Gutten Tag, A particularly interesting thought struck me recently. Or rather, it was introduced to me by an associate. What if we wrote in such a way that nothing strictly followed or preceded anything else- no cause, no effect, no apparent relationship between any of the items other than the fact that the writer put them there, and put them in that order to convey a message; in effect rendering each article as a mere puzzle piece with no more significance the numerous words we use to tell a tale or write a memo. Wouldn't reading and understanding be far more elusive and even intriguing? Our best critics would have to go from scrutinizing why a poet settled on this word and not another to why an author picked this event and how it contributes to the whole meaning. Weather wise, the past two days have been spectacular. It was the kind of day where as soon as you open the window the smell of spring just rushes into your home and so you constantly keep it open knowing that it won't too cold nor too hot. It's well past 23:00 and I've still got my window open. It's bloody well April, far too soon it would seem. But since when does anything have to make sense these days. Take for instance me writing right now. Not three hours ago I was revved and ready to go - I had a lot of things pent up and ready to put down on paper but as I look at the list I wonder if the energy, time and money is even worth me conveying whatever the weak message may be today. So easter just passed us by and I was around some of the family. Not a bad way to reintegrate them in preparation for the upcoming summer activities. It finally dawned upon me, and I can't for the life of me figure out why it took me so long, that my parish priest bears a strong resemblance to Sir Alec Guinness. In laymen terms, he looks like Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has the facial hair, the right colour of hair, the build, the attire. I swear to you I was in mass and I honestly expected him to pull out a lightsaber and challenge the less-than-honourable priest in the church at the time. He's also always meditating and as the tendency to stroke the same semi-beard Obi-Wan sports in episodes 4-6. He's the kind of guy you'd want to sit down and talk to about life, but I'm afraid to out of fear that he'll bring up religion and catch me off guard. I had a close encounter with him once and he seemed either impressed or pleased with me but this was fives years ago and we were both different men then. Still though, one day I will work up the courage to talk sit down and talk with him about life, sans Dieu. Maybe he'll even show me a few Jedi mind tricks (not a reference to the rapping duo out of Pennsylvania). Speaking of mysterious D words, I guess now is as good a time as any to bring it up. Death. It's always a touchy topic... or maybe it's touchy because deep down inside I'm the only person I know who seems to be at peace with and accepting of it; perhaps too accepting of it. Stopped by the local cemetery the other day - yesterday. A few weeks ago I went to where my grandfather is buried. I didn't know the man, he passed away before my memory capabilities were fully functional. Still though, he's the closest thing I have to a deceased relative... although it's really as though I was standing next to some strangers stone. The thing I like about cemeteries it's quiet and you never have to worry about anything because if people are there, chances are that they're there to be left alone anyway. I'm pretty sure that cemeteries are quieter than libraries and I'm convinced that they are perhaps the quietist places on earth... except in the night when brain-sucking zombies break free from their graves and terrorize the city!! Right, sorry about that. *fixes tie* Sometimes I feel like if I were stopped and talked to by someone who actually had someone who'd died they'd feel as though I was mocking them, or going through some kind of awkward phase, which it very well might be but since I've never been interested in science I can't exactly open a funeral home and I don't think that being a cemetery operator has any novelty outside of freaking out dinner guests and striking up short-term conversations at parties. Somehow being there talking to an impartial stranger allows me to look at it objectively because you know as well as I do it can be difficult once hormones and feelings get in the way. Sometimes it useful to hear just how ridiculous what you're saying sounds and other times it's useful to have a quiet atmosphere to run over your own ideas in your head. Like just the other day I was thinking about past girlfriends - all of them. Haven't done that in a long time and then I was trying to figure out why. A peaceful quiet would have been useful then. But no such opportunity unveiled itself, but I got the answers I needed. Realized that the past isn't where I should be always thinking and as always, two days later went straight back to the past. Had another revelation. That unlike everyone who's older, well-tempered and somewhat wise, I forewent the stage of recklessness and error. Does that make me superior? Inferior in fact. Here's what gets me. The old and wise, once young and foolish, urge the young to be more like them - to learn from others mistakes. In actuality, in denying themselves of any real experience, they will be older sooner and never wiser. They think that their advice is sound, but it will be denying the youth their chance to learn and thus gain wisdom. It's not that the current old and wise don't want the youth to become wiser - quite the opposite. They think that by encouraging people to make the right decisions that said people will become wiser sooner. What they fail to realize is that this is infact counter productive to the entire process. In a sense we call them old and wise because they are elderly and because we know that we should be doing what they're telling us but we won't - for whatever the reason may be. Hence we are young and foolish. It's a perpetual cycle that cannot be stopped and should not be altered but already has been. The old are to be wise, temperate, well- mannered and thorough whilst the young ought to be courageous, arrogant, stubborn and brash. Not only does the individual need it to be this way, the world needs it to be this way - the world needs courageous, arrogant and brazen men - not to make ourselves look better. No, not at all. But for various reasons the zeal of a youth is matched only by the balance of a man in transition. But in all honesty, it's a shame this new generation, it really is. You're not suppose to mess with the system - particularly when you're directly involved and not a mere spectator. But alas here we are: messed up and all. See what happens when you try to cheat the system? Don't worry about it though, it'll all erupt in our children's children's faces and they will have to be like our fathers and grandfathers all so that we could have a few premature grey hairs at the temples. "Ambition is a tricky thing; Ambition can backfire." A few days ago I was talking with the gentleman I work, he was born during the second world war. Not a worldly man, but a man who has seen a lot of things. Good man too. I've been working with him for a few months now and he started opening up to me about his kids, his marriages, old friends, life/childhood etc. Want to know his biggest regret is? Getting a girl pregnant while in his mid-teens. And not because he was stuck marrying her, but because it didn't work out between them. That was his biggest regret. Make everything else seem like small fries eh? And it should. A lot of people have gone through a lot worse. Of course it is by their own doing - I won't lie. But if we have to nit-pick for something regrettable in our life, doesn't that say something about how comfortable it has been? Just a thought is all. You know, when I was little they use to call me 'The Runaway Boy' because I was always running away - always wanted to be somewhere else. I was thinking about it and by the time I was done I figured I was either putting way too much thought into it; the way a tired, frustrated and over-worked father puts too much meaning behind joking words or I'm onto something here. If only the jedi order actually existed. It is a religion though. 0.67% of Canadians reported that their religion was Jedi, which works out to 20,000 Canadians. Rumor has it that it's the fastest growing religion in Canada, probably because the census before that only a handful of jokers said that they belonged to the jedi order. Could be fun. You know what else is fun? Star Wars Lego - the video game. Check that out. It's for the PS2 and Gamecube I believe. One of the best game I've played in awhile - might even buy it. Have I mentioned this before? I think I have. Maybe. All the same. Looking for a fun game that incorporates two things you absolutely adore? Check out Star Wars Lego. 4.3 Parrots out of five. And one last thing before I go, since I just brought up animals and pets and such. We had a tree frog come in from somewhere in South America the other day at work. I was going to take it home but was unsure how my mom would react so I gave it to this guy named tre (pronounced as tree). I've been thinking of getting a turtle or a frog as a pet. My sister's fiancee suggested I get four turtles and a rat, put a red, orange, blue or purple stripe across the shell of each turtle and name the rat Splinter. In case you're too young, too old or too dazed to get that one, he's suggesting I create my own ninja turtles complete with Master Splinter. I think that four might be too much though. As for a mouse - never; frogs can jump which means that they can escape easily and with my luck - will. I'll figure it out one day. But for now I'll stick to caring for my Irises. Greying at the temples, - Captain B. Running