One of my resolutions was to wake up by 8:00 AM even if I didn't have to leave the house. That's working out for me, but so far I don't really know what to do with myself when I wake up. I guess I'll figure that out next week.
Another resolution was to be kinder to myself. Sometimes, that means being unkinder to others. With this in mind, I would like to discuss some of the things that annoyed me most in 2008:
- People who do not appreciate mysteries. I mean, maybe there is a wikipedia explanation for how the animals got to Prince Edward Island or what happens to "plastic" cups and forks made of corn and potato, but I don't need to know it. It is a mystery (to me), something to be meditated upon (by me) through the ages (of 2008). Respect is due.
- People who do not appreciate "Drops of Jupiter" by Train as a karaoke song. If your initials are D.C., I guess you get a free pass on this one.
- People who do not push the yellow tape on the bus door, causing the bus doors to slam shut in the face of the person behind you. Are you retarded?
- People who wear their backpacks on public transportation instead of putting them on the floor so there is more room for their fellow commuters. This annoys me so much that I have learned to say "please take your backpack off and rest it on the floor" in both French and Spanish. Unfortunately I think it is mostly Germans and Northern Europeans who do this.
- The g.d.m.f. 1 train.
- Tokion magazine and the Creativity Now conference, and especially the special Creativity Now issue of Tokion that I accidentally read at the Palais de Tokyo. All the writing in there, it's like the "House of Style" (Cindy Crawford years) of art/fashion magazines.
- Timid drivers who edge into my lane on the Williamsburg Bridge because they are... what? Afraid they'll run into a post and knock the bridge down?
- People who "donate their status" on facebook to a particular political argument about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, as if it's another presidential election with two (or three) clear-cut "sides," rather than the complex human rights and ethics issue that it actually is.
- Self-absorbed PhD students that I have to deal with every day. There, I said it. Thank goodness I have Tuesdays off this semester.
Ugh, I'm kind of over complaining about stuff now. So over it. Next time I'm stuck on the 1 train at 96th Street for 15 minutes, I'm not even going to notice.
1 comment:
i'm with you on a lot of these things. even though we don't even live in the same city, nor have we for years.
as for the part about kindness...a random person (a streetcar driver!) told me he thought i was probably someone whose problem is that she can't say no. i laughed because i thought, that's ridiculous, i'm not exactly known for being a meek pushover. but honestly, it got me thinking. and i realized someone else has told me that before. and maybe there's some truth in it. and maybe i, too, should try to do something for myself and somehow learn how to say no more often.
also, i would say i agree with a lot of it even if you hadn't given me a pass on that one...
love you!
d.c.
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