Fandom Friday – Childish Gambino

Welcome to Fandom Friday, where I talk about something or someone that I like and why you should too. This week I will be writing about Childish Gambino.

 

If you have no idea who I am talking about, his real name is Donald Glover. He raps, acts, does stand up, writes for everything and is just a flat out badass. He is a true entertainer and he pulls off everything he does with glamour and integrity.

 

I’ll start off with his acting career. He goes by his real name: Donald Glover. He has been in The Mystery Team, The Muppets, on TV’s Community along with so much more. My favorite role would have to be when he played “Troy Barnes” on Community. I say this because you get a dose of him weekly and he is a very believable “High School Jock” in a community college. Glover did fantastic in getting into the role and it showed through every week.

 

When it comes to stand up, we didn’t get too much of him. He did one big show and pretty much called it quits. The show was titled Weirdo and it had a lot of “story” jokes. Don’t get me wrong, it was still super funny, but sometimes the stories got a little long. The punch lines were always good though, and he still had quite a few zingers in the stories.

 

When I say that Glover writes for everything, I mean it. The man has written so much material for everything he does and even contributes to some very big scripts in Hollywood and on TV like “30 Rock” as well. He writes his songs that he performs and they are really in depth rhymes that are creative and bold. His way with words is phenomenal and his vocabulary is far from limited.

 

Now on to his still-booming rap career. This is where he performs under the name “Childish Gambino”. He has sent out a TON of free music on his website: IAmDonald.com. Gambino really gives to the rap/hip-hop community all the time when it comes to his music. I have went to a Childish Gambino concert in Denver, CO in 2012 and it was fantastic. He puts on a great show and his music is so uplifting that you really can’t be in a bad mood when listening to it. Once Gambino found his style of voice and music, he BLEW up the game. I would definitely give CG a good listen if I were you. It’s really easy to fall in love with his music and you will be hooked from that first time. Look up the song “Do Ya Like” on YouTube, it’ll make love to your eardrums.

 

With that being said, it’s easy to see why you should start looking up some of Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s work. You never know, maybe it’ll change your life.

Rags To Riches

There is a huge sea of people who say they want to go from “rags to riches”. Usually when you hear the term, you think of people who want to make it big and make millions of dollars. They want the rich lifestyle where money is everything. However, I think this term belongs to everyone on the planet.

 

I firmly believe that everyone wants the riches. No matter where you come from, even from “riches to riches”, “rags to riches”, or even just “normality to riches”. The thing about it, is that whatever it is that makes you happy for life, should be the “riches” part of that statement. I’m not just talking about how much money you make, or how many things you could buy… No. I’m talking about eternal happiness in whatever you enjoy doing.

 

Riches is such a grandiose term that everyone puts together with money. “It’s all about currency”. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s not. Riches can be anything for that matter. Yes, for some people, it is all about the paper we live off of. But for many people, they just want a job or career that pays the bills and you can live happily off of. Well that my friend, is also riches. If you are genuinely HAPPY with where you are in life, what is stopping you from saying you have riches? Because you don’t have a treasure chest of gold in your basement? Or because you don’t have the brand new Ferrari that just came out? Well, if that’s what you want, then maybe you don’t have riches. But if you are content with everything you have and can do, what is stopping you from saying, “I’m rich”?

 

There shouldn’t be a damn thing stopping you. We have created this political definition of what riches means and made it to where when you hear the term “riches”, you automatically think money. What happened to riches being a universal term for “I am rich in my own way”?

 

Say you want to follow your dream in life, and it’s not for the money. Whether that vocation doesn’t have a lot of money to be made, whether you are the lower man on the totem pole or whatever the case may be. You will still be RICH if you truly love what you do. It’s not work anymore. You will be “well off” because you have peace of mind. Most big wigs in a company are only happy because of the money they make and think they have this sense of entitlement to “I’m better than you”. But the thing about that is, what if they only made a portion of what they do a year? Would they still be happy? Probably not. So why are they able to be happy and say they have riches, but the little guy can’t?

 

This is one of those things where, money doesn’t equal how well off you are in life. If you can pay the bills, maybe have some to save left over, and you are just HAPPY… REALLY happy… then you, too, have gone from “whatever” to riches.

 

So change your way of thinking about it. Tell everyone how rich you are. If your soul is rich with happiness, SHOUT it to the world! Say, “I’m the richest man/woman alive”! People will be jealous of you, because you are what you want to be. They will see your riches and say, “Damn, I wish I were that rich with joy”. 

The Time Machine

First off, I just want to say that I can NOT believe it is October already. This year has come and gone like a hooker sleeping with a guy who struggles from premature ejaculation. In plain words, it’s going too fast.

 

Anyway, with that being said, don’t you wish you could turn back time every now and then? Go back a week, a month, a year, or many years? For example, I would go back to high school.

 

To most, I understand that seems weird. Going back to high school where there’s a bunch of drama and stupid teenagers who think they own the world. However, if you really think back to school days, how many responsibilities did you have? Pretty much none! And it was oh so glorious.

 

Imagine how different you could make your life. I know a lot of people are in great jobs, and homes, and families and such, but there isn’t something you would want to change? Even something small like the car you drive? Or what you dressed up as on Halloween 3 years ago with your family? Or the simple Holiday present you gave to your Mom that you have always regretted?

 

High school is supposed to be when you find yourself and who you are. That’s why I think it’s such a great starting point to do it all over again. Now for me personally, it took me a couple years after high school to REALLY get going on what I want to do in life, and I could start while still IN school.

 

So where would YOU go? Or would you even go anywhere? Is your life THAT perfect right now?

 

Asking yourself this is another one of those “It could change your life” questions. It is about self-reflection and goals. So go ahead, what are you waiting for? Become the better you- go through the window. 

Manic Monday – Volume VI

CRIPPITY CRAP, IT’S MANIC MONDAY!! That’s right, it’s the worst day of the week for most people so I enlighten the mood by telling you some of the crazy shit that went on in my head this week and actually remembered to write it down for your enjoyment! Buckle up you literate reader because chances are, even I have no idea what’s about to be published!!

 

One of my biggest pet peeves is being around people who hate sarcasm or people who just don’t understand it. It’s annoying knowing that you can’t use sarcasm around them because of how often I use it. I’m very sarcastic and satirical the majority of the time. It’s fun and I don’t feel like giving it up for anyone. Hell, I don’t understand how people don’t get it. It’s typically obvious and even if it’s hidden better, it’s still easy to depict. And for those who just hate it, WHY? Sarcasm is such a great thing and should be used in almost every situation! But hey, that’s just my opinion.

 

One thing that I do not understand is: who the hell created words and names for things? I mean, they created this universal language that everyone understands… Words. For example, I want to know who pointed at a tree and said, “That’s a tree”. Why is it not a car, or bread, or purple for that matter? Why do we not look at a table and say, “That’s a great couch”? What if everything were different? I know that we would be used to it by now, but in general. Have you ever sat back and thought like this? Imagine looking at a tree and calling it a purple… it seems weird, but think, there is a chance that it could have been named that. Instead of counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 it could be Blanket, Pizza, Remote, Coffee, Baby! But one (or a few) person(s) said nay- this is the way it’s going to be. And we all know it now. How different the world would be if language were not the same.

 

Here’s a big topic: equality. There is so much I can say about equality, so there will probably be a full post on just that. But to give you a brief thought for the day, I’ll start it in Manic Monday. So, does anyone really want equal rights? Let’s say, gay rights for example. As soon as you get equal rights, you have nothing to bitch about anymore. If everything were 100% fair, would it really be fair? There would always be discrimination still, that’s one thing that will never go away. Yeah, you would be able to marry whom ever you want to, but why would you want to do that anyway? Marriage sucks! It’s a full time job, on top of your actual job. Just a thought. Though I will say that I stand by equality, which sounds like a contradiction but it’s not. I think everyone should be equal, but REALLY equal. But I’ll get more in depth with this later.

 

Here’s a simple and complex question all in one: What is Forever? Is it for life, for a while, never ending even after death? Hell, I don’t know, but then again, does anyone really know? Ponder that for a good minute. What IS Forever? Does it differ form person to person? Does it matter what the topic that forever is titling (i.e. a break up, a home, a child, etc.)? Go ahead, tell me what you think.  

Find Your Vocation

No matter what age you are, it never hurts to ask yourself, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Whether you are 10, 20, 40, or even 80; what do you want to do with your life?

 

There are three different categories that jobs could fall into. First off there is just a job. A job is what you do to earn money, support your life and buy things. A job is something you may or may not want to do for the rest of your life, or even just for a while.

 

Next there is the career. A career is what you get when you like your job, or go to school to get a degree, maybe even what you want to do for the rest of your life. But still, it’s a way to earn money and support life.

 

Finally, there is the vocation. This is most important because it is what you were born to do. A vocation is the ultimate goal in life, the biggest dream you have. Yet some people don’t know their vocation. Some people die without knowing it. So if you are one of the people who know it, don’t let anything stop you. It’s what you were BORN to do.

 

This is why I bring this up today. It’s almost like a life coaching seminar going on in my head. It’s also why I say that even if you are old as all hell, maybe even retired, you still have a vocation. Not everyone knows what he or she really WANTS to do in life.

 

I stress the importance on really getting in touch with your inner self a lot in my blog. This is one of the biggest reasons to do so; learn your vocation.

 

For example, I am in my early 20’s and I already know my vocation. I AM a writer, an actor, and a professional funny man: an entertainer extraordinaire. I AM a forever employee in the entertainment industry. I know this, and I love having high goals for my life. No matter what meaningless job I get, or hell, even whatever career I go into: it’s just to pay the bills while I work on my vocation.

 

So what do you WANT? What were you BORN to do? This is a question that most people give up on once they are in a career because they think they know. But is it really your vocation? Or are you just happy with where you are at and the money you make? What if everyone were to just stop; stop being a career minded individual for a minute, and focus on their vocation?

 

Many people would say the world would turn to shit. Nothing would get done… SOOOO not true. The world would be a happy place, a place where people get shit done. I say that because then you have the people who were BORN to do the job in the right position. And who is going to work harder than the person who REALLY loves their work? Absolutely no one, that’s who.

 

So, no matter your age, really think about the question, “What do I want to do with my life? What was I BORN to do?”

 

It will change your life forever. Guaranteed. 

What is Reality?

Nowadays, everyone seems to be trying to escape something. Most of the time, it’s the simple fact that they are trying to escape reality. Let me tell you, it’s near impossible to do and it’s not really worth it.

 

You can’t really fully ESCAPE reality. It will always come from behind you and bite you in the ass. You can temporarily, but still, is it worth it? Yeah, sometimes, depending on how you do it and what you do/how you see escaping it. But at the same time, you always come back to reality. So is it worth a temporary escape? Or should I bring up the big question of, “What is Reality?”

 

If every now and then, you go out and drink with friends, that’s fine, as long as you don’t become an alcoholic. Or if you do some light drug like marijuana from time to time, again, just don’t get that mental addiction that you always need weed to get away because reality sucks.

 

But what IS reality? What is real? Reality, I believe, is what you make it. It’s all about perception and how you take things. If you see things as bad, then to you, the reality of it is bad. Vice versa, if you see it as good, the reality is good. Isn’t that perception? So, to sum that up, reality is how you perceive it to be.

 

So why can’t everything always be taken with a grain of salt and reality is just good? What if you were to take bad situations, see the good in them, and make everything positive in some light? Doesn’t that change how you feel, and maybe then, you won’t want to always escape.

 

Oh that’s right. It’s called happiness.

 

Now I’m not saying to never go out and have a good time with friends, because well, sometimes it’s a nice change. But if you don’t have to resort to being under the influence to have a good time, then why do it ALL the time? Are you trying to impress people?

 

WHO GIVES A DAMN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK!!

 

It’s your life; it’s your perception. Your reality of life could be totally different and be good. Why surround yourself with people who are negative all the time, or even at all? If you can just shift your mind that you want happiness and inner peace at all times, why get around downers? There is NO good reason to do so.

 

If you don’t like how something is unfolding, change YOUR vision. See the brighter side of life. It’s YOUR perception. If you hate where you’re at in life, change it! It’s YOUR reality. If your heart gets broken, it’s because you let it, it’s YOUR perception. If you are getting angry, that’s YOUR reality telling you that something is angering you.

 

So what IS reality? To sum it all up, it’s what YOU believe to be real. YOU control yourself and how you feel/see things at all times, so why not make life positive? Reality is what YOU make it, only YOU determine YOUR perception of things.

 

Only YOU control YOU. Be the best YOU, that YOU can be. Be someone that YOU are proud of. Stand tall because YOU hold your own perception of YOUR reality. Be who YOU WANT to be. 

Happiness Life Hack (HLH) – Smiling

I would like to start today off with quoting a song by George Watsky;

 

“Everything is A-O-K,

Cause I’m as strong as an O-A-K”

 

I wanted to start with that because today is a day of learning for you readers. It’s been called “karma”, “the law of attraction” among many other things. Simply, I like to call it happiness.

 

I firmly believe that holding a positive attitude about everything thrown at you during the day will result in a good day no matter what. Yes, sometimes it is a lot harder than others, but it is always possible. You just need to keep on smiling.

 

I know that when times get tough, it is difficult to keep on smiling. But when the day is over, you will never regret it. Who has ever said, “I’m too happy” in a bad way? I mean, besides no one ever! Happiness is contagious and it reflects the work you do and how you live the day-to-day life. If you’re always smiling, it’s easy to be around you and it’s fun. People will want to hang out with you and spend time with you because you are positive. And hey, who doesn’t like friends, right?

 

I can give you an example from my personal life about a day that I kept on smiling. So, I woke up and got ready for work (at the ass crack of dawn mind you) and I’ve never been a morning person until recently. I was working at a hotel that I had to drive to and when I came outside to get in my car, I had two tires slashed on my car. I kept an open mind, even in the morning, and started smiling. I remember thinking, well shit, here today goes.” So I found a ride to work and back for the day, and let me tell you, work was no better. I was working with a girl that thinks she is so religious that she is like Jesus’ second coming in a woman’s body. But the thing, if you ask anyone else, she is a terrible person who just acts like she is a good girl.

 

Well, she did NOTHING at work that day but read the Bible online and participate in discussions about it. She then, when the day was ending, said to me, “Since you haven’t done anything today, would you go park these last cars then balance the cash drawer”. Okay bitch, I did EVERYTHING today, so I told her to “suck it” with a big smile on my face. She acted like I told her I was going to rape her whole family including the family dog and went off the deep end cussing me out in front of customers who were walking in the door and everything. She even went and told management about what I said and how she thought I meant it. Well, I closed out the shift for us with her angrily leaving work early. After I clocked out, management told me to come into the office, which I did, and we all LAUGHED about what happened. She then got written up the next day for not doing anything, cussing me out, and pushing religion on people in the workplace. She got fired two days later.

 

Then when I got home that day, I realized I still need to fix my car, and I was broke. So I called around, still being positive, and talked with a guy who said that he liked how I was in such a great mood, even though I had my tires cut and we got into talking about the rest of my day, all whilst smiling and laughing. The guy fixed both of my tires for FREE. It turned from a bad day, into one of the best days I have had in a long time.

 

My point is this; if you stay positive throughout whatever shit the day throws at you, good things happen. They may be big or they may be small. But they add up in the long run, and it’s always worth it to be happy.

 

So keep on smiling, there is nothing wrong with being happy. And to quote to the great Ben Roy, “Go through the window”.

Manic Monday – Volume V

CRIPPITY CRAP, IT’S MANIC MONDAY!! That’s right, it’s the worst day of the week for most people so I enlighten the mood by telling you some of the crazy shit that went on in my head this week and actually remembered to write it down for your enjoyment! Buckle up you literate reader because chances are, even I have no idea what’s about to be published!!

 

If you are a hiring manager at a job, I have some advice for you. I have noticed that everyone wants experience, but people need to start somewhere. The people with no formal training or experience will always work harder for you. They are there to learn and work hard, they are humble about the job and also determined to show you that they were hired for a reason. If you hire the person who has experience, they are cocky about their past training and think they know it all already. So my advice is to give the underdog a shot, I know he will not disappoint you.

 

I know a lot of people take a lot of things for granted, or even people for that matter. The sad fact about that; you don’t know what you have ‘til it’s gone. If it’s objects that you take for granted, you got those things for a reason at one point, why not keep using it? If it’s a person, this argument could go either way. Sometimes you have to cut the bad fruit out of your life in order to be happy and live a mentally healthy life. But there are times when there is no reason to stop talking to people. It’s like graduating from high school; some people are meant to stick around, some were just there for you a little in school. You need to make some people leave to find that they did you no good other than cause stress, but there are some people that you don’t want to take for granted. Sometimes you find good friends in people that you don’t expect even. You just need to read the best vibe you can from people and see if they are going to do you any good in the long run. If not, cut them loose, but if so, hold on tight.

 

If you are one of the people that likes to be in a relationship, when was the last time you examined your relationship to see how healthy it is? There are a lot of factors that go into relationships that make them unhealthy that most people do not know about. One thing that burned my ass from a previous relationship was that I had no privacy; no space. If I was on the phone, I had to explain who I was on the phone with. If I wanted to go to the bathroom, I had to always tell her where I was going. And back to the privacy part, each person needs to have a small separate life from each other. Nothing like another boyfriend/girlfriend, or drug dealer, or homicidal maniac; just some privacy. For example, I have a small notebook that I carry for ideas and creativity, also used as a journal if I need to vent and I’m not in Wi-Fi to post to this here blog.  Well I caught her (the girl from the same relationship) numerous times, reading my notebook because she didn’t trust me or whatever her excuse was each time. Yet, if I wanted to get back at her and threatened with going to go through her Facebook, she would throw a fit because that’s her private stuff. Does that make sense? I’m only talking to myself in my creative journal (and it’s about topics I can use for creative projects) so it’s okay to go through? All I’m saying is that if you can’t trust each other, what’s the point? Beyond that, if each person can’t have their own private life (like a NOTEBOOK), it’s time to end the relationship. (Can you start to see why I hate relationships so much? I’m jaded on them, what can I say.)

The Art Of Death

Have you ever sat back and really thought about death? Like, really in depth, battled your subconscious about the fact that one day you are going to die? It’s true, everyone will one day. Why not think about it? Better yet, why not listen to a man, who should be a psych ward patient, talk about it… because here we go.

 

I think about death a lot. If you are an avid reader of My Manic Life Online, first off, thank you, and secondly, you know that I have brought up the topic of death a lot. There is good reason that I do it too. It’s simple really, I think about death everyday. No, I’m not suicidal, no I’m not looking for pity, and no I’m not afraid of my certain doom that is my final goodbye when the curtain of life falls. I’m just… curious. I really just want to know what happens, as do most people I believe, but I think I take it too far. I know there are other people like me out there, I know ONE other person, but there has to be more.

 

The fact is this; I am not suicidal, but I WANT to die simply to figure out WTF happens when it’s all said and done. There are so many theories (a lot that I can’t even wrap my head around at all, some that I can grasp a little, and very few ideas from different ones that I HOPE are true). Does that make me insane, or am I only insane because I am making this publicly known?

 

Now, I’m trying to change and live here, in the now, but sometimes, the mind still gets curious (especially when your brain runs marathons all the time). It’s hard to get off the fact that one of the biggest things that you will ever do is die. One of which is be born into this life, the other: leave. And I’m not saying vacation; I’m saying this “flesh robot” (credit that term to my friend “Jon”) will cease to exist.

 

They say that really thinking about the fact that one day you will die can be the most humbling experience anyone can do. I believe it and I think everyone should really sit back and really think about it. Not in a negative light, it’s not meant to cause depression or sadness even. Just sit back and think about death because it should make you want to make more of an impact while you’re here, create more happiness for yourself and others while you’re here and just be a better person. There’s no reason to be sad about it, just be a better person.

 

Do I think that I’m crazy for always thinking about death and wanting to die and not wanting to in a s suicidal way? Hell yes I think I’m bat shit crazy, for many reasons. But the thing is, at least I know I can be humble when it comes to death. I’m not afraid of it; I know it’s coming. I want to know what’s going to happen, but don’t we all? Finally, I’ve sat back and thought about ceasing to exist a lot; I have my theories, I think my own thoughts, as does everyone else, but I’ve gone to the next level with it. Try it sometime, it’ll change your life forever. 

Competition Has Two Losers

There is a difference between competing and using what others do to motivate you to better yourself for YOU. I know that may seem confusing at first glance, but go ahead and read it again (I’ll wait)…

 

Okay… I say this because I think competition is good, but not ALL the time. There doesn’t always have to be a loser, when you can always be a WINNER. That sounds nice doesn’t it? Always being a winner? Damn right it sounds amazing, I always want to be a winner.

 

I imagine you asking yourself right now, “But how can I always be a winner? How do you learn anything if you never lose?” Well that’s simple my friend, it’s actually rather easy. You learn when you “lose” per say, correct? Well, you change to fit the demands of a “winner” after you are beaten by said “winner”, right? So, if you never lose, and just constantly use other people to motivate yourself to make changes in your life, rather than competing, you’re never a loser!

 

Here’s a real life example:

 

My best friend, we’ll call him Jon, and I never really compete. We (unspoken) mutually decided that it’s pointless, years and years ago. Instead we watch and inspire each other by what we do in life. We have meaningful life talks all the time and motivate each other with our words and actions to push each other to succeed, and then when they do succeed, we see that everything is possible. It motivates the other one to push harder to be on the same level of greatness. It’s not competition, it’s motivation.

 

So when Jon is doing great things, I know that I can be doing better things with my life (living happier), so I start pushing to live happier too because I know it’s possible. Then when I get there, there are two winners, never a loser. There is never a fear of losing to hold back anything because “The fear of losing means you have already lost”. Why not just motivate and always win, always be happy and healthy mentally? Doesn’t that just sound appeasing compared to being called the loser?

 

Granted if you are in a sport or real life game/competition, you can’t bend the rules to make two winners (i.e. sports, game shows, race to promotions, etc.) because there really can be only one winner.

 

But when it comes to LIFE, the game that we are ALL playing all day everyday, why can’t you rest with your head high at the end of every day knowing you’re a winner? I know I’m a winner, Jon is a winner, and I know you, too, are a winner. With that being said, start living life like a CHAMPION, you deserve it.