I had a conversation with this dude. Two things he said tickled me the wrong way.
1.) "That's why I couldn't be a business major. I wouldn't be able to keep my integrity."
2.) "I don't like how people equate their self-worth with how much money they make."
They tickled me the wrong way because those are two common statements that are basically misconceptions about money and the people who make it.
1.) "That's why I couldn't be a business major. I wouldn't be able to keep my integrity."
Wrong! I'm sorry but if you're not able to keep your integrity while making money, then why would you have any integrity while you're poor? We often forget sometimes that there are very virtuous wealthy people and poverty-stricken assholes in the world too. May I ask what is so unintegritous about making what you are actually worth? It sounds equitable to me. And that may sound harsh, but I gotta say it. Economic mobility is not that common in other countries. If there was any country in the world where you wanted to say, "I'm tired of this life. I want something better for myself." America is THE place to do it. And I'm not trying to get all patriotic here, but there is always going to be (insert social problem #1) or (insert social problem #2) standing in your way. I do try to empathize but let's be honest, there's always going to be something to blame. It is true: a lot of business majors are bankrupt when it comes to the integrity account, but that doesn't mean you have to be one of them. We all deal with questions of integrity. Our most unshining moments are when we either take an interview or turn in a resume. What could be more superficial than turning in a piece of paper trying to impress an H.R. manager by listing qualities that make you right for a job that you don't even want? What is so noble about putting up a fake-ass facade with an interviewer when asked, "So tell me about yourself." especially when your interviewer doesn't really care about yourself and you don't care to tell him/her who you really are, only enough to say things that he/she wants to hear? Almost all of us are complicit in that soul-sucking process. I know I hated it when I did it. That's why I'm never going to do it again. However, there is definitely integrity in being man/woman enough to say what you want and take it.
2.) "I don't like how people equate their self-worth with how much money they make."
Yeah, I don't like it either, but not everyone who makes a ridiculous sum of money does that. It's really about ambition (not the sacrifice-any-sort-of-morality type of ambition). It's about going as far as you can. The dude who said this was Filipino. I'm pretty sure his parents did not come here so he can not take advantage of "chasing-your-dreams" aspect of America. But it happens all the time. The goal is to set the bar high so you can own the sh*t out of that bar. That's where the self-worth comes from. Monetary compensation is only a plus. We often confuse the two.
There you have it, misconceptions about money and moneymakers unearthed.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Valley is Home
Here's a good way to start off a Gentlemen's World
Dr. Dre Interview with L.A. Times
It's an interesting read. The most interesting part to me was dude lives in the Valley, with references to San Fernando Valley, Chatsworth, and Sherman Oaks among the number of places where Dr. Dre has chosen to situate himself throughout his career. I've mentioned before my seemingly primitive loyalty to the San Fernando Valley, particularly my home in North Hollywood. Although, I don't think I've ever had the chance to articulate it. Loyalty does not come without the assumption that the subjects that you are loyal to are better than any others. Honestly, no one can ever know or make the associations that you make with home unless you actually lived in the area. I hear rappers talk about Bankhead all the time, but I'll never know what it's like to live over there. I just do their dances. It may not be obvious or may be overly presumptuous, but there are certainly aspects of the SFV that make it an endearing place to live, besides the fact that Dr. Dre lives here.
1. The Valley is a celebrity
I don't know how other people feel when they have the life of their home city depicted. Do New York cats get excited when they hear a story set in New York? I know how I feel when I see a TV show or movie set in Los Angeles. It's not really a big deal because it seems like writers or producers like to play up the superficial side of living in Los Angeles, as if it were only possible to be that superficial in Los Angeles. Do you think that girls don't practice "The Hills"-style drama in those all-white Rustbelt schools? They do. It's just not as interesting. I especially know how I feel when the Valley gets depicted on film. It's an event because you're always going to question if the writers got it right. At the same time, the Valley on film has shown you how much the place has changed since it's an inception. For example, the Brady Bunch house, the Hysteria Lane neighborhood, and the Sandlot are all based on what the Valley used to be, when everything was white and hunky-dory. It is not like that anymore, but Hollywood has still decided that there are some stories that could only be told in this place we call home.
2. The Valley is incredibly diverse, both rich and poor
It started off as a white suburb, but cheap housing opened the floodgates for us Brownies, Blackies, Darkies, Yellowees, and Light-skinndeds. The Valley is basically an amalgamation of ethnic enclaves. The differences are obvious. You can tell which town gets more money, and which ones don't. You can also tell which ethnic group has decided to post up and stake their claim to the Valley. Armenians live in Glendale. Upper-middle class Filipinos are moving to Northridge. Burbank is white and has a lot money. Latinos live in Sun Valley and North Hollywood stays poor. I'm not saying it's a race war. I am saying that it is very diverse. It's this type of diversity that gives a resider a unique, yet common, experience.
3. The celebrities live here
I think a lot of celebrities have at lease one home here. One reason is location: it's only 15 minutes away from Hollywood. Like I mentioned before, because of the concentrated rich/poor status, celebrities get to live it up in the nice areas or scale it down in the poor areas. We got those Jamba Juice/Starbucks areas and those 3-good-taco-stands-on-one-block areas, and they're all pretty good.
4. Everyone is a celebrity
If you live in the Valley, your name gets thrown out there, even when you're gone. I would say it's a curse and a blessing. Everyone has a back story in the Valley. And everyone has a distinctive personality. You ever hear about someone being "quite the character"? Everyone's a character in the Valley. It's a lot different here in Berkeley. Everyone here is pretty much cut from the same mold: "Study hard, get good job, live stable life, and maybe." Ranging from subtle to outrageous, a lot of people from the Valley have decided to go against the grain in terms of personality types. Think about it this way. Would you rather live in a place where almost everyone you meet, has an interesting, whether villainous or heroic, hopeful or depressing, sweetly simplistic or confusingly complicated, story? Or would you live in a place like the O.C. where your own story would just end up drowning in a monotonous sea of white? Having your name tossed around, especially among people you dislike, sucks some times, but it's better than people not knowing who you are at all.
5. Some things can only happen here
I'm pretty sure a lot of intriguing stuff happens everywhere else in the world. If you watch The Wire, you can tell a lot of crazy sh*t goes down in Baltimore, Maryland. But I think that there are experiences here that you can't experience anywhere else. The proximity to L.A., the diverse neighborhoods, the places to eat, the act-way-too-cool attitudes, the celebrity sightings, the personalities, all couldn't be possible in a place unlike the SFV.
If you've ever seen My Block on MTV, they did a special on Chicago and Lupe Fiasco was talking about his hood. He talked about seeing crack dealers outside of his window and yet, he didn't become a dealer. On the other hand, he wouldn't be the man you see today if he didn't see those things. That's my relationship with the Valley. I'm a better man for seeing the things that I saw, taking the opportunities I took, and avoiding the things that should have been avoided. I don't know if I'm coming back. Maybe I'll move to the rich area. But I remember exactly where I came from. There would be no me without the SFV.
"But you graduate when you make it up outta the streets"
Kanye West - Good Morning
Dr. Dre Interview with L.A. Times
It's an interesting read. The most interesting part to me was dude lives in the Valley, with references to San Fernando Valley, Chatsworth, and Sherman Oaks among the number of places where Dr. Dre has chosen to situate himself throughout his career. I've mentioned before my seemingly primitive loyalty to the San Fernando Valley, particularly my home in North Hollywood. Although, I don't think I've ever had the chance to articulate it. Loyalty does not come without the assumption that the subjects that you are loyal to are better than any others. Honestly, no one can ever know or make the associations that you make with home unless you actually lived in the area. I hear rappers talk about Bankhead all the time, but I'll never know what it's like to live over there. I just do their dances. It may not be obvious or may be overly presumptuous, but there are certainly aspects of the SFV that make it an endearing place to live, besides the fact that Dr. Dre lives here.
1. The Valley is a celebrity
I don't know how other people feel when they have the life of their home city depicted. Do New York cats get excited when they hear a story set in New York? I know how I feel when I see a TV show or movie set in Los Angeles. It's not really a big deal because it seems like writers or producers like to play up the superficial side of living in Los Angeles, as if it were only possible to be that superficial in Los Angeles. Do you think that girls don't practice "The Hills"-style drama in those all-white Rustbelt schools? They do. It's just not as interesting. I especially know how I feel when the Valley gets depicted on film. It's an event because you're always going to question if the writers got it right. At the same time, the Valley on film has shown you how much the place has changed since it's an inception. For example, the Brady Bunch house, the Hysteria Lane neighborhood, and the Sandlot are all based on what the Valley used to be, when everything was white and hunky-dory. It is not like that anymore, but Hollywood has still decided that there are some stories that could only be told in this place we call home.
2. The Valley is incredibly diverse, both rich and poor
It started off as a white suburb, but cheap housing opened the floodgates for us Brownies, Blackies, Darkies, Yellowees, and Light-skinndeds. The Valley is basically an amalgamation of ethnic enclaves. The differences are obvious. You can tell which town gets more money, and which ones don't. You can also tell which ethnic group has decided to post up and stake their claim to the Valley. Armenians live in Glendale. Upper-middle class Filipinos are moving to Northridge. Burbank is white and has a lot money. Latinos live in Sun Valley and North Hollywood stays poor. I'm not saying it's a race war. I am saying that it is very diverse. It's this type of diversity that gives a resider a unique, yet common, experience.
3. The celebrities live here
I think a lot of celebrities have at lease one home here. One reason is location: it's only 15 minutes away from Hollywood. Like I mentioned before, because of the concentrated rich/poor status, celebrities get to live it up in the nice areas or scale it down in the poor areas. We got those Jamba Juice/Starbucks areas and those 3-good-taco-stands-on-one-block areas, and they're all pretty good.
4. Everyone is a celebrity
If you live in the Valley, your name gets thrown out there, even when you're gone. I would say it's a curse and a blessing. Everyone has a back story in the Valley. And everyone has a distinctive personality. You ever hear about someone being "quite the character"? Everyone's a character in the Valley. It's a lot different here in Berkeley. Everyone here is pretty much cut from the same mold: "Study hard, get good job, live stable life, and maybe." Ranging from subtle to outrageous, a lot of people from the Valley have decided to go against the grain in terms of personality types. Think about it this way. Would you rather live in a place where almost everyone you meet, has an interesting, whether villainous or heroic, hopeful or depressing, sweetly simplistic or confusingly complicated, story? Or would you live in a place like the O.C. where your own story would just end up drowning in a monotonous sea of white? Having your name tossed around, especially among people you dislike, sucks some times, but it's better than people not knowing who you are at all.
5. Some things can only happen here
I'm pretty sure a lot of intriguing stuff happens everywhere else in the world. If you watch The Wire, you can tell a lot of crazy sh*t goes down in Baltimore, Maryland. But I think that there are experiences here that you can't experience anywhere else. The proximity to L.A., the diverse neighborhoods, the places to eat, the act-way-too-cool attitudes, the celebrity sightings, the personalities, all couldn't be possible in a place unlike the SFV.
If you've ever seen My Block on MTV, they did a special on Chicago and Lupe Fiasco was talking about his hood. He talked about seeing crack dealers outside of his window and yet, he didn't become a dealer. On the other hand, he wouldn't be the man you see today if he didn't see those things. That's my relationship with the Valley. I'm a better man for seeing the things that I saw, taking the opportunities I took, and avoiding the things that should have been avoided. I don't know if I'm coming back. Maybe I'll move to the rich area. But I remember exactly where I came from. There would be no me without the SFV.
"But you graduate when you make it up outta the streets"
Kanye West - Good Morning
Thursday, September 20, 2007
We All Got Our Vices
If any of you know me personally, you probably know that I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. And all though drinking and smoking cigarettes in moderation have been socially accepted, it is still considered a vice in many circles. Everyone indulges in a few bad habits. In someway or another (I wouldn't know, I don't drink or smoke), they feel better for doing it, either experiencing it mentally or physically. They have declared the costs have outweighed the benefits, most likely not taking any or that much moral consideration into account. I'm not knocking anyone who indulges in a vice here and there. I'm here to talk about my vice: I steal.
I went to an open mic comedy night last night and a comedian joked, "I was thinking about buying a gun. I mean, I wouldn't buy any bullets, I'm not trying to kill anyone. It's an investment. Do you know how much a gun costs? You could probably hold a couple people up and then go home and feel good about yourself with all the stuff you took." I was laughing a lil' bit extra because that's how I feel. I do feel good about myself when I take something that would make my life a whole lot better than if I didn't have the objects that I take in my possession. It is not until later that I feel the pulse of a conscience about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a kleptomaniac. I usually only take things during parties or events. It's usually items that aren't that serious. I take 2-liter bottles of soda as I'm leaving a party. I swipe more than my share of water bottles before I go. It's stuff I can use later that I'm sure none of the hosts will miss or notice is missing. I don't take purses or money, not usually at least.
I don't know why I do it. I guess if I can give a simple analogy, I feel like I'm entitled to the stuff I take. You ever hear of celebrities being given $2,000 gift bags for just attending an awards show? Or when an artist is booked for a show, they demand certain items. I think Usher needs a specific color of M&M's in his trailer. Or they say they need a bottle of Petron in their trailer, which they don't drink but give to relatives as Christmas presents. I'm not a celebrity, but in that same manner, I feel entitled as sh*t. I got up, took a shower, dressed up nicely for the event, and didn't partake in any of the drugs or alcohol. I am going to take something in order to compensate me for my presence at this event. It's only fair. You can call that rationalization if you want.
Just recently, I heard Dane Cook has the same thing I got. He doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs, but he steals. It make me think that everyone needs an outlet. Everyone needs that bad habit and spontaneity to make them feel like they're living. And I think it's strange that my vice could be considered more atrocious than a night of college partying, even though I commit my vice at college parties. But I don't disrespect the temple. In fact, I could argue that the stuff I take extends my life by a couple more years. I wouldn't have water if I didn't take. If I paid for it, I wouldn't have money for other things, like food. I'm not incredibly rich, but I'd be lying if I said my vice was a survival mechanism. I don't have to take the things I take. But like any vice, if I didn't do it, my life wouldn't be "easier."
I went to an open mic comedy night last night and a comedian joked, "I was thinking about buying a gun. I mean, I wouldn't buy any bullets, I'm not trying to kill anyone. It's an investment. Do you know how much a gun costs? You could probably hold a couple people up and then go home and feel good about yourself with all the stuff you took." I was laughing a lil' bit extra because that's how I feel. I do feel good about myself when I take something that would make my life a whole lot better than if I didn't have the objects that I take in my possession. It is not until later that I feel the pulse of a conscience about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a kleptomaniac. I usually only take things during parties or events. It's usually items that aren't that serious. I take 2-liter bottles of soda as I'm leaving a party. I swipe more than my share of water bottles before I go. It's stuff I can use later that I'm sure none of the hosts will miss or notice is missing. I don't take purses or money, not usually at least.
I don't know why I do it. I guess if I can give a simple analogy, I feel like I'm entitled to the stuff I take. You ever hear of celebrities being given $2,000 gift bags for just attending an awards show? Or when an artist is booked for a show, they demand certain items. I think Usher needs a specific color of M&M's in his trailer. Or they say they need a bottle of Petron in their trailer, which they don't drink but give to relatives as Christmas presents. I'm not a celebrity, but in that same manner, I feel entitled as sh*t. I got up, took a shower, dressed up nicely for the event, and didn't partake in any of the drugs or alcohol. I am going to take something in order to compensate me for my presence at this event. It's only fair. You can call that rationalization if you want.
Just recently, I heard Dane Cook has the same thing I got. He doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs, but he steals. It make me think that everyone needs an outlet. Everyone needs that bad habit and spontaneity to make them feel like they're living. And I think it's strange that my vice could be considered more atrocious than a night of college partying, even though I commit my vice at college parties. But I don't disrespect the temple. In fact, I could argue that the stuff I take extends my life by a couple more years. I wouldn't have water if I didn't take. If I paid for it, I wouldn't have money for other things, like food. I'm not incredibly rich, but I'd be lying if I said my vice was a survival mechanism. I don't have to take the things I take. But like any vice, if I didn't do it, my life wouldn't be "easier."
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Are you suicidal?"
"Are you suicidal?"
"Only in the mornings." - Ocean's 11
The morning has been slow. It's pretty slow when you wake up, head out the door, and sit in a classroom and have none of the professor's information targeted at you penetrate your cranium. I can't even tell if that's a properly structured sentence. Yet, this is the challenge everyday: to wake up and do the meaningful work of changing the world. That is a very broad description of how your mornings should go. But it's true, life does not have time for you to rest. There's not enough time to think of all stuff that you could be doing with your life. Just do it. I have a lot of trouble following my own advice. It is difficult to be conscious of your actions, trying to keep your integrity intact, and have that "just do it" attitude. "Ricky Bobby isn't a thinker. Ricky Bobby is a driver!" - Taladega Nights. You should still get out of the house as a minimum requirement for living out your life. Go to the gym, go to a meeting, a concert, work, anything. If you are going to stay home, do something productive. Watch "good" television (i.e. The Sopranos or any other HBO or Showtime series), lay out your career goals and formulate a plan, do anything that will make you able to say that you did something that will somehow benefit someone in the future. It doesn't even have to be that serious.
For example, today I enabled pirate talk on Meebo in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Yeah, that's today). By typing in "pirateon" in your IM box, all of your IM conversations get translated in pirate tongue. I had a conversation with myself to see how it worked.
Convo w/ meself
below: pirateon
below: hello
Below: avast
below: hahaha
Below: hahaha
below: my friend
Below: me matey
below: what you doing?
Below: what ye doing?
below: right?
Below: right?
below: savvy?
Below: savvy?
below: how did you do that?
Below: how did ye do that?
below: oh well
Below: oh well
below: keep talking
Below: keep talking
below: see what people say
Below: see what landlubbers say
below: this is like talking to myself
Below: this is like talking t' meself
below: except i'm talking to a pirate
Below: except i'm talking t' a buccaneer
below: have you heard of Jack Sparrow?
Below: have ye heard o' Jack Sparrow?
below: How was your day?
Below: How were bein' yer day?
below: Fuckin' bitches with my peg leg
Below: Fuckin' bitches with me peg leg
below: Haha
Below: Haha
below: so how are the ladies?
Below: so how are th' ladies?
below: they're doing well
Below: they're doing well
below: have i lost my pirate tongue?
Below: have i lost me buccaneer t'ngue?
below: nope still got it
Below: nay still got it
Convo with my sis
ng ulo: aye lubber!
below: HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
below: are you on meebo?
below: did you really just say aye lubber?
ng ulo: what are ye talking about?
below: on meebo, if you type in "pirateon", it translates your ims to pirate talk
ng ulo: eww, arrrr..
ng ulo: i dern't do that
ng ulo: i were bein' suppose t' have work at 9
ng ulo: but that winsome lass gave me th' day off
below: [10:39] ng ulo: i were bein' suppose t' have work at 9
[10:39] ng ulo: but that winsome lass gave me th' day off
below: i'm assuming you said "bitch"
ng ulo: how about i said "s h e"
below: hahahaha
And I'm sure someone out there got a good laugh out of those convos. Meaningful work accomplished.
"Only in the mornings." - Ocean's 11
The morning has been slow. It's pretty slow when you wake up, head out the door, and sit in a classroom and have none of the professor's information targeted at you penetrate your cranium. I can't even tell if that's a properly structured sentence. Yet, this is the challenge everyday: to wake up and do the meaningful work of changing the world. That is a very broad description of how your mornings should go. But it's true, life does not have time for you to rest. There's not enough time to think of all stuff that you could be doing with your life. Just do it. I have a lot of trouble following my own advice. It is difficult to be conscious of your actions, trying to keep your integrity intact, and have that "just do it" attitude. "Ricky Bobby isn't a thinker. Ricky Bobby is a driver!" - Taladega Nights. You should still get out of the house as a minimum requirement for living out your life. Go to the gym, go to a meeting, a concert, work, anything. If you are going to stay home, do something productive. Watch "good" television (i.e. The Sopranos or any other HBO or Showtime series), lay out your career goals and formulate a plan, do anything that will make you able to say that you did something that will somehow benefit someone in the future. It doesn't even have to be that serious.
For example, today I enabled pirate talk on Meebo in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Yeah, that's today). By typing in "pirateon" in your IM box, all of your IM conversations get translated in pirate tongue. I had a conversation with myself to see how it worked.
Convo w/ meself
below: pirateon
below: hello
Below: avast
below: hahaha
Below: hahaha
below: my friend
Below: me matey
below: what you doing?
Below: what ye doing?
below: right?
Below: right?
below: savvy?
Below: savvy?
below: how did you do that?
Below: how did ye do that?
below: oh well
Below: oh well
below: keep talking
Below: keep talking
below: see what people say
Below: see what landlubbers say
below: this is like talking to myself
Below: this is like talking t' meself
below: except i'm talking to a pirate
Below: except i'm talking t' a buccaneer
below: have you heard of Jack Sparrow?
Below: have ye heard o' Jack Sparrow?
below: How was your day?
Below: How were bein' yer day?
below: Fuckin' bitches with my peg leg
Below: Fuckin' bitches with me peg leg
below: Haha
Below: Haha
below: so how are the ladies?
Below: so how are th' ladies?
below: they're doing well
Below: they're doing well
below: have i lost my pirate tongue?
Below: have i lost me buccaneer t'ngue?
below: nope still got it
Below: nay still got it
Convo with my sis
ng ulo: aye lubber!
below: HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
below: are you on meebo?
below: did you really just say aye lubber?
ng ulo: what are ye talking about?
below: on meebo, if you type in "pirateon", it translates your ims to pirate talk
ng ulo: eww, arrrr..
ng ulo: i dern't do that
ng ulo: i were bein' suppose t' have work at 9
ng ulo: but that winsome lass gave me th' day off
below: [10:39] ng ulo: i were bein' suppose t' have work at 9
[10:39] ng ulo: but that winsome lass gave me th' day off
below: i'm assuming you said "bitch"
ng ulo: how about i said "s h e"
below: hahahaha
And I'm sure someone out there got a good laugh out of those convos. Meaningful work accomplished.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The Paradox of People
It is in my experience with people that I have discovered that people don't want perfection. Perfection repels and isolates. People don't want to see you on a pedestal. They think the pedestal will fall on them. It is weird how that works. All our lives, we've been taught to be good members of society. But we're expected never to achieve perfection. Perhaps because the thought of perfection on anyone is scary. Instead, we glorify the humanness in all of us. We glorify the ability to make mistakes. Everyone wants someone or something they can relate to. We celebrate that we can "learn" from our own mistakes and other people's mistakes. We crave the fatally flawed. But we don't celebrate achieving the very thing that we strive for - perfection. We celebrate goals being accomplished but we're quick to point out that there are new goals to be undertaken. In fact, those new goals and your lack of accomplishing them tragically overshadow any achievement that you thought you could bask in the glory of. You strive to be better people so that one day you could be the perfect exemplars of all the ideals that your society holds dear. You do this thinking that it will make you one with your people, one with your society. You do this only to find out that they don't appreciate your achieved perfection. They only appreciate your struggle.
The Beauty of Gameday
below: let me tell you about a game day!!!
pretty: ok
pretty: go
below: you wake up in the morning after a night of partying, you don't even have to shower, kuz you're going to the stadium in the sun anyway, you're probably gonna have to shower right after
pretty: you should still shower
below: you put the color shirt on you're supposed to wear, and then you walk out the door
below: and then you walk down the streets and ppl will usually yell, "Woohoo, GO [insert team name here]" and you yell back
below: all the while, you're looking for a decent frat or friend's house who is throwing some sort of pre-game celebration
below: and when they get there, they're usually bbqing
below: and also free beer
pretty: u drink now?
below: no
below: but they do give it to me, which i hand over to my friend
below: my point was, they give you free food!
below: FREE FOOD!!! BREAKFAST!!!
pretty: lol...yea...thats tailgating
below: Gratis! You don't have to pay!
pretty: lol
below: and then you eat to your heart's fill!!! while sorority girls are objectifying themselves/expressing their sexuality in the name of school spirit
below: and after everyone is drunked up and i'm full and have swiped 5 bottles of water, we head to the stadium
below: and at the stadium, you get to irrationally yell and get rowdy for athletes that you probably will never have a real face-to-face personal connection with
below: and then after it's all over, you make plans w/ friends to go eat
below: if i knew that there was free food every other saturday during the first semester in my first 3 years, i would have definitely had a lot more school pride early on
below: it is so delicious (because of the freeness), and if you hit up more than one place, you get more than one meal
below: and that's a game day
pretty: thats a good deal
pretty: haha
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Complacent Career Student
"Good morning
Look at the valedictorian scared of the future
While I hop in the Delorean
Scared-to-face-the-world complacent career student
Some people graduate, but we still stupid
They tell you read this, eat this, don't look around
Just peep this, preach us, teach us, Jesus
Okay, look up now, they done stole your streetness
After all of that, you receive this."
Kanye West - Good Morning
Kanye West said it perfectly. He basically described everyone at Berkeley. Even more so, he probably has captured the attitude of almost every college student entirely. I think West is profoundly misunderstood. He has the clothes, the swag, the rhymes, and everything that makes you look. But when he does interviews and basically says things like "I know you're looking, I'm the sh*t," that's when we get mad at him. That's what I don't understand. He has marketed himself in such a way to appeal to the broadest of masses and he was successful in doing so. It's a feat that is highly commendable and I'd be proud too. But when he starts to brag about how successful he is in capturing your attention, we say stuff like "He's too cocky." It's almost as if we're saying that he's tricking us into liking him. We don't like his conceit but we can't avoid watching. I would say that this "hate" is really love for the dude. He's a guy who became successful by doing it his own way. He dressed his own way, developed his own style, talked the way he wanted to. And before he became successful, he was probably still acting that way amidst everyone telling him that he can't do it, especially if he's not willing to follow the crowd. He refused to follow the crowd and he's living better than everyone else who just joined the bandwagon. He has earned the right to talk his sh*t. I remember talking sh*t when I got into Berkeley even though I wasn't necessarily one of the most popular kids. I came from a private school. I would've definitely talked more sh*t for duping the system if I got into Berkeley through a public school. If I dropped out of school and still was successful like the way Kanye did it, I would talk as much sh*t as Kanye. I mean, it would be nice for a humble moment here and there. I think he does humanize himself in certain songs and interviews. He has tried to be personal with his audience throughout his career.
But let's face it, America doesn't listen to the silent.
Look at the valedictorian scared of the future
While I hop in the Delorean
Scared-to-face-the-world complacent career student
Some people graduate, but we still stupid
They tell you read this, eat this, don't look around
Just peep this, preach us, teach us, Jesus
Okay, look up now, they done stole your streetness
After all of that, you receive this."
Kanye West - Good Morning
Kanye West said it perfectly. He basically described everyone at Berkeley. Even more so, he probably has captured the attitude of almost every college student entirely. I think West is profoundly misunderstood. He has the clothes, the swag, the rhymes, and everything that makes you look. But when he does interviews and basically says things like "I know you're looking, I'm the sh*t," that's when we get mad at him. That's what I don't understand. He has marketed himself in such a way to appeal to the broadest of masses and he was successful in doing so. It's a feat that is highly commendable and I'd be proud too. But when he starts to brag about how successful he is in capturing your attention, we say stuff like "He's too cocky." It's almost as if we're saying that he's tricking us into liking him. We don't like his conceit but we can't avoid watching. I would say that this "hate" is really love for the dude. He's a guy who became successful by doing it his own way. He dressed his own way, developed his own style, talked the way he wanted to. And before he became successful, he was probably still acting that way amidst everyone telling him that he can't do it, especially if he's not willing to follow the crowd. He refused to follow the crowd and he's living better than everyone else who just joined the bandwagon. He has earned the right to talk his sh*t. I remember talking sh*t when I got into Berkeley even though I wasn't necessarily one of the most popular kids. I came from a private school. I would've definitely talked more sh*t for duping the system if I got into Berkeley through a public school. If I dropped out of school and still was successful like the way Kanye did it, I would talk as much sh*t as Kanye. I mean, it would be nice for a humble moment here and there. I think he does humanize himself in certain songs and interviews. He has tried to be personal with his audience throughout his career.
But let's face it, America doesn't listen to the silent.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Last Firsts
For the past week, there has been a lot of "last first" moments: last first day of school, last second day of school, last first football game of the year, etc. I haven't had the time to really process these feelings. I could say that I have been enjoying every minute of it. Every night has been devoted to going out. We hardly ever rest, except out of necessity. Even when necessity dictates that we have a rest day after a long string of "partying," we manage to squeeze time at Thalassas, the local pool bar, before it's time to hit the hay. I'm not particularly fond of the word "partying," because it implies proving to everyone else how cool we are, which isn't my steez. As of late though, my nightlife has been very real. And the daylife, it seems, is very real too. I'm talking about waking up in the mid-morning and taking the first best suggestion to go out and do something, anything rather than sit at home and watch TV. It's about being proactive or at least feeling proactive, never being bored, never getting tired. I felt like this is always how I lived my life, but it hasn't always been the case. From time to time, there has been an excuse or two to stay in. However, senior year changes things.
Senior year is the actual beginning of the end. Freshmen year, you try to live it up and you do your best. Sophomore year is fun. You have a better handle of what you're doing, you push it harder. Junior year feels like complacency. You've been there and done that and you can afford to stay in a night or two. Senior year is the slap in the face telling you, "Big mistake!" You're about to be forced out of a relative paradise and your days are numbered.
That's how I feel. My days are numbered. I have never thought of myself as old but graduations feels like the benchmark. Being out there in the real world means that I'm old. It's not going to happen like this in a long time where or ever, where you can spontaneously go out with friends on a whim without having to extensively schedule months in advance for a cup of coffee. Maybe my feelings will change. I have seen myself retire out of the partying scene only to come back once again. But right now, I have no choice but to create memories. It is almost like my existence is being erased as I am pushed into the world of 9-5s.
This time, there is no excuse. There can be no complacency. There will be no "me time" when I sit at home without the company of friends. There is always "me time." It is those moments when you're not around anyone and you only have you and your thoughts. You have "me time" riding an elevator, walking to class, driving and doing errands, and all those other times when no one is listening to you but yourself. But right now (if you're a senior), you cannot let "me time" get in the way of all those possible moments when there happen to be an abundance of people actually willing to listen to what you have to say. Leave your "me time" for when you are old, senile, sad, and alone.
Here's to good times ahead.
Senior year is the actual beginning of the end. Freshmen year, you try to live it up and you do your best. Sophomore year is fun. You have a better handle of what you're doing, you push it harder. Junior year feels like complacency. You've been there and done that and you can afford to stay in a night or two. Senior year is the slap in the face telling you, "Big mistake!" You're about to be forced out of a relative paradise and your days are numbered.
That's how I feel. My days are numbered. I have never thought of myself as old but graduations feels like the benchmark. Being out there in the real world means that I'm old. It's not going to happen like this in a long time where or ever, where you can spontaneously go out with friends on a whim without having to extensively schedule months in advance for a cup of coffee. Maybe my feelings will change. I have seen myself retire out of the partying scene only to come back once again. But right now, I have no choice but to create memories. It is almost like my existence is being erased as I am pushed into the world of 9-5s.
This time, there is no excuse. There can be no complacency. There will be no "me time" when I sit at home without the company of friends. There is always "me time." It is those moments when you're not around anyone and you only have you and your thoughts. You have "me time" riding an elevator, walking to class, driving and doing errands, and all those other times when no one is listening to you but yourself. But right now (if you're a senior), you cannot let "me time" get in the way of all those possible moments when there happen to be an abundance of people actually willing to listen to what you have to say. Leave your "me time" for when you are old, senile, sad, and alone.
Here's to good times ahead.
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