Saturday, February 14, 2009
International Quirkyalone Day
With all the hoopla surrounding Valentine's Day (a day which must be destroyed in my humble opinion), it's easy to forget that February 14 (today) is also International Quirkyalone Day. The Trouble With Normal wants to wish its Quirkyalone readers a very happy IQD today. May it be everything you want it to be like.
Checking In, Deadly Crash etc - Catching Up
Hey! Hope all is well with you. First I want to offer belated condolences to the family friends of those who died in the crash of Continental Connection flight 1349 in Clarence Center, NY Thursday night. I was going to post another piece in my battle against the exploitative and wretched pseudo holiday today happens to be. However, in the big picture that doesn't seem as important.
Why is it only when a tragedy happens that many people tend to find perspective? We all fall into these ruts at one time or another where the day to day drudgery we have to endure to survive gets in the way and drags us down (and yes, I include myself in that). As a result we often don't tell people how we feel and what they mean to us unless something really horribly bad happens. I wish I could say I've successfully broken this chain but in a society where honesty and telling people what you think makes you an almost automatic target, there have been times I've fallen into the shit myself.
As for the crash, investigators are still looking into it, though the flight crew reportedly saw significant ice before this tragedy went down. As much as we as a species want to avoid hurt, pain and tragedy, there are times when bad things do happen and there's nothing anyone can do. Realizing that is humbling, angering, and scary. However, it's something we all have to deal with at one point.
So what do we do now? I wish I had the answer. Hell, I wish I knew if anybody is actually going to read this. However, when we encounter a tragedy like this (even if nobody we know is involved), we tend to have an idea what to do. Thus, these are the times when we tend to have perspective and let people know what they mean to us and not take things or people for granted. Even just putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying not to judge can be helpful. I think we have an idea what to do when something bad happens, we just don't want to deal with doing these things every day until something bad happens and we have to examine it.
I wish I had a better answer than that, but that's all I can figure out. In terms of February 14, think about these things and remember that not everyone may be as fortunate as you regarding what this pseudo holiday represents so please try not to look down on them or judge. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Now go argue about this amongst yourselves.
Why is it only when a tragedy happens that many people tend to find perspective? We all fall into these ruts at one time or another where the day to day drudgery we have to endure to survive gets in the way and drags us down (and yes, I include myself in that). As a result we often don't tell people how we feel and what they mean to us unless something really horribly bad happens. I wish I could say I've successfully broken this chain but in a society where honesty and telling people what you think makes you an almost automatic target, there have been times I've fallen into the shit myself.
As for the crash, investigators are still looking into it, though the flight crew reportedly saw significant ice before this tragedy went down. As much as we as a species want to avoid hurt, pain and tragedy, there are times when bad things do happen and there's nothing anyone can do. Realizing that is humbling, angering, and scary. However, it's something we all have to deal with at one point.
So what do we do now? I wish I had the answer. Hell, I wish I knew if anybody is actually going to read this. However, when we encounter a tragedy like this (even if nobody we know is involved), we tend to have an idea what to do. Thus, these are the times when we tend to have perspective and let people know what they mean to us and not take things or people for granted. Even just putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying not to judge can be helpful. I think we have an idea what to do when something bad happens, we just don't want to deal with doing these things every day until something bad happens and we have to examine it.
I wish I had a better answer than that, but that's all I can figure out. In terms of February 14, think about these things and remember that not everyone may be as fortunate as you regarding what this pseudo holiday represents so please try not to look down on them or judge. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Now go argue about this amongst yourselves.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Is Love Fucked 2009!????!!!??!!!
As we all unfortunately know, this Saturday is that most E-V-E-Y-L Evil of all pseudo holidays, Valentine's Day. While I hope those friends of mine in relationships are happy and doing well, this is the one day I would love to see terminated with extreme motherfucking prejudice.
Since you can't actually do that to a day we decided to call attention to my 1994 article on this topic. Make sure to click the link at the bottom to my more recent commentary regarding this piece (it was reprinted online for the 15th anniversary issue in late 2007).
Just wanted to let you know about this.
Since you can't actually do that to a day we decided to call attention to my 1994 article on this topic. Make sure to click the link at the bottom to my more recent commentary regarding this piece (it was reprinted online for the 15th anniversary issue in late 2007).
Just wanted to let you know about this.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
R.I.P.Lux Interior
We got the very very sad word last night that Lux Interior, lead vocalist of punk rock legends The Cramps, died yesterday in a Glendale, CA hospital of an existing heart condition. He was 60. The Trouble With Normal offers its condolences to his family, friends, and fans (among which we consider ourselves).
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Few Thoughts Regarding My Personal Mishaps and Unsolicited Advice.
Many of you who actually know me in the physical realm (i.e.: the offline world) are aware that I don’t exactly have the best luck in my personal life (or lack thereof). Hell, I think a case can be made that I have the worst luck in the Western World when it comes to matters regarding romance/relationships/etc (maybe not a good case, but a case nonetheless). While I don’t want this post to be a pity party or some ruminations on my loneliness, there are a few things I want to get out of my system.
First, there’s the hassle of societal expectations. When you’re single past a certain age, you’re either considered sad and pathetic (society usually applies this to women but men get this to some degree as well) or irresponsible (i.e.: they think you’re falling from wild party to orgy and back). In both cases people often assume you know what to do to change things. It never occurs to people that one may be happy with where they’re at or that they might just be having really bad luck in this department. Often people want to think that if it’s easy for them then something should be easy for everyone. Guess what? It isn’t. Get used to it.
Then there’s one of the biggest things about this that pisses me off. Often when you’re down in this part of your life people feel the need to give you unsolicited advice on the matter. They don’t seem to want to really help but are more than willing to tell you to stay positive or not to give up. After a while of hearing this, one can begin to think that for every person who actually means what they say with this, two others may be throwing out platitudes to get you to shut up. This is where I find myself at right now and it’s pissing me off.
As a result I find myself ready to have a new rule (which I hate to do) regarding advice and my lack of a personal life (usually when it seems down, but sometimes even as passing comments). Any person who offers me unsolicited advice on my personal/love life (or lack thereof), including mentions to think positive and mentions of self fulfilling prophecies has to introduce me to women. Those not willing to help me out this way should please do me a favor and shut the fuck up.
I don’t like the idea of having rules but this is something I feel needs to be done since I’m not sure who really wants to help and who just wants me to shut up if I’m a bit skeptical and not kill their buzz. Besides, I think anyone willing to offer advice should at the very least help out. If I want advice I’ll ask for it.
That’s it for now. Hopefully people reading this will take this in the spirit intended. While maybe some people will help out, I have a feeling people more than likely will shut up rather than help. It may even make the situation worse (I've learned from experiences via past writing about my problems that things don't seem to turn around after I write about it, unfortunately). Maybe I’m wrong on this, but who knows.
First, there’s the hassle of societal expectations. When you’re single past a certain age, you’re either considered sad and pathetic (society usually applies this to women but men get this to some degree as well) or irresponsible (i.e.: they think you’re falling from wild party to orgy and back). In both cases people often assume you know what to do to change things. It never occurs to people that one may be happy with where they’re at or that they might just be having really bad luck in this department. Often people want to think that if it’s easy for them then something should be easy for everyone. Guess what? It isn’t. Get used to it.
Then there’s one of the biggest things about this that pisses me off. Often when you’re down in this part of your life people feel the need to give you unsolicited advice on the matter. They don’t seem to want to really help but are more than willing to tell you to stay positive or not to give up. After a while of hearing this, one can begin to think that for every person who actually means what they say with this, two others may be throwing out platitudes to get you to shut up. This is where I find myself at right now and it’s pissing me off.
As a result I find myself ready to have a new rule (which I hate to do) regarding advice and my lack of a personal life (usually when it seems down, but sometimes even as passing comments). Any person who offers me unsolicited advice on my personal/love life (or lack thereof), including mentions to think positive and mentions of self fulfilling prophecies has to introduce me to women. Those not willing to help me out this way should please do me a favor and shut the fuck up.
I don’t like the idea of having rules but this is something I feel needs to be done since I’m not sure who really wants to help and who just wants me to shut up if I’m a bit skeptical and not kill their buzz. Besides, I think anyone willing to offer advice should at the very least help out. If I want advice I’ll ask for it.
That’s it for now. Hopefully people reading this will take this in the spirit intended. While maybe some people will help out, I have a feeling people more than likely will shut up rather than help. It may even make the situation worse (I've learned from experiences via past writing about my problems that things don't seem to turn around after I write about it, unfortunately). Maybe I’m wrong on this, but who knows.
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