Top Nine List of the Week

9 Things That I Used To Think Sucked, But I Now Realize Are Awesome


-Country Music

When I was growing up in North East Texas, it was very hard to escape hearing country music. It was literally everywhere. Gas Stations. Department Stores. Grocery Store Parking Lots. EVERYwhere. I used to get a little sick to my stomach every time I heard it throughout my entire childhood. And then, I realized that there was something I was missing. All the country music I had been hammered with day in day out, year after year...wasn't real country music. It was this pop-country shit. My grandmother changed my whole perspective when she played me some Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Charlie Daniels, and even the great Kris Kristofferson. It was then that I realized that I had been mislead by the garbage on all the country radio stations, because the REAL country music was some of the most genuine, hearfelt, good music I'd ever heard.

-Foreign Film

My good friend Jordan is mostly responsible for turning me around on this one. I always had this nasty stereotype image in my head of foreign films. I think you may know what I'm talking about: cheesy romance scenes between two young lovers speaking in some strange language, always overdressed, rushing in and out of someone's arms, etc. Granted, there are a large number of foreign films that do fit that stereotype, but there are films like Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, City of God, 8 1/2, and The Vanishing that I found extremely enjoyable and are nothing like that. Thanks for helping right the ship, Jordie.

-Kobe Bryant

This one is a little more recent, but maybe one of the bigger about-face's I've experienced. As a die-hard Dallas Mavericks fan, Kobe was a guy that I just hated. Mostly because I was afraid of him and what he'd likely do to crush the championship hopes of my beloved Mavs, but moreso because the guy is a dick. Plain and simple. He's a spoiled little turd who thinks the entire basketball world should bow at his feet and hand over the "next Michael" crown he feels he so sorely deserves. But then, I realized what exactly makes Kobe Bean Bryant tick. It's a psychotic desire to prove he deserves that crown. I don't know that I've seen someone in this modern sports age with such a blood-thirsty, killer instinct approach to his craft. Kobe doesn't just want to win. He wants to destroy his opponents, and, more than that, his detractors. He wants to break their spirits. This is what I want to see in an elite athelete. I'm glad I saw the light.

-Cooking

Changing gears here. In my younger days I couldn't stand preparing my own meals. Frozen pizza was about the only thing I would do for myself, but that was due in large part to the fact that I was very picky about how it was cooked and nobody does it the way I like. I would even beg my mom to make my favorite sandwich, The Peanut Butter-Banana, when it only consisted of mashing up two ingredients and slapping it on some bread. It was, admittedly, pathetic. Nowadays, I love to cook. Partly because it's less expensive than eating out, but mostly because it's a lot tastier than TV dinners or Hot Pockets every day...that got old in a hurry. Bon Apetit.

-Bob Dylan

As a child, I could not understand at all what the big deal was about Bob Dylan. I really don't think I need to explain why or how I came around on this one. I can now see that I was immature and irresponsible, and deeply regret my lapse in judgement. I apologize to myself.

-Reading

Up until about 4-5 years ago, I shrugged off reading as something that was used as a way to torture young school children for 13 years and keep their minds occupied enough to keep them out of trouble. My bad. Since then, I've somehow turned into a guy who reads non-stop almost every day. Whether it's a newspaper, website, book or magazine, my eyes are steadily moving left to right, taking in as much information as I can.

-M.A.S.H.

Every single night at 10:00pm, our local CBS affiliate would air syndicated reruns of the sitcom, M.A.S.H. And every single night at 10:00pm, my father was parked in the living room floor watching it. I had no idea why for the longest time. I had thought it was so corny, and not very funny, but he was always cracking up laughing. Well, it clicked to me when I was about 17 or 18 years old. This was obviously meant for older folks, and I'm glad I finally got there. No wonder the show lasted so long...

-Onions

This one may seem a bit out of place on this list, but it's legitimate. I thought that onions were edible death as a child. They didn't taste good and they burned your eyes...what's to like? I eat them on nearly everything these days. Go figure.

-Naptime

Every Sunday after lunch, my parents would force my brothers and I to take a nap. It was a horrible, horrible experience. Well, actually, not really. But it seemed like it at the time. The older I got, the more I realized how much I actually needed those naps. Every day at about 2:00, I have this overwhelming urge to lay down in the floor and go sleepies. I didn't realize how good I had it.

....and now that I think about it....I'm going to take a nap now.

- Pop Newmo
Austin, TX