Conrad Smith Is A Smart And Talented Taranaki Boy, So I Have A Lot Of Time For Him And Will Forgive Him

Conrad Smith is a smart and talented Taranaki boy, so I have a lot of time for him and will forgive him for most things. 

Except this. Socks and sandals? In Hong Kong? During Summer? No, Conrad. No.

Things I have learned from my time on Twitter

The best thing about having a blog is that I can write what I like, when I like. Because it's my blog and I'm not using it to fund my livelihood (...yet. Hahaha!). So this means I get to write about things that I give a damn about without thought of an audience. Usually it means I use this as an outlet to work through things. In fact, that's how this whole thing started - as an outlet to get through a rather shit time in my life. At the beginning of last year I remembered that I had a twitter account that I barely used. This was mostly because I didn't really get it. As a result, I decided to challenge myself and throw myself into the medium to see what happened and if I'd eventually understand it. What eventually happened was that I used twitter as an outlet to get through a rather tumultuous time in my life. I'm reporting back over a year later. It's been quite an experience and has been a rather fab and, dare I say it, essential part of my life during that time. I've found out tips, tricks and recommendations on a variety of subjects. I've won beauty products, wine, food and vouchers. I've watched a community pull together in the aftermath of a tragedy. I've made amazing friends who've been incredibly supportive and bought some real joy and sparkle to my life when I needed it most. I love those guys. There have been some real down-times too. I've done embarrassing things that I'm still reminded about. I've experienced the weird high of getting 100+ RT's and the abuse that followed. I've met people who seemed nice online and were rude in person, then subtweeting assholes online. I've been upset and let down by situations that held so much promise. I've been hurt and in tears over things people have said to me or about me or even done to me. Those times really sucked. But overall, the whole experience has been quite positive. The good times have far, far outweighed the bad times.

People are the same everywhere, whether it's online or in person. It's a generally accepted rule that an online persona can be very different from a real-life persona. A quiet, shy and rather nice person can be one tough motherfucker online. The girl who is generally ignored and not hit on can escape online and try to morph herself into some seductive temptress. But above all, everyone is the same. It's generally not hard to see what people are really like. If you become involved in Twitter for long and heavily enough, your persona will slip at some stage. People will see you. People are just as transparent online as they are in real-life.

There is no substitute for authenticity.

There are "Nice Guys" there too - those bastards are everywhere! They are also to be avoided like the plague. For reference, actual nice guys never advertise that they're nice guys. Actual nice guys don't finish last. I'm talking about those other "Nice Guys" who rush to defend or reply to everything you write. What I'm really saying here is, there are creeps here too. Don't give them your phone number or any of your contact details, don't meet them in real-life, but if you do, make sure someone knows where the hell you are and will come get you. Don't be stupid when meeting people. 

It's personality based. Your pic may attract people, but your personality will keep them coming back.

Good looking girls will always be popular. In real-life and online, forever and always. People are attracted to pretty. Make peace with that already.

You will find your niche. If you put the work in, it will reward you ten-fold with a group of people that you can happily talk with at any time and who even seem to like you. It's a great feeling.

It is absolutely possible to make friends on the internet. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to break out of their narrow mindset. It's possible to make friends anywhere! Twitter people are real people with real feelings and real emotions, some of whom you will like enough to strike up a friendship with. How awesome is that?

Just as it's possible to make friends, it's possible to lose them too. As it is in real-life, so it will be online.

There's no such thing as 'deleted' on the internet. I can't emphasise this enough. If you tweet something or put up a picture that you may regret, then it's out there forever. Yes, someone will find what you've written or a damning pic you've put up. Yes, you will be judged by it. Be prepared to stand by everything you put up there or don't put it up at all. In other words, don't be a stupid fucking idiot.

It is what you make of it. Your TL is unique to you and is something you control. If you don't like it anymore, change it up! Too much negativity? Either hange your outlook or change your TL. Or both. Take a break. Don't blame the medium for losing it's sparkle. After all, you're the one who controls it.

At the end of the day, this is no substitute for a real-life and connections with real people. It is however, a really nice complement to it and a great way to kill time while on public transport. It's not dangerous, it's not scary and it won't wreck your life unless you let it or use it that way. It's just social media. Just have some damn fun with it!

This made me so sad. How awful

White privilege is making comments such as “You worship cows, don’t you?” when a fellow Hindu classmate in your food and nutrition class says they can’t eat/ make anything that has beef as an ingredient.

White privilege is not having your teacher force you to make spaghetti with ground beef in...

As the generational divide deepens, it makes sense for the older generations to stake their claim now, while they have the power of the state on their side. Aside from handing out more than 10,000 Asbos (Antisocial Behaviour Orders, a cross between a human parking ticket and the sort of condemned notice you sometimes see on the walls of derelict buildings), the petty misanthropy that bans hoodie-wearing teenagers from shopping malls, forces parenting classes on failing single mums, and allows 79 percent of police forces to impose curfews on children, comes easily to a nation that thought up the idea that its young should be seen and not heard. But never before have we put them under this degree of surveillance while simultaneously turning a blind eye to our adult responsibilities. Satellites track their phones, marketeers groom them on cyberspace, police add the DNA from 600 innocent children a week to a 50,000-sample database, while libraries fingerprint them to borrow books – all linked by rafts of new childhood databases joining the dots. In an age of hyper-individualism we are recoiling from the very children we have created. Monitoring is not enough, we must be protected from them.

On the way to work this morning, I happened to be walking behind a guy who was doing that thing were you start singing along to whatever song you're listening to through your headphones.

He was listening to 'All I Wanna Do' by Heart (conveniently posted above in youtube form). Brother was really going for it too. I wouldn't have been surprised if his eyes were closed as he belted out the chorus.

I don't blame him. It's a great 80's song with a great 80's video. They don't make 'em like they used to, kids.

Are you someone who holds a camera up in a concert and then wonder why everyone hates you? I'll tell you why.

It's because you're an asshole. No no no no, don't shake your head and tell me some excuse about how you give money to charity and blah blah blah. You are.

You blocked the view of someone who paid a lot of money to get there and experience the awesome experience of live music by a musician that they love by sticking your piece of shit camera in their fucking view and then you were incredibly perplexed, annoyed or you laughed at them for getting rightfully fucking angry because you are an asshole who ruined their experience by failing to realise that the other people there were just as deserving of an amazing time as you. In fact, you probably justified your actions by some pathetic and weak ass excuse. 

Don't justify it. You're an asshole. Now get the hell out of my way!