The Bridge Builder

New term, new projects for my Multimedia Design class. We're doing a photo journal of sorts, and this poem inspired me tonight while I was pondering the subject matter of my term project. Tomorrow I'm gonna see if I can use the actual poem in my project, that would be really sweet.

Okay hold on, I was doing something just now... Oh right, I was sleeping when the inspiration hit me and I had to get up to research it and find the poem. Now I'm never gonna fall asleep because I'm gonna be coming up with all these radical ideas in my head. Yeah, just read the poem already.

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide -
Why build you a bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

– Will Allen Dromgoole

Who Am I? Why Am I Here?

I was feeling pensive tonight so made a list of stuff about me, in case you wondered.


• In high school, my nickname was Melt. Now, most people call me Tuck. You can call me whatever you want.

• I'm just another kid from Africa (or wherever) who doesn't know where she belongs or how she's getting there or how she'll know "there" when she sees it.

• I'm afraid of commitment, but not in the typical way. Most of my life, the friends I've loved the most have been taken away from me whenever my family moved to a different country. I'm afraid that will happen again, even though I know it won't if I don't let it.

• I love animals, because I don't have to hold up a conversation with them.

• I love yellow roses because they stand for friendship, and without friendships I'm all alone in the world.

• I don't mind getting lost, because I like the feeling of uncertainty and I like the challenge of finding myself again.

• I trust easily, perhaps too easily, but underneath I guard myself, perhaps too much.

• My thoughts are always clearest when my vision is blurred with tears.

• I have friends everywhere, and I miss them so much, and I think about them all the time, but I never pick up the phone to call them because I'm afraid I won't know what to say.

• I used to hate nicknames as a kid, but then I realized that people only take the time to give you a nickname if they care about you.

• I don't like to be the center of attention. I'd rather have the person in the spotlight looking at me for their moral support and encouragement because they know I'll always be by their side.

• I don't truly express myself a lot, because I'm always waiting for the perfect moment. Someday I'll realize that the perfect moment doesn't occur very often.

• I'd do anything for someone who needs my help, but I hate it when people go out of their way for me.

• I stand very firmly in my beliefs. I'm a Christian, and God is my beginning, my end, and everything in my inbetween.

• Sometimes I pull away from people I love, but only because I'm afraid they'll push me away.

• I love music, I love singing, and I don't care what people think.

• I love the rain, because it says everything I can never say in a way that I'll never be able to imitate.

Freedom's Source

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Were it not for the brave, there would be no land of the free.


9/11/01, never forget.

Liberals Are Stupid.

Here's the deal. In general, liberals are a tight-wound, angry bunch of people. Have you ever noticed that everything liberals do is anti-something? Here in Eugene, you see them all the time standing out on street corners, protesting. Yelling about this or that, complaining: anti-this, anti-that, you know what? Anti-your mom.

On the other hand, conservatives tend to be a pretty happy bunch of people. Sure, there are some wacky Republicans out there; and sure, there are some positive Democrats out there but honestly, the bitter Dems far outnumber the unhappy Repubs. Some say that it's because we're in the White House, so obviously we're gonna be happy. True, but you know what? I've never seen a "Clinton: Not MY President" bumper sticker. I see something "W: Not MY President"-related at least every other day. Look, unless you're not an American, he is your president. You know why? Democracy.

So this evening, I put an away message up that said, "Liberals are stupid." Partly just laughing at them for being so uptight, partly because I miss my Republican friends whom I haven't seen in over 3 months. So tonight...

buzzlightyear544: Bush is a retard that cant take care of issues in the states. The problem with party politics is stupid people who say that "Liberals are stupid." Liberals are no more stupid than conservatives and conservatives are no more stupid them. The stupid people are those who are so closed minded that they dont see both sides of the story. Open your eyes and be accepting of someone elses opinion. Without accnoledging and trying to understand the reason for the other persons point of view you will never gain any knowledge and you will be the one that is stupid.

TepidSoda (Autoreply): liberals are stupid

buzzlightyear544: That is a stupid statment we are all just people. Wars are created by people telling each other they are stupid and wrong. And the more you tell someone that they are stupid the more you piss them off and create a problem. Dont be the stupid one and treat people fairly as people not as liberals or conservatives we all have something good to say.

(And then he signed off right away.)

Okay so let's dissect this. You called Bush a retard, then you called me stupid for calling liberals stupid. And then you said I should let their stupidness infiltrate my brain... so I can become stupid like them? Or no, wait, because I'm already stupid. But then you went after the statement, calling it stupid. And then.. "Wars are created by people telling each other they are stupid."

Sorry, last time I checked, the war in Iraq started because somebody called Saddam a "Poo-Poo Head," not "Stupid." [Get your facts right.] And it definitely wasn't because he was killing and torturing his own people without anybody to stop him, no, definitely not that.

That's all I have to say.