Double Post: Movies & Videos Games + Poetry

Movies and video games.  Two of the biggest industries in western culture.  They never seem to falter, never missing a beat.  But why do people continue to come back and buy tickets or games?  Its because they provide a fulfillment of our inner dreams.  I’m never going to play professional football, but I can play madden on my television.  I’m never going to drive a car into a helicopter or sail on the titanic, but I can live my heroic fantasies by watching movies or playing video games.  Who hasn’t dreamt of being a war hero, and saving your country?  You can be that guy in a video game, or you can put yourself in his shoes in a movie.  You can get your fairy tail ending, find your treasure island, win the Stanley cup or die a dramatic death., then hit re-spawn and try again.

I have an entire page filled with haikus.  They got me thinking about poetry.  Poetry is an art form we are slowly losing.  Nobody seems to care enough about modern poets to teach them in school. Or to mention them anywhere in the media or pop culture.  Professions set out to better culture are changing, mostly for the worse.  Art is changing in a way that I cannot comprehend; I have no inclination whether it be good or bad, but its different.  Philosophy is now a stoner’s profession.  Its legitimacy is long gone and any hopes of a big budget sequel are slipping away.  The only jobs taken seriously are purely for money as opposed to bettering a community, or helping yourself.  The world is about making money, and poetry isn’t paying the bills. 


I would love feedback, please comment!  Email me your thoughts on this post at harpestey@yahoo.com

Oceans and Seas

The sun doesn’t seem to set as we sail away form Barcelona.  Back home it would be pitch dark and id be sitting in my room writing this as opposed to sitting on top of a cruise ship without the slightest trace of night at eight p.m.  There’s hardly a trace of anything, surrounded by water with no sight of land for the last hour or so the water seems to stretch from one edge of the world to the other.  The only trace of life at all is our ship barreling through the waves as if mass and weight were just a theory.  Just floating through one of the last truly untouched areas within one hundred miles of mankind.  Its incredible to me how far we’ve come.  To think that a few thousand if not hundred years ago, going out to open sea was as treacherous as going on the front lines. And yet now we pay thousands of dollars to willingly gout to this same sea that so many sailors never returned from.  Yet the water still looks the same.  We still sail through the same waves, through the same waters that played host to some of histories most famed books.  The only thing different from back then is the boats.  Nothing else has change.  We still sail under the same skies, navigate the same passages or routes.  But nobody pays any attention to any of this, looking at the water doesn’t make anyone stare in awe, just hope to catch a glimpse of a fish bigger than their cars.  

Please Comment! Tell me what you think!

Flight

            Since I was a baby I’ve been flying at least twice a year.  Most of the time this was just to and from Florida, but that’s still a lot of flying.  So much so that its become mundane to me.  It’s no big deal anymore.  Flying is just, how you go on vacation nowadays.  Nobody travels by boat anymore and road trips aren’t as typical as they once were.  But we never really think much of flying itself.  Flying is a thing of trust, you trust the pilot knows what he’s doing; you trust them to get you where you’re going without even the slightest hiccup.  You trust your fellow passengers when you get crammed into a tiny cabin without enough personal space for most chimps.  You trust that they’re not sick, or crazy enough to hurt you.  And finally you trust the plane itself, because a giant hunk of metal weighing several thousand tons shouldn’t ever leave the ground. Yet they do, thousands of times a day places take of from the ground and never look back. But all this trust has become so routine that nobody from my generation ever thinks twice about it.  Honestly we missed out. We missed out on the true wonder of flight.  I never stood in my back yard watching bird’s fly and being absolutely mesmerized.  It was cool, but I didn’t give birds flying their truly deserved props. None of us did.  “Man you may conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder, and the clouds will reek of gasoline” 

New Ideas

Hey Everyone, I know I haven't posted in a while, but I plan on starting up again.  Right now I want to try to post every tuesday and thursday at around seven o'clock.  I have some stuff written already and a few ideas but I would love it if you submitted some ideas about what you want me to write about.

You can email me at harpestey@yahoo.com

Or if you'd rather, just submit your idea into my formspring at http://www.formspring.me/follow/stream

What Happens When I Forget My Notebook

            So I had planned on posting something tonight that I had written and worked on at least a little bit, but I went away for Labor Day weekend and forgot to bring along my notebook and I have nothing pre-written to post.  So I’m just going to talk about whatever comes into my head.  For years my family has been coming up here, a small town around a lake.  There’s no TV, and we just recently got Internet.  Thinking about people traveling up here to live like this makes me laugh a little bit.   Not so long ago the big cities were where everyone wanted to be, the places where magic happened.  Now everyone wants to live as they used to, minimalistic.  They want to recapture that magic that still exists in these small patches of society.  They come here to reminisce and remember what it was like as a kid.  They want to escape the adult world and live in their childhood again, and the closest they can get to that is escaping the urban world and just running away from any sort of big city, to get to the place they used to use to escape from their school and social lives over the summer, only when they get there its their children who live that way instead of them, the kids are the ones still living as kids, and we don’t think twice about why we were taken up here as a kid.  We just welcome the fun. 

            

As usual I would love it if you would comment and if you have any thoughts on this post or others you can email them to me at harpestey@yahoo.com. 

Free Will

One of, if not the most important issues throughout mankind’s brief history is freedom. Freedom as a man to do what you please when you please. Commonly referred to as simply free will. Its constantly been taken away, bought, and then taken away again. Even today while we hold truths to be self evident, free will is still monitored and in some places, taken. Especially in religion. God gave man free will, regardless of your religion, yet we are forced to follow so many rules. We are required to do so many things for the church or the synagogue and if we question anything ever so slightly we are dubbed a polytheistic heathen. I know god works in mysterious ways and it is not yours to question why but my only question is, if god gave us free will, why does he expect us to blindly follow him and not question any of his supposed doings? Or does our concept of free will not actually exist. Could the higher power be teasing us with the idea of free will, giving us a taste, but really be controlling every aspect of the story. Life is chock full of these types of situations. You have the convenience of a telephone, yet you lose the charm of distance and your privacy. Food for thought.

Please comment and tell me what you think at harpestey@yahoo.com

The American Dream

When emigrants came to America, they all talked about the American dream. Having money in your pocket, a nice coat on your back and a house on the corner with your family living happily inside of it. They’d talk bout the homes with the white picket fence and the wonderful families they were working for back home. Taking their kids up to a nearby lake for a weekend vacation. And when they were coming over that was al a possibility, maybe a long shot, but they had a chance. Work hard on a ranch, or building a railroad to make your stake and settle down. Millions of people bought into the American dream and a few of them actually found it. Nowadays people buy into that very same dream, but they have no chance of actually getting it. Because that white fence is painted jet black and the lake is covered in oil. That house is in the city and their jobs are as bad if not worse then what the original dreamers had. The American dream still exists, although the American reality is much worse than that dream.

Please comment and tell me what you think at harpestey@yahoo.com

Love

Love is something everyone experiences, or at least everyone wants to. Most people see it at one point in their lives, but not all can follow up on it. Most get what, or who, they love even if it’s just for a shot period of time. People know when they love someone; the generic signs are all there. Falling asleep with them in your head, being a great mood after talking to them, rounding every street corner just hoping they’re there. But beyond that who’s to say if I love someone or not? Because of my age I cant know what that is? Well I may not know what your definition of love is, but I know mine. I’ve talked to different people who say there in love. Every time the describe it, its completely different. Whether it’s a pain in your chest whenever they’re not with them, or being annoyed by the little things they do, and loving every single second of it. See I’ve realized that asking the question “what is love” doesn’t have one real answer. Because there is no one thing called love. The real question should be, what is your love. Everyone’s is different. So telling someone they don’t know what love is, is a load of shit because they very well may know exactly what their love is, just not yours. Love isn’t a thing its something you feel, and you can’t put on universal definition on something you feel, its different for everyone.

Any thoughts on this post? Tell me at harpestey@yahoo.com

Death

Lately I’ve talked a lot about life, different aspects of it and sometimes how to live it. But one thing I never mentioned before is death. Now I just want to raise the question, why do people fear death? Honestly why are we so afraid of dying? Is it because we stop living? Because we don’t get any warning to tie up those infamous loose ends? Is it because we just stop living without that dramatic death we all dream of? Or is it simply because we have no way of knowing what’s on the other side? Just the fact that something either incredible or terrible awaits us on the other side, but there’s no way for us to know what to expect. So naturally we expect the worst and fear death more than anything. But who’s to say that the Christian heaven isn’t ALL that waits for us? Or what if its something even grander, something so great the human mind cant even fathom how truly fantastic it is why cant we be excited for death without being labeled suicidal? Or maybe were looking at this all-wrong. Have you ever considered that this world is another world’s hell? And death is simply a sweet escape? No matter which of these ideas is true, Peter Pan described it best when he said, “Death, will be an awfully big adventure”

Any thoughts on this post? Tell me about it at harpestey@yahoo.com

Speech

Have you ever stopped to think about how incredible speaking is? The fact that I can think a word, and then say it without anything in between is incredible. Just read this out loud and think about the shape of your mouth for each syllable. Its incredible that you can just make audible sound without thinking it through piece by piece. Try to just take the word apple. Without making noise think of how you would form your mouth to make these sounds. Don’t actually form your mouth though. It probably took you a few seconds to do that and yet you can say apple in less than one. Likewise writing is the same way. Just thinking a letter or an entire word to write is enough. I don’t need to think about crossing my Ts or dotting my Is. I just do it. These two things are, in my own opinion, the most incredible advance mankind has made bar none.

Learning

When I was a little kid I sat in class learning because I thought it was fun. The topics were fun the way I learned was fun. Throughout junior high it slowly shifted from learning for fun to learning for college and beyond. It became all about grades and less about fun. Which is exactly y how it should be. Learning for college is how you get into an Ivey league school or the school of your dreams. Learning for fun is how I learned every Springsteen record in chronological order. Learning for grades and college is how I learned to factor a trinomial. Now you tell me which is more likely to get me into Stanford. Admittedly learning for learning’s sake is how it should be done, however the world has turned to a point where that just isn’t good enough. You cant get by on just what you want to learn you have to follow by what other people want you to learn. It’s the only way to get by. Because if you’re defiant the modern day big brother we call education is going to catch up to you and force you to learn everything. No matter how much you don’t want to.

Regret

Regret is a funny thing. It can make you do something you would otherwise regret, or it can keep you up at night months after the regretful even happens Odds are though, you’re the only one still worrying about it. The only one who still hurts every time the subject is brought up or even crosses your mind. And you can’t move on or fix the situation until you forgive yourself for whatever you did, and most of the time that’s the hardest thing to do bar none. The road to self-forgiveness isn’t easy though. You have to accept what you’ve done and understand that it wasn’t life changing or that relevant to your everyday life. Odds are the only reason you felt guilty in the first place is because you built your hopes up so high that when you wound up failing you had no choice but to only take away that you are a failure. But the great thing about regret is that you don’t need someone’s approval or forgiveness, only your own. And without that you’ll end up regretting everything you attempt to accomplish. With it though, you wont regret a thing.

Guest Post from Becca

Love is the scariest thing to deal with. I know, I’m a 16-year-old girl, of course I think I love anyone that can come into my life and make me feel special. Well, to be honest, before I figured out that I might love someone I thought everyone that was below the age of 20 and said they were/are in love was full of shit. The worst thing about it is laying out all your feelings is getting the “oh ok” reply. It’s one thing to pour your heart out to someone who you haven’t talked to in a month – but another to get a response that you’re not satisfied with. Being in love (or at least considering it) isn’t something I’m used to or something I’ll ever get used to. It’s like I’ve got all these feelings…and I have no idea what to do with them, especially when the feelings aren’t 100% returned. Don’t get me wrong, this kid definitely likes me – but not to the extreme level where my feelings are. At the same time, I don’t necessarily know that. And that’s ok, just not the easiest part of this. Actually I almost passed out when I told him how I feel. It takes some serious courage to admit to someone that practically hates you that you’re in love with them – especially in the situation that I’m in. I think the thing that will always scare me is the fact that (yes this will sound cliché) he’s got all of me. There isn’t one thing I haven’t told him. He could pretty much break me in one second if he really wanted to. Luckily, he’s not that type of person. Yeah, this goes against all of my morals to depend on a guy as much as I am now. Actually, most of this whole thing goes against my morals (including writing about love). But sometimes a girl like me needs a little moral breaking every once in a while. I always used to think love was something that people depended on so they had a rational reason to feel the way they do about someone. I was never really into stuff like that. I always sorta thought people felt the way they did and that was that. Now I guess I could see how it would help rationalize people’s feelings. It doesn’t help much though, love is probably the most irrational thing I can think of besides sex… and that’s not something I have ANY experience in. I’m not really into talking about love. I actually really hate that I might feel it for someone. I don’t think it’s something that someone my age should have to deal with. But I guess things always happen for a reason. And so it goes …

-Becca

Being Tested

Everyone faces upset in his or her lives. Sports, grades, being popular, everyone has them. Some people face few. They coast through life without a real thought on how to improve their lives or the lives of others. Then there are some with almost nothing but upset in their lives. These are the people who fight tooth and nail for every single breath they take. Every corner they turn is filled with hopelessness and despair. People ask the question why some have it easy and others have it rough. It’s simple. Every human is tested every day. The ones who live life easily are tested to help out others who don’t live with such luxury. Those who fail are the stuck up, fat-ass, corporate CEOs who screw a company over and receive a golden parachute for doing such a great job. Those who succeed and pass the test are the ones with a family, live an incredible life in the suburbs. These are people who didn’t sell out to get to the top just to make a buck. Those who don’t have it that easy are tested in a much more severe way. They have to live every moment, knowing the world is against them, and still walk with a spring in their step and a grin on their faces. They have to live life happier than anyone else. People who fail this are those who live life in a haze, just floating through. Those who succeed through this test however have the biggest payoffs out of anyone. These are the people who do what they love and succeed at it. They’re the presidents, the actors, the musicians, and the athletes. They are the happiest people in the world. Because from the darkest sadness comes the brightest joy.

Being Happy

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about happiness. What it means to be happy, how you can be happy, if you can even be truly happy. And I’ve realized that happiness is something that gives people a purpose for living. Being happy makes everything else seem a little brighter, the sun shines a little longer and the rain is just a little happier. But not everyone experiences happiness. Some people can get away from something and be happy, playing baseball or dancing for instance. Others find bliss in the arms of their loved ones or just being with their best friend. Others however are not so fortunate. I for one have only found tiny moments of bliss throughout my short lifespan. But sports don’t give me that kind of pleasure anymore and I don’t have many loved ones who can, or who even try to cheer me up. So I have to create my own happiness. I realized after a few days of looking at the sky that stargazing got me part of the way there, and a beautiful girl always did the rest. And I guess the universe was smiling down at me when I ended up with both at the same time. It’s these types of moments that give me the fuel I need to keep going and continue my optimistic outlook on the world. Without things like that I'm not sure what I would do. So to those people, who are in a rut right now just like I am, find those moments, those seemingly insignificant moments that make your day, and roll with them. You never know what happiness can truly do.

The Most Dangerous Countries in the World

Looking at the world today, there are a number of countries that can be considered the most dangerous. There is the most dangerous today, and the most dangerous tomorrow. Today there are such countries as Iraq, Yemen, or Pakistan. All equally dangerous in their own right. Dangerous to the world of today. However I want to focus more on who is the most dangerous for the world of tomorrow. What is being done today that could materially affect the next generation in a negative way. Well I'll just take you through what I think are the top few of these countries.

Two weeks ago I wouldn't have put Russia on my list, but because of what came to light with the Russian spy ring I feel obligated to at least discuss their potential danger is espionage. We found just nine spies and another in hiding. From what has been released to the press and public they were simply trafficking mundane information that the Russian government could've gotten themselves by opening up a new york times. But this is simply the tip of the iceberg. These spies have been undercover for over a decade, that being said isn't it completely possible that there could be tens or hundreds more spies lurking in every single seemingly American household? I understand that this is highly unlikely but didn't we say the same thing about russian spies after the cold war? In terms of danger Russia is basically the king maker in a potential WWIII. Meaning that if Russia plays their cards right, they can avoid one for the entire world. If they play them wrong, they start a Nuclear WWIII because of their illegal undercover Espionage rings. So to any Russian spies, try not to get caught.

Second on my list I would easily classify the entire middle east as one whole country in this sense. I know that its several different countries and not all of them have the same military advances but none the less, one country is just as pivotal as the next in terms of danger. If one country does create enough nuclear weapons do wage a war then the other middle eastern countries will be tasked with stopping them from getting the opportunities to use those weapons. Obviously morals wont be enough for them to step in and physically stop them from detonating a weapon of mass destruction but it would be for their own safety as well because most of those countries have a history with all the others, and they would be the first target of a nuclear bomb. In the same vein countries in Africa such as the Republic of Congo or Somalia could have similar results play out.

Finally, the most dangerous country for the future of the world, is the United States of America. Before I continue I need to make it clear that I am as patriotic as the next guy. I would gladly serve my country in battle and in NO WAY am I anti-American. But we are still the most dangerous country for the future of this world. America is currently researching a technology that would enable us to send terminator like robots into battle instead of live humans, and we could simply have people sitting on their asses playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 6. Except in this case it is REAL WARFARE. If we develop this technology then who can possibly stop us? No one else has this kind of power or resources to build a legitimate robot army. The only solution would be if a Nuclear country fired off a warhead, of course if that happened the entire wrath of the United States military would be unleashed on them. But thats beside the point. If we complete this technology and have this army, eventually we are going to have a Nazi Germany situation in America. NO I dont mean a holocaust. I simply mean that we are going to elect someone we think would do good for our country but instead uses the powers of the American government and military for their own evil purposes to take over the world. Then who would stop them? Who would stop us?

The Stars

This post is a little different from my others. Although I'm sure its gonna come back into some sort of rant it'll start differently. I just got back from a trip to the deserts in Texas collecting moths and other insects. I saw incredible specimens but the one thing that really stuck out to me was the sky. Wether it was the day or the night. Looking up I could rarely tell that humans even existed. Even if it was just for fifteen seconds I drifted off into a serene worry free world where problems didn't matter. Then a plane would fly by and i would be snapped out of it. The most incredible was undoubtedly the night sky though. Just lying in the desert or on the grass looking at the night sky seeing the stars took me away. This world is fucked up enough right? So why cant we gaze at a different one for a while. When I looked at the stars I could imagine any world I wanted. Wether it be a world full of beautiful super models or just one without so many worries or problems it took me away. Have you ever tried that? Lying under the stars with a girl right next to you just trying to figure out which one is more beautiful? In those moments I didn't have a worry in the world. Even when I'm not in the texas desert the stars take me away. Its the last place that mankind hasn't manage to ruin or taint yet. It's just as beautiful now as when the constellations were thrown into the sky. And that wont change for thousands or billions of years. So grab a girl or a guy and just go lay there. It really takes the edge off of life.

The Two Party System

I hate the two party system. It takes away any chance for real change in America. When the democrats have a life changing idea, they can’t push it through the senate because of the republicans. When the republicans have an amazing fix for a problem the democrats immediately stop it from happening. Most of the time the senators vote against something isn’t because they disagree, but because they’re not in the same party. And I thought we had come so far in eliminating discriminations. If I can sue someone for not hiring me because of my race, religion, or gender, why is it still legal for this countries so called leaders to do the same? Granted it may be because they do actually disagree, but then again don't you have to probe racism or sexism too? The parties cause these problems. Senators are pressured by their respective parties to vote in favored of whatever their party agrees with those few brave men who vote against their parties, those modern day heroes who truly embody the ideals of America and the American revolutionaries, having the right to speak out and vote in favor of your opinions instead of simply being a puppet of the grand old party or the NPR party, not being a true politician.
I’m sure anyone reading this is going to think I’m nuts, “everyone has their opinions and supports them”. But that’s not true because we all dream, as children to fix the world don’t we? We all imagine our ideals and we think of ways that make the world a better place. And those few who go into a position that could actually change something, a position of power, all believe that they’re going to defy the odds and stereotypes to change the world. And they all start out trying too. But then it slowly changes. A small compromise here or there again and again until the law and politics just become another way to make a buck. Its incredible really, how little most politicians actually believe in what they say. They’ve gone from pure innocence to corrupt men and women saying anything to keep their power. There’s a simple fix though. Limit the amount of terms anyone can serve. Make it two, or two non-consecutive terms. Hell reduce it to one. Make politics for the people again instead of just more jobs for the people in it.

Our Irrational Fear of Disease

Society dictates that clothing worn needs to be washed. It doesn’t matter if you wore it around the house, to work, or even just to bed. If it’s worn, it needs to be washed. Why has our community become so afraid of dirt and germs that every single thing needs to be washed regardless of if its dirty or not? It could stem from the eternity long battle of man versus disease, from the annual epidemics we suffer annually. Swine flu, avian bird flu, even AIDS. It doesn’t matter if you’re nowhere near any of these diseases or sicknesses every human fears sickness and disease more than anything else in the world. For thousands of years mankind lived in the muck always covered in dirt. Could this be the reason mankind showers almost every single night? Could they fear falling back onto the ground covered in manure? This brings about interesting thoughts about mankind’s natural selfishness. Everyday we use billions of water washing clean clothes and removing the tiniest specks of dirt from our bodies. However I am aware that if we didn’t use this water it would simply go to the other people living in our wasteful country.

Millions of people would give anything they can get just three seconds of the water that surrounds your clean body while you belt out Don’t Stop Believing in your shower. Society or Human nature pressures us into never being dirty if we can help it. Our clothes or bodies are required to be clean at all times by this demanding cruel society. Society frowns upon you not owning a phone, living without electricity or even just now owning a car. I've walked down the street, seen a homeless man, and continued walking. I’ve had money in my pocket, and didn’t pay the man a second thought. Why? Why do we believe these less fortunate people are to be cast out? It returns to one thing alone; we fear their dirt and grime. This isn’t the first time we have cast people just for just being dirty or weak, Ancient Greeks killed weak babies, countries in the dark ages cast out lepers without a second thought. And in the modern day, when people think we have so moved on from the barbaric days, we still cast out those who we think could make us sick.

This awful society wont be stopped or at the bare minimum fixed, unless we break through generations of selfish and greedy habits. That’s what this all roots to. Selfish human nature. No matter how selfless people really are, they’re just selfish. I don’t care what happens, if you might get sick you will do what helps you in a heartbeat. But there’s medicine, soap, hell there’s even purell. But nobody cares. They run at the very first sight of germs. Anyone with access to running water runs to their showers to clean the germs off themselves. But nine times out of ten there are no germs. All the wash off themselves is any bit of human decency they may have left.

Sickness is scary yes. But if you run from another human being, one in need, then I'm ashamed to call you the same species as myself. And I've done this as well. We all have. Now whether it be god or evolution or whatever higher power there may be, they gave man free will. We have been given the ability to help our fellow men, but instead we simply abuse that power. We fear those without homes because we fear the germs living on them. But there is a simple fix. If just ten percent of the human population helped one person. That is millions of people who would be getting help who were previously feared by their so-called brethren. Feared by you and me.