Post by Andrew on May 31, 2011 2:03:21 GMT -5
So I'm gonna start this off with a story.
One of my boys Remy is a Dubstep producer. Him and his partner create this electronic remix house style music (if you know what dubstep is and feel the need to correct my shitty description, please don't) and play shows around Providence and other clubs around RI. Now, I don't really understand this kind of music. I appreciate it, I enjoy what he plays for me, I give him props for the work and effort he puts into it, but it's nothing I'm gonna seek out or have on my ipod or anything.
That being said, I'm sure as HELL gonna go to his shows. He's my boy, and as far as I see it, worst case scenario I'm chilling with friends at a shitty concert.
He had a show on Friday that was him playing in between different post-hardcore bands. Now if you know me, I'm a musician and appreciate talent and pretty much any live show, but this is TOTALLY not my 'scene.' At ALL. But I'm still gonna go, party my ass off during remy's sets, and make a good time when it's not.
My friend Jake doesn't see it that way. He said something along the lines of, "Yeah I'd love to see you play, but why would I go to a concert seeing shitty music that I KNOW I won't like to catch a few songs of some that I'd like? Let me know when you're playing somewhere different."
My friend Luc looks at the text, looks at me and goes, "Wow. Fuck Jake. Jake literally just became a boring person to me." Then he raised and lowered his fist like he was stamping something and goes, "BOOM. Boring Stamp."
When Remy asked me if I wanted to go see him play at a show where he KNEW FOR A FACT I wouldn't enjoy the music, I shrugged my shoulders and said Sure. He looked at me and went, "Damn. I wish more people had that kind of attitude."
Have that kind of attitude!
Are you really going to sit there and be THAT vanilla? "Yeah, I'm only going to do the three or four things that I enjoy and shit on all my friends that want me to come do things with them that are a little different. Yep. That's my plan."
You want to know what's attractive? An interesting life. You want to know what makes The Most Interesting Man In The World interesting? He's been places, done things, and met people. You can sit at your tv and be envious of that kind of life and the things that he's seen and done or you can do everything you can to make yourself have that kind of interesting life.
I'm not gonna lie, I've done some pretty awesome things. I've rock climbed in New Mexico, I've scuba dived in Key Largo, I've swam in a glowing lake in Puerto Rico, I've scaled the Eiffel Tower, I've eaten belgian waffles in France and french fries in Belgium, I've drank Guinness in Ireland, as well as many other things. It's given me perspective on the world and the people in it that I really appreciate having. And it makes for good stories.
So maybe you can't afford to travel, or your parents don't want to take you, or you don't have time, or any other of the many reasons why you can't at this age. That doesn't mean you can't do interesting things. (See the world when you're older. Don't let the rest of the world go unexplored).
Don't give yourself The Boring Stamp! You need to find things that you're interested in and explore them. Learn an instrument and then go play open mic shows. Like music? I GUARANTEE there are local musicians and bands who are playing small shows nearby you. One of my favorite albums is from a band I saw in Seattle at a venue that was my brother Dad and I, and eight other people. AWESOME band. Go join a rock gym, it'll get you in shape, you use muscles you didn't know you had, and it makes a FANTASTIC date.
And that's another thing. People always ask what's the best date to take a girl on. Dinner and a movie? Coffee and ice cream? I'm gonna close the case and clear the air once and for all, the best date is to something you're passionate about and love doing.
I rock climb and the best date I've ever been on was when I took a girl to the rock gym with me. If you golf, take her to the driving range. If you're a musician, take her to a concert or play in an open mic and chill with her the rest of the time. If you chase storms like Wes, watch the Weather Channel or some shit. Anything you like to do, take her with you. She may be hesitant at first, but if you're having fun (which you will be if it's something you like to do), she will be too. I promise, you learn WAY more about each other doing an activity like that than a boring date.
And if your friends invite you to go somewhere new or something you've never done, FUCKING GO. The worst thing that happens is you have a shitty time hanging with your friend who was OBVIOUSLY kind enough and likes you enough to invite your unappreciative ass. Try smoking weed when you get invited. Maybe drink a little. Have an open mind. Don't say no to things. And who knows? You might find something that you enjoy doing out of it!
Who knows, you might even hook up with Zooey Deschanel.
Basically after the show Remy had me sold on dubstep. I might not understand it at ALL still, but I had a BLAST at his show. He's taking me and a few other friends to dance party at a dubstep club on saturday nights called Don't Give A Fuck Nights. Sounds terrifying, but it also sounds new and exciting and interesting and like I'm gonna have fun.
Don't look at things in terms of whether or not you'll enjoy it (unless you'll really REALLY not enjoy it), look at it terms of whether or not it's interesting to you or it'll make a good story. Is this something that you can look back on with pride saying that you've experienced this? Is this something that will help you open doors and make connections? Is this something that will help you make a connection with someONE? Is this something that maybe I'll enjoy? Is this something I may look back on with fondness? Do I REALLY have something better to do?
And while I'm here, fuck whatever you think your "scene" is. If you're doing things right, you should have friends from every scene you can think of. I have friends who wear a bowtie and a blazer EVERY DAY, I have gay friends and straight friends, I have hot friends and ugly friends, I have popular friends and loser friends, I have friends who skateboard and smoke weed every day, I have asshole friends on the football and lacrosse teams, I have friends who have taken me to professional wrestling shows, and I guess I have a friend whose taking me to dubstep parties.
When you approach people and things with an open mind, you open yourself to a world of new opportunities. You get to meet people, AWESOME people, that you never thought you would meet or like. You always have something to do. You learn to appreciate the things that are important to you. You become unrestricted. You become interesting. And you avoid the Boring Stamp.
Go places, do things, meet people,
And come back with a story.
-Andrew <3
One of my boys Remy is a Dubstep producer. Him and his partner create this electronic remix house style music (if you know what dubstep is and feel the need to correct my shitty description, please don't) and play shows around Providence and other clubs around RI. Now, I don't really understand this kind of music. I appreciate it, I enjoy what he plays for me, I give him props for the work and effort he puts into it, but it's nothing I'm gonna seek out or have on my ipod or anything.
That being said, I'm sure as HELL gonna go to his shows. He's my boy, and as far as I see it, worst case scenario I'm chilling with friends at a shitty concert.
He had a show on Friday that was him playing in between different post-hardcore bands. Now if you know me, I'm a musician and appreciate talent and pretty much any live show, but this is TOTALLY not my 'scene.' At ALL. But I'm still gonna go, party my ass off during remy's sets, and make a good time when it's not.
My friend Jake doesn't see it that way. He said something along the lines of, "Yeah I'd love to see you play, but why would I go to a concert seeing shitty music that I KNOW I won't like to catch a few songs of some that I'd like? Let me know when you're playing somewhere different."
My friend Luc looks at the text, looks at me and goes, "Wow. Fuck Jake. Jake literally just became a boring person to me." Then he raised and lowered his fist like he was stamping something and goes, "BOOM. Boring Stamp."
When Remy asked me if I wanted to go see him play at a show where he KNEW FOR A FACT I wouldn't enjoy the music, I shrugged my shoulders and said Sure. He looked at me and went, "Damn. I wish more people had that kind of attitude."
Have that kind of attitude!
Are you really going to sit there and be THAT vanilla? "Yeah, I'm only going to do the three or four things that I enjoy and shit on all my friends that want me to come do things with them that are a little different. Yep. That's my plan."
You want to know what's attractive? An interesting life. You want to know what makes The Most Interesting Man In The World interesting? He's been places, done things, and met people. You can sit at your tv and be envious of that kind of life and the things that he's seen and done or you can do everything you can to make yourself have that kind of interesting life.
I'm not gonna lie, I've done some pretty awesome things. I've rock climbed in New Mexico, I've scuba dived in Key Largo, I've swam in a glowing lake in Puerto Rico, I've scaled the Eiffel Tower, I've eaten belgian waffles in France and french fries in Belgium, I've drank Guinness in Ireland, as well as many other things. It's given me perspective on the world and the people in it that I really appreciate having. And it makes for good stories.
So maybe you can't afford to travel, or your parents don't want to take you, or you don't have time, or any other of the many reasons why you can't at this age. That doesn't mean you can't do interesting things. (See the world when you're older. Don't let the rest of the world go unexplored).
Don't give yourself The Boring Stamp! You need to find things that you're interested in and explore them. Learn an instrument and then go play open mic shows. Like music? I GUARANTEE there are local musicians and bands who are playing small shows nearby you. One of my favorite albums is from a band I saw in Seattle at a venue that was my brother Dad and I, and eight other people. AWESOME band. Go join a rock gym, it'll get you in shape, you use muscles you didn't know you had, and it makes a FANTASTIC date.
And that's another thing. People always ask what's the best date to take a girl on. Dinner and a movie? Coffee and ice cream? I'm gonna close the case and clear the air once and for all, the best date is to something you're passionate about and love doing.
I rock climb and the best date I've ever been on was when I took a girl to the rock gym with me. If you golf, take her to the driving range. If you're a musician, take her to a concert or play in an open mic and chill with her the rest of the time. If you chase storms like Wes, watch the Weather Channel or some shit. Anything you like to do, take her with you. She may be hesitant at first, but if you're having fun (which you will be if it's something you like to do), she will be too. I promise, you learn WAY more about each other doing an activity like that than a boring date.
And if your friends invite you to go somewhere new or something you've never done, FUCKING GO. The worst thing that happens is you have a shitty time hanging with your friend who was OBVIOUSLY kind enough and likes you enough to invite your unappreciative ass. Try smoking weed when you get invited. Maybe drink a little. Have an open mind. Don't say no to things. And who knows? You might find something that you enjoy doing out of it!
Who knows, you might even hook up with Zooey Deschanel.
Basically after the show Remy had me sold on dubstep. I might not understand it at ALL still, but I had a BLAST at his show. He's taking me and a few other friends to dance party at a dubstep club on saturday nights called Don't Give A Fuck Nights. Sounds terrifying, but it also sounds new and exciting and interesting and like I'm gonna have fun.
Don't look at things in terms of whether or not you'll enjoy it (unless you'll really REALLY not enjoy it), look at it terms of whether or not it's interesting to you or it'll make a good story. Is this something that you can look back on with pride saying that you've experienced this? Is this something that will help you open doors and make connections? Is this something that will help you make a connection with someONE? Is this something that maybe I'll enjoy? Is this something I may look back on with fondness? Do I REALLY have something better to do?
And while I'm here, fuck whatever you think your "scene" is. If you're doing things right, you should have friends from every scene you can think of. I have friends who wear a bowtie and a blazer EVERY DAY, I have gay friends and straight friends, I have hot friends and ugly friends, I have popular friends and loser friends, I have friends who skateboard and smoke weed every day, I have asshole friends on the football and lacrosse teams, I have friends who have taken me to professional wrestling shows, and I guess I have a friend whose taking me to dubstep parties.
When you approach people and things with an open mind, you open yourself to a world of new opportunities. You get to meet people, AWESOME people, that you never thought you would meet or like. You always have something to do. You learn to appreciate the things that are important to you. You become unrestricted. You become interesting. And you avoid the Boring Stamp.
Go places, do things, meet people,
And come back with a story.
-Andrew <3
