Ramanujan Redux

My favorite comic growing up was not Garfield, not Calvin and Hobbes (which I would not learn to appreciate until much later), not Dilbert. Nope, it was them Peanuts.

Thanks to the power of the YouTubes, I’ve revisited Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the gang. And while I might have been amused by it as a kid, watching it through adult eyes left me with some fresh new perspectives. Let’s start with the most important.

Dear God, is poor Charlie Brown miserable.

First of all, he’s close to bald as drawn, which is doubly ironic because his dad is a barber. Who can conceive of such cruelty where all he needs is a snip of hair?

Charlie Brown never wins a baseball game. Never. When his team does win, it’s only because Linus pitches for him. Perhaps there is some moral to the story (pitching isn’t your thing kid). When you lose 930 games, you might want to think of moving to the outfield. He tries flying a kite only to have gravity take it down every damned time. I can imagine this being perfect for kid-readers from generation to generation, but being older makes me a little bit more exasperated. Can’t he get that damned kite up at least once?

And of course, his peers are unbelievably brutal to him. If I had to live up to the perceptions of the Lucys and the Violets of the world, I’d have to be checked into an institution somewhere. I went through some rough stuff as a teenager, but it’s nothing compared to what poor Charlie Brown goes through. This kid gets beaten, called a “loser”, gets berated for being ugly, having no talent, etc. etc. Children can be cruel, but this sort of pressure on one kid borders on sadism. And the result is the typical “AUGGGGHH!” kid that we’re all aware of who mopes around.

And then there’s that football. I guess there’s something endearing about this part of the story, because at least Lucy uses the old psychological tricks and suckers poor Charlie Brown in. The true hustler, Lucy suckers poor Charlie Brown in everytime from a new angle with the same promise: “maybe it’s my time, right now”. And of course, it isn’t. Determinism at its most depressing.

Yet, through all these tribulations, there are times when Charlie Brown can be happy. And those moments leave you smiling the rest of the day. Perhaps you can never truly understand what happiness is until you’ve hit the bottom, to find the times when all is right to realize what that means. And that might be what being the Charlie Browniest is all about.

There’s a biography out there about Charles Schulz that deals into his psychology and that he himself embodies many of these self-pitying qualities of his protagonist. It might be worth taking a look at.

PS: Hollly crap, this artist is amazing. I guess I should say, “Good Grief.”

With the NBA Playoffs in full gear, roundball fans are always reminded in commercials of the greatness that once graced the NBA every season. Michael Jordan graced the league for fourteen spectacular seasons of dunks, fallaway jumpers, game winning shots, and championships. He exemplified the winning attitude that all human beings hope to adopt.

Yet one reason he was so brilliant was how easy he made it look. We glossed over the physical punishment that a 6′6″ guard took driving to the hole in a tall man’s world and focused on the breakaway slam reels. For over a decade the NBA has suffered from this me-first type of play, with everyone subconsciously believing that by taking the toughest shots possible, they could be like Mike. And of course, they can’t and couldn’t. People forget all the hard work it took for MJ to be MJ.

Arguably there have been more talented individuals out there, before and since. But no one else put the work in as much on the court as he did, for individual and team. And it shows with the six rings.

But it was never just about making the impossible easy. Let’s listen to the words of the man, shall we? (Click on the link to watch the video).

1. It’s Not About the Shoes

Just like in Fight Club, your possessions do not define you. They are rewards for hard work and accomplishment, not a shallow display of your own self-worth. Unmerited rewards lead to emptiness inside. Your actions are what is substantive. Their impact will last far longer than your shoes.

2. Not Meant to Fly

There are those among us who say there are limits to what they can accomplish. These people are a nuisance. Get rid of them, extirpate these undesirable qualities within yourself, and start learning to break limits before the burden of age catches up with you.

3. Challenge

Sweat hard when you’re battling. Make sure you’re dead tired when you walk out of your workplace. Exhaustion shows how far you’ve pushed yourself in pursuit of your passions. Make sure you rest only when your efforts hinder rather than help.

4. Michael vs. Mia

Once you become one of the best, challenge yourself against the best, or those who share your goals and desires. Their attitude towards work and success is infectious. Let it become the only disease that you never want to heal.

5. Nothing but Net

Challenge yourself in every facet of life, even if it means absolutely nothing in the long-run. It makes life more exciting, more thrilling, more exhilarating. Oh, and put a Big Mac on the line for the winner. (more…)

Okay, that’s a little harsh. But the more I look at it, playing out the clock for your degree is not getting you anywhere but middle management hell. You’ll get a job with nice pay, but probably nothing you love doing.

What’s more important? Befriending a professor. Doing meaningful social work. Reaching out to others. Finding people equally passionate in what you enjoy. Taking a risk. Not shirking away from responsibility. Knowing what you’re comfortable with. That’s what useful about college.

College is a place to discover what you don’t want to be. Everything after that crystallizes what it is you want.

Groundhog Day is one of those beautiful films with the all-around package. It’s lighthearted yet serious, contemplative without being preachy, developed without being self-indulgent. There is humor and darkness and redemption, all with Bill Murray at the center. What more could you ask for?

The film itself is very smart. As soon as the meteorologist realizes he’s stuck in the same day and the same place indefinitely, he starts to learn to take advantage of it. The character follows a classic OODA loop. He orients himself to his boundaries by breaking them (he ends up in jail, kills himself multiple times, steals a groundhog), he observes the people and gets to know each and every one of them (he uses it for a great pickup tool that most dudes wish they had), he decides whether to repeat an act over and over again (like trying to seduce his cute as a button producer night after night after night) and then acts on it (he spends one day robbing a security bank truck after observing the scene for weeks).

However, this product soon grows stale as the times pass, and he soon despairs that he will never realize the joy of love or despair, doomed to the same one-night stands and random hijinxes. Even suicide cannot save him. It is endearing to watch Murray transform from a self-absorbed blowhard to a self-pitying soul to a redeeming character. He starts thinking of how best he can make use of the time, learning all sorts of different things, helping people when he knows they might need help, as he slowly gains an understanding of what makes him happy.

Now, you might think after watching Groundhog Day, “Gee, I wish I could be given that time to learn who I am!” But you ARE given that time. Every day. Every day you can learn how to be a better person. How to be comfortable around people. How to be confident around others. How to follow your passions and dream to do what you’ve always wanted to do.

The lesson is that every day is precious. Every day might feel the same and be the same, but you can learn who you are by embracing that motto rather than running away from the situation. The situation is there. Accept it or go another day dreading waking up. Slowly and surely, you’ll realize what it is you want.

And while you might not get the chance to relive the same day over and over again, doesn’t every day kind of feel the same now?