Middle-Earth

Why is there demand only for the offbeat? What about the average guy? Anyone who’s filled out an application for grad school knows what I'm talking about. I have to write a 1500 essay to tell you why I'm better than my peers? Why? What if I'm not? What happens to me then? I just don’t understand everybody’s constant urge to be the best at everything. And I'm not at all talking about acads. The Best. The Smartest. The Smoothest. The Coolest. Well guess what, I'm not even close to any of those any of those and I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much.

The word ‘Normal’ seems to have lost all meaning. Nobody knows what’s normal anymore. It’s definition keeps changing so much, no one even remembers what it used to mean. I think its because of all the double standards. You can never be too old to watch “classic cartoons” but at 21, suddenly you’re too old to be discussing Harry Potter? This bullshit ticks me off.

I'm tired of being stigmatized. It started out fun but its just getting ridiculous now. And I finally seem to have stopped caring. No I don’t listen to Beethoven or Jethro Tull or The Beatles, no matter how many times you tell me they are the only ones who make ‘real music’. I like Linkin Park and Nickelback. You can snigger all you want but yeah. I like Nickelback. Sue me. I don’t read Sulman Rushdie or Dostoevsky. I find them boring. I like Dan Brown. And Matt Reilly. And any other cheap airport fiction, with a neat story and a creative twist in the plot. And I LOVE Harry Potter. What’re you gonna do about it?

I seem to like all the things our society considers sacrilegious. Like some of the things I mentioned. Nickelback. Dan Brown. Harry Potter. Why are they considered so? Its again in the pursuit of being the ‘coolest’ or the ‘hippest’. Everyone listens to Linkin Park and reads Dan Brown. Hence I must not. I must be better. Well, to hell with you hipsters. There’s a reason everyone likes them. Its because they’re fun and they provide you with entertainment. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I like them.

People are free to choose what they want. If you truly like reading Ayn Rand, then kudos to you. Just don’t look down upon the Jeffrey Archer fans with disdain. If listening to Opeth makes you happen, then go for it. Just don’t scoff at the Backstreet Boys. Its this whole offbeat culture, I'm telling you. Pretend or Perish. Stand Out or Shut up. So many people are desperately trying to stand out of the crowd that they don’t realize they are forming a bigger crowd next to the crowd they are trying to stand out of!

There’s nothing wrong in being normal. Being average. Not being number one. Trust me. I know. I’ve been #8 in everything I’ve done so far. Quizzing. Acads. Whatever. You not being the best, does not mean you’re worthless. There’s a whole world out there for guys like us. Haha.. a whole world for guys stuck in the middle. Get it? Middle-Earth! (Sorry sorry.. LOTR fever is gripping me a little late!)

Felix Felicis

I hear people around me talk about their lives. About how complicated it is. About how fucked up it is. About how hectic it is. And I kinda get it. But I kinda don’t. If you asked me today, at this instant, to describe my life in one word, I’d say - Simple.

1460 in my GRE aside, words fail me as I try to put what I’m feeling right now onto paper. Its funny, merely 24 hours ago I was lost in a tornado of thoughts, fears, and apprehensions and now, as I pathetically fail to get to the point, I feel a sense of calm and satisfaction. A drug induced wonderland where I lie, comatose, with not a care in the world.

I’ve always thought of myself as a boring, uninteresting guy. Average at best. No real talent to speak of. Academics or sports or otherwise. I had destined myself to live a boring, average unassuming life. The first real shock of my life was when I was taken under the wing of the Dark Lord himself. How lucky am I? I thought then. Why would someone like him want to willingly share his soul (Bad Horcrux pun) with someone like me? As hard as it was for me to believe, it was true. There was one bleak ray of light (or darkness, should I say?) in my otherwise mundane life. But I thought that was it. That’s all I’m supposed to get, right? I mean come on.. What’re the odds of that happening again?

Well whaddaya know? It did happen again. And boy, did I get lucky this time or what? Life sure works in mysterious ways. But I’m not complaining. If anyone should, it should be them. They’re stuck with me.

Anyways like I said, whatever part of my brain that houses my meager English skills isn’t functioning right now. So please treat this post as my Thank You for all that you’ve done. Bearing with me. Teaching me. Trusting me. Accepting me. You guys are a Godsend.

OK this is ridiculous. What the fuck am I saying? I’m terrible at fluffing up things that I wanna say to make it sound deep. Bottom line is this. I’ve never been happier. I’ve never felt so lucky in my life. Hence the title.

Too many random things floating around my head.

Oh god that's too loud. Hang on.

Ah much better.

What did I wanna talk about? I forget. I'm tired, I'm sleepy, I'm happy.

Can't do this now. Will come back later.

Hogsmeade

How is it that pure Geographical separation results in such an enormous paradigm shift? I'm quite literally in an alien world. I could be in Mars for all the similarities this place has with where I’m from.

·         Pedestrians have the right of way. Not in the rule books rotting in the city archives. On the street. Every single street. Even at 1 am.

·         The people are intellectually capable of recognizing a moment that warrants a ‘Thank you’ or an ‘Excuse me’ or an ‘I’m sorry’. And no opportunity is missed or misused.

·         There are actual people on the street. Not mindless worker drones intent on getting through the day without any incidents. There are actual living, breathing individual people who are living life and not watching it from the sidelines.

·         People like what they do. Or atleast they’ve learned to like it. A bus driver either likes to be a bus driver, or has told himself, “Look, it looks like you’re gonna be a bus driver. Might as well embrace it. Or atleast, try to.” And not “Bus driver, schmus driver. I wanted to be an engineer. My life sucks.” Makes immeasurable difference in their interactions and work ethic.

·         The concept of a niche market exists. (Love that word!) I want to eat an authentic South-Western Coastal Vietnamese feast. Possible. I want a fluorescent pink pair of trousers made of hemp. Sure, just get down to 4^th Avenue and …. I want to sit and eat freshly baked croissants, listening to Jazz music in a Harry Potter themed bistro. One of those just opened up downtown. No, for real.

·         Work opportunities. Have a summer off? Want a part time job? Hotel receptionist. Dolphin trainer. Museum guide. Ferry operator. Hot dog vendor. Be what you want to be.

·         Don’t want a job? Wanna chill out? Sure. Head to the beach and soak up some sun. Head to the park and lie on the grass. Go rollerblading with friends in the park. Hike up any trail and camp out in the woods. Rent a bike and pedal across the city. Head downtown on weekends for the street entertainment. Attend a block party. Watch a play in one of the hundred theatres across town. Star in a play with your friends. Organize a block party. Pick a street corner and start dancing. Walk out of your hostel room, collapse on a mound of grass and stay there undisturbed till night fall.

I can go on and on for hours. Why is it that life is so different one landmass away? Did we evolve from a different, slightly dumber breed of ape? Or did we evolve differently into a slightly dumber species of human? For the life of me, I can’t fathom why.

You can bullshit all you want about poverty and population being the cause of under-development and other poop like us having a better culture, but I’m not buying it. Culture of our ancestors, may they rest in peace, counts for shit. Divorce rates are down in our land because our culture has thought us to stick with one marriage? So its better stay with someone you don’t respect or love anymore, and destroy both lives just to protect one’s culture? That’s ridiculous. People get divorced for a reason. Because its just not working between them. Its not an arbitrary whimsical thing. The people who are happy with each other are happy. The people who are not, are not. And they should move on. Its as simple as that. Culture counts for squat. We are individual people. Not a herd of sheep being reined in by an invisible fence.

I digress. Bottom line, the life I thought I was living so far is not living. I realized that now. I have nothing left for me in my old realm. I’m moving on and never turning back. As unlikely as it seems, if someone really decides that enough is enough and turns it around for the folks back home, then good. But it won’t concern me one bit. Thirty years from now, every last thread that ties me to my almost-former life will be severed. And any progeny of mine will remain blissfully unaware of his dad’s primeval origins.

Laugh if you want. Scoff at my silly idealistic, uninformed notions. I call it as I see it. You’re free to agree, applaud or disapprove. See if I give a shit. Go on.  

Platform 9 and three quarters.

I’m sitting in this hotel room on the 17^th floor, overlooking the setting Canadian sun listening to the most apt song that I can think of at the moment (Aerosmith’s Dream on) typing on a laptopwithabrokenspacekey. All my friends are off soaking up some sun and experiences at the beach. Either that or trolling for some bare ass. Whatever. This feels so unreal its crazy.

Starting from the most mundane. I’M TYPING ON A FRIGGIN LAPTOP LISTENING TO MUSIC LYING ON MY BED! Ok sorry. But that’s kind of a big deal for me.

I always thought of myself as a guy having good communication skills. But there is no way I can put into words the thoughts and emotions swirling through my head now. That’s partly because I don’t know what to make of them myself. Like I said. I’m sitting in this hotel room on the 17^th floor, overlooking the setting Canadian sun. What the fuck?

Overwhelmed is an understatement.

Pure Epicness.

Robin. Sigh.

How I wish.