My rainy day craft box

I hope I don't sound obsessed with the crazy McPherson woman but in the words of Apocalypse Woman's antagonist, I am flattered to be the target of such exquisite hate.

She went and checked out my Facebook profile and had to comment on its "shocking, bizarre pictures." (I currently have a banner by surrealist artist David Ho,) and how it contains "the f-word." I can't see anywhere on my wall where the f-word has been used recently. She then goes on a tangent about the theophanies (physical manifestations,) of God in the Bible. I point out that said theophanies, if illustrated would make for shocking and bizarre pictures, (e.g, the Writing On the Wall, the chariot of Ezekiel's vision, etc.) trying to make the point that the shocking and bizarre should not be dismissed offhand because God uses it for His purposes too.

I think this really frightened her or something. She told me I was "too educated, too filled with abominations, and too chilling in my religious beliefs." She also "kind of likes me but wouldn't dare reach out."

It gets better. She then insulted another poster on the thread's mother. It turns out said poster's mother was murdered. Yeah, I may not know when to back out of these situations but this time it was obvious even to me.

I swear all I wanted to do was learn the political views of folks from my hometown!

I feel bad like I'm posting internet drama or something. I'm really not trying to. This person is just so fascinating from a psychological standpoint.

Today on Facebook I stumbled across a community called SoundOff McPherson where people from my hometown discuss political issues.

It makes me really glad I don't live there anymore. At what point did the easygoing kids I went to school with turn into insular, reactionary right wingers? I almost hate using that term because it makes me sound like I'm exactly the kind of liberal I hate who equates right wing with evil. Truthfully, I can tolerate people of dissenting political opinion as long as they show that they're capable of arguing intelligently. But my hometown friends, they're over there spouting stuff that's only about one degree removed from Birther rhetoric. I feel bad for the handful of liberal/centerist types I see in there whose every comment brings them about twenty flames from the right wing side.

I love the town where I grew up, but it's always contained this undercurrent of meanness and small-mindedness. That probably sounds like I think small town folk are stupid. They're not. No, I'm talking about a certain local culture that seems to take pride in ignorance and stand-offishness. That's something that can exist in the heart of a city as easily it can in the heart of wheat fields. McPherson just seems to have it so strongly for a town where incomes are higher than average for a town of its size.

What's sad is I'm thinking about joining the community because whoever runs it really is trying to engage the townsfolk in meaningful political dialogue and is putting some very intriguing and under-reported news articles on the table. *sigh* It's my town and I love it. I've just learned it's easier to love it from a distance.

In honor of the first day of October and the season of Halloween here's some scary stuff that's been on my mind.

-I'd like to call your attention to Marble Hornets:a well-plotted and truly creepy story told over a Youtube channel and across a couple of websites. THE PREMISE: A student film maker acts increasingly strange until finally stopping work on his film and abruptly leaving town. A few years later a friend of his decides to watch the footage of the incomplete film to see what might have caused his odd behavior. What he finds is... well, you'd probably skip town too. To get the most out of the story be sure to follow Jay's Twitter feed as you watch the videos. Given how stupid I think Twitter is, the fact I'm telling you to look at a Twitter feed should say something. Marble Hornets joins Silent Hill, House of Leaves, and The Ring as part of the handful of things I've actually found scary. Given the similarities it shares with all of them this is unsurprising.

-A story chassit19 told me last night about a man accidentally driving over his young daughter reminded me of a horrifying Driver's Ed film I hadn't thought of in years. Driver's Ed films being ridiculously over the top with the scare tactics is a cliche unto itself, but this one was really messed up. I can't remember the title but it focused on the dangers of drunk driving. A man drinks too much in spite of (because of?) his wife constantly nagging him to stop and is always driving intoxicated. There is a subplot involving the couple's young son carving a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. On Halloween night the man stops at the bar, gets drunk and drives home but to the surprise of the viewer makes it home okay. As he's getting out of the truck his wife comes out and starts nagging at him about drinking and being late and how their poor son had been waiting outside to surprise him with the completed jack-o-lantern. As the man ignores her and stumbles into the house, and as the woman goes the opposite direction to find the son, the camera slowly zooms in on the truck to reveal... the pumpkin embedded in the radiator grill! Off camera we hear the woman start screaming. Cut to black.

Fucked. Up. Even by Driver's Ed standards :/

So everyone who has ever liked comic books, video games, or anything like that has at one time played the stupid game of Could So-and-So Kick Such-and-Such's Ass in a Fight. People do this all the time with their favorite characters, but I don't think I've ever seen it done with anyone's favorite sentient places. So I created this poll. The island of Lost vs. the town of Silent Hill. Go. [Poll #1185237][Poll #1185237]