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Image: Christa Wittmier

Don’t Worry. Be Happy.

by Christa Wittmier | Jan 30, 2013

My Internet obsession lately is the Grumpy Cat meme. Have you seen it? It’s the cutest mean-faced cat ever. His trademark “No” has become my text-photo answer to everything this week. I held the photo up at drunk dudes dancing on a stage (I hate that); it was also my answer to shots being shoved in my face and pretty much anything else I didn’t like but am usually too nice to say anything about.

As a generally positive person, I just think grumpy is funny. Laugh out loud funny. That cat’s face is so damn miserable! I’ve always worked pretty hard to focus on the positive in just about everything, so when I come across grumpy people, we clash hardcore. Or rather, they really don’t like me. I don’t care. There are a million things to think about without a whole lot of time to process them; why should we ever focus on something bad? It took a little over 30 years, but I finally, genuinely don’t care what those people think. Why do you think I’m playing music now? It genuinely makes me happy. It’s not anything more than that, and if others enjoy it, awesome. If they have bad things to say, then it’s on them.

Positivity is contagious, but bad vibes are just as contagious, unfortunately. Negative attitudes in nightlife come from girls over other girls, dudes over other dudes, fronting just to front; it’s never going away. But! You know what happens when you don’t focus on the negative? It becomes one less negative thing to worry about. When Matt Bendik came out to Honolulu from Los Angeles to reopen Addiction Nightclub, we met and became friends. I just like the way he thinks. For someone who is an incredible businessman, he is atypically laid back. He has opened and currently runs some of the most popular clubs in L.A., and you can bet that includes dealing with quite a bit of stress. He subscribes to the philosophy of speaking highly of your friends and saying nothing of your enemies. I think about this every time someone opens their mouth to me and puts someone else down. I also remember that the person talking isn’t someone I want to spend much time with. Imbiber Kyle Reutner reminded everyone via Twitter (amidst the Scott Caan fiasco last week) that if you can’t say something nice, say nothing. “We should all take a page from supercw’s book and not publicly say shit that’s negative. #buildupnotdown,” he posted. I was so happy he even took notice, but, more importantly, he is one of the few who didn’t add fuel to the fire. People were so mad! It multiplied what happened by a thousand. Hopefully by the time this prints, the huge wave of backlash will have subsided, not because what Caan said was okay, but because the wave of hate pouring over the streets and Internet is worse. We know it’s amazing here; if he bashes it, that’s really on him. Who wants a drink?!

Check it out
[tardthegrumpycat.tumblr.com]

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