Superpowerful and Yet, Completely Normal

At some point in our lives, we have all thought about what it would be like to have superpowers. Everyone has a favorite and some are more popular than others. However, whether your superpower is super strength, teleportation, or invisibility, I don’t think we would be all that amazing with superpowers. What I mean is if everyone had superpowers and it was a normal everyday thing, we would all be complacent and take them for granted. In other words, if everyone was superpowerful, no one would be. To take an example from entertainment, the anime My Hero Academia deals with everyone in the world having superpowers, which they call quirks. Now the show focuses on training the next generation of heroes, but most of the people in the show are “normal” even though they also have quirks. I think the show provides an excellent look at what a superpowered society would be like. Everyone in the world has some sort of super ability. Some abilities are amazing, while some are mildly useful. Either way, some of the people find ways to be bigger than life and amazing, while some choose to work a 9 – 5 job. I believe this would reflect in the real world too. If everyone had a superpower, some would save lives, or be a villain, while some people would use their telekinesis to get themselves a beer from the fridge. And before anyone disagrees, take an example from the modern world. We have voice-controlled devices that can do just about anything, and yet the only thing some people do with it is check the weather. We have self-driving cars in the making and most people will only use that feature when it wouldn’t matter anyway. We can have face-to-face Facetime calls with people and we still choose to type out our words in text form. My belief is that if there were an actual Xavier Academy for the Gifted, it would just be full of teenagers that only wanted to sleep until noon and play video games. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Topless and Shameless

Throughout history humans have evolved many number of advantages that have helped us to survive. However, evolution is not a linear track. Many times, animals evolve a trait that doesn’t necessarily help them. One such trait in humans is embarrassment, or more specifically shame. We as humans are ashamed of so many things, that the list is actually very large and it continues to grow because people find new things to be ashamed of every day. We, as a society, actively attempt to find new things to shame people over. One of the big subjects that has been around forever is the topless male vs the topless female. We make a comparison to the original notion of nudity and then point out that the difference in gender is that there is more nudity for females to show. But I have a problem. If it is shameful and wrong and deemed improper for a female to “air out” her top, then what makes that the case? Is it because she is a female and that is what has been the rules for an eternity or is it an unequal rule that needs eliminated? What I am getting at is do we deem it improper only because they are females? For instance, say we found a completely flat chested female and dressed her up Amanda Bynes style in “She’s the Man” and had her go out topless with just a pair of swim trunks. I don’t believe anyone would bat an eye. Moreover, with the prospects of the transgender community and all the outreach we do for them, no one has a problem when the once females become males and go topless, because they no longer have breasts to display. Furthermore, how large does a chest have to be before it is considered a set of boobs? Those guys that have pecs the size of my head would definitely fit into this category. I do feel the need to point out that I am a male, so of course I am in favor of toplessness for everyone. However, my reasons are not just for personal gain. I also have female friends who find it irritating and sometimes uncomfortable to always have to have something on their tops. One friend even told me that it would be so much easier if she only had to worry about one item of a bathing suit instead of two pieces. And if we are really being honest, there are countries where toplessness is not a big deal for women. More than one country has no problem with women baring their chests. Those countries have normalized it and it is acceptable. So perhaps it is time to stop being ashamed and embarrassed of skin and time to start allowing everyone to absorb as much sun as physically, humanly possible. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Product Disfunctionality

Have you ever looked at a product and wondered why it was made the way it was? Or why something was packaged in a manner that just doesn’t make since? There are many examples in the world. Like when a product and its mate doesn’t come packaged in the correct numbers or together at all. The biggest example is buns and franks for making hot dogs. A pack of 8 buns or 12 buns, but only 10 wieners. What psychopath mathematician thought this up? Then there is the whole batteries not included fiasco. What is the point in buying a thing that is battery-powered when there are no batteries with it? I guess just feed the machine, as it was, and buy some Duracell. Right? However, there’s also questions pertaining to product design. Like that favorite pair of hiking boots. They are comfortable and the laces are just long enough to tie without dragging the ground. Then you need to clean out the tread, for one reason or another and you are soon met with an M. C. Escher maze of rubber that you have to scrape out. Why is the tread designed that way? Does it help with traction? Is it supposed to be easier to clean out? I feel sorry for the engineers that are tasked with making the mold of the rubberized Jackson Pollock. I also don’t understand product features that are completely unnecessary. For instance: Bluetooth speakers in everyday products. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Bluetooth speaker. They are very handy for when I want to listen to music cast from my phone, but why do I need one in my toaster? I have a toaster to toast things. A piece of bread, a soft bagel, and even a Pop-Tart now and then. So, in my case, the toaster should be plain and simple and relatively inexpensive. I am not paying an extra 30 dollars just so I can listen to my favorite podcast from the same device. That is what my refrigerator is for. Maybe one day someone with more knowledge than me will have the answers I seek, and you better believe that if that day comes, I will be front and center with my pristinely cleaned boots listening to every answer while I heat up my extra buns with my battery powered toaster. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Age is Just a Number

Have you ever been in a situation where you are plenty old enough to be in that situation, but you wonder if mentally you really are? What I mean is, how old do you feel in your head? I am not just talking about that older generation that seems to never slow down. I am also talking about the generation coming into adulthood where it feels like we grow another year older, but our mentality in a lot of ways does not change. For instance, we have been grinding away at our fast-food job, that we have had for 5 years, and a job comes along that could be a career. A high-profile job where we actually have a lot of responsibility. We have certificates that say we are qualified and our interview went great. Then we get on the job and wonder how anyone could trust us with that much responsibility. Or we have a decent job and have saved every nickel and dime and then we are buying our first house. We will own something that is worth more than most of our other assets combined. Or even scarier: we have a child. We have to care for another human being. This is not a goldfish; it is a living, breathing human. To the rest of the world, we appear like an adult. We have responsibilities, daily lives, and common habits. However, we ponder if we are ready for any of “adulting.” In our heads, we are still texting with our friends until late in the night, knowing we have school tomorrow. We are still watching our Saturday morning cartoons and playing Pokémon. These are some personal real world examples and my only answer is that adulting is different than the adults in our youth made it look. We can be adults and still enjoy childhood things. What is that old saying about being young at heart. I guess as long as we don’t go through life sucking our thumbs, we can be as childlike as we want as long as the bills get paid. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Just Draw on Yourself with Crayon

Tattoos are kind of a big deal. There are those who really like them, and there are those who detest them with the utmost passion. The tattoo lovers claim it is an artform that uses the body. It is a means of expression like no other and for the majority of tattooed people, their tats represent a piece of themselves or something that is extremely important in their lives. The detractors see it as a permanent mark on the body that can never be removed. They claim it can damage skin, cost you job positions, and, if you follow the faith, you can never be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Now I personally do not have any tattoos, but I have done some research. While it is true about the burial situation most everything else, if done correctly is just totally false. That is not to say that it is not permanent. Because even the greatest of removal technology is not 100%. At best it drastically fades the tattoo, and it’s extremely painful. And yes, by definition, the artist is damaging the skin to inject the ink, but it heals. Also, there are a lot of good reasons that people want to get tattoos. A dead relative, a devoted lover, children’s birthdays, or a meaningful picture that is placed on the body are all great reasons. Getting drunk and getting a giant heart and the name of the stripper that night is not a good reason. It is also not wise to get a tattoo of foreign symbols and languages, because who knows what they actually mean. Furthermore, remembering that tattoos are not easily removed, getting an unsavory tattoo that might be regretted later is also not a good idea. But, to each their own. All that to say that tattoos are something that should not be done in the moment. They should be contemplated at length, properly planned for, and done safely with a reputable artist. However, what age is appropriate for tattoos? Is there an age that is too young? After all, parents can sign for someone under the legal age. Is there an age too old? Should someone have to sign for a geriatric person? These are the questions that need answered. For me, I don’t think tattoos will ever be a thing, but if someone is passionate enough to mark their body, then I think, within reason, there should not be an age limit, and no one else should have a say about the tattoo. Sure, it would be weird to have a toddler running around with a spiderweb tattooed on their elbow, and I don’t think grandma needs that teardrop beneath her eye, but any reasonable person with a reasonable piece of artwork or writing should have the right to display it as they please. And if, at the legal age of getting a tattoo, someone gets a tat, my advice is to get it in a place that can be covered so that crappy employers can’t say anything. Let’s be honest, it may be a fabulous job that you’re passing on over a tattoo and not everyone understands art. Then during your own time, show off that art all you want, just as long as showing it off doesn’t involve removing your pants to let people see a “warrior” tattoo that actually says “dirty boy”. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.