Apparently we've become jukeboxes

Angry ranter mode engaged:

To steal a line from Bill Hicks "I am not a fucking jukebox. You do not get the luxury of shoving a quarter up my ass and getting to select your own jokes. I have material planned."

Have we become so self-centered that when we comment about the attention, or lack of attention that we receive in our diaries, and journal posts, and facebook entries, and other mindless errata that we then think we are entitled to bitch about the KIND of response we get when someone does make a nod or reference or acknowledgement of the post? Seriously? Bitching about getting acknowledged, whether in passing or directly, bitching about the acknowledgement not being enough, or the response not being on par with the response you give to others has now become socially accepted? Because to me it appears that this is just a classic case of whining for attention. I would like to think that. I really do. Otherwise it means that technology has made the world turn into a place where everyone is a superstar in their own mind and all have delusions of grandeur.

This has not been the first time that this has happened to me, nor is this something I've had to deal with with just one person. I've noticed it quite a bit these days from many different sources: facebook, myspace, livejoural to a certain extent; basically any place that allows someone to post in a public forum. And it is has made me stop and think about whether or not all this 'social networking' is good for the soul or if it detracts from genuine human interaction. If we are now at the point where we are concerned about the amount of responses that we get, (be it facebook, forum, livejournal, some memebase like icanhazcheezburger, or some other public domain blow-horn) or whether or not people think that something we post is witty enough for the 'in crowd,' (let's face it, like the real world, these sites have spawned their own cliques) then has communication (the act and form) dwindled to the point where it is no longer really meaningful? People are not jukeboxes. You do not, or at least should not, get the luxury of shoving a quarter up their asses and expect positive comments from them. Well, I'm sure some people would give you positive comments after you shoved a quarter up their ass, but I'm willing to bet that those people are a very select group of fetishists and not necessarily the general public at large. The greater public actually tends to not want quarters shoved up their asses and generally starts avoiding you after you've pulled a quarter out of your pocket and asked them to a bend-over one too many times. (Usually that number of times is more not than once... maybe twice if they think the first time was just a bad day.)

Here's a novel concept, throw your comments out there, throw your writing out there, throw your thoughts out there and see what gives you bites and what doesn't, and most importantly DON'T CARE. Don't care that you didn't get fifty responses to your comment like your friends do. Don't give a shit that SomeDoucheyPoster didn't think your forum post was legible and don't give a fuck if someone flames you. Most of these people you will never see in real life. And lets be truly honest: the majority of them don't give a fuck about you. Sure they might say they are sorry to hear your inbred, great uncle, twice removed, just died -- but that is all they are really going to say if you are lucky. Most of them will shrug and really think, sucks to be them, glad its not me.

Don't care if someone you like doesn't comment on every fucking thing you post. Seriously, these sites are the equivalent of social AND information diarrhea. Sometimes you'll see some gems out there that really shine, but the majority of it is nothing more then a collective mass with the consistency of watery, sticky, brown velcro that not even an industrial strength does of mind-bleach will cleanse from your brain once you view it.

When I post about something I purchased, or when I post an idea I have, or really post anything, I don't give a flying fuck if anyone likes or cares about it. If I get a comment... cool, if I don't -- eh, who gives a fuck? While I may have cared enough to post it, I never care enough to wonder whether Mary J. Rottencrotch really thinks my misc. folder is funny. Who cares if my close friend got a new 360 Kinect? Good for him. Is it mind-blowingly important enough that I'm going to go out of my way to give him anything outside of a nod of the head? FUCK NO.

Am I hypocrit for posting this rant on a public location? Maybe. Do I give a shit that you may think I'm being one? Not at all. Did what I say piss you off a bit? I honestly hope so. I hope everyone who reads this gets a chuckle and then says 'oh wait, I do this... fuck you writer!' Because we need a collective kick in the neck. Not everything you post is important -- in the final analysis, almost all of whatever is posted on the internet is only important enough to the person who posted it, regardless of whether they think they should be acknowledged. The internet has become a sea of information-streams and some are lucky enough to bob to the top for an extended period of time. That kind of information-treading takes time, skill, a touch of panache and a shit load of luck.

That's enough ranting for me. I need to go tell SomeDoucheyPoster that he sucks balls because he commented that my image of Santa fisting Jesus is offensive and unchristian-like.

One word at a time

So... Christmas and the 'holiday season' is upon us and I'm finding that as usual, I absolutely hate everything about this time of year. And yes, I know hate is a strong and powerful word. And yes I know it is, for the most part, an extremely negative word that denotes a level of bigotry, preconceived conclusions based on a complete lack of evidence, closed-mindedness, and effectively announces 'fuck you and your argument, you're not going to change my mind (sticks fingers in ears and says 'la-la-la-la....') And yes I know I should never use the word 'hate' lightly due to the power that it comes with. AND I HATE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

Having experienced Christmas as a child not raised by religion, I always had a preconceived notion that it was just a time of year to put up a pretty tree, put pretty decorations on it, and pretty lights, and pretty much make it pretty, and then take pretty paper off of boxes that contained pretty cool shit... or clothes. As I grew up I slowly learned about the religious ideals and history to it, but being a heretical non-believer that did very little to make me appreciate the holiday; in addition to always having been a bit of a loner and rebel, it probably didn't help that I scorned religion as I was brought up in a town that was an amalgamation of various flavors of a contemporary religion that tends to reek of self-indulgent hypocrisy (read: Christians.) The end result was a potporri of ideals that blended together such that  no matter at what level you sniffed it, it still smelled like utter shit to me (much like the odor of the 'Christmas spice' smell that your nose is raped with when you enter a Michael's around this time of year.)

As you may guess, I'm not exactly the most religious person in the room. My beliefs start at the idea that we are all born of the universe and elements that exist in it and they stop with the 'golden rule.' Though keep in mind, that this particular set of limits includes the golden rule within it's set. For those who are not familiar with math, you can say it stops after the golden rule just so we can all be clear.

Now don't get me wrong. I do enjoy this time of year in that I get to visit and be with my family. That is what Christmas to me is about. So I enjoy the idea of Christmas being a time to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones. What I do not enjoy is having my ears get despoiled with 'Christmas music' starting on Nov. 1st every time I go to the store to get something as small as a fucking banana. I do not enjoy getting ads shoved in my face with the words 'SALE' on it, the concept of 'Black Friday,' or the offensive (as in 'attack normandy' type of offensive) marketing psychology employed that tries to insert a subconscious idea in your id that you are a shit person if you don't purchase a television or spend x dollars on people this year (x being defined as anything that is honestly outside a responsible persons budget.) I don't want gifts for Christmas, I have more shit then I know what to do with (and seriously folks, some of it can be defined as literal shit as you are talking to someone who thought AvP: Requiem was a fun movie (not good, but fun.))

It seems to me as though we, as a culture, have forgotten that Christmas was really about spending time with family and friends. Though I suppose it could be argued that it was about the birth of a savior and some other shit, of which we've probably misinterpreted the ideas of since legend and myth usually ends up being some kind of tall tale built from some event that probably was not really as huge as what it is now made out to be. It seems now that if you aren't willing to put yourself into debtors prison then you aren't spending time with the family. Whatever happened to a mug of hot cocoa, a roaring fire with some good music in the background and some fine bullshitting? That's what I want. That is what I enjoy. Instead I"m treated to traffic jams and pissed off shoppers every time I get off my shift at the office and head home.

This year, I commissioned my friend to make some earrings for my girlfriend Casey and also a set for my mother. I drew a picture of Casey and I, which I'll be needing to get a frame from the store in a while and then it shall probably reside either at her office desk or in her bedroom. Outside of that, I have gone to the store only to pickup a large flannel jacket for my father and some scotch for my buddy Ryan. The only thing that I really want in return is to see family and friends. Everything else associated with this holiday season can go fuck itself (except eggnog, eggnog is always welcome. And it can bring its friend Brandy along with it)