Yo whaddup.
Just a quick jotting down of thoughts. That's what this blog is pretty much all about right? Well I'm gonna be laid pretty bare here, but I mean c'mon I'm human you can't really fault me for being so. Right? Well I guess that's not exactly what the penitentiary system thinks. Yeah, this is gonna be a serious one. I'm in a serious mood. Take your panties out your butt-crack.
So I take luxury wherever I can get it. It's probably why I'm WAY too lazy to do actual work, I'd rather do luxury activities instead.
What are luxury activities?658Please respect copyright.PENANATVNewAlL0P
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Well I live my life by six pillars of luxury: Food, knowledge, creative expression, sex, escapism and music.
All fairly self-explanatory, yeah? I'm sure that nearly all of it is pretty easily interchangeable with anyone reading.
Food: Basically anything good you can eat: that's luxury. Just take your time eating whatever, put in your mouth and taste it. I always take a silent second with my hands on my knees, eyes closed, to show appreciation for food. It's so GOOD. I don't know how I could live without food.
Ever since my parents split, I've had two types of diets: my mom who cooks, and my father who does ONLY takeout. Yeah, literally the only thing that the kitchen was used for was sandwiches and breakfast.
Lately, however, I've wanted to take things into my own hands.
I spend most of my time in my father's household now, and so that means takeout literally every. single. day. His gf is also very antisocial, either too sick, depressed or tired to go out, and so even though going to fancy restaurants is an option, it's not usually taken. Even on the rare occasion that we do go, I remember why I try to make my meals as cheap as possible. The stuff costs. A LOT. I swear in one meal you pay for the entire tablecloth. And when it's over, I'm constantly reminded that "this is the good life", and have the bill practically shown to me. Still though, *licks lips* butter prawns. Gotta try at least once in your life.
Although there are numerous reasons, until now cooking has quite literally been banned in the household. Until recently, when I decided that I want to take pride in what I eat. It takes a while, but when you're eating greasy Chinese noodles out of a takeaway box for dinner on a regular basis, you kind of miss home cooking. And so, with the purchase of a pan (because we had ZERO proper cooking equipment) I took up making my own meals. I don't cook for anyone else though, because I suuuuck, but you know what, knowing that I spent an hour and a half more than I probably should have on a less than mediocre dish... it actually makes it taste way better. When you cook for someone else and worry about "maybe I shouldn't fry chicken in olive oil" or "I don't think that melted cheese and crushed two minute ramen noodles make a good salad", then all that becomes a "follow the recipe otherwise prepare to feel self-conscious throughout the meal" exercise.
But that's where the true luxury of food comes in. You don't only enjoy the eating of good food. Or the making of crappy food. It's a balance between the two, topped with chocolate-covered popcorn in the afternoons and chilli-stuffed Twinkies for dessert.
The best two parts about making my own food is the experimentation in the pot, and going to buy stuff.
Experimenting with food is like practicing chemistry that actually makes sense. You skim over a recipe online explaining why a tomato goes brown or how a burger patty sticks together, fill in the blanks, guess the measurements and viola three unnecessary hours of burned ingredients, impossible to clean dishes, but mostly, fun.
Shopping is also an absolute delight. To be able to go to a place where there is so much delicious food scattered on shelves, picking up a cucumber to munch while browsing the meat isle and smelling all the different spices. It's a great pass-time. Until you get to the check-out till, that is, where you see all those big numbers and regret buying that box of Twinkies.
Knowledge: a thirst for knowledge is a pretty niche thing, but when you are given free reign to learn whatever, whenever, and are surrounded by books from isle to isle, that's an indescribable joy. Unfortunately it's not something that I have much time to indulge in, because I'm in school, where I have to memorise everything that I don't care about and forget everything that I do. Sucks.
When balanced with all the other pillars, the aimless search for whatever knowledge picks your fancy is a pass-time that not only makes you feel good (like going to the gym, but for your brain) but also awakens that feeling of being a child again, where there is so much to explore and all the time in the world to do it in.
Speaking of going to the gym, I guess that physical improvement can go into this category as well. Improving not your mind, but your body, spending however long you want improving yourself, seeing the results, experiencing the literal growth. Get swol bruh. I've experienced it a bit, but I'm lazy and reading is much easier to me. The only time I exercise is when I'm watching a romantic comedy, then I have to do curls to retain my manliness. Because I am a man's man after all, with well-maintained cuticles and a mani-pedi scheduled for Friday.
Creative expression: well, what am I doing right now? 658Please respect copyright.PENANATWz5EbTlW7
Personally I get weird dreams whenever I don't express myself creatively, namely writing. For example, last night I was transported to an alternate world where zombies lived alongside humans in normal everyday functioning but were ostricised and suppressed in society and weren't allowed to talk to any normal people. I Didn't know the rules yet, although I instantly picked up the dislike towards them simply because they were ugly and looked at you like they hated your very guts like some sort of walking, whipping pile of food. I did, whoever, make friends with a hooded teenage zombie by beat-boxing with him, so not technically talking. Dayum we laid down some fresh beats. At the end we fist-bumped and parted ways. And that's how I became a zombie.
Off topic. The creative brain is not something to be ignored, is my point. Any outlet which is not structured or limited, in which you can express creativity, is a luxury. Consuming creative content works as well, such as art and poetry or fiction.
Sex: So yeah, this is the weird one. Might as well get it out of the way.658Please respect copyright.PENANAMV9G8NABN6
No one can deny the human, nay, the creature impulse for reproduction. However, there is so much sexual content available for free-market consumption that it's crazy, to be honest.
I personally don't like this type of stuff in a real-world context. I find it hard to respect someone when I have an attraction to them, so I do my best to shut off the whole thing all-together. It's bad for thinking clearly, it's bad for communicating clearly, and when you start looking at everyone like a potential partner you feel an indescribable loneliness that's a pain to live with. Just make friends. When you have friends and don't worry about relationships, you're set for life. 658Please respect copyright.PENANA1BSBgCVIFM
"But don't you want to settle down somewhere and have kids?" Honest answer? No. I can't even envisage myself being alive in the next few years, let alone in the financial position to support someone else other than myself, let alone having a solid base to build an environment to raise a child. Whenever I think about what job I'm gonna have, I picture myself on the streets. It's a difficult image to avoid. Still though, I was raised on the foundation that if you want a good relationship, never let your partner cook/clean and never have kids. Ruins any stable relationship easily. And honestly, I've seen it in action on numerous occasions, and it seems to have worked. 30+ year long relationships without kids, when my parents couldn't even last 20, let alone the parents of the kids around me. They either have dysfunctional families or broken ones. Don't do it to yourself man.658Please respect copyright.PENANAybPUJlT7lA
Every since I was, what, 15, I thought that I'd like to adopt a boy between 6 and 10 years old and be a single father and teach him everything that I know and always give the complicated answer to any question however many times it takes and introduce him to video games so that he never has the time nor the money for a girlfriend or drugs. I'd be a horrible parent.
Back on topic. Consumption of afore-mention consumerism sex is a massive luxury, and few merge both that and entertainment than the Japanese. Nuff said.
Escapism: Anything from reading novels, to watching movies, television, gaming, drugs etc. 658Please respect copyright.PENANAD02IsqSAk3
That's escapism. Escaping from your real life and real life problems in lieu of an idealised one, or a completely different one, with differing levels of immersion. I personally have a huge problem with this one, since I already have a hard time giving up luxury for actual productivity, so I tend to stay away from it. But hot damn do I love it.
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Games? Errday. The best one in my opinion. Forget your worries and your woes because here's a Fantasy RPG. Feel like accomplishing something in a MOBA. Feel real emotions for the first time in a long time with pixelated indie games that are hailed as a cult classic. You know the one. Absolutely Love video games. However, I would easily give up my entire life for them. No question, I would do well in school just so that I could make money to buy and play more games for the rest of my life. And that doesn't sit well with me. So I'd rather be a failure than an addict. That's why I quit. But this little gem called Vainglory for mobile has it's little hooks stuck in me, almost like a tapeworm. I just... can't... quite...
Novels? That used to be my life man. Until I found games of course. I have however seen too many friends give up on real life just so that they can read fiction, justifying it by the fact that it contains long words and intelligent concepts. I was one of those people. Please, reading addiction is a real thing. I wish I could get back into it though, but I've lowered my attention span to the point where a chapter feels like an eternity. I did this to myself, and boy oh boy do I regret it.
Television? Ever wondered why anime is so damn popular? I was one of those guys too, watching anime day-in and day out, during class, until 3 in the morning, in the shower even. It's another form of escapism. And although I adore a good anime, with complex emotional plot lines and interesting characters with the beautiful animation, I stopped watching it simply because I had a hard time not thinking about it at every waking moment. I wanted my friends to watch it. I wanted my mom to watch it. I wanted my dogs to watch it. Weeaboos, pls, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Ad I know you see nothing wrong, and all hail the Japanese master race, I ain't gonna tell you how to live yo life, but you gotta admit an addiction when it's there man. When it interrupts with a normal function in life, then it's an addiction. Also, clean your body pillow. It's starting to be able to stand up on its own.658Please respect copyright.PENANAYZIZ81mpFY
I also just wanna mention right here... Furries. Furrsonas. Escapism loud and clear.
Drugs? Throughout my school there's shrooms, weed, alcohol, tobacco. It's not hard to get, and it's not frowned upon. Inspections are so easy to find, and even when the school does catch you, just go clean for two months and they'll never bother you again. Again, been there.
Another thing I want to mention in passing is religion. Spirituality is a part of life, and is almost essential for the healthy person... for some reason... but I find religion to be a form of escapism, especially the organised kind with a book. This is extremely controversial in my view, and I don't bring it up with anyone I care about, but I can't knock it either. People have extremely rough lives, and a helping hand is something that isn't easy to find. My life is not hard enough for me to consider it, but I know, and have seen, enough people to, if not understand, at least acknowledge how intense pain can be. Honestly, of all of them, I can't fault religion. It's just saying money for religion that I will outright stand against.
Like I said, huge problem with this one. Not for me, nor for the faint-hearted.
Music: At the moment, music is practically bae. I have grown an appreciation for music that I never thought I would have. It's my only acknowledged pass-time, and I want to share my favourite music with anyone I hold dear to me. 658Please respect copyright.PENANADk5iotsAIn
Music helped me out of the only time that I was truly depressed, and I think it's probably what prevents me from being so again.
Honestly, if I were to have a dream title, it'd be the Audacious Author. Cause you know, I'd make music and write books.
So yeah, that's pretty much it. The six pillars of luxury. I'm pretty curious, what do you count as your pillars of luxury? Do you share some with me? Do I care?658Please respect copyright.PENANA7bkbj2pEDo
Absolutely. Legitimately, I'm rather curious. I've been operating under the assumption that I'm not alone, so I'd actually like to find out.
See you next time, I hope.
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