Fantastic day/best of...

"Intriguing. I’ve watched several of Obama’s speeches on YouTube - the incredible part is how popular his videos are. Most political videos don’t get many views, but Obama’s videos - wow."
From twitter stream of a twitter user whose page I cannot access now...attribution incomplete but that's the gist of it...

The rest of this is reposted from various sources, in addition to my writing...it is recommended to visit the link, read the post, then click on the "back" button of your browser to read the response. This way you will get to read two authors for the price of one...and become more informed and smarter, and hopefully, inspired.

I read a blog on myspace-and then responded to it:

You know, I almost deleted you from my friend list the other day. I was nearly ready to completely stop using myspace because it had caused me to feel like i was involved in drama. Strangely enough, I have myspace to keep in touch with my family (CA and AZ) which, really, since i'm bad about writing to them, all it does is make me feel closer to them, so therefore, because I want to feel closer to them, I didn't take down my site. But those are the people I actually communicate with less than anyone else. Seems like I end up more with the random people I know from...well...however it is we connect with random people.
I did totally change the site and the way I use it, though. But, the internet is a part of my life and I, like you, blog about life, although, I sometimes use real life to write fiction, and the other way around, too. But mostly, most of the things I write, like this note, are just part of the life I have going right now.
I'm really glad now that I have read your blog and think I'm starting to see more of how you present yourself that I did not delete you (wasn't just I was going to delete, either, I'm not aiming this at you in that way, I was about to clear off a bunch of people that I felt I wouldn't have much in common with...just goes to show you don't know what you have in common with someone until you really take the time to try to understand them).
Suddenly you post this blog and I realize how much we have in common. I noticed that you are very passionate about life. Also that you are a really good writer, you use words well even when you're writing something, so to speak, right off the top of your head. These things are written way different than something like a business letter or something you write and review and write and review, etc...it's more train of thought, which is the writing I like the best-my own as well as that of others. Also, also, you are taking a look at yourself and thinking deeply about who you are and who you want to be. This is something very special in my book. Lately I've been looking deeply at myself and what it is I really want to be, how I want to act, and who I want to associate with. I've been trying to focus on the things that will help me, when I look back, you know...don't stop doing that. Personal growth adds to the health of the spirit; the healthier the spirit the better the condition of the mind, and the better the condition of the mind, the better the quality of the mortal life...it gets deep...but anyway.
Another "also" is that today I was just thinking of - how could she. You see, my daughter's mother has, it seems like to me, completely forgotten the bond a parent should have with their child. The whole story is rather long-but I'll share it with you sometime...perhaps.
The short part is, once we split up I had to track my kid down and go and get her from a relative of her mother's where she'd been basically abandoned. I had wanted custody, but she won.
I couldn't do it-couldn't go to the court and tell them she was not going to be a good parent because of her addictions...I could have, I could have "won" in court-but I would have had to publicly shown my child's mother as a monster, and I wasn't down with what that might make my child think of me in the long run...I knew from day one she was mine, and she changed my life, and I knew I was going to be there for her whether she was dragged back to LA or not...I didn't need to win, I tried to win in court just on the fact that I would be a better caregiver, but being male, that's not enough. To win in court, as a man, you have to show the woman is totally worthless-imagine how that would go over with your kid when/if they ever found out? It's was a really tough choice at the time.
So she won, then took our kid 2400 miles away and left her for three months with an aunt. I got a call, saying, hey, can you come get your kid...I was there the next day. A year went by, no word from "mom" so I held a quiet hearing, and without any fanfare, finally got full custody. So it worked out, she's lived with me ever since, and since then, I've never received one dime of child support. My kid's mom has hardly ever sent a letter, or card, or anything...there've been a few things...but nothing substantial and nothing regular. The last email was months ago, even. Really, in the last 12 years, she's only had very minimal contact with her mom. I think it's sad. But it is the way it is, and my daughter (anyone we both know will back me up on this) is a superb person.
You can do this, even if he cuts out totally, it happens, it is sad, it is a shame, it is totally irresponsible, but even if it happens, you'll be ok and your kids will be ok. You are all they need to become the independant, smart, bold, strong and productive people you want them to be. Trust me, your writing shows I'm right, as long as you remain an optimist.
Sorry to go on and on like this on your blog, but I am not really all that private of a person because I believe "our" (collectively) stories will help others-I like seeing you share your life so that I can share mine so that others who are out there who need to read it can, when they need to.
See, this is how I think life works. Things happen to us as we need them to happen to us.
Some people say I'm just an optimist, but I think it's deeper than that. First, if a person isn't an optimist then they might as well just give up, and second, life is a complex thing that has purpose that is beyond what humans can comprehend-all we can do is try to understand what we can understand...some call it God, you know, but there are so many people out there using God for so many wrong things that it makes it hard for me to publicly attach to their concepts of "God." In other words, I'll call it IT, you know, but not God, because if I call it God, someone will see me as though I'm going along with the same people who show huge signs of dead, bloody fetuses to kids in passing cars, or punish young adults with guilt and scripture (misused) to drive a message of fear and shame, and I won't be a part of that-at all, so those people have ruined the word "God," but they have not, nor can they ever, ruin the spirit of a great spirit. Do you know what the word "spirit" means, really? Think about it...there is no way to really describe what a "spirit" is-because it is, by definition, everything we can't understand, basically. It's "all that," so to speak, that we can't know while we are mortal spirits-we can try to learn it, and try to see it, and we can get an idea of what it is, but to really KNOW spirit, not going to happen (although reading up on really smart folks who can teach us about it is fascinating, I think...another story, there though).
We can understand the greatness of it, we can comprehend how amazing something we can't really understand is, but we can't really know what it is. I'm beginning to repeat myself but I think to really explain something this complicated takes a bit of repeating. To say it correctly, and in a way that is clear, when talking about something that can't be explained...well, it's hard to do as you'd imagine it would be.
So listen, if you start getting down and needing a little bit of extra support you can call me, or call one of your friends, or pray, or meditate, or see a therapist, or...whatever...
OR- you can just reread what someone I met randomly once wrote, "though it won't be easy and there will be times I want to give up, we will succeed!" That should do it.
Keep your chin up, kid.




And also did the same on TeresaCentric™:
jesse Your comment is awaiting moderation. January 31st, 2008 6:56 pm

Yes! I’m so glad to see you promoting my personal soapbox of the day. Thank you.You see, I can’t understand why we, as citizens, want and expect our elected officials to work together while they are in office, yet we aren’t willing to do the same, or so it seems…Whenever something important happens in D.C. and you hear, “both sides of the isle are on board here, etc” blah blah, but you know what I’m talking about….we are happy and we say, “see how great it is when we work together…”Then, here comes an election and WTH happens? Bickering, fighting, spewing…ok, I mean, I understand the two party system, this is going to be inherent, but still…as citizens, doesn’t it seem like we can, especially in the age of web 2.0, figure out a common ground and say, hey, here we are, let’s work together to get the best person in office, then work together to make the world the best world it can be…equality and justice are the themes, right?

Perhaps I’m just too optimistic and too naive, but I think that what I am, rather, is visionary and that what we need is to get the message out that it will be ok to work together and basically, take it four years at a time….Sure…it is a message of hope, sure it’s just me going off about what I see as best for the people of the world, but isn’t that also what the world wants? Who wants a world full of death and war and crime and drug abuse Inot use, abuse, two separate issues) and poverty and all of that…? Huh? who are they? Are they going to speak up? NO.

Who are the extremists? Who are those that would prefer “theirs” only, as opposed to ours? The most likely candidates are facist zealots…and where do they tend to lie, demographically? Please those of you in the middle, and on the middle right…give four years a chance. Do not let the chance that a zealot or facist will lead this “free world” for another four years…eight years has been long enough…contact me via my blog or twitter.com/jesatiu for questions, comments and discourse.
Regards,
@jesatiu aka jesse loop

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=174006175&blogID=353203581

http://teresacentric.com/2008/01/three-simple-things-you-can-do-today-to-make-barack-obama-the-next-president-of-the-united-states/