Personal Manifesto

It is my aim to be the change I wish to see in the world and to encourage positive change at any opportunity. To attempt to be motivated rather than driven by external influences. To critically consider and filter out those influences which may be harmful to others or myself if manifested in my actions. To remember that only I can free myself of my mental cages. To appreciate the freedom I have while looking to maintain and improve on that for myself and others. To aspire for a more balanced self without expecting that it can ever be perfectly achieved. To use my socially inherited privilege to remove that privilege over others. To look at the bigger picture as much as I can, while still appreciating the small details. To avoid letting anxiety about the future or regrets of the past get in the way of being content in the present. To see and focus on the good in others, no matter the folly of their intentions or their actions, and to give them the benefit of the doubt so that we may learn from each other with open minds. To show the people who are a part of my life that I am not who I am without them. To not be afraid to be wrong and allow enough doubt in myself to notice and correct it when I am. To remember to be humble, as I am only another human who is just trying to figure it all out just as most of the rest of the humans who evolved a consciously thinking brain on an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Milky Way.

The Poky Little Puppy

Sometimes Jupiter likes to read the classic Golden Book tale, The Poky Little Puppy before bed or nap time. This is another of many children's stories where the intended moral of the story seems to have been surpassed by a message that, I think, conveys the nearly the opposite message. The Poky Little Puppy is a story about five little puppies who dig a hole under the fence to go out for a walk in the wide, wide world. The fifth, poky, puppy is always behind the others. Eventually the poky little puppy smells the dessert that is prepared for the puppies each night. The four other puppies smell it too and hurry home while the poky puppy takes his time. The four puppies then eat their dinner and are scolded by their mother for digging a hole under the fence with the punishment being that they do not get dessert. Then along comes the poky puppy after everyone is asleep. He is met with no dinner but left over dessert, since the four puppies were not able to eat it. This scenario takes...

Kid on a Leash

Has anyone seen these kid leash products around? Sometimes I see them at the zoo, farmers market, or other crowded areas. If a company can make a product that will make a parent feel a little bit safer, there will always be people out there to buy it. When I see one, it reminds me of that scene in Rise of the Planet of the Apes when a leashed Caesar sees a dog on a leash and turns to Will and signs, "Am I a pet?" The idea of the product is that it will keep the child safe and nearby. It is designed to subside the fear that a child will run off or get abducted. I think that if someone is out to abduct a child during the few seconds when a parent is looking away, a leash is a very small deterrent, and likely, not effective. All the abductor would need is a nice pair of scissors or simply their fingers. The latch cannot be that hard to work. If anything, having a leash might give a parent a false sense of security causing them to pay less attention to the child. In that case it...

The Santa Lie

When I was young my parents followed a tradition which I imagine was passed down to them from their parents who received the tradition from their parents before them and so on for a generation or two before them. I am of course talking about the yearly tradition of deceiving their gullible offspring with myths of a jolly man who lives at the North Pole. I fell for it. They were fairly elaborate to the point of even having a man dressed up as a Santa come to the front door one year. This of course sparked my suspicion a little. Why the front door and not the chimney? Though I do not remember what it was, a satisfactory explanation was given and I continued to believe in it. Eventually I did finally figure it all out, mostly through ridicule from schoolmates and my 3rd grade teacher for still believing it. I did not take the news well. I did not understand that my parents, who regularly told me that lying is wrong and makes Jesus cry, would keep up such an elaborate and ultimately pointl...

Kirk blAug

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