Youtubin' Into My Heart

Most people know about my obsession with accents. Perhaps obsession is too strong a word for it. But I love accents nevertheless. My favorite is British, of course. It has long been a dream of mine that the woman I marry will have a British accent. Then I can spend every day with her just listening and enjoying every word she says. It would even make fights entertaining for me.

I'm not sure where this interest of mine came from. I didn't have a British nanny as a child. Now I gush every time I hear one. In college I used to purposely sit next to the British kids in the cafeteria. Nothing goes with dinner better than eavesdropping on some Brits talking. To be fair those are not the only accents I enjoy. I also love Canadian, southern American and Australian plus the French and Indian when they speak English.

You are probably wondering at this point, "What the hell does this have to do with YouTube?" Every once in a while I go on a YouTube bender where I can't get enough of it. I spend entirely too much time watching people's random videos. By chance yesterday I stumbled onto one that completely captivated me. I've only partially delved into her deep catalogue of vlogs, but I am hooked. In case you hadn't guessed she is British. Most of her videos really aren't anything ground breaking, however I can't help but watch them all. They consist of everything from reading a short story she loves to having a staring contest in response to another video.

Yes it may seem childish and I suppose in many respects it is. But at this point in my life I've decided to just embrace the things that make me smile, as they are few and far between. So far I have smiled during every one of her videos. So I thought I would post a couple I thoroughly enjoyed. The first one should be pretty self explanatory for why I love it.







The second video is about how to eat chips (or for us Americans, fries). And I definitely agree with her strategy as simple as it seems.





So that is currently what I am doing with my free time. Meanwhile my Netflix queue remains neglected. I really need to start cranking some out. But dammit if it doesn't always happen that you are in a light, comedic mood for a few weeks but you get mostly dramas in the mail. And I don't like to adjust my queue too much other than adding new things now and then.


Ignorance Edit: So as I have now watched most of Paperlilies' videos, I realize that she has quite a huge following and is a genuine YouTube star. As usual I'm one of the last people to discover these types of things. But I won't let that put a halt to my current infatuation. She is still a treat to watch despite the fact that I'm one of over 15,000 subscribers to her channel.

There is Absolutely No Honor in This

I read something absolutely despicable yesterday. I had heard of honor killings before but watching the video of it brought out a whole new level of disgust. Are the gaps between different cultures really that far apart in this day and age? What kind of human beings live in a society where it is alright to murder a young woman for as little as walking down the street with a man of a different religion?

And I'm not sure which is worse, the people that actually killed her or those who stood around and watched as if it was completely normal. At some point my tolerance for the hatred and ignorance in this world reaches a boiling point. If these honor killings were the worst the world had to offer then I suppose it would be easier to have a bright outlook. But of course they are just the tip of the iceberg. Atrocities like this happen every single day with hardly a moment's notice from the Western World. Darfur is, of course, the perfect example.

I guess there is no real point to this blog other than to vent my frustrations at something I can't begin to control.

Graduation Day Lights a Spark... (on my face)

Saturday was a nice day in the mid-60s, with a bit of a cool breeze and a few clouds in the sky. There I sat with my family and a few thousand other people celebrating the accomplishments of my sister. The ceremony lasted close to 3 hours. Little did I suspect that something would happen then that is still affecting me today. My entire family ended up getting sunburned but of course I received the worst of it.

It has taken a few days but I'm starting to realize that my burns were much worse than I wanted to admit. I will be going to the doctor's shortly and expect him to verify that they could be close to 2nd degree burns. This on a semi-cloudy day in the mid-60s. I won't get into the gory details of what my face currently looks like. Suffice to say that comparisons could be made to lizards. I feel like a bit of a fool. I'm not a stupid man by any means but I guess IQ points mean nothing if you don't have enough sense to use sunblock or at least wear a hat. Luckily, I'm not alone. I feel a good portion of that audience got highly toasted.

Evoking the spirit of Earl Hickey, I feel that karma may have played a role in my current situation. You see, my older sister and I took great pleasure in people-watching during the event. There were many great sights to see. By far the greatest was this man wearing a hat so ridiculous we couldn't help but roll over in laughter. My sister managed to sneak a picture of him which, needless to say, is priceless. There he sits like a proud peacock. By the way, not shown in the picture was his wife who was sporting a matching hat, although not upturned towards the moon.

Eventually he flipped the front of that bad boy down to give himself plenty of protection from the sun, which kicked our ass. I can't help but think that Karma played a role because we were having fun at his expense. So I give my pledge now. Never again will I find humor in the quirkiness of others' hat choices. I don't care if a woman is wearing a Chiquita Banana hat at a funeral. I will simply designate them as my superior for choosing to block out the rays of the sun.

Inauguration Day

Expectations. You have them for your friends, your family, your work, upcoming events and yourself. Set your expectations too low and you will never truly gain what you are looking for. Set them too high and you will always be disappointed.

This tango is the called the expectations game. How you play it could determine just how happy you are on a day to day basis. Do people even realize how much expectations can effect their decisions and their general state of wellbeing?

Lets start by talking about the expectations one has for others. I have generally been trusting of others. I have always wanted to believe in the best in people. I have always expected to be treated out of respect from those I care about. Yet when that trust is broken and the expectations I held for them have fallen where do I go from there?

Must you automatically go in the reverse direction and assume the worst about people? I have long been wary and closed off from those I don't know, always expecting the worst. As a result my friends and relationships come few and far between. Yet I cherish the ones I do have. Those that are closest to me I open up to and give that trust so easily. And that of course is where the most pain can happen. So where is the balance?

Then there is work. When you set expectations for your work in life do you also set yourself up for failure. By all accounts I am a failure when it comes to what I wanted to achieve with my working life. The jobs I have serve as passages of time and not much else. But the fear I have of what it will feel like starting again is enough to keep moving in the same direction.

Perhaps I am expecting too much out of a job. I believe that every person has a calling and they should go towards it. Yet i have no idea what mine is. There are many things that make me happy. But figuring out what is best and what I can actually achieve is daunting if not impossible. Maybe I need to lower my expectations and assume that striving for the mythical dream job is unrealistic.

Expectations frighten me. I am a pessimist with hope if that make any sense. I believe in the worst but hold out a feeling that something more could happen. The question is, are my expectations holding me back or protecting me?

Alas, I will have low expectations for this blog; whatever form it takes. I hope I will be inspired to continue it but I am worried of my limits. Only time shall tell. All I can say is that for now this blog will not be able to rely on my crutch of pop culture. With that topic I am entirely devoted to one mistress, Pop-Pop (Culture) in the Attic.

I couldn't possibly have higher expectations for that particular blog. I am filled with immense honor and pride at its mere mention. So please take a gander. I can't guarantee that this blog will amuse the masses but that one surely will.