Reasons

Today has been kind of a slow day to me. Nothing exciting has happened, so I don't really have much to write about, but I still decided I had to do this, even if I didn't really feel like it, basically because when I started this blog a few days ago I promised myself that I would update it once a day. Why, you ask? Because I feel like I have to.

Right now I don't really have anything that is constant in my life. There have been several things that I've had to let go of over the past several months, some of which were really important to me and it pained me to leave them behind, and others that were more noxious to my life in general than anything else, and that were, in fact, the main drive behind walking away from the things that I did. My friends and family I can't really rely on because they have their own lives and their own concerns to deal with. Plus, it kind of goes against what I'm trying to do, which is basically to find my own footing in this world, just like most, if not all of you are doing.

Some people might argue that work can be considered a constant, but I don't really see it that way, because to me, at the moment, work is merely a means to an end. There's really nothing more to it. There's no flavor, no satisfaction to be had from that aspect of my life right now, and I'm really fine with that, because, well, it's just what I do to pay the rent and that's it.

So that leaves me with this.

So why do I do it? First of all, because it's a good way to vent. Pouring your thoughts and ideas into your keyboard instead of keeping them locked up inside your brain is actually very liberating and in a sense exciting, because, like anyone who writes a blog, or a book, or a newspaper/magazine column, I just want people to read what I write. Whether they like it or hate it is up to them; the important part is that it's there for the world to see, and that it is generating a reaction. Positive, Negative, Indifferent. Who cares? What matters is that it's happening.

Second reason why I'm doing this, because it's a good exercise. Dedicating myself to writing someday is an idea that I've been toying with for a long time, both consciously and unconsciously. Now, it'd be pretentious of me to consider myself a perfect writer; i still have much to learn, much to try, and much to live before I can even indulge myself in that notion. So, as a first step in that direction, I decided to start this blog, because no matter how bad I may be at this, if I keep this constantly, eventually my writing is bound to improve, if only a little, and that prospect is good enough for me.

And last, but not least, I'm doing this because, like I said before, I'm in need of something that is constant. Something that doesn't change no matter how strange things may get in my daily life. And this is it.

So do you think any of these is a good enough reason to write a blog?

Stolen' car found 2 years later accidentally parked in neighbour's garage

BERLIN - An Audi sedan written off by an elderly German woman as stolen two years ago has resurfaced - in her neighbour's garage beneath a thick layer of dust.

Police said Thursday the 82-year-old from the northern city of Hildesheim took the car in for repairs two years ago and had the mechanics drive it back to her house and park it in her garage.

She got the keys and papers from her mailbox, but when she went to get the car it was nowhere to be found. So she reported it stolen.

Fast forward to Wednesday when her neighbour went to clean up his unused garage so it could be rented. He found the car under "a centimetre-deep coating of dust."

It didn't take police long to piece together that the mechanics had parked it in the wrong garage.

LOL! I can't imagine the face of the guy when he found the car, or the policemen when they determined that it had just been misplaced for TWO YEARS! How the hell is that even possible? How can you go two years without knowing that your neighbor's car is parked inside your garage?

Original article found here.

Crying Lightning...

One of my favorite bands in the world (in fact, my favorite band at the moment) is a little group from the UK called Arctic Monkeys. If you live in the U.S. or Canada is probably that you haven't heard about them before, but if you live pretty much anywhere in Europe and in certain parts of Asia and Australia, you're most likely well-acquainted with their music.

I've been listening to their music for about three years now, and not once have I found a song or video of theirs that I dislike. I really, really like their work, and one of the main reasons why I do, is because it's very much in your face, simple, and free of any pretensions. And of course, it doesn't hurt that Alex Turner is a lyrical genius. Now, they're about to release a new album in less than a month; however, for some reason, something tells me that this one isn't going to be as good as the previous two.

I've only heard three songs from the album so far, two of which I genuinely liked, and one that I couldn't really get into that much. But even with the songs I did like, I felt a certain air of, I don't know, I guess you could call it "unnecessary artsy-fartsiness" that very much clashes with the way their sound was in their previous records. I was willing to let it go because I got the same feeling from Alex Turner's last year's side-project, The Last Shadow Puppets, which turned out to be actually really good, but then I saw the video for Arctic Monkeys' first single of their new album.

The song is called "Crying Lightning" and I do like it, but from the video I got the same sensation that I got from the song at first. And I have to wonder if this is going to set the tone for the rest of the album, because if it does, then it's going to take a bit of time to get used to, if I ever do.

I understand that bands need to reinvent themselves and try new things all the time if they wish to stay relevant, but is it straying so far away from what made them good in the first place a good idea? Holding on to some of that would be better in my opinion.

Anyway, I leave you with the aforementioned video. Watch it and decide on your own:

Man charged with having sex with horse... twice?!

I've seen and heard a lot of weird stuff in my life, and being so prone to spending time online has exposed me to some freaky things (2 girls 1 cup, anyone?), so it should come as no surprise that I'd stumble upon something like this while visiting one of the many sites I frequent...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A South Carolina man was charged with having sex with a horse after the animal's owner caught the act on videotape, then staked out the stable and caught him at shotgun point, authorities said Wednesday.

Yeah, that's pretty average considering the kind of sick, twisted material that can be found scattered throughout the web. Seriously, it's just like "Okay, so this guy's a freak... Hhmmm, I'm kind of hungry, I think I'll have a sandwich now", because it's very easy to lose one's sense of shock when one's been exposed to so many shocking things over the years. What got to me about it was not the fact this due was doing a horse, but rather, this...

But this wasn't the first time Rodell Vereen has been charged with buggery. He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with the same horse after owner Barbara Kenley found him in the same stable and was sentenced to probation and placed on the state's sex offender list.

I'd be willing to concede that some people... strange people, feel sexually aroused by horses, and even that some of them will feel inclined to act on such... urges? What I cannot grasp is what in the name of all that is sane would possess a person to go after the same horse twice, after being caught and sentenced for it just a year before? You have to be really stupid to go after the same horse, because after having such a bizarre experience, the horse's owner has to have learned a thing or two about keeping his or her animals safe. And that's exactly what happened.

Now the dude's little misadventure is caught on tape and he's most likely facing jail time (because, by the way, the first time he just got probation. lol!). Why couldn't he just go after another horse? What's so special about this particular one that he had to risk going to jail?

Love...? God, I hope not.

And to finish, another quote from the article that made me laugh:

"I couldn't believe that there were two guys going around doing this to the same horse."

You can find the full article here.

Old School Gaming

So, I've been spending a lot of time lately playing WCIII. I know, it's not exactly "old school" considering it only has like, what, nine years? But, you know what? Game years are like dog years, so in truth it's actually kind of old now. Still, even though I've had this game pretty much since it came out (I can't believe the CD's still working. :|), and I've played it more times that I'm capable of counting, let alone remembering, I still find it incredibly entertaining. My friends, of course (those that do the game thing anyway), like to give me a hard time over it, claiming that WoW, the MMO successor of WCIII , is much better and more enjoyable.

Now, I have played WoW. I even went as far as buying the game, and the first expansion a couple of years back, and, even though I did find it amusing for a while, like with many things in my life, the novelty eventually wore off, I got bored, and couldn't be bothered to keep paying the monthly fees. Whereas WCIII's still there, keeping me going whenever I have nothing better to do.

The truth is that ever since I first played WoW, even when I did it the first time and it was "OMG SO AWESOME!", I did find it a bit repetitive. Basically it's your character running around, killing things, and picking things up, with the occasional, albeit rare, killing of the character itself. The dynamic may vary throughout the game, and the context in which it unfolds is bound to change, but the pattern always stays the same, and unless you're really small-minded it's not hard to notice. In WCIII at least you get to build stuff, and command your own army instead of playing with just the one character, and the game itself was much richer in terms of lore than it's successor (and that's one thing that Blizzard hasn't handled very well -- killing Illidan? WTF?!). But my friends, of course, still think that I'm just old-fashioned and weird. Oh well...

And WCIII is not the only old game that I love. I've played every single Final Fantasy game that has come out, from the original NES one to the latest FFXII for the PS2 and it's spin-offs for the NDS and the PSP. Not all of them were good (FFTA anyone?), not all of them were bad, but there is one that stuck with me, and that I still play from time to time, and regard as the best of all Final Fantasy games so far. And no, it's not FFVII, I don't have a mancrush on Sephiroth or Cloud. It's VI.

I love, love, LOVE FFVI. It's one of the most incredible games I've played in my life. It has an incredible plot with lots of lore in it, each and every one of its characters is well-rounded and endearing, and its villain, Kefka, is most likely one of the most awesome video game villains of all time. But the most incredible thing about it is that, no, this does not come with shiny 3D graphics or awesome cinematic sequences, or mind-blowing character maneuverability. It's just a SNES game. And it's because it's a SNES game that it's so great, because there's no smoke and mirrors, no flashiness, no nothing that will distract you from the game itself. And if you think that's not good enough in today's world, well, let me tell you, today's world is not what it used to be.

So yeah, my friends call me old-fashioned because I play old games, but that's okay, because these old games that I play will probably still be with me by the time MMOs have become a thing of the past.

Smoking is bad for you. Smoke pot instead...? What...?

So, let me start this blog by stating that I'm a smoker. I know, I know, it's not exactly the healthiest of habits, and I'm most definitely shortening my lifespan every time I do it, and perhaps even affecting a few of the people around me by doing it -- mind you, I don't smoke around people when I know they'll be made to feel uncomfortable in any way by me doing it or when they so manifest it to me.

I try not to smoke too much, but some times I get a little carried away with the pack. Normally I smoke with disparity. If I buy a pack I'll smoke around three to five cigarettes from said pack daily until I'm out, but then it normally takes me around three to five days to even think about buying a new pack. That, however, goes out the window when I'm with friends.

When I'm with friends I can easily go through an entire pack in the span of a couple of hours, and when I do, I'll immediately proceed to buy a new one. Now, not only is this habit damaging to my health, but it is also expensive, and I'm more than well aware of what, and that's the main reason why I'm trying to keep it under control. That being said, though, I don't think, or rather, I don't feel as though I should quit entirely. I kind of like smoking. It relaxes me most of the time and keeps me from getting too stressed out about things that most likely don't really matter as much as I may believe. So what I'm trying to do is to rely more on getting a single cigarette to satisfy my cravings instead of buying an entire pack. It really does help, even though it's a bit of a nuisance having to go buy a cigarette every time I want one instead of just picking it out from the pack. But having to do that is what's helping me reduce my daily nicotine intake, and who knows? Maybe it can even help quit altogether eventually. But right now that's not what's on my mind.

What's on my mind right now, is that I get a lot of heat from friends and family, and even people that I'm not well-acquainted with, because I smoke. I can't really say much because what they say is mostly true, no matter how annoying I may find it at the time. However, lately I've been getting from some people that smoking pot is safer than smoking regular tobacco cigs, and that, should it be legalized, it would be a nice alternative to nicotine. Now, a small clarification: I don't do drugs, and I don't find the idea enticing in any way. I draw the line at smoking and social drinking. So even if their claims were true and the time did come when pot is legal, I wouldn't do it.

However, the truth remains that a single joint usually contains as much amonia as an entire pack of cigarettes. So much for healthy. So basically, if I ever decided to smart smoking pot, each and every singly time I did it would be the equivalent of a night out with my friends. Superb! Of course, there are other ways of consumption of cannabis that aren't as damaging, but as everyone knows, smoking is the most generally preferred and if it was ever commercialized, most likely it would be as an alternative to a tobacco cigarette. Either way, I don't wanna try it. The point is that people should really get their facts straight before making comments like "Smoking is bad for you. Try pot instead", because, seriously, to me it seems like they're talking out of their derrières.

So yeah, smoking is bad for me, but I'll take regular tobacco over cannabis every day.

And now, ladies and gentlemen...

I wonder if anyone will ever get to read this. I wonder if anyone will stumble upon this blog and say "Hhhmmm... there goes another douche-y guy without a life trying to make himself feel important on the internet". Oh well. Can't say I haven't found myself on that particular end of the spectrum more than once, and for that very reason doing this right now makes me feel a bit... hypocritical... yeah... sigh.

But you know what? Sometimes, you just have to say "Shove it!". Today I decided that I was gonna give this a chance. Today I decided that I'm gonna take my brain and barf all of its contents for the entire world to see. Perhaps I'll get a few laughs, or perhaps (and most likely) I'll get a few stares and frowns and maybe even a trollish comment or two. And maybe, just maybe (a really big maybe) I'll get one of you to go "Wow, this guy is actually interesting!". I know, that's probably just a glorified wet dream, but hey! A guy is allowed to have some aspirations, no matter how sad and pathetic they may seem...

Yeah... This is starting to sound kind of self-deprecating, so I'm gonna stop doing that. Pity-partying is not funny or enticing in any way, neither for you nor myself. Don't you hate it when people do that? Like "oh yeah, poor me, my life sucks". Because, well, if you have time to blindly spend time sitting in front of a computer screen, chances are you're better off than many, many people, like, for instance, famish kids in the middle of Africa or any one among the millions of people that have caught the Swine Flu (or AH1N1, as some politicians and the pork industry wants us to call it. LOL! Good luck with that!) . So yeah, when you think your life sucks, remind yourself of all the people out there than don't even have resources, time, or even the energy to allow themselves to imagine what it would be like to be typing words for a blog, or reading said blog, as opposed to wondering how the hell are they going to eat tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after that.

Remember, life doesn't suck as much as you think it does. You just don't know that yet because there's still much of the world that's left for you to see.

Soooo... if you're reading this and got to this part, you're probably asking yourself why in hell do I ramble so much because I went from self-deprecating behavior to a pandemic to third-world problems. Well... I don't know. Take it or leave it (You'll probably leave it...). If you do decide to stick around, however, know that this is probably how it's going to be. Why? Because that's how I am. I have the attention span of a fly, and... I kind of like that. Keeps me from getting bored, and if you can appreciate that, it might keep you from getting bored too.

So... I think that's it for now. Writing this was fun! Kind of therapeutic. So I'll try to stick to it. Wish me luck (or not - I'll make my own luck! - movie quote FTW...? No...? Okay....).