You're Never Too Old To Have Fun

You're never too old to do things you enjoy doing. If it makes you happy, why put an age limit on it? Whether that's coloring books, riding all the rides at an amusement park, water gun fights, board games, dodge ball, going to a paintball park, video games, stomping in a puddle once in a while or anything else that makes you feel good. 

I don't understand when people stop doing things they enjoy because they feel like they're "too old" to be doing them anymore. If it's for a health reason that you have to give it up, that's unfortunate but you taking care of you is more important than any fun thing you do.

If you're just quitting something you still like doing because you feel like you shouldn't be doing it anymore because you're "too old" to be doing something immature or silly, that's nonsense. You need things that bring you joy, even if it's just thirty minutes with a video game or a spirited game of dodge ball.

"Being an adult" and "growing up" shouldn't mean you also have to give up things that bring you happiness. I know several people that think I'm a rather immature 30 year old and honestly, I couldn't care less. If it makes me "less of an adult" to anyone because I still color in coloring books (even before my therapist had me pick up art therapy specific coloring books) or thinks I'm "immature" because I've organized a water balloon/water gun fight with other "immature adults" then cool, you're certainly entitled to your opinion. I however, don't currently and likely won't ever agree with that sentiment. 

I don't know where people think getting older and becoming an adult means you have to just stop having fun. Being an adult is stressful. Working so you can pay bills and make a living is stressful. Being an adult in itself isn't that fun. It's full of responsibilities and things that are inherently not fun. That's not a bad thing, that's just the course of life. I'm glad I'm not a child anymore. I love having my own place, cooking my own meals and creating a life for myself and my partner. As stressful as adulthood can be, I'm fine where I'm at. I also just refuse to believe that I can't also still have fun and fun as an adult doesn't have to be dinner parties and happy hours and trips to the museum. I do love all of those things as well but there's also nothing wrong with having a water balloon fight or planning a trip to a paintball course to climb obstacles and fire off speedy little balls of paint at a high rate of speed in hopes they'll explode in bright colors once it hits it's target (AKA your friend.) 

If you don't enjoy things, it's cool to let them go and not do them anymore. There are some things I used to enjoy that if you presented me to them now, I'd decline because they don't hold any appeal for me anymore. Some things you do grow out of or simply lose interest in, that's also just how life goes. We're growing and evolving and that includes our interests and hobbies, too. Just don't deprive yourself of things you still enjoy doing because you feel like you're "too old" to enjoy them anymore. 

It's Never "Just Music" For Me.

"It's just music" is a phrase that has never made sense to me. I never really find myself able to relate when people don't really care about music or don't get anything out of it. When I meet someone who cares zero about music and rarely to never spends time listening to anything, I feel confusion mote often than not. People that say it's "just music" don't usually understand why a song or lyrics or a piece of beautiful instrumental noise leaves me feeling anywhere from elated to heavy-hearted and everywhere in between.

To me, music is more to me than noise I hear with my ears. I love music. I'd rather listen to music or play something over watching TV. I'm passionate about music. I feel it with every fiber of my being. I get lost in it. It fills my ears and head and I let my mind and soul absorb it. It's beautiful, it's sad, it's life, it's love, it's calming, it's adrenaline pumping.

Music is soothing.

Music is passion.

Music is emotion.

Music is escape.

Music is poetry.

Music is therapeutic.

Music is life.

There is very little I love more than going to a live show and feeling the music physically shake me to my core as the words sink into my soul. Or if there are no words, letting the music wash over me, engaging my senses.

A drum solo gets my heart pounding and my blood moving. I feel so alive. I feel like I could run up a wall. I bounce on the balls of my feet as it builds and feel like I might burst at the seams with energy as it hits the finishing point.

The beauty in hearing classical piano or violin calms me when I'm feeling everything but calm. It can soothe anxiety, calm stress, help me relax, send rest, push the noise out and bring contentment.

A guitar solo can be exhilarating and make me feel like I can conquer anything. Or it can give me an outlet and work like a sieve, filtering out anger and angst and things I need to push out.

Loud rock music is often so therapeutic for me. Loud guitars, heavy drums, words screaming out at me that make me feel comfort and bring me out of my own head.

Music is love, happiness, sadness, anger, contentment, joy, angst, passion, loss, betrayal, comforting, exciting, calming and so many other things.

Music makes me react physically, emotionally and mentally.

It fills my ears and perforates my mind.

It invades my thoughts, attaches to memories, creates feelings, collides with emotions already present.

Music recognizes the thoughts and emotions that I can't find the words to express.

It's an escape when I need it to be and offers clarity at times.

It makes me feel things.

It makes me stop feeling things.

It's overwhelming and just enough.

It's a lot of things to me but it's definitely never just music.

Justifying your simple joys.

I’ll never understand people’s need to justify why they like the trivial things they like. I’m never ashamed or embarrassed by anything I find appealing or enjoyable because if it brings me joy and happiness, why should I care what anyone else thinks of it?

I don’t. And never will. And I guess it’s for that reason that I’ll never understand why people feel they need to explain why they like something and try to convince others of it’s coolness when they don’t agree. Everyone likes different things and some people you like aren’t going to necessarily be into the same things you are. If you feel you need to justify a song or a TV show or a food you like to someone, you’re probably too concerned with people’s opinions of you. And if liking a dorky TV show or an annoying song could jeopardize a friendship, you’re better off just letting that happen. If some one's opinion of you is changed in a negative way because of something you like, that's their problem. If they treat you differently because of it, then maybe they're not as nice as you thought.

Justifying things you like is silly. Almost as silly as the people who try to prove why their hobby, favorite sport, favorite song, etc is better than whatever it is someone else with a differing opinion likes. If it’s not hurting anyone and it makes you happy, enjoy it and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Patricide and The Lion King....

A friend's older brother was recently telling me about something he had read on a website and how he agreed with it. The thing he saw:

"When Simba sang, "I just can't wait to be king", didn't Disney executives realize they were condoning patricide?"

My friend's brother went on to tell me why he agreed with that statement, why he found it disturbing some of the hidden messages Disney had in it's films and then asked if I had an opinion on patricide/Lion King issue. Well, that's like asking if an astronaut has a desire to study space. Duh, I always have an opinion. Anyway. My response and the rest of the conversation went like this:

Patricide is the act of killing one's father. When Simba was singing that song, it was in reference to when Mufasa stepped down and Simba became the rightful King of Pride Rock. He wasn't planning on killing his father to get there, he was merely singing about what would happen one day in the far off future and expressing his general excitement over that. Who wouldn't be excited about that when you're that young and don't realize how hard being a ruling King will be?


The argument was then made that even if Simba hadn't planned it or meant for his father to die, Mufasa had still been murdered and that Simba could still be put at fault for that.


False. Simba was not to blame and I'm really unsure why I associate with someone who could think that adorable little lion cub could be held accountable for the death of his father. Though he is my friend's brother and I typically just put up with his nonsense. I digress.

Simba is not at fault. Scar, Mufasa's jealous younger bother and Simba's uncle, is the one responsible for the death of Mufasa. Scar planned and orchestrated for the stampede of wildebeest to take out Mufasa. Along with the help from the trio of hyenas that were Scar's accomplices. And lets not forget, he also intended for the stampede to kill not only Mufasa but Simba as well so there would be no one left but himself to take over as King of Pride Rock. He was jealous and evil and wanted the power of being King and could only get that by both of them being dead. Also, Mufasa would have lived had Scar not thrown him over the ledge into the stampede after Mufasa had managed to escape. Given that, it would be more along the lines of fratricide instead of patricide if you want to label it so specifically. 

So no, I definitely don't see any point on saying Disney was condoning patricide in the Lion King because Simba wasn't the one responsible for Mufasa's untimely death.


Also, on a more serious note, people read way too fucking much into things and need to stop. It's a Disney movie and there doesn't always need to be a deeper, darker meaning to things. If you're looking for it, you're likely going to find it just because you want it to be there.


Though, it did give me the idea to write this ridiculous post which was rather fun to do. If anyone thinks I was being particularly serious writing this, please exit my blog now and don't come back here. ;)


And no, I didn't have to Google any of the information on the movie. That's all memory right there. I also watched the Lion King about a month ago, just because I can. I love a handful of Disney movies (though typically not ones centered around a princess oddly enough) and animated films (PIXAR, BITCHES!) the way most girls dig those awful romantic comedies. 

Hakuna Matata!

Clearing out some monkey's from the attic...

• I hate the phrase "brain dump" for some reason. I'm not really sure what about it I don't like but I'm not a fan. Though, I don't really have a better snappy little phrase for it. Maybe I'll come up with one. Or not. A friend of mine's grandmother always has the oddest little phrases for things. Her phrase for a "brain dump" is "clearing out some monkey's from the attic." I've heard her use it many times but it still makes me laugh every time she says it or I think about it. It's not overly funny honestly. The way she says it is amusing. My friend asked her once what it meant or if she had any reasoning behind saying it. She replied, "Reasoning? Fuck if I know. You want a reason? Alright, I'm old and I say what I want and I think it sounds frogdamn cute. And if you had some monkeys in the attic, my guess is you would want those shit flinging bastards out of there. Thoughts taking up needless space in your mind are like those shit flinging monkeys, they got to go because if you leave 'em there unattended they're just going to stink the place up." That's not a typo, she says "frogdamn" and "frogdammit" quite often. :)
  

• Making a status update literally every 10 to 15 minutes about how much fun you're having at a party is pretty telling on the fun you're not really having. There's a story there but I'm not getting into all the details of it. I'll say someone I know is trying to make an ex jealous by posting 4 or 5 status updates an hour whenever she's out at a bar, event, with friends, at a party, etc talking about how fun it is, how many hot guys are hitting on her, etc. This has been going on for a little over a week now, every damn day. I don't even check Facebook regularly and it's driving me crazy. She asked me about it last night, my opinion on if I thought she looked stupid and obvious, and I answered honestly. Huge blowup ensued and it got ugly. Anyway. :)

• My dad is coming for a visit! He gets in town tonight and is leaving on Tuesday. I'm excited since I haven't seen him since September last year. One of the big reasons he's coming in to town is because my youngest brother is playing a hockey game at the American Airlines Center on Sunday. He's super excited. Hell, I'd be excited, too. He gets to dress in the same locker room as the Dallas Stars, walk their tunnel, set on the same bench they do and play a game on the ice in the building they play in. That's pretty badass. I'm happy dad will be here to see that and I'm excited for my brother, I know he's excited for it. :D

• I have occasional bouts with insomnia. Which I'm going through currently. It sucks. I literally can't sleep until I'm exhausted to the point of not being able to physically stay awake anymore and then I don't sleep for long and it's a restless sleep. I don't take sleep aids because honestly, none of the several I have tried worked for me. On the plus side of that, with nothing to do late at night, I've gotten a ridiculous amount of writing done for a project I'm working on. I was worried about making my deadline at first and now I'm close to done with almost 3 weeks left still.
  

• I like to look for the silver lining in everything. ;) I don't always find one but sometimes I do and that makes sucky things, well, suck less.
  

• I'm excited for the Stars game on Saturday. I got tickets to the game as one of Shane's (the boyfriend has a name!) Christmas presents. I also got him tickets to the Lightning game on the 20th as well as some DVDs. He's so easy to buy for. Hockey tickets are always an acceptable and very much loved gift and I always benefit from that one, too. I got an extra ticket to Saturday's game so he could bring someone else, too. He's bringing a co-worker who likes hockey but I don't think she's ever been to a game before. I'm so glad he picked her because we've hung out before and she's super cool. I always get excited when I meet a new girl I can actually get along with because I don't tend to get along with girls very often. The last game we went to was on New Years Eve (you know, that one where the Stars outplayed the Bruins and won 2-4? ;D) so it feels like it's been forever since the last game I was at. I do realize two weeks isn't forever or even that long at all but it feels like longer than it really is. :p

• One of my biggest pet peeves is not having consideration for others. I don’t think everyone needs to be prim and proper but most people need to get slapped with basic manners so hard that they never forget those basic manners, ever.

• Here recently, I've gotten quite a few messages on Tumblr about gay marriage and why I support it. I have a feeling it's probably the same person but since whomever it is poses their questions under "anonymous" I have no way of knowing. Since my last two responses (here and here), the messages have gone from questions to outright hate mail, basically. I had 12 messages waiting for me in my inbox yesterday when I logged in. I deleted them all because they were rude, hateful and I saw no reason to respond to any of the garbage in there. They weren't questions or even just disagreeing with me, they were just name calling and talking shit. I can accept that people don't agree with my opinions on things. I also accept that as someone who is open about beliefs and rather vocal about the things I support, I'm going to have to deal with trolls like this one. I just think it's stupid. I'm hoping ignoring them will make them move on. That usually works. Until then, I'll just keep deleting all the name calling and anti-gay bullshit they throw my way.

• People that do nice things for others "just because" without ulterior motives or expectations are awesome. People that do nice things for others "just because" only in hopes that they'll get something out of it presently or in the future fucking suck. People that do nice things for others "just because" but throw it in your face later on to try and use as a guilt trip or a manipulation tool really, really fucking suck. If you do that, you're an asshole.
  

• Also? I'm not overly rebellious or defiant for the sake of not being told what to do (though I'm not the biggest fan of people telling me what to do, lol) but when someone tries to guilt trip me into something, it pisses me off and makes me not want to do it that much more. Even if it's something I'm iffy on doing, guilt trip me and that's it, not happening.

Looking at my blog stats recently, on top of comments and emails from you guys, it's ridiculous how many people come here and read the stuff I type out into the blogosphere. Ridiculous in a good way, mind you. Thanks so much for reading and thanks for those that leave comments and/or send emails or respond to stuff via Twitter. Y'all are awesome. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Your opinion is clearly wrong.

I've decided I hate when people say, "It's my blog, I can have my own opinion and GTFO if you don't like it." Not always but more often than not, I dislike that being said. Mainly because it's the person expressing their opinion on something, someone disagrees and then instead of having a rational conversation, they turn defensive and tell the person they're entitled to their opinion and they can get the fuck out if they don't like their opinion. The thing is, not everyone is always going to agree with everything you say. You want people to respect that you have your own opinions, you might not want to shut down and start throwing a fit just because they disagreed with you and learn to accept that people will believe and see things differently than you do.

If the person disagreeing is being an asshat, then by all means, go crazy if that's your thing. Shut them down and throw your fit if that's what you want to do. I've done that before to people acting like that. I don't go crazy and get all emotional and rampagey. I just kill it in a mature way and tell them to take their shitty attitude else where because I'm not going to try and have a rational discussion with someone who just wants to sling mud or tell other people why they're wrong. It's not okay to be an asshole and verbally attack someone just because you don't agree with what they're saying and it's not okay to bully them over it.

When someone if making a point that seems valid to them and nicely pointing out their issues with what you're saying in a mature and respectful way? There's no need to go on a rampage over that. They're just as entitled to their opinion as you are to yours. Opinions aren't fact and no one is the end all be all of thoughts and feelings. You have no right to tell someone the way they think and feel is wrong. You do have the right to disagree with them, just as they have the right to do the same with you. If you can't handle having someone objecting to your opinions or questioning them, you might want to rethink putting them out in a public forum.

Happy Tuesday. :)

Friends With Benefits...

In celebration of me landing the cool new job I was so hoping I would get, the boyfriend took me out to dinner last night. We ended up going a couple hours later than intended because some stuff came up. No big deal. We went to a place that serves awesome smoked brisket tacos (among other things that are possibly awesome) that also has a bar with sports on so we could check out the Texas Rangers game while we ate. If you were curious, the Rangers beat the Twins 20-6. Okay, I know y'all weren't curious and some of you already knew but, I like saying it.

Anyway, after dinner and the game, we went to see a movie. We decided on seeing Friends With Benefits. Which to me just reminded me of No Strings Attached because hey, the principle is pretty much the same same. So what did I think of FWB?

I like Justin Timberlake as an actor even though I think his music is terrible, I love Mila Kunis despite the whole "her voice can get shrill and annoying" thing and I find Woody Harrelson to be an oddball and amusing as hell. So I had that going for me when going in to it.

It has it's funny moments and did make me laugh several times. I don't recall being bored during the movie ever which is something that tends to happen with me a lot during movies. I prefer doing more active things so movies tend to The dialog between the characters is entertaining. All the different characters and their relationship dynamics are amusing and there are a few parts that actually made me sad. Though, the sad parts had nothing to do with Dylan and Jamie's (Timberlake & Kunis) status and everything to do with Dylan's dad suffering from Alzheimer's which made me think of my grandfather who recently died & had Alzheimer's. And yes, I know it's only a character in a movie but it's a real disease and I've been affected by it. I digress.

In comparison to No Strings Attached, I laughed quite a bit more during Friends With Benefits. I also liked the characters in FWB more. I also found it to be a little bit less cliche and more realistic in terms of how the stages for friends who end up fucking go. I've had several of those relationships in the passed and only one of them ended well. That's another story for another day, though.

Overall, I liked the movie for the most part. I wouldn't buy it or set out to watch it again on purpose but if someone else asked me to see it again, I'd probably go with them if I weren't busy doing something else. Or fast forward a couple months to when it comes out on DVD, if someone popped it in in front of me, I wouldn't bitch and moan and beg them to turn on Sports Center. Or Discovery Channel or Phineas and Ferb.

Keep in mind when reading this, I'm not a fan of romantic comedies. Or romantic anything. I very much prefer my comedies to have very little or no romance at all in them. And most of my favorite movies have explosions, sci-fi characters or enough twisted mind fuckage to leave me contemplating shit for at least an hour after the movie has ended. I knew or at least assumed I knew going in to FWB how it would end up. And as the movie went along, I made predictions in my head because it's like every other chick flick in it's cliche predictability. I don't try to sit there and pick it apart, it just happens when what ever is going to happen seems so obvious. Which is why I don't like romantic comedies or romance-y movies in general. Though I won't get into all the reasons why I don't like chick flicks usually because there's a lot of reason. And none of them have to do with me being bitter about love and relationships. More so, I'm not a very emotional nor romantic person so I just want to laugh at the ridiculousness of most of those movies. Anyway...

As long as you go into it expecting a chick flick that's funnier than most other chick flicks and not expecting more of it than that, you're good.

Happy Tuesday!