6 of 52: The Few Times I Like Media

Sometimes I hate media. That's a lie. I almost always hate media. Chris and I saw two reporters from NBC at the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield. They were questioning a woman about Lincoln Park and of course all I heard was irrelevant shit coming out of her mouth. Chris and I waited at the light intentionally so we could go next but they already turned around. I was pissed because I actually wanted to say something insightful. It seems as if whenever you watch T.V. or hit up Yahoo or something all the stories are worthless or depressing. And it’s not like you can get away from it. We live in a propaganda based world, and there’s no way around it.

I try and avoid the news because it is surrounded with animosity and problems. Not once in five years have I seen news regarding, War in Darfur, Poverty in India, Child Prostitution in Russia, Communism in China, or even current reports on the non-profit charity Redcross. Instead I see drug busts, corrupt politicians and Chris Brown with iron fists. I love sports so if I watch T.V. it’s always on ESPN Sportcenter.

And no I don’t like seeing reports on 150 players who ALL used steroids, especially one of the best players in the game getting paid more then anyone else… to cheat. Or an Olympic champion who is an idol for many kids, who supposedly is a class above the rest, smoking a bong. But this is America. And they only care about America.

So I like when I see a feel-good story. Like the one I saw today about Clemson freshman guard Tanner Smith who used all of his money to give tote help bags to teens with cancer. No, he’s not the only person who does this, but just the fact that he can, inspires me.

There are a number of historic philosophers in history, but honestly none of them would have been heard if they were just regular people. Aristotle came from a family that was one of Greece's wealthiest. Sure his thoughts were great, but nobody would have ever listened if he wasn’t a “somebody.” It’s kind of sad but for the most part you need to have connections or money to be heard.

That’s why I think people in positions of power have an ethical responsibility to not only ‘not mess up’, but to help others. Tanner Smith is no superstar to anyone who watches basketball, but at 9 he only had 3 wishes.

• Play pro ball
• Get a Dog
• Make kids with Cancer Laugh

I don’t know about you but I’ve never met a nine year old who’d think of that third wish. This is why it’s a crying shame that there are not more people like him.

I always wonder why people with money are so vain and selfish. It starts off good, with most stars keeping their ego and slowly dwindles away resulting in them bitching out one of their colleagues for “stepping in front of him.” I always tell myself that if I ever had that much money I’d never turn into one of them. But who knows?

That’s why I find certain people admirable, like Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Oprah Winfrey and especially Warren Buffet, who donated $43.5 Billion last year !!!! That’s what I want to see on the news. I don’t need some guy talking about change, I want to see people making a difference. If I wasn’t so broke I’d love to go to impoverished areas and help people enjoy a higher standard of living.

So I don’t care if Tanner Smith averages 3 points a game for the rest of his career. I have a tremendous amount of respect for someone who can do something like that. That makes him a Superstar.

5 of 52: A Shining New Era, is Tiptoeing Nearer… Be Prepared

The beginning of the end if you will. The past century has been a magnificent one. One of industrialization, social righteousness, and great magnitude. Sure the British Empire was the greatest this world has ever seen, but that was in a time of the New World. Impoverished nations and third-world countries scattered the globe. The emergence of the United States as the world’s superpower was unmatched as they had to fight all odds to overcome the Royalty of Britain, the Communism of Russia, and the Dictatorships of Germany and Italy. A century of pure power. But all good things must come to an end.

15 degrees and 800,000 people stand on Capitol Hill to witness a black man take the Presidency. The shear will of people to travel there to see a man who just two years ago was virtually unheard off. And Clap. Clap. Clap…. What a speech. People are going crazy. You’d think Mr. Obama was the new messiah, the savior. And he certainly addressed the problems of this crumbling nation. Not struggling, Crumbling.

Personally I don’t think HOPE will change the minds of most financially fucking stupid American’s to continue buying things on credit, we all know they can’t afford.

I don’t think CHANGE will facilitate a new U.S. defense that will step up to the aid of suffering nations. Forget Darfur, Rwanda, Israel/Gaza, and Senegal. Now we only invade countries we have no business occupying.

I don’t think FAITH will fix increasing domestic problems of Drugs, Teenage Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Gun Violence, and the early corruption of this nation’s children.

I don’t see 10,000 Inauguration Balls as the way to raise money for suffering families, while athletes could lose $5 million and would hardly blink.

This isn’t called being Pessimistic, this is called Stark Truth. If you actually look beyond the realm of North America you’ll see that it’s no longer filled with third word countries who have to rely on the United States to "have their back." If you pay attention then you will notice countries like China and India have been buying an obscene amount of airliners and such an outstanding number of nuclear weapons, it would make 1970's Russia cringe.

It's an internal shame that the world no longer wants to follow "The American Dream" because frankly today it's become an oxymoron. Why would the east want to follow the 'world power' when in their country technology, industrialization, and opportunity is at every block. There's no such thing as the epitome of a great nation, as the bars are always being raised. The rest of the world simply caught up.

It's a sad truth but the good years are gone. Even if the problems were minor I don't think Barack would be able to fix them. It's kind of like the longest standing game of Domino's ever. America's been going well; but once one bank crashes, the domino's all start tumbling.

Whenever I see it in my head I see the song "Be Prepared" with Scar in the Lion King, signaling a change that has been biding it's time. And now is Here.

4 of 52: Cause Everyone's Doing It

25 Things That Are So Random, You Won't Even See It Coming


1. I would love nothing more then to become a writer. I have soooooo many thoughts floating around in my head that sometimes I just have to write it down so I know it was once there. I prob have hundreds of pages of stuff just packed away.

2. I love pissing people off. Call it weird but nothing makes me happier then seeing someone tick. For most people I know exactly what will make them mad and I try hard to see them blow up. Weird I know.

3. I never do my laundry at school. I take my laundry home every weekend. The one time I did it at school, several socks when missing and I have refused to do it here since. Those sock thieves are fucking everywhere.

4. My family tends to have a lot of drama. Brown people tend to have even more drama. I HATE DRAMA. I like my white friends perfectly fine :)

5. Rap collaborations are awesome. Songs like: Drive Slow, Welcome to Atlanta-remix, We Takin' Over, are some of my favs just cause they all have so many different rappers with unique styles.

6. I'd expect that if anything happened then my boys would back me up, even if I was clearly in the wrong. I'd do the same for them. We'd discuss everything else later.

7. Rivalry's are what makes life interesting. Sports, Politics, Religion, Family, you name it, it's all about rivalry.

8. I sometimes believe God put women on earth INTENTIONALLY just to fuck with guy's heads. Sometimes I just have no idea what goes on in that puzzle that is a woman.

9. If were still friends by next year and you read this you’re invited to mine and Evangeline Lilly's (Kate from LOST, ABOVE) wedding. She's perfect and our babies will be perfect too.

10. I like to think I’m funny, and I LOVE making people laugh. Because when I see that smile it makes me in turn laugh again.

11. I wish my parents would have taught me ummmm 6 foreign languages when I was young, it would make me a stud today.

12. Athletes tend to become my idols and I hate when one of them lets me down. I pick them all for not just their athletic ability but for their integrity and the ability to be a LEADER which is harder then most people think.

13. I kind of have this thing where everyone has to like me. I like to think I’m a nice guy and don't really want to give anyone a reason to dislike me. I'm fine with some hating me, but that's only because I felt that way about them first.

14. I believe everything has a phase. It is only exciting for a small amount of time until something new and better comes along. Like Pokémon cards (see #15).



15. I'd probably have more money to pay for college if I didn't waste thousands of my parents dollars when i was young on those fucking pieces of thin cardboard with some retarded picture.

16. One of my pet peeves is when someone leaves the mouse cursor on the screen when watching a video. It must be dragged to the side and made invisible. Otherwise the video must be paused until the matter is taken care of.

17. I wouldn't really mind if my future wife had like 11 boys. I could create my own team for pretty much any Sport. ANY. A guy can dream right?

18. I can't stand Stupid people. They annoy me because they have nothing intelligent to say, therefore they should not say anything at all. They are simply here to make the rest of us seem smart.

19. I sometimes wish I was rich. Not so I could buy everything but just so I wouldn't have to think twice when buying something. So many of life's problems stem from worries about money. It'd be a nice change.

20. I think I’m cursed cause I try and stay away from getting too close to most people, and just when I finally do, Bam comes back to bite me in the ass.

21. I wish I had a cool animal that I could show off to people like a Koala wrapped around me when I go to classes or like an enormous lion in my backyard like Azlan from Chronicles

22. I like stalking people on facebook. Like a Lot. I’ve probably stalked you about 6 to 7 times..... In a week. NOTE: The Facebook Stalkers Motto is "It came up on my newsfeed"


23. The world is not what it seems. Not that I’m being a conspiracy theorist, but I believe there is sometimes a blanket over our eyes. Most people can't even accept that.

24. "Power Corrupts. Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolutely"
Favorite quote Ever.

25. I Love meeting new people, so I’m gonna tag a few random people from my friends list who I hardly ever or barely speak to after I tag close freinds. I can bet myself now that if even one of them creates one of these lists I’ll find something in common to talk about.