I hadn’t grown up a hunting family. The world of hunters in general was a new thing for me, a new discovery. It sounds dramatic, but I felt a bit like Columbus sailing off on the ocean. I could feel nature around me, filling my senses. The leaves rustled as a fat squirrel scampered across our path. I had a brief mental flash of the squirrel rearing up on its hind legs and going ape shit. But then again, my imagination has been weaned on Monty Python.

Anyways, we waited an hour until the first deer was spotted. It was a young buck to our left, making its way along the fence line. My fiance could see it before I could. In the past, deer has been little more than a brown blur to more. I stood in fascination, watching its leisurely walk across the corn field. Inwardly, I was pushing for it to get closer.

I looked to our right and saw another deer less than twenty yards from us. It hadn’t made a sound. I stared at it’s eyes. The eyes were huge pools of black. Its nose twitched. I could feel my fiance and I both saying an inward pray, please don’t smell us. The wind gave a fierce moan. The buck went stock still, wiggled its nose and bounded off away from us. Its white tail an erect flag of warning. Alas, the kill was not to be.

The problem with capitalism is it doesn’t provide any safeguards for the average worker. Capitalism doesn’t protect our right to work reasonable hours, to be paid a living wage, or to have access to good healthcare. I greatly admire the Europeans for their ability to realize one must take care of a whole society, meaning everyone, not just the wealthy. The truth is capitalism has failed to protect basic human rights. Yes, man should be free to work for himself, to reap his rewards without apologizing to anyone. But we can’t stop caring for people because it doesn’t serve our interest or there’s no profit in it. There is great joy in giving of our time, talent, and energy to others. Ms. Rand points out that the Christian idea of caring for your neighbor as yourself is not logical. But we don’t give our time to the local nursing home because it’s logical. We don’t serve the homeless because it’s logical. We do these things because it completes us as humans. Because it’s simply the right thing to do.

So what’s the answer?  To be honest it boils down to a lot of self-control and hard work.  You have to reengineer your entire eating life.  Food has become a sort of idol worshipped as the giver of all needs; comfort, happiness, soical acceptance.  Our problem with food is as much psychological as physical.  Of course, before food can become only one of many sources of fulfilllment, our diet has to change.  Nobody can keep eating tons of sugar, fructose, and empty carbs and still have a realistic attitude towards food.

So, for more information on sugar and fructose, go here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness/2010/05/14/the-bitter-truth-about-sugar-and-fructose

Also check out the Underground Wellness videos on youtube.com.  Great, great information.

1) No human finger is even remotely capable of producing the speed of BOB

2) BOB is the perfect size for a suitcase

3) BOB has never burnt a meal in his life

4) BOB doesn’t care how many guy friends you have

5) BOB is on call 24 hours a day

6) BOB doesn’t care if you’re tone deaf

7) BOB never disagrees about what movie you should see

The thing is Mr. Stein is repeating something I’ve heard a million times. People who are unemployed must be inherently lazy. Or people who are using food stamps must be stupid drunks or crackhead. So millions of people are drunks, crackheads, stupid, and lazy? Wow, how are we not in complete anarchy?

The one important concept Mr. Stein is leaving out is wealth distribution. Our society has decided that a certain class (actors, politicians, CEOs, sports stars) deserve to make millions based on their job alone. But the person working at Walmart doesn’t deserve to have a real, living wage. Does anyone see a problem with this?

The thing with Mr. Stein is he loves to twist words. He’s already decided that all scientists are engaged in a huge conspiracy against creationists, simply because scientists don’t accept “it’s true because the bible says it is.”  Mr. Stein has also failed to really read Freidrich Neitzsche.  His recent “Expelled” movie cherry picked words from Neitzsche’s work.  Words that had already been mutilated by the infamous Mr. Adolf Hitler.  Someone like Mr. Ben Stein doesn’t LISTEN, they invent their own form of reality.

Which takes us back to the question of why the horrible “unemployed people must be lazy” stereotype exists.  The truth is many people in this country don’t want to help their fellow man out.  They don’t want to have an equal or fair society.  Humans are naturally selfish creatures.  And, by God, Mr. Ben Stein should have two mansions instead of buying food for the poor or clothes for inner city youth.  It’s called believing you don’t have to give anything back.  And it’s also called greed.  And that is why Mr. Ben Stein is an A Hole.

The truth is a lot of girls in high school don’t want to have intercourse, they are scared, and they aren’t ready.  But yet, dickheads like Rob’s character  think they aren’t worth dating unless they give it all up.  And, guess what, when a woman says “it wasn’t rape but it was pretty close,” that means it was a terrifying, painful experience.  Maybe the idiots who wrote Rob’s character are shallow, maybe they don’t really think too hard, I don’t know.  But thinking every high school girl should have sex right away is stupid, demeaning, and totally cave man like.  Grow up!

So Mley Cyrus is throwing a temper tantrum. She’s convinced that criticism of her recent behavior is unfair. Oh, and it’s hard for women to use sex as a way to sell their products.

Give me a fucking break! Has this girl seen the mainstream music videos? Is she this oblivious to reality? Yes, men are also paraded around as sex objects. Yes, men are used as teen sex idols. But female pop stars also use sex to sell their music. Just take a look at Shakira’s latest video “she wolf.” Shakira is an incredibly talented singer but still uses her sex image to sell music. At one point she is dancing semi naked in a cage. If this isn’t “getting away with a lot”, I don’t know what is.

You know what Miley, maybe you should just take responsibility for your actions. Maybe you should realize that when a woman uses her body to sell something, she will get criticized. And people will associate her with sex. And yes, people will assume she is replacing talent with raw sex appeal. The truth is there’s a whole movement of women who are sick of being used, sick of being objects, and sick of young starlets thinking slutty behavior is the way to go. And Miley, no one is going to take you seriously if you turn into a Britney clone.

And so, in the spirit of giveness, I’m going to share some of my techniques with you. A lot of us are hooked on our society’s belief that only grand, obscene wealth can make us happy. Or at the very least, being truly happy means having 20 cars, expensive art, and a huge wardrobe. But in believing this, the little pleasures end up passing us by. And suddenly we find all kinds of reasons to complain about why life sucks. But maybe life really is beautiful, wonderful, and inspiring, just like those quiet moments gazing over the canyon.

Open up your eyes and REALLY, TRULY pay attention to every day. Feel the warmth of a hot mug of coffee in your hand. Look at the sky and realize how incredibly blue it is. Rub your cat’s belly. Or cook a great meal.

And this – this is really important – let your inner dreamer come out. Spend at least fifteen minutes imagining a life full of loving relationships, great adventures, and fullfuilling work. And by “work” I don’t mean a glamorous job or high paying wall street job. I mean the passions motivating you. The volunteer work you find fullfilling. Those hours spent playing around with recipes.

Too many of us confuse having a stable, “practical” job with being a whole person. But in the end we’re just running around on the hamster wheel. It’s no wonder we end up feeling fustrated and used up. So maybe, just maybe, being happy has everything to do with really listening to ourselves.

I could hear the mud trying to suck my shoe under.  For a moment I thought my tennis shoes were history.  But luckily my shoes were saved.   I had signed up for a mule/horse ride through Bryce Canyon.  I was assigned a mule named Neda.  Once I got onto her back, the nervousness kicked in.  I saw visions of myself tumbling off the mule and making a large, splat sound.  I became aware of how high off the ground I was.  Too aware!

The wranglers helped us line up the mules and horses.  The first fifteen minutes of our ride turned out to be a steep series of twisting trails.  As we started downward, I could feel my mule going near the edge.  My natural instincts started screaming, Danger Will Robinson!  Danger!  But then the wrangler explained how mules and horses have to walk on the edge so they can see.  Once I relaxed and started trusting my mule the ride became a joy.

As we rode I thought of how our true selves often feel a urge to go down the path least traveled.  It may feel as though we’re careening towards a cliff, others may even tell us we’re doomed to crash.  But in reality our true selves are struggling to reach the summit, to see across a beautiful canyon towards a mountain.  

The ride was a great experience.  At one of the highest points, I could see all the way to Page, Arizona.  It was breathtaking.