Heroes, Indigo Kids.

I have recently discovered streaming Internet TV. It’s really amazing, because you can watch entire episodes of certain shows on your computer, any where, at any time and for free. This is an instance when 2007 is outstanding.

I have exhausted all of the on-line episodes of 48 Hours Mystery, so tonight, I ventured over to the NBC site and began watching Heroes, a show I have been meaning to catch for quite some time. They have the whole season available here.

From only watching the first episode, I gather that Heroes is a show about a dozen people who are different from the rest. They have certain, shall I say talents, or abilities, that make them able to predict the future or change space/time or never be injured. They also have amazing empathetic abilities, they are more insightful, ethical, dignified… they are smarter than the rest.

Basically, I feel like this show is totally appropriating outsiders, or black sheep. It makes being different cool. And now everyone is going to think they can be a Hero; an in-touch being with the power to read people and to actually feel things.  

“Heroes” reminded me of the concept of Indigo children. There have been articles within the past couple of years in major publications about Indigo kids, a new-age idea about a breed of children that are more in touch and will change the world. Common characteristics of Indigo kids:

1. They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it).
2. They have a feeling of “deserving to be here,” and are surprised when others do not share that.
3. Self-worth is not a big issue; they often tell the parents “who they are.”
4. They have difficulty with absolute authority (authority without explanation or choice).
5. They simply will not do certain things; for example, waiting in line is difficult for them.
6. They get frustrated with systems that are ritually oriented and do not require creative thought.
7. They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like “system busters” (non-conforming to any system).
8. They seem antisocial unless they are with their own kind. If there are no others of like consciousness around them, they often turn inward, feeling like no other human understands them. School is often extremely difficult for them socially.
9. They will not respond to “guilt” discipline (“Wait till your father gets home and finds out what you did”).
10. They are not shy in letting it be known what they need.

 

I think a lot of people just mistake their pain-in-the-ass kids for Indigo children to make themselves feel better about their parenting abilities. That said, I do think that there is a different kind of child out there today, one that possesses many of the attributes of what has been called the Indigo child. Let me tell you, these kids are not “cool” in the modern sense and they do not look like the people from the show “Heroes.”

I think that a lot of these children are now in their late teens/20s and I think they will have the ability to change the world and create peace.

I’m not saying the “Heroes” isn’t entertaining, and I’m totally going to watch the next episode after I finish writing this. All I’m really trying to point out is that it’s a shame that people really do feel different from the rest and in fact are different from the rest, and this, along with everything else, has to be main-streamed. Sad.

Happy PRIDE!

another check and check for SF.

The mayor of San Francisco has been making interesting moves in the fight for environmental sustainability, as he tries to make his city stand out from the rest. A few months ago, he announced a ban on plastic bags at SF grocery and drug stores. Now, he is banning the sale of plastic water bottles in the golden West coast city.

Not only does it take about 40 million gallons of oil to make the plastic bottles, but more than a billion water bottles make it to the state’s landfills per year. The city’s state and local offices will start dispensing municpal tap water in July.

Now all SF needs is public restrooms that you don’t have to pay to use.

JR.

I have always stood by the sentiment that community college is like high school with cigarettes.

 

I realize that this is sort of a yucky view of the situation, because it ignores issues of how inaccessible four-year institutions are and why college even means anything, but, sorry, it’s the truth. I felt this way when I attended a junior college for a year right out of high school, and I’ve felt the same every summer that I’ve taken an extra class so that I would graduate on time.

Today I started summer school, taking one class at the local j.c. Though I entered the situation thinking I definitely do not want to spend my summer evenings doing this shit, I decided to have an open mind – maybe even meet some new people. I stepped onto the curb, literally just putting foot on the campus, when I hear “Hellllllllo!” from a group of dudes occupying the corner. With my renewed attitude (meeting people) I returned their chant with a “Hello.” and raised them a smile (something I rarely do to strangers). “I wasn’t even talkin’ to YOU,” the dude said.

 

I glanced around and saw not a soul. There was just me, clip-clopping around, trying to find the classroom. The guy continued to say, “I’m just tryin’ to keep it real – I don’t usually go for ‘em thaaaat big.” Awesome.

I will continue to stand by my theory, until someone proves me wrong. Which will never happen.

(PS: another tid-bit. The average age of my class this evening was 67. I mean, I like old people, but that wasn’t really  my idea of “meeting people.”)

fun, funny.

This weekend was good. On Friday, I went to Mortified SF. It’s a live performance based off the book, Mortified, a compilation of people’s journal entries from their teenage years. The show was hilarious… the best show I’ve seen in a while. It’ always hard for me to sit through things (i.e. movies, ballets, operas) but, I didn’t want this to be over.

Saturday I saw Knocked Up. It has like, half the cast from my favorite show, Freaks and Geeks, so I had to see it. I feel like the F & G dudes are my brothers, minus Martin Starr, who is my boyfriend. I love him!

(Martin Starr, during his Freaks and Geeks days, as Bill)

The movie – despite some offensive comments and images - was entertaining. I wasn’t bouncing around, waiting for it to be over.

My weekend concluded, today, with a trip to the water. The Bay is always beautiful. And I got some tanning in, so that’s good.

This week I start a summer class. Maybe it will get me inspired to write more interesting things on my blog. One can only hope.

The wows of bus.

I have always loved public transportation. I remember the first time I was allowed to ride the bus by myself: I was ten and excited beyond belief about the town of possibilities that was suddenly open to my scared self. The invigorating sense of self-starting, resourcefulness and action has never left me.

I understand that public transportation is the wrongs of society enclosed into a tube moving at incredible speeds down the road, track, wire. I understand that the bus attracts children whose school district is too corrupt to supply yellow buses, adults who do not have cars for financial  constraints (a symptom of a racist, classist society), and elderly people who have simply been left behind. I do think, though, that this is changing. With the environment now on the minds of many, the prices of gasoline and the stress of driving, public transport seems to make sense to a lot more people. I think this is good.

I have always wanted to be a part of the public transporation club. Appropriation? I don’t know. I think a lot of it has to do with the link between city and bus/train/subway/trolley. Riding public transport is very much a feature of urban life – which I am fascinated by and love. I always try to look like I belong on the bus, like it’s not exciting to me anymore, it’s mundane. I’m sure I don’t hide the look of shear excited-stupidity as well as I think I do when I take Metro, for example.

I don’t know how I feel about these feelings I have for public transportation. I suppose my love of bus is an itch to remove myself from the middle-class life I led as a child. The one where the comfort of a mini-van was never really that comfortable. It also probably has something to do with being anonymous and without the responcibility of having to pay attention. I’m not sure.

What I do know is this: IKEA’s new campaign entitled Pimp My Bus Stop is pretty great:

Percocet.

My brother (almost 18, just graduating from High School) recently had surgery on his soccer-injured shoulder. The kid is a goalie and the tendons in his shoulder got all stretched out and gross and it kept dislocating, so he had to have surgery.

So the surgery was pretty gnarly (hate that word, but have to use it in this instance) and he probably looked something like this

(minus the mullet and nipple ring [I hope])

so the Doctors gave him the good stuff. They gave him Percocet.

Now keep in mind conversations with my brother (we’ll call him Jude for now) go something like this:

Me: “Hey Jude, how’s it goin’?”

Jude: “Pretty good. I’m just tryin’ to chill.”

Me: “Yeah? That’s good…… well, I’m doin’ pretty good. You know, working. I went to this show last weekend. It was so good… you would have loved it!”

Jude: “That’s cool.”

Me: “Yeah. How’s school?”

Jude: “Fine. Just chillin’.”

Me: “Okay…. is Mom there?”

Well, a couple days after his surgery, when he was still taking the Perc every few hours, I talked to him. It was incredibly strange and it really freaked me out because he was clearly high as a damn kite (not that he could help it, but still, he was drugged out like, omg). It didn’t freak me out that he was high, but that he was that high around my parents.

You know what I’m sayin’?? Awwwwwwwwwkward.

OK, anyway, back to the convo I had with my him while he was high. It went something like this:

Me: “Hey Jude! How’s the ol’ shoulder? Are you in pain?”

Jude: “Yeah!! It hurts like a bitch! I have this big ice thing on my shoulder and it’s really uncomfortable. It makes my shoulder all cold. And I have to take Percocet like every three hours. But I take two before I go to bed. But I can’t get into my bed, I have to sleep in Mom and Dad’s bed and they sleep on the couch.”

Me: “WoW. That’s sounds really bad, I can’t believe you can’t get into your bed.”

Jude: “Yeah. And I haven’t taken a crap in five days!!!!!!”

Silence. Silence. Me thinking: is this for real?

Me: “Maybe you should get some metamucel.”

Jude: “Yeah! HAHAHA! But that crap tastes like shit.”

Silence. Silence.

Me: “Ha. Well, when do you think it’s going to be better?”

Jude: “Wellllll, it should be better…. better by…. well, I can’t think right now but it should be better soon.”

Me: “Ok, well. Is Mom there?”

As you can see, this convo had me all freaked. I’ve heard through the grapevine that he’s better, but I’m too afraid to talk to him because I’m afraid he’ll say something more awkward than “I haven’t shat in 3 weeks.” Well, he didn’t exactly say that, but that’s what I heard.

my new obsession.

This might turn into a Degrassi blog. I haven’t really decided yet. But for your enjoyment (mostly mine):

I think this song by The Verve just gets me everytime because it was so amazing at the end of Cruel Intentions. Love it.  

What I’ve been doing.

(sorry, in advance, for this journal-esque post) 

 My blog posts have been slight, and my postable thoughts even slighter, this past week. I don’t know what it is, but I suppose I’m just feeling uninspired by my world right now. Not sure. I know I’ve been awful tired. Working (part time) and job searching a whole lot. Life after college (aka: finding viable employment) has been much harder than I expected. Though I’m not tryin’ to freak out yet.

Since I love to illustrate my blog, I thought it could be cool to go through my picture archive (um, my photobucket album) and post some old pictures that I obviously thought were hilarious at some point. So here are some:

So, there’s something.

Canadian Kid’s TV

While I’ve been cursing everyone else in the blogosphere for not posting, I realize it’s been quite a few days since I posted myself. I’ve been busy. Busy reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (more to come on this when I finish), busy working, busy searching for jobs, busy thinking about what I should post next and busy watching old Canadian TV.

You see, a recent trip to my aunt’s house, who owns satellite TV complete with “The N” channel, re-kindled my love for Degrassi: The Next Generation.

 

What is most amazing about the show (besides the show itself) is that it is 6 seasons long and still going strong. This provides ample time for me to watch every episode on DVD and fall in love (once again) with the characters as they move from middle school to high school to college.

The content is just unbeatable. We don’t have shows like this in the States, and we should, especially for pre-teens/teens. The issues: drugs, online stalkers, sex, divorce, are so important and relevant in today’s world and what do we have? The Amanda Show. Unfabulous. Shows that feature kids unlike any you can find in today’s middle schools, dealing with issues that are unimportant, minute.

So, I started thinking about shows that I really loved/had an impact on me as a pre-teen. The one that sticks out is Ready or Not, which was on the Disney Channel in the days of “Bug Juice” and “The Torkeldsons”. “Ready or Not” is a Canadian show that features Busy and Amanda as they move through the world of growing up in the 90s (there are some amazing mullets, shorts-over-sweatpants, braids and bangs in this show). As far as I know, no one really remembers this show. But my sister and I really loved it circa 1996. A lil’ (incredible) snippet for you:

Go here for some more amazing “Ready or Not” videos. 

IN CONCLUSION: The US should not only take hints from Canada on international/domestic governmental policies, but it should also model its childrens’ programming after Canadian kid’s TV.