I'm walking on a wire.
Time to steal another What I've Learned. This month we're ripping off Joan Jett, a feat that many others have been doing for decades, so I don't feel so bad about it.
There's this thing... about talking to people and helping them work out their problems. Time just flies, even if they rattle on endlessly about stuff that should be boring. If I could just see clients all day, I would - though other counselors tell me that I'd likely just burn out.
They've turned... sensitivity into a something to be despised and then leveraged. The same banks who mindlessly crushed families and kicked them out of their homes are now the same ones who boast that they have friendly, empathetic staff who will listen to your problems unlike "those other guys".
Pop music... gets demonized a little too much, I think. While excellent pop musicians tend to be extremely rare and the catchy tunes that stick in our heads tend to happen by accident, just writing something for pure entertainment isn't necessarily a crime. As long as you're honest about what you're doing, anyway.
When people... tell me I'm always angry and hate the world, I wonder if they actually believe it.
I learned... that while you can't save them all, they're not beyond saving. Some problems are just beyond some people, or they're just unsolvable at that particular time. People have to be ready to get pulled out of a bad situation, and they're not always going to be receptive to the opportunity.
Nobody knows... what communication is going to look like in sixty years. Hell, twenty years ago you could just Google up a question and have it answered by some all seeing Oracle was likely laughable to the majority of the population. It bothers me that eventually, I won't be able to see what's coming anymore.
I remember times... where I would just get so pissed I would open my mouth and say something that I didn't really think I could say. They weren't even pent up "real feelings", I just had a bout of Tourette's anger.
I like the way... the city looks at dawn, but I enjoy the way it feels at dusk.
The sun... and I have never been the best of friends. When I was younger, I actually got rashes from sun exposure, and even today it has made my hair almost copper red from exposure. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact my black facial hair makes it look a little odd to some.
Don't be afraid... to be afraid of something. Everyone wants to be the eternally level headed, unflappable guy who never gets concerned or distressed, but someone who doesn't understand how things can go wrong never really appreciates it when it's going right.
They said... I'd change my views on a few things when I got older, more experienced. It was always so galling that at 17 I would present a perfectly good, reasonable point (not some spoiled immature teenage shit) and adults seemed to feel compelled to let me know I knew nothing and undermine my sense of logic simply because I was too young to get it. Turns out that in some cases they were just wrong and insecure about it. Whoops.
Partly, I like... that conservatives think I'm too much of a hippie and liberals think I'm an uptight suit-and-tie corporate mouthpiece. Partly I hate it because it means I'm pretty much suspect no matter where I go.
I think some... politicians should go through a blind taste test of their ideals. It's funny that even the guys supposedly running the show seem to be operating on a very limited understanding of actual issues and only entrenched responses to labels.
I don't look... at the mirrors on the gym walls. I do everything I can to avoid looking at them, in fact, because I'm weirdly self-concious about being perceived as vain.
When you're onstage... you are an object, not a person. Anyone on a stage trying to sell their personality is very likely selling something fake.
I never lived... in a place where I felt like if I didn't have a car I'd be okay. I should do something about that eventually.
If you're a woman... and you choose to be extremely concerned about your personal safety, I can understand that. As was pointed out to me, there are many more whackos out there who see women as prey than there are who regard men singularly in that regard. On the flipside to that, though, don't expect guys are going to be all that happy about being in the "rapist until proven otherwise" category.
When I watch... political pundits, my only real concern is with trying to figure out how much of their delivery is something they actually believe and how much is just an attention grab to build their brand.
I don't think... too much about being seen as a sexist or racist or homophobe or whatever. I try not to, anyway. I try to keep my opinions about women, Mexicans, gays, Jews, Segways, or other things as honest as I can. While honestly doesn't necessarily preclude any of those -isms, there's something disturbing about someone who constantly has to filter what he says "just in case".
In the beginning... I thought I'd be taken seriously by my peers. Ironically, alot of my views from my teenage years have been right, while the ones I've made in the past decade have been the ones that I've had to adjust because I just didn't know any better.
People come up... to my office and tell me their problems. All of them. I used to think the stories about hookers who would get hired and the john would just sit and talk to them for an hour were ubran legends. But I've come to appreciate that sometimes people who need help just want some human contact.
I don't Google... things at work unless I am explicitly sure of what I am looking for and how to word it. I have a theory that has yet to be proven wrong - on the internet, every phrase of four words or less is, somewhere, a euphemism for some sex act. And it's likely in the top three Google hits.
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire
There's this thing... about talking to people and helping them work out their problems. Time just flies, even if they rattle on endlessly about stuff that should be boring. If I could just see clients all day, I would - though other counselors tell me that I'd likely just burn out.
They've turned... sensitivity into a something to be despised and then leveraged. The same banks who mindlessly crushed families and kicked them out of their homes are now the same ones who boast that they have friendly, empathetic staff who will listen to your problems unlike "those other guys".
Pop music... gets demonized a little too much, I think. While excellent pop musicians tend to be extremely rare and the catchy tunes that stick in our heads tend to happen by accident, just writing something for pure entertainment isn't necessarily a crime. As long as you're honest about what you're doing, anyway.
When people... tell me I'm always angry and hate the world, I wonder if they actually believe it.
I learned... that while you can't save them all, they're not beyond saving. Some problems are just beyond some people, or they're just unsolvable at that particular time. People have to be ready to get pulled out of a bad situation, and they're not always going to be receptive to the opportunity.
Nobody knows... what communication is going to look like in sixty years. Hell, twenty years ago you could just Google up a question and have it answered by some all seeing Oracle was likely laughable to the majority of the population. It bothers me that eventually, I won't be able to see what's coming anymore.
I remember times... where I would just get so pissed I would open my mouth and say something that I didn't really think I could say. They weren't even pent up "real feelings", I just had a bout of Tourette's anger.
I like the way... the city looks at dawn, but I enjoy the way it feels at dusk.
The sun... and I have never been the best of friends. When I was younger, I actually got rashes from sun exposure, and even today it has made my hair almost copper red from exposure. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact my black facial hair makes it look a little odd to some.
Don't be afraid... to be afraid of something. Everyone wants to be the eternally level headed, unflappable guy who never gets concerned or distressed, but someone who doesn't understand how things can go wrong never really appreciates it when it's going right.
They said... I'd change my views on a few things when I got older, more experienced. It was always so galling that at 17 I would present a perfectly good, reasonable point (not some spoiled immature teenage shit) and adults seemed to feel compelled to let me know I knew nothing and undermine my sense of logic simply because I was too young to get it. Turns out that in some cases they were just wrong and insecure about it. Whoops.
Partly, I like... that conservatives think I'm too much of a hippie and liberals think I'm an uptight suit-and-tie corporate mouthpiece. Partly I hate it because it means I'm pretty much suspect no matter where I go.
I think some... politicians should go through a blind taste test of their ideals. It's funny that even the guys supposedly running the show seem to be operating on a very limited understanding of actual issues and only entrenched responses to labels.
I don't look... at the mirrors on the gym walls. I do everything I can to avoid looking at them, in fact, because I'm weirdly self-concious about being perceived as vain.
When you're onstage... you are an object, not a person. Anyone on a stage trying to sell their personality is very likely selling something fake.
I never lived... in a place where I felt like if I didn't have a car I'd be okay. I should do something about that eventually.
If you're a woman... and you choose to be extremely concerned about your personal safety, I can understand that. As was pointed out to me, there are many more whackos out there who see women as prey than there are who regard men singularly in that regard. On the flipside to that, though, don't expect guys are going to be all that happy about being in the "rapist until proven otherwise" category.
When I watch... political pundits, my only real concern is with trying to figure out how much of their delivery is something they actually believe and how much is just an attention grab to build their brand.
I don't think... too much about being seen as a sexist or racist or homophobe or whatever. I try not to, anyway. I try to keep my opinions about women, Mexicans, gays, Jews, Segways, or other things as honest as I can. While honestly doesn't necessarily preclude any of those -isms, there's something disturbing about someone who constantly has to filter what he says "just in case".
In the beginning... I thought I'd be taken seriously by my peers. Ironically, alot of my views from my teenage years have been right, while the ones I've made in the past decade have been the ones that I've had to adjust because I just didn't know any better.
People come up... to my office and tell me their problems. All of them. I used to think the stories about hookers who would get hired and the john would just sit and talk to them for an hour were ubran legends. But I've come to appreciate that sometimes people who need help just want some human contact.
I don't Google... things at work unless I am explicitly sure of what I am looking for and how to word it. I have a theory that has yet to be proven wrong - on the internet, every phrase of four words or less is, somewhere, a euphemism for some sex act. And it's likely in the top three Google hits.
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire