“Thoughtless Journaling”

I better make my one thing today to get the process of getting my resident visa moving. There is a crucial step that I’ve failed to take for some time now. I’m super curious about what’s going to happen about citizenship and borders as we move into our digital future. The garbled system of paperwork that governments have boggles my mind to the point of not wanting to deal with it. OK… A quick story…

Shortly after getting back to the US in 2007 my friend gave me a car so I could participate in the “Big Brothers, Big Sisters” program. I wanted to volunteer but I needed a car to volunteer. I actually love order and rules so I attempt to put the car in my name. At that time I was working practically full-time and going to school full-time. When I finally got a day off of both work and school I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) put the car in my name. I had all of the paper, I had the money, I was ready to go. When I get my turn the agent at the desk takes the car out of my friends name and then when she tries to put it in my name a “hit” comes up on the computer. I had a ticket from Madison that I needed to pay in order to get a new license plate.

No problem! I had the money. Let’s do this! NOPE! I couldn’t pay there. I had to go somewhere else to pay. Now I had wasted the day, money and left the DMV in worse shape than when I got there. Aren’t governments supposed to help?

In my experience governments aren’t designed to help so… I don’t, generally speaking them, trust them to help me.

BUT YOU’RE BREAKING THE LAW!

You know what… I’m just going to go ahead and write down how I really feel. Fuck laws.

I do everything in my power to be a stand-up citizen for my country (which I love), for the country I’m living in (Taiwan) and a global citizen for humanity. I mean… when my dad was born segregation still existed. Institutionalized and systematic racism is still a thing, especially where I’m from (Milwaukee). Fuck laws. That being said, I understand that I’m not currently living there. I understand that I’m in another country with its own set of laws. Taiwan is a very progressive place but… Taiwan has its own “history” with laws as well.

And then I think about all of the shady things people in power get away with. Shady things governments get away with. Did you know the US Government sterilized thousands of Native American women without their consent? Fuck governments and their fucking laws… lol Seriously though. I love order, rules, laws and governing but, at the same time, fuck them. No one has sovereignty over me except me. It is up to me to navigate the choppy waters of laws, government and life to determine, for myself, what laws and rules apply to me because it has explicitly been shown that I can’t trust anyone else to do it for me.

I “thoughtlessly journal” a lot more when I have access to a keyboard… lol

I’ll make getting my fingerprinting done the only thing I do today. It’s necessary for my mental health management plan (getting health insurance) which should be a priority above all other things. It’s necessary for getting myself setup for legally conducting business here. I suppose I had to get this out of my system first. Perhaps my subconscious was waiting for a moment where it could release these thoughts publicly to the world.

Getting Things Done

• Fingerprints to mail to the FBI. Check.
• Internet at the new apartment. Check.

Wrap Up

In my video, I said I’d post a link to this book. I’ll talk about it in greater detail tomorrow (or the next day, or the next day). “Talking to Humans: Success starts with understanding your customers”. It’s $1. I’ve already gotten WAY more out of it than that.

I went to a meetup tonight that was cool too. Would love to write more but… it’s time for sleeping.