Social Enemy

So here I sit now, trapped once again in this prison I was so determined to escape from, confined to this garden of a deafening mute sound and lingering thoughts. Here I sit here now, a living example of what happens when you try to challenge the hand of Fate, its words forever echoing in my head today; “there are things beyond your comprehension and reasons why I need you here; reasons why you must never leave this place.” What are these reasons? How much longer can I endure this? What happens if I can’t? Questions I will spend an eternity asking, questions I will spend an eternity not knowing. What I do know is I will never again challenge the law of Fate as I remain here haunted by the events of my past. No I will never forget when I chose to defy Fate. That day I awoke the same as any other day, but I should have just stayed in bed. "909"

People tend to think that because I’m against living a monogamous lifestyle, then I must be a male whore. That isn’t true in the least bit although I honestly see nothing wrong with that, just as long as you stay clean and don’t sleep around behind someone else’s back. I may not want to depend entirely on one person for all my needs but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to fuck everything with a vagina. I not only have standards like anybody else and hold on very tightly to them, but I also have no desire to want to deal with a crap ton of women at one time. The ideal of monogamy relates a lot to what I discussed in my marriage piece. Everyone wants to find that perfect someone to call husband or wife to live out their days basking in their love, but allow me to ask this. Why do we assume that we only have a certain kind of love for one person? Even more so, being in a relationship does not and will not stop you or your partner from being attracted to other people. So in a world with a population of over 6.5 billion people I will never understand the desire people have to limit themselves to just enjoying the benefits of one person. "938"

"I’d like to welcome you to the new age, an age where the world is at the beckon call of your fingertips." Welcome to the internet age. I realize that yes I’m only a few years late writing about this but I was feeling nostalgic one day about how excited I used to get as a kid to go to the music store whenever an album from a band I liked came out, and how because of the internet I’ll probably never get to re-live that sort of excitement (also due in part to the fact that new music is just god-awful… Lady Gaga or Katy fucking Perry anyone?). It then got me thinking about how other aspects of my life and everybody else’s has changed because of it and well, that’s my excuse for writing about it now. This isn’t going to be so much of an ‘one side or another’ piece like my monogamy and marriage blogs, but just more of anobservation of this new internet age we live in. I remember having a conversation with some friends a while back saying that because of the internet, unless you just want some fresh air there is absolutely no reason to ever leave your house other than to go to work. If you think about it, there are sites out there that can supply you with anything you need or want just as long as you have a credit or debit card. Places like bestbuy.com or circuitcity.com (I couldn’t believe they still exist either) can be your stop for televisions, computers, and other electronic devices including cameras and portable music players. Amazon.com sells everything from books to jewelry to automotive parts, although for the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone would want to buy car parts online, as well as the aforementioned electronic devices. Not only do all three sites as well as numerous others sell recreational items like movies, music CD’s, video/computer games and accessories, but with sites like Netflix iTunes and Steam, you can stream movies movies and games straight to your computer or purchase albums and video games and download them right to your computers’ hard drive. Do you need new clothes? Visit gap.com, forever21.com or Abercrombie.com, three places you couldn’t pay me money to shop at, or even hottopic.com for more novelty clothing. You can perform numerous banking tasks and even pay utility bills at your banks’ website. You can even buy groceries or even prescription medication… all over the internet. And now with smartphones and tablet computing growing more and more popular with time, all these options and more are readily available to you wherever you go. By the way if by some miracle of chance you can’t find a site that sells what you’re looking for, there’s always ebay.com. It’s not only shopping that has been affected by the introduction of the internet. I remember the good ol’ days when if you liked someone, you would ask for their phone number. Then you would actually talk to one another over the phone using your voices to become better acquainted, and then after some time passed you would actually go out and get to know each other even more. But since I’m apparently an old fart (at 30 btw), that seems to all be ancient history now. Currently there are close to 100 million members on the five most popular dating sites in America alone but there are literally hundreds of these sites on the internet. As of 2010 the online dating industry was worth $4 billion worldwide and is continues to grow . But looking for romance isn’t the only thing directly affected by the net, even the way we communicate with one another has now been ‘upgraded.’ We now live during a time where facebook is dominating the social networking medium with now over 750 million users and on average people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site. This along with texting, which is basically the same concept as email but for phones, is essentially all that is required for staying in touch with people. I just read a story (a true story mind you) about a woman that lived out all the stages of a relationship she had with a guy via text messaging including flirtatious banter to confusion to bitterness at the sight of his name. I’ve recently met so two girls that both want to communicate with me through texting only and I’m sure they won’t be the last. I recently joined facebook a few months ago and I find it interesting how easily accessible I am to all my friends at any given time and vice-versa. Think about it, through your phone you have the opportunity to communicate with everyone on your friends list whenever you want through messaging in facebook. When I want to say something to a friend, I sometimes can’t decide whether to text them or send it through facebook, since they’ll get it and respond through their phone anyway. Yet I rarely ever callanyone anymore. There’s no question that the introduction and popularity of the internet has made the tasks of our lives much easier, but what kind of price are we paying for this convenience? Did you know that the actions you make on the internet are being monitored and recorded? Let me introduce you to what’s known as data mining. Data mining is the act of having your personal data researched and stored for literally anyoneto purchase. People looking to purchase your data can include anyone from companies trying to decide who to advertise their product to, to employers looking to spy on the people they have working for them. The information gathered from individuals includes but is not limited to credit card purchases, income levels, pictures of your home or even the status updates you put on facebook. There are dozens of sites out there like spokeo.com, which has profiles of EVERYONE that uses the internet, detailing all the information I’ve listed above. And while you may want to think having your private information being sold off to random companies is unbelievable or wrong, the scary fact is it’s all completely legal. Data mining is a multi-billion dollar industry. So how exactly is our information being obtained? Everything from the apps we use on our phones to the websites we visit is used to gather data on us. So let me say it again folks, welcome to the internet age. There is no denying that the internet has completely changed the way we as a society live our lives, and seeing as how I was one of the first people on America Online way back in 1995 I’ll always find it a little intriguing how the internet has blown up in popularity throughout the years. At the end of 2000 there were an estimated 360 million people on the internet. As of April 2011 that number has grown to over 2 billion, which is roughly 30% of the worlds’ population. Of course like everything else it has its downside. Because of how fast information is shared, it’s often stated that once something makes its way onto the net it’s there to stay permanently for anyone to witness, which is often the case with embarrassing pictures and videos. But one thing I must say that I can really appreciate about the net is that anybody with a few working brain cells and a couple of fingers now has the opportunity to be heard and seen...myself included. Bands and musicians no longer have to grind their way to popularity when they now can make their music and post it on popular sites like youtube. More video is uploaded to this site in one month than the three major US networks created in 60 years, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day. Even writers now have the luxury of joining blog sites and posting their works for all to read, as there are currently millions and millions of members throughout different blog sites on the net. The bottom line is this; the internet is here to stay and will only evolve and grow more popular in the future. The question is whatexactly will it evolve to, what how much more will it change the world? "1394"

"The farthest star in the sky burns the brightest." I'll always remember the first day I met you. You came into my life so unexpectedly and instantly left me in a sea of bumbling thoughts and stuttering words. We were introduced so casually yet it took all my courage and brainpower just to form words in my mouth. "Say something Andre! Goddamn it just say SOMETHING!" These were the only words swimming in my head as I desperately tried not to make myself look like a total fool in front of you. We only spoke for a few minutes that day but that was all it took. Your eyes, your smile, your charm... they were so damned magnetic I was convinced that no matter the circumstance you and I would grow old together. I'll always remember how you mercilessly invaded my thoughts. I would sit back and allow my fantasies of you; the adventurous, the sexual, the endless romance, to run wild with no limitations. Images of you would accompany me in bed at night and be there to greet me as I woke up in the morning, along with the same questions I repeatedly asked myself every time you popped in my head. "Who exactly is this woman? How has she taken me over like this? Why her? What is it about her?" I never these kinds of feelings could exist in something like me, but I knew you and I would meet again in the future and I eagerly anticipated that encounter because it was then that you were to going to know exactly how I felt about you. I'll always remember that one chance I had to make my way into your world and share with you the darkest secrets of my own world. It's probably what I remember most when I think about you today. I approached that night with great hope and excitement knowing that I would not only get to see you again but knowing that this may very well be the start of an intense and glorious relationship between us, the type of relationship that would shake the foundations of life itself. Little did I realize that it would become the night of one of the biggest regrets in my life. I often ask myself why I chose to keep my words to myself at the last minute. Looking back I guess there were a number of meager reasons but they can all be narrowed down to one thing. Despite all the feelings I had for you, I knew I would never be able to give you all the things I wanted to give you. The romantic connection, the adventurous experiences, even the mind blowing sex I saw us having... I knew there would be someone out there that could give you the life you deserved and at the expense of my own fantasies, I was willing to make sure you had that opportunity. They say the farthest star in the sky burns the brightest and in regards to you, and now I truly understand what it means now. You'll always be the representation of my wildest dreams and fantasies that will forever be impossibly out-of-reach. And despite everything I wish I could tell you, if there is one message that I must relay to you more than anything else it would be “thank you”. Thank you for being that huge beacon of light in a time when darkness was the only thing I knew, for being everything I never knew I wanted, and for giving me something new to strive for. You may have only been a passing face but you’ve undoubtedly made one of the most lasting impressions out of anybody I’ve met. By now you've moved on and in the years we’ve spent apart I’m sure you’ve forgotten all about me, but I'll remember you. I'll always remember you. "645"

Ah yes, the fairy tale. Those lovable stories we all read as children about being rescued and living life happily ever after, but here’s something else to consider about the fairy tale. The term also means far-fetched story or a story with unbelievable elements. At the end of the day it all comes down to one thing and it’s social really. The “nuclear family” is nothing more than an ideal created years ago to dictate how people should live their lives. Now before I get any kind of shit for this (though I still welcome it), I do want it to be known that I don’t entirely see it as me vs. marriage. I write this mainly as a wake-up call to those who obsess over the notion that happiness can only be obtained through married life. It isn’t at all necessary and like everything else it isn’t for everybody. Today there are over 7 million couples that co-habit in the US. And while it is true that divorce rate has been on a slow but steady decline since the 80’s, this may or may not be due to the fact that marriage rate has also been on a slow but steady decline since the 80’s, according to this years’ government census. “1020″

Of course the question to ask is where did this sudden popularity come from? It's pretty obvious that a lot of it has to do with the need people have to not only want what everybody else has but have the best version of it. My cousin got an iPad when they first came out, used it maybe 4 or 5 times and never used it again after. When I asked him why he got one, his response..."I don't know, because everybody was talking about it." I guess it's unfortunate for me popularity has never been a requirement for me to show interest in something, so as it stands now it’s me vs. the tech nation, and while I’ve never had a problem with being on the outside of a socially accepted fad (I actually like it), it just boggles my mind how big of a role gadgetry has in the norm today. In only a few short years I’ve gone from being a techie nazi to watching everyone else become one. I can only wonder where we will all be 5 short years from now. "677"