Food For Food

When it comes to food and family tradition, I don't really have much. Sure, my family has a Thanksgiving meal with all of the standard items like turkey, mashed potatoes, and rolls, but its not at the same location every year or with the same people. My family has no traditional meals that have been passed down through generations or have cultural sisignificance (beyond the aforementioned Thanksgiving). We'll get  together for Christmas, Easter, or any other major holidays or special occasions when called for. But the meals for those events are random, picked by whoever volunteers to cook at the time and whatever household volunteers to host.

Outside of major events, food has never held much significance as tradition. Growing up my parents would fix meals for my brothers and I, often having us all eat together. The older we got, the more that we were on our own to fix whatever we wanted to eat, or go out and buy something. Chinese, Mexican, Italian, we never really focused on any specific genre of food, but just ate what we felt like at the time. Most of what we ate would be prepared at home, take-out or restaurants were fairly uncommon. No specific food was connected to any specific traditions, and there were no traditions in how we ate the food either.

Food is what we eat to survive. Eating it can be pretty enjoyable, too. It can be used to supplement many family events. But there is no significance in the food itself or its involvement in the event. It is what it is: food.

Driving in Traffic is a Community

Driving in traffic is a community. Traffic in the broad sense, not just when everything has slowed down to a standstill, but any time you share a road with another person, whether they be in a car, on foot, or anything else. Of course, when people think of communication in traffic, they only think of angry shouts, hand gestures, and horns. Just as our bodies have a language, so do vehicles. The way people drive is a form of communication, and there are numerous unspoken interactions. Getting from point A to point B is the primary goal of almost every driver. Most drivers don't want to be slowed down, but hopefully the majority also want to stay safe. Mistakes or miscommunications can be dangerous, even deadly, not just to the ones who makes them, but any around them. 

For many, driving in traffic is not a choice, but something they must do. Public transportation is not always an option, or at least not practical. It may be only one day a week, or every day that they have to drive. For me, I have classes at school four days a week, and live 12 miles away. Public transportation would nearly quadruple my travel time, so I have to drive. Driving for me is not a joy, or a hassle, but simply something I must do to go places in this world.

Wallet Full of Nothing

My wallet contains: 23 dollars, driver's license, credit card, library card, house key, and business cards. Overall, not much. The wallet itself is very worn out leather. Obviously, the driver's license tells plenty about who I am, but it doesn't give much insight into my actual identity. The money is generic and wouldn't say much either. A house key might make them think I don't have a car, since if I did the key would be on that keychain. Its not correct, but its what they might think. Not every person has a library card, but they are common enough to not necessarily say anything specifically about me, and the credit card is the same.

That leaves the business cards. All of them are the same, copies of my own business card that my dad made for me partly as a joke. The card is for the Mill Creek Yacht & Polo Club, and lists me as the CTO (Chief Technical Officer). Stuff like my email address, phone number, and geographical coordinates are on it. I'm not a member of the club itself, but I created the logo, set up the website, and email for it. A random person wouldn't know all that, but would think I was a member of the club. Which would make me seem like some posh, rich person. An old, beat up wallet doesn't fit with that, and neither does the age they would get from my license - 19.

In the end, nothing in my wallet would paint a very clear picture about my identity. There are no objects in my possession that would accomplish anything of the sort. Part of the problem is that I don't know how I would actually define myself. Some people use religion, some use family, some use places. I don't view myself that way. Nothing I have is of value to me as a being. My life is one of detachment.

I've Got a Blog

Well, time for the cliche first post explaining the title? Well, I've got nothing. Creativity in our society is being drained by the sheer number of people in one location: the internet. Everything has been done before, and everything will be done again. I can be a fairly creative guy, but coming with a unique title for a blog, when there are a few billion titles already out there and I don't even know yet what the blog is really about, is pretty difficult.