"Those who do evil to others, you will come to know me well..."

Got VIGILANTE JUSTICE on the mind

So last week I may have gone a little crazy. Last week I was seriously considering pulling a Batman or a Punisher and letting loose with a little vigilante justice on someone. Who, you may be asking, has incurred such terrible wrath from me?

Heck if I know, I never met the guy. Never even seen him.

Last week, a friend from high school was telling me about another girl from Butler High, about how her husband has been beating her. Badly. This girl married an older man right after she graduated high school. Actually, I don't know, it could have been while she was a student. I don't know all the facts really. What I remember is she married this guy who was like in his 30's and left his then current girlfriend or wife for this teenager. So they get married and have two children together.

Now, I only really talked to this girl while I was in 10th grade. Never spoke to her afterwards, but I knew who she was. So there's no real reason for me to be interested in how she's doing today. But then my friend tells me that this girl walks into work with pretty bad black eyes and the like...

I don't know her anymore. I don't know the real story behind her marriage. I don't know if it was her husband. I'm hearing all this from second-hand sources.

So, hmmm, what do I know?
1. This guy left his girlfriend/wife for someone else.
2. This guy is at least 10 years older then her.
3. This guy hired her to work for him when she was 14, so he's known her since she was extremely underage.
4. This guy married her close to her high school graduation.
5. This guy very likely hits her often.
6. This guy is pure scum.

I can't describe the rage I felt when hearing the news that this girl has been getting beat up by her husband. Guys like that, guys that take advantage of younger women, manipulate them, make them fall in love with them, already piss me off pretty badly. But to hear that this "man" might be hitting her in the face is lower than low. And something snapped within me.

I started getting curious. I asked for the guy's name. I asked for where he works, the different locations he frequented. For once in my life I was actually considering seeking vengeange for someone. And I don't even know this girl.

My "plan", if you can call it that, sounded great when it came to me. I'd find out where they live. I would scope the place out and wait for the time to strike. I'd wait for a fight. When I see this fight from across the street in my car, I would take a few quick photos for evidence, put on a mask, grab a baseball bat, and barge into the house. When the guy confronts me about coming in- WHAM! I hit him across the face with the bat. Then, when he's down on the ground, confused, surprised, dizzy from the blow, I smash each of his hands, and each of his fingers. As he lays there, crying out in pain, I attach a large note to his chest that says, and here's the kicker, "Now you'll never lay another finger on her again."

To protect myself, I turn the photos in anonymously to the girl's parents and the authorities, and the rest would be history. I told my friend this, the one who told me about the domestic violence, and she encouraged it. She said she hates the husband, as do many other people who know about the beatings. I really, really, wanted to write about this last week, but decided I better not leave any self-incriminating evidence, such as a blog detailing my plan, if the cops ever go a-looking.



But, let's not be rash. Isn't that a crazy thought? To actually entertain the idea of hurting someone like that? But he deserves it, doesn't he? I can't stand the idea of injustices like these going on around me. I hate, HATE so-called "men" who berate women and harm them physically. What kind of lowlife does that sort of thing to his own wife, the mother of his children?

I won't lie. I still sometimes consider doing this. I hope that doesn't make some of you think less of me. But, I think in writing this blog, I am denying myself the opportunity to go through with it. This would be evidence that would hurt me in court.

But why do women put up with this crap? I bet the guy tricks her into thinking she deserves it, that she did something wrong and deserves the punishment. And all it takes is for the guy to do one good deed, no matter how small it might be, like to leave a note saying "I'm sorry. I love you" on the kitchen table in the morning, and it erases all the terrible things he did in the past. Because that one tiny little good will be the brightest spot she's seen when compared to the total darkness she's been living in, and that will make up for all the pain she's been put through. It's that type of brainwashing that makes me pity her. And hate him.

And then I hear about another girl who broke up with her boyfriend recently because he was too nice, TOO NICE, and she expected it to get really bad soon, because it always does for her. And to save herself the pain, bc she really likes this guy, she went ahead and ended it early. What kind of a messed up world are we living in?

Anyway, that had been weighing heavily on me the past few days. So if you hear on the news about some wife-beater ending up in the hospital with a concussion, broken hands and fingers, and a warning note attached to his chest... Please, don't tell anyone about this blog.

--Cbake

P.S. Thanks everyone for the comments. I look forward to hearing what you guys think about this development.

'Tis the season to get married...

Well, another one bites the dust. As of today, another female friend of mine is engaged to be married.

And all I can think of is, are we really getting this old?

This now makes... over ten people I know who are now married or engaged. Some unions I approve of- I know the couple involved, the two have known each other for years or have dated for a few. Then there are other engagements I hear about that just make me think there is something in the water, something that drives young people mad and sets delusions in their heads that make them believe if they do not meet someone to marry in college, then they will be single for the rest of their lives. I know people who are engaged that haven't even been together a year. I know a couple that got engaged only four months after meeting each other.

Doesn't that sound a little strange? Or am I this pessimistic about love now?

This latest engagement just strikes me as odd because now that this particular girl is engaged, it leaves only one female that I've been involved with who remains single.

Courtney? ENGAGED.
Nicolette? ENGAGED.
Kelly? RECENTLY ENGAGED.

Granted, I never dated those first two, but they were pretty big crushes in high school, and everyone thought we were going to date, and everyone thought we should date, and I swear sometimes it felt like we were close to dating, and God knows in high school it certainly feels like that girl is the only one for you at that time. Now, Kelly I dated senior year, and she's the newly engaged girl I was telling you about. Maybe that's why it feels weird, because she and I were actually together.

Or maybe it feels weird because that only leaves Cristina now as the one girl I've dated or liked a whole heck of a lot who remains single. Just one girl left.

So, can anyone shed some light into this mystery of mine? Do many of you feel you're in the right place in life to get married? Those of you that desire it, is there some fear that drives you into wanting to get married soon, some dread that tells you getting married is playing it safe? Do most of you feel that you really won't meet anyone else in life after this?

I sometimes forget most of our elders married young, around 18-21. Heck, my mom and dad had me at 23, and now that I'm rapidly approaching that age, I just feel weird.

I don't know. "That's just my interpretation. Of the situation."
--Cbake

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can..."

I saw Spider-Man 2 tonight at the dollar theater. It was only my second time seeing it, which can be considered a travesty when I've seen most movies like this, movies I've been waiting years to see, at least two or three times. Movies in that category include Jurassic Park, the Star Wars films, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I saw The Fellowship of the Ring a combined total of nine times- how's that for geeky).

I went to the movie by myself, which doesn't bother me and is a moot point. I wanted to see the movie again, but I also wanted to compare it to The Incredibles. Both movies have been hailed as "The greatest super-hero movie of all time". After seeing Spidey again, I must saw The Incredibles is the better film, but Spider-Man 2 is the more emotionally involving.

Whereas the Incredibles is about family, Spider-Man 2 is about destiny and coming to grips with oneself. Both films deal with questioning one's place in the world. Why am I here? Why was I given these gifts if I'm not allowed to use them (In Bob and Dash's case)? Why was I given these gifts if they only bring me pain (in Peter Parker's case)?

And boy was there a lot of pain.

So much pain that Peter fights his destiny and decides not to be Spider-Man anymore. He runs away from being a hero. And you know, being a hero is hard. It's scary, it's thankless. People always say it takes a great deal of courage to be a hero, but now I realize it's not because being a hero is dangerous. It's because being a hero will go unnoticed, just as the old saying says about good deeds goes. Obviously Spider-Man is very noticable, as are his heroics. But it's Peter's sacrifices that remain unseen. Who was it, Plato maybe, that said in The Republic (correct me if I'm wrong), that man is inherently bad. Man will not do a good deed unless it goes noticed, unless he gets recognition for it. The only reason man will do something good is to get credit for it. For if no one were to see you do something good, why would you waste your time doing it?

The great thing about Spidey is he puts such a human face on being a hero that it makes him instantly relatable. Who doesn't feel Peter's pain when he says to himself "Am I not supposed to get what I want?" How many of us ask ourselves this question when we realize the path our life is now headed is a different one than once thought? He's questioning his destiny, and it's at this moment that he realizes in doing the right thing he will have to give up his dreams and everything he's ever wanted. The girl he's always wanted, the life he's always wanted. And no one will ever know of the sacrifice he's making. That's what makes him a hero, and that's why we look up to him. How many of us would do the same thing? Because really, no one would know about it.



In the Incredibles, Bob Parr is wondering the same thing as Peter (Can I not get what I want most in this life?). Bob knows what he was put on the earth for, but his destiny is denied from him by the government instead of by his choices. He was given gifts and he's denied the chance to use them for good. If I was older, I'm sure I could relate more to Bob's metaphor for a mid-life crisis, but he seemed to me to be like a middle-aged Spider-Man, worried about placing his family in danger.

In the end, both films say it is a great disservice to not know oneself, to not know one's place in the world. Bob has nothing to live for when his powers are denied. Dash can't truly be himself because he's forced to hold back. Peter doesn't know if he wants to do what's best for himself or best for the world around him. Knowing oneself will make one's life easier to live. We can't deny ourselves or the world our gifts. Unfortunately, I'm at that strange place where my future is uncertain and I'm questioning my destiny, if such a thing exists. I know what I want, but it's the getting what I want that proves to be difficult and changes my perception on what I always thought my future would be.

Wow. I just got a sense of deja vu. And in the deja vu I told myself I was having deja vu. Weird. I must be thinking about this stuff too much.

MINI-INCREDIBLES REVIEW
The Incredibles is a great movie and the most fun I've had at the theater in awhile. It's got a wonderful retro/classic Bond feel to it when it comes to the design of the Parr's home, the vehicles, and the jazzy musical score. Dash and Violet's bickering is instantly relatable to anyone with a sibling, and the sacrifices Elastigirl makes in order to keep her family together will strike a chord with any parent I'm sure. This is what the Fantastic Four adaptation should have been like. It's coming out next year, but I can already tell it won't come close to holding a candle next to The Incredibles. It's probably the best movie I've seen all year. Give it the Oscar nod for Best Picture, not just Best Animated Film.

I hope it beats the pants off Shrek 2.
--Cbake

"Oh, so they have the internet on computers now?"

Welcome to the Internet my friend.
Welcome to the 21st Century.

After months of unemployment and days of twiddling my thumbs, I decided to join the rest of the world in this strange LiveJournal/Blogging craze. Because, like most self-absorbed people, I'm under the delusion that people will care about what I think. I've been told by a friend that when "doing a blog you'll feel slightly psychotic and become very aware of the fact that you are talking to yourself; this is normal."

Since I have lots of time on my hands, in the coming months you might find movie reviews, trite complaints, insightful comments, drunken ramblings, and other typical Blog-type stuff on here. So without, further adieu, let's begin with a little bit of jealousy.

This past summer, as many of you know, I had an internship in Los Angeles and, well, loved it. I was one of only four people in my internship group from UNC to return to North Carolina, and the only reason the other three came back was because they were juniors and needed to graduate. Everyone else who had already graduated, like me, stayed to find jobs and work in Hollyweird. Everyone but me.

Yesterday I was notified by one of my friends that she had just shaken hands with Mel Gibson. Mr. Braveheart himself. Mad Max. The Lethal Weapon. Sure, it's no biggie, but it's enough to make me wish I was there to do the same. Ah well, all in good time I suppose.

There. That wasn't so bad. I can get used to this. Till tomorrow boys and girls...
--Cbake