I can't believe I was stupid enough to actually talk trash against the whole digital movement in a blog.
Here I am, denouncing technology, and wishing for the old days, in a modern format.
I'd ask for people to punch me for me my stupidity, but I think my knowing my mistake is shame enough.
I used to believe I was intelligent.
-B-
As far as the title of this goes, that was actually something I heard while at the post office a while back. It was said by a girl who was probably around 15-16 yrs old, and she was rapid-fire "texting" someone, and or emailing/twittering, updating Facebook status, yadda yadda yadda.
I remember back to what is now called the "old days" when all you had was a home phone. And some of you might remember the days before that. Then came Pagers, or beepers, or whatever the heck you wanted to call them. It was a huge stepping stone in communication. Mobile phones at that time were huge chunky devices that had to be constantly plugged into the cig lighter, and actually resembled a WWII radio. A satchel with a handset attatched to it.
But nowadays, all that is changed. Instant communication, via text, electronic mail, and even video; swapped between handheld devices that are smaller than a deck of cards. It's hard to believe that 10 yrs ago, having a battery operated cell phone was a symbol of being high class.
Unfortunately, I think we take all this for granted. Yes, it is awesome to be able to update Mom on how I'm doing today by sending her a few typed words. Or a picture of me and my friends doing something fun.
Or, from a business point of view, Emailing a resume, or handing it in in person, presenting yourself, and giving them the opportunity to judge you in the here and now, by who you are, not by what the paper says.
Anyhow, I'm going to get to my meaning of all this....
Lately, I've become wrapped up in all this digital BS, but I'm tired of it. Whatever happened to having a conversation? One that included spoken word and not crappy shorthand stuff like OMG, or IDK. Its horribly unfortunate that people forgot how to spell "two" or "to" and therefore had to type "2" instead.
And, don't get me started on the crap that is "LOL."
I'm done. Goodnight.
-B-
I'm gonna start all this with a story. It's an old story. But only a small amount of people have heard it before. And the majority of those people were there. Here goes nothin:
When I was kid, my family had moved down to Lehi. Which is considered the northernmost area of central Mesa. In all actuality, Mesa grew from Lehi. But that's irrelevant to the story. Anyways, our family was on a camping trip, which we did as often as possible. It wasn't as often as we wanted, but that was because Dad ran his own business and had to bust his ass all the time to provide for his wife and kids. Sorry, I run out on tangents all the time. OK, so we're on this camping trip, sitting around the campfire and Dad thinks he has this brilliant idea. He knows that his boys hate chopping weeds around the house, and figures he can scam them into actually agreeing to do it. ( A little background on Dad: He was a Scout Leader for about 7 yrs, but he would've been better suited as a Drill Sergeant. And absolutely wickedly good at playing Capture-The-Flag.) So he comes up with this plan to trick us. He tells me and my brother that if we stand in the same spot, without moving or speaking, and he walks completely around either of us 3 times, he'll do our weed chopping for 3 hours. He immediately walked aroud us twice, out of arrogance I think. And proceeded to stay just out of failing range, all the while talking to us, asking questions, basically trying to get us to give up. He was good at it too, playing the psychological bit, but not good enough, 'cause we never spoke. But then out of nowhere, completely unexpected, Dad messed up. He stepped across my centerline. And as he did, he realized his mistake. It may have been me jumping and hollering, but I think he caught it on his own. When I called him on it, Mom had to confirm it, he told me "I guess I owe you 3 hours." It was the highlight of my life. Me vs. Dad, and I won. Every adolescent boy's dream. Finally beating his dad at something.
I love telling that story, even though I rarely tell it. I think I probably like that situation so much because it was a strategic battle of sorts. A battle of skills, not knowledge. In the years(many of them) since, I guess I've had several victories over him, such as: "My computer isnt working, can you fix it?"(which never happens anymore 'cause my big-little brother is a computer genius) and the time their HD plasma tv didn't have any better picture than their regular tv (I showed them how to switch the regular analog signal to digital.)
Now that I've rambled on for enough time, I want to get to the whole point of this whole adventure in hack literature.
Yesterday is gone. As are the 11,200+ days of my life before that. As we get older, our lives may get tougher. Some people have smaller issues, some have massive issues. And the rare few flow though life without any hitches. All that matters now is how you handle today. And tomorrow. If you have kids, think back to your favorite childhood memory, even if there was only one, and remember how you felt at that time. Then try to make sure they enjoy that feeling as often as possible. If you don't have kids, then try to do the same as an uncle or aunt, like I do. If you are an only child, dump it on a friend's kid. Trust me, when that little whippersnapper comes running up to you with a big smile and a light in their eye, it makes all the daily crap you put up with worthwhile. And when they do what most kids do, get cranky and argumentative, send em out to chop weeds. Wait, now that I think about it....
Dad still owes me those 3 hours....
I'm done. Goodnight.
-B-
I've spent the last few nights re-reading a lot of the posts I've written on MyFarce, and I've noticed a barely detectable amount of anger buried deep in the writing.
Yes, I'm joking of course, because the majority of the stuff I wrote before is just pure Pissy-ness in every form. But, now I'm finally starting to feel my age, and I'm also starting realize some of the real-life factors of the world in this horrible economy we are in the middle of.
My first instinct is to point fingers toward a particular term of office, (and it ain't W's, cause the problem started before that,) but I feel the only way to get past all this is to just forget the "politics" of it all, and realize that we, as Americans, and everyone else in the world, have to depend on each other, in some way or form, to survive. Every nation depends on at least one other nation, maybe even in the slightest bit, to be able to function. Therefore, shouldn't we all just get over the finger-pointing and the he-said she-said BS?
I know a lot of people could argue that "America doesn't need anything from anyone!" That's bullshit. With the consumption of oil that we currently cause, all the oil fields in the US, (and yes I am including the untapped ones in Alaska,) would last us maybe 5 yrs by scientists theories. I'd call it less than that based on continual growth.
So.... Where do we go from here? It seems that there is finally some progress being made in the Middle East, but there is still serious tension with North Korea. And, once again, the Soviets are kicking our door. (no offense intended towards the Russian population, but Putin definitely has a Soviet Russia state of mind.)
We all breathe the same air, we all walk on land, and the blood in our veins is the same color. Why should location or religion decide who is best? "My god can beat up your god" or "My patriotism is stronger than yours!"
My response to that... Who cares? You're a human being, as am I. Shouldn't we be working together towards preserving the human race? Instead of trying to destroy it because your pride or your "god" told you to?
That's all I have to say. And hopefully, it will be enough.
-B-
