During the Vice Presidential Debate tonight, I had Twitter open. Then, I noticed something strange. Look at the most recent tweets from both Obama and McCain. Obama is encouraging Americans to watch the debate and urge their friends to register to vote. McCain is advertising his most recent TV spot no doubt smearing Obama. Who remembered the debate this evening?
Well. It’s almost done. I have migrated BeShameless to a brand spankin’ new server full of shiny things that make us (at least me anyway) happy. Most of the kinks have been worked out…well, enough that I could turn the site back on. We will still be making adjustments in the next day or two, so bear with us.
If you see anything a bit odd or something broken, just let me know by emailing me at beshameless.ethan (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll fix it.
Oh by the way, I moved the site for you. Yes, you. No doubt you’ve noticed performance issues when viewing BeShameless. Those problems have been banished from our world. Enjoy!
There are few times I get aggravated with grammar while browsing online. I know that the educational system in this country is seriously lacking in many areas, however, is it that hard to teach our young people their own language? We really need to revamp the educational system.
I let the more than occasional error of ending a sentence with a preposition slide. We’ll leave that for a later post. Hell, I even do it when I’m lazy. Most do.
I am, by no means, a grammar expert. However, I do know how to use “I” verses “me” when tagging a photo I have uploaded for the world to see. I see this way too often. I know you do as well.
Just think about a friend’s Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Myspace, Facebook, etc. Think about a photo of that friend and someone else which has been tagged with a description. More often than not, the description will say something like, “Joe and I” or “Jane and I skiing”. I know that many people think this is correct and feel “smarter” when they use “I”. However, it is horribly wrong.
If you’ve made this mistake, here’s a hint for you. Take the examples above. If you can leave off the “Joe and” or the “Jane and” and say the rest of the description and it makes sense, it’s correct. So for the first example, you’re left with “I”. Incorrect. Second example, you’re left with “I skiing”. How does that sound? Exactly. It’s wrong. Go look at your own photos and see if you’ve made the same mistake. I trust you haven’t.
We all know Albus Dumbledore is believed to be gay. It’s all over the internet. While reading online earlier, I came across another video clip I hadn’t yet seen:
I immediately send the link to Autumn to get her opinion. I thought it would be interesting to post a raw conversation she and I had. Autumn gets a little heated — look:
ethan: ok, here’s what I was thinking when I thought about Dumbledore….
the conservatives freaked out at Harry Potter because it dealt with magic, witchcraft, blah blah blah….so, then when the gay thing came up, suddenly, it was ok to read/watch–when he is thought of as being straight.
so which is it?
autumn: lol, depends on which is worse at the time.
But, I always say magic is horrible and blasphemy until the Christians need, want or are entertained by it
ethan: it just pisses me off that suddenly it’s ok with them to accept Harry Potter now that there’s something “worse” than magic
autumn: I know. You know what my biggest problem with this is?
ethan: what?
autumn: Ok so Dumbledore is gay, but its not mentioned in any of the books… and
I can understand why some parents don’t want to explain it or condone it for their children. I don’t agree but I can see why in their shallow hate-filled mind that they don’t want to deal with it…So stop drawing motherfucking attention to it. It’s not in the god damned book.
ethan: right, i can see that too … why are they still making such a big deal of it?
autumn: Not to mention he’s a fictional character. I mean, when he swore off jelly beans because he ate a snot one did all the lil kids of the world quit eating jelly beans?
ethan: lol, true
autumn: and besides that… is it really kid kids that read it anymore or is it the teenager or 20s kids that followed it along since they were kids?
ethan: that’s a good point too, it is our generation that followed it. sure, kids are going to read it, but they’re not (usually, unless they’re like you) going to sit down and read all 7 books in a week. they’re going to be spaced out somewhat
autumn: Because if that’s the case the parents don’t need to worry, all teenagers will discuss ass-fucking whether or not the best wizard in the world took advantage of it
ethan: lol
autumn: But you know whats the worst of all. Rowling said that she thought Dumbledore loved Grindelwald (which if you ever read the 7th book you’ll know) but they don’t hook up they were to busy being asshole teenagers trying to take over the world. So Dumbledore never even got the dick
ethan: poor Dumbledore. that’s so sad
autumn: yep it is
hell even Hagrid got a piece of ass
ethan: i really didn’t want to have to think about that
So, there you have it folks. This has been an example of a typical conversation between us. I bring up a topic that plucks a nerve and off she goes. One never knows where she’ll land. Take this instance as an example — she left us with a mental picture of Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime gettin’ it on. Thanks autumn.
I recently drove past a rural church and read their marquee:
“Members only. Trespassers will be baptized!”
The quasi-harmless message of active recruitment into the faith disturbs me. Let me explain. The fact that the congregation is actively recruiting does not actually bother me in the least. Religions throughout time have survived by spreading their faith by different means. The message that disturbs me is that the church is saying, “You’re welcome to come in, but if you do, we’ve got you.” If I were in the market for a new religion, I would not enter through their doors. I’m imagining a trap door hidden below a gaudy mat in the vestibule next to a coffee pot leading to a vat of “holy” water. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, I admit. Instead, why not send a more welcoming message that says, “Come by, check us out. If you like us, hang around.” This way, people wouldn’t feel pressured to join their membership rosters just by visiting. Granted, if this approach were taken, some religious gathering spots may begin to resemble retail outlets instead — flashing lights, soothing music, comfortable pews, etc. all vying for fresh meat and wallets.
Is it any wonder why attendance in many organized religions has slumped in the last decade? Continuing into the future beating Fire and Brimstone in Hell 1 into the heads of today’s population will drive them away in droves. With so many other belief systems existing, it’s simply a matter of time before such religions will become the lonely minority in this country.
