en-us http://www.keithwatanabe.net/index.php Keith Watanabe's Website http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/8/11/26c286e3a329a50128a501e160680ae8.html
Naturally, it wasn't always the best period. You had Reagan, the Cold War, hairspray, aerosol cans, the AIDS epidemic blown out of proportion, etc. But for me being a pre-adolescent, the 80's represented my own innocence. Hell, I still think Lego from 1984 and on is "new" or "modern" even.

But truthfully, the innocence for me represented not having to worry so much. Sure, I was stressed out back then too. Had terrible teachers, rude kids in elementary and jr high school, the start of various gangs around my area, pressure to be cool. But those were all social problems. At home, my house was still in working condition. My father was having staiblity problems, yes, mostly in the 4th grade when he was forced into an alcoholic anonymous type of institution (which never really helped him, making me wish my family could sue them for basically giving us a whole lot of shit for nothing). But the main thing was that my family was there, healthy, not having to deal with the level of problems that we're dealing with now.

I think the only big progress since then for me has been the internet. But I think the Internet has been more hassle than the benefit for me. It seems like I would've been better off more focused on just my writing overall than becoming some internet engineer, trying to get a steady income.

When I see my mom and how she's locked in her little world, reminiscing, I'm starting to not blame her for delving in her own nostalgia. It seems sad that problems only seem to progress as one grows older. You'd think that some of these simple problems like having a good job, fixed up house, quality food and generally speaking the improvement of one's life would be simple. It's not. It just gets more difficult with more people trying to exploit you for every dime, second, and thing in your existence.]]> Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:18:02 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/8/11/26c286e3a329a50128a501e160680ae8.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/4/20/7f7d5eacf72d0e48024ac50416f27a90.html Puddle of Mudd's Blurry.

The part in particular that describes how I feel goes:

Can you take it all away
Can you take it all away
When ya shoved it in my face
This pain you gave to me

I feel that this is what God is doing to me. Can you take it all away, God? Can you strip me of everything that I care for and then shove it in my face mockingly? Do you want to strip me of everything until I have nothing and then take everything that you've raped from me invert it against me?

My soul has been crying for a while now. So I sit at home now repeating to listen to this song as a catharsis for my past year.]]> Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:18:22 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/4/20/7f7d5eacf72d0e48024ac50416f27a90.html