Writing Songs / Being a Musician : for all the right reasons

January 21st, 2009

I go to a local open mic night every Wednesday (you probably already know that). I do it religiously. Every time I go, just before going on stage, there is a feeling of dread that overcomes me. I love writing songs. Performing is something I love to do. So why the dread? Because songwriters tend to measure themselves against other songwriters. This is wrong. Its precisely this that made me ask myself “Why do you do this?”.

Why do you do this? If you’re going to be a songwriter you need to do it for all the right reasons. If you want to perform then you definitely must be doing it for all the right reasons. Doing it for the right reasons is what builds confidence. Without confidence you will always be sub-par.

The reasons you write and perform matter. If you aren’t doing it for the joy you get from it then you will never be good at it. The same applies to any endeavor, really. I know that there are some people out there who do it for the money. Some do it for fame. Some for women. Some for drugs and some for all the above reasons. These people aren’t songwriters. And they aren’t any good no matter what the critics say.

You can perform horribly and write the ugliest songs yet still be a good songwriter. If you are doing it for money or any other superficial reason then you are not a good songwriter no matter how many people sing along to your song or how many groupies or mansions you have.

I do it because I love it. Like Michael Jordan played basketball for the love of the game (his book is good). My songs are okay. They aren’t bad. But they aren’t top 40 either. In comparison to others who play on Wednesday nights I might be below average. But I’m a good songwriter. Because I put myself into my songs. Each time I put pen to paper and fingers to frets I am creating something that is and always will be a part of me.

I have confidence as a songwriter. I have confidence because when I go up on any stage and perform its not me playing. Its something larger than myself. Its metaphysical is what it is. Its an aura, some sort of energy that takes over for me. While I’m on a stage I am not on this earth.

There are a few things that can kill that sort of moment though. Thinking about the crowd; their reaction, wondering if they like you etc. will kill your performance and keep you from really touching the music. If you try to be as good or better than another performer then you will never feel the kind of joy I feel when I’m on a stage.

I am guilty of these things. I commit the deadly songwriting sins from time to time. I start thinking that the guy who came before me was better and how am I going to follow him up. I look out into the crowd and see people whispering to each other and I swear to myself they’re whispering to each other about how much I suck. Sometimes I concentrate on my playing too much. Yes, you can concentrate on your playing too much. 

If you’re a songwriter you should be practicing your songs before you get to the stage. They should be second nature to you. Of course mistakes will be made, lines will be forgotten, and sometimes it just takes a long time to memorize your own lyrics.

When you get up on that stage you should think about the song. Not the notes and not the words, but the song. The song is the emotion, the part of you that you lend to those notes, chords, and lyrics. Without a piece of you Beethoven played in perfect time by the best orchestra in the universe will sound like shit. The song is you and you are the song.

If you can concentrate on the piece of you that was put into the song and feed off of that as you perform, you will undoubtedly have an incredible performance. But if you write and perform for the wrong reasons then your songs have no life and will ultimately suck no matter how good your technique or well you stuck to [music] theory.

Tomorrow I am going to perform at the Ashbary around 9:30. I won’t be the best player or have the best songs, but my performance will be amazing.

Barack Obama ’s Truly Inspirational Inaugural Address

January 20th, 2009

I was a child (six years old) when Clinton came into office. He was my first president and thus he is the standard by which I measure any president after him. That standard is actually pretty high. Clinton was great and I knew it as a child of about ten years old. In fact I remember being interested in politics way back in the third grade. During the election of ‘96 I would walk around the playground before school and during recess with my arm positioned awkwardly, holding an imaginary pen, doing an impression of Bob Dole. The kids loved it. The point that I’m trying to make with that story is that I’ve always known which candidate would be better for the country. At first it was a gut feeling and as I matured facts started to become more important than gut feelings. What hasn’t changed as I matured is my leaning toward the left of the political spectrum. During this past election both the facts and my gut feeling told me that Obama was the man for this time. This is the second election I’ve voted and this time I wasn’t disappointed.

About a half hour ago our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, (God, I love saying that) took the oath of office and gave an incredible speech. It truly lived up to the hype surrounding it. It will surely go down in history as one of the greatest presidential addresses in out nation’s history if not for the content of the speech then for the fact that he is out first black president.

Obama is an incredible orator. There are so many elements of today’s address that moved me but I’ll go over some of the highlights. What I love about Barack is that he levels with you. And I use the word ‘you’ instead of ‘us’ or ‘we’ because when he speaks it feels as if he talking directly to you. I have no doubt that each and every one of the people present in D.C. today felt as if Obama was speaking directly to them. While Obama levels with you in the way he acknowledges America’s problems and challenges does it in a way that shows intelligence on his part. Its very interesting to see him do this through the use of pure honesty and language that isn’t quite flowery or inflated but deliberate and thoughtful.

He has a unique ability to inspire. Most politicians give speeches full of inflated, flowery language meant to inspire and everyone applauds their effort but it feels hollow. Those speeches felt fake. The words seem forced and obligatory. Obama’s speech on the other hand, was as real as you could get. His message was all about hope, change, meeting challenges, and it gave me a confidence not only in my country but in myself. His speech inspired me to strive for greatness. I haven’t read, heard or seen any speech that moved me like the one President Obama (saying that is like ecstasy) gave just over an hour ago.

As someone in my twenties I understand that the generation before me may not get this. That’s okay. What they need to remember, and I think Obama has put this message across on occasion, is that once you reach an age where you have children, you need to vote based on their best interest. Because my generation is the generation that will be running the world in the near future. Obama is everyone’s president but he is my generation’s president most of all. We put him in and we (I hope) will continue what he started long after he is gone.

Obama’s inauguration came just when this country really needed it. His message of hope is genuine. This man is not placating us. To those who would say people like me are just groupies I say stop looking at this moment in history through your filter of fear and denial and just listen to what Obama said today. If you were truly listening - not reading between the lines, analyzing the meaning of certain words, or comparing him to anyone else - then there is no doubt you have been inspired. I am proud to have Barack Obama as my president.

(I’m wearing my Obama T-Shirt my sister got me when she visited D.C. She took a trip to Penn State and went with my mother to the capital afterward.)

Fear: Thoughts Conjured Up by Obama and Martin Luther King Day

January 19th, 2009

 

 

Obama Doll near spot MLK was shot

Obama Doll near spot MLK was shot

I went to bed last night hopeful and woke up afraid this morning. What changed? Change changed. November 4th was a celebration. That was the day that America immediately began repairing its image in the world. It was also the moment that allowed us to hope for a better future. It was a moment in such stark contrast to any and every moment brought to us by George W. Bush that it made me among so many others shed a tear. But the gravity of the situation we are in hasn’t hit for everyone yet. This morning it hit me.

 

We are no longer celebrating like we were - at least we shouldn’be. Its time to get back to reality and the reality is frightening. The time since Nov. 4th has gone by so quickly and now its Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Martin Luther is a man I respect greatly. He was a black man who spoke out against oppression at a time when black people were still considered second class citizens. Many don’t realize this. Even I find myself in disbelief sometimes. This was only around 50 years ago. Many people like to talk about it like they talk about the Civil War (A.K.A. the War of Northern Aggression  for you rednecks in denial) or the Revolutionary War - as if it were ancient history. But this sort of thing was going on in the 60’s!

MLK’s dream is being fulfilled every day. This isn’t necessarily all positive, though. The movement Martin Luther King was an integral part of also sparked backlash. There are hateful groups out there who idolize Hitler believing that the “White” race is superior to all others. In most cases like this I would just say “let them believe whatever they want”, but their beliefs aren’t the problem - its their actions. It was a racist who killed the reverent Martin Luther King Jr. A person of low intelligence, filled with fear leading to hate, who has been infected by the propaganda of the white supremacy movement.

These are people who have misplaced anger and fear. Many times something terrible has happened in their lives and their need for an explanation ultimately drives them to believe that a certain race of people are responsible. Speaking of being responsible, these people are anything but.

But this post isn’t about racism as much as it is about Obama. I had to go off on that tangent in order to connect to my next point.

 

I woke up afraid because of what happened to MLK. While we have come a long way from the 1960’s there are still White Supremacists and just plain racists out there. Some are crazy, and some are perfectly sane but both are capable of ending America’s dream of Hope before it begins. I don’t want to say the word… Assassination.

 

Assassination is something I fear. Of course there is stepped up security around Obama but all it takes is one bullet.  The fact that the Inauguration is the day after Martin Luther King Day makes me even more nervous. Its this coincidence that could really rile up the crazies. The little hamsters in their brains will start running on the wheel and they’ll muster up just enough brain power to create a thought then pervert that thought into a conspiracy theory. Then the conspiracy theory leads to a justification of the action.

We have to stop ignoring the gorilla in the room. There’s a higher risk of losing this president than any other. I was even a bit scared on election night when Barack was in Grant Park.

I think Obama will be good for this country. I think that race relations will get even better (as in some racists will tone it down and see the light). I think four years of Obama would get more done than sixteen years of Bush. I wish I could have dug into Bush in this post since its his last day but whatever. Lets all appreciate what we have in this new president and hope to God nothing happens to him.

(Photo from Boing Boing)

New Design!

January 18th, 2009

I spent last night and some of today making the site more user friendly. I hope you like it. There are more changes to come but I figured it was imperative that the general design be up and running right away so that people would be able to use the site without having to squint or highlight text with their mouse to read it.

If the design looks kind of buggy (and you’ll know if it does- it’l look half way between the old design and a new design-it should have a white background and dark colored text) then you need to do something:

If the site looks buggy do this:

1-Delete your browser cache (you can do this 99% of the time from your preferences)

2-If you cant/don’t want to/don’t know how to delete the browser cache (which is totally safe) you’ll have to refresh the browser a bunch of times until things look right.

Sorry about the first design - I tried to code beyond my skill level. I hope you like the new design and that is user friendly and that it doesn’t make you want to leave the site due to bright colors and a busy look. Back to the real content tomorrow

-Bill

The Creativity Cure

January 16th, 2009

(This post is from another source. Although I do not have permission to reprint this person’s entry, others have done it to me so I figure its okay as long as I give credit. I’m really busy getting ready for school, working on a new design for this site, and working until 2AM so bear with me if I kinda spaz out with the blog.)

I give full credit for this post to Maureen Healy from Psychology Today. The original post can be viewed here

Is creativity curative? Are their more to crayons than meet the eye? Can a sad child communicate via paint, sand play and sound? Is childhood illness rooted in emotional imbalances? Are more and more children highly sensitive? Does creative self-expression provide the perfect outlet to guide children toward wellness? Is creativity lacking in our systems? Such questions have been alive in me for years.

Crayons and Children

Amazing things happen when you gather a group of preschool aged children and crayons together. Drawings spring out of the ethers and stories begin to unfold. Children love to create. Crayons, markers, pencils, glue, glitter, pom poms and ribbon seem heaven sent. Even the saddest child’s mood is lifted a bit by playing with a puppet or singing at my green piano. So does creative expression solely lift mood or more?

More, I believe. At least the potentiality exists for creative expression to assist in exiting negative, stuck emotions from a developing child. Ancient cultures such as the Tibetans and Native Americans believe mental illness is rooted in emotional imbalances. Intuitively, I agree with them. Scientifically we use different jargon but basically agree that emotions underlie all illness. It doesn’t feel good to be depressed, experience language difficulty, have parents divorcing, be ill or experience other traumas in childhood. Such emotions left untreated may disrupt a child’s growing system thus rewiring their brain for less-than optimal development (i.e. MRI studies, IQ tests of traumatized children).

Children are developing so rapidly it is essential that we meet them wherever they are to facilitate “rewiring” their systems for optimum growth. And a child’s world consists largely of imaginative play and creative endeavors. So being able to direct play or creativity along with a cognitive component is a main entrance into building skills of wellness (i.e. resilience, confidence, courage, connection, character and emotional regulation). Especially if we agree that language is often inaccessible in early childhood and emotionally charged events often find their way into ineffable parts of a child’s being.

One example is Aimee, age 7, that has learned when she feels low to use her voice as a medium to exit stuck feelings. She trusts that humming her favorite tune will diminish her sadness. And it does. It is not a magic wand but one tool in her emotional toolbox.

Creative development

Parents are an enormously powerful bunch of individuals on the planet. Often their child’s healthy development is the most important piece of their parenting puzzle. I couldn’t agree more. So what is the role of creativity in a child’s overall growth? I believe great. Using creativity as a medium to facilitate a child’s development is smart parenting.

Children create their worlds each day. Tapping into a creative endeavor to teach emotional regulation, language acquisition, teamwork, fine motor skills, interpersonal abilities and more is engaging a child’s heart and mind. Amy, Amelia, Allie and Matt all visited my Children’s Art Studio last weekend. All together we listened to an expert wildlife rescuer and artist reveal an owl’s story, then each of us painted one using acrylics before we set off to see Solomon, the local Screech Owl wintering in the tree nook. With the average age being 5 years old this was a high-energy, creative cornucopia. Tears were had, teamwork was enhanced, drawing honed, scissors utilized and stories shared to support growth.

Being with each child and encouraging their unique creative expression is a powerful way to teach emotional wellness and build skills (i.e. physical, mental). Allie learned about personal space, Amy created an owl story for us and Mattie painted an owl with his favorite friend, a coyote.

In summary

So much I do not know for sure. What I do know is that creative outlets and imaginative programs serve children in a multitude of ways both medicinally and developmentally. Every child I have conducted therapy with or nurtured their talents of told me more over glue, construction paper and puppet making. It eases their systems (i.e. nervous, physical), calms their mind, allows for insight and empowers their path.

Very interesting stuff over there. Anyway, if I work hard I’ll have the redesigned site up by Monday if not tonight.

Songwriting: Writer’s Block - It Happened to me

January 16th, 2009

Last week on Songwriting Wednesday I wrote a post about how to write a song. Sure, it isn’t Songwriting Wednesday but it is How-To Friday so I’m going get into that subject some more since this is something I’m actually having an issue with right now. This isn’t a step by step tutorial like the last one was. Its more of… well, its just different.

 

For a little over a month now I’ve been religiously attending a local open mic night. I’ve been writing and performing at least one new song per week. Suddenly I’ve hit a wall. Actually, the wall was there all along. Its just that I denied its existence.

 

To understand what brought me to this point you have to go back at least a year, possibly two. Being the rock and roller that I am I decided that the whole sex and drugs thing was something I could handle. I over indulged, ended up ruining my life, and in the process managed to stop caring about my art. It was so sad because without music I don’t make sense. And I don’t mean other people’s music, I mean writing my own. I sold my Fender Strat and a vintage Epiphone acoustic that was way cheaper than it should have been.

 

After that I didn’t write for about a year. Didn’t even think about it. All my instruments and recording equipment were gone.

 

Two months ago I got myself together. But I can’t be totally together without my music. I was fortunate enough to get a beautiful Epiphone Dot Studio (the kind Pete Yorn uses… sort of).

 

I’ve been writing songs every week but none of them are any good. I mean they are certainly passable and they aren’t anything that would get you booed off a stage but they aren’t me. They have no heart. The music is written so quickly and the lyrics have no heart at all.

 

I said last week that inspiration is for suckers. And that definitely still holds true. But sometimes you hit a creative wall. You can push through a metric ton of shitty songs and never come out the other end. In those cases what do you do?

 

Put down the guitar. Smoke a cigarette. Have a beer and watch TV. Take a walk in the woods. Go to the city and look around. Indulge in the other creative activities you enjoy. Make contact with other humans. Create or destroy a relationship (either one of those things makes for excellent songs). Whatever you do, make sure you do it as an observer. Becuause if you aren’t observing then when it comes to writing the song you’ll have nothing to go on.

 

Thats it. That one paragraph is the cure to writers block. At least I hope it is. I’m on this journey with you. There are tons of articles on the subject online but I haven’t found one that’s helped. Your best bet is to let time take care of it. In the mean time keep on writing and performing those substandard songs. Because its those songs that get you to the promised land. Those songs are the acres and acres of debris surrounding the one previous diamond in the mine of your mind. 

 

Keep diggin’ fellow songwriters. I’ll be right there with you.

Militant Feminism - The Perversion of the Movement

January 14th, 2009

A good liberal wouldn’t write this blog. But I’m not a good liberal. Conservatives (AKA, dumbasses), I am not siding with you either. I have found a happy medium on this subject. Here I’ve gone explaining myself without even telling you what I’m talking about. As you can guess from the blog title today’s topic  is Militant Feminism (sorry guys, I know Wednesday is all about songwriting but I had to get this off my chest. Maybe I’ll write a songwriting blog in the morning. Its 2AM right now).

I met a feminist. Feminism is great. Feminism is most certainly a good thing. But this feminist has taken it too far, and has taken it to heart. She turns everything you say into a slight against women.

Feminism is right to question gender stereotypes. I don’t think a feminist is crazy if she breaks gender stereotypes by not shaving her arm pits or her mustache. And let me make it clear, I am not making fun of feminism here. These things, albeit slightly gross, are part of feminism. I think women shouldn’t have to wear pink and other bright colors. They can wear flannel and work in steel mills and be CEOs and chop wood, play sports and go topless at the beach just like men. That last one does not fit into every feminists definition of feminism but its certainly one I would encourage.

Feminists are all about not being victimized. They hate the idea of women being victims and having to rely on men to rescue them as they do in so many movies, TV shows, and even fairy tales. See: Shrek, Rapunzel, aspects of Sarah Jessica Parker’s character on Sex in the City with Big, and the list goes on.

The feminist I met has taken these tenets to such an extreme that she has gone in a circle and ended up on the wrong side of the issue. I work with this woman. She is a bitch. Plain and simple. Yeah, I know, its not sensitive to feminists to call a woman a bitch. I guess its like calling a black person a nigger. But hey, guys are dicks and assholes, so why can’t a woman be a bitch? I think being called a female dog is better than being labelled as an ugly penis or an anus. But I digress.

This woman (who is constantly PMSing [LOL I keep on saying things that are so antifeminists, but I swear I'm all for it]) seems to end up as a victim every five minutes. While working in the kitchen at my job, people come through with heavy pieces of fryers and ovens that are very hot. Whenever a guy comes through at least one person always says “hot stuff, comin’ through!” and no one takes notice. When a woman comes through the same way the same phrase is spoken by at least one person. When Mrs. Feminist comes through and someone says that, she retorts “It figures you would say that to a female”. That makes me cringe. Fuck you, lady. Get over yourself. No one thinks she’s really “hot stuff”. In fact she is just the opposite. She’s hideous. And your a fuck if you try to say otherwise. If someone is ugly then they’re ugly - and if someone is REALLY ugly then they’re hideous. But back to this woman. She took that little quip so personally. The fact that she took it so personally doesn’t bother me as much the fact that when she asserts her feminism with these quips she says them in a manner that screams “I am educated and in a higher social class than you. You are uneducated white trash that is beneath me”. Someone so much better than the rest of us should be out there running the world, not sitting in a fast food joint unclogging a greasy drain. She needs to get over herself. I’m a smart guy, who has a bright future ahead of me. Once I finish with school I’ll be out there working a well paying job that I enjoy (people in IT tech and other programming type jobs, especially analysts, make pretty good money from what I’ve read). Even as it stands now I’m pretty accomplished. In fact I was just looking at my ACT scores today because I needed them to register for classes and I scored higher than 93% of those who took the test when I did - and thats nationwide. I went to Loyola ( and will be going back). I don’t say this because I want to make sure you know how awesome I am. I want to stress that I could go around with an attitude like hers but I don’t. When I talk to people I always treat them with respect so long as I get it in return. I see people my own age in there who have ended up working for this fast foot place as a career. I don’t think any less of them. These are people like me and everyone’s situation is different. We can’t all be brain surgeons. So why does this woman think she’s so great?

I saw her using a squeegee the wrong way and she was obviously having trouble. I went over to help her. I showed her  a better, more efficient way to get the water on the floor into the drain. Instead of being thankful she took it as an insult to women everywhere. She created a victim of herself. She took what I did as me saying “women can’t squeegee floors right, let a real man do it”. I wasn’t implying a women couldn’t do that job. I was certainly letting her know that SHE, as in this particular person regardless of gender, seemed to suck at what she was doing. I would have done the same to anyone. In fact I ended up correcting lots of people’s mistakes, mostly men’s by the way, because it just happens to be my job. But I’m not an ass about it. I just say something like “Hey, check this out. I’ll show you a faster/better/easier/whatever way to do this”.

Does feminism make you better than others? No. But I think this is a fad in her life. Kind of like how there’s those goth kids in high schools all over America. She wants to be a feminist and in her mind she is in an exclusive club that makes her better than anyone else. She has taken it upon herself to educate us imbeciles on how to treat feminists like her better than everyone else.

She has twisted feminism in the way some Evangelicals have twisted Christianity. When it comes to the other girls (I say girls because many are under 18) she doesn’t look out for them like a good feminist. She stares them down. She has an obvious distaste for them. Because they aren’t feminists like her they are lesser life forms. But rather than take it upon herself to talk to them, befriend them, and then lead them to gender equality in our workplace, she just stares down her nose at them because she wants to be the special one. She believes she is someone with special knowledge. The others can’t know what she knows because then she wouldn’t be better than the others. This is total perversion of feminism. Feminism should be brought to the masses. It should not be forced on them by any means. But the least she could do is let them know what she does. Explain what feminism is all about and tell them by what means feminists hope to gain gender equality. 

But she is not a feminist. No. No way. No how. If a real feminist saw her they would be disgusted. She is just a woman who was never popular in high school, has poor social interaction skills, and isn’t very attractive. She perverts feminism in an attempt to make herself feel good about herself. She’s a snotty bitch.

Feminism is a movement meant to advance the cause of gender equality. A good feminist talks to people with respect and educates them on how to be respected as an equal with men. It is definitely not about being better than other people because you are a part of a special club in your mind with secret knowledge only to be imparted upon the truly worthy. Feminism is a cause I support. Being a total bitch in the name of feminism is something I don’t support.

Fuck you, crazy bitch! How do you like that? I called you a bitch!

On the Topic of Politics Everywhere

January 13th, 2009

Homos, homos, everywhere. And a lot of people hate them. I have an unhealthy obsession with defending the honor of gay people. I’m sure they don’t need me to speak on their behalf. In fact how could any straight person speak on their behalf. That would be like the NCAA being run by a white guy. But anyway, its political theater Tuesday so I have a few things to talk about today, not just gay people. So no comprehensive post on one subject today. Instead I’ll be touching on a lot of subjects.

Last night I caught a bit of Bullshit O’Reilly’s show. He was talking “covering” Bush’s final press conference that happened yesterday. You’ll be surprised at what pissed me off. I didn’t get mad at the way he usually talks over anyone who doesn’t agree with him and gives more airtime to guests he agrees with even if he has two guests debating each other at once. I didn’t get mad at the usual propaganda/indoctrination consisting of labeling anyone against the war unpatriotic or America haters. I also didn’t get mad when he referred to sound economic advice as “a form of socialism” adding that the Democrats are Marxists. What I took issue with was a comment he made concerning Bush’s press conference. He talked about how Bush admitted making mistakes while implying that Bush shouldn’t have apologized because he couldn’t foresee the current trouble we’re in. Thats totally retarded. Its his job to anticipate problems. Furthermore Billo reinforced the idea that Bush inherited a recession. Bull. Shit. He created a recession. And if he wants to talk about things he inherited how about talking about the budget surplus he inherited and promptly squandered.

And what’s this crap about him keeping us safe? He boasts about not having been attacked since 9/11. That is nothing to be proud of. First off, he had plenty of time to act on what occurred that day. He had the intelligence reports warning him about this in August of 2001. I mean, what the hell? Was 9/11 a gimme? As far as I know, you don’t get a do-over when things like that happen.

But all this isn’t what made me mad while watching Bullshit O’Reilly. I come to expect these sort of lies (and that’s what they are, lies, there is no other word for them. I will not use euphemisms on this one because they don’t apply here) from his show. The kicker was when Bill O’Reilly declared that he has had many disagreements with George Bush. I almost dies laughing. That’s a tactic that Republicans use when they cross the line and start sounding way too fanatical. Every prominent Republican has used that line (especially on shows like O’Reilly’s and conservative talk radio) in order to avoid looking like an extreme fanatic that worships a doctrine instead of letting reason and logic guide them as well as to make them seem objective. I dare anyone to find a clip or transcript or anything proving that Hannity, the Golfer, O’Reilly, or any other prominent conservative talker has disagreed with Bush on anything. I don’t want to see instances where they think a certain measure needs to be taken further (there are plenty of those but they still support the idea in principal in those cases). If you can find me any instance of this you can write my next blog and it can be about any moronic conservative idea you want. I won’t even edit it. And it will stay here forever.

On the to gay rights. I hate people who say people choose to be gay. To those people I ask why? What do they gain? Why would someone choose to be gay with people like you in the world? These people point to pseudoscientific studies that prove their point and then call any substantive scientific evidence to the contrary pseudoscience just I call their science the same thing.

There has been research that shows gay men’s pituitary gland is formed differently than straight men’s. There is also a study that is very odd. The research examined people’s ring fingers in comparison to their index finger. Those people with ring fingers longer than their index finger got lots of testosterone in the womb. How much is dependent upon how much longer the ring finger is in comparison to the index finger. Those with longer ring fingers tend to be more aggressive. It has been shown that women with longer ring fingers are more likely to be gay than those with index fingers the same length or longer than their ring fingers. The study isn’t as conclusive with men. But it makes sense that if a lot of testosterone in the womb enlarges the ring finger then women with more testosterone in them will be more likely to partner with women. How’s that for scientific evidence Nancy Goldfuck. You can look the study up yourself. I heard about it on the radio. They said where you can find it but I forgot.

Now on to Sarah Palin. Her daughter is an unwed mother and high school drop out and her boyfriend is the same. This woman raised a child that did this and she wants to be president? First learn to manage your family, Suzy Homemaker. This woman needs to shut up. She blames everyone else for how bad the campaign… no, excuse me, she blames everyone for how bad she was in interviews and throughout the campaign including that prank call from Nicolas Sarcozy (spelling?) and never takes responsibility herself. By doing this she is making herself look even worse. She wants the presidency for all the wrong reasons. She is in love with herself. She could care less about the country. She just wants people to adore her. Having her as president is a scary prospect. And its not because shes a Republican. The woman didn’t even know what the job of the Vice President is. She couldn’t name a book, newspaper or magazine until weeks later on the campaign trail when she made a remark about a newspaper article about Obama’s relationship with Bill Eyeres (spelling?). Funny thing about that is the newspaper article she referenced was over two years old. Was she catching up or something? How the hell did she get a newspaper that was over two years old?

The woman is an idiot. I’m gonna totally gonna get hate comments for what I’m about to say next but I can’t stop myself… I can see where the gene for her baby’s condition came from.

Ann “the Man” Coulter - Why?

January 12th, 2009

i was watching the View (a rerun I think, and don’t make fun of me for watching the View) and Ann the Man Coulter was on. This woman is no longer relevant and no one should be shocked by what she says. You should not even care. The only difference between her and any number of schizophrenic homeless guys screaming their governmental conspiracy theories at the top of their lungs on a street corner in Chicago is that she’s on TV… and still manages to look like a transvestite while doing it.

I don’t want to write too much about this woman because she doesn’t deserve to be talked about.

Before I go on, let me give you a paraphrasing of her new book:

“Liberals are whiny pussies because whenever something racist happens they complain. There is no such thing as racism and rich white people are the real victims. I have no children because I am a barren transvestite but I’ll weigh in on single mothers just so I can be provocative. Single mothers are whores or too poor to support their children or they are just bad mothers and their children will run away and commit crimes. We should all fuck the poor and ignore racism and kill the fags and wage endless war against anyone who doesn’t bow to our will and the world will be a better place.”

This is a woman who should be ignored. Its all an act. Do not be shocked and pay no attention. This woman feeds on controversy. If all of the sudden the accepted world view was her own, she would be out there shocking people by going against all that she stood for in the first place. She’s just a contrarian.

I say things to be provocative too. But its not what I say thats provocative, its how I say it: bluntly. Ann Coulter doesn’t do what she does because she believes in anything. She does it to sell books packed with statistics that are dubious at best and proven totally false at worst.

I know no one cares what she says. And I know everyone just wants her to go away. Stop talking about her, stop being shocked, and don’t watch on when she is on TV and she will be gone.

I’m a Paranoid Conservative Republican

January 11th, 2009

p style=”clear: both”>Hello, My name is Betsy and Bill let me write his blog for him today. He needs to learn some morality and how to love his country so I guess I’ll tell you about myself and how I do everything right all the time always and no one else can correct me because I am right.br />br />I love God. I love God so much that I’m going to spell HIS name in all capitals from now on. Oh GOD! /p>p style=”clear: both”>I think that the media has a liberal bias. The facts do NOT have a liberal bias, its just that those reporters are so liberal, thats all!/p>p style=”clear: both”>I love that Sarah Palin don’t cha know and also too her kids also and also too also I pray to GOD to help fix her retard baby./p>p style=”clear: both”>I love America. America is the greatest country on the planet and if you don’t think so then you hate America and if you think another country does something better you also too hate America and you should go live in Russia you communist!/p>p style=”clear: both”>Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, don’tcha know! Also too he is a terrorist. He comes from a Muslim country and also too he is also a socialist too also and also too an atheist too as well as also a Muslim too./p>p style=”clear: both”>I fly a flag every day in front of my house because that makes me love my country./p>p style=”clear: both”>I follow all of GOD’s rules. I don’t kill babies. In fact, because GOD hates baby-killers I indoctrinate.. err.. umm.. I mean recruit… or wait… I find young enthusiastic young people who are also too Christians to volunteer to strap bombs to themselves and die for all the innocent babies while sending all the baby-killers to hell when they walk through the abortion clinic doors./p>p style=”clear: both”>The military loves America. Do you support the military? If you don’t support the way you hate the troops. You want the troops to die if you don’t support the war. Also too you are also a terrorist too if you don’t support the war./p>p style=”clear: both”>We Christians are not terrorists or extremists like those Muslims and here’s how: We believe that the end of days is upon us and that if we are to go to heaven we need there to be a war in Israel so we support Israel and make sure the government gives them all the weapons they want. With each new war around the world we are one step closer to Judgement Day! God speaks to out leader, George Bush, directly and he told George that HE wanted him to President! Isn’t that amazing? GOD speaks through me too sometimes. When that happens… oh wait, I think its about to happen, hang on…. here it comes…. blaga habalala nabalagaba soo soo urrr krek thooo sssspoooj spoojikaka yama lama gropoppy… Sorry, the LORD had me speaking in tongues there. Where was I now?/p>p style=”clear: both”>Oh yeah, Liberals are pussies. They always want to talk about stuff and make plans and study junk. Eff that S. We Republicans are take charge people. We went into the Eye Rack without enough troops because we knew GOD was on our side. GOD loves AMerica and thinks all other countries are heathens./p>p style=”clear: both”>Being a good Christian is hard sometimes. People really hate you. But those people have the devil in them. Especially thos homos! Homos are awful terrible disgusting people because they have AIDS and have sex in their butts and have sex with three or four or ten other men all at once. Its so ewey. Gross! Those people are going to hell. All they have to do is get saved. They just need to decide to be straight and go against every fiber of being in their body that tells them that being straight is natural for them and then commit suicide because they lived the worst biggest lie. Its better to kill yourself than to be a faggot!/p>p style=”clear: both”>–Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Betsy, the stereotypical Republican. Send all hate mail to her, I didn’t write this blog ;) /p>p style=”clear: both”>I would so love for some hardcore Christian as in Evangelical Republican read this blog. Just this post./p>p style=”clear: both”>Anyway, its Sunday, the other wildcard post day.br />br />/p>p style=”clear: both”>I am sick. Very sick. I feel like a turd on ice, whatever that means. I nod out all day long for some reason. I can be talking right to your face and just nod out. Its weird. I feel werid. The doctor’s office is being very cryptic with my blood work./p>p style=”clear: both”>Anyway, I’m a working man now and I’m also a schooling man too. Pretty soon I’ll be developing software and being a freelance web designer/programmer. I really love the design part of web languages but also the programming part too. I created my own PHP scripts to up date this site. When you go to the Felix pages and any other pages besides the blog and the Feed those are all run by scripts that retrieve information from a database. I even have an admin area that you’ll never see that allows me to log in and create, update, and delete the information on any page. And I wrote it all myself./p>p style=”clear: both”>Its a lot like art. Web design and programming is a very creative process. People think its only for super smart or just plain nerdy people. Its not. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find that it attracts highly creative people./p>p style=”clear: both”>Seacrest, out!/p>br class=”final-break” style=”clear: both” />