Mopey Monday Funnies: Post-April Fool's Day

Not that I care much about April Fool's, but it did spawn a few amusing memes:

And that's it for this week's mopey Monday.... Here's to it ending quickly!

Funnies: Mopey Monday Edition

Not only is today Monday, but I have a sore throat, I did not sleep well, and today marks the beginning of a 9 or 10 day work week. If not 12. Clearly this does not make me a happy girl. On the plus side, there are plenty of people on the internet who are just as displeased as I am, only much funnier.

 

And I hate that bastard.

 Too bad I can't get away with that shit at work. Though I'd be a turtle. Under my desk. Asleep.

 I've totally got this shit under control.

 What I wouldn't give for a movie day.

And today it feels like I designed it very well.

See ya.

Mopey Monday - Jonah Mowry

For this Mopey Monday, I'm gonna go with something that has been on my mind, and that I hope will make you think about your own teenage years with a little more compassion.

By now most of you have probably seen this video that has been circulating on Facebook walls around the world:

Pretty heart-rending, huh? I thought so too. Then this other video started circulating:

So of course, the internet at large exploded in outrage saying that Jonah lied, that he was a fraud etc., etc.

I've been thinking a lot about this, and while I'm not really sure what to think, I am not sure that the second video makes the first a fake. He says his school loves him, sure. But he doesn't say he wasn't bullied, or that he lied, or that he isn't (or wasn't) unhappy a lot of the time.

These days sad and tragic stories are so carefully told in the media. Appearance is everything - and if you don't fit the image of you that has been created (whatever that image is), all of a sudden nothing you might have stood for or said counts. But I think it's important to remember that this is a normal, real kid. He's not a celebrity with a PR company monitoring his every move. He's not a campaign. He's a real person - and a teenager at that - who is capable of being bullied and sad and unhappy a lot of the time, but who can still make a silly video with a friend in a happy moment in the safety of his own home.

Does this make his original message any less valid? Not to me. I know when I was in 8th grade I was capable of intense depression, silliness, laughter, tears and anger in the course of an afternoon. And that was on a good day. Did it make being bullied any easier, or any less wrong? No, it did not. And maybe, in the four months between when the first video was made (August - before school started) and the second one, which from what I can tell, was pretty recent (a few months into school), things actually improved for him. Which is a good thing, right?

But even if he didn't tell the truth in his first video, even if he's always been a happy, well-liked kid, I don't know if that really matters. There are so many kids out there who go through some (or all) of these things every day for their entire school careers, and if a video like this can give some of them a voice, or make them feel less alone, I have nothing bad to say about it. I wish we'd had YouTube when I was that age so that I could have seen other kids out there going through the same things. It's hard to be a teenager. And every kid deserves compassion.

Mopey Monday - Shit I Found on the Internet

The clocks changed yesterday, so I, silly girl that I am, got all excited thinking "I can trick my evil internal clock and make it go to bed a WHOLE HOUR EARLY and be one of those freaky morning people who don't growl at anyone who comes within ten feet of them on Monday!" I suppose my inner voice tempted fate, because rather than a restful slumber, 1am found me groaning and hoping that the Gravol would kick in soon. Not sure if it was a minor stomach bug or something I ate, but grumbly belly kept me up half the night. Fortunately I managed not to throw up, but every time I was starting to drift off to sleep I'd be woken up thinking I was going to.

So, of course, here I am, my usual Monday-morning self. That is to say, cranky, tired, and really missing my pyjamas.

On the plus side, I spent my extra hour on the weekend finding funny stuff on the internet. Here are a couple things that might make your Monday marginally better (sorry they're not linked - I looked at so many random sites that led to so many other random sites that I can't remember where I got them from!):

Is it just me, or does building a fort actually sound really fun?

 Even if you're all cynical (like me) you gotta at least try to look on the bright side from time to time. Right?

 It is. It really is.

 For starters, it'll make you smile like this guy.

 Great, now I'm scared of badgers as well as zombies.

Well, hopefully that cheered up yet another mopey Monday for y'all. On the plus side, if you're Canadian, it's a short week. We get Friday off to remember..... uh..... stuff. (Just kidding, I know what it's for. Really, I do.) If you're not Canadian, I have no silver lining for you. Except that you can be really, really happy for us. You're welcome.

Mopey Monday - But At Least There Are Zombies!!

 The fact that I find this hilarious is yet another reason that I should probably never have kids.

Happy Halloween, everyone! I found so many awesome Halloween pictures of ridiculous costumes, but this one is a winner. I also spent some time poking around on the interwebs yesterday looking for these awesome carved pumpkin pictures I found last year. Didn't find the same ones, but these will do:

You all want to dress like me. Halloween is the one day you can without being committed.

One pumpkin to rule them all...

Forget the zombies, that's scary right there.

The greatest romance story ever told.

And a couple of bonus Halloween Monday funnies for you:

Hope you all managed to borrow a child to take trick or treating (so you can keep all their candy "cos it's not good for them") - don't forget to check for razor blades!

Mopey Monday - Marilyn Manson Interviewed by Michael Moore (couldn't resist the tongue-twister)

In the interest of looking on the bright side, I will say one good thing about today: it's not raining. It's even looking suspiciously like it might get sunny out there. Though of course I didn't know this when I got up this morning, since it was still dark outside. Do you know how hard it is to figure out what the weather is going to do before the sun comes up? I do.

It doesn't help that I stayed up way too late on Saturday night and as a result didn't get to sleep until way too late last night either. 

 I will always identify with the tired kid in this cartoon, no matter how old I get.

So when I was perusing YouTube this weekend, I somehow ended up watching this old interview from the documentary Bowling for Columbine, in which Michael Moore explored the context surrounding the Columbine shootings. At the time, a lot of blame was heaped on Marilyn Manson. I'm not totally clear on why - it seems that the kids involved in the shootings wore clothes you might see in Manson's closet, but weren't actually fans of his music. (????) At any rate, because of all the public criticism heaped on Manson at the time, Moore interviewed him for the film.




You can say what you want about Marilyn Manson's appearance, music or general weirdness, but the guy eternally got my respect after I watched this interview. Not only does he discuss a tragic circumstance with eloquence and sensitivity, but he has obviously put more thought into it than many of those who accused him of being responsible. It's easy to respond to a tragic event by making it about ourselves. The effect it had on us, why we think it happened, who we place blame on, how it's made us afraid to go to school or work in the morning. But somewhere in the middle of all this we lose sight of the actual people who were involved in it. This doesn't mean we don't care, it just means that we're making sense of it through the lens of our own experience. It takes a special kind of person, in my opinion, to take a step back and re-focus on what the kids themselves were going through.

Though it isn't exactly a cheerful antidote to a mopey Monday, I find it to be an inspiring and eye-opening lesson that hopefully will make people stop and consider the assumptions they've made about people's intelligence, personality or perspective based on faulty first impressions. Sometimes we all need a little reminder.

Musical Musings

So I had a nearly sleepless night on Friday. Again. I thought the worst of my insomnia was behind me, but apparently it's lingering. One of the benefits of having an Android is being able to browse YouTube in bed, which I did until I decided to give up and just get the fuck up. I proceeded to listen to some of my favourite songs - and discover some new ones - until about 2 a.m. I figured since I wasn't sleeping anyway, y'all might as well get something out of it, so I put together this post. Plus writing often makes me sleepy. So here you go.

1. 

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks (Acoustic)

J. showed me this on Friday and I loved it - though I only really like the acoustic version. I had it stuck in my head all day Saturday, so it must be good.

2. 

Plan B - Prayin'

I re-discovered this album (The Defamation of Strickland Banks) last week and it has pretty much been the only thing stopping me from kicking the living crap out of someone on the bus. So thank you, Plan B, your song about killing someone stopped me from doing just that.

3. 

Incubus - Drive (Acoustic)

If I absolutely had to pick a favourite song of all time, this might very well be it. I never get sick of listening to it and I even like the lyrics. If you haven't heard it before there's something seriously wrong with you, enjoy.

4. 

Atmosphere - The Best Day

While "Drive" is possibly my favourite song, Atmosphere is my favourite group. This is who I recommend to people who don't think hip-hop can be poetry. I listened to this song a lot back in the Spring, and it cheered me up on unseasonably drab days. It also fits my general cock-eyed optimism about accepting the crappiness of real life.

5.

Staind - Outside (Acoustic)

Yes, another acoustic. Seeing a trend here? This one is a throwback. You know, that phase everyone goes through as a teenager where you feel all alienated from everyone because no one could possibly understand how complicated and unique you are. Don't try and deny it, you all know what I'm talking about.



6.

People Under the Stairs - San Francisco Knights

The first time I came across PUTS was in a graffiti movie that had this song was the soundtrack for the opening credits. I fell in love the second the beats hit. They've got lots of great songs, but this one will always be my favourite.

7. 

Mutemath - No Response (Live)

Granted this isn't a very good quality recording, but just look at the drums! Pretty impressive, huh?

8.

Foo Fighters - Pretender

Another throwback song - this is one of the best songs to play when you need to let off steam. Though I'm never quite sure what's happening in the music video, it's visually stunning. Also apparently J. looks like Dave Grohl. (Though it's mostly the beard.)

9.

Adele - Hometown Glory (High Contrast Remix)

Believe it or not, this was the first exposure I had to Adele. It was on the Misfits soundtrack (if you haven't watched the Misfits yet, you really should. Aside from being an awesome show, the soundtrack introduced me to some of my all-time favourite music).

10.

Nirvana - Come As You Are Unplugged in New York

Everyone from my generation loves Nirvana. EVERYONE. So it's not exactly original, but it is damn good. Unplugged in New York was the first Nirvana album I ever owned (on cassette tape. Yes, I am that old.) and has so many memories associated with it. I can't listen to it without being transported to a 14-year-old me. Which is both good and very awkward.

11.

Common - Come Close (Ft. Mary J. Blige)

Just because it's really sweet, and occasionally I do like a little bit of romance... Also I think Mary J. is gorgeous. (Common ain't bad either.)

12. 

Florence + The Machine - What the Water Gave Me

We've all been waiting with bated breath to hear what Florence would do next - this is it. For those of you who don't know, Florence and Adele are two British songstresses with voices that are out of this world. Both incredibly powerful, they get under your skin and stay there.

13.

Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Live)

Okay, so here's Adele un-mixed. I love this video, not only because this song is fantastic (seriously, who doesn't love it?), but also because if you watch her facial expressions you can see that despite her angelic voice, this gal has attitude.



That's it! Hope this cheered up a mopey Monday!

Mopey Monday - & Extreme Weather Warning!

Not only is it Monday - never the funnest day of the week - but we've also gone from warm (albeit uncharacteristically humid and muggy) weather that necessitated air con, to weather so foul that there's actually a wind warning in effect. And so much rain you'd drown in 30 seconds flat if you looked skyward with your mouth open.

So I figure it's the perfect day for a little bit of this:



I'm sure you'll all remember that in my last "Mopey Monday" post I shared a picture of my bright pink toenails. Now that summer's over, I need a little bit more than the knowledge that brightness exists - I need to see it. So this week I've painted my fingernails a dramatic red known as "Concubine":

You can't really see it in this pic, but it has sparkles, too. Which normally I'm not a fan of, but on a day like today makes me think of Christmas which is a cheerful thought.

Now, back to work. :-(

Mopey Monday

It's Monday. And it really feels like it. So what's cheering me up? This video, for one.




Also I finally caved and got me some neon pink nail polish last week. I keep seeing girls with neon nails and for some reason I find them very appealing. Maybe I'm just a sucker for anything bright. But whatever the reason, I really wanted to try it out. Though the shade is a little to ostentatious for work, I painted my toenails - and somehow just knowing that they're all bright in my shoes cheers me up. Shhh. It's our little secret.