Photo by the cobrasnake
I remember when I was a kid, I watched a lot of TV. Not sure if they internet ‘really existed’ back then, possibly ‘just AOL.’ I had always thought that my childhood was special. I thought that me + my brother/sister had a more meaningful childhood than any1 else in the world. However, as I grew older, I found out that the people who lived around me generally had the same experience as me (they possibly had more lenient parents).
Back in the day, I feel like I ‘genuinely like things’, not really making an active personal branding decision. As a kid, u do things like ‘watch the popular shows on a popular channel’, and ‘listen to popular music on popular radio stations’ without really understanding ‘why.’ U get the opportunity 2 connect with other kids abt ‘watching the same shit’, and u can connect, and think ‘damn. we have a lot in common.’ Used to do stuff like ‘play’, but now u have to ‘pay money to have a unique experience.’ Sometimes u even have to go on stubhub/ebay/craigslist 2 pay above market rate for a unique experience.
Sad abt growing up, losing touch with my innerchild, experiencing things like ‘joy’ or smiling for a reason other than ‘laughing @ some1.’ Sad that most of my connxns are so inauthentic. Sad that I can’t enjoy things. Sad that whenever I ‘connect’ with some1, I just feel like a ‘nostalgic fggt.’ H8 when ppl connect abt things that they used 2 watch/listen 2. Wish there was some way to connect with ppl abt who we will become in the future.
Sad that my innerchild is ‘dead and gone, dead and gone.’
Srsly feel like the only thing that could have made my childhood better would have been ‘having the opportunity to listen to Animal Collective without even knowing what pitchfork/music blogs were.’ Feel like I would have really ‘enjoyed it’ in an organic way.
Please use the comments section of this post to connect with commenters abt what yall have in common from childhood, and how it constructed u in2 the person u r 2day.
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IAmCarles.com
35 Comments
jam
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used to play pokemon all day. now i surf interwebs for new pr0ns
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//////////Reply by JT
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
@JT, my lyfe is sad
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//////////Reply by erc
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
@JT, I used to play pokemon 2.
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i listed to talking heads in my childhood (moar like i did it bc my father loves talking heads) but i wish it was beethoven. yall know, moar music knowledge, i’d could ‘evolve’ it by past->present, not present->past like i do.
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my childhood consisted of a bowl cut and buck teeth. im a girl.
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//////////Reply by anonymous
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
@krly, my childhood consisted of a bowl cut and buck teeth too. im a guy.
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//////////Reply by rrrororoor
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
@anonymous,
you guys should date
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i usu. tortured birds as a child/bedwet and felt ashamed/masturbated with the neighbors kidz/was spanked. other than that, i only remember getting many fevers and cartoonz like RICHARD SCARY ANY1 REMEMBER THAT?!?! LOL! NICKJR YALL.
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//////////Reply by am appy fetish
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
in retrospect, they were all only entrylvl fevers like chickeny pox and the flu :[ is my whole lyfe merely entrylevl//empty? should i disembowel myself asap?
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//////////Reply by brobro
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
@am appy fetish, ya, u probably should.
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//////////Reply by jjj
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
@am appy fetish, OMG DO YOU REMEMBER DOUG?
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//////////Reply by am appy fetish
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
@jjj, Doug was so alt! I remember one episode where he fantasized over being the lead singer in a rockband while wearing a ridiculously oversized suit = DAVID BYRNE REFFY.
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Carles, you seem to have some kind of fixation on how we can’t genuinely ‘enjoy’ things anymore. You may need to go on a spiritual quest for something you can truly ‘dig’, free of any outside influences, to realize that pure, uninfluenced enjoyment still exists outside of mockery and satire. :(
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//////////Reply by leak
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
@;f;;f;;f;ff;;f;;,;,,, yeah, i agree. its really easy to get caught up in worrying about the results of your actions and people’s reactions to them. its okay to enjoy something without trying not to seem like some type of stereotype. don’t do something that isn’t vital to your existance if it loses its thrill (blogging, perhaps?). try new hobbies & shit. do some arts & crafts. try acid or something. maybe its lame to have serious conversations on the internet, but its a good place to go when the real world is worrying you. when life in the present sucks, a lot of people miss the past. think about shit you like in life, and shit you don’t like. add more of what you like, regardless of what people think, and less of what you don’t. listen to some ‘psychadelic jams’ to think about this (Dead Meadow, Sun Araw, anything spacy and unnecessarily long..Sung Tongs is good too).
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//////////Reply by vdieselfor20
//////////Posted July 26th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
@leak, TLDNR BRO MITE WANT TO TONE IT DOWN
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//////////Reply by rrrororoor
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
@leak,
i agree with you. thats why i find it refreshing to hang with mainstreamers. They don’t overthink their decisions. They just do what feels right to them without trying to hard. its easier to be mainstream. but you just have to be honest with yourself. follow your instincts.
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your effing emo
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good blog.
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Like we use to soberly watch Ren & Stimpy (If our parents let us) but now we can watch it under the influence of chemicals thanks to hulu and other streaming sites. We’re overexposed and over stimulated. but sometimes it feels real good.
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wish i had had a ‘cool dad’ who could have taught me how 2 be an alt baby/toddler/kid/tween. maybe he would have an old vinyl collection and put on some ‘chill shit’ and i would learn 2 make fun of the other kids who liked mnstrm/radio music.
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camp anawana
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//////////Reply by Donkeylips
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 2:20 am
@jacksfork, we hold you in our hearts and when I think about you it makes me wanna fart.
Via the elected bro
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//////////Reply by rrrororoor
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
@jacksfork,
I completely forgot about that show.
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miss ahhh real monsterz!!!
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WHY ARE ALL MY RELATIVES INVITING ME TO BE MY FACEBOOK FRIEND??? THEY WILL NOT UNDERSTAND MY PERSONAL BRAND. THEY ANSWER THE ‘INFO’ SECTION WITHOUT IRONY.
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//////////Reply by thyme2pretenderzzzz
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@vdieselfor20, if u were rlly alt, u could find irony in their ’sincerity’.
Rod Stewart
GET IT???!!!1!!F<!<,<!,
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//////////Reply by vdieselfor20
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
@thyme2pretenderzzzz, cancels out, via post-post-post-irony-ergo-propter-hoc
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i used to ‘read’ a lot of Lego instructions. Now i have a difficult time reading words that are not pictures
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//////////Reply by erc
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
@whatuptokyo, Same. :C
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//////////Reply by Gpa
//////////Posted July 28th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
@whatuptokyo,
just work @ ikea, dogg
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//////////Reply by whatuptokyo
//////////Posted July 28th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
@Gpa, i did, but got fired for showing up drunk and eating all their hotdogs
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used to watch japanimes n read simpsons comix
stilllll do that
stilllll unloved
stilllll a chyld?
< sober then b4 tho
maybe my personal progress as a human being can be measured by the increased amount of alcohol that is present in my life
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funny post.
like how you always bring it back to hating p4k, way to be.
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r u fucking homo hating mexicans?
i enjoy reading your blog, but racism is the worst thing ever
one reader less, blocked you @ twitter
go fuck a goat
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//////////Reply by jacksfork
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 12:59 am
@steff, you called carles a homo while accusing him of racism. pot. kettle. black?
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//////////Reply by krw
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
@jacksfork, LOL right on brotha
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wish connexznsx could be more meaingful. sorry 2 much wine in my mouf. anyways, carls, you make e good point about appreciation. If i knew Anco when i was youngeri ‘d be a diff persn now, for sure. peace. luv u carls really i do
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carles i think your commentary about our generation is particularly insightful, but i also think when you say faggot and stuff you sound really ignorant. i remember you were thinking about stopping. can you do some kind of update on that thought?
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u need 2 meditate. seriously. go sit down & stare at a wall and, like, feel.
true story;
i knew an asian fellow once. great at video games. was throwing a trip party so i gave him a bit of shroom. just a little gold dust off the cap. 30 minutes later he is jamming out on my bed and screams to the nite sky (my ceiling):
“WHEN GIRLS TALK ABOUT FEELINGS NOW I KNOW WHAT THEYRE TALKING ABOUT”
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//////////Reply by alienzzzz
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am
@grant, soundz lyke you’d fit in real nyce at one of those hippie burning festivalz
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//////////Reply by grant
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
@alienzzzz, hippies always come up to me trashed as hell as im sitting on the grass and theyre like HEY BRO WHATS UP DUDE WHATS YOUR NAME. i really dont want to talk to them so im like “some call me CalmBro” thinking theyll think im a dork and leave me be.
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//////////Reply by alienzzzz
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
@grant, lmfao. yer sewwwwwwwwwwww zaney
I grew up with a cool dad
he used to take me to gallery openings and and let me watch the bands when he did temp tattoos at music festivals via big day out
so now when everyone remembers the ol days via discussing sesame st, backstreet boys and ’sane britney’ I just sit in the corner and cry a lil
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mind blowing, especially “ur innerchild is a faggot”. i can’t even begin to comment on the relevance of the talking heads piece. is carles the only one who gets it??
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Ka-Blaaam!, All That and Amanda Show! :D
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gundam wing, yall
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//////////Reply by louis
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@ALL I DO IS PARTY, yeah bro when i was lil
i spent summer at my grandparents house in new york watching cartoon network and nickelodeon cuz i didnt have cable at my house
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//////////Reply by krw
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
@louis, dude me too! and my grandparents were so excited to have me there they made all these snacks ‘n shit. its was sweet. just sittin’ in the livin’ room watchin’ the cable tv! hell yeah the good ‘ole days. I’ll miss ‘em
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I post on your blog once in awhile, and first off, most of the time I don’t know what people are commenting on about. They never make sense and they just talk a lot of shit. It’s like 12 years responding to my posts with ignorant and uninteresting comments. Blah, I really don’t think I’ll be posting anymore and will be keeping my comments to myself.
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//////////Reply by alienzzzz
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:15 am
@Kay, HAy KAYbabez
maybs you shouldn’t be reading HRO if yer offended by harmless slander/webtrollz. besidez informing AlTKIDZ/BROS/MEMES about wutz kewl/hip it’s a blog for insecure pretentious peepz to styck to make fun of entrylevels/outsiderz lyke yerself…obvi
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//////////Reply by kay
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
@alienzzzz, yeah, like I said, I don’t even know what you’re saying. I never said I was offended, I just said the comments don’t make sense. You write like you’re an entrylevel going into grade school. “lyke”, “wutz”, “styck”….yeah.
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//////////Reply by tachyon
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
@kay, In other words, your conceptually driven processing is shit.
//////////Reply by alienzzzz
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
@kay, u must be retarted suga bunz
//////////Reply by tachyon
//////////Posted July 28th, 2009 at 7:34 am
kay is right, i usually prefer to hang around less mundane places (chatboxes). tho’ it is interesting to sample the spectrum of human experience.
and i do think trolls and interweb slang can provide a certain droll ambiance (best not overdone, of course)
//////////Reply by louis
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
@Kay, thx for killing the mood
were jus tryin 2 be ‘nostalgiabros’ for a lil while
lookin back and appreciating the ‘cool shit’ that we thought was ‘cool shit’ but didnt ‘appreciate’ til we found out that its harder to find ’shit’ ‘cool’ when ur older and youve seen alot of ’shit’
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//////////Reply by krw
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
@Kay
I bet the kids at school hated you. sucks. well, when I have trouble figuring out webtalk I just sound it out. its like first grade all over again, dont know a word? sound it out. just sound. it. out.
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pokemon = ye
digimon = ‘epic fail’
gundam wing = ye
dragonball z = over 9000 y’all
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//////////Reply by Mari
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@altBro, used to watch all those shows & play runescape.
miss my azn childhood.
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//////////Reply by erc
//////////Posted July 28th, 2009 at 1:26 am
@altBro, totes
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funny/good
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My mom didn’t let me buy any clothes from limited too and anything gross and funny was deemed “nickolodeon humor” and banned. I read more when I was 10 then I do now. It made me feel really different from other kids. Now all of them are hipsters in NYC. I’m in the same town, and I still don’t get simpsons references so that sux
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hey arnold – u guys know he wore a long flanel shirt… i.e hella alt
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//////////Reply by louis
//////////Posted July 27th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
@dex, hey arnold is prtty much the ‘most authentic’ cartoon of my generation.
i wonder if this generation has a hey arnold
mayb not
they probably just watch youtube alot
i would probably watch youtube alot
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Getting my wang wang touched by a man dressed up as Chuckie Finster from Rugrats at the Nickelodeon Studios. Gak Gak Gak Gak Gak.
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‘growing up’ and not enjoying things as much as you used to is not a part of ‘this generation’, it just comes along with growing old. before I could just tug one off and then go to bed and get up early to watch the cartoons. Now there are political/social/psychological/enviro metal rammifications with that behavior.
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I just remember watching ren and stimpy and wandering around in the woods a lot and being pissed at the handed down clothes I got that were hideous and hated everyone at school. Fucking 10 years of christian school. Was pretty much just neglected as far as my parents went which was somewhat convenient sometimes. I was always told “if you ever do drugs, just make sure you do them with me” by my mom… Oh yeah.. and my paranoid grandma not letting me go outside when I stayed with her because I’d ‘catch malaria (sometimes aids) from the mosquitoes or limes disease from the deer ticks’ I don’t feel like I ever had an inner child in the first place.
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Clarissa Explains it All was my fave
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Doug was the first alt of the nickelodeons. Not wanting everyone to think he was Dylan Farnum and trying to maintain his own personal brand allowed him to create the first authentic Nick Meme. [via brown shorts and green sweater vest].
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put a group of teenagers/young adults together and they will start talking about fav nickelodeon shows in 20 minutes…proven fact
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