intellectual properties

h8rs gonna <3

“the more ridiculous, tiny, arcane or completely irrational the object of your outrage is, the more you know you have attained ultimate freedom. You are living the real American Dream, hereby defined as being endlessly upset and miserable about totally meaningless bulls–t for no valid reason whatsoever because you have everything you could ever want or need in this life, ever.”
–mark morford

every once in a while someone who i don’t see in person very often but who keeps up with me online will note that my public/online persona is often very much a hater.

i am aware of this. that’s why i bought myself this t-shirt!

my excuse, and i think many writers will agree with me here, is that it is more often only things that make your blood boil that move you to express more than 140 characters. i know that this is not a good excuse, and in fact believe that more expression of the positive is needed in this world, that all this media and cultural negativity is somehow deeply traumatizing us, individually and collectively. (aside: something the other day prompted me to think for a minute how awesome it would be to have a positive-news-only channel/newspaper).

this is the part that is maybe not obvious, which i want to enunciate: even when i am hating on something, i’m reveling in whatever absurdity i’m finding there, either in the thing itself, or often laughing at my own hating on it. most often this is music, fashion, or art.  i try very hard to have more compassion and less judgment about other parts of people’s lives and their choices. well, except for politics and religion, but that’s a whole other thing there that we’ll not even get into right now. but music, fashion, art: they are put out there as a language, as a message for interpretation, and so i feel ok about critiquing these things, even though, yes, these things are also often very very personal.  even when i am at my most critical, and i’ve said this before, i will support creatives until the end of time in their endeavors in these realms, but that doesn’t mean i also love their art. sometimes the output of a brilliant concept really viscerally sucks.  it’s kind of like loving your 5-year-old’s kindergarten drawings. of course they suck.  but look how much creativity and love!

[it's true that there are some things i just can't get behind and personally support. like sports/fans. but i'll take the cue here and "stop Eeyoring" and this will be the only time i say a word about the fact that "my home team" is in the World Series and no, I DO NOT CARE.  but everyone who does care ("bandwangoneers" and "real fans" alike) should LIVE IT UP AND have fun! i mean it! i will not hate on the Giants or the related ridiculousness going on around here right now.]

back to the more important point: there is no apathy here.  i care deeply about fucking everything. i am one of those who revels in darkness as much as light. i walk the line. just because i am not espousing positivity and puking rainbows does not mean i am unhappy (anxious, maybe. unhappy? no.) or that i do not find joy in the world.  in fact, i still SQUEE over the simplest things, one of the most common being dogs with their heads out the windows of cars on the freeway,  their faces into the wind, mouth open, surely getting smacked by bugs and detritus and dust and tiny rocks, GRINNING. I LOVE THAT THEY DO THAT.  almost enough to make me want to get a dog.  flowers, also. and trees. and moonlight. a simple girl singing a simple song. people’s eyes, reflecting forever.

so please don’t get me wrong. i love humans. i just find human nature wildly incomprehensible sometimes, and the levels of relative absurdity are often overwhelming enough to make me spew.

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