just wanted to keep you updated on where I’m at with the Millennial Perspective blog right now. The site is under construction but it won’t go down. I’d love to get your ideas for the re-design, let me know what you’d like to see. Right now I just want to make navigation easier as the blogs are building up.
I’ve recently gotten business cards developed to help get people in the entertainment business to have my work email to further my network and hopefully get to a place where this blog can have its own network in topics I’m interested in but can’t feature in ABORT Magazine.
Ideally I’d like Millennial Perspective to be a business with employees as I feel in today’s age the Millennial Perspective itself needs to be heard and seen more than the more aging perspectives. The recent global upheavals such as Brexit and the American presidential election showed that us Millennials are very important and we can make or break the society we reside in wherever that may be.
For us to be taken more seriously, we need to keep the communication on topics open to discussion. Dialogue is always essential and I hope that the Millennial Perspective will be a place for peaceful discussion as I evolve it for the future.
Drawing inspiration from the Bell’s Let’s Talk event this year (2017) I am compelled to revitalize the Millennial Perspective blog from its grass roots. Though I’ve been on hiatus doing a range of things from writing for publications to school and travel, I’ve learned many things. Things I believe will enhance the Millennial Perspective and ultimately help people through a blog series about what started the blog, Anxiety.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a controversial topic for it is subjective. It affects everyone in different ways. Though you and I may find overlapping similarities in our Anxiety, it is never truly the same experience. Though we cannot always understand what each other is going through, a common theme amongs those in the mental health community is to always say “I’m here for you.” Over the years I’ve seen Anxiety in many shapes and sizes, and there’s no one clear, textbook example of it. Anxiety can be the little girl not wanting to go out to parties because she feels uncomfortable in crowds and the peer pressure that is associated with them. Anxiety is also the teenage boy too scared to try new things because of what might happen. Anxiety affects us all in many different ways, and there’s still no clear solution, or a cure to what ails us.
Anxiety is normal. Everyone experiences Anxiety at times. For example, it is normal to feel anxious when you miss a bus, or before a job interview. It’s a system in our body that helps us perform our best or avoid danger. The definition of Anxiety is: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Put into such simple terms it can seem an afterthought to those that don’t experience Anxiety. Often people dismiss it, saying “It’s all in your head.” Those people have not experienced a panic attack. Though Anxiety is an imbalance in our brains, it is not a made up phenomenon that can just be thought away.
One constant of Anxiety is a fear of the unknown. Through overthinking, what could happen becomes what will happen. Anxiety is pessimistically perceiving an event in the future whether it’s a task, a conversation, traffic, a crowd, it is predicting the future through a worst case scenario filter. The most rewarding part of this often crippling fear is that when you can put the fear aside and do something you feel anxious about, you often benefit through positive life changing experiences. This, however, does not make the next time any easier unless it was a common fear you overcame such as acrophobia, arachnophobia, galeophobia, etc.
What does Anxiety mean to me?
Anxiety is heavily triggered by unpredictability, but Anxiety itself is unpredictable. This is why Anxiety about Anxiety will trigger panic attacks due to an endless cycle. It is a constant internal barrier to overcome. People with Anxiety constantly overthink situations and doubt their ability to carry through their responsibilities. Meeting new people is often very hard, not due to shyness, but from the fear of crowds. First impressions are very important but if you’re someone with Anxiety, you can affect others which makes them uncomfortable, tarnishing someone’s view of you possibly forever. This is why crowds so often frighten people that suffer from Anxiety. Things that normally stress people out such as money, school, work, etc. affect people with Anxiety to another level and if you don’t make it work to your advantage, it can really go downhill. Communication is key but is it always easy to identify what’s causing the Anxiety? People ask how they can help you but if you can’t identify the problem then how can you find a solution?
On a personal note, Anxiety runs in my family. I’ve been afforded the luxury of having the elders pass on knowledge about Anxiety and what to do if you’re diagnosed, what coping mechanisms are effective and who to talk to when I can’t handle it. Several years ago I saw several doctors to get on a proper balance of medication and self-awareness due to a string of panic attacks really scaring me. I learnt that breathing through the stomach in deep, slow breathes required more thought than I had expected. When we’re born as babies, we breathe that way naturally and over time we start to breathe more through our chest. This actually results in a shortness of breath.
After learning several techniques on how to tame Anxiety and calm myself from panic attacks, I felt I only needed see my family doctor, Dr. Kanagaratnam, who’s amazing. Much of my remedy for Anxiety is less medical and more mindfulness as I started practicing meditation which is very therapeutic. All the methods I’ve used to tame my Anxiety will be shared throughout this blog series as I hope I can help others the way others have helped me.
What’s next?
Whether the series is successful or not, I have several blogs planned on Anxiety through my experiences and observations since initially writing about it. I plan to discuss further what it is, as it is a very complex topic. I also intend to discuss the triggers of Anxiety, the fight vs flight instinct, Self-Awareness with Anxiety, how to help others with Anxiety, Travel Anxiety, City Anxiety, Anxiety about making plans, how others can effect those with Anxiety, and several more. Hopefully through the series and discussing ways I have overcome Anxiety, I can help others do the same.
Before Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, I had never seen a show at B.C. place. When I arrived to my first stadium show, I was told by the first security guard I was to be on the floor, I didn’t believe them as I walked down to the second floor to ask for directions, again, I was sent down to the floor. I didn’t believe it until I was sitting in the B section, looking at a very intricately designed stage. I was surrounded by thousands of seats, the blue sky visible through the new and improved, tax paid roof of the heart of B.C. entertainment. The stage was a very vivid blood red, square screens form an optical illusion in the center, instruments from bongo’s to a scarlet piano strategically litter the layers of the stage. For a moment, I was so interested in trying to figure out the stage and how it worked that I was forced back into reality by a tap on the shoulder by the woman next to me, looking up from my notebook where I was sketching the optical illusion the blood red walls created. “Are you doing homework?” she asked, her friends laughed.
“Dressed to the tee, they call me Cassidy” DJ Cassidy starts the party off with a mix of dance songs from the last few decades. The songs ranged from Drake to Guns n Roses, but for me, it was when Cassidy played some Notorious B.I.G. that I stood up to show my appreciation by grooving out a bit. DJ Cassidy did a good job setting up, he didn’t even have to ask for a lot of us to just start dancing to the music, at least half of the stadium was on their feet. The turn table set-up was actually behind me on the floor so I mostly just got a look from behind but the legs of the table are golden, Victorian style,. The theme of the night seems to be red, as DJ Cassidy was mixing under the red glow of the lights, and above a red carpet. He’s rocking an ivory suit with a white barbershop hat. He keeps the crowd engaged by replacing names of other cities in songs with Van city, but as he gets to hit last few songs he loses a lot of the massive audience when transitioning from dubstep to a very slow beat hip hop song. Everyone was on their feet moments later though, when two figures appeared on the stage on either side. The party has begun.
The blood red walls I had jotted down on my notebook are revealed to be LED screens, as JT and Jay-Z start their set off, they portraying the Magna Carta sculpture scene. Justin Timberlake rocks in a black fedora while Jay-Z lays it down with the New York Nets backwards snapback, proving once again that no matter where you go, “you are what you are playah”. As the show rolls on, both of our proclaimed Legends of the Summer gets their own chance to have the audience sing along to their best and favorite songs. The optical illusion LED screens are like their own performance, showing images that go with songs, from a snake slithering, getting bigger as it crawls from square to square, to water droplets on a puddle for the infamous Justin Timberlake song: “Cry Me A River”, to a blazing fire that was so bright it seemed real for the more recent hit, “99 Problems”.
I wouldn’t say either of our MC’s was more over with the audience, but Jay-Z got us to be louder, that’s for sure. However, watching Justin Timberlake dance around on stage, picking up whatever instrument he see fit from the keyboard to the electric guitar, he was having fun, and showing just how talented he is. JT does not show any more age today than when he was just starting out. If anything he’s just more confident and more talented. Jay-Z should not be sold short either as he strings words together better than a beat poet, dropping lyrics far beyond where my tongue got twisted, true rapid fire lyrics. We throw up an ocean of Rock-A-Fella Diamonds to show our respect for the hip hop god. The dynamic duo before us present us with tremendous range that still feels natural despite drastic changes in the transition from a Jay-Z song, to a Justin Timberlake song. JT, being the more energetic of the two, will run from one end of the stage to the other, making sure nobody is left out. At one point in fact, he danced from one end to the other. Justin Timberlake’s sets felt more like a cabaret feeling, while Jay-Z maintained the hip hop bobbing, and they swapped constantly so it always felt fresh, the set list is a well-planned flow of the new and old hits of the suit and tie rocking masters.
Jay-Z and JT come back together for “New York”, giving me an experience that alone is worth the cost of admission. Justin Timberlake starts singing “New York, New York” on stage right with a spotlight on him, his voice showing no weakness at all from the hour of entertainment beforehand, Justin hit amazing notes as he passionately sings the legendary Frank Sinatra hit. All of a sudden, Jay-Z’s “New York” kicks in, and anyone that had sat down from exhaustion is now on their feet. Rain begins to fall from the sky above the stadium through the open roof as the sun set in Vancouver, our heat wave and flawless month of sun is over, but it doesn’t get to us, this is the peak of the night. Everyone sings the chorus, so loud in fact that Jay-Z could let the audience sing a majority of the song. When Jay-Z finished his dedication to the city that raised him, Justin Timberlake is now on stage left, he finished his with a bang, dragging the last note out longer than any of us.
After singing the recent hit, “Mirrors”, JT stands on center stage, beginning to descend as if part of a magic trick, next to where JT once was is now Jay-Z for his solo time. Using elevated pads for these last transitions was awesome, especially when Jay-Z switched back with Justin saying “Go get ‘em JT” for the song I first thought was performed by a female when I heard it on the radio in high school Spanish, “Bringing Sexy Back”. Now JT got his chance to let the audience sing a majority of one of his songs. People stood on their folding chairs as they belted out how they too were bringing sexy back. For the finale, JT goes down via the elevator pad, while the band continues to jam out to the sexy back beat.
The house is dark, black as the night outside. The band is silent, but the crowd is loud, screaming for more. Lights hit center stage where Jay-Z and JT come down the staircase in the middle in their suits for the song that inspired this spectacular night, “Suit & Tie”. Both are also holding glasses of champagne, however, only JT drinks from his. JT has a dishevelled bowtie with his suit, while Jay-Z continues to rock the bling he is synonymous for. We have reached our last song when Jay-Z dedicated it to Trayvon Martin, the young man who’s tragic story of a hate crime ending his life, proving that racism is still alive in today’s day and age, the song is “Forever Young”. The sea of fans respond with waving cell phones and lighters, lighting the tremendous stadium as if it were daytime, or as most people refer to, the place lit up like a Christmas tree. It’s an amazing experience to be on the floor and look around at the mass of people united in a mutual respect for a worthy cause, great music, and a spectacular night.
The sea of humanity floods out into the streets of downtown Vancouver to join another from the Festival of Lights like a weather system. Despite the fact that I have been on my feet since DJ Cassidy decided to play my favorite song to smoke to, “Juicy”, I am able to weave through people consistently and make it home quite swiftly. The show may be over, but I’m still feeling the effects, running through it all in my head, all the elements that came together so well to create the stadium experience. Everything from the light show and stage design to the summer legends on the stage culminated together for the best show I’ve seen thus far, and my very first stadium show. Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake need to be seen to be fully believed, and they put it all on the floor tonight.
My film review for ABORT magazine on The Internship, starring Owen Wilson/Vince VaughnPart of my interview with award winning film maker, Jeff Renfroe (Colony) for ABORT magazine
My full interview with Jeff Renfroe for ABORT magazine.My full interview (p1) with local talent, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
My review of a must have film for ABORT Magazine, American MaryThis is part of a review for Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience at the Commodore. First show review for ABORTCD review for Canadian hard rock stars, Magnus Raising (Whatever It Takes) for ABORTMyself and the members of local music talent, GPB
Part 2 of the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes interview for ABORT magazineFor my first editorial, I wrote about the current educational system
Hey guys, I’m not feeling the anxiety topic this week, however, there is a topic I’d like to talk about. This is about my experiences in the video game field and an idea as to where things are going.
Being a millennial, I grew up with video games. Now, not all of us did, in fact, I believe my generation is the last generation to frown upon gamers and look down on them for enjoying the craft. I’ve gone through my fair share of teasing when it comes to this sort of thing, and even still I feel uncomfortable talking about one of my favorite hobbies from fear of either being teased, or grouped in with the stereotypical guy living in his parents basement (though, that isn’t much of a stretch and is certainly not even considered as much of a blunder anymore but that is for a later blog). The younger millennials out there, however, need not worry about such ridicule. It appears almost all the kids nowadays play Call of Duty, and other M rated titles. They make their voices heard on the global chat, and even they mock players that are my age (for different reasons which are beyond reasoning. Also a blog for another time).
What I wanted to talk about THIS time is where gaming is progressing at the moment, particularly in regards to paying for what you want. For those of you that don’t game, a lot of options are coming out on the Sony network of being able to just play the multiplayer gameplay of a certain game (so far Killzone 3 and Uncharted 3). Taking this to the next level could mean limitless potential. What if we made it so when gamers buy a game, they have a plethora of options? It’s not even necessary for the multiplayer to be free, but I like the idea of customizing a purchase to suit your needs. Personally, I usually just like to play the campaigns of games because I enjoy a good story, so the option to just buy the campaign of a game at a discounted price sounds more gratifying to me than free multiplayer. Games like Call of Duty attract people just because of its stellar multiplayer, so why not allow the consumer to purchase just the multiplayer at a discounted price? Mind you, depending on the demand, prices may vary. The multiplayer of Call of Duty could sell for $40, and the campaign for $20, a fully finished product would result in the same price, but it is forcing nothing on the consumer. In many cases the multiplayer is made by different people than the single player campaigns so this also makes distribution of payments a lot easier to handle.
The PS4 was announced recently and it looks to integrate a huge social media aspect, and looks like it’s bringing gamers together in ways lots of us didn’t even think of. Not only does the PS4’s controller have a share button to take gameplay clips and share them with the world, but it also has the ability to spectate other people’s games and help them through the chat, or take over control momentarily for them through tricky parts. This new breed of inter connectivity, and it combines two of my favorite aspects of the internet; Online gaming, and social media. The new dashboard of the PS4 resembles a similar breed of social media and online gaming, having a profile complete with updates of what you’re playing, clips you’ve shared, your trophy collections (collected by completing tasks in your games) as well as news on your friends. This design alone should attract more people that aren’t used to the idea of gaming, and have been hesitant, as it looks extremely user friendly to anyone who has a facebook account.
The SteamBox (or rather, the Xi3 Piston) was showed off at the CES last year and got lots of people in the PC gaming realm talking, but I feel like not enough people are talking about it. The idea behind the Steambox is to be able to access your Steam account (an online app that houses the largest PC gaming collection bar none) on your home television and play however you see fit. How is this attractive to non-gamers? Xi3 has allowed third parties to participate in creating their own ideal Steamboxes, what they want to see on the market. These ideas range from cost effective, to an extreme powerhouse, and each would have a different price tag. Valve, the company behind this project has said that they are interested in having multiple models to suit the needs of anyone. I’ve thought of many ideas about this flexibility of the hardware and even thought of having a Piston that specializes in watching film, so it would be like a blu-ray player, but better, as it seems movie players are stuck in the past still. This model would have a blu-ray drive, naturally, as well as all the apps you need to get started (Netflix, hulu, etc.) It would be considerably cheaper than a gaming powerhouse because watching film requires less hardware, and this could be the ultimate viewing experience.
I like to think that customization and connectivity is the way of the future of gaming, and with the PS4, and Steambox, I look forward to my many options the hardware allows. I eagerly await Microsoft’s next step into the very same future, and I hope, for the business, that they have their own spectacular innovations to share with the world, as I’m sure they do.
There’s a lot of emotions one goes through in a breakup. Amongst the tears and sighs, there’s a sense of heartbreak people often confuse for depression, though it is fair to say you’re depressed, there is a difference. However, people suffering from depression may be affected a lot more in instances like breaking up with someone. Some have even killed themselves from such an event. This blog is not is not about the depression aspect or hard feelings felt after a breakup, it is about the anxiety from multiple triggers in these events, and how to neutralize the anxiety from a first hand perspective, the millennial perspective.
After my break up I felt all of the above things and more. I was in a really low state for quite some time. The anxiety within me was more victimizing than the breakup itself however. It was hard to even contemplate getting back into the swing of things. Not only dating, but living a new routine, or my old routine. I was once again limited to my setting in White Rock, and I felt like I had no one. Especially considering the timing when I was already trying to come back from a slump, only to fall deeper into the slump with heartbreak. I stopped talking to people as much, I hid away as much as possible. I once again had issues trusting people with anything. I’d always worry about running into the now ex-girlfriend. I didn’t want to leave the house for fear that I’d see her. I was worrying about what she might say or do, or if her friends would get involved. I had asked her to leave me alone before only to be threatened by her and her new boyfriend. Since they’re theater crew, they must love drama. But then, today I ran into her. I was walking to the Skytrain after my midterm and she was coming up the hill as I was going down. She looked just as miserable as I was before, and for some reason that lifted a lot of anxiety of my shoulders. I believe it’s because nothing happened and now my fear of being harassed more by her is gone, or it could be that I finally understand the breakup took a toll on her as well. But whatever it is, when I ran into her today, I was already in a better place. I didn’t avoid her, or run away because I already fixed my anxiety about the situation, and this is how:
Step One:
Accept that situations were beyond my control.
This was a really hard one to accomplish for me. I’ve always tried to put myself in situations that I was in control of, but the reality of it is, when you really think about it. We don’t control much. In fact, out of everything that happens in our lives, we control very little. We don’t control genetics, or where we’re brought up, but we also don’t control who we run into (in my case, I couldn’t control if I ran into my ex or not) or who we meet that help take the pain away. However, we DO chose to keep those that take our pain away, or at least you should, I highly recommend it. The first step to ending my breakup anxiety was easily realizing I can’t do anything about it.
Step Two:
DISTRACTIONS
Being distracted is usually a bad thing. We distract ourselves from essay’s, work, etc. But if you have anxiety after a breakup, distractions can work wonders. My distractions were meeting new people, hanging out with friends, playing video games on my days off, and doing good deeds for others. Sometimes the best way to make yourself feel better, is to make someone else feel better. Maybe distract yourself with more structure in your life. Stick to a schedule, focus on what mattes most. Distractions are a nice way to repel negativity.
Step Three:
Write about how you feel.
I’m not sure if this works for everyone. Maybe some people don’t write ever, but it’s something I do on a daily basis. With the last blog, for example, I found simply writing my insight down helped get a lot of the breakup anxiety out of me, then I started writing more things down on the side like a journal my counselor wants me to keep. Writing about anxiety in my experience definitely helps neutralize it.
Step Four:
Remain true to who you are.
Lots of people after breakup will try and become someone else as a defense mechanism, don’t do that. It won’t help eliminate the anxiety you have, and has potential to create even more. There’s a reason someone appreciated you for who you were, and there will be people in the future appreciating you for who you are. If you decide to change, change in ways that might be productive. Change to being more mature, change to being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, be more accepting. Don’t turn into a disrespectful jerk who just wants to go out and have fun. And if you do, at least avoid alcohol, it’s a depressant after all.
Pretend to be happy if you need to.
I read somewhere that pretending to be happy is very likely to make you happier. It attracts positive energy, and negative energy is repelled. In my experience this is true because when I am down, people tend to try and lower me even more, but when I am up, everyone else is too.
My example: the last time I was down I was threatened with a gun, a knife, and mace all within two weeks.
It might be worth it to give it a shot since nobody likes to be threatened. Faking a smile could be your best weapon.
Step Five:
Finding love in the right places.
Think about where you went wrong in your last relationship and learn from it. Also learn from how the ex might have changed throughout the relationship as their true colors started to show. Separate what you like and want to see in a person to date from negative things you wish your ex didn’t start doing. Only then should you allow yourself to see other people. You don’t want anxiety from a last relationship transferring over and causing issues with a new one. Be mature, and responsible, and think about what you need rather than what you want. Don’t break any hearts just because you don’t know what you’re doing. Be patient, and keep your chin up. All the good things you wish to see in a future spouse are in somebody out there, and they’re waiting for you.
Well, it’s been a while everyone. Sorry, but sometimes real life gets in the way of what we love. Nonetheless, I am back to write about an experience that not only change my life, and my friends life, but also an experience I hold dear to my heart.
The time I sent my best buddy Bryan to New York, with all expenses paid and some cash spending money. Some of you may know the story of how this came to be, but this is an in depth look at the experience:
In the summer (2012) I saw a listing for a television show online called Operation Dream Vacation. After reading about it, and learning that I could have the opportunity to send anyone in my life on their dream vacation, I started thinking about who would be best. I thought about my mother first, but decided that she really goes anywhere she wants for the most part anyways, so I scratched that. I thought of my sister but wasn’t sure if it would conflict with her job or her schooling, so I decided to think of more people that are deserving, I thought of my girlfriend, the one I was spending every day swooning over, and would love to give her such a gift, but decided that because of the closeness between us, the producers would probably not even look at the write up and suggest I take her on our own vacation. Then it hit me, my friend Bryan! Bryan had never been anywhere of Canada since I met him years ago. Bryan has a passion for street photography so right off the bat I thought New York City would be perfect.
So I wrote in to the show, telling them what I knew about Bryan, our relationship as friends, and why I thought he was so deserving of such a reward, and life changing event. After I sent the message, I was waiting impatiently, checking my email every day for a reply. A reply that I thought would never come. After a month I gave up and continued to live life, focus on school, and work. Then all of a sudden I get a phone call from the TV show asking if we could do a phone interview. I was ecstatic!
On the phone interview, I was asked many more questions about Bryan, some I had covered in the email, some I had not thought of until it was brought up. I was asked where I thought Bryan would like to go and I suggested New York, among other places. I was asked to contact close family and friends of Bryan’s to see if they’d be a part of this great experience. After the phone call was over, I eagerly contacted his Brother Glen, and his Sister Kelli. Then I also decided to make contact with his roommate as well, since it would be great to have someone so close to him physically be part of the experience. Everyone agreed to be part of the experience and they all had to speak to the television show representatives and give their sides of the story. This was great because most of Bryan’s history was a blur to me, and nobody knows his childhood like his close family. We were all nervous to this point, but as soon as we met the crew of Operation Vacation for our on camera interviews, those nerves instantly faded.
Everyone on set was super excited and positive. From the director to the assistant, the crew was full of great people. On Camera we had the city of Vancouver as our backdrop while we spoke about Bryan and his life. It was great telling people all about my best friend and his passion for photography. This is where things got really personal and we started speaking about more of the dark parts of Bryan’s life. Things like his father, and the death of his grandfather, and (thanks to me) the relationship he lost two years ago and is still pained by. I was, and still am, looking forward to seeing the show in action, and seeing myself and everyone else involved on television.
After these interviews, we were up and running, only a couple more weeks and we were on camera as a group being interviewed by the hosts of the television show. It was this day that we were given the chance to decide who was deserving of going on the trip with Bryan. This was a choice we ultimately decided we couldn’t make, and figured we would allow Bryan to chose on a sneaky interview set up with Scott where the Director asked Bryan who he would go on vacation with if given the choice. The best part? BRYAN HAD NO IDEA!
Soon after his decision was made we were on set to do a group interview again. The set interview is where we were given a choice of where Bryan should go on his Dream Vacation between New York City, and Dubai, we decided the Big Apple was ultimately the best choice of the two. It was a hard choice ultimately for me, as Bryan could excel with his photography anywhere in the world, I am certain of it. This was the day everyone else discovered that Scott was picked to go on the trip with Bryan. Certainly, I was disappointed, I would’ve loved to go with Bryan just to see his excitement and amazement as he landed in the Big Apple right up until him leaving. However, I was very excited for Scott as well. Scott is also a photographer so I knew he would be able to take advantage of such an opportunity as well.
The next destination was at Bryan’s bosses house where it was set up that all of Bryan’s closest friends, family, and co-workers would wait there until Bryan was brought over for the surprise. We waited impatiently, and practiced the unveil as we would only have one chance to make it perfect. We talked to each other, and did more interviews, being a more recent friend of Bryan’s, I got a chance to meet some of his older friends from Langley, where he grew up. We all chatted and had lunch together until Bryan got there. I was so nervous!
As I watched Bryan come up the steps of where we were waiting I watched his face go from excited to confused and everything in the middle. He later told me he was scared it was a photography intervention as a joke. He knew nothing until this point, but this is where it was unveiled that he was going to New York City, and he was leaving tomorrow! This is where we all shared laughs, and tears, and we were all just very proud to see everything come together so well, and to be seeing Bryan off on a new stage of his life.
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Bryan and Scott were off to New York.
This is where I thought about what it means for Bryan. The fact that this is all for his photography is one thing, him getting to see a new city to make his stomping ground is another thing, but the main thing to me at this point is the coverage. Bryan Mollett photography will be seen across Canada, America, and other parts of the world. This means the most to me. I’ve been a part of, and a huge fan of Bryan’s photography and I couldn’t be more proud to share it with the world. Sure, I didn’t get a trip out of the deal, but I changed someone’s life for the better, and that is something I will die proud of. Bryan and I will always be best friends, and I’m glad to have given him the opportunity to take the next step towards the future.
Operation Vacation will be on television in Canada and America, and parts of other nations. I look forward to seeing it, and I hope you all get to see it as well. Until then, give Bryan your support by checking out his photography page and seeing his trip to the Big Apple, New York City!
Well, first of all I would like to say RIP to the deceased, and for those people out there that lost homes, lost jobs, etc. because of it, I hope all the best to you.
But honestly, it we knew this was going to happen. Many scientists have been saying, even Al Gore, a previous vice president said that this would happen in his movie: An Inconvenient Truth. There were specials on CNN more frequently as time went on about the possibilities of hurricanes. So the people who are surprised by this really didn’t have their eyes open much. It’s kind of like the British Columbia “Big One” earthquake that we have been expecting all my life, and anyone who knows anything about Geology knows that it will happen in my life time for sure, yet so many people just blow it off like it’s an annoying joke. Stuff like this IS GOING TO HAPPEN, as much as it suck to believe and experience, and it will happen again. Prepare for the worst, and spend money on protecting citizens instead of Wall Street.
Global warming is not even worth arguing about anymore. If you don’t see it for yourself, you’re an idiot. Storms like this are happening way more frequently, ice caps are melting, and seasons are getting way more intense respectively. Personally, I suggested avoiding affected areas, but in the event of Sandy, that leaves out way too many states, however, you can avoid places like New Orleans or countries like Haiti if you wish to avoid the stress of dealing with situations like this, and hey, I’ve never experience a hurricane in Beautiful British Columbia, maybe after the “Big One” you could move here. 😉
Many people don’t know or understand the Gaia Hypothesis, it is Mother Nature’s way of cleansing itself, no matter what. Perhaps the abundance of deadly storms is Her way of trying to cleanse herself of man. She will one day I believe. Global warming is just a theory as to how.
After this sort of thing I ponder how evolution may have devolved some of our senses. Query, what sense is it to continue living in an area that is constantly affected by natural disasters? I believe our ancestors would have sought shelter elsewhere probably after the second natural disaster to hit them, maybe even the first. Yet, people repeatedly just take the abuse from mother nature. Indeed, it is probably a money issue, but ultimately you would still end up saving it if you moved away. You wouldn’t have to constantly rebuild every year. Perhaps it’s emotional attachment. This wouldn’t have even been considered by ancestors, to them, their lives were more important than memories.
Right now people are debating whether or not the New York City Marathon should take place, this is a strange notion to me. On one hand I think the people who want to run should be able to run. Why not make a flash group or something and do it anyways even if the mayor calls it off? On the other hand, lots of the city is destroyed, without power, and without basic supplies, so we need to focus on helping those people. But just because they are in turmoil doesn’t mean people should be prohibited to run. Do what you want people, but still focus on helping your fellow man. Personally, if I lived in New York and was unaffected by this, I would still donate money, clothes, whatever others in my city who were less fortunate than I had been needs to get back on track. But the world doesn’t work like that. People are thrown out of their homes, and people are bankrupted for political gain. It’s too bad good people are so few and far between, when stuff like this happens, there’s just enough of them to get by.
I wish everyone in New York and other affected areas the best. You’re in my thoughts, and prayers.
There is a pandemic that is plaguing the earth. It leads to lashing out, often times in aggressive ways. I am talking, of course, about bad parenting. I see it all the time. Kids not getting scolded for being bad. Parents buying ridiculously violent games for their 5 year old kids. In fact, it is getting so bad that the parents are starting to mimic the childish, juvenile behavior of their child(ren). Parents today don’t seem to realize that this is not good for their kids. Although I am convinced that they simply wouldn’t care even if they could get it through their heads. I may not be a parent, but I know how I was raised, and sure, some things are questionable, however I turned out well and I at least know how to respect others if nothing else.
Kids today not only don’t respect random people they see at stores or on the street, they don’t respect their parents. I see kids not listening to their parents more than ever. I see kids left in stores because the parent threatened to leave them there and the kids took that as a blessing. Parents need to realize that if things become like this, you need to change the way you do things. Often times I see kids essentially vandalizing stores, taking things off shelves and throwing product around like it was their play room. While they do this, the parent is simply standing right there not doing or saying anything, pretending they don’t exist. I don’t know the “right” way to handle this, but I know if I did that as a kid my parents would not only not be happy, they would have picked me up and taken me out of the store, potentially never to return there again. There was no reason for my parents to keep taking me places where I act like a delinquent. Stores are a luxury. If you can’t handle them, you don’t deserve to have them. That’s how I was raised with Luxuries in my life.
Kids that are my customers at my store have such terrible social skills. When their parent tells them to ask me a question they just stare at me with a puzzled look on their face, as if I was god and they were trying to ask me the meaning of life. Words never escape their mouth and their parents just say what the kid wanted to say, but clearly was incapable of talking to anyone else except their mommy or daddy. If they don’t stare at me, they are just staring at their parent as though I had just stabbed someone or shot up. To me, it is not the child that looks stupid here. Despite not being able to articulate anything, that is ultimately the parents fault. Clearly the kid has been sheltered by mom and dad, held away from the big bad world. Nobody can go anywhere in life like this.
I work in a game store. I see a lot of nerds, a lot of socially retarded people, and a lot of spoiled brats. Many of the children that are in my store are clearly raised by their Xbox more than their parents. I strongly believe many parents use gaming as a cheap daycare. Today I had a woman with her son, her son traded in two PSP games that were rated E (for everyone), then the kid grabbed a copy of Mortal Kombat for the PS3 and the mom just grabs it and hands it to my co-worker. My co-worker tells the woman “This is rated M for mature, it is intended for seventeen or older people. It is rated M because of intense violence, suggestive themes and mild language, is this ok?” the woman turns to her son in shock and the kid says “But nobody really dies, there’s no swearing, nobody even bleeds!” This is when I pipe up. I tell the woman “this is probably the most brutal game that’s out right now” but you know what the woman did? She listened to her son and got the game for him. This is not the first time this has happened, and it won’t be the last. In fact, look how hugely popular Call of Duty is. It is a billion dollar grossing game series, however, a large part of the audience is children. Children who’s mommy and daddy bought them their video games so they could be happy.
Many parents that come in my store say things like “I am looking for a game for my (5-10 year old) son, it can be violent or whatever, just no swearing”. Naturally I have to cater to their needs as I am in the customer service industry, but it makes me feel a huge level of concern. What this does is tells the kids that violence, killing, sexual themes, etc. are ok, but swearing is not. It Should be the opposite. I mean, swearing is everywhere, in fact the father probably swore once in the car ride to my store. Swearing is on tv, it’s suggested in ads, popular songs have swearing in them. The only thing more frequent than swearing these days is sexual themes/stupidity.
I strongly believe if this generation of kids keeps being raised as they are they will turn out extremely messed up. If they are taught violence is ok, that hitting women is ok, then what’s to say this generation won’t be full of murdering psychopaths? Especially with the lack of social skills, many serial killers have brutal social problems as well. I often think these kids would be better off in the brutal confines of the foster care system, clearly their parents do not know how to raise a child.Sure, when I was a kid I was allowed to occasionally play an M or T rated game, but it was a luxury if I couldn’t handle it, my parents would not only stop buying me games, but also take away the games I already had. Sure it was Nazi, but that is PARENTING. You as the parent NEED to set the boundaries and set the law for your child. Children can’t raise themselves, video games cannot raise them, the PARENTS need to raise them, and raise them properly if they want their children to succeed.
themillennialperspective 