Five Things (You May Not Know) About Me

1. Although I often write about the importance of being observant/attentive and self-sufficient, I am neither. I have good instincts about people, which perhaps suggests that my body processes information about other people more effectively than my conscious mind does. But for the most part I donít pay attention very well, which gets me in lots of trouble, and Iím so poorly coordinated that body-mechanical tasks (like dancing, swimming, and drawing) are just beyond me. And neither of these faults is the result of lack of effort (my own, and that of others) to try to improve. At these important things, I am just incompetent.
2. Iíve come to the disturbing conclusion that I usually prefer the company of animals to humans. At first I thought I was just overreacting to the general indifference of most people to the plight, and intelligence, and emotional capacity, of animals, but now I think it has more to do with a preference for silent company and the realization that, as Shaw said, ìthe biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred.î
3. Iím a fierce supporter of the right to die. To me this is a ënaturalí right, like the right to breathe, to live in peace, and to a clean and healthy environment, so having governments try to take this away strikes me as outrageous. This right is most important for those suffering, of course, but I donít draw lines when it comes to such matters. Iíve known many who have taken their own lives, and I respect their decisions. I understand the Noonday Demon and the horrific and invisible suffering it can cause. People who exercise their right to die have their own reasons, and while they may not be ëlogicalí, whoís to say that emotional reasons are not just as valid? I also feel deeply for those who have been left behind by those who have chosen to die, whether or not they understand, on any level, why that decision was made, and that no one is to ëblameí, just as I feel for all those who, for any reason, have been unable (and may never be able) to reach closure on something important thatís happened in their lives.
4. Iím more even-tempered than I was when I was young, but some things make me crazy: cruelty, unfairness, dishonesty, arrogance, backstabbing (and other indirect and cowardly attacks on people) and taking pleasure from othersí misery. I find these personality traits, which I think are psychopathic and horrendously damaging, so distressing I canít even bear to watch the portrayal of them in films (I have to change the channel or leave the theatre). I instinctively dislike people who make a living by lying (notably many lawyers, marketers and people in the ëdevelopmentí industry). I donít think you can cure what these people have and insist on inflicting on others, and itís that incorrigibility that probably makes me so irrational.
5. As I get older, I cry more often. Certain music, ëtouchingí scenes in movies (even when theyíre somewhat contrived), pathos, silent suffering ñ all of these set me off. I find it cathartic. Yet very few people have seen me cry — for reasons I donít understand, I almost never cry in public, even at funerals.

Well, that’s more than enough. Who I’m tagging in turn (this is a somewhat mischievous list of extraordinary bloggers who readers know little about personally — I don’t really expect them tocarry on the meme):