Why Stories?

One of my friends recently asked me "Why do you think humans are so drawn to stories?".

My instant response: "I would guess continuity and the ability to identify with parts of characters."

A few seconds later I said: "I think its a relatable framework to share ideas"

The question reminded me of an article that I had seen posted on Facebook that talked about the issue. I had initially skipped it because I was more in the mood for interesting/amusing discussions rather than something serious.

The three statements that stood out to me (mainly because they were bolded in the article) were:
- "A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a connection of cause and effect."
- "Now, whenever we hear a story, we want to relate it to one of our existing experiences."
- "A story can put your whole brain to work."

The first statement made obvious sense to me, and fit in live with my comment on continuity. A continuous chain of cause and effect is the basic structure of a story. Even when authors present disjointed stories, it is the bonds between segments that help pull the reader in.

The second statement hit home with me. I realize that this has been something that I tend to do to a fault. If a friend tells me about their trip to a restaurant, I immediately start telling them about my last trip there. If I hear a new band, I start trying to figure out what known frame of reference I can link them to. When I read a book or watch a TV show, I figure out which part of characters I identify with. Right now, I would like to think of my self as a mixture of Tom and Leslie from Parks and Rec with a little Tyrion, Jamie, and Tywin Lannister mixed in.

The third statement was the main thing that I did not consider, but explains my last statement. While it makes sense in hindsight, the fact that stories engage multiple parts of our brain is really interesting. The author of the article talks about how this engagement allows us to plant ideas into the minds of others. The fact that this is such a deep method of "sharing ideas" is kinda crazy.

Stories allow us to relate to each other in order to create a more cohesive community. And that is what life is all about right?

Lyric of the day: Avicii - Wake Me Up
"So wake me up when it's all over
When I'm wiser and I'm older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn't know I was lost"

Uncertainty

This year has been fucking insane. It started with the Ravens championship being a comfort while I dealt with some harsh truth. I drove through Indy listening to A$AP, Kansas listening to MaRo, and OK listening to Lana. I had my first international trip that was not for family or school. It involved me coming to grips with the fact that it is not giving up, when you need to move on. Trying to figure out what I want out of my career.

This year had ups as high as crying at a best friend's wedding to lows as hard as getting a phone call that another of my best friend's was in critical condition at a hospital.

The result is that I have found myself in a weird uncertain place, trying to figure things out.

It reminds me of when I was in college and realized that moral absolutism made no sense as our individual needs makes morality relative. Except now I'm searching for purpose instead of understanding the world.

Maybe I'm stuck in a rut of being a cynical asshole. Maybe I'll have a cathartic moment where everything becomes clear.

Lyric of the Day: 50 Cent & The Game - Love it or Hate it
"Hate it or love it, the underdog's on top
And I'm gon' shine homey until my heart stop"

Back to Black

Went back to MD for a weekend. JT and Jay Z were amazing. Played Legendary with 2 sets of siblings I'm gonna miss when I move. Walked around the harbor and rediscovered Otakon. I'm going to miss all of this. Hell, I miss all the things I've already lost there.

I forgot my laptop, but I'm really glad I did. Spending time talking to people(even if they were on their tablets or computers), is something I enjoy. One of my friends recently posted and infographic that made me kind of sad. Based on this, being in the middle is the best. Because clearly anyone who focuses on themselves and doesn't think before they speak is obnoxious.

Here is why I think that is bullshit:

I always relate things people tell me back to my personal experiences. What you share with me is your personal experience, and I am so glad that you decided to open up to me that I want to share something with you. If that thing is trivial or boorish, I'm sorry. Its all I've got that I can return to you about my experiences after you have taken time to share yours with me. When people point out that I repeat stories often, it makes me disappointed. Not because I've been repetitive, but that in that attempt I failed to share something with them.

What people see as my verbal onslaught is just my excitement to share with you and relate. I'm kind of stuck in my own head a lot of the time, so when I get to interact with people, I want to spill my thoughts to them. My verbal onslaught is basically me seeing a break from my internal monologue (which is not always the happiest or comforting place).

Claiming that what I say "bypasses my brain and goes straight to my mouth" is not an insult. Hesitation allows dishonesty. I don't want to sugar goat what I'm thinking. I want you to get it just as I think it, without my ego getting in the way. Pausing to think of how to more appropriately phrase something is what I do when I'm with those who I'm not close to, and those with whom I have to maintain a facade of appropriateness.

Labeling people as "playthings" is wrong. People are the reason we exist. Without interaction, life would kind of be pointless. You could sit in your head all day and think of new ideas. But without anyone to share it with, that gets old. I'm pretty sure that's why that old Greek philosopher wrote his work as a dialogue. People sharing ideas or experiences is basically the best you can get.

My past couple rants have been edited, because I wanted to maintain some level of coherence. Too bad. This is the stream of my consciousness. Get swept away in it, and try not to "put P in our 'ool' ".

Lyric of the Day: Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
"You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black"

Trigger Warnings

I think that trigger warnings are dumb.

While it probably is that way because I'm lazy, I nonetheless refuse to label everything that could shock someone. I also think it is presumptuous for someone to say "I have a good enough understanding of other people's life experiences to label things that are traumatic for them". I think its also insulting for someone when you define things that are supposed to trigger them. I basically agree with Susannah Breslin. I will not babysit your voyage on the internet.

Also, I feel like fully embracing the self-righteousness of trigger warnings will lead to some really stupid things. Like this post, where someone chastises someone else for not having a trigger warning for a group of people who probably wouldn't demand a warning.

</rant>

Dora the Explorer - Old Post Actually Posted

Two weekends ago I drove across the country (well like 2/3 of the way). It was an awesome trip. I met an old friend along the way and caught up with where he was now. It's funny how with your old friends some things never change. I caught up with someone that I hadn't seen in a while, except strangely in a city that neither of us live in. I also met one of my friends from online and I had more fun that I've had in a long time. It is interesting in the digital age how we can connect with people far away from us. All in all, the drive was fun, and I got to see places I had never dreamed I would see before.

Last weekend I tried to start exploring my new city. Sadly, the first two Zagat-rated places I tried to go to were shut down. I did end up at a nice restaurant where I tried local food that I had never heard of before. I asked my server what to order, and he did not steer me wrong. I spent the next day climbing at a nearby National Park, going to a wine festival, and seeing Star Trek with a friend from middle school who happened to be in the area. All in all, a very good day.

This weekend, I took a less adventurous path and spent most of my time at home. I had a paper to work on, and the book that I was reading got really good. I was compulsively reading chapters of Catching Fire until I finished it and started Mockingjay. I did manage to go out and get some supplies so I could I have my first real cooked full meal in my new place.

------Time Jump 2 weeks forward--------

I just got back from my trip to India. It was an amazing experience. Things I have learned:
- Hindu weddings are awesome (2-3 days of events!)
- Traffic laws are suggestions in India
- There is a reason that vegetarians from India complain about a lock of options in the US
- Cricket is bigger in India than the NFL is in the US
- Jet Lag is a real thing, and will mess with your trip
- Mysore Palace is pretty amazing
- "Conservative" is an understatement in terms of clothing
- My friends always laugh at me when I ask "Are you feeling scared about getting married?"
- Eating with your hands is not as hard as I thought when I was younger
- Indian Pizza Hut and McDonalds are totally different than in the US

I had 3 days in MD on my way back. I met with college friends, coworkers, and high school friends, so it worked out well. Watching Firefly, talking science, and drafting Magic is a pretty good weekend.

On our next episode: A rant on trigger warnings and ironies in gender equality.

Funny Story of the Day:

When I visited my friend in Chicago we hung out watching Cops, eating pizza, talking about Game of Thrones, drinking Jack N Coke, and sharing funny things we found online. One of us didn't remember any of that the next day...

Lyric of the Day: Within Temptation - Angels
I see the angels
I'll lead them to your door
There is no escape now
Now mercy no more

No remorse 'cause I still remember
The smile when you tore me apart

2013 bucket list update

In a weird twist of fate, I have accomplished almost all my traveling to-dos, but I'm way behind on my movies and reading. This is a weird year.

Foodie:
- Have a jumbo lump crab cake from Faidley's on a Saltine. (Got calamari from The Daily Catch instead)
- Corned beef on rye at Attman's. (Crab Omlette at Little Havana instead)
- Have dinner at Brewer's Art again
- Go to a well-rated Zagat restaurant.
- Smith Island Cake (Sugarbakers)

Expanding my horizons:
- Go into the city (Six hours of madness)
- Go out somewhere into the country/mountains (NM)
- Go to a big city driving distance away (Chicago)
- Go out of the state (VA)
- Go out of the country

Movies/Reading:
- Watch all the old Batman movies
- Finish the Hunger Games
- Watch the Best Pictures from the past 5 years
- Read Atlas Shrugged
- Read all of Abbott's reports

Doing stuff I should have done:
- See live music
- Get back down to 230
- Go to speed dating
- Finish "Perspective"
- Get on LinkedIn

Lyric of the day: Power Trip - J. Cole ft Miguel
Got me up all night, all I'm singin' is love songs
She got me up all night, constant drinkin' and love songs
She got me up all night, down and out with these love songs
She got me up all night, drownin' out with these love songs

The line between good and evil

One thing that I struggled with when I was younger was when I realized that there is no clear distinction between good actions and evil actions. Realizing that so many things had the potential to help and to harm blew my teenage mind. My takeaway from that cathartic moment when I understood that no clear divider could not be drawn was that most things in life are like tools. In this sense, the outcome reflects the actions (not even intention) of the wielder. Heck, even the same actions can have different effects based on the conditions of the moment.

I was only reminded of this zen realization I had, when my friend and I were discussing religion. She had sent me a TED talk where the speaker talked about religion as something that enabled people to empathize and feel compassion for each other. I (being the constant cynic I am) criticized the speaker for presenting what I saw as a one-sided praise of religion. For as much as I understand that there are people who use their faith as a way for them to empathize with others, I believe there are those who their faith serves as a tool for discrimination. I guess my problem is that both group would say that the other is a 'perversion of the religion', and I think at some level they are both equally right.

This matter of perspective keeps raising its head in weird ways throughout this year. About a month ago I was talking to one of my friends and the topic of what we thought our greatest strengths and weaknesses were as people. I said that my greatest strength was my ability to fall asleep as soon as I become bored and my greatest weakness is that I am easily moved by anything that is emotionally charged. His response is that he would have said the same things about me, but that he saw my listed strength as a weakness and my listed weakness as a strength.

Its funny how easily it is for people, even those with similar philosophies and ideologies, to have different views.

Funny Story of the Day:

My friend and I had made plans to hang out. The day before he calls me up.

Friend: Hey, man. I'm sorry to do this, but we can only hang out for a little while tomorrow.
Me: What's up?

Friend: My wife pointed out to me that its our 1 month anniversary, and she made it clear that we were celebrating tomorrow.

Me: Is that a thing? One month?

Friend: I didn't think it was, but she made it clear that to her it was.

Me: Alright, just make sure you look online to find an appropriate gift.

Friend: I checked already and didn't find much, because even the internet does not think that one month anniversary is a thing.

Lyric of the Day: Lana Del Ray - Young and Beautiful

Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

The Weekend that Was

This weekend was pretty fun, but it reminded me what I'll be missing this summer when I leave. It's funny how a single week can change your entire year. I guess its true when they say that you never know where life will take you, though you find out why it takes you there along the way.

Friday: My friend and I made plans to go to a party. When I got to his place, neither of us were dressed. We decided instead to just hang out, crack open a bottle of wine and play video games. There was an enjoyable throwback moment where I sat back and watched him as he struggled with tech support for an MMO. It felt like we really had gone nowhere since High School.

Saturday: Went to Magic Prerelease. Even though I went 1-3, I had a lot of fun and felt better that the ones where I do well, but I am stressed out by the games. Hung out with another friend afterwards and played for a bit. He and his wife (it feels so fucking weird writing that) opened their wedding presents. Over Skype. Welcome to 2013. We also got dinner off of Potbelly's 'Secret' Menu. After, went to my grandparents and helped them avoid having to repaint an entire room.

Sunday: Went to Prerelease for redemption..Got some cards for my EDH deck. Saw my friend go 4-0 and take first, while his brother and I went 1-3. Accused of cheating in our after-prerelease guild off. Kids were just jealous I won. Went to White Marsh to pick up a friend, and passed by the Starbucks that makes me embarassed of the things high school me did. Hung out for a while and talked about a wide variety of topics, including life, work, movies, television, and music (Reminder: I need to check out The Voice). Got two books that are quite related to my interests as gifts.

Three weeks remain before I leave the state.

Funny Story of the Day:
This is a bit of an old story, but I'll record it because in hindsight it was pretty funny.
Two guys are sitting in a group that is mostly female.
Guy 1: It is rough being a single guy in this crowd. Not many lookers.
Guy 2: To be honest, I don't know many of the people here.
Guy 1: Well, you know her. *motions* She cleans up pretty well at least.
Guy 2: Huh. I thought she always looks good.
Guy 1: That is an interesting perspective.

Lyric of the Day: The XX: Fiction

Fiction, when we're not together
Mistaken for a vision, something of my own creation
Come real love, why do I refuse you?
Cause if my fear's right, I risk to lose you
And if I just might wake up alone
Bring on the night

This reminds me of a quote from 500 days of Summer that I keep on my Facebook wall.

We are the things we hold on to

I've been packing for the past couple of weeks. And by packing I mean going through my things and remembering the past. I am a sucker for nostalgia. Things I found:

- My sixth grade journal (where I reveal my desire for a stable job and a Gameboy)
- My middle school yearbook (with a thank you note from a best friend who is barely an acquaintance now)
- A reminder that my rival was still smarter than me in that yearbook
- YMA Mix CD one !!!
- My nunchucks from demo team
- A game I made for learning about vitamins
- Binders full of Pokemon
- A friend from HS's award that was left in my car on graduation day
- A syllabus from a class I never took, but attended anyway
- A report titled 'LAID'
- A purchase request (and a pledge of assistance in fowl interruption)
- A poem I started on a scrap of paper while waiting in a car on my friend's campus

Here is the last one. It was an interesting start, but i kind of want to leave it unfinished.

Identity

Man is not what he is.
He is not this collection of emotions.
He is what others see.
A reflection in the mind's eye.

I am not the thoughts in my brain,
these feelings in my heart,
or this blood in my veins.

I am a memory in the collective conscious.

I enjoy being an emo kid. And its not just for the bangs, though I do love them.

Lyric of the Day: Dev - Take Her From You

You say you know her
Well I know her too
You say you kno-ow-ow-ow-ow her
But you don’t know her like I do

You say you love her
Once upon a time I loved her too
You say you lo-o-o-o-ove her
But you don’t love her like I do

You’ve got to give me that girl
Or I, will take her from you

Where the main character ignores everything he has learned so far

I realized a little bit ago that I should probably stop planning out my life so far in advance. Who knows what city I will end up in, what job I'll have, or when I'll find Ms. Right? My love for structure and control have tended to leave me at the corner of confused and apathetic.

With that in mind, I'm going to make a decision that I think I will have control over. I want to have a pet. I don't know what type of pet. While I would like to have a baby panda that I grow into an adult and make into my personal bodyguard, I do realize the impracticality of that idea. I'll probably end up with a small, manageable dog.

I can dream, right? The important part of being a dreamer is admitting that you have a problem. I'll update you if I ever figure out how to fix that. For right now, all I've got is that you have to acknowledge the infeasibility of your more ideal ideas. That was actually unintentional alliteration.

Weekend Recap: Lab work on 2 hrs of sleep. Playing BSG with noobs. Dinner where I actually had to answer the "what do you do?" question. Drinking games to a great movie (Easy A) for a friend's bday. Starting a bachelor party at 2 am. Endless Mimosas. Saw a ball game. The earliest, messiest end to a night that I've ever had. Overanalyzed the pacing of the Hunger Games movie.

Lana Del Ray: Summertime Sadness
"Kiss me hard before you go
Summertime sadness
I just wanted you to know
That, baby, you're the best

I got my red dress on tonight
Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight
Done my hair up real big beauty queen style
High heels off, I'm feeling alive

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air
Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare
Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere
Nothing scares me anymore"

They are who we thought they were, continued

On this blog, I'm still going to be as ranty as ever, so fear not. In fact, the first thing I must do is finish something from my last blog that I started here . To summarize, gender roles seem to be a shitty construct that is outdated.

To me, the idea of gender as anything outside of being based on primary and secondary sex characteristics seems pretty dumb. I know this is hypocritical of someone who has said "Girls love llamas" and refers to a video game character as a she because they wear a purple costume, but I've been working on trying to avoid those things. It is really ironic, because I find myself mad when other people do the same things that I do.

With this premise, I find a bunch of stuff that we do, makes no sense in this context. Why do we have bathrooms for different genders? Why is this current event an issue at all? And this thing too Why do we report gender at so many different places? Why can't people just make immature anatomy jokes without it being sexist? Why is it that Gawker has a blog for women, but none that say they are targeted at men?

In conclusion, a lot of shit doesn't make sense to me because I think their premise is stupid. I also look forward to the day when I feel fine getting bright purple rain boots, without feeling like I am judged by men and women alike.

I ran out of steam, but I'm sure when I'm mad I'll keep going. Now, I'm just hungry.

Edit: http://acko.net/blog/storms-and-teacups/ is similar to what I was trying to say. Except for the part about being a gay guy.

Hemingway + Bucket Lists

I tend to have a lot of love for Hemingway, especially for The Sun Also Rises. Maybe its that I sympathize with the lost generation, or that I appreciate the bluntness of his writing. His characters seem like real people, in that they are all flawed. Maybe I just like The Sun Also Rises because it captures the idea that you can't run away from your problems or solve them by drinking. Or that I enjoy his antiquated romantic notions of love. Or his directive to go out and enjoy life before you get too old.

"Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you've lived nearly half the time you have to live already?" - Cohn in The Sun Also Rises

The real point of this post was to talk about getting stuff done while you have time. I'm going to steal some stuff from an article I saw in the Sun (http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bal-100-foodies-pg1202,0,5822554.photogallery), but here are 20 things I want to do this year.

Foodie:
- Have a jumbo lump crab cake from Faidley's on a Saltine. (Got calamari from The Daily Catch instead)
- Corned beef on rye at Attman's. (Crab Omlette at Little Havana instead)
- Have dinner at Brewer's Art again
- Try some of the special flavors from Taharka Bros. (formerly Sylvan Beach) ice cream and Pitango Gelato.
- Smith Island Cake (Sugarbakers)

Expanding my horizons:
- Go into the city (Six hours of madness)
- Go out somewhere into the country/mountains
- Go to a big city driving distance away
- Go out of the state
- Go out of the country

Movies/Reading:
- Watch all the old Batman movies
- Finish the Hunger Games
- Watch the Best Pictures from the past 5 years
- Read Atlas Shrugged
- Read all of Abbott's reports

Doing stuff I should have done:
- See live music
- Get back down to 230
- Go to speed dating
- Finish "Perspective"
- Get on LinkedIn

Classic Overthinking

Sometimes I find it funny that to some I'm labeled as impulsive. I have always been the type of person who would think too much before they make a decision that they care about. I think its related to how I listen to songs by focusing on the lyrics. I enjoy having lots of information and feeling like I'm thinking critically. I could see my habit of making fast decisions for things coming out of the fact that if I thought about every choice as much as I wanted to I would never get anything done.

To some extent, I'm glad that I evolved that habit. In group projects, people generally respond well to having a shot caller. Also, in the whole, the consequences of the bad decisions I have made have been minimal (at least they seem so now). Its amusing that how long I spend thinking making a decision also kind of correlates now with how much something matters to me.

That explains why I took two days to decide that I wanted to buy RPG maker and the sale period ran out, right?

Ah well, there is always next Steam sale.

Lyric of the Day: Drake - Marvin's Room
I think I’m addicted to naked pictures
And sittin talkin’ ’bout bitches that we almost had.
I don’t think I’m concious of making monsters
Outta the women that I sponsor til it all goes bad

But shit it’s all good

Tokens of the Past

One thing I do is I collect things that remind me of parts of my life that I'm afraid of forgetting. I've been packing up the stuff that I have in storage and I've come across many things that I kept. The two things I have in storage are boxes of memories and the books for my future library.

Things I found last trip:
- SWAT badge from karate when I was in middle school
- A picture from our High School robotics trip, where I have past-shoulder-length hair
- The lanyard from my first Otakon
- The box that came with the ring I got for my 16th birthday
- The swag bag from the year I took my little brother with me to Otakon
- The Playbill from when I was in Macbeth in HS
- The folder from my freshman college orientation (with the school map)
- A receipt from my first trip to Balducci's
- My ticket to Iron Man (the first one)
- The invitation for the wedding of the first of my friends to get married

I also remembered that younger me enjoyed leaving Magic: The Gathering cards as bookmarks in books that I had completed or at passages that I particularly liked. There were two that I noticed I had marked on my last trip.

From Hemingway's Fiesta (aka The Sun Also Rises):
“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”
Oddly appropriate as it relates to some of my recent posts. Plus the story itself relates to the title of this blog.

From Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Totally used this on my essay for AP English in 11th grade. Still remains a universal truth.

Lyric of the Day: Miike Snow - Animal

I change shapes just to hide in this place
But I'm still I'm still an animal
Nobody knows it but me when I slip, yeah I slip
I'm still an animal

Planning something big

So I've been spending this past week getting ready for upcoming things. My international trip. My research presentation. My east coast trip. Seeing JT on tour. Being a groomsman. Having something to do this summer.

So many things to get ready for. So little time.

Lyric of the day: Paramore - Misery Business (I like the acoustic version)

Whoa, i never meant to brag.
But I got him where I want him now.
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now.
But God does it feel so good,
Cause I got him where I want him now.
And if you could then you know you would.
'Cause God it just feels so...
It just feels so good.

When I listen to the chorus, I always think of Lex Luthor saying these lines to Louis while he tortures Supes...that's normal, right?

Rants: Oscar's 2013

So I planned to spend this post talking about how amazing Adele doing Skyfall was amazing, how adorable JLaur is, how Daniel Day Lewis is to Oscar movies is what Will Smith is to Blockbusters, or how the winners matched my online 'Oscar Ballot' (except for Ang Lee, I gave it to Spielberg). Instead, I'm going to rant about Seth MacFarlane. Not that the Oscars showed why he was a writer and not a comedian. Not that he is like is like a strictly worse Ricky Gervais (less cutting sarcasm, more dick jokes). But instead that people are either over-reacting to his hosting, or in some cases purposefully misconstruing what he said.

I'll start with the first thing I saw on Facebook about the Oscars. This Buzzfeed post that would serve as my first introduction to the 'horrors' that occurred last night. My reactions are below.

1. I thought it was horrible when I heard about it. But seeing the video, J Laur's fist pump made me go from cringing to laughing. The fact  that he got the gay men's chorus made it seem like he was trying not to make it crudely sexual, but just humorous, because everyone, gay men and women included, like boobs.

2. To me this was just funny. The first part about Jennifer Laurence being "old" was great, and in the second half was a pretty funny jab at Clooney. In my head, the first thing when I think of dating isn't sex, so I didn't see it as sexualizing her. I guess that's why I'm a terrible date :P

3. He made a dig at Chris Brown and people are mad at him? I can't wait until Chris Brown posts a mad tweet and people don't know whether to hate on MacFarlane or Brown.

4. I enjoyed the intentional vagueness of this joke. It was something that you could use to trick one of your friends. I thought it was just funny. Its a style of joke that I think is clever.

5. If you've never read about what happens before Fashion week, this seems like a bad generalization. But this was actually his most Gervais-esque criticism of the audience.

6. Once again, this is just a style of joke that plays on tropes. I personally enjoy them and there is a forum game based on them. What is the movie about an old widower kidnapping a young boy and taking him to South America? (Hint: "My name is Doug, and I love you!")

7.  No comment. All I know about the Kardashians is Lamar Odom and Kris Humpries dated them?

8. I could totally believe this was just a coincidence. Nicholson is a goddamn superstar and revels in it (He interrupted JLaur's post Oscar interview) If it was intentional, this is a phenomenal jab at the Academy and Seth has brass balls. They gave an accused rapist a Best Director award, which is what he is referencing.

9. The person who included this in the list must be an idiot, because they don't realize that Javier Bardem is a dude. He is making fun of foreigners, not women.

With this premise, I assumed that most people who were angry at MacFarlane were wrong. I admit that the man couldn't deliver worth shit, and that some of his jokes were bad (like the beard one), but I've seen people decrying him as a misogynist. Did he make jokes at the expense of women? Yes. But, he poked fun at men at the same time. Channing Tatum was the actual stripper. Clooney ditches women when they get old. Jack Nicholson is your creepy uncle that would host an Oscar's orgy. I will admit, I have yet to watch all of the Oscars, but I will when I get the chance (just to see Adele perform again).

The other thing that people threw hissyfits over was the Onion tweeting “Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c--t, right? #Oscars2013”. When I heard about it, I was amused. Facebook last night was people gushing over this girl. Talking about how cute, amazing, or inspiraqtional she was. The Onion cleverly attacked all of this hero worship by juxtaposing all the nice things people were saying with something terrible. The joke was successful, because what the Onion was saying saw so absurd, it must be satire (I hate when the Onion does that "subtle satire" bullshit). People say that this (like MacFarlane's joke) sexualizes the little girl. I know that people use cunt as a synonym for bitch. Its on Wikipedia, for crying out loud. I was told that this was different, because it was talking about a specific girl, not an idea. Tell me that you felt that way about Bristol Palin.

I'm getting tired. Rant over.


Lyric of the Day: Three Doors Down - Love Me When I'm Gone

I'll never let you down
Even if I could
I'd give up everything
If only for your good
So hold me when I'm here
Right me when I'm wrong
You can hold me when I'm scared
You won't always be there
So love me when I'm gone

Don't Stay

This is a poem(?) idea that I have had for a while, and since I had a good time writing the last one (which I still have to revise), I figured I would write another. Enjoy!

If you don't, it really doesn't matter. I write this because I'm terrified that one day I will forget it all.

This took me like a month to put together. But in the end I rushed to publish it because I couldn't stand at looking at it any longer.

Don't Stay
-----------

Don't stay in the same state that you went to for high school when you go to college.
You need to take this chance to explore somewhere new.


Don't stay at the same place for grad school where you did your undergrad.
People won't respect your degree as much.

I always thought that these ideas were bullshit.
Not the message to move on, but the premises they provided.

"This is my one chance to explore somewhere new?", I would scoff.
Bitch please, I can study abroad on the other side of the world if I want to.
I can take road trips across state lines, yelling out the name of each new place I visit.
And so I did. Out of defiance, rather than desire.

"Why the hell would I want to go anywhere else?"
Sure our city is number one in drug-related violence,
But MD is great for education and we legalized gay marriage.
Hell, our Governor could be the next president.

"They will respect my work, not my resume"
Though in this one I will concede defeat.
Because my vision is based on some idealist world,
where a man is judged not on the color of his skin, but the content of his works.

The real reason not to stay is because of overwhelming nostalgia.

Seeing familiar places brings back memories.

Tennis courts where I should have gone every week,
Coffee shops where I wasn't there for the coffee,
Lecture halls where sleeping students got higher grades,
Living rooms where we talked like philosopher kings,
Entire buildings devoted to missed opportunities.
I could build a bridge to Hawaii with the amount of sentimentality I feel sometimes.

But even if I leave, these places will still be a part of me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lyric of the Day: Coheed and Cambria - Here We Are Juggernaut

Keep your secrets in the dark
Nothing matters anymore
Body's breaking, drive me crazy
This is not your place
No, this is not your playground it's my heart
We were stupid, we got caught
But nothing matters anymore
So what? Here we are Juggernaut

When Harry Met Sally

So I rewatched When Harry Met Sally today. Found it on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5pci2fE96M

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED IT, WATCH IT BEFORE YOU READ THE LAST TWO PARAGRAPHS. OR ELSE I WON'T FORGIVE YOU.

This is on my top 5 movies of all time, up there with Good Will Hunting and A Knight's Tale.

To me, those three movies have had special meanings.

Good Will Hunting has always reminded me that it is not our fault that the world has shaped us into the people that we are,  that the main reason to use your talent is for those who don't have what you have, and that sometimes in life you have to do things to make sure that you have few regrets.

A Knight's Tale has always been my way of remembering that you will meet amazing people along your life journey and that it is what a person does that defines him, not where he came from.

When Harry met Sally was my reminder to never waste time when you think you've found something great, and that different things have different meanings to different people.

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan throw around a lot of knowledge in that movie. The iconic "I'll have whant she's having" scene is my second favorite, only to the "When you find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life as soon as possible" scene.

Keeping pace

I've been losing pace, as the past couple of days I worked on some longer entries that I didn't end up posting. I know, I'm lame.

I managed to get out of CP this weekend. Learned a new way to eat boiled eggs and spent some quality time with various friends. Managed to place third in a board game competition.

I interviewed with a place that was interested, so we will see how that turns out. I think we have more control over our lives than we realize, because every small decision can change how the future works out. I'm usually happy with the choices I made though.

My laptop charger died (its the second one in less than a year), so I'm going to give the company an angry call tomorrow.

Lyric of the Day: Dido - I Don't Want To Wait (Yeah, the Dawson's Creek song)

I don't want to to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be...sorry?

Sports Blogging

Looked like I chose too early to end my sports theme blog. Today I got to see MD beat #2 Duke by 2 in the last game of the rivalry. It was pretty fantastic.

Had some good pre-game time with my office mates, had a toned down version of post-celebration CP, saw a decent band called Burnt Sienna, shared some of my wisdom, and made bets about the future.

I am totally ready to collect my $5.

Cleaning up

I realized today that I need to clean up stuff. My problem is that I get sentimental and I feel bad about throwing things out.

I realized that I could document things here and have them for later. Genius, right?

Today I am putting away seven movie stubs that were in my wallet, but that I made into a little stack on my desk when I cleaned out my wallet.

Snow White - I saw this last summer. Loved everything but KStew.

Brave - Saw this with the gparents when they lost power. The mall was a good warm place for us to go.

Looper - This was pretty good. I enjoyed a time-travel action movie that told you to shut up and focus on the action.

Skyfall (x3) -Saw this on opening night, with someone I promised to see it with, and with the old crew(plus a new, legit member). Loved it more each time. Each time I also sat in different places in the theater xD

Hansel and Gretel - Saw this last week with friends from college. Qdoba and a movie should be more than a once a month thing.

Now all that is left is my room , my car, and my office.

Lyric of the Day: Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love 

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day.

Today I'm going to forsake my annual tradition of curling up with a bottle of Disarrono and a pint of Ben and Jerry's while I watch some combination of My Sassy Girl, Love Actually, and my favorite arc from HIMYM. I have been told that going out will be good for me. Good thing I'm a sucker for karaoke.

One thing I do miss about living in the dorms was being able to run down the halls and hand out conversation hearts. I like the spirit of the holiday (until I start thinking about my own love life), and that was a fun way to celebrate it.

Conversation hearts are to me the Candy Corn of February. They taste mediocre, but when you start eating them, you can't stop.

At least some people are getting paid.

True love is waiting for your SO to finish their experiment so that you can go to lunch together, even though you are already hungry xD

Lyric of the Day: Drake -Take Care (Florence+the machine cover [from ET])

I know you've been hurt by someone else

I can tell by the way you carry yourself

If you let me, here's what I'll do
I'll take care of you

I've loved and I've lost

Why are kids like velociraptors?

Today is all about how kids are like velociraptors. I thought of the idea, but one of my friends convinced me I should actually do it. Also, I'm not in the mood to publish something serious.

- You have to look down to see them
- They scamper about
- They have no regard for their environment
- They will messily devour food when hungry
- They were both in Jurrasic Park
- As a person that doesn't have to live with them, there is so much I don't know about them
- They both have NBA teams named after them - Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns (get it? haha?)

If I think of more, I'll add them. If you think of some, comment them and I will add them.

Lyric of the day: Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Link to a live set where this is the last song)

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.

The scars of your love,

they leave me breathless,
I can't help feeling,
We could have had it all.

Rolling in the deep.

You had my heart inside of your hand,
And you played it, to the beat.

GIVE ME A NAME!

So instead of a blog entry, I'm going to link an episode of Boy Meets World that is pretty good. What Corey says is basically what went on in my head during parts of my life. That is probably not a good thing.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Lyric of the day: Blink 182 - First Date
Do you like my stupid hair?
Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?
I'm too scared of what you think
You make me nervous so I really can't eat

Joe Flacco's contract

One thing that has been bothering me outs that I feel like giving Joe Flacco a big contract will bite the Ravens in the ass. Tonight, I lived a metaphor of the scenario where he craps out after the big payday. Thankfully, in the real life version, all that was happened was that we got to a party 5 minutes before it got shot down.

For an optimist,  I'm pretty pessimistic.

Lyric of the Day: Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster

In her eyes,
is love and fire,
and my heart,
she's burning through

But I don't mind,
In fact I like it,
though I'm terrified,
I'm turned on but scared of you

Words I never said

Let's pretend this is a full entry that I took two hours and struggled to put together.

Thanks :P

Lyric of the day: Anna Nalick - Breathe
2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

Daily happenings

Today, I was bought lunch because the Ravens won.

I also saw Hansel and Gretel, which was a pretty good 'fun' movie. It had the right amount of dialogue, action, and weird for me.

Story of the day: When I went to Boston this last time, I stayed at my newly-married friends' house. Several of us crashed in their living room, but I was one of the last people to go to bed. I took a leak before I went to bed, because I was fairly full of various drinks. I crashed, and woke up the next day because we were going to Dim Sum. As we are getting ready to head out, my friend tell us "So someone left the toilet seat up last night....and I almost fell in this morning!", while looking straight at me.

The best part is that that was something she constantly had chided me for throughout all of undergrad. Maybe I'll make a better effort to remember bathroom etiquette in order to respect her home. Or maybe I'll leave the toilet seat up because that's our thing. Who knows.

Lyrics: Fun. - All Alright

And it's all alright.
I guess it's all alright.
I got nothing left inside of my chest,
but it's all alright.

Why not Law School?

Sometimes I think I should have gone to law school. I enjoy reading about cases and understanding how the rules of law apply to different situations. The legal system is organized in a way that feels logical and intuitive to me. And I enjoy knowing random "fun facts", a.k.a. precedents. Sure I have a mediocre memory for details, but generally I have a good big picture knowledge. Though, now that I think about it, I don't think a judge would be thrilled at having a lawyer referring to a case as "that one about the woman who spilled super hot McD's coffee on herself and got burned real bad, yeah, the one that was in the news".

But today I read the summary of Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis and I remembered why I couldn't do law. I'm too opinionated. I look at the ruling, and I go "That's a huge cop out", because I agree with the dissent. As a lawyer, I could not be involved in a case like this and leave feeling good after the ruling. Like Jerry from Raising the Bar (was on TNT and is totally obscure), I would take that shit home with me and I would think about it. I felt the same way about Kennedy v. Louisiana when the court decided it. If I ever did law, It would only be with the ambitious plan of becoming a Supreme Court Justice so I could legislate from the bench.

But that's probably not going to happen xD

Lyric of the day: Fun - Carry On

Well I woke up to the sound of silence
the cars were cutting like knives in a fist fight
and I found you with a bottle of wine
your head in the curtains
and heart like the Fourth of July

You swore and said
"We are not
We are not shining stars"
This I know
I never said we are

Though I've never been through hell like that
I've closed enough windows
to know you can never look back

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on

Carry on, carry on

So I met up with some friends
at the edge of the night
At a bar off 75
And we talked and talked
about how our parents will die
All our neighbours and wives

But I like to think
I can cheat it all
To make up for the times I've been cheated on
And it's nice to know
When I was left for dead
I was found and now I don't roam these streets
I am not the ghost you are to me

Lessons learned

I was going to go on a rant about language, but I'm too tired. I'm instead going to post some things that I've learned recently.

1. There is a difference between descriptive and evaluative statements.
2. The ending from "When Harry Met Sally" has stuck with me, even though I don't remember the plot.
3. The American Mafia came into existence to protect immigrants
4. Sightstone is now made with a health crystal in League of Legends.
5. St. Mary's County is very far south

Lyric of the Day: N Sync - It's gonna be me [video - It is fantastic]

You might've been hurt, babe
That ain't no lie
You've seen them all come and go, oh..
I remember you told me
That it made you believe in
No man, no cry
Maybe that's why

Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you
You don't wanna lose it again
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally,
Get to love somebody
Guess what,
It's gonna be me..

A new beginning

So this is a website shift that I hope comes with a philosophical and mental shift. We will see how it goes.

The Ravens still won the Superbowl.

Lyric of the day: Whitney Houston - Love is a Contact Sport
Love is a contact sport
You gotta move in tight
If you wanna do it right, here I am
Love is a contact sport
You gotta act untamed
If you wanna play the game
So grab my hand and.... slam!...