Thursday, June 12, 2014

Do it for YOU.

So yesterday, I saw the release of a movie trailer for Dumb and Dumber 2. I admit being a fan of the first flick. Of course, stacked up against some of my more favorite comedies of all time, it would take a back seat, but still it is in my top 20. I have affection for the movie and the experience I had watching it. Lately we've been getting a lot of old riders hopping back into their saddles for one last go around at it. People always seem to naysay it and then it comes and we enjoy it. Rocky Balboa (Rocky 6) was immensely enjoyable. As was Rambo 4. Sometimes we get an Indiana Jones 4, but I digress. Even though that movie is flawed, it still was nice to see Harrison back under the fedora again.

So I watch the trailer and it seems okay. I will likely see it and maybe enjoy myself for a bit. I checked in today and saw the loooooong line of people bashing the upcoming flick's existence and pouring buckets of searing hate on everyone involved with it, or who would potentially like it. This all comes from the internet.

My opinion: The world was better without the internet. For all the great things we can do now, it has brought an equal amount of bad. We are so angry and disconnected from each other that it scares me no end. Opinions stayed in your home and you didn't feel the hate of the world in your life everyday. Your problems and successes were your own and that was the end of it. It just seems that no one is stoked on anything anymore. Why does everyone NOT want you to enjoy the things you would enjoy? And why do people not want you do to what you want to do? Why is there so much hate? These are interesting questions to ponder. Did this come up recently because we're so disconnected and annonymous, or were we always like this?

Its no wonder that the future generations are starting to struggle with basic human skills, cyber bullying and they feel quite disconnected. Also I see a genuine lack of drive to be a good worker at a place of employment, and no drive to pursue a whimsy and a dream. Perhaps because the world and its hate has beaten them down so much that they are scared to be all they can be, like whatever they like and do what they want to do. You ever get the question of whats your "Guilty Pleasure?" Like your tastes should be hidden and you should feel guilty for liking it?

I say fuck that. Do what you like. Enjoy what you like. Pursue your dreams and do it for you.

This week I did an experiment. I just laid back a bit. I hit FB a little bit, but not as much as usual. I watched some Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes I kept putting off watching. I had never seen them before but never had time to do so. Well I made the time and I enjoyed them. You know what else? I read a book. I read "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman, my favorite author. I bought the book last year and it sat here doing nothing. I spent $25 on it and it just sat on a shelf, unread. But I picked it up and read it and loved every page of it. It felt good to dive into something new and at the same time, old. That old feeling where the wicked world was decades away and its just you and your mind. I loved that feeling. I want more. I am going to read other books I have sitting here.

I drank some booze with the wife last night. We talked deep about some things and we watched some music DVDs I have. They have sat in my closet collecting dust. I brushed them off and put them in the player and shared with her a bit of my world. It was delightful. She didn't judge me. She was stoked on the experience.

I chased a few whimsies this week. I applied for a job I never thought I had a chance to get and I got an email from them with an offer for an interview. It has me very excited. I saw a publisher is doing a collection of comics from a well known pop culture property that I happen to like and I tossed them a message offering a pinup. They liked the suggestion and said I should send them something. Both of these things might not happen. I might not get the job, I might not get in the book. But I bothered to ask. Sometimes you gotta just ask the universe for something and you might be surprised what you get back. It NEVER hurts to ask.

The great AMANDA FUCKING PALMER is coming out with a book in November about these things. And she printed out a manifesto statement about the book. I think it is fitting here:

"Asking is, at its core, a collaboration. Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with - rather than in competition with - the world."

People who make art (in whatever form) mostly aren't asking to compete. They are asking to be a part of the big picture. They want to give back. And NO ONE should ever tell them no. Or make the snarky remarks. Just let the art come and if you like it, great. If its not for you, thats fine too. But let it come. Because the folks who made it made it for them. Sometimes there's a monetary goal, sure. Ya gotta eat and have a roof (or 10). But someone in the mix always is in there chasing the whimsy. Someone in there just wanted to make art. For them. And fuck the world if they try to stop them.

So I say folks: Find your dream and pursue it. Don't give a fuck about what they say. they. Who are they? Fuck em. Do your shit. Do it because you want to. Do it cause you can. Cause life is short. Live YOUR life. Find YOUR happiness. And ignore the world. Forget the hate. Play in your mind. Enjoy that book or that DVD or that record. Cause its for you. No one else.

Do it all for you. And get offline every now and then. Its good for you.
(but please... come back here once in a while!) ;)

T

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