No More Auto Correct
Special thanks to Opinionated Man, AKA, Jason for giving me spur of the moment inspiration to post. Lol
-KCard
FaceBook Drama
I don’t blame social media for causing so many rifts between friends, or exposing the nastiness that exists between people bickering about issues big and small. Social media isn’t the problem, we as people are the problem. Social media simply exposed the nastier side of the human ego that’s been there from the beginning.
I’ve lost friends due to arguing about politics, human rights (“social justice”), and even trivial stuff like 90s nostalgia on Facebook. In the past, I’ve been guilty of deleting comments or deleting friends for whenever they’ve pissed me off.
Now, I don’t want to delete people unless I feel there’s no other option. I now know not everyone will follow the predetermined rules that I set on my posts, and it was wrong of me to censor people by deleting their comments.
But at the same time, it’s just as wrong to tell people to “stay off the internet” or to harass someone into silence because you disagree with them about something. People complain about a lack of civility online these days, when in truth that civility was never there to begin with (but was always needed). I wish people could find the balance between civil discourse and when to turn the other cheek, but everyone only cares about their own personal biases.
I’m done with trying to bring a horse to water, not being able to make it drink, and then not being able to ride the horse back because it died of dehydration. If people feel the need to say or post rediculous things on my posts, then I’m just going to ignore them from here on out rather than endlessly argue with them.
-This subjectively general (yet some how specific) rant has been brought to you by Kevin’s brain and a lack of patience for FaceBook drama-.
-KCard
The Next Direction for My Blog
By now it should be obvious to everyone that my posts take a few weeks at a time to come out as I’m not a power blogger. It’s primarily because I use my Facebook page to write about smaller thoughts, and use my blog to feature more grandiose topics like life reflection and music commentaries. Also, there’s the fact that I only write I get bit by the inspiration bug.
On that note, I’ve become inspired to write feature stories on upcoming talent on my blog to help upcoming bands, actors, and other artists get their name out to the world. All I ask in return is that said artist encourage their fans to follow me on WordPress and Twitter.
Why would I do this? Because I see a world with a corrupt entertainment industry that only cares about artists with good looks and reputation, not actual skill in their respective arts (most of the time) where the best types of creativity are left in the underground. I also considered myself a starving artist type since I’m trying to get my name out there with my own writing and music.
My dream was to become a famous electric bassist and vocalist who also wrote about upcoming talent, and now that may be a possibility with social networking and blogging.
Song of the day:
On Why I Blog
Hello again WordPress, I think I’m done writing about my personal life (past and present) because I feel it’s like I’m riding a dead horse and my last blog entry may have been written in somewhat poor taste by mentioning the marathon bombings (though I only meant to express how I had moved on from being dumped on the same day). With that said, I wanted to share why I like to blog.
It seemed like a few people I follow are posting some of their blogging origin stories, so I figured why not chime in as well. I got my start with the dark ages of social media, none other than Myspace blogger (the digital teenage graveyard of my generation). It was fun back then, the blogging community on Myspace was very tightly knit, and I felt I had carved a respectable part of that community with my own anecdotes and thoughts on current events. I even fondly remember being put on the top 8 spots of some of my favorite web celebrities like Brooke Burgess (creator of Broken Saints) and Sam T (think Taco Man and Ebola World). My grammar wasn’t as refined back then, but my narrative was always a crowd favorite. I’ve been blogging about my life from the start, I only came into reviewing albums and music in my college days.
Before I officially became a Journalist, I ran a small blog on Blogger where I would review my favorite artists’s discographies track by track, then by more traditional means. When I reread these older entries, I feel a strong sense of pride in my earlier works. This blog also is what captured to be the first low point of my career; my review on Ke$ha’s record “Animal” pissed off a lot of my viewers. I expected a huge backlash, but what I got was much worse: a huge dip in my readership. I’ve learned time and again that words and opinions can be very powerful things. And with great power comes great responsibility (I was watching the 2002 Spider Man movie last night on Netflix! :P). The great responsibility of me learning to balance not caring about what trolls say, and knowing when I’ve done something I shouldn’t have.
So I feel that I want to go in two directions: I will interview local New England bands on my new blog Arts and Ethos of New England (which needs subscribers -hint hint, nudge nudge-), and I will continue to review songs and muse about the music industry on my personal blog. In the meanwhile, I would like to thank all of my followers new and old for continuing to read my stuff. The reason I blog is for the love we all feel in the blogging community!
-Tatteybye
On Why I Will Always Love Animals
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France
I’ve heard stories from my friends about how their first true friend was either their dog or cat (or any other type of pet). Well, this was also the case for me.
I still have early memories of my cat Jack being a great companion and semi-father figure to me. He was my first true friend. I also remember spending time with my babysitters dogs and knowing how they would do anything to protect me. Animals when they are raised correctly will love their humans unconditionally.
I love cats more than anything (dogs can detect cancer and do awesome tricks, but cats are still my favorite) because they are great companions for a person with depression.
I can remember back in 2010 I had received a 20 paragraph message threatening me for “being a terrible friend who didn’t his fair share of chores while we were on vacation” by someone who was himself a terrible
person. I was paranoid this guy would come after me, but my cat Starlight jumped on the bed where my ex lover and I were and began licking my face and purring through her nose to comfort me. This cat could tell I was upset, and did everything in her power to make me feel better.
Starlight was a great companion cat that I loved like a daughter, and she saw me as her “daddy” because I spoiled her like a daughter. She would always curl up and sleep on me when ever I was napping, and she would let me carry her to the kitchen to feed her. She was the right cat to have after I lost my other cat Jack (whom I wrote a blog on a while back.) Unfortunately, in 2011 Starlight got out one time with out her collar on and a wretched woman kidnapped Starlight and took her to a shelter. Starlight was later put down for attacking other cats in the shelter.
To add insult to injury my cat Chloe passed away in 2012, and my ex-girlfriend took my cat Rosie from me after we broke up (my ex gave me Rosie on my 21st birthday). So, I have been without pets since last year. But, I can always look to the future for more pets.
Most likely another cat, but perhaps a Dog someday. I like dogs, I just don’t know how to take care of then as I’ve never owned one. I know that dogs are loyal companions and valued family members, and they make amazing friends.
My problem lies with Dog owners who mock cat people as I was called “gay” once for liking cats by someone who I believe to be a dog owner on Facebook. I didn’t stay friends long with that type of a narrow-minded bigot.
Speaking of the narrow-minded, to see the most evil and ignorant animal on the planet we need only look in the mirror. Sure, other animals can go mad, but that’s only because of people tampering with their breed and/or abusing them. Humans who abuse defenseless animals are the most evil of all (I despise sociopaths like that for good reason).
Things like Psychosis and the state of being a sociopath are born traits, not raised. The same type of traits that lead people to harm defenseless animals to just make them feel better about themselves.
That’s not to say I dislike all humans though, for all the abusers there are also activists looking to save the animals passing laws to protect the animals and to rightfully punish the abuser. I just hope the day comes where we won’t need to make as many laws, and that sensibility will make an appearance around the world sometime soon.
I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. – Abraham Lincoln
-Tatteybye
My Aspirations for the Future
I’ve hatched a plan to someday start my own online arts magazine dedicated to interviewing and reviewing locals artists, actors, musicians, and dancers. I want to revive life into the local American arts scene. I’ll be encompassing every genre, every bit of interesting news, and every exceptional individual starting off with my blog here on WordPress (likely starting out with many local artists in my home state of Massachusetts). I am going to promote starting through social media reaching out to people for coverage in exchange for page shares, then reaching out to any news outlet I possibly can once I get a big enough reputation. I plan to assign editors to each branch who also know their stuff in regards to the assigned type of art.
If anyone has any suggestions please reach out to me at KJC.FJC@Gmail.com, leave a comment here, or come like me on Facebook. Any spam will be deleted.
-Tatteybye
Take the Good With the Bad
I woke up this morning after having several strange dreams (I woke up at various points in the night), including one about my ex. I have had people in my life tell me “Hurry up and get over her!”, but it’s never easy. They say it takes half the time you were with your partner to get over them, and I was with her for four years. In no way do I intend to let things in my head drag on that long, but it’s never easy to move on when you have a tendency to live in the past and don’t let things go easily. But as my day progressed, things got exponentially better.
Being the social media junkie I am, I was on Facebook looking at Bootsy Collin’s (a famous and accomplished funk bassist) page early in the morning. He had a status about how it’s sad that news outlets keep covering so many negative stories. And well, I’ll let this photo show what happened next:
I got acknowledged by one of my favorite bass players ever, with just one comment my mood changed completely. I picked up my bass, and continued my lessons in trying to master Tool’s song “Schism” (it’s a pretty tough song to play). I then played some basketball and left that day to run some errands to complete my Merle Dixon costume (from the Walking Dead).
Here’s a look at the costume and prosthetic so far:
I just need to get in better shape and paint the prosthetic. It all should be pretty awesome when Halloween comes around.
Plus I should clean my room soon…
Also, I traded my acoustic bass for an Epiphone Goth Thunderbird, so here’s another picture for your viewing pleasure:
So it goes to show that when life hands you lemons, and you hate lemonade, then throw the lemons away and wait for oranges instead. And if you don’t like either lemons or oranges, then you could just go find said fruits of life (depending upon your beliefs in fate). What I’ve taken away from today is that just because a day can start off awful, it can always get better; which is also far more proactive than saying “it could always be worse”.
-Tatteybye
My Top Four Facebook Statuses (2011-2013)
As a writer I often have my moments of reflection and deep thought, and as a person I have my moments of simple emotion and impulses. In the digital age there is no better way to measure the human psyche than with social media. Enter Facebook; where everyone expresses their political, social, philosophical, personal beliefs and actions to a world of complete strangers. And here I am, basking in the warm glow of social media in my own selfish desire for attention.
Note: I would have had more than four posts but I recently cleared out my timeline of many statuses since I’m job hunting right now.
4. Working today at New Horizons, I went up to retired Naval Veteran and thanked him for his service to this country. He thanked me back saying “Thank you, too! Because you’re a great guy!” It’s the little things that go the furthest sometimes.
I work part-time as a Waiter at an Assisted Living facility called New Horizons right now, and I go out of my way to brighten up the day of the residents’ there anyway I can. In this case I was expressing my thanks to a Veteran around this past Memorial Day Weekend. It managed to brighten my day as well.
3. “The Newsted show was so amazing!! The opening bands were great, I got a fist bump from Jason and conversed with him like a doofy fan (forgot to give him my name, lol), and I heard My Friend of Misery and Whiplash LIVE for the first time ever. Additionally, Brad and I were up front and center the whole time so I got a great view of his new band and the gorgeous basses Jason Newsted was using. I’ll write the review tomorrow and post it to the Newsted FB in hopes of getting my name out as an entertainment writer!!”
This was me talking about my experience seeing Newsted live after I got home the night of the concert with a friend of mine. It was a truly amazing experience, one that I hope the review I posted last month captured pretty well. For reference, the whole concert at The Middle East was put up on Youtube (though Audio quality is rather poor in some videos, sort of like my camera work). The reason I chose this as number three on my list was because Jason Newsted is a personal hero of mine for how he rose to fame against really pressing odds, and has remained a genuinely nice guy despite it all.
2. Instead of putting Whitey Bulger to death I say we make him listen to “Dinosaur” by Ke$ha for the rest of his life.
I was insulting Ke$ha’s music and Whitey Bulger with this Facebook status. I didn’t enjoy the terrible ear-bleeding quality of the Ke$ha song “Dinosaur”, which happens to be about a creepy old dude who hits on very young girls. I wrote my review of Ke$ha’s first album around the same time they caught Whitey Bulger down in Florida, and I was just being a smart*** to express my disapproval of a renowned criminal and cult icon pop star. However, I’ve since learned to appreciate Ke$ha as a living parody of all pop music today. For that I can at least appreciate that Ke$ha’s music still has some substance and can rouse emotions out of me (as I’m often a tough critic of top 10 songs). So, my apologies for associating Ke$ha with a murderer and being harsher than I should have been.
1. “There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery”. Dante pretty much explains how I’ve been feeling for the past five years while thinking of the Summer and Fall of 2008. My misery and pain in the present won’t just magically disappear as it supposedly does for some people (as if), but pain normally lies in the present so I pray for a better tomorrow. I guess the old saying “Time heals all wounds” is a good comeback to the saying Dante wrote, but “wounds never heal quickly” is my own comeback.
I’ve been through an interesting and very hard journey through my late teen years and my early 20s. The year 2008 is still very special to me since I finished High School and began College. I also met many friends and my ex-fiance that year in Salem so I still reminisce quite often about 2008. Looking back at that year now with how things have not been easy for me shows how true the quote by Dante really is. But, I’m a writer and amateur philosopher so I put my own spin it; that spin simply being that the past can’t be changed, but the future can be. However, change’s always a gradual process and in my case it will take me a while to embrace the future.
There we go. In the vast human experience I can be very wise about life, or wise when it comes music and other subjects I dislike making me all the more human. At the end of the day I am who I am, and I will always enjoy being the narrator of my own story.
-Tatteybye
Kevin Card 