Golashes' Blog
Golashes' blog of stuff.

So I'm selling a ton of my old games, movies, and whatever have you since the wii and 360 have both taken a harsh hold on me (and my wallet). Take a look:

PS2 games:
Guitar Hero (no guitar)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Soundtrack included)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (case chipped off in a small part of the corner, can show pictures if needed)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Release date version)
Final Fantasy X
Grand Theft Auto III
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution
Front Mission 4
Ratchet and Clank
Silpheed: The Lost Planet
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Twisted Metal: Black (GH)
Red Faction (GH)
NBA Street (GH)
Ace Combat 4 (GH)
Madden 2005
Burnout 3
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus

Strategy Guides:
Diablo II
Starcraft
Mechwarrior 2
Final Fantasy X
Front Mission 4

Gamecube:
Super Mario Strikers

Books:
Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor
Robert A. Heinlein - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Max Barry - Jennifer Government

DVDs:
The Ultimate Matrix collection (10 DVDs of shit, all three movies + animatrix and eleventy billion hours worth of bonus features all in a nice box)
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 1

PC Games:
Doom 3
Command And Conquer: Renegade
Diablo II plus LoD (both CD keys unused and legit)
Tron 2.0
Mechwarrior 3 + Pirate's Moon expansion
Diablo
Command and Conquer: Generals Deluxe edition (w/ Zero Hour)
Call of Duty + Call of Duty: United Offensive
Tribes Vengeance
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

I'll be adding more as I find it. IM me at Ulmeyda7 on aim or golashes@inlag.com on msn, or email at golREMOVETHESECAPSLETTERSashes@gmail.com if you're interested and we'll talk.

Oh, where are my manners? My dear friend Bssteph sets up a personal blog for me and I don't put it to use in over a month? For shame, Steve, for shame.

I did a speech at Folio (for those who don't know, an open forum for music, poetry, speeches, and whatever other creative acts Westfield High students may have) last week on Heroin addicts. Everyone seemed to like it, so I figure I'll put it up as my first entry:

I want to begin my little speech here with a quote from Phillip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly" regarding an addictive fictional drug called "Substance D":

D is for Substance D. Which is for Dumbness and Despair and Desertion, the desertion of your friends from you, you from them, everyone from everyone, isolation and loneliness and hating each other. D, is finally death. Slow death.

Several days ago, we had a conversation in my health class regarding clinics giving clean, sterilized needles to anyone who brings a used needle in. For a little while, I was only half paying attention. I had a test, a paper, and a journalism article due within the next day or two, so this "debate" was pretty much the last thing on my mind. I just lined up on the "unsure" side of the room, so I wouldn't need to do any participating or anything.

As the teacher asked students on the con side of the room, one comment struck my ear. Someone made the EXCELLENT point that NO ONE who isn't infected would be DUMB enough to get involved with an active drug user. Why should we waste needles on these DRUGGIES when it's their fault they were infected?

I want you to consider this for a second. Not only is the "druggie" treated essentially as an it, ignored in their time of need and completely disregarded as a human being, but they make the brash assumption that no one has ever fallen in love with a drug addict. Drug addicts, according to this logic, are an entirely different SPECIES from "Normal people"!

Shoot dope on poor judgement on a bad day? Snort coke out of curiosity? Apparently, you're not a part of society anymore! Everyone you've ever known and loved should abandon you IMMEDIATELY, because you were enough of an IDIOT to get curious once.

What about Jews in Nazi Germany? Would you say they were dumb enough to stay Jews when Hitler put them in concentration camps? What about slaves in the early days of our great nation? Would you say they were dumb enough to get aboard the boats to America?

You might say "Steve, they didn't have control over what happened! With a little motivation, these heroin and morphine addicts can fix what ails them!"

Wrong.

It takes much more than an oath to cold turkey and Rocky's good ol' eye of the tiger motivation to kick a heroin addiction. The body grows dependent on the drugs, and without them the body will erode in a process of extreme pain and anguish. What's even worse is that if a baby is born from a heroin addict, the baby is BORN with the dependency.

I had a friend with a drug problem. When he was caught, he was sentenced to a year of rehab. Only problem was that his family didn't have the money to send him. He couldn't go. I haven't seen him in three years; he moved away because his family couldn't afford to live here anymore. For all I know, he could still be doing drugs today.
Is this fair? Is it fair that the rehabilitation and healthcare needed can't be recieved without the money? Furthermore, is it fair that YOU desert them?

You. You, me, our parents, the school, everyone. We let them ruin their entire lives because they made a mistake. These are our friends, families, and we treat them like a group of "it"s we refuse to care for because they slipped up.

Do you know what a rough life really is? It's not being dumped by Ms. Cindy Mcwhatever right before your prom. It's not having a shitty GPA and going to Rutgers instead of NYU. It's being forced to live your life knowing you will never even get the chance to experience these "crises". It's the knowledge that you have a disease that will kill you in six months and you can't afford the healthcare to treat it. It's knowing that if you have children, they will be forced to live on a street corner, just like you did, and just as your father did. The knowledge that you and everyone you know will die alone, and no one will remember them for anything. Is it these peoples' faults that they slipped up? Is it their fault that we missed their cry for help years ago? Can you really blame them?

So this is where I ask you to do what you can to answer their cries. give these people a little help. Donate to a charity out to help bad neighborhoods recover. Volunteer to help people in need. Don't know where to start? The Presbyterian church in town works a soup kitchen Wednesdays after school. They'd love to have you. Most importantly, though, please just recognize and respect how rough these peoples' lives are. Don't leave anyone behind.