Wait ... let me back up. I lost a "friend" last night, as the quotes are definitely needed since the classification of the relationship was actually supplied by the fine folks at Facebook. That's a key point lest you incorrectly think there's some sadness or mourning period being set aside to honor this loss There's not.
I'm not going to name names ... but if you're friends with me on Facebook, you can check out my Random Wordplay for Wednesday post from yesterday and then you can enjoy (?!) the witty repartee between me and my former high school clASSmate (capitalization fully intended). Suffice it to say that the gentleman resembled the image accompanying today's post in more ways than just visual (although, add facial hair to this classic Animal House character ... [and, I've been a Neidermyer all my life ... so I'm familiar with characters from Animal House] ... and you can start to get the picture), as part of the exchange included the utterance of "Nerds, Nerds, Nerds".
Look, I am who I am. I was who I was. I'm very much in touch with any number of tautological phrases that are applicable to my life's story. All the same, I couldn't help but think of this whole interplay from the perspective of arrested development ... not the gut busting television show ("has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken") ... nor the alternative hip-hop group of Speech and Headliner that brought us one of the greatest hits of the nineties ("Horseshoes!") ... but the phenomenon whereby one stops growing ... and developing ... and moving closer toward actualization as a fully realized human being ... and, instead, one gets stuck in a high school mentality.
The whole thing brings up mixed emotions for me. I think there's a fundamental sadness to being so afraid of a world where others are not like you, that the only way to function within one's small mindedness is to assign labels. It must be suffocating to live inside that box, unable to expand your consciousness -- denied the pleasures of new experiences and the wisdom and greater understanding that comes from seeing the same world in a new and different light. It has to be a hard life ... a miserable one ... unable to accept that everyone can't be just like you. And then, the flip side ... when thinking about this, I get to experience an overwhelming gratefulness that I have had a support system throughout my years that has allowed me to travel and to meet all kinds of people in all kinds of places who have impressed upon me the magnificence of getting to know individuals as individuals, unlimited by labels, free to express themselves as they choose and to connect with others in ways those inside the box never get to experience.
[Now a quick side note. I just want to put people on notice. I don't mean to squelch any free speech ... and, after everything I just said, by all means y'all should feel free to express yourself. That being said, please please please consider whether you want to engage in a war of words with me. I may not have much, and you may not know all that there is to know about me, but rest assured that me and "words" are great friends. I can conjure them, command them and even create them at will. I used to think that, if I could have a superpower, I'd choose the one that I'm featuring in my occasionally-updated-daily short story Lorem Ipsum (side note within a side note: I will be picking that story up again soon ... I left poor Alan in a restaurant meeting an actual blood family member for the first time, learning the lineage relevant to his origin story and setting up some quests that will drive the action throughout the rest of this year) where I could touch someone and immediately heal their emotional pain ... but now I've come to realize that my true superpower is as some Wordsmith Wizard, leveraging my lexiconical skills to wield words for good (or evil ... piss me off, and I will annihilate you, son!).]
In conclusion ... I'll repeat what I've said before ('cause, you know, that's exactly what "repeat" means). Facebook is HARD. It is not for everyone. It is not for the mentally weak. It is not for those who are thin-of-skin. It is a portal by which you can show the sections of your very soul that you thought were secret. If you can't handle it, you shouldn't have joined. It's just ... that ... simple.
SOMEHOW THEY STOPPED AT JUST 100:
http://www.mandatory.com/2013/05/22/the-100-greatest-quotes-from-arrested-development/
HORSESHOES!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VCdJyOAQYM&feature=kp
KEEP BEING YOURSELF UNAPOLOGETICALLY:
http://www.positivelypositive.com/2013/09/09/are-you-putting-yourself-in-a-box/
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