Fun memories, with for which to feel better

Bree: "I've tried every green tea in the store, and it's never as good as it is at Chinese restaurants. I give up!"
Morgan: "Um, sweet bee, that's Oolong tea."
Bree: "NUH-UH. DAMMIT!"

Words/Phrases I Hate, vol. 3

I actually do have shit to say, but this is easier.

Today's "Words/Phrases I hate" is a little less obvious:

Never have regrets

First of all, I recognize that there is value to this statement.  There are ways to use this phrase and have it be a very worthwhile admonition.

HOWEVER! Most of the time (like, the vast majority of the time) I find that people who say this aren't actually motivated by their ostensible reverence for the inevitability and value of experience; they're motivated by a thinly veiled dread of accountability and introspection.  It's far easier to say that you have no regrets than it is to actually go through the work of a penetrating self-analysis.

So I guess I'm saying that if the person in question actually has taken the time to really understand what that phrase means, then it can be a very powerful statement.

But usually it's crap.  :)

Words/Phrases I Hate, vol. 2

So! For today's "Words/phrases I Hate" entry:

Disenfranchise

I hate this word because it's one of those mass-media buzzwords that's overused to a ridiculous degree. Apparently everyone in the country is constantly in danger of being disenfranchised, or has been disenfranchised, etc.

"The post office had a one-day delay because half of the midwest was buried in fourteen feet of snow. Those fuckers are disenfranchising an entire population of hard-working, honest, voting citizens!"

I think that word should be saved for situations like:
 

"You're Scandinavian, so your pale ass can't vote anymore."

THAT'S disenfranchising.

*sigh*
Here I am with all this poetry in my soul, and no access to it.  I have to console myself by degrading the ineptitude of others, which isn't anywhere near as satisfying.  Although, to be fair, the mass-media not only deserve every bit of derision they get, they deserve far more.
 

 

Words/Phrases I Hate, vol. 1

I'm usually just totally crap at writing journal entries (or email, or replying to messages on Facebook or MySpace, or sending letters...), but the other day I realized that I had a whole bunch of shit just begging for this kind of format: the random rants and bloviations that I tend to get into when I'm on Google Talk!  Hence, therefore and to wit, I am copying and pasting, both for any potential enjoyment someone may derive from such diatribes/vitriol/panegyrics/tripe and for my own feeling of accomplishment.  And while posting an LJ entry may seem an odd thing from which to derive a sense of accomplishment, for someone like me who has such a hard time engaging with life at times, it's actually kind of a big deal.

And so, the first installment of: Words and Phrases I Hate, by Morgan Williams.

Proactive
 
I hate this word because if you're in the business world in any capacity, you hear it seven-hundred-thousand times a day, and it wasn't even a word until fairly recently.  I've decided that every time i hear that word, I'm gonna slip the phrase "put forth preemptive effort" into the conversation.  Every time.  Eventually it'll become the new "proactive", and will spread across the land like the dark shadow of Mordor.  And because corporate types so love their corp-speak, wherein "convoluted" and "unintelligible" are greatly prized qualities, the fact that it's a much longer and more unwieldy will actually make it more likely to catch on.

Stay tuned!

My default entry, for future use

Right, so I needed to post a first entry, or else this isn't really a journal, is it?

I'm at work; I'm distracted; I'm kinda sad; I'm listening to pretty good music that is helping me through my day, but it too is making me kinda sad; I miss people; I'm hopeful, yet apprehensive; I feel somewhat overwhelmed; I'm ready to get over my shit and really do some serious living; I'm looking forward to a concert.

Okay, now any time that I don't actually post anything just take the last paragraph, change the location of the third word, and randomly insert things like "angry", "horny" and/or "feeling sexually deviant", "tired", "contemplative", and occasionally "amped up" or "explosive", and you'll probably know exactly how I'm feeling!