Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Curve: A Cautionary Tale

As a single 20-something living in a major city, I'm well aware of the many facets and intricacies of The Curve. I've received it. I've administered it. It is a powerful tool that is being used daily by the millions of young Americans that find ourselves engulfed in this dating world so affectionately known as "the game."

So, many of you might wonder, what is The Curve?

I could be lazy and just give you the definition as it appears in a slang dictionary or redirect you to how it is used on twitter. But, I'm hard-working. So if I were to define it myself, I would say The Curve is any unwanted or unexpected redirection given towards a person who is romantically interested in you. I like to think of any consensual relationship between two people that are mutually interested in each other kind of like parallel lines. I give you what you give me, and everyone's happy. The Curve comes into play when someone decides to divert from that give-and-take exchange and throw the other person off track. Essentially, to Curve is to say, "I see what you're trying to do, but I'm not feeling you THAT heavy, so I'm gonna play you just enough to push you to the side without rejecting you completely, just in case I change my mind later." However, The Curve comes in many ways, shapes and forms. This post was created to define some common Curves so that you can recognize when The Curve is happening to you.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Benefits of Insecurity

Sunday night, a friend of mine presented me with an interesting question. She asked, "Do males worry about their appearance as much as females do?" My answer, of course, was no. She then wondered why, and I told her that men aren't subjected to the same physical standards and expectations that women are. Whether fair or unfair, women are often judged by their looks. While a favorable appearance surely benefits a man, I feel that males are judged more by their wit & personality than simply by how attractive they are. (My views on these judgment differences apply not only to judgment in romantic situations, but also to the ways we are judged in the work force. Men are rarely hired for their good looks, and women often complain about their struggles to be taken seriously as intellectuals.)

Our back and forth eventually led to the topic of insecurity; specifically, are men as insecure as women? And is media to blame for all of our insecurities??

Monday, June 13, 2011

Watching, Hoping & The Unknown

Considering my hatred for LeBron & his manufactured band of brothers that has been ongoing since the start of the NBA season, you would think it would be relatively easy for me to put my thoughts into words the day after the Miami Heat lost in the NBA Finals. After all, this is what I wanted. But honestly, I had some trouble deciding where to start.

Throughout the regular season and into the playoffs, I watched and hoped. I watched "The Decision" and hoped the rumors of him choosing Miami were incorrect. I watched the Heat's premature celebration last July and hoped that they'd regret it by never winning a championship. I watched their 5-game losing streak in March and hoped it was a sign that indicated some internal flaw in the makeup of a roster that most thought was inherently unfair. I watched their "fan base" suddenly grow and hoped that those same fair-weather fans would somehow get hit by a truck as big as the bandwagon that they jumped onto. But most importantly, I watched all of their games. And I hoped to see them lose.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Why Kool Herc is a Big Deal

I recently found out via the internets that DJ Kool Herc was suffering from a major illness and was just released from the hospital due to what some people are saying was kidney problems. Currently, he's home, but he's in need of further surgery and still has outstanding hospital bills. The problem is that he doesn't have the money to pay them.

For those that don't know, DJ Kool Herc (born Clive Campbell) is the man widely credited for originating the sound that we now know as hip-hop. At 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx, NY, Herc looped beat breaks in old records to create the first semblance of the boom-bap sound that has come to define hip-hop music. Basically, he's the James Naismith of this hip-hop sh*t.

As someone who is passionate about hip-hop music, it obviously bothers me that Herc is in this position. However, I understand that hip-hop in the late 1970s was not as lucrative as it is today, especially not for DJs who weren't even vocal artists. In fact, I don't even think this is the first instance we've seen of a rap pioneer being financially strapped. But my issue isn't so much with the fact that he needs the money. My real problem is that we even know about it.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

My Favorite YouTube Clips

YouTube. The greatest way to waste time since 2005. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to YouTube to watch a video and found myself repeatedly clicking on those related videos on the right toolbar. Next thing I know, I've been watching videos for the past hour, and I can't even remember what brought me to YouTube in the first place. I remember during my sophomore year of college when YouTube had just begun to get popular, my college roommate and I would spend countless hours on YouTube just wasting time. Before I knew it, it would be 2:43 in the morning and I'd realize that I still wasn't done with that essay that was due in 6 hours. However, I wouldn't want you to suffer from the same procrastination penalties that haunted me. So, listed below are my favorite YouTube videos, the ones that I've enjoyed sharing with my friends time and time again. I'm sure there are some that I've forgotten, but such is life. Without further ado...