I came to, well not a realization, but certainly an interesting train of thought today when I was checking facebook. My mother is deep in preperations for her High School Reunion tonight, and has been planning todays event for months prior. We've spoken about this a few times, in point of fact, it's been the only thing going on at the ol' homestead since I moved back for my brief stay. Mom said the internet has certainly helped her find people faster and better then all the years before said "webs". This stuck with me, and today I *really* started thinking about it. The internet, and it's multiple and varied "social networking" sites like Facebook, Twitter, even poor old MySpace, combined with messangers like AIM, Yahoo, and MSN, allow this modern generation to stay connected in ways our parents never could, and in ways our great grand parents could never imagine. Wow, I do like run on sentances.. but forgiving my bad grammar and sentance structuring.. my point is this:
At 26 years old I'm probably in closer contact with more people from my graduating class than my parents were at this same age. Well yeah, this makes sense right? We grew up on AOL and messanging, and now days with txts and tweets it's like we never stop getting new (sometimes boring) info from friends, loved ones, and celebrities (I'm talking to *you* Wil Wheaton). This is an odd thought, because I am about to move away from Maryland. I'm leaving the possibility for face to face contact behind, which I think is why I've become a little more active in Facebook and follow a few more Tweets (why is that even an every day word now.. fuck you society).
But back to the train of thought (my train has many stops and more than a few derailments.. hurray ADD!)... I'm leaving, but how many people do? So many of my friends it seems are settling down, marrying, getting houses, putting down 'roots' in good ol' Maryland. The concept of "Townie" or "Can't get out of this place" has been around faaaar longer than the internet. But with todays networking constant connection between friends who otherwise would have lost touch years ago, it makes me wonder.. does that make it more likely for people to stay in their hometown because they 'talk to more people' or more likely to leave because they can still stay connected?
Will we still be connected with eachother in 20 years reguardless of where we live? Will this digital interconnectivity continue to grow in a positive way? Or might it turn sour? Husbands and Wives following eachothers tweets and status and growing more insecure about their fidelities? How relevant to my life is it to know that Felicia Day is going to be trying Facebook Lite? (Very.. it's Felicia Day, c'mon) Do I really have to struggle to get the High score on Mafia Wars? Will all this make my life better?
The internet has, for the years I've known it, been a dumping ground for the drama of our every day lives. In fact, this past week I've followed along as more than 5 people I know have spiraled down an emotional rollercoaster into depression and back, and while knowing what is going on with my friends is a *nice* thing, being constantly worried about their state of sanity is not so much so. But, the relative anonymity of the internet, even in a forum read by friends, allows a comfort to vent that we are sometimes hard pressed to find among flesh and blood friends.
So yeah, I ponder the effect being the "Internet Generation" will have on us down the road, the effect it will have on our children, and their children. Will we stay closer because of it? Or will we actually drift further apart. If you've made any sense of my ramblings, discuss! Reply! And what have you...
I thought it fitting to make a post here since well, I'm feeling nostalgic (hense the clever title) and LiveJournal is the embodiment of all things Nostalgic.
So I am at my parents house. It's 1:20 am, I came over to do laundry earlier and the day and ended up spending most of my evening here. The evening was not entirely dull as it may seem when one considers a usual "parent" visit. My father and I sat down and watched the fourth Die Hard film (which he hadn't seen) and that was good times. I did my laundry (obviously) which is of course a productive use of ones time. But what has me in such a mood of late, was the time spend in my old bedroom.
I've been moved out for going on 3 years now. Which given that I'm turning 26 soon isn't really an amazing feat.. but it feels longer than it has been. When I moved, I moved without bringing everything with me. Which was smart because well, I've accumulated a lot of stuff. So this "stuff" has sat in my room for three years.. a portion of my DVD collection remains boxed in my old room. Video games, CD's, lord knows how many VHS tapes. Stuffed animals, posters, anime wallscrolls from fandoms long past.. most of my manga, my action figure collections (M.I.P.) and a large collection of comics and magazines.. ALOT of stuff still sits in the ol' room.
So tonight I spent some time digging, uncovering my own past.. and it was, well.. enlightening. My old hand written journals, from before I went to LJ (8 years ago in October.. not that I use this much anymore), are always good for a glimpse into past me and his thoughts. I also found some of my cassette tapes in which I dictated journal entries about the life of Vince. It's so funny to look back and what was important then versus what is important now..
I still love entertainment. Movies, TV, comics, even anime still to some degree. Back then I blew whole paychecks on my personal entertainment.. not thinking about things that were more important. Not taking the time to consider my future, and how best to invest in that. Not using opportunities long past to think and do for other people who have all since left my life. I made alot of rash and foolish choices in how I acted, what I bought, and who I was. And while I still enjoy an occasional DVD today.. it has been nearly a year since I made a major purchase for myself the way I used too. I save money for bills, make smarter choices for food, and try to do what I can to help out friends and family when I am able..
I grew up I guess.. and maybe that's what I'm realizing as I look at all the things that represented me in the past... for all my current shortcomings, I am not the Vince I *was*. And that *isn't* a bad thing.
In 2 months I most likely won't be living in Maryland anymore, so I thought it was necessary that I make such a journey to my room. Certain treasured items won't be a convenient 15 minute trip away anymore. So I have to decide what to keep, and what to leave behind. And that is sort of a metaphor for my life right now..
What to keep and what to leave behind.
Not just things, tangible.. but metal notions of who I am and what I'm capable of.. By moving to some place new, restarting my life, I can let go of old doubts and insecurities, and maybe finally reach those places I've been striving for all my life.
Okay, so anyone who knows me knows I love Exo Squad.
So here it is, in relatively high quality streaming video on Hulu. SPONSORED.. so this is officially licenced to be on the web folks. Which in my wildest hope dreams, means if Universal Animation dusted off their archives to supply the video to Hulu, they may be considering.. other.. digitally versatile distribution? HMMMM?
One can hope.
In the mean time, if none of you have ever seen it.. all 13 episodes of season 1 are up at Hulu
http://www.hulu.com/exosquad
They tote it as "the American Anime" which.. well.. it kinda is, though it was made before Anime *really* hit it big.. it was just a very well conceived and executed sci-fi animation series that has been overlooked by time, and now maybe hopefully, will get a chance to shine, if only for a little bit.
Oh, and go on iTunes and buy Dr. Horrible... like.. NOW
I actually bought this on iTunes (3.99 for all three acts as they come out) since it's going down on Sunday, and it's too good not to watch over and over.
For reals, this is genius stuff. Joss Whedon is obviously great, anyone who knows of him knows this. But Neil Patrick Harris is completely freaking amazing. He needs to be in everything, his comedic timing is spot on, and he's a darn good singer to boot. He plays the perfect levels of confident Mad Scientist set on World Domination, and bumbling guy with a crush on a girl he's just too shy to talk too. I'm actually seriously contemplating checking out "How I met your mother" since he apparently steals the show almost every episode. But his acting in this is probably some of the most entertaining "Doogie" ever.. well.. except maybe this:
I loved Simon Helberg's brief appearance as Horrible's roomate "Moist". I'm glad to see Helberg is getting more mainstream work, he was sadly under used in Studio 60 (Though his Nicolas Cage is freaking spot-on)
Felicia Day as the love interest laundry girl Penny is.. well I have mixed feelings. When she's acting she's great, and fans of Joss will remember her as Vi from season 7 of Buffy. Her singing however.. for being a supposed classically trained vocalist, she has a very weak sounding singing voice, which, could and probably is, a direction to show her character.. but it just didn't fit with the other musical numbers of Act 1. Still, she is very good in her role and I cannot wait to see what further develops.
Captain Tightpants.. Nathan Fillion is a God to all Browncoats, and we love him in anything he does. I really shouldn't HAVE to say it.. but his roughly 2 minutes of screen time in Act 1 are genius. He plays the perfect "Superhero Tool" to Harris' "Loveable Mad Scientist" and that's really the best praise one could give, excluding the fact I just called him a Tool. And while of all the singing in Act 1, Fillion is probably the least trained, he pulls it off with his usual charm and all around awesomeness.
The songs thus far are everything I'd expect from a Joss Whedon musical, clever, catchy, and at times moving. I've been humming "Laundry Day" for the last 24-ish hours.
And the best part of all of it? Act 2 will be up in 14-ish hours!
So go, watch Act 1! Buy them all on iTunes, send your friends, family, loved ones.. The success of this webseries can only mean more and better things down the pipe from Joss and crew. AND.. it's just worth watching.
Not that anything is going to happen.. and this guy has been talking about Impeachment for a while, but it's about time someone stepped up and started something to make the douche pay for being a war criminal and bad president. If nothing else, this could hopefully generate the needed interest to put Bush on trial once his term is over.
This was actually a pencil sketch I scanned in and just colored and inked w/ the tablet.. I don't like the yellow I used.. but I'm just trying stuff out, so meh : P
This is also a sketch I did a day or two ago, so I hadn't gotten to the style I've *been* using since yesterday yet.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
vince_holz's journal
