Forever

It was almost magic to me, the way that so many of them could just breeze through it all without a care in the world.  No consequences when there is always a safety net any and every time you need it.  I take solace knowing this type of life is its own punishment, forever damned to an inability to find joy in life's fleeting moments, forever looking for something we can never have, forever telling themselves what they can't have is the only thing worth striving for, forever spinning into a never ending journey that won't be enjoyed.

Truth

I finished Dexter [Spoilers]

I have finished watching Dexter, one of the most engaging fucking television shows made in recent years.  While the last four season were not on par with the first four, I still loved the whole thing.  It only took me a month or two to watch the entire series, and Jesus fucking Christ, I'm really going to fucking miss Dexter Morgan and Deb Morgan.  Never has a finale left me so distressed and wanting more so badly.  Debra is one of the best character in the fucking history of television.  The finale wasn't perfect, but I don't think it was as bad as it gets accused of being.  Maybe it is because I watched the entire show over a month and a half instead of nearly a decade, but I thought it was a fitting, tragic end to a story that could only end tragically.  I am really gonna fucking miss this show.

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"You say anything more about my brother and I will kick your fucking nuts down your throat." - Debra Morgan

"My sister puts up a front so the world won't see how vulnerable she is. Me, I put up a front so the world won't see how vulnerable I'm not. I don't care who these fingertips belong to, only what my new friend out there is trying to say." - Dexter Morgan

"Ever since we were little. Don't you remember the monsters? Every time mom would turn off the lights, they'd be running all over the walls and I couldn't go to sleep 'cause I thought they were going to eat me or something. They were the shadows. You came in and explained in your dorky little voice. 'It's just the absence of light, Deb.' I don't even know why I remember that, but I do. And even then, you stayed in my room. You slept on my floor. You made me feel so fuckin' safe. You've always taken care of me. I know you're going to be a great father 'cause you've always been a great big brother." - Debra Morgan

"She's the only person in the world who loves me. I think that's nice. I don't have feeling about anything, but if I could have feelings at all, I'd have them for Deb." - Dexter Morgan

"I'll see you soon" - Debra Morgan :-(

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Kansas City Film Festival

Excited to announce that a short film I directed is showing at the Kansas City Film Festival.  Though this is far from what I would consider to be "success" it is nonetheless a step in the right direction and I consider it a success because up until this point, I haven't had a film good enough to screen at a film festival.

To quote one of the greatest philosophers of our time, CM Punk: "I'm not successful BECAUSE of you ... I'm successful in SPITE of you!"  You know who you are.

Adjunct Positions = Bullshit

Article in my Alma Mater Missouri Western's news paper

Read the above link.  I've been meaning to share this article for a little while now, and I think it outlines what a heavy dose of bullshit higher education has become, for both students and teachers alike.  While the example might be more extreme in higher education institutions like this, it isn't an exclusive problem there.  It's one of the main reasons over the last two years that I've really reassessed my intentions as far as going to graduate school.  I don't want to triple my debt for two more years of training that won't increase my salary that much.  If I invest that kind of money in anything, I'll put it toward equipment.  I truely do feel sorry for all the people out there who were duped into dropping upwards of $100,000 into their education and can only get these piddley little $10-20,000 a year jobs, whether it be a growing number of English professors or my news anchor co-workers.  [EXPANDED 9/10/12] This is not to say adjunct positions are all bad, because if they bring in someone that is already working professionally, like the cinematography class at Missouri Western I heard is, then it is amazing because people who don't want to work full time as a teacher can make extra cash teaching.  It's when people get cornered into using these adjunct positions as their career that the sickness that is so present in higher education today begins to expose itself.

"Fate, the saviors of fools, little children and the ship named Enterprise"
- Commander William T. Riker, posted in reference to blog title.

Pled Vs. Pleaded

I have noticed since working at a television station during the live news broadcasts, that there has been a change from the news I remembered watching growing up.  The news anchor used to commonly say 'pled' when they talked about a plea at a court case, but now, you hear them say 'pleaded'.  Why is this?  I think it is because it makes the criminal look more guilty without saying they are guilty.  They pleaded to the judge sounds a lot worse than they pled to the judge.  Pleaded used to be the only grammatically correct version, but they are both considered by Webster to be appropriate.  Here are a couple interesting discussions online about this already:

http://boaltalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/pleaded-v-pled.html

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2006/May/28/ferguson-using-pled-and-pleaded/

Just an semantic observation I wanted to share.  Any thoughts on this?

Maybe it is the Mandala Effect?