Walking Entitlement

 

Where do I even begin? Lets begin in Los Angeles because what I’m about to jump into *mainly occurs in LA.

Imagine you come to an area (LA) with a dream and you don’t meet the dream in the time period you set for yourself. Now imagine being around tons of people who have the same dream, and those people seem to be multiplying and they’re not hitting their dream strides either. They’re getting frustrated, now you’re getting frustrated. You’re chasing after what you want and you’re being rejected… so are other people. Fuck, a bunch of people are getting really frustrated! You feel out of control. Bunches of people feel out of control. You need to take a walk and think about things, you need to feel in control.

Enter – Walking Entitlement.

I’ve never been around so many people who seem to be totally fucking clueless when walking across a street or on a sidewalk. But they’re not really clueless, they’re minding their own business, which of course is fine, but they’re not minding unspoken spatial laws of life. The law that may or may not state: Being aware is a priority when walking in a congested city with frustrated humans.

I believe that people feel so out of control in their jobs or pursuit of jobs that they relieve frustration by trying to show themselves and others they’re in control. One place to do this… when taking a walk. It sounds ridiculous but it’s true.

- People in LA just step into streets with a 30-mile per hour car 10 feet away and expect a full stop.

- People walk with dogs and occupy full sidewalk without worrying about others walking towards them.

- People walk in bunches on a sidewalk and don’t move when you’re walking by yourself.

I’ve heard people say “I’m going to sue you if you hit me” and walk in front of cars when they shouldn’t be walking… just because. What kind of asshole does that? People feel entitled while walking. Really, when they’re driving too, but that is a different story. It all breaks down to CONTROL. Which I get… but you don’t have to be an asshole.

I wish there were rules in stone that would allow people to do something to absentminded walkers without facing repercussions.

(Just drifted into a world that sees people getting “get out of jail free” digital cards to allow you to teach appropriate lesson without actually harming the person. In this world there is also specialized honking horns that directs attention at poor drivers).

Okay, I’m back.

Walking entitlement. I get that it’s everywhere, but it’s especially bad in LA. I’ve never seen anything like it. It boils down to being unaware of your surroundings and thinking you can just go. The danger of the unaware walker is that it’s a bigger risk for accident or problem to other people. Having said all of that…

I love LA.

(Cue: Randy Newman)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Holiday and Culture

The combination of a mother who doesn’t think I eat enough and the culture that is (most of) Wisconsin has created the perfect storm of complete and total over fucking indulgence… I wish I didn’t drop an F-bomb right there but I needed it for emphasis.

Quick backstory - I left Wisconsin and moved to Los Angeles to find a career, or really any job in the entertainment industry. It took a while to figure out what the hell I was doing and I’ve often wondered if I should have prepped myself a bit more before I blindly moved. The truth is: a) nothing can “prepare” you for a move to LA and b) The other part to why I moved so quickly was because of the lifestyle I was living.

I was drinking and eating as though it was the final days of the world. A glutton who lay on a bed and was served s’mores dipped in grease and then deep fried then wrapped in cheese while I washed it down with a Keystone Light. Okay, no, not really, but almost really. I was eating but mainly because I was drinking so much, and yes, it was Keystone. Of course I was drinking so much – I was in college and this was Wisconsin.

To honestly understand the culture is to live in the Midwest, it’s difficult to express if you don’t experience it. During my early 20’s in Milwaukee I may have spent more days blacked out than I did coherent, and it felt okay, not because it was okay but because I was just one of many doing it. I thought that’s how college was but actually it’s how Milwaukee was.

Wait, am I talking about Milwaukee or having a mini intervention right now?

At some point I knew I wanted to move and I also knew I needed to stop living how I was living. I imagined my liver probably was that of a 75-year-old man and my brain was becoming deformed. So I booked it to Los Angeles and started doing coke… KIDDING. I chilled out and essentially continued on with my life in a culture that I preferred.

Over the last 7 years or so I’ve come to appreciate Milwaukee for all the things that I missed while I lived here, which is standard protocol for just about anyone who returns to somewhere. It took me a minute to realize that the culture is more than just getting black out drunk. Having said that… Drinking is still a MASSIVE part of Milwaukee and there is no getting around that.

Regardless - it’s holiday season 2012 and I’m back. I guess I’m a little wiser and I’m definitely older and I’m fully prepared to embrace the things I once couldn’t handle. The culture that I once was being tornadoed in is no more. It’s not as though I stopped drinking or something, it’s just that I’m aware of what the hell can happen to me, I’ve been down that road before.

Fuck it. Bring it on, Wisconsin. Bring on the Packers, Bucks, not the Brewers, the cold, the cold forcing me to stay inside and do nothing, the booze, and did I mention the Packers? This is a culture to embrace head on like you’re staring down a bull, and just like staring down a bull - if you’re able to coherently discuss it after it’s over, then you’ve succeeded.

Sunday Ramble: General Interests

 

I’m thinking about having general interests in topics and how those interests sculpt who we are. I’m kind of envisioning a person that is completely put together like a puzzle, and each puzzle piece is a hobby, idea, feeling, or another sub interest. Does that make sense? I wish I had the capability to draw out a diagram but I don’t have it right now. I’m essentially wondering if there are two people out there who have the same exact interests.

Is it possible? I’m not talking about having 9 out of 10 of the same interests; I’m talking a solid 10 out of 10. For that to happen someone would have to have a similar upbringing, similar parents, similar everything really.

—2 minutes of critical thinking later—

As much as I want this to be a reality I just don’t think it’s possible, not now at least. We’re just a little too unique with too many options. Dammit, I started to write this in hope of talking myself into the belief of two of the same people. I was also going write a little bit on how we’re all unique in our own way and blah blah, but I have a feeling we already know that already.

I was about 30 seconds away from deleting this post and making sure it would not see the light of day, but fuck it, it’s Sunday and I’m rambling.

Here’s to one day finding two people cut from the same cloth…

Looking Up ... A Quick Ramble

 

I was walking down Sunset Blvd the other day and as I passed all of the contained chaos of stores, people, cars, more cars, and more people I took a moment and stared at the sky. It was a calming moment, and even though it was insanely hot everything seemed so calm, controlled, and oddly refreshing.

It’s an interesting contrast to see what’s around you and then remember that there is this massive space just right above you. Back in the day (umm… the 90’s) when I was a kid and living in Wisconsin I came to conclude that the sky is just awesome, it has things in it and it’s out of reach, that’s cool right? Also, I feel like I took my time and reminded myself of the possibilities in the sky.

It only makes sense though. I did take my time. I took my time because I didn’t have much else to do. I was a kid; I played outside, did homework, and played sports. I feel honored to know what it was like to live in a time pre cell phones and the need for now, and also to know that my age group was basically the final group of kid’s pre Al Gore inventing the Internet.

The greatest thing about looking up is that it sparks creativity and emotion. Lets stop and forget about all of the clouds and general blueness we see when looking up and then think about what’s even further… Space. What is cooler that space? But I don’t want to get off course here.

I don’t know if everyone feels the same when it comes to looking up and averting your eyes and brain to the same things you see on a daily basis but for me it’s a peaceful area. More importantly, it’s a change, and change is good.

"Creative Block" ramble

At some point in the last few years I’ve adopted and stuck to the belief that when it comes to decisions there is nothing bigger than the small ones, and there is nothing more impactful than any decision you make. I’ve been trying to grasp how important they are, and for whatever reason a few years ago when I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho something clicked. There was a line that stated, “Whenever you make a decision you’re thrust in a different flow of life” (hope I didn’t fuck that up too much). What Paulo was saying is that the decision you make puts you in a stream that takes you somewhere, who knows where, but it’s somewhere. Paulo is right – when you decide something, you are then going to a new area of life.

I should stop now and mention that this kind of writing is typically saved for my personal journal but the truth is I don’t feel like writing by hand, I feel like typing, and this is my blog so screw it… I’m running forward with a little more of an expressive blog. Be prepared for a random stream of consciousness, I’m 197 words in and I don’t know where I’m going with this…

I’m experiencing some sort of creative block and I’m having a problem holding a thought… I’m having a problem making a decision. I’m always told, “writers, write.” So, I’m writing. I’m trying to figure out why I’m so scrambled and wondering if anyone else gets like this and I’m also curious if there really is a thing as “writers block” or a “creative block.”

Logic tells me that you can push through these things, I kind of feel that only the weak minded should settle for anything that’s associated with a “block” and I feel like there are ways around it – change of scenery, music, food, sleep, etc… But is that true, and why am I calling myself weak minded? I feel that writing this is somehow going to help me out and help me focus a bit, I just need a kick-start to my brain.

Getting back to decisions for a minute: Why are they so important? When dealing with myself, my issue at this moment in time is that I cannot make a decision. I cannot settle on exactly what I want to work on and there are many variables going into these lack of decisions. I haven’t really made a proactive decision in 2 days and in turn I ended up doing basically nothing, and I think that’s important because it’s clearly a mirror to something much bigger.

I always think about the small decisions in life and at times I’m obsessed with the origin of situations. When talking to my friends I’m always curious as to how someone got to the point they’re currently at because it’s always interesting to pinpoint those few decisions that made someone enter their specific world. Sometimes it’s scary to think about what would have been had you chose X over Z, but that’s life, and it’s something that I think is a tad bit underrated.

(If you’re still reading - congratulations… I’m almost done… I know this is all confusing but I hope it’s going somewhere… *hope)

The key to decisions is your confidence and if you truly made it. Did you get bullied or peer pressured into deciding something? Are you making a decision based off of social standards? Do you feel unsure of your decision? Someone should never feel unsure of his or her decision… right?

The more I digest all of this, aside from health, I think that decision and direction are the two most important things for anyone. Direction = What you want. Decision = How you’ll get it. Just be specific and confident and the rest will fall in place.

A wise man once said “I shall seek and I shall find” I find this to be incredibly important, those 7 words sum up everything that (I think) people should be about. Seeking and finding what they want… just make the right decisions getting there.

That’s it, no mas, now that I just attempted to ramble myself into working and making a decision I need to concentrate. I hope that somehow I related to at least one person, I would hate to think I’m in this sort of creative blocked journey on my own.

Enjoy whatever the next small decision is that you make… it may be the biggest thing of your life.