A part of me thinks that maybe we're not supposed to spend so much time on the computer and/or watching television. And by that I mean, "if we didn't have computers or TVs or cell phones, we'd be happier." And maybe that's true. Maybe our lives would be richer.
But another, more active part of me thinks, "If TV is so bad for you, why is SNL so awesome? Why are rap videos so fun to watch? Why is Campus Ladies such a great show? What would I do without It's Always Sunny...?" And then, I'm all like, "It's so fucking easy to keep in touch with people through e-mail. I talk to my relatives seven times as much since the internet started. I can hear new bands for free; I can watch youtube videos of babes drinking whole milk. I can send music all around the globe." And while I'm not a cell-phone junkie (I still have a flip-phone that looks fairly old), I am super glad I have it. When I'm running late. When there's an emergency. When I need to drunk-dial someone at a bar. These are all situations in which having a cell-phone is absolutely imperative.
But I think we use these fucking dude-things too much for sure. I stare at a computer screen all day for work. Then, I come home and I look at a TV until I go to bed. There's something wrong with that. In Nebraska during this time of year, it's too cold out to go hiking, so we're kind of fucked on that front. Maybe technology is one of those things that's good to have during Winter when you can't go outside. But honestly, I'd rather read and look at a fire and *maybe* get a beej but come on guys, that's not really the point (or is it?).
Books are cool, but they kind of do the same thing that computers and TVs do: they remove you from real reality. Maybe it's okay if you read a book in the wilderness, or if you check out porn while in a canoe. I bet it would make the water seem choppier than it actually was.
"Man, the lake sure is bumpy today!"
"Yeah, ha ha! Well actually man, I'm jacking off back here."
And another thing: when will they come up with live pornography? Can you pay money to go watch people have sex? You can't make a business out of it (like how Chuck. E. Cheese is a business, and like how Bob's Big Boy WAS a business). But it seems like something you could do.
I guess the reason for this entry stems from the fact that I always seem to be happier when I'm outdoors. When I am camping, or when I'm on a walk, or especially when I'm in the Rocky Mountains: that's when I feel the most grounded and calm. TVs and computers make me feel antsy because I'm just fucking sitting there, and they also make me more out of shape because I'm not moving around, AND, they make me less imaginative because everyone thinks of things for me. TV shows, movies and youtube videos are all the creativity I ever strive for. I don't have to ever really use my imagination to think of anything because it's so easy to Google it.
Sexual fantasies used to come from the mind. Now they come from images/movies from TV/the internet.
You know what technology CAN'T do for you? It can't get you drunk, and it can't soak your dork. But if/when it is able to, look out; we're all boned.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Baseball!!!!
It's super boring! Sorry, baseball fans. It kills me. I have tried to get into it a number of times, but at the end of the day, it's just some dudes standing around, waiting for another dude to throw something for another dude to hit. In my eyes, anyway.
I KNOW THAT IF YOU ARE WELL-VERSED IN THE SUBTLE ART OF BASEBALL, you'll disagree with me, and rightfully so. I've heard that if you understand baseball, and all of its nuance and strategy, it's very entertaining. Kind of like chess, but with tight-tights. And that's fine. I've tried, though, and I just don't have it in me. There needs to be more for me.
Football is awesome; why? Because there's action all over the place, AND, there's strategy. People are running posts, people are juking other people out, and every 4th play is a big play! You can only hope for a home run maybe once a baseball game, if that. But you can count on tons of long-bombs, sacks, hits, play-action passes, and all sorts of other sexy garbage when you're watching football.
Other entertaining sports: skateboarding! "But it's not a sport! Waaaa, I'm boring and I suck and my worldview is obsolete!" Well, you pretty much defeated your own point, there. Skateboarding is like football but even more awesome. It takes a ton of skill, and it looks way cool, and the bails are awesome, and there's just a ton of action.
I have a short attention span.
Power-drinking is my other favorite sport. The last person to go to bed wins, but guess what, gaylord? Everyone has to drink the same amount, or else it's no fair. And no one's really a winner.
"Dogs" is a good sport, too. And when my dad didn't get the Christmas bonus he'd planned on, he was a good sport about it.
Bowling: super fun to actually do, awful to watch. Same thing with videos of masturbating men.
FIN!
I KNOW THAT IF YOU ARE WELL-VERSED IN THE SUBTLE ART OF BASEBALL, you'll disagree with me, and rightfully so. I've heard that if you understand baseball, and all of its nuance and strategy, it's very entertaining. Kind of like chess, but with tight-tights. And that's fine. I've tried, though, and I just don't have it in me. There needs to be more for me.
Football is awesome; why? Because there's action all over the place, AND, there's strategy. People are running posts, people are juking other people out, and every 4th play is a big play! You can only hope for a home run maybe once a baseball game, if that. But you can count on tons of long-bombs, sacks, hits, play-action passes, and all sorts of other sexy garbage when you're watching football.
Other entertaining sports: skateboarding! "But it's not a sport! Waaaa, I'm boring and I suck and my worldview is obsolete!" Well, you pretty much defeated your own point, there. Skateboarding is like football but even more awesome. It takes a ton of skill, and it looks way cool, and the bails are awesome, and there's just a ton of action.
I have a short attention span.
Power-drinking is my other favorite sport. The last person to go to bed wins, but guess what, gaylord? Everyone has to drink the same amount, or else it's no fair. And no one's really a winner.
"Dogs" is a good sport, too. And when my dad didn't get the Christmas bonus he'd planned on, he was a good sport about it.
Bowling: super fun to actually do, awful to watch. Same thing with videos of masturbating men.
FIN!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Get informed about puppy mills
Be aware. Choose not to adopt your next dog from a shady breeder. Adopt a dog from the Humane Society or a rescue. Some links:
Stop Puppy Mills
ASPCA Puppy Mill Information
Regardless of whether you're a veg-head animal advocate or what, I think it's pretty safe to say that puppy mills are a bad idea. Spread the word.
Stop Puppy Mills
ASPCA Puppy Mill Information
Regardless of whether you're a veg-head animal advocate or what, I think it's pretty safe to say that puppy mills are a bad idea. Spread the word.
Where to draw the line?
This question is probably the question that I consider the most. Everything we do in our daily lives is subject to this question. How much we eat or drink; how much time we spend working/playing; what time we go to bed; what we think of tax cuts/hikes proposed by the government; etc. The notion that "everything is good in moderation" is a trivial one. Where to draw the line is almost never absolute, and it always varies on a case-by-case basis.
We all agree that getting at least eight hours of sleep is a good thing. But, to say that one should never get less than eight hours of sleep, for example, would be silly. Say it's midnight and you have to wake up at eight a.m., however, there's a violent wolverine in your sock drawer. I think it's pretty obvious in this particular situation that you ought to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the wolverine until he or she is dispatched from your home. Wolverines are free to start new lives when they need to, but not with your socks. It's not prudent.
Something that I've been thinking about a lot lately is animal testing. Right off the bat, I don't like the idea of animal testing. It conjures up images of animals being given shots or giraffes wearing lipstick or whatever. It's not comforting, to say the least. But I can tweak the example to alter my intuitions drastically.
Let's say you've just been stranded on an island, and you have your neighbor's pet wolverine with you (unrelated to wolverine "A"). You just met this wolverine, and are neutral about it. You walk around with this wolverine in order to find food and water. Eventually, you come upon the only food supply on the island; bright red berries growing from an ominous looking bush. You don't know much about botany/horticulture/whatever the fuck you would call "berry science," but you're ready to believe that either (a) these berries are delicious and will sustain you, or, (b) these berries will make you sick.
You panic for a second, and then you look at your wolverine-accomplice. You realize that if you were to feed some of the berries to the wolverine and then witness the results, you could know whether or not to eat the berries. You feel guilty about it, but your overall concern is survival. "Better that the wolverine suffers than me," you think. So, what do you do? Do you test the berries on the wolverine? Or, do you abstain, because animal testing is always bad?
And, if you decide that animal testing is all right in this certain situation, when/why does it become morally just? Where do you draw the line?
We all agree that getting at least eight hours of sleep is a good thing. But, to say that one should never get less than eight hours of sleep, for example, would be silly. Say it's midnight and you have to wake up at eight a.m., however, there's a violent wolverine in your sock drawer. I think it's pretty obvious in this particular situation that you ought to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the wolverine until he or she is dispatched from your home. Wolverines are free to start new lives when they need to, but not with your socks. It's not prudent.
Something that I've been thinking about a lot lately is animal testing. Right off the bat, I don't like the idea of animal testing. It conjures up images of animals being given shots or giraffes wearing lipstick or whatever. It's not comforting, to say the least. But I can tweak the example to alter my intuitions drastically.
Let's say you've just been stranded on an island, and you have your neighbor's pet wolverine with you (unrelated to wolverine "A"). You just met this wolverine, and are neutral about it. You walk around with this wolverine in order to find food and water. Eventually, you come upon the only food supply on the island; bright red berries growing from an ominous looking bush. You don't know much about botany/horticulture/whatever the fuck you would call "berry science," but you're ready to believe that either (a) these berries are delicious and will sustain you, or, (b) these berries will make you sick.
You panic for a second, and then you look at your wolverine-accomplice. You realize that if you were to feed some of the berries to the wolverine and then witness the results, you could know whether or not to eat the berries. You feel guilty about it, but your overall concern is survival. "Better that the wolverine suffers than me," you think. So, what do you do? Do you test the berries on the wolverine? Or, do you abstain, because animal testing is always bad?
And, if you decide that animal testing is all right in this certain situation, when/why does it become morally just? Where do you draw the line?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sporadic and Awesome
No one reads this, but if they did, they'd want to know that (a) I'm awesome and graduated from grad school with my MA in philosophy and (b) I got a job in accounting. Yes, I know I'm not "using" my degree for my job. And yes, I have a s-ton of student loans, seemingly for nothing. I don't have to explain myself to you, but I have to explain myself to myself, apparently. I should have learned to weld. It would have been a fuck of a lot cheaper.
Whatever, though; I'm excited for my new job, and I am thinking that I might do something despicable to earn 50k to pay all of my student loans off in one big chunk. What could I do? Write a book? Write a hit song? I could write a pop song for Miley Cyrus, I bet. She should call me, so I don't have to keep sneaking into her home. (Sorry, Miles!)
I'm in debt.
Whatever, though; I'm excited for my new job, and I am thinking that I might do something despicable to earn 50k to pay all of my student loans off in one big chunk. What could I do? Write a book? Write a hit song? I could write a pop song for Miley Cyrus, I bet. She should call me, so I don't have to keep sneaking into her home. (Sorry, Miles!)
I'm in debt.
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