Hello, once again my lonely blog. I was just reminiscing about my early driving days and trying to remember the exact model of my first car, a 1985 Buick Skylark T-Type, that I received at the age of seventeen. I didn't appreciate it as well as I should've then because it seemed old and a bit of a "granny car" at the time in my young and ungrateful mind. Reminiscing earlier tonight I've realized that I should send my thanks after writing this. It may seem shallow that I didn't ever thank them as far as I can recall but if you've read my previous posts, I was a bit of a troubled kid and rarely talked to anyone at all during my teenage years. When I look back, things seem kind of a blur socially and I was too troubled in my own world to externalize my empathy and gratefulness in certain ways. Though oddly I do remember things more specifically than I tend to do people. I can remember the car model, color, wheels, things like that yet don't remember my first drive or the conditions in which I received it. I don't even remember if I was given it or just to temporarily use. But it's not much of a surprise considering I tend to attach myself to things much more than people.
As far as I can remember I've had a kinship with my riding toys. I remember I had a Dukes of Hazard Big Wheel when I was maybe five years old. I can still remember riding it and crying the day it was totaled. I can't remember why but I do remember a sight that in my mind was kind of gory for such a loved possession so I'm assuming it was ran over. I can vaguely recall asking mom to fix it but receiving a reply that gave little to no hope of it and I ever gloriously power sliding on the pavement ever again. After that it's been an old beloved 50cc Y-Zinger at around the age of seven as well as various other bikes and dirtbikes. I really had a fondness for my Zinger. It was sort of akin to the relationship purveyed in The Dirtbike Kid, which I loved growing up. I sort of anthropomorphized my riding toys growing up. Of course I knew they were just dumb pieces of metal but maybe it was a combination of loneliness and an overactive, youthful imagination but it was a mindset I consciously nurtured because I wanted my motorcycle to be like the Dirtbike Kid's or like Herbie because I also loved that movie. But even if I did anthropomorphize my riding toys a bit, I don't think I really showed it. It wasn't really that odd or embarrassing. Tengentially, what was, though I may regret saying so at some point, I did tend to anthropomorphize (sorry, last time I use that word but I love it) my stuffed teddy. I used to push him around in a basket when I was probably four, if not four than probably well past the normal age to be playing with stuffed animals, and pretend he was in a race car. I'd usually revolt in some way or possibly cry if my brother hit "him"or took "him". I know it's kind of embarrassing to discuss such things but if it's for the social sciences, to let others know about the human psyche and gain some understanding or vindication about themselves and/or others, then I think it serves some global good. But to get back on point, I don't think I'm that odd in reminiscing and paying tribute in some way to the machines that get me and have gotten me where I want to go.
Americans have for the past one hundred years obsessed about their cars. Because our vehicles were and may still be the biggest proverbial vehicles to our friends, our loved ones, the local mall or meeting place, or even our way to escape the madness of society and ride down the highway into the blissful sunset listening to your favorite song, it's understandable that we've become obsessed with them.
I've read an article lately that teen driving is on the decline. There's been suggestions that it's due to the higher cost of fuel and insurance as well as the stagnating minimum wage and high unemployment. Another suggestion that I find interesting and more prone to agreeing with is that the "information superhighway" we call the internet and related technology has bridged the physical divide with a virtual bridge. Speaking for myself, I'd say this is fairly true. I've also noticed when driving through my own town and a couple of others, the popular hangouts of teenagers for the 80s and 90s are fairly empty places now.
Remember "cruising the strip" and "going out on the town"? It seems the internet is that strip and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular social sites are now the towns. People have seemed to become almost obsessed with technology as they have about their automobiles in the past. And speaking for myself again, I can very well say I have. I used to be a bit obsessed with my vehicles but the day I got a PC, that was the day I began to slowly realize that this box I'm using now will get me essentially anywhere I'd want to go in a virtual way and know almost anything I'd like to know. I got more into hot rodding it, or as PC enthusiasts call it, "modding". The first PC I built I'd try to get as many clock cycles as I could by overclocking it which I still do to this day as well as other physical mods to improve cooling and aesthetics. In some ways I'd become obsessed with having a faster PC and internet connection as I did with my vehicles. Though usually I'd only go so far as aesthetics and light performance modifications with the latter due to costs of mechanical performance improvements and associated costs of failure if done wrong. Those were a big barrier for someone not very mechanically proficient and financially challenged (read: poor) as I was and still am.
But just as fascinating, if not more, than the machines we use that get us there, I've usually been just as fascinated by the cultures surrounding it. From the first time I saw "American Graffiti", I started to be fascinated by car culture. Incidentally, it was also one of the first DVD's I consciously sought and bought. I'm not really fascinated by car culture like I used to be but my obsession with digital culture has reigned in its stead. I guess the more appropriate term would be digital cultural anthropology. Be it the gaming scene, the hardware hacking scene, the piracy and reverse software engineering scene, the online social scene, the engineering and IT scene, etc, I've found myself enthralled with various aspects of it all at differing times in my life. I think the auto lust is well behind me now but here's to you, my old Skylark that I regretfully crashed months after (long story but I'll just say at first I was a very nervous driver then and no one was hurt) for getting me where I wanted and needed to go then as well as all machines that helped man achieve feats for which he may not have done without. Also to Dad and Grandma for providing me with what I realize these days was a great first car.
As far as I can remember I've had a kinship with my riding toys. I remember I had a Dukes of Hazard Big Wheel when I was maybe five years old. I can still remember riding it and crying the day it was totaled. I can't remember why but I do remember a sight that in my mind was kind of gory for such a loved possession so I'm assuming it was ran over. I can vaguely recall asking mom to fix it but receiving a reply that gave little to no hope of it and I ever gloriously power sliding on the pavement ever again. After that it's been an old beloved 50cc Y-Zinger at around the age of seven as well as various other bikes and dirtbikes. I really had a fondness for my Zinger. It was sort of akin to the relationship purveyed in The Dirtbike Kid, which I loved growing up. I sort of anthropomorphized my riding toys growing up. Of course I knew they were just dumb pieces of metal but maybe it was a combination of loneliness and an overactive, youthful imagination but it was a mindset I consciously nurtured because I wanted my motorcycle to be like the Dirtbike Kid's or like Herbie because I also loved that movie. But even if I did anthropomorphize my riding toys a bit, I don't think I really showed it. It wasn't really that odd or embarrassing. Tengentially, what was, though I may regret saying so at some point, I did tend to anthropomorphize (sorry, last time I use that word but I love it) my stuffed teddy. I used to push him around in a basket when I was probably four, if not four than probably well past the normal age to be playing with stuffed animals, and pretend he was in a race car. I'd usually revolt in some way or possibly cry if my brother hit "him"or took "him". I know it's kind of embarrassing to discuss such things but if it's for the social sciences, to let others know about the human psyche and gain some understanding or vindication about themselves and/or others, then I think it serves some global good. But to get back on point, I don't think I'm that odd in reminiscing and paying tribute in some way to the machines that get me and have gotten me where I want to go.
Americans have for the past one hundred years obsessed about their cars. Because our vehicles were and may still be the biggest proverbial vehicles to our friends, our loved ones, the local mall or meeting place, or even our way to escape the madness of society and ride down the highway into the blissful sunset listening to your favorite song, it's understandable that we've become obsessed with them.
I've read an article lately that teen driving is on the decline. There's been suggestions that it's due to the higher cost of fuel and insurance as well as the stagnating minimum wage and high unemployment. Another suggestion that I find interesting and more prone to agreeing with is that the "information superhighway" we call the internet and related technology has bridged the physical divide with a virtual bridge. Speaking for myself, I'd say this is fairly true. I've also noticed when driving through my own town and a couple of others, the popular hangouts of teenagers for the 80s and 90s are fairly empty places now.
Remember "cruising the strip" and "going out on the town"? It seems the internet is that strip and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular social sites are now the towns. People have seemed to become almost obsessed with technology as they have about their automobiles in the past. And speaking for myself again, I can very well say I have. I used to be a bit obsessed with my vehicles but the day I got a PC, that was the day I began to slowly realize that this box I'm using now will get me essentially anywhere I'd want to go in a virtual way and know almost anything I'd like to know. I got more into hot rodding it, or as PC enthusiasts call it, "modding". The first PC I built I'd try to get as many clock cycles as I could by overclocking it which I still do to this day as well as other physical mods to improve cooling and aesthetics. In some ways I'd become obsessed with having a faster PC and internet connection as I did with my vehicles. Though usually I'd only go so far as aesthetics and light performance modifications with the latter due to costs of mechanical performance improvements and associated costs of failure if done wrong. Those were a big barrier for someone not very mechanically proficient and financially challenged (read: poor) as I was and still am.
But just as fascinating, if not more, than the machines we use that get us there, I've usually been just as fascinated by the cultures surrounding it. From the first time I saw "American Graffiti", I started to be fascinated by car culture. Incidentally, it was also one of the first DVD's I consciously sought and bought. I'm not really fascinated by car culture like I used to be but my obsession with digital culture has reigned in its stead. I guess the more appropriate term would be digital cultural anthropology. Be it the gaming scene, the hardware hacking scene, the piracy and reverse software engineering scene, the online social scene, the engineering and IT scene, etc, I've found myself enthralled with various aspects of it all at differing times in my life. I think the auto lust is well behind me now but here's to you, my old Skylark that I regretfully crashed months after (long story but I'll just say at first I was a very nervous driver then and no one was hurt) for getting me where I wanted and needed to go then as well as all machines that helped man achieve feats for which he may not have done without. Also to Dad and Grandma for providing me with what I realize these days was a great first car.
That was like a sports car, to refer to it as a "granny mobile" would be a tragedy so to speak, that car was no more of a "granny mobile" in the day than a 2014 Dodge Charger with a 5.6 ltr V8 Hemi that will go 0 to 100 in 8 secs. In short that car was a bitchin ride that any blue haired or gray haired granny would be proud of. I remember that car when it was relatively new and thought it was "cool" for its time. As for the rides you previously mentioned I can't recall all of them, seems we had numerous bikes, couple motorcycles and even a couple foot powered scooters with pegs on the rear tires for doing tricks which I never did. I can't say I ever had a first real car that I could call mine until I was past 20, I always borrowed or stole rides so never had the need to spend money, never had money for many years to buy a vehicle. I don't reflect much on vehicles, now I have a 2006 Charger and 11 Nitro but see them not as an extension of myself or a reflection of my financial standing but only as a means of getting from point A to pt B and thats all that a vehicle will ever be to me. I think as for your conclusion that the PC has taken the place in some manner of teenagers congregating or people taking roadtrips and gettng out and seeing the world is actually sad. What the computer and social media and other websites, smart phones included has actually led to the decay of our society in my opinion. When people cant eat dinner or go to the bathroom without a phone glued to them it speaks volumes, we are a society more connected than ever before by virtue of technology but are so far away from actual relationships with our fellow man. In short I believe the people of the pre-70s era were better off than we are today, they had more time to interact with each other. I have seen everything on Facebook posted except actual conversation and i see alot of people with these smart phones who I doubt has ever made a real phone call on and had a real conversation with someone, the phone and computer has taken us farther back conversation wise than it has taken us forward. This is definitely spoken IN MY OPINION>>IMO,IMO
ReplyDeleteGood response (James?) though by "granny car", I meant as I perceived it then, not so much now. That's partly why I made the post because it was a great car that I didn't appreciate as much as I should've due to, for one, not being in the know in those days to know what made a good or bad car.
DeleteAs for being "so far away" from our fellow man with technology, I don't see that. If you look at the history of communication and commutation, you'd see we're much more connected than in previous years. Granted, we can't touch each other but we can see and talk to each other. There's more to human connection than touch. In my case, it's the least I care about. Not everyone needs that and not touching people isn't the downfall of society. You could just as well argue that the knowledge communication has brought us and enlightenment it's brought has improved humanity's life in many ways. But that's up to you to limit it yourself if it poses a problem.
Myself, I keep technology as many other things at a somewhat distance and don't find it invasive. What does seem to be that way sometimes are usually the people using that technology. Just like weaponry, it's only a tool which we use. It's not bad in and of itself, just the people that use it to the annoyance of others.
If your experience with modern social digital services is only extended to Facebook, then I can see how you'd feel let down and annoyed by technology. But there's vast communities out there where you can find decent and intelligent discussion. Facebook isn't necessarily meant for "real" or intellectually stimulating conversation. If you want to get philosophical and hypothetical, we can but technology isn't necessarily meant to replace human contact. But at some point, if we just linger around and not advance ourselves technologically, we're doomed as a species; the Earth and solar system won't last forever and especially us if we're not scientifically and technologically vigilant. It's essentially the same with social, physical, and mental vigilance. We may not like that we have to keep on top of those things and we wouldn't have to if it wasn't for life's pesky problems and others trying to impede our search for what we want in life but some amount of vigilance is due course for being a human and maintaining it and the happiness thereof.
You seem to see technology as an ends to a means. For some, it's a means to an end. Some love their car and invest a lot in it financially and intellectually. To some, it's only a way to get to where they want to go. To some, their weapon is what they learn and invest in. They soak themselves in the martial arts and related subjects because that's what they love. To some, they only learn martial arts or carry a weapon to protect themselves to keep doing what they love or care for what or whom they love. Technology is just a tool also. Some, like myself love to learn about it and soak themselves intellectually in it. To some, it's only a means to some other love. I'd say for me it's a bit of both. Maybe you're looking to technology as an end to a means, maybe that's why you seem a bit resentful of it.
To add...
DeleteI can somewhat see philosophically where you're coming from. I know that if we change too much of our human qualities it can lead to some existential drama. Life is a lot of fighting for the self and others you care about and a lot of the time you may have to change to adapt. At some point we may reach a time where we've had to adapt and change, even on a personal level, that the *you* that you were fighting for is now so far removed from the *you* now that you wonder why exactly you're fighting and for whom.
You can stagnate and live and die as you are and were or you can change the self. It's a personal choice and also humanity's choice as a whole. Do we adapt to technology and maybe as a consequence create possibly intelligent life for and in our purpose as well as technology that will make us reassess ourselves or do we stagnate?
I've thought a lot about the subject and sort of see it as a purpose in my life to make technology accessible to those who want to know more about it. The more we acquaint ourselves with it as with any offensive or defensive weapon, the more we can learn to use it for our own good.
But c'est la vie. It's all good. The downfall of humanity would be all of us doing and thinking the same. That would leave a big gap for natural selection to exploit.
I had forgetten I posted here till now...I don't think its the technology that I have an issue with its just how people are letting it control their lives.Everyone thinks they need the phone glued to their hands nowdays just to post on facebook, text or play games. People have become slaves to these electronics is my short of the story
DeleteYeah, oversaturation of information, both input and output of a person, imo, can't be all that great. I think it's good to have breaks from technology and any kind of over-stimulating input for a while to help refresh the mind. Also there's not much more annoying than trying to talk to someone when they keep fiddling with their phone or being interrupted by calls. This is why I like email and internet more than more 'talk to me right here right now about this funny cat picture I found' type techs like phones, Facebook, etc. Not everything and everyone deserves an immediate audience.
DeleteHope you and your family are doing good, James. I would email sometimes but I rarely do that for anyone since my mind seems lost when it comes to casual chit chat.
We are all doing good, I'm still away from home but only a couple hours away now working 5 days a week no overtime which sucks as compared to my last plant I was in working 20 days and off 1 day lots of overtime but no time at home and was 4 hrs away so I think its better this way at least I get home often. We are all ready for some warmer temperatures, finally today it was in the 50s and that seemed almost hot. I did get the news of dads house catching fire and him and also Warren being sick and hopefully good health will find them both very soon. I think mom said dad is actually getting to start anew with a new house and all new furnishings which is good to hear if thats the case. I don't use facebook anymore I just came on here last couple days to see if anyone had messaged me about dad or Warren and figured I would be on and off quick. I hope you yourself are doing well also. I'm sure you keep busy in your own ways. I bought my kids a PowerKracker from ebay for 25 bucks. Has all the old games on it but its a piece of chinese junk for most part. You have any old Nintendos or games. We still have the Xbox360 but damn thing will freeze up sometimes when we play a particular football game on it. Guess I will get off here and you post on my facebook sometimes or send a message I will check more often or text anytime. catch you later.
ReplyDelete