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Think and learn, then speak - Fran Lebowitz - Snideness

Think before you speak.  Read before you think.

from: Fran Lebowitz, Author of one of my favorite books:  Fran Lebowitz Reader

I also love her quote, "polite conversation is rarely either."

At the same time as I started writing daily, even if it only this blog on a given day, I started exercising.  The paunch had become too big.  The sense of tiredness had become too pervasive.  The lack of a "productive" morning habit had led to wasting time.  At 54 years old, I don't have time to waste.

I walk for exercise.  You know you are old when walking is a cardiovascular exercise.  Most of the time I walk on the dangerous streets of Bangkok.  They are not dangerous because of crime or motorcycles riding on the sidewalk (although the later used to be the case), but rather because the sidewalks are so uneven or blocked.  I have numerous younger friends who run on the streets and end up face-planting due to catching their sneaker on an outreaching concrete tile.

While navigating the dangers of the tripping hazards, I get to listen to a book and record my thoughts.  Currently I am listening to "Foundation" by Heinlein and the plan to preserve society against itself.  Anyway, I record my thoughts, either prompted by the book of by a random thought.  I get home, listen to my ponderings, and transcribe the ones that are useful.  Sometimes they are ideas for my stories (If people are loyal to others, as in family or tribes, to what are plants loyal?  The ground? The water? The grove?).  Other times they are reminders (buy eggs).  The contemplative and the mundane.

Since this blog is going out to the internet, I am aware that the words are permanent.  Even though at this time I don't have a huge readership, I may in the future be regarded.  This fact usually results in my words being uplifting, intelligent, inspirational, and insightful (or at least they may be).  

However, I am a rather blunt person and, at times ( many times), a sarcastic person.  I have even been called "snarky" to my face on at least one occasion.  My response to that incident was to reply, "Just because you are yelling doesn't lend more weight to your argument."  I forgot the adage about arguing with drunks and imbeciles.

Anyway, I love cleverness and witty sarcasm.  The people who can regularly do it are my heroes.  Fran Lebowitz is one of them.  While the quote of this blog is sound advice, her other quotes are wonderful:  "My favorite animal is steak," "I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult," and "You can be nasty when you are young, but you really have to be older to achieve bitterness."

Being inspirational and uplifting can be exhausting.  Trying to put a positive spin on a dumpster-fire of a situation can be delusional.  I believe, and I will start writing about, that sometimes the crap needs to be called out.

A person thinking before speaking often results in a pronouncement that is even, measured, and "adult."  However, a short, clever stab at idiocy might be the best course of action (even if it is not the most "adult" course of action).





Gratitudes:  USB 3.0, notebooks, and cheap printers.

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