I Know, I Know

Yes, it's been too long. Who knows if anyone is even checking this anymore. There isn't a whole lot going on these days. Just waiting for winter to end. It could get down to single digits again tonight. Fantastic.

But really what I want to do is point you to this article by my idol David Simon. Pretty stunning stuff in my opinion.

Facebook.....Yuck

Yeah. Just...

Yuck.

Where to begin with Facebook?

I can't say it any better than this guy. He uses some colorful language, by the way. If that kind of stuff bothers you. I don't know how I came upon that rant but it is spot on. Read it and then come back. Don't worry, I'll wait.

All done? Good stuff, huh? In my mind, it boils down to two things.

If you care about knowing all of the tiny little minutia of the lives of people who can barely qualify as your friends...you have a problem.

If you think that all of the tiny minutia of your life are so important that all of these "friends" should be interested in them...you have a problem.

It was confirmed to me that Facebook is an evil thing this past summer when, in the space of a month, I was invited to one social event at the last minute and was not invited at all to another. In both cases, the exact same sentence was spoken as an explanation: "Awwww...you're not on Facebook!" My response: SO WHAT??!! You can't pick up a damn phone? What the hell?

I don't have any idea how long Facebook has been around but I've managed to make it this long without ever signing up for an account. The problem is that in the last couple of months, I've gotten several invitations to join from people who I haven't seen in a long time. Old roommates, etc. People who I would actually like to join Facebook for. Can I just join to see them? I have no idea what "writing on your wall" means. Can I keep people from doing it, whatever it is? If I must become a Facebook user, I want to be the most uninvolved Facebook user I can be.

Ugh...I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually cave. Even so, I'm still disgusted by the whole thing.

See you on Facebook!

Oh yeah? Not if I can help it!

Fa-la-la-la-laaaaaaaabah-humbug

I'm not sure when I became a humbug kind of guy. I don't dislike Christmas itself. But I dislike cheesy Christmas commercials. And I REALLY dislike most Christmas music. So I'm thankful that the holiday season is finally coming to a close.

I can't really get excited about getting gifts since nobody in the family can afford to get me the things I really want. But I do usually make sure I get myself a Christmas present. What was my gift to myself this year? Why, only the greatest dramatic television series ever.

And thanks to a heads up from Shannon's husband, I got it for $90. Yes, the list price really is $250. It just arrived today. I can't wait to dive in.

Also, I signed up for the cheapest version of Netflix which lets me get one movie at a time. But also, it allows me to stream certain movies directly to my TV through my Xbox, which is awesome. I've already used that 3 or 4 times.

Now, I just have to make it through the mother of all non-holidays, New Year's Eve. Oh, and then 2 to 3 more months of the ridiculously cold Ohio winter we're having. Guess I'll be spending lots of time inside watching movies. And hockey.

Good times.

Fan Is Short For Fanatic

Went to a hockey game tonight. Watched my favorite team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, win a game for a change. Went with a group of 8 people and had a really fun time.

I've often tried to think about humankind's obsession with sport from a detached point of view. I see the amount of money people are paid to play sports and when I compare it to what teachers are paid to teach or what cops and firefighters are paid to protect the public and I see the ridiculousness of it. I see what people are willing to pay to watch these athletes play these games and I see the absurdity of it. I see the numerous television channels devoted to breaking down every bit of minutiae related to all sports and I am capable of recognizing the absolute insanity of it. All this money and time and emotion invested in guys running back and forth, carrying and throwing a ball around or guys running back and forth, bouncing a ball and throwing it in a basket or guys skating around on ice shooting a piece of vulcanized rubber into a net. It really is ridiculous.

But even acknowledging this, I still have to admit that I love it. I love the unique skills these sports take and I love watching people who are very good at these things. I love the competition, everything. I love having a home team that I connect with and can root for. But I can't explain why. Why do I invest so much emotion into a sports team? Why does watching that team lose actually put me in a bad mood? Why does watching them win improve my mood? Why do I find the sports to be so compelling?

I don't know where I'm going here. I don't really have any answers to these questions. I suppose it's like any other hobby or pastime that any given person can have. It can be healthy if kept at a certain level or it can become unhealthy if it becomes something close to an obsession. Does the person who spends too much time on sports recognize it as it's happening? Do they see themselves wasting huge portions of their lives on something that at it's core is nothing more than a silly game? Or have they already slipped into denial at that point?

Part of me wonders what people could collectively accomplish if they took the money and energy they spent on sports and put it towards a more noble cause. But at the same time, I can recognize the good that can come from sports. I guess it's just a matter of maintaining the right perspective and keeping a healthy distance.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep spending money to watch guys skate around and hit a rubber puck into a net with a stick. And root for the guys wearing one color uniform to do it more than the guys wearing another color. That doesn't sound dumb at all, right?

RIGHT?

A Guest Once Again

I did another guest blog for my good friend Shannon over at From Milan To Minsk.

You can read it here.

Inebriation

I have a friend *coughHoovercough* that will often introduce me to people as "the Mormon". I realize that it's meant in a somewhat affectionate and joking manner, but I'm not going to lie, it's slightly irritating. I'm certainly not ashamed or embarrassed by the fact that I'm a Mormon, but I also certainly don't think that it is the only thing that defines me.

That being said though, it is a large part of who I am and why I do or don't do certain things. And I can't help but sometimes wonder what I would be like if I wasn't a Mormon and hadn't been raised with this specific belief structure.

For instance, would I drink? It's a hard question to answer. Obviously, if I hadn't been raised to not view drinking as something I shouldn't do, when the time came that I was exposed to it (high school) my attitude probably would have been very different and chances are I would have participated.

The better question might be, if I suddenly now decided to leave the Mormon church for some reason (not that I view this as a realistic "what-if") would I drink alcohol?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I can't remember a single time in my life where I seriously thought, "Boy, I sure wish I drank." It's never been something that I viewed as a pleasant vice to have. And even if it is a pleasant vice to have, very often it is paired with the unpleasantness of making an ass out of yourself to everyone around you.

I'm thinking specifically of a recent experience. On Halloween I went to a Smashing Pumpkins concert here in Columbus. I made the mistake of standing on the side of the pit with the bar. And let me tell you, this was a massive mistake. Picture yourself surrounded on all sides by drunken morons tanked completely out of their minds. There was moshing at this concert. Yes, moshing. Not fake moshing either. Drunken assholes throwing their full weight around, shoulders and elbows being thrown with no regard. An actual fist fight broke out between some tall, white trash bastard and Darth Vader. Yes, people were in costume. And I think alcohol must have some kind of deadening effect on the Force because let me tell you, Darth took an absolute beatdown. Add all that to the typical idiot standing right next to me, screaming at the top of his lungs for the one song he wanted the band to play (they didn't) while he tries (and several times, almost fails) to keep himself fully upright.

So when I witness things like this I just have to say...really? This is why people get drunk? To act like this? To do things that would be completely inexcusable in any other environment? Things that would cause me to be completely embarrassed for the next day and quite possibly require an apology? Gee, SIGN ME UP.

Living Up To The Title

I don't think you should be shocked that the writer of a blog titled "Low On Creativity" is having trouble coming up with topics to discuss.

So? What should I talk about?

Apparently there's some sort of election coming up. I'm not sure what that's all about.

Actually, shall we discuss my complete indifference regarding this election? Let's do that.

How can you be indifferent? This is THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF OUR NATION!

Massive hyperbole.

You can probably guess that, based on my first name, I was raised in a pretty conservative leaning household. In many ways, mostly when it comes to fiscal governing, I still lean that way. In other ways, I've moved to a more moderate position. But really, my indifference is not about the issues.

I truly believe that our political system is severely broken. The two party dominated system is broken. Having my choices whittled down to two people, neither of which I think are even close to being the right person for the job, is a completely ridiculous way to run an election. I'm being asked to choose between being punched in the face or kicked in the face. I'm supposed to be excited about this?

Even worse than being forced to choose from two parties, no matter which party I decide to choose from I'm still being forced to vote for a politician. I am convinced that there isn't a politician out there that truly prioritizes the needs of the people ahead of the needs of themselves or their chosen party. These people don't have any idea what it's like to be a normal, working man/woman or if they ever did have an idea they've long forgotten. How can these people legitimately represent my interests and needs?

But here's the kicker: the election to decide who our next president will be is not that important. It isn't! This election, and all presidential elections, have been artificially inflated with regard to their impact on the average citizen. Inflated by the parties themselves and inflated by media conglomerates that have shed all pretense of being impartial and now work to whip people into a frenzy for their chosen candidate or against the opponent. And the reality is, people should be far more engaged in elections involving congressmen, governors, state legislators and even local government. I really think that the president has a lot less ability to affect our everyday, individual lives than the position is given credit for.

So, next Tuesday while pundits breathlessly update millions of viewers on electoral votes and exit polls, I will carefully be avoiding all news stations like the plague. I can't wait till it's over.