New Myspace Pt. 1: Colorful, Creative ... Confusing

If you know me personally, you would know that I am a sucker for nostalgia. And what better archive of old memories and melodies than MySpace?

Oh, the days of organizing your Top 8 friends and hammering the "Add Friend" button for hours just to boost your band page's friend count. I could go on for days about how wonderful the old MySpace was and how much it taught me in regard to HTML and social media, but that's not what this is about.

It's not great. It's not bad ... just not great.

This is about the NEW MySpace and what it has to offer.

Mr. Justin Timberlake took over the site, sent out a beta version and recently released it to everyone for use. Within the first month of being open to the public, the old place for friends gained one million new users and it continues to grow - just not as fast as it should.

The new layout is unheard of. Instead of scrolling up and down, you scroll horizontally, which makes it disorienting for a new user at first. However, after a few gos at it, it starts to feel right.

MySpace was smart and kept their signature features: customizable profiles, Top 8s and profile songs. One complaint is that you cannot fully customize the HTML for your profile. Back in the day, web design was something we all had to learn to do. Some layouts were absolutely amazing, whether they were minimalistic or complex as Hell.

Simply beautiful.

My biggest complaint of all, the one thing that absolutely breaks my heart,  is the fact that they disposed of all of our old messages, blogs and comments. Some of that stuff was absolute gold for friendships and relationships to come. The memories seem to be forever buried in the meta-world of the Internet - unless MySpace finds a way to let users download the archive of their old stuff. At least they allow us to recover all of our old photos. I would have probably sued if I couldn't have gotten those back.

Anyways, after a few minutes of staring at the site, it's easy to see it is directed at bands, musicians and music Lovers alike. Everything has a song attached. Your photos. Your page. Your posts. There's even a Pandora-esque radio station module at the bottom of the page.

This is both cool and kind of a drag. It's a drag because it tells everyone what you've been listening to, which isn't as much embarrassing as it is annoying to see. I don't care that someone listened to Secret Well Kept by Bright Light Parade on repeat for three hours! (Guilty...: https://myspace.com/brightlightparade/music/songs)

It's cool because you can listen to a band's entire list of songs without paying attention to it. The ad disruption is very minimal and the actual player is pretty well-calibrated. You can discover new bands that you will grow to Love and listen to them all day.

In the good ole days, MySpace was a haven for new music and new bands. The MySpace-band era has since passed, but the archive is still out there, thank God. I Love all the female-front pop/punk bands and gritty deathcore bands that no one cares about. Some of that stuff is absolutely ingenious.

My hopes are high that this new layout and reinvention of MySpace will result in the re-occurrence of the "dream." I want to see some bands who are hungry. Bands who want to play, promote and get signed to a label just so they can play and dance in front of new people. That's what it's about and that's what MySpace allocated in the mid-2000s.

I did want to hit on the mobile app for a second. If it were up to me, I would likely just use the app instead of logging onto a computer if I was trying to be conversational with people. It runs smoother and is a lot faster than the desktop version. MySpace started going downhill once everything started getting bogged down and slow. They tried to make it too flashy and it pissed off a lot of peoples' CPUs.

I truly hope they cut back on the "connecting" aspect of the site. Just because I think someone's picture looks cool doesn't mean I need to "connect" to it and broadcast it to my 1,000 friends. Maybe taking this off would speed everything up just a tad bit.

Admit it. You got excited to see this once again.

Maybe I'm just a fool who is stuck in the past ... the amazing past ... full of custom-made HTML codes, scene hair and garage bands. A past enriched in musical dreams, young Love and angst...

Look at me go. Daydreaming again.

If you haven't already, log into your old MySpace. If you forget your log in stuff, it's easy to recover. Even if you don't keep up with it, you owe it to your past self to check it out and visit who you once were.

Who knows, maybe you'll Love it again!

Anything beats Facebook.

Oh, and don't forget to add me on MySpace: www.myspace.com/st3washere

Tipping: Bad for Cows, Good for ... Just About Everyone

When I go out to eat, or I'm at a bar, or I take a cab ride, I always remember to tip.

However, how much should I tip at these places? Should I tip on every drink I purchase? What if the cabbie almost drove me into oblivion at 93 mph? If I'm tipping a terrible waiter out of sympathy, shouldn't I tip the charismatic cashier/bagger duo who made my trip to Kroger something to remember?

These are all questions that circulate my mind before and after I go out.

Recently, Drew Brees ran into this sort of issue as well when he tipped $3 on a takeout meal. People ripped on him for being a greedy bastard, but I feel he would have been justified in not tipping at all. Think about it: how often do you tip someone who hands you your take out food? Who does that money even go to? The chefs prepared it and bagged it ... this person was simply handing it over. In my honest opinion, they deserved no tip in this transaction.

But then, I start to think about the people we don't tip for doing a phenomenal job. Think about the mail carriers who wander the streets no matter the temperature or condition just to get you your bills. Think about the baggers at grocery stores who not only bag your stuff, but also clean the bathrooms, carry in loads of carts and deal with any mess in the store.

The list of tip-worthy occupations could go on forever. There are people out there whose jobs go unnoticed and unappreciated. We just sort of expect it to happen and for them to do it with a smile on their face.

(A great list for rules and whatnot can be found here: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/10/12/basic-tips-on-tipping-how-much-and-to-whom/)

If you're ever at home, ask the mail carrier if they want a drink of something opened, as to assure you're not poisoning them. Or, if you ever feel inclined, tip the cashier who sold you the $250 winning lottery ticket. It will make there day.

Now, back to people whose income is supplemented by tips; the people making under minimum wage.

Whenever I go out (the people always shout) to eat, I tell myself I will tip at least $2.50 no matter the final price. If it cost $1, they're getting $2.50. If the bill is higher, I keep a rule of thumb to make it at least 17.5%.

If you've got a good paying job and you're contemplating on a $4 or $5 tip, shame on you. Take that extra dollar out and give it to someone who needs it more than you. The amount they appreciate it will be greater than how much you miss it.

Probably a lot more going on in his life than just waiting tables.

On one occasion, I was out with a group of friends at a Mexican restaurant and the waiter was having a devil of a time. He dropped a water. Forgot a side. Didn't refill the free chips. You could tell on his face that he was roughing it that day. My friends banded together and decided to boycott tipping this dude. They couldn't empathize with his struggle.

Luckily, I had a friend sitting next to me who thought the same way as I, and we decided to pool our money to cover the table's tip and then an extra $5 or so. We wrote a note that said: We all have off days. Keep your head up." I hope that message found him well.

When it comes to bars, I never know how to tip. If I'm getting a drink that requires no preparation, I will not tip. If I get two, I will throw in a $1. If it's a rough drink, I'll throw $2 down. After all, these people are gonna have to deal with drunken fools all night.

However, I have noticed bartenders who will charge people, who they think are drunk, an extra dollar and take it as a tip. This has happened to me when I was sober. Needless to say, I caught it, called her out and decided not to tip because of the discrepancy.

Also, don't forget to tip at least $1 at a buffet. I know these waiters/waitresses are rather low maintenance in terms of waiting on your table, but they are still there and they remove your plates every time you go up and refill your drink. It doesn't happen by magic. Many times, these waiters aren't even expecting a tip, so go ahead and brighten their day.

I wanted to end this self-righteous rant with a story I was told by my girlfriend's brother. His wife was working at a Chinese buffet in middle-America. Due to circumstances with her employer, she was only making tips. There was no sort of consistent income. The only thing she got was a place to sleep in return.

During a 12-hour shift, she received 50 cents.

Enough unsympathetic human beings saw that her job was not worth throwing down a dollar for. Because of this, I will always tip buffets. I will always tip restaurants.

Who knows what that person is going through, but one things is for certain: they are their to serve you, so kick a little something back.

It's just the tip.

When Life Gives You Rotten Lemons

There is no better way to start the day than by having your car towed.

I went to run a few errands early this morning, you know, to be responsible and to get ahead of the crowd. I was determined to make this day mine by organizing funds, working out and taking my lovely girlfriend out to dinner.

However, I soon saw a bunch of cars being towed in downtown Columbus. I really didn't think too much of it except for "Man, wouldn't that suck to be that person?" All of a sudden, someone said to me "If you're parked over there, you better go move. It's street sweeping day."

I panicked. Look outside. Car was gone. So I ran outside.

Saw my poor little car being put on a truck. I asked the driver what the next step was. He was rather rude to me and said "There ain't nothing you can do now, buddy. If you gimme $20 I'll drive you back to the lot. You got 30 seconds."

He gave me roughly four before taking off with my car.

After talking to other drivers, one drove me to the lot and I spent the $200 or so to get my car back. But then, as Murphy's Law would have it, my key would not turn. Over the years, my key has been stripped and it won't work anymore. My girlfriend is the only one with the other key. Thank God she was only 20 minutes away and she had my spare with her or else I'd still be out there.

Here's where my day turns brighter. While screaming my lungs out in rage against my car, I decided to ask another driver for help. Not only did he give a true attempt at fixing it, but he also let me charge my dead phone in his truck. I let him know that Sarah wasn't going to be there for an hour so he let me go on a run with him.

The journalist in me considered this a ride-along.

For an hour, we had an absolutely fantastic conversation about life, jobs and the stupid people that inhabit our society. He told me that, for being 22 years old, I'm actually doing very well for myself. He told me of stories when people would get violent with him over having their vehicles towed. He told me about his mess ups and other peoples' mishaps.

We picked up a Dodge Ram from a private lot for not paying for parking and he gave me a ride back.

This conversation was enlightening. It gave my day hope of not being ruined. I learned today. I listened to a dude who really just wanted to be listened to.

There is a beauty through struggle, but you've got to find it. It's not always so clear. Sure, I could have went crazy on the tow drivers, but what would that have gotten me? Absolutely nothing. If anything, it would have hindered the process of moving on with my life.

Yeah, I'm out $193 for the day, but worse things could have happened. Sarah having that key saved me about $200 on getting a new key and a new ignition switch, so everything washes out and I'm not truly out too much.

When life gives you a rotten lemon, take it to the grocery store and talk produce with the employees. Who knows, maybe you'll make someone's day. Maybe you will waste your time.

One thing is for sure, you'll learn something about lemons, but even more about humans.




Note: Alan from the towing agency, you're the man. Thanks for making this hardship into something of value. I learned today and I hope you had a better day because of the ride along. Also, I'm still going to take her out tonight! Thanks again.