Tuesday : 02 August 05
Today was infinitely better than yesterday.

I didn’t lollygag too long after the alarm went off this morning.
I had a double shot-laden cup of frozen mocha goodness.
Things at work proceeded apace.
The lunchtime gym hour went well.
The rest of the workday wasn’t maddening.
And… I threshed the jungle into something that resembles a “back yard.” Before it started raining.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Random Access
No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
     -“Behind Blue Eyes” by The Who

I have liked this song (full lyrics) for many years. I have always taken it as an outsider’s moment of painful and angry introspection – that the singer was the person “behind blue eyes.”

I was recently listening to it and had a different thought about it: It would make an awesome “anthem,” of sorts, for or about a minority. When I started looking… “listening,” rather… to the song a little differently, I could easily hear it being sung from the point of view someone whose life and/or accomplishments have been ignored by society… simply by virtue of the color of their skin. And this song is their silent prayer into the night.

No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes

No one knows what it’s like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies

Those “behind blue eyes” are perceived to have a better life. A life without the darkness that permeates the outcast’s world. Without the hurt. Without the anger and bitterness.

No one knows what it’s like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you

No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through

They may be in an outwardly-seeming “hopeless” situation, but that doesn’t stop them from dreaming.

But my dreams
They aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

And those dreams bring with them hope. Of a better tomorrow. A better life. A better way.

When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool

And If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
And If I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

…if only someone can show them the way out.

I would like to hear how this song would sound if approached from that point of view.

And that’s my 2¢ worth on that.
::: EDIT :::
and I were discussing this and he made a good point: I narrowed my focus on this topic to matters of race, but it could easily be applied to ANY minority – minorities by virtue of belief, lifestyle or other criteria.

Adventures of a Novice Hero
I’m really enjoying City of Heroes. I’ve been regaling and with my Paragon City adventures as the costumed adventurer known as Indigo Bolt (Pictures: 1, 2, 3). A couple of the recent things that I’ve told them about were:

  • When I hit “Security Level 6,” how ranks/levels are measured in CoH, I had a new series of powers opened up to me. I chose the ones that would lead me to Flight. *duh* But, you don’t start out with Flight. You start with Hover.
    <sarcasm> Woooo! </sarcasm>
    That’s right. “Hover.” Watch criminals cower in fear as you float in mid-air. But, it’s a step in the right direction. I was rather… exuberant… the morning after I acquired Hover. Mainly because running from zone to zone is… um… what’s the word… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh yeah: BORING! And, like I mentioned before: It’s one step closer to Flight. w00t!

  • A couple of days ago, Don and I were running (*ZzzzZZzzzz*) through the city and he leapt up a wall. Not quite in the proverbial “tall building in a single bound” way, but close. When I tried to climb/jump up the wall, I was treated to a sound return to the ground. *sigh* After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to scale it, Don messaged me and simply said: “You can hover up the wall…” D’oh!
  • I made it to Security Level 7 a couple of nights ago and was given a mission in a part of town called “The Hollows.” To get to The Hollows, one has to pass through a zone. I’ve crossed plenty of zones in the past… however long I’ve been playing. The interface is a little different than it was in EverCrack, but I figured it out. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember this any of the eleventy-billion times that I tried to cross into The Hollows. I’d get to the zone border… and stop. So, I’d back up and run to the border again… and stop. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

    What I was doing wrong didn’t dawn on me until last night around 11:00. At which point, I was about ready to slap myself silly (okay… “sillier than usual”) for not thinking about what I was doing. Yeah… some hero I’m turning out to be.

  • And in another “Wow… he’s smart” moment: Last night, I was running (*ZzzzZZzzzz*) through The Hollows, snapping my electrified foot off in whatever criminal ass needed some righteous justice. For one mission, I had to defeat ten (10) members of a certain gang. I got up to nine… and then ran out of targets. So, I went hunting. I decided to check out the scene from the roof of a nearby building. Lo and behold: I found my target! I decided that I’d hover a few yards above him and pick him off from above and avoid getting into a fight with his buddies. Good operational theory, horrible practical application. As soon as a zapped the guy, his friends ALL turned, looked up… and unloaded with their guns. Mother of God….

    On the “plus” side, they weren’t great shots.

    On the “minus” side, there was a tree next to where I was hovering… and the bastards know how to climb trees. I was still far enough up that they couldn’t engage me in melee, but their shooting prowess seemed to get a bit better at closer range. I have to give the programmers credit for adding in the “climb tree” feature. It’s exactly what you would expect would happen if a similar situation occurred in the real world: Someone’s taking potshots at you from the air?! Climb the nearest tree or fire escape and take him out.

    Anyway… I managed to avoid dying (that time) and take out that entire group before I decided to call it a night.

That was kind of fun. I might have to add “Adventures” as a semi-regular section… especially when I have more bone-headed moments to share. Hopefully, it wasn’t boring/dull for the rest of you.

Stray Toasters

  • I spoke with not only the middle sibko member today, but also both parental units. Two of the calls bore good tidings. The last, however, not as much so: I have an aunt who has Alzheimer’s. We’ve known it for a while and my folks have taken what steps they can to see to it that she’s receiving care and treatment. The disease is apparently advancing rather… quirkily. It is advancing “somewhat quickly,” but she still has good days: She remembers people and places, etc. My mother and uncle are currently in Ohio to check in on her; don’t EVEN get me started on what-little-I-know about the complete clusterfuck that my mother is going through in trying to get my aunt moved to NC. I should hear from either my mother or uncle tomorrow with an update on how my aunt doing; but from what Kris (middle sib) told me earlier, she’s not doing incredibly well.
  • There is an Oreo Blizzard® in the freezer calling to me…
  • : I stumbled across and thought that it might be something in which you would be interested.
  • Dark Phoenix and Cyclops MiniMate 2-Pack. *covet*
  • You know what you gotta do?
    You gotta get on outta here with that alley-cat coat-wearing,
    Hush Puppy shoe-wearin’ crumbcake that I saw you with…
    ‘Cause you dismissed!
    Silly rabbit! Trix are made for kids, don’t you know that!?
    You without me is like Corn Flakes without the milk!
    This is my world; you just a squirrel tryin’ to get a nut!
    Now get on outta here!
    Ahhh!!!! Don’t touch that coat!
         “The Rain” by Oran ‘Juice’ Jones.
    This song used to crack me up when I was younger.
    It still does.

  • Hey, Nyx-a-delic: Old Man ZIM Lands in Chicago
  • Not that I’ve ever had any problem going there, but now I have a reason to go to one of the local Build-A-Bear Workshops: Build-A-Bear Teams with the NFL. That’s right… say it with me: Ravens Bear.
  • “Quick! Pretend to be a rock formation!” –
  • : This had your name all over it – Creativhe Cohmmons Cthulhu Comhic
  • Because this drives me insane: The correct spelling is “definite,” not “definate.”
  • : Click here.
  • Interesting. But, I’ll ask you to tell me if this sounds like a fairly accurate match for me.
    Gandalf: A wandering spirit caring for a multitude of just concerns, you are an instrumental power in many of the causes around you.

    And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord.

    		 Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?
  • I have been fond of A Modest Destiny/The Starship Destiny for the better part of a year. I clicked on it tonight, hoping to find a new comic. Instead, I found a notification that – due to the dark and nasty parts of the Internet – the site is being shut down. It’s sad to see someone basically vilified because he fought for something in which he believed and when he should be experiencing some of the most happy times of his life – the birth of his first child – people instead have taken his absence as an open invitation to backstab and malign him.

    Fare well, Sean Howard and AMD.

This incredibly long post has been brought to you by the letters “D” and “W” and the number “9.”

Namaste.