As I sit here in my bed after a filling meal, and watching a couple of movies with my family on this Christmas Day, I can only think of one word to sum up the way I feel at the moment, and that is: Appreciative.
The older I get, the more I realize that family, in all aspects of the word, is a valuable piece to the puzzle that makes up our lives. Now, I'm not speaking of just "Mother, Father, Sister, Brother" type family. I'm speaking of the sum of all of it's parts. Friends make up a vast amount of my family. Surrogate families also have played a major role in the creation of whom I am. So many times we overlook the true value in the bonds that make us strong. A person comes into your life, and they teach us valuable lessons, some good, some bad, but there is always a lesson to be learned. A memorable friend (whether that memory be happy or not) is always of value to me. The ones that take a piece of you away, those are not worth keeping around, but they also teach us to not go giving our hearts away to just anyone.
I see so many families that are in disarray, and chaos, over the most trivial of situations, and I stand looking in from outside their proverbial window, and I see a family that has all of the necessary components to have a strong bond, but the most miniscule thing is tearing them apart. Then you see families that have the world falling down around their ears, and they stay strong, they stay passionate, and they stay involved, because they know that the machine only works as well as the strength of each part.
I have a best friend that just had a baby. He has a beautiful wife, and an amazing home. He has a job that I think is incredible. It requires intelligence, skill, and patience. I admire this man for creating what I see as a beautiful family. Things don't always go his way, but he fights, and he struggles to keep that "family" as strong as possible. It takes hard work, and effort, and a lot of times I'm the only one that sees the efforts that he puts forth, but I remind him always that I do see them, and that I admire him for maintaining the strength, and the verve to keep what he has, stable, happy, and secure. That is family.
Family is the tears. Family is hugs. Family is fear of losing them. Family is more than a picture on a wall. Family is the idea that when you are falling down, you need them close to keep you strong. Family is the person that you need a hug from when you feel blue. Family is the person you call when you just want to make sure they're okay and safe. Family is the person you fight hard for in life, as to not let them down. But, above all, family is what makes you become a better person, for them being in your life.
I have shed many a tear for family. Tears of joy. Tears of sorrow. Tears of loneliness when they're not close, and tears of pain when I feel I've wronged them in some way. But, I've never been ashamed of those tears. Without those tears, I wouldn't know I care, and neither would they. A tear is a warm and wet way of showing how passionately you feel for the people that touch your life.
So, as I sit here on Christmas Day, I place my hand on my heart, and say "Thank you." to all of my family for loving me as I am. I am chaos. I am complex. I am strong, but I am fragile.
But, best of all, YOU are my family. I love you all.
Thank you Xander for being my newest inspiration for being a better family member. I will fight for you to keep your future family strong, safe, happy, and well loved. You are the bundle of joy that I consider the best gift of all in my 2011. Thank you Erin for being such a devoted and loving mother. Thank you Josh for being my brother, my best friend, and a man that I look up to and admire. You set the standard on what a man should be. And, most of all, thank you all for letting me be a part of that family.
There are a few more members of my family that I could mention, but that would just make me rattle on and on, and get more long winded and mooshy, and we don't want that.
Stay happy world. We all bleed. We all cry. We all have the ability to love, rather than hate.
Choose love.
Happy Christmas, 2011 to all, and to all a good night.
Merrily yours,
Johnny
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Merry Christmas....or am I wrong in saying that?
In remembrance of an event that happened a few years ago, that still brews a fiery pit into my gut, I present to you two examples of things that annoy me to no end, and then my rant on why it is anti-happy to even think in this manner, and creates a world of gloom and darkness of which we are forced to live within.
I present to you Example A:
----------------------------------------
Seattle airport removes Christmas trees
Sun Dec 10, 6:33 PM ET
All nine Christmas trees have been removed from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.
Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.
"We decided to take the trees down because we didn't want to be exclusive," said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. "We're trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year."
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn't add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows.
"Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season," said Bogomilsky, who works at Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation headquartered in Seattle's University District.
After consulting with lawyers, port staff believed that adding the menorah would have required adding symbols for other religions and cultures in the Northwest. The holidays are the busiest season at the airport, Betancourt said, and staff didn't have time to play cultural anthropologists.
Hanukkah begins this Friday at sundown.
"They've darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up," said his lawyer, Harvey Grad. "There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch."
------------
And my personal favorite...those bastards....Example B:
McDonald's Removes Beef Flavoring from their French Fries
Sleeping With the Enemy
by Jeff Nelson
Wed, Dec. 11, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- Many people know that McDonald's was successfully sued in a class action by a group of vegetarians. The vegetarian plaintiffs alleged the burger chain concealed the presence of beef product in what McDonald's had represented as being meat-free French fries. As part of the settlement, McDonald's made a public apology and agreed to pay $10 million to various groups representing the class, including $6 million to "vegetarian organizations."
--------------------------------
Now, for my tyrade!
It's gone too far, is basically the bottom line. Before long we're going to have people boycotting the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center. There will no longer be a Christmas Spirit during the Holidays due to everyone being afraid to 'offend' or to 'step on toes'.
You know what, yeah, it's the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. No longer are we brave, because we are scared of Terrorists, and of the Media Hype of every Bird Flu, SARS, or if we happen to see a powdery white substance on an envelope. So, that leaves The Land of the Free. Freedom? We have more rules in this country than any other country I have ever been in. We can't drink until we're 21, and yet most of the guys overseas fighting are younger than 21. We can vote for the next President at 18, but we couldn't drink champagne if the one we voted for wins.
Now, we do have freedom of choice, and this is where I'm going with this. If you don't like the way a place serves food, don't go there. If you don't like the burgers...don't order them...if the fries taste like meat...DON'T ORDER THEM!!!...go somewhere else. Too long have we let 1 or 2 people determine what the rest of the public does. 1 woman is the reason that all coffee cups say..."Caution Contents Hot!"....
"No shit....it's coffee."
Yet, one lawsuit and BAM!! we've got a new label.
I'm so sick of one person standing up for some bullshit cause and the rest of us sitting back on our haunches and complaining about the outcome. "I hate the fact that McDonald's changed the taste of their fries." They didn't change them very willingly...they were sued by Vegetarians, and no one else stood up to say..."Fuck them, let them go someplace else."...and so with no opposing voices...they changed them.
Same with Christmas. Wal-Mart seems to be the only Amercian Company (again, i hate using the word American to describe the United States, but it's how companies are described here) with enough balls to say "Merry Christmas!" when you walk through the door. You know what, if you're Jewish, and you have someone say "Merry Christmas!" and you say..."I'm Jewish!" what do they normally reply?..."Oh, well then Happy Hanukkah!", it's that simple. If a country is based on Christian beliefs, then let it be. I'm an Atheist, and I love Christmas. I love seeing Santa (created by Coca-Cola, who stole it from St. Nicholas from Turkey or possibly Finland), I love seeing Christmas Trees (beginning as far back as 1510 in Northern Germany), and so on....so, being that we've taken these traditions from all around the world, and piled them into one of the ONLY United States traditions, you'd think no one would have a problem with it. WRONG!! Apparently people get pissed that their religion or cult isn't getting enough P.R. and throw a temper tantrum. So, anytime they can sue someone and say..."You're playing favorites!", they do so. Fuck them....fuck them all!! I don't fly over to Jerusalem to put up a damn Christmas tree, and if I did, I wouldn't tell them they were wrong for not doing so. It's my thing, from my country...so, what gives me the right....or the audacity, to say they should all change for me?
I could go on and on about this, but it's just so evident that we're all turning into pussies. Our parents all protested a war, had sit-ins, had picket lines, and did a lot of drugs to protest in their generation (okay, the drugs had nothing to do with it....but, they did it anyhow), and somewhere along the lines of us becoming so self involved we forgot how to band together to stand up for what we believe in. We couldn't take a page from their book? We couldn't learn to be more progressive? I don't want to change anyone's religion, no more than I want them to shove their religion down my troat (that's a little Guinea for you's), but I also don't want to live in a land with no Christmas Spirit, because we're all afraid to hurt someones feelings.
Yes, you could argue that we're all banding together with the Occupy Wall Street shenanigans, but that's a money issue. That's about distribution of funds and when money is involved, people will do close to anything. (watch any episode of Fear Factor) I'm talking about us banding together for Freedom. For happiness of the masses, not the "I won my argument." of a few.
Your God comes in many forms. So does happiness. To me, happiness used to be Christmas time....now, it's bleak.....and cold.
Do we really want our children to grow up and have no Christmas Spirit, and to honestly have to ask us what happened when they see pictures from when we were kids?
I don't want to live in a country where the only thing we can call our own is the 4th of July. And, that's celebrating our Independence, so I'm sure that'll piss someone off some day.
I'm a firm believer in standing up for your rights. Standing up for what you believe in, and what makes you proud, but I also believe that you can't take away culture from countries, or you will finish with a dry, soul-less environment.
The Land of the Sued, and the Home of the Weak......doesn't sound good to me......
Find happiness in the environment you live in, and you will live a happy life. Constantly seek out the negative in it, and your destined for anger, resentment, and a heartless outcome.
I may not believe in Christianity, but I do believe in Love, Happiness, Togetherness, and Holiday Spirit. A time when everyone (used to...pre-Black Friday) is a little kinder, a little happier, and is a little more willing to go out of their way to make someone else happy, just to make them feel joyous.
Regardless of my views...I do wish you all a Merry Christmas. And, even though it's a Christian Calendar, I do wish you all a Happy New Year. Why? Because I care. If you're my friend, I love you, and I want you to be happy. That's fucking why.
Now, go, eat...DRINK...and beat Mary....I mean....be merry.
Always with a fistful,
Knuckles
I present to you Example A:
----------------------------------------
Seattle airport removes Christmas trees
Sun Dec 10, 6:33 PM ET
All nine Christmas trees have been removed from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.
Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.
"We decided to take the trees down because we didn't want to be exclusive," said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. "We're trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year."
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn't add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows.
"Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season," said Bogomilsky, who works at Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation headquartered in Seattle's University District.
After consulting with lawyers, port staff believed that adding the menorah would have required adding symbols for other religions and cultures in the Northwest. The holidays are the busiest season at the airport, Betancourt said, and staff didn't have time to play cultural anthropologists.
Hanukkah begins this Friday at sundown.
"They've darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up," said his lawyer, Harvey Grad. "There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch."
------------
And my personal favorite...those bastards....Example B:
McDonald's Removes Beef Flavoring from their French Fries
Sleeping With the Enemy
by Jeff Nelson
Wed, Dec. 11, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- Many people know that McDonald's was successfully sued in a class action by a group of vegetarians. The vegetarian plaintiffs alleged the burger chain concealed the presence of beef product in what McDonald's had represented as being meat-free French fries. As part of the settlement, McDonald's made a public apology and agreed to pay $10 million to various groups representing the class, including $6 million to "vegetarian organizations."
--------------------------------
Now, for my tyrade!
It's gone too far, is basically the bottom line. Before long we're going to have people boycotting the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center. There will no longer be a Christmas Spirit during the Holidays due to everyone being afraid to 'offend' or to 'step on toes'.
You know what, yeah, it's the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. No longer are we brave, because we are scared of Terrorists, and of the Media Hype of every Bird Flu, SARS, or if we happen to see a powdery white substance on an envelope. So, that leaves The Land of the Free. Freedom? We have more rules in this country than any other country I have ever been in. We can't drink until we're 21, and yet most of the guys overseas fighting are younger than 21. We can vote for the next President at 18, but we couldn't drink champagne if the one we voted for wins.
Now, we do have freedom of choice, and this is where I'm going with this. If you don't like the way a place serves food, don't go there. If you don't like the burgers...don't order them...if the fries taste like meat...DON'T ORDER THEM!!!...go somewhere else. Too long have we let 1 or 2 people determine what the rest of the public does. 1 woman is the reason that all coffee cups say..."Caution Contents Hot!"....
"No shit....it's coffee."
Yet, one lawsuit and BAM!! we've got a new label.
I'm so sick of one person standing up for some bullshit cause and the rest of us sitting back on our haunches and complaining about the outcome. "I hate the fact that McDonald's changed the taste of their fries." They didn't change them very willingly...they were sued by Vegetarians, and no one else stood up to say..."Fuck them, let them go someplace else."...and so with no opposing voices...they changed them.
Same with Christmas. Wal-Mart seems to be the only Amercian Company (again, i hate using the word American to describe the United States, but it's how companies are described here) with enough balls to say "Merry Christmas!" when you walk through the door. You know what, if you're Jewish, and you have someone say "Merry Christmas!" and you say..."I'm Jewish!" what do they normally reply?..."Oh, well then Happy Hanukkah!", it's that simple. If a country is based on Christian beliefs, then let it be. I'm an Atheist, and I love Christmas. I love seeing Santa (created by Coca-Cola, who stole it from St. Nicholas from Turkey or possibly Finland), I love seeing Christmas Trees (beginning as far back as 1510 in Northern Germany), and so on....so, being that we've taken these traditions from all around the world, and piled them into one of the ONLY United States traditions, you'd think no one would have a problem with it. WRONG!! Apparently people get pissed that their religion or cult isn't getting enough P.R. and throw a temper tantrum. So, anytime they can sue someone and say..."You're playing favorites!", they do so. Fuck them....fuck them all!! I don't fly over to Jerusalem to put up a damn Christmas tree, and if I did, I wouldn't tell them they were wrong for not doing so. It's my thing, from my country...so, what gives me the right....or the audacity, to say they should all change for me?
I could go on and on about this, but it's just so evident that we're all turning into pussies. Our parents all protested a war, had sit-ins, had picket lines, and did a lot of drugs to protest in their generation (okay, the drugs had nothing to do with it....but, they did it anyhow), and somewhere along the lines of us becoming so self involved we forgot how to band together to stand up for what we believe in. We couldn't take a page from their book? We couldn't learn to be more progressive? I don't want to change anyone's religion, no more than I want them to shove their religion down my troat (that's a little Guinea for you's), but I also don't want to live in a land with no Christmas Spirit, because we're all afraid to hurt someones feelings.
Yes, you could argue that we're all banding together with the Occupy Wall Street shenanigans, but that's a money issue. That's about distribution of funds and when money is involved, people will do close to anything. (watch any episode of Fear Factor) I'm talking about us banding together for Freedom. For happiness of the masses, not the "I won my argument." of a few.
Your God comes in many forms. So does happiness. To me, happiness used to be Christmas time....now, it's bleak.....and cold.
Do we really want our children to grow up and have no Christmas Spirit, and to honestly have to ask us what happened when they see pictures from when we were kids?
I don't want to live in a country where the only thing we can call our own is the 4th of July. And, that's celebrating our Independence, so I'm sure that'll piss someone off some day.
I'm a firm believer in standing up for your rights. Standing up for what you believe in, and what makes you proud, but I also believe that you can't take away culture from countries, or you will finish with a dry, soul-less environment.
The Land of the Sued, and the Home of the Weak......doesn't sound good to me......
Find happiness in the environment you live in, and you will live a happy life. Constantly seek out the negative in it, and your destined for anger, resentment, and a heartless outcome.
I may not believe in Christianity, but I do believe in Love, Happiness, Togetherness, and Holiday Spirit. A time when everyone (used to...pre-Black Friday) is a little kinder, a little happier, and is a little more willing to go out of their way to make someone else happy, just to make them feel joyous.
Regardless of my views...I do wish you all a Merry Christmas. And, even though it's a Christian Calendar, I do wish you all a Happy New Year. Why? Because I care. If you're my friend, I love you, and I want you to be happy. That's fucking why.
Now, go, eat...DRINK...and beat Mary....I mean....be merry.
Always with a fistful,
Knuckles
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