Random Ramblings

Society6
LouiJoverArt

1. Sometimes it's more fun to write like this. Random, yet structured. Sometimes the creative juices flow better. Sometimes it gives me ideas.

2. I used to have a Facebook page called Random Ramblings on Nothingness. I don't know why.

3. I strongly dislike #hashtags.

a. I use them, because I understand what they're intended to do, but I only use them occasionally for #fun or #strategically. 

b. I think hashtags have gotten out of control. They're running around wild on social media like teenagers without parental supervision. #makinguprandomhashtagsallthetimejustbecausewecan 

c. All of that being said, I appreciate and get a kick out of funny hashtags, such as what this gentleman did:

#YouMakeMeLaugh #ThankYou #ThisIsAnExampleOfFunnyHashtagUse
#Otherwise #Quit #Hashtagging #Everything #Because #It's #Pointless

 4. Everything changes, even perception.

a. Kate Winslet was considered fat when Titanic came out. I just watched the movie the other day. She was (still is) gorgeous. What was the world thinking back then? She was breathtaking.

b. This is how we treat ourselves. We look back at old photos and think, "I was so thin, beautiful, perfect." You were. You are now. You never realize it in the moment. Change is what makes us realize these things.

5. Lesson of the Day: In Chinese, Chi Ku means: To eat bitterness, the ability to go through difficult times.

6. My favorite shape is quatrefoil. It reminds me of India, of certain places in Asia, of far off places that have gorgeous buildings, spicy food, and kind people. If my heart had a shape, it would be this. You know, outside of the normal shape it actually has in real life.

7. I don't have a favorite color. I have many colors that are my favorites. Cerulean, mink, cobalt. Almost any shade of green. Most shades of gray. Lavender. Red.

a. I also enjoy the absence of color. Black and white are spectacular.

8. Authentic. This is one of my favorite words. It means: genuine, true, reliable. It goes right along with honesty, which I value above most other qualities in a person. Kindness, too. Kindness is King, honesty Queen.

9. Being Internet Famous. That's such a weird concept to me, yet what am I doing with a blog, right? What are any of us doing when we care about how many likes, re-tweets, or favorites we get? Ten tiny years ago none of that mattered. What will matter in ten more?

10. I just found out I have a mutated gene. Guys, I am an X-Men. I'm waiting for my powers to surface.

a. My super power of choice would be: being fluent in every language known to man. Maybe the ones not known to man as well. All languages everywhere. I want to speak, write, understand every single one of them.  

b. Did you know there are cases of people who wake up and can suddenly speak other languages? How many times do I have to get hit in the head for that to happen? Because I've got to be at least half way there. 

c. My defective gene is the MTHFR. You know what's fun? Blaming everything on it. "I'm tired. It's gotta be that Mother Effer! Tripped again, doggone Mother Effing gene!" See what I did there? 

11. In the year 2016 we still have racism, inequality, discrimination, gangs, rape, and now we have a problem with people shooting everyone just because they feel like it. Is this how you pictured the year 2016? It seems like so much of this should be ancient by now, past tense, resolved. Things we read about in books and ponder, wondering how in the world people lived during these times, got away with these crimes, why it took so long before change happened. I wonder what 2030 will look like.

12. "A man without tattoo's is invisible to the Gods." - Iban Proverb

a. Tattoos: one of the greatest things ever created, in my opinion. I love their origins, where and why they started. What they used to stand for religiously, culturally, spiritually. What they also stand for now: rebellion, fun, art. I find it odd and amusing how misunderstood they are, we are, those of us with the tattoos who are judged by those without. 

b.  I've loved tattoos my entire life. When I was a little kid I begged my mom to buy me the fake Lisa Frank glitter tattoos - the Easter edition, specifically. I very clearly remember being at the store, certain my entire little kid life would end if I didn't get those fake tattoos. After I finally wore her down and she got them for me, I spent the next several weeks debating over where those tattoos were going to go on my body as if they were real, permanent, forever. As if the glittery little easter bunny would be on my ankle until I died. 

c. I have seven. They're mostly quotes or poems in different languages. I'm getting a few more this year. This is how they hit me, in waves. Nothing for years, then a few at a time. Placement - where I'll be wearing this piece of art forever - is as important to me today as it was way back then. Placement is crucial. 

13. Passion; noun. A strong and barely controllable emotion.

a. Whenever I get really passionate about something, I either learn everything I can about it or, like in the case of the gluten free taquitos that I just found at Some Burros, I eat them allllll the time until that passion subsides and I go back to being a normal person again.

b. Fangirling is like that. Fandoms, in general, are like that. The psychology behind why we become obsessed with people (or movies, characters, etc.) is interesting business, friends. Do you really know why you're a fan? 

c. The Fiance took me to an Andy Black show the other night for my birthday because I recently became a fangirl of his. We had special meet and greet passes and, up until I actually met him, I was a completely normal, calm, collected human being. The second I met him everything went to hell in a hand basket. I don't remember making eye contact, I forgot everything I was going to say, and I'm pretty sure I was the weirdest I could have ever possibly been. I also looked like a mess because we'd been standing out in the heat for an hour and it had rained the day before, so my naturally crazy hair was doing special spiral swirls everywhere.

I should mention the room was filled almost entirely with teenage girls- that only talked about Andy and how good looking he was and how blue his eyes are and how awesome his hair is. Not that I blame them, he's a babe. There was a lot of screaming, like, a lot. At one point, my own inner fangirl lost her damn mind and screamed along with them when he announced a song he was going to sing. I scared The Fiance. I scared myself.

Never have I felt more ancient in my life. It's cool, I made friends with a sixteen year old. We hung out. She's infinitely more cool than I ever was at that age and probably will ever be.

14. Sometimes the answer is in the absence: Of sound, thought, action. People.

15. History is important. It isn't always told accurately, honestly, or factually. We hurt not only ourselves when we forget and/or alter what has happened in the past, we hurt the future- our future. The generations to come. We learn from mistakes, the ones we make personally, professionally, as a society. If we try to conceal them, we risk repeating them. We've already done this, over and over and over. History is important.