Nothing says 'The Internet' like good, old-fashioned drama.

Seriously people, Satire, Sarcasm, and Parody are the things which inspire me. Nothing gets me more than someone who can lay it on so thick that people can't tell if they're being serious or not. I love people who can write like that.

I think people need to be less concerned about their tribe. 'Ohhh, I was an albino Jew from Australia who cooks Mexican food with rice and pork chops, so anyone who makes fun of my people is a horrible dirty bitchstard!'

That's right. I just combined the words 'bitch' and 'bastard.'

Seriously kids, relax. Xanga is Xanga, and the internet is something which you can step away from at any moment. It doesn't run your life.

And go check out Krissy_Cole's latest post. http://krissy-cole.xanga.com/697360151/open-letter-to-the-xanga-community/

Genius.

So I was reading this post from a rec: http://www.xanga.com/Blue__Summer/696612528/submission-is-a-dirty-word/

And it got me to thinking - what is happiness?

Aristotle believed that happiness is the end goal of humanity. The 'telos', or end goal of mankind is to be happy and to seek happiness. Happiness to him was not self-gratification, it was a virtuous life, although he readily admits that Happiness is a term which is largely in dispute as to its meaning.

But it's interesting...the virtuous life. He was such a brilliant man. He speaks of virtue in terms of those things which we as a society most highly praise, and I think he might believe that somehow we are hard-wired to praise and revere certain things over others. The mean between the extremes is a very big part of the virtuous life...the mean between brashness and cowardice, for instance, is courage, and a courage is a virtuous action, virtue makes us happy, therefore, being a courageous person in your life is one way to be happy. And he does that with many other virtues - pride, temperance, generosity, truthfulness, etc. Fascinating. Nichomachean Ethics is a must read.

Anyway, the point being that who are we to say what happiness really is? Aristotle had his own definition, and certainly many people become happy by living by Aristotles definition of happiness. But suppose a woman wants to live her life in submission to her husband as defined by that featured post on revlife? So what? Why does it matter? Some people find happiness and fulfillment by sitting at home watching TV and cheetos all day long. And as long as they are not taking from or harming me and mine, why do I care? It's the same argument people make against gay marriage - it bothers them, so they don't want it to happen. But my question is always why do you give a shit? You shouldn't. It's their life. I can believe what I want about whether being gay is a sin or not, but ultimately, it's my own belief, and if they want to be gay and have the same benefits and rights as a straight couple, why not? If that makes them happy, and they're not harming anyone, why not let them?

And in the same way, if this woman in the revlife post finds meaning and happiness from submission to her husband, why does it matter to you? It takes all sorts, after all.

Hi,My name is Amina from Sudan, i am new to this site.
Your profile interests and i would like to get to know you much better.
I am a pretty african lady who is searching for an honest foreign partner who will help me and come to your country and invest.
Please do write and tell me about yourself?
My private e-mail address is ( amina1_khalifa@yahoo.com )
Thank you once again and i will tell you more about my plan to come and invest in your country when i receive your reply.
With all my love,
Amina.

Dear Amina from Sudan:

If by profile, you mean penis, then I am quite flattered. Thankyou. Although, I must admit, your vagina certainly interests me, and I would be glad to help you ‘come’ anywhere you like. I am very interested in ‘investing’ in you, as long as ‘investing in you’ means sticking my penis in your vagina.

About me: I’m a young, sexually proficient young man with questionable motives. My diet consists almost entirely of Spaghetti-O’s and Cheese Whiz. On Mondays and Thursdays I audit the local colleges biology classes, trolling the schools for freshman girls who are sexually unaware, and need me to awaken their fire. This obviously leads to some trouble once I break their hearts(I suffer from a psychological condition where I am only attracted to virgins). So in addition to a sexual partner(assuming you’re a virgin), I am also looking for a full-time bodyguard to ward off these attempts on my life.

Once again, I would love to hear more about your plan to ‘come.’ If you own a webcam, you can set it up and show me your armpits (I like to hump them. Whether the girl is a virgin or not in these circumstances is irrelevant). Would you be ok with shaving them in the shape of a beer bottle? I have this fantasy with armpits and beer…ooh, don’t get me started!)

I wish you all the best, Amina from Sudan. Write back soon!

With all my love and a slightly exaggerated penis size,
Rob

I swear, if I keep getting these, they could take care of my blog posts from here to the end of the internet.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/10/veterans.health.insurance/index.html

Unbelievable.

I get a job at a construction site, and I get injured as a part of my job, they have to pay for it. But a soldier who gets injured in the line of duty? He doesn't have to pay for it?

What. The. Fuck.

This better not happen.

You want to save money? Get us the fuck out of there. But don't shit on our troops.

I received this message today in my inbox, from 'Lilian500.'

"Interested in you,
My name is Miss. lilian, i saw your profile today in www.xanga.com and became interested in you, i will also like to know more about you, i want you to reply my mail to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am and tell you more things about me. Here is my email address (liliancota0@yahoo.com) i believe we can start from here so am waiting for your reply to my email address above. Remember that distance or tribe does not matter but love matters a lot in life.
Yours new found friend,
Miss lilian. liliancota0@yahoo.com"

Dear Miss Lilian,

Thank you for your kind note. I would love to know 'whom' you are. Unfortunately for you though, I am unavailable at the moment, due to a Nigerian prince needing my help to smuggle some money out of the country. I am also buying some Ocean-front property in Kansas this week. However, once I am done, I would be happy to get to know whom you are!

I must warn you, I like to get at least a blowjob on the first date, and I don't date women over 35. Also, I never pay for meals - I always go halfsies, however, since I'll be picking you up by cab I'll supply 65% of the car fare, no more. If we become better friends and I start picking you up in my car, I'll expect gas money each week from you. My idea of a perfect date is watching a horror movie. I like to have sex at least 5 times during each movie, because all that bloodshed makes me horny.

Also, I do a lot of cocaine, and if my Nigerian prince deal goes well, I'll probably end up spending all of it on hoes and blow. I hope you're open to the possibility of a 3-some, maybe even a 4 or 5-some.

Your new found friend,
Rob.

Why do people feel the need to preface their controversial comments with this statement? What troubles me even more is that sometimes, I find myself using it to cover my ass. I don't like it.

Does prefacing any controversial statement with that phrase make it ok? Say I was on someones blog, and said "Hey, this is just my opinion, but Hitler was right...Jews suck, Nazis are awesome, black people are stupid, Asian's should be shot in the head, gays are serial rapists and the KKK is very beneficial to our society. Once again, that's just my opinion...just expressing my opinion over here, no need to get angry..." Would that make it ok?

Hell no it wouldn't. I would get blasted, as I should be. So why do we as a society feel the need to preface our statements with 'it's just my opinion'? We know it's your opinion. Unless you're qualified to comment on an issue, EVERYTHING you say is an opinion. Which is fine. But it's like we feel entitled to not be attacked or criticized once those words have left our lips or keyboards. Everyone's opinion is not equal. Some people are in fact morons, and their opinions deserve to be mocked, ridiculed, or torn to bits and pieces.

And even on less controversial statements than the mock one above. Stuff like gay rights, or the death penalty. All valid issues, with perfectly good and valid points coming from both sides of the issue. But I've seen and heard people go into a discussion, preface with 'it's just my opinion, but...', express their opinion, and then get flustered, angry, or upset when others criticize or attack their opinions. Just because it's an opinion doesn't mean it's in a tiny bubble that nobody can get to.

I don't get it. Why can't people just have the balls to come out and say what they mean, and be ok with getting criticized and attacked for it?