Munkies and Moore and Clouds of Doom

I have OHMIGAWD totally not updated in twelve days! TWELVE DAYS!!! I think that might be a record breaking absence for me... (okay, bitty wee pause here: that totally looks like it's spelled wrong, doesn't it? The word absence. But it isn't. I spelled it correctly. I checked it not once but twice in my large print Oxford dictionary and I totally spelled it right the first time (did so!!), it just looks weird) .... I think. Maybe. There might have been a fourteen day break between entries once, a long time ago, in 2002 or something, but I can't remember. Anyway...so...yeah, I've been seriously neglecting you.

For a while, it was because I was roosting under this little cloud of gloom and could only think of grumpy ass things to say. And not the funny kinda grumpy ass things either. No. Only the hardcore grumpy ass stuff that no one wants to hear, no matter how much they adore you.

And then the cloud moved on to rain on someone else's parade... maybe it was your parade. If so, my apologies. Understand that I did not send it there intentionally. I even specifically and reasonably asked the grumpy assed cloud to steer clear of your vicinity. I did! But grumpy assed clouds are neither specific nor reasonable, as you probably know, and well... it was outta my hands. You understand.

But the cloud o' gloom was soon replaced by the howling wind of boredom and vacancy, which mainly took the form of me being suddenly rendered almost entirely free of thought and entertainment value. My brain totally flat-lined for like five whole days, shutting down with a sad, tired whir. There was a little bit of ticking as it cooled down and then nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. It just sat there in my big pumpkin head, collecting dust. Or rather, it would have been collecting dust had it been open to the environment, but fortunately for me, my pumpkin head is firmly sealed and does not feature any sun roof or fancy open air balconies which might inadvertantly allow it to collect dust.

I actually began to worry (in an abstract and entirely brainless way) that the number of thoughts one person can entertain in a lifetime is firmly finite and that after thirty-plus years of caffeinated munkie brain, where my mind whirls at fourteen times the pace of other animals in the jungle, simultaneously teasing the water buffalo, perfecting banana cream pie recipes, mining the mites off of my neighbours, reading Kafka and comic books, and jeering at the various organ grinders that pass my way.... I have chewed through all my jaunty, worthwhile thoughts and will spend the rest of my life rocking slightly on my heels with a bubble of drool in the corner of my mouth, staring slack jawed at my feet, mumbling dully "um, what was I gonna do now?"

But then the brain was suddenly and violently jump started to life again by "Fahrenheit 9/11" and has since been plaguing me with all these huge, challenging and frankly exhausting questions, most of which I can't even begin to articulate.

And yet, there exists a driving compulsion to do just that... articulate it and share it with you. But this is somewhat problematic.

Okay... so this is the thing. As I have expressed before, I generally try to avoid political stuff here because, well, because political stuff is kinda boring most of the time and I'm just don't aspire to be a political pundit of any sort. 'Cuz political pundits? they're exhausting and really only meant for televised forums and I'd rather yammer on about Sponge Bob and my fancy neighbours and stuff.

Which is not to say I am apolitical. Because I'm not. Or that I don't have very firm views. Because indeed I do. It's just that I am exceedingly reluctant to try to fob my beliefs off on other people. Like religion, I think one's politics are very personal and I think, ideally, everyone should have the right to believe anything they damn well please as long as it doesn't impinge on the rights of other human beans to believe whatever they damn well please or hurt anyone.

Enter my dilemma. After seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" I felt absolutely compelled to do...something. What I don't know. While I hold American citizenship (as well as Canadian), I don't live in the US anymore and so I can't vote. Apparently, I could vote in US and in Canada if I held residence in both countries and lived in each for six months out of the year. But I live here in Canada pretty much full time (when i'm not living in a pineapple under the sea or orbiting in my imagination playstation), so that's outta the question.

So then I thought about basically dissecting the whole movie and laying it all out here for you, but then I realized that that's not gonna work. First, I'm not all that comfortable with it as i said before and secondly, though I think I am more informed than the average bear, I don't think I'm educated enough about this particular topic and I just don't want to get into a situation where I'm screaming my views at you and you're screaming your views at me and neither one of us is hearing the other and there is a real dearth of conversation about Sponge Bob and the dangers of raccoons and all that really important stuff, you know?

So... the conclusion I have come to is that the only thing I can do is try to encourage you to go see Fahrenheit 9/11 and see if it prompts you to ask yourself some hard questions about whether the war in Iraq is justified or not and whether or not George W. Bush is the right man to be governing your country for another four years.

I'm not gonna say that I endorse Michael Moores views 100%, because I don't. I think he makes some questionable conclusions and the dotted lines he draws from point A to point B are sometimes a bit too simplistic. The film is flawed and biased and over-the-top and typically Michael Moore at times. But it is challenging and compelling and ultimately, important. It raises some questions and issues which have been too long overshadowed by rhetoric and fear and too long ignored by mainstream media.

And I think that whatever campaign button you affix to your lapel, whether it's republican or democrat or otherwise, I think it's important to educate yourself, to know and understand your "opponents" viewpoint.

I think most of my readers' political views are similar to mine. I may be preachng to the converted. But even then, I encourage you to do the same thing. Educate yourself. Understand the other side. Participate in the democratic process and use your vote wisely.

A dear friend of mine recently said to me that she felt that questioning Bush's leadership would undermine support of the troops currently in Iraq and as she has a cousin out there right now, she felt it was unpatriotic and wrong.

I beg to differ. I think the best, most patriotic and democratic thing you can do is use your freedom to question whether your leaders are doing the right thing... whether your cousin, uncle, brother, sister, wife or husband is putting their life on the line for a right and just cause, one that will ensure your freedoms and protect your country. Hundreds, indeed thousands of soilders have died to give you that very right...the freedom to ask questions and demand answers from your elected officials. Use it.

Okay. Getting off the soapbox now. I promise that I'll wait at least 12 more days before I start spouting this stuff again. No guarantees about Sponge Bob though.

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