I love lent, but im not sure why. Im not overly religious, I hate holidays, and I genuinely love the things that I give up so it makes no sense. I suppose the real reason is that im a big fan of self sacrifice and its easy to limit it to 40 days per year.
This year I decided to give up meat, which in retrospect was a bad decision (more on that in a later post). In past years I have given up muffins, energy drinks, bacon, and cans and bottles of beer. What I found is that after Easter my love for these things had diminished (note I still love bacon, but just not as much as I did that year). In fact I gave up energy drinks in 2009 I havent had a single red bull since. Its strange that rather than an absence makes the heart grow fonder aspect I wind up having an a out of sight out of mind relationship with these things. I also dont believe in days of absolution that some practice on Sundays and on holidays like St Patrick's day so I have to go cold turkey during the entire lenten season which makes it harder to fall into old patterns after Easter. This is beneficial since by and large the things that I give up arent the best for you, and by decreasing my consumption I can improve my life, which is the end goal of any self sacrifice.
Some people give up the same thing every year, while I understand the tradition aspect it seems like once you conquer something then you have to move on to the next thing. This gives me the chance to learn about myself and try to push my horizons which is something that I try to do as often as possible. I give up some seemingly frivolous things but when you look at how giving them up changes my relationship with them it actually makes sense. When I gave up bottles and cans beer last year it seemed like a joke. Whats the big deal, I could still drink beer so my social life wasnt ruined, but I had to find new and interesting ways to get there. But then when you look at it if I wanted a beer I had to go out to a bar rather than just sitting on my couch. Im not saying that I planned it this way, but having just moved to a new place it gave me a reason to go out and check out new places and meet new people when I would probably be hanging out by myself.
The religious aspect of Lent is not lost on me. Even as a bad catholic I feel closer to God when I am reminded of my sacrifice, and hence his sacrifice daily. Whenever I have to make the choice between going for whatever I gave up or giving in I am forced to think about why I am doing this, which in turn leads me to think about religion. I may not be very pious, but I like to think of myself as "spiritual" (Vermont hippie language) and knowledgeable about religion. I didnt mean for this post to be a critique or justification of Lent or why I practice it while shunning other religious holidays, but just as a way to explain how I spend 40 days and 40 nights each spring trying to better myself.
***I am not a theologian or religious scholar, these views are my own and do not represent my feelings about your relationship with God, Allah, Yahweh, Ted Nugent, Buddha, The Force, Jesus, Robo Jesus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whatever god or gods you hold dear.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Brave New World
Im addicted to Facebook. There I said it, the first step is admitting you have a problem, while I'm at it im also addicted to bacon, and working, and rage, and caffeine, and Graneys mozzarella logs, and a million other things. The difference is that while I am addicted to those things I can go weeks or even months without them, I may go through withdrawal symptoms and they may weigh heavy on my mind, but in the end I can live without them. Facebook not so much.
I check Facebook multiple times every day, I check it as soon as I wake up, and as I am climbing into bed, I check it while sitting in traffic and while at work. I have posted status updates at stop signs, and checked into pretty much anywhere with a site. Why? Are my friends really that interesting? Or is my life that boring? Does what I say carry so much weight that I must share it with the world? I admit that I tend to say some witty things, but the world will still function without my observations about pharmacy customers or musings about sports. I am an addict, and inspired by the timeline feature that was forced on me against my will I now present a timeline of how I got this way.
December 23rd 2004- I join The Facebook at the urging of a friend who said it would be the "next big thing." I find it coincidental that December 2004 is when Facebook hit its one millionth member. ACP(HS) didnt even have its own network until 2009 so at the time we had to piggyback off Union. Old Facebook was boring and didnt really do much, especially compared to the razzle-dazzle Facebook of modern times. I didnt really understand what it did for several years.
August 2007- I attended Grand Council in West Palm Beach blissfully unaware that while I was drinking in the pool to deal with the Florida humidity I was racking up friend requests like no ones business. To show how far smart phones have taken us I realize that I spent 6 days in the sun without checking my email once, only to get home to hundreds of emails and dozens of friend requests. This was the "Ah-Ha" moment when Facebook really clicked for me. When I returned home I spent more time utilizing the new networking tool, specifically to network with southern girls (another type of "Ah-Ha" moment inspired by that vacation)
June 2008- Facebook detox. I was using pretty hard, checking updates multiple times daily and playing Facebook games. When I went to to a conference in Salt Lake City (coincidentally on addiction) and was left in a world where my crummy laptop wouldnt connect to any wireless networks. 7 days Facebook free, didnt last long.
May 2009- Rotations on a dirt road in Vermont, no internet, thank god for smart phones. Facebooking is limited but continues at a steady pace.
October to December 2009- Owen travels the country, Owen uses Facebook to keep everyone up to date with photos of places visited and posts regarding burrito consumption.
May 2010 to present- I am a grown up, I am geographically distant from pretty much everyone, I suck at meeting new people, and am horrible keeping in touch with friends, I hate phone calls, and dont text often, I am also bored at work. This has become a perfect storm of Facebooking. I try to limit my posting to one post per day, but I check for updates constantly. Something has gone wrong and I feel cut off without that little red flag saying that someone else likes my status or has commented on a check-in or has sent me a request with words with friends. Facebook has become my only link to the world, and I am a worse person because of it.
I am not alone, almost everybody is addicted to Facebook, and it just keeps growing. Soon there will be a BILLION users, and Facebook will be more integrated into other websites in order to expand its web presence. Think about it, millions of people worldwide cant live without this site. Mark Zuckerberg is a genius who has completely changed how we think and will continue to change how we are wired for years to come. We now crave instant yet lasting gratification about the things we do or say, we shun other sorts of interaction instead focusing on checking in to wherever we are and sending messages to people we already know. How long before we actually start believing that we have 483 friends who actually care about us, and how will that cheapen the friendships that we truly cherish? Technology is awesome, and it helps us make great advances but how much is too much?
Que the Huxley quotes
I check Facebook multiple times every day, I check it as soon as I wake up, and as I am climbing into bed, I check it while sitting in traffic and while at work. I have posted status updates at stop signs, and checked into pretty much anywhere with a site. Why? Are my friends really that interesting? Or is my life that boring? Does what I say carry so much weight that I must share it with the world? I admit that I tend to say some witty things, but the world will still function without my observations about pharmacy customers or musings about sports. I am an addict, and inspired by the timeline feature that was forced on me against my will I now present a timeline of how I got this way.
December 23rd 2004- I join The Facebook at the urging of a friend who said it would be the "next big thing." I find it coincidental that December 2004 is when Facebook hit its one millionth member. ACP(HS) didnt even have its own network until 2009 so at the time we had to piggyback off Union. Old Facebook was boring and didnt really do much, especially compared to the razzle-dazzle Facebook of modern times. I didnt really understand what it did for several years.
August 2007- I attended Grand Council in West Palm Beach blissfully unaware that while I was drinking in the pool to deal with the Florida humidity I was racking up friend requests like no ones business. To show how far smart phones have taken us I realize that I spent 6 days in the sun without checking my email once, only to get home to hundreds of emails and dozens of friend requests. This was the "Ah-Ha" moment when Facebook really clicked for me. When I returned home I spent more time utilizing the new networking tool, specifically to network with southern girls (another type of "Ah-Ha" moment inspired by that vacation)
June 2008- Facebook detox. I was using pretty hard, checking updates multiple times daily and playing Facebook games. When I went to to a conference in Salt Lake City (coincidentally on addiction) and was left in a world where my crummy laptop wouldnt connect to any wireless networks. 7 days Facebook free, didnt last long.
May 2009- Rotations on a dirt road in Vermont, no internet, thank god for smart phones. Facebooking is limited but continues at a steady pace.
October to December 2009- Owen travels the country, Owen uses Facebook to keep everyone up to date with photos of places visited and posts regarding burrito consumption.
May 2010 to present- I am a grown up, I am geographically distant from pretty much everyone, I suck at meeting new people, and am horrible keeping in touch with friends, I hate phone calls, and dont text often, I am also bored at work. This has become a perfect storm of Facebooking. I try to limit my posting to one post per day, but I check for updates constantly. Something has gone wrong and I feel cut off without that little red flag saying that someone else likes my status or has commented on a check-in or has sent me a request with words with friends. Facebook has become my only link to the world, and I am a worse person because of it.
I am not alone, almost everybody is addicted to Facebook, and it just keeps growing. Soon there will be a BILLION users, and Facebook will be more integrated into other websites in order to expand its web presence. Think about it, millions of people worldwide cant live without this site. Mark Zuckerberg is a genius who has completely changed how we think and will continue to change how we are wired for years to come. We now crave instant yet lasting gratification about the things we do or say, we shun other sorts of interaction instead focusing on checking in to wherever we are and sending messages to people we already know. How long before we actually start believing that we have 483 friends who actually care about us, and how will that cheapen the friendships that we truly cherish? Technology is awesome, and it helps us make great advances but how much is too much?
Que the Huxley quotes
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Origin of Species
For years people have told me that I have funny stories and that I have interesting view points on many issues. While flattering this praise presents 2 problems, first it inflates my ego (as if it wasnt big enough to begin with) and secondly it makes it harder and harder to express myself in short bursts. My facebook addiction allows me to spread my gospel a few sentences at a time and im not really a twitter guy, so if figure that a blog will give me a chance to express myself in a new medium as well as allow me to post complete thoughts about issues.
I am the first to acknowledge that this whole being a grownup thing has been kicking my ass. Over the past year or so I have tried many avenues to get my head straight. Seclusion in books and whiskey, running to Albany every other weekend, working a second job or overtime, whirlwind vacations, a pitiful attempt at painting, immersion in Vermonty culture, and many other attempts at feeling normal have failed. Worst case scenario I add a failed attempt at blogging to the list.
Here are the guidelines that im hoping to set:
1. I will attempt to update at least twice a week, hopefully more
2. I will not bash specific individuals, I may make generalizations, I will talk about people who I see on the street, in bars, at work, wherever, but I will not use their names. I will do my best to not bash anyone who is part of my life
3. This is not a log, im not going to update about what I had for supper (unless it was something awesome) or how my day went. I will try to focus on issues that are important to me, including but not limited to the arts, economics, health care, food, and travel. I will take suggestions if anyone wants to hear my thoughts on specific issues, but for the most part the inspiration will come from things I notice during my daily life.
4. I will try not to be whiny bitch, I will express my problems or views, I will talk about "feelings" and discuss hard issues, but I will do my best to keep emotions in check. ***Angry rants do not count, I reserve the right to rant all day every day, as long as I follow rule #2
5. Names may be changed, I am thinking about adopting a Tucker Max style of giving people nicknames in order to protect the reputations of the innocent, or more likely to protect the reputations of the guilty.
6. I reserve my right to change my opinions and views during later posts. Lets face it everybody's views change sometimes, just because I wrote it down doesnt mean you can use it against me, and if you do then you are an asshole.
7. I reserve the right to plagiarize. I have read enough books and articles, watched enough movies documentaries and TV shows and had so much stuff jammed into my head I sometimes dont know what ideas are my own originals and what was inspired (or even quoted from verbatim) by others.
8. The views and opinions expressed in this blog in no way represent the views of either of my employers, Walgreens Pharmacy or Porter Medical Center, I am in no way a spokesperson for and everything written here is my own blah blah legally blah.
More to follow
I am the first to acknowledge that this whole being a grownup thing has been kicking my ass. Over the past year or so I have tried many avenues to get my head straight. Seclusion in books and whiskey, running to Albany every other weekend, working a second job or overtime, whirlwind vacations, a pitiful attempt at painting, immersion in Vermonty culture, and many other attempts at feeling normal have failed. Worst case scenario I add a failed attempt at blogging to the list.
Here are the guidelines that im hoping to set:
1. I will attempt to update at least twice a week, hopefully more
2. I will not bash specific individuals, I may make generalizations, I will talk about people who I see on the street, in bars, at work, wherever, but I will not use their names. I will do my best to not bash anyone who is part of my life
3. This is not a log, im not going to update about what I had for supper (unless it was something awesome) or how my day went. I will try to focus on issues that are important to me, including but not limited to the arts, economics, health care, food, and travel. I will take suggestions if anyone wants to hear my thoughts on specific issues, but for the most part the inspiration will come from things I notice during my daily life.
4. I will try not to be whiny bitch, I will express my problems or views, I will talk about "feelings" and discuss hard issues, but I will do my best to keep emotions in check. ***Angry rants do not count, I reserve the right to rant all day every day, as long as I follow rule #2
5. Names may be changed, I am thinking about adopting a Tucker Max style of giving people nicknames in order to protect the reputations of the innocent, or more likely to protect the reputations of the guilty.
6. I reserve my right to change my opinions and views during later posts. Lets face it everybody's views change sometimes, just because I wrote it down doesnt mean you can use it against me, and if you do then you are an asshole.
7. I reserve the right to plagiarize. I have read enough books and articles, watched enough movies documentaries and TV shows and had so much stuff jammed into my head I sometimes dont know what ideas are my own originals and what was inspired (or even quoted from verbatim) by others.
8. The views and opinions expressed in this blog in no way represent the views of either of my employers, Walgreens Pharmacy or Porter Medical Center, I am in no way a spokesperson for and everything written here is my own blah blah legally blah.
More to follow
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