Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

I haven't watched television in about three months.

Okay, that's a lil bit of a lie. I've seen the odd half hour of programming here and there and when I visited the Midwest I watch some TV. I saw a few episodes of True Life, the Democratic Convention and a Cubs game but I have generally not see TV in a minute. I haven't even been keeping up on my online viewing using Hulu.

I'm not saying this to brag either. I'm not one of those people who thinks watching TV lowers your intelligence or doesn't have a TV in their house because they are better than that. Fuck that shite. I really like good TV like 30 Rock, The Wire and The Office and some of our best entertainment content can be found on the small screen.

No, I stopped watching TV because my roommate moved his television to his bedroom and I was too lazy to find a new TV right now. So, I have gotten used to not watching television.

Has it made me more productive? Not really. Instead of spending my new free time writing more (which I have increased a little) I've made up for my lack in television viewing by reading more books, watching DVDS and returning to my foolish ways a la this character from my favorite TV show.

Sweet, sweet Starbuck and one of our shared bad habits....

I'm going to continue this non-TV viewing experiment and actively try to cut back on my other distractions to see how productive I can be. I mean I HAVE done more work than usual but I have also been out enjoying life more (read- drinking in lounges with wimmen-folk). I have to cut back on the latter and increase the former.

Hello, ladies.


I'll never say that viewing television is a hindrance and wrong and killing brain cells(wow, I just spelled brain like brian; maybe I'm totally wrong about all this;hmmm.....) and I do miss The Office and Psych. I will give this no TV thing a little more time though and actively try to utilize my new spare time in the best possible way.

....

At least until the new final season of BSG starts. Frak that. Gotta see how it ends, son. I mean they DID finally get to Earth. C'mon.


Just don't kill Helo and keep Starbuck crazy and we are cool.

Nice not to be alone....

http://assholesandopinions.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-life-my-life-my-life-in-sunshine.html

http://stephdub.com/2008/09/24/feeling-old-and-behind-in-the-dating-game/

word.

Pay Me In Bud!

Got a real blog post or two planned for most likely tonight or tomorrow but I thought I would throw up something that just popped into my head this morning. I was checking my messages, e-mail and texts because I had my phone off and crashed early last night. As I scrolled through the e-mails and texts that I had to respond to and listened to my sole message from work, I realized a simple fact.

No one owes anyone anything.

Now, this is not to say that if you borrow something from someone- money, hedge clippers, a car, sugar, their girlfriend for the night- that you don't have to pay them back. Never that. Pay what you owe. I mean, just ask Riley about that one.



What I'm saying is that outside of two relationships in your life, at the end of the day nobody owes anyone anything.

The only two relationships that exist where people owe each other is from parent to child and from child to parent. And even then there are limits. Parents are responsible to take care of you and make sure you are provided for until you can do it on your own. Or should be able to do it on your own. Children, on the flipside, should take care of those same parents when they are able to and can. Again, up to a point.

Outside of that, relationships among siblings, friends, lovers, people in real relationships are all based on trust and you putting yourself out there. Just because you behave in a certain way doesn't mean that that other person is required to return the same actions. It is nice and beautiful and great if that person does. I mean, I try to reciprocate what I get from my loved ones as much as possible and they generally do the same. But I don't necessarily enter into a relationship with someone expecting them to give me back exactly what I give them. It's nice when they do but I can't lose sleep over it if they don't. And I have to reaffirm this belief every time my faith is shaken in someone.

Maybe it's just me being cynical or not expecting enough for myself like I should but people are people with their pluses and minuses. Sometimes their flaws can make them disappoint you and vice versa. I'm just saying we sometimes have to be non-emotional about it and realize that we can't always get what we feel we are owed and that people rarely change. Knowing this and if that isn't enough then we have two options- accept that person or move on.

"Ask Yourself Who Are You?....

...If you don't know who you are, how can your dreams come true?"- 50 Cent, Realest Killas
Wise words, Mr. Curtis Jackson. Wise words.

There is an image that each of us has in our heads about how we look to the outside world. I think they call it residual self-image in The Matrix, or some shit like that. Anyway, we either make ourselves look better or worse than we are in reality in our minds.

I'm no different.

Although it varies throughout the day and is mostly dependent on how I feel at any particular moment, I like to imagine myself if not at this level yet then close to it. I like to think of myself as charming, smart, funny, a little bit of a smart ass and rogue. And good looking. Kinda like Rusty Ryan in Ocean's Eleven. Only, you know, BLACK.


I coined the term Black Brad Pitt before Jigga. Ask my pals.*

Talking to my boy the other day, I've realized that I'm not becoming movie star cool. Instead I'm slowly growing into a TV character by inches every day.

- I have a list of things to address to make right for me and others and ultimately the world.
- I live in a trailer park.
- I have a bigger younger brother but to get more to the point I live with a larger white male hillbilly (his words, not mine).
- We drive around in a shitty vehicle mostly playing country music, classic rock and some shitty rap.
- I know an authoritative blonde with a nice rack who likes black dudes(know a few blondes like this actually but, really, who doesn't?).
- I know a Mexican cleaning woman who is attractive(again, who doesn't?).
- I like spending time at bars drinking beer.
- And, to top it off, if I want to I can grow a pretty awesome mustache.

Who am I?


DAMMIT, MAHN. Earl? Least my fashion sense is better. I hope.

Sigh. Yeah, something has GOTTA change. and sooner than later.


*Trust me. They won't lie for me. They are dicks in that way. God, love 'em.

Idiom Series Septa

Lucky number 7.

"I want what's best for you."

I've been thinking about this one for awhile. It seems to pop up pretty regularly in conversations I hear between educators and students, parents and children, friends and people in relationships. "I want what's best for you." It forces me to think about what that person is saying and I have come to the conclusion that it is somewhat bullshit.

A person who is saying this to you isn't really (for the most part) saying what they really think they are saying. Sure, the person you hear it from may REALLY want what is best for you but their vision of this and your vision are usually different things. They want what is best for you to be for you to fulfill some image or idea that they WANT for you to do or become. They want you to become this potential person that exists in their head. This person, although great, may not be you or even remotely who you want to be. They desire you to be satisfied with a life that they choose for you, if you want it or not.

I'm not taking anything from the thought process and emotional attachment behind this statement and the goodwill that it is usually said with but there exists a better statement. A statement that really conveys that this person cares about you and it isn't about you fulfilling this role they have created for you in their mind.

I want you to be happy.

This simple statement is very similar to the one this Idiom Series entry is about without the burden of becoming someone that you might not be or even want to be. It also fulfills the emotional element that someone who truly cares about you would want to convey.

So, next time those words begin to bubble out of your mouth- PAUSE. Think about what you are really saying and what you truly want from that person in front of you. If you want them to become this person in your head and settle for a life you planned out for them, go right ahead and say it. If you really care that this person is enjoying and living life to the fullest, then say the other statement and mean it.

I mean, because at the end of the day I just want you to be happy. Seriously.

Next in Series- TBD