a friend from my current church moved to missouri a few months ago, and has returned to town for a visit. so, the last two nights have been spent with peers, friends, family; darts, pool, cards. i suspect tomorrow night will be more of the same. sleep is overrated, no?

it is now almost 2am eastern standard time. i am not tired. this is probably bad news, and will come back to haunt me in a few short hours. but sometimes the lack of sleep just doesn't matter... can i get an amen? had i spent these last several hours zoning in front of the television, or browsing on ebay, or reading the best of craigslist, that would be terribly irresponsible and basically a huge waste of time. but staying up until two in the morning to build and reconnect friendships? losing two or three hours of sleep is just a drop in the bucket... time well spent.

that being said... it's definitely bedtime for mdog. good night.

oh my. the last day or two have been reminders that there is often more than meets the eye [especially on the internet]. and i'm not even talking about transformers... cool toys, though.

here at unleashed, i am basically accused of being pompous because... well, i don't know. because i use big words? i think that was it. whatever... i don't mind. i suppose if i didn't know me [what?] i might think this unleashed mdog was trying to "look smart". perception, or reality? i think those who know me know better than that. and those who don't know me can't be expected to know that. you know?

on a certain message board i frequent, it's been a busy day. accusations, misunderstandings, all kinds of good stuff. why? because we've never seen each other. it's hard enough to communicate when you can't see someone's expression and mannerisms... even harder when you've never seen the person. ah, the beauty of the internet... the sense of anonymity reigns supreme.

internet miscommunications aside, it already seems a challenge to discern perception versus reality in our own lives. the gap between what i see and what others see -- in my life and their own -- is often astounding to me. the most amazing people i know claim that they are too this, not enough that, their bodies aren't something, they're terrible at some such thing, etc.... and i want to scream, "why? why do you think this? why can't you see in you what i see in you?!" and of course, the reverse is true if i proceed to point out my own perceived shortcomings... either that or i have very dishonest friends. [just kidding.] funny how that works: clearly, others are living in denial, but me? oh, no. i've got my own self-perception down pat.

all for now. art thou intrigued by mine swill?

"finding consolation and guidance" ... "a post-election sense of woe" ... "outcome of election leads to emptiness and disillusionment" ... "victory should not be conceded before facts are all in" ...

uh-kay. it's now been well over a week since election day here in the states, and letters to the editor are still pouring into my local newspaper. politics is the god of choice around here; i hear that people were crying and depressed over kerry's election loss. has the whole world gone mad, or just my town? we were a lone blue county in a sea of red last tuesday... i never knew such overwhelming political passion existed anywhere in my state, and i've lived in ohio all my life.

a disclaimer: i am not a republican. nor am i a democrat. truth be told, i couldn't have cared less about who was voted in as commander-in-chief; not for lack of interest, but for lack of conviction. i trust both bush and kerry about as far as i can throw them. i almost flipped a coin to help determine my first chad-punch, but decided it would be too distracting to my fellow voters. in the end, america votes, democracy is acheived, the world keeps spinning.

at what point did our nation accept that two political ideologies were enough? at what point did our nation accept that two political ideologies were to be mortal enemies?

on the one hand, i suppose having a distinct party is nice: you know what it is that you're getting into [for better or for worse]. in this respect, any rogue "independent" candidates may be viewed as suspect: much like churches with names like "free universal evangelic liberated discretionary fellowship". this roughly translates to "we don't report to nobody!" -- the independence aspect definitely holds promise, but what ultimately goes down at the end of the day is really anyone's guess.

on the other hand, subscribing to a particular party is bothersome to me. i don't like the thought of being pigeon-holed into a particular belief [or belief system]. i am not so naive as to think that one party holds the panacea to the nation's troubles in its platform. in this respect, those ol' "independent" candidates look rather appealing: free thinkers, unafraid to go against the grain, not tied to a traditional thought process... or perhaps more importantly, not tied to any certain campaign fund.

so much for me and my "i don't talk politics" stand. i'm just so tired of the extremism... have we as a nation lost our minds?

i think i'm going to start telling people i'm a republicrat.

okay, so this entry has nothing to do with cookies, OR breakfast. i was just reading an old entry and decided that i really enjoy this phrase and the feeling it captures. ah yes, the maturity of one who is awake early enough to even consider breakfast and realize the importance of such a meal... coupled with a decidedly un-mature reckless disregard for health and propriety at such an hour of the morning.

if ever i wrote a book, this would definitely be the title.