Blockbuster

As I was driving home the other day, I noticed a big sign "STORE CLOSING - UP TO 60% OFF." I thought it was another small store, and didn't think much of it. Until I looked and realized, this wasn't just a small store closing, it was blockbuster. I've seen several around the area closing their doors, and I started wondering how many other types of stores are going to start closing in the future? Blockbuster used to be the automatic place you go to rent a movie. But now you have options! Do I want to use netflix, redbox, or blockbuster? Blockbuster isn't even necessary anymore because you can just order movies straight to your TV, your computer, or just pay$1 at the redbox. So, through technology, what else is going to start disappearing from our lives? Will grocery stores start closing because all groceries can be immediately delivered or sent straight to your refrigerator? Will pharmacies close because medicines can be vended with the right identification provided? Will movie theaters start closing because new releases can just be purchased from your home? It has been a big trend in America that stores were popping up everywhere, shopping centers being developed, and almost no land was left uncovered. Maybe one day, stores will come down because technology will make them unnecessary things of the past. Maybe slowly the land will start looking like it did hundreds of years ago, empty. But then again, it might be covered with robots...

Perfectionism

I'm one of those people who likes everything to be right, perfect, done the way I see it in my head, and the way I think it should be done. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it isn't. And sometimes it just causes unnecessary stress.

I work at Dallas Community Lighthouse, a tutoring center for kids. Today I noticed something pretty cool. Kids don't care whatsoever if something is perfect. They will build a crooked jenga tower and knock it down immediately while they are cracking up, while I try to make the tower perfectly straight and make it stand up as long as possible. They will color a turkey just red and green (apparently it was a Christmas turkey), while I color mine the traditional brown, red, orange, etc.

Why do things have to be perfect? Life isn't perfect. Life is full of coloring outside the lines and towers being knocked over, and maybe if I lived a little bit more like these kids I would be ready for it. I wouldn't stress out, freak out, or not know what to do if something isn't done the way I think it should be.

Here are some things the kids have made me...

Doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!

Old Navy Commercial

"New Party Cardis on sale this week at Old Navy, Are they too much fun?"



what?



why did they have to ruin the ad completely with the end of that line? Usually I stare at these mannequin ads and just wonder where the hell this idea came from, but this one I actually laughed once! But then they had to ad "are they too much fun?" What? What does that even have to do with anything? Sometimes it's best to not overthink things, just leave it alone.

Birthdays

With my sisters birthday approaching, I've noticed that as we get older, we become less and less excited for our birthdays. People stop caring about presents, and basically the birthday is no longer a big celebration. Is this because we've had so many of them before? Why do we even celebrate birthdays with cake and presents? Where did the idea of birthdays come from? I decided to find out.


Birthday History
History of Birthday observance can be traced back before the rise of Christianity. In pagan culture it was believed evil spirits visited people on their birthdays. To protect the person having birthday from the evil effect, people used to surround him and make merry. A lot of noise used to be created in such parties to scare away the evil spirits. In those times there was no tradition of bringing gifts and guests attending the birthday party would bring good wishes for the birthday person. However, if a guest did bring gifts it was considered to be a good sign for the person of honor. Later, flowers became quite popular as a Birthday gift.

Early Records of Birthday Celebrations
Historians are certain that birthday celebrations are being held for quite sometimes but there are few records for the same. Documented descriptions of Birthday celebrations are available only for kings, high-ranking nobility and those who held high positions in the society. In the beginning common men and especially children were unable to celebrate the birthdays. Scholars believe that this difference existed because only the nobility was wealthy enough to throw birthday parties and was considered important enough to be written about.

Popular Birthday Celebrations in History
Best known birthday in the history is that of Jesus Christ. For nearly 2000 years since the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Christians have been honoring the day as Christmas.
About 4,000 years ago King Pharaoh used to celebrate his birthday by giving a feast to his court followers.
King Herod is said to have celebrated his birthday by treating lords, high captains and special friends with a special supper party in Galiliee.
History of Popular Birthday Traditions and Symbols
Some of the popular Birthday traditions and symbols that we see today originated hundreds of years ago. Some believe the tradition of Birthday cake was started by early Greeks who used to take round or moon shaped cake to temple of Artemis - the Goddess of Moon. Others believe the custom of Birthday cake initiated in Germany where people used to make bread in the shape of baby Jesus’s swaddling cloth.

The popular custom of lighting candles on cake is said to have originated because Greeks used to light candles on the cake taken to Artemis to make it glow like a moon. Some though believe that custom originated because of a religious belief that gods lived in the sky and lighted candles helped to send a signal or prayers to the god. Germans are said to have placed a big candle in the centre of the cake to symbolize ‘the light of life’. Even today people make silent wishes as they blow out candles. It is believed that blowing out all candles in one breath brings good luck.


So, it seems that culture has made birthdays more than they ever were, kind of like everything else. America takes a holiday as an opportunity to commercialize it. Valentines day is less about love and more about chocolate, flowers, and teddy bears. Christmas is less about Jesus, and more about presents and christmas trees. Easter is less about Christ rising from the dead and more about easter egg hunts. Even St. Patricks day has become about parades, drinking, and cheesy "100% Irish" t shirts. We are all so materialistic that holidays are more celebration about stuff - less about what it's about. We can't lose the meaning in these holidays, in the simple things, because one day if we aren't careful our kids may not even know what these things are truly about. We are stuck in materialism, and it's only getting worse.



The funny part is, if manufacturers stopped making "stuff," we would all still survive. We don't need toys, 500 pairs of shoes, or the newest ipod. But nobody would ever stop, because nobody wants to stop the inflow of money. Is it a bad thing that our society runs off of money, or is that just the way the world works? Maybe it's not about the fact that we focus on money, but more about the fact that we forget to focus on things other than money. Maybe we can do both, we just haven't tried.

Beauty

I live in a very suburban city, Plano, TX. People even refer to living in Plano as "living in the bubble." Plano is basically tons of neighborhoods, parks, and schools. Teenagers who live in Plano usually complain that Plano is a boring city to live in . You either go to the mall, the movies, or you eat. The other day, I took a walk around this city I grew up in, and I found something interesting...

Sure, Plano might not have exciting things to do, but there it has it's own quiet beauty. This made me realize, everything has beauty. Even if it seems dull or ugly, if you look close enough you will find something beautiful in it. So if the day seems like it isn't going your way, if you drive by a low income neighborhood, if you hate your job or your boss, just remember that everything and everyone has beauty somewhere, you just have to find it.

Forced Insight?

If you have to think about things to blog about, are they still as insightful?

For some reason, lately, I've found it harder to find something to blog about. It's like the first 20 entries drained me. And I feel bad because this should be getting easier, and it should just come naturally. Plus, this shouldn't be about counting entries. It seems like with so many other things going on, things that require just a certain type of thinking, there isn't enough room left for creativity. It becomes more about making room for creativity, when it should just come to us. So many of our classes, for example, accounting, is just formulaic thinking. I find that when I do things like that all day, it makes my thinking less creative. So by the end of the day, I'm not thinking insightful or creative thoughts, I'm just tired and don't want to think at all anymore.

Sometimes at work, I work at a children's tutoring/after school care organization, I color with the kids or do arts and crafts, and that kind of thing is what takes away from that straight line thinking. I've noticed that if you give kids a sheet of paper, they automatically start filling the page. If you gave an adult a piece of blank paper, they wouldn't know what to do with it. They would ask you what you want them to do, what they should draw, or what the paper was for. Kids seem to have things always in their mind just ready to come out on paper. One day I gave a few kids some construction paper, and they built a miniture house, tree house, and a whole set of buildings. I think the outside world puts a restriction on thinking. The business world, and so many jobs are based on straight line thinking, formulas, and spreadsheets. The walls need to be lifted. I've decided I need more artistic and creative moments in my life to let myself relax and release stress from formulaic thinking. So, here is a start.

Tounge Sticker Outers

So, as I was driving down the highway today, I was in the left lane going about 10 mph over the speed limit as I usually do. So this lady in a Honda Pilot starts getting on my tail. After a while of her tailing me, she finally gets in the lane nexts to me and speeds by me. As I usually do, I glared over only to find this middle aged woman, well maybe 60 year old woman in her little Honda Pilot, looking over at me and sticking her tounge out at me while shaking her head. My first thought was, really? really lady? You don't flick me off, you don't honk, you don't wave your arms at me, but you stick your tounge out at me? Well, I got annoyed that this lady thought she was so bad ass, and I honked at her. I showed her!

So I realized, there are so many situations that make you act unlike yourself. Even the nicest people can be angry and mean! It's human nature. Human nature is a weird thing, does everyone have certain things in common? Is everyone mean sometimes, does everyone get angry, does everyone get sad? Where does this come from? This can all go back to the nature vs. nurture debate. But have people always been this way? Or has human nature changed over time? Are we all "tounge sticker outers" deep down?

Situations change us. Team events make us competitive, arguing makes us mean, family events make us loving. People are not just one face, people have multiple faces, and different situations bring out different faces in all of us. I don't think this has ever changed, just the situations that cause these changes have changed. A long time ago, people might have argued about gathering food, or what land to settle in, and I bet back then someone stuck their tounge out at someone else (or whatever they used to do). Even the famous Shakespeare line, "I bite my thumb at you," shows this same sort of action. And today maybe it's traffic that makes you stick your tounge out, or a bad grade. And there is no way that everyone who does these things is secretly a bad person at heart. The most important thing is, you have to learn to control your faces, and not let your emotions get the best of you. Competition is good in moderation, being mean isn't good even if someone else is mean first. Unfortunately, human nature cannot always control our actions, and sometimes this means a middle aged women will stick her tounge out at me.