Who do I still think I am??

This one's about the Mob and its quest for freedom.

MOB-RELATED ACTIVITY:

Good morning, and happy February to you all! That means only one thing: it's an unofficial month in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  the Blog Mob is here for 28 straight days of behavior associated with large crowds and somewhat unruly behavior, or as I like to call it, "grocery shopping when the sale ad comes out". Looks like we've got a solid cast of characters this month, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Our first order of business? To stimulate mob growth by attracting more participants. A bigger mob is a better mob, a wise man (so I've heard) once said, and I've done my part so far by inviting the people who've read my entries the last few days to join us. But that's not enough, so I offer these researched-based examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiTXuZds99k. Someone has to step forth and lead, and that's what Brother Nature has been called upon to do. As one of his charges, part of my duty is to offer up a slogan for the cause.

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"It's fun to stay at the Y...no Don, Y. It's a Y, not an I. Y. Like this."

I'm not good at creating catchy slogans, mainly 'cuz they come off as being corny. When it comes to propaganda, I tend to be more of a feeder than an initiator. I'm better at wearing t-shirts than designing them. But because Joel's a great guy, I'll give this a shot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are free! Free from the daily prompts associated with official blogging groups. Free to think on your own! Free to be who and what you want. Join us, and be free!"

Like I said, I'm not real good at that kinda stuff. I'm more content ridin' shotgun (no gangsta rap pun intended), so if our Mob comes up with something better, I'll stand behind it. As far as any issues I'd like to see us take a stand on or tackle, well, again, I'm not good at figuring that stuff out. Be nice to each other. Support us and whatever we decide as our purpose. I may not agree, but I'll fight to the death for your right to be free...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMF5MjzgJrM.

BCF PROMPT: "National Freedom Day celebrates freedom from slavery, and recognizes that America is a symbol of freedom. National Freedom Day was established in 1948 to remind us that America stands for, and is a symbol of, freedom for all people. The roots of this special day come directly from the end of slavery and the signing of the 13th amendment outlawing slavery. Celebrate this day by reflecting upon your own freedoms that you enjoy by being fortunate enough to be in America. Millions of people in the world are not free. Tell us how you feel about the freedoms we have. Do you believe we are really a symbol of freedom? There are many people believe that America has lost its ideals, what do you think?"

I generally try not to wade too deep into these waters; some people believe very strongly one way or the other regarding freedom and what it means to America in 2014, for a multitude of reasons. Personally, I can do a pretty fantastic job of alienating people with my sense of humor alone, without a prompt to guide me. I also recognize that while I live in America, there are plenty of people outside of my country and continent that will read this but aren't enjoying the same type of liberty I know and can speak easily of. That doesn't mean they're not free people; we just speak it in different ways.

Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly: two points our Blog Mob could easily adhere to, no matter where you're from or what you believe. As far as I'm concerned, this blog has no borders and welcomes everyone regardless of beliefs...don't push yours, I won't push mine, we accept each other, and we'll all get along. It's that simple. Don't like it? Somewhere on your screen is an X...click on that and this goes away while you preserve your rights and I retain my words.

Now, having all sorts of liberties doesn't always mean how you exercise them is correct or proper. I know we're not always gonna agree on things, and that's ok as long as no one acts all butt-hurt because I wore a Vanilla Ice t-shirt in high school or your grandma burned her bra because "Women's Lib!!" or what have you. The point is, we've got just as much a right here to do what we want as the next person, and so what if what they do isn't like what you do? In the grand scheme of things, as long as no one's getting hurt or killed, what difference (other than a differing of opinions) does it make? The fact that people can stand up for whatever they want shouldn't make them less of a person; in fact, I respect people more for having something to believe in than just not caring about anything at all...just because Lyn's a sly fox is a Flyers fan and I'm a Sabres fan doesn't affect my opinion of her, or because pinkbarbie and LostGhost: Seeking & Learning live on the other side of the planet doesn't change the fact that they're strong people with great ideas, intentions and opinions.

Americans can be very self-absorbed at times. Our two-party political system, despite either sides' (and their supporters') best efforts to point out how right they are and how wrong the opposition is, must look like a train wreck sometimes to other parts of the world...especially to the people who think Americans on a whole are too liberal regardless of political affiliation. To us, all we seem to care about sometimes is us and how wrong everyone else is for not being like us. And that's just how we think of people in our own neighborhood! That doesn't even consider a global scale of reasoning (or lack thereof). We're too concerned with being the authority on everything to care about what other people think. Sure, if you're American maybe that's not what you believe, but I think that's how we're perceived as a country and that always tends to trump personal beliefs until you really get to know someone and have the ability to change their mind about you and a people.

I think I wandered a little off track here. Time to circle back to the prompt a little.

I'm grateful for what we have, and I'm thankful for being American. This country isn't the same as it was (obviously) 200+ years ago. Evolution as a society is what happens when one of the key principles of discovering new territories is religious freedom. I think people nowadays take stuff too literally and hide behind their beliefs rather than face reasonable facts (and yes, I'm well aware that everyone seems to have a different definition of "reasonable"). The world changes at a pace that's nearly undetectable by the naked eye, and most of us somehow manage to keep pace without even knowing it. We have to trust that those who're ahead of the game know what they're doing so that we don't wind up like the small percentage of those who have failed to embrace times as they evolve.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

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Here's today's song, as part of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" : Beastie Boys, "Pass The Mic" (album: Check Your Head {link:http://www.amazon.com/Check-Your-Head-Beastie-Boys/dp/B000002V1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391275564&sr=8-1&keywords=beastie+boys+check+your+head}; lyrics: http://rapgenius.com/Beastie-boys-pass-the-mic-lyrics)

Why I chose this song: The first four lines, "If you can feel what I’m feeling then it's a musical masterpiece/ If you can hear what I’m dealing with then that's cool at least/ What's running through my mind comes through in my walk/ True feelings are shown from the way that I talk", are the epitome of me and what I do both when I'm writing and how I live. There are so many little touchstones and references that make this song a perfect fit for me...it always puts me in a good mood. The bravado is light but on point, the live instrumentation adds realism to the words, and its serious tones but playful nature all but nail who I am.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

Once, I was the catcher for a slow-pitch softball team known as "Lynch Mob". Our hats said MOB on the front, and on the back were our nicknames and jersey numbers. Mine read JESUS 41 because I showed up at the first practice with a beard, long hair, and sandals (can't drive wearing cleats), and someone said, "Who brought Jesus?". That was the last year I played an organized sport; I was a decent second baseman in my late teens and could put the ball on the ground, legging out infield singles with my speed. Age caught up to me though, and because I'm not very strong I couldn't muscle the ball out of the infield in my 30's. I did have an amazing play behind the plate though to secure a victory one game...the relay throw came in high from the infield; I had to jump to catch it. The ball snow-coned in my glove and I spun in mid-air to tag the runner out at the plate. It had to be the best play I made all year. The rest of the season, you could catch me at the beer cooler yukkin' it up with the rest of the J-Bag$. One of our many Mob mottos was "I'm not drunk, I'm just drinkin'!!". My bat was an Easton model, with "Black Max" in bold written on the barrel. That bat lives on in infamy via this picture taken at 542 by my boy Winkz, and enhanced by the bro G-Stamm...

Anyone that knows me and my sense of humor will understand how I feel about life and viewpoints on a wide variety of topics under a large scope. I don't judge, and neither should you.

Coming up on Monday, I will have my recap of Super Bowl Sunday, including how I fared on my predictions for the 2013 season (noted here: "This one's about your 2013 football preview." . It's not too late to follow @fivesixer on Twitter for in-game analysis during critical points during the game (and the commercials). I'll be watching online via one of the http://www.wiziwig.tv/ links, so I hope there's some better commercials than the regular season ones (and hopefully they're all in English, as opposed to some of the European feeds I've seen). So yeah, stay tuned for Monday's "Who do I still think I am??"  entry, because it should be epic and humbling and baller and intense, even if you don't like football or my stupid humor.

I think that concludes today's attempts at blogging and satisfying both the need to get things out in the open and the prompts/activities at hand. Now I can spend the rest of the day bashing out responses to emails, napping, and fading into the relative obscurity that Saturday blogging can be at times (and a place that's befitting of me, not having much to do in a town that offers even less). Peace, #steadymobbin, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!