Put On Some Shades

I'm writing you to catch you up on places I've been

  
Everything in the world operates with such delicacy and synchronicity.

Everywhere your eyes choose to admire, nature finds a way to surprise you.

Every living creature, no matter how big or small, crawling from point A to point B, for whatever reason, seems to understand its role in the world.

Even if you realize the grass isn't greener on the other side, appreciate the clouds that look like mountains in the sky next to a perfectly illuminated sun.

Taking photographs to brag about a free concert ticket or stitching together images to gloat about simultaneous events and uploading them to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter have become a part of life.

Capturing the moment has become a new priority.

Sometimes, the moment captured is for confirmation of one's social status.

As naive and shallow as that may sound, it happens.

What about money?

Money has shed a new light since the beginning of college. It's appealing, but not fully satisfying.

Instant gratification, for sure.

If someone were to ask me three years ago, would you want three thousand dollars in cash or a three thousand mile road trip?

I would've said "Cash, baby. Cash!"

Sometimes, trips are better than money.

I failed to understand the importance behind discovering national parks or visiting museums when I was younger. 

I hated the annoyingly boring 2 hour car drives to Jax Beach filled with Bee Gees classics pumped through the speakers.

But yes, I am guilty of trying to synthesize moments.

10 years later, I catch myself snapping an absurd number of pictures rather than letting my eyes and mind wander to attempt to understand the intricate beauty of the world.

Now, I set my phone aside more often, while my face is glued to the side of whatever window I'm near.

And I stare.

Because I don't know when I will ever see clear, starry night skies or weird weather patterns again.

Or find the places I've never known before.

Since I'm not sure when this trip will end.


You should have seen that sunrise, with your own eyes. It brought me back to life.

You'll be with me next time I go outside.

No more 3x5s.

Just no more 3x5s

  

Cole Summer

In this Tallahassee summer, I don't need to pop a molly to start sweatin'. 

All I need to do is step outside in this mid-June, blistering heat and I’m sweatin’.

Imagine walking 5 steps! I don’t even want to picture running.

Woo!

But don't put the blame on the summer heat for our natural, human laziness. 

It's just easier to complete tasks that require less energy because it's comfortable. As a result, our air conditioning systems suffer greatly as each grind and clutter in their gray boxes to spew breaths of fresh, 68 degree air into our rooms. 

Eventually, our bank accounts also suffer because the light bill will most likely be in the triple digits. 

So, is it wrong for "maximizing" efficiency or is it okay to accept a spontaneous wave of laziness? 

Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" speaks of the importance of appreciating the presence of a piece of a work rather than photograph and the impact of human interaction of creating the reproductions. 

Benjamin writes, "During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence."  

You nailed it, Walter Benjamin. 

Each decade of time or "era" contains a certain lifestyle that matches the mode of existence. Simultaneously, our sense perception adjusts. 

In our case, the ridiculous acceleration of technology in the 21st century has affected our existence. Technology has become helpful and useful for the connecting people and distributing information quickly. 

Along the way, this technology wave became more and more useful for our daily lives. From answering machines and microwaves to iPhones and Netflix, the huge improvements make living heavenly. 

Facebook's, Instagram's, and Twitter's revelance in this "technological boom" is obvious as well.

These social networks are designed to keep people in touch, but also to share ideas and events. These sites have such a high upside, but a new problem arises. 

Physical, social interactions are at risk. Just as Benjamin tells us it is more important to be in the presence of a work to fully appreciate its value, our daily conversations are just as critical. 

Human interaction is important for our social development. The usage of these social networks, along with access to unlimited text messaging, have almost replaced the mode of communication, from in person to phone-to-phone.

We risk losing character, charm, and charisma, but smile at the thought of another glossy iPhone. 

Technology is designed to help our lives, not to be the sole focus of our time. Instead of complicating and dominating our lives, it should compliment and direct us in the right direction. 

So what if you sweat on your walk to the bus stop? 

Shy away from the laziness, unglue your eyes from the Apple-product screens, and remember people have been around longer than these cute machines. 

This could just be another phase. 

Because if we continue to continue in the direction of communication through social medias and cellular devices, we'll miss out on the beautiful moments of life.

You could get lucky enough to meet your favorite artist of all-time, as my friend Arisse did:

Arisse (right),  Rapper J. Cole (upper left) in VIP at Miami

 

   




















If we become distant socially, even with our advancements, we risk of letting our heroes down. The same heroes that encouraged us to make the world in the future a better place.

We have the resources. We have the technology. We have more than enough people.

We have to stay connected, not just viritually, so we don't disappoint our heroes. 

Right, LeBron James?

Changes

Changes scare the hell out of people. 

Sometimes, it creeps up on you unexpectedly. Other times, it comes gradually. 

And so the idea of something becoming permanent can be overwhelming for me.

Tattoos have always appealed to my brain. The variety of color on my skin has appealed to me, but I've always been hesitant. Even some of my childhood heroes' arms had more ink than the Berlin Wall prior to its tumble in 1990.

So, it would take every ounce of energy with a perfect idea for me to accept this challenge of getting a tattoo.

Instead, I search everyday for a sign or symbol that keeps me from staying in a routine.

My dark, brown glasses have a way of using my peripheral to find a direction to go in.

Changes.

What do you think, 2Pac?

One of the central topics of the 2008 presidential election between Obama and McCain. As a public, we are all searching for some change for more permanent success, individually and collectively.

We just have to make sure to not be as ignorant about facing change, unlike Mr. Kurtz and Marlow in Heart of Darkness by Ishmael Reed.

Ignorance of other cultures hinders the voyage the European characters undergo in Africa. This form of idiocy prevents improvement and progress.

Our generation is more aware than before.

Yes, our generation is also becoming sick of hearing about change, but it's only because we have a better understanding of our world and our individual significance on the globe.

Anyone can make a difference.

But we need to ensure the right changes are being made though. Otherwise, we'll just keep fucking up.

I dare you to take a step outside of your comfort zone.

Trying jumping off the highest high dive, eliminate junk food for a few months, or even apologize for the drunk dial you sent to your ex last night.

We'll make it through this seemingly never-ending list of problems our nation faces.

And during those days of built up frustrations and mind-numbing anxiety, a sign might come along and help change your thoughts.

We're headed in the right direction of changes soon

What's Next?

Tallahassee, Florida has been "home" for the past 15 years and Florida State University was the future. 

My future.

My preference for FSU stems from my father's involvement around the university. He spent countless hours working near several athletic programs such as baseball and football at Florida State during the 1990s. 

  

Since 1998, the ritual consisted of driving to Wal Mart for two large bags of Lays chips, two large Cokes, while plopping on a faded brown colored, torn couch for my dad and I, as we tuned in every Saturday afternoon or evening to watch the Florida State football team dominate opponents for years.

Over time, my dad and I began to explore the "Harry Potter-like castle" (Doak Campbell Stadium), and eventually, the rest of the campus and facilities. 

From the Suwannee dining room to the Westcott fountain, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the constant autumn-like ambience and the never-ending bricks. It’s impossible to feel anything less than curiosity and excitement when walking around the campus.

Then, high school crashed in like a tidal wave, with all of the pressures from my parents and teachers, and the need to select the “best” school.

But all that glitters isn’t (garnet and) gold.

My future became my present.

But this present wasn’t gift-wrapped nor did it have a beautiful red bow on top.

This present is just another station on this conveyor belt of life that I’m cruising on.

The memories of a midnight dump in the blistering, icy water in Westcott Fountain for my birthday, Saturday afternoons spent chanting “FSU” as the football team fight, fight, fight for victory, and avoiding FSU police, after roaming until two in the morning, for sketchy side entrances to facilities on campus, from sports stadiums to creepy tunnels.

Maybe this conveyor belt can carry me along to another station so I can appreciate more my moment in life.

But I don’t want myFSU experience to come through as filled with disappointment and eager to move on to the other phase of my life.

While Tallahassee will remain as my home, FSU is engraved in my head as my “home away from home”. I preferred to extend the distance between my parents and I from single digit miles to triple digit miles.

The dream of exploring a new city became a fascination and an obsession, but I’m satisfied with my time in home away from home.

College graduation is around the corner and the future becomes foggy again.

So now, I spend occasional midnights, sitting in front of Doak Campbell, with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny” playing on my laptop to remind me of all the childhood memories I planned.

Here’s a toast to the future

Day 1

As if there wasn’t enough darkness in the world.

Friends and family members come and go.

  
Others are pronounced with a death sentence, while we watch, frightened and huddled together, Mother Nature sending us another warning to remind us of how valuable our Earth is.

“The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance…"

Yet, somehow, my daily five-thirty afternoon sunset drives around Tallahassee remind me that the world has endless hidden beauty. 

"The sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light…”

So imagine how I felt reading about Zach Sobiech’s story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDC97j6lfyc

I learned about Sobiech’s battle against osteosarcoma from one of my friend’s posts on her Facebook. The title on the link my friend posted read “This Kid Just Died. What He Left Behind is Wondtacular”. Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor that develops in teenagers. After becoming diagnosed he is given 6 months to a year to live.

As a form of closure, Sobiech wrote the song “Clouds”, which currently sits at number 1 on the iTunes charts. The happy and hopeful melody contains lyrics of acceptance, happiness, and relief. A song full of inspiration, but more importantly, hope. 

In contrast, it is too often that we discover moments of pure ignorance and brilliant idiocy. 

But a miracle does occur once in a while:

http://jezebel.com/5946643/reddit-users-attempt-to-shame-sikh-woman-get-righteously-schooled

And so there are still these precious moments of promise in which I dream that the people on this planet will understand the importance of his/her role in the overall scheme of our existence. We make positive and negative contributions to the health of the planet, and along the way, the fantasy of good existing is becoming minimized and trivialized. 

"And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall,"

Rather than continuing the wall of cultural and/or ethnic division, similarly to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, we need to take the Zach Sobiech by beginning to approach every day with a little more positivity and hanging on to the dream of fighting the pressures of evil away. Even in the thick darkness, there is always a heart of light that can be found.

"the sun sank low, and from glowing white,"

Now, my late afternoon drives becoming more self-revealing and introspective because I worry that my generation will not be able to help the economic crisis, global unbalance of peace, and persistent fight for power. 

" changed to a dull red without rays and without heat.”  

The clouds have a new meaning, while the late afternoon drives matter more intimately. This sunset had the beautiful delicate shade of dull red, and without many rays, but the lack of heat to compliment the scene perfected the moment. 

Don't worry, it wasn't that dark out while I was driving.