The Machine

All the new Facebook changes have irritated a lot of people, including moi. There have been poems, odes, commentaries and even threats written about them. But do you think that bothers young Mr. Zuckerberg one bit? Pardon me while I wipe away the soda that I just spewed from my nose.
Really Facebook, Net Flix, Yahoo, Google and the myriad of other mega internet  giants that are thrusting change upon us, whether we like it or not, and with no options, are just monolithic barometers of the times we live in.
They seem to be modeling their ‘service’ premise on the government’s longtime policies. These policies are clear; we are peons who cannot possibly know what is best for us. We will have change, and we will like it!
My mind boggles at the complete ‘out-of-touch’ state that politicians, the entertainment industry, the rich and big business exist in. Actually I could have just condensed that statement down to one entity and saved space couldn’t I?
The millionaires are crying foul over the threat of having to pay their fair share, citing the premise that it takes away their ability to create more jobs. I see a LOT of yachts and mansions and fancy cars and ridiculous amounts of money spent on everything from shoes and watches to ‘pre-school graduation parties’ for their children (extra ponies please….and throw in Circque du Soleil), but I do not see a lot of new jobs. These people do not live down here with the rest of us. But, they control the press and the news and the toys and the programs and the fashion and the technology. Oh yes my little robots, we are manipulated at every turn.
Of late I have had many opportunities to go to and from the rescue mission and homeless shelter. I see pitifully poor people. I see the homeless and the disenfranchised lives. I see people who sleep on the floor and are grateful for whatever food is available that day in the soup line. BUT I also see several of them walking around with cell phones which I cannot afford!?!?!?! You cannot swing a dead cat without hitting someone with a cellphone and a gallery of tattoos….I am not judging here, merely stating facts.
Oh listen, I do Facebook, and have my Yahoo account. I deal with Google for this blog. And every once in a while I go mad and believe the hype over some new thing, causing myself to pay good money for something I absolutely do not need. But what I am feeling like, is that we live in the machine…we are all shaped and manipulated by the big money that we will never see.
I think that the only way we could completely avoid this would be to totally live off the grid. But, this is not going to happen for 99.9% of us because we are not survivalists nor are we Ted Kaczynski.  I have just been feeling very ‘pawn-like’ in the last couple of days. But, on the brighter side, I also realize I do not have to accept it. There are many ways to control my little corner and feel at peace. It’s just that I look at what the world is becoming, and though I know it is inevitable, in fact it is prophecy…it makes me sad for our children and theirs too.
I was in the store yesterday and saw a boy of about eight years old following his mother around while she shopped. He had his cell phone to his ear and was railing at someone about how they could not possibly advance to a certain level until they had earned enough points to buy some sort of mega death weaponry. The mother was just happy as a clam, there almost seemed to be a bit of smugness about her amused smile as he trailed after her ranting into his phone, which once again, I could not possibly afford….but I digress, and this is NOT about phone envy, this is about a haunting sadness at how the world seems to have lost what little bit of innocence it had left.
Somehow I want to blame; Snookie, Lady GaGa, Dancing with the Stars, US domestic policy and GoogleFlixSpaceNetYahooTubeBookYouTwitFace...Tonya Willman ©2011

Bits and Pieces

I love pearls of wisdom...kernels of truth are good too. Seeds of faith are lovely. I even love drops of Jupiter...I have collected a whole bottle!...but I try hard to avoid webs of lies and roots of bitterness. Also...unless they are the edible kind one would do well to avoid all nuts, fruits and flakes...*evol granola...~~Tonya © 2011

I Can Hear it...Can You?

    Grab your snorkel, swim fins and barbecue fork. Get in all of the outdoor time that you can. The school bells are a-clangin’ and August is winding down like a hot, tired old bag lady seeking a bench and some shade.      
     I am ever-so curious to learn how summer sped by so fast. It seems to me that there must be some mystical time warp that is causing the space-time continuum to mess with our heads.
     I cannot seem to convince my flower blooms that they are rushing through the process. “Take your time my little dears…” I whisper, but they do not listen, as the faded petals gently drift to the ground.
     And, how did I already wear through a pair of flip-flops?  The left one is cranky, and the top part will randomly wrench itself free from the bottom hole, causing me to stumble around like your uncle Fred who’s been lurking about the beverage table way too long during the family reunion, and all the while, an*evol, flappy chuckle echoes in the background.
   There also appears to be some depressed leaves bent on falling green and EARLY!  This happens every few years. They seem to decide it is just not worth the effort of waiting until autumn or turning a beautiful golden red. They let go before their time as though suicidal and out on the ledge. Surely there must be someone with the job title of ‘foliage negotiator’ out there somewhere.
     I am well aware that one cannot hold on to a season. The tighter you clutch it to yourself the faster it unravels. A fistful of sand would stay longer. And really it is not that I mind the coming fall. It is quite lovely, so do not feel that you have to convince me. It is only that I know that once fall commences, then winter is only just around the corner.
   Winter and I are not friends. I wish it were so, but I cannot help it. You see,    I absolutely know that there will be a snowy, dark and dreary day in the future that I will mourn my broken, flapping flip-flop and even the humiliation of staggering around in the hot sun, shod only with one shoe and a tangled mess writhing its way up my left ankle, for all the world to see.
    I think that is why I refuse to toss these shoes, and why I just keep shoving the round plug back through the worn and weary hole in the flip-flop bottom. It’s my flip-flop, and I reserve the right to lunge about, flailing my arms all I want to!!! Of course I am a sucker for a summer close-out sale and there is bound to be a new pair with my name on them out there somewhere. If I listen very close, I can already hear the chuckle…. Tonya Willman ©2011     
    

"And, isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy, oooh, hooo, hooo, the sky is the limit." ~~~The Tick
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My new motto....

Ginger Stein...Ready to Debut

My son, Dennis Willman, creates art that is an amazing combination of fine art and zombie-whacking, cutting edge Comic-Renaissance Art. How do you make a comic book series about a zombie hunter; cool, creepy, fun, beyond scary, Gorey and artistically gorgeous? How do you make a six foot tall living-dead protagonist incredibly captivating, sarcastic, beautiful and insane, fresh and completely believable?
How, as the reader, do you find yourself becoming extremely fond of a severed head side-kick?
How does it all work? I don't know, but it does....
 The mind and artistic skills of Dennis Willman somehow make zombie hunting new and weirdly fresh as well as completely hysterically horrifying...
Some gore a mother just should not see, of course!!! But the colors, form and trademark style of his incredible talent is all something you just cannot pull your eyes away from.
*Coming soon: The official Ginger Stein website is due out any day. ---more info as soon as I get it---
*Issue #1 will debut at the ~Rock and Shock~ Comic-Con in MA. this October.
Get ready, fall in love with Ginger, and if you are not a comic fan, the mugs and T-Shirts are coming...then you can have the gorgeousness without the gore.
Tonya Willman © 2011