Friday Nights

Number 5

$4...

Tres speedy...

Dos

1

Why wait?

Odi et amo; excrucior.

You've gotta do what you've gotta do. And even that's a poor excuse for why we do the things we do. Let's say it's the culmination of haves and needs. And Sam, I still maintain your mom has no idea what she's talking about when it comes to that.

That's not what I wanted to talk about at all.

I wanted to talk about life, refreshing, clear water, cool headed, warm blooded life. Sweet epiphany. Blatant disregard for care or cause life! The state crying in existence, not over it. Or being in the moment instead of calculating what the moment means as far as short and long term... blah blah blah...

Or in yet other words having an artistic soul. Being reckless, being able to afford really behaving like you want to. Truly, to be free. Now, being free does not mean being above the rules. Being free is having submitted yourself to law, religion, hope, faith, art, soul. Life. And, in being submissive, you're able to be free. It gives you all the license you need to operate in any of those environments because you're a subject of that environment rather than a dissenter.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

That and everyone wang chung.

But seriously, I've heard artists are able to create their own moral universe' but maybe it's just that artists can so ingratiate themselves into the moral universe itself, they become a thing of the universe instead of a dissenter that they run part of that universe instead of trying to revolutionize it from without.

Think of it as putting a firecracker on your open hand. Yeah it may sting a bit but that's it. That's trying to revolutionize from without and you'll get that much of an affect, it'll sting for a bit then it'll be forgotten.

Now put a firecracker in a closed fister, that will sting something fierce.

Protesters of any sort, be it the picketers or the hippies banging their drums and sticking flowers in the barrels of guns, or the businessman that's against a certain politician. All of them are kicking at a wall in frustration, with no real power to make really any sort of change. That change comes from within the closed fist.

But that's the thing, most people besides a negligent effort or cursory word here or there, don't really want to do the work to make the change happen. They could put it in their own realm of control to where they could honestly make a difference but it takes time and real effort and most of us are just pissed off at something distant that somehow impedes our own little... well, whatever, plans.

Try thinking of it this way, a lot of people try the whole diet thing, sit around and take a pill, eat a bar, eat a certain meal and BAM! You'll get skinnier. And sometimes maybe, maybe that helps. But everyone knows that diets are mostly hype and can help but they probably won't be the end all of your obesity. Now everyone knows that if you eat less, eat healthy, drink water and exercise your ass off you will get skinnier.

Kicking the wall of the Pentagon and telling it to move, even with all your hope and wishing it would move, you dirty hippie, is not going to make it move. As far as I know. That's you taking five minutes, throwing some money at your problem and then getting frustrated you aren't losing any weight.

Now we all know what it would take to move the Pentagon, an act of God or a whole lot of construction dudes putting days and days into moving it. That's the honest truth of it, as far as I know to move that thing.

Another branch of this is to think of things beyond what you know. Now right before this I said "As far as I know" that's because there could be another way to move that building but I don't know it.

The artistic spirit has to do a lot with things outside of reality, the parts of us we know we have but they're inside, or they're the ones we take for granted. Things related to love, honor, faith, all those principles and self-guiding attributes we have within us. Some of what people would call paranormal is in this as well.

So I'm listening to this guy on the radio talk about his out of body experiences as a child, then later on he saw some guy get a vodka bottle to stay stuck to his forehead even when he moved his head around the bottle didn't fall.

Now I know what you're thinking because I thought it as well. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind I banished because who I am to discard someone's beliefs just because I find them a little absurd. A lot of people would find my beliefs absurd. So what's fair is fair, I don't want people to disregard my beliefs so I'll not disregard theirs, no matter how outlandish. Really the crazier the better. There really are things beyond us out there. I don't understand it but I do understand that I'm one very very small piece to one huge puzzle.

I don't even know what's going on with my bosses at work, trust me, the more I learn the more I realize I don't know anything.

To a certain point I think if I did understand half of that paranormal/faith type of stuff I'm pretty sure it'd blow my mind. A lot of people just want peace of mind, reality in itself is a chore enough by itself, to take on an entire unseen world is something completely different.

So I guess really the whole "Man is that he may have joy" thing means make the world what you will. It's ours as much as anyone else's down here. Some people may have authority over us, or power to do us harm but when you get right down to it stripped of titles and muscle, guns and forces, we all put on our pants the same way. As far as I know we all bleed when we get cut. I guess the rest could just be luck.

Like being at a rock concert. If you wanna get to the front you just start leaning forward. The whole jostling and moving of the crowd, you'll find a way to the front. You'll be covered in sweat and whatever other horrible ...stuff, but hey, you wanted the front right?

These guys, leaders, dictators, poets, revolutionaries, great people. The movers and shakers of the world were the ones who just made the effort of moving forward into and past the crowd. The rest of us, beyond our peace of mind and personal safety, don't really care so long as we can live and laugh and love.

So in all this chaos we've got everyone from the "I don't care's" to the "Follow me's" and the "Get out of my ways" to the "My Cause Is Right" and everything in between. But in the good old US of A you can do and be whatever the hell you feel like and there are men and women here that will defend your right to that with their very lives. That's because what we don't protect for others we can't expect to have protected ourselves. That's what a society means.

To kind of tie this all off, I know it's been a long one, life right? Pure, unadulterated God-given, clean air, fresh grass, girls smiling, sunshine and laughter kind of life is what I wanna feel. And every once in a while the clouds part and there it is again, but mostly it's a jumbled train ride through whatever, up and downs, long hard climbs, grating stops and starts, lots of yelling, cursing, loving, and horrible rain-slogged nights, but those long ranged vistas of sunrises, crowning the top of a mountain as the sun lights the valley beneath it and literally makes it glow, girls laughing. That's what you just think about, calculate in your mind, shrug your shoulders and keep going with because life really is that great. If nothing else because it's ours and because we're free. And if that's all we had we'd still be happy.

Peace, love, mormonism and dew.
-Warmest Regards, Owen

This has to be shared with the world

I received a letter that I need to share.

I wish I was better at editing blogs, because this is cooler than anything else I've posted.
Who's awesome. You're awesome.

For my good friend back home, you know who you are.

Megan, hey. How's life? Looks like you got some sweet new cabinets. I'm pretty bummed I didn't get to help out on that, it would've been fun. Box or two of mountain dew (that rhymed) and a bunch of black paint, sounds like a party.

So I actually went grocery shopping, I know, you don't believe me, just like you probably don't believe I actually wash my sheets. But I do. I really just got the essentials. Burritos, cold cereal, and mountain dew. So now when my midnight munchies hit I'll at least have a burrito and a dew, unlike the last two weeks where I just sit in my bed and wish I'd bought food.

I get out of the army next summer. Weird to think that but it's true, my official date is Sept 4th but I'll be home before then because of how the army works. You already knew this but I figured I'd tell you again. I get home next summer. Not 2011, not 2012, next m-f-ing year. That's 2010 baby. 607 days from today. SA-WEET!

Anyway, hope you and Steve are having a good time there in the frozen wastelands of the west. Below freezing temperatures, feet of snow, ice, frozen extremities, car crashes from black ice, not a freeway within 30 minutes from you OH MAN! I miss Cache Valley. But more than that, I really...



Really...

Rea-he-heh-he-eally...

I mean really miss...

Oh, nevermind, found one. Ah dew...



Oh, no wait, I meant you. I swear, I meant you. :D