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| After six months, I think it's appropriate to check in about my feelings. Emotionally, I think I feel great about myself. In my previous instance of angst, I was quite resentful of how people conducted business and their own lives. Lately, it's been reinforced by this trend of oversharing, particularly with monotonous tools, such as Twitter. Is life worth sharing if you don't necessarily contribute to anyone else's existence beyond your own?
The one true lesson I've learned within the first half of 2009 is that people don't want to relinquish power. It's just unnatural for most people to willingly give up something that puts them above others. At the same time, we can't be naive enough to wait for power to come into our hands. Most struggle to get on equal footing and many do it in ways that will inevitably piss off people in power.
Now that I'm no longer a youngin', I'll be honest about how I deal with power. I'm no longer obsessed with being in control, because I know that people in power do not stay in power simply due to their own skills and grace. They rely on all the people below them to preserve the structure and status quo. In my younger days, I probably would have been the first to throw a proverbial molotov cocktail to ring out the coming of war.
Nowadays, I've learned that if you truly understand the full extent of the power and authority that you hold within yourself, people will naturally come to you. What they seek may not be your friendship...only your complicity in lending your power to their cause. That's when you realize your true power. You say "No."
No? To not participate just seems...un-American?
You can choose not to help people in power and then it just goes downhill from there. When the ignorant or the incompetent become embroiled in their own crapulence, you can mildly enjoy the irony of the circumstances. For us turtles, the hares will lose out eventually. We win by either consistently amassing a fortune by hard work and savings. We win by living longer. We win by insisting to know more without needing others to know how smart we are.
While I'm holding onto some freaky sense of optimism, I would hope life isn't all about gloating when you finally see those jerks get their just desserts. On the contrary, I'm always looking at how I can contrast my own decisions against the ones made by others. I might not be smiling all the time, but I get immense satisfaction when I smile in the dark, in bed, right before I fall asleep...at least then I know I can have a sexy dream. Sexy dream~
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| Oh yeah, this would have been a very good time to close out this Xanga forever since blogging has gone the way of VHS after so many years. I just wanted to put some closure to some of the cliffhangers left in my last couple of posts.
Yes, I am now a homeowner. This probably means I'm no longer a child, dependent, or irresponsible wanderer. It took a couple of grueling months to get the homebuying process completed, but I have to say there's a very satisfying feeling with no longer having to pay rent to someone's mortgage.
March is right around the corner and about high time for my birthday again. Last year was a tame homebound celebration, so perhaps 2009 warrants a lavish trip somewhere? Oh wait, I did say that I'm more responsible now, right?
With the new year, I do want to make one remark about constant theme of 2008 that we don't speak about enough and that's about personal responsibility. With people at the very top shrugging their shoulders about their accountability and culpability, there's a major reminder to myself that this world is filled with two types of people.
There are many people who work hard throughout their lives, do everything with their own hands to get what they want, and their standing in life is truly a reflection of their character. I can never stress enough how undervalued and underrated these individuals are in our society. In almost every case, these people are not famous, rich, or prodigies. These are average, everyday people who may not have gone to an Ivy League school or earning six-digit salaries. These people that I hold with so much respect and admiration probably don't even see themselves as special, because they are perhaps too humble or ignorant of their status as real people who live for the here and now.
In contrast, I think I've learned to loathe and detest people who embody the opposite of the hardworking spirit. These are not lazy people and they certainly are not without capabilities. However, there is a growing infatuation among the general public and media with this distinguished class of society, where people do not even have to lift a finger and they get everything that they want. These individuals are not stupid or incompetent; they may be spoiled, but not unworldly. Unfortunately, these individuals are, for the most part, less concerned with how the rest of us go about our lives, because they are swept up in their lives of excess.
To this, I introduce you to the "celebutante". I think I'm very accustomed to this echelon in Boston, because we have a lot of spoiled children who come to attend our higher education system and they really don't understand why they are going to college. The clear signs of these people are their insistence upon clinging to their campus life, the club scene, and probably nothing else. I've not surprised anywhere when you ask these people about issues happening in their community (if they even know what that means) and what have they done outside of school to better understand the world.
Similarly, the celebutante relies upon the coffers of wealthy families to fuel their fantasy lives, having never worked a job that isn't given to them. Yes, we can all be jealous of being born into money, but we should all be puzzled about how celebutantes can find no qualms about having their entire lifestyle bankrolled by another person. In my personal experience, I have been looking down at one particular individual who hasn't worked a job in probably years now since he's been going to college. He spends most of his time now just going off to foreign countries and absorbing the ambiance before deciding to retreat back to the United States when it suits him. Is that what life is really about to some people? You really have to slap their parents for not teaching him anything...but you know these folks probably get their sweet revenge in the grave when the money finally dries up.
2009. All you need to know is that if you're doing what you need to do to survive, you're all set. Real people won't ever wait around for others to hand them their next paycheck. You go to work everyday; you come home and make yourself dinner; life is what you make of it. For the celebutantes out there, when money fades and wrinkles appear, thank yourself for a job well done...you reap what you sow.
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| Although my updates are rather sporadic and mostly nonsensical, I did
have a monumentous piece of news. I have decided to
purchase my first home!
Yes, even a
lowly grunt such as myself is capable of purchasing a condo. Not much
to disclose at this point, but I'll be sure to update once I speak to
the bank and my lawyer.
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| It's almost the end of June and summer's nearly halfway through. As always, I am swept up in the chaos of Pride season. So far, it's just been Boston Pride, but NYC is next on my list. Granted, a bad economy should also affect gay people, but somehow you don't see people cutting back during this period of celebration. Of course, this doesn't mean that people have been saving up neither...so maybe we'll have some people with some screaming credit card statement once mid-July hits.
Not much to report until after July, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meanwhile, feast your eyes on this:
 Happy Pride 2008! | | |
| Thanks to all the folks who gave me phone calls and text messages (damn you 10-cents charges!) wishing me a happy birthday. I can't believe how many people actually remembered, but I guess I should be flattered how attentive folks are.
The basic birthday vacation for this year comprised of a hot pot party, Wii-bash, multiple trips to a strip bar, a field trip to the Museum of Science, and dinner at a sushi restaurant.
Here's a sampling of some rolls served at Douzo, a yuppie hotspot:
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