Big Bird In China

Whoa. It is almost time for China.

Grapefruit Diet ... DIET!

McDonald's should never be given a dedicated left turn.

It is ridic that people make it so easy to be fat.

Waiting on the World to Change

This John Mayer song is interesting.

For any other artist, I would take the song's lyrics as they are; in this case, standard, jaded, anti-war teenage angst.

However, considering that John Mayer is much, much smarter than your average musician/lyricist/comedian, I'm tempted to believe that he's thinking on a higher level.

The lyrics to this song feel tainted with double meaning. E.g.:

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance

I think most would assume that the "we" he refers to is standing at a distance not by choice but because that's as close as "we" can get. If he wanted to be more explicit, he should have said "When they keep us at a distance", or something along those lines. The fact that he uses the word "standing" connotes a feeling of inaction by choice. That's weird to me.

Also, e.g.:

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

These lines also seem to imply that "we" have a sense of entitlement to inherit the world, despite lacking the motivation or interest in making a difference.

Also, he could just be super-high all the time.

Things Just Ain't the Same for Gangsters

It's ridic how there are people at the amusement park who look visibly unhappy. I find it hard to believe that you can go to an amusement park and be angry.

Also, this little girl dropped her ice cream cone and it faceplanted onto the pavement. I have never seen someone look so thoroughly disappointed.

I'm In Love With A Stripper

Strip clubs are weird.

I don't foresee myself going to a strip club ever in my lifetime.

Maybe just once to celebrate Thanksgiving.

This post was not well thought out.

I Wanna Be a Rock Star

Drums are super bad-ass, and since high school it's been the one instrument I've always wanted to learn but never was able to do, since I lived in an apartment at the time. Also, knowing how to play the drums is impractical outside of actually being in a band, compared to playing guitar, piano, etc.

However, the thought of being to coordinate and use all four of my limbs independently from, and yet in concert with, each other has always blown my mind-grapes.

Thus, one goal of mine for the upcoming school year is to rock out in the jam room and learn the drums.

That Kid Just Hit It Farther Than Me

I've been going to the driving range a lot lately. Several times a week, in fact. It's weird that I don't know what the verb is to describe "going to the driving range" succinctly. "Driving" usually refers to operating an automobile, and "golfing" usually refers to playing 9-hole/18-hole.

In any case, I think I'm getting pretty decent at hitting the ball straight and far with the irons, after two summers of struggling massively. The woods still boggle my mind. It's gotten to the point now where I can drive 80%+ of my 3-irons straight for 200+ yards, which is encouraging; however, I probably hit 30%- of my 1-woods for about the same distance. That is dumb.

Also, putting is impos. Seems like people should be way more concerned about being able to putt, rather than being able to drive, since approx half of your strokes are from the putting green. Or at least that's what it seems like, since I 2- or 3-putt every hole.

Also, I think I will try to become good at golf without taking any lessons at all. Long-term, this is probably a bad decision, but I think it's way more interesting to figure it out on my own.

I will def try to go golfing a lot in this, the year of my seniority.

"No Problem!"

Back in middle school, one of my teachers always talked about how much he hated it when people responded to "Thank you" with "No problem". He claimed that saying "no problem" implied that the one saying thanks could have potentially created a problem for the other person. This, apparently, was impolite.

I don't know why I thought of this the other day, but I realized just now how ridic that sounds. Seems like the reason why someone would thank someone else is because the thankee did something that doesn't necessarily benefit himself to benefit the thanker. Thus, it almost seems necessary for the thankee to inform the thanker that the thankee's loss did not outweigh the thanker's gain.

I'm not sure if any of that makes sense.

Oh, but I remembered why I thought of this. My manager here at work seems to thank everyone at every possible opportunity she gets, regardless of circumstance. She just thanked someone via phone approx four times in a 15 second span.

Weird as it may sound, I dislike this degree of thankfulness. Not only does it diffuse the sincerity of each thank, but I feel it makes her seem like she's way above everyone else. It's as if other people are always doing favors for her, like she's entitled to those favors.

Not sure if that makes any sense either.