Annual Salary, Jesus Cartoons, and Concerns

So, this guy made almost twice my yearly salary in a brilliant 30 days. Don't think I'm not considering this as a career option at this point...

Also, here are some cartoons starring Jesus if he walked beside each and every one of us in the flesh. Some are hilarious, some less so. Enjoy.

Finally, I am concerned that no one posted about their RPG experiences. Nerds? Are you out there? I realized that I should have put a smiley or something after the "mildly judgemental" bit, because that was supposed to be a a joke. See, because people are judgemental towards nerds and RPG's anyway. So, it was funny because I was allowing it. As if I has some choice in the matter. See. Hmmmm. And anyway, I've changed my mind. You can be blatantly, flagrantly, even provocatively judgemental in your commentting on RPG's, should you choose. Bring it on! (And,nerds: still unite.)

Dungeons and Dragons

I played for the first time last night. With Kevin, with some music nerds at some dude's apartment. It was fun. I don't think I ever would have liked it, were it not for my recent readings of LotR and playing of BG2. Pretty much, the whole thing started with Tolkien and grew from there, the way I see it. And they seem to have simplified the game system some too, from what I understand. I'm playing a half-elven cleric. I kicked some tail(s). Kevin plays a half-elven druid--my twin brother. He kicked less tail(s), because he wasn't allowed to bring his wolf into the pit fights. Next time, dear readers. Next time.

All this reminded me of how fun it was to play Star Wars RPG in high school. Being a less-than-outgoing person, RPG's provide that small, intimate gathering that allows me (and others like me) to thrive. I would like to play SW RPG again, because it is more fun than D&D. It is a better world to play in, a mon avis, and it is a better gaming system (although the new D&D system seems pretty simple). Or maybe it is nostalgia. Or maybe it's just cool to have so many cool-looking dice, regardless of what game you play.

Tell me about your RPG stories! Good ones and bad ones! Tell me about the people you played with, and what made it fun...or not fun. If you've never played, what are your thoughts on all this? You can be mildly judgemental. I give you that permission. Fire at will, commander! (Nerds, unite!)

Ben, you've opened the box. In a good way.

Capitalism is bad, absolutely. I do believe there are better, more moral fiscal systems. But all -isms are faulty. Because humans, yes, are fallible. This is why the modern mantras of relative truth and individual experience are bogus. There must be something greater than ourselves guiding us, because it doesn't pan out if we all say we're right. This is why the US is "Great White Devil." Not in the Caucasian sense, but in the white-washed, holier-than-thou, neon-light-look-to-our-example-of-shining-equality sense. As a national culture, we are a beacon to the world, overtly suggesting that they can have whatever they want whenever they want it, and that it's all okay. Sometimes I think that if DC is our national brain, then Las Vegas is our national heart. Or Los Angeles. (Not to suggest these cities are "evil" in any sense, more to say that they have distinct cultures and represent specific drives and desires.)

I do wonder if the US (democracy/capitalism/relativism) is the next step in the evolution of human culture (the way our patriotic nationalism claims), inasmuch as we have finally found a way for most people to have most things--most people can "pursue happiness" to whatever end they can attain. The general moral and material reasoning is that as long as it is okay for EVERYONE to enjoy certain privileges, then it is okay for ME to have those privileges as well. We stop asking if it is healthy or beneficial for us--as humans or as a culture--to have certain privileges at all.

I think you're right, Ben: capitalism, culture, and lack of self-discipline are to blame. And individual human beings have been and are at the helm of each of those entities. In short, at our core we (read: collective humanity) don't want self-discipline, and that leaks into everything else we do. I think that capitalism, and even democracy, are very authentic depictions of the human soul. We want to care about everyone, we sometimes try very hard to care about everyone, but we really only care about ourselves.

This is why TRUE Jewish and Christian teachings are so revolutionary: the denial of self as the ultimate fulfillment of self. How impossible! How audacious! How odd that it is also completely unattainable without higher help...a complete denial of self? The antithesis to who we are as humans.

Funerals and Comic Stores

I have been out of town the past several days. My cousin, Michelle, died last Saturday, and I went back to Milwaukee this week for her funeral, which was on Thursday. It was a very strange event for me. I have not been back to Wisconsin for 12 years--since my first grandfather died. Michelle died of a blood clot in her lung. She was only 29 and the whole ordeal was very unexpected. I couldn't even tell you how long it had been since I'd seen Michelle or my other cousins. They didn't make it to my wedding, which was the last time I saw most of my aunts and uncles (over five years ago). I don't have many memories of my extended family, but I only have good memories of playing with Michelle, Nicole, and Adam: my cousins. We were still in elementary school, and would play things like "tiger cubs" at my grandparents' house when there. I was impressed that Nicole remembered the last time we hung out together--all six of us had a sleepover at my grandparents' house.

I spent the few days after the funeral at my older cousin Craig's comic shop. They were celebrating their first anniversary. I got to help out. It was a good time, other than the snow on Saturday that kept many people from getting out to the party. I brought back two new games, both of which are relatively simple but fun. Craig was kind of like my older brother growing up. He's maybe 5 years older, and his mom and my mom always hung out together (being sisters), so by default, Craig and I did too. I have vivid memories of getting into Craig's comic books and Star Wars figures when he wasn't home. Thankfully, he no longer seems to mind! I also remember going to one of his (jr.?) high school basketball games. This was in the late eighties, when spitting for no reason was cool. I remember spitting as we walked to the school just because Craig did. Every time he would spit, so would I. Weird that I remember that. The only other thing I remember was not being allowed to throw my candy wrappers under the bleachers.

Don't make me destroy you.

Things I would like to be doing, but am not:
1. playing music with a friend
2. playing LotR RISK with some friends
3. playing Xbox or PS2 on the giant screen that I still have use of through tomorrow
4. praying
5. feeling better
6. hoping the Packers will win the Superbowl
7. using Force powers to mind trick people

I could be doing some of those things. In fact, maybe I will.

Are you inviting people to the party?

Well, are you? See the info below, if you need it.

Also, being unemployed is crappy. I get up later than I want, I have little to do (or more accurately, little that I can afford to do), and so I spend much time videoing my mind. Ick.

I would feel better if there were more decent paying jobs in this area...but there aren't.

Ext Ed LotR Fri & Sat, 14th, 15th

Lord of the Rings party at my house this weekend. We'll be watching all three extended edition LotR movies on a giant 6'x7' screen with a projector. Awesome. If you can come, certainly do. It's an open invitation...as long as I know you or you are with someone who does.

Bring a food or beverage to share. And bring a few bucks. We might order food...and the projector was considerably more expensive to rent than I'd anticipated. Also, bring people.

Showtimes:
Friday 1/14 8pm Fellowship of the Ring
Saturday 1/15 4pm The Two Towers
8pm Return of the King

This should give anyone time to attend the GW FNS and/or the Walk for the Homeless on Saturday (which I will be participating in, and you should too).

(insert title here)

Today the Packers lost. They played terribly. Next week, the Steelers will WIN.

I am reading A Confederacy of Dunces and it is very good. It is the first Pulitzer Prize winning book I've ver read. I like to read, but I don't like most books.

I do not know what I am doing or, more accurately, should be doing with my life. I am looking for work, but I don't have much hope that my new work will be much more fulfilling than my last work. I'm just looking for something to pay the bills, as they say. I'm also trying to reassess the things I like to do and the kind of person I am, and 27 seems a bad age to do that. I find myself stuck with a dramatic lack of insight on these issues. I always thought I wanted to be a counselor or psychologist-type person. Now I realize that I hate that kind of work, I just like knowing the people.

Can you help me? What kind of work do you think that I would enjoy and/or be good at?

I'm unemployed

...and can't really say that I'm loving it. I have a few phone calls to make today. Phone calls make me nervous. Then again, most aspects of looking for a new job make me nervous. I have to schedule a hair cut soon too.

And I'm also noticing that this weblog will need an overhaul. The colors on my screen at work were very different from the drab colors I see here. I wonder how I might go about remedying that.

And I have to work on some song lyrics. We have a show on Feb 10. We do not have a name yet, but we will be getting one soon. And then I will perhaps start a weblog dedicated to the band, so people can follow along. Weblogs are more free than websites. And I don't know anything about websiting anyway.