In fact, I think it's twice as lovely. Because on tonight's date I turn twenty-six years old. Now, I don't know whether or not you are good at arithmetic or if you have enough fingers to count so high, but twenty-six just so happens to be the sum of thirteen multiplied by two. Or, in other words, it's thirteen twice. What a cruel coincidence . . .
Now, some of you may think that doesn't matter in the mildest. I would even confess, if you broke my arm and demanded the truth, that essentially it doesn't. This belief in the significance of numbers, in numerology, divine will or fortune-telling is a cold and empty art. Numbers, in and of themselves, are meaningless.
In the year 1997, thirty-nine (39) people in the state of California willingly consumed barbiturates mixed with apple sauce, downed it with vodka, then wrapped bags around their heads to suffocate in the hopes that their souls would board a spaceship which they believed was hiding in a passing comet. In the year 1920, three (3) African American circus workers who were arrested on suspicion of assaulting and raping a nineteen-year old girl were lynched by an angry mob that broke into the jail, and hanged the three men from a lamppost outside the jail; despite the fact that the girl was never assaulted or raped, and most evidence seems to show that she may have instead been mugged by a white man after leaving the circus. Much earlier, In the year of 1692, twenty-five (25) men and women were officially executed for the crime of witchcraft in the State of Massachusetts, most of them hanged by the neck until dead with one woman even being pressed to death. In 2001, in Texas, all five (5) children of a fervently religious woman were methodically drowned by their mother, as she believed that she was sending them to Heaven, and saving their souls from the torment of Hell.
39, 3, 25, 5 - None of these numbers matter, they are arbitrary.
The amount of people that die do not have absolute significance, it's nothing more than the disposal of innocent life by stupid people. Just as the number of years I have lived is nothing more than the number of years that I have managed to avoid fatal accidents, suicide and murder.
By that same notion, it is arbitrary that I have chosen to commemorate those passing years with a countdown thirteen days prior to The Eve of All Hallows. But, nonetheless, we find ourselves once again performing the ritual of the Halloween Countdown:
A count of the days, counting down from thirteen,Well, the numbers are arbitrary, however, these tragedies are not. I specifically chose four tragedies which typify people's stupidity. Stupid people killing themselves or others for stupid reasons . . .
From today, thirteen nights till we see Halloween.
Okay, perhaps stupid is not the best word. Whilst we can agree that these people weren't the sharpest knives on the chopping block, they must in fact have had something rattling inside their heads. It takes some planning to murder many persons. I'm not suggesting I approve, or disapprove, I merely mean that criminal intent requires a living brain. Some of this was indeed the foolish belief in magic, or gods, but that isn't unintelligent, just inaccurate; and some of these people were "smart" in tangible ways. The cult followers had to know how medications worked so they could abuse them, you can't have mental illness without a mind and even the lynch mob at least had to know how to tie a knot . . .
No, the danger here was not stupidity, it was ignorance. The Word of the Day is: 'IGNORANT'
Ignorant /'ignǝrǝnt/ adj. 1. Lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: An ignorant man. 2. Lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: Ignorant of quantum physics. 3. Uninformed; unaware. 4. Due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: An ignorant statement.Yes, the ignorant. Those unknowing, unlearned, uninformed fools, who inflict other people with their own lack of truth. This is not only the Word of this Day, but also the major theme of this year's Countdown.
The most disturbing things this year has had to offer are due to ignorance . . .
Islamic State, a cult of psychopaths who believe in a god that doesn't exist; seek to create a state which nobody accepts & follows a nonsensical law devised by a madman.
Trump, that thing I call the Walrus (the Worst American Leader Ruining the United States), is deteriorating the unity, peace, integrity, respect and confidence of all Americans every moment that he presides, who doesn't even know what executive power actually entails.
Gay Marriage, nothing more than a human right to equality, is being tossed around like a plastic bag in the wind, by those who pretend it marks some coming apocalypse.
Even my own recent regression of Mental Health was the result of subconsciously ignoring the demons within me, the niggling unease and doubts under my skin.
Ignorance rots within us, decaying our security, morality, and society from the inside out. Because the truth is, our problems have solutions which are not even that hard to try. We are not all doomed to insignificance and failure. Life need not be so tragic.
Nonetheless it is . . . through the choices of those uneducated few. For, a hopeless endeavour, whilst damning, is not so frightening. We must accept what is, and forgive what is not. Hope is more terrifying. That is why 'Ignorant' is the Word of the Day, and the Theme of the coming weeks and the sign of these times. Because ignorance is stealing our success from us.
In this countdown, I plan on creating fictions of horrific close-mindedness; sharing tales of the truly ignorant, in my own experiences of those who deny science; further developing the understanding on the monsters we have forgot & reporting upon my understanding of what it truly means to be afflicted with this mental sickness that we call ignorance.
So please, don't be scared or confused, you have nothing to be frightened of - so, join me in the coming days as we count down these things, in the inevitable approach towards Halloween.
I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, and you won't want to ignore what I've got prepared for you in the nights we count down before Halloween . . .
