<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
    xmlns:at="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/at"
    xmlns:icbm="http://postneo.com/icbm"
    xmlns:rvw="http://purl.org/NET/RVW/0.2/"
    xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss">
    <channel>
        <title>Citizen Crane’s blog</title>
        <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/posts/page/1/</link>
        <description>&quot;The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.&quot;</description>
        <language>en</language>
        <generator>Vox</generator>
        <lastBuildDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:02:21 -0400</lastBuildDate>
        <copyright>Copyright 2008</copyright>
        <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>  
 
        <item>
            <title>Just One Example of a Useless Congress</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/just-one-example-of-a-useless-congress.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/just-one-example-of-a-useless-congress.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/just-one-example-of-a-useless-congress.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:02:21 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;HANG &amp;#39;EM HIGH!  It&amp;#39;s time for the American people to take Her back.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Did you know that Congress has NEVER approved the war in Iraq?  That&amp;#39;s &lt;br /&gt;
Congress&amp;#39;s job!  It passed legislation that allowed Bush to decide whether &lt;br /&gt;
or not American would go to war.  Congress transferred a primary &lt;br /&gt;
congressional duty from the Legislative Branch to the Executive Branch, &lt;br /&gt;
which is kind of like saying, &amp;quot;Hey, let&amp;#39;s have a king!&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The draft is a totalitarian institution based on the idea that the &lt;br /&gt;
government owns you and can dispose of your life as it wishes.&amp;quot;  - Ron &lt;br /&gt;
Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;A draft is far more typical of totalitarian nations than of democratic &lt;br /&gt;
nations, and is absolutely opposed to the principles of individual liberty &lt;br /&gt;
which have always been considered a part of American democracy.&amp;quot;  - &lt;br /&gt;
Republican Senator Robert Taft&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Military conscription rests on the assumption that your kids belong to &lt;br /&gt;
the state.&amp;quot; - President Ronald Reagan&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My son will probably end up knowing the Constitution of the United States &lt;br /&gt;
of America (note: United STATES of America, not Federal Government of &lt;br /&gt;
American Continent below Canada) by heart, and I hope to instill in him an &lt;br /&gt;
understanding of the fact that without this document we are not free, and &lt;br /&gt;
that when a government is allowed to &amp;quot;reinterpret&amp;quot; such a document, we &lt;br /&gt;
loose our freedom.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Of course, I also hope to instill in him an understanding of the idea that &lt;br /&gt;
governments and nations come and go, but the interdependence and the &lt;br /&gt;
interconnectedness of all living things is unending.  I want him to be &lt;br /&gt;
able to see the Big Picture.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Anyway, yes, if there&amp;#39;s a draft, we&amp;#39;re going to vanish.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/just-one-example-of-a-useless-congress.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500fa967f9d920003?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>The Source&#39;s Communique</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/the-sources-communique.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/the-sources-communique.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/the-sources-communique.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2008 17:31:51 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;Shortly after I wrote the entry regarding my feeling that something &lt;br /&gt;
significant is going to happen and that I have a part to play in it, S, R, &lt;br /&gt;
and I spent the weekend &amp;quot;cat sitting&amp;quot; for S&amp;#39;s parents.  We played house.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I decided to contact the Source and retrieve information through the deck &lt;br /&gt;
of cards S gave to me.  It&amp;#39;s the wonderful Gothic Tarot of Vampires. &lt;br /&gt;
They&amp;#39;re the only cards I&amp;#39;ve ever been able to communicate with, and I &lt;br /&gt;
don&amp;#39;t mean this Tarot.  I mean S&amp;#39;s deck.  The images seem to almost move &lt;br /&gt;
for me.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#39;t remember if I asked a question or simply held the cards while &lt;br /&gt;
experiencing my confusion and longing about the situation.  Either way, I &lt;br /&gt;
shuffled and drew the first card that seemed to want to be drawn.  This &lt;br /&gt;
image was... and still is as I look at it now...  a very big message.  I&amp;#39;m &lt;br /&gt;
not certain what the message is, though.  I do know that when I consider &lt;br /&gt;
the image, an emotion bursts in my chest of longing, trepidation, &lt;br /&gt;
excitement, resilience...  I understand that this image has a lot to tell &lt;br /&gt;
me but I&amp;#39;m having a tough time deciphering it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I also couldn&amp;#39;t tell where the card belonged in a three-card spread, so I &lt;br /&gt;
placed it at the top of the pillow that was on my lap.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So, I asked for clarification and expansion.  &amp;quot;Please clarify and expand &lt;br /&gt;
upon this card.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I drew the next card and I drew the image of a woman (gender is only &lt;br /&gt;
relevant if the message says it is) on her knees in a beam of light, her &lt;br /&gt;
hands cupped, looking upward while she cries tears of blood.  At first I &lt;br /&gt;
couldn&amp;#39;t decide if this refered to my longing and feeling of being lost &lt;br /&gt;
while I beg for answers, or if it&amp;#39;s post-significant event - have I lost &lt;br /&gt;
something? am I repenting? am I frightened?  So I placed the card on the &lt;br /&gt;
pillow on the lower right side.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Please clarify and expand upon this card.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I pulled the next card and it was immediately apparant that I would be &lt;br /&gt;
experiencing significant conflict, something dangerous and important.  But &lt;br /&gt;
it doesn&amp;#39;t tell me against whom.  I see a vampire about to rage against &lt;br /&gt;
three men with guns, and there is a woman on the ground behind the &lt;br /&gt;
vampire, but whether he is protecting her from the men or keeping her from &lt;br /&gt;
the men is unclear.  It says to me that I will be the one standing alone &lt;br /&gt;
and that something or someone, a life or a future, will depend on my &lt;br /&gt;
success or failure.  I still don&amp;#39;t know what I&amp;#39;ll be facing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So it occurs to me that the first card in combination with the second card &lt;br /&gt;
means that I&amp;#39;ve been lost and confused, begging for answers or signs of &lt;br /&gt;
any sort and that I will have to find my resolve, choose my weapon, and &lt;br /&gt;
learn to be still and in control of myself while I await my moment.  I &lt;br /&gt;
will also have to be this way while I&amp;#39;m being... hunted? chased? That&amp;#39;s &lt;br /&gt;
what it looks like.  Or just be resilient, still, in control, choose my &lt;br /&gt;
weapon, find my resolve in the face of those who don&amp;#39;t understand or &lt;br /&gt;
believe... that seems more likely.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then the card with the confrontation.... there will be one, it will be &lt;br /&gt;
significant, and only I can do it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#39;s the catch, though.  The first card moves to the last place, after &lt;br /&gt;
the conflict.  It plays two roles in this communique with the Source.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After the confrontation, I have lost something important and am devastated &lt;br /&gt;
and pleading for it back, or I kill myself; or I am rewarded with &lt;br /&gt;
something so wonderful that I am in tearful awe of it.  That would be the &lt;br /&gt;
very distant future, I imagine.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/the-sources-communique.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500fad6882c520004?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>Holosync</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/holosync.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/holosync.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/holosync.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2008 16:45:36 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;My manager and I are good friends.  Last year he copied a CD he bought &lt;br /&gt;
from something called the Centerpointe Research Institute.  It&amp;#39;s called &lt;br /&gt;
The Holosync Solution.  It triggers specific brainwaves depending on which &lt;br /&gt;
track or disc you&amp;#39;re listening to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;DO NOT listen to The Dive unless you are laying down with your eyes &lt;br /&gt;
closed.  The first time I did it, I was laying down, my eyes were closed, &lt;br /&gt;
and I went Astral.  That was good.  Today I was listening to it while I &lt;br /&gt;
was working and after a while I noticed that I had become very tense and &lt;br /&gt;
was continuing to do so until it hurt.  So I turned it off and I felt &lt;br /&gt;
better.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/holosync.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500fa9675b9260003?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>Usual payday franticness.</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/usual-payday-franticness.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/usual-payday-franticness.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/usual-payday-franticness.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2008 15:44:43 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;I think I&amp;#39;ll just keep this open and write in it throughout the work day, &lt;br /&gt;
then post it when it&amp;#39;s time to go home.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;ve been questioning whether I took my medicine this morning because I&amp;#39;ve &lt;br /&gt;
been feeling anxious all day.  I know I took it, I remember doing it. &lt;br /&gt;
Which means the anxiety is caused by something else.  And considering my &lt;br /&gt;
desires today, I think I know what it is.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;All day I&amp;#39;ve been wanting to stroll around somewhere, watch things, and &lt;br /&gt;
relax.  Like what you&amp;#39;d do at a faire or something of that nature.  I feel &lt;br /&gt;
like not worrying about everything all of the time.  However, as it is &lt;br /&gt;
with every payday, so it is with this payday:  I try and try to work out a &lt;br /&gt;
budget but I can&amp;#39;t get S to understand that he shouldn&amp;#39;t be driving &lt;br /&gt;
anywhere in the SUV no matter how much he wants to leave the house during &lt;br /&gt;
the day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But mostly I can&amp;#39;t understand why, when I&amp;#39;m the one working, I can&amp;#39;t bring &lt;br /&gt;
myself to set aside money for myself.  Whether it&amp;#39;s to save for something &lt;br /&gt;
I want or might want in the future, or to spend at my leisure, I can&amp;#39;t put &lt;br /&gt;
away $30 a paycheck or whatever just for myself.  I hate it!  I&amp;#39;m fucking &lt;br /&gt;
trapped!  S shouldn&amp;#39;t know everything I make!  But he does!  He knows how &lt;br /&gt;
much net income I make bi-weekly with and without overtime.  That&amp;#39;s not &lt;br /&gt;
right!  I should never have told him!  Because if I do take some money and &lt;br /&gt;
keep it for myself, he&amp;#39;ll know, and ask me about it, and I shouldn&amp;#39;t have &lt;br /&gt;
to justify it!  I&amp;#39;ve been doing without for a really long time!  I never &lt;br /&gt;
buy anything for myself but produce, cereal, almond milk, hummus, and &lt;br /&gt;
razors.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He&amp;#39;s going to have to start using my mom&amp;#39;s car during the day or &lt;br /&gt;
something.  And he needs to get a job.  He doesn&amp;#39;t want to apply to the &lt;br /&gt;
movie theatre up the road because he doesn&amp;#39;t want to work for Regal. Regal &lt;br /&gt;
bought out United Artists back when S was working in the theatre business &lt;br /&gt;
and so Regal is the enemy.  Personally, I think that FEEDING OUR SON is &lt;br /&gt;
more important than what company you *temporarily* work for.  He won&amp;#39;t be &lt;br /&gt;
there forever.  It&amp;#39;s a job for right now, that&amp;#39;s all.  The rockin&amp;#39; &lt;br /&gt;
warehouse night job with benefits in NJ with his friend is too far away. &lt;br /&gt;
We can&amp;#39;t afford that kind of gas.  Even though my dad said he&amp;#39;d watch R &lt;br /&gt;
between the time I leave in the morning and the time my mom gets home in &lt;br /&gt;
the morning (she would get home before S), it&amp;#39;s an hour away over the &lt;br /&gt;
bridge in morning rush hour traffic.  He doesn&amp;#39;t want to work in a &lt;br /&gt;
bookstore because of some shit that doesn&amp;#39;t mean anything when it comes to &lt;br /&gt;
having a job right now and feeding us right now and saving to get out on &lt;br /&gt;
our own right now.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Okay, it&amp;#39;s been a couple of hours since I wrote the above.  And I honestly &lt;br /&gt;
don&amp;#39;t mind him using money for stuff.  Caring for a baby all day *is* a &lt;br /&gt;
job, I know this.  He deserves to have some things that make him happy, &lt;br /&gt;
like fast food, a comic book here or there, cherry soda from WaWa.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;m just so frustrated that I don&amp;#39;t get to buy anything stupid.  I was &lt;br /&gt;
Salvia.  I want the book that teaches me how to open my own bookstore.  I &lt;br /&gt;
want the book that talks about Salvia and shamanism.  I want stem cell &lt;br /&gt;
nutritional supplements.  Actually, I need those things.  For spiritual &lt;br /&gt;
and physical health, and to know that I&amp;#39;ve made a step toward my future &lt;br /&gt;
(the bookstore).  Whatever.  I&amp;#39;d be fine with a morning to myself in the &lt;br /&gt;
park.  I would go there and crack open the windows, lock the doors, and &lt;br /&gt;
sleep without worrying about being woken up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;m so tired.  Ugh.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I just told S about two places nearby that are hiring.  I hope he applies. &lt;br /&gt;
 I don&amp;#39;t want to be that type of person who threatens to kick him out if &lt;br /&gt;
he doesn&amp;#39;t get a job.  Besides, I know he wants to work.  He needs to get &lt;br /&gt;
out of the house, away from R, be around adults, feel that he&amp;#39;s helping to &lt;br /&gt;
support his family.  He isn&amp;#39;t being a bum.  Still, although it&amp;#39;s the &lt;br /&gt;
condition of the job market that is to blame for his unemployment, I can&amp;#39;t &lt;br /&gt;
help but feel frustrated.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now that I&amp;#39;ve got it all out, I can let it go and be okay with these &lt;br /&gt;
things that I can&amp;#39;t control.  It&amp;#39;s okay if he isn&amp;#39;t working right now &lt;br /&gt;
because the market is poor.  It&amp;#39;s okay that he needs to buy a few minor &lt;br /&gt;
things to brighten up his week.  It&amp;#39;s okay.  Because I love him.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;m not one for wishful thinking.  Desire causes suffering, this I know. &lt;br /&gt;
However, if his parents had just been decent and sane for a MOMENT and &lt;br /&gt;
kept their word, he wouldn&amp;#39;t be in this situation.  They promised him that &lt;br /&gt;
if he graduated high school, they would help him pay for college.  They &lt;br /&gt;
also promised something about trade school and reneged on that, too. &lt;br /&gt;
Shitheads.  Okay, I&amp;#39;ve spent enough energy right there worrying about &lt;br /&gt;
something that can&amp;#39;t be changed and people who are not worth my time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In other news, R is now holding things with both hands and bringing them &lt;br /&gt;
to his mouth!  He is 5 months and 1 week old.  And I asked my mother and S &lt;br /&gt;
to start feeding R cereal during the day because he needs to start solids, &lt;br /&gt;
but they keep coming up with lame excuses as to why they haven&amp;#39;t done it &lt;br /&gt;
yet.  My mom said last night that she didn&amp;#39;t do it yesterday because she &lt;br /&gt;
wanted to wait for me to get home.  IF I THOUGHT THAT WAS OKAY I WOULD NOT &lt;br /&gt;
HAVE ASKED YOU TO DO IT DURING THE DAY!!!!   She said she doesn&amp;#39;t &lt;br /&gt;
understand why cereal would make him wired.  IT DOESN&amp;#39;T MATTER WHY!!! IT &lt;br /&gt;
MATTERS THAT IT ***DOES*** AND THAT&amp;#39;S WHY HE NEEDS TO EAT IT DURING THE &lt;br /&gt;
DAY!!!!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So, I told S on the phone today that he can put R in his carseat and feed &lt;br /&gt;
him that way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Back to my original topic: this feeling of... something.  It&amp;#39;s calling &lt;br /&gt;
again.  I&amp;#39;m supposed to do spellwork.  I&amp;#39;m supposed to do energy work. &lt;br /&gt;
There&amp;#39;s no time and no place for it in my life right now.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Back to work.  I&amp;#39;m working late and have much to catch up on.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/usual-payday-franticness.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500fa9675b5c90003?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>My first Mother&#39;s Day, and so on.</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-first-mothers-day-and-so-on.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-first-mothers-day-and-so-on.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-first-mothers-day-and-so-on.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Tue, 13 May 2008 16:07:40 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;My first Mother&amp;#39;s Day was very nice.  My youngest sister, grandmother, &lt;br /&gt;
aunt, cousin and his son came over to have dinner with the seven of us.  I &lt;br /&gt;
have pictures of R with his great-grandmother and my dad.  I have one of R &lt;br /&gt;
with my cousin, but I need to take more when I see him again because it &lt;br /&gt;
was in front of a window and they look like silhouettes.  I can&amp;#39;t believe &lt;br /&gt;
of I have no pictures of my cousin&amp;#39;s 2-year-old son, J.  And the worst is &lt;br /&gt;
that I have no pictures of my son and me on my first Mother&amp;#39;s Day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dinner was wonderful.  My mom made chicken, peas, carrots, and biscuits in &lt;br /&gt;
gravy, with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and salad on the side.  Then we had &lt;br /&gt;
birthday cake to celebrate my middle sister&amp;#39;s 25th birthday, which was &lt;br /&gt;
Wednesday.  I wrote &amp;quot;Happy Birthday&amp;quot; on it with icing markers that are &lt;br /&gt;
really supposed to be used on hardened cookie icing.  I wish I had taken a &lt;br /&gt;
picture of that, too.  It was all-together a great day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;S let me take a nap for an hour or two, even though he cares for R while &lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;m at work all week.  He gave me a cute, funny card and let me take a &lt;br /&gt;
long shower.  And he did the dishes for me!  He asked me to help him and I &lt;br /&gt;
said no, no.  When I grudgingly gave in, I put the already clean dishes &lt;br /&gt;
away while he started washing what was in the sink.  When I came in to do &lt;br /&gt;
my half, he was almost finished!  He said he just wanted to see if I would &lt;br /&gt;
go that extra step to agree to help him.  I told him that even though I &lt;br /&gt;
hadn&amp;#39;t wanted to at first, I thought about it and decided it might be nice &lt;br /&gt;
to be alone in the kitchen, helping each other.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He just hung up on me, though.  I told him I needed the info for the eye &lt;br /&gt;
doctor so I could make R&amp;#39;s appt.  He said he might not have it anymore.  I &lt;br /&gt;
told him that I would expect him to have it since *he* was supposed to &lt;br /&gt;
make the appt *weeks* ago!  He said he couldn&amp;#39;t talk (is busy fixing the &lt;br /&gt;
laptop, he thinks the ISP&amp;#39;s been hacked) and hung up.  Honestly, if R &lt;br /&gt;
needs glasses, he needs them asap!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;R has bruises on his hands and we think they&amp;#39;re from the plastic rings he &lt;br /&gt;
plays with.  Which might mean that he has an iron deficiency.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I spent a lot of time these past two days talking with lawyers.  I&amp;#39;m &lt;br /&gt;
filing for Chapter 7 and I&amp;#39;m going to tell Toyota to come get the Kia. &lt;br /&gt;
$500/month is ridiculous.  Today I called the phone number, given to me by &lt;br /&gt;
the lawyer&amp;#39;s office, that one calls for a free credit report once a year &lt;br /&gt;
from 3 different agencies.  I also have gathered my pay stubs from the &lt;br /&gt;
last six months.  I have one copy of every bill/debt I know of.  And I &lt;br /&gt;
have to use $200 from our apartment savings - the $900 the government gave &lt;br /&gt;
R and myself to consume nonsense to boost the economy.  The bank took it&amp;#39;s &lt;br /&gt;
$67 out of that (which was in a savings share) to pay for the amount I was &lt;br /&gt;
overdrawn from last week.  And S is going to need $50 from it for dental &lt;br /&gt;
work tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;ll be able to return $115 to the apartment fund from this paycheck, but &lt;br /&gt;
the $200 deposit for the bankruptcy lawyer will have to be replaced in &lt;br /&gt;
increments from subsequent paychecks.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My mom bought us a bunch of bottles of baby formula.  That was awesome. &lt;br /&gt;
She said R seems to do better with the prepared formula than he does &lt;br /&gt;
eating the powdered formula.  I wouldn&amp;#39;t know, since I&amp;#39;m not there during &lt;br /&gt;
the day.  I really hope S and my mom started R on rice cereal today like I &lt;br /&gt;
asked them to.  And if so, I really hope they continue for the next week &lt;br /&gt;
or two, so that I can begin to introduce vegetables into his diet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Still trying to lose weight.  I think I&amp;#39;m at a pants size 12 now, because &lt;br /&gt;
my 10&amp;#39;s make my belly squeeze over the top.  12 is twice my goal but it&amp;#39;s &lt;br /&gt;
better than the 16 I was when I was pregnant!  Unfortunately, I&amp;#39;ve been &lt;br /&gt;
craving TastyKlair pies and jelly fruits lately.  It&amp;#39;s that time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Oh, well.  Back to work.  I have a lot of it to do.  It&amp;#39;s a good think I&amp;#39;m &lt;br /&gt;
working late.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And I want to eat my orange.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hasta la vista.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-first-mothers-day-and-so-on.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500e398f958ba0005?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>Ron Paul March!!!!</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/ron-paul-march.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/ron-paul-march.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/ron-paul-march.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:56:17 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;The Ron Paul march on Washington, D.C. is now officially scheduled for &lt;br /&gt;
July 12th.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I need to call my neighbor about watching R.  I&amp;#39;ll have to get E a really &lt;br /&gt;
nice birthday gift.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/ron-paul-march.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500f48cf388d20002?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>My psych is right but I can&#39;t justify to my family....</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-psych-is-right-but-i-cant-justify-to-my-family.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-psych-is-right-but-i-cant-justify-to-my-family.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-psych-is-right-but-i-cant-justify-to-my-family.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:56:13 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;...or to S that I need &amp;quot;me&amp;quot; time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I just spoke to my psychiatrist who is treating me for a study during my &lt;br /&gt;
post-partum period (which typically last about 6 months).  I was supposed &lt;br /&gt;
to see her today, but I didn&amp;#39;t have the four and a half dollars for &lt;br /&gt;
parking.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Cymbalta 60mg, 2x/day has brought me back to being myself.  Yay!  But I &lt;br /&gt;
feel something else beneath it.  She told me that the underlying &lt;br /&gt;
depression I&amp;#39;m feeling is not necessarily seperate, but that it will take &lt;br /&gt;
2-3 months to feel the full effects of the current dosage.  That&amp;#39;s cool.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She thinks that I am not only taking on too much but that too much is &lt;br /&gt;
being expected of me.  Myself, my fiance, my infant son, my sister, her &lt;br /&gt;
4-year-old son, my father, my mother, and a 7-month-old puppy - we all &lt;br /&gt;
live together.  And it may as well be in a yellow submarine.  Even if you &lt;br /&gt;
aren&amp;#39;t a person who is sensitive to energy, or is not aware that you are, &lt;br /&gt;
you would notice the chaos and tension in the air as soon as you walked &lt;br /&gt;
through our front door.  My youngest sister rarely visits because of this. &lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;S and I are always arguing in the house.  But once we&amp;#39;re out, whether we &lt;br /&gt;
have R with us or not, we&amp;#39;re as in love as though it&amp;#39;s the first 6 months &lt;br /&gt;
of our relationship again.  It&amp;#39;s a very oppressive feeling to know that &lt;br /&gt;
everything you decide to do will be scrutinized by family.  My sister is &lt;br /&gt;
such a judge, it&amp;#39;s sad.  Especially when I&amp;#39;ve managed to eliminate judging &lt;br /&gt;
almost entirely (except when S gets me wrapped up in judging, since he &lt;br /&gt;
can&amp;#39;t let it go - he just loves his categories and labels).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But I mean, everything from how much money we spend on gas, formula, food, &lt;br /&gt;
and fun, to how we cope with a crying or wakeful infant, to when and where &lt;br /&gt;
we do our laundry, to when and who does what chores, etc.  She also uses &lt;br /&gt;
our requests for her to sit R as power and punishment, as if she&amp;#39;s &lt;br /&gt;
teaching us a lesson or getting back at one of us for something if she &lt;br /&gt;
says &amp;#39;no.&amp;#39;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And then there&amp;#39;s my father, whom I love dearly and look up to.  He has &lt;br /&gt;
seasonal depression during the winter months, and during spring and summer &lt;br /&gt;
when he&amp;#39;s at his best, he&amp;#39;s a pessimist&amp;#39;s party pooper.  For example, if &lt;br /&gt;
an optimist&amp;#39;s glass is half full and a pessimist&amp;#39;s glass is half empty, my &lt;br /&gt;
father&amp;#39;s glass is half full... of vinegar.  So you can imagine how bad he &lt;br /&gt;
can be at times.  He has plenty of... character traits...  that might not &lt;br /&gt;
be so much of a problem with a therapist&amp;#39;s guidance, but you can&amp;#39;t tell &lt;br /&gt;
him that.  He will tell us something that might help us, or something we &lt;br /&gt;
might be interested in, and then tell us that it would probably fail or &lt;br /&gt;
that we would be gipped out of it or something like that.  He&amp;#39;s just one &lt;br /&gt;
big Sigh.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My mother&amp;#39;s wonderful.  I&amp;#39;m very much like her ;)  She has a silly, &lt;br /&gt;
British-dry, original SNL cast sense of humor with facial expressions and &lt;br /&gt;
eye movements so subtle that it isn&amp;#39;t until after you react that you &lt;br /&gt;
wonder how you understood her because you don&amp;#39;t remember her having a &lt;br /&gt;
reaction to whatever.  She was chief cook and bottle washer from the age &lt;br /&gt;
of sixteen, which was when her mother died, until she entered nursing &lt;br /&gt;
school in her twenties.  So, no sympathy comes from her when I spend all &lt;br /&gt;
day at work, come home to a house of chaos and tension, S hands me R and &lt;br /&gt;
disappears to play video games and never again until the next morning &lt;br /&gt;
cares for R, and K (sis) is bitching me out for never doing dishes or &lt;br /&gt;
washing or storing the towels and S is bitching me out for never washing &lt;br /&gt;
bottles or going to the laundromat or folding the clothes like I said.  So &lt;br /&gt;
I feed R about twice before he falls asleep, then put him down and pick &lt;br /&gt;
him up again when he realizes he&amp;#39;s not on my chest about three times &lt;br /&gt;
before he&amp;#39;s out for the night.  Then, I might not be too tired for a &lt;br /&gt;
shower, but usually am.  So, I don&amp;#39;t read or check e-mail or look anything &lt;br /&gt;
up online before hitting the pillow. All this while we&amp;#39;re flat broke &lt;br /&gt;
without money for gas, co-pays, prescriptions, food (that&amp;#39;s another &lt;br /&gt;
story), or formula - let alone simple day trips.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then of course I feel guilty that when I get home I can&amp;#39;t play with my &lt;br /&gt;
nephew, since I&amp;#39;m the only one in that house who has the stamina AND &lt;br /&gt;
desire to take him outside to play for a decent length of time.  My dad &lt;br /&gt;
wants to but is too tired.  My mom has to go to bed because she works at &lt;br /&gt;
night.  K comes home at 6pm and has chores to get done.  S has been caring &lt;br /&gt;
for R all day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;All I can say is that despite all of that, and the fact that K takes up &lt;br /&gt;
all of the fridge and freezer room, and we can&amp;#39;t cook because we can&amp;#39;t &lt;br /&gt;
store ingredients and it&amp;#39;s a chaotic kitchen -  they aren&amp;#39;t charging us &lt;br /&gt;
anything to stay there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I eat Ezekiel cereal and almond milk for breakfast, basic fruit salad for &lt;br /&gt;
lunch, and usually carrots and hummus with vegetable juice for dinner. &lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;ve dropped 4 dress sizes in three months.  The only things I buy that &lt;br /&gt;
are expensive are my bottles of Kombucha.  S didn&amp;#39;t get the chance to buy &lt;br /&gt;
any food this past pay period before the money was gone.  I&amp;#39;m hoping &lt;br /&gt;
neither of us spends more than $40 each.  Then of course things like &lt;br /&gt;
prescriptions, appointment copays, cigarettes, gas, car maintenance, etc.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#39;t know what R is supposed to be doing or what I&amp;#39;m supposed to be &lt;br /&gt;
doing with or for him because I never get a chance to read The Book or &lt;br /&gt;
check The Websites about that stuff.  I&amp;#39;ve been on the same pages of five &lt;br /&gt;
different books on various subjects for three months.  I have an idea for &lt;br /&gt;
making some extra cash but don&amp;#39;t have the money for the one simple art &lt;br /&gt;
supply or the time to design the things I&amp;#39;d like to make.  I don&amp;#39;t have &lt;br /&gt;
time to learn about saving for our future, or opening a book store. &lt;br /&gt;
I don&amp;#39;t have time to do AB CRUNCHES, for crying out loud!  I don&amp;#39;t get to &lt;br /&gt;
use facial cream or clip my nails most nights.  I don&amp;#39;t even get to play &lt;br /&gt;
the video game I bought on the XBox I bought with some of my tax return &lt;br /&gt;
money.  I could have saved that money for an apartment.  But probably not &lt;br /&gt;
since the Grand we DID have saved is gone because everything costs so &lt;br /&gt;
much. &lt;br /&gt;
We now have ZERO dollars saved.  We&amp;#39;re negative $13.  S still hasn&amp;#39;t found &lt;br /&gt;
a job.  The one that sent him for the drug test never got back to him and &lt;br /&gt;
the one he could get at night is an hour away in the next state, so gas &lt;br /&gt;
and toll would really add up.  I&amp;#39;ve been working on a scarf for S for over &lt;br /&gt;
two years now.  I can&amp;#39;t meditate or do spellwork or anything I need to do &lt;br /&gt;
for my soul.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The psychiatrist says she doesn&amp;#39;t know how I&amp;#39;m holding on and that I need &lt;br /&gt;
to find some time for myself every day.  I asked her if sleep counts and &lt;br /&gt;
she said no.  But I won&amp;#39;t complain aloud.  Then I&amp;#39;d be weak, needy, &lt;br /&gt;
pathetic, melodramatic.  I just need to suck it up for the rest of my &lt;br /&gt;
destitute, dream-shattered life. &lt;br /&gt;
Don&amp;#39;t get me wrong - this isn&amp;#39;t my son&amp;#39;s fault.  I&amp;#39;m ecstatic that I&amp;#39;m a &lt;br /&gt;
mommy!  I love him so much and I&amp;#39;m so glad he&amp;#39;s in my life!  I just... &lt;br /&gt;
could use a little understanding and assistance sometimes.  It isn&amp;#39;t &lt;br /&gt;
anyone&amp;#39;s fault, really.  I chose this path and I&amp;#39;ll stick to it.  I know &lt;br /&gt;
from experience that it gets a little easier when they don&amp;#39;t need to be &lt;br /&gt;
held all of the time.  But he&amp;#39;s still small, so when he&amp;#39;s awake, he needs &lt;br /&gt;
to be held to be able to interact.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Well, anyway.  I learned a long time ago to accept people for who they &lt;br /&gt;
are, to accept my family members, and to love them for who they are.  So, &lt;br /&gt;
it took a while for me to see how much stress they were causing in my life &lt;br /&gt;
and on my relationship.  I hadn&amp;#39;t realized for a while that whenever I &lt;br /&gt;
made a decision regarding our son, myself, and/or S, I was taking into &lt;br /&gt;
account what my family might think.  That isn&amp;#39;t like me, either.  I &lt;br /&gt;
learned a long time ago not to be bothered by what other people think. &lt;br /&gt;
Don&amp;#39;t judge yourself and don&amp;#39;t feel judged because chances are everyone &lt;br /&gt;
else is either too busy judging themselves to judge you or they are only &lt;br /&gt;
judging you to feel better about how harshly they judge themselves.  I &lt;br /&gt;
consider advice, sure.  I consider what people say when it&amp;#39;s obvious &lt;br /&gt;
they&amp;#39;re interested in what&amp;#39;s best for me and when they constructive &lt;br /&gt;
criticism.  But I don&amp;#39;t usually worry about how I look or seem or sound.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;ve lost my train of thought so I&amp;#39;ll stop there.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/my-psych-is-right-but-i-cant-justify-to-my-family.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500f48cf388cf0002?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>So many people have had their fire doused by society.  But this guy&#39;s on our side.</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/so-many-people-have-had-their-fire-doused-by-society-but-this-guys-on-our-side.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/so-many-people-have-had-their-fire-doused-by-society-but-this-guys-on-our-side.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/so-many-people-have-had-their-fire-doused-by-society-but-this-guys-on-our-side.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:59:10 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;I am 28 years old.  For as long as I can remember I&amp;#39;ve been told that this &lt;br /&gt;
is my community, my country, my government, my world.  I&amp;#39;ve been told that &lt;br /&gt;
I am the future.  I share Ghandi&amp;#39;s belief that you are the change you want &lt;br /&gt;
to see in the world.  And I know that everyone has been told these things.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I know that most of the people I grew up with and spent time around in my &lt;br /&gt;
early adult life, up until now, have the same basic beliefs about the &lt;br /&gt;
United States&amp;#39; policy and political issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And I know that eventually we&amp;#39;re all crushed by the seeming futility of &lt;br /&gt;
fighting something that is so big, so powerful, and so out of control.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I just want those people to know that all of the anger of our youth was &lt;br /&gt;
not for nothing.  I want them to know that all of the helplessness we felt &lt;br /&gt;
when we realized that the problems were too large for us to change was not &lt;br /&gt;
in vain.  I want everyone to know that when we thought the government &lt;br /&gt;
wasn&amp;#39;t listening because we were &amp;#39;just kids&amp;#39; or were too &amp;#39;unorganized,&amp;#39; &lt;br /&gt;
they were actually keeping a close eye on us because they *fear* us.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Government is full of old fat cats who fear, above all, their own fates &lt;br /&gt;
(the fate they share with all living creatures), and the only way they &lt;br /&gt;
know how to fool themselves into thinking that they are fighting that &lt;br /&gt;
fear, or even escaping it, is to hold on, with everything they have, to &lt;br /&gt;
POWER. Power over people of all ages, power over an economy, power over &lt;br /&gt;
media, power over military.  In order to make themselves feel important &lt;br /&gt;
and secure and far from death, they do anything they can to remain in &lt;br /&gt;
control of everything that is fleeting.  That power makes them feel secure &lt;br /&gt;
because the youth are a threat to them, because the youth represent &lt;br /&gt;
change.  Young people represent the future; a future in which those old &lt;br /&gt;
fat cats will have to face their fate and lose everything, and admit that &lt;br /&gt;
it&amp;#39;s all fleeting.  They refuse to accept the fact that all things change.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I want everyone who believes as I do, who sees what I see, who knows what &lt;br /&gt;
I know, to know that there is someone &amp;#39;on the inside&amp;#39; who thinks the way &lt;br /&gt;
we have thought since we became teenagers, and the way today&amp;#39;s teenagers &lt;br /&gt;
think - the way everyone who never let go of the anger of their youth &lt;br /&gt;
thinks.  There *is* someone on our side, and he is *not* backing down.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He has been censored, ignored, and turned away from by the media.  But he &lt;br /&gt;
hasn&amp;#39;t been discouraged because he knows how powerful the voices of our &lt;br /&gt;
generation and our parents&amp;#39; generation are.  He knows we are passionate &lt;br /&gt;
and that we care, and he knows that we can spread word like wildfire.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;His name is Doctor Ron Paul.  I will not preach to you about his &lt;br /&gt;
accomplishments.  I&amp;#39;ve said my piece.  If you&amp;#39;re interested, visit this &lt;br /&gt;
website:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;www.ronpaul2008.com&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I hope you find what you&amp;#39;re looking for.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/so-many-people-have-had-their-fire-doused-by-society-but-this-guys-on-our-side.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500f48cf1e5fe0002?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>Why do I need it?  Something must me coming.</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/why-do-i-need-it-something-must-me-coming.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/why-do-i-need-it-something-must-me-coming.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/why-do-i-need-it-something-must-me-coming.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:34:32 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;I need it.  There&amp;#39;s nothing romantic or dangerous about it.  Very simply, &lt;br /&gt;
I need it.  I only started to think about it Monday (4.21.08).  I have to &lt;br /&gt;
find time to check world news headlines, religious news headlines, &lt;br /&gt;
astronomical and astrological events and conspiracy theory sites.  I may &lt;br /&gt;
find a clue there.  Something&amp;#39;s happening right now, or is about to happen &lt;br /&gt;
soon.  I&amp;#39;m somehow connected to it.  Maybe I was supposed to be there when &lt;br /&gt;
it happened or am supposed to be there when it eventually happens.  Maybe &lt;br /&gt;
whatever it is will effect or has effected me or my future.  Maybe not. &lt;br /&gt;
Whatever it is, the feeling is... excitement, longing, wariness, dread, &lt;br /&gt;
adrenaline, viciousness, defend and protect.  I feel like Tiger: pace, &lt;br /&gt;
watch; pace, watch.  And the lust.  The lust for &amp;quot;it,&amp;quot; for energy, for &lt;br /&gt;
sex, for violence...  It&amp;#39;s growing.  I must find a way to hold onto those &lt;br /&gt;
I love, to fulfill my responsibilities to them and enjoy life with them, &lt;br /&gt;
while keeping an eye, an ear, a tooth on this other thing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What is it?  Who are you?  When?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I have four on which I can call to my side.  Tiger and Crane, of course. I &lt;br /&gt;
feel the need to keep the other two hidden until our relationships are &lt;br /&gt;
more stable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You, reading this - stop that thought.  I long to be delusional and &lt;br /&gt;
self-important.  That isn&amp;#39;t the case, I&amp;#39;m afraid.   Very.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/why-do-i-need-it-something-must-me-coming.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500f48cf1a1d00003?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
 
        <item>
            <title>Lost and confused... This is not my world.</title>
            <link>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/lost-and-confused-this-is-not-my-world.html?_c=feed-rss-full</link>   
            <author>nobody@vox.com(Citizen Crane)</author>
            <comments>http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/lost-and-confused-this-is-not-my-world.html?_c=feed-rss-full</comments>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/lost-and-confused-this-is-not-my-world.html?_c=feed-rss-full</guid> 
            <pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:34:34 -0400</pubDate>         
            
            <description>    &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;This is not my world.&amp;quot;   That&amp;#39;s what S always says.  He says he &lt;br /&gt;
doesn&amp;#39;t understand this world and that he belongs in an earlier time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This is not my world, either.  If I had one, I was sent away.  Either as &lt;br /&gt;
punishment or for a purpose, but I was &amp;#39;cast out.&amp;#39;  Not from a biblical &lt;br /&gt;
heaven, no.  I don&amp;#39;t subscribe to the belief that there is a heaven-like &lt;br /&gt;
place or a hell-like place hereafter, pushing everything and everyone &lt;br /&gt;
around like chess pieces.   [Hell is commonly described, in most religions/cultures, as being a place of fear, pain, unhappiness, suffering, war.&amp;#160; This &amp;#39;reality&amp;#39; of society that we are stumbling around in RIGHT NOW is exactly those things. Read don Miguel Ruiz&amp;#39;s book, &amp;#39;The Four Agreements&amp;#39; for more.]&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;No, I believe our spirits live multiple lifetimes in order to learn and to &lt;br /&gt;
evolve.   I believe in an all-encompassing, all-pervasive, unifying Source &lt;br /&gt;
of Life Energy.   I believe that we&amp;#39;re born, we die, we review our past &lt;br /&gt;
lives and the life we just finished, we are shown our progress, and we are &lt;br /&gt;
re-born to work on certain things.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;m not like everyone else.  S is the closest I&amp;#39;ve found to being &lt;br /&gt;
like myself.  I can&amp;#39;t see what others see.  I don&amp;#39;t hear what others hear. &lt;br /&gt;
 I&amp;#39;m not satisfied with the things they want.  My priorities are so vastly &lt;br /&gt;
different from everyone&amp;#39;s that I&amp;#39;ve never divulged them to anyone.  I&amp;#39;ve &lt;br /&gt;
told people my priorities as closely to truthful as I can without being &lt;br /&gt;
shunned. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My desires run deep and hard, and are not acceptable by anyone&amp;#39;s standards &lt;br /&gt;
(that I know of) but they still aren&amp;#39;t &amp;#39;perverse&amp;#39; or &amp;#39;criminal&amp;#39; or really &lt;br /&gt;
hurtful to anyone.  They&amp;#39;re just... dark. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I also have a tendency toward... not toward hope.  Hopes are desires are &lt;br /&gt;
suffering.  I tend toward... I just somehow know that it&amp;#39;s never so bad as &lt;br /&gt;
people make it.  There&amp;#39;s always a way.  I can&amp;#39;t always see the way, but I &lt;br /&gt;
always know it&amp;#39;s there. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I understand children like others don&amp;#39;t.  I know how to respect them and &lt;br /&gt;
talk to them.  I&amp;#39;m an empath in situations that aren&amp;#39;t part of my daily &lt;br /&gt;
routine.  I feel trees, rocks, and water.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;m caught &amp;#39;in-between.&amp;#39;  I&amp;#39;m balanced between light and dark.  My light &lt;br /&gt;
side and my dark side live in perfect harmony and rarely contradict one &lt;br /&gt;
another through my actions.  I feel my strength in both, and I accept and &lt;br /&gt;
utilize both.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I love sleeping.  True Reality is when our spirits travel while we sleep.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I am most comfortable watching.  I don&amp;#39;t know why.  I don&amp;#39;t even know what &lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;m watching for.  But there are times when I&amp;#39;m drawn to certain areas or &lt;br /&gt;
situations just to watch.  I&amp;#39;m not there to learn, really.  It&amp;#39;s more like &lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;m waiting for something or someone, but I won&amp;#39;t know what or whom until &lt;br /&gt;
I see them.  The image of myself in a high place appeals to me greatly, &lt;br /&gt;
just watching, waiting, in the wind.  Which is odd because I&amp;#39;ve always &lt;br /&gt;
been a little afraid of heights (one of only two fears I have).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I feel most comfortable in fog and mist, under running water, in the &lt;br /&gt;
branches of trees, on a mountain cliff or rooftop, or with my hands around &lt;br /&gt;
rocks either climbing or simply holding them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Most disturbingly, I feel pulled.  More than following my instincts or &lt;br /&gt;
paying attention to signs and feelings (all of which I do), more than &lt;br /&gt;
feeling pulled toward areas around me.  I feel pulled to entirely &lt;br /&gt;
different places in the world.  Sometimes.  But most of the time... I feel &lt;br /&gt;
pulled... ...away, I think.  I feel empty and alone and severed from &lt;br /&gt;
something or somewhere, I feel discarded and sometimes punished, sometimes &lt;br /&gt;
longing to return, sometimes as though I&amp;#39;m doing a job or duty that I wish &lt;br /&gt;
I hadn&amp;#39;t been assigned to or raised my hand for.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I feel as though I&amp;#39;m standing still amidst a blur of desires, intentions, &lt;br /&gt;
and emotions I can&amp;#39;t comprehend which belong to creatures I don&amp;#39;t know or &lt;br /&gt;
understand, and can no long pretend to be like.  I long to flee, but am &lt;br /&gt;
either unable or not permitted to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sometimes.... if I could just run or be alone for a day....  but everyone &lt;br /&gt;
always has to know where I am and I&amp;#39;m not allowed out alone after dark. &lt;br /&gt;
I&amp;#39;m 28 years old.  I have a fiance and an infant.  I&amp;#39;m so lost.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt; 
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://citizencrane.vox.com/library/post/lost-and-confused-this-is-not-my-world.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments&quot;&gt;Read and post comments&lt;/a&gt;   |   
    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vox.com/share/6a00e398dd11ad000500e398f2ed4f0005?_c=feed-rss-full&quot;&gt;Send to a friend&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;
 
            </description>   
        </item> 
    </channel>
</rss>

