so, you wanna know about me, eh? well I suppose I could grant you that.
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i'll start with my name first, seeing that you are probably curious, and well if you aren't, than you probably already know me, or you just don't care because you too are a jackass! :) i'm mike ruyle. hi, nice to meet ya. i'm 23. i live in east lansing, mi. i'm originally from dallas, tx. i lived there until i was 13, then moved up to michigan when my mother got re-married. i suppose the best way for you to know who i am is to post a picture...so, uhm, here ya go...
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i'll bet that some of you are wondering why I called this page "the penitent jackass!", aren't ya? well, i could tell you that it's a mockery of the definition of the words, but well, i'd be lying. i could tell you that i wanted to make a statement, but well, that wouldn't be right either. i did it because i wanted to! go figure. i wanted to do something, so i did. bwahahaha! :) ***sarcasm alert***
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i'm work on help desk at the biggest isp in the midwest, voyager.net/corecomm(i am corecom). i also love to read, write, go out, play computer games, fool around on the computer in general(go figure), and biggest of all, to learn. not necesarily go to school, just learn. actually, most of what i've learnt throughout my life has _not_ been in a classroom, it's been through reading, watching, and doing things for myself.
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a little about my family. i have a mom that i'm very close to, who lives in bloomfield hills, mi. those that live with her would be my step-dad, and my beautiful little sister who, when she grows up(she's 6) i personally think will be a model...and my little brother (who is 4) who already wants to dig up dinosuar bones. heh :) he knows more about dinos than me and he's 3! :) kids, gotta love them!
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I also practice tae kwon do. currently i am a white/yellow belt (9th keub) at chung's tae kwon do: black belt usa. i am testing for my yellow belt on feb. 3, 2001. not to sound like a jackass, but i don't think that i will have a problem in obtaining the next rank.
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tae kwon do has given me many things...as well as show me what was inside and how to respect myself. it was something that i lacked for a long while, and i couldn't be more pleased that when someone asks me if i respect myself, i can instantly answer yes.
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as my master has said many times, and i have finally begun to see the truth in, there are 5 tenats by which to live life. courtesy. integrity. perseverance. self-control. indomitable spirit.
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those are the tenats of tae kwon do. they are the tenats by which a tae kwon do-ist should live their lives. i tell them to myself multiple times a day. i once accepted my life as it was...no longer. everyday i strive to improve myself..physically and mentally.
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now i'll explain my views on a few things. :)
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just for kicks, let me start with religion. i personally have very strong opinions on religion. this isn't meant to offend, but hey if it does, then leave. thank you. i used to be a very strong believer in the christian faith. i went to church almost every sunday and i had a very strong faith. then, about 3 years ago, i actually started to think for myself. that isn't to say that all christians don't, yet there are alot that do not.
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i know what you are already thinking. "oh, just another person that has lost their faith in God and blames the rest of us for his short comings in his faith" to that i say, shut it and listen to the rest. or, as i said earlier, simply leave. for my entire life i'd lived by the teaching of "he who is without sin, cast the first stone." a great teaching, given from a great man.
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then, through learning my history and simply observing what was happening around me, i began to notice just how little those teachings where adhered to. yes, some were, but very very few. many were simply shoved to the wayside to make way for the beliefs of the church, not God.
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you may ask, "what do you mean?" let me start with the idea of "Holy Mother Church". i have one word for you there. idolotry! how many thousands have been called heretics, and burned at the stake because they thought on their own, and believed that they could talk to God on a personal level and didn't have to go through the Church. well, this usurped the power and authority of the church. so, by making it something divine, that brought their power back. i'm sorry, but in my opinion the church is not to be worshiped, God(or whatever you want to call the divine) is. a church and the institution of the church is a _place_ in which to worship. not the other way around.
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there are also personal experiences that factor into my views. i'll share one in particular. it happened about 3.5 years ago, when the bible belt got themselves all up in arms because there was a lesbian actress on t.v.. well, i've never seen anything more hipocritical. "it's against God's command to be gay and thus..." i can't argue that. but I can point some things out such as, "all people are the children of God and he loves them all", and, yet again "yet thee who is without sin cast the first stone." i'm sorry, but i can guarentee you that those who said such, and judged the gay community as such are _not_ without sin. no, just in case you are saying "well, he must be gay then to have such strong feelings about it" wrong!. i'm not. i have a mind of my own and opinions of my own. and as a true jackass, i believe that everyone is entitled to my opinion. :)
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see...one of my main things is that the bible is a collection of stories, written by men. i believe that it is a fantastic guide by which to lead one's life. but it is no more than that. you can not simply pick the parts you agree with in the bible and live by those, and ignore the other parts that you do not believe in. the bible that most of america uses..the king james version..is far from complete. i have one. i have the full apocrypha...yet more of the bible...and the dead sea scrolls translations..which is yet more. yet, religous experts say that there is still more missing. i suppose my point is, i can not at this point in my life, live my life by something that is incomplete.
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so, now, a tad over 4 years later, i've moved on from that. well as far as practicing christianity is concerned. i'm now a follower of my own path. do i believe in God? yes. do i believe in a Goddess? yes. do i believe that they can be/are one in the same? yes. is it the christian God? with all honesty, i can't answer that. i feel that i have been coming back around full circle, but only time will tell.
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now, politics. "oh great, now he's going to rant about this..." wrong. actually, i think of politics as a game. and i believe that i can quote a good friend whom many call "repoman" on this. "i'll play their game. i'll sit. i'll watch and learn how they play it. i'll beat them at their own game, with their own rules." great way of thinking! that's how i've played it lately too, and hey, it's fun! :D
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george w. bush is now president...took long enough to count..count..count...count. anyways. we will see what he does. i do like the fact that he put retired general colin powell as secretary of state. i still wish that he'd have run for the presidency the last two time. i honestly think that he would have won. i know that i would have voted for him. i think that this nation is finally ready for a black president, and i believe that he would have and still would for that matter make one hell of a president.
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as for dodge cars...*shakes head*... my car is a 1997 dodge neon. at 46,000 miles, the head blew. luckily chrysler flipped the $3,500 dollar repair bill. that was in march, 2000. so, i'm driving down the road 4 days ago jan 22, 2001. my car starts sputtering horrendously and white smoke starts pouring out the back and my compression drops through the floor. just fuckin' great is the only thing that crosses my head. i limp it into work the next day, call dodge. they think it's the head again. greeeeeeat! i mean for the love all everything sacred i only have 51,535 miles on the blasted thing!
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so, i have the skippy jackass follow me over there during our lunch hour. leave the car there only to get a call the next day to have them tell me that i had a couple of spark plugs out. i breathed a sigh of relief that i wouldn't be carless for a month again. did i mention i detest not having my car? when i asked them how many were out, i was told the following:
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your #1 plug was out. your #2 plug was out. your #3 plug was out. your #4 plug was out. *blink* ok, i think to myself that this lady may well be an idiot. i proceed to ask how i was even able to drive the car in, considering it only has 4 to begin with! *sigh* well, in any event, it runs well again...but i am forever convinced that the people that work for dodge are certifiable fools.
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