THE BULL IN THE GARDEN - J. MILLER FICTION - PART 1

I had been thinking about violence, domestic violence, and a correlation between it and stressful financial times. But unlike my experiences with those who use cannabis, or the general population and college communities in general, domestic abuse, which sometimes leads to victim death, i can't recall much memorable experience. There's plenty though - it's simply I mentally block such memories if I can.

There was my friend Deb from 15 years ago... got her nose almost torn off when her boyfriend smashed it. She was a co-worker at the time and we became friends. He, her "boyfriend", did disappear after that - locked up for a time and then onto greener pastures , where no doubt he would repeat his aggressive behavior.

Their was Maria, a girl-friend I knew back in the 70's... her mother seemed similar to mine; at around 2AM one morning while in bed with Maria her phone rang... which was in the other room. Maria had to answer it at that hour, could be an emergency... myself in bed, from across the hall I could hear Maria talking to her mother. I could hear her mother's voice as she (correctly) claimed Maria had a man in her bed, but she then screamed at Maria what a whore she was, etc...

There were the HS dances, that despite my geeky nature, I attended occasionally, usually with friends, but sometimes alone... how often they ended in some male or males confronting me, and threatening me. I have looked at a knife more than once. Alcohol was always involved.

There was the night I was at a good college friend's house for a party... the end of my first year at college... my friend and I had spent hours and days and weeks studying over the phone (in the 1970's) for homework and tests in our physics class...  he also was a co-worker at the dept. store I worked at. We had a party at his house one Friday night. All the hot ladies from work were there, and in spite of my fear of dancing... since no woman ever accepted a invitation for a dance at one of those past mentioned dances, I was delighted that at this party, I danced up a storm. Life was good. Until, my friends brother, took a dislike to me, and while we passed in the hallway he suddenly started beating the crap out of me; until others, including my friend pulled him off of me.

Score one for a major turning point in my life... a downturn.

Those are snippets of my past... all leading to a discussion about Domestic Violence", and it's many forms.

I'm not a fighter... though if I had to I am a wiry guy, and I'm sure I could defend myself. The fact is, I don't wish to hurt anyone... I would prefer talk, use patience until things cool. If it came down to imminent death, I wouldn't hesitate to use deadly force in return. The question is, how does one know when that moment is at hand?

Enter John Miller and an experience he'd like to share.

It's a cliff hanger, as the story is pretty involved, intense...

It was the deadline for this past federal taxes... the farmer's wife, divorced, was due home after a week in Florida. John had gotten home from work and the Bull was fretting the farmer's wife's return... his girlfriend, sure, but he depended on her as since the housing bubble burst, he's been out of work. Plenty of work where he lived. But that put him in a girlfriend/laborer role. Meanwhile, John got home and talked to the Bull awhile, trying to lend a ear, and it turned out the Bull HAD NOT filed his tax return yet. And the next day was the deadline. He was bullish, to say the least!!!

The Bull could use a computer, but wasn't comfortable with them. He was a carpenter. So John not only built a computer for him to use, since we can hardly get by without one these days, but he provided whatever help he could for Bull. What he couldn't provide was a broadband connection, and the process of downloading the necessary tax forms from the IRS, via dial-up internet, filling them out, was torture. The internet connection kept freezing... and the cursing began.

Next time... Bull snaps... BobKat gets a inside view of how domestic violence can yield so many different "facts..."

BLOGGER BASH - Are We Authors or Simply, Babbling Typists???

I won't mention the mainstream news channel I found this topic... but it's not one I haven't heard before, which is, that bloggers aren't authors, journalists, or artistic. The article I read today said we're "typists".

TYPISTS???

Whew... yeah, I'm sitting here with nothing better to do than type words in the cloud, and expect that there's any intelligent mind behind them. Call me sensitive, as a matter of fact I am, sensitive. Reminds me that day in my early 20's when I happily announced to my parents, "I'm a writer". Their response? They laughed, my mother cried, and they pointed out - "you're not a writer".

Thanks, for that Reality Check!

A little history on how I got to be the blogger I am today.

Not only did I seriously take up creative writing in the mid 70's, but have always been an avid reader, researcher, and for years was in the thick of the society of my peers. That's called experience. In the early 90's I got into computers, and by the mid-90's put together my own website using HTML, not a web designer program. The site was quite popular. I had it going approx. 3 years when i had to abandon it since I was moving and couldn't take it with me. There are ways, but they eluded me at the time.

For a few years after that I was too busy with other responsibilities to pursue another website, though I wanted to. Instead, I focused more on computers, technology, more reading, and a concentration on the web, brandy new to the human race, and set to change who we are forever.

In late 2004 I got involved in a missing person case, Brianna Maitland from VT. I became close with the family and the case. The family had a forum and I wrote often on the forum. I wrote a "pinned topic" - the family posted, detailing the events prior to and after Brianna's disappearance. This in addition to working closely with family and friends assisting in searches and interviewing friends of Brianna's.

I have assisted in other cases, and if too far away, gotten involved writing for those forums also.

Around 2007, Brianna's case went "cold", and the family took down the forum, as forums are very difficult to maintain. Their's was plagued by hackers, and malicious intrusions, among numerous technical issues.

In 2009, doing a routine Google search about Brianna, wondering if there was anything new, I stumbled upon Slam Dunk's Blog, and his already extensive postings on Brianna's case. His link is available here: http://theslamdunktrove.blogspot.com/

I offered my assistance, described my experience, and found myself writing some 13-14 new posts on her case myself, or in conjunction with Slam Dunks.

Beginning last October, I began my own blog... and though it's sometimes a bit "rough around the edges", I find hope and satisfaction in writing on my blog and pursuing those issues that mean a lot to me. I leave the "missing person's" blogging to Slam Dunk, as he has expertise in that area. I have other interests I like to pursue also... but to suggest I'm simply a TYPIST? What's next... Blogging as a "controlled substance"? State laws banning bloggers? Permits to blog? Psychological evaluations of bloggers? Questions on job applications: "Have you ever been a blogger?"

What's to a blog - just words randomly written to a cloud?

Hardly.

"Dugout Dick", Died recently at age 94, Idaho's last of the River-Canyon Loners

I'm beginning a series on what it's like to be alone, which to some earns you a title as a "loner". As destiny would have it, I went to check my Yahoo personal's account, and found this article. It touched me deeply, as I am both, a loner and a guy that wants friends and lovers. At the moment I am pretty much a loner again. I may die that way, have no idea. Before I tell you more about me, the goal of my blog, after all, let's take a moment and give Dugout Dick a few moments of our time. See, he represents many things to many people... to some he's a non-conformist, and exactly the kind of person a capitalistic society doesn't need. To others he represents what's possible in America... freedom to live one's life as they chose, as long as they don't harm others.

A part of me as I suggested makes me wish I wasn't so entangled in my own web, that I could actually live out my next 30 - 50 years like Dugout Dick. Another part of me wants to build off of what I became in the mid to late 70's, then lost...

There are a lot of dynamics in life, no-matter where one lives. We're not truly "FREE" in America, no, we're not, but, we have options here that many in the world don't have. Education is a key to finding and using those options. But education in and of itself is not the key... one doesn't have to have a college degree to survive, to be happy. Rather, it's the heart and desire to learn, to learn to survive, and to survive in a way that satisfies one's soul that's important. And teaching that, especially in HS where the status quo and state regulations dictate learning, it's pretty difficult to develop one's own life. Was Dugout Dick really a loner? Or did he find true happiness?

Link to picture and story here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/23/1164899/death-of-caveman-ends-an-era-in.html

EXPANDED/LEGALIZED GAMBLING FAILS in NH HOUSE

The NH House voted down passage of the "expanded gambling" bill today by a wide margin. It's the latest in a multi-year effort by special interest groups and certain politicians to open casinos in NH.

Gov. Lynch promised to veto it anyways if it reached his desk.

One supporter described the failure of the NH House to pass the bill said, simply, "they've condemned an airliner, that's run out of gas..."

My thought? That airliner should have planned more in advance. Apparently my elected officials, some of them, have been putting all their eggs in one basket. No surprise it's the NH Senate. They voted down the 1/4 oz bill that would have legalized cannabis.

What's ironic to me is, not only did the NH House vote in favor to legalize small amounts of cannabis, but they did so WITHOUT the influence of the highly paid lobbyists and big business interests that the gambling proponents employed.

Commonsense in politics - my hat off to the NH House!

That being said, gambling, like cannabis are a waste of time for my government to be taking up it's time with. Article 83 of the NH Constitution makes it clear that commerce and the arts are to be encouraged, and not restricted.

Personally, I have only scant interest in going to a casino near me. I do play online Texas hold'em, but I'm not playing against "a House", I'm playing pennies against other people with like interest. Casinos, my sister and her husband have one nearby... they go often. They win big sometimes, but they lose even bigger. Me... I've been to casinos, and it's addictive. Compared to at most $50 that often lasts a couple of months or more to play poker, casinos easily get that, X3, out of me in one visit. Some enjoy it, I don't.

Gambling, Cannabis, even Prostitution should be legal and regulated. Like our two closest neighbors, alcohol and tobacco.

For the state to want a cut of taxation riches by creating an instant highway to riches through "legalized slots" is ludicrous and irresponsible. That it's "illegal" at present is ridiculous.

It's sad really, that logic and common sense can't be a part of the law-making process. There seems to be a "what's in it for me" mentality in government. It's not a wonder to me that trust in the Federal government, and state governments are at an all time low? I don't fault President Obama... I saw the same thing when Jimmy Carter was President in the 70's...

If people want to gamble in a casino in NH, why not??? Why can't a town, county, or city make it's own decisions in the matter?

Who would have guessed that the 200 year old+ "DONT TREAD ON ME" motto would be so significant in the year 2010?

RECOMMENDED LINK:

Don't Tread on Me

The history of the Gadsden flag and how the rattlesnake became a symbol of American independence