I am from generation Y. Nicknamed "generation buy", the "ritalin generation", "trophy kids", "generation why" and "the millennials". If you'll notice, most of these nicknames have negative implications.
Generation "buy" implies that consumerism is the primary method of expression among the members. The label was applied by people of generations who have names that aren't only made to be put-downs, to put down younger people. Older generations typically share values of vaguely defined frugality, even if they don't practice it. It's some sort of ghost reaching from the great depression reminding them to eat their crusts and tuck their shirt in if they want that job at the mill. The thing is, not only is the "buy" label accurate, but it's a good thing. Generation Y members as a whole have demonstrated conscious consumerism. Picking brands that espouse the values they agree with, and not buying things that are not useful.
The ritalin generation implies that all the members are heavily medicated, which may or may not be true. But the real question, like usual, is "who gives a good goddamn". I know from personal experience that a medication is a medication, prescribed or otherwise, in pill form or not. In which case I doubt the current young adults are much different in this respect to previous generations. Only difference is that they are guilt-free and bathe regularly.
Trophy kids is a reference to the not-ever-very-common practice of awarding every child in a competition a trophy just for competing. This criticism of all-inclusiveness and unconditional self-esteem building hasn't been edgy or relevant since southpark was funny and people bought stock in internet companies. Recently the phrase has been validated by generation Y's supposed attitude in the workplace- that they deserve more money, benefits and working conditions at all times. The "get you some" generation would be more apt to describe that. I see nothing wrong. The alternative is "Never get trophies because of humility, fear, and mindless work ethic kids".
Generation why is inaccurate. Again it's older people who haven't bothered to do much research, looking at the 13 year old pot-head in their house and broadstroking the entire generation. Whereas generation X did demonstrably like to slack off, when observed; generation "why" is actually generation "why not", with high levels of optimism and a tendency to multitask and challenge themselves.
Millennials has a clueless ring to it. Referring to yourself as a "millennial" sort of makes you sound like another race in a bad science fiction book, but also implies that young people are constantly walking around thinking they're hot shit because they get to live a majority of their years Starting with a 2 instead of a 1.
It's "Generation Y" to you, and it always was. We're all growing up now, there's plenty of us, and evidence suggests that we're kicking more ass than any generation has in a while. Really, read up.
the drink drinks itself
A drinking session for me is an emotional rollercoaster. It's nothing extraordinary, like an emotional kidnapping; It doesn't bring up absolute despair or complete validation, instead it brings up a full range of attitudes.
For the first part of the day I'm upbeat, maybe more than your average drunk, but self-criticizing. I spend one minute to several hours contemplating what the optimal amount to drink is, how I can drink exactly that much, wondering if this drinking thing is for me, the whole 9 yards.
Then, I come to a vague conclusion that "Well, I'm a drinker, so I ought to drink". Then I have one to several drinks. Then my attitude is "Ok. This is pretty good. But I got really drunk last night. So tonight, I think I'll just cruise with a nice buzz till bedtime and wake up fresh tomorrow".
One out of several times, I do just that. More often, I feel reawakened, not much differently than if my sleep lasted from when I blacked out to when all the shame and/or guilt passed, after my 3rd or 4th drink.
That's when Opportunity presents itself. Possibly (mis?)guided by optimism, I evaluate how the evenings going to pass. Option One: Even though I might want to drink, I don't, because I've heard that's the responsible thing to do. Enjoying myself will probably be made of watching DVDs and eating. Option several: Drink as much as I damn well please, and fuck tomorrow if it doesn't want to play ball.
Option one; the corny option; the option your mom would want me to take, doesn't put up a fight. You can read plenty about Sober artists and thinkers, and plenty about hard drinking artists and thinkers, but there is no congratulatory literature on the moderators. They're boring. And that's ultimately the conclusion I come to when I reach the "edge" between maintaining and indulging. It's too late to stop tonight; so go for broke.
This isn't an epiphany, it's what I think(more or less eloquently than stated here) every single morning and/or night. It's hard to maintain clarity and remember all this during a hangover, but when I do; I realize the only way to cut the bullshit is to get drunk quicker.
For the first part of the day I'm upbeat, maybe more than your average drunk, but self-criticizing. I spend one minute to several hours contemplating what the optimal amount to drink is, how I can drink exactly that much, wondering if this drinking thing is for me, the whole 9 yards.
Then, I come to a vague conclusion that "Well, I'm a drinker, so I ought to drink". Then I have one to several drinks. Then my attitude is "Ok. This is pretty good. But I got really drunk last night. So tonight, I think I'll just cruise with a nice buzz till bedtime and wake up fresh tomorrow".
One out of several times, I do just that. More often, I feel reawakened, not much differently than if my sleep lasted from when I blacked out to when all the shame and/or guilt passed, after my 3rd or 4th drink.
That's when Opportunity presents itself. Possibly (mis?)guided by optimism, I evaluate how the evenings going to pass. Option One: Even though I might want to drink, I don't, because I've heard that's the responsible thing to do. Enjoying myself will probably be made of watching DVDs and eating. Option several: Drink as much as I damn well please, and fuck tomorrow if it doesn't want to play ball.
Option one; the corny option; the option your mom would want me to take, doesn't put up a fight. You can read plenty about Sober artists and thinkers, and plenty about hard drinking artists and thinkers, but there is no congratulatory literature on the moderators. They're boring. And that's ultimately the conclusion I come to when I reach the "edge" between maintaining and indulging. It's too late to stop tonight; so go for broke.
This isn't an epiphany, it's what I think(more or less eloquently than stated here) every single morning and/or night. It's hard to maintain clarity and remember all this during a hangover, but when I do; I realize the only way to cut the bullshit is to get drunk quicker.
Start and maybe finish
I'm amused by the phrase "the creative force". It sounds so... forceful. It makes it sound as if the creative person was casually doing laundry, paying bills or some other monotonous chore and was suddenly taken and guided by an irresistible force that caused him to create something.
This has happened to me a handful of times in my life. Usually the results were fairly mediocre. I'm sure some of it may have been good, some of it not that good, if I could even remember. Similar results have been begot by me through sitting in a room alone and trying to turn boredom into genius. The same yield from getting uncomfortably drunk and writing every thought I had down. The same from drinking coffee until it did the work for me.
I haven't noticed a better quality output using any particular method. I've only noticed a decreased quantity from trying to optimize quality. It's a hard truth every creative person must face: If you decide to work on something, you may be wasting your time. Your ideas can't all bloom and blossom, some of them never even sprout.
There's no creative force, inspiration, drive or otherwise. There's only the act of creating, for any reason at all.
This has happened to me a handful of times in my life. Usually the results were fairly mediocre. I'm sure some of it may have been good, some of it not that good, if I could even remember. Similar results have been begot by me through sitting in a room alone and trying to turn boredom into genius. The same yield from getting uncomfortably drunk and writing every thought I had down. The same from drinking coffee until it did the work for me.
I haven't noticed a better quality output using any particular method. I've only noticed a decreased quantity from trying to optimize quality. It's a hard truth every creative person must face: If you decide to work on something, you may be wasting your time. Your ideas can't all bloom and blossom, some of them never even sprout.
There's no creative force, inspiration, drive or otherwise. There's only the act of creating, for any reason at all.
Liquor: the new water
The one and only time I was intoxicated on Magic Mushrooms, I was simultaneously wondering if I was a dipsomaniac, alcoholic, or just a heavy drinker for drinking more than most people do in my day-to-day life.
Even the reason I used mushrooms was influenced by wondering how being intoxicated on something else that's less addictive would make me feel about Alcohol, knowing that LSD had been used in the past with some success in treating alcoholism.. Mushrooms aren't exactly the same, but I'm not technically an alcoholic, so it was a smallest-effective-dose reasoning.
During the 7 hour trip I wasn't only thinking about that. In fact, I hardly thought of it at all. But I had an introspective stage in the kitchen, craving alcohol and deciding to "ask" my inner self how I felt about it, while simultaneously taking the first shot of the day. The shot went down easy, with no chaser, and I felt exactly the same, physically, and about the issue at hand. "Liquor is water" was my thought.
I know that I got no real answer from that phrase. Rather, I got an answer from the event. The whole thing made me feel silly immediately after the shot. I was asking a drug about another drug. But it didn't know, cause it couldn't. Mushrooms are food in the same way Liquor is water. There's no magic in the mushrooms and there's no demon in the rum.
Remember this: LSD treatments have been more effective than anything else in treating alcoholism. But they haven't been 100% effective. Some of the test subjects assuredly tripped balls, had an introspective moment much like mine that told them "get over yourself, you goof ball" and hit the sauce as soon as they could afterward. Or they possibly couldn't stop even with an LSD trips warning, seeing as how these were confirmed alcoholics and voluntary participants.
Liquor is water. Not literally, but in the sense that it is inert. It has no feelings or intentions. You have them. If you drink a large quanitity of alcohol and do something you regret, you have no business blaming the alcohol anymore than if you had drunk a large quantity of water. Drinker or non-drinker, drug user or not, Your personality is yours, and belongs to no drug use.
Even the reason I used mushrooms was influenced by wondering how being intoxicated on something else that's less addictive would make me feel about Alcohol, knowing that LSD had been used in the past with some success in treating alcoholism.. Mushrooms aren't exactly the same, but I'm not technically an alcoholic, so it was a smallest-effective-dose reasoning.
During the 7 hour trip I wasn't only thinking about that. In fact, I hardly thought of it at all. But I had an introspective stage in the kitchen, craving alcohol and deciding to "ask" my inner self how I felt about it, while simultaneously taking the first shot of the day. The shot went down easy, with no chaser, and I felt exactly the same, physically, and about the issue at hand. "Liquor is water" was my thought.
I know that I got no real answer from that phrase. Rather, I got an answer from the event. The whole thing made me feel silly immediately after the shot. I was asking a drug about another drug. But it didn't know, cause it couldn't. Mushrooms are food in the same way Liquor is water. There's no magic in the mushrooms and there's no demon in the rum.
Remember this: LSD treatments have been more effective than anything else in treating alcoholism. But they haven't been 100% effective. Some of the test subjects assuredly tripped balls, had an introspective moment much like mine that told them "get over yourself, you goof ball" and hit the sauce as soon as they could afterward. Or they possibly couldn't stop even with an LSD trips warning, seeing as how these were confirmed alcoholics and voluntary participants.
Liquor is water. Not literally, but in the sense that it is inert. It has no feelings or intentions. You have them. If you drink a large quanitity of alcohol and do something you regret, you have no business blaming the alcohol anymore than if you had drunk a large quantity of water. Drinker or non-drinker, drug user or not, Your personality is yours, and belongs to no drug use.
Man up and suck dick
Blowjobs are not difficult. It takes a little practice to make it pleasurable for both parties, but not much. Without that practice, it's either performed out of a sense of obligation or not performed, both of which are unacceptable.
Unfortunately, because of bad pornography directors/actors, blowjobs have gotten a bad rap. Many see it as a male exerting his dominance over a female. While this could be true in some cases, I don't think it's even true in most. A female is in control of a blowjob. A penis simply stands erect. The woman can do what she likes to it, including bite down is she thinks she's getting almost raped. Pornography is not an archive of common sexuality, it's a show.
A secondary criticism of a blowjob is that it is a cold, uncaring act. Even the word "job" lends creedence to this. But it's quite the opposite. A man feels wanted when a woman wants to have intercourse with him. A man feels LOVED when a woman wants to commit all 5 of her senses to pleasuring his rather boring penis. Any man who doesn't have tender feelings towards the person blowing him is a jerk.
The third and final criticism, that Tipper Gore probably has, is that the act itself is disgusting and shouldn't be considered expected sexuality. Why? When the penis is washed and there is consent involved, blowjob hating/fear is as stupid as menstruation hating/fear. Bodily processes. Get over it. You've had long enough to dull your senses to the opposite sexes less appealing parts. You either accept it, or you ought to be Asexual.
Yes, blowjobs are considered expected, at least sometimes, within a relationship. This appears to be a new trend(like this century), but why is it a bad one? You can see the same trend with oral sex on females- including the at-first-glance dominace act of facesitting. As people become less inhibited by religion or society they step up their game sexually. Ladies(and gay men), You're not required to suck dick, but I don't blame a man who leaves you because you won't.
Unfortunately, because of bad pornography directors/actors, blowjobs have gotten a bad rap. Many see it as a male exerting his dominance over a female. While this could be true in some cases, I don't think it's even true in most. A female is in control of a blowjob. A penis simply stands erect. The woman can do what she likes to it, including bite down is she thinks she's getting almost raped. Pornography is not an archive of common sexuality, it's a show.
A secondary criticism of a blowjob is that it is a cold, uncaring act. Even the word "job" lends creedence to this. But it's quite the opposite. A man feels wanted when a woman wants to have intercourse with him. A man feels LOVED when a woman wants to commit all 5 of her senses to pleasuring his rather boring penis. Any man who doesn't have tender feelings towards the person blowing him is a jerk.
The third and final criticism, that Tipper Gore probably has, is that the act itself is disgusting and shouldn't be considered expected sexuality. Why? When the penis is washed and there is consent involved, blowjob hating/fear is as stupid as menstruation hating/fear. Bodily processes. Get over it. You've had long enough to dull your senses to the opposite sexes less appealing parts. You either accept it, or you ought to be Asexual.
Yes, blowjobs are considered expected, at least sometimes, within a relationship. This appears to be a new trend(like this century), but why is it a bad one? You can see the same trend with oral sex on females- including the at-first-glance dominace act of facesitting. As people become less inhibited by religion or society they step up their game sexually. Ladies(and gay men), You're not required to suck dick, but I don't blame a man who leaves you because you won't.
Overwork
I work alot, often more than 40 hours a week. I don't do this out of any kind of personal guilt or religious-based principle. I used to hate being at work and did it as little as possible. At some point, my opinions and lifestyle choices shifted and re-aligned in such a way to send the signal: "WORK!". For these reasons:
1- The male biological clock.
It appears those I meet with a similar disposition are all Men, and are all 21-27. For me it was 22. I can't be sure if it's actually hormonal or a choice based on reason- But you feel as strong as an Ox, sharp as a tack, you have all the disposable time in the world, and you know that won't always be the case. So, "make hay while the sun is shining".
2- Make money.
So your employer is an asshole who doesn't pay you what you deserve? Telling him that won't get you anything. Instead, show up early, leave late, cover shifts, milk the clock, just hang around clocked in whenever no one will stop you. If you get paid overtime, you've given yourself a raise. This method is self-sustaining. The more time spent at work is less time you'll spend money. Ask someone who knows; it adds up.
3- Your brain is an idiot.
Some people are under the impression that your brain knows where you are and what you're doing, keeps track of where you've been and what you were doing, and reminds you of any stress you're having or have had for the rest of your life. Truth is, your deep-brain; that is, the parts that control creativity and love-making, can't tell the difference between 12 hours working and 12 hours watching that season of Venture Brothers(again). The only part that can tell is your consciousness, and you can minimize or eliminate the stress on it but simply spacing out.
4- Your brain is smart.
I may be only speaking for myself here, but I once thought that time spent becoming more competent at work, or a better employee, would somehow cut into my personal development and enrichment. As if learning a restaurant menu would halt that great idea I was just having. Unless you keep the contents of your brain in an overloaded briefcase, there's no truth to that. Your brain wants to and can master multiple tasks, both labor and leisure.
5- For the lulz.
It's often said by mouth-breathers that people wouldn't need to use drugs if they weren't so stressed from making enough money to purchase drugs. Therefore, its best to limit the amount of stress one has, including work, and instead live in a self-important idol haze. Other mouth-breathers counter that "someone needs to do some damn work!". Well, yes, many people are at work right now so you can have leisure time to read this(truckers, electricians, plumbers), but even they might be overworking for the previously mentioned reasons.
6- For the lulz, again.
In theory I could budget the amount of money I make with the amount of food/electricity/shelter I require perfectly, and have tons of time left over to do what I like for it's own sake(as long as it's free). But get real, you know I wouldn't and you know you wouldn't. You would get bored as shit and start pushing your limits. I'd rather work hard and drink harder then sit around thinking about how efficient I am.
1- The male biological clock.
It appears those I meet with a similar disposition are all Men, and are all 21-27. For me it was 22. I can't be sure if it's actually hormonal or a choice based on reason- But you feel as strong as an Ox, sharp as a tack, you have all the disposable time in the world, and you know that won't always be the case. So, "make hay while the sun is shining".
2- Make money.
So your employer is an asshole who doesn't pay you what you deserve? Telling him that won't get you anything. Instead, show up early, leave late, cover shifts, milk the clock, just hang around clocked in whenever no one will stop you. If you get paid overtime, you've given yourself a raise. This method is self-sustaining. The more time spent at work is less time you'll spend money. Ask someone who knows; it adds up.
3- Your brain is an idiot.
Some people are under the impression that your brain knows where you are and what you're doing, keeps track of where you've been and what you were doing, and reminds you of any stress you're having or have had for the rest of your life. Truth is, your deep-brain; that is, the parts that control creativity and love-making, can't tell the difference between 12 hours working and 12 hours watching that season of Venture Brothers(again). The only part that can tell is your consciousness, and you can minimize or eliminate the stress on it but simply spacing out.
4- Your brain is smart.
I may be only speaking for myself here, but I once thought that time spent becoming more competent at work, or a better employee, would somehow cut into my personal development and enrichment. As if learning a restaurant menu would halt that great idea I was just having. Unless you keep the contents of your brain in an overloaded briefcase, there's no truth to that. Your brain wants to and can master multiple tasks, both labor and leisure.
5- For the lulz.
It's often said by mouth-breathers that people wouldn't need to use drugs if they weren't so stressed from making enough money to purchase drugs. Therefore, its best to limit the amount of stress one has, including work, and instead live in a self-important idol haze. Other mouth-breathers counter that "someone needs to do some damn work!". Well, yes, many people are at work right now so you can have leisure time to read this(truckers, electricians, plumbers), but even they might be overworking for the previously mentioned reasons.
6- For the lulz, again.
In theory I could budget the amount of money I make with the amount of food/electricity/shelter I require perfectly, and have tons of time left over to do what I like for it's own sake(as long as it's free). But get real, you know I wouldn't and you know you wouldn't. You would get bored as shit and start pushing your limits. I'd rather work hard and drink harder then sit around thinking about how efficient I am.
Reading comic books while I wait.
I've always loved this particular Calvin and Hobbes strip. I'm not one to make too much of a simple piece of entertainment, like the woman who wrote this, but I must say without hyperbole, that this comic strip's insights about life would cause a thousand gods in a thousand universes to cry tears of relief, if only they were lucky enough to see it.
Off the bat it brings up the idea of "success". For many people "success" is as corny as their daily horoscope and worded just the same, if I could be so bold as to imitate: "I just wanna be successful. Ya'know, like have some good friends and be able to visit my family and have a job that gets me enough money to have that car in that commercial on my cable TV set. Also, I don't want any big meanies hanging around!".
However, since this is Calvin's character speaking, you know "success" is something more grandiose, sinister, and by extension; fun. Which is my idea of success. Extraordinary success. The kind of success wherein I could find a schizophrenic homeless person and award him with Joe-dime-bag-of-mexican-weed's idea of success just for the lulz.
Calvin uses sense and logic to resolve the issue, but like always, because living life is not as much like solving a math problem as it should be, his solution is too simple. And begs these questions:
1-What is the right place?, and
2-Wouldn't it be boring just waiting for the right time?
Hobbes response "Being with you, it's just one epiphany after another" could roughly translate to "That's sort of clever, but you sound like a punk bitch", which is exactly what my more self-aware thoughts are telling me about this post right now. Coincidence? No.
Calvin's final suggestion is the heart of the exchange. He wants success, but he's rationalizing what he wants to do anyhow as a step to success. I see myself and many of my creative friends that way. If you really believe the "right place at the right time" method, you might be able to calculate the right place and the right time for success, but if you can't enjoy yourself before then, who wants it?
So do it like Calvin(always the best option): Do what you like, and eventually it might be the right place at the right time.
I want to be old
Why do I want to be older? Older people are given the benefit of the doubt, and a certain amount of respect that young adults and children can't count on. A child's life is loose pebbles, a young adults is wet concrete, and an old persons is cinder block. No one is trying to tell and old person how it is and how its going to be. They get to truly be themselves. Observe:
This young woman smoking looks like she's playing with her toys.
This old man smoking looks like he knows what he's doing.
This guy looks like a total fucking tool. I'd like to tell him to knock it off.
If I told this guy to knock it off, it looks like I'd get the shit smacked out of me.
I think it's human instinct to let old people be themselves. They look like they've dealt with enough shit already; so much so that you should just let them be. I'd trade looks and athleticism for that any day.
This young woman smoking looks like she's playing with her toys.
This old man smoking looks like he knows what he's doing.
This guy looks like a total fucking tool. I'd like to tell him to knock it off.
If I told this guy to knock it off, it looks like I'd get the shit smacked out of me.
I think it's human instinct to let old people be themselves. They look like they've dealt with enough shit already; so much so that you should just let them be. I'd trade looks and athleticism for that any day.
shit just got real
The collective American psyche was never more simple than during George W. Bush's final years in office. Through his various follies and misdeeds, he became the face of everything that was going wrong.
George W. Bush was everywhere. He was in more places than fast food, Schrodinger's cat, and even god... because he was in the toilet. While American citizens claimed to hate him, they really loved to hate him. Comedians, Political "thinkers", former supporters, and Joe Pint-bottle-of-mad-dog-20-20 alike didn't miss a beat; whenever they could tear him apart they did.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
What's wrong is thinking that the next president could, and would want to, end everything that was started in the last 8 years just by snapping his fingers and saying "shit just got Obama'd!". In a spectacular display of optimism, or rather; magical thinking, many Americans forgot or ignored how little power the president actually has, forgot or ignored Obama's actual positions, and exaggerated the importance of "being able to read good" with savior-like status.
Instead of a symbol of everything that's wrong, like Bush; Obama was used as a symbol of everything that's right.
But now that the economy is still in the shitter, there may be even more troops sent to "win" the "war", and Guantanamo bay is still operational after it was "being closed" as a first order of business on January 21st, Americans are starting to realize neither Icon is correct.
The cows already came home and they're infected with H1N1. We can't wait for a fool president to leave or a golden president to arrive, we have to get results ourselves. Shit just got real.
George W. Bush was everywhere. He was in more places than fast food, Schrodinger's cat, and even god... because he was in the toilet. While American citizens claimed to hate him, they really loved to hate him. Comedians, Political "thinkers", former supporters, and Joe Pint-bottle-of-mad-dog-20-20 alike didn't miss a beat; whenever they could tear him apart they did.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
What's wrong is thinking that the next president could, and would want to, end everything that was started in the last 8 years just by snapping his fingers and saying "shit just got Obama'd!". In a spectacular display of optimism, or rather; magical thinking, many Americans forgot or ignored how little power the president actually has, forgot or ignored Obama's actual positions, and exaggerated the importance of "being able to read good" with savior-like status.
Instead of a symbol of everything that's wrong, like Bush; Obama was used as a symbol of everything that's right.
But now that the economy is still in the shitter, there may be even more troops sent to "win" the "war", and Guantanamo bay is still operational after it was "being closed" as a first order of business on January 21st, Americans are starting to realize neither Icon is correct.
The cows already came home and they're infected with H1N1. We can't wait for a fool president to leave or a golden president to arrive, we have to get results ourselves. Shit just got real.
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