Quote Of The Day
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
That line didn't mean anything to me when I read Walden in college. I guess I got it, but I didn't get it.
Maybe I'm feeling a little dark today. Actually I'm feeling a lot dark today. I think these are dark times we're living in. The other day I felt a twinge of optimism but it's gone already.
Most of the people I know have had a rough decade. I think it has just been a rough decade. Then again I'm not sure. This has been my first decade as a bonafide adult. Maybe this is just adult life. Death, divorce, fear, illness, war, pessimism...maybe this is all just par for the course.
Not quite sure how I got from 24 Hour Party People yesterday to Thoreau today (although, in a nice tie-in, Tony Wilson would have approved in a big way).
I do think it's interesting how we were all looking at the year 2000 with so much trepidation. What would happen? Would planes drop from the sky? Maybe the apocalypse? Something else?
And then Jan 1st, 2000 rolled around and everything was fine. It stayed fine for about four months. It was better than fine...it was like the roaring 90's never ended. Then the stock market crashed. And it kept crashing for a year and a half until 9/11. Then it crashed even more. Although no one really noticed after that.
Now we're in the 6th year of this decade, and while planes never fell out of the sky...well, I guess they kind of did...I have no doubt that the new millennium turned out worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.
It's weird though. I mean, we've had a housing boom...a lot of people did well in that. Most of my friends got married and had kids. The sun still rises every day. The Giants went to the World Series (and then, 6 outs from winning it all, collapsed).
There's just something under the surface. Something ain't right. And, honest to God, I don't know if it's the times or just a new found understanding of reality. The reality that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Thanks, Henry. (Depressing asshole.)
That line didn't mean anything to me when I read Walden in college. I guess I got it, but I didn't get it.
Maybe I'm feeling a little dark today. Actually I'm feeling a lot dark today. I think these are dark times we're living in. The other day I felt a twinge of optimism but it's gone already.
Most of the people I know have had a rough decade. I think it has just been a rough decade. Then again I'm not sure. This has been my first decade as a bonafide adult. Maybe this is just adult life. Death, divorce, fear, illness, war, pessimism...maybe this is all just par for the course.
Not quite sure how I got from 24 Hour Party People yesterday to Thoreau today (although, in a nice tie-in, Tony Wilson would have approved in a big way).
I do think it's interesting how we were all looking at the year 2000 with so much trepidation. What would happen? Would planes drop from the sky? Maybe the apocalypse? Something else?
And then Jan 1st, 2000 rolled around and everything was fine. It stayed fine for about four months. It was better than fine...it was like the roaring 90's never ended. Then the stock market crashed. And it kept crashing for a year and a half until 9/11. Then it crashed even more. Although no one really noticed after that.
Now we're in the 6th year of this decade, and while planes never fell out of the sky...well, I guess they kind of did...I have no doubt that the new millennium turned out worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.
It's weird though. I mean, we've had a housing boom...a lot of people did well in that. Most of my friends got married and had kids. The sun still rises every day. The Giants went to the World Series (and then, 6 outs from winning it all, collapsed).
There's just something under the surface. Something ain't right. And, honest to God, I don't know if it's the times or just a new found understanding of reality. The reality that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Thanks, Henry. (Depressing asshole.)
posted by The Colonel at 9:28 PM
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