gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Default)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2002-07-09 08:54 am

Deal with it.

Last night, Rose and I talked about a few things, especially my reactions of polyamory and how people might act at the callahan's annex. Today, I get an e-mail from my sister ranting at about the fact that I *dared* to talk about my personal life with my family!

Attention world! I am the following: a financial/military conservative, socially liberal, somewhat bi, cross-dressing veteran. I consider my marriage to Kirsten to be the single most important relationship in my life. I do not bed hop, and do not think that it is overly healthy, in either an emotional or physical sense. I prefer to actually care about and be interested in my partners.

I do not like being touched. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who seem to think that it is perfectly ok to just grab me two seconds after I meet them. I have known people who couldn't get this clue for years. Free Clue: If you meet me, expect a handshake at most.

I despise groups like PeTA and the Family Research Council equally. I find the world's religions good sources of ethical guidance, but the mythology attached ranges from the silly to the disturbing.

I am a patriot. I once swore to defend this nation and what it stands for with my life if necessary. I may be out of uniform, but as far as I am concerned, that oath stands.

I do not tolerate fools or whining. Take you dramas elsewhere. If you come to me whinging about some problem, I will attempt to find a solution to that problem. This, for some reason, shocks people. If you just want to complain about your life and not do anything about, talk to the mirror. Because I don't give a damn.

I believe that the majority of people living on San Francisco's streets are bums. Make them work for their *food*, not shelter, and you'd be amazed how fast they'd thin out.

I am a sports fan. I love sports. Baseball and football especially, but I'll watch just about anything. I also like mindless action movies. I don't get art films. They bore me. Speaking of art, I think modern art is the biggest fraud on the last 200 years. A painting or sculpture should look like something, even if it is an interpretation of the subject. Koko the Gorilla is a better painter than Jackson Pollack.

The Kinks are ten times the band the Beatles ever were. There has never been a Bob Dylan song that wasn't done better by someone else.

These are some of the things that make me me. I am not the typical SF Bay Area thirty-something geek. Don't expect me to be. If you don't like the person I am, go the fuck away and find something you like more. I am so damn happy to be alive and the way I am that I am not changing for any one. I've done enough of that.

It matters not how straight the gate
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
The captain of my soul

- Invictus

Re: Crap...

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2002-07-09 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)
If nothing works, then complaining is warranted. It's the substitution of complaints for action that irks me. My preferred complaint is "I hate X, but I'm doing Y about it."

"I hate my job! I'm trying to find a new one, but I hardly have any time!"

"Have you tried sites like Monster.com?"

"Yes, but no bites so far."

"Want me to post your addy and situation to my LiveJournal? Someone there might be able to help."

"Been there."

"Christ, I waish there was something I could do. Good luck, and let me know waht happens, 'kay?

Re: Crap...

[identity profile] jemstone.livejournal.com 2002-07-09 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Didn't we have that precise conversation at the party? Oi...

-JEM

Re: Crap...

[identity profile] johnpalmer.livejournal.com 2002-07-13 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Me, my feelings on this are that you shouldn't fault someone who needs to let off steam and bitch and complain sometimes... but that doesn't me *YOU* have to be the one to listen.

Basically, I don't think a person should say "geez, but you're a pathetic little whiner! Grow up and stop complaining!" unless the person really *IS* a pathetic little whiner who needs to grow up and take some responsibility for their life. (and PLWWNTGUATSRFTLs are pretty rare)

But the kindly equivalent of "don't let me hold up your search to find someone who wants to listen... please, continue searching." is okay.