RAW Choice Cut: The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?"
"Your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it and you'll ask yourself…where is my mind?"
- Pixies
Truth be told, I don't know what the hell I was talking about in that last RAW column. I think I was just writing to cleanse my soul and my My Documents folder. The old stuff mixed with the new stuff in anything but a cohesive fashion. Then add to the fact I was trying to be funny / apologize / foreshadow at the beginning. Oh well, nothing another column can't fix.
"Youth's like diamonds in the sun. And diamonds are forever." - Alphaville
"My life is a fucking Saturn commercial," is what I said to myself this past Friday night as I drove through Five Points. Originally heading that direction to party w/ BGJ but then deciding to just get a pita and call it a night everything just got all weird. It felt as if I was going 5 mph down Greene Street watching as everything unfolded. The drunk girls holding each other up. The lines forming outside of the clubs. Some guy throwing up outside of a bar called "Pub." The cops questioning this guy on how much he had to drink. Everyone waiting at the ATM to take $21.50 out of their accounts. Then add to the fact I was already listening to Alphaville's "Forever Young" (which was used in Saturn's "High School" commercial) beforehand you had the makings of a really low budget commercial. All I needed was a sign saying "Now Leaving College" and a voiceover saying "As you travel down the highway of life, make sure you're riding in a Saturn."
"WE WANNA HAVE FUN AND WE WANNA GET WASTED!!!!!!" - Andrew W.K.
[promise that this will be the last paragraph of me complaining about my job directly - I'm starting to get tired of my excessive negativity, so I know anyone reading this is pretty sick of it also.]
The most beneficial thing about living at home isn't the discounted rent and free food. It's the fact that my mom is always somewhere near for me to talk to. As much as I complain and bitch and sometimes whine about my job and how bad it is, we've come to a conclusion - the job itself isn't THAT bad (oh yeah, there's still a lot of shitty parts about the job), it's just the fact that right now I'm too young. As much as I'm trying to do a good job (as far as my bosses are concerned I'm doing a great job - little do they know I'm halfassing it *shrugs*), my biggest concern at any moment is "when do I get to play?" I want to watch Monday Night Raw, I wanna go to concerts, I wanna drink with my friends in Columbia or Clemson on a Friday night, and right now I can't. In between working 50 hours a week at a place I don't like, the 10 hours of commuting, and the 40 hours of sleep I'm not left with much time for anything else - like social interaction. Or finding time to cash my check for that matter. Even with her having an idea of my impending mental (and sometimes physical) crash n' burn as far back as November when she tried her damnest to convince me to go straight to grad school (she knew I was going to want to play some more), she let me go ahead and try working for a bit. Why? Because she's good for giving me just enough rope to hang myself with (and I always thank her for that ;-)).
"Chances blown. Nothing's free. Longing for what used to be." - Offspring
One of my biggest fears about working (and life in general) has been personified at my job. There's another supervisor there who simply put, work is his life. And there's times when he hates work more than I do, but it's all he has. He has a degree. He has experience. He's 56 years old. Lives by himself. Works at night, so there's no chance of him meeting a woman. He comes in on days he doesn't have to make sure things are working correctly. He's there every Sunday to help maintenance. Sad thing is, he's a good guy who just decided to settle with the hand that life dealt him. We've talked about it (he always brings it up) and I tell him just find another job, you can move on. His answer "I'm too old to change kid, I think I'm just gonna stay here and deal with everything." Hey, whatever floats his boat - but as I said 3 years ago, "Nothing worse is looking at a man who settled." Except maybe looking a column from three years back and realizing I didn't proofread it.
"Why'd I have to go and get myself decapitated?" - Weird Al (mocking Avril)
I wanna talk about music for a little bit. Is it just me, or does it seem like music is on autopilot for the time being? I mean right now the number 1 song in the country is Terror Squad's "Lean Back." Lyrics - nothing to talk about. Beat - nothing special. And the dance - Simplest. Dance. Ever. Hell the only thing interesting about this song is the fact that Fat Joe says the word "nigga" about 20 times in the song and no one cares - yet J. Lo did the same ONCE in one of her songs a couple years back and it was the talk of the town. Guess you can get away with some things when people like you. While we're on the rap subject, what was up with the performance by Outkast at the VMAs? I mean I'm as sick as "Hey Ya!" as Andre is, but I mean come on now…he performed the song with his hand in his pocket. No energy whatsoever. It was if you could tell he didn't want to be there. As far as Rock goes, *shrugs* It's been slow there too. If it wasn't for the fact that I abhor the 'new' Taking Back Sunday and that Breaking Benjamin is kicking a fair amount of ass not much would be happening there either. Hell, even my favorite genre - pop - seems to be taking a vacation. When Top 40 playlists are being topped by Ashlee Simpson and whatever new single Avril decided to release this week, even I have a problem with that. Before I leave the music topic, more quick rap notes. G-G-G-G-Unit needs to go the F-F-F-Fuck away. I'm tired of this stuttering shit. Nelly releasing two albums on the same day. Great. On one album we have that awful "Get Your Eagle On" on track, the other we have him straight up SINGING on a track. And somewhere on one of those albums we have a duet between him and Tim McGraw. Lovely. I'm not even gonna waste a CD-R, let alone cash, on either one of those coasters. When music gets this bad, there's only one man who can save us… Where's Weird Al when you need him?
Speaking of which, it's been a while since I've made a list. I think I'll list my favorite Weird Al songs. I'm sure someone could use a smile. If you download them and don't laugh then poo on you.
5-T) "Theme From Rocky XIII" [Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"]
5-T) "A Complicated Song" [Avril Lavigne - "Complicated"]
4) "It's All About The Pentiums" [P. Diddy & The Family ft. Fuzzbubble - "All About The Benjamins (Rock Remix)"]
3) "Headline News" [Crash Test Dummies - "Mmm Mmm Mmm"]
2) "Amish Paradise" [Coolio ft. L.V. - "Gangsta's Paradise"]
1) "Eat It" [Michael Jackson - "Beat It"]
"It wouldn't be L.A. without Mexicans, Black Love, Brown Pride…" -Tupac Shakur
I wanna talk about Mexicans - well Hispanics/Latinos in general for that matter. I'm gonna say they get an unfair rap in the United States. For all the politicians and such saying that illegal immigrants shouldn't be allowed in this country, they might wanna take a second look at the American workforce. And for everyone saying that they're stealing jobs from Americans - not true. They're doing the jobs most Americans don't want to do and they do them happily. Their work ethic is fucking amazing (I would know - I supervise about 35 of them) and they're very very mannerable. Scary thing is, the most problems I have whether it's disciplinary or just plain laziness comes from my African American and Caucasian workers. They feel as if they don't have to work as hard for the same pay. Either that or they feel as if I shouldn't make them work as hard since I'm "one of them" (guess that only applies for my black workers - seeing as how I'm not white). The days I have the least amount of problems are the days when my English speaking workers take the day off. Or don't show up. Funny how that worked out.
"Why ain't you a thug by choice? Why the whole world love my voice?" - Jadakiss
While I have a few more things to talk about, I think I'll save them until after Labor Day. Why? Because I'm going to Clemson for that weekend. And as sure as a bear shits in the woods, I'm sure sometype of drama will erupt. It's funny how the things you hated the most in life becomes the things you kinda look forward to. It's almost as if that type of stuff happens JUST to keep life interesting.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
25 August 2004
"...cause Inside I realize that I'm the one confused. I don't know what's fighting for or why I had to scream. I don't know why I instigate or say what I don't mean. I don't know how I got this way, I know its not alright…"
RAW Choice Cut: Linkin Park - "Breaking The Habit"
I don't do RAW columns often. Well, at least not since graduating. There's not as much drama going on. Usually RAW columns only come about when I'm in a mood to do so, whereas Piddy can crank out an EAP from a string of random events, a little observational humor, or just by being silly. I might start one, then stop depending on whatever mood I'm in. RAW columns usually require some sort of catalyst in order for them to be written in full…
Speaking of which, Piddy is on vacation. For how long, I haven't decided. Definitely had a night where all better judgment got tossed out of the window. Someone got a little too much "crunk in their system" and definitely caused a good deal of trouble. I mean this…
*Trillville's "Get Some Crunk In Your System" (cued at 2:36) blares over the loudspeakers and Piddy walks into the column with the WCW World Title slung over his shoulder*
Piddy: Hi *smirks*
Terence: I don't interrupt your columns. Why do you do this to me?
Piddy: Actually, you do. Mr. "I don't want people to know about my ass fetish." You just don't do it with as much pageantry.
Terence: *heavysigh* Anyways… what do you want?
Piddy: Why am I being forced on vacation?
Terence: Well let's see. You got completely obliterated, spent waaay too much money, stepped to one of your best friends, got thrown out of a club - LITERALLY - by three bouncers, ripped the buttons off of your favorite shirt in a fit of rage, told the cops you were mad at your friend for doing a "heel turn," and all sorts of other trouble.
Piddy: You left out completely ignoring Jen, kissing up on Colette, grabbing Rachel's boobs with her husband standing right there, spilling beer on Bradley, and dancing with the ugly girl. ;-)
Terence: I tried to only talk about things I remember happening. Anyways, you need to sit out for a while.
Piddy: Fair enough. How about until Homecoming weekend?
Terence: Why Homecoming?
Piddy: *whisperssomethingintoTerence'sear* …I mean she was the only one who could tolerate both of us.
"I can try to pretend, I can try to forget, but it's driving me mad, going out of my head."
-t.A.T.u.
Terence: Homecoming it is then.
"I can't do this thing called life without you here with me." - Beyonce Knowles
Movie recommendation from the summer: The Notebook. Now considering that movies like Alien v. Predator, Spiderman 2, Shrek 2, I,Robot, and The Day After Tomorrow came out this summer, you probably wouldn't expect this to come out of anyone's mouth - let alone mine. But it's a really sweet movie that everyone should be able to relate to some part of it. In a nutshell, it tells a story of two kids who compliment each other extremely well, fall in love, but wind up being separated as a result of the war. Now not to spoil anything for anyone, but this was definitely one of the better movies I've seen in recent times. I shed a tear - or a few.
"You should tell her how you feel. You don't keep things like love inside you. It'll make you sick."
- Dr. Otto Octavious (Doc Ock)
Out of all the lines in that movie [Spiderman 2] that were quality, that one stood out to me. Maybe because I could empathize with Peter Parker. Maybe its cause I've given the same advice before, even if I don't always take my own medicine. But it's true. Love is just like anger. If you don't release it in some form, it'll take over your entire being. You won't be able to sleep good at night. Moments where you shouldn't be thinking of anything it becomes all you think about. You're just in a constant state of uneasiness. Eventually your feelings might subside long enough for you to come up w/ rational thoughts on a constant basis, but you always stumble across something that brings everything right back to the forefront.
"Before I let you walk away, I have one last demand. Tell me a lie, and say that you won't go…"
- "Tell Me A Lie," '96 HBK Tribute Song
Best friends. I've told many people that I don't care to have one. I've had a few when I was younger, but they would move away or something would happen and we just fall out of touch. Around eighth grade I just got tired of all this and decided to go solo. I wasn't a loner or anything nor ever did I have problem finding people to hang out with - I just preferred to not have that one person who I called my best friend. Until about 6 wks ago I kinda backed into the whole best friend thing. I was giving a guy a ride home from a party and as he was moving things around in my car he came across an odd little ornament that I've been carrying in my car lately. In my effort to explain the significance behind it I said my best friend gave it to me. Which then led to me explaining why they're such a great friend and completely forgetting about the gift itself. It was at that point I thought, "Phooey. Another best friend I'm gonna wind up with some distance between."
"I don't wanna grow up cause baby if I did, I couldn't be a Toys R' Us kid." - TRU Jingle
Now is a good time in life. We all have the mentality of little kids, its just that some of us now have the paychecks of grown ups. We're learning things like how to save and planning for the future, but we're also learning how to enjoy ourselves. Some of us purchase wrestling belts. Others are eyeballing pool tables. A few of us went out and bought a motorcycle. I think all of this is pretty damn cool. Every time I talk to someone now I get a good story about a toy they just bought or are real close to buying. Sure, some of us have jobs that suck (*raiseshand*) - but the things we can buy with this money are pretty damn cool.
From bikes to trains to vid-e-o games… I love that song :-)
"There's gotta be more to life than chasin' out every temporary high" - Stacie Orrico
In the same breath tho, money is not everything. Truthfully, I prefer personal happiness. Would I be willing to take a $5,000 pay cut, along with the cost of moving out and living on my own just so I could work in upstate South Carolina? Considering I slaved away last summer for a measly $1,000 to do the same, I'd say this a no brainer. Maybe I can say this because I'm a relatively "simple" person. Evenso, as much as I'd love to be completely happy right now, I have to think about what I wanna do next. When do I want to go back to school? Where? What do I want to do for a living? Do I want to chase a dream and work for the WWE or just get a nice cushy office job and continue to fill up my 401k? With all the big life changing questions in front of me, what to do, what to do… Well I know what I'm not going to do - and that's quit my job. I maybe "simple" but I'm not "stupid." It's a lot easier to change lifestyles when you have a nice nest egg built up. Now after I've made some solid decisions, then I'll go ahead and give my two weeks notice.
"I'm only happy when it rains. Pour your misery down on me." - Garbage
Since we've all been able to notice how unhappy I am with my job (yeah, last paragraph was written 2 mins ago. The paragraph preceding that was written July 11. That nice bed of money has gotten a lot less comfortable, and besides, I've always preferred sleeping on a floor anyways), I've been able to come away with some observations from work - like how selfish we can be at times. Things completely change when you work with people who love their job and see it as their living whereas you're just doing it to "pass time." A fellow supervisor was going on and on about a mistake someone made and how they were screwing up their "livelihood" and how we all could be out of job, etc. My only thought was "blowing this a little out of proportion aren't we?" Maybe he was right but right now, I can't say I care. I'll still be able to eat, have a roof over my head, and since I have a college diploma, I can go out and find something to do if the situation was as bad as he made it out to be. Finally a saying makes sense - "Be sure to find a job where you'll want to work like you don't have that diploma." My uncle told me that on graduation day. Makes perfect sense now. Expect me to follow up on this topic in the coming months. CCF just hired 2 other supervisors out of Clemson at the same pay I'm getting. Promise you they didn't take the job because they want to get a leg up in the food industry. Gimme one month and I'll be able to tell you a story of 4 Clemson grads who are miserable but dress a little bit nicer - if they stay that long. I've already taken Sarina's place…
In a random blog plug - check out my friend John's page. It's always an interesting read. Maybe because he's just as much of a dreamer (if not moreso) than I am. http://www.livejournal.com/users/canaroo/
RAW Choice Cut: Linkin Park - "Breaking The Habit"
I don't do RAW columns often. Well, at least not since graduating. There's not as much drama going on. Usually RAW columns only come about when I'm in a mood to do so, whereas Piddy can crank out an EAP from a string of random events, a little observational humor, or just by being silly. I might start one, then stop depending on whatever mood I'm in. RAW columns usually require some sort of catalyst in order for them to be written in full…
Speaking of which, Piddy is on vacation. For how long, I haven't decided. Definitely had a night where all better judgment got tossed out of the window. Someone got a little too much "crunk in their system" and definitely caused a good deal of trouble. I mean this…
*Trillville's "Get Some Crunk In Your System" (cued at 2:36) blares over the loudspeakers and Piddy walks into the column with the WCW World Title slung over his shoulder*
Piddy: Hi *smirks*
Terence: I don't interrupt your columns. Why do you do this to me?
Piddy: Actually, you do. Mr. "I don't want people to know about my ass fetish." You just don't do it with as much pageantry.
Terence: *heavysigh* Anyways… what do you want?
Piddy: Why am I being forced on vacation?
Terence: Well let's see. You got completely obliterated, spent waaay too much money, stepped to one of your best friends, got thrown out of a club - LITERALLY - by three bouncers, ripped the buttons off of your favorite shirt in a fit of rage, told the cops you were mad at your friend for doing a "heel turn," and all sorts of other trouble.
Piddy: You left out completely ignoring Jen, kissing up on Colette, grabbing Rachel's boobs with her husband standing right there, spilling beer on Bradley, and dancing with the ugly girl. ;-)
Terence: I tried to only talk about things I remember happening. Anyways, you need to sit out for a while.
Piddy: Fair enough. How about until Homecoming weekend?
Terence: Why Homecoming?
Piddy: *whisperssomethingintoTerence'sear* …I mean she was the only one who could tolerate both of us.
"I can try to pretend, I can try to forget, but it's driving me mad, going out of my head."
-t.A.T.u.
Terence: Homecoming it is then.
"I can't do this thing called life without you here with me." - Beyonce Knowles
Movie recommendation from the summer: The Notebook. Now considering that movies like Alien v. Predator, Spiderman 2, Shrek 2, I,Robot, and The Day After Tomorrow came out this summer, you probably wouldn't expect this to come out of anyone's mouth - let alone mine. But it's a really sweet movie that everyone should be able to relate to some part of it. In a nutshell, it tells a story of two kids who compliment each other extremely well, fall in love, but wind up being separated as a result of the war. Now not to spoil anything for anyone, but this was definitely one of the better movies I've seen in recent times. I shed a tear - or a few.
"You should tell her how you feel. You don't keep things like love inside you. It'll make you sick."
- Dr. Otto Octavious (Doc Ock)
Out of all the lines in that movie [Spiderman 2] that were quality, that one stood out to me. Maybe because I could empathize with Peter Parker. Maybe its cause I've given the same advice before, even if I don't always take my own medicine. But it's true. Love is just like anger. If you don't release it in some form, it'll take over your entire being. You won't be able to sleep good at night. Moments where you shouldn't be thinking of anything it becomes all you think about. You're just in a constant state of uneasiness. Eventually your feelings might subside long enough for you to come up w/ rational thoughts on a constant basis, but you always stumble across something that brings everything right back to the forefront.
"Before I let you walk away, I have one last demand. Tell me a lie, and say that you won't go…"
- "Tell Me A Lie," '96 HBK Tribute Song
Best friends. I've told many people that I don't care to have one. I've had a few when I was younger, but they would move away or something would happen and we just fall out of touch. Around eighth grade I just got tired of all this and decided to go solo. I wasn't a loner or anything nor ever did I have problem finding people to hang out with - I just preferred to not have that one person who I called my best friend. Until about 6 wks ago I kinda backed into the whole best friend thing. I was giving a guy a ride home from a party and as he was moving things around in my car he came across an odd little ornament that I've been carrying in my car lately. In my effort to explain the significance behind it I said my best friend gave it to me. Which then led to me explaining why they're such a great friend and completely forgetting about the gift itself. It was at that point I thought, "Phooey. Another best friend I'm gonna wind up with some distance between."
"I don't wanna grow up cause baby if I did, I couldn't be a Toys R' Us kid." - TRU Jingle
Now is a good time in life. We all have the mentality of little kids, its just that some of us now have the paychecks of grown ups. We're learning things like how to save and planning for the future, but we're also learning how to enjoy ourselves. Some of us purchase wrestling belts. Others are eyeballing pool tables. A few of us went out and bought a motorcycle. I think all of this is pretty damn cool. Every time I talk to someone now I get a good story about a toy they just bought or are real close to buying. Sure, some of us have jobs that suck (*raiseshand*) - but the things we can buy with this money are pretty damn cool.
From bikes to trains to vid-e-o games… I love that song :-)
"There's gotta be more to life than chasin' out every temporary high" - Stacie Orrico
In the same breath tho, money is not everything. Truthfully, I prefer personal happiness. Would I be willing to take a $5,000 pay cut, along with the cost of moving out and living on my own just so I could work in upstate South Carolina? Considering I slaved away last summer for a measly $1,000 to do the same, I'd say this a no brainer. Maybe I can say this because I'm a relatively "simple" person. Evenso, as much as I'd love to be completely happy right now, I have to think about what I wanna do next. When do I want to go back to school? Where? What do I want to do for a living? Do I want to chase a dream and work for the WWE or just get a nice cushy office job and continue to fill up my 401k? With all the big life changing questions in front of me, what to do, what to do… Well I know what I'm not going to do - and that's quit my job. I maybe "simple" but I'm not "stupid." It's a lot easier to change lifestyles when you have a nice nest egg built up. Now after I've made some solid decisions, then I'll go ahead and give my two weeks notice.
"I'm only happy when it rains. Pour your misery down on me." - Garbage
Since we've all been able to notice how unhappy I am with my job (yeah, last paragraph was written 2 mins ago. The paragraph preceding that was written July 11. That nice bed of money has gotten a lot less comfortable, and besides, I've always preferred sleeping on a floor anyways), I've been able to come away with some observations from work - like how selfish we can be at times. Things completely change when you work with people who love their job and see it as their living whereas you're just doing it to "pass time." A fellow supervisor was going on and on about a mistake someone made and how they were screwing up their "livelihood" and how we all could be out of job, etc. My only thought was "blowing this a little out of proportion aren't we?" Maybe he was right but right now, I can't say I care. I'll still be able to eat, have a roof over my head, and since I have a college diploma, I can go out and find something to do if the situation was as bad as he made it out to be. Finally a saying makes sense - "Be sure to find a job where you'll want to work like you don't have that diploma." My uncle told me that on graduation day. Makes perfect sense now. Expect me to follow up on this topic in the coming months. CCF just hired 2 other supervisors out of Clemson at the same pay I'm getting. Promise you they didn't take the job because they want to get a leg up in the food industry. Gimme one month and I'll be able to tell you a story of 4 Clemson grads who are miserable but dress a little bit nicer - if they stay that long. I've already taken Sarina's place…
In a random blog plug - check out my friend John's page. It's always an interesting read. Maybe because he's just as much of a dreamer (if not moreso) than I am. http://www.livejournal.com/users/canaroo/
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