kellym40 General

Rioting: What’s the point?

The article is about the riots that took place in Baltimore last night and will likely continue. What’s the point?

I understand people are angry, upset, or frustrated, but is that cause enough to burn, loot, and destroy?

It’s like the riots after the verdict in the Michael Brown case or the Eric Garner case. Protesting in such a violent way does not solve anything. All it does is it leaves a city in ruins and causes numerous injuries or unnecessary deaths.

During the St. Louis protests over Michael Brown, I saw one protestor on the news say something to the effect that sometimes you have to get attention and this is the only way to get attention. Seriously?!!

The work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished a lot in his time and he NEVER used violence. In fact, if peaceful marches or protests began getting violent, King would remove himself from the situation.

There is never a need to burn a business down just because of a disagreement. That person, or persons, should be held accountable, because all that happened was another life hurt by the destruction of his or her business.

The riots in Baltimore have caused not only physical damage but now have postponed baseball, America’s past time, yet again.

Everyone just needs to take a chill pill and chill out. There are many ways instead of violence to let your voices be heard and resolve differences.

That’s my take on the situation. I now return you to your regularly scheduled activities.

kellym40 General

2nd Amendment thoughts….

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

That is what the 2nd Amendment says. It seems that a lot of people either don’t know that or don’t care. How many people are actually members of a well-regulated militia? I have no problem with people owning guns for protection, sport, or hunting, but I don’t think the average person needs machine guns, attack or assault rifles to hunt. Those should be for military and some law enforcement. Any type of gun legislation that has been proposed, or has yet to be proposed, is denying individuals to own guns.

It seems some people are acting as if the government and any type of gun legislation are making it illegal to own any type of gun and trying to ban all guns. That does not appear to be the case. The amendment does not clarify what kinds of guns are allowed for citizens to own, so if you have some types of guns (i.e. hand guns or hunting rifles), be happy with what you have.

There still seems to be much gun violence today. I believe what past legislation was trying to do was to make it more difficult for certain people to obtain guns. Additionally, the legislation would hopefully assist with the immediate access to medical or psychiatric services that people may need, and background checks for anyone who wants to buy a gun.

Will this stop people from getting guns? Maybe not, but perhaps it will be more difficult for the wrong person to get a gun. Will it help with the guns that are already out there? Maybe, maybe not, but hopefully it will help regulate illegal firearms and such and perhaps allow the tracking of such weapons easier. Because, as mentioned, the amendment does not specify what type of firearm an individual can have.

Yes, we all want to deter and stop violence. But as I heard this that there are a higher percentage of murders by knives and other weapons that guns. Why not get to the root of the problem with violence? In order to understand violent acts, we need to understand the people committing these atrocities. That is why it is important to have background checks, make psychiatric and mental health more accessible so that people that need it can get it. I think it’s common sense.

So think about that before you post some other insane comment or picture that the government is denying you your 2nd Amendment rights, because, in reality, I don’t believe they are.

kellym40 General

New Year, New Commitment

Here we are about half way into the first day of this new year. It is a time – for some – for new beginnings….new hopes….new dreams….a new outlook on things….whatever it may be it also is a time to look back and reflect. Thinking about what has transpired over the last year and what might be look forward to in 2014.

Many people have made resolutions for the new year. I failed to do so. My resolutions never seem to stick so I found it unnecessary to resign to make resolutions that I may or may not keep. Instead, I am going to strive to make small attainable goals throughout the year and attempt to make those so my goals and needs will be easier to hopefully obtain.

For me, 2013 was a good year. It hasn’t been the best, but it’s been good. I mean I still have my health (may not be the best, but it is keeping me alive), I have my family, friends and acquaintances. I have been through ups and downs, as many have I suppose, but I’ve managed to keep going. And that I can be thankful for.

I have been married for a little over a year and a half now and celebrated the anniversary in San Antonio with the wife and kids last year, while we also attended the family reunion on my mom’s side. I saw many cousins and other relatives I haven’t seen in years. I was also able to meet my brother’s “twin.” That was interesting. In other news from 2013, my step-daughter was accepted into the army, after a tumultuous first year of college, and actually leaves in less than a week. My wife is sad to see her go now that her departure is getting that much closer. But we will cope and carry on. I completed a semester of college teaching where it had its ups and downs but I managed to get through it. The time just wasn’t right to be able to continue for the spring semester. Therefore, I decided to continue with my current job and search for other/additional work. I am currently working at a job that is somewhere in my background and that is print media. However, there are ups and downs and I still continue to search for more. And that leads me to my next thought.

My biggest concern I have for the new year is my financial and employment situation. Although I have been through several job changes over last year, I have found a steady job that has kind of kept me going but it does have its own ups and downs and it is only a part-time job. I am looking for something that I enjoy, that is something in my educational background or interests (like radio, theatre, film, writing/journalism), and something that I can be happy and provide for myself and my family. However, my current city of residence does not really provide for that. So I think that must change at some point. It’s just somewhat difficult right now to find something at the current time that meets those standards. The struggle will continue until I am able to make that change.

I have some leads out, and as I said, continue to search for more. I will accept what I have now. I will accept the fact that I CAN change…and hold on to the hope that it WILL change.

I don’t know what the future may hold, so all I can do is to do my best and keep going.

In the words of the Grateful Dead: “I will get by…I will survive.”

kellym40 General

Excitement is Exciting….When you get the call….

So the topic today is “excitement.” Well, this is my first post to this daily prompt feed. And this is only my second post after a long hiatus. I posted a short blog last night about the possibility of a new Terminator film. I can say that I’m not really excited about that since I didn’t particularly care for the last two film in the series.

But I digress. Excitement. What is it? If you look in a dictionary, it could say something like this: “a feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness.” I agree. It’s a strong feeling towards something that makes one feel…well…excited. One thing happened to me a couple of months ago. This was the initial feeling.

It was July 18, 2013…a Thursday….afternoon. I received a phone call and was offered a job as an adjunct instructor for one of the extended campuses of the community college close to my area. I spoke with the woman on the phone for a good fifteen or twenty minutes and talked about my background….personal, education, and teaching experience. After I spoke with her, I felt an uplifting enthusiasm I have not felt in quite some time. I could preface this by saying that I have been basically unemployed for a while and this was very good news. So yes, I was excited! This was also good news because I decided to go into the world of education after thinking about it off and on for the past several years.

I began an online teaching program through the university I previously graduated from several years ago with my bachelors and masters degrees. I was going for secondary speech and theatre education, since those areas comprised my educational background. I was doing well up until this past summer. Shortly after I began the program last fall, I quit my place of employment to pursue the program full time. Well, I also quit for other reasons but that could be another post for another time. Anyway, over the summer I realized I needed to return to work full time after poor results of my interviews for teaching positions this school year. I went on several but was unable to secure a position anywhere. I think it was mostly because of my lack of teaching experience, and the only experience I had was the occasional substituting I did for the public schools here in my hometown. And, as the fall was coming closer I didn’t think I was going to be able to complete the program because of having to return to work, and at the time I didn’t know what I was going to be doing. So I had to drop my classes I had for the summer and fall and withdraw from the program.

And now, here I am. I received that call about two months ago and I am teaching now…at the college level. It’s a whole new experience and I’m still getting used to it. I only have ten students in my class…so that’s a plus. Not too big, not too small. We’re getting ready to start the fourth week of the semester this week and it is a work in progress for me getting used to it and figuring out my lesson plans. Some of the excitement has disappeared, but I am still happy that I’m here. The pay may not be much, but it’s something, and it is a step in the door that could lead to other possibilities.

I am very thankful for that day in July and that one phone call.

kellym40 General

Terminator 5?

Terminator 5?

It seems that someone is interested in directing a new Terminator film.

According to this article, it is unclear if this is another sequel or a reboot. If it’s a reboot, it might be hard to top Cameron’s original two films. However, I heard that Arnold might be on board to have a role in the film. I guess if it’s written well and this director does a decent job, it might be a decent reboot of the franchise. This director has come from directing “Game of Thrones” to directing the anticipated Marvel film sequel of “Thor.” We’ll see how he does. I haven’t seen the “Game of Thrones” but I am in anticipation of “Thor 2.”

I don’t think this franchise needs another sequel though. I thought the last two attempts were unnecessary and didn’t really move the story forward or add anything new to the story. Those are my opinions anyway. Perhaps there are others who have different thoughts and maybe are eager to see another Terminator film.

I will say this, there are successful reboots. And others, not so much. Some recent successful franchise reboots have been the Batman franchise with director Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale donning the cape and cowl, The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield slinging Spider-Man’s web. So, as I mentioned before, if it is written and directed well then it could be an interesting film….of course, the actors and acting have to make it believable and interesting.

kellym40 General

Reminiscing

So last night I was going through all of my poems that I have written over the years, and I came across some other writings that I had almost forgotten about. I will get to that in a minute.

It took me a while to go through all of the poems as I had close to 150. What saddens me though is that I couldn’t find one of them. I had a list that I made and then continued to add to that list as I wrote a new poem. I had typed most of the poems (some of them were even on old typing paper using a typewriter). So, as I was going through all of the pages and journals that I had, checking off the poems, I couldn’t find one of my earlier poems. I think the total came to 143 (minus the poem I couldn’t find). However, I did come across another poem that I did not have on the list, so the total is back up to 143. It was the last poem I wrote…around 2005. I haven’t said this in years, but I used to say that some day I would like to write a book of poetry. I would just compile all the poems, put them in an order, and try to make a decent manuscript of poetry. I think I am more tempted and getting more motivated to do that now that I have my poetry. I might even be able to make a couple of books. I’ll see how it goes.

I’ll come back to the other writings I came across. In one of my theatre classes while finishing my undergraduate program, we had to keep a journal. In that journal I also wrote some poems and few other things during the semester. After the semester ended, I decided to keep going with the journal and continued writing poems and other thoughts and ideas. Well I came across those and there was also actually a couple of items that could possibly make short stories as well. I mean, I’ve written some short screenplays so why not some short stories.

I guess the point to all of this was that if you’re a writer, hold on to what you write. It could be cause for something else in the future. Unless, of course, it is just plain awful and a disgrace to the literary world to have it out there, then by all means discard it like yesterday’s trash. But if it has some potential, even a kernel of literary goodness, then keep it…file it away, put it within reach, because you never know where that next literary spark will come from.

Happy writing!

kellym40 General

Life

I’m still getting used to this and going through some of life’s pitfalls. Before today, I was experiencing circumstances that were not pleasant. I’m still overcoming some of them but something else has turned around. I was thinking how times in life one has things planned and a course of action to navigate through this crazy world. Then BAM! Something drives you off course and all that is left is to wonder how you got to that point. As you pick up the pieces, put things back together, and begin to get back on course, BAM! Something happens and a positive light comes around and it slowly starts coming back together. So I guess the point to this little bit of prose is that if we, as people, sit back and do nothing…nothing will change. We must go and make change happen, and eventually an opportunity will arise.

kellym40 General

1st post

This is my initial post as a blogger. I am attempting to get back into writing more and this, I think, would be a very good place to start. I’m still getting used to all of this and will have more posts in the future, but as I’m still going through some other personal issues and things it might be another few days before I will post again. So until then…have a great day!

I do also have something else to say…it’s better to burn out, than to fade away!