Happy F***ing Valentine's Day!

So it’s Valentine’s Day. Whoop-de-freakin’-do.
That I’m not a fan of the day should come as no surprise, all things considered.
I don’t get terribly upset or depressed by it either, but it is sort of annoying to have to be hit in the face with a reminder of the fact that, just like last year, I’m still a loveless loser.
Even when I was married, though, I never really did much to acknowledge the day. We decided early on in our relationship that it was just an excuse for greeting card companies to sell cards, and that it had no particular significance for us.
(And yes, it really was a mutual decision; it wasn’t just me being lazy and insensitive and her going along with it.)
We tended to put the emphasis on the days that actually were significant, like each other’s birthdays and our anniversary.
So at least I don’t have any sort of happy memories of Valentine’s Days past that have since soured.
I’ve got that much going for me, at least.
Yep, that and the fact that I don’t have to buy anything for anyone. Lucky me…
Still, in the spirit of the day, I’ll give you all a link to the lyrics of a Valentine’s Day themed song.
I think it speaks very well for those of us who don’t celebrate the day.
So on Friday my Federal refund showed up in my checking account (State had been in last Monday).
I have to say that e-filing, therefore, kicks ass. Just a little over a week between filing my taxes and having the money in the bank. Very cool.
Of course, there’s always a problem that occurs when I have money: I spend it.
I’d really rather avoid doing that, but it seems impossible.
To make matters worse, I just sold some stock options today, so that means I have even more money coming.
The problem is that it’s not enough money to pay much of anything off, or even make a dent in my bills, so really the only options are to save/invest it, or spend it.
I really, really want to save it, but the natural inclination is to spend.
It’s not really quite enough money for me to buy many of the things I want, but it could buy a couple of them (like a new computer, for example, or a new graphics tablet).
I am going to try (though we all know what Yoda said about "trying") to hold onto at least the majority of the money for a while, especially since besides the stock money I have some more extra funds coming down the pipe.
For one thing, I’ve signed up for a couple more training sessions, which means more OT, and in April I get three paydays. That means that, if I stick to my budget, I’ll pretty much have an entire paycheck that I can just sock away.
Even if I don’t stick to the budget, it’ll still mean a fair amount of extra money.
So I’m really, really hoping that I can manage to avoid spending the money.
I did spend a little today, though.
A while back I signed up to beta test a VoIP telephone service. There were some delays in the processing, but today I finally got the equipment.
The equipment is basically just a wired router with two telephone jacks on it that you connect to your Cable (or DSL) modem. You just hook up an ordinary telephone to it, and you’re making free phone calls over the Internet.
At least, in theory you are. In my case there were a couple of problems.
The first was simply that I don’t own a phone. Just as I do now, when I lived in Tucson I didn’t have a land line, using a cell phone as my only phone service. Consequently, I didn’t even have an old phone lying around that I could use.
So I decided to head to Wal-Mart to pick up a cheap phone to use for the VoIP.
While I was there I also picked up some blank CDs and DVDs, a new CD alarm clock, and, because it was on clearance for a mere $60, an all-in-one printer/copier/scanner.
There wasn’t really anything wrong with my old printer or scanner…other than that they were just that, old.
The scanner is a parallel port model, and as such is extremely slow. The printer is fine, but I figured that if I were ever going to get a new scanner I might as well go with the all-in-one style.
And so I did.
I have to say that it’s pretty cool. It’s extremely fast, prints very well in color and black and white, and the ability to just make copies without having to use the computer is definitely cool.
So buying all of that added up a little, but not too much.
I was surprised to receive the VoIP box this morning. When the UPS guy knocked on my door I was more than a little confused, as the last thing I’d actually ordered, my “Wonderfalls” DVD, had arrived via US Mail on Friday.
Throughout the weekend, and for part of today (when I wasn’t messing with setting up VoIP [which still isn’t fully configured on the network side, apparently, so it doesn’t work yet], playing around with my new printer/copier/scanner, or watching “Wonderfalls”), I’ve continued reading Jack T. Chick tracts, as well as some online information about the man.
I continue to be amazed at the level of paranoia that he demonstrates.
In a tract titled “Sin City,” which is not related to either Las Vegas or “Basin City,” the actual setting for the movie Sin City (more on the movie in a bit), but which, in fact, takes place in San Francisco, Chick presents the most warped and distorted view of reality I've ever seen.
Apart from San Francisco, the title also refers to the Sodom and Gomorrah, with which “Bob,” Chick’s godly protagonist, is able to draw many parallels to Frisco.
In the story, a lone, “good” man protests a gay pride parade and is soon beaten thoroughly by the police and arrested for committing a “hate crime.” Bob then visits him in a hospital, where a "liberal" (read: homosexual) minister is trying to get the hapless Christian to accept a more watered down version of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and to realize that God loves all of His children, even the snappy dressers.
Luckily Bob arrives just in time to chase away the demons clouding the Christians mind, and informs the gay evangelist that Christ was God (a fact that, thanks to the Jesuits, the minister was unaware of), and points out that yes, God does love homoes, but he hates the things they do (and we're not talking about the campy, annoying things that Sean Hayes does on "Will & Grace"), and if they don't change their wicked ways and accept Christ as their personal savior these queens will soon be flaming in the Lake of Fire.
The Perverted Preacher soon sees the error of his ways and, not for the first time, drops down on all fours, though this time it's to speak the all-powerful "sinner's prayer," which frees him from the shackles of his biological wiring and makes him straight.
I just can't get over the scenes of the protestor being beaten by the Gay Police (Seriously; the cops are wearing make up. Then again, maybe they weren't really the police. Maybe they were just part of a "Village People" tribute.).
The ability that fundamentalist Christians have to paint themselves in the role of victim is astonishing. Sometimes I think the worst thing that ever happened to Christians was to gain worldwide acceptance and to stop being fed to the lions. I don’t think they ever figured out how to live without being persecuted and forced to die for their beliefs, so they started manufacturing enemies and distorting reality. “Christian Bashing,” for example, hasn’t ever really caught on in the gay community in the way that that Gay Bashing has caught on in the Christian community. And even in SF I can’t imagine too many people getting arrested, let alone beaten to within an inch of their lives, for simply protesting a parade.
Also, the whole reason that the the gay minister shows up is to tempt the righteous man into sin, as "they" (Jesuits, presumably) have worked out a deal with the DA to drop the "Hate Crime" charges if the victim of mob violence will just recant his hateful beliefs.
Apparently it's all part of the modern Spanish Inquisition that is being waged (Bet you didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. That's okay; nobody expects the Spanish Inquistion.) on all of the righteous people in the world.
It's interesting to see that Chick believes that "the enemy" engages in the exact same tactics that he and his protagonist Bob engages in; finding people who are in a state of physical and psychological turmoil and trying to brainwash them (In other tracts, Bob has done things like visiting burn victims in the hospital and explaining that they've gotten a taste of the fire that's waiting for them after they die in their sins.).
But of course their are more of "them" and not nearly enough of "us" (faithful Chick tract readers).
Honestly, these are exactly the sort of paranoid delusions that make Chick tracts so damned funny.
As much as I disagree with his worldview (and it seems clear that Chick honestly, and earnestly, believes what he writes), I would love to have the opportunity to talk with him.
I wouldn’t bother trying to debate with him, or to get him to change his views, but I would really like to hear him expound on them (the tracts, after all, only allow him to say so much, as they have to be short and to the point), and to have him answer some of the questions I have.
For example, it’s Chick’s assertion that the Vatican has a “huge computer” which is used to keep a list of all the Protestants in the world, presumably for the purposes of targeting people to prevent them from accepting Christ as their personal savior (or, as Chick would have it, “saviour”).
What I wonder is how well they keep that list updated.
I mean, I was raised a Lutheran. I went through First Communion, and eventually Confirmation, at which point I became a full-fledged member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
However, at this point, and for many years now, I no longer even consider myself a Christian, let alone a Protestant.
So is my name still on the Vatican’s list? Is there a footnote, or checkmark of some kind indicating that I’m no longer among the saved?
On that point, though, Chick does teach a “saved once, saved always” philosophy that indicates that once you accept Christ as your savior, believe that Christ was God, and that He died on the cross for you, nothing will keep you out of Heaven.
So, while I no longer accept Christ as my savior, nor believe that he was God, or indeed, that there even is any sort of god at all (or that if there is that he/she/it is automatically entitled to my love and worship), am I still saved, because I once did?
I honestly don’t think he could answer these questions, though, because I don’t think it even occurs to him that there can be any questions.
I guess I’ve babbled enough about good old Jack for now, but on the topic of meeting him, here’s the blog of someone (a Catholic, in fact) who did just that. It’s a great read.
Today I found out that the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features a cover story on "Sin City!" It features some pictures of the cast and asks “Is this the next Pulp Fiction?”
My answer? No. It’ll blow Pulp Fiction away.
Not even Samuel L. Mother Fuckin’ Jackson himself would last five minutes in the back alleys of Basin City. Check out the pictures here.
The April 1st opening of Sin City is drawing ever nearer. Of course, that also means that my 33rd birthday is that much closer, too.
If “Sin City” is as good as I hope it will be, though, that’s a small price to pay.
For those of you out there who don’t work with me and are interested in finding out more about the poor souls who do have to bear that burden, check out Brian and Kathleen’s journals, here and here respectively.
At the very least you can give them your sympathies for having to suffer my presence for 13 hours a day…