I just booked a flight to Chicago for Saturday morning, and my ass has never been on a plane before. This fact, coupled with some anxiety issues over the past few years, should make for a most interesting experience. I did have the good sense not to get window seats, and plan on keep my nose in a book whilst cruising the friendly skies.

For a reason I can't recall, today I found myself walking into the room that had been my niece's until recently. Perhaps I was checking to see whether my sister had left anything during the move to her new hourse, or maybe my curiosity begged to simply experience the now empty room. Regardless of reason, I walked in and immediately spotted something that had indeed been left behind. High upon the wall, by the window, hung a rare, four-sided dreamcatcher.

Early last December I picked up the dreamcatcher from an Odawa; he had procured it from a member of the Grand Traverse Band. I wanted a special gift for my soon-to-be-born niece, and thought that the unique dreamcatcher would be absolutely perfect. I had intended on getting one during my stay in Michigan, as I had dated an Ojibwe and spent a considerable amount of time in a Native American community. It's worth noting that these dream snares originated within that tribe, and I made it imperative that I knew the origin of one I was to come into possession of. I hold Native Americans in extremely high regard, and take details regarding the people and their culture very seriously.

With all that has been stated thus far, it would come to no suprise to say that I wasn't particularly happy to see this intricate, Native work left hanging on the wall. It didn't bother me because of the fact that I had given it as a gift; it bothered me in that I saw disrespect and absence of thought. Although being quite different from all my family and friends does involve frustration at times, I do try to exercise patience and keep in mind that it's not right to get ill with someone just because they don't see things like you do. After all, one cannot claim to be about positive energy, yet allow themselves to practice negative energy so easily.

So, I decided that the best way to remedy the situation was to simply take the dreamcatcher and without saying a word, put it where it belongs. It's now hanging in my niece's room, by her baby bed. It doesn't matter whether or not my sister and her boyfriend appreciate or believe in the symbol, all that matters is I want it there for my little niece.

....it's amazing what kind of wild facts one can stumble upon accidentally....

I was beyond shocked to find out that Blackie Lawless, singer/guitarist for W.A.S.P., was actually considered for the role of the T-1000 in Terminator 2. Arnold even wanted him to play the character, but at a height of 6'4", Lawless was deemed too tall. That, ladies and gentlemen, is some truely wild shit.

Then again, I shouldn't be suprised, given the sort of things that've happened to the man. This is the same person that was in a street gang with Ace Frehley(of KISS fame), lived in a closet and was dirt poor while dating a Playboy centerfold, and witnessed events like Nikki Sixx stealing a fence for firewood, as well as his lead guitarist being knocked out by a frozen roast hurled from the audience.

All of a sudden, my life feels rather lackluster.

Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed with this one. Predictability was running rampant the entire movie, and atrocious acting on the lead male's part didn't help matters. But, his character was an incompetent one anyway.....really incompetent.

As far as the creepy factor goes, my experience was ruined by a young crowd that laughed at far too much. This is a film that would be best enjoyed at an early showing with few in the theater. For those who don't do horror very well, you may just wanna skip it all together. The sight of a woman yanked out of her bed, and dragged screaming down a hall into darkness by something that can't be seen, will likely bother the fuck out of some. It's also worth noting that the ending scene ain't exactly chopped liver either, as far as freaky looking shit.

If there's a moral to this one, it's this:

....don't live with an idiot. Should you become the target of a malevolent entity, they will be of absolutely no fucking help whatsoever.

If I were to say that I felt content at the moment, I'd be selling one blatant lie. My somber choice in music as of late would certainly attest to the fact. There's an almost haunting, bummed vibe sticking with me for some reason. Normally, I'd be in exceptionally good spirits. With temperatures in this area having become downright cold at night, I should be tickled to death. Hell, I should be tickled that I escaped death. I'm serious here. You may think I'm exaggerating, but it's not an inaccurate statement.

I don't have a vehicle at the moment, since the truck I had for ten and a half years is de-f**king-stroyed. Last Tuesday afternoon, I was going 50mph on a two-lane highway when another driver made a left-hand turn without looking. I took one very brutal hit with no seatbelt on, and was then treated to a lovely dive off into a rather deep ditch. I limped away from the accident, pridefully and stubbornly refused medical attention, and have recovered rather well since. My legs don't look pleasant and my back gets sore, but that's to be expected. I know....I must've had a horseshoe up my ass that day. And hey, if I thought I was fortunate, it didn't stop there.

As much as I hated to get rid of a reliable vehicle with so many memories, I'd really come to need something more fuel efficient. After holding onto the truck so long, it was only worth 5500-6000....which hurt my pride, as it was clean and had low miles. I figured the insurance of the aforementioned arseclown would offend me with what they'd offer to pay, but I had the hell suprised out of me. I may go so far as to even say I'm glad dude pulled in front of me like that. When all is said and done, I will have had the shit knocked out of me and nearly killed so that I may receive 7500 for that vehicle. I knew I had a decent good karma reserve.

So, I have luck oozing from the pores of my body, but I'm restless and quite.....well, bummed(oh how I hate the "d-word"). Perhaps having no ride, combined the fact that I had the vehicle so long, and recently becoming ill(escaped a sinus infection all year, until now), is to blame for my lack of energy and gloomy disposition.

Then again, I mustn't forget that it's approaching that time of year. For the most part, the holidays haven't been kind to me the past several years. Unfortunate events may sit at the back of one's mind, but they still exist nonetheless.

I just saw an ad for 1.9% financing from Porsche. I'm speechless.

Late last night I read/saw a bit about a mural painted in Bastrop, Louisiana depicting a part of cotton's history. As I looked at the artist's rendition of a scene outside a cotton gin, I realized something. There's not many people that can't tell you about cotton's past. Everyone knows slaves gathered it, and some may even remember Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, but very few can tell you anything else regarding the crop. I figured why not do something a little educational. You may be suprised at what goes into growing the stuff used to make what you're wearing.

I was actually around cotton farming as a kid, and can say that some of my best memories involve cotton harvest. My cousins and I absolutely could not wait for the picker to dump one or two good baskets into a cotton trailer. Climbing up the sides and jumping off into the stuff was pretty close to the definition of fun. Even more priceless were the cool, clear fall nights I spent lying on my back in a loaded cotton trailer. The comfort and scent of field cotton, faint drone of the picker in the distance, and stars above me made for a peace unlike anything else I've yet to experience thus far in life. But unfortunately, the process that made those experiences possible wasn't exactly great for the earth, nor one's health.

Cotton, like most row-crops, is planted by an implement hooked to a tractor. The planter my grandfather and uncles used was like most, and had two sets of hoppers(bins) on it. The larger ones up front housed seed. Directly behind those were smaller ones for granular insecticide that was to go down in the furrow with cotton seeds. We could help with filling the seed hoppers during soybean planting, but we were pretty much kept away during cotton. The reason was that the back hoppers were filled with Temik, a product that looked like a large-grained gunpowder. It would help take care of pests moving around in the soil as the cotton germinated and grew. This product was something you just didn't take lightly.

People are careful when they handle Temik. Even those who've had all manner of chemicals on them will mutter, "don't get that shit on your hands". What would happen if you ingested it, you ask? You would be one f**ked duck. Temik basically shuts down the nervous system, and not slowly either. This potency eventually gained it a second use on many farms, that of controlling the local coyote population. Many a varmint in cotton country has left this world via Temik'd bait. Of course, many buzzards and other scavengers also fell out dead from eating the remains of those animals. And, I believe it's worth mentioning that back in the late 80s more than a few people became rather ill due to watermelons that'd had an over-application of Temik.

As far as actual spraying of chemicals, there's a touch less involved in the intial stages these days. However, it's only a reduction in herbicide, not insecticide. The vast majority of corn, soybean, and cotton seed planted these days has been genetically modified(GMO) to withstand glyphosate(Roundup). So, instead of having to spray pre-emerge chemicals and later use specific ones for specific weeds, you just take care of weeds with one product. The downside is that you're feeding the power of giant companies like Monsanto. After your cotton is up and running well into the season, then you really start cookin'.

I once heard a farmer from the northern part of the country ask a cotton grower about the details of their spraying. He'd seen something on tv about organic cotton, and it mentioned the very, very high amounts of insecticides used in conventional cotton. The cotton farmer's response was, "oh, it's not as bad as they make it out to be". Well, it kinda is actually. It's bad enough that the soil is rendered uninhabitable for earthworms somewhere in the neighborhood of five years. Yeah. That's what they call not good. The amount of pesticide sprayed isn't the same for every cotton field, but you can count on several trips towards the end of the season. I've read varying numbers, but between 16 to 25 percent of the pesticides used in the world every year go to cotton. Oh, I almost forgot all about the defoliant. The leaves have got to go before harvest, and defoliant makes 'em fall right off. And, if you're using a cotton harvester with stripper heads, you'll want to apply a growth inhibitor. Healthy cotton plants can get suprisingly tall, and a cotton stripper needs the crop under a certain height. The machinery reminds me, I haven't addressed money.

You can't very well plant cotton without money.....lots of money. Last I checked, a bag of Roundup-Ready soybean seed will run you around 35 bucks. A bag of GMO cotton? You better have at least four Ben Franklins in your pocket. Yes, for ONE friggin' sack of seed. You don't even wanna know what you'd be out just in seed for 500 acres, and that would barely be enough cotton ground worth fooling with. Can't harvest it without equipment either. Cotton strippers aren't too bad on price nor maintenance, but remember that we have to keep the crop shorter. Also have a slightly smaller harvesting window during the day as well. You'll want to keep it out of the field early in the morning and later in the evening due to moisture. As for a conventional cotton picker, a wise man once said, "a used picker is hell, and a new one isn't much better". Plenty of old ones can be had for 5 to 10k, but you may want to shoot yourself after all the money and maintenance you have to throw at it. Want a new one, you say? No problem, go get around $300,000. Wait, hold that thought......can I interest you in the newest technology? You can cut out the normally required tractor, boll-buggy, and module-builder that assist in harvesting. A machine is available now that actually builds a module(bale) inside the basket, and then you just let the gin truck get it. But, you're gonna need....ohhh....close to half a million dollars for one of those.

In summary, the material used to make your clothes is ridiculously expensive to grow *and* conventional methods of farming it are bad for the environment. Even worse news is that organic cotton is hard as hell to do, and able to bear very, very little of the load required by worldwide demand. What a pisser, eh?

It's funny that just last night I was thinking how paranoid some are for stocking up on ammunition. I say this because not five minutes ago I saw an article on Yahoo news about that very subject.

Dummies need to quit repeating stupid shit to other dummies. People will still have the ability to buy a new, ridiculously expensive rifle a year from now. You'll even be able to buy cartridges for it, provided you can find any. I almost had to bite my lip to keep from explaining the higher cost of ammunition to someone rather naive. The reason ammo is higher is because the stuff is flying off of shelves, and plenty of ignorant asses will pay it without blinking.

There's far too much money to be made with firearms and related sporting good accessories. And, I'm sure there's plenty of powerful/influential people who will keep it that way for a long time to come. As for those that worry about all the guns being taken away.....stop chewing on cheap, Chinese-made toys. Seriously, you have to be brain-f**king-damaged to worry about such. I mean really. We'll at least have rifles and shotguns around for a while. It takes a whole lotta people and a whole lotta guns to keep wildlife populations as half-ass "balanced" as they are. Of course, hunting wouldn't be so important a role were it not for us f**king up their world to begin with. But, that's a whole other story.

Apparently, the President has plans to brainwash the youth of American next Tuesday. Holy paranoia, Batman! Here's what the whole fuss is about....

Because of the fact that 1)Obama will be directing a speech specifically towards students, and 2)the Secretary of Education has invited schools to watch the speech, along with providing "suggested classroom activities", many people have now flipped the f**k out. I'm serious here. Supposedly, there are "troubling buzzwords" in the suggested lesson plans. Some examples given were, "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?" for pre-K through 6, and "What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What is President Obama inspiring you to do?" for 7-12. Heaven forbid we make children think.

Keep in mind, I was once conservative-minded. While I'm not exactly liberal these days, I do have a far more progressive mindset than most from north Mississippi normally possess. Having opened my mind, and enlightened myself quite a bit over time, I've come to see the bickering between left and right for what it really is.

The war between ourselves is simply this:  The boy with little fear is trying to drag the boy with great fear. Nothing gets accomplished but a good game of tug-'o-war. If they'd both sit down, shut the f**k up, and honestly try to see things from each other's point of view, they could move forward. They'd know that should they encounter anything bad, they'll have each other to rely on.......not point a finger at.

I just read that around a dozen people were brandishing firearms outside a convention center in AZ today, where the president gave a speech. *blink* Wow. Way to go there. I realize that's an open carry state and all, but toting a gun at a protest does not put forth a good image. The gentleman with his AR-15 may as well have screamed, "look at me! I'm scaring the shit out of everyone, and making other gun owners look bad!".

I own three shotguns and two rifles, and I am no more concerned about them being taken away than I am of encountering a polar bear in my backyard. To be honest, I actually think there should be restrictions against assault weapons and such again. Number one: A centerfire rifle is f**king dangerous, and a horrible choice for self-defense. Jesus H., you can't even hunt deer in some states with ANY rifle. You fire one of those in a neighborhood or even in your house, and who knows how far that projectile will go or what it might penetrate before it stops. And number two: If you need more than a 10-round magazine in your weapon, you my friend, were likely f**ked to begin with.

If you want to target shoot, or varmint hunt with an AR....hell, if you want one just to look at....that's fine. Just leave the damn thing in the gun cabinet before you head off to the protest. Have to stop in a bad neighborhood later on, you say? Well, if you're scared, just carry a goddamn handgun like a normal gun owner would.

Wanna know what I'm worried about? The extinction of sensibility.