WWW #14

Here's what I've got for you this week:

Society is an old man afraid to look in the mirror; so it finds faults elsewhere. -JT

Take care, I'll see you right here on Monday.

7 Nights of Sanity

Today is Monday. For many people, Monday is an evil thing to be dreaded and hated with passion. Yup, people hate Monday's. It's not hard to understand why either. Your weekend just ended, you undoubtedly accomplished a lot less than you planned to and you have 5 fresh days of work to suffer through before you get another one. What's to like? Ever the nonconformist, I actually do not hate Monday's. On the contrary, I actually kind of like them. The reason is as stupid as it is trivial, but it does the trick nonetheless. I don't hate Monday's because of prime time television.

You see, it's occurred to me recently that even though I claim to like spontaneity and change, I too am a creature of habit. I have fallen into a set schedule as of late, and I'll be damned if it hasn't made my life better. It's a weekly schedule that does indeed change somewhat from week to week, but for the most part I've gotten used to doing certain things on certain nights. Though pretty much every day I have to go to work and that usually sucks, my nights bring me joy. Because my nights bring me joy, they lessen the tyranny of normality I suffer through during the day. Upon realizing this I thought I might share the lesson so that others might benefit. I'm an altruistic bastard, I know. And you're welcome.

Let me give you a rundown of a week in my life. Since I already told you about Monday, let's start there. I don't watch a lot of television, but I've become fairly committed to a few shows. Two of those shows are on Monday nights and they serve as my light at the end of the tunnel for that day. Because when I'm at work, tired because I barely slept all weekend, I think about the zany shenanigans the main character in Chuck will find himself in, and what new piece of the puzzle Heroes is going to reveal to me. Tuesday's are almost always spent hanging out with a friend who lives a short distance away and reads this blog more faithfully than probably anyone else. You know who you are. Wednesday's have become movie night. I watch a movie either with my family or with the aforementioned friend. Thursday's once again rely on television, when the only other shows I watch regularly are on. Those two shows are The Office and Scrubs. Both absolutely hilarious in their own ways, Thursdays leave me sore from laughter. Friday nights are officially weekend time and thus spent doing weekend things. Hanging out with friends, drinking, and otherwise just having fun. Saturday's are generally spent recovering and wasting time until Saturday night, which more often than not is a variation of Friday night. Sunday's are different because they are scheduled all day. I wake up, go to Dunkin Donuts with two of my buddies and then shop for whatever food we'll need to eat that day while we watch football. Sunday night is spent either watching football with the usual gang, or watching a movie with the usual gang, then driving home to pass out from exhaustion even though I barely moved all day. That moves us right back to Monday.

My point is that having something to wake up for each day is important to be happy and get you through the shitty stuff that you're obligated to do. Most of us don't have many options with how we spend our time 9-5 on Monday through Friday, but we can control what we do when we get out of work. So give yourself a goal or a reward or whatever you want to call it, but do it every single day. Spend your free time wisely and take advantage of the time between work at night and work in the morning. It doesn't matter if it's a small thing or a stupid thing, as long as it gives you something to look forward to. Maybe you thought my schedule sounded like torture rather than pleasure, that's fine. You do what you want to do, that's the point. My regularly scheduled playtime isn't always glamorous, but it works for me.

WWW #13

The holidays are upon us and life is going to be crazy busy for the next month or so. Here's a reminder to keep smiling:

I don't see a great deal of practical use for seriousness, though I suppose it might serve its purpose in hospitals or at funerals. No, perhaps not even there. -JT

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Is There Too Much Fad In Your Diet?

The other day I saw a preview for the new iPod touch. If you haven't seen it, it's literally the iPhone minus the phone capabilities. It does everything else and looks damn near identical. Does it look like a cool gadget? Sure. Do I want one? Hell no. Why you may ask? For the same reason I'm one of 2 people in this country who doesn't want an iPhone and refuses to buy an iPod: I hate trendy shit.

Now, to be clear I'm a fairly normal guy. Most of the people who utter the aforementioned statement walk around with black nail polish on their fingers and collars around their necks. The self-proclaimed nonconformists of the world. I'm not trying to judge a whore by her cover charge, but I think you see my point. Of course, the funny thing about this type of nonconformist is that they've simply conformed to a different set of rules and guidelines, but that's neither here nor there. I shop at American Eagle and Abercrombie, I root for New England sports teams even though I live in New England and I listen to music that I perceive to be cool. In other words, I'm not a hard edged, anti-conformist sociopath. However, that doesn't change the fact I stated previously: I hate trends. Allow me to explain.

Like I said, I don't own an iPod. I never will own an iPod. I don't own one because it's one of the trendiest devices of our time. Pink, silver, black, white, I hate em all. I have of course used many iPods in my time to listen to music, because everyone I know has one. I will admit that they do their job well and I do not hate them for being junk. But that doesn't change the fact that I can pay less and get another device with a different name that does the job just as well for less money. I have 2 MP3 players, both of which have the capacity of a $150-200 iPod for under $100. People could argue that my MP3 players do not have the peripheral support of an iPod and they may be right but I don't really care about that. I want a device that allows me to listen to illegally downloaded music without fuss and my MP3 players allow me that. Hell, my cell phone now allows me to do that. Sure it can't play music videos or hold over 1,500 songs, but why the hell would I want it to? The iPod is a perfect example of a trend because people think it is far superior to other products without any justification other than "everyone has them". It doesn't matter if they never actually take advantage of the video capabilities, it's just nice to have it. In a latest, greatest, keeping up with the Joneses kind of way. Which isn't inherently awful, but I nearly flip out when I say the words MP3 player and someone corrects me by saying: "You mean iPod?" No, I don't mean iPod.

I can't say exactly why it is that I hate trends so passionately, but the fact remains that I do. Here is a great example. I know you've seen dozens of people walking around with what look like shoes built for inmates or the mentally unstable who happen to be pulling latrine duty. I am, of course, talking about Crocs. This is just the most embarrassing fad since wearing your jeans backwards like Kriss Kross in the early 90's. No, it's worse because back then you didn't have to buy new jeans specifically for the purpose of looking like a retard. So if you own a pair of Crocs (or any of the limitless knock-offs) do me a favor and slap yourself across the face right now. Hard. Don't worry, I'll wait. What's wrong with people? I mean, have they seen these things? Solid rubber clogs. Mmm boy, that's sexy. You know how you watch something like I Love The 80's and you laugh and laugh because people went out and got themselves Flock Of Seagulls haircuts? Well guess what, people watching I Love The 2000's will be laughing at people wearing the dumbest footwear since...ever. They'll say what were they thinking and they'll be right. I've heard the argument that even though they're ugly, they really comfortable. So is walking around bare ass naked, but I almost never do that in public. There are literally thousands of different kinds of shoes out there, are you telling me that people can't find a big, comfy sneaker or a nice airy sandal that provides similar comfort without looking the lovechild of a broken condom and a cheap piece of lawn furniture? People buy these for no other reason than them being trendy. Don't believe me? Do you really think people will still be wearing/selling these in 5 or 10 years?

I wrote a quote about trends that might be at home in the WWW section, I'll share it right here though:

I hate trends. Not popularity validated by a products supremacy over competition, but mass acceptance based on conformity. To me giving in to a trend like this signifies a loss of self, a surrendering of individuality for the hollow aim of fitting in. -JT

That really sums up my feelings as well as anything else. I don't have a problem with people buying something because they like it or because they've looked into it and that item is the best choice. I just don't admire people who have to be floating in the center of the trend current, buying things that other people say are cool or looking like someone else says they should look. Don't get me started on the ridiculously huge, oversized, bugeyed sunglasses craze that every single woman in America is in on. What a horrible way for an attractive woman to hide her face so that men can't even tell. Way to go ladies. But that's my opinion. Go ahead and follow the masses, allow them to choose your shit for you. Just because I refuse to buy anything I perceive as trendy, such as a Razor phone (almost everyone I know who owns one hates it), doesn't mean you have to. And if you don't want to jump into a trend right off, wait it out. You'll be able to get the stuff that everyone is going crazy over today for 75% off in the bargain bins tomorrow.

WWW # 12

I missed the WWW last week because of my grandfather's passing the subsequent duties associated with a death in the family. But this week we're right back on track, here it is:

How can one believe in destiny but not in God? That's like reading a book and then denying it had an author. -JT

Have a good week.

The Lament Of The Children (An Ode To My Generation)

We've grown up in a much different world than our parents, is it surprising then that we don't have the same beliefs? The stories of their youths portray a fairytale world so dissimilar from our current existence that we cannot relate to them in any way. Ours has been a world of fear, greed and corruption. We were raised in a time when children no longer got to play outside for fear of them being taken or hurt. Now the bats and balls stay in their crate while children's waistlines grow in front of their computer monitors. We have witnessed the sanctity and protection of our schools become compromised as angry teens no longer yell at their classmates, they shoot them. The world we have grown up in has taught us that you're still free to think and say what you believe, as long as it doesn't offend anyone. In our world public schools claim they do not have the right to teach beliefs, and then offer a single explanation for the origin of life. In those same classrooms the mere mention of God could prove to be grounds for termination. My generation has been betrayed by police officers, priests and our own government, leaving us to trust only ourselves. We have seen guilty men set free, teaching us that power and money can circumvent justice. We have witnessed the downsizing and outsourcing of entire companies and industries, leaving millions unemployed in their wake. We grew up in a time when illegal immigrant labor was considered necessary even as the products they produced put our friends and families out of business. We were raised by shattered families in a society that apathetically watched over half of its marriages falter and fail. Ours has been a time of two faces: tobacco companies promoting methods to quit smoking, while at the same time increasing the amount of addictive nicotine in their products. The world we have grown up in has told us to fear AIDS, smallpox, cancer, heart disease, STD's, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease, Avian Bird Flu, terrorism, nuclear weapons, sunlight, eggs and carbs. Our generation saw Batman quit and Superman die. Real life wasn't much more inspiring. The sports legends of our time were juicers swinging corked bats. We have heard the lessons of our fathers but the world we have grown up in has proven them untrue. The best man does not always win, hard work does not always pay off and honesty is not always the best policy. Instead we have seen that cheaters do win, that dishonesty and cunning may get you what you want and the quickest route is superior to the hardest. Above all my generation has been taught time and time again that their is no absolute right or wrong: only what you can get away with. Is it surprising that we are frustrated and bewildered? We don't trust one another, we live in a state of perpetual fear, our sense of justice is skewed. Previous generations call us lazy and stupid, they think we're going to ruin everything. The blame is not entirely our own. The fact of the matter is that this messed up world we've grown up in is a product of their efforts. We aren't lazy and stupid, we're angry and jaded. We are looking for something to believe in.

R.I.P. Grandpa

Today's post will be very short. I'd like to start off by apologizing to the Boston Red Sox and all of Red Sox nation that I failed to announce their victory in the World Series last week. It was a fantastic season for Red Sox fan's and we're fortunate enough to have experienced this twice in three years. We never stopped Believe-ing.

On Sunday two things happened. One very good and one very bad. I will start with the good. The Patriots took on the other undefeated team in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts, and what followed was an epic battle that looked to be ending in victory for the Colts. This would mark the 4th time they've defeated us in as many match-ups. However, in the 4th quarter with less than 10 minutes the Patriots rallied to prove why they are the dominant team in the league. They scored two touchdowns and then strip-sacked Manning for possession to run out the clock at the end of the game. We ended up winning it 24-20 in one of the most exciting football games I've ever watched. Next stop: history books.

The second occurrence was far more serious and far less joyous. My grandfather, Earl Taylor, passed away very early Sunday morning at the age of 78. He had been dealing with several health problems over the past few months and in the end, none ever win the struggle against time. So long Papa, you will be missed but never forgotten.


"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there. It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so as long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away." ~Fahrenheit 451 , by Ray Bradbury

From all of us left behind, we love you.