Exactly a month ago on Christmas Day, I was able to talk you into not going through the annoying/dramatic/stressful ordeal of returning your “not pink” cell phone through the mail and exchanging it for the “off white” one we actually ordered for you.
Now that I have completed writing my book (to be published and released later this year), I can finally appreciate and understand that I am the epitome of an Enneagram 9 Wing 8:
I am a natural negotiator.
And using my negotiation skills on Christmas Day, my “compromise” in the exchange was to agree to buy you whichever cell phone cover you wanted.
By Christmas afternoon, you had made peace with your “not pink” phone, on your own.
But by that point, we had already ordered you the fuzzy green monster of a cell phone cover you wanted.
You had been asking for a cell phone for the past year and a half; ever since you started 6th grade. What didn’t help your case was that you set your standards way too high: a brand-new iPhone.
Mommy and I recognized that with you apparently being the only one of your friends without a cell phone, you were by default being left out of social connections with the rest of them.
Once you finally “settled” on a new Google 3 XL that we found a really good deal on, I gave you my blessing on getting your own cell phone; given that you would not be permitted to set up social media accounts:
“You have given me every reason to trust you with this responsibility. I know you are going to take really good care of it and that you’re not going to go on bad websites.”
It helps that we have got you on Mint Mobile, which is what I am on; for just $15 per month.
After you opened your special gift on Christmas morning, you then noticed that the official color was not white like we had ordered online, but instead, “not pink”.
The actually color of your phone is called “not pink”.
Fortunately, I was able to convince you that it’s so close to white that no one will even notice your phone is “not pink”, nor is it white.
To be sure, I agreed to let you order a fun phone case for your new phone. It’s a lot less trouble and less drama than having to send back the phone and wait for a new one.
At age 13, you now have a cell phone. (But no social media accounts!)
Last night I finished the 1989 movie, Back to the Future Part 2, which takes place in the future: October 2015.
I suppose now that I’m officially living in the future, it’s quite appropriate that I announce that as of last night at 9:01 PM, I am now a smart phone owner.
That makes me the last cool person you know to finally get a smart phone.
At this point, who do you know who doesn’t have one? I literally don’t know anyone in my social circle who doesn’t have a smart phone.
In fact, it’s not unheard of here in the Nashville area to see a homeless man selling newspapers to people stopped at the red lights, but then to see him check his smart phone during the green lights when the cars are no longer stopped in front of him.
I’m not sure how that all works out, but obviously, it only proves how counter-cultural my own lack of a smart phone has made me up until now.
Here’s the truth: I kind of hate smart phones. Actually, if it were up to me (it’s not- it’s up to my wife), I wouldn’t own a cell phone at all.
Sure, it’s ironic that a blogger with a YouTube channel doesn’t like the idea of always being “connected and plugged in”.
It’s just that I refuse to become another cliché who looks down at my phone to acknowledge another Facebook “like” while you are trying to talk to me, face to face in real time. It’s perhaps my rebellion of that cliche that keeps from wanting to be so connected and plugged in.
After all, a guy I recently met at Whole Foods, Jarrid Wilson, did a blog post that went viral; which addresses this social issue: “Why I Am Getting a Divorce in 2014.”
He’s actually talking about “divorcing” his smart phone.
See, that’s the whole point. I despise the concept of naturally and gradually disconnecting from real life via a smart phone, allowing myself to believe the illusion that what’s going on in my Facebook feed is more important than my family right in front of me.
It reminds me of the 1980 Genesis song, “Turn It on Again”. The protagonist of the song watches TV so much that he begins to get lonely when the characters of his favorite shows aren’t on. I see a parallel with people who constantly check and update social media, via their smart phones:
“I can show you some of the people in my life
It’s driving me mad just another way of passing the day
I, I get so lonely when she’s not there
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again
I can see another face”
Someone on my Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog immediately asked me last night, after I posted my 1st official Instagram post (featured below), what made me decide to finally get a smart phone.
Here’s my answer:
After being with Verizon for at least a dozen years, things finally got to the point with where they no longer offered incentives to faithful customers like me to stay; customers who always paid on time; no more free phones, for sure. Those days are gone.
I even walked in to my Verizon store to calmly explain I would be leaving them if they couldn’t provide me a free “dumb phone” to keep my budget the same; since I was nearing the end of my latest 2 year contract.
Verizon sincerely yet simply apologized they could not. I tried.
This time around, it was going to cost just as much to have “regular service” with them, as it would to finally just get a smart phone.
So now my wife and I are with a hilariously named service provider called Puppy Wireless; which is basically a 3rd party that uses Verizon’s towers.
Here’s the one and only part of being a smart phone owner that excites me:
There’s a good chance I can grow my “blog business” because of it.
I now have access to Instagram, which means I am more attractive to Acorn, an influence company I have worked with a little on the side.
For example, I did a project for them earlier in the summer in which I promoted the mobile app game, Best Fiends, by featuring the product in a Jack-Man video I made, in lieu of an Instagram post.
With my Instagram account @nickshellwrites, which is the same as my Twitter handle, I am pretty sure I will find myself with a much steadier stream of blogging gigs through Acorn, which pays me to advertise for their clients.
Also with that in the pipeline, my YouTube channel has finally begun to start making me some money. Plus, in the near future, I will be featuring ads on my blog for Beacon Ads; a Christian company who found my “family friendly” daddy blog to be appropriate for their advertisers.
Over this next year, I am going to really be making a much more conscious effort to make my blog more of a business; not just a hobby.
And as much as I don’t want to admit it, a smart phone can be a great tool to help make that happen.
One of the main reasons I refused to get a smart phone all this time is because I refused to change my budget over it. But if I can make up the financial loss of having to pay for a data plan, not to mention my phone, I suppose it’s worth it if it also leads to me actually making money.
I am a bitter, cheap, old man. I just happen to only be 34 years old.
Sure, I have a smart phone now… but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
Our favorite movies are loaded with subconscious connections to our own ways of thinking and our own lives. And that’s why no movie critic can ever truly release a list of the best movies ever made. Because that list would simply reflect that critic, not the general population.
After having recently posted my own Top Ten favorites (Movie Guy, at Your Service: My Top Ten Favorites), here in my 300th post on Scenic Route Snapshots, I am now releasing the list of my Top 11-25 favorite movies of all time:
#11) About a Boy
#12) Elizabethtown
#13) A Christmas Story
#14) Zoolander
#15) Supersize Me (assuming that documentaries count)
#16) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
#17) Mrs. Doubtfire
#18) That Thing You Do
#19) The Wedding Singer
#20) Big
#21) Dumb and Dumber
#22) Napoleon Dynamite
#23) The Breakfast Club
#24) Pineapple Express
#25) One Hour Photo
I have been asked several times about my Number Four favorite movie of my all time, Sideways (2004). It’s one that most people who I know in real life didn’t like, if they’ve even seen it. I can totally see why people wouldn’t like it- a bipolar lead character (Miles, played by Paul Giamatti), a sex-crazed idiot sidekick (Jack, played by Thomas Haden Church), a good bit of comical frontal male nudity (by the man who played Tom on LOST), and no definite plot. But I do solidly love this movie. In fact, I also give it the award for “The Most Re-watchable Movie”. And surely that’s another reason it ended up as #4.
In keeping with the theme of this post, I am choosing to use Sideways as an example of how a favorite movie can say a lot about the person who loves it. I’ve said before that what makes a good movie is not its actors, budget, or plot- but instead it’s all about the characters (and of course the actor’s ability to act).
Sideways is a character movie. The main four characters (and pretty much only four characters of the movie) are all believable. None of their lives are impressive. They are very ordinary people. And they are all quite flawed and that makes them more human than a lot of movie characters.
It wasn’t until I saw the movie for the 10th time, last weekend, that I finally picked up on the toned-down parallel between the types of wine and the characters, as well as the amount of passion for wine they had compared with their desire for meaningful human relationships.
I love the fact that the movie takes place in Napa Valley and integrates the culture of wine tasting. It’s such a beautiful, unique place. I was intrigued by Napa Valley the first time I saw the movie in 2005.
Of course, three years later I conveniently married a girl from Sacramento, which means that I’ve been able to go wine tasting several times out there where the movie was filmed. Just as Sideways makes it seem cool to take a road trip through Napa Valley and taste wine, the truth is, it really is that cool. A perfect place for a road trip and a perfect place to get lost (which we do just about every time we go out there).
If nothing else, Sideways plays out like an adult, R-rated version of Dumb and Dumber. The climax of the movie makes the “naked in public” nightmare a reality when Miles (Paul Giamatti) has to sneak into a house to retrieve Jack’s (Thomas Haden Church) wallet, after Jack just woke him up in the middle of the night after having ran several miles naked from across town.
The entire soundtrack of the movie, with one exception when the song “Two Tickets to Paradise” is heard in the background of a bar, is jazz. I like jazz a lot. That’s one of the reasons I’m such a fan of The Pink Panther cartoon show.
Lastly, if it weren’t for a few scenes where Jack uses a cell phone, the movie could have very easily taken place in 1993. Or 1989. Or 1986. Sideways has a really timeless, classic feel to it.
So in review, the random elements of the movie that subconsciously connected to my own life were the following: a character-driven plot (I’m a people person), parallels between the wines and the people who drink them (I love undertoned themes), remniscent of Dumb and Dumber (obviously another one of my favorite movies), retro feel (I’m a fan of time travel), a jazzy soundtrack (it’s groovy), a beautiful location (that also doubles as my wife’s hometown region), a road trip driven-plot (I love road trips) and a scene involving a man having to run naked in public (I have that “naked in pubic” dream several times a year, and I plan to do a post on it soon).
How does a movie become a favorite? It’s all about those subconscious connections between our own lives and the images, moods, and stories we see on the screen. Either they’re there or they’re not.
It’s not something a person really learns to do- it’s more of an instinct. Whether it’s the majority or minority of people in this world who are “people watchers”, all I know is that I am one of them. And I’m proud to be.
Why? Because like a housecat, I find creative ways to entertain myself with the most ordinary things in life. I can’t stand to be bored. So when I’m in a situation where there’s nothing to do, I think. And if I’m in a room full of strangers, I “people watch”.
That means as I pretend not to directly look at them, I try to figure out their story. Because I’ve got clues and hints to go on:
1) Wedding ring. Is this guy sitting 8 feet across me a married man? Does he go home everyday to a wife, just like I do? If not, why not? Is he too young, not ready? Wants to be but just hasn’t met the right girl yet? If he is old enough to be a grandfather but doesn’t wear a wedding ring, is he widowed? That’s sad.
2) Shoes. Leather loafers with tassels means the guy is a banker or investor. Polished black leather shoes means he’s a lawyer. Cowboy boots means he’s a songwriter. Chuck Taylors means he’s artistic in some way.
3) Accessories. Book? What is it? Cell phone? What is he doing with it? Is he talking on it? Am I having to listen to his conversation? Is his phone attached to his belt? Is it on the table? Is he writing in a journal? Listening to an i-pod? What music he listening to? Journey? Chicago? Is that a Rubik’s Cube I see there?
I could go through the entire endless list: hairstyle, voice, attitude, clothing, accent, etc. But really those first three paint enough of the picture to imagine a good story to entertain myself for a few minutes. Then it’s time to move on to the next character.
And of course, I carry around my camera with me. Because I never when I have stumbled into my next website post: People Watching in Nashville Traffic
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