Who do I still think I am??

This one's about standards, any trait, and history.

30DBC PROMPT: "Why are athletes on drugs worse than writers on drugs? Athletes that use performance enhancing drugs are condemned while artists who do the same thing are not. Why is that? Does this double standard make sense?"

'Sup y'all? Before I begin tonight, give a hand to Lyn's a Witchy Woman for guest judgin' this week's portion of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  and providing some pretty sweet prompts. You can be our judge anytime, Lyn!

Now, as for this prompt comparing athletes and artists, I think it boils down to a few different things in play here:

1) The different sorts of pressure at younger ages. Yeah yeah yeah, every kid is subjected to the whole "Don't do drugs!"   rhetoric throughout the course of their young lives, but I think young kids coming up in organized sports (at least, in leagues or organizations that do things right), there's more emphasis on staying clean (even though the primary concerns are recreational drugs, as opposed to the performance-enhancing kind). I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't high school kids on the football team juicin', because undoubtedly there are...but at a young age it's so much easier for an athlete to get busted doin' anything, especially if he/she is high. As for the band geeks, sure, they're just given the same occasional "ya booze, ya lose" lecture, but no one's gonna make 'em pee in a cup because they ripped off a killer flute solo, or rocked the trombone with a tenacity similar to the one needed to attack a curveball. At that level, I just think less people care about what the artists are into; the athletes get more scrutiny.

2) Lower scrutiny almost always leads to lower expectations. Because there's significantly less interest in the artists on some level than there are in athletes, the drama club can fly a little lower under the radar and take a few more changes, while the jocks need to sorta toe the line. Johnny Quarterback gets caught with an ounce of pot on campus, and it's possible he could face the loss of a scholarship or dismissal from the team...but if the orchestra lead gets caught under the same circumstances, chances are there are lesser repercussions (if anyone cares at all). I hate the saying "That's just the way it is, because that's the way it's always been." but it applies here.

3) After awhile, expectations shift closer toward reality. When athletes hit the major stages of their respective careers, we expect- no, sometimes, we demand- that they produce game in, game out, play in, play out. We want the towering home run and the monster bone-jarring hit. The ooohs and ahhhs. And owners want to protect their investments, so they'll do whatever it takes to help their players stay healthy and boost their systems. The average fan goes to a game to see his favorite teams and players...play, and not sit on the bench with a sprained pinkie finger. It's gotten so out of hand that a group of ex-players is suing the National Football League   over the way the league hid information from players regarding the risks and procedures involved in prescribing and handing out painkillers and other meds. Meanwhile, everyone assumes that if Johnny Rockstar makes it to the pinnacle of his career, he'll have a drug habit soon (if he doesn't already), and who's flinchin'? Nobody. It comes with the territory.

And that just covers painkillers and rec-use party supplies. Talking about performance-enhancing drugs is a totally different animal. Has science convinced us that smokin' a J will make you a better guitar player? Just as much as other scientists have said it doesn't. But with PED's, the evidence is a lot clearer, and it tilts the playing field. Ever been to a concert where a member of your favorite band was so fucked up outta his gourd that it ruined the experience? Bummer. The losers are the crowd and maybe his band mates. But if your least-favorite baller is straight crushin' records with the force and doin' it against your team, you're gonna be suspicious. Especially if this sort of production is comin' outta nowhere. You're gonna be pissed...and so will a bunch of other athletes who play a kid's game for fun (and millions of dollars) and the lure of a championship. There are trophies in music too, but they're not as regarded as the Stanley Cup or the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Winning a Grammy doesn't necessarily mean you were dominant over the course of a year...could it? Yeah, but it doesn't always translate. PED's have no real value on record sales or an artist's popularity, unlike sports history record books that get rewritten on a yearly basis by guys you're pretty positive, but aren't totally sure, are cheating by putting a substance into their bodies that'll make them better at their profession. It all goes back to science and statistics...it matters more in baseball or football than it does in music or writing.

The exception? Rock stars in their seventies still trying to tour. You can't tell me there's not somethin' shady goin' on with doctors for the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney. At least Macca puts out some new music every few years. Jagger and Richards haven't put out a new album in decades and are now barely swaggering jockeys for Viagra and Levitra in a groupie quest. I'm convinced Keith Richards died shortly after the last proper Stones LP, and what we're seeing now is his cloned DNA cobbled from heroin needles and crazed hangers-on who saved spent condoms. But maybe I'm just bitter 'cuz I never really was a big fan of the Rolling Stones anyway.

BCF PROMPT: "Write a letter to the personality trait you like least, convincing it to shape up or ship out. Be as threatening, theatrical, or thoroughly charming as is necessary to get the job done."

Really...anyone's? It doesn't have to be our own, just "the personality trait"? Cool...that's a little less bleedin' I have to do for you people tonight .

Dear people who can't write a proper sentence without swapping out words in exchange for letters:

U, R, and C are not words. Please stop doing this, or I will see to it that you are punched in the head repeatedly with a dictionary. This also goes for anyone who doesn't understand that "NE1" isn't a word as well...can we get that straight and not "str8"? There's such a thing as slang, and then there's sheer laziness and/or stupidity...I would hate to have to unlike your Facebook posts because you type like your keyboard is in a language that consists of six to eight letters, a smattering of numbers, and emojis that don't make sense because your fingers spazzed out while your shift key was depressed. Act like the primary language you've been speaking or at least hearing your entire life is English.

Please and thank you. Sincerely, The Spelling Jedi.

And don't tell me people misspelling words on purpose like that isn't proof on some kind of trait. Being an a-hole is a trait as much as it is a personality flaw, y'all.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I was really tempted to go with this song, which I know y'all have seen before (and if you haven't come across it here at "Note: We love this. We're pretty sure you might, t...", surely you've seen it all over your Facebook news feed within the last week or so)...being that this is a writing website and we're people who write and/or enjoy good writing from time to time. And I can't justify Fall Out Boy   because I can't st

Hold up...I've never seen this video before and the monkey in the opening minute that texts "Yo, this band is wack!" has to be the greatest monkey-related thing I've seen since "Barrel of Monkeys" .

"If that's the worst you got,
Better put your fingers back to the keys."
Lyrics.  

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

"Family History - Rip out a page from yours and share a story or two."

The reasons I remember this are probably the same as my father's reasons for ever sharing this bit of info with us kids when we were maybe in our early teens, if that. And while I don't recall if he'd had too much to drink or not that particular evening (conventional wisdom says he might've), I seem to think the next day...well, I'm not gonna call the man a liar for it, and he never said he was kidding, but something's not adding up for me.

My dad claimed in front of a group of his friends that we were somehow related to Al Capone. Yeah, that Al Capone  .

I forget what our exact reactions were, but it was somewhere in between "GTFO!" and "You're not serious!" He even tried backing up his claim by saying the next day we'd visit his relative so-and-so, who had a copy of the family tree and could prove it. I believe he also said it was true because his mother's maiden name (my crazy Italian grandmother Rosie) was Capone...and y'all know she's not exactly one you wanna ask about anything ("This one's about the annoying annoyance." ).

Of course, the next day came and when asked about it later on he kinda blew the whole thing off and that was the last we heard about it. But that didn't stop me in school from repeating what my dad had said, prefaced by the caveat "Well, my dad said...", which of course at that age gets twisted around into me saying it rather than me saying someone else said it, and y'all know that never ends well for the kid who typically got picked on a lot even when he didn't have to open his mouth and invite it upon himself.

Here's a fun list...College Humor's Nine Fantastic Ways Celebrities Have Replied To Fans  .

At work we see a lot of things...a lot of things. This was overheard in passing between two of the regulars (and since there's only two of us...I'll let you do the math ): "I'm not sayin' she's fat, but she had a really nice set of abs where her boobs are supposed to be." For some reason my coworkers say they miss me on days they don't come in.

Ok, I'm gettin' outta here 'cuz I'm exhausted...woke up this morning with the toothache I was complainin' about the other day being in worse shape, making eating difficult (but I did it!), and then I busted my ass and overdid the standing/walking/lifting totally when we rearranged our entire showroom this afternoon. Plus, ya know...lack of sleep and all. I might loiter around here for a few minutes, but then it's time to pass out for real because tomorrow's gonna be a long day if I can figure out how to fit in everything I've got goin' on. Peace, like you only sweeter, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!