Soapy

As a child, he was a prankster.  Nothing nasty, just the whoopie cushion/joy buzzer stuff.  Humor was his way to deal with family intrigue.  

I spoke of it before.  There were factions and very much dark vs light.  Both sides of his family were involved.  It was Machiavellian; a soap opera. 

From the beginning, he was gifted with thinking for himself.  He had to see proof.  He questioned.

And when the intrigue threatened to engulf him, he was saved with love and light.  Even in total darkness, one light is a magnet for sanity and love.  

Mixed emotions of love and hate were meant to confuse, isolate and defeat.  Love, spiritual and earthbound overcame.  He was never alone.  

Content of character was his true inheritance.  It was the life preserver in the tempest.  

In spite of ups and downs, God's Love shone through.

Old Road

 He travelled the old road a lot.  Yet, as a child, he got nervous in the pit of his stomach on his way to the village.  Once there, he was surrounded with love.  It was unconditional.  Perhaps it was fear of the unknown?

It taught him to fight intellectually/socially.  Bullies and liars still scatter.

On that old road and offshoots, there were family members, security, a neighborhood nest.  

There were, of course, family intrigues.  Some were not what they should have been.  But others made up for that.  

The village exemplified that angst.  There, good vs evil wrestled.  Perhaps that was the cause of his rumble tums.  Good won.

At the other end, a baby grew to toddlerhood.  He came along at the right time.  Good won there too.

That old road was peaceful country, open, growing.  It changed.

Now, there is commercial clutter.  Strip malls, fast food and suburbs seemed to choke the gentle, quiet way.  Same road.  Different trip.

He is the last of the family on that old road.  But he has a family of his own.

The old road of the past is now the new road of his future.

He is making his own road.

Pinball

 He's a pinball wizard.  That has to be a twist.  Pete Townshend's lyrics are from the rock opera Tommy.  Symbolism reaching out.

There is eclectic thought process.  It bounces from one thing to another.  It's not as chaotic as you might think.  

It can be as simple as word association.  One thought leads to another.  A specific topic can render specific results.  Some fit some don't.  See what works.

Write thoughts down.  Trying to juggle them all can be daunting.  And if something escapes into the ethos, just wait.  The old adage if it's important it'll come back is often true.  Then again don't worry if it doesn't.  Alternatives come.

Having an outline/framework is a good idea.  The thoughts can mix and match.

Whiteboard helps organized main and tangent points, reminders etc.  

Don't obsess.  Balance head and heart.  

Learn how to rush and how to take your time.  Think under pressure and don't go to sleep either.

Just bouncing ideas.

So, try not to tilt, mind your bumpers and don't forget to use the flippers.

Better.

 Than what?

After so much improvement after 28 years, we are in a downspin.  And there is the crux.  Worse is better.

No, I don't ascribe to that.  It is a Leninist maxim.  As bad as things get, collectivists destroy even more, making the previous atrocities seem ok.  Then, the new crisis occupies the people, leaving no room to think or improve.  

Power for its own sake demands more.  It is bottomless hunger.  They control due to lack of self.  There is no humanity, only merciless conquest.  

As is normal for collectivists, what they do is opposite of what they say.  It might sound better, but it is worse.  

Look at better with light and a fine tooth comb.

Live in Liberty and truth.

Don't do better.  

Be best.

Ricochet

 Something, usually a bullet, that bounces off a hard surface.  Its path is deflected and can hit something, even the shooter, at an odd angle.

In self defense we make sure what is behind a target.  We don't want to harm innocents.  We want to only stop the threat.  Accuracy and control are paramount.

Gangsters/criminals or as Col. Jeff Cooper called em 'goblins' don't care.  They shoot into a crowd or wildly shoot, hurting many including kids.  Hitmen have downed a whole passenger list to murder one person.  It is lack of humanity.

Also, words can be accurate.  They paint verbal pics and can speak of love, strength, patriotism.

Words, especially these days, but as before, ricochet.  They are misplaced and can mean the opposite of what is said.  

Be accurate and mean what you say.  

Bullseye!

Prurient

 Immoderate or unwholesome interest/desire.  Sensationalism.  Arousal of quick, intense emotional reaction.  It ain't just sex.  It's distraction.

Nothing wrong with a little excitement of almost any kind.  But if it's obsessive, it stultifies.  The objective is, if not sex, that people get upset about something based in half truth if not lies.  

The idea is to be robbed of the ability to think, to reason. 

Don't be a headline hopper.  

It's easy to be led.  Unravelling is simpler than knitting.

Rise above.

Bullies Redux

 It's well known I loathe bullies.  Physical, intellectual, spiritual are all the same.  Dominance due to lack of self.  Ultimately evil.

It might be a stretch from the bully on the schoolyard to the guard on a death line.  Or not.  It takes the nurturing of poisonous weeds.

I remember people like a certain current pretender in grade/high school and college too.  They were cheats, liars and yes, bullies.  Plagiarism ran rampant through them.

The need to bully is just support for all the other negativity.  As I said, I encountered them.

In grade school I won a fight standing up to them.  No more trouble-then.

High school saw me deny someone my answers to tests.  They tried to intimidate me.  I resisted and shall we say overcame because I defended myself verbally and physically.  

There is no difference between politicians and those idiots/thugs in school.  

Resist.  And fight on all levels, including exposure/truth.

I learned to deal with bullies from 3 people.

Physically from my Brother

Intellectually from my GreatGrandmother

Spiritually from my Brother from another Mother