Saturday, May 8, 2010

In Defense of Laziness


Things I should do, but haven't yet:
Learn spanish. Many kids at work think I am fluent because they have spoken in front of me and I will interrupt and/or respond to them in English... and I let them think that so they don't sit around and talk about inappropriate stuff in a foreign language around me. While in high school Mr. Hubbard forced me to learn latin root words (at the time I would pretend squish his wide head between my thumb & pointer finger from the back of class. Since the close of my 10th grade year, I have thanked him silently almost daily- especially days when I play Trivial Pursuit). Point being: there is no reason for me to not apply myself and learn Spanish. When I do end up doing it, it will be pretty easy. But I don't.

Become famous. Yes, probably the most absurd thing you will read all day... but aren't famous people absurd? Anyway, all it would take is two, maybe three weeks of really trying to and I am sure I could be... at least D List famous. But I don't.

And the list goes on and on and on- most other things are pretty boring. And that, readers, is exactly why I don't bother. They are boring. People do things all the time for the sake of productivity. To be doing something. Don't get me wrong; I do all sorts of stuff that other people deem to be time-wasting (like blogging). I don't have excuses for why I don't do certain things; why I don't learn spanish, why my room isn't clean, why I haven't fixed my car wheel well yet. But I can most certainly defend every single thing I do end up spending my time on. Turns out, I get along more than fine with out the espanol, my room might not ever be clean, and my car may stay duct-taped together for a few more months. If I ever get bored enough to fix that stuff, I will... in the mean time I will be doing other stuff. There is value in all things if you recognize and are grateful for those things. There is even value in lounging about. Value in thinking, creating, breathing. We have been given a gift- of eternity.

The thought of anti-productivity makes many people cringe. But, it is the very thing that makes America so successful. Getting the most out of the least. So this week, go ahead and calm down.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Urban Cowboy, Intended Target, Rains that Never Fell, & Butterflies that Landed



Urban Cowboy
Cars attempting to cross the Queens-borough Bridge is typically chaotic. The bridge had been shut down for a bike race and Times Square had been closed to traffic the entire night before. This morning it was a particular mess.

Yellow cabbies were honking a symphony. A few local brave-heart drivers were weaving in and out. Traffic was moving, and there was a slight lag in one lane. Curiously, about three car lengths had been left by a cab driver in that lane. Windows down, he stepped on the gas and lunged forward, arm waved out the window and the man let out a "Yeee-Haw" like I had never heard before.

Intended Target
I was in Times Square on Saturday night. No one else was.

Rains that Never Fell
Chatting with a Slovenian artist in Central Park, I simply asked: "How long will you be in the park today?", she responds "Till the rains fall" -- the rains never fell that night.

Butterflies that Landed
There was a butterfly that we noticed on the Top of the Rock - 68 floors in the sky. The following day, I was basking in the park when a butterfly fluttered by, and landed atop my head. He stayed and visited a while. I think it
was the same little guy. He never said what he wanted.