A Theme October 11, 2011

I have long avoided a cohesive theme for this blog. Simple reason for this—I wanted the freedom to write about whatever lunacy popped into my head. I could write about music, television, movies, pop stars, or I could write about the random nonsense that happened in my everyday life. Nothing was off-limits.

 However, not having a cohesive theme also led me to not be able to promote anything. If I told somebody I had a blog, there was no way to describe it. There was no way to get other people to write for a site that really had no point.

Eventually, it felt like not having a theme had more disadvantages than advantages. First of all, themes can be incredibly loose. If an occasional idea that doesn’t strictly conform to a basic format is something I want to write about, the blog police aren’t going to arrest me.

 I titled this blog Letters From Suburbia way back when for reasons I can’t really recall. I mostly liked the sound of it. I’ve always been a suburbanite, so really it just meant that this was writing from somebody in the suburbs. Clear enough.

But what does it mean to be from suburbia? It certainly is a drag, in many ways. A lot of time, it seems like issues are being beaten to death, and they aren’t even the issues we should be discussing. Cultured people are rare, and it can often be difficult to even engage in a meaningful conversation.

So consider this my meaningful conversation. Letters from Suburbia will bring up ideas and thoughts that I feel aren’t being addressed by other sources. It will counteract the lack of intelligent discourse of the world at large.

Now does that mean I will finally update regularly? That—you’ll just have to keep an eye on.

Everyone Needs an Excuse September 7, 2011

From Buzzsaw Haircut, the literary magazine of my alma mater:
“I’ve cheated on every boyfriend I’ve had. It’s not that they aren’t good enough for me, I just can’t help myself sometimes. I’ve never heard of this gene, and maybe it’s the reason I am more likely to cheat.”

This is from an article about a gene that supposedly makes people more likely to be unfaithful. Ok, now we are just getting silly. As science has become more precise, so have excuses. Whatever happened to just doing bad things because we’re human?

That is the problem. There is a human desire to make everything somebody else’s fault. Responsibility is never our own. We were made with something bad in us, so when it comes out, well, I couldn’t help it.

As a society, we need to admit our failings and not look for ways to make it not our fault. We’re human. We screw up. But that doesn’t make it some cosmic thing out of our control. We’re all unique, but we aren’ t all just a collection of genes that makes decisions for us. Take some responsibility.

The Crazy People That Make U.S. History Interesting August 14, 2011

I am a history nerd. That is not a secret. A lot of people think history is boring, but it depends on what it is. If you’re reading about George Washington in a textbook, yeah, can be boring. But lunatics, crazy people, and socially-inept creatures are always interesting.

Here are three noteworthy individuals (Sadly, for bad reasons):

1. William Walker–Walker was a lawyer and journalist who one day decided, like any sane person, that he would like to raise an army and take over a Central American country. So he did.  In 1855, when he undertook the expedition, he had already conquered Baja California with an army of 45. No sweat. He needed more, so he raised an army of about 300 and took over Nicaragua. Literally. He was recognized as the President of the country for almost a year, before being forced out of office. When he tried to return to the area in 1860, he was executed.

2. Henry Rathbone–Trivia question: How many people in President Lincoln’s box at Ford’s Theatre were murdered? The answer? Two. (Another question you can ask is how many people in the box were later in a mental hospital–also two). Rathbone and his fiancee Clara Harris were in the box with Abraham and Mary, sitting next to them, when Booth killed Lincoln. They were powerless to stop him, although Rathbone did his best to disarm the assassin afterwords.

Sadly, that is not the end of the story. In 1883,  Rathbone murdered Clara (and unsuccessfully tried to kill their children and himself). He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum in Germany.

3. Charles Guiteau–Upset that he was passed over for the job as ambassador to France, despite the fact that he had no qualifications whatsoever, Guiteau did the country a favor (in his own mind) by murdering President Garfield. Guiteau had a history of rejection. He joined a sex cult, but nobody would sleep with him–they nicknamed him “Charles Gitout.” He managed to be a loser in just about every way possible. In the end, he managed to succeed in two things: killing the president, and being hung. But that’s about it.

Taking a Stand Against the Gleeification of the U.S. August 9, 2011

I’ve never watched Glee. If I did, I imagine my eyes would bleed, quickly and painfully. I have no interest in writing about the show as television, but as a movement.

What Glee does is turn popular kids into the geeks they never were. And THIS I have a major problem with.

I try not to pay attention to the show or the buzz that it receives, but one thing I have noticed is that fans of this monstronsity of a program call themselves “Gleeks.” Fine, a simple and potentially clever way of punning the show’s title. I get that.

And if these people were geeks who were unpopular and awkward in high school, it would make sense. But there is a major and incredibly irritating problem with this sentiment–almost all Glee fans I know were not geeks in school–they were popular, non-geeky, and socially adjusted.

What is it about the past that makes people pine to be bigger losers than they actually were? There’s an oft-repeated statistic about wealth in the United States–19% of people believe they are in the top 1% of earners. Clearly, this is a mathematical impossibility, so they are not all that rich.

It appears that nerds are the same way. It feels like 75% of Americans want to believe that they were among the 5 nerdiest, least socially-adept people in their high school. Your later success comes after being picked on in high school. But your shirt being called weird once doesn’t make you a geek. You were not one. And you can’t be one retroactively. You can’t pine for the days that never were.

I don’t care for Glee–I find it annoying, and pointless, and stupid. That much can be gleaned solely from the commercials I’ve had to watch. However, it becomes offensive to me on a personal level when the head cheerleader wants to remember her days as an weirdo. NO. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO. Real geeks can be attracted to this show. I don’t care. But I refuse to allow non-geeks to commandeer our word. I’m not going to accept that without a fight.

 

Temporary Friends July 22, 2011

About a month ago, I went to a wedding. At this wedding, I knew three people–the bride, the groom, and the best man. And, at least in my network of friends, the feeling at a social event where you don’t really know anybody is kind of awkward. You really only have two options:

1) Ignore everybody, and act like a giant weirdo.

2) Try to make small talk with some strangers.

I usually chose option 1. (Or, the offshot of it, don’t go at all.) I feel like I grew up in a world where everything has a point. And I never understood making small talk with people you’d never see again. What’s the point of that? You’re not gaining anything from it. You’re not really giving anything to the other person. All you’re doing is fighting boredom for a few moments.

For whatever reason, I would act this way. That unless you were in a situation where there was some tangible benefit to engaging with somebody, what’s the point? Now, if you asked me about it, I would have never actually admitted to that. I never had those thoughts. I’ve always been reserved, and it takes real energy for me to meet people. I’m not the life of the party and I never will be. So to spend up social energy on people who you will never see again–how could that be worth it?

As I’ve gotten older, this mindset has started to fade. For me, meeting people is not as hard anymore. I’m not as quiet as I used to be, and now I can just talk to people with no agenda. It makes you more real. You don’t need anything from the person, you’re just celebrating being alive.

Case(s) in point–the short chat with the storeowner. These people are dwindling by the day, as Walmarts and Starbucks and their ilk dominate the landscape, but it is always nice to see somebody who has their own interesting place of business, specialized, and it’s great to talk to them for a few brief moments and then go on your way.

In June, I was taking a huge test. When I was there, a girl, fresh out of college named Amber started talking to me about the test, and we just struck up a conversation about our lives and what we were in for. We talked for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, and after we finished the test, we went our separate ways. We didn’t exchange contact info, so there is a 99.9% chance I will never see this girl again. However, when we were both there and nervous about this test and needing a distraction, we were able to connect like that.

Same thing at the wedding. I went not knowing anybody who would be at my table (like I said, I knew people there, but they were going to be very busy with other things that night.)  I met some people about my age. I didn’t want to be friends with them, but they weren’t bad people, they weren’t dreadfully boring or crazy. They were fine. And that’s all you need sometimes in a social situation…just people to help pass the time. It doesn’t matter that you’ll never see them again, it’s just nice to meet somebody and talk about this crazy world we live in for a little while.

 

Is City Life More Stressful? July 13, 2011

A recently published study says that city life is likely to be more stressful than rural areas:

NEW YORK – This may come as no surprise to residents of New York City and other big urban centers: Living there can be bad for your mental health.

Now researchers have found a possible reason why. Imaging scans show that in city dwellers or people who grew up in urban areas, certain areas of the brain react more vigorously to stress. That may help explain how city life can boost the risks of schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers said.

Previous research has found that growing up in a big city raises the risk of schizophrenia. And there’s some evidence that city dwellers are at heightened risk for mood and anxiety disorders, although the evidence is mixed.

I was in New York City today. And I have to say, I was stressed. There are people everywhere, some of them great, some of them loud, inconsiderate, or crazy. You are crammed on a subway, crammed on a train, crammed on a sidewalk. There are more things to do, but there are more people who want to do those things.

This was not at rush hour–it was in the middle of the day. I can see the anxiety and stress that living in a large metropolitan area breeds. However, I certainly do see the benefits of that life, and maybe the stress is worth the excitement. There is probably more exciting leisure activities in New York than there is in a town of 77 people. So I agree with the stress–doing things causes stress. However, whether or not it is a bad thing and a necessary evil is another question, and one I can’t definitively answer.

$1 for Health Care July 7, 2011

This was news a few weeks ago, but it definitely got my attention:

Some people who need medical care but can’t afford it go to the emergency room. Others just hope they’ll get better. James Richard Verone robbed a bank.

Earlier this month, Verone (pictured), a 59-year-old convenience store clerk, walked into a Gastonia, N.C., bank and handed the cashier a note demanding $1 and medical attention. Then he waited calmly for police to show up.

He’s now in jail and has an appointment with a doctor this week.

News like this has come out every once in a while, and I’m actually surprised it doesn’t happen more often. It is legitimately crazy that we don’t have universal health care. Republicans don’t want it (it helps poor people). Democrats don’t want to push for it (helping poor people not worth the effort). People across the country delay urgent health needs because they can’t afford to pay for it. This is the United States, 2011.

I’d say we could be more like Sweden, but then I see stories like this:

Stockholm: At the “Egalia” preschool, staff avoid using words like “him” or “her” and address the 33 kids as “friends” rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don’t fall into gender stereotypes.

“Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. “Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden’s efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

Now, I can understand not forcing people into stereotypical gender roles. That’s a good idea. But a 2 year old boy is….a 2 year old boy. If a two year old boy wants to play with a Barbie, ok, I can accept that. But getting rid of gender alltogether? Too far.

What Can’t You Deep Fry? June 27, 2011

USA! USA! USA!

The deep-fried Kool-Aid is selling like deep-fried hot cakes, according to their famed creator, “Chicken” Charlie Boghosian.

Chicken Charlie’s is a staple of fried rations at fairs across the country. It sold 400 to 600 orders of deep-fried Kool-Aid per day the first weekend of the San Diego County Fair. That’s about double the rate of previous debut items, Boghosian said.

“That’s because it tastes so darn good,” Boghosian said of the Kool-Aid.

The deep-fried novelty takes the shape of a doughnut-hole. There are five per order. That breaks down to as much as 9,000 balls of deep-fried Kool-Aid eaten over opening weekend.

Boghosian said Chicken Charlie’s has already gone through 150 pounds of Kool-Aid powder and 1,500 pounds of flour. Chicken Charlie’s debuted deep-fried Klondike Bars and Pop Tarts in past years.

Fairgoers on Tuesday were also buying up the deep-fried Kool-Aid.

“It starts off tart and tangy, and then finishes really sweet… I love this stuff,” said Seth Baldwin of Vista.

So disgusting, I have to post it. And yet, I would probably try it (then again, I’ve said that about the KFC Double Down, which I still have yet to try).

Ranking the Beatles June 24, 2011

This week on the always entertaining Judge John Hodgman podcast, the esteemed judge heard an interesting case–is the Beatles White Album one of their top five records? Judge Hodgman ruled no, and I would have to agree–along with Sgt. Pepper, it is always overvalued in the Fab Four’s canon.

So, what then, would a proper list of the band’s best albums look like? I am certainly not qualified to answer that, but because this is a blog, and bloggers are not qualified to answer anything and do anyway, I may as well give it a shot.

1. Revolver–no brainer.
2. Rubber Soul
3. Abbey Road
4. Let it Be–always unfairly maligned. Yes, the band was completely disjointed at this point. No, it’s not a cohesive album. But it’s a bunch of really good songs.
5. Help!
6. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band–”A Day in the Life,” “Getting Better,” and a lot of stuff that’s just kinda ehhh.
7. The White Album–six or seven pretty good songs, but just oh so much filler…
8. Hard Day’s Night
9. With the Beatles
10. Beatles for Sale

You Can’t Bash Classics June 21, 2011

Bob Hoskins:

What is the worst job you’ve done?
Super Mario Brothers.

What has been your biggest disappointment?
Super Mario Brothers.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I wouldn’t do Super Mario Brothers.

Source: Doot doot doo doo doot doo doo
You can bash this film, sadly. Super Mario Brothers is one of those awful films I used to watch anyway. When it’s a movie you grew up with, you ignore faults. But yeah…it was pretty dreadful, artistically. Not like 11 year old me cared.

Going to all 5 boroughs this summer–Queens edition. June 16, 2011

As a mini-prequel to my post on the Muppets I will write soon…I will be going to this over the summer. Most likely multiple times.

http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2011/07/16/detail/jim-hensons-fantastic-world/

Promoting Forgiveness May 14, 2011

In some circles, it appears that saying you believe in forgiveness is like saying that you like to kick babies in the face. Forgiveness is something that everybody agrees with in theory, but once there is an actual thing to forgive, nobody wants to.

Now, a lot of the reason I believe in forgiveness so much is that I, just maybe, have a big mouth and need to be forgiven for things. Completely fair. Usually it’s that I say something stupid in response in response to something stupid somebody else says. Usually I say something bad, they say something worse. Then I forgive them for it, and they don’t forgive me for it.

I just don’t get it. People need to drop grudges in this world, but it just doesn’t happen. They go on and on and on. I have one person in my life I won’t forgive, and trust me, she deserves it. But that’s it. It’s not worth it to continue to resent other people, because we’re all just human. Humans do stupid stuff. Often. So it’s not worth it to hold grudges and not forgive.

A Worthless Debate April 20, 2011

For whatever reason, some people seem to believe that there is some sort of debate over who was better, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. There is no argument-the Beatles are steak, the Stones are Spam.

The prevailing wisdom was that the Beatles were the best band and the Stones were the coolest. I don’t know what is cool about having a guitarist who has been legally dead since 1973 & a singer who looks like he is constantly sucking on a lemon. That isn’t cool to me.

Maybe youth is to blame. The Beatles broke up more than 40 years ago. The Rolling Stones are nearing a 265 years old and are still at it. I never saw Jagger when he was cool, I only know the ancient version.

What I do know is that the recordings are there for anyone to hear, and to me that is what makes music. If image mattered to me, I would care when Lady Gaga dressed up in a shirt made of condoms, tree branches and batteries. But I don’t care. Image is irrelevant.

In a way, I do understand the live show aspect. But the Beatles never had a chance. They played shows to screaming teens who made listening impossible. They couldn’t compete with the Stones live, because they couldn’t actually play live. They were disqualified by their popularity. Do I think they would have been better if they could have toured? No doubt.

In the end, the music IS what matters, and the Rolling Stones have written about 5 good songs in 50 years. Once a decade is only good in….well, I have no idea what it is good in. The Beatles, on the other hand, have six or seven brilliant albums, composed in only a few years. This is not a debate. In debates, either answer is acceptable. The Beatles are far better than the Rolling Stones, or any other band that has ever existed. Case closed.

Finally Getting a Smartphone April 4, 2011

I am typing this blog entry on wordpress mobile, while sitting on the train to Grand Central. In November, I finally caved and got a new phone, a Samsung Fascinate, an Iphone clone that worked on Verizon. I wasnt in the mood to wait for the Iphone to hit Verizon, so I got something just like it.

There are many reasons these things are amazing, because there is simply so much information available 24/7 at your fingertips. Yet there are also 100 reasons why I want to throw it out the window.

Pros-With a smartphone, computers become almost irrelevant. Need the weather? Sports scores? Email? A subway map (something I just checked in the phone)? Done. Plus there are games galore, news, music, and enough apps to keep you entertained for days. It really does do just about anything you may need.

Cons-Addiction. This is now a generation that can not do one thing at a time. I can no longer just watch tv, I have to be fiddling with the phone while I’m watching. That was far less of a problem when I had an old, ratty phone.

The verdict-Like anything, from facebook to pie, moderation is key. I’m still new at this, and getting used to having it that I can’t put it down. However, at some point the novelty will (hopefully) fade a bit. For now, I need to love the fact that this technology exists, without falling into the trap of obsession.

The Best 90s One Hit Wonders March 23, 2011

Back in the 90s, I used to religiously listen to alternative rock stations. There was always great new music being played, and me, being a middle/high school student looking for things to listen to, ate it up.

The 90s were an interesting time in the music industry–downloading hadn’t come into vogue yet, and record labels still were making record profits. They were always on the lookout for the ‘new thing’ after Nirvana hit. But 95% of the bands they signed had very little success commercially. Most would have one hit song, and that was it. The record label could tell these guys wouldn’t be huge stars, stopped promoting them, and watched them fall off the face of the earth.

Everybody remembers that one hit. However, a lot of the “one-hit wonder” bands of the 90s actually had other songs that were pretty good. Sure, they didn’t go on to have long careers, for the most part–most crashed and burned. A few went underground (Nada Surf being the most prominent example) and become indie success stories, but most faded into oblivion.

I have a lot of the albums that these one hits came from, and a lot of them aren’t bad at all. Some bands have songs better than their one hit–Dishwalla’s hit, “Counting Blue Cars,” is probably the eighth or ninth best song on their album Pet Your Friends. But it’s all they are known for.

So, in honor of these (mostly) forgotten bands, here is a mix (a two CD mix! I have way too many cds by 90s one-hit wonders because you can buy any of them at used stores for like a buck or two) of their OTHER songs. A lot of these songs were singles, but did not come close to matching the popularity of the band’s one hit.  Enjoy.

Disc 1:

1. The Refreshments–”Preacher’s Daughter”
*Only put out two CDs, but leader Roger Clyne is still putting out great solo albums.
2. Marcy Playground–”Saint Joe On The School Bus”
3. Oleander–”She’s Up, She’s Down”
4. For Squirrels–”Orangeworker”
*The one-hit wonder that became a one-hit wonder by tragedy–right after finishing their first album, half the band was killed when their bus crashed.
5. Dishwalla–”Pretty Babies”
6. Dog’s Eye View–”Umbrella”
7. Superdrag–”Slot Machine”
8. Nada Surf–”Do It Again”
9. The Rentals–”The Love I’m Searching For”
10. Semisonic–”Secret Smile”
11. Orbit–”Yeah”
12. Nine Days–”If I Am”
*A minor hit in it’s own right, although virtually nobody remembers anything besides “Story of a Girl”
13. Meat Puppets–”Sewn Together”
14. Candlebox–”Don’t You”
*Kind of a two-hit wonder, but I’ll include them anybody. Not to be confused with the hit on the album, which was just called “You.”

Disc 2
1. Tripping Daisy–”Rocketpop”
2. Screaming Trees–”All I Know”
3. Supergrass–”Caught By the Fuzz”
4. Eagle Eye Cherry–”Falling in Love Again”
5. Dinosaur Jr–”I Don’t Think So”
6. Splender–”I Don’t Understand”
7. Dovetail Joint–”Oh My God”
8. Sprung Monkey–”Naked”
9. Gin Blossoms–”Until I Fall Away”
10. Soul Asylum–’Somebody to Shove”
11. Letters to Cleo–”Because of You”
12. Seven Mary Three–”Lucky”
13. The Verve Pipe–”Villians”
14. Tonic–”Waiting for the Light to Change”

Best of the Best: TV Show March 18, 2011

Second in my series on the best things in the world right now: TV show. This one was pretty easy. Community is so much better than every other show on television that it’s almost unfair. You know it’s a problem when you realize that watching Community for the fourth time is going to be funnier than watching another sitcom for the first time. There is not one single current comedy I watch right now, and I have to blame this show for that.

(I really can’t find another sitcom to watch. There are a few shows that are ok, but since the Big Bang Theory jumped the shark, I can’t find much that I really want to see. Modern Family is completely unfunny. It’s the Seinfeld of this generation. The other shows on NBC Thursday nights are ok, but not must-see-tv at all)

I’ve always loved ensemble shows. Most of the best sitcoms of all time–Taxi, Cheers, Newsradio–revolves around the idea of a bunch of people in a place (unrelated to each other) who become like a family. Of all shows in the past, Newsradio is probably the best comp, with a younger cast and far more pop-culture references.

There are at least ten laugh out loud moments in every episode, and this post comes at the perfect time, as it was renewed for Season 3 last night! (Despite the fact that it’s a critical hit, nobody watches it, so it does come as a bit of a surprise). I have doubt it’s going to continue to be the best show on tv through then–the writers and cast are simply too good not to be.

PS–I do watch tv, but no other sitcoms. Boardwalk Empire is great, and although House has become hit-or-miss, I still watch it every week. However, there isn’t much great stuff out there right now.

Higher in 2011–Cliff Lee’s IQ, or Win Total? March 17, 2011

Cliff Lee this week unleashed one of the stupidest quotes ever uttered by an athlete:

“The Yankees can do anything at any moment to improve and they’re not afraid to go do things. That was part of the decision-making process, too, but I felt like with what the Red Sox had done and it seems like some of the Yankee guys are getting older, but I liked the Rangers.”

If Lee had signed with the Rangers, this quote would have made sense. However, he signed with the Phillies. A few problems with his logic:

1. The Phillies, according to every metric, are the oldest team in baseball. The average age of their 40 man roster is 30 (one year older than any other team in baseball), and the average age of their 20 regulars is almost 33. This is an OLD team. In fact, the 0nly Phillies younger than their Yankee correspondent is at Shortstop (where Jimmy Rollins is about 45 in spirit, as he misses 60 games a year), 3B (by a few months) and RF (by a few months). Their rotation is older. Their bullpen is older.

You can’t say, I’m not signing with this team because they are old, and then sign with a far OLDER team. That’s like saying I can’t go to Florida on vacation because it’s too expensive, so I’m going to Paris.

2) Of course the Yankees are getting older. So are the Phillies, Rangers, Pirates, Supreme Court Justices, and Bunnies. Age is linear. Benjamin Button was, in fact, a work of fiction.

3) The Yankees have four older players–Mariano Rivera (who, by all accounts, is a cyborg); Jorge Posada (a DH who is gone after this year)…and then Jeter and ARod. That’s about it. The Phillies have much more age (now including Cliff Lee!)

4) According to all major scouting services, the Yankees have a better farm system than the Phillies, and everybody knows they have more resources. So they have far more ability to stay young by aquiring people in their primes (again, that doesn’t include old Cliff Lee).

Cliff, just be honest. Don’t cite things that can clearly be proven wrong. Just say something like this:

“I loved Philly when I was here before, and my family liked it here, so that’s why I took a lower offer. It wasn’t all about the money for me. Here, it’s going to be easier to get to the World Series, because, let’s face it, the National League kinda sucks. I couldn’t wait to get back to pitchers hitting, and facing the Mets, Marlins and Nationals 18 times each every year”

Best of the Best: Podcasts March 14, 2011

I haven’t done a blog series in a while, and I had an idea–what are the best things in the world right now? What ongoing things–meaning bands, tv shows, etc–continually are great?

Today: Podcasts. Most people don’t really listen to podcasts, but I think they are a great thing for certain occasions. Cleaning, doing dishes, and occasionally working out, I listen to podcasts. But I listen to them most when I’m driving–a good podcast is far better than pretty much anything on the AM dial.

My favorite podcast, since it was introduced a few months ago, has been the Judge John Hodgman podcast. Hodgman is one of those people most know but not by name. He is best known for being a correspondent on the Daily Show and for playing the PC in the PC/Mac commercials. He is also the author of two books of fake trivia, two of my favorite pseudo-almanacs of all-time, full of hilariously amusing factoids that are completely made up.

However, his newest enterprise may be the best of all. The Judge John Hodgman podcast is a weekly series in which “Judge” Hodgman comes up with a verdict for “disputes” that are fairly ridiculous, which makes the show so entertaining. Are Potluck dinners a travesty? Which of two friends gets to keep a robotic giraffe? Are machine guns robots? Is Chili a soup or a stew?

Hodgman blows Judge Judy out of the water because these cases have no bearing on anything, but leads to funny dialogues between the plaintiff and defendant with the judge. There may not be a funnier free 20 minutes per week (outside of my next post).

For more information:

http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/judge-john-hodgman

(or just download through Itunes)

Giving Up On Perfection March 2, 2011

Up until recently, I went to church. What made me stop was simple–I could never live up to the impossibly high standards that were required of me to be accepted. There is an absurd amount of pressure knowing that if you do not do exactly what is demanded of you, you will be cast aside, and it was something that I constantly struggled with. If somebody had even the slightest issue with something that you did, they’d never speak to you again.

I’ve never been good with rejection. I don’t think anybody really is, but some people have especially hard times with it. It’s very difficult to deal with somebody or something not wanting you around, whether it’s a job, a friend, a group, etc. Forgiveness is difficult, but it’s a necessary evil. Because nobody is perfect and nobody will be able to do everything you want of them.

This is sounding like an incredibly depressing post so far, but I do have a positive message, I swear! Realizing this has made me very happy, because the fault isn’t all mine. Anybody or anything that demands perfection should know that eventually, they are going to be let down. When I was around a group of people that demanded perfection, I couldn’t do it, and it drove me crazy. But it shouldn’t have. I’m not perfect, not even close.

So the only thing I can do is just accept myself for who I am, not the ideal perfection that a few people require. It’s not going to happen. The only thing we can do in this life is just be ourselves, and there will be those that accept us for that and those who don’t. And knowing that there are some people that will never accept that is part of living. You can’t be loved by everybody–nobody is. As long as you can accept yourself, the rest will fall into place.

PS–Just thought of something to add. I didn’t mean to imply that it is easy to accept people for who they are…I have trouble with it, and I think most people have trouble with it. I’ve said things in the past expecting far too much from people, and I regret it. The problem really becomes a problem when the lack of forgiveness stretches out over months or years. Eventually, things just need to be let go, and that’s what I have a problem with.

Classics March 1, 2011

Up until yesterday, I had never seen Star Wars. Finally decided that because it was a “classic movie,” I finally would watch it.

One of my several New Year’s Resolutions this year was that I was going to read a bunch of classic novels that I have never read before. It does make sense–I’m trying to be an English teacher, and saying you’ve never read To Kill a Mockingbird–which I haven’t–would elicit ooohs and aahhhs from fellow teachers. More than the gasps, I need to read these kinds of books because I will probably be teaching them at some point.

Watching Star Wars was in a similar, yet less important vein. I’m slowly watching some classic movies as well, because…why not. When you haven’t seen things that are supposed to be in the cultural lexicon, people are surprised and wonder why not.

I’m not sure if watching movies or reading books solely because you haven’t makes any sense. I already knew all the characters–classic movies are parodied in nine million different forms, so I’ve seen variations on half the scenese in the movie in other mediums. But I did feel as if I was watching to some extent just so I could say I haven’t not seen it.

Are classics worth seeing or reading just to say you’ve seen it, if you have little interest in actuallygiving them a shot? I’m not sure, but I don’t see that much of a downside.