Tales, Truths, & Tolerisms

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/13/social.networking.class/index.html

So CNN had an article a few days ago about the concept that there is a certain class distinction between the folks who use Facebook and Myspace.  I thought the article was pretty interesting yet a little inaccurate. Two years ago, I think the article would have been accurate. In my own personal life, all of the people I went to college and worked with were on Facebook, and the people I knew from parties, bars, and places like there could only be found on MySpace.  Now, I don’t think thats necessarily true. I think everyone has been willing to trade in the custom backgrounds and annoying profile music for a stable social network that is extremely usable and whose settings on things like privacy, photos, and apps are pretty simple to figure out.

Let’s be honest, I logged into my old Myspace on 2 consecutive days. There were a total of three status updates from my friends over a span of 24 hours. Two of them were really twitter updates, so in reality, of my 120 friends on Myspace, only one of them actually updated their Myspace status. I suspect Myspace will join the exclusive company of Webvan, Geocities, Angelfire, and Lycos very soon.

If there is one thing that I learned from both growing up and working, its that results matter…and everything else is just additional info.  I  had a boss who once told me that someone’s detrimental actions were not my fault,  but since I was the project lead, it still was my fault because I let it happen on my watch.  In addition, once a mistake or negative action has happened, you learn from it, and move on.  In my mind, thats what a winner’s mentality is. You haven’t forgotten the teacher’s lesson, you simply have forgotten the math problems.

I think the same thing can be said about relationships as well.  When I was younger, I would blame many of my actions or attitudes on various bad experiences I had in the past. When in reality, my actions, attitudes, and emotions were really only owned and controlled by me.  Sure previous stimulii can influence future behavior, but in reality, the actual control of oneself is what makes us alive right? The concept of Free Will seems to be part of American Culture that is ingrained in almost every marketing message on television. (i.e Just Do It)

I guess in some way, Popular Culture has convinced us that we ourselves are not to blame for our own shortcomings. Parents, Neighborhoods, Status, and Ex- Boyfriends / Girlfriends/Spouses are to blame for us being unhappy, or unable to think positve thoughts or maintain positive relationships. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concept of chemical inbalances, behavior disorders, etc, but at some point, when we think about who is responsible for the direction that we are going in life, or how we have reacted to our previous mistakes or misfortunes, I think the only being that can be found is the one in the mirror.

 

 

Surely I can kick your ass because I am a fan of Chuck Liddell

So after my company softball team went on a hitting spree and scored 25 runs on the other team (ignore the fact the other team scored 21), we decided to have a post-game Margarita at a popular Mexican place here in Atlanta called El Azteca.  While we were enjoying our win, we noticed two guys ages 21 to 29, face to face, in a heated conversation with each other. While we were secretly hoping that those two tools would start swinging, we couldn’t help to notice the nice and shiny graphic tees both were wearing. We also had a good chuckle when one of them said something to the effect “Well I would just tap out”.  Since when do bar fights have referees?

So I found the Graphic Tee Fan Club on Facebook and a game that you should play everytime you see a graphic tee…

1) Determine % of shirt covered in graphics. This decimal value is your ‘graphic’ modifier. 

For instance, a value of .01 would be for your typical plain t-shirt with perhaps the logo of the clothing company on it. This shirt is very loosely qualified as a graphic tee and as such, not eligible for consideration as an ultimate graphic tee. 

A value of 1.00 would signify a t-shirt completely covered in graphics (this however, is not physically possible in this reality, for if it did, our universe would collapse in on itself and we would cease to exist)

2) Skulls: Add up the number of skulls present on the graphic tee. 0-5 skulls scores 1 point, 6-10 skulls scores 2 points, 11-15 skulls scores 4 points, and more than 16 skulls scores a whopping 8 points (unheard of!).

3) Animals: If there is a bird present, score the following for each bird: 1 points for a raven/crow, 2 points for an eagle, 3 points for a mythical bird, for example a griffin or phoenix. If it is a mammal, score the following for each: 1 point for a dog, 2 points for a horse/bull/bear, 5 points for a skeleton dog/horse/bull/bear.

4) UFC: Subtract 5 points for any UFC fighter’s name present on the shirt. Drinking a 12-pack and wrestling in your living room with your buddies after UFC 91 doesn’t make you Randy Couture, it just makes you gay.

5) Biblical: Add 2 points for the Grim Reaper or any other devils. Subtract 2 points for any angels…unless they are badass angels.

6) Rivets: If the tee has metal rivets on it, you get two bonus points + a free high-five

7) Reflective Lettering/Graphics: If any part of the graphic tee has shiny lettering and/or graphics, subtract 1 point, unless you wear your graphic tee while jogging at night and need it for safety sake.

In summary:
(Skull + Animal- UFC penalty + Biblical + Rivet Bonus – Reflective Penalty) X Graphic Modifier = AWESOME GRAPHIC TEE SCORE