Dear Former President Bush,

I have been considering writing this letter to you since you left office about one week ago.  It is not going to be a long letter about what I liked or disliked about your Presidency.  It is not going to be much about politics or the state of the country at all.  I have read many things about you over the last few months, most of it bad.  You must not be very popular with the republicans lately, I have heard that it was your low popularity and the terrible job that you did in office that caused Senator McCain to lose the election.  I hope you do not take that all too personally, like many other things, it s all in the past and we need only to look to the future.  The upside is that all those people that wanted you out of office can now be happy and stop complaining about everything, and finally they have something about this country that they can be proud of.

I just wanted to say thank you for making me feel safe again.  You have done a wonderful thing for the entire planet.  You have eliminated the greatest threat to freedom and democracy since Adolf Hitler.  Thanks to you and your courage and the decisions that you made, the world gets to sleep not having to worry about Saddam Hussein and his two sons Uday and Qusay.  Two men who were guilty of the rape, torture and murder of many thousands of women.  Unfortuantely, that is the tip of the iceberg of their crimes. 

You probably do not hear this often enough, but we are in a much safer place because of your service to this country.  Saftey is wonderful thing, it allows people to get on soapboxes and talk tirelessly about whta is wrong with this country knowing full well that they will never be victims of their own words.  I am sure they are trully greatful for safety and comfort that you ave provided.  But saying so would cause their arguments towards everything to lose credibility.

Thanks for everything.  Enjoy Texas, you certianly deserve the time.

..:: dante

P.S. Pleae don’t take this as ass kissing, I disgaree with almost everything else you did.  But one act does make it all worth it.  I am confident everything else will get worked out.

I have not answered an FQ in quite some time, and blogs in general have been few and far between…..but I am trying to stay interested.  I just been way too busy to spend an substantial time reading, writing, or commenting. 

I did find today’s FQ somewhat more interesting that the others I have read recently.  I would have to say that I am fascinated by Spite.  I am often amazed at the distances people will go to spite someone else.  I can be pretty spiteful, I find it to be an effective weapon in an argumant.  But I am always amazed when peope take it to the extreme.  Even to the point where they are willing to hurt themselves, both physically and emotionally, just to make a point.

I think Spite such real conviction and passion toward and issue and is often underrated or thought to be bad quailty.  If you belive in something strongly, Dante says go for it, at any cost.  The end should justify the means.

If you have been guilty of being spiteful in the past, do not feel bad about it, feel proud, it may be one of the few signs that you are passionate about something.

..:: dante
   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

It was been way too many days of the news talking about the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River.  I am glad that the pilot was able to land the plane and I am truly happy that no one has died.  It is not often enough enough that we hear news stories where a tragedy was averted.  However, I am getting sick of the overuse of the word Hero.  When I hear the word, I immediately start battling with my gag reflex.  It is such and over used word in the media, everyone who does anything is a hero.  I remember during the 9-11 attack, just be present made you a hero.  During the 6 months of non-stop media coverage they used the word hero to describe everything but a sandwich.

I am getting off point, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549 is highly skilled at his job, but he is no hero.  Actually, if he was not able to do what he did to land the plane, he would have been a failure.  You can not become a hero by not failing, it is just not enough.  The truth is that he did what every pilot should be able to do, and if they can not do it, then they have no business flying a plane worth millions of dollars with a few hundred passengers aboard.  The action he took to land the plane in the Hudson River was not an impossible task, he proved that it was a very possible outcome, any pilot that could have done it would have been guilty of gross negligence.

What would be an example of a hero in this story?  A person is treading water in the freezing cold Hudson River, a innocent person with absolutely no connection to the incident sees the person in the water, and makes a conscience choice to risk their life, safety, and comfort to jump in the water and carry the person to safety.  That person would  be a hero.  They not have an obligation or vested interest in saving anyone, but they chose to put someone else life in front of their own.  That is a Hero. Btw — Ham and Cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, salt, pepper and mayo on a half a loaf off french bread….also a hero.

..:: dante

The scariest dream that I remember is not really about be scared, but it is about being hurt.  I had this dream a few times when I was a kid and it is probably 25 to 30 years since the last time I had the dream, but I still remember it like yesterday. 

I had dreamt that I was on an amusement park ride in the middle of the playground that I used to lay in as a child.  The park never had any rides, it just happened to be the setting for my nightmare.  I best I can describe the ride is by saying that I was sitting in a 5 sided car with no top and the car itself was attache dto the ride by an arm at the bottom.  I was sitting in the center of the car and you would hold your hands on the railing while you faced out form the center.  I was in the car alone, but it it were full, each occupant would hold one side and sit with all of our backs to each other.  Well I was alone and holding the handrial so tight that my knuckles were pure white.  As the cars would move up and downa nd left to right, they would also spin around.  Everytime I had the dream, the ride was moving very slow and I was absolutely terrified, as the ride would progress the cars would egt closer and closer together, until your fingers would be squeezed bewtten the railings of two of the cars as glided past each other.  Just as I felt the pressure of my fingers being squeezed, i owuld wake up in cold sweats screaming.  It does not seem so scary any more and this blog is probably not doing it any justice, but when i was 6 or 7 yeas old, it was terrorfying.  I will be 26 in 2 months and when I thinkof it, it is as if I had had the dream last night.

Runner Up Nightmares would be any dream where I am trying to run and my legs feel like they weight a thousadn punds and I can barley move, and I am breathing so heavy, then wake up.  But I think that is just stress manifesting itself in my dreams.  The amusement park ride from Hell is pure horror.

Now give me my 1000 credits.

..:: dante

I just blogged about my scariest nightmare to enter The Uninvited Scariest Nightmare Contest for 1,000 credits. You can earn free credits too! Brought to you by The Uninvited – In Theaters January 30th.

Sometimes juts don’t go as planned.  As midnight approached on at the end of 2008, I had the best intentions for the coming year, I had committed to myself to be more focused on family, work and school.  The past year had been a good year for me and I was very thankful for all the good things that have happened.  Unfortunately, you can not control the actions of others.  About 15 minutes in to the new year, my mother-in-law annoyed at a comment that my wife made about my brother-in-law’s disinterest in his seven month marriage to my wife’s sister, my mother-in-law had decided to take the low rode and make a disgusting, untruthful, comment about me to wife…..which I overheard, and understood, even though it was said in Italian. 

I had planned a little gathering at my in-law’s for this evening to celebrate my wife’s birthday, but in light of the new information, I am not attending.  my reasoning is simple, if I do not take a stand now….it will get worse.  I have been very good to the in-laws for the past 7 years that I know my wife, perhaps too good.  It seems that since I have allowed us all to be so close, I have created a situation that allows people to say what they wish, no matter how hurtful.  Of course, the are the denying any wrongdoing. 

Am I wrong?

This is a very small piece of a long and on-going sags, most of which is none of my business. However, I do thing it is good blog fodder.

In case no one that knows me is still around, I am welcoming myself back to Xanga. 

Comments Please……..I still want my free lifetime membership.

..:: dante

Updated 01.03.2009 12:58 am

I went to dinner and it was nice, mother-in-law was extra nice, some might even say a bit ass-kissy.  She knows she was dead wrong, and i did not push the issue.  She never said she was sorry, but did thank me for coming when I arrived and when I left.  The dinner was fantastic, I knew it would be.  But more importantly, the wife was pleased.  The things we do for love.  ..:: dante.

I just posted this My Bloody Valentine widget for 500 credits. You can earn free credits too!

eleventeentifty.  What else could it be?

..:: dante

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

I am not sure what it would be named, but the idea of comparing life to a roller coaster is kind of depressing.  So basically you slow and high to reach the highest point, then it is a series of less-exciting ups and downs, and ultimately, it comes to screeching halt at its abrupt end. That is not what my life has been like, and hopefully that is not where it is going.

That is a totally depressing featured questions.  Who the hell writes things?

..:: dante
   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

It feels so weird to be here after being away for so long.  It all seems so different.  I hate the new home page.  And I lost five friends since my last visit.  I hope everyone is well.  I have not been feeling good, have been kind of busy, but have not had much to say.  Perhaps I do not feel well, because i have not said much.  I do miss the honesty in anonymity.

Wish you all the best, maybe this post will motivate me to write more.   But not now.

..:: dante

Tomorrow.   Never live in the past….

..:: dr. dante (is back)

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!