Fantastic Barbeque Ribs in Frankfort, Michigan

I just ate at Dinghy’s Restaurant in Frankfort, Michigan and I have got to say that they have the most fantastic barbeque ribs I have ever eaten!

I investigate things.

I investigate things to complete my knowledge.
My complete knowledge makes my thoughts sincere.
My thoughts being sincere, my heart is pure.

Photo Alteration Quiz #1

Okay, so here’s these two pictures… one of them is the original, the other is a photo alteration I did using Macromedia Fireworks (not the best graphics program, i know)

Which one is the original? Why do you think so?

— note that you can click on the small images for bigger ones (in a popup window)

Photo #1

Photo #2

Always Without Desire

Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.

And these are our allies?

Okay, what the FUCK is wrong with the people in Saudi Arabia??

 I read THIS article from the Associated Press, and was just sitting here speechless. This 19 year old girl is brutally gang-raped by 7 men, and her male friend is assaulted by the same group…. and the Saudi government has sentenced her to six months in prison and 200 lashes?

The reason for this punishment is because the young lady in question was in a vehicle, with a man that was not a family member, thus breaking the Saudi rules on segregation of the sexes.

Again… WHAT THE FUCK.

Like the girl hasn’t been traumatized enough by being kidnapped and gang-raped, now she gets to be imprisoned and beat by the very people that should be who she goes to for JUSTICE.

And these are our allies. YAY.

-B

Great Doubt

Great Doubt, Great Awakening,
Little Doubt, Little Awakening,
No Doubt, No Awakening.

Updates

Okay, so it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, and I figure everyone deserves an update.

 Things are going well.

 Alright, alright, that’s a shitty update.

I’m working again, which is HOLY HELL nice… the idea of a regular paycheck again is amazing! Also, for the first time in over a year, I am actually spending time outside of my house… the whole “work from home” thing is nice for a short time, but quickly becomes somewhat claustrophobic. So yeah, the work thing is fantastic.

I am awaiting my next counseling session with some trepidation… when I initially signed up for this whole thing, I felt like I was falling apart, like I couldn’t get a handle on things at all, and my emotions were running roughshod over my reason… but now I feel fine. Is my mind trying to trick me again? I feel like dropping the whole counseling thing at this point, just because I have no idea what I am going to say. Thinking about the way I was feeling just a month ago seems very distant and detached, like it wasn’t even me, just someone I heard a story about.

I guess that’s part of what I need to talk about. This detached feeling I have about parts of my own life, even as recent as a month ago. It seems to be fairly prevalent among my memories of events and thoughts and emotions… that it wasn’t ME.

I have begun reading a bit about Zen and Buddhism (or are they one and the same? not sure, really), sparked by the quote from my last post on how “we are all of us connected.” It got me thinking… if we are all connected, then how can I feel so damn DISconnected from MYSELF?

On another note, my ex-wife is in town for a couple weeks, visiting with our daughter and living in my house… it’s kind of nice to have a third person in the house again, but definitely odd it being her… yet another point of disconnection with my own life is the ambivalence with which I view her… it’s like I can REMEMBER loving her, but not feel it at all… as though it was a story I read, a movie I saw…. not the black abyss of pain that opened up and swallowed me and altered my life forever (talking about the end of our marriage, not the marriage itself).

Have to go crash out now – will try to post more regularly in the near future… I have a lot of things running through my mind these days, and it may do me some good to ramble about them here.

thought provoking question of the day: Is it morally justifiable to commit what most would consider “evil” deeds, if the end result is beneficial to the greater good of the majority? Do the ends truly justify the means? and who decides? 

We Are None Of Us Alone

We are none of us alone
even as we exhale it is inhaled by others
the light that shines upon me shines upon my neighbor as well
in this way everything is connected
everything is connected to everything else
In this way I am connected to my friend even as I am connected to my enemy
In this way there is no difference between me and my friend
In this way there is no difference between me and my enemy
We are none of us alone