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Autumnovember

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
4,384
I never heard this before but I was listening to it on a radio station on my way to school this morning.

At first I thought it was going to be something silly but after 40 seconds, it got serious and really good.

So much good advice, in my opinion. It's not really about sunscreen...I haven't figured out the significance of him mentioning it just yet....but

....I thought it was really touching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

If you don't want to listen, here are the 'lyrics' (its more of a speech)


Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…
 

Autumnovember

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
4,384
This is easier to read:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
It. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
Scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
Than my own meandering
Experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
Understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and
Recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before
You and how fabulous you really looked….You're not as fat as you
Imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
Effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
Bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
Never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
On some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with
People who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes
You're behind…the race is long, and in the end, it's only with
Yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
Succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your
Life…the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they
Wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
Olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe
You won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky
Chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don't
Congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
Choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body,
Use it every way you can…don't be afraid of it, or what other people
Think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever
Own...

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

(Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurting, but I've been waiting to be there
For you. And I'll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody's free.)

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for
Good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
People most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you
Should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
Lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
Knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
In Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
Philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize
That when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
Noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
Maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
Might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
Look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
Supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
Fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
Ugly parts and recycling it for more than
It's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

(Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurting, but I've been waiting to be there
For you. And I'll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody's free.)
 

dragonfly411

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
7,378
This song was played at my 8th grade graduation and our 8th grade social. I have always loved it. It really is great advice, and it's always a bit nostalgic for me.
 

mary poppins

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
2,606
So true. A lot of good advice, and always good to be reminded of it. Thanks for posting.
 

mrs jam

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
686
I love this! I just printed it out. Thank you for posting the speech; this was the first time I had seen/heard it! I really like the description of siblings being both the best link to your past and the most likely to stick by you in the future. Pretty timely for me at the moment, and very touching.
 

chemgirl

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
2,345
Haha this song was hugely popular when I was in 10th grade. We had to use it as inspiration for our final project in my french audio visual class.

There was even a Chris Rock knockoff!
 

Autumnovember

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
4,384
Glad you guys liked it!

Can't believe this is my first time hearing it! I really like all of it. Especially the advice part
 

mayerling

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
2,357
This song was played when I was graduating from high school. I loved it.
 

Amys Bling

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
11,025
That is a flashback to middle school for me, lol
 

Amys Bling

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
11,025
Autumnovember|1307643232|2941798 said:
Glad you guys liked it!

Can't believe this is my first time hearing it! I really like all of it. Especially the advice part

That was your first time hearing it??? lol
 

nkarma

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
644
Autumnovember|1307643232|2941798 said:
Glad you guys liked it!

Can't believe this is my first time hearing it! I really like all of it. Especially the advice part

LOL! Thanks for taking us back to 1999, but not partying like it. Can't believe this is the first time you have heard this!

I heard it on the radio a few years ago but yes it was really popular when I was in 10th grade as well. It still rings so true. My favorite parts are "Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for Good." and about appreciating your youth and how beautiful you are now. I would have never actually listened to those when I was 16.
 

Autumnovember

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
4,384
Amys Bling|1307650661|2941913 said:
Autumnovember|1307643232|2941798 said:
Glad you guys liked it!

Can't believe this is my first time hearing it! I really like all of it. Especially the advice part

That was your first time hearing it??? lol

Yep, never heard it before.

Possibly because I was all of 10 years old when it came out, haha.
 

Circe

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
8,087
It actually started out as a fantasy commencement address - attributed to Kurt Vonnegut as having given it as MIT, but really whipped up an an exercise in "if only" by a journalist named Mary Schmich.

http://www.wesselenyi.com/Vonnegutstory.htm
 

JewelFreak

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
7,768
That is absolutely wonderful, whoever wrote it. I'm printing it out too - I keep a file of wise stuff for when I need wisdom. This'll go in it. Thanks a ton for posting.

--- Laurie
 

Autumnovember

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
4,384
Circe|1307655547|2941981 said:
It actually started out as a fantasy commencement address - attributed to Kurt Vonnegut as having given it as MIT, but really whipped up an an exercise in "if only" by a journalist named Mary Schmich.

http://www.wesselenyi.com/Vonnegutstory.htm

Ah! Can't get to the link, would love to read more.

I'm still wondering about the reference to sunscreen..I wonder if I'm looking too much into it or if there really is double meaning there.
 

MagsyMay

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
861
Class of 1999 here! Our valedictorian essentially used this as his speech (complete with holding up a bottle of sunscreen). Haven't heard it in ages, but good advice indeed. Some I need to follow more...
 

Haven

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
13,166
I was in college when this came out--loved it then! Thanks for the great flashback, AN!
 

Circe

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
8,087
Autumnovember|1307669031|2942130 said:
Circe|1307655547|2941981 said:
It actually started out as a fantasy commencement address - attributed to Kurt Vonnegut as having given it as MIT, but really whipped up an an exercise in "if only" by a journalist named Mary Schmich.

http://www.wesselenyi.com/Vonnegutstory.htm

Ah! Can't get to the link, would love to read more.

I'm still wondering about the reference to sunscreen..I wonder if I'm looking too much into it or if there really is double meaning there.

How weird that the link didn't work! Here's the full text:

Kurt Vonnegut’s Odd Cyberspace Story

The following story that started as a harmless prank and led to a worldwide cyber scandal deserves special attention because what happened in summer 1997 has been discussed and analyzed from several different aspects ever since.

The original email message which contained a commencement speech allegedly delivered by Kurt Vonnegut at MIT spread all over the net like wildfire, went everywhere by computer from email-box to email-box, like a giant pyramid game. It got posted to several mailing lists, even to a popular Hungarian one (HIX Tipp) where I first read it.

The sensation caused by the events was biggest in the US, since the protagonists of the story are both American: one of them is a popular and noted writer, Kurt Vonnegut, the other is a much less known journalist. The story was soon discussed so widely that an online magazine started its article with these words: "In case you’ve been living in a bomb shelter during the past few days, here’s what happened."

Let me tell you the story in short. An American journalist named Mary Schmich wrote a clever and funny article, in which she fantasized about giving a commencement address to graduating students. The article originally appeared in her regular column in the Chicago Tribune. Mary received favorable reaction, including congratulations from friends and some nice phone calls, but that was all. The story would have ended here if someone had not invented the hoax of the year.

What the unknown prankster did was he took Mary’s column a month after it was published in the Chicago Tribune and forwarded it on the net under the label „Kurt Vonnegut’s Commencement Address at MIT." This email message began to make rounds all over the net and arrived in millions of mailboxes within a few hours. The message was forwarded from friends to friends, stamped with such comments as „worth a read," and „check this out - it’s great". The message was even submitted to several newsgroups and mail forums, giving the „speech" enormous notoriety. The article quickly came to be reviewed by literary critics, archived by collectors and praised by Vonnegut fans who were enthusiastic to read the recent immortal words of their favourite writer. Recipients of the message thought they’d recognized Vonnegut’s unique wit, the kind of cynical humor for which he is famous. Even Vonnegut’s wife fell victim to the hoax and forwarded the message to family and friends. There was only one skeptic, a leading Vonnegut cyber-fanatic, who got suspicious and posted a reply to the alt.books.kurt-vonnegut newsgroup saying: "This voice is not quite his." The majority of people, however, did not have any doubt whether the message was true - they believed it without question.

It wasn’t long before both the real and the alleged writer learned what was going on in cyberspace. Mary was desperately trying to get in touch with Vonnegut until finally, she managed to track him down by phone. By then, Vonnegut had heard of the incident from friends, his lawyer, even from a women’s magazine that wanted to reprint the speech, until he denied he was the author.

"It was quite witty, but not my wittiness," he generously said to Mary.

As the incident became widely known Mary received more and more angry emails from people who accused her of plagiarism. And, so, pen in hand, she wrote the true story of the commencement speech.

In this thoughtful article she clears herself and analyzes the deeper content of the events in an interesting way. Her response was published in her column and was put on several web pages on the Internet . The illuminating article begins with the following words:

"Oh, Kurt Vonnegut may appear to be a brilliant, revered male novelist. I may appear to be a mediocre and virtually unknown female newspaper columnist. We may appear to have nothing in common but unruly hair. But out in the lawless swamp of cyberspace, Mr. Kurt Vonnegut and I are one. Out there, where any snake can masquerade as king, both of us are the author of a graduation speech that began with the immortal words: "Wear sunscreen".

The whole letter is worth a read, first because it is another good piece, second, because it helps every netizen to understand more of the risks of online communication. Mary analyzes the events from her own perspective, but of course everyone is free to find the moral of the story for himself. Moreover, the signals contained therein may help us to think in many different directions.

The most obvious questions that arise are: How reliable is information we get through the Internet? Can you trust your email and online news received from cyberspace? It is interesting to know that even the highly respected Wired News was taken in, and the editor confessed shamefacedly thereafter that a sentence of Vonnegut’s speech ran as its Quote of the Day :)

The identity of the prankster remains a mystery, just like his or her intent. However, it reminds us to be less gullible; we all should manage electronic information with sensible control and not fall prey to the same trap with the Internet that most do with TV: what they see on the screen, they believe. Untrue information may appear even in traditional media channels, despite the fact that, in traditional media, stories must travel through a filter before reaching the audience. In the case of the Internet, this filter does not exist. On the World Wide Web anyone is free to publish anything under anybody’s name. Legal responsibility is merely academic.

Here’s the point where we should refer to the great importance of individual responsibility in the computer age. If we use the net as an effective means of communication, as an immediate and powerful media, the information superhighway will be a useful tool for the entire net community. It is frightening to consider that, like Vonnegut’s story, serious rumors and lies (read: libels against innocent people, organizations) can quickly spread to all corners of the world, and cause trouble and loss by delivering misinformation to masses, generating panic and chaos.

Consider this recent example: an email is circulating widely that contains the alleged announcement of the Child Cancer Research Institute of the University of Düsseldorf about dangerous and carcinogenic food additives. The document, which seems to contain honest and trustworthy information and leads so many people to believe and forward the message to others, is only a fake. The email legend - according to the results of the investigation lead by some skeptics - is in fact a campaign intended against certain products of the food industry.

Other fans of Mary’s story point to the issue of name recognition. How much is a trademark or well recognized name worth? Mary Schmich refers to this issue in her response letter she penned when the scandal began.

"I should put Kurt Vonnegut’s name on my column. It would be like sticking a Calvin Klein label on a pair of Kmart jeans"

Asserting this, the journalist discounts all those enthusiastic reviewers who described the speech as brilliant, clever and funny. She says the praise was directed, not to the content, but to the well-recognized brand name.

Mary Schmich claims that she wrote the piece one Friday afternoon while high on coffee and M&M’s. "It was not art," she insisted.

The world (wide web) has nevertheless made literature out of it overnight.

Kurt Vonnegut commented the events briefly in this way:
"Cyberspace is spooky."

(However, after all this, who can be sure that it was his comment indeed? :)
 
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