Alright, so I've got a few things on my mind just before I hit the hay. Which I said I'd do about an hour ago, but there's a few things I've got on my mind.
One of those things being my hate, in some ways, for facebook. The 'status' thing, is probably the worst fucking idea for something to look at online that anyone wanting any kind of 'internet identity' could have. I think that we, as a people, need to stop being so nosy and so bloody conceited at the same time. It's an endless fucking cycle of people wanting to know 'what's on their friends minds sort of' along with 'I want to passively whine and moan about life'. Why can't more people at least be clever with that sort of thing? Or at least make it somethig funny? You think I want to find out that a family member got maimed in a car accident via facebook status? Or do you think I'll ask 'what's wrong' when it says, 'Freddie is really really sad right now...'. I certainly have no pitty at all for anyone who's status has something to do with being tired, or hungry, or lonely, or wallowing in their own shit, or wishing for the apocalypse, or needing to take out the trash. It's all useless and only further shows that we as a people are starting to make more of a joke out of our lives the more we try to be serious.
But even that was spurred on by being slightly angered by the fact that 80% of my 'friends', (give or take) are apparently band-wagon fans of America. Now, I'm as glad as the next bloke that President Obama got sworn into office today. I was even relieved when he won the election by a landslide. But to see so many, 'so and so is now glad to be American' or 'I'm finally not ashamed to be an American', actually bothered me quite a bit. Do people not realize that you can be proud of where you're from without having to kiss your leader's ass? I mean, isn't that one of the things that makes this country better than a lot of other places? That I can: think that Bush made some of the worst decisions a human being could ever go out of their way to make, that I've seen rocks with more common sense than him, and that the only reason I'll miss his presence in the media is because Fox and CNN will no longer be sketch comedy stations - is incredibly fortunate. Because I can type all that here, to anyone that cares to read it, even Georgy-boy himself, and not get thrown into prison. But that's why I've always loved this land. I cannot, by myself, go back and get rid of our shady past of kicking a people off their land, or slavery, or stop our shitty politicians from getting into office and making this country get bent over backwards. But I also will not stand by and say, 'I hate having country where you don't need paperwork to go from state to state. Fast food is shit. I hate being able to live in a place that has any combination of seasons I want. The hell with having every style of climate on Earth all in one country. We suck.' So to all of the people that just now are not afraid to say, 'yes, I know where I was born and where I am from', I say, fuck off. People of your mindset are the same reasons why Bush got the chance to doom us to repeat the events of Vietnam now with the Iraq bullshit. Because you pick and choose when to give a shit, and you selectively have patriotism to where you're from. The problem with the fanatics and the racists and the religious bigots is that, they're all not ashamed to know exactly what they are.
My friend Yeats was right, - The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
I don't care that you love America now that we have a good leader, God willing. Where the fuck were you when you let people think we were all loud mouthed, uneducated hicks?? Where were you to stand up and say this nation was founded on some sound beliefs, though times and some ideals were different then. That you at least were going to do what you could to make this land great? When we have a shitty leader you join the other evils of the world, being the first to cast stones on how much we suck, rather than to do a damn thing to prove people wrong, that just maybe some Americans are polite, well read, educated, creative, and respectable? It just bothers me. It'd be one thing if you now only like a band because they made it on MTV, or you only like a local team because now they're winning. But this is where you were born, people. This is your life. The reason we're still in Iraq and fighting a pointless fight is because of people that tuned out during history class. If we all only paid attention when we didn't have to worry, that things were good, and it didn't take courage to say where you were from, then we'd be in a land of chaos right now. There'd be no great men to stand up and improve from past mistakes. Why do you think no one learned from our past errors of Korea, Vietnam, or corrupt leaders? Oh right, that would take too much effort, and we might have to look at the fact that we are not a perfect nation.
In that sense, those people are a lot like Bush. Unable to simply admit when they were wrong, and at the very least take responsibility for their errors. No one is perfect, but don't try to hide when the mud gets thick, when the going gets rough, and don't pawn off responsibility when things aren't great. 'Oh I don't like Bush's policies, but instead of doing -anything- (even just having an intelligent conversation with friends) to change that, I'm going to deny my heritage until we look good again'. Great idea. I'm sure the veterans of World War II would be glad that you would back them up, so long as we were in an socially acceptable spotlight. Just as I'm sure the troops would appreciate now, the fact that apparently a country with no citizens is asking them to leave their families and risk their lives. It's not enough that they're in a fight with no cause, but now they're in a land that has selective reality as well.
I just hope people can learn to have a little back bone. Know the difference between being proud of who you are and where you're from, and agreeing with another person. Even our leaders are just people. But it's us 'citizens' that put them there, that give them this power. If you hate your land enough to deny your connection to it, you might think you'd be upset enough to do something a little more constructive.
Which also leads me to the people who just love to complain. I'm not talking that you should always be content forever, or shouldn't announce when you're uncomfortable. But please please please, do something for me, at least minimize the amount of complaining you do about either A- things you have no control over, or B - things you have complete control over.
Example: "I could eat lunch right now, but I'm waiting for a friend to contact me. But I'm sooooo hungry. I could eat now, or even have a snack. No, I shouldn't ruin my lunch... But I'm sooooo hungry."
I have many problems with this. First, you're not starving. People can go a pretty long time without food. Does it suck, sure, ask people who actually have starved. But waiting a few minutes, voluntarily, or skipping a meal, does not qualify one as 'starving', nor should a big deal be made about it. Maybe one comment could be made, that you hope to eat soon. But don't blame your friend for said 'starvation' when you have every means of resolving that issue like an adult, and continue to whine over and over until finally, like a small child, you are fed.
Example B (as to say, something out of one's control) - 'It's so hot out... Why is it so hot out? I'm sweating and not even moving it's so hot out. This is terrible, just how hot it is outside right now.' -- the same as true for other weather elements, such as cold, wind, snow, rain, and other 'non-end-of-the-world-severe-storm-like' conditions. If you really hate the climate of your current region so much, please make an active effort to leave to a place where you will always enjoy the weather outside. We're people, we should spend more time out doors. Doing anything, just being in fresh air for a while. So, either be somewhere where you enjoy the fresh air. And if that's not possible, please stop bitching about it more than once or twice for no reason.
I mean, if you have to absolutely drive somewhere, and the snow is threatening to make the journey dangerous, then you can say, 'fucking snow... this is dangering my life'. If you're inside a nice warm building, with other human beings around, and food and running water, don't yell at the snow if you're in a place where it does that. It's snowing again right now as I write this here. It's snowed a lot so far this year. But I'm not going to yell at it. Am I looking forward to spring? Absolutely. Am I kind of tired of snow? Yeah, a little bit. But unlike people, it can't hear me, nor does it have an opinion of whether it's welcomed or not. So, look on the bright side. Go for a walk and witness how peaceful and nice and clean trees and houses and towns can look in it. Enjoy the fact that you're not living out in it (you don't sleep, eat, go to the bathroom, fight a war in, die in, get shot in, or suffer - in snow.) But don't yell at snow or cry over how unfair snow is if you're not 'living' out in it, or really truly suffering because of it. There are many people that have suffered through it. If you don't believe me, watch the German film, 'Stalingrad', it might change your mind about what it means to be cold and 'sick of snow'. Especially living in an area where snow is so random, and won't last more than 2 months out of the year, maybe 3.
If you really hate the heat, stay cool in AC whenever possible, and suck it up when you have to move along without it. If you're cold, you especially have the power here to bundle up and stay warm. It's ok to say, 'I'm cold' if you're also shivering. You should hopefully bundle up better in the future, as long as you don't continuously moan and complain about being cold until you are eventually warmed up. (And, no, Genni, though I poke fun at you when you're cold, this isn't at all aimed at you. I know you wouldn't think that, but this also doubles as more so poking fun at you being cold... and also sometimes yelling at the snow... But I understand you have special issues and we'll all try to look past that.... ;P )
But no no, this is to the people that just love to have pissing contests to see 'who's got it worse'. Well, I don't play in those games, and I'd also be very glad if less people played as well. We all have problems or discomforts, and we can even do our best to fix the issues, and vent properly to friends, or as I'm doing in print, to keep from exploding from discomfort. But this whole, 'whaahh, feel bad for me' thing isn't cutting it.
That said, I promise in the future this thing will actually become funny, in that sarcastic, dry humor kind of way. These things weren't so much funny, as a prelude to how dangerous and sometimes annoying it is when people take things too seriously. As Tiernan occasionally mutters, 'sometimes the key to life is to just be able to fuckin laugh at the mess this is' - or at least something to that effect.
At least by now I've learned that there's a big difference between 'being mature' and 'growing up', as cliche as that even friggin sounds. But it's very true I think.
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