Lie to me! What is truth other than some sort of disguised weird motivation? Why is the truth so important to hear? Isn’t truth just our perception of the facts? The truth sets us free we are told. Does it set us free to hear it? Or does it encapsulate us in our thoughts wondering why we didn’t know this truth? Does it make others bad for protecting us from certain truths? Why do we think the facts are so important? Do they wake us up to ourselves or push us away from the reality we are trying to create for ourselves. Questions questions! Do we really need to hear answers? Isn’t reality ours to create? Why yes it is! Damn this notion of the truth. And why do others spring this truth on us? Why do we spring the truth onto others? Selfishness I say and no other reason. Spare me your psychoanalysis. I love my reality. Don’t destroy it because of your own guilt. If you really are paying attention to me as you say, do me a favor and lie to me!

My brain is not working today. How is that a thing? Every time I try to focus my mind sees a shinny object. I feel locked in thought and I can’t get out yet my mind is blank. It’s like getting owned by a wave wondering when it will spit me out for a small sip of air. You are certain that it will but the panic of not knowing when makes it hard to breath. Why does my brain play possum? I know it’s in there. I know it wants to come out and play. But yet it hides and makes me play guessing games as to what I should be thinking or doing. Who is really in charge of me when my brain is being stubborn? And why is he confused if he is in charge? Why won’t my brain just come back and hang out? It’s like there is a secret handshake that I forget sometimes. Why must it tease me? I’ve been a good boy. Wait, is trying to talk to my own brain weird? And if so, is the fact that it doesn’t respond make it even weirder? Damn weird one way communicating brain. Stop being on strike. Who authorized this leave of absence? Not sure if you know this but you are in my body and you work for me. I guess I can’t fire you though so you win this round. Well played. I’ll just continue to coast until you’re back. Come back brain! Please clock back in so I can continue thinking about stuff.

Not so long ago I posted my thoughts on a social media page about the Confederate Flag situation. As a Southern man, I saw this flag literally daily some way or another. Now I am not racist nor does that flag make me angry but the gist of my post was how the South lost the war that that flag was representative of and it seemed odd that keeping it around in a government setting was still a thing. There was tons on controversy and ultimately it was put to a vote in South Carolina and the flag came down. Hooray for moving forward. But then things go too far and that is what brings me here today. I have friends, social media friends anyway, in the South that will tell you that the confederate flag is their heritage and they give all of the reasons why they aren’t racist and the world is just too PC. Maybe. Then I have the same set of friends out here on the west coast that say all southerns are a little racist for not seeing that the flag is a symbol of hate. Also Maybe. But here is the problem, The Dukes of Hazzard has been removed from syndication and all of the toys have been pulled from shelves. Now If you are someone that doesn’t care then you just aren’t involved in what is really right and wrong. What does a television show that is free to watch and not watch have to do with anything. Like it or not the Stars and Bars is a part of our history. And if you think no blood was spilled in the name of the Union flag(our current one) then you are mistaken. If you think the civil war was about slavery, you are mistaken. Also If you think the removing toys and a show is acceptable, you are, that’s right, once again mistaken. The problem with something offensive is that it is learned and not inherent. We have been taught to take offense to something rather than learn how to understand what is really going on and move forward. Being “offended” is often as offensive as the thing that is offending you. I was lucky enough to not be taught how to be offended but instead to pay attention to the reality around me and try to find the truth in things without rushing to judgement. I feel as if this is an easy thing to do but again it’s because of how I was reared. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that yes, state or government sponsored symbolism of racist or offensive things are bad. However, subscribing to what I like to call the lowest common denominator theory of making sure no one ever can possibly be offended is equally bad. Passion drives us all and it is a good thing. Hate is bad but passion is good. The difference is subtle sometimes and is usually case by case but it’s there. If you truly are arguing or discussing about right and wrong, you will need to be able to, not only tell the difference, but care about the difference if you are trying to get a resolution.

I’ll end with this if you think my issue with them Duke boys is ridiculous….  You can go right now and buy any number of different Jesus action figures and any sunday morning there are numerous Christian shows. In my opinion these are just as offensive to someone of a different relegion. Why can I buy a Jesus figurine but not Daisy Duke? Why, if I’m not christian would I want this programming messing up my sunday funday? As ridiculous as it seems, what will you do when something you think is harmless is removed because it makes someone of a different background and culture slightly less uncomfortable. We, as a community first and Country second, need to be more acceptable and tolerant of others. Especially if we don’t agree. For that is how we make progress.

I want to live in a fort. One made of card tables and old blankets that smell like the closet. I want to live in play and pretend land away from others as they pollute my purity. My inner child likes playing and imagining. I want to live in a fort with others like me. I want to be a firefighter or an astronaut or Aquaman why not. Someone gets to be them. Why not me? Who says I can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound or cast a web to save people from falling? Physics, logic, impossibility? Poppycock. I don’t believe in “can’t.” I don’t believe in impossibility. Only in my imagination. I want to live in a fort. I want to retreat to the safety of imagination when seriousness wins over creativity. When reason wins over spontaneity. I want to live in a fort with my action figures and matchbox cars. No one can see me or know I’m there. I can go in my mind and play with all of my friends. Han, Luke, Chewy. The Six million dollar man. My true friends! Time out. Time in. I saved the world again! Hooray for the good guys. I want to live in a fort.

I’m an observer. I see the world and I want everyone to see what I see. Everyone has a story. Everyone a plan. Some stories intersect; some barely touch but all happening at the same time on the same spot of land. Forward momentum pushes us forward. Intersecting paths give us pause to think. Sometimes there’s a conflict and struggle and sometimes a break through but always momentum pushes us forward. Sometimes we miss it. Sometimes we are forever changed by it but momentum pushes us forward. What are we going forward for? Why do we get in a hurry to get to the only place we were going to get to anyway? Some seem to know. Some seem to not care. Some are better at each situation. Some lie and wait for their sign. I am an observer. Always awake, always watching, always present. I am an observer. A timekeeper, a storyteller. a score keeper. I watch over the store. A referee. I am an observer. Seldom am I involved. To busy rushing to reach my own end. To busy paying attention. So busy I can’t be bothered with something like involvement. For who will do my job? As it is mine to do. But who will live my life if not me? It’s perplexing. I am perplexed. Couples, groups, families all around and I see them all as I go unnoticed. Unseen. Watching, recording, learning, growing. But who will tell my story. I am an Observer!

So first I’d like to say if you have found yourself here I thank you. I am new to blogging but not new on opinions and story telling. I’m not sure if who I am is so important but to get an understanding of my point of view here goes…

I grew up on a 7th generation farm outside of Atlanta. The ATLiens would definitely call that OTP! OTP and ITP refer to people that live inside or outside of I285 that is know as the perimeter as it runs a large circle around Atlanta. This saying is a way to distinguish between simple country folk and the more distinguished metropolitan city dwellers. I’m sure several big cities if not all have this sort of labeling. In LA where I currently live it would simply be called the 909 which is the area code for far away from LA but still in Los Angeles county. Anyway, you get the idea.

After life on the farm and graduating from The University of Georgia, I moved to Nashville with my band for a few years until we moved back to Atlanta, inside the perimeter(ITP) this time. As that ran it’s course I made it as far as Vegas where I lived for a few years until finally finding my way to the beach here in what is know as the South Bay of Los Angeles.

The South Bay quite honestly would be OTP back home but because famous people and wealthy people live here we just refer to it as the bubble. However, from my point of view I still reside and identify with the locals who, hense the name of my site, live way outside the perimeter.

Why does any of this matter to my opinion? Well the truth of that is why does anything matter to anything but since I’m writing this and since someone out there in cyberspace has read this far here goes…

Living on a family farm with history all the way back to Scotland is definitely a different way of life than the music scene that is Nashville, the Metropolitan South that is Atlanta, the strange dynamic that is Las Vegas and the very self important LA. Somehow I have been able to, to some degree, relate to everywhere I’ve lived. I have been able to get to know locals everywhere and see what they consider the important issues to their families and surroundings. I have become the voice of the outside world or at least the voice of a different point of view to several of my friends in every city. I do this not to be argumentative but I feel as if since I have been fortunate enough to have lived around the US and also fortunate enough to have made some good friends that it is my obligation to give back to all of my friends and help different areas understand what makes other areas tick.

We all sometimes get busy in our world and forget that there is so much more going on out there and if we have never lived it we never really understand it. I am always searching for a way for all to at least understand where the other is coming from. I am definitely not one for political correctness or what I call focusing on the lowest common denominator, however, I would like people to at the very least have some real idea what life looks like on the other side of their world.

Thanks for reading and please say hi or leave some sort of comment. I also have been writing what I simply call “little shorts” as I don’t really know what they are but my pen seems to enjoy writing them. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do and I’m sure on some level they will also tell you more about who I am which will circle back around to my discussions. Thanks again for stopping by!