My Manifesto

James's Manifesto

Warning! James Marston is kinda an idiot. He is occasionally guilty of nietivity in the face of reality, idealism, and youth. He's an optimist. If you read this and you like it, cool. If not, sorry to have wasted your time.

Look around you. This is all there is. What are you going to do with it?

Smile more.

Be humble. Earth knows, heaven knows, and those who know, know.

Look out for your brothers, adopted or otherwise.

Be a Good Guy. Anyone can be a Bad Guy.

I'm going to be head over heels in love with my children. I'm going to take them on vacation with me. Spending time with them will be a pleasure, not a chore.

I have many faults. But I'm trying.

College should be reserved for those who want to learn. It doesn't matter if you know what you want to do with it, as long as you want to learn it. I wasted three years of my life failing in school because I didn't know I wasn't ready to learn. I was ready to live.

That being said, I wouldn't take back a minute.

Treat people with respect. It doesn't take that much more time or effort. It's a nice gesture.

Treat ladies like ladies. This may be intrinsically sexist and catering to a patriarchical world-view in which females need the protection of males in order to survive. But I think that's bullshit. Just treat a lady like a lady.

My Dad's a good man. I hope I'm as good.

I hope my father gets to meet my kids. They're going to be cool.

I'm okay with casual sex between two consenting adults. It's just never worked out that way for me.

I'm okay with recreational drug use, as long as it hurts no one. It just strikes me as something I'd hate.

Except beer.

And tequila. And the occasional cigar (but that's mostly for effect).

I think Martial Arts are a great source of discipline, but the only way to be good at fighting is to fight, and I think life's too short to go around hurting people so you can be good at hurting people.

That said, I'd like to get into a fight. See what I'm made of. But I don't like hurting people. So it would have to be over something important, like someone threatening my family...or someone hurting someone I love bad enough that revenge is justified.

Maybe I don't want to get into a fight.

I hate it that it's not cool for men to cry. Sometimes I feel like crying. It's totally going to be okay for my kids to cry. It's okay for anyone who's sad to cry. I just don't think I can do it. Sometimes macho bull-shit runs deep.

I hate macho bull-shit.

A girl once called me an angel. It's probably the nicest thing that's ever been said about me.

If there's one thing that I've learned is that nothing is absolute. Right and wrong, good and bad, even left or right depends on where you're standing. You can have an opinion. You can have your own way of thinking. But if you think that there's only one way to view any situation, you're wrong. Absolutely.

I've been blessed by a series of really good friends. I think if I were to be judged solely by the company I've kept, I'd end up looking pretty good.

I believe in God. I believe that God loves us. But I don't think that any single choice, lifestyle, or action disqualifies you from the Kingdom of God. That's just crazy talk.

I like cowboy movies. I think it's a sad comment on our society that the Clint Eastwoods have beaten out the John Waynes.

...but damn, is Clint Eastwood cool.

I will be very sad when I loose my Father.

I owe a lot to these people:

My Father - For holding me when I was sick.

My Mother - For crying when I hurt her once. It taught me more than any lecture.

Ted - For being my partner in my earliest adventures.

Sam - For being my big brother in a moment of crisis.

Tom - For being Superman.

Lucas - For being patient with me. Always.

Eli - For making me feel cool when I was a kid.

Aaron - For talking with me during long car-rides.

Branden - For teaching me that people are complicated.

Brian - For teaching me that brotherhood can grow.

Mike - For singing on the beach.

Melissa Carr - For teaching me about love.

Kristen Jenkins - For teaching me about my limits.

Jeremy Roby - For teaching me about betrayal.

William Ley - For showing me self-confidence without arrogance.

Kaweo Kanoho - For teaching me loyalty without words.

Shari Bayliss - For teaching me that relationships are complicated.

Ethan Searing - For letting me ride with him until I could ride on my own.

Janice Chadwick - For giving me a third chance.

And Jade LeBlanc. For loving me and agreeing to be my wife. Forever.

I believe that a child can live in ignorance and be happy. I think that an adult who is ill informed as to the goings-on in his world is a disgrace.

I've learned that I need to be more informed about politics, but this is my bottom line. This is not everything I believe, nor is it necessarily going to be consistent. I'm complicated. I change. I grow. But for right now, this is my
Manifesto.

Thank you for reading.