Welcome back to my world folks. I am about 2 cups of coffee short of something profound today, but I am going to drop a steaming pile of love on your chest regardless.
Investments. Withdrawals. Interest. Value. Trading.
These are all words that I'm assuming you all have heard a million times over, when connecting them to the Stock Market.
Yet, we also find ourselves needing these same words in our daily relationships with friends, partners, loved ones in general.
I'll go in order so no one gets lost.
The first one is a key. We invest our time, money, emotions, passions, and dreams in others all the time. We take something that is of value to us, and we place it in the hands of another, to see if they water it to make it grow, stare at it like "What the fuck do you want me to do with this?", or just throw it away in general. We give these things to people to see what the person thinks of us. We invest all of ourselves into others in hopes that the person on the receiving end will help us grow into a better person.
Which brings me to the next point...withdrawals are made more than investments in today's society. We tend to ask for more than we want to give. When a friend needs help moving a couch, and they call on you, most people hesitate and flounder at the fact that they have to get out of their routine, to do some fruitless effort. Even if it's on the smallest scale of "Sure." Sure, is one of those noncommittal words I can't stand. "Do you want to come over and play the new Xbox game with me?" "Sure." As if to say, "You're not reaaally worth it, but I'll do it anyhow, because I have nothing better to do." Sure, Sorry, Thanks, -Welcome...all passive words that show lack of interest. "Thank you." "You're welcome." "I'm sorry." "YES!!" Those are words of someone that if they need to make a withdrawal from the Love Bank, that they want to hear from the other party. We need these withdrawals to see who truly cares in our time of need, versus, who truly could give two fucks about us.
Interest...one of my favorite parts. When you put money in your savings account, it begins to gain interest. Meaning, you have the original value of what you placed in there, and for you being such an intelligent investor, you now get 'free money' for being so wise. Such is also how we find our friends, family, and loved ones. We all have that friend that has been around soooo long, that if they call for anything, you jump out of your seat to be by their side. Why is that? Because the tiny investments that they've made over the years sat in your heart, and in your head and gained interest. The tiny day-to-day efforts that they've made on your behalf have sat with you so well, that an ordinary love, has become extraordinary. The more interest a relationship has, the more value you put on it. It's such a rare thing nowadays to see these kinds of relationships. People no longer see the interest growing, they just want to keep depositing, and keep depositing, and if you don't deposit....then, they think you're not investing. Sometimes it's not about the amount, it's about the quality of what you're gaining interest on. The interest is what creates the long lasting bond. The one that can't be broken, come rain or snow....which ties directly into the Value portion of what I was speaking about.
We place value upon EVERYTHING!! Possessions, friends, love, intelligence, phone service, food....you name it, we put a value on it. The image of the value in our heads, is always different than that of the person standing next to you. In other words...one man's trash, could be another man's treasure. Take love for instance. I have seen NUMEROUS relationships fall apart, because one half of the relationship didn't feel the other half was living up to their idea of "the perfect relationship". This is the other persons value of you. You could be the Crown Prince of Awesome to someone else, but to that person, you are dropping the ball. It could be in a department that they needed more value in, but you didn't have any more to invest. So, what ultimately happens, is you withdraw what you've already invested in that person, because you see you have no more value there, and you begin to look at other banks to deposit your goods in. We are all valuable. Each and every single one of us. From the crackhead junkie on the street, to the President of the United States. We all have value. It's just that, others around us are the ones that place that value upon us.
Which, brings me to my final term....Trading.
We all know what trading is from the time we're kids in kindergarten. My first experience with trading was, this other kid had this REALLY cool Swiss Army Knife...and all I had were 20 something G.I. Joe's that were in mint condition. (see where this is going yet?) Well, that shiny new something caught my eye so much, that I no longer saw the value in my G.I. Joe collection, and I knew I wanted that knife. So, we made the trade. He got my toys, and I got his knife. I played with the file, the scissors, , the magnifying glass and finally, the toothpick..."OH! This toothpick would make a cool sword for Snake Eyes!.....oh, wait...I don't have Snake Eyes anymore." And, then, it sat in. I had made the worst trade ever. I was so used to playing with my toys, that I no longer found them valuable, until I had traded them away to someone else, and then...it was too late.
As a society, we tend to trade all the time. This friend, for that friend. My time for your time. My story for your story. But, the trading that tears us apart is the trading of hearts. We lose value with each time we trade. Why? Because all the interest you gained with that person, is wiped away after you trade, and so you're left with your original worth. The problem is, we age...and our value is the same, but the time runs out. So, we desperately start scrambling to find a replacement bank to deposit our money in, and hope that the interest rate is higher here than it was before. But, then, there's no interest, and so we grab our original value out, and run around again...and again...and again....friends, t.v.'s, cell phone plans, we trade, trade, trade, because we are never content anymore. "I can find something of higher value, that is worth more, but will have a lower interest rate."
We are each our own stockholder. We know we're worth "something", but we don't know how much until someone tells us. The key, is to find someone that tells you how to grow, and puts so much interest in you, that the thought of trading scares THEM...as well as you....or even moreso...the thought of trading never crosses their mind.
So my friends, pay attention to your value, and try not to withdraw more than you invest. For, we are a fragile economy of souls, and moving our value around too much, ultimately leaves us with a loss of value of our original worth. And, no one deserves that. Not when you've invested so much.
But, as with all stock...sometimes you have to take risks, and gamble on what you think will get you the best outcome.
I personally...just want to get my money into a bank, and leave it there.
For some reason....I really want to go watch Wall Street all of a sudden.
And, with my nickel head, and million dollar heart, I bid you all farewell, until the next installment of a Fistful of Fuhgettaboutit...
-Johnny
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Anti-Social Media....
Welcome to the topic that eats at my soul like Mel Gibson chews a phone line. Social-fucking-Media...in this case, Facebook. I've learned that there are a few good things about it, but more bad things than good.
What is Facebook you ask? It's a website that you go to, to see how much better or worse you're doing than your ex-girlfriend or high school buddy. It's a place where you can write "I NEED COFFEE!!" and 20 little Thumbs Up icons with the word "Like" will pop up underneath it 20 minutes later.
But, mostly, it's a place to reconnect with people that you intentionally lost contact with to begin with.
"JOHNNY!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" - "Trying to fucking avoid you for the last 20 years....seems I'd make a horrible secret agent."
It boggles my mind that people I went to high school with (minus a select few) want to contact me, when I obviously didn't like them then, and I got the fuck out of my Podunk Town as fast as I could. Not one of these people searched for a number to call me at, or an address to write me for nearly 15 years. Yet, when "We're getting our graduating class back in contact!" is as easy as plugging in a name, and clicking "Send Friend Request" enters the world...then every knucklehead you ran from, all of a sudden wants to see your Photo Albums.
Oddly enough, that isn't the part that irks me the most. Nope, I can deal with Stupid better than most. My big gripe is Religion in Social Media.
Here you have people that you had too many differences with, that you left behind to find friends of similar likeness, posting their ideas, thoughts, and feelings on a daily (sometimes minutely) basis. The friend that befriended you on Facebook that goes to church every Sunday. The friend that came out of the closet in college. The friend that went to war in Iraq. The friend that...
Each went their own path, and created a new existence, a new pack of animals to run with, and a new family circle....but then.....it happens:
"May God bless me today, because I am about to cut the grass, and I want to do it to His liking!"
I know what you're thinking, "He's going to say 'What in the homemade fuck is that shit?!'!!", because I'm an Atheist, aren't you?
No, that isn't what bothers me, it's that, as I've said before...opinions are like assholes...everyone has one.
The part that pisses me off is that it creates a rift, when the opinionated person has to write "Keep that shit to yourself, I don't want your Bible Knockin' bullshit on my Facebook.", and then incites a riot of comments from the Church Going types, to everyone else, ultimately ending in someone being deleted.
I get it all the time. I'm an Atheist-Straight Man-that embraces Gay people and their right to get married-Ethnic Equality-and drinks scotch like it's going to put out a fire, and smokes cigars like they're made of pussy....and so you can imagine the types of comments I get from my posts. Not to mention, I was born without a verbal regulator.
I let my friends be who they are. Muslim, Christian, Baptist, Catholic...Gay, Straight, Little, Fat, Pothead....whatever....it's their life...just don't infringe on others. You see, we weren't MEANT to be friends with hundreds, or thousands of people. We are a PACK animal. Apes, don't have thousands of other apes around them. (mostly because we're a virus on this planet, and we're killing off apes, whales, dolphins...until there are only hundreds of them in existence...look it up). Why? Because that many people in your life isn't necessary. Not only that, but you can't possibly divide your pea brain between that many people. So, it is a place to attack others, as well as befriend them. It's a place to "compare lives", and a place to feel inadequate, or superior. We all have the friend that posts his/her pictures from their travels from around the world in excess. Why? "Because I'm better than you."...that's why.
Granted, you can occasionally find someone (rarely) on Facebook that you normally wouldn't have known without it, that you have similar interests, and you now consider a friend. But, who needs 'em?
Look folks...we're all different...every single one of us. In all my relationships, I celebrated my differences as well as my similarities. You need to keep that spice in your life, but at the same time, we don't need to reconnect with every asshole that we left in our past. That is not living in the present, nor the future. That is trying to hold on to your youth. Something that ticks away with every click of the clock.
Find (in the real world) a select group of friends. Friends that you can talk to for hours on end. Friends that are 75% or above similar to you. Friends you can actually go have a beer with (at a bar, with people....that you can touch), and converse with about whatever your heart desires. Find someone you love the same way.
But, this garbage website is destroying the reality of friendship. It's making people more pretentious, more egomaniacal, and more bandwagony.
I'm going to go have a beer...and check my Mafia Wars...I think I just got an Energy Pack....
Get Fucked Facebook,
Johnny
What is Facebook you ask? It's a website that you go to, to see how much better or worse you're doing than your ex-girlfriend or high school buddy. It's a place where you can write "I NEED COFFEE!!" and 20 little Thumbs Up icons with the word "Like" will pop up underneath it 20 minutes later.
But, mostly, it's a place to reconnect with people that you intentionally lost contact with to begin with.
"JOHNNY!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" - "Trying to fucking avoid you for the last 20 years....seems I'd make a horrible secret agent."
It boggles my mind that people I went to high school with (minus a select few) want to contact me, when I obviously didn't like them then, and I got the fuck out of my Podunk Town as fast as I could. Not one of these people searched for a number to call me at, or an address to write me for nearly 15 years. Yet, when "We're getting our graduating class back in contact!" is as easy as plugging in a name, and clicking "Send Friend Request" enters the world...then every knucklehead you ran from, all of a sudden wants to see your Photo Albums.
Oddly enough, that isn't the part that irks me the most. Nope, I can deal with Stupid better than most. My big gripe is Religion in Social Media.
Here you have people that you had too many differences with, that you left behind to find friends of similar likeness, posting their ideas, thoughts, and feelings on a daily (sometimes minutely) basis. The friend that befriended you on Facebook that goes to church every Sunday. The friend that came out of the closet in college. The friend that went to war in Iraq. The friend that...
Each went their own path, and created a new existence, a new pack of animals to run with, and a new family circle....but then.....it happens:
"May God bless me today, because I am about to cut the grass, and I want to do it to His liking!"
I know what you're thinking, "He's going to say 'What in the homemade fuck is that shit?!'!!", because I'm an Atheist, aren't you?
No, that isn't what bothers me, it's that, as I've said before...opinions are like assholes...everyone has one.
The part that pisses me off is that it creates a rift, when the opinionated person has to write "Keep that shit to yourself, I don't want your Bible Knockin' bullshit on my Facebook.", and then incites a riot of comments from the Church Going types, to everyone else, ultimately ending in someone being deleted.
I get it all the time. I'm an Atheist-Straight Man-that embraces Gay people and their right to get married-Ethnic Equality-and drinks scotch like it's going to put out a fire, and smokes cigars like they're made of pussy....and so you can imagine the types of comments I get from my posts. Not to mention, I was born without a verbal regulator.
I let my friends be who they are. Muslim, Christian, Baptist, Catholic...Gay, Straight, Little, Fat, Pothead....whatever....it's their life...just don't infringe on others. You see, we weren't MEANT to be friends with hundreds, or thousands of people. We are a PACK animal. Apes, don't have thousands of other apes around them. (mostly because we're a virus on this planet, and we're killing off apes, whales, dolphins...until there are only hundreds of them in existence...look it up). Why? Because that many people in your life isn't necessary. Not only that, but you can't possibly divide your pea brain between that many people. So, it is a place to attack others, as well as befriend them. It's a place to "compare lives", and a place to feel inadequate, or superior. We all have the friend that posts his/her pictures from their travels from around the world in excess. Why? "Because I'm better than you."...that's why.
Granted, you can occasionally find someone (rarely) on Facebook that you normally wouldn't have known without it, that you have similar interests, and you now consider a friend. But, who needs 'em?
Look folks...we're all different...every single one of us. In all my relationships, I celebrated my differences as well as my similarities. You need to keep that spice in your life, but at the same time, we don't need to reconnect with every asshole that we left in our past. That is not living in the present, nor the future. That is trying to hold on to your youth. Something that ticks away with every click of the clock.
Find (in the real world) a select group of friends. Friends that you can talk to for hours on end. Friends that are 75% or above similar to you. Friends you can actually go have a beer with (at a bar, with people....that you can touch), and converse with about whatever your heart desires. Find someone you love the same way.
But, this garbage website is destroying the reality of friendship. It's making people more pretentious, more egomaniacal, and more bandwagony.
I'm going to go have a beer...and check my Mafia Wars...I think I just got an Energy Pack....
Get Fucked Facebook,
Johnny
Friday, July 9, 2010
The Death of an Artform
Hello dear blog, how I've missed you. And, hello readers, I'm sorry for not posting anything in the last few months. Life has been truly chaotic to say the least.
Yet, excuses aside, there is a raging fire burning inside that must come out in the form of words for your eyes to be scorched by.
This fire is from anger, from sadness, from passion and from ambitions that have fallen by the wayside.
The death of the artist world.
After watching the movie BRIGHT STAR, and reliving the life of John Keats, it came to my attention, that we no longer care about art. Not poetry, not paintings, not sculpture, and definitely not acting.
When Transformers can sell billions of dollars, and Bright Star falls flat, you really have to think about our society, and how it perceives art in our age.
Bright Star is the story of John Keats, one of the most brilliant Romantic Poets of all time. He was poor, homeless at times, and fell in love with a well-to-do woman that returned that love for him, but she was scorned by society, by friends and family alike for loving a man, wholeheartedly and passionately, that could not better her life in any way. The movie is so well acted, the story they chose was so well written, and the dialogue is amazing. So, we have art in it's purest form, twofold in this film. The story of John Keats and his poetry, and the film itself. Neither of which, I assume anyone knew about until now.
Now, I understand we have the Daniel Day Lewis' of the acting world that still consider acting an art form and he makes his movies, and then retires to his life of cobbling shoes. That is a man that gets that he has a gift and wants to share it with the world, but wants to feel 'normal' and human when he's not creating a film. But, as a whole, we put more attention into what Lindsay Lohan is doing, rather than checking our local museum to see what art pieces are passing through there.
We have stopped reading books, and we've stopped appreciating the writers themselves. Unless we actively hear about some book being amazing (Harry Potter, The Secret, The Da Vinci Code, etc.) we will not peruse our bookstore looking for what's new and exciting, and then when you do find a friend that does do so, we look at them with amazement, like they're some kind of freak.
It used to be hard to make a living as an artist (still is), but at least the artist was respected. The actor on a stage, the writer that wrote the play, the clothing designer that created the clothes, the artist who painted the backdrop.
We don't care about any of that anymore. It saddens me, and pisses me off at the same time. Art used to be known as "Culturing yourself.". Creating a part of a culture that embraced the artistic value, and the people themselves that were born with a gift.
Now, an actor with a true talent moves to Hollywood (not to be famous, but to act), and gets shoved aside by a Reality Star that's willing to eat dog shit for 15 minutes of fame on a television show that took up a slot where a scripted show should have been.
No, we don't care. We don't care that a man can create music with a piano that touches the soul in a way only likened to a woman softly touching your face. Because it doesn't have Lil Wayne or T Pain in it.
We are a world of commercials. Our attention span is 15 seconds or less. We care more about Ed Hardy than we do Ed Harper.
What happened to the world that used to look up to Broadway as a Masterpiece of art, and saw it as a ritzy and glamorous showcase? What happened to music that was created with instruments, and a voice, and not with a computer? What happened to the writer that used to write books....and not have to write blogs.....What happened to the actor, that used to be able to at least find enough work to survive on, rather than being bombarded with one million people wanting fame and fortune?
What happened to us people? We are on a downward spiral that is destined for nothing good.
Pablo Picasso said: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
I think the bigger issue is, how to we start caring again?
(i fear, that even this blog will be too long for most people to make it through the whole thing)
Let's take back our world. Let's give ourselves class and sophistication again. Let's support those that bring true value to our world, for each artist paints a landscape with his own talent, and it's up to us to find an outlet that can be appreciated by more than just ourselves.
The world would be a much better place, if we would cherish, and hold close, those things that truly have substance, and stop looking for the 'quick fix'.
Appreciatively yours,
Johnny
Yet, excuses aside, there is a raging fire burning inside that must come out in the form of words for your eyes to be scorched by.
This fire is from anger, from sadness, from passion and from ambitions that have fallen by the wayside.
The death of the artist world.
After watching the movie BRIGHT STAR, and reliving the life of John Keats, it came to my attention, that we no longer care about art. Not poetry, not paintings, not sculpture, and definitely not acting.
When Transformers can sell billions of dollars, and Bright Star falls flat, you really have to think about our society, and how it perceives art in our age.
Bright Star is the story of John Keats, one of the most brilliant Romantic Poets of all time. He was poor, homeless at times, and fell in love with a well-to-do woman that returned that love for him, but she was scorned by society, by friends and family alike for loving a man, wholeheartedly and passionately, that could not better her life in any way. The movie is so well acted, the story they chose was so well written, and the dialogue is amazing. So, we have art in it's purest form, twofold in this film. The story of John Keats and his poetry, and the film itself. Neither of which, I assume anyone knew about until now.
Now, I understand we have the Daniel Day Lewis' of the acting world that still consider acting an art form and he makes his movies, and then retires to his life of cobbling shoes. That is a man that gets that he has a gift and wants to share it with the world, but wants to feel 'normal' and human when he's not creating a film. But, as a whole, we put more attention into what Lindsay Lohan is doing, rather than checking our local museum to see what art pieces are passing through there.
We have stopped reading books, and we've stopped appreciating the writers themselves. Unless we actively hear about some book being amazing (Harry Potter, The Secret, The Da Vinci Code, etc.) we will not peruse our bookstore looking for what's new and exciting, and then when you do find a friend that does do so, we look at them with amazement, like they're some kind of freak.
It used to be hard to make a living as an artist (still is), but at least the artist was respected. The actor on a stage, the writer that wrote the play, the clothing designer that created the clothes, the artist who painted the backdrop.
We don't care about any of that anymore. It saddens me, and pisses me off at the same time. Art used to be known as "Culturing yourself.". Creating a part of a culture that embraced the artistic value, and the people themselves that were born with a gift.
Now, an actor with a true talent moves to Hollywood (not to be famous, but to act), and gets shoved aside by a Reality Star that's willing to eat dog shit for 15 minutes of fame on a television show that took up a slot where a scripted show should have been.
No, we don't care. We don't care that a man can create music with a piano that touches the soul in a way only likened to a woman softly touching your face. Because it doesn't have Lil Wayne or T Pain in it.
We are a world of commercials. Our attention span is 15 seconds or less. We care more about Ed Hardy than we do Ed Harper.
What happened to the world that used to look up to Broadway as a Masterpiece of art, and saw it as a ritzy and glamorous showcase? What happened to music that was created with instruments, and a voice, and not with a computer? What happened to the writer that used to write books....and not have to write blogs.....What happened to the actor, that used to be able to at least find enough work to survive on, rather than being bombarded with one million people wanting fame and fortune?
What happened to us people? We are on a downward spiral that is destined for nothing good.
Pablo Picasso said: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
I think the bigger issue is, how to we start caring again?
(i fear, that even this blog will be too long for most people to make it through the whole thing)
Let's take back our world. Let's give ourselves class and sophistication again. Let's support those that bring true value to our world, for each artist paints a landscape with his own talent, and it's up to us to find an outlet that can be appreciated by more than just ourselves.
The world would be a much better place, if we would cherish, and hold close, those things that truly have substance, and stop looking for the 'quick fix'.
Appreciatively yours,
Johnny
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Abraca-motherfuckin-dabra....
...Hello ladies and gentlemen, it's been a bit since I've updated this corner of cyberspace with anything of weight. But, today, I shall plant a seed that is sure to grow into quite an oak.
It seems, that no matter where I go (i.e. the country, the city, east coast, left coast) I hear the same people saying the same things, just with different connotations.
"I wish _____ !"
Where we came across this subject, I'd like to know, because it falls right into the same category as 'prayer' to me.
Let me give you some food for thought.
"I wish I would get more auditions." says the out of work actor living in L.A.
"I wish I could win the lottery." says the hillbilly bumpkin buying a scratcher ticket.
"I wish my boobs were perkier." says the mid-30's lady looking in the mirror before a night out with the girls.
All across this land we hear similar things, but it's the minor ones that truly irk me. "I wish I had a beer right now." Mostly because, if by some freak of nature, you were granted one wish...at the most random of times, and you pissed it away on some idiotic "want" instead of a "need". We've become a planet of wants, and those wants have come to be known as wishes.
We are never happy with what we have, and therefore always want something that we don't have. Bigger boobs/wiener, cooler car, more money, nicer clothes, bigger house...
You get the point. We're forever 'wishing' for things that are so minuscule in comparison to things that, if it were granted, we'd truly WANT to wish for. "I wish I was super intelligent." "I wish all this war would go away and everyone could just get along." "I wish cancer would just disappear."
I personally recognize all these thoughts as the same ones that I was told to "pray" for by my grandmother at my bedside when I used to go stay with her. She would tell me to pray for the well being of others, and for my prayers to not be centered around me, or they would not come true.
Come true?...
So, God is some sort of Genie that grants wishes?
But, why put all these things in someone elses plate? Why not take these burdens upon yourself? "God, please give Josh a better day tomorrow. He's been having a hard time at work, and needs something to go his way." How about, instead of "Wishing" or "Praying"...whatever the fuck you want to call it...you say to yourself "I'm going to take it upon myself to make sure Josh has a better day tomorrow. I'll find something to cheer him up, and turn his mood around." This takes the middleman out of the equation, and therefore makes you feel more in control.
Because, let's face it, when was the last time you prayed/wished for something and it came true without some effort on your part? People have been praying for thousands of years for cancer and sickness to go away...guess what motherfuckers?...it's still here...and more rampant than ever. Some things are just out of our reach as humans.
But, that doesn't stop us from wishing for idiotic shit. We just can't grasp the "appreciation" of things anymore.
We no longer want what's good for others, just what's good for ourselves. And, to an extent of WISHING for these things. We, as intelligent beings, the top of the motherfucking food chain...WISH for things...as if we're going to be rubbing a beer bottle and a drunken genie is going to pop right the fuck out of the top and say "You *hiccup* rang asshole?"
No, that doesn't happen, because if it did, my life would be much different than it is right now. For that, YOUR life would be different right now, because I guarantee anything that I'd wish for would directly impact the world, and not just myself.
As shallow a people as we are now, I cannot see many others wishing for your benefit. Most, if you give them forewarning, would wish for something that would make them cooler, more prestigious or something to benefit them and their well being. To make them feel 'better' than you.
Imagine, you're the one man or woman on the planet that you're granted one wish and all of society finds out that your wish was for tickets to the World Series. You would be the laughing stock of the planet. Oh, you'd be famous alright, but you'd be famous for being a fucking idiot.
In my eyes, wishing and praying is taking the 'doing' out of my own hands and taking the power away from me and putting it into nothingness.
You want love? Don't wish for it, find a way to make it work. Maybe it's something to do with your personality. Are you scaring love away? Well, God isn't going to help you not be an asshole. Change it yourself.
You want more money? Wishing that Ali Baba and his 40 Thieves come banging on your door isn't going to help you, working harder and being more dedicated to your cause will make it happen.
Which, in turn, would change the "I wish I had another beer." into a more solid reality as well.
Stop wishing people. Start doing. You'll be more confident. You'll feel empowered, and you'll come out a better person.
For now, I will bid you ado, and retreat back into this insanity we call society. May my words, be your sanctuary from it all, and....
I wish common sense, was more common...
- Knuckles.
It seems, that no matter where I go (i.e. the country, the city, east coast, left coast) I hear the same people saying the same things, just with different connotations.
"I wish _____ !"
Where we came across this subject, I'd like to know, because it falls right into the same category as 'prayer' to me.
Let me give you some food for thought.
"I wish I would get more auditions." says the out of work actor living in L.A.
"I wish I could win the lottery." says the hillbilly bumpkin buying a scratcher ticket.
"I wish my boobs were perkier." says the mid-30's lady looking in the mirror before a night out with the girls.
All across this land we hear similar things, but it's the minor ones that truly irk me. "I wish I had a beer right now." Mostly because, if by some freak of nature, you were granted one wish...at the most random of times, and you pissed it away on some idiotic "want" instead of a "need". We've become a planet of wants, and those wants have come to be known as wishes.
We are never happy with what we have, and therefore always want something that we don't have. Bigger boobs/wiener, cooler car, more money, nicer clothes, bigger house...
You get the point. We're forever 'wishing' for things that are so minuscule in comparison to things that, if it were granted, we'd truly WANT to wish for. "I wish I was super intelligent." "I wish all this war would go away and everyone could just get along." "I wish cancer would just disappear."
I personally recognize all these thoughts as the same ones that I was told to "pray" for by my grandmother at my bedside when I used to go stay with her. She would tell me to pray for the well being of others, and for my prayers to not be centered around me, or they would not come true.
Come true?...
So, God is some sort of Genie that grants wishes?
But, why put all these things in someone elses plate? Why not take these burdens upon yourself? "God, please give Josh a better day tomorrow. He's been having a hard time at work, and needs something to go his way." How about, instead of "Wishing" or "Praying"...whatever the fuck you want to call it...you say to yourself "I'm going to take it upon myself to make sure Josh has a better day tomorrow. I'll find something to cheer him up, and turn his mood around." This takes the middleman out of the equation, and therefore makes you feel more in control.
Because, let's face it, when was the last time you prayed/wished for something and it came true without some effort on your part? People have been praying for thousands of years for cancer and sickness to go away...guess what motherfuckers?...it's still here...and more rampant than ever. Some things are just out of our reach as humans.
But, that doesn't stop us from wishing for idiotic shit. We just can't grasp the "appreciation" of things anymore.
We no longer want what's good for others, just what's good for ourselves. And, to an extent of WISHING for these things. We, as intelligent beings, the top of the motherfucking food chain...WISH for things...as if we're going to be rubbing a beer bottle and a drunken genie is going to pop right the fuck out of the top and say "You *hiccup* rang asshole?"
No, that doesn't happen, because if it did, my life would be much different than it is right now. For that, YOUR life would be different right now, because I guarantee anything that I'd wish for would directly impact the world, and not just myself.
As shallow a people as we are now, I cannot see many others wishing for your benefit. Most, if you give them forewarning, would wish for something that would make them cooler, more prestigious or something to benefit them and their well being. To make them feel 'better' than you.
Imagine, you're the one man or woman on the planet that you're granted one wish and all of society finds out that your wish was for tickets to the World Series. You would be the laughing stock of the planet. Oh, you'd be famous alright, but you'd be famous for being a fucking idiot.
In my eyes, wishing and praying is taking the 'doing' out of my own hands and taking the power away from me and putting it into nothingness.
You want love? Don't wish for it, find a way to make it work. Maybe it's something to do with your personality. Are you scaring love away? Well, God isn't going to help you not be an asshole. Change it yourself.
You want more money? Wishing that Ali Baba and his 40 Thieves come banging on your door isn't going to help you, working harder and being more dedicated to your cause will make it happen.
Which, in turn, would change the "I wish I had another beer." into a more solid reality as well.
Stop wishing people. Start doing. You'll be more confident. You'll feel empowered, and you'll come out a better person.
For now, I will bid you ado, and retreat back into this insanity we call society. May my words, be your sanctuary from it all, and....
I wish common sense, was more common...
- Knuckles.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Puff Puff, Sip Sip...
I shall begin this journey of excellence with a remembrance of the good old days. When men were men, and smoked cigars, wore a suit every day, and drank whiskey with only an ice cube or two in it to bring out the woody notes.
This was a simpler time. A time where businesses would allow people to smoke inside, and airplanes didn't make fat people buy an extra seat in fear of making the person next to them feel uncomfortable.
Now, the people that smoke, bitch about their rights being taken away, but they don't stand up for themselves. The candy assed few that do bitch to the government hold all the cards, because they're being assertive. The same group of people that try and ban Harry Potter from schools, make said fat people buy that extra seat, prohibit so much that everyone feels infringed upon, but still just complain and do nothing to take back their rights.
Time and time again I see on Facebook, "I was jogging today, and ran past a smoker and was disgusted." "I came out of the restaurant and there were a group of smokers out there, how pathetic. I complained to the management." But, half the time these sentences are spelled wrong, or written by morons, or a person of size (politically correct for calling someone fat) So, you want to take THEIR right to smoke anywhere away from them, but if you're fat, and someone were to force you to buy an extra seat on a plane, you'd take that as a slap to the face! Which, you taking the cigarette from their mouth, is no different that the flight crew taking the Krispy Kreme Doughnut from your mouth and the airline calling you a fatty.
I mean, for fuck's sake, if I wanted to, I could say that anyone that was ugly should be forced to stay indoors until the sun goes down. Or idiots that can't spell shouldn't be allowed to use the internet. How about...fucktards that are completely stupid have to have a tattoo on their forehead that says "IDIOT" so that you know EXACTLY what you're getting into when you approach a conversation with them? Is that going to far? Am I stepping on your toes?
Times were simpler when you had to fly and said "I had to sit next to a fat guy the whole flight." But, guess what, your life went on, and you were none the lesser of a person. It didn't fuck up your "End Game" of life, and those tiny wisps of smoke do nothing more than pass in the wind.
If it's SOOOO harmful, explain why our grandparents and great grandparents were built so rugged, and lived into their 90's, and we'll be dying off in our 70's? Because we're not strong anymore, that's why.
Cigars, Scotch, Whiskey, Cursing, Martinis, Love, Fucking, and LIVING are the staples of my life.
People that scream "Smoke is harmful, and I will not stand for my children breathing it in!"
Well, guess what pussy? Fires have smoke too. You going to sue the forest for each time we have a fire in L.A. and your kid is breathing in that smoke? How about when you take your little candy-ass-in-the-making camping? Huh? You going to sue the campfire when he breathes that in? How about the house that's on fire down the street?......you get the point.
It's ALL OF OUR PLANET!! The stinky fucker at Ralph's that smells like armpit isn't pleasant to stand behind, but I'm not going to have him kicked out of the store. If you're too skinny to carry me out of the plane if it were to crash, I'm not going to tell the pilot..."I'm not too comfortable with Olive Oil over there being next to the emergency exit."
Our grandparents went through a great depression, 2 huge wars, and still drank and smoked to their hearts content. Their quality of life was BETTER, because they loved their cigarette/cigar. They loved their booze. They wore suits while standing in a soup line to get something to eat, and smoked a cigarette while waiting.
We bitch, complain, and whine and moan...that's it...nothing more.
Fucking hell...they even had "No Cussing Week" in L.A.!!! GET FUCKED!!!! Freedom of Speech? Heard of it? [WEBSITE]: http://www.nocussing.com/
So, be a man, be a strong man. Drink your scotch. Smoke your cigar. STAND UP AGAINST THOSE THAT SAY YOU CAN'T!!!
After all of that....I need a fucking drink.
One love,
Johnny
This was a simpler time. A time where businesses would allow people to smoke inside, and airplanes didn't make fat people buy an extra seat in fear of making the person next to them feel uncomfortable.
Now, the people that smoke, bitch about their rights being taken away, but they don't stand up for themselves. The candy assed few that do bitch to the government hold all the cards, because they're being assertive. The same group of people that try and ban Harry Potter from schools, make said fat people buy that extra seat, prohibit so much that everyone feels infringed upon, but still just complain and do nothing to take back their rights.
Time and time again I see on Facebook, "I was jogging today, and ran past a smoker and was disgusted." "I came out of the restaurant and there were a group of smokers out there, how pathetic. I complained to the management." But, half the time these sentences are spelled wrong, or written by morons, or a person of size (politically correct for calling someone fat) So, you want to take THEIR right to smoke anywhere away from them, but if you're fat, and someone were to force you to buy an extra seat on a plane, you'd take that as a slap to the face! Which, you taking the cigarette from their mouth, is no different that the flight crew taking the Krispy Kreme Doughnut from your mouth and the airline calling you a fatty.
I mean, for fuck's sake, if I wanted to, I could say that anyone that was ugly should be forced to stay indoors until the sun goes down. Or idiots that can't spell shouldn't be allowed to use the internet. How about...fucktards that are completely stupid have to have a tattoo on their forehead that says "IDIOT" so that you know EXACTLY what you're getting into when you approach a conversation with them? Is that going to far? Am I stepping on your toes?
Times were simpler when you had to fly and said "I had to sit next to a fat guy the whole flight." But, guess what, your life went on, and you were none the lesser of a person. It didn't fuck up your "End Game" of life, and those tiny wisps of smoke do nothing more than pass in the wind.
If it's SOOOO harmful, explain why our grandparents and great grandparents were built so rugged, and lived into their 90's, and we'll be dying off in our 70's? Because we're not strong anymore, that's why.
Cigars, Scotch, Whiskey, Cursing, Martinis, Love, Fucking, and LIVING are the staples of my life.
People that scream "Smoke is harmful, and I will not stand for my children breathing it in!"
Well, guess what pussy? Fires have smoke too. You going to sue the forest for each time we have a fire in L.A. and your kid is breathing in that smoke? How about when you take your little candy-ass-in-the-making camping? Huh? You going to sue the campfire when he breathes that in? How about the house that's on fire down the street?......you get the point.
It's ALL OF OUR PLANET!! The stinky fucker at Ralph's that smells like armpit isn't pleasant to stand behind, but I'm not going to have him kicked out of the store. If you're too skinny to carry me out of the plane if it were to crash, I'm not going to tell the pilot..."I'm not too comfortable with Olive Oil over there being next to the emergency exit."
Our grandparents went through a great depression, 2 huge wars, and still drank and smoked to their hearts content. Their quality of life was BETTER, because they loved their cigarette/cigar. They loved their booze. They wore suits while standing in a soup line to get something to eat, and smoked a cigarette while waiting.
We bitch, complain, and whine and moan...that's it...nothing more.
Fucking hell...they even had "No Cussing Week" in L.A.!!! GET FUCKED!!!! Freedom of Speech? Heard of it? [WEBSITE]: http://www.nocussing.com/
So, be a man, be a strong man. Drink your scotch. Smoke your cigar. STAND UP AGAINST THOSE THAT SAY YOU CAN'T!!!
After all of that....I need a fucking drink.
One love,
Johnny
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Lesson in History: How the Cell Phone killed Love...
Now, I'm not talking about how radio waves are emitted and fried the love portion of your brain. I'm here to discuss the downward trickle of what has become the demise of something that was once so precious to each of us that we would search the world to find it: Love.
I'll get right to it, before I give my normal examples. You see, the cell phone itself has not put the kibosh on love, but the portable-ness of a direct link to hundreds of others have. (if not thousands now)
There's a saying that I've heard for years that seems to have just reared it's ugly head, "A relationship is only as good as your options." Which, ties right in to where I'm about to go.
The invention of the cell phone was a miraculous thing. You could be ANYWHERE and if you had to bring home milk to your wife, you were just a call away. In a car accident and need an ambulance? 911 at your fingertips. Need to pick the kids up from school, but you're running late? Call the husband and ask if he can do it.
But then...it happened...men and women alike realized that with this DIRECT line to themselves that they no longer had to worry about a mistress or a boytoy calling the home and having the spouse answer the line. No. Now there was a direct communication to you that only you answered. Then, the addition of the 'mute' or 'silent' buttons added to it when the significant other would ask "Who's calling you?" or the "Are you going to get that?" Now there was a way to completely go incognito with your lies.
Here's where I tell you that we're all noncommittal, and we're all hidden cheaters to an extent. But, that's just not true. Some of the world got out all of their wildness back in college or during their single years to make themselves more marry-able when the time came. Here, we have an example of people that probably didn't let loose, and are now 'bored' with their lives and wish to spice it up. Something NEW, something WILD, something FRESH!! When in all actuality, it's, something DIFFERENT...that's all. So, now you can have that girl you met at the coffee house call you, Bonnie from the office that is also in a rut in her marriage, and a whole slew of other women, and your wife will be none the wiser.
Keep in mind, at this point, this is just a select few people.
Then, came texting. The next step of 'automatic acknowledgment' without having to speak a word out loud. Complete conversations between two people that was silent, short for the ticking sound of the buttons on the phone. "Oh, it's Ted from the office honey. He's just asking if we're playing golf this weekend. Let me write him back really fast." - - - "UR SO HOT BONNIE, I CAN'T W8 2 C U SATURDAY!" - - "Okay love muffin, what were you saying?"
This increased the level of secret callers by double. And, if you go back and reference what I said about "options"... If you have your wife sitting in front of you, and you have 20 women texting and calling you that are...not so much 'hotter'...than your wife, but they may have something she's lacking...wife has big boobs, Bonnie has small boobs...wife is calm in bed...Bonnie sends dirty texts. So, not "better", just "different".
Finally, came Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. The conversation killers. The serial murderers that kill and maim anything and all things in their wake.
And, they're right there at your fingertips.
A husband has no problems that his wife's ex-flame Bobby from highschool looked her up on Facebook. "It's good to see how far we've all come."
Until Bobby starts sending your wife messages saying "Damn! You're still as sexy and hot as you were back in high school." The same goes for her coworkers, her college friends, and little Timmy that played with her in the sandbox at 3 years old.
Now, you catch your wife trying to take the 'prettiest' picture she can to be her Facebook profile picture. When asked why, "I'm not allowed to look pretty in my pictures?"
It is at this point that 100's of gentleman/lady callers have become thousands. Old flames, friends of friends, and an unlimited amount of people ogling your pictures.
Which, brings me to my conclusions.
If you fell in love with your significant other for more than 80% of your qualifications for "A long lasting love.", that 20% now feels like 200% with all these other men/women in your ear. Their flaws are heightened by the strengths of others. The problem is, everyone...and I mean EVERYONE has flaws. People that are allowed to type and edit their compliments will make you feel like a king or queen, until they get what they want. So, when you're at dinner with your partner, and you get 20 direct messages from Facebook, 10 Wall Posts, 5 comments on Myspace, 2 text messages from guys from work, and 1 call that you have to send to voicemail....how much of your attention is spent on your husband, and how great that 80% is?
It's not that I'm cynical. I'm not, but I calls'em as I sees'em. Our great grandparents had maybe 3 good friends each. The wife would gossip at the hair salon, the husband met the 'guys' down at the bar. The amount of people you remained in contact with was small enough to not allow doubt in your partner. Occasionally you'd hear that a friend from highschool got married or had a baby through the grapevine. But, all in all, a dinner with your husband was just that...a dinner with your husband.
In a world that love and relationships have become "Only as good as your options.", and being cool on a social networking site takes precedent over a long lasting relationship, just because now you "have so many options"...isn't it time to reevaluate our direction?
It's true. If you have 2,000 people in your ear, no 1 person will look like a Knight in Shining Armour. But, I don't have the attention for 2,000 people. That would spread me too thin. I like being a man of substance.
I don't go to a bar and think for 20 minutes about which mixed drink I want, because there's "so many options". "Scotch, rocks, 3 fingers."
Give me the simple life. Give me a world of love, respect, kindness and crassness.
Give me a shot of Jack, because after this...
I fucking need it.
Cheers folks, I need to post this on my Facebook so you can all read it and admire my intellect.
HA!
-Johnny
I'll get right to it, before I give my normal examples. You see, the cell phone itself has not put the kibosh on love, but the portable-ness of a direct link to hundreds of others have. (if not thousands now)
There's a saying that I've heard for years that seems to have just reared it's ugly head, "A relationship is only as good as your options." Which, ties right in to where I'm about to go.
The invention of the cell phone was a miraculous thing. You could be ANYWHERE and if you had to bring home milk to your wife, you were just a call away. In a car accident and need an ambulance? 911 at your fingertips. Need to pick the kids up from school, but you're running late? Call the husband and ask if he can do it.
But then...it happened...men and women alike realized that with this DIRECT line to themselves that they no longer had to worry about a mistress or a boytoy calling the home and having the spouse answer the line. No. Now there was a direct communication to you that only you answered. Then, the addition of the 'mute' or 'silent' buttons added to it when the significant other would ask "Who's calling you?" or the "Are you going to get that?" Now there was a way to completely go incognito with your lies.
Here's where I tell you that we're all noncommittal, and we're all hidden cheaters to an extent. But, that's just not true. Some of the world got out all of their wildness back in college or during their single years to make themselves more marry-able when the time came. Here, we have an example of people that probably didn't let loose, and are now 'bored' with their lives and wish to spice it up. Something NEW, something WILD, something FRESH!! When in all actuality, it's, something DIFFERENT...that's all. So, now you can have that girl you met at the coffee house call you, Bonnie from the office that is also in a rut in her marriage, and a whole slew of other women, and your wife will be none the wiser.
Keep in mind, at this point, this is just a select few people.
Then, came texting. The next step of 'automatic acknowledgment' without having to speak a word out loud. Complete conversations between two people that was silent, short for the ticking sound of the buttons on the phone. "Oh, it's Ted from the office honey. He's just asking if we're playing golf this weekend. Let me write him back really fast." - - - "UR SO HOT BONNIE, I CAN'T W8 2 C U SATURDAY!" - - "Okay love muffin, what were you saying?"
This increased the level of secret callers by double. And, if you go back and reference what I said about "options"... If you have your wife sitting in front of you, and you have 20 women texting and calling you that are...not so much 'hotter'...than your wife, but they may have something she's lacking...wife has big boobs, Bonnie has small boobs...wife is calm in bed...Bonnie sends dirty texts. So, not "better", just "different".
Finally, came Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. The conversation killers. The serial murderers that kill and maim anything and all things in their wake.
And, they're right there at your fingertips.
A husband has no problems that his wife's ex-flame Bobby from highschool looked her up on Facebook. "It's good to see how far we've all come."
Until Bobby starts sending your wife messages saying "Damn! You're still as sexy and hot as you were back in high school." The same goes for her coworkers, her college friends, and little Timmy that played with her in the sandbox at 3 years old.
Now, you catch your wife trying to take the 'prettiest' picture she can to be her Facebook profile picture. When asked why, "I'm not allowed to look pretty in my pictures?"
It is at this point that 100's of gentleman/lady callers have become thousands. Old flames, friends of friends, and an unlimited amount of people ogling your pictures.
Which, brings me to my conclusions.
If you fell in love with your significant other for more than 80% of your qualifications for "A long lasting love.", that 20% now feels like 200% with all these other men/women in your ear. Their flaws are heightened by the strengths of others. The problem is, everyone...and I mean EVERYONE has flaws. People that are allowed to type and edit their compliments will make you feel like a king or queen, until they get what they want. So, when you're at dinner with your partner, and you get 20 direct messages from Facebook, 10 Wall Posts, 5 comments on Myspace, 2 text messages from guys from work, and 1 call that you have to send to voicemail....how much of your attention is spent on your husband, and how great that 80% is?
It's not that I'm cynical. I'm not, but I calls'em as I sees'em. Our great grandparents had maybe 3 good friends each. The wife would gossip at the hair salon, the husband met the 'guys' down at the bar. The amount of people you remained in contact with was small enough to not allow doubt in your partner. Occasionally you'd hear that a friend from highschool got married or had a baby through the grapevine. But, all in all, a dinner with your husband was just that...a dinner with your husband.
In a world that love and relationships have become "Only as good as your options.", and being cool on a social networking site takes precedent over a long lasting relationship, just because now you "have so many options"...isn't it time to reevaluate our direction?
It's true. If you have 2,000 people in your ear, no 1 person will look like a Knight in Shining Armour. But, I don't have the attention for 2,000 people. That would spread me too thin. I like being a man of substance.
I don't go to a bar and think for 20 minutes about which mixed drink I want, because there's "so many options". "Scotch, rocks, 3 fingers."
Give me the simple life. Give me a world of love, respect, kindness and crassness.
Give me a shot of Jack, because after this...
I fucking need it.
Cheers folks, I need to post this on my Facebook so you can all read it and admire my intellect.
HA!
-Johnny
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Frank was first...
...then came me.
So, I wrote this poem....
Alright, I know I'm a huge geek for being so obsessed with Sinatra...but, I guess there is worse things to be obsessed with. Anyhow, I wrote this poem awhile back....well, couple of years I guess....so, I'd like to share this with the few friends that I have that do actually read my blogs, because I kind of feel it works on the level of myself and whom I wrote it for:
Ode to Frank
by Johnny Mangano
With a clink of the ice,
With a splash of the whisky,
A man with a Fedora,
Whom is as calm as he is frisky.
"I like to drink it not skate on it."
He says to the barkeep,
Noticing his glass is filled to the brim,
With more than an ice heap.
"Cent'anni!" come the salud,
With reverence and feeling,
Having every eye on him,
With a presence that's stealing.
The trust, the honesty,
A feeling so grand,
That a man can hold your attention,
In the palm of his hand.
Respect and appreciation is all this man asks,
For all he has given,
For all of his tasks.
So here is the respect you so much deserve,
I'll say it with clarity,
My words cannot swerve.
A man is a legend....
And we all must thank,
The Chairman of the Board,
"We all miss you Frank!"
So, I wrote this poem....
Alright, I know I'm a huge geek for being so obsessed with Sinatra...but, I guess there is worse things to be obsessed with. Anyhow, I wrote this poem awhile back....well, couple of years I guess....so, I'd like to share this with the few friends that I have that do actually read my blogs, because I kind of feel it works on the level of myself and whom I wrote it for:
Ode to Frank
by Johnny Mangano
With a clink of the ice,
With a splash of the whisky,
A man with a Fedora,
Whom is as calm as he is frisky.
"I like to drink it not skate on it."
He says to the barkeep,
Noticing his glass is filled to the brim,
With more than an ice heap.
"Cent'anni!" come the salud,
With reverence and feeling,
Having every eye on him,
With a presence that's stealing.
The trust, the honesty,
A feeling so grand,
That a man can hold your attention,
In the palm of his hand.
Respect and appreciation is all this man asks,
For all he has given,
For all of his tasks.
So here is the respect you so much deserve,
I'll say it with clarity,
My words cannot swerve.
A man is a legend....
And we all must thank,
The Chairman of the Board,
"We all miss you Frank!"
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