Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about balance.

THE PROMPT: "Good versus evil. Does it truly exist? What are the gray areas? Do good people do bad things? Do evil people do nice things?"

Good evening everyone! I think this is a good (and easy) topic to dicuss, so I'll jump right in. Good vs. Evil (which will be referred to from now on as "GvE") certainly exists...it has to. I know it sounds cliche, but it's in order to provide balance in the world. Ya know, the whole "peace can't exist without war" argument; I think it fits in right along those lines. It provides at best a black-and-white comparison between two factions. It's either good (likeable, useful, relevant) or evil (distasteful, improper, unnecessary).

I assume most, if not all of you, were scholarly enough at one point to have read William Golding's novel, Lord Of The Flies. Basically, a bunch of kids are left on a deserted island after a plane crashes and kills all of the adults. It's the classic tale of GvE. More about that later though...

Of course, there are many, many exceptions (or "gray areas"), and far too many examples to name. Just because something isn't good, that doesn't always make it evil. Like vegetables, for example. I don't like squash, but it's a food that happens to be of nutritional value, so it can't totally be evil. Or actors who play bad guys in movies...you may hate their character, and that character may be evil-intentioned, but that actor may be a very good actor. There's too many variables in play to just ride the "good" or "evil" sides, and generally, there's three sides to every situation when trying to determine what is what.

People, however, are typically a pretty easy read once you get to know them. You know who to trust and who to watch out for. While those characteristics certainly aren't cut-and-dry definitions by any means, they provide a good reference point about people. And I firmly believe that even good people can do bad things, intentionally or not. The other day we discussed things we'd like a do-over for, and I don't believe there's a single good person out there who at least once hasn't done something completely out of character, hasn't made a mistake or hurt someone, some way, in their life. And while I'd like to admit I want to believe the majority of people out there are good (or I prefer first to at least see the good in them), there are bad people out there. But how does it work? How do they do nice things? I can't answer that easily, but this is how I see it: if you're a murderer, a rapist, a high-ticket con artist...if you have any of those capabilities within you, and you act upon it, here's how you find the good within the situation. That person is going to be caught and taken off the streets, thrown in jail, and will hopefully learn their lesson (unless your name is O.J.). That's one more criminal taken out of society, and another potential victim spared. Without evil, there's no good. If good has no opposite, it just is, and if it's all we know, then all we have is status quo.

Now, back to Lord Of The Flies. Even though it's probably been at least 20 years since I read it or saw the movie, I still remember the one thing I took away from it: Evil can exist in even the most innocent things. I believe that, and using logic, I can believe the opposite of that statement to be true also; that even the most evil of creatures can have a heart and/or remorse. Neither of these statements absolves their opposites nor their own actions, but like I said, it just is.

One last little bit about this: the best part of the "gray area" between good and evil? It's called satire, in my opinion. Everybody knows the whole Tim Tebow deal by now, ultra-Christian, celebate, overall good guy with a mediocre arm but otherwise all-worldly athletic ability, who is constantly mocked for his religiousness, but for the most part, wins games? Does he deserve to be mocked? I'm not one to judge. But that great institution of comedy, Saturday Night Live, can and will do whatever they want. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/tebow/1374394

MUSICAL BREAK:

One last thought about GvE: it's all based (morality aside) on personal perception of what we consider what each means. Our likes and dislikes can serve as a filter. Take music, for example. Remember in the eighties, when we could turn on MTV and actually see music videos? You know, the ones our parents claimed played "the devil's music"? My grandmother actually blamed her tv not working anymore on "all that hot music you kids watch on that MTV". But it wasn't that bad! Trouble was, their perspectives were different. Of course, they also conceived us to the likes of Elvis, The Beatles and The Grateful Dead. Case in point: I won't listen to country music, for a wide variety of reasons (that's a whole 'nother entry for another time). But that's not gonna stop you from singing its praises.

That said, two good things happened in music today that you may or may not care about:

1) This band is coming to Buffalo to play a tiny club in March, and I hope I get the chance to go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjZufz23TY0

2) After breaking up around the turn of the century and splitting up into two different groups, both gaining critical acclaim, today they announced the mending of differences and have reunited. I know this excited my boy DMFM when I sent him the text! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKnpOW52qyY&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list...

VITAL STATS:

It's amazing what almost 12 hours of sleep and a long hot shower will do when your back makes it nearly impossible to move. After soaking for awhile in the shower, I can breathe and move again! I don't have full range of mobility yet, but I'm close. I think I'll be able to get out of bed, and using the toilet isn't quite the, excuse the pun, pain in the ass it's been lately.

Special shout out to sunnystarr, who recently gave this blog a rating of ! Thanks so much!! It's nice to know that this stuff here is appreciated.

That's all for tonight...gonna relax a little, maybe see what else is goin' on around WDC, and call it a day before I go back to work tomorrow afternoon. Stay good, friends, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkIS3G64ug0