"Middle-aged white guy since 1981"

While I am typing this, The Big Bang Theory is on the TV. Dubbed.

I know, English is not that prevalent in Germany, but this is a disgrace. None of the jokes work. The translations are so bad that they are distorting the meaning of the dialogue!

Sure, it’s a silly comedy show, but isn’t comedy art? Isn’t the acting in that show just as much an artistic expression as the last academy award winning performance? What about the writing? It’s frustrating to see that that effort is treated with so little respect.

So the Internet rose up to smite what it perceived as a threat to it’s core working principles, and it seems SOPA and PIPA are gone for now. Let’s hope that this slacktivist uprising won’t get outmaneuvered by bringing up the same shit with a slightly different name later, when everybody else is distracted by pictures of kittens and streaming 5 minute clips of porn.

What I did find impressing was the appropriate nature of the protest. The infrastructure sites like Google, Wikipedia and Reddit did cease operations, which probably scared some people to attention. The content providers that I have been following did use the opportunity to make actual points instead of joining in with the blackout. Great decision.

I just don’t get it. Went out to see a rock show, which was nice enough, but then the “clubbing” part of the night followed. How do these people pretend to enjoy that insane mating ritual? They expose themselves to music that must have been produced by throwing a laptop down a flight of stairs, convulsing in a manner that suggests some sort of neurodegenrative disease or at least a case of some parasite in their digestive system, and when somebody tries to emulate their weird tribal behavior, they have the stones, the brass balls to tell them they look like idiots. Guess what: YOU DO TOO! And when people with a shred of dignity try to emulate you, they can’t help but look idiotic.

And what is it with this cult of taking pictures? You are there to enjoy yourselves, not to prove that you were there to your friends in some weird existential validation of your shallow existence. When I am taking a picture of my friends, watching the band and our friend playing bass on stage, don’t ask me to take a picture of you with our camera. Don’t act as if I offended you when I say no. Why would you even ask that? That is WEIRD! Even if I would do that, you would never see that picture!

Something must be wrong with me. I must lack the transmitters for the Soma or whatever shit these people are reacting to. And the worst part: when I go home, I feel like I am missing out and I am sad.

Oh man, I’m gonna lose some sleep over this one.

Today I wen’t for a walk with a friend, to talk about what bothers us, what we have been up to, to catch up in general. The weather was reasonably nice for for the terribly warm and humid winter that we had. At some point we decided to sit down at a cafe to have some hot chocolate and some crepês. Perfectly fine afternoon, one of the nicest ways to spend it really.

Then somebody sat down next to us. A young woman, blonde, dressed like she was there for business. And I knew her. I was struck by the intense feeling that I had met her before, not only seen her, but talked to her. I had no idea where though.

My friend immediately noticed me staring and was thoroughly amused by my struggle to come up with the concrete memory of how I had met that woman at the next table. And piece by piece, the picture became more elaborate. Not more pleasant though.

I kinda remembered a setting. Dark, a bar or something. Alcohol was involved. Not that I was drunk, but the mood implied a night out. I realized that I must have either been on a date with that Lady or must have tried to flirt with her sometime.

And I didn’t ask. We paid, left, and I never took the time to say: “Excuse me, this is weird, but you seem strangely familiar, have we met before?”

I think this is me getting old. And not wiser.

I bought a calligraphy fountain pen today.

Now that sentence is problematic for several reasons. I don’t really need one, so you could say that this would be frivolous spending. My handwriting is terrible, so I can’t really show of anything that I am writing with it. But…

There is always a “but”. Some way to justify your latest purchase. Office supplies are a guilty pleasure for me. Somebody once pointed out how people tend to sexualize the tools that they use every day, so I guess having an obsession with nice pens kinda fits this failed writer. This thing is a pleasure to look at and to hold. My fist Lamy, never had one in school, and now I see what all the fuzz was about. Great products. And it is fun to use. When I take my time I am actually producing something readable with this one. So chances are that I might actually improve my handwriting with it. I had looked up several pens over the last days, and since the day went rather well, I felt like treating myself.

Buying this I found a new smut-peddler (office supply store) that I really like and I found out something about Hundertwasser architecture that is worrying me. But I am saving that for later posts.

This is short and I am rambling. Sorry, busy with my new toy.