To Be Or Like Not to Be… Something
Dad got me. I don’t remember
if I thought about it before but I know for sure that I have since he brought
it up… and it’s true. The word “awesome”
has lost all meaning.
Awesome used to mean “something which inspires awe”. Now it is basically a describer for the
slightest neat factoid.
And when I think about it, I don’t often use the word. I don’t think I have often used it in the
past either. I guess I’ve been too
understated in my view of things for something to be awesome to me.
I have seen awesome things.
Lake Louise is an awesome sight.
Stonehenge certainly was viewed, by me, with awe. Walking the grounds of the ancient Olympic
Stadium in Olympia, Greece was also awesome.
For me, it is not an “awesome” thing to hear that Robert Downey Jr. signed
on for two more Avengers movies. I like
hearing this. I’m glad it’s
happening. I’m hardly in awe.
Other modern examples of awesomeness which fall well short of being
awesome. New, sharper razor blades. Getting money back on tax returns. Skin care
creams. None of these things are
awesome. Not really.
Oh and those skin care ads bring me to another word that gets
overused and diluted. And that word
is…“Like”.
This one I am guiltier of taking part in. For me, anyway, I use it when I’m not certain
of a fact’s exactness. You could say
“there’s about five pounds of weight on the scale.” Or interchange the “about” with “like”. Saying “there’s like, I don’t know, five
pounds of weight on the scale.”
Now back to the skin care ads.
Sportsnet must feel that there are a lot of 13 year old pimply girls
watching Prime Time Sports. Because,
every day that I tune in to the show, Proactiv ads bombard the airwaves during
this time.
The fact is, I would be afraid of using Proactiv based entirely on
how stupid the users of the product sound.
I think whatever concoction they’ve cooked up to whisk away pimples must
take brain cells with them.
There’s a whole bunch of 18 to 25 year olds getting way too excited
about clear skin here. “Now I love my
skin!”… I hope I go through life never befriending someone who openly proclaims
love for their skin. Love seems like too
great an emotion for skin. It’s fine and
all… I’m glad I have skin… but discussing the level of love I have for it… with
other human beings… please no.
There is the token guy on these ads.
He sits in front of the camera and very seriously, as if he’s a doctor
informing a patient that they only have two months to live, he tells us… “My
back was a pizza… literally.” The
“literally” part of that statement makes this guy an idiot… literally.
I doubt very seriously that this man’s back was actually made out of
pizza. And, if it was, I doubt even more
seriously that there is a skin cream that will take that pizza right out of
there.
The stupidest of the Proactiv users (and beats me why the product
decided to remove the “e” from there word… maybe this explains the stupid that
users seem to develop) is a perky 18 year old.
The poetry which spews forth from her mouth is the stuff of legends…
“People are like, ‘you have such clear skin’… I’m like ‘It’s
Proactiv’… they’re like ‘no’… I’m like ‘yes’.”
I often imagine the Proactiv ad’s director. Yelling for everyone to be “quiet on the
set”… bellowing “action!”… and then the studio of production crew, sits… in Awe
(obviously)… as this girl bares her soul with such a well spun story.
Then, after the “yes”… the spellbound director slowly regains his
composure, wipes away the tears, and… in an emotional whisper says “cut… that’s
it… that’s what we’re looking for everyone (sniff sniff)… that’s a wrap”.
This girls use of the word “like” is different than what I described
above for my use of the word. She’s not
approximating anything. She’s not
uncertain of some exact amount. This is
her everyday talk.
William Shakespeare died about 400 years ago. You’d think 400 years of evolution would have
the average person being able to speak as eloquently and colorfully as he once
did. Yes he was one of a kind back then,
but the average person then didn’t know about washing hands… they emptied
chamber pots out the window… and, during supper, wiped grease from their hands
on the backs of shaggy dogs. Surly, with
today’s advanced technologies and education, we’d all be able to describe the
world around us as Shakespeare did then.
But alas, it’s like, not to be… or whatever… cause he like read
fifteen hours a day or something. But I
love my awesome skin!
THURSDAY...
--- Quiet day at work.
FRIDAY...
--- More quiet times at work.
SATURDAY...
--- Night shift. Again... Quiet. Most systems were down after 9:00.
So not much can be done after that.
SUNDAY...
--- Some work to get done tonight. One of the nights that it'd be
just as well being alone though.
--- Thunder and lightning for part of the evening. Pretty heavy
duty.
MONDAY...
--- 38 with the humidity. Half hour walk is about it today.
--- Thank goodness for the trailer trash neighbours two doors down.
They've been keeping garbage... Including a couple of old box springs... out on
the side of their house. And today, dude is out in his wife beater shirt
hitting golf balls into the woods across the street. I guess, cause it's there.
TUESDAY...
--- Late morning movie day. Melissa and Nick join me for 3D Star
Trek. Good movie. I liked the first of these new Star Treks better but did
enjoy this one too.
--- Book for the Fall Newfoundland trip. Get my flight all set and
book three days on Fogo Island right before the wedding for my cousin in
Twillingate.
--- Half hour walk and some TV as well.
WEDNESDAY...
--- Afternoon Blue Jays on TV. Dickey pitched great. Nothing better
in baseball than a great effort by the starting pitcher. Complete games are so
rare now. Almost even to seeing a no hitter.
--- RCMP softball as a spare again. It's hot out there. Around 37
with the humidity.
--- For a post game supper treat, it's shwarma and a root beer for
me.
--- Evening walk. So many toads on the power line dirt road. I stop
counting after a dozen. Likely thirty or so in my path. So it's eyes down for
the baby toads... They're all so small. A centimetre or so.
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