What Happened To Our Standards?

Recently, at work, someone made a complaint against me about a joke I made. A joke that I've made for a few years based on how often I've been asked what country I'm from. A joke about needing a translator. I figured I was getting a complaint for telling a driver she almost got me with her vehicle, essentially flying through the parking lot. That happens every day.
Our bothers me most that, compared to our lowest moments of indecency in January, January was a sign we still had some sense, now we're all basically social anarchists in our behavior. "Don't tell me how to live my life," or "It's not like it really matters, right?" You tell them the truth, they get truly offended. You leave them to their ignorance, they get worse.
Not only that, I've come to notice how some people have no problem living a lifestyle role of any decency or nobility. Manners, top them, is a joke, a bad one barely with a chuckle. Someone like me, waiting for marriage, am a joke, if not a generational anomaly, just because I still believe in decency and treating women with both respect and Godly intention. People seem to prefer immediate gratification without patience nor work.
Literally, life is all about them. I told a coworker he should try hiking himself before others. Went from smiling to confused and refused. That told me the sort of guy he prefers to be. Then again, while at work, he serves others. If only our hearts went solely focused on ourselves, we might become a great nation again. As things currently are, we're literally a backward laughingstock compared to everywhere else. In satirical news networks, we're easily made fun of with how far regressive we are with business practices and family values. By statistics, we're only the best at the worst. Tell people this and they're either shameful of the facts or believe you're unpatriotic and need to shut your mouth. To me, this is a multigenerational side effect of walking away from God. You know, the "fairy in the sky" people make fun of flippantly because God doesn't give them the mansion or car or game system they were desperate for. Or worse, believed God would deliver their loved ones from death strictly because of their faith, treating God like a feel-good vending machine. Or disbelieve because our *current* model of evolutionary science "disproves" him. I only say current because it does change every week to every other month, unlike God's Word which never changes, nor His promises.
This one deity is the antithesis of our selfish hearts, our shortsighted minds, or ego-driven personae. That's why, if we're not trained by God-fearing folks, we lose track of Him and follow a deceiving heart and laugh at those willing to set aside personal time to help us get back on track.
Another annoyance the days is when people show a callous recklessness. While at work a short while back, I told a customer I get real annoyed by customers who leave their carts in the middle of the lobby floor. An elderly woman heard me and told me, without a smile, that she does it "because it's your job," I knew she would file a complaint against me if I told her I still recall the trail and of an era when it was expected that people looked out for one another instead of "expected" servants to do their job because they're paid for it. Whatever happened to that humble attitude, too selflessly help each other? It's so rare, people are taken back by examples of it, they get wide-eyed and nearly jaw-dropped when simply does it, let alone without expectation of a reward. And I never ask for compensation.
No, we're so focused on ourselves, we barely pay attention to local traffic laws. Back in February, a college student was killed in a traffic incident by someone running a red light. The first of three this year to be killed by someone too selfish to follow the rules. Yet my area still has drivers who refuse to lookout for pedestrians. At work, I'm more likely to get glare from someone breaking the state law who's trying to illegally speed up (and risk running anyone over) than I am to get the go-ahead by sane people.
Pride. If we're not careful, that will be our downfall long before the next horrifying act of terrorism.

The Quest: Review

An album, three years in the making, has finally come out... last month. Much as I wanted to get it, I was worried my phone would get the wrong impression of downloading music that wasn't on Google Play. Luckily, November 2nd came and Leah fans got the big news: THE QUEST WAS AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES! I immediately purchased it.
Before I go any further, let me mention that, when it comes to reviews for symphonic black metal or Celtic metal (let alone fantasy-inspired metal), there's always the tendency to do comparisons. Whether it's the professional critic comparing to a bigger, established name band or the fan on YouTube comparing some Goth sound to The Lord of the Rings, we always have the instinct to do comparisons. Why? To find comfortable familiarity, some sort of common ground. Which is one thing that irritates me about how most Americans like their music, then they look at me strange when I describe the music, not comparing to other bands, per se, but to certain cultural influences and specific music genres, even when it's something one has never heard of before (mentioned "techno" in regards to another band to a co-worker today, he'd never heard it). With Leah, the style's best described as "Celtic metal with fantasy inspirations" or "Celtic fantasy metal").
This album, by far, is the biggest departure from her norm. I don't mean to say she leaves Celtic metal for *gulp* country music (terrifying thought!!!!!), but, compared to her previous albums and EP (plus digital singles), this album does have its own spin on the genre. No two songs are the same. From the not-radio-friendly-lengthy album opener to the short, yet beautiful album closing ballad, every song has a purpose in how it sounds. Some of the songs have a direct inspiration on where the lyrics come from.
From the announcement of The Quest, Leah made it clear that it would be a departure (of sorts) from her previous projects. For one, this would be a conceptual album. Maybe playing Skyrim effected this? No, she doesn't hide the fact she's a Skyrim addict. So, this album is the musical equivalent of a big quest for a hero to go through. Like better, not-quite-stereotypical stories, there's challenges and hope. I keep getting the feeling "Ghost on a Throne" is inspired by Aragorn meeting the Ghost Army's king. That, in itself, is a nice challenge as that scene dealt with making a near-impossible promise, then keeping to the promise.
After the first three tracks, the album threw a curveball for me, "Heir" started off sounding like a Christmas song, then it got heavy, which gladdened my heart with the creativity in it. It's very hard picking out any song on this as my "favorite," as it were, but "Heir" is a top contender at this point.
At this point, after multiple times listening to this, I still have yet to find any flaws worth mentioning, which is rare for me, even to nitpick about.

5/5

Not the Toxic Fanboy

Have you ever listened to how people talk about or to God? From the perspective of a nerd, there's a term for what people seem to think of God any given time we bash Him for not doing things as WE expect of Him.
Toxic Fanboy.
You know, that fanboy who expects specific things in their fandom(s), anything not matching up and they get furious. What about when the one making the rules gets viewed as toxic?

It's as bizarre as if Mike Pondsmith, creator of the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game, were viewed as a toxic fanboy because people didn't play by the rules he set up for the game. As such, God created not only the universe, He also set up every scientific law that keeps this universe in check. If the theory of the Multiverse holds up, He set those up as well, no doubt in my mind.
So, to put it bluntly, God's not the toxic fanboy, we are. The atheists and skeptics, definitely, but many in the church have become vehemently toxic fanboys as well. The street preacher who condemn the college kid with tattoos. The church secretary who found out a new female member of the congregation used to be a hooker. The anti-gay pastor who constantly uses vulgar homophobic slurs and epithets during his sermons. The church member who secretly believes anyone not of his/her skin color won't go to heaven.
Toxic fanboys.
Sadly, they've existed centuries before pop cons and fandoms became a thing at all. After all, the devil is so jealous of God's power and following, he will always seek a way to bring His kingdom down. And yet, no matter how many cults, twisted sects, and false religions pop up, God's Kingdom still sticks around. 2,000 years after the church started up, after numerous subtle attacks from outside AND inside the church, I can tell the intention was not so much about bringing a building to bare pieces but to have people worship a distorted image of God. What better way than have influential people give bad ideas of the good God? Today, we're super sensitive about hearing someone down some influential pastor we like and stand our ground, "Judge not!," or what ever other scripture literally anyone can take out of context (that verse has quite a few other words in regards to a measurement of judging that aren't as popular as those first two words). Yet, Paul (aka, The Apostle Formerly Known as Saul [the Persecutor]) had no shame nor regrets in calling out several people he identified as heretics (including a blacksmith) and firmly commanded that if a Christian knew of any other heretics, they should do a shout out to inform.
Who cried out against him? To my knowledge, not the heretics themselves. It was either the followers of the heretics or new Christians who'd only heard of Paul as a persecutor and knew him to not be one of the Disciples of Christ. He effectively put those arguments to rest with the authority God put in him. Reading his letters is an excellent way of dealing with toxic fanboys in the church.
In fact, believe it or not, I remember having been one of those toxic fanboys, what Paul called a "quarrel-seeker," but it took hearing a sermon on the roots of anger by one pastor AND a sermon on letting go of your sins for me to realize what was wrong. Right after that second sermon, I took time to pray fervently, forwardly, and fiercely to God about my darkest sins, borderline demanding/begging for forgiveness and definitely got rid of the anger that connected to this demented desire to seek arguments with people and groups that I knew held onto cultic beliefs.
No more. My folks have noticed that change as well. I've quit being a toxic fanboy. So, remember, the One who creates the rules of the game can never be a toxic fanboy, only the fans who don't like this rule (that came out of nowhere) or that rule (because it goes against their preferences).
Just because you (or I) don't always like the rules doesn't mean they're not for our benefits.

Bringing out the Celtic music

Here's something I'm unabashed about- I love music you won't find on the radio. Name a Top 40 artist and I'm lost. I'll almost think you're speaking a different language. I've let people listen to some of what I listen to and get mixed results.
One style to focus on is Celtic metal, which many in my current area (Morgantown, WV) have never heard of, yet get interested in when they listen to when they hear a bit of an artist I have on my phone, Leah.
Styled as LE/\H, Amazon was constantly suggesting her music for several months before I took a chance and listened. To this day, I'm glad I did.
Not only does she write, create, co-produce, and promote her own music, she gives advice and tips to aspiring artists trying to make it in the industry (such as doing their homework on anyone who says they're a producer). Not only that, I haven't come across a song of hers I didn't think was either catchy, addictive, or both.
As I am now part of her street team, I am honored to announce that she will be releasing a crowdfunding campaign for her next album, complete with perks for anyone who gets involved.
So, if you are interested in, say, music that gets you pumped up, music that feels like you're in the midst of Game of Thrones (personally, I'm not, yet perhaps you are?) or journeying with Jill Williamson's Kinsman tribes, or about to reveal your inner dragon whisperer, I, like Amazon did for me, suggest giving Leah a try.

The Year of New Standards?

When the Keanu Reeves movie John Wick came out in 2014, it got a lot of comparisons to Keanu's most famous movie, The Matrix. Released 15 years prior. People online complained it was "nothing like The Matrix, Keanu Reeves isn't the same!" Honestly, they're right about Keanu. It is as though he had grown, matured, improved his acting craft. Yet the audience was showing a generational style of temporal dysplasia. They were stuck in the past, not wanting to grow up as well.
All in all, that tells me our standards have gone backwards. This year, I pray our standards start to improve then raise. In nearly a decade, I've noticed how we have gone downhill in our expectations for ourselves, viral challenges that are becoming more life-and-death extreme. People have shown aggressive ignorance about the way other people are (some have shown callous misunderstanding on using the term "retard" when I mention I'm autistic, for example). A lot of movies I've seen in the past few years that are award-winning or gain rave reviews are, really, quite boring (just watched one such rave-reviewed film last night, The Houses October Built 2. It had elements of real life thrown in the story yet it remained rather predictable and boring. Kept wanting to turn it off after 15 minutes in, it was a cure for my insomnia), overall, I haven't seen a big improvement in my home culture.
Quite frankly, we're less likely to be brought down by terrorism (which happens every 5-10 years) than by ignorance and irresponsibility (every minute). If anything, if we don't improve, we're just helping our enemies before the next attack.
I still pray, not just for national improvement, but for my own pride to get settled.