December 2011
18 posts
8 tags
Sage Advice 86: Don't Doing That Thing
Common sense requires years of paying attention to your physical and social surroundings to acquire. Those who are detached from, uninterested in, or lacking empathy for their community are generally forfeited the ability to develop common sense. I should really define what I think common sense is before I go much further. For me, common sense is your knowledge of the things people really...
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Sage Advice 85: Wolverine
Gender prescription is something that gets set in stone at such an early age. Before girls know they’re girls or boys know that they’re slightly dumber/whinier versions of girls, each of the sexes are being sent a heap of subtle messages to direct their social behavior.
My earliest realization of how powerful of a tool the invisible hand of assigned gender roles can be came when I was still in...
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Sage Advice 84: Home Is Where The House Is
A crucial part of the American dream requires owning a good chunk of dirt and grass to plant a big house on. It’s an expensive and difficult endeavor to pursue, but nothing says “I am the ideal citizen with a soul-crushing amount of debt I will never pay off” like having your own shelter in a designated lot.
That is the most important aspect of owning a house: the never actually owning it part....
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Sage Advice 83: Hospitals
You know how sometimes a place doesn’t turn out as frightening as you imagined it? Like your new school or your grandmother’s house or a confessional booth. You build up this image of a terrifying place filled with your anxieties and fears, then once you get there, it’s nothing like that at all. It’s just a normal place.
Hospitals aren’t that. Every bad thing you’ve ever imagined about a hospital...
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Sound Advice 26: Get Someone Else To Do It/Talking...
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Sage Advice 82: It's The Most Suicidal Time Of The...
Few words blissfully meld in a harmonious dance of synonymy like holidays and suicide. As the temperature falls and the traffic gets dumber, people ‘round the world prepare to gather and celebrate whatever traditions and customs their dead relatives dictate. It’s also when a bunch of people decide to off themselves; something about the joy of a lot of people makes a bunch of other people really...
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Sage Advice 81: Indie
I enjoy listening to indie rock. It’s a great genre of music where bands use the guise of trying out new sounds and ideas without the control of a corporate manipulator to cover the fact that they’re really just copying stuff Lou Reed did forty years ago while he was on a heroin bender. Nevertheless, the soft melodic sounds of the indie genre plays to a certain aspect of my personality, the one...
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Sage Advice 80: Internet Me
It’s amazing how the internet has become a place where every participant has to construct and keep up with a digital identity. So many different places around the net require you to engage with self-reflection in an attempt to allow you to tailor a personality for people to view. We’ve all had that moment where we stare at our computer screen and ask the ever crucial question, “What are my...
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Sound Advice 25: We’re Asking For An Hour...
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Sage Advice 79: Corvette Man
I used to have a sense of social justice that I acquired from my mother; I held the belief that people should be treated equally by the system in which they live—regardless of race, gender, creed, religion, or any aspect of their identity. My mom was into this stuff. She would always talk about how everyone deserves social justice. I really bought into it for a long time, but that was all before...
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Sage Advice 78: We're All Gonna Die One Day
One of my favorite parts about life is that everyone is gonna die one day. It’s not that I’m not afraid of death or the death of my friends and family, but I kinda like the idea of something that every single thing has to face. We’re all gonna die. It’s the great equalizer.
It makes you realize that, no matter how awful people can be, they all end up at the exact same point. It’s comforting. It’s...
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Sage Advice 77: The American Right
I take the parts of the constitution I have bothered to have someone kinda explain to me very seriously (I’ve never taken the time to actually read it because I’m pretty sure it’s in cursive, and I don’t do cursive). I may not be able to tell you everything about the document, but I do know somewhere on there talks about the American citizen’s right to own a gun. Or bear an arm. Or arm a bear. I’m...
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Sage Advice 76: Self-Removed Self-Expressions Of...
By now, you’re aware of how incredible of a visual artist I am. Let’s face it, when it comes to drawing stuff, not many people can vomit the kind of beauty that I can. That’s why I like tattoos so much; anyone who is willing to wear someone else’s vomit permanently has to be a rational person.
That’s the best part of tattoos, you know, the permanent part. That’s a kind of commitment most people...
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Sage Advice 75: The Commonwealth
Virginia is an odd state. Considering its geography and history, you would expect the Southern aspect to be emphasized in more than just its location. While it’s true that there are some parts of Virginia that take on the kind of stereotypes you connect with the American South, there are plenty of areas in the state that resemble nothing of the sort. I would like to go over my home state and...
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Sage Advice 74: Honesty Is The Best Policy...
Some folks consider blunt and complete honesty an admirable trait. If someone says something to the effect of, “I just say what is on my mind,” that person is usually respected for removing the filter between their brain and mouth.
The biggest problem with this is when people claim they are just speaking their minds. It’s always after something downright terrible or mean. No one says, “Hey, those...
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Sage Advice 73: The Guy In My Head
There is plenty philosophy behind the idea of language shaping our reality. It’s something that, for the most part, I really buy into; our understanding of the world must be expressed through our ability to communicate reality. Essentially, we shape truth through the vehicle of language. However, there’s a small hiccup in the logic for me.
The guy in my head, the one who makes up all those ideas...
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Sound Advice 24: The Holidays
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Sage Advice 72: Football
As this time of the year generally permits, I’ve watched a little bit of professional football while I’m not busy designing a chair built for homeless reptiles (it’s a passion). Before we get confused, I don’t mean football as in that sport people with terrible accents play. I mean American football (the one God cares about). If there’s one thing that amazes me about football, it’s just how...
