Live Without Regret.

Live without regret. A phrase oft repeated on facebook statuses and inspirational stories that plague the internetz. It sounds awesome because the feeling of regret sucks, so a life where you live with no regret sounds great! I take issue with it though on a few levels.

The first thing that bothers me is how much 'fate' is called into play. What happens happens and I have no control over any of it. I blindly move through life letting life make the calls or deciding based on my present feelings. Fate with decide my life. The argument I hear often is that experiences make us who we are today, therefore I shouldn't regret my past at all. I understand that our past shapes who we are. What I don't understand is how everything becomes forgivable since apparently to regret a past experience or decision is to regret who we are today.
I'm good (for the most part) with who I am right now, but there are a few things, that if I could go back, I would do completely different. In one case (a relationship), I would not even contemplate even hanging out with her the first time. In fact, I'd choose never to know her at all. Would I have changed things? Yeah. Did the experience shape who I am today? Yeah. Is it a regret? Hellz to the yeah. But do I let it fill my thoughts and live in a perpetual state of regret? No. And that is where I diverge from common thinking. Regretting something doesn't mean living in a constant, masochistic state of regret and anguish. It is simply recognizing that the decision you made brought about more harm than good. Sure it shaped who you are today, but the other option would've also shaped you, so why go through the pain? I learned from my utter stupidity in dating that girl. But wouldn't have gone through a day of it just to learn what I did learn about myself. Not worth it. There are easier ways to learn. There are easier ways to live.


The second issue I have with living without regret is it's tendency to remove a sense of responsibility for your actions. You no longer see decisions as right or wrong. You simply see them as decisions. McDonald's or Burger King? A left at the stop, or a right? I can admit that some decision I've made have been the wrong decision. Asking that girl to hang out was the wrong decision. Actually, asking her to hang out wasn't the wrong decision. Staying with her even when I knew she was nothing but a big vat of trouble was the wrong decision. It wasn't just a left at the stop that ended up in the bad part of town. It was wrong for me to take the left.
But some don't see that. They only see experiences and decisions as just that: experiences and decision. Amoral.

The last issue I have with living without regret is that people use it as an excuse to do stuff. They say yes to every situation presented to them almost in fear of regretting not saying yes. Sure, I'm sure some things are good, a new job for instance. But a lot of the other stuff is just stupid crap. There needs to be a sense of discernment when you're given an opportunity. But unfortunately, people say yes to everything. Then things go south but they apparently don't regret it because it is just an experience. There is no right or wrong. Just life.

False. Show some damn responsibility for your life. Regret things you did wrong, learn from them, and move the hell on. After all, regret is natural. It reminds us not to make the same idiotic decisions time and time again.

Godspeed.
Ethan.

Not Being a Crotchety Old Man. Day 30-something.

So yeah. I abandoned my initiative about a week into it. I found that, while I was positive the whole time, not getting to angry at anything, I lost all life I had in me. I lost all passion for anything good or bad. I didn't get angry on the road, but I also didn't get excited when cool or good things happened. So I abandoned it.

But on the plus side, I've been pretty positive aside from a few instances where I couldn't contain myself anymore. I just don't make it a point to feel no anger in my day to day.

So that's how that worked. If you did something like this and it worked better for you, let me hear your story.

Godspeed.
Ethan.

Not Being a Crotchety Old Man. Day 2.

My positivity experiment is going well. Though, I haven't had much to complain or get angry about. Usually I get mad about dumb drivers and I haven't been driving much the past couple days. I was kind of mellow today at work. I wasn't grumpy, but I wasn't having loads of fun either. Just one of those days I guess.

Things That Tested My Patience Today:

A resident that never immediately tells me what she wants, but rather what she doesn't want and why. I have a lot of people to feed. But I kept my cool pretty well.

A coworker that seems to know a lot and follows the rules to the letter when they are beneficial to him/her.

That's all.

This would be cooler if people read. But, hey. That's okay.

30 Day of Trying to be Positive and Not a Crotchety Old Man. Day 1.

So, I'm 20, almost 21 and I've realized (and so have others) that I'm basically a crotchety old man in a young, hot body. This worries me. I'm in my prime. The world isn't as bad as it seems, and I shouldn't be seeing the bad side of everything yet. I should still approach the world and my interactions with it in a positive light, doing my best to see the light side of things. So with that, I'm embarking on a 30 day experiment to see what kind of effect being positive has on me. It's going to be tough. For a couple years, I've been ranting about everything. But I think I can do it.

Talking Points:
- Be more encouraging. I'm a nice person I think, but I rant about everything, and am very sarcastic. So I will try to genuinely encourage people more.
- Don't complain so much (more on that later)
- See the light side of things
- I think that's it.

*Don't complain so much. This is the clincher. It's going to be tough. I'm not used to not complaining at things that get me heated. I will try to stop when I start getting annoyed and say to myself, "What's the good side of this. And, in the long run, does it REALLY matter? Really?"
But to help me through this, as I think it would be unhealthy not to complain at all, I'm going to blog about things that annoy me. When I sit down to give updates each day, I will also include things that annoyed me and why. Give a little venting room for myself. That way, I don't have to vent to my friend's faces. Mm, also, I think I will include things that made me above-average happy. Not just, "Oh, I saw a funny commercial that made me laugh." More like, "Someone gave me a billion dollars."

It's going to be difficult. I may die. Just thinking about the things that usually get me riled up is getting me riled up. But I think this will be beneficial to myself and to my relationships with others and the whole world.

EDIT 5.23.11 First day went well. I didn't have much to complain about though. I did get hit in the head with a can at work, and that hurt and made me mad. But I got over it fast and tried to keep calm. Worked pretty well actually. Let's see how things go tomorrow.

Until tomorrow,
Ethan.

Probably the weirdest post to date.

And hopefully as weird as it ever gets. I had a thought tonight whilst watching African Cats with a couple of good friends:






Wouldn't it be better if us guys had our ball junk internally? I mean, boy, that would really solve a lot of pain issues. I see no reason this wouldn't be better. It would all be routed the same, just internally. Sure, you'd still want to wear a cup, still gotta protect #1, but it's not like the twins actually do anything. Kinda just hang there and get in the way.





I'll probably regret posting this in the morning. But it's not morning yet. So enjoy. And yeah, hopefully this is as...oddball (get it? Puns) as it gets. So no need to get.... teste (get it?). I'm going to go hit the sack now (get it?) or hit the hay as it were. Testicles.

Night.
Ethan.

UPDATE 5/16/11 Indeed I do regret posting this. But I can't take it down at this point. It's not how I roll.

Julie Zorrilla

I just wanted to point out that, Julie, if you find this, that I thought you were awesome and I wanted you to make it to the top 12. You're so pretty and a great singer! I hope you continue to sing.

That is all. :)

<3

Ginger Ale

I am a ginger ale fiend. Whenever I can get my hands on a new kind of ginger ale, I'm all over it. I am referring to 'golden ginger ales.' These are ginger ales that have a very robust ginger flavour (or should at least) and are often made by fermenting ginger pulp along with sugar and sometimes other spice.

'Dry ginger ales' are those like Canada Dry, Seagram's, and the like. These were created during the prohibition as a mixer and have much less of a ginger 'kick' than golden ales.

This post documents the golden ginger ales I have tried so far, with the addition of Vernor's, a dry ginger ale, that I've added because it is a sort of midwest/east coast novelty for me.

I've reviewed these ginger ales in terms of flavour, heat, colour, and the presence of ginger pulp.

The Ginger People's Ginger Beer: Warm, dark, smoldering is how I'd describe it. Strong ginger flavour balanced nicely with sweet. The heat seems to build as you drink it. Contains ginger pulp. Milky hue. Top 3

The Ginger People's Lemon Ginger Beer: Very similar to the original GP's ginger beer, but perhaps brighter and cleaner in flavour. It is in a green bottle and that alone sways my senses to a cleaner taste vs. the brown bottle of the original. Still has a strong presence of ginger and is quite delicious. Contains ginger pulp and is clear when ginger pulp is settled, though I believe takes on a milky hue when the ginger pulp is dispersed.

Blenheim Red Cap Ginger Ale: Spicy, bright, intense, clean. Real spicy punch on first sip. Subsequent sips are also hot (though one can grow accustomed to it over time...though last time I drank the last 1/4 of the bottle fairly quickly and my mouth was hot for quite a while afterwards). Good ginger flavour, though, to me, the spice of the ginger is largely supplemented by some third party spice. No ginger pulp. Rich amber colour. Top 3

Cock and Bull Ginger Beer: Similar to GP's Ginger Beer, but not quite as strong to me. Still very delicious. Same warmth of GP's. Perhaps more ginger flavour though? I'd have to try it again. Contains ginger pulp. I believe milky hued as well (it's in a dark bottle dontcha know!)

Reed's Ginger Ale: Not my favourite. Not that strong, and it has a weird flowery/honey flavour that I'm not accustomed to. And believe me, I tried. I got a 4-pack for Christmas. Kinda had to force myself to drink it all. It was fine going down for the most part (though mild), but the breath out had that weird flowery smell/taste. Wouldn't buy again. Contains ginger pulp. Clearish I believe.

Oogave Ginger Ale: Made with agave nectar as sweetener, this ale (which I'm drinking as I type) is very desserty. Think a mild ginger ale meets cream soda. Or simply a ginger ale with added cream. Very mild ginger flavour. It's very good, though not what I was expecting. I would drink one of these after dinner as a sort of dessert. It's very good. Not what I had in mind, but it's good. No ginger pulp. Slightly milky colour, taking whatever hue is behind it.

Vernor's: This is a good ginger ale, though I really think it borders on a dry, if it isn't classified as such already. The bubbles will make you cough, VERY spicy bubbles, but somehow, the drink itself is very mild. Heavily carb'd. I'll have to try a full one though, I only had a sip of my mom's (one of my presents to her (6-pack), she grew up with it, so I don't want to impose on her present:) ) Golden colour. No ginger pulp.

Fentimans Ginger Beer: I was really looking forward to trying this one. At the local Market of Choice in Corvallis where I have purchased all of these ales (save Vernor's), a four pack of Fentiman's was almost $10. Or about $2.80 ish for one bottle. Compared to The Ginger People's Ginger Beer at about $6 for a four pack. Here's the kicker: Fentimans is only 9.3 oz. Compared to all the above which are 12 oz. bottles. I figured I was going to hit ginger ale paydirt.

What I found was a ginger beer, that, while still very good, did not approach the complexity of flavour or spice that most of the above accomplished. It was only slightly spicy and unfortunately left me with a 'blah' feeling. It surpasses Reed's, but for the price, is a very mediocre ginger ale. I believe it also possesses a milky hue (housed in a very dark bottle). Contains ginger pulp.

I must say though, that it has the most interesting bottle of all. Short and squatty, and adorned with the words "Botanically Brewed" and wrapped in traditional looking stickers. Very classy. I will be sampling their other soda offerings as they market some very interesting sounding drinks.

Sprecher Ginger Ale: This one interested me as is has a penguin and blue flames on the label. This is the most 'wallet-friendly' ginger ale I've come across a around $1.70 ish for 16 oz. But compared with the other offerings, you get what you pay for. That shouldn't come across as saying it's a bad ginger ale, just that it isn't at the caliber of some of the above-mentioned. It was a very even-stevens ginger ale that had a bit of spice, nothing to write home about, and a good ginger flavour. At 16 ounces though, it was perfect for drowning away my sorrows of a poor calculus test taken earlier that day. If my memory serves me right, this one did not contain any ginger pulp.

I'll add to this post either with a series...I've always wanted to have a running blog series... or just by editing this post... but thinking about it. I'm going with the series. Hooray! I'm hoping to give homemade ginger ale another shot, this time with brewer's yeast and not instant. I'll return with results.

Ethan.