Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Makes a guy wonder.
Lori asked me why I'm "obsessed" with suicide. Well, that's the wrong word. I'm not obsessed. There's a difference between fascination and curiosity and obsession. I'm fascinated by the cosmos. And by god. And by philosophy. I'm fascinated by the game of baseball. I'm fascinated by nature. And the concept of unconditional love. I'm fascinated on what causes people and nations to go to war. I'm fascinated by my two cats, Lover Boy and Chenuska, and how they interact with each other. And I'm fascinated by Alzheimer's and how people deal and cope with it. And that's really how I got onto the subject of suicide. I'm fascinated by Deborah's take on her brother's suicide, and the fact that she initially brought it up on the message boards. And that's what prompted me to talk about my dad's suicide. And it prompted in January 2006 an exchange of interesting emails with Deborah. In which we shared our views, and in which Deborah took issue with my views, and by the way, misconstrued them to some extent, and still does. So that's how things got around to the topic of suicide. And several care-givers have talked about suicide during my 4 years or so on the message boards. Believe me, I'm not obsessed with the topic of suicide. But I find it interesting. I'm more obsessed with the Chicago Cubs at this time. Because they are in a close pennant race with the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals. And it would be a thrill for me if the Cubs got into the World Series this October. Then I would be truly obsessed with something. The World Series, and the possibility of the Cubs winning it all. I have so many interests, so many potential obsessions, I suppose. In politics. In religion. In social matters. In world affairs. I'm in love, you know. And love can be sort of an obsession. A rather positive obsession. That happens when one is a romantic idealist. And a free-thinker. And a liberal. And a lover. Oh, so much of life I love. I'd like to live forever...and that makes me wonder why folks choose to commit suicide. Why can't they fall in love with life? With being alive? Seems kind of strange to me. That's why I'm fascinated by the subject of suicide. Why don't people want to live, and to be happy and joyful? And just so very thrilled to be alive. To feel the pulse of life. There's no greater gift than the gift of life. Yet we have people rejecting it. All the time. Even my own dad. I suppose I have many of my dad's genes. And here I am, savoring life. The very thing that he rejected. Makes a guy wonder. --Jim Broede
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17 comments:
Well Jim, I am a bit of a stickler for acuracy. Of your 73 posts, you mention suicide 12 times. That means over 16% of your posts are about this. That's a bit obsessed in my opinion. Also please stop refering to Deb in your posts. It really is quite cruel.
I am asking this nicely and am not doing it anonomously so please do this for me.
I'm a stickler for accuracy, too, Lori. It ain't an obsession. It's a fascination. I have lots of fascinations. But few obsessions. Got it? Speaking of obsessions, there seem to be a few people obsessed with me. At least a bit obsessed. Do I dare put you in that category? I'm also impressed by your ability to count and calculate percentages. But I'm not impressed by your spelling. --Jim Broede
See, Lori. You called for accuracy and look at your spelling of the word. It wasn't very accurate, was it? --Jim Broede
I'd also recommend you look up the definitions of the words 'fascination' and 'obsession' in your dictionary. Fascination tends to be a more positive term than obsession. And I'm a positive guy. I'm fascinated by life. I'm not obsessed by it. I'm fascinated by virtually all aspects of life. Yes, I'm even fascinated by the subject of suicide. Not obsessed, as I explained in a more lengthy post. Also, I don't treat people cruelly. I treat them kindly. Consider that if you have an obsession about accuracy. I think I even treat you kindly, and with a bit of humor, too. Really, deep down, I think you are a fascinating woman, a fascinating human being. Not negatively obsessive, but positively fascinating. --Jim Broede
Jim please do tell about your life in SOUTHPORT, NC
Hmmmm. Southport? North Carolina? I've never been in North Carolina. But tell me, have I had a previous life? I haven't been in South Carolina, either. But I've been in Florida...lived there for 3 years. And I've passed through most states. But not the Carolinas. Tell me if you know something I don't know. --Jim Broede
Some of you people who claim to be bored keep coming back. And adding to the clicks. Come now, admit it. You can't resist me. I'm flattered. --Jim Broede
Jim, you asked that people be nice when commenting. Well I tried that and you attacked me. I have to assume that is what you want. Say whatever you want, I will not be back here again.
And Lori is such a nice person!!
When this blog began with the most personal and cruel attacks on people you apparently saw as an enemy I thought maybe you would see the light. Maybe if enough people pointed out that you contridict and provoke and stab your knife into our emotional hearts, maybe someone could reach you.
I see it is not possible. This isn't something that can be explained to you. It is pathological and goes back decades.
For whatever reason you are how you are and you do not see anything beyond the end of your nose. I give up.
Thanks to Bonnie your venomous posts have found a new home and they can stay here and fester.
You can't hurt Deb anymore because she doesn't read your blog. You can't Bonnie because she never did read it. Even those who didn't know you prior to this blog have seen you for the cruel person you are. I don't think there is anything you could ever say or do that would take away the way you made Deb feel with this madness called Brode's Brooding. You sunk to a new low and there is no coming back from that. Spin as you wish you marched in to private places and blew you Broede horn and proclaimed to have the answers to everything. You don't. You aren't even close.
If I stayed any longer I think I would throw up on my keyboard as I read of your wife's death and disappointment over a Cubs loss thrown together in one sentence.
Back to the real world. See ya. Actually that is the beauty. I won't be seeing you. I won't watch your words reinvent your history or anyone else's.
One more thing. Give us some credit. We are not stupid. We know your clicker counts your visits. This isn't our first rodeo.
Some of you don't want to believe the truth. Face the truth, folks, because it shall make you free. Some of you are angry people. You need to curb that anger. Maybe in an anger management course. I'd like to see civil and respectful discussion here. And I think that's what we'll get when some of you angry people leave. Please, for your sake, for everyone's sake, don't stay addicted to broede's broodings. Go away. Find other pursuits. Nobody requires you to come here. If I stumbled across a blog I didn't like, it'd probably be my first and last visit. I probably wouldn't even post once. I've said that about the political pundit Rush Limberger. He'd be a total waste of my time. I have better things to do -- such as write my own blog. My goal is to attract some like minds. Qaulity minds. Thinking minds. Respectful minds. --Jim Broede
So....what DO you want to talk about???
Similar minds? Wrong country. You need a dictatorship and you would have to be the dictator. Good idea. Bon Voyage.
I just refuse to be offended over humor. I like certain kinds of humor. Humor that some people find insensitive. And offensive. I think it's even all right to laugh over Alzheimer-related jokes. Unfortunately, some people lack a sense of humor, period. I like put-on humor. And some people take it so seriously. Makes me laugh. Even happens on the Alzheimer's message boards. And right her in this blog. In the comments section. Literary critic Norman Cousins wrote a book about how laughter cured him of a so-called incurable illness. He decided to watch videos of comedians and humorists. Day after day. From his hospital bed. Just immersed himself in bounteous laughter. And what do you know? It made him well again. When people poke fun at me or call me names in anger, I find it easy to laugh. Because it's funny. Really funny. I can't take it seriously. --Jim Broede
Come on, folks. Lighten up. If you disagree with a premise, and you think it's dumb -- well, then just laugh it off. No need to get angry. Incidentally, I don't have the power to make any of you angry. You make yourselves angry. So lighten up. This is merely a blog. Which allows me to express my opinions. My points of view. If you think my opinions are wrongheaded and downright stupid, then just let me be wrongheaded and downright stupid. Only thing is I think I'm right and intelligent. And opinionated, too. And funny. And happy. And you can be, too. You don't have to be sourpusses. You can fall in love, too. With life. That's what we'll try to cultivate in this blog. Love. And understanding. And let's have a good time doing it. I certainly am. --Jim Broede
And so, why did you delete my reference to your spelling error?? You can dish it out, but...
Anonymous:
I just wanna see if you'd notice. Now I know you are hooked. You keep coming back to see what I'm gonna do next. Now tell me, what words I misspelled in this comment. --Jim Broede
At least I know how to spell accuracy. Or is it accurately? And can you teach me how to spell your real name?
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