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It must be better
Better
Oatmeal Daily - 2026-08-31 - Monday | Published in August of 2026
BY OATMEAL JOEY ARNOLD
The following "BETTER" outline is incomplete.
The title to this article is "BETTER" and the purpose of this post is to outline each year of my life with the year number followed with "IT MUST BE BETTER" as to focus on how things got better that year. A main intention is to focus on times I was looking forward with anticipation to events in the future. However, I might not have examples for each year of my life. In the following outline, I listed each year of my life so far. For example, I wrote for one year: "1988. It must be better. Visiting Seattle must be better than visiting Forest Grove." But to be clear with this example, I have no memories of counting the days until we would journey to Seattle because I was only three years old. I say that to say I might not be able to find example for each year of my life. But I decided just to include even the years that might lack examples. For example, in 1993, when I was eight, I could hardly wait to someday see the third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie. In my mind at that time, this new movie must be better than the previous movies. At that time when I saw it, it stayed with me for years. I still think about it. My favorite song being Tarzan Boy. I still love that song. With that said, there are two main interconnected purposes for this page: first, annual anticipations whenever possible like with this turtles example for 1993. Second, annual highlights which might include the 1993 turtles example as I was not only anticipating it, it was also a highlight. Meaning the turtles 1993 example was not only an anticipation but also a highlight. But then my 1992 Newsies example was a highlight as I don't have memories of anticipating Christian Bale in that Disney hit. One of the challenges is I don't always know what year something happened in. I might be leaving some things out if I can't estimate what year it came from.
Motivation behind writing this includes desire to explore sequences of events as I try to understand myself. I like to create life outlines that might establish some facts about me because I desire minimizing opinions which might include the Oatmeal Fake News which trolls spam the Internet with lying about me on all the websites since at least like 2009 or longer as I've been online since at least like 1995 or longer with over 30K+ videos and millions of things uploaded to the Internet and with thousands of hours worth of content. These outlines I make serve as landmarks, reference points, things that probably don't change relative to things that do change.
The following outline only lists a few random examples of things I may have anticipated or appreciated (enjoyed) from each year of my life so far from 1985 to 2026, a few random examples mostly from the top of my head, this is is an incomplete outline. It might even be inaccurate and stuff.
The following list below includes that 1993 turtles movie which I anticipated and appreciated (enjoyed):
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 - Baltimora - Tarzan Boy (Remastered)
Each year.
It must be better.
1985 age 0. It must be better. Being born must be better than being dead. I enjoy existing.
1986 age 1. It must be better. Having a first birthday was better than having no birthdays at all. I probably enjoyed that first birthday.
1987 age 2. It must be better. Being in my first ever homeschooling pilgrim play is better than not being an actor. I probably enjoyed being like a sheep. I started making videos with a camcorder with family and friends in 1996.
1988 age 3. It must be better. Visiting Seattle must be better than only playing with my fingers. I can't say I enjoyed my brother Rick saving my life as a vehicle hit my mom. There was a pony and a circus.
1989 age 4. It must be better. Doing the AWANA's Cubbies must be better than not being in a church club which I started attending in 1988, wasn't really memorizing a lot of verses until I was in the AWANA's Sparkies starting in like 1994. I enjoyed Honey I Shrunk the Kids and probably also enjoyed being a chick in another homeschooling play.
1990 age 5. It must be better. Living at the Elkind's was better than my ghetto trailer, it was big like Sharon Hundley's house which is where we had homeschooling club meetings.
1991 age 6. It must be better. Biking must be better than not biking. Siblings helped me learn to cycle a bicycle after Christmas 1991 around the last few days of that year. I enjoyed Robin William's Peter Pan in Hook, Darkwing Duck.
1992 age 7. It must be better. California must be better than Oregon. I didn't actually think a lot about going to California, I only thought about it a few times as we were riding that Greyhound bus to Los Angeles. Newsies must be better than many musicals because I especially enjoyed dancing on my living room table to I'm The King of New York which I ended up moving to in 2004. I enjoyed Rock-a-Doodle, Goof Troop, The Little Mermaid.
1993 age 8. It must be better. The turtles came back for a third film. I was 8 years old. A behind the scenes special served as a movie trailer that hyped me up. I already saw the previous movies and the cartoons growing up, I was already a fan going back years. I was even drawing them especially in 1993. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) inspired me to do karate in 1995. My favorite song for that turtles movie was Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. I enjoyed playing baseball softball. I enjoyed Mrs Doubtfire, Power Rangers, Animaniacs, Jurassic Park, Free Willy, Hocus Pocus.
1994 age 9. It must be better. Rival Turf must be better than other fighting games I must have thought, got it from Bhakti & Jaya Sa for our Super Nintendo, I was not thinking about it until I got it for my 9th birthday in February 1994. I enjoyed The Lion King, The Flintstones, Donkey Kong Country.
1995 age 10. It must be better. The rangers came back for a movie. I was even telling people like Bill Bailey at Tiffany Cumbo's house about it. It looked better than the regular Power Rangers Japanese adaptation which premiered in America in 1993. I religiously watched it often daily at like 4:30 PM weekdays for like years. I enjoyed playing a shepherd in a church Christmas play and learning karate. I enjoyed Robin William's Jumanji, A Goofy Movie, Pocahontas, Apollo 13, Full House finale.
1996 age 11. It must be better. Making home videos is better than not. I probably started thinking about wanting to be the next Michael Jackson in 1993, I remember watching Remember The Time which probably aired on TV in 1991. I started thinking about being not just a musician but also a performer. I won a 1993 Easter dancing contest. I was also thinking about wanting to be the next Billy Graham since like 1993, I even drew myself on a platform with wheel and balloons. Making a parody of the Power Rangers came after watching their first movie in 1995. I believe my brother was talking to me about making videos in 1995. I started writing a script in 1995. As we filmed it in 1996, I was fully invested, it was like my job. When I went to Word Of Life Olympians on a Tuesday, during the 4th day of filming that film, my brother quickly filmed an abrupt ending. Looking back, his ending was comedic. In my mind, it was like once the ending was filmed, it felt like we couldn't continue filming. According to my script, the idea was to extend the movie forever with endless fight scenes, that was my idea of a good story. I enjoyed Mario 64, Star Trek: The Next Generation: First Contact, Power Rangers Zeo.
1997 age 12. It must be better. The Empire Strikes Back must be better. Wait. No. Return of the Jedi must be better. I was thinking the next Star Wars must be better. The original trilogy returned to the big screen for the Special Edition. I was getting into it at that time, I think I only saw like Space Balls or a few minutes of Star Wars before 1997. George Lucas had his movies return to theaters in 1997. A New Hope trailer appeared on the 3rd of July 1996 for Independence Day. I eventually wanted to see it. When seeing A New Hope, they had a trailer for Empire Strikes Back. I was thinking it must be better. When I went to see Empire Strikes Back, I was especially hyped for a trailer for Return of the Jedi as it must be better with Jedi master Luke Skywalker, my imagination was thinking the movie would focus on Luke running around chopping down The Empire. I anticipating going to Bill Bailey's grandma's house from 1997 to 2001. I anticipated and enjoyed Power Rangers Turbo, Jurassic Park: The Lost World. I enjoyed Men In Black (MIB), Titanic, The Fifth Element, Liar Liar, Batman and Robin. I enjoyed building a taxi bike wagon, a fort at Bill Biley's grandma's house, having a gerbil.
1998 age 13. It must be better. Michael Jordan at that point in his career must be better than anything MJ has ever done before that point, that was basically a thought I had, I started watching basketball more during the 1998 NBA Playoffs and especially the last few games of the finals. I also started playing basketball at the park more often after that.
1999 age 14. It must be better. The SEGA Dreamcast must be better than the Nintendo 64. I anticipated and enjoyed playing Sonic on the SEGA Dreamcast. I enjoyed Word Of Life's West Coast Camp (WCC) which I attended as a camper from 1999-2003. I anticipated and enjoyed Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
2000 age 15. It must be better. My own camcorder must be better than borrowing the camcorder my brother got in 1996. I wanted a camcorder. I was thinking it must be better as I was focused on making home videos and stuff. I even started making Power Ranger themed music videos in 2000. First, I was anticipating the camcorder which I got for my birthday in February 2000. Second, I was anticipating entering the Forest Grove High School (FGHS) for the first time. I enjoyed Tom Hank's Cast Away and having guinea pig Ra Ra Hercules Roberto.
2001 age 16. It must be better. Sophomore Year surely must be better than Freshman Year. My second year of high school was a variety of things. To a degree, it was a low point. The reality, it might have been depressing or challenging as I was down with not making the basketball team. I was anticipating returning to FGHS at least to a degree. I was anticipating getting another camcorder which led to filming features like Gangster Run and Cat's Life. I anticipating going to Bill Bailey's grandma's house. I enjoyed Power Rangers Time Force. I enjoyed hanging out with Tiffany Cumbo and Bill Bailey that summer.
2002 age 17. It must be better. Junior Year must be better than Sophomore Year. It was especially when I was dancing with Melissa Wallway and other girls at school dances.
2003 age 18. It must be better. Senior Year must be better than Junior Year which it was especially as I was a Girls Basketball Manager with Richie VanDyke. I was in the Earth Club where we did science. I was in the Drama Club where we went on at least one after-school trip to a workshop at like another high school. I enjoyed acting in a church play. I enjoyed watching the first two Lord Of The Rings films for the first time at Matt Dooney's house and I was anticipating and eventually enjoying the third film.
2004 age 19. It must be better. My First Year at the Word Of Life Bible Institute (WOLBI) in New York (NY) was better than high school: WOLBI had chemistry as I was getting along with classmates. I enjoyed building a carpetball gutterball pocketball table, visiting NYC, and our Llama team won the summer basketball tournament.
2005 age 20. It must be better. Revenge of the Sith must be better than the Attack of The Clones. This must be the best Star Wars ever I thought. I said that about each new Star Wars since I started getting into it in 1997. My second year at WOLBI. I enjoyed being a counselor for the snow camps, Ranch camps, and the West Coast Camp.
2006 age 21. It must be better. ABC must be better than WOLBI. In some ways, it was. I enjoyed watching The Matrix trilogy. I enjoyed filming L4OJ with Sawyer Frye.
2007 age 22. It must be better. Revolution Hawaii must be better than ABC. Get Your Joy On (GYJO) must be even better. I enjoyed Matt Damon's The Bourne Ultimatum.
2008 age 23. It must be better. Camp Kuratli must be better this summer than it was in 2007, date with a girl. My mind was fixed on returning to Kuratli. RevHI got better, phone date Jeannette Whitaker. Enjoyed Batman.
2009 age 24. It must be better. Was making videos with Lincoln Hawk in California than filming the Get Your Joy On (GYJO) video we made in Hawaii in 2007 with Jeff Walters and Mejee Lutcher? No. But I was anticipating being an assistant youth pastor under Lincoln Hawk. I felt desperate because I became unemployed again in 2009, that was a major reason for running off to California. During the course of my life, I wanted to not only be an actor in Hollywood, I was also interested in being like Billy Graham since like 1993. I went on to attend Bible colleges. I met Lincoln in 2007 at WYI, he became a major influence as he continued investing in me. In 2009, I felt like I was in a fork in the road. Working as an assistant youth pastor under Blake Webb at The Salvation Army's Moore Street from 2009-2010 was better than not working with Lincoln. Uploading the Arnold Attic Films was better than not doing that. I enjoyed Coraline.
2010 age 25. It must be better. Camp Redwood Glen was better than Camp Kuratli because Hanna was there. At least part of me was ready to return to camp life. I was a Relief Counselor which is like a substitute teacher. I also acted in plays with Farmer Hanna who I wrote a long love letter to. Living at Charlotte Battle's was better than my 414 apartment in that I lived closer to my then Salvation Army Moore Street ministry. Enjoyed meeting Sharon Clayton, Nellie.
2011 age 26. It must be better. Returning to my Forest Grove hometown was better than the Charlotte Battle Limbo. Anticipation was faint. The truth is a combination of things. Looking back, it's tough to say what was better move as there were pros and cons regardless of whatever I was going to do. Enjoyed making Arnold Attic Teaser Trailers.
2012 age 27. It must be better. Vietnam was better than Robin Baker Jail. I enjoy eating rice. Life in Bac Ninh was simple, it was fun playing hacky sack. I was anticipating my move to Vietnam. I've wanted to travel since at least 1993. I enjoyed Buffy.
2013 age 28. It must be better. Saigon must be better than Hanoi. Hanoi Anna must be better than Andy Nguyen's Bac Ninh Papa Foods. Wait. No. Saigon's Tracey Honey must be even better. Wait. Kathy Stole My Bike must be better than that. Wait. Fellowship Youth Group (FYG) must be even better. Enjoyed Tan Phu New Star, Tan Van, an English center at a high school, Suits.
2014 age 29. It must be better. Remi Cafe must be better than the Leaf Pagoda. Mr. Ribs BBQ must be even better. TLL International must be even better. Old Ink must be even better. I enjoyed Edge of Tomorrow, Angelina Jolie's Maleficent.
2015 age 30. It must be better. LEGO English was better than the 2013 Remi Cafe. I enjoyed 23/9 Park English and also enjoyed hearing about Super Mario Maker.
2016 age 31. It must be better. Listening to Alex Jones is better than not knowing history. I enjoyed Zootopia, Finding Dory, Suicide Squad, Star Wars Rebels. I enjoyed endorsing Trump.
2017 age 32. It must be better. Returning to America must be better than my life in Vietnam. I had mixed emotions, I contemplated for over two years continuing my life abroad versus returning to Oregon which is what I ended up doing after teaching English in Vietnam for five years. It's not like I was constantly dreaming daily of flying over to work with Infowars Alex Jones in Texas but I wanted to explore working for Trump in Washington DC even. But long story short, I felt conflicted with the different things I wanted to do. Returning to America was only one of those things that I was thinking about doing. Part of me was hyped up. But another part of me was terrified and stuff. But I ended up returning for a variety of reasons. I enjoyed binge-watching The Simpsons, The Power Rangers.
2018 age 33. It must be better. Building a book shed with Larry Mitchell and Tom Taylor was better than paying to keep mom's stuff in storage units. I enjoyed Roseanne, Gotham, Once Upon A Time, I Can Only Imagine, Fear the Walking Dead, Boy Meets World.
2019 age 34. It must be better. Hanging with Nehemiah was better than hanging with Golden Boy Roy Merrick. Helping with the youth group at church was better than not being involved. I enjoyed Joker.
2020 age 35. It must be better. Working on the Roundtree Farm was bigger and better than only working on the Mitchell Farm. I anticipated and enjoyed Bad Boys for Life, Sonic the Hedgehog, Bill & Ted Face the Music.
2021 age 36. It must be better. The Matrix Resurrections must be better than the first three Matrix films I was thinking, I anticipated and enjoyed it, it was a better film in that it talked about how some people would prefer living in the The Matrix which is run by AI. I anticipated and enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Ironically after seeing the 4th Matrix movie, I ended up getting sucked into a Matrix called Memes World Productions (MWP) in 2022 for better and for worse. I enjoyed Cobra Kai, Tell Me Your Secrets, Umbrella Academy, X-Files season 11, Made For Love, Brave New World, The Chosen, The Nevers, Mortal Kombat 2021, Matrix Resurrections, Ghostbusters Afterlife.
2022 age 37. It must be better. Making videos with the Memes World Productions (MWP) was better than merely letting Dead Wing Dork, Mango Haze, or Stumble Chat have the last laugh. A video of mine was airred on Chrissie Mayr's Simpcast. Is something better than nothing? My desire was to advertise myself no matter what. Even when people are trolling me, I want to turn it into good. I was riding waves while seeking to convert a few real fans. I enjoyed Cobra Kai, Resident Alien, The Witcher, Dexter New Blood, The Expanse, Inventing Anna, Shining Vale, Picard, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.
2023 age 38. It must be better. The new Super Mario Bros Movie was better than the 1993 version. I was anticipating it. I enjoyed watching it. I enjoyed Discord Drama, Tales of the Jedi, Power Rangers.
2024 age 39. It must be better. The Deadpool and Wolverine movie was better than previous Deadpool movies, I anticipated and then enjoyed watching it. Enjoyed Criminal Minds, Walking Dead, Resident Alien, Star Wars Andor, Star Wars Acolyte, Dark Matter, Inside Out 2, Cobra Kai, House of the Dragon, From, Ghostbusters, Franklin.
2025 age 40. It must be better. Driving is better than biking around Saigon in 2013. I was anticipating driving during the course of my life. Part of me didn't want to drive. Part of me wanted to drive. I still enjoy cycling as well. Enjoyed driving my mom to Oregon, to the theater, the beach, church, banks, restaurants, stores, lakes, Harstine Island. Enjoyed American Primeval, Star Trek: Section 31, Cobra Kai Finale, House of David, Black Mirror, Andor, Mission Impossible, The Chosen, Jurassic Park, Freakier Friday, Downton Abbey, Tulsa King, Pluribus, Fallout, Police Academy.
2026 age 41. It must be better. Taking care of a caged pet rabbit is better than taking care of wild squirrels. I anticipated and enjoyed Toy Story 5, the annual church picnic, summer game nights, Randy's Men Group. I enjoy Silo, Back to the Future, The Beauty, Outlander, Lucky.
To be continued.
I mostly wrote this article from the top of my head, it's an incomplete rough draft teaser trailer preview relating to anticipation and enjoyment regarding each year of my life so far from 1985 to 2026. But there might be a wide variety of issues, problems, inaccuracy, typos, spelling errors, mistakes, and more. I mentioned and even intermixed a wide variety of items which includes TV shows, movies, video games, and more. I was first trying to mention times I anticipated stuff in life. I already mentioned the 1993 turtles movie which I was anticipating. Secondly, I also wanted to mention times I enjoyed stuff in my life which includes the 1993 turtles movie. I was not anticipating the 1994 Lion King movie but did enjoy it. I anticipated and enjoyed video games like Mario 64 and many others. I enjoyed making songs and music with SUNO AI. I anticipated and enjoyed going places like Hawaii, Vietnam, Quebec, etc. This article is supposed to focus first on what I was thinking before an event (anticipation) followed with my commentary on each said event (enjoyment). I focused on positive said events and stuff. Anticipation is usually considered to be a positive longing. I did not mention anticipation for each year. I did mention enjoyment regarding many years. This article was supposed to say focus on anticipation but might be more about enjoyment. Like with most stuff I put out there, this article was badly written and stuff. It is incomplete. I probably should not publish this. I cannot stress how bad this article is. But I want to just post it right now. I already want to change a bunch of things on this page as it is full of many problems. I want to add a bunch of things. But I am choosing to publish this document as is without even proofreading it at all. I always have long lists of articles that I want to write. I've already published hundreds to thousands of articles. This article here is just another article out of many that I try to put out there. I will probably find many typos and other problems in this article too. But I do anticipate and enjoy putting out content in life. I enjoy ranting and a lot more. I have many things on my to do list. Ranting in this article say for example is only one of the many things I do. I want to do so much stuff. I did so much stuff. I want to do a lot more. I have said so much in life. I was born in the year 1985 in Oregon. I have been online since like 1995, been filming since 1996, I published to the Internet over 30,000+ videos, I published stuff to hundreds to thousands of websites, social media, video platforms, forums, apps, blockchain networks, blogs, email, and a whole lot more via hundreds of profile accounts, groups, pages, Discord servers, sock puppet parody alt accounts, and so much more. I published millions of items online which includes articles, comments, photos, videos, Twitter X tweets, syndicated duplicate copies of items on outpost repeaters, GIFs, and so much more. A lot of my stuff sucks. Some of it is ok. I say all of that to say it's tough to summarize me and everything else making it easier to take me out of context and more. Lolcow Trolls have been spamming the Oatmeal Fake News lying about me since at least 2009 on all the websites. Yes, I suck and stuff. I have talked about me forever online. But people conflate what I said and did with lies. What also sucks is people lying about me and more. I'm in the middle of trying to put out my side of the story to counter and debunk the lies about me and everything. This article here doesn't really debunk the fake news about me but it does lay the groundwork for countering the deception and everything else. This outline page is boring, it was mostly made for me and not for anybody to read. I don't expect many people to read this. I was really intending to just rant for ten hours in this article. I was going to try to comment on and rant on each item included in this outline map of my life. I can even add more items to each year of my life: I can add many things like movies, shows, video games, events, references to my personal life, stuff I did, people in my life, where I was, and more. But I've decided instead to just publish this outline as is without trying to expand each year into a book. To be clear for the record, the history books, the archives, this article is probably missing many things that should be including, it lacks many links, this page should be updated in the coming years just like most things. Around like 2009, my older sister said it's critical to ask how can it get even better in life as you encounter different situations, it's all about reframing like Dilbert's Scott Adams would say. With all that said, how can it get even better than this?
