Believe it or not, there are times where I sit down at my computer having absolutely nothing that I want to say. Surely, there are things I'd like to talk about...but I find myself unable to start to put them into words.
I thought about someone today that I would really never had thought I'd even give a second thought to.
When I was in high school there was a shopping center I'd go to sometimes before school to pick up an iced coffee or a morning snack, maybe wander around and look at the clothing boutiques. There was a man about 5'10, lanky build, mid-30's, overgrown beard and shoulder-length gnarly hair that would hang around the Wells Fargo Bank. I'd avoid him at all costs because it was obvious he was homeless and I tried to be careful of those who were because nobody knows their situation... I would sit on the bench sipping my coffee from a distance, and watch him with his bucket of water and sponge approaching every patron of the bank who parked along his aisle. He'd ask to wash their windows for a few dollars, and sometimes there would be someone who wouldn't shy away or shoo him off. Knowing that it isn't polite to stare, but still intrigued, I'd continue to watch him. The thought that many people would have of, "I never want to end up like that" never crossed my mind. I didn't know what happened for him to lose everything, I didn't want to know. I only knew that he was an interesting fellow to watch, because he would clean every window with perfection. He'd change out his water after every car, apply new soap, tear a new paper towel, and work each streak away until it was perfect. There were times where they'd pay him 2 bucks, and after seeing his effort to achieve the cleanest window possible there would be someone who would tip him another dollar.
I think back now, and the guy didn't have a pot to piss in, a window to throw it out of, or a hose to rinse it away. It didn't stop him from doing the best service he could.
I have no idea why he came to mind. He probably never even knew who I was. There's a lot of people like this to me that I've encountered, and remember. The ones I never meet, but know what they look like. While I don't know who they are, for some reason they're memorable. I guess the bum with a bucket will always be apart of my subconscious. I believe we remember things for a reason, even the seemingly every-day.
I can't think of the bum without thinking of wanting to succeed in life and not end up in a bad situation like that. Maybe that's why I saw him those years ago. Maybe that's why my mind chose to click "record"? I don't know, but something about him fit together in my mind tonight.
Wherever he is, whatever he's doing - I hope that somewhere inside he'll know that you can influence without even interacting with the person more than a passing by.
Life is strange.
Hoe, please.
We're all bandwagon jumpers from way back -- go Warriors!
Article By: Peter Hartlaub
Monday, May 7, 2007
The guy who walked in to work on Friday morning, totally stoked about the Golden State Warriors' playoff victory over the Dallas Mavericks, but three weeks ago couldn't name two people on the team. The guy who thinks Jim Barnett was the president on "The West Wing." The guy cruising around town in a Troy Murphy replica jersey, who's still not sure why it was on the Ross Dress for Less clearance rack.
As the Warriors play their first Western Conference semifinal game against the Utah Jazz tonight, there are tens of thousands of those yellow "We Believe!" T-shirts in circulation. But don't be fooled -- very few of the people wearing them actually believed. Easily 85 percent of those currently calling themselves Warriors fans recently joined the bandwagon.
Jumping on the bandwagon is one of our most hallowed national traditions, right there with football on Thanksgiving, re-gifting Christmas presents and buying a car with way more horsepower than you need. Study history closely, and you'll find bandwagon jumpers dating from before this country's independence. While historical portraits show that maybe 15 people crossed the Delaware in George Washington's boat, by the year 1800, at least 50,000 people were claiming to have one of the paddles.
"Yeah, dude, Washington gave it to me when I was a minuteman. I keep it in my garage, right next to the metronome that Beethoven threw into the crowd when the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major tour passed through Williamsburg."
Over the years, bandwagon jumping has become an equally huge phenomenon in entertainment, sports and politics. If you listen to the crowd, nobody in history has ever attended a Kenny Loggins concert -- and 6 million people were packed in the Winterland Ballroom to hear Janis Joplin sing "Piece of My Heart" in 1968. Nobody voted for Nixon, and everyone campaigned for JFK.
While last week's incredible first-round Warriors series featured fan excitement at its best, also on display was bandwagoning at its most egregious. I've been to dozens of Warriors games during the team's 12-year losing streak, and the most famous person I've ever seen in the crowd was that guy who played Paul in those old Diamond Center commercials. (And even he might have been a look-alike.)
Cheering the Warriors on as they clinched the first-round series victory on Friday were celebrity bandwagon jumpers including Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson, Woody Harrelson, and Snoop Dogg, whose ensemble included a blue Baron Davis jersey and a "We Believe" T-shirt clutched in his hand. That's the same Snoop Dogg who was born and raised in Long Beach, spends half his time with a yellow Los Angeles Lakers foam finger on his hand and has name-dropped that team in at least a dozen tracks -- including one ("I get rich on the fakers who hate/ Bakin' my cake/ And catch the Lakers at 8") that could easily be a dis directed at bandwagon fans.
I learned about bandwagoning as a youth, during the lean seasons when the 49ers had back-to-back 2-14 records and all of my little elementary school friends were Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steeler fans. If I had to choose in 1979 between admitting I liked the 49ers and accidentally wetting my pants onstage while singing "Frosty the Snowman" at the school assembly, it would be a close call -- depending mostly on whether I was wearing light-colored khakis or a darker pair of Toughskins. By the Super Bowl years of the 1980s, these same classmates had turned into "lifelong" 49ers fans, and I suspect they've since moved on to rooting for the Patriots.
My anger is tempered only by my own hypocrisy, the bedrock character trait of any bandwagon jumper. While I suffered through the Mike Dunleavy Jr. years, the Mookie Blaylock years and the Todd Fuller debacle (a great name for a band, by the way) without giving up on my Warriors, I'm definitely a situational Giants fan and the worst kind of bandwagon Sharks fan. I only start following hockey once the team reaches the Western Conference finals. From there, it's a crash course in the San Jose team's style of play, record and roster. (Anybody know if Igor Larionov is still with the team?)
Bandwagoning is really just a low-level form of lying. If Enron-level stock fraud is a felony in the world of fibbing, then bandwagon jumping is the equivalent of an illegal left-hand turn. It's considered bad form by most, but still not the type of thing that's going to land any of us in hell.
At least I hope not. I once claimed during the late 1980s Dana Carvey-era "Saturday Night Live" resurgence that my great aunt was the piano player for the "SNL" band and vaguely recall telling a girl in my college dorm that I had marched with Cesar Chavez. I didn't score, but these experiences did help me become a master bandwagon jumper, with the credentials to teach new Warriors fans a crash course in Bandwagon 101.
1. When you lie, pick events with big crowds: It's a lot easier to convince people you were part of the Million Man March or were at Candlestick Park to see Dwight Clark make "The Catch" (I've been claiming that one for decades) than to try passing yourself off as the catcher on Barack Obama's seventh-grade Little League baseball team, where there are too many potential witnesses and follow-up questions you won't be able to answer.
2. When challenged, act really defensive: You can even turn it around and claim that your accuser is the actual bandwagon jumper. Project your own faults onto them. "What do you mean I'm not a real fan? You're the one who just started listening to them because they were on the 'Garden State' soundtrack. Once, when you drove by, I think I heard Bryan Adams on your car stereo. I've been with the Shins since the start, dude!"
3. Have a few details ready: With 49ers fandom, for example, always know a few obscure offensive linemen from the 1980s and a fake seat number. When in doubt, just use the locker combination from high school. "What are you talking about? I've had 49ers season tickets for 57 years! Section 32, Row 8, Seat 23. I used to sit right next to Fred Quillen's family. I've been with the 49ers since the start, dude!"
4. When dropping names, always use at least four degrees of separation: That way, no one can trace your lie. Don't get so specific that somebody can bust you with a Google search. "Dude, I was at the Boston Tea Party and it was AWESOME! My brother-in-law's sister knows this chick who used to go out with Samuel Adams -- yeah, the beer guy -- and he got us VIP passes. I've been against taxation without representation from the start, dude!"
The Boston Tea Party was probably the height of bandwagon jumping in the United States, with the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S hockey team's run coming in a close second.
But don't count out our gutsy Warriors. All we need is Jack Nicholson and Spike Lee showing up to tonight's game in Jason Richardson "The City" jerseys, and this will be a bandwagon jumping for the ages.
I'm thinking of getting my belly button pierced again. I had it done a couple of years ago and forget why I even took it out. Probably was clumsy and forgot to put it back in and procrastinated about it. *Shrugs* With the upcoming Summer months and the tummy showing again its back on the consideration block. :)
Besides, I kinda want this:
I don't care what anyone says, that is freakin' CUTE.
Bella tagged me via her MySpace blog with this, so I'm replying. :] I don't know what it means by "weird things", but I'm assuming they mean quirks. I don't tag people back, but I always welcome them to tell me their responses if they want to. Here are some of my quirks and a couple habits.
1. When someone's on the phone and they're an over-animated type I'll mimic them in my head, really wanting to show them how silly they look when talking on the phone and gesturing like the person they are talking to, is sitting right there. Of course, I don't do it...but I'd like to. :P
2. It irks me when people pay for things at the store with rolls of coins. Why not go to the bank and trade it for bills? What about the machine you put change into and it gives you bills? Why tie up the line in the morning, during the week when people have places to go, so you can pay 20 dollars in rolls of pennies? The cashier then has to verify it with their little money scale, taking up that person's time too and making their job a little more of an
inconvenience than it probably is already. Do like most of us, and pay with debit, bills, or credit for goodness sake.3. Hack comics. There are some of us who know what we're talking about, and have seen a lot of sets with a lot of different people. While some podunk town might not know you're doing a joke that you heard from another comedian while road-touring in California -- sooner or later its going to come back around and down on you. [And because a few comics may be reading this -- this isn't directed at anyone in the community. Don't jump to any conclusions. I know you guys/gals dislike this as much as I do.]
4. I dislike like typos in text books.
5. I lather, rinse, repeat --- and I always wash my hair first thing. I know there's a lot of girls who only shampoo once and then move on. I have to do the shampoo/conditioner twice before I move on.
6. I make lists. Yes, "to do" lists. It isn't like I won't remember...but I think its just about holding myself accountable and keeping up on what I need to do. It doesn't have everything in the world written on it, but sometimes I just like to have something to go off of. I like a little order...what can I say.
7. Okay, and since this list is supposed to have weird stuff (as if this hasn't been weird already) I'll also include that I broke 8 hangers in my closet yesterday while cleaning it out. Who breaks 8 hangers? I wasn't being RAMBO, tearing things out and breathing heavily for goodness sake. I know that three of them were from me putting them down on the floor in the pile, and kept clumsily stepping into the pile. So yeah, 8 hangers now broken. Nice, right?
[Note] I'd shared this with Ci in an e-mail this morning and then thought it may be neat to read back on this later so I'm sharing it here.
Weirdest dream last night! I traveled back to the area of the city I grew up at in the San Francisco bay area (and assuming it was like I hadn't been back in over 20 years) and things were just...in rough shape. In reality this wouldn't happen because the bay area has too much money in it to fall apart...but there were a few buildings on fire, some chaos on the streets but no real "panic". It was like the citizens were used to this, and just walked on by like it was nothing. One child even was taking a piece of smoldering wood and writing on a fence with the charred end of it. I wish I could remember what he'd written. Everyone just kind of looked morose and moving in a bit of slow motion considering the chaos going on around them. Even the firefighters and police just walked around the scene as if they had a ball and chain attached to them their movements were of over-worked slaves. Nobody was really saying anything, but the bustle reminded me of a Japanese market I'd been to. If I made eye contact with anyone, they'd glance up from the ground for a moment, with these sad eyes and a frown. Other than the police and firemen, everyone looked aged but not really "exhausted". I guess they'd been considered one step above "numb" because there seemed to be still enough sadness to show they had feelings.
The people really just looked abused - just waiting for the next smack to the face from society. I walked through with a sensation of, "What happened...?" Every so often, someone would pass and look at me with more than just sad eyes. It was weird because their eyes' liquid would turn into a transparent-like movie clip of things that happened to the bay area that caused the corruption - including a massive earthquake killing thousands. I'd watch their eyes, not really spooked by these little movies - more like just reading into someone...and walk away feeling a little more understanding but even more mournful. Ignorance would have been bliss but each character (none of who I knew) were pretty willing to show what happened from their perspective of what had hurt them the most, just in one look.
If there's been a dream I've had recently that I wish I could have had meaning to, it'd been this one.
I have to remark in that there is hardly a channel you can flip to anymore without seeing a "natural male enhancement" commercial. Just in case the male species thinks its being doubted, don't feel too bad guys, women can't go an hour without seeing a weight loss supplement being advertised. We've become a nation of men with erectile dysfuction, and overweight women. I wonder if anyone else sees the irony in this. Maybe the two coincide with one another? The men have the dysfunction because of the overweight women, and the women are overweight because their men have a dysfunction that prevents them from achiving an intense cardio workout. *Smirks*
In complete seriousness however, I don't recall seeing commercials like this when I was a kid. Maybe I did, and I just didn't retain the information because I was young and interested in My Little Pony, lol.
PS: I love it when the Warriors beat Dallas...and they're good at it. :) First game into the playoffs and they win it on Dallas' turf. I love to watch Texas fans watch their teams lose! The fans never stick around to see their teams through, they get sour and leave when they think there's no chance. The fact here is, their team is the best in the western conference this season - and the least likely team to make the playoffs at all beat them. I love it. I love it. I love it! :) *Happy dances*
This weekend was slow enough to enjoy, and its almost like having a 3-day weekend with me being off on Tuesday (other than class). I won't mind going into work tomorrow having been so well-rested. I'm glad that I opted to take it easy instead of going out on Friday and Saturday night. :)
I guess I'll be spending the evening indoors tonight. I am not fond of the whole "4/20 weekend" crowd. I broke plans with one of my friends because I decided just this afternoon (kind of more-so yesterday) that I don't feel like being around everyone right now. I think it'd be a better idea to be responsible and stay home to study, take a walk out in the night rain, come home and take a hot bath, and then fall asleep listening to music.
Errr, perhaps I should respond to the eight letters that arrived this week from some of my friends who are deployed to the war in Iraq. If I don't get that done this weekend, another weekend will pass by and I'll never get around to it. I know what its like being in the military and waiting on mail...I'd better not neglect replying.
Today was "unique".
That'll be the best that I can say about it because the chain of events aren't what happens to me every day. An unexpected confession from a friend that should have ruined my day, week, and/or month really didn't bite me as bad as it would with some people. The feeling of being betrayed has sunk in as far as it'll go, and for some reason it doesn't upset me. I'm not willing to keep the friendship after they hid something from me for a couple of years now, it just shows me that she has held it in all this time. She says she has grown up, but you aren't growing if you just now rid yourself of the weight of that type of secret. I don't need her confessions or excuses. I'm not as forgiving as I was taken for, and they found out the hard way.
That situation didn't matter nearly as much as it maybe would have if I didn't have such an amazing boy that I'm in love with. After coming home from work and talking to him on the phone for the majority of the afternoon...I didn't have too much concern about the above topic. My attention was on someone far more important. <3
Just because I'm "okay" and accept the things I cannot change...does not mean that I am forgiving my friend. Hrm, maybe I should say I forgive her in my heart for being a complete backstabber...but I don't care enough about her now to continue the friendship. She burned the last rung of the ladder with me.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS BABYYYYYYYY!!!
13 years without a playoffs position...I could have passed out last night as the buzzer hit against Portland... The reality then sunk in...and I, with other Warriors fans, did it. :) I cried when the below image was live on TV. So much for me never being the type to cry over a sport. :)
PLAYOFFS, AT LONG LAST
Newcomers, Richardson score big in romp
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
SFGate.com
(04-19) 04:00 PDT Portland, Ore. -- On the eve of the biggest game of his career, Jason Richardson says he slept a baby. Now, he isn't sure when he'll catch his next wink, knowing that what's eluded him ever since he has been a Warrior is finally here.
The postseason. The real season.
"I've been trying for the last five years and coming up short," Richardson said. "I'm so excited, I might not sleep for the next two nights."
Golden State's 12-year playoff drought officially ended Wednesday in hugs, victory speeches and a 120-98 romp over the depleted Blazers at the Rose Garden.
The eighth-seeded Warriors will meet at their practice facility in Oakland today to begin preparing for Game 1 of their first-round series against Dallas on Sunday.
Only two eight-seeds have ever knocked off No. 1s.
Once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen. And the Warriors are about to embark on their first postseason journey since April 1994, when coach Don Nelson last roamed the sidelines. (That was the same year eight-seed Denver upset top-seeded Seattle; the Knicks toppled Miami on the way to the '99 NBA Finals).
"The basketball gods have a funny way of giving you what you deserve, and we deserved this," said Baron Davis, who wrapped his comeback year with a triple-double in Portland.
Wednesday's finale symbolized all that the Warriors have turned around this season. They won on the road. They swept a back-to-back set. And they did it with the unselfish team play that has typified their closing sprint.
Davis had 12 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. Stephen Jackson scored a team-high 31 points and Al Harrington added 24. It was as if every layup and three-pointer they fired in had some sort of cathartic effect, and no one showed it more than Richardson. The sixth-year guard has carried the heaviest burden of any Warrior for their past failures, and he unloaded it early by scoring 13 of his 25 points in the first quarter.
"Once you play here, you're a part of the history of the franchise and everything," forward Matt Barnes said. "Especially for J-Rich, someone who's been putting his heart and soul out there for six straight years and always going home on the last day of the season.
"So definitely, (we had) to do this for him and the fans and all the people that supported us the 13 years before."
The Warriors (42-40) closed out the season with five straight victories, matching their longest streak of the season, and posted their first winning record in 13 seasons. Since Davis returned from injury to join newcomers Jackson and Harrington in the lineup, they've been among the hottest teams in the NBA, going 16-7 down the stretch.
So when the final horn sounded, Jackson and Harrington celebrated by popping their Warriors jerseys for the cameras, and Richardson and Davis met at midcourt for a long embrace.
"When we were (nine) games under (.500), we could have easily packed it in," Harrington said. "Baron could have said he's going to rest his knee or rehab. But guys said, 'No, we're going to keep practicing. Let's see where we're at and if we're right there, we'll make that push.' "
"It didn't always look so good," Nelson added. "But we achieved a great goal on the last day. Each one of these games has been bigger and bigger, and this was the biggest."
Now, it's time for the playoffs. And Jackson, the only Warrior with a championship ring, is calling in reinforcements. He's bringing the bling out of safe-keeping and will show it to his teammates for inspiration before Game 1.
"Once you make the playoffs, all you need is 16 wins and you're the NBA champ," Jackson said. "That's the easiest way to look at the championship."
The Turnaround
After Don Nelson declared his team virtually done for the season, the Warriors went 16-7.
-- On Feb. 28, Nelson says he's lost hope of a playoff berth, after his team's 113-83 loss at Chicago. The Warriors lose their next two games, the second loss coming to the Wizards after a foul and technical give Gilbert Arenas three free throws with no time on the clock -- just enough for a one-point Washington win.
-- On March 5, Baron Davis returns to the lineup after a month's injury leave, and the Warriors beat host Detroit 111-93. The victory begins a 16-5 run to end the season, including a March 12 defeat of Dallas that ends the Mavs' 17-game win streak.
-- The returns to top form of Davis and Jason Richardson key the run. Davis has 34 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and four steals in a 135-128 defeat of Washington. Richardson hits eight threes and has 36 points in a defeat of Phoenix.
-- A three-game string of dominant performances last week puts the Warriors in playoff position. In the wins, Golden State leads Utah by as many as 32 points, scores 74 in a half against Sacramento and builds a 42-point lead on Minnesota.
Imagine you got hit by a car and could be saved only by a special operation. The operation would give you a normal, happy life, but would unfortunately cause you fifteen minutes of terrible, stabbing pain every morning when you awoke. Would you want to have the operation?
I'd like to think that the pain would eventually lose its intensity to me. If its only terrible/stabbing pain, then it isn't excruciating. Also, people are known to overcome immense amounts of pain with their mind. If one knows what is coming, and how bad something is going to hurt, the shock is less likely. I can deal with something hurting me, its just the duration of the pain that troubles me. I think for the 15 minutes, I'd find as much comfort as I possibly could or try to ease the pain by doing something I liked and concentrating on that instead. Then again, where is the pain? There are some places that would really drive a person to suicide if they had to wake up to that every morning.
*Shrug* Difficult to say. If nothing else, I'd dope myself to the gills with prescriptions every morning!
