Floaters

No, not the black flecks that dance around the eyes.  I'm thinking of thoughts/memories that come floating to the top.

Occasion presented itself to recall some experiences I had while doing theater in Indianapolis.

I got a lot of 'basic training' in acting and other aspects of theater.  Many of the times there were good.  Some were not.

It stands to reason that not everything is rosy.  And I believe we learn from all things.  That includes malicious treatment which was deliberate and vengeful.

This is no 'woe is me' harangue.  I'll get to that in a minute.

I had participated in a production, having been brought in at the last minute.  It seemed ok, but underneath was different.

The director/teacher was autonomous and bullied her cast.  She expected far too much from a bunch of kids who were supposed to be learning the craft.  Instead of nurturing them and seeking each person's potential, this was the sickening course taken.

I said no one should endure that carping and nitpicking plus threat of bad grades if they didn't do what she said.  I was met with cowed silence.

One of the director's toadies ratted on me as it were.  Unbelievable.  A tattletale in a college production.  Mind you I was brought in from outside, so I wasn't affected by any of it.  Except I was indirectly.

I was being paid for my work and consultation.   This harpy tried to withhold my pay, citing a snag in funds.  I knew it wasn't so.

It got so bad, I demanded the money or I'd walk.  I was paid and let go.  Good riddance I figured.

Shortly after, I continued auditioning for local productions.  I never got another part in anything locally.  I knew better than thinking my acting was the equivalent of road kill.  I'd been successful to a degree and had a good rep.  Plus I worked with the best Indy had.

The downside had actually begun before the above incident.

As with most things, there were cliques among the theater people.  Some were very shall we say loyal to their particular favorites.  There were plenty who, as amateurs were happy to stay that way.  That's all well and good.  I wasn't

I expressed my desire to do more, learn more and travel, becoming professional.

This rankled some who liked to be big ducks in small ponds.  I thought ok whatever.  But they resented ambition.  And they joined the bandwagon when I was blacklisted as a result of the previously mentioned production/incident.

The director/teacher was influential locally.  I discovered pressure was applied and all acquiesced to bar me.

There was a particular exception.  I was hired for a show which featured several professionals.  It was an opportunity again to learn.  While I did indeed add to my artistic knowledge, I learned how petty and spiteful some can be.

I had never been more mistreated in my life.  It was deliberately malicious and actually multileveled.  The conduct was unprofessional and unbecoming for those in the craft.  I stuck it out, in spite of efforts to pressure me to quit.

My personal and professional fortitude won out.  Plus I made a positive impression on a particular cast member and that flouted the ne'er-do-wells. 

This is no boohoo fest.  Weathering the storm of petty jealous people has made me stronger and spurred me to learn more and to meet and learn from folks like Pat McGoohan and Bob Wise.

The petty, the spiteful, the misery loves company crowd have to live with themselves.  I don't.  Forgive aka let go and don't let it eat me up was the order of the day.

The parallels between ths and what is happening to our Liberty is obvious. 

Rise above those who seek to defame you simply because you literally and figuratively stick (not cling -s-) to your guns.  Shout out what's right even though to quote John Wayne's Davy Crockett, 'you might get walloped for saying it'.

Collectivists, often following Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, are past masters at derision and aspersions.  Be steadfast and counter with the truth.

Nothing says misery loves company more than these enemies of Freedom.

And btw, guess what kind of people politically/socially those negative folks were whom I encountered -s-?

Star Wars

Quite an emotional romp.  Including all 6 episodes, it is a thrillride with a message in the ravioli.

It incorporates the beginning, slow descent and acquiescence to evil with an eventual upswing, of Anakin Skywalker.  Many other substories interweave, but this is the central thread.

Good and evil wind their ways through daily lives in quiet and dynamic ways.  It is often the subtler orchestrations which build the symphonies rather than the crescendos.  Sometimes things remain hidden or obscured.  Often that is the way of evil.  Or it presents itself as something benevolent.  We can look around our current state of affairs and see this.

The whole course of Anakin's life is beset with more drama than seemingly ordinary.  The focus is portrayed by the good and evil Jedi and Sith respectively.

I'm not going to do a treatise on all this.  There is enough out there.  Just search and you will find.

I am interested in this dilemma Anakin faces increasingly.  What happens essentially is youthful ignorance is embroiled in more and more confusion til there is a tipping point.  He finally believes the lie that evil can fix what's wrong. 

Darth Sidious, the main Sith monster, lies and uses half truths to work his darkness.  Pretty familiar to what really happens n'est pas?  He wears Anakin down til the kid will swallow about anything.  Has a familiar ring too, huh?

The Jedi or good guys are at fault too.  They represent order and peace but are wrapped up in their own ideological struggles.  It blinds them to what's going on.

One of the major problems in life is to balance head and heart.  We need both to function.

Often, collectivists rely on emotion coupled with lies and half truths.

Those of us who oppose them and especially seek Restoration of the Constitutional Republic, use logic and facts to make our stand.

Without logic, emotion is eventually shown to cave from the weight of lies.  Without emotion or the brushfires in the mind, logic can dry up. 

So, emotion spurs us, using logical facts that are irrefutable.

Of course, the 'darkside' tries constantly to compromise that.  It is constant, unremitting war (if not in the stars).

Lesson?  Focus and learn, especially from those knowledgeable in balance.  Stay in the now and proceed.

Whatever else, Star Wars gives food for thought about what goes on in the real world.

Maybe we can achieve balance and victory over Darth Oblivion and his cohorts.

Evil is shortsided in spite of its Fabian patience.

Good mustn't think it's moving ahead when it actually bogs down.

Stay focused padawans apprentices -s-) and use both science and faith to achieve victory.

It won't be maybe or if we do so.  But when.

Armed Defense

Naturalized citizens will no longer be required to take up arms in defense of their new country.  It's been stricken from the oath.

An oath of allegiance is there for a purpose.  For those who come from radically different lands, it is an opportunity to declare they are now Americans.  With the rights inherent with citizenship come responsibilities. 

I smell redundancy.  As citizens, we are all required to serve.  It might be the work of our daily lives.  But in times of strife/war, it must be more. 

We already had allowance for conscientious objectors.  What the USCIS 'ruling' does is give anyone a free pass, no affiliation needed.  'Um uh I don't wanna fight'.  Um uh that's bs. 

Yes there are many ways to serve.  As in WW2, there were noncombatant jobs and a boat load of factory etc service.  We can fight in different ways.  The actual combat branch of a service is just one part of the whole.  Yet, they all are prepared to go the limit and beyond ie, pick up a gun and shoot.

How many of the gimme illegal aliens will fight?  Some, yes have actually enlisted to develop skills they will and have used against us as in gang activity.  There are always seditionists.

Of course, this is just another incremental step in literally disarming us.  It dissolve resolve and rots from within.

Speak up and out about this.

Armed defense requires the last vestige of courage and duty.

Be ready.

Heartbeats

I remember the sonograms produced by ultrasound of the kids.  Quite impressive this technology.  It's also awe-inspiring and heartfelt.  I've got those pics of the kids inside their Mom tucked away, but look at them occasionally.

The sound of the ultrasound picks up the fetal heartbeat.  Young life, growing, developing to birth and beyond.  From that, to now, the kids grown and off on lives of their own. 

I suggest you consider heartbeats.  Without getting too outre, they are endemic and central to life.  Each beat, from before birth, to the very last, keeps time with the actions and dealing for all of us.

Of course, I don't worry about those beats.  I'm gonna live til I die.  And God willing, with care taken, for a while more -s-.

The beat goes on.  The beat of life.  It's not a doomsday clock.  It's to be lived while we may.

All lives matter.