030: '21 shoutouts 🗣 (1ra parte)
a shoutout isn't necessarily a good thing
ONEShoutout to the ocean
Big year for the ocean! I love the ocean. Not only did we find out this year, thanks to Seaspiracy, that the international fishing industry is rapidly depleting the ocean of its resources and systematically destroying all marine life as we know it. We also found out the fishing industry is conducting modern-day slavery! The ocean was on fire this year! No, literally, the ocean was on fucking fire.
If we learned anything from the ocean this year, we learned it's the most important habitat for us to protect on the planet (not that the others aren't important), and we're really fucking that up. But, if we were to fix this by saying protecting more things and regulating fishing, then many people would lose a lot of money. And if there's one thing the Powers That Be in the world care about more than anything else, it's losing their money. Soooooo..I don't know where we go from here 😕 But we're not doing well. And the irony of this being the first shoutout written by moi considering moi's job is not lost on me 😬
TWOShoutout to No Context social accounts
It started with The Sopranos, as most great TV things do. Someone created a Twitter account called @NoContextSopranos that would post random screenshots of The Sopranos (captions included). And the account was a hit. Especially because many people were re-watching or discovering The Sopranos over the past two years we (sort of) spent inside. And it quickly spread to almost every popular TV show you could ever think of.
As with everything on the Internet nowadays, things get overdone quickly. I've come across many of these accounts I don't care for, but some are true gems. For the rest of this email, I'm going to include a screenshot from @NoContextSuccession to give each shoutout a little something extra.
And if you still haven't caught up with Succession, this is your sign that you should do that. I'll try not to include spoilers because everything is a single pic with no context, but that's all I can do for you.
THREEShoutout to the Future
Not Future Hendrixxx. That man doesn't need a written shoutout to know he's getting a shoutout. Please make an album produced by ye. Thank you.
This shoutout is to the future of time, the world, Earth, our species, humans (and all other objectively better animals). The future looks very bright or dismally bleak, depending on how you look at it. One thing I can say for sure is that the Powers That Be only care about a future that is profitable. And it doesn't matter if it's at the expense of everyone else who isn't sharing in those gains. But what I'm really talking about is the future of new shit, new technology. Things that change our world forever. Things like NFTs and Web3 and crypto and all that shit you're either making fun of, don't understand or don't have enough money to participate in. If I've learned anything during the 10,900 days I've been alive--it's that humans seriously underestimate the impact something is going to have on our lives.
One day back in 2012, I was walking to my college dining hall with a friend who had recently gotten the new iPhone which stored all your music. I was disgusted. "No, I don't want that," I told him. "Why would I want to have all my music in the same place as my phone? I'd much rather carry around my phone in one pocket and my iPod Touch in the other pocket. Let me keep these things separate."
Fast forward to 2021, and you didn't have to hear that story to agree that sometimes I'm a fucking dumbass. But, in general, humans are all kinds of dumbasses. And we don't understand new things because they're different and they change our way of life. We're resistant to change when it disrupts our comforts and habits. I'm one of the guiltiest of this. So I've started doing something pretty scary. Every day I remind myself that everything about life as I know it could change at any second. And I always remind myself that. Because the only thing we can count on is that everything we've ever known is going to change, whether we want it to or not. And the best way to handle that is to flow like water 🏊🏽♂️
FOURShoutout to my parents
I love you, like a lot. I won't even swear on this one because I know you don't like that, Mami. I appreciate everything you've ever done and still do for me. And I notice how you've changed your beliefs or acceptance of things based on a growing understanding of who I am as a person. And I strive to give you the respect you deserve every single day. And I recognize every moment when you may make a decision that you disagree with, but you do it out of respect to me, the decisions I've made, and who I've become as a person. And with all your shortcomings (don't worry, we all have them), I learn about ways to do things better in the future for my kids and build on the incredible foundation you've given me. Everything you've taught me has helped me always know what the right decision is. And I may not always make the right (or best) decision, but I'm fully aware of which it is. That's something I'll keep working on, and I know you'll be with me as I work on it every step away until one day you're no longer with me. And then I'll carry on everything you taught me and much, much more.
FIVEShoutout to everyone who made sure their loved ones got gifts this holiday season
The older I get, the fewer gifts I expect to receive. Not because I don't have people that care about me (the complete opposite), but because I understand sometimes it's hard. You don't need a fuck ton ("Aaaaand we're back," -Mom) of gifts or even expensive ones to show someone you care. You need something thoughtful that you know will mean something to them. And if you can't get someone a gift, and that person loves you, and you love them, I'm sure they will understand. So shoutout to everyone who can always give gifts to their family and friends and anyone else they care about. If you're going to gift me something that means absolutely nothing to me but only do it because it makes you feel good about doing it, I'd rather you not gift me anything. I'd rather you gift me your presence and time (or a simple communication if you don't have a lot of time). There are countless ways to show someone you care about them, so find one and do it for the people you love. And if gifting is your way, get me something that's pink, related to plants, a candle, or a book. I'm down for any of that.
FIVEShoutout to my dad for the Christmas gifts he gets my mom
Every year she's genuinely like, "I have no idea what he's going to get me if he's going to get me anything. After so long, what is there to really give?" And every year, she's like, "OMG, HE SURPRISED ME. I NEVER EXPECTED THIS; IT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED THAT I DIDN'T KNOW I WANTED OR NEEDED." And then my dad looks at me and makes this face like, "Baby, I've been doing this for half my life, I got this 🔒"
SIXShoutout to yoga and my yoga teachers
This shit changed my life and led me down a path I never expected. Things didn't go the way I thought (or planned) they would go, but they went the way they were supposed to do, and I'm eternally grateful for that. Thank you to everyone involved in this journey of mine that's only just beginning. Also, here are all my teachers from this year and emojis next to their names that represent how taking a class with them makes me feel.
JA: 😇 😈🔬
NH: 😌🧖🐣
ML: 🏋️🥵💪
NL: 🚀😶🌫️👻
JF: 💃🏾⛪️🏊🏽♂️
AG: 🩰☺️🥳
MG: 🥰🙏😊
EJ: 🌻👶🌟
MS: 🧘🏽♂️🤠🧘🏽♂️
DW: 🙃😵💫🙂
CO: 😎🔮 🤸
SEVENShoutout to realizing what I might never have
I recently realized that the better world I hope for, where everyone has housing, free education, and free medical care, might come at a cost. It could come at the expense of personal luxury because we need to spread things out a bit better. And that might mean I don't get to have a private vacation on a mega-yacht off the Amalfi coast. And even though that sounds pretty fucking awesome, I'm okay if it doesn't happen either. And that doesn't mean I'm not going to work hard to get things. It means I'm trying to re-prioritize the things I think are the most important and what truly matters in life. Stay tuned for more updates as I learn along the way.
EIGHTShoutout to the homie that gave me a free VIP ticket to Rolling Loud
Growing up in Puerto Rico, you don't get many chances to see American rappers. When I moved to Miami, that was one of the first things I made sure I did: find every rapper coming to town to perform and make sure I'm there to witness it. Sadly, those small concerts happened at a venue that no longer exists (shoutout to Grand Central and Peach Fuzz and also Purdy Lounge because the other day I was talking to some old(er) couple randomly, and they were trying to figure out the name of a place that did hip-hop nights on Saturdays, and I was like yeah Purdy Lounge, and they didn't believe that I was old enough to have gone. Cheers to looking 23 forever ever ever).
And all the hip-hop shows in Miami were put on by Real Dope Entertainment. The same people who do Rolling Loud. And since they bring all the big (and small) names to Rolling Loud, why would they ever spend money doing smaller shows in smaller venues? They might do one or two local rappers, but nothing like it used to be in 2014-2016 when you had rappers consistently performing around Miami proper.
Before this year, I hadn't been to Rolling Loud in three years because I think it's a mess and young hip-hop fans are not the most thoughtful at festivals. This year, my friend bought a VIP ticket (against my advice) and ended up not going. So he passed on the ticket to me to give away, and I gave it to the best person I know: myself.
I had a solo VIP Rolling Loud experience where I made some new friends and went to every performance I wanted to see without worrying about who was coming with me. I saw what might be one of the last Travis Scott performances ever and tested my knee at the pits of Uzi and Rocky. Coincidentally, that's also where I caught the CoCo(vid-19). I would've been more surprised if I didn't get it. So shoutout to concerts and live performances and one of the experiences that make me happier than anything else in the world. If you ever want to go listen to really loud music surrounded by strangers, you know who to call 😎
NINEShoutout to politicians
What a year for politicians. Just like every other year. They ask for money, promise us shit, and then do whatever the fuck they want. And right now many politicians who claim to be champions of free speech moving to try and censor kids from learning history because, uh, they don't like that kids might be taught what actually happened???? They're so stupid they're arguing against something that isn't even happening. And when they do argue against something that is happening, they only jump on it for as long as they need to garner support and then move on without doing anything else.
TENShoutout to Donald Trump
One thing I can't deny, the unintentional comedy that man provides is in a league of its own.
Part two coming later this afternoon…
-2010 Saint John’s School Male Athlete of the Year ⚽️