The T-zone

EMO TEENS TAKE PLEASURE IN SADNESS
By Natalia Ledford

*Sigh...we've got no excuses this time. Usually when adults criticize teenagers for everything, we can honestly say we've just been misunderstood. But ever since the emo craze hit...we've basically hung ourselves out to dry. This is the most depressing fad ever, literally. Why are American teens so delighted to be sad these days? Is it how much it sucks having to go to school every day to receive your free education? The long lines you have to stand through at the voting booths to elect your own leaders? Or is it all about how hard it is to find what you want at the super market amongst all that food? *sigh. Life is so hard here.

If you don't know about the emo trend, I will first take that luxury away from you. First of all, "emo" is short for "emotional." These are the kids that probably started out with standing up for the idea, "It's okay to cry," but have ended up with, "It's not okay to be happy." My observations have been that basically, these are the kids who crave attention and make up problems in their lives so that people will feel sorry for them.

A lot of people will define you as emo by the way you dress; a lot of black, square glasses, black hair, etc. That has become the universally known "emo look" for some reason. As far as image goes though, there's nothing I'm criticizigng because it doesn't have to do with anything that actually matters concerning my purpose of this article. Except...Okay, there's one thing about the emo look I just have to address then I'll give it a rest. The skinny guys wearing girl jeans. First of all, why? Do you guys like starve yourselves just so you can fit into them? Is it for some kind of statement?...Or are you actually just that skinny and boy jeans are simply too big? It's like, was it the chicken or the egg? What came first? It confuses me so much, you don't even know. Secondly, this applies to everyone in either case: RED MEAT. Seriously.

But anyway, the look is really irrelevant when you break the issue down to the points that actually matter, so I'm not going off of the way kids are dressing...anymore. (The skinny guy remark was just a health concern, honest.) In reality, I know that there's a ton of kids who are completly emo, that don't look like it at all, and a lot of kids who look like it, but don't act like it. So just keep in mind that my definition of emo has nothing to do with the look. (So if you thought that's what I was criticizing and was taking offense to it, it's okay. No need to excessevely sigh, worry, or bawl about it now.)

What I'm mainly concerned about is the popular attitude that depression is cool. There's nothing wrong with venting real frustration and sadness, but those who create it to get attention need some serious perspective. What's scary, is that fake depression has become so popular!

Here are 6 signs that you've given into the emo craze.

1. You write the kind of poetry with the big depressing words all jumbled together, which sounds like it could be deep but realistically has absolutely no point, and when people call you on it, your trigger response is, "*Sigh...you wouldn't understand."
2. You post that poetry in your xanga.
3. A favorite past time of yours is assuming the fetal position in a corner and taking grey scale pictures of yourself in this state. (You know you're REALLY emo when you use the eye dropper effect.)
4. You post those pictures in your xanga.
5. You stand for nonconformity and complete rebellion, exactly like all of your friends do
6. Your parents refused to fill your gas tank last week, and you no longer have the will to live.

I suppose I can give them the benefit of the doubt however, by saying that they're probably not completely ignorant, just sheltered by our society. In other words, they just don't know how good they have it. They don't know what it's like to run for your life, they don't know what it's like to not live freely, they don't know what it's like to work your butt off just to go to schoool and they don't know how many other things they're taking for granted while they waste their time away being drpessed about nothing. I don't even know how good I have it, but at least I know that, you know?

Think about all of the kids right here at Lincoln High who have immigrated to this country after going through hardships such as war, poverty, and corrupt governments in their native countries. I think it's pretty safe to say that they didn't go through all that trouble to come to the U.S to listen to over privileged American teenagers cry day in and day out about issues that they've brought upon themselves.

All in all what I'm saying is, no matter what you look like, if you focus all of your energy onto the negative aspects of life and get off on pain and feeling sorry for yourself, FOR THE SAKE OF ATTENTION ALONE, you're emo, and you have no right to be in this country. We just have it too good here to waste the opportunities. If something's really wrong in your life, never bottle your emotions. But if you're just blowing hot air, quit taking away from the people that actually deserve the sympathy.

So, if you realize you're emo, cut some time with those stages of grief that you're so familiar with and go straight to acceptance so that you can change NOW. I mean, if you don't want to do it for the same of my SANITY, at least do it out of respect for those who have the right to complain as you do, but choose not to. Think about it.

nothing527: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Business/story?id=1341972&page=1
nothing527: that link is about the problems surfacing with the launch of the x box 360 (or x siv)
nothing527: figures only microsoft would screw that up
nothing527: that like a chicken farmer over filling his coup ignoring that some birds are sick...
nothing527: or a marksman poking out his eye...
nothing527: or a porn star....... er.... well you get the idea...

76. Cool kids

Seriously, what the fuck. (Fun fact: that's the most overused phrase on The T-zone.)

Let's take a little survey. If an item below applies to you, add the number of points listed next to it. At the end, tally them up to see where you stand. Be honest, now...

I WEAR...
Hollister +5
American Eagle +5
Abercrombie and Fitch +5
Aeropostale +5
...and I'm a guy. +5
"Livestrong"-style rubber bracelets +2 points per bracelet
Pre-ripped jeans +5
Any of the above because it's popular +20
Anything from a thrift store -10
...and I think they have really cool clothes. -20

I HAVE...
Hung out with someone just because they're popular +5
Gone out with someone just because they're popular +10
...and they're not the sex I'm attracted to. +20
Had sex with someone just because they're popular +20
...and they're not the sex I'm attracted to. +100
Listened to a band I hate because they're popular +5
...and went to one or more of their concerts. +10
Gone out of my way to be "non-conformist" +5
...because everyone else was doing it. +20
Lied about my grades 0
...when I had good ones. +10
...and then got bad ones on purpose. +15
Done something just because it was popular +10
An iPod +5
Converse +5
Bleached hair +5

I LISTEN TO...
Hawthorn Heights +5
Taking Back Sunday +5
System of a Down +5
Green Day +5
Good Charlotte +5
Simple Plan +5
Sum 41 +5
Linkin Park +5
The Used +5
Slipknot +5
My Chemical Romance +5
Sugarcult +5
AFI +5
Yellowcard +5
Nickelback +5
Creed +5
Fall Out Boy +5
Avenged Sevenfold +5
All-American Rejects +5
Switchfoot +5
Relient K +5
String Cheese Incident -5
...and actually like them. -50
Hanson +9999999999

I WATCH...
The OC +10
One Tree Hill +10
SpongeBob +10
Laguna Beach +10
TRL +10
The Real World +10
MTV +10
VH1 +10

I PLAY...
Halo +10
Counter-Strike +5
...but I know 13375p33k should never be used seriously. -20
Tetris -10
Pong -10
Snake -10
Any of the previous 3 on my cell phone +5

OK, that's enough. If you scored 100 or more, you shouldn't be allowed to reproduce.

I hate people who always put their reputation first. A girl I know decided she was going to bitch me out on the first day of school when I sat down at the same table she did at lunch. When confronted about it later, what did she say?

"No offense, but have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Some people could really use a slap in the face. I am proud to say that I don't give a flying fuck about my reputation. As a result, I'm told, people like me. I don't do things because they're cool; I do them because I like them.

I wear clothes from... hell, I don't even remember where I got most of my clothes. All I care about is regulating my body temperature and obeying indecent exposure laws. If I wear a shirt with something on it (e.g. my Maddox hoodie or a shirt with a band on it), it's because I support the cause, not because it proves I shelled out $50 for a shirt with a brand name on it.

Why would anyone pay to advertise like that?

True story: when asked this question, one girl replied, "because it shows that you're rich and you're hot."

How do I know it's true? Because I did the asking, dumbass.

Ignoring the fact that ugly people can wear popular clothes too, WHO THE FUCK CARES? Why BOTHER caring what other people think? Ask yourself this: Do your friends hang out with you, or your clothes? Would they still hang out with you if you didn't wear the same clothes and listen to the same music? If you really like someone, does it matter whether or not they're popular?

I know a kid who I thought was a really great friend to me. He was always nice to me, asked questions like any good conversationalist would, laughed at my jokes, etc. etc.

But when he was with his popular friends, he pretended not to know me.

I hate people like that. You shouldn't choose your friends based on whether or not people like them... that's just plain fucking stupid. You s hould choose your friends based on whether or not you enjoy your company, and dammit, stay loyal to them! A girl I know has a "friend" who totally blows her off when she's with "popular" people. How two-faced is that?

I hate people who do things to be popular, and I hate people who choose their friends based on popularity. If you really want to be "non-conformist," do it by not caring what other people think.

It works pretty damn well for me, anyway.

Dumbass: Episode 4, 768 kbps, 16 megabytes.

There are other projects in the works... stay tuned.

Hi im from england ddr here is dancing stage and i think its a excellent game with great songs. Actually i prefer the japanese songs done by naoki etc. And if u dnt like it screw you, you dnt no anything so in ure face.:P

I love it when people make themselves look stupid.

It means that I don't even have to say anything. Posting this e-mail was humiliation enough.

i play ddr, and i dont flaunt the fact that i do play it and that i like it. you dont have to tell everyone how much you hate it, whats that gonna solve anyway.

Exactly the same problem you solved by e-mailing me about it.

My Anti-Drug.

Seriously, what the fuck. I have a beef with anti-drug campaigns, and it's not just because they speak out against the greatest plant on the face of God's green earth.

It's because they lie! How many times have you heard, "marijuana smoke kills brain cells" or "marijuana lowers your sperm count?" All bullshit, in fact, cannabinoids actually stimulate brain cell growth and reduce the presence of freeradicals in the brain. Yeah, fuck you.

But they don't HAVE to lie about things like methamphetamine or cocaine. Those are bad enough on their own.

Joe Nobody, on the other hand, isn't going to know this. When your average 13-year-old finds out that they lied about marijuana, he will immediately assume they lied about everything else.

There goes another life. Heroin OD, amphetamine-induced psychosis, death by speedball... hell, he might even pull a John Entwhistle and strain his heart too hard by doing coke while he bangs some hot groupie chick. We don't want that.

I've got a lot to say but need to get it organized. Stay tuned.

Oh, and there's another episode of Dumbass in the works, plus a few other tricks up my sleeve. :-)

Wow, thanks Bill.

I am shocked and pleasantly surprised at the same time. :-)