The Tyranny of Choice
Wow... I am the worst writer/blogger wannabe ever. I can't tell if my thought hiatus was a healthy break or a slow progression into mental shutdown.
Healthy break<-------------------I------>Mental Malfunction
So I've been trying out this new morning jog routine, and it's been doing wonders for my exercise regimen. Given that I now actually have one. This morning's run was all but fabulous because my headset broke. And no music makes solitary running dull. But surprisingly, what was more tedious, was the search for new headphones.
Since when did CNET start giving reviews on anything and everything? And why are there at least 10 different designs for something as basic as earphones? Allow me to list several: Behind the neck, clip on, ear bud, ear cup, behind the ear, semi open, under chin, half in half out, sharp tip, dull round head... Btw I made several of those up, but could you really tell? Then of course you have to consider features like connectivity, cables length, sound quality, bass boost, digital noise reduction, "NoiseGard Active Noise Compensation", "S-Logic Natural Surround Sound", and of course...DUH, "Aura-nomic design". Oh and for sure, I'm gonna need some ambient sound switch functions. Because fuck, I want to get the most out of my fifteen dollars.
It was after having thoroughly researched the hell out of the "necklace integrated" option that I realized I hadn't eaten my now really cold bagel and that lunch break was over. Switching gears, (and god how you come to hate that phrase during the course of your job) I went back to working on our annual report. And here I am, screwed for tomorrow's run because I realize I never actually got down to ordering damn headphones. But I sure can go on about sweat resistance capabilities like a motherfucker.
It's incidences like ordering headphones or breakfast that make you realize the catchphrase "freedom of choice" is actually an oxymoron. How much of life is actually bettered by the proliferation of alternatives? It seems that being pushed and pulled by every opportunity all my life has only rendered me more immobile... to watch in quiet desperation as the days speed by. Then to make it all worse, everyday, new paths appear. With time running out and imperfect information always, I'm supposed to just suck it up and believe that I'm making sound decisions? Talk about frozen in stress. Speaking of oxy morons, here's another: less is more.
And in closing:
Healthy break<-------------------I------>Mental Malfunction
So I've been trying out this new morning jog routine, and it's been doing wonders for my exercise regimen. Given that I now actually have one. This morning's run was all but fabulous because my headset broke. And no music makes solitary running dull. But surprisingly, what was more tedious, was the search for new headphones.
Since when did CNET start giving reviews on anything and everything? And why are there at least 10 different designs for something as basic as earphones? Allow me to list several: Behind the neck, clip on, ear bud, ear cup, behind the ear, semi open, under chin, half in half out, sharp tip, dull round head... Btw I made several of those up, but could you really tell? Then of course you have to consider features like connectivity, cables length, sound quality, bass boost, digital noise reduction, "NoiseGard Active Noise Compensation", "S-Logic Natural Surround Sound", and of course...DUH, "Aura-nomic design". Oh and for sure, I'm gonna need some ambient sound switch functions. Because fuck, I want to get the most out of my fifteen dollars.
It was after having thoroughly researched the hell out of the "necklace integrated" option that I realized I hadn't eaten my now really cold bagel and that lunch break was over. Switching gears, (and god how you come to hate that phrase during the course of your job) I went back to working on our annual report. And here I am, screwed for tomorrow's run because I realize I never actually got down to ordering damn headphones. But I sure can go on about sweat resistance capabilities like a motherfucker.
It's incidences like ordering headphones or breakfast that make you realize the catchphrase "freedom of choice" is actually an oxymoron. How much of life is actually bettered by the proliferation of alternatives? It seems that being pushed and pulled by every opportunity all my life has only rendered me more immobile... to watch in quiet desperation as the days speed by. Then to make it all worse, everyday, new paths appear. With time running out and imperfect information always, I'm supposed to just suck it up and believe that I'm making sound decisions? Talk about frozen in stress. Speaking of oxy morons, here's another: less is more.
And in closing:
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed- interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit- crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
posted by Mix at 10:27 PM
6 Comments:
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Yay! You're writing again! =)
Welcome back! =)
I love it how you can get all philosophical over the simple nuances of life.
There's a book out called Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie and it poses an interesting view that it's not us who chooses or lives life but life that lives us.
i'll be honest, i didn't read this whole entry. only the first half and the last paragraph i skimmed. but michelle chen, it's leslie kwon! and i like your blog so keep writing if you wanna see me smile! haha. at least you're not like me. i avoid the joys of having a convenient, small, and unavoidable mp3 player just because i'm too lazy to learn how to upload the music onto it and all the stuff. siiiiiighhhhh. i'm getting so bored of humming to myself or silence.
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1) starting now, you are required to give a lot more feedback! why do you let me rant when you have wonderful things like this inside you? (all I have are alien babies hatching inside me and that just gets old...) You are so freaking talented MXC it makes me jealous!*squints*
2) what's an 'electrical tin opener'? Does that get the cats off the roof when it's hot? (sorry, but I can't help a Tennessee Williams reference..."ohh, Big Daddy! no!"... classic.)
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