French

"To understand is to forgive" - French judge during the revolution

We are all basically nice to each other, right? We've got our circles of friends and family that we'd make up with no matter what they say or do... within reason. Then that circle gets a little wider with the acquaintances and familiar faces; we'll talk to them if they introduce the topic but if they offend you, you'll ignore them and move on. Then there's the total stranger you see passing by you on the street. He or she doesn't exist longer than the Timespan you see them for. If they get in your face, you get right back in their face and feel good about standing up for yourself. If you're being held up in line at a cafe - yell at the barista! You'll get service faster that way, doesn't really matter if you've added to their bad day or not. Or if you're a soldier. Shoot the enemy because he's been designated the enemy. By who? It doesn't matter, just shoot. Okay. Then you see that they have spouses, children, entire communities dependent on them sometimes. Is that justice? Is that moral?

Is it okay to blame a teacher or a family member on your shortcomings? Do most of us do it, or is it just me?

Is it acceptable to claim that you're fair and balanced, then point out how biased the other person is? Is it just me that does this?

Is it okay to be selfish in day-to-day life, then claim selflessness when you donate a few dollars to charity? Is It just me that does this?

Is it okay to blame celebrities, athletes, and politicians for doing what their human, sometimes hedonistic, sides tell them to do? Falling into drugs, greed, performance-enhancing dope and extramarital affairs when we ourselves would do the same things in their position? "Oh, I would NEVER do that, for I would know better and could keep my life on track." Bullshit.

We cannot blame others for being fat, lazy, greedy, self-righteous, or any other trait we find undesirable, because the truth is, someone out there looks at YOU and judges you with the same level of criticism.

So don't do it. Accept them for who they are and enjoy their good qualities. Forgive the bad ones. Otherwise no one's going to forgive you for yours.

And If you have the ability and motivation for self-improvement; do it. Encourage others to join you if it's appropriate.

Never stop growing.

Political Fu

It’s nobody's fault but Wall Street
we took out loans, going in blind
When our families and neighbors cheered us
Gambling their new fortunes on the side

Then WE'RE offended by organ thefts,
And name-calling. Ignoring
The doom-saying by those who took the time to READ the past
Did WE? No.

men cried when they realized this mistake
It was a form of shortsightedness
In which the fed itself did partake
We are in a new era of prosperity, lasting a thousand years at least
Said they then, and did they now
And afterwards we gape at indiscretions made by the priests

We haven’t yet escaped the rat race
“You’re worthless until you’re in college”
We get steadily more and more rules restricting our intake of knowledge
Instead there’s nonstop partying and spending money that to most would seem debase
What does it matter? There’s only so many ways to get laid
And commitment…Is..just..NOT..ONE OF THEM!

(NO WAY) divorce rates are going through the ROOF these days
And there’s no fucking end in sight
Because polygamy requires legal hazes
and excuses for a tryst to last a whole night
which is all fun and games until someone loses their head
and the spurned lover sets fire to the other's bed

Maybe the divorced realize something we don’t;
That everything comes to an end
That there are ideals that we can’t or won’t
Put up more than a finger to defend
“It’s too much work; who has that kind of time anymore?
I can’t let anything cramp my style
Besides, I heard that in high school, jenny was a whore”
What does that make YOU, Kyle”

What does that make YOU?
What does that make ME?
What does that make THEM?
Is there any solution you can see?
there isn’t
there is
No there isn’t
Yes there is
NO THERE ISN’T
YES THERE IS
NO – THERE - ISNT
YES – THEIR – FUCKING – IS
But it’s up to you to figure it out – not something for me to tell you about

Good night, Ladies and Gentlemen

Rhyme-ku

A distant breeze
heard, not felt
as you, Inside, are warm.
full stomachs sing
nearby, sleeping through the storm

I remember a dream, from a month ago, rather vivid
where nothing from this year was real
and it's screaming with vibes of that lunchroom you can feel 'em
the suggestion was altogether insipid
that somehow, someone, could take away what has been
and replace it with the would-have-been
which might have, honestly, been the end of me as Cameron

examine this, my like-minded friends, and be the judge of my logic
it was middle school, public school, daily evolving my neurotic
tendencies to the point where it was just too much to handle,
well. That is when the city called me up and said "son,
you've got a helluva heavy mantle there. You're so awkward
around boys, girls, teachers, and family alike that some would
say you've gone NUTS! A loser! But i'll tell ya what" and he stops at this point
so he can light a cigar that must've weighed half a ton

"I heard you've got some talent with numbers and shapes, and an appetite for big BUTTS"
We've got all a' dis up here in New York, where if you don't like someone you can say "fuck you"
and move on! A kid's free to be whatever he wants to be; geek, goth, jock, rock, hippie, emo, or yuppie
we'll give you all these options and all you'll give in return (at this he leans close) is your puppy
I made the deal, my parents shifted gears, and soon enough we had ourselves a brand new home -
then the stock market collapsed
so we had a shitload of debt and a lotta domestic strife and the dream exploded into a giant fireball and everybody DIED!

except for me. You know why? Because I've got something that you can never have unless you've walked a mile in my shoes - resilience

it's the strength to go on when your parents hate you, your friends avoid you, and every girl you walk past thinks that you're nothing more than a hunchbacked freak. And this strength comes from the confidence that no matter where you came from, no matter where you are now, and no matter how stupid the future looks; you are going to eventually DOMINATE.

This is not a skill that you can just pick up and read about, no - you're gonna have to survive relatives dying (uh-huh) paychecks bouncing (that's right) your parents divorcing and maybe even (oh no) getting arrested and going to jail. What's gonna separate YOU from the crowd is the ability to rebuild a relationship you thought was done for. The will to keep working at a skill that you have a passion for even when everyone around you is saying "you will FAIL." Most importantly, ladies and gentlemen, resilience is the ability to see reasons behind everything that goes WRONG in your life - and to either change them or learn to live with them.

And in the end, it helps you out to be a little selfish

What if

What if you woke up one day and realized that you had a dream to do something entirely impossible?

Would you go for it? Would you give up?

Would you start off on the road to making it happen, realize that it's too much work, and let it go halfway there?

Do you have a talent that you've been wanting to make SHINE and become the best there is at what you do?

Would you be that one-in-a-million person that sticks it out and gets to where they want to go in life?

Today, I've realized that myself and all of my readers have the ability to make theirs happen. You've got resources; your parents, your friends, your teachers, and your relationships with other people. You've got stable homes and relationships that you can draw emotional and material support from. They want to see you succeed! I want to see you all succeed.

What's my dream? To provide food, water, shelter, medicine, and electricity to every person on the PLANET. To acquire the means to do so, to meet the people that'll help me make it happen, and to achieve it before I die. If it takes to the end of the century, so be it. I'll stick around. Do I have this plan fleshed out? Nope, but I'm working towards it all the time.

What's your dream? Let's hear it! I'll do everything In my power, as a friend to all of you - or more ;) - to help you make it.

Above all, live each day for the present and the future. No regrets; take everything one step at a time and enjoy yourself along the way.

My collection

Everybody with disposable income probably collects SOMETHING or other. Welll, since I was raised in the suburbs, I got caught up in the energy drink craze of 2007 - 08; I collect energy drinks in my spare time. Why this, of all things? Because I HATE sleeping when I'm supposed to be working. Because I LOVE exploring all the different flavors and sensations that they bring about; because I can look at each can I've acquired and recall the exact moment when It was drank, how it tasted, what kind of work I was doing, and how much it helped me complete my task. It's a slightly expensive hobby to maintain, I'll admit, but I've never given IT priority over the important things in life, and therefore it is acceptable to me.

So far i've got 47 different cans in my collection, covering a spectrum of caffeine / taurine gradients from a half-cup of coffee's worth to the equivalent of three double shots of espresso: YES they make those, but they're pretty hard to find. Check the vitamin shoppe. Anyway, i've been keeping the cans in New Jersey this past year, and I didn't make very many additions to the collection, SO over the remaining weeks this summer i'll be on the lookout for more exotic fair. You know something kind of funny, though? The guys that own Rockstar ALSO own Monster, and the guys that own Amp sell Mountain Dew as well. This entire multi-billion dollar industry (it's THAT big, people) is controlled by a handful of corporations that dictate exactly what we're going to drink, and while I'm no conspiracy theorist, it's kind of an unsettling thought for someone like me. I mean, for God's sake, Red Bull is a corporation in its own right by now - they've got entire SPORTS stadiums built under their name by now! Ugh, anyways, down to the nuts and bolts reviews.

Stuff I've tried and loved; NOS energy - tastes like candy minus the disgusting aftertaste of Red Bull. It's got 130 milligrams of caffeine per 8 ounces, making it one of the most powerful members of the pantheon.

5 hour energy; a tiny little shot of goodness that actually lacks caffeine but HAS a ton of vitamins and chemicals that gives you a highly noticeable rush and sense of focus. The niacin gives you a rush of blood to your skin, warming you up, and the b-vitamins will wake you up from any amount of tiredness. VERY worth the three bucks if you've got that kind of money to spend.

Spike shooter - this stuff's even stronger than NOS, containing 300 mg of caffeine per 8 ounce can. Ounce for ounce, it beats the competition, but you can't get it in a bigger size (good thing too, since most people get caffeine poisoning at larger doses). It tastes like cough medicine on steroids, no joke, but the Yohimibine and St. John's wort extract mixed in means that you've got an all-day rush to the head PLUS total focus on whatever you're doing. Did I mention it's got zero calories? That's because it was originally sold as a diet drink - well, it works both ways people! Priced in at 2.50 for New York retailers, this is just about THE best bang for your buck.

That covers my favorites, now i'll just have a quick word about Red Bull -

CHEAP, OVERPRICED, IMPORTED TRASH SOLD IN 4-PACKS LIKE SOME SORT OF BEER; IT IS BY FAR THE WEAKEST ENERGY DRINK YOU CAN FIND ON THE MARKET, YET EVERY COLLEGE FRAT-BOY ACTS LIKE IT'S THE GREATEST PARTY DRINK IN THE FUCKING WORLD! I'M SICK OF PEOPLE SINGING THEIR PRAISES FOR THIS STUFF - IT TASTES BAD, IT FAILS AT ITS INTENDED JOB, AND IT COSTS THE COMPANY NOTHING TO MAKE. STOP BUYING IT!

I've got a little wishlist of brands/flavors I've yet to add to my collection, and if anyone's kind enough to help me out here, I'd MUCH appreciate it.

Lost Five-O - 24 ounce can, colored orange
http://www.lostclothing.com/prod/newsArtical.php?ID=639
Venom; looking for 'mojave rattler' and 'killer taipan' - the yellow and purple ones
http://www.venomenergy.com/
Wired x344 and Wired x505 (you can only get these in the south, unfortunately)

Monster energy shot (the one that's the size of a 5-hour energy)
Rockstar energy shot (same size, they come in two-ounce bottles)
Red Bull energy shot (just to expand the collection, even though I despise the brand)

any and all others in that size bottle besides 5-hour energy. I have few 'shot-size' drinks

Amp Traction

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you've been reading this post all the way through, I thank you for your patience. I can't imagine how they have entire MAGAZINES for those upper class types who collect wine bottles <.<

A thought

What If everyone were bald? Cosmetically, we’d lose a valuable part of ourselves that makes up a majority of our self esteem, and there would be nothing to frame our faces. Socially, we would have a much harder time distinguishing one another in a crowd - often we see a person’s hairstyle before we see their face. We’d lose some protection from the elements, too; on a sunny day we’d run the risk of sunburn, and on a cold day we’d lose a lot more body heat without the wonderful insulator that is hair. Thinking about it holistically, it’d be impossible to give hair meaning. We wouldn’t have a hair-product industry that tries to peddle us organic shampoo and conditioner, models wouldn’t highlight the latest hairstyles on the catwalk, and we wouldn’t make fun of people with receding hairlines or bad hair days. In fact, we wouldn’t have something that we use to judge each other with if nobody had hair anymore.

How would you feel if you lost all your hair? How would you see yourself and how do you think other people would see you? How would you view your best friend if he or she also lost all their hair. How would you view your parents or teachers if THEY were bald? Think about it.

That which we take pride in often comes at the expense of others. For every person with beautiful hair there are five people that are so-so or just downright ugly. This fact divides us between the pretty and the not-pretty. Think about it.

State Fair

Okay, you know one of those days where you're GUARANTEED to remember them the rest of your life? Yesterday's trip to the New Jersey state fair was one of those. As soon as we walk in, they've got BULK CANDY with classic style taffy, WARHEADS, jelly beans, big league chew, and sour straws; all for 3.45 for a half-pound. I paid 5 bucks for the biggest bag of candy i've ever seen... and I didn't even get to finish it all in one night! xD

Me and Kira both got unlimited-ride stamps, so we rode on every single roller coaster there was, took on the GRAVITRON (my favorite ride of all time) twice, bumper cars, haunted houses, a petting zoo - complete with wild lemurs, camels, goats, macaws, llamas, donkeys, miniature horses and an ELEPHANT! Then there was that massive thing that spins you around, flips you upside down at the same time, and in general makes you feel like you're going to throw up like no other (the bright flashy lights everywhere you look did NOT help). Even that one was fun, though, I just wish I hadn't eaten beforehand. Remind me to never eat a fried oreo again, hmm? Tasty, but just.. UGH. They had corn dogs - nostalgia from my childhood - so that was pretty bamf. OOOOH and they had the glider thing! It was this easy, kind of kiddie ride, where you lay down on your stomach on this glider contraption and you're spun around so it feels like you're flying. THAT made the whole trip worth it; I haven't been in that one or the Gravitron since 6th grade.

Ride-gasm and food orgy aside, they also had a magic show that was really effective, and a hypnotist that was plying his trade near the beginning of the fair. All in all, it's worth the price if anyone wants to head to Giant's stadium before July 5.