Come on in, and grab a seat, the skins are thrown back so we can all enjoy the gorgeous weather. Yeah I know, unoriginal title, but when someone gets it that dead on, y'know?
So to quote the horse from Ren & Stimpy, "No sir, I don't like it." Not a big fan of war as a means to solve issues, because it is so devastating. And the fall out for a war continues well beyond the end of the conflict so it doesn't really solve anything, except maybe who has the best weapons.
I do recognize the need for war to resolve certain types of disputes. And I can't give you a definition of what those types of disputes are. Instead I would offer this as the means with which to judge if going to war is the proper thing: If you are willing to completely obliterate your opponent, and by that I mean wipe them from the face of the earth, every man, woman and child, and all they have done and are doing, to completely erase them from existence, then you are prepared for war and should go to it. If your commitment to it isn't to that extent, then you had better find another solution.
A lot of people will read that and go 'Holy shit Coyote, you're a complete psycho who advocates the destruction of an entire people!' I don't. I just know there isn't many wars I'd advocate if I had to use that as my measuring stick. I apply it to a personal level. Outside of participating in a sport that requires it, I will not get into a fight unless I am willing to kill that person. Because you can never EVER predict what will happen after the fighting starts. What might only annoy one person might kill another. I know my skull is somewhat proof against large blunt objects (many people have tested it) but other folks might get a crushed skull from a baseball bat to the back of the dome. Hell I might too if it is hit in the right manner. And if attacked I will defend myself to the same extreme if required because I have many people who depend on me for their existence. To harm me puts them at risk and I won't let that happen.
Ok so yeah, maybe I am a bit loopy. And I'm sure there might be better solutions. And I'm sure a lot of folks out there will read this and go 'Geez... maybe Coyote got too many smacks to the dome,' but it comes down to this: I value human life far too greatly, including those that would oppose me even by force, to want to take their life without being absolutely sure that it was required.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
When we care
Come on in out of the cold, and enjoy the fire. Typical Saskatchewan weather, give ya some warm, then slam you with some cold once you've put the parka away. Well we have some yummy soup and grilled cheese sammiches. Dig in.
So a good friend of mine is going to do something today she hasn't done yet. And she's very nervous. I understand nerves. When you're about to do something you really care about you tend to get nervous because you don't want to screw up. As well if it is something where you are representing more than just yourself you don't want to be a bad representative.
It made me think of my days playing football. ('Gee Coyote, what doesn't relate to your days playing football?' Nothing. I learned more in my days of football about what life was really like than just about anywhere else. 'Oh well. I was mainly just making fun of you.' I know. I learned about that in football too.) I remember how worked up I got before a game. I was jittery, shaking with anticipation and fear. It didn't matter that I'd dedicated hundreds of hours to making myself a better football player, it all comes down to game day. Until that first hit I was caught between pissing myself and puking. Dunno how I got through so many games without doing either, but I did.
Once that first hit came though, my body would take over. Sure my mind was there but you don't think once you're in the moment, you just do. If you have to think you're already beat. You practice and think then so you don't have to during the game. And I think that is what a lot of things are like. Practice, so when you get to the big moment you don't have to think, you just do.
I also believe the nerves are necessary. It is your body purging the mind of energy, because it knows what to do, it knows the moves, the footwork, the balance, and the rhythm. Almost like a defense mechanism to keep your mind busy so it can't fuck up what the body knows it can do.
So to you, my friend, good luck. Nerves are good. And as I told you before, I've watched you perform. You obviously love doing it and put a lot of yourself into it, and because of that, when the time comes, let your body do what it knows to do.
So a good friend of mine is going to do something today she hasn't done yet. And she's very nervous. I understand nerves. When you're about to do something you really care about you tend to get nervous because you don't want to screw up. As well if it is something where you are representing more than just yourself you don't want to be a bad representative.
It made me think of my days playing football. ('Gee Coyote, what doesn't relate to your days playing football?' Nothing. I learned more in my days of football about what life was really like than just about anywhere else. 'Oh well. I was mainly just making fun of you.' I know. I learned about that in football too.) I remember how worked up I got before a game. I was jittery, shaking with anticipation and fear. It didn't matter that I'd dedicated hundreds of hours to making myself a better football player, it all comes down to game day. Until that first hit I was caught between pissing myself and puking. Dunno how I got through so many games without doing either, but I did.
Once that first hit came though, my body would take over. Sure my mind was there but you don't think once you're in the moment, you just do. If you have to think you're already beat. You practice and think then so you don't have to during the game. And I think that is what a lot of things are like. Practice, so when you get to the big moment you don't have to think, you just do.
I also believe the nerves are necessary. It is your body purging the mind of energy, because it knows what to do, it knows the moves, the footwork, the balance, and the rhythm. Almost like a defense mechanism to keep your mind busy so it can't fuck up what the body knows it can do.
So to you, my friend, good luck. Nerves are good. And as I told you before, I've watched you perform. You obviously love doing it and put a lot of yourself into it, and because of that, when the time comes, let your body do what it knows to do.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Once upon a time
So come on in, got a bit of good news, looks like the Province, the U of R and FNUC have come to some kind of agreement, and Norris is going to start lobbying the feds. Neat. Oh and we got some salad left from supper last night. Enjoy!
So I was watching a Disney show about male twins, who would be about 12, dancing with two female twins of about the same age. And there they were dancing cheek to chest, and it reminded me of my first slow dance, the only slow dance I had with this girl, with my grade school crush.
She had curly strawberry blonde hair, gorgeous freckles, complained about how her mom used her arm hairs to test mascara. And she sat beside me through most of grade seven.
I had that one slow dance with her, and yeah, I was shorter, and she was a highly developed female. We were cheek to boobs. But I don't remember those. I remember looking into those fantastic green eyes, framed perfectly by those gorgeous freckles, and seeing her smile. Probably because I had a big stupid goofy grin on my face because, let's face it, I was 12 and my head was next to boobs. But that's not what I remember. I remember that smile.
Man she was gorgeous.
So I was watching a Disney show about male twins, who would be about 12, dancing with two female twins of about the same age. And there they were dancing cheek to chest, and it reminded me of my first slow dance, the only slow dance I had with this girl, with my grade school crush.
She had curly strawberry blonde hair, gorgeous freckles, complained about how her mom used her arm hairs to test mascara. And she sat beside me through most of grade seven.
I had that one slow dance with her, and yeah, I was shorter, and she was a highly developed female. We were cheek to boobs. But I don't remember those. I remember looking into those fantastic green eyes, framed perfectly by those gorgeous freckles, and seeing her smile. Probably because I had a big stupid goofy grin on my face because, let's face it, I was 12 and my head was next to boobs. But that's not what I remember. I remember that smile.
Man she was gorgeous.
Monday, March 22, 2010
My love
So we're still here, still enjoying the dark shadowy recesses of the den. If you just came, go here first. Trust me, it might make more sense.
One of the founding principles of the First Nations University of Canada is to teach from the cultural perspective of our Elders and to use the world view of various First Nations to create a unique and fulfilling educational atmosphere that will allow all cultures of Canada to benefit from those teachings. As such it is baffling that our leadership took so long to fix themselves, and in fact didn't choose to but were forced to by the actions of students and faculty.
So as such I want to teach you something. One of the things I learned at the First Nations University of Canada. Well, actually, I learned it a long time ago. Turns out I've always lived 'as an Indian.' Just didn't know how to articulate it.
One of the fundamental aspects of First Nations world view is the concept of the Sacred Circle. While it has been called many different things, and is symbolized by a lot of different ideas, words, and pictures. Yet despite the simplicity of this idea and symbol it is rarely incorporated correctly or interpreted correctly.
When it is stated that this symbol encompasses everything, it literally means that. EVERYTHING is in this circle. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Everything is inside this circle. Within it is a web of connections that touches everything else.
So why does this apparently simple concept get so misinterpreted. Because of human falicy. Because even those raised in this culture and who claim to live by these principles can sometimes forget this central point. It happens, it isn't wrong, or bad, it just happens. No one can forever walk their path without misstep.
So to expand this to a concrete example, let's look at my school again. The FNUC uses a principle of inclusion in its education principles. But our leaders forgot about that. They refused outside help, they ignored warnings and issues that others had pointed out and continued down a path of self-interest rather than inclusion. They excluded others who could help them so they failed. And now we're finding in the fixing of the problems that perhaps that is starting to happen again.
I say this because what baffles me, is while I know that the provincial and federal governments do have an obligation to fund the FNUC, what is being done to include outside sources of revenue? A friend once said your ability to get funding depends on your ability to get funding. This idea fits perfectly into the Circle. Your ability to include others, and to widen the overall impact of the school depends on your ability to include others and widen the overall impact of the school.
While that might seem like a redundant thought, I'd prefer if you took some time just to consider that idea. How do you understand the overall impact without testing the waters and trying to get as broad a range as possible?
So I'll take this down a step to just me and you, here in the den. Me and you, sitting here and enjoying some food. If you and I can sit here and discuss this, even if we don't agree on the same point, that doesn't mean either of us are wrong. In fact it is the disagreement, the difference and tension, that creates a space that is most useful. Because it allows both of us a place to understand more than we knew before.
So does that make any sense? No? Yes? Think it over. Find the difference and the space. Find the whole.
One of the founding principles of the First Nations University of Canada is to teach from the cultural perspective of our Elders and to use the world view of various First Nations to create a unique and fulfilling educational atmosphere that will allow all cultures of Canada to benefit from those teachings. As such it is baffling that our leadership took so long to fix themselves, and in fact didn't choose to but were forced to by the actions of students and faculty.
So as such I want to teach you something. One of the things I learned at the First Nations University of Canada. Well, actually, I learned it a long time ago. Turns out I've always lived 'as an Indian.' Just didn't know how to articulate it.
One of the fundamental aspects of First Nations world view is the concept of the Sacred Circle. While it has been called many different things, and is symbolized by a lot of different ideas, words, and pictures. Yet despite the simplicity of this idea and symbol it is rarely incorporated correctly or interpreted correctly.
When it is stated that this symbol encompasses everything, it literally means that. EVERYTHING is in this circle. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Everything is inside this circle. Within it is a web of connections that touches everything else.
So why does this apparently simple concept get so misinterpreted. Because of human falicy. Because even those raised in this culture and who claim to live by these principles can sometimes forget this central point. It happens, it isn't wrong, or bad, it just happens. No one can forever walk their path without misstep.
So to expand this to a concrete example, let's look at my school again. The FNUC uses a principle of inclusion in its education principles. But our leaders forgot about that. They refused outside help, they ignored warnings and issues that others had pointed out and continued down a path of self-interest rather than inclusion. They excluded others who could help them so they failed. And now we're finding in the fixing of the problems that perhaps that is starting to happen again.
I say this because what baffles me, is while I know that the provincial and federal governments do have an obligation to fund the FNUC, what is being done to include outside sources of revenue? A friend once said your ability to get funding depends on your ability to get funding. This idea fits perfectly into the Circle. Your ability to include others, and to widen the overall impact of the school depends on your ability to include others and widen the overall impact of the school.
While that might seem like a redundant thought, I'd prefer if you took some time just to consider that idea. How do you understand the overall impact without testing the waters and trying to get as broad a range as possible?
So I'll take this down a step to just me and you, here in the den. Me and you, sitting here and enjoying some food. If you and I can sit here and discuss this, even if we don't agree on the same point, that doesn't mean either of us are wrong. In fact it is the disagreement, the difference and tension, that creates a space that is most useful. Because it allows both of us a place to understand more than we knew before.
So does that make any sense? No? Yes? Think it over. Find the difference and the space. Find the whole.
My school
Come on in, spring is here. My kitty has decided she is needed to help me write this so she is perched on my lap staring at the keyboard as my fingers go clickityclack. Oh and trying to tempt same hands to pet her. Ooooh and there's nachos for snacking on today.
So you'd think I would have written a lot about the problems at my school. You'd think, I, as someone who might have a couple readers, would actively attempt to educate you all on various issues within this particular problem and spend great gobs of energy on ensuring that at least a few people out there were fully aware of all the issues involved. But I haven't.
Why? Asked with a note of concern and confusion. When has the Coyote ever shut up about issues that concern him? When he's angry. When he's very very angry. When it could best be described as a rage. When I know that my own base nature will cause me to snap out and bite you all despite our friendship and love. Because this situation has me in that rage.
It makes me want to say things that are fueled by bitter, vengeful feelings, to use words that will slash at you and make you bleed like I do when I think about these things. When I get like this, I want you all to feel the pain of the last 400 years of a people who invited in guests, to have those guests shit on the carpet, light the couch on fire, and then lock them in the coal room of the basement.
And some of you would say, 'But Coyote, this is not my fault, this was done hundred of years ago, how can this include me?' And again I would rage, and want you to feel my teeth and claws, because you don't get it. You forget that we all have benefited, have enjoyed the privilege of a society built on the backs of others and that makes us all responsible for those issues. Why does it matter now? Because now wouldn't exist without then.
I get so angry and I clench my teeth and fists, I feel my claws puncture my own skin and I howl and screech at the world around me and I say, I think, I ask, 'If they knew what would happen now, if those Anishinabe, my ancestors who helped Cartier stay, who led the whites further and further inland, even watching as these Europeans abused sacred practices like the pipe ceremony, would that do it again?' And this bitter, dark, poisoned part of me screams 'Of course not!! They'd kill those fucking interlopers and burn their bones to ash!' But that same voice laughs, and sits back down and shakes it's feathered, wide eyed head. It speaks and I don't just listen, I live it.
Owl speaks, 'You witness the darkness all around you and sometimes you're just too stupid to get it aren't you? You are lucky I watch and come to you when you start to do something wrong. Like now. Your people are beaten and weak, they bleed when they walk, when they breathe! When they die is the only time their pain stops and you sit there in your little place of privilege, able to act like the moniyas and think you get to rage? Stupid child, listen now. Open now. Your people are not bitter people. They would have done nothing different, for they foresaw that the welcoming of new people, no matter the pain, was always better than exclusion. They knew what the Europeans would do, they called them Wendigo. They knew. Stupid child, they would have welcomed them in just the same and given them the same hospitality and loved them, hoping that in time the love would pay off. Do you love stupid child? Do you? Then find those words. Don't use the angry ones. Love. In the dark, love is the only thing that makes you see your way out.'
With that I ask you, I beg you, forgive my anger. I mean harm but not hate, and as such I will leave this question in regards to the FNUC. In regards to this issue:
If you knew you could say something, something that was fueled by love, by your soul, rather than by the black ink of the issue, would you say it?
So you'd think I would have written a lot about the problems at my school. You'd think, I, as someone who might have a couple readers, would actively attempt to educate you all on various issues within this particular problem and spend great gobs of energy on ensuring that at least a few people out there were fully aware of all the issues involved. But I haven't.
Why? Asked with a note of concern and confusion. When has the Coyote ever shut up about issues that concern him? When he's angry. When he's very very angry. When it could best be described as a rage. When I know that my own base nature will cause me to snap out and bite you all despite our friendship and love. Because this situation has me in that rage.
It makes me want to say things that are fueled by bitter, vengeful feelings, to use words that will slash at you and make you bleed like I do when I think about these things. When I get like this, I want you all to feel the pain of the last 400 years of a people who invited in guests, to have those guests shit on the carpet, light the couch on fire, and then lock them in the coal room of the basement.
And some of you would say, 'But Coyote, this is not my fault, this was done hundred of years ago, how can this include me?' And again I would rage, and want you to feel my teeth and claws, because you don't get it. You forget that we all have benefited, have enjoyed the privilege of a society built on the backs of others and that makes us all responsible for those issues. Why does it matter now? Because now wouldn't exist without then.
I get so angry and I clench my teeth and fists, I feel my claws puncture my own skin and I howl and screech at the world around me and I say, I think, I ask, 'If they knew what would happen now, if those Anishinabe, my ancestors who helped Cartier stay, who led the whites further and further inland, even watching as these Europeans abused sacred practices like the pipe ceremony, would that do it again?' And this bitter, dark, poisoned part of me screams 'Of course not!! They'd kill those fucking interlopers and burn their bones to ash!' But that same voice laughs, and sits back down and shakes it's feathered, wide eyed head. It speaks and I don't just listen, I live it.
Owl speaks, 'You witness the darkness all around you and sometimes you're just too stupid to get it aren't you? You are lucky I watch and come to you when you start to do something wrong. Like now. Your people are beaten and weak, they bleed when they walk, when they breathe! When they die is the only time their pain stops and you sit there in your little place of privilege, able to act like the moniyas and think you get to rage? Stupid child, listen now. Open now. Your people are not bitter people. They would have done nothing different, for they foresaw that the welcoming of new people, no matter the pain, was always better than exclusion. They knew what the Europeans would do, they called them Wendigo. They knew. Stupid child, they would have welcomed them in just the same and given them the same hospitality and loved them, hoping that in time the love would pay off. Do you love stupid child? Do you? Then find those words. Don't use the angry ones. Love. In the dark, love is the only thing that makes you see your way out.'
With that I ask you, I beg you, forgive my anger. I mean harm but not hate, and as such I will leave this question in regards to the FNUC. In regards to this issue:
If you knew you could say something, something that was fueled by love, by your soul, rather than by the black ink of the issue, would you say it?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
AH HA!
Come on in, the fire is low because the weather is just gorgeous!! Even my cat, who is terrified of everything that is outside our door, wants to enjoy it.
So my friend Cenobyte, she's pretty awesome. Really really awesome actually. She's wonderfully kind, brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and a whole lot of other words that say she's awesome. But there were times when I thought to myself, 'No one is this awesome... when will we find the bodies?'
Well I found them. Here. She twitters. Oh Ceno. Oh my, that's just ... so ... so ... unawesome.
PS I can't remember Ceno's hand signs for posts to denote humour and sarcasm, but various parts of the post should have those signs. Can you find them?
So my friend Cenobyte, she's pretty awesome. Really really awesome actually. She's wonderfully kind, brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and a whole lot of other words that say she's awesome. But there were times when I thought to myself, 'No one is this awesome... when will we find the bodies?'
Well I found them. Here. She twitters. Oh Ceno. Oh my, that's just ... so ... so ... unawesome.
PS I can't remember Ceno's hand signs for posts to denote humour and sarcasm, but various parts of the post should have those signs. Can you find them?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What moves me
Come on in and enjoy the fire, watch the flames. Watch what moves me. It's beautiful.
I've always loved this band and they're so underappreciated. Great music.
I've always loved this band and they're so underappreciated. Great music.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
No we can't all get along.
Come on in and sit for a bit. I read something and so trying to sweat out how much it angers me to read bullshit like this. It continues to frustrate me that people still think like this. That they don't have the mental capacity to think beyond the here and now and figure out a far more intelligent response. Perhaps it is because of the crap they try to teach kids in grade school these last few decades.
Ok so the student paper at the U of R is not known for its great product. But still, I expect a bit more than a recent editorial. The main point had to do with the Olympics and the various cultural conflicts involved. Said op-ed editor wrote:
This just isn't fair. I had no say in the cultural conflict four hundred years ago. It's not right for anyone to feel marginalized or as though their culture is undervalued, especially that of the Francophone. Why do I have to pay for the mistakes of English ancestry just because I speak the Language? [...] Why can't we all just get along?
Statements like this make my blood boil because of the inherent laziness and lack of care the author spoke against.
She states it is not right that anyone should be marginalized yet that is EXACTLY what she is doing with the next statement. You have to pay for those mistakes because you have benefited from them. You as an Anglophone have grown up in a society designed for YOU, where YOU have benefited from four hundred years of history on the backs of others, from the First Nations, to the French who first laid the work for settlement here in Canada. If you are unable to see this then you are guilty of continuing the issue rather than attempting to correct it.
And the catch all 'Why can't we just get along?' For exactly that reason! You obviously don't understand the issues nor care enough to learn more about them and attempt to correct them. Instead you bemoan your own fate and how unfair it is and why can't we get along. To sum it up: fuck you.
Perhaps if you better understood the issues, such as two of the three founding cultures of Canada being virtually erased from the history of our nation, or perhaps the early restrictive rule of the English upon the French of what was to become Quebec might help you to better understand the current state of affairs. You can't just erase that history and expect the animosity to just disappear. It takes active dialogue and planning to start to repair those bridges so that future relationships can continue in a more positive light. But to sit there in your place of privilege and talk about how unfair it is to you? Again I say fuck you.
It comes down to the oft quoted statement: Those who don't learn from history are forced to repeat it. You want to stop feeling the weight of four hundred years of oppressive history? Stop being one of the oppressors and fix the damn problem, not throw stupid platitudes at it.
Ok so the student paper at the U of R is not known for its great product. But still, I expect a bit more than a recent editorial. The main point had to do with the Olympics and the various cultural conflicts involved. Said op-ed editor wrote:
This just isn't fair. I had no say in the cultural conflict four hundred years ago. It's not right for anyone to feel marginalized or as though their culture is undervalued, especially that of the Francophone. Why do I have to pay for the mistakes of English ancestry just because I speak the Language? [...] Why can't we all just get along?
Statements like this make my blood boil because of the inherent laziness and lack of care the author spoke against.
She states it is not right that anyone should be marginalized yet that is EXACTLY what she is doing with the next statement. You have to pay for those mistakes because you have benefited from them. You as an Anglophone have grown up in a society designed for YOU, where YOU have benefited from four hundred years of history on the backs of others, from the First Nations, to the French who first laid the work for settlement here in Canada. If you are unable to see this then you are guilty of continuing the issue rather than attempting to correct it.
And the catch all 'Why can't we just get along?' For exactly that reason! You obviously don't understand the issues nor care enough to learn more about them and attempt to correct them. Instead you bemoan your own fate and how unfair it is and why can't we get along. To sum it up: fuck you.
Perhaps if you better understood the issues, such as two of the three founding cultures of Canada being virtually erased from the history of our nation, or perhaps the early restrictive rule of the English upon the French of what was to become Quebec might help you to better understand the current state of affairs. You can't just erase that history and expect the animosity to just disappear. It takes active dialogue and planning to start to repair those bridges so that future relationships can continue in a more positive light. But to sit there in your place of privilege and talk about how unfair it is to you? Again I say fuck you.
It comes down to the oft quoted statement: Those who don't learn from history are forced to repeat it. You want to stop feeling the weight of four hundred years of oppressive history? Stop being one of the oppressors and fix the damn problem, not throw stupid platitudes at it.
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