Private Eyes, Part I

“You can observe a lot by just watching.”~Yogi Berra

I’m so excited that I could just spit. But then again, that would make you dirty and you wouldn’t like that much at all.

I don’t know how it was done, but it was. And I am sorry in advance as I cannot say too much about it. But what I am going to say is exciting enough.

I woke up today and found in my personal e-mail inbox a message that came from a particular Hollywood actor who was responding privately their response to reading this very blog!

Even after my personal choice of bashing the Hollywood scene and community, the person had nothing but nice and kind words and praise to give to me. And to my own disbelief they had a agreed with a number of things that I had said about Hollywood. And yet they were expressing their own opinion.

I replied back with thanks and gratitude for them taking the time to read through several blog posts and that I appreciated their opinions, views, and feedback and then left it at that. I probably will never hear from them again.

My star-struck gaze has since passed. And it brings me to the meat and potatoes of THIS blog post.

One just never knows who will be reading the blog. For those of us bloggers who have been doing this for any length of time, one just can never be sure who will pass through and read what you have to say.

The same concept actually goes for those of us who do not have a blog or an online diary. Your actions and your words are always being watched by others whether you realize it or not. And in times like these, it could lead to positive feedback.

And in times when we are cruel, mean, vindictive: others are also taking notice of that as well.

I think that it is possible that if we actually do “watch what we say” that we can see the invisible impact on others.

As for myself I do make a bit of an effort to ensure that if I am speaking of someone in particular that I do not actually spill out their actual names and change it to something else to tell my story. Or I will just go by first name. Or if I know that they just don’t care, and they are looking for the attention for one reason or another and have their blessing, then I’ll just go ahead. But I do not normally do such a thing as to keep them from humiliation and unwanted attention.

No matter what I am speaking of or who I am speaking of, I often do forget that there are others watching and reading. I’ve even had people admit to me that they read this blog. They just haven’t subscribed to it to be able to read everything that I post.

Quite a lot of things can be learned about people by just observing. Berra had that right all along. Remember: there ARE people observing you.

Fight Of The Fanatic

“It’s cool to meet your idols. It’s a good opportunity to travel. Those kinds of things are good.”~ Meg White

Idols. We all have them. Sometimes, they change throughout our lifetime for one reason or another. But there’s always someone that we are looking up to in our lives no matter if that person changes at one point or not.

We admire them. We think about them a lot. We daydream constantly and about what it would be like to maybe one day meet them.

And for many of us, that dream will come true. But not all of us will. I have met a number of people considered “famous” and a “celebrity” in years passed. From musicians to politicians and actors. The people whom I have a great admiration for are NOT the same people that I once dreamed about every night from a decade ago.

We’ll bump into someone that we’ve admired for a long time or find ourselves to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to finally come to face to face with them.

But I think that a lot of times people forget that our idols are actually human. And they even have idols of their own!!

Our lives certainly do change though when that magical moment falls upon us and we meet them for the first time ever with our very own eyes. The world becomes your taco.

The taco however won’t last forever.

And there are those times when we meet them and when the magical moment is gone, you’re left standing there reflecting upon it and realizing that there was nothing magical about it at all.

That happened to me once. I had met a musician once and an autograph was given, but the pleasant exchange of conversation wasn’t pleasant at all.

To be fair, I had met the musician based only on the fact that they were the idol of a girl that I wanted to get together with. And in thinking that if she knew that I had met her idol, it would place me at the top of her list. But in reality, it didn’t do a thing to help my cause. Instead of having the autograph made out to me in MY name, I had it made out in HER name and then I sent it to her. I didn’t even receive a word of thanks from her. Just an acknowledgement that she had received the autograph in the mail a week later.

At the end of the night I could not for the life of me figure out what was so awesome about their personality. I was aware of their musical talents as they had won Grammy Awards, but who in the world would willingly want to hang out 24 hours a day with a personality like that? Oh well.

Fighting over meeting your idol is true behavior of selfishness. They are also human like you and I.

But recently it seems to me that in the wide world of fanatics over one person, an actor or musician, that there are two groups of people within that circle. Those who have met their idol and those who have not. And I have noticed that for those who have met their idol have a sense of “holier than thou” over those who have not. And its really ugly.

The most recent example I can give you as that I read that someone had finally met their idol after 20 years of being a fan. They got to have dinner with them, took photographs, the idol signed autographs and was on their way. Pretty fancy, I’d say.

But now they are talking to other fans like they actually KNOW the person and they’ve been friends ever since the invention of sliced bread. To be honest, that kind of ego-trip is highly annoying. And all they are doing with other people who share that same idol, are pissing them off.

This was an actor, not a husband prospect, and simply just another human being that was actually beyond more than kind to have offered them to have dinner and talk. And now that person who had that wonderful opportunity is parading around with proverbially no pants and showing off.

And this week, someone else who has NOT met their idol really wants to. But they have been meeting constant resistance from that one person who thinks now that they are virtually family. And now a fight has broken out. Its scattering other fans to choose and pick sides. Two groups of people (those who have met their idol and those who have not) have splintered off into four, five, even six smaller groups of fanatics. But they have hatred and malice toward those who are not on their side.

I sit back. Watch. Stay silent. And shake my head in great disappointment. I would give them ALL the quote from Rodney King, but unfortunately those involved in this ridiculous dispute are too young to remember who Rodney King is. Which I suppose, makes me old.

But the quote still remains a vital and truthful statement and poses the great question of why cannot all of these fanatics get along with one another?

I have no problem with other people meeting their idol. And I have no problem with other people meeting those people that I admire the same as they do. But to have done so, and then get in the face of someone who hasn’t and speaking like they are the idol’s representative that the other person can’t have their dreams come true, just makes me so sad.

I understand the thrill and joy of meeting your idol. Nobody says that you cannot be overjoyed with emotions of happiness when you have met your idol. And nobody says that you cannot share freely of your experience. There is always someone willing to listen and share with you.

 

In the past month, I have been able to receive several autographs in the mail from people that I admire. Some of you will know what I am talking about, but most will not. And that’s because I’ve decided that I was not going to jump to the top of that mountain and start screaming about it. These were not people that you will find on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, but people that I do admire… after all, I DO have other people that I admire. More than what I discuss about frequently in this blog.

What I do not understand is how that one person who has met their idol will continue to inflate their own ego to the point where they’ve become obnoxious, rude, and turned into a monster… believing that they’ve somehow entered a new world and became a member of some secret society.

The theory that I have come up with is that they are attempting to hold on that that precious memory for as long as they can. And by letting their ego loose is one way of allowing them to continue holding on to that experience to keep it alive. But I  could be all wrong about that!

So its all about egos it seems. But I swear that these fights that I have witnessed over the past six months over actors, musicians, politicians, and other idols are unnecessary and awfully mean.  

In my opinion, instead of fighting one another, we should be helping one another out.

Life is too short to be fighting with people. Especially if you have a common bond with that other person. Rather we all should be caring and kind and show respect. Be genuinely happy for those who have the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to have been able to meet their idol. And help those and hope for the best that other people who share that common respect and admiration that they too can meet their idol. It creates yet one more common bond that you will be able to share with one another.

I will say again, our idols are people too. They are human just like you and I. People just really need to learn to get along better.

Enjoy the taco if the opportunity arises. But when you are finished, don’t forget to SHARE it with others.

 

 

Hollywood Still Sucks!

“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”~
Marilyn Monroe

Well ‘happy birthday, meester pwesident’ to you too!!

I was going to write this post a few days ago when the anger was still fresh on my mind. But luckily for myself, the subject matter died out just as quickly as it came up and was rubbed thoroughly in my face like a person trying to potty train a new puppy.

A few days ago, the news was reporting that Courtney Stodden & Doug Hutchison had tied the knot. At first, it didn’t strike me for anything because I did not know who they were. I mean after all, where the heck was my wedding invitation? Did it get lost in the mail? No of course not! So why should I waste an ounce of energy on the news that these two people were joined in marriage? And then the reports were all buzzing about the enormous age difference between husband and wife. I didn’t know what to think about it at first. And then after a few thousands times of hearing about it, it began to become very annoying.

So I had to stop and think about it. Who the heck were these people and why is it being pushed in my face that the two of them got married, OUTSIDE of the fact that the groom is dangerously close to the age of being his wife’s grandfather.

Doug Hutchison has been on shows like “LOST”. Something I didn’t watch at all. But he’s also been in “The Green Mile”. That was something that I did see. So I had a sort of reference to who he was. Still haven’t heard of Courtney Stodden though. I’ve seen pictures of her in a bikini, sitting on a boat and that’s all I know of her.

Why is this news? Seriously, I don’t think anyone can come up with a decent response to that question. And who is it that gets to decide who is a celebrity and who is just an actor?

All I can think about is the backlash that this newlywed couple is going to have to answer for. We simply do not know the reasons as to why they decided to get married. Although we can speculate it and assume until the End of Days. Personally though, I could care less! Most Hollywood marriages end up in divorce in the first place, and in pretty short order I might add. So it will be a few years at the most and they’ll be split and nothing will have changed for the world.

I cannot stand Hollywood and their definitions of stardom and celebrity status. Who the heck comes up with this garbage?? Hardly anyone that “makes it” in Hollywood has any staying power any more.

So here’s a good question for debate: Why are certain people famous? People like Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Antoine Dodson? And what have they done in their personal careers to be able to stabilize their star status? 

I haven’t heard anything come out of Antoine Dodson in the past six months or more. He became famous because he was very emotional in front of a news crew camera in Huntsville, Alabama after his sister was a victim of a sexual assault. He gave it to the camera and he did it with passion. And then a family who lives on the east coast with a bit of musical talent and know-how with Auto Tune, took his news segment and made it into a hit song on i-Tunes.

And I will admit that the entire piece of music that was crafted is entirely catchy and almost enjoyable. But that’s what they did to his news interview.

BAM!! INSTANT CELEBRITY!!! But where is he now?

Hollywood has this rotten way of things to take people and turn them into whatever they want. Good people, bad people, heroes and villains. Hollywood, and the media that is. Sadly going hand in hand on this one.

So then why aren’t I popular? Why am I not making millions of dollars?? I’ve done great things in my life. I’ve been good, I’ve been bad too. Very, VERY bad!! Nobody is calling me for my life story. Nobody is asking me to show up at red carpet events. Why not me? Why not some of my friends? Why, why, why???

It is just the fact that Hollywood’s way of life sucks. It always has, and always will.

I remember when I was seven years old, I told my mother “When I grow up, I want to become famous and live in Hollywood and even change my name.” Now when I think about it… I do not think that I still have the same enthusiasm to “make it in Hollywood” as I did back then. My eternal soul is NOT for sale.