We All Should Care

Accept the call for a deeper purpose.

I’ve always been extremely empathetic. Some of my friends have referred to me as “The Cause Girl” since I’d rather write about charity, and humanity, than to write about gossip. Nonetheless, Taylor Blue took a chance on me, taking me under her wing, and allowing me to stretch my writing skills on her site. We dubbed my original pieces, entertainment journalism, as opposed to gossip, and in many ways, I suppose it was. I don’t like to poke my nose into the personal lives of people I KNOW, figuring that if they mean for me to have the information, they will deliver it to me themselves. So why, why I ask you, would I ever choose to snoop into someone’s life that I don’t know? It doesn’t matter to me if you flip burgers, act, or sing. What matters to me, is what kind of human being you are.
Maybe, as I’m told, I have a “Save the World Complex”, then again, I happen to think that sounds as if I have a problem. I don’t consider it a problem, I merely feel that I do things most anyone else would, if led to the right path, and given a gentle nudge. An awakening of the mind, and soul. A phone call if you will.
Will you answer, or will you simply let the world go unchanged by your hand and let the machine pick it up?
It’s your decision.

I’m sure some of you have noticed that I haven’t posted in quite some time.
I have no excuses, no reasoning good enough to justify my lack of perseverance. It simply boils down to one word. Life.
Life steps in the way and sometimes no matter how well intentioned our thoughts are, they just don’t happen.
I come before you now as a friend that’s down on her knees, and can’t take anymore metaphorically speaking.

I won’t be writing here for a while.
I won’t be writing anywhere.

Maybe you’re disappointed, maybe you couldn’t give a care less, or maybe you’re thrilled there won’t be any more of my incessant rambling for a while.

Either way, I wanted you to know.

For those of you that have read my writing, my rants, my poetry, and stories, each of you have seen a sliver of my heart. Just know that.

Thank you sincerely.

Take care of yourselves, and your hearts.

Willow Raine

Why can’t I get a great job to cover all my bills? Why did my ex get over me so quickly? Why do friends move on? Why did I or a loved one spend their entire life doing nothing but give, give, give only to end up with some horrible, debilitating or deadly disease? Why must we suffer? Why? Why? Why?

These and countless others are questions we ask ourselves in our many, and quite varied lives. It seems sometimes that life becomes far too much a burden to handle. Even I, the great and powerful Damij sometimes gets overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of all the unanswered questions and endless fall-backs and shortcomings that permeate the foundation of our existence.

We are matter made conscious by whatever means. Particles that formed together to become aware and to identify as “self” and as amazing a process as it is, it often leaves us empty.  Our individuality often leaves us feeling lonely or scared.

A great many people choose some religious or spiritual method in trying to cope with the harsh reality we face every day. There are many others that choose more secular methods and I imagine that there are probably still other who simply never even think that deeply and don’t really care one way or another.

I do realize that I ramble so I will get on with it.

The point that I am trying to make is we are trapped inside these human bodies and with our human consciousness, we have only a very limited perception of what reality actually is. It is difficult for us to understand that sometimes things go on the universe that is not only outside our understanding but also outside our ability to be aware of it. I feel that we are all connected in some way or another, since we are all a part of this universe in which we live. When you have all those questions going through your mind, just go outside and look up into the sky and just think about how even though we are but a blip in the existence of the universe, what choices we make determine the impact on the people that are with us in our lives.That makes us important, I think.

There is simply so much in our lives that we cannot change.  If i could heal all the sick and feed all the hungry and answer all the questions that we all have in and about our lives then by damn I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t be busting my ass all day for minimum wage. With as big of a geek as I am, I’d probably go to the trouble of getting a really cool cape if i could afford it but  for all those things we cannot change, there are many things that we do have the ability to alter. Do your best, that’s all I ask. I may not know you but I have faith in you. I may be walking a different path than yours but I know we have probably often taken similar steps along the way.

I’m going to be thinking about you…yeah you *points*

So what are some of the questions that you all have out there in internet land? Sometimes it feels good just to get it all out, ya know?  Just don’t ask what I’m on, I swear I’m sober. lol

I just recently saw my first 3-D movie and it completely kicked my ass. I remember watching part of the Shining in “3-D” when they remade it for a TV movie featuring Stephen Webber (who I call “that guy from Wings”) and it was so lame. I couldn’t even tell what parts were in 3-D.

When I went to see The Final Destination on it’s weekend release in 3-D I was left speechless. Some of the previews were also in 3-D and I cannot stress enough just how much the entire experience kicked my ass.

My Mama had told me that she saw the first 10 minutes of Harry Potter in 3-D and how it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. She works with 3-D modeling for her job and so if she said it was cool I knew I had to go see it.

Technology these days is just absolutely insane. I cannot believe how well it’s made. How realistic it looks, how you fight the urge to duck and reach out to touch something. It’s incredible.

At the theater they charge an extra $3 per ticket to see the film in 3-D, but trust me people, that’s well worth it. If you have not already seen a film in 3-D I highly recommend the experience for everyone.

Here’s a list of upcoming movies that will be available in 3-D:

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 – October 2, 2009
Night Of The Living Dead (1968) – October 3, 2009
A Christmas Carol – November 6, 2009
James Cameron’s Avatar – December 18, 2009
Beauty and the Beast – February 12, 2010
Alice In Wonderland – March 5, 2010
How To Train Your Dragon – March 26, 2010
Hubble – April 9, 2010
Shrek Forever After – May 21, 2010
Toy Story 3 – June 18, 2010
Tron Legacy – December 17, 2010

Side thought… how badass would it be to have The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn in 3-D?!

[image courtesy google.com/images]

Everyone has instilled into your brain that New York is the city that doesn’t sleep, that you can apparently get steamed dumplings and electricians around the clock. However, when I visited [fabulous] NYC in August of 2007, I found that the only thing within walking distance of my hotel (Hotel Pennsylvania) that was open at 3 A.M was McDonalds in Times Square.

The city (besides the rats larger than my teacup Chihuahua) seemed deserted and peaceful. Times Square was still very lighted and colorful, yet the only thing open was McDonalds.

Meanwhile, if you were to head west to Las Vegas you would find that you can get not only booze, girls and poker chips at 3 A.M. but you can also get a ride on a roller coaster and entrance into “after hours” clubs that stay open until daylight. You don’t have to settle for room service when you can get a full service buffet or a four star dining experience at any hour and I’m willing to bet in this city of lights that you would be able to find an electrician at 3 A.M.

I guess I should say that you should see for yourself, but I’m just wondering how NYC got this reputation when I’ve been to both and Vegas is clearly the city that parties all night.

Have you been to either? What are your opinions on the city that doesn’t sleep?

So it’s like 30 minutes ago (from now, no matter when you read this. that way it will always be “current”.) and I get a craving for, of all things, turnip greens.  I make my way into the kitchen, approach the cabinet and open the door. After almost dropping the can and my eternal struggle with  my arch-nemesis, the electric can opener, I finally manage to dump the contents of the container into a coffee filter and allowed the greens to drain for what seemed like ages. I then emptied the greens onto a paper plate, patted them and added a little heat to them via microwave.

Making my way into the living room, I chuckled to myself as I sat on the couch. In the low-lighting it appeared that my greens had turned into a burger. It’s totally true!

BEHOLD!!!

I swear to God that glow wasn’t there when i took the picture! That’s how amazing turnip greens are!

As I was eating, I began to think about what it was that I was putting into my body. I suddenly became fascinated with the fact that plants are alive, just as we are alive but in a different way.  From there I began to think about how we are alive. It is truly amazing to think of what is means to be a living creature on a living world.  To this day, I find it just an overall bizarre concept that we are alive and in order for us to remain alive, we must consume. Its sort of harsh and brutal and yet it also makes perfect sense.

Ultimately,  I began to think about what it means to be a human. We are conscious beings and have the incredible ability to create. From art to music to architecture and engineering, we are truly set apart and yet it seems we all too often fall  to our most basic instincts. I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure that it’s not too common in the plant or animal kingdoms to be crippled by insecurity and fear over something that doesn’t involve potentially getting eaten.

I guess the point of all this is that sometimes very big ideas stem from something as simple as going to the kitchen for a snack.

I hope we all find our inspiration in our lives. Just keep on believing!

My first time on a Greyhound bus was in 2002 on a trip to Dallas, TX. From Kansas City to Dallas it’s an 8-hour drive, or a 12-hour trip via Greyhound. I swore up and down that I would never ride a Greyhound again because of the giant inconvenience that it is, however this last week I was forced to ride one from Kansas City to Detroit because there was no other option.

I had a lot of time to think on the 20-hour bus ride to Detroit. By the time that I was coming home on my 22-hour bus ride home, I decided that I was going to write an article about my experience and the giant inconvenience that is the Greyhound bus system.

Firstly, for those who haven’t ever rode a Greyhound before, there’s a lot of ‘hurry up and wait’. Most of them have two or four hour layovers in random odd places. (Like hole-in-the-wall-Iowa or Bethany, Missouri.)

There are absolutely no security checks. This is what bothers me most of Greyhound’s system and standards. They will literally let anyone ride their bus. You do not have to have an ID to purchase a ticket – they do not check any baggage or even have something so simple as metal detectors. They literally let anyone on board.

On a four hour layover on my way home in Chicago I started talking to two kids about this. One girl was 15 years old, the boy was 16. Both were traveling alone, both had bought their tickets with cash. Either of them could have been running away and they could disappear forever. The girl was very cute and very naïve, taking to anyone who wanted to talk to her, telling strangers on the bus that her uncle was sending her back to Oklahoma to live. She mentioned the name of the city where she was going, what school she went to… anything you wanted to know about her, you could have asked and she would have told you. She was very lucky that I sat by her and talked to her, keeping her company the whole ride. She rode with me until Kansas City and then I told her what bus to get on afterwards. I could have been a bad stranger; I could have been someone who wanted to harm her.

The 16-year-old boy brought up a good point as we were sitting in the Chicago bus station – the Greyhound would be the perfect way to transport drugs. No one needs an ID, no bags are searched, and you get on and get off wherever you want and no one would ever notice.

However, it’s not drugs that I’m worried about – it’s weapons. Because there are no security measures, no metal detectors – imagine just how many people have knives and guns that are sitting next to you. Imagine why those people are carrying those weapons. It’s a scary thought.

And lastly, with how many people are riding these buses, how much money Greyhound is pulling in per year, they can’t afford cleaner facilities? I find that hard to believe. In my trip I only found one bus station to be sanitary – the St. Louis bus station. It surprised the hell out of me too. I’ve been to St. Louis many times and it’s not a very clean city as a whole, so for the Greyhound stop to be clean? I’m very impressed. In the Kansas City, Detroit and Chicago bus stops they were all so filthy that only one or so of the stalls were clean. On my way to Detroit in my layover in Chicago someone threw up next to me in the bus stop and no one cleaned it up. It just stayed there on the floor, people walking around it like it wasn’t there.

Greyhound’s website wants you to believe that they are a clean, efficient and economically friendly way to travel. If they actually want people to believe that and continue to ride with them, they should change the way that they do things by hiring friendly people, retraining the ones they have, cleaning up what’s disgusting and employing new security options – actually employing ANY security options would be a start. Safety for their customers should be their number one priority.

[[image courtesy of google.com/images]]

What is a star? What is fame really? A self-indulgent lifestyle propelled by the media hungry America? No, I shouldn’t only blame America… fueled by the celebrity starved world.

I used to want to be a “star”, whatever that means. I was actually so close that I tasted it. It tasted like blood, that bitter taste that makes you thirsty for ice-cold water when it hits your tongue. I quickly backed away and have since only glanced backward once or twice. I don’t regret that I left my record label to basically be forced to start back from the beginning because I was being made into a product. I was told that I was no longer a human, I was a machine. I was told when to be where and how to be when I got there. I was told that I couldn’t cut my hair, that I had to be platinum blond and that anything I should have to say, I should say it in verse and with super catchy lyrics surrounding it. I was told that I could no longer be “Jodie” and that I was now “Jodie Platz” a product that was molded around my name and I had absolutely no opinion whatsoever into what went into this product that was for sale.

So then why do people crave fame? What is it that makes everyone want to be on the cover of the magazines? Don’t they see Robert Pattinson and how his anxiety about the entire situation is tearing him apart? Or maybe they don’t see the downward spiral that the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have been through? Why do they still want it after everything they see?

People will do anything for fame and money. People would go and be on a television show, objectifying themselves even if they didn’t get paid. I suppose there’s always the chance that if they are on the Real World or even maybe Jerry Springer that someone, somewhere will discover them and they’ll be the next big thing. However, how often does that really happen? Now you’ve gone on national television and have humiliated yourself in front of your friends and family for them to forever replay your threesome in the hot tub or your temper-tantrum on YouTube and TiVo. I don’t know about you, but my family already has enough reasons to laugh at me, I don’t need to hand them any more.

They do it for attention of course, and we happily oblige and give them the attention they want. We put these stars on pedestals so high that they’re untouchable to us. We look at them and see the perfection that surrounds their lives. The iced out watches, the Louis Vuitton luggage, the free clothes, limousines and cocktails around the clock… we see that and we want it, but it’s not real. The price of those things is too high. Nothing is really free to them because they sold themselves to be a machine. Inside those limo’s with the cocktails they’re sad inside. They’re drowning their sorrows in their champagne and telling themselves they should be grateful and thankful because they were dreaming of this since they were twelve years old. Just remember one simple rule of thumb; the higher the pedestal the harder they fall.

[[image courtesy of google.com/images]]