Saturday, April 9, 2011
Fiction Time
Footsteps echoed on polished stone tiles. The steady click click grew louder as the person, most likely her mother, came closer. Kathrine continued playing her violin. There certainly wasn't any reason to stop. The woman who had given birth to Kathrine and her two siblings was not a woman to trifled with, which was exactly the reason for Kathrine's reluctance to acknowledge her mother's approaching presence. Both their tempers were legendary, known far and wide across her father's kingdom. The clicking stopped. Kathrine played on, her back to the doorway. There was a soft noise behind her. It sounded like crying. Kathrine wondered why it sounded like that. She turned to face the person and let out a gasp of surprise. The violin fell from her hands and shattered on the hard tile, unnoticed by either person. Regaining her poise, Kathrine turned a critical eye towards the young woman standing before her. It was one of her mother's handmaidens. Kathrine almost didn't recognize her. Her face was red and puffy, one eye was swollen shut. Blood liberally coated her dress, hands, and face.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Times Remembered
 |
| Day 1: Enough said. |
 |
| This was the end of my freshman year. My hair has a mind of its own. |
 |
| They were all so happy to be at my 20th birthday party... (Sophomore Year) |
 |
| My roommate and I decided against dressing up at the '30s-theme party (Junior Year) |
 |
| I may work in a library, but we do know how to have fun. :) |
 |
| Unfortunately, the two girls in the foreground have me for a friend. (Senior Year) |
~The Piebald Penguin
The Signficance of the Number 35
~The Piebald Penguin
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Working Out
I hate women. Now, before I get flamed for such a rash statement, let me start from the beginning.
I don't hate women. In fact, it's the exact opposite. So what's the deal with that sudden outburst of feeling? Allow me to explain.
The trouble all started early last week. Monday to be exact. You see, my college holds a semi-formal banquet once a year in the spring. Being that it's my last year of college, I knew that I was going to go (it's just one of those things). Naturally, I can't go by myself...that's just lame. And it's also lame for a guy to go with other guys. Sorry, it just is. Girls can get away with it if they don't get asked, but I guy who goes with a group of guys is really just lame. Plus, I had a girl in mind that I wanted to go with. So, I asked her. I was all cool as a mountain stream and suave like the shampoo. I went up to her, and was like, "Hey." And her knees buckled and her heart skipped several beats because the Piebald Penguin had noticed that she existed. Obviously she agreed to go to the banquet with me. I mean, it's the Piebald Penguin we're talking about. It's not so much about asking, as it is about pointing the finger towards the lucky lady who gets to accompany me....
Anyways....
So I asked and she agreed. And this weekend I was thinking about it. And I decided that I really needed to fix some things about myself. Namely, my lack of muscle tone. Basically I'm a combination between a little boy and a toothpick. My friends joke that when I turn sideways, I disappear. And that's just unacceptable at this point in my life. So, I did what any guy my age would do. I went to the gym and started working out. Now, this week has not been particularly kind to me. I've been feeling like crap the last four or five days. But did I let that stop me? No, of course not. I needed to work out to make sure that the girl was at least a little impressed. Sigh. Today was especially bad. All my muscles are in pain, my eyes shut, regardless of what's going on, and I've been suffering from allergies. But I knew that if I didn't at least go to the gym today, then I wouldn't ever make it back. And again, it's all about making the right impression, right? So I promised myself that I would go and just run a mile and be done (I really was just feeling awful). I got to the gym and noticed an empty treadmill. I trudged over to it. On my way there, I saw a girl that's in one of my classes. She's one of those girls who I know...just not very well...like I don't think I've ever had a conversation with her outside of class, but we both started the same year, so there's some familiarity. At any rate, she was in the gym, using an elliptical. I thought to myself, "great, I hate working out around people I know". But I got on the treadmill and started running. As my mile marker was approaching, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to just run a mile. It came down to this: I couldn't let her think that I was some kind of sissy. She certainly doesn't know that I'm tired enough to fall over where I'm standing and really shouldn't be in the gym at all. But I did what any sane man would do. I started working out in earnest. By the time she finally left the gym, I was ready to die. My arms hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt. And it's all her fault. So now you can see why I hate women. They make me do incredibly stupid things. I still think it was a bad idea, although I feel a little better now.
~The Piebald Penguin
I don't hate women. In fact, it's the exact opposite. So what's the deal with that sudden outburst of feeling? Allow me to explain.
The trouble all started early last week. Monday to be exact. You see, my college holds a semi-formal banquet once a year in the spring. Being that it's my last year of college, I knew that I was going to go (it's just one of those things). Naturally, I can't go by myself...that's just lame. And it's also lame for a guy to go with other guys. Sorry, it just is. Girls can get away with it if they don't get asked, but I guy who goes with a group of guys is really just lame. Plus, I had a girl in mind that I wanted to go with. So, I asked her. I was all cool as a mountain stream and suave like the shampoo. I went up to her, and was like, "Hey." And her knees buckled and her heart skipped several beats because the Piebald Penguin had noticed that she existed. Obviously she agreed to go to the banquet with me. I mean, it's the Piebald Penguin we're talking about. It's not so much about asking, as it is about pointing the finger towards the lucky lady who gets to accompany me....
Anyways....
 |
| This is me, just chilling on my bike |
~The Piebald Penguin
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tittering Tuesday...on Wednesday
When I was considerably younger than I am now, I used to tell jokes (There are no jokes to be told now. Alas, I have lived too many years and life has sucked all my smiles from the world...) My jokes were usually incredibly simple. They all had a common theme...
A KNIFE.
Yep. I used to tell jokes about people who had knives. For example, Timmy was walking home from school, and he pulled out a knife! (At this point, I believed that everyone should be laughing as hard as they are ever going to laugh.)
~The Piebald Penguin
Yep. I used to tell jokes about people who had knives. For example, Timmy was walking home from school, and he pulled out a knife! (At this point, I believed that everyone should be laughing as hard as they are ever going to laugh.)
~The Piebald Penguin
Thunderstorm on the Horizon
Hey, guess what? Have you guessed yet?
How about now?
Ok, now that everyone has had a chance to guess, I will tell you.
My professor is lecturing about Kant again today. Yay. I'm so excited...
NOT.
But that's not what I want to rant about tonight. No. My rant tonight is about something slightly more rant-worthy.
Oh, I went there. The above flag is what I'm going to be talking about tonight. If you have a problem with this, please move your mouse pointer to the top-right corner of this window and click the red "x". I promise it'll make you feel better. And it will make me feel better because I know that I'm not ranting to people who are wasting their time.
For those of you who don't recognize the above flag, it is the flag carried into battle by the armies of the Confederate States of America. President Lincoln called them rebels. This is true, the Confederate States was made up of men in open rebellion to the Union (even die-hard Confederates can't deny this). While this flag is not the official flag of the Confederate government, it is the more recognized symbol of the states that seceded. As such, it still causes a lot of mixed feelings. These mixed feelings are really the heart of the issue that I want to discuss. While this may seem to be a random rant, I assure you that it is not. The reason for this is as follows. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. That means that 150 years ago from January, the first few Southern states, led by South Carolina, passed articles of Secession from the Union. March 4th was 150 years after President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. 6 days from today, April 12, 2011, will be 150 years after CSA General Beauregard gave the order to open fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. As such, historians and rich people around the nation are holding galas and events and what not in honor of this anniversary. In addition, my university library is setting up a display case that is full of memorabilia from the war. From weapons to marbles, the majority of the items in the display were donated by one of the university's professors. He has spent most of his life collecting items and artifacts from battlefields and antique shops. To add flavor and historical authenticity, the professor gave us a flag, much like the one pictured above. This professor came from Virginia, so it makes sense for him to have such a flag. We were left with a dilemma. You see, no one knew where to procure a Union flag from. We certainly couldn't just get a modern-day flag (50 stars looks a lot different than 34). But we wanted to use the Confederate flag because it took up a nice amount of space in the case, and it added a lot of color and life to the display. Now, I was the one in charge of the display, and I am a historian at heart (and I have a minor in history). So, I decided to go ahead and put it in the display case. Obviously it had to be centered, being that we just had a single flag. I had the professor, who donated all the stuff, look at the finished display, and he said it looked good. Then, I had my boss look at it. He liked it too. I felt good about it (if you know me, you probably realize how unusual it is for me to actually like something that I do...). Two days after the display was finished, my boss approached me and told me that there was a problem. People had come to him and informed him that our display was racist. Racist. The flag was the problem. I stared at him with a look of disbelief. I wasn't promoting slavery! It's just a flag from the time period. A non-racist professor had donated it (Do you know how I know that the professor is non-racist? He's one of the leading professors in the biblical counseling department at my university). This story ends with me being a good worker and taking the flag down. I wouldn't want people to think that, by honoring a historical event with historical items, I am racist.
And this leads me into my rant. The Civil War (and the brief existence of the Confederacy) was 150 years ago. 150 years ago. That's a long time. 150 years ago, cars weren't even invented. Horses and trains were the main forms of transportation. European nations still controlled large parts of Asia and Africa. The United States of America was a completely different place. There weren't 50 states and several territories. We weren't seen as a superpower or the global policeman. Southerners still had strong English accents. Men viewed themselves as being citizens of their state first and foremost. The Army was formed mostly from state militias. Slavery was prevalent on Southern plantations. Slavers and Abolitionists fought (literally fought) over the issue of slavery in the territories. The West was largely wild and unsettled. And then, Abraham Lincoln, a known proponent of abolishing slavery was elected to the Presidency. Several Southern states felt that their states' rights were about to be violated. Thus, in the interest of preserving their way of life and keeping to the traditions of their forefathers, they seceded from the Union. They were certainly not going to be a part of a nation that abused its constituents and destroyed their economic systems (and it would have. The Southern states had little in the way of industry and were wholly dependent on exporting the agricultural goods that were grown on large plantations. They were able to produce vast quantities of cotton and tobacco because of the supply of labor. It took Southern states decades to recover after slavery was finally abolished). So they rebelled. In full knowledge that they were breaking the Union. It was their belief that they were in the right. They were rebels, but then, so were their forefathers. They feared the growing power of the central government, just like George Washington, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and all the rest did. 150 years ago, there was a war fought between two sides that were formerly one. Best friends, brothers, fathers and sons, members of the same church, all had to choose sides. And at times, they made opposing choices. They fought each other. They killed each other. There were more than 600,000 war-related deaths between the two sides. More Americans died in the American Civil War than in any other conflict that our nation has been a part of. Northerners died fighting to preserve the Union, and Southerners died trying to preserve their traditions. In the end, the South lost to the greater industrial might of the Federal government. Slavery was abolished. The Confederate States of America would fade into the dusty annals of history. Or would it? Surely this dark time in our nation's history could be put to rest now that so many men had given their lives for victory. Sadly, breaking people from their habits is difficult. And yes, there were more dark times ahead for the United States. Southerners were loathe to admit that black people (this is not meant to be a demeaning term. If you have a problem with it, don't call me a white person.) deserved to be allowed to lead normal lives. Citizens' rights were abused, people were abused (and sometimes murdered), laws were broken. The Jim Crow mentality set in. So, things did not always get immediately better for black citizens. But the fact remains, that things could start to get better. Now, I have never been persecuted. Furthermore, being a white guy, my people have never really, truly been persecuted (unless you count the religious persecutions that led to the colonization of the New World). So, I can't relate. But, consider this. Men died to end slavery. Not just men, white men. White men saw that there was a gross injustice, and they gave their lives in an effort to right the wrongs. Why can't we focus on that? Why do so many people seem intent on bringing back the horrors of slavery. I get it, slavery was awful. People were treated worse than cattle. It was wrong. It was a great injustice. But it was ended by brave men. Brave white men. Stop worrying about racism and start figuring out a way move on. It's not racist to place historical artifacts in a tasteful display that honors the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of courageous men (note, if you are a feminist, I use the term men to refer to men. The army did not allow women to fight in battle at this time. Therefore, the vast majority of casualties were men). It's racist to throw a Confederate flag wrapped around a rock through the window of a black person. That's wrong. But the flag itself is merely a symbol of the Confederate armies. And guess what? A lot of the men who fought and died in the war on the Confederate side were normal guys who didn't own slaves. They were called to fight to save their homelands from, what they viewed as, a foreign invasion. The Confederate battle flag is not a symbol for racism. It is a symbol for a rebellion that was defeated.
~The Piebald Penguin
How about now?
Ok, now that everyone has had a chance to guess, I will tell you.
My professor is lecturing about Kant again today. Yay. I'm so excited...
NOT.
But that's not what I want to rant about tonight. No. My rant tonight is about something slightly more rant-worthy.
For those of you who don't recognize the above flag, it is the flag carried into battle by the armies of the Confederate States of America. President Lincoln called them rebels. This is true, the Confederate States was made up of men in open rebellion to the Union (even die-hard Confederates can't deny this). While this flag is not the official flag of the Confederate government, it is the more recognized symbol of the states that seceded. As such, it still causes a lot of mixed feelings. These mixed feelings are really the heart of the issue that I want to discuss. While this may seem to be a random rant, I assure you that it is not. The reason for this is as follows. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. That means that 150 years ago from January, the first few Southern states, led by South Carolina, passed articles of Secession from the Union. March 4th was 150 years after President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. 6 days from today, April 12, 2011, will be 150 years after CSA General Beauregard gave the order to open fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. As such, historians and rich people around the nation are holding galas and events and what not in honor of this anniversary. In addition, my university library is setting up a display case that is full of memorabilia from the war. From weapons to marbles, the majority of the items in the display were donated by one of the university's professors. He has spent most of his life collecting items and artifacts from battlefields and antique shops. To add flavor and historical authenticity, the professor gave us a flag, much like the one pictured above. This professor came from Virginia, so it makes sense for him to have such a flag. We were left with a dilemma. You see, no one knew where to procure a Union flag from. We certainly couldn't just get a modern-day flag (50 stars looks a lot different than 34). But we wanted to use the Confederate flag because it took up a nice amount of space in the case, and it added a lot of color and life to the display. Now, I was the one in charge of the display, and I am a historian at heart (and I have a minor in history). So, I decided to go ahead and put it in the display case. Obviously it had to be centered, being that we just had a single flag. I had the professor, who donated all the stuff, look at the finished display, and he said it looked good. Then, I had my boss look at it. He liked it too. I felt good about it (if you know me, you probably realize how unusual it is for me to actually like something that I do...). Two days after the display was finished, my boss approached me and told me that there was a problem. People had come to him and informed him that our display was racist. Racist. The flag was the problem. I stared at him with a look of disbelief. I wasn't promoting slavery! It's just a flag from the time period. A non-racist professor had donated it (Do you know how I know that the professor is non-racist? He's one of the leading professors in the biblical counseling department at my university). This story ends with me being a good worker and taking the flag down. I wouldn't want people to think that, by honoring a historical event with historical items, I am racist.
And this leads me into my rant. The Civil War (and the brief existence of the Confederacy) was 150 years ago. 150 years ago. That's a long time. 150 years ago, cars weren't even invented. Horses and trains were the main forms of transportation. European nations still controlled large parts of Asia and Africa. The United States of America was a completely different place. There weren't 50 states and several territories. We weren't seen as a superpower or the global policeman. Southerners still had strong English accents. Men viewed themselves as being citizens of their state first and foremost. The Army was formed mostly from state militias. Slavery was prevalent on Southern plantations. Slavers and Abolitionists fought (literally fought) over the issue of slavery in the territories. The West was largely wild and unsettled. And then, Abraham Lincoln, a known proponent of abolishing slavery was elected to the Presidency. Several Southern states felt that their states' rights were about to be violated. Thus, in the interest of preserving their way of life and keeping to the traditions of their forefathers, they seceded from the Union. They were certainly not going to be a part of a nation that abused its constituents and destroyed their economic systems (and it would have. The Southern states had little in the way of industry and were wholly dependent on exporting the agricultural goods that were grown on large plantations. They were able to produce vast quantities of cotton and tobacco because of the supply of labor. It took Southern states decades to recover after slavery was finally abolished). So they rebelled. In full knowledge that they were breaking the Union. It was their belief that they were in the right. They were rebels, but then, so were their forefathers. They feared the growing power of the central government, just like George Washington, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and all the rest did. 150 years ago, there was a war fought between two sides that were formerly one. Best friends, brothers, fathers and sons, members of the same church, all had to choose sides. And at times, they made opposing choices. They fought each other. They killed each other. There were more than 600,000 war-related deaths between the two sides. More Americans died in the American Civil War than in any other conflict that our nation has been a part of. Northerners died fighting to preserve the Union, and Southerners died trying to preserve their traditions. In the end, the South lost to the greater industrial might of the Federal government. Slavery was abolished. The Confederate States of America would fade into the dusty annals of history. Or would it? Surely this dark time in our nation's history could be put to rest now that so many men had given their lives for victory. Sadly, breaking people from their habits is difficult. And yes, there were more dark times ahead for the United States. Southerners were loathe to admit that black people (this is not meant to be a demeaning term. If you have a problem with it, don't call me a white person.) deserved to be allowed to lead normal lives. Citizens' rights were abused, people were abused (and sometimes murdered), laws were broken. The Jim Crow mentality set in. So, things did not always get immediately better for black citizens. But the fact remains, that things could start to get better. Now, I have never been persecuted. Furthermore, being a white guy, my people have never really, truly been persecuted (unless you count the religious persecutions that led to the colonization of the New World). So, I can't relate. But, consider this. Men died to end slavery. Not just men, white men. White men saw that there was a gross injustice, and they gave their lives in an effort to right the wrongs. Why can't we focus on that? Why do so many people seem intent on bringing back the horrors of slavery. I get it, slavery was awful. People were treated worse than cattle. It was wrong. It was a great injustice. But it was ended by brave men. Brave white men. Stop worrying about racism and start figuring out a way move on. It's not racist to place historical artifacts in a tasteful display that honors the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of courageous men (note, if you are a feminist, I use the term men to refer to men. The army did not allow women to fight in battle at this time. Therefore, the vast majority of casualties were men). It's racist to throw a Confederate flag wrapped around a rock through the window of a black person. That's wrong. But the flag itself is merely a symbol of the Confederate armies. And guess what? A lot of the men who fought and died in the war on the Confederate side were normal guys who didn't own slaves. They were called to fight to save their homelands from, what they viewed as, a foreign invasion. The Confederate battle flag is not a symbol for racism. It is a symbol for a rebellion that was defeated.
~The Piebald Penguin
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Piebald Penguin Turns 1
My blog's creation day was 1 month ago. Well, a month and a couple days...but who's counting? And I know it's Tuesday so you're all expecting a laugh, but really, I haven't blogged much in the last couple days, so I have some things to catch up on before I have a chance to look at comics. But don't worry, I will start giving all my readers lots of good stuff to cast their eyes upon (even those of you who consistently read my blog, but don't follow it).
And just to whet your appetites...Skies simply simmer since summer sadly sits serenely on the skyline.
~The Piebald Penguin
And just to whet your appetites...Skies simply simmer since summer sadly sits serenely on the skyline.
~The Piebald Penguin
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sleep When You're Dead
Simply sleeping seems sadistic since sadness saturates suspended sensibility.
Nightmares negate nasty nuisances necessitated by needless nettling of the neurons.
Well, nightmares and just plain not sleeping. Those seem to be the best answers to the problem of good dreams. And for those of you who don't understand what I'm getting at, let me explain. Dreams are annoying to have. When you have a good dream, you wake up happy, ready to conquer the world. Those are the days when you are constantly reminded that you are fallible in every way, shape, and form. That results in a difference of expectations. Your mind spends 7 or 8 hours (or 10 if you are one of those people) telling you that you can accomplish things (because in a dream, you can). But then you wake up and discover anew that you can't control everything. And sometimes people just let you down. As such, it's better to have nightmares. You wake up and know that your day cannot be any worse than your night was. So, lower expectations result in increased enjoyment of life. This also works, generally, with anything. Don't expect anything from anyone, and people will constantly amaze you.
~The Piebald Penguin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)