Reinvesting Myself Here, Facebook is Dead to Me

In my love/hate relationship with social media, I find that for me it's time to cut out Facebook.  I found that line in the sand, which very simply relates to privacy.  I know that when I was in the Air Force I had no privacy and I expected no privacy.  Everything within my life would be reviewed and I understood why.  However, as a private citizen, FB unleashed a new feature with the phone application called, "listen".  I don't want anyone to listen unless I am talking to them and not everything you or I say needs to be heard by everyone.  I don't want to hear a story of why this is useful and I am simply not going to be 'sold' on it.    This is MY decision.  Everyone may have their own views about whether or not they want to stay on FB.  I think a lot about what freedom means.  It's a privilege.  People die protecting what we have.  People fight to not live in an oppressive regime and so many good changes have been made with regard to civil liberties, equal rights, gender and race equality.  Why on earth do we need to live in a cold war era type of mentality?  Those are the kinds of questions I asked myself.  Life is about living with risk, to have a free and open society is WORTH it.  

So, I guess, that means I am going to delete my FB account and actually start to use my blog again.   This page is NOT monetized and I post links to other non-profits that I found around the world that are doing some pretty amazing things.  So, this actually might be a good thing, since I have been thinking about wanting to create again.  

What will I be writing about?  

Life, food, appetites and whatever happens along the way.  

I have been enjoying the stress of being a student again.  I have been a great student of not knowing it all and I have been learning from a lot of very gifted people that have kind of given me that za zen notion of what it really takes to become a great chef.  A chef offends everyone and pleases no one at the same time.  Think about what that really means.  Everyone is so different when it comes to taste and what they are able to digest.  There are people who can eat absolutely everything and others that have to restrict their diets for a whole host of reasons.  

So view this blog as a menu, with a lot of options.  It's just a journey, a story, a perspective and at times it might be an ego-driven nightmare where there are a few crash and burns along the way. Maybe I vent.  Maybe I don't.  Maybe I just spontaneously explore an idea and beat it to death.  We're all friends here and for whatever reason, people still do read my blog, finding me through a random act of a key word search.  It's all good.  On this web plain, we are all citizens of the world.

Hello world!

Poetic License

Gaza Shield

While cleaning out my email, I received a request to enter a global poetry contest through the "World Poetry Movement".   Sometimes you just go with it and let the words flow and get out of the way.  That is movement.  Since this is a "World" emphasized "Contest", I placed special emphasis on the world.  The real movement comes from within your heart and getting honest about what we want to change.  These words do not apply to a specific nation and yet they apply to all of us when we do nothing when we can do something.  Empower your voice against the apathy of the world in whatever medium you choose to use.  I remembered the movie "Gaza Shield", a short movie about how a video game was used to send a response to an Israeli on-line video game that promoted the killing of Palestinians.  Well, in that same spirit, we have to know when to call out our leadership in whatever nation we may reside in...because we all know, it's not OK.

Oh, and a note about the "Contest".  The goal for me isn't about winning anything...it's about the message and I hope that you pass it on.

Picture: Güven Mendi

Wall of Words

Crushing bones of war kissed with words of peace
Sounds of bombs exploding in the air
as the aid packages turn the food into blood
River run dry as the oil flows
another swollen dark belly
with skeletal frames crawl in the dirt
Throwing money at problems
leaving ill fated leadership to cut up the pie
sinking another immunization into a frail arm
with tongues swollen for thirst
and eyes that have only been blackened
by a heartless earth, laying barren and dry
soaking up the lifeblood of a native soul
no concern for the words,
no concern for the wishes
only want something on the dishes
No threads to pull together
No crops to sow
Just another body to bury with their plastic smiles
as long as its not their child but mine
The shadows of aid in a wasteland
with flowers in one hand and bullets in another
Is my skin not the right color?
Are my words understandable?
Would you have me hate my mother for giving me life?
Would you have my kill my brother just for a slice?
For a tank of gas...I cannot breathe.
For a diamond bracelet...the blood flows.
For your life, you demand my life.
For your peace, you give me war.
Behind the smile is a wall of words.