The Flip Side

It turns out that Cochlear Implant video I shared the other day isn't all smiles. Apparently Cochlear implants are a major dividing point between the deaf culture and hearing culture. My fiance, Lorelei, is a Speech Language Pathology major at UGA and is also getting a minor in American Sign Language. I showed the video to her and she mentioned that she probably wouldn't want her child to get one.

I was stunned. I listed off reason after reason I would want my child to have one: for their own safety; to enjoy the sounds of music; to be able to interact with other hearing people everyday; to not have to struggle in life. She replied that I was only looking at this from a hearing perspective and deaf people would consider that offensive. She told me my aunt was very outspoken in her opposition to cochlear implants. Further background info, my Aunt grew up in a deaf household, has her PHD in Deaf Studies and she and my uncle adopted my cousin who is deaf.

At this point I just wanted to hear her perspective to see if she could reel me back in. I was lost and confused as to why anyone wouldn't want their child to have the opportunity to hear. So she began with the basics. First, being deaf isn't like being blind or disabled. Deaf people have their own culture, and many deaf people are very successful. Many deaf people can read lips and some can even voice. Second, not all deaf people are completely deaf. My cousin, for example, can hear at certain frequencies. They even can translate those sounds in to full sound recognition in some cases. Third, even if someone is an ideal candidate for cochlear implants there is a 3.7% fail rate, and if they fail your cochlea is ruined and you lose all hearing. No sound recognition. Just nothing. To go along with that even if the initial implant is a success you can still lose hearing down the road. That hearing loss isn't even included in the failure rate. Fourth, even with a cochlear implant you aren't guaranteed to hear as well as a hearing person. Some patients only see a slight increase in hearing. Fifth, its an incredibly invasive procedure that involves drilling in to the skull. Finally, a cochlear implant completely alienates you from deaf culture.

I was still going back and forth on the issue when she suggested I watch Sound and Fury. Sound and Fury is the story of two families struggling with the decision of whether or not they should get cochlear implants for their deaf children. I searched for the video and found this clip on YouTube.



It was at that point I realized how ignorant I was being. I just wasn't seeing life through deaf eyes. I scrolled through the comments and the debate was there, too. A few deaf people against a world of hearing people trying to explain why those children would be ok without the implant.

I decided to double back and check the comments on the original video and see if there was a debate there. Sure enough, eight pages back there was a comment about how wrong it was to make such a personal decision for a child.

This whole discussion really moved me. I feel awful for my knee-jerk reaction and it makes me want to dig deeper. I'm not really sure what the conclusion should be here, but I guess it's something along these lines. Think through your perceptions and then research both sides. You can be surprised by what happens to your initial perception.

Edit: I watched Sound and Fury and it's follow up tonight. The decision on Cochlear implants is still a hard one for me. I'm not sure which way I would go. The filmmakers seem to be pushing a pro-implant world, but my limited exposure to the deaf community has shown me that it is a beautiful culture we should cherish. Tough topic.

It's ok. Just laugh

There are moments in life when you have to decide if it's ok to laugh or not. Girl says, "I like the big ones", Daniel Tosh makes a racist observation, and now I present you with Girl smacks concrete and makes funny noise.

Just so you know she survived and now leads a normal healthy life. For optimum laughter watch 9-12 times.

Engagement Pictures

This weekend my fiance and I took a weekend getaway to the greatest place on earth, Clemson, SC, for our engagement pictures. The weekend earns a solid A- on the fun scale and could have only been improved if I hadn't had so much homework to deal with. Tailgating, football, lake, and boozes on Saturday then Blueberry muffins and engagement pictures on Sunday.

I'm lucky that one of my best friends, Adam, was a Graphic Communications major at Clemson and is a photo superstar. For background this is the same guy that hid up in a tree for two hours so he could get pictures of the proposal. After we saw how those turned out we started begging him to do our engagement photos. Two reasons, he is that good and we're pretty broke. Lucky for us Adam had already planned on offering up his services as a wedding gift so it all worked out. 

Taking the pictures was great. We're all good friends so we screwed around the whole time and had a really good time with it. Favorite moment might have been when my fiance discovered a tree that had actually grown a sack with two balls and wanted me to take a picture with it (awaiting photo). 

Since that time my fiance has asked me everyday when our pictures were going to be ready - apparently girls love this shit. Lucky for her Adam is a known procrastinator when it comes to Physics and Chemistry, his last two classes to graduate from Clemson, both are on their third round. As a result of him putting off his real work he did up a couple photos as a preview of what was coming.

"You guys look like f-ing J. Crew models on safari or something." 

All rights reserved on both photos to Adam Peake.

Poor Adam has no idea the beast he has now unleashed. Like a junkie after their last high, Lorelei is now chasing after the rest of the pictures with more fervor than ever before. I only pray that I can hold her back long enough for him to finish them all. 

...And to answer your questions yes, she is that good looking. No, I didn't trick her in to this relationship.

Awesome

I was sitting at my desk griping about having to put together a blog entry. Thinking to myself that it would be so much easier to just go to bed and not worry about this. So I did the logical thing and started poking around the corners of the internet.

I learned that ants can survive a fall from any height. Sounds like an interesting premise for a bank heist if you ask me. The queen outlines a dastardly plan to steal the identities of thousands and then jump of the roof in an apparent suicide. Only she's not dead. DUN DUN DUNNNN!

I discovered that in Japan they have different stickers for the elderly and newly licensed to put on their cars to alert others, bears do shit in the woods,  lightsabers would have been perfect with a wrist strap and found a lolcat that brought a smile to my face.

It's funny because it's legal.

Finally, I found this video and I knew my original post on the merit of lightsaber wrist straps was toast.



I'm not sure what was more moving, the mother's reaction or the baby. The sheer exuberance of his smile at hearing his mother's voice is something you usually only hear about in fiction. Stuff like this just doesn't seem to happen in real life. Even the doctor's cheesy line about an early Christmas present doesn't ruin this moment. There are some things in this world that are truly awesome and this is one of those moments.

If ye cen read this Fuck off

This is ma nightmare, He squelched out. Ah thought he wis gonna lose it raght ther. -Fuck this righten fer diffrnt tones if ah could skip one fuckin' book this bastahd wuld be et, he sais as tha keys stopped agin.-Ah don't give a baker's Fuck if it's necessary, ya had to go a wee bit deeper to understand him. Tha bastard was 3 hours of sleep on and he didn't give two shits fer workin no more. This nonsensical shit is gonna fuck up yer brains.

Procrastination

Every time I swear it will be the last time. Just like an addict trying to break their cycle of destruction, I too struggle to stop the chain of events I have once again set in motion. I can't be bothered once I sit down at my desk on Monday afternoon. Like a monk on a pilgrimage, or a flock of geese headed south I don't know what drives me down this path. All I know is that once again it is 5:00AM and instead of sleeping I sit at this keyboard punching out words hoping for a hint of tone similar in nature to the fine work I'm so intent on imitating.

The real problem is the success with which I have continued this never-ending cycle of delay, delay, delay, then work until ungodly hours. As far back as I can remember I have been putting off assignments or finding excuses to do them later. A particularly memorable moment came in the fifth grade when I saved a science project on the element Phosphorus until the night before it was due - a problem since it was supposed to be a quarter long project. After a B-minus and a verbal lashing from my instructor I was on my way to the next project I wasn't going to complete in an orderly amount of time.

It's not a problem of interest. I'm interested in my work now, and I genuinely enjoy it - a year of work that you hate has a way of changing your perspective. No, this week I'm going to blame it on the continued adjustment to how long it actually takes to complete my assignments. You see, I'm used to cramming for three to five exams, quickly completing a couple homework assignments and  completing a project for a grand total of about 48 hours of studying per class. I have quickly discovered that this tried and true method of working my way through classes is no longer acceptable here at The Circus. So with a heavy heart and even heavier eyelids I bid you, Good Day!

McDonalds

Billions and Billions served. A pleasant reminder that before you decided to have that piece of over-processed garbage shoved down your gullet billions and billions of other idiots made the same decision. There is something that reassures us in knowing that other people are making the same decision; a security blanket of sorts. We think to ourselves this is a safe decision because so many others have made the same choice, but we never consider what happens if all those people were wrong.

We are all searching for the next group to follow. My favorite groups to follow are those who consider themselves counterculture. In high school I ran with an emo crowd for a while. Not mainstream either. We're talking about full on hardcore screamo shows in an empty retail space converted to a concert venue where the main act every Friday ended their show with the lead singer chugging YooHoo then puking it up on stage. Fucked up, right? Sometimes we just don't understand how wrong we are until you step back from a situation and realize what the fuck is going on.

Anyways, back to the emos, these kids spent the better part of their Friday nights talking about how nonconformist they were, and what sheep the popular kids were at their school. Fucking morons. I still remember the first time I showed up to hang out with them in a Polo shirt. You would have thought I dropped my shorts and shat right in front of them. I took grief the entire night about how I was just buying in to a cycle of conformity. So yeah, I fell for their tricks and bought a Taking Back Sunday t-shirt for my Friday nights out with the emo kids. The black t-shirt made me so hardcore.

About the third time I listened to a shitty local band whine and scream about their unfair, white suburban life I started to doubt that I had found an escape for the mainstream. Those bunch of mindless drones had just bought in to a completely different form of mainstream. Conforming to noncomformity. We're all just a member of a bigger group. Gradually we grew apart, but I never forgot the lessons learned during those hardcore emo nights.

The Challenges of a New Desk

I sat down at my fiance's desk fifteen minutes ago to start writing my blog entry. I've already written four today, but that's the price I'll have to pay to go to Clemson this weekend. I settled down in the chair intent on writing this quickly. Unfortunately, it's not coming quickly.

I'd like to blame the strange desk and chair I'm sitting in. The chair's back is too rigid, you can't even recline a little bit, and the desk height is off just enough to be a bother. That's not it, though. A good craftsman doesn't blame the tool when something goes wrong, he gets back to work harder than before.

So here I sit chasing after the right tone for this short entry, and then I realize its been here all along. The story was a familiar one, I had read it several times each time more enjoyable than the last as a I picked up on a new subtle detail each time. There is something to be said for the understated beauty of a simply told story and the messages you can draw from them. Now if you'll excuse me it's time for the real adventure to begin.

ElectroCity

Since the dawn of Pong video games have provided an outlet for energy that would have otherwise been spent productively. It started with simple games and has continued to evolve to the point that you can now live alternate lives through your computer. There has been a never time to completely throw away your chance at a real life and invest fully in an alternate universe than now. World of Warcraft, Second Life, Civilization V, just a few of the vices that drag down today's gamer.

There have been attempts to make games that were both educational and fun. A few shining examples are Math Blaster, Number Muncher, and Oregon Trail. Oregon Trail is noted for its ability to explain to small children that no matter how hard you try to avoid it, somebody is going to get typhoid and die. Unfortunately, there was very little social balance in Oregon Trail. Looking back I remember overhunting the plains to the point that my wagon could never hold all the game I killed, and since all pioneers had the minds of second graders I can only assume that is why the buffalo is now endangered.

Last weekend while trying to avoid writing for this blog I found what appears to be a game with a very rare balance between education and fun, ElectroCity. Now unfortunate name aside, ElectroCity is actually pretty fun. You have the chance to control a small city from its inception through 150 game turns, and every action has a consequence. If you build three mining camps and a coal refinery people get pissed off about pollution. On the flip side, if you build a bunch of wind farms and parks there is no power and the conservatives go bat shit crazy.

The real twist to ElectroCity is its developer, Genesis Energy. An energy company run out of New Zealand, Genesis Energy put out ElectroCity as an attempt to help teachers educate their students on the difficulties of providing energy while balancing a responsible environmental footprint. The game is actually fun, and it helps acknowledge both sides of a difficult situation. Potential abuse of power aside, this is a really good idea that I think a bunch of different companies could use to provide educational discourse about their industry.

Back in Atlanta

I'll never forget the first summer I spent back in Atlanta after my freshman year at Clemson. I was 18 years old with a whole new world behind me. The school year had gone by in a blur eerily similar to the traffic flying past me on the opposite side of I-85. Almost a full year of parties, new people, new friendships and new experiences had made Clemson seem like my new home and Atlanta more like a place of the past.

I pulled in to the driveway at my Dad's house with a truck packed half as full as when I had left for Clemson in August, your freshman year has a way of eliminating the weak. I was pissed off that I let the futon frame sit in the rain two days before, but that rust wasn't going to go away if I bitched about it. I hopped out of my truck and walked inside to a familiar sight. An empty living room, with sounds of intense scenes of war violence coming from the basement. My brother and I had turned the basement in to a gaming paradise right before I left for school. HDTV, surround sound and a memory foam "Lovesak" that filled almost half the room. I went down to the basement and we talked for a little about the usual stuff: Mom and Dad arguing, school, sports and then he turned off the XBOX and we went out to the driveway to shoot some hoops. First to 21 was our game and I kept my undefeated streak alive.

After my first two weeks at home I decided it was time to get a job. Having absolutely no qualifications I decided I would just throw my resume at retail stores until someone decided I was worth it. Eventually, the good folks at Abercrombie decided I was worthy to fold clothes in their fine establishment. Lucky for me they had a good crew. Mostly normal kids just like me, trying to make some money. They had a couple of over the top members, but the rest of us just ignored their insanity. They were a good group of friends, but I missed my group from Clemson.

Lucky for me two of my best friends from Clemson lived in Atlanta. Alex had taken an job working on a community outreach program run through his church called Metro Atlanta Project - MAP for short - and Ross was living every 18-22 yr olds dream job up on Lake Lanier parking and cleaning boats all summer. Every Friday I would drive up to Lake Lanier to party with Ross, and most times Alex would come with me. It didn't matter if there were fifty people at the house or five, there was always a spot for me to sleep. We have some great memories from that summer; the kind that will last a lifetime.

I guess it was about the end of July when I realized why everything felt so different in Atlanta. I had spent all my time at Clemson trying to create a new life, and I had completely succeeded. To everyone from Clemson I was an outgoing, social person; a far cry from the person I was while I lived in Atlanta.  I had worked so hard to create a new life in Clemson that it seemed weird to come back to Atlanta and be surrounded by all the reminders of my old life. The routines, the traffic, the shortcuts for the traffic, all reminded me of a time in my life that was gone. That summer was the time that I realized you can be whoever you want to be you.

Sweet Delicious Peace

I've waited a long time for this moment. Still haunted by a past that involved being a chubbier-than-most teenager I stay far away from sweets for the most part. Today is different. Today I'm allowing myself a break from fruits, vegetables, proteins, dairy, and carbs; today is the day I venture in to the rarely experienced sweet zone. I'm a relative expert in the field with years of experience in fat kid foods, but chocolate is my specialty. Little Debbie brownies, the sweet, doughy texture of the brownie and frosting contrasting perfectly with the subtle crunch of the walnuts, were my first foray down in to the depths of chocolate bliss. At one point in the 7th grade I was packing three of those little death treats a day with no recompense at all. I even made those little bastards tastier by smearing some peanut butter on top - decadence.

As the years wore on I discovered the most delicious form chocolate can take, Nutella. This creamy hazelnut-chocolate spread is exquisite in its texture, heavenly in its flavor, and almost limitless in its application. The high to my five. Sensual, aromatic. There is no more sinful treat in my arsenal of sweet delights than Nutella. Today, I was down to the dregs of the Nutella jar, but I didn't care. I wanted chocoalte, and I wanted it now. I scrounged through the pantry hoping to find something to pair it with. Crackers, Graham crackers, bread, give me a carb dammit! Then in the back left corner, just behind the shadow of the pantry door I found my savior, Biscoff European Cookies. I snatched the bag and tossed it on the counter watching it landed with a sound but gentle thud. I pulled the first cookie and spread that miraculous treat on hoping that this experiment would land somewhere above the Hindenberg on the scale of epic disasters. Crunch. MY GOD! If there is a better taste sensation in the cookie and chocolate category then please someone share it with me. The subtle undertones of oatmeal and ginger combining with the crunch of the cookie and creamy bliss of Nutella all culminated in the most delicious fat kid break I've had in a very long time.

I was so changed by this experience that I felt the need to take a picture and share my creation with the world. My child. The first true effort I had made at creating a lasting impression on this earth was a simple combination of cookie and chocolate. I uploaded the picture and laughed to myself as it only earned three karma points from Reddit. I guess the world isn't ready for my creation, but I know what I'll be making the next time my inner fat kid comes calling.

Picture added for reference.

Great Article

Just read this article in Sports Illustrated where a former agent gives the whole story of just how crooked the agent to NCAA player relationship can be. I thought it was a good read and I figured I would share.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/magazine/10/12/agent/index.html

There were two men standing alone on the rooftops. Each with the direct intent of killing the other. The sun smiled politely overhead unaware of the impending battle set to rage beneath her.

The first man acknowledged the breeze passing from his back. "An odd breeze for this time of year," he thought to himself gauging his best angle. He fired his first shot and watched as it missed short of its intended target.

--

The second man furrowed his brow as he assessed the situation. His opponent had misjudged badly giving away his position in the process. Not that it mattered. Now it was time to take his shot. The breeze had become a steady gust - the kind normally reserved for a beach - his opponent had the high ground so he had to make the most of the shot. Running the calculations through his head one more time he let loose. He watched as the banana looped slowly through the air with near perfect trajectory. This was it. He would be the victor and live another day in this rooftop purgatory.

--

The building crumbled at the feet of the first man. Too close. He only had one more shot and he needed to make it count. With a slight change of Velocity this was it, the game winner.

--

A smile crept across the second man's face as he watched the banana crest the rooftops. He thought of all the other rooftops he had survived and the many victory dances he had shared with that radiant sun overhead. She was spectacular. Countless battles and this is all he had to think about as his death came dropping from the sky as only a single serving of fruit could. In his final moment he looked up to the sun with a smile and she smiled right back.

This post was inspired by the MS-DOS game, Gorillas. If you remember this game then +4 nerd points. If not, here's a video to get you up to speed. I wasted hours as a 5 year old playing this bad boy.

The New 2011 Mediocrity

Saw a great ad yesterday while I was sketching for Art Direction.



If you go to mediocrity2011.com you can build your own Mediocrity, or click the link to build a better car instead. After I completed building a top of the line Mediocrity I decided to check and see who was behind the concept. Turns out it was Subaru.

This seems right on brand for them. They make affordably midsize cars, but they have punch to them. Anyone that has test driven an Accord and then hopped behind the wheel of a comparably priced Impreza WRX can tell you that Subarus are anything but mediocre. The other Subaru advertisement I see on a regular basis is Jim's Impreza in "The Office". It seems they are trying to reach a young, fun loving audience and convince them to give Subaru a shot.

I have to say it's definitely gotten my attention, and if I were in a position to look at midsize sedans they would be at the top of my list.

If you want to see the rest of the campaign here are the links:
YouTube Mediocrity Channel
2011Mediocrity.com

Another Saturday Loss

I love sports. Football, hockey, baseball, basketball; you name it I'll watch it. My favorite, though, has to be Clemson football. Over the past six years I have missed one Clemson football game, and I checked my phone leading up until the moment I had to walk my future grandmother-in-law down the aisle. 

This year has been a rough one for Clemson football. We lost a game to Auburn where we had an early lead, but couldn't hold together at the end. Then we lost last weekend to Miami because we couldn't find a wide receiver to catch the ball. Now, in the ACC one conference loss and a respectable loss to a top ten team is a pretty decent record, but today the whole season went in to the garbage with a loss on the road to UNC.

I could complain about poor substitution, WR dropping passes, or the QB overthrowing open receivers, but to me the worst part of the whole game was the officiating. The officials had a firm control on the flow of the game, and seven times called late penalties that resulted in North Carolina keeping the football. We're not talking about your run of the mill calls, either. We're talking about obviously bad calls that gave UNC a competitive advantage.

Normally one bad game would be forgivable, but this is the same nonsense I have been watching for the past six years. Phantom holding calls, mysterious pass interference calls, and convenient late flags for certain teams are all things that I have seen way too regularly since I started following Clemson football. Last week vs Miami set me down this path when several Miami fans told me that they really appreciated the boost from the ACC officials to help them finish us off.

Tonight I took the liberty of reserving ACCofficialssuck.com, and I'm going to start keeping a record of the terrible officiating in the ACC. I figure if some idiot with a computer can get Ron Zook run out of Florida then this idiot with a computer can get a couple referees sent in to early retirement. As soon as the site is up and running I will post a link here so you can check the progress.

Go Tigers and good night.

Great Pen for less

I had a terrible case of writer's block for today. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to get anything going so I did the logical thing and wasted some time on the internet. After a few crappy YouTube videos and scouring ESPN for anything of worth I hopped on Wired.com and found my muse.



As an aspiring writer I have several weaknesses for pointless items. Pens and notebooks top the list. I have lusted after Moleskin notebooks and Monte Blanc pens since the first time I saw them in use. My Account Supervisor during my internship used to rock a black Moleskin notebook and a black Monte Blanc pen, and they were awesome. The fact that someone figured out a way to take the "experience" of writing with a $200 pen and make it available to us common folk thrills me to no end.

I'm not saying there is any actual benefit to using a $200 pen, but in my mind that thing writes better than anything else I have ever used. I found this little hack particularly pertinent since I had just finished writing a page of intentionally terrible copy for rollerball pens touting their superiority over other writing devices.

Now that I'm writing with such high quality materials, I wholeheartedly expect writer's block to become a thing of the past. I mean, really, who gets writer's block when using ridiculously overpriced supplies...Not this guy!

New Beginnings

A month ago I was all but certain that I was going to enroll in The Creative Circus. I had paid my deposit, set up my student loan and bought a new laptop. All the monetary investment was there, but at the last minute I had second thoughts.

I was up for a promotion to Marketing Manager, and had the opportunity to move closer to a large group of my college friends in Greenville, SC. I knew the position wasn't something I would enjoy, and that there was no chance of a second promotion. Still, something was holding me back. The situation ended up resolving itself when TTI decided that they were delaying filling that position indefinitely. The fears didn't stop, though.

The day I put in my two weeks notice I spent the whole day training a new employee and walking my new manager through how things in Atlanta worked. As I went through another repetitive day on the job I knew it wasn't what I wanted, but there was still a security in the expected. When I finished explaining myself to my manager and telling her when my last day would be I got in my truck and took a few deep breaths. That was it. Now there was no turning back. 

The next three weeks went by in a blur. I barely had any work to do, and since I wasn't going to be around much longer no one wanted me to start work on long term projects. The head of recruiting called and told me that I was no longer allowed to go to Clemson to recruit, and that I wouldn't be training my replacement. I felt isolated and alone. 

Luckily, everyone I worked with was happy for me and the change I was making. Every day I drove to a different section of Atlanta to grab lunch, or work with one of the people who had toughed it out with me over the past year. All their words of encouragement were well intended, but could do nothing to reassure me that I was making the right choice. When I got home at nights I would think about how awful it was going to be to start paying for a car again, to no longer have a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks and, most important to me, not know if I was going to be a success.

Then a small change happened. I found out that the CEO and VP of Sales were coming in to Atlanta the week I was starting at Circus which meant I had just ducked out of some serious work. Suddenly I didn't regret missing that one last paycheck because I would have never been able to prepare for Circus if I had been working 14 hours a day in a Home Depot. My conversations with close friends and family were now about the positive aspects of no longer having my job. That little change made all the difference in my mindset.

On October 4th after almost an entire year of waiting, I finally got my start at Creative Circus. It was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. Every doubt, every worrisome thought in the back of my mind was gone. This was where I belonged. Obviously, it's way too soon to tell if I'll be as successful as a Copywriter as I was a Sales Rep, but I know I will definitely be happier.

I guess happiness is what it all boils down to for me. I could have spent another 6 months or maybe another year in the Home Depot and I'm sure I would have been promoted, but I wouldn't have been satisfied. I watched my Dad spend my entire childhood working himself to baldness for his original company and then get tossed to the side when he didn't fit their plans anymore. In the back of my mind I have always told myself that if I had to work then I better enjoy it, and Circus gives me the best chance at doing that. I don't know if I'm going to bring home a Lion, but I know that Monday mornings will be a lot less painful if I'm at least doing something I love.

Wolverine

Last night while I was scouring Reddit trying to find some inspiration I stumbled across this gem.



First, a round of applause for the guy that took the time to put those monsters together. I can only imagine the time it took to concept and fabricate a set of spring action claws attached to a custom welded copper tube frame. His dedication to making one of my childhood dreams a reality is impressive to say the least, but it made me wonder why are we so infatuated with superheroes?

My first guess was an admiration of their powers. Superheroes are everything their fans have dreamed of becoming. For example, lets take a look at Wolverine. Wolverine is born with regenerative healing powers that allow him to heal almost instantly from most wounds - decapitation being the lone exception. Another trait he has from birth is a set of three retractable claws embedded in each forearm that he can extend or retract at will. Now, these powers alone would be a pretty solid combo, but Wolverine received an extra dose of badass when his skeleton was infused with adamantium, an indestructible metal.

Couple bullets? No biggie.

So to summarize, Wolverine can heal from almost any wound, has an indestructible skeleton, and, oh yeah, he has three blades that can pop out of his arms on command. What boy wouldn't want that kind of skill growing up? All of a sudden you can take tree climbing to a whole new level. You could climb anything and not worry about the fall because your bones will be healed before you even realize what happened. Bullies, you ask? I don't know of too many bullies that would mess with a kid who has claws. The admiration of the heroes superpowers make for a decent argument, but I think it goes deeper than that.

I think the reason we get so caught up in superheroes is because they offer an escape from reality, and a chance to peek in to a life most of us will never live. By reading comics or watching a movie we can escape to a world where our lives are more interesting. Instead of waking up at 6AM, dragging through a shower, and grabbing a coffee and donut for the road Wolverine wakes up to alarms going off, slashes his way through a host of intruders, and saves a girl with physically impossible dimensions in one episode alone. Life is boring for us sometimes, and rather than get up and make our own lives more interesting sometimes its just easier to spend a few weeks concepting and fabricating a set of retractable claws so that for a brief moment we can live the life we've always fantasized about.