The Life Thread

[BojackHorsefella]

I actually thought about this earlier and just didn't do it, so I promise I didn't conceive of this just to brag. I just think it'd be cool to have a thread where we can talk about our life, either past, present or future (mainly past because I'm in this phase where I'm fascinated with American history, but more from ordinary people than like, watching documentaries with professional historians).

Anyways.

So, my contribution today is a "present" story than a past (earlier I'd thought about doing a "where were you during 9/11" thing, so that's more where my focus was in starting this).

Today, I got engaged. Um, again. But first time to my current girlfriend! And considering she's the first girl that I've dated and never broke up with, Im pretty confident this will stick. It'll be 2.5 years in June and everything's been great (I've had more than enough bad so I can easily recognise good these days), and that's that. So yeah.

Anyways, I think this will be a cool thread for life events and reflection or future plans. Ive never been to Michigan, I could listen to Norm spin tales about his college days in here. Hearing Crewe's stories from Texas and his many adventures. I enjoy Tider's stories about his family and I enjoy hearing his perspective from his Alabama roots. So hopefully we can all share here and, maybe one day no one will come to this place but all our tales will be here. 

[Crewe]

first off, congrats dude! Im sure it will be perfect for the both of you.

I love American History as well with a special fixation on post civil war south, or as we knew it as kids, cowboys and Indians. 

[BojackHorsefella]

See, I've had this odd fixation on, essentially, the 20s, 40s, 50s and 70s. And not so much the wars and what not, just, the lives of the general public. Watching Twilight Zone and just seeing the set designs and the ways people are portrayed (before weird stuff happens) or the few happy episodes that tend to focus on suburbia, it's just fascinating to me.

[Crewe]

well, thats all part of it, I mean no matter the era, people are people. its really interesting to see society progress whether it be via mores ala prohibition or via industry and everything in between. In short, I agree with you

[TheNorm]

First things first: congratulations to you and the fiance!

I'm really looking forward to seeing where this thread goes.

[rollntider]

First things first: congratulations to you and the fiance!

I'm really looking forward to seeing where this thread goes.

Congrats Buc!!!!

[BojackHorsefella]

You know, growing up in the 90s feels completely different. I saw once on Twitter or somewhere, and obviously the science behind this can be debated, but that kids from my generation became so used to technological progress, we went from cassettes, to CDs, to MP3s to streaming. We went from MSDOS to Windows and the internet and eventually smart phones and tablets, all within about 20 years, so that we've always been stuck in this state of transition between resources. VHS to DVD to blu-ray to streaming too. Obviously, the video games too have progressed incredibly in just 20 years, which, while the jump from PS3 to PS4 was actually noticeable, it wasn't as big a jump as previous console iterations (and why game companies are looking to VR to save them).

So it's always funny to me to look back at times because they were there, but so shortly. Whereas someone like my dad, who can certainly appreciate the transition, actually got to spend considerable time in the "before" (and, presumably, will for the "after" too), I'm going to spend more of my life with this technology (and who knows what else) than I did without. And, really, the internet is still in its infancy and who knows if anyone truly knows what it IS yet.

I saw an article the other day, I think it was from nymag.com, but they were talking about how they "don't know how to be bored on the internet" anymore. Way back in the early days of the internet, it was the wild west and you didn't need much to impress. There were distractions EVERYWHERE. Newgrounds, Homestarrunner, Maddox, Ebaumsworld, Cracked, SomethingAwful. There were writers just writing whatever the hell they wanted (again, Cracked and Maddox), there were awfully designed websites with terrible layouts and poorly colored text against a poorly colored background. Everyone wanted to use this new thing and see how much fun they could have with it.

And then there was a shift, and suddenly Snapchat and MySpace and Facebook and, really, social media started developing and the internet just became about ourselves. It became about our own ideologies. We didn't care about having fun or being entertained, now we just wanted to find like minds who believed in what we believed, wrong or right (Reddit, 4chan, even Facebook). The internet suddenly became "the cult of me."

It's really sad. It's one of the reasons I'm glad I found my way back here and connected with you guys. Blindsideblitz really is a throwback. It's not about one thing, although the elements certainly all tie in together. Really, though, if BSB had a facebook page and a twitter account and grossly promoted itself, we'd have an influx of characters that would inevitably end up unruly. And, I'm not saying back in the day the internet wasn't without it's assholes (Hey guys, remember Madden Planet and crazed Andy from Madden World, I believe it was? I do), but everyone's so wrapped up in their bubbles these days that any information that threatens to burst it immediately sends them into a frenzy.

To a certain extent, I get it. We live in really, really strange times. Social media became a weapon, evidently, and it's done it's work well. I left Facebook this year after the Cambridge Analytica nonsense and I don't regret it one bit. It became such a hive for negativity and I just don't need that in my life right now (or ever). And yeah, I had my friends list very curated and even some of those friends I had set to not show their posts in my news feed, it was still lurking in the comments of every article. Everyone knows you can't go to the comments on ESPN articles (and, granted, that may have also been a before social media thing, but it's certainly gotten worse). The loudest voices, no matter how large or small, have always been the loudest, and the hatred and vitriol that regularly flows on the internet has certainly grown louder and louder.

We've seen (and confirmed) movements like GamerGate being used and recruited from for various white nationalist movements. Obviously, beyond just the internet, we've seen (and confirmed) electronic interference in our elections, so bad that some states are actively considering going back to paper ballots, which would suck but be worth it as opposed to the alternative, obviously.

We've seen a search engine become part of the global economy and absolutely redefine what can be done with technology. We've seen a glorified shopping website grow into one of the largest, most profitable business today that now includes streaming services, grocery stores and book stores somehow. We've also seen that same website killing off the old guard of the retail industry (not a Toys R Us reference though, they were killed by something else).

I'm 30 (well, 31 in 14 days OH MY GOD IT'S ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY), but I always tell people I'm a classic and am more like 60. I enjoy 1920s music, scotch, and peace and quiet, haha. While I certainly acknowledge I may be too focused on the negative (Twitter doesn't help), I can't help but wonder, be it out of nostalgia or something else, if maybe, in the long run, we actually were better off without the internet.

Then again, I wouldn't have met all of you guys and had, essentially, a place to go during high school where I knew I could escape for a while with a group of people, whether we were playing Mafia games, TUFF or just shooting the breeze. So, I don't know.

Like I said at the top, in this (hopefully) middle age I now find myself in (GUYS I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN I JOINED THIS SITE I WAS A TEENAGER), I've been doing a lot of reckoning with my past and present, as well as considering mine and my son's future. Every parent worries for their child and I'm no different, I know that, but like all parents I worry about the world that's being left to him, but I consider the world that I grew up in that was left to me. I'm trying to reconcile the dark of this world with the light, and I have so many questions about this life that I know will never be answered (sorry guys, not religious). So, I talk. And I think. And I post here, I suppose.



............This one, while there was a theme, was certainly more general. I do intend to do some "where were you when" type things (this was almost about Columbine before I decided to go in a different direction), but again, this is a place just to reflect and consider and record our history. I hope to see you guys in here too, but I'll be a fairly regular presence here too.

[Crewe]

We were better off without the internet, but we weren't.
But I don't think you can just apply it to the internet without technology as a whole when comparing times. This is my subjective post, so Ill try to elaborate.
I absolutely miss just talking to people. I miss not being watched or tracked every instance of every single day of my life.
I miss newspapers and magazines.
Do you realize we used to just sit at the red lights? How 1800's does that sound? It seems so odd now, but walking down the street, your head was up, people were sociable, more inviting. Now Im not trying to make it sound like a utopia of camaraderie, but it was certainly much more friendly than now.
I remember the first mobile phone I saw in the early 80's on the golf course with my dad. It blew my mind, how was that even possible?
Then I had one and at first it was cool, but then, people could contact you wherever you were and we were soon engulfed.
1984 was a reality.
So much vile hatred everywhere now, so much negativity. What spawned it? The internet. Social media as you touched on. Ive been off Facebook for years now. I remember making a post to my "hundreds" of friends, message me your number or email if you want me to have it because Im done tomorrow, or whenever it was and I received exactly 0 contacts. Not that I cared I knew they were all full of shit anyway. Its social status, like the Black Mirror episode and its no fun, to me anyway.
It is very much a hive minded society and extremely divisive and its only going to get worse IMO. Honestly, Im glad I won't be around for a hell of a lot of it in the future because I see a severe lack of humanity now, I can only imagine what it will be like down the road. Negative view? Maybe. But there's more than a shred of reality there too.

That said, now, I have a wealth of information at my fingertips. I used to have to dig out a dictionary to ensure my spelling was correct, but not now. And btw, spelling really pisses me off, especially now. I know the millennials hate grammar Nazi's, but I was taught spelling reflects who you are and with it so easily correctable there's really no reason for errors and I hate it. Now Im not talking about Youtube comments but professional communication, even casual to an extent, but I digress.
The gizmos and gadgets we have are amazing and will only get better. It reaches into every part of our lives, which can be good. I don't know that it balances out the bad on the whole, for me, but I enjoy what we have and look forward to more.
We have communities like this one and to add on buc, Im sure Im not alone when I say I have friends Ive kept through several Madden leagues, through some online gameplay etc...
Ive flown out to meet internet friends just for the hell of it, and hope to do it again. Its amazing when I think I have friends Ive known for 15 years that I met playing a stupid video football game. Thats the cool stuff right there.

When I was growing up, we yearned to learn about the past generations, now? Not really. So Im glad when I run across younger folk who know about something as trivial as Pink Floyd, or about Animal House, who the allies were in WWI or even what D.C. stands for in Washington D.C., and that isnt a baseless reference FYI.

[BojackHorsefella]

When I was growing up, we yearned to learn about the past generations, now?

I may have to admit, part of the reason I started this was to try to get stories from you and others here who have, uh, preceded me in existence on this Earth, heh.

Ive heard my father's stories, but obviously those are specific to an Italian kid growing up on Long Island. I feel confident the experiences and anecdotes and upbringing of our members here probably are not 100% the same, and diverge more the further we get in your timeline.

[BojackHorsefella]

To your point about language, I will say, mistakes are certainly annoying and easily avoidable in a professional setting, that's absolutely correct, but even "internet speak," as much as I would advise not using it in your resume, is it's own language. Language is ever evolving, even if that language consists of emojis and acronyms, it's still a method of communicating that most of us whove spent time on the internet understand, no matter how childish it may look. Obviously, all of us here are very adept at putting our thoughts into actual words, but I dont think those who choose not to when on the web should be looked down upon (not that I think that's what you're doing).

[Crewe]

When I was growing up, we yearned to learn about the past generations, now?

I may have to admit, part of the reason I started this was to try to get stories from you and others here who have, uh, preceded me in existence on this Earth, heh.

Ive heard my father's stories, but obviously those are specific to an Italian kid growing up on Long Island. I feel confident the experiences and anecdotes and upbringing of our members here probably are not 100% the same, and diverge more the further we get in your timeline.

And see, that's what I like, talking to people. Having conversations that won't devolve into hatred based on ones political stance or favorite football team. Everything is just so shallow.
I realize I'm coming off as a get off my lawn type fella lol

I agree on the evolving language and I'm ok with that. Email is central to our lives, business and casual, and I'm not suggesting I get grumpy over typos. We can distinguish between those and spelling errors and poor grammar.
Example; I performed a job for this nationwide agency and I asked what formats they prefer for their videos.  I received a form, one they deliver to every vendor in the country, and it reads "we except these formats...."
 
Again, this is just me and I realize it sounds like I'm not that forgiving, but it just makes me sad for society.

[TheNorm]

Growing up in the 80s, all we ever had were fire drills and severe weather drills in schools. Gotta imagine it was the same for most of you here too. Although one time my freshman year in HS someone called in a bomb threat in the middle of January so that kind of sucked because it was cold but most of us still laughed about it because it was most likely a prank...or someone trying to get out of an exam for a little bit. Overall though, the fire and severe weather drills were the norm for us because hey, you never know.

A few good friends of mine are HS teachers now, and a couple of weeks ago one of them looked a little shaken up. Asked her what was wrong, and she said they had gone through their ALICE training that day. Took me a few seconds to realize that it was active shooter training, and then I was a little shook about it too because this is the normal for kids and our friends now. Now I'm just angry that this is the fucking normal we have to put up with now because hey, you never know.

[Crewe]

Growing up in the 80s, all we ever had were fire drills and severe weather drills in schools. Gotta imagine it was the same for most of you here too. Although one time my freshman year in HS someone called in a bomb threat in the middle of January so that kind of sucked because it was cold but most of us still laughed about it because it was most likely a prank...or someone trying to get out of an exam for a little bit. Overall though, the fire and severe weather drills were the norm for us because hey, you never know.

A few good friends of mine are HS teachers now, and a couple of weeks ago one of them looked a little shaken up. Asked her what was wrong, and she said they had gone through their ALICE training that day. Took me a few seconds to realize that it was active shooter training, and then I was a little shook about it too because this is the normal for kids and our friends now. Now I'm just angry that this is the fucking normal we have to put up with now because hey, you never know.

I know what you mean. Our drills were a pain in the butt because it wasn't likely to occur. But active shooter training? Man, that's a life skill cops or military should receive, not high school kids.

[BojackHorsefella]

Growing up in the 80s, all we ever had were fire drills and severe weather drills in schools. Gotta imagine it was the same for most of you here too. Although one time my freshman year in HS someone called in a bomb threat in the middle of January so that kind of sucked because it was cold but most of us still laughed about it because it was most likely a prank...or someone trying to get out of an exam for a little bit. Overall though, the fire and severe weather drills were the norm for us because hey, you never know.

A few good friends of mine are HS teachers now, and a couple of weeks ago one of them looked a little shaken up. Asked her what was wrong, and she said they had gone through their ALICE training that day. Took me a few seconds to realize that it was active shooter training, and then I was a little shook about it too because this is the normal for kids and our friends now. Now I'm just angry that this is the fucking normal we have to put up with now because hey, you never know.

I don't want to get too overly political or lose the point of this thread, but I will add to this, that apparently 2018 so far has had more children murdered by guns in schools than it has service members killed in combat or non-combat related deaths this year.

And don't get me wrong, I'd much rather both those #s be at 0, but for a fact the students should not be outnumbering the service members (hell, the students shouldn't even have one, let alone as many as they do).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/politics/wp/2018/05/18/2018-has-been-deadlier-for-schoolchildren-than-service-members/?noredirect=on&__twitter_impression=true

[cflnut]

Congrats Buc on your engagement.

This kind of topic has always interesting especially when it's told from a individual's point of view. As being the non-american here I my be to give a different point of view as to how America was seen during the pre-internet years.