What what?

So I was talking on the phone yesterday with one of my best friends who recently moved to Chicago, and he told me that he bumped into the most random person while walking downtown: Sam Norman, or better known as "Samwell," for those who have watched his widely popular YouTube video, "What What, In the Butt?" If you have absolutely no idea about the existence of this video, watch it below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU

If you do know about the existence of this video, then you're probably aware of its popularity, its presence on the TV show South Park, and would undoubtedly understand how running into this man in person would be something half-worth bringing up in conversation.

Nonetheless, it's painful to admit it, but a small piece of my aspirations in life lie within gaining such prominence, where people I don't even know are aware of my existence and remember me for something. That something doesn't even need to be big. I mean, maybe YouTube isn't the most worthy medium for me to be making such references, but it's the most legitimate medium I've taken note of where people are purely acknowledged for whatever they wish to represent. With TV, you've got a horrendous line of "insert fancy titles here" and x-amount of critics to wade through before your material can be broadcasted, and if you are an actor in said material, you aren't even living up to your own aspirations (unless acting/drama is your niche. In that case, bravo!). You have so much crap on TV that doesn't even come close to representing a person's true message. However, with YouTube, people are in charge of their own work, and they can choose to make the most emotionally jarring videos, or they can choose to put out the most campy, nonchalant material ever. Regardless, if people like it, they will watch it and remember it. For instance, take this video made by some kid named Lasse Gjertsen, who pieced together sequences of videos where he plays singular notes or beats on drums and a piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo

He literally states at the end of the video that he has no musical talent at all. Hmmm...that kind of sounds like an all-too-familiar side of myself I like to hide in the shadows. Nonetheless, he currently has an excess of twelve million views on that video. Twelve million times, people have watched that video, acknowledged his existence, and whether or not they enjoyed the video, his existence is inevitably known. And again, sadly but surely, anything I could possibly do that garners enough attention for twelve million views on YouTube is enough to keep me interested. I'm sure there are actually plenty of things I could do, and I'm not sitting here, loathing to myself about how I can't do anything good enough or how nobody likes me. That's not it at all. In fact, I am very secure with who I am and how I have constructed my identity according to my choices, but all of the work and effort it takes for each and every one of us to thrive in life (I'm speaking on behalf of a general "people" here, completely disregarding rich or poor), all of the effort it feels like every one of us puts into being human and adapting ourselves to the seemingly inevitable, it just seems like it all warrants an inch more attention. I will speak for myself in saying that I don't want to be forgotten when I die. Lots of people don't, and I follow right along with that fear. So...is this all a bunch of complaining? Some people might see it as so, especially because I have the POWER to make myself remembered. I have the ability to curb my homework, my responsibilities, anything I so choose in order to pursuit something that would make me well-known. But in the end, I just don't (unless this whole "becoming a writer by going to college" thing pays off). Perhaps it's the fact that, ironically, I've found the most astounding harmony and solace in my life by being alone. I think being alone is one of the most awe-inspiring feelings. My personal beliefs, at this stage of my life, coincide with the fact that in the end, we all have to face death alone. It's not the "alone" part I'm worried about.

It's the death. The Death of Me (the title of a very good City and Colour CD, which people should listen to if they like acoustic music).

Built to Break

I'm sure it happens to everybody: those slumps where every asset you own all seem to consecutively parish in a short amount of time. I'm facing this right now with my car, a lawn mower, my laptop charger, half of the laptops students bring me at my job, and a handful of other items I'm surely unaware are broken. So many reasons can be attributed to why things break, such as misuse or old age, but when you stand back and think about it: wouldn't it make sense that companies plan on their product breaking? I'm not talking about companies writing up flow charts and estimates predicting how many people will "break" their product with general mishaps. I'm talking about the companies that boast their humanistic "built for the better good" slogans on the forefront, but really do nothing more than the next company trying to make a quick buck: build shoddy, mass-produced commodoties that appeal to the human eye but not to the human touch. Seriously, think about how much money is made in reparation fees and tell me that isn't a significant factor in any company's "game plan." Every company benefits when their product breaks, and especially when it is a conceived necessity (cell phones, TV's, video game consoles), because people will take the time to have their product fixed, either directly through that company they bought the product from, or through third-party services such as local "mom and pop" shops that offer reduced reparation fees. Not only that, but consumers are aware of how likely those products can break (and it's a damn shame they have no other choice but to buy the shit anyways, eh?) so they consequently provide money for local or large-chain retailers who sell product protection plans. Furthermore, these PRP's are entirely profitable in their nature because more often than not, NOTHING goes wrong with the covered product until AFTER most PRP's expire.

So, in a nutshell, every time something you own breaks, don't fill out a survey telling the company what they can do better. They don't care. Every time something you own breaks, that company smiles. We're all pretty much effed in the ay, brolaunch.

Time to make a change? I'd be pretty content if this message somehow started a mass revolt. That'd be so great.

Death Becomes Ye

Death is such a variably controlled aspect of the human experience. Many things have the power to sustain and end life, and that control is shared with many creatures amongst our existence. Everything dies. This base fact keeps those who understand death at bay with reality: that at some point, that person or creature will imminently cease to live anymore. And for anything or anybody that does not completely understand death, it works as a background motivator to keep going, to keep struggling in order to maintain life. A baby cries when it feels pain or is hungry because those negative components threaten the welfare of its life. Similarly, an animal is engrained with instincts that protect it from danger when a threat is present. This fight to keep going, for any creature, is pretty much futile, as everything will eventually end. Thus, it's almost comforting to know that between man and creatures, death is such a controllable component. At any time, humans can end the existence of another, either in vain or in good will. We murder people, we spray pesticides on plantations, and we give concern for sickly animals by "putting them out of their misery" or "putting them down." Although maybe not as logically sound as humans exercise, animals equally have the ability to kill their own species, humans, or anything they please. The difference is that humans and animals have entirely different focuses in life. Does this get us anywhere closer to understanding our similarities?

A Workman's Horse

It really sucks that the fabric of society is held together by the threads of labor. People just don't like doing work, but we push ourselves to do so because there really is no other way to maintain the luxuriousness and harmony we experience in life without it. We may find particular jobs that parallel our niches and come across as "more pleasing" than other people would find them, and thus seek out those positions. If somebody likes to draw, it is assumed they will pursuit a job in art. If somebody likes to crunch numbers, it is assumed they will pursuit a job in accountancy or as an actuary. Not ALL the time are we given this immediate choice, as we have to sometimes struggle through college or basic hardships that postpone our attainment of enjoyable employment. But the truth is, or at least it seems so in my mind: nobody wants to work. It seems to me that the only reason we search for such jobs that correlate to our pleasures is because it makes the work seem less like work. Not because we LIKE doing work. It just makes us more "at ease" with the fact that we, as the creators of a system where output = input, are all whores to ourselves. Think about it: no matter what the rigor involved is, every job has a purpose or service that makes it "worthy" to pay for somebody to do. It doesn't matter if you're a construction worker paving roads for easier passage, or a writer exuding knowledge or ideas through words for hungry minds. Regardless, you are contributing to a system where services are repaid with money, food, shelter, etc. After simply typing in "define: whore" in Google, it comes out with "compromise[ing] oneself for money or other gains." Furthermore, after typing in "define: compromise" in Google, it came out with "a middle way between two extremes." That seems like it all fits together quite well in my mind then. You have your two extremes: complete freedom or absolute slavery. With freedom, you are at the liberty to do whatever you please, but you must fight (and fight hard) to survive without the means of money to get you by. With slavery, you are TOLD what to do, you are TOLD where to go, but in most cases, slaves were provided with ample shelter and food (of which they were not required to pay for). Therefore, between the two, you could maybe see what I see: jobs as we pursuit them today. All of this consideration of enjoyability is just salt on a very bland slab of fish, and we are all quite too hungry to care that it's really the salt we like and not the fish. Unless you have a phobia of flavors or tasting things. Then this analogy might leave you lost. However, I'd much rather believe  it would be my best interest to remain lost and looking for something outside the platter than fancying the silverware before me, the tools which will allow me to indulge the meal. Unfortunately, I've already soiled my pallet and the MSG flows through my veins. The next bit of homework awaits me, and my words are reduced to hypocrisy.