Then what is there?

The New Yorker had always been somewhat intimidating and sophisticated to me. I would only look at the cover, flip to the back page to the caption contest and maybe glance through at the pictures and small comics. I'd only understand the comics about 75% maybe, and didn't really pay attention to any articles. But then I decided to try an article, seeing as it seemed interesting. The first New Yorker article I ever read completely was in a Media Issue, about this YouTube star (Little Loca) and how being popular on YouTube is like dangerous. It was a good article, but the length always gets me. Then today, I picked up one of our many New Yorker magazines that my dad brought along and flipped through to find an article to read. I saw this awesome picture of the Milky Way from the New Mexico desert, and read the title of the article. It was about light pollution. I began reading.

Sophisticated is a very good word to describe New Yorkers. The writing is the kind that makes you sort of think twice about your vocabulary. It's good writing. Sometimes complicated, but well thought-out nonetheless. Anyway, the article was satisfactory. I'm interested in astronomy and I like star-gazing. It talked about this group that makes rules for night-light. It's pretty sad how people looking up from the Empire State Building platform won't be able to see even 1% of the stars Galileo could see. I remember coming home (in Ann Arbor) after a long night and seeing the lights in Slauson on, to protect against robbers. But the article went on to say that, actually, if you turn off the lights, you'll be able to see the burglar better because they'll use a flashlight or something. I mean, seriously, our eyes can adjust to the darkness. I like it when it's dark. I like to see the stars. I don't like to be with a lot of lights. Star-gazing is totally under-rated, and I haven't seen half of it. In our cabin in Canada, there's a pretty good view of the night sky, but there are just so many mosquitoes. Do us a favor and turn off your lights, ok?

So then I just thought, after reading the article, that people need to experience more. Or something. I would hate to have a steady job, always having the same schedule, my middle-aged life controlled by people paying you for getting money. People need to start thinking outside of the boxes. Boxes like houses, cubicles, computers, pizza boxes, etc. There's more to life than money. There's more to life than society. It's actually all a catch-22, because it's like, people wanted the future people to have a system that helps future people and that organizes, and helps people just move on with their life. That's society. Day after day, spending money, trying to make money. Year after year, making money, spending money. Decade after decade, people dying, you dying. Your remaining family pays money, dies, etc.

I mean, gosh, why can't we just like, STOP and THINK for our sake? Instead of always following a schedule, why not ride your bike somewhere random, walk around, handing out gum (influenced by Becca) and then stay the night in some field, looking at the stars? We've made a world that is way too systematic, too stereotypical, too expected and too planned. I don't like it, frankly. All of these stupid rules that don't let me just LIVE my frickin' life! All of these expectations! All of this money and economy-influenced lives that I'm supposed to get involved in. Screw credit-card bills, screw cutting your grass just to look normal, being normal is over-rated. I say, "weird" is the new "cool". Just live, be yourself, have fun, think outside of it all, stare at those stars, write about it, go to a football game, hug your friends, write them letters and smile. Because when you're finally going to die, you know that at least you were you at least once.

Life is choices. Plainly put. But then it gets complicated, because I think about how I did something bad, and how that something should have happened, and it did, so just let it be and don't say it's bad. Because it happened. And what happened happened. Because it happens.

You could choose to do something important and meaningful in your life. That'd be really cool. Maybe you choose to focus on a sport, or instrument. Because you like it. Hopefully. Or maybe because that was the only thing you could afford or can afford. Hopefully you'll choose, or have chosen, to do something along the lines of human nature. Being mean to someone is not nice. Being not nice makes people not happy. Being not happy makes people not like life. And so you just ruined (at least) part of another human's life that could have done something to help other humans. Or animals. Or just the world. Hey, that's another thing. The world is a big place, lots of people. Lots of animals, living things. It's alive. It matters. You could very well be born a cardboard box, let alone a polar bear. We'll never really know. We'll always really think.

I have a new favorite color. It's whatever I see when I close my eyes.