Valentines!

Well, it's that time of year again, actually debated whether or not to write a post about Valentines day... it would be too easy to get into a soddenly over verbose philosophical rant on a day that seems to have more commercial meaning that anything else, oops almost started there. Anyway love it or hate it, February 14th has become recognizable from every facet of life, mostly from media advertising.
So in light of the inescapable nature of this day among days for love the post is well underway, with a commitment to convey some thoughts and observations all the while keeping some humor about the whole subject... hopefully. Of course a good way to start is with a few experiences I had working as a clerk at 7-11 a couple of years ago: I've worked the evening shift on Valentines and was always amazed by the number of people coming in at the last minute to try and find cards/candies/roses etc. though probably the funniest was a guy came in and bought a pack of pens just to sign a valentines card before he got home - I am not making this up.
The geniuses at 7-11 never really thought it through about valentines so we never had any appropriate 'valentine' gifts for sale, so it's pretty amazing how the desperate manage to cobble together some last minute gift consisting of candy bars and personal hygiene products... I mean if you're going to do something like that might as well take the hit for valentines and make it up some other time, I doubt anybody would be satisfied with a 7-11 valentines gift (though we did have some nifty butane lights for the pyros in your life, they even came in red).
The well prepared gift givers probably pre-ordered their thorn less roses and assorted Belgian chocolates, or if they had some extra money a few diamond sprinkled jewellry. As nice as those things are I have to agree with a poster on bash.org who expounded the virtues of a new symbol of love more powerful and meaningful than the common rose- the potato! (now the pic makes sense doesn't it). Of course it would be better if it were a red potato (or potatoe) to keep with the whole 'heart theme', actually when you think about it a potato looks very similar to an actual organic heart compared to the card versions, so it really should be the new symbol of valentines... meh, I think it would take a pretty enlightened lady to happily accept a raw potato - hmm, maybe bake it first... add a little butter, some herbs and voila! a treat to rival any box of chocolates... yeah... seems doubtful.

Symbols aside and obligation aside the main theme of valentines is to share a day with someone close to you, and this is where the lines get split into the lovers and haters of this day. Many feel that it is the perfect day for going all out with that special someone, while others are forced into depression for not having a special someone. What I find truly bizarre is that both sides of the camp are equally commercialised! It isn't too hard to get Valentines sucks or anti-valentine cards as well as other merchandise, well I suppose it is a capitalistic society after all, still it does make one feel that any true meaning is lost in the mad race to buy gifts.
Speaking of the gift giving, I have to say particularly from a guy's perspective Valentine's day truly does suck, mainly since it fall's upon guys to give most of the gift giving, women aren't as obligated to reciprocate in any way (a few may, but let's be honest... they can get away with not giving anything). Now the Japanese have a far superior system in place, on Valentines girls give chocolates to guys they like, then a month later on March 14th or (White day) the guys reciprocate - so at least there is some sense of balance.
I guess lastly is the whole "finding your special someone" theme to valentines which if you're single kind of makes it hard to get into any sort of good mood during this time of year. I should point out that I am single and this may affect my views of this day, but while I loathe the way Valentines makes a single guy feel with all the external pressure surrounding it... truthfully I do like good ideals behind it. Showing the people you care about how you feel, that should be the real spirit of Valentines, one shouldn't be giving chocolates, or expensive gifts... just share what's in your heart. Meh, a little too mushy even for me, so I'll conclude with a link to a seemingly accurate observation in male-female relations that will give a few people a chuckle and a few more an "all too true". So whether or not you have someone to share the day with, just live today with bit more love towards those around you... who knows, it might enable you to find what you're looking for (meh, or just gorge on sweets, that works too).

Marching under the banner of a Rat's Anus

There are days when one just has to throw reason out the window and feel free to make an idiot of themselves, not to such extremes as lighting your hair on fire while sorting newspapers at a gas station - but just a simple step outside the boundaries of safe routine. I've affectionately decided to term these days "Marching under the banner of a Rat's Anus days" or MUBRA days for short, it is actually a term inspired (IE stolen) from a Mitchel and Webb skit. The goal of such days is to proudly wear the banner of idiocy in the face of ones own inhibitions as well as the social norm (to an extent). Oh I should mention the nifty banner I made, it should translate as 'Victory from a Rat's Ass'... poetic - isn't it? Ah Latin, you make everything sound classy... err, getting back to topic, too often it seems like one can get stuck in a rut of life, living the daily grind and not taking any chances for fear of mistakes and consequences. Being mindful of the consequences of your actions is a prerequisite for living among other people (heck even non-people), though when one starts passing up opportunities and especially chances to become happier because of self regulation... well, that's what MUBRA days are for.
Honestly, it won't always work out, more to the fact you'll open yourself up to things one usually tries their hardest to avoid and depending on how much of an idiot you can be, it won't be very pretty. Still for all - that's life, the sad truth is only by feeling pain can we become stronger, protecting oneself from hurt can work... but you won't be able to grow or move very far in life's journey. Of course there is the off chance that a day of idiocy will open doors that you never thought existed... still haven't had one of those yet, but I've decided to at least try to be an idiot a little more often.
So every now and then march proudly under the banner of the Rat's Anus, you probably won't win too many battles under it, but once in a while it is a good thing since you know what they say, 'you learn more from losing than winning'.

Search for the elusive Yo-Yo

I'm not sure of the reason but I've always needed to do something with my hands, either flipping coins or bouncing a ball to even just poking the nearest random person. So naturally a yo yo seems like an ideal toy since unlike a ball it won't accidentally bounce away and hit someone in the face (yeah, that's a retail sales career ender).

Now the first yo yo I ever had was a cheap plastic dealie (similar to the picture) that was given away at a conference I volunteered at, but it essentially did what it was supposed to... go up and down on a string, or tie itself in knots. As with many odd little toys and such the yo yo got lost and eventually I tried to find another one, a search of local stores only turned up an intricate ball bearing-balanced-xxxtreme $14 yo yo... in a common lapse of judgment I decided to purchase this yo yo (it was xxxtreme!). Though it looked impressive and even came with it's own tube of yo yo lubricant (seriously) it was a severe disappointment, while using it at work the think hit the floor, cracked, then on the next yo broke apart and hit a customer in the face (meh, didn't like working as a sales clerk anyway).

That ended my yo yo fascination for a while, though recently decided to get another one (of course planning to stay well away from people while yo-ing). Unfortunately visiting local stores proved it nearly impossible to find any really simply toys, one could easily find weird, complicated and just downright stupid toys, seriously what kid wants a transforming princess dinosaur spider rider? (hmm, Christmas is only 1o months away). There were action figures of action stars, inaction figures, dolls with brushable and unbrushable hair, lego kits of washrooms, and plastic toys that looked like something out of a bad acid trip... still no yo yo, and don't get me started on trying to find a simple plastic Frisbee!

Why is it that one can't find simple enjoyable toys... I mean one could probably search for one on eBay or something but that seems like a lot of effort to go through. I don't want to sound like a Grinch but a lot of toys today are totally useless and unnecessary, and without a doubt probably the worst thing one can spend money on. Too bad a lot people don't really have a choice, with the amount of marketing directed at kids, I guess it's not surprising how things are. I'm not against toys, but I think there's a difference in a toy designed to be fun, and ones just produced to make money. Xxxtreme yo yo aside, I think kids would be a lot happier with simple and long lasting toys if they just had the patience to appreciate them... bah, who am I kidding, they're kids - heck even adults fall to the same marketing ploys, how else can SUV's be so popular.

Well, anyway finally did get my yo yo - found one at the dollar store... it lights up... shiny.

First post of February!!

It's been a bit of a dark few weeks but as promised a post filled with a bit more levity continues below.

Back from a trip to the United States, it was fun and honestly a good way to get perspective. I've mentioned it before but it is oddly surreal to visit a place one practically knows through media, anyway besides the spending of savings it wasn't too bad - plus finally got a great digital camera (see above picture). The Canon SD600 a darn nifty little thing, as a result actually went a bit nuts snapping pictures of anything I thought was odd... and that includes almost everything.

Speaking of odd, I must relate an interesting incident from the past couple of days; As I happened to be waiting at the bus stop (public transportation... err, rocks?) a group of 4 Native American youths (I'm so pc) came running from a nearby condo complex, rested at the bus stop for a minute then split up and walked in opposite directions down the street. To be honest my first gut, initial reaction was "what were these hooligans up to?"... yet my sense of fairness forced me to reconsider and only observe while not drawing any conclusions. I mean they could have been having a race... or playing tag, or something equally harmless or perhaps even a noble effort - one must not jump to conclusions about a person from a single meeting. And so feeling a bit better about my politically correctness, I became lost in thought again while waiting for the bus to show up (did I mention public transportation rocks?).
A few minutes later a rather haggard and confused looking white guy shows up, and proceeds to ask if I've seen 4 youths (or yuut's if you prefer) run by and which direction they went. After I relay the relevant information he takes off after them while turning to say:
"They tried to steal my car"

Well there goes any illusion I had of being nonjudgmental, so long story short... you can't judge a book by it's cover - unless it is a magazine... though magazines aren't really books anyway... Meh, I guess there really is no true rhyme or reason to the world, it doesn't make sense so have a sense of humor about and live on, or it will probably drive you mad.