"The Only Thing to Fear, is Fear Itself"

Fear. Fear is an intricate and confusing thing. It can destroy relationships, dreams, or even lives if you let it. We all fear something. It could be something small (or at least what others see as small). It could be huge. It doesn't matter. It is okay to be afraid sometimes, but it is incredibly important to manage your fear. Without doing so properly, you are not only hurting yourself, but those around you.

During my 20 years on this earth, I have allowed fear to dictate my actions. Whether it is fear of failure or rejection, it has always been there to hold me back. Fear has forced me to never learn some things, forget other things, miss opportunities, and allow potential friendships/relationships to crumble (that is, if fear ever let them begin in the first place). Fear is a tricky thing that I have struggled to control in life. I thought that I had it on a tight leash, but I might be the one on the leash.

At times I have encouraged myself to step up, at other times I have failed to address the issue; this is not one of those times. Sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith and believe that someone (including yourself) will be there to catch you. I have never allowed myself to make that jump. Right now, I vow to myself to regain control of my actions. Starting right now, I will work to manage my cluster of continuous fears that hold me back. After all, "the only thing to fear, is fear itself."

I’m Excited, But Should I Be?: Part 3 Yes . . . and no

Alright, so I’ve had Battlefield 3 in my possession for a full week and when I was in Iowa City over the weekend, I played it quite a bit. It is everything that I thought it would be. Multiplayer is where it is at and it is great. BF3 is possibly the most intense and most exhilarating first-person shooter I’ve ever played. The maps are ginormous, the vehicles deadly, the weapons varied, and the battles epic. Despite all of this, BF3 simply isn’t as fun as a Call of Duty game . . . which is why I’m excited for Modern Warfare 3.

By no means will I trade in BF3 anytime soon and I’m not going to spring for MW3 as soon as it comes out (patience my friend), but BF3 simply isn’t as fun as Call of Duty. It is a phenomenal experience, but it isn’t the kind of game that I can casually play with friends. The game is so intense with craziness going on somewhere at all times. It is great to have something fresh added to the current FPS scene, but I still crave more.

Once again, the over-hyping continues and nothing is ever enough. We’ll have to see if MW3 can cure the itch. 

"What Does This Mean?"

Everyday, we listen to music that we don’t know the meaning of. It could be that we know the lyrics, but don’t understand the message (if there is one) of the song. More often than not, we are jamming to a song on the radio, in the car and we have no idea what words are being sung. That can lead to trouble.

Okay, here are lyrics from the choruses of two different songs:

“All the other kids with the pumped up kicks 

You'd better run, better run, outrun my gun

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks 

You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks 

You'd better run, better run, outrun my gun

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks 

You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet”

“I'm someone else

I'm someone new

I'm someone stupid just like you

I'm someone else

I'm someone new 

I'm someone stupid just like you”

One of these songs is about a school shooting. One of these songs is written by Marilyn Manson. Manson didn’t write the school shooting song. 

The new song by up and coming rock band, Foster The People, entitled “Pumped Up Kicks” is a song that most parents wouldn’t want their kids to listen to. Many are offended (to say the least) by the likes of Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga and they make it known. “Pumped Up Kicks” is a song that has been getting a lot of radio play lately and is considered by many to be a catchy tune. Very few have had anything negative to say about it and even fewer still have pulled it from the airwaves. 

You don’t have to lookup the lyrics to every new song that comes out (some people mess up the lyrics anyway), but I think that before you sing, or dance to, or download a song, it would be a good idea to find out what is being said. It may change how you feel about the song. Then again, it may not.

All-Hallows Eve

Once a year it is socially acceptable to dress like your favorite movie character, cross-dress, or wear almost nothing at all. And that night is tonight. What motivates us to dress up? We aren’t kids anymore. As comedian, Lewis Black, has pointed out; grownups don’t need to ask for permission to dress up anymore. You can walk into work on Monday dressed as Batman. It might not go so well, but you can do it. So what drives us?

Maybe some people are saddened by their own reality and use this one night to escape to another world. Maybe some whom may be considered prudish, decide to dress as a playboy bunny for one night to show another side of themselves. Of course, it’s possible that many people just use Halloween as an excuse to drink or smoke (as if they wouldn’t have done that anyway).

It is a simple question of little importance, but nonetheless, it is still a question that I have for our society and I don’t think that it will ever be answered. 

My Car, Monica

I currently own a 2001 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 that my grandparents bought me about a year and a half ago. Her name is Monica (yes, I named my car). She has a green exterior with a silver and bronze pinstripe on one side (it has faded off the other side) and a light gray interior with uncomfortably “firm” leather seats. In little over a year's time I have added about 10,000 miles to this car. I’ve flown across interstate 80, skidded over ice, and gotten lost in the rain. I have had some good (and bad . . . but mostly good) times in this car, but if I knew what I know now when I was looking for a car, Monica would still be sitting at the dealer.

Right now, I am somewhat knowledgable about cars. You may even call me a “petrol head” if you will. I haven't always been this way. Back in May of 2009, I felt like a deer in the headlights when I was looking for a car. I needed one fast (I had about two weeks) and it was just me and my mom looking around town. We went to a few dealers and test drove several cars. Some of these cars were nice, but were ultimately out of my price range. Others spewed smoke out of the air vents and smelt putrid. After several days, I settled on Monica and I was just glad to have my own set of wheels.

At the time, she seemed like a great buy. We were told (several times) that she hadn’t been in any accidents and were shown her “Carfax” to confirm that. She had some scratches and scuffs, but was in good shape. The interior was nothing special to speak of, but it was solid. Besides the price (somewhere around $4,000), she had low mileage for being almost 10-years-old (about 55,000 miles). Everything seemed just dandy. 

Within a week, the power seats on the drivers side broke. A month later, one of the rear windows jammed. Winter break that year, Monica had costly transmission problems (literally). By April, the same problems returned, but this time her transmission had to be completely replaced. The radio bugs out, her check engine light is on, and the speakers on one side of the car don’t work. Actually, as I am typing this, she is sitting in a shop here in Ames that is working on her transmission again. 

This past spring, I found out that I had been deceived. I found the real Carfax and it showed that my car had been in an accident within two years of being on the road. She had also had electrical problems multiple times and was frequently in the shop. It also came to my attention that she was onto her third transmission in 10 years and that there is a chance that her odometer has been rolled back (meaning she may have more miles on her than I thought). It is a mess. Since I have owned Monica, over $3,000 has gone into fixing her. I could have bought another cheap car for that.

I don’t think that everyone has to be a car freak; you don’t, but when buying a car I urge you to be smarter than I was. Get to know a thing or two about cars, take your time looking, ask questions, have a trusted, third-party mechanic inspect the car before purchase, etc. Don’t be me. Don’t spend your money on a car that will shrink your bank account and cause too many headaches to count. Don’t buy a “Monica.” And on that note, does anyone wanna buy my car?