Still Figurin' Out Who I Think I Am

This one's about not goin' anywhere.

"Tell me why you should stay in this competition."

Because.

What up playas? It's another Sunday, and depending on your perspective it's either the end of one week or the beginning of another. I haven't quite decided which position on the the spectrum I'd like to play to yet.

So my man Brother Nature wants to know why I should remain in this month's unofficial round of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , which is also an elimination-style fundraising event of chaotic, nearly indecent proportions- no wait, maybe I have that confused with "Invalid Item" . And someone's gettin' shown the door after today. That means there's a chance that of all the entrants' entries in this round, theirs might be the last I read of them this month. Which makes me kinda sound like a jerk who doesn't care about others, which couldn't be further from the truth, but I read a lot of entries on the daily as it is and I tend to forget things sometimes, especially when I consume a lot of information, which makes me question my own sanity and blame Obama.

Where was I? Oh right...this elimination thing.

You (the prestigious board of associates of Joel and Andre) should keep me around because this is my forum, I'll do what I damn well please, and if you don't keep me in this contest I'll pull a control freak move and yank down everything I've got on WDC because I didn't get my way I'm loveable, charming, handsome in the right (or lack of) light, and overall a nice person to have at your disposal.

I'm also witty, cunning, resourceful, and I'm no stranger to monkey heists   (see last February's Blog Mob behavior if you need proof). Plus, I'll cut you entertain, inform, and perhaps even occasionally astound you with feats of verbal Olympic-level skills. Nobody else in this competition can boast of out-promising me!

But seriously, I come with a pedigree unmatched by almost everyone else. And there's gotta be at least one or two people (although I'm not keepin' score; jus' sayin') who have hardly contributed anything in writing this month, right? So in theory, those people should be easiest to cut free...let's move on with those who have proven they want to be here the most. *lights his torch*

And I don't care who stays or who goes to be honest, as long as I'm still around. I won't take it personally. I'll act normal outside of this, like we're still friends  . No worries.

But if you're really desperate to eliminate someone after reading this, I graciously volunteer...Elle - on hiatus . Why would I just up and volunteer myself, and why wouldn't I volunteer the leader of the other team?

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Today marks the 30th anniversary of a seminal teenage movie, The Breakfast Club. That would make me nine years old when it came out...old enough to be aware of its existende, but young enough that some of it went over my head.

And I'll admit, I never really sat down and watched the whole thing from start to finish until about two years ago. I'd seen bits and pieces, I knew who was in it (I'll always love you, Molly Ringwald), and I understood the gist of the story even though I didn't really identify with any of the main characters.

But what I can cop to is the song that runs in the background of the closing scene and through the beginning of the credits...Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)". This might be the most mainstream song in my part of the Soundtrackers' playlist  , but I think there's a universal aspect present in that we don't ever want to be forgotten. We want to know years down the road that we made some kind of difference in as many peoples' lives as possible, whether by being a friend or a lover or an example of some kind. If we can't be present, we can still be a memory.

I still have lots of thoughts and memories (both good and bad) of many people I haven't seen or talked to in years. Sure, social media has managed to connect so many of us now in ways we could only imagine 30 years ago, but what we're up to presently isn't any bit more important than what we started building in the past, even if the cast of characters around us has changed and some didn't manage to see things through toward the completion of where we're at today.

I love that I can hear this song and be taken back to not only the time in my life when this was the number one song in the country, but also to when I was a teenager in detention instead of sitting at home doing homework, or busting my ass in wrestling practice, or hangin' out at the mall, or writing poetry, or taking part in standard teenage deviant behavior. That was all a part of my life as much as this song is. I know it sounds corny, but it's true.

"Will you recognize me?
Call my name, or walk on by?"
Lyrics.  

Like I said, today is the 30th anniversary of The Breakfast Club's release  ...and even though I finally got around to watching it fully just two years ayo, I at least had the frame of reference of having lived through that time period. I can barely imagine what it must be like being a millennial and watching it for the first time  . And Spoiler Alert for those of you who 1) have never seen it; or 2) have never been in detention or in-school suspension before: yes, a situation like that can unite various individuals from different groups and cliques.

No Valentine's Day wrap-up would be complete without knowing that some people really did have it worse than you   on February 14th.

Well, we did it...we've made it halfway through another month.

Fistpump Baby salutes you.

Carry on now with the rest of your activities. Peace, it's my feeling we'll win in the end, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!