So, we've just come from the tax man...and needless to say I am less than happy.  Not only did it cost over $200 to have my taxes prepared, but our tax return is only a little over $300, so in actuality, we will only be getting about $100 back this year.  Did I mention that both my husband and I do not claim any dependents on our W-4's (we claim 0)?  Oh, and to everyone who has been telling us that being married and buying a home has some tax benefits...you are all full of s**t!  Not to be too pissy about it, I'm really just confused. 

Let me try to explain my confusion.   So, the federal government can give billions of dollars...excuse me, hundreds of billions of dollars, to large corporations who were spending beyond their means and then giving huge bonuses to CEO's for doing a bad job, but they can't seem to find a way to actually let me and mine have a bit more of the tax dollars that we paid this year back.  After all, EVERYONE kept telling us that we would most certainly get back a sizeable tax return since we are first time home buyers...why shouldn't we if they did when they bought their first house...right?

Now...if the government wants to stimulate the economy, why wouldn't they give a few more tax incentives to the regular folks in this country.  Do we, the working men and women of this country (and other countries for that matter), not keep this country on the crash course of consumption that it has been on for the past hundred + years, and thereby keep the pockets of the few lined with gold? 

And yet...I find it rather interesting that almost 100 years ago, there was a woman...a thinking woman, who was deported for her 'radical' views about government oppression, and the ills of capitalism.  She said, " The minds of men are in confusion, for the very foundations of our civilization seem to be tottering.  People are losing faith in the existing institutions, and the more intelligent realize that capitalist industrialism is defeating the very purpose it is supposed to serve." [From, "The Individual, Society and the State", by Emma Goldman].  And she saw it back around the 1940's...why can't we?

Am I wrong, or does this wounds like it were happening today...when the corporation is valued above the individual?  Our tax experience of today has not cemented my 'cynical' views (as some have called them); but what it has done is cemented the idea that I was right all along about this government and that nothing will change unless WE (the people) force it to change...and that will not happen unless we can get ourselves away from the 'lesser of 2 evils' choice.  That, my friends, is an ultimatum...not a choice.  The democrats and republicans have been fracking things up for the past 50+ years, and yet we, the people, continue to vote for them. 

When will we all wake up?

(Anyway, enough of the rant...if anyone is interested in reading more of Emma Goldman's work, these websites will be very helpful...and by the way...the government doesn't want you reading anything from these sites...fyi.  And, by the way, I am neither a Marxist, nor am I an anarchist, but I can appreciate both as ideas worth learning about.)

www.cooperativeindividualism.org/goldman_individual.html
dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/GoldmanCW.html

So, Dan and I have just returned from one of the best weekends we've had in a very long time.  It was the most free and relaxed I've been in...I can't even remember how long.  It was very much needed and I thank my best friend Kate and her man for introducing us to it.  My younger brother also came along with us for the weekend.  It was fascinating.  This weekend is a regional burn modeled after Burning Man, which occurrs every year in Death Valley, called Playa Del Fuego.  The website is www.playadelfuego.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

We got there late on Friday afternoon, and set up camp.  Luckily, the friends we were meeting up with had the quietest corner of the field, so there was a respite for us from the craziness of pdf.  After we set up, we all went for a walk around the grounds and met a few very nice funny people, and were seeing all of the theme camps come to life as they were being built. 

We then walked back to camp and started drinking...well, I did anyway...lol.  And we ate some dinner, and then went back out to walk around some, after dark of course.  WOW!!!  Did it change once the sun went down.  Not that there wasn't already a plethora a techno being played, but it got louder after dark.  As we walked around to the different camps, we saw things like fire-spinners, and fire-eaters, and fire-dancers of all sorts, pleanty of naked people, a very large wooden sea-horse being built (an effigy for burning), other burnable art being built, parties everywhere, and lots of drunk people...lol.

Now, I would like to mention the most entertaining person I met while there, and although he never remembered who I was, we kept seeing him everywhere.  His name was Pirate Captain Tim, or so he told me.  He was very drunk!  I met him outside of the porta-potties, trolling for girls.  I should mention again that he was very drunk.  He was wearing a pirate outfit and had an empty gallon bottle of rum on his belt and was walking, pardon me, stumbling, around with another gallon bottle of rum that was half empty.  We talk a little bit, and he made me laugh hysterically.  Later on that night, we saw Pirate Captain Tim passed out in front of the fire of some camp, in all his pirate glory.  My friend checked to see if he was still breathing, and he seemed fine...just passed out drunk...in true pirate fashion.  We were sure that he was going to be in terrible shape the next day.

Anyway, we went to sleep that night, then got up and talked and walked around a bit on Saturday afternoon before settling in to watch the naked slip n' slide.  Yup...I said naked slip n' slide.  I'm sure that you can imagine, so i will say no more on that subject.  Then my friend made some really freaking good Indian soups for dinner...and then we drank some more!   Oh...by the way...in case you were wondering about Pirate Captain Tim, we saw him on the naked slip n' slide.  He seemed to be feeling fine...what a liver that boy must have.  WE walked abound the camps more and had a really good time Saturday night.   Saw Pirate Captain Tim a few more times, and went to sleep.

On Sunday we packed upi and came home.

So, that was what I saw during PDF this fall.  But it is so much more than just a huge drunken party.  There are many theme camps devoted to producing and sharing art.  There was one camp called videogasm, which has comfy chairs and a big screen that they play all sorts of artistic clips on, and there was another camp called camp contact, that was a big dome that was set up for anyone to come and do improvisational dance.  The energy was AMAZING!  It was just a group of people who came together to build a very temporary town, where nothing is sold or bought, and there are lots of artists willing and ready to share their ideas and their passion with you and everyone else there.  I never felt judged...everyone seemed to look at you as just a person...there was NEVER any judgement about who or what you might be, and everyone was very kind.  It was an experience I can't wait to have again.  

After being there, and coming home I feel like there's a part of me I left behind...and I think that's because, while you are there, you don't feel the need to wear the costume you have to put on every day to make it in our society.  At PDF, everyone is just a person.  There is no class, there are no titles, there is nothing but people and their pure natures...it was very refreshing and it has been difficult to come back, which, I must say, was a bit of a shock to me.  I actually couldn't wait to come home and take a shower...and once I got home and showered, I became very sad that I was going to have to put my "mask" back on.

But alas...there will be another one in the spring...so, I guess, there's something to look forward to.

So, I just learned a very valuable lesson...I should never, ever, chop a hot pepper without gloves on!  I've certainly chopped a lot of hot peppers before, but i've never had a problem.  But, as my skin is peeling off and my finger tips are numb...I figure that's a life lesson that needed to be learned...LMAO!

Just thought I'd share my stupidity with everyone...lol.

I was reading an article today about how the House voted against the bailout plan for all the banks that are currently failing, and was, again, struck by the openness that the politicians have about how they don't do their jobs.  One of them was quoted as having said something to the effect of...'None of us want to vote for it in an election year right before we go out to campaign for ourselves to be re-elected to office.' 

Now...is it just me, or are they flat out admitting that they are leaving the jobs that they currently have, and failing to do said jobs, so that they can traipse around their states/districts and try to get re-elected, while ignoring the important issues that need to be dealt with right now?  Cuz' that's what it sounds like to me!  I'm certainly not saying that I'm for the bailout plan being passed...what I am saying. is why do we as a people, not demand more of our politicians?

Everyone I know is disappointed with the politicians in the system we have in this country, and yet no one is willing to vote for REAL change!  Why is it, that we continue to vote on of 2 parties into power in this country when for the past 50-60 odd years they have screwed more and more up over time?  And now, in the current political frenzy, I hear more and more politicians, from both sides mind you, admitting that they are more concerend about getting re-elected than doing their job, which is to be a servant of the people of this country, let's not forget!

I suppose I'm mostly surprised that more people don't vote for third party candidates.  I don't always agree with the views, but at least they are actually endorsing change that would matter in the system as it is today.  Personally, I don't endorse any candidate.  I think that's because I feel that none of them are worthy of the position.  There was a philosopher who dies within the past 20 years, I believe, who said something like, "Why are the people who hold public office always the least among us?"  I think that beautifully sums up what has happened to our country.

WE have the power to demand that our public servants actually do what they are supposed to do, and serve us...the people, not their re-election campaign and their power hungry ego's.  WE have the power to demand real change in the political system through voting, and by using our constitutional rights.  WE have the ability to make the country a better place, by demanding that the candidates we have to choose from when voting for public offices are intelligent, trustworthy, honest, and that, more importantly, there are several choices instead of the figure-heads that the 2-party system allows us to choose from.   WE can do all of this!

I suppose, more than anything, I'd like to see people, country-wide, band together in this time of political upheaval, to make the country a better place, instead of fighting over who's right and who's wrong for supporting whichever candidate they support.  I urge everyone out there to refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils, if that is what you think about the candidates, and vote for whomever it is out there you truly believe would do a good job in the position you are voting for.  If you think you'd be a better choice, write yourself in...if you think, a third party candidate would be best, write them in, or if you think Obama or McCain would be best for the country, vote for them, but PLEASE use your right to vote to vote your conscience.  Don't let the powers that be dictate to you that you have one of two choices...because in my mind, that's not a choice, it's an ultimatum!

WOW!  I guess I've had a lot of angst about this election...sorry...lol.  I guess this came from spending part of Saturday night listeneing to a friend tell a bunch of us that, essentially, if you didn't agree with her you were and A**hole!  Which was...you know...irritating.  And I've also been hearing it from a lot more people than that one person.  Anyway, I guess it was just time for me to get up on my soapbox and vent about the election. 

Anyway, I'm done...lol!

So, after having dinner with Dan's Dad and sister, his sister began to tell us about her new job.  She works in a juvenile detention center in Lancaster.  She was telling us about some of the kids in the facility that she works in, and some of them struck me.  As she told us about a kid who had been in the facility for about 10 years who could neither read nor write despite the mandatory schooling they had to attend, I was confused and saddened that we as a culture, and as a so called 'civilized' society, would allow this to occur.  Isn't the point of these places to help the kids get their lives back in order, as far as our society structure defines order, and to be able to live and succeed in the world?  If that's the case, why do we allow a kid who has been in the system for so long, not learn anything, and why don't we make it a point to teach him/her the skills necessary to, at the very least, be able to get a meager job?  She then began to tell us how he kept acting out and his time there kept getting extended each time.  I understand that to mean that he is intelligent enough to understand that he won't be equipt to do anything in our society, and is so scared of being put back into that culture, that he'd rather stay where he is.  I can't think of anything more upsetting than that.  We have failed this kid so entirely.  I wonder...why do we let this happen?  We all know it occurs, and we all ignore it...every day.  And then, we have the gall to be upset about the prison system being in shambles, and are appalled that the crime rate is on the rise.  As I wonder all this, though, I also know that I am a part of this problem too.  How could I not be?  What can we do as a society...a community, to help kids in this situation help themselves?  What can I do, as an individual to help, not only the kids, but our culture as a whole?  Who was it who said something like, 'a civilization is most accurately measured by how they treat their criminals'?  I think they hit the nail right on the head there.

I don't have any concrete answers, but I'm going to try to help in some way, if I can.  Just a little food for thought before I snuggle into my nice comfortable, deluded life. 

I'm sitting here, as usual, reading all of your posts with really nothing worthwhile to post myself.  I suppose I have that problem where there is usually so much, and such varied ideas in my head, that I can't seem to slow it down enough to write anything coherent.  So, this time I decided to write about how I can't seem to write anything coherent, and see if that actually ends up seeming cohesive...lol!  Perhaps it will add to an actual post of something that's going on in my head...ideas about politics, or society...thoughts on my current choices of reading material.............................................well (long pause), nothing yet.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!  I hope your 33rd year is better than all the rest!  Now off we go to get you some birthday sushi!

So...since so many people that I know are on LJ, and talk about it quite often while I am around them, I decided it was high time to join the gang and participate to try to keep in touch and get to know people better.  I am not very good about writing things down about my feelings and what's going on in my life, but I will try to get better at doing this, so everyone can get to know me a little better too.

Anyway, we are doing stuff around the house this morning and afternoon, so that we can try to have everything, mostly, in order by Mabon.  Then we are off to the bookstore, the arts and crafts store, and then to my parents for my Dad's 69th birthday dinner.  (I can't believe that my dad is almost 70!)  The garden is doing VERY well, and is keeping us very busy, as are the kittens.

Well...a short first entry for me, but more to follow.  I'll do my best to try to keep this LJ thing going strong...and you never know...I may find that I can't go for very long without writing something!  Time will tell.