CULTURE IS TIMELESS

Picture in your head someone without religious faith who is average or below average in school and possibly experiments with drugs and alcohol. Does this person have morals? Well, yes, they quite possibly do.

I think it's time that people open their minds to the possibility that a morally stable person doesn't have to be perfect. The basis of someone's beliefs and personal values doesn't necessarily have to come from the public view of a successful person. Personally I think it's hard for someone who doesn't have many life experiences (that isolated, straight-A kid who is actually in a cultural coma) to have morals, if they haven't experienced the latter of life. You can't know the difference between good and bad if you've never been near bad. I'm waiting for people (or at least the narrow minded suburban people I know) to realize that it's possible for people who don't follow the perfect path of life to have morals.

I don't think I'm perfect. But I know I have morals. Just cos I don't have a 4.0 GPA does not necessarily mean that I'm going to fuck up in life because I have no sense of behavior. I don't think I believe in God. But I'm not going to suffer an eternal afterlife in hell because of that, no matter what I believe or don't believe. I drink. I've smoked weed (it's not all it's cracked up to be), and I've wanted to try party drugs. But does this make me any less of a person? No, because these are things I would do for my personal experiences. In my opinion, trying new things, no matter what it is (drugs, religion, doing good in school or bad in school) would make me a better person cos I'd be more well rounded.

It's just who I am. I'm crazy, outgoing, I can be loud and have a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, I'm sitting in my half-lit room thinking to myself about my future and my life. I'm not one of those people that sits on their ass waiting for things to come to me, I do what I need to do to get things done. The only reason things seem that way is the fact that time goes by so slowly.

The difference between me and someone who isn't very book smart and wastes their life away with substance is that everything I do, I do with an open mind. I will listen to anything you have to say and instead of being stubborn and arguing my opinion, I will first consider yours and evaluate it's validity.

Anyways, over the past few days I've realized exactly what I'm looking for in a relationship. I'm looking for a smart guy. Not necessarily book smart, but a guy who has common sense and the capacity to think at the same kind of level that I do. I know they exist because I've dated one before. I know when guys are faking intelligence, by the way. A lot of guys recently have been trying to win me over by using big words...

In honor of Valentine's Day (which is quite possibly one of the most pointless holidays for single people, but I'm not going to complain) I decided I'd post a blog about love/relationships. But... this is my blog so I'm going to personalize it instead of generalizing the topic.

There are two paths I could follow right now for my love life; I need you to help me decide which one. Even though I'll probably just do what I want anyway, let me have your feedback.

The first approach I could take is the less serious one. Most people my age are taking this path at the moment and dating around. They decide if they like someone and that someone happens to be interested as well, they should date. They don't really consider compatibility or how things will end and possibly ruin their friendship, they just have fun with it. I've been doing this ever since I started dating and I'm reconsidering if I should do this. A lot of people continue to do this throughout their lives until they marry.

Or, I could be more picky about dating. I could date guys that are actually worth my time. I could wait until a guy comes around that I don't wish was different in any way. Of course, this way, I'd probably miss out on a lot of fun. I hate to hurt people though and I normally end up dumping guys cos I realize that I'm not going to be with them forever and I let the little things about them piss me off easily.

Who knows. I'm starting to not really care. Hooray for spending my Valentine's Day with Franz Ferdinand!

I feel weird... it's not like I've never had a blogger before, but it's just been a while. I figured I could just blog on Myspace, but now Catie (one of probably three of my devoted readers) doesn't use Myspace anymore. To be honest, I prefer Facebook anyway but they don't really have a blog function, so I figured it was time to get a new, official blog. Technically, this is my first post. All of the previous ones were just transferred here from my Myspace blog cos I didn't want to have to start fresh and have an empty blog. All I need to do now is get some serious readers... as if.

People limit themselves too much, which I blame mainly on the fact that a majority of the human race is really narrow-minded. What I mean is that people are expected to stay within the borders of their label or stereotype. Even if you're not the type of person to label people, it still happens in your head. You will classify who they are subconsciously and there's nothing wrong with that, it's a natural thing to do. What I'm getting at is this: if you saw a girl on the street with black hair and black clothes and heavy black eye makeup walking and holding hands with a guy with baggy jeans, a puffy jacket and a buzz cut, you'd probably be sort of confused or maybe wonder how they got together. The reality of it all is that it doesn't matter how or why two people of different backgrounds, music tastes, fashion senses, races, or any sort of division are together. What matters is that they are together, and they're happy. I mean, maybe you and your family are really different. For example you may enjoy many different things than your brother or sister and are really different from each other. One might be a rebel and one might be a straight A student, but chances are deep down they probably still love each other. This all kind of ties in with independence, which is something else I'll probably blog about in detail someday soon. Diversity is just really cool, in my opinion. It shows you're not afraid to be friends with people you like based on your connection with that person and not what they wear. Love isn't the only thing that's blind. In my opinion, everything should be "blind", or at least metaphorically.

It's at least once a day that I get frustrated with one or more person and the way they present themselves on the internet. I decided to do this blog after receiving some answers on my next most recent blog. If you haven't read that it's basically a rant in question form. In one question, I asked why the internet can't be noob free. I appreciate all that answer the questions and I did get some really good feedback on that one. So I decided to write a short guidebook for the internet. Also, noobs, I'm here to help. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

A lot of this blog isn't only going to be about Myspace and Facebook, but also forums and any other kind of discussion board.

Here are some things not to do:

1. Don't post slutty pictures of yourself on your social networking page. This will come back to bite you in the ass, I promise. Remember the internet is viewed by everyone and I hate to sound like a public service announcement but there are rapists out there. Also, if your parents are technology-literate they will most likely find a way to view your private Myspace profile. (Trust me, it's possible.)

2. Don't join any website or group just to bash on its purpose. For example, don't join a Facebook group for fans of a certain band if you plan to just talk about how shit they are. You wouldn't want someone doing that to you, would you?

3. Don't talk shit behind anyone's back. (This applies to real life also, but especially on the internet) This allows the person you're talking to to have solid proof that you were saying things about certain people. There are such things as printers and they can be used against you.

4. Try hard not to be a douche. This especially applies to noobs. I know that typing in all caps makes you feel strong and powerful but everyone else with common sense thinks you're an idiot.

5. Don't post so many flashy, large graphics. For people who have slower computers, it can freeze their system for hours just cos they wanted to picture comment you back. It's also very tacky and makes you look really naive. Also, having more than one video on your profile is also a no-no. Especially if it automatically plays along with your profile song. The last thing someone wants to hear when they visit your shit profile is five terrible songs being played at once. This also slows down computers.

And here are some things you should do:

1. Learn at least one language such as HTML, CSS, or BBC depending on what sort of website you plan to have a profile on. I'm not saying you should become a master on any of the above, but you should at least know enough to remove the annoying "GET A PIMPED OUT PROFILE HERE" advertisements th
at happen to block your pictures in your layout.

2. If you're old enough to use the internet, you're old enough to learn how to use at least relatively proper grammar. This applies especially to middle or upper-class white girls that go to private schools but pretend they have no brain (when we all know there is a tiny one in there) when they get on Myspace.

3. Start using the internet in a bit more productive way. I know that Myspace isn't very productive, but if you're going to use it, be as smart as possible about it. What I mean is, don't join Myspace if you're just going to be inactive and waste space on the internet.

4. Sign up for websites using your real e-mail! Yes, I know this can sometimes cause spam. If anything, set up a separate e-mail account just for these sorts of things. You will probably lose your password eventually and need it back. Or you might need to cancel your account three years later when you start college and remember those drunken pictures you posted of yourself in 9th grade.

5. Don't be mean to people and treat others how you would want to be treated. If you really don't like someone's profile/blog/etc then use constructive criticism. The person is a lot more likely to realize that their profile is shit and change it if you're nice about it, rather than if you say something like "LOL UR PROFILE SUCKS ITS SOOO STUPID U R GAY"



*** FORUMS! *** (This needs to be a separate section cos I'm aware that most of the people that will read this blog don't belong to any boards.)

1. Do not start five similar topics cos the admin who are less noobish will probably ban you, or even worse, hate you.

2. Never, and I repeat, never post/talk about Runescape. Enough said. Don't understand why? Please do us all a favor and leave the internet as soon as possible.

3. Search through older threads and ask Google before asking a dumb question. You'll end up looking stupid if you start a topic asking about bananas and then someone smarter and less noobish than you replies and says "That's a great topic but it's already been started. http://forum.com/thread/bananas

4. Read the FAQ before you post.

5. Don't ever join forums you won't be active on. Also, if you plan to stop posting, disable your account or let admins know that you won't be active.

6. There isn't really a rule on when to quote on someone's post to reply to them or to simply post a reply without quoting them, but this is the way I look at it. If the post the other person made is on a different page in the thread, you should probably quote them. Also, if you're replying to two different people on points they made, you should quote them. However, if you're the next post after the person you're replying to there's normally no need to quote.

7. This applies mainly to musician/actor forums and girls. DON'T BE A FANGIRL. Well, at least don't publicly show it. It gets really old to see four thousand topics started by fangirls saying "omg *example guy 1* is sooooo hot lolol he is mine lol" Chances are, everyone knows they're attractive. He's also more than likely not yours.

8. Now that I'm on the topic of music forums, respect the wives/girlfriends of band members. Don't bash them. The rule of thumb is this: imagine everything you post is going to be read by the band. They wouldn't be too impressed to see you hating on their guitarist's wife.

9. But remember, it's definitely okay to obsess in the privacy of your own home.

10. When posting pictures, make sure you know what you're doing. You probably need to use HTML or BBCode.

11. For the fortunate group of people who treat the internet like it should be, go easy on the noobs. When they ask questions, try to help them out as much as possible, still claiming your rightful place as the truly leet people you are.

Coincidence? I think not.

Honestly, I can't wait. I wish I could fast forward my life to the end of high school. I mean, I'm actually loving school and all that but I can't wait until I'm older so I can get to the good stuff... college, marriage, career. A lot of people say it's a bad thing to grow up so fast but I feel that in my mind I am a lot more mature than most people my age. Of course I don't publicly show it cos then I'd pretty much be a huge outcast since immaturity is "cool" now? So would growing up already be such a bad thing if it was for my personal benefit? Trust me, this isn't even the prologue of what I've been thinking about all of this, meaning there's a much more extended and sentimental meaning behind this short little rant.

*Five minutes later*

I waited a few minutes before posting this, as I normally do, to see if there was anything else I'd like to have written and also to see if my opinion changes. No change here, and I would definitely like feedback and also to hear your opinion. By the way, I am perfectly aware that no matter how badly I want to grow up, I can't speed up time.