ALIENS AMONG US.

I am a believer that aliens do walk among us. Not the undocumented, sneaking in from other countries, illegal alien ones but the zipping in from outer space in U.F.O.'s kind of aliens.

Perhaps a little background. I grew up reading science fiction and always had a love of science. I was terrible at science in school but still loved it...and do to this day. Science Fiction just seems to keep stimulating the aging brain cells as well. My take on the "Are We Alone In The Universe" debate falls heavily in the "Not Bloody Likely" camp. I think that considering the size of the known universe (let alone the UN-known parts) it's a little naive to think we are alone. Hell, we still find new species of plants, animals and bugs on our own planet and still don't know what surprises are still to be found in the world's oceans. Our technology and science is good but we are a long, long, long way from knowing everything.

Just a little tip of the hat to the God fearing folk who might read this. If God created just us on this one planet, tucked away in a dusty corner of this insignificant galaxy, in an infinite universe...well, that's one hell of a back yard He gave us to play in. Not looking to debate Science vs Religion, it's just my opinion.

So, this brings me to the question of why us? Why would advanced alien cultures want to come here? We're an out of the way planet and, relative to them, technologically backwards. Who would care about visiting a pretty blue planet, far from the centre of things (galactically speaking) with (again, relative to them) few, if any modern amenities?

Tourists, that's who. Aliens visiting our planet are bloody tourists.

Think about it. Where do WE go when we want to get a way from it all? The wilderness. An island. Back to the basics. Somewhere far, far away from the day to day grind. Yup, Aliens are just a bunch of rich, big city asshole tourists out for a bit of "fun" with no concern for anything or anybody else.

And here is why I think this is so.

Crop Circles - Do our anthropologists or archaeologists go to foreign countries and run about defacing other peoples property? Nope. So why would advanced alien scientists? Crop circles are the asshole alien tourist version of asshole North American tourist graffiti.

Cow Mutilations - Just the alien version of our own big game hunters. Don't know why alien tourists think killing our cows with surgical precision is fun but, then again, I don't understand why earthly hunters enjoy killing elephants or lions or rhinos either.

Abductions and Probing - Our technology includes MRI's, X-Rays, CAT scans, and other non invasive technologies so why would a more advanced society use probing? They wouldn't. It's the alien tourist version of our own planet's nasty foreign sex trade.

U.F.O. Crash Sites - This is the big one. With a quick Google search I found there were at least 36 "Documented" U.F.O. crash sites that have been discovered since the early 1940's. 36 crash sites. I just can't believe alien scientists have the technology to build galaxy spanning space ships, with faster than light abilities, and can actually find their way all the way here just to crash on arrival. Who the hell does that? Drunk, asshole tourists, that's who. No different than our own drunk, asshole tourists in foreign countries.

There, all explained...your welcome.

WHY WRITE.

I'm a fairly laid back kind of guy as far as life goes. I don't really give much thought, or even care, what others may think of the choices I have made, or will make in the future, about things in my life. I work at a job that I like but won't make me rich. I dress appropriately for what the occasion demands but strive for comfort over fashion. I live in a house that isn't big and fancy but serves my needs. My car is 26 years old but reliably gets me where I want to go. My motorcycle is 10 years old but always puts a smile on my face when out riding. I have good friends, great kids, a fantastic wife, and parents and siblings who seem to like me.

So...If I'm not driven by fame, money, fashion or possessions, what does get me going? I'll tell you what. Writing. I like to write. What's more, I like the responses I get from my small circle of readers about what I write. I enjoy the feeling I get when people comment on these posts. I like to get "Likes" on my Facebook posts. In short, I suppose, I like being liked.

I think most of us feel this way to a certain extent. As human beings we seem to need to seek approval from those around us and, for me, I get this from my writing.

My goal, such as it is, is to entertain others with my thoughts and words. This gives me the warm fuzzies. Does this make me vain? I don't think so. If anything, it shows more insecurity than anything else. I can live with that...I do live with that.

This post is quite a departure from what I normally babble on about and I want to tell you why. I went four months without posting to this Blog. I don't know why I suffered this dry spell...I just did. Yesterday I forced myself to sit down to write something even though I had no particular idea where it would go. I posted the results and immediately felt better about...well...everything.

What forced me to sit down yesterday to write? Well, let me tell you. A friend of mine, Liberty Forrest, is a professional writer, with real books, and real sales and real awards and all sorts of real writerly stuff going on. (check her out at www.libertyforrest.com). We got together for coffee a year or so back and she tried to give me some advice on writing when the mood does NOT strike you. Because I can be both stubborn and lazy I filed this wise and sage advice back in a dusty unused part of my brain and did not use it...until yesterday. The advice? Sit down and start to write. It doesn't matter what you write...just write...even the same word over and over...write something. There was other excellent advice as well but this was the bit that fit the bill.

And so it goes again today, Thank you, Liberty, for your friendship and free advice...this wild departure from my norm is your fault...and I truly appreciate it.

A WEDNESDAY MORNING IN JUNE.

It's a little chilly this morning so instead of kicking back on the deck with a coffee and a book I have turned on some tunes and plopped the lap top on my, well, lap and have started typing. No central theme today; I am in the mood to ramble...blame the tunes.

Ah, one of my favorite songs just came on; "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by The Band. What band you ask? Don't bother, I think I hear your mommy calling you in for breakfast and your favorite Taylor Swift song is on.

Anyway, this got me thinking. I like the original by The Band but I like the cover by Joan Baez as well. This is unusual as I don't normally like covers of tunes when I like the original. The one big exception to this is "Black Magic Woman" by Carlos Santana. I like this a lot better than the original by Peter Green...you know..."Fleetwod Mac"? Did I lose anybody yet? No worries, I'm sure there's a Miley Cyrus tune out there for you.

(Short break for cranking it up for "The Moody Blues")

Back to the action...

I can't figure out if I'm some sort of music snob or just a grumpy old fart set in my ways. There is a lot of good music out there today...it just seems you have to work harder at finding it. Seems to me most of the commercial stuff is repetitive, with meaningless lyrics, and the instrumental play (if it's not some techno-electro-computer generated crap) is secondary instead of complimentary.

On the other hand, my parents have been known to yell "Turn down that noise!"

Grumpy old fart it is, then.

Following the theme (contrary to what I wrote in the first paragraph) of old fartedness, some weird shit going on...body-wise.

How come my fingernails grow faster than my toenails? I'm not complaining, mind you (toenails are harder to clip as my waist seems to be getting a little more in the way these days) just wondering.

And on the topic of growing things; what's with the wildly erratic grey hairs? Always growing twice as fast as the others that still retain some colour and in some contrary direction or weird spiral.

Told you I was going to ramble.