TRENDING TODAY IS...................

I'm not totally sure what's trending, ebola, marijuana, Batman vs Superman. I don't know but it all sounds interesting so take some of those topics and go ahead and start a conversation with the person next to you. Don't sully the interaction with political disagreements and religious strife, just have a conversation because  life is too short to keep your head up your ass.

WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO MEDITATE

Meditation is likely one of the best, if not the best therapy in the world. I find myself over thinking sometimes and angry as well. I find that when I sit and meditate I get to that place that we all long to be. My process may not be comparable to that of a buddhist monk's but it works. I have a couple of ways one of which works as follows:

• I sit 
• I take five deep breaths 
• I close my eyes
• I clear my head 
• I slow my breathing down to the point where I'm fully relaxed

I usually do that for about five minutes and I find that it works for me. To me it's important because I have a bit of a fuse and like anyone else, it goes off every now and again. While some call meditation a fad o BS, I call it the best therapy. Imagine a day where the following things happen: 

• A tire explodes 
• A pipe bursts 
• You burn the souffle
• The cat pissed on the laptop

 How would you rather deal with that day? There's the possibility to do it angrily or do so with calm. If you do it angrily it will look like this: 

Why beat the shit out of someone with a keyboard when you can deal with your bad day in a relaxed way. I recommend meditation, yoga, pretty much anything to keep that emotion in check. All jokes and fun aside make sure to chill because life's too short. 

LEGALIZE IT AND BE DONE WITH IT

I just found out that Uruguay is moving to legalize marijuana and I say good for them. Quite frankly I think that this debate is borderline ridiculous and it should cease once and for all. Weed does not kill people. People say weed serves as a gateway drug but honestly I don't see it. When a person wants to do coke or something far worse, it means they are seriously far into experimentation and self destructive behaviors. Their are many celebrities and luminaries that have used, and currently use weed and they are far from underproductive.

I am not saying weed is for everyone but honestly it's a lot like caffeine, not everyone likes it but many use it. Weed can bolster the economy, farmers can get a new crop, while pharmacies will have something new to sell. I think taxation on weed would lead to a boost in the economy and building a manner of trade would help world economy. If weed were legal it would be a key to make sure that it's properly policed. Establishing proper limits and confining it, the same way as with alcohol, would not make it as dangerous.

Honestly we are living in a different time and we need to embrace certain changes. If someone doesn't want to smoke they don't have to and if someone does, let them. Medicinal marijuana is already legal in some states, so why not? I don't hear about medicinal cocaine, or crack or anything like that. The more you say no to something, the more troublesome and difficult it becomes to contain it. Some drugs should be done away with for sure but I would not rush to put weed in that particular group.

Just mobilize to legalize and be done with it, it's not that big of a deal.

CAFFEINE, A DRUG FOR NORMALCY

Caffeine is keeping me up at night and making me think about things that make no sense. I think about cartoons, wine, planes, trains, and automobiles. It's late and nothing makes a lot of sense I love caffeine almost as much as I love being able to breathe. Caffeine is to me what pot is to stoners trying to learn about life. Caffeine is absolutely fabulous and I enjoy it, I can't quit it. I have heard horrors about caffeine and yet I still love it , I think because it's getting late I am running on fumes.

I think caffeine is a drug of choice for normalcy. Everyone that doesn't do pot does caffeine and it's fine. I enjoy the rush in the night that helps me stay up just a little longer and feeling like I can produce an abnormal number of ideas on paper. Yes, caffeine is my love, my secret love, the one friend I go to in order to enjoy myself. I go to my drug of choice in order to stay up and live the life of a writer with odd hours, incredibly long thoughts and yes, an entry as a result.

TOMMY CHONG IS PRETTY COOL, BUT STILL........

Tommy Chong is pretty cool, like an old stoner with miles of disjointed wisdom. I saw the TMZ video where he sort of backed his daughter's comments about Oprah. I think it's cool that in a laid back and half assed way he sort of agreed with his daughter while trying to keep her from being covered by the wrath of the mighty one. I don't know why there's heat between Oprah and Chong's daughter, to the extent that Rae Dawn Chong would say something so heated about Oprah.

 To bring up slavery as a way to slam a person is pretty offensive. While Tommy Chong did a good job of covering that up in a diplomatic manner, the comment that Rae Dawn Chong comes at a pretty inappropriate time, given the level of tensions in the US  as far as race goes. I am not an Oprah fan because honestly, while she is a great example of success, she is not in the same zip code as Harriet Tubman, or Maya Angelou. Yes Oprah has become a queen in the media and more power to her, but a lot of people helped pave the way for her decades prior and many of them are still unknown.

I still say that using race is a tacky way to express how much you dislike a person. I am hispanic and I dislike some hispanic figures but I would never use racial slurs to express how much I dislike them. A good example is that fat shit that calls himself Pablo Escobar Jr. I would jump at the chance to intellectually slam that fucker, but I would never use a racial slur. Wow Tommy, you defended your daughter while still kinda using race a bit, gotta take it easy on the weed man.

THE MARIJUANA DEBATE

I read an article in the news about the debate over the legalization of marijuana. Various states including Florida are going through the many battles, and considering the avenues, when it comes to legalizing marijuana. Marijuana has often times been called a "gateway" drug that will only open the doors to further experimentation. I think that a person's behaviors and attitudes are really what determine if marijuana is something that they should try or not. I'd like to point out a few things with regards to people's view on marijuana:

1) Every individual reacts differently to it.

2) There are different grades.

3) Marijuana is not necessarily a hallucinogenic drug.

4) I never heard of someone dying of a marijuana over dose.

5) It's a college campus standard.

6) Some people use it to treat complex medical conditions and also mental illness that stems chiefly from chemical imbalances.

I am sure you are thinking that I partake, I don't. I do actually read and research when it comes to maters of this nature. Marijuana use can be controlled if confined to certain areas. In Amsterdam, cafes are mostly for the purpose of smoking, playing pool, and eating chips. There are rarely any instances of people smoking in the street in Amsterdam. If legislature is passed it should definitely include a provision that prohibits users from driving while smoking, or while under of the effects of a joint. I think that, like anything, this is something that can be done if the laws are applied correctly. Over doing it on the smoking is something that affects the user and the user only, provided it's being used in the privacy of one's own home.

This debate will rage on longer but considering how many worst things are out there, I think it will likely die down and pass sometime in the future.

THE LOVE JOURNEY

I used to think that the whole "LOVE" thing was more of a stoner mantra than anything else. I respect people as a rule of thumb and I respect whatever their choices are even if said choices differ from my own. I am sure you are probably wondering why there is a picture of a cannabis leaf in this entry. I will explain that in a minute so please hold on to your commentary.

I was at the metro in Amsterdam one night after a night of discovering the treasures of the city. I was fresh off a delicious meal in an Argentine steakhouse and on my way to a pleasant slumber. I remember that night so clearly. The sky was clear and the air was cold, a December night lit up by trees, light, street music and the feeling of Christmas. I remember I felt uncomfortable with my outfit because I hate wearing layers and restrictive style clothing.

As I sat and looked out the window of the metro I was asked if I was a tourist. The person that asked me the question was a brit with a backpack and a look of immense joy. The fella started asking me what I thought about marijuana and I answered as best I could. I remembered saying that I never felt it really did harm to anyone. The man handed me a card with some drawing and the word LOVE on it. I remember the card looked like a mixture of rorschach's work and ramblings of stoner artist.

Curious I asked my British stoner friend what it was and he responded with " It's life and the answer." I recall that I smiled and proceeded to leave without giving it a second thought. The brit offered me the opportunity to smoke some weed with him but I was not interested so i shook his hand and told him to enjoy himself. When I arrived at my destination I looked at the card and every part drawn in black had a line that resembled  a long and winding road. I thought about what the stoner said for a few days.

I realized that what my burnout friend meant was that love can really solve anything and guide you through some of the hardest roads to travel. I know that love is something we like to associate with hippies, stoners, and weaklings. The fact of the mater is that there is nothing wrong with allowing a little love to penetrate our jaded souls because in the end all the material possessions, bitterness, and differences we have do not accompany us to the grave. Love is the universal force that we are born with, live with, and can chose to go on our never ending journey with. Let's love one another people because it isn't a stoner mantra so much as it is the only absolute reality in life.

FUCK YOU JUSTIN BIEBER, YOU LITTLE ASS

Justin Bieber is a fucking little ass that has an uncanny ability to prove how a moron never really changes his moron stripes. How can this little fucker say that he wishes Anne Frank would have been a fan? Anne Frank was a fighter and a survivor that used writing and her imagination to keep her sane during the worst possible time. Anne Frank's story served as a glimpse into a window of time that was a huge example of human nature at its worst.

Anne Frank lived in a damn attic hiding with her family and another family for way too long. To stupidly say she would have been a "beliber" is to take everything she stood for and make it irrelevant. If anything this little ass should be a fan of Anne Frank's. Maybe the weed Justin smokes is preventing him from actually making comments that are halfway intelligent and giving him the ability to go complete dumbass. I wonder if Justin knows the whole story about how she survived and coped, about her typhoid fever leading to her death, her father Otto, or Miep Gies. I think Justin is a clear example of an idiot celebrity that knows a lot about nothing.

I don't like Justing Bieber and I can't respect him on a personal level, it's not a talent issue. Justin Bieber says " Anne was a great girl" and " She would have been a Belieber." Seriously what does this two dollar Elvis impersonator think? Saying something like that shows and incredible lack of depth and sensibility. I can  appreciate what Justin Bieber has done professionally but he needs to learn to measure his words carefully because quite honestly he is not the center of the world.

FUCK YOU BIEBER!