Bravo for the bravado

The internet is like a special potion brewed by some of the most experienced tech-witches/wizards known to man. Drink this potion and the effects are one of three things;

1) You expose sides of you that were always there but hidden for fear of looking silly or crazy
2) You become a completely different person
3) Absolutely no effect

...very few fall into the 3rd category

Its a funny thing, the internet...its funny to see the way we interact now, especially with social media developing at a mind blowing rate. What is really, intriguingly funny is seeing how we use the internet and social media to communicate, learn and to entertain ourselves. This I'll have to break down in categories.

Communication
A 5 second call to say "yo check yuh email' or a bbm to say 'u see da tweet deh weh marsha jus mek?, or a DM to make arrangements for a date....son..... a date. :|

Back in the day we used to spend HOURS on the phone...house phone of course...chattin, keeping each other's company, or "watching a show together" over the phone lol. When C&W delivered that phone bill and ur peeps would light your ass UP over the 27 calls made, most of them an hour long that you made to your friends.... *sigh* dont you miss those days? Everything is so impersonal now, so quick. People say its good to adapt to technologies that will make us progress, but at some point we should not forget that being personal is part of what makes us human.


Educating Ourselves
*chuckles* its...EXTREMELY.. (and i use this in want for a more "firm" word) sad that there are a disgraceful amount of people that learn nothing from the internet on a weekly if not daily basis. I dont care of you learn a new dish, how to fix something, how to trade stocks...it doesn't matter....you should LEARN something at every opportunity from this wonderful, evil, magical, deceitful, POWERFUL thing we call the Internet. And other people's business dont count. Hushiez. Its also important to take note about what you learn about yourself, you never know what will pique your interest and become your calling.

Entertainment
Oh what a wicked web we weave. First let me use myself as an example. All my life i've had a way with words and making people laugh, i did it through prep and high school, at Utech, on Facebook, on my blog and now twitter. If its not fun, i don't do it. I used to go on websites that allowed me to see pics taken by satellites of nearby planets, i listen to online radio, play random puzzle games on Shockwave.com and most of all i visit my favourite blogs and watch makeup videos on Youtube. (There are more of course just keeping this short)

Some people however, choose to use the internet to just be a plain nuisance. There are people out there that do the whole, fake profile, search for ways to dig into people's lives, attention seeking, outlandish behaviour, rumour spreading dance. How is it that you can take but add nothing to the engine that powers your sadistic life? Watching people with a gut full of this internet potion, transform into these attention hungry gargoyles, getting a rush off of being......wait.....what ARE they being? Certainly not themselves because a few years ago this isn't how they behaved, this isn't how they created friendships and bonded. Was it?

Of course not. Because the internet gives everyone the same gift, the gift of power, and you can do whatever you want with it.


When it comes to the internet and social media, how we learn from each other, react to people's words/actions, how we communicate with each other and entertain ourselves we must always keep in mind the losses and gains.....and Not just for ourselves.

Who shall inherit the earth

Have you ever thought to yourself, what would life be without religion?

What if there was no set of rules, handed down to you by a supreme being that clearly outlined how to live your life.

What if no one believed that their crimes would be punished, or their good deeds rewarded by a higher power?

Would you behave the same way you do now? Would u still forgive people, would u still believe that things will work out, while not doing anything to make sure it does?

Would you step on people to get where you want to be in life, or would you help your fellow men and women to be great.

What would stop you from sleeping with a man's wife...Ohh never mind..
What would stop you from stealing or killing....uhmm..scrap that too..

Where would you get your daily dose of hope and upliftment from?

What would you put your faith in? Yourself? Someone else? Material things?

Would you...be comfortable and safe with living in a world, where no one believed in a god.

What if you were not promised a place of eternal bliss for living a life that pleases a deity? Would you still be a GOOD person? Would you still hold your tongue? Would you still donate, volunteer, help?

If there was no religion...would you still be who you are....?

In my back pocket

I used to find it slightly funny that thousands of people graduate each year and end up in the very same job that i, a no paper having 25yr old, am in. I still find it funny but in a, my-house-caught-fire-but-only-my-kitchen-and-bedroom-are-destroyed-so-i-still-have-a-couch kinda funny.

For someone to take their time, energy and money to get a tertiary level education, then four to how many years later be released into the wilderness of unemployment....weeks, months, maybe even years pass and a college grad is now doing waitressing, or Customer Care or Bartending, or Hostessing or selling weed. LOL

I'm not knocking the people who have degrees in their back pocket and are doing the above mentioned jobs, maybe i have a fairytale vision of what should happen after i get my degree, BUT, working for $50,000 a month salary as a holder of a Bachelors is an insult. Now i'm not the one to discuss politics or get agitated and vocal about what the Government is or isnt doing but, for a country like Jamaica with people willing to and capable of achieving great things in every field, people who are quick to grasp new technologies and are quickly learning to adapt to new situations, why isn't more being done to facilitate us, why isn't there a bigger incentive for those who have worked hard for the opportunity to have a comfortable living.

In MY back pocket i have....lint...oh no wait, i have experience in various fields, From Customer care to Technical Support to Land Surveying. Over the years i've job hopped while many degree holders stayed home and searched. I don't blame them for holding out for something better, i realize that when it comes down to competition, links, availability and the right pay, Jobs are HARD to find.

Maybe there's a science to this. When it comes down to whats in your back pocket, is it better to have loads of experience and a certificate or two? Or a degree and zero experience? Or zero papers but loads of experience? Is there a recipe? Or are we just lucky to grab something?

Maybe i'm just talking out my ass, i just don't like what i see.

Turning 25 and my Demons

When i left Immaculate at the age of 17, i had my life pretty much planned out to the T, like everything else i do. I think its a Capricorn thing to just have a mindset of how you want something to happen and if it doesn't go that way, you're automatically thrown off balance. The way you eat, sleep, shit and clean is now out of wack. *Heavy Sigh*

At age 17 i told myself ok, its 4 years to complete my degree, well 5 when i include the Pre-requisite course, so by age 22-23 i would start a NICE job and by 27 i would have traveled a bit, furthered my career and done an additional business certificate/diploma course just for kicks. By age 30, i should own a car and be paying mortgage on my home and gearing up to have kids no late than age 32. THIS is how i planned my life, THIS is how i imagined it happening but alas.... dreams are for pussies.

I'm now 25... quarter century. *shudders* I feel like walking around and wagging the extra skin by my arms, not to mention my stomach is flabbier than it has EVER been, i mean i like being "roun" but that doesnt mean my belly must ROUN too?! I look like a bottle of ultra downy.

I tried to play off my misery by having a wicked birthday party, #shoutout to the drones of people who came and brought so much liquor i've been recommitted as an alcoholic and i'm even giving away bottles. Oh and a BIG hello to Michael Sharpe for being the ultimate squaddy and shuttin my shit down at 1am.

Back to my misery.. 25, no degree, not even a certificate to show that i have more than enough brain cells to earn more than $40,000 per month. It would be great to get paid and actually be able to do what i WANT to do instead f what i HAVE TO/NEED to do. But hey, at least i'm working right? NO. And i wish people would stop saying that crap to me, cus to be honest i was better off when i wasn't working. Look at that. Now my 17 year old sister (i'm so damn proud it brought me to tears) is graduating high school and got into her 1st choice University. So with some luck, and an acceptance to Utech, i'll be graduating the same year as her. I BETTER BE!! Every November when i see my friends post their pics from graduation i feel like sinking feeling in my gut and chest. Ugh.

I try to remind myself that i have so many friends who are in their late 20s and are now doing their degree, i try not to feel like a complete waste but its a little more difficult. I do realize now however that i wasnt ready at age 17 to embark on that university. I hope i'm ready now.

--Chunchi

P.S. F*ck EVERYBODY that has been to Suzies. mi hear say one jinks a tousan dalla. I'll be staying home. Thanks