Best Picture Ever Taken Within the Last Five Minutes
That is I and @superbr. Maybe I could use a shave.
It’s okay to call him a faggot if he’s gay!
I had this scintillating conversation with one of my straight housemates this morning:
Doug: (angry)[blah blah blah...] we were supposed to go to Seattle to some show tomorrow but this guy we were gonna go with’s was being a total faggot-
Me: Wait. Excuse me?
Doug: He was being gay! Like, no. He’s really gay. We’re not going because he wanted to be alone with his fucking boyfriend! That’s why I called him a fag. What I mean is, he’s really being gay, like literally.
Me: You don’t even understand why I find that offensive do you?
Doug: Sure I do! It’s cause you’re bisexual!
Me: (facepalm)
I can’t believe I live with this guy. If anyone feels like explaining to him why this is wrong and idiotic, feel free. He’s @dug2deep on twitter. He’s not hateful or bigoted, he’s just ignorant and a little touched with the stupid, it seems.
Trying to explain things to him exhausts me. He’s one of those people who never learns anything new because he resents anyone trying to teach him something.
Kicking in the TV
I had a brief discussion with @NycoHerzog on twitter, today, about kids, the Smurfs, and TV in general. It made me think of this post I made on Everything2 about 7 years ago. (Ahhh. Everything2. The nostalgia.) Keep in mind that this writing is the rash thoughts of an opinionated youth, still dazzled by the sheer volume of his vocabulary, rather than the seasoned man I’ve become today. ; D
If I ever have kids, I will kick the TV in and hurl it out the window
I’m not a parent. I don’t plan on having kids for a long time. Despite this fact, whether it’s biological hardware or simply nagging thoughfulness, I keep thinking about how I will raise my kids when I do have some.The prospect of my children watching TV scares the hell out of me.
The goddamn noisy box is so full of mindless garbage and consumer conditioning, that I can’t imagine subjecting any of my offspring to such stupidity, since, like anyone, I’d like my kids go far in life. Slathering their defenseless little minds with opium lard like the Teletubbies doesn’t seem like the best way to help them accomplish this, does it?.
That the medium of television is blatantly aimed at creating and maintaining good consumers, I will not argue here. I’ve already presented that argument.
Sure. I watched it as a child as much as any other kid, and I came out all right, at least, as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s just one of those things, like when parents worry about their children and constrain them, even though they despised that sort of restraint as children themselves.
When I think about my own childhood, though, and about kids I knew who weren’t allowed to watch TV, I balk I don’t want to be one of those highly restrictive parents.
But most of those kids came from hyper-christian households. They couldn’t watch the smurfs because Gargamel was the Devil. They couldn’t watch Pac-Man because ghost monsters were the Devil, they couldn’t watch He-Man because Skeletor was the Devil. So maybe that’s something different. One thing, when I think back on it now, strikes me as a little odd. They were allowed to watch Voltron. Go figure. : P
So maybe that’s a little different. It’s not violence, drugs, blasphemy or sex, that I’m afraid of. It’s stupidity;intentional stupidity.
My father always respected my ability to make good decisions once he thought I was informed and I have a deep reciprocal respect now, because of that.
If I’m trying to encourage my kids to be independent thinkers, how will it help if I tell them even once, “You can’t do that,” when I know it’s not something that will endanger them directly?
After giving this matter much thought, I think perhaps I’ll let them watch TV at friends’ houses, if they wish. I don’t think I’ll have one in my house, though, except for the DVD player, or whatever the current technology is.
Speaking of technology, maybe I’m thinking out of date. Maybe they won’t even want to watch the TV. Maybe they’ll be internet and computer game junkies, just like Daddy.
