Ten Things I Will Teach Alex to Appreciate:
1. The Beatles - Greatest Band Ever, Period. Everything from Yellow Submarine to Abbey Road, though I wouldn't be so inclined to do Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Concept or not, it does feel relatively dated), The Fab Four will be the band that other bands will have to measure against.
2. Movies - From indies to studio popcorn fare, from writer/directors like Woody Allen and Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson to Pixar movies that have 15 writers, from comic book adaptations to literary adaptations, from Hong Kong
movies to Indian movies - all movies generally have something to say, and even if you hate the movie, there's always something cool that you will see in it.
3. Photography - Though I haven't done much in it, I'm just thinking more about composition, lighting, mood - stuff that would bring out all sorts of emotions.
4. Storytelling - I've thought a little about this one, maybe taking some digital photos and then asking Alex to come up with a story to go along with it. Or we could just tap his imagination and make little home movies out of it.
5. Work Ethics - Because sometimes, a little work ethic will bring you a long way.
6. Humor - I don't know if you could really teach someone this, but I'm sure going to try.
7. Writing - Goes with imagination, writing is really the best way to let yourself go - read yourself a few months from today and it's almost like you didn't put that on paper. Which may or may not be a good thing. Also, I think the best part about writing, I think, is seeing that black ink sail along the white parchment, and making something out of nothing. For me nowadays, it's the tapping of the keyboard and seeing a really good font appear on a white screen. Different, but the same.
8. Women - Like it or not, they are the better sex. They may be more emotional than men, but they also have more compassion and value for human life, in my opinion.
9. Video Games - Ultimately, not useful in life or in relationships, but damn, it's cool to blow up things and drive recklessly.
10. Life. Whine all he wants, but it pretty much is what you make of it.
