When time was my friend and we played all day and collapsed at sunset.

[jackshoegazer]

I would like to start this post off with this little ditty from LazyBoy...

Do you know what the number one health risk in America is?
Obesity. Obesity! They say we’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
An epidemic like it is polio. Like we’ll be telling our grand kids about it one day.
The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004.
“How’d you get through it grandpa?”
“Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere.”

That's too funny.  And then I'd like to continue with this little thing I wrote as a comment, but felt content enough with it to repost it here for posterity.  The person posted this quote from Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters...

First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.

To which I replied...

It is a generational, cultural, social system of consciousness evolution.

Our parents have children, and we learn everything about life from them. They pass us all their qualities, the good and the bad. It is our job to take the best of our parents and ditch the bad. We must overcome their shortcomings, which is why it seems like we know so much more than they do, why we have to take care of our parents in their old age. They reached a certain point and we continue on. It was the same way with their parents and their parents before them. It will be the same with our children. Only we are now conscious of the process and we can do our best to not pass on our fucked up issues on to our kids, realize that having children is the equivalent of programming the future and instill them will all our good, encourage the good inherent in them, and don't give them our issues. That way they can have issues all of their own to overcome. Make sure they are aware of the process so they can do the same to their kids. We will evolve, but it will not be through selective breeding, but selective teaching and psychological and spiritual awareness.

Or something like that.

It's been another week since I've been around LJLand and I've done my best to get caught up with you all.  Jacquelyn has gone up to Minneapolis for some grad school sciencey stuff, getting lake cores scanned in some crazy lab seven floors underground.  Thus it's just Ethan and I for the weekend.  Ethan has recently taken up skateboarding.  He is amazingly good at playing skating video games, like his current favorite, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, which I love to play too.  A friend of the family gave him a beat-up old skateboard and tadah, he's a skater now.  Not a very good one, but he's determined and practices whenever he's got a chance.  Wanna see?  I thought so, here's an image of Ethan skating, and here's another one!

I'm suddenly speechless.  I've been getting political fever lately, listening to a lot of progressive/liberal radio, reading an Al Franken book, paying attention to newspapers.  Jacquelyn subscribed us to the Capital Times, which is supposed to be here at 5:30 pm Monday through Saturday, but only comes about every 3 days, and the New York Times gets delivered every Sunday promptly at 5:30am.  That's nice.  I've been reading more and preparing my campaign speech.  I'm not running for any office, no, it's so I can persuade, and if that fails, totally browbeat anyone who doesn't realize the importance of getting as many Democrats and 3rd Party candidates into the House and Senate this November.  While the Republicans are saying that in the long-term it will be best for them to allow a DEm in the White House in '08, I don't have a problem with getting a Democratic Congress going.  I'd like to see Karl Rove indicted and see him spill his pork and beans on the rest of the administration.  I want to see Bushie, Dickey, Rumy, Condi and the rest of that cancerous mass removed.  Our government needs some chemo and fucking now.

Sorry, didn't mean to do that, but it's been on my mind a lot.  I know you're not supposed to talk about politics and religion because it's not polite, but those are two of my favorite topics so tough titty.  I suddenly realize I'm quite tired and believe I will get some sleep.  Or watch Team America: World Police, which, I know, travesty of travesties, I've never seen before and it's due back to the library tomorrow.

Comments

[aeary.livejournal.com]

Make sure they are aware of the process so they can do the same to their kids. We will evolve, but it will not be through selective breeding, but selective teaching and psychological and spiritual awareness.

Well said.

And never talking about politics and religion sounds immensely boring. Never mind politeness.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I try. This whol "being a parent" thing I've been working on for the past 11 years really gets me thinking about this. I think about what I've gone through, what my parents have gone through and if you really look, you can see a thread running all the way back, like a torch of psychological issues, these things get passed from generation to generation, and depending on how the current generation was raised and educated, they can either fix things and then pass the torch or they completely collapse and pass a darker, dirtier torch. Move toward the light!

[weishaupt.livejournal.com]

It's not rude to discuss politics, just pointless. Whoever you vote for the Space Lizards will win. Anyway, I thought it was rude to talk about sex, politics and morris dancing.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

It's only ok to talk about morris danching IF you're morris dancing at the time.

[ms-elusive.livejournal.com]

I laughed at the obesity quote, especially because I live in a country where people eat deep-fried pizzas!
And if you can't talk about religion and politics in your own LJ...
Hope you enjoyed the film (fuck yeah!)

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

MOst fucked up thing.... I got Team America fromt he library and when I opened it up last night to watch it... the DVD was MISSING. NOw I have to contact the library and hope they find it because *I* am not paying for losing it.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

NOOOO!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

That's what I said! I know we never even opened it, so we didn't lose it! You know how Park St keeps the DVD disks behind the counter? I bet whoever checked us out that day was so dazzled by your beauty and personality that they totally forgot to get the disk :P

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

It was that woman we can't stand, you know.

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

i found the original standup comedian who lazyboy recorded for that song, i should play it for you when you next come over.

it's weird that everyone is reading invisible monsters right now. who else was reading it?

i agree about the future and the politics, and i've actually been arguing with people about voting, which is something i never ever do because i hate to bicker. it's too important right now to NOT argue it.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Cool. Me likes comedy!

_remains was reading it, or at least quoting from it.

I hate that. I should be able to ignore politics! And then I watched V for Vendetta last night which, if you haven't seen it, I highly reccomend. It was awesome.

BTW did you watch Love Actually?

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

i shall have to internet stalk remains since they seem to be stealing my booklist.

i haven't watched v for vendetta or love actually yet. i need a good night home with the boy to watch love actually and it hasn't happened yet. we keep having friends over or he's at the shop late etc and haven't had a chance. hopefully tonight or tomorrow or something.

i don't know if i want to see v for vendetta or not...

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

I used to listen to Al Franken a lot more, but I just stick to Stephanie Miller now :)

We don't have any skateboarding videos but we do have a couple bmx videos if Ethan is every interested (did strangedasein ever tell you about his bmx bike? It's sweet).

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I didn't find Al to be very funny, whch I thought was odd. But the info in the book was more what I was after anyway. Stephanie MIller has, by far, the funnier show.

Nope, I never heard about the BMX! I used to ride BMX when I was a young teen but gave it up after I completely trashed my bike, cracking the frame and everything, after I lost control going over a big ramp :P

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

strangedasein has his bike down in the basement - you boys will have to have a screenprinting and bmx slumber party ;)