Fear

Today’s post brought you by the letter F and Mama Kat’s Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop

List six fears your top 6 biggest fears, choose one and tell us why

Fear as a noun is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat

Fear as a verb means to be afraid of something or someone as likely to be dangerous, painful or life threatening

Everyone has fears - some rational, some not so rational

For example:

I have a fear of heights so much so that I can’t look down from the top (open) floor of the mall without my knees knocking  

I have a fear of identical twins/triplets/any multiple birth (ok so this is probably not a fear so much as it just freaks me out…so not rational)

I have a fear flying…more than flying, I‘m afraid someone is going to think I’m a terrorist so I focus on trying to look innocent which I think makes me look more guilty   

I fear the dark and small spaces….and if I am in a small dark place, well let’s just say I will probably pee my pants and cry until Lassie shows up with help

I also fear many of the same thing in the same place at the same time (like flocks of birds, swarms of killer bees, nests of mice, the Democratic National Convention)

And death….I am so afraid of death that my fear of it may actually eclipse death itself

Death is by far by biggest fear

But its Friday, talking about my biggest fear could potentially be a bit of a downer….and would most definitely unnerve me to the point that I’ll be rendered useless for the next 12 hours….

So let’s take a different approach

List your top 6 Fears

Cape Fear (1991)

 Let me tell you what, this movie scared the hell out of me

But it is one of the best movies I have ever seen

Riveting, suspenseful, seductive

It also cemented my love for Nick Nolte

I always had a crush on him but between Cape Fear and Prince of Tides, which came out around the same time, I was completely pushed over the edge

And given that he was a scoundrel in both films, I’m not sure what that says about me

And Robert De Niro

Oh my word Robert De Niro

To this day when I see him all I can picture is him doing pull ups in a jail cell…and it scares me

Fear Mongering

Thank you President Johnson – your daisy commercial was so terribly memorable - you will never catch me in an open field of flowers picking petals off a daisy

Thank you weather forecasters for every time you predicted snow, you worked everyone into such a frenzy we were leaving work early three days before the storm even started

Thank you Morgan Spurlock for Super-Size Me

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Published as a book in 1972, its Hunter S Thompson’s blend of fact and fiction

It is because of this book I never did drugs

I’m not kidding you

Yes, I’ve taken a few hits of pot before (which did nothing but make me sleepy)

But I read this book my freshman year in college

This guy I was in love with, Kelly, told me to read it he said it would change my life…..just like I had changed his

Here’s what I learned:

Never fall for a guy with a girl’s name

Any guy that claims you changed his life after a week is full of shit

There is, in fact, no solace in excess

Hunter S Thompson, and Kelly, might be two of the most narcissistic, self-absorbed self-indulgent men I have ever known

And just say no to drugs

Tears for Fears

Only like my favorite band ever

Songs from the Big Chair is one of the top five albums ever made

Seeds of Love is in the top ten

Nobody liked Tears for Fears more than me – and I had the poster(s) on my wall to prove it

I seriously thought I could somehow meet and get either Roland or Curt to fall in love with me and take me away to London to live in a castle….I actually still do….

To this day, if I hear the opening chords of Shout I immediately reach for the volume and turn it up to 11

Judge all you want but Tears for Fears got me through some tough Jr High/High School years

And a bad split with Kelly

Fearful Symmetry

I had this English teacher in high school, Dr Fred Jones, who was one of my favorite teachers

Primarily because he used to let me hide out in his classroom

But mostly because he didn’t foster the competition among his students as other teachers did

He didn’t push you to top your classmates or do better on a test than Eliza, Cathy, Jamie or Peter

He pushed you to open your mind to the written word…and yes, that includes the gospel

We read the Bible in his class

Which led us to William Blake who was obsessed with good and evil and had a strong religious and philosophical belief

Which led us to The Tyger and fearful symmetry

Which simplistically means without evil, there is no good, without dark there is no light

But there was is nothing simplistic about fearful symmetry

I’m pretty sure it is what keeps order in chaos

And honor among thieves

I like the nuance of fearful symmetry – it keeps me balanced

Fear Factor

News Radio used to be one of my favorite shows

It was one of the first smart funny shows I remember watching faithfully – second to Cheers

The cast was pure comedic genius and the writing was always spot on

Stephen Root and Joe Rogan were my absolute favorites on the show

And who are we kidding, Joe Rogan was stinking cute on that show

I thought I had finally found my type: a street smart, cavalier, conspiracy theorist, handyman who could seemingly fix anything

After News Radio was cancelled, I watched Fear Factor just so I could continue to see Joe Rogan on a weekly basis

But that show scared the living bejesus out of me

I was okay the first few episodes

But I wigged out after one of the episodes with snakes in a glass tank and the person having to stand in there with them

Never mind when it was some sort of bug or roach or whatever…..I’m getting chills just thinking of it

But, I loved hearing this:

“I’m Joe Rogan and this is Fear Factor. The stunts you are about to see were all designed and supervised by trained professionals. They are extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by anyone, anywhere, anytime.”