instagr.am
as you may well know, i hate instagram. to put it a but more fairly to the application, i hate the people that use instagram. why? ok, fine. here's why.
so instagram is a program that installs to your phone. you take a picture and then you have the option to apply a number of filters to change the way your picture looks.
this is something that a multitude of other apps do equally as well and in some instances better. i can't speak for the iOS but for Android, Pixlr-O-Matic has a much more satisfying end result and many more options than instagram. Retro Camera, Little Camera, Camera Zoom FX, Vignette and many more all function much the same. instagrams ability to make your pictures look like shitty pictures from the 70's is nothing special at all. There are limited filters and limited frames. in its case, a picture is certainly not worth a billion dollars.
so what sets it apart? if the pictures aren't any better or worse than every other app on the market, why does the world dote on this app? answer. social status. instagram has a social networking platform built in. you set up a profile and people can easily follow your stream of pictures. they can comment and like them to their hearts content. as facebook and twitter have taught us, we love to have a large number of people concerned with what we are doing all of the time. instagram adds another outlet that helps that follower count inflate our own egos. so yeah, i get that. i understand that instagram has made its self worth more to a user than the other photo apps by using social networking. its a valuable platform. maybe the picture isnt worth a billion, but the network is.
here is why i hate the users. so you are happy you had a good meal. great. let me promise you this.... NO ONE CARES! even more so, NO ONE WANTS TO SEE IT!! so you love your pet, NO ONE COULD GIVE A SHIT ABOUT IT, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN!!! YOUR PBR LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE ELSES!! even further... MAKING CELL PHONE PHOTOS OF THESE THINGS LOOK LIKE THEY WERE TAKEN 40 YEARS AGO DOES NOT MAKE THEM MORE INTERESTING!!!!
have you ever purchased an CD and popped it in and made the comment that it sounds "over produced"? yeah, thats what you are doing with probably 99% of your stupid instagram pictures. nearly every single picture is see posted on twitter via instagram is using a filter that is absolutely pointless. chill the fuck out. if i put bbq sauce on everything i ate, i would never feel like bbq was a special treat or proper accent on my meat.
last. as i mentioned, the one thing that sets instagram apart is that it uses its own social networking platform. if every picture you take on instagram is posted to twitter and facebook you have totally voided the special feature of instagram. just post your fucking picture to twitter and call it a day. you dont need to post it to like 3465434645 places. and think about it.... do you really have instagram followers that dont follow you elsewhere?
chill the fuck out with the filters. chill the fuck out with the cross platform posting. chill the fuck out with the instagram
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
out of curiousity
typically i post a link to a blog on twitter. that way more people see it. sometimes i wonder how many people check in on me without my having to remind them that i am still around. how many people check in on me without any promise of regular posting intervals?
so very quickly, deal breakers.
religion.
smoking.
drugs.
animals.
shooters.
clubbing.
fanaticism.
republican.
to name a few. I am going to keep this one open ended and add to it as things pop up.
Monday, April 09, 2012
seriously wondering about o'douls
after the last blog.... you know, the sink pissing blog with the addendum... i decided that maybe i needed to take a break from the thing that makes a guy pee in the sinks of public establishments. but by all means, if you are peeing in your own sink, thats fine. here is the overly honest and pretty embarrassing confession of a blog.
late october 2011. i had recently cut back on drinking and started a process of eating healthier and doing a bit of cardio here and there. so yeah, late october all of those efforts started to diminish. by day one of november all hope was lost. i was in a new country, fuck, on a new continent, and i was hell bent on enjoying it. actually, that was the case for all of november. i went out and i partied. really freaking hard. i unknowingly made it my daily task to conquer Mt. Sobriety with a burp and a bottle opener. i think that from late october until about a week ago, i hadnt really made it more than two full days without at least a couple of drinks. i would even go so far as to say that 6 nights out of any given week i was drinking no less than 6 beers. most nights it was well above that number.
despite my nightly affairs, i was waking up each day and being a functional and contributing member of society. i mean, i get shit done. a lot of people have to do lists. i dont. i have to done lists. nothing in my life stacks up. i always finish the day feeling accomplished and celebrate with a beer. or 9. i never felt like that was a problem. how could it be? i did all of the things that i needed to do and then spent the night doing what i wanted to do. acting like i wanted to act. as long as i dont need to drink when i wake up, im fine. right?
then i peed in a public sink.
once you pee in a sink the whole world changes. or maybe its the getting caught. its probably the getting caught. or maybe its the being drunk enough to paste the news on the internet for the whole world to read. granted, the whole world didnt read it, but blogger says that at least a few hundred people did. i guess thats enough. so peeing in the sink, getting caught, bragging about it.... whole world changes.
i woke up the next morning feeling like a total asshole. i started compiling a list of all of the disappointing things that i have done (or remember doing) while intoxicated. first off, that huge bruise that tore my leg up for the rest of my life... drunk. the car that i flipped when i was 19... drunk. the time that i drove my car into the median of the interstate after passing out at the wheel, drunk. the vomit in the elevator, the vomit in the hotel hallway, the vomit on the bar, the vomit inside of my car, the 700 bucks i lost in a strip club in 2 hours, the hanging upside down by my toes from a billboard, standing on the edge of a 20+ story building while looking over the edge... only my heels still on the building, drunk. a number of things (that are none of your business) involving the bedroom. a number of things involving friends that now do their damnedest to make sure i am not a part of their lives. shit i cant mention, and im sure shit that i dont even remember. how the hell does any of that help reflect the person that i try too hard to be before the sun goes down? simple. it doesnt.
i dont want to be the asshole. i mean, i enjoy being an asshole... i just dont want to be THE asshole. i need to start drinking beer again for the taste and enjoyment. not in order to become so drunk that every decision possible is A-OK. i want to get back to being the fun guy with a good buzz.
so now i am mere minutes into my 7th sober day in a row. the last time i went that long was almost 2 years ago and it was mandatory. i was on anti-biotics to help keep my bruise (caused by a drunken decision) from becoming infected. my goal is 30 days. more than anything in my life, i demand control of it. i quit caffeine. i just took a 3 week break from video games. when i feel like something has control of me, i teach it a lesson. this one may be overdue but its finally happening. if i get to the end of the 30 days and still feel like i need a beer, i wont have one. i am taking the same route that i did with caffeine. i wont have any until i dont want any. wish me luck.
late october 2011. i had recently cut back on drinking and started a process of eating healthier and doing a bit of cardio here and there. so yeah, late october all of those efforts started to diminish. by day one of november all hope was lost. i was in a new country, fuck, on a new continent, and i was hell bent on enjoying it. actually, that was the case for all of november. i went out and i partied. really freaking hard. i unknowingly made it my daily task to conquer Mt. Sobriety with a burp and a bottle opener. i think that from late october until about a week ago, i hadnt really made it more than two full days without at least a couple of drinks. i would even go so far as to say that 6 nights out of any given week i was drinking no less than 6 beers. most nights it was well above that number.
despite my nightly affairs, i was waking up each day and being a functional and contributing member of society. i mean, i get shit done. a lot of people have to do lists. i dont. i have to done lists. nothing in my life stacks up. i always finish the day feeling accomplished and celebrate with a beer. or 9. i never felt like that was a problem. how could it be? i did all of the things that i needed to do and then spent the night doing what i wanted to do. acting like i wanted to act. as long as i dont need to drink when i wake up, im fine. right?
then i peed in a public sink.
once you pee in a sink the whole world changes. or maybe its the getting caught. its probably the getting caught. or maybe its the being drunk enough to paste the news on the internet for the whole world to read. granted, the whole world didnt read it, but blogger says that at least a few hundred people did. i guess thats enough. so peeing in the sink, getting caught, bragging about it.... whole world changes.
i woke up the next morning feeling like a total asshole. i started compiling a list of all of the disappointing things that i have done (or remember doing) while intoxicated. first off, that huge bruise that tore my leg up for the rest of my life... drunk. the car that i flipped when i was 19... drunk. the time that i drove my car into the median of the interstate after passing out at the wheel, drunk. the vomit in the elevator, the vomit in the hotel hallway, the vomit on the bar, the vomit inside of my car, the 700 bucks i lost in a strip club in 2 hours, the hanging upside down by my toes from a billboard, standing on the edge of a 20+ story building while looking over the edge... only my heels still on the building, drunk. a number of things (that are none of your business) involving the bedroom. a number of things involving friends that now do their damnedest to make sure i am not a part of their lives. shit i cant mention, and im sure shit that i dont even remember. how the hell does any of that help reflect the person that i try too hard to be before the sun goes down? simple. it doesnt.
i dont want to be the asshole. i mean, i enjoy being an asshole... i just dont want to be THE asshole. i need to start drinking beer again for the taste and enjoyment. not in order to become so drunk that every decision possible is A-OK. i want to get back to being the fun guy with a good buzz.
so now i am mere minutes into my 7th sober day in a row. the last time i went that long was almost 2 years ago and it was mandatory. i was on anti-biotics to help keep my bruise (caused by a drunken decision) from becoming infected. my goal is 30 days. more than anything in my life, i demand control of it. i quit caffeine. i just took a 3 week break from video games. when i feel like something has control of me, i teach it a lesson. this one may be overdue but its finally happening. if i get to the end of the 30 days and still feel like i need a beer, i wont have one. i am taking the same route that i did with caffeine. i wont have any until i dont want any. wish me luck.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
the after math
ya know, it seems like some people think that deciding to come off of the road means thats im going to turn 85 next week. i keep getting comments from people like "surprised to see you settle down". im sorry, i just cant figure out how being in one spot means i have settled down.
i drink. like a fucking pro. my parents wouldnt be proud. fuck it, im not proud. its just science. i pour beer down my throat and blam, drunk. this is half of the agenda..... for everyday life. i drink.
you can assume that just because im not choosing to tour anymore means im settled down. but that doesnt help the fact that i was drunk enough to piss in a sink and get kicked out of a bar tonight. i mean, i went peacefully. i paid my tab to a bartender i know quite well. i tipped too much to the person who deserved it. but yeah, a bouncer caught me with my thing doing something it a place it shouldnt be. he was right, i was wrong...
fuck you if you think im going soft. im not settling down, im just gonna fuck up in one city from now on.
sorry richmond.
---------------------------
i wont revise this blog post... i will just add to it. ok, its 10 hours later. im a fucking bafoon. now i have one less bar i can go to because i am a drunk who does stupid shit. im "that guy". even more lame... i wrote it out for the whole world to see.
so yeah, i think im gonna have to settle down. maybe take some time off from the drink. sorry mom and dad. i will try harder.
i drink. like a fucking pro. my parents wouldnt be proud. fuck it, im not proud. its just science. i pour beer down my throat and blam, drunk. this is half of the agenda..... for everyday life. i drink.
you can assume that just because im not choosing to tour anymore means im settled down. but that doesnt help the fact that i was drunk enough to piss in a sink and get kicked out of a bar tonight. i mean, i went peacefully. i paid my tab to a bartender i know quite well. i tipped too much to the person who deserved it. but yeah, a bouncer caught me with my thing doing something it a place it shouldnt be. he was right, i was wrong...
fuck you if you think im going soft. im not settling down, im just gonna fuck up in one city from now on.
sorry richmond.
---------------------------
i wont revise this blog post... i will just add to it. ok, its 10 hours later. im a fucking bafoon. now i have one less bar i can go to because i am a drunk who does stupid shit. im "that guy". even more lame... i wrote it out for the whole world to see.
so yeah, i think im gonna have to settle down. maybe take some time off from the drink. sorry mom and dad. i will try harder.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
life really is a book.
i just finished one of the most difficult conversations i have ever had to have. the kind that you have to prepare for even though there is no preparing yourself for it, you practice it in your head for weeks and weeks. the kind that when you finally have to do it, you hesitate and decide to change the subject at the last minute. like when you tell your spouse you want a divorce or telling your kid that they are adopted. you know these words will change lives. you know they willl come as an unfortunate surprise. this is the conversation that there is never a right time to have. and i had it. its been only a few hours and i am already having trouble remembering what i said. how i brought it up, what was said in return..... i do remember crying. fuck, right now, just bringing it up makes my eyelids burn and my lips tremble. i remember hugs. huge hugs that just didnt last long enough. i remember compassion and understanding but only after initial shock. i remember wishing that i had kept my mouth shut and left life how it was.... but i didn't. so im just going to keep my fingers crossed and concentrate on what happens now that this conversation did, in fact, take place.
Tool. favorite band ever. there are others that i can easily call my favorite at the right times. but its tool. it doesnt matter how they are delivered to me, it is always perfect. despite the perfection i dont think i have it in me to watch them night after night after night. at some point, i would have to stop. walk away, and watch something else. mix things up. add some variety to my life. taking into consideration that they are my favorite band ever i hope you can easily apply that statement to any other band. i just cant watch the same band over and over for the rest of my life. at some point, i would just have to stop. figured this post out yet?
i have been touring pretty steadily for 10 years as of this may. as i look back on it i can say this much. for every great moment i have lived out on the road, there is a great moment i have missed at home. my sisters wedding. my mothers 60th birthday party. my nephews birth. this list goes on and on. i have lost friends due to constantly walking in and out of their lives. i feel like i am always missing important events in the lives of the people i love most, why? so i can run around the world in search of the all mighty dollar? so i can live my life to the fullest without sharing the experience with the people i care about? not anymore. im going to be there for birthdays and weddings. im not going to miss thanksgiving ever again. im going to be there for my friends when they need me. im going to be the person that all of them have always been for me.
in that same ten year period i have stopped playing drums. i have played almost no golf. i have written almost nothing (aside from this blog). i have abandoned the gym. any hobby that couldnt fit in a suitcase, any hobby that needed constant attention... left behind so that i could go plug in guitars and speakers in places i had never seen. so that i could stand back and watch the people i worked for go after their dreams. it is time to refocus myself on those hobbies. this year is the year for me to start playing drums again. i have already purchased new golf clubs and been out to the course a few times. i have slowly started writing again. im gonna learn portuguese. im gonna learn how to play piano. i am going to spend my life watching my own goals become reality.... instead of sitting on the side of the stage watching somone elses.
for the same reason that i came running back to richmond after a year of living elsewhere, i am putting the suitcase in storage and taking a full time job at home. to be closest to the ones that matter most. i am not totally done with the road. i have committed to quite a few dates throughout the year. as those dates finish, there will be no more marked on my calendar. life will become stationary.
it has been an amazing decade. i hope to never forget one minute of it. i will never be able to match it in terms of pure adventure and experience. im ok with that. now its time to focus on the next one.... and making sure i wont ever be able to match it in terms of happiness and love.
fingers crossed.
p.s. let the mass unfollowing begin,
what was this discussion all about? lets see if you can guess..... if only to give this blog a little twist.
Tool. favorite band ever. there are others that i can easily call my favorite at the right times. but its tool. it doesnt matter how they are delivered to me, it is always perfect. despite the perfection i dont think i have it in me to watch them night after night after night. at some point, i would have to stop. walk away, and watch something else. mix things up. add some variety to my life. taking into consideration that they are my favorite band ever i hope you can easily apply that statement to any other band. i just cant watch the same band over and over for the rest of my life. at some point, i would just have to stop. figured this post out yet?
i have been touring pretty steadily for 10 years as of this may. as i look back on it i can say this much. for every great moment i have lived out on the road, there is a great moment i have missed at home. my sisters wedding. my mothers 60th birthday party. my nephews birth. this list goes on and on. i have lost friends due to constantly walking in and out of their lives. i feel like i am always missing important events in the lives of the people i love most, why? so i can run around the world in search of the all mighty dollar? so i can live my life to the fullest without sharing the experience with the people i care about? not anymore. im going to be there for birthdays and weddings. im not going to miss thanksgiving ever again. im going to be there for my friends when they need me. im going to be the person that all of them have always been for me.
in that same ten year period i have stopped playing drums. i have played almost no golf. i have written almost nothing (aside from this blog). i have abandoned the gym. any hobby that couldnt fit in a suitcase, any hobby that needed constant attention... left behind so that i could go plug in guitars and speakers in places i had never seen. so that i could stand back and watch the people i worked for go after their dreams. it is time to refocus myself on those hobbies. this year is the year for me to start playing drums again. i have already purchased new golf clubs and been out to the course a few times. i have slowly started writing again. im gonna learn portuguese. im gonna learn how to play piano. i am going to spend my life watching my own goals become reality.... instead of sitting on the side of the stage watching somone elses.
for the same reason that i came running back to richmond after a year of living elsewhere, i am putting the suitcase in storage and taking a full time job at home. to be closest to the ones that matter most. i am not totally done with the road. i have committed to quite a few dates throughout the year. as those dates finish, there will be no more marked on my calendar. life will become stationary.
it has been an amazing decade. i hope to never forget one minute of it. i will never be able to match it in terms of pure adventure and experience. im ok with that. now its time to focus on the next one.... and making sure i wont ever be able to match it in terms of happiness and love.
fingers crossed.
p.s. let the mass unfollowing begin,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)