brian's opinion on . . .

. . . the israeli-palestinian conflict.

okay, so . . . i know this subject has been rehashed and rehashed a million times and no one seems to be able to agree to a settlement. i know not everyone will agree with what i think.

but here is my view on the best way to resolve the issue.

the two-state solution has always made the most sense to me. give the palestinians their own sovereign country and they will be far less likely to harass israel. israel, in turn, will also be far less likely to bother the palestinians. the neighboring arab nations would also be happy.

so . . . everybody wins!

except for maybe israel . . . from a certain point of view . . . but even they would have to be happy to have peace after dealing with this for so long.

so basically, in brian's world, the west bank and gaza strip should be made into a palestinian homeland. ideally, the government would not be religiously affiliated. of course, ideally, neither would israel's.

israelis currently occupying the settlements in these two areas would be offered the choice of palestinian citizenship or the chance to move. maybe even given a nice period of time to make this decision. some period of time, say, between 3 months and a whole year.

after this period is over, israel removes military forces from the area and palestine gets its independence. a government, possibly elected during the interim period of israeli decolonization so that they would be prepared, takes over.

poof! two countries! and, while they still may not like each other, at least the likelihood of rocks and missiles flying through the air would diminish.

biggest obstacle to this plan working? jerusalem.

and there are several solutions to that problem. namely, three: split it, share it, or make it independent.

my vote is for the first option, considering the city is already partitioned. as long as tourists and pilgrims could get in and out to visit the various religious sites with ease, this seems the most viable.

sharing the city would never work because i don't see them agreeing on how to run it. and an independent or u.n.-mandated jerusalem would just be a smaller, probably more violent, version of what is going on throughout the whole area at the present time.

so . . . in summary, brian would:

1) give the gaza strip and west bank to the palestinians after a period during which israelis may choose to leave or stay (a new palestinian government would be elected during this period, as well),

and

2) divide jerusalem east/west on the condition that everyone can get across the border with relative ease to visit the temple mount and other religious sites.

does that really seem so hard?

both sides just need to realize that they can't reasonably (or peacefully) have everything they want and learn to compromise. and, considering the palestinians have continuously gotten the short end of the stick since israel's conception, i think they deserve their independence.

anyway, that's my opinion on the subject. take it or leave it.

salaam and shalom,*

bk

*i put these in alphabetical order . . . just so no one can get offended at which came first.

friendships

so, admittedly, friendships are quite a large part of most peoples lives. unless, of course, you're some kind of hermit like emily dickenson . . . but that's neither here nor there.

for a long period of my life, i obsessed over being popular . . . or at least having friends. i was extremely concerned with whether or not people liked me and would go to almost any length to ensure that everyone did.

and now i'm sitting here thinking back on it and wondering if that was incredibly stupid.

why am i thinking about this?

well, i learned not long ago that someone--an acquaintance--finds me dull. me. ME. brian alan king. called dull.

the nerve.

obviously, i was highly offended, my ego bruised. this person had behaved particularly rudely to me on one occasion and i had no idea why. when i asked someone else about it (a mutual friend) they said that the reason for the individual's behavior was that they found me boring.

first of all, does thinking someone is boring give you an excuse to be rude? i don't think so. i wasn't raised that way.

this person's behavior troubled me deeply for the better part of a day. thoughts of "i'll show him" and "how dare he" filled my mind.

then--as i was pacing outside behind the library on campus--it occurred to me.

does it really matter what this person thinks?

i know i'm not boring. i find myself rather charming and witty, actually. ;)

and i do have a decent number of friends to prove it. so what does one person's opinion matter? especially someone who i have only been around twice.

if he wants to write me off like that, so be it. not my problem.

his loss.

so i shrugged it off and moved on.

whatever my actions were in the past regarding other people, it was always out of a desire to please them, to make them happy. usually with the ultimate motivation of making them like me.

but i don't live my life for other people. not anymore.

i live my life for me.

which segues rather nicely into my next point. well, less of a point than a musing.

and this isn't much of a segue, either.

but moving right along . . .

do you have those people who always expect something from you but never give anything back?

because i really seemed to be plagued with them. probably because of my aforementioned past role as a people-pleaser.

but really . . . i can think of one person that only calls me every 2 or 3 months when her life is going badly. she talks about her problems and i listen, try to help, but when i start talking about what's going on in my life . . . "oh, hey, i gotta go, bye." and she's gone.

and i'd like to be friends and i want to help her . . . but i'm really beginning to have trouble caring.

there are other people who i talk to much more frequently who just talk, talk, talk about themselves. all the time. and i listen, trying to be a good friend, but never really getting anything back out of them.

isn't a friendship supposed to be mutual? doesn't it go both ways?

and my biggest question right now is . . . how much of this am i supposed to put up with before i bail?

aren't you supposed to have fun with friends? aren't they people you are supposed to make memories with?

so what's the point in being associated with someone who is more interested in sharing their own memories than making new ones with you?

it doesn't seem like there really is one.

at all.

and yet, if i do withdraw from these people, i'm labeled as unsociable and selfish. people get upset because i don't care about every little thing going on in their lives.

what do these people want from me?

and where does that fit in with what i want for myself?

i mean, i know there's a balance . . . and compromise. that's what any friendship--or relationship--is based on.

but if we're really friends, won't we want to know what is going on in each other's lives? won't it come out naturally without me feeling like i am doing some sort of charity by listening to a person? shouldn't i enjoy it?

maybe i don't really have any friends. maybe it's just that i don't know how to handle the ones that i do have. or maybe i just don't know what they want.

but i know what i want.

i want to be myself and spend my time with people who i enjoy being with . . . and who enjoy being with me.

is that really too much to ask?

isn't that what friendship is?

just wondering . . .

bk

some thoughts on diversity

well, life continues on as usual here in memphis, much as it has for the past few weeks.

lots and lots of free time interspersed with periods of extreme business due to work.

right now i am enjoying the all too brief period of the day between when daytime duty ends (4 o'clock pm) and when i go on the clock for the night shift (8 o'clock pm). i had really hoped to find something interesting to do off-campus to fill this cherished space in my day, but--obviously--there was nothing better to do than sit in front of my computer screen in my boxers and write away aimlessly on here.

i must make due.

i made a vow that i would attempt to keep this thing updated. writing my second entry just over a week later, i'm wondering if i'll be able to hold to that promise.

*shrug*

i guess it doesn't really matter.

moving right along . . .

do you ever find that person who just gets under your skin? whose point-of-view is so far different from your own you have a hard time accepting the fact that they live on the same continent as you?

i find a lot of those people.

people who grew up getting a view screamed at them so loud that they finally just gave up fighting it--and thinking for themselves--and began to shout the same thing to other people?

individuality and the right of people to be who they want to be is something i put a lot of stock into.

if we were all meant to be the same, then we would be. why would there be so much diversity on earth if it wasn't natural . . . or "the way God intended?"

look at the plethora of plants and animals around you. do they look the same? what would nature be without mountains? streams? oceans? the beach?

imagine a world where everywhere looked just like . . . oh, i don't know . . . kansas.

a world with miles and miles of corn. and the occasional cow.

would that be natural?

wouldn't we be missing out on something?

there would be no amazon rainforest, no nile river valley . . . no saharan desert and no matterhorn.

did God make the world that way? corn and cows? and silos?

no, He didn't.

He made corn and wheat and tomatoes* and potatoes* and squash and zucchini and palm trees.

He made cows and elephants and ants and monkeys and ostriches and geckos and Geico.

and all of these creations work together in the circle of life (sorry . . . lion king moment) to make this world whole.

that's why God made different kinds of people, too.

people of different colors, ethnicities, languages, religions, beliefs, tastes, toothpaste brands, and socio-economic backgrounds.

the important thing for us to remember is that they were each made exactly as they were for a reason. and their own point of view developed as a result of the particular conditions under which their life has been shaped.

and, while we may not always agree with what other people have to say, it is our responsibility as human beings to respect their points-of-view as legitimate.

without being mean or screaming.

and that, ladies and gentleman, is why i did NOT go on a political tirade just now.

though a calm, peaceful description of some of my own views may follow at a later date. when i have another span of time i need to fill.

until then, ciao muchachos!

bk

*have you ever wondered where the e's come from in these two words? what was wrong with writing "tomatos" and "potatos?" why don't we write "tomatoe" or "potatoe?" who put the e's there? and why? this is one of the great mysteries of the english language.

it also wreaked havoc on my spelling grade in elementary school.

New Blogger's Resolution

WHEREAS,

I live in a city far away from many of my friends and family

WHEREAS,

I believe it is important to chronicle thoughts and important life events

WHEREAS,

I have no current outlet for creative writing

WHEREAS

Sometime in the next year I hope to be studying abroad and need a forum to update people on my adventures

THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED THAT

I will do my utmost to maintain this blog as a forum to present my adventures, daily musings, and creative writing.