Pet Peeves (mild hostility) Flashcards
Pet Peeves may be better way to envision hostility - more like attitude than true hostility - THREES formula implies that hostility is a necessary ingredient of jokes - there are lots of pet peeves once you start thinking about them - just under our civilized skin - TM exercise - nothing too small (think mosquito) - the more specific, the better - general targets are not funny - general pet peeves are not funny
Death of Objectivity - News Media - erosion of objectivity - rise of news as entertainment
WEIRD / STUPID / HARD
Being told we are Angry by media - and believing it - actual public civility is quite extraordinary
SCARY / HARD / STUPID
My Body - Erosion of bodily function - weak bladder
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
My Body - Sugar intolerance after retailers are finally offering irresistible sweets - Trader Joe’s and Costco
Great Ambition / Limited Talent / Unlimited Laziness
HARD / WEIRD
Inflation - erosion of financial resources - particularly difficult for retirees - thank God for Trader Joe’s, Amazon and Costco
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
Human Nature - blame game - always wanting to find someone to blame
STUPID
Political nominating process that generates terrible candidates
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
My hatred of fear - true hostility - counter-phobic personality - anxiety has taken quite a toll from me - anxiety has generated some poor decisions and behaviors
HARD / SCARY / STUPID / WEIRD
Auto-Renew - marketers taking advantage of human weakness - guilt and anger that I let them get away with it - combination of procrastination and laziness - I just put my foot down with unauthorized renewal from Box - sneaky bastards
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
Terrible spam blocking software - spam emails keep coming back
HARD / STUPID
Cable Television - absurdity of paying to see advertising - paying lots of money..,
STUPID / HARD
Passwords - equivalent to locking ourselves out of our own houses
HARD / SCARY
The Venality of computer viruses - what kind of creeps would do this?
SCARY / WEIRD / HARD
The difficulty of being funny - it’s really hard - who knew?
HARD
Bad things about human nature - there are so many things - cruelty, savagery, anger, theft, rape, oppression - perhaps the paradox of human nature - we are also capable of amazing things
SCARY / HARD / WEIRD
Mass Media Hypnotism - we are all becoming zombies
SCARY / WEIRD
People who have strong opinions that differ from mine (strong opinions) …
HARD
That our life is finite and knowing it - the personal problem of having to die
SCARY / HARD
That I was not born a genius - that would have solved everything - that I want to be extraordinary with a truly ordinary brain - might make things too easy - new problem might be boredom or superior attitude
HARD
Belief that politicians are going to save us - siren song that seems very dangerous to me - why not save ourselves?
STUPID / SCARY
The transformation of News into Entertainment
STUPID
Daily “tit for tat” competition between political ideologies and the difficulty I have in ignoring the game
STUPID / STUPID
Political Ideologues telling me how I should think
That I have to settle for normal, most of the time
That I’m not really special
That my voice is only one of billions
That people do not believe I should be exempted from rules - unfortunately the rules I break are not very important
Our shortening attention span, or is it just me? How do you document something like this?
SCARY / WEIRD
That being beloved is so difficult to achieve (earn)
HARD
That being loved and being selfish don’t go together - I like this a lot
HARD
We have access to more information than ever before, however our collective wisdom seems to be shrinking
SCARY / WEIRD
That movie stars and celebrities are afforded more respect, prestige and credibility than hard working highly educated experts - what’s wrong with us - the masses are asses
STUPID / WEIRD
That truth is only true within its own domain - there is no universal truth - another fairy tale idea that must be tossed aside - worst yet - I lived 72 years without knowing this
That our right of passage out of childhood is the realization that our mom and dad and the entire world has been lying to us about Santa after telling us over and over to believe - and then we promise not to not spill the beans to younger people -we become active participants in the deception
WEIRD
That disappointment is the price we pay when our idealistic and unrealistic dreams collide with reality
HARD
That people do not automatically like me - that friendship is so difficult to achieve - maybe that’s why friendships are considered so valuable
HARD
That intimacy is not my thing
HARD
That I am still longing for popularity fifty years after high school
STUPID / WEIRD
That optimism is the sharpest tool in my toolbox, no strong skills - seems unfair to have such high ambitions and such low talents
HARD / WEIRD
That I never quite made the grade in the looks department and worse yet, that I feel terrible about it, as if it would solve all of my problems - most likely it would cause more problems than benefits (infidelity)
STUPID / WEIRD
That I am selfish and self-centered - I’m actually okay with it - perhaps that is the problem - I try to be nice about my selfishness, but it’s still selfishness - wait a minute - are we not all self-centered and selfish - it’s called viewpoint - it’s called identity - it’s called taking care of yourself - I just don’t like it when other people are selfish and self-centered
WEIRD
That progress is so destructive and disruptive
HARD
Different hygiene standards between men and women - source of tension - my wife’s version of clean house is radically different than mine
HARD / WEIRD
Entertaining at home - not fun - just an excuse for cleaning up the house - not fun - it will be fun when we go to their house (makes no sense to me)
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
My obsession with status - my competitive nature - pecker-checker mentality - how many people are below me? - how many above - human nature? Always looking at small percent above - billions below - why would being better off than others make me feel good?
HARD / WEIRD
That I would like the status of being an accomplished person but not the responsibility - I was always okay with hard work and singular focus - my primary accomplishment in life has been that I have somehow navigated myself through life and wound up in a pretty good place
WEIRD
Retirement is like dying and coming back as a human being - I hated work but convinced myself that I loved it - that kind of lie uses up a lot of energy…
WEIRD / HARD / SCARY
That complaining may be just another form of being happy (singing the blues) - in other words - complaining is fun - doesn’t everyone know that? Is it a form of play? Many women say that they are not looking for solutions, they just want a sympathetic ear
WEIRD / SCARY
I hate complainers - better stated - I hate criticizers - better stated - I hate being criticized - simply stated - I hate my wife complaining about me and criticizing me
HARD / STUPID
I hate the truth - whatever that is
At best, life is all about just being tolerated by others
HARD
Love - look out for the sledge hammer when the illusion wears off - love is for strangers
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
Harsh Critic of everyone - knocking everyone down to size - we view ourselves in the most positive light (looking in the mirror for a positive look, then assuming that everyone will see us in our imagined best light)
WEIRD / DTUPID / HARD
High School Cruelty - I wish I was on the giving side rather than the receiving side - I was more mocked than bullied - high school misery is fairly common - I returned the favor in college - I was cruel and mocking - seasoned veteran - shameful - truly immature - so afraid of being mocked myself
WEIRD / STUPID / HARD / SCARY
Irritation - kid who was ultimate mocker and comedian and who got his girl friend pregnant in high school became the wealthiest alumni in my class - retired at age fifty
HARD
I don’t like to be judged - most likely I judge others in an excessive way - to my credit, I keep my judgments to myself
HARD
Social Media - general sense of senselessness - creature of the internet - but not like Google or Wikipedia - Social Media - Posing - people love/hate Facebook - new kind of communication - indirect/casual form of relationships - has value - opinion sharing - seems like freedom of speech chaos - Tower of Babel - spoilers (nefarious intentions) - realization that walled gardens and professionalized news curation is good -maybe like texting - did not make sense at first
STUPID / WEIRD / SCARY / HARD
Cyber-crime / Cyber-fraud / Cyber-mischief / Cyber-anger (like road rage) / Cyber-graffiti / Cyber-Halloween / Cyber-stupidity / Cyber-attention-deficit-disorder - Cyber-excuse / Cyber-blame / Cyber-experts
SCARY / HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
Google Fact Check Lookups - good and annoying - death of general uninformed conversation - death of dreamy “I don’t know speculation” - death of creative hypothesis creation - however - surprisingly, not the death of stupidity
WEIRD / STUPIDITY
Our technology is driving us crazy - our fantasy that we can somehow connect with the world - connect with humanity - our better angels - when we have trouble keeping a marriage going
SCARY / WEIRD / STUPID
Never Satisfied - human nature - always some “itchy” form of dissatisfaction
HARD
Difficult challenges can be good - often are very meaningful - bridge / humor / philosophy / toastmasters / swimming - in a strange way it is meaningful because it’s difficult
HARD / WEIRD
Attention Span - being present - being focused - being aware - thinking you are aware when you are really not - tennis ball - bridge - driving
WEIRD / SCARY
Anxiety - collision between what we think we want and what we are capable of getting
HARD / SCARY
Distraction - smart people don’t get distracted - they know where they are going - purpose driven
Listening to respond / not to understand
STUPID / HARD
Pessimism versus skepticism - we want to be skeptical but not pessimistic or cynical
HARD / STUPID
Self Righteous People - can’t believe it took me a week to tease out this pet peeve out of my subconscious
HARD / STUPID / SCARY
What about the size of trucks and SUV’s *** can they get any bigger - we know the answer
STUPID / SCARY
Holding it all in without knowing - like pained seriousness
HARD / SCARY
Howard - self righteousness is disliked because it comes from a place of superior attitude - no one likes to be told how to think especially when it comes from someone who believes themselves to be superior
HARD / STUPID
Howard - agrees that hostility is too angry - very difficult to make true hostility funny - just the opposite - changes the mood of the room - agrees that pet peeves or small irritations are better - annoying enough to generate an attitude but manageable
SCARY
People who have to be unhappy to be happy *** example - Amazon is the devil…
STUPID / HARD
Half empty people *** cheer up - look on the bright side - think about what might happen that is good - self fulfilling prophesy - half empty seems to be the opposite of optimistic - I like turn of phrase - half-empty people - double meaning
STUPID / HARD
People who have an over-developed (hyperbolic) sense of right and wrong - that’s wrong!
HARD / WEIRD / SCARY
People who need an “out” group so they can feel “in” - afraid this just might be human nature - racism - political ideology - I like the idea of “over-developed” - funny quality - like over developed breast, balls, ego, attitude, entitlement, seriousness - funniness - anything - gender equity - income inequality - when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail
HARD / STUPID
Difficult Personalities - in many ways not within our control - just the personality cards you are dealt - we fo have control over how we play the cards
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
The difficulty of getting generalizations right - over-generalization versus under-generalization - “true as anything else” - funny way to say nothing that generalization is a continuum - never quite sure if you have drawn the line correctly
HARD / WEIRD
People who are not happy unless they are “fighting” something - disputing something - testing their mettle - fighting the bad guys - why not just take on a big challenge instead of turning everything into a fight?
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
The majority of joke books are terrible! truly irritating - might be business opportunity - what are the rules for compiling jokes? - why are joke books so bad?
HARD / WEIRD
My Body - tired eyes - erosion of abilities - vision is sharp but length of time without physical discomfort is very limited
HARD / SCARY
Procrastination always lurking in the shadows - the problem of knowing what to do and not doing it - regardless if not doing something has bad consequences
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID / SCARY
smart, successful and beautiful people who are utterly happy *** can really annoy me - I should not let them get under my skin - I should not resent them - I should not envy them - it’s hard to focus on your game when you are jealously focusing on someone else’s - this isn’t role modeling - this is jealousy modeling - it’s a dysfunctional siren song
STUPID / WEIRD / HARD / SCARY
I have a sincerity problem - over the years it has become apparent that there is a certain insincere quality about me - not sure if I have ever really tried to define and understand - with the right people it can be funny - being sincere seems to be something that is hard for me
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
Almost comical - my general pet peeve is people who annoy me - people who test my patience - people who irritate me - I don’t like to get angry because I lose when I do that - so people who annoy me actually threaten my peace of mind
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
That for my entire life I have felt inferior to better looking people - the damnable thing is that I have let myself believe it - that I have put vanity at the top of my value system - is it me or is it simply the power of our culture? Amazing - the stranglehold that appearance has!
STUPID / WEIRD / HARD
Fortunate people who complain - incredulity of good fortune and complaint - are we incapable of appreciation? - are we incapable of being happy? - what’s wrong with us? - is dissatisfaction human nature? - were the Rolling Stones right? - is being unsatisfied actually good? (engine of innovation) - paradox of good fortune - paradox of human nature
STUPID / WEIRD
Authority - I don’t like being told what to do - I’m a rebel - I’m an anarchist - I don’t tell you what to do, so don’t tell me what to do
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID / SCARY
Peeing in Public - weak bladder - irritating - my body is betraying me - refusal to take meds
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD / STUPID
Foolishness of men refusing to use a cane - men go from walking to walker - dumb pride - refusal to use adult diapers (oh my…)
STUPID / HARD / WEIRD / SCARY
Political System that results in fifty percent *** of the population attacking, criticizing and obstructing the other fifty percent - that’s stupid - and worse , the debates are moronic - at least philosophers critique using intelligent arguments
STUPID / HARD / WEIRD / SCARY
Dogs that poop - eliminate that and I’m in
STUPID / HARD
How political beliefs *** have become more sacred than religious beliefs - you can talk openly about religious differences - try talking openly about political beliefs
WEIRD / HARD / STUPID
Flossing - I hate it
HARD / STUPID
Health system priorities that favors the last years of life over the first years of life
STUPID / SCARY
Corruption in all forms of business and government - depending on your definition of corruption - gaming the system to over-price services (medicine) - perhaps it’s simply the way of the world - get what you can through cooperative agreements - whatever the market will bear
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
Opinion presented as factual truth
STUPID / HARD
Living in a totally scripted world and trying to compete without a script or trying to compete with a poor script writer (me)
HARD / WEIRD / SCARY / STUPID
Love / Hate relationship with Google - can’t bullshit my way through life anymore, but all that factual information is pretty handy
HARD / STUPID
That my opinion is literally only one of billions - simple universal truth - yet somehow we believe our opinion is so so important
WEIRD / HARD / STUPID
The ethos of activism *** - being bad in the name of being good - many tactics and strategies associated with activism are disruptive and rude - “we are doing this in the name of being good” - self-righteous rudeness - there are millions of causes, meaning that there are millions of ways to be rude
HARD / STUPID / WEIRD / SCARY
closed-mindedness leads to absolute self assurance *** and open-mindedness leads to indecision and doubt - maybe (ha)
WEIRD / SCARY / HARD
That decisiveness and closed mindedness *** are often one and the same - that intelligent decision making is really just about how long you keep your mind open and what you consider while it’s open - in the end you still close your mind around a decision - perhaps the more intelligent the analysis, the more closed blinded-ness you can be - I like this (stumbled into this word)
WEIRD / HARD / SCARY
That humor may be just another form of complaining *** comedy is for people who can’t sing the blues
WEIRD
I hate the constant debates about truth *** that are not about the truth - what a fiction
STUPID / HARD
Fear that almost no one gives a damn about me and the ones who do, are quite critical and often embarrassed with the association - welcome to life
HARD / SCARY
That coffee fucks up my sleep and it probably always did and that I like it so much - maybe I just like warm drinks - just bought some herb tea - yummy
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD / STUPID
That my intentions are often misinterpreted - responses imply negative motives that were unintended - that either I am not clearly communicating or my persona seems to imply negative motives - “nice guy who looks like a bad guy” - or - it’s a form of paranoia on the part of the listener? (ha)
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
After doing something I realize that I could have done it better in some way (of course I could - dah) - I see this all the time in bridge
STUPID
de-criminalization of crime
STUPID / SCARY / HARD
crimes committed in the name of political protest are not prosecuted
STUPID / SCARY / HARD
My perfectionist self-critic - comes out for some fun in the middle of the night - wide awake nightmares - wide awake bad dreams - self-criticism - bubbles up - takes a while to see it for what it is (over active self criticism) - maybe you can’t be a critical thinker without being a self-critical thinker
HARD / SCARY / WEIRD
Our universal belief in fairness combined with our natural and insistent selfishness - one of the first things a child learns is “mine” - we don’t get better as we grow older - we just call it private property
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
Belief in “should be” idealism - unhappy angel on our shoulder all the time - judgmental angel - generates dissatisfaction - generates guilt
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
How hard it is to become financially successful - especially in Northern California - cost of living - hard to get ahead - hard to buy a home - hard to save for a down payment - wages don’t go up as fast as home prices
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
Judgmental people *** hate them! - don’t you hate judgmental people? Isn’t that a contradiction? Being judgmental about judgmental people? The seriousness of this thought - if you don’t like judgmental people you are being judgmental - circular thinking
HARD / WEIRD
Irritating personalities irritate me ***
HARD
That openly talking about sexuality is still uncomfortable in our modern age - funny that it is easier to talk about transgender than masturbation
HARD / SCARY / STUPID
natural delusional positive self image sometimes disrupted by reality
WEIRD / STUPID
Good intentions - funny that we truly believe our good intentions when we make them, but not later when we don’t follow through
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
I hate sour people!
HARD / WEIRD
Fear that Americans have become too soft - that we have lost edge - that we have become too entitled - too privileged - too bored with role and responsibility of world leadership - that we are in love with easy and unrealistic answers - that we believe everyone loves us - that when the time comes we will not have the heart or will or ability to defend ourselves
SCARY
Fear of war with China - how can you fight a foe with 3 times the manpower - people who understand hardship
SCARY / HARD
Over-Thinking - everything - I guess it is better than under- thinking everything
HARD / STUPID
I hate being hated for not being…not being someone who I am not - it is crazy - hate me for who I am, not for whom I am not
HARD / WEIRD / STUPID
Love email / hate spammers / hate computer viruses - why does bad behavior seem to follow good ideas?
HARD / WEIRD
General belief that friendship is more work than it is worth - that it can be a poor investment - that loyalty is often elusive
HARD / STUPID
Sugar addiction - a little sugar leads to more sugar - more sugar leads to more sugar - it’s not even lies that we tell ourselves - it’s deeper in the sub-conscious - it’s instinctual behavior being dysfunctional in a world of plentitude
HARD / STUPID / WEIRD
I hate (dislike) complainers and criticizers - hmm - this is really tricky because my wife is a complainer and a criticizer (and I love her) and it is even trickier because to do comedy you have to throw rocks at a target - in other words you have to become a complainer and criticizer — lord - maybe my wife is the mother I did not have - my mom was co-dependent with my dad - she was not a complainer or criticizer however life lessons we had nothing but love - I wanted more
That my opinion really doesn’t matter any more than my vote matters - life goes on with or without me - there are literally billions of opinions in this world
Long Life LED lights *** 43 years - right on the box - what a joke - my ass!
I’m tired of not being satisfied - why can’t I just accept the shit that is continually shoveled to me
That the internet is not a safe place - that people are actually trying to screw us at every opportunity
That it is easier to hate than to love
Zoom bombers
presidential election *** I can’t take another one
I hate complainers ***
Not knowing what I dint know *** test irritates me
“shamers” - shame on you ***
That friendship and live are so fragile ***
