Official Log
Ship ID#A13; Model: Siamese Stealth
Date: 00176551
Personnel ID#666; Position: Special Agent
Name: *****
Age: *****
Verification Code: 666mouser
Today I decided to double check the ship's rations. There are certain things I really like, and certain things I don't like at all...like peanut butter! Because of the protein and long shelf life, peanut butter is a common ingredient in ship's rations. I have been organizing the ship's food stocks in to 3 groups; "to Earth", "to Felisunito" and "lost".
I'm trying to put all the things I really like in the "to Felisunito" category to make my homecoming all the more pleasant. The things I just like in general, I'll have on this current trip. Anything I greatly dislike, I'm putting in the "lost" category because I don't anticipate getting lost and don't want to worry about the food I don't like. If worst comes to worst and I do become lost and begin to have a problem with rations, what I like or dislike really won't be a priority anymore! It'll just be about survival at that point, so if I have to eat peanut butter rations instead of turkey rations, so be it. Plus...if I'm lost for TOO long, I may begin to run low on rations all together. In that situation, it would be easier to reduce the rations if I don't like them very much. Something really tasty, would be hard to force myself not to eat all of it.
I have noticed something rather unsettling as I catalog the rations. There seems to be a deficit. It's a minor deficit, but noticeable. There is nearly 3 times as much food missing as there should be by this point in the mission. I have not eaten more than normal, so I must assume a case or two of rations were left on the loading dock by mistake. I will have to
[Clang! Agent666 stopped writing in the ship's log and looked around in surprise. The ship shouldn't be making any clanging sounds. Had they collided with something? No, that couldn't be it. The ship would've been jarred and she'd have felt it. Maybe something small had glanced off the hull. That might not have been felt...but would it have been heard?
"Computer! Status report!" She snapped impatiently.
"All systems functioning normally. Power status is normal. There are currently two life forms aboard."
"Oh, well that's good then...wait, WHAT? Two life forms? I didn't bring any pets or prey with me and this is a solo mission!"
"Indicators show two registered life forms." The computer didn't elaborate on that, but Agent666 hadn't really expected it to, frustrating though it was.
"Identity?"
"Unknown."
"Unknown? How can it be unknown? You said it's a registered life form, which means it has to be a member of the Agency because only Agents have clearance to board Stealth model ships!"
"Subject appears to have an encrypted registration number."
"Well decode it then!"
"Level 3 voice clearance required for encryption decode commands."
"Damnit, I don't have Level 3 clearance. Level 3 is for technitions! There is no technition assigned to this mission. Why is there anything on the ship with that clearance level required? There shouldn't be anything I'm unable to do on a solo mission! That's a safety requirement."
"A Level 3 command was logged in the system the day we took off from the Agency Command Central."
"Grrr, that means someone from the Agency with tech clearance snuck aboard the ship and placed the command to hide themselves. But why? I was granted this mission solo, so surely no one had clearance to board in secret."
"There is no record of any other personnel being assigned to this ship. You have sole clearance to board this ship after stocking."
"I see. So that means I have a stowaway...."]
double check every nook and cranny on the ship. Apparently I have a stowaway on board. A13's computer just informed me there is another Agent aboard. Their ID number is encrypted, which means whoever it is, has technician clearance. I do not have clearance high enough to override it.
I really must speak to the Secretary and the General about that. It seems to me that the captain of a ship should have total access to everything on said ship. Sealed records should be downloaded to the mainframe if they're worried about someone accessing records of past missions without permission...
I have a suspicion as to who my stowaway is. There's a certain fatso technician who tends to latch on to me whenever possible. If it is him, oh-ho-ho, I will enjoy expelling him from my ship! If not for the rules and regulations, I'd toss him out the airlock without a suit! But I'm required to send him off in a pod with a no-override autopilot set for home. Actually, all the pods are set with those. There isn't a reason someone would eject from a ship in a pod and not be heading for the home planet.
The pods all bear a single eye window that matches the eye windows of the ship it came from, so it can be returned later. The model of ship determines how many are available.
The A13 has 6 eyepods. Yes, that's right. Eyepods. They are pods....with eye windows...and so they are eyepods.
....
WHAT? Don't look at me like that....
--End Log Entry-
The Alien Cat: Ship's Log Entry #1
Official Log
Ship ID#A13; Model: Siamese Stealth
Date: 00176550
Personnel ID#666; Position: Special Agent
Name: *****
Age: *****
Verification Code: 666mouser
I have now been aboard my ship for 3 days. It's my first interstellar assignment, and I am pleased to have received this mission as a solo mission. I am en route to the Milky Way Galaxy to investigate the sole planet containing intelligent life there.
We have been observing their satellite transmissions for decades now. A scout ship exploring the Andromeda Galaxy picked up a beacon from the neighboring galaxy and reported it to the Secretary of Security. We immediately sent out scouts with high ranking sensor systems to observe the galaxy. The transmission was found to be coming from the 3rd planet from a star the galaxy's solar system.
After a year of analysis, we were able to determine there were over 6000 spoken languages on the planet. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know how the experts ended up translating, but I know it had to do with complex algorithms and cross referencing. It's a good thing they were able to figure them out though, as my mission would be impossible if we couldn't translate the languages. In fact, the language barrier is the primary reason it has taken us so long to actually land on the planet.
We were able to determine that the natives collectively called the planet "Earth", which our people widely considered odd. It seems derogatory to name one's planet after dirt. Our own planet, Felisunito, is much more appropriately named. We were also able to pin down the way the natives calculate time on their planet. From that were were able to calculate that the beacon that initially attracted our attention was sent in to space in the Earth year of 1957.
Aproximately 50 Earth years later, we are prepared to land on the planet. I am the agent they selected for the mission. It is a tremendous honor. My mission is to observe the native life forms, in particular the "humans" that dominate the planet, and report their habbits and activities. I am to keep a low profile and try to blend in. Luckily, there are feline life forms on the planet natively, so I should be able to blend in as one of them. It has been observed that most humans are not very knowledgeable of the animal life on the planet. My anatomical anomolies will probably be overlooked. I will just have to avoid those humans who DO know a lot about cats.
The ship's data logs indicate I will have enough supplies for 2 round trips between Felisunito and Earth. I have no intention of making 2 round trips, nor is it expected of me. The extra supplies are in case I should run in to difficulties and become lost or stranded in space. I have only minimal supplies for my duration on the planet. I have a month's field rations in case I land somewhere where food is unavailable. Our study of the planet has indicated that the small wildlife can be hunted for sustenance, and there are numerous edible plants. The food humans feed animals, and the food humans themselves eat, will also suffice when available. Should I land in a desert or ocean, I would need the rations to live on until I found more hospitable conditions.
I have trained my entire life for this mission. I suffered countless group assignments in order to prove myself capable of handeling a solo mission. I established myself as a veritable prodigy! The Secretary of Security, the General and the High Counciler were pleased with me and argued over what department I would join. The Secretary was very pleased when I requested to join the Agency. I have always felt I have a knack for espionage.
My life's training will be put to the test on the planet Earth. I can't wait!
--End Log Entry--
Ship ID#A13; Model: Siamese Stealth
Date: 00176550
Personnel ID#666; Position: Special Agent
Name: *****
Age: *****
Verification Code: 666mouser
I have now been aboard my ship for 3 days. It's my first interstellar assignment, and I am pleased to have received this mission as a solo mission. I am en route to the Milky Way Galaxy to investigate the sole planet containing intelligent life there.
We have been observing their satellite transmissions for decades now. A scout ship exploring the Andromeda Galaxy picked up a beacon from the neighboring galaxy and reported it to the Secretary of Security. We immediately sent out scouts with high ranking sensor systems to observe the galaxy. The transmission was found to be coming from the 3rd planet from a star the galaxy's solar system.
After a year of analysis, we were able to determine there were over 6000 spoken languages on the planet. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know how the experts ended up translating, but I know it had to do with complex algorithms and cross referencing. It's a good thing they were able to figure them out though, as my mission would be impossible if we couldn't translate the languages. In fact, the language barrier is the primary reason it has taken us so long to actually land on the planet.
We were able to determine that the natives collectively called the planet "Earth", which our people widely considered odd. It seems derogatory to name one's planet after dirt. Our own planet, Felisunito, is much more appropriately named. We were also able to pin down the way the natives calculate time on their planet. From that were were able to calculate that the beacon that initially attracted our attention was sent in to space in the Earth year of 1957.
Aproximately 50 Earth years later, we are prepared to land on the planet. I am the agent they selected for the mission. It is a tremendous honor. My mission is to observe the native life forms, in particular the "humans" that dominate the planet, and report their habbits and activities. I am to keep a low profile and try to blend in. Luckily, there are feline life forms on the planet natively, so I should be able to blend in as one of them. It has been observed that most humans are not very knowledgeable of the animal life on the planet. My anatomical anomolies will probably be overlooked. I will just have to avoid those humans who DO know a lot about cats.
The ship's data logs indicate I will have enough supplies for 2 round trips between Felisunito and Earth. I have no intention of making 2 round trips, nor is it expected of me. The extra supplies are in case I should run in to difficulties and become lost or stranded in space. I have only minimal supplies for my duration on the planet. I have a month's field rations in case I land somewhere where food is unavailable. Our study of the planet has indicated that the small wildlife can be hunted for sustenance, and there are numerous edible plants. The food humans feed animals, and the food humans themselves eat, will also suffice when available. Should I land in a desert or ocean, I would need the rations to live on until I found more hospitable conditions.
I have trained my entire life for this mission. I suffered countless group assignments in order to prove myself capable of handeling a solo mission. I established myself as a veritable prodigy! The Secretary of Security, the General and the High Counciler were pleased with me and argued over what department I would join. The Secretary was very pleased when I requested to join the Agency. I have always felt I have a knack for espionage.
My life's training will be put to the test on the planet Earth. I can't wait!
--End Log Entry--
Alien Cat content preview #1
I am currently laying the groundwork for the future website for the comic. Go-go-Adobe Dreamweaver!
I have a wallpaper made, as well as a Flash-animated alternate version of said wallpaper...and THAT I have provided right here!
I've searched domain names and found the one I wanted has already been bought...and it would cost like...$80 extra to get it from it's current owner...extra. It's around $10 a year to keep a domain name going. That's not counting website hosting costs, that's JUST the domain name. But it shouldn't cost anything extra to host the site, since I have permission to use theartisanscorner.com's Yahoo account to host it. It's nice that Yahoo allows multiple domain names under the plan we have. :)
I found an alternative domain name, and I would've purchased it, except the credit card on record on our Yahoo account is expired. Hafta fix that ASAP!
That's not as bad as it sounds, for the record. We just haven't made any new purchases through Yahoo, so we never updated the billing info. XD The site is already paid up for quite a while, so it wouldn't have been an issue until...a long time from now. XD
Ok, for those of you coming here from this update on the comic, I know you're looking for news.
As of now, I have nothing major to add. I'm working on a new site, planning to buy a domain name and host it on an existing account, and figuring out what to write.
Note: See previous blog post, please. I want reader input for stories.
TTFN~!
<3 Wolfy~
I have a wallpaper made, as well as a Flash-animated alternate version of said wallpaper...and THAT I have provided right here!
I've searched domain names and found the one I wanted has already been bought...and it would cost like...$80 extra to get it from it's current owner...extra. It's around $10 a year to keep a domain name going. That's not counting website hosting costs, that's JUST the domain name. But it shouldn't cost anything extra to host the site, since I have permission to use theartisanscorner.com's Yahoo account to host it. It's nice that Yahoo allows multiple domain names under the plan we have. :)
I found an alternative domain name, and I would've purchased it, except the credit card on record on our Yahoo account is expired. Hafta fix that ASAP!
That's not as bad as it sounds, for the record. We just haven't made any new purchases through Yahoo, so we never updated the billing info. XD The site is already paid up for quite a while, so it wouldn't have been an issue until...a long time from now. XD
Ok, for those of you coming here from this update on the comic, I know you're looking for news.
As of now, I have nothing major to add. I'm working on a new site, planning to buy a domain name and host it on an existing account, and figuring out what to write.
Note: See previous blog post, please. I want reader input for stories.
TTFN~!
<3 Wolfy~
The Alien Cat is being re-done...AGAIN.
I seem to have trouble keeping followers that aren't my friends. I've become less and less happy with SmackJeeves, so I'm not going to stay with them. I plan to buy a domain name and host it on the same account as theartisanscorner.com.
In the meantime, you should all know the main reason the comic stopped updating...my fiance had agreed to do the writing for the comic. However, he's been rather uncooperative the whole time, and finally just quit. So I'm going to have to take over writing for the comic again.
The problem is...I have a hard time coming up with funny scenarios for Agent666 to experience.
I have a general idea of how I want the overall story to progress.
I have an in-depth backstory for Agent666 and her home planet, and I want to reveal it in a series of flashbacks that occur 1 per chapter. Probably at the end of each chapter.
I have a list of people Agent666 will eat or maim in the comic, including but not limited to, the following:
George Bush
Al Gore
Martha Stuart
Tom Cruise
Sarah Palin
Joe Biden
Bill Gates
She will also eat or maim some friends of mine, at their request. She will also eat or maim some characters in other webcomics with the artist's permission.
There will also be references to various memes, internet phenomena and popular video games, anime/manga and movies.
I was also dissatisfied with my art work. I felt rushed to do most of the comic up to where it stopped, and I felt the quality suffered for that. Good art work is really important for gaining a following for a comic. If the story is good enough, the art can fall a little to the wayside without a loss. But I feel the comic's current story wasn't enough to make up for the under-par art. And for that I apologize.
I'm going to start writing short stories about The Alien Cat that will later become the revised comic. I'll be posting them here.
****Now the important part.****
I want the readers and fans to contribute to the story. I want ideas for mischief The Alien Cat could get in to. I want people (or characters) for her to eat. That's where you all come in. Email me (thealiencatcomic@yahoo.com) with your ideas, and they might appear!
Please do not ask me to make Agent666 eat webcomic characters that do not belong to you. If she's going to eat someone's character from a webcomic, I'll get permission from the artist. But don't ask me to do it, because you don't know if I've already contacted the artist and been denied. Thank you!
In the meantime, you should all know the main reason the comic stopped updating...my fiance had agreed to do the writing for the comic. However, he's been rather uncooperative the whole time, and finally just quit. So I'm going to have to take over writing for the comic again.
The problem is...I have a hard time coming up with funny scenarios for Agent666 to experience.
I have a general idea of how I want the overall story to progress.
I have an in-depth backstory for Agent666 and her home planet, and I want to reveal it in a series of flashbacks that occur 1 per chapter. Probably at the end of each chapter.
I have a list of people Agent666 will eat or maim in the comic, including but not limited to, the following:
George Bush
Al Gore
Martha Stuart
Tom Cruise
Sarah Palin
Joe Biden
Bill Gates
She will also eat or maim some friends of mine, at their request. She will also eat or maim some characters in other webcomics with the artist's permission.
There will also be references to various memes, internet phenomena and popular video games, anime/manga and movies.
I was also dissatisfied with my art work. I felt rushed to do most of the comic up to where it stopped, and I felt the quality suffered for that. Good art work is really important for gaining a following for a comic. If the story is good enough, the art can fall a little to the wayside without a loss. But I feel the comic's current story wasn't enough to make up for the under-par art. And for that I apologize.
I'm going to start writing short stories about The Alien Cat that will later become the revised comic. I'll be posting them here.
****Now the important part.****
I want the readers and fans to contribute to the story. I want ideas for mischief The Alien Cat could get in to. I want people (or characters) for her to eat. That's where you all come in. Email me (thealiencatcomic@yahoo.com) with your ideas, and they might appear!
Please do not ask me to make Agent666 eat webcomic characters that do not belong to you. If she's going to eat someone's character from a webcomic, I'll get permission from the artist. But don't ask me to do it, because you don't know if I've already contacted the artist and been denied. Thank you!
Catching up, and funny things
Sorry I never followed up on Animazement. Was too busy during, and too tired/unmotivated after. But moving on from that...
There's a lot of drama involving my family right now, so I've been depressed. Finding out someone you're related to (whether you like them or not) is a pedophile is no easy thing to deal with. Especially when that person is around small child relatives. To be honest, I wasn't too surprised when I heard about it, but it's still troublesome. It's really difficult for those closer to that family member to deal with, and I feel bad for them and worry about them. I just hope it all works out.
I'm unable to take more classes right now, and probably for a while. I'm hoping to get some freelance work...maybe restoring old photos. I'm very good at that and find it fun.
I've put my comics on indefinite hiatus as I try to sort things out in my life. I hated that I had to do that, but it happens sometimes. If I'd had more votes on TWC and more views and comments, maybe I'd have been more motivated to keep updates going despite the crap that's been going on. Unfortunately, interest in both comics was minimal at best. I averaged around 20 page views a day, and I think 25 votes was my record--and probably half those votes were from my fiance or me.
Ok, on to funny stuff! If you've never been to Engrish.com you're missing out! XD
I love that website. Not all of it makes sense, since it's sometimes error on products I've never heard of, and you'd have to know what it was supposed to be for it to make sense. But quite a lot of it just cracks me up and has me giggling for hours~!
Ok, and now we come to...my favorite game. Mabinogi. I play it a lot, and I adore it. But sometimes...the company that lisences them...doesn't think things through very well. Such as this banner for an event that just ended:
Take a look at the image in the last oval....
If you don't see the problem with it, well...I'm not going to destroy your innocence by explaining it! Let me just say...there's a lot of grinning futa fans in Mabinogi. And no, I'm not going to link to an explination of "futa" like I do most terms I think not everyone would be familiar with. Like I said, I'm not going to destroy your innocence! If you're brave and/or stupid and want to Google it, go ahead, but I ain't doin' it for ya! XD
And another funny Mabinogi tidbit...There's a quest you can do where you find lost elves in stone coffins in the desert and bring them back. Well, there are occasionally some elves...where it's pretty obvious why they ended up in a stone coffin out in the desert!
Let's just say it's the opposite reason the dwarves put Snow White in a glass coffin! You could probably find other funny Mabi screen shots like that on Photobucket, ImageShack or by using Google Image Search. XD
There's a lot of drama involving my family right now, so I've been depressed. Finding out someone you're related to (whether you like them or not) is a pedophile is no easy thing to deal with. Especially when that person is around small child relatives. To be honest, I wasn't too surprised when I heard about it, but it's still troublesome. It's really difficult for those closer to that family member to deal with, and I feel bad for them and worry about them. I just hope it all works out.
I'm unable to take more classes right now, and probably for a while. I'm hoping to get some freelance work...maybe restoring old photos. I'm very good at that and find it fun.
I've put my comics on indefinite hiatus as I try to sort things out in my life. I hated that I had to do that, but it happens sometimes. If I'd had more votes on TWC and more views and comments, maybe I'd have been more motivated to keep updates going despite the crap that's been going on. Unfortunately, interest in both comics was minimal at best. I averaged around 20 page views a day, and I think 25 votes was my record--and probably half those votes were from my fiance or me.
Ok, on to funny stuff! If you've never been to Engrish.com you're missing out! XD
I love that website. Not all of it makes sense, since it's sometimes error on products I've never heard of, and you'd have to know what it was supposed to be for it to make sense. But quite a lot of it just cracks me up and has me giggling for hours~!
Ok, and now we come to...my favorite game. Mabinogi. I play it a lot, and I adore it. But sometimes...the company that lisences them...doesn't think things through very well. Such as this banner for an event that just ended:
Take a look at the image in the last oval....If you don't see the problem with it, well...I'm not going to destroy your innocence by explaining it! Let me just say...there's a lot of grinning futa fans in Mabinogi. And no, I'm not going to link to an explination of "futa" like I do most terms I think not everyone would be familiar with. Like I said, I'm not going to destroy your innocence! If you're brave and/or stupid and want to Google it, go ahead, but I ain't doin' it for ya! XD
And another funny Mabinogi tidbit...There's a quest you can do where you find lost elves in stone coffins in the desert and bring them back. Well, there are occasionally some elves...where it's pretty obvious why they ended up in a stone coffin out in the desert!
Let's just say it's the opposite reason the dwarves put Snow White in a glass coffin! You could probably find other funny Mabi screen shots like that on Photobucket, ImageShack or by using Google Image Search. XD
Animazement: Before the Journey
This weekend is Animazement. My fiance and I will be attending, as we have every year of our relationship. It's pretty much our only vacation in a year. 3 whole days of otaku fun!
We will be cosplaying, of course!
I had intended to do a video blog for this trip, but that's not going to happen. I loaned my good camera to my grandma because she's taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon with a couple of her friends. She is making a video blog of her trip--at least, she's supposed to, as that was the condition of her borrowing it. Animazement is every year, the Grand Canyon is once in a lifetime, if you don't live nearby or have a lot of money for frequent traveling!
I probably won't have time to blog each day of the con, but I aim to try. The camera I'm taking in place of my good one doesn't hold many pictures, even with an SD card. It just can't handle very big cards. =/ It's a pretty old camera. The preview screen is only about 1"x1", and the image it shows is very dull and low contrast. Once it takes the picture, it's decent enough quality...not pro-quality or anything. It's about the digital equivalent of a disposable camera, in terms of quality. It works well enough though!
Ok, time to finish working on my costume!
We will be cosplaying, of course!
I had intended to do a video blog for this trip, but that's not going to happen. I loaned my good camera to my grandma because she's taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon with a couple of her friends. She is making a video blog of her trip--at least, she's supposed to, as that was the condition of her borrowing it. Animazement is every year, the Grand Canyon is once in a lifetime, if you don't live nearby or have a lot of money for frequent traveling!
I probably won't have time to blog each day of the con, but I aim to try. The camera I'm taking in place of my good one doesn't hold many pictures, even with an SD card. It just can't handle very big cards. =/ It's a pretty old camera. The preview screen is only about 1"x1", and the image it shows is very dull and low contrast. Once it takes the picture, it's decent enough quality...not pro-quality or anything. It's about the digital equivalent of a disposable camera, in terms of quality. It works well enough though!
Ok, time to finish working on my costume!
Oh, and don't forget to check out my new comic!
It really sticks in your mind when someone says something wildly unexpected.
Last week, I went with my grandma, mom, mom's boyfriend and his mother and sister, and his sister's significant other to see Star Trek. I thought it was pretty good. They did their best to make it something the "purists" couldn't complain about...(but of course they will anyway.)
There was nothing really glaringly wrong about their take on it. I've heard some say the alternate time line is a cop-out, but honestly....it's nothing Star Trek hasn't done before. They've done various time traveling story arcs. Star Trek in and of itself in its original form was full of flaws and plot holes anyway! It was a masterpiece for its time, but if you're honest with yourself as a Trekkie, you'll admit it's not a perfect show. You can only achieve so much realism with cardboard, paint and duct tape. Our current real-world rockets have more modern-looking consoles than the original Star Trek ships! My grandma, being the purist, had a few complaints...one being the ships in the movie looked too advanced and modern. Like I said, our current space vessels look more modern than the original Enterprise. Why would the makers of the movie, with the technology we have today, make future ships that look less advanced than what we have in reality? The other complaints she had stemmed from her missing a couple details because....because she's old and doesn't remember everything she's seen/heard in the last 15 minutes. So it's excusable.
That all being said, I'm not really here to blog about Star Trek. I just couldn't very well bring it up without giving my thoughts on it.
What I want to blog about is something that happened in the restaurant where we ate dinner after the movie.
As I mentioned in the beginning, I was out with my grandma, my mom and her boyfriend, and his mother and sister, and his sister's significant other. Hopefully you can keep up with that! Now, it's important to note: the sister and her significant other are a multiracial couple. Why is that important to note? I'll get to that in a minute.
The restaurant was some random little Italian place...I don't remember the name, and it's not really important. I was stuffed with popcorn and feeling a little sick because the particular theater we went to has strange butter that always makes me sick...and I always eat it....IT'S TASTY, SHADDUP! Anyway. I was just having some garlic bread and marinara sauce. I was focusing on my food and not paying too close attention to the conversation unless it was directed at me.
Near the end of the meal, we were talking about the economy, and then money. In the course of talking about money, my grandma was describing some of the problems she had as a divorced mom in the '70s. For example, shortly after her divorce, she went to the bank to cash a paycheck. The clerk wasn't going to let her cash it without a husband's signature. My grandma was surprised and said something along the lines of, "What? I can't cash my paycheck, that I earned myself, when my account at this bank is mine, and doesn't have his name on it at all, without my husband's signature?!" Nope! So she told the clerk she was divorced. The clerk wouldn't believe her until she brought in her divorce papers! Pretty ridonkulous, no? (I love that word....ridonkulous!) My mom's boyfriend's sister (I'll just call her "the sister" from here) expressed surprise that women's civil rights were still so limited as late as the '70s. So we talked a little bit about civil rights, and how long it took, and is still taking, for some groups!
I brought up that the gay community still doesn't have all the civil rights yet. And then...then I said, "And the Pagan community has only gotten civil rights in the last 10 years or so!"
To which the sister replied, with much eye rolling, "Tch! Big whup!"
I was surprised, shocked, speechless, stunned and at a loss for words. I had planned on saying something else, but it just fell out of my brain and I couldn't remember it. I was just so completely caught off guard that she didn't care that someone in America was lacking civil rights. (See why it was important to point out she's in a multiracial relationship, now?)
America's very existence is completely, entirely, 100% because the Pilgrims were seeking religious freedom. The right to worship who, what, when, where, how and why you want is the most basic, central, core concept of America! As Americans, we have a duty, nay, a requirement to acknowledge that EVERYONE has the legal, civil right to freedom of religion. IT'S IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, PEOPLE!! "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
And though I don't know exactly where it comes from, I believe we've all heard at least part of the quote that includes "regardless of race, religion or creed."
There was nothing really glaringly wrong about their take on it. I've heard some say the alternate time line is a cop-out, but honestly....it's nothing Star Trek hasn't done before. They've done various time traveling story arcs. Star Trek in and of itself in its original form was full of flaws and plot holes anyway! It was a masterpiece for its time, but if you're honest with yourself as a Trekkie, you'll admit it's not a perfect show. You can only achieve so much realism with cardboard, paint and duct tape. Our current real-world rockets have more modern-looking consoles than the original Star Trek ships! My grandma, being the purist, had a few complaints...one being the ships in the movie looked too advanced and modern. Like I said, our current space vessels look more modern than the original Enterprise. Why would the makers of the movie, with the technology we have today, make future ships that look less advanced than what we have in reality? The other complaints she had stemmed from her missing a couple details because....because she's old and doesn't remember everything she's seen/heard in the last 15 minutes. So it's excusable.
That all being said, I'm not really here to blog about Star Trek. I just couldn't very well bring it up without giving my thoughts on it.
What I want to blog about is something that happened in the restaurant where we ate dinner after the movie.
As I mentioned in the beginning, I was out with my grandma, my mom and her boyfriend, and his mother and sister, and his sister's significant other. Hopefully you can keep up with that! Now, it's important to note: the sister and her significant other are a multiracial couple. Why is that important to note? I'll get to that in a minute.
The restaurant was some random little Italian place...I don't remember the name, and it's not really important. I was stuffed with popcorn and feeling a little sick because the particular theater we went to has strange butter that always makes me sick...and I always eat it....IT'S TASTY, SHADDUP! Anyway. I was just having some garlic bread and marinara sauce. I was focusing on my food and not paying too close attention to the conversation unless it was directed at me.
Near the end of the meal, we were talking about the economy, and then money. In the course of talking about money, my grandma was describing some of the problems she had as a divorced mom in the '70s. For example, shortly after her divorce, she went to the bank to cash a paycheck. The clerk wasn't going to let her cash it without a husband's signature. My grandma was surprised and said something along the lines of, "What? I can't cash my paycheck, that I earned myself, when my account at this bank is mine, and doesn't have his name on it at all, without my husband's signature?!" Nope! So she told the clerk she was divorced. The clerk wouldn't believe her until she brought in her divorce papers! Pretty ridonkulous, no? (I love that word....ridonkulous!) My mom's boyfriend's sister (I'll just call her "the sister" from here) expressed surprise that women's civil rights were still so limited as late as the '70s. So we talked a little bit about civil rights, and how long it took, and is still taking, for some groups!
I brought up that the gay community still doesn't have all the civil rights yet. And then...then I said, "And the Pagan community has only gotten civil rights in the last 10 years or so!"
To which the sister replied, with much eye rolling, "Tch! Big whup!"
I was surprised, shocked, speechless, stunned and at a loss for words. I had planned on saying something else, but it just fell out of my brain and I couldn't remember it. I was just so completely caught off guard that she didn't care that someone in America was lacking civil rights. (See why it was important to point out she's in a multiracial relationship, now?)
America's very existence is completely, entirely, 100% because the Pilgrims were seeking religious freedom. The right to worship who, what, when, where, how and why you want is the most basic, central, core concept of America! As Americans, we have a duty, nay, a requirement to acknowledge that EVERYONE has the legal, civil right to freedom of religion. IT'S IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, PEOPLE!! "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
And though I don't know exactly where it comes from, I believe we've all heard at least part of the quote that includes "regardless of race, religion or creed."
For anyone to disagree that everyone has that right, is to not only deny the most basic principle of America, but to support the oppression of religion as a whole. If you are a Christian saying Pagans don't deserve religious freedom, then you are condoning what the Romans did to the early Christians! You are saying the Romans were right and just in throwing people to the lions, locking them in furnaces, and otherwise executing them for being Christian. How can any Christian justify the mistreatment of anyone over religion (or anything else for that matter) after what the Christians themselves have gone through? By what twisted sense of arrogant self involvement gives Christians the right to be the ones yielding the whips now, when they still bear the historic welts from the whip-bearers of the past?
To me, that kind of attitude is the same as if some black person said white people should be enslaved and dehumanized! I could be wrong (because I don't know everyone in the world), but based on the black people I know and have talked to, they don't support slavery in any way, shape or form, because they went through it, and the persecution that followed. It would be a grave, grave hypocrisy to support the mistreatment of others after speaking out against the exact same mistreatment when it was previously against you. And yet....that's what many, many Christians do on a daily basis.
Ok, I got a little off-track there, sorry. I just found it very shocking to hear the sister be so cavalier about Pagans being denied civil rights. As a woman who is (I think) in her 50's, involved in a multiracial relationship, you would think she would be more conscientious of everyone's right to civil liberties! I suppose it might come from ignorance (which is the most common cause of hatred and bigotry anyway) of what "Pagan" encompasses. Basically, Paganism covers anything and everything that isn't Christian, Jewish or Islamic. So when "Pagans" are denied civil rights, that means Shinto, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, Norse, Celtic, Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian, Aboriginal, Native American and Inuit followers were all denied certain basic civil rights. It was OK to deny them employment because of their religion. It was OK to deny them housing. It was OK to pay them a lower salary. It was OK to have them evicted. It was OK to ban them from commercial venues. It was not a "hate crime" to vandalize their property or attack them because of their beliefs. (Still vandalism, destriction of property, assault, etc...but those are not as "severe" crimes as those that fall under the "hate crime" category.)
Note: I did not include Satanism in "Paganism". That's because it's technically not. It's still part of the Judeo-Christian system. Satanists believe in God, just like Jews and Christians believe in Satan. "Believing in" is not the same thing as "worship". They believe in the same things as Jews and Christians, it's just that they're on the opposing side of the field, and have a different set of religious morals they follow.
Pagan does not mean "not Christian", and it does not mean "anyone the Christians think will go to Hell for their beliefs."
Everyone in America deserves all the civil rights, no matter the color of their skin, the language they speak, the size of their bodies, their sexual preference or their religious beliefs.
To disagree with that is to disagree with the very existance of America.
And I'm sure there are people out there who do disagree with the existance of America...and if you do, you can support/deny the civil liberties of others to your heart's content. I don't have to agree with you!
Ok, I got a little off-track there, sorry. I just found it very shocking to hear the sister be so cavalier about Pagans being denied civil rights. As a woman who is (I think) in her 50's, involved in a multiracial relationship, you would think she would be more conscientious of everyone's right to civil liberties! I suppose it might come from ignorance (which is the most common cause of hatred and bigotry anyway) of what "Pagan" encompasses. Basically, Paganism covers anything and everything that isn't Christian, Jewish or Islamic. So when "Pagans" are denied civil rights, that means Shinto, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, Norse, Celtic, Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian, Aboriginal, Native American and Inuit followers were all denied certain basic civil rights. It was OK to deny them employment because of their religion. It was OK to deny them housing. It was OK to pay them a lower salary. It was OK to have them evicted. It was OK to ban them from commercial venues. It was not a "hate crime" to vandalize their property or attack them because of their beliefs. (Still vandalism, destriction of property, assault, etc...but those are not as "severe" crimes as those that fall under the "hate crime" category.)
Note: I did not include Satanism in "Paganism". That's because it's technically not. It's still part of the Judeo-Christian system. Satanists believe in God, just like Jews and Christians believe in Satan. "Believing in" is not the same thing as "worship". They believe in the same things as Jews and Christians, it's just that they're on the opposing side of the field, and have a different set of religious morals they follow.
Pagan does not mean "not Christian", and it does not mean "anyone the Christians think will go to Hell for their beliefs."
Everyone in America deserves all the civil rights, no matter the color of their skin, the language they speak, the size of their bodies, their sexual preference or their religious beliefs.
To disagree with that is to disagree with the very existance of America.
And I'm sure there are people out there who do disagree with the existance of America...and if you do, you can support/deny the civil liberties of others to your heart's content. I don't have to agree with you!
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