Before Tower....
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- jevad
or HMV, or t'interweb, DVD's, or even the widespread popularity of CD's...I used to buy my tapes from a small shop run by an ancient chinese woman in stanley market, hong kong.
I'd walk the 15 mins from my house, through the old squatter village, with BMW's and flashy new Merc's in their garages.
Every week she would get a new delivery, and every saturday on my way to marco polo pizza I would stop and look at her books.
Her little shop was my first introduction, at 13, to AC/DC, Metallica, and The Maiden. I also remember buying guns n' roses and bruce springsteen from her.
One summer I went on holiday to hawaii with my folks and for a lot of that holiday all I could think of was what wonders the old lady would have for me on my return. But when I got home that weekend, and dragged my jetlagged body through a path I could have walked blindfolded, the store, and the little old lady, had gone, replaced with a 7-11.
I think it was then, that I started to lose my faith in humanity, as my innocent and carefree rock listening days were shattered by the backhand slap of western consumerism.
I miss the innocence of my youth somedays, and often I teeter on the fine line between appreciating my life now, and wishing I could go back and do it all again, exactly the same.. I'm getting older, and as I get older I see my parents getting older, and I don't want them to.
I want to go back to Primary school and have my best friend stab my in the arm with a pencil 'for a joke'.
I want to go back to wearing nike air jordan's and sleveless skate shirts, running from the cops for acid-dropping off the city hall banks, and cracking up laughing, almost crying, when we lost them in the same park, at the same exact spot, everytime.
I want to not have to worry what kind of world will be left for my children to cope with, and I want to live in peace, not always looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next tragedy.
I want to restore my faith and trust in humanity, but how can I when it gives me nothing to judge it on but war, death and famine, injustice, hate and fear.
+1 to anybody who got this far - thanks for letting me vent.
- unsexypixel0
midlife crisis.
j/k. nicely writen jevad. i feel your pain, innocence is lost. I often think back to when i was a nipper and the first day of a new year at school my mum would try and console my depression of the thought of a whole year of books and teachers by saying, 'a year is such a short time, it will fly by, make the most of it.' a year felt like forever then, but now, i know what she meant.
Now... Lets relive our youth and go break the neighbours greenhouse and rob some apple from Naughtons garden
- jevad0
oh yeah tony - didn't the summers seem to last forever back then though? 8 weeks seemed a lifetime...now 8 months pass in the blink of an eye....
- fate0
"Listen. All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light Brigade."
Cheer up, Charlie. Most people can't reflect on moments and realizations like those. You've walked a path that got you insight and good or bad you have that insight forever.
- jevad0
omg I don't even really remember writing this last night...
"You've walked a path that got you insight and good or bad you have that insight forever. "
amen brother fate....
- tny0
yep, summer was half the year...
our job now is to make life magic for our kids.
- jevad0
"our job now is to make life magic for our kids."
yes it is...but in this day and age - how possible is that...to an extent I am sure...but think about what children these days are exposed to...so many things we weren't when we were that age...with the internet so available kids are looking up and finding out about things that took us years.
The innocence is lost long before it should be.
- tny0
it's a daunting task, to say the least.
luckily kids are gullible... !
- jevad0
The Sprinkler by sicko
Looking out my window
I see some old friends riding down the street
on the bikes we used to ghostride on the playground
but I broke my bike last fall
and my parents were appalled
at my lack of respect for personal propertySitting in the basement
eating Peanut Butter Captain Crunch
watching "Flipper" and building models
but that stuff wears out faster than my All-stars
lock myself in my bedroom and play with my Hot Wheels CarsLayin' in the back yard
playin' like a rock star
wish that I could forget
running through the sprinkler
until I'm soaking wetI forget whatever happened to
me and all my white-trash friends
they got sick of me or I grew out of them
but they must have felt betrayed
when I stopped seeing things their way
lost all interest in the stupid plans we madeBut I can still see them skating down the steepest hills
we were all fearless and our parents feared the doctor's bills
just having fun was our excuse
just being cool was the truth
don't try to stop us 'cause it ain't no use...Layin' in the back yard
playin' like a rock star
wish that I could forget
running through the sprinkler
until I'm soaking wetI forget, what you said, not yet
- Soler0
It's easy as a parent to worry about what kids will have exposure to... Think about it this way. They only know what you allow them to know- they love you, and they respect their parents' opinion above all else. Their world revolves around you until they're at least 10 or 12.
so, you have the control. Don't get cable TV. Don't get video games. Limit the time they spend inside. Live outside the city where all there is to do is bike around outside like we used to do. Take them places and explore. Put 'em in boy or girl scouts. take them camping.
In the end- if you are nurturing and loving and intelligent and respectful- they will carry those traits with them through life. Ifr not, and you let them do "what everyonr elses" parents let them do, you are leaving it up to chance.
For me- I plan to expect and demand a lot from my kid because in the end- it makes them stronger and happier.
Whew. sole1
- era4040
holy fuck! that was unbelievable.
+50 to you, mate.
- era4040
btw, anyone who puts "The Red Badge of Courage" into the good literature category should be shot in the middle of a forest outside Lexington.
- Soler0
It ws OK in elem school I guess.
My fave from HS was
Oedipus Rex
- Soler0
btw, I like your t-shirts on the site, era404
- jevad0
soler - awesome...thanks
- Mimio0
It's simple...
"It takes a whole village to raise a child"
-Ethiopian Proverb
- era4040
Soler: Thanks, bro.
Mimio: I thought it was "It takes a strong hand to raise a child." hee hee
- Soler0
I think its- It takes a village of strong hands to raise a child
- Mimio0
I've stated it correctly.
Interestingly enough there's a very similar Hebrew proverb to this, which I can't recall right now.
- era4040
it takes a strong-handed child to raise a village?