"When I refer to warm, accepting, non-judging
people, below, I'm not talking about repressed, pandering pushovers.
Warm, accepting, non-judging people are still opinionated, entertaining,
garrulous, and even obnoxious, because they accept themselves and
are, therefore, not holding anything back or denying their feelings.
They don't let you walk all over them, because they respect themselves
and know where to draw the line. Repressed, pandering pushovers,
on the other hand, give you what you want and tell you what you
want to hear, to the point of being really boring and lame. They're
boring and lame because they're repressing half of their personality
along with all those negative thoughts and judgments that they've
deemed unacceptable."
"On holiday read "ten poems to
change your life" by Roger Housden (published by Hodder Mobius).
Found a review copy by chance in the bookshop and bought it on impulse.
It is wonderfully reassuring to find stuff about the same territory
as my inner life, other people have been here, I am not alone."
"I've been 14 for 3 days now. It's
basicly just the same as being 13 except I suppose people treat
you a little more grown up. I got some good presents. I've already
finished reading "Last Chance to see" By Douglas Adams.
I should probably try harder to read the Dirk Gently books but I
just can't get into them, I get through 3 pages and talking to a
wall seems to be more interesting."
"Wow. I started a blog entry, but it's
turning into a huge story about my journey from a teenage basement-band
guitar beater to a nearly fifty-year-old guitar player. I think
it will take some time to write so I'm going to continue working
on it. But right now, I need another cup of coffee and some time
outside."
"I hate those tiny bike seats. This
one even had a pad on it, but it didn't make the seat any wider.
My pelvic bones hit the seat at just the right spot that sitting
now is painful. And my legs are so mushy that I can't really control
the rate at which I sit. So I ended up falling into a chair, then
shouting expletives because of the pain in my butt. Good times."
"You've met these folks. They think
that aliens crash-landed at Roswell, and that the government is
covering it up. The problem with conspiracy theorists is that every
time something is unknown, they think it's evidence of deliberate
obfuscation. Which leads us to a story at CNN this morning about
NASA's difficulty in responding to those who maintain that we never
went to the moon."
"So I'm at this gas station right -
trying to pump gas for my car - and this guy in this big - truck
- drives up to me and says to me: "I saw you from the road
and had to come talk to you. I think your really pretty. Do you
work out?" (Me says: "No." with a blank stare) "Wow
you look great - are you sure you don't work out? I work at a gym
and could get you in free - if you want to come by some time! (Me
says - uh, I'm not really a gym kind of a person.) "Oh, well,
I just saw your beautiful hair, and I just had to talk to you. You
really are beautiful."
Then he drives away."
"So. This morning I’m dreaming,
about? Nothing. Well, it was a sitcom of a dream. I seemed to be
talking to someone or listening to other people talk, but it wasn’t
quality talking. The reason behind the cosmos was not being explained.
A total waste of time. I was more awake then I thought, because
when I think I must have turned over to look at the clock earlier
in the morning and being satisfied that the alarm was about to go
off, turned it off."
"at the end of a very long week and
an extremely long day, I'm almost exhausted enough to fall asleep
over the din caused by the party in our fucking rude neighbors'
apartment next door. Yes, the same neighbors who blocked in our
cars and made us late for work this morning. Yes, the same neighbors
who've done it before and annoyed the hell out of us. Yes, the same
neighbors who had screamingly loud sex with a high-pitched nasal-sounding
woman last night (probably just one of them, not both)."
"Every morning I get up, shower, brush
my teeth, eat some children's cereal, download and install Microsoft
Security Update #819696, and head off to work. Recently, I decided
this was too many steps and that I should trim down my morning routine.
The teeth thing seemed important and I've been known to skip the
shower anyways... that pretty much left the Golden Grahams or the
MS Update and I think we know who's gonna win out there.
"
"i'm off my rant now i think. Wherein
i feel full of buzz and irritation, rage and noise. And hopeless
exhaustion. Last night even my ears were ringing so, when we went
to dinner, i had to ask if this was a too-noisy place. i could hear
little other than the insects in my interior. Now i am tired. That
kind of tired when you have finished being crazed and are starting
to settle down again. i don't think i am mentally unhealthy. Sometimes
i just have too much to DO."
"When I enrolled at Boston University,
I had not yet picked a major, but I knew that BU, with its superior
liberal arts program, would provide great opportunities in any field.
So what did I do? Did I go pre-med, pre-law, or pre-anything? No.
I majored in Film... But wait! I was smart enough to have a back-up!
I minored in Philosophy. Doh."
"A friend of mine has a pretty good
idea on how to reduce car accidents. He told me instead of putting
an air bag in the steering wheel...they should mount a giant spike
there instead. Just think of how courteous people would be to each
other on the road when they're threaten with instant impalement
at the slightest jarring."
"If the world were a village of 1000
persons, there would be five soldiers, seven teachers, one doctor.
Of the village's total annual expenditures of just over $3 million
per year, $181,000 would go for weapons and warfare, $159,000 for
education, $132,000 for health care."
"I'll confess that one thing blocking
me from a career in politics is my concern about what one can find
by Googling me. I've been on Usenet since I was 18 years old (I
know, that's trivial now, but that was 1988). All the usual bullshitting
college conversations one has with friends, I had online, and many
of them are still accessible. I'm sure I expressed lots of outrageous
and idiotic opinions that I don't hold now or don't hold as strongly
(for two dramatic examples, my opinions on gun control and censorship
of pornography are just about the opposite of the ones I held when
I was a freshman) and it would be trivially easy for someone to
pull those forth and either try to pin them on me now or accuse
me of flip-flopping."
"Last week I reported how obvious it
is that reversing the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling that recognized
a woman's fundamental right to make her own reproductive decisions
is Mr. Bush's primary mission. Of course, abortion is not Bush's
only target. Now, the unelected dumbass is weighing in on two other
issues that will adversely effect women and minorities in this country."
"I don't really know if women blog
differently to men or if there is more variation between women than
there is between men and women bloggers. I know I generally blog
about political stuff rather than personal stuff, though readers
will know I don't mind mentioning my son whenever I get the chance
and in fact, my reaction to the Washington sniper, through a long
series of posts, was often filtered through my concern about my
son's safety."
"After Brian ordered fried eggs I made
him nervous with talk of Salmonella and other undercooked egg treats.
When his eggs arrived, they were liquidy and still somewhat clear
on top. I was trying to keep from laughing as he timidly scraped
at the glistening goo and finally found the nerve to ask the waiter
to put them back on the burner a few more minutes. I very smugly
ate my well-cooked scrambled eggs while he waited."
"I once bought a mold for soap from
an online company. They didn't give me an upfront shipping cost
or even an estimate. When I finally got the email with the total
price I was absolutely stunned. The mold cost $1.99, the shipping,
2nd day air, cost $10! I called the company and we arranged to have
it sent via First Class mail. I'm likely to go back to them because
they worked with me on it."
"Many people I talk (complain!) to
about being a "road warrior" assume it's a bit of a jolly.
It's fucking not! You've got the hours sat in traffic on the motorways
of Britain. You've got the hours sat in airport lounges and in aircraft
cabins, breathing other people's air and assimilating other people's
virii. Then there are the hours you spend alone in hotel rooms.
No wonder some travelling people turn to paid companions to relieve
the bordom. I've never done this and never would actually even if
single. But I can see why they would"
"Chicks are strange. I went out with
this girl last year who was from Philly. She was pretty cool but
she had certain annoying qualities that I could not get past. Now
known as Stoufer girl because of the dinner she cooked me. Things
did not work out but we were still kind of friends and e-mailed
back and forth occasionally. I sent her an e-mail to wish her a
merry Christmas and congratulate her on the Eagles success. What
do I get back, she taunts me that she got engaged over Christmas.
It is not like I really care but I thought it was funny that she
thought enough of me to taunt me."
