David's Tangled Thoughts

Lately I have been feeling a bit alienated from a good number of my friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I think, "what the fuck is going on? Is everyone batshit crazy?" I have had to block a friend on Facebook because of his constant posting about the new Philippine president. He is a strong supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte. He and the vast majority of Filipinos (at least in the Philippines) are supporters. While I can overlook Duterte's colorful personality, it is the policies that he is pursuing that are worrying to me. His foreign policy is becoming misaligned with the United States' interests--particularly over the South China Sea. That isn't my problem with him though. It is his willingness to forgo liberal democratic principles for political expediency. In his fight against drugs, he is willing to abrogate Due Process and neglect his duty to protect citizens. Thousands have died in his goals of eliminating drugs. Not only does vigilante crime have h

When I was a kid, I would spend summers at my grandparents' farm in Benton Harbor, Michigan. When we would go in from the fields, the TV was the only source of entertainment. My grandma would watch her soaps. My uncle would watch the news. My grandpa--he would watch the Cubs. I never really understood why he was a fan of the Chicago Cubs. They were a mediocre team. Their wins and losses seemed to be bad for his heart. I found the game to be boring to watch--a real snooze fest. Last night, the Chicago Cubs won the National League Championship Series. From what I understand, it is a feat that has not happened since 1945. The move on now to face the American League Champions-the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. The Cubs have not won that since 1908. The buzz around here is a electric--at least on facebook. A lot of my friends that are into sports are talking about it. Even some that don't really care but live in or around Chicago are getting into the mood. I w

The final debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has wrapped up. That is, if you can call them debates. This is the first election cycle where I have watched every single Presidential Debate. In the past I had always made a decision on who I was going to vote for before the debates occurred. This time, however, I wanted to see the interaction between the two candidates. In particular, I wanted to see Donald Trump put under pressure to see how he would react. Based on his past behavior and how insulated he is on the campaign trail, I didn't think he would react well. I think it is safe to say that I was right. Hillary Clinton and her team have not only prepared well for the issues in these debates, she prepared for her opponent. What I mean by that is that she was able to figure out Donald Trump's weakness and exploit them. Everyone knew that she was the erudite candidate and that wasn't going to be enough to win a debate. Clinton knew that what worries people

I recently ended a “relationship” with a guy named Kurt. I put that in quotes because I don’t know exactly what we were. I started seeing him about a month and a half ago. Against my better judgement, I went to Las Vegas with him and I think that it said something to him that we were doing more than just causal dating.  Kurt is a good guy and on paper, he ticks off a lot of things that I want in a guy. The thing was that there was nothing clicking for me other than a physical attraction. I was more than willing to continue dating for a little while longer but in the end he brought us to impasse and I had to decide whether or not to commit to him or leave. He was asking for something that I wasn’t ready for. So the hunt goes on.

I have been seeing a guy for a few weeks and he offered to take me to Las Vegas. Hotel and food were covered as he had a comp package. All I had to do was pick up the flights, transports, and misc expenses.  Sure it was a crazy decision but things were going well and I couldn't pass up this kind of opportunity, right? We stayed at the Fremont Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Of course it's not as fancy as the mega hotels on the strip and at first I didn't like it. However, the more I stayed, the more I began to like the grittier Las Vegas over the polished one. The guy that I was with spent a lot of time gambling. I'm not a gambler. Watching a machine eat my money roils my blood so I spent a lot of my time walking around taking in the sights. East Freemont Sometimes I was a little disappointed. For example, this time I thought I was going to a park and it turned out to be a mall. Luxor I didn't get to spend as much time touring the strip as