LifeStyles..By Joe Davis

Greeting’s all my potential readers, my name’s Joe Davis, I’m   straight, twenty years old, and a capricorn. A short backstory, I’ve  been fortunate to have moved a lot in my child hood, starting from the   quiet burrows of south Boston to the current inner city apartments of   Chicago, with stories from every where between. I’ve hungered in   poverty, enjoyed myself in wealth, and laughed nostalgically in the   middle. I’ve lived as a collegiate hopeful, a turbulent addict, and a   desperate criminal, all in the short period of time I’ve had to   experience in this ambiguous place we call “Earth”. To say the least,   I’ve managed to accumulate a perspective I hope you all find worth   reading, and again to say the least; thanks for your time. “Vicurious”    It all started like any other day, the same morning routine followed   by the late noon motions, but as I began to sit back an let the day   take it’s course, I received a fortunate text. It was a friend of   mine, Culty, and she was asking if I’d be interested in accompanying   her and a few friends to what she described as a “white party”. Though   I’ve heard, I’ve never been, and thought it a great chance to   experience.     After changing clothes and picking up, we arrived at a friends place   and “prepared” for the festivities. We arrived, promptly, an hour late   as my friends had ingested their party favors an hour earlier and had   no reason to arrive any sooner. I myself felt humble as my own high   began wearing off and would soon be sober for the event, a terrible   notion. The awkward screening by the guards on the way in proved   difficult as I had to hide my piece, to say the least I chose wisely.   Past the check-in I was greeted by the sweet physical throbbing of   bass and screeching treble, welcoming colorful strobe lights, and the   ever present enthusiastic sea of faces, all of course (except myself)   wearing white.     As with any party of this variety there are stages that are   unavoidable. The first and saddest being the “waiting” stage,   basically as it’s name implies. The second is the “tide” stage, music   starts to get louder and people start accumulating towards the stage.   The third is ideally what you came for, the “wave” stage, the craziest   and longest part of any party. And finally the “crash” stage, again   what it’s name implies.     It was by the “tide” stage I had sobered up entirely, the salesmen   weren’t present, and they’re was nothing to be salvaged. Fortunately,   a friend was willing to share some E with me and I began to let the   music work out my thoughts. For whatever length of time, I sat at the   sides watching the turbulent lights illuminate the dancers on the   floor into the effigy of some god forsaken Warhol painting, and I   began to despair at my sobriety.     But as luck would have it, a most interesting gentlemen wrapped in an   all white bed sheet proclaiming himself the “House Doctor” appeared   before me, it was through him that I came across a particularly   favored substance, Molly, E’s perfect cousin. An soon after that, the   lights and music breathed energy back into my limbs and I too joined   the “dance orgy” taking place, in particular to a remix of a Major   Lazer song “Pon de Floor”. The festivities ran for a total of eight   hours, of which I ended up dancing for six, within the industrial   domain of improv styled drum and bass, dubstep, and techno.     The drive home that morning was nothing short of pleasant, the   tiniest flicker of sunlight and with the soothing sounds of whale   songs, I found myself dreaming quietly in the backseat. I knew   however, whenever I’d stop, reality was waiting for me

07/08/10

“Life's an Adventure, So Live it Like One Dummy”

	Arguably one of the most common trends or “ideals” found in any self

help book, but unfortunately something we all, myself included, pretty

much ignore. Granted, it's a hell of lot easier to just sit back and

watch the world pass by, and I'm not saying I couldn't use that every

now an then. But what was once for me a break for peace had become an

activity in stagnancy, and I've always found it hard for “progress” to

occur whenever stagnant.

	What I've proposed (and myself try to follow these days) is just take

a chance, step out of the comfort zone, and agree to something you've

never tried before, everyday; All within reason of course, but just

consider, what's more constructive and interesting, a story you've

watched on TV or your own personal “adventure” into unknown

territories and experiences. Not to paraphrase the movie “Yes Man”,

but some of the best stories in life can really be developed from the

simple answer of a yes or no question that you'd receive on any

typical day.

	Not really convinced? I myself always felt skeptical towards such a

simple notion towards life's endless potential, till a very unexpected

“adventure” fell right into my lap. Before this summer, I was just

your typical college drop out, working a dead end job, struggling to

pay the bills. But in affect, content with the current going ons of my

life. However, in one months time, I went from having nothing in a

small Illinois town, to a potential solo porn star career in San

Diego, to the now lifestyle columnist in Chicago your reading today. A

life development I'd argue saved my life from the constant threat of

the interpersonal trap that can be “complacency”. All just a result of

me, simply saying yes one day, to a question I've heard a hundred

time's before, “You interested?”.




07/31/2010


“These Fuckin' Guys” - John Stewert

Sitting back in the student lounge of my school's loop building. I was

“woken” out of a day dream by a loud plethora of sounds coming from

down the street. I already knew at the time the movie “Transformers 3”

was being shot here in Chicago, but never before had I noticed the

real “extent” to which the movie industry shoots it's films. Obviously

a movie is supposed to look real for people to enjoy it's aesthetic

value, but to what end I wondered, looking over the sets controlled

chaos.

The heavily damaged streets and obnoxiously loud activity, didn't help

the feeling I had like the whole thing had to be mugging up someone's

day. Whether it be the business' on that particular street or the

unfortunate people who spend their daily time there, the movie seemed

to be a giant wrench in anybody's plans. But of course, I never once

noticed anyone “protesting” the event.

“Does Hollywood or the city compensate these folks?” I thought,

watching a group of stuntmen base jump from rooftops. “If not, how

much does it impact them? The loss of business during the filming and

reconstruction of the area must be terribly arduous to recover from?”

Continuing to ponder this topic for a while and ending on the

terrifying notion that people wouldn't get a say in the matter anyway,

“like it or not”, though I don't personally know if that's true. The

simple fact of my ignorance on the subject only increased my interest,

and quickly brought to my attention the psychology of people and

movies and it's seemingly one sided love affair. Everybody to some

degree at least “enjoys” one movie in their life and many people treat

it as a monthly ritual, taking care to see any thing new coming out;

the whole time however long I've care to notice, the industry didn't

seem to actually care about us; regurgitating the same successful

shows and movies over and over, sacrificing creativity for profit.

That being said, I couldn't help but go back to my earlier inquiry on

the movie being currently filmed outside. To what extent do we, the

consumers, grant Hollywood or to be more specific, the media, the

power to conduct their businesses? As I've seen with “Transformers”,

it would appear maybe we give a little to much lee way. To some extent

I feel we should be able to say to Hollywood, “hey, love what your

doing guys, but you kinda fucked up my life's schedule when you

decided to trash part of the city.” and actually be listened to for a

change.

But I'm aware that such thought is better defined as overtly

idealistic; people want movies, so people will undoubtedly let movies

and such be made to the best quality. But I'm curious how long such a

parasitic relationship will continue. You only really notice a tick

after they've sucked to much blood from you, with the economy as it

is, I wonder when we'll start a fire.





07/31/2010
“Drunk Ethics: Chivalry”
	A little while back while at a friend's party, I was in the midst of
a conversation with a girl named Linda. We were discussing her current
interests in school and the other BS that people often talk about when
there first introduced and have no base to start a conversation from.
However, as it so often did, I would soon be interrupted by another
party goer, his name remains a mystery, who insisted on “one upping”
whatever I had to say in the conversation.
	Normally, this would not bother me, but at the time I had a few
drinks in me and had legitimately gained interest in what Linda had
been saying, and his input had begun to slow the conversation. Without
fail, Linda left soon after, for whatever reason, and I found myself
standing alone with this “gentleman” on the back porch of the
apartment. He then began to tell me how hot he thought she was and
that he was going to continue talking with her when he found her
inside. Unfortunately, curiosity had the best of me at the time an I
inquired what he hoped to achieve by “pestering” her further.
	As if defensively he respond, “Dude I'd totally fuck her tonight.”
	That felt uncomfortable, I too thought she was hot, but felt no vibe
that she wanted to “fuck” either of us, let alone talk, and this
exchange of words would persist in my thoughts through out the party
and I would eventually decide to leave, disgusted.
	I'm definitely not a person to judge or even try undermining one's
sexual preferences: be it gay or straight and guys or girls. Any one
could gain and potentially grow by easing up on the “beer balls”
attitude I've seen lately and . let's just start having some class.
Guys start holding the libido back some, maybe . Just because your
drunk and horny, doesn't alleviate you for being a douche in public,
being a potential rapist, and YOUR responsibility as a “good” human
being within these social “confines” to be a honest, caring, and moral
person. Use your other head one night, with just a little luck, you
might actually find someone worth listening to.