Well, College Was Useless

I realized that my blog is called THAT ANGRY BROWN GUY. I haven't written in my asshole/'angry brown guy'/dipshit alter-ego. Well, he's back. You are welcome, Umairica.


It’s the first time I have been following the Olympics. I love how passionate and dedicated everyone of these Olympians are. I realize I am not excellent at anything. I am decent at a few things, but not awesomely awesome! 

Lesson? A business (and majority of college degrees) degree will more than likely lead you to working for some chump companies just to make an average life, while some C-levels make crazy money of you and all your fellow subordinates. True, you can eventually be a C-level, if that is a goal, but more than likely, you run a company that doesn’t do anything special or innovative. Yeah, Negative Ned is in town, to show you how horrible your life is. 

You are never going to be a Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerburg. Give up, bitches!! Did you see the Mars landing of CURIOSITY yesterday? Did you see how excited all the people at NASA control center were? You will never feel that accomplished or excited with your job. You will never work in the team that is on the quest for the ‘God-particle’; now that level of ambition is alien to you and all your loser friends!! 

Yeah. Sit down. Talk about sports, watch more TV, buy more things, be more in debt, waste your weekends and money drinking beer. Dream about traveling the world, and making a difference. Dream about making money that you will eventually waste on useless things. 

Hey you. Yeah I am putting you down. Don’t worry. I am there right next to you. 

Fuck this. Things I should do: cancel cable, cut down/out drinking, surround myself with creative-types/solo-entrepreneur/idea-men, etc. 

But that’s not going to happen.  Let’s all shop at Wal-Mart and eat at Chilis. 

(whomp whomp)

The chase is on…

I never really thought about death prior to this year. Leah, a best friend to someone I care about, passed away last month. Famous deaths that stood out for me were MCA from BEASTIE BOYS, and just recently, Tony Sly of NO USE FOR A NAME. Sure, it seems unfair to put two people I have never met up there with someone I did know. But each brings a different experience out to the open.

Why did MCA and Tony Sly effect me, considering I didn’t know them personally?

You know how music works. Sometimes it just cuts to the core. I was 15 (circa 1995) when I really grasped BEASTIE BOYS. That started my obsession with turn-table hip-hop (Tribe Called Quest, Hieroglyphics, Jurassic 5, DJ Krush, etc). Every party I have thrown, I have included my favorite BB tracks in the mix. BEASTIE BOYS were very open of about their positive faith and outlook of humanity, distancing themselves from the ’80s/party version of BEASTIE BOYS. MCA passing was an end of a very important and philosophical band in my life.

My younger brother actually exposed me to NO USE FOR A NAME back in ‘97 (?) with ‘Justified’. Only knowing that one song by NUFAN (and loving it), I had an opportunity to see them live in March of ‘99 with DANCE HALL CRASHERS. Mind blown!! They were the essence of pop skate-punk I was always looking for. I play guitar as well, they molded how I perceived 2-guitar melodies, and also loved Tony Sly’s lyrics.  Those who know me are aware that lyrics are the last things I pay attention to. Melody is most important to me. And fans of punk rock can’t deny how melody driven NO USE was. 

I had opportunity to meet Tony Sly and the rest of the band at the 2004 Warped Tour in Dallas. In fact, I was on stage with them, thanks to my friends in NEAR MISS (Austin punk rock band no longer together). It was huge highlight for me, as a fan and hobby-musician. 

Tony Sly passed away 4 days ago, age 41, and he was a big influence into how I feel and hear music. It bummed me out more, realizing, it took such bad news for me to remember his music again. NO USE has not been in my music radar since 2008… I feel guilty. But it has been awesome re-visiting the songs I realized I still love.

All of the tragic events have brought a new direction to my life. Leah, MCA, and Tony all left this life too early. They have kids and spouses that they loved, and were loved back. As cliche as this sounds, personal / financial / professional success is pointless as a main goal in life. You will be remembered superficially for those qualities. But to be remembered and known as a loving parent/spouse/significant other is incredibly rich, even if it’s a few people. I am not going to fight against that life anymore. While personal/professional success will still be important, it will not be priority #1 anymore. I am going to stop being self-absorbed in life paths, because I have given up too much of who/what makes me happy.

NO USE’s song “Chasing Rainbows” shares a cautionary and protective message against  ’chasing rainbows’ and dealing with the wrong people in this life. It’s one of my favorites. 

Tony, MCA, and Leah. Where ever you are, you don’t have to worry about the wrong people anymore. Start chasing rainbows. Chase away.

Indians win… kinda? And Arnold.

It’s Day #2.  All vegetarian meals and second entry.  I AM 1/15 WAY THERE!! WOOOO!

I need to have more insightful/deeper blogs… because what you are about to read is HORSESHIT!! (Tomorrow, my fellow Umairicans… promise)

See, here is why it’s easy for me to be a vegetarian: All Asian foods. Indian/Pakistani food, Thai food, etc. Even with veggies only, they are delicious. And luckily, I am a fantastic cook.

Now here are 2 reasons why so many Western people have a hard time being vegetarian: 1) regular American vegetarian food is mostly bland. 2) really good American vegetarian food/cuisine is expensive (btw, check out Bliss Raw Cafe in Dallas… so AWESOME!)

Whoa. Expendables 2 trailer on TV. How terrible does that look?  I feel bad for all the washed up actors.  Still going to watch it.  Guilty pleasures. Arnold didn’t age well (he is 65)… but still an amazingly nostalgic actor of the 80s/90s.

Good day all. Successfully completed Day 2. Till tomorrow!!!!

The Year Of Insanity… well, what’s left of it.

My buddy Josh Ness brought up this great idea last week to participate in a 30 day Challenge. There are 6 of Josh’s friends doing this, and they are committing to 30 Days of Blogging.  But one can find anything that they want to commit to everyday, and just do it. Josh also played around with the idea to add a twist by suggesting a new 30 Day Challenge every month for the rest of the year. 

I am in.

So what’s my commitment for August? Well, I am going for a double combo. 30 Days of Vegetarianism and 30 Days of Blogging.

Why not 30 Days of Veganism? Eff that.  I have a soul.

I already did a 80/20 vegetarian/meat stint for 21 days just this past month. Just to see if I can do it.  It turned out to be 95/5 in favor of vegetables and fruit. I really started enjoying vegetarian meals.  By no means am I giving up meat, but turning it down a bit.

The next, what I am going to blog about for 30 days?  Anything.  Anything that is on my mind.  So expect thought provoking essays to mostly quick observations or frustrations of daily life.  

Also.  Feel free to join in on this 30 Day Challenge. I know you would be 1 day behind, but there are 31 days in August ;)