Over the weekend I received my election ballot sample showing all of who was running for each office.  Here I thought there was only two really running for President, maybe three but didn’t Nader concede already.  Guess what I was totally wrong…and so are probably the majority of Americans.

We constantly here about the two political parties, Democrat and Republican, and how all our elections are decided between the two.  Though an independent might slip through now and then.  Guess what according to my states ballot there are officially 5 political parties with presidential candidates and one independent. Now I know what you’re thinking I must live in one of those states that have a history of being easily swayed or even placed on the ballot with just a wink and a nudge from an old family friend.  Nope I’m living in a blue flows from the pores state of Maryland, since 1852 a republican candidate has only won the state 12 times.

That being so we still have official parties promoting their candidates on our ballot.  My question is why is this the first I’ve heard of most of them.  I watched the debates….maybe not the whole thing….but I caught as much as I could stomach, no mention there.  I watch the news and Sunday shows..must have slept in that day or went to bed to early…not seen there.

In the age of technology when information can be found at a click why weren’t us voters notified by our trusted or even not so trusted news sources.  Those in the main stream once again completely ignores who they see as being sacrifical lambs, not because of actual do diligence on their part, but because they have  chosen who they want us to see.  They don’t even give us the courtesy of a notation about these other candidates.

Yes I know that voting for these candidates are just throwing your vote away when you run the numbers, but what if they were acknowledged by the media? What if we knew the names and faces of these candidates before seeing them on our ballots when we step into our voting booths.  Could Americans truly have more choices then the have been told, could these other candidates have some ideas or information that could help us make a stronger and studier USA for ourselves and our children.  These questions can’t and won’t be answered as long as we keep accepting the media for our source of information.

That just flies in the face of logic but I think the time has come to acknowledge that our news is no more “news” then those entertainment shows we sometimes watch, but never admit to.  News agencies now worry more about ratings then what their watchers need to know.  How many of us had seen terrible crimes committed in other counties, states, or even countries run on our “local” news, while good stories about people out there working to improve something or even problems that could be solved easily if enough people knew about it, don’t.  They don’t get the blood boiling and heart racing but, they do connect a person to their community.  Connecting is what makes a community…without it we are a bunch of people living in boxes, driving in boxes, and placed in boxes by the strangers we call neighbors.

So honestly I think it’s time we stood up and said “Hey I’m an adult and want the respect to be treated as one!”  In other words stop sugar coating the facts that aren’t pleasant and stop sensationalizing violence and crime so they look like something Hollywood made up.   We are too complacent and it’s costing not only us, but our children and if we’re not careful their children more then freedom…it’s costing them the knowledge of what freedom is at all.

So for those candidates I didn’t know where running I felt it only fair to at lest post them here.  If you want to look them and their parties up Great! but that is your decision.  I’m not going to shove any agenda down anyone’s throat…even if I agree with it.  Your probably an adult if you’re reading my boring musings so I’m going to let you be one and decide for yourself.

For the Green Party:

• Cynthia McKinney (California) - President
• Rosa Clemente (North Carolina) - Vice President

For the Libertarian Party

• Bob Barr (Georgia) - President
• Wayne A. Root (Nevada) - Vice President

As Independents

• Ralph Nader (Connecticut)- President
• Matt Gonzalez (California) - Vice President

For the Constitution Party

• Chuck Baldwin (Florida) - President
• Darrell L. Castle (Tennessee) - Vice President

These are in no particular order except that I read them off my states ballot that way.  I know that I did not include the two most widely known.  If by now you don’t know Senator Barrack Obama and Senator John McCain names then you need more help figuring out your vote for next Tuesday then I can help you with.

Yes I know I didn’t link to any of these canidates or parties as I know you have a google/MSn/Yahoo/? bar right at the top of your screen and you can search them as much as you like.

Well I have to say that I finally have succomed to the life of a pirate. Of course not in real life but in virtual. I have been playing a MMO, massively multiplayer online game, but that can take a lot of time and actually talking to other players can be interesting.  So as I was researching an idea for a new website I found another online game that let’s me be a pirate and doesn’t try to suck all my time into it.  It’s called Pirate Quest and it’s in the style of a RPG, role playing game, of old.  For those who remember rolling the dice for D&D, marvel superheros, etc. it’s like that.  What is nice is you take turns so you can walk away and do the work you’re supposed to be doing on the computer.  Plus it seems like most of the people playing are older, you know less  tween and teens.  There is also no need to become a paying player to get passed a certain level. So it’s free, adult friendly, and let’s you forget the shark invested waters you work in what more can the hidden pirate in you want.

Now I’m not writing this to get anyone to go and join, of course if you do I get referral credit if you use the link above.  I’m writing to let the other adults out there know that it’s ok to still want to play games and be a hero, villain, pirate, mafia, chief, warrior, and almost anything else you dreamed of being when you were a child.  At first I was afraid that playing the games I was researching was going to be scary and dangerous.  I’m happy to report that I have found some very nice people all over the world who not only are nice to know but only to happy to help you out either in the game or out of it, though I would advise waiting till you know your online friends for awhile before contacting outside the game environment.  With the dizzying amount of places offering free email and messenger services you can set up dummy accounts for communication with your game friends without the worry of giving more information then is safe out.

Playing is the way we first learn when we were in childhood.  As we grow older we are taught that playing is for children, which translates into learning by example only.  Humans did not become what they are today, let’s just think of the good for this one, by just following along and not experimenting on their own.  We as a species have always used hands on and actual experience to shape our world and our lives.  That means widening our imagination which can only be done through play and reading.  Reading may not be everyones idea of a good time and finding the time to actually finish a good book may be difficult, though worth it.  So why not jump into another world for a while and see just what you can do to fix it’s problems, make yourself rich and powerful, save a civilization from it’s demise, etc.  You just may find a part of yourself that was long lost and waiting to be allowed out to play again.

Yes that is a question I face almost daily, if not several times a day. It seems that once you start to blog the desire to just jot everything down becomes very addicting.

I know from looking at this blog that you’re thinking ….how come there is not much here?….The answer is that there is but most is just started to vent. Then I read it and cringe and leave it in draft form to clean up later or I delete as being much to eclectic to post. Eclectic a much more politically correct term then crazy rantings I think.  So I have decided that instead of making them all pretty and more rational sounding that I’m going to just start posting them as they are written.  So this is your warning that all postings here may not make sense, probably won’t be  about the same things, could possibly give nightmares, and may offer insight into my seriously deranged mind (I prefer to think of it as thinking outside the box).

Since you are reading them here I also decided that you don’t want polished and politically correct writings but just the honest impressions of someone who doesn’t see why everyone has to follow the pack.  Lemmings  have been said to follow the pack to  the extent of falling off a cliff to stay with them, I personally have the fear that us humans have the same capacity for stupidness in the name of fitting in.   Take a look at corsets, high heels, tight jeans, cell phones, botox, and any of hundreds of things that someone (probably an ad exec) said that we couldn’t live without or we weren’t “normal”.

When you think about just that word, “normal”, on it’s own it should scare you more then being “odd”.  A synonym for “normal” is “average” and how do you get an average?  You take all of it the extremes on both ends as well as those in between add them together and divide by the amount of individuals that was decided to be studied.  So in other words there is no one who is really “normal” or “average”, ok in the laws of mathematics I’m sure the odds are that there are a few but taken as a whole it would be a slight percentage of the whole. Enough of that subject this post I could do pages on that topic alone and it’s to late at night for me to even be semi-coherent in doing it.

So in essence I welcome to read my musings, but I do so with a warning that they will follow no rhyme or reason other then that the thoughts fluttered through my mind.  If you want to read something that is written to educate, help, or encourage you have most likely come to the wrong place.  This is for entertainment purposes only (for you the reader) and stress release and ranting (for me the author).  I do welcome comments and even invite you to leave them.  I will respond if a question is asked or rant about it in a post if it strikes my fancy.  If you are looking for my serious writings they are found other places and me be shameless I have links (that I need to update, hopefully they will be before you read this) on the menu on the right.  Right now I am writing for Off-Grid.net, a website that is dedicated to living a self-sustainable lifestyle, Cheapskate Moms (new site), that is to be full of tips on how me and some friends make our dollar stretch, and any place else that will let me put my two cents in.

With the 4th of July just passing you know that family gatherings were a to do for most of us. As with most family get togethers during the summer ours was held at my Mother’s as they have a in ground pool, so by default they hold all summer events. Not that many of the adults get in but it’s a nice center piece.

As with any family event winding down the different generations of adults sit down and start discussing whatever comes up. My lucky day as it was decided children and child rearing were part of the discussion. Did I ever mention that not only do I have the most children, almost a four to one ratio in my siblings, but that I’m the baby of the family. When you figure I’m one of five on one side (both parents remarried after their divorce) but combined I’m the youngest of seven siblings! So since my children are the youngest on the one side I get lots of advice, not so much from my siblings but from our parents, their in-laws, and my parents close friends ( who are “aunts and “uncles”) as well as my actual aunts and uncles.

Yes, you guessed it I follow all this sage and might I add freely given advice with almost religious vigor, NOT! Though I do admit to usually taking a silent or non-committal role during most of these type of discussions, not only is it easier for me but my husband as well. He really hates when they get my dander up over something “stupid” (his words, not mine) and he has to deal with me either needing to let off steam (you know rehashing the conversation but this time with all those intelligent comebacks you think of after) or having to prop up my confidence in being a great Mom. So of course I tried to keep my comments to vague and innocent sounding. One of the many topics was how young those in their twenties seemed….innocent to agree right…wrong I was reminded that I had my first child at 22, second and third at 25 and last one at 28 so to get myself out of where it had gone before..I started to young and my husband had hoped to keep me barefoot and pregnant (yea right do they know how long it took to convince him I truly wanted everyone one of them?!) and so it would have went… So I thought it would be great to change the direction to how I would only be in my mid-forties when the last hit 18 and graduated. And since I saw it coming added that yes I knew they might not be out of the house and may still need help, at least worrying about babysitters, making their meals, and that if I wanted or needed to go away I would be free to.

So since I though I covered most of those bases I figured the conversation would now not be focused on me and would go back to being general or about any the other parents in my generation. Did it go that way? Of Course Not! No my Mother then had to state that I would then have no control over them then.  I don’t see child rearing in line with animal training. You don’t strive to control and break children’s behavior, you guide, steer, aim, advocate, etc, breaking a child to a parents view just leaves a mess that may or may not get put back together or if your really unlucky a child that grows up and does the same thing to their child. I know I should have just ignored her comment but this is a pet peeve (ok a major peeve) with me. So I opened my mouth and inserted foot, at least to them. I stated that I really have no control over my children except for their love and their desire to please me. Yes, I know you can see where this is going, even I could see the freight train barreling down on my “naive’” head. “No wonder my children don’t have spotless rooms and try to get out of helping around the house”  were the few complaints they could come up with.

Though their arguments about how my children act didn’t hold much water as it is general knowledge that my children are great listeners, at least outside the house in it they’re your typical children and pre-teen, get good if not great marks in school, are seen as role models by teachers and administrators, are active in after school activities, and can be taken to five star restaurants or fast food joints without incident, and love to help others. So even if they fight authority at home, not to strenuously, can’t keep their hands off the xbox, or eyes off the tv, want to play instead of cleaning up after themselves, hate cleaning up after the dog, or can’t remember to feed the pets everyday; I think they are still ahead of the game. Or in my husbands words “if they did all that they wouldn’t be children they would be adults”.

So as they couldn’t think of much to complain about my sister’s mother-in-law asked me to explain. So I did. You can’t control children anymore then you can anything else. Their love for you and desire to please is already ingrained…think of any 1 yr old and how they follow their mother around trying to help. You stroke that desire by letting them help, even if in reality it’s not helping you, it’s teaching them. Now you may lose some of that during the 2 through 5 year old period, but it will creep out when you least expect it during those years (especially after they make you rethink why you wanted children in the first place), encourage it when you see it. By 6 or 7 it will be back as they are ready to learn how adults in their lives do what they do. Once again the help may really be a hindrance but willingness to let them, teaches them how to do it and at this age they can master some chores. Of course it will only last a year or two if your lucky then your back to reminding them of their chores, or if you have an over achiever you can luck out and be able to just list chores.

Just remember they won’t always remember or actually do those chores, even if they do remember.  Just keep in mind the other piece of advice that sticks in the back of my mind when confronted with a contest of wills. “Never get in a argument with a child…and if you do WIN! So pick your battles carefully. For all it takes is to lose once for a child to know they CAN WIN.” In other words a child doesn’t realize they can win against an authority figure until they DO. So no matter the cost always win in a battle of wills with a child. They learn quick and don’t forget their victories for years if not decades!

So now my husband is hoping we can go visit my Father’s side for Labor Day as it’s always relaxing there, and inserting a foot is harder for me to do there.  Who knows maybe I’ll let him win that one!

My Father and I were talking the other day and he mentioned how he viewed today’s new wave of reality TV as something akin to what the Romans used The Colosseum games for right before the fall of the Roman Empire. To entertain the populace so they wouldn’t notice the decay and corruption around them.

At first I just chalked it up to another one of his quaint views about the government being against you and all but on reflection I have to say I see some disturbing parallels. The games were deigned to help others be glad of how well their lives were going, in contrast to a bunch of slaves being put into an arena where it was either be killed or kill, and that was if your were one of the lucky ones. How is that mush different to the social suicide we see people put themselves through every season on a multitude of “reality shows” that are edited to make them as sensational as possible.

These shows take hundreds of hours, if not thousands and compress it down to less then an hour for our enjoyment every week. How can that in anyway be seen as reality and not fiction by editing I really don’t know. That is like saying if you cut the daily newspaper into swiss cheese like pages you’re getting all the news. My question is really are we so desperate to make the lives we lead seem better that we need to watch people being shown and edited to become examples of what we are thankful we’re not like, or at least have convinced ourselves we are not.

It used to be a dirty little secret if you watched talked shows like “Jerry Springer” ,”Montel Williams”, “Riki Lake” or any of the hundreds that have come and gone. Now it seems like a fifteen minute look into someone else’s life gone bad is not enough. We need 24/7 access to it so we can feel like our lives are not that bad.

When did we change from trying to live a good life and enjoyment in our homes and families get to be “Well it’s not as bad as John Doe’s down the street”? Having a good husband, children who behave, jobs we like, etc. get to be something to make you feel guilty about having. Have we finally as a society given up on finding the good in people, in ourselves, that we are just thankful that our lives aren’t worse. How many of us still reach for the stars? Find happiness in the everyday? Look for a smile from our partner, children and loved ones?

Our lives are what we make of it. I know my children are happy because they wake with a smile, my husband loves me because he leaves with a kiss, my family care because they call and welcome me with a hug no matter how long I’ve been absent. The world is imperfect, my journey here fraught with obstacles and delays, the very air I breathe will probably kill me before my time due to pollutions I had little in the way of putting there. That is just the easy part of living in todays world. But I do know that it is my choice which I can dwell on and which I can work to change. I chose to dwell on the first and work hard to change the second for not only myself and my children but for everyone else who can’t. I may not succeed by anyone else standards but mine, but I will succeed and I encourage everyone else to do the same.