Hey Jealousy

No, this is not about the Gin Blossoms. Although I have been meaning to write a post about 90s one-hit wonders and how I love them so...this is not that post. Maybe that one will come soon.

Jealousy is a normal part of every day life. It is something that we wish we did not suffer from, as human beings, but it's kind of a hard thing to deny sometimes. No matter who you are, somebody has more than you or looks better than you or is better than you at something you've always wanted to do (If it wasn't for Derek Jeter, I would have been shortstop for the Yankees...)

There's something I do feel embarrassed about, though. And I don't know if I'm alone in this. Have you ever felt jealous of people who have things YOU DON'T EVEN WANT? Just that they have something while you don't? The girl you have no interest in dating finds a new boyfriend, but you sneer at it because you're single? The guy at work who is invited to a rave on Friday night that you would be miserable at if you went to it, but because you don't have plans for the night yet, you feel crappy about it?

This is a kind of jealousy that makes no sense, but for some reason, pops up in the human psyche. You want the people you care about to be happy...but...maybe not TOO happy. If they're getting everything, it can kind of be human nature to say "Hey...God, or fate, or whoever....when am I gonna get mine?" The answer is...no clue.

On the other hand, it's weird how we can be so concerned for our friends and family when something bad happens...there is genuine and concern for the situation. If you said "Man, I was so relieved when Bob got laid off, made me feel like less of a loser..." you sound like a complete dick. Yet if you tell somebody you feel jealous of a friend's constant success, you're being human.

But back to the question at hand...is it horrible to be jealous of things you have little interest in?

2009 Mixtape

Forgot all about making a best of list for 2009 music...so a little late, but here goes (note: looked at some song lengths, and this probably isn't fitting on one cd...but it's my cd, and I can always split it into two.)

1. Lucero--"Hey Darlin' Do You Gamble?" (I could have picked at least seven songs from this album)
2. Muse--"Resistance"
3. Bruce Springsteen--"The Wrestler"
4. Green Day--"Horshoes and Handgrenades"
5. Modest Mouse--"Guilty Cocker Spaniels" (Probably shouldn't count because it's from an EP, but whatever)
6. mewithoutYou--"Every Thought a Thought of You"
7. Neko Case--"People Got a Lot of Nerve"
8. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band--"Roosevelt Room" (Best political song in 5 years)
9. Switchfoot--"Hello Hurricane"
10. Yeasayer--"Tightrope" (From a compilation, not an album...and O.N.E. will be on the 2010 list, I'm sure)
11. Meat Puppets--"Sewn Together" (I'm surprised too that they're back)
12. Monsters of Folk--"Dear God"
13. Phoenix--"1901" (Nowhere near as good as the hype they get, but I like this song)
14. Camera Obscura--"Honey in the Sun"
15. Eels--"Beginner's Luck"
16. A.C. Newman--"The Changeling"
17. Better Than Ezra--"Absolutely Still"
18. Metric--"Gimme Sympathy"
19. The Decemberists--"The Hazards of Love 4" (Train wreck of an album, but this is the one great song)

It's hard to post...

When you have nothing to do.

Strange part of human nature. When you're bored, even the most basic task seems Herculean. Oh man, I have nothing to do today....I have to put on PANTS! What?

Now that I'm in grad school and working, and have very little free time, suddenly the urge to do something constructive with that time has returned. When I was bored out of my mind with nothing to use my time, I couldn't get myself to accomplish much of anything. Writing seemed to be out of the question, because it required concentration I had no ability to muster.

A few thoughts on:

Politics--I don't know how, but I've become more cynical and have begun politics even more. When Bush was in office, I was cynical (along with millions of others) about how stupid our society was to put him in office. Now that Obama has taken power and become a whore to the Republican party, I've lost all hope that we will ever have a president who cares about the poor. I don't even want to think about it anymore.

Sports--Now that the Yankees have won the World Series and restored order to the universe, can't complain. Maybe a little bit about their offseason moves, which weren't as bad as some people have surmised but certainly not the perfect course of action. Oh well.

I did take an obscene amount of joy in Favre blowing a game with an awful cross-body pass. I kind of like both teams in the Super Bowl, but I'll root for the Saints. They need it more.

Entertainment--I'm glad that absolutely nobody seems to be backing up Jay Leno in this NBC fiasco. Leno isn't funny, never was, but senior citizens love him so he gets ratings. Maybe Conan wasn't right for the Tonight Show, though. His humor is actually funny, and Leno had destroyed the franchise to the point where it wasn't a job you'd actually want. Go to FOX at 11:30 so there will be two options for the timeslot for viewers with a sense of humor.


A few things in my head for possible blog entries, to come...