nfdu BLOG: April 2014

A while back, someone asked me, “What's your dream job?” I was annoyed with myself that I couldn't answer the question. I kinda already have a dream job, working at an art college in academic affairs managing programs. But I got stuck on the annoyance bit, and began to think about other things that annoy me, to the point that I wanted to write about them and make a list of things I find annoying. But then I thought, how do I write about things that annoy me without sounding like a complete jackass? I mean, a couple of months ago I shot a video about someone who annoyed me on Facebook and published it on this blog, which was kind of a dick-heady thing to do. At the same time, I also shot some footage of me ranting about people complaining about gentrification of San Francisco…I didn't publish that one because it made me sound like a total ass-wipe, and I do (somewhat) care what (certain) people think of me. However, I'm still annoyed with myself for not following through and posting it.

So, here's my list.

List of Annoyances (in no particular order)

positive thinking mantras
duty and honor
nostalgia
people who believe in god(s)
testosterone
estrogen
pettiness
sobriety
most of the homeless people in my neighborhood
dog shit on sidewalks
wet grass
long hair
naivete
perfume
being subjected to other people’s time-frame

smugness
constant complainers
willful ignorance
monogamy
getting rained on
the Bat Kid
that it's taken me two weeks to get this far in this list
that I don’t call my mother often enough
people who don’t have any sense of self-awareness
sirens
politics
my psoriasis
bad painting
getting older

Annoyances are curious things, because the reason behind being annoyed isn't always clear. In the case of being annoyed by not calling my mother often enough, that one is easy. She is almost 84 years old and while her health isn't terrible, chances are she will only be alive for another decade, or so. The annoyance is about the limited time factor. More annoying is that I hate to talk on the phone, so much that I don’t call my mother often enough. It’s a vicious circle. (update: mother was admitted to the ER two days with heart problems. I’m really fucking annoyed with myself, because this paragraph is incredibly naive in retrospect-see above list)

In the case of annoyances that aren't so easy to pin down their cause, take Mission gentrification, for example. I have no earthly clue why every time I read an article on the topic that the hair on my back stands on end. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that 99.9% of the articles written on the topic are incredibly stupid and dull, reducing a complex issue to the writer’s not so complex political agenda. It’s off-putting, and annoying. Side note: if you want to read the best article ever written on the topic of gentrification, specifically SF gentrification, click here. In fact, this article just might be the best thing ever written in the history of writing about things, which is the most un-annoying thing to me on the planet at this moment, so I think I will stop now.