be able to read the book that I am learning from without having to look up too many of the words explaining what I am supposed to do.

Go learn a new language, it will enhance your life and test your profanity vocabulary.

Here is another cat movie for you. This time I am walking Spike and showing some limitations on what he is allowed to do. I am trying to show him that he has a lot of freedom within the limits of the leash. It was a fun time and it was longer than I intended for it to be but there is some fun stuff to see and you can really see Spike's personality shining though.

Taking the cat on holiday -- half over.

Not much to report on with the cat, he has had a couple of lazy days and we had one yesterday ourselves. We did go for a really nice canyon hike on Thursday and got some great pictures. Today is going to be a very hot day so I don't suspect we will do much of a hike, maybe just an indoor hike at the grocery store or an indoor hike at a museum. Tomorrow might be a good day for a hike or at least a chance to get the cat outside for more fun and video. 

Here are some pics.

Here is the video of Spike's 2nd outing on a leash. He really makes me proud that he is adapting so quickly.

Day 4: Taking cat on holiday

Yesterday we went on a small hike to get ourselves loosened up for doing an actual hike while we are out of town. Spike spend the afternoon lounging in the room so we decided he was ready to make another movie. On his second outing involving a leash, he made amazing progress in his training. I edited the video last night and started uploading to YouTube, due to the size and being on wireless from the holiday apartment it is still uploading. I will post the video later when it is done. Our agenda for today is to rest up and to get some studying done since I am really behind schedule on both topics I am to be studying on our holiday.

Day 3 of Taking the cat on holiday.

Spike has adapted to the holiday lifestyle very well. He is a little exhausted after having a big adventure yesterday. He is learning how to go outside on a leash. I don't have time for much commentary today so I will post a video of Spike's Big Adventure.

Day 2: Taking the cat on holiday

Spike has done a wonderful job of adapting to travel so far. For an adopted cat that had so many issues a few years ago, he has become quite the ambassador for cats traveling to all kind of places. We did sneak out for a little while last night with out him to get a snack at the local festival. Here is a video of the music we listened to while eating.

More fun stuff with the cat will be in a later post. Enjoy the music.

Taking the cat on holiday.

Day 1: Travel day. We packed as much fun stuff as we could fit into my tiny car and headed to the mountains. Unterengadin

Since the cat is diabetic and requires regular monitoring and injections, he was invited to come along with us. He was very polite on the drive here and immediately took to hanging out on a leash when we stopped a couple of places. This will be a 2 week stay and Spike will get a chance to play in the mountains a bit but will also be some time when he can hang out in the room and get some quality nap time in as well. We will be posting some pictures and maybe some video of Spike enjoying his holiday.

I would have never thought that a cat would be so adaptable to traveling but Spike seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit right now. Check back tomorrow to see more of our adventure of taking our cat on a holiday.

3 Years Ago

3 years ago today I started this blog. I wrote some fun stuff for a while and then my interest began to fade. There have been so many changes in my life that I rarely find time to get back to add anything new. I keep thinking one day I will return to posting more ideas, silly stories and even pictures from some of my adventures. I also think this would be a great place to document my return to being a musician. I have so many things that would be great to post here but I find myself wondering when or even why I would. Blogs are a wonderful place to put your thoughts and ideas or show the results of your creativity. I find it difficult to be fully engaged in life and still have time to make regular entries to a blog. I have seen a lot of my blogging friends try various exercises to keep the blogs moving and creative and it still turns into the doubts that anyone is actually appreciating what you do. Most of my continuous commentary ends up on Facebook so that I get immediate feedback on my jokes and other thoughts. Blogland became so dense with so many people flooding the internet with the contents of their mind that it was becoming impossible for me to keep track of just those who were keeping track of mine.

 We all wish that our blog would achieve the fame of some others, and some of the ones I was tracking were definitely worthy, but as with the music industry the best are sometimes unnoticed. I know my blog has some fun stuff and a brief insight into my creativity yet my blog has never really been something I would care to promote with the intent of becoming famous. I ask myself often if blogging has fallen out of favor with the internet with the exception of those who blatantly self-promote their content in an attempt to be recognized by others. Are they better ways to present ones ideas and concepts to the world so that they have a chance of someone realizing that they have something of value to add? Is the internet becoming and uninteresting place to explore? Is anyone else really interested in what others have to say? Could anyone find the right answers on the internet or is it just the quickest answers that are now being accepted?

If you read this message in a bottle, leave me a sign that you are out there and I will make an effort to continue my blog. In the mean time I will listen to the crickets that hang around the abandoned blog of mine to see what signs of life are still out there.

Kelly

Change of Address

Well, I just noticed it has been quite some time since I posted a commentary on the general state of the universe. My universe has changed dramatically over the last few months so I think I should make an attempt to share some of the observations that I have had. I have had a lot of new experiences and I think I am in a position to spend a little time reflecting on them and dumping loads of new stuff on the blog. If you make it by for a visit I hope you enjoy the silliness of my adventures.

Things have changed for me include my marital status, my address (in a big way), my employment status. I will be writing a bit about each of these as well as plenty more rants about events of the recent. I am currently recovering from jet lag so I won't ramble. I logged in today to see if I remembered how to get into this and as I assumed it has changed a bit. Fun stuff ahead so check back from time to time.

Year of Travel and Exploration

2011 was a year of travel, fun, exploration and adventure. I managed to collect quite a few pictures of Facebook friends that I traveled around to meet. I even went so far as to marry one of them. I owe you guys some stories from the year gone past about my travels and I hope to get to work on that soon. Things have been like riding a roller coaster for the whole year so I have not even given a thought to having a blog and that someone might stop by to see what is up from time to time. I hope you all had a good 2011 and have a better 2012. I am also working on a piece to share with you that has "Kelly's Guide to a Better Life: Part 1" as a working title. I have had some fantastic enlightenment over the last few months and I think it is my responsibility to bore everyone I can with this knowledge.

The Edge of the World

While I have not fallen over the edge I have peeked over it briefly. Yes, I am still alive and kicking and have been very busy living my life while being delinquent in updating my blog. I promise to post something soon.

A Little One

Seemingly unstoppable, 
the dimension of our own making. 
There is never enough yet 
you are taking too much. 
Always running out of, 
I just want to yell time out.

Thanks

Thanks for stopping by. I am working long hours for a while so might not get to make anymore post in a while. I can tell you though there is plenty of stuff to make me want to. Keep coming by and I will put something up for you to read soon.

Just a Little Rant for You

I can't recall being this completely disgusted with the US government since Ronald Reagan was in office. The only word that properly describes what our government has turned into is an Idiocracy. Everything our politicians say gets repeated with the term "Job Destroying" tacked onto it. Every government agency that was intended to protect the citizens has had its funding cut to the point that it is totally useless. Over 50% of the tax dollars collected are going to the "Defense Budget" and that is the only thing that seems to not be getting much in the way of cuts. Looking into my crystal ball I can see that the way things are going there will be even a higher percent of the tax dollars going to defense and that is one thing that I don't think I can live with.

I am secretly shopping for a new country to live in just in case it gets any worse.

Another Poem

Step Off


when all words have lost their meaning
the only sound that I can hear
is the gentle breeze of your breath
that swirls wildly down my collar.

my thoughts washing out with the tide
exposing the sands of frustration beach
placing my palm on my cheek
I look down in disbelief.

Weathering the Weather

This has been an unusually hot summer this year which brings about all kinds of wonderful questions about what could be causing the extreme weather. I really enjoy reading and hearing about all kinds of theories and myths about this place we live and what lies ahead. I am, however, rapidly losing my sense of humor about our politicians denying we have some problems that need to be solved and they should stop worrying about which public action committee is going to give them money so they can get elected again. The most annoying part is watching them try to enforce austerity measures while our economy is barely moving. Putting the pinch on the less affluent citizens is not exactly where I would be getting the money to pay the bills. Since we have record profits being made by companies that are creating jobs overseas while so many are out of work here it would only seem logical. Then again, these are the same anti-science politicians that deny our climate is changing, why would I even think they understand math.

Weekend of Rest

For a long time I felt that I had to make the most of the weekends and that is one thing I still abide by. I made the most of the weekend past by catching up on the sleep that I have missed out on for the last several months. Being somewhat famous for being an insomniac, it is such a treat to be able to spend an entire weekend actually getting sleep. What a joy to sleep late and then follow it up with a nap which is celebrated with yet another nap. There are tons of opinions about where or not you can catch up on sleep or not but I really detest these kinds of assumptions. Sleep is sleep and you either can or you can't. For those whose all too often can't it is best to do so when you can. Sleep is about healing and should be done so as needed.

Sleep is such an interesting topic to discuss with people because you can hear all kinds of stories. Some people absolutely must have their X hours a night or they cannot function. There are also those who manage to get by on  sometimes very little for days at a time. Some people even wake up more tired than they were when they went to sleep. I am one of those people. I have done sleep studies and bought equipment that is supposed enhance my sleep experience and I still find it to be elusive more than not yet there are times that I can sleep for the better part of a day without a thought. How do you sleep?

How Things Change

At the beginning of the year I began a project to visit at least 10 cities to give me some writing projects. This project seems to have morphed into something really different. The project has turned into meeting as many of my facebook friends as I can this year. I have traveled to many places already this year and have even more on the schedule as the year progresses. The biggest trip so far has been my trip to Switzerland and Germany back in May. I have posted many pictures on facebook and have neglected my blog, I have regrets but I will soon try to establish the routine of updating again. I will try to get some pictures and stories from each of the trips posted some time soon. My apologies to those who have stopped by to find I have done nothing in several months. I have a new desire to work on my blog so hopefully I will give you lots of new stuff soon.