millennials

I’m getting tired of people being so cynical about my generation. Nobody ever likes the rising generation. Ever. It’s a tale as old as time. And as old as the people barking about how lazy and self entitled I apparently am.

If my ancestors were born when and where I was, they’d have a smart phone too. They’d be on Facebook too. And you know it! And you know what? If I was born on a farm way back when I’d probably have better work ethic. So would you. Don’t act like you’re innately better than me because you were born into a different environment. Especially if you’re doing the things you’re accusing us of.

In fact I see plenty of older people buried in their phones. And I see many great hard working young people. Maybe we’re all great. Maybe it just feels good to point at other people in distain.

Where one generation lacks another has success. Less people today (in this country anyways)are killed for their race and religion than they did in sayy,, the 1950’s. Sadly it still happens. But less.

In some ways America is “greater” than it used to be. In some ways it’s worse. We tend to romanticize the past.

So let’s just look at the positives. And the mirror.

 

 

Five characters who broke stereotype.

I was watching the new ghostbusters trailer and was saddened by the typical characters I saw. The slim leader, the clumsy fat character, and the screaming black lady have me frustrated. So I got thinking about some of my favorite characters. Let’s look at a few characters who broke stereotype and gave us something new. Some of these can just be labeled as good casting descisions. 

Molly Solverson – FARGO 

  
One of the great things about the Fargo series is the unique characters. Molly is one of the coolest characters in the show. How often do you see a bigger female character as a leader and protagonist? And not in a clumsy comic relief kind of way. She works to solve crime against all odds which I believe a lot of people might not have seen coming. She’s great and added much to this fantastic drama. 

Bolivar Trask – Xmen Days of Future Past

 

I love that Peter Dinklage being in this movie has nothing to do with the fact that he’s short. And in a world of boring bad guys he owns it!! He’s just a good actor and that’s all that has to matter. 

Tom Haverford – Parks and Recreation 

  
Aziz Ansari has been known to reject roles with middle eastern accents. He auditioned for a small part in the first transformers movie. Remember that guy on the phone with the accent? Maybe you don’t but he refused to do a middle eastern accent and didn’t get the part. 

Tom is a one of a kind character and added greatly to the show. He’s his own man. Parks and Rec is known for having characters that are much like themselves in real life. 

Severus Snape – Harry Potter 

 
Both in the book and on screen Snape is one of my favorite characters ever. His character teaches us that people we may not like aren’t necessarily evil. Even when we want or expect them to be. And I loved the mystery of not knowing for sure if he was good or bad. 

Rey – The Force Awakens 

 
I know having a tough female lead is nothing new but I think Rey is an important character because her story isn’t about her being female like say Mulan, it’s just about ..her. And I would even argue that’s she’s an ever more likable character than Luke was in the original starwars. She’s not overbaringly tough with something to prove yet she’s still a bad a. Yet she’s still a lady. She’s perfect. 

Who are some of your favorite characters? Let me know! Leave a comment. 

My 90’s movie upbringing.

A list of movies that rocked then and suck now. 

But first I have to say, if you would have told a 6 year old me about all of the movies happening right now(mainly of the superhero genre) I would have died of excitement. 

The Avengers, Xmen sequels, prequals, and origin movies. Batman v Superman ..! and not to mention StarWars and Jurassic World. 

It’s like these epic movies come and go weekly. They’re a dime a dozen. 

I’m not trying to be synical. Some of these movies are actually really good. X-Men: Days of Future Past was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while and I thought Age of Ultron was great. 

I just wanna talk about a time when it seemed like movies were a bigger deal. The 90’s.  

It’s crazy to think that movies were so great as a kid and yet re-watching some of them now seems like a joke. 

1. Let’s start with batman! 

 

Batman Forever 1995

Batman & Robin 1997 

With cartoons, toys, sega games, and specialty cups from McDonald’s (some of which still haunt my parents house to this day)batman ran my 5 year old life. And I loved it. I remember wondering why my Dad hated Batman movies so mutch.. 

We’d be at blockbuster and I’d almost always request batman forever and or batman & robin. “Nope!” … 

I remember having this poster on my wall..  

 

My generation is so lucky we got that^ as a kid and The Dark Knight trilogy when we were older. It really worked out perfectly for us.  

2. SpaceJam 1996 

Okay.. Not to offend anyone but setting all nostalgia aside.. This movie (aside from Bill Murray)isn’t great. A classic? Sure. But a good movie? …. 

I loved it then. I remember the hype for this movie. It made me wanna play basketball. 

I watched this movie with some friends last semester and I was so excited because I hadn’t seen it in forever! But I was sorely disappointed. 

I mean It’s fun to pop this movie in and sing “I believe I can fly” and just remember.. 

3. Godzilla 1998 

I remember being SOo flipping excited to see this movie. This is back when summer blockbusters where also huge walking toy commercials(well, they still are) and my 8th birthday was just weeks after this movie came out and dominated my summer.   

For the record I still think this movie is better than that boring mess that came out last year.. 

4. Indian In The Cupboard 1995

 
I almost didn’t add this movie to the list because it’s not terrible. But super cheesy. And plastaky. 

I remember wishing I had a cupboard to put all my toys into to bring them to life.. But that sadly never happened. 

5. Flubber 1997  

Okay this movie.. Is the worst. But look at it! Doesn’t that just look like the 90’s? I remember being weirdly excited to see this one too. And I liked it at the time. 

It’s also a fun movie to laugh at. 

6. The Lost World (Jurassic Park) 1997

 
Last but not least, In honor of Jurassic World coming out this weekend I have to mention The Lost World. I was obsessed with this movie and the toys that came with it. As a kid you don’t understand that a sequel can be lame. All I cared about was more dinosaurs! 

Only to watch this movie later in life and be yet again disappointed. As a kid I didn’t care about beating up raptors with gymnastics moves or that the original Jurassic Park theme wasn’t in this movie. I wanted dinosaurs. And that I got. 

Well that’s it for now. I could do a whole separate list of good 90’s movies that would be a lot longer. 

Stay tuned. 

One Of My Favorite Quotes

Okay I know its been a while but I’m back!

Something I have observed over the years is that people love to talk about their problems. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing but sometimes it is. We love talking about how hard we have it. Or how hard our ancestors had it. This can be healthy, but it can also be unhealthy. One of the biggest complaints is stress. One of my favorite people Mindy Kaling said this:

“I do not think stress is a legitimate topic of conversation, in public anyway. No one ever wants to hear how stressed out anyone else is, because most of the time everyone is stressed out. Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere. No one is going to say, “Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.”

Everyone has problems. We like to look at other people and assume that they don’t. I’m guilty of this. There seems to be those people in life who make life look so easy! Right? Well they might be thinking the same thing about you. Or perhaps their trials haven’t come quite yet, but they will.

In a way, and this may sound bold, the pioneers who traveled across the country had it easier. They weren’t subject to some of the terrible things the world has to offer us today. I think if the people who crossed the plains where born in the same year I was most of them would also have a facebook or an iphone.. we’re a little hard on ourselves. We don’t give our generation the credit for thriving in the world we live in. Don’t worry I also know that in many other ways they had it way worse.

My point is that it is difficult to measure the difficulty of our lives and that we shouldn’t try. Who is to say who has it worse? The only one who truly know’s is Jesus Christ.

Here is one of my favorite quotes by Boyd K Packer (the president of the quorum of the twelve apostles of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints) I know it’s a long title.

“Some are tested by poor health, some by a body that is deformed or homely. Others are tested by handsome and healthy bodies; some by the passion of youth; others by the erosions of age.

Some suffer disappointment in marriage, family problems; others live in poverty and obscurity. Some (perhaps this is the hardest test) find ease and luxury.

All are part of the test, and there is more equality in this testing than sometimes we suspect.

It is possible to be both rich and famous and at the same time succeed spiritually. But the Lord warned of the difficulty of it when He talked of camels and needles (see Matt. 19:24).”

The important thing to remember is that instead of dwelling on our problems or making assumptions what really makes life better is being kind and helping other people. It’s more fun than it sounds.

“We are just these people running around
And I am in no hurry to figure it out
We are just like oceans running aground in search of water
In search of water”

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

Okay! It’s been a few weeks. I’m sorry. You’re not. 

So this year is almost over. Facebook does this thing where you can see the “highlights” of your year through pictures and such. So that you can see how awesome your year was with all of your engagement pictures and graduation ceremonies. You know, all that important stuff. 😉 I kid, I had a great year. 

I remember being so excited as a kid for midnight on new years. It seemed like a big deal. Staying up until midnight was rare. And eating so many peanut m&ms that I got a head ache. ..I don’t even like peanut m&ms.. The Sci Fi channel had that Twilight Zone marathon.(still does, I think) 

Google images ftw. 

Now new years consists of ..pretty much the same thing, minus staying up until midnight being a rare occurrence. Now I consider it a big deal if I go to bed BEFORE midnight. 

But new years as an adult is different.. Now I eat peanut butter m&m’s instead of peanut m&m’s. 😀

Seriously though you think about what you did and what you’re going to do, which can be daunting lets get real. You think about what you accomplished and carefully select a few somewhat realistic goals to tell your friends about. You know what I’m talking about. You don’t want your goals to be un realistic you learned that the hard way. But you gotta have something. ..well I guess you don’t..

As a kid it’s fun: “I’m gonna do this, this, and that!!” As an adult: “I didn’t do this, this, or that…” Or my personal favorite “I’m not gonna do this, this, or that.”

But aside from a few unrealistic goals look back at 2013. I don’t even remember the goals I made aside from my perpetual weight loss campaign I can’t think of anything. But I remember running out in the street yelling(a new tradition learned form my Brother in law Michael). I remember good times and a few learning experiences. So have fun and remember what you will remember. 

“The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part”

Driver Friendly

“The sound of uncertainty it’s nearly

Sunrise and everything’s changed, everything’s changed!”

Those who truly know me know I’m obsessed with rock music. So hears to my latest obsession who’s EP Peaks + Valleys has been playing repeatedly in my car for the last two weeks.

When you go to a rock show you’re not typically that excited for the opening band. It’s nothing personal, you just don’t give it much thought when you’re super excited to see your 2nd favorite band that you’ve been listening to for almost a decade. (yeah, that sentence needed to be long, deal with it) But sometimes they just really steal the show. When I saw Relient K with Motion City Soundtrack at “The Complex” in Salt Lake city a few weeks ago, I must confess I didn’t give much thought to the opening band called “Driver Friendly.” Except for the fact that they have a trumpet player and a trombone player in the band. I always say that brass is under rated when it comes to rock. And the fact that they’re from TEXAS! So then they came out. And They rocked.

Usually when it comes to live music if you don’t know the songs it’s not that entertaining. That’s my opinion anyways. But Driver Friendly is one of the exceptions that I know of. They have that alternative punk rock sound that I adore and the brass adds a lot. You know a good song when you feel like you’ve always known the tune but you haven’t.

Tyler Welsh – Lead Singer/ keyboards

Tyler has a special stage presence that is hard to explain. You just love the guy. (as do you the rest of the band) He made sure to let everyone know that they’d be hanging out at the merch table after the show. He said “Come hang out with us we don’t have a lot of friends.”

So we did! They’re a big band. I respect that. As you can see we got to hang out for a little bit after the show while they signed our five dollar CD’s. This is everyone minus Andy Rector (the trombonist) who was waiting just outside and was kind enough to make sure he also signed our copies of the ever amazing Peaks + Valleys. Seriously go listen to that now!!

That CD will be in my car for a long time.

“I’m gonna, gotta get out of here

Yeah, I gotta disappear

Learn to live without fear, we’ll all live without fear”

Laughing at me.

What makes a good comedian? I would say humility. This might sound strange but think about it. Some of the most cherished comedians I’ve ever heard consistently target themselves. It not only helps the listener feel better about themselves(in a world where entertainers do the opposite) but it’s also something people can relate to. We can relate because no matter how prideful we are, we at least THINK about our flaws.(even though some may never speak of their flaws)

So why not laugh?

Anyone who reads my posts will definitely see me laughing at me. Sometimes I start off making fun of somebody else in my head and it somehow comes back to me. For example I think and talk about things most “normal” people don’t. (well, I guess I don’t know what people are thinking that’s a whole other topic for another day) I don’t consider this a flaw but it can lead to some sobering thought.

For example people who feel the need to walk around while they brush their teeth. Why do they do it? And why do they feel the need to put their hand on their hip while they brush?

The important question to ask is why does it bother me? Is it because I can’t seem to do it without getting toothpaste all over my face? Thus making me feel inferior?

See? It always comes back to me. A good comedian embraces this!

Brian Regan. He’s my personal favorite. He does this so well. Weather it’s his diet, his childhood, or his ability to “read good”, the joke is almost always on him.

“It’s good to be here. I’m just trying to go through life without looking stupid. It’s not working out too well. ”

When I first heard Brian Regan utter those words I was an awkward middle-schooler who felt and probably looked stupid all the time. People laughed at me. I am proud to say I became one of those people. I became one of the funniest people I know.

So what can we learn? I think that if there was an accurate way to measure happiness the humblest comedians would also be the happiest. So let us eat some humble pie and laugh at ourselves and our situations a little more.

“I’m sorry I don’t laugh at the right times”

The First.

I thought really hard about the title of this post or whatever you’re supposed to call it. I want whoever is reading this to know how hard I am trying because I value honesty. I really, really want you to think I’m cool.  

So as I said this is “the first” and hopefully not the last. Hopefully this will be sort of a twice a week thing rather than a twice for a week thing.. And hopefully I wont read these in a year and feel STUPID. 

So what am I going to write about? Whatever I want. I don’t have much of a theme. “It’s a show about nothing!” Yeah that’s my life and I look forward to it. But I will probably post lots about music and stuff that bothers me. And start sentences with “But” and “And. Oh and every post will end with some kind of music related quote.. for you to figure out. 

Stay tuned!

“My life has become a boring pop song and everyone is singing along”