an argument: very few people ever change substantially after puberty. i am thinking about myself, and i am imagining an unbiased observer who is listing my five greatest strengths and weaknesses as a person. (to help look at the "real me," this observer has a mind-reading device. and yes, she's using the sony model, not the samsung.) i am 24, and she comes up with a list. she compares it to the list she wrote down ten years prior. what is the same about the lists? likely everything.
i've only seen 28 up in the seven up film series. (in the series, the filmmakers look at the same 10 to 15 brits every seven years.) 28 up had some problems -- the questions asked to the participants were generally banal -- but it's remarkable that all but one of the participants seemed virtually the same in the clips from 14 up, 21 up, and 28 up. that similarity is reassuring to a degree; i'm likely to keep the positive traits i have, and the chance of picking up a new negative trait -- murdering, drug use, stupidity -- is low.
but it's even more discouraging. i'm acutely aware of my shortfalls as a person, and to think that these weaknesses are incurable and with me forever is, well, sad. yes, people stop smoking and drinking and shooting up, but how many don't? many more, i'd guess. relating to me: will there ever be a time in my life where i don't procrastinate on something i don't wish to do? i doubt it. that's stuck with me, and it will almost certainly never change.
as it is with my other flaws. alas.
from jimmy dell: "people aren't that complicated, joe. good people, bad people, they generally look like what they are."
oh so lovingly written by
Matthew |
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
