America (According to Google)

According to Google, America is

an aristocracy

an empire

an oligarchy

an evil country

According to Google, America both is and is not

the best country in the world

the greatest country in the world

the land of opportunity

the new Rome

According to Google, America is not

a Christian nation

a democracy

a free country

a theocracy

According to Google, America is the most

obese country

racist country

corrupt country

According to Google, America is an idea

According to our Founding Fathers, America is something else entirely. In the sweltering heat of a Philadelphia summer, delegates representing thirteen British colonies unanimously declared:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security

America is far from perfect, but she is my country, my homeland. And, despite my sport team preferences, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Don’t Forget!

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Friday, 4 July, 2014

That Empty Feeling

I didn’t realize how much I’d miss Writing 101, but it became a routine. I like routine. I don’t like change. My reader is emptier, the visitors are down, and I’m struggling with semi-burnout. I want to write something, but the words just won’t come.

I technically have two assignments left: writing about an event that was cancelled (and how it made me feel) and

Wait just a minute; I’m writing about a “cancelled” event right now!

How does it make me feel? How do I feel about this? Well, it’s kind of a mix of

abominable, arrant, atrocious, baneful, base, beastly, beneath contempt, brutal, contemptible, damned, deadly, demonic, deplorable, detestable, devilish, diabolical, direful, disgusting, dreadful, egregious, evil, fell, fetid, fiendish, filthy, foul, ghoulish, grievous, grim, grisly, gross, gruesome, hateful, heinous, horrendous, horrific, horrifying, infamous, iniquitous, lamentable, loathsome, lousy, macabre, malefic, maleficent, malevolent, monstrous, morbid, nasty, nefarious, notorious, obnoxious, odious, offensive, rank, regrettable, repelling, reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, sad, scary, schrecklich, sordid, squalid, too bad, tragic, unclean, unspeakable, vile, villainous, wicked, woeful, worst, worthless, and wretched

to name but a few.

Honestly, how would you feel if something you loved ended?

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 15: You’re told that an event that’s dear to your heart — an annual fair, festival, or conference — will be cancelled (or taken over by an evil organization). Read your piece aloud, multiple times. Hone that voice of yours!

Wednesday, 2 July, 2014

The Expansion Pack: Summer 2014

Now Playing At A Blog Near You

Take a careful look at the page you’re on. If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed some changes!

Background – I finally took advantage of Suburbia’s custom background. It’s a word cloud of my topics and categories. It took some work to color-match the background text with the site text, but I think it works.

Logo – Since I started blogging last year I’ve wanted a unique logo. I also needed one that didn’t infringe on copyright issues (sorry for the last year, UnderArmour). Five days of semi-intense brainstorming resulted in the logo you see now.

For the record, both were made using Tagul‘s word cloud generator and edited in Adobe Photoshop 9.

Address – Look carefully at the url in you address bar; especially if you’ve bookmarked this page or otherwise come here on autopilot. That’s right – you’re now reading this blog at www.runninginmyhead.com!

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you’ll notice some new widgets.

Other Reading will take you to my recent likes on WordPress. Check them out and discover something new!

On The Bookshelf lists the books I’m currently reading. Of course, you can always follow me on Goodreads to see all my lists and reviews.

Life In Motion will show you my two recent Instagram photos. Follow me there if you don’t want to miss a moment!

There’s also been some changes to the sidebar:

A new search feature for the archives

Copyright information (get one for free at Creative Commons)

Revised Images

Over the next few weeks I’ll be rolling out some bonus features and content!

Facebook: I already have a Facebook page, but right now it only publicizes my posts. This will change to provide more random thoughts and links to things I find interesting. Flash Fiction Fridays, anyone?

Twitter: If you already follow me on Twitter, note this change! I’ve set up a new Twitter specifically for my blog. I’m doing this for two reasons: (1) to separate my personal feed from my public feed and (2) to provide you with even more thought provoking ideas! See my thoughts in 140 characters or less (brevity is the soul of wit, after all). Of course, you can always follow both!

Tumblr: I’ve set up a Tumblr to share inspirational thoughts and pictures. Expect quotes from my current reading list!

Worried about clutter? Remember that this blog is not my business. At most I will only post something on these sites once (maybe twice) a day. In reality, it will probably only be a few times a week.

Coming Soon

Podcast: I’d like to produce a monthly (bimonthly?) podcast about various ideas. I plan to release a test podcast towards the end of July. Stay tuned for details!

Comments, concerns, or complaints about these changes? Let me know!

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Tuesday, 1 July, 2014

Thoughts on the World Cup

Dear US Men’s National Team “Soccer Fans” on my Facebook feed,

Everything was fine until you showed up. Really, it was. I could cheer on my team in relative peace and quiet, free from threats and trolling. Absolutely nobody cared.

But now you are here, and all of that is gone. Now, you think you own me.

Let’s get one thing straight: I owe you neither an explanation nor an apology. In fact, I don’t owe you anything. But you seem to think I do.

Fact: I’ve been cheering for my team since 1994.

Fact: You’ve been cheering for your team since June 16.

Now, if this were any other sport, you’d have some very pointed remarks if I suddenly switched teams just because one of them was doing better than expected. You’d say that I was a bandwagoner or a fair-weather fan. Profanity might be involved at some point.

There’s only one American team I cheer for in any capacity: the UConn basketball team. I’ve cheered for them since I was old enough to know that college basketball was a thing. I can only imagine what you’d say to me if I started cheering for Duke or UNC or Kansas or Kentucky just because UConn was having a bad year.

In the same way, there’s only one team I cheer for in the World Cup: Deutschland. That’s Germany for those of you new to the game. Oh wait, that’d be all of you. And that was never a problem. At least, it wasn’t ‘til you came along.

You see, for years you didn’t care about soccer. I would argue that you still don’t care, but that’s not the point. You didn’t care because America sucked. And you didn’t care about America’s suckiness because soccer wasn’t an “American Sport.” You didn’t care about soccer because you couldn’t gloat. America wins the so-called “World Series” and “Super Bowl” simply because other countries don’t show up. Oh, all right, I know Canada may be involved in the World Series. I honestly don’t care for either baseball or football. At least now you might know the difference between football and futbol.

But now you care. So when you post a status update on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter, you get dozens – maybe even hundreds – of likes and retweets and support.

When I post the same in support of my team, I get things like

Turn in your America card.

You’re being unpatriotic. You know that, right?

You’re dumb.

You’re a moron.

You’re out of control.

You should be deported.

You’re a Nazi.

If you support another country the government should give you a one way ticket to live in that country since you love it so much.

USA! USA! USA!

And these are just the ones I can repeat.

I could counter your arguments with logical, thought out responses. However, that would imply they are worthy of debate. Suffice it to say your comments prove you know nothing of the sport or of history.

I don’t go trolling you every time you post something about your team; why must you do it to me? Let the score speak for itself. After all, that kind of is the point.

You know, I don’t really care that you support the USA. That’s fine. My friends support England and France and Brazil and Chile. One or two of them might even support the USA.

What I do care about is the fact that you’re bringing the traditional American arrogance and superiority complex to a sport that you haven’t cared about in decades, if at all. I can only imagine the terror you will unleash upon the world should you actually win.

Now knock it off before you ruin it for everyone.

Sincerely,

Author’s Note

I realize that not all American supporters act like this. Some have supported the team since day one. That’s great; it’s what the sport needs.

This letter is written from my personal experience and is directed at those on my Facebook feed (and those that act like them) and not necessarily to all American supporters in general.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 19: Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing, don’t stop. No self-editing and no second guessing: just go. Bonus points if you tackle an idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about.

Friday, 27 June, 2014

Personality Check: Fear

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 17: What are you scared of? Address one of your worst fears. Write this post in a style that’s different from your own.