Beautiful Struggles

How is it that when you have no time you do thinks that need time, and when you have time you don’t do things that need time? Very reminiscent of life might I add. Lots of the things we do, we do when we aren’t supposed to or when the answer to all of our problems are right in front of our face, but unfortunately we don’t like simplicity. We enjoy, relish, want, need, etc. struggle. We live and die in and for struggle. Am I crazy? Am I wrong? Am I confused? I may be these things concerning other concepts, but before you can understand this you need to see from where I am coming from.

Struggle. Think about that word for a second before you read on and also close your eyes and just try to conjure up an image of the word. The Oxford-American Dictionary defines struggle as to “make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction” or it can also be read as to “make one’s way with difficulty.” Our whole life is numerous struggles drawn out in a linear fashion. From the beginning of our life we struggle out of the womb, gasping for air and the end of our life is no different. All of us go through this and no one is special. Definitely though, some are put through more struggle than others and the opposite is also true. I am not here to say who these people are, but I can safely say that most of the people I know have not been through as tough a struggle as each other or as tough of a struggle as people who live in other parts of the world, such as Africa, the Middle-East, etc.

Now, I think you’re asking some questions at this point, why am I reading this? Don’t I have anything better to do? What the HELL does this have to do with anything? Or what does this have to do with my first point of simplicity? Well if you’re reading this very sentence you are interested in finding out and you are not in the category of the people who think I’m retarded. Or maybe you are in that category and this note is to further prove to yourself I am. Well whatever you are, I am now going to take you on this fantastical journey.

Human beings are prone to repeat the same things that they are used to doing, and it’s hard to change habits; even though they may know what they are doing is wrong. That is the same thing with struggle, and struggle is something that has been and will be with us forever. Simplicity is not something we are used to and it is introduced into our lives later on during our lives, so we don’t trust it. We don’t believe that somethings can have a simple solution. We question it over and over again, we’re like, “…really? That easy?” Simplicity of things is like listening to our parents when they tell us not to do certain things; simplicity is doing the right thing when we know the wrong thing is, well, wrong; simplicity is being with the person you know is right with the things he/she has done for you or is willing to do things for you

Unfortunately we distrust simplicity so much that we make things into a struggle. We make up dumb excuses that try to justify why we have to distrust that simplicity for the struggle. We justify that our parents don’t want us to be cool so we sneak out of the house or not do what they say; we do the wrong thing because we think the right thing will some how screw us out of something now or later on down the line; we don’t get with the guy/girl who will be best for us because its…just…to…easy. Sometimes struggle is good, though. We learn from struggle. Struggle allows us to grow and make smarter decision down the line, but the key is we need to learn from that struggle and not repeat the same (but we usually do – refer to above). Thus life is struggle from the beginning to the end. Fortunately though, at the end of the day it’s a beautiful struggle.

Credit Card Companies are Hustlers

Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States is a fucked up place (Oh really Einstein?). I remember a while ago I saw a shirt from Modern Amusement that said on it, “Los Angeles: A Sunny Place for Shady People.” It made me giggle a little bit because being from LA it rang completely true; Los Angeles is sunny and does have a lot of shady people. Now what does this have to do with my first statement of the United States being a fucked up place? Well I want to change that shirt to: “The United States: A Mixed Weather Country for Shady People.” Why do I say this? Well on top of all the other shady things that the United States is doing, did, and/or plans to do (you may disagree with me, but then as Ron Burgundy would say, “When in Rome.”) another thing has been added onto the list and that is the concept and use of credit within this great country (of course it’s great it’s just a little fucked up, cmon, agree with me here).

The whole concept of credit seems a little shady to being with, but after watching a documentary entitled Maxed Out it has become clear to me that I may neva, eva, eva, eva, eva (supposed to be said like Chris Tucker did in Friday) going to use credit again. Before I go further I feel I must explain the concept of credit to people, its not what most people think it is (where you pop out your card of choice and pay for stuff); it goes much, much deeper. A surprising tidbit/piece of information to many people will be that the word “credit” comes from the Latin “credere,” which means “to believe.” To believe? Why do we use that word for credit? Well if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because we believe that we have the money we spend when we take out that coveted credit card (Ha…it means “to believe card.” So true, so very true). It’s funny to know that the whole credit card system started in the early 1920s when fuel companies wanted to sell fuel to the growing number of automobile owners, but the credit system we know today didn’t start until the 1950s, which is logical because after WW2 common citizens had more spendable income that they had ever had before. Credit comes in during this time because working people wanted to buy something that was high priced and instantly, but because they didn’t have the money on them to pay for it or didn’t want to carry around that much money they would buy it from the merchant on credit, promising to pay it at a later date. At first merchants had a credit policy, but soon enough an entrepreneurial person set up a credit card.

The credit card as well as the credit card companies have come a long way since the simple times of the 1950s. Now almost everyone has a credit card in their wallet while some, like me, have as many as three. The reason for this influx has mainly to do with the ease of carrying around a credit card, but now-a-days credit card companies have so many good offers that go along with being a credit card holder. CitiCards has the “Thank You” Network, American Express has their “Wish List” thing that comes around every Holiday season, and Visa is accepted everywhere (seriously). Also, all as everyone knows, the money that we spend over a given amount of time is so closely tracked and tabulated by our credit card company and it’s sum total is given to us at the end of a specified term, usually a month. The problem doesn’t lie within this system (it’s quite neatly and meticulously laid out) the problem lies in the user of the credit card, namely us. Humans are animals that have to see something in order to believe, a perfect example of this is the number of people who don’t believe in God because they cant see God. When we are spending money on a credit card, we don’t actually see the money being spent; we just take out a card that magically pays for the expensive things that we couldn’t usually afford (or wouldn’t buy because of the wad of cash that we would have to pull out of our pocket). Not seeing the money that we actually expending is the key to why so many people get into credit trouble, we don’t actually grasp the damage that we are causing and the amount of money that we will have to pay back.

This is where credit card companies make their money. They make their money off of all the dumbasses who are too dumb to understand or recognize the amount of money they are spending. At this point is where they rack up the fees. Went over your limit? fee. Paying the bill late? Fee. Cant pay all at once? Fee. Wanna pay in increments? Fee. Wanna move what you need to pay on this card to another card? Fee. The fees keep going and going. Considering that a “late payment fee” is $45 and approximately a million people will have to pay a late payment fee in a given month, the credit card companies are making major bank (no pun intended) with out you even spending it on anything. They are basically getting money for not getting their money on time. Of course the loser in this is the poor person who didn’t have enough money to begin with to pay their monthly statement, but they don’t care.

Anyway all I’m saying is that the credit card companies have a nice little hustle on their hands when it comes to making money. So please, please, please don’t be the dumbass who get screwed over by them. Remember don’t pop plastic, use paper instead.

What R U Up 2? Nothing, Just Shooting Down Satellites.

    Hey guys! Just wanted to give you a heads up (no pun intended) that yesterday (2/20/2008) the United States of America shot down a space satellite. Just a little tidbit of information I wanted to tell you. I tell you what, it sure as shit sounds cool. It’s like one of the James Bond movies or (if you’re looking for a comedy angle) then it’s like that move Spies Like Us with Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase….We’re shooting satellites down. Shooting…down…a…satellite. That’s some insane stuff.

    The reason that the US wants to do this is because the satellite is one of our numerous spy satellites and its pretty much gone insane and has begun to shoot at alien spacecraft. The satellite contains some harmful stuff in it (some important NSA collected data more than likely) and the US doesn’t want to risk that the satellite falls and hurt someone (awwwww, thanks government. I think it’s more fall into the hands of the wrong people). Anyway the very cool thing is that this satellite, which must have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, will cost $60 million to shoot down. I have no idea why. There are a lot of other things they should try and most would do it for free. Here are some of my ideas:

    1. Give me the money and I can build something cool that would blow up the satellite for like half the price. I’d say it was $60M, but I’d pocket the other $30M

    2. Wait until there is a shuttle launch and give one of the space people a bomb and they can blow it up James Bond style

    3. Get a bunch of the missiles that already exist and just launch it into space. I know it might not reach it, but you get the best results when people wing it.

    4. Get some of those crazy Arabs to shoot in the air. One might reach the satellite

    5. Just get a bunch of Palestinians to throw rock at it

    6. Lastly they could just let it fall. Kinda like Russian Roulette

    These are just my ideas so even if you think my ideas or I’m retarded, I think they are freakin’ cool and so does my mom, so MEH!

Hi We’re Apple, Now Kindly Give Us Your Money

So you think you’re a hustler? What’s your hustle? Selling drugs, cds, dvds, clothes, etc.? Well you got nothing on this guy. This guy has not only sold you a product that will definitely not work in a year or so for a ridiculous price, but you can’t wait to get another. You hate other people who have a better one than and no one can get the product for “cheap.” And who is this person? Well, Apple of course. One of the biggest hustlers on the block of hustlers is Apple. No it’s not a street name for a drug dealer or a new rapper off of Def Jam, but it’s the computer company, Apple Computer Inc (oh I’m sorry for that strike through “computer,” I didn’t know that recently Apple removed “computer” from its company name in order to signify that they are going to take over the world, not just the computer world). Apple is such an accomplished and good hustler that rappers who rap about hustling or the people on the corner hustling are getting hustled by Apple. Aww naw Kid?!?!? I’m not being hustled, no one hustles me! Well I’m sorry to inform you Mr. Supposed Hustler, Apple is hustling you. How? You have an iPod? If yes, you’ve been hustled. The reason why there is a connection between owning an iPod and Apple’s boss or capo (depending on if you’re a Mac or a PC) status in hustling is because Apple makes massive amounts of bank off of the iPods that it sells. The manufacturing costs and the price that Apple sells iPods for are ridiculous. It costs, at a maximum, of $90 to make an iPod and they are selling them for around $250, so do the math. Of course the price adjusts up or down depending on what is inside, but on average the numerical breakdown is like that. Already there Apple is making bank, but also remember that every iPod that Apple sells opens a potential for the buyer of the iPod to buy other Apple products or products that are made for Apple products that Apple gets a cut off of. WHO DO YOU KNOW IN THE WORLD OF HUSTLING SOMEONE WHO HUSTLES LIKE THAT?!? No one, that’s who.

Admittedly I am also being hustled by Apple. My computer? MacBook Pro. My music player of choice? iPod. My phone? iPhone. How many iPods do my family and I have? 8 (mind you there are 5 people total in my family). Also I am one those people who gets really exited around January (for those of you who don’t know that is when Apple has one of its biggest functions to show new products). Everywhere you turn there is a reference to Apple. When you’re walking the street at least 1 out of every 5 people will have earphones hanging down from their ears, from their shirt or dangling outside of their pocket and surely enough at least 1 out of every 2 of those people will have the headphones connected to an Apple music product. When you go to a Starbucks, Coffee Bean, or any of your coffee houses you see douche bags working on their script on Macs. Not to mention all of those billboard ads, commercials, store fronts, and pop culture references to Apple. It’s pretty much like everyone is addicted to Apple and even thought we don’t need anything from them, they still make us want more.

Oh and by the way, Apple has just applied for a patent on a video gaming device and I can’t wait till January rolls around again

Bags of Porn

I opened another blog called “Bags of Porn.” There is no affiliation with pornography and that name, but it just sounded like a cool title for a blog so I got it. I actually heard if from a Kanye West song called Young Folks. It goes to the same beat as that Pete Bjorn song of the same name. Download both. You wont regret it. Oh yeah, here is the link http://bagsofporn.wordpress.com/

Idiots…A Room Full of Idiots

Here I am. Sitting in a stupid seat, in a room full of idiots; one of them dumber than the next or previous, but obviously that’s excluding me. Where am I? In what possible place can I be where everyone is an idiot? Law school of course. Everyone in law school is an absolute idiot. I bet you’re saying to yourself, “How can people in law school be idiots? You have to be pretty smart to be in law school.” Well that question/statement that you’ve just made puts you in the same group of idiots that I’m addressing in this post, so congratulate yourself in the fact that you too can be a lawyer and go take the LSAT. The majority of people in law school don’t know how to function in regular society. They don’t know how to use their brains in a way that would allow them to solve everyday real life problems, but they do know how to copiously copy down crap the idiot professor spews out and then memorize it and regurgitate back what the professor says. Then the one who regurgitate it back the most closely to what the professor says and also fans the professor universe size ego gets the best grade (and no I’m not doing bad in law school so don’t think that I’m a disgruntled law student). Why am I in law school with these idiots? Well, truthfully I looked at my life after college and saw that I had nothing to do and decided to go to law school (ingenious, right?).

Law schools started because a group of these people somehow realized the fact that they are idiots and in order for them to make themselves feel better they decided to make a school where they can all conjure together in an attempt to get into intellectual conversation together to make rules that everyone else needs to follow so that they can all be on a level playing field with society at large. It’s kind of like me playing basketball against Michael Jordan and telling him that he has to have his right hand tied behind his back, he has to play on his knees, and he can only shoot outside shots from half court. From this I hope you see how easy it will be for me to win, this same thing works for these “law students.” For some reason all of them think they are smarter than each other and that sharing their opinion in class will somehow mean something and the other idiots in the class will learn from it.

Even though I have been going on about the idiot-ness of law students and law school, I still haven’t proven why they are idiots. The main reason that law students are idiots is that they all think they are better and smarter than other because of the fact that they go to law school. Almost everyone at law school has a certain swagger about themselves that suggest to an outsider that they are doing something really hard and extremely important. WRONG! No, idiot you aren’t doing something important or hard and any other person who had an ounce of street smarts can do what you do if they chose to do it, but they have better things to do than that. People with street smarts are smart enough to not come to law school and can make a living doing something else because they are not afraid and don’t need their ego fanned. In any case though even if you were doing something important or hard it doesn’t give you a right to think that your value is more than someone who isn’t doing it, the value of a person is based on other factors, so suck-a-dick.

Now within the regular idiots there are the super idiots. The super idiots are those that not only talk a lot during class and always put in their two cents in every conversation, but also answer the obvious rhetorical questions that the professor (lead idiot) of the class poses. They always have something to say and are so far up a lead idiot’s ass that most of the time they look like a human size piece of shit. These super idiots not only gloat about how good they are and what jobs they’ve gotten, but they believe that they are entitled to everything that they have or even want. These people are also the biggest retards on the face of the planet because they absolutely cannot function in society. Even though they believe they can, they cannot. Proof of this fact is that they never have ideas that originate from their own thinking. Their ideas usually come from the new lead idiot whose ass they are currently residing in. Whenever their mouth opens its usually full of references to things such as their grades, their summer job, people they know and what those people do, and any popular culture references that they can think of. Example of a conversation with a super idiot:

Idiot: Hey man, how’s it going?

Super Idiot: (air of superiority) Just finished taking with Professor McCallister. We were going over my option for a new and exciting research project.

Idiot: Oh cool man. That’s super cool.

Super Idiot: Yeah,(like Borat) high five. Over the summer I’m going to be working with Holland & Knight and I can’t wait to be working with Mr. Knight because this rich lawyer friend of mine, Mr. Jackson, said that he is really phenomenal as a mentor.

Idiot: Cool man, I need to go to class. Later.

So as you can see this conversation had no substance. Any normal person who took part in this conversation would be dead by the end of it, either from drowning in bullshit or from blowing their brains out. In the latter case, the super idiot would keep talking and even bring in a name of a person they know who had this happen to them before and how another person had to defend a case when such an even occurred. As long as I’m here though I’ll be trapped in rooms that are full of idiots. This concludes my post and hopefully you have an understand of why law schools and their students are idiots.

I Got This…

I’m a pretty normal person, but I have this strong feeling that some people (a minority of people) are pretty evil and those are the ones that you see get successful and wealthy, so in my insecurites that one of “those” people will steal this wordpress website and get super rich off of it or something I took the liberty and signed up for it. Yeah, I’m like that.

This is the first post from me because those of you that use wordpress see that “Hello World” post at the beginning. For those of you that don’t know the “Hello World” thing is used as usually the first program is run when a programmer makes a program. So they’ll basically make the program (or whatever) and then run the words “hello world” to see if it runs through the program and is repeated back to them. Pretty dorky stuff that I know I’m sure, but it’s always good to be knowledgeable.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!