Visiting Idols

Those of us who are lovers of movies or books would love to meet the characters. Sometimes, more often than not, the characters are made up, but the places have the potential to be real. Where it may be unlikely to go get drinks with Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death) or play board games with Igor (Dork Tower), it is totally possible to visit the places scene in that show or that book, respectively.

Is it as exotic as going to a different country for spring break? No.

Is it just as cool. Yes.

Should you take pictures? Damn right!

Just Remember: A few great places to visit would definitely be Chicago (Dark Knight), Pegasus Games in Madison (Dork Tower), and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood (Blazing Saddles).

The Second Wave

A while back, roughly in November, I made a post titled The First Wave. That post basically talked about how couples typically break up around Thanksgiving, allowing for you single people to go out and find some newly available people. A lot of people have been asking me when the second wave would take place, believing it would happen in December. The reason why you were still with someone during Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/etc. and New Year's is because nobody wants to be remembered as the first break up of a new year or the person that ruined Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/etc.

In truth, your significant other has been weighing the option of dating you since the holiday. There is a saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." That saying is somewhat similar in terms of relationships, but it changes to, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 30 or 40 times, shame on me." Those 30 or 40 times can more than likely present themselves over the holiday season. Since Christmas and New Year's are so close together, it is almost like one big holiday and, returning to the original expression, screwing up one holiday season is enough. Nobody wants to have a bad second one. Now what is that bad second one? You guessed it: Valentine's Day. If you make it to the weekend past the dreadfully romantic holiday, you are safe; however, people have cut it so close to the wire that they break up on the very day.

This is the Second Wave.

Just Remember: The first wave is rather helpful because there is still fun to be had in those early winter months, but now everyone wants to relax and keep warm, making going out a little harder. You will need to take a bit of time. Give it a month or so and you should be fine.

The First Wave

A while back I wrote an article about how to meet someone in a bar. It worked for some people while others are left questioning why it didn't work. This entry is for those people who didn't find anyone and are now left saying, "Well, I can't find anyone because everyone is taken already." I have noticed that too and there is good news for you. HUMANS ARE PATTERN-CENTRIC! Think about it. Every June, August, and December have high gas prices because people are traveling more. Or how everyone decides to do something crazy during summer after having spent several months cooped up indoors. Relationships are strikingly similar.

Take the average single person. He or she, having been stuck inside all winter, wants to go out and have fun, possibly meet people. Let's claim that our average person has met someone and is dating. They go through the rest of summer feeling energized by this new found glory until about September when things slow down and start to lean a bit towards serious. As the weather gets colder, couples, like bird, begin to nest and find out how much they really want to destroy one another...or not. Of course both Sweetest Day and Halloween prolong the relationship, but by no means necessarily save it because the potential of Thanksgiving can kill it.

It will start off small, perhaps a disagreement about which movie is better, and it will escalate into either a series of growing fights or one full-out relationship-ending fight. Now you may be asking why would such a positive holiday kill a relationship? While Sweetest Day allows one to pick up for misgivings and Halloween allows for couples to have fun as a couple, Thanksgiving represents a couple getting serious. It isn't so much the holiday as it is bringing this person home to show off to the rest of the family that can make someone uneasy. There are other times this situation happens in the year and I will document them as well, but for now, this is The First Wave.

Just Remember: It's not the end of the world just yet...that's in December. Also, there are other people that are going to be single now too so you will both have something in common to talk about.

The Poppler Dilemma

"The Problem With Popplers"

I normally don't care for break rooms. Generally, they are windowless, dirty, & uncomfortable rooms that give way to coworkers with myopic viewpoints that I tend to tune out. A few months ago, I was eating lunch in this break room when four women, ranging from early-30s to mid-40s, came in and immediately took seat at a table away from me, which is understandable as I didn't know them. Soon enough they began to discuss the quirks of life that disappointed them, starting off with the body scanners at the airport and how the TSA agents shouldn't pat these women down because they aren't terrorists. They then concluded that dogs should be used instead of body scanners as they are a lot less invasive. Both of the statements made me chuckle to myself due to the sheer stupidity of them.

It was at this point they continued munching on their salads while discussing "the benefits of vegetarianism," one of which claimed she had to be vegetarian. They continued onward about how Richard Geer wrote a book about the very same topic and talking about the "a-ha moment" for famous people. This came around to the topic of how livestock out at pasture care for their young as humans care for their progeny, by enlisting a babysitter. The entire conversation went on for sometime with minor jabs inserted, berating those "too stupid" to fall in line with their world view. One simplistically stated how the wold would be far better if everyone were vegetarian.

Adorable, yes, but I would still eat it.

As I looked down at my ham sandwich, one thought clearly passed through my head: That is total bullshit! Animals eat other animals and if they don't, they eat things with living cells on them. Genetically speaking, all lions are carnivores and, as such, need to eat meat. Omnivores can eat both plants and meat and we, as humans, are omnivores, not solely herbivores (those that eat only plants). It seems that becoming vegetarian is the new diet fad. Of course there are protein alternatives to meat like beans, nuts, and legumes; however, many people don't employ the alternatives and end up having to take various pills to replace what they aren't gaining nutritionally. These people end up having to stop the vegetarian lifestyle as per doctor's request.

I may sound like I'm bashing vegetarians, but, in truth, I'm declaring two points: 1) know how to eat/be healthy, and 2) don't push your health-habit-theories/how-to-save-the-world-ideas on others.

Just Remember: According to science, all edible items contain living cells at one point or another. To say eating meat is murder by using the it-is-from-a-living-creature argument is a fallacy because all items on this planet are made up of living cells or have bacteria living on them. This means that any form of nutrition is murder to some degree. (See the Life Cycle)