Misunderstandings

In the past day or so, much hostility has arisen about my Sense Of Humor post and the comments that followed. It would appear a post that was intended to avoid hurt feelings and misunderstandings has become the root of them. Before you proceed reading, if you haven't already, read the post in question. If you have, read it again just for good measure.

Now, heated words have been exchanged, feelings have been hurt and it would appear that I, as well as a like minded friend, are responsible. However, due to the post that was made, I don't feel I should be held responsible, nor the like minded friend. If you are wondering why I feel that way, I shall proceed to explain.

The entire point of the post in question was for people who visit my site to understand my sense of humor and to engage in battles of wit with me, and others who visit my site, without people walking away offended or with hurt feelings. So, once the post was made, I expected the witty banter to follow and was looking forward to the challenges that awaited me. Although despite my best efforts to make that point very clear, it has been missed.

So, allow me to make this very clear, if you make a comment on my site, be fully prepared for the witty banter that will follow. If something is in very bad taste, I will do something about it. Although, if I find it witty, and witty doesn't always mean funny people, I will allow it. If you dish it, be prepared to take it. With that said, keep it clean people, witty is one thing, nasty is another. May the battles of wit commence.

Confessions Of An Audiophile

Over the past few days I have been going through my extensive collection of music, and believe me, it's extensive. If you listened to every CD I have consecutively, you'd be listening to music for over a month straight.

While going through my collection I realized something. I don't seem to stick to one specific genre of music and stay there. I have a little bit of everything. Rap, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Pop, Funk, Ska, Jazz, Country, Classical and the list of genres goes on and on. When it comes to music, I guess I keep a very open mind. I don't automatically think that because a piece of music is from a specific genre, or from a specific time period that it's terrible and I shouldn't listen to it. Music is like my life force. I play musical instruments, and have for most of my life. If I didn't have music in my life, I think I'd absolutely go crazy! When someone says "Music saves", in my case, it's true :)

Now, with all that said, we come to the point of this post. Due to the fact I listen to so many different genres naturally I'm going to encounter people who don't share my love for a particular piece of music. I can respect that, everyone's taste in music is subjective, like personal definitions of words or senses of humor. I guess where I get annoyed is when a piece of music isn't given a chance because of the genre it belongs to, or the time period it came from. Just because a piece of music doesn't sit somewhere in this weeks Much Music Top 40, does not mean it's not a good piece of music. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the music that appears in that list, but there is so much music out there that will never make it there that is worth listening to. If people would just open their minds and their ears a little more and just give something different a chance maybe they could discover something new to enjoy.

Promises, Promises, Promises

Promises, to some they are as sacred as a blood oath, to others, not worth the paper they clean their nether regions with. Through out my life, my stance on this issue has been rather firm. For me, a promise is something that is taken very seriously. I never make a promise I don't think I can keep, and I try to never to break a promise that I make. If I do break a promise, I feel tremendous guilt, and apologize, usually until blue in the face.

Naturally, when someone makes a promise to me, I automatically assume they will take it as seriously as I do, and keep their word. These days, like our sense of humor, the definition of what a promise means, seems to vary from person to person. So, When a promise that is made to me by another person is broken, of course, I get rather upset. Even more so, when the person that broke the promise shows no remorse at all.

Am I justified for getting upset? That seems to be a matter of opinion. Personally, I feel very justified in getting upset, even exchanging a few heated words if the situation calls for it. However, how upset I get will depend on the nature of the promise. Something like, "I promise I'll lend you my copy of that movie so you can see it", then never actually getting the copy, upsetting, but not really a big deal. Although, something like "I promise not to snake your girlfriend behind your back", then go and sleep with her, big deal. Don't go reading too far into those examples, because they are just that, examples.

I guess what I'm getting at is, if you make a promise, make it because you intend to be true to your word and keep that promise. If you don't intend to keep the promise, don't make it. A promise is not a tool to get what you want, and not something to honor only if you feel like it or it suits you. The more people are faithful to one another, and are more honorable, the better things will be.

Sense Of Humor??

Sense of humor. Naturally, we all have one and each is a little different from one to the next. Not everyone is going to find the same thing funny, and not everyone is going to respond to a joke the same way. What is funny to some, is offensive to another. This is usually determined by upbringing, beliefs, morals, etc. Mostly, people with similar senses of humor tend to stick together, the whole "birds of a feather" stigma.

I happen to have a rather sarcastic, dry, and I hope witty sense of humor. Because of this, I tend to be misunderstood often by people who don't share this sense of humor. Sometimes I'm just looking for the guilty pleasures of sarcastic and witty banter, but this is misinterpreted as condescending insinuations, evidence of a superiority complex and even malicious name calling, the third to a lesser degree, usually malicious name calling goes hand in hand with some rather colourful language :)

I guess the point of this post is to reach some sort of an understanding with those who have mistaken my sarcastic nature for something other than just that. I'm a sarcastic bastard, plain and simple, and normally don't mean what I say in the context it's taken in. I am by no means saying people that don't get my sense of humor are unintelligent, not at all. What I am saying is, because of my sense of humor, arguments have happened, and hurt feelings have ensued and there isn't any need of that happening, just realize that if I suddenly insult you and you don't feel it's warranted, I am expecting you to insult me back and waiting for the laughs to follow :)

Yes, sometimes I may cross the line, and chances are I don't realize I've done it until after, and normally I will apologize. However there will be times where I don't think I've crossed that line, but have, and need to be told. So, on those occasions, feel free to smack me upside the head, and that will just be the universal signal for "You've taken it too far you jerk!" :) So with all that said, hopefully much witty banter will follow, fewer arguments will occur, and there will be fewer casualties in the "feelings" department.

Valentines Day

Well, another Valentines Day is upon us. I, like many of you out there, am single, we won't get into why ;) Needless to say, tomorrow, is not a day I'm looking forward to. The media will bombard us with tales of love, ideas for what you can get your loved one, ideas for things you can do with your loved one and so on. Now, I'm not a complete heartless bastard by any means, but it's not exactly the highlight of my year to be reminded that I'm alone. I will send out cards and e-cards to friends and family wishing them a Happy Valentines Day, and hope that this year, unlike last year, I get some of those myself.

Sure, I sound like I'm wallowing in my own misery, and perhaps I am. However, after a lifetime of crappy Valentine's Days, I think you'd be pretty unhappy too. I've never had a great Valentine's Day, even when I wasn't single and had someone to share it with, something always went wrong. Some of you may think I'm exaggerating, but trust me, it's the truth. So this year, despite being alone, and not all that cheerful, I'm going to try and do something for me, what I'm not sure of yet, but something.I think I'm going to get myself some chocolates, put on some Barry White, light some candles and make an evening of it ;) If no one else wants to love me, I'll just take matters into my own hands. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

:( Tagged ):

Today, I was tagged, much to my displeasure. :( However, being a good sport about this sort of thing, I've decided to play along. Although, rather than send out an email to people tagging them, I'm going to do it this way:

THE RULES: List five songs that you are currently loving. It doesn’t matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the songs in your blog, then ‘tag’ five other bloggers/friends to see what they’re listening to. (this is the part I'm not going to do via email - if you've read this entry, you've been tagged :) If you don't have a blog, you can use my comments section to post the songs :) Enjoy)


1.) R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
2.) Led Zepplin - Stairway To Heaven
3.) James Blunt - You're Beautiful
4.) Disturbed - 10,000 Fists
5.) Madonna - Hung Up

Okay so there is my list. Now, you must remember, I am an audiophile, and what I'm lovin' today, is not what I was lovin' yesterday, or lovin' tomorrow :) I pretty much love anything I listen to. So, with that said, I look forward to seeing other peoples lists :)

Friendship

Over the past few years I have been examining what this word means to me as compared to what it means to others. We all have a different view of what frienship really is. Due to recent events in my life, I feel it's prudent to illuminate what friendship means to me.

First and foremost, friendship means trust and loyalty. A true friend is someone you trust, and in turn trusts you. As well they are loyal to you and will stick up for you when others try to put you down. Someone who is not loyal, and betrays that trust for personal gain, or any reason for that matter, is not a friend.

Second, friendship means sacrafice. Sometimes we have to sacrafice our own wants and needs to help a friend. Someone that is unwilling to make sacrafices to help a friend, is, again, not a friend.

Third, friendship means empathy and compassion. Being understanding, sensitive and compassionate is important. Someone unwilling to lend a shoulder to cry on, or to listen to what you have to say is not a friend.

Last, but not least, friendship means respect. All I can say is that friendship is about mutual respect. If you don't have this, you don't have friendship.

These are my basic fundamentals to a good friendship. If you don't have these things, the friendship can not last, and when it ends, it will not be pleasant. I realize that not everyone is going to agree with me, and that there are many more things that make up a good friendship. However this is a good starting place. :)

Virus Alert: Win32/MyWife.E@mm

As some of you may have heard today on the news, there is a new virus set to be released in the next couple of days. For information on the virus, the potential damage it can do, and to see what kind of risk you may be at for infection, check out the Microsoft's Technet update regarding this virus here .

So, if you haven't already updated your anti-virus software, you may want to do so immediately. If you don't have anti-virus software, you may want to look into obtaining some, because in this day in age, surfing the net without anti-virus software, is like having sex with a stranger and not using a condom.