bits and bobs

That title is stolen from an english (as in Great Britain) website that I use for buying rowing clothes. It's their term for the "this and that" or "miscellaneous" clothing/accessories department that can't fit in other departments and since they are English, they use 0verly-fancy terms to describe more than simple things. Which is why I like to use their "training kit" clothing to row in, rather than the boring U.S. "workout clothes". Because after all, I'm a fancy lad and deserve to look like one.

I'm reading more and more blogs these days and its opened my eyes a little to what the current "scene" is and the "scene" is both bad and good. With "Noblopamo" or whatever going on (a bloggers pact to post once a day for the entire month of November), we have a real dilution of material out there and just general annoying stuff. Which is basically what happens to everything cool once the general public sees how cool it is. I have also determined that my opinion of the "general public" started out low, and everyday it gets lower and lower. About a year ago, I was at a stand still in that I realized how stupid a majority of the people were and that I should expect the un-expected and try to keep my eyes on the prize, i.e. friends and co-workers and not be distracted by the other monkeys in the cage. Maybe I got bored, or maybe its like a car-wreck where there was one brief glance and now I CAN'T look away. I am in free-fall now and I'm scared/excited as to how low the "general public" can go in my mind. I thought they were at rock bottom. Then I began to see this stinky molten lava core seeping between the cracks in the bedrock and I think I have only just begun.

Blogs and their reading was probably a lot like the early days of driving automobiles. There were no rules and no schmucks! The only people who drove cars were the ones that really wanted to and each car was totally different from the next. These were the real "drivers" who drove for the sake of loving how "driving" felt. They probably waved hi to each other and shared tips on how to get out of the mud and how much a pain in the ass it was to move Farmer Jack's Moo Cow out of your way. You could drive as fast as you wanted and park it where you wanted and drive on whatever side of the road was convenient . You could explore new roads and drive to places you had never been before!

Then as more and more of the general public took to the roads, they got cluttered with people who didn't belong out there. People who weren't driving for the enjoyment, but because it was easily available for them to own an automobile. Now we got problems. We got people driving slow, driving drunk, breaking cars and not knowing how to fix them, crashing into other cars, demanding rules and judging other drivers. Which is why we have the current road rage problem.

Some of the things the public brought were good. Paved roads are good, cheaper cars are good, signs are good. But then they brought bad things too......bad drivers and traffic.

I guess its the lifespan of all activities. Really fun at first, then inklings of its potential bad side, then its bad side is completely revealed, struggle with your identity/place in the activity, balance out pros vs. cons, re-assess and adapt to mesh activity with identity or quit.

I can't quit though and I am going to try to be more friendly. And I am going to try to stop harping on blogging every day and come up with some new non-nerd things. But I don't have much going on, so you will have to deal with these naval-staring posts till I get that private island with a fully stocked gym, calm water to row on, and unlimited funding and lots of movie/rock star friends. For now, I can't help but complain about being stuck here reading a blog about what she wore today and why its cool, her boyfriends ex-roomate that has a bad attitude, and the recipe for what she is cooking for dinner and why she likes this way over her mothers recipe I hate it so much I can't look away or a blog about how much he hates other bloggers and stupid music videos (ah shit, that's my blog).

Overheard at the gym from a 40 year old man who considers himself in shape (no one else does) "I've been so hungry lately! For lunch, I had a BIG CAN of soup, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bag of popcorn and 2 sodas"

Not much going on with this post so enjoy this video which solve the "who should I get to introduce me when I win the nobel prize" conundrum and enjoy the new music video which features indie music, yet again.....or........don't.

One of the many things I need to have......like, NOW

I found this video on Geekologie, and like a blank keyboard, its one of those things I just need to have. I would be tooting this thing 24/7. I'm not much of a horn honker on the roads. Usually I am just a roll down the window and let out a loud "coaching on the hudson river voice" perverse profanity. Which may or may not be next to an elementary school that is being let out of class ......Like last week.

Anyway, tell me you wouldn't love to have this......

On driving, society, and of course; me

I have done a lot of thinking and pondering and considering on this particular subject. It's not as easy as it seems, particularly because if you go by my stats, I do not fit under that definition of a "good driver". Yet, I feel as though there should be some sort of a classification for my particular abilities.

But first, lets talk about what I see out there on the pathways we use to get from place to place that some people call; roads. I have created a term for this particular style of driving that really chaps my hide. I call it; "passive driving".

Chances are, that most passive drivers think that they are safe drivers and driving defensively. Unfourtunatly, they miss the concept of driving a car in the first place, which is; to get from point A to point B in a efficient and timely manner. They also fail to realize that there is a system of OTHER PEOPLE on the road who are trying to get from place to place as well. This is namely the difference between a passive driver and a defensive driver. There is a good chance that a passive driver is unaware of the needs of the vehicles around them. They perform acts such as slow down to a speed of about 10 mph to make a turn off a 55mph road. They don't make a right on red because they are scared. They stop at the beginning of a yellow light. They drive 25mph in anything other than pure sunshine. They drive the speed limit in the left hand lane. I often find myself screaming to the hula girl on my dashboard "Drive your effing car!!' It may seem a bit facetious and pointless because obviously if a person is in the drivers seat and moving in their car, then they are driving it. However, my anger comes from the mindset that I see these particular passive drivers are in. They are letting their cars drive them, rather than driving thier cars. The definition of driving is a multi facited definition, but its used as the verb in which to describe what we do with our cars for a reason. To drive means to "to send, expel, or otherwise cause to move by force or compulsion". These passive drivers are unfocused behind the wheel and not driving their cars.

Now, I understand that I may be giving off a vibe of a person who wants to justify driving like a maniac, but that is not the case. I also realize that I get tickets for things like pausing at stop signs, rather than stopping at them. Speeding 10mph over in a school zone, and one "failure to keep right" ticket that I will not discuss. BUT, I have never gotten the finger from a fellow motorist, a horn blown at me at a stop light, a frustrated stare from the car next to me, or the screech of tires behind me. The truth is, I'm just a guy who wants to see the traffic system work without selfish passive drivers screwing it up. I think people would be a lot less aggressive if they had nothing to be aggressive against. People drive aggressively to get out of the way of those who are driving meekly. I don't like aggressive drivers, but I understand their motivations. They are trying to get somewhere with some semblence of time but unfourtunatly do not consider the fellow driver either.

Unfourtunatly, I see no solution to this problem. Some people will always be scared of their own cars and their ability to drive them, and some people will always be overly aggressive against the clock and other people on the road, and there will be me, stuck in the middle and supremely awesome.

This post written while listening to: Sigur Ros "Agaetis Byrjun"