Category: Zack’s Spot

Confusing musings.

Sleep on It

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

I was trying to get this done before the melatonin started to hit. I think it’s too late. I Googled “Why is my brain in a fog” today and wasn’t surprised at the results. It was so obvious that I laughed out loud. I mean, obviously if you don’t get enough sleep and aren’t eating adequately, you tend to get a little spacey. It’s so funny to think about how smart I think I am and then when I actually examine my behaviors, they clearly aren’t those of an intelligent person. I don’t know. Melatonin gotta nilla* wafered, nawmeen? I’m out. I hope Kawhi and Drake get the win tonight. We’ll see in the morning.

 

*nilla– a term coined by the comedian Andrew Shultz close in meaning to the slang African-American “n-word” referring to one’s confidant or compadre

ie. “I was pulling out of work yesterday and this nilla in a turtleneck totally cut me off.”

Firin’ From the Hip

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

I’d apologize for my absence but I know you didn’t miss me. I’ve got 9 minutes to pump out this bad boy so let me just fill you in a little about what my brain’s been buzzing’ on and then I’ll hit the sack…and then go to bed. Hiyo! I was going to make an excuse for why I haven’t written in a while but even I rolled my eyes at it. I’ve just been lazy. There’s no way around it. I’ve also been a little bit on the unhinged side of the cabinet. Yesterday I bitched out a kid who tried to commit suicide through Instagram DM’s. It’s weird though because I don’t even feel that bad about it. This kid is a good dude, a smart dude but he just annoys the shit out of me. He complains and bitches and moans and groans to a point that’s intolerable. Most of his wounds are self inflicted yet he still seems to find the worse in everything that anyone creates or puts out. I’m a little drunk and trying to be somewhat protective of his identity but I think you kind of get the gist of what kind of person he is. It’s the dude who shits on everything and thinks he’s smarter and more aware than everyone. Anywho, apparently he tried to kill himself by O.D.’ing and then he made an Instagram post telling everyone about it and how it lead to him taking a sabbatical from his podcast. It was a real “Facebook Folly” (because Facebook owns Instagram). I have no idea why but it just rubbed me the wrong way. It just seemed like he did it and then told everyone about it to get attention, then he got all snarky with me when I was trying to reach out. I thought about it a little today and realized why I got so cunty. I still think what I said was justified and stuff he needed someone to tell him but the reason I got so personal is because I think we’re similar in a lot of ways. Honestly, I don’t really know this person, we’re just acquaintances from high school but he annoys me because when I hear him talk he reminds me too much of myself. I’m cynical and tear shit down without knowing what went in to making it or trying to think from another person’s perspective. I think most of us get annoyed when we see people exhibit the same characteristics we don’t like about ourselves. I’m not saying anything new here and I’m kind of getting into the weeds so I’ll just cut it off here. I’ll be back tomorrow.

You’re Free to Associate

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

The clouds are heady, planted feet.

Her hands are steady, full of skeet.

I’m ready for you to notice me,

drinking irresponsibly,

I think you barely see.

Right…

I’m in for the night.

No text the next day,

No “hi”, no “hey”.

Been grounded, can’t come out to play.

Hit eject on the rhyme scheme,

yo this dude is weird.

Gold plated, purse sueded, double-team The Beard.

Glory’s faded, understated, at least you made it here.

Shit.

What’s a cadence?

I ain’t been straight since,

my fate was decided by a white fence.

Straddled it, no rattle, bitch.

Rates on them tits don’t tattle, bitch.

You’re a slave, bro.

You need some inspo?

Hit a rave, then abort the in vitro.

He moved on, expired like a coupon

Ex tired, been fired

Saturday’s for Jimmy Neutron.

Hi, I’m Paul,

take a Walker to the Wall,

break a John’s jaw just to watch Fall.

Fuuck.

That was pretty offensive.

Crayola turned pensive.

That’s a broken dish, can’t rinse it.

Imma poke a fish like a stick,

with a wishlist.

The joke is rich.

Pedantic dicks supplant ethics,

with a single bid.

Can’t lie, can’t trick, I was a Pringle’s kid.

Lays tried, brain’s fried, no cannibal.

Cold jokes all Burr, no Hannibal.

The only scratch I see is from an animal.

Old folks hatch dust and bust nuts,

at the hospital.

I’m almost done here.

Fixed chain, no spokes, I got one gear.

Head over handles,

bred as vandals.

Smelly sandals and scented candles.

El fin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

save for later

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

I’m running out of time. No, that doesn’t have some double, deeper meaning…I’ve got 15 minutes to give the people what they want- MORE content. Or do they? How much media can people actually absorb in a day? How much should they? In a world of sensory overload, am I adding to the problem? Why do we all feel the need to “express” ourselves? Why do Dean and I think that people want to listen in on our conversations (i.e. the podcast) or read our blog posts? I grapple with this thought every time I post on here, Facebook or Instagram.Whether it’s personal or for the site, I feel a little whorish assuming that people care about what we’re up to or our thoughts on what’s going on in the world. Am I giving a little bit of my soul with every hashtag and sent emoji?  I know it’s just insecurity but at the end of the day I do think it helps. It doesn’t help in the way that’s immediate or measurable but there’s a little part of me that feels like I’m doing my part at the moment. I’ve never really felt like this before. I’ve never really felt like I know what my purpose is. I’m not saying this is it but there’s something in me that thinks, that knows this is what I’m supposed to be doing. This could be the start of a bigger picture or just me mixing the paint but regardless, it just feels right. I’m supposed to be talking it out, talking to you. Time’s up. See you tomorrow.

Such Inlighten

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

I think it would be cool to go back and give people from the past futuristic drugs. Like what if we could go back to the 1700’s and give all of the Colonial soldiers cocaine? Would the US have won the Revolutionary war sooner because they had more energy or would we be sniffling slaves with English accents? I’d really want to give a caveman acid. Imagine a dude in a loincloth trying to pantomime all of the secrets of the universe as trees and seas melt all around him. “Bam-Bam enlightened now?!” Bringing new age drugs to the past would obviously cause a few hiccups in the timeline, right? It undoubtedly would have sped progress up a little bit. Instead of swing dance in the 1920’s, soldiers would have been pop-locking (and dropping) on their return trip home from the Great Moon War between Earth and the Mars colony. Would there even have been war if psychedelics were more ubiquitous early on? Where is this going? I don’t think I know for sure but I do think there is a bigger message here though. It doesn’t have to necessarily pertain to drugs. I think that the more we stifle things such as ideas, thoughts, feelings, drugs, emotions, etc., it stunts our growth. Growth to you could mean financial or familial but growth to me is about learning how to create that perfect balance of contentment and hope or desire for things to come. I think the drug war has caused an arrested development for global growth. While I don’t think that you NEED to ingest something to become “enlightened”, I do think psychoactive substances are catalysts for growing the collective subconscious. Maybe this was all the proof you needed for the war on drugs. Idk. Time’s up. See you tomorrow.

Jobs

by The Relatables, posted in Zack's Spot

I always end up hating my job. I can’t tell if it’s because I don’t want to work for other people or because I’ve always signed up to work for the wrong people. Now before you think I’m taking shots at my direct managers, I’m not, I actually appreciate the people I interact and work for. I’m not above or better than anyone, I’ve just always had problems with the way companies are run…especially big companies that I’ve been apart of during my office “career”. Companies get so big that they can’t possibly be efficient. They get so big that employees within the company (especially myself) feel like nothing they do as an impact or matters. I work for a giant healthcare company now. They have so many “benefit” programs and miscellaneous publications that I wonder if they want to stick to their core competencies at all or they just want to skim off of the people who earn money for them.

My first job was cashiering for Al’s Pizza. I loved that place and it was the perfect fit for a high school stoner. I’d smoke a bowl in the back parking lot before work, put in my 4-6 hours and then dip out with free pizza. Ah, back when times were much simpler. It wasn’t rewarding but it served a purpose at that time in my life. It taught me about punctuality and serving others.

Next, I worked as filing clerk for a law firm. I actually made pretty decent money but as you know, lawyers aren’t the most fascinating of people. It turned me off from pursuing law as I realized I was having the same interactions and I eventually got bored after exactly a year. After all, I only took up an office job to prove to my parents that I was professional enough to work for the family company. So, after almost exactly a year, I put my notice in and decided to work alongside my parents.

Working with and for my parents will be a separate post in itself. That’s WAY too much to get in to right now. I think you all understand.

After I realized I wasn’t exactly a chip off the ole block, I got a job at a comedy club. That was the most fun job I’ve ever had but it just didn’t pay enough for the time I put in. I love comedy but I value my time and sanity more than laughs and free nachos, so I eventually had to move on from that.

Then I worked for a “logistics” company. Basically, my job was to sell “lanes” to truck drivers to move freight from Point A to Point B. It was an experience. I got to learn about the backbone of American trade while earning a decent paycheck. Eventually my girlfriend and I made the decision to move away from home in Jacksonville, Florida and head north to where I reside today, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

That leads me back to the healthcare company I currently work for. Now, I have to throw some caveats in about my earlier comments on inefficiency. In my current employer’s defense, The United State’s healthcare system is so fucked up that I don’t think it’s possible to run an efficient business in it. There are just too many patients and hospitals and doctors and illnesses and accidents that there’s almost no way things can run smoothly. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds here but big companies like the one I work for just seem too big and cumbersome to navigate not only the healthcare industry but the world around it. There are complex systems and devoted employees that revolve around things that don’t add value. Things like PTO software, internal online shopping stores for knickknacks, company specific podcasts and the like are byproducts of a bloated business entity. I might have lost most of you and that’s because I can’t be too specific right now (for obvious reasons). Some of you feel my pain though. Like why did my company rent out a football stadium for our annual Christmas party? Couldn’t they have just given everyone bonuses and boosted “morale” that way?

What I’m getting at with all of this is that I don’t think most people are job compatible. At least, I know I’m not. I need to figure out how to stop working for people and move away from the “income to live” trap. I can’t stand when people say, “Be your own boss”, because I never want to look or think of myself as a “boss” but I want to eventually be free of a set schedule and predefined expectations as to what my output should be.

I want to wake up everyday with the freedom to do exactly what I want, create value in people’s lives and ultimately be self sustainable. I guess that kind of starts with this website. I want it to work for me but that won’t happen until I bring something of value to the people who visit. That’s where you come in.

What could I possibly do to create value in your life? What do you want me to research and refine so you don’t have to? Just let me know, I’m all ears (and eyes).