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Over the years, I remember being asked the question “If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be” a number of times. Whether it was high school, college or just random conversations with friends, that question came up a lot and I always remember that I never had a real answer to it. It wasn’t that I couldn’t answer the question, because at any given time I could name an athlete, musician or historical figure that I probably would like to have lunch with. It was more the idea that even though there were a number of people that would be great to have lunch with, there wasn’t anybody that inspired me enough to truly be that one person to have lunch with.
So the other week, I watched the movie Gonzo at Axelman’s place, and it became clear to me that Hunter S. Thompson would be that one person that I would have lunch with. His writings have inspired me to write from the first time I read any of his works. He was a true genius in every sense of the word, and it comes out in his writing. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes dark, sometimes downright ridiculous, his works contain a certain truth and wisdom that you just don’t find from most writers. He used words that most people need a dictionary to understand, and his words jump off a page like nobody I’ve ever read. He was responsible for creating his own form of journalism, Gonzo, and the amount of authors that he has influenced over the years is overwhelming.
Watching that movie made me realize just how far his voice traveled through all walks of life, from him talking about football while driving in a car with Richard Nixon to him running for Sheriff of Aspen to him hanging out with Jimmy Buffet. It seems like Hunter knew any and every well known/famous/political person going back to the late 60s if not earlier, and it is amazing to see just how genuinely touched these people were by him. His words and his voice have been an influence on people for decades and decades, and his legacy will live on for generations.
So to anyone out there who is not familiar with the works of the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, I recommend going to your nearest bookstore and picking up any of his books, or checking online for one of a countless number of articles for Rolling Stone and other periodicals. I promise you, you’ve never read anything like it.
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Do you ever get the feeling that you don’t fit in? The feeling that while life is going on all around you, you are somehow seperate from it. Somehow you are not actually a part of it. That is what most of my life has felt like. For some reason, it has always felt like there was this disconnectedness between me and everybody else. I tried to fit in. I tried to be normal, whatever that means, but for some reason it never seemed to work. And it is not so much that I was that much different than other people, cause I wasn’t, but it was more the idea that as you get older and start meeting more and more people you start noticing positive qualities in others and noticing the positive things others have to offer. And as I became more and more aware of these positive qualitites in others, I became more and more aware of the fact that I felt like I lacked these qualities. Only it wasn’t so much that I lacked these qualitites, but more that I just didn’t hold myself in the same regard, and had doubts on whether or not somebody else would look at me in this light. It was this feeling that no matter what I did, I was never going to fit in. It was like life came so easy and natural to everybody around me, but it never felt that way to me. And I would tell myself not to worry about it, and I would tell myself that this feeling wouldn’t last forever, but it is as if that feeling never really went away. For years and years I would rack my brain, trying to figure out why I had this feeling, and why it never got any better, until finally I got sick of thinking about it and sick of worrying about it and settled on the idea that maybe it is just me.
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So, as you can probably tell, I haven’t been blogging very much. Blogs come at a snails pace for me, and while I haven’t been blogging, I have been doing the next best thing, which is thinking about blogging. In my quest to think about the most perfect things to blog about, I came up with a new idea that I am going to try out. Today is going to be my first installment in what will hopefully become a regular occurrence of blogs called our backwards society. There are so many things about our society that I just don’t understand, and instead of driving myself crazy trying to come to terms with some of those things, I have decided to blog about them instead. And so, without further ado, I give to you our sdrawkcab society.
My first installment of Our Backwards Society takes a look at one of the biggest news stories of the week. No, I am not talking about President Obama and his early efforts to get our country back on track, or about Wells Fargo and their moral dilemma of whether or not to use part of the $25 billion given to them in the bailout towards a 12 night corporate 
retreat to Las Vegas. (Who the hell spends 12 nights in Vegas anyway, but that is another issue). The issue that seems to be most important this week deals with the American Olympic hero and role model for all Michael Phelps and the leaked picture of him smoking out of a bong, excuse me, smoking out of a water pipe. I apologize, but I don’t want to offend anybody by using one of the most evil four letter words in our society, bong.
When are we, as a society, going to wake up and smell the coffee, or should I say wake up and smell the BlackBerry Kush, and realize that the real problem we have with drugs is not that people are smoking marijuana, but that on a daily basis people use, misuse, and abuse alcohol, and we, as a society, accept it. If you stop for two seconds and compare the mental, physical and medical benefits of both alcohol and marijuana, you would see that the one and only true benefit of alcohol is its sterilization ability. Alcohol can help to sterilize instruments used in doctor’s offices and hospitals, or it can sterilize your skin before a shot or blood test. Marijuana on the other hand, can help relieve pain, discomfort, nausea and can also produce mental clarity and or relief.
Even more important in this debate is not only the effect that alcohol has on us as individuals but the acceptance that our society gives to the abuse of alcohol. We, as a society, say that it is acceptable to go out after work and indulge in a substance that knowingly affects not only our judgment, but also affects all of our senses. We say that it is ok to indulge in alcohol, but then we turn around and belittle those who make bad judgmental decisions while impaired from alcohol. Really? So it is ok to use something that will blur my judgement, but you expect me to be held accountable for the actions that I make while my judgement is blurred. Interesting.
And furthermore, I find it laughable that our society pretends to be appalled when people get arrested for drunk driving, yet we do little to nothing to stop people from getting in a car in the first place. Back in the days when I used to drink, it would be easy to get anywhere from 3 to 5 to 10 drinks at any given bar. And the only thing that stopped me from getting in my car and driving somewhere was me. Me and my impaired mind and body was the only thing keeping me from getting in my car and making it home safely, or getting in my car and killing somebody. If we were really concerned about the well being of each other, we would demand that better tools were implemented to keep people from driving drunk, and keep people from abusing alcohol.
The truth remains that alcohol is responsible for causing far more damage than marijuana ever will and the gap between the two continues to grow. Death, disease, spousal abuse, mental instability and pregancy problems can all be linked to alcohol and the use and abuse of alcohol. The only things that can truly be linked to marijuana use are laziness and over eating, and maybe uncontrollable laughter.
So, instead of jumping to conclusions about the things that we don’t agree with or don’t understand, we should open our eyes and realize that there are far more pressing issues our society needs to focus on and deal with than Michael Phelps smoking marijuana. Maybe if we, as a society, took our heads out of our asses, we would realize that maybe the substance that we should be condemning is the substance that is one of the leading causes of death each year in our country. Maybe then, our society wouldn’t be as backwards as it is.
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I am proud to say that I am a die hard Los Angeles Lakers fan. I pretty much watch every game o
f the season and on the rare occasion that I do miss a game, there is a valid reason for it. That being said, last night was the first game of the season that i missed. For starters, they were playing the Clippers, who only have 8 wins on the season, so I wasn’t too worried that the Lakers were going to lose. But more importantly, last night was the season premiere of Lost, probably the only television premiere that could get me to miss a Lakers game. The two hour premiere episodes were incredible, but somehow may have been overshadowed by the one Laker game all season I decided not to watch. Not only did Kobe Bryant have his second triple-double in the last three games, but Andrew Bynum had a career game. 42 points 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Ridonkulous. Besides Kobe, Shaq was the last Laker to score 40 points in a game, and that was back in 2003. So the first milestone game for somebody other than Izzo since 2003, and I missed it. Damn you Lost!
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So I got up this morning, and after getting my daily iced coffee and blueberry muffin from Coffee Bean, I grabbed a weekend edition of the L.A. Times, and headed home to attempt the crossword puzzle. I opened up the paper, and decided to read my horoscope, and immediately I was blown away with what I had read. I am not one of those people who is addicted to reading their horoscopes. I read it from time to time, nowadays only when I buy the L.A. Times, as opposed to when I just print the crossword puzzle from latimes.com. I used to read it pretty regularly, and would either be emotionally uplifted by how true the thoughts were, or realistically bitter about how bogus and ridiculous horoscopes were. But every once in a while, a horoscope comes along that perfectly and completely captures the essence of how you feel and what you believe, and today that horoscope appeared to me.
“You feel you’re engaged in the passionate pursuit of goals and ideals. But to others you might look like a person sitting on a couch.”
Never have I read anything that captures my true state of being as much as this horoscope. More often than not I feel like this is what my life has become. I feel like I am trying to rid myself of all of the insignificant, meaningless bullshit that preoccupies our entire existence. Buddha spent six years living in the forest, trying to rid his mind of anything and everything that he felt connected to, freeing himself from anything that would influence his decision making process. Buddha spent six years in the forest becoming enlightened. In this day in age, living in Los Angeles, sometimes the closest that I can get to exiling myself in the forest, is sitting on my couch with a book, free from anything and everything in this world that keeps me from thinking and acting and being my true self. Sitting on my couch, trying to become more enlightened.
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It seems like only yesterday that I was heart broken when the Celtics beat the Lakers in the NBA finals, and it seemed like it would be forever and a day before a new NBA season would be upon us. A few months, and a gold medal later, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers begin this seasons road to the NBA finals, and I know at least one Laker fan who couldn’t be more excited. The Lakers start the season tonight at home against the up and coming Portland Trailblazers, and yours truly will be there in the PR seats cheering them on. (Thanks Greg) I have been a Laker fan for longer than I can remember, and not since Phil Jackson’s arrival in Los Angeles have I been this excited for the start of the NBA season. With last seasons acquisition of Pau Gasol, and this seasons return of Andrew Bynum, the Lakers seem primed to avenge their loss in the NBA finals, and once again bring a championship back to Los Angeles. The road to the NBA finals begins tonight, and if this Laker fan has anything to say about it, it ends with a parade through downtown Los Angeles.
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If you get the chance to go see Kings of Leon during their current tour, or any tour for that matter, I suggest you go see them. I saw them recently at the Nokia Theatre and I was blown away. Over the years I have grown to love Kings of Leon, but definitely was not as in to them as my friends Greg and Josh were. While I have seen them before and enjoyed their shows, it wasn’t until I got into their newest album, “Only by the Night” that I realized just how incredible a band they really are. The album is amazing, and in a year with MGMT, Vampire Weekend, new Bloc Party, new Radiohead, and countless other albums, it goes down as my album of the year. If you haven’t heard their new album, get it, and if you haven’t had a chance to go to one of their concerts, find a way to go, because Kings of Leon is one of the greatest bands around, and it would be a shame if you weren’t able to experience them for yourself.
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When Heroes first aired a few years ago, I was blown away. Ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. I thought it was such an original idea, and episode after episode I was more and more hooked. Who hasn’t daydreamed about the idea of finding out that they were invincible, or could read minds, or could travel through time. And the way in which each character came to terms with their abilities seemed so genuine, and so real, that I couldn’t help but want more and more after each episode. I couldn’t wait to go into work Tuesday and talk to my co-workers about the events that had unfolded and the craziness that was ensuing.
And then season two came around, and it seemed like all of the Heroes fans disappeared. Everybody complained about how slow the story was going, and about how nothing was being answered, and all of these new meaningless characters were being introduced. While it wasn’t easy, I stuck through season two, and I couldn’t be happier that I did, because the show that was being chastised last season has come back in a big way. Heroes season three has brought back that excitement and energy that made season one so great to watch. Good guys are becoming bad buys, bad guys are becoming good guys, and people’s powers are being taken from them. I once again find myself on the edge of my seat the entire episode and always seem to have more questions then answers when the show is over. So if you are one of those people who got off the Heroes band wagon during or after season two, I am here to tell you that it is not too late to get back on because the Heroes that we fell in love with in Season one is back, and only getting better.
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Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned in Mr. Bailey’s 6th grade social studies class. He was the first teacher I ever had who actually told it like it was. In his class, he made the rules, and it didn’t matter whether or not they were fair, because after all, “life isn’t fair.” People lie, people cheat, and people steal. Bad things happen to good people, and nice guys finish last. And if you don’t like it, too bad. Life doesn’t happen the way we want it to. Life just happens. Sometimes it works out the way we want, and sometimes it doesn’t. And if we can get rid of our expectations of what life should be, and get over our ideas that life owes us something, then we can handle anything life throws at us, good or bad. So while it may have taken me 18 some odd years to figure out, I whole heartedly believe that everything I need to know about life I learned in the 6th grade. The rest is just details.
