A Dying Dream. This song was recorded and titled when I was a teenager. https://soundcloud.com/thepetersam/a-dying-dream?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing During my twenties, I compared myself to Jon Foreman. Approaching the age of twenty-four, I wanted to write a song that rivaled his, Twenty-Four. Once I became twenty-five, the hypothetical potential was gone. I could no longer amuse myself with [...]
14- FAILED ART CAREER
I didn’t grow up wanting to be an artist, but art was always something to do and I haven’t permanently left the pursuit. I’ve mentioned before that both of my parents had abusive upbringings. My father’s response was to be distant, paranoid of emotionally scarring his children. My mother began collecting and reading every parenting [...]
13- ERASING AN OIL PAINTING
Eight months after my father’s death, during the week of his birthday, I produced my most criticized painting. To be fair, I refrained from confessing my emotional condition to peers and instructor to allow an honest critique. My work hung on the wall among six other paintings by classmates. When the discussion arrived at mine, [...]
12- A BOX OF POPCORN
Christmas is about Jesus and not presents, but I keep remembering that my opa (grandpa) gave me a 10-pack of popcorn one year for Christmas. I would not complain if he was a poor man doing what he could for a grandchild, but he stole my father’s inheritance and traveled the world with the money. [...]
11- PEDAGOGY + EDUCATION
This particular list was shared by one of my college professors. The grievance is that there are holes in education. These holes are proof of propaganda. This selective absence of information is a prejudice that enhances one group while maligning all others. Education standards have been manipulated by nefarious people and practices that must be [...]
10- A QUESTION WAS ASKED AND I RESPONDED
Throughout drafts of writing this, my thoughts have strayed from the topic at hand. As a millennial man attracted to the teachings of Mark Driscoll and Jordan Peterson, what was/is the appeal and connection to them? Our contemporary culture is reacting to previous circumstances. This should be an obvious observation, but we (as a common [...]
9- DOUBLESPEAK & WRONGTHINK
The banjo player is leaving a world-famous band after receiving backlash for approving a controversial book. An apology was issued, but that too received backlash. It’s funny because he’s the banjo player, in trouble for reading a book. For those of you that don’t follow Mumford, here’s the explanation given by Winston. I understand the [...]
8- ANOTHER CONTROVERSY [ FEBRUARY 21, 2018 ]
Last week, teenagers were busy eating detergent. This week, they’re marching at municipal buildings. To be fair, I don’t suspect the teenagers eating Tide Pods are the same ones demanding legislation. Yet, even if they were, I admit that seeing death has a way of drastically changing perspective. Having said this, I want to show [...]
7- RULES FOR THEE [ January 7, 2020 ]
I would rather ignore controversy, but offending people seems inevitable. The only way to avoid such conflict is to have belief without definition. However, that is not an honorable way to live. Blog posts like this are why I hesitate to share my website with friends. Some will appreciate my thoughts despite disagreements, but I [...]
6- ECHO CHAMBER
I have worked in environments surrounded by liberals (at one place, Trump’s face was given a Hitler mustache and posted on a dartboard) and I have worked in environments surrounded by conservatives (at one place, we listened to Rush Limbaugh in the afternoons). The point of interest to me is that both parties feel marginalized [...]
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