Exasperating | Mostly Bright Ideas

Browsing All Posts filed under »Exasperating«

Twisted Values?

December 27, 2010

It has always mystified me how something can quickly fall from the very top of a Christmas or birthday list to the absolute depths of disdain — and the back of a closet. During the past fifteen years I’ve watched our children repeatedly obsess about some item they swore they couldn’t live without, only to […]

Almost Everything Must Go!

December 15, 2010

In his Simple Life Prattle blog, Allan Douglas frequently writes about the strides he and his wife have made in their effort to streamline their lives. Reducing clutter and living with fewer possessions has been a big part of that, along with trading in their big-city home for five acres in the Great Smoky Mountains […]

Math Hysteria

December 11, 2010

One day my father, for no apparent reason, began a hypothetical discussion with me about pennies and how quickly they could add up to something. It’s possible that he was using a diversionary tactic after I’d requested an increase in my allowance. He said that if we were to put a single penny into a […]

Herd Mentality

November 29, 2010

I like watching nature shows, especially the ones about exotic animals. But there always comes a moment when I have to leave the room. It’s when the predator goes on the hunt, and something is about to get eaten. The narration usually stops at this point, and we can hear chewing. How they get this […]

Send This To Everyone You Care About!

September 29, 2010

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror… — Franklin Roosevelt, 1933 I am not one of the conspiracy theorists, but I am in almost constant contact with them. I get several emails a week from family and friends telling me that I should take my […]

It’s Been Raining for Three Days and I’m Cranky.

August 27, 2010

• Why does everything I drop while I’m driving — every single thing — fall between the seats? The space is a tiny fraction of the overall area inside the front of the car. If I wanted something to drop into that narrow crevice, I’d have to try eight or nine times. But it doesn’t […]

Drained

August 19, 2010

We’ve all come across fictional characters we hate. They’re the villains in the novels we read or the movies we watch. We know they aren’t real, yet they enrage us so much, we despise them with teeth-clenching intensity. We’d like to wring their necks. The character I hate the most isn’t in a novel, a […]

We Are Not Alone. But Almost.

July 30, 2010

In a recent post, I briefly mentioned personality tests. These instruments consist of a series of questions designed to make you think about yourself and how you tend to feel and behave in certain situations. Depending on your answers to the questions, you’re assigned a group of traits, usually abbreviated by a single letter each. […]

Why We Don’t Have a Digital Video Camera

July 20, 2010

All of the events I am about to describe are true. I say this because they don’t sound true. They sound exaggerated for effect, embellished for the sake of humor. They sound that way even to me, I think because there’s a part of my brain that wants to believe in my own ability to […]

Exasperation Majors: Fall 2010 Courses

July 14, 2010

There are people who are rarely bothered by anything. They float through life like one of those new car models in the wind tunnel, all aerodynamic and smooth. When something unpleasant happens, they step aside and keep on humming. When someone else is rude or obnoxious, they shrug their shoulders and wish them a good day. […]