welp, i’m slowly but steadily moving the site over to the new layout.  it occurred to me that i’d been arin721 for so long… i really should work that 721 into any graphics for the site.  so.  i did.  fits me.  i like it.  :D i may just be babbling to myself here, but by golly, i should have something i like to look at while doing so

there will be sections that are still using the old design, bear with me til i’m done, they should be updated soon.

to any chat friends who might stumble in here every now and again (and you know who you are), been fun chatting with you.  i’m taking an ~a-p~ break.  there’s been enough drama in my life, i don’t need more.  people baiting and trolling to elicit responses in some mean-spirited game.  nanny network monitoring everyone’s speech.  pfft.  chat is supposed to be fun.  not work.  ...so ~they~ can win.  let ‘em.  i’ve so many other things on my mind, a bit less chat won’t hurt me. 

you know, i’m tired of politics, at the moment, and it’s seriously bad timing what with elections on the way.  everything that i hate about people can be found in ~the game~ of politics.  there is a lack of integrity / honesty that seems to be endemic among a good portion of our society.  i am tempted to say that it is most prevalent on the right, though to be fair, i’d have to also include those who are hardcore partisans on the left, as well as politicians from either side.

someone recently described the basic difference as this:  ~we~ can admit something is true, even when we don’t like it.  present enough supporting evidence and we will conceed.  they, on the other hand, will lie and go through whatever contortions are necessary in order to “win”.  how do you deal with people who will do whatever is necessary to make their opponent look bad / wrong?  they don’t even care how they themselves look, they don’t care how transparent it is, it’s all in the name of the game: ends justifies the means.  winning is ~everything~.  see: clinton and obama’s plagiarism.  see: obama’s appeal to reaganites.  see: hardcore bush supporters who still swear there are/were wmds in iraq.

so, time out.  time to play with other things for a bit.  i have SO much reading to do, plus i’ve stumbled across a layout i like for the site (finally!!!), so i’ll be redoing that at some point soon.  on top of several other projects, i’m a busy goil!

quote for the day: “as a girl, you see the world like a giant candy store, filled with sweet candy and such...but one day you look around and see a prison...and you’re on death row."--the good girl

somewhere out there is a society where racism and bigotry aren’t mainstream.  somewhere out there is a society that realizes that all people are created equal.  that humans are not independent of one another, but must rely on one another.  that for a society to function properly, everyone must be treated fairly.  that a society is only as successful as it’s lowest denominator.  that it is made up of people, not policies.  that while structure and rules are necessary, there are exceptions.  that knowledge is essential for all.  that greed isn’t something to be commended.  that the society itself deserves to be invested in more than bombs and other means of war.  that the loss of hope is catastrophic, psychologically, emotionally, monetarily. 

somewhere.

just not here.

not ever.

we lack the will.  we’re too greedy.  people are a commodity.  just another item on the shelf.  we are valued not for who ~we~ are, but for our ability to be swayed.  to be marketed, to be marketed to.  and we let it happen.  over and over again.

and i’m tired.

i’m tired of seeing people close to me (7 now) commit suicide because they never received adequate mental health care.  i’m tired of seeing women dying at horrific rates from breast cancer.  i’m tired of friends losing their health coverage because they’ve used their health coverage.  i’m tired of seeing people trying to improve their lives be hampered by the thought of losing medicaid which provides them the medications necessary TO improve their lives.

and to john, i’m sorry.  i’m sorry that society failed you.  i’m sorry that we, your friends, failed you.  much love to you and your family.  the bonham wouldn’t have been the same without you.

he passed away in may, 1993.  he’d have been 67 this year. 

From my father’s last words to me, “You have the capacity and the ability to do or to be anything you want in life, but always be true to yourself. Experience life and all the wonders that it holds. Laugh, love, and be yourself. You are enough.”

for our story, go here. 

christmas decorations are ~up~.  tree is lit, candles burning.  by golly, i’ll have christmas spirit this year if it kills me >:| i skipped it, for the most part, for 2 years and that was… horrible.  :o with the amount of ‘bah humbug’ that i can muster, i just felt the worse for it.  and.  heck.  i ~like~ christmas strings of lights, decorated trees, santa, reindeer!  i WANT to enjoy the “magic” of the season

read on...