Since when did talent have anything to do with our input?

I know it's been too long since I've posted, but I've been busy.

And yes, that would mean busy pursuing hobbies that most people here probably don't care to hear about. Oh well. If you're reading this, you've already decided to waste some time, so...on with the show.


I went longboarding for a few hours straight with a good friend of mine - which, I must say, was something I needed. All of Spring Break my parents were out in Colorado and Wyoming while me and my brother got to maintain ourselves for three days. I know that, to most, this would sound like a good deal; while it indeed was a boon, I disagree that it was really what I wanted. I mean, I kind of just went to rot. I did all of my studying within the first day, and then I just sat around, trying to entertain myself by rereading old books in my bedroom shelf. This doesn't work too well, since I do it so often - there's hardly anything in my house that isn't completely familiar to me. The only truly entertaining thing to do was to go back to the commune UVU, and do some gaming.

Yes, I'm a gamer. No, I don't play just popular titles, or because some magazine tells me to buy this. I game because I love to play video games. I play obscure crap. I pirate whenever I can. I don't care what you have to say about my gaming habits, because most people don't know anything about gamers.

Which is another thing. I hate stereotyping that way. It's easy for someone to think to themselves, I don't judge. But when you're out there in the real world, we do it anyway. Hell, I even do it. I hate thinking about it later, and it ashames me when I'm wrong about people like that, but we do it because it's functional. None of us want to mentally analyze strangers, because it's too much effort - thus we class them. And most of the time, nothing ever comes of it. That's the beauty of assumption - it's right until somebody says it's not.

But, anyway, I digress. My point is, it's a hobby. Like drawing, or tennis, or longboarding, or blogging, or fill in the freaking blank. It's what I do when I have spare time. So, when I have an excess of time, I don't have to think about what I'm going to do.

And this is precisely why being busy is so important in our lives. There aren't a lot of people that are very productive by themselves - but when they're pushed to, they will do so and be satisfied. I missed that when my parents were gone. I hate to say it, but being forced to work kept me sane and, to a strange degree, healthy. Even though we don't seek to work, we still feel rewarded when we get a grade, or take a paycheck home, or frame up our latest sheet of paper that indicates our effort and skill. It's part of being human, I think, to be able to enjoy the fact that we have proven ourselves - not necessarily because of what we've proven, but because of the metaphysical implication it has. We enjoy seeing the fruits of our efforts because we got the tree to grow something in spite of ourselves. It's proof of our presence and the impact we can have in this world.

Notice, though, that I didn't mention anything about talent.