Forgetting Who I Am

You are so blind to what is reality it almost makes me want to give up on the world…
Give up on logic.
Give up on America.
Before I start.. Let me make it clear…That I don’t have a problem with difference in opinion. I have a problem with ignorance.
You know no background as to what you believe or why you believe it.
You say your religion believes in something, yet you have no scripture to back up your claim. You have no thought to your belief. You say your political stance believes in something… yet you don’t know any facts to back your hate filled mouth… you  voted for the man who was more “in touch” with the average American. Yet he owns ten houses, and has been worth millions of dollars, and his wife is worth billions… for some reason.. i doubt they are “in touch” with the avg American…
You only believe what the tv tells you to.
The tv would rag on my candidate for being a upper class “nerd.”
Sorry that my candidate wasn’t some fat cowboy, watching nascar with dip hanging from his lip… seems like you’d rather vote for that then someone with an education…
Hell, your VP had a broadcasting degree… and didn’t know what a VP even did, or if Africa was a country or a continent…
Wouldn’t that be worse?
When did it become a bad thing to be intelligent? When did the President become an office of someone with no background in education?
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Any of these names ring a bell? Were they considered “avg joes” or “joe sixpacks?” Hell no…
They were very well educated men..
But you know what, its ok. Cause regardless of your hateful campain, your “out for blood” style media.
He won.
America for once, shocked me.
Just when I thought we were going to have another term where our integrity of a country is questioned by the world…
America spoke.. and they spoke loudly.
54 percent of the people stood up with me and pressed their finger to a screen that elected hope and change to the head of our country.
A man who believes in life and liberty…
A man who wants this country to be known for its helpful hand… not its loud fist.
A man who believes those who are blessed should help those who are in need… what a nobel belief.. what an UNSELFISH belief… what a TRUE American belief…
See, America is not about being able to make as much money as you want… Go travel the world.. there are plenty of countrys that live like that… they believe “what i make is mine”
And the rich are rich..
The poor are poor…
and there is no one in-between…
The great thing about America is that our country is one of opportunity. A country that, if you need help, someone is there to help you. If you are blessed, you have the gift of helping someone else…
That is America..
America to me is to be apart of something. America is great because we are all in this together. From LA to NY… We are as one. We stand as one and when someone opens a hand in need, we are quick to help, We are quick to help because we care. We are quick to give because we were once in need. We are quick to understand, because we don’t know everything.
America to me is a loud voice of hope and reason. A blessed land that CAN help the world… A land with so much potential, that to be anything less than the best country would be considered a failure…
A land that i am proud to be apart of, not because of its past… not because of its present.. but because of its voice that stood on Nov. 4th and said.. We want to change our future.. and become the land that we are ment to be.
And so even though you stand with blinders on, thinkin our country made a mistake… I believe the only thing that the majority of America is now blind too… is limits..

As most of you know.. I’ve been playin around with video editing.. I put this together the other day because I was listening to Linkin Park and felt inspired by their song. The whole point of this video is that we need to take action now. We have great people and ideas all across our country.. why not stand up and voice them? This is America right? A democracy? Then stand up for what you believe, let your voice be heard. If I could yell so this country could hear me.. i’d ask why we have spent over 300 billion dollars to kill innocent people? You may say that we are “helping” them by “freeing” them… well.. not to sound selfish, but i think we should take that money and help ourselves… maybe start with the needy and the homeless that live RIGHT HERE in the U.S.  I bet that 300 billion we’ve wasted on bombs, tanks and bullets could have saved millions of lives for years to come… 

Freedom of speech…
Yeah… I haven’t heard those words in a very long time either. Where are we going as a country if we can’t even open our mouths anymore to voice our opinion? How many times have we had to change our appearance, speech and total outlook on life because we “offend” someone?! It drives me insane to know that I can’t speak to anyone without fear of possibly being considered offensive. Well ya know what? I am offensive, I have beliefs that most people would defiantly find offensive. The fact that I’m Mormon probably offends someone, somewhere. Believing in “Jacob Smith and golden books… It’s all crazy talk” isn’t it… Why as a whole have we stooped so low as to try and change who we are so we don’t bother other people. I know I might sound rude but I believe that we shouldn’t try to make people like us… If I make someone like me, for something I’m not.. I will lose a part of me that others might enjoy. I know that I don’t agree with everyone, and everyone doesn’t agree with me.. but that is the joy of this country. I like knowing that my opinion doesn’t have to matter to anyone but me. I get so crossed up trying to make sure I say all the right things.. I go to the post office to ask the “post-person” a question.. Notice I didn’t make the mistake of saying postman.  I’ll drive around town and be pulled over by a police officer, oh, not policeman.. that was close… I’ll go to the airport and be seated by a stewardess, I mean FLIGHT ATTENDENT… Did I say stewardess… DAMN.. there I go offending people again… well ya know what.. if you serve drinks, give me a pillow and show me how to buckle my seatbelt I’m going to call you a stewardess.. yes, even if you are a guy… cause I’ve seen guys who have that job and they are gay enough to where we can call them a stewardess anyway.. yes, gay, fag, homo.. poo stabber… have I offended anyone yet?

It doesn’t have to just do with jobs, it has to do with everything, religion and race being the two biggest issues.  Ok, first of all I come from Utah, where everyone “says” they aren’t racist… they try to pull the “I’m so religious and since god loves everyone so do I”…. they try and try to act all high and mighty like they don’t mind race or religion… until their daughter try’s to date a black catholic guy.. then true colors shine.  Even though I come from these surroundings, I, myself am very far from being racist. I think it’s ridiculous to like or dislike someone due to the color of their skin or religious background. We are all different, that’s what makes us unique and I think we should accept that we are all different and have fun with it. One of my favorite comics is Carlos Mencia. He pushes the bounds every week on his show with the issues I talk about right now.. his biggest message is to quit being such a group of babies and realize.. yeah we are different.. so why don’t we laugh at the fact that I’m black and like chicken and you’re Mexican and look like a bean… funny? Only if you want it to be. I think people have got so stuck on what they “dislike” that they don’t know how to love anyone who is different.. take for instance John Rocker.. the man is the most racist pig on planet earth. He once said to a reporter that he hated playing in
New York because no matter where he went he was surrounded by foreigners. Personally I think the man is a moron… but do I like him? I love him… when he comes out of the bull pen he punches himself in the face and has the catcher throw the ball off his chest.. then he gets on the mound and throws 99 from the left side… game over…
I don’t like him because he’s nice and doesn’t offend anyone… I like him because he’s an athlete who loves his job AND is damn good at it… I think instead of picking out the things we DON’T like about someone.. how about we pick out one or two things we can appreciate.. and then learn to love them for WHO they are…

I guess all in all we can only be offended when we WANT something to be offensive.. if we choose to laugh.. we’ll laugh.. it CAN be that simple…
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who once said, “I may not agree with any of your beliefs. I may hate the way you think, feel and act as a person. But although I may never agree with you, I will die for you in order to have the freedom to believe the way you do.”
Maybe instead of being so offended we should be more accepting.. Maybe we should enjoy all the pretty colors we have instead of tying to push everything into one giant gray area.. because.. honeslty… gray offends me..

I smile…
I don’t smile cause i’m happy, my smile is more of a smile of confusion. I wear this confused smile cause I don’t understand you. I see the way you wake up in the morning and worry about what you are going to wear. You check the newest magazines to see what is in style to make sure you don’t wear something that is “so last season.” Your nails are nicely manicured to sweet perfection and your hair looks like you are on your way to the prom. But you aren’t going to a dance, you’re going to the post office.. but you don’t care cause everyday is a beauty pagent and everywhere you walk is a run-way. You trade in your cell phone every 6 months because you don’t have the latest model. You need the finest leather in your car, the finest silk on your bed and the finest cloth to touch your skin at all times. Just any make up isn’t good enough. $700 for a make up kit will do the trick. You talk about your money like you’ve worked maunal labor for 75 years and saved every penny. But your smooth hands show no signs of work. Work means sweat. And you hate to sweat. You never have to cause everything in your life has been handed to you. If you need it.. daddy is there with his wallet.. if you want it, just use mommy’s plastic money. 
You know what.. now that i think about it… i smile cause i see right through you. No fancy clothes, make up or jewelry can cover my eyes from seeing the truth. You can’t hide behind your BMW or fake boobs. Not only can i see you… i see RIGHT through you. I see what you are afraid of everyone else seeing. I see your insecure about being alone. I see you are scared of working for something cause you are afraid of failing. I see that the reason you always need something new is because you can never be satisfied with what you already have. I see you’re bright but hide it behind stupid quesitons cause you think guys like that. To me, you don’t know who you are or what you want. You are so stuck on what you think everyone else wants, you lose one of the greatest gifts god gave us. The gift to be an individual.  
If it were up to me… i’d strip you from your house, car, clothes, jewlry, cell phone, afternoon latee and definetly get you away from that group of vultures that you call “friends”
And i’d stick you alone… all by yourself… in the mountains. Lost… alone…  cold. The only thing i’d leave you with is this notebook and this pen. I’d tell you to write what you believe is important. I’d have you write what you would do when you got to saftey. I’d have you write what you want to do and who you want to be.
This book would begin with you saying how you need your diet coke and a shower. you need your cell phone and need a new pair of clean clothes. how you need your $5,000 bed and your nails done.
I wouldn’t expect it to change over night.. but trust me… within time.. that book will begin talking about the most important thing in the world. Family.
You would begin saying how you miss your moms voice in the morning. How you won’t complain anymore about your dads burnt pancakes. How you miss the way your dad would kiss your forehead and tell you he loved you before you went to sleep. You missed fighting with your little brother over the remote. And you miss the times when eveyone got together as a family… 
i promise you… when you start to write this… i’ll take you back to your house and give you everything you once had before.. but something will happen.. you’ll give it all back and tell me you don’t need it… and you will tell me what i’m trying to tell you…
“Life isn’t about BEING important… It’s about WHAT’S important.”
And when those wise words leak through your lips… I’ll finally smile because i’m happy.

Expressing ones self through words is probably one of the best forms of art that has been given to us. Through words one can paint a mental picture or show a mental video to the reader. Someone who posseses this beautiful art form can use their talents to touch people’s hearts, minds and souls. Certain experts at this form as Earnest Hemmingway, Harper Lee, William Blatty and J.D. Salinger. They can really get in your head and make you see EXACTLY what they want you to see.
As for me.. i can only beg to become half as talented as the four mentioned earlier. I know that i’ve never been “special” and i’ve never been “exceptional” but i do know that i’m me.. i know to some that not make sense but trust me.. i’m me.
So many times i flip on the TV to see music videos.. they make me sick. honestly they make me horribly sick. Not cause of the scandily clad clothing or the horrible images that are shown, thats another topic… It makes me sick due to the fact that I see all these “artists” who don’t even write their own music. Doesn’t being an artist mean that YOU came up with the idea?  What happend to artists like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Pink Floyd. I see so many artists today who don’t even have a hand in what message they’re trying to get to the worlds ears. It makes me sick..
I guess all you have to do to make it big is “look” good. You don’t have to know how to write or make music. Most artists today don’t even know how to tune a guitar. All you have to do is look good. Thats it.
I know i’m rambling and who knows if this will actually make sense to anyone but me.. I’m just worried at where we are headed. When i say “we” i mean the world. Doesn’t anyone reconize talent anymore? Who are we becoming if we get rid of the authors of the world? We are starting to hide them behind a good looking face and average voice.. i say average cause i’ve seen a lot of artists live.. and all i have to say is thank heaven for being able to change voices digitally.
If you wanted me to i could go on about this forever.. i won’t due to the fact i can see the confusion in your eyes as you read this.
I guess all i can do is give a shout out.. I give much thanks to ALL the TRUE artists out there. I love creativity i love having a slice of individualism. I pray that we won’t ever lose our creative flow.. i hope the best for dead poets that thier words will be immortilized and i beg that they never be compared to some of the garbage I see today.
In closing.. for those of you who understand my pain, those of you who don’t want to see Shakespear end up on a shelf. I beg you.. write.. don’t worrry about it being good. Cause i promise you one thing. if its from the heart, its good. if its true its good.. if it means something.. anything.. its good… and if you can smile and call it your own… its priceless