Monday, October 16, 2006
40 Thoughts on Life. Or Why 100% Compatibility has a glitch
In no particular order.
1: Pick your battles wisely. There are some things worth fighting for, some things worth abandoning and some things that you fight for that aren’t worth fighting for and sap ammo and energy from battles worth fighting.
2: Depending on the vantage point from which you are looking back from, you are likely to see a certain period as being either: A: The happiest days of your life or B: A prison sentence from which you are grateful to be paroled.
3: High School is a prime example of #2.
4: In the Beatles Vs Elvis battle, the Beatles will always win. In the Elvis Vs Johnny Cash debate, Cash will always win. End of discussion.
5: It is better to try and fail than to have retreated from the beginning and later looked back and wondered “what could have been”. Asking someone out is a prime example of this. Better to ask and choke down the bitter taste of rejection then be stuck looking back later and wondering what if. I know this from personal experience.
6: If you are 100% Conservative or 100% Liberal and are absolutely convinced that the other side is evil, I seriously question whether or not you would be perfectly at home on the moon where everything or everybody is the same.
7: When it comes to finding someone you love, race does not matter. White man, black woman meet, like each other mutually and have mutual respect for each other. Should be no skin off anyone else’s nose if they start dating. Should be even less skin if they eventually decide to get married.
8: You know those ads on TV for online dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony that promise 100% compatibility? Assuming that those sites even work: is there anyone else out there besides myself and my father and stepmother who finds the idea of 100% compatibility more boring than a rerun of “Leave It to Beaver”.
9: People who work in tech support and customer service (myself included) need to remember that a lot of the times the customers who call in and whine and bitch have legitimate complaints. People who call in to tech support need to remember that the people who are taking their calls, whether they are located in Miami or India, are human beings. They’re not the ones making the bureaucratic mish mash that often results in lousy support. And they can’t always be Dirty Harry and throw the rule book out the window (although a lot of times they wish they could).
10: Eggs and Peanut butter are two foods that were meant to be eaten as part of other things, not eaten standalone.
11: Someone once tried to say that there is no such thing as a stupid question and by extension, no such thing as stupid people. Wrong on both counts.
12: People say I’m crazy. I’m fine with that. If someone says you’re crazy or strange, be fine with it too. You sleep better that way. I know so from experience.
13: College is not a complete and total waste of time as some people claim it is. At the same time, college does not exist to teach you how to be a thinker or better-rounded individual. In essence, it exists to make you a slightly more knowledgeable member of a group. Which brings us to…
14: The American educational system focuses less on teaching you how to think as an individual and instead encourages you to think as part of a group.
15: Most people who go to college do so because they believe it will either prepare them for a career they want to pursue or if that career doesn’t pan out, it will give them something to fall back on. On part one: Nonsense! The only way you actually learn how to do something is to do it and that point is driven home once you actually enter the world of work. On part two: While I can see the practicality in that belief, I also see that 99% of the people that do have fall back plans do just that; fall back. This is not to say that one should or should not go to college. It depends on the individual.
16: Instead of placing the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses, we should place just one particular quote. “Those who would give up any freedom, no matter how small, for any amount of security, deserve neither freedom nor security”-Benjamin Franklin.
17: Darwin’s theory of Survival Of The Fittest is alive and well. In the corporations of America that is.
18: Darwin’s theory of evolution can be seen in reverse in our political leaders. From George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to John Kerry and George W Bush is a sign that sometimes the humans never fully evolve.
19: Money does not necessarily equal happiness. Nuff said. However, one cannot live without money either. Two totally contradictory statements of truth there.
20: Everyone working in a corporation in America today is a replaceable widget. Except for maybe (just maybe) a few in executive management and even those are replaceable widgets.
21: It is best not to pay attention to the fear mongers on both the extreme left and the extreme right.
22: Richard Pryor is the only person who can say the MF word and make it sound poetic. Other people can make it funny (like he could). But only he could make it poetic.
23: Many of the people in this country that claim to be conservatives are far from it. They claim to be against big government. But have no problem with big religion and big government if big religion is involved in big government. Likewise, many that claim to be liberals are far from it. In fact, that old style of political labeling is long outdated.
24: Anything can be taken too far. It is possible to become addicted to anything, be it drugs, the Internet or the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection at Cold Stone Creamery. However, it is better to be addicted to any of the above than it is to become addicted to so-called “reality TV”.
25: The primary difference between working tech support for an Internet Service Provider and the movie Full Metal Jacket is that you are not getting shot at working tech support. Actually, you would be getting shot at working tech support if people could shoot through phone lines.
26: While your parents may have your best interests always in mind, there comes a time when their best interests are going to conflict with your own. In that case, listen. Yet continue to assert yourself as necessary. In other words, becoming an accountant just because pop thinks it is what you should do is not the way to go. However, when dad says that taking the family car out to drag racing while gulping down a 12 pack of Budweiser is not a good idea, he is right
27: Middle School/Junior High/whatever you choose to call it is one aspect of the adolescent experience that would be illegal to sell if it were a product.
28: Virtue cannot be legislated. Attempts to legislate it have led to holocausts and genocide and blacklisting and so on and so forth.
29: The best political philosophy one can have is one of their own. That is, one that wasn’t totally shaped by any one political party. Me, I subscribe to a philosophy of what I would call Practical Libertarianism. At its core, I want a small, non-intrusive as possible government and low taxes.
30: I do not smoke. Never have, never will. But if someone wants to smoke, let em.
31: The 2nd Amendment, as odious as it may be to many people, is necessary. I support it. Yet I myself currently own not one single gun. I do not see myself ever owning one single gun (let alone enough to necessitate an entire rack) and can see the need for reasonable restrictions on violent convicted criminals as well as on guns that are clearly not reasonably intended for hunting or defensive purposes.
32: If you decide to purchase Internet Service through Comcast, do the following. Sign up, get the cable modem and hook it to the computer. Don’t bother with the self install kit, just call Comcast tech support and ask to have your modem activated.
33: If you are out of work and are desperate for a job and are forced to choose between being a crack dealer or being a telemarketer, be a crack dealer.
34: Corporate executives in American corporations get many of their ideas from The Godfather.
35: Goodfellas is the best organized crime movie of all time.
36: Speaking of movies, the reason why my activity on Epinions has declined a lot over the past 4 months is that I’m in the midst of writing the script for which will (hopefully) be my first movie. More details forthcoming.
37: It is rude to sneak promotional plugs into the middle of life lesson lists.
38: Hats on Epinions don’t matter. Status on Epinions doesn’t matter. What matters is enjoyment. That’s it.
39: If there needs to be a congressional ban on anything, it is cell phones in movie theaters. Unless it’s a theater showing a Rob Schneider movie. There cell phones should be required so we can be distracted from watching Mr. Schneider try to be funny.
40: Keep your friends close. Losing even just one friend is too many lost.
In no particular order.
1: Pick your battles wisely. There are some things worth fighting for, some things worth abandoning and some things that you fight for that aren’t worth fighting for and sap ammo and energy from battles worth fighting.
2: Depending on the vantage point from which you are looking back from, you are likely to see a certain period as being either: A: The happiest days of your life or B: A prison sentence from which you are grateful to be paroled.
3: High School is a prime example of #2.
4: In the Beatles Vs Elvis battle, the Beatles will always win. In the Elvis Vs Johnny Cash debate, Cash will always win. End of discussion.
5: It is better to try and fail than to have retreated from the beginning and later looked back and wondered “what could have been”. Asking someone out is a prime example of this. Better to ask and choke down the bitter taste of rejection then be stuck looking back later and wondering what if. I know this from personal experience.
6: If you are 100% Conservative or 100% Liberal and are absolutely convinced that the other side is evil, I seriously question whether or not you would be perfectly at home on the moon where everything or everybody is the same.
7: When it comes to finding someone you love, race does not matter. White man, black woman meet, like each other mutually and have mutual respect for each other. Should be no skin off anyone else’s nose if they start dating. Should be even less skin if they eventually decide to get married.
8: You know those ads on TV for online dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony that promise 100% compatibility? Assuming that those sites even work: is there anyone else out there besides myself and my father and stepmother who finds the idea of 100% compatibility more boring than a rerun of “Leave It to Beaver”.
9: People who work in tech support and customer service (myself included) need to remember that a lot of the times the customers who call in and whine and bitch have legitimate complaints. People who call in to tech support need to remember that the people who are taking their calls, whether they are located in Miami or India, are human beings. They’re not the ones making the bureaucratic mish mash that often results in lousy support. And they can’t always be Dirty Harry and throw the rule book out the window (although a lot of times they wish they could).
10: Eggs and Peanut butter are two foods that were meant to be eaten as part of other things, not eaten standalone.
11: Someone once tried to say that there is no such thing as a stupid question and by extension, no such thing as stupid people. Wrong on both counts.
12: People say I’m crazy. I’m fine with that. If someone says you’re crazy or strange, be fine with it too. You sleep better that way. I know so from experience.
13: College is not a complete and total waste of time as some people claim it is. At the same time, college does not exist to teach you how to be a thinker or better-rounded individual. In essence, it exists to make you a slightly more knowledgeable member of a group. Which brings us to…
14: The American educational system focuses less on teaching you how to think as an individual and instead encourages you to think as part of a group.
15: Most people who go to college do so because they believe it will either prepare them for a career they want to pursue or if that career doesn’t pan out, it will give them something to fall back on. On part one: Nonsense! The only way you actually learn how to do something is to do it and that point is driven home once you actually enter the world of work. On part two: While I can see the practicality in that belief, I also see that 99% of the people that do have fall back plans do just that; fall back. This is not to say that one should or should not go to college. It depends on the individual.
16: Instead of placing the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses, we should place just one particular quote. “Those who would give up any freedom, no matter how small, for any amount of security, deserve neither freedom nor security”-Benjamin Franklin.
17: Darwin’s theory of Survival Of The Fittest is alive and well. In the corporations of America that is.
18: Darwin’s theory of evolution can be seen in reverse in our political leaders. From George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to John Kerry and George W Bush is a sign that sometimes the humans never fully evolve.
19: Money does not necessarily equal happiness. Nuff said. However, one cannot live without money either. Two totally contradictory statements of truth there.
20: Everyone working in a corporation in America today is a replaceable widget. Except for maybe (just maybe) a few in executive management and even those are replaceable widgets.
21: It is best not to pay attention to the fear mongers on both the extreme left and the extreme right.
22: Richard Pryor is the only person who can say the MF word and make it sound poetic. Other people can make it funny (like he could). But only he could make it poetic.
23: Many of the people in this country that claim to be conservatives are far from it. They claim to be against big government. But have no problem with big religion and big government if big religion is involved in big government. Likewise, many that claim to be liberals are far from it. In fact, that old style of political labeling is long outdated.
24: Anything can be taken too far. It is possible to become addicted to anything, be it drugs, the Internet or the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection at Cold Stone Creamery. However, it is better to be addicted to any of the above than it is to become addicted to so-called “reality TV”.
25: The primary difference between working tech support for an Internet Service Provider and the movie Full Metal Jacket is that you are not getting shot at working tech support. Actually, you would be getting shot at working tech support if people could shoot through phone lines.
26: While your parents may have your best interests always in mind, there comes a time when their best interests are going to conflict with your own. In that case, listen. Yet continue to assert yourself as necessary. In other words, becoming an accountant just because pop thinks it is what you should do is not the way to go. However, when dad says that taking the family car out to drag racing while gulping down a 12 pack of Budweiser is not a good idea, he is right
27: Middle School/Junior High/whatever you choose to call it is one aspect of the adolescent experience that would be illegal to sell if it were a product.
28: Virtue cannot be legislated. Attempts to legislate it have led to holocausts and genocide and blacklisting and so on and so forth.
29: The best political philosophy one can have is one of their own. That is, one that wasn’t totally shaped by any one political party. Me, I subscribe to a philosophy of what I would call Practical Libertarianism. At its core, I want a small, non-intrusive as possible government and low taxes.
30: I do not smoke. Never have, never will. But if someone wants to smoke, let em.
31: The 2nd Amendment, as odious as it may be to many people, is necessary. I support it. Yet I myself currently own not one single gun. I do not see myself ever owning one single gun (let alone enough to necessitate an entire rack) and can see the need for reasonable restrictions on violent convicted criminals as well as on guns that are clearly not reasonably intended for hunting or defensive purposes.
32: If you decide to purchase Internet Service through Comcast, do the following. Sign up, get the cable modem and hook it to the computer. Don’t bother with the self install kit, just call Comcast tech support and ask to have your modem activated.
33: If you are out of work and are desperate for a job and are forced to choose between being a crack dealer or being a telemarketer, be a crack dealer.
34: Corporate executives in American corporations get many of their ideas from The Godfather.
35: Goodfellas is the best organized crime movie of all time.
36: Speaking of movies, the reason why my activity on Epinions has declined a lot over the past 4 months is that I’m in the midst of writing the script for which will (hopefully) be my first movie. More details forthcoming.
37: It is rude to sneak promotional plugs into the middle of life lesson lists.
38: Hats on Epinions don’t matter. Status on Epinions doesn’t matter. What matters is enjoyment. That’s it.
39: If there needs to be a congressional ban on anything, it is cell phones in movie theaters. Unless it’s a theater showing a Rob Schneider movie. There cell phones should be required so we can be distracted from watching Mr. Schneider try to be funny.
40: Keep your friends close. Losing even just one friend is too many lost.
