Irony

There seems to have long been an impulse, in the young, to distinguish themselves.  It often was an adventure, either geographically or intellectually.  That is: they could travel, and bring back stories of strange customs, exotic goods, and mysterious people.  They could also explore in depth some field of study, some esoteric religion, some philosophical movement, some craft.  There the adventurer gained cachet through the same mechanism: some mystery that they were able to 'bring back' and introduce to others, and act as guide and expert.  

Famously, our modern world offers none of these avenues for a person.  I don't want to imply that any of this is negative: but the globe has been explored, and although travel is still underutilized for self-growth, it's now possible to travel to the far reaches of the globe while only superficially engaging with a culture other than your own; skills can be learned quickly on youtube, the web offers a quick course in any sort of though that you'd like to understand; there are no new religions; people a world away can be communicated with in seconds- to play games.  People still try, and at least at a certain age, they will put in some time and try to understand Sartre and impress someone with it - but impressing has become more difficult.

If the borders have all been explored, is it any surprise that people are instead going deeper in to distinguish themselves and their life?  That the desire to set one apart, when nothing exotic can be brought to the group, is to delve deep into one subject, to- in other words- give rise to the sort of obsessive competitive fandom that thrives on the internet.  Is that pervasive sentiment that nothing new can be brought to bear, that all solutions have been tried, that all arts have been explored- is that not the driving force behind the rise of irony as a dominating ethos?

Character

I enjoy being able to do things, that is to have some metis, some knowledge of process.  How the first time is always awkward realizing you should have clamped the piece that way, or held it across your body, or let it simmer longer before blending.  That familiarity, that... not expertise, but competency.  It gives me a rush.  

I could look back at my childhood and remember embarrassing moments when I really didn't know ANYTHING about something, and everyone else did.  Instinct is to ascribe the then (my enjoyment now) to a simple why (my childhood embarrassments, fleeting as they were).  But of course the opposite might be as true.  And does it matter?  Why are some of these things presented as deviations from some perfect and/or perfectly bland upbringing?  Even if it wasn't part of me at birth, how boring would I be without? Obviously children endure a great deal of extreme things that they absolutely should not have to, but focusing on the deviations makes us lose focus on the abominations.  

Normal Health

A lot of attention has come to the DSM and the criticism that they are pathologizing everything, including the parts that fall well within normal (I remember being told that a lack of any neurosis is seriously abnormal ).  The question is usually: what negative affects on mental health does this view of mental health cause?
I wonder how much the same could be said of medicine.  Science "knows" there is a cause (when, of course, some chronic disease might be viewed as emergent) and so it keeps defining, as do other (shall we say...less scientific) folks trying to speak in the accepted language of the time.  Sick House, Fibromyalgia, general autoimmune disorders.  I think that we live in a weak enough way that these could all grow from this unhealthy relationship with the world.  But dammit, what about just being sickly... surely that happens some time... is it actually something "wrong" with that person or has science once again confused theory with practice and is hurting us with its comparison to it's fantasy ideal?

A serious cookie habit

"I own all cookies brought into this house. It's like living with Hunter Thompson, you don't bring drugs there without expecting that he's going to do them. I'm the Hunter S Thompson of this house, except for cookies."