Come To The Dark Side

So really, is my lack of MoJo driving me insane? Am I that far in the no-motivation-hole that I'm willing to clutch at every straw presented to me? No matter who's at the other end? Am I easy prey for the dark side?

Seriously, I'm a little worried...

So I wake up this morning (late, of course) and while I'm trying to get going, I flip through the TV channels. It's Sunday, so one of the Dutch channels has some kind of religious service on. So does one of the German channels. Both look severely boring. Old oil-paintings of Jesus, priest in traditional garb, lame music...

I get to CNBC and who's preaching to the masses? Joel. Oh no, it's Joel....You know I cannot resist Joel...
I have a morbid fascination with him and he caught me at a weak moment. Damn. He's like this God-fueled motivational speaker...I block out the religious undertones and I really like listening to him.
Yea, I admit it. I like listening to a slightly manic-looking television-preacher from Texas. Sheesh.

Well, today Joel told me that my time will come or might already be here. As long as I work hard and believe in myself, good things WILL come to me.

Hey, who doesn't like to hear that? I think Joel (and maybe other TV preachers) are just like religiously-infused versions of Dr.Phil or Tony Robbins.

They are all making shitloads of money, and hey, why not? I have no problem with that. Especially since they have to keep up this upbeat facade of perfection all the time. I mean, Joel cannot show up and confess that he's having a shitty day and he really didn't feel like getting out of bed. Hehe.

Must be hard work to look like Barbie and Ken sometimes, don't you think?
Wahaha, really, they look like plastic dolls from hell. Stepford wife AND husband. I wonder who's at the controls? Hehe.
See, I guess I'm not a victim of the Lakewood megachurch just yet.

Back to all the motivational people on TV: They are not really hurting anybody and I think it's a good thing to hear their simple message every once in a while: Work hard, believe in your dreams, be a good person.

I mean, I can get behind that. No problem.
Hear that? I think that's my MoJo knocking on the door...

God Is Everywhere

No no, relax. No spontaneous religious conversion here. Not very likely to happen anytime soon...
I just noticed that I think and post about a lot of personal/mood/rant-stuff. Maybe I have too much time to be self-centered and narcissistic lately...

So I decided to put up more pictures and more 'observation'-type writing. At least every once in a while to offset the me-me-me posts...Haha.


I took this picture in the gardens around the State Capitol in Austin, TX, last month. There were a bunch of statues and stones commemorating a number of things. The statue of a cowboy, a frontier woman and other things related to Texas history ("The surrounding 22 acres (89,000 m²) contained 17 monuments and 21 historical markers commemorating the "people, ideals, and events that compose Texan identity."). Pretty neat setup and I enjoyed my stroll around the area.

This thing just got me thinking and quite frankly baffled me a bit. Why put up the 'Ten Commandments' in the grounds surrounding the seat of the state government? Is it meant to be a sign that Christianity and government are or should be linked? Well, just seemed weird to me. First Amendment, anyone? Oh, apparently not just to me:

A granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol was at the center of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case, Van Orden v. Perry, in which the display was challenged as unconstitutional. In late June 2005, the Court ruled that the display was not unconstitutional.

Holding: A Ten Commandments monument erected on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol did not violate the Establishment Clause, because the monument, when considered in context, conveyed a historic and social meaning rather than an intrusive religious endorsement.

Huh. Go figure. Well, I guess I see the point. Still slightly weird, in my opinion. You could also display some kind of slave-owner-manual and claim it's a historical document, no?

Well, then I also found this:

A tablet in front of a very sad looking patch of land with no roses. Well, it was February after all. But look at the last sentence: "The beauty of the Tyler rose is an example of what happens when God and man work together." Oh really?

Oh well, I don't know...Here are a few more pictures of less controversial memorials and statues:

I really liked this memorial. Looked pretty awesome in the sun, with the shadows creating odd patterns. Neat. It reminded me a little of the Vietnam Memorial in D.C.
The aforementioned Texas pioneer lady and the cowboy:

The boy scouts sponsored a small replica of the Statue of Liberty:
Oh, all quotes in this post from Wikipedia (Don't want to be accused of plagiarism after all. But I am too lazy to post exact links. Hehe). Pictures by Me.