Another pointless day in a string of pointless days
Hey kids. I was just reading the livejournal of my friend, Max Lazaroff, Esquire. He made a good point, and it made me reflect a little bit on the past year and the experiences that I've had. I figured, what the hell, my brain has been on overload all day from the classes, so why stop thinking now? I'm on a roll.
He was talking about how he was kickin it in his dorm today and a friend of his wanted him to help her with her computer. While he was doing his thing, he heard her talking to another friend of his and he had a realization that "for most people, this is just an extension of high school." People still just want to meet a girl for a piece of ass, and they want to get trashed whenever they can. I couldn't agree more.
There are a lot of people here that just don't get it. I assume that it's even worse other places, because there are also quite a few people here that have a really high level of professionalism and that take a lot of pride in their work. But I have definitely noticed that there are a ton of people who haven't taken that next step yet. I'm not saying that people shouldn't have fun, but they should at least attempt to act like adults and individuals. Here are some simple ways to do this:
1. Stop buying clothes with brand names plastered all over them simply for the sake of having brand names plastered all over your shit. They aren't made any better than other clothes. They're completely overpriced. They're made by kids in Malaysia who make about 10 cents a day. (I believe that it's the GAP that has all of this controversy around it, but correct me if I'm wrong.) Now I'm not saying that you should intentionally avoid this stuff. I have a bunch of American Eagle shirts that my mom got for me because they LOOK NICE ON ME and they are COMFORTABLE. And I have no problem owning AE shirts. But really, those should be the two deciding factors. If you drop a shitload of money on clothes because of the company name, then you have an identity crisis. Congratulations, you're a marketing statistic. You might as well wear a bunch of shirts with Brandon Weatherford written on them, becuase it makes just as much sense.
2. Stop listening to music just because you're bombarded with it on the local radio station. Just because "everybody" likes something doesn't mean that it's good. Again, if you actually like the music that's on the radio, then that's fine... but don't listen to it BECAUSE it's what everyone else listens to. Listen to it because you like it. There isn't any right or wrong music, but there IS right and wrong music for a person. I used to be a radio whore, but now I'm not satisfied with a CD unless at least one of the tracks gives me a chill, literally. Sometimes mainstream music has been able to do that for me, but lots of time it doesn't. Stay true to what you like. (On a side note, I just got the Mars Volta CD today, and I absolutely love it. I can tell that it's gonna be one of my favorite CDs cuz I've listened to it three times today. It's definitely different from regular rock music... but if you're gonna check them out, you have to listen to the entire CD from beginning to end. The individual songs are really mind-blowing, and the way that the songs flow together is awesome. So yeah anyway, check out De-Loused in the Comatorium by the Mars Volta.)
3. Quit getting tanked/smoking/doing other shit just because it's the "cool" thing to do. It's pretty apparent from previous livejournals that I do drink and I did smoke until recently. I never had any problem with those things, but the way that it's usually done fucking grinds me. I do it to get my mind off of life and to have a good time with my friends. That's all. When I would smoke, I usually didn't go anywhere other than to just hang out with my friends or to see a concert. I was responsible and respectful about it. The same thing goes for drinking - For a long time I haven't been "that guy" at the party who just walks around saying "OH MAN I AM SO TANKED RIGHT NOW! MAN I AM DRUNK! SO VERY DRUNK! I DON'T THINK THAT I COULD BE MORE DRUNK THAN I AM RIGHT NOW! MAN I AM SOOO DRUNK!!! DRINKING!!!" and then throws up all over the floor cuz he drank too much. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Nobody cares. Nobody gives one shit about how drunk you are. I realized that that's something that you should keep to yourself. Drinking should ENHANCE your experience. It should not DEFINE your LIFE. Have a good time, but be responsible and don't act like a tool.
I'm sure there are more tips, but this is getting long.
One point that I do disagree with Max on is that I don't think that people in high school are more prone to this kind of behavior than people in college. I made a bunch of friends in high school that already had their shit figured out. I had a girlfriend who was three years younger than me that knew what was up just as much as the rest of my friends did. Some people just understand what it means to be yourself and others don't. I just found out recently that my sister smokes cigarettes. I was pretty pissed about that. I personally don't think that smoking cigarettes is the smartest thing, but I really don't have a problem with it if someone does it because it's their thing. But I know that Brianne didn't start smoking because she likes the flavor of smoke. She started because she knew other people who did it. That's really no reason to do anything.
So where am I going with all of this? I have had a lot of conversations with different people about these kinds of things. Now I know that I'm a shy person, so that's a big reason that I haven't been dating anyone for a long time. But I've also realized through these conversations that I'm extremely picky. It's almost sickening. Honestly, I have only met a VERY small number of girls that I would even consider taking out somewhere. I can count them on one hand. And I'm not the kind of person that just gets his groove on with random girls that he's not actually interested in, so you can imagine what impact this has had in that area. My standards are just incredibly high. It's hard to find people that don't have the personality of a tree stump. Here's the problem: Since I have such terribly high standards... how the fuck am I gonna get together with a girl that can have any guy she wants? Seriously. I mean I'm perfectly happy with who I am... but I think a lot of people don't understand me, and that I'm not most people's style. Or that I'm just too damn weird for most girls. But maybe I'm wrong.
He was talking about how he was kickin it in his dorm today and a friend of his wanted him to help her with her computer. While he was doing his thing, he heard her talking to another friend of his and he had a realization that "for most people, this is just an extension of high school." People still just want to meet a girl for a piece of ass, and they want to get trashed whenever they can. I couldn't agree more.
There are a lot of people here that just don't get it. I assume that it's even worse other places, because there are also quite a few people here that have a really high level of professionalism and that take a lot of pride in their work. But I have definitely noticed that there are a ton of people who haven't taken that next step yet. I'm not saying that people shouldn't have fun, but they should at least attempt to act like adults and individuals. Here are some simple ways to do this:
1. Stop buying clothes with brand names plastered all over them simply for the sake of having brand names plastered all over your shit. They aren't made any better than other clothes. They're completely overpriced. They're made by kids in Malaysia who make about 10 cents a day. (I believe that it's the GAP that has all of this controversy around it, but correct me if I'm wrong.) Now I'm not saying that you should intentionally avoid this stuff. I have a bunch of American Eagle shirts that my mom got for me because they LOOK NICE ON ME and they are COMFORTABLE. And I have no problem owning AE shirts. But really, those should be the two deciding factors. If you drop a shitload of money on clothes because of the company name, then you have an identity crisis. Congratulations, you're a marketing statistic. You might as well wear a bunch of shirts with Brandon Weatherford written on them, becuase it makes just as much sense.
2. Stop listening to music just because you're bombarded with it on the local radio station. Just because "everybody" likes something doesn't mean that it's good. Again, if you actually like the music that's on the radio, then that's fine... but don't listen to it BECAUSE it's what everyone else listens to. Listen to it because you like it. There isn't any right or wrong music, but there IS right and wrong music for a person. I used to be a radio whore, but now I'm not satisfied with a CD unless at least one of the tracks gives me a chill, literally. Sometimes mainstream music has been able to do that for me, but lots of time it doesn't. Stay true to what you like. (On a side note, I just got the Mars Volta CD today, and I absolutely love it. I can tell that it's gonna be one of my favorite CDs cuz I've listened to it three times today. It's definitely different from regular rock music... but if you're gonna check them out, you have to listen to the entire CD from beginning to end. The individual songs are really mind-blowing, and the way that the songs flow together is awesome. So yeah anyway, check out De-Loused in the Comatorium by the Mars Volta.)
3. Quit getting tanked/smoking/doing other shit just because it's the "cool" thing to do. It's pretty apparent from previous livejournals that I do drink and I did smoke until recently. I never had any problem with those things, but the way that it's usually done fucking grinds me. I do it to get my mind off of life and to have a good time with my friends. That's all. When I would smoke, I usually didn't go anywhere other than to just hang out with my friends or to see a concert. I was responsible and respectful about it. The same thing goes for drinking - For a long time I haven't been "that guy" at the party who just walks around saying "OH MAN I AM SO TANKED RIGHT NOW! MAN I AM DRUNK! SO VERY DRUNK! I DON'T THINK THAT I COULD BE MORE DRUNK THAN I AM RIGHT NOW! MAN I AM SOOO DRUNK!!! DRINKING!!!" and then throws up all over the floor cuz he drank too much. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Nobody cares. Nobody gives one shit about how drunk you are. I realized that that's something that you should keep to yourself. Drinking should ENHANCE your experience. It should not DEFINE your LIFE. Have a good time, but be responsible and don't act like a tool.
I'm sure there are more tips, but this is getting long.
One point that I do disagree with Max on is that I don't think that people in high school are more prone to this kind of behavior than people in college. I made a bunch of friends in high school that already had their shit figured out. I had a girlfriend who was three years younger than me that knew what was up just as much as the rest of my friends did. Some people just understand what it means to be yourself and others don't. I just found out recently that my sister smokes cigarettes. I was pretty pissed about that. I personally don't think that smoking cigarettes is the smartest thing, but I really don't have a problem with it if someone does it because it's their thing. But I know that Brianne didn't start smoking because she likes the flavor of smoke. She started because she knew other people who did it. That's really no reason to do anything.
So where am I going with all of this? I have had a lot of conversations with different people about these kinds of things. Now I know that I'm a shy person, so that's a big reason that I haven't been dating anyone for a long time. But I've also realized through these conversations that I'm extremely picky. It's almost sickening. Honestly, I have only met a VERY small number of girls that I would even consider taking out somewhere. I can count them on one hand. And I'm not the kind of person that just gets his groove on with random girls that he's not actually interested in, so you can imagine what impact this has had in that area. My standards are just incredibly high. It's hard to find people that don't have the personality of a tree stump. Here's the problem: Since I have such terribly high standards... how the fuck am I gonna get together with a girl that can have any guy she wants? Seriously. I mean I'm perfectly happy with who I am... but I think a lot of people don't understand me, and that I'm not most people's style. Or that I'm just too damn weird for most girls. But maybe I'm wrong.