Pet Peeves

One of St. F and Diego's favorite passtimes is finding things that drive me crazy. I am generally a pretty easy-going guy, but after a decade on the East Coast I've developed some strong opinions.

You see, "being chill" just is not a cultural value outside of California. I think most Californians aspire to an easygoing temperment that can at times seem cartoonishly dazed and confused. At least to anyone who's made their living in the Mid-Atlantic. Navigating the fast-paced, high-powered cities of the East requires some hard edges.

So, yes, I have pet peeves. For example, I hate walking behind slow people on the sidewalk. I hate sitting around, seemingly about to do something, but not actually doing something. And I abhor the local news. DC is the information capital of the world, we don't have time for squirrels waterskiing, we don't think it's funny, we don't think it's cute. Actually, there's almost no conception of "cute" in DC. Often while channel surfing, St. F and Diego will land on the local news just to see how long before I leave the room in a huff.

Tonight, it was the movie Sweet Home Alabama, with Reese Witherspoon. I won't go into how awful I find it, but safe to say that St. F was practically gleeful watching me gag as she tuned to it while I ate my dinner.