Sometimes Look On The Bright Side of Life

Both places I've lived in within the past few years have had an empty field, a small cluster of trees and a water tower directly across from my bedroom window. I like empty fields, but I also like trees. But forests can be boring if left to their own devices. What seems ideal is a mix of raw Nature and Man's meddling chainsaws. Trees are more aesthetically pleasing when they are scattered about with empty space in between them. The lone tree on the farmer's field I like, as they often grow very large and gnarled. Still, many farmers have not observed Bob Ross' rule that everybody needs a friend. I say instead of one tree, a group of three would be better.

A water tower in itself is not terribly pleasing, but it is odd that they have "followed" me like they have. I would rather look at a distant water tower than into a neighbor's window. Neighbors are also something I could do without, but this post is supposed to be about the bright side so let's leave that to one side for now.

I'm grateful for the Time Warner corporation for allowing people to turn off their television service. To be able to choose what services you want and those you don't want is good. By doing so my monthly bill was cut in two. Choice rules.

I will now say something positive about a government worker. Rare, I know. Awhile back a nice lady at the water department was very kind to me when she could have very easily ignored it and left me with a huge bill. Well, I did get a huge bill but I was able to stop the damage. I had a super-duper-slowly leaking toilet in an unused 2nd bathroom and the sucker was slowly gobbling up water. The nice lady alerted me about the unusually high consumption even though it was in the water department's best interest to wish everyone had a leaking toilet. This shows that personal ethics can override bureaucracy at times.

I'm grateful for the internet. A decentralized, more or less anarchic system which totally works. How great to be free from the mind-numbing crap they feed you at the big media outlets. Now I can watch clips from those big media outlets at my leisure just to confirm the existence of the dark side of sound-byte ridden, emotionally-charged, shouting matches that pose as talk shows. The seemingly cruel view that the masses are stupid is painfully obvious if one assumes these shows are people's sole source of news. To watch CNN or Fox is like having your brain injected with a long needle filled with novacaine. What's that I was saying about the bright side? Crap! Well the bright side is that you don't have to rely on this garbage. It can also be pushed aside if you wish. That's bright.

If you're ever feeling bummed out with environmental hysteria and guilt over mankind's pollutive nature a good glance at Google Earth's satellite images are a wonderful elixir. Maybe I am a complete fool, maybe they are goosing the data to make it look better than it really is...I dunno. But what I see is an unfathomably BEAUTIFUL earth full of the most rich colors and textures. It also makes me glad to see large swaths of the planet seemingly not covered by humans and their little grid system. (We do love the grids) And how cool are the salt flats in Utah? Just look at that, a huge blob of white just sitting there amongst the browns and greens. I might not have a jet car, but I wonder if it is interesting to visit the salt flats or if the attraction wears off? Can you reach a point where there is nothing but white in all directions or are there always distant mountains visible? Hmmm.