I write, inspired by the fact that I’m currently about 25,000 feet above the earth, on a plane.
“So what?” You ask. The point of this post is to say – “Stop and be a little awestruck at human beings and what we can do.” I’m currently flying to Chicago, a trip which will take about two hours. The distance is around 850 miles. I’m typing, not writing, on a portable device that can do math, run complex algorithms and logical arguments in a split second and is also playing music via tiny speakers in my ears. Think of your life, for a moment, two and a half centuries ago. You certainly wouldn’t fly, you wouldn’t drive. You would work your way to Chicago, on a month long trip on horseback. You’d run the risk of diphtheria, typhus, or just running out of food. Instead, I’ll be enjoying a coke in about 10 minutes, courtesy of these nice attendance whose job it is to fly around and serve me, the dude who paid for the seat. I have the opportunity to read a nice publication that came off an automated printing press, listen to some music through a device less than 1/1000th of the size of an orchestra, that was recorded on devices that control electronic pulses and wavelengths and interpret them into data that I ultimately hear on my ears. I imagine, and use this technology every day. I work on computers, build them, tear them apart, fix them. I use data networks to achieve goals and share information in a matter of time that once took days or weeks. I work at a place that, some few hundred years ago, was a day long trip just to GET there. It takes me 45 minutes. So the next time you pick up your phone and call your grandmother, buy something online, fly somewhere, or even just get in your car and drive, remember… Someone’s mind went into creating what you use. Everything, from your food, to your bed, your car, even your clothes. Without it, we’d be MUCH worse off.
11/25/2010 Note: Sometimes the most simplistic things we take for granted, are the most worthy of our gratitude.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Finding love... and what we forget in the process.
This post should be prefaced with a statement - I have had a beer or two, and while that may inhibit or obfuscate certain things I say, some level of clarity may be imparted in this post as well. Who. Knows.
So, my boy and I (Boy - a term I picked up from this same Jersey Shore star turned Death Metal bassist) were out tonight, with the goal of "finding a piece." I realize, it may sound crude, but hear me out. I've had this modus for quite some time, but perhaps never fully understood it. The goal was to go somewhere girls would be and, ostensibly, we would hit on and find our way home with said women. The end result is me sitting here typing this blog post so - I clearly failed in this endeavor. Yet the failure isn't a tarnish against my reputation or capacity for wooing the "fairer" sex. (I disagree with that colloquialism, in it's entirety, by the way. They're just as bad as men in many aspects. I'd argue worse, but that's likely motivated by being "on the outside looking in.")
But a great many thoughts occurred to me as I was driving home. I'll simplify and then extrapolate one statement.
Bar hopping for chicks is dumb. You can substitute "bar hopping" for "clubbing" too. Though there are some things that may result in some fun.
So, I say this not to demonize relationships that started this way or say anything negative about them, but more to say it's just not LIKELY to work. My reasons are this:
As I sat there at a bar tonight, surveying the ladies I thought to myself; "There's a lot of beautiful women here but... for some reason I'm just not motivated to go talk to them." I wondered why for some time, I didn't just walk over and attempt to strike up a conversation... It was a large amount of analyzing the lack of motivation to do so, given my own drive for a lady friend on multiple levels. After a moment the thought donned on me - Maybe it's more than just aesthetics that motivates us to begin with.
I thought back to every relationship I had been in, and everyone I had ever really been interested in and realized - Every girl I dated, I did so because I knew who they were before I even became interested in them in the first place. So, as I think about my rejection of barhopping, or cruising downtown to try and meet ladies, I can't help but think - I'd rather be going downtown WITH a girlfriend, than to try and find one. The experience is MUCH more enjoyable. I've even had a blast with "girlfriends" that I held no romantic interest in.
If trying to find a girlfriend isn't fun, then... I'd think something is missing. It's supposed to be fun to talk to a girl, not some anticipatory game played back and forth with a complete stranger.
So, to highlight a few thoughts;
1. Aesthetics isn't everything. - While I LOVE the effort women put into looking beautiful, and equate the joy I find in the sheer appearance of a distinctly feminine body with a fine beer or wine, exotic sports car and possible proof of the existence of God, it is not the whole scope. I would rather find a woman I can smile with, than one I can smile at.
2. Love is supposed to be fun. There are risks, certainly... there's always the threat of being shot down, but getting shot down by a total stranger is worse than someone you're at least partially interested in on more than an aesthetic basis.
3. I didn't mention this before but ladies... How many of you want to tell your children "your Dad and I met in a bar." Probably none of you. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always thought women wanted to be swept off their feet - how can I do that in a bar? I'm not saying it's not possible, just that it's probably not the best setting.
So, In the end - If you're going downtown, go with friends, go for a reason other than "maybe I'll meet a girl/guy." Go to have fun first, and let the rest fall into place.
As for me, I'm still waiting... and looking. Though in retrospect, perhaps this post was more for me, than it was anyone else... but this is the "INNER" workings of my mind so... perhaps some unintended reflection is a gimme.
So, my boy and I (Boy - a term I picked up from this same Jersey Shore star turned Death Metal bassist) were out tonight, with the goal of "finding a piece." I realize, it may sound crude, but hear me out. I've had this modus for quite some time, but perhaps never fully understood it. The goal was to go somewhere girls would be and, ostensibly, we would hit on and find our way home with said women. The end result is me sitting here typing this blog post so - I clearly failed in this endeavor. Yet the failure isn't a tarnish against my reputation or capacity for wooing the "fairer" sex. (I disagree with that colloquialism, in it's entirety, by the way. They're just as bad as men in many aspects. I'd argue worse, but that's likely motivated by being "on the outside looking in.")
But a great many thoughts occurred to me as I was driving home. I'll simplify and then extrapolate one statement.
Bar hopping for chicks is dumb. You can substitute "bar hopping" for "clubbing" too. Though there are some things that may result in some fun.
So, I say this not to demonize relationships that started this way or say anything negative about them, but more to say it's just not LIKELY to work. My reasons are this:
As I sat there at a bar tonight, surveying the ladies I thought to myself; "There's a lot of beautiful women here but... for some reason I'm just not motivated to go talk to them." I wondered why for some time, I didn't just walk over and attempt to strike up a conversation... It was a large amount of analyzing the lack of motivation to do so, given my own drive for a lady friend on multiple levels. After a moment the thought donned on me - Maybe it's more than just aesthetics that motivates us to begin with.
I thought back to every relationship I had been in, and everyone I had ever really been interested in and realized - Every girl I dated, I did so because I knew who they were before I even became interested in them in the first place. So, as I think about my rejection of barhopping, or cruising downtown to try and meet ladies, I can't help but think - I'd rather be going downtown WITH a girlfriend, than to try and find one. The experience is MUCH more enjoyable. I've even had a blast with "girlfriends" that I held no romantic interest in.
If trying to find a girlfriend isn't fun, then... I'd think something is missing. It's supposed to be fun to talk to a girl, not some anticipatory game played back and forth with a complete stranger.
So, to highlight a few thoughts;
1. Aesthetics isn't everything. - While I LOVE the effort women put into looking beautiful, and equate the joy I find in the sheer appearance of a distinctly feminine body with a fine beer or wine, exotic sports car and possible proof of the existence of God, it is not the whole scope. I would rather find a woman I can smile with, than one I can smile at.
2. Love is supposed to be fun. There are risks, certainly... there's always the threat of being shot down, but getting shot down by a total stranger is worse than someone you're at least partially interested in on more than an aesthetic basis.
3. I didn't mention this before but ladies... How many of you want to tell your children "your Dad and I met in a bar." Probably none of you. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always thought women wanted to be swept off their feet - how can I do that in a bar? I'm not saying it's not possible, just that it's probably not the best setting.
So, In the end - If you're going downtown, go with friends, go for a reason other than "maybe I'll meet a girl/guy." Go to have fun first, and let the rest fall into place.
As for me, I'm still waiting... and looking. Though in retrospect, perhaps this post was more for me, than it was anyone else... but this is the "INNER" workings of my mind so... perhaps some unintended reflection is a gimme.
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