Black Friday

Thanksgiving is over. Yay! The holiday that celebrates genocide, treaty-breaking, and land-stealing with gluttony! Hooray America!

Today is Black Friday. Time to go shopping at 4am and wrestle crazy mothers for Tickle Me Elmo and Furby, right? Right. OR...you could do something like one of these 2 things:

1) The Richmond SPCA is having a deal for adopting black cats and dogs today. 50% off the regular adoption price. Now that's the kind of Black Friday I'm talking about! Giving a loving home to an animal that truly needs it. If animals aren't your thing then how about option #2...

2) My roommate Chris sent out an email (in our giant email chain) yesterday saying what he was thankful for. He's in Haiti right now, working to try to help the Haitian schools. And what he sent was a great way to view Thanksgiving, in my opinion. Here's part of what he said:

"So as you're sitting down to eat today I hope you'll think briefly of people who have nothing to eat and don't know where they're next meal will come from. One of our students came from 3 hours across town yesterday to check if we had a little money to pay for his food - he has none and doesn't know when he will eat next. It was his birthday (I'm not [kidding] you).

I know, you don't need reminding. I know, you probably haven't forgotten, but there's not a lot you can do....But it's really true; almost a billion people deal with hunger every day.

It's just a suggestion: wfp.org
or go to kidsconnectionhaiti.org and sponsor an at-risk Haitian youth"


Now, in case you don't know me, I'm weird about certain holidays. Thanksgiving is kind of iffy for me. I like it just fine. Yet, I think people forget what it means to be thankful (and I'll admit I forget sometimes too). It doesn't mean you should just sit on your butt and enjoy your family and say you're thankful for lots of stuff. Sure, please enjoy them and be thankful for them, but you can do more. You should do more. We're practically obligated to do more because we are privileged. I always believe people can do more. I felt weird being home this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving 2008 and 2009 I was in New Orleans working with The Phoenix of New Orleans to help rebuild homes. There is a JMU group down there as we speak, working. I wish I could be with them, or with Chris, or somewhere where I can put all the things I'm thankful for to good use. I'm thankful for the talents, skills, privileges, and perks in my life. I'm thankful for a home, family, friends, my girlfriend, food, occasional work, health, and love all around me. But as I understand, as Chris put it, and as I hope you understand...you should be thankful in an ACTIVE way. DO SOMETHING. What's so hard about giving a small gift or donation to places/people/causes that need it? You can give like $12 and purchase a few rabbits for a family through Heifer or World Vision. If you're opposed to dealing with animals like that, give a donation to a mosquito net, AIDS pills, soccer balls, education, clothes. If you don't have lots of money, then give your time/energy/love. Tell someone you love them, volunteer an afternoon, support a cause.

- Quit talking. Do something. Show why you're really thankful by putting to use what you should be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday my friends.

If you wish to leave comments or check out older posts: www.tylerconta.blogspot.com

__________________________________________________________________

Halloween: Candy Corn Sucks

...and that means it's almost time for another holiday that is kind of weird. The concept is: kids put on a weird costume, threaten to trick/prank you if they don't get candy, and everyone celebrates spooky stuff.

1) Most kid's costumes are lame. If they're not lame, then most of them are bought by college girls who don't properly fit into the costume, yet they wear it anyways because it's common knowledge that Halloween is an excuse to reveal what a skank you truly are, and how your big butt, in fact, does not fit into a youth medium sized costume of a police officer.
2) Kids will NEVER prank you if you don't give them candy. The only pranks that happen are teenagers that TP a house or too. Oh no! Not that!
3) I thought people hated being scared? So why do we only love it on this one single day?

#3 is now where I focus my attention. I LOVE scary movies, I love a good scare, yet most people don't. What I'm going to encourage everyone to do this Halloween is:

GET SCARED.

I recommend a haunted house, corn maze, forest, trail, cabin, hay ride, cave, etc.
If you're too much of a wuss, then just rent Nightmare on Elm Street or The Exorcist and invite a bunch of friends.

If you live near a city you're bound to have some fun Halloween stuff to do, such as Richmond's Haunted Insane Asylum! Regardless of where you're from, check this site out to see what kind of haunted things are around you (it's sort of hard to see but there might be multiple pages of venues, click the orange links to the next page at the bottom, after you search your area)!
Last year, my best friends and I all went together (BatCave + SafeHarbor) to a cavern in the Shenandoah Valley called Endless Caverns. They had a pretty good Haunted Cave with lots of fog, a weird guide, lots of surprises, and of course...chainsaws. I got scared a few times, and also had a great time not warning Casey when someone was sneaking up on her so that I could watch her practically wet herself. Good times. The guys and I even convinced the owners to give us free shirts so we could advertise the Haunted Cave. Free shirt and a good scare. Great Halloween!

Now go and get scared!

-People may not always enjoy being scared or frightened, but sometimes, in good company, a decent scare can make us really feel alive.

_________________________________________________

Working for the Weekend too?

Well actually I didn't work Thursday or today...so I stopped working for the weekend on Wednesday. Sorry. In other news: in a few short hours I return to my other home. I'm going back to JMU for Homecoming 2010!!

I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm excited to pick up Chaney for the drive, I'm pumped to see Kevin Gibson and SEBO, my lady, all my O-Team friends, my Safe Harbor girls, some SA friends, and a bunch of those random folks I don't care about. (Kidding) Because of my excitement to return home for my first ever Homecoming as an alum...I truly don't know what to do with myself...so I'm going to lay a bunch of my blogging crap on you. Most of it will deal with JMU-type things...so if you didn't go to JMU...then I feel sorry for you. Also, if you didn't go there, then just say "I missed out" and go ahead and check out what I got for you anyways! Enjoy!
PS: Go Dukes!!

Music:
Song of the Moment 10/15
Paris (Ooh La La) by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals


Food:
Peanut Butter Ice Cream

First off...WTF?! According to the blog spell check "ice cream" is 2 words?! Well that's news to me! Anyways...if you're ever eating some place that is a buffet (D-Hall/E-Hall/Mrs. Green's/Golden Corral?) you need to make your own dessert. Side note: NEVER spell "dessert" wrong. We always want more of it, that's why it has more "s"s in the word. Duh. So, you need to grab a bowl about the size of a cereal bowl. Go for the soft-serve vanilla ice cream (try chocolate later if you'd like) and get a decent portion with room to spare. Then head to wherever they have peanut butter and hit that stuff up. Drop in a large spoonful of creamy peanut butter. Then, grab a seat, grab a spoon, vigorously stir it up so the peanut butter is evenly distributed, then enjoy. It's good stuff.

Quote:
I think this is all too true...
"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so." - John Stuart Mill
For the most part, I agree. I think that once you question your happiness, you then doubt your happiness, and doubt can be a destructive thing, thus ending your happiness. Yet, I think Abe Lincoln spoke equally true words when he said....
"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. " - Abraham Lincoln
So...just be happy my friends!



Do-It:
Enjoy your weekend. Whether it's at JMU or not. Just live it up. Get up early, go for a hike or a walk in your park. Go to your local farmer's market. Go to the JMU football game. Go out for a drink with a friend you haven't seen in a while. Soak it all up while you live it up. It's going to be a great weekend with the potential to be a fantastic one. So.....LIVE IT UP.

That's all I've got for you peeps. Now stop reading this crap and go do something.

Beautiful Fall

A few days ago I posed about my dislike for Fall. While I didn't think it was that harsh, my friend Jamie let me know how much she disliked me and my post. Well...I still stand by my opinion of raking leaves and falling acorns (as multiple ones continue to loudly hit my roof and freak me out). Yet, I have to admit...I kind of like Fall.

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE.

Don't get the wrong idea and assume that I'm going soft, or that I'll take back what I say because a friend called me out. Instead, just know that ever since she called me out, I've realized sometimes it's just as much fun to be a cynic as it is to be filled with....something other than cynicism.

So...here's what you all should do:

NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, ENJOY THE CHANGING LEAVES WITH A WINDOWS-DOWN-CRUISE-ON-THE-BACK-ROADS DRIVE.

One of my all-time favorite memories of college was after having a bad day, going to Brittany and telling her I needed to get out and clear my mind. We got in my car, she blasted the tunes, we put the windows down, and cruised down Route 33 West from Harrisonburg, VA. We drove past Blue Hole, kept going until we didn't know where we were, and noticed the trees began to grow over the road now. There were beautiful colors, you could smell Fall in the air, the light barely broke through the tree coverage to sparkle on the road, and I felt fantastic. If you're in Harrisonburg...you NEED to make that drive. Just drive until you feel like turning back...then go a little further...THEN turn around. It's liberating and cleansing and you get to see the beauty that's in nature with fresh eyes.

-We should never take for granted the glories that surround us every day, simply because we are surrounded by them every day. Try looking at it again, perhaps in a different way, on a different day, or with a new friend along for the ride. Then, hopefully, you'll see true beauty.

You So Trashy

Soon I'll be posting up a sort of calendar/schedule of events of awesomeness regarding how my blog is going to work. I asked lots of friends, in lots of ways, what I should blog about other than Song of the Moments and random stories. One thing I got was Quotes/Good Deeds.

I like quotes, but sometimes they're not for everything. So I think today we will begin with a simple Good Deed.

PICK UP ANY TRASH YOU SEE.

That's not that hard is it? Nope. I even did a scavenger hunt once where we had to pick up 10 pieces of trash on the DC Mall. It's easy...but yet almost no one does it.
Afraid of looking like a hippie tree hugger?
I'd be more afraid of Captain Planet coming down and socking you right in the face.


So if you're walking around town, campus, your yard, the neighborhood, or the mall just pick up some trash as you go. If you think it's gross then just pick it up, then go wash your hands...you're not going to die from it.
NOTICE: If you die from picking up a piece of trash I apologize and I promise to deliver your eulogy in the form of a mid-90s-style rap.
So yeah, pick it up, it can't hurt, it can only help. We've all got to be around it. So why not make the place you're in just a little bit more beautiful?

Now go get some trash today you tree-hugging-dope-smoking-long-hair-tye-dye-wearing-hippie!