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"Don't worry about your originality. You could not get rid of it if you wanted to." - Robert Henri
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1-Society
2-Videogames
3-Art
4-Society
II
5-Society III
6-Society IV 7-Society
V
8. Society VI
9. Me Myself & I
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(Winter 2006) "Why worry? God's in control" (from a bumper sticker) |
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I
am not an organized religion person, and I have respect for most forms of
religion-but not this one. I respect the religion that puts your
choice as free will and responsibility. I like a religion that
teaches respect for the public, and self respect. I like a religion
that teaches strength, and character without criticizing others. I accept and tolerate freedom
of worship, but I have NO tolerance for
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| (May/June 2006) Scientific Mall observations of money & a beautiful appearance |
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This is based on a visual survey while mall grazing. While this is done in humor, I am not just poking fun at poverty. I am also noting that a series of poor life choices (and life is choice) leads to very observable outcomes. I observed one point over and over, that money makes people more attractive (not exactly ground-breaking). How did this idea come about? I found myself at 3 different area malls within a very short period of time. I prefer not to identify the malls, nor do I feel in any way superior through this observation (in fact, it made me depressed). Mall "X"
Is a somewhat run down mall
in a medium to low income area. It looks like the last real update
occurred in the mid 1970's, with a weed
Mall "Y"
Is losing it's luster with a
late 80's look. The people shopping there are also upscale pop-trend
(if that is a possibility?) types,
but with
Mall "Z"
Has been recently updated,
with a borderline celebrity attending the grand opening or appearing at
one of the events on the weekend. The people shopping there are also
pop-trend types, but most often sporting Abercrombie or Gap clothing as
the trend. A knockoff
My conclusion was that money makes people more attractive, but less of an individual and noticeably less nice. Money visits the dentist, has a better sense of health and body, has more leisure time, less anxieties, abundant disposable incomes, and a greater command in controlling their 4 letter words, as well the volume of their voice. But money also ignores civility, honest human connections and social awareness.
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| (August 2006) Word Recycling, beginning with retarded. |
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Re-tard \ri-'tard\ verb: to hold back, delay the progress of, slow, slacken, detain
I am finding more
and more words that have dropped out of everyday conversation, or are no
longer in use as originally intended.
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(August 2006) Hipsters, Fashion and "Where you at?" |
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In a somewhat recent job interview, I was asked about controlling
classroom behavior. In particular for those male students that "wear
Boost Mobile has an ad campaign that is geared to steal the oh-so-hip
disposable income from American youth. The catch phrase is "where
you at?" (written out in graffiti like scrawl). I can usually ignore
when these phrases make it into everyday life, but when you hear it said into a cell phones
20 times a day, you wonder if anyone realizes how ignorant that sounds?
Would you go to McDonalds and sing the jingle? Do you think that
drinking beer or wearing a lot of body
Oh, and Please...pull up your damn pants. I get it- it's a prison thing, it's a youth thing. If only for the fact that you may someday reproduce to prolong our culture and society, understand that sometimes what's on the surface highlights what's beneath.. By wearing your pants so low that you leave your ass hanging out, the only things that you are telling people is that you need attention to your status symbol Calvin Klein/Hilfiger underwear, and that you are determined to work at minimum wage for life because you don't realize when a TREND looks "retarded" (see above).
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(March 2007) A clean & sparkling champion |
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I
grew up reading superhero comics. When I was a kid, I believed in heroes
(I still do), but times are making it harder. That “hero” was not
someone who couldn’t make mistakes- because they always did. They were not
perfect. But they did not do things that ever called into question their
base character. The heroes that I read about were not boy scouts, they had
their flaws- but all fought to raise themselves to a higher calling.
They battled themselves to always be better people, to do some good in the
world.
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back 1-Society 2-Videogames 3-Art 4-Society II 5-Society III 6-Society IV 7-Society V 8. Society VI 9. Me Myself & I next |
fanaticism. Any belief that
there is a higher power that chooses your path is a denial of life and all
of the responsibilities that go with it. Oftentimes, when humans
become overwhelmed with life, denial is born. To deny yourself
control in life, based on a belief system created by man to control the
social structures of man; is to deny life itself. The belief of
freedom and free will is closer to the original intent of religion.
In our world we are waging war, committing heinous acts of violence and
oppression- all in the name of Gods. Today, ideas are being
suppressed in favor of keeping the status quo. I am not a
theologian, but there is a story that makes some very good points:
There could be no heaven without hell, no god without the devil, and no
answers without questions. Questioning beliefs go hand-in-hand
with becoming an independent human, otherwise you are just someone's lap
dog. I guess since I saw this as a bumper sticker, I would have
preferred that the driver just let go of the wheel and let God drive. "When all there is is God, then there is no God." (Taoist)
farm commonly breaking up the
parking lot area. The people shopping there are knock off sweat-suit and pop-trend types.
I imagined living styles as multi-family trailers from the masses at
this mall.
Language is at best reaching at a junior high school level, and peppered with multiple curses in a shouted voice. There were many cases of
the extreme individual. Those few people who are not in any way near
fashionable, and do not care what anyone thinks about what they wear, how
they look, or what they are talking about. Overall, visiting the
dentist is not a major life concern, apparently Pork Rinds and Hostess cupcakes have assumed
the priority.
Wild displays of jewelry and really-really bad tatoos are too common, as
are low riders and fat bellies stuffed into ridiculously tight jeans.
The popular stores may be identified as Spencers or Footlocker,
and the people are usually un-attractive and in a foul mood.
American Eagle and a few Abercrombies thrown into the fashion
mix. Language is youthful high school, but with fewer curses
scattered throughout. Overall, The age grouping is a bit younger.
This group is often witnessed as scrambling to buy whatever cell phone accessory their friends have on
display from the center mall kiosks. Wild displays of jewelry are uncommon, but the need to be
an individual by sporting the tribal-arm band or
small-of-the-back-smudgy-butterfly tatoos remain a consistent dying to
fit-in social trapping.
There were too many examples of the mob (or pack) mentality.
Abundant examples of yelling to each other (to be noticed) occurred
throughout my experience. Things are purchased and utilized in
packs, and often shared. The popular stores may range from American Eagle to Electronics
Boutique. The people are inconsistently attractive, but still
pleasant. Mall Y tends to attract a larger number of senior
citizens, who use the early hours to exercise by walking the mall with
confused facial expressions. I can't say that they are lost, but
they certainly look that way.
fashion
wearing individual may sneak in now
and then, but they are usually met with stares and whispers.
Individuality is not a high priority, and apparently neither is civility
towards anyone working at the mall. Language is college or business
directed, and it seemed as if every third person had a Starbucks coffee
(even I felt the urge to get one). Overall, The age grouping is a youth
and family oriented, and shopping is nonchalant with multiple purchases
until their hands were full. The need to be an individual by
displaying tatoos is often hidden until bending over to pick
up one of the many purchases (at that point a college indiscretion shows on the
small of the back, or ankle). The popular stores may be identified
as Hollister or Gap Kids. People are most often
attractive, with oft displayed expendable incomes.
Case in point the word
"retarded". When I was younger, the word retarded was used in
reference to an individual who had mental
inefficiencies. Often it
was in combination with the term mentally, as in mentally retarded.
Through my years working in mental health, this term came to be frowned
upon, and then politically incorrect. In it's place came a truckload
of psychiatric diagnostic terms, but that left the word retarded in word
purgatory. I think it's time to re-cycle that word. To bring
it back into acceptable use in reference to people and things. Not
as a reference to those who are living with developmental disabilities (that
would be using the word improperly), but in reference to those that are supposedly properly formed- but
acting like idiots. Basically it's using the word as intended, but
now in reference to the correct people. It may also be used in reference to an item that
makes no sense. I use it as a reference to something that's not
quite right, most often a popular culture item. Examples: Dora the
explorer is retarded or Dora the explorer is for retards. I
know kids respond to it, but who makes a cartoon that plays like a cheap
videogame?
Paris Hilton is a retard. So is Tyra Banks. Ann
Coulter is a retard that likes to spew retarded hate style speech (She's
really just afraid of what she doesn't understand, and craving
attention- no matter how she can get it...which reduces her hate speech
to all she has left to get that attention...and that is retarded). The movie Bewitched is for
retards. American Idol is retarded. Not paying attention to your
children (or putting a "job" before your family) is retarded.
Believing conspiracy theories like NASA never landing on the moon, or
the DaVinci code is retarded. Paying for a psychic to give you life advice is retarded,
and therefore if you do that- you are a retard. My word
refers to those that truly slow us down as a society.
their baseball hats crooked". I didn't see this as a behavior issue,
but the person asking the question was in their late 50's- so I thought it
best to avoid the argument. How you wear a hat, or clothes is up to
an individual, but I have always held the idea that clothes send a
message, and some messages shouldn't be sent. When I was younger, this
particular way of wearing a baseball hat had an ingrained connotation.
Anyone wearing a hat that way was one of two things. Either they
were a developmentally disabled man-child, or they were a cute toddler.
Whenever I see this fashion trend, I still see this mental image.
For me, I see that fashion trend as inherently embarrassing to the wearer.
So to anyone who does it- I'm sure that people over the age of 30 are
quietly laughing as they picture you standing at a lemonade stand with a
backwards "D" yelling LEMONADE! with a lisp. Is
that what you want
in order to fit in? Go for it, I don't consider that a classroom
disruption, it's entertainment. This just makes a shallow hipster
who doesn't know how to think as an individual. It leads to a good
career in marketing. Speaking of marketing...
spray will make you popular?
It won't, it'll make you a musky-pungent-drunk. That
phrase "where u at?" automatically states that you do not understand how to speak like
an adult. My 2 year old uses better speaking grammar, and he can't
pronounce words beginning with F or S. I think it's better to talk like a
person, instead of a commercial. Or you can base all of your social
communication on ideas that a group of savvy marketers have cooked up to
bilk you out of even more money. 
There were stories of drugs, death, and a world that never appreciated
their efforts. Rarely, did anyone ever give up on a battle that
they might win as the masked hero, but were sure to lose as the human
being. Peter Parker (Spiderman) was always the odd man out- a
nerd, shunned, and ridiculed. Bruce Banner (the Hulk) was always
on the run in fear of losing control, brute force with no brain.
And Tony Stark (Iron Man) was an alcoholic struggling to keep it a
secret. Some only saw the spandex, I saw the humanity.
When I was a kid in the 1970’s there was one particular
public figure that loomed large as a hero:
spotlight, and part of it is that too many of these so-called
heroes rise for reasons other than the content of their character. But
the times we live in are NOT a valid excuse. More and more athletes
depend on chemicals over brains. Politicians depend on large scale
donations and favors over humane and sensible decisions. Not that there
ever were good politicians, but we can dream can't we? Musicians
choose the corporate contract over the musical content. Hollywood
chooses the generic genre done for the umpteenth time with a bankable star over the opportunity to create
meaningful dialogue with engaging writing and acting. It is all playing out to a
tragic end- powerful Rome also fell when it declined into self-indulgent
behavior.