Been awhile.
Wanted to type something out before the moment passes.
My grandmother passed away a couple days ago. My father's side. His last parent.
If you've known me for awhile, you know its hard for me to seem genuine in my emotions. I have trouble expressing my excitement towards other peoples goals and accomplishments. I have trouble expressing my deepest condolences towards other people during a time of grief and mourning. It's not that I don't care - it's just that I don't feel like I have a proper grip on basic human interaction yet. Or ever. But that's for another time. Probably.
My grandmother suffered a pretty bad aneurysm combined with some sort of heart attack on Mothers Day. Probably because the universe has it out for my family or whatever. She was comatose in the hospital before she finally passed on the 16th.
All of my grandparents reside in the Philippines. I don't see them too often. Once every 3 or 4 years. It's a pretty crappy scenario, but I believe a lot of first generation immigrants have to deal with this as well. I wouldn't say I was incredibly close with all of them - but I was definitely close enough to this one. Cried like a little baby to sleep that night. I admit though, it was a mixture of sadness for her actual passing, and sympathy (empathy?) for my fathers loss. When my mother's father passed away, most of my sadness came from her sadness. So this was a nice change, I suppose.
I don't really know where this post is planning on going, so I apologize if there's no structure.
Anyway, I went to go visit my parents as they were packing to fly out. I obviously immediately went to my father. Locked in a very rare and loving embrace, he whispers in my ear, "I don't have any parents anymore."
My world shattered.
It's a universal thought to owe a lot to your parents. Even if they were the worst ones in the world, you still have them to thank for being in this world. You start off relying on them, you grow up hating them, you man up and start repaying them, and then you spend the rest of your days owing them. When these people are no longer in your life - what happens next? Who do we turn to? (This is all for dramatic effect apparently, since all this grief is so fresh because I get it - we move on, time heals all wounds, honor her legacy blah blah).
Every time someone remotely close to me passes away, I spend like the next 3 months questioning my own mortality, and what happens after you're gone - all that existential stuff. But this new layer of losing both your parents really put my mind in a tizzy. I wasn't happy. I'm still getting over it a little bit.
So the next worst part of it all is that she actually passes right before my parents got there. Our typical commute to the Philippines includes a stopover in Taipei, and that must've been where they were when the official news was delivered. What a pain. My dad texted my sister a picture of his mothers coffin with the caption "I was late." He can be so dramatic sometimes. And effective.
It makes me sad when my parents are sad. They deserve the world because they gave me mine. And the circumstances that led to all of this inconvenience to not be around when your parents die is all due to our generation of immigrants who left their own parents to come to this country to provide a better life for their future. What an amazingly selfless thing to do. I can only promise not to be late.
on Friday, November 3, 2017
I gotta put on my old man hat here. WARNING: lots of old man sentences ahead.
ta ta kids
 |
| Fight me, son. |
You freaking kids ruined Dave and Busters. Back when I was in college, there was some kind of age limit to be able to go into Dave and Busters, and it pissed me off. There was legit one time when a group of friends and I weren't allowed in because a) we were too young, and b) we didn't have anyone over the age of 25 with us. And you know what? Looking back - even though it pissed me off at the time - it was definitely the right move. That Dave and Busters must have been so peaceful. Filled with somewhat controlled adults, and if there WERE kids in there - they'd at least be chaperoned by an adult as well. Point is, BACK IN MY DAY Dave and Busters were age restricted.
There's talk of some D&Bs being restricted to 17+ after 5pm and then 21+ after 10pm or something like that. Let's do that. Let's do that for every site. That's reasonable. I'm so down for that. Did I mention I approve of this?
The whole reason I'm even talking about this is because later this month, there's going to be a new D&B opening up by my area. Which is fantastic, because the only other 2 were in NY and were kind of a pain to get to. Anyway, as convenient a location this is (it's going to make a ton of money for sure), I'm really not looking forward to going in there for about a year or 2. Why?
SECOND WARNING: I'm about to get a little racist.
 |
| Fight me, son |
There is uhm... hmm.. a specific demographic in my area that tend to have... hmm... larger than average families and hmm... don't smell good. Take that anyway you want. If you thought of a specific race when you read those words then LOOK WHO'S THE RACIST NOW. BOOM. Roasted. Like the Jews. Moving on.
It's gonna be a shit show in that new D&B. I think it's because they've been a little less strict on the age of people that can come in nowadays. The past few times I've been in a D&B recently, it just seemed like kids running around everywhere. Which is fine if it's like... 20 or less throughout the whole building but I SWEAR they're freaking everywhere now. What happened to Chuck E. Cheeses? You know? CHARLES ENTERTAINMENT CHEESE?! Why aren't you kids taking your gross hands and mildly pooped pants in there? Seriously, you've effectively RUINED D&B for us adults who want to be kids in a place where adults can be kids. Mr Cheese's establishment literally states "WHERE A KID CAN BE A KID" SO BE A FREAKING KID THERE! I don't need to embarrass myself in front of other kids - they're much more brutal than other half to fully drunk adults. And you know what else?! They're WAY better at the reaction games because they're fucking little kids and they're gonna start taking all the jackpot tickets - you little shits. I'm getting really worked up here. Point is, you've ruined it for us, kids. Because you didn't want to give Mr. Cheese the time or your money - he's starting to go under and D&B is starting to take over and open it's doors to you punk ass bitches.
I say all the adults should invade my man Chucks house and turn that into the new adult place. The food is cheaper (dat pizza doe), they'll have to upgrade the jungle gym to more adult size ones (can you fucking imagine?!), and we can hang out with the creepy old Chuck instead of that new kid friendly Chuck. I mean I know the guy means well, but nostalgia is in - and it'll totally win.
 |
| Exactly like how I remembered it. |
I think this should be a thing that should happen. Now, my power and reach on the internet isn't that great, but if by some miracle this get's out, let's get all our 21+ friends and head over to Chuck's place and blow all our money there. Let's get tipsy, let's get weird. Cuz birdie has been eye-in me all day and I'm looking to fly like an eagle baby, into the future.
 |
| Ba-cock. Know what I'm sayin? |
on Thursday, July 27, 2017
OMG another return! It's amazing! It's retro! It's vintage! It's like so in right now! It's Something to Type about (15)!!!
Where, if you haven't been keeping up, I just chime in on some things that I run into on Reddit, because I'm too lazy to make an account over there (but also because I REALLY wanna make a username that's hilarious but am not creative enough to think of one). It all started with Stumble upon actually, but that got pretty NSFW... Anyway, let's go!
Trans humans banned from the military
I initially wanted to make a full blown post out of this topic, but I realized early on that I can't really say much about it because I am neither trans, nor willing to sign up for the armed forces. That being said, here are my 2 cents based on my day or so researching this topic.
I think I'm all for it. From what I've gathered, they are treating trans people like they would a pre existing condition (gender dysphoria?). And reading through some experiences from trans people - I get the feeling that all the medication for hormones you take can have an effect on your general wellness should you stop taking them or what not. Mood swings, depression, anxiety etc.
Bottom line is this: the military is a a government organization that, whether you like it or not, has full control on who it chooses to join their team. They've been known to turn down anyone who ever took a pill for ADD/ADHD, asthmatics, people who had history of bone spurs, people who tore their ACLs once and made a full and improved recovery, people who write meaningless blogs on the internet, you name it and you can be rejected. They have one job only - to be efficient enough to win the battles and kill people. They're going to be reluctant in choosing people who need to stop for their inhaler, take medications, and waste time on "sensitivity" courses surrounding meaningless topics.
BUT WHAT ABOUT NON COMBAT POSITIONS?! Eh, same deal. Just on a lesser degree. If you're doing something important (combat or non-combat) you shouldn't have to stop what your doing to assess your personal needs.
OH BUT I KNOW THIS GUY IN THE ARMY WHO IS TRANS AND HE'S - let me stop you right there. I hate arguments like these. Anecdotal comments made to push the rhetoric. I get that there are out liars to every situation but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. They're just going to go ahead and put the ban in place because it's easier than finding every single diamond in the rough in the trans community who could kick the ever living shit out of the toughest guy in the army. I like this quote especially:
"It's better to call a duck a duck rather than waste time waiting to see if it'll quack"
The ruling was passed and just because people are complaining doesn't mean any higher up is going to backpedal and repeal his decision. Remember - this isn't about political correctness or human equality - this is about cherry picking the best individuals to form the most efficient team. Because America. This may be a harsh way to say it, but when you join the military you forfeit your right as an individual and now you're basically a uniformed pawn playing the long game of war.
(actually from what I've really seen is that it's another political maneuver to help with some kind of thing so really all of this argument is worthless) ... maybe I can make this issue a whole 'nother post in the future. Ugh. What a headache.
A brief aside on laugh tracks
Someone had mentioned that putting the *laughing with tears emoji* at the end of a meme or tectual joke is the equivalent of laugh tracks on tv shows. I like that point and find it to be very true, but not impeding. Laugh tracks are a weird thing. I see the argument a lot that if you need something that tells you to laugh when something is funny, then it probably wasn't funny in the first place.
While a good argument - I guess I have to disagree. I just think that the whole laughter is contagious thing and that even if the joke wasn't funny, the sound of people laughing along to the joke will maybe get you to laugh with it or at least enjoy the situation more, because like I said, that kind of behavior is contagious. There are clips out there of sitcoms with the laugh track removed - the jokes are still funny but I don't laugh and therefore I'm less entertained.
So I'm someone that is pretty hard to get to laugh. Not because I don't find your lame jokes funny, but I think it takes a certain something extra to get me to start wasting my energy to let out a couple of hahas and what not. So the accompanying laughing sounds resonate with me in that I'm probably triggered to know that I should laugh because other people are having fun as well and in the end I'm entertained. At the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?
Beiber Cancels Tours to Find himself
Again? Because I feel like this happened once before with him. I think it's alright. When you think about it, its equivalent to someone taking vacation from work. Like, if he's not gonna mentally or even pfysically going to be his best when he's entertaining - then what's the point? You as a consumer don't get the best show he can produce and you'll leave the conert with a sour note.
Granted, you multiply his situation by like a million (dollars) and maybe it may not matter as much to you because hurr durr money is everything, how can he be miserable?! Just let the guy take a break - how it affects his career doesn't concern you.
The Pain Scale
This is true to me. I like to think I have a pain tolerance, but having to take that feeling and translate it into some kind of number on an arbitrary scale where 10 is "the worst pain you can imagine" is kind of insane. Not a medical professional, so I don't know what the eventual number I provide to you can affect the way you treat me but I think there has to be something better than this.
So that's it for now. I feel like I've exhausted my desire to type for today so hopefully I acn do this again another time.
ta ta kids
Where, if you haven't been keeping up, I just chime in on some things that I run into on Reddit, because I'm too lazy to make an account over there (but also because I REALLY wanna make a username that's hilarious but am not creative enough to think of one). It all started with Stumble upon actually, but that got pretty NSFW... Anyway, let's go!
 |
| Please, hold your applause, I'm so flattered. |
Trans humans banned from the military
I initially wanted to make a full blown post out of this topic, but I realized early on that I can't really say much about it because I am neither trans, nor willing to sign up for the armed forces. That being said, here are my 2 cents based on my day or so researching this topic.
I think I'm all for it. From what I've gathered, they are treating trans people like they would a pre existing condition (gender dysphoria?). And reading through some experiences from trans people - I get the feeling that all the medication for hormones you take can have an effect on your general wellness should you stop taking them or what not. Mood swings, depression, anxiety etc.
Bottom line is this: the military is a a government organization that, whether you like it or not, has full control on who it chooses to join their team. They've been known to turn down anyone who ever took a pill for ADD/ADHD, asthmatics, people who had history of bone spurs, people who tore their ACLs once and made a full and improved recovery, people who write meaningless blogs on the internet, you name it and you can be rejected. They have one job only - to be efficient enough to win the battles and kill people. They're going to be reluctant in choosing people who need to stop for their inhaler, take medications, and waste time on "sensitivity" courses surrounding meaningless topics.
BUT WHAT ABOUT NON COMBAT POSITIONS?! Eh, same deal. Just on a lesser degree. If you're doing something important (combat or non-combat) you shouldn't have to stop what your doing to assess your personal needs.
OH BUT I KNOW THIS GUY IN THE ARMY WHO IS TRANS AND HE'S - let me stop you right there. I hate arguments like these. Anecdotal comments made to push the rhetoric. I get that there are out liars to every situation but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. They're just going to go ahead and put the ban in place because it's easier than finding every single diamond in the rough in the trans community who could kick the ever living shit out of the toughest guy in the army. I like this quote especially:
"It's better to call a duck a duck rather than waste time waiting to see if it'll quack"
The ruling was passed and just because people are complaining doesn't mean any higher up is going to backpedal and repeal his decision. Remember - this isn't about political correctness or human equality - this is about cherry picking the best individuals to form the most efficient team. Because America. This may be a harsh way to say it, but when you join the military you forfeit your right as an individual and now you're basically a uniformed pawn playing the long game of war.
(actually from what I've really seen is that it's another political maneuver to help with some kind of thing so really all of this argument is worthless) ... maybe I can make this issue a whole 'nother post in the future. Ugh. What a headache.
A brief aside on laugh tracks
Someone had mentioned that putting the *laughing with tears emoji* at the end of a meme or tectual joke is the equivalent of laugh tracks on tv shows. I like that point and find it to be very true, but not impeding. Laugh tracks are a weird thing. I see the argument a lot that if you need something that tells you to laugh when something is funny, then it probably wasn't funny in the first place.
While a good argument - I guess I have to disagree. I just think that the whole laughter is contagious thing and that even if the joke wasn't funny, the sound of people laughing along to the joke will maybe get you to laugh with it or at least enjoy the situation more, because like I said, that kind of behavior is contagious. There are clips out there of sitcoms with the laugh track removed - the jokes are still funny but I don't laugh and therefore I'm less entertained.
So I'm someone that is pretty hard to get to laugh. Not because I don't find your lame jokes funny, but I think it takes a certain something extra to get me to start wasting my energy to let out a couple of hahas and what not. So the accompanying laughing sounds resonate with me in that I'm probably triggered to know that I should laugh because other people are having fun as well and in the end I'm entertained. At the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?
Beiber Cancels Tours to Find himself
Again? Because I feel like this happened once before with him. I think it's alright. When you think about it, its equivalent to someone taking vacation from work. Like, if he's not gonna mentally or even pfysically going to be his best when he's entertaining - then what's the point? You as a consumer don't get the best show he can produce and you'll leave the conert with a sour note.
Granted, you multiply his situation by like a million (dollars) and maybe it may not matter as much to you because hurr durr money is everything, how can he be miserable?! Just let the guy take a break - how it affects his career doesn't concern you.
The Pain Scale
This is true to me. I like to think I have a pain tolerance, but having to take that feeling and translate it into some kind of number on an arbitrary scale where 10 is "the worst pain you can imagine" is kind of insane. Not a medical professional, so I don't know what the eventual number I provide to you can affect the way you treat me but I think there has to be something better than this.
So that's it for now. I feel like I've exhausted my desire to type for today so hopefully I acn do this again another time.
ta ta kids
on Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Recently I've been burdened with great privilege. Another business trip. Not sure if I've talked about my previous experience with this, but you should all know that this time it's a little different. New boss, new me, and the added bonus of staying through a weekend here in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
To refresh your memory and mine, the last time I was here was March 2014. I was here for a total of 3 work weeks, but I came home every weekend and flew back every Sunday night. That was alright, I guess - but I got sick of watching Frozen on the plane every single time I flew out there. Like seriously... let it go.
This time I was here for 2 weeks straight. Which meant I had the weekend to myself. Which meant I better find something to do because I didn't just want to rot in my hotel room the whole time. Now truth be told I had been wanting to go on a solo vacation for awhile now - not to discredit all the fun I've been having recently with my travels - I just think there's something to be said about being free from making sure everyone is having a good time, or everyone agreeing on where they want to eat, or just anyone's general input. This time it was going to be me knowing what I want to do is what I get to do. Treat myself, yo. So with that, here's some things I've realized when you get to vacation alone.
DISCLAIMER: Although I did enjoy this trip out, it really wasn't my preferred adventure. I just really made do with what was given to me - being somewhere in Northern Canada, like obviously if I took this trip my own way I'd be somewhere a little more my taste.
Learning to Eat by Yourself
HOLY SHIT THIS. I don't know what it is about humans, but we tend to make up some bizarre sad story whenever we see someone eating alone. Then, we start to empathize (sympathize?) about what they're going through. Did they just get stood up? Are they super depressed? What's wrong with that person?
Really if I had to take a guess it probably comes from being the lonely fat kid at school who had the table to himself munching away on his feelings. It's a sad sight and it's a shitty thing for us to assume anything about a person but I think that's just the way we're wired because of media portrayal or whatever.
Anyway, this was a big hurdle for me, because I had a really bad case of what I just described above. But I needed to eat - and I wanted to eat out because free. Granted, I did get some room service here and there... and I also bought some snacks to munch on but that's besides the point. When you travel by yourself, you gotta learn to eat by yourself.
Sitting at a restaurant booth isn't so bad. You just kinda keep to yourself and eat. Amazingly, no one really bothers you except the waiter/waitress. Like this was some kind of profound revelation that I had. No one cares about you! It's kind of exciting. So you just carry on with your meal and before you know it, it's over.
Sitting at a bar... that's a little different. I went to eat at this place with some bar seating. It seemed like a real hip cool place so I didn't wanna take anyone's potential table space by sitting at one so I made my way to the bar area. Immediately I felt like everyone was watching me. Everyone saw me walk to the bar, bypass the first and second group of kids, and finally sit at an area with a few open seats. I felt like I was on display, like a fish in an aquarium. Everyone knew I had come there alone, and by the time my food came out, everyone knew that I'd be eating alone. Without the safety barriers of a booth - this one seemed a little harder to get comfortable with. Instead, I got a few drinks in me and shortly after it became a bit more comfortable. Even more so when people arrive at a bar themselves as well, though the rest of their party arrives soon after.
Really the take away is, people might be wondering about you for like a second, but I think in the end you'll be forgotten and no one will really care. And I guess - why should you? It's so easy to say but sometimes it can be hard.
Navigating around is less stressful, more social
I took a 3 hour drive down to a nice place recommended by some locals here. Well worth the trip, I have to say. Making the plans and setting up the timing just right for day trip was a little bit stressful, but I managed to get up at 3AM and start the commute down in order to make it to a breakfast spot that I was planning to go. Now, punching in any address into a GPS and following that is basically a no brainer. It's what happens when you get into the destination and you're wondering about all the places you could go that can get a bit annoying. Especially since THE FREAKING DOCUMENT I SAVED TO MY PHONE WOULDN'T OPEN BECAUSE I NEEDED WIFI BUT I ALREADY CHECKED THE OPTION TO HAVE IT AVAILABLE OFFLINE LIKE WHY GIVE ME THE FREAKING OPTION IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA ALLOW ME TO DO IT?!
...Anyway, if I were with a group of people I would start to nag or get a little antsy about what turn to make or where exactly we were or whatever. But when you're by yourself - you can make all the wrong turns you want and take your sweet ass time getting to where you need to be. It's just way less stressful overall and I think that was really awesome to experience. No backseat driving or ironic "are we there yet?" because haha that's so funny. And I'm guilty of both of those things. Also it's kind of rewarding figuring out things for yourself especially when your out in the middle of bumblefuck Canada.
The added bonus is the social aspect. Without any reference about where anything is, you're more inclined to ask for help and ask for directions. I ran into this old Asian lady after breakfast and we must have talked for about an hour or so about where I was, where I should go based on what I had planned, what routes to take, etc. It was a great experience and it made me more comfortable because in a weird way I didn't really feel like such a stranger in the area. I was more inclined to ask anyone else for there help (because it turns out some of the stuff she said was dead wrong) but at the very least I knew I was comfortable knowing I could ask for that help and maybe strike up some random conversations with the locals. In the end, however...
You're Still Very Alone
Now it might've been the nature of my plans whilst down here, but things got really existential for the rest of the day. I had gone hiking on a bunch of trails, took some great pictures, got a sweet tan (and sunburn), but all I really wanted at the end was someone to share that experience with me. Now if you know me at all, I have no issue with spending some a lone time - and sometimes I actually crave it.
With something like this, however, I think it might be best shared with someone you care about or a group of people you care about. The first hour or so of hiking were ok... it's new, your senses are still going crazy with all these new experiences - but once it all settles down it gets really quiet. Since I was alone I had taken some music and headphones with me, but when I got to a nice scenic point, I would take my headphones off to take a picture and it was just... quiet. And my mind went crazy thinking about how awesome the view was, how fresh the air was, how long I had to live, and wouldn't it be crazy if I just died here on the spot and if anyone would miss me? It was mess.
So I put on the music and continued with my life.
There are some great things that you can accomplish when you travel alone. I never would've pictured myself doing what I did a week ago. You can literally break out of a couple more shells and come out of the experience a better person. Cuz I have to be honest, before I headed out for that 3 hour drive, I kept having second thoughts about whether or not I should do it. Really because of the safety aspect - like what if I get really lost, or what if I get injured, who's gonna take care of me if I get sick etc etc. Then a quick snap back to reality and you're already half way done with your drive. Pretty crazy stuff.
If you get the chance to do so - absolutely go for it, at least once.
ta ta kids
To refresh your memory and mine, the last time I was here was March 2014. I was here for a total of 3 work weeks, but I came home every weekend and flew back every Sunday night. That was alright, I guess - but I got sick of watching Frozen on the plane every single time I flew out there. Like seriously... let it go.
 |
| It had to be done. |
This time I was here for 2 weeks straight. Which meant I had the weekend to myself. Which meant I better find something to do because I didn't just want to rot in my hotel room the whole time. Now truth be told I had been wanting to go on a solo vacation for awhile now - not to discredit all the fun I've been having recently with my travels - I just think there's something to be said about being free from making sure everyone is having a good time, or everyone agreeing on where they want to eat, or just anyone's general input. This time it was going to be me knowing what I want to do is what I get to do. Treat myself, yo. So with that, here's some things I've realized when you get to vacation alone.
DISCLAIMER: Although I did enjoy this trip out, it really wasn't my preferred adventure. I just really made do with what was given to me - being somewhere in Northern Canada, like obviously if I took this trip my own way I'd be somewhere a little more my taste.
Learning to Eat by Yourself
HOLY SHIT THIS. I don't know what it is about humans, but we tend to make up some bizarre sad story whenever we see someone eating alone. Then, we start to empathize (sympathize?) about what they're going through. Did they just get stood up? Are they super depressed? What's wrong with that person?
Really if I had to take a guess it probably comes from being the lonely fat kid at school who had the table to himself munching away on his feelings. It's a sad sight and it's a shitty thing for us to assume anything about a person but I think that's just the way we're wired because of media portrayal or whatever.
Anyway, this was a big hurdle for me, because I had a really bad case of what I just described above. But I needed to eat - and I wanted to eat out because free. Granted, I did get some room service here and there... and I also bought some snacks to munch on but that's besides the point. When you travel by yourself, you gotta learn to eat by yourself.
Sitting at a restaurant booth isn't so bad. You just kinda keep to yourself and eat. Amazingly, no one really bothers you except the waiter/waitress. Like this was some kind of profound revelation that I had. No one cares about you! It's kind of exciting. So you just carry on with your meal and before you know it, it's over.
Sitting at a bar... that's a little different. I went to eat at this place with some bar seating. It seemed like a real hip cool place so I didn't wanna take anyone's potential table space by sitting at one so I made my way to the bar area. Immediately I felt like everyone was watching me. Everyone saw me walk to the bar, bypass the first and second group of kids, and finally sit at an area with a few open seats. I felt like I was on display, like a fish in an aquarium. Everyone knew I had come there alone, and by the time my food came out, everyone knew that I'd be eating alone. Without the safety barriers of a booth - this one seemed a little harder to get comfortable with. Instead, I got a few drinks in me and shortly after it became a bit more comfortable. Even more so when people arrive at a bar themselves as well, though the rest of their party arrives soon after.
Really the take away is, people might be wondering about you for like a second, but I think in the end you'll be forgotten and no one will really care. And I guess - why should you? It's so easy to say but sometimes it can be hard.
Navigating around is less stressful, more social
 |
| Don't mind the picture, just rubbing in the great view |
...Anyway, if I were with a group of people I would start to nag or get a little antsy about what turn to make or where exactly we were or whatever. But when you're by yourself - you can make all the wrong turns you want and take your sweet ass time getting to where you need to be. It's just way less stressful overall and I think that was really awesome to experience. No backseat driving or ironic "are we there yet?" because haha that's so funny. And I'm guilty of both of those things. Also it's kind of rewarding figuring out things for yourself especially when your out in the middle of bumblefuck Canada.
The added bonus is the social aspect. Without any reference about where anything is, you're more inclined to ask for help and ask for directions. I ran into this old Asian lady after breakfast and we must have talked for about an hour or so about where I was, where I should go based on what I had planned, what routes to take, etc. It was a great experience and it made me more comfortable because in a weird way I didn't really feel like such a stranger in the area. I was more inclined to ask anyone else for there help (because it turns out some of the stuff she said was dead wrong) but at the very least I knew I was comfortable knowing I could ask for that help and maybe strike up some random conversations with the locals. In the end, however...
You're Still Very Alone
Now it might've been the nature of my plans whilst down here, but things got really existential for the rest of the day. I had gone hiking on a bunch of trails, took some great pictures, got a sweet tan (and sunburn), but all I really wanted at the end was someone to share that experience with me. Now if you know me at all, I have no issue with spending some a lone time - and sometimes I actually crave it.
With something like this, however, I think it might be best shared with someone you care about or a group of people you care about. The first hour or so of hiking were ok... it's new, your senses are still going crazy with all these new experiences - but once it all settles down it gets really quiet. Since I was alone I had taken some music and headphones with me, but when I got to a nice scenic point, I would take my headphones off to take a picture and it was just... quiet. And my mind went crazy thinking about how awesome the view was, how fresh the air was, how long I had to live, and wouldn't it be crazy if I just died here on the spot and if anyone would miss me? It was mess.
 |
| Pictured: me, probably |
There are some great things that you can accomplish when you travel alone. I never would've pictured myself doing what I did a week ago. You can literally break out of a couple more shells and come out of the experience a better person. Cuz I have to be honest, before I headed out for that 3 hour drive, I kept having second thoughts about whether or not I should do it. Really because of the safety aspect - like what if I get really lost, or what if I get injured, who's gonna take care of me if I get sick etc etc. Then a quick snap back to reality and you're already half way done with your drive. Pretty crazy stuff.
If you get the chance to do so - absolutely go for it, at least once.
ta ta kids
on Thursday, June 22, 2017
So I came across this narrative about how "strong" and "amazing" we (humans) are. A real feel-good post. Really gets your nuts feeling real pretty. Anyway, it all came about because there was a discussion about how people shouldn't sell themselves short and stop saying negative things about themselves. I guess I could agree, but I think for the majority, I don't. And I don't think that's a bad thing - and here's why.
NOTE: Speaking only for myself and not everyone else. If you happen to think the way I do, then I hope it helps? But if you're the type of person who "lives, laughs, and loves" and wants to be reminded of such a mantra on a throw pillow then we can talk about you another time.
I think you need to kick yourself in the butt. You need to turn that kind of negative feedback from yourself to drive positive change. Easier said than done. I'm sure there are things like depression and anxiety that - when following this advice - may not necessarily be a good thing. However, I'd like to relate to my own experiences in that maybe looking yourself in the mirror every once in awhile and saying what a piece of crap you are forces you to make changes so the next time you walk by a mirror you'll have something better to say.
Back to that article. I get that it's trying to empower you into thinking you're better than you think you are, but I think the execution is a bit weak and over dramatic. It gets into all these science facts about your body to make it seem like you're some kind of super human. The delivery to me is the worst of it all. Something like,
"The next time you think you're not strong enough, just remember that your brain has enough memory to store X terabytes of data, your heart uses enough energy to drive a truck for X days..."
To me that kind of narrative is ridiculous and pandering. Spewing out these facts in a way that no one would even dare fact check them is cringe worthy. Did you guys know that we're made up of enough water to sustain an African colony for a week? Fact check that. I'm not going to because it doesn't matter - because of normalization (and also I made that shit up). The article talks about how amazing you are because you can do all these "amazing" things. Hey, guess what - so can everyone else. That's where the argument falls apart. Next time you're down and thinking, "man I'm weak and worthless, but hey my heart uses energy to drive a truck for X days!" Guess what? So can I. And so can my boss. And so can everyone else. See what I'm getting at here?
You're not special or strong because of all these Snapple facts. Everyone is special and strong because of these Snapple facts. You need to find another way of creating positive change from your negative attitude. At the core, we're all the same. So kick yourself in the butt and be the same... in a different way.
ta ta kids
NOTE: Speaking only for myself and not everyone else. If you happen to think the way I do, then I hope it helps? But if you're the type of person who "lives, laughs, and loves" and wants to be reminded of such a mantra on a throw pillow then we can talk about you another time.
I think you need to kick yourself in the butt. You need to turn that kind of negative feedback from yourself to drive positive change. Easier said than done. I'm sure there are things like depression and anxiety that - when following this advice - may not necessarily be a good thing. However, I'd like to relate to my own experiences in that maybe looking yourself in the mirror every once in awhile and saying what a piece of crap you are forces you to make changes so the next time you walk by a mirror you'll have something better to say.
 |
| "Yup, still bald - but damn is my hair soft" |
"The next time you think you're not strong enough, just remember that your brain has enough memory to store X terabytes of data, your heart uses enough energy to drive a truck for X days..."
 |
| And you have as many nipples as the number of fucks I give, minus 2 (hopefully) |
You're not special or strong because of all these Snapple facts. Everyone is special and strong because of these Snapple facts. You need to find another way of creating positive change from your negative attitude. At the core, we're all the same. So kick yourself in the butt and be the same... in a different way.
ta ta kids
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