if at first you don't succeed...

then try again. if you don't succeed the second time, then give up and try something else. that's one of masøn's rules for life. give it two attempts just to be sure but then drop it and move on to something else. i'm not saying to revel in failure or to give up easily -- those two attempts should have all your muster in them, otherwise they can't really be called attempts, can they? but if you're no good at something, try something else. why bother wasting time repeating the same failure? find something you're good at, stick with it and improve. then find something else you're good at and improve that, as well. why be content being a continual failure at one thing when you can be a success at many things?
at least, that's the way i see it.

a brave new blog

to avoid crowding up the "lazy day café" with tedious reviews of movies and books i have created a new blog called "masøn's reviews" for just such a purpose. if you're interested, stop by -- the links in my list. feel free to comment or argue. just be careful reading the reviews if you haven't seen the film yet.

remembering the founders

i think we should do more than cook out and drink for independence day this year. it's a special day and needs to be treated as such. therefore, i think we should honor the founding fathers by seeking to emulate their actions.
1) dress up as native americans and dump mass quantities of tea into the nearest body of water.
2) ride horses through random towns and shires screaming "the red coats are coming!" at the top of your lungs around two a.m.
3) throw rocks at any brits you might come across.
4) burn a few effigies of the british royal family.
5) in the midst of any crowd you may find yourself in today, stand upon a box or step of some sort and begin quoting patrick henry - if you cannot quote any large passages of his writings, simply lead the crowd in chanting "give me liberty or give me death! give me liberty or give me death".
6) replace your natural teeth with wooden dentures.
7) give a rising oratory about equal representation and civil liberties, then return home and beat a black man and tell him to get back to work picking that cotton and tobacco.
8) and, if you should run upon a frenchman, remember to thank him for his country's contribution in helping our country gain its independence.

happy 4th of july to all.