Now then, down to the point of my post: Random thoughts of late.
Random Thought 1.) Zombies. I attended the annual Denver Zombie Crawl the other night, and it didn't disappoint. The organizers were trying to break the world record for biggest zombie gathering, a staggering 4,000. I don't know if we did it or not, but there sure were a TON of zombies. We met at a park off the 16th Street Mall and got our faces painted. I tore up an old t-shirt and wore it along with some ratty jeans. By 6pm, it was full-on zombie mayhem. The park was elbow-to-elbow undead, ranging from a zombie Pope to a full zombie construction crew.
A little after 6, the organizers gave the green light and we flooded onto the 16th Street Mall, groaning and shuffling past stunned bystanders. I would estimate that by about 6:30, only about 1 in 10 people on the Mall were NOT zombies. We absolutely took the place over. A "Free Mall Ride" bus was forced to stop at a red light as we exited the park, and the zombies immediately overtook it, banging on the windows with fake blood on their hands, trying to pry open the doors. The people on the bus looked pretty unnerved at the sight of hundreds of the undead trying to gain entry. Soon after, the Mall Rides stopped for about an hour and a half until things calmed down.
In addition, "survivors" were marked with an 'X' in duct tape and ran around the Mall in an attempt to escape the zombie hordes. My friends and I found that chasing the living with the goal to eat them is one of the most fulfilling things you can do here on earth. We cornered a girl after a long chase in front of a Subway sandwich shop and everyone descended on her, groaning and reaching, as the people inside looked on perplexedly. Good fun.
Random Thought 2.) ADD. The other day I was hanging out with some friends of mine, having a good time, when one of them asked me: "Daniel, have you ever been diagnosed with ADD?" I absolutely hate this question. I hate it for a couple of reasons, most of which you all probably know. I answered her, "Forgive me for answering a question with another question, but do you know what ADD stands for?"
"Attention deficit disorder," she replied uneasily.
"Right. Attention deficit disorder," I confirmed, placing emphasis on the last word before continuing, "which is weird, because usually you don't walk up to someone and ask them if they have a disorder." She already looked like she regretted asking the question, but I continued on anyway. "And at that rate, who is it exactly who determines what is normal and what is abnormal? Who is the authority for what is orderly and what is disorderly? I mean, just because my mind works differently than most peoples', doesn't necessarily constitute a disorder."
I felt like a jerk after answering her in that way, but I really truly despise that question. I wonder what my life would be like if my mom had listened to my kindergarten teacher and put my on Ritalin. I wonder how sick my mind would have become, how repressed my thoughts would have been.
Random Thought 3.) Music. I have been reflecting recently on a seemingly innocent question; "What kind of music do you listen to?" When getting to know someone or when breaking the ice, this seems to be a quintessential inquiry. Yet I wonder why we never ask the question "do you like music?" This lead me to reflect on my own answer to that question; "yes, of course I like music." I wonder if anyone when asked that question would respond, "no, I don't care for music."
It seems unlikely. We assume that everyone enjoys music, it's merely a matter of which kind of music they enjoy. I wonder what that says about human nature? It seems every culture has their own style of music, their own instruments, their own tastes. We always gravitate towards music, it's just a matter of which variety we gravitate towards.
Random Thought 4.) Names. I wonder when was the last time you checked what you name actually is. I know I haven't checked since I got my driver's license, which I guess wasn't too long ago. Yet I bet there are some people who have never checked what their name really is. They're told what it is and reciprocate that in their lives, telling others their name. I don't know why this strikes me as weird, but it does. What is my name?
I suppose this concludes my random thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
-Daniel K
