WTF PEOPLE!?! Turning 30

What can I say about it. Hitting the big 3-0 is some heavy shit. That means you lived a lot in a younger mans eyes. And don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of stuff prior to thirty. Heck, I'm still doing stuff before I'm thirty, I still got another year left before these weathered bones hit that hallmark. But since I'm so close to that iconic mark, it got me wondering what the hell is the big deal about it. Sure age is just a number, but thirty is a helluva lot different than let's say twenty-one (which was a pretty damn good number in my book). I just want to see what is the phobia about getting to that point as well as the greatness of being such and the other crap about being thirty. 

Obviously with age comes wisdom, and in most cases that's true. Let's not forget what I stated in previous posts about the correlation between age and certain aspects of today's era. But in that aspect it's more of a common sense thing. As a youth you have no fear of what's to come and brave it head first. I do that too to a point. I dive into things gradually. I do like the challenge but it's a calculated risk from the fortune or misfortune of prior experience. And I can consider myself fortunate for being brave still and learning from my mistakes. I suppose for some older people they fall to their fear of being brave and not jumping into new ventures. Of a new up and coming class of thirty-something I look forward to laughing at the face of the unknown. Hence why older (50-ish and up generally speaking; definitely older than me) fear modern things such as technology and social trends. Ignorance is no longer bliss in my book. 

But the truth of the matter is that I'm an old man now. I can't hang like the youth as well as I used to. Its an endurance issue. I know my limits on what I can and can't do. I don't go drinking to get drunk, I drink to relax and get buzzed. I don't smoke anymore and haven't picked up a cigarette in almost four years (which is a good thing for anyone to do). I do try to eat healthier because I want to be there for my family at home and not in a hospital bed. I feel that as I'm older I'm no longer responsible for myself and my actions; but for my family in whatever consequences I have to burden. It's all relative in that I become more mature of a man than what I once was. 

I'm just thinking that as we get to that point, why does it have to be thirty. I'm all for manning up and owning to what I've done, but why is it that we don't think of these things until we're 30? Is it all that odd that we, both men and women, have a biological clock to stake our claim and settle down no sooner than that birthday? I've seen so many of my personal friends decide to consider settling down and start like their mortality is at stake. It's so weird that they spend their whole life doing crazy stupid shit and then decide to put on the breaks, almost like Thelma and Louise were to think twice before jumping off that chasm. (Oh my God, I am old, referencing THAT movie... where's the prune juice and my orthopedic shoes). Is the reason we act all nonsenseish is because we have no sense until then, and at best it's just to not do anything more stupid than the shit we've already done? What is it about living loose and reckless to begin with put our minds into perspective? After all, this wouldn't be a WTF if some intriguing questions weren't brought up. I guess I won't know for at least another year myself. And hell I still probably won't know until I'm pushing 40. And if I'm still doing WTF's then, I'll bring back this and answer it (hopefully I will have an answer by then). 

But for right now I'm gonna enjoy the crap out of being 29 and live like life's meant to be lived. I hope you all do the same too. 

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

The Power of the FAIL!!!

Fails, believe it or not, have been around since before the Internet. 

(Yup, can't go wrong with the classics).

We've been using them for our own amusement for a long time now. It's just that with the Internet's inception (no I'm not going to pull in another movie joke here) we've been on a manhunt for the next biggest meme. 

(Putting up the Fonz or Mike Haggar would be just too predictable).

What is so powerful about this phenomenon that we have to scour our days on our computers day in and day out looking at some stupid viral video or creating lolcats? Here's my opinion on the matter.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a post about bashing fails, not at all. I personally love going to Failblog every now and then. This is about how fails, memes, viral videos, and just about anything that I've forgot to mention capture us 24/7 being the most constantly used form of the Internet second to porn (I thought it might've been my blog, but I guess I failed in that assumption... Get it, failed on the assumption!?! *crickets* Ugh, why bother).

I supposed let's just get to the root of why we love to watch fails. It's kinda a two part thing. One of which is the "it's always funny unless it happens to you" we've been putting into fruition since the dawn of the practical joke. The other is that those whom do a regular 9-5 job with a computer in front of you and the whole world wide web at your fingertips. No matter how much you try to resist you either would give in to either that YouTube clip that your coworker or friend emailed you that link to or that gif with the guy falling right on his nuts on the railing going Mach 5 with his skateboard.

We watch to break the monotony of our day and get a good laugh. We all need it, and it's good on occasion. But it has became like all drugs, an addiction that once you're hooked, you're on it forever. Seriously, there should be a rehab center for people to ween them off fails. Isn't it enough that we have Attack of the Show providing us with fresh fails for the first 15 minutes of it's show? Or the fact that the show is roughly 90% fail in itself? (There goes my AOTS endorsement). They've done the busy work for us already, all we have to do is pay our cable or satellite bill to watch it on DVR and laugh. 

I mean, I see in what I do a decent amount of fails, not enough to compete with the likes of the cheezeburger network, but enough to give me a chuckle every now and then. I don't go out of my way for the next big fail and hope that it put me on the map. Sure I might put something stupid and random up on YouTube everyone to see, but for me to become the next meme is not in my intent. I did my time doing/imitating Jackass stunts even before Jackass was a grindhouse of dick-and-fart-jokes personified. I don't need that. Also if I find something funny or failish, it's most likely gonna appeal to those I'm immediately with. We'll get it, the moment will pass, and that'll be that. Most of my stuff is more observational and standup-ish type of material. It works for me but not everyone's cup of tea. 

The reasoning is that it doesn't need to be a constant thing for everyone. The Internet is 24/7, you don't have to be. It'll be there when you get back. I just think that fails, as addicting as they are, don't have to run all of your Internet presence (seemingly). 

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

Technology Overload

I just have one question before I start here people... Where's the finish line?!? Where is the end of technological advancements? Are we just gonna keep go on surpassing science fictional properties of what was until we make all those thing and finally catch up to The Jetsons?!? Ok, so that was three questions, but it's all relative. There is no stopping this juggernaut. But in doing such are we negating the old school purists as well as assuming that everyone knows and understand enough to adapt, or is technological evolution going to be the de facto of our existence. Here's my beef on the situation. 

In most of my professional work career I've dealt with helping people in a technical level; everything from computers to the Internet to so much other stuff to recall. This isn't a résumé for me bragging, I can do that without a résumé. This is more of a double-edged sword in most cases. It's a gift that I use to understand and help people that don't; but it's also a curse in that when people don't want to learn for themselves or abuse my good nature for their own gain. I feel that as technology evolves, my symbiotic relationship grows more so. And that double-edged sword just keeps impaling me while I slay the obstacle that is in my way. It almost makes me wish for simpler times. Times where there wasn't so much confusion in technology. Just so people could understand shit and not leech on the nerdy on something as simple as finding a button to click on or why it's so hard to type something verbatim in front of them. 

Let's take on something light, like the setup of a new television. Before it used to be as simple as unboxing it plug it in and whether you had cable you screwed on the coaxial cable or if you had an antenna connection adjust the rabbit ears. Maybe you had a Nintendo and would have to connect an AV cable to it and thanked God if the TV had stereo. Fast forward to today's modern technology. You get your TV, you immediately want to hook it up to everything in your county. Set it up to your surround sound, your game consoles, your HD cable or satellite, connect wifi to your Internet, position it for the most optimal viewing point for 3-D viewing, all in the fear that you might run out of HDMI ports to plug shit into. For someone like me that's entertainment euphoria, for others it's a claustrophobic clusterfuck of cables and tweaking of settings for multiple devices. And the difference between old and new, not much. 

Another example, and probably the most appropriate for this post, just about anything that is computer related. Even back in the day when they were the shit to own and even cooler if you knew how to use one, the Apple II and the Commodore 64 were PC titans among all others. (By the way, just to say that the new iMac and the revamp of the Commodore 64 looks pretty sweet, nothing productive to the post but I had to mention it. It's the nerd in me.) Nowadays, they can't even light a candle to a $.99 app on today's phones. Some people just never learned to adapt and overcome from command lines and all of the archaic crap that those things presented then that they've grown, developed, and passed on a fear to all things gigabytes. If it involves a username and password it's total Greek to them, even after ten minutes after they created it. If it involves finding something in a folder that they didn't create a shortcut for it in their desktop, it might as well never existed. And God help the poor computer tech that come to their aide if they think they have a virus or any other malware on their machine. If they don't bash their machines (or their clients) with a sledgehammer in a fit of frustration or rage, they should be nominated for sainthood. But I've dove into these waters with a previous WTF for those whom need a refresher. Although most people whom I helped said that I have the patience of Job; most people either don't know me very well or just said that instead of me having more restraint than Hannibal Lector's muzzle. 

The point to all this is that we as a civilization haven't grown from the era of the flashing 12:00 on our VCR's. It's a pretty damn sad state of affairs. I just have to ask why?!? Why in my 29 years of living haven't we gone past this? Is it laziness or are we to daft to adapt and overcome such adversity of the old saying "teaching a old dog new tricks". Honestly if I think about it more so I'll go mad. It's deafeningly insane that remedial stuff such as the right plug for something, or pushing a button strikes such a high level of danger that a bomb squad is needed to diffuse their worrying. 

The fact of the matter is, no matter how simple something might be in the whole schema of the technological spectrum, there will always be the techno-sensei's that are out there helping no matter how remedial or mundane something might be. And if you could turn a profit out of it, that's aces in my book. Now I'm not gonna say that I know everything, but from what I do know, I can hang pretty damn well. (Okay, that last part was a little résumé-ish, but screw it... it's my blog...)

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

My immediate thoughts of the Death of Osama Bin Laden

We killed the bastard... Hell yeah I'm happy Bin Laden is dead... But this is only the beginning of the end... Let's pray and hope for safe travels for our Servicemen out in the forefront protecting us and a safe return for their friends and families.  I feel relieved being that I served did what I could to contribute to this.  I know how much terror and fear I felt on 9/11 and since then.  I've waited for this moment for a good while, and now that it's over, I want to feel at ease.  And I do for a moment.  I just hope and pray for those still out there.  For those that are still out there serving (and I have plenty of friends that are still), God bless you and stay safe.  For those who are against America, I hope you like hell, since that's where you'll be right next to Bin Laden.

  

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...