1 post tagged “8 things”

Carolyn and Smokler both tagged me to do this and since I'm crabby today, I figured I'd bust it out now and say things better left unsaid.

The Rules:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.*
5. 8 is a magic number. Not three.**

1. You will never hear me utter an "Awww." - I don't have an overwhelming upswell of emotion at the sight of babies, animals, or just about anything. Look, there have literally been trillions of lifeforms on this planet that have lived and died. The mere appearance of another one isn't going to astound now. I don't dislike these seemingly "aww-worthy" things but if your kid or pet is a little ass-hole, they don't get a cute pass just because. Unless, of course, they spontaneously generated, came from outer-space or brought the process of teleportation (so I can avoid the damned 405) into existence by their mere birth. That's some Oooh-Aaaah shit right there.

2. And on top of that, I kind of abhor sentimentality - Okay, abhor is a strong word and I don't subscribe to the idea that all kinds of sentimentality is insincere because I know some genuinely emotional people but, I just can't co-sign on it. It's like this, you know in the trailers of The Pursuit of Happyness when Will Smith is in the bathroom and he's holding his son close and he's got his foot on the door and he's just bawling his eyes out? That's the point when I decided I didn't need to see the film. That, to me, plays like "Let's celebrate desperation and sadness!" "See this movie so you will cry too!" Whatever. I ain't got time for all that. Don't get me wrong, I cry during movies. Terms of Endearment, The Color Purple, and Rudy, just to name a few. The difference, however, is that in all three of those movies, I don't feel manipulated by the experiences. Whether the scenes in them invoke sympathy or ebullience, what I react to is that genuine expression of humanity and not a mawkish (Thanks, Tracy!) attempt at such.

3. I don't like Adverbs - This, too, is extreme. I don't hate adverbs but I dislike their use by someone to imbue someone else's experience with one's own interpretation. For example, if I'm dancing, just say I'm dancing. Or, give me a metaphor or simile of what I look like to you when I'm dancing. Don't say, "When Jason dances, he dances happily." How the hell do you know how I feel when I dance?  I try, in my writing of real events, to not give real people emotions or thoughts that are creations of my own mind. To do so, in my opinion, makes them characters in my own life. I'm not going to tell you how you feel. Hmmm, maybe my problem isn't really with adverbs. Also, note, that of all this stuff, I fully accept that this may be a really irrational way to look at word usage but it drives me crazy more than I'm willing to convey for fear of hurting feelings.

4. I don't like the sound of my voice - I wish it was deeper. Particularly when I get excited, I get shrill. That's very not gangsta.

5. I'm making peace with being at the point where I don't know what "the kids are listening to these days" - just a couple years ago, I would've been mortified with not knowing what the current top hits are but these days some songs go through their entire hit cycle without me having even heard it. I think I'm at peace with it, though, because my music catalog is still so on point and current and I'm much much better at knowing what pop stuff matters and what doesn't.

6. I'm becoming less and less tolerant of immaturity. Emotional immaturity.

*I'm not going to tag. I'm also not really sure I followed the rules for this but I'm crabby and don't care.
**I'm saving two for later.

Bonus: A previous secrets post that was protected is now for all to see.