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Feel Something #1

Posted on August 28, 2014 2 Comments

everythingface

At some point during late adolescence, I began to recognize a subtle difference between the general population and me when it came to movie & tv show preferences.

While I enjoyed light-hearted comedies as much as anyone else, I rarely ever added them to my list of “favorite movies” (unless they were damn good). Toward the end of high school, I began to spend more and more time in the Drama section of Blockbuster (for those born long after me, “Blockbuster” was a store where you could browse hard copies of movies and then check them out as rentals. This was the *only* way you could “legally” pick out a movie or TV show and watch it at your house).

Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t a fan of tragedies, especially if they were theatrical ones. (I’m not a fan of most theater in general, but I’ll write more on that later).  I didn’t enjoy watching people suffer for the sake of a romantic storyline, like in Moulin Rouge, Titantic, or Tristan & Isolde.

What I enjoyed were movies with characters who forced you to confront your darker thoughts and experiences, and then helped you deal with them. For example, some of my favorite movies back then were (and still are, in some cases) Good Will Hunting, Little Miss Sunshine, Stranger than Fiction, and Girl, Interrupted.  I remember family members and friends saying, “The world is already depressing enough. Why would you want to watch something that makes you cry?” or “I only like moves that make me feel good…”

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this. Sometimes, you are just dealing with too much to add someone else’s fictional drama on top of it all.

But I strongly believe that there is an appropriate time to face your darker thoughts and allow yourself to feel what they make you feel. Chasing instant gratification and doing whatever it takes to avoid being alone with your thoughts will only lead to running away from part of yourself for the rest of your life.

With that super long intro out of the way, we can get to the good stuff!

“Feel Something” is a series where I recommend something that I love which is intended to hit you right in the feels, even if it hurts, but always for the better. The purpose of this is to encourage you to face your thoughts, accept them, and feel what you feel. None of these things exist just to jettison you into depression (that wouldn’t have any point—I wouldn’t do that to you!) but rather, they are stories or topics that are meaningful and important, but that may be difficult to get through.

AFTER THAT. I include a kabillion happy or funny things to pick you back up and help you feel better so as not to completely ruin your day.

Without further adieu, it’s time to feel something.

sadface

Short Term 12

Short_Term_12_Poster

This movie was recommended to me via Netflix algorithm.

And lemme tell ya. Good freaking job, Netflix-Mathematician-AIProgrammer-Man.

First of all, this movie stars Brie Larson (>.>  I <3 her) as well as John Gallagher, the guy who plays Jim in The Newsroom.

shortterm121

Why are you so nice to me?”

“You being serious now? Well, it’s easy. It’s because you are the weirdest, most beautiful person that I’ve ever met in my whole entire life.”

It’s about the kids and the counselors at a “short term” foster care center. It’s beautifully directed, well-paced, and both touching and funny.

My favorite aspect of this movie is that it includes two parallel coming-of-age stories, one dealing with a young teenage girl, and the other with chick who is 20-something, and the movie ends with both transitions still in progress.

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The part of the movie that struck me hardest was the story about the octopus. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I literally had to pause the movie and let it sink in before moving on. It’s one of those simple, haunting, metaphorical ideas that will never, ever leave me, thus changing the way I see certain things forever.

short-term-12

Look it up on Netflix and watch it! Gogogogogo.

 

happyface

Pick-me-up time. ONWARD.

 

 

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^.^

Posted in: Blog, internet things | Tagged: brie larson, drama, feel something, funny, melancholy, sad, short term 12, short-term twelve

Noel Fielding and Bob Ross and Brain Bliss and ASMR Fail

Posted on March 6, 2014 Leave a Comment

Fantasy Man

{Psst. Skip to The Bottom for the good stuff if you already know what ASMR is.}

As soon as I discovered the ASMR chapter of the Internet, I immediately watched as many videos as I could find for eleven consecutive hours.

I couldn’t resist. Everyone on the Internet promised me that if I watched the videos, hypnotic BRAIN TINGLES would happen.

But alas, it was not so. Eleven hours were wasted and I was left utterly tingleless, not quite ready to accept the fact that ASMR videos don’t work for me.

Fastfoward a few months: one glorious night, I accidentally discovered a recipe for something almost as good as brain tingles—brain bliss.

I’m going to show you how to accomplish this, but first let’s have a pretend conversation where you ask me questions and stuff and I answer and sound super smart while I do it.

Do I have to?

^the large text is you. And no.

Wait. What? What is ASMR?

I can’t believe you waited until now to ask!

Here’s the Wikipedia definition: “Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a neologism [a new word] for a perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or peripheral regions of the body in response to visual, auditory, olfactory, and/or cognitive stimuli.”

Basically, some sounds, when presented in high definition and played over headphones, give listeners very pleasant chills down their scalp or spine. Often, this sensation is accompanied by a state of extreme relaxation. Some people, myself included, like to call the feeling “brain tingles.”

Uhhh. That sounds… sexual.

It does sound that way, but it’s not like that. It’s supposed to be akin to getting your hair shampooed and your scalp massaged at the hairdresser. It’s a much more innocent version of pleasure, one that many people claim to have experienced in childhood.

The videos usually contain things like matches striking against a matchbox, a young woman whispering into your ears, pretending to give you a haircut, or a fountain pen scratching against paper to form calligraphy.

Some of the most common vehicles for ASMR are clips from the show The Joy of Painting, starring Bob Ross.

If you want to find more videos, the ASMR subreddit has tons of them. You can also search for and discuss various “triggers” that may work for you.

Unfortunately for me, none of the dozens of videos I watched gave me brain tingles. And I really, really wanted them to.

Okay. Let’s do this. Show me how, please please please.

You’re so impatient! You’ve got to read this next part first. It has backstory.

So my gamer friends and I have this tradition on group members’ birthdays where we dedicate an entire thread to linking really weird birthday videos from YouTube.

Like this one:

One time, one of these birthday threads led me to a show called Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. You probably know Noel Fielding as Old Gregg.

I knew him as Richmond from The IT Crowd.

The Bottom

One thing led to another, and I discovered that if I watch Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy on one monitor, and put Bob Ross videos on the other, and play them simultaneously, my brain becomes 100% stimulated and I reach a state that is essentially the opposite of boredom. It’s like I live most of my life just slightly bored, a little wanting, but watching these two videos fixes that.

In the way that ASMR feels like a pleasant trickle of chills or tingles, “Brain Bliss” is like taking the moment that happens right before you laugh, when you are on the verge of ha-ha-ha, and expanding it indefinitely. It feels like inhaling deeply and never needing to exhale again. And then time passes, and you realize you’ve been doing this for four hours straight.

Okay, young squire. The time has come. Relax, get comfortable, and play these two videos at the same time. I recommend turning down the volume on Bob Ross so that you can hear his speech patterns, but can barely make out what he is saying. Use headphones if you can.

I present to you, BRAIN BLISS.

P.S. Don’t judge yourself.

If you have suggestions for additional video combinations, or feel disturbed and want to yell at me for a while, feel free to leave a comment.

Posted in: internet things | Tagged: ASMR, bob ross, brain bliss, brain tingles, fantasy man, luxury comedy, noel fielding, the Internet
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