| Monday, August 06, 2007 |
| I am furious (yellow) |
"It's true... I'm a rageaholic! I just can't live without rageahol!"
-Homer Simpson
Do you ever get in one of those moods where everything ticks you off? I frequently do, and unfortunately, sometimes I just stay in that mood for far too long. For instance, why don't people keep their dogs on-leash when they're walking them? Why don't they clean up their dogs' poop? And what about the rude smokers who fling their cigarette butts all over the sidewalk? Then there are the folks who stand right in front of the elevator door, so you have to stare them down and wait for them to move out of the way before you can exit. In case you didn't notice, dimwits, other people may be using the elevator. It's not your private conveyance. And those are just the things that take place in and around my building. I'm not even going to mention, say, Alberto Gonzalez.
One of the interesting things about modern-day newsgathering is that you have the opportunity to be angered by things taking place thousands of miles away from you, that you otherwise would never have heard of. NPR tends to dig up a lot of these stories. You're driving along, and hear a piece about, say, depleted oyster beds along the Atlantic seaboard. It turns out rich people are using oyster shells as "authentic" landscaping decor. Yes, you can now be ticked off at wealthy, environment-despoiling homeowners who live over three thousand miles away!
I know some people believe that anger takes years off your life, but I'm not sure I agree. I mean, look at Don't Sweat the Small Stuff author Richard Carlson. He died of cardiac arrest in his mid-40s. Meanwhile, Lewis Black is almost 60 and still going strong. My grandmother watched nothing but "The O'Reilly Factor" in the last months of her life, and she was just shy of 92 when she passed away -- and that show is guaranteed to make you angry, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican.
If anyone has tips on how to be a calmer, happier person, do let me know. (I suppose I could try spending more time listening to the Polyphonic Spree and less time tuned into NPR.) In the meantime, I have discovered something that always relaxes me: cute animal web sites. I currently subscribe to three of them: The Daily Puppy, Cute Overload and (brand new!) OMGKitty!!!! Seriously, look at this and tell me all the world's cares & woes don't just melt away. (I also have my own cute animal, of course, but like married men who subscribe to Playboy or Maxim, sometimes you just want to see what else is out there.) Perhaps I need to get an iPhone so I can carry puppy web sites with me at all times. |
posted by 125records @ 10:42 AM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Hey, at least Alberto Gonzalez doesn't take place in and around your building.
Benjamin's second-favorite item on his iGoogle page is The Daily Puppy. That always puts him in a good mood too. And his workaround for not getting upset at NPR stories is to pay attention only when he hears any of the following words/phrases: Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, dolphin, train, or Benjamin. However, we also try to be attentive to the volume control when potentially upsetting stories air, ever since his preschool teacher pulled us aside several years ago and told us Benjamin was calling Iraq a "bloodbath".
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Torqueberto always gets my blood pressure up. Maybe I need some cute lolcats.
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Actually, Maxim pisses me off. I mean, don't these folks know there's such a thing as porn?
Okay, that wasn't really what you were getting at...but yeah, there's a lot of angryriffic stuff out there. Just today, for example: another bicyclist who thinks continuing straight, without looking, on a green arrow for right turns is a positive, life-preserving measure. Grr.
And people who enter titles in online CD databases as all lower-case just because the graphic design does so.
And lazy mail carriers who are constantly delivering our neighbors' mail to us.
And...okay, I'll shut up now.
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Hey, at least Alberto Gonzalez doesn't take place in and around your building.
Benjamin's second-favorite item on his iGoogle page is The Daily Puppy. That always puts him in a good mood too. And his workaround for not getting upset at NPR stories is to pay attention only when he hears any of the following words/phrases: Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, dolphin, train, or Benjamin. However, we also try to be attentive to the volume control when potentially upsetting stories air, ever since his preschool teacher pulled us aside several years ago and told us Benjamin was calling Iraq a "bloodbath".