24th October: Pet Hates.

Pet Hates. Those things which I detest and just don't like due to their stupidity. No, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about other things.

Take, for example, phones. You wander out of a room and you hear someone talking in the room which you just left. Naturally, and not particulary surprisingly, you presume that they haven't realised that you've left the room so turn round and re-enter it and make some sarcastic comment that's supposed to make them feel stupid. You know the ones? "Why are you talking to yourself?" or "There's no one else here..." and so on. And then it turns out that they've just been talking on their mobile phone, or they've just picked up the phone or something.

It's stupid! There should be some sort of rule, although I think it may be slightly hard to enforce, that you're not allowed to make other people think that you're talking to them when the other person has left the room. It'd prevent all sorts of confusion and much embarresment. Unforntunately it's not going to happen but its nice to think that it might at some point. Well... sometimes it is.

Other times it just sounds stupid. Like that time.

I hate stupid people as well. Not just the average people that aren't that clever. They're just dumb. I hate the stupid people that will comment on other people without knowing anything about them. I hate the stupid people that will bully other people just to make other people feel bad. I hate the stupid people that will do anything that I don't think should be done. In fact, I hate stupid people full stop. And as most of the world, at some point, act stupid then it logically follows that I hate the world. It's so goddamn stupid!

Be honest - how many of you have told jokes at other people's expense? I'll be honest, and put my hand up (metaphorically, as I'm not actually going to sit with my hand up whilst writing this) and say that I have. The main difference between me and the vast majority of the idiots in the world is really quite simple. I'll stop at request (most of the time I do it without thought, so I just have to think more. A scary prospect) and the vast majority of the idiots in the world will just carry on. It's the majority of these that make me want to do some nasty things to them.Castration is apparently a favourite, but I don't carry a pair of scissors around with me. And all that blood.. you know how hard it is to get blood out of things? I've still got blood stains on my carpet from last time!

Last time I had a nosebleed that is, not that I castrated someone. I've WANTED to castrate people, but I have better self-control than that. Most of the time.

While I'm on the topic of hating people, I should throw in those that are patronising. There's nothing worse than to have someone patronise me. And there's little I hate more (other than the things on this list) than to hear people be patronising around me. Patronisation should be saved for the idiots of the world and only as a put down or a stand off. It shouldn't be used on little kids, who will take you seriously. It especially shouldn't be used on anyone that isn't an idiot of the world as they find it irritating and begin to hate you. Or is it just me?

People who I patronise - take heed at this. If I'm patronising you, it's because you're making stupid comments. Again. It happens fairly often.

Gushing complimenters, or insincere complimenters, are just as bad though. With me being a musician, and not being too bad at what I do, .normally at the end of concerts and the like I'll get this group of middle-aged to old women somehow wandering up to me and saying, "That was wonderful! I really enjoyed it, blah blah blah blah..." I can normally predict what they're going to say, and I hate it. I'd much rather be criticised in a friendly way than have empty compliments showered onto me after a not-so-good performance of whatever I happened to be performing.

I don't mind compliments from those that know what they're talking about. Fellow musicians and performers, family and so on all know when I do give a good performance and when I didn't. Or should do at any rate. Therefore, the "well done" that you get backstage is an awful lot better than the: "Oh! That was wonderful, it brought tears to my eyes and I'll remember it forever!" type comments that you get from the audience at the end of these things. Other musicians and performers will pick up on your mistakes if you make them, and it's not unknown for them to already know that you mucked up. If they don't pick up on your mistakes then it's time that they learnt how to. How can they improve if they don't pick up on the one-thousandth-of-a-beat too early note and the one-hundreth-of-one-decibel-too-loud note that you played?

Yes, that was sarcasm. Not everyone is quite that good. If they are that good then they need to get a life. No, seriously. No one is that good a listener without practise, and that sort of precision would take a horrifying amount of practise....

Maybe as another thing to add onto that list is those that are total hypocrites. Those that say things like, "Windows is awful. Get a mac instead!" and then actually have 6 ot 7 windows-using computers running in the background. Those that tell you to do something and then ignore their own instructions. And so on, and so on, and so on. I could continue the list but you get the idea.

Intellient people, that know me well - or have spoken to me more than just the normal "good morning" conversation I have with most people, will realise that an awful lot of my pet hates aren't based on how other people act, but rather on how I act. If I could change those parts of my nature into what I'd prefer them to be I'd be a much better person. Of course, I'd probably be an even better insomnia cure, but that's not the point. I'd be a better person overall.

Presuming you could listen to me for longer than about 30 seconds without falling to sleep that is.


I sometimes wonder why I bother writing this. No one does much other than do a quick scan read for their name and then read the bit that pertains to them. Well, very few people do anything other than that. I'm sure that there's a few people that have nothing to do for 30 minutes and therefore decide to read it during that time instead of doing something vaguely useful and constructive such as jump up and down on the spot continuously.

So why do I bother? It's a bit of a backtracking to older topics again. Only this time, instead of skirting round the issue - as I normally do, I thought that I'd try to answer it properly. It comes down to, I think, a sense of continuity. Something that I do daily and that I think about doing most of the time. It's a solid reference point for me.

I'll think about it tommorrow and maybe carry on going into detail. It's not that long this one.

It's getting late and I have work tommorrow.....