Mostly Awake...

why my t-shirts are all blank...

2006-06-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

What does a t-shirt with a witty slogan, catch-phrase, or one-liner printed on the front really communicate? The wearer didn't write the phrase. The thought wasn't his. The wit was, at best, slightly amusing, worth maybe a fraction of a smile and even less time spent thinking about it. What does a person say when they choose to repeatedly wear a one-liner? The joke was stale before they got to the cashier to pay for the shirt. At best the shirt conveys, "Hey, I'm smart enough to get someone else's wit, and dumb enough to pay them $20 for it," or, "Warning, I'm the kind of person who tells the same joke at every party."

On college campuses, most of these shirts also proclaim a sense of sexuality. "Conserve water, shower naked," stands chatting with "Don't worry, it only seems kinky at first." They both stare at the ass of "Your husband bought me this shirt" as she flounces by. As with most things, though, anyone with an absolute need to proclaim their sexuality probably isn't getting any. The best sex lives walk by in dressed-for-effect metrosexuality and "oxford shirt + skirt + framless glasses = studious sexkitten" attire. Beware the attractive librarian look, she will take your husband far quicker than witty slogan shirt girl. And he'll spend way more than $20 on her.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the "graphic tee" phase is the display of ill-temper. "I'm not listening" sulks by without even saying hello to "Your opinion doesn't matter" or "Normal bores me." These shirts pass judgement on strangers, deeming others as instantly unimportant and inferior, and this may accurately reflect the character of the adorner. Still, the need to proclaim this seems to indicate an inferiority complex, or perhaps a cry to be heard. If the opinion of strangers doesn't matter, then why the need to tell them this? Isn't that, in a way, asking them to form an opinion? Doesn't the simple act of putting on that shirt state "what you think of me matters enough that I feel the need to brand a slogan on my chest, just to momentarily get your attention?"

Buyer Beware: Whatever you think your funny shirt is communicating about you, you're probably very far off.

Our story to date...

2006-06-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

I am awful at keeping tabs on people. If you're just now catching back up with me, here's what you might have missed. If you're just now tuning in, here's the story to date...

I live in Saint Petersburg, Florida, for now, along with my father. Mom is actually in NC, taking care of her mother, and getting her mother's house ready to sell. They should both be here in July. Four people, three generations, numerous religions, one cat, less than 1300 square feet. Should be interesting.

After working in the financial services industry for almost a decade, I quit to return to college. I attend University of South Florida, where I study English, Psychology, and Pre-med. Basically, I've just decided to take every class they offer. :(

I am currently seeking part-time employment, a task made considerably more difficult by my school schedule.

My girlfriend, Sara, lives in Sarasota, Florida. She's 7 years my junior... shhh! She works at an interior design firm, with a side job at Starbucks Coffee. She's short, she's Italian, she cooks, she knits... think liliputian meets Martha Stewart with a helluva lot better stromboli and hopefully no stock scandal.

I write. I have not published in almost a decade - ever since I went into banking - and hopefully this will change soon. I am currently working on a collection of personal essays for a scholarship project. Themes in this work include: the South, fire, Southern Extremist Christianity, how said Christianity misrepresents the faith, the evolution of subversive theory in a child, deconstructing falsehoods, and redefining faith. A few peers are cursed with reading my rough drafts; the work is otherwise off-limits until completion.

I was raised Christian in the Assemblies of God. Somewhere in my teens I realized that the religion of my youth did not meet my spiritual needs, nor did it give satisfying answers to any of my questions. I have since studied various pagan religions (including Wicca and Pantheism), Eastern religions (Taoism, Buddhism, Zen), Islam, and native american religions. I profess no actual knowledge or insight into any of these. My current spirituality blends my own understanding of the Christian faith with a heavy dose of Buddhism (no real denomination of either faith). The two faiths - actually, most faiths - aren't as dissimilar as many people think.

I actually don't discuss religion much, but my writing project leans heavily into the subject, so religion may come up a lot in the near future.

I am liberal/libertarian. I believe that a government cannot be moral, and that laws should be based on ethical, not moral, principles. This tends to fall more in the realm of liberal than conservative. I also believe that -while I think that the GOP has made a strong effort to try to tie the two inextricably together - Republican and Christian are mutually exclusive.

I don't actually discuss politics much, either, but it might help to know where I'm coming from.

That's pretty much all you'll need to know about me for the rest of this blog to make sense!

1.0

2006-06-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a need to blog. I gave up trying to keep a website up to date a long time ago; I always forget to update it and my life is happily uninteresting. I do want to be able to comment on other people's blogs, though, so I'll maintain the illusion of my own blog.