Reasoning with Madness
"This is a barbaric yawp, and it will be sounded over the roofs of the world."
-Walt Whitman
 I was never handed anything.
I recieved no bailouts from a generation before me, who weren't required to have a degree. I tried living for awhile without going to college and hit the ceiling. My degree was necessary to my success in life. And I have been paying this loan longer than any bill of my entire existence. At the rate I can afford, it will be the most hideous debt I've ever incurred. It will be paid off shortly before I retire. I didn't want it. I needed it. I borrowed an obscene amount of money to simply have some modest success in America. And I do mean modest. College isn't a luxury. It was required. A country that looks down on education and treats it as a for profit, for the wealthy only, will suffer the consequences for it. And we the people will foot the bill. To the older crowd who shouts it isn't fair: your education never came close to the cost of mine and you didn't need college to get a good job, buy a home and have a family. I did. At least that's what you told us. For decades. It was your generation who set the rates. Jacked the price. Turned school into a casino. Into another money pit with only one goal: profit. It's the only bill that can't be wiped from bankruptcy. It's time to blow that fucking idea to pieces. Fuck this shit.
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4/22/2019 0 Comments making history At the Oregon state Capitol today with our Director of Government Affairs where we are meeting with lawmakers to discuss the passing of OR House Bill 2740 which will create an Oregon Hemp Commission and Program. #historyinthemaking #hemp #oregon
4/10/2019 0 Comments happy 70th birthday dad Today is the 70th birthday of a man who has been a rock of inspiration, support and encouragement, even during his own horrific trials and tribulations. He has survived stage 4 prostate cancer, multiple heart attacks and far, far worse, to emerge on the other side stronger and more fierce than ever.
As a child, he encouraged me to never stop playing with toys or reading my comics, he bought my first guitar (that he built from spare parts and left under a Christmas tree), he pushed me to "try out" radio in my early 20s, giving me the permission to be myself and play "whatever I wanted", he pushed me to pursue journalism, be a writer and go back to school and not be the guy who didn't "make it" because I didn't have that expensive degree that he never got. Despite my martial arts training early on, he made me realize that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. He took care of his family in the hardest of times and inspired his first born son to do the same when the old man fell into darkness and horror and lost everything, while his family was blown to bits, due to a corrupt and hideous legal system that cares more about winning than being right. He is probably the smartest human being I know, who can fix anything and is currently using a 3D printer (that he assembled and programmed himself) to build from scratch a machine he's been developing for over 40 years that just might change the entire world. The son of Italian and Swedish immigrants, being the first generation born in the US on that side of my family, he started working as a young child to make ends meet for his family when his father (the man I was named after) suffered a catastrophic stroke that eventually took his life shortly before I was born. Later in his life, he made a name for himself in the radio biz, having introduced Grand Funk Railroad on their live album back when he was a hotshot rock jock in 70s. It was during this time that he met his soul mate who later become his wife, over the radio when she would call in to request songs by her favorite bands. When they finally met in real life, he fell head over heels in love with the long blonde haired beach girl hippy and got married. They had three kids, a son and two daughters. They both worked their whole life through good and bad, in the media world, education, politics, pharmacies and more all to support the three maniacal kids they were raising...eventually moving from Florida to Oregon and now they are both happily retired in the sleepy hills of Sweet Home, OR. There is far more to his story than I can write here, but I have to say I am proud to call that man my father. Happy 70th birthday Carl E. Sundberg, the best dad, mentor, musician, engineer and terrible joke teller a guy could know. It was great eating ribs with you and mom this weekend. I know I'm breaking the rules of wishing for things on your birthday, but here's a prayer and a open wish that we'll be celebrating your 100th birthday one day. Knowing the kind of tank that you are, that doesn't seem so far out of reach. Talk soon. I love you old man. Thank you for everything. 4/4/2019 0 Comments a new era Today was my last day at Afton Shows.
No bad blood, it's been a wild ride with many laughs and amazing conversations. I've made some great friends there, but it's time for a new trip. An unbelievable opportunity recently presented itself to me. I accepted an offer for the Media and Communications Manager for one of the biggest CBD/Hemp companies in the northwest. As many of you know, I have wanted to work in the cannabis industry for many years. And now I will be. A new era has begun. Tonight we celebrate. #cannabis #cbd #hemp #scotch #glenlivet |
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