#4 [random] "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." - Carl Sagan.
Random thought:
WET -- Probably the very reason why there's no abbreviated White Entertainment Television network like BET.
It's true, imagination is such (well, was, it's a bit archaic now) a powerful tool in the arsenal of a child's growing up. In this technologically advanced world I can't imagine we use it much anymore. When was the last time you imagined being a fictional police officer when you grew older? And when was the last time you loaded up Counter Strike to actually play as a fictional older police officer? You get my drift.
I can't remember how many times I'd run away with my imagination as a kid. I was always daydreaming of the most complex of fantasies. I'd be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a Power Ranger, a Transformer and usually a famous hockey player anytime I picked up a stick. Sometimes I'd even be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle hockey player. On my lesser confident and effeminate days I'll admit it - I was a Carebear. At least, I thought it was that way. I thought I had an overactive imagination/possibly even pre-advanced symptoms of ADHD, but I was wrong. I recently found one of my old kindergarten journals, see. Aside from giving me enough material to write for the 62 years - it opened my eyes. I was a really.. really..... really stupid kid.
For example: In an era where Nintendo practically raped every child every day coming home from school; where you ate NINTENDO POWER breakfast while reading NINTENDO POWER magazines, watched Nintendo cartoons, had backpacks of your favourite Nintendo characters, and rented Nintendo games every weekend and more or less talked about Nintendo everyday at school.. my favourite activity apparently was:
It wasn't the years of baseball or hockey I played growing up with friends, nor was it the rather entertaining drama classes I had taken outside of that. It wasn't Nintendo who had consumed everyone's soul. It wasn't the movies. It wasn't the track, volunteer work or all the concerts and fun places we went as kids that captured my full attention.
Woah woah, woah woah! Stop the car! You know what really startles me about this?
a) The fact it just prompted me to say "Woah woah, woah woah, stop the car!"
Such as the excitement factor between Thursday and Friday.
"Five logs" was the highlight of Friday's walk to school? I apparently saw four white goats run by on Thursday which alone is amazing as at the time I would have lived in the deepest suburbs of the city. I've lived in the city a few years now and know how many passing goats I've seen? Oh, yeah that's right. None. Strangely enough I remember during that period in time our local board of education had just passed one of those "ZERO tolerance" policies about school violence brought upon by cheap mascots such as anti-drug Wally Bear (and the rest of the NO! gang) and that one other furry, brown cartoon bear who used to make school appearances in half deteriorated costumes and leave everyone with a container of honey & popsicle sticks.
He was usually accompanied by a couple cops.
I think he told kids not to steal. Or something.
Anyway, any act of school violence whether it be deemed premeditated or sporadic was to be punished in the most severe but still reasonable extent possible.
One of my friends not even two weeks after they passed that (he was, 4 years old) saw this huge maybe 3-4 foot stick laying on the grass that fell from a tree. He dragged it into the school yard and was actually given a criminal record and suspension because despite maybe being 20 lbs (9 kg) at the time - school officials were thoroughly convinced he was able to somehow pick it up, hurl it over his head and it into somehow an even more unsuspecting kid that wasn't able to realize he was basically being attacked by a small pine tree. Then again I think he grew up to rob a bank or something so perhaps the ol' teachers at Allendale Elementary called a situation right for once.
I wonder how I turned out to have such a kick-ass imagination?
Hey God, I think I owe you one.
(Or fifty, since genetics really seemed to be my homeboy for everything while I was back in the womb).
:high five:
WET -- Probably the very reason why there's no abbreviated White Entertainment Television network like BET.
It's true, imagination is such (well, was, it's a bit archaic now) a powerful tool in the arsenal of a child's growing up. In this technologically advanced world I can't imagine we use it much anymore. When was the last time you imagined being a fictional police officer when you grew older? And when was the last time you loaded up Counter Strike to actually play as a fictional older police officer? You get my drift.
I can't remember how many times I'd run away with my imagination as a kid. I was always daydreaming of the most complex of fantasies. I'd be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a Power Ranger, a Transformer and usually a famous hockey player anytime I picked up a stick. Sometimes I'd even be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle hockey player. On my lesser confident and effeminate days I'll admit it - I was a Carebear. At least, I thought it was that way. I thought I had an overactive imagination/possibly even pre-advanced symptoms of ADHD, but I was wrong. I recently found one of my old kindergarten journals, see. Aside from giving me enough material to write for the 62 years - it opened my eyes. I was a really.. really..... really stupid kid.
For example: In an era where Nintendo practically raped every child every day coming home from school; where you ate NINTENDO POWER breakfast while reading NINTENDO POWER magazines, watched Nintendo cartoons, had backpacks of your favourite Nintendo characters, and rented Nintendo games every weekend and more or less talked about Nintendo everyday at school.. my favourite activity apparently was:
It wasn't the years of baseball or hockey I played growing up with friends, nor was it the rather entertaining drama classes I had taken outside of that. It wasn't Nintendo who had consumed everyone's soul. It wasn't the movies. It wasn't the track, volunteer work or all the concerts and fun places we went as kids that captured my full attention.
It was of course, those ever popular TV Guides.
Honestly, If there was a way we could travel back in time I would head back now to about 3 or 4 seconds before I decided to write that and smack some sense into myself. How many times in your life have you opened a TV guide in the past and remarked out loud: "YO MIKE, THE 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM LINEUP OF "HEY, ARNOLD!", "WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?", "WHY?", "BECAUSE I SAID SO", "BASTARD!!" MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD."
Actually scratch that, how many times have you opened up a TV guide at all?
(And I know, I completely skipped over mentioning what was written below that but I have absolutely no idea what I was attempting to shoot for there.)
Unfortunately the possible childhood trauma doesn't cease there. In another fill-it-out-yourself segment, we were asked what our friends liked about us. Judging by it wasn't really a question, but fill in the blank I'm assuming our teachers momentarily paired us up and we exchanged one round of compliments then went back to finishing our writing in solitude. Kids would head back and probably say "Oh, he said he liked my hair!", "I had cool eyes!", "A funny laugh!", you know, light-hearted stuff like that.
I was told:
Woah woah, woah woah! Stop the car! You know what really startles me about this?
a) The fact it just prompted me to say "Woah woah, woah woah, stop the car!"
b) Have you ever heard about that "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" man who has survived being struck by lightning over seven times in a row now? My luck is so horrible I will most likely end up conquering that record during my lifetime.
c) We had a predominately male classroom. This is where the above luck factor comes into play. In our class of maybe 26, 28, we had just one girl. I hated this girl. I doubt I was paired with her, which means my partner was one of 26-27 other guys.
d) IN AN ERA OF MULLETS, HAMMY DOWNS AND SHAGGY HAIR I DON'T THINK ANYONE EVEN WORE BELTS. I know I didn't. I was pretty much a sweat pant enthusiast at that age. Which makes me wonder just what he was looking at?!
I suppose it could have been worse however.
c) We had a predominately male classroom. This is where the above luck factor comes into play. In our class of maybe 26, 28, we had just one girl. I hated this girl. I doubt I was paired with her, which means my partner was one of 26-27 other guys.
d) IN AN ERA OF MULLETS, HAMMY DOWNS AND SHAGGY HAIR I DON'T THINK ANYONE EVEN WORE BELTS. I know I didn't. I was pretty much a sweat pant enthusiast at that age. Which makes me wonder just what he was looking at?!
I suppose it could have been worse however.
Such as the excitement factor between Thursday and Friday.
He was usually accompanied by a couple cops.
I think he told kids not to steal. Or something.
Anyway, any act of school violence whether it be deemed premeditated or sporadic was to be punished in the most severe but still reasonable extent possible.
One of my friends not even two weeks after they passed that (he was, 4 years old) saw this huge maybe 3-4 foot stick laying on the grass that fell from a tree. He dragged it into the school yard and was actually given a criminal record and suspension because despite maybe being 20 lbs (9 kg) at the time - school officials were thoroughly convinced he was able to somehow pick it up, hurl it over his head and it into somehow an even more unsuspecting kid that wasn't able to realize he was basically being attacked by a small pine tree. Then again I think he grew up to rob a bank or something so perhaps the ol' teachers at Allendale Elementary called a situation right for once.
I wonder how I turned out to have such a kick-ass imagination?
Hey God, I think I owe you one.
(Or fifty, since genetics really seemed to be my homeboy for everything while I was back in the womb).
:high five:
Comments
You amaze me!
secondly I just have to say "Hammy Downs" :P
And hammy downs is an awful word. ;D I felt dirty using that one, mainly because I never got anything good from my parents. It was always like.. SNAPPLE shirts and trucker visors. I don't even know where they picked up half the crap they gave me.