Jump to content
  • entries
    261
  • comments
    535
  • views
    146,097

About this blog

The musings of me

Entries in this blog

Stoner Buddies and Demeaning Friends

I just had a conversation where someone told me that it was demeaning to refer to my friend Steve as my "stoner" buddy, rather than my best friend or some such thing. He thought I was trying to sound cool by inserting the stoner buddy bit, and in doing so, both demeaned myfriendship to my friend Steve and offended his own sensibilities.   What I'm wondering is...do you think the person has a good point? Is it demeaning to do that? I suppose that in a way, it's taking a single charact

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Turning Down A Job Offer

Well, I turned the offer down. I thought very long and hard about it, and it came to this...   I would be driving 30 miles each way for the commute, with a roundtrip 1:30 to 2 hour commute, for about 4 to 5 hours of work at 9 dollars an hour. With gas incredibly likely to hit close to 5 dollars a gallon this summer (and at best, 4 dollars), plus the wear and tear this would do to my 8-year old car, it just didn't seem worth it for what would amount to maybe 40 dollars a day. I might as wel

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Saying Goodbye and the Unfortunate Sidetrack

So, I took the Greyhound up to New York City on Friday, with the plan that I'd stay with a college friend that lived in Long Island. Another friend was coming, and we'd all go down to Steve's memorial the next morning. Well, that was the plan, anyway.   The Greyhound was over an hour and half late- the New York City Tunnels are an absolute nightmare of traffic, though it was cool to see the New York City skyline complete with the new World Trade Center. The one and only time I had set foot in

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Amazon Workplace Culture

Hey guys, I thought I'd point you guys to this rather fascinating expose I read by the New York Times about the corporate culture of the Amazon Workplace.   Amazon: Wrestling Ideas in a Bruising Workplace   It paints a picture of Amazon as this "every man for themselves" environment, where workers are encouraged to work well over 40 hours a week (try more like 80), sabotage each other in secret feedback to their bosses, and hold themselves to unreasonably high standards. People who go throug

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

After School Special Lessons

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I went ahead and got through the humiliation of turning back in my state I.D., badges, uniforms, and signing my exit papers. It was difficult and upsetting, but also pretty illuminating as I tried to put into words what failed about this internship- on my side as well as on my supervisor's side.   It seems as if there are two guys that I can be- there's the responsible one that developed in grad school, through four successful internships, and can be pretty

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Fleeing Your Student Loans By Going Overseas?

In a time when high student loans and a shaky economy have made it harder for borrowers to pay them off, some Millennials have found a solution...flee to Europe and never live in the U.S. again! The article below talks about the young Americans who are making their life overseas in the hopes of being free of their student loans.   Meet the Americans Who Moved To Europe to Bail on their Students Loans   Honestly, it's a definite fantasy of mine...escaping my student loans. I have fantasized a

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Personality Flaws

So, in my life I've realized that there are two major personality flaws about me- I can be incredibly self-absorbed to the point where I say things without really thinking about how other people will take it, and I'm quick to assume things.   I try to be on guard for those traits, especially the self-absorption bit. When I was a teenager and early twentysomething, I got constantly called on the fact that I talk too much and that I'd "hijack" every conversation and bring it back to myself. I

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

UD Wants to Start A Law School

My undergrad, University of Delaware, wants to start a law school by 2015. University of Delaware's Law School Aim     I can't tell you how bad of an idea I think this is. Delaware's a small state, and it already has a law school, Widner. Delaware's strength is based on the chemical engineering and business program, and I can't see how adding a law school would do anything to enhance the university. Programs are already getting cut- like the journalism major- and I imagine that will only

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

UD Student Gets Arrested on Rape Charges

From Myspace to Rape Charges   Man. I know Nick. Nick is the boyfriend of my friend, who's a pretty sweet girl and absolutely doesn't deserve this. It's absolutely creepy to think that just after the weekend I hung out with him and his girlfriend, he got arrested for having sex with a 12-year old girl. I mean, I played beer pong with him two weeks ago! *shudders*   It's crazy. Something about the guy always creeped me out, although I could never quite articulate it, and n

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

14-Year Old Girl Stands Up for Reproductive Rights

There's this awesome article I just read, written by a 14-year old girl who took part in the protests against the Texas State legislature for the restrictive abortion laws that were passed. She held up a sign with her father saying, "Jesus Isn't A Vagina So Keep Him Out of My Vagina" :       This is the article she wrote in response to internet trolls who've called her a slut:   I'm The 14-Year-Old Who Wrote The "Jesus Isn't A Dick So Keep Him Out of My Vagina" Sign In Texas And Was Lab

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

True Crime: The Houston Mass Murders

David Brooks, an accomplice in the Houston Mass Murders of the early 1970's, is up for parole. A teenager at the time, he and fellow Houston teen Elmer Wayne Henley lured 28 teenage boys to home of Dean Corll, who raped, tortured, and murder them. At the time, it was the largest victim toll for serial killers in history.   I think it's a pretty fascinating case, because it said a lot about class politics and the mindset of the time period- all these kids were just written off as runaways, a

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Creepy Lady At 2:30 A.m. In The Morning

I'm a 29-year old male from the East Coast. Tonight, I went out to my favorite bar to listen to my favorite cover band.   On my way back home, I stopped at a local bank which has a drive through with an ATM. It's located at a blue-collar shopping center in the middle of a very busy highway in the suburbs, although being almost 3 a.m. it was empty. I wanted to deposit some money in my bank account to make an insurance payment.   While I was getting my money together, some lady walked up to th

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

My Friend Is In A Coma

My friend of 6 years, Stoner Steve as I've referred to him over the years, is in a coma after overdosing on heroin. He's had brain hemorrhaging and things aren't looking good for him. Our friend Ian let me know in a post over Facebook.   I'm in total shock. Complete and totally. I had just talked to him on Facebook chat November 20th. According to Ian, Steve's dad found him on the floor on Saturday morning. They took him to the hospital, put him in a medically induced coma, and things were l

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

The Jason Mraz Dilemna

Okay, so I'm starting school over in western PA at this school called IUP, which is 5 hours away from home. It's pretty far out. I'm not taking my car, so it's not going to be the easiest thing to get a ride to and back.   I recently found out that close to my hometown, and at my undergrad school, UD, there are plans to have Jason Mraz perform on September 28th, which is Tuesday. If I skip out on Monday and Tuesday classes, I could prolly swing going to the concert.   So herei

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

I guess I'm meant to revisit traumatic moments in my life this year.

Many of you know about my friend Steve, who died of a heroin overdose when we were 27 years old in 2013. It was, to say the least, a very painful experience for me, during a very turbulent year and half of my life. I recently got an email from our mutual friend inviting me to a bench dedication they're doing for Steve at a park that was, coincidentally, built near the site where their former dorms were. I mean, I'm going. No doubt about it. I just don't know how I feel about more cryin

methodwriter85

methodwriter85 in life

When Parents Take Over Their Deceased Child's Facebook Page

I got the heebie jeebies the other day when I was playing the game Farmville yesterday, and I got a notification that B.P. had done something to help my farm.   B.P. died back around August, an apparent suicide. He was only 22. After that, his father took over the page, giving us updates on stuff like the funeral. Then he started sending us stories about Brian. Now he's apparently using his son's facebook page regularly enough that he's playing Farmville under the name of his dead son

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

80's Babies Are Getting Old

Over on my friend's facebook, this has been making the rounds amongst us vanguard Millennials. Pretty scary, no?     It's a weird thing. I remember back in 2003, I used to tell people I was born in 1985, and they'd go, "Wow, you're so young!"   Now I tell people that I was born in 1985, and I get, "Damn, you're old." It's weird- I think my mind pretty sees the mid/late 2000's as being about yesterday, and that my peers (i.e. those born around 1984-1989) are the "youth peers", and the real

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Miss America is Not American?

So, history was made last night when the first Indian-American Miss America was crowned. And quite predictably, racist comments were made. Ugh. Here's this wonderful response video by a guy basically saying what I think about this:     America is basically defined by the fact that it's a melting pot that has never had any kind of singular culture, given the fact that it's the size of a continent. Even before Columbus got here, you had a pretty big variety, from the Mohawks to theLenni L

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

The 9/11 Media Coverage

Does it bother anyone else that every single year there has to be massive media coverage about 9/11? Every single year they have to bring out the 9/11 footage, show off the memorials at Ground Zero, etc etc. I can understand for the big anniversaries- like the 10th in 2011 was a big deal, and there's the 15th in 2016. But really, for the 13th it has to be a big leading new story?   There's this deep cynical part of me that doesn't think it's about honoring the memory of the dead- that it's a m

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Pros and Cons

I got a job offer as a seasonal intrepreter at a historical plantation in Pennsylvania.   I'm not really jumping up and down about it. I had mis-givings about the job when I drove up there...the plantation is pretty out of the way and wasn't easy to find even with GPS, and it's about a roundtrip 90 minute to 2 hour commute. The job only offers 9 dollars an hour, and it's based on when school groups tour. On one hand, this is good experience, and I haven't had a job in a three months. On the

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Internet Sleuths Find Philly Gay Bashers

Internet sleuths help police find the people who were involved with a Philadelphia gay bashing.   It's absolutely baffling to me that this happened in Philadelphia in 2014. In any event, I'm glad that these people got caught pretty quickly.   Although I'm pissed off to learn that they can't be charged with hate crimes because Pennsylvania doesn't have sexual orientation as a bias for hate crime law. Seriously, why is it that there is so much focus on getting same-sex marriage when this shit

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Stranger Things

I finally broke down and got Netflix so I could watch Stranger Things, which is kind of like an homage to 1970's/1980's sci-fi teen fantasy movies/books. It's about a nerdy group of middle school friends in small town America 1983, when one of the group goes mysteriously missing.   Some big nostalgia factor- aside from being set in '83, it's also got 80's teen stars Matthew Modine and Winona Ryder. Winona especially turns in quite the performance as a single mom slowly but surely coming apart

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

TLC Airs Special Called "My Husband's Not Gay"

There are no words.       It makes me think of a former gay erotica author who decided to "become" straight and dumped a really great guy in order to run screaming back into his closet.   But at the very least the women are going into this knowing that they're marrying guys "struggling" with same-sex attractions. That's progress, as opposed to the Baby Boomers who faked being straight because they really had no other choice unless they wanted to be outcasts.   I like to think that tw

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

My Friend Is In A Coma, Part II

The memorials have already started on Steve's Facebook page. My friend Ian told me that Steve was still on life support the last time he talked to his dad, but they were basically planning on taking him off it to let him pass in his own bed instead of a hospital. It's entirely possible that he passed after Ian talked to his dad, hence the memorials.   I can't do the Facebook memorial just yet. Not until Ian confirms it to me on the phone.   There are just so many memories that I'm runn

methodwriter85

methodwriter85

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Our Privacy Policy can be found here: Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..