redneckgaijin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redneckgaijin) wrote2006-04-25 09:22 pm
redneckgaijin) wrote2006-04-25 09:22 pm
Really dumb letter meme thing...
I commented in an entry by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nsingman with the current "letter" meme, so I got assigned homework- so to speak. The way this works is that if you comment, you're given a letter of the (English) alphabet and asked to produce 10 words beginning with that letter, and an explanation about them (why you chose them, what they mean to you, etc.).
(And apparently, "Because they begin with (letter)," doesn't cut it.)
1. Friends. Not good at making or keeping them, far too good at using them, not nearly able enough to do things for them. A major concern for me these days, since virtually everyone I care about aside from family is on the 'Net and a considerable distance away.
2. Family. Speaking of... Family is extremely important to me. A person who can't rely on family has nothing to rely on at all. Family is the first unit of social organization- it's where the concept, "I won't kill you today," originates. Those without families seek families; those ostracised by their families create new ones. Family means more than husband, wife, 1.4 offspring and two quadrupeds; it means unconditional love and support, even if you don't agree with or even comprehend your loved one.
3. Fred Perry. A kickass artist. I used to follow Gold Digger religiously, but I lost interest for the most part when money got ultra-tight and the story got itself tied in massive epic-continuity and moebius-time-travel-plot knots. Personally, he's also the biggest Boy Scout personality I've ever met- and definitely the gentlest Marine I've ever met.
4. Fantasy. I don't mean sword-and-sorcery settings, I mean the concept of the definitively unreal- the creation of worlds which cannot exist within our own. Breast expansion fetish stories fall into this category; so does Star Trek,, The Protocols of the Masters of Zion, and the evidence of WMDs in Iraq. Fantasy is a fun place to visit- and there's nothing wrong at all with visiting- but attempting to live there leads to bad things.
5. Freedom. Freedom is not merely something nice, or the absence of something bad. Freedom means not having to ask another person's permission to live as you see fit. Most humans want freedom for themselves, but not for others; there is an urge for security and control which drives us to dictate what other people may and may not do. The trick is to balance freedom and security... remembering that after a certain point giving up freedom means giving up security, too.
6. Force. This is a word badly misused by a lot of people who focus on a moral principle so tightly that they've lost track of the purpose that principle serves. I'd dearly love to see this word vanish from political speech altogether.
7. Flea market. A good place to get poor-er quick.
8. Ford. What I never intend to buy again, never, ever, ever. Nor Lincoln, nor Mercury.
9. Father. I had another "Dad's not dead" dream a couple nights back. They come less frequently, but they remind me how much I still miss him, and how angry I am at the incompetents at the Veterans' Administration.
and finally
10. Failure. The default state of all mankind. We are defined by our successes because they are so rare; we are shaped by our failures because they are so many.
nsingman with the current "letter" meme, so I got assigned homework- so to speak. The way this works is that if you comment, you're given a letter of the (English) alphabet and asked to produce 10 words beginning with that letter, and an explanation about them (why you chose them, what they mean to you, etc.).(And apparently, "Because they begin with (letter)," doesn't cut it.)
1. Friends. Not good at making or keeping them, far too good at using them, not nearly able enough to do things for them. A major concern for me these days, since virtually everyone I care about aside from family is on the 'Net and a considerable distance away.
2. Family. Speaking of... Family is extremely important to me. A person who can't rely on family has nothing to rely on at all. Family is the first unit of social organization- it's where the concept, "I won't kill you today," originates. Those without families seek families; those ostracised by their families create new ones. Family means more than husband, wife, 1.4 offspring and two quadrupeds; it means unconditional love and support, even if you don't agree with or even comprehend your loved one.
3. Fred Perry. A kickass artist. I used to follow Gold Digger religiously, but I lost interest for the most part when money got ultra-tight and the story got itself tied in massive epic-continuity and moebius-time-travel-plot knots. Personally, he's also the biggest Boy Scout personality I've ever met- and definitely the gentlest Marine I've ever met.
4. Fantasy. I don't mean sword-and-sorcery settings, I mean the concept of the definitively unreal- the creation of worlds which cannot exist within our own. Breast expansion fetish stories fall into this category; so does Star Trek,, The Protocols of the Masters of Zion, and the evidence of WMDs in Iraq. Fantasy is a fun place to visit- and there's nothing wrong at all with visiting- but attempting to live there leads to bad things.
5. Freedom. Freedom is not merely something nice, or the absence of something bad. Freedom means not having to ask another person's permission to live as you see fit. Most humans want freedom for themselves, but not for others; there is an urge for security and control which drives us to dictate what other people may and may not do. The trick is to balance freedom and security... remembering that after a certain point giving up freedom means giving up security, too.
6. Force. This is a word badly misused by a lot of people who focus on a moral principle so tightly that they've lost track of the purpose that principle serves. I'd dearly love to see this word vanish from political speech altogether.
7. Flea market. A good place to get poor-er quick.
8. Ford. What I never intend to buy again, never, ever, ever. Nor Lincoln, nor Mercury.
9. Father. I had another "Dad's not dead" dream a couple nights back. They come less frequently, but they remind me how much I still miss him, and how angry I am at the incompetents at the Veterans' Administration.
and finally
10. Failure. The default state of all mankind. We are defined by our successes because they are so rare; we are shaped by our failures because they are so many.