Writing -- Maybe a book?

So I’ve been seriously thinking about writing a book recently.  I can remember a few years back when my friend Chelsea Ribbon wrote a novel and sent copies to her friends.  I was lucky enough to find myself on that list and I remember being incredibly impressed with her.  She self published, but it was none the less an accomplishment not to be sneezed at.  I believe that book is now in the possession of a former paramour.

Lately I’ve been having some excellent thoughts that I’d like to lay down and parlay into book form.  The thing is, most of my writing is generally a stream of consciousness.  While that can make for an entertaining blog, I wasn’t sure about that particular offering as a book.  But I then realized that my most of my favorite books are just that, the authors letting their thoughts and stories fly.

This past year has been one of the craziest in my life.  Some great experiences, some not so great.  The result, however, has left me as a different person.  I still have some dark moments, nothing to get worried about. But I feel like the changes, some forced upon me, have left me a better individual.  The project is something sitting in the back of my mind and I believe I will tackle it in the new year.  Though I may end up having time over the holidays.  I already know what the book will not be.  It won’t be a novel, it won’t be a fictional story.   I believe it will be some-what autobiographical in nature.  That said, it’s not going to be a full recount of my life, but all the stories and musings will have some relevance to my life.  I think it will just be a collection of thoughts.  There are a lot of questions involving this process, how I’ll lay it out, what Stories/topics/feelings I’ll tackle. 

If anyone has any stories from our past they think should be included send the ideas my way!  Maxwellca@hotmail.com

Also, if anyone wants to pipe in with thoughts on this project please feel free to leave a comment.  Attach your name to your comment if you're not a blogger user so I know where it's coming from. 

If I feel it has any wide appeal I will attempt to have it published.  If there is no interest from publishing houses I will self publish.  Regardless, the idea has me really excited and the creative juices are flowing. 

Why everything sucks - The Loser generation

I recently viewed a video, one of Craig Ferguson's monologs. This video has been floating around the net for quite some time. None-the-less, the video got me thinking. Please view the video below before continuing on. It's only a couple of minutes.

This is some-what of a far cry from Craig's usual monolog, but he makes a lot of solid points. I had some thoughts that are different, but I believe directly related to his theory of imbecilic youth.

We now live in a society where people, relationships and items are tossed aside rather than fixed. The coffee that table wobbles, rather than tightening the screws it gets tossed. A relationship hits a speed bump, forget communicating the issue, forget loyalty to the other person who saw you through difficult times, drop it like it's hot! A button falls off your shirt, toss that bitch! What's a needle and thread? It's a terrible throw away attitude that plagues us.

There are times when I think the current generation, our generation, is the worst. But we're not...we're just the worst so far! The next generation is going to be far worse off. The current crop of up-and-comers are steeped in defeatism and are coddled in warm comfortable lies. The system is failing. Now most schools have done away with failing grades, you get as many tries as you want to get something correct. This mirrors absolutely nothing in the conventional world we live in. Slowly but surely, trophies, medals and even the term 'winning' are being done away with. Everyone wins, everyone one gets to feel good. NO! That's not how it is at all. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win and sometimes you ALWAYS lose. It's not about that, it's about putting yourself out there and doing the hard yards, gaining experience from both the wins and the losses. If you don't understand how good it feels to win and how terrible it feels to lose then why would you strive? They answer is simple...you wouldn't.

Everything is written off to bullying. Look, I'm against bullying...legitimate bullying. Think about the way you gently tease or rib your friends; today that would be considered bullying. Everything is called bullying. Kids will bug each other a bit. A little is ok. A lot is not. Physical altercations are never ok.

Then there is the current generation of adults, the 25 to 35's, a category which I am in. Most of these 25 to 35's are the ones raising this dim future. We're doing them no service, we're not showing them how to fight for things...the rate in which people divorce or break-up is bananas. Nobody wants to try and work on anything, be it a toaster or their relationship. Guess what, the toaster is fucked. Unplug it, open it up and TRY fixing it. Hell, if you can't fix it you've lost nothing! It was already fucked. The same goes for relationships, if something is wrong then dig into the relationship together and try to fix it. These are concepts that are lost on most. Can-do attitude has been replaced with excuses and bluster.

The sad result is a generation of young people, on their way up, who have no idea what it feels like to win or lose. They've never learned how to do anything with their hands. They've never witnessed what it takes to make a relationship work. They've never been subjected to any cross talk because it'd be considered bullying. So what happens in the future when they, for example, mess up some big proposal at work and their boss has cross words with them? They crumble. They've suffered a defeat, something they have no idea how to handle because they never won or lost growing up, they've never seen anyone fight, they don't know what it is to pick themselves up and try to fix something and they perceive that their boss is a hot headed bully.

Now, I'm NOT saying children need to be bullied and called losers in order to develop a thicker skin. I'm saying we need to pump the breaks a little bit. Failure happens, they need to know that. Winning happens when you grind it out, they need to know that. Shit breaks... Relationships, Coffee tables or a Button falls off a shirt. Sometimes those things are irreconcilably broken, but you still need to make an attempt to salvage them. Coffee tables can be re-screwed, relationships can be salvaged and buttons can be re-sewn. If you don't work you don't get to reap the rewards. Not everyone gets a gold star.

We keep throwing everything out; be it People, Relationships or things; there won't been any of us left. We're all a little broken...but we can be fixed.

Crime, punishment and Canada

There seems to be tons of memes like the one above floating around facebook these days.  90 % of them are horse shit, straight-up downtown horse shit.  Let's examine this one:

“Canada Went Soft On Immigration” --The claim that Canada went soft on immigration is a curious one to me, I mean, Canada’s population, besides the indigenous people(s) is made up completely of immigrants.  The claim that Canada ‘went soft on immigration’ is asinine at best.  I would like to ask who ever proffered that statement to point to a time when it wasn’t soft?  University of Toronto economist Peter Duggan:   Does [immigration] have a positive impact? The answer is probably yes. “The benefits have clearly declined over time, though, because people are not earning to the extent that their equivalent criteria or credentials should allow them.
If immigrants bring complementary talents to Canadian skills and capital, then all Canadians should benefit. The economic pie gets bigger and so does everyone’s share of that pie, as measured by gross domestic product per capita.”  So let’s call it like it is, people don’t like immigrants because of the perceived and antiquated idea that “they’re stealing our jobs”  Hog wash!

“You went soft on crime”  -  Per capita spending on criminal justice -- including federal and provincial jails, court costs and policing -- has climbed 23 per cent over the last decade even as the crime rate fell over 23 per cent, says a new study by the Parliamentary budget office.

This report was the first of its kind and took a comprehensive look at criminal justice costs over time; put the price tag at $20.3 billion in 2011-12.

The authors looked at direct public spending on policing, courts and corrections, including parole. They excluded costs such as victim’s compensation, private security and non-criminal matters such as family, environmental and competition law.

Almost $15 billion of the total last year, or 73 per cent, was carried by the provinces and municipalities.  The Conservative government has been on a seven-year push to increase sentences and introduce new laws. – Credit to the Globe and Mail.   Soooooo, where is this softness on crime?  Sounds like we’re getting harder on crime.  

“Parents we told ‘No, you can't smack your kids’ – Parents were never told that, like ever.  Parents were told you can’t beat your kids.  Whether you’re for or against that kind of parenting makes no difference.  No one ever said “you can’t smack your kids”.  Let me put this in perspective, if you hit someone’s dog you can go to jail.  You have to prove another adult is trying to kill you before you can legally use force against them.  Take that as you will.


“Teachers were prevented from chastising kids in school.” – I’m not sure the person who wrote this understands what chastising means.  Let’s look at the definition
   chas·tise [chas-tahyz, chas-tahyz] verb (used with object), chas·tised, chas·tis·ing.
1. to discipline, especially by corporal punishment.

2. to criticize severely.

3. Archaic. to restrain; chasten.

4. Archaic. to refine; purify.
Synonyms
1. punish, castigate; whip, beat, flog, spank.

Why so violent?  Most of this highly flawed list comes back to physically assaulting people.  Yes, teachers aren’t allowed to whip, beat, flog or spank children.  Is that such a bad thing?  Aren’t we trying, as a society, to get people to express themselves verbally rather than lashing out in a violent manner? 

“The police couldn't clip a troublemaker round the ear.”  -  From what I’ve seen, police officers aren’t exactly delicate with criminals; that’s not a knock on them, they have a dangerous job.  But again we come back to “Nobody is allowed to beat anyone else up”.  No, police cannot mercilessly beat a criminal in the ground.  Nor should they be allowed to.  They are not judge and jury, their role is to arrest people suspected of breaking the law.  The court system is designed to dole out justice and punishment.  It’s the same way that a guy who bakes cake doesn’t change your motor oil.  It doesn’t mean we’ve gone soft on motor oil viscosity, that isn’t the bakers job.  It’s not the role of a police officer to administer punishment.

All and all the meme at the top of the page is nothing more than a complainer complaining.  Things are not perfect, but it’s not for the reasons this person thinks.  Increasing physical violence will do nothing to make our children, immigrants or criminals well-behaved. 

Draw your own conclusions, but I will not stand idle while schmucks sully the name of my country.  There are enough people that do that on their own without people falsifying their “truths” for fact.  Sounds like the only a-hole who gets to reap what they sew is the jerk-bag who wrote this in the first place.

The above meme is far better in my opinion, at least their is truth to it.