Blackfish64

Most of what I do on a computer is write. So I need to process words. I got out of Windows early this year because I was sick and tired of it. Windows is just junk. I used XP for a long time. It was no problem to do my work, back it all up, then wipe out the disc and start over. Windows 7 wasn't too bad. I liked it a little bit. Windows 8 is a complete disaster (China has banned Windows 8. Too many back doors. They deem it spy technology! Soon after banning Windows 8, China banned Windows altogether. They will have all Windows operating systems out of the country within the next few years. It is supposed that Kylin Linux will replace all the Windows junk). Anyway, after my Windows disaster, I went straight to Linux. I had used it in the late 1990s, but Windows was used at work and I got it all for free anyway, so why bother with anything else? That was my thinking at the time anyway. Well, now my work no longer depends on Windows, so I trashed it at first opportunity. I was blown away at how far Linux has come along in making it more user friendly. In exploring Linux, I became a minimalist geek. My current main operating system is Puppy Linux LxPup-Precise-Retro 14.02. It does everything I need. I can carry my entire computer on a USB stick, complete with operating system and all programs. I can boot from just about anything with a USB slot and set to work. I've written two books on my Puppy OS! Puppy is very highly inspirational for me! But, like I said above, I am now learning too much about the GNU Linux distros and the Free Software Movement, and I am really loving what I am seeing. I need to become a part of that. I like the look of the BLAG distro. It looks like that will have just about everything I could possibly need. I don't need a lot. I don't want a lot. I just like to practice what I preach. I'd really love to be Linux certified, but that's incredibly expensive and time consuming, so that ain't happenin'. And these days I am getting back into learning html. I dropped it in the early 2000s for the wysiwyg programs for building Web sites. I wish I would never have stopped doing it. I forgot how much I loved it! I am never going back or going to stop again. Too much joy there! Anyway, that's where I am with computers these days, to give a rough outline. For me, the most important thing is rock-solidness in a minimalist operating system. I demand everything work! I need that stability. When I boot up, I am setting to work and that's it. Anything messin' with me when I am trying to work is unacceptable! If an operating system messes with me-I scrap it-The End. I love the complete freedom of free software and being able to do whatever I like. How can you beat that? I pretty much throw away anything mainstream. Even some of the Linux distros are starting to look too much like Windows and getting overbloated and complicated. I want to steer clear of that sort of thing. Anyway, as soon as I get my new disc burner, I will create some copies of these free software distros and give them a shot.

I have been reading a ton over the last couple of weeks on GNU Linux and the Free Software Movement. I am fast-heading for some of these distros-just in time for my CD burner to burn out. Oh, well, I will have it fixed soon enough. Meantime, anyone here involved in the FSF or use any of the GNU Linux distros? http://www.fsf.org http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html I have also learned a ton more about the surveillance state. I am not surprised at any of it, but there was a lot I didn't know. What I am learning from these engineers, programmers, and activists is changing forever the way I go about my digital life. We're in a lot of trouble. To say the least.

Yep, pot'll do that to you. It will disconnect you, at the very least. Marijuana has its uses, particularly as a pain-killer, but making a habit of it with no particular purpose in mind isn't a good idea. I would get away from that as quickly as possible. My love for the stuff has caused me my share of problems over the years. The paranoia is the worst for me. Gawd, I hate that! When you kick the dope, your head will be clear to think about other things. That's a good start.

You're not missing anything. You've got it and you don't even know it. They can make a herd of cows illegal to possess, too. They can make it illegal for you to think, to use your brains, to speak your mind. They can make all of that illegal, too. They can make toilet paper illegal. They can make trade or even talking about it illegal. They can do whatever they want. But that only leaves us doing whatever we have to do to survive. And when it comes to that, we don't give a damn about the law and what is illegal and what is not illegal anymore. We gotta do what we gotta do to stay alive. The point is, the paper money (it isn't paper to begin with) isn't worth anything. It's not that it's worthless all of a sudden, it's that it was never worth anything to begin with. It is simply a bill of goods you have been sold. It is a lie. It is a paper induction. It is fraud. You cannot do anything with it. It is too rough even to be used as toilet paper. But you can do something with a herd of cows and you can do something with toilet paper, can't you? These things have intrinsic value. Everybody wants and/or needs them. But when I have toilet paper and you have cows, and you need some toilet paper but I don't need any cows, how then do we organize or facilitate and exchange between us? How will you get your toilet paper? That's where the metal comes in. It ALWAYS has value to someone somewhere, no matter what. It will not rot like toilet paper or get up and run away and die like a cow. You don't have to worry about your investment vanishing. You will need only keep others from getting their hands on it and taking it away from you, as in a robbery, as in taxation. You can bury it in a hole in the ground and no one will know you have it. It can't be tracked, like a bank account. It can't be seen b a drone, like a herd of cows or a shed full of toilet paper. It can't be confiscated. It can't be touched. And it holds its intrinsic value, come rain, shine, or wrath. And you can have a trunk-load of phoney-bills, Federal Reserve Notes, bucks, "dollars" or whatever you wish to call them-but when no one wants them anymore you're screwed. Silver will ALWAYS be worth something to someone somewhere. And of course, when something better than silver is discovered and replaces silver, you would then seek to find a way to get that which replaces it. But, for now, people are still accepting the phoney-bills, so, in a sense, for the time being anyway, you are safe. But when the phoney-bills become worthless to anyone, you will be glad to have a hole in the ground full of silver, and/or a herd of cows, and/or a shed full of toilet paper. Only goods and services pay for goods and services. Only goods and services are any good for doing any good. Phoney-bills are no good, non-good, non-goods. You need something that is real, that is tangible, that is useful to someone. All your phoney-bills will be good for is kindling. And why should anyone buy your kindling when its lying on the ground, free, for the taking? The gold and silver may even be worthless to you, personally. You may have no interest in it whatsoever. Just as you may have no interest whatsoever in how the computer you are now using actually works, how the gold and silver circuitry inside it does its job. All you may know is that it works, and that's all you need to know in order to use it. You don't need to understand it. You just turn it on and away you go. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The happiness is all up to you. If you are looking for happiness outside of yourself, that is the reason you cannot find it. Happiness is not a pursuit, rather happiness ensues. You get it for going after what you want. Initiative is life itself. Take what you want and happiness will find you. There is nothing that can be done about the state of the world. There is no good news to tell you. There are no success stories to tell, save the one I just told you. I didn't fight the system. You cannot fight the system. Try it and you will lose. The only success you will find is by breaking off and going your own way. The world will never be what you want it to be. They will break the system to pieces eventually, and after this current system falls, the idiots and the idiots like them will follow along and build another one up just like it-and crash that one, too. And so it goes, throughout the history of mankind. That's really all there is to it. I won in my own way, I mastered the situation I was in by simply following their absolute nonsense to a perfect T. It made my life easier. There are always growing pains, of course, but eventually everyone got used it. And we turned out extremely well, after all. Life is a perfectly meaningless, useless pursuit. You are creating your own meaning as you go along or you simply do not have any. You can make whatever out of your life that you like. Everyone else can do the same. Groups, collectives don't, cannot, think. Only individuals can act and think. Only you can act and think. You can raise awareness and hope that others around you catch on to the fallacies all around them-but I wouldn't hang my hopes on it. But, by all means, do it anyway. It's so much better than what we've got. So help spread the good news and the philosophy, of course. Of course, you know better, I know better, we both know the world can be a better place, but the problem is that not everyone else knows it nor do they care. You make the world better by making yourself right and better first, then by helping others do the same, one person at a time. Nothing is more powerful than the individual. One man with courage is a majority. The only good news is you getting what you want. Go get what you want. They can take all my money and property, and they will. But there are some things they can never take from you. The only way they can get it is if you give it to them. I give them nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Always bear in mind of course there is a difference between being "lonely" and being "alone". I am always alone. But loneliness hits me only on very, very rare occasions when I find myself needing someone to talk to, but no one is there. That sucks the weenie when it hits, but I get over it quickly; or if I am lucky enough to find a girl with a little bit of a brain I can talk to and help cure the loneliness for another few months. I can get it all out of my system and get back to living with a clear head. I think it accurate to say that we all need someone to talk to and/or to love sooner or later. Even the hard-core solitude seekers, like myself, gotta have it sometimes.

Absolutely. This is why I am not impressed by and stay away from numismatics. Collectors and shop owners dealing in silver will try to argue, "Well, this is an important coin, minted here or there and it is very highly valuable." "Buddy, to me it's an ounce of silver and nothing more. I will give you spot-or you can keep your coin." The only numismatics I buy are the Morgan. And the only reason I buy them is because they have some history behind them and I think they are beautiful. I just like them is all. I will pay a little more to get them, but they're the only numismatic I ever buy. I have bought a few cool Krugerrand in the past, too. To me, an ounce of metal is an ounce of metal and that's all it is. You can take that thing out back and pound it unrecognizable with a hammer for all I care. All you're getting is what I will give you for it.

Now, you've changed the subject. First, you say "I think it is interesting that someone would think that precious metals are not controlled." Now, you've switched to another discussion on value. Yikes. Conversation over. I'm out.

You're right. You should stay away from gold and silver. It's not for you. Goods which are privately owned are not controlled. Save by the owner. That would be me.

You have some research to do. Ask yourself, why people work so hard to mine gold and silver and put it on the market for sale? Why do people risk their lives for it, stake their fortunes on it? What do people do with gold and silver? Why is it such a valuable commodity? The values of gold and silver and their uses to mankind are too many to name here. So, far we have discussed only the use of gold and silver to facilitate exchanges between individuals. Precious metals are best for this for the simple reason that unlike most other commodities, it does not rot or get up and run away. It is always worth something to someone somewhere. Always. Likely the smartphone you're holding in your hand or the new laptop on your desk has some gold and/or silver in it. Gold and silver are most excellent conductors of electricity. Highly prized and highly valuable stuff any way you look at it. Another question to ask yourself is this: what makes you think the debt notes you hold in your wallet are worth so much? Whatever made you think they were ever worth anything in the first place? If gold and silver aren't so valuable, why is the State always seeking to control and confiscate it? In a crisis, personally owned precious metals are the first thing the State comes after. If not outright confiscation, then they offer to buy it from the public for some more worthless paper they promise to back up-maybe not now, but somewhere in the future. Lol. Gold and silver are valuable as money because they cannot be controlled. The paper garbage is easily controlled. The banks and the State do not want you to know and understand these things. It puts them out of a life of ease and comfort and all the free tangible goods they could ever desire. Who controls the goods controls the future, i.e., controls your future. Tangible values are your future. Debt is you selling your future out from under yourself of your own free will. The paper trash you have in your wallet is not an indication of how much you have, but just a tiny portion of how much you owe.

Absolutely right on. I don't want it, I don't need it. I know of no one who does. And the dead body lying on the carpet that you just killed is only the beginning... Now your victim's family wants you dead. Or maybe you will be fortunate and they want only to sue you. What a relief, eh? How much insurance do you have? Now, your anti-gun neighbors know you have a gun (well, not anymore, because the police took it away from you and will now leave you defenseless) and you will now be ostracized from the neighborhood after their relentless smear campaign. Your children, too. Was your victim a gang-banger? They want you dead, too. Now, you have to appear in court, possibly even be arrested, and have the humiliation of second-guessing yourself, and the terror of it being determined by others whether or not you are "guilty" of murder, or will be exonerated for the act of "self-defense". But you know only too well, deep in your heart and your mind, that you just killed another human being and there isn't anything you can do to take it back. You weren't "defending" anyone or anything in that moment, you were pulling a trigger, or bashing someone's brains in with the door-stop that was the only thing you could get your hands on to use to stop them from gang-raping your wife and daughter. Not to mention the fact that it took every ounce of energy you could possibly muster to even get yourself to do such a thing in the first place, the fact that you had no idea what you were doing or how to do it, but flew at your murderers and tormentors in a blind panic and rage, not knowing the slightest about the outcome. Were there children in the house? The wife? Yep, they get to see it all, too. They get to run the gauntlet with you. The lot of you might not feel like living in that house after all this violence. But that's OK, because by the time they get done suing you for everything you are worth, you won't have the house anymore anyway. I know, we're philosophers, and we want to find a way to peace through reason and rationality. Unfortunately, the rest of the world hasn't caught up with us yet. We have no choice but to deal with their violence. Philosophy ends where a gun, a club, a rock, a door-stop or a fist begin. Violence is not right or wrong. It just is. You can't reason with it or rationalize with it. The basic choice is to choose to use violence in order to stop violence, or perish. It's all up to you.

Defensive use of force is in fact violence. We use violence to fight violence. We violate others who are trying to violate us. The difference is however that we use violence only in preserving our own life, property, i.e., to make the violence being used against us to stop. When we use violence to protect ourselves, we literally become what we are trying to stop. In self-protection, we not only violate our tormentors and perpetrators, but we violate ourselves in doing so. This is why violence is such an incredibly dangerous thing, such an intolerable thing. In killing my killer, I become a killer. Everyone who has committed an act of violence in his own defense defiles himself. Read the cases about people who have shot intruders who have broken into their homes. The dead body in the living room, the fact that they have just killed someone and witnessed the murder, the clean-up, the mess, the psychological turmoil. It can radically, psychologically, biologically change a person. Some people never recover from it. They are never the same. The fact is, when you use violence, even in self-defense, you become no better than the perpetrators. This is why I always train for only asocial violence. Anti-social violence? Get the hell out of there. Don't argue, don't escalate anything, give up the barstool and get the hell out. Even if when you are walking away and they are calling your mother a cunt, especially then, get out. Get out. Get out. Don't play with violence. Stop it before it starts. But when the time comes that you have no choice in the matter, it's kill or be killed, you must become a killer yourself, or you will perish. At any time is a simple choice we have to make. And we need to make up our minds about it before it happens. Train to live. Train to kill. And be done with it. Get the implement and keep it, if you choose to do so. In self defense, we sink to the hoodlum's level from a practical standpoint, but not from a moral standpoint so long as we stop when the threat is nullified. For example, if we stop a thief and have him handcuffed on the ground and we're waiting for the cops to come and pick him up, then we decide to torture the thief by ripping off an ear or poking out an eye, well, now we are no better than he is. We have sunk entirely below even his level. We have defiled ourselves. Violence defiles all concerned. There are no exceptions. I get horrified when I hear people speaking flippantly, "I would have no problem at all shooting a guy who did this or tried to do that or who broke into my house," etc. They have no idea what they are saying. Most people who talk like that don't even own a gun. It's ridiculous. For the sane and socialized individual, who keeps violence the furthest thing from his mind, violence is just the thing he is not likely to commit to, even in self-defense. Violence used in self-defense is most definitely violence. Happily so. Violence is the only choice we have in the matter. I train to choose it and to use it.

Yes, in both cases, the dirty water and the drunk driver are violent acts. That was not the question. The question was, what kind of violent act was it?

Dad and Grandma ostracized me for not getting good grades. I was left out of getting money for good report cards (even when I did manage to get good report cards), and my sister, the Golden Child was held as the best example I could follow. It's hard to do well at anything when you are ostracized, berated, slapped around, psychologically abused and maltreated, i.e, damned if ya do and damned if ya don't. I would say that ostracism is a mighty powerful thing. Yes, torture. It made my childhood a living hell. There was not a grade in school I went to in which I was not compared to my sister and then promptly dumped on. Ostracism in some cultures, even today, means certain death. If you were an aboriginal American just a couple of hundred years ago, and thrown out of your tribe, well, you were pretty much screwed. With no way to survive, it meant certain death. The Amish, to this day, practice shunning members of the community when they don't adhere to certain Amish law. When this happens, the ostracized can't trade with anyone, speak to anyone, join in any community events. If he's permanently shunned, he has no choice but to go out into the big wide world on his own and have at it. Even some animals do this. Dolphins, for example, will ostracize members of the pod who don't pull their own weight on a hunt. When the hunt is over and everyone has gotten their fill, the lazy one is literally, physically rammed out and away from the pod to wander off and die alone. Ostracism is hell, to say the least. This day in age, with so much and so many people around, it is much easier to recover from such fate. And in some cases, as it was in mine, when I got older and went out on my own, ostracism was just fine by me. They didn't want me anymore, and I didn't want them. Perfect. I went out in the world and made my own way, my own friends, and my own living. Not being a part of Dad and Grandma's dip-shit world was actually easier and better for me than being in it. Hooray for ostracism! Don't know where I'd be today without it!

That'd be another question I don't know the answer to. Maybe she doesn't want the lizard anymore, but wants something else in its place now, or maybe she regrets tattoo altogether. I really don't know. When she talks about it, I just kind of laugh. I mean, what can she do about it now anyway? She can get lasered and have it removed, which, my understanding of it is that it is more expensive and more painful than the tattoo. If I were her, I would just leave it alone. Her hubby is covered with tats. He loves 'em. He can't get enough tats. I am just happy and grateful the two of them agree that the tats need to be in a place where they can be easily covered up. Whew (wiping brow)!

I don't know what inspired her to get inked. I think she was simply a teen and it was cool, so she wanted to do it, too. I really don't know. Yes, and the funny thing about getting old and your skin sagging is that you can't do anything about that, but you can head to the tattoo shop and get your ink refreshed! Looks great! Yes, location. I will honestly tell you, as a manager in the casinos and hiring a lot of people, we had a policy of "no visible tattoos". That policy stems from the old days. These days, everyone has tattoos and it is getting harder and harder to find people who do not have them! Especially the youngsters, who are covered in them. But, much to their disappointment, I did stick to the policy. I would not hire someone with tattoos on their face, neck, hands, anywhere it could not be covered up. Even though our uniforms were generally pretty casual for routine , daily business, those with tats on their arms had to wear long sleeves and a tie. I know, it's hot in Nevada, but you've asked for it. Anyone exposing their tats to the public got a written warning up to and including termination. For me, it's not that I have anything against tattoos, I don't, but I do have a professional attitude, and so do you, and you will not be allowed to bring your personal stuff onto my casino floor or into my hotel. Cover it up, get to work, or go find a different job. Sorry, kids. But these days, the tats (and those god-awful piercings!) are everywhere. And you see more and more people being allowed to wear them in positions where it was unheard of, unacceptable before. That includes Las Vegas hotels and casinos. You hardly see a cocktail server anymore who does not have that awful looking tattoo on her lower back just above her buns. Yikes. The least you could do, Darling, is get something original. OK, I have to go brush my teeth now. Get the bad taste out of my mouth. Have a great day!

Bump.

Yep. Among a myriad of other things silver is good for. Do your research. My favorite thing to do is to have at least one toz in a round in my pocket. There is nothing like it. I always carry an ounce round of copper in my pocket, too. Nothing feels finer than silver, real money, in your pocket (though I will advise to refrain from investing in copper bullion. The spread on copper is too deep and too wide. You never know when it's going to be valuable and when it's going to be worthless. Feels good in the pocket, however, just the same). And, yes, I do spend it from time to time. People get mesmerized by actual money and they just gotta have it, so they trade me something good for it. For example, I was working in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and was asked by a Chinese tourist about a slot machine that dispensed actual silver coin to winners. She wanted to know if it was actually worth anything. I explained that it most certainly was, but why bother with the slot machine when I just happened to have a toz of silver right here in my hand, genuine American bullion. 99.9% pure, with an aboriginal American head and a buffalo's head engraved? She lit up like a Christmas tree when I dropped the round in her hand. She had to have it. Price did not matter. The Chinese are incredibly superstitious people. It was her belief that our meeting was no accident and that the coin was lucky. She would not leave without it. "Name your price on this coin, Sir." At the time, silver was selling for only around fourteen dollars per toz, and I did tell her that. But I also told her that particular bullion was a favorite of mine and that I did not wish to part with it, but part with it I would, "For the price of fifty dollars." Said I. She pulled a crisp fifty dollar bill out of her purse and gave it over to me without batting an eye. Silver closed yesterday at $16.43 per toz. That's like buying dirt. Gold is too goddamn expensive. Silver is the poor man's gold. Crazy not to have some silver. Get some silver.

It's all in the intent, in the initiative. Initiative is life, itself. If your intent is to kill, it is asocial. If your intent is not to kill, anti-social. The drunk driver did not intent to kill. The pouring toxins in the water could swing either way. Again, it's all in the intent. If the toxins were poured meaning to kill someone(s), it is asocial. If they were poured by accident, or even not by accident, but not knowing the consequences of their actions, then its obviously anti-social. It might not even be anti-social. They might not have meant to do any harm at all. This does not excuse what they have done, but, again, did they set out to kill people? This is what the courts need to determine when they hear a murder case. What did the killer mean to do when he did the killing? Was he in imminent danger and had to kill to preserve his own life and/or the lives of others? Or did he kill just for the sheer joy of killing, just to see what it was like? Take the case of the hockey dads. Hockey dad #1 didn't like the way hockey dad # 2 was coaching the team, felt he wasn't giving his son enough time on the ice. They start to argue. Hockey dad #1 pushes hockey dad #2 backward, he smacks his head on the ice and dies. This is anti-social violence. He did not mean to kill. He meant only to posture and make a point and the posturing and pushing went too far. Then there's the three thugs who accosted a man, a doctor, in front of his house at knifepoint. They commanded him to give up his wallet and briefcase and watch. Doctor does as he is told. Once the goods are secured, the thugs take to stabbing the doctor to death on the sidewalk in front of his gate. Asocial violence all the way, using deadly weapons with intent to kill.

Buy silver. Paper is worthless. It has always been worthless. This is nothing new. Toilet paper will soon be worth more than Federal Reserve notes... actually, it has always been worth more than Federal Reserve Notes. The only difference between now is that people are starting to realize these facts. It's getting harder and harder for people to hide and deny it.

Basically, there are two types of violence: anti-social violence, and asocial violence. Anti-social violence breaks down into the kinds of things the State does, like taxation, pulling you over and giving you speeding tickets, and forcing your children into compulsory education and forcing you to pay for it. This is the kind of violence where there is still negotiations going on, people are still talking to each other, there is still a social interaction. Asocial violence is the kind of violence during which there is no talking, no social interaction whatsoever. The woman has an axe and she's chopping up her husband, her prey; thugs have disarmed you, stole your wallet and your briefcase, and now they are stabbing you to death in an alley; or, as in war, where there is only the enemy in front of you-kill him or be killed.

The theory might just be right. I dunno. All I know is that I feel really great when I am whamming away on a keyboard (or a fretboard), i.e., #amwriting. Now, this is not for the feint of heart, but give it a shot, if you dare... I picked up a pen in each hand and found that I can write with both hands simultaneously. Grab two sheets of paper and position each hand on its own sheet and try writing something. I can do it slowly, with each hand writing the same thing. I will really have something when I can write with both hands at the same time with each hand doing its own thing!

I don't buy anything from the left or the right. I like to drive fast, straight up the middle. And even if an armed society is not a polite society, and even more violent, and even more people get killed, they still can't have my guns. My property, my right of bearing arms is just that, just what it says: MINE. And it's not up for negotiation. That is the stance pro-gunners need to take. We should not reduce ourselves to the tired old arguments on statistics, and etc., but to simply tell the world our guns aren't up for grabs. You can't have 'em. Sorry, kids. I don't carry LCR. I carry LCP. I have the Arizona 100th Anniversary Commemoration version. I got a great deal on it! I really don't care much for the Springfield XD40. I bought that one only because I needed it for a job I used to have and I just got used to it. It kind of grew on me. But I've gotten used to the LCP, and now the Springfield is just too big and cumbersome for my active lifestyle. I do love the punch the .40 has however. Can't argue about that. I used to carry a 10mm, my favorite, but, again, too big and bulky for me. Got rid of it. I carry the weapon only one way, in a holster on my hip, like the cops do. Always there when I need it. Carrying any other way makes no sense to me. I strap it on every day. It's as second nature to me as tying my shoes. Nothing to it. The truth is, it matters not at all what gun one carries. Any gun will get the job done if you will get the job done. Whatever anyone carries, it's all about practice, practice, practice, and being able to hit targets. I can carry the nicest, fanciest, latest thing, but if I can't hit what I'm aiming at it's perfectly useless and so am I.

Ja, my daughter wanted me to sign for her to get inked when she was sixteen, for her sixteenth birthday present. She knew better than to ask, but she did anyway, just in case I changed my mind. She instead treated herself to that ink job two years later, on her eighteenth birthday, when there was nothing anyone could really do to stop her. The tattoo she chose was the same one she had in mind back when she was sixteen. It was a highly colorful lizard she had doodled into one of her journals. I must admit, it was a very good drawing. I was impressed. I've always liked that picture. Anyway, she's twenty seven now, and wishes she "wouldn't have gotten that stupid lizard on my ]her] leg." I just chuckle. The lizard is actually not a bad looking fellow. I think it looks great. Again, I really don't have any aversion to people getting inked. In the end, it don't mean diddly. I think when we're younger our priorities are a little screwed up and we do some silly stuff. I know I did. I look back on some of it and say to myself, 'Man, what the fuck were you thinkin'?' And I think that's just it-we're not thinkin'. Of course, there are "older" people who get inked, too. They don't seem to have any priority issues. I'm not so convinced that someone with a tattoo has been "traumatized". I just don't believe it. Some people get inked all over the place and they haven't got any trauma at all. On the other hand, I, myself, was severely traumatized, brutalized, and maltreated for all of my childhood and teen years, but I have zero ink. Every time I thought to go and get myself inked, I forgot about it in a little while and went and did something else. Sometimes it would occur to me, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to go and get that ink. Now, what was that design idea I had in mind again...?" And of course there are in fact people who have ink who are traumatized. And of course it is a reflection of their trauma. Of course there are. But are these ideas a rule of thumb with everyone who has ink? I don't think so. As for getting inked being "masochistic", I don't know about that either. I am something of an athlete and I do physical workouts that would make most people feint on their first few times out with me. It's some work and some pain to get the job done and keep up my agility and ability the way I like. If that makes me "masochistic", well, then, I guess, I'm masochistic, at least to some extent. But, then again, the pain is simply the price one pays for what one wants sometimes. I know of a Hawaiian woman who's face is traditionally inked by the artist from her village in Hawaii. She hated the pain of getting the ink on her face, but she wanted the ink just the same, so she endured. It means something to her. She loves it. She wears it proudly. It is an intrinsic part of her identity. She would not trade it for anything. I spend a lot of time with whores. I love assertive women. Not aggressive women, mind you, but definitely assertive. Most whores are assertive. I like that. They are some of my favorite people. They don't all have ink. In fact, most of them don't. I don't mind the ones that do. Not at all. I think it all boils down to a matter of personal preference and taste. As for the ink getting old and ugly, well, so do most people get old and ugly anyway. The only thing I would recommend is that if one gets inked, one should get it where it can be covered up when the time comes to cover up, like, say, for a job interview. When we walk around all inked up, there are certain situations where it would not be advantageous to do so.

Agreed. They should all just go out and get a tattoo and get it over with.