It will last

A girl once asked me “Doesn’t it make you sad that this won’t work out?” My original response was “It’s possible, I don’t mean to sound creepy but my Aunt and Uncle are high-school sweethearts." The relationship failed, despite my confidence and my faith in optimism was brought into question. If I were ever worried that something was going to be bad (a day at school, a week that all my friends were out of town, a trip to my Dad’s) my Mom gave me the best advice I’ve ever been given. “Terry, if you go into this thinking it is going to be bad then it will be bad, but if you think you’re going to have a good time then you will.” I was usually in one of those moods where you just don’t want to be happy but I would secretly take her advice and to my delight it would almost always work. Instead of dreading bath-time I would embrace it and when the time came I was having so much fun that I didn’t want to come out. I didn’t care if I actually turned into a raisin. Instead of moping about how bad my day was going be I was out there livin’ it up. Looking at the bright side has helped me live life to its fullest.
If optimism has brought joy to days that seemed to be filled with nothing but tedium then why couldn’t it keep the relationship alive? Well, for starters I’m guessing that relationships require a tad bit more than confident thoughts to keep going. However, if at the beginning you are already thinking about the end chances are it will come sooner than it should. I guess what I’m trying to say is: “Jump.” See if you can fly on your way down rather then worrying about it before hand. Yeah, maybe you will take a nosedive into the asphalt but hey! At least you flew…

-Teck

I don’t want to hang up.

P.S. I never told you this Mom, but you were, and continue to be right. Thanks!

P.P.S. About the whole “jumping” thing: It was completely metaphorical. You’re worth it.

Everything is Automatic

You communicate using technology everyday, using E-mail, Phones, Instant Messaging or any of the many methods technology affords us. Many people spend hours on the internet chatting with friends, in fact some of us have friendships that wouldn't exist if it weren't for MSN. Some of us will text or instant message instead of phoning or using the plain ol’ method of just talking to them in person. Sometimes you’ll do it because you just don’t want to talk to them. But more often than not, you are texting or instant messaging because it is so much easier to have a conversation like that. You don't have to worry about your body language or how to end the conversation, whenever it gets boring you can just say "gtg cya" (Ugh...MSN slang.) In Junior High (and sometimes in elementary, which is way too young) some of us kept up relationships on MSN or the phone. When it came to the face-to-face relationship we would spend half the movie gaining the courage to hold hands.
Our dependency on technology doesn’t stop with MSN and E-mail though, and you know that. You are very aware of what driving to school or work everyday is doing to the environment, and I’m not interested in telling you that again. What I AM interested in is the hilarious factor of it. The fact that we lack the strength to give up on the conveniences to which we’ve grown so accustomed is what I’m interested in.
I began noticing how lazy we have all become when I started working at Wal-Mart as a cart boy (which I no longer do, visit me in furniture!). While walking around the parking lot, my energy slowly fading away, I would see people four spots away from a “cart corral” leave their cart beside there car. You leave the cart because you know that I have to come and pick it up. That shirt you intended to buy is left in the foods section without a thought as to who will have to put it away. I don’t mean to bother you about that either; we’re being paid to pick up for you so I can’t really complain. But sometimes I realize how my Mom used to feel when it came to my Power Rangers (Sorry Mom!).
After noticing the laziness of some Wal-Mart shoppers I decided to conduct some experiments. My favourite of which took place in between the two sets of doors you go through to get in and out of Wal-Mart. With one set of the out doors being automatic and obviously more convenient they are used the most. Noticing this I decided to use the Wal-Mart shoppers as guinea pigs in a little test. I placed a cart sideways in between the two sets of automatic doors on your way out of Wal-Mart on one end leaving a very small space between the doors and the cart. Instead of moving the single empty cart out of the way people would walk through the first set of doors, around the cart, through the small opening and out the other automatic door. Even people without carts would choose to walk around the cart rather than go out a push door or just getting rid of the cart. I would ask you to do your part and help me in making the world a little less lazy by doing so yourself. But I’m the one who hasn’t updated in 17 days.

-Teck

At one point I wished it were over

So much Drama, So little Drama

I am a geek and not just in the traditional sense of the word. I do play computer games, I have built my own computer I carry my iBook with me everywhere and I’m the tech guy for my whole family. However, my geekiness doesn’t stop there, I am also a Drama geek. I have been since I first discovered, in grade 7, that there was a class in which I could get marks for being a goof ball. Since then I have performed many times in and out of class. I’m in my seventh drama class (I took it twice in grade 7) and I have been in three school productions (Hansel and Gretel – Troll, Big Screen – Wrestler, Cinderella – Prince Charming). Cam Langhofer and I are directing a piece called The Leg! …of Mystery (Yes, someone put us in control of students) which is playing at the Shed the Mask festival being held at the U of L on the 5th and 6th of May (PLUG!). So, as you can see I’m very involved in the dramatic arts. Which leads me to my confusion: If I have so much Drama in my life, why is there so little Drama in my life?
I know of couples, teenage and adult, that fight all the time, sometimes over the most ridiculous topics such as “Boy’s night out” or “Whether or not to get jam.” Being effected by this indirectly is the closest I get to drama. It makes me wonder. Why don’t I have any drama? Should I have drama? Am I missing out by not having drama? I don’t think so. When I watch some of my friend’s relationships begin on the downward spiral because of the controlling girlfriend or the over-affectionate boyfriend I think of it as such a minuscule thing. If you’ve been told so often that these years are the best years of your life then why are you moping about not being so significant to one another anymore? Maybe it’s because I haven’t really been in a long-term relationship or maybe I’m right for a change and you’re all just wasting your time. If my love life is destined to be full of the make-up/break-up junk you’re going through then you can hand me the Fonz’s guidebook to relationships.

-Teck

I love you…